Sat. 27th Oct., 2012 - Observations & Conclusions

A few facts that emerged from our trip:

Kentucky Fried Chicken & Magnum icecreams are really nice!

You can't read a book in camp-site toilets - other caravanners get a bit irate!

We (not just me), are not early risers.

Bob is not very friendly with his seat-belt.

I have no desire to become a navigator.

Why don't furniture makers consult car manufacturers about seating?  Car seats are usually far more comfortable that the average lounge suite.

Remember that caravan walls are thin!  Tent fabric is even thinner.

God is not called Telstra because He is available everywhere!

Bob & I are more compatible than we thought or, have we just learned to ignore one another (impaired hearing, even the selective kind, has its compensations).

We missed family & friends and I missed my quilting group.

Australia's future traffic jams will all be caused by "grey nomads".

Caravan parks are probably the next best source of income after old peoples' homes.

The Internet is useful but not infallible.

Why do men enjoy cooking outside, but are far less enthusiastic about it in the kitchen?

When caravanning, anything other than a vest(singlet), shorts & thongs becomes "smart/casual".

Older people never ask, "Are we nearly there?"  They just enjoy the ride.


Things that pleased us:

Simple, one-pot meals (curry, chilli, spag. bol., etc.)
A very comfortable bed
A hassle-free personal appearance (no make-up, hair-do's, etc.)
Opportunities to "make do" & use initiative - eg. a microwave turn-table can double as a serving plate
Simple pleasures - beautiful scenery, sunsets, the night sky, fresh air, etc.
Ability to manage with a minimum of equipment
The opportunity to learn, explore & discover
Variety of people & places
My fleece & "Ug" slippers when it was cold; a refreshing swim when it was hot


Things that irritated:

My inability to reach all the top cupboards in the caravan
Our horrible doormat!
Insufficient microwavable containers
The "screech" of the table when rotated!
In a limited space, nothing persoal is ever sacred!

Just a few of our favourite sunsets

Just a few of the wild flowers we found



Fri. 26th Oct., 2012 - Portland to Clifton Springs!

Portland

It had rained again overnight but the sky began to brighten as we drove out of Portland at 10am.  The countryside was green, so we guessed they'd had a fair amount of wet weather.

We passed a group of vintage cars (Bentleys), probably going to a rally & agreed that modern living has lost a lot of its elegance & style - these 'oldies' had charm & character & were still running very smoothly.  We saw more of them as the day wore on.

We stopped to make coffee in historic Port Fairy but, unfortunately, the weather prevented us from renewing our aquaintance with this lovely little town & we continued on towards Warrnambool.

Place names were now becoming familiar - for example, we saw a sign to Tower Hill, one of our favourite wildlife venues.  The countryside was very lush & green & dairy cattle were grazing on the rich pasture.  The sun came out as we entered Warrnambool but the temperature was still only 14C.  This is a big town but one that we only ever seem to drive through en-route to somewhere else.

We passed a sign to Framlingham, a place name I've never before seen outside of Norfolk, in the UK.

It became really wet & murky as we drove towards Colac & the temperature dropped to 11C, which even made Queensland seem more appealing!  An absolute deluge occurred at one point & we hoped that this weather wasn't moving towards Clifton Springs.

Camperdown brought back vague memories of quilting shops.  As we drove out of the town, several cherry trees were displaying their beautiful pink blossom.

The rain turned into a constant downpour & Bob had to increase the speed of the windscreen wipers.  The past two days have been the only ones when he has driven in such continuous rain.  Even in Adelaide, four months ago, the wet weather had occurred just before our arrival & we'd only seen the aftermath.  I thought of how they would have loved this, in some of the arid places that we'd been!  We've had enough now, God - please redirect it to the desert areas!

The rain eased a little as we drove out of Colac, but the sky was still very grey.  We didn't expect any major improvement - in fact, it looked even worse in the far distance.  And, sure enough, it did worsen & poor visibility became a serious problem.

We pulled in at Winchelsea to have some soup for lunch &, miraculously, the rain stopped!  God had heard my plea &, hopefully, He was moving the wet weather to where it was most needed.  What a relief! 

