Yeh Gidday Von

I am new too. I was born and spent the early part of my life in SA. Dave should be able to help you with up to date stuff, as you will pass his door.

My suggestions are - If traveling the coastal way, Mount Gambier (blue Lakes), fantastic. The Coonawarra is hard to pass, if you like a tipple (plan that bit). Harndorf (speeling) just near Murray Bridge. German origin and feel.

Bypass Adelaide, and move to the Barrossa - Gawler, and go the inland road (forget the road - help Dave) - heads to Quorn. Great drive.

Suggest you read about the Flinders, as it has some history, re cattle rustlers (Dave - name the place?), but loved camping out on that stretch.

One of my best memories is, camping out that way and watching the sun rise - the colours and bird life.

Have a good trip, one of many

Well old age disease kicked in, but I recovered - the cattle rustling is "The Pound"

Thanks. Yep, I've heard of it. Wilpena Pound I think.. What's there?

Testing my memory, re " The Pound". Its a natural enclosure of hills, where the rustlers could hold stolen cattle and not be seen or heard. Long time since I was there, but all those hills are worth a painting

well Hi veronica and may I say what a pleasure it is to have yet another in our fold, just reading your biography, O.M.G. I WANT YOUR LIFE, hell's bell's  solo's of the world have a look at this girl, jeezzzz!!!! more power to you, should be more like you. anyway the limestone coast, adelaide hills and the flinders, hell where do I start, O.K. from memory as this is some of my favorite stomping grounds, coming from victoria you will pass near by piccaninie ponds just south east of mount gambier, stay one night, drop in to mount gambier the following day have a sticky beak around, great spot, drive through on the beachport road (taking in the rough cliffs, coastal scenery) continue to meningie, take a look at the devastation reeked upon the lower lakes, grab a bite at the bakery hidden down the back alley, look for the little sign across from the park, eat it in the park, continue on to the south eastern freeway, right in to the adelaide hills till you get to the hahndorf exit, book in to the resort just out of town, take a look at the little village, from there drive through all the small towns, you will see why when you are going through, Balhannah road to eden valley on to mt pleasant to angaston ( the barossa valley) take a look around, there are three towns here angaston, nuriootpa and tanunda, allow at least a couple of days, from there shoot across to kapunda and on to the clare valley, yum!!!!!, from there take the main north road to gladstone ( start of the mighty flinders) up through laura and wirrabara, stop at the old bakery at stone hut, ohhhh GOddddd!!!  coffee, pasties, free camps all through here, stop at the goyder line memorial, great place to camp and have a cuppa, kookaburras, maggies and a flock of baby black sheep (look up cute in the dictionary and you see a picture of these) continue through wilmington, take a drive up in to alligator gorge, and quorn, steam trains watch for them on weekends, report any sightings back to basil, overnight at warren gorge (terrific free camp) head south out of quorn take the dutchmans stern conservation park road until you hit the warren gorge road, pick up firewood at the second creek, about 25 kms of good gravel road, great scenery,  watch for yellow footed rock wallabies on the scree in the morning and evening, next day (if you want) head north on the same dirt road (in good condition) and have a look at probys grave just one of many sad tales that abound in this region, take a look at all the old ruins, take your time, continue on checking out the black fellows cave, climb the ladder it is worth it,  and all the ruins along the way, wilpena pound, here you will want to spend at least a week, go for walks, have coffee at the visitor centre, feed the roos, listen to the kookaburras and the mopokes at night, watch the birds and just contemplate your navel and all the history of bushrangers and hard times and the deaths, check out the old wilpena homestead, mud and thatch, from there the outback continues, you didnt say how far you were going but the flinders ends just up from wilpena, take a drive on the blinman road, not all the way, take the scenic drive around the abc and the start of the gammon ranges,  take a look through brachina gorge and aroona ruins, great country but please dont rush, take a look at the small towns, stop and have a look at what each place has to offer, I try to go back to these areas at least every year, you are about to find out why

WOW!!! I got breathless just reading your post, Dave. More with awe than physical exertion though. Thanks so much for that. I'll print it out and take it with me. You really are a gem. Give my regards to the Dragon.

anytime veronica, you will be in "my backyard" enjoy it and take your time, I could have included so much more but I dont want to bore you with too much at once, suffice to say when you get here you will see why we stayed in this region for close to 30 years, robcol, I lived in the southeast for about 5 years love every inch of it, worked at safcol in kingston, blowing cray legs, operated bulldozers and scrapers building various roads in and around naracoorte, worked felling logs up at mt burr, worked a logging truck out of mount burr hauling logs in to apcel, got caught with a 15 ton overload, gave faulse name and address and legged it, ahhhhh!!!! the west, god dont get me started on that state, free camps "everywhere" great scenery anyplace, dont have to worry about finding them just try to escape from any one of them they are all so good, honestly you will not have a problem in the "up" country or on the coast a bit further down, if you want good local knowledge of "the secret spots" ask any of the locals, they are all great people and so freindly they will tell you where they go themselves, thanks for the kind words, I love to help, all suggestions by other members on this thread should be jotted down they are all gold

yeh funny like that, you are of course spoilt as far as weather goes, until the undies start to go mouldy and the carpet has to be chucked out and funny stuff grows on areas that have no right growing on, got a phone call from a mate up in cairns, his wife was grizzling because it got down to 13 degrees one night and she reckons it was freezing, that was the same night we were in arkaroola at -2 our daytime temp got to 13. honestly I will defend S.A.'s weather to the hilt and as for so much to see, I am constantly surprised by things that I havent seen yet, such as the kaitpo forest that gary went to earlier, didnt know it existed