Flinders Ranges – What we forgot or would have Changed

We recently got back from our 4 day trip to the Flinders Ranges as most trips, we forgot a few things. When we look back at our trip we wondered what we could change or what we should have taken with us to make life easier.

What we forgot –

A Map – Who would think we would need a map in our own backyard! We Google mapped how to get to the Flinders Ranges before we left and it seemed to be fairly straight forward. We thought we will just read the signs and we would be fine, we probably would have been if we hadn’t decided to spend some time in Port Augusta.

We ended up going the complete wrong way, luckily I noticed and told Pete to stop  while we try to find the GPS or use the “trusty” old Apple Iphone GPS (funny ha!) Turns out if we kept going, we would have ended up in WA! (and probably the news as “people who forgot to take a map)

A Thermos – When we stopped to have a cup of tea or coffee, we would have to find a nice spot, whip out the Billy and camp stove just to be able to heat water. This was difficult in a few incidents as it got a little windy so we put up barriers so that the flame didn’t go out and then had to constantly change the “barriers” as the wind changed. Not that there is anything wrong with sitting in a nice spot waiting for water to boil.

Matches – Something you wouldn’t think that you would forget when camping!! Luckily the camp stove we had was gas and had an electric ignition!!

Spare pegs – Spare pegs for the tent is a MUST! Luckily we were only camping for the one day and didn’t end up needing any but sometimes they break or get damaged, better to have spares that realise you can only put half of your tent up.

Hammer – You need this to be able to hammer the pegs in the ground as the ground area we camped in was as hard as rock! We of course forgot this one essential thing and ended up using a rock, which kept breaking, so that was pretty hopeless!

What we would have done differently –

Food – I would have prepared better and packed better and healthier food options, rather than having pop tarts for breakfast, while they are yummy, they were filling at the time but we were starving an hour later! I would probably have packed better camping food too.

Camp for longer – Due to the Hot Air Ballooning at 5am, we thought it would be best to stay in a holiday unit at Rawnsley Park rather than camping and possibility have a bad night’s sleep or being kept up by oldies having a party next door! If we did this trip again, I probably would organise to camp for longer. While Camping at Wilpena was really nice and they facilities they had were great, I think next time we would head to Rawnsley park  or Willow Springs as they have a huge camp area, some of the area is fairly secluded which would be better, makes you feel like you are camping in the middle of nowhere yet you are close enough to have a nice hot shower etc

A bigger tent – We were lucky enough to borrows Pete’s parents hiking tent but we were quite stupid and didn’t really think about which way the tent should have gone when we put it up.. We were just excited to get it up.. (get your head out of the gutter!).. We put the tent up on a very slight slope (hardly noticeable) and only realised when we got in the tent that we put the tent up with the doors facing down the slope, so we were lying across the shortest part of the tent ..Doh! It was also a fairly small tent (3 man tent) to start with, I think if we camped for several days, we would probably want to have a 4+ man tent.

Swag – If not a bigger tent maybe a swag ,a double one.. A swag is another strange Aussie word (see more in Australian Slang Translated) is a bundle of bedding/tent, basically a backpack bed. You just roll it out, its comfy and waterproof!

 What do you usually forget when travelling?

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