A Trip to South Australia
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A Trip to South Australia |
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| A few statistics | ||
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| Number of days: | 53 | |
| Distance travelled: | 6709 Km | |
| Average distance travelled per day: | 126.58 Km | |
| Litres of petrol used: | 826 | |
| Petrol consumption: | 12.3 L/100 Km | |
We were due to leave early Monday morning in the first few days of July. So much had gone "wrong" over the weekend that we were not quite packed by late evening Sunday and an early start Monday morning was not going to happen. Not a good start to a holiday.
So on the Monday, we hooked up our little Avan touring caravan and left home at 08:00 hrs – about 2 hours earlier than expected but later than we intended and headed to the Hume Highway at Narellan. To get better petrol economy, we had decided to drive more conservatively pulling the caravan, staying around 80-90 kph, but keeping the engine at around 2000-2500 rpm. We find it easy to pull over to allow any traffic behind us to pass and that also keeps the idiots from taking risks trying to pass us.
We headed for Yass NSW where we filled up and had some lunch at the service centre there. I won't admit to this, but we did have lunch at Macca's – MacSalad rolls not MacChunder hamburgers. We turned off a little past Yass and headed to Griffith NSW where we were to catch up with our son in law, Dave, who was down there working for a couple of weeks. As it had been his birthday a couple of days before, we took him to lunch the next day – yes, I did pay for his – and spent much of the afternoon with him looking around sunny down town Griffith. As we were heading to the SA wine fields, and we had been in Griffith before, we didn't explore the vineyards there.
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From Griffith we headed to Victoria so we could take the Great Ocean Road to Mt Gambier in SA. We picked up Jerilderie on the way, had lunch there and then had a quick look around. We saw the Post and Telegraph Office which those naughty fellas, Ned Kelly and his gang, robbed on Monday, 10th February, 1879. Didn't buy a T-Shirt but did take a photo.
Seymour Vic was our overnight stop. The 2 star caravan park made for a comfortable, but Spartan, stopover but we had little choice – that or nothing. We bypassed Geelong and headed for Torquay where we intended to have our next overnight stay. It was still a little early and, with Torquay a bit off the main drag we headed to Anglesea. Beautiful caravan park this time. The best time to go to these beachside places is in winter – few people, pick of the good van sites, no waiting for showers, no noise but, unfortunately, no warmth...for they can be cold in winter.
We left Anglesea late (about 0945 hrs) and headed for Warrnambool via the Great Ocean Road. Biiiiiiiiiiig mistake to leave late – for the Great Ocean Road was very winding, had lots of road works and small townships (60 or 50 kph) but wonderful views. These all took up a great deal of time but the views made it worthwhile.
We stopped at the (nominal) Twelve Apostles, now Eight as one had crumpled into the sea a few weeks before, leaving only a pile of rubble. We continued on through a number of pretty little towns and stopped at Peterborough to view the Bay of Islands. Strangely enough, this has got its name from all the little islands in and around the bay – same formations as the surviving Eight Apostles but more of them. We pushed on, arriving at Warrnambool around 1700 hrs where we booked into another comfortable caravan park for two nights. This turned into four.
Warrnambool is a very attractive town – clean, well set out with lots of attractions. Contacted friends there and managed morning tea with them the next day. They showed us around their two acre property, mostly gardens, with a new home being built. They suggested the must sees around, not least being the Whale Nursery of Southern Right Whales where we did see mother and her recently born calf frolicking up and down the beach.
Now it is "Did you know" time about Southern Right Whales!
Did you know that:
We visited our friends again and had tea with them in their temporary home. (No, I didn't have to pay this time as our hosts did the cooking but I did supply the wine).
The next day we went to a sleeping volcano, which is different to an extinct one. We did become a little anxious at one stage when we heard rumblings but then realised it was close to dinner time and our tummies were reminding us of this. The crater is now full of kangaroos, birds and, of course, gum trees and native shrubbery. From the Info Centre in the middle of the volcano's crater, we climbed up a very steep, almost bloody very steep, hill to view a lake covering another section of the crater. A worthwhile exercise (no pun intended) as the whole area is quite beautiful. It still has a few hundred years to go before it can be reclassified to extinct – assuming it doesn't blow its top in the meantime.
