Day 35: Parks and other things, AVID RIP

Well, I did NOT sleep well last night! The wind was blowing a gale and it kept disturbing. Consequently, I also had a number of nightmares. One of them, illogically, was the idea of a large, pointy branch blowing at our caravan and impaling me through the tent. (Maybe this was not so illogical after all.)

This morning we had a look at St Peter's Cathedral, which is situated in the city in amongst some lovely park areas. We debated as to whether the Church of Apostles was similar in size, but did eventually conclude that St Peter's is bigger. It was certainly higher, anyway, with some impressive towers on top.

St Peter's Cathedral, with pointy tower on top

Much of the day was taken up in directed meandering through the extensive parks that surround the city centre. [We were going to take our bikes and do the ride around the city, but it was so darn windy that we imagined trying to peddle while being vaguely parallel to the ground. The gale was certainly reminiscent of Cape Town's South Easter winds.] We did this for about 5 hours, checking out stuff on the way.

Our first stop - of course - was to eat. A picnic on the banks of the Torrens River in Elder Park. Just as Duncan was about to say 'Hold onto your hats', a little gust came and whooshed my little AVID bucket hat off my head and straight into the water. It didn't even bounce on the sidewalk. Just, 'plop'. It certainly excited the ducks and swans, who came over to look. I did have a moment where I thought some bright avian creature might collect it up in it's beak and bring it over, but, well perhaps head and brain size correlate after all. I am so very sad to lose my hat. I got that one at the Music Technology conference last year and I feel automatically intelligent when I wear it. Bye bye hat. RIP. : (

Having gotten over my loss, we moved on to the SA Art Gallery. However, as we rounded the corner at the Governor's Residence, we discovered that today was an open day for the public. So, in we went of course and had a good old sticky-beak. There was lots of hub-bub going on; a band playing, people dressed up in historical garb, etc. We shuffled around the rooms with the crowds and checked out the HUGE paintings of royal people in each room. It is very convenient to have HUGE paintings because they do take up a lot of wall space. And, when you have a lot of wall space to cover, this is ideal.

The Governor's Residence

The War Memorial - on the way to the SA Art Gallery

We next came upon the SA Art Gallery, which was an eye-opening experience for the boys and full of interesting things to see, as you can imagine. Rather a lot of naked bodies too - too many for Andrew's liking, I think (he did blush a few times), but Callum took it all in his stride. You could spend hours here, preferably over a number of visits, as there is just so much to take in.

Feeling rather fatigued after all of this, we strolled back to the car and headed off for another park were you can hire row boats. The boats turned out to be suitable for two, so Duncan took the boys off for a row, while I took photos from the banks. The lake, being rather shallow in places, gave Duncan a good workout, and Callum nearly got his bum wet a few times from the back of the boat sitting so low in the water.

Row, row, row your boat...

Tomorrow we will hear confirmation of when and how the caravan change-over is going to happen. Hopefully Tuesday is the day, because I would really like to move on now...

Day 34: An Airing in Belair

Today the driver and cook is doing the blog as Xena is exhausted. With a few extra days in Adelaide while we wait for the new van, we are enjoying the slower pace of life off the road. We drove a whole 7km to Belair National Park which is situated directly above Brownhill Creek where we are encamped. It is the second oldest national park in Australia and is unusual in that it has been enveloped by the urban fringe. It seems that tennis is a big thing in SA as is evident by the 80 odd 'bush tennis courts' scattered through the park. There are also two cricket ovals. The boys enjoyed the adventure playground which included a pallisade type fort and underground tunnels made from concrete piping. It is nice to see that these old fashioned playgrounds still exist.

Andrew guarding 'Fort Belair'

We walked about 6km and particularly enjoyed a stand of 'baby' sequoias which were a mere 30 metres high. These amazing trees grow to 100m and can have base up to 10 metres wide.

As the designated driver, I have found driving in Adelaide most interesting. The city was laid out in grid-fashion long before the age of the motor car. Consequently, although the roads are straight there are many intersections AND traffic lights. It takes a long time to get anywhere. It also seems that road-works are a major industry in South Australia and it is unusual to complete a journey without a hold-up.

