South Australia by the Numbers

We somehow blazed through South Australia. But, we definitely plan on driving through again, probably when we cross through the great center. Besides, we missed the whales that live there from May to October.
UPDATED: After we swung through again to visit the whales.

Here are some interesting statistics from our journey in South Australia.

• Time
  • Time zone: UTC+9:30; participates in DST (yes, you heard that right, 30 min off from the AUS Eastern time zone)
  • Day entered: 06-Apr-2017
  • Day left: 21-Apr-2017
  • Day entered: 12-Jul-2017
  • Day left: 23-Jul-2017
  • Total # of days: 26
  • • Nights slept in van: 26
    • Nights slept in tent: 0
    • Nights slept in hotel/etc.: 0
    • Nights paying for lodging: 0
• Distance
  • Driven: ~7742 km (~4839 miles)
  • Hiked: 42.3 km (26.5 miles)

  • Date	Location	Description	Distance (km)	Distance (mi)
    4/6/2017	Naracoorte	Wet Cave	0.6	0.375
    4/7/2017	Naracoorte	Victoria Fossil Cave	0.8	0.5
    4/9/2017	Victor Harbor	Granite Island	2.546	1.59125
    4/11/2017	Burra	Burra Burra Mine Site	1	0.625
    4/12/2017	Mt Remarkable NP	Ali Lookout Walk	0.4	0.25
    4/12/2017	Mt Remarkable NP	Gorge Lookout Walk	0.6	0.375
    4/12/2017	Mt Remarkable NP	Alligator Gorge Circuit	2	1.25
    4/14/2017	Flinders Ranges National Park	Akaroo Rock Hike	3	1.875
    4/14/2017	Flinders Ranges National Park	Sacred Canyon Walk	0.5	0.3125
    4/14/2017	Flinders Ranges National Park	Wilpena Solar Power Station Walk	0.5	0.3125
    4/14/2017	Flinders Ranges National Park	Wangara Lookout Hike (Upper and Lower)	7.8	4.875
    4/15/2017	Flinders Ranges National Park	St Mary Peak Hike	14.6	9.125
    7/20/2017	Flinders Ranges National Park	Trezona Hike	8	5

  • Fuel fill-ups: 12
• Money
  • Total spent: $1566 USD ($2008 AUD) 
    • Consists of the costs of traveling full time in South Australia
    • Does not include gear or van conversion costs
  • Average cost per day: $60.24 USD ($77.23 AUD)
  • Average cost of diesel: $1.265 AUD per liter ($3.591 USD per gallon)
• National Parks visited: 6
  • Naracoorte
  • Coorong
  • Mount Remarkable
  • Flinders Ranges
  • Coffin Bay
  • Nullarbor

Interesting observations about South Australia:

1. Like Tasmania, at the stores, they do not “give” you plastic bags. You either buy plastic bags from them, or you bring your own.
2. Unlike Tasmania or Victoria (or even West Australia), when they have a lookout, they actually bring you above the trees/shrubbery or at least trim them so that you can actually look out at the view. It was great! In the other states so far, they most often have trees and plants blocking your view so that you can’t really call it a lookout.
3. Its coastline is a large section of the Great Australian Bight (kinda like a gulf), where whales deliver and nurse their young until they are strong enough to brave the open oceans.
4. Unlike Victoria, they do not have a proliferation of road signs, leaving you wondering what the speed limit is.