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April/May 2023

April - May 2023
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  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 10

    Boots ‘n All

    April 26, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    The trip to Mildura today is more or less a straight line west through a lot of flat farming country. The only major town en route is Balranald so that was a logical place to stop for coffee. However any stop gives Carolina the right to browse through the shops, and today was no different. In due course she appeared with a black and white pair of gum boots which she said would be perfect for Noosa as well as the caravan. Peter’s thoughts - “who am I to argue….??”.
    Throughout Balranald are models and statues of frogs, some of which are very funny. Why frogs you may ask? It is because of the Southern Bell Frog which is an endangered species in the wetlands nearby to Balranald. A very cute tourist attraction with a sobering meaning in the background.
    Then it was on to Mildura, the capital of Mallee district of Victoria located on the mighty Murray River, Australia’s longest river. This is our short diversion into Victoria. Mildura is a very nice country city with a well designed and attractive city centre full of restaurants and shops. Yes, Carolina was in her element again! Among the attractions is a Holden Car Museum which will be a must-do item for Peter tomorrow!
    Our campsite here is the free camp at the Red Cliffs Golf Course. Despite being a large green area it was already very busy with many caravans. After settling-in we headed into town to walk around the city area and even saw a building with the water levels of the recent 2023 major floods painted on the walls. We then enjoyed an excellent Thai mean at the Thai-Riffic restaurant. This had been recommended to us (thanks Kimbo & Carol) and certainly served some of the best Thai food we have eaten - excellent food!!
    Tomorrow we head into South Australia and we need to be mindful of the fruit quarantine requirements for fruit fly protection. Fresh fruit and vegetables are not allowed across the SA border from VIC or NSW and must be dumped into Quarantine bins. So we will be having the last of our fruit for breakfast tomorrow!!    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 11

    Into South Australia at last!

    April 27, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    For any dyed-in-the-wool Aussie no trip to Mildura would be complete without a visit to the Holden Car Museum. A private collection of this famous Australian car with models starting from 1948 through to around 1990. Although this collection does not cover every model Holden, it is still an impressive museum. Peter’s first car was an EJ Holden which was on display, and then he owned an LX Torana and the XU-1 version of this model was also on display. Carolina’s car is a VT Commodore, but unfortunately the models on display did not cover Commodores.
    While Peter was browsing the Holden Museum , Carolina was taking in the sights of the Mildura city centre which has a great range of shops, cafes, and restaurants. It is a surprising city where we could have spent more time. But Adelaide and the Barossa Valley were beckoning!
    As we crossed the border into South Australia the border is marked by the Quarantine requirements to dispose of all fruits and vegetables. The roadworks however stopped us dumping our food as they blocked off the only road to the quarantine bins! So we ended up at the Quarantine inspection border stop with all fruits and vegetables intact! Thankfully the inspector knew about the bins being blocked and agreed to waive any penalties providing we dumped all our goods with them. Whew!
    It was painted silo time as Renmark and Waikerie on the way have some good ones. It must take a lot of time for the painters to finish such large paintings! The backdrop of the Murray River winding its way through these towns made the silo art all the more attractive.
    Mid-afternoon we finally made it to the Barossa Valley and we were met with some wonderful autumn scenery with many of the grape vines and trees being brightly coloured with autumn leaves. Everywhere we went Carolina was agog with the scenery and exclaiming her delight in seeing such lovely countryside. We will enjoy exploring this region over the next 3-4 days.
    Arriving at our free camp at Lambert’s Little Paradise the site was initially not as nice as we had hoped. The campsite receives great reviews and as we settled in amongst the surrounding gardens and the pool area we began to see it’s good features and it should be fine for the rest of our stay.    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 12

