The CMCA RV Park at Port Pirie has a dump point and multiple potable water taps so before we left we emptied our cassettes and filled our fresh water tanks. This means we can free camp for a couple of nights. We left Port Pirie after a stop at the Mitre10, which is conveniently located around the corner from the CMCA RV Park. We both needed a gas bottle and we needed wood for our planned free camp on the Murray River.

Most hardware stores and some service stations sell 15kg bags of wood. The usual price is $15 per bag. You can also buy bags of kindling however we already had enough kindling. We store our wood in a couple of the outside bins of the motorhome. One of the bins is meant to be for a generator but as we’ve never had one, nor felt the need to have one, we use that bin to store our wood, our flat pack fire pit and our Biji-BBQ. Also on this trip I took out my inflatable kayak and we’ve been able to use that bin for extra wood storage.

We made a short visit to KMart for some new books and Coles and Bakers Delight to stock up on supplies and fresh bread then headed southwards.

Stopped for a lunch break in Jamestown next to a large park with a playground. Jamestown is the home of the very famous Australian, RM Williams. Reginald Murray Williams was born in Jamestown on 24 May 1908. Once RM made his first pair of boots he honed his skills and eventually he and his young family moved back to Adelaide where he started his famous store, the ‘Bushmen’s Outfitters’. The RM Williams brand is known throughout the world today. Reg died in 2003 aged 95 and was survived by his nine children. What a legend!

Continuing our journey we stopped for a photo in front of the huge 44m long wind turbine propeller blade at Mount Bryan. This area is home to AGL’s Hallett Hill Wind Farm. This is one of four AGL wind farm clusters in the mid north of South Australia. The Hallett Hill Wind Farm produces enough energy to power 40,000 homes. Wind power supplies more than 20% of South Australia’s power needs.

We passed through the historic town of Burra without stopping. Richard and I had been there last year on our Murray River Run and we were all keen to get to a camp. We finally reached the Murray River at Morgan. First stop was for fuel and then we headed down the hill to the car ferry. Katie hadn’t towed her van on a car ferry so this was quite exciting.

It’s a very quick and easy process except we have to be very careful getting on and off with our motorhome. We have a long overhang at the rear and sometimes we have to go at an angle so we don’t scrape our rear end. Fortunately we have a tow bar and it’s usually only the tow bar that scrapes a little.

After crossing the river we pulled up for the night at Hogwash Bend Conservation Park right on the river. There is a good gravel road that leads to the camp area next to the river. There is lots of room for many camps and we found a good spot. There was only one other camp with a couple of caravans camped 200m away. The river was huge and very full.

We set up camp for a couple of nights. What a lovely spot.

At sunset the corellas and kookaburras made a raucous noise but we love it. Being camped in the bush with water views…..how good is life?