Heywood, our second to last stop and Stawell our very last stop!

The final entry, only 6 weeks late!

We packed up and left Port MacDonnell as it was pouring with rain and very cold so not much point in looking around. We had met the Jenkin family several times during our travels. First time was at Uluru and the last time we saw them was Broome. They had kindly invited us to come and visit them on their farm near Heywood (near Portland) so we took them up on their offer and called in for the night.

It was great to see them again. We really enjoyed reminiscing about the places we had both been to and we found out how tricky it can be to settle back in to "normal" life. They very kindly took the boys horse riding and motor bike riding so they had a ball. Tom apparently wants a horse now and Jack wants a motor bike. We may have to move to a farm to accommodate those requests!






We said goodbye and packed up the van for the last time. Hard to believe that it was the last time we would sleep in it. We drove through Dunkeld and stopped for lunch. Then drove on through Halls Gap to get to Mum and Terry's place in Stawell. It was wonderful to see them again. They left on their trip 6 weeks or so before we left on ours so it had been AGES since we had seen them. They had Banjo with them so we were all very pleased to see him again. It felt very strange being back in Stawell but great to be in a house and sleep in a bed.

We stayed 3 nights then decided it was time to get back to Melbourne. Since the kids are so good at driving now we didn't let them stop in Beaufort like we normally do but drove straight back to Barclay Drive. It was a bit unbelievable to be home after all this time away, 6 1/2 months to be exact. We loved going in to the house for the first time and the kids were extremely excited to have their own rooms. I thought we would be happy to be home for at least a couple of days but the post holiday blues set in within about 2 hours as we looked around and realized how much gardening, maintenance and unpacking we had in front of us. In fact it took Michael 3 days to unhitch the van. I think we were all hoping we could get in and drive away again! We sent the kids to school and Charlie to kinder the day after we got back and it was very strange (but good!) to be without them for a few hours. They were keen to get to school and see all their friends but we were sure that the novelty would wear off reasonably quickly. I think it will take a while to settle back in to normal life after such an amazing adventure. What a trip we had!

Mt Gambier

Can't get the photos on for some reason so you will just have to put up with reading about everything instead!

We drove into Mt Gambier for a few hours even though this was one of the towns that we had mixed reports about. A couple of people said not to bother but others said it was nice. Anyway we thought we would check it out for ourselves. We went to see the Blue Lake first which turns blue for a few months each year. We were lucky to see it at the right time and it was really blue and very pretty.

We then had a look at Umpherston Sinkhole. This is a collapsed cave that a man made into a beautiful garden in the 1890's. It used to have a lake in the bottom which they sailed a little boat around. The ground water level has dropped so the lake isn't there now. The garden fell into disrepair for 60 years or so until some people got together in the 1970's and began to fix it up. They did a really beautiful job, it's very pretty.

We had heard about some of the underwater caves that people go diving in around Mt Gambier so thought we might try snorkelling in one. We met a family in Robe who said it was amazing. We drove to a town called Allendale where you get the permits for snorkeling/diving. The bloke there talked us into full wetsuits all round including hats, booties and gloves as apparently the water was only about 14 degrees! Bit colder then we were used to. We started off by driving out to Ewen's (?sp) Ponds which is 3 ponds linked by little streams. They are surrounded by really tall reeds and the water did not look inviting at all. Jack and Tom both jumped in and had a look and Michael went in as well. I chickened out! The pond we looked at was about 14 metres deep and looked pretty amazing according to the boys. We then decided to go to the next pond called Pinaninnie Ponds. Jack and Tom got attacked by midges so didn't want to snorkel but Michael went in and I decided I should too after taking so bloody long to put the full wet suit on! I am so glad I did, what an unbelievable thing to see. From the top all you can see is a normal looking pond, maybe 100 square metres or so, surrounded by reeds. The first section is a couple of metres deep with lots of rocks that looked blue. But when you swam a bit further on, all of a sudden the bottom of the pond disappeared and you were looking down into a bottomless pit! I found it very frightening and had to hold Michael's hand to swim across it! The pond is well over 100 metres deep and is very popular with those crazy people who enjoy cave diving. Personally I can think of nothing worse. Looking down was unbelievable. The water was cold but we didn't notice it since we had all the gear on. It was a really great thing to see and I am so glad I got into the water. Thanks Michael for holding my hand!

