Our Australia trip

We seem to have reached the point where travel becomes a drudge. Getting up with the knowledge that you have to pack up, get ready and be on the road gets to the dogs and us. So we’re going to look for a nice place to stay. Marjo has done research and there’s a foreshore bush camp as part of a caravan park that seems to tick all the boxes.

So, we say goodbye to Robe and visit the landmark (with 50’s bathing suit colours to help aging captains with hampering eyesight to distinguish the landmark from the whitish gum tree trunks) and the doorway rock.

Then we head south again and pass a fellow camper (as you can see there are camping vehicles much bigger than ours and also some a bit smaller).

Then we see a sign with “Woakwine Cutting” and it seems to be something not to be missed. Having all the time of the world, we oblige and turn off to the steep road that quickly turns into corrugated dirt. I tell Marjo that it was a poor decision to go here, and she doesn’t take the bait and agrees that I made a poor judgement. Ah well.
We come to the view and are somewhat dumb founded. What’s so nice about a field with a trench through it?

We try to analyse the name, and Marjo takes advantage of the confusion and is convinced that it must be the twisted shape of the trees.

Not completely convinced we turn around and head to the main road when we see a little turnout and everything becomes clear.

I’m somewhat surprised it was not a Dutchman who did this, being waterworks and all, and we’re impressed with what Murray and Dick achieved with the use of an old Caterpillar and a self constructed plow/scraper. An impressive cut through the hill to drain his swamp, turning it into fertile land.

We stop at Beachport and are impressed with the nice scenery and the feel of the town as well as the scenic drive, but it’s not a place to camp.

And while I climb the lookout (built in memory of two seamen who got themselves blown up in the second world war as the first Australian casualties when they tried to dismantle a German beached sea mine), Marjo and the dogs enjoy the beach.

Then we arrive at Southbeach and find the foreshore camp. When we decide to stay for a couple of days the relief is instant.

We select the best location, private, half shade, close to the beach and not too far from the toilets.

The campsite is basic, with two good toilets, rainwater tank and bore water. Perfect for us.
And so life settles. We meet the only other campers on this campground, James, Lisa, Spencer, Finn and Sienna; a nice family from Melbourne camping for the summer holidays. Soon the campground gets busier, first with a nice young Adelaide couple Cameron and Elizabeth with their 9 month daughter Rebecca and border collie Sam who becomes mates with Nossi.

Later a rowdy group arrives with grand parents, siblings, kids and grand children and behave like the campground is theirs, complete with chainsaw trimming sites to make room for their caravans.

Meanwhile we enjoy the beach.

The dunes.

Making art.

Relaxing.

The ocean.

The sunset.

And kiting.

The wind was not very favourable; mostly not hard enough and when it was strong it was off land. Lucky for me James had a boat and could retrieve me when the wind blew me offshore, saving me from a cold Christmas on the Antarctic.

So instead we had quality time on the beach with Lisa, James, Spencer, Finn and Sienna.

While the dogs played coastguard, claiming the best spot.

Then it was Christmas day and we woke up with a present from Santa.

We loved our chocolates and the dogs their chewies. Thanks Santa!

Lisa and James invited us for lunch and we had the best time. Thanks guys!

Then it was time for entertainment and the boys showed their best gangsta rap.

While Sienna played with her Christmas presents.

There was music.

Entertainment.

Slide shows.

And after a few drinks the party started in all earnest.

That evening Sam comes to say goodbye to Nossi.

Then we have an appetizer from the flathead – beautifully cooked by Marjo – that James and I caught after he rescued me.

Later that evening we ring family in Australia and overseas to wish them Merry Christmas and happy birthday for my sister Nicolette.

Suffices to say, we had a great Christmas and a magnificent stay.

Posted from Southend, South Australia, Australia.

We say goodbye to Lake Albert and leave with some kangaroo meat for the dogs that we get from the friendly camper who arrived there in 1984 and never left.

We follow the road along the Coorong and uhm and ah whether to call into the naturist camping along this road.

We’re not new to naturist camping and have done so many years in France but the relative cold weather and wind here (who wants to walk in the nude with 19 degrees and 15 knots of wind) make us decide against it.

We stop at some of the free spots, first the Granite, no idea why it’s called that.

It’s a nice beach but the camping is just a bitumen car park, very exposed to the wind.

Then we decide a group shot, which – as usual – takes a few goes.

Dotti decides she likes it here and you can see why, kilometers of beach with no one around.

We stop at some camp sites just past Kingston SE but with the wind, rain and flies we decide to drive onto Robe. Not before we try out our fixed kite though…..

Robe has a nice camping just on the beach with nice surroundings.

Also a nice beach.

Nossi gets all angry when he sees something popping up out of the waves every time, the fact that it’s a rock doesn’t stop him from barking and diving into the sea to protect Marjo.