    Adelaide, Hahndorf, and Gin

    April 28, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    As we looked around our campsite this morning it was cool, cloudy, and raining, and forecast to remain this way but improving over the next two days. So instead of exploring the Barossa Valley today in the rain we decided to look around Adelaide as Carolina had never been there before.
    Along the way we passed through Seppelfield which was once the largest wine producing company in the world. A huge area of grape vines and long palm-lines roads. There was even a family mausoleum that look like a mini version of the Parthenon. It’s amazing what money can do!
    On arrival in Adelaide we parked near the CBD and walked around the city as the weather thankfully was behaving itself with no rain. Adelaide was looking great due to the colours of the autumn leaves in the trees, the beautiful buildings, great cafes and restaurants, and as usual the city was clean and presented well. The CBD was quieter than Peter remembered but perhaps this is due to the universal move away from cities by many workers following COVID. The Taste Australia food festival was on, but Chanel was not allowed in so we missed out on this; Carolina went to the Central Markets and was amazed at the selection of food and goods; and the gardens everywhere were spectacular. We walked and drive around the CBD areas for several hours.
    We then started heading back to the Barossa Valley when Carolina suggested we include Hahndorf in today’s trip, and what a good idea that turned out to be! Hahndorf is a small town in the Adelaide Hills that has been set up like a German town. The scenery on the drive up to Hahndorf was amazing with the lovely autumn colours everywhere, and then the town itself is very picturesque and as a result there were tourists everywhere. Carolina was in her element and excitedly went from place to place along the Main Street taking in all the sights and atmosphere. Two hours looking around was enough to see it all and we finished off with a visit to the Ambleside Distillery for a selection of their famous gins mixed with several types of tonics. The standout gin in our view was the Big Dry which is distilled with jalapeños and coffee beans!! A decidedly different but delicious taste!
    The drive back to Barossa and our campsite took about an hour and as darkness fell this had been a very good day.    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 14

    The Barossa on Steroids

    April 30, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We could easy spend a week or more looking around the Barossa Valley, taking in the sights, tasting the wines, relaxing among the autumn gardens, and imagining what life would be like if we lived here. We have come here at just the right time to catch the autumn colours and in a week or two from now all these trees will be bare as they shed their leaves and prepare for the winter cold. Our perfect timing to come here now has allowed us to see the Valley at its very best.
    We have spend the last two full days taking in the attractions Barossa has to offer and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our time here. Instead of two separate days of travel blogs with each day covering similar items, we thought a single travel blog covering both days is a better way of describing our time here.
    During the last two days we have travelled most of the Barossa including Tanunda and Nuriootpa which are the pretty two main town centres in the Valley. We visited the wineries of Yalumba, Peter Lehman, Hentley, Langmeil, Seppeltsfield, Jacobs Creek, St Hugo, and Rockfords. For us Yalumba was the standout winery with the most visually spectacular with magnificent gardens and seriously impressive stylish old buildings. At Yalumba several groups of fellow tourists took a shine to Chanel and played with her outside, took her to their table, cuddled, and took selfies with her while we watched from inside and enjoyed some wine tasting and Charcuterie (look carefully in the background of one of the photos and Chanel can be seen peering through the panes of the glass door).
    We went to the Mangler’s Hill lookout that overlooks the entire valley and were fortunate to be there when the clouds cleared and it was blue sky.
    We went to the Barossa Chocolate factory and saw our first full wall height chocolate waterfall. And of course we went to Maggie Beer’s farm shop and tasted some of the goods that made her such a world famous Chef.
    Carolina (of course) went shopping and bought herself a sweater that was “divine” - enough said… :-) It’s been a varied and enjoyable time here and Carolina does not want to leave!
    Throughout our stay we continued to be amazed at the beautiful scenery and friendly people. Yes there were a lot of tourists around despite the school holidays being over, but everyone was in a good mood and helpful.
    These last 2 days have been a major highlight of our trip to date and the Barossa Valley is an area we will come back to another time for a longer stay. There is so much to see and do! Unfortunately this trip we have a few time constraints which mean that tomorrow we have to keep moving and leave here to head north up to the Flinders Ranges and then the Eyre Peninsular. However, for the Barossa - we will be back…!!!    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 15

