STREAKY BAY S.A. – DAY 16

WEDNESDAY 26th MARCH 2009 – STREAKY BAY S.A. – DAY 16

We wake up this morning to dense fog. We can’t even see the waters edge but hear and see the silhouette of a few people walking on the beach with their dogs. It’s a little eerie but there is a beauty to the atmosphere nevertheless.

I cook porridge, with fruit and yoghurt before taking Lucy for a long walk on the beach. She loves it and is happy to make contact with all the other passing dogs and owners along the way.

We pack up and move to our allocated powered site (Nick backing into the tight spot with no trouble at all). We have a lovely view of the ocean here as well. After setting up and having a bite to eat we head into town. We go to the Tourist Information Centre and again, armed with much information decide to take their advice and go for a drive. Before we do this we are having trouble with our Optus phone with no network coverage. We need to keep in touch with Jan and Alan and also it is our only contact for family etc. We are told Telstra are the preferred provider as it has a wider coverage so we go to the local Electrical shop and purchase a pre-paid Telstra Samsung phone. This will be the one we will use for travelling only and keep our other phones as normal.

From here we head out past the caravan park and take in the sights of Hally’s Beach, Whistling Rocks (blow holes) and onto Cape Bauer with its rugged coast. We enjoy walking to the edge of the cliffs with the scene of the ocean breathtaking. We thought the beaches on the east coast of Australia were the best in the world but now after seeing this we are not convinced. If you ever come here to South Australia the Eyre Peninsular would have to be the pick of the peninsulars. Certainly not to be missed. Olive Island is visible on the horizon and we stop several times to just drink in the scenery.

We enjoy the drive back to Streaky Bay past the oyster farms, mangroves and boat ramp finishing off with a lovely view of our caravan park and the township.
By the time we get back to camp it is 5 o’clock and that is ‘happy hour’ so I open a lovely bottle of South Australian wine and sit down to activate our new phone and catch up on this blog before cooking pasta and Bolognese sauce for dinner.
I am now in telephone range so I phone Jan and Alan who are at Coffin Bay. They have had a lovely time there, despite the rain. They are heading back to Port Lincoln tomorrow to pick up their computer which needed repairing and also having their new awning fitted. From there they will head out to Gawler National Park for a few days before joining us here at Streaky Bay.

We have decided to stay here until next Tuesday as we have booked to swim with the seals and dolphins in Baird Bay just south of here.

There is an ad on TV promoting South Australian Tourism where there are a group of people snorkeling and swimming with seals and dolphins. We thought this was a ‘must do’ while we are here.


Looking across the bay to our caravan park at Streaky Bay

TUESDAY 24th MARCH 2009 – PORT LINCOLN TO STREAKY BAY S.A. – DAY 16

We are still having trouble packing up (after 2 years of not travelling we seem to have lost the knack) and it seems to take forever to get back into the swing of things. It is pouring with rain which doesn’t help.

We get away by around 10:30am and decide to drive the 45kms to Coffin Bay. This is a place many people have told us not to miss so we drive the short distance there. The weather is torrential and we can hardly see in front of us. We stop at the local service station/café to fill up and buy some lovely hot grilled butter fish. We find a sheltered spot and park while we eat it and make the decision not to stay here. We are not keen to be setting up in this rain so we head for Streaky Bay further up the west coast of the Eyre Peninsular. Hopefully by the time we get there hopefully the rain will have stopped and it will be easier to set up camp.

Again the journey is monotonous made worse by the weather. It is a long drive and we arrive into Streaky Bay at around 3pm. We drive to the caravan park and there is a big sign on the gate which reads “No Powered Sites Left Tonight”! We are in shock. Nick goes to speak to the owners and they suggest we take an unpowered site and be ready for a powered site which will become available by 10am the next day. After some deliberation we decide we will take this option (we don’t feel like driving back to one of the other Bays or driving onto Ceduna just yet) so agree and pay what we need to stay tonight until Saturday morning.

We drive to the unpowered site area and pick a spot just 30metres from the ocean edge. It is so calm and there are quite a few campers closer to the water so we feel we are safe from the upcoming tide. We meet our neighbor who is a single man and his dog. A bit of a character as he has been travelling for 2 years on his own. We think he likes the ‘red wine’ as he is quite friendly and happy and in a harmless way just wants to talk. He tells us his life story and before dark he has cooked his meal (shared with his dog) and in his camper. It is very quiet and peaceful here and it is lovely to be so close to the still of the water. Tonight I cook the paella!!

PORT LINCOLN S.A. – DAY 15

MONDAY 23rd MARCH 2009 – PORT LINCOLN S.A. – DAY 15

We want to get our tyre sorted out today so we are recommended the local Beaurepairs is the place to go. We find it and are told we need a new tyre and to come back in 2 hours and it will be ready. We decide to go into town and have a coffee and sandwich and do some other jobs we need to do. After lunch I go to the local jeweler where I need my bracelet fixed (a precious piece of jewellery that was left to me by my mum). The safety chain has broken so I need to get it fixed. I find a place and the jeweler is very helpful. He tells me my bracelet is worth a lot of money and agrees to repair it and I can pick it up at 3pm.

