Wednesday, 1st January 2014 - Parkholme …
Day 225 of our Trip around Oz
New
Years Day and it doesn’t feel any different but let’s hope it is a better year
for us. Another warm day.
Geoff
looked on the Westfield Marion site and he thought it said the shopping centre
was open. I was a bit sceptical but off
on the scooter we went only to find it was closed. But Bunnings was opem se we went inn and
bought some chainsaw oil and some flyscreen to mend the dinette roller.
When
we got back Geoff downloaded the Windows 8.1 update and then started cutting
down the Bougainvillea for the landlady.
Julie, the landlady, heard the chainsaw and came out and supplied us with more bins. After a while it started to rain and then it
settled in for the night. We rang the
lady with the next house/farm sit, Petra, and arranged to meet up with her in
the morning.
So,
all in all, a normal start to the New Year.
Wednesday, 1st January 2014 - Parkholme …
Day 225 of our Trip around Oz
New Year’s
Day and it doesn’t feel any different but let’s hope it is a better year for
us. Another warm day.
Geoff
looked on the Westfield Marion site and he thought it said the shopping centre
was open. I was a bit sceptical but off
on the scooter we went only to find it was closed. But Bunnings was open se we went in and
bought some chainsaw oil and some flyscreen to mend the dinette roller.
When
we got back Geoff downloaded the Windows 8.1 update and then started cutting
down the Bougainvillea for the landlady.
Julie supplied us with yet more bins. After a while it started to rain and then it
settled in for the night. We rang the
lady with the next house/farm sit, Petra, and arranged to meet up with her in
the morning.
So,
all in all, a normal start to the New Year.
Thursday,
2nd January 2014 - Parkholme
We spent a bit of time in the morning cutting
up more of the Bougainvillea. We
finished around 11am, got changed and headed off to the Cultural Centre to meet
Petra at the café there. We actually
found a parking spot near the café and Petra and Sue turned up a short time
after. We got on really well with them
and chatted away until we realised that two hours had passed so Petra treated
us to a fish and chip lunch. By the time
we left there we had been there three
hours.
We parted and went on to the
Marion Shopping Centre where we wandered along the upstairs level until we came
to the games shop. We got talking to a
couple of ladies who were perusing the goods who said they really liked board
games. They pointed us in the right
direction to about three games which were good games for two to play. It was good to get some feedback from someone
who knows! Alas, they shop didn’t have
any of the recommended games in stock as it was just after Christmas but at
least we know what to look for now.
We
also popped into Games Traders and bought three cheap computer games that will
keep our tiny brains occupied. They were
only $5 each so didn’t break the banks, so to speak.
We
didn’t get back till after 4pm and worked on the Bougainvillea again and Julie came round with more bins and gave us a hand.
In
the evening Duke and Bubbles came in for a while until it was time to give them
their tea and lock them in for the night.
Alas, I tripped over the water pipe, stumbled and slammed my foot into a
concrete step and I think I have broken my toe.
Ouch but never mind, it will heal.
Friday,
3rd January 2014 -
Parkholme
My
toe throbbed a bit during the night but not too bad.
Geoff
was up early and out there cutting up the Bougainvillea and I was soon cutting
it up into smaller bits to fit it easier into the bins. Julie came round and went in search of more
bins from her neighbours and then she did the final cleaning up. Later she came round with three bottles of
Rose and $50 which was nice as we didn’t expect anything. She also invited us round for a BBQ on
Sunday.
After
lunch I made a bread pudding and then we went in search of the dog park. This time we found it and it was very large
(originally a school oval), fenced area with about 40 plus dogs and their
owners. There were all sizes, gender,
breeds and bitsers and all very social animals and non-aggressive. I thought of my sister Kay in the UK when I
saw four Miniature Schnauzers there as well.
Duke really enjoyed it and now we know why he is not interested in the ball
when he is there. Too much socialising
to be done! Great as not much effort on
our part.
It
was then back to the motorhome to play one of our new computer games for a
while before it was time for tea.
Saturday,
4th January 2014 - Parkholme
It
rained overnight but cleared once the sun came out. It was quite windy and the metal shed door
banged all night which was very annoying.
I was soon out there stuffing old rags between the door and the shed to
stop it happening.
After
brekky we decided to take Duke to the beach at Brighton. We took him down onto the sand but once he
saw the waves breaking he wanted to go back. So
we now know he is not a water dog. After
he dragged us back up to the esplanade we stopped at a café for coffee for us
and water for him. Geoff also bought
three sausages in bread from the life savers stall and we partook of one
each.
We
then drove a little bit further on to the Brighton Pier. In truth, it is the Brighton Jetty but I
wanted a photo to show the guys in the UK what the Brighton Pier looks like
over here. We wandered to the end with
Duke none the wiser that he was now walking over the sea. There were heaps of people trying their luck
at fishing but the only fish we saw being caught whilst we were there was a
puffer fish and you know how we love them!
It was a lovely sunny day but the wind was cold. Even so, there were some brave souls braving
the water. Most, I must say, were
swimming outside of the life saver flags … how dumb!
On
the way back to Parkholme we stopped off, once again, at the doggy park to give
Duke his afternoon social treat and for us to pat and cuddle the various dogs
that came up to say hello to us. Back
to the motor home and relax.