A great day.

Posted from Southend, South Australia, Australia.

After breakfast and packing up we take the dogs for a walk and meet Thomas, our very friendly neighbour-for-a-night from Germany who is traveling Australia by himself using his thumb (hitch hiking), friends and their van’s and now his bike. He’s having a good time and gives us one of his apples. In return we share some of our cherries. You meet great people when traveling.

Fruit seems to come into season and we stop for some very nice fresh strawberries for next to nothing.

Then we go for a second time to Hanhdorf. The first time we didn’t have enough time to stop and it was a Sunday so the place was packed with visitors. This time we can find a parking spot and Marjo checks out the German stores.

To our surprise she even found a shop where the father of the shopkeeper was German and the mother Dutch. So they stocked also pepernoten!

The pinky is to show relative size and “yes”, I got a little hungry while taking the picture and already took a bite.

Then we leave the hilly, fertile area around Adelaide and head down the Limestone coast.

We stop in Meningie for fuel and cash and decide to stay there overnight, right on lake Albert. This must be a nice spot as one fellow camper came for a night and that was two years and four days ago and they are still there and another has camped there continuously since 1984. I didn’t check whether he put up an Australian flag otherwise he would have had squatters rights by now.

Lake Albert is the small lake compared to Lake Alexandrina that flow into the Coorong a well known stretch of wetland that consists of ocean beach, freshwater lakes, estuaries, saline lagoon and river mouth many kilometers along the coast.

The lake is knee deep and ideal for the dogs to wade in and for us to cool down.

We all had a quiet afternoon, Nossi was even too lazy to chase the birds.

We didn’t want to take any chances and made sure that he was well tied down and would probaly have taken the dog beds and Dotti after him if he wouldn’t have been too tired to bolt after the bird.

That evening we had again one of Marjo’s fabulous dinners and enjoyed the evening sunset.

A magical day.

Posted from Southend, South Australia, Australia.

Today a busy day. We are planning to visit the Dutch shop office in Aldinga to pick up our Dutch specialties order and to go back to Colin for our kite. The first update that morning is good, the Australia Post tracking system informs us that the kite has arrived at the post office in Adelaide north. Also the weather has turned warmer which we all feel good about.

We pack up and drive slowly up the coast to Adelaide. Our first stop is Second Valley which was an alternative overnight option for Rapid Bay.

It’s a nice spot but we’re glad we stayed overnight at Rapid Bay. Still we decide to check out all aspects of this nice place.

Then we follow the same road back over the hills and past the pine trees.

Still in tourist mode we follow a sign that promises a nice view and it does. What we didn’t realise is that it took us up and up over several dirt roads. It was worth the effort when we reached the reservoir and the nice views.

Then we come closer to our first stop.

Aldinga Beach, where we get our Dutch store order. Unfortunately they had no pepernoten, which, so close to Sinterklaas, we had hoped up. However we’re good again on kruisdrop, kaneelstaaf, frites saus and frikadellen.

By now the Australia Post status is upgraded to “driver committed to delivery today” which is great, so we’ll see our kite again today. It feels like Christmas!

Then we decide to stay in Aldinga for lunch, and why not on the beach like everyone else.

And so we park on the beach, have lunch, swim and frolic. The dogs seem interested to go for a swim too until they feel how fresh the Southern Ocean is.

Then we get the word. Our kite has landed. We pack up and make it up to Colin’s. The road is horrible. Some genius – I bet the same dude who planted all these mini round about’s – decided to build a fast road through Adelaide that only goes one way (in the morning into the city and at night out of the city). Instead of leaving one lane free for poor tourists like us we had to weave through little roads with roadworks going on everywhere. Lucky we were not on a schedule.

Then we met Santa Claus – no beard – but who cares as long as he’s baring gifts.

And we say goodbye again.

Then the last windy road towards Cudlee to camp behind the pub.

We stop along the road to give telephonic road side assistance to our daughter Niki who got stranded with her mower in Sydney, so we make it just in time at the Cudlee pub for a Coopers Pale Ale and some takeaway schnitzel (Marjo) and a burger (Axel).

A great day.

Posted from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

Without a kite we can’t really move on, so we decide to make a loop down the Fleurieu Peninsula and hope for kite arrival at Colin’s on Monday. The Peninsula is not big so two days should be enough.

We decide to play the tourist and stop along the way. Our first stop is at a Cherry farm and we get some very nice cherries (alright, I hear you say: “what else would you get at a cherry farm?”….well hum, we could have gotten cherry jam or cherry compote. But we didn’t).

Then drove along nice roads and hilly country side.

Saw alpaca’s and many horses.

And made stops to boost the local economy. It’s great to travel in a bus with limited space; there’s only so much one can buy on the way.

