Day 3 - My watch thinks it's been stolen

 

For the third morning in a row, I found myself awake before anything or anyone else in the campground.

The birds weren't awake.

The sheep weren't awake.

I'm not entirely convinced the sun was awake.

Yet there I was, sitting outside with a coffee wondering if sleeping past 7am is now a privilege reserved exclusively for younger people whose joints don't sound like a bowl of Rice Bubbles every time they stand up.

With Tully staring at me as though I'd personally organised the sunrise for her entertainment, I decided we'd go for a quick morning walk.

Now when normal people say "quick walk", they generally mean a gentle stroll around camp.

Apparently my definition is different.

One moment we were happily wandering along a track. The next thing I knew we were 3.2 kilometres from camp.

Which meant we were also 3.2 kilometres from getting back.

At that point I considered calling Tracy to come and collect us, but I wasn't sure my pride could survive the conversation.

So I soldiered on.

By the time I returned to camp, I'd completed a respectable 6.4km before breakfast.

For context, I work from home, spend most of my day within a ten metre radius of my desk, and the last exercise I can confidently remember doing was probably reaching for the TV remote.

This was not part of the plan.

I staggered back into camp just as everyone else was emerging from their vans, made coffee number two and collapsed into a chair.

It was at precisely that moment I remembered we were doing the Gorge walk.

Not the little walk.

Not the "there and back in half an hour" walk.

The proper gorge walk.

The one measured in hours rather than minutes.

As I sat there feeling every one of my approximately 147 leg muscles, I briefly considered my options.

Fake an injury?

Pretend I'd developed altitude sickness?

Claim I'd been traumatised by sheep during my morning expedition?

Unfortunately none seemed particularly convincing, so off we went.

The walk itself was spectacular.

Massive cliffs, ancient creek beds, towering gums and scenery that once again proved photos are little more than colourful lies when compared to seeing something in person.

My legs, however, had lodged a formal complaint.

Every step was accompanied by a reminder that the earlier walk had been a monumentally stupid decision.

Still, the kilometres rolled by surprisingly quickly as we chatted our way through the gorge.

Well, I chatted. Others occasionally got to chat.

Over the course of several hours I managed to discuss camping, caravanning, weather, food, fishing, 4WDs, politics, retirement plans, coffee and probably several topics that hadn't even been invented yet.

Anyone walking near me either willingly joined the conversation or simply couldn't escape.

Somewhere during the day we moved in and out of mobile coverage several times and I became convinced my Apple Watch had finally had enough.

After recording more than 14 kilometres of walking, it probably assumed it had been stolen.

I'd like to imagine a message was automatically sent somewhere:

"Alert. Regular owner Barry Weyland has been replaced. Current wearer appears active and motivated. Investigation recommended."

There is simply no historical data supporting that level of exercise.

Eventually we limped, shuffled and groaned our way back into camp where we immediately commenced the important process of replacing every calorie we'd just burned.

A few drinks appeared.

Then a cheese platter.

Then more drinks.

Science would probably argue this defeated the purpose of the walk entirely, but fortunately science wasn't invited.

As has become tradition on this trip, dinner was cooked directly over fire. Every meal so far has involved some combination of grill, hotplate, camp oven, flames, smoke and occasional panic.

Tonight also happened to be chocolate pudding night.

Or at least that was the intention.

Somewhere between preparing ingredients, consuming pre-dinner beverages and negotiating campfire cooking temperatures, things may have drifted slightly off course.

What emerged from the camp oven wasn't really pudding.

It wasn't entirely cake either.

It occupied a mysterious category somewhere between the two.

Now I'm certainly not pointing fingers at the person responsible for making the mixture. Nor am I suggesting the cook may have got the temperature slightly enthusiastic.

That would be unfair.

Let's simply say there were multiple contributing factors and move on.

The important thing is that the ice cream performed flawlessly all evening.

Sometimes one member of the team needs to carry the rest.

Eventually bedtime arrived and I collapsed into bed.

My legs were now communicating exclusively through pain.

They made it very clear that no further walking should occur tomorrow.

For once, I think I'm prepared to listen.

After all, 14 kilometres in one day is enough exercise for at least the next six to eight months.

Day 2 Spear Creek - Let the fun begin

One of the main reasons I wanted to come back to Spear Creek this year arrived bright and early on Friday morning.