We were late getting up today to a cool and windy day. The first job was to get the black rabbit back into its cage. Julie had come round and Geoff got distracted when he had the cage door open. Julie (Jules) said she had been on the phone to Victoria who said she was coming back a day early and would be back about 5pm.
At lunch time we headed over to Julies for a BBQ lunch just as the heavens opened and down came the rain. But that didn’t deter us as her friend, Peter, cooked the BBQ under the car port and we ate inside. She put on a good spread and we all chatted away as we all seemed to be on the same wave length. She gave us her parents address in the Riverland if we got up that way and wanted to say hi.
I then did a bit of cleaning up and Victoria and the boys turned up about 5.30 and Duke and Bubbles were pleased to see them. They were pleased to see that all the animals were okay, especially Bubbles, the cat, as they had never left him before.
Bed at 10 am and whilst we were reading we heard a chopper getting closer and closer until it seemed to be almost hovering overhead. Geoff had to get up, of course, to have a look and he said he thought it was the police chopper as it was just hovering with no lights on. Then we heard quite a few sirens that abruptly cut off very close by. Some illegal activity going on which we will probably find out about in the morning.
Monday, 6th January 2014 - Mt Barker
We got up and rang Irene to see of they were happy for us to come back for a couple of days after our overnight trip to see Petra in Mt Barker. She said tomorrow was fine and also asked it we had felt the earth tremor this morning. Nope, so we went on the web to read all about it. Apparently there was a separate small 3 magnitude quake recorded in the Flinders Ranges as well as offshore of Port Noarlunga. The tremor was felt in suburbs across the city and struck just before 8:30am. People felt a very short and sharp jolt and an accompanying loud bang and a little bit of shaking. It is rare, they said, for a quake to be centered so close to a city. So there was a little bit of excitement that Geoff and I missed. We also went on the web to see what was going on the night before and this is the police report … ‘Arrest after pursuit through suburbs. A man has been arrested after a pursuit through the metropolitan area yesterday. Just before 10pm, a patrol saw a stolen Mazda sedan in the car park of the Arndale shopping centre. The car sped away from police, who notified the police helicopter which was used to safely monitor the Mazda as it travelled through the western suburbs. Road spikes were used to stop the car near the intersection of Marion Road and Daws Road at Park Holme. The male driver and sole occupant of the car was arrested after running away from the car. A 19-year-old man of no fixed address was charged with illegal use of a motor vehicle, driving dangerously to escape a police pursuit, driving while disqualified, breach of bail and resist police.’ … We are only one road back from the area they caught him so another thing of interest.
We packed up and said our goodbyes to the woof, cats, Victoria and kids and Jules and Geoff gingerly backed out of the very tight driveway. Then it was on with the scooter, which we nearly forgot, and head of to Henley Beach where we stopped at the beachfront for some lunch.
We were at the doctors by 2pm but Tom, being Tom, was running late. First he confirmed I had broken my toe and just said to strap it up. He then went through my blood tests and everything was really good.. So no problems have shown up that could cause my leg problems so the next step is a nerve conductivity test and a Brain CT scan. Wonders of wonders, the hospital could do the scan straight away and guess what? They found a brain! I was in and out within 30 minutes and they said I could pick up the x-rays tomorrow to take in to Tom. So I made, yet another, doctors appointment.
From here it was onto Petra’s at Mt Barker to check out our next house/farm sit. An hour later we were being introduced to five Labradoodles and Felix the cat. The dogs and Felix are really smoochies … nice. There were also animals that weren’t in view which were Alpacas, cattle, sheep, rabbits and chickens. Petra invited us to dinner and we had chicken schnitzel, potato bake and veggies followed by apple pie and cream. It tastes all the better because I didn’t have to cook it. But boy … it sure was cold. A bitter wind was blowing and the temperature only got to 22ºCwhich we felt was bloody cold for us as we have been acclimatized to the hotter weather.
Bed at 10 pm.
Tuesday, 9th January 2014 - Flagstaff Hill (again)
A cold night and it was only 12º when we got up so it was on with the heater. And no wonder it was cold inside as I had left my passenger window down so it was also lucky we didn’t get bitten alive by mozis. Too bloody cold for them!
We chatted with Petra until midday and Geoff got her whipper snipper going for her and then we drove back into
We then grabbed fish and chips for tea and made our way to Flagstaff Hill. No John and Irene tonight as they have gone to see the stage show ‘South Pacific’. But we did say a quick hello to them when they returned.
Wednesday, 8th January 2014 - Flagstaff Hill
I got up when I heard a text message come in at 8am which was from Moo Moo. Porridge for brekky and then in to see John to see if he was interested in a little project which was making a wooden lid for our new Cathedral game. Yes, he could and yes, he would do it. We also had mail waiting for us and there was a new starter ignition switch for the genny, new health cards, newsletter from Sam and Shirley and some new bags for my manual vacuum pump. We will see if these new ones are any better.
Geoff fitted the new switch to the genny and it is working well. Irene made some home baked cookies so we all went in for morning tea at 11am. Yummy! Alex, the next door neighbour was invited to partake of them too.
