A dingo ate my… banana bread?

Before we left I never really thought of the differences between central and northern Australia. I had kind of just lumped them together under the term ‘out back’ but it is becoming clear that they are actually quite different areas. One difference is the climate. In the space of the last 3 days we have gone from freezing nights and moderately warm days, to hot and humid, and man its nice. Like a mild Brisbane summer.

Two weeks ago we were at Uluru, where the weather was not particularly kind. The days were just cold and overcast, which didn’t make for great Uluru viewing. Our first day there consisted of a morning of catchups – washing and shopping, as well as a coffee at the resort. In the afternoon we decided to take our first real look at ‘the rock.’ This involved a drive around, and a short walk to one of the few waterholes that dot the base. We also timed it so that we would be there at sunset, which is supposed to be quite spectacular… but not when its overcast, as it was. We are told that when the sun sets on the rock it gets a deeper and deeper red. For us it just got darker and darker until finally we couldn’t see it any more.

The next day was the same. We didn’t even bother getting up for the sunrise viewing – but went a little later. This time we did the Marla Walk, a guided walk that takes in some of the Aboriginal stories associated with the rock. It really was quite good, and gave a greater appreciation for some of the history and culture of Uluru. That afternoon we visited the cultural center, and went for a drive to Kata Tjuta, or “The Olgas”, which are more big rocks in the desert. We spent much of that day with new friends Al and Steph, they cooked us dinner that night which was really nice, and we also made plans to travel on with them to Kings Canyon the next day.

Finally, on our last morning, the weather broke. Steph banged on the camper door at 6am to tell us it was clear and that they were heading out to Uluru for the sunrise. We went as well. It was busy, and cold, but worth the early morning for. Finally, we got to see some sun on the rock. Tracy took about 500 photos.

Later that morning we packed up and headed the 400kms to Kings Canyon, which is kind of another big rock in the desert. Well, not quite, it’s a canyon in the desert with really high walls that make it look like a big rock. The following day we went into the canyon, and Tracy took the boys on a walk up the middle of the canyon, and then took Tane on a climb up the side. He did really well and was very proud of himself for the accomplishment.

That night (after catching a sunset on the walls of the canyon) we were enticed into the bar / restaurant with the claim that it held some of the best family entertainment in the outback. We had pizzas for dinner (hugely inflated prices, but so was everything there), and then the floor show began. It consisted of a husband and wife team, he sang and played guitar, she… well, she was the real entertainment. They got the kids up playing instruments and singing, and even managed to get Tracy and Steph up there as the Mums of the kids ( they thought that at least one of ours must have belonged to her), but Tracy got out of it when Kezia got upset. Great that we’ve taught her to cry on cue. It was a great night.

The next morning was another pack up. As we packed up we realized that 2 liters of milk were missing from our outdoor fridge. There were two culprit options… thieves, or dingoes. There were heaps of dingoes at this camp ground, but the way it was in the fridge makes me lean towards backpackers wanting a free meal. Two days later we realized that also missing was half a loaf of banana bread, which was baked on site at the Yulara resort (Uluru) and is very delicious. So to the dirty back packer who stole the bread and milk… I hope you choke on it. (And I mean that in a very loving, Christian way)

That day we separated from Al and Steph for a bit, they wanted to head up a 4WD track that was not recommended for trailers. We took the Merenie Loop, which heads towards the West MacDonnell ranges via a dirt road. This 200km stretch was the most corregated we have done, and ended up with a lot of dust in the camper. But the result was great, it brought us to Palm Valley, in the Finke Gorge National Park. At first we were a bit concerned about the campground, as 20 odd school kids were about to set up, but they were really well behaved, and we had a great outlook from the camper. The next day we did the 5km road (if you can call it that) into Palm Valley itself. It took about 45 minutes to do this road, and had some interesting patches. The valley itself was really cool. The red cabbage palms are only found here in the world, and there are no other palms for 100’s of kms. So its kind of unique.

That afternoon we were joined by Al and Steph again, and they showed us how they use their camp oven on the fire. It got us all inspired.

The next day we parted company again, backtracked 50kms up the Merenie loop, and across into the West MacDonnell’s. Our plan was to stay at a place called Ormiston Gorge, but when we got there it wasn’t as nice as we believed it would be, and the camp ground wasn’t suitable for campertrailors. So we headed off. 10 minutes down the road we blew, and shredded, a tire on the camper. It was then that we discovered that my spanner set was not quite large enough to get the spare wheel off (I know, I should have checked) but the first car to stop was a family we had met 2 nights earlier. So we caught up on the side of the road, changed the tire and headed off again. Our problem was that it was noon on Friday. The original plan had been to stay in the ranges for another day or so, then into Alice Springs to set up for 5-7 days. But that would have us arriving on the weekend, needing to replace a tire on the camper, which we would the have to put down to take to a tire shop on Monday. So we decided to go straight to Alice that afternoon, and get the tire seen to. It worked out well. We got both replaced (it turned out they were 10 years old, as old as the camper), and into the caravan park before sunset. The kids enjoyed their first McDonalds, and we our first Thai takeaway, in quite a while.

Alice Springs really appealed to us. Maybe it was because we hadn’t been in a ‘town’ for a while, but it was really pleasant. We got to go out for coffee, do some shopping, and even found an awesome Vietnamese restaurant just out of town. We also did a day trip back to the West MacDonnell ranges to catch up on all the things we had missed there, and an afternoon / evening trip 100kms south to Rainbow Valley national park, where the sun sets on a big rock in the desert… Another day trip was a visit to Desert Park, where they have created 3 types of desert environments in a contained area, with birds of prey shows, and Aboriginal survival talks, and a nocturnal animal house. It was really worth the visit.

It was also in Alice that we caught up with Al and Steph once again, and also said good bye to them. They are now headed towards Broome up the Tanami. There is a slim chance we might catch them in Darwin, but we’ll wait and see. But we also made good friends with our neighbors, Nick and Tracey, who are traveling with their 4 kids, the youngest two are twins, in between Tane and Ky’s ages. The kids had a ball with them and we hope to catch up with them further down the track.

Finally, after 6 days, it was time to head off again, really pushing north now. We traveled every day for the next 4 days. The first day brought us 400kms to Devil’s Marbles, which are lots of big rocks in the desert, and staying the night meant we could get another sunset and sunrise and 500 more photos. The next day was a short 100 km drive to Tennant Creek, which was a lot bigger than we expected. It meant we were in and set up by mid morning, just in time for a coffee… but the only decent coffee shop was sadly closed. That night we joined the camp ground entertainment, Jimmy the Bushtucker man, who tells stories, poems, and cooked up a roo tail in the fire. Tane was pretty game with it, going back for a second helping. It tasted like fatty roast lamb.

