Adelaide & The Great Ocean Road

Trying to catch up on blogs before Christmas, so please forgive this Readers Digest version.  Ok, here we go.  Thursday 22 Nov:  Adelaide.  I had a migraine so we didn't go out that night and see 8 Ball Aitken.  Bummer.
Friday 23:  Walk along the natural creek behind our Caravan Park, then off to the cricket.  I did a split shift and hung out with the fur girls at lunchtime in Keith's aircon.
Saturday 24:  Bus to the city, checked out Museum and I got a great haircut from Edward Scissorhand's oriental cousin.  (RIP Danny's folks mini foxie, Basil 15yrs!)
Sunday 25:  Fueled up in the oldest German town in Australia, Hahndorf, lunch at Meninge (gateway to the Coorong) and found a free camp in Kingston and a big lobster!  We went for a walk and found an antique shop and shed - was an old courthouse and police station.  The owner is a 5th generation blacksmith.  Lovely bloke and the next day he helped us out with a modified oil cap.  Ours was left somewhere...
Noice dinner that night at the local pub.
Monday 26:  Next was Robe for a cooked breakfast, a walk around Beachport and a great camp behind a sand dune at Southend.  We found men's clothes in the bin and Danny scored a fab corderoy coat and some fishing jackets.
Tuesday 27:  On the road to Mount Gambia and breakfast at the Blue Lakes.  A walk around Portland
and then onto a free camp at Fitzroy River Reserve.  Lots of rubbish around, so we didn't stay and instead went on to Port Fairy. 
The first caravan park had a $20 a night special and grass.  I like grass for the girls.  We went for a big walk via the waterfront to town and as usual, we got a bit lost following my directions...lots of cute, old stone buildings. 
Wednesday 28:  Walk into Port Fairy for some supplies, then later on to the very english Caledonian Pub.  The Automobile Club was having it's touring 80th anniversary vintage car rally, so we watched about 30 old beauties go by.  Dinner at the thai restaurant out the back courtyard so the dogs could join us!
Thursday 29:  Breakfast in Warranbool (it's big) and then it was time for my long awaited trip along...
THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD.  Lots of wonderous natural wonders, even if the 12 apostles are really only about 9 or 10 now...
We finished a great week at a free camp:  Johanna Beach Reserve.  Big, beautiful, rough seas. 

American River and Future Posabilites on KI !

 American River, Kangaroo Island is a quiet little fishing village with shanty shacks and great walking tracks along the wetlands and foreshore.

We camped for 4 nights from the 17th Nov @ $15 pn right on the waters edge and Danny caught some King George Whiting which were big and wonderful to eat.  

 

We visited the Feral Cat Man who has a large collection of skins and products.  He doesn't hate cats and actually re-homes the kittens - I bought a couple of fridge magnets.

Danny made lots of pelican and seagull friends with his fishy offal.

 And we found some interesting treasures in the wetlands.

One day, I wrote a song which I had the inspiration for at Lake Hart, past Coober Pedy.  It is called "The Ballad of Salt Pan Sam" and sometime we will record it for youse all.

We went on a big 4 hr walk through the forest to the stone ruins of the Fish Cannery and then back via the beach.

 These old farming machines were in someone's yard who had a long-gone tourist business.

There was a block of land for sale in the Shanty part of AM and we fantasized about living there with Keith and the fur-girls.  But it's funny how the universe works when you put stuff out there, eh?
The next day we went to Tony's place on the hill and met his mate, Dave who owns an eco retreat on another hill.  He was very friendly and envited us over for a look.  Wow - 100acres with it's own private surf beach.
We watched some music videos with him, and he asked if we might like to house sit next year when they close during the winter.  We said Yes and would keep in contact.  So we shall see what happens...  We stayed for the Wednesday  Jam Night, parked at Tony's massive shed and met Dave's wife and Tony's muso mates.

 And Tony even let us drive his big Ford 250 for the day!
Thursday and it was time to leave the island.  We had a cooked breakfast down at ocean front park at Penneshaw and then got on the ferry.  Luckily, it was not a windy day this time and the trip was lovely!

