COME AWAY WITH ME

Tag: Travel

  • Surviving in the Flinders Ranges.

    The end for Swifty……

    September 11th 2025

    Still at Arkaroola , we set out on the third day for the Echo Camp Backtrack self drive. You pay the fee to get the track notes and the key to the locked gate along the way. It’s a 4 hour round trip.

    This was a 4WD adventure that had some quite difficult terrain, however we were rewarded with some stunning scenery and a great oversight of the history of Arkaroola station. All the waterholes were dry despite high rainfall during winter around this inland northern corner of SA. Generally the area was dry and dusty with a sprinkling of green showing through from more recent rains. The massive River Red gums dominate the valleys and watercourses while the remainder of the landscape has the hardy dry country shrubs like Mulga, Black Cypress, Bullock trees and Acacias. There were a few kangaroos and emus, not many birds.

    Morning tea
    Nick adding to the cairn
    Lunch stop Barraranna Gorge.

    We found a great spot for lunch where we duly broke out the table cloth, zero beers and snacks, thoroughly enjoying the peace beside the towering red ochre cliffs.

    Echo Camp Backtrack
    Arkaroola landscape

    The pictures will tell you how stunning the landscape was, although photos don’t really do it justice.

    It had been a big day, much bouncing over rocky roads, inhaling dust. Andrew & Marilyn went to see the Yellow Footed Rock Wallabys being fed, with Doug Sprigg, the son of the original settlers at Arkaroola, sharing his story about living there, which was most entertaining. 

    Look what Nick found……..

    We had made the best of Arkaroola. It was time to move on. We knew a severe cold weather blast was expected across southern Australia. The predictions were horrible. We rendezvoused with Neil and Erica in Blinman, then settled for the night at Alpana Station. Neil had nicely placed the Penguin beside an ensuite between 2 buildings…our site was out in the open paddock with a couple of small gums surrounding us. The wind was strong, it was already very cold. We were preparing for a repeat of the night at Arkaroola. Fortunately, it wasn’t toooo windy or wet. We enjoyed a lovely fire in the camp kitchen and survived another night.

    Blinman
    Blinman pub
    A fraction of the 360 degree view from the hilltop at Alpana Station

    The next day we all headed off to Willow Springs Station. After coffee and cakes, huddled in the warmth of Blinman’s cafe, we set off. This morning was very cold, almost Arctic! The sky ahead was black, the rain constant and the cold wind buffeted the car. We wouldn’t have been surprised to see snow. Driving into Willow Springs over red muddy roads in the rain, morale was low. We checked in with reception, not sure we really wanted to stay. At the camp kitchen we used the wifi and found we could make a booking at Hawker Hotel, about 60 km further south. It was a joyful few moments for everyone when we realised we would be dry for the night, in a room with the toilet nearby, out of the wind, with a heater, with a pub meal onsite. And no red gluey mud to deal with.

    Entrance to Willow Springs
    Wet and windy

    Erica was a bit sick with the flu. They had done the Flinders Ranges on other trips, so they decided to hightail it back home to Byron. We 4 felt we had come this far, silly not to see the rest of what the Flinders had to offer. So back to Willow Springs Station. It had stopped raining by now and the bitter Antarctic cold had passed. We had a good campsite near the amenities and a great camp kitchen and laundry, so we were happy.

    Tree post
    Dodonaea microzyga
    Brachina Gorge track
    Razorback range
    Parachilna pub for a beer

    We took a few hours driving around the spectacular Ranges. We took the Bunyeroo Gorge track and the Brachina Gorge track. The vistas over layered mountains with multicoloured hues, misty distances with dirt roads winding through, were an artist’s dream. I can see why Hans Heysen hung around the gorges painting such beautiful scenes. The red rocky gorges with the massive red gums capture the essence of outback Australia. How can such enormous trees live without water? How can they grow out of rock crevices? We went to Parachilna pub for a beer. I was impressed with the artwork adorning the pub walls. There’s quite a sophistication at this remote pub, it does cater for all sorts of visitors. We drove home along the Moralana Scenic Route.

    The green desert. Moralana scenic drive
    Yellow Footed Wallaby
    View from the Outback Highway.

    Greeness is everywhere, there is a sense that this is rich pastoral country. That’s a false assumption, most of the green plants are weeds. I see all the beautiful reds and oranges of the rocks amongst my photos and get a shock when I see a green picture, and yet that is the norm not the exception.

    Gorgeous red kangaroo.

    The next day was the BIG one. Still at Willow Springs, we take the Skytrek self guided tour over the valleys and mountains of the station. Paying our $75 fee, we get some very comprehensive notes and a key to the locked gate.

    We left at 8.30am. 8 hours later we returned from the 80km circuit. The first third of the day was amazing, many interesting places to see, history to discover, plants to learn about, wildflowers to find. The last third after the locked gate was when the instructions said, “engage 4WD”. We thought we’d done a lot of rough track, but now we were doing probably the hardest track we’ve ever ever done and it was relentless. Long steep upward gradients on a slippery gravelly surface to a high point, with a stunning vista, then long very steep downward slope over the edge before another steep climb reared up in front of us. The track had sharp rocks, boulders, deep holes, slippery slates, never ending. I was expecting to have whiplash by the end. But the scenery around us was breathtaking, the trip was worth it in the end. On the last highest hill on the property, there was a guest book you could sign and leave a comment. Nick read one out to me, it simply said “terrifying”. So enjoy the pictures, they were hard to come by.

    View to Wilpena
    Red ochre seam
    Ochre rocks
    Yellow ochre seam
    Lunch stop under the giant red gums.

    Next day we moved to Rawnsley Springs Station, instead of Wilpena Pound campground as we’d planned. Excellent move to come here. We had the best campsite, on a high spot looking out at the rocky escarpment of Wilpena Pound. The sunsets were brilliant. Great amenities, a campfire at night, even a takeaway pizza on our second night.

    Breakfast at Rawnsley
    Wilpena from our campsite

    We did a day trip to Wilpena just a short distance from Rawnsley Springs. The stop at the old homestead was delightful. The wattle and daub house was the best preserved we’ve ever seen and the red gum in the front garden was sooo big, it was magnificent.

    Wattle and daub house

    We drove on to Wilpena Pound store, had lunch there and looked about. If you’re not able to do the walks, you can’t actually explore the Pound properly, although there was a shuttle bus we could have taken, which still involved walking at the end….one of us was a little incapacitated. Fortunately we had all been to the lookout at the Pound on another occasion.

    Giant red gum

    Next came the last part of our trip. The long 1,935km to Lennox Head will be slowly paced to take advantage of this outback region. We started early with a coffee at the very good cafe in Hawker. Between Hawker and Broken Hill is endless open landscape, flushed with green but very few trees.

    Peterborough was quite a bustling town. This is wheat country with a still active train service passing through twice a day. The wide main street has grand architecture with 4 pubs and numerous smaller shops and houses dating back to the late 1800’s. After lunch here, we continued to Broken Hill, where we found a delightful “resort” at Mt Gipps. Here there was a large restaurant which could cater for events, but it also serves dinner and lunch every day. We were tucked up in the unpowered sites on a flat grassy bank. The shower facilities were second to none, although a bit of a hike to get to. The night was warm and calm.

    Peterborough pub
    Peterborough

    We spent a relaxed day in Broken Hill, a place that holds memories from a previous trip when we were stuck there with a hole in the petrol tank that needed repairing. This time we re-visited a favourite cafe, Silly Goat, the Regional Art Gallery which is fabulous, and the Memorial to the miners of BHP. Lunch at the retro cafe, Bells, plus a visit to a smaller gallery, and we’d done Broken Hill as best we could in one day.

    Bell’s retro cafe
    Coffee at Silly Goat

    Next day, the plan was to get to Nyngan for the night. This is a 580km trip on mostly dead straight roads with not much to see except millions of goats, denuding the landscape…. such a pity to witness this. Many roadkill kangaroos, all in all, a sad scene.

    Flat open country with green grass, after Broken Hill.

    Wilcana park was a fair place to stop for a break. The Darling River was high and flowing unlike last time when we passed through here and it was dry. We pressed on to Cobar for lunch in a cafe we knew from a previous visit. Stocked up with food and drinks for the night, I took over driving for the last 130kms.