The next day we did another 400kms to Daly Waters, which is really just a pub in the middle of nowhere, but extremely popular. They do a BBQ dinner with a show, and the 50 powered sites were all full by 4pm. It was there that we noticed that the weather was getting much warmer. It was humid, and the night was kind of balmy. The evening was great fun, the food good and the entertainment not bad either. We also met up again with 2 families from Melbourne who are doing a 5 week trip that took them to Camerons Corner, then down to Maree, up to Darwin and now back down to Mt Isa and back to Melbourne. Its almost what we are doing in 8 months, in 5 weeks. Crazy. It was the third time we have seen them and great to catch up.

The next morning we packed up and traveled 160kms further north to Mataranka, Rainbow Srings, where we are right now. On the way on this last leg we stopped off at Frans Café, basically in the middle of nowhere. Fran is quite a character. She was rushed so she just popped your order out the door, yelled in your general direction and made you get it yourself.

We are here for 2 nights, and its nice not to be on the move again today. Already yesterday, and again today, we have enjoyed a swim in the springs, which are kind of like tepid bath water, but actually very refreshing. They have made a nice pool out of the area, with a shallow end for kids. Last night they had more entertainment at the bar, which was kind of pleasant.

From here we plan to continue north to Kakadu and then Litchfield, and finally Darwin. We are skipping Kathrine and plan to hit it on the way back down in another month. Sadly, we have hit June today, which means… well we still have lots of holiday left.

Aussie Outback Adventures

Yes, I’ll be the first one to admit that its been a long time since I got around to posting one of these. It has really been a combination of a lack of internet connections, a busy lifestyle, and too many nights around the fire with new friends that has prohibited this. It has been a busy three weeks, with birthdays, lots of driving, and many repairs, consisting of copious amounts of duct tape and cable ties…… I’ll get to them a little later on.

But let me take you back, way back, to three weeks ago when we were holed up in a unit in Port Lincoln, waiting for the foul weather to pass. Pass it did not, but it was time to get back into the camper anyway, and so off we headed. First, we spent a morning battling with Centrelink in Port Lincoln, a frustrating, but ultimately useful experience, then we battled the roughest road of the trip (up to that point… more to come on that one) to get to Memorial Cove, on the South East tip of the Eyre, then battling with the worlds tightest entrance to a camp site (until the guys next door showed up and moved their car which made it a little more manageable) and then battling the rain, in the dark, to set up the camper. We were stuffed by the end of it, and rewarded the kids with brinner (which basically means we had breakfast for dinner… cereal).

The next day it rained on and off, actually it did that for the next three days, but we did get some fine weather in there as well. Despite that, the place was really nice. It was quiet, peaceful, and the cove itself was spectacular. There was nothing else there and that was actually quite good for us at the time. It forced us to slow down, play some games with the kids, read some books.

But 3 days is all you were allowed there, so it was back into Port Lincoln for round 2 with Centrelink, a refuel, and a food shop and then back out onto the road to the other side of the Eyre, this time to Coffin Bay National Park. This was also rather peaceful, and our time there kind of uneventful. We did a bit of fishing (unsuccessful), and a bit of 4WDriving (rather more successful). It was on this drive that we actually met our first ‘other family’ on a long trip, after nearly 4 months of traveling. They too were Christians, traveling with their daughter, and it was nice to chat, share stories and share advice on where and where not to go for a couple of hours.

It was after our stay in Coffin Bay that we turned the corner, stopped heading West (we believe there is nothing worth seeing further than that any way… lol), and started to head north. We did a big day leaving Coffin Bay and drove all the way up to Port Augusta, which has several caravan parks (one with cheap on site cabins), a McDonalds for the kids, and a very nice Indian restaurant for Mum and Dad. The next day we stocked up on supplies, quite extensively, because we were about to head into the outback and were not sure when our next Woolworths would be. From there we headed a couple of hours north, into the Flinders Ranges – Wilpena Pound. By this stage we had hit the Outback, flat, sparsely populated and sparsely covered land. The Flinders Ranges are really quite spectacular, a steep arid range rising up out of the desert. We explored several of the gorges by car.

This was also where we celebrated Tane’s 5th birthday. Tracy did a great job in putting together a little party in the morning, complete with birthday (cup)cakes, balloons and lots of sugary treats. He loved his party, and his presents, which included a new 2 wheel scooter. Kezia also enjoys this gift because she inherited Tane’s old one, which she loves to drag around the campground, and leave lying in the middle of the road. Actually she does know how to use it, and will be as good as Ky in no time at all. After spending some time talking to the grandparents in the afternoon, we went out for dinner at the resort restaurant. The food was quite good, the place a little posh, and the kids rather feral (refer to sugary treats above), which made for an interesting and not so relaxing evening out.

However, the next night, our last in Wilpena, our ‘neighbors’ who were from Geelong, offered to sit outside our camper when the kids went to bed so we could go our on our own, which we did, and it was nice.

Wilpena was where it started to get cold, especially at night. Our neighbors (on the other side, and also from Geelong) said it got down to 5 degrees in the caravan one night. Not the kind of weather Brisbane dwellers are really comfortable with.

From Wilpena we continued north, moving onto Maree and the start of the Oodnadatta track, which goes around the south west end of lake Eyre and then north towards the Simpson desert. Our night in Maree was our first real outback experience. We were there on a Saturday night, when they had a movie on for the kids at the youth centre. Apparently one of the ch9 ‘makeover’ shows wanted to do something for a nurse in the community who has been there for a long time, and she wanted a youth centre with a cinema. The result is quite cool, a 16 seat movie theatre, complete with seats and free popcorn. The movie was “Snowbuddies” which is really terrible, but the kids loved it. That night there was also a communal BBQ at the camp ground, meat and salads for $8, how can you go wrong. It was a good chance to meet some people, including 2 families from Melbourne who are doing what we are doing in 8 months… in 5 weeks. They had run into a few problems on the dirt roads with stone damage… something we were about the begin experiencing ourselves.

That night was the first of our 1 night stops. We rearranged things so we could do a minimal set up, this included sleeping Kezia in our bed… which is kind of cute… for the first 5 minutes. Actually it went pretty well. She was dead set against it the first night, but last night, when she had her first night back in the cot, she wanted “Mummy’s bed.” Accompanied by some more tears.

The next day we started the Oodnadatta track, with a short 120km stretch to Coward Springs. On the way we stopped off at a outback “Sculpture Park” where the artist has used large objects (like broken small planes) to create desert art. Here we ran into a documentary crew (by crew I mean 1 guy with a camera and 1 with a microphone) who were making a documentary about bush art in Australia. They interviewed the kids (“It’s a plane”) and also us (“I guess you could call it art”) who I am sure provided them with much valuable footage of qualified art critique. Next stop was alongside lake Eyre south, which has no water in it, despite the water in lake Eyre north. It is massive, you can’t see the other side of it, and just stark white.

