Across the boarder we went and headed up the coast. As we hit most of the towns we noticed that each area had it's very own "attraction' sign, a great way to make sure you don't miss those larger than average attractions! The scenery started much the same with lots of farming land and lovely canola fields in flower. With a couple short stops on the way our most interesting was at Kingston. The boys just love having there photo taken with all the enormous icons including this huge Lobster. Just 19km's on we arrived at "The Granites" campsite on the beach, we found that they'd asphalted the area (Camps 5 said it was gravel). With 8 other caravans, the views were fantastic, the beach was so long there was no visible end in either direction, and right out the front were 4 massive granite boulders set in the sand amongst the surf, it was as if aliens had dropped them from space! We spent the night listening to the surf until around 3am the drizzle set in.
We awoke to find it still drizzling but that didn't stop us from celebrating Chris' Birthday .. yes another year has gone by and he is 41! Opps should we have documented that? We departed from the Granites and headed for the Adelaide Hills and Mt Barker. It is located only 5 minutes away from an historic town called Hahndorf. History has it this town was first settled in 1839 when Prussian Lutheran families arrived. The name "Hahndorf" was derived from Captain Dirk Hahn of the ship named 'Zebra', which arrived in Adelaide in 1838 with a party of immigrants from the Eastern Provinces of Prussia. Captain Hahn stayed on to see the new arrivals were settled after surviving a horrendous journey by sea. He eventually selected an area near Mt Barker which his passengers named after him in recognition of his efforts.
Along the way we saw a number of sites including 'Old Tailem Town' The Pioneer Village of South Australia, we stopped at the entrance and had an explore at all the cars and trains, but did not end up going in because it was cold and rainy and we thought the boys would not enjoy the 2 1/2 hour walk around. It will have to be one for next time as it looked great.
We set up at our Caravan Park in Mt Barker and headed out to explore Hahndorf to buy some souvenirs including a visit to the German Pantry where we found the best German salami. Then out for dinner at an old German Hotel - The Hahndorf Inn. Perfect spot for any family with a kids play area, the food was great and the beer was better! The boys enjoyed desert, we all chose something different, however we weren't expecting the huge ice cream Sundae's and the boys just couldn't fit them in....can't believe the boys actually left ice cream and of course Chris had to have the 1L beer!
The following day we had to do the run into the city of Adelaide, this is our last major city, and thank goodness as we have discovered on our journey that we really do enjoy the sites outside the cities, Bell in particular is not a big shopper (which would surprise most people). It is nice however to say we have experienced all the major OZ cities. Our day in Adelaide was an interesting one, in particular trying to understand the public transport system.... it was very expensive and not as user friendly as Sydney or Melbourne. We caught the bus in which took an hour, then jumped on a couple of short Tram runs which were free...... yahoo. Riley commented that he really liked these Trams as they where new, and better than the old ones we went on in Melbourne. We saw the Adelaide Town Hall as pictured, wandered through the Central Markets which had a hug variety of fruit and veg mainly, a lovely 'fresh sight', but we still managed to pick up a little something for Chris which was a single coffee cup and plunger in one, a must for anyone in an office job (when he gets back to work that is). Anyhow we finished with Bell dropping Chris at a Myers, then taking the boys on a kids city discovering trail. The boys had 10 shops to visit and collect free gifts as we answered all the questions. We learnt that Gloria Jeans now does a Mini Chino in Vanilla, Strawberry and Caramel (of course we tried one at a cost of $2... yum). The city itself was rather pretty and had some amazing old buildings.
Our day ended with us deciding to treat ourselves for another night out for dinner (long day on the streets of Adelaide )... so we jumped off the bus back at Hanhdorf and searched the streets for somewhere to eat, but one thing we noticed is how quiet it gets in the late afternoon, evening (guess like Perth does) and a lot of places close up or that just have no-one in them. So we ended up back at the same place as the night before, at least we knew it was good and it had a huge menu. Something else we noticed was the lack of graffiti, even on the buses. The place looks so clean :)
Pressed for time we hit the road through Adelaide, passing the trams and stopping to look at some cars for Chris for when we get back to reality! It was not a crazy run, the roads are good in SA it was past peak hour so it was smooth sailing. The drive was so picturesque, with storms rolling through it made for a lovely drive as we headed to Melrose (Mt Remarkable). We even got to see a Bumbunga Lake turn vivid pink which only happens just before the rain.
With a few more stops along the way our two most interesting were at Crystal Brook, where you can see a large Monitor lizard (pictures above). We also reminded the boys about the 'silent policemen' which we had seen on the east coast.
Our arrival to Melrose found us camping on a dry river with loads of trees as our back yard. We also had wonderful neighbours Brenton, Mayumi, Kai & Emma. We all had a wonderful time together during our stay and we hope this is not the last time we see them. Of course the first thing Riley had to do when he saw we could have camp fires is go collecting wood, so off he went with Kai who is also 'fire aware'
this is a better term than 'bug' we felt.
this is a better term than 'bug' we felt.
The park was so child friendly and absolutely chockers (school holidays), but we didn't feel it, the river bed in the middle of the park really made it feel as if you were out in the bush. With dirt bike tracks, swings and the river bed it has to be up there as one of our favourite parks. As we settled in and performed our normal ritual of sweeping out the car after the boys had there snacks, we discovered we had an extra passenger (spider), cute but not the kind that really belong if you know what we mean.
With one full day to explore Mt Remarkable (located right behind us) we took a 20km drive to Alligator Gorge, a more friendly exploration (easier than climbing straight up the mountain). It was lovely and reminded us a little of Karajini. With weather in our favour we got some advice from some people who had been before, to turn right at the bottom first. We were lucky the gorge still had water and was lush green. We saw loads of caterpillars, bush bees, huge ant nests and of course Kookaburras. The boys loved it. However there was one hiccup the boys had to get over, as they both slipped into the water with there sneakers on so had to walk half way back with wet feet....... 3 hours in total.
When we arrived back the boys hit the bikes and picked up a few more friends along the way. They love racing, but unfortunately they do suffer the consequences. At least it wasn't a bitumen road so the injuries weren't as bad. Again the troops headed of to collect more firewood and we settled in for the evening, the boys dozed by the fire. A lovely stay, it was a shame to go (just like most other places we have been to), but we have more boxes to tick before we are back home.
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