We went that night to a laser light show at Flagstaff Hill which included an exhibition on the loss of the Loch Ard clipper along "shipwreck coast". Some 700 hundred ships were lost along the southern coast of Victoria, with great loss of life. Bass Strait, with its unpredictable weather, earned this name from the sailors. To add to the problems, there was only a 55 mile gap (88.5 Km in new fangled distances) between the Australian coast there and King Island. With gale force winds, fog, mist (and no sun on these clouded days), it was claimed to be like "threading the eye of a needle," and it is easy to see how it earned its reputation as being so deadly and difficult to sail through.
Anyway, at the end of our four day stay in Warrnambool, we broke camp and headed the 200 kilometres to our real destination, South Australia, and our first major stop there, Mt Gambier.
We arrived in Mt Gambier on 13th July, at 1500 hrs – but who's keeping accurate stats let alone worrying about them. We booked into a caravan park for a full week as we had been told by others who have been there that there is plenty to see in the town and district.
We had a literal Dingo's visit (a pee and a quick look around) at the Information Centre which also houses a part replica of the sailing ship, "The Lady Nelson", from which Captain Grant named 2 mountains he could see, one being Mt Gambier. Please don't ask the name of the other, as our diarist did not include this in the diary.
I thought about sacking her but abandoned that idea when I realised that it would be left to me to do the daily tour diary. That just does not appeal to me – I prefer to read it and suggest inclusions now and again.
The next day, we settled down to see some of the sights. It rained, as it was going to do for the next six days. Usually it was a heavy shower with fleeting sunshine in between...but it wasn't going to stop us from having a good look around. Did a bit of grocery shopping – even on hols you have to do this – and went back to the Information Centre to have a good look at the exhibitions there. This included going into the bowels of "The Lady Nelson" and listening to the crew on their journey...nearly got seasick just thinking about it.
Next day the rain stopped and the sun shone long enough for us to have a picnic lunch in one of the three volcano craters which are just on the edge of town. Whilst there, we went for a long walk into a natural animal park with its wild kangaroos, emus and a myriad of birds. We enjoyed a board walk next to the lake in the crater and other parts which rose to the top of the tree canopy. It is very interesting to see what goes on in the top of trees. Unfortunately, we didn't read the weather signs very well and it just pis... rained very heavily. Yes, bugger it; we did get very wet running to shelter under the roof of an open information place...along with numerous other people who couldn't read weather signs either. But it was worth it.
The following day we went to Penola, about 50 kilometres north where we visited our first winery. Still raining but not inside the wineries. We did the wine tasting bit and bought a couple of bottles. As we still had the rest of S.A. and its wine districts to visit we weren't too keen to spend much. We made a second visit there a couple of days later to give the town a better look over. It had fined up long enough for us to have a picnic in one of the parks in the town. I suppose most people have heard of Mary McKillop who is heading for sainthood (the first one for Australia). We visited the little school she started at Penola. The building is still standing but now as a museum. It was a Spartan existence in a wooden barn which was divided into a schoolroom at the front and a bedroom and kitchen at the back.
About now we noticed that we were getting up later and later in the morning because it was so dark. Apart from the overcast skies, sunrise wasn't until 7:20 am, half an hour after Sydney. But, if you have a look at a map, you will see that Adelaide and much of S.A. is mid way between the east coast and west coast of Australia. Hence, S.A. time should be an hour behind Eastern Standard Time (EST) just as Western Australia is 2 hours behind EST. Anyway, that's our theory and we're sticking to it. We doubt that we will convince many South Aussies to take up the cause since there were rumblings in the local media there that they should be brought into line with the eastern states i.e. they should be on EST. So did we set an alarm to wake up early? Not likely mate, we were on hols! We just got our rear ends into gear and moved out by 9:00 am or earlier. On those days when we were breaking camp we were still well on the move by 9:30 – 9:45 am.