Tommorow we are on our bikes and will be exploring the many parks that encrust central Adelaide.

Day 33: Moving to Windsor

Now, for those of you who know South Australia and Victoria, you might know that there is no Windsor nearby (except if you count the one in Perth, WA). So, what could we possibly mean?

Well, here is the thing. It is all very well to go to a caravan show to look around at lovely, shiny caravans, but quite another when all the family members fall in love with a Windsor one and want to investigate further...which is what we did. We managed to strike a very favourable deal and are soon to be the proud new owners of a brand new, limited edition, Windsor Genesis (705SE) caravan!

For those of you in the know, you would know that this is a good move. For those of you who don't have much interest in caravaning, you might be wondering what on earth we did that for, considering we already have a caravan. Quite honestly we would not have even considered doing something of this magnitude in the middle of our big trip, were it not for the fact that our present van is already starting to show disturbing signs of wear. There are about seven things on the 'oh dear' list already - and this after only four weeks of travelling. The Windsor vans have a better quality finish and a better reputation than our present make. Since sharing our news with the park managers here, they have shared the woes of many holiday makers who have vans made by the same company as our present one.

What particularly attracted us to this van is that the double bed is an island bed, contained within the van (as opposed to the push-out tent one we currently have). Also, the bathroom contains the normal shower, loo and basin, but each is separate from the other, as opposed to one on top of the other. There are triple bunks in this van too, so the bottom bunk can be used for storage (yesssssss) or the occasional friend of one of the boys coming camping with us in Tassie. As it is a special edition van, it comes with a number of extras that one would normally pay for. The nice caravan people are going to transfer our weight distribution bars and caravan move controller over to the new van for us.

So, we have an interesting change-over day ahead of us. Tuesday is the day, but we are waiting to have confirmation of that. It will involve moving all the stuff out of this van, into that one, after the van people have detailed the van and moved the bars and controller across. We are yet to be told how this is all going to happen.

After the initial shock of such an on-the-spot decision, we are thrilled by our choice and very excited at the coming change-over. Callum and Andrew are also very pleased (they were doing the 'can we get it, can we get it?' act at the show) and consequently have been very relaxed and undemanding at our two days at the park, not doing very much at all. We have had to wait around to receive confirmation of finances, etc, etc and so couldn't stray far from our laptop and printer, so that we could finalise these things as expeditiously as possible. This was all done today, which is why we can now share our news...

The only other exciting thing today is that Callum got stung by a bee in the swimming pool. The bite area swelled up, but his throat didn't, so that was good.

Tomorrow we are going to try to get out and about. Now that all our business is done, we can have a few days of being tourists again.

For those few who might be freaked out by our news (you know who you are), feel free to phone and/or email us. We would be happy to fill you in on further details!

Day 32: Up the creek...

Do not be alarmed, it is not sh*t creek to which I refer. (Not at the moment, anyway.) No, the creek we are up is Brownhill Creek. Having decided to stay on a bit longer, we had to make some arrangements. The down side is that this caravan park is fully booked, but - like the offer of a stable when there was no room at the inn - the kind manageress offered us a spot in the 'permanents' section. So, we gathered up all our goodies and moved up the creek!

Definitely not in the centre of the action anymore, but I have to say that it is a lot quieter here. Not so much coming-and-going of people and even the crows and magpies don't hangout in these trees. The 'facilities' are also older and I definitely spotted a red-back spider in the ladies' loo this afternoon. Eeeeeek! I am as yet undecided whether I should take a can of bug spray with me next time and 'sort it out', or let the little thing go about it's business. My urge to ablute has also deserted me for the time being.

As we didn't do any school work yesterday, we decided that today would be a good catch-up day. When we do the whole sightseeing bit, trying to get some schoolwork done at the end of the day is hard work. We are all tired and not really in the mood for teaching/being taught. So, Andrew hit the Maths and Sound Waves books, while Callum finished off a biggish Japanese assignment and worked on his html holiday pages website for computing.

