Saturday, April 16, 2011

Life is a Highway blog # 2 - 17 Apr 2011

Seals playing at Troubridge Point. Since the last post from Ardrossan we went a little further south to Windy Port Vincent. The caravan park was on a point and the wind never stopped for two days. Pretty place but WIND! Then we moved onto Edithburgh, a quaint little town for 3 nights . We took a great dirt track along the coast and took in Truobridge Point and Foul Bay. There was a huge wind farm along the way, it was a very scenic drive. We were lucky to spot a couple of seals playing in the bay so we watched them for a while and had a cuppa! If you are ever in Edithburgh go have a meal at the Double story Pub. Great food and reasonable price for what you get. Troubridge Bay and Lighthouse. What The !! After Edithburgh we spent two nights at Marion Bay. Our first day there the rain just didn't stop. 200mm in all. Just across the water at Kangaroo Island on the same day they got 400mm in some spots. Thank heavens we had a site in the caravan park that was on high ground. Many had to either move or mop up as seen in the photo below. Flooded caravan park at Marion Bay. Our second day at Marion Bay the weather was great so we spent the full day in the nearby Innes National Park which is situated at the southern end of the Yorke Peninsula. Some spectacular views in there. We visited the old town of Inneston within the Park which was once home to abt 100+ people who use to work at the nearby Gypsum works at Stenhouse Bay. That ceased operation in the late 1950's. We saw heaps of Emu's & Roos. The old village still has quite a few ruins standing and some are used for accommodation. Inneston Post Office & General Store. Inneston Ruin. See the Emu's. West Cape Bch Innes NP. The West Cape is at the SW corner of the NP. Beautiful 360' views over Pondalowie Bay & Southern Ocean. Pondalowie Bay, Innes NP. Further on we went to Dolphin Bay, great spot but nowhere to camp. Emu on the beach at Dolphin Bay, Innes NP. The road in the National Park ends at Brown's Beach. Browns Beach, Innes NP. Innes NP was the best part of the Yorke Peninsula. We left Marion Bay and headed to the west side of the Yorke Pen up through Corny Point & Minlayton (lovely little town). Then onto Bluff Bch and Port Rickaby. The wind was still blowing a gale and the weather had turned really cold yet again. We spent one night bush camping at Waraultee. Only a deserted Hall and church there. Sheep on the Road. We continued toward Moonta Bay. Called into Port Victoria on the way but we were not too impressed there. We spent 2 nights at Moonta had a bit of a look around went across to Kadina & Wallaroo, 2 of the larger towns on the peninsula. But we made the decision to move away from Yorke Pen. Overall we were a little disappointed in the whole area and think it will be our one and only visit there. Made our way over toward Gawler then decided to spend a few days along the Murray River and Barossa before heading back to Adelaide. (Sharee & Damon were coming over for a surprise visit). Recognise this place at all? It's the Truck Stop from the long running TV show Macleod's Daughters. It is in the town of Freeling. Our base along the Murray River was at Blanchetown. As you can see by the photo the Murray is pretty full, heaps of back water around as well. It is the hometown of the Murray's loch #1. The caravan park in Blanchetown was a great spot, only small, nice people running it and also friendly travellers as well. Murray River at Blanchetown. When we left Blachetown we drove along the side of the Murray R down to Mannum then took the ferry across to the town. Had a bit of a look around and the Murray Princess was in port. There were bloody tourists everywhere. We then made our way to Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley the wine capital of Australia. It is a beautiful spot to visit. Not far away is the town of Anguston the home of horse trainer David Hayes. The property there is Lindsay Park and yep the "FOR SALE" sign is out front. Great complex looking at it from te road. We spent a day drivng the Winery Tour of the area. You can smell the wine in the air. Grape Vine. It was time to head to Adelaide to meet up with Sharee & Damon for 4 days. We stayed at Adelaide Shores CP on West Beach. Great park & spot. After picking them up from the