Christmas Down Under

Buttongrass Fields


Hell's Gate


Fish Farms


Strahan Rainbow


Mt Zeehan
  
It’s Boxing Day today, the day after Christmas and Australia's major shopping day of the year.  You know, those post Christmas sales are a big thing.  But before I tell you about our Christmas, let me fill you in about our last week.
 
On Monday we drove out to Strahan, on the west coast of Tasmania, also known as the wild west coast.  Strahan is the only remaining town on the coast, on the Harbor of the Gordon River.  It is surviving on its tourism and the fishing industry both at the moment doing quite well, even with tourism being down because of the high Australian dollar.
 
Have I said  before that despite Tasmania’s relative small size, it is not terribly easy to get from point A to point B.  We left Hobart and drove north, through New Norfolk, then up through Hamilton which is in the highlands, then through the lakes region, back into Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park, to Lake St Clair, which is at the bottom of the Overland Pass walk if you were to actually walk the overland pass.  But we were driving through the park, and the scenery is just amazing.  We are driving along, enjoying the wilds, and after another hour I see what looks like mining!  We pass out of the park, and its like entering a moonscape.  We are entering into Queenstown, a dying, if not already dead mining town, known for its copper and tin.  What a mess.  The road wove down through the old mine and was a narrow, steep, curvy, no edges, just cliff on one side, and nothing on the other.  Honestly, I couldn’t look up or down on this road, I just wanted to get it over with. It was horrible!  So was Queenstown.  We just filled up on petrol, and continued winding our way down into Strahan.
 
Strahan is a very cute tourist town, on the Macquarie Harbor, kept going because of the tourism of the famous Gordon River Cruise and the Wilderness Railway.  We didn’t do the railway, but we did lash out and do the Gordon River Cruise and it was excellent.  As our Christmas present, we did it first class and that was a treat in itself.  It was a six hour tour, out through Hells Gates, which is the entrance of the harbor.  Called Hells Gate not because the entrance to the harbor is such a challenge and dangerous (which it is), but because the convicts were entering hell coming to the penal settlement on Sarah Island.  Anyway, we then go back up the harbor, learning about the fish farms which was fascinating.  Because the Gordon River and six other rivers empty into the harbor, the harbor is actually full of fresh water, which sits above the walt water because of the density, so they can grow fresh water fish, in the harbor.  You can tell the water is fresh water because it is stained tan from the Button Grass that grows on the highlands.  Like I said, it is fascinating.  Then we did a little rainforest walk to learn about the particular eco system of the Gordon River, lunch of local fish and wines, the a tour of the penal settlement on Sarah Island.  It made Port Arthur look like a holiday camp.  What an excellent day. 
 
We leave the net day, taking the scenic tour up thru Zeehan, than Burnie, over to Devonport, then down to Launceston via Exeter, then Back to Hobart.  Steve reckons it was about 500 K, and it took us 8 hours.  Like I said, the roads….
 
So now we are up to Christmas.  We had a great day with new friends in Cygnet, dinner out in the garden.  It was requested that I make a pumpkin pie.  Very hard to do without sugar pumpkins or canned pumpkin, so I winged it, and made a butternut/sweet potato pie that had rave reviews.  Even from Steve, who doesn’t like pumpkin pie!  It was a great day, the weather held, even got a little warm, the food and company was great, what else can one ask for.
 
 

More Tasmanian Adventures

Cradle Mountain Peaks


Tasmanian Sheep


Cygnet Sailboats


Dove Lake in Sun


Dove Lake Boathouse

We were warned by everyone when we said we were going to Tasmania that it would be cold, we figured that was just because everywhere else is Australia would be in the 80’s plus, so anything else than that would be cold to them.  Well, they were right.  Tasmania has been cold, and we are grateful for the warm cloths that we brought with us.  We have been here for almost four weeks, can that be right?  And just about every day we have had rain showers, and maybe two days that have been above 65F.  Granted, that is warmer than what you all experiencing, but cold for us.
 
