V & C Impressions

Almost Grey Nomads in Australia

Tag: South Australia

Discover South Australia’s top camping destinations, including the Flinders Ranges and stunning beaches. Free and paid campsite reviews with local travel tips

  • Bordertown Recreation Lake

    Bordertown Recreation Lake

    This is a review of the Bordertown Recreation lake, a donation camp next to a lake and the town of Bordertown, SA. An excellent overnight stop, or stay for a few days.

    • Website: Bordertown Recreation Lake
    • Fee Category: Donation
    • Booking: Bookings not required
    • Dog Friendly: Yes
    • Amenities: Flushing toilets
    • Dump point: Yes
    • Fire Pits: No
    • Rubbish bins: Yes
    • Pool: No
    • Telstra: Good
    • Starlink: May have problems with trees
    Bordertown Recreation Lake artwork
    The Water Tower

    Our Opinion

    If you are passing this way and need a place to stop overnight then this is a little gem of place to consider. For a very cost donation of $10 per campsite, it comes with decent toilets, bins, dump point, water and your choice of where to camp. This can be in the dirt area under trees or on the other side of where the toilets are located, on bitumen. The dirt section is a lot larger than the bitumen section.

    This is a big park with plenty of trees and very flat. We didn’t need to level the van and put blocks under the car tyres only because the car is not level with the van. The toilets were clean with a hint of urine and flushing, a bonus in this class of camping. There is a dump point and potable water, though we didn’t need to fill our tanks.

    We felt safe and is always encouraging when other caravans turn up and stay as well. There was a little bit of road and train noise, (the train tracks are not too far away), and other than that it was all good.

    The only thing to note is that there are Jumping Jack ants, (also known as Bull ants), in the area, so maybe camping in tents may not be the best idea unless you can find a spot where the ground is clear. They didn’t give us any problems. Doesn’t matter where you go in Australia there seems to be ants.

    This lake is not swimming one due to water quality, different depths and items at the bottom of the lake. In fact we saw signs that you can be fined if caught. The lake area was originally dug out out to make a bank for a road bridge and rather than fill it in, they decided to turn it into a lake. Interesting to walk around the lake on the walking tracks as there is some great art works to see along the way.

    Bordertown Recreation Lake, Shadow out for a walk
    Jetty on the Lake, Shadow out for a walk
    Bordertown Recreation Lake campground
    The Lake beyond
    Bordertown Recreation Lake campground
    Bordertown Recreation Lake campground
    Bordertown Recreation Lake campground
    Bordertown Recreation Lake campground
  • Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park

    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park

    Our review of the Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park is a positive one. A nice picturesque park with lovely green grass, and level sites. If you are after somewhere to stay that is quite and centrally located to a number of attractions then this place should be on your list. There a cockateels there that do make a bit of noise at night but soon quieten down..

    • Website: Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park
    • Fee Category: Paid
    • Booking: Bookings needed
    • Dog Friendly: Yes
    • Amenities: Yes
    • Pool: Swimming Lake next door
    • Telstra: Good
    • Starlink: May have problems with trees
    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park campground
    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park campground

    Our Opinion

    We stayed here for 3 weeks over the Christmas and New Year break. We loved it. It was a reasonably quite place, at a reasonable price. Not the newest place we have been to in our travels, but still, it was kept clean and felt safe.

    The weather was a bit of a shock, since we are Queenslanders. Having to use the heater a few times in the evening was a shock. I can now understand why everyone heads south in summer. The weather was up and down, we did not get much rain, but the temperature ranged from 18 to 33 degrees, the average would have been 23. Overnight temps got down to as low as 13.

    One of the best features of this caravan park is the Millicent Swimming Lake which is next door. This is a council run Lake, so all of Millicent have access to this lake. It is free and plenty big enough for everyone going to a max depth of 1.8M and safe for anyone. There is a pontoon you can jump off. We certainly used it on those occasional hot days that came along during our stay. It is NOT DOG FRIENDLY, there are NO DOGS signs everywhere around the lake.

    Millicent Swimming Lake
    Millicent Swimming Lake , a council run facility
    Millicent Swimming Lake , a council run facility
    Millicent Swimming Lake , a council run facility
    Millicent Swimming Lake information sign
    Millicent Swimming Lake information sign
    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park campground
    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park campground
    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park campground
    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park campground
    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park campground un-powered sites
    Millicent Lakeside Caravan Park campground un-powered sites

    Attractions

    There is quite a few things to do around the Limestone coast, with Millicent being at the southern end. If you like spending time along the coast, or exploring inland towns then there is a few things to do around here. Below is a list of what we got up to –

    • Mt Gambier, about 30 min away, A few things to look at around here, some things though are not dog friendly, Centenary Tower, Blue Lake, The cave Garden, Umpherston Sinkhole 🐶
    • Kilsby Sinkhole 💰💰 this is where you can snorkel and drive as it also has some caves.
    • Little Blue Lake, just outside Mt Gambier, you can swim here 🐶
    • The Barn, a high end restaurant, excellent meal 💰💰
    • Mt Burr, about 10 min away, a walking trail (dog friendly 🐶) and also at the local store – American Burgers yum yum.
    • Conunda National Park, sand 4wd, go to information centre for maps.
    • Tantanoola Caves, worth a look 💰
    • Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park, worth a look, you can snorkel here, or you could, it was closed when we went,
    • Mt Schank Volcano, a good hike up and around the perimeter
    • Naracoorte, which has an excellent museum, 30 -40 min away 🐶 💰
    • Penola, which is about 30 -40 min away, historic village here. 🐶
    • Beachport, Southend, Port MacDonnell, all coastal towns to have a look at. 🐶

    There are wine trails, and more, this is just a sample of what is available. To see more have a look at our Facebook page at around the date January 2025.

    Kennels

    There are few things on that list which are not dog friendly. We left Shadow at the Weedon Springs Boarding Kennel and Cattery (Glencoe, SA), about half way between Millicent and Mt Gamier. They were excellent and are on Facebook.