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Around Mt Gambier area there are many sink holes. This is where the ground collapses into an underground river, leaving holes of varying sizes from one in which a person could barely slip down to one where the proverbial double decker bus would disappear. There is a very large one near the middle of town which now has gardens around it and a waterfall flowing into it. You can follow a path down into this sinkhole for a small distance but then the "hole" is fenced off. Well worth a visit.
Nearby were other sinkholes open to the public with organised tours into them. These were originally used as a garbage tips but have since been cleaned out and opened to tourists and divers (who must have special qualifications to dive into sink holes because of the large number of fatalities in the past).
As all tourists to Mt Gambier do, we visited the volcano crater full of water, the Blue Lake. Not blue at the time of the year we visited but a dull grey blue. It turns blue late spring to early autumn because of harmless algae etc in the water. Our tour group was taken down in a lift to an 80 metre long brick lined tunnel which brought you out about 50 metres above the water line. The lift shaft and tunnel were both cut by hand in the "olden days", yes even way before I was born. This took you to the pumping station which is now used to supply water from the lake to the town. Words like "water restrictions" are not in local’s vocabulary.
Later in the day we had to shop around for a new kettle as ours died in the middle of making a cup of tea that morning. What a catastrophe – had to do without a cuppa! Anyway this was the first of three breakdowns we experienced over the holiday and a fourth which was waiting for us when we arrived home.
And not only that, the second visit to Penola was the day before we were to break camp and it was the start of a bad 24 hours. Leaving Penola, I trod in some doggie do. It was not noticed until that ever so familiar odour permeated the car. On arrival at camp, shoe cleaning was the first job. In the morning as I was preparing the caravan to leave, one of the many magpies in the park crapped on my head – probably because I stopped feeding them a couple of days before. Luckily I had not had my shower. We arrived at Meningie (our next camp site) which is next to Lake Albert. As we were setting up camp, I managed to step into some well hidden, and freshly cooked, seagull droppings in the grass. It was everywhere because there were so many of the wretched birds. It was shoe cleaning time again.
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And to finish off the day, as I was concentrating on photographing a beautiful sunset, I stepped back and felt that familiar lump under my shoe again. Damn; more doggy doos – but at least this time it was dry!
So, having left Mt Gambier and rain 200 kilometres away, we were now camped in a beautiful caravan park overlooking a lake, filled with bird life – seagulls of course – but also ducks, pelicans, waterfowl and many other water birds...and sunshine. Best of all, it had beautiful sunsets which appeared to sink into the lake.
Having left Mt Gambier and rain 200 kilometres behind us, we were now camped in a beautiful caravan park overlooking Lake Albert at Meningie SA. We had two days to enjoy the sunsets and tour around the area.
The first day we went on a drive around the lake, about 60 Km. We came across small farms, a punt which takes you over a small water channel which joins Lake Albert to the much larger Lake Alexandrina, the latter into which flows the mighty Murray River. Along a 20 Km section of dirt road we saw some beautiful old homes, faithfully restored and used as Bed and Breakfasts.
Next day we visited an art exhibition in the Old Cheese Factory and, on show, was a table which will impress the wood working fans among U3A members.
The specifications of the table suggest it is not something which is likely to be flogged from the dining room whilst you are out.
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We left Meningie and headed towards the Fleurieu Peninsula and Victor Harbor. We ended up having tea out that night for no special reason; just a simple café but certainly upmarket from Macca’s.
July 22 was an up early morning and get on the road ASAP. Our ferry to Kangaroo Island was due to leave at midday and we had a bit of a hike over unknown territory to Cape Jervis from where the ferry left. As we had to be there by 1130 hrs, we got our rear ends into gear. The trip was uneventful and we were there in plenty of time.
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Kangaroo Island is not far from the mainland and what we thought were extra islands – it was a bit foggy – was just one big one...Kangaroo Island. It is just on 15 kilometres from the mainland, is 150 kilometres long and varies between 50 kilometres and 75 Kilometres wide. The ferry is a big mother, comes into a small manmade harbour, front end first, turns around on a 5 cent piece to then reverses into the ramp. Would rather drive a big fire truck than this brute. (That's us, front left and the ferry reversing.)