4WD day.

Well, eventually anyway.

First, there was the small matter of me waking up ridiculously early for absolutely no good reason. Somewhere along the journey from young bloke to ageing camper, my body decided that sleeping past 7am was no longer an option. Apparently aching knees, a sore back and random noises coming from various joints are now my built-in alarm clock.

While the rest of camp remained completely unconscious, I sat outside with my first coffee of the morning.

Then my second.

Because let's be honest, one coffee simply isn't enough to make me pleasant before sunrise.

With the caffeine levels finally reaching acceptable operating levels, I grabbed Tully and headed up a nearby hill. The plan was simple — watch the sunrise, stretch the legs, and introduce Tully to some of the local residents.

The sheep seemed relatively unimpressed by the introduction.

Tully, however, was convinced she had discovered an entire paddock of new friends.

 

As the sun crept over the surrounding ranges, it lit up the mountains we would soon be exploring. The morning air was crisp, the skies were brilliantly clear, and for a few minutes everything was perfectly peaceful.

 

Then everyone else woke up and started making noise.

Before long we were loading into the vehicles and heading off to tackle the property's two 4WD tracks.

The first option is the Southern Scenic Track, which is described as the easier route.

The second is the Northern Track, which helpfully includes sections where a spotter is recommended.

As someone who enjoys driving rough tracks, these descriptions translated loosely to:

Track 1: Fun.

Track 2: More Fun.

What neither description mentioned was the impact these tracks were going to have on the passenger sitting behind me.

Let's just say that Tracy wasn't entirely convinced that some of the inclines, descents and off-camber sections were designed by sane individuals.

Several moments throughout the day were accompanied by the traditional sounds of white knuckles gripping door handles and the occasional high-pitched reminder that gravity is not always your friend.

Oddly enough, I found the entire experience very relaxing.

Whenever we reached another ridgeline or lookout, all concerns about steep climbs and rocky tracks disappeared instantly.

The views were simply ridiculous.

 

 

From our vantage points we could see across to Port Broughton, Port Augusta and what felt like half of South Australia beyond. Behind us sat the Southern Flinders Ranges and Mount Remarkable National Park, standing proudly under some of the clearest winter skies imaginable.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect if someone had ordered it specifically for us. Bright blue skies, sunshine, absolutely no wind and temperatures that made being outdoors a genuine pleasure.

It's one of those places where every lookout convinces you that you've just seen the best view of the day.

Then you drive another couple of kilometres and discover an even better one.

Photos were taken in abundance, but as usual they'll only do a spectacular job of showing about 10% of what it actually looked like.

 

By the time we rolled back into camp, the vehicles were dustier, Tracy's nerves were back to normal levels, and I was already convinced that coming back to Spear Creek had been a very good decision.

Now all that remained was to resume the other important camping activities.

Namely sitting around with friends, discussing the day's adventures, and making sure the wine consumption didn't become dangerously high (That’s what the Bourbon and Gin is for).

Spear Creek July 2026

 Thursday 16 July 2026 – Here We Go Again

After what seemed like an eternity of counting down the days, Thursday finally arrived and it was time to hook up the van and head north once again to Spear Creek in the Lower Flinders Ranges. For those playing along at home, it's a touch over four hours from Adelaide, or closer to five if you're towing a caravan and have naturally adopted the mandatory Grey Nomad speed limit.

We rolled out of home around 8:30am and pointed ourselves north. The drive was pleasantly uneventful, which is exactly how I like it when towing several tonnes of caravan, food, clothing and approximately 87% of the possessions we own "just in case".

We visited Spear Creek at exactly the same time last year and, unlike last year's flirtation with rain and muddy shoes, this year greeted us with absolutely perfect winter weather. Blue skies, sunshine and around 19 degrees.

Unfortunately, I had packed for winter.

This meant I spent most of the afternoon looking longingly at people wearing shorts while I wandered around dressed as though I was preparing for an expedition to Antarctica.

Upon arrival, we were shown to our campsite, which we were sharing with friends in their two vans, along with Tyler and his partner who had chosen the rooftop tent option. At first glance the spot looked fantastic.

At second glance, Tracy realised it wasn't the same spot we had last year.

Now, I'm not saying there was a hissy fit.

But if there was a scale between "slightly disappointed" and "formal complaint to management", we may have landed somewhere comfortably in the middle.

