Travel: Flinders Ranges SA

My mind turned back to the year 1994 recently, the year I was made redundant and decided to spend my unexpected windfall on two things - an old Franklin caravan (which has since been pensioned off and replaced by a Jayco pop-top), and a 23-day camping safari to the Kimberleys and the Top End.

Further memorable and fun-filled coach camping safaris followed in the ensuing years and many new friendships formed. We introduced our friends to the lifestyle by inviting them along on trips. Gradually they too bought caravans and earlier this year, during a weekend at Glenbawn Dam, "The Gadabouts" were born.

We have now returned from a two-week caravan trip to the Flinders Ranges (SA). The convoy, which set off from the Central Coast of NSW on August 6, consisted of eight excited couples in assorted vehicles and an eclectic array of caravans, ranging from a 1965, 13ft Viscount Ambassador affectionately named the "Silver Bullet", to a brand new 20ft Roadstar Grange.

Our first night together was spent at a four-star caravan park in Albury that really should have been two-star. Its surprisingly low standard was proof of the difficulty travellers have in choosing accurate accommodation from a brochure or the Internet (we never did find the promised camp kitchen). It definitely did not live up to our expectations, but with a large group and specific requirements it was necessary to pre-book all our sites.

Fortunately the following night, Echuca Caravan Park, Vic, was given the thumbs up from all and was voted as one of our favourites. It offered a good location beside the river and was close to town, had suitable kerb and guttering, a shadecloth pad beside the caravan and most importantly in the middle of winter, a great camp kitchen with not one but three open fires. As we sat sipping red wine, Laurie read a verse by Banjo Paterson and life was good.

After a disappointing one-night stopover at Swan Hill (the Pioneer Settlement Museum was closed on Mondays and the paddle steamer cruise was booked out), we meandered into Mildura for a two-nighter at Rivergardens Caravan Park, complete with the luxury of ensuite bathrooms. This small but cosy park at Gol Gol on the Murray River is just five minutes out of town and is a great base from which to explore Sunraysia's orchards, wineries and golf courses.

Seven of the group, myself included, ventured the 110km to Mungo National Park in the two 4WDs and had a fabulous day. The 70km signposted drive around the ancient lake system is a great way to experience the amazing diversity of landscape and vegetation found in this region. Other members of the group explored historic Wentworth and found Old Wentworth Gaol, red sand dunes and the 400-year-old "God Tree". As for my husband Graeme, he visited a winery, bought a bottle of red, sat on the riverbank to have a fish and was at peace with the world.

The next day saw us hurriedly eating all our fruit in transit, as we crossed the border into SA and entered the Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone. An inspector searched both our vehicle and caravan, but thankfully we had been warned.

The minimum fine for carrying fruit into the area is $200 and random roadblocks operate.

In SA, pleasant surprises are around every corner. In the planning stages of this trip, I spent many hours poring over maps, reading brochures and surfing the web. Our itinerary necessitated a stopover point somewhere between Mildura and The Flinders Ranges and at random I chose a town called Burra, which turned out to be a great decision.

Situated in the picturesque foothills bordering the Clare Valley, Burra is an old copper mining town that has been lovingly preserved. I recommend you stop off at the visitor information centre in the market square, purchase a Burra Heritage Passport and follow the heritage trail, a fascinating walk through time. If this isn't to your taste, browse the many antique shops and galleries or have a drink with the locals at the Burra Hotel.

On a one-night stopover we could not fully appreciate this unique village, but we will return when not so pressed for time. Hopefully by then, the caravan park, with its pretty setting beside a creek in the centre of town, will have constructed an enclosed barbecue area or camp kitchen as, true to its reputation, Burra was extremely windy and cold when we visited in August.

Our scenic drive into the Flinders Ranges was made difficult by gale force winds and our petrol gauges plummeted. On arriving at Hawker to stock up and fuel up, it was discovered that one of the Gadabouts had lost a window on their pop-top - it had been sucked out.

A big thank you to John Teague at Hawker Motors for allowing the boys to use his workshop to fashion a temporary window out of a piece of plywood. This was a timely warning and all vans were thoroughly checked to ensure that windows and pop-tops were securely fastened.

Our home for the next four nights was Rawnsley Park Station at the base of Wilpena Pound. With its stunning setting overlooking Rawnsley Bluff, this caravan park is an ideal base from which to explore the area. Although the vans were parked on red dirt and rock, excellent facilities more than made up for this small inconvenience.

Rawnsley Park has the best equipped and largest camp kitchen we have ever seen on our travels. With lounge chairs, a combustion fire, TV, seating for about 40 people, indoor cooking plates and gas burners, this room became an ideal spot to unwind after a day exploring Wilpena Pound and the gorges.

The Flinders Ranges and The Pound lived up to all our expectations and more. In three offroad vehicles and a Commodore Berlina we took the full-day drive that winds through picturesque Bunyeroo and Brachina gorges, had lunch at Parachilna's Prairie Hotel (anyone for a camel bagel?) and returned through Blinman with a view of the majestic crags of Wilpena Pound in the dying afternoon sun. A few days are simply not enough to fully explore this breathtaking region.

Our return route via the Barrier Highway and Broken Hill took in another of SA's treasures, the historic steam town of Peterborough. In its heyday, more than 100 trains passed daily through the town on their way from the mines at Broken Hill to the ships at Port Pirie. Today, only the Indian-Pacific makes a brief stop four times a week, but the memories of Peterborough's glory days linger on in its unique information centre (an unused train carriage), the Steamtown Museum and the four scale-model trains built by local blacksmith Colin Campbell positioned at each entrance to the town.

The Peterborough Caravan Park is set beside Victoria Park and has a picturesque rural outlook. Don't miss doing the town coach tour with Chris from the caravan park, as he has endless stories to tell about the history of this colourful little town, which was saved from anonymity by reinventing itself as a tourist destination.

We headed onwards to Broken Hill and soon lush farmlands give way to a desolate landscape and rows of telegraph poles like sentries disappear into the far horizon. This was the first visit to Broken Hill for most of us, and again it was a just a brief introduction to this fascinating outback city. In our limited time, we did manage to fit in a visit to the Daydream Mine, Silverton, the Line of Lode Lookout and the Sculpture Symposium. We also strolled along the heritage walk visiting the Palace Hotel made famous by the movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

A definite highlight of our trip, the extensive Mint Gallery includes a simulated opal mine and Aboriginal cave, through which you walk to view Peter Anderson's Big Picture. This huge canvas took over two years to paint, is 100m round and 12 metres high and features spectacular scenes from within 300km of Broken Hill.

Peter's brother Chris gave us a personalised tour of the gallery, which is one of the benefits of travelling in a group (we were wearing our distinctive Gadabouts jackets). An Anderson print of Rawnsley Bluff takes pride of place in our living room - a permanent reminder of a fabulous caravan holiday.

We shared some wonderful experiences during our inaugural caravan getaway. The new Roadstar Grange was a winner, the old Viscount made the grade, our only drama was a lost window, the scenery was spectacular and a great time was had by all.

Note: In June 2004 one of the Gadabouts, local Holden dealer Barry Robertson, opened Barry Robertson Caravans, a caravan and camper trailer dealership in West Gosford, NSW. Barry stocks Roadstar and York caravans plus Cape York camper trailers and has a fully stocked caravan accessories shop, managed by Carolyn's husband Graeme.