We are seeing some magnificent places.  Don’t ever think that because Tasmania is an island state, that it can be seen in a few days.  I wonder if we will see most of it by the time we leave on the 10th.
 
 Last week we drove up to Cradle Mountain, listed  #5 on the World Heritage List, and after being there you can see why.  It is just amazing, such raw beauty!  The weather of Cradle Mountain is that one day out of ten will be fine.   Not great odds if you only plan to be there for a day, but because we had planned for two full days and two half days, we hoped that it would be good.  We “took the scenic route” twice on the way up to the Park.  Road signs here make the ones in NH look good.  Anyway, we arrive, check in, and take the shuttle bus from the Park entrance  down to Dove Lake.  The bus is really good, because the road is one lane, curvy and hilly.  It has lots of lay-by’s but you get a running commentary about the park and its uniqueness which makes it all the more interesting.  As we arrive at Dove Lake, we disembark figuring we would wander around until the next bus, but instead we hiked around the Lake, catching glimpses of Cradle Mountain, the waterfalls crashing down the mountain sides, the moss filled trees and forests.  Two hours later, we finish up in the drizzle and wind and sleet, and wait for the next bus to take us back to our warm room and a bottle of red.
 
The next day, we do a few ‘short walks’, only a K each, the Pencil Pine Forest, and the Enchanted Walk.  Totally different from each other, and both beautiful in their own way.  Then we set out on a two hour hike, in the drizzle, along the boardwalk, that takes you through the forest, heathland, scrubland, along a stream and back to the bus stop.    The next morning we awoke to blue sky and sunshine, and knowing how fleeting it can be, we checked out of our hotel, and headed back down to the park.  Amazing!  We were able to see the entire Cradle Mountain.  Yes, it was beautiful, but I think it is by far more dramatic with the clouds rolling in and out.   We were very lucky to see the Mountain.  In fact, one of the us drivers told us of a couple who had started out doing the Overland Pass, a 2-3 dayer, and turned around after five hours because they got tired of the snow they were hiking through.
 
Wednesday, we drove down to Cygnet, south of Hobart, to visit with Kate, the woman who helped us get this place for the six weeks we are here.  We had a lovely visit, met some great gardeners, and we will be spending Christmas with Kate, and I am to bring a pumpkin pie.  This will be interesting, because there aren’t any sugar pumpkins here in Australia, live or canned, so I am going to wing it and hope for the best.  I figure if I mix butternut squash and sweet potatoes, with the correct spices, we should be right.
 
Speaking of Christmas.  You wouldn’t know that is is a holiday happening in just a few days.  So far we have heard a total of 5 Christmas songs on the radio!  The Christmas trees for sale look like white pine tree tops cut from the forest, we have seen a few discrete decorations, and this weekend the frenzy of shopping, but honestly, there is none of the commercialization that there is back in the states.  It’s kind of refreshing in a way.
 
Tomorrow, we are off to Strahan, on the Gordon River, on the west coast of Tasmania.  We are signed up for the River Cruise that has very high marks.  Can’t tell you much, so I will report about it when we get back.  Then after Christmas, is Boxing Day, when we will celebrate Christmas with just the two of us, and phone our families at home in the cold and snow.  After that, the boats should be coming in the harbor from the Sydney to Hobart Race, and Hobart is hosting the Taste Festival, where the top producers of wine, beer, cheese, produce all get together to talk food.  I can hardly wait.  As you can see we are busy.
 
Merry Christmas to all of you, we will raise our glasses of Tasmanian bubbly in toast to family and friends, good health and good cheer.

Tasmanian Adventures

Southwest National Park Vista


Tasmanian Devils


Port Arthur Prison


Tessallated Pavement


Sleepy Bay, Freycinet NP

Time sure does fly when you travel. It seems only a week ago that we arrived on the apple isle, but in reality, it has been almost two weeks. Where do we begin?