As is often the case in life, expectation and reality sometimes need a little time to become friends. Thankfully, experience has taught me that this process can be significantly accelerated with the addition of a few glasses of wine.

Once the initial site-location crisis had passed, it was time for the important business of setting up camp. A process which generally involves me carrying heavy things around, forgetting where I've put things, moving them three times, and eventually deciding the original location was probably fine after all.

Before long our friends started rolling in and setting up around us. The campground quickly transformed from a quiet patch of dirt into a small village of caravans, camp chairs and people standing around offering advice nobody asked for.

                   

With everyone finally settled in, the first official Wine O'Clock of the trip was declared.

The sun slowly dipped behind the ranges, conversations got louder, stories got better with every retelling, and another camping trip was officially underway.

There's something special about that first night away. No work, no alarms, no schedules and absolutely no plans beyond deciding who was responsible for opening the next bottle.

Day one was done.

The caravans were level, the drinks were flowing, Tracy had mostly forgiven the campsite for not being last year's campsite, and I was once again exactly where I wanted to be.

My happy place. 🍷🏕️😁

Why can't I drive?

Another beautiful winter's morning greeted me as I got up at the crack of dawn and sipped my coffee whilst secretly getting annoyed that everyone else wants to sleep in when camping.

We were now on our own and I had been hanging out wanting to get into a bit of 4WD'ing so I went and booked for access to the local parks tracks.

Once again, when you have an L Plater that has already got the taste for offroad adventures, I dont really get a choice of whether I want to drive. However, once again, it is actually really satisfying seeing a youngster with a total of 30 hours of driving experience so far, learning how to navigate some tricky dirt sections, creek bed crossings, slippery tracks and downhill descents with the local widlife watching from nearby.

After a couple of hours of driving around and testing out the capabilities of my car and nerves, we headed off to Alligator Gorge which is another well known attraction with an amazing walk through the wild cliff faces and trickling water .

This walk also tested our nerves - only this time it was physical nerves that included our knees, ankles, backs and everything else that commonly hurts nowadays.

However, it was just stunning - vivid red cliff faces with some scattered burnt trees from a recent bushfire, but also a huge amount of striking gum trees that seem to grow out of sheer rock faces and an apparent lack of soil.

Sadly, our time at this gem of a location is now coming to an end

Its a true mix of bush camping yet still has enough creature comforts to make it more pleasant in the not so good weather (which admittedly we only had 18 hours of with most of that being overnight)

There was just one more stinky fire and cooking experience to tend to - this time barbecued meat direct over the coals and flames of the fire. (One of my favourites as the meat absorbs some amazing flavours from the smoke)

Sadly, tomorrow is pack up day and time to head home.

I have to say, this has been one of my favourite short stays in a long time. We will definitely be back

Pichi Richi and 4WD

Waking up on Tuesday morning to the continuing sound of light rain is good for the land, not so good for those in swags. However it turned out only 1 discovered their swag is not waterproof, with everyone else still snoring away whilst I made my first coffee for the morning.

We had predicted this wet weather, so we set off to nearby Quorn where the famous coal powered steam  tourist train Pichi Richi Railway was scheduled to run for its short 2 hour trip through the Flinders Ranges. We have all known about this for ever, but none of us had been on it before. Whilst it could be described as "just another train", it was an amazing experience to learn about the history of the train and to see some amazing scenery roll by

The end of the "downhill" leg saw us stopping at the historic town and station Woolshed Flat which was run by voulunteers specifically to serve passengers a nice array of coffee, scones with jam and cream - not that anyone in our group complained about the scones being cold, but fair to say the preference would have been for them to be warm.

We then had the return leg back to Quorn with the other side of the ranges to view, then decided what better way to top it off than visit the local Gin Distillery for a quick drink or two. This is a fairly new establishment and doesnt yet serve any food or platters, however we had learnt already that we could actually take our own stuff in, and so we did!

Whilst the rain had almost cleared up by now, it was time to head back to camp, get the fire going and start prepping the Camp Oven for yet anither spectacular WheresBarryNow dinner. Tonight was a pulled chicken with cream of chicken, carrots, onion, too much garlic and a spattering of other deliciousness. Yum.

The rain finally stopped and we enjoyed the rest of the night with small talk around the fire, a few drinks and more smoke penetrating our already stinky clothes.

