Goodbye South Australia

Well, winter finally caught up with us and all of a sudden camping isn’t as much fun!! After I signed off yesterday, a storm went over us at Beachport and we spent the evening in the BBQ area which turned out to be quite adequate but nothing like sitting around a campfire. Luckily we had taken down our annexes as the night was quite rough with strong winds and rain - we all actually quite enjoyed hearing rain on the roof.

This morning was damp and dismal so we had a quick breakfast in the camp kitchen then headed off to Mt Gambier - no detours or scenic routes this time as it was raining and dreary - so we were here by 10am! We’re set up at the Showgrounds which will suit us but it’s damp underfoot and cold so we’ve broken all our rules and had morning coffee, lunch and dinner out!! 

It was a good day for driving around so we saw the lake and the city. Last time we were here it was wet too!!

                   

Blue Lake                                                                                    Valley Lake.

We saw Adam Lindsay Gordon’s statue and had good views of the city.

He was a daring young man to jump his horse onto a ledge of the Blue Lake, then back onto the road!

This afternoon we drove out to Wayne & Dora’s place right over near the border and Dennis was in his element seeing all the tractors in varied states of repair. Tops and I were entertained by Dora whilst the men were out tractor inspecting.

So tomorrow we’ll head home - a little prematurely but probably sensibly. We’ve seen so much of SA this time - from the beautiful Cooper Creek at Innaminicka, down the Birdsville Track to Marree, along the Oodnadatta Track to William Creek and Coober Pedy, out to the Painted Desert and up to the NT border and into see Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon, down to Yorke Peninsula and southern Flinders Ranges, and into the beautiful Barossa Valley. Then our memory lane trips at West Beach, Victor Harbor and Keith and finally into the lower South East at Beachport and here at Mt Gambier. Everywhere we’ve been we’ve been impressed with the lovely farms, the healthy looking stock, the towns with their grand buildings and especially the people who’ve been most friendly and helpful. Thank you SA.

This time tomorrow reality will hit and we’ll soon be settled into our routine at home. It will however, be lovely to do the rounds and catch up with all the family. 

So we sign off from this trip and hope you’ve all enjoyed reading of our travels. 

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

Beachport

We left Keith in rather damp conditions with a heavy fog, but the day improved and we travelled in sunshine which always makes everything look so much better. We fulfilled another of my whims by calling into Mundulla for morning tea at the footy grounds. I remember going there for football many moons ago!  The area still has lovely big gum trees but we were surprised to see more grapevines. It was here Dennis noticed his trailer tyre looking worse for wear so they changed it for some peace of mind.

                               

We headed west towards the coast and at Kingston fuelled up the cars and had lunch with the big lobster!! 

                                

There was a tractor museum next to the lobster but unfortunately it was closed so Dennis missed out. We had a tour around Robe and as usual, it was very busy - and seems to have grown even more since we were last there. Time and erosion have caught up with the obelisk and no longer can you walk out to see it. The beach however, is as lovely as ever.

We arrived here at Beachport and set up supposedly so we’d have morning sun on our annexes - only trouble is, this morning there is no sun!! We were able to have our campfire - gee it makes a difference to our evenings. 

We did a drive around the town and saw the sandhills where we had fun tobogganing down:

The area where we all set up and had a great time is now deserted but we can still see in our minds,  the kids hurtling down that hill on their push bikes - and having contests to see who could get highest up that pine tree!! We’ve seen many cars come back a little dirty - obviously from the 4 wheel driving along the beach and sand dunes - it’s a very popular activity here.

We went as far south as South End which was larger than we thought with nice little sandy beaches and some camp spots out in the National Park which were secluded and would be good as long as your set up wasn’t too large as the sites were small. Because the day was cold and blustery we lashed out and enjoyed a lovely Asian lunch at this lovely restaurant overlooking the bay:

Nearly everyone has left this park so we virtually have it to ourselves now. After a big lunch we’ll be serving up a lighter dinner tonight 😜. Once again tomorrow we move on - we’ll head Penola way and I’d like to see the Coonawarra area then Dennis has arranged to see a tractor mate just out of Mt Gambier. Once we’ve looked around Mt Gambier, our tour of South Australia will end as we’ll head towards home. 

We seem to be scaring the rain away wherever we go as today was supposed to be wet here but there’s only been a couple of drops and now it’s quite sunny and nice. We hope we don’t scare the rain away from home. 

Hoping you all had a great weekend and we send our love.

❌❌❌❌

Onto Keith

We experienced a very rough night Thursday night with huge winds buffeting our van and annex .... but sadly no rain. We were happy to learn there was some rain at home though! 

After a quick goodbye to Mum we took a detour through Milang where we had our morning tea.  Milang is on Lake Alexandrina  and was a pretty spot for a picnic. We were blown away by how huge this lake is.

