Edeowie Station in the Flinders Ranges

Our evening in Peterborough was spent at the rest area just east of town. There are no facilities here, and after yesterday's and last night's rain, the whole area is a large muddy puddle.

Peterborough, in its prime, was a key hub for trains carrying iron ore from Broken Hill to Port Pirie, with around one hundred trains passing through each day.
Just over an hour later, we stopped in Orroroo. The main street is arguably one of the widest you will ever drive down.

Several years ago, we spent a few days camping in Peterborough to escape some very unseasonable and stormy weather, and we drove up to Orroroo to help pass the time. There, we discovered a café that served the best hot chocolate we have ever tasted. Luckily, it was morning tea time, so we couldn't resist stopping at Maggie's Rendezvous again.

We then continued north along the B80, also known as RM Williams Way, passing through the small rural settlements of Carrieton and Craddock.

From there, we joined the Flinders Ranges Way before arriving in Hawker. It was a brief stop to refuel before heading further north along the Outback Highway.

After refuelling and calculating our trip from Wilcannia against the strong northwesterly winds, we found our fuel consumption was 29 litres per 100 kilometres, compared to 19.6 litres the previous day. Ouch.

Our campsite for the night was on Edeowie Station, 58 km north of Hawker. Access is via a 3 km dirt track from the highway. The station is on the western side of the Wilpena Pound formation.

The station is family-owned and operated, running sheep and cattle, and now also caters for travellers. They are listed on WikiCamps and the Youcamp website. Edeowie-station

In addition to the three camping areas, various other types of accommodations are available. Our site, called Malloga, was large enough to accommodate our 20-foot Bushtracker. Each of the campsites features the cleanest drop toilet we have ever seen, and each site has a fire ring with plenty of firewood available.
 
The campsites are well-spaced apart, and the scenery is particularly striking, from the beautiful, prominent red gums to the imposing walls of the pound, which look even more impressive during the golden hour as the sun sets.

And at just $10 per person per night, this is extremely reasonable given the excellent outlook.
 
This is the fourth time we have camped near the Flinders Ranges. These sites include Wilpena Pound and Aroona Ruins within the national park, as well as Rawnsley Park and Edeowie Station, located outside the park boundary.
 
We've enjoyed cooking dinner over the coals for the first time on this holiday, before adding extra wood and then sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying some butterscotch schnapps to help ward off the cold while waiting for the fire to die down. Well, at least that's our excuse........

The best part of all is knowing that when we eventually retire for the evening, the interior of the van will be nice and toasty thanks to our wonderful diesel heater.