Geoff then took the roller blind/fly screen down from the dinette window as Irene said she was sure she could make a good j0b of sewing the new mesh we had purchased onto the blind. Geoff spent the rest of the afternoon measuring and cutting it to size whilst Irene and I went off to Spotlight. They had really good post Christmas sales so I bought a couple of new pillowslips, a set of towels and a small container for kitchen bench rubbish. By the time I had wandered around Spotlight my broken toe was really complaining so it was back to Flagstaff Hill.
It was then time to go in for drinkies before heading off to the local Mexican Restaurant. It is a restaurant that is very popular with the local uni students and you can’t book it. When we got there, alas, there were heaps of people waiting for a table so we went into the Japanese/Korean Restaurant next door. The other three had Obento boxes and I went for the Tempura Chicken. Mine was very nice but not what I expected as it was more like crumbed chicken and not in a tempura batter and came with a tiny salad and no rice which seemed a bit weird. Maybe this was a Korean style dish. But, as I said, it was very tasty and I wasn’t unhappy with it.
Thursday, 9th January 2014 - Flagstaff Hill
Up latish so a late brekky too. Started on my ear drop regime and I’m not too keen as it makes me go deaf for a while and feels weird.
I did a heap of washing and John finished of our lovely little lid for our Cathedral game. He made a great job of it so … thanks John!
Irene sewed in the small plastic cord like stuff into the new fly screen for the roller blind and she has also done a fantastic job. She makes really lovely quilts so knows what she is doing. Geoff re-tensioned the blind and spent some time fitting it back in the dinette area. It is a little stiff but is so much better and will loosen up over time.
John and Geoff then went off to Bunnings to buy some more flyscreen as Geoff had offered to fix some of their damaged screens. When they got back Geoff started on fixing the sliding flywire door to the lounge area. Next he did the laundry and the toilet window one. I got in my washing and made the bed with the freshly washed bed linen and put fresh towels in the bathroom.
By this time it was time for drinkies with Irene and John before John cooked a nice BBQ tea followed by Irene’s rhubarb pie and cream. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a tummy upset which I believe was caused by the antibiotics I was taking.
After tea Geoff gave Irene a CD with a heaps of ebooks on it and showed her how to access them through the program Calibre. That should keep her going for a while.
We also asked John if he could make me a wooden board that covers the kitchen sink when it is not in use. We have a Teflon one which has been used as a cutting block so no longer looks very nice. John makes such a good job and is probably the only person I know that could make me one.
Friday, 10th January 2014 - Rapid Bay, Fleurieu Peninsular
Up around 8.30 and shower. Pack up and say our goodbyes. Then Geoff had to quickly fix the lounge room sliding door fly wire door as it was so new and clean he walked straight into it. A little bit of fly wire had popped out. Silly ‘B’.
We left around 10am and headed south but stopping at a mower shop to buy a spare spark plug for the genny. When we tried to turn around and get back onto the highway we bottomed out (we are so long and the scooter rack hangs out) but no damage done.
We decided to pop into Maslin Beach for a quick squizzy and it turned out to be a pretty part of the coastline so we stopped for a coffee and a photo. We stopped again at Yankalilla to get some medication from the chemist and a few bits from the supermarket. Geoff was wearing his Papua New Guinea T shirt and got stopped by a guy who was from PNG, Port Moresby, but now living in Adelaide. They got chatting and, after a while, I left them to it to get the bits I needed. When I had finished Geoff was still talking to Dennis who told us there was a cheap camping site at Rapid Bay which is where he and his family was staying.
We headed that way but had a quick look, as we often do, at the seaside area of Carackalinga. I also called Sealink to see how much it would cost to take the motor home over to Kangaroo Island. I knew it was expensive and now it was confirmed. This would need a bit of discussion on our part so we said we would research it once we were settled.
The Rapid Bay camping ground was right on the beach and we found a great spot overlooking a turquoise bay. The colour of the sea down here was quite a surprise to us as we had thought that only Qld had these beautiful coloured waters. How wrong were we. Our camp spot had a dog to the left, a dog to the right and one behind us so we patted the dogs which, in turn, got us chatting with the other campers. By mid afternoon we decided we would take the short walk (hobble for me) to the jetty close by. One of the fishermen there was catching some decent sized squid but Geoff didn’t have any squid gigs otherwise he might have joined him.
Back to the motorhome and discuss going to Kangaroo Island. We have been told by other people that it is the most expensive ferry trip in the world and we are tending to believe them. It is only a 45 minute trip and costs $80 per person plus the vehicle. Our vehicle is 9 metres long so that was an extra $420 so a total cost of $580 all up. We looked at parking the motor home and hiring a car over there but then we would need to pay for all our accommodation and meals out so was in the end, no cheaper. So we decided to book it and worry about paying the credit card off later.
Later I saw Geoff chatting up a couple of young girls. He said they were actually chatting him up and had come looking for him and found him because of his T shirt. They were Dennis’ daughters and had been told about Geoff from their dad Geoff grabbed the magazine with our PNG article in it and went off with them to catch up with Dennis and his wife. Later Dennis and the kids returned the magazine and more jaw exercise was conducted. A very nice family and they have invited us to stay with them if we are ever their way. It seems a lot of people are willing to let you into their lives if you take the time to chat with them and find you have something in common.
