Ever since we began our travels, each time we return to Adelaide (or have to traverse any capital city) we have made it our practice to overnight nearby on the day before our arrival. There is nothing worse that having to negotiate heavy city traffic in the late afternoon when the eyes are bleary and the mind has become dulled by several hours of serious concentration, even if the territory is familiar.
On this occasion we decided to see what the Adelaide Hills town of Mount Barker had to offer. This now rapidly expanding 'outer suburb' lies just off the South-Eastern Freeway, so we chose a route from Moorook which would take us through Loxton and thence south through the upper Mallee to Tailem Bend where we would join the freeway.
Loxton is a river town with which we are very familiar.....we have moored there on several occasions in good old Kloe. As we drove through we could not resist a quick peek at the river near Kapunda Island
before climbing up from the river valley to the main street (with the imposing Loxton Hotel on our right......another well known spot and the scene of many a jolly evening)
and continuing on out of town to the junction with the B55, our chosen strip of bitumen for the day.
As we headed out across the plains of the upper Mallee region under increasingly threatening skies, we were surprised to see just how green everything was. We have travelled this route on many previous occasions (sans caravan) when the outlook across the sandy grain paddocks has been far less inviting with stunted crops struggling in marginal conditions and winds whipping up the sandy top soil and piling it in running banks along the roadside fences.
But today presented a very different scene...the Mallee at its best, although our familiarity with the road brought with it some concerns about sections of the highway in which serious close undulations make life a touch difficult, and indeed this proved true, but for the moment we just enjoyed the scenery as the plains gave way to rolling hills on the approach
to our turn off to Tailem Bend.
This was the last leg of the secondary road. Within half and hour the welcome sign on the back road into this old railway and river town was behind us
and we found ourselves at the road junction opposite the town's Riverside Hotel.
What a change the South-Eastern Freeway presented after some of the roads we had traversed over the past months. This was cruisy....well, at first anyway!
With the rich grazing fields of Jervois flying past our left hand windows
we soon found ourselves slowing to cross the Swanport Bridge
where we were able to gaze over the broad expanses of the River Murray for the last time
before heading for 'them thar hills', the Adelaide Hills, aka the Mount Lofty Ranges. Our destination was nigh.
By now the wind had become a howling northerly. The van was being buffeted badly and despite the smooth, wide carriageway of the freeway, some significant concentration behind the wheel was of the essence.
In fact, what looked at first like smoke in the distance ahead of us, turned out to be clouds of dust being blown off the open faces of a newly re-opened copper mine being operated by Hillsgrove Resources at Kanmantoo. It appeared the forecasters had it right. We were in for an unpleasant welcome.
We pushed on stoically, much more slowly than we had anticipated as the van swayed and jinked behind us. This was a welcome sight indeed,
as was this leafy Mount Barker street down which we travelled
to reach our destination for today, the entrance to the Mount Barker Caravan Park.
With our required fee duly paid at the office
we left the pretty little entrance garden to our rear
as we made our way past a few of the park cabins,
one of the two park camp kitchens,
and the rear ablution block.
At this end of the park there are a number of slab sites
and plenty of summer shade,
but we had opted for a drive-thru'......we had no plans to unhitch for this brief sojourn. So, with a minimum of fuss and bother we hove to on the the gravel of this quite large site, levelled the van, and sat tight. Needless to say, the awning remained firmly furled.
Looking further down the park, we half expected to see the tempest rip branches from the pines which towered over the clutch of park permanents in the far corner, but with some hasty rope work to secure madly flapping canvas, they survived intact.
We did manage a later toddle around the remainder of our camp to find a few more cabins
and a second camp kitchen adjacent to a large area of well kept lawn.
This park is located in a rustic setting, bordered on a couple of sides by open fields and rows of deciduous trees which in summer would no doubt present as leafy and inviting, but unfortunately, today was bleak and blustery, with the promise of more to come, as indeed it did.
In typical Adelaide fashion the northerly gale eventually gave way to the onslaught of a south-westerly buster and we knew that our arrival into Adelaide proper tomorrow would be less than welcoming, weather wise at least.
And so it was!
Loxton is a river town with which we are very familiar.....we have moored there on several occasions in good old Kloe. As we drove through we could not resist a quick peek at the river near Kapunda Island
before climbing up from the river valley to the main street (with the imposing Loxton Hotel on our right......another well known spot and the scene of many a jolly evening)
and continuing on out of town to the junction with the B55, our chosen strip of bitumen for the day.
As we headed out across the plains of the upper Mallee region under increasingly threatening skies, we were surprised to see just how green everything was. We have travelled this route on many previous occasions (sans caravan) when the outlook across the sandy grain paddocks has been far less inviting with stunted crops struggling in marginal conditions and winds whipping up the sandy top soil and piling it in running banks along the roadside fences.
But today presented a very different scene...the Mallee at its best, although our familiarity with the road brought with it some concerns about sections of the highway in which serious close undulations make life a touch difficult, and indeed this proved true, but for the moment we just enjoyed the scenery as the plains gave way to rolling hills on the approach
to our turn off to Tailem Bend.
This was the last leg of the secondary road. Within half and hour the welcome sign on the back road into this old railway and river town was behind us
and we found ourselves at the road junction opposite the town's Riverside Hotel.
What a change the South-Eastern Freeway presented after some of the roads we had traversed over the past months. This was cruisy....well, at first anyway!
With the rich grazing fields of Jervois flying past our left hand windows
we soon found ourselves slowing to cross the Swanport Bridge
where we were able to gaze over the broad expanses of the River Murray for the last time
before heading for 'them thar hills', the Adelaide Hills, aka the Mount Lofty Ranges. Our destination was nigh.
By now the wind had become a howling northerly. The van was being buffeted badly and despite the smooth, wide carriageway of the freeway, some significant concentration behind the wheel was of the essence.
In fact, what looked at first like smoke in the distance ahead of us, turned out to be clouds of dust being blown off the open faces of a newly re-opened copper mine being operated by Hillsgrove Resources at Kanmantoo. It appeared the forecasters had it right. We were in for an unpleasant welcome.
We pushed on stoically, much more slowly than we had anticipated as the van swayed and jinked behind us. This was a welcome sight indeed,
as was this leafy Mount Barker street down which we travelled
to reach our destination for today, the entrance to the Mount Barker Caravan Park.
With our required fee duly paid at the office
we left the pretty little entrance garden to our rear
as we made our way past a few of the park cabins,
one of the two park camp kitchens,
and the rear ablution block.
At this end of the park there are a number of slab sites
and plenty of summer shade,
but we had opted for a drive-thru'......we had no plans to unhitch for this brief sojourn. So, with a minimum of fuss and bother we hove to on the the gravel of this quite large site, levelled the van, and sat tight. Needless to say, the awning remained firmly furled.
Looking further down the park, we half expected to see the tempest rip branches from the pines which towered over the clutch of park permanents in the far corner, but with some hasty rope work to secure madly flapping canvas, they survived intact.
We did manage a later toddle around the remainder of our camp to find a few more cabins
and a second camp kitchen adjacent to a large area of well kept lawn.
This park is located in a rustic setting, bordered on a couple of sides by open fields and rows of deciduous trees which in summer would no doubt present as leafy and inviting, but unfortunately, today was bleak and blustery, with the promise of more to come, as indeed it did.
In typical Adelaide fashion the northerly gale eventually gave way to the onslaught of a south-westerly buster and we knew that our arrival into Adelaide proper tomorrow would be less than welcoming, weather wise at least.
And so it was!
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