Farmsitting on the magnificent Kangaroo Island

We spent 11 days, starting from November 5, minding Linda's property in Bomb Alley.  She had 2 dogs - a rotweiller and a great dane (pic above), 2 cats, 3 horses and about 15 sheep.  She lived in a caravan & shed and kindly gave us the use of her yellow toyota ute for the duration.
It was zippy as hell and we covered much of the island in it, Indigo smiling in the back and Fuggles happily asleep in the front. 
On the night we arrived, we met some of Linda's friends and their Helpxers at a welcome home party for Tina, his fiancee, at Bill's place. 
We were enchanted by the island and it's pristine beaches, natural wonders and hidden fishing spots.  Cape Borda with it's lighthouse and fur seals playing in the rockpools below was magnificent and Flinders Chase and the Remarkable Rock was just that. 
The cutest walk to a beach through a tunnel of caves was at Stokes Beach and a highlight for me was the Rare Breeds Farm nearby. It had minature asian cows which I loved (pic below) , highland cattle, curly coat sheep which were breed for carpets and native pigs.  We also stopped in at Emu Bay (fishing with no luck from the jetty) and the Lavender Farm (which turns out is owned by the nephew of my friend Wendy Buick who was born on the island.

On the Sunday, we went nearby to the Parndana Agricultural Show and re-met Tony from Bill's party, and he envited us to come and have a look at his place at American River.  100 acres on top of a hill with dappled horses (like the American Indian's rode in cowboy movies) and a lovely kelpie x dog.  We said we would come back before we left the island for one of his weekly Wednesday night jams with his band.  Tony steered us towards the best beach I have ever seen, Pennington Bay with massive cliffs and turquoise water.  We checked out American River, a fishing village down the road.  Old fishing shacks and camping on the river front...we would definately come back here before we went.
On the way to the best fishing spot one day, we stopped at an old Wisanger school house and had a look inside at the memorabilia.  Then we found Cape Cassini, down a rough, rocky road and through an old farm, complete with stone house and sheep sheds.  We came back the next day and Danny caught some parrot fish in a deep hole. 
When the tank water ran out at Linda's Place, we went to Brownlow Beach caravan park for the night to refill our tanks.  It was a nice, grassy site and we came across these "2" Kombis side by side.  Then we looked closely at the blue one...
A couple of days were spent in the biggest town, Kingscote, doing washing and internet at the friendly libary. 

We went for the lovely Timber Walk through a fairy glen to wetlands with a myriad of bird life, including black swans.  Every place was so unspoilt, with no rubbish and an end of the earth sort of feel. 
We also went to Penneshaw, where the ferry dropped us off and checked out Antechamber Bay with a gorgeous grove of trees and river fishing.  Again no luck, but a beat spot.  Danny was beginning to think would he ever catch a fish on this island?  Oh, I forgot to mention that I had the potential for sea-sickness on the ferry on the way over with high winds and big waves.  But I went outside on the deck, took lots of deep breaths and got through it.  Phew.

Linda came back on the Friday and I popped in to her partner, Henk's place at Brownlow for a look at his boat, a lovely older style cat.  What an amazing stay and all the animals had played nicely together.  Well, Fuggles wanted to take on the great dane, so we did some separtion playtime which worded well. 
We were sad to give up the yellow ute, but it was time on the Saturday to do some camping.  We had decided to stay an extra few days, so
Hello American River!

Chillin' out at Rapid Bay, SA

Nov 3:  Recapping a bit...
We went to Fisherman's Bay for breakfast in Keith and the fur girls had fun playing in the mounds of seaweed on the beach.

Then we drove through Bute and some other port towns, + Adelaide and onto the Fleurieu Penninsula.  We stopped off in Normanville for coffee and I bought a much needed hoodie (with ipod connection?!)
Coming down the hill to Rapid Bay, the fields were full of purple thistles and old stone buildings...we were going to like this place.
The beach was looked great and we camped right on the front.   Danny had a long awaited swim in the chilly, turquoise water.

 

Nov 4: 
We had a look round at the houses, which the mine own half of and some old single men's quarters.  Then we collected some small stones from the beach and had some beers with Gary, a top bloke (his permanent van to the left) from Adelaide.  
We checked out the jetty for some fishing, but it was windy and the water very clear.  No one seemed to be catching anything.


Nov 5:  Windy...didn't look good for a smooth sail to Kangaroo Island.  We drove to Jervis Bay, only 20 mins away and Keith loaded on the Ferry backwards - ready to unload at the front. 
We went and sat upstairs in the dog seating area inside. 


But the waves were about 5m high and I started to feel a bit unwell...