Up at 7am and pack everything away and make our way to the ferry. We waved goodbye to Dennis and his family as we drove past.
It was only a 15 minute drive to Cape Jervis where I left Geoff to go and get our tickets. Only the driver of the vehicle was allowed to drive on and all passengers were supposed to walk on (not all did). Geoff soon found me and it was an uneventful if little bumpy ride over to the ferry terminal at Penneshaw. Geoff went off to get the vehicle and was disembarked way before me and waiting.
Our first stop was the visitor information centre at Penneshaw to pick up a lot of tourist brochures and then on to Frenchman’s Rock where the French Explorer, Nicholas Baudin, carved his arrival date on a rock in 1803. The rock is now only a replica and the original rock is in the Penneshaw Maritime Museum. For further information on this and other things on the island click on the following link ...
http://tourkangarooisland.com.au/history/. Before we left Frenchman's Rock we had coffee and brekky before continuing on.
Our first port of call was American River which was neither American or a river. It was named by American fur sealers who used to camp in the inlet, thinking it was a river. Very pretty but not much there so we didn’t linger and continued on to Kingscote which is the major town, albeit it small, on Kangaroo Island. Pop into the local IGA, as we always seem to do, have some lunch and onto Reeves Point to have a look at the ancient Mulberry Bush that was growing there. The original Mulberry tree was planted in 1836 and there are quite a few of its offspring growing nearby. The original Mulberry tree was still bearing heaps of fruit but we sampled the fruit off one of its offspring close by. As far as I was concerned it was ‘ lip pucker’ stuff but once Geoff found that you had to pick the really black/red ones (like blackberries) they were quite sweet.
Geoff decided we would push on to Stokes Bay and he took the unsealed road which was pretty good in most spots. When we got to Stokes Bay it wasn’t as pretty as the other places, or so we thought at the time. The campground was behind the small café there and was only $5 per night so we couldn’t complain. The seashore here was rocky and not at all appealing and we were sorry we hadn’t stayed at Emu Bay. But, after Geoff did a bit more research, he found there was another sandy beach beyond the headland which you accessed through a tunnel made of tumbled boulders. But where? After a bit of investigation we found the track which wound its way through caverns made up of the tumbled boulders from the hill above. What a surprise when we made it through. We found ourselves on a lovely sandy beach where more rocks had made a natural safe swimming pool away from the dangerous rip that all the signs warned of and that only surfers braved. We walked to the end of the sandy beach and when we walked back we had the stinging sand being blown at us from a stiff breeze that was blowing. Stingy … ouch!
Tacos for tea then we played Cathedral and Farkle. Late to bed and very late to sleep as there were a group of youngsters partying until 1am.
Sunday, 12th January 2014 - Freedom Camping somewhere
Up around 8.30 but could have stayed in bed. We left about 10am heading for the south west coast. En route we popped into the small hamlet of Parndana where I dropped off some pillowslips and towels at the local op shop that I no longer needed.
On to Flinders Chase National Park where we paid our $8 entry fee at the visitors information centre and then made our way to Remarkable Rocks. When we got there they were, indeed, remarkable. They were more than remarkable really and were quite spectacular. Time and nature had worked together to sculpture these amazing rocks which were set on a headland above the Southern Ocean with the next closest land mass due south being the Adelie Coast of Antarctica. For more photos of Remarkable Rocks click on the following link ...
http://www.ozshots.com/20011230_Kangaroo_Remarkable/. We spent quite a bit of time up there exploring the many different shapes, caverns and boulders at the same time nearly getting blown away as it was very windy.
We left here and backtracked a little way and then to the left and down to another piece of the coast further west to Admirals Arch. A boardwalk took us down a zigzag path where we passed viewing platforms from where we could gaze at the New Zealand Fur Seals basking on the rocks below. Admirals Arch was also quite spectacular and was made by the wave action punching a large hole through the headland making it into, of course, an arch. It had a ragged edge to it and was quite beautiful. Once we had taken in our fill we started back up the boardwalk. It was slow going for me as my busted toe was starting to complain. Once again it was very windy at the top and Geoff spent quite a bit of time chatting to a local coach driver who had parked close by and watching a Rosenberg Goanna amble across the car park.
Once we left here we started to look for somewhere to stay overnight. Off we went on the long road ahead. We were going to camp close by in the campground but Geoff decided we would push on to Vivonne Bay which turned out to be a mistake. There was 2km of really corrugated unsealed road down to the campground (thank goodness it was only 2 km) and when we got there the campground was, basically, full. I suppose we could have found a spot but the whole campground seemed to be taken over by families in run down vans and all with scruffy and snotty nosed kids. It was one of those places where everyone stares at you when you drive in and not a friendly wave in sight. So we decided to push on to the campground at Murray Lagoon.
Dinner and then a game of Cathedral followed by Farkle and then a movie.
Monday, 13th January 2014 - Emu Bay, Kangaroo Island
A quiet night and a good nights sleep because of it. But it was up at 8am and pack up.
After brekky we were gone without anybody being any the wiser except for a set of tyre tracks.