The warmth of the afternoon drew us out to the pool, which is so cold that it nearly induces a heart attack when you get in. The only way to do it is FAST, followed by some @*#&$^%* muttering under your breath and several brisk laps. By this stage one is sufficiently warmed to loll about in the water for about 20 minutes before hypothermia sets in, at which point you get out, dry off and slowly come back up to room temperature. All very exhilarating.

There are no photos again today. I am sure those of you who check in regularly do not really want to see another picture of the boys pouring over their computers/work. We are in the process of planning our next moves, during which time we will be avid tourists again. If we don't get a bit of exercise in the next day or two, my flabby bits will get flabbier and I will have to kiss my Xena bikini goodbye. Speaking of which, here is a picture of Xena, Warrior Princess, for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about!

http://freespace.virgin.net/peter.millington1/Modern/Xena.jpg

Yep, makes the mind boggle, doesn't it?!

Day 31: Expo! Expo! Expo!

Don't you just lurve a good expo? We do.

After catching up on (3) loads of washing this morning, we headed off to the Caravan, Camping and Outdoor Expo just down the road at the Waverly Showgrounds. I don't know what it is about checking out the insides of caravans and motorhomes, but it is a most enjoyable experience (if caravans and motorhomes are your 'thing'). I think it has something to do with the whole fantasy of taking off for a while and living out your dreams in your own time and space. Footloose and fancy-free.

Duncan and I were particularly interested in the Paradise range of motorhomes. They are well constructed and have a luxurious feel to them. We are thinking along the lines of one of these for our retirement years, a long way off I know, but it is always good to plan and think ahead.

We simply don't get this broad range of caravans in Tassie, so it was a really worthwhile experience. Caravans, motorhomes, camper trailers and tents of all makes, models, sizes, configurations and degrees of luxury were all concentrated in one venue. Duncan previously spent a lot of time researching the different makes of van (before we bought our present one), so it was good to be able to see them and have a walk through. The fifth-wheelers were really impressive too, but I could not imagine driving one around the streets, or trying to park the darn thing.

Anyway, we have decided to stay on for a bit longer in Adelaide. We were going to move on tomorrow, but have changed our minds. I suppose we are a bit reluctant to tackle the hot weather of the interior Murray River drive to Canberra. We would also like to have some more beach time, and I think we might try Victor Harbour again, on a day with better weather. JD sang it's praises and was really sorry for us that we didn't have an optimal experience. So, we might go down there again and make a day of it. We will see. Quite frankly we are enjoying the less frenetic pace and so why not do what we like? That doesn't happen very often!

PS There are no pictures today, because I wouldn't let Duncan take his camera in to the show. I mean, honestly, we would have been the only tourists in the place. The fact that we had children with us made us standout from the crowd, as all the little darlings here are at school...

Day 30: Happy families

Boys, blogging...

Dodgem cars through the Adelaide streets in the morning rush hour is exciting stuff. On our way to the ultrasound, we had a couple of near-misses from people who were enthusiastic lane changers. Fortunately no 'connections' were made, and we arrived at our destination relatively calm and still smiling.

The ultrasound revealed that Callum's Hallax is neither broken nor has the tendon been damaged. Thank heavens for that, because Callum having an operation or being on crutches would severely curtail a lot of activities. (Apart from the fact that it would be uncomfortable for him of course.) The tissue around the offending toe is severely bruised, and we were sent away with a tube of Voltaren gel to get it sorted. Hooray.

Having planned to lurk around the medical centre all day, which we now didn't need to, we had to decide what to do next. A bit of retail therapy was in order, and so we located a nice, big shopping centre (West Lake Shopping Centre) and made a bee line. We bought some DVDs and few bits and pieces, had lunch, then headed home.

The afternoon was spent watching movies and doing some schoolwork. All in all, a relaxing day, much like we would have spent at home - hence the 'happy families' heading.

We are going to have to polish up our tourist act, now that all is relatively well in the foot department. We move off on Thursday, along the Murray River, so perhaps things will get more exciting on the blog front by that point.

Day 29: Port Adelaide, a doctor and an x-ray

Inside the Maritime Museum - beachfront amusements display (the clowns, not Andrew)

Well, the weather at least was cooperative today, in the mid-to-high twenties, with a cool breeze blowing. Bliss!

