10 days in the Flinders Ranges: Day 1 - Adelaide to Bowman Park

A couple of weeks ago Heather and I completed an excellent caravan towing course to learn a few things specific to safely towing, manoeuvring and reversing a relatively heavy and long trailer.  We both thought the course was great value for money as we had a lot of fun and came away with new skills, competencies and probably most importantly, confidence when it comes to towing our 'mobile home' behind us.

Eager to put our new skills to the test we planned and packed supplies into the caravan ready for 10 days of camping in the Flinders Ranges located approximately 450km north of our home in Adelaide.

Departure day arrived and we set off at around 8am.  An easy first day was planned just in case highway towing turned out to be not so straightforward, with our target being a free campsite situated near the town of Crystal Brook in South Australia's mid-north about half way to where we would base ourselves in the Flinders.

Travel for Day 1.  An easy 200km for the first day.

I am happy to report that the drive turned out to be completely event free and was a good first outing to get a feel for how the tow vehicle performed and how the caravan behaved being pulled along behind with other highway traffic overtaking us and transport trucks passing by in the opposite direction.

The campsite we stopped at is called Bowman Park.  The local council allows free stays of up to 48 hours for folks in self-contained caravans or motorhomes - we just needed to stay somewhere for the one night so it was perfect for us.  There ended up being 5 other self-contained caravanners there overnight so we weren't alone but neither did we feel crowded.  Whilst free, donations are welcomed so we put $10 in the box to go towards upkeep of the grounds and the facilities that are provided.

Bowman Park has been many things throughout its history.  The area was first used by Aboriginal people long before white settlement due to the presence of permanent spring water and an ochre pit.  Following the arrival of European settlers the area was first explored in 1839.  The small creek was named Crystal Brook and the first official pastoral holding covering 560 square miles (358,400 acres or 145,000 hectares - huge regardless of the units used to describe it) was established in 1847 and was known as 'Crystal Brook Run'.  It was used for pastoral and farming purposes for 38 years until 1885.  Tough times befell the place and it has since been used for a number of various purposes including:

• Engineering & Water Supply: 1885-1960
• Youth Camps: 1962-1999:
• Speedway: 1960’s
• Rodeo’s: 1970’s
• Reptile, Flora & Fauna Park: 1990’s

Local volunteers have been putting a fair bit of love into the place over the past few years and it is a great location for an overnight stop.  Bowman Park is now used by locals and tourists as a place to relax and unwind. It is currently classified a “Passive Recreation Area & RV friendly Park".  One of the main farm buildings - it may have been the woolshed, has been restored nicely and is available to host wedding receptions and other functions.

Beautifully restored Woolshed at Bowman Park now used as a function venue

The park has a resident peacock that was apparently dumped at the site about 20 years ago.  He must have liked the place as he has not left since.  He struts around like he owns the joint (which he pretty much does) showing everyone that will look at him what a handsome rooster he is.

Heather feeding the colourful 'Captain Peacock'

After we had gotten ourselves settled in for the day Heather took the opportunity to do some metal detecting around the old homestead and building ruins.  No coins or significant relics were discovered but she did find an old brass garter belt fastening clip and a rusting belt buckle in fairly close proximity to each other.

Who knows what led to this pair being found together?

Never ones to let a complete lack of facts get in the way of vivid imaginations conjuring up a juicy story, we quickly decided that these items must certainly have belonged to one of the farmers' daughters and perhaps a handsome young farm hand...(this is where your own imaginations can continue developing the story if you feel so inclined).

The next morning we hitched up the caravan again and set off for our base camp for the next week or so - Rawnsley Park Station Caravan Park, located in the shadows of Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges.

Stand by for the next installment of WTF? - Where are The Farrows? where we get into the Flinders Ranges via the Pichi Richi Pass, the town of Quorn and the ruins at Kanyaka homestead.

To see some video of our time at Bowman Park follow the link below to a short video on YouTube that was put together by Heather.  If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe to Heather's YouTube channel so that you get notified whenever something new gets posted.

https://youtu.be/vOBU10Qb0Oc