The trip across was OK. The car and caravan looked a bit small among the rest of the vehicles – cars, trucks, buses. You leave the car to get lonely on its own and go up and sit in the lounge area. It's only about a 30 min trip so you don't get a great chance to settle in or get sea sick.
Once we arrived and were disembarked, we went to the Info Centre at Penneshaw. They gave us the good oil on where to go and what to see and where we could stay. We decided to do the furthest trips first and work our way back towards Penneshaw by the end of the week so we headed towards Flinders Chase National Park. Next morning we went to Seal Bay. What a magic place! Run by NP&WLS, they have guided tours along board walks, through sand dunes to the beach and along the beach. There you see heaps of sea lions with their pups. They are big buggers and quite fast if they decide to go after you – unlikely – but you are kept a respectable distance from them just in case.
"Did you know?" time about the sea lions:
On the return, Bernie did a cave tour. The caves were great but different to, say, Jenolan Caves. They are younger and have been dry for the last 20 years. This is attributed to the lack of bushfires which has allowed a build up of leaf mulch as well as a heavy canopy of trees and shrubs to grow on top of the caves. We were some 15 metres or more underground and could see tree roots protruding through the roof of the caves. It is thought the roots are sucking up any excess moisture.
At the Guide Station we were able to see a seismograph in action. Fran and I were given a personal tour of the station by the guide with explanations of the use of the seismograph and its operation. He also showed us his personal copy of the 9.1 Richter earthquake on 26/12/04 which triggered the horrendous tsunami devastating parts of Indonesia and neighbouring Asian countries. A most informative and interesting visit.
After a very windy Saturday night, the next day was wet with occasional showers and very strong winds. We headed for the Flinders Chase National Park Centre for more info on the "to see and do" in the area. They sent us to visit the "Admiral's Arch", a natural rock formation like an arch where it is very beautiful in rough, windy weather. We were promised a sight not to be forgotten because the day was so wild – very strong winds with showers.
Unfortunately, we were unable to get down to the arch because the wind was so strong, we were almost blown off the walkway which had a railing only on one side. Just nearby was another lookout which overlooked a colony of New Zealand seals. (They are actually Australian seals but because they are also found in NZ, they are called NZ seals. That's logical isn't it?) They were having a wonderful time in the heaving seas – diving and flopping from the rocks into the water. What a great life – even the water wasn't cold for them!
And, of course, where there are rocks and close to shore islands – there also is the ubiquitous lighthouse. Built in 1907-1909, it can send its signals 27 miles (about 43.5 kilometres) out to sea. Three families lived in this very remote and unfriendly area in separate houses. Everything they needed arrived by boat about every 3 months, weather permitting, and was hoisted up a sheer 100 foot (about 30 metre) cliff. A flying fox was built to make it easier but it wasn't until 1927 that a very rough road was cut through the scrubby forest and life became more bearable. The lighthouse is now automated but you can hire the old light-keepers' houses if that appeals to you.
The Remarkables are in this National Park. On the edge of a headland, these unusual rocks were formed from granite and were "pushed up" from underground – similar to Uluru (Ayer's Rock). They were shaped by wind, rain and heavy seas and now look almost like modern sculptures on an even bigger rock base. Parts of the area are still subject to being washed by heavy seas. I suppose because there are so many shapes and colours in the rocks, it makes them "Remarkable".
The picture at left, below, shows part of the Remarkables—and the remarkable number of people climbing over them. Quite remarkable really!.
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We returned to the National Park centre and went for a 4.5 Km walk to the platypus ponds. It was a brisk walk as we only had about 2 hours of daylight left. It was also still windy and wet but we made it back OK without any major dramas. We saw everything from nesting Cape Barron Geese (see photo at right, above), kangaroos, Tamar wallabies, heaps of different birds but no platypus – wrong time of the year – and no Koala Bears which were supposed to be everywhere – but apparently not where we looked.