In the meantime I head to the cycle shop. I want to purchase a basket for my bike so that Lucy can come cycling with me. Whilst she is very fit and loves to run sometimes it is a bit dangerous as she runs along beside me, I am frightened she will run in front of the tyres and do some damage to herself so it would be easier for her to sit in a little seat.

The man at the bike shop finds a bike basket that is suitable and tells me he can fit it to my bike and it will be ready later this afternoon. I have to go back to the caravan park and pick my bike up and bring it back. This I do but Nick decides to stay back at camp with Lucy this time. This will also give me a chance to see some of the shops on my own after I drop my bike off and pick up my bracelet.

I want to cook a Spanish paella so I get directions to the local seafood outlet where I meet the owner who is a delightful Turkish man. He tells me he sends most of his seafood interstate or overseas. One restaurant he recommended to me in Sydney (to which buys a lot of his seafood) is Casa Astoriano – a Spanish Restaurant in Sydney (just across the road from the Spanish Club). I told him we would try this restaurant when we are back in Sydney.

He sold me some green prawns, butter fish, squid, mussels and 2 dozen of the freshest oysters I had ever seen. I purchased the rest of the ingredients I needed to make my wonder dish and was hoping to also purchase an oyster knife. I was unsuccessful so would have to make do with a sharp paring knife and a pair of heavy duty gloves.

I pick up my bike and can’t wait until Lucy and I can try it out. I’m sure it will be perfect.

I can’t believe where the time has gone but after a phone call from Nick (he thought I had become lost I had been gone for so long) I made my way back to camp.
We are leaving here in the morning so I decide not to cook my paella and have a light tea before heading to bed for an early night.

ARNO BAY TO PORT LINCOLN S.A. – DAY 14

SUNDAY 22nd MARCH 2009 – ARNO BAY TO PORT LINCOLN S.A. – DAY 14

We leave Arno Bay and head to Port Lincoln. There are many little bays along the way so as we drive along the highway we take the many turnoffs along the way just to discover these lovely little fishing villages.

Our petrol guage is telling us we need petrol so at Tumby Bay we pull into a service station. While there a man pulls up alongside us and alerts us to a tyre on our caravan which he says has a bulge and looks like it is ready to come off. On closer investigation it is alarming so Nick decides the safest thing to do is change the tyre. We drive to an area a few metres away at a carpark at the beach and Nick changes the tyre. We are surprised at the damage and are amazed that we could not feel it as we were driving. We will find a tyre centre in Port Lincoln when we get there in an hour or two.

We forget it is Sunday and ‘everything’ is closed so we will get the tyre looked at tomorrow.

We drive on to North Shields an outer suburb of Port Lincoln where we find a caravan park, right on the ocean front with a vacancy. We are given a lovely spot, very quiet and lovely views over the bay. It is perfect. We set up camp and phone Jan and Alan to see where they are.

They are staying at another caravan park just on the other side of town with views over the Lincoln National Park. We are unable to stay here as they don’t take dogs but we are happy with where we are staying as it is much flatter and being 10kms out of town it is not as busy as the one they are staying at.

For the afternoon we drive into town and see the Makybe Diva statue. She was the 3 time Melbourne Cup Winner and her owners Tony and Christine Stanic live and have a Tuna Fishing business here in Port Lincoln. The owners together with the SA Government commissioned the statue to be made and it stands proudly in the local park for all to admire. In the paper today her first foal is to be auctioned at the Ingliss Stables (in Randwick) at the Easter Sales and is tipped to sell for $4m. What a shame we are not there to witness this.

From here we go to the Tourist Information Centre. These places are fantastic and are so informative. We emerge armed with many brochures and in the meantime have had a phone call from Jan and Alan. They are going to have a swim at the jetty pool and invite us to join them. (It is a bit too cold and windy for me and even Nick declines) but we arrange to meet them afterwards.

We follow them as we go for a drive around town and first stop is the lookout. The views over Port Lincoln is sensational and this really is a pretty place. Then to the local golf club which we decide we may have a game tomorrow. From here we drive to the Marina where there are some beautiful and expensive boats. Some of the waterfront houses are magnificent and this is where many local business people retire.

We finish off our sightseeing with a beer at the pub overlooking the water in Port Lincoln Bay. We then say our farewells and as Jan and Alan are going out to the National Park for a few days we make no arrangements to catch up but are sure we will somewhere along the line.

MOONTA BAY TO ARNO BAY S.A. – DAY 13

SATURDAY 21st MARCH 2009 – MOONTA BAY TO ARNO BAY S.A. – DAY 13

We decide to leave Moonta Bay today and head towards Port Lincoln. It is a long day of travelling so after packing up we head off. Before we leave though, we drive into town as we want to purchase some more crab pots. Jan and Alan left earlier this morning and are going to the National Park for a couple of days so we give them our crab pot and we decide to purchase 2 more. I also want to get a small hand fishing line. While in the shop I meet some people from Murwillumbah, a town I know well so after making small talk with them I leave and we and head out of town.

