My tackle isn't working

We didn't get up quite as early as anticipated thanks to the late night yesterday and the odd drop of Bourbon. But it didn't really matter, as today was going to be focussed on a bit of beach and/or rock fishing.
The local subway was our first stop after checking out of the caravan park, where a completely healthy bacon and semi-frozen egg roll was purchased with a Farmers Union Iced Coffee to wash it down. I was annoyed at myself for doing this after spending the last 3-4 months on a semi healthy sugar free, bread free, carbohydrate free, dairy free diet (except maybe for the odd alcoholic beverage)... guess I will just have to starve myself for the rest of the week to make up for it.
We stopped off at a local Tackle shop so Peter could get his gear looked at by a couple of strapping young lads that were running the store, and then made the decision to go straight to the Murray Mouth for a session, before the winds pick up later this afternoon. We expected the Mouth to be nice and flowing after the storms a week or so ago, but they were exactly the opposite. We could almost walk out to the middle, and we could most certainly have been able to cast our lines onto the sand dredging barges if we so desired. Quite clearly the sand pumping is just not keeping up, and we are getting very nervous that the mouth is once again going to be on the brink of closing and killing off SA's once mighty river system in the next 5-10 years.
As you may have guessed, this blog is about our surrounds because once again, the Barry/Peter curse of no fish has struck again.The wind started increasing from about 11am and gradually increased until we gave up late afternoon with it blowing 40+ knots.
No pictures, no fish today..... but it doesn't matter.

A bad day's fishing is 100x better than a good day at work.

Fishing - Victor Harbor

I took an impromptu leave pass to catch up with Peter and spend some time holding our rods. We left home a little after 2pm and headed down to Victor. We checked into the old caravan park into a cabin that got last maintained 30 years ago, and started playing with our tackle. It's been a while, so we were both done in record time.

Waitpinga Beach was our destination for some salmon and we got there with about 20 minutes to spare before darkness set in. 

The waves were crashing down on the other side of the gutters and conditions looked and felt fantastic. For standing knee deep in the ocean holding our rods. Waiting. Standing. Waiting. 

There seems to always be a by-product in life, and this session was crabs. The bloody things were pouncing on our tackle the moment it got wet and wouldn't go away. 

After what seemed an eternity, I finally hooked onto a salmon and dragged it kicking and screaming onto the beach and the excitement levels began to rise for a second time on this trip. It wasn't much longer before I washed the crabs away and landed victim number 2 - this time a reasonable size. 

The smiles were flowing now, knowing that we have finally caught something on a Barry/Peter fishing trip.... Those in the know, will know that actually catching anything other than a cold and a headache from too much alcohol on these trips is very rare. 

But that was it. Getting excited more than 3 times after such a drought was just the wrong thing to do. 

We admitted defeat at about 9pm and went home. The night wasn't over however, and after a shower we went back to the bluff in search for some squid. Going out at 10pm on a Sunday night looking for squid is an amazing rarity for me, but true to our usual form, it was 2 hours of cold dark nothing. 

Midnight arrived and the uninviting bed was inviting me to bed. Tomorrow is another day of playing with our rods and tackle, hopefully with a bit more luck. 

Lest we forget

The alarm went off at what seemed to be a ridiculously early time and we rolled out of bed. Unlike the diggers 101 years ago, we quickly warmed up in about 10 layers of clothes and beanies, and set off to the local Dawn Service.

There would have been 200-300 people there already, and was suddenly joined by what seemed another 500 people that had followed the band marching from the city centre 20 minutes earlier. 

The local rep from the RSL said his piece and introduced the local Pastor to remind us that we need to be remembering the soldiers and their families, not just the day and the memorial site. 

Interestingly enough, he was less that 5 minutes into the spiel, when about a 1000 Corellas decided to fly in and roost in the trees above us. Judging by the noise they were making, I suspect they had heard the speech before and had no intention of shutting up to let the rest of us listen. The Pastor soldiered on though and eventually we got to the bugle playing. There is something about this tune when played live that sends a shiver down my spine and just lets out an amazing flood of emotion as we remember those poor soldiers and what they had to endure in their quest to provide us with the Australia as we know it today. 

We finally got back to the Caravan Park and cooked up the last hot breakfast for a while, of sausages, bacon and eggs in the true Anzac spirit. 