    Flinders Ranges arrival

    May 1, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    The day did not start well. As we woke we could hear the patter of rain on the roof and opening the window blinds revealed heavy overcast, mist, and drizzling rain. Looking on the bright side at least we were not sightseeing in the Barossa today!
    Today would be our longest drive on this trip with 420km ahead of us to reach the Flinders Ranges. So we hitched up in the drizzle in record time and headed north. The rain, low cloud, and poor visibility persisted for about 150km but then blue sky started appearing, the rain disappeared and at last we could see the horizon!!
    Along the way we past several cute country towns including Peterborough and Hawker and the quality of the road was surprisingly excellent! Also very little traffic, so the trip kilometres ticked over very easily.
    A big event occurred - Carolina saw her first in-the-wild emu!!
    Our destination today was the Willow Springs Station campground located just outside and to the north of the Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges. This is a 283 square kilometre working property that has one section dedicated to caravans and camping in a typical bush setting. We could not stay in the Pound itself as the caravan park there is inside the National Park and dogs are not allowed. We could have atayed at the Rawnsley Park Station caravan park which is also outside the Pound and to the south and is also close to the airstrip, but we chose the Willow Springs as it came very well recommended and is located in more of a bush camp and gorge setting.
    The 5km drive into Willow Springs from the main road was interesting as it waa a dirt road that was graded regularly but is still quite rough in places and very scenic. Being only wide enough for one vehicle it waa challenging to pass an opposite direction car which tested Peter’s handling of the caravan. We arrived around 3:30pm and set up camp for the next 3-4 nights. We originally expected to spend 3 nights here and then head back down south to meet Mark & Sue Fine, but they are now arriving one day later so we may stay here an extra day.
    The camp site allocated to us is very nice - a large area site with other campers and caravanners some distance away, with a great view over some of the nearby ridges and even with a nice fire pit for every camp site which we expect to use every night.
    As the sun began to lower we were recommended to head up to the Stocks Hill Lookout for the best sunset view. A steep 4WD drive to get to the top only to be met by around 30 other people with the same idea! After watching the sun set it was back to camp for a BBQ dinner and toasted marshmallows over the camp fire. The fire was very welcome as the night temperatures are getting cooler. A fitting end to an interesting day!    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 16

    Gorgeous Gorges

    May 2, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    We are very happy with our campsite called Eagle 2 at Willow Springs. Surrounded on 3 sides by trees with the 4th side being open to the views of the surrounding ridges, it is a very nice quiet site that provides a good amount of privacy while still being close to the amenities areas. We are fully self-sufficient, but at times it is nice to have facilities available.
    After breakfast we headed off relatively early. It seemed we were the only people up and about so early but it was a beautiful morning. Today was the Flinders Ranges gorges day and we planned to drive through several of them. Most of todays driving was on gravel roads with some driving through sections of standing water left over from the floods earlier this year. We passed through the Bunyeroo Gorge, the Brachina Gorge, and the Parachilna Gorge. These were areas of very nice scenery and varying vegetation but despite looking around a lot, to Carolina’s disappointment there was not much wildlife. Lots of birds but not much else. The only saving grace was a group of 6 emus which ran away at a very fast rate when they heard us coming.
    Along the way we dropped into the town of Parachilna which has a famous pub called the Prairie Hotel that serves a “feral feast banquet” with menu items such as emu liver parfait, goat tomahawk, emu & bacon rissole, camel sausage, and kangaroo schnitzel. This lunch is so popular that you need to book several days ahead and today people were waiting outside 30 mins before the hotel even opened!! We had not booked so we missed out. Instead we continued our drive and stopped instead at the town of Blinman where the bakery specialises in “miners pasties” and kangaroo pies!!
    Travelling with Chanel gives us a lot of pleasure, but it has its disadvantages. The main one is dogs are not allowed in many National Parks, and the Flinders Ranges Park is one of those. So while we are allowed to transit these parks with a dog in the car, we are not allowed to stop , and certainly not allowed to let the dog leave the car. So today we could not take her into Wilpena Pound.
    We looked around the caravan park at Rawnsley Park Station and it has a number of nice features, but overall we preferred where we were staying at Willow Springs.
    In the evening our air fryer was put to use making sweet chilli chicken and potato chips, with a salad on the side, and nice bottle of wine. A delicious meal in front of the warm campfire looking out at the clear sky and stars. A very nice way to spend an evening.    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 17

