TravelStream™ news feed for member newtripper on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/newtripper en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:37:45 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/5/1206488160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/5/1206488160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/5/1206488160/tpod.html Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:37:45 -0400 Italy

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Bellagio, Italy

We are due to arrive in the afternoon - tired and looking forward to a comfortable bed.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/5/1206400020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/5/1206400020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/5/1206400020/tpod.html Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:35:39 -0400 Italy

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Melbourne, Australia

Today is the long day. We leave Melbourne at 8:30pm this evening, and fly via Changi (Singapore) and Dubai to Milan. , where we will take a bus to Bellagio, which is on Lake Como. It is going to be very cold there. We should arrive at our hotel late Tuesday afternoon local time - about 32 hours after I leave home. Hopefully will find some internet cafes along the way to report in. Otherwise, have another look in May. ttfn
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198898640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198898640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198898640/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:24:56 -0500 Seeing the south of SouthA

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Melbourne, Australia

Friday Dec 28th - we arose for our final time in the van this trip. The day was obviously going to be very hot, and we packed the last few things, cleaned the van and packed it up. Showered and hitched up and headed home. No drama on the trip, arriving about 12:15pm. We unpacked the stuff, sorted out Ted's an my stuff, and had lunch. I then drove Ted home, and returned here about 4pm.

In all, it has been another successful and enjoyable trip - signing off until next time.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198898100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198898100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198898100/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:23:48 -0500 Seeing the south of SouthA

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Shepparton, Australia

Sunday Dec 23rd - we took our time packing up and I cleaned up the flat and remade the beds, swept and mopped the toilet and generally tried to leave the place as if we had not been there. Betty, Robert and Bob were lovely hosts and we enjoyed our stay.

We trundled off around 11:30am and after an uneventful drive arrived at the caravan park in Shepparton. We had set up and had lunch by about 3pm and we went shopping - I still had a bit of Christmas shopping to do and we also had to stock up on food again. We went around to visit Margo and Karl, and collected the mail. I cooked chicken schnitzel for dinner and after, we opened our mail - a few bills and lots of Christmas cards.

Monday Dec 24th - we were up early and off down the street to the PO to pay some bills, then some other shopping - still doing Christmas shopping - I can't ever remember having to do it on Dec 23 before - usually finished quite early, but not this year, in fact still have some to do when I get home.

I have decorated our little Christmas tree and put it in the van, and finished opening all my Christmas cards. Am just doing this diary now, and later we will go to Margo and Karl's for a barbecue. That's it for now.....

Had a nice time at M&K's - Trudi and David were there, and Allan had arrived from Adelaide. We had an enjoyable evening just chatting. Left about 9pm.

Up on Christmas morning and off about 8am - stopped by some "moooving art" - the decorated cows which are dotted around the town, and we took a couple of photos. We arrived at M&K's in time for brekkie which is a tradition of juice, toast and ham. Following Karl's urging, we all sat in the lounge as Trudi dolled out the pressies from under the tree. We had a great time unwrapping and discovering what our friends had given us. I got some books, a dvd, calendars and other lovely things.

Christmas day was spent chatting, sipping wine and lunch was quite late. I called Varina and talked to her, but cold not get on to Val. The day just seemed to slip away as we enjoyed each other's company.

Wed Dec 26th - We did some shopping and pottered around. We spent the afternoon at M&K's just chatting. We had the annual dart game - girls vs boys. Ted won the game for a boys by throwing the final 20 - well done Ted!!

Thursday Dec 27th - Slept in today. We went down to Officeworks, where I looked for at external hard drives and cameras. Met Alan there. On our return to the van, I went through all the cupboards, and packed up everything which had to come out of the van before it is stored away - that took a while. Later in the day, we went to Margo and Karl's for a farewell dinner, and goodbye to Alan for another year.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198896900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198896900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198896900/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:12:34 -0500 Seeing the south of SouthA

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Ouyen, Australia

The Murray Cruise was another nice experience. We were lucky as a bus group had booked a tour, and we were able to tag along - there were about 40 in all. The dinning room was set up nicely with white table clothes and Christmas decorations. We had a choice of roast turkey or fish for main course and fruit salad or Christmas pudding for desert.

