Why can't I drive?

Another beautiful winter's morning greeted me as I got up at the crack of dawn and sipped my coffee whilst secretly getting annoyed that everyone else wants to sleep in when camping.

We were now on our own and I had been hanging out wanting to get into a bit of 4WD'ing so I went and booked for access to the local parks tracks.

Once again, when you have an L Plater that has already got the taste for offroad adventures, I dont really get a choice of whether I want to drive. However, once again, it is actually really satisfying seeing a youngster with a total of 30 hours of driving experience so far, learning how to navigate some tricky dirt sections, creek bed crossings, slippery tracks and downhill descents with the local widlife watching from nearby.

After a couple of hours of driving around and testing out the capabilities of my car and nerves, we headed off to Alligator Gorge which is another well known attraction with an amazing walk through the wild cliff faces and trickling water .

This walk also tested our nerves - only this time it was physical nerves that included our knees, ankles, backs and everything else that commonly hurts nowadays.

However, it was just stunning - vivid red cliff faces with some scattered burnt trees from a recent bushfire, but also a huge amount of striking gum trees that seem to grow out of sheer rock faces and an apparent lack of soil.

Sadly, our time at this gem of a location is now coming to an end

Its a true mix of bush camping yet still has enough creature comforts to make it more pleasant in the not so good weather (which admittedly we only had 18 hours of with most of that being overnight)

There was just one more stinky fire and cooking experience to tend to - this time barbecued meat direct over the coals and flames of the fire. (One of my favourites as the meat absorbs some amazing flavours from the smoke)

Sadly, tomorrow is pack up day and time to head home.

I have to say, this has been one of my favourite short stays in a long time. We will definitely be back

Pichi Richi and 4WD

Waking up on Tuesday morning to the continuing sound of light rain is good for the land, not so good for those in swags. However it turned out only 1 discovered their swag is not waterproof, with everyone else still snoring away whilst I made my first coffee for the morning.

We had predicted this wet weather, so we set off to nearby Quorn where the famous coal powered steam  tourist train Pichi Richi Railway was scheduled to run for its short 2 hour trip through the Flinders Ranges. We have all known about this for ever, but none of us had been on it before. Whilst it could be described as "just another train", it was an amazing experience to learn about the history of the train and to see some amazing scenery roll by

The end of the "downhill" leg saw us stopping at the historic town and station Woolshed Flat which was run by voulunteers specifically to serve passengers a nice array of coffee, scones with jam and cream - not that anyone in our group complained about the scones being cold, but fair to say the preference would have been for them to be warm.

We then had the return leg back to Quorn with the other side of the ranges to view, then decided what better way to top it off than visit the local Gin Distillery for a quick drink or two. This is a fairly new establishment and doesnt yet serve any food or platters, however we had learnt already that we could actually take our own stuff in, and so we did!

Whilst the rain had almost cleared up by now, it was time to head back to camp, get the fire going and start prepping the Camp Oven for yet anither spectacular WheresBarryNow dinner. Tonight was a pulled chicken with cream of chicken, carrots, onion, too much garlic and a spattering of other deliciousness. Yum.

The rain finally stopped and we enjoyed the rest of the night with small talk around the fire, a few drinks and more smoke penetrating our already stinky clothes.

As is the usual case (for me anyway) I was well and truly ready for bed by 9pm - probably due to too much to eat and too much to drink, but hey - we are camping.

Wednesday weather was beautiful. Blue skys, crisp morning weather and perfect environment for waking up early and sipping hot coffee whilst watching the local wildlife wake up.

Today we decided to go for a drive up through the local 34km Bridle Track that crosses the Ranges from Melrose to Port Germein (or close enough). Turns out that with a young 16 year old L Plater in the car, I no longer get to enjoy the fun of driving off road 😒

However, this is classed as a novice track and it turned out to be a fun drive where I actually got to enjoy the scenery a whole lot more than I normally do when driving - and she did an awesome job even with intentionally driving through every mud puddle trying to get bogged. Some of the views over the mountains and down through the valleys to the ocean were simply spectacular - no photos can show just how amazing this is.

The car was well and truly filthy now with about 80 kg of mud caked underneath the wheel arches and many other places I couldnt yet see, but it had been a great day. Our little L Plater was beaming from ear to ear with having experienced being off road for the first time, and fair to say it was time to get back and start up the smokey fire once again with tonights gormet delicacy being Lamb Shanks on a bed of mashed potato (laced with cheese, butter and more cheese of course) with some damper wrapped in foil hopefully being ready at the same time.

