Broken Hill to Merna Mora

24th September

Today we left Broken Hill and headed over the border into South Australia. The scenery was pretty boring but I suppose you must expect that when you are heading to a destination that is far away from a lot of things.

Over the border we go
 

Lots of nothing
 

As we knew that we had to hand in all our fruit and vegies at the fruit fly station just into South Australia, we gave away our vegies to a man at the caravan park at Broken Hill. Along the way between Broken Hill and the Fruit Fly Station we ate all the fruit we had left. We didn’t know how fussy they would be in checking our van but lucky for us they only wanted to check the Engle in the back. They really relied on everyone being honest. Setting up the van for them to check inside would have slowed us down.

For fuel, lunch and a stretch we stopped at Peterborough. I believe that if this town wasn’t in the path to get to the Flinders Ranges it may have been one of the many towns to struggle to survive. Here we had lunch in a “picture theatre” that was like stepping back in time to the 1940s. We purchased all new fruit and vegies and hit the road again. Peterborough is a lovely town who cater very much for the caravan/camper traveller. There were plenty of places to park your van which is always a big thought when entering a town you don’t know. Prices in their supermarket were also very reasonable – in fact in par with the supermarkets at home.

It took us another 2 ½ hours to get to our destination – that was stopping for a top up of fuel at Hawker.

Our destination…Merna Mora Station. This station is situated 46kms out of Hawker on the road to Leigh Creek. The Fels are the owners and have been welcoming visitors to stay at their station for over 40 years. We have a fully powered site with showers and toilets. Our site is only $30 per night which, considering we have paid up to $58 in some parks, is a very reasonable tariff.

The location of Merna Mora is also a bonus in relation to places in the Flinders. You can get to the start of the scenic drives quite quickly without double backing all of the time. You are also directly on the road to Farina and beyond which again allows you to get there and back quickly without wasting time doing the same roads over and over again.

Before coming to the Flinders Ranges I thought that the only place to really stay was at Wilpena Pound. However after reading a blog I found out about Merna Mora. There are a few other stations around here to stay at but having stayed at Merna Mora I would not hesitate to come back again. Wilpena Pound is quite far away from all places to visit other than the pound itself.

Their average rainfall per year is 80mm so rain ruining your stay may not be a major factor.

Check out Merna Mora at www.mernamora.com.au. Telephone (08) 8648 4717.

Until again...

Merna Mora Station