Mummy Milli

Fourth time’s a charm (okay it’s meant to be third but it really feels like we are getting the hang of this). What’s not to love about a free, large and open campsite with a playground very close by? 

The site we picked for this trip was the furthest away of all of them and gave us the opportunity to stop by one of our favourite wine regions, the Clare Valley.

Prior to having children our ideal weekend would often be made up of a long hike, followed by good food and then a visit to a winery. We are absolutely spoiled here in South Australia with many wine regions easily reachable. Clare Valley is slightly further out at an hour and a half from the city so we don’t manage to get there as frequently, therefore if we are heading in that direction we make sure to make a stop.

We make sure to try out different wineries each time we head through and this time we stopped at Mount Horrocks Winery, which had a lovely garden in the front along with a large grassed area for Monkey to run around in. While Monkey was initially okay to sit and read while we tried some wine, that did not last long so Hubby and I took turns, one trying to not rush through their wine while the other ran around with Monkey on the grass, then swap. The wine was lovely and we bought a bottle to drink that night after Monkey went to sleep.

After the winery we stopped through a place we always go to have lunch in the Clare Valley, the Clare Rise Bakery 1985. Its has a wonderful porch area, sometimes with live music and they produce some of the best pastries we have had in our travels.

Driving up to the Bowman Park Camping area was a surprise in itself- the land was so dry and relatively flat, a very typical Australian landscape. We had no idea where a semi lush campsite could be hidden, then a giant goanna on a dead tree pointed us in the right direction down a side road in between some hills and down into a gully. There was a creek, a lush oval, a nature playground built around old ruins and hints that there could be a peacock around. 

Bowman Park is a donation campsite and for such a unique spot there were only a few other cars around. We found a nice place to park and start setting up, which one of us did and the other explored with Monkey and helped him get some energy out after the longer drive. We walked through the ruins and found a nature playground that was slightly too old for Monkey at this point but the real winner was the sandpit where he was happy playing for an extended period of time. The sand was also bigger granules that were so easy to dust off, this meant less mess in the car.

There was a communication board that had many pictures, words and signs depicted. One of which was a peacock. This was unique to this communication board, we hadn’t seen it on any others so off we went to try and find the peacock. Past the ruins, over the oval and almost to a homestead, high in a tree the beautiful peacock was found. 

Monkey was very excited by this unusual bird. The peacock was clearly used to people being around and when we finally headed back to our car, he followed us back. People obviously fed him regularly and he was hoping for something from us. Personally I refuse to feed wildlife as I believe it leads to a whole range of issues so the peacock was out of luck. It did make for an unforgettable camping experience however as it is not everyday you get to have such a gorgeous bird strutting around outside your car. 

As the sun set the kangaroos filled the oval across from us, Monkey loved spotting all the kangaroos and watching them bound away into the darkness. Nature really is the simplest and often most enjoyable type of entertainment for us and we try to enjoy it any chance we get. Unfortunately we didn’t get to have a campfire at this campsite but the wildlife made up for that. 

This was the first time trying to sleep in the car again, since our first camping trip. Hubby had created the board to bridge the gap between the bench and the chair, this meant my hips finally had support through the night. This set up was much more comfortable and less stressful than the tent was.

This trip has really cemented that we are crazy people and will be sleeping in our van for our three week trip into Victoria. Three people sleeping in a Tarago/Estima with a full kitchen taking up a decent amount of space will sure be an experience!