| 04.23.2018 – Camping is South Australia’s past time that also includes boating and fishing for the reason there’s even a store named after these three activities (namely BCF), which has been the reason why Aussies continue to cultivated this as a hobby.
But if you have immigrants particularly Asians taking the deep dive into camping expect hilarious scenes aching to American reality shows with that kind of flavour, This gives you a good story and idea to share and new adventures told in a quite entertaining perspective by someone who is the only English speaking individual namely me. |
Though not entirely a personal experience I have experience camping in South Australia and that was in December 2016 at Port Hughes for three days and two nights, which given the preparation to go to this one as organize by colleagues from TAFE SA. There are seven of them in the group of Asian and I was invited to tag along in their first time adventure in the great outdoors.
It’s funny that I’m the only person in the group who doesn’t speak Chinese that the whole trip was basically feels like I was in uncharted territory with pretty much like compared to being in another planet with aliens (more of this), which basically speaking their language hardly I bother as I’ve been around with the same type of group of people years ago back in high school, where I was taking my summer computer courses.
Last Minute Decision
For most that have experience camping trip this is not just some run-on-the mill decision that you can make up and finally put it down that you’re going to a trip. The idea going to Flinders Range was only decided upon two days before the actual trip. I’ve consulted a relative who has been into camping trips and he advised me going to this place was a five hour drive.
I was invited since the week before decided to go to this place and when they have asked me again I was going through personal struggle that range from personal to professional life. A good friend back in the Philippines suggested I should go on this trip to get some ‘Peace of Mind’ that I’ve been going through the past months.
Honestly. I wasn’t sure what would give me in this trip as I’ve been suggesting an alternative place for a road trip that doesn’t give enough stress to the hours driving to Flinders Range, which was Port Hughes though I still went ahead and agreed to go just to have the opportunity to travel that is novelty from the country where I grew up.
Lost Travels Edition
The preparations were fairly simple to buy my own food; bring a sleeping bag and other necessities during this camping which is the simplest plan. This is sort of my second time to go on a road trip, but probably not going to be known as an experienced camper as I have little knowledge about it. But whenever I travel always be prepared for everything down to the smallest detail.
They say get lost in the travels and enjoy the experience in-between and by Saturday they said they’ll be ready to roll by 9 AM. So one of them has driven all the way to where I live to pick me up, but not as early as I thought they’ll be prepared to be as call time was 7 AM. By the time I have arrived at the meet-up point with the others, it was way past 9 AM where they still smoothing out the kinks of their plans.
I only had light breakfast at the nearby Vietnamese food shop just across TAFE Regency Park where everyone had gathered. It was revealed there were eight of us in the group with three couples and two dudes hitching a ride at one of the two Toyota Prado SUVs, and a Camry that has been wheel aligned several times in the last six months at the workshop during our off-job training.
Willow Springs to Mind
The five-hour journey has taken the group to a small town called Hawker, a winery, and finally to a part of Flinders Range namely the Willow Springs and Skytrek Station. The place is a sprawling privately own camping ground that has individual campsites that you need to register and pay at the camping headquarters.
Before we made it to our destinations there where several stops in Hawker, where the group purchased bags of ice, pump fuel in their vehicle and had a quick snack. The ladies in the group had to go to the toilet after the long travel. Most of the guys had a quick rest. The road trip was crazy as the two Toyota Prado SUVs where playing catch up while I was asleep in the middle of the trip.
The Camry was trying to compensate for its lack of power for the long trips as it’s only built for city driving and short road trips. So most of the time I was taking my nap they were trashing the vehicle to its fast speeds. As we went farther to the sort of planned destination network coverage for the group using Vodafone and Telstra are losing signal coverage save for the ones using the Optus service.
Missed out Sunset Opportunities
After reaching Willow Springs and registering for a campsite the group head out to Stokes Hill Lookout, where you get to view the sunset. Of course, the group went past the route of its location and got lost on the way, which most realized it was on the other side of the road that we end up seeing what’s left of the sun.
The sun may have gone down Stokes Hill Lookout, but the group was not going to let missed opportunity to have a group photo on this trip. A consolation for the effort for the first time campers to have this memento as a reminder how road trips are done Asian style as we head back to the campsite when the day slowly becomes dark.
Campfire and Ghost Stories
This was an opportunity to bond with some of my fellow colleagues in this trip even though I hardly heard them speak in English. Personal thoughts were somewhere else as I try to grasp the reality of the past months experiencing the life in South Australia. It was a personal learning experience at the same time dealing with the recent struggles I have gone through and it’s worth noting this was a good decision to get away from it.
I don’t call it “fun” or an escape but it has given me a perspective of knowing the other seven people in the group. Though without mentioning names there were good conversations with the guys while they roast chicken barbecue and other things in the bonfire, while the other guys cut some branches from a tree nearby.
One of the women in the group was into ghost stories so I shared one, which she translated into Chinese for them to better grasp the feel and experience of the story. Most of the time she would use the flashlight aiming at her face like the usual horror storyteller to have that “scary feel”, but I wasn’t feeling the scare until the three wild horses started appearing in our campsite that reminds me of a “Tikbalang” disguised as one of the innocent horses that where lingering in the area.
A “Tikbalang” is a tall bony humanoid creature with the head and hooves of a horse and disproportionately long limbs, to the point that its knees reach above its head when it squats down. This is where my hair stood while the gentlemen, were just sitting near the bonfire and the ladies were accompanied by one of the guys at the headquarters to take a shower.
Knocked Out in a Minute
It was starting to get colder but everyone never run out of stories as I moved to the tiny tent one of my colleagues who has recently purchased at Kmart. When we were putting this together it was like child’s play. I thought it was rather quaint but it was roomy inside just like Doctor Who’s TARDIS only this one is laying flat on the ground like the other three tents.
I had with me is the sleeping bag to cushion my back inside the tent that is thick enough to warm up from the cold. I turn up almost midnight as most of the group are still chatting in Chinese while I lay flat and used my bag as the pillow.
There was a burst of laughter when I realized that I dozed off in less than a minute as my young ward who invited me to this trip mentioned that I was already sleeping in less than a minute snoring. Of course, when you travel five hours non-stop even though I had short naps I would have felt tired and to be honest I have never slept better in the past months in the great outdoors.
Night Light of Stars
The experience prior to turning up for bedtime was something else. Though I have gone into camping before this is the first time I fully appreciate staring into the vast universe of stars and it’s a novelty to see the night sky like this. It would be cooler if I had a telescope with me, but seeing it in my own eyes it was like having a little bit peace of mind while the others went to shower after the dust and dirt getting into the group while on the road earlier.
The overnight stay may be short but the experience in-between was good change of scenery from the busy reality in the city. So everyone turned up past 1 AM as I was about to go back to bed. It was an eye-opening road trip that turned up good in the end for first-time campers namely this young group.
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