airport we went for a look around Port Adelaide. It's got a lot of history there and old buildings and some odd characters there as well. Port Adelaide Port Adelaide main street. We had a look around Glenelg then went into the CBD. Glenelg Pier. Damon hooning around the caravan park. We walked along Rundle Mall and North Tce. Gov house had an open day so we took a look through. There were people in period dress and a bagpipe band entertaining the crowd. Open day at Government House Adelaide. We drove passed Adelaide Oval couldn't get near it as there was a sporting event on . Also went passed AAMI Stadium home for the Crows and Power. We also had a day up in the Adelaide Hills, visiting Hahndorf old German town (heaps of Indians own business' there now so the ambience of the place has been a little lost. Sharee bought a BUM BURNER sausage. we tried it with a beer later that night. It was very nice indeed. on the way back to Adelaide we went through Oakbank and had a look at the race track where they have the famous steeple chase meeting every Easter. Coming back down the hill was fantastic. Wineries, Autumn Leaves, green and great later afternoon light. We had a lovely day. Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. Meet Swanny, Heater, Dids & Pendles greeting us at Oakbank racetrack. Sharee & Damon on West Beach at sunset. It was time to leave Adelaide and head up towards the Flinders Ranges, we travelled up to Port Germein before leaving the highway and headed towards Murraytown, the road was very hilly and windy but the scenery was great. We stopped just north of Quorn, and bush camped with the southern Ranges all around, very nice. Bush camp spot near Quorn. Continued on the next day up to Hawker, where we spent a bit of time looking around the town. Then it was onto Rawnsley Park Station for 4 nights in the heart of the Flinders Ranges. Greig at Rawnsley lookout. Whilst there we had a couple of quiet days but also went for the walk into Wilpena Pound, we also took the drive through Bunyeroo Valley and Brachina Gorge. Another day we went to Sacred Canyon and to Pugilist lookout. The Flinders is very green at the moment, looks spectacular. Our last night at Rawnsley we went to the campfire roast night, had roast lamb and chicken, vegies, damper, apple crumble and cream or choc pudding, a fantastic finish to our time in the Flinders Ranges, we always enjoy coming up here, its a great part of Australia. Came across this fella at Wilpena. Looking over Wilpena Pound. Hills Homestead at Wilpena. Bunyeroo Valley lookout. Lookout, Flinders Ranges. Sunset in Flinders Ranges. Part of Rawnsley Park Station at sunset. Sacred Canyon, aboriginal rock engravings. Mish at Sacred Canyon. Track in Flinders Ranges. We left the Flinders to finally start heading NORTH. We had a short pit stop at Pt Augusta to shop and re-fuel. It was raining just for a change. We stopped just off the Hwy over looking Island lagoon. Beaut spot for the night. We woke to a clear day and continued up the Stuart. We turned off the Hwy at Pimba and went to Woomera. Had a look around the once thriving community & defence town. Visited the museum there. Onto Roxby Downs about 80km away. This was a bit of a surprise to us. It's a very modern mining town. BHPbilliton owns & runs it. Looks like a young working community there. The school caters for pre-school, primary, secondary and TAFE. They have quite a good size airstrip and heaps of new houses and single workers lodgings are there as well. Not really for the tourist. Another 30km away is the old opal mining town of Andamooka. Not so much money is evident there, however losts of history and stories. We visited the general store/post office and saw an opal worth $100k. It was the size of half a hand palm. Very impressive ! There are a few old miners huts in town to look at and it also has the world's longest bus which is used as a cafe & souvenier shop. We arranged with the general store lady to leave the caravan out front whilst we took the 30 min drive out to lake Torrens. Bit of a rough road but ok. There is a little water in the salt lake. First time for us there. Back to Andamooka where we hitched the van back on and headed back toward Roxby Downs. We bush camped just a little way out of town for the night amoungst the red sand. Lovely and quiet. Woomera.