After we dropped off the wetsuits etc back at Allendale, we drove on to Port MacDonnell for our last night in South Australia. We treated ourselves to a night out at the pub and then spent the rest of the night listening to the pouring rain! Welcome back to the south!

Hahndorf and Robe

We left Coffin Bay after lunch and just started driving, planning on stopping when we had enough. Found ourselves in the driving zone so after stopping for McDonalds at Port Pirie at about 6:30 we didn't stop driving until 10:30pm! We ended up making it to a camp spot at Port Parham about 70km north of Adelaide. Stopped for the night and then moved on at about 10:30. Drove straight through Adelaide and ended up heading into Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills for lunch. This is a really beautiful spot. Very pretty with lots of old sandstone buildings. Great shops including cheese and chocolate shops! A bit like Margaret River but not so expensive.




We then drove towards the coast, planning on getting to Robe for the night. Unfortunately we left it a bit late so stopped at a camp spot on Wright's Beach about 15km north of Robe for the night. Didn't see much point in paying $50 for a night at a caravan park so instead payed the grand total of $6.

Drove into Robe the next morning and checked into the caravan park. Much to the boy's excitement there was a jumping pillow and an indoor heated pool. Robe is a great spot. The beaches are much nicer than those we saw on the Eyre Peninsula. It has some good cafes and interesting shops. I had a photo here of Long Beach which you can drive on. So of course we did since it was the last opportunity to do so!

We didn't end up doing a great deal else, just enjoying our last few days before we get home. We drove out to the Obelisk which they used to shoot rockets from with rope attached to rescue people from the sea.

The boys tried fishing at the jetty and caught a few fish but nothing big enough to keep. They had a kick at the footy oval and a couple of visits to the skate park which was empty again with everyone back at school. The caravan parks are very quiet again too. The grey nomads must love it but the boys find it a bit hard being on their own again. We will head off to Mt Gambier, then to Portland to stay with some friends, then on to Stawell to see my mum and Banjo!

Ooops we have been home for 3 weeks! And Port Lincoln to Adelaide

Well I have to say I have lost interest in doing the blog since we got home but a couple of people have asked about it so I am going to finish it off. It has been so long I have forgotten what we did! Lucky there are some photos to remind me.

From Port Lincoln we headed north up the Eyre Peninsula towards Adelaide. We had no plans on where we were going to stop so just kept driving. We were all in a bit of a driving mood so since I had lunch packed we left the Eyre Peninsula pretty quickly and made it to Port Augusta. It was really strange to be back in Port Augusta. We couldn't believe that 6 months earlier we had driven through here and onto the Stuart Highway towards Alice Springs. And then drove the ENTIRE Stuart Highway to the beach in Darwin. We turned onto the Stuart Highway for a km or so, all feeling very nostalgic, and the kids were yelling "Keep going to Alice, we don't want to go home!" however we had to turn around and take the road to Adelaide. Now that we are back at home I wish we had taken that road back to Darwin!

We got to Port Pirie at about dinner time and decided to stop at McDonalds and give the kids a run around at the playground. Piled them back into to car and decided to keep driving until we found a suitable roadside stop. Got to Snowtown but we weren't too keen on stopping there. Got to feel a bit sorry for that town but all I could think about was those bodies in the barrels!
By this stage it was very dark but we were on a dual highway so we kept driving until about 10:30 and stopped at the last possible place before Adelaide called Parham Beach. It was a free camp and it was packed. The wind was atrocious but we managed to set up quickly and get to bed.

Massive day of driving for the kids, our longest ever I think, over 10 hours! They are very good at it now. Onto Adelaide the next morning.

Map of Australia - Nearly Home

We have a map stuck on the wall in the van which the boys have really enjoyed drawing our route on. It looks amazing and it's hard to believe we have really done all that driving. And look how close to home we are!

