Oct 22: Oz (11 - 18 ) Adelaide, road trip to Melbourne

Tuesday 11 October

We finally got to meet Karen and Dave when they picked us up at the airport.

For those who don't know - we have never met this couple before but the connection is through their son Tristan who was on the same tour of Mexico as us 4 years ago. I friended Karen on fb so that she could see group pics that he was in and the rest, as they say, is history as we've kept in touch since then. 

Tried to take a pic as we arrived but got too excited and ended up taking a photo of the floor 😂

.. but I knew straight away that we were going to get on well together 😁

There was only one casualty in the bone china tea set brought across from the UK. Pretty good as it had endured two flights. 

Jack wore his new Union Jack bandana. Handsome boy.

Quick freshen up and a chat then a great afternoon and lunch at Largs Bay - and the sun came out for us. Lovely walk along the pier - and a visit from a friendly pelican.

We were going to have a walk round the city but people were holding a demonstration and it was incredibly busy so we didn't bother.

Quiet cheese and wine evening 😋

Ema rang to say Pam had died suddenly 💕

Wednesday 12 October

Much needed catch up sleep then a trip out to the Yorke Peninsula.

Lovely meander along the coast - and a great tour guide!.. 😁

There was a very distinct line where the seaweed ended and the sand began.

Interesting to see the enclosed shark-proof areas for safe swimming.

Our tour guide explained about fish sizes etc - and the man checked the size of a blue swimmer crab that he had caught.

Beautifully painted water storage tanks and grain silos.

Chat, chat, rabbit, rabbit.. non stop! And they say that women can talk! 🙄

Yummy barbie when we got home - thanks to our multi talented tour guide! And a fab evening just eating, drinking and laughing. 

Thursday 13 October

Day out to the Barrosa valley and a visit to two wineries. Firstly the Seppeltsfield winery.

En route..

.. bad spelling on the school bus.. 😂

Surprised to see this sign.

Listening intently.. 

Family mausoleum.

Then on to the Murray Street vineyard for another wine tasting and a platter of absolutely delicious local foods 😋 The duck and port paté 😋😋😋 just mmmmmm..😋

A perfect pairing of wines and food.

Lovely art and artisans in both vineyards.

This belt reminded me of my dad - he used to work with leather as a hobby. He showed me and my friend Trisha how to make these shapes and put tassels on the end so we'd make them with his off-cuts and sell them at our girl guide events. The smell of the leather took me right back there 💕

 

Karen's Shaun the sheep goes on holiday with them so I thought I'd bring UK Shaun the sheep to meet him. They got on very well 😂

Met Karen's dad Barry, wife Yvonne and sister Tracey and partner Rob - lovely evening and a great family - but totally forgot to take any pics 🙄

Friday 14 October

Another day, another adventure!

Today we went to Hahndorf - Australia's oldest surviving German settlement.

Small cafe in Hahndorf - but big portions of apple streudel and a bee sting! And loads of cream on the hot chocolate..😋

More chatting 😁 these two talked more than Karen and I - interesting stuff like railway track gauges and car types. They were very happy 😁

We found a cup to replace the broken one.

Beer paddles and spicy wings at Lobethal bierhaus.

Studying the beer tasting menu.

World's largest rocking horse 🐴

Karen's butterfly.

Sanctuary for rescued animals - including kangaroos 😁

Petted a kangaroo!.. 

Beautiful camping area that Karen and Dave go to.

Mum and baby spotted en route. Very excited to see them just sitting there!

Whispering wall.

Bat watching in the Botanic Gardens.

Windy Point looking down over Adelaide.

Our last little outing in lovely Adelaide with our beautiful friends. What an adventure 💕

Saturday 15 October

Start of road trip Adelaide to Melbourne

Day 1 Adelaide to Robe

Sad to say goodbye to Karen and Dave but excited to be on the road. Think Jack was glad to see us go so that he could have his mum and dad back 😂 - he'd done such sad faces and puppy dog eyes every time we'd left him in the mornings 😁

This is so true..

Our lovely friends dropped us at the car hire office ready to start the next phase of our holiday and we said our goodbyes - though we were already planning our next meet-up in the UK in 2024. 

As we were sorting out the car a gentleman came over to us. He had been listening when the lady in the office had asked where we were going and came over to give us several suggestions of places to go and things to see en route. I quickly scribbled them down. So kind! And much appreciated.

First stop was Tailem Bend Bakery which had been recommended by Karen. 

Tried a posh Lamington. Delicious. Mike had a banoffee pie😋  

The Pink Lake wasn't pink - too much water in it atm - must be a fantastic sight in summer.

Little walk by the lake at Meningie.

Then off to another bakery recommendation there😁 

Mike had a chunky pie (steak and kidney) and I tried a kransky - sort of a sausage roll filled with a german sausage?

Short stop in the Coorong NP to eat our goodies and watch the pelicans fly over.

Larry the Lobster at Kingston.

Our overnight stay was in a cabin on a lovely caravan park in Robe. Right on the sea front.

Fish and chips for tea 😋

Short walk on the beach.