Old opal miners huts- Andamooka.


$100k of opal at Andamooka.


Lake Torrens, near Andamooka.


Next day back out through Pimba and onto the Hwy again heading north. We passed Lake Hart which has plenty of water and friendly Flies as well.


Lake Hart- Stuart Hwy.

Night was drawing in we had just gone passed Glendambo so we pulled of the road a bit to bush camp. We were blessed witha spectacular SUNSET to say the least. !!!!!



Bush camp near Glendambo.


Amazing sunset- near Glendambo.

So that brings you up to date with our travels. Currently in Coober Pedy but you will have to wait for the next BLOG... All we will say about Coober is it hasn't changed much since the last time we were here 22years ago.

Will do our next post from ALICE SPRINGS.


Take care, stay well.


Mish & Greig...............LIFE IS A H'WAY.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Life is a Highway post #1 13 March 2011

Leaving the farm.....



We left the farm in Little River at abt 10.15 on Feb 24th. Travelled along the Hamilton H'way via Inverleigh and Coleraine. Spent a little time in Hamilton before heading to our first camp for the night at Wannon Falls abt 18km past Hamiltom. A lovely and quiet spot and it's free to stay.



Camp spot at Wannon Falls


Wannon Falls


The next day we left Victoria and won't return now until Dec 2011. We arrived in the quaint town of Penola SA late morning. The town is very significant to the life and teachings of Australia's 1st Saint, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. There is a fantastic Interpretive Centre there in honour of her. The School she taught at and also the church she worshiped in. By all accounts St Mary was an inspirational person and a teacher who's techniques were well before her time. A must stop for anyone travelling in the area.



Inside the St Joseph's school where St Mary taught.


Later in the afternoon we continued onto Naracoorte for the next two days.

Whilst there we went to the caves in the area and took a tour of the Alexandra & Wet Caves. We were the only people on the tour so it was very personal and our tour guide "Yarrow" was great.


Inside Alexandra cave



Greig's grandfather Jim Tucker was born in Narracoorte in 1900 & as I'm a family tree buff we went visiting the local cemetery. We did find the listings for a few of his ancestors however they were all in unmarked graves but at least we made the visit. The weather turned cool and Mish ended up with a head cold. (grrrrrr)

Back on the road again this time heading to Langhorne Creek just over the Murray River at Wellington. Took the ferry across, so we had abt 30 mins wait our turn to be loaded. Lots of cars, vans, etc in front of us.

Arrived at the Frank Potts Reserve camp spot for the night. Great spot. under the gum trees and the vineyards across the roadway. Very quiet & it's FREE !!

Camp spot at Frank Potts Reserve

Next little spot we visited was Milang on the banks of Lake Alexandrina & a part of the Coorong NP. There are quite a few huts along the lake and during the busy times would be a hive of activity. We spoke to an old timer in town who told us that it was once a busy inland port area in days gone by. From Milang you can see Narrung Island in the lake. It is now an aboriginal community island.

some of the huts at Milang.

From here we continued on to Port Elliot via Currency Ck and Goolwa. Quite a few vineyards there we stopped and took a few photos of the Kingsbrook Inn (est 1852). It is now used for functions and weddings and is a B&B.


Kingsbrook Inn (est 1852)

Next stop was Pt Elliot where we stayed for 4 nights. it's only 7km from Victor Harbour and a little quieter. The weather was cool but we still took a day out to visit the nearby Newland Conservation Park. The coastline was spectacular and the beaches were wild & beautiful to look at but very dangerous for swimming in. Two of the beaches are Waitpinga (aboriginal for Windy Place) and Parson's Beach. We took a few dirt tracks in the area great country side to drive through. We went as far Tunkalilla Lookout whilst we were there 3 hang gliders were preparing to take off, just waiting for the right time with the wind.

We also went to Goolwa where the Murray River meets the sea. Heaps of birdlife around there. Port Eliot has the gorgeous Horseshoe Bay the beach is great but it was way too cold to swim.