Then it was time to pack up and go home. I don't like this part for a multitude of reasons - firstly because it symbolises my holiday is over, and secondly because it means my entire afternoon revolves around unpacking and cleaning. According to Tracy, the latter is apparently a chore that needs to be borne by all parties in our family, so complaining about how tired I am and trying to sneak off to lie down, isn't a wise idea. 

I did eventually get to lie down at 8:30, and was asleep at 8:35.

I blame it on the hay fever tablets and pain killers for my neck.... It definitely has nothing to do with my age and/or superior fitness levels. 

Another holiday over.... Until next time. 

A day of not much

We woke up to another magnificent sunny morning with lots of ideas for the day, but very little motivation. Some of the group weren't feeling overly well after yesterday's wine drinking and over-eating, which didn't really matter too much considering we were going to do absolutely nothing again today.

After cooking up another hot breakfast of bacon and eggs, I took Taz out to the big oval with Dylan for a bit of fun intermingled with a bit of puppy training. 

I then went for a walk with Taz to look for the local RSL as we were intending to go to the Dawn Service tomorrow morning, as we do every Anzac Day, regardless of where we are. I found it to be literally across the park on the other side of the road from the caravan park, so it was all set to walk here in the morning. It was about now that Taz sat down and refused to walk anymore. No amount of coaxing could get him to take more than 2 steps without sitting again for a few minutes, so I resigned myself to the fact I was carrying him from here back to the caravan. Carrying a black ball of fluff that size doesn't help promote any manly manliness look I may be trying to present, but it does have a lot of people stopping to talk, which isn't always a bad thing.

Funnily enough though, despite his complete exhaustion and inability to walk any further, when I got to the big oval and put him down without his lead on, he took off quicker than a 6 year old lad who had just eaten a bag full of sugar. 

He finally tired out and lay on the lush green grass like a big ball of fluff. He is an amazingly good puppy, and has certainly changed the attitudes of our family, with the kids (and maybe me just a little), enjoying every moment spent with him. 

We set about cooking up some lunch on the WeberQ (as this is where every meal of the day is produced), and then settled down to an afternoon of wine, cheese and mettwurst (becoming all too familiar methinks). 

Daniel, being the sensible non-drinker amongst us, spent the next hour checking out and fiddling with his erection until I finally got up and helped by holding his pole so he could sit back and see what it looked like. When he was finally satisfied and agreed that the awning was set up correctly, we headed over to the far oval to watch the men's division 5 soccer thrash if out for the next 90 minutes. 

We then headed back and set up the tv to watch the second semi final between western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar. What an amazing game of soccer. 4-4 at full time, with Sydney finally coming out on top with a 5th goal. Can't wait to see the final at Adelaide Oval next week. 

Getting ready for bed due to an early start in the morning, and with a chronic neck strain at the moment, I don't imagine there is going to be much sleep tonight. Maybe another glass of port may help. 

Winery day

Today was our day to visit the wineries. The kids had not been looking forward to this day, but they knew it was coming and were very gracious in defeat. 

In the end, we only visited two - Charles Melton and Grant Burge. We grabbed a couple of bottles from each and I also forked out for a bottle of 10 year old tawny, before heading back. To show the kids our appreciation of their patience, we stopped off for a hot chicken and chips for a late lunch. That was like giving them all their birthdays at once and we could feel the love flowing for at least 2 minutes. 

Not long after, Nicole and Rob and kids turned up and the cheese platters with metwurst and copious amounts of wine started flowing. And flowing. And flowing.  Once again, the law stepped in and reminded us that we had to actually feed the kids before sending them to bed, and I managed to cook up a storm of sausages and some fantastic marinaded pork steaks. 

The Hardy's took off at a stage when Rob was still hoping, and Nicole was ready to start telling the kids one of her infamous stories, and the Mardles and ourselves braced ourselves for the cold night with a bottle of Bailey' and a bottle of Tawny Port (not together!). 

Looking forward to another day tomorrow of doing not much (except maybe a cheese and Metwurst platter with a few bottles of wine. ). And maybe a few more bottles. 

Why we love camping

As predicted, yesterday was all about not much really. Taz slept through the night again (Yay!!!) and the kids even slept in till nearly 7am (when the *^%# did 7am become a sleep in???). After the mandatory bacon and eggs breakfast, I took Taz over to the soccer oval with the kids for a run around, and after about 15 minutes, I was knackered. Taz on the other hand, was still chasing the ball and generally doing what a puppy should be doing - having fun.