Where possible we let the dogs out (reminds me of a song) and otherwise they were waiting patiently in the bus. It was cold outside, about 19 celcius and Nossi was dressed for the chill.

We stopped in Victor Harbor for lunch and found some attributes for our Christmas Tree decoration.

Then we set up our Christmas tree. Oooooohhhhh.

We are definitely in the Christmas spirit.

Upon leaving Victor Harbor, we stopped so Marjo could visit the local steel gallery. She was not impressed, certainly also when the artist was more interested in whether she was traveling by herself and perhaps had some room in the bus for him. Glad she only came back with a picture of his art and not with the artist himself.

Then we stopped to see the glacier falls, which were really a stream flowing over rock that apparently has been their since the glacial period.

It’s clear that we’re not the typical appreciating tourists.

We like a pretty car when we see one and this is the second time we see this group on our trip.

Then it’s time to move onto Rapid Bay, where we will stay for the night. The road takes us along the coast and past rolling hills. Meanwhile it starts to rain a little.

The campground is right on the beach and we park with a view (I must have had a beer by now as the picture is not really well focused).

It was too cold for a swim, so we settled for a walk along the nice beach with cave.

A great day.

Posted from Rapid Bay, South Australia, Australia.

Today is Adelaide day. We pack up and take the road down the hills to Adelaide.

First we drive to Elizabeth (suburb of Adelaide) and struggle through Saturday pre-Christmas shopping to buy some oil for the planned service at the Clarsen’s residence. Colin Clarsen has generously suggested that instead of paying someone else we could do the bus service at his place. We drive there next and encounter many many small roundabouts which are not fun to take in the bus. Some Adelaide planner must have chuckled when he drew these on the map, meanwhile thinking “we’ll get those idiots in their busses”.

Then we arrive at Colin and Jill where Colin and his son Cameron are busy to try and move one of their cars to make room for the bus. The car is not starting so we decide to just do the service on the side of their street.

Lucky for me Colin was so nice to watch for traffic so I would not get severed in half while lying under the bus to change the oil. We change the oil, the oil filter and fuel filter and check for any loose bolts from all the rattling dirt roads. It’s all good.

We felt really welcome and not only could we service the bus, leave our oil and old filters, but also enjoyed the great hospitality of the Clarsen’s and had a very nice lunch.
When we looked at how Cameron was in the midst of replacing the engine of his drift car, we didn’t feel to bad that we were leaving them with our used car filters and oil. Great to have such friends!

Just before we wanted to leave an Australia Post van pulled up and we were hopeful to get our kite returned (that would be three days after it was posted, where 1 day is the guarantee) but it worked out to be something Cameron ordered of eBay.

After saying goodbye we went to the campground in Mount Barker, not a long drive.

When we arrived at the campground we felt like David amongst the Goliath’s. Our bus plus trailer would fit easily in the bus to the right.

A fruitful day.

Posted from Rapid Bay, South Australia, Australia.

We say goodbye to Kapunda in style.

By now the temperature has dropped from 39 to 22 Celsius and rain is in the air.

After Kapunda we entered the Barossa valley proper and that is clearly noticeable with the sheer number of wineries and vineyards. The route past the main wineries is lined with palm trees. Not sure why, but it just is.

It’s not all vineyards here and we enjoy the variety.

The landscape is diverse and the bus is determinedly struggling up and down the varies hills. We and our unwittingly stream of following cars patiently endure. The benefit of this snails pace is the ability to absorb the nice surroundings.

We visit various wineries and decide to buy some wine at Bethany.

We also stop at a lavender farm and while Nossi, Dotti and I sniff the distinct fragrance, Marjo visits the shop for something to keep her as beautiful as she is.

Then just before we head to the campground, we see a sign Whispering Wall and are intrigued and somewhat surprised to come to one of the reservoirs supplying Adelaide with drink water. There is noticeable more water in the dams compared to Perth and I would say that Adelaide is in better shape to get through this summer than Perth is.

Marjo stayed near the bus and when Dotti, Nossi and I walked to the other side of the dam which was a strange feeling, the water so close on one side and the depth on the other. When we reached the other side Marjo could hear me talk to the dogs as if I was standing next to her. The wall transported sounds from one side to the other so clearly that even whispers were crystal clear.

From there we went to the campground. The GPS took us through the grounds of the Williamstown University and people looked kind of surprised to see a bus with trailer drive in one way and out the other and it took us quickly to the campground.

A wonderful day.

Posted from Rapid Bay, South Australia, Australia.

We were hoping for a cooling down overnight but that didn’t happen. So today another hot one. We decide to make it tourist day and visit the sights of the Barossa. We have some time to kill until Saturday when we’re visiting Colin for the bus service and a repaired kite, so what better way then to visit this beautiful area and the wineries.

It seems that Kapunda, where we are first, has a capita of 140 and about 60 churches. Marjo thinks that this estimate might be an exaggeration, but agrees with me that there are a lot.

