On our last day in Princetown we visited Port Campbell Baptist church.  We were given a great welcome and chatted to some lovely folk and they gave us god tips about travelling around Australia  in the afternoon we went fishing and this time Bob caught something we could eat – it wasn’t huge but it tasted really good – well done Bob.

 

On Monday we left Princetown and the Great Ocean Road.  We would love to come back again and do the Great Ocean Road walk – so if anyone else would like to come then that would be great!!!

 

We headed towards Portland – where Phil’s Uncle Jack and cousin Lynn.  Phil hadn’t seen Uncle Jack for 11 years and Lynn for 37 years!!!  We arrived and they both came down to meet us at our van.  It was lovely catching up with them and showing them pictures of the family in England.  We had a great couple of days with them, Lynn and her husband John made us very welcome, feeding us, doing our washing and letting us use their shower!!!  We went on the tram round the town and saw the local sights.  The weather was not very nice – very much like England summer – cold and dreary.  one thing that struck up about Portland is the amount of wood they have to export.  There are piles of wood and then even bigger piles of wood chippings all for export.  All the trucks on the road are carrying wood destined for the port.  The smell of the wood is all around the town, it is mainly pine or eucalyptus so the smell is lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Wednesday night we all went out to dinner.  We have a great meal and afterwards John and I shared a good bottle of Remy Martin….

On Thursday morning it was time to leave them and move onto our next destination.  It was sad leaving but really good to have that time with them, and we hope that we will either be back or they will come and see us in England.

We headed north to Mount Gambier to the blue lake.  It is an amazing place, the water in the lake turns bright blue from November to March then turns grey and turns back again.  It is an unbelievable bright blue – you think that the pictures have been enhanced but it is really like that!!!

 

After a short stop here to look at the view we carried on, through Coonawarra a huge wine district in Oz.  Miles and miles of vineyards. We ended up in Naracoorte.  A lovely little town and we stayed at the showgrounds.  Very quiet and the weather had started to turn quite nice and hot.

Our first port of call on Friday was to go into Coonawarra and sample some of the wines.  It was Phils turn to drive which she was very happy about and Bob’s to sample the wines.  The first winery was a small family sun one called Kidman winery.  Very nice wines and a bottle was purchased.  You would think that the cellar door wine prices would be much cheaper than in the shops – no this is not the case in most cased they are more expensive.  We tried three more wineries – all very nice with very helpful staff but there is only so much wine trying you can do until your taste buds give up!!!

One of the really nice things in Naracoorte was their open air free local swimming pool.  It was a huge pool and when we arrived at it there were lots of children having lessons.  We enquired if anyone could use it and were told yes at any time.  So we decided to take the plunge!!!!  It was lovely – warmed by the sun and when we got in all the children got out – it was lunchtime!!!   we had three great swims there over the weekend – just delightful.

The following day in Naracoorte they had a local festival – Taste of the Limecoast .  It was another wine tasting event.  This time we could walk so both partook in this event.  They had about 10 different wineries taking part and you bought a glass on your way in and then you could try all the wines.  Not only did they have good wine but they had an excellent band playing – 15 days.

 

 

They were great and they did quite a few sets during the afternoon which we enjoyed immensely. The local security man certainly enjoyed the band…

We met Kerry a local lady at the festival and she invited us to her church the following morning.  We went along and we had a great time, the preacher was very challenging – but as usual everyone was very welcoming.

We left that town on Monday to head towards McLaren Vale.  It would seems that we were always going to the wine regions but this is not the case, they are everywhere, and we didn’t go trying any more wines this time.  We were after a boat!!!  We had found a double kayak on gumtree and on Tuesday we set off to try and buy it.  We headed into Adelaide to West Lake.  We met Brenton and his wife who were both delightful and bought a double kayak off them.  We had hired a boat once but in the long run this would cost too much each time so thought it would be better buy.  It fits nicely onto of the car and we have already taken it out for a spin!!!We hope that we will get hours of enjoyment out of it.  It has fishing pole holes so we hope that we will be able to fish off it too.

Things are not going all great here though – the fridge door decided to break off it hinges.  It basically sheared through the fixing.  We could still close it but was very difficult.  After a number of phone calls we managed to find a replacement at great cost $440 – not great.  We went on Wednesday morning to St Mary’s in Adelaide to collect it.  Luckily Bob was able to fix it on for us as they were booked up for the next month.  Not really happy about that – we did ring the caravan company who we bought the van off hoping it would be covered under the warranty but of course it was not.  We did think this was an extortionate amount so googled it and found it would cost over £700 in the UK so that made us slightly happier!!!

Apart from that mishap things are great here – the weather has turned and it is between 25 – 35 most days.  We are getting on great – we both have our own jobs when coming to set up and pack up the caravan.  Bob does the driving and Phil does the  navigating and finding the campsites – navigating not nagging!!!!  It is working well.

We are now in Purnong which is on the Murray River – we are in a site right on the river and Bob is trying his hand at fishing again.  Not sure whether we will get the boat on the water as it is very windy and we might get blown down stream!!!  Not sure where we are going to next as the fridge door has made a dent in our budget so you will have to look at the site again to see where we have going too!!!

View from the car windows crossing the Murray River on one of the many Chain Ferry’s used in place of bridges.

 

 

 

One of the House boats which occasionally go past they come with 5 queen size bedrooms and a spa bath for 12 on the top deck oh yes and a crew…