Turns out that without adding any yeast to the bread flour, we (ok - when I say we I obviously mean my darling wife) may have just tried cooking some of the rocks surrounding the fire -  it was about the same consistency and not anywhere as near as nice as it looked.

Some of the group left camp today to go home early, with the last of them leaving tomorrow, meaning we are on our own for the day - which is absolutely fine by me.... I am intending on tackling the parks own 4WD tracks  of which they have two of. Looking forward to that

So far - the experience of exploring Spear Creek Holiday park and its surrounds has been amazing and is highly recommended for those that like to get out and about

Arrival Day and Day 2

 July school holidays had arrived and it was finally time to get the caravan out and disappear for a few days.

This trip was a little different in that there would be no dogs and only Kayla coming with us, plus some of the usual camping buddies that we would meet at our target destination of Spear Creek - about 45 minutes NE of Pt Augusta, which is about 4 hours North from home.

I am about to be in my happy place once again

I have  read all these posts from people saying how easy it easy to go away with a caravan - just pack the food in and go.... Well after a week of me packing everything I could possibly think of, and probably being overloaded, we set off around 9:30am Sunday morning.

The trip was non eventful apart from the 70Kmh headwinds that caused me to refuel and restricted 

my already Grey Nomad maximum speed down another 10 clicks to around 85Kmh, and thankfully our camp was about 2k further inland from where the wind apparently suddenly stopped according to the location of the giant wind turbines dotting the open paddocks on the way in.

The camp location was actually amazingly set out - we were away from the general caravan sites in our own secluded location with no defined site as such, where we had our two vans, multiple firepits, and a swinging tyre for us to try and hurt ourselves on when we had drank too much. Yet we still had power, water and a communal flushing toilet hidden behind a great big gum tree in the middle of the creek bed.

Sunset was pretty spectacular, but as always, photos don't really show just how nice it was. We climbed up a nearby hill and watched the darkness creep in, before sliding our way back down to camp to sit around the fire and talk crap, have some laughs and begin the process of getting our clothes reeking of smoke for the rest of the week

Monday arrived and the weather started off with a touch of wintter sun intermingled with a cool breeze and some cloudy patches as one would expect in the middle of July.

We decided to go for a walk into the gorge at the back of the property, whoch turned into a bit of a marathon for the kids and a bit of a hike for some of us ageing adults with failing body parts. The scenery was amazing (from what we could see when lifting our eyes up from our stumbling feet) and was a great way to pass ome time before heading back to camp for a bit of Wine O'Clock time. The weather forecast was predicting a bit of a drizzle overnight which was literally going to dampen the mood a bit, but we stuck it out as long as we could, even managing to get a self saucing chocolate pudding done in the camp oven.

After stuffing ourselves full and braving the drizzle for as long as we could, it was time for bed. Its a bit of a mix between listening to the serenity of the patter of rain drops on the van roof and lying there asking myself WTF is getting flooded out .....

But at least we had some creature comforts of a heater and a heated blanket in bed (unlike the tween-agers that were braving it out in the swags in the rain 🤣🤣)

The rain is suppopsed to stop around 9:30 in the moring, so it may work out out well.

Beachport - Easter 2023

The weather forecast this year was looking far from pleasant. Cold, windy, showers and the possible storm. About as far from camping weather that one could imagine. But in reality, it was a fair representation of the entire years weather so far. 

We had a very mild summer with only about 5 days in the high 30’s 

Regardless, I had stated I was going camping with Taz, and if anyone else wanted to join me, they were most welcome. 

We took the kids out of school early on Thursday (around 1pm) and we’re on our way by just before 2pm. 

I was quite impressed this trip that we managed to get all the way to Meninge (almost 2 hours from home) before our first required P stop. This year we had an extra passenger Tully. She is the newest addition and is a very sassy Cavoodle who has quickly become the boss of the the two dogs here in 3 weeks of living with us. 

We all managed to get our business done and were on our way again in no time for the second 2 hour leg of our journey. 

We got to the park almost dead on 6pm and I raced through getting a as much setup as I could before it got too dark. It was surprisingly warm for a mid Autumn night, but that was a good thing and helped keep my mood where it needed to be for the start of a 5 day trip. 

After an hour or so, I was done. Time to relax for a drink. 

