With me coming off night shift and Jenny having a cub scout sleepover overnight, we were never going to get away anytime early.

Today was only meant to be a short leg to get out of Adelaide so as to avoid the traffic tomorrow. A great spot to camp was Mambray Creek which is 273 kms away and according to Google only a three hour drive.

With some strong winds and severe weather on the way, timing was going to be everything. There was a couple of hours in the morning before the rain was due to arrive so we spent that time packing the caravan with everything we would need for the 6 week adventure.

Just after lunch, the rains and winds arrived and we were almost ready to go. Just the shopping and dropping off the budgie to my parents to go. With the kids responsible for looking after themselves, 2 dogs, 1 rabbit and 1 budgie while we were away, we decided to lighten the load.

By 3:30 pm the weather had abated and we hit the road. It looked like the timings were right and we travelled in between storm fronts but there was still a bit of wind buffeting just after dusk.

After 4 hours, we arrived at Mambray Creek Campground. Even though I have a Parks Pass for camping, I still had to find a spot with phone coverage as all bookings are now done online. That has not been well thought out by the National Parks Service.

Day 1 one done and dusted with a good head start on Day 2.