We headed off to Port Adelaide after a leisurely start, mindful that Callum would not be able to do a lot of walking. We had a drive along the Esplanade in Semaphore, then went to check out Port Adelaide itself. Our first stop was at the Maritime Museum, which had a lot of good stuff to look at. Andrew was particularly impressed with the ketch, which could be boarded and explored. Especially enjoyable for us was the section on swimwear dating back to about the 1890s (full dress and stockings for the ladies!) There were some quite riskee fashions over the years, including the topless swimsuit (!). The videos on the synchronised swimming of the good ol' days was hilarious and we had a good laugh.

A lighthouse with the skeleton on the outside.

Callum was really hobbling by the time we finished looking through the three floors of museum, so we opted for a lunch break under the lighthouse (yay! another one!). By this stage we thought it probably a good idea to take Callum to a doctor to check out his foot. After a phone consultation with nurse Mary, we decided definitely to go and find a surgery. The nice chap at the lighthouse directed me to a nearby doctor's surgery, so off I went while Duncan and Andrew climbed to the top of the lighthouse and Callum sat waiting below.

Callum, waiting.

The Old Port Road Medical and Dental Centre was very helpful - especially as they have x-ray facilities on the spot. So, we saw the doc, had the xrays and got the foot strapped. There is a possibility that the toe is broken through the growth plate and/or the tendon is damaged/separated from the bone, so we have to go for an ultrasound tomorrow to see what the story is. This whole process took about two hours, so there was nothing for it but to come back home afterwards.

A bit of schoolwork this evening and a lovely stir-fry was on the cards. Tomorrow morning we will have to be up early - our first experience of Adelaide rush hour traffic.

Day 28: The big toe debacle

Today we did...nothing.

Last night Callum and Andrew were playing at some boyish sport outside, when Andrew rushed in to tell us that Callum had hurt himself. He had 'accidentally' kicked Andrew and heard his big toe go crunch. He couldn't walk on it at that point. Despite the fact that an ice pack was applied, it has swelled up and is still swollen today. Time will tell whether it is broken or not.

So...consequently...we couldn't go for the nice bike ride that we planned and spent the day 'in'. We took advantage and had an afternoon of schoolwork (yesterday being far too hot to think, we didn't do any work, so today was a good opportunity to make it up). I think he will be more prudent when throwing his feet around next time.

Tomorrow is another explore-the-coast day. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this time.

Day 27: The Fleurieu Peninsula, the gale-fan-forced oven and human sandpaper, gently baked...

Today started with the best of intentions. Adelaide being predicted to reach 37 degrees, we thought it prudent to head to the coast for some respite and to see the coastal beauty we have heard so much about. HOWEVER, we could not have accounted for the hot winds that prevented any cooling off, even right on the coast. In addition, Sheila decided to take us by the quickest route and we ended up driving the back streets.

This in itself was not problematic, but as the trees were lined by eucalypts and the wind was blowing a gale, it sort of felt eerily like being in a computer game. There were obstacles to dodge: cyclists, branches, air borne bark and leaves (much like a confetti shower), other cars. I don't think Duncan dared to blink, just in case.

Our first stop was Goolwa, which is at the mouth of the Murray River. A quick look at the jetty confirmed that the paddle steamer was not running today and that the temperature was not going to be conducive to walking about.

Goolwa, at the mouth of the Murray River

On to Port Elliot where we had a look at the lookout, saw a couple of seals frolicking in the ocean, took some pics and then moved on to Victor Harbour.

A pic at Port Elliot

It was all a bit odd really, because though the temperature was ever so slightly cooler here (but still sweaty-warm), there were only two people swimming at the beach. It wasn't a tiny beach either. There were lots of other people around too - two tourist buses happened to stop in (and I nearly expired when I noticed some of the foreign ladies wearing long sleeved tops and trousers. It made me want to take some more clothes off, but as I was already very scantily clad, it didn't seem a good idea at the time.)