We returned to our car when it was almost dark only to find that both headlights had gone on strike. No decent lights, except the small fog lamps, to get back to camp. Still that was better than no light at all. We would have to look into this irritation the next morning. Lack of lights was quite a worry as it appears that road kill is one of the main industries of the island – wallabies, possums, goannas and roos all pave the roads. We really didn't want to make a contribution which, thankfully, we didn't do even though we did pass several wallabies on our way back to camp.
Brownlow, a small area 2 Km out of Kingscote, was our next camping site, a 2 hour leisurely and quite uneventful drive from where we had been the previous days. Kingscote is not a big town by mainland standards but it is the biggest on Kangaroo Island. It is haphazard in its layout; shops, houses and empty buildings all mixed together with large shops away from the "main street". All very confusing and involving lots of walking, which thankfully, is no problem for us. We sought out the local RAC to check out the lights. They found one globe had certainly passed its use by date but the other was working and they couldn't find any problem. Got in the car, started it and turned on the lights. Bugger, one wasn't working so called them back again. They checked and, as you would expect, it worked for them. However, as they were going through everything from fuses to operator error – how difficult is it to turn on headlights – it died for them. More checking of the globe revealed a crack in the filament which would touch ends and work or come apart and fail. And so another $33 dollars later – Subaru globes are not cheap on Kangaroo Island – both eyes of the car worked. It was time to go sightseeing again.
We headed for the Eucalyptus Distillery, the last one of many on the island which is still operating. From their own eucalyptus plantation, they cut and prune the trees to make them very bushy. Through an ingenious process, the oil is extracted and distilled from the leaves, treated and bottled. The most pure oil you can buy which is, unfortunately, only available from the Island and SA unless you want to use their mail order system. The treated leaves and branches are put through a muncher and the resulting produce is in high demand all over the Island as a garden mulch. The trees themselves have a life of about 10 years so they are constantly planting new ones to keep up supply.
After lunch we went to the Duck Lagoon where we sighted one duck only (hence Duck Lagoon) and scores of black swans and looked over the remains of one of the many dead eucalyptus distilleries around. We knew there must be lots more ducks about as their calling card was all over the ground. In places, especially near the water’s edge, it was almost a challenge to walk between the droppings. If you were careless enough, you could accumulate enough on the bottom of your shoes to increase your height by millimetres. We left the Duck Lagoon to get to the sheep dairy by 1500 hrs for the daily milking. How do you milk a ewe – (they don't try to milk rams)! Simple, just like a cow but with less teats. Everything is mechanical except attaching the milking machine to the ewe which is done by staff. The products they make from the milk – yoghurt and cheese – are very nice. Francis reckons it is the most "divine" yoghurt but a bit naughty as it is a full cream one. The cheeses are nice but nothing to write home about in my opinion except the one interesting one which you fry in a non stick frying pan. This was quite nice when warm but fairly ordinary when cold.
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We were now near our last day on Kangaroo Island so we went to Emu Bay Beach for a picnic lunch and a look around. Like our own Emu Plains near Penrith NSW, there were no emus but there were heaps, literally, of seaweed on the beach and more than a metre thick in places. The amount and thickness was a good indication of how wild and rough the seas had been recently. (Francis, standing among the seaweed, gives a good indication of its thickness)
So after lunch and a walk on the beach, we visited the pioneers' cemetery – so many children had died between 1803 and 1859. Nearby on a hill overlooking the sea was a pioneers' monument. This was interesting but the weather was very cold and windy so we were glad to abandon this and head back to the caravan. Being the last night on the island, we went out to tea at a local pub before going to an aquarium full of very unusual fish. This was followed by a visit down to the boardwalk near the seashore to look at the Fairy Penguins coming in from their fishing trips. They feed their young chicks by regurgitating food into the chicks' beaks. Yuk! 2nd hand, uncooked fish; I prefer the human way of feeding our young and not so young.
Early to bed and early to rise for we had to get to Penneshaw, the port where we were booked on the 1030 hrs ferry back to the mainland.