Last Friday we drove up to the Freycinet Peninsula for a weekend of photo classes. Steve is determined to make a photographer out of me, but is having as much success as me turning him into a gardener, but the good thing is I am seeing some amazing places and meeting some really nice people because of this desire, so who am I to complain. We left Hobart in the fog and drizzle, driving north saying to ourselves,

‘we know there is a view out there somewhere”, but we were so socked in with fog, we had no idea what was out there. There wasn’t even any reason to stop and take pictures along the way because all you would see was rain, fog and yuck. But we do arrive up at Freycinet, and have a weekend booked at the lodge where the workshop was being held. Did we learn lots, yes, did we see lots, no. the weather wasn’t the best. That was good in some ways because we could focus more on the classes then. Monday morning we walked up to the lookout at Cape Tourville because it wasn’t raining. We didn’t bother with the longer walk to the Wineglass Bay lookout because it wouldn’t be much in the fog. The good thing is that we are only two hours away, so if the forecast looks good, we can always drive up as a day trip. This is especially easy because the days are so long.

Tuesday we drove down to Port Arthur, which is south down the Tasman Peninsula. Port Arthur was a penal settlement from 1830 to 1877. It certainly wasn’t an easy place, being a penal settlement as well as being exposed to all the horrible weather, some of which we experienced on our day there. Despite that, the site is beautiful with the harbor and mountains surrounding it. After the colony was disbanded a lot of the building were dismantled and sold off, while most of the remaining wooden building perished in subsequent bush fires. The remaining buildings are being rebuilt, and there is such raw beauty about them. Lucky for us, we were there the day before Oprah’s guests arrived. Also on the day we stopped and saw the Tessellated Pavement which looks like the convicts had time on their hands and decided to pave the beach with cobbles, when in reality, the stone has been worn away by the salt and ocean to form the pattern of cobbles. We also saw the Blowhole and Tasmans Arch, more natural rock formations. Even though the weather wasn’t the best, the beauty is simply breathtaking.

On the way back, we stopped at the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park, which is a quarantined breeding center for the little devils. We were there for their evening feed, and they are rather cute, but man do they get snarley when it feeding time. Learning about the devils and supporting the research and breeding cause was well worth the stop.

On the advice of a local, we drove up yesterday to Lake Pedder. This lake sits at the top of the Southwest NP, and was enlarged by the damming of the Gordon River. It is said this lake now holds 27 times the volume of Sydney Harbor, and is the largest freshwater lake in AU. There was a huge controversy about damming the River and even now there is talk about dismantling the dam. Time will tell. Anyway, the drive up to the top of the lake is just breathtaking. The mountains are amazing, some being right in your face as you drive up the road. Even more amazing is that the entire time we were on the road, we maybe say five vehicles all up! We practically had the place to ourselves, a bit scary though because if something happened, like the car breaking down or something there is no-one, and no cell service so it would have been a waiting game. It is hard to imagine that Cradle Mountain can beat this as far as beauty goes, but we will find out this weekend because that is where we are headed next.

We have seen some drop down dramatic scenery in the first two weeks and that is even with not the best weather. Hope Steve's pictures do justice to what we are seeing. Enjoy.

Welcome to Tasmania

Hobart Harbour Buildings


View of Hobart from "our" house


Mt Wellington from the house deck


Lady Nelson leaving Hobart


Mt Wellington Observatory

We left our beautiful B&B on the Mornington Peninsula and headed into Melbourne to take the ferry to Tasmania for six weeks. It took far less time to get to the pier than we thought it would, so we ended up hanging around the area, walking in the drizzle and just waiting. Around five the loading process begins, and it is a process. First you go through security and drop of your gas tanks, propane tanks and they look under the bonnet. You drive a bit further and wait again for it seems another hour. Then you get your boarding pass and cabin key, and wait for another hour. Then you board, park and go upstairs. We finally set sail, or under steam at 7:30. By 10:00 we were finally out of the harbor, by 12:00 am we were supposed to be passing the return ferry, and by 6:30 Sunday morning we had landed in Devonport Tasmania. It wasn’t a bad ride. There was the initial rocking to get used to after we left the harbor, but I have to admit, I slept quite well.