We paid a visit to the Whale Museum here (seeking coolness and escaping tourist bus crowds) and had an informative look at some very large whale bones, shark teeth, etc. In the kiddies section was the cutest little turtle in a tank and I fell in love with it. Andrew was making plans to sneak it out of the museum and take it home with us. Cute! It was such an inquisitive little creature.

Andrew inside a squid (artistic impression)

The walk to Granite Island was next on the agenda. We chose not to take advantage of the horse-pulled tram (a bit of a tourist gimmick) and walked the bridge instead. Go us. By the time we got to the island the wind was blowing quite ferociously and we gritted our teeth and set off on the trail that circumnavigates the island. The boys were particularly delighted in being able to lean into the wind (get the picture?). Andrew tried jumping up in the air to see if it would push him forwards! A sudden little sand storm gave us a natural bit of sand blasting, which was certainly a new experience for the boys. It would have been a very lovely outing were it not for the wind and sand. The penguins were well concealed, or not at home at this time.

No hair products were used in the taking of these pictures...

By the time we got back to the car, my skin was all gritty and covered in sandy bits. You could almost hear the rasping sound as I tried to slide onto my seat. Air conditioning on the way back was fabulous, but we had a nasty reality check when arriving back at the caravan to those lovely hot conditions. Oh well, there was nothing for it but a swim in the pool.

Day 26: Basking on the Beach

Glenelg Beach, taken from the jetty

After three busy days, it was a sluggish start today, all of us taking the opportunity to once again have a little break from being tourists.

As the weather report promised another hot one, we headed off to Glenelg Beach with all the bathers and towels, a picnic and bottles of water packed. There were rather more attractions there to catch the eye: a lovely shopping area, The Beach House (fun and games), the Bay Discovery Centre and, of course, the beach itself.

After a quick picnic under a shady tree, we had a quick look in the Discovery Centre and in The Beach House (which boasted some pretty darn impressive water slides). The latter was a bit of a money-making honey trap, so we decided to give it a skip and headed up to the shops instead. I needed to buy a new pair of walking shoes as I have been suffering rather a lot in the foot, ankle, knee and hip department after the walks, so a sure sign that new footwear is required. I am the proud owner of a new pair of Nikes.

Duncan took the boys off to EB Games, as Callum is after a new computer game and wanted to have a look. Much to Callum's delight, the very game he was looking for was reduced to half price because of a promotion in that store. He didn't hesitate to make the purchase and was a very happy chap for the rest of the day. After that we all headed to a book store, as Andrew has been reading so avidly, that he has finished Just Macbeth by Andy Griffiths and is half way through his second book. (We only bought these on Tuesday.) I never thought I would see the day when the two boys would be reading quietly in the back of the car, but there you go. Callum has also finished another two novels in the past week. Amazing.

The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming at the lovely Glenelg beach. The water was incredibly warm and refreshing. There were these little fish swimming around, which was kind of cute. Some of them were about 20cm long. Callum tried to catch some with his hands, but to no avail.

A lovely boerewors roll for dinner (care of the Hahndorf smallgoods specialists in Glenelg) and we are ready to call it a day.

Tomorrow it is going to be a ghastly 37 degrees. We are heading to the coast again to hopefully escape the worst of it. Victor Harbour, here we come.

Interesting beachfront sculpture, complete with graffiti

Day 25: Heading for the Hills and collecting BIG things

Flinder's 'column'?

Mount Lofty is such an original name for the highest mountain in these parts, don't you think? Not satisfied with this distinction, somebody decided to plonk a great big lighthouse-like structure on top and name it after Matthew Flinders to commemorate something or other connected with him. The view on top of Mount Lofty allows you to see far and wide, and Adelaide really just looks like a little puddle in the middle of it all. It is also very cool up top and obviously a favourite exercising spot (there are several good walks from the summit).

Find the city...

Knowing that we were going to do a lot of driving around and looking at various spots, we skipped the walks and headed for the Botanical Gardens on the way down the slope. Once again we were caught out by the simple fact the upper carpark insinuates that everything is down from that point onwards. It didn't take us long to cotton onto the fact and we soon did an about-face, not wanting to take up most of the morning trying to find our way up and out of the rather vast gardens.

