Thursday 24th November 2011

Hi Everyone, we are staying at Pauls BFF (best friend forever) in the North of Victoria and it is nice to have company!

Even though Paul & Glenn have their own 'sense of humor' it must be a bloke thing! Like when I get with the Girls... so it is quite amusing

Here is where we have been since the last post:

Day 96  Inverleigh
Days 97 to 98  Bendigo
Days 99 to 102  Stanley

We are still continuing South towards the Great Ocean Road and decided to stop at Warrnambool, which is a nice town then started the trip across. It is lovely but the weather has changed and is starting to rain in patches, but it just slows down the drive a bit.  It seems that the Great Ocean Road is the world's biggest memorial to our soliders that fought at war. When we got to the 12 Apostles there were buses and tourists everywhere it is a very popular spot.

 I can see why it is a very popular drive, it changes all the time, from bush to forests, to beautiful little towns and the magnificent coastline. As it was Friday afternoon, we lost count of the Ferarris, Porsches & Audis going in the other direction!

I found a free campsite at Inverleigh and of course the GPS decided to take us on the back roads, which was fun as it then gets to a point that it doesn't like/recognise the road anymore. Paul is getting experienced in doing a 27 point turn on country roads with the caravan, but we eventually got there!

We spent the next 2 nights at Bendigo which was a lovely town. The buildings are so majestic and have so much history to them.  Most of the houses are made of bricks or sandstone to keep the warmth in and I was very surprised to see this house with 3 chimneys

We met an interesting character called Dan at the Caravan Park. He was always interested in a chat and he told me that he was on the disability pension, because he had a nervous breakdown and couldn't work, but he was a full time prospector and that we should get into prospecting as there is a lot of gold around Bendigo.  I asked if we could see some of his findings which we was too happy to show..

This was his biggest piece at approximately 13grams. I am sure that he must sleep on these to make sure they are safe!

Only a couple of hours through Shepparton, Wangaratta, Beechworth then to a little place called Stanley where Glenn lives. The actual township has a school, pub and a very small post office but it is in a beautiful spot. Of course we have to celebrate seeing each other with a few drinks that night as no one had to drive anywhere!

The dogs are having a fun time at Glenn's place, he has 2 cats and lots of chooks which are roaming around the garden.  We thought that the boys would chase them, you could see the gleam in their eyes, but we slowly got them used to them and now they all mingle together, it is quite funny!

Next day Paul and I drove to Albury Wodonga as poor Glenn was a bit worse for wear. We had a good drive around it was quite surprising to see the traffic, but it was manageable and it allowed for a relaxing scenic drive. It was quite strange driving across the river to the neighbouring city and also going for a quick visit into NSW.

As it was our 100th day on the road & 25,000 kms later, we thought it right to celebrate and drove the 10km into Beechworth and had dinner at the local Pub.

Yesterday we went for a drive to Bright and Mt Hotham. We left the dogs with Glenn for the day and it was most enjoyable looking around Bright (I even managed to drag Paul into a couple of Op Shops) but of course it was mandatory to try out the local bakery.  It was very strange to see shops selling ski gear and to think that the town would be surrounded by snow, even though we were there on a beautiful sunny day

The drive to Mt Hotham was very windy and the signs on the side of the road were giving warnings about black ice. It was strange as there was lovely flowers along the side of the road, but the trees were white and stark and looked like they were dead

When we started to get to the top of the mountain I started to get a bit anxious. The road kept disappearing! it was like the road, then the sky, I kept asking Paul to slow down as I was hanging on to the grip handle on the car.  I don't know how people drive up there in the snow due to the ice and there were poles that stick out of the snow to show you where the road is, but the scenery was just beautiful.

When we got to the top to the resort, it was a bit of a ghost town as it is out of season, but there was a few people around as they were there to hike the tracks. We didn't stay for too long as it was freezing, it was 13 degrees and with a bit of a wind, it felt like 5 degrees, I had to have my camping ugg boots on to keep my feet warm (I wasn't going to show you them)

Today I went into Beechworth for a bit of a treat, I thought it was time to get a haircut, it had been over 3 months. I left the Paul and Glenn to do 'blokey'stuff and took the car and headed into Beechworth. Wow, it was very strange to drive again, so I took it nice and slow. It was a weird feeling to be walking around by myself without a hubby and 2 small dogs, but I enjoyed looking in the shops, having some lunch & having my haircut and now I feel a million dollars!

Beechworth is a beautiful town, it has been kept to its original standards and has quaint little shops which mainly accomodate the booming tourism trade (expensive). Not to mention the famous Beechworth Bakery and did get 'scolded'from the boys as I didn't bring anything back for them!

