We are planning to be in SA for about 8 months this year leaving Melb about the early April. We spent some time in SA a couple of years ago around the Limestone coast area. We free camp mostly but use CP from time to time as needed. Now comes the ask, we realized that we know very little about this state, so if you have been to a place in SA that really worked for you we would love to be able to share that experience as well. Please leave your input on this forum or if it suits just PM If that suits you better.
Thanking you in advance for your input to our journey.
Brian and Cheryl
Dunmowin said
02:48 PM Feb 20, 2013
My God, where do I start. We have been in SA now for almost 12 months, and done a mixture of free camps, bush camps and caravan parks. If you want to camp in National park, you can buy a season pass, include camping fees. Here are some of our top picks:
Murray River. Most river ferry crossings have a free camp. You can follow the Murray from the Cooryong right up to Mildura (unless of course, you are travelling in the opposite direction) Good theme if you are into paddle steamers.
Burra. Facinating little historica village. Friendly caravan park right in the middle of town. Walking distance to everything. Make sure you go to Visitors Info and get a passport and key to all the POI.
Fleurieu Peninsula. Rapid Bay was our favourite free camp. Very pretty area.
Yorke Peninsula. Free camped at Wauraltee Beach, The Gap, Swincer's Rock. Caravan Parked at Pt Turton, Corny Point, Marion Bay, Black Point. (All reasonably priced) Camping reserves on YP are either free for some, or $10.00 per night/$35.00 per week. If you buy a week, you can move from one to another in that time.
Eyre Peninsula. Only half way through this one, good camp at Pt Lowly, best one at Port Gibbon. Great Happy Hour. Caravan parks get expensive the closer you get to Port Lincoln, but if you watch Travel Auction, you can usually buy a 10 day stay at Port Neill for around $190.00, instead of $350.00.
Flinders & beyond. Free camp at Warren Gorge, near Quorne, plenty of cheap spots within the Flinders National park. Further north Beltana Station has reasonably priced bush camp, Farina has brillant camping near the Farina ruins. Algebuckina Bridge was pick on the Oodnadatta Track.
Sturt Highway, heading south from Marla - Lake Hart rest area. Pulled in for morning tea, stayed for three nights.
The most memorable things is watching the changes in the harvest, late July the crops are beginning to grow in recently ploughed fields, by August you have fields of green and gold (canola), by November the crops have dried out and the harvest starts. Viterra silos tower above most towns, and work begins in ernest for the next two months. By December, the fields that were green and gold in August, are now brown stubble.
Every town has its history and story to tell. If you are in the Clare Valley, but not into wine tours, check out some of the little villages along the road for hidden secrets. I have a whole swag of them that I discovoured - magazine story waiting to be published, so you will have to go find them yourself. There are ruins to see, story lines to follow - Read up about the Ghan, or the Goyder line or the explorers, and follow the story on the map.
Despite what anyone tells you, the fishing is Cr#P! unless you have a boat
I could go on....., but I am in a bit of a hurry at the moment, on our way to WA!
Travel safe.
-- Edited by Dunmowin on Wednesday 20th of February 2013 02:56:20 PM
briche said
12:38 AM Feb 23, 2013
Well what a reply. Thank you big time. Have noted all of your reply and will start to put it together when we get back from Tassie ( w/o the van ) catching up with family and friends. We will likely leave Melb straight after Easter when hopefully many have gone hone home, etc. Would ask if you are willing to just take some notes as you go through WA. We are expecting to travel through out WA for two years starting next year so youra occasional comments would be most helpful for us as we start planning that trip. Once again our thanks for your comments, etx and have a safe journey.
All the best
Brian and Cheryl
neilnruth said
04:49 AM Feb 23, 2013
Briche, We would add Hahndorf, Victor Harbour, Kangaroo Island, and we also loved Burra and Clare. There is a good bike trail in Clare district created where the old railway line used to be. Camped at the showground at Burra, just out of town, but it did cost $15/night and only 1 shower - bit like Dungog! There's lots to see on Yorke Peninsular. We also loved the brown ploughed soils (we arrived in a red dust storm) turning to green barley fields. Take time to see the Copper triangle area and along the east and south coasts. There's so much to see. Glad you are taking your time. don't forget the Flinders Ranges too. In fact, I wouldn't mind going back to SA.
herbie said
06:58 AM Mar 2, 2013
You won't regret a single moment over in SA , we ended up staying around the Limestone coast area for three months,We just moved on a little every other day.Ihave some beaut free and low cost places to park up if you are interested, a lot are not in camp books , a friend of mine lives over that way so a lot came from him.Just leave a message via here and i can get back to you.