There is a clear German influence in the region, with a clear Lutheran undertone. Later we learn that in 1838 when George Fife Angas, a director of a South Australian company, made a trip to London to promote colonization he met Pastor Kavel who was trying to help German Lutherans, being persecuted by the King of Prussia, to immigrate to safer places. Angas was moved by the plight of the Lutherans and persuaded Kavel that South Australia was a suitable place for emigration and also provided the generous financial assistance of $8000 pounds. So now there is a distinct German taste such as Hahndorf, Lobethal (wonder how the Australians pronounce that) and Klemzig.

Then we come to the place that put Kapunda on the map, the copper mine. The distinct green colours of oxidised copper are distinctly different from other earth colours we have seen sofar.

Because the mine is retired there’s a clear no-fossicking policy.

With a smile like that you tend to forget those silly rules.

Then we visit some things like galleries.

And have some lunch to cool down the dogs.

Nossi only chased down the birds three times before he got more interested in the bread I was feeding them.

Then we settled in the shade, hosed each other off and ordered delivery pizza.
Marjo meanwhile painted a Christmas theme while I read. By now the temperature started to drop a little.

We were somewhat shocked that the two pizza’s costed $45 but then saw the crusty base and the size and had pizza for dinner for two nights.

A yummie day.

Posted from Rapid Bay, South Australia, Australia.

It has now been six days and still my kite that was sent with overnight post on 6 December hasn’t arrived at the repairer. I’m truly annoyed with Australia Post and write an email and ring to explain my dissatisfaction. It doesn’t help.

So on we go, we decided that the coast on this side of the peninsula is not very pretty (murky beaches with lots of seaweed, probably great for catching crabs, and we aim for the Barossa.

Soon we see vineyards and the terrain turns more hilly.

Also people seem more into Christmas spirit here.

Then we get a call from the repairer. The kite has arrived and they have repaired it (same day, great service). If they need to send it to “van der” or to “smagt”? They can’t find it on any map. Don’t you love a name like that. We ask it to be redirected to Adelaide, to a friend Colin where we are going to for a car service anyway. That’s in three days and since Adelaide is on the overnight network we should have plenty of time.

By now it has turned very hot, around 39 degrees and the cows are looking for shade.

We start doing the same and rock up to the Balaklava campground, selected for having a pool. We find out that it’s the public pool and is used for school swimming. So instead we hose each other down and sit in the shade, hoping for a little breeze.

We also find the nice purple flower of which Marjo found the head on the beach. A great day.

Posted from Rapid Bay, South Australia, Australia.

Now we’re not far from a nice kiting spot (if we can believe the posts on a popular Australian kiting website called Seabreeze). This certainly is a windy spot.

So when we come to Edithburg and the nearby Sultana point we’re not disappointed.

Unfortunately the wind is not enough for my just acquired 9m kite and we can’t camp here, so we sadly say goodbye.

In this area there are many drywalls, stone fences made of stacked rocks. Must be quite a job to get a stable wall just from stacking varied size rocks.

Edithburg has an RSL pub with a nice mural and other older buildings.

As you can see we are getting a little bored; we’ve resorted to taking pictures of buildings…..

Well one more can’t hurt to share with you how big wheat is here. Everywhere around the peninsula you can see these kinds of facilities to store grain or whatever it is they harvest. Big road trains drive around to transport the wheat from the fields to the facilities and then onto ships.

Then we stop for a stretch and let the dogs wade in the calm ocean. To her surprise Marjo finds a quite nice shark egg. This is somewhat rare.

Suddenly we see that at this location they are all but rare.

They are all still full and will hatch in about 10 months or so. These are not Great White shark eggs as their eggs are hatched within the body of the female shark.

In Stansbury we admire the lime kiln that was used in the early 1900’s to turn lime into mortar. Apparently it never was a commercial success but makes a nice picture.

We also have some lunch.

It was impossible to get the dogs to look at the lens with our plates of food sitting in front of us.

Then we decide to stop in Port Vincent for the night, there is a nice camping with, if the wind picks up, a nice shallow kite beach.
While waiting for wind we take the dogs for a walk along the beach and find big pelicans.

They were happy sitting still but here is where Nossi has been trained too well in a previous life. When Niki had Nossi she decided that he was no agility material. Instead she used him to chase birds off her agility paddock so she could do the runs uninterrupted with Peppe. Now, many years later, Nossi still thinks that it’s better to have 10 birds in the air.

Dotti couldn’t care less about birds.

She is more motivated by food and is very happy to scrape clean the oyster shells after Marjo contentedly slobbered their contents.

The wind never picked up, so we settled in the nice late afternoon sun with a yummie fish and chips from the stall next to the camping.

A great day!

Posted from Rapid Bay, South Australia, Australia.