After leaving the ferry, we had to go through quarantine, just as strict as entering Australia, Tasmania is still pest free for many agricultural crops, so there is strict enforcement upon arrival. Finally, and I mean finally, we get to pick up our gas tank and off we go, heading south towards Hobart where we will be house sitting for a fellow gardener and garden writer for our stay. First, we stop in Elizabethtown for coffee and breakfast, then continue on south to Campbeltown for another coffee. We then took a detour to Oatlands that was one of the towns that we might have stayed in for three weeks. The town has a historic wind driven grain mill that way back when ground all the local grains for bread. After many years of restoration, today was the grand hoopla, so as much as we wanted to stay, we put it on our to-do list and continued south.

We finally arrive in S. Hobart and found our house and got all the scoop for our six weeks stay. It will be excellent. I have a garden to play in, an excellent kitchen to cook in, and from the deck off the kitchen looking to the right you get a view of the harbor in Hobart, and to the left, Mt Wellington looms out of the clouds.

So far the weather has been fine, although that is going to change in the next day or two. We have walked into the city along a park path that follows the ‘rivulet’, a beautiful walk with historical notes alongside, visited the old town along the waterfront, tasted whiskey at the local Lark distillery, driven up to the top of Mt Wellington for the views, stunning, and just in time before the clouds rocked in.

Oh it is so nice to have a base. We have unpacked Em, who took a deep sigh as the load was lifted off of her, and we are just going to enjoy the moment, no rushing about, hah, but no unpacking and repacking the car for the next month! Yeah. Enjoy Steve’s photos of the surrounds. Allie

On the Move

Portsea Bath Houses


You can trust us!


Duck Point Tinny


Wilson Prom Dawn


Mallacoota Fishin'

Happy Vendredi Gras!

I figured that since Mardi Gras was for "Fat Tuesday" then the day after Thanksgiving should be Fat Friday after everyone has stuffed themselves full of good food and great company.

We have traveled from Mallacoota over on the Victoria-New South Wales border to Wilson's Promontory to the town of Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula via a circuit of Phillip Island all within a week. Wilson's Prom, as it is known is a great national park and one of the most visited in Victoria as it is only an hour and a half from Melbourne. We stayed outside the park in a caravan park in Yanakie. The scenery was great, even if the accommodations and the park staff were less than stellar. We hiked our feet off on the Prom and climbed Mt. Oberon, which brought new definition to the phrase, "Are we there yet?" The view from the top was well worth the climb.

Our stay in Red Hill has been another happy accident, something that is one of the continuing joys of this trip. We didn't want to spend the last few days before we take the ferry across to Tasmania in Melbourne so we decided to hit the Mornington Peninsula on the way. I was looking at places and went from one link to another to a third and found the Ellisfield Farm. It is a cherry farm with a small cottage on the grounds and has what are termed "farm pets" of alpacas, ducks, chickens and goats! So, we simply had to come here. The animals are delightful and the goats (a mother and two small kids) are full of play. One, named Cuddles, loves to escape the fenced area and play in the cherry orchard, but we fixed that for the owners so she can't escape again.

We have been down to the coastal towns of Rosebud, Rye, Portsea and Sorrento today and enjoyed them, especially Sorrento which reminded us of Nantucket. Very wealthy and trendy, but nice.

Tomorrow we sail for Tasmania from Melbourne. The ferry is a night crossing to Devonport and the guide books say that the best thing about Devonport is seeing it in your rear-view mirror as you go see the rest of Tasmania. We hope it is better than this, but even if not, we aren't staying there anyway. Allie found a place to stay through the gardening community network. Apparently gardeners are rabid sharers and that includes homes. She found a fellow gardener in South Hobart who needed a house sitter for 6 weeks, from the beginning of December to mid-Janauary and got in touch with her and voila, we have a place to base ourselves from during an extended stay on the Apple Island. Tasmania is called the "Apple Isle" for its history of producing immense crops of apples shipped all over the world, although that has diminished with the spread of globalization and refrigeration.

