Days 61- 62 ( Tues 29/9- Wed 30/9)

Tuesday: What a day full of little things. We drove along the foreshore route from Encounter Bay(near Victor Harbour) out to Bashams Beach where whales had been sighted over the last week. Here we saw 7 Southern Right Whales all waiting to give birth, one was a talked about white whale which had come into this bay for the first time ie it had not been sighted here in previous years. We sat and watched for quite a long time. Won't post photos as like the penguins they are hard for others to see.We were once again very lucky as they were very close to shore.
We then drove down to Goolwa where we watched the Steam Ranger train depart and checked out the Port with its Paddle wheelers and boat building dock.(we had wanted to ride this train from Victor Harbour to Goolwa and back but the weather didn't encourage this)
Next was a picturesque drive along some backroads heading to the Wellington vehicle ferry to cross the Murray River. On our way we discovered a little town called Milang, on the banks of Alexandrina Lake, where we had lunch next to the jetty. This was part of the Murray town's tourist drive and had been a big port and boat building town in the river's heyday. There was an interesting information board provided and the crane on the jetty was the first erected. There were 3 rows of beach/ fishing houses in the style of poverty shacks along the lake near the jetty. Here as elsewhere the water levels are badly effected by the lack of water coming down the Murray, and many boats were stranded.
We continued onto the Wellington vehicle ferry and down into the Coorong area where we stopped overnight.
Wednesday: We began the day with a 3km walk through the Coorong, round 2 different types of lakes - one carbonated, and one ground fed halcite(salt)lake. Apparently there are 4 distinctly different types of lakes in the Coorong which move in levels/layers back from the sea: salt water, ground water in the dunes, halcite, carbonate and finally freshwater the furthest in from the sea.(you really wanted to know this!!)We then drove The Loop Rd(dirt), which was well worth the drive as it closely follows the water system,as we headed on to Kingston and the big Lobster. George wanted to walk the sand dunes to the beach but this was a little too much for me.
At Kingston we discovered a very different lighthouse and decided to do the tour($5) This was the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse and was originally built out at sea on a platform. The only lighthouse of its kind. The lightkeepers and their families lived on the lighthouse in its first 60 years on rotation,before it was decided to provide accommodation for families on the mainland. The lighthouse is set up as it would have been then with original furniture donated back.I found this more interesting and I was more able to discuss things as I have just finished reading "the Lighthouse of Tragedy" about the Bustard Head Lighthouse we visited 2 months ago.
I wasn't aware at first that you actually climbed the inside stairs to the top of the Light and on deciding I couldn't and explaining my problem the tour guide wouldn't let me stop but egged me on. He and George were elated at the achievement though I'm paying for it now.I actually had to bum it down a few.Couldn't do the last flight to view the lenses.(To think 4 years ago the doctors believed I would never walk normally again or climb stairs, and I was still using a stick.)They even gave me a kid's sticker saying I climbed 124 steps to the top.(Am always very aware of my legs and choose carefully what I am willing/able to do and what I must leave to George and Jess. But am very grateful for my GP who was willing to fight the Insurers with me so I can do what I can today).
After this I'd decided I'd had enough so we drove onto Robe where we toured the town and booked in for the night. A beautiful spot overlooking the beaches and jetty.

Days 59- 60( Sun 27/9- Mon 28/9)