Friday rolled in, and so did the intermittent showers, wind and cold weather. There were now 10 adults & 12 kids, with a few more still to arrive. 

As the night arrived though,, so did the storm. As if the on and off showers during the day weren’t enough to contend with, we had 19mm off rain dumped on us in about 45 minutes. 

With pants rolled up to our knees and bare feet in water above our ankles, all we could do was bucket out the water away from our vans and fridges, and lift as much as we could to higher ground. 

Then….. as quickly as it hit us, it stopped and the water drained away into the sandy soil. There were still some tell tale signs around the park with some new water features and mini moats, but our area looked almost normal again within 40 minutes, with the only sign being that the whole section of park was now without 240v power thanks to a mystery tripped circuit breaker somewhere. 

Saturday returned to normal, albeit cold and windy still with a smattering of scattered showers. A few people did the mandatory market visit in the morning, then we set off on the Canunga NP 4wd trek that we had done a few times before. This has a nice variety of views and some relatively easy tracks to follow, and is a great way to pass 3 hours. 

With wine o’clock taking centre stage once we got back, and a game of cricket, the day was quickly over and finished with us all shivering our way thru the evening waiting for bedtime to call us

Sunday morning arrived, along with Easter Bunny and his usual droppings. 

I have never seen so much chocolate be consumed before 8 am, as I sipped on my double strength black coffee before making another one to avoid me getting stuck into some chocolate of my own.  

Tracy and I went for a stroll into town with the dogs to get a few essential supplies, only to get an understanding from Tully that when she decides she doesn’t want to walk anymore, she just doesn’t walk!

Tracy was now starting to feel unwell, so I took Taz out for a walk down the remote beaches where we did a bit of a photo shoot, before heading back. 

Tomorrow is pack up day already. 

Whilst I am not really a fan of the last day, I am now so over this cold, shower,y windy, miserable days, that I am very much looking forward to going home tomorrow. 

Flinders Ranges - Rawnsley park

One of my favourite things to do apart from camping and fishing is to go camping and 4WD'ing.

This year our destination was Rawnsley park - a lazy 5 hour drive due north (when not towing 2 1/2 ton of van behind you).

This place is literally in the middle of nowhere and has some amazingly beautiful walks, drives and views surrounding it. There is even a 4 star resort set back down the road for those that really want to experience a bit of luxury in the middle of the country

The next couple of days were spent exploring Wilpena pound and some of the nearby gorges, walking trails and 4WD tracks. No amount of photos can show just how amazing these views really are

 

It is also fair to say that the mornings may have been just a touch cold for those poor suckers within our group that were braving it out in swags - but I am reliably told they are actually quite warm inside - if I wasn't too old and achey to get in and out of something that was laying on the hard ground, I may have known this!

We went on a walk up to the top of one of the long mountain walks, and fair to say the kids may have not been overly happy with the time and difficulty that it took to get there. (It was only about 8k up a steep rocky hill - if us 50 something year olds can do it without dying, then surely they could??? )

The following days were filled with more driving, more sunsets, more walking, more happy kids and lots of laughs.

Have I said before how much I love camping?

Finally - another quickie

 After a few moths of hellish restrictions that seemingly were designed only to spread the load in our under staffed hospitals (thanks for nothing Covid), we were allowed out.

Another public holiday Monday is about to arrive, so we jumped in the car, hooked up the van and headed an hour south to Cape Jervis - a very under whelming park that appears to be basically a stopover for people taking the most expensive 45 minute ferry ride to Kangaroo Island.

We were there however because it was cheap, not crammed full with a thousand screaming kids, and because it was close to the sea, meaning I could pack a fishing rod again!

The local farmers paddock in the approach to the park is reasonably famous for a diplay showing how NOT to park your van. I still manage a smirk every time I drive past

Saturday was glorious weather so we went for some scenic drives through the nearby Deep Creek Conservation Park, plus some fishing (And when I say fishing, I mean pouring $30 of bait into an empty ocean and losing 8 hours of our lives that we wont get back)

However, as we all know, spending a day fishing for nothing beats any day working.

Despite the lack of success at fishing (I guess that is why they don't call it catching???), it was a well earned break from the chaos of Covid restrictions that has plagued us so far this year.

The happy part of packup this time was knowing that July school holidays were only a month away at which time we were heading up north to the Flinders Ranges - sooooo looking forward to that trip.