The drive is quite boring and we swap driving every hour as the long straight roads are quite monotonous. We have lunch at Port Augusta and then head south down the Eyre Peninsular through Wyalla, Cowell (where we wanted to spend the night but they were experiencing huge dust storms so we drove onto Arno Bay). By the time we got to the caravan park here they were full but they were so helpful in accommodating us in a ‘drive through’ area where we could leave our van and car attached in readiness for us to leave swiftly the next morning.



It was about 4pm when we arrived so put Lucy on her lead and walked the short distance to the beach. It was what I would call rugged with waves crashing onto the beach (any thoughts of crabbing here were quickly allayed as it certainly was too rough and treacherous for the little creatures to survive.

We headed back to camp, fed Lucy and walked around the corner to the local pub for dinner.

It was packed, although not surprising as it was the only meeting place in the area. We ordered local oysters and Nick a spaghetti Bolognese and me garlic prawns. Well, the oysters were delicious but my garlic prawns were dreadful. This would have to be the worst meal I have ever had. The prawns, I’m sure had been microwaved and microwaved and microwaved and the rice which is was served with was partially cooked and cold. It was one meal I will always remember!!!!! Nick’s spaghetti, he said was delicious, but then I don’t think anyone could stuff up spaghetti!!



We walked the short distance back to our camp and was in bed early ready for our departure and drive tomorrow.

MOONTA BAY S.A. – DAY 12

FRIDAY 20th MARCH 2009 – MOONTA BAY S.A. – DAY 12

Jan and Alan rise early and knock on our door to see if we would like to go for a bike ride around the Heritage Trail. I decide not to (as I am still not quite confident riding my bike on the open road)!!! and poor little Lucy must have eaten something which didn’t agree with her as she was unsettled during the night with an ‘upset tummy’. She is such a good little dog she woke alerted us several times during the night to let her out which we did. It brought back memories of having sick children, having to be ‘on call’ during the night. She causes us such little trouble and is such a joy to have with us we are feeling for her. I will spend some mothering her.



I get a phone call from Jan to say they will be finishing the Heritage Trail in about an hour and would I like to meet them in town at the ‘Cornish Kitchen’. This is quite a famous place as there are photos of celebrities on the wall munching into these local delicacies. I agree and before long we are enjoying our pasties all washed down with their lovely coffee.

We decide to spend the afternoon ‘crabbing’. This is a very popular local sport here and Jan takes off to the local fishing shop and comes back armed with 2 crab pots (one each) some frozen bait, a crab measurer and all the information we need to have success.



We pack up our eskies, chairs, sunscreen, bait and crab pots and walk the short distance to the Jetty. We find a spot to set up and before long the crab pots with bait are resting on the sea bed. Nothing happens. I enjoy sitting in the sun with Lucy on my lap talking to every person that passes us by. People are so friendly here.

Further out on the jetty we notice a man with several crab pots out, just pulling the little buggers in so Jan pulls hers up and heads closer to him. Nothing happens. We can’t understand why, with her pot so close to his, why he is getting them and we aren’t. I lose interest after a while and decide to take Lucy back to camp. Nick and Alan follow me but Jan persists.

From our camp we see Jan in the distance, waving he arms around trying to attract our attention. She has caught one – though we find out later it was too small and she had to throw it back. Despite this, she is successful and she arrives back at camp with her bucket filled with 3 lovely, blue swimmers. These will be our entrée’.
I cook a chicken curry but before we have this Jan has prepared the crabs which we will have as our first course. We decide to have a progressive dinner (like we used to have before breathalizers were introduced). The beauty of our situation was we only had to walk a few short steps.

The crab was delicious and she served it with a lovely salad and aoli which complemented the crab perfectly. Then onto us for the curry and cheesecake for dessert. This was a real gourmet dinner which we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Then it was off to bed!

MOONTA BAY S.A. – DAY 11

THURSDAY 19th MARCH 2009 – MOONTA BAY S.A. – DAY 11

After many problems Jan and Alan decide to join us here at Moonta Bay. We arrange for them to have a site very close to us. When they arrive they tell us about the gale force winds they have encountered where they were staying at the National Park. Their tranquil and peaceful site when they arrived at 2am turned into gale force winds – very uncomfortable when surrounded by a lot of canvas. Then their fridge was not working (hence spoiling all their food). This drained their battery in the car so Alan had to walk a short distance and hail down a passing car to jumper start their car.

After sorting out the battery problem and purchase of a new portable fridge they arrived where I had prepared lunch for us all. We spent the afternoon swimming and enjoying this gorgeous location.