We drove up to the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Farm to have a look. Apparently, in the 1880’s, the Eucalyptus Oil industry was one of Kangaroo Islands major industries. It reached its peak in the 1930’s when farmers went over to sheep farming which was less labour intensive, with the result being that 90% of Eucalyptus Oil is now produced overseas. Emu Ridge went back into the business of Eucalyptus Oil production when the bottom fell out of the sheep industry about 20 odd years ago and their started the business in the old post office. They produce their oil using the same techniques and methods used in the early 1900’s using a traditional wood fired still which was built in 1930. The self guided tour was $3.50 each and it was interesting but quick and Geoff thought that they should refund the entrance fees if you purchased a certain amount from their shop. And we did spend over budget again! We did purchase a litre of Eucalyptus Oil as it was 100% pure and we use the stuff quite a bit and would, therefore, use much less. I use it with sugar soap and water as a prewash and Spray and wipe so I don’t have to carry a myriad of cleaning products. Plus, I think it works so much better than the supermarket products. It is great for insect bites, colds, cuts, burns, insect repellent and sore throats as well. It kills germs as well as Dettol or bleach so is a good ‘all rounder. The oil we buy from the supermarkets is 40% oil and 60% something else. We also bought non-alcoholic cider, soap, lollies and a small book of Eucalyptus oil uses. It was worth a visit.
From here it was on to Kingscote again to grab a few supplies and then we drove down to the jetty for lunch. Afterwards Geoff went onto the jetty to try to catch some squid as he had since bought two squid gigs. A guy next to him caught two nice big ones but Geoff came up with zilch. Perhaps there were only two there and they had been caught. He spent a couple of hours there coming back occasionally for a cold drink. I caught up on my journal whilst he was away .
When he had had enough we continued on to Emu Bay to the campground there. It was nice but only had basic facilities and there was only one other camper trailer there with us.
At 6.30 we walked down to the local jetty to try for those squid again but the bay was too shallow. We stayed for about an hour and then wandered back to cook tea of chicken Laksa. It was very hot without much breeze and it is forecast to be hotter tomorrow and for the next few days. If it gets too hot we may have to treat ourselves to power at a caravan park. We shall see as it is peak tourist season at the moment.
Tuesday, 14th January 2014 - Sellicks Beach, Fleurieu Peninsular
Bacon and eggs today as we missed out on Sunday.
Our email program is playing up. We can receive emails but not send them. This started yesterday so I have had to send emails via my yahoo account. We wanted to try to sort it so we went onto Telstra 24x7 Chat. It turned out to be a Trojan that stopped our communication on sending emails on Outlook only. Geoff had been into an iffy site the day before. The girl online at Telstra was nothing if not persistent and took over our computer from her end and we watched as she went here and there and eventually went into a site to find that our IP had been listed on a black list site. Once she had removed us from this and we rebooted our computer everything was fine. It must have taken her at least, if not more than, thirty minutes. I absolutely love Telstra 24x7 chat online (not Facebook) as you can get things resolved without getting frustrated or losing your cool. If you are interested and living in Oz the link is https://livechat.telstra.com/. When you log on you may be put in a queue but it is well worth the wait as any issues
It was 11am before we got going and we went back to Kingscote jetty for a little while to see if those elusive squid would jump on the line, which they didn’t. Never mind as it was very pleasant parked down near the jetty as there was a very nice sea breeze blowing into the motorhome keeping it relatively cool as, by this time, it was getting to be very hot outside.
We headed towards Penneshaw but remembered to turn off at the Prospect Hill Lookout track. This hill was named by Matthew Flinders when he climbed it in 1802. Hopefully it wasn’t as hot as today! Plus there were no steps in his day as now there are 512 to the top! So … what do they say (and I have quoted this before) “only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun” and that’s what we did. It was 1pm on a stinking hot day and I didn’t think my legs would be up to it but they were and there were great 360º views from the top. It was also a tad cooler as there was a breeze blowing up at the top. Coming down was a lot easier, as you would expect, but I had to use Geoff as a support towards the end as my legs had decided that this was just a little too much work and were starting to play up. I suppose I was a bit silly attempting it with my current problems but I didn’t want to miss out!
On to Penneshaw where we hoped to find an air conditioned café and two cold milkshakes. We never found either. None of the cafes were air conditioned and the last one didn’t do milkshakes so we went into the local IGA supermarket and bought a 2 litre iced coffee milk, a sausage roll and pie for a late 3pm lunch.
Soon it was 4pm and time to make our way to the ferry terminal where we picked up our tickets. I boarded and Geoff drove the motorhome on. It wasn’t very busy this time (maybe the 9am trip is full of day trippers) so I managed to get two comfy chairs near the front windows. Geoff soon found me there. The seas was like glass so passengers were allowed onto the bow so off Geoff went, of course. I managed to get a reasonable photo of him taken from the inside looking out taken on my phone.
We disembarked an hour later and headed north. A storm front came through cooling things down a lot so we thought we might be able to find an overnight spot as we could probably do without power for the night. As we came over a hill we saw a sparsely populated beach area so we turned off. It turned out to be Sellicks Beach and we saw heaps of vehicles down on the beach and large car parks on the headland above the beach. There were no ‘NO CAMPING’ signs and Geoff got chatting to a guy who owned a holiday house nearby who said we would be fine to park overnight as Sellicks Beach was a laid back and easy going community and non aggressive when it came to things like overnight stays.