We took a drive around the local foresty area which is full of pine trees, in one respect it is amazing to see rows and rows of pine trees, but on the other hand you know that the beautiful bush had to be ripped out for them to grow. You get a different perspective for the bush to see how it must be managed correctly after you can still see the devastation from the bushfires from 2 years ago

 And here is a photo of our first Echidna that we have seen on the road (isn't he cute?)

Thursday 17th November 2011

Hi Everyone, Well we have crossed the border into Victoria and the days just seem to be going quicker.

Here is where we have been lately:

Day 83   Warren Gorge (outside Quorn)
Day 84   Rawnsley Park Station (Flinders Ranges)
Day 85   Gulnare
Days 86 to 92 Adelaide
Day 93   Kingston SE
Day 94   Dartmoor
Day 95   Hamilton

Driving back from Coober Pedy was a long drive as we had already driven the road, but we kept going to get closer to the Flinders Ranges and ended up driving 600kms (we did plenty of stops). We stayed at a lovely free campsite at Warren Gorge outside Quorn, which is a lovely old town, which has had a few films made there (gallipoli). It is a good day to be in the car as it is 36 deg and in the late afternoon a wind comes through then it looks like a storm and then it cools down. It is very strange!

There is a lot of history in this area and we stopped to see the ruins of an old homestead which was amazing

We are looking forward to the Flinders Ranges, but because we have the dogs, we can't go in to the Wilpena Pound, but we can go outside the national park, which is fine.

We stay at Rawnsley Station which is about 100 acres and has great views. When we were having our evening 'beverage' we were lucky to see a rainbow and a slight shower, which was beautiful.

Next day we drove through the ranges and through a little town called Blinman, it has a coffee shop and a corner store and a couple of houses and not much more. so of course we had to help out the local society and stop for coffee and a biscuit.  The drive across to Parchilna was beautiful it seems we were stopping every 10 minutes to take a photo.

At Parachilna, there is only 7 residents and I am sure they are all at the Prairie Hotel. On this trip I had read a book about Outback Women and this lady had brought this pub back to life by serving Feral Food (emu, croc, roo etc)& Fargher (their surname) Larger, so we had to stop and try the beer and ended up buying a 6 pack to take with us!

 The pub is in the middle of nowhere!

Driving closer to Adelaide, the towns just started to get quicker and every 15 minutes we were going through a little town until we hit the main highway and then the traffic. OMG I was having panic attacks. I think we had been out of circulation for too long!

In Adelaide we stayed at a Carvan Park just 7kms from the city and did day trips as everything is so close (once you get out of the traffic.

To lovely Glenelg, which is very scenic and 'touristy'' but the dogs loved having a run around on some grass and saying hello to the people on the street. It is like having little pop stars as everyone wants to have a pat and say how cute they are.

We decided as it is getting warmer to get the dogs clipped at Dog City Day Care and this also enabled us to have an afternoon to do some things without the dogs.  Well you would have thought that we were leaving children behind. When we dropped the boys off, they went into a big playpen with about 20 other small/medium dogs and you should have seen their faces, they came running up to us (we were behind a viewing screen) and their eyes just screamed MUM DON'T LEAVE ME, I had to leave quickly.

But then I thought what dogs, when I gave Paul the street address for the Haighs Chocolate Factory, which we were going to see the free tour and chocolate tasting...as I said what dogs??  Of course we enjoyed it and had to buy some!  We also went to the Adelaide Central Markets, which is like the Vic Markets in Melbourne, so we enjoyed having a good look around and treated our tired muscles to a chinese massage. A good afternoon out on all accounts!

Next day we went to Hahndorf which is only about 50kms from Adelaide. It is a tourist destination a bit like Montville, but is very pretty. Paul was looking forward to his German Sausauge and Saurkraut in a roll!

Of Course we had to see the wine regions, so we headed south to McLarenVale, the area is so pretty and also went to some markets at Willunga and stopped at Normanville to have a walk along the beach. We drove to Cape Jervis which is were the ferry leaves to go to Kangaroo Island (we could see it in the distance) and enjoyed lunch at a Pub at Victor Harbour. They are very dog friendly in South Australia and are quite happy to have dogs at cafes/pubs.

We drove to Goolwa which is where the Murray River meets the ocean. To be honest, it was a bit of a let down, it was more of a small sandbank, but we can say that we have seen it.  We ended up driving the scenic way back to Adelaide on all the back roads through the Adelaide Hills and it was very pretty.  I did try driving for a while to give Paul a break and lasted about half an hour. It is the strangest feeling, my eyes just wanedt to close and my focus goes, so I pulled over and let Paul drive again. I think I am going to have to get some practice in before I hit the streets of Brisbane!