RodLainie said
09:40 PM Mar 5, 2013
Hi Briche
We spent a lovely time in Mildura at the Buronga Caravan Park which is directly opposite the Mildura wharf. Was nice to watch the paddle steamers coming in and docking stc. From there we went to a little caravan park at Kingston on Murray, which is near Berri. Great park, clean, quiet, magnificent pool and currently it is $80 for 4 nights. ATM we are in Tanunda, very expensive and not much of a park in my opinion, certainly not worth the $$. Next stop is Port Germein which we have been told is a small caravan park right on the water near the wharf. It is $156 per week or $26 per night. Apparently Port Germein is known for Blue Swimmer Crabs, I hope to catch heaps of them :) I can let you know what it's like after we get there on Wednesday if you like. From there we are planning on checking out some free camps around Eyre Peninsular, so I'll keep you posted :)
Lorraine
RodLainie said
09:45 PM Mar 5, 2013
Hi Dunmowin
We are heading to WA too! Would love to hear of some good spots on the way. But we are taking our time around Eyre Peninsular first. Might catch up
Lorraine
BriVee said
03:24 PM Mar 6, 2013
Hi Briche,
If you are in Barmera during your tour through our lovely state, they have just reached a concensus for a RV Park, with a meeting to vote on this being held on February 19th, suggested fees are $5 a night, a gold coin donation for potable water for van storage tanks also with a maximum stay of 4 nights. It is to be on the Bruce Oval. Unfortunately I cannot tell you if this was passed or not, but think it possibly was as all parties had agreed to "in principle support" for this.
-- Edited by BriVee on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 03:39:16 PM
Santa said
06:11 PM Mar 9, 2013
Morning all, nice to hear all of the positive comments re South Australia, we that have lived here all of our lives do tend to take things for granted.
Now a plug for the Copper coast area (upper Yorke Peninsula) Plenty to see and do around here, fishing, crabbing, strong mining heritage and only a short drive to the wine growing area of Clare, well worth a visit.
sandyr said
07:49 PM Mar 9, 2013
we had a trip to S.A. last year in sept, although I originally come from S.A. now live in newcastle we back for a month visit to eyre penisula and the flinders ranges I just loved it especially the bake houses along the way,great one at Tumby went there on the way down and on the way back. Then caught the ferry back over the other side to go to Adelaide to visit the relies then onto Echca, love the paddle streamers, Emylou just loved it
RodLainie said
10:36 PM Mar 11, 2013
Hi Briche On Travel Auctions I have just seen a 10 day stay in a powered site at Port Broughton, up for auction with 9 days to go to end of auction. It's normally $320 for 10 days. We have gone past this point but if you are interested in going there it would be worth a look and a bid. You just need to register on the website first. The park looks lovely so give it a try. http://www.travelauctions.com.au/
We are planning to be in SA for about 8 months this year leaving Melb about the early April. We spent some time in SA a couple of years ago around the Limestone coast area. We free camp mostly but use CP from time to time as needed. Now comes the ask, we realized that we know very little about this state, so if you have been to a place in SA that really worked for you we would love to be able to share that experience as well. Please leave your input on this forum or if it suits just PM If that suits you better.
Thanking you in advance for your input to our journey.
Brian and Cheryl
My God, where do I start. We have been in SA now for almost 12 months, and done a mixture of free camps, bush camps and caravan parks. If you want to camp in National park, you can buy a season pass, include camping fees. Here are some of our top picks:
The most memorable things is watching the changes in the harvest, late July the crops are beginning to grow in recently ploughed fields, by August you have fields of green and gold (canola), by November the crops have dried out and the harvest starts. Viterra silos tower above most towns, and work begins in ernest for the next two months. By December, the fields that were green and gold in August, are now brown stubble.