Onto Hahndorf, which is the oldest German village in Australia. It's main street is lined with bakeries, lolly shops, fudge sellers, bratwurst temptations (including sauerkraut) and lots of little gift shops. Andrew and Callum could not resist the fudge and each bought themselves a piece to nibble on for the rest of the day.


Moving on to Beerenberg Strawberry farm, anticipating picking up a bargain on strawberries, but finding them to be quite as expensive as the supermarkets. The shop was fully laden with all the Beerenberg jams, sauces, etc, but as we are not 'jammy' people, this was not much of a temptation.

Melba's chocolate factory was another cavern of delights. With several production rooms open for viewing, and a large central room full of product, it was hard to focus one's eyeballs consistently in the same direction at first. It is a credit to both Andrew and Callum that they have matured somewhat in financial dealings and were very circumspect as to what they would like to spend their money on. (At the start of this trip they would have wanted to buy most of the shop!) After much deliberation and debate, they settled on their purchases, and we were off again.


Our final stop was at the BIG ROCKING HORSE and wooden toys toy shop. The toys here are very well crafted and of good quality. There was even some rocking horse manure to be bought...


We are feeling quite weary after the fullness of the last three days and are planning to head off to Glenelg for a bit of beach time tomorrow.

PS. We are not melting yet...

Day 24: Animals dead and alive

Wang Wang on the prowl

Back to the city centre today to visit the Adelaide Zoo and see Wang Wang and Funi, the giant pandas, which was really exciting. You have to book in to see the pandas (even though you don't pay extra for the opportunity) and then you go into their enclosure at a specified time.

Funi (the female) was catching some shut-eye, but delighted everyone when she moved (to yawn). There were ooohs and aaahs all round. Wang Wang (the male) was on the prowl in his separate outdoor space, but seemed quite distressed, as he was pacing up and down a set path with relentless determination.

This was all very intriguing, but I must say I did enjoy my viewpoint from right in front of the very large fan that was blowing cool air around. (It was quite warm by this point.) Callum and Andrew soon tracked me down and discovered that I am not just a pretty face.

The rest of the zoo was well set out and there was much to see. However, some of the creatures were hiding away from the hot sun and so could not be found. (Any missing gaps were filled in later at the South Australian Museum were their stuffed counterparts were quite happy to be on display.) Andrew fell in love with a goat, and now has a long list of animals that he would like to have as pets at home (dream on), a chimpanzee being at the top of the list.

Meaningful eye contact

The Westpac Envirodome was also informative, showing us how the world is going to pot by 2050 if we don't sort out global warming. A quick calculation indicates that Duncan will be hitting 90 and me 80 by then, so it will be Callum and Andrew's problem really, because we will probably be pushing up daisies by then. So, moving on...

After our customary picnic in the park, we went off to the South Australia Museum, which houses a bunch of interesting stuff (including the aforementioned stuffed animals). There was an awesome tyrannosaurus rex skull (or rather the cast of one), the most complete skull of this creature ever to be found; an extensive Aboriginal cultural display and various Pacific Island cultures; a section on fossils and opals, meteorites and gemstones; and finally an Ancient Egypt room, complete with a couple of mummies, sarcophagi, hieroglyphics carved into rock (original, not faked) and a few mummified hands, feet, a head and some cats. I didn't know that Egyptians would shave off their eyebrows in mourning for the death of a family cat. I knew cats were sacred and all that, but still...eyebrows?

An impressive meteorite

A bit of a tousle with the local rush hour traffic and we were back home. There were a few wistful thoughts of the relative quiet of the Launceston streets.

The SES has issued an Extreme Heat Watch for South Australia. Ooooh. Scary. If there are no more blog posts you will know that we have melted.

Day 23: Grants in the City

...doesn't sound quite as glamorous or as exciting as Sex in the City, but as this is a PG rated blog, it is probably more appropriate.

So, we went to the city, we looked, we came home, would be the short version of today. However, it was much more exciting than that!

