in a town called Yacka

Tonight we stopped at a town called Yacka in South Australia. We stayed at Whyalla last night, and after a long trip to the Whyalla Maritime Museum where we got to tour the HMAS Whyalla (first used in WWII) we drove to Port Pyrie in search of a caravan winder. Our winder got accidentally left in Kimba a couple of days ago, and last night Trevor managed to put up the van with a jemmy bar and a wrench. He didn’t want to have to do that again as as well as being a pain, it risks damaging the van.

We went to the caravan place in Whyalla, but the nearest winder was a long drive away, so at 2.30pm off we set. We all enjoyed the drive around beautiful South Australia, looking out at green paddocks and the Flinders Ranges, and we made it to the fantastic Port Pyrie Outdoors store before it closed at 5pm. Yes! We had the new winder! But now we need to decide where to stay…

When we are at caravan parks, they have tended to be overcrowded, a bit impersonal and very expensive, but they have power and showers. Many of the free sites are just a piece of dirt on the side of the road that are too basic for me.  We’ve found a few community managed campsites that are excellent (see blogpost on Kimba for example) but these aren’t that easy to find.

I had a win this afternoon though when I flipped through a Tourism SA booklet and found the town of Yacka. Yacka was once a bustling town, but in the early 1990s they lost their school and many other services. What is left includes a campground and park; a craft shop that also sells basics like milk, bread and papers a couple of churches and not a lot else.

At $15 a night Yacka’s campground is relaxed, has power, showers/toilets, a huge playground and grassed area to run about in. The internet connection is a bit dodgy, but we mostly can get it. We’ve decided to set up camp here for a few days so we can focus on the kids getting their travel diaries updated and Trevor getting some study done and the big plus – not having to do the whole “pack up our van” thing. We’ve got the packing and unpacking down to a fairly fast operation now after 2 1/2 weeks on the road but it still feels like it takes forever. When we don’t get to a campsite until after 6pm (like tonight) it is an annoying thing to have to do in the dark.

Over the next few days we can just take in the history of Yacka, and use this as a base from which to drive to other places to explore. And the best bit – come home to a set up van!!