30 Sept 2010 - Home and Farewell

Twelve weeks and four days have come to an end and as we left Port Macquarie in our little 'convoy' for the last time I am sure we were all wondering where the time had gone. As much as we were looking forward to catching up on family (especially the little ones) and friends it only seemed like yesterday that we left. For Max and myself it has been a most enjoyable experience and to explore this wonderful country in our comfortable caravan has been an absolute delight. To our travelling companions Pete, Lyn, Karen and Kevin....thank you for your company and laughs along the way. I think I owe Kev and Pete for many newspapers delivered to our doorstep before Max and I had surfaced but I still have to square the ledger on them for many shoes tied together and other misdemeanours!!!! To anybody out their in 'blogland' if you are even thinking of heading off on an adventure... do it. All being well we will certainly take off on another trip....next 'big one' will be to Western Australia as previously have only touched on the Kimberley region. We are off to Nagambie for a short trip in November before getting ready for Christmas....did I say that word....I thought I only packed last years decorations away a short time ago. Bye for now until I blog again. My next task is to organise our photos into an album as when left on the disc we never look at them. (That also includes about 30 years of neglected photos in shoe boxes that is on my new 'do do' list.) I wonder how I will go. Until next time.............Faye and Max

28 - 29 Sept 2010 - Rawdon Island

Monday morning arrived quickly after a very enjoyable couple of days seeing six of our grandchildren whom we had not seen since the beginning of our journey. We were now on our final leg as a two night stay with Max's brother Ken and Judy at their farm was next on our agenda. What a great place to 'park' our caravans by the river....I remarked to Ken we should mark it as 'free camp no. 1001 on our Hema map of free camps.....only joking!!!!!!!! As usual we were indulged with some great cooking and all enjoyed their hospitality. We enjoyed the fruits of the boys fishing up river as they managed to catch enough flathead for the evening meal.

25 - 27 Sept 2010 - Meeting the boys at Forster

Well we are getting close to home now as today we will arrive at Forster to meet up with two of our sons who enjoy a skiing holiday at the river near Tuncurry. The trip through Sydney was very good with a congestion free run which is great when towing a caravan. It was not long before we were all set up on our sites beside the Wallamba River and we all took the opportunity to catch up with some housekeeping duties. The weather had warmed up compared to Berrima which was 4 degrees when we woke that morning. It was good to find a pair of shorts again even if it was only for a few hours in the afternoon. Forster is a very pretty place and just the place to enjoy a bit of local seafood and a bit of retail therapy. The boys arrived the next day and after a hurried set up of camp, the boats were soon in the water for everyone to enjoy a long awaited ski. My son would not take no for an answer so on with the wet suit for a ski for me....it has been a couple of years since I have had a go so was quite surprised that I had not forgotten. Thank you to Ross for taking me. The grandchildren are all very good little 'skiers' which is great.

24 Sept 2010 - Wagga to Berrima

Kev and Karen left us and travelled via Canberra to visit family and were to catch up the next day, whilst we travelled norh joining the Hume Highway on our way to Berrima. The country is looking great and is always enjoyable travelling with the only thing to think about is which town do we stop in or where are we going to stop for the evening. I must say I am surprised at how easy it is to ease into this lifestyle. Berrima has always been a favourite little stopover for us as it has that little village atmosphere that I love and at first we thought we would not be able to stay as the little camping ground has been closed to caravans but a very friendly lady offered a grassy patch in her backyard so we had the afternoon to visit the shops. Our preserve supply was boosted and the lolly shop is hard to resist!!!! By the way the wine bottles on the table were not drunk by Lyn and I....we only wanted a photo of the beautiful tree.

23 Sept 2010 - Homeward Bound

Leaving Swan Hill was marking the final few days of our caravanning adventure as we were now on our way home through familiar country. Our journey took us through Kerang crossing the border into NSW at Barham for a lunch stop in Jerilderie which is a lovely little town with an early connection with Ned Kelly. The buildings in the original main street are still intact and tell the story of a hold up in 1879. The lake beside Billabong Creek was the perfect spot to park and enjoy lunch in the sunshine. We intend to explore this area and further along the Newell as many times we have driven through but never had the time to linger to appreciate the countryside. Continuing on we headed for Wagga Wagga which was to be our overnight stop.

