With our sights firmly set on reaching Mannum it was off bouncing down the road again. For some reason the roads in this area have been quite rough and undulating and yet surprisingly a large number of vans and camper trailers heading in the opposite direction. As it is a long weekend it could simply be part of the holiday exodus from Adelaide. Next stop after Auburn was Gawler – a bit of a pig of a town in terms of the road system as it tends to wind along in all directions with it very narrow in places – especially when one has a caravan in tow. From there we headed across the lower reaches of the Barossa Valley – more vineyards but quite scenic, and then over a significant range of hills that provided excellent views east over to Mannum.
We had last been at Mannum mid February and at that time there were very few people using the free camping area next to the Murray River. This time around however it was packed with people taking advantage of the long weekend. Most were camping in tents and given how cold it was at night we felt they were either quite brave, or foolish, depending on your point of view. Mind you, without the benefit of a heater it probably gets just as cold in the van.