Anyways, soon we pulled into Coward Springs. It was then that I noticed a mass of wires at the connection to the camper where a trailer plug used to be… first stone damage. Then we noticed that several chucks of plastic had been taken out of our “leg treads”… second stone damage. I asked around the place if anyone had a spare plug to sell, the closest I got was a guy who had done the same thing.

The spring itself was really awesome. It is a 2m x 2m wooden ‘pool’ where warm spring water comes out of the ground, and then flows off into the wet lands. Quite amazing for an arid region. We took a dip with the kids, along with some back packers who had pulled in for a quick stop.

The next day we moved on out (without a trailer plug – no lights and no brakes on the camper) 75 kms up the road to William Creek, population 12. Its from here that you can do scenic flights over Lake Eyre North, and by then we had decided to treat ourselves to such a flight. But this wasn’t booked in until the next morning, and we were set up by 11am, with a whole afternoon to kill in William Creek, which has… ummm… let me think, 1 pub… and nothing else. So we decided to take a 180km each way, dirt road side trip to Coober Pedy. Originally we had planned to go through there, but the Oodnadatta was taking us around it, so it seemed like a good idea. We could also try and get a trailer plug and stock up on a bit of food. Well, the food stock up went OK, but visiting about 5 garages and mechanics failed to produce a single 7 pin round small trailer plug. Plenty of large ones (made specially for south Australians who obviously lack to dexterity or mental capacity to handle anything smaller), but nothing for us. So it was back to William creek empty handed, and into the pub for a drink and dinner.

The next morning we got up really early. This was partially because we had a flight over lake Eyre at 8am, and also because it was Tracy’s birthday and she couldn’t wait to open her presents. So we got that out of the way, and we headed off for our flight. It was for 1 hour, in a 6 seater plane, and was really quite enjoyable. You get a great perspective of the size of the lake, and the massive amounts of water that have flowed down, some 1700 kms from north Queensland. And there it stops, 12 meters below sea level, and slowly evaporates.

The flight done, it was time to pack up the camper and head further north. The first stretch was 200kms to Oodnadatta, with the road getting worse as we went. It was on this stretch that we completely lost one of our leg treads, and also our Anderson plug, which powers the fridge and charges the battery in the jayco, as we drive. Crap. Well… they didn’t have an Anderson plug at Oodnadatta, but they did have the trailer plug we were after. I didn’t have time to rewire, put managed to reconnect the loose wires to the Anderson plug at the back of the car with 2 sticks, some electrical tape, duct tape, and a cable tie. Worked a treat.

The original plan was to stay a night at Oodnadatta and then check out track conditions for the road to Witjera National Park – Dalhousie Springs, on the edge of the Simpson desert, about 200 kms further north. But there was nothing attractive about Oodnadatta, so we didn’t really feel much like staying, and decided to have a quick late lunch, and then hit the road north again. It was just as we were about to leave that we noticed that we had left the top hatch of the camper partially open, which meant that we had done the last 200kms of dirt road with it open. Yeah… you can imagine the inside of the camper… Well, nothing we could do at that point except shut it, and get back on the road.

We left at 3pm, which was a little later than we had hoped for, and worked our way north. The first hour and half were fine, a little dusty and bumpy… but nothing compared to what was coming. The last 35kms into Dalhousie Springs were shocking, and took over an hour, and we just made it in at dusk. Actually, the next day we met a family who were camping at the springs, who had tried to bring a Jayco in 2 days earlier. Their Jayco (an on road version mind you) had snapped some D bolts, and shot the wheel and axel through the camper, and was being repaired by the nearest mechanic, which was fortunately was only 75 kms further north.

So… happy birthday Trace… what a great day. Good news was, my bodgy rewiring job had held for that trip.

We decided to stay 2 nights, and the next day we had a little party for Tracy’s birthday, including a cake. Fortunately all of the photographic evidence has been destroyed so I can describe my efforts as fantastic. But it was quite edible (thanks Mr Greens) it just looked like a dingo’s breakfast. We also got to enjoy our first taste of the springs. This small lake is about 34-38 degrees and rather nice. It comes out in the middle of the desert and has little fish which nibble at your skin… quite unique. Our second night there we sat round the campfire with some of the others there, including a young couple, Al and Steph, who we are loosely traveling with for the meantime. They are also a Christian couple, from south Gippsland.

The extra day also gave me the opportunity to rewire my trailer plug… another skill learnt, after 2 nights, and a final dip in the springs, it was time to head off again. We originally had planned to make it all the way to Uluru in 1 day, about 650kms, but knowing the road conditions decided to break it up into 2 days. It still left us with 320kms of dirt to do that day, and the roads were still decidedly bad at that point. However, at Mt Dare (which is all of, a pub, and a mechanic) I actually managed to get hold of a new set of Anderson plugs, which I rewired in the dirt out the front, and then covered in duct tape. From there we crossed the border, and entered into the Northern Territory.

That night we set up camp again at a road house at Kulgera, on the Stuart Highway, the main Adelaide to Darwin road. Back on the sealed roads again. Al and Steph were there too. Finally, the next day (yesterday) we made our way to Uluru. Yes… for those who have made the trip here before, we did get sucked in and think that Mt Conner was Uluru, but soon realized our mistake. We made it, and to reward ourselves, last night we enjoyed the best Buffet meal we have ever had, complete with Crocodile curry, smoked Kangaroo and Emu sausages. Yum.

Today we a bit of a catch up day. 3 loads of washing, a a trip to the supermarket here. In the afternoon we drove around the rock (its big and its red… what more can you say) and stood around at sunset waiting for the spectacular effect its meant to bring. Except it didn’t, because it is heavily overcast (and quite cold too I might add). We are hoping for better weather tomorrow, when we will try again, and also take a trip out to the Olgas.

Wild Weather

The last 4 days have seen some really foul weather. Wind that could knock a camper over, more than 60mm of rain, and freezing cold. The only good thing about it is that we have spent all of that times snug indoors, even got to watch the Cats thrash the Lions this afternoon on a really comfortable couch.

Last time we wrote we had just spent our first day in the Barossa. We were there for another 3 days and we had a really good time. We figure in total we visited 7 wineries, and left with about half a dozen bottles of wine, Tracy was quite restrained really. One particular winery (and I forget what it was called) actually had samples of the Cabernet from grape juice through to final product, which was really interesting. They even had a grape desert which we all enjoyed.

Saturday was kind of the high point of the vintage festival that we found ourselves dropped in the middle of. There were 2 large ‘town parties’ one in the morning, and one in the afternoon, with a parade in between the two. It was good fun, the kids scored some lollies and other treats. In the afternoon the German dance troop from our camp ground also performed in the middle of the street, and they were good.