I did try going to the local shopping centre one morning as it had a Myers and I had a gift card and I thought I would buy Paul's christmas present. Well I lasted about 2 hours and then the crowds and screaming children got to me and I had to ring Paul to pick me up...I must be well out of practice!

We also went to the Barossa and have a lovely time going into Jacobs Creek, Grant Burge and some small other wineries. It is such a lovely place and of course we had to go to Maggie Beer's to try some of her products while we were in the region.  Needless to say we stocked up on some more wine and champagne to keep us going for a while. But diiner that night was Pate and Bread and a bottle of wine! perfect.

Finally driving out of Adelaide and it was a lovely place, except for the traffic. We drove through Murray Bridge, Tailem Bend and then headed down the coast to Meringie.  We stay at a free campsite next to the Beach outside Kingston SE and saw the most beautiful sunset (probably the best so far)

We took the dogs for a walk on the beach next day and Paul was giving Floyd a bit of a rev to go in the water and chase the Cormorants, well he did, he ran all the way down the beach until we couldn't see him anymore (I am sure he is part greyhound) Paul had to jog to go and get him! Barney just kept looking at me to say I'm not running all that way!

Kingston is known as the rock lobster capital of Australia, it is funny we have seen many places with the same claim to fame, so I had to have my photo taken with the Big Lobster. We also bought 1/2 a lobster for dinner.

We drove into Robe, which is so pretty, it is right on the ocean but it is very 'old world' so we stopped for a walk around and also to find the local bakery!

On the way to Penola, which is where St Mary MacKillop used to live. I thought it more important to us to visit Wynns Winery at Coonawarra Region, to find more wine!! and down to Mt Gambier which has a lake next to the town which changes from dark to a bright blue colour in summer, it is amazing!

And then a short distance to the Victoria Border

We finally stopped at Dartmoor at a free campsite, which is close to a river where Major Mitchell stopped on his expedition. It was a lovely place to stop except for the sound of Male Koalas grunting when the sun went down!

Even though it is a very small town there was some amazing carvings all around the main street

Finally to Hamilton which is the closest carvan park to the Grampians which allows dogs. It is only an hour to get to the Mountains and they are beautiful and very rugged. We can't let the dogs out as it is all National Park, but it was still nice to drive through. We even saw a fox and a deer crossing the road (not together or holding hands) ha ha!

And finally I had to take a photo of this front hedge of this property, it looked beautiful

Until next time, take care xxx

Friday 4th November 2011

Hi Everyone, we have finally got to a place that I am a bit excited about Coober Pedy, yes lovely OPALS...

The trip so far:
Days 70 & 71 Esperance
Day 72    Kalgoorlie
Day 73   Caiguna
Day 74   Eucla
Day 75  Penong
Day 76  Streaky Bay
Days 77 & 78  Port Lincoln
Day 79 Cape Hardy
Day 80 Lake Hart
Days 81 & 82 Coober Pedy

Well we pulled into Esperance and we have decided to stay as we have been here before and it is a nice sleepy coastal town, even though it is a bit cold at a max 17deg, it is still pleasant. It has a beautiful coastline.

We start driving north to Kalgoorlie and the weather is starting to change with showers, but we are lucky when we want to get out of the car it seems to stop or is that good timing on our behalf?  We had a look at the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie which is a huge gold open pit mine which is 3.2km long, 1.4km wide & 330m deep and is the largest pit in the Southern hemisphere, the huge trucks looked like little tonka toys

We stayed at a free campsite, which was about 15km out of town and it was a bit strange as it was a dirt road, with a clear bit of groud for vans and then in the near distance you had mining pits on both sides of us, strange but different! but we had 2 other vans with us.

Paul started the first hole of the Nullarbor Links which was at the Kalgoorlie Golf Course. As you can imagine, the greens were lovely and he played the first 2 holes and then to the next stop which is Norseman then the roadhouses across the Nullarbor. The "greens" were a bit hit and miss, but it added to the fun of it all.  He made it across in 173 for 18 holes. Please don't laugh until you see the pictures of what he was playing on!!!!

Driving across the Nullarbor took us 4 days and it was a good trip. A part of the road has the longest straightest road in Australia at 146km. It wasn't as boring as people say at the scenary was constantly changing. The day was nice in the morning, then you can see the clouds building up through the day and then we would get the storms at night. They were ok as the rain came down torrential and quick then passed. Both nights we were like 2 little kids looking out of the van window at the lightening happening all around us, sometimes the lightening went sideways!