We went to the city (about 10kms up the road) and we found some parking that nearly flattened our budget for the day. $9.20 for 4hours! It wasn't even a gold-plated parking spot...but I suppose it did have a skinny branch hanging over the canopy of the ute for a bit of shade. Do you know how long it takes to feed 10c and 20c coins into a bloody parking ticket machine? I don't either, but it felt like a jolly long time. I had built up a bit of a sweat by the end there. (Some kindly lady even stopped to see if she could help, as Duncan was wrestling with the map at this time also.)

Andrew found the city absolutely thrilling...as you can see.

Adelaide is surrounded by beautiful parks. We know this because we walked through one to get to the CBD. The trees in the parks are BIG and the ROOTS are phenomenal (see pic). These are the sort of roots you only want to see in a park this size. The 'ooh' and 'aah' sounds that accompany one's seeing these roots would have a completely different connotation were they in your own garden (lifting up your house and blocking your sewage pipes).

Children-eating tree roots...don't try this at home.

Bucket-hatted and backpacked as usual, Duncan whipped out his camera (a rather swish Pentax) to give us some respectability, thereby transforming us into tourists, rather than a rather hobo-ish looking bunch. Thus bedecked, we set off for Rundle Street and walked the length of it looking much like a bunch of Tasmanian tourists. It being Shrove Tuesday, we soon bumped into the obligatory pancake stall where the boys were delighted to partake. We kept our eyes open for book shops because both Callum and Andrew have been reading so much (Hallelujah!) that they have just about finished all the books they brought with them.

Callum and the pancake guy

After much of this sort of meandering, even the guy in the pancake suit started to look tasty, so we headed back to the Botanical Gardens where we had a serene picnic under a big conifer. We'd done about 3hrs walking by this stage and Duncan announced the things he had chosen for us to look at in the Gardens, on our way back to the car. Callum and I were fairly alarmed by this and Andrew wisely chose to say nothing (as he has had a kick in the pants for ongoing whining before – which worked, obviously). Anyway, we girded our loins and set off after Duncan, who took many beautiful snaps of various interesting flora. It was not unpleasant, though we were all thrilled to see our ute in it's gold-plated parking spot by the time we were done.

A cool pool of shade for a picnic

The obligatory visit to Coles and a cool dip in the very cool caravan park pool sorted us out. Hamburgers on the BBQ and a bit of reading under the awning was a very pleasant way to finish off our day.

Day 22: On the road again...

There are a number of ditties that came to mind on the drive up to Adelaide: On the Road Again, Driving Along (brrm, brrm, brrm driving along...), etc. Instead, we settled for a bit of Crowded House (no irony intended here) and set off across the dusty plains.

My goodness, but the land is flat as far as the eye can see. And brown, very brown, dotted with patches of green where farmers are growing stuff. Oh yes, and a whoooooole lot of grape vines. At every second blink you see another wine estate. And, no, we haven't stopped at any for testers. I think if we had to stop at all of them to taste a) we would never reach our destination and b) we would be too p***ed to care. Actually, sounds rather good...

Anyway, the Brown Hill Caravan Park is quite lovely and we find ourselves neatly parked in the middle of all the action - toilets, laundry, swimming pool and recreation room. (It's amazing how one's perception of middle of the action can change.) We are quite near to town and have lots planned. We are here for ten days, which will give us a chance to 'plant' for a bit and see all that we need to see.

Brown Hill Caravan Park, Adelaide

Day 21: A world heritage site and lots of caves

This morning we set off early for the Wonambi Fossil Centre, where we booked into four cave tours.

The Alexandra Cave was Andrew's favourite because we were the only ones on the tour and so had Matt, the guide, to ourselves. The cave had several lovely formations and there was ample opportunity to take photos and ask questions.

Alexandra Cave

The Victoria Fossil Cave was next on the agenda, and it is here that we saw some of the fossils that have been found, the reason that the Naracoorte caves is important enough to be a World Heritage Site. The fossils here are of the megafauna that used to live in Australia, and we were shown the skeleton of a marsupial lion that used to roam these lands.

