Onto the Barossa Valley

Spear Creek was a lovely spot - so peaceful and pretty and we had a great walk up the gully following this old pipeline which we believe once served Port Augusta. We never did get to the end of it though. 

   
Leaving Spear Creek we travelled through the scenic Horricks Pass across to Wilmington and along a lesser road where we found some more wood to cut. These chilly nights our fires are wonderful - pity we always smell of smoke!! We had morning tea at Booleroo Centre at a lovely little spot - how beaut were these sheep and dog! 

                                
Jamestown was another surprise - we found a huge bakery and Darryl couldn’t resist a Kitchener Bun nor Dennis a mushroom pie! These are towns we’ve heard of all our lives but don’t think we’ve ever actually seen them and we were impressed! 

We called into see the Tesla Battery out of Jamestown but unfortunately admittance isn’t possible so we only got a glimpse of the batteries. It’s surrounded  by hundreds of wind turbines which dominate the scenery. 

We had our lunch at Bundaleer Forest Reserve which is the home of Australian forestry where many species of trees were planted in the late 1880’s by early settlers to determine which grew best here. We had a quick walk then travelled along the RM Williams Way through Spalding to Clare. Clare is very busy and looks very prosperous with its many vineyards and wineries. 

                                
We ended up here in Jarman territory at Kapunda. It’s a beaut little park and you’d think we were the only ones here! It’s situated next to the lovely oval and sporting complex and we saw junior footy training plus dog obedience last night. Kapunda is a lovely old mining town and some of the architecture is magnificent.  We’ve things to see and do here plus we are using this as our base for exploring the Barossa Valley. 

Our first stop at Tanunda was at the Peter Lehman winery where we met up with Nigel Westblade who is the head wine maker there.

                             
We were very fortunate that he made the time to show us around this huge winery and we all learned such a lot about the business. No longer will we just buy a bottle of wine without thinking about the whole process to get the wine to that stage. Imagine how many head aches are in this shed? We were very impressed with Nigel’s knowledge and ability to answer all our questions. We also ran into an old friend of Sharon Jarman’s - she overhead that we were from Kerang way and asked if we knew the Jarman’s! Small world! 

                             

From there we had a beautiful Vietnamese pork roll in Tanunda (with no wine Ell!) and onto visit Seppeltsfield winery. This place is spectacular with avenues of palms and beautiful buildings. 

We enjoyed watching the leather craftsman and the boys bought a belt each - Tops and I would have loved to purchase a bag, but they were a little out of our budget range! We did taste a couple of sparkling wines and visited the Vasse shop which sold delightful soaps, lotions, gourmet foods .... lots of tasting, smelling and touching. 

By then it was time to return to base, light the fire and relax a little. Tomorrow is another day for exploring!

So from the beautiful Barossa Valley, we sign off till we report on the next adventures.

❌❌❌❌ from Tops Dennis Darryl Marg. 

James Well

How fortunate we were to find this lovely campsite at James Well!! We’ve had a lovely few days here with Anne and Greg at their shack. We thank you for your kind hospitality.

                                  
We set up before Greg and Anne arrived - we’d even had time to try and catch a squid on the Ardrossan Jetty - with no success! I undertook the 10km ‘Walk the Yorke’ from here and enjoyed marching along with lovely views of the coast. This is the view from the lookout.

                                
I think  Darryl was pleased to see me arrive as he was a bit over the non show of squid! We were smart in buying some from Wallaroo so we had back up. Freshly cooked salt and pepper squid is delicious 😋

We were happy to see Anne looking so well - she had enjoyed a few days relaxation in Daylesford with her sister Narelle with some special cuddles from her grandchildren in Darwin before that. 

The men have had several tries at those jolly squid but all to no avail!! Greg’s even gone off with Dennis now despite the Crows  playing footy!! 

          

It looked like the whole day was going to be wet and dreary so we made the most of the conditions to all help to make a batch of pasties - and Dennis made his long awaited apple pie. This one was sure of award winning standard - thanks Dennis! 

                              We’ve now left Yorke Peninsula and enjoyed a beautiful scenic drive and learned that there is a lake at Lochiel and Port Germein has the longest wooden jetty in Australia. There are also many of these old relics dotted through the paddocks in SA.

         
Now we are set up in this very picturesque spot at Spear Creek, nestled at the foot of the southern Flinders Ranges where we can undertake some lovely walks. 

We hope like anything that some rain has fallen where it’s needed - only a little bit was recorded at James Well and we believe the most was around Woomera. We trust everyone is well, and till our next blog, send our love.