As we set off again, we could at least see clearly ahead & Bob was able to have a little respite from the wipers.  A significant amount of blue sky appeared & Geelong lay ahead, most of it bathed in sunshine!  The fact that diesel was only $1.46 per litre was almost as uplifting as the sunshine - this was the cheapest we'd seen it for four months!  We were now in the biggest metropolis we'd experienced for ages & were forced to stop at more traffic lights than we'd come across during the whole of the rest of our trip (this might not be strictly true, but that was the way it seemed).  It was hard driving straight past "Spotlight", but I exercised extreme self control.  A new bridge took us over the Barwon River & we headed for home with renewed vigour (staying within the speed limit, of course!)

Our house was still where we'd left it & three lovely little girls came across to welcome us home!  Tomorrow, I will draw this blog to a conclusion but, for today, enough is enough.

Thurs. 25th Oct., 2012 - Keith to Portland

We'd intended to drive all the way home today but it was over 400kms & so we planned a new route & decided to make our final journey in two stages. 

It had rained overnight & was still pretty damp & miserable when we awoke - in great contrast to all the sunshine & blue skies to which we'd become accustomed.  It was quite a shock.  Looking back, we felt that 80 Mile Beach, Kalbarri, Coral Bay & Shark Bay were probably the best climatic areas.

As we headed toward Penola & Mount Gambier, the sun did break through occasionally & the bright yellow wattles were a cheering sight, despite the intermittent drizzle.

Once again, we were in wine country & vines covered the land on both sides of the road.  Grapes were grown on a massive scale & we recognised some of the well-known names, such as Penfold's.  Big trees bordered the highway & the region appeared to be very fertile.

Prior to arriving at Penola, we entered the Coonawarra Wine Region, where more vines grew in abundance.  We passed "Chardonnay Lodge", where we had stayed some years ago.

We stopped at Penola, a town of which we're fond, for a pie & coffee.  However, we didn't stay for long as the wind was bitterly cold & it was still drizzling.  Then, the drizzle turned to heavier rain & we drove away with the windscreen wipers working, for the first time in ages.

After travelling through Mount Gambier, we finally crossed into Victoria & found ourselves in the Rennick State Forest, where grazing & pine forests predominated.  The road was poorly maintained (full of pot-holes), in fact, one of the worst we'd driven on.

We stopped to make tea at a little place called Dartmoor (did we have to choose a day when the place was absolutely crowded with people & cars because a funeral was in progress!)  However, beyond all the congestion, we found a lovely picnic area with plenty of grass & big shady trees.  It was very peaceful & smelled of newly-mown hay - a lovely break from the highway.  To our delight, two kookaburras sat in one of the nearby trees (strange, as I'd just remarked that we hadn't seen any recently).

Dartmoor had numerous fascinating wood carvings dotted about, obviously the work of someone who was influenced by his/her environment.

Finally, we arrived at cold Portland (13C!)  The caravan site, at which we stopped, was almost empty - people were probably hibernating, or had moved up north.

Wed. 24th Oct., 2012 - Burra to Keith (SA)

As we drove out of Burra at 8.30am., there were rolling hills all around us.  A wind had sprung up & a distant lorry was sending up huge clouds of dust as it travelled along a dirt road.  The sky was overcast & we hoped that the area would get some of the rain that it desperately needed.  However, we doubted it, as the sun soon began to break through.

Where crops had previously dominated the landscape, vines began to appear as we entered the Clare Valley.  Wild roses grew at the roadside, the hillsides were covered with vines & our route became very undulating & winding.  The road into Clare was lined with blossom trees &, even in the town, several shops & businesses had vines growing over their verandahs.  One particular garden that we saw was a riot of colour being full of a huge variety of irises.  This was a lovely time of year & the whole area seemed fresh with new growth.

We made an 11km detour to the historic town of Mintaro, which had been on the bullock run before the advent of the railway, & found ourselves in the heart of some very hilly wine country with narrow roads & tree-lined verges.  There was a fair amount of surface water & ponds were dotted about the landscape.