After dinner, about 9pm, we moved down to the lower car park and were soon followed by a smaller van where we both propped for the night.
Wednesday, 15th January 2014 - To Flagstaff Hill
Up early, just after 6am, as I was warm and couldn’t sleep. The lower car park soon started to fill up with early morning beach goers .. some jogging and some just walking their dogs. We decided to move to the top car park to get out of their way where we had a shower, brekky etc.
We were on the road by 8am and arrived at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at 9am. We saw the parking sign and turned in only to find that at the end of the entry there was a tight right hand turn through boom gates. We were now committed as we couldn’t go back out as we had a heap of cars behind us so we had to try to get in and we only just made it. It was made harder by drivers who didn’t have the nous or inclination to give us more room. City dwellers!
After a cuppa it was on to the neurologist and I was called in quite quickly and had these electrical pulses applied to my nerve endings. Some of the pulses were not so bad but some were quite painful. He said the results showed up that I definitely had damage to my nerves but the tests would not show why. This was up to the doctor to try to find out. So I have to make another appointment to see Tom in a weeks time.
Back to the motorhome where we soon had a minor disaster. A bright yellow Hyundai Accent had parked next to us and really close leaving us miniscule room to get out. Geoff thought he had managed it but we were flagged down to be told we had just scraped the car as we drove out. Bugga … but it looked like we had only taken the paint off and no dents so we left our contact number. We were a little stressed by now and we still had to get out of the bloody car park. Getting out was much tighter and there was only one way out for us, the way we had come in.
We had a sharp turn into the lane with the boom gate which was also very, very narrow. Not good at all. Geoff used all of his mirrors and tried to have eyes in the back of his head but it was a near impossible task and he just slightly clipped a sign that was enough to pull off the back drivers side panel which housed the lights. With the aid of a delivery van driver we managed to get out and found a side street where we parked to survey the damage. It was cosmetic only (but probably expensive) and he managed to reconnect the indicator lights but both the stop light and reversing lights globe was cactus. We were still legal as we had stop lights on the scooter rack.
We then decided to make our way to John and Irene’s as we were sorely in need of a little TLC. John was off working but Irene was in and made us most welcome (I bet they are getting sick of us propping on their lawn).
It was now time for me to contact our insurance agency, Apia, and the guy, David, was great. I wasn’t sure yet of what the costs would be and said we may not even have to go through with the claim if it is cheaper than our excess.
It was extremely hot by then, around 43º, so we spent most of the day sitting in the air conditioned family room talking to Irene and watching the tennis. John came home around 3pm and checked whether the cutting board for the sink needed any adjusting. Yep, but just a little, so he shaved a tad off but still has to oil it so I won’t be getting it just yet. I will pick it up when I next go to see the doctor.
John also told Geoff he had found the local IGA store sold Branston sauce which is Geoff’s favourite so off he went and bought four bottles. We look in nearly every store we frequent but always without luck. Now we realise it must be a store that is in a suburb that has a high proportion of Poms living in it.
Irene made a beaut tomato and pepper tart and salad for tea. It was too hot to do anything else. When we finally left them to it the motorhome was extremely hot so we had the A/con on for a while until it had cooled down enough to go to bed.
Thursday, 16th January 2014 - Brukunga (near Mt Barker) … Day 239 of our ‘Around Oz’ trip
It was a very warm night last night.
Before we left John and Irene’s our insurance company, Apia, rang to find out more details of our little bingle so they could organise things and tell us what we were entitled to. The claim for the little yellow Hyundai Accent is also on the move, which is good. I am glad we did the right thing by her as she had been in the hospital all day as her partner had been admitted with a stroke!
We, temporarily, said goodbye to John and Irene and were on our way to Brukunga, 12 kms out of Mt Barker. We missed our first turn and then the GPs had us going up these tiny country lanes which was difficult with a large motorhome but we eventually ended up on the motorway, thank goodness. It was then an easy drive to Brukunga and we had lunch with Petra and then left her to get on with her chores. It was very hot, around 43º, so on with the A/C.
Friday, 17th January 2014 - Brukunga
Another scorcher of a day and too hot to do much of anything outside so we fiddled around inside with the A/Con on until a cool change came through on very strong winds. The temperature went from 42º to 25º in a couple of minutes but was very welcome even though the worry was then a fast moving bushfire.
As we were reading in bed later, a storm rolled through with thunder and lightning but with a heavy downpour as well which lessened the chance of a fire starting due to a lightning strike.
Saturday, 18th January 2014
Nothing much to report. Just cleaning in the van after all the dirt roads whilst Geoff did quite a few maintenance jobs for Petra. One of the chores was moving the three rabbit hutches from the ground and up onto a bench for ease of cleaning, feeding etc. These weren't pet rabbits and were not used to being handled so care had to be taken. I ended up holding the first one by the scruff of the neck and on its back as it, supposedly, keeps them calm. Geoff and Petra lifted the cage up and we popped the first rabbit back in. Petra and Geoff then lifted the second cage up not realizing that the cage had no bottom. Consequently, the black rabbit was soon free so I had to grab him by the scruff of the neck and hold him on his back until the guys got the cage straight. The last rabbit was the less friendly of the lot so he went into another cage until the job was done. Alas, Petra manhandled the cage before Geoff had managed to get hold of it and she dropped it heavily to the ground. We heard her swear and say she thought she had dropped it on a chicken but it got up and scurried away. Alas, when we all went to put the chooks away it was laying on the ground dead as a doornail. We decided that it had only just died so Geoff took it back to the van and skinned it (less messier than plucking) and it was an interesting exercise. We shall cook it in the crockpot tomorrow and see how it goes!