Here's a sample of what we've seen in the past week. Enjoy!

Steve

R&R Time

Lake Sambell Sunset


Ume Lake Revisited


Mt Hotham Vista


Bright Alee


Hotham Light Study


 We had a lovely stretch of beautiful weather, sunny and warm, but being spring, it hasn’t lasted long and now we are back in jeans and jumpers again, oh well.  We spent a lovely two days in Beechworth Vic, at a lovely caravan park on Lake Sambell.  It was great, right on the lake with views to the hills, and within walking distance to town.  We would have loved to stay longer but the upcoming forecast was for nasty weather so we moved on.  Before we did though, we headed over the border into New South Wales to check out Lake Hume.  This is the lake where Steve took the dramatic photos when we were here last February, that showed all the trees in a dried or mostly dried lake bed.  With all the rain that has occurred since we were here then, the lake has filled to capacity, which is why we wanted to see it.  We hardly recognized the place, water was softly lapping at the shores, only a few dead tree tops were showing above the surface, and fisherman were out on the lake with their boats.  A far cry from what we had seen.  It was beautiful instead of a surreal scene.  Then we drove back to Beechworth via Yakandandra where we had spent a night back in April.
            The next day we drove over to Bright, a town we had quickly visited in April but it was so full of visitors because of its fall foliage festival we gave it a quick miss.  This time we stopped for coffee, it’s a nice town, it reminded us a lot of what North Conway was like about 30 years ago, quaint village geared towards the ski industry and the great outdoors.  There we picked up The Great Alpine Way, and drove through Harrietville,  then 26K straight up on switchback roads until we got to Mt Hotham.  The scenery was stunning.  Because fire had ripped through here last year, all the foliage had been burned off the trees, leaving new green undergrowth with these magnificent silver tops just going on forever.  Much like at home in the winter, and because there is no foliage, you can see the bare bones of the ground and the structure of the hills.  It was just amazing, even more so because Mt Hotham and Mt Feathertop still had snow on their peaks. 
            We now started a slow descent towards Omeo, which is high plains country on thru Swifts Creek, to Bruthen, then onto Bairnsdale where we stayed in for two nights.  By this time we were both suffereing from head colds although Steve was mostly over his, I was going full tilt, so it was good to hole up for a few days while the weather  outside was raging.
            Now we are staying for a week at Karbeethong  Lodge, out at Mallacoota, for a week.  It is a beautiful old lodge reminding me a lot of Point Breeze and Steve of Lake Winnipesaukee.  We look right out over the lake with the Norfolk Island pines in front.  It is very quiet except for the vast birdlife.  One of the birds started calling out at 5:00 in the morning, it sounded like the old bicycle horns going off, then another bird sounding like someones car alarm going off joined in.  But we love it’s peacefulness.  It is good for us to take this break to rest, catch up on our photos, reading and to get germ free.  Once the weather fines up, we will do some walks around the lake and maybe some other walks as well.  The best way to explore the lake is probably to see it from the lake.  A kayak would be best, but we haven’t found anyone hiring them so maybe we will hire a boat and explore the lake.  We will see.
            At last, the sun is shining!  We are sitting on the verandah, soaking up the sun, planning the day, a walk along the edge of the lake maybe?  It is just so peaceful here I could stay napping in the sun all day, listening to the birds and the boats on the water, but walking is calling…

More fun in Victoria

EmmyLou


Castlemaine Wall


On the Road to Ballarat


Sovereign Hill Candles


Sovereign Hill Soldiers

I had to look back to see when I wrote last and where we had been so I could bring you up to date. But first, drum roll please, we have officially been on the road now for 61 days. I find that amazing. In some ways it feels like forever, and other ways we have only just begun. Traveling is hard work. We are now trying to stay in one place for at least two nights, it is much easier than setting up and taking down each day, and give us more time to explore the local area.