There are a lot of vans and trucks on the road and we spoke to another couple who had a bad story to tell. They were following a semi trailer in the rain and another semi trailer came up the back of them and hit them in the back right hand corner and forced them off the road! To cut a loing story short, the police got the truck driver and it seems that the was 'pepped' on something. Shame for the couple as they now have to wait for the insurance company to sort it out and give them another car or a lift back to civilisation, I am sure this is not an easy thing to do in the middle of the Nullarbor!

We camped at a Scenic lookout just out from Eucla and it had some lovely views, but I don't think we will do that again as that night with the storm I kept thinking that we were going to be swept off the cliff and the next morning we had all the tourists turning up early while we where having breakfast!

The Nullarbor comes from 'nullus arbor' meaning no trees so I thought that was interesting.

We had to keep an eye on the fuel, even though we had 2 full jerry cans on the roof, we still needed to get some fuel to make it across and we definately didn't want to run out when it cost $2.05 at the Nullarbor Roadhouse. We did have a "burger with the lot" while we were there.

Paul handed his score card into the Ceduna Information centre to collect his certificate and they told him at least he was honest with putting his correct score! It seems that since the 'golf course' has been in place for the last 3 years the amount of road deaths across had reduced dramatically. That is one thing that we have noticed is that we can be driving and having stops every 2 hours and some days the day goes fine, another day, when we stop you can be cranky, tired and you can't make decisions as your brain just goes to mush! So we are taking it nice and slow.

We spend a night at Streaky Bay Caravan Park and it is so busy, it seems that it is the favourite rest stop after the long drive across Western Australia to South Australia. As we are now following the coastline, we are starting off with a lovely prawn & oyster lunch on the beach.

We seem to be struggling with the time difference as the sunset is now around 7.45pm, it seems very strange.

We head down the coastline to Port Lincoln and end up staying at a Farmstay about 15kms out. We felt very spoilt for $20pn and because we were there on our own (for the first night) we had the amenities block to ourselves. The boys loved it being able to run around( after rabbits) and Paul loved it because he could make a fire.

As Paul likes oysters, we had a quick trip to Coffin Bay. There was not much too see except for the oyster beds and of course the mandatory emu crossing the street, holding up the cars! so of course he had to buy another dozen! (all for $10)

Next day we played tourist! We went swimming with Tuna (well Paul did!)  They were a dog friendly business and looked after the boys in the office while we went out in the bay.  We were lucky as there was only another couple with us on the boat, so we felt we had personalised service. I don't like water so I was a bit nervous holding the pilchard out in the water as a 60kg fish took it out of my hand and only did a couple before I got too scared

We were on a floating Tuna Aquaculture pontoon that they kept about 40 tuna, also an underwater observatory and a touch pool.

Paul got in the water and he was quite happy, so one of the crew could see that both of the blokes were quite comfortable with the fish and hand feeding them (while in the water) so he started throwing the pilchards around their heads so that the tuna would come in quick. Paul was on a bit of a 'high'. Can you see the black shadows under the surface!!! They were too quick for me to take photos!

I was quite happy with the touch pool and the underwater observatory

Paul said that he would watch the tuna come straight for him (trying to get the pilchard) and that they are that quick that the fish would grab the pilchard then turn that he didn't even see them, he just felt the force of the water from their tail.

We came back into shore and it was Melbourne Cup Day, it was quite funny as we were walking down the street and we could hear eveyone cheering, then a big awww! but we saved our money!

We drove through Port Augusta and had to have the mandatory look for Paul's cream donuts, well we had success, but they call them Kitcheners. It is very strange to point to what you know and ask for something else, but the end result was the same....a happy husband


Well we are on our way to Coober Pedy, it is about 600ks from Port Augusta and it must be about the most boring drive, look at this landscape.....same same

We stayed for 2 nights to have a bit of a break before we drive the same road back to Port Augusta. It is basically a 1 street town with 3 pizza shops and 20 Opal stores!  We went into a Opal Shop that was built into the back of a hill and showed how a family used to live. Most of the people here live in dugouts (in the sides of hills) as the temperature can get into the high 40degs in Summertime and the air is very dry, but underneath it stays at 22 deg all year around

We took a drive to the Breakaways which is a formation outside of town, it was nice, but because it was overcast it looked like piles of dirt to me, but maybe if it was a sunny day the colours would have come out more

And last but not least, we had to take a photo of the famous dog fence, that runs from QLD to WA