We spent four days at Mount Crawford, camping in the State Forest. I've labelled this post "free camping" which it isn't, but close. It's $5/night for adults and $2/night for kids or $10/week for adults and $6/week for kids. There is no power or water, just a pit loo (which we didn't use so I can't say what it is like). You camp on the grounds of a pine forest plantation. We stayed at Chalks campground which is very open, grassy sites although the gate was closed so much of it was fenced off and there were limited sites for caravans. We had a nice secluded spot but it was gravel. On the day we left, we saw that some people had lifted the posts out of the ground to drive into the more grassy sites (d'oh!)
Just up the road is Rocky Paddock Campground. This is a much more beautiful site, hidden among the pine trees and rocky outcrops. This would have been a much better campsite but we needed the access to the sun for solar power.
Our time at Mt Crawford was kind of ruined by the weather. It was sunny, but cold when we arrived. The next day it rained and rained and rained. There was no sun and it was very cold. The third day was sunny but cold (3 layers, including thermals). and the fourth day it rained and poured and poured and we could blow steam out of our mouths all day! Fortunately we left the next day!!!
We went to Mt Crawford as it is one of the few areas where you can fossick for gold and gemstones in SA (and no, Greg doesn't have gold fever (according to him).... oh hang on, we're following him around the state while he fossicks lol!). I wouldn't mind the gold fever quite so much if we actually found anything worth something.
We spent Wednesday afternoon in the pine forest across from Rocky Paddock. It was such an incredibly beautiful place to be. The forest floor was covered in pine needles; the low hills sloped gently down to a dry creek bed. The weather was so horrible that I never took any photos, which is such a shame as I would love to remember how beautiful and serene it was. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the dry creek bed while Greg dug and I looked through his rocks for gemstones. We didn't find anything and it started to rain more than the light drizzle we had so we headed back to the van for warm baths and a yummy dinner.
Thursday afternoon we went to a different part of the State Forest. We started fossicking in an area of eucalyptus forest. It was a lovely sunny day and Rory had a great time throwing rocks, some as big as house bricks, into the creek. We didn't find anything there so moved back to a different part near the pine plantation. Here there was a small creek, flowing gently after all of the rain, with some mini waterfalls over rocks and (fairly) shallow pools. On the first pan, Greg found a flake of gold and I found a red crystal (about 1mm in size), most likely a garnet (based on the information provided on gemstones found in the area). So of course, we decided to spend some time having a good look here. It didn't take long for Rory to take his boots and socks off. Not long after that I had to take his jeans off as they were soaked and not long after that, he was filthy and sopping wet from the waist down. I gave up worrying by then and just let him play in his nappy,, singlet and shirt. He had a lot of fun, as he always does when outside. Tilda did some panning but didn't find anything.Despite that she had fun digging in the creek and playing around on the rocks.
Greg found a second speck of gold (we might have found a dollar of gold by now lol!) and I found 2 more very small red crystals. They are pretty to have but of no value as they are too small to do anything with, but it is the pleasure of finding them really.
Friday dawned wet and cold.... very, very cold. The kids were very interested in the fact that they could see their breath, especially Rory, as I don't think he's ever seen it before. He spent a lot of time huffing out so I could see "his air" (so cute!). We hung around as we were hoping the weather would get better as we had plans that Michael, Melissa, Willow and Sakari would come out to join us so we could have a fire for Willow's Birthday, which is what he really wanted. By the middle of the day the weather had become pretty bad and we were in the Adelaide region severe weather warning zone. We packed up everything outside and put the awning down in preparation for the strong winds, and settled into the van. Passing time with a 2yo when you don't TV and he won't colour in, draw or play any games is a pretty painful experience, but time passed and the weather cleared a bit, and we eagerly awaited our friends arrival.
We had 2 very happy kids when Willow and Sakari arrived. We set up in the shelter shed with its open fireplace. The fire worked OK but smoke poured out into the building, but my genius husband came up with a solution using aluminium foil and pegs. It stopped the smoke but also reduced the heat. BUT, the kids had fun, fun and more fun! Melissa had made a pinata and pass the parcel and all of the kids enjoyed themselves beating up the pinata with a big stick (it was VERY well made) and playing with the toys in the pass the parcel. The flying, flashing lighted UFOs were a great hit. We enjoyed a lovely red curry and birthday cake, all made by Melissa. The weather stayed pretty miserable and very, very cold. We were sad when they had to leave but it was getting late (around 7pm is late sometimes) and they had a long drive ahead of them and we were all cold and very smokey. We are all hoping that isn't the last time we get to spend together, but we will need to wait and see if we can do a little more travelling together.
So while our time at Mt Crawford wasn't particularly good weather-wise, which sure put a big dampener on our moods (no pun intended), I still have lovely memories of the place. My two main ones are the beautiful pine forest where we spent the afternoon fossicking in the drizzling rain and Willow's Birthday party.
And I also won't forget the miracle Melissa worked with her massage on my hip and back, which had had me walking all bent and stiff and crooked and in a fair amount of pain and feeling very grumpy.
Of course, the day we left, we woke to sunshine!
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