I can’t remember why I put Orroroo on my Bucket List. Maybe it was a recommendation or maybe it was how the name rolls off the tongue.
The day I arrived here I rang my sister in Western Australia to say hi. She asked me where I was and I told her. She said “That’s where Trev and I were going to go on our honeymoon.” Intrigued I asked why? “Just always wanted to go there” came the reply. I thought wow what’s the chances of two siblings having the same little obscure town on their bucket list. She thought I said “Uluru.” Once we clarified that we had a laugh.
Orroroo (oh double ar, oh ar double oh) is about 272km directly north of Adelaide and just shy of 200km south of Flinders Ranges. It is certainly worth a stopover.
I stayed at what is locally known as “Mick’s Place”, a property a couple of kilometres out of town past the hospital. It is just a rural bush area beside a (dry) creek bed. No facilities but free to stay as long as you like. It was ideal.
There are two hotels in town, both of which are still operating. There is a lot of through traffic both north-south and east-west. It is about an hour east of Port Augusta.
While I was there I had a wander around town, a number of old buildings, and went up to Tank Hill Lookout which gives a pretty spectacular view over the town and the plains and hills beyond. There is also Magnetic Hill a few kilometres out of town. It gives the optical illusion of your vehicle rolling uphill. Quite cool and great if you have kids with you.
During my walk around town I stopped to chat with a man walking his dog. I asked him how long he had lived in Orroroo for and he told me 7 years. He moved here when he retired and when I asked why Orroroo he said it ticked all the important boxes. (Relatively) cheap houses, good facilities including medical and hospital, good feel to the town and a supportive community as well as being “not too far” from Adelaide. As I travel around I am always interested to talk to locals, especially ones that have moved to a particular town to retire in. What draws people to different places is interesting. Sometimes it’s to be close to family but generally it boils down to cost of housing and medical facilities.
rayaroundoz 