Journey home

We left Mildura on Thursday morning before it got too hot... the plan was to break the trip home into 2 stages so there was no real rush. Not a lot to see on the journey... our lunch stop was down some dirt road near some deserted looking grain silos at Mittyack between Ouyen and Sea Lake. We played some frisbee and kicked a ball around in the dry, cracked dirt in order to allow the kids to burn off some energy. It had turned more muggy than hot, with rain in the distance.

Continuing on we arrived in Charlton mid afternoon, just over half way between Mildura and home. We decided to stay there the night - in a unique 'caravan park' that is a series of 8 ensuite sites behind the main street of town known as 'Traveller's Rest'. We paid for the night and got a key from the East Charlton Hotel around the corner - this unlocked the power box and ensuite. It was like a home bathroom - quite luxurious after 34 days of caravan park amenities blocks!

The kids played in the playground, part of the 'Traveller's Rest'. The Avoca River runs through Charlton, and actually has some water in it at the moment. On the banks is one of the Commonwealth Games fish... the broadbill swordfish of Kenya. I wonder what happened to the rest? I know there's one at the Ringwood Aquatic Centre.

We went for a walk up and down the mainstreet of town which was not all that exciting. We all enjoyed showers in our ensuite after this. At dinner time we went to the East Charlton Hotel... it's a bit of a tradition to go out for dinner on the last night of a holiday for us. The kids looked great all cleaned up and dressed up with some gel in the hair.

The night at the 'Traveller's Rest' was interesting... it was a warm night and we were the only ones there, so we felt a little vulnerable! Some local drunks staggered noisely by at some ungodly hour but paid no notice of us fortunately.

An easy pack up Friday morning as we did not unhook the car and we were on our way after another play in the playground. Jeanette dropped off the ensuite key at the corner butcher... who just so happened to have won awards for his sausages. So she got some to take home to cook tonight.

Refuelled... (gas)... we've only gone through one tank of petrol on this trip! The car is giving us around 270 -290 km's for a tank of gas with the van on the back... pretty good return as we don't get more than 350 km's when not towing.

Had a quick playground stop in Marong, with some icy poles from the caravan freezer as it was another warm, muggy day. The Calder Hwy is impressive now once you get south of Bendigo so we made good time. Pulled off at Kyneton as there's a nice Apex Park near the northern entry to town. It also has a playground... we've lost count how many playgrounds we've road tested on this trip! The park also has the original Kyneton Mineral Spring, under an old rotunda. The kids loved pumping the water which is meant to be very good for you... had a taste, and it was revolting! The 'Kyneton Springs' flavoured drinks we got in Berri were much nicer!

After lunch and another play, we left on the last leg towards home. Sitting at some traffic lights, just 2 km's from home, Zac asked... 'Where are we going for the next holiday?'

It was nice pulling into the driveway. The kids were excited too, and enjoyed seeing their rooms, all the toys they'd missed and soon had toys out and everywhere. Daz unhooked and spun the van around... unpacking can wait. Jet got some essentials from the supermarket and we enjoyed the award winning Charlton sausages cooked on the BBQ. They were very nice too! Just before bed Ethan put together a quite insightful sentence (very good for a 2 year old... and it summed up all our sentiments I think). 'I enjoyed the holidays, but I missed my home'.

So where to next? We've got a few days at Cape Paterson just before Easter and we're planning our 3rd annual winter trip to Merimbula.

We hope you've enjoyed following our journey. We've had a great time. The kids really impressed us with how well they took to caravanning for 35 days. We covered over 3500 km's in that time and packed a lot in. They've obviously learnt heaps... Zac still reminds us what stalegmites and tites are... there's nothing like getting out there and experiencing things!

Day 32 Mildura

Kids slept in till 8.45 this morning......it is going to be hard work getting them back into the normal swing of things when we get home. Ate breakfast about 45 minutes later - what a lazy morning. This morning it was off to Orange World.. We rang them to find out when their tour group times were and the first one for the day and the most practical one for us was beginning in about 40 minutes so we really had to get moving. It was only 8 minutes down the road but we still only made the 10.30am tour with a few minutes to spare.