Glorious sunset!.. 😍

Sunday 16 October

Day 2 Robe to Mount Gambier 

Walk round Robe - view from the camp site.

We saw an echidna (spiny anteater) walk slowly across the road in front of us but by the time I'd jumped out of the car it was rolled up tightly into a ball.

We stopped to look at large scale drainage project - the cutting they had made was HUGE!

Bowman Scenic Drive - just beautiful!

The long jetty - though this is only about 2/3rds length of the original!

We shared a chicken snitty 😂 - when we remembered what it was (a chicken schnitzel - they abbreviate everything) 🙄

The pigeons were very keen to hoover up after Mike but they very politely waited until we went and didn't jump on the table or swoop around us.

I had a funny experience as we walked back to the car. Mike walked on ahead and I tugged at the door handle only to find it locked. I tutted to myself and looked into the car - only to find a cleric, complete with dog collar sitting there! He seemed quite bemused.

I walked round to his window and apologised profusely and he just laughed and pointed to the next car and said ' That's yours!'

Oops!..

Then on to the Tantanoola caves. What a fabulous place. Quite incredible. 

We were the only ones on the tour and the guide did her spiel and then said we could look round on our own. Not sure if that is the norm but it was great not to be dodging people. And the best bit?.. when we came out there were about 15 people waiting for the next tour. What timing!!

Then on to our accommodation in Mount Gambier. After a short rest we went to look at the Blue Lake. This was once an active volcano but is now a 72m deep lake lined with molten rock. 

Unfortunately the sun wasn't fully on it so we didn't get the full effect. Still pretty though.

Same at the Umpherston Sink Hole - missed most of the sunshine.

Monday 17 October

Day 3 Mount Gambier to Warrnambool

But first a quick return visit to the Blue Lake.

.. which was much the same colour as last night but with the sun in a different place. Same with the Umpherston Sink Hole. Still nice to see them again though.

On to our first stop at Port MacDonnell where we had breakfast in a little café called Periwinkles.

Then a bit of a mooch.

The most southerly point in Australia and the site of the old light house. Very beautiful in glorious sunshine - though still a bit nippy with the breeze.

 

As we drove on we saw a sign for Piccanninie Ponds so we went to investigate. Turns out that they are diving pools with crystal clear water - and a cacophony of frogs as you go down the raised walkway through the swamp marshes to the launch float.

E

We crossed the border into Victoria and set out watches back by half an hour.

Portland was bigger than expected and therefore more spread out so we didn't really have a proper look round it. 

This is how they promote speed awareness in Victoria..

.. in SA it was 'Drowsy Drivers Die' and 'Speeders come out of nowhere' with a car speeding through the letters of 'niwhere'. 

Port Fairy was another delightful little place which we didn't have time to explore properly. But we can't expect to do everything!!

Warrnambool

Tuesday 18 October

Day 4 Warrnambool to Apollo Bay

Went to have a look at the Whale watching station before we left. 

Then had a walk down Granny's Grove 

The Hopkins river at Point Ritchie was very full and a local told is that it had eroded part of the bank and widened the river mouth at the point where it met the sea. This was due to all the flooding further upstream.

We could see that trees had been submerged by the swollen rivers as we drove along.

Then on to the Great Ocean Highway. All gob smackingly beautiful in the sunshine. 

We've been so lucky with the weather as even the greyer skies in Adelaide didn't stop us doing anything and Dave managed to control it mostly with his magic button in the car for switching the rain and sunshine on and off when needed🤣 

First stop - Bay of Islands

Bay of Martyrs

Peterborough

Brill motorcycle and trailer - it even had a solar panel on it - and a little tiny batman with a cape fastened to the back! 🤣 

The Grotto - this was my favourite as it had a different view from platform as you walked down the steps.

The tide had receded a bit when we were there so it wasn't crashing into this side of the arch - it was just a tranquil pool with beautiful reflections.

London Bridge - or London Arch since its collapse in 1990.

Lovely just to stand and watch the waves sweeping through the arch and spreading out to the sand. 

Port Campbell

Fish and chips for lunch

Loch Ard Gorge

The Razorback. Another favourite. Lots of birds nesting totally undisturbed.

Twelve Apostles

Think there have only ever been 8 but just 7 visible now?

Cape Otway

Not sure what happened to the trees but they looked creepily beautiful!

Mike spotted a kookaburra - on a sign post not a gum tree 😂

We were too late to go into the light house and it was hardly visible from the road - though we did trek to the look out point and Mike managed to get a pic of the top of it 😁

Photo from the brochure of what we would have seen if we'd been earlier. It is the oldest lighthouse in Australia.

Maits Rest Rainforest walk 

Most of the light had gone as it was early evening but we still had a lovely walk - totally on our own!

An amazing place!

The ferns we're just beautiful.

Apollo Bay

Too tired to look round so we bought a takeaway pizza.

We celebrated our wonderful day with a bottle of special Shiraz given to us by the lovely Karen and Dave - called Dark Side of the Moon. To quote another Pink Floyd classic - Karen and Dave .. Wish You Were Here!.. 😘