We began this week in Little Dip National Park – The Gums campsite.
We vegged, played on the bush swing and had showers. Feeling cleaner and more
relaxed, we headed to Robe. First we drove to The Obelisk (which can only be
described as a poor man’s lighthouse or potentially where “Where’s Wally” would
live) but is actually a warning sign for passing ships. Whilst there we managed
to spot a seal and we watched as it played just off the shore.
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| Where's Waldo's House - The red looks a lot brighter in person! |
We headed into town, once again restocked and drove north
onto Kingston SE. Kingston is a sweet little town, it has a lovely info centre,
a historic lighthouse, a few shops, oh and a giant lobster! So we said hey to
Larry the Lobster and then promptly exeunted the town with its giant crustacean
in search of better things – The Coorong National Park.
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| Larry the Lobster! |
The park was definitely not well signed, but somehow we
found a track in, and after a couple of
skippies had passed we saw several small lakes and a path leading to a campground
called 28 Mile Crossing. Initially we weren’t sure where we’d end up that night
but after spying this ground we were quite happy to stay as:
There was no one else around,
Nature was in abundance,
It was getting late, and
There were magnificent giant sand dunes to explore!
It was just on dusk so we spent the last light of the day exploring the dunes and viewing the ocean and the Coorong in all its splendour, leaving cooking as a chore to complete in the dark.
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| Me in the vast sand duney landscape |
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| Our Hulkie parked next to a Dune |
The next morning we were eager to explore more of this wondrous
park so we headed north. Not long had passed before we found another campground
(42 Mile Crossing). It was grassy, had picnic tables, nice facilities and seemed
like a great place to stop…but seeing as though it wasn’t even 9am yet we
decided to explore a bit more first. We went to a historic site called “Chinaman’s
Well”. This well was built in early gold mining days and was constructed purely
from limestone. Interesting fact- The well was built in a circular shape as
apparently demons like to hide in corners. Obviously these guys had never seen
the ring. Eek. Anyway we also checked out Loop Road, where there was a few
other campsites and a bit more of the parks natural beauty. We then headed back
to 42 Mile – all before noon. It was a glorious sunny day so we decided to do
some washing, well a couple of weeks worth due to the weather we’ve been
having. Anyone who walked by remarked on it, including a ranger who said to Michael,
“Where’s the washing machine and how did you manage to fit it in?” ….Michael promptly
replied by pointing at me and said “There she is” – good times! Luckily we put
the washing away that night, because it reached -2oc and in the
morning everything that was out was covered in frost and ice!
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| Loads of washing! |
The sun did eventually peek out and we had heard of another
nice campground further north, so we packed up and went exploring. Along the
way we went to Jacks Point (a pelican breeding area) and then Meningie
(township). At this point I should probably mention somehow in the last week or
so I decided to go for a rural social work job. So when we hit reception in
Meningie my phone went mental. Apparently I’m a prime candidate for a job in
Alice Springs. So I spent that afternoon reading, typing up notes for the
agency and prewarning and chatting to my referees (which meant a good yak on
the phone). I’d been scheduled for a final interview on Saturday. All that accomplished
we headed back into the park to Long Point. Where the camp ground was, well it
was alright (read gravel car park), but I’m glad we stayed because the sunset
was spectacular!
That night we had to make some decisions on where we were heading
and how to get good reception in South Australia. So we decided we’d head to
the capital – because surely they’d have reception. So the next morning we
drove a few hours and eventually ended up in the Hills region. I think the Hulk
disliked the Hills region because before I knew it, I was doing 40 on the freeway! Anyway, we
ended up in Hahndorf, a lovely little German village. The town was full of
amazing bakeries, beer, weird sounding food and everything German. We explored
the shops, tasted a few delights and ate in a café that was most likely
decorated by a two year old (a colour scheme of green, yellow, purple and pink,
stickers on the wall and figurines anywhere they fit. We decided to try and
find a place to stay quickly to avoid “city” traffic (NB – Adelaide is not your
typical city and does not have your typical city traffic, it is more life a
large regional town…). We ended up at Levi Tourist Park, which had BBQ’s, a
nice camp kitchen, grass, ducks, a possum, lovely showers and a bath! And all
within 5 km of the CBD. To put this into some perspective, Newtown is about 15
km from Sydney CBD.
In the morning we bussed it into the city. We explored
Rundle Mall, Central Markets, shops, a local Maccas, the Botanic Gardens and
also caught a magic show. I was eager to study-up for my interview so we headed
“home” and spent the night relatively relaxed. I even allowed myself some
procrastination time on skype. The next day the interview wasn’t until one, so
we had some time to fill. Naturally I found a chocolate shop (Haighs) to visit
and even managed to book us into a free tour of the factory. The tour was great
and involved several tastings – I would advise anyone in Adelaide to do it! Just
before the tour started I found out the interview was to be postponed for a
week due to an emergency, so being located within a chocolate factory definitely
helped. To try and keep the day positive, Michael and I decided we’d follow up
the factory with a movie. Though we ended up missing it by 10 minutes or so. I
believe this was an act of fate, as we managed to stumble upon a fashion show
with that guy off “how to look good naked” (Gok), then left to get lunch on the
Glenelg foreshore. The sun was out, so we had fish and chips on the top balcony
of the Dublin Pub with a lovely cider, then headed to a different cinema to
catch the next session of “The Avengers” – considering our car made an appearance
we had to see it!
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| ...We were told when you work there you're allowed to eat as much chocolate as you want for free! .... Am totally getting a job there! |
We decided we’d do our shopping after the film as we were
also out of essentials – however we forgot that South Australia is from the
past, and although we were out of the movies by 5:30, Coles was shut by 5. We
were pretty hyped up from all the explosions and CGI stuff in the film, so
drove on anyway. An hour north of the city and you are well and truly in the
sticks. Port Parham has a free campsite, one tar road and a Sports Club that
offers takeaway meals two nights of the week and dine in another two. However in
saying that, it is still open longer than Coles in the city. There are also the
coolest tractors that have seats and engines about 2 metres high, which means a
much better water crossing capability than the Hulk.
Saturday night’s dinner consisted of a hearty meal of cup ‘a’
soup with 2 minute noodles mixed through (don’t judge us we we’re on rations!)
and a dessert consisting of fudge, oreos and chocolate. Entertainment involved
listening to a guy play a ukulele and sing camp songs (yes we’ve bumped into
the CMCA again…) and a generator being started up because of an issue on one of
the nearby buses (imagine “oh no my central heating/ TV/ microwave/ electric
blanket/ kettle/ toaster isn’t working”…get real and get out of fakeville
buddy, you’re camping).
Hopefully we will shop soon, but if not we’re heading to the
Barossa soon enough so we’ll have wine and all will be well!
Lesson of the week: Expect
the unexpected cos it sure as heck can happen
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