And We Enter the Flinders Ranges

Leaving Kimba we headed towards Iron Knob (I bet no bad jokes have ever been made about that!!). When we reached there we had to make a decision about where to next and decided on Whyalla. One of Liz’s friends, Nikki, has a brother there and we thought that was as good a reason for picking a destination as any.

Initially we had intended on pitching up at one of the free campsites for a few days and exploring from there, however after much froing and toing we ended up heading into the Whyalla Foreshore Caravan Park, admittedly  it was just on dark when we finally organised ourselves.

We had had a couple of issues with the bikes on our way around town. Even though the bike rack was supposed to be made to carry four bikes, between the weight of the bikes, the length of the trip and the roughness of some of the roads, the rack had been slowly bending backwards. The problem was that I only noticed it when I looked in the rear view mirror as I turned a corner and noticed that the bikes didn’t swing back around with the car. I pulled over and had a look and found Harry’s bike hung up on the Jerry Cans on the caravan. While this wasn’t too hard to fix up I later found that it had severely bent his rear rim. About the same time I noticed this I also realised I had somehow left the winder behind that puts up the caravan. After much cursing and pain I finally managed to get the ‘van up through the use of a pipe wrench and jemmy bar (by this stage well and truly in the dark).

The loss of the winder changed our plans for the next few days significantly. We wandered into town the next morning to find that the closest place that we could pick up a replacement winder was Port Pirie (much to Max’s happiness given he had been wanting to visit port Pirie for a couple of days for some reason). We therefore organised to pick one up late that afternoon to make sure we at least had time to visit the Whyalla Maritime Museum.


The "Whyalla" in its final resting place



Harry charting a course



At the officers dining table


The maritime museum is a fantastic facility, with the former Navy Frigate, The Whyalla, the centrepiece. The story of the effort that went into moving the ship across land to its present site was worth the visit alone. Harry was also very taken with the model railway depicting the mining operations at Iron Knob through to Port at Whyalla. as he said, whoever had put together the railway had ‘worked very hard’. This visit proved to me both the benefits of the continuing efforts in Bunbury to get a museum and the importance of ensuring that it is well-sited, has a mixture of physical and interactive attractions and is properly resourced, both when first constructed and on an ongoing basis.

Following this we took off for Port Pirie, arriving with about half an hour to spare. Winder in hand we then had to decide where to stay. We had initially (again) been intending to lay up in a free site for a few days, however Liz came across a small caravan site in a town called Yacka while we were trying to find the shop we were chasing in Port Pirie. After a quick discussion we decided it was worth another 70 odd k’s and set off once more (following a quick phone call to ensure there was space available.
When we got there we found that Yacka is a town of one shop, a jointly owned craft outlet that also sells a few staples such as bread. Other than that it has a few former shops, which are now for the most part used as houses (including the old pub, post office etc.). The caravan park is also something of a joint effort, with a lady on a nearby farm taking the phone calls and two of the people in town providing keys and taking money. We drove in and at once decided it looked perfect for Easter, meaning that we are likely to have our first real base since we left.


Working on Max's blog in bed in the 'van

 The following day we used the location to visit Clare. Much of the day was spent in the Clare library, me studying, Max reading and Liz working on her blog and doing some reading. While there Liz also set up a blog site for Harry as he wanted his grandparents to be able to also see what he had been doing while on the trip, so now every member of the family is the proud owner of a blog. Given it is the Thursday before Easter, Clare also provided the perfect opportunity to make sure we had everything we needed for the next few days with most things closed until after ANZAC Day.

Clare is one of those towns that just has a lovely feel about it. The incorporation of its historical buildings into current everyday use works exceptionally well (at face value at any rate) and the library itself was possibly the friendliest, most welcoming I have ever been in. Interestingly, it was also located within one of the historic building, rather than a purpose built facility with all the bells and whistles, but it attracted an amazing number of kids who all obviously just loved being in there.

When we got back to Yacka that night we were astounded to find no-one else camping there, even though we are in the midst of the Easter period. So, over two nights there has been one other berth occupied (and that only for the night – by a couple breaking the trip back to Adelaide after spending a week right in the Flinders Ranges). I guess it is one of those well kept secrets – $15 a night for the whole family, power, toilets and showers, lovely large area to set up in with a great children’s playground adjacent. The only thing missing is the ability to link water to the van, but it is only a short walk to pick up a bucket if needed which isn’t really an issue.

Yackamoorundie Park, Yacka

The change in scenery has also been significant as we moved from the SA outback to the Clare Valley in the space of the one day. We are now only a short drive from some of Australia’s oldest vineyards!