Never before have I stayed at a caravan park where you are greeted with freshly baked hot scones, with a generous helping of jam and cream to slather on top at will. But that is exactly what we, and everyone for that matter, gets when you stay at the Community Caravan Park in the southern Flinders Ranges town of Laura in South Australia.

You’ve also got the choice of staying in powered or unpowered, grassed or gravel sites and if you’re a CMCA member, they even have sites for self-contained travellers for $10 per night.

As well as the usual amenities, the park has a couple of camp kitchens, a unique bike repair station, a native garden walk to take and there’s an adventure playground for the kids, across the road from the caravan park.

Speaking of across the road, the adults are catered for too with Little Blessings Brewery just an easy stroll from your site. This relatively new business is Australia’s only brewery in a church, and was too good an opportunity to miss, when the owners were looking to set up their on-site brewery, using the venue as a play on their often mispronounced surname.

Craig and Cat Blesing bought the church which was built in 1875, and only afterwards did they find out that one of their ancestors had actually been among the founding members of the church. A match made in heaven you could say.

When you visit now, you have plenty of choices of where to sit and enjoy the friendly hospitality and tasty brews. Inside the restored limestone church you can get cosy in front of a combustion heater during the cold winter days, or when the sun is shining, the beer garden is the place to be. For those who can’t decide there is even an undercover outdoor space, complete with a toasty warm wood fire.

At the time of our visit there were 10 different brews to taste all with relevant names including Parish Pale Ale and Ale Mary. If beer is not your thing, don’t worry, they also make gin, liqueurs and they have locally sourced wines. On weekends they also host different food trucks onsite to cater for all tastes and keep everyone satisfied.

The town is an easy walk from the caravan park too and has all the shops you need to stock up the van as well as a café, an information centre and smaller specialty shops. Make sure to pay a visit to the Laura Emporium Gallery and Museum. This part shop, part museum is full of nostalgia and it takes a while to soak it all in.

As with every small town in Australia, Laura has its claims to fame including being the one time home of Australia’s most prolific poet, C J Dennis, who wrote The Sentimental Bloke, and until very recently, it also boasted being the home of the Golden North Ice Cream factory. South Australia’s favourite ice cream maker has been based in Laura since its beginnings in 1923, but has just announced that it will be moving its production to the town of Murray Bridge instead.

This has come as quite a blow to the small town of around 750 residents with about 80 locals employed at the factory, and so much of its tourism centred on the tag of being ‘Home of Golden North’. Although the factory was never open for visitors, their products are sold in every business around Laura and even though the popularity of the product won’t change, I’m sure the locals will have their concerns on the town’s future.

For travellers, there are plenty of reasons to stay and spend time and money in Laura. As well as what the town has to offer, you can take a few short drives to see nearby attractions, which the Information centre volunteers can happily provide details about.

Nearby is Beetaloo Reservoir which is open from May to November each year, and is a perfect place to see kangaroos in the wild. It’s a pretty strenuous walk from the car park uphill to the dam wall viewing area, but once there, you can with a permit, do some shore based fishing, take a scenic walk or just take in the view. The reservoir was built in 1885 and has a dam wall measuring over 33 metres in height.

At the viewing area, you can also see an indigenous artwork on aluminium by Jessica K Turner. The painting is of two womba (snakes), representing the dreamtime serpent wrapped around Beetaloo and it also contains other symbols of the Nukunu people of the area.

In the grounds of the reservoir there are sheltered picnic tables, barbecues and amenities for day visitors to use.

Laura is a little over two and a half hours drive north of Adelaide, a convenient town to base yourself and discover the southern Flinders Ranges region and believe me, the scones alone are worth the stay.

Cheers and blessings,

Glenys