Sunday morning we drove a really long way on leaving the park - to the corner!! We parked the bus and sat to watch the 'Bay to Birdwood Classic' regretting we hadn't signed up ourselves on Wednesday. It is a rally for classic vehicles and had everything from classic to vintage; cars, sportscars, 4wd's, motorcycles, scooters, panel vans, utes, trucks, VW campers, hotrods etc. As our bus is a classic it qualified so maybe one day we'll come down and enjoy the 10 days of activities which begins with a procession of the vehicles over 2 hours from the Bay(near Glenelg) to Birdwood(Near Gumeracha and the Rocking Horse). People sit along the route in Adelaide to watch and cheer them on. (post note: we have seen groups of vehicles at Victor Harbour and Goolwa since)
At 11.30 we finally made our way out of Adelaide towards Victor Harbour our next stop. The weather was overcast with rainstorms and not conducive to stopping so we missed a few interesting stops - lots of wineries, produce and galleries. Once arriving in Victor Harbour with the weather no better and very windy we decided to chance booking our Penguin night tour for Monday night and postponing our Horse-drawn tram trip as well.
Monday :we awoke to more of the same weather but by 1pm it began to clear a little and we decided it was now or never. By the time we walked into town it had improved and eventually the sun came out and we had carried our rain jackets and umbrellas again for nothing.
What a busy time we had ! We caught the Horse-drawn tram acoss the bridge to Granite Island where we did the island circuit walk and Jess took lots of photos. We returned to the island Bistro and had fish and chips for dinner while waiting to do the 6.30pm Penguin tour. It was a nice meal - the chips were excellent.
Granite Island is a rookery for penguins who return to their nesting burrows to have their chicks each year. They can have up to 3 clutches a season if their weight is kept up ie there is plenty of food. Unfortunately, they are another victim of the Murray River Problem. As a result of declining water levels the nutrients in the river here are reduced, reducing the no. of fish spawned and therefore reducing the amount of food available to the peguins and seals. Also the seals have less fish to eat so they are now hunting the younger penguins. One was in the beach area patrolling near the breakwall in full view waiting for the penguins nightly return. The penguins no's have dropped from 2000, 20 years ago to over 400 last year and half again this year. We were lucky to see them.
The penguin tour at dusk views the little penguins on their return to their young after a days fishing. We saw quite a few including 4 waddling across the tram path to their nests. We also saw a seal,and possums on the cliffs. Missed seeing the 1 metre Water Rats. This was a very good tour; small, personal and not at all contrived, and not dear( $32 for 3).
All we had left at 8pm, carrying our unused raingear, was the walk back across the tramway bridge and back along the foreshore to the c'van park. Boy were my legs tired!!
PS Amanda - another good day trip for the kids!

This One's for Russell !!

Hey Russell These are Autobahn buses in Adelaide!! With the flick of a switch guide wheels are lowered to change it from a normal road bus to a guided rail bus in which the driver only needs to apply accelerator and brakes. When it gets to the end of the autobahn the guide wheels are retracted and on it continues without stopping. These photos were taken at the end/ beginning of an autobahn. A bit like driving a train Amanda ??

Days 56- 58(Thurs 24/9 - Sat 26/9)

Thursday: we decided to chance the weather. Grabbing our allweather jackets and umbrellas we set off down the road to explore Adelaide city centre and the tram to Glenelg and Jetty Rd.
We soon discovered on asking some very friendly locals at the bus-stop that here your not charged by the section but by 2hr or daily tickets for all public transport. So we bought a ticket to ride the bus' and trams all day. We rode the tram to Glenelg which is a beach suburb on a very windy overcast day. Here we walked the jetty and square, visited the museum(very interesting), walked the Jetty Rd shops and had lunch.We returned by tram to the city centre and walked along Rundle Mall,stopping to look at the different sculptures there as well as the shops. One famous group are the 4 pigs - see picture.
We returned to the bus with barely a drop of rain all day having carried our rain jackets and umbrellas all day ! The first time we hadn't needed them this week!!
Friday was predicted to be a very cold day with bad storms so we decided to have a lazy day in the bus. Just as well!
Saturday was spent at Port Adelaide and the bay. We visited the Seahorse Farm and spent quite a bit of time there. Very interesting and great to watch. The owner Tracey and staff were always on hand to answer questions,explain and generally talk with you about the seahoses and farm. There were lots of new ponies(babies) even 1 born while we were there and many ready to mate, or doing the mating dance. A great place to visit,we thought...
Amanda you must take the children when you're here next week !!
We drove around the Port and out to Semaphore but it was too windy, cold and rainy to get out and enjoy the beach and foreshore activities so we drove along the coastal suburbs and back to the park.

For anyone coming to Adelaide and looking for a c'van park we would recommend the Adelaide Caravan Park as it is central to everything.