That afternoon we were also joined again by Gary and Jenni and their 3 kids, camping next to us for a couple of nights. It was really good to catch up with them again in such a short space of time – it even seems a bit lonely without them around. And the kids definitely enjoyed having more kids around. With them we visited about 3 wineries on the Sunday, and then the kids had a freezing cold swim in the pool while the girls snuck off for a coffee (and a bit of a gossip as well I am sure.)

The weather in the Barossa was awesome. Freezing cold at night – but really nice clear autumn days. The same can not be said for the Yorke.

We packed up and got away nicely on time on Monday morning, having said our goodbyes. We were heading for the Yorke Peninsular, but weren’t sure where we were going to stay. On the way we settled on going to Edithburgh. The Yorke is shaped like a leg and foot, with Edithburgh right on the back of the heel, where you would normally get a blister from new shoe that bleeds into your socks. Well, that’s my experience anyway. Mind you a comparison between a heel blister and Edithburgh wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Nah, that’s probably a bit unfair, but we were a bit disappointed on the whole. It’s just that our expectations were a little wrong. The literature we read had really built it up, selling it as a major holiday destination for South Australians. We were kind of expecting a mixture between the Great Ocean Road and the Sunshine Coast. We were very wrong. Its basically dry dusty farming country that has small, tiny small fishing villages that dot the shore line. It was nice, just not quite what we were expecting. It didn’t help that Tracy started feeling unwell, and the weather was starting to head south.

Our first day was a catch up day – shopping, a bit of a coffee and a drive. The second day was actually quite nice. We took a long drive around the ‘foot’ of the Yorke, visiting the National Park, driving through more fishing villages, looking for the resort that we were sure would be somewhere. The third day the weather turned. It started off raining and the wind was building. People around us were packing up, but we decided to stick it out. We went for a drive in the morning, had a coffee, but by lunch time it was clear that it was going to get worse, and so we made the decision to pack up then and there. We had originally planned to stay in Port Victoria, which is on the upper shin, we had even paid a deposit there, and had planned to shoot past the next day and pick up some mail that had been forwarded there. We rang and managed to convince them to transfer the deposit to a cabin for the night, so we got out the weather. And we were glad we did. The wind blew like nothing else, rained stacks and we got to be indoors.

The next day we packed up early and did our longest drive of the trip so far, over 600kms to the Eyre Peninsular. We had already decided to stay out of the camper for a couple of nights here before we headed into the national parks down here, and we had booked a 3 bedroom unit. Good thing too. That night and the next day, and today again, have been foul. We extended the stay by another night and are very glad we have done so. They also have a few more shops here than we have seen for a while, and with Tane and Tracy’s birthdays coming up, we managed to get a bit of shopping done. Its been a busy time here, Tracy still hasn’t been really well, and the kids have been quite hyper, but its been good to be out of the camper for a few days.

But tomorrow that all changes. Back into the camper and down to Memory Cove in the Lincoln national park. They have a 3 day limit there, so we will then head to Coffin Bay national park for about 4 days. Its all pretty isolated – so phone and internet connections will be limited, and there are no coffee shops…

After that we kind of turn a corner and head north – heading towards Darwin.

What day is it again?

As I sit and write in the cold of Tanunda, in the Barossa Valley, may ears are being filled with Polka music, while a German dance group practices about 20 meters away from where we are camping. As tacky as the music is, its cheerful, and so is the dance troop. It’s a pretty surreal atmosphere actually.

Just over a week ago we packed up and left Robe, on the south eastern coast of South Australia. We were there for 5 days, and the weather was all around pretty awful. Our last day was actually the best. It was also the best day of fishing that we have had so far as well, although it wasn’t big by other’s standards, we had a good time. The boys, Bart and I, accompanied our camping ‘neighbors’, Paul and 2 of his 4 girls, down to the boat harbor, and fished in amongst them. Between us we actually caught heaps of fish, and 2 of them were even big enough to bring home. I am pretty sure that mine just edged out Bart’s in terms of the ‘biggest of the day’ but we didn’t measure until after I had beheaded them and he accused me taking more off his…

The day we left Robe, it was actually really starting to fine up, and it just got warmer as we headed north west along the coast. Our destination for the day was Victor Harbor, just 80kms or so out of Adelaide. In total we were there for 6 days, and we had great weather and a great time. It was Easter weekend, so the camp ground was packed, and they say there were about 2000 people in it. Every day the sun shone, and it was freezing at night. The nights were so cold Tracy and I got a membership at the local Video Easy store, and made the most of it.

On the first day we headed to nearby Goolwa, at the Murray River mouth, where they had a small market down by the wharf. It wasn’t massive but it had heaps of natural and organic products, even organic pies. The next day we headed to the ferry for Kangaroo Island and checked out the possibility of heading over there for a day… but ferry prices determined that we head around the peninsula further instead, and find a coffee shop for a while. We actually discovered that the northern side of the Fleurieu peninsula is not quite as… how do you put it… ‘feral’ as Victor Harbor. There I said it. Not that VH wasn’t nice, we found it just lacked something… like a good coffee shop for starters.

On the Sunday we went to church. Well, actually, to make up for recent Sunday slackness, we went to 2 churches. The first one we went to decided to start earlier than its internet advertised sign, and so we felt most uncomfortable when we rocked up at the end, and therefore left. (Note to self… don’t change advertised church times… very awkward for people). And so we went to the Uniting Church up the road. We were only there for one service, but it felt like a great little church. We were welcomed, kids activities were well explained, people even spoke to us. Very nice.

For our last 3 days in Victor Harbor we were joined by some friends from a life time ago, Gary and Jenni De Kevit, and their three children, who are similar ages to our own. They camped next door and we had a great time together. The kids really enjoyed having some more kids around to play with, and we spent some late nights catching up. On the Tuesday we took a trip to Granite Island, the over priced piece of rock that sits in the bay off VH. They have this horse drawn carriage (like a small railway car) to get there and back and a place to sit and have a drink on the island. The kids had a good time, and then an even better time at the fair on the river front when we got back. Gary and I had a good time catching up for 45 minutes at the cars while we waited for the rest to meet us… except they didn’t know where we were and had visions of us squashed on the road some where. Sorry girls… we really did think you knew where we were.

And so yesterday our time at VH drew to a close. We left, heading for the Yorke Peninsula, but a last minute change of plans has actually brought us to the Barossa valley. We are actually here during the Barossa Vintage Festival – hence the German polka group playing in the background. It seems to be a celebration of all things German. The festival has been running for nearly a week already and finishes on Sunday. Today we visited a village market, done like a olde (spelling mistake done on purpose Trace, don’t correct this one) German market. There were sheep and lambs, ducklings and chicks, some good German food and even an auction, which included some geese and a piglet. The kids were allowed to pick up some of the animals. Well, one little chick nearly got its head ripped off courtesy of Kezia, and one little duckling will always walk with a limp thanks to Tane. Ky pretty much was the only one of our kids not to maim an animal.

