Wilpena

This morning we set out for Wilpena Pound. The scenery was spectacular, so we had quite a few photo stops. We drove on past Wilpena to Bilman where we had a picnic lunch.

We called again at Wilpena Visitor Centre on the way back, to go on the bus trip, only a couple of kms, to where a walk into the edge of Wilpena Pound begins. We were driven to the beginning of the track, and dropped off about 3.10pm. The driver said he'd be back to get us in 2 hours, and gave us directions for the walk. We had a lovely walk up to an old homestead, and then further up to a lookout, then back along a differnt track. The scenery was spectacular, we took heaps of photos. We arrrived back at the pick-up spot at about 5.10pm....the bus was suppose to arrive at 5.15pm. We waited until 5.25pm, still no bus, so Dave suggested we'd better start walking. It was 2kms along a dirt road, and getting darker by the minute...still no bus. We eventually came to the end of the main road and found our way, in the dark by now, back to the info centre. It was of course closed by this...about 6.05pm. The girl who was just closing up in the cafe gave us the number of the fellow who'd driven us up, and he apologised profusely. I think the info centre needs to have a better system in place for such events. All-in-all it was a pretty good day...great scenery.

Flinder's Ranges

We were woken this morning by strong winds flapping the canvas on Rosie, so we decided to pack up and have an early start. It also looked like it could rain, so we packed up straight after showers and had brecky at Macca's in Port Pirie. On the way out of the caravan park we could hear the singing swimmer again. Dave took a video of him, but it was so windy the sound didn't work too well. As we drove north it continued to be extremely windy, creating huge dust storms. We needed headlights on. Once the wind and dust stopped it started to rain, and by the time we reached Port Augusta it was pouring. They only get about 3 inches of rain up here p.a. I reckon they had it all today! Hopefully tomorrow will be fine and we'll see the true colours of the Flinder's Ranges.

The Flinder's Ranges are different from any landscape I've seen in Australia. Even though it was a wet, grey day today, you could still see the colours and shapes of the place. We eventually arrived at Hawker where we found a nice caravan park and set up. The rain stopped long enough for us to set up, then started raining again. There was a beautiful rainbow this arvo, and the rain seems to have stopped now, and it's a bit breezy.

Late this afternoon we went for a short drive. When we left the sky was very grey, but it started to clear in the west on the way back, and Dave got some nice shots of the sky.

Port Pirie

Friday morning we went and had a look in the museum in the old railway station. The railway line used to run along the centre of the main street.

Friday afternoon we had a tour around the smelter works. It was really interesting. it is the largest smelter works in the world. They supply lead for car batteries plus zinc, silver, copper, antimony and sulphuric acid. They are very aware of environmental issues. All the kids are checked every 6 weeks for levels of lead in their blood.

This morning we woke up and could hear a person singing at the top of his voice. By the time we'd had showers and went to investigate, the singer was getting out of the water...the river near the caravan park. Apparently he goes swimming most mornings and sings as he goes so he doesn't feel the cold. We'll see if we can video him tomorrow morning. We could hear him way over the other side of the caravan park.

Saturday afternoon we went for a drive east of Port Pirie. We drove through Crystal Brook to Spalding. When Dave was at uni, he spent a couple of weeks at Broughton Park, Spalding, on work experience, crutching sheep, etc. We called there and he caught up with Ian and Jan who are currently on the property. Ian, the brother of Colin, who Dave went to uni with, had a diary going back to 1974. On 22nd May 1974 (exactly 36 years ago to the day), Dave helped to paint the hall in the house there. We continued on to Burra, where Dave enjoyed the antique shops, then on to the Clare Valley, another grape-growing area of SA.

to Port Pirie

This morning we left Hahndorf and drove north towards the Flinders Ranges. On first leaving Adelaide the landscape was pretty flat ,dry and scruffy with lots of glasshouses. Some of them appeared to be ok and had stuff growing in them, but many looked unused. Further up there were quite a few chook farms. As we got nearer to Port Pirie the landscape became much nicer, with lots of farms, growing wheat, raising sheep, etc. We arrived at Port Pirie about mid-afternoon and booked into the caravan park for 3 days. At the information centre on the way into town we booked in for a tour of the Port Pirie Smelter tomorrow. The town is quite large, population about 15,000... there's even a Macdonalds!!!