During the evening we decided to walk around the seafront to the local pub where we enjoyed a lovely meal and watched another lovely sunset. Our night ended walking back with sound of the waves gently lapping up the beach.

MT. BARKER TO MOONTA (YORKE PENINSULA) S.A. – DAY 10

WEDNESDAY 18th MARCH 2009 – MT. BARKER TO MOONTA (YORKE PENINSULA) S.A. – DAY 10

We leave Mt. Barker today and drive the outskirts of Adelaide and head north to the Yorke Peninsula. This weekend they are holding the Clipsal 500 car race so Adelaide city is better avoided, especially towing a 16 foot caravan. It is easy to bypass as David has given us excellent directions so we follow these and before long we are on a fairly deserted highway.



We keep in contact with Jan and Alan who are down south at Edithburgh. They have encountered a few problems with wind and batteries so they will catch up with us sometime soon. They tell us that Wallaroo is a lovely place to stay right on the water but before booking in there we should go to Kadina where there is a fantastic Museum.

The Farm Shed over a century of Australian farming history is on show. The outstanding machinery collection is interpreted through displays covering many aspects of life on the land.



We agree this is a fantastic museum (although the best one we think is in Dubai) and an hour just

Doesn’t do it justice. We have fun in the school house, where Nick feels right at home behind the desk, waving the cane around.

From here we head to the caravan park at Wallaroo but to our disappointment it is full so we are recommended one at Moonta Bay (they will accept dogs) so we are happy.
Moonta is a lovely little town and the caravan park is right on the water. It is probably nicer than the one at Wallaroo so we book in for 2 nights.



We go into town and stock up on supplies for the next couple of days then head back to enjoy a glass of wine while watching the beautiful sunset on the water. This is a beautiful place.

We phone our daughter-in-law Anita in Sydney to wish her a happy birthday before we enjoy a BBQ dinner then to bed.

MT. BARKER – DAY 9

TUESDAY 17th MARCH 2009 – MT. BARKER – DAY 9

It is so peaceful here in the hills and it is noticeably cooler – we had our electric blanket on last night. The mornings are crisp but the days are lovely so we get organized and head in to take Lucy to ‘The Pet Haven’ where she is to have a shampoo and tidy up clip. We leave her in the care of a delightful young lady with a nose ring, lip ring, and numerous rings in each ear. Her hair are several shades of pink, orange and green in what I would call a ‘punk style’. I am not sure what Lucy will look like when she emerges from this little shop but I seem to have a trust in this girl and arrange to pick my little baby up at 2pm.
We then head off to have breakfast with Helen and David.

We enjoy fresh home made muesli, yogurt, fruit and lovely omelettes which David has prepared for us. They are delicious. Nick and David then leave as they are playing 19 holes of golf at David’s regular Golf Club Mt Osmond. Helen and I are happy to sit in her lovely garden and spend time together.

I get a phone call at 1pm to say Lucy is ready to be picked up. I have visions of different coloured hair and a ‘punk clip’. To my surprise she looks gorgeous and probably the best shampoo and clip she has ever had. Her fur is so soft and she is happy to see me.

I pay the $40-00 and head back to Helen’s where “Roxy” gives her approval. They spend the afternoon playing together.

David and Nick arrive home at around 4:30pm and they are happy to tell us of their day. As usual Nick is not happy with his game and makes the decision to ‘Never play golf again’! I have heard that before.

We head back to camp, give Lucy her dinner and we get ready as we are having dinner at Hahndorf a little village not far from where we are staying.

The German Arms Hotel is where we meet David and Helen and enjoy a lovely dinner with them. They are lovely friends and great company and we are a bit sad that we are not spending more time with them. I have known them for 27 years – they are my Chelsea’s godparents and we have always thought how lovely it would be if we lived closer. But then the advantage is that the distance between us makes for great holidays together. We will plan another rendezvous very soon.

MT. BARKER, SOUTH AUSTRALIA – DAY 8

MONDAY 16th MARCH 2009 – MT. BARKER, SOUTH AUSTRALIA – DAY 8

I phone our friends Helen and David and arrange that we will see them today. They invite us to their lovely home at Lower Mitcham a lovely suburb on the outskirst of Adelaide, for lunch. We still can’t get our TV to work so we inquire at the Office and are told there is a caravan handyman living on the premises. They arrange for him to see us within the hour.

About 10 minutes later a delightful young man arrives by the name of Glen. After explaining our problem he has a look and tells us he can fix it. Having left the van unused for over 12 months there is a great deal of corrosion in the aerial. He spends about 10 minutes cleaning it, another 10 minutes checking all the points, and probably another 15 minutes getting it all working perfectly. I tell Nick I bet this visit will cost about $150-00, Nick says about $100-00. Taking into account his time! The final cost $20-00. We were stunned. In Sydney for a television repairman to come out just to turn up would be $100-00. We gave him the $20-00 showed him how grateful we were and he left.

Before long we were on our way to meet our friends for lunch.

