Monday 25 - Friday 29 January 2010
We left our
shady Langhorne Creek camp spot and headed north with plans to stay somewhere
along the Murray River. After a picnic lunch at Murray Bridge we moved on to
Mannum - a nice little town with lots of action on the water...this is
houseboat country.
We couldn't
believe the size and luxury of some of the houseboats. We had a walk around
town and then decided to move on to Swan Reach where we planned to spend the
night. As we drove on we caught the ferry across the Murray at Walker Flat
which looked like a great spot. This area of the Murray has the highest cliffs
along its length - we stopped for a look at Big Bend.
When we saw
Swan Reach we decided that Walker Flat looked better so we headed back to a
free camp spot right on the river.
The sight of
the sunset on the cliffs was fantastic.
Look how
orange/red the cliffs were...
Being the Australia Day long weekend there were a few jet skiers and water skiers making some waves but they weren't too noisy. It was a great place for a swim...
...and
another great sunset to add to our collection.
On Wednesday
we left Walker Flat bound for the Brown Hill Creek Caravan Park in Adelaide. On
the way we stopped in at Oakbank in the Adelaide Hills and visited Johnson's
Brewery and cordial factory. We sampled lots of different flavours (of cordial)
and they were yum - quite different to what you get at the supermarket.
Next was the
Oakbank Weaver (which is also set up in an old brewery). It was really
interesting to learn about the history of this place and the weaving process
from the couple running it. Most of the tapestries hanging on the
walls took years to complete - lots of patience required.
After setting
up camp we headed into Adelaide city for an evening walk. The area around the
Torrens River is beautiful..
And then back
in over the next two days for more touring.
We had
another ride on a tram which provide free transport in the CBD area...
...and
visited our third chocolate factory for the trip - Haighs. This free tour
lasted for about 40 minutes and was fantastic. Very educational and lots of
free samples!
On Friday
we enjoyed the smells, sights and sounds of the Central Markets -
lots of things that the kids had never seen for sale anywhere before...rabbits,
quails etc and fresh produce everywhere. Ashley loved the bread pretzels from
the bakery stall.
After a
big day of walking we settled in for a movie night before our departure from
Adelaide tomorrow.
Saturday 30 Jan - Friday 19 February
2010
We packed up
on another very hot morning (42 degrees today) and were soon ready to
explore the Yorke Peninsula - not sure where we will end up tonight. About
30kms up the road from Adelaide is St Kilda. Not quite like the St Kilda in
Melbourne, in fact we were wondering why anyone would want to live here
(actually we've asked that question quite a few times in SA). There was not
much in the town and it was very hot, dry and dusty. The reason for the visit
was that we had seen some pictures of a great looking playground in some
brochures...and after seeing it we agreed it was one of the best adventure
playgrounds that we had ever seen - huge flying foxes, a pirate ship, fort,
huge slides, swings - it was unreal. Unfortunately the slides were made out of
metal and with the temperature reaching 42 degrees they were not an option
but we had a go on everything else.
After a good
long play we continued up the road. The car DVD's got a good workout today -
this is the driest state on the driest continent in the world and there was not
much to look at. We stopped in at Ardrossan for lunch and were going to stop
for the night at Black Point a bit further south but when we got there we
quickly changed our mind. We made down to Port Vincent (which was the
nicest town along that stretch) before we decided not to continue any further
down the Yorke Peninsula). The scenery doesn't change - dry, treeless nothing.
We cut across to the other side of the peninsula, had a look around Port
Victoria and then set up camp at Maitland.
Although we
were in a town we didn't feel particularly safe here. It was a Saturday night
and there were plenty of locals heading for the pub which was a short walk up
the road. A couple of fellas who had downed a bit too much grog stopped off and
asked for a couple of bucks along the way so they could get to Port Vic (about
20kms away) - likely story. They were harmless but the kiddies were a bit
concerned. Later that night we drifted in and out of sleep as we heard groups
of drunks wandering back to their houses. At about 2:30am I woke to the sound
of liquid running down the side of the van. Figuring that some drunk was having
a leak on the van I opened the door ready for action...but found no one. I
discovered that the automatic sprinklers had turned on and the water was
running down the roof! Funny.
Our camp spot
was next to the Maitland Cougars home ground so we all had a kick of the footy
in the morning.
More of the
same along the road to the next town. We thought this looked like the typical
country farm scene.