We cruised upstream and just enjoyed the different scenery as it passed by. - what used to be wetlands, now just a low sand bank by the side of the river. The boat ramp and van park where we are located. As all this slid by, we enjoyed our lunch and I a glass of wine or two.

By the time we got back, and I had visited the internet facility, it was time for a relax before dinner - just a hearty soup and toast this time, as we had a large lunch. We did the preliminary packing up, and went to bed in good time.

Tuesday Dec 18 - up at 6am and we were away by 7:15am - called into Tailem Bend for petrol and some air in the tyres. The drive across to Ouyen was uneventful - we came across a group of 5 fire appliances returning to their home bases in various parts of NSW - we passed them stopped a couple of times, and they passed us stopped as well.

We stopped for a break for breakfast at about 8:30. We took another break at Pineroo, which is approximately half way across - had a coffee, and talked to an interesting fellow in the museum - we did not visit as it was quite large and looked like it required a couple of hours to do it justice. We stopped again for lunch before arriving in Ouyen at about 1:30. By 2:45 we were all set up.

Nothing much happened except a train, which we photographed, and I also did a small amount of supermarket shopping. Dinner was lamb chops and veggies. Quite warm here as expected.

Wednesday Dec 19 - today is my rest day - I did some washing, wrapped Christmas presents, processed some photographs and am now writing this diary. Will do nothing for the rest of the afternoon, I hope.

Except I cooked dinner which was a roast - cooked it outside due to the heat - it was 36 degrees here today.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198292880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198292880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1198292880/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:11:10 -0500 Seeing the south of SouthA

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Echuca, Australia

Thursday Dec 20 - and was up early again and packing. We were away by about 9am and headed down the Mallee highway - we passed through Managatang and even saw the race course. At Pyangle we stopped for petrol and discovered that the driver's side rear where was quite hot. I decided to proceed on to Swan Hill where we stopped to enable it to cool down - we had a cool drink and browsed through a newsagent shop and by the time we got back to the car, the wheel had cooled significantly. We trundled on to Kerang where we had lunch - the wheel was no too bad when we got there, but was quite hot sitting in the sun when we were ready to leave. We spent about ¾ hour there because a guy in a car stopped to ask us about the van, as he was considering buying one - we talked to him for some time before heading on through Cohuna and finally to Echuca.

We navigated through town with Bob's map, and remembering Brian's advise to "turn at the water tower". Once finding ourselves in Bob's road, I was a bit apprehensive about going too far, as it is quite narrow road and did not look forward to have to turn the van around or reverse it out. So I stopped at a house on stilts, and with a shed, and walked in - I was sure it was not the right place, as it did not look like I remembered. A lady came out to see what I wanted, but was little help. (I only had a couple of lot numbers for Bob's place, and now all the letter boxes have street numbers on them).

Just down a bit further I recognized the place and Bob came out and we drove in and parked the van where he indicated. We erected it, and he decided to do the spraying right away. However, as it looked very much like rain, and even a few drops fell - we man-handled it into the shed. Bob sprayed it there. After making the beds in the flat, we showed and went up to the house where we enjoyed a nice chat, drinks followed by dinner which was very nice of Betty, Bob's Mum. We came back down to the flat at about 8:30pm and read for a bit before going to bed.

Friday Dec 21st - and off first thing to find the Ford Dealer, and have the wheel looked at. We went to the info centre and they directed us to the Ford Dealership which is on the Northern highway (to Bendigo).

We sat there for some time, and they took a look, and did a few things. Bottom line is that the wheel is OK - maybe the brakes adjusted a bit tightly, but no damage to the wheel. After that we went to the supermarket. Also bought some flowers for Mrs Smith, and some wine for Bob.

When we got back, Bob had removed the door from the van, and straightened the bent pieces and generally "panel beaten" the aluminium plate. He did a great job, and has now put the door back into place and instructed me in what I was doing wrong and what to do in future. He also got us a replacement running light and fitted that. We very much appreciate his help and it makes us realize how much we don't know about this caper, and how hopeless Ted and I are with general maintenance of the unit.