     

We had a wait for the Wellington ferry - made us realise it is a long weekend with people travelling everywhere

We stopped in Meningie for our picnic lunch and boy was it busy there - we could hardly find a park. Meningie is on Lake Albert: 

                                     

We travelled along the Coorong until Woods Well then came across to the Dukes Highway at Tintinara. There were endless streams of cars and we were pleased we had avoided them on our backroads. We drove past our old farm to this campground which I love!! It’s rustic in a picturesque setting and best of all there are no rules!! We could set up how we liked and not only can we have our campfire but the owners supplied us with some wood and we’re able to cut up some more for our supplies. It’s heaven for children with space to ride & play, a huge hay bale maze, heaps of different animals, campfires, playground ..... we do wish we had some grandkids here. This morning they were even shearing and we were able to watch that. They do a farm tour which was very popular        

with the kids - now they have some kids out with them collecting firewood with the tractor - great activities! 

We walked to see some of the animals which include Camilla Camel, a buffalo, deer and the pigs!

   

Dad was involved in the AMP scheme and we first lived in these Wiles hut in a settlement at Brecon whilst the land was cleared. The Jeep on the pole represents the vehicle of choice in the scheme.

                           

We enjoyed a lunch at the bakery then saw the town which really is looking very good before heading out on the Emu Flat road again. We detoured to see where my cousin Robin lived and saw the results of the nasty bushfire earlier this year. We stopped at the gateway of our old property and could  see the house and sheds - and once again I was surprised to see how close everything is.

            

So my trip down memory lane has been lovely and it’s good to come back after many years away and see everything still looking prosperous. We will sadly leave here tomorrow and head further south to Beachport. The weather today was glorious so hope it was for all holiday makers - I believe the crew up at our place have enjoyed a sunny day - after a chilly damp start. 

We send our love to everyone ❌❌❌❌❌

Victor Harbor

Victor is very special to me as it’s where Mum lives - and in 7 weeks time she will turn 100! So to spend time with her is precious and thanks Dennis and Tops for allowing me this indulgence! My sister Heather also lives here. 

                                          
We left the lovely West Beach Park and leaving the city behind us, travelled past our O’Halloran Hill house and enjoyed our morning cuppa in the beautiful sunshine in a park. Everyone must be thinking we had a lot of houses, but this one is what we built when Tim was a baby, before we moved to the farm at Lobethal. 

The drive to Victor is pretty as we go through the McLarenVale wine growing region and the drive into here is rather spectacular when the bay is laid out suddenly before you. We’re set up on lovely grassed sites all by ourselves again - in the morning I fear the birds will wake us - not the planes!

                         

Once again, we can’t have our campfire, the camp kitchen is open and rather uninviting, so lucky we have Mum’s warm house as back up where we have enjoyed quality time and lovely meals. 

The tours we’ve taken Dennis and Tops - and Mum on have been firstly across to Goolwa, over the bridge, to see the development in Hindmarsh Island and the Murray Mouth. It’s hard to believe that the Murray flowing past our place finishes up reaching the sea here. 

Dennis & Tops also had a ride on the horse drawn tram across to Granite Island while we stayed with Mum.

                                 

Then today the weather was rather windy and dreary so we had a look at the town then headed across to see where the Kangaroo Island ferry leaves from Cape Jervis. It would have been a very rough trip today. You can see KI in the distance. 

                 

It was too cold for a picnic lunch so we bought pasties at the Normanville bakery then broke Darryl’s rule and ate them in the car ...... then we found this lovely little cafe right on the beach - too late for lunch but nice for coffee!! Dinner tonight is being cooked by chef Heather so a night off for us. We have been walking around to Mums each night but with rain forecast, hope we don’t get wet tonight. 

It’s been lovely to spend time with Mum and she’s enjoyed the company too.   

Tomorrow we are off again and another place for reminiscing is on the agenda - this time Keith. 

We keep looking at the forecast and hope the predicted rain arrives - in our 6 + weeks of travel we’ve only witnessed 2mm at Greg and Anne’s shack so to hear rain on the roof would be lovely. We trust everyone is well and looking forward to the long weekend. 

Till the next blog, love from the travellers.  ❌❌❌❌ 

Beautiful bayside Adelaide

We beat the cold last night by using the very modern camp kitchen and our night was made by Matt Harris’s company. We thank you Matt for making the effort to see us - it’s always great to catch up.

                             

This morning Darryl and I reminisced about our meeting as we walked past THE wall - there were so many out riding and walking and enjoying the lovely sun shine. We were very keen to get to Harbor Town as we’ve been starved of retail therapy so off we went, nice and early -  and we were all commenting how it must be struggling a bit as hardly anyone was there and the car was rather lonely in the car park.  When we got inside, we found out the shops didn’t open till 11am so we had to kill some time by having a coffee. So once 11am arrived, we were in our element and all ended up with some goodies! 