Adelaide Zoo

Today we went into Adelaide Zoo, after having Turkish Pide and coffee near the David Jones Food Court. It was interesting watching the passing parade of people while we ate. The university is not far from there, so there were lots of students around. The uni is well-situated. It is walking distance from the museum, the art gallery, the hospital, the zoo, the library, the botanic gardens and the shopping centre.

The zoo has been re-vamped, and the enclosures are pretty good. There are 2 pandas that have only been there since November, and you can only go in and see them at certain times. Their enclosure looks great...lots of bamboo around and panda info.

Barossa Valley

After a sleep-in this morning, we eventually headed off to The Barossa Valley. We stopped at a bakery and bought rolls for picnic lunch and yummy cakes. There was a big rocking horse out the front of a property, so we stopped for a look. They made wooden toys...expensive rocking horses, kits of various trucks, similar to what the boys made at high school, and lots of other toys, mainly from China. I don't think I would like to go in there with a child...you'd never get out!

We stopped at Jacob's Creek winery and had a tasting. Their vineyards are pretty huge. The tasting and sales area is in a lovely well-kept setting. We bought some Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.

This afternoon, we visited Maggie Beer's farmshop (ie Maggie from the Cook and the Chef). We saw a cooking demo, tasted various foods, and bought a few, as well as Maggie's book on Verjuice. The place is amazing. They stared out with pheasants and quail, then teaching people how to cook them. It's a pretty amazing success story.
The painting of Maggie and Simon was entered in The Archibald Prize.

Tonight we went to the movies at Mount Barker and saw Vanessa Redgrave in Letters to Juliette. It's a beautiful movie.

Mount Lofty

This morning we set out for Stirling, not far from Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. It is a beautiful village with lots of autumn trees. We bought coffee and pastries and sat in a park and enjoyed them. There was a second-hand bookshop nearby, so we had to have a look. There were a couple of bins out the front with freebies, so we scored a few. We then went inside where we bought a few more. I think we now have about 2 shopping bags full of books so far. We continued on to Mount Lofty, but missed the correct road, but ended up somewhere with great views. Eventually we found the right road and went up. The views of Adelaide are spectacular. We had a late picnic lunch while we were there, then drove on down to Mount Lofty Botannic Gardens. The daffodils and jonquils were starting to flower already.

When we got back to Hahndorf we went to Chocolate@No 5, a cafe that we heard has the best hot chocolate...we just had to try some...it was delicious, Dave had hot choc and I had iced choc...yummmm!

Into Adelaide

Today we drove into the city of Adelaide. It is a beautiful city... it was actually planned!! The whole city is surrounded by parks, gardens and sporting fields.
After going to the museum and art gallery, where we had a guided tour, we went for a drive out to Glenelg. Tessa and Carly had been there when they were on their travels. It is a lovely place. No cars along the beachfront, only people walking or cycling. The quirky building below is part of a block of flats on the waterfront, with lots of stuff around and on it. We had coffee and watched the sunset over the water again....beautiful.

Hahndorf again

The photo below is the outside of his studio. The building below is one of the many beatiful old buildings in Hahndorf.

This is the interior of his studio with one of his famous original paintings.

The cream caravan beside the old car, is what Hans Heysen and his son David went to The Flinders Ranges in when he painted many of his wonderful paintings.

Today we met up with Jane for lunch...an old uni friend of Dave's. We had lunch at The German Arms Hotel in Hahndorf. It was yummy. We didn't go for the heavy German sausages...too filling for lunch. After lunch we went to The Cedars...Hans Heysen's property in Hahndorf. He is long gone, died aroun 1968, but his grandchildren still own the 10 acre property where he did many of his paintings. We had a tour of his studio and home where we saw lots of his original paintings, His daughter Nora was also a very good artist, and some of her works were also there.