I took the flowers up to Betty in the house, and chatted for a while, after which Ted and I came back to the flat for lunch.

We are now "resting" - Ted is reading and I am doing my photos and this diary. I have worked on and completed another DVD of photographs - this one is the NSW trip of June/Aug this year. So far, I have made dvds - Antarctica, Gippsland, NSW, Norfolk Island (long and short versions) and one called Holidays Vol 1 (Heathcote, and 3 Shepparton trips), and have being doing this trip as I go.

Saturday Dec 22nd - Ted and I packed up the van, then we went off to the Visitors Centre to see if there was any place we wanted to go - I enquired after the miniature railway I had heard about at Moama, and after we went there, we discovered that some of the track has been damaged, so obviously it is not running. We drove around for a couple of hours and visited Rotary Steam Park, and followed Goulburn Road until it just petered out. We had a nice lunch as The Wisteria in the old historic Port of Echuca. We scouted around to see if we could find a service station with convenient air, but none to be found.

Continued to work on photos in the afternoon and after dinner, Bob "visited" and we talked, and looked at photo dvds, and he showed us a dvd or him kite boarding.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197872220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197872220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197872220/tpod.html Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:20:05 -0500 Seeing the south of SouthA

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Murray Bridge, Australia

Well - Friday passed off peacefully. Although it was real hot, we sat in the shade of the awning, and relaxed until spending time in the supermarket but by the time we got to the visitors centre, the cool change had come and there was quite a strong cold wind blowing. Friday night the rain came and it rained on and off during the evening and night.

Saturday: We managed to pack up between showers and didn't get wet, nor did we get any rain in the van. I put the tarps over the beds to keep the wet canvas off the bedding. We left the van park about 9am - too early to head out straight away. We went down to the Vistors Centre and had a coffee in the café next door. We went into the visitor centre and chatted to the volunteers there - I found the man I had spoken to about the internet report on the cvaravan park, and told him about the "run-in" I had with the guy in the office over the gate key card. After filloing in as much time as possible, we left Victor Harbor about 10:15 and drove to uneventfully to Murray Bridge. We found the van park here with out any problems, even though it is quite a way out of town.

It is very peaceful here, and is quite close to the river - we are opposite a boat launching place, but it is still reasonably quiet. The many here at the park was just the opposite of the guy in Victor Harbor - friendly, smilling, joking, helpful - pointing out the local attractions on a may and generally making us feel most welcome. He came up to the site and helped by directing my into the site.

We set up without getting any more rain. We drove in to suss outt where I was to pick Ted up later after the speedway. At 4:30pm I took him down there and he set off with his backpack and chair to enjoy his evening, whilst I took advantage of the quiet to do some work on my photos, and to do a few Sudoku puzzles. I could hear the speedway cars roaring, even though the track is at least 4km away, and at last the noise ceased, so I toddled on down and picked Ted up. He had had an enjoyable evening, even though the "wrong" bloke won the main race.

Sunday and we had decided to go for a drive. I wanted to see the Wellington Ferry across the Murray below Tailem Bend - just in case we ever came from the Mt Gambier direction again heading for Victor Harbor. It was obvious that caravans took that route as we saw several on the road. After the ferry, heading west, we drove through fairly desolate country - salt lakes and short stunted scrub. Big change when we reached Langhorn Creek as there were many many vineyards and wineries. We continued on to Strathalbyn, where the first thing we saw was a diesel hauled tr4ain int eh station - we found out it was the channel 9 Christmas outing.

We drove around looking at Strathalbyn, and had our picnic lunch in a nice little park. After that we found a street full of Antique shops, and spent time browsing in those.

We then dorve over the Mt Barker, but that seemed to just be a little town - no Antique shops. On to Hahndorf, which was completely full of cars and people - very commercial so we turned around and drove out again. We took the old Highway route through Nairne, where I found an Antique shop and even bought a couple of pieces of Carnival Glass. We did some exploring around Callington looking at a place where Ted had previously down some train watching. Then we sussed out a new camping spot for him at Monarto South. Finally we arrived back at base around 4:30.