I recovered shortly after and went exploring the park with the kids, and before we knew it, lunch time arrived. A healthy dose of hot dogs later and it was time for a siesta. And a wine... Or 2 .... We are in The Barossa, so it is fully justified. Even though it is only just noon. 

Anyway, 4-5 bottles later and a great big cheese and metwurst platter later, the afternoon was suddenly gone. 

It was a beautiful sunset to end the day, but that also meant we had to be responsible parents for a moment. 

Tea was only made because apparently it is law to feed the kids, regardless of how much we have eaten or drunk. So after burning the marinade and serving half raw chicken with a token salad, we set about getting the tv sorted to watch the Adelaide United soccer semi final. It was a great game and even better to see them smash Melbourne City 4-1. Might even head to the game next week. The only bit that was difficult to deal with was the freezing cold weather - cold enough to freeze Taz's new bits, but Tyler took good care by wrapping him in his arms for most of the night. 

Taz goes on holiday - Anzac weekend

 We made a semi-last minute decision to head off on Thursday night instead of Friday morning (well I did anyway... And it feels kind of good to be a real man and make a decision of my own 😀). 

We picked Tyler up from soccer practice just after 6pm with the van firmly hitched on the back and set off on our great big adventure. The big trip this weekend was going to take us all the way to Nuriootpa- about a whole hour away. These short trips have become a bit of a favourite with us. Whilst I enjoy driving, I enjoy sitting around a caravan with a bourbon and coke a whole lot more. 

This was our first trip away with Taz, our little Spoodle, who is getting way too spoiled already in the 3 weeks we have had him. He had now passed the 12 week old mark, which is where I think we need to start ageing him in months, rather than weeks. He slept through the night last night, and I am sincerely hoping that is how it will be every night from now on, especially these next 4 nights when he will be less than 2 metres away from us all INSIDE the caravan. 

We got here about 7:30 and I was sitting down with a brew shortly after, with Taz comfortably curled up on my lap, also enjoying the glamping life. 

I have an annual leave day tomorrow and the weather is going to be around 20 degrees and sunny. Perfect weather to go to the wineries in this beautiful part of the Barossa Valley methinks. (Also perfect weather to sit around, eat some metwurst and cheeses and drink some wine. Tough choices ahead). 

As it was dark when we got here, I don't really know what this park has to offer although the kids were pretty chuffed with the playground they found earlier. Time to crash and dream about glamping life for the next 4 days. 

 

Easter Monday

After a rather cold night and even a semi decent sleep in, we had a slow start to the day. I cooked up some eggs and bacon for me and the kids whilst Tracy had another couple of hours sleep in, and then I went for an easy stroll into Naracoorte to get done supplies. Sitting around on the day that everyone else is packing up is always amusing, watching people's methodical packing to fill every last hole in their trailer or van ready for the trek back to reality. Stone stage I nearly got up to offer Rob some assistance when he was reversing the car up to his van, but I was saved at the final siren when Nicole realised she was about to get an earful if she wasn't standing at the towbar giving the loving left/right/keep coming/ STOOOPPPP/too far signals. 

We said our goodbyes to Rob, Nicole anc the Hardg kids and sat back down contemplating what was going to happen for the rest of the day. 

We had lunch then took the kids down to th mini golf at the front of the park, where they realised there was actually some skill required in getting a 30mm ball into a 100mm hole. After much arguing and a few amazingly lucky "hole-in-ones", the scores were added up and despite my efforts to rig the scores for an even finish, Tyler won by 4 hits..... But suddenly Dylan remembered he told me the wrong score at least twice meaning he actually won by 1 shot. Well done Dylan. 

The afternoon was spent much like the last few, with very little movement other than to get a new bottle of wine or refill  the cheese and meat platter. But even that slowed right down as we all realised that after 3 days of doing this, our bodies were telling us that enough was enough. 

Tomorrow is Tazday and we finally get our new Spoodle puppy. I think I am probably looking forward to that the most. Not sure why, but the reason doesn't matter. 

Didn't take a single photo today. Have been very self centred methinks. 

Easter Sunday - Chocolate for breakfast.