Our tour with "Uncle Brian" commenced with him singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to the kids and then singing a song he had written all about Mildura to the adults. Uncle Brian is a bit of a bush poet / musician as he accompanied himself with the guitar. Orange World still has that quirky/fun/family feel to it that it did five years ago.

We all hopped into his orange tractor with orange trailers for a trip around the orchard. There are ten thousand fruit trees on the property and only 4 people pick the fruit. Impressive! They have a range of oranges, mandarins, avocados and a few demonstration trees such as Shaddocks (the world's largest orange from China - good for marmalade but not much else), a few limes, a bizarre looking fruit called Budda's hand and a few more lemon varieties.

It was interesting to note that the reason apparently that many people buy the Californian Navel Oranges is that they maintain their nice orange colour and do not go greenish like some Australian Navel Oranges do. The reason the Aussie ones go a bit greenish is to protect themselves from the sun but they are still sweeter and juicer than the American ones. As the majority of the market buyers want nice nice looking oranges they settle for the imports, which is pretty lame, and it is forcing many farmers off the land.

At the end of the tour they showed us the grading machine they use and gave a demonstration of an easy orange peeler. We have one of these from a previous visit and it works quite well.

Back inside we found orange gelati to try - Ethan and Gemma were fond of the taste of Jeanette's!!! (As usual! - they are really seagulls in disguise crying "some", "some" whenever food appears)

Home for lunch and naps - only Gemma managed to have a nap - the boys were just wriggling in their beds. Headed up to the pool for a swim where the wheels fell off Ethan's little red wagon and he came back to the van and had a little nap with Darrin. Jeanette stayed with Zac and Gemma at the pool where they had a lovely time floating about.

Dinner and back to the pool again. Back to the van again where they polished off 1/4 watermelon between them in no time at all. Showers, clean up the van and bed.

In an effort to try and get out of the van park before 10am we have already packed up some of the inside stuff and Darrin had already hooked up the car. Will see how it all goes and what time the kids wake up!!!!

Day 31 Mildura

After Berri we had nothing planned other than to arrive at home in the next few days. Decided last night to head for Mildura and take the little people to Orange World (The Big Orange in Berri was closed down and had been for quite some time) Darrin and Jeanette had been to Orange World on The BIG TRIP - 2004 and enjoyed it. So it is off there again for us.

After packing up the van we set off. Kiddies travelled reasonably well for the first hour and a half and then went nuts for the last twenty minutes but there really was no place safe to stop on the side of the road. A few rest stops but with big trucks whizzing past every few seconds it was not the place to let kids out. We pushed on to Mildura and stopped at Lock 11 for a picnic lunch and got to watch the Lockmaster send three houseboats on their way and the PS Melbourne on a tour. Ethan and Zac thought this was really interesting. Gemma thought it was her civic duty to round up all ducks in sight.
Arrived in New South Wales to stay in the park we had visited before at Gol Gol. Set up camp and just spent the rest of the afternoon hanging about camp. Zac and Ethan had a lovely time driving trucks in the sandy dirt and just doing their own thing. Ethan enjoyed some chill time on the bed driving his toy cars around.

Gemma and Darrin went for a walk to check out the grapevines next door.
Visited the pool in the afternoon for a quick dip - it was rather fresh but they loved it.
Back to the van for a dinner of left overs, a play in the park, showers and bed. This park is rather noisy at night compared to other parks as people catch up after a day of speed boating on the river.

Day 30 - Berri

A much better nights sleep for all last night! Headed off to Renmark this morning - a nice little town located right on the banks of the Murray River. Went for a walk along the paved area running from the visitor information centre to the top end of town. Was great just to be able to walk along and enjoy the view.

Through the visitor information doors you can access PS Industry and have a wander around her. So the kids enjoyed looking at the paddlesteamer - some of the fun areas like the steering wheel were out of bounds but it was good just to look about. The 'Industry' only runs once a month to get her old steam boiler going!

Back into town to grab some bread rolls to go with our picnic lunch at the Monash Adventure Park. A great kids playground with some different things for them to try their skills out on.