We spend a lovely day catching up on the comings and goings of each of our children. Our future plans for travel and show lots of photos. We have a lovely day whilst also enjoying a lovely lunch.

They have an adorable little dog called ‘Roxy’. She is a maltese x miniature poodle and beside Lucy the prettiest little dog I have ever seen. There are a few problems when we first put them together but before long they are great mates and happily romp and play together.

We head for home around 5pm after a lovely day and we enjoy our evening watching Australian Story Underbelly and Crime Scene Investigation Australia before retiring to bed.

MILDURA TO ADELAIDE (MT. BARKER) – DAY 7

SUNDAY 15th MARCH 2009 – MILDURA TO ADELAIDE (MT. BARKER) – DAY 7

We are really surprised that we don’t wake up early while we have been travelling (around 8am) We think it is because it is getting darker earlier but this is quite a big caravan park and it seems everyone we meet have the same (if you can call it) problem!!!!

We decide we will pack up today and head to Adelaide. We have a 5 ½ hour drive ahead of us so we get on the road, and drive south.

It is quite a monotonous drive so we take it in turns. Lucy is a great little traveler and we make stops every 2 hours to stretch our legs and give her a walk. Using our GPS we take the ‘Tourist Drive’ and pass many farms and homesteads along the way.

We arrive at Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills at around 4:30pm, tired, hungry and in need of showers. Before we do that I notice a lovely fenced oval adjoining the caravan park so I put Lucy on her lead and head across there. I remove her lead and she is in puppy heaven. We spend about an hour running and playing together. She is so fast when let loose and just runs and runs from one end of the oval to the other. It is wonderful to see her enjoying herself so much.

By the time we get back to the van Nick has set it all up – what a treasure he is – although sometimes he is best left alone to set up in his own time and at his own pace. He is happy to leave the domestic tasks and cooking to me so it is an arrangement that works well for us both.

After much needed showers I cook pasta for dinner and we have it by candlelight in the peaceful surrounds. It is magic

MILDURA – DAY 6

SATURDAY 14th MARCH 2009 – MILDURA – DAY 6

After a lovely night sleep we have breakfast and Jan and Alan have decided to leave Mildura. They didn’t really enjoy the night as there were some noisy hoons street racing across the river. We could slightly hear it but as our van has a bit more padding than their canvas camper the noise for them was enormous and they had broken sleep during the night first with the street racing then with the police sirens. We decide it would be much quieter at the Gol Gol Caravan Park, where we had originally stayed but who was to know!!! They decide to leave and by-pass Adelaide and head to the Yorke Peninsular over the bay and to the Western side of Adelaide.



It is Alans birthday on Monday 17th March so we decide to give him his present now. I give him the “Gerilla” – exactly the same as the one I have for us (the inside of a washing machine) used when you are in the bush, stoke it with fire wood, and it makes a lovely bush camp fire. He appears pleased with it and endeavours to find a ‘spot’ for it for travelling. He attaches it to the top of the camper – it almost looks like the rocking chair strapped to the top of the camper on the movie National Lampoon’s Vacation. It is perfect and we are sure he will get a lot of use from it. (Watch this space for some photos)!



Nick and I go leave Lucy in the cool of the van and head into town. We are aware that shops in the country towns close at 12 midday on Saturdays so with our list of things we need to buy we make our purchases. Nick spots a shop selling (copy Crocs) rubber shoes which are used for the beach, gardening etc. He spots a bargain at $7.50 so decides to buy each of us a pair. From here we need to go to the Optometrist. I brought some love Fendi sunglasses when we were in Kuala Lumpur last year – I paid $30-00 for them and had my own prescription lens put into them. The side had broken so I needed to have them repaired. The fellow in the shop said they were unable to be repaired but he could use my lens. The cost $399-00. We were stunned!!! Thank goodness I can claim on insurance so the man fitted them and before long we were sitting in a coffee shop enjoying a coffee and lunch in this pretty little town.

During the afternoon Nick decided he would do some jobs around our camp and I decided to head into town to find Spotlight. I was keen to do some craft and purchased fabric and materials to make a small patchwork quilt.



When I arrived home Nick had invited our new neighbours – John and Marion over for a drink. They were a delightful couple from Swan Hilll in Victoria. We enjoyed their company immensely and were interested in ‘their story’! They were going to be away for 6 weeks – heading to South Australia for a while.



By 8pm we decided to have some dinner and get ready for ‘another early night’!

PARKES TO MILDURA – DAY 5

FRIDAY 13TH MARCH 2009 – PARKES TO MILDURA – DAY 5

The weather has turned nasty and as we leave the caravan park the owner is ecstatic that they have had 19mls of rain overnight. Just need another couple of days of that fall and it will make a real difference out here.

We have a very long day of driving today as we pass Forbes, West Wyalong and head onto Mildura.