As is the usual case (for me anyway) I was well and truly ready for bed by 9pm - probably due to too much to eat and too much to drink, but hey - we are camping.

Wednesday weather was beautiful. Blue skys, crisp morning weather and perfect environment for waking up early and sipping hot coffee whilst watching the local wildlife wake up.

Today we decided to go for a drive up through the local 34km Bridle Track that crosses the Ranges from Melrose to Port Germein (or close enough). Turns out that with a young 16 year old L Plater in the car, I no longer get to enjoy the fun of driving off road 😒

However, this is classed as a novice track and it turned out to be a fun drive where I actually got to enjoy the scenery a whole lot more than I normally do when driving - and she did an awesome job even with intentionally driving through every mud puddle trying to get bogged. Some of the views over the mountains and down through the valleys to the ocean were simply spectacular - no photos can show just how amazing this is.

The car was well and truly filthy now with about 80 kg of mud caked underneath the wheel arches and many other places I couldnt yet see, but it had been a great day. Our little L Plater was beaming from ear to ear with having experienced being off road for the first time, and fair to say it was time to get back and start up the smokey fire once again with tonights gormet delicacy being Lamb Shanks on a bed of mashed potato (laced with cheese, butter and more cheese of course) with some damper wrapped in foil hopefully being ready at the same time.

Turns out that without adding any yeast to the bread flour, we (ok - when I say we I obviously mean my darling wife) may have just tried cooking some of the rocks surrounding the fire -  it was about the same consistency and not anywhere as near as nice as it looked.

Some of the group left camp today to go home early, with the last of them leaving tomorrow, meaning we are on our own for the day - which is absolutely fine by me.... I am intending on tackling the parks own 4WD tracks  of which they have two of. Looking forward to that

So far - the experience of exploring Spear Creek Holiday park and its surrounds has been amazing and is highly recommended for those that like to get out and about

Arrival Day and Day 2

 July school holidays had arrived and it was finally time to get the caravan out and disappear for a few days.

This trip was a little different in that there would be no dogs and only Kayla coming with us, plus some of the usual camping buddies that we would meet at our target destination of Spear Creek - about 45 minutes NE of Pt Augusta, which is about 4 hours North from home.

I am about to be in my happy place once again

I have  read all these posts from people saying how easy it easy to go away with a caravan - just pack the food in and go.... Well after a week of me packing everything I could possibly think of, and probably being overloaded, we set off around 9:30am Sunday morning.

The trip was non eventful apart from the 70Kmh headwinds that caused me to refuel and restricted 

my already Grey Nomad maximum speed down another 10 clicks to around 85Kmh, and thankfully our camp was about 2k further inland from where the wind apparently suddenly stopped according to the location of the giant wind turbines dotting the open paddocks on the way in.

The camp location was actually amazingly set out - we were away from the general caravan sites in our own secluded location with no defined site as such, where we had our two vans, multiple firepits, and a swinging tyre for us to try and hurt ourselves on when we had drank too much. Yet we still had power, water and a communal flushing toilet hidden behind a great big gum tree in the middle of the creek bed.

Sunset was pretty spectacular, but as always, photos don't really show just how nice it was. We climbed up a nearby hill and watched the darkness creep in, before sliding our way back down to camp to sit around the fire and talk crap, have some laughs and begin the process of getting our clothes reeking of smoke for the rest of the week

Monday arrived and the weather started off with a touch of wintter sun intermingled with a cool breeze and some cloudy patches as one would expect in the middle of July.

We decided to go for a walk into the gorge at the back of the property, whoch turned into a bit of a marathon for the kids and a bit of a hike for some of us ageing adults with failing body parts. The scenery was amazing (from what we could see when lifting our eyes up from our stumbling feet) and was a great way to pass ome time before heading back to camp for a bit of Wine O'Clock time. The weather forecast was predicting a bit of a drizzle overnight which was literally going to dampen the mood a bit, but we stuck it out as long as we could, even managing to get a self saucing chocolate pudding done in the camp oven.

After stuffing ourselves full and braving the drizzle for as long as we could, it was time for bed. Its a bit of a mix between listening to the serenity of the patter of rain drops on the van roof and lying there asking myself WTF is getting flooded out .....

But at least we had some creature comforts of a heater and a heated blanket in bed (unlike the tween-agers that were braving it out in the swags in the rain 🤣🤣)

The rain is suppopsed to stop around 9:30 in the moring, so it may work out out well.