    A Taste of Wilpena Pound

    May 3, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Our plans for today were to take a self-guided 4WD drive through some of the less accessible parts of the Willow Springs property with views over the ranges and Wilpena Pound. The people here call it the SkyTrek. However when Carolina found out it takes 7 hours of rough 4x4 driving she decided it was not for us and she wanted a quieter day.
    So we re-jigged the days activities and started with a breakfast trip to the Wilpena Pound Resort. But before you exclaim that this is not possible because dogs are not allowed, we decided to leave Chanel in the caravan for a couple of hours while we went to the Resort to look around and to have our first cooked breakfast. We normally have a light cereal and fruit breakfast and a cappuccino, so today was a treat to have a very tasty full Wipena Pound cooked breakfast at the resort restaurant. At $30pp this was a good value and set us up for the rest of the day until dinner time.
    The Wilpena Pound Resort is a 5-star hotel resort. It also has caravan and camping grounds which are pricey but are nicely designed. But no dogs are allowed. The report is right on the edge of Wilpena Pound but access into the Pound itself is still only by walking.
    After breakfast we went back to our caravan and picked up Chanel and then took one last drive around some tracks and gorges in the nearby ranges including the Moralana Scenic Route and the remaining part of the Brachina Gorge that we had not completed yesterday. Really nice scenery which to Carolina’s delight also included another group of emus!
    By mid-afternoon we were back at the caravan for an afternoon cappu and then spent a couple of hours doing some housekeeping in the caravan and car. Another clear evening with a campfire saw the end of a lovely stay here in the Flinders Ranges.    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 18

    The Extra Night

    May 4, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today’s original plan was to meet up with our friends Mark & Sue and spend about 10 days looking around the Eyre Peninsula. They are on a 5 month caravan trip from Melbourne to Broome. However they are now arriving tomorrow so we have an extra night to fill in.
    We looked at the options and decided to stay near Quorn just south of the Flinders Ranges. Along the way we stopped at Hawker where we visited the Jeff Morgan Gallery displaying some massive landscape paintings and a car collection that included a Model T Ford, famous for being the first car produced on a production line.
    Quorn is famous because the Ghan Railway originally passed through this town when the Ghan (real name was the Afghan Express) was a narrow gauge railway. Every train passenger heading north-south or east-west across Australia passed through Quorn. The Ghan service started in 1879 and was finally stopped in 1956 when the Ghan transferred to a wider gauge railway and took a different route which was designed to avoid the many flooding washouts that plagued the Ghan railway line. The railway station at Quorn still boasts a steam train which uses the old railway line that runs through the Pichi Richi Pass to run tourist trips between Quorn and Port Augusta as well as half-day and full-day local trips. We tried to get on one of the half day train trips but due to volunteer manpower problems they are running only one of these trips this month (for Mothers Day) and it is fully booked out. So no joy for us on this occasion.
    Instead we walked around Quorn looking at the many historic buildings. Some of these were used in a number of famous movies including Never on a Sunday, Gallipoli, and Wolf Creek, and the town certainly provides a nice reminder of the way things were 100 years ago.
    We then headed 10km south to a free camp called Pichi Richi which takes its name from the old railway line which passes right next to the camp. The campsite is a quiet nice bush setting. Another group of 2 cars joined the camp an hour later and kindly invited us over for a campfire and a few drinks. But before joining them there was something else we wanted to do in Quorn.
    Quorn is famous for its sound and light show that is shown every night from sunset. This projects a sound and light audio visual show onto the walls of a huge silo in the centre of town and tells the story of days gone past. Visitors can watch this either by sitting in front of the silos in the open on their own chairs, or in their cars while listening to an FM station that plays the audio part of show. This is like one of the old drive-in cinemas and is warmer than sitting out in the cool evening air. So we parked with a good view in front of the silos and sat in our warm car and watched the show!
    When we got back to the campsite we joined the other group. They had built a large camp fire and we all had a very nice social time talking about caravanning, places to go and things to do, and trying to solve the problems of the world. A very enjoyable evening.    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 19

    Our Friends join Us!

