4WD camping adventure in Gawler Ranges, South Australia

Even if setting off from Adelaide, prepare for a long trip. It's at least a seven-hour drive, longer if factoring in food, comfort and fuel stops.

Leaving Adelaide, take the A1 (the Port Wakefield Road and Augusta Highway) to Port Augusta – 310 kilometres, around four hours. From Port Augusta, staying on the A1, this leg of the journey – 247 kilometres – offers a good run on the Eyre Highway across the top of Spencer Gulf to the Eyre Peninsula and to Wudinna.

Getting to the Gawler Ranges from Adelaide.

From there, there are a number of gravel roads heading north from the highway into the national park. (It's around 40 kilometres due north from both Wudinna and Minnipa.)

Once into the national park, there are no services. Fuel, water, food and sleeping gear needs to be carried in, and carried out. (The "carrying out" includes your rubbish.) There are some toilet and washing facilities – but we're talking 'long drop' composting toilets and bore water.

South Australian Parks advises that "Campfires are allowed from May to October but gas or fuel stoves are preferred. Camping fees apply, payable at self-registration stations".

We're here in the new-look Mazda BT-50, supplied by Mazda Australia as part of its model release.

This BT-50 comes with a spanking new nose, courtesy of Mazda Australia's penmanship and Brisbane-based EGR Group. The new nose is designed to not scare the kiddies quite so much as the old (or at least to look a little less like it's wearing a nosebag), and, yes, the new lines give the BT-50 more of the conventional style of a smart SUV.

Tim O'Brien We're driving the top-of-the-range BT-50 3.2-litre Dual Cab GT 4X4 with six-speed auto. (image: Tim O'Brien)

We're driving the top-of-the-range BT-50 3.2-litre Dual Cab GT 4X4 with six-speed auto. With a proper low-range 4x4 capability, a very potent five-cylinder 3.2-litre diesel engine under the bonnet (offering 147kW and 470Nm) and a 3500kg braked towing capacity, the BT-50 is a genuine contender for those who may have otherwise been looking at a LandCruiser or Prado to tow the van on a lap of the country.

We do like the leather seats of the GT and the features it has - such as reverse camera (standard across the BT-50 range), power windows and mirrors, air-conditioning, cruise control, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Alpine sound system (with 8.0-inch screen), steering wheel-mounted audio controls, rear-view mirror auto dimming, and sat-nav with live traffic updates and off-road maps.

For towing, it also comes with trailer sway control, among a suite of dynamic safety features.

Tim O'Brien On road and off it, the big Mazda is comfortable and quiet. (image: Tim O'Brien)

Its driveaway price is just $51,990 which is a considerable saving on a similarly-equipped Ford Ranger, and cheaper even than Mitsubishi's Triton Exceed, which has long been one of the price leaders in the segment.

And, on road and off it, the big Mazda is comfortable and quiet and more than capable of tackling the relatively easy tracks and trails dissecting the Gawler Ranges.

Sturt's Track, running due north from the mid-point of Sturt's Lake, climbs through a series of sand hills before intersecting with Dog Fence Track.

Trek Two: from Sturt's Lake to Pondanna Outstation.

It's a slow climb with long stretches of soft sand, rising high above Sturt's Lake retreating into the rear-view mirror.

Tim O'Brien It's a slow climb with long stretches of soft sand. (image: Tim O'Brien)

Turning west, we followed Dog Fence Track until briefly hitting the Old Paney Scenic Route and Pondanna Outstation. Along this track, the country changes with each low crest, turning from white sand, to red bulldust, to stony gravel.

This part of the road is well-maintained and can be traversed safely reasonably quickly. But, as with anywhere in the park, wildlife is an ever-present hazard. The Gawler Ranges teem with euro and grey kangaroos (and the occasional big red roo). They are also home to the rare South Australian hairy-nosed wombat, and to large groups of emus.

Tim O'Brien Along this track, the country changes with each low crest, turning from white sand, to red bulldust, to stony gravel. (image: Tim O'Brien)

Kangaroos and emus, in particular, move considerable distances in seeking out food and water, and when shadows begin to lengthen in the afternoon, can suddenly appear at the road verges. Cars and wildlife, of course, don't mix, so care and good sense is needed.

Pondanna Outstation, restored by The Friends of the Gawler Ranges National Park, was first farmed as part of a pastoral lease in 1868. Now an attractive stone colonial farmhouse, it offers holiday accommodation for visitors, offering four bedrooms, a country style kitchen and bathroom, and absolute peace and tranquillity.

To book, search for Pondanna Outstation – it's a two-hour direct drive from Wudinna, 4WD only.

Tim O'Brien Pondanna Outstation – the old chaff-cutting shed. (image: Tim O'Brien)

The chaff-cutting shed nearby, now in some disrepair, echoes the hard and unforgiving pastoral history of much of the arid semi-desert areas of South Australia. The folly in the colonial belief that "the rain will follow the plough", is seen in the granite and sandstone remains of abandoned farmhouses and settlements dotted through the mid-north of South Australia.

Some unusually wet seasons in the 1850s and '60s, and colonial policies of extending settlement through pastoral leases, lured farmers north to places, such as Pondanna Outstation. But the weather is nothing if not duplicitous, and when paddocks turned to dust, the dreams of the farmers followed.

Taking Yardea Road, the drive out of the national park to Minnipa on the Eyre Highway, is an easy 50km. If you're looking for some creature comforts when you hit the town – like a good shower and cosy bed – Minnipa Hotel offers motel-style accommodation.

Trek Four: from Yandinga to Wudinna.

Minnipa is otherwise dominated by its huge silos, giant reminders of its own pastoral history and proximity to the vast broadacre grain cropping of the nearby Eyre Peninsula.

Thomas Wielecki The drive from Minnipa to Wudinna is just 30 minutes east. (image: Thomas Wielecki)

Completing the circle, the drive from Minnipa to Wudinna is just 30 minutes east.

Our BT-50 proved the perfect companion for a tour like this. Its 4WD capability, and generous ground clearance, will take you a long way off road – get you there, and get you back.

For the greater part of the drive, we returned an average of 11.2L/100km, only rising to 13.2L/100km in the soft sand of Sturt's Track.

To be sure, the Gawler Ranges are best appreciated with a capable 4x4. Because getting deep into the vast isolation of this ancient landscape, is what it's all about. Perhaps you should check it out.