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!!!!

6 Sept 2010 - Arrive Coober Pedy

Leaving Erlunda early the landscape soon changes as we get closer to the South Australian border as we are moving into one of the driest parts of Australia. We said goodbye to the Northern Territory with a little sadness as we have thoroughly enjoyed the many varied and beautiful places we have visited. Between Erlunda and Coober Pedy there are only a couple of petrol stops before little white pyramid hills are seen as we approach Coober Pedy. I did not know what to expect to see here....it is a very different place as the landscape is very arid and the results of the opal mining is everywhere....and very dangerous for the uneducated person. We spent the afternoon walking around the town and pondering what it would be like to live underground.

3-5 Sept 2010 - Wedding in Brisbane

It was raining at the 'Rock' when we left for Brisbane.....the colours just seemed to intensify being wet so is was very beautiful. We enjoyed very much meeting up with three of our sons and many old friends so a great time was had by all. The early morning Sunday was a bit hard to get to the airport but it was necessary to be back to get the van and continue on to Coober Pedy arriving at Erlunda Sunday evening.

2 Sept 2010 - Yulara

After a wonderful day in Yulara yesterday we set off again early to perhaps walk up the rock but the wind was against us so we took off on the 10 k base walk and after that back to the Olgas to complete the gorge walk. They are both truly magnificent natural wonders and are really a must see when touring Australia. The photo at the bottom shows the track up the rock, a hazardous thing to do!!!!

1 Sept 2010 - Arrive Yulara Campground

Hitting the road heading for the 'Rock' took us back to the Lasseter Highway before turning right. I do not know the reason but travellers tend to 'decorate' trees at diferent places, one spot is at this junction where numerous t-shirts hang from a dead looking tree. It is not long before you witness what many probably believe is their first sighting of the rock but it is in fact Mt. Conner. A large flat topped mountain appears....a photo opportunity before continuing arriving at the camping ground at Yulara. Max and I quickly organised ourselves for a trip to the Olgas as we only have 2 days here, (flying to Brisbane for a wedding) arriving back Sunday to catch up with the others who will be already on their way to Coober Pedy. We got our first glimpse of the Rock coming in and it is truly awesome and then to see the Olgas in the background and driving closer was exciting. The Winds of the Valley walk is the one recommended so off we went. It was a bit hot but again the effort is rewarded as the beginning is quite hard and is approx. 7.6 ks in length. Feeling tired but exhilerated we met Pedro, Lyn Kev and Karen at the sunset viewing spot to enjoy a glass of champagne and nibblies to witness sunset at this magnificent place.