Dinner was meat balls in tomato gravy - very nice even if I say so myself.

Now it is Monday. I have called Bob and sorted out our movements for the next few days - have booked into a van park in Ouyen for tomorrow eveing, and now we are off for a lunch cruise on the Murray. Tttfn

We're back and I have found an internet spot in town, and am off to load the blog. Have not had time to process my photos from this morning, so will add these later - We had a lovely cruise on the Murray - more in the next installment.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197518400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197518400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197518400/tpod.html Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:18:18 -0500 Seeing the south of SouthA

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Coorong, Australia

Tuesday

Up again and off to the visitor's centre - we wanted to do the horse tram today. So booked on that - could not get on until the 11:20 tram, as they had a coach of school kids on ahead of us. We also booked on the Murray Mouth cruise for Thursday. In the meantime, I did my emails and loaded up the previous lot of stuff to the blog.

We sat up top for the trip out the long causeway out to Granite Island, as the lovely old draft horse pulled us along. The trip takes almost 20 minutes. Chatted to a couple from England as we headed out, and took a few photos. Once on the island we walked up the boardwalk to the lookout, and then sat in the café for a coffee. More photos as we watched the next horse tram arrive. We again rode on the top as we proceeded back across the causeway to the terminus.

We had a few chores, including the Post Office for my mail, and the supermarket, before heading back to the van for a late lunch. The afternoon was relaxed and we just sat and read, before a tuna mornay meal closed the day.

The twenty20 cricket was on, so we watched that. Margo called, and we had a nice chat.

Wednesday

Up early and two batches of washing including Ted's sheets.

Today we finally caught up on the chore we had intended to do for some time - the addition of a shelf to the cupboard under the stove. We visited the local hardware store for the various bits and pieces we needed. The idea was simple, but the execution was quite difficult, because Ted could only get into the space on his back, and although I could get in on my side, could only get one arm in, and trying to drill a hole with one hand is impossible, not only that, but as we had to avoid some critical cables etc on the wall, you could not get the drill at the right angle anyway, so a rethink had to happen, and the solution was liquid nails. So after a visit to the local hardware store for a second time we adjusted our plan and did as much of the job as was possible, as we have now to wait until the piece of wood, upon which the shelf will rest, is firmly in place.. Hence all my pots and pans, toaster, mixer, etc etc are all over the bench space, and I keep falling over the heater on the floor. We will be able to insert the shelf later on Thursday.

A visit to the supermarket to pick up a couple of things and some bread was needed in order to have lunch. After lunch, I took some time to work on a photo dvd I had been putting together, and I managed to finish that before retiring outside for a read.

Dinner was Honey Lamb casserole, which turned out very nicely. After dinner we watched my latest dvd, which turned out OK. It was just a compilation of photos taken on 4 separate occasions - 3 trips to Shepparton and one to Heathcote. Only a short dvd of about 10 minutes duration.

Thursday

Today another batch of washing, this time it was my sheets. Now we are off on our Murray Mouth cruise for the day, so I must pack up now and return later - hope to get to the internet tomorrow. Ttfn.

The cruise turned out to be great. Due to the low level of water in the Murray, the cruise started from a channel between Hindmarsh and Mundoo islands - at first I was disappointed because the map showed the cruise going only to the Murray Mouth and a point on the Coorong (on Younghusband Peninsula) just opposite. However, they did not stint us, and we were taken much further into the Coorong.

The boat was a mono hulled motor vessel Spirit of the Coorong II which seated 32 people. We started by motoring out of the channel and into the Coorong National Park. During this first stage, lunch was served and it was very nice - cold meat and some salads, bread roll, cheese and bikkies and a chocolate with coffee/tea. We then arrived at Godfrey's Landing, where we beached and went ashore.