Jan and Alan phone us to say they are staying at the Bugora Caravan Park, right on the river at Mildura. We stayed in Mildura back in 2005 with our friends from Adelaide, Helen and David. The Caravan park then was just out of Mildura, on the Murray River at Gol Gol. It was a bit out of town and not as easy to ride bikes from so Jan and Alan were keen to stay at the Bugora.

Jan offers to do dinner as we would be arriving late so I happily agree and after settling into our spot, and unhooking, before long we are enjoying a glass of lovely cold wine sitting on the banks of the Murray. This feels like we are on holidays now!!!

MUDGEE TO PARKES – DAY 4

THURSDAY 12th MARCH 2009 – MUDGEE TO PARKES – DAY 4

John and Sue phone us and want to see us before we leave Mudgee so after packing up we decide to meet them in town for coffee. Alan has to be at the dentist at 11:20am so we all meet at the coffee shop (we met at just a couple of days earlier) The Quaff Shop.

I mention to my cousin John that we went to the cemetery and whilst reading the headstones noticed my aunt’s (his mother’s) birth date to be different. He said he had never noticed it but Sue said that was true. Her real birth date is 3rd May not 8th!!!!! Oh well! She will never know!

After coffee, we buy last minute supplies, bid our farewells and leave for Parkes. Jan and Alan overtake us on the way and we keep in touch via our CB radios however ours is playing up so we arrange to meet them for an overnight in Parkes which despite long is uneventful – almost boring. We take turns to drive and whilst being the passenger take advantage of rest and relaxation.

We stop at the Spicer Caravan Park in Parkes – stay hooked up as we will leave here early the next day. Jan and Alan phone us to say they are going further and will meet us in Mildura.

MUDGEE – DAY 3

WEDNESDAY 11th MARCH 2009 – MUDGEE – DAY 3

Today, John invites us to go to his farm for morning tea. Sue teaches Music at her studio in town and works Tuesdays and Wednesdays so unfortunately she won’t be there.
We meet Jan and Alan and David and Liz and drive the 16 kms out of town to their farm. It is noticeably dry with all the paddocks very brown. However do the sheep survive!!!

When we arrive Robyn and Bart are there also and we again all get together for some more family banter , cups of tea and a lovely fresh tea cake . It is a lovely time and we feel a bit sad that we will soon say goodbye as David and Liz will leave shortly to head back to Sydney.

We say our goodbyes to them as they leave, also to Robyn and Bart and as we won’t leave until tomorrow we will possibly see John and Sue again.

We head back into town and I decide to detour and go into the local cemetery. My auntie Norma and Uncle John are buried at the cemetery and I felt the need to pay them a visit.

After some searching we find them and are surprised to notice the birth date on my aunt’s grave is different to what I had always thought. The inscription read “8th May 1910 to 17th January 2004”. I thought I must check on this as I had always sent her a birthday card on 3rd May. Was I mistaken all these years!



We got back to camp and Nick and I decided we would have a swim. The local pool is full of school children so we decide to postpone it until after 3pm and in the meantime spend some time discovering more about the local area. In the meantime we get a phone call from Jan and Alan. Alan has lost his tooth and needed to find a dentist urgently. They went into town and found one (on their friend Julie’s recommendation). Surprisingly he was able to be seen straight away which apparently is unheard of here. He has an impression taken and told his new one will be ready the next day. They decide to go off and play 9 holes of golf and enjoy the rest of the day as best they can.

By 3pm the pool is almost deserted so we enjoy swimming some laps, Nick (20) me (6) – I am sure I will improve on this.

Jan and Alan arrive back at camp the same time as us and as we are tired and needing an early night we decline their invitation to dinner at a local Thai Restaurant with their friends Julie and Chris.

We cook a BBQ and as our TV still doesn’t work properly, despite all efforts to get the right attachments so we are in bed by 9pm. I do hope the pace settles down a bit as all the late nights and socializing is taking its tol!

Princess World Tour - Part III

Princess World Tour - Part 3

Today we are leaving on our 2nd round Australia trip (some of you may recall we circumnavigated Australia for 8 months in 2005). We are really quite certain how this trip has come about as we had decided to sell our beloved 'Princess' and Pajero and I guess, had made the decision not to do any more caravanning. Nick was beginning to feel a bit 'past it' and reluctantly, I agreed with his decision.

Back in October last year some friends of ours, Don and Jenny Henry had mentioned to us that they were going to do some travelling in their father's borrowed van and we thought, or I thought we probably could do just one more trip and I set out on the task of trying to convince Nick that we should, as the opportunity of travelling with friends came up, that we should take advantage of it, bite the bullet and 'just go'! After some convincing Nick became quite enthusiastic and so our plans to sell were put on hold and we began to make arrangements and plans for our next adventure. We would be leaving in March 2009 so we had plenty of time to organise the logistics for this to happen.

The first thing we decided was that we would lease our little cottage in Randwick, and with the hospital and university so close felt it would be quite an attractive lease opportunity for a professional couple.