After a lovely rest day in Port Fairy we traveled down the Great Ocean Road to Port Campbell, a great base to see the Twelve Apostles, the sandstone monuments just off the coast. We saw them last year and we wanted to see them again, with better cameras. (This is where Steve’s cameras died last year). We were driving along, and saw a sign for the entrance for the park of the Twelve Apostles. Now I don’t know how we missed this last year, but we did. The Visitors center is boring, but you take the boardwalk along the cliff and there you have a great view of the rock formations. Maybe what we thought what we saw last year were the Apostles, but really weren’t. Who knows, but we have now traveled the Great Ocean Road in both directions, east and west.

After leaving Port Campbell, we drove east through the Otway National Park, stopping at the Otway Fly, a 25m tree top walk, with a 45m spiral lookout tower. It was really cool, as well as cool and drizzling. This is the second tree top walk we have done, it was much larger than the one we went to on Tamborine Mtn. As we walked through the ancient fern gully, they had a dinosaur display that was very interesting. Reminded us of Jurrasic park. The walk was very interesting, and at each level a description was given at what you should see it that level of the forest. After leaving the Fly, we drove down the steepest, curviest, windiest, narrowest public road we have been on yet. They called it a two-lane road to be carefully shared with logging trucks. We called it a 1 1/2-lane road, hoping like hell we don’t see a logging truck. But after 14K we hit a bigger road, just as curvy and windy but wider. After driving these two roads, then the Great Ocean Road from Apollo Bay to Lorne, we decided we had had enough, were just too dizzy, so that was where we spent the night. Got an interesting room, which was good because the heavens opened up that night.

Off the next morning to finish the Great Ocean Road, to Geelong to do some shopping, then up to Ballarat in the goldfield region for a few days. As day trips we went to Sovereign Hill, a recreation of the original mining settlement in Ballarat, much like Williamsburg although much smaller but more interactive, it is really well done. The next day to Daylesford, a renowned spa town because of its spring waters. Even if you aren’t interested in the spas, the town is very hip, loaded with cafes, shops and art galleries. Then we packed up and drove a very non-direct route weaving thru Mt Macedon, Hanging Rock, Heathcote and onward to Bendigo.

Bendigo is another gold town, and one that is still mining. The original pit was closed because of the water level, but now they have gone under and around the original pit and are still mining the gold. It is an interesting city, not what we expected, it has a very European flair, with its dark stone building, large fountain in the roundabout, a tram running down the center and we felt as though we could be in Paris. As a day trip we drove down to Castlemaine. It seems as though we are so far away from everything in theses towns but we are only an hour to two hours out of Melbourne, so that might be why some of these towns are so trendy, they get the weekenders. We went to a really good farmers market here. Not as big as what we were used to in Byron, but not bad considering its size. There were two microbreweries with their been, a couple of vineyards with their wine, two cheesemakers, a few olive growers, a couple of people selling plants and two vegetable growers, grass fed beef, pork and chicken were also offered. We stocked up for the week.

Now we are in Echuca, on the Murray River. Again, not what we expected, but much better. The river is full for the first time in ten years, the historic paddleboats are going up and down the river. Today is just going to be a lazy day, relaxing and enjoying the moment. Tomorrow we are going up to the Barmah State Park, on the Kingfisher cruise. It has been highly recommended by the locals, even the woman who cut Steve’s hair! After that, maybe up to Hume Lake to see it full. The weather is finally starting to get warm, yeah, back into shorts!

Victorian Charm

Victorian Ruin


Narracoorte Cave


Wannon Falls


Horsham Sunset Reflections


Grampains Infrared

Another firsts,  Em has ticked over 90,000K a few days back.  I know that doesn’t sound like much, but considering that when we bought her we think she had about 65,000K.  Even if she didn’t, we traveled many K in the last 6 months.
 