Parsons Beach, Newland CP



Tunkalilla Lookout.
We were experiencing some problems with our TV reception whilst in Pt Elliot so a visit to Dick Smith soon fixed the problem with a new antenna lead. Must have good reception for the FOOTBALL !!!


Next port of call was over the other side of the Fleurieu Peninsula, Second Valley. On the way we travelled through Yankalilla and Normanville. What a beautiful beautiful beach. It was a pity it was too cool for swimming and also Mish had the head cold and Greig was getting it as well. Saw some stingrays swimming around gracefully through the very clear water. The next time we passed through Normanville there were a couple of racehorses down on the beach.
Normanville Beach.


Checked into the Second Valley Caravan Park for 4 nights. We had a great spot there and the managers were lovely. They had been there since just before Xmas and plan to leave after this easter. They are travelling aound Oz as well, but are picking up work on the way. Originally from Newcastle. We went for a look at Wirrina Cove Resort (a big wank) then onto Rapid Bay. Great spot along the beach there but the drive into the Bay is very steep so not too good towing the van down that. Saw a pod of dolphins swimming a short way from shore. Just great.



Second Valley coast line from the Jetty.


Second Valley was a very quiet little village not that far from Cape Jervis the gateway to catching the ferry across to Kangaroo Island. So we just had to visit.


We went over to KI on the SeaLink Ferry took the 9am across where we hooked up with the local tour of the highlights on KI. We went to Seal Bay a beautiful beach with quite a large colony of Sea Lions. Some old and some quite young. Real cute. We were about 20 metres from them. Couldn't get closer as they can turn nasty. The drive around the Island is fantastic, heaps of grazing and farm land on the Island.

Seals at Seal Bay KI


We then went to Vivonne Bay and had lunch at a bistro. Plenty to eat and great food. After lunch we went to a birds of prey show and were intorduced to a Hawk, a Barn Owl, 2 Kookaburra's which Mish had on her arm (WOW) and a 3yo Bald Tail Eagle. The bird handler was really good and encouraged the birds except the eagle to go to people watching for photos etc. Very enjoyable.


Barn Owl Bald Tailed Eagle

We then travelled onto the south west corner of the Island to the Flinders Chase NP and went to the Remarkable Rocks. The coastline was spectacular and the rocks were great for photos. After there we went to Admirals Arch where there is a large colony of New Zealand fur seals.




Remarkable Rocks KI




Remarkable Rocks Admirals Arch


We then took the long drice back to Penneshaw to catch the 7.30pm ferry back to the mainland. What a beaut spot KI is. Well worth a much longer visit next time we are in the area. It is not a cheap excercise to get there especially with your vehicle and a caravan so it would have to be a visit for abt 2-3 weeks to make it worth while going. The day was a long one looking around and we are very pleased we decided to go over.

Our last day at Second Valley we spent a little time down at the beach (ankle deep only) the beach is not that big but is a lovely little cove. Warm day of 32'.... Sun at last but not for long :(

The Fleurieu Peninsula is a great South Australian area and we enjoyed our stay there but it was time to move on. Next stop well that turned out to be a little bit of a challenge.. we thought we would get to Mt Barker and Adelaide for a day or two but the weather turned nasty and we were battling the heavy rain in quite a winding, hilly area not good for towing our home so we headed for flatter ground. Ended up at Maslin's beach, south of Adelaide, Great beach but couldn't enjoy it beacause of the weather so we decided to press on to the beach areas of adelaide for a night or two. Easier said than done.......... we couldn't get into a caravan park anywhere as the Australian Rowing Championships were on and all spots were taken. Should hve done our homework... so we pressed on northward in the %@&*$#! rain.. We ended up abt 20km south of Port Wakefield where we bush camped in a roadside stop just off the highway. Trucks flying past all night kept the noise up so not a great sleep. Next morning we took off for the lovely town of Clare stopping at the quaint towns of Balaklava and Blyth on the way. Heaps of old sandstone buildings and ruins in the area. A few more hills to tackle but most of the rain had gone by this time. Checked into the caravan park in Clare for 2 nights. We decided the next day we would head out to a sheep station not far from Clare for a visit.