The trip back was uneventful; the water calm and the coffee on board was hot and the naughty sticky bun was great. What more could you ask for? We arrived at Cape Jervis on the mainland and waited our turn to disembark.
This soon came so we headed back to Victor Harbor where we had left a week ago to go to Kangaroo Island. We decided to stay at Victor Harbor as there was still quite a bit to see and do and we were in no hurry. After all, it's not everywhere you can see a tram pulled by a Clydesdale horse across a long jetty to a granite island.
 Horse Drawn Tram, Victor Harbor |
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Having returned to Victor Harbor, we are now preparing to reach our main destination—Adelaide. By the way, the harbour part of Victor Harbor is officially spelt Harbor and not Harbour which is the usual spelling of the word (in Australia). We intended to stay only two days in Victor Harbor but for one reason or another it turned into four. What's a day or two in two months? Besides, there was plenty to see in the area. (The Horse drawn tram can be seen in action again – return journey from Granite Island with Victor Harbor in the background).
Granite Island is about 1 Km off Victor Harbor connected by a bridge which houses old tram lines. These lines were used by trams in the "olden days" to ferry granite from the island to the mainland and is now used by a horse drawn tram as a tourist attraction. There are several walks on the island giving impressive views towards land and sea. We did the whole lot by foot, taking several hours. Our little doggies were barking by the time we got back to the caravan.
We took a drive around the district – our feet were not quite ready for another day of big walks – to small villages with quaint names like Yankalilla, Myponga, Inman, Normanville and Carrickalinga. Where did those names come from? It was beautiful; so lush and green with the Gulf of St Vincent a beautiful blue. In Myponga we stopped at markets and saw things new and old for sale, some of which you usually see only in museums but obviously still being used. Resisted the temptation to buy things "for which we may find a use" but which would probably end up being tossed out after a while having been renamed "junk".
We took a walk around the foreshores of the harbour and through the town to a three storey building housing a whale exhibition. We would like to say we had a whale of a time (sorry), but the exhibition was a little disappointing. It had too much written info, often repeated and somewhat boring at times. (Maybe whaleologists would like it better). We walked back to the caravan and after lunch went whale watching. Actually, we went whale looking but didn't see any so drove out to the bluff, south of the harbour. We climbed 175 very steep steps only to find the path continued north around the headland so we went south. This brought us to a southerly aspect lookout viewing several inlets, all very pretty with numerous islands offshore. Decided to go back to the car but unfortunately, the quickest way back was down those 175 steps. The alternative was a long road back to town where we would have to walk out to the bluff again to the car – so the steps won.
And so after four nights in sunny down town Victor Harbor, we tidied up in the van, packed and stowed our gear and headed for Adelaide.
We drove through McLaren Vale, home of many vineyards, and believe it or not, stopped only for coffee...we intended to revisit this area later. We then continued onto Adelaide. We missed a turnoff and ended up in the seaside suburb of Glenelg. Not too bad really, only a few Kilometres in the wrong direction. We retraced our steps, found the correct turnoff and even found our caravan park without further ado. What a great caravan park. No great shakes in the stars dept – just 3½ – but it was very clean, tidy, next to the Torrens River and just two Kilometres from Adelaide’s CBD. You can drive into the city or take a leisurely walk along the walkways on both sides of the river, up through the botanic gardens or past the zoo (hold your breath downwind) or up past the Uni into the CBD. No more than a 30 minute walk by whichever way you go. The caravan park boasts that it is the closest one to any major city in Australia and certainly to any of the capital cities. So here we are; we have reached our intended destination and all we have to do is enjoy ourselves.
We had a quick look at brochures and info in the caravan park office and decided to book a few bus tours rather than drive everywhere ourselves – and maybe even take a wrong turn or two again.
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We rose early our first morning in Adelaide to get ready for the Barossa Valley tour. Our driver was named Gus, a female with a wonderful sense of humour. She directed her humour at herself, those who did not come from SA, or Australia as a whole, at the Poms on board, or anybody else who came from overseas. In short, nobody was safe from Gus.
Pictured at right is tThe Big Rocking Horse with a $2 entry to climb to the top to the viewing tower.
