Camping By The River And Just Doing Nothing

A relaxing day camping by the river, enjoying homemade damper, exploring the area and appreciating simple outdoor moments. I got up early and got the fire cranking so we would have some coals to make a damper. Was a bit of a cool start to the day but be we were nice and warm overnight in the van. I don’t really get why people fit diesel heaters etc, we’ve had plenty of nights around zero and below and all you need are some warm clothes and a decent quilt. Was the same when in the old camper trailer.

Camping By The River Some Firewood Collected

Anyway, Amanda made us up some nice mini dampers in the camp oven. Normally we just do one big one but this morning she made up smaller bread roll size jobbies. They were very nice.

Exploring The Area While Camping By The River At Happy Valley Landing

We were camping by the river at Happy Valley Landing campsite on the Murray River near Robinvale. I went for a bit of a walk around the area we were camping in and found quite a few other nice spots. One of them even has a nice smooth walk down the bank of the river to a sandy beach. The track at that point had a tree fallen across it however you could clear that out of the way easily enough with a chainsaw and towing strap. Another spot had a massive old tree in the middle and then a circular track around it, could get maybe half a dozen vans all camped around the tree with your fire off to the side. It’d be excellent for a small group.

Mini Dampers In The Camp Oven

We just sort of sat around all day reading books and had another go at playing UNO. I got the chainsaw out and cut us up some more firewood. I also cut up a fair whack more to take home with us to use at the NSW Muster we are going to on the June long weekend with the Martian Enthusiasts Camper Trailer Group we are a part of.

Happy Valley Landing On The Murray River

All up it was a really relaxing day. Amanda and I love doing outback touring type trips but we have also rediscovered just how nice it can be to be camping by the river with a fire going and just doing nothing. It’d be great if we can do a bit more of this type of thing in the future.

Free Camping Near Robinvale On The Murray River

Free camping near Robinvale at Happy Valley Landing on the Murray River. It’s a nice, quiet secluded spot. I found it on WikiCamps not that far from Robinvale VIC. I’m not going to tell you the name of it or exactly where it is suffice to say it’s on WikiCamps. You can look it up for yourself.

It’s such an awesomely great spot that I’m not going to plaster it’s precise location all over the interwebs. Otherwise the nice quiet secluded spot could be overrun with people. Running generators 24/7 and blasting about on their quad bikes scaring the sheep. Send me an email if you are interested and I will give you the exact location. It’s such a great spot that it made our list of the best Murray River Free Camps.

Happy Valley Landing On The Murray River Near Robinvale VIC

From Berri To Robinvale

We drove through from Berri to near Robinvale in VIC, the roads were excellent. Most of the way we were on B and C roads so traffic was at a minimum. Mostly local trucks and a few cars travelling between small regional towns. If you don’t know the difference between what the M, A, B and C classifications for example “C727” mean for roads within Australia it’s worth your time to look it up. WikiCamps has a good explanation of it here. It can help you assess the quality of road and the amount of traffic you are going to encounter. All of the states we have been in use a similar system.

Free Camping Near Robinvale On Murray River

The track in is a bit tricky. It’s not too bad but you definitely need a 4×4 and an offroad camper trailer or SMALL high clearance offroad van to get in to it. No it isn’t suitable for on road vans. Same goes for semi-offroad vans, motorhomes or big rigs and you can forget bringing in your 5th wheeler. It’s quite sandy in patches with some fairly tight turns and some humps and hollows to climb up over or through. It’s really 100% guaranteed your effort if you can get in there though. At a few places the track forks off and it’d be worth your effort to get out and go for a walk down them to assess their suitability. All up I reckon there are about a dozen spots all spaced well well from each other along the track.

If you’re after where to free camp on the murray river our list of the top 25 is a must visit.

Awesome Spot To Get The Camp Oven Out

And there is heaps and heaps of deadfall firewood lying about for you to cut up. There’s literally more than you could poke a stick at. After setting up camp we got the fire going and sat around all afternoon reading or books and playing UNO, it was very relaxing. Just before dark a big mob of sheep wandered down the bank for a drink on the other side of the river. They were the only other things we saw all day, very peaceful.