Beachport - Easter 2023

The weather forecast this year was looking far from pleasant. Cold, windy, showers and the possible storm. About as far from camping weather that one could imagine. But in reality, it was a fair representation of the entire years weather so far. 

We had a very mild summer with only about 5 days in the high 30’s 

Regardless, I had stated I was going camping with Taz, and if anyone else wanted to join me, they were most welcome. 

We took the kids out of school early on Thursday (around 1pm) and we’re on our way by just before 2pm. 

I was quite impressed this trip that we managed to get all the way to Meninge (almost 2 hours from home) before our first required P stop. This year we had an extra passenger Tully. She is the newest addition and is a very sassy Cavoodle who has quickly become the boss of the the two dogs here in 3 weeks of living with us. 

We all managed to get our business done and were on our way again in no time for the second 2 hour leg of our journey. 

We got to the park almost dead on 6pm and I raced through getting a as much setup as I could before it got too dark. It was surprisingly warm for a mid Autumn night, but that was a good thing and helped keep my mood where it needed to be for the start of a 5 day trip. 

After an hour or so, I was done. Time to relax for a drink. 

Friday rolled in, and so did the intermittent showers, wind and cold weather. There were now 10 adults & 12 kids, with a few more still to arrive. 

As the night arrived though,, so did the storm. As if the on and off showers during the day weren’t enough to contend with, we had 19mm off rain dumped on us in about 45 minutes. 

With pants rolled up to our knees and bare feet in water above our ankles, all we could do was bucket out the water away from our vans and fridges, and lift as much as we could to higher ground. 

Then….. as quickly as it hit us, it stopped and the water drained away into the sandy soil. There were still some tell tale signs around the park with some new water features and mini moats, but our area looked almost normal again within 40 minutes, with the only sign being that the whole section of park was now without 240v power thanks to a mystery tripped circuit breaker somewhere. 

Saturday returned to normal, albeit cold and windy still with a smattering of scattered showers. A few people did the mandatory market visit in the morning, then we set off on the Canunga NP 4wd trek that we had done a few times before. This has a nice variety of views and some relatively easy tracks to follow, and is a great way to pass 3 hours. 

With wine o’clock taking centre stage once we got back, and a game of cricket, the day was quickly over and finished with us all shivering our way thru the evening waiting for bedtime to call us

Sunday morning arrived, along with Easter Bunny and his usual droppings. 

I have never seen so much chocolate be consumed before 8 am, as I sipped on my double strength black coffee before making another one to avoid me getting stuck into some chocolate of my own.  

Tracy and I went for a stroll into town with the dogs to get a few essential supplies, only to get an understanding from Tully that when she decides she doesn’t want to walk anymore, she just doesn’t walk!

Tracy was now starting to feel unwell, so I took Taz out for a walk down the remote beaches where we did a bit of a photo shoot, before heading back. 

Tomorrow is pack up day already. 

Whilst I am not really a fan of the last day, I am now so over this cold, shower,y windy, miserable days, that I am very much looking forward to going home tomorrow. 

Flinders Ranges - Rawnsley park

One of my favourite things to do apart from camping and fishing is to go camping and 4WD'ing.

This year our destination was Rawnsley park - a lazy 5 hour drive due north (when not towing 2 1/2 ton of van behind you).

This place is literally in the middle of nowhere and has some amazingly beautiful walks, drives and views surrounding it. There is even a 4 star resort set back down the road for those that really want to experience a bit of luxury in the middle of the country

The next couple of days were spent exploring Wilpena pound and some of the nearby gorges, walking trails and 4WD tracks. No amount of photos can show just how amazing these views really are

 

It is also fair to say that the mornings may have been just a touch cold for those poor suckers within our group that were braving it out in swags - but I am reliably told they are actually quite warm inside - if I wasn't too old and achey to get in and out of something that was laying on the hard ground, I may have known this!

We went on a walk up to the top of one of the long mountain walks, and fair to say the kids may have not been overly happy with the time and difficulty that it took to get there. (It was only about 8k up a steep rocky hill - if us 50 something year olds can do it without dying, then surely they could??? )

The following days were filled with more driving, more sunsets, more walking, more happy kids and lots of laughs.

Have I said before how much I love camping?