Novotel Barossa Valley Resort Rowland Flat

... the top. It was now we realized where the ‘sky’ bit came from the name, as all we could see now was sky! The 4x4 route was based on a 70,000 hectare farm, so quite large. We met the owner of the farm, at the end of the trail, and was very interesting. He and his wife were the end of the generations of family that lived on the various houses on the property. He said when he was a lad, there were 28 family members living there ...

The Shipwreck Coast We've spent the last couple of weeks traveling along the south coast.  The south coast differs from the east coast in many ways.  For starters it is much colder here.  This is autumn when retirees from New South Wales and Victoria start heading north for the winter.  Temperatures are similar to our September and early October weather in Canada.  The south coast is a lot more rugged and the south seas can be very violent.  These two factors ...

We drove from Victor Harbor to Langhorne Creek to visit Sam and Jan Newell, brother of Laurena (our exchange partner). They own old vineyards and are wine producers and sell grapes to large companies. They took us to Bleasdale Winery, a South Australian wine icon. We saw a very old wine press all made from red gum which is a very hard eucalypt wood. It was made by Frank Potts who was ...

... out and a few people were way out on the shoal exploring. It is very hot. The scenery today reminded us of the Dakotas only the soil is adobe red. Eric surprised me tonight by suggesting we go to the S. Whyall Football Club BBQ next to the park for supper. It was t-bone steak with fries and salad bar. This was a treat and the 1st supper we haven't cooked in the RV -- it was great. The tide has come in and people are out fishing. There is no internet. It ...

... really) and disproportionately priced (but I knew that in advance so no one else to blame th**e). We could at least drop our stuff off for the 5 hour wait to check in. So we ambled up town, Adelaide is v**y easy to navigate and the streets are a grid system. Although some streets change name at int**sections while oth**s don't, maybe they didn't have enough names to go around. Adelaide is a really nice town, with some nice old colonial buildings (even if they do have the highest ...

We had a really brilliant day today. It's days like this that make travelling so worthwhile. You meet someone randomly, floating on a tube down a river, and then 4 months later you're at their Mum & Dad's house in Australia having a roast beef dinner!! Everlasting memories! We got the 10.30 train to Port Noarlunga where Sarah's parents live. Sarah picked us up from the station and took us for a drive along the coast to get some stunning views. We ...

... Even though the wet weather has followed us since Perth, we made the most of our time. With a population of 1.5 million in SA, about 1.1 million people live in or around Adelaide. We had no real idea of where to stay, so we randomly picked a van park at Semaphore, near Port Adelaide. Considering we spent a fair amount of time around the city centre, we probably could have stayed a little closer to the action. A friend's niece who lives in Adelaide ...

... at this, as we don't want to end up like the many kangaroo schnitzels that we've seen on the roads. So, after four nice days in civilization, we were back on the road heading for Kangaroo Island, the "last bastion of unspoiled wild life in Australia." Not that we've seen a lot of the "spoiling" in the places we've been visiting so far but, anyway, we're looking forward to mingling with the locals: seals, koalas, wallabies, echidnas and to the ferry ride that will take us there!

... We stayed in a cell, with the heavy cell door, and everything. All the original stuff was there. Even some ex-cons lived there, but on the other side of the building. It was a really cool atmosphere. And cool indeed! It was bloody cold! Another great place we stayed was Beachport, which was the night afterwards. It was a hotel, and there was a fantastic restaurant downstairs, with reasonable prices. I spoiled myself with the best kalamari I've ever had. Fresh from the ...