Port Lincoln and Coffin Bay

We drove past Coffin Bay with plans to get back there as we wanted to get to Port Lincoln to check out their annual Tunarama Festival. The kids absolutely loved it. The first thing we got to do was to meet Red Dog. Actually one of the 6 or so Red Dogs they used in the movie. He was absolutely beautiful.




The kids then checked out the Sound Stage which was all these enormous musical instruments made out of various recycled things. Charlie in particular was very taken with this exhibit.




They then got to go on a couple of rides at the carnival end of the festival. The next day we came back so the kids could enter the Kid's Olympics which were sprint races. They all did really well.




This is Charlie with his prizes. Below is Tom in his race. He is on the far right. It is always great to see how keen they are to join in activities whenever they are on offer.




We came back again for a third day to see the street parade. I think this was their favorite part. They haven't seen many street parades before and loved seeing all the hot rods, motor bikes, tractors, animals and kids walking along. It helped that there were plenty of lollies being thrown!













We then got to watch the heats of the Tuna throwing. Some people were very good at it, particularly the guy who had won the previous 2 years. We didn't get to see the finals so will have to find out if he won again. It's a bit hard to see in the photo but the woman in red is the one throwing the tuna. The kids were very upset that the tuna being thrown were rubber. Apparently they save the real tuna for the final. It was still fun to watch.




The next day we drove to Coffin Bay which is only about 40 minutes back towards Streaky Bay. My step sister in law Sarah's parents live in Port Lincoln and have a holiday house at Coffin Bay. They had very kindly offered to take the boys out fishing on their boat. They also let us put the van in front of their house which was great. Particularly considering the very distant relationship! Needless to say the boys were extremely excited about the boat and spent a great afternoon with Peter. They managed to catch some Tommy Rough, KG whiting, a red mullet and a flathead.




Cleaning and filleting their catch.




This is Peter's boat and their son's beautiful Labrador called Barney who Charlie loved.




This is the view from the jetty out the front of their house.




This is the boys on Peter's boat. Jack is now talking non stop about how we need a boat. His plan is for us to sell the caravan and buy a boat! We all loved our brief stay at Coffin Bay and really appreciated Peter and Leonore's hospitality. I am sure they are still recovering, they did really well with our noisy boys.

Streaky Bay - Swimming With The Sea Lions

We left Fowler's Bay and drove through Ceduna and on to Streaky Bay. The caravan park was right on the beach but after the beaches of Esperance it looked a bit sad! The kids spent the afternoon swimming and then the boys went fishing on the jetty but didn't manage to catch anything. A kind lady gave us some King George Whiting fillets and some extra Tommy Rough so we had plenty of fresh fish for dinner.

The next morning we drove out to Baird Bay to do a dolphin and sea lion tour. Some friends had recommended it and we were not disappointed. It was amazing. We went out on a boat and got in the water with a heap of dolphins. The water was very rough and not very clear so it was a bit hard to see them but they did swim right around us. We then got back on the boat and went across to the other side of the bay to find the sea lions. There is a big colony living on the rocks and there were quite a few in the water. They are just like dogs and were amazing to swim with. They were really playful and will chase you if you swim past them. One enormous one came right up to me and I got to scratch it under the chin! They play with rocks under water, picking them up and throwing them to themselves, just like a dog with a ball. They also play with the weight belts that the tour operators drop onto the sand. They grab them and swim away with them hoping that they will get chased. They wrestle and play fight each other and do jumps and flips. They were great. Charlie wouldn't get in but Jack and Tom did and loved it. It was unbelievable to be so close to them.











On our way out of Streaky Bay we had to make another stop courtesy of "Are We There Yet?" at the Shell Roadhouse. They have a replica of the largest shark caught on a rod and reel back in the late 70's. Some guy caught it off the coast of Streaky Bay on a 20kg line. It took him 5 hours to gaff it and then drag it back to shore. It weighed 1300kg if I remember correctly mandate was a white pointer. It was huge. I have to say I did feel a bit sorry for it but sharks are a serious business around here. All the towns have shark cages around their jetties so you can swim without worrying about being eaten!