We had a guided walk across the peninsula about 1km to the ocean beach. It was hot, and the walk was not easy for me in the heat - there was some sections of soft sand uphill and the flies were about as bad as I had ever come across - they flew up my nose and into my mouth if I opened it. They kept getting between my sun glasses and my eyes too. Everyone had hundreds of flies on them and buzzing around.

We arrived at the beach finally - the Coorong stretched away to the east into ocean spray and mist - we were probably the only people on the beach for 150km in that direction. You can only reach this peninsula by boat. People went wading and looking for cockles - I didn't - don't like sand in the shoes for the walk back. Ted and I stayed about 10 minutes on the beach, then set off back - we weren't the first to arrive back, and the rest were not too long after us. It was hot, grueling and the flies continued to be absolutely dreadful. The guide said he could only remember one day as bad as this was.

From there we headed down the Coorong spotting lots of native and migratory birds. We saw 2 of the larger barrages and generally got the feel of the area. There is certainly no way that either of us would have been able to see this area other than on the trip.

We finally turned around and headed back, passing Godfrey's landing. During this part of the trip, an afternoon cuppa was served. Also, there was a large container of cold water from which you could fill your bottle, or get a cup to have a drink. We passed the dredge and several fishing boats and beached the boat on the sand bank at the Murray Mouth, were we had about ½ hour to walk across the sand to the ocean or the river mouth. Ted and I headed for the river mouth - it was not far - just 150m or so, but the soft sand made it hard going in places. We watched some fishermen, and the water and saw an amazing range of colours in the cockle shells which littered the sand.

Back to the boat and we were headed back to our landing. The day was still hot when we got back to the van, although it was reasonable cool outside, so we sat outside until I finally got a cold meal, and we ate. Early to bed, as we were both tired.

Friday morning.

It is going to be really hot today. This is why we have decided to stay here, as it will be high 30s in Murray Bridge today, so we will move on there tomorrow. Today we have a few chores to do. We will spend a bid of time in the air conditioned supermarket, and some more at the visitors centre where I will load this up.

Not sure when I will next get access to the internet, so....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197332580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197332580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1197332580/tpod.html Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:26:00 -0500 Seeing the south of SouthA

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McLarenvale, Australia

Saturday and another day in the caravan park. Washing first - 2 loads again and on to the line which is great because of the sea breeze which gets it dry pretty quickly. Today we met the new folk next door for a long chat - Peter and Andree who are from WA and headed around SA, Victoria and NSW. They were interesting folk, and we spent about an hour talking to them before having breakfast. Not sure what we did after that except we erected the awning, and put out the annex floor, and set up table and chairs, so that we had lunch in the shade outside, and it was quite pleasant.

I went down to the Visitor's centre to do emails and upload my blog stuff. Ted stayed at camp and read the paper.

In the afternoon, we visited Nangawooka Flora Reserve, which was a cow pasture but now turned into a garden of native trees and flowers - handed over to the Victor Harbor council - got a great shot of a couple of Kookaburras in a tree. After that we visited the Wild Rose Garden and Miniature Village, but as there was a wedding on, we couldn't go into the gardens. On the way back, we investigated What looked like an interesting old mansion but which turned out to be a conference and reception centre.

Back to the van for a rest and then cooked Chicken, Mango and banana with veggies for dinner.

Sunday - morning was pottering around the van and doing a bit of shopping. In the afternoon, we planned to take the Cockle Train. Arriving at the station, we had no problem parking, as Ted though we may have - not a lot of people on this tourist attraction at this time of year. Finally, the train arrive, carriages hauled by a diesel to Ted's disappointment - he had hoped for a rail car. Of course, steam only runs a few weeks of the year, and not at this time.

We claimed our seats and all was well. Unfortunately a family of loud tourists decided to sit in the seats next to us, and continually complained about the price of the tickets - luckily because of this, they only went one way, and one of them drove and picked them up at the other end. The whole way the kids tried to break their new toys whilst all the adults (parents and grand mothers) tried to explain to them why they shouldn't break their toys. We tried to ignore them.