Mintaro was a charming State Heritage town, with very attractive stone buildings.  Lavender, roses & lace abounded & the little place where we had coffee, had fresh flowers on every table & paintings by local artists on the walls.  All around us, beautiful fragrances filled the air, as the lavender, roses, jasmine & herbs gave off their various perfumes.  It had been a delightful diversion, illustrating that tranquility does still exist (although it probably has to be interrrupted by frequent visits to larger towns, to pick up essential supplies!)  How lovely that we've been free to wander off the main highways whenever the mood has taken us - one of the great advantages of caravanning.

 

At one point, large areas of purplish-blue appeared in the meadows & we wondered if it could have been due to the plant known as Patterson's Curse, that we'd heard of.  From a distance, it could almost have been bluebells, but we knew otherwise.  Brilliant yellow gorse bushes also appeared along the verges, competing with the acid yellow of canola crops.  Everywhere, plants were blooming! 

Historic towns cropped up frequently along our route & we would like to have stopped in all of them, but to do so would have seriously affected our progress.  Another time, maybe?

We entered the Barossa Valley at midday & noticed that it was well set up for tourists.  Invitations to taste wine & opportunites to spend money occurred constantly.  We stopped at a lovely quilt shop, where the lady showed me how she'd used photographs to record a trip.  I bought some of her photographic fabric & a permanent pen & then agreed with Bob that I'd spent enough money on this project.  Now, it was time to work out a design & use the materials I'd bought to date!



"Quietly" approaching the quilting shop (Bob said "sneakily")



In the rose garden at the quilting shop





Unusually, we couldn't find an off-road parking space for lunch & so we stopped alongside a Lutheran church (not that we have any particular leanings that way, but was it significant that the caravan tended to tilt towards it?)




A very reverent coffee break!



We travelled on through Murray Bridge, Mount Pleasant & Tailem Bend before finally stopping at Keith for the night.  We were still in South Australia, but would cross into Victoria tomorrow.

Tues. 23rd Oct., 2012 - Exploring Burra

We spent the whole day following Burra's Heritage Trail, which gave us an excellent insight into the lives of Australia's early settlers.  It is significant as an historic town because of its magnificent collection of early buildings, which were constructed from the region's attractive stone.  Life revolved around the copper mine, which was established when copper was discovered in 1845.  This attracted workers from the UK, who brought mining skills from such areas as Cornwall, Wales & Scotland - many of the street names reflect this. 

The trail covers 11kms & includes all of the town's significant early buildings.  These varied from imposing structures such as the town hall, the churches & hotels to the smaller cottages & shops, each making its valuable contribution.

Parts of our tour were conducted by a charming character who assured us that he would deal with any queries that we might have & invent suitable replies for those to which he didn't know the answers!



Old Gaol





Mine Site






Anglican Church



Pump House



Mine Pit



Hotel



Police Station



Miners' Cottages 



We had a great day but were shattered at the end of it, so went to one of the local hotels for a meal before retiring for the night.

Mon. 22nd Oct., 2012 - Port Augusta to Burra

Last night's strong wind had dropped, thank goodness & it was a beautiful morning as we set off for Burra.  However, I think we both felt a little sad that our exciting trip was nearing its end.  It has been a fantastic adventure, with a lot of interest & variety.  Not quite over yet, though - we still have the Clare & Barossa Valleys to look forward to, then some reunions with family & friends.  The nomadic way of life is now a lot easier to understand & could become quite addictive.  'The great unknown' & 'pastures new' are always intriguing.

The road out of Port Augusta had more traffic on it than we'd seen for ages & we realised that we were fast approaching the 'busier' parts of the continent.  This produced mixed feelings - the sparsely populated areas had a leisurely, stress-free mode of life & yet culture & sophistication also held appeal. 

Our route was an attractive one, with the ocean to our right, grain fields to our left & behind them the South Flinders Ranges.  Farmhouses were dotted about the landscape & the area appeared to be fertile & productive, with vast amounts of ripe grain.

We left the A1 & turned left towards Crystal Brook & the Clare Valley.  At this point, the countryside was mostly golden in colour, against a big, blue sky.  Crystal Brook was an attractive place & its caravan park looked most appealing.  We drove out of it in the direction of Burra, which was 90kms away.  Crops, barns & silos were in evidence everywhere &, as Bob trod in the verges to take photographs, wearing only thongs on his feet, I prayed that no snakes would be lurking there!