    5 kms from Nyngan, I over-corrected when I was heading into the gravel on the left, causing the caravan to fish-tail. I was doing 100kmh at the time. It’s a strange sensation losing control. I thought “how am I going to stop this!” Then clunk, the van had tipped over onto its roof. This slowed down and ultimately stopped the car. I was facing the on-coming traffic in the right hand side, but only the back of the van was on the road. A man in an on-coming small truck who saw it all happening stopped to assist. He was a local and called the tip truck driver. Within an hour we were in a cabin in Nyngan caravan park, poor Swifty had gone to caravan heaven in a paddock with other wrecks and some lovely horses nearby for company. Next day we salvaged what we could from inside, mostly the food in the cupboards. The fridge contents were slathered with yoghurt. The tomato sauce bottle squirted it’s contents making it look like someone had been badly injured. My big regret was forgetting to get the gin, rum and coffee out….I’ll think of those as the sacraments to bless the van on its next journey wherever.

    My lesson from this is not to drive late in the afternoon. This was just the second time I had driven the car with the van on…in all our time travelling around Australia, I never drove. The blessing was the tow-hitch that could swivel 180 degrees without tipping the car. The damage to the car was not minor, the lights on the back were wrecked. The boys rigged up an amazing substitute set, using Swifty’s rear lights. This made the car roadworthy enough to drive home even though it looks odd.

    Home safe and sound, albeit a bit battered.

    From Nyngan to Tamworth to Lennox Head. The journey ends and probably our caravanning days could be over. We’ve had years of adventures with Swifty, it’s sad he’s so battered about but looking at the silver lining, we can begin afresh in different ways. We’ve thoroughly explored Australia, now it is time to see a few International destinations we’ve always wanted to visit. All in good time.

    This will be the very last blog. Thank you for taking the journey with us, it’s been thrilling, awesome and unforgettable. Our wonderful fellow travellers Andrew and Marilyn have saved us through thick and thin in so many ways, with mechanical help, meals, laughter and a great friendship, thank you. Neil & Erica, was a pity not to go the full distance with you this time, but what we did with you was so much fun, a little edgy at times, spectacular, hilarious and rich with memories.

    Jenny & Nick

    Setting off in style for new adventures without Swifty.

  • Flinders Ranges

    Getting there…………

    August 2025

    Here we go again. Ready for adventures, awesome scenery, friends, campfires and lots of driving. Because the weather in southern Australia has been so unpredictable lately, we are not sure of our itinerary, except we’re aiming for the majestic Flinders Ranges in South Australia. The rain has caused havoc with the gravel roads, flooding them and washing away edges. The positives are that we’re expecting a “green” desert with lots of wildflowers. We’ve set aside up to a month to be away.

    We set off on 20th August 2025 in the middle of a rain bomb from the East Coast of NSW. By the time we reached Lismore the rain had passed, but it wasn’t the last of rain for us that day. Tenterfield for morning tea is a normal indulgence, but we couldn’t loiter as we had more than 550 kms to cover that first day. Rain it did, heavily at times.

    Arriving at Nindigully Pub close to dusk, we had planned a campsite in the Council grounds surrounding the pub, but mud and slosh drowned out any chance of finding  a dry site. In Neil’s usual fashion, he parked beside the telephone box near the pub fence on “dry” grass and we wedged our 2 vans in close to his Penguin. In the morning, an irate owner of the pub informed us we were camped on private property, her’s in fact. We apologised profusely and left. St George was not too far away, so off we drove in the cold and thick fog.

    Parked around phone box
    Nindigully pub

    Wildflowers were beginning to appear on the sides of the road, vast carpets of yellow, then white, all with a background of deep russet red earth. Again we loaded the kms onto the car, pushing hard to reach our destination, Charlotte Plains Station just out of Cunnamulla. What a gem this place was compared to the barren landscapes we had travelled past for hours that day. The 27,000 hectare sheep property is one of the few stations that did not cap their bore. They have developed a unique unpowered campsite complete with a dozen or so bathtubs you can freely wallow in at 31C or hotter, until you are fully saturated. There are some large pools as well, heated to about 48C, which is a bit too hot. The mornings with steam rising in the glow of sunrise are really atmospheric. We spent 2 days here. There was a video show at sunset with Robyn Russell, the current owner, giving us a good overview of the history of the farm and family; she was a bit long winded however.

    Charlotte Plains campsite
    Charlotte Plains Hot Springs
    Soaking in the bath

    Day 4 we headed to Thargomindah, the visitor centre first, as we still didn’t know if the road down to the Flinders Ranges was open. There have been vast floods affecting roads, bridges and creating driver hazards, but the Strezlecki Track had just opened and we could follow our desired route. Poor Thargomindah had been awash the previous weeks, but looked like they were back to normal.

    The Cunnamulla Fella

    This night we made it to Noccundra, a one pub town and nothing else. The 1882 sandstone pub was a nice place for a lazy afternoon beer, but we had chosen a terrific campsite on the bank of the Wilson River. Peaceful, quiet, no wind or rain, we loved relaxing into this spot. The little campfire kept us warm, the stars were spectacular, although I need more practise to get my astrophotography working.

    Noccundra pub
    Noccundra vehicle park
    Sunset on the Wilson river

    The next day we aimed for Cameron’s Corner, the historic border intersection of SA, QLD & NSW. The roads were now a mix of corrugations to rattle your false teeth, smooth red earth and grey dusty gravel. At a morning tea stop, we met a twitcher, carrying his very long-lensed camera. He showed us some excellent images of various birds including a red chat which is very rare. His wife wandered up from a walking path, didn’t engage with us, probably knowing her husband loved showing off his pictures whenever the opportunity arose. The wildflowers at this stop were lovely, some very small, others more showy but all contributing to the floral display. 

    Morning tea stop

    Cameron’s Corner now has a pub, unlike the first time we came here in the 1990’s. We took the mandatory photos, read the information boards and then set off in search of a campsite. A clay pan tucked out of view of the road was ideal. A magical camp.

    Cameron’s Corner with dingo fence behind

    Car Report

    Deflating tyre pressure.

    Car-wise, it’s not been all plain sailing. Mechanically, no worries. However the extremely bumpy roads and endless corrugations finally shook a little spring loose in the bonnet catch. Without a spare parts store down the road, we’ve gone for the old tried and true remedy, tie down strap across the front of the bonnet, a nice rosette was added for presentation. We do now get weird looks in the towns, people wondering why we’ve got our bonnet held down. It’s rare to see cars nowadays being held together with simple devices and still driving about.

    Also, for no obvious reason, the heater/aircon fan began to make a loud insistent whizzing noise. It was just another noise to add to an already rattly racket that we drive with all the time, but this one was next level! So I cracked it and turned it off and went for the old fashioned air con and opened the window. Ahh, the serenity. That afternoon Nick was under the front dashboard unscrewing the culprit. It was full of leaves like a birds nest. Years and years of debris. Now the fan is completely silent and actually pumps air.

    Campsite in the dunes
    Dry mud flat at sunrise
    Dawn

    This road from Cameron’s corner camp was a multiple series of up and over sand dunes, with crests and falls, possibly 50 or more of them, with some badly churned up on the blind side over the crest. Our two-way radios proved useful to warn each other of the dangers. For the whole day we saw about 4 cars, 4 motorbikes and a couple of cattle trucks. The Strezlecki Track was sealed more than we expected but it was still primarily corrugations on white gravel. The landscape was dotted with small pale yellow dunes with scrub on top, hides for bush creatures no doubt. We only saw a few emus, no kangaroos and surprisingly a group of huge camels.

    Strezlecki Track
    Strezlecki Track

    Flinders Ranges

    Pulling in to Arkaroola mid afternoon, we had around 2000km on the clock already. The day was warmer than expected. We set up camp amongst the gums on a dry riverbed. We did a communal dinner of marinated pork, stir fried vegetables and rice. We retired early, everyone was tired and 3 of us were carrying a bit of a cold. The wind came up, slowly at first, rattling the awning, shaking the van a bit. The next thing we knew we were living in a full scale gale, with wind howling down the gullies like a train, first one direction then the other. Just when you thought it was over, off it went again. No-one slept. It’s just one of those camping moments when you ask “why are we doing this?” But we survived and I thanked all the big trees we were camped under for holding onto all their limbs throughout the night.

    Corellas
    Campsite amongst the gums

    Suffice to say, the next day was at zombie pace, weary, just soaking up all that is on offer around the Arkaroola homestead . It was warm, sunny and calm, for a change. Neil and Erica did a walk on the Barraranna track for 8km, I admire their fortitude but the rest of us were not feeling that fit after a rough night. The next morning Neil & Erica departed Arkaroola while we stayed another day to do the Echo Camp Backtrack drive. I’ll leave this blog here. There are lots of adventures to come as we thoroughly explored the Flinders Ranges.

    The next blog is written so will follow soon, provided I can get an internet signal.

    Cheers for now

    Jenny & Nick & Co.

  • Limestone Coast, SA. Great Ocean Road, Vic.