Every town has its history and story to tell. If you are in the Clare Valley, but not into wine tours, check out some of the little villages along the road for hidden secrets. I have a whole swag of them that I discovoured - magazine story waiting to be published, so you will have to go find them yourself. There are ruins to see, story lines to follow - Read up about the Ghan, or the Goyder line or the explorers, and follow the story on the map.
Despite what anyone tells you, the fishing is Cr#P! unless you have a boat
I could go on....., but I am in a bit of a hurry at the moment, on our way to WA!
Travel safe.
-- Edited by Dunmowin on Wednesday 20th of February 2013 02:56:20 PM
Well what a reply. Thank you big time. Have noted all of your reply and will start to put it together when we get back from Tassie ( w/o the van ) catching up with family and friends. We will likely leave Melb straight after Easter when hopefully many have gone hone home, etc. Would ask if you are willing to just take some notes as you go through WA. We are expecting to travel through out WA for two years starting next year so youra occasional comments would be most helpful for us as we start planning that trip. Once again our thanks for your comments, etx and have a safe journey.
All the best
Brian and Cheryl
You won't regret a single moment over in SA , we ended up staying around the Limestone coast area for three months,We just moved on a little every other day.Ihave some beaut free and low cost places to park up if you are interested, a lot are not in camp books , a friend of mine lives over that way so a lot came from him.Just leave a message via here and i can get back to you.
We spent a lovely time in Mildura at the Buronga Caravan Park which is directly opposite the Mildura wharf. Was nice to watch the paddle steamers coming in and docking stc. From there we went to a little caravan park at Kingston on Murray, which is near Berri. Great park, clean, quiet, magnificent pool and currently it is $80 for 4 nights. ATM we are in Tanunda, very expensive and not much of a park in my opinion, certainly not worth the $$. Next stop is Port Germein which we have been told is a small caravan park right on the water near the wharf. It is $156 per week or $26 per night. Apparently Port Germein is known for Blue Swimmer Crabs, I hope to catch heaps of them :) I can let you know what it's like after we get there on Wednesday if you like. From there we are planning on checking out some free camps around Eyre Peninsular, so I'll keep you posted :)
Lorraine
Hi Dunmowin
We are heading to WA too! Would love to hear of some good spots on the way. But we are taking our time around Eyre Peninsular first. Might catch up
Lorraine
Hi Briche,
If you are in Barmera during your tour through our lovely state, they have just reached a concensus for a RV Park, with a meeting to vote on this being held on February 19th, suggested fees are $5 a night, a gold coin donation for potable water for van storage tanks also with a maximum stay of 4 nights. It is to be on the Bruce Oval. Unfortunately I cannot tell you if this was passed or not, but think it possibly was as all parties had agreed to "in principle support" for this.
It is years since we were there, but do remember it as a lovely spot as also was Berri which is just up the road. Here are a couple of links which tell you about the spots http://www.murrayriver.com.au/barmera/ http://www.murrayriver.com.au/berri/
Another spot that I love is the Fleurieu Peninsula http://www.fleurieupeninsula.com.au/ I grew up in Victor Harbor. Some lovely towns nearby are; Goolwa, Port Elliot, Yankalilla, Normanville then there are all the spots surrounding Adelaide http://www.jlphotoimages.com.au/gallery_398321.html some of the surrounding towns are gorgeous especially those in the Adelaide Hills http://www.tourism.sa.gov.au/sa-tourism/about-sa.aspx we always try for a day trip to Hahndorf http://hahndorfsa.org.au/ I have probably snowed you under with links but hope you do find something useful here.
Enjoy your travels,
Cheers,
Veronica
-- Edited by BriVee on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 03:39:16 PM
Morning all, nice to hear all of the positive comments re South Australia, we that have lived here all of our lives do tend to take things for granted.
Now a plug for the Copper coast area (upper Yorke Peninsula) Plenty to see and do around here, fishing, crabbing, strong mining heritage and only a short drive to the wine growing area of Clare, well worth a visit.
On Travel Auctions I have just seen a 10 day stay in a powered site at Port Broughton, up for auction with 9 days to go to end of auction. It's normally $320 for 10 days. We have gone past this point but if you are interested in going there it would be worth a look and a bid. You just need to register on the website first. The park looks lovely so give it a try. http://www.travelauctions.com.au/
Happy travels :)