    May 5, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    It was sleep-in time today. With a journey ahead of only approx 80km there was no need to get up early. So we leisurely packed up, took a photo of the Pichi Richi railway line above our campsite, and hit the road around 10am.
    Our goal was to decide where we would be staying tonight and to let our friends Mark and Sue know so they could join us. There were two options - the Spear Creek Holiday Park, and Hancock’s Lookout. The first was a caravan park, the second was a free camp.
    First stop was the Spear Creek Holiday Park. Located near the foot of Mount Brown in the southern Flinders Ranges it has a nice bush atmosphere. However the coffee shop had already closed!! They advised us they were fully booked tonight. Problem solved!!
    The second option was a free camp on the top of Hancock’s Lookout on the northern end of the Mount Remarkable Range. This turned out to have a fantastic view over the Spencer Gulf! Decision made!
    So we settled in and waited for Mark & Sue to arrive. The afternoon was then spent with them over a few wines and a nice chat all the while taking in the vista we had in front of us. It was nice to see them again as they start a 5-month caravan trip up to the Kimberley’s and back.
    Dinner was rudely interrupted by the passing through of a rain storm which upset our outdoor eating plans, but afterwards we were all able to go back outside and drink a few glasses of Glayva around a warm camp fire. A nice end to a relaxing day with friends.    Read more

  • TravelerApril/May 2023
    Day 20

    Fog, wind, and rain

    May 6, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    After last nights rain, this morning started with heavy fog. The beautiful view from our campsite was completely obscured by a thick layer of white which cast an eerie atmosphere around the caravans and cars.
    As we packed and hitched up we all hoped the fog would disperse as we drove down from the top of the mountain.
    As we drive through Port Augusta it seemed our wishes were coming true as the fog began to disperse, but instead of fog a light but continuous rain started.
    A parcel for us had arrived at the Aus Post lockers in Port Augusta, something we had not used before, and sure enough when we scanned the QR code one of the lockers popped open and there was our package!
    Our convoy of two rigs then headed out of Port Augusta and headed for Whyalla. Why Whyalla you might ask? Surely it’s too much of an industrial city to be of much interest. So who better to ask about what to see there than the Whyalla Information Centre? And their answer of what was Whyalla’s top attraction - the jetty!! Yes that boring piece of engineering is supposedly Whyalla’s top tourist item; guess this says it all about Whyalla…, nevertheless the few people we met were friendly and helpful even with one of them stopping his car next to us asking if we wanted to know any information about the town.
    So we headed out of Whyalla with the planned next stop of Port Gibbon which has a number of beachfront campsites. Along the way we stopped at the very nice painted art silos at Cowell and helped please Carolina’s passion for this unusual art.
    During the trip wind picked up and buffered the vans, and by the time we reach the Port Gibbon campsites a cold wind was blowing strongly making these campsites almost inhabitable except from inside the caravans.
    So a change a plan was needed and we headed further south for Tumby Bay where we had planned to go the next day. The Tumby Bay RV Park is a free camp located next to the Golf Course and it turned out to be a nicely sheltered park which was quite busy but we still managed to get a nice camp spot that suited us very well.
    In due course we started a camp fire, prepared the dinner food, set up the tables and chairs, and were just about to sit down and enjoy a well deserved meal, when it began raining again! The sky above was virtually completely clear of cloud but the one cloud decided to unleash more rain!! Umbrellas out, dinner delayed until the rain stopped. Fortunately the rain did not last long and we were finally all able to enjoy a nice meal around the camp fire. Then just as we were thinking of going to bed the rain started again! We took the hint and headed to our respective vans. Tomorrow will be another day with hopefully better weather!!    Read more

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