Bendleby Ranges (South Flinders Ranges) – The Adventures of Nick and Pam

While on our two-month mini-lap last year, we had to stop at Dobinson’s Adelaide to get some new, heavy duty springs fitted to the Jeep, as we were weighed down with so much gear that the rear axles were hitting the chassis when we went over any bumps (for the non-technical… it’s really uncomfortable… we’ve corrected the issue this time around though with a fully upgraded suspension). While the first springs were being installed in Adelaide, we of course had a chat with the shop employees about where we’d been and where we were going. They had some amazing recommendations that we weren’t able to get to at the time, and were added to the “next time” list – for checking off this time!

One of those recommendations was the Bendleby Ranges, a series of private 4wd tracks and campgrounds & accommodations run by a lovely family on their pastoral land in the South Flinders Ranges. Bendleby Ranges, along with Skytrek at Willow Springs (more on them later), were two of the things we were most excited about in this first leg of our year-long journey. In particular, both properties – Bendleby Ranges and Willow Springs – offer ‘remote camping’, which is in effect your own private isolated campsite in the bush, with a nearby drop toilet (aka outhouse), a fire ring, and an amazing view of the starry sky at night. What more do you need??

Our campsite at Bendleby Ranges – no one around for kilometres

At the time we stayed, Bendleby Ranges also provided more than enough firewood for your stay, built into the price of the camping fee and with the benefit that it’s waiting for you at your campsite when you arrive, which was very welcome by us (one less thing to arrange), and helps the family preserve the natural state of their land (even if there are “don’t collect firewood” signs, some folks will still go about and pillage the landscape – this practice completely removes any incentive to do so).

It was Canada Day while we were there! Best celebrated with patriotic clothing, a campfire, and cold beer of course.

I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed our stay. We had no mobile phone reception, sunny warm days around 22C, cold clear nights perfect for huddling around the fire and gazing up at the stars, and nothing much to worry about beyond what to have for lunch.

As if it couldn’t get any better than this, Bendleby Ranges also offers something like 3 days of 4wd tracks, ranging in difficulty to suit all levels of experience, and 2 days of bush walks. We found ourselves wishing we had booked more time at Bendleby, as we only had a chance to do one day of the 4wd tracks and none of the bush walks (we were there for 3 nights and 2 full days, one day of which needed to be devoted to re-wiring the UHF radio in preparation for our Simpson Desert crossing).

The company at the lookouts ain’t bad either

If you can’t tell, we REALLY loved Bendleby Ranges and hope to return one day for a longer stay. If you’re ever in the Flinders, check them out! And make sure you stay for longer than 3 nights to fully discover everything they have on offer.

MVP Award:

The Luckraft Family, owners of Bendleby Ranges, for providing a setting for some pretty awesome Jeep glamour shots this week:

So, Where Exactly Is This?
Here’s a screenshot of this leg of the journey from WikiCamps! The red is what we’ve already covered, the green is featured in the post you just read. You can also follow us live at this link – our satellite device pings this shared map about every ten minutes.