We last left you in Mt. Gambier and all its sites.  The guide book really panned it, but it really wasn’t that bad of a town.  The campsite was really nice.  You only needed a pass code to get into the campsite and not one to use the loo, laundry or anything else.  It also had a terrific camp kitchen that even had a tellie so we could watch the evening news.  It was so cold our nights there that one night we just hung out watching TV and talking to other campers while staying warm.  From there we did a day trip up to Penola.  This is the home of Australia's one and only saint, that was just canonized two weeks ago, St Mary Mackillop.  Aside from that it is the home of an Antarctic explorer and mapper, one of the first wineries of the region and many other things.  We really loved a little vineyard just on the outskirts, it has been in the region for over a hundred years, but what drew us to them was they had goats.  Any place that has goats draws our attention.  After buying yet more wine we continued up to Coonawara for more wine tasting. 
 
Continuing on up the road we had lunch in Naracoorte, then went to the caves.  They were really cool although I think that Steve is getting a little caved out.  The first cave was a self guided wet cave, the second was a guided tour of the Alexandra Caves.  The whole area it lettered with caves, and the grape growers are always finding them when they go to put in stakes for the vines.  They are truly fascinating but I could never be a spelunker, not enough light for me!
 
From Mt Gambier we turn east and shortly cross the border into Victoria!   We drove through little towns of Casterton to Hamilton, then north to Horsham where we based ourselves for two nights so we could see the Grampians NP.  They are very different from the Flinders, much more jagged and sharp looking.  We walked the walks and saw the waterfalls, then just ‘cause, we hiked up Mt William, the highest peak in the Grampians with an elevation of 1167m for a stunning view.  We only had to walk the last 2 K but that was enough, going down was much harder than going up.
 
Yesterday we were in Dunkeld, a tiny town at the base of the Southern Grampians, touring the southern end of the range, trying to se it all before the bad weather set in.  We did, and it has.
 
Here we are in Port Fairy, a very charming seacoast town at the far end of the Great Ocean Road.  We found Port Fairy last Feb. when we were traveling and really fell in love with it, so here we are again for a couple of days.  No traveling, just enjoying the moment.  Tuesday?  Who knows where we will point the car…
 

Where's Waldo?

Blue Penguins (or Fairy Penguins) in Port Victor

Middleton Beach Storm

Granite Island Seascape

Granite Island Tree

Window to the Past

For those of a certain age, myself included, the phrase "follow the bouncing ball" had to do with learning music and it wasn't very easy, at least in my case. I feel like the bouncing ball and following us has not been easy for all of you. So, without further ado, here is a recap of our travel itinerary:

Byron Bay to Wooli to Grafton to Glen Innes to Moree to Narrabri to Coonabarabran to Gilgandra to Nyngan to Cobar to Wilcannia to Broken Hill (all in New South Wales) to Peterborough to Hawker to Blinman to Port Augusta to Marla (all South Australia) to Uluru (Ayers Rock) to Kings Canyon to Alice Springs to Glen Helen (back to Alice Springs) to Devil's Marbles (just past Wycliffe Wells) to Katherine to Katherine Gorge to Jabiru (in Kakadu Nation Park) to Darwin to Mataranka to Alice Springs (all in Northern Territory to Coober Pedy to Port Germein to Clare to Adelaide to Cape Jervis to Kingscote (Kangaroo Island) to Middleton (by Goolwa) to our current location, Mount Gambier (all in South Australia).

We are here for three days to see the local sights. We have found that the best thing for us is to find a central location and explore from there. That way, we only have to set up Snappa once every three days and it sure helps at the end of a long touring day to have a nice and snug home to return to. What we have found is that Australian caravan parks (campgrounds in the States) are by and large very clean, well run and very affordable. Most have laundries, all have showers and kitchens (of varying levels), and most are close to where we want to be. Traffic noise can be a nuisance, but that's the case with motels too.

I am a bit obsessive when it comes to weather as I hate camping in the pouring rain so on the days when the forecast is for heavy rain we get to splurge on a hotel/motel for the duration of the storms. So far, in 45 days on the road, we have camped in Snappa for 32 nights and in a motel for 12. Not a bad percentage, if you ask me. When we get to Tasmania, that ratio could flip, but that is fine. We are here to enjoy our time in Australia, not to endure it.