Lamb Shanks In The Camp Oven

For dinner we cooked some lamb shanks in the camp oven and they were absolute monsters, the biggest lamb shanks I have ever seen. They were absolutely beautiful. Later in the evening while sitting by the fire and having a drink Graciee got all stirred up about something – scared shitless would probably be a more accurate description. Turns out it was an echidna that had wandered in to camp for a bit of a poke around.

Best Caravan Park In Orroroo SA: Flinders Ranges Launch Pad

We stayed the night in a caravan park at Orroroo. It was a nice park and was only about $25 for the night but we just don’t like van parks much. After camping in the bush for over a week it felt really claustrophobic. We did however really appreciate the nice hot showers.

Originally we had scheduled to drive through to Peterborough and then do a long 650km trip through to a camp site on the Murray at Robinvale however since we had a day up our sleeve because we didn’t go to the Dig Tree (still spewing about that) we decided to break it up a bit and go to Orroroo, Berri then Robinvale. On the road down to Orroroo we drove past some very interesting places, a lot of turnoffs to places of interest in the Flinders Ranges. I think we might go there next year.

Orroroo Caravan Park

We stayed the night in a caravan park at Orroroo. It was a nice enough park and was only about $25 for the night but we just don’t like van parks much. After camping in the bush for over a week it just felt really claustrophobic. We did however really appreciate the nice hot showers.

Main Street Orroroo SA

We did some stocking up for the next few days in town, and Orroroo is a really nice little town. I could see myself living somewhere like it. It was the first proper little town we’d been in since leaving home. They have an IGA, a couple of pubs, a great old fashioned servo. I loved the servo. You walk inside and the joint is packed to the rafters with car parts and smells like a workshop. In fact that’s pretty much what it is. It reminded me of what servos were like when I was a kid. I guess once the older bloke who was running it retires it’ll get turned in to a Coles Express or something similar.

Magnetic Hill Near Orroroo

Anyway, after stocking up we went for a drive out to Magnetic Hill. The idea is you stop your car, whack it in neutral and release the brakes and it rolls uphill. Bugger me if it didn’t work! I know it’s just an optical illusion but hey, it sure felt like the magnet was pulling us uphill.

Pro Motors And Hunts Fuel Orroroo SA

We ordered pizzas for dinner at the pub and they were good. Really good. Surprisingly good! While they were cooking we sat outside with Graciee and had about three beers and had a good chat with one of the locals. He’d been a truck driver delivering general goods out in the push up the Strzelecki, Oodnadatta and Birdsville tracks and further north and west all of his life based out of Orroroo. He reckoned Orroroo was a great place to live. Sounds like he’d had a really interesting life

Commercial Hotel Orroroo SA

Marree & We Explore Around Farina A Bit More

We drove 60 kilometres up to Marree for a look around. Again it was very good gravel road all the way. Marree is where both the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks start so we will be going through there again one day for sure.

We had some lunch at the Marree Hotel. It’s was a very nice old hotel and our lunches were great. The chef was a nice young bloke out here from Canada. He was staying for about three months at Marree and then he was off somewhere else.

Lunch At The Marree Hotel

Ghan Railway Relics At Marree

After lunch we went across the road to check out the collection of old Ghan Railway stuff they have on display at the disused station and park. We had a chat with some people who were heading off up the Oodnadatta Track on their way to Darwin. It would have been great to have had another month off work so we could go too. Some other time for sure.

Marree Ghan Railway Old Engine

Looking Around Marree

The town of Marree itself is very small. They have a health services station, a caravan park, a pub and a roadhouse so they pretty much cover everything you’d need when out bush. We filled up at the roadhouse and bought some basic supplies including more insect repellent – you tend to use a lot of it out this way! On the way back we very almost ran over an emu who decided to jump out in front of us. Luckily I didn’t have the van on and was able to brake in time. It was all a bit much for poor old Graciee as she slid off the back seat and on to the floor. It was pretty funny although I don’t think Graciee saw it the same way..

Marree Hotel

Farina Underground Bakery

Once we got back to Farina we went for a bit more of an explore around. We had a look at the famous underground bakery. We were there about a month too early for it to be open which was a shame. Maybe another time. Farina really is a cool old town. It’s surprising to see just how fast it has gone to ruins as all of the buildings were seemingly strongly built out of local stone. For example the police station and post office were in use up until about 1960. In the last 60 years they have all but fallen apart. Perhaps a lot of the roofing timbers and flooring was pilfered for use elsewhere or for campfires maybe?