Zac very impressively and with Darrin's help walked the tightrope - about 15 m. Very proud of him!!! :-)

Ethan climbed the tall crooked tower (with Darrin's help) and waved to us from his perch at the top.

Gemma just had a blast running around and trying out all the slides multiple times.

Home for nap time (Ethan just did hand stands in his bed for an hour!!!????) and when they awoke we set off to the Berri Direct Factory - we thought that maybe this would have been a little more like the SPC factory in Shepperton and had some items at very good prices, however much of it was equal to supermarket prices so we found a few little things to try and left it at that.

Back at the van park you can hire two seater bikes for 30 minutes - we had seen them on our first day here and the kids asked if we could have a go. As they were not too expensive we hired one for thirty minutes and took turns in taking each of the kids for a ride around the park. Lots of fun but hard work too.

Dinner done and we got some packing up done ready to move on tomorrow. Then off for a walk along the banks of the Murray at sunset.......our last night in South Australia.

Day 29 Berri

The kids all slept well last night despite the wind and our very noisy and inconsiderate neighbours carrying on till well after midnight. Gem woke up for Mummy cuddles later in the night and slept the rest of the night in our bed holding Mummy's hand.

Was still quite windy this morning as we set off for Loxton Historical Village. It is rather like a small Sovereign Hill styled village but is not gold rush based but set in the farming late 1800's to early 1900's. We all enjoyed looking around and for a while had the whole place to ourselves. Even when others arrived we never bumped into them.

The kids started out playing on some old toys - tricycles, old styled see-saws and an odd sort of peddle driven roundabout. Ethan and Gemma especially like the old trikes.

Then it was a wander through the main street with a barber's, bakery, printers (see pic of boys trying on their printers hats), fire station, church, mechanic, police station, lockup, general store etc.... There was quite a few bits and pieces of old machinery around including an old steam train which was set on track that used to run through the area including the old train station and ticket office.

Darrin, Zac and Gemma tried out the old "time out" stocks and lock up cell. Gemma thought it was funny where as Zac was not so impressed.

On the way home we stopped off at Lock 4 to show the kids the Lock system but unfortunately there was no boats needing to pass though. Ethan and Gemma fell asleep on the way back so we put them straight to bed and the rest of us had lunch and then naps.

Once all were up and fed we just hung about the campsite and visited the park. Dinner, bike riding, showers, milos and bed.

Thursday 14th - Saturday 16th

Hi all, it has been a busy couple of days so here is a catch up of the last few days.....

Thursday......

Drove up to Berri in the Riverland area. Felt a little like travelling through the outback with the flat landscape and the scrubby bushes. About 70k up the road we stopped at Morgan for lunch - a small town right on the Murray and at one stage was the busiest inland port in SA. Had lunch then went for a wander to the old wharf and around the old rail relics.




We were surprised to see that 1) the river was an odd sort of milky green colour and 2) the river was quite full at this town. Water is being held back in the loch system.

Another 105 kms and we found ourselves in Berri. The 'Riverside Caravan Park' is quite green and quiet - we though it would be packed. Swam in the pool, had showers and bed.


Friday

A warm day - Jeanette went for an early morning walk along the river edge - again the river here is the same milky green and very full. Apparently the minister for water resources in SA has her seat in this area and does her best to make sure the river is full here. If you go down to loch 1 you can just about walk accross the river according to locals.




Came back and had breakfast - we made egg and bacon muffins on the BBQ. Hung around the van for a while and then decided to go to the pool. Splashed about in the pool and then things took quite a turn for the worse. Gemma had been splashing at the edge of the toddler pool which was no deeper than her chest then she must have slipped over in the water - (something she has done a few times and just stood herself up again) and for whatever reason did not get up. Darrin was watching the kids play and had seen her standing up playing and when he turned back no more then just a few seconds later saw Gemma under the water. He grabbed her and she was breathing ok but she was a bit blue around the lips and chin and quite pale and floppy. Jeanette came back to the pool and we decided to call 000 just to be sure and thinking that they would come and see her say she was fine seeing as she was breathing ok and it would all be good. The ambos decided to take her to Berri hopsital just to be sure. At Berri hopsital - she was looked at by several medical staff, x rayed and blood tests were done, they decided to air lift her with the RFDS to Adelaide! The X-rays showed some water in her lungs and they didn't want to take any chances and the local hospital was not equipped or staffed to deal with this... so off to Adeliade for a stay overnight... Gemma slept the whole way in the plane. In the CECU they kept a close eye on her and on Saturday morning said she was fine and could go home again. So a long (4 hours) bus trip back to Berri to cacth up with our boys! We missed them. A freak accident and some very relieved parents and brothers and a lucky little girl.



