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.

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