Farina Underground Bakery

Camping At Farina

Farina was really one of the better places we have camped. I recommend it highly to anyone who can get out there. If you are expecting a Big4 caravan park type experience then give it a miss. If you are like us and love the Aussie Outback and bush camping then add it to your bucket list.

Camping At Farina Ghost Town SA

Getting To Marree And Farina

Marree is at the junction of the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks 655km north of Adelaide SA. Farina is about 50km south of Marree. If you leave Lyndhurst SA and head north towards Marree you drive right past Farina. Road conditions can vary greatly in the outback. It’s always a good idea to check conditions before you travel. Check conditions by calling the Marree Hotel or looking up https://www.dit.sa.gov.au/OutbackRoads.

Travel From	Distance	Time
Adelaide to Marree	655km	07:07
Brisbane to Marree	2215km	23:43
Melbourne to Marree	1378km	14:27
Sydney to Marree	1851km	19:22

Location Map

Marree Google Maps Location

Montecollina Bore To Farina On The Strzelecki Track

Amanda had wanted to visit Farina for a few years and she finally got her chance. We travelled from Montecollina Bore To Farina down the Strzelecki Track. Just like yesterday the Strzelecki Track road conditions were really good. There were even a few sections of sealed road, not very long but long enough to make you wish for a bit more. We love the dirt but the sealed sections just give you a bit of a rest.

When we left Montecollina Bore To Farina down the Strzelecki Track it was blowing a bit of a gale, it was like Laurence of Arabia stuff with the wind blowing sand and dust all over the place. It died down after about an hour, the wind had been pretty strong for the last three days or so and we were pretty happy to see it ease up.

Montecollina Bore To Farina down the Strzelecki Track Via Lyndhurst

We headed off down the Strzelecki again. The road was pretty good all the way through to Lyndhurst with just a few corrugated stretches and a lot of floodways that would be messy if it rained. We were lucky and it was as dry as a bone all the way. There were lots of emus about about both alive and dead and we passed a heap of road trains going the other way.

Welcome To Lyndhurst Sign

We made it to Lyndhurst and filled up with fuel and bought a few basic groceries (eggs were $9 a dozen bread was $5 a frozen loaf can’t complain though you’re in the middle of nowhere) and headed to Farina only another 40ks up the road. The road between Lyndhurst and Farina was very well graded dirt/gravel and presented zero problems. Just like the road from Montecollina Bore To Farina.

At Lyndhurst SA

Camping At Farina

Amanda had wanted to visit Farina for a few years and she finally got her chance. When we turned in to Farina it was pretty cool. There were heaps of old ruined buildings that we drove past on our way to the campgrounds. Camping at Farina is $5 per person per night and they have an honesty box at the gates.

Entering Farina

The campgrounds are very large, very clean and very beautiful. One of the better spots we have camped. They have bins, flushing toilets as well as showers, you have to light a small wood fire underneath an old donkey boiler to heat the water for the showers. Heaps of fun. When we arrived there were about six other camper trailers and caravans set up but we were all so far spaced apart it was like being on your own.

Remote Camping At Farina

We picked a nice spot with a picnic table alongside and bins close by and a big firepit as well as a woodburning bbq. A lot of the spots in the campgrounds are similarly well set up. All done by volunteers.

Camping At Farina

Exploring Farina

After setting up the van for the next few days we went for a bit of an explore. We visited the old cemetery and had a look around. Once again it had been cleaned up in recent years by the volunteers and there were explanation boards at the entry.

Farina Cemetery

Next we went and had a look at the old police station as well as the cricket ground (FCG) and some of the railway associated ruins like the gangers hut and ticket booking office.

Farina Cricket Ground The FCG

The whole reason Farina was where it is in the first place is that it was in the early 1900’s the railhead, end of the line so to speak of the Ghan Railway. All of the farmers and settlers from the surrounding areas north of Farina had to come to Farina to collect goods they had shipped up from Adelaide. Eventually the railhead moved north to Marree and farina died out.

Dave And Amanda At Farina

We had a nice afternoon looking around the ruins, then we went back to the van and had some dinner and a fire with some wood we had collected back at Tibooburra. It was a great day.

Camping With A Dog And A Fire At Farina