Meanwhile back at the ranch Darrin and the boys had bounced on the jumping pillow and had been for a nice sunset walk on the Friday. On Saturday they climbed to the top of the old water tower in Berri for a view of the town, the river and across the flat lands to the horizon... no hills or mountains in sight. After this they drove to nearby Monash where they have an 'adventure park'... this began in the 60's as a 'normal' playground and steadily grew. At one time it had all sorts of challenges and equipment, but public liability and insurance wrecked all that and it was made 'safe'. Today it is bigger than your average park, has a maze and some larger than average play equipment.



Back in Berri and all together again - YAY!!! :-) We decided to go out for tea - no one could be bothered cooking - and then take the kids off to a surprise we had found out about. At the local pub Ethan chocked on his noodles and threw up in his dinner!! So back to the caravan to change him (Life is never simple with kids!!!) So then off to our surprise........the Cobdogla Irrigation and Steam Museaum which tonight had a little diesel train doing a run through the vineyards at sunset. For the princly sum of $4 for each adult we all enjoyed a 1/2 hour ride through the vines. The kids all loved it and so did we. Had a look around all thier old machinery as well including a 27 tonne steam traction engine. These steam engines were built in pairs and would roll at each end of the field with a long plough between two of them. They would also dig dams the same way and pull a large scooper. The second steam engine is in Swan Hill.



Zac entered a colouring competion at the caravan park a couple of days ago - He won FIRST prize!!!! He was given a toy Ferrari racing car, an icy pole and three lolly pops! YAY ZAC! We are so proud of you.

Day 25 - Burra

The rain stopped overnight and we awoke to a cool but sunny morning - a great day to go exploring. Burra was once Australia's largest metal mining site. The copper mine once known as "The Monster Mine" commenced in 1845 and ceased in 1877.

We began our day at Redruth Gaol built in 1856 for male and female prisoners. It closed in 1897 and was then used as a girls reformatory till 1922. The film 'Breaker Morant' was largely filmed around this area and the gaol featured in it several times. We all enjoyed looking around the cells, yards, kitchen and admin areas.

Then it was off to see quaint old miners cottages - they are built in rows rising up a hill and are all joined up. There are several examples of these cottages around the town. All are privately owned now so you could not see inside.

Next stop was Hampton - a deserted old town where all the building are in rack and ruin - most of them are more down than up. Long golden grass creeps all around so you needed to be careful where you walk.

Off to the smelter - the ruins in the brochure looked really interesting but had long since fallen down and there really was very little to see so we did not hang around too long. On route to find lunch we stopped off at the miner's dugouts - there was a massive lack of accommodation so many miners dug out simple one or two room huts in the side of the river bed. Many children lived here too in these damp and horrid conditions. In the late 1850's there was 153 deaths due to small pox, typhoid and diphtheria. Really sad to wonder how these people managed and a wonder not more succumbed to illness when there was 600 of these dug outs in 1851.

Headed off to the local bakery for some yummy hot things for lunch and back to the van for naps.

While Ethan and Gemma slept - Darrin and Zac headed off into town to look at the old lolly shop and market museum. The shop had all things old and interesting - the scary thing was that I remember using some of these things at Auntie Evelyn's home when she still lived in Hare Street, Echuca. When they came back, Zac enjoyed it so much he wanted to take Mummy with him so we walked into town and back to the museum, then off to a couple of second hand bookshops and then to the butchers and home again.