Days 54- 55(Tues 22/9 - Wed 23/9)

Tuesday morning we had Lube Mobile arrive at the c'van park to do a scheduled oil change on the bus then set off to The Central Markets where we planned to stock up on FRESH food after all this time. Of course it was raining so we took the bus deciding that if we couldn't park it we'd come back and set off again. We had no real difficulty parking.
For anyone coming here this is the best way to buy fresh produce cheaply. We bought veges, meat, dairy - cheeses, dips etc, bread($1.50 a loaf), lollies and chocolate(including chocolate covered dried strawberries),and apple pie, and .. had lunch. Only problem - too many vendors to choose from!!
Wednesday was overcast so we decided to take the bus and drive into the Adelaide Hills. First stop The Mt Lofty Summit for 360 degree views. You can see out to Kangaroo Island on a good Day !! but not today ! It was 8 degrees up there.
We then drove on to Hahndorf, a town originally established by German Lutheran families and known for it's shops and cafes etc. We had smoked fish tasting and bought some pates and fish. Cheese,jam,chutney and chocolate tasting etc. We will need to return again as we ran out of time as We wanted to drive out to the chocolate factory before it closed and had to leave. This proved unnecessary as we were not impressed with the prices here after visiting the Central Markets and George was not impressed by the Cheese next door.Last stop was the Toy Factory and Giant Rocking horse at Gumeracha, a great place to buy wooden toys)
We returned to Adelaide via the Gorge Rd, which was an unexpected find, and arrived back very late. It followed the Torrens River back into Adelaide(35k's) which was no more than a creek at times but at others a raging torrent after the rains, and very wide in the Chain of Ponds area. A beautiful drive, even more so I would think in nice weather.

Days 52- 53(Sun 20/9 - Mon 21/9)

Sunday arrived.Before leaving Port Augusta we climbed the Water Tower Lookout(I was a little slow and the tower moved a little in the winds)for great 360 degree views of the area. These included the Flinders Ranges and the coastline. We also visited the Info. Centre and bought a few souvenirs for family.
We then drove down the coast to Port Pirie(some lovely old buildings,including one with a Widow's Walk) and onto Crystal Castle where we turned inland to drive through to the Clare Valley area where we planned to visit an old friend.
"What a difference a day makes ..." came to mind as we were now surrounded by storm clouds, lightening and rain off and on all day, and the next. We raced to find our winter clothes once more as the temps plunged to 15 degrees. The countryside was surreal as it resembled English green fields with fat woolly sheep and cows - not what we're used to at home or anywhere on this trip. We have now begun to travel through pastoral country and the fields are full of different grain crops including canola, wheat and barley and the towns have huge silos and grain storage areas. We are also travelling through vineyard country. We stayed the night at a friend's place, who is busy pruning her grapevines. It was great to catch up over dinner,and Jess enjoyed the company of another teenage girl,the dogs and a ride on a horse while we helped feed the other horses. Our friend is also setting up a stud farm. It was a great break in our travels in the bus.
Monday arrived and we continued our drive through similar country to Adelaide. As the day moved on the storm clouds, thunder and lightening grew worse. We arrived at the outskirts of Adelaide and our first traffic and lights in 7 weeks and it bucketed down. The Torrens River runs behind the C'van park we're staying in, in the middle of Adelaide, and it rose quite high in the gorge. Enough to cover the walking and bicycle paths and the crossing path. We were told rain is predicted all week but we'll do our best to see it all!

Days 49- 51(Thurs17/9 - Sat19/9)

Hi all,
Thursday: Left Coober Pedy safely and began the drive south to Port Augusta. We think that Coober Pedy may have almost had it's yearly rainfall of 5 inches in one night. We are continuing to travel through desert country or what they call Arid Lands and the rain overnight has left standing water over the gibber plains. Absolutely amazing to see. We have been travelling at a good time of year, not counting the heat, as it is Spring and there have been wildflowers to be seen in each area.We have travelled 8ooo km's and about 5000 of that through arid lands.
We stayed the night in Lake Hart rest stop which was a salt lake.We had front row seats in our bus for the sunset and sunrise, and great company once more.George walked the lake during the early evening and we all walked over the lake on Friday morning before leaving. There was evidence on the lake of this being a salt mine in the past.
Friday :We continued on our way with more of the same beautiful country - gibber and low salt bush scrub,salt lakes and water laying on the gibber.The colour changes constantly if your inclined to look. We arrived in Port Augusta and have spent our time housekeeping and relaxing. We leave tomorrow to make our way down to Adeleide via Port Pirie and the Clare Valley.
Look after yourselves.
Love Lynne