❌❌❌❌❌

A change of plans

We left Ayres Rock and headed south - a little bit of us would have loved to have turned north as most of the traffic was! However, we had a very good run and arrived at Marla where we had a pleasant night. Next to us were a group of men from Cooma who had just come across the Simpson Desert from Birdsville to Mt Dare. This is something Darryl wants to do but first I’d have to learn how to fold up these tents!!

                                        

You can’t take our vans across the desert so I’d have to rough it a bit - not sure I want to give up my comforts!!

It was here I began to think it was possible to attend Aunty Lucys funeral as we had whittled away a few kms. Thank you to Darryl, Dennis and Tops who were prepared to change the plans to allow this to happen. We have a few things on the ‘next time’ list seeing we we didn’t get to do them this time. 

Coming into Coober Pedy from the north gave a whole new perspective of the mines - they seem to be everywhere and it looks quite alien like with the mounds.

                         

We got to Woomera next and had another interesting evening there - they had the Coogee Bar which was very pleasant and served reasonably priced drinks. Here we met a really nice chap who had interesting stories to tell about his farm at Wilmington,  mining at Whyalla and his new job delivering big waste bins. 

                                

We only had a quick look around Woomera next morning  - it’s now a defence force place and quite neat and well maintained. 

Most impressive was Lake Hart - another salt lake and quite spectacular in its whiteness.

                               
As we approached Port Augusta, our sunshine disappeared and was replaced by dreary rain clouds - our wipers were used for the first time on our trip and we had to cheat and buy a coffee instead of braving the elements. 

We arrived here at Wallaroo lunch time and have found this park to be great with lovely staff and nothing is too much trouble. Heather and Mum were in a very comfy villa just near us and we were able to spend the evening together, enjoying a yummy meal thanks to Tops. 

Of course the funeral was sad but I was so very happy that I made it - Mum and Heather especially were appreciative of our company. We spent time with them again this morning, had a coffee together in the Main Street, then they headed home. Every opportunity I get to spend with Mum is a bonus at her age. 

Today we had to do some boring things like grocery shop and wash, but now we are restocked and ready for our SA adventure. First off is a couple of days at Greg & Anne’s shack which will be lovely, especially seeing our fishermen are getting into squid mode again!! 

The sunset here as magnificent here tonight - hopefully it’s heralding a beautiful sunny weekend!

                              

Our plans after the shack are vague - every day will be another adventure!! Congratulations to our Ruby on getting her licence today - we now have 4 grand kids driving around - we must be getting old 😳. 

We trust everyone is well and keeping warm - we are by our lovely fire, fuelled  by good old mallee roots sourced today by our resourceful D & D. 

Till next blog, love from us travellers ❌❌❌❌❌

The Red Centre

Our morning started early to catch the sunrise view of the rock - it was freezing and a little underwhelming but we’re glad we ticked that off our ‘to do’ list. It is an amazing rock that’s for sure.

                       

We then travelled to visit the Olga’s  and they are spectacular in a different way. We all undertook a valley walk along very uneven ground.

The main excitement was seeing this camel in the wild:

                  

We then spent a while watching people climbing Ayres Rock as they opened it up this afternoon - there were people streaming in to test their abilities - with mixed success!! I can’t really believe we did that years ago - my word we were brave weren’t we Sandy? We even saw this chap coming down ( we won’t say how far up he got )

     

Tonight we are going to catch the sunset on the rock then enjoy our last evening here. We have neighbours one up from us who have a camper similar to ours so we’ve been socialising with them around our campfire on the road! Despite our initial dismay at our site, it hasn’t turned out too badly - we did have a rough introduction when I got mixed up and got Darryl set up in the wrong site then the pegs couldn’t be put in! We’ve marvelled at the beauty of this area and here in the park have met some nice people and feel quite at home. This is our turn around point so tomorrow we head southwards. We haven’t mapped out our itinerary at all and will decide day  by day where we’d like to go. It’s all an adventure. 

So from the red centre, we send our best wishes and love. ❌❌❌❌❌❌ 

Kings Canyon and Ayres Rock.

We arrived at King Creek Station to very windy and dusty conditions again - and after lots of attempts finally set up in a nice little spot. This camp is very rustic and has sites randomly situated rather than in orderly lines - and the big plus for us was being able to have a campfire. The nights are getting more chilly and we appreciated the warmth, hot water for dishes and cooking opportunities the fire provides. Darryl and Dennis cut more wood yesterday - the mulga is very hard to cut but burns well. Unfortunately, we had no coverage as only Optus was available - no wonder Telstra shares are declining - they are letting Optus take over!!

                              

We loved Kings Canyon and found the walk as spectacular as it was years ago. The signage is excellent and only Dennis got lost - or he thought Tops was!! Needless to say it all turned out well! We could see a resemblance to the Bungle Bungles with the same dome shaped rock formations. And to see the beautiful growth in the Garden of Eden is in stark contrast to the red rocks. 

