16 March - We're Home!

Left Ballarat this morning just before 9 am for our final drive home. We arrived just after 1 pm. We really enjoyed our holiday - some great sights, some good movies and some fantastic meals along the way. It was interesting to see how many international visitors are touring our country in various types of campers. Also, still plenty of 'grey nomads' who seem to be on the road on a semi-permanent basis.
Another great trip and it's good to be home too.

14 March - On the way home

Left Adelaide at 7:45 to start the trip towards home. Unfortunately this meant that we spent the first hour in peak hour traffic to get out of the city. Had a bit of trouble with the thermostat in the car during the long trek up the Adelaide Hills. The temperature started to rise and I had to pull over. A quick check under the bonnet indicated sufficient coolant and no obvious problems. By the time I got back in the car the temperature had returned to normal. Most likely cause is a sticky thermostat - watched the temperature closely for a while but all was OK. Had lunch at one of our favourite places - Henry and Rose Cafe in Keith SA. We were able to park the rig right outside the front door which is handy and unusual. In the afternoon we continued on to Ballarat  which we reached just before 6pm. We're booked in at the Goldfields Big4 Caravan Park for a couple of nights which means that we will be arriving in Traralgon on Friday. The weather is finally changing but after the long stretch of great weather we experienced we can't complain.

13 March - Tour of the Adelaide Hills

Today was our last day in Adelaide and we decided to tour the Adelaide Hills and visit some of the historic towns and villages. Although it is very dry here the scenery is still interesting and many of the towns in the hills have maintained their old historic buildings. There are also great cafés everywhere and our first stop was one in Mt Barker for coffee and the best apple crumble I've ever tasted. From here we continued on through Lobethal and Birdwood and lots of little towns in between. We also visited a working chocolate factory called Melba's. The above picture is of the Birdwood Mill which is now part of the complex which houses the National Car Museum. I've visited it on previous occasions so this time we drove on to Adelaide and a bit of shopping before returning to the caravan. After dinner (one of Rosa's fantastic curries) we packed up the awning and all the outside stuff as we are departing Adelaide in the morning and heading back towards Victoria along the Western Highway.

12 March - Adelaide

Had a relatively quiet day today. We continued our movie binge with a 1:30 screening of "The Descendants". Seeing our Hawaii holiday was screwed up this was the next best thing. Really enjoyed this movie - I notice a lot of write-ups describe it as a warm family comedy. It definitely is not but very enjoyable just the same. After our usual afternoon of relaxing and reading we looked up the location of a good Indian restaurant in the neighbourhood and found one called Dehli Spice. This was definitely a find - the food was outstanding (as was the Kingfisher beer) and the average cost of a main course only $10.00 - a great meal.

11 March - Adelaide and Glenelg

Caught a 10:30 screening of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" this morning while Rosa caught up on a bit of shopping. I enjoyed it a lot but I think it helps a lot if you've read the book. After that we drove to Glenelg  which is Adelaide's equivalent to St Kilda in Melbourne. It has a great atmosphere, the beach, boats, interesting shops and lots of great places to eat. Spent the afternoon sitting in the sun and reading - very relaxing. After tonight we have two more nights here before we start heading in the direction of home.

10 March - Adelaide

Yesterday our park started filling up with family groups and it is now nearly full. I think it must be a long weekend in SA as well. Drove into the city this morning to visit the Adelaide Central Market. It was absolutely amazing. I've always enjoyed shopping at the Vic Market but the Adelaide market is almost overwhelming in terms of the variety and quality of food available. Had lunch there and bought some nice eye fillet steak and gourmet sausages there. BBQ tonight.

9 March - Victor Harbour and Cape Jervis

At the risk of sounding monotonous, today was another perfect 27 degree day. After a leisurely breakfast we decided to drive down the Fleurieu Peninsula. We had lunch at a German cafe in Victor Harbour. Victor Harbour has boomed since we were last here in 2009. New buildings, mainly holiday houses and resorts have gone up all over the place. SA is technically in recession so I don't know where the money is coming from. After a walk around town we then continued on to Cape Jervis which is a little town with a terminal for the Sealink ferry to Kangaroo Island. Because the ferry can only be accessed from the rear all larger vehicles such as semi-trailers and caravans have to reverse on to the vessel. This proved quite interesting to watch which we did till sailing time. The drive back to our home away from home followed the West side of the peninsula which provided some spectacular views. Then off to the pictures again! This time to see Iron Lady which we both enjoyed a lot. We're enjoying our stay here so much we've extended our stay by three days which means we start our return trip on Wednesday. This means we'll abandon our plan to visit Mildura.