After a rather big night for some (surprisingly not me..), Easter Bunny turned up overnight. Dylan woke up at about 6am pretending he needed to go to the toilet, however I strongly suspect it was more to do with asking if he was allowed to start on his eggs for early breakfast. 

The camp had an egg hunt at 9:30 that seemed to attract well over 100 kids, but actually turned out ok as the owners took  all eggs found and distributed them fairly. 

We took off mid morning to the local playground for the kids and then to the Naracoorte Caves to recreate some photos from 2010. 

We got back to camp for lunch and despite the 20 degree overcast weather, I took the opportunity to go for a swim with the kids (it was my way of celebrating Easter I guess). 

The afternoon then quickly degenerated into a cheese and meat platter with a few too many bottles of wine. This is what glamping is all about. 

Easter Saturday - is that a holiday?

Today was a whole lot cooler - almost to the point of uncomfortably cold. The kids were full of energy, so someone made the stupid suggestion of doing a kids vs adult soccer game on the adjoining oval... So off we went. 4 kids who have spent their life playing soccer, vs 4 adults who have spent their life driving their kids to soccer and very rarely have run around a soccer pitch... If ever. 

We played close to 25 minutes of full on running and generally being hammered by these little sports superstars and it was only due tithe super human efforts of Rob in goals that saw us call half time at 0-0. After gasping in some much needed oxygen for the next 10 minutes, we stupidly agreed to start the next half. Nicole kindly agreed to go goalie for this half, which seemed like a good idea at the time. 

2 goals later by the boys and we were reassessing that decision. But we just called it quits instead. I felt like I had just exercised enough for the next few weeks and strolled back to the caravan for a well earned rest. 

After lunch, it got colder. And colder. We had the mandatory cheese and meats platter come out, with some wine, but I still couldn't get warm, so I did the only plausible thing I could do on a camping trip. I went to bed. 

3 hours later I emerged feeling much better to find the girls well and truly settled into about the 5th bottle of wine and an empty platter. The night was young... So young it was still afternoon. 

Time for me to join in. 

The kids were off to see Pan the movie at the camp movie screen which gave us another hour or two, then not long after they were in bed. 

We spent the night sitting around again recounting how awesome we were at soccer, drinking a few more wines and eating a huge mix of chocolate goodies. 

Easter bunny is coming overnight, so we need to keep enough sense about is to remember to hide the kids stash for the

morning. 

Naracoorte - Good Friday

It was cold this morning. *^%}€ cold. Although a quick check on the car thermometer said it was 11 degrees, so I am guessing we must have just been in a little pocket of freezing air in the van. We finally got up and cooked up a storm in the Weber for breakfast, before the kids took off to play while we cleaned up. 

10am arrived and the kids were ready for the huge public pool that was adjacent to the park. This pool would be about an acre in diameter, is fully chlorinated and starts with sand and ends up as 2m deep in the middle. And it is free!

We went back in the afternoon and I even ventured in, trying hard to not overflow the pool when I jumped in off the platforms in the middle. 

Upon returning to camp, finding the girls (Tracy, Nic and Livvy) well into their 3rd bottle of champagne, I decided to join in and have a drink or two myself. Between tending to the kids, cleaning up and just not doing much more, it was suddenly dinner time. The kids were off at the camp kitchen watching an outdoor movie  of "Oddball", I cooked up the kebabs and that was the day done. 

Getting cold again already, but nothing that a few more drinks can't help to disappear. 

Naracoorte - Easter 2016

It only seems like 2 months since we arrived back from our last caravan holiday ... It was actually exactly 2 months since returning from Tasmania and I have been so looking forward to getting away again. 

I was home at midday to pack the final few things in the van until the kids got home from school at 3:45. My thoughts of ambling along got a rude shock when I  was still packing when they got home. We finally set off only to be greeted with traffic stopped just up the road, and it took nearly 20 minutes to travel 1.5km. My temperature was rising by the second, the kids faces were buried in their iPads already, and Tracy was asleep. I am sure there is a reason I like going on caravan holidays. 

We got all the way to Tailem bend (about 65km) before the first child needed a toilet stop. I am sure Tracy was secretly glad also, but would never admit it. 

