Mother and son journey: long distance driving and Jamie Oliver cooking

So there we were, just the two of us. To briefly recap, Mum and I went on a 5000+ km campertrailer odyssey; Mum is 70 years old. Being a widow for over 20 years we wanted to have some ‘mother and son’ time! And so the trip to Birdsville and beyond was born. Now that we are up-to-date, we move on ….

We reached the South Australian town of Burra for night one. I love Burra. If you have an interest in anything remotely historical in Australia you can spend weeks in this town. We spent a few fascinating hours trawling through the relics and probably the most mind-boggling aspect was the array of homes that had been dug into the riverbank as the mining township exploded with very few building resources to draw on. Because most things were built from stone in this region in the absence of wood, many of the old buildings still stand. I guess I’d always known that I got my love of Australian history from my mum, but wandering around these relics and trying to relive the moments spent inside the walls was a magical insight to our similarities. It was an odd moment of linking history prior to our two existences and then Mum’s history and mine. We were tempted to stay longer however, the day was bitterly cold and that forced us to retreat to the mandatory coffee shop. The coffee shop challenge had begun already, but more on that later.

For us, however, we had another days travel, not as big (this was some of the slack I’d built in if Mum’s back didn’t hold up). I had also hoped to cook a camp oven beef curry meal on the campfire that night, which meant getting to camp in time to build a good coal fire at the other end of the day.

We hit the road late morning and powered on up the blacktop.

The road alongside the Flinders Ranges. Stunning travel for a few hours!

Lunch was had at Hawker, a small town at the foot of the Flinders Ranges (now there’s another blog!). We refuelled the car and kept heading north. There are large distances between towns up this way, so while it doesn’t sound like much, we chewed up the hours. Up through Parachilna and turned into Leigh Creek for a quick drink and last minute supplies top up.

 

We then cruised to Copley. Last time I was in Copley I’m sure half the town was blown interstate by the wind! This time? Idyllic.

I got the fire going and started up the meal. As I was cooking, the ‘grey nomad crowd’ started gathering.”What’s that curious cooking method you are employing young man? And why are you out here with this elderly lady?”

“It’s called a camp oven. The hot bit is called fire! The ‘elderly woman’ is my mum!”

After not long at all I had a crowd of about 16 people gathered to watch the process. I explained my actions to the crowd of onlookers. Mum sat by proudly. She raced back to the campertrailer to get the ‘Trip Manual’ I had done for her. She excitedly showed her new friends the trip plan, menu plan, shopping plan, emergency contacts plan, communications devices plan, etc.

Fortunately, the beef curry with rice came out exactly as planned (from scratch I might add, no packets!). I offered taste tests to the disgruntled gentlemen of the group who hung their heads and explained that they had to head back to the caravan to cook their ‘chop and potato’! I don’t get it!

Mum and I ate and watched the sunset over the flat western plain. It was the end of day 2 and Mum was sailing along with a big grin on her face. She was doing really well. I was very proud. And mum had seen me perform Jamie Oliver style for a crowd so I think she was a little proud, too!

We were on the edge of the desert now, and Birdsville wasn’t too many days away……

When you travel do you seek out particular topics such as history or art? Do you prefer short days and long stops or long days and short stops when you road trip? Tell us in the comments!