    The last blog finished at Strathalbyn, so the journey now takes us along the south coast of Australia and into Melbourne, where this blog series will end.

    Posted April 8th 2024

    The Razorback, Port Campbell National Park

    Robe. We pressed on to Robe, knowing we were passing the Coorong, made famous by the  movie Storm Boy. It was a hot day again, all around us was crackly dry, no clouds, dark blue sky. The Coorong needs to be appreciated by camping in the National Park on the edge of the lakes, but we felt more inclined to go to Robe to avoid the mozzies and sandflies this time, and stay close to the coast where it is cooler.

    Long Beach, cars along the beach.

    Robe was bustling, being a holiday long weekend probably contributed to that. We had a lovely campsite in the shade beside the ski lake. We decided to have an ocean swim, found Long Beach where you can drive your car on the sand, and OMG…I have never seen so many cars and people lined up on the beach along the shore. The water was cold so most people were just sunning or drinking or playing cricket. Big family groups hunkered under gazebos or awnings attached to their cars. Quite impressive how a seaside can draw so many people! I had a swim and so did Nick….but he wore his wetsuit! 

    Nick braving the sea with wet-suit
    Van for hire on Robe beach

    Cycling around the Robe foreshore and up to the Obelisk was a good way to see the sights. Given the notoriety of this coast for shipwrecks, the Obelisk, built in 1855, was strategically placed to store rockets which were fired to distressed ships, with a line attached, to facilitate some pretty risky rescue operations. The Obelisk is now teetering at the edge of the weathered limestone cliff. Another key historical event at Robe was the arrival of 16,262 Chinese people, who then walked to the Goldfields in Victoria, thus avoiding the landing tax imposed on foreign nationals in Victoria. 

    The Obelisk perched on the limestone cliff.

    I’d like to visit Robe at a quieter time, if that ever happens. It does look like a bolt hole used by Adelaidians who’ve built beach houses amongst the tea tree and over the sand dunes.

    Mt Gambier.

    Beachport heritage building
    Pier
    Beachport mosaic

    After Robe we travelled to Beachport for morning tea. It was a nice town, again with history obvious in the old stone houses and the timber jetty. After being adequately charged up on coffee and cake, we continued towards Mt Gambier. Our booking for the night was at “Pine Country” caravan park. Why “Pine Country” I thought. It soon became blatantly obvious…there are squillions of acres of pine plantations lining both sides of the highway, with a small National Park tucked in between the pine trees. There were self seeded pine trees growing in the National Park, some had been lopped, but it would seem to be a losing battle to get them all, from what I saw. Jumping ahead a little, we came across an enormous timber mill north of Mt Gambier, with pallets stacked with plastic wrapped timber ready for a Bunnings store near you. The scale was mind boggling.

    Pine trees everywhere.

    When we’d setup our van in Mt Gambier, we were exhausted. It was 40C and there was no-where for us to get relief, like a swimming pool. We chose to have dinner in the air-con at a pub. In the dusk we went to the Umpherston Sinkhole. In the late 1800’s it was turned into a botanical garden for promenading. There was a lake at one time but that’s dry now. It’s amazing sometimes to see what the British aristocrats thought was a good idea for a hole in the ground! The garden was suffering from the dryness, the planting was a bit ordinary.

    Umpherston Sinkhole

    The weather changed, it was back to respectable, bearable. So we chose to drive 50 kms north to Penola in Coonawarra country for a day trip. Penola is yet another quaint historic town, well preserved with signs telling us about its heritage. This was the town Saint Mary MacKillop lived in.  In the 1860’s she created her school for under privileged children. There’s an historic precinct we could walk about, where her school house still exists. The church had a foyer dedicated to her sainthood. We chose to miss her extensive informative history centre in favour of the wineries.

    Church foyer dedicated to Mary MacKillop
    Penola buildings

    So many wineries to choose from! We just followed our noses and ended up at Wynns, a very old, established and impressive cellar door display and tasting room. Vines outside were 150 years old. For lunch we went to Patrick’s of Coonawarra, where you can get 2 glasses of wine and a tasting platter so big we couldn’t finish it, for under $50. It was delicious. 

    150 year old vines at Wynns
    Exquisite table, with Coonawarra inlaid
    Lunch platter at Patrick’s of Coonawarra

    The blue lake was another must see place according to our brochures. It’s just one of four craters and two lakes, caves and sinkholes forming the remarkable topography of the city and close surrounds of Mt Gambier. 

    Blue Lake, Mt Gambier

    It was time to move on, to leave the Limestone Coast of SA and arrive at the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria.

    Portland.

    Portland foreshore mosaic shell

    The drive to Portland via Nelson was again wall-to-wall pine plantations and not much else. 

    Quite rare three storey pub
    Portland Post office

    Portland has a family connection for me. My great grand-father was the postmaster in Portland from 1920 to 1924. The Post Office is a charming 2 storey solid building, converted now into a fine dining restaurant and private living quarters upstairs. I had already done some research about great grandpa many years ago, so my visit to History House didn’t turn up any new information.

    Nick had sussed out the Portland Powerhouse Motor and Car Museum, so I joined him looking at yet more old motors and stuff. Here’s his take on this small museum:

    Portland just happened to have a motor museum which was unexpected. While I went to the museum and Jen went to History House. As I entered the place I saw an old boy sitting behind the counter who didn’t seem to be alive but who did stir after I spoke to him. I said I would like to see the museum and he said “Concession or adult”? “Concession” I said. “Four dollars then” said he. I said “Can I use the card”? “No it don’t work”.  “Ok I will come back later then”. He mumbled something back and I went to find Jen and some cash. She had finished doing her stuff so we went back to the museum together. Exactly the same thing happened, same questions, obviously short term memory loss, I thought that I might have to check his pulse at one stage. 

    The museum was good with lots of old service station illuminated signs, tool boards, tractors etc. The oldest there was a 1914 Swift Cycle Car that is obviously an ancient relative of our Swift pop up van. 

    Jen: I think I’ve done enough car museums to last me forever. So when I heard there was the annual dahlia display at the Botanic Gardens, I knew it was a must see – fresh air, colourful, alive, all the things a museum is not. 

    We watched fishermen on the wharf, ships in dock loading wood chips (pine of course), and found a great seafood outlet. We climbed the war memorial tower for a long view across the town. On our way to Cape Bridgewater and Cape Nelson lighthouse we did a couple of coastal walks. One had a landscape of what was called a Petrified Forest. They are hollow tubes of limestone eroded by millions of years of rainfall, the sand gathers in the pan forming cement which creates hard trunk shaped pipes. Maybe the Pinnacles in WA formed this way?

    Cape Nelson lighthouse
    Petrified forest

    There are three large wind farms around Portland, we happened upon a maintenance man hanging from the end of one of the propellors. Not my idea of fun.

    Portland has the only mainland based Gannet colony in Australia, where up to 7000 breeding pairs sit on this tiny piece of coast until the babies fledge. We saw just a few who still remained at the end of their season. A wire fence kept us quite a distance from the birds, for good reason.

    Gannet colony

    Warrnambool.

    Port Fairy

    Port Fairy is a quaint fishing village on the coast that we stopped at on the way to Warrnambool. It was Saturday morning as we passed through, the town was very busy, the market was on. We saw a lady buying three lobsters at $90 per kg, from the fisherman. One day I’d like to go to the Folk Festival, but judging by the people and shops we saw, it will be a very expensive event.

    We carried on to Warrnambool and found our booked van site was right beside a large family group of Chinese people, we suspect this might have been their first camping experience. We tolerated their loud voices, loud children and wandering through our campsite for most of the day, but by 10.00pm when they sat in a circle of maybe 15 adults chatting noisily, we had to read them the riot act…well in fact we calmly told them time for bed. They never made another sound and quietly did as we asked. I can’t imagine some other campers we’ve met on this journey being so obliging. 

    The bike paths along the foreshore were a good place to begin exploring Warrnambool. Lots of people, dogs, kids on scooters to swerve around! A bit nerve wracking for me, who still feels a little vulnerable after my fall weeks ago.

    Foreshore cafe Warrnambool

    We drove out to Tower Hill Nature Reserve and did a 2km wander looking for wildlife. We came across two Americans who were so thrilled to see a pair of galahs high in a tree, they couldn’t stop talking about the “gaaalaaaahs”. It made me realise how blasé we are about our beautiful birds, especially galahs which we often see in large screeching flocks. They wanted to see a koala, and bingo, there was one in the fork of a tree, snoozing of course. We got back to the carpark and found there were 3 koalas in different trees there, all being adored by International visitors.