                        

To our surprise however, when we walked out of the complex, boy, did we get a shock as there were hundreds of cars in the park and the car was hard to find!! Needless to say, the place is thriving!!So with our retail therapy done, we headed to Glenelg and strolled around and ended up enjoying a lovely lunch at the Grand. 

We were a little sad to see La Mancha is no longer - we had some very happy times there years ago. 

We strolled around Glenelg and then decided to show Dennis & Tops the heart of the city at Alberton Oval.

                                 

The tour finished with us eventually finding Edgecombe St ( there’s so many road changes you can’t just drive down many of these streets.) This is where Darryl spent his early years - till about 13. We even caught a glimpse of where we lived when first married at Norman St Woodville. 
Today we awoke to a heavy fog which didn’t lift till lunch time. We thought it wasn’t enough to stop the planes taking off as there seemed to be an exodus from about 6am, but the news tells us the airport was in chaos! 

We were very spoilt today by lunching at North Adelaide at the Taylor premises. We enjoyed a lovely lunch and of course had a very happy afternoon together - thank you Anne & Greg! 

                           

We had a quick look at some of the beautiful homes and buildings in North Adelaide then headed back to our ‘houses’ Tonight we are dining in the lovely camp kitchen again - which we seem to have all to ourselves. 

                            

Tomorrow we leave this lovely part of the world and head to Victor Harbor. We are all thinking of little Ryder who had grommets put in today and hope he’s over it all now and able to eat again!

So till the next blog, we hope everything is good in your lives,

Love from DDMT  ❌❌❌❌❌

 

Another day in the Barossa

We had a great day exploring the area, starting with a walk around the historic mine at Kapunda. How difficult these people had it, with children as young as 8 being employed to pick over the stones - not only that but they were usually hungry, and worked in extreme weather conditions without many comforts.

We could plainly see the blue/ green copper material in the unused mines and the water in the bottom certainly made Mt Gambiers Blue Lake look normal! 

To commemorate the work of the horses in the mine, this amazing statue was commissioned - it is truly a work of art  - made of all bits and pieces. 

                    

We also found out that the beautiful Kapunda High School administration building was once Sir Sydney Kidman’s home - no wonder it was so grand! 

From there we journeyed to Jacobs Creek winery - so very different to Seppeltsfield and Peter Lehman but still rather spectacular and the grounds once again were immaculate. We have fond memories of Mark & Karen’s beautiful wedding at this venue. Here are a couple of beauties were found on the swing 😜

                            

I purchased a beautiful platter made from their wine barrels so it’s rather special. We had a quick tasting and quite enjoyed the sparkling prosecco but it was a little early to get too carried away!! 

We found a great little German cafe in Lyndoch for lunch and this time enjoyed pasties and of course a donut for world donut day. We thought of Jess on her birthday as we enjoyed these treats. 

We went onto the Birdwood Motor Museum where we whiled away some hours looking at the collections and reading about the exhibits. We especially enjoyed the bits about Tom Kruse as we’ve been to the places he delivered mail in all those adverse conditions (Birdsville, Marree, Oodnadatta, Cooper Creek) 

Also of interest was this travelling salesvan belonging to Syd Graeber of Lobethal. When he finished up his work, he drove the van into the shed, goods and all and this is how it is today - amazing!! I also learned that Model T cars were sent out from America unassembled in a box - the wooden box was used to make the floors and the bodies were made of what was around. Hence the Australian model T’s are more individual. 

Coming back to Kapunda, we drove though Mt Pleasant, Springton, Eden Valley and Angaston. At Springton we saw the Herbig family tree - a family of 13 children lived here for 5 years - the most famous descendent from this family is Simon Goodwin!! Could you imagine living here?

                               

And so today we packed up again and left beautiful Kapunda and headed to the city and now we’re set up at this amazing spacious, immaculate, green  park by the seaside. We arrived to brilliant sunshine and Darryl quickly donned his shorts and thongs - albeit only briefly! Only downside of here is of course, no campfires, so we’ll check out the camp kitchens. They are very modern and I think we could cook up a storm there - which we need to do as we’re entertaining Matt Harris tonight! 

We’ve had a quick look around and bored Dennis and Tops by showing them where Darryl lived, where he went to school, where he met me, where we were married and where Tim was born!! The area was bustling on this warm winter Saturday and everything looked great. 

Tomorrow we’ll explore further afield and enjoy the ambience of some pub for a drink overlooking the water - something to look forward to. 

Hoping everyone is well and happy,

Love from the travellers ❌❌❌❌