20 - 22 Sept 2010 - Swan Hill

Well it was back to the area of my childhood and is always good to visit again and catch up with the remaining family members on both sides of our family. We stayed in the Riverside Caravan Park and with the mighty Murray River flowing past our sites at full capacity was truly a site to see. The journey from Adelaide on Monday morning along the Murray Highway to Swan Hill was interesting as we have not travelled that road for many years and again the crops looked marvellous. I enjoyed the wonderful early morning walks along the Murray each morning and Max managed to fit in a game of golf with his nephew. The sound of the paddle steamer "Pyap" on her twice daily run was especially nice and I imagined how wonderful that sound must have been to the isolated people along the river in the days of the river boat.

19 Sept 2010 - Happy Birthday Max

We all had a very memorable night to celebrate Max's birthday and today birthday wishes also to Ken and Smudge. Today we were all happy to have a relaxed day to recover and start to pack up the camp to move on tomorrow. We have enjoyed our visit to Adelaide and surrounds and looking forward to driving into Victoria to see the countryside on our way to Swan Hill. Many thanks to our wonderful friends for their wonderful hospitality and a birthday dinner we will not forget.

18 Sept 2010 - Victor Harbour/Goolwa/Strathalbyn

Another cool day to look forward to but that does not stop us from heading off to explore the area below Adelaide making our way first to Victor Harbour before having lunch at the historic town of Goolwa. Victor Harbour was enjoying a weekend of 50s to 60s Rock and Roll....a couple of the dancers were very good I must say. Max had a look at some veteran cars parked nearby. That is something else we have noticed about this part of the world is the interest in old cars and there seems to be something on in one of the beautiful towns that have so much character each week-end.
Driving out to see the mouth of the mighty Murray River was great as last time we were here the poor Murray had hardly any water in it so it is so good to see the area looking green and lush. We planned to celebrate Max's birthday this evening as a late night Sunday would not be so good as we are leaving first thing Monday morning for Swan Hill. Wayne and Kay suggested a lovely little restaurant just up the road and a great night was had by all with a very different rendition of "happy birthday" courtesy of Wayne. Max also, not to be outdone, sung a Chad Morgan favourite "The Sheik of Scrubby Creek".

13-17 Sept 2010 - Adelaide

We left Nuriootpa and drove the short distance to Adelaide setting up camp at the Adelaide Shores Caravan Park which is a top park. As there is a cycle/walk track to Glenelg we all set off for a brisk walk....I think it was about 12 deg. and a strong wind blowing but I don't mind that so long as you are dressed for it. Kay and Wayne, our Adelaide friends arrived for happy hour that evening which was great. The next day Pete, Lyn and ourselves went for a drive to see the sights around the city before enjoying another lamb roast. Yesterday Kay and Wayne accompanied us to Hahndorf and Mount Lofty...great view!!!! Hahndorf is a gorgeous little town and one I have always wanted to visit and it did not disappoint....I could have stayed longer. There is much to see in this beautiful area and it will not be the last time we will visit here. We had dinner with our very hospitable friends to round off a perfect day. Today we pulled the golf clubs out for the first time on this trip and played 18 holes with Wayne....surprisingly we all had a few good shots considering our lack of practise. Unfortunately we forgot the camera whilst we were in Hahndorf until we were about to leave so we missed photo opportunities. We were more focused on whether we were going to be warm enough as it is very cold here at the moment.

12 Sept 2010 - Winery Tour

The Barossa Valley is a lovely part of South Australia and driving around is a pure delight as there are many little towns all with beautiful old stone houses and buildings. We visited some of the more well known wineries tasting as we went. The wineries must have been a wonderful hive of industry in the earlier days when more manpower was needed to work these places. Today these big estates seem to be more like museums than working wineries but I guess everything is done differently now.