After the others awoke we set off on the rest of our journey which was to go and find an old cottage Darrin had admired in many brochures and was also on the cover of a Midnight Oil album - we found it and took a few photos.

Back to our journey around Burra and it was back to the actual mine - a bit more to see here and it gave us some great views of the town. The kids enjoyed climbing in old mining trucks and looking at the old machinery. Even got to go into the old Powder house where they stored the powder for rock blasting - the powder was stored in a smallish room with two lots of VERY thick walls. It used to have sheepskin on the walls to reduce the risk of a spark sending the whole lot sky high.

To finish off our trip we let ourselves into the former police lock up and stables - Ethan was quite interested in where they tied up the horses as there was still some rope there.

Home again and Darrin took the kids to the park while Jeanette made dinner. Kids enjoyed ringing Nanna and Grandpa to say they started the day in Gaol and finished the day in the police lockup!!!

Day 25 Barossa to Burra

After a couple of days off line, we're back, so we'll catch up on what you've missed. (first... 12/1/10). A cool change brought some relief overnight, it was overcast this morning although it was a bit muggy. We packed up and left Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley for our next destination of Burra - a historic copper mining town. The journey was only 117 km's but we planned a 20 km detour to visit another historic little town, Mintaro.

The road took us via Kapunda which claims to be the oldest mining town in Australia. We were greeted on the way into town by an 8m high miner. He was called 'Map Kernow' which means 'Son of Cornwall' as many of the early miners were men and boys from Cornwall in England as they had a reputation of being fine copper miners.

Driving on, it began to drizzle, in fact at one stage it was like we were driving in a heavy mist! The drizzle eased as we arrived in Mintaro. We parked by the playground and the kids had a play. After a quick lunch in the caravan we attempted a bit of a walk... but got saturated as the rain returned heavier... but it was somehow refreshing after several very hot days! Mintaro was full of character, most of it was run down and rambling, not regal and fancy like some historic towns. There was the 1858 blacksmith's which had various bits of iron in the forms of horse shoes and other bits and pieces scattered around the overgrown yard. The picture below is of William Hunt's carpentry shed which didn't have a straight wall to it. It was built in 1856.

There were a few other old cottages and businesses including 'Tea-Rose Cottage' which used to be a butcher (1862), 'Devonshire House B&B' (1856) complete with dense growth of vines around its verandahs and the Magpie & Stump Hotel. We chuckled as we got into the car, all wet and bedraggled! As I said, it was refreshing... if a little unexpected after recent days.

It was only another 33 kms to Burra and we were soon setting up in the rain. It was the cheapest caravan park since our first night in Camperdown at $20 per night. Although a council one and quite small, it was nice, by the creek and with clean and modern amenities. We could see the old Catholic Church through the trees from our back window. As we set up 3 very large ducks came and visited... they must have been the local welcoming committee.

Daz & Zac went for a walk into town and purchased a 'Heritage Passport' which gave us a key and information book with map that allowed us to explore at our leisure the historic sites around the town. There were 8 sites that we could let ourselves into including the mine itself, the former prison and some miners dugouts. That would be tomorrows adventure.

Daz & Zac also got some fresh mince at the local butcher and we all enjoyed a fantastic shepherds pie for dinner. Jet also whipped up a tasty apple crumble using the caravans griller... and she did a top job of it too! Our welcoming duck committee returned and Daz and Gemma sat on the step to threw them some bread... they virtually climbed on our laps... one actually leapt up and tried to take the bread off us.

We had a thunderstorm and heavy rain during the evening. It was a doona and jammies night. Ironic really... the weather goes from one extreme to the other.

Day 24 Barossa

Another very hot night - did not get below 30 degrees! It took ages to get Gem to sleep and Zac woke at 12.30am all hot and bothered so we moved him down from the top bunk and put him on the couch. Ethan did really well.