A quick post Covid getaway

After  a handful of messy lockdown periods thanks to Covid, we finally had a long weekend that we were allowed out.
To be fair, being forced to stay home and not have to make an excuse to stop people visiting us wasnt that bad either 🤣

So with a public holiday Moday looming, we threw the stuff in the van and shot down to Victor Harbor which is a short 45 minutes drive away (well actually closer to an hour and 15 with my Grandpa driving when towing the van ...)

Of course with it being by the beach, it was also mandatory to throw in the fishing rods and a ring-in friend to keep the daughter happy(ish)

We arrived nice and late, I spent multiple hours unpacking all the crap I tend to take on every holiday despite vowing to cull most of it every trip, and in between consumed just the right amount of cold brews, all the while secretly being in my happy place #notatwork #camping

Over the next couple of days of near perfect weather, there was some fishing, swimming, beach driving and of course a couple of Wine O'Clock sessions.

Whilst I cannot give myself credit for the fish (that was Dylan who spent countless hours fishing rather than wining and dining...), they are still pretty impressive sized Bream.

Before we knew it though, it was time to pack up and go home - the worst part of any holiday.

However, after a tough start to the year, it is always good to get away, even if it is only for 2 1/2 days.

New Hampshire

Time to hit the snow. Off to New Hampshire we go. 

This last adventure is going to be a biggie. We are heading 3.5 hours north to an place called Brettenwood Ski Resort. 

We have hired a huge chalet to accommodate us all and so we packed our cars and headed off. 

Amongst the 3 toilet stops enforced by BOTH Tracy and Dylan, was a top at a loval liquor outlet after we crossed into New Hampshire. 

Oh my Lordy Lord. 

I was in alcoholics heaven here. The price of booze was ridiculous. A 1.75 litre bottle of my favourite Bacardi was only US$20. That’s about $29 AU..... so I had to do the right thing and grab one. As it was only a 4 day trip, I controlled my urges and stuck with just the one bottle. 

We eventually made it to our humble lodgings and the place was amazing. Split over 3 levels, surrounded by snow and icy roads, we were going to be in the perfect spot. 

Right on cue after the sun set, the snow started and fell and fell and fell 

The sight of snow covered trees and cars and roads and hills as we woke up was truly an experience that we will never forget. Especially those of us that have never seen snow before!

After a quick breakfast, we got our gear on and headed out to the ski fields which were about 3 minutes drive away. 

It was at this moment I realised having a front wheel drive vehicle isn’t the best option for snow covered roads. I managed to make it to the top of the driveway, but made the silly mistake of stopping at the top to check for oncoming traffic. No more going forward and for a moment, no more going backwards. I did finally manage to get back down the short driveway and tried again. This time, just like Thomas the Tank Engine, we made it “right over the top of the hill”. 

We navigated our way through the maze of hiring ski boots, skis and helmets, found a table amongst the chaos of thousands of other people and hit the slopes. 

We were super lucky that Jay is a very advanced skier and has offered to spend his morning training the kids and getting them on the slopes. It took all of about 30 minutes for the two boys to “get it” and a little bit longer for Kayla to get over the “I can’t get back up the hill” issue she was experiencing. 

Then there was no stopping them. A few falls as expected coming down the first couple of times, and then it was on. 

Despite the blustery weather and continuous sleet falling throughout the day, it was a great day. 

We had a great night relaxing in our accommodation, drinking, eating, playing some games, drinking some more, and scanning through 180 pay tv channels to find nothing worth watching. 

Day 2 was much the same, but with vastly improved weather. 

The kids were Pro’s now and trying different courses, weaving in and out of flags and towards the end of the afternoon  coming up over a small jump. 

Tonight was New Years Eve. 

We headed back from the Ski Lodge to our accommodation and set ourselves for a night in. 

Tracy, Dylan and Kayla spent the afternoon outside making what turned out to be a perfect snowman. Jen had what only Jen could have, and that was a “snowman outfit” kit to ensure he was nothing less than perfect. 

We did our best to stay awake until 12:01 to greet 2020 and then all crashed, ready for a much more relaxing day tomorrow. 

After the hectic previous days, today was much more relaxed. 

After snowing again overnight, it was broken blue skies today and the ground had a beautiful layer of snow for us to walk on and explore the area. 

We also went to visit the amazing Mount Washington hotel to see what our budget could never afford. 

Tomorrow we go home. We have a few more jam packed days and nights before this amazing dream holiday is over.