A marsupial lion skeleton/fossil

The Bat Cave tour included a half hour look at the bats in their caves. This was done in the bat observation centre by way of infrared remote controlled cameras. We were dubious about watching some bats on a TV, but the picture from the infrared cameras is so clear, that it was really very interesting to watch. The second half of the tour was through the Blanche Cave, which is more open and is a dry cave. There are some really old formations in this cave and it was awe-inspiring to see.

Blanche Cave

After a picnic lunch, we did the self-guided tour of the Wet Cave and had a good look at the Wonambi Fossil Centre where they have recreated some of the megafauna of the past.

This evening we went back to the caves to see the bats exiting the bat cave for their night's feeding. We were fortunate in that a fellow came and set up the infrared camera for the Flinders University students to see how they are using the technology to count the bats. Thank goodness for that, otherwise we would not have seen a whole lot. The bats are very quiet.

The whole day was very interesting and well worth the stop over in Naracoorte. Tomorrow we move to Adelaide...

Diprotodon optatum - Australia's largest ever marsupial about 50 000 years ago.

Day 20: Na-Na-Na-Naracoorte

It is a short hop-and-a-skip from Mount Gambier to Naracoorte, so we arrived here just before lunch. The boys went to check things out as per usual and came back exclaiming about how big the swimming pool is. "Bigger than all the pools at the Launceston Aquatic centre put together!" Prone, as they are, to exaggeration we decided to suspend judgement on that bit of information. Duncan's curiousity got the better of him and off he went to check it out. He came back with the verdict that they were right - and it could possibly be bigger than that! This was all the inducement we needed to spend the afternoon lounging at the pool side, which is what we did.

Part of the "swimming lake"

Of course there was the obligatory quick trip into town to get some bread, milk, etc (no Coles here, but Woolworths will do), and then it was into the bathers and off to swim.

Tomorrow is our only full day here and we plan to make the most of it checking out all the caves...which is why we stopped here in the first place.

Day 19: Sunken Gardens, Mary MacKillop and a Dead Sea Experience

The Cave Gardens

Today was busy and there was lots to see. Although we started off with some rain, this passed over and the day turned out quite fine and cool.

Our first stop was in Mount Gambier at the Cave Gardens and the Umpherston Sinkhole. The former is exactly as it supposes to be: a cave with decorative gardens that have been planted and lovingly kept up. The Umpherston Sinkhole used to be a cave...until the roof fell in and somebody had the good idea to make a garden in the hole. It is quite a deep hole too.

The Umpherston Sinkhole

The most amazing thing is that there are lots of caves underneath the city and underground rivers that flow through them. Where will the next sinkhole appear?

A 50km drive up the road to Penola was well worth the trek to see the Mary MacKillop Interpretation Centre. Penola is where Mary MacKillop grew up and started her first Catholic school for poor, rural children. I learnt quite a bit about her there, and I hadn't realised before just how interconnected her life was with Julian Tenison Woods. I also didn't know that JTW was quite the scientist, who wrote a number of books and publications about the flora and fauna of Australia. The displays were all very informative and there were quite a few artifacts to look at. The school house that MM and JTW built is still standing and we had a look around inside.

Mary MacKillop's second school house for her first school (the first school house was a converted stable)

The stained glass window in the St Joseph's Church

Duncan in MM's school room

From here we set off to Beachport with two aims in mind. The first, to walk along the 722m jetty that seems to go forever out into the sea. When it was originally built, it was almost 1.5kms long, but was shortened by a storm at some point in it's 100yr existence.


The second aim was to find and have a swim in the Pool of Siloam, which is seven times saltier than the sea. This is similar to the Dead Sea in that you can float in the water quite easily as people are very buoyant in such salty water. Callum was brave enough to swim out to the pontoon, while Andrew pouted because he wanted to also but was kept in the shallows.

Floating in the Pool of Siloam

80kms later we were back in Mount Gambier, where the sun was out and the Blue Lake bluer than yesterday. So, more photos were called for, after which Duncan and the boys went for a walk up to Centennial Tower. They saw a snake en route, so I am pleased that I sat that one out!

On the Centennial Tower walk

Moving day tomorrow...Naracoorte and some special caves await us...