As today was going to be well above 40 again we had already decided to get in the car early and drive to escape the heat. First stop was Angaston where we were to go gemstone fossicking....we bought a bucket of dirt (how weird does that sound!) and set to work. We were told that the bucket would contain primarily garnets. So after tipping some of the dirt into a sieve, shaking it and then washing it - it was tipped out on to the table and the sorting began! Zac quickly proved quite eagle eyed and was quite good at picking out the shiny red rocks.....Ethan and Gemma tired of it quickly and played cars and read books on the verandah (Gemma at times trying to escape of course!) In the end the kids had three small bags of un-cuttable garnets and Darrin and Jeanette got four quite good sized ones that could be cut and set.

Then it was off to the 'The Club' in Tanunda for lunch - which in all the brochures boasts a playroom - it was not the best equipped playroom but the kids had fun and it was air conditioned. Had a good sized lunch so we would not need to do much for dinner. Back to the car in the hope that all three would fall asleep - it did not take long....

As we were not too far from Freeling - (home of McLeod's Daughters) we set off on a look about tour for Jeanette - found the truck stop and the pub however the rather lovely old home that was used is now private property and has double locked gates and a big keep out sign. You can not even see the homestead from the road...would have been nice but we were not about to start trespassing.

After this we set off on a church crawl. This area still has a very strong Lutheran base and there are many magnificent old churches so off we set to photograph some of them. Mission accomplished and we found a couple of old farmhouses to photograph along the way as well. Back to the van via the supermarket where aside from a few groceries we bought a squirty bottle. Darrin and Jeanette had fun squirting the kids and each other to keep cool. A bit of a picky kind of dinner - the kids just ate bits from the fridge. Too warm to worry to much - walk into town to find an icy pole seeing as the fridge freezer can not manage to freeze the tube poles - back for showers and bed. Will be another hot night - the cool change is meant to arrive around 5am.

Day 23 Barossa

Oh my it is hot!!!!! - Over 40 degrees - the caravan air con is working overtime but not really accomplishing much and the two fans are going flat out.

Decided this morning to go for a bit of a drive - headed out for Bethany - a town which sounded really lovely in a brochure but really did not amount to much. Progressed on to Mengler's Hill lookout - can see vineyards for miles and it has its own sculpture symposium......wandered around to take a look at a few of them but it was too hot to see all of them. Zac and Ethan enjoyed collecting a few shiny bits of quartz and granite from where the sculptures were carved.

Since this trip was planned visiting the Seppeltsfield winery was on the list - some wonderful old buildings and it is also the oldest vineyard. After finding some banana paddlepops for the kids we headed in to the cellar door where we were able to try a few of their different products. The kids were offered some raspberry cordial which apparently uses Joseph Seppelts recipe from his personal recipe book - now kept under lock and key is his old bedroom. On reading the bottle - we noticed it has preservative 211, food acids and colour. Now I am pretty sure the original recipe did not use these things and probably had real raspberries in it - so the claim might be a little stretched. We bought a bottle of cordial, a sparkling red chardonnay and a bottle of Cellar 7 tawny port.

Home for lunch, naps and trying to keep cool anyway possible.

Day 22 - Barossa

It was to be another VERY warm one today - so we packed up camp and hit the road about 9.40am - it was only an 84k trek to our new site. We checked in and were given a site which was not all that shady so Darrin set of on a reconnaissance mission to find us a new shadier site - we rang the office and asked if we could move and were given the green light! Yes we rang the office cause this park is huge and in 41 degree heat no one was walking back to the office.

Fed the kids a lunch of cold fruit - mango, grapes and watermelon which they loved. Gemma and Ethan got saturated playing in a couple of tubs of water - soaked and muddy but very happy kids. They use bore water here so water restrictions are not as tight. Cleaned up the kids and put them down for naps. While they were sleeping Jeanette and Zac headed off to town to find another fan and a few food items for dinner - fry pan pizza. Ate dinner in our screen tent to avoid the wasps and mossies. As an aside on the mossie topic - Ethan is very quick to spot the Australian flag which points out to us all as "Look there is the mossie flag"

More water play after sleeps, dinner and a bike ride through the caravan park with a quick stop off at the park playground. This park has an enormous family bathroom - you could hold a party in there! Milo and bed for the little campers.

Next two days are hot hot hot - all above 40 degrees.