8 March - Adelaide

Woke up to another sunny day today and decided to go into the city for a look around Rundle Mall. After a very nice lunch in the Regent Arcade we split up to check out the goodies. On a visit to Adelaide a few years ago Mark came across an artist called Andy Salvanos playing the Chapman Stick (a 10 string guitar which is played by tapping the strings) and brought me back one of Andy's CD's which I enjoyed a lot. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I came across Andy playing in the mall again. I was able to have a bit of a chat with him and bought another CD.

Andy is a great exponent of this incredible instrument and there are a number of YouTube videos of him including this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWUHr_BURdk

Back to the caravan in the afternoon for some relaxing and gin and tonics before heading of to Westfield to see a movie called Hugo - one of the best I've ever seen.

7 March - Adelaide and Hahndorf

The brilliant weather continues (and is expected to do so for at least another week). Today we visited Hahndorf and had our usual fix at the German restaurant - smoked sausage and potato salad with a Bavarian draft beer - yes even Rosa had a beer. Our last visit here was in 2009 and we were both surprised to see how many new businesses had opened. Sadly one of our favourite steak restaurants has gone and is now an Indian eatery. After a wandering around Hahndorf for a while we checked out the local Westfield shopping centre to discover it has a 22 theatre cinema megaplex. Another pleasant surprise was that seniors tickets were $8 so we immediately bought two to a late viewing of the Daniel Craig version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We have of course seen all three of the Swedish films, but we enjoyed this one too. Got home around midnight and hit the sack. There are another bunch of films we want to see playing here and we should be able to catch them all.

6 March - Adelaide

We left Robe this morning after a terrific breakfast at the Wild Mulberry - simply outstanding.
Our journey took us through the Coorong to Tailem Bend and then into Adelaide. About a 4 hour drive - we didn't even stop for a coffee or lunch, the breakfast at Robe ensured we didn't need to eat again till this evening. We're currently at the Marion Holiday Park. This was one of our favourite caravan parks some 25 years ago and we were delighted to see that it is still fantastic today. As well as terrific level van sites it features an indoor heated pool and indoor tennis center. It is simply outstanding and I would recommend it to anyone who want to stay within 12 km of Adelaide's CBD. We are booked in for 5 nights so far, and the weather bureau is promising at least 7 days of 28 deg and clear skies.

5 March - Robe SA

Spent a very relaxing day in Robe today seeing the sights and sampling the local cuisine. The coast line is limestone and quite rugged. The obelisk shown here was built in the late 19th century as a navigation aid for shipping. Robe was quite an important port. Had lunch at a cafe called the Wild Mulberry - absolutely outstanding food and coffee, and the pizzeria in the main street was the choice for dinner. Fabulous pasta accompanied by a great wine - Flints Coonawarra Sauvignon. Also browsed a few shops and art galleries. Tomorrow we continue on to Adelaide where we are booked in for 5 nights at the Marion Holiday Village. We spent a lot of time in this park many years ago as a family. It was great then and I expect it has changed a lot in the last 25 years.

4 March - Robe SA

We left Traralgon yesterday at 9:45 - grey skies and occasional rain. Our general plan is to travel to Adelaide along the coast and from there to Mildura and home via central Victoria. Our day to day movements will be largely dictated by the weather. We travelled along the Great Ocean Road and surprisingly the overcast weather and occasional rain added a dramatic beauty to a scene which we've normally viewed in brilliant sunshine. We stopped briefly at the Twelve Apostles viewing area before continuing on to Warnambool where we had hoped to spend the night. To our surprise the Big4 park there was booked out and so we continued and had our overnight stop in Port Fairy. The rain reduced to a drizzle overnight and by this morning it had stopped. We left Port Fairy at 09:30 after enjoying the complimentary pancake breakfast at the caravan park. Continuing our trek along the coast we arrived at Robe in South Australia at 13:30 and found a terrific caravan park (Lakeside) where we will spend the next couple of days. This afternoon the skies had cleared and now the sun is shining.