After that we did what you do when you’re in the Barossa, we visited a couple of wineries. This is going to be an expensive stop!

We plan to be here until Monday and then finally head to the Yorke Peninsula. From there its over to Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula, and then we start our long trek north

On the road again…

Well, it feels like we have just had a little ‘holiday’ from our holiday – if that makes sense – but finally tonight we are back into it, or back in the camper at least. The last time I posted we were sitting on the banks of the Murray. That was our last night in the camper until now. We were to have one more, but late that evening, about 6pm, we decided we loved the Murray, hated the flies, and it was time to head off. We packed up in record time (1 hour 40 minutes) and headed off to Geelong. We were in Geelong a week earlier than hoped, but the purpose was to dispose of some children (that means palming them off onto grandparents) so Tracy and I could do the house boat thing with just the two of us.

 It was quite a drive from Geelong to Mildura, and it was really shocking how dry it was the whole way. The last two hours were basically like driving through desert. We got there on Sunday evening, and checked into Mildura’s cheapest accommodation (believe me, I did the research) a $60 B&B – really quite good value for money. That evening we even got to experience some Mildura culture, a short film festival of locally made short films. It was… hmm… well we stayed for the first two anyway. The next day we shopped for our house boat experience, lost Tracy’s wallet, panicked, found Tracy’s wallet, and got ourselves on the boat.

The boat was one of the older boats on the water, but refurbished a couple of years ago. It had 3 bedrooms, kitchen, lounge, spa… everything we needed really. “Sailing” it was initially a bit more difficult that we imaged, and mooring the thing took some getting used to. We were pretty happy by the end of the first day that we didn’t have the kids, as it might not have been particularly relaxing. The next few days were quite pleasant with just the two of us. We stopped at several places to visit coffee shops, hotels and wineries. Not a bad way to laze away a few days. I even got a bit of fishing in, but this time only got a carp, which is a pest, and no good for eating. Unfortunately, the whole house boat experience was over far too quickly, and we had to drive back to Geelong as soon as we got off the boat.

It was good to see the kids again, who had a great time with the grandparents, visiting the cousins and uncles and aunts. That weekend was pretty much dedicated to family activities, with Dan and Cath coming down from Brisbane for the weekend. It was good to be all together, and the kids really enjoyed the time with the family. On the Sunday we all went to Eastern beach for lunch, and the boys, with their cousin Malya, spent a heap of time riding down the steep hills on cardboard, providing entertainment for the rest of the family.

The whole time spent in Geelong went very quickly. Tracy made the most of the time catching up with family and friends, the kids enjoyed extended family, and I caught up with a number of maintainance issues on the car and camper.

But soon it was time to hit the road again, and thus began 4 of the most frustrating days of the trip so far. We knew it might take a while to get back into the swing of things after a bit of a break, but it was harder than we imagined. It started off quite well, we made our way down the Great Ocean Rd, popped into Apollo Bay for lunch and caught the end of the Apollo Bay Music Festival. We went on to the 12 Apostles and had a look around. The plan was to then head to Port Campbell for the night, get a cabin in a caravan park and then move on the next day. But we couldn’t find anything suitable in Port Campbell, so we went on to Port Fairy and found ourselves a quite adequate cabin there.

The next morning we spent a bit of time looking around Port Fairy (another very ‘liveable’ little town we decided), and then moved on just a half hour down the road to the Fitzroy River mouth, where we had planned to camp for 5 days before going to Robe. We had to be in Robe (South Australia) the following Saturday to meet Tracy’s parents for a time there. But when we got to the camp site we just… didn’t like it. Same with the next camp site we tried… and then another… and then another. Cut a long 2 days short, we ended up traveling an extra 600 kms up the road to the Coorong National Park, which is actually 200 kms past Robe. Never-the-less, 2 days, another night in a cabin, and several DVD’s for the kids later, we were in the Coorong.

We had a great spot there – Long Point. It was right on the water, great views, but nothing in the way of shelter or shade. That first day wasn’t too bad. A nice sea breeze kept the temp down. We were stuffed at night, so went to bed early. The next day the wind was coming from the other direction. That bought two things. Heat and flies. It was awful. We ended up going for a drive in the morning, and again in the afternoon, just to escape it for a while. Eating was terrible, flies over everything. Anyway, finally the sun went down and brought some relief from the heat, and the lies quieted down for a bit too. We put the kids to bed and sat outside with the light on. And that brought the bugs. The air was just thick with them. In ears, up noses, all through hair. We beat a hasty retreat into the camper and into bed and made the decision to head back to the safety of the Big 4 caravan park in Robe and just wait for Bart and Tania to come.

And so we packed up early the next day (with the flies starting up again) and headed south again. And we have been in Robe since. The weather has been cool, actually, its been freezing, and windy and wet. But Robe is kind of set up for that with a number of coffee shops and wineries and the like, and we have been taking full advantage. Tracy and Tania have also managed to find other places to spend money on various items. We have also done some fishing, and have had one fish end up on the table which gave us a mouthful each.

We are booked in here until Thursday, and then its time to head north (again) and into Victor Harbor. Things are starting to get busier again. Victorian school holidays started this week, and South Australian start this weekend. We have the next 2 weeks well booked so we don’t miss out on camping spots.

My Achy Breaky Heart

To be honest I have never had a great impression of Australian rivers. This is partly due to the fact that I have spent most of my time in Australian cities that have rivers like The Barwon, The Yarra, the Swan and the Brisbane rivers. All of these are really upside down rivers where the mud seems to float on the top, and not particularly attractive. I know that in writing this I am offending a number of people who are passionate about their slow moving bodies of sludge – but this is just my opinion. You see in NZ we have really great rivers. Fast, clean, lots of rocks and boulders. That to me is my idea of a river. But over the last week my impression of Australian rivers has been slightly altered.

Firstly, we spent 6 nights in Jindabyne, pretty much in the heart of the Alpine district. There we go to see the Snowy River, the Thredbo River and a couple of others. These are much more like the NZ rivers I am used to, although a lack of rain means that they are definitely below their best. We really enjoyed our time in Jindabyne. After 8 weeks on the coast it was nice to be seeing something different. The scenery changed almost immediately we left the eastern coastal plain, all of a sudden it became really brown and barren. After driving down the east coast for so long, we got used to seeing greenery, and so this was quite different. And we got up to Jindabyne we noticed something else had changed, it got cold. We have a ‘winter box’ in the car with warm gear in it. That got emptied within the first hour. Days weren’t too bad, but night times were freezing. That was one little reminder of NZ that I am happy to leave behind.