Sunday, 19th January 2014 - Brunkunga, Adelaide Hills
We had to get up reasonably early as we were taking Petra to the airport at 7.45. On the way back we spotted a large Ikea store so Geoff parked and we went in as Geoff had never been inside one before. Of course, we didn’t spend much but did have their bacon, scrambled egg, chipolata, tomato and hash brown for $3.95 each. Cheap at half the price.
Back at the farm we pottered around and Geoff went and explored, what Petra calls, the Hangar and he said it was a veritable ‘Aladdin's Cave’ in there with heaps of interesting and costly stuff. All over the place, no rhyme or reason to it.
Later we fed and watered the rabbits and chooks and locked the chooks away. Relax.
Monday, 20th January 2014 - Brunkunga
Geoff spent the day fixing up the roofs over the rabbit hutches, putting up new nesting boxes for the chooks, fixing the shade cloth, collecting eggs and generally maintenance. I just fiddled around and played with the dogs. I cooked the chicken in the crockpot and it was horrible. It had the texture of rabbit and the meat was red. The dogs didn't find anything wrong with it when I gave it to them for their dinner!
Tuesday, 21st January 2014 - Brukunga
After brekky we headed out in the loan car for a day out. Petra had told us that Stirling was a pretty little town and worth a visit so that’s where we headed. It was a pretty little town but not much there so we headed back to Hahndorf. Admittedly, Hahndorf is much more touristy but it had much more to offer and keep us occupied. Geoff picked up a map from the Information Centre which had a lot of info on the history of the old buildings that make up the most of the town. Hahndorf’s claim to fame is that it was the first settlement in Australia planned specifically for non-British immigrants and is the oldest German town in Australia. It was settled by Lutheran immigrants in 1839 on land that was given to them by Captain Dirk Hahn, the ships master of the ship they came over on. It is full of old (for Australia) quaint buildings and they stretched along a very long main street.
We had a really nice lunch and then home made ice cream and I even bought myself a bracelet. After a couple of hours we headed out of town but stopping at the Beerenberg jam Factory en route. It was much smaller than we remembered but 40 years is a long time!!!
Back by 4pm to a tumultuous greeting from the Labradoodles. We only ate a light tea as we were still full from lunch.
Wednesday, 22nd January 2014 - Brukunga
Petra rang today to say that the guy next door keeps ringing her and ruining their holiday. Apparently her sheep and cows get in through his fence and now one of his horses has kicked a sheep and killed it. She knows the fences need fixing but she can’t tie him down to a date to get at it. She was a bit upset so we said we would go into town and buy some hay so we could try to keep them interested in staying this side of the fence. So that is what we did and put it on her account. Now they come running when they see Geoff.
Thursday, 23rd January 2014 - Brukunga
The bloody sheep were in the chook yard when we got up this morning so we got them out and tied up the gate. Then I mustn't have snibbed the back gate properly and the last I saw was three Labradoodles high tailing it down the driveway and up the country road and then they were gone! My heart was in my mouth as I was envisaging squashed dog as the vehicles drive really fast along this road. Geoff came running and we jumped in the car and went looking for them. We went a little way without seeing them and turned back and there they were, running up the road and back to the house where they stood, all innocent looking, to be let back in. What a relief! Little B’s! I must admit that the whole episode left me, literally, shaking and quite tearful.
By this time it was time to head into Adelaide as I had a doctor’s appointment. Our first port of call was back to John and Irene’s as Geoff said he would look at their neighbour's computer. He fixed it but it is an old clunker so John is going to take him, Alex, into town soon so he can buy himself a new one.
Time to head to the doctors to get the results of my nerve conduction tests which were not so good. The results showed I had moderately severe sensory poly neuropathy. So what does this all mean? I couldn’t make head nor tails of the readings but it means that my brain is sending out the messages but the messages are getting delayed to the nerves on my legs or not getting there at all. Therefore, numb legs or jelly legs that can’t hold me up. I have to now see a neurologist but there is a two month wait so Tom has given me a letter for ’whomever’ and I will make an appointment for Albury. Tom is going to be my doctor still so he can be the ’anchor’ for all the test results that are done so nothing gets lost. He also gave me a medical certificate for Centrelink. From here we headed to Malgosia’s (another friend from Bright and actually Dr Tom’s ex). We didn’t get there till 5pm so we only had an hour’s fleeting visit but it was really good to catch up. The years have been very kind to her and she doesn’t seem to look any different.
Back to Brukunga grabbing fish and chips on the way for tea.
Friday, 24th to Sunday 26th January 2014 - Brukunga
Into Centrelink Friday to drop off my medical certificate which they wouldn't accept without a Centrelink medical assessment so I now have another appointment next Wednesday.