Trip Videos

Have added George and Jessica playing Musical Fence in Winton to Video Link
Have a look if you like!
Lynne

Days 48- 50 (Mon 14/9 - Wed16/9)

We began a new part of our journey on Monday as we turned south down the Stuart Hwy and after 80km's arrived at the border into South Australia. Here we were reminded to dispose of our fruit and veg so once more George and Jess ate the remaining mandarins and grapes, and I cooked the apples ready for sweets that night.
It was here a young tour bus driver began to talk with George about our bus and invited us to lunch. He had 7 tourists on board and food for 15 and was sick of throwing food out so he organised for us to meet them at the next rest stop for lunch. This worked out well as we were 8 days out of Alice and out of bread. We had hot bbq chicken drummettes and wings with salad and talked with the overseas tourists. What a change from sandwiches and rolls.
The country on this leg is very dry and sparse. The road surrounded by huge Cattle stations or Aboriginal lands, the latter taking up the whole north-west of the state.We camped at Cadney Homestead(no longer a free stop)and continued our journey into Coober Pedy on Tuesday,arriving at lunch time.
We had intended to do a 4wd tour out to the Breakaways but the one we wanted to do wasn't running. Jessica mentioned she'd love to stay underground so we used our saved money for that instead. She was excited and we booked into The Experience Motel(Comfort Inn)for the night and headed next door to the Old Timer's Mine. This was a step back in time - we donned hard hats and went underground into the mine which was a self guided tour through the history and facets of Opal mining.There was also a demonsration of a tunnel cutting machine and a blower.This is well worth a visit.
We ended the day up the main street at John's Pizza, which we had heard about in Yulara, with Pizza and Milkshakes for dinner. Our 2nd meal out in 7 weeks. Then headed back to the underground motel to watch tv(the first in 7 weeks) and go to bed.
Wednesday :we had a late start,leaving the motel in the rain,and headed back up the main street where we looked through the underground Umoona Museum and Opal shop, the Underground Book shop, and 2 underground churches - the anglican Catacombe Church and The Revival Church. The latter's Pastor owned the Motel we stayed at and we had several interesting discussions with him over the 2 days. His church had opalised shell fossils in the roof which were part of an ancient sea bed. The museum had displays of sea creatures from the dinosaur period.
The day has ended with a thunderstorm and constant heavy rain, quite amazing as the areas yearly rainfall is about 5 inches and we seem to be having it all now. Unfortunately we have booked into a c'van park out of town in a mining claims area that is accessed by 1 km of dirt. Could be an interesting exit in the morning.

Proposed Itinerary:
3 nights in Port Augusta after 2 days hwy travel. Possibly a detour to Woomera and Roxby Downs on these 2 days.
Adelaide - 5 nights
Victor Harbour, Coorong, Mt Gambier, Great Ocean Rd

Days 45-47 (Fri 11-Sun13)

Friday : Spent the day driving from Yulara to Kings Canyon where we pulled in, set up camp, did the washing and relaxed. The day was again hot travelling. George and I went to a slide show talk by a ranger about the areas history, geology and fauna and flora in the evening. It once more covered the 3 desert types: Ranges, sand and river. There were quite a few dingoes roaming the campsites here each night.