We had one major hurdle. My 25 year old son, Mitchell had moved back home (he said mainly to save money) but to this day I don't think the balance in his bank account was any different from when he arrived (which was back in July last year) so I had the task of convincing him it was time he went out on his own (mind you, he was very eager to move out of home when he turned 18 and after what seemed like a very short time he was asking us if he could move back home as, "can you belive it Mum, it is very expensive to rent - not to mention, the expense of electricity, gas and least of all 'food'". I wonder where he thinks we had been for the last 50 or so years!!!!! Anyway, he reluctantly agreed that he would make it easier for us and decided to move into a flat with his sister (Chelsea) and the timing was right as her flat mate was moving out and she was in the process of finding a replacement. My only hope was that they would still be speaking and not have killed each other sometime while we were to be away.

We decided to rent out the house with just the 2 bedrooms rather than to add the 1 bedroom/1 bathroom Retreat adjoining the back of our house and use it as storage. We were sure all our 'precious' things would fit and would keep the rest in the house and rent it as a 'furnished cottage'.

During the following few months we made plans, lists, more plans and yes more lists. (Needless to say, the only reason we did it so many times was because we kept forgetting what plans we had previously made and losing our lists, so it was fun and games in our household for quite sometime before our estimated departure date.

Before we new it the time was quickly passing us by and we needed to get 'The Princess' ship shape and ready for us to leave. I found a caravan repaire man at Londonderry just near Penrith and he agreed to do the jobs we needed doing but could not start until mid January (12 weeks away)!!! We had no choice so we picked her up and drove from Dural where we had been storing her and drove to Londonderry so that she would be on site ready for the small amount of work to be done.

By this time we had not heard anything re the trip from our friends Don and Jenny and were getting a bit anxious as we wanted to discuss with them our route and decided on some interesting destinations to see which would appeal to all of us.

My sister and her husband, Jan and Alan who have a farming property up near the Gold Coast mentioned to us that they were planning a round Australia trip, just at the time we would be leaving, and duration of approximately 6 months!!!! We told them of our own plans and that we thought we would be going with other friends and perhaps we could meet up along the way. Jan and Alan have a Pajero and camper trailer, a bit more rugged than our cosy Princess but, nevertheless, they enjoy it and have had many short trips in it. This will be their 'big one'!!!

Over the next few months everything was put into place, with only a few minor hiccups, the day we were leaving was drawing closer.

Don and Jenny had decided, because of a minor medical problem, they would have to postpone their trip so we continued to talk to Jan and Alan and decided that we would do some travelling with them. They were keen to see more National Parks than us as we had done quite a lot on our last big trip and this time we are travelling with our gorgeous little dog 'Lucinda Jane' (Lucy for short)so she will prevent us from going to a few places but we are not fussed as most of the places we haven't been to and would like to see are dog friendly.

We make plans for our expected date of departure for Monday 9th March 2009.

The week leading up to this date is one of the busiest and tiring we have ever experienced. Our house has not been leased, as yet. We have had some interest but we did leave it a little late in organising a Property Manager as all the placements for the hospital and university are done in September/October the previous year for the following year. We are confident the perfect tenants are found but we will just have to wait.

Together with packing the house up we are invited to many farewell functions and decide to have all our kids and grandkids over for a 'sausage sizzle' on the Friday night before we leave. We must be crazy!!!! There is still so much packing and organising to do and at this stage we feel we won't be ready in time to leave on the expected date.

Jan and Alan have also left home and arrived in Sydney and are as busy as we are with social engagements - wanting to see everyone before we leave.

On the Saturday before, amongst all the packing, Jan and I are to attend a luncheon with girlfriends we made back in 1971. We met these girls on a cruise and despite losing touch for a few years in between have kept up our friendship and took advantage of the time Jan would be in Sydney to all get together. We met at The Coast Golf Club at Little Bay and the venue and food is excellent and after many more photos had a most enjoyable day, vowed to do it all again before too long.

Sunday saw us at another reunion. My mum and dad were very close to friends Ian and Beryl Cross. They had many happy years together building their houses next to each other, starting their families together, moving house at the same time and spending many happy times. My mum always said, Auntie Bery was her very closest friend and stayed close until mum's death in February last year. Uncle Ian passed away in November 2008 and Auntie Beryl in January 2009 (only 8 weeks apart) and their children, Richard, Sue and Shannon and my brother David, sister Jan and I decided we would get together and hopefully continue on the wonderful friendship that our parents shared for so many years. We met at the Kirribilli Club, a lovely venue just across the harbour bridge and not far from mum and dad, Beryl and Ian first met when they lived in adjoining flats together "KenPar Flats at Lavendar Bay.

I was lucky enough to have my little grandaughter Kirra spend the weekend with Nick and I while her parents attended a wedding on the Central Coast. This is the first time I have had the opportunity of spending more than a few hours with her and I loved having her so much. She is almost 3 - at that adorable age, although from a grandma's point of view any age is adorable!!!! It was also lovely to see my son Danny and his wife Natasha for, despite so brief, lovely nevertheless.