    Flagstaff Hill is an extensive museum and reconstructed village from the pioneering days. Inside the museum, there was a lot of information about Loch Ard Gorge and the shipwreck where just 2 people survived. What we didn’t know was that there was a statue of a peacock, about 2 metres tall, made by Minton Majolica in 1875, which was on that shipwreck, obviously well packaged for the journey. It was destined for the International Exposition in Melbourne in 1880. It was salvaged off the beach, but the story of it’s being handed from person to person over many years, being put up for auction, and sitting in an antiques shop, before being purchased by Flagstaff Hill in 1975, is fascinating and can be found on the net.

    The Minton ceramic peacock

    Being suitably impressed by all we saw and did in Warrnambool, we were ready for the Great Ocean Road.

    Over 10 years or so in the 1990’s, we worked taking tours in our 1950’s Jaguars along this road. It was lovely to come back again to see how it was coping with hundreds of tourists daily. Pretty well actually. The weather as is typical on this southern coast of Australia, had become chilly and damp.

    London Bridge fallen down
    Loch Ard Groge
    The Grotto
    The Islands

    Marengo (Apollo Bay)

    Marengo is a couple of kms from Apollo Bay and our camp was nicely tucked behind a hedge out of the wind. It rained heavily through the night, something we’d barely experienced in 11 months away.

    Apollo Bay looks like it will be the next Lorne. Shops are looking trendy, the foreshore is tastefully adorned with sculptures and the once tiny village has now become a town. 

    Wye River.

    This little village which has just a pub and a general store is also attracting wealthy home-owners, or more accurately, landlords. There are a few hundred houses doted around the very steep hillside, overlooking the pristine surf beach at Wye River. A bushfire destroyed one side of the hills and all the houses there, 7 years ago. Now there are massive new steel-on-steel houses replacing them. They are forbidden to even have redgum sleepers to retain their garden beds.

    Wye River beach

    My childhood was spent at Wye River every school holiday until I was a teenager. My grandparents built one of the first houses in Wye..in 1934..it still stands behind the pub, but my cousin’s family inherited it. 

    New steel house overlooking Separation
    View from the family’s house over the pub.

    The pub in town has had several iterations since the old dark timber version I remember. It did burn down at one time. There used to be a row of massive cypress pines along the roadside. They were cut down and now the tables in the pub are cypress pine beauties from those trees. 

    The house above the pub
    Favourite seat for lunch

    Needless to say, to finish our trip here for me is completing a circle of adventures. Memories of the past are very comforting especially if the present isn’t too changed, as with Wye. 

    Next we head into Melbourne for a month of family and friends catching up. I will call this the last post! I have really enjoyed writing this diary for my own record and have loved sharing it with everyone. What I will do with the blogs is unknown at this point.

    Nick: I have loved every minute of this trip and even though you only see me writing about cars and fixing the Land Rover, I have been in the background supporting the editor, checking spelling and grammar, doing the dishes etc. I want to thank Jen immensely for putting up with me in close quarters for 12 months, watching me get bored when there is not a job to do on the car, getting in the way in our tiny van, I think that we are still friends! I have read so many books that I vow to not read any books in the near future except for repair manuals. The car has been magnificent even though we did have some issues but let’s not forget it is 26 years old and with the 33,000 kms on the clock this trip, it now has 433,000kms. It will need a rebuild of the suspension when we get back as it has taken a decent hammering on our way around. Many people have asked ‘What is the best thing about the trip? I have to say it has been spending time with Jen and sharing our experiences together.

    Jen: After reading what Nick has written, just before I publish this, I’d better respond. I am so grateful that he was such an expert with all aspects of fixing our car, our caravan and any other vehicles within cooee that needed fixing. We would have been carted home on a tow truck very early in the trip if he had not been capable of keeping the car progressing forward. I think back to Cape York Peninsula when the alternator cracked it and we drove for a thousand kms with the solar panels strapped to the roof with leads into the motor. Such an achievement!

    I have lovely fond memories of being with our fellow travellers on the road and think of those times as being among the best. Staying with family in WA was also a great way to know a new place and to have heartfelt connections with them.

    Surviving in a tiny caravan compared to the big vans we saw has amazed me. I am over walking 100 metres to the toilet at 6.00am, and also showers shared by the masses.

    My highlights: very hard to narrow down as there are many. The Pilbara is visually stunning especially Hammersly Gorge. Reaching Cape York tip was a great achievement, and going to Thursday Island was an unexpected treat. The WA coast from Cape Leveque down to Perth is amazing, but Francois Peron NP at Shark Bay was pretty special. I need to return there someday to Ningaloo to swim with whale sharks.

    But now I’m ready for home. Nick is desperate for some garage time and I miss my garden and friends. Although the trip has enriched our relationship enormously, we need some space, some time to be creative, and time to pick up the threads of our old life and transform it with our new perspectives.

    So cheers, love and blessings 

    Jen & Nick & Swifty.

  • Adelaide, Fleurieu Peninsula.

    Posted March 24th 2024

    This is certainly a blog for boys and girls who like classic cars. In between car museum reports, there are some lovely discoveries, highlights and delights. 

    Austin A30

    We chose to camp at Gawler due to its proximity to Adelaide. I wonder if we are a bit desensitised to traffic, people etc and prefer the quiet, noise free, light free, clean air of the “country”. On our entire journey, we’ve visited just two capital cities that were new to us. The other city was Darwin. Both of us have driven around Adelaide a few times but never got to the heart centre to see what made it tick. 

    So on our first day in Gawler, we decided to cycle the paths, before breakfast, around some lovely bushland near our van park, near the Para river. Gawler wasn’t too bad, but parched dry like all of SA, only the inner gardens near the town were afforded a bit of water to keep them green. 

    Gawler campsite

    We took a trip to Birdswood Motor Museum, a planned destination we’d made months ago. And what a treat it was, even I was thoroughly impressed. The displays were excellent, it provided a feast of memories of times past, motoring with my parents, with boyfriends and even a mini like my first car.

    My dad changed cars every two years, so the full gamut of Holdens I remember as a kid were there. I used to date fellas in the MG car club, some of those lovely cars were there, and of course being with Nick, there were always old cars he’s either restored or driven or ridden in as a child that he waxed lyrical about. 

    Could be a picture of me, my little brother and dad’s Holden. Maybe mum in the swimsuit.

    Nick: Birdswood is a very nice place to visit and being owned by the State it is well funded and maintained. Holden have donated part of their production line to the museum, so if you look up you can see parts of Holdens being carried along to the next assembly stage, all now static but you get the idea.

    Rows of ordinary cars amongst the extraordinary

    Of particular interest was Tom Kruse’s truck. Tom was the Birdsville mailman for many years running from Maree to Birdsville over very harsh country. In the late 90’s he retrieved his truck from a station outback and helped with the restoration and after one last drive to Birdsville he donated it to the museum where it takes pride of place along with much film footage of his exploits.

    Holden donated or loaned many of their concept cars to the museum as well, cars that you will never see on the road. There is a convertible Commodore called ‘Marilyn’ and a beautiful retro FJ concept made in the factory. There are many ordinary cars in the museum that you don’t see on the road anymore much the same as the Haynes museum in the UK. The Leyland Brothers Series 3 Station Wagon is there that they crossed Oz from west to east in. A very good collection of Motorbikes as well.

    FJ Retro concept car
    Marilyn convertible Commodore
    Delage
    Leyland Bros Landy, with drip trays.
    Advertising back in the day. Is it the basket sidecar or the woman they mean?

    The next day we drove to Adelaide to get a feel for the city. We went out towards the coast and passed through the suburb of Port Adelaide. Knowing the footy team based here, we expected a pretty rough town, but it was beautiful, with a long street of heritage buildings, cafes and boutique stores, reminded us of Port Melbourne. We continued down the coast aiming for Glenelg, only because that’s the town you often hear people talk about. It certainly was worth the visit for a nice walk, lunch and a beer in the pub.

    Heritage houses abutting new towers
    Glenelg foreshore

    Each of Adelaide’s coastal suburbs that we stopped at were charming and trendy and probably expensive to buy into. Later that afternoon we met up with Alistair & Loren and kiddies and Grandad John, a chance for the blokes to talk Land Rovers. We had “stored” Alistair’s 1973 Landy on our nature strip at Lennox for at least 3 years, it was nice to see it garaged and used weekly by Alistair.

    Next day we chose to take the local train to Adelaide for the day. Train travel is a great way to experience the locals as well as the scenery. Passing through Elizabeth which was formerly the home of the Holden factory, there was a sense of going through Geelong, former home of the Ford factory. 

    Once we’d had the mandatory coffee in Rundle Place, we caught the free bus looping around the city. North Adelaide was like driving through Toorak, such amazingly beautiful heritage mansions, streets lined with deciduous trees, cafes heaving with trendy people and dogs.