We stayed in the BIG 4 caravan park, just out of town and on the lake. It was out first Big 4 and our first time back in a Caravan Park since Port Macquarie, about 6 weeks earlier, so it felt a little cramped for room. But it was good to have a playground and TV room for the kids, internet reception for me, and washing machines for… (I’m not going to say it). Anyway, a bit of luxury was nice for a few nights.

We happened to be in town at the same time as the Country Music Channel Rocks the Snowies, a country music festival being held half an hour away up the mountain in Thredbo. We had a number of people in our caravan park attending (they had a courtesy bus going from the campsite, or should that be curtsy bus?), and we also went up to Thredbo for a look the day the festival kicked off. I have never seen so many Stetsons, flannel, black denim and country bumpkins in my life. It was like a Billy Ray Cyrus video… mullets included.

Despite this, our day trip to Thredbo was actually great. It’s a ski resort, and being summer it was a little shut down, but it’s a nice wander through the town center. We also took the chair lift up the mountain even higher and had a wander around up there for a while. The kids loved the ride up and down.

On the Sunday we were there, another town some 40 kms away had their show day, Dalgety. This is the biggest show in the area, and it was well worth the visit. Again, it was a little bit like wandering through the country music festival, but that aside, good fun. There was wood chopping (remember when this was a TV show in NZ…) prizes for cattle, horse show jumping, sheep dog trials, kid’s rides. They even had baking, flower arranging and vege growing and home brew competitions. Really, it had everything a country show day should have, and then some. The boys were actually really into the sheep dog trials. Ever since we have been traveling they have slowly been getting over their dog phobias, wondering up to people with dogs asking if they can pat them and things like that. The real test will be how they go with Moses in Geelong, but they are slowly getting there.

On our last day in Jindabyne we took a drive up the next valley past Perisher Valley ski resort, and up to Charlottes pass. I think this is the highest road in Australia, about 1900 meters above sea level. There was a little walk way up there wit views of Kosciusko and the whole range. The weather was awesome while we were up there, a great trip.

On Tuesday it was time to head off, so we headed over the Great Dividing Range (a drive and a half) and into the Murray valley. We followed the Murray and have ended up just outside of Cobram, camped about 5 meters from the river bank, and it’s quite a place. Again, my idea of the Murray was a dirty brown river with very little life, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Its not exactly clear water, kind of a murky green / brown day old dishwater water color, buts it’s flowing and quite pleasant. Everything around is very dry. We are camping on dust, which is currently mud after our morning of showers, but apart from that, very pleasant.

Yesterday we had our first bit of fishing for the trip, having finally purchased a license to fish. Even though we are on the Vic side, the water comes from NSW and so a license is necessary. And yes, we caught something. A golden perch, weighing just over a kilo, about 45 cm long (quite legal thank you) and went very nice on the BBQ last night with roasted potatoes done in the Cobb. The guys camped next to us (by that I mean 50 meters away) have a boat and have been fishing up and down the river for several days and caught nothing. We sat on the bank where they launch their boat and caught this in an hour of fishing… not too bad. There is a little debate over who exactly caught the fish. It was Tane’s rod, but he was not present when the fish got on the line, and he didn’t wind it in either, but he celebrated like nothing else. “I caught a fish, I caught a fish I really really caught a fish” he sang and danced around the bank. We even have photos to prove it.

This morning the weather was a little closed in, so we headed off for a drive, visiting a cheese factory, a buffalo farm and a winery. Not bad for a mornings work. From here we head to our house boat trip in Mildura. We have had a slight change of plans around this. We are actually going there via Geelong and leaving the kids there while Tracy and I head off for 3 days on our own. We feel a little sad / bad for excluding the kids from this part of the trip, but really feel we would benefit from the time just with the two of us and a little space from the little ones. From there we will travel back to Geelong and catch up with some family and friends.

Coastal Life

I am currently sitting outside the camper, the camping gear around me is semi packed, in preparation for moving day tomorrow. Around me the wind is quite gusty, the odd drop of rain falls, and its quite chilly. This quite adequately sums up our time spent on the southern NSW coast, and so its not with too much sadness that tomorrow we leave the coast for a fair while and start to head inland. First to Jindabyne, and then over border to the Murray River.

The last 10 days we have spent in two national park locations. The first was Mystery Bay, which is not quite in Eurobodella Nat Park, and run by the Shire Council. It’s quite a spectacular spot, we camped on cliffs a short walk through the bush from blow holes and amazing sea views. Facilities were no more than a long ‘dropper’ toilet (Tane’s word for a long drop), but that was OK. The beach was nice, and we made the most of the two fine days we had there, and visited it. There were great rocky ends to the beach which we all enjoyed exploring.

We also managed a visit to nearby Narooma for a shopping expedition and a coffee shop. The coffee shop was a converted boat shed, standing over the water. A great location and the kids enjoyed looking though some of the holes in the floor boards into the water below. That was until one of the two waitresses got a little narky at them about it. Our theory is that if you are going to serve ‘baby cinos’ then you are going to get kids coming in and kids are going to do kids things. We didn’t leave a tip…but I have one for them now… chill out a little.

Nearby we also went to the town of Tilba, an historic town where most (all?) of the buildings are over 100 years old. And so it has an arrangement of coffee shops, art galleries, lollie shops and a cheese factory. We spent a nice morning there exploring . Actually days in Mystery Bay were quite pleasant. Night times were a different story. We seem to be plagued by a mouse or two wherever we go, and Mystery Bay was one of the worst. This pesky mouse, which was bold enough to show itself several times during the time and narrowly missed both a crutch (from me) and a brick (from Tracy) crushing its head, had a go at everything. He did the usual chewing through the back of the pantry trip, but he’s not the first to do that. Then, added to that, he chewed holes in shoes, chewed the teat off Kezia’s milk bottle to get left overs inside, chewed the head and hair of Kezia’s “My Little Pony” (who is still scared to sleep with the light off – The pony that is, not Kezia). There was more, and we still keep discovering further items with holes in them. Tracys’ theory is that we have one mouse who travels with us somewhere underneath the trailer. Even here we have a resident mouse, in fact as I type he is poking his little ugly ‘about to get a crutch in the eye’ face just over the top of one of the boxes. That’s it, come closer buddy, lets see who gets chewed up this time.

And here is… Gillard’s Beach. Our last stop on the eastern coastal shores of OZ until probably July. We’d heard a lot of hype about this place, and its actually lives up to it. The campsites are secluded and right on the beach front, with grass. A pretty winning combination. We have actually been joined here by some friends from Perth, Peter and Freke Bolt, who are also traveling around the country. They contacted us last week to find out what our plans were, and arrived here a day after us and left this afternoon. We had a great time with them camping just next to us, and the kids really enjoyed someone to go and talk to and have breakfast with and generally hang around with. It even gave Tracy and I the opportunity to get out on our own for a few hours yesterday – so thanks heaps guys, much appreciated.