The scenery at the start of the trip is somewhat amazing. The line runs right along the foreshore and the day was sunny with beautiful blue ocean and waves pounding the yellow sand. We arrived finally in Goolwa and disembarked - we had ¾ hour and made our way to a cafe where we had a coffee before boarding the train again for the return trip.

One amusing thing on this trip is on one farm we passed, there is a small dog who apparently chases every train, and did not disappoint this time - I got a cool photo of him racing like mad along side the line.

From there, we traveled back to Port Elliot to have a look at the Station, which is only open on days when the train is running - they have some nice memorabilia there, which was interesting,. We waited for the train to arrive on its way back to Goolwa, and took some photos. After returning to Victor Harbor, we called into the Visitor Centre to try to use the internet, but no terminals available, so back to the van park, and dinner was Pasta with tomato and veggie sauce

Monday - today we headed off north. First we went to Mount Compass - we had intended to visit the cheese factory, but it was not open until afternoon. We turned off the main road to visit Willunga, and we found the rose maze and also the start of a rail trail - a riding and walking path which follows the route of a closed rail line. From there we headed to McLarenvale and quickly found the Almond and Olive shop based in old train carriages which are in place on the old closed train line. We had a really great iced coffee in a café set up in a carriage which looked just like a real train carriage (probably because it was).

From there we went to the visitors centre to find out where the chocolate factory was, and once again found the people to be most helpful and friendly. The lady showed me where to find the Olive Grove and we headed out - tasting olive oil and olives I found some very nice tastes, but even though it was very nice, I thought the prices exorbitant, so did not buy anything - I was hoping for a few Christmas pressies for friends. I had hoped to find a wine tasting in the same road, but no luck, however on the way back we stopped by Tapestry winery - tasted some nice wines and bought a couple of bottles - got one of their mail order forms too!!

From there we went to the chocolate factory, and no-one will believe this, but I bought nothing. Back in the car and on the road. We had lunch at a small place called Moana Beach. After that, we headed south and finally came to Yankalilla where I had hoped to view the HMAS Hobart memorial, and finally had to call into a visitor centre once more. Again, a lovely helpful lady volunteer not only showed me on a map where to find it, but chased me out to the car with a booklet on the ship. The HMAS Hobart is scuttled in the bay nearby and is now a diving site.

We found it following the lady's directions without trouble. After that, we headed back to Victor Harbor, where we went to the Post Office and picked up some mail for Ted, and then to the chemist to get some prescriptions made up for Ted.

Following that, dinner of meat balls in savoury sauce with melted cheese and veggies went down real well.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1196993280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1196993280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/newtripper/sa-2007/1196993280/tpod.html Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:23:16 -0500 Seeing the south of SouthA

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Kangaroo Island, Australia

Up very early and off at 7am. We drove the 58km to Cape Jervis and arrived with plenty of time to spare, in fact, prior to the opening of the ferry office, but we were not the first.in line. Once open, we booked in and got our tickets. When the ferry arrived and disgorged its previous cargo of cars, trucks and people, I drove on as Ted boarded by walking. They packed the cars in very closely, and after all the cars, vans, 4wds and utilities were on, came the semi trailers, pantechnicons and large motor homes. We relaxed with coffee in the passenger lounge until it was time for me to return to the car and eventually drive off.

Once Ted was on board, we headed to the local IGA for some lunch food, and then we took the Cape Willoughby Road and arrived there about 11am. We found there was a guided tour of the lighthouse to commence around 11.30am. The Ranger was extremely helpful and friendly, and after walking around for a while, we went on the tour. It was 102 steps up the lighthouse, and by that time, the wind was gusting to 30+ knots, and the forecast 36 degrees seems very unlikely - the sky had been overcast for most of the morning and looked threatening of a thunder storm.

We heard all about the conditions of the light keepers, and the history of the light house - it was all very interesting. Finally, after seeing a huge lense and the weather station, we left Cape Willoughby to head west across the Island.

I had certainly underestimated the distance between places on the island, and hence the amount of time it would take to get to all the places I wanted Ted to see. I decided we would go to Seal Bay and Vivonne Bay today, and then get up real early and go to Flinders Chase National Park to see the Remarkable Rock and Admiral's Arch on the morrow.