11 Sept 2010 - 45 Years and Going Strong

Happy Anniversary to Pedro and Lyn....45 years and enjoying life. We were on our way to Nuriootpa from Wallaroo passing through Kadina and Balakava. The countryside was picturesque and again the crops in the area looked great. Kev was our leader today and at times we were wondering if we would arrive in the Barossa Valley as he was taking us on some unplanned routes...oops another u-turn. A little tale on Kev, we are not letting him forget that he failed to see Pete's caravan go past him leaving Yulara and was looking for him in the rearview mirrors only to learn he was in front all the time!!!! Of course due to the special occasion we dined out with Lyn and Pete in downtown Nuriootpa. We had a very brisk walk back to our camp afterward as it was quite chilly.

10 Sept 2010 - Through Port Broughton to Wallaroo

The forecast higher winds arrived through the night at Port Pirie but we were 'tucked up as snug as a bug in a rug' in our Jayco Sterlings. Our bacon and egg breakfast was moved inside, no less enjoyable I must say when we heard some noise coming from the inlet behind us. On investigation we at first thought it was a man calling for help in the water but soon realised it was a gentleman swimming singing what sounded like an italian song....he swam around for about an hour singing at the top of his voice. We were freezing watching him so he certainly was a hardy soul. Today we only had a short distance to travel as we were headed for Wallaroo through Port Broughton. The drive was lovely and great to see the country looking so good....the wheat, barley and oat crops looked very healthy. After setting up the guys went to try their luck on the jetty with crab traps as the locals said blue swimmer crabs were plentiful. Max caught a Port Jackson shark, thrown back and Pete and Kev caught a lot of crabs but the two legal ones they gave to a fellow fisherman. Max has a photo of the shark on his phone but I'm not sure how to put it on the blog so you will have to believe me.

9 Sept 2010 - Port Pirie

An overnight camp at Pimba last night signalled the end of our outback adventure as we were heading back to 'civilisation' as we know it when we left for Port Pirie this morning. It was only 172 ks from to Pimba to Port Augusta so it did not seem long before we arrived at Port Augusta for our morning tea stop. We travelled through more country that a rabbit would need to take a 'cut lunch' to survive in and this in a good year, when the landscape started to change slowly to see the beginning of agriculture on the approach to Port Augusta. We have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the beauty of the outback and now look forward to seeing parts of South Australia green as during previous visits this area has been in drought. I could not resist finding a seafood shop to buy some King George Whiting fillets to enjoy whilst we are in the area and a childhood jam 'quandong' from a roadside stop. We spent the afternoon doing a bit of spring cleaning as the red soil of the interior has a habit of invading your space a little.

8 Sept 2010 - Pimba/Woomera/Andamooka

We headed south again this morning leaving Coober Pedy behind....a unique place to visit. The landscape does not change much although we do pass some large inland lakes that are usually dry but one Lake Hart had water in it so a photo had to be taken. We turned off the Stuart Highway as no-one had been into Woomera or Roxby Downs....we unhooked the vans at Woomera and after a little tour around left for Roxby Downs which is a sizeable township dependant on mining. The lady at the Information Centre said Andamooka was was worth a look as it is an old opal mining centre. The early mining huts definitely lacked modern amenities to say the least...a tribute to the resilience of the early miners. After the above average rainfall this area has had this year the Sturt Desert Pea is easily seen in patches along the highway....the colour is so vibrant and is very pretty.

7 Sept 2010 - Day in Coober Pedy

Today we planned two tours around the town....the first was a very informative tour visiting an underground Serbian Church, next we were driven past the various points of interest including the golf club....would make for interesting golf, the race course and examples of the underground homes. We finished at an old mine site which is now a tourist facility showing the history of opal mining and an early attached residence. Some of the opal jewellery is stunning. Later in the afternoon George took us to the "Breakaways"....a very unusual landform that apparently broke away from the Stuart Ranges millions of years ago. No wonder movies are shot out here that require a science fiction background as I felt we were on the moon. The weather was not the best as it was raining lightly with a lot of cloud cover so we saw it darker than normal but it was still very worthwhile. George also showed us some remnants of an ancient forest as the tree stumps have turned to stone and starting to crumble apart.....so much for climate change as every where we go we are told that this was an inland sea etc. or that the land or climate has changed significantly!!!!