Nearby we have explored a few places. We went to Merimbula down the coast on our first evening, and again yesterday. This is where Tracy and I spent part of our honeymoon 10 years ago, so it was a bit special to go back. Just down the road we also have Tathra, which has an awesome coffee shop, and a very welcome laundry mat. Tracy also took the kids to Bega for some shopping on Saturday (I was a bit under the weather with the flu) but with all three kids in tow and in fine form, it wasn’t a site seeing tour.

The only real disappointment here has been the weather. It was forecasted as quite pleasant, but has generally been windy, overcast and a bit cold. It’s a shame because we didn’t get to enjoy what the place really has to offer, and that is stunning coastline. Its been a regular comment from locals that the weather for the last month has just been up the creek, very unusual for this time of year. Never mind, there have been plenty of other things to do.

For the last 10 days we have been pretty much out of range except for trips into town. So if you had a birthday and we forgot to text or phone you, that’s our excuse. Tomorrow we head to Jindabyne, up the mountains, where we should have reception, and an opportunity to post this.

Rain, Rain go away

As I write this we have come to the end of our 9^th consecutive day of rain. Hearing the news today of floods and fires elsewhere in the country I am not going to complain too bitterly about it, but it would be nice if it would come to an end. Although the forecast doesn’t look too good on that score, with showers tomorrow, and then possible thunderstorms for the 2 days after that. Its not that we mind the rain too much, but we just run out of things to do. Trips into town, the odd DVD, coffee shops, they take up a bit of the time, but we look forward to getting back to the beach. The camper holds up pretty well in the wet. Stuff in the annex gets damp, but then we don’t put all the walls up so that is to be expected. We have a leak with water getting into the storage area where Tracy’s clothes are kept. So half of them have gotten wet a few times… good thing she brought the odd spare piece of clothing with her, hey Trace. But we think we have figured out where that is getting in and a bit of silicon should do the job.

 

We are currently in Marramarang Nation Park, about 20 minutes north of Bateman’s Bay. It’s a very nice camp ground, with a few cabins, a dozen or so powered sites (which we are on) and stack of kangaroos, lorikeets and rosellas. The possums are just as bad here, but we are getting better and making sure there is less to attract them and keep them around the campsite. We have had the birds flock around a few times, even eating out of our hands. Ky had a rosella land on his should yesterday, crawl down his arm and steal a piece of muesli bar out of his hand. He did very well in keeping calm.

 

Actually Ky had quite an exciting day yesterday, or was at least the cause of much excitement for us. In the afternoon yesterday we went into Batemans Bay for some shopping and stayed in for a meal at the local country club. During the meal, just as we decided to think about dessert, Tracy noticed a black spot at the base of Ky’s neck, which we deduced was a tick. We haven’t had any experience with these before but knew they had to be dealt with. We assumed it was just the head stuck in there, and weren’t too keen to go poking around ourselves, so we took a trip to the Emergency Department of Batemans Bay General Hospital. The nurse took one look, reached in and plucked the little sucker out. Actually it wasn’t little at all, and it was still whole, with claws and all. Ky did really well, didn’t flinch hardly. Quite a bit of excitement to end off the day. They ended up a little late in bed last night, and then rewarded us by sleeping into 9am this morning… aaaah.

 

I am coming back to this post now after a few days break. And lo and behold we have actually had some days without rain. To be honest, the day after I wrote the above complaints (Thursday) was an absolutely stunning day. Warm, sunny. So we hit the beach in the morning, and spent a fair bit of time exploring some of the rock pools that were to one side of the beach. Although they didn’t contain much by the way of marine life, the kids were fascinated – probably their first rock pool experience. And so apart from Kezia nearly drowning in the surf, the day basically lazed itself away.

 

We are currently staying in Batemans Bay in the Hanging Rock Motel, courtesy of LG. (Long story, and no explanation will be given at this point) We arrived here yesterday and will leave tomorrow. It’s actually a very pleasant town, a very ‘livable’ town according to us. We went out for a meal at the country club again last night, and the boys enjoyed the kids club on offer for a couple of hours. This morning we drove 20 minutes down the coast to Moruya, and the Saturday markets where we explored for a couple of hours and loaded up on vegetables for the next few days. As I write the kids are enjoying and afternoon sleep, or more to the point, we are enjoying a kid’s afternoon sleep.

 

Tomorrow we travel 80km south to Mystery Bay, and from there, at the end of the week, to Gillard’s Beach, both fairly rustic, facility sparse National Park campgrounds. But others we have talked to have raved about them so it should be fun.

Weather and Wildlife

I know that I went on a bit last time about some of the wildlife that we have been encountering along the way. But I am putting in my bid for a new shock TV series, made up of home video, called “When native animals turn nasty.” Basically, when the kids have gone to bed in the evening, Tracy and I have the habit if sitting outside with a cuppa tea, minding our own business, chatting, reading and emailing. But the last few nights we have been in fear of our lives. The culprits… possums, mice, and kangaroos. They will not leave us alone I know, we have kids and the kids eat messy. And to be honest, since we eat outdoors my table manners have taken a journey south and I don’t care if food falls all over the place. And so we have a few scraps on the ground. And I don’t even mind if the little critters want to come along after we have gone to bed and forage and whatever they do for the odd bit of left over. Fine by me. But what I do object to is them climbing all over the place, on the roof, through the pantry, in the boxes, under my camping chair… basically everywhere, trying to get whatever they can. It’s enough to put one right off one’s herbal tea and toffee Tim tam.

 

OK, that out of the way and off my chest, let’s continue.  

 

Well, its been a while since we last posted something, so time to catch up. The last time we met up this way we were camping at the Myall Lakes. Despite being mauled by mosquitoes on the first night it was actually an extremely pleasant place to stay. We took a day trip into Forster, enjoying some time on the beach there, and having lunch together at a little noodle bar that Tracy, Tane and I had eaten at 3 years earlier on our way to Brisbane. We also spent a couple of mornings lounging on ‘the beach’ which gave us an opportunity to get our little blow up boat a run. The kids loved paddling around in that. I would row up the lake with Kezia and one of the boys in the boat, while Tracy would walk with the other. Kezia loved it so much she was usually asleep in the boat by the time we got there.

 

We also took a morning trip to Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens, which were a lot smaller than we expected. Most afternoons were spent taking a trip up to the resort pool for a swim and a coffee for Tracy.

 

Finally after our allotted 5 night stay we packed up and headed towards the central coast, to spend a night with Renze and Inke, (Tracy’s uncle and aunt), and impose ourselves on them for a lift to the airport early Tuesday morning. From there we flew to Christchurch to spend a week with “Opa and Oma” and Jared and Candis (my brother and his wife) and their 2 month old daughter Olivia. This was the first time we had been all together for about 18 months, and so it was great to all catch up again.

