Bendleby Ranges

Our first two nights in the outback were at the Bendleby Ranges on a station that has facilities for camping, caravans and four wheel driving. We went for a walk with a group that was supposed to be for 40 minutes but ended up being 2 hours. It was too hot in the middle of the day for walking up and down steep hills but the scenery was lovely.

It is very dry but when the rains come they gouge away large areas of the red dirt. This gum tree was next to the Hub where we gather for breakfast and have our concerts. One night the concert included Dave Prior who cracked mostly sexist or racist jokes - it was fortunately a short concert!

We had no reception and hadn't downloaded google maps so we had to rely on the unreliable Jeep GPS and paper maps to drive north towards the Flinders Ranges. Fortunately I had purchased Hema maps on my phone and these are available offline and provided a bit more information about the various gravel roads in the area. After a while we were leading a small convoy of caravans and buses - one couple have now renamed their GPS "Sylvia" because we apparently picked the best route.

We stopped for food and fuel at a small town named Hawker. We were having lunch at a cafe when Beccy and her crew came in after having some repairs done to their trailer. Outside the cafe a local police officer asked us about our group - 35+ caravans, motorhomes and trailers are noticeable in small towns! We told her we were on a tour with Beccy Cole and she said she is a big fan. She had just bought herself a coffee in the cafe and hadn't noticed Beccy was there. When I told her Beccy was in the cafe she went straight back in to have a chat and get a selfie!

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