After The Cedars, we had a bit of a walk around the shops in Hahndorf, then went to Jane's to see her new home, and some paintings she did for an exhibition she had...in Rome I think when she worked there. She also cooked pasta for dinner...all in all a good arty day.

Hahndorf

Today we arrived at Hahndorf, after having driven up through the wine region of McLaren Vale. As it is Autumn, the vineyards were in tones of yellows, oranges and browns. We stopped at one called The Lazy Ballerina, where we had a taste of a few wines. We continued on to Hahndorf. It is the largest german town in Australia, and is really quaint and beautiful. We booked into the local resort/caravan park, then went into town for coffee and cake and a stroll along the street. The shops are original little old charming buildings from early days of settlement in the area.

Normanville

We left Goolwa this morning and headed along the Fleurieu Highway to Normanville. On the way we went down to Cape Jervis, which is where you catch the ferry over to Kangaroo Island. The landscape changed dramatically along the way. Most of the way from Goolwa was green dairy country until we got down to Cape Jervis, where it was very dry, brown and barren. The views over to the island were lovely. As we drove north again it wasn't long before the countryside was green again. The caravan park at Normanville was really nice. It was right near a lovely beach with a jetty. Dave had a bit of a fish there, but there were no bites.

At Normanville there was a very quirky artist, whose studio was called Seagull Droppings. He made furniture out of driftwood and old timber he got from an old boatshed. He also did paintings, mainly of the beach and the local scenery. We first saw a sample of his work in a pub at cape Jervis, where he has made the fabulous carvings of fish and whales.

As we were on the western side of the Fleurieu Peninsula, the sun set over the ocean. The first night we were there we sat by the beach taking lots of photos as the sun slowly went down. It was beautiful.

To Normanville

Amazing Breakfast of Porridge, sultanas and cream-then we packed up and headed down to Victor Harbour, and on to Port Jervis.The country became steeper and greener and dotted with prime Angus heifers.We reached lands end to a majestic view from a mountain top , of ocean to the left and to our right with a long sloping neck stretched out between ,in front of us.....quite remarkable.

Up The Coorong to Goolwa

This morning we packed up and headed up the coast. Every so often we had glimpses of The Coorong running parallel to the coastline. When we were almost to the top, there waas p place to puul over and take photos. The views were spectacular. When we arrived at Goolwa we booked into a quiet caravan park. There were geese and lots of ducks in the park and a few rabbits at night.

The next day we went down to Victor Harbour where we had a ride on the horse-drawn tram over to Granite Island.

To Goolwa

This morning we left Robe and headed up The Coorong. It was an interesting drive with lots of changes of landscape. We arrived at Goolwa and liked it, so booked into the caravan park for a couple of nights.

Robe

After lunch we went to the movies and saw The last Station...the story about Tolstoy's last days...it was a bit of a tear-jerker. After dinner that night we watched a DVD we'd got from the park office. It was called Caterpillar Dream, and it was set in Robe and surrounding areas.

Sunday was Mothers'day, and dave took me out to lunch at a beautiful old Hotel in Robe, called the Caledonian. I had one of the specials that the chef had for mums, and Dave had Le Cozze, a seafood dish with lots of mussels and other seafoods in a wine and tomato sauce.

Today we entered South Australia. You are not supposed to take any fruit or vegetables into SA, so I cooked all we had and used them over the next couple of days. When we arrived at the border, ther was a crummy little garbage bin at the side of the road and a sign telling you to dump fruit, etc there, however, the side of the road was really rpugh and there wasn't really anywhere you could safely pull over. I don't think they're too serious about it.

Once you arrive in SA, ther is a sudden change in the architecture. Lots of the homes and other buildings have this pattern of brickwork. Most of the houses are also brick rather than timber.