It became hilly & there were more trees along the road & around the boundaries of the fields.  This winding route contrasted with all the long, straight ones that we'd travelled on previously - we were now entering a very different type of terrain.  Beautiful red bottlebrushes were flowering at the roadside & green now became the predominant colour.  We'd climbed away from the coast to an altitude of 1,000 metres where the outlook was reminiscent of the Italian hills.  Large pipes ran parallel to the road, which we guessed were carryng water.

As we laboured ever upward to a new height of 1600 metres, we reached the highest point of our trip so far.  We were up amongst some wind turbines, the appearance of which I rather liked, but Bob didn't.  However, he was in jovial mood & said that we'd probably need oxygen if we climbed any higher!

Eventually, we arrived at Burra, which promised to be an interesting place, having a heritage area & a wealth of lovely old stone buildings. 

The caravan park was in a pleasant valley between the school & a church.  For the first time since Denham, we were able to look at a view through our back window, since no one was parked behind us.

We called at the Visitor Centre & discovered that our British National Trust cards would save us $20 each on Burra's Heritage Trail - what a bonus!  We planned to do the trail tomorrow.

Burra Town Hall was a very impressive building & housed an interesting photographic exhibition of the town through the ages.  Fortunately, many of the old buildings hadn't changed too drastically & the town had retained its character.

Next, we looked at an exhibition in the Art Gallery, which was showing work by local artists.

Finally, we did some shopping at the supermarket before heading back to the caravan park.

Sun. 21st Oct., 2012 - Streaky Bay to Port Augusta

Almost reluctantly, we left Streaky Bay at 8.30am.  We'd enjoyed our stay in this sleepy little town, which still slumbered softly on a sunny Sunday morning.  It was rather a shock to the system when we rejoined the Eyre Highway, which would take us to Port Augusta.

We were still in serious grain country, with vast fields on either side & huge silos appearing periodically.  This was surely one of the granaries of Australia that filled the nation's bread baskets.  It was on a par with the North American prairies.  However, we were told that insufficient rain would produce a poor harvest this year.  I felt at home in this type of landscape, coming from a similar one in England, albeit miniscule by comparison.  The scale of production, here, was almost incomprehensible, for it was hard to imagine how the huge sowing & harvesting operations were managed.

After three & a half hours, the arable land gave way to extensive areas of woodland & the terrain became quite hilly.  Signs, warning of kangaroos, suggested that we were leaving the highly cultivated region behind.  This was poorer soil where, at times, the trees almost disappeared & all that remained were bushes & scrub.  We saw dry creek beds, as well as some escarpments in the distance.  A sign, announcing "Iron Knob", confirmed that mining was going on & it was described as "the birthplace of Australia's steel industry".  We decided to have lunch there, but what a God-forsaken place it was!  We're crossing it off our 'bucket list', as we don't want to go there again.  Dry, brown, desolate & wind-swept, it has now taken over from Wyndham as the most undesirable place on our travels (at least Wyndham was by the sea & had an impressive look-out point).  Even the flies had deserted Iron Knob - there was probably nothing for them to eat!  It was inconceivable that anyone would choose to live there although I guessed that there was money to be made from the mining; but, you'd have to have no soul!  The area surrounding it was barren for as far as the eye could see, but telephone wires stretched across the landscape, so we could only surmize that the inhabitants of Iron Knob spent much of their time on the phone, keeping in touch with civilization!  We also saw a few television aerials, so they obviously had that other amenity that seems to be a basic requirement of modern life!

This little corner of Iron Knob looks far more inviting than it actually was!

The Big Galah is very happy near the corn fields!

With sighs of relief, we finished our sandwiches & continued on our way toward Port Augusta - we had just 26kms to go & it could only get better!

True to expectations, things did begin to improve as the Flinders Ranges came into view & Port Augusta emerged in the distance.  What a welcome sight!  We booked into the same caravan park that we'd stayed at way back in June, since when we'd travelled full circle.