For those who have been following our tale to date, we have spent a wonderful four days on Kangaroo Island, Australia's fourth icon after Sydney Harbour, The Great Barrier Reef, and Uluru. The place is huge, 150 km long by 50 km wide and 90 percent of the roads are dirt. A very unspoiled place and that is one of its charms. The Remarkable Rocks are truly remarkable, the beaches pristine, and the people very friendly.

After KI, we went across the Fleurieu (pronounced 'floory-o' by the locals) Peninsula to the charming seaside town of Goolwa, which was having a Lions convention so there was no room at the proverbial inn or caravan park, so we backtracked to Middleton and stayed in the cleanest caravan park to date! We had a ball in Goolwa and Port Victor and could have stayed longer but we wanted to keep moving and see more.

We drove through Strathalbyn, a crossroads town known for its antique shops, and continued to Wellington and crossed the mighty Murray River on a small ferry, which was great fun. Then we continued south along the Coorong National Park, which is very much like the North Carolina barrier islands and then headed inland at Kingston S.E. (for South East to differentiate it from other Kingstons) to Mt Gambier.

There is a blue crater lake just over the hill from the caravan park along with two other crater lakes in the vicinity. Other than that, there are caves and other attractions in easy driving distance. From Mt. Gambier, we plan to tackling the Grampians in Victoria, probably basing ourselves near Horsham on the northern end of them. Then down to the Great Ocean Road and our favorite little town on the southern coast, Port Fairy. But that's a tale for another day.

Kangaroo Island

McLaren Vale Vineyard

Kangaroo Island from Prospect Hill

Remarkable Rocks

Admiralty Cave

Little Sahara

We seem to be doing nothing but eating and drinking our way around South Australia, locally known as SA (pronounced "essay"). We have tried and bought many bottles of wine from the Clare Valley. But as much as we wanted to stay, the weather took a turn for the worse so we headed down to Adelaide for the weekend.

Like the rest of SA, Adelaide is a gem. It is a very well laid out city, surrounded by parkland. It is a very intimate feeling city that didn’t start out as a penal colony. There are gardens and roses everywhere, a huge international food scene and beautiful architecture with an interesting juxtaposition of very old and very modern, but it works. None of the buildings are very high, maybe 20 floors. The city doesn’t feel as though it need to compete with Sydney or Melbourne so it follows its own tune. We met friends of friends and they kindly put us up for a night and showed us their city. The best way to see anything is to get an insiders view I reckon.

After leaving Adelaide we traveled south through the McLaren Vale wine region. Excellent wines, stunning views, much more open with bigger wineries while the Clare had more boutique style wineries. It’s hard work trying all these wines! Then we drove on down the Fleurieu Peninsula to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island (or KI-"kay-eye") for a few days. KI wasn’t on the list of to do’s, but enough people convinced Steve that we had to see it, so, here we are.

KI is much bigger that either of us expected. From where the ferry puts in at Penneshaw, it is 58K to Kingscote, the largest of the towns with 1400 people. To get to Flinders Chase NP visitors center, it is 99K. As you can see, the distances are vast for an island. The three main roads are paved, all the rest are like pave pack, fine for driving if a bit washboardy. We have climbed all 512 steps to the top of Prospect Hill for an incredible view of Pennington Bay, the Southern Ocean and Pelican Lagoon; driven out to Flinders Chase National Park to the Incredible Rocks and Admiralty cove. We have explored Kelly Hill Caves and climbed the sand dunes at Little Sahara. I’m sorry to say that we haven’t visited any wineries, but, we have gone into art galleries, KI Spirits that makes the most delicious liquor, they distill their own vodka and gin as well as other distilled goodies. They also had the most incredible honey walnut whiskey ice cream that was to die for. Then to top of the food day, we visited Island Pure Sheep Dairy for a tour and samplings. They make a divine sheep yogurt with local honey. I tell you, it is hard to not eat well or drink well here in SA.

Next? Honestly, we only have ideas, but we are working our way east that much I do know.