    Palm House
    Amazonian waterlily Pavilion

    We eventually got off the bus at the Botanic Gardens. We always free-range on a day like this without any plans, but I was wanting to go into a museum or gallery of some kind to get a feel for Adelaide. Nick was a bit reluctant I could tell. Low and behold, there in the middle of the Botanic gardens was the Museum of Economic Botany. Walking in the door was a wow moment for both of us. The building was completed in 1881 and is the last museum of its kind in the world. I thought the large glass Palm House was fabulous, as was the Amazon waterlily Pavilion, but this Botany museum was on another level. I’ll include some pictures which don’t do it justice… you need to smell the musty cavernous room, feel the polished timbers and gaze into the collections to truely understand this place. Eventually the volunteers asked us to leave, they had no replacement volunteers for the afternoon session so had to close.

    Apple collection
    Brazil nuts

    I certainly have a better understanding of Adelaide now, but feel a longer stay is in order sometime in the future.

    Nick felt the need to change the donut under our Landy on our last evening in Gawler. Seems we almost shattered this one, better changed now than on the road in the middle of nowhere.

    Alistair’s Landy on left.
    Mustard one is a Foward Control
    Landy trailer.
    John, Alistair and Nick

    The next day we packed up early and drove south to meet Alistair and John at the All British Car Day, an annual event which attracts hundreds of cars and thousands of spectators. Located in a sports ground at Euchunga with plenty of space to properly display the wonderful vehicles, the day was warm and sunny, a success for all concerned. Alistair took Shorty (his 1973 Landy). It’s hard to pick a favourite from this show, but I did like the Jaguar MK5 drop head like ours, sad that we still don’t have it. 

    Jaguar MK V

    Nick: Fabulous, heaps of cars 200 – 300 on display. There were lines of Minis, Sunbeams, Jaguars, Morris’, Bristol, MG, Land Rover, Vauxhall, Singer, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Trucks and tractors etc etc. Good weather and good organisation. A recommended day if you are in Adelaide.

    SS 100 Replica

    Victor Harbour, Fleurieu Peninsula.

    Ngurunderi the Creator

    Great town, shops, ambience and history. Being part of the extensive Shipwreck coast, the National Trust museum featured many treasures salvaged off wrecks nearby. However, the feature attraction of Victor Harbour is the horse drawn carriage that crosses regularly across the causeway, linking to Granite island where once the ships docked with goods and passengers. 

    Japanese tourists
    Rocks on Granite island.
    Causeway

    The town of Goolwa is about 30km from Victor Harbour along the coast. We drove around to the mouth of the Murray which was being dredged, then found one of the five Barrages –  barriers built to seperate the waters of the salty Coorong and fresh water Lower Lakes, maintaining a supply of fresh water to the lower reaches of the Murray. Whilst walking on the barrage we came across some very lazy Australian fur seals, basking in the sun on the wooden beams under the jetty. 

    The Goolwa barrage
    Australian fur seal
    Seal with his mates

    Strathalbyn. 

    I had heard this was a beautiful town with many heritage buildings, but I didn’t realise just how good it was. The streets lined with deciduous trees had stunning Victorian and Georgian houses, tucked behind large clipped cypress hedges, perfectly restored, with amazing cottage gardens. The main street was adorned with period buildings, mostly in great nick. We cycled around the town, it was quite hot, but that didn’t matter, we loved what we saw. 

    Found a magnificent sculpture of a champion motor cyclist, Ken Blake, who beat the 11 times world champion Giacomo Agostini in the Australian GP. The pictures show you how it is made by the same artist who made the metal horse in Edithburgh.

    Nick was keen to visit Gilberts Motor Museum, so I went to the Antiques Bazaar across the road. It was mind blowing to see the quantity of stuff in there and I came away with a piece of Spode china to go with mum’s set she gave me. 

    Nick: I knew that there was a car museum in Strathalbyn and they had some very nice stuff in there, of most interest were the Rovers. A 1913 12hp model, a 1907 6hp model and a 1916 Rover motorcycle. Also there were four Sunbeams, a Tiger Mk 2 prototype, a Venezia Superleggera and a saloon. There was also an American pick up truck with an Indian Motorcycle in the back both in fabulous condition.  

    Only one night in Strathalbyn, but it was very worthwhile. Heading south again, but that will be on the next blog which will follow quite soon. It’s written, just needs to be assembled into a blog.

    Love and blessings to all

    Jen & Nick

  • Yorke Peninsula, SA

    Posted March 10th 2024

    We asked random people as we travelled, “what should we do on the Yorke Peninsula”. Many said forget it, not much of interest there. Even the tourist information officer in Ceduna seemed vague and only directed us to the National Park right down on the southern tip as a place with great beaches. So the challenge was on. 

    One of the best water tank murals, at Edithburgh.

    I scanned all the glossy brochures and determined a route for us to take. First off we landed at Wallaroo, after a smooth ferry trip across Spencer Gulf from the Eyre peninsula. We hadn’t pre-booked any accommodation, so were prepared to wing it and camp wherever we could. First campground we came across was fully booked and crammed cheek by jowl. The suggestion was to try North beach van park, which luckily had plenty of room for us and our site was a gem. We asked for unpowered on grass. We were located right at the back of the park on thick green grass, right beside the beach with a cafe 50 paces away. It was quite hot so we swam late in the day. You could drive on the beach, it was almost like Cable Beach in Broome without the hordes of cars, camels and people. Sunset was towards the west, what a treat each evening for us to see from our van.

    Wallaroo campsite
    Wallaroo cafe
    Mural at Wallaroo station.
    Sunset on Wallaroo north beach

    Anyway, still scanning the brochures I realised that many towns on Yorke had art installations or murals mostly on water tanks, so we started with a goal to find and photograph as many as possible. Each painting had an interpretive board, helping us to get a deeper understanding of the history of the area. The painting above at Wallaroo station was about 50 metres long, but this picture shows an empty jetty, in memory of the 1917 Spanish flu pandemic and the arrival of Covid 19, while this mural was being painted.

    Probably almost my favourite mural, found in Kadina. She is the May Queen holding a sheath of wheat and a piece of copper. Reference to the Cornish history of the area.

    So from Wallaroo, we did a quick day trip to Kadina, the biggest town on Yorke, where I found a couple of lovely murals. The town was a good service area for the north of the Peninsula.

    Notice the swing included
    Outside a jewellers in Kadina
    Fake jewels stuck on his feathers.

    We took the main road south to Moonta, Maitland and Port Victoria. They were each quite nice towns which could warrant a short stop, but we chose Port Victoria for a coffee and cake stop. Wrong decision. We opted for the boxed cold coffee as there was nothing else on offer. 

    The towns are only about 20km apart. The whole Peninsula is just 40km wide. The landscape was dry, wheat stubble everywhere, poor sheep again nibbling the dirt.

    We drove into Minlaton, where we should have had our coffee, anyway, we found a display about Harry Butler. Not the naturalist who was popular in the ’70’s, but Harry Butler the aviator. He was an army Captain and Chief Flight instructor during WW1. Here in Minlaton was his aircraft, the Red Devil, the sole remaining Bristol MC1 fighter plane out of 130 made in England. In 1919, he flew the first over-water mail run in the southern hemisphere across Gulf St Vincent. Sadly he crashed his plane on a later flight and died aged 34.

    As we drove southwards, the landscape was a little repetitive, so many dun coloured fields. Many pretty farm houses made with sandstone blocks and red brick corners dotted the horizons, but not much greenery. Maybe people were right about “boring” Yorke Peninsula.

    White (pink) lake

    We came in Yorketown, quite a big well populated bustling town. Reputably it is surrounded by pink lakes. We looked and looked but only found white salt lakes, dry and nothing like pink. Since leaving Wallaroo in the morning we had barely travelled 150kms and yet we were close to the south coast. So we decided on Edithburgh for a couple of nights. This was instead of the National Park at the end of the Peninsula, mainly because we had seen lots of great beaches and bush scenery and we didn’t care to camp in the dunes as it was quite hot. 

    Road to water tank Edithburgh
    Striped pygmy squid
    Leafy sea dragon
    Cuttlefish and corals
    Artist: Mike Makatron. Commenced March 2021, took 15 days to complete. Highlights the striking beauty of the underwater view at Edithburgh jetty.

    Edithburgh was perfect for us. A quite historic town on the south east coast almost directly across the Gulf from Adelaide. It once had a bustling port, it’s biggest export being salt from the alleged pink lakes. We took off on the bikes when we first arrived to do a reccy of the town and to my delight I found a sea pool built into the cliff. We spotted a couple of pubs – possibilities for dinner and a great art installation of a horse in the main street.