            

I did really do the rim walk - and how fascinating are these sheer rock faces?

        

As this was a day snakes like to sun on the rocks, we had our eyes open and sure enough, Darryl spied one that slid just past us. We were even more wary after that!!

To top the day off, we actually saw wild camels in the paddock - once a year the King River Station muster them for export and meat sales. 

Along the road to Ayres Rock we passed heaps of vans and cars and when we arrived the girls told us they had checked out over 800 people that morning! It’s a revolving population that’s for sure. Unfortunately we were designated a couple of the worst sites for our size van - we’re really on the road with only a small space and it’s almost impossible to get tent pegs in the gravel!! On the positive side, we don’t have red dust and we are near the ablution block and we can have our fire (we’re about the only ones in the park to be so lucky)

                                   

Today we visited the rock and you can’t help but be amazed at the size of this rock!! Darryl and I walked around the base (10.2km) so we’ve had our exercise the last few days. 

            

No one was climbing today as it was too windy but we found it amazing to think we actually did climb this many years ago. 


On the road we saw this huge balloon like thing which looks like it’s going to be used for joy rides (but not for me.) 

Tonight we are doing the obligatory sunset vision and in the morning the sunset one and tomorrow we’ll visit the Olga’s. That will be another blog! 

We were saddened to learn of my Aunty Lucy’s death after a short illness - now there is only Mum left in her family. 

Till tomorrow, hoping everyone is well,

Love from Marg Darryl Dennis & Tops ❌❌❌❌❌

                       

Painted Desert & Oodnadatta Track

Our last night in Coober Pedy was quite funny as we got chatting to the owner of the Chinese Restuarant where we dined to celebrate Tops birthday.  This Chinese chap, Wilson, originally an opal buyer in Hong Kong, was so excited to have people interested in his story, he was a bit neglectful in his orders - he seemed to forget to add cashews to the beef & cashews, and by the time it got to the sweets order, he was so wound up he gave the boys wrong toppings and Darryl’s nut sundae had no nuts!! However, we forgave him as he entertained us no end and was a really nice chap. His life story was very varied and he had tales to tell ranging from opal mining to Uber driving in Adelaide when the restuarant shuts down over summer. If you’re ever in Coober Pedy, pop in to see him and tell him we say hello. I don’t think anyone’s ever asked him anything other than order their meal.  

     

                                     

The scenery upon leaving Coober Pedy towards Oodnadatta was so barren and rocky it was like a moonscape. We could see what looked like bits of glass  everywhere and it turns out to be gypsum.  Along the way the scenery improved and we saw some cattle in excellent condition. The road surface was great as we met the graders and it was like a highway  - except it was extremely dusty and we had to blow off excess dust with the air compressor when we arrived at this station, Arckaringa. No one was home except the two dogs, so we set up in rather adverse conditions as the wind keeps gusting, and being on a working cattle property, the flies are back!! It’s as different as our previous camp site as possible as we are the only ones here! (well we were for the first night as there’s a family just come in) The two dogs made themselves at home with us and were lovely dogs - I could have kept the kelpie cross! 

We hope all mothers had a lovely day on Mother’s Day  - we were really spoilt by having a picnic lunch in the Painted Desert. 

                   
This was really worth travelling out of our way to see as the colours and formations are spectacular. Once again, it’s difficult to capture on film but these can give you an idea of what they are like. 

We were also very spoilt on Mother’s Day by having chef Dennis whip us up a batch of scones! 

We had another entertaining evening this time with the station manager Paul. We had many questions for him about Station life and stock management. The beautiful looking Herefords we saw proved he was correct in saying that this is excellent cattle country as the grasses are sweet. Dingoes are presently a problem though we didn’t see any. Evidently there are wild donkeys and brumbies too - but not many camels. 

                        

The trip out from the station to the Stuart Highway was one of the most beautiful drives we’ve had - the scenery kept changing but initially, with the unusual rock formations in the hills, the beautiful tree lined creek beds and healthy looking grasses, it was spectacular and you’d never believe it was desert country. And not far away was the barren moonscape out of Coober Pedy. 

Now we are in NT and about to experience Kings Canyon and Ayres Rock. Tonight we are in a free spot just by the border where we can have our fire and cook the bbq. We only had a very quick window of reception at Marla but believe we’ll be right the next few nights. Unfortunately, now we are on the boring bitumen, we’re travelling with all the grey nomads in their vans - we get very spoilt off road, having everything virtually to ourselves! And bitumen travel is just a means to get to a location - but  our off road tracks are an adventure in themselves! I guess we have to experience it all! 

We look forward to having phone reception so we can catch up with everyone. Meanwhile, we hope everyone is well and we send our love ❤️❤️❤️❤️ D &M, D & T