"No matter where you go, there you are."

ADELAIDE AND BEYOND

Tuesday 20^th November

We had been forewarned about a storm that came through at 4am and had already put the annexe in last night. There was a lot of wind but not much rain. It was a very blustery day so we decided to head off to Adelaide. It is a very pretty city, lots of tree lined streets and lovely old houses. The Windsor Gardens Caravan Park is a good base for us while we are in Adelaide. It is only 10 minutes from the city and backs onto the Torrens River (creek!!) with great walking tracks on both sides. We got a game of twilight bowls at the Kensington Bowls Club. It was bitterly cold in the wind.

Wednesday 21^st November

Ferg and I took a walk along the river and encountered a koala wandering along the path. Wish we had the camera, we stopped for 10 minutes and watched as it ambled along. We played bowls at the Modbury Bowls Club and Ferg picked up a $25 voucher for the local hotel.

Thursday 22^nd November

We dropped Twistie off at the local vets for a hairclip then headed into the city. We picked a bad day to be in the city as it was the first day of the Adelaide Classic Car Rally and the vintage cars were holding up the traffic. We eventually found a park and had a wander around the Central Markets. It was a foodies paradise. We walked a few blocks up to the Rundle Mall passing some lovely old churches. We caught the free tourist bus back to the markets and had a lovely asian feast for our lunch.

Friday 23^rd November

We had a quiet morning then headed off to the Modbury Bowls Club for another game. After the game we called into the local pub to use our voucher for an early dinner.

Saturday 24^th November

Happy Birthday Ferg! We both had a sleep in then I cooked up a big breakfast for the birthday boy. We had a pretty lazy day. In the afternoon we visited the massive Ikea complex for a bit of a look around. We joined our neighbours for happy hour then adjourned to watch the election results.

Sunday 25^th November

Another lazy morning then off to bowls again at Modbury. We played brilliantly and won the overall tournament. We won two $25 hotel vouchers and $40 cash, best win we’ve had in ages. We ducked home to change then off to the pub for a big feast using both the vouchers. It was a great night out.

Monday 26^th November

We were off sightseeing today into the Adelaide Hills. The road wound through the Torrens River Gorge and through some very pretty little towns. We stopped in Woodside to visit cheese and chocolate factories and stuffed ourselves with the free samples. We visited the quaint German town of Hahndorf and wandered up and down the tree lined streets. On the way home we drove up to the Mt Lofty Summit to take in the views of Adelaide.

Tuesday 27^th November

We were on the road early heading out of Adelaide through the peak hour traffic. Thankfully it was going the other way. The countryside is very dry as we drove down the Yorke Peninsula. We passed lots of crumbling old stone houses set in the middle of vast dry plains with the blue of the St Vincent Gulf glistening in the distance. After stopping in at the small seaside village of Stansbury for a morning cuppa we arrived into Edithburgh by midday. The Edithburgh Van Park overlooks the ocean and was only a short walk to the jetty. The diving is suppose to be very good around the jetty but unfortunately there is no where to hire tanks here. We tried our luck at fishing in the afternoon with no luck as usual.

Wednesday 28^th November

The wind picked up this morning so we decided to move on. We traveled up the West coast of the Yorke Peninsula through lots of wheat and sheep country. We drove through Port Pirie and Port Augusta and arrived into Whyalla mid afternoon. What a depressing town, due to the Iron Ore refinery everything in the town is tinged red. That includes the trees, grass, shops, roads, seagulls, absolutely everything! Our campsite is right on the water but it was blowing a gale so we had to hide inside the van.

Thursday 29^th November

The wind eased today and we did a bit of sightseeing around town. We played bowls at the Whyalla Bowls Club in the afternoon and even the bowls green was red!

Friday 30^th November

We were off early again traveling down the East coast of the Eyre Peninsula. The scenery is very barren and the roads are long and straight. We arrived into Port Lincoln by lunchtime and found a lovely van park 12km north of the town. After setting up we took a drive into the town, unfortunately on our return our windscreen copped a stone and a running crack has appeared.

Saturday 1^st December

We had a quiet morning enjoying the view. We took Twistie for a walk along the beach. I played ladies bowls in the afternoon while Ferg tried fishing of the local jetty.

Sunday 2^nd December

We left Port Lincoln early calling into the marina on the way out to look at the big tuna boats. Our destination today was the small seaside village of Elliston on the West coast of the Eyre Peninsula. We got a lovely grassy site at the Waterloo Bay Tourist Park. We got the fishing rods out once again. This time we actually caught a few whiting which was just enough for dinner.

Monday 3^rd December

We took a walk along the beach and jetty before breakfast. Later Ferg and I took a drive along the cliff tops south of the town to take in the spectacular views along the rugged coast line. I spotted a seal surfing the waves. In the afternoon we did the tourist drive north of the town. It was interesting as several sculptures had been erected on the cliff tops along the drive.

Tuesday 4^th December

We did a lovely clifftop walk this morning before packing up the van again. We didn’t have far to travel today, arriving into Venus Bay mid morning. This really is close to paradise, brilliant blue water and white, white sand. The van park is right on the beach again and there is a great jetty for fishing. We had a go for awhile but I only caught one undersized whiting. In the afternoon we did the Great Southern Headland Walk. We saw dolphins surfing the waves. Each turn of the path brought another fantastic view. Our neighbours joined us for happy hour and we watched the pelicans gathering around the fish cleaning station.

Wednesday 5^th December

We were away early heading for Baird Bay to do a seal and dolphin eco tour. It was dirt road all the way in then along the beach to the office, van and all. The tour was great, we snorkeled with the dolphins first then moved over to a seal colony. They were very curious and came to swim with us. It was a unique experience, a real highlight of our journey so far. Afterwards we drove on to Streaky Bay and camped at the Foreshore Caravan Park. It was quite crowded and there were no grassed sites. It was extremely hot all afternoon so we locked ourselves in the air con van. We treated ourselves to dinner at the Streaky Bay Hotel.

Thursday 6^th December

A hot northerly change came through this morning and it was blowing a gale. We hit the road for Ceduna and had a nasty head wind all the way. The Ceduna Foreshore Van Park is good although there is a high wire fence right around the park to keep marauders out.

Friday 7^th December

It’s a much better day, the wind has dropped and the sun is shining. Ferg and I went for a long walk along the esplanade and out along the jetty. The paneling on the van had popped out, probably due to the gale force winds. Ferg tried to fixed with some screws. We now have three small holes right through the inside paneling. Never mind at least it should hold until we reach WA. Ferg took a long 7km walk out to Pinky Point while I stayed behind and wrapped xmas presents for posting. We topped our groceries and fueled up for the big journey across the Nullabor tomorrow. We had a lovely sunset walk along the beach for our last day in South Australia.