    Look closely at how he’s made. Very clever craftsmanship.

    So straight away, seeing as it was 34C, I headed to the pool. A group of school boys were there so I swam in the small pool until they left. Then pure heaven. Being in the sea, over rocks and corals and seaweeds with a shark net around the edge and I was in my element. Very hard to get out, but Nick doesn’t do cold water, (which it wasn’t), so he sat in the shade for the hours that I swam and chatted to a local. 

    Public sea water pool
    Sea water pool
    Edithburgh pub
    Squid caught on the jetty
    Beautiful house in town
    Wind farm powering the town.

    After Edithburgh, the Vincent Highway took us up the east coast. The cliffs along this coast are fairly low and the shore seems to have been eroded. Seaweed mountains line the beaches and the smell knocks you over. Tiny cheap shacks huddle together on the edge in these remote fishing towns.

    Stansbury murals

    At Stansbury, quite a big town, we got coffee and I saw and photographed some lovely murals. At Port Vincent I bought some local green prawns from the fisherman….and it was Sunday! How good was that! We kept a lookout for more art and were not disappointed. Some artists were very good, others not quite, but each mural brightened up some pretty dull walls.

    Artist Jasmine Crisp
    Port Vincent
    Famous for Blue Swimmer crabs

    We decided to stop at Ardrossan for the night. We had no booking but snagged a grassy spot without any noisy neighbours for 3 nights. Ardrossan is quite a substantial port where they still ship out dolomite. There’s a long jetty where people throw nets out to catch the blue swimmer crabs or the squid, like we saw at Edithburgh. 

    The port and the cliffs
    Ardrossan jetty
    Art everywhere.

    The crash

    There are some lovely bike paths along the foreshore cliffs. We headed off towards the north one morning, I’m quite confident now on my E bike, probably too confident. I crashed as I squeezed between 2 bollards, down onto the gravel knee first. The bike ended on top of me, wedged between the bollards. I instantly knew where the main damage to my body was…the end of the handlebar went straight into my boob. I had my mobile in my pocket, hence a large bruise on my thigh. Two weeks after that day, the scabs are better but the bruises persist. It took a couple of days of aches to realise I had more sore points than I thought, but all’s well now and I’m back on the bike.

    Nick considering replacing the Landy with a stump jump plough.
    Inside the Nat Trust Museum

    There’s a history connected to the stump jump plough and Ardrossan. The National Trust museum in town is excellent with a great variety of memorabilia. A full history of Clarence Smith and his pioneering work to develop the stump jump fills the museum. It’s staggering to think that all the thousands of acres of wheat paddocks were once covered in Mallee scrub that had to be cleared. The physicality of such a feat on such a large scale  is reaping benefits today with massive wheat harvests but at the cost to the environment that could never be measured.

    So the verdict about Yorke Peninsula…. definitely was worthwhile, very different from Eyre, glad we went there.

    The weather was hotting up. 37C on the day we ventured across to Clare, north of Adelaide, for our next stop. The car did well, we survived. We drove along some small dusty backroads, still seeing acres of wheat stubble, until we reached the hills of the Clare valley. Suddenly, rising up off the flat plains, everything just compacted into small quaint villages, narrow roads lined with grape vines, very charming stone cottages and enormous gum trees. Such an instant contrast to where we’d been. The pool was fabulous at the caravan park, shaded by huge gums, surrounded by lush lawns. 

    As you do in Clare, we visited wineries, until we got to realise it was an expensive luxury and the car drawers were filling up fast. At Sussex Squire winery, the lady said they’d had no rain since late January and relied on tank water. The vines weren’t withering and the harvest was coming in, but the aridity seemed heartbreaking, even if the grapes were going to produce a good vintage.

    Sevenhills Winery
    Barrel room cellar

    Next we considered a history stop and chose to visit the oldest winery in Clare, Sevenhills, founded in 1851 by a Jesuit priest and named in honour of the seven hills of Rome. The historic information on display was terrific. It reminded me of the book club novel we did called Devotion by Hannah Kent, which featured the pioneering Lutherans.

    There was a 3km walking trail around Sevenhills property, which would have been informative if you could manage the hot dusty weather. But we did look through St Aloysius’ Church and the crypt, which had 42 Jesuits entombed. Apparently no other parish church in Australia has a crypt. The shaded lawns under huge plane trees, cypress’ and oaks is a welcome venue for outdoor and theatre events for the Clare community.

    St Aloysius Church
    The crypt
    Lawn area

    The next planned stopover was at Gawler. We wanted access to Adelaide but not to be too close to busy streets. It was a short distance from Clare. We stopped on the way at Martindale Hall, a remnant of the early squattocracy of the region.

    Built in 1879, costing 30,000 pounds, it’s opulence must have stunned the average battlers at the time. Edmund Bowman Jnr brought 50 craftsman from England and 10 carpenters from Victoria to build it. In 1965 the Hall with 45 acres was handed over to the SA Government. The photos might give you an idea of it’s magnificence. The huge billiard table was placed in the library before the north wall was completed. It was another worthwhile stop to see how the other half lived, but still they were not immune to hardships like drought and the depression, even in their lavish Georgian fortress.

    Entrance hall
    One of 7 bedrooms
    Billiard table
    Ceiling detail

    I’ll end here, even though I am writing this today from Robe. We’ve had some fun since Clare, lots of car pictures coming soon, and Nick’s write-up about them. We begin what feels like the homeward journey as we traverse the south coast of SA and Vic. There’s probably one more blog in me, maybe two!! In 8 weeks we’ll be back in Lennox. Where’s the year gone?

    Lotsa love to all

    Jen & Nick xxx

  • Eyre Peninsula,S.A

    The hunt for seafood. Posted March 3, 2024

    Pink Lake MacDonnell
    Cactus beach

    This blog will begin at Cactus Beach, SA. We’d often heard Cleon & Ben rave about their stay there when they circumnavigated Australia years ago. Cactus is just south of Penong, the windmill town. There’s a pink lake – Lake Macdonnell – along the way to Cactus, that did have a pink hue, unlike some others we’ve been to recently. Cactus was discovered in the 60’s by surfers, and offers three great breaks. Our Ballina family were chuffed when we let them know we’d made it there.

    We motored along to Ceduna, a town best known for a fuel and supplies stop once you’ve crossed either way over the Nullarbor. The unfortunate presence of desperate people wandering the main street didn’t enhance Ceduna for us. Loaded up with our supplies, we headed off to Streaky Bay, about an hour south down the west coast of the Eyre, for 3 nights. There was very little to see along the Flinders Hwy except extremely dry paddocks, sheep huddled together for shade in a treeless landscape and lots of caravaners heading west.

    Streaky Bay

    Lovely town. But we are finding that arriving on Saturday afternoon, most places are closed, and on Sunday also. We had decided to be pescatarians for the entire Eyre Peninsula, seeing as it has a reputation as a seafood haven. I wanted to shop from seafood co-ops for fresh locally caught fish, but it was closed until Monday. Even the supermarket only had the usual packets of seafood from who-knows-where! So we went to the pub for nice local whiting fish and chips. Next night, I resorted to a tin of salmon with pasta – very nice but not local. On Monday, we bought local whiting from the co-op, was a bit underwhelming, missing out on the freshness I expected, probably frozen for too long.

    There was a good bike track from our caravan park around the bay to the boat launching ramp, which we did each morning. We saw a cheeky sea lion poke his head up near the ramp. The bird life along the shore line was ever present and the squeaky pink and greys boisterously squawked in the caravan park. It was very hot here in Streaky, but the bay in front of our van was so shallow for so far out that swimming was not an option.

    There are 2 driving loops around the ocean cliffs from Streaky Bay, the Westall Loop and the Cape Bauer Loop. The first stop on the Westall loop, Smooth pools, had beautiful lichen covered rocks and deep pools with all sorts of sea life.

    The views from the cliff tops of the loop, with the pounding waves and turquoise sea were spectacular. Matthew Flinders first sighted these cliffs in 1802 from HMS Investigator. He named Point Westall after the landscape painter on board his ship.

    Back beach Steaky Bay. The most beautiful beach I didn’t swim in, still regret that.

    The Cape Bauer loop further emphasised how dramatic the coastline is here on Eyre Peninsula.

    We packed up and headed south along the west coast, stopping at a wonderful natural feature called Murphy’s Haystacks. From a distance it looked like a henge common to the UK, but in fact they are Inselbergs, 15 million years old at least. They are formed by the uneven weathering of the crystalline rock, called pink Hilbata Granite, which forms pillar or boulder shapes. It felt like Picnic at Hanging Rock walking through the narrow entrance to who knew where? Such a worthwhile stop.

