Kiana Park

Heading north along the west coast of the Eyre Peninsular we stopped at a couple of clifftop camps with spectacular views at Point Drummond but somehow thought maybe they were just a little too exposed. So we came inland a little to a farmstay at Kiana Park. Really nice grounds with lots of green grass. As the day wore on the sky got darker and heavier in the west and we could feel and hear a storm brewing. The BOM radar wasn't much help as it showed some storms passing near us. We pulled our awning in and packed all our gear and chairs away anyway.
Sitting in the van at 5:30 the storm hit. The wind was blowing the rain sideways and shaking the van on it's legs. I was glad it was still attached to the car. I guess we were a little lucky in that where we had parked was next to a row of medium sized bushes that gave us some protection. About 5 minutes after the rain the hail started. At first it was smallish and pattering on the roof of the van so we weren't overly concerned.
Then it got bigger, and bigger until it was jagged golf ball size. The noise inside the van was horrendous as we just hoped it didn't punch a hole through anything. We started to get water in through the 4 Seasons hatch but not too much.
After about 10 minutes (felt like 2 hours) the hail started to ease off and was all but gone soon after. We ventured out to survey the damage.
The van suffered some roof and rear wall damage but really not too bad. I'd say the roof skin will need to be replaced. The hatches are shattered at the rear. The aircon unit is also battered at the rear. The TV antenna connections are battered and I can't figure a way to repair them. Feeling fairly lucky at this stage.
Checking the car showed hail damage on the rear, roof, bonnet and at least one side. One of the extended towing mirros was trashed. A couple of broken tail light covers rounded out the damage. All in all not too bad and both car and van are still usable and not dangerous.
Another couple at the park were not so lucky. They were in an aluminium sided van that was parked side on to the storm. The van was a real mess with massive damage along the storm side and roof. The poor things were two weeks into their long planned lap of Australia. They planned on heading home to try to get the damage repaired.
A very eventful day and not one I am in a hurry to repeat.Read more