Day 21 Victor Harbour

The only thing left on our list of places we wanted to visit or do in Adelaide was a tram ride to Glenelg. But with it being forecast to reach 39 degrees we decided that every Adelaidian and his or her proverbial dog would also decend on the popular Adelaide beach.

Instead we decided a longer trip would be in order... more time in the air conditioned car sounded good! So we set off for Victor Harbour, which was only 80 km's away. When we got there we easily found somewhere to park and then ate lunch under a shady pine tree on the waterfront... it was suprisingly quiet around.

After this early lunch we took the kids to see the horse drawn tram that goes out along the jetty to Granite Island. We'd told them we were taking them on a surprise outing, and this was one part of the surprise. It cost us $19 to get us a return trip on the horse tram. They are old double decker trams and the top deck is open, so that would be too hot. We found a seat downstairs.

Our horse was 'Bill', and he gently walked out along the jetty. The boys loved the ride, spent most of the time with their heads out the windows. Zac had his camera out and was taking a lot of pictures. Gemma was just trying to escape and do her own thing...

Once out on Granite Island we went to the kiosk and bought icypoles each. Jeanette and Darrin then took turns to have a little look around as it was a bit hot to expect the kids to go walking. Jeanette found some interesting signs that request that you give way to penguins. Didn't see any penguins to give way to though. Darrin walked up some steps to the top of Granite Island and enjoyed some great ocean views.

Our horse on the return leg was 'Thomas' and he got us safely back on to the mainland. Alongside the jetty was a great little beach... it had a lot of seaweed on the sand, but the water was calm and didn't get deep very quickly... perfect spot for toddler play! We all got into our bathers, for this the kids second surprise for the day. They all loved frolicking in the water. It was very refreshing indeed. This was Ethan and Gemma's first real dip into the ocean... falling in at Merimbula in the middle of winter didn't count! The temperature in Victor Harbour was only 35, so not as hot as Adelaide and the water was lovely... not as cold as the caravan park pool either!

Just before 4:30 we got into the car and began the drive back 'home'. The kids all fell asleep on the way - they hadn't had their afternoon naps. We took a small detour to the historic town of Willunga where we decided to stop and have dinner - who could be bothered cooking something when we get back? The Old Bush Inn was full of character and we enjoyed a good pub meal. The kids chose the usual nuggets and chips. Jeanette & Darrin had Cajun chicken burgerw which were great, served up on Turkish bread instead of the usual bread roll. Washed it down with some local wine (we were in the heart of the McLaren Vale wine region after all).

Had another quick stop on the journey home at Old Noarlunga which featured a fine old church on a hillside - its square steeple was visible for miles. It looked great in the evening sunshine. It was built in 1850 and was in great condition for its age! Surrounded by gravestones and rolling hills all brown from lack of rain it was quite a sight.

Once home it was shower time and bed for the kids. It was a balmy evening, but with our position in the valley it does cool down a little earlier as the sun disappears earlier. Tomorrow morning we pack up and head just a short distance, around 80km's to Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley for three nights. The weather forecast for each of our days their is the low 40's so we'll have to stay cool. The caravan park we're booked into does advertise 'shady sites'... here's hoping we can get one that is!

Day 20 Adelaide

After such a full day yesterday, we decided to take it easy today. We were booked in for an 11am tour of Adelaide's famous Haigh's Chocolates which was only a 10 minute drive away. That's one thing that's good about Adelaide, nothing seems too far away.

As we entered the visitors centre / shop the aroma of chocolate was amazing... we all almost started drooling! There were chocolates everywhere! The tour was about 30 minutes and begun in a small room where we learnt about the history of the company - it is today run by the 4th generation of Haighs. In the 1950's Mr Haigh spent 12 months in Switzerland learning more about chocolate making with the Lindt family. Today, Haighs only sell through their own shops, 6 in Adelaide, 5 in Melbourne and 1 in Sydney, so it's pretty exclusive... and expensive. A free sample of milk and dark chocolate proved it was also very nice!

