Another trip -Loxton, Flinders and Yorke Peninsula - July to August 2025 - Part 1

 We departed on our next trip on July 21st, 2025, and headed north, via Pinnaroo ...........

                                      

...................and passed some very dry paddocks that were blowing away in the windy weather.

                                          

...............................to the riverland town of Loxton. I had booked into a quilting day on the coming weekend, so we decided to go a few days earlier......We had a few days of rest and relaxation and Barry worked a couple of those and we did a bit of tourist activities.

                                       

                

Look at the tree of Knowledge, by the edge of the river, and it's hard to imagine the water level of 19561!!

Friends Jo and Tony from Mildura and also Pat and Alan also came a few days early.  The weather was very cold and wet, so the heater was in use.

Guest speaker for the quilting day was Michele Hill, and we dined out one evening at the Berri Hotel, with Michele and Larry and Pat and Alan.

There were about 140 quilters at the Loxton venue where we enjoyed various guest speakers, including Michele speaking about her William Morris journey. There were shops to tempt us and lots of quilting chatter.

Here are the three of us.....from right, Jo, Pat and I.

One day Pat, Alan, Barry and I went for a tour of the Loxton Historical Village. This is an amazing display of how things used to be.....in the good old days?? We recognised a lot of the items on display, and felt as though we fitted right in.

I took lots of photos, but have only selected some for this post......the village features lots of old building set out as in olden days.........a church, shops, schools, houses etc........

I don't think Barry fits in the school desk like he used to???.

Not sure what Pat and this fella were 'talking' about??

This church building was lovely, and as soon as you entered, hymn music started playing.

After our tour of the village we boarded the Murray River Queen for a late lunch. (this is a stationary boat) The weather was very cold, with intermittent showers of rain.

After lunch we headed back to the van for a lazy afternoon by the heater. 

The next morning we departed about 10am and headed cross country to Swan Reach....... 

.......and through Sedan, which is home to stone fences...............

and into the Barossa. We booked into the Nuriootpa Caravan Park for the next 4 nights.

It was July 28th and Miss Bridie's birthday, so we enjoyed evening meal with them at the Tanunda Clubhouse, which was followed by birthday cake.

Next day was a few domestic chores, followed by an evening with the family of DD1.....

...........and the next evening we enjoyed a meal with DD2 and family.

It was the 12th day of our trip and the 1st August when we left the Barossa and travelled north............the countryside was looking much greener here.........

We journeyed through Truro, to Eudunda, which is the home of Australian author Colin Thiele, and saw the painted silos.......

........we bypassed Burra, thinking we can make this a base for a future trip........had a quick stop at Terowie.....................

........ went through Peterborough.........

.......kept going north to Orroroo, and headed for Hawker.........

 

......................and you can see the Flinders Ranges in the distance.

This is the map showing our travel to Hawker, on the purple line.

The night was very cold at Hawker. We had to decide what we were going to do next, and finally decided to keep going north and see what eventuated. We still had the van on, and drove to Marree, before making our next decision.....

Marree, was very rustic??? We had thought that it would be good to do a flight to see the "Marree man". After phoning about flights we discovered that the flight also included Lake Eyre, and we had done that last year, so decided against that plan. I have googled and found a picture of the Marree man.

from the internet............

The Marree Man is a massive modern ground drawing, or geoglyph, discovered in June 1998 on a remote desert plateau at Finniss Springs, about 60 km west of Marree in Outback South Australia. It depicts an Indigenous Australian man hunting with a stick or boomerang. 

The highway further north was only for 4wd or some were closed, so we decided not to go north with the caravan on dirt roads.........

Having made our decision, we backtracked from Marree and went south....called into Farina for a look......

Farina is located within the Lake Eyre Basin, on the old alignment of the Great Northern Railway later known as the Ghan Railway, 26Kms North of Lyndhurst and 55Kms South of Marree, near the junctions of the Birdsville, Innaminka and Oodnadatta Tracks in South Australia. The walking trails, information boards and Camping Ground are open 365 days of the year. Every year between May and July the Volunteers of the Farina Restoration Group run a works program to continue the preservation and exhibition of the old Farina Town.

 

We ended up staying at the Copley caravan park for 2 nights..............

                              

We chose a site and unhooked the van, and Barry was searching for the water tap, and had some trouble locating it.......who would have thought it would be hiding inside the rubbish bin????

                                                       

                                                       

We did a tour of the area, without the van, and checked out Leigh Creek. I can't help thinking about the waste of a whole town, because the mine was closed!!!

a modern outback township in South Australia's northern Flinders Ranges, located 550 km north of Adelaide. Originally built in the 1940s to support a major regional coal field, the town transitioned into an open public community and tourism hub after the mine closed in 2015. 

Our next decision was to head east to Arkaroola for a look. Glad we left the van at Copley, as the road was 'ordinary' in places. We passed through Nepabunna. Many years ago, when DD2 was in primary school, her class did a trip to Nepabunna for a few days to visit the settlement here. I don't think I realised at the time just how far out in the country she was going!!

There were 4wd tours of the area available, but we didn't time it right to go on one, and be back in time to get back to Copley before dark. We did not want to drive in the dark with all the animals out and about.  So we did our own touring in the car. Very rugged country.

Back to Copley for the second night and hooked up the car ready for heading south again in the morning.

We booked into Rawnsley Park for 3 nights. It was very cold at nights, so thankful for the heater and the electric blanket and a powered site.

                               

We booked a helicopter flight over Wilpena Pound and the ranges...........definitely the best way to see the whole area.............

 We went for a drive to Blinman, stopping at places along the way, such as the Wall of china.............Stokes Hill Lookout, Angorichina Village and Parachilna Gorge.

We saw lots of the natural wildlife, especially later in the afternoon, so was pleased to return to the van about 5.30, just on dark.

Next day was a day of domestic duties, washing etc and Barry to work, and hooked up the car ready for departure the next morning.

After 18days, we headed off to the next stage of our trip. We were half way, another 17 days to go. Be back with the next part soon.

Blessing, From Jude and Baz