Back to the farm where there was a bit of activity when one of the chooks flew into the dog yard and Geoff and I were yelling and rushing around trying to stop the dogs getting at it. Silly chook!
Apart from that it was a nothing sort of day!
A year today when 2Abreast actually went under and was lost so not a happy day. Thanks to all the people who sent messages.
Geoff spent some time fitting a new tap to the top water trough area but, apart from that, we just fiddled around. Petra and Sue arrived back around 4pm and we had a cuppa and a long chat and I cooked tea for them.
Tuesday, 28th January 2014 - Brukunga
It was bloody hot today.
Petra decided to take us out for the day and took us to Woodside to the Melba Chocolate Factory. It was very interesting, not in the scale of Cadbury, of course. They had lots of interesting combinations of chocolates and a lot of unique little nick knacks. Petra insisted on buying us HEAPS of chocolates so we will be scoffing them for the next few weeks … yum … but there goes the waist line! She also treated us to lunch at the Woodside Hotel which was nice of her.
When we got back it was way too hot to really do anything so we chilled out until about 4.30 when Geoff said it had cooled off enough (if you really believe him). He went out to install Petra's new electric winch into the roof of the hangar that she wants to use to manhandle the large rolls of hay that she needs for the animals. Once installed it seemed to work well.
Later she came to the van and wanted to give us $300 for all the work that Geoff had done around the farm. We thought $300 was way too much so gave $150 back but we ended up with $200 at her insistence. $200 is still way too much but thank you very much Petra.
Wednesday, 29th January 2014 - Flagstaff Hill
Up early to pack up. We said goodbye to Petra, Sue and the menagerie. Petra gave us a dozen eggs and then we were off.
First stop was Centrelink for my medical assessment which was fine and I will just transit over seamlessly to Age Pension in May. Great, a weight of my shoulders.
We then made our way to John and Irene’s where we parked on their front lawn again. Geoff went over to help set up Alex’s new laptop. John had already done a lot of work on it so Geoff just did the nitty gritty stuff. I went over afterwards and we had wine and nibbles and chatted for a while as Geoff and Alex have the same interests.
Thursday, 30th January 2014 - Len Kroehn's Lookout, near Swan Reach
I opened the eggs that Petra gave me yesterday and there was that extra $100 that we had made her take back! Naughty girl Petra, but thanks very much. There was also a note on the eggs which was cute.
Final goodbyes and photos with John and Irene and we were on the road again, stopping at Dan Murphy’s to replenish our alcohol stocks.
We stopped at a wetlands reserve at Murray Bridge for lunch and then stopped at the Mannum Marina for a quick look. It was interesting to see only house boats moored there which reminded us very much of the marina’s on the canals in the UK which were full of narrow boats … not a mast to be seen. On to Mannum proper for a look around. Mannum is a pleasant town alongside the Murray River and is the home of the large paddle boat, the Murray Princess. She was a very impressive looking boat but way out of our price with the cheapest 3 day trip being $888 per person and was operated by Captain Cook Cruises.
At one stage the road disappeared into the river and the only way to cross was by ferry. Ring the bell and over to us it trundled. We drove on and were soon at the other side. When we drove off and up the road we bottomed out just a touch. You could see where many vehicles had done this before us.
Just a bit further on we came to the overnight spot of Len Kroehn’s, just a little south of Swan Reach. It was situated on the cliffs above the mighty Murray with really good views each way. It was a little windy which was good as it cooled the van down a bit.
Friday, 31st January 2014 - Ramco near Waikerie
A cool enough night and very quiet. After brekky we headed off towards Waikerie. We traveled parallel to the Mighty Murray which had carved a wide valley way below us over time. There were high cliffs on both sides with many an overnight stop with fantastic views of the river below. We were really glad that John had suggested we take this route and not the highway as it was very scenic and appealing. The Murray River is the third longest navigable river in the world after the Amazon and the Nile. It’s whole length is 2756 kms of which 1986 kms is navigable by a reasonably sized boat through 15 locks. It is so appealing that we are sorely tempted to buy a houseboat and spend time on it. This is definitely a seed that has been sown for life after the motorhome. The river is long enough to keep you interested for quite some time.
We then passed through Swan Reach, stopped at Blanchetown and then onto Waikerie where we stopped to buy bread so we could have lunch down in the reserve by the river. A very pleasant spot with freedom camping areas along the banks. We didn’t rush off from here and soaked in the ambience for a while. From Waikerie it was just 5 kms on to Ramco where we were visiting Mick and Kerry who we had met in Emerald in May/June last year. They have a property on the Murray where they have their paddle boat ‘Hebe’ (originally a hulk from the Clarence River) moored. Mick and Kerry only work about 5 months of the year installing jetties and doing dredging work, using the ‘Hebe’ which is fully equipped for living on board. Mick said he can work anywhere up the river. Alas, Kerry was in bed with the flu so we were unable to catch up. Soon Mick was in the water spraying the underside for spiders and we soon followed suit (in the river that is, not spraying spiders). Very refreshing and hardly any current. Geoff then went off for a paddle in one of their kayaks and then tired himself out so went for a snooze.
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