Moving down a corridor we learnt about the process of turning cocoa beans and other assorted ingredients into fine chocolates. Finally we could view the factory area through large windows where we saw huge cement mixer looking stainless steel bowls of chocolate, easter eggs in a 'spinning machine' ensuring even-ness around the whole egg. The kids were quite impressed with it all, as were the parents. Finally, the tour guide handed out more samples which Ethan in particular woofed down at a very quick pace.

We spent some time browsing in the shop, buying just a few... how could we not? You can get a hand wrapped chocolate frog that is 375 gms and costs $20... we stuck to some smaller ones as the temperature over the next few days is predicted to be high 30's and low 40's so it would not survive long.

On the way back to the caravan Ethan complained about a sore tummy... life lesson their for him!

We are planning to take it easy the rest of the day... with some time in the pool and a bbq tea.

Day 19 - Adelaide Zoo - PANDAS

Our much anticipated day at the zoo visiting Australia's brand new pandas, Funi and Wang Wang. It all got off to a stressful start... leaving 25 minutes after we wanted to, to allow time to call in at some shops on the way. So we skipped the shops, and then part of the way to the zoo I casually informed Jeanette that there was a huntsman on the dashboard of the car and I would need to make an emergency stop!! Fortunately there was some where to pull over nearby and we pondered our predicament! Tried to get it with a stick but it got itself between the dashboard and the windscreen... but not wanting to let a silly spider, albeit a big one deter us and keep us from our pandas, we bravely continued. We took the stick with us too.

We found somewhere to park close to the zoo, but the Adelaide City Council were cashing in on the pandas and wanted $9.20 for 4 hours parking... all in a parking meter that only takes coins. Who carries nearly $10 in coins with them? So we put in all we had and it gave us about an hour... will risk a fine... what can they do... extradite us from Victoria?

We got straight into the zoo with our pre-paid internet tickets and went straight to the pandas... we were booked for the 10:15 viewing... along with several other people. By 10:30 we got to see them... Funi (the female) was curled up on a rock at the back of her area... and didn't move the whole time we were there. Wang Wang (the male) was a lot closer to the front, and was quite active, going for several wanders and at one time played with his toy tyre. They are both indoors and in seperate enclosures - still in quarantine and don't get to roam their outside spaces till next week. The kids were excited and wanted to pat them. Our photos were not brilliant through the perspex which reflected heaps, but we did get some good video.

The rest of our day at the zoo was spent exploring and checking out the other animals. The tigers were hiding and were nowhere to be seen, as were the orang-a-tangs. A lioness gave us a stare. The lemurs were a hit with the kids... 'I like to move it, move it...' from the film 'Madagascar' was what they sang! Gemma enjoyed seeing the hippos and giraffes. Ethan got excited about the frogs, snakes and lizards and Zac kept asking for monkeys.

We bought lunch and sat in the shade and ate before seeing everything else. Not as extensive as Melbourne Zoo, with a few notable absences... they had no elephants for example. There were a couple of old flamingoes - the oldest animals at the zoo, arriving from in Australia in 1933 and 1948. One was quite white... perhaps he'd faded over the years. I thought they were a lot pinker!

We headed home via the supermarket... where the kids all got souvenir pandas as they were $6.95 instead of the $34.95 the zoo wanted! Here's them with their cuddly souvenirs...



Exhausted after a big, but fun day out we had some yummy tea (thanks mum) and then we're thinking of heading for the pool after that...

Day 18 Adelaide

We opted for an easy day today - just hanging around the caravan park. Kids all slept in and then jumped in bed with Mummy and Daddy - kind of crowded. Had a special breakfast - toast, bacon and eggs which we all enjoyed. Two loads of washing done and we set off for the swimming pool. It was great - we had the whole place to ourselves. Kids were having fun throwing water bomb balls to us and skimming them across the pool. Gemma got too cold at one point so proceeded to sit in her towel on the sun lounge and watch all of us.

Back to the van for lunch and sleeps. We played a few games of Beetle with Zachary once he woke up - one of his Christmas presents which he loves.

Back to the pool once they all awoke again but only the little ones got in this time and not for long - was a bit fresh!!

Darrin and Zac BBQ - ed dinner and then early nights for all little people and big ones too. A big day tomorrow - off to see the PANDAS!!!!!!