Saturday : We were up early as George and Jessica did the canyon rim walk, and the day was to be particularly hot for walking, 35 degrees. We had decided it was not within my range nor safe for me to walk as it had a steep climb at the beginning up to the rim and of course back down with many stairs and uneven ground. (my knee had swollen after the Uluru walk and as we have done several others since, both knees are being temperamental) They also descended into the 'Garden of Eden' midway into the walk. This is a gorgeous, breathtaking walk and Jess was glad I had made her go without me. I am very lucky that I have done it before – but I was still disappointed, even tho' we guessed when leaving Sydney that these types of walks were probably not within my ability any more.
We spent the afternoon relaxing and George and I had a swim in the pool. Went to a family/country music show at the tavern in the evening. George and Jess got up to sing and have been invited to perform at the Locomotive in Tamworth next year.

Sunday : After packing up ready to drive back out to the Stuart Hwy, where we will begin our journey south to S.A., we completed the last of the walks in the Kings Canyon area. These were short 2.5 km walks. The first walk was the ' Kings Canyon Creek' walk which takes you along the creek which traverses the middle of the rim walk and gives you wonderful views up to the canyon walls. You can see people walking the rim above. The head of the canyon is a sacred area still used by the local Aboriginals. The second walk was the 'Kathleen Springs' walk. This walk followed another small canyon to its head where there is a small spring fed waterhole, also a sacred dreaming site, one of the nicest waterholes to be seen. On the walk there is remaining evidence of cattle fence traps and a water tank from earlier cattle days. These provided a great photo opportunity. Lots of different birds and lizards on this walk especially down at the waterhole. This was another hot day.

Had a scare on the drive back. A 'willy willy', which is nothing new to us after all these years of outback driving, hit the bus with such force that George called for us to hold on and the soft red dirt edge of the road looked really close for a moment. But all was well, George had seen it coming front on and with experience had done all the right things.

Driving the Highways

After our encounter with the 'Willy Willy' I thought I might do a general post after we discussed once more how much of our trip we take for granted. Often I don't mention things in our daily blog as they seem common to us, but they are not to others and I know some reading this blog will be interested.

Our Highways are diverse and not all 4 laned and fast. They can be single-laned with soft dirt edges or no edges at all. Especially difficult when a road train or wide load is coming at you and you have to get out of their way. They may be unfenced with cattle grids, where cattle, wild horses and camels will stray and you have to prop and wait for them to move. This is also the case with lizards, turtles and emus. We have also stopped in the middle of the road to watch a Perentie and a dragon lizard cross, to watch Wedge Tail Eagles feed on a carcass. In the last week we have seen up to 4 or 5 eagles on the one carcass. We also had several days in the Qld outback where we drove through Locust swarms (nowhere near as bad as the one out of Broken Hill years ago when the sky was black with them and we arrived in BH to find everything green eaten!)

All these types of Highways we have traversed in the last few weeks.

Days 43- 44 (Wed 9 - Thurs 10)

It has been an exciting 2 days for Jessica culminating in a flight over Uluru and Kata Juta at sunset tonight in a small 4 seater Cessna.
We arrived Wednesday morning after a slow trip in as we kept stopping for Jess to try and get photos of the Wedge Tail Eagles.First we dropped the trailer off at our site and then headed straight out to Uluru. It was $25 an adult for a 3day pass to enter the park, something we already knew, but many people arrive shocked as this is not advertised in any literature. So people would drive the 450kms from Alice and pay grudgingly as they were there now. Many people only come to climb 'the rock' so are also angry if the climb is closed, as it was from Thursday to Sunday due to winds. It's a shame people only come for this as there is so much more to Uluru, including Kata Juta.
First on our list was to walk the 12km's around Uluru which we believe is an experience in itself - and I won't try to explain it,as it is something you need to do for yourself. It didn't pale the second time round... except as in other places the walk was slightly changed. It was moved further out on one side,away from the sacred sites. We enjoyed the walk even tho' it was a little hot and Jess was glad she'd completed it.
Next stop was the Cultural Centre which seemed a little too commercial but had some excellent video displays. The last thing on our list for the day was the Sunset viewing. Uluru changes colour as the sun goes down and we were not disappointed. It is a shame we couldn't do Kata Juta as well.
Thursday morning we set off for Kata Juta where we walked Warpa Gorge. This had also been altered and the uneven ground though not steep proved difficult for me as my right leg has no patella to gauge the change in contour,and unevenness of ground like this. Also my knees were very swollen from yesterday. We travelled slowly as we were engrossed in the wildflowers which in this canyon are rare and endangered. Most people walked right past wondering what we were doing while others asked and received a flora lesson! There were also small ponds with water bugs which Jess and George stopped to identify.This was a great walk at this time of year.We also drove around to the Valley of The Winds walk but it was getting late and we found it may be difficult for me so left it till next time.
We finished the day with a Sunset flight over Uluru and Kata Juta. It turned out we were the only ones booked tonight so we went up in a 4 seat Cessna,with Jess in the front seat with the pilot. Much better than last time and I knew this time to sit and take it all in and not worry so much about the camera!!. A great way to end our visit here!