The TV
reception at Moonta can't be too good - the first thing to catch our eye was
the sea of very tall TV antennas right across the town.
Moonta is
known for its Cornish history with the area being settld by people from
Cornwall many years ago. We had a look around town, sampled a famous cornish
pastie...
...and then
out to Moonta Bay and Port Hughes. Very, very windy.
We asked at
the tourist info centre whether we were missing anything by not going to the
bottom of Yorke Peninsula - we were told not at all!
Further north
Port Pirie was unimpressive to say the least. We had a BBQ tea by the lead
smelter silos and then drove up the road to a free camp spot. Beautiful sunset
over Spencer Gulf...and this was free.
Monday
morning we had hot showers at Port Germein and walked out the "longest
wooden jetty in Australia". The one at Busselton mustn't be made of wood?
More local
ladies. Didn't we see them at Warwick?
After a
grocery restock at Port Augusta we headed up to the Flinders Ranges. We set up
at Wilpena Pound so we could explore the area over the next couple of days.
The mountains
do look spectacular. Shortly after arriving we were hit by a red dust storm.
On Tuesday
morning (2 Feb) the weather was clear. We had a swim in the resort pool and a
walk around the area. Check out this big tree.
And the
locals were friendly.
After the
walk we were set to do a drive through the Flinders Ranges to check out the
gorges and scenery that the area is famous for. We were just about to hop in
the car when we noticed a few drops of oil on the ground at the front. Better
check that out. Upon opening the bonnet we found that the coolant tank was full
of oil...uh oh...that can't be good.
We called
RACQ and they organised for us to be towed back to Hawker which was the nearest
town. Bloody Jeep.
The van was
taken to the Hawker Big 4 van park where we waited for the report from the
local mechanic. There's not much at Hawker - wouldn't like to be stuck here
for too long.
This fella
liked it here though.
Unfortunately
the mechanic didn't have much idea about Mercedes engines (which the Jeep has).
He did suspect that the problem was a buggered oil cooler. We spoke to
a Mercedes mechanic in Adelaide at a big dealership and he assured us he
could find and fix the problem so RACQ organised for us to be towed
there. Thank goodness we took out the top RACQ cover or that would
have cost us thousands. RACQ were fantastic - they organised everything, gave
us options on where to go and made a really crappy situation bearable. We
couldn't be more thankful for their great service.
We stayed in
a motel at Port Augusta on Friday night and then on Saturday morning caught the
bus to Adelaide Shores Caravan Park where our van had been delivered.
Well...happy
days for the kids. We had been planning a longer stop or too for a bit of
relaxation (not back in Adelaide though). For the kids this place was heaven
and for all of us a very welcome change to the few days in Hawker.
Tarnia took
the opportunity to visit the Rundall Mall and markets while back in town... by
public transport of course - without a car we were going nowhere.
The following
week we called the mechanic regularly and seemed to be getting nowhere. He told
us it was not the oil cooler and that it seems the engine is
"stuffed". Not the specific diagnosis we were hoping for. We rang the
other two Jeep dealerships in Adelaide hoping to get the car taken to one of
them. Unfortunately neither of them could look at the car for at least another
three weeks. Is this a major city or are we on another planet? We rang
Jeep head office in Melbourne and were told that we would be just as well off
to leave the car where it is at the Australian Motors dealership. Australian
Motors were on the Jeep books as an approved repairer.
We continued
to get nowhere with the Australian Motors mechanic. We always had to call for
updates, he never did and he simply didn't seem interested in doing the work
because it was too hard. He told us a number of times how much work it would be
to get to the parts off the engine he needed to look at. Thanks goodness for
the intervention of Roger (Tarnia's dad) who told the Aust Motors mechanic a
step by step process to follow to find and fix the problem. And guess
what...the problem was the oil cooler. It helps if you get it out and send it
away for testing rather than just looking at it! And this guy was supposed to
be a Mercedes specialist!
It
was still going to be a few days to get the car back to working order. After a
very frustrating couple of weeks we decided we had had enough of Adelaide and
its backward people (the mechanic was not the only one...and people make fun of
Tasmanians! The people in Tasmania were the nicest and friendliest in the country.
Being in SA was like stepping back in time 30 years and we have
encountered more nutters here than anywhere else in Australia). We decided to
hire a car, put the van in storage and head back to friends and
family in Melbourne.
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