    We chose to spend a night at Elliston next, a very small coastal village with a pleasant caravan park tucked behind the dunes. Here, there was another loop drive around the coast, but this one featured art installations. Quirky describes some of them, not very good describes others. One was particularly good, mainly due to it’s placement and it’s simplicity. Can you guess our favourite?

    We scanned the Elliston supermarket fridges for fresh seafood, but alas nothing was to be found. We settled for smoked salmon and cream cheese in some very fresh bread rolls, bought from a roadside bakery that randomly popped up on our journey. A man and his wife bake in a wood fired oven and have a small stall with loaves and rolls hot from the oven available for passers-by. What a treat.

    From Elliston, Coffin Bay further south was the next destination. Oyster HQ, guaranteed fresh oysters, at least. But again, no seafood outlet except for oysters. We talked to the manager of IGA about our sea food search and she just shrugged her shoulders as if saying, here you have a boat and catch your own, we don’t cater to non-fishermen.

    Oyster HQ, so good.

    One afternoon, we took a lovely boat tour with Experience Coffin Bay oyster tours, fabulous commentary, local wines and gins could be purchased to accompany our 6 freshly shucked oysters. Heavenly.

    Nick heads off in his kayak
    Oyster farm on the tour

    Coffin Bay National Park sits off the western tip of the Peninsula (see the map), so we decided to do a day trip there. Packed our lunch, got a SA park pass and set off.  Almonta beach had a sealed road to the great carpark where we had morning tea and saw the amazing waves going in 2 directions.

    Almonta morning tea stop
    Waves breaking in 2 directions at Almonta Beach

    I know Nick loves 4WD and putting the Landy through its paces, but on this day he certainly tested my tolerance limit as a passenger. Coffin Bay National Park and some of it’s bays like Golden Islands, are stunning and amazing. But at Nick’s insistence, we were to drive along the Peninsula towards Point Sir Isaac, reported to be a 6 hour round trip. The warning bells should have sounded in my head by now! So off we set, tyres deflated with rescue gear on board. For an hour and a half, I endured a head crunching, neck jerking, spine crushing ride over a rocky, potholed, sometimes slippery sandy road. I have travelled lots of 4WD tracks with Nick. I’d compare this to a combination of Moreton Island inland track with its corrugation jumps in the sand, Mt Elizabeth Station boulders/rocks, and Cape Francois Peron for its deep sand. We met a couple of blokes in cars coming back from the coast, one said it was certainly worth the effort to go on to Seven Mile beach to the whale skull and beyond. So we pressed on and on and on. Eventually we reached the beach and found the whale skull, which was impressive. I had a killer headache, until we stopped driving. The beach was pristine and water fairly warm, but I wasn’t in the mood for a swim. After lunch we headed back to camp, another hour and a half on the dreadful track. When we got to the bitumen I realised I’d been gritting my teeth hard, they were aching. Probably unconsciously I was trying to avoid sending my teeth through my tongue. Back at camp I needed to re-align my vertebrae and crunch my neck bones back into place. A massage of the muscles in my neck and back and a welcome hot shower and g&t were wonderful. I’m a little bit over this type of adventure.

    Whale jaw bone
    Seven Mile Beach

    I also think it wasn’t fair on the car – remains to be seen if the donut cracks the shits again. Next time a trip like this looms, I’ll carefully weigh up the pluses before I join the driver!

    On our last afternoon at Coffin Bay, I saw Nick under the car, a position he loves. The part at the side has travelled from Lennox.

    Nick: “I found a very small coolant leak from the small hose that you see lying on the ground coming off the big bit on the left. A locating bracket had chafed a very small hole in the pipe in Eucla but it was impossible to buy green coolant there so we pushed on with a small piece of raw rubber held on with two cable ties which actually stopped the leak, to my surprise, all the way to Coffin Bay where I spotted some coolant in the servo and decided to change the old hose out. So it was worth bringing the big cardboard box with all the rubber spares after all.”

    From Coffin Bay it was a very short hop to Port Lincoln, the fishing capital of the Southern Hemisphere so they say. We loved this town. Arrived on Saturday afternoon for 2 nights, bad planning once again! Chose to eat out at a fancy delightful Italian restaurant for prawns and mussels, overlooking the lovely bay on the Saturday night. The fresh seafood outlets again were all closed on the weekend. 

    Axel Stenross Museum

    We visited a unique little museum, Axel Stenross Maritime Museum, on Port Lincoln’s foreshore. It was originally the boat building shed and residence of 2 Finnish immigrants named Axel and Frank. Over 40 years they built wooden boats, as per the list above. After they died, the Port Lincoln Council and townsfolk raised the capital to purchase the site for posterity, and volunteers now run the museum. Great history, so much old stuff, it was a bit like a seafarers version of Margaret Ollie’s house. It looked like the men just up and died and nothing has changed. The museum had a great collection of maritime memorabilia, including outboard motors, which I remembered from fishing with my dad on Port Phillip Bay.

    Campsite at Port Lincoln overlooking Boston Bay

    Our campsite at Port Lincoln was probably one of the best we’ve had on the trip so far. We were perched on the grassy hill overlooking Boston Bay, about a 180 degree view of water. Yachts with colourful spinnakers raced in our view, fishing trawlers motored past, small boats too, it was like Nick’s boating heaven. He sat for hours, thoroughly contented in a camp chair with the binoculars, giving a running commentary, until the boats all went in for the night. 

    Houses on the canal
    Prawn boats

    Next day we bicycled to the boat harbour and that was another huge treat. Very large fishing fleet moored in the canals, people with boats of all sorts rigging their sails, a dragon boat with pink clad ladies. Many old houses have sea views, are built in pale sandstone and reflect a long history of a profitable township. There is a lot of wealth around the harbour, big houses, big boats, but no seafood outlets open on the weekend.

    Final destination on the Eyre Peninsula was Cowell, another small town with a fishing (mostly oysters) industry. We wedged into a very ordinary campsite, surrounded by campers with boats, mainly tinnies. We discovered a local place to buy oysters direct from the fishermen – at $10 per dozen, caught that morning, what a joy. Sitting quietly with a beer at our campsite, the neighbour gave us a bag of crabs he’d just steamed. Dinner well and truely sorted on the last day of being pescatarians. 

    Post office building 1908 compared to today.
    Some nice old Cowell buildings
    Cowell silo art
    Tumby Bay art
    Tumby bay
    Art work on abandoned Tumby Bay pavilion

    The next morning we caught the ferry across to the Yorke Peninsula to see what adventures awaited us there. 

    Ferry crossing over Spencer Gulf from Cowell (Lucky Bay) to Wallaroo.

    We are moving along now and are heading along the south coast of SA. So I had better write up the Yorke Peninsula, Clare and Adelaide for the next blog.

    Love to all

    Jen & Nick xxx

  • 2024. WA to SA

    Albany, Bremer Bay, Esperance, Nullarbor. Arriving in South Australia.

    Posted February 20th 2024

    The last post was sent out on Nov 29th 2023. Almost three months later, I’m now ready to get going again with blogs. I’ve had this one prepared for a while, but haven’t had good wifi to allow me to publish.

    If you read these blogs because of the car updates and breakdowns, stop now! Nothing untoward has happened with the Landy – it’s performing perfectly. No leaky undercarriage, no broken donuts, zip.

    I’ll start with a recap of some memorable moments over our 3 months in Albany.

    Firstly, it was quite cool most of the time we were there, cooler than the locals remember a summer being. I had anticipated many swims in lovely Middleton beach or one of the other glorious nearby coves. The locals were swimming, but I’m just too accustomed to our warmer waters at home. A couple of times I braved the cold water, which I will say was crystal clear and very bracing, but there was no way Nick would join me.

    Two People’s Bay. My solo swim.
    Goode Beach, the best.
    Little Beach, idyllic.

    We ate out quite often and Little Italy became our favourite along with the upmarket Garrison restaurant. We braved a cool windy evening beachside to listen to live music, along with a hundred other hardy locals. However, seeing the Shantymen singing in a crowded pub was a far more comfortable and entertaining outing. They sang the types of shanties reminiscent of the seafaring pioneers of Albany, especially the Irish ones.

    Whale skeleton the big one is a Pygmy Blue Whale
    Best shell collection I’ve ever seen.