The Bungaree Sheep Station was established in 1841 by George Charles Hawker. He and his wife had 16 children in all and the Station is still owned and run but his descendants today. The Sth Aust town of Hawker was named after "GC".

It was a self guided tour and it took a little over 3 hours. The Station in it's day was more like a village as it had a general store, a church (St Michaels), a council chamber, woolshed, shearers's quarters, a swaggies hut and kitchen house and of course the Homestead, 25 rooms with 12 bedrooms. The house was built over three different stages as the family grew and grew. The old woodshed smells of sheep just great and the old kitchen has definately had the odd roast lamb cooked there as well !!! Mark the fiance of the owner's daughter gave us a cuppa and cake at the end of the tour and all this for just $11 each. If you are ever in the Clare Valley area "Bungaree" is a must visit. We saw the dogs in action with the sheep and one of them "Kofy" was a tag along friend for a while before he went off to work.

Outside general store Bungaree SS
Bungaree SS Homestead
Bungaree SS Woolshed


Kofy chasing the sheep. He did great job.

We also went for a feed at the Tingara Pub in Clare for dinner $16.50 ph a great choice of mains with an all you can eat, soups, salad, vegies and desert included. I lost $5 on the pokies.

We also gave the caravan a bit of a clean up after all the rain whilst we were in Clare. We took a look at the racecourse as well. It's in a lovely setting over looking a valley of Vineyards. Great spot the Clare Valley.
Yorke Peninsula here we come for the next 3-4 weeks. We've never been there before so it's all new to us. We left Clare and took the drive to Mintaro where most of the buildings in the town are National Trust listed. Lots of history in these parts of Sth Aust dating back to the 1840's just after the state was pioneered. The whole area is beautiful, undulating farm land and of course Wineries and Vineyards everywhere. We went through the old town of Auburn and back through Balaklava and on to Pt Wakefield the top of the Yorke Pen.

Old Mill at Mintaro
Old sandstone ruin near Auburn

Arrived at Ardrossan on Friday afternoon set up camp in the caravan park before the masses arrived for the long weekend.

Believe us we have "RAY'S tent city set up opposite us. What a crack up watching this family set up. 1 x pop up van and 2 tents. The amount of stuff that came out of the Pajero and the pop up was amazing. I lost is when the bench seat came out of the van, it was like watching the Clampetts moving into Beverley Hills. (I've got tears running down my face now just thinking about it...) so, so, so, funny, especially when on Saturday another 2 car loads and 4 more tents went up on the 2 sites they are occupying. Must say though they have been pretty quiet considering the amount of people there.

Had a little look around town before we settled in for the night and watched the "GOPIES" win the NAB Cup.

Yesterday was quite warm, we took a drive to a beach near by called Tiddy Widdy Bch, heaps of people out crabbing but not getting much. The clouds in the sky were fantastic so we took a few pics (as you do).




We took a drive out the back of Ardrossan lots of farming in the area, grain and sheep mainly. Ardrossan has a very long jetty where the grains and also salt are shipped away. BHP has a small mine here ONE STEELE so a lot of ships come to the jetty for that as well.


Today is Sunday 13 March. Not much happened today as the weather has turned again cold and wet at times. We managed to visit the local museum. It is in the former power house of the C H Smith Plough Factory built in 1907. The Smith brothers were pioneers in the area and also in the invention & development of the Stump Jump Plough which revolutionised the opening up of the Malley lands from 1876 onwards. Heaps of old machinery and ploughs on display as well as some old wares and tons of photos depicting the area and some of the notable pioneers from days gone by.

Ardrossan will be home until Tuesday when we will probably head down to Pt Vincent for a few days a whole 40km away. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather picks up.

SUN........ where are you ???


Take care all........... LIFE IS A HIGHWAY !!

Mish & Greig