We got to Seal Bay about 20 minutes before a tour was due, and after having a look around, we took the tour and proceeded down on to the beach to view the sea lions at close quarters. There were many small pups gamboling around, and mostly the adult sea lions were just lying asleep on the beach. The colony has been there since before white settlement of the idland and is well protected by the National Parks folk.

Leaving there we made our way back to the main road, and then one to Vivonne, which is just a general store, and there is a beach and bay. We went to have a look at that, and by that time, it was about 3:30 and too late to try to get to Flinders Chased National Park. We headed back east. For the previous 45 minutes or so, we had been surrounded by lightning and we could now see the smoke from 2 grass fires. After traveling about 20km back, we passed close by a grass fire to our right, and not far from the road. We kept going of course, and another 30km or so up the road we crossed a fire truck heading west.

We arrived in Kingscote around 5pm. I filled up with petrol in preparation for our travels in the morning, and we drove around having a look around the town. We was what appeared to be a ferry arriving, and apparently there is a new service coming into Kingscote a couple of times a day.

We booked into our motel, and then later went to a local pub - The Queenscliffe Family Hotel, quite an old building - to have a very nice meal. We went to bed early, wanting to get up around 6am so we could get a good start on the 125km trip in the morning.

Next day we were away about 7am - we wondered about the fires, as we had heard on the news the night before that there were 5 fires and not all under control, also that one person had died. We expected one of the roads to be blocked and had planned to go by the northern route down to Flinders Chase. We got as far as 12 km on our 125km journey before stopped by a road block. No entrance at all to anyway west of that point, so nodding understandingly, we turned round and headed back to Kingscote.

It was still only about 7:30, and we had 12 hours to fill in. First we went to Emu Bay - a pretty little settlement north of Kingscote - we also called into another little bay - the Bay of Shoales. When we headed back to the main road, we notices a police road block now on the main road at the Emu Bay intersection. This was wise because if a tourist had headed off down the Emu Bay road, they could have easily headed down any of the roads back toward the centre of the island, and bypassed the road blocks.

Back in Kingscote we visited the Honey factory and read the fascinating story of the bee hive - we stayed there about an hour. Then back to Kingscote and visited the Town Hall to view 2 tapestry murals - both detailing the history and story of Kangaroo Island in different ways. We found the museum would not be open until well into the afternoon, so we headed off toward American River. Her we found a nice picnic spot near the lagoon, and had lunch after which we found the general store and had an icecream. We drove around the "town" for a bit and then headed generally toward Penneshaw.

We drove down several side roads and found some beaches - not pretty, but we reckoned that several places would be visited by tourists that day, that had never before or would again be visited by tourists - as there must have been many people wondering around this end of the island waiting for the time to go back to the mainline on their scheduled ferry.

We arrived at Penneshaw, and went directly to the ferry terminal, where a ferry wasw about to leave. I was able to change my booking from 7:30 to 5:30. At this stage, it was still only 2:30pm. We found a nice spot over looking the harbour, and had a cool drink. At 3pm we went to the local museum - here we found a very interesting man to talk to, and displays of the marine history of the island - can't believe how many ship wrecks there have been around the island!!

After staying there before about an hour, we went away, and visited the rock which was the sight of the landing on Nicholas Baudin on the island. Finally it was time to line up to board the ferry. In due course, the ferry came along, and soon it was our turn to drovie on - Ted walked of course. On board, we had coffee and relaxed as the ferry returned to Cape Jervis. Then we drove back to Victor Harbor, where I found that my card again would not open the gate. As I went into the office to report this, I found the man on duty to be extremely rude and accusing my of breaking the rules re tailgating out of the park, which of course I had not done. He actually said "don't tell me about the card - I see thousands of these each year and you have got it out of synch". When I tried to tell him that I had not done the wrong thing he just continued to be quite rude. Those folk whose report I read on the internet were quite right.

Now we have had dinner, and I am just writing this up. I will have to do some washing tomorrow and a few other chores. Now, though, I am off to bed.
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