First stop was at the one of the ubiquitous “Big something” which are to be found all over Australia, in this case, The Big Rocking Horse. Gus pointed out that you could obtain that rare product – rocking horse poop – from the shop where it is sold by the bagful. The place was a café attached to workshops where wooden toys were made from pine. They were very impressive toys, especially the trucks and semi trailers, but with an equally impressive sized price tag on many of them. Too rich for my blood and I was not going broke just to buy my grandkids big wooden toys.
On to Angaston from where Angas Park dried fruits and products come.
We had lunch there, bought some dried fruits and headed to four wineries where we were to do some serious tasting. Bought a couple of bottles but we still wanted to save our money for some of the better areas to which we were going.
 The Chateau Yaldara |
The Chateau Yaldara was one of the most impressive buildings we visited but inside they had some unusual products. They offered dessert wines, port, chocolate or cherry mixers and a mead mix – which is served warm – all of them can prove to be deadly if you are not careful. Thankfully, we poured most of our tastings, after the first small sip, into the slops buckets (spittoons to the genteel) which are around the tasting rooms. By the end of the day we would be lucky if we had had more than two small glasses of wine.
The trip home was great; we sang songs, told jokes and generally misbehaved. Everybody was sober, friendly and just out to have a very enjoyable time. Mission accomplished!
We have reached Adelaide and been on a guided tour of the Barossa Valley. It has started to rain and, from our point of view, doesn't look promising for the next week or so. However, if you want it to rain, then it does look promising.
We started off by having a bit of a sleep-in and then tried to ring our daughter, Michelle, for her birthday. Even when you are on holidays, family still have birthdays and expect you to contact them. There was no answer but we did know she was on her way to Dubbo for work. We eventually reached her and resisted the temptation to sing "happy birthday" over the phone – we think others in the caravan park may not have appreciated our fine singing voices. We decided to have a lazy day, write letters/post cards and do a bit of shopping and more reading. Besides, next day we had a "see Adelaide and the German town of Hahndorf" bus tour so we opted to charge our batteries before instead of after the tour.
Next morning we were up early and waiting for the bus to pick us up when a caravan park staff member came to tell us the tour had been postponed until the next day. This was OK by us – we found someone to have a look at our poor microwave which was on the verge of giving up the ghost – the second of three things to break down on this trip. We then drove back to camp and walked into Adelaide. I visited the Blood Bank as I was overdue for my donation by a few weeks. It's all on computer these days so there was no problem. Anyway, they offer you cold beer down there after you have donated blood so I might slip down to Adelaide in future. We walked around Adelaide for a bit of a squiz and eventually returned to camp.
 Fire spotting tower |
Next day our Adelaide and Hahndorf tour was on – Gus was the driver/guide again. There are many beautiful old homes and buildings in and around Adelaide, all faithfully preserved. It appears that they did not suffer that fatal disease which inflicted Sydney in the 50's and 60's where, if it was older than the architect or owner, it was demolished.
After leaving the city we headed to the Adelaide Hills and Mt Lofty overlooking Adelaide. Talk about suffering from wind – not me, the weather. It blew a gale on top of the mountain and would have been interesting to climb to the top of the fire spotting tower next to the lookout and restaurant.
We continued from Mt Lofty to the early pioneer German town and wine district of Hahndorf. This is a very pretty district and town which deserved a closer look than the ½ day tour we were on. So we marked it in our mental diary to return before we left Adelaide as it is only about 30 Km out of Adelaide. The bus returned us, at our choice, to the CBD of Adelaide where we had been told of the fabulous markets we "just had to visit". Sorry to say, we consider that Melbourne's Victoria St markets, Sydney's Paddy's and Parklea markets put them to shame. Still, we did enjoy them – especially as we didn't spend much money there.
Sunday arrived and we had another full day bus tour to the mighty Murray River. Out driver/tour guide was again Gus, for the 3rd time in 3 tours. We were almost old friends now so she gave us a bit of stick for the early part of the tour. However, with the tour group being five Poms, five Indians, one Yank and two Irish, it didn't take her long to warm to them and soon they too were copping a bit of what for.
