South Australia 2021

The Barossa Valley is one of the worlds great wine regions. With about 150 vineyards and some of the oldest vines in the country, it offers some fantastic Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache wines. We included a couple days in this valley in February but on this particular trip we drove straight through the Barossa as we headed north.  A week later, with Melbourne in lockdown and having exhausted our interest in Arkaroola, we looked to again enjoying some unscheduled…

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We always tried to avoid long stretches of unpaved roads as visions of red dust infiltrating our brand new Clam weren’t pleasant. This thought prevaded our minds as we ventured deeper into the Flinders. We really really wanted to visit Arkaroola but all routes in to this remote location are unpaved. We queried every local resident and caravan occupant we met about their knowledge of the best route option but the results were decidedly inconclusive. We gave in and chose…

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We are eager to see more of the Flinders Ranges and have our sights set on Wilpena Pound.  A pound is a circular valley surrounded by a rim of mountains, much like a volcanic crater. We had pre-booked the campground at Ikara-Flinders National Park and a rigid Covid check-in required us to list our previous 2-weeks lodging (all in SA thankfully). This is an extraordinarily beautiful place and for the Adnyamathanha (Aboriginal) people it is enormously sacred and significant.  The…

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As we drive north beyond the Barossa and Clare Valleys the landscape becomes more arid and the mountains, while not giants, become rugged and more formidable.  Port Augusta is a small city that was once a seaport but is now a junction for road traffic and railway travel and feels like the gateway to the Outback. Today its claim to fame is being the home of the Pichi Richi Railway. In 1878 construction commenced on a railway line to establish…

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The day after our evening ferry back to the mainland we drove a hour to McClaren Vale, a wine region south of Adelaide. When we were here in February the vines were laden with grapes but now on the first day of winter many were barren or retained an autumn glow from the last of the clinging leaves. Our plan was to stay in the hills above Adelaide at Hahndorf. From here it’s an easy drive down to the middle…

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This is what we’ve been anticipating for a number of years…a visit to Kangaroo Island!  The name sounds as Australian as you can get. A couple facts: It’s Australia’s third largest island at 155 km long and 55 km wide…that’s nearly 100 miles by 35 miles and about 20x bigger than Malta. With a population of 4,400 (Malta 500,000), KI is mostly pristine wilderness.  However, the bushfires of 2019/20 were horrific for the environment and the local economy.  A total…

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The seaside town of Robe, SA was on our agenda in February but quashed by the delayed negative results from our required Covid test when we first entered the state. We were keen to make it to this much touted town this time and with no testing requirement it was our first port of call after crossing the border. The forecast was not very promising though, and sure enough a low pressure system brought high winds and rain which settled…

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Our baby needed a name. The EcoTourer opens like a clam shell and since this is hardly glamorous camping we refer to it as clamping. So the Clam it is! Our traveling companions, the Salibas, likened it to a pearl which suits this theme. We were meeting them in Port Fairy on the west end of the Great Ocean Road at Gardens Caravan Park on the Moyne River. The days there were a blissful mix of bright clear skies, warm…

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After a year being housebound we took an easy 10-day road trip to South Australia in February 2021. It was the elixir we needed to heal our Covid-weary minds. As we drove home we began to talk about how much we missed road-tripping and a vision of another caravan was formulated. No sooner were we back home in Melbourne and plans began. This time we were interested in “less is more” and a gently used EcoTourer fit the bill. Seriously,…

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