We arrived home Sunday night, faced with the task of finishing packing the house up and also packing the Princess. Words cannot describe the sheer exhaustion Nick and I both felt as we fell into bed at 1am, convinced everything was finally done and ready for our early morning departure.



MONDAY 9th MARCH 2009 - Day 1

We rise at 6am, shower, dress and put the last minute finishing touches into place and we are away by 7:20am. Our first stop is Mudgee a 3 1/2 hour trip where we arranged to see our cousins, (Berry, Johh, Sue, Bart and Robyn) but before we leave we have to make a stop back at Londonderry to have a couple of minor last minute things done to the Princess. We decided to drop her off and go to visit my brother and his wife, David and Liz at Emu Plains. He makes the best coffee (and should have been a Barista) so that stop was a priority and as we were driving to their home I'm sure I could smell it brewing!

We had arranged, prior to this, David and I would give Jan and the rest of the family a bit of a surprise in Mudgee and David and Liz would also spend a couple of days with us. If you read my blog, from our trip overseas last year, you will see where, when Nick and I got to Kuala Lumpur and met David and Liz there as previously arranged we got a huge surprise when Jan and Alan turned up there at the hotel when we arrived. I was still pinching myself days later, just amazed that they had arranged this without Nick and I being any the wiser. I know Mudgee is not Kuala Lumpur but we hoped it would still have the same effect.

After a couple of hours, and satisfied with our hit of coffee, we headed back to Londonderry to pick up the Princess. She wasn't quite ready as we had planned and we didn't leave there until 2pm but as our destination wasn't too far we were sure we would be there before dark. With a smooth run through the mountains we arrived at the Mudgee Valley Caravan Park in plenty of time to set up camp, have showers, get dressed and be ready to go into town to the rest of the family for dinner at the Lawson Hotel. Jan and Alan were not at the Caravan Park to meet us as they had arrived early and decided to take a bike ride to visit one of her old nursing friends, Julie who has lived in Mudgee for many years.

We leave for dinner and are excited to meet our cousins and get ready to enjoy a few hours reminiscing etc. About 10 minutes after we arrive David and Liz walk in and everyone is amazed and thrilled to see them. This sets the scene for a great night and before we know it it is getting quite late and we are beginning to feel the exhaustion that is setting in from events over the last few weeks. We all arrange to get together for coffee at the Qhaff Shop the next day for morning tea.

I have the best sleep I have had in a long time and feel quite comfortable with the prospect of living in this little cave for the next 6 months. Lucy is very settled and we are sure excited that she is having a 'holiday' with us as most times before we have had to leave her at home. She is also settled and before long, after we put her into her own cosy and comfy bed she finds sleeping inbetween the spaces of our bodies far more comfortable. She begins to snore!!!!!

TUESDAY 10th MARCH 2009 - Day 2

The temperatures during the night are noticeably cooler and it is amazing to think that only a few weeks ago we were experiencing temperatures in the high 30's. It is far more comfortable now and our exhaustion from the last few weeks is really beginning to tell and we enjoy a lovely 'sleep in' and don't wake until 7:45am. Jan and Alan are already up and Jan is about to go on her morning walk. She mentions the 'W' word to Lucy and of course she can't sit still. The last time Jan took her on a walk was around the streets of Coogee - up and down those steep hills and after a while she returned carrying little exhausted Lucy where she couldn't move for a couple of days. Obviously a dog's memory is very short!

We decide to organise the Princess and then meet up with all the other at the coffee shop. John, Sue and Berry belong to a bike riding group and each Wednesday and Sunday morning go for a long bike ride as a group. Jan cut her walk short (to Lucy's delight I'm sure) and decided her and Alan would join the bike riders. We all met when they had finished and it was lovely to meet these people who in their later years, have found a common bond in bike riding and enjoy the fitness component as well.


That afternoon David, Liz, Jan, Alan, Nick and I decided we would visit some wineries. First stop was elliot rocke estate which is situated at 560 meters in the Cudgegong Valley on the outskirts of Mudgee. It was first established in the mid 1800's as part of the original Craigmoor holdings, Elliot Rocke Estate produce wines that typify the region and reflect the long grape growing history. Their signature wine is a 2007 Ice Wine, which is a citrussy dessert wine without being too sweet. It is served chilled and is very delicious. We decided not to buy any wines from here but to buy them from the local Liquorland as the price difference is noticeably cheaper.

The next winery we went to was Oatley Wines. Robert Oatley and his family are the owners of this winery though he may be more familiar as the owner of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race winner Wild Oats. We again tried some very fine wines but decided to purchase in the local bottle shop.


That night we all met up for dinner at the Kai Sun a local Chinese Restaurant and again had a wonderful night with the family, talking of old times, our children, our absent parents. Some stories we had heard some we hadn't but nevertheless we had a fantastic night, realising the importance of keeping families close and together and decided we would do it all again in 12 months time but next time include our children.