Days 40- 42( Sun 6- Tues 8)

After arriving on Saturday and trying to catch up on our Blog only to find we still had a virus(see earlier blog), we decided it was best to stay in Alice and try to have the computer guy refix our laptop on Monday. This decided we spent Sunday at the Todd Mall markets which are only on twice a month. They are an interesting market with a mixture of stalls frequented by tourist and local alike. We bought some presents and enjoyed the morning before stocking up at the supermarket for the next 10 days. A feat in itself with our limited space, but we do not want to pay the prices for frozen bread, milk(when you can get it),veges etc and we have managed well over 5/6 days before.It was Father's Day so we went to dinner at the Tavern connected to the c'van park where there was a roast smorgasboard , a country artist(right up Georges alley) and a reptile show which was very hands on.
Monday arrived and no luck with the laptop, it must be dealt with overnight so,lucky for me, we got to go to the Cultural Precinct where there is currently a once a year exhibition of up and coming Aboriginal artists from the various communities in the Territory.This is called 'The Desert Mob'and features artwork, dance and the sale of works. A wonderful display which we all enjoyed. The Precinct also features a Craft shop and workshop,where we watched silk screen printing and felting, and an aviation museum.
Tuesday: after waiting till 11am for our computer we FINALLY left Alice Springs and headed down to Uluru. We camped at a free camp at Curtin Springs 85km's from Uluru in readiness for an early arrival at Yulara and a busy 2 days. Saw quite a lot of Wedge Tail Eagles on the final stretch of road probably because it is a busy tourist road and there was a lot of roadkill.

Days 37-39(Thurs 3/9-Sat 5/9)

Thursday: Late afternoon after picking up milk we drove out to the East Macdonnells which are not as well known. As a result the road, sorry Ross Hwy, is only 2 lane on crown land and 1 lane on private land. Quite scary when a truck is coming your way or a 4wd that won't move over or slow down.we saw a large Perentie and another lizard on road and slowed to let it pass but weren't quick enough with the camera.
We stopped to look at Jessie Gap as we felt it couldn't be left for the return journey - I wonder why??? This and Emily Gap which we looked at on our return on Saturday are very small in comparison to those in the West but of equal significance to the Aborigines.These sites had rock paintings that were part of the Arrente people's dreamtime story relating to where they came from through 3 caterpillars.

It has just occurred to me that I didn't mention the fact that all the sites we have visited are of significance to the Aborigines; either ceremonial, part of their dreamtime stories, initiations, ochre gathering, paintings etc. I often forget that many things we see are common knowledge to us through our travels previously and now but are not to others reading our blog.( we had travelled for days early on our trip through sugarcane, pineapple and cotton country before realising it might be of interest to others - tho' common to us).This is why I sometimes rave on about some things as I know it will be of interest to certain people - so thanks for your patience when reading!

We decided to miss Trephina Gorge as it was getting late and it was 8km's of corrigated dirt - a shame but this made us travel onto Ross River Homestead - a real find.It is a historic homestead with 3,284 square km's of grazing property which has accommodation and a campground with grass!!! and facilities in the middle of nowhere. The view was beautiful. So much so that on Friday we couldn't leave so we had an extra night and veged out( except for that dreaded washing).One problem,We had run out of milk and bread but the weather has been cooler since arriving in Alice so we decided to use our camp oven and bake our own damper rolls.Finally left on Saturday.

Standley Chasm