 

Tracy and I enjoyed being able to leave the kids behind and head out on our own a couple of times for coffees and movies. (If you want to see a really good movie then we recommend “Revolutionary Road”) and the kids enjoyed being spoiled by their grandparents. Mum and Dad live near the coast with a river mouth, so we took the opportunity to get wet in the river. The boys enjoyed a morning of kayaking while the girls got stuck into some shopping. Everybody wins with that arrangement. We also managed to catch up with some friends from that part of the world. Tracy lived in Christchurch from 10-15 years of age and so still has a few friends and family friends to catch up.

 

It was great spending the time with family, sleeping in real beds, having toilets just in the next room, a dishwasher in the house, and a whole lot more of life’s little comforts. And so it was with a bit of reluctance that we packed up 7 days later (at 3.30 in the morning!) and got back on the plane and back to Sydney. Again it was time to impose on Tracy’s family for a lift and a place to sleep for the night, before we headed off again on Wednesday morning.

 

Since that time we have been in Jervis Bay, 3 hours south of Sydney, in Booderee National Park. And since that time it has been raining. Ok, not constant, but off and on. Enough to get everything damp, enough to keep us off the beach, and enough to send us most days into local towns to keep ourselves dry and amused. Actually there is a fair bit to do around here. We took a trip to an old abandoned lighthouse on the coast; the kids enjoyed exploring the ruins. We have been for a day to Nowra for some shopping and a trip to Centerlink. (I would like to say some more things here about that trip, possibly including it the section on “wildlife encounters” but I am going to restrain). We have also been a couple of times into Huskison, which is a very pleasant sea side town which seems to be a weekend holiday destination for Syndeysiders. We enjoyed the movies there with the kids (“Bedtime stories” – a great movie) and have been 3 times to the Bakery / Café there in 2 days. Not a bad effort.

 

Apart from that its been a little subdued. The camp ground set up is very nice, hot showers, flush toilets. Tracy and the kids made a fire yesterday and so the marshmallows came out. But apart from that, not a lot to report.

 

Tomorrow we plan to pack up and head south 100kms or so, to Depot Beach, which is not far out of Bateman’s Bay. We are hoping that the weather improves a bit, but the forecast isn’t good at this stage. We might have to check out what the movies there have on offer at the moment.

A dingo ate my… croc!

No kidding, this is a true story. We were having our last night at Point Plommer. There are a few signs up about dingoes being a bit of a pest around the place. And so were talking to the guys camped next to us who come there every year and they were saying that usually the dingoes are quite bad. Like, walking up and down the main drag in packs at night bad. But they were commenting that they didn’t seem to be around. Anyway, late that night we woke up to hear some howling in the bush around us. And the next morning we got up and started packing, and about 6 hours into the 8 hour packing ordeal (Ok, I exaggerate for effect, but it was hot and the kids were whining and it seemed to go on for hours) we discovered that my croc (rubber shoe for those not in the ‘know’) was all chewed up, beyond repair, and the other one had completely gone. And a little later on we discovered that a thong was missing too (the child footwear variety, not Tracy’s undergarment of choice). So, if you are ever wondering around the bush at Point Plommer, and find a half buried light tan croc, it belongs to me.

From Plommer we made our way into Port Macquarie. We were there pretty early, as the drive was just over an hour. On the way we listened to one of the Roald Dahl stories we have on CD – The Twits. That purchase was gold. Anyway, arriving in town (and I use that word loosely here) we headed to the banks to get our new replacement cards. Being down to $12 at that point meant that it was a timely acquisition – and that the kids could have Happy Meals for lunch. Our caravan park in Port was OK, all there, but pretty hot with little shade.

The set up was just hot and tiring, but then they all seem to be. The park was on the river, but not great frontage, and it was mostly onsite cabins (Bylsma and Murphy camping – for those who know them.) The next day we headed into town for a coffee with the kids and a bit of a shop. Actually, I am not sure if that is true… the days in Port seem to blur into each other a bit. A couple of days we went into town for coffee, a couple of days we did some shopping. One day we took the kids into town to the movies to see “Bolt” which was pretty good as far as kids movies go – but not a classic. We also went out one evening for a meal together, to the restaurant attached to another caravan park. We know where we are staying next time we are in Port.

One morning we took a trip out to Wauchape (and if anyone knows how to pronounce that – please end and argument my wife and I are having) to visit Timbertown – which recreates a timber town from the 1880’s. Its pretty well done. Cheap to get into, and fills up and few hours. The kids had a good time, ringing the bells for the church and school, watching the Bullock display, and going for a horse and carriage ride.

Port was also a good chance to catch up on some necessary repairs and purchases. We got ourselves another large tarp and some extra poles- this now gives us much more shaded area and is coming in very handy already. We also got the wiring in the car fixed, cheaply and quickly as well. We also got some advice on how to fix the outisde fridge ourselves, by turning it upside down for 12 hours and then running it. Brilliant – works better than it ever has.

All in all, Port was a bit of a frustrating stay. The weather was hot and sticky a lot of the time, except one day was cold, and we had thunderstorms. We didn’t go to the beach at all, and we were kind of glad to be heading on our way.

And that we did yesterday, packing up and continuing on our trek south. Currently we are at Myall shores Eco Point, in the Myall Lakes National Park. This place is pretty cool. We are camped right on the lake, which is massive. It is pretty quiet, although the French family down the way is making a bit of noise tonight. There are mostly villas/cabins here, with a smallish camping area. The place has a rustic feel to it (read ‘run down and ill cared for’) but we think that is partly due to the fact that they have just slowed down after the summer holidays and the staff really can’t be bothered to put in much effort. Anyway, the lake gave us good opportunity to blow up the little boat today and go for a paddle. We visited the ‘beach’ today, about 500 meters along the shore. Kezia and I paddled there, while the others walked. They also have a pool, which we made use of this afternoon.

This place has also got the array of wildlife. We got hammered by mosquitoes last night as we were finishing dinner, which prompted the abandonment of environmentally friendly, chemical free mosquito repellant for something that actually works. But on a better note we have had possums running around, several Lace Monitors of varying sizes. Fairy Wrens. Kookaburras. Pelicans. Ducks. Black Swans. And even as I was waiting for Tracy to check this for spelling and grammatical accuracy (read ‘editing for historical accuracy and removing anything embarrassing’) an owl (big and white – that’s all I got until I get the little bird book out) swooped in and out. Still haven’t seen a snake yet, but plenty of time to go.

Tomorrow we think we will head up to Forster for the day and have a look around there. The plan, at this stage is to leave here on Monday, and travel to the central coast to stay with Tracy’s uncle and aunt, before flying off to NZ on Tuesday for a week.