Easter Break 2012

Being the types that prefer a little peace and quiet we thought staying away from the coast would be a good idea, so we chose to head for the showground at Melrose in the southern Flinders Ranges. Little did we know that the Land Rover owners register of S.A. was holding their annual gathering there as well. Along with other campers the Land Rover mob made a total of more than 500 campers at the site. Not to worry though, with 110 acres of picturesque land nestled beneath the eastern flanks of Mt. Remarkable, there was plenty of room and we managed to find a peaceful spot pretty much on our own. The bonus was that we had some free entertainment watching the vehicles go through their paces on a challenging trials track.

Melrose is a quaint small town surrounded by attractive countryside with many old stone buildings, some in a good state of repair and some not so. It is nestled between the flanks of Mt. Remarkable and wide flat plains given over to the growing of wheat and other grain crops. There are numerous walks close by, some moderately challenging and some very hard. The 2 walks we chose were the Melrose nature loop, close to town (2.5 hrs.) and the Alligator Gorge walk in the National Park (approx 3.5hrs.)

On Easter Monday we left Melrose heading south and we stayed overnight in the small village of Yacka and then through Clare and back to Burra to stay out at the Redbanks Conservation Park for 2 nights. The 3.5hr. walk at Redbanks is very scenic and interesting. From Redbanks the next night was spent not far away at Burra Creek Gorge, again with quite spectacular scenery.

We are now on a mission to visit some friends, Jenny & Graig, who have recently moved into a new home at Waikerie in the Riverland. We have not seen Jenny & Craig, whom we met on our previous travels, for quite some time and we are really looking forward to catching up with them and sharing their excitement of their new home. So at the moment we are in Moorook on the banks of the river waiting for Jenny & Craig to return from a weekend away on a houseboat, poor things, so we can call in and say Hi !