If you’ve ever wondered what the trip from Brisbane through to the Flinders Ranges is like, have we got a story for you.

After a year of staying put, the CAOS team were itching to hit the road and what better excuse than to meet up with the crew from What’s Up Down Under in the Flinders Ranges. Hop in the passenger seat as we take you on our 4x4 trip through to the Flinders and back.

Where Are The Flinders Ranges?
The Flinders Ranges are South Australia’s largest mountain range and are located 200km north of Adelaide and stretches roughly 430km.

MAP OF FLINDERS RANGES

Do I Need A 4x4 To Explore The Flinders?
Short answer, no, you don’t; we did see several low clearance 2WD (e.g. Golf hatch) and AWD (e.g. Subaru Outback) vehicles touring around the Flinders Ranges. However, given the majority of tracks through the Flinders Ranges are unsealed dirt/gravel, we personally would prefer to be exploring the Flinders Ranges in a 4WD, simply because they are more durable and designed to handle the punishment of unsealed tracks much better than other passenger vehicles.

But first, to get the CAOS team and our 4WDs down south from sunny Queensland we had to take a road trip. Here’s the first leg of our trip from Brisbane to South Australia, stay tuned to find out more. 

Day #1 - Brisbane to Narrabri (674km)
We left bright and early from Brisbane and hit the road in the CAOS Jeep and 79 Series filled to the brim with gear.

The rigs were full of fuel but the driver’s needed a boost so we stopped in at Blackbutt Bakery for a coffee and pie (for Leon our local pie connoisseur). We were recharged and back on the road, heading south.

After crossing the border at Texas we continued on through Coolatai (home of mysterious Black Panther). After a quick pit stop at Warialda we pushed through to Narrabri to finish up for the day and enjoy a hard-earned beer at the local Sports Club. 

Day #2 - Narrabri to Broken Hill (968km) 

Another early start heading south for the CAOS crew. We passed through Castle Top on our way towards Gilgandra (also known as the Town Of Windmills). After picking up some padlocks for our trusty MAXTRAX (you can never be too careful with precious cargo) we hit the road again, this time heading west. 

For any tourists following the route, the Big Bogan in Nyngan is a little known but great photo opportunity that we couldn’t resist.

Next stop was Cobar, where we broke for lunch and to refuel before heading to our rest stop on Day 2, Broken Hill.

We arrived in Broken Hill just after 7pm on Day 2. After travelling nearly 1000kms there was only one thing on our mind, an ice cold beer. Spargo’s Kitchen on Argent St get’s the CAOS tick of approval for some of the best Pizza we’ve had! 

Day #3 - Broken Hill to Merna Mora Station (473km)

It was West again on the morning of Day #3. We entered South Australia after half an hour on the Barrier Highway and stopped for the obligatory photo.

Another 2.5 hours on the road before we turned north at Peterborough on the path to Merna Mora Station. We passed through Orroroo and Cradock before refuelling in Hawker. Another 30 minutes north and we had arrived at our destination.

Located 430km north of Adelaide, Merna Mora Station is part of 230 square mile sheep, cattle and tourism enterprise with roughly 2500 sheep and 800 cattle.

At Merna Mora Station we met up with the crew from What’s Up Down Under and had a yarn at the camp kitchen.

After 3 days and over 2000kms we were ready for a rest. We settled in for the night overlooking the banks of the dry creek bed running through Merna Mora, ready to face Day #4.

Stay tuned to find out about the next stage of the journey…

Find out more about Merna Mora Station