    We went to the Anzac Memorial Museum (spectacular), the Whaling Station museum (excellent), the Albany historic museum (very interesting), the Prison (a bit challenging); giving us a combined overview of Albany’s past. Always I saw the struggle for First Nations people. The ocean environment was pillaged by the whalers, there’s a strong history showing Albany as the launching ground for soldiers in WW1; and the township built by the early settlers, looked like olde England. The arrival of the railway to service the port cut the township off from the harbour, making the rattle of trains and heavy trucks a constant background noise, to this day. The large port complex with ships loading grain and wood chips, works day and night. Even the odd cruise ship stopped by sometimes.

    One of my best memories of Albany was the people we met, the neighbours, the relatives of our relatives, friends from Perth, friends of friends. We enjoyed evenings over dinner, games in the parlour, movie outings, breakfasts out and so much more. People have stories, memories, and gardens they shared with us, while they love hearing about our travels. For them, someday we will return.

    Forward Control

    Nick found a few Land Rover buddies, his nose is always close to the ground. One bloke pictured above had a collection of 14, yes 14! in his garages and garden (scrub actually). Another local who was once the radio voice of Albany, took Nick off to view a Series 3 and another local enthusiast’s car….they’re everywhere to be found!

    My Christmas wreath
    WA Christmas Bush

    Over Christmas and New Year the house renovations took a break. The boys had made quite a lot of progress on the derelict back end of the house, and by the time we left, the bathroom was being fitted out, the floor tiled.  I know we both had lasting memories of our restoration effort in Lennox 10 years ago…hence we were grateful we could drive away at the end of our stay because we know just how much work still is ahead of them.

    We kayaked up the Kalgan river once and Nick kayaked on Oyster Bay with George before Christmas, but the wind blew so strongly so often that it was hard to find even 2 good days over 3 months. We bicycled once or twice a week, along a lovely trail beside the sea, 11km to Emu Point for a coffee.

    Our wonderful bike path through the bush overlooking King George Sound.

    Earlier on our trip we questioned why we bought the bikes especially along the dirt roads of the Kimberley, but here they were perfect. And when we reach little townships on our journey east, I know we’ll ride them often.

    Middleton beach coffee stop, with kids pirate ship playground.
    Emu beach coffee stop
    Amazing cliff top walk under Albany’s wind powered giants.

    Thank you so much to Biddy and Nick for letting us stay to experience so many different aspects of Albany. We wish you best of luck while renovating the old “lady” and I look forward to enjoying a wallow in your green clawfoot bath one day. The location and the house will serve you well into the future.

    The House

    The wildflowers mostly faded away, but the red flowering gums over December and January were wonderful replacements. The bushland lost its sparkle when the unique little flowers were gone.

    I joined the Albany Summer school programme for a week of watercolour painting. Thoroughly enjoyed it and now need to follow through with more practise. 

    So the January long weekend was our most enjoyable finale with Charlie and Lynda at Narrogin. We had a birthday with cake and lots of bubbles for Charlie and then more of both for me 3 days later. We ate and drank and watched tennis and cricket through the dreadful heat wave enveloping WA. The countryside was parched dry, the wheat stubble remained, the sheep nibbled it. Summer in the wheatbelt is harsh, families leave for the coast, Narrogin was almost deserted. Thank you for such lovely long conversations, unbridled laughter, great meals together and the endless love.

    Bremer Bay

    Bremer Bay

    First stop after finally leaving Albany was Bremer Bay, a 2 hour drive on a 40C day, but the car did well despite the heat and its heavy load. The beaches there are amazing, surf beaches as well as the bay. The water was so refreshing, clear and gorgeous, the finest white sand was squeaky, and the sky a dark blue. Idyllic. The reason for coming here was to tour with Cape Naturalist Charters to see the killer whales or orcas at the Bremer Canyon, 25 nautical miles off the coast at the Continental shelf. It was a cloudy day when we set off, after two scorchers. The crew said it was better to have cloud so we could sit on deck all day, except Nick forgot the suncream for an hour or so and looked like a beetroot that night. He took plenty of sea sickness pills and managed to only feel queazy on the trip home. There was a considerable swell which made a few people seasick but the crew said it was the best you’d ever get…it was a 1 metre swell, he said they get 3 metres….that would make it hard to stand up.

    Male and female

    Anyway, the amazing Orcas were on show, as soon as we got to the “hotspot”. Some of my photos were ok, but couldn’t really convey just how marvellous it was being out there. I loved every minute of the 7 hours on the boat. To have a wonderful Albatross gliding around the boat many times blew me away.

    Albatross. Magnificent.

    Next we moved on to Hopetoun, 200kms further east. A very small town. We had cycled to the pub for a beer, then looked out the window and OMG, it was raining! Didn’t see that coming. Raced back to camp, wet clothes and smudged glasses, to shut the van windows. But alas the storm passed quickly. Barely settled the dust. The cooler temperatures were welcome for a good night’s sleep.

    Found some great Banksias near Hopetoun, in Fitzgerald Nature Reserve, part of the vast Biosphere Park. Because of the danger of visitors spreading the deadly Phytophera disease through the trees in the park, we didn’t venture down the dirt tracks. Around Ravensthorpe there was a Farmgate sculpture trail. Farmers love welding up any junk in their shed to make an eye catching creation at their front gate.

    Silo art

    Next day, another 200kms to Esperance, our last beach destination in WA. Esperance is a big town like Albany with a port, a lot of history and Bunnings. We parked up for 3 nights and explored the coast mainly, towards the west first, then the east. The small coves with whiter than white sands, enticing clear blue sea and gigantic orange algae boulders were so picturesque. I thought about Freycinet in Tassie, but here we saw bay after bay all as good as Freycinet, and warm enough for a swim. 

    Esperance
    Blue Haven Beach
    Twilight Beach, Esperance WA

    We drove 22km along the beach to Cape Le Grande NP. I tried booking us a campsite there back in November but failed. The crammed full campground at Lucky Bay had a wonderful outlook, all the vans were tucked behind the bush. It’s a pity we couldn’t spend time there. On the day we visited, it was warm enough to swim and Hellfire Bay was my choice, after we’d perused them all. Absolutely icy cold, the coldest swim I’ve ever had, straight from Antarctica. I’ll never forget the brilliance of the water, and the sense of accomplishment and exhilaration I felt. Nick watched on, too cold for this Brit! It’s hard to photograph the feeling you get in such pristine nature, and hard to explain it in words. Those who’ve been here know what I mean.

    Hellfire Bay
    Hellfire Bay

    We departed before 7.00am from Esperance. WA doesn’t have daylight saving. We tended to wake every day with the sun at 5.30 am. Our WA family loved sleeping in until 7.00, except Charlie. I love daylight saving!!! Once we were on the Nullarbor, the time will change back 2 1/2 hrs when we enter SA, sanity will return. 

    The 200km drive from Esperance to Norseman was uneventful except for seeing the beautiful salmon gums at the small town called Salmon Gums. The trunks of the gums are a deep salmon colour, almost red/orange. Very eye catching. Norseman was a sleepy town, probably past its heyday, when prospecting was still profitable, and before corporate mining companies over-rode the town by making their mine sites mini self-contained towns.  

    We still try to buy a coffee and cake from the small towns, it’s the least we can do to prop up their business. But they need to sell a lot of coffees to stay afloat I’m sure.

    At the end of this day, we’d driven 580kms across open country, flourishing with low level plants hardy enough for the dry conditions. Caiguna is no more than a roadhouse with a dusty campground out the back. It suited us for one night.

    Photo out the car window, not a very good example!

    Caiguna to Eucla, a journey of 300kms was easy enough. The car is not missing a beat…hope I haven’t put the mozz on it. We don’t travel fast, all the b-triples pass us, we barely travel faster than 90km/ph, and we never pass anyone. The most noticeable feature of this part of the Nullarbor is the Casuarina trees (above). I was fascinated by their form, just like umbrellas, with most of the leaves on the top. The tree has an open growth pattern below, like a vase shape. I was reminded of the trees I’ve seen photos of in the African Serengeti …. I am not sure if they are related. 

    Whale Sanctuary
    Nullarbor
    The Bight in all its magnificence.

    A stop at Eucla for the night was pleasant, even had hot showers for $1. The old Telegraph station was almost buried completely by sand. What hardy souls must have lived there, exposed to winds straight off the Southern Ocean. 

    Old Telegraph Station

    John Eyre walked across this piece of Oz in 1840, one wonders how or why he did it! Stupid man.

    I’ll finish off with the windmills of Penong, a large collection of working machines trying to keep the town fertile. This was our last town across the Nullarbor for a pitstop.

    I’ve already written some of the next blog about the Eyre Peninsula, so hopefully the next blog will be following this one soon. Love and best wishes to all of you who make it to the end of this. Not having the spectacular scenery like in the Pilbara makes for a different focus to the blog, I hope you’re still liking travelling with us.

    Jen & Nick xx