We eventually reached the township of Murray Bridge and were taken to a wildlife park. The manager took us through and gave us the opportunity of holding a four year old croc, a boa constrictor, lizards and hand feed native birds. There were emus, ostriches, white (NOT albino) kangaroos, bullocks and much more. Just when I was starting to size up an animal to knock on the head for lunch, we were instructed to go to the adjoining motel for a smorgasbord lunch. Good tucker but, as I was about to go back for seconds, or was it fourths, on the desert, Gus called us to join the bus for the drive to Mannum and a boat trip on the Murray.
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Our boat was not a paddle steamer or anything like one. It was just a flat bottom boat (right) with a couple of putt putt motors. Still it was OK. We passed one of the largest paddle boats on the Murray, PS Murray Princess, (left) moored nearby. Thought I might slip over and take her out for a run but was informed that it starts at $5,000 just to take her out from the wharf. After that you add the other dollars for the number of days, number of people, tucker, drinks etc so I was satisfied with our tour boat, MV Jester and a mere photo of the Murray Princess.
We have done three bus tours around Adelaide and its surrounds. There is more rain, bloody rain and then some more. However, it is mostly showers and then sunshine so it hasn't stopped us from walking around Adelaide and doing some small tours ourselves. You might remember that we put our microwave in for repairs but it still hasn't been returned after a week. We miss its convenience so we gave the repairers a ring – still being looked at. We reminded them that we were due to leave Adelaide in a week's time hoping this would give them the hurry up.
We headed for Yorke Peninsula for a few days leaving the caravan in Adelaide. For those who may not know, Yorke Peninsula is the land between the Gulf of St Vincent and Spencer Gulf. It is about 150 Km long and 50 Km wide and is farmed predominantly for barley. It is claimed to be the biggest exporter of barley in the world. As the base for beer and pearl barley used in soups etc, it is no wonder that so much is needed worldwide. Apart from the farming, at the very tip is located Innes National Park. We went there and stayed overnight in a motel at Edithburg. We did the sightseeing thing and headed back to Adelaide and our caravan.
On the way back through the National Park, we came across a sign suggesting there was an American Red Indian settlement nearby and – therefore of people who, as we know, had a penchant for whisky (or firewater).
 What the sign said... |
This made me very happy because, as I don't mind the occasional western movie or a glass of whisky, I thought I might be able to get a freebee or at least a bottle of whiskey at a discounted price. Alas, we had been misled. I made a mental note to refer this to the appropriate government agency for misleading advertising. You see, it had nothing to do with whisky and had more to do with what some people add to whisky.
 What the sign meant! |
In fact, it was a fire hydrant, something very dear to the hearts of firemen (sorry, firepeople) which is why I took the photos in the first place (since I was sending reports of our journey back to colleagues in our local bush fire brigade).
Well, as there is still only a short time to go before we are home, there is a little more to tell. But before concluding this S.A. story, I will close the saga of our sick microwave. The day before we were due to leave Adelaide, the repair shop contacted us with the sad news that the microwave was fatally sick – cactus stufftus, finis, dead, not repairable. We had to go shopping for a new one.
We grabbed a phone book and started to ring around electrical suppliers, caravan spare parts and suppliers etc. Bad news again – 15 litre microwaves were not made anymore; the smallest was 17 litre. Even the caravan manufacturers didn't have them. We decided not to worry for the time being and went grocery shopping instead at the nearby Coles store. There on the floor of the shop was the last of a super special – a 17 litre, no frills, microwave at $49. After checking the dimensions, it was similar to all the others of this size – OK for width and depth but too high for the hole in the caravan cupboard where it was to be fitted. Bummer, but for $49 it could ride on the floor, so we bought it.
And so, we packed the next day, headed for Renmark and then along the Murray River to Albury where we camped for the night. As we passed through Yass, we stayed with relos for a couple of days and then headed home.
—Fran & Bernie Fisher
Finé – next time (perhaps) a trip to W.A.
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