We managed to get to Keith to the kids favourite playground before the next toilet request and a quick leg stretch. And then set off for the final leg. Unfortunately this 100km section was completely roadworks ridden, meaning the speed limit was 80km/hr the whole way... Apparently.... Every car and truck roared past obviously very annoyed at me obeying the roadwork speed limits. Even though I would probably only be doing 85 if the works wasn't limiting me. 

Anyway, it was nearly 9pm when we did finally arrive, and then I had to enter the "let the wife direct while backing the van in" zone. Not sure whether it was because it was dark, or just because I was about to burst a kidney if I didn't get to the loo soon, but 4 attempts later I ended up just driving thru the site and stopping wherever it looked good. 

After setting up, we settled in with the Mardles and Hardy's having  a drink or 2 and talking sh%t, hoping for good weather for the rest of the weekend. 

Adelaide Shores - The calm after the storm

Waking up this morning to relatively calm weather and blue skies was a very welcome start to the day after yesterday's wind and sideways rain. The kids couldn't wait to get onto the jumping pillow and then into the pool. We all had breakfast and then off they went. When Tyler and his cousin Ned popped back for a drink an hour later, I took them down to the beach for a walk and to see what damage the pounding water and wind had done to the foreshore. The water was incredibly warm and if I had my bathers and there were a few less early morning walkers, I may have just about slipped my top off and rolled down the sand into the water. I reckon if I had though, the waves would have pretty well pushed me straight back onto the sand dunes and buried me into the sand head first to end up looking like a dis-used bike rack. 

The rest of the day was all about the kids and was spent swapping between the pool, jumping pillow and splash park. 

Finally it came out time to have some cheese and nibbles and a few well earned drinks with the kids playing a bit closer to camp. 

The sudden realisation that it was getting late made us jump up and start cooking tea, which was a huge BBQ spread across 3 cooks to serve 6 adults and 9 kids - 8 of them being 11 years or younger. After eating just about everything that was cooked and then somehow forcing in a cake, we sat back and contemplated the reason we were here .... Tracy's mum and dad have been married for 50 years. A remarkable effort and congratulations to them. 

Adelaide Shores Big 4

Tracy's parents have somehow defeated the odds and reached an amazing milestone of 50 years of Wedded Bliss. That's about the same as the sentence one would expect for a double homicide, but perhaps with a few more benefits. To help them celebrate, we all agreed late last year to go caravanning at Adelaide Shores Caravan Park. It was only 3 days since we returned from our 4 weeks away in Tassie, but that meant packing was actually easier because we didn't have to unpack from our previous adventures.

We left home at 2pm, fully aware that there was some foul weather heading in off Kangaroo Island, but carried on anyway. No sooner had we got out the car, the wind and rain started. Tracy and the kids bolted for her parents van, as they had arrived a couple of hours earlier and we're all settled in, while I laboured on through the storm making sure our temporary home was secured to the ground with no chance of taking off in the 60km/hr winds. 

We basically didn't move for the next 2 hours, other than to mop up the drips from the sideways rain that was penetrating the vents. We also changed our plans and decided that a BBQ wasn't the best choice of meal, given the conditions, so we booked in to the local hotel and went out for tea. 

We got back about 9:30 to find everything was still upright and before I could say "let's have a drink", everyone was in bed. I poured myself a mug of port in protest and stood outside admiring the crystal clear sky watching the stars getting blown away in this ferocious wind. 

It is supposed to calm down overnight - we are certainly hanging out for that. 

Victor Harbor - not as cool as you think

This morning was once again great weather, cloudy, coolish with a hint of warmth poking through the clouds. It was forecast to be hot and windy today, and judging by the current weather I was ready to bet a bottle of bourbon that it was a wrong prediction.
Luckily for me I am not a betting man... by lunch time it was stinking hot and blowing 40km/hr winds. The Mardles had decided today wasn't going to be pleasant enough for them, and took off early this morning to spend the day back in their air-conditioned house. The only disadvantage to this was that they couldn't stay and see their camper trailer annex being blown apart with tent poles smashing down into their gear every time a gust ripped through and turned their annex inside out. After the second time of trying to repair it, Rob and I dismantled the annex and poles and left it packed up so that it didn't end up on Granite Island by the end of the day.
And then the stay vs go discussions started.
Being the Easy-to-get-along-with and non-opinionated bloke that I am, I dug my heels in and said NO!!. We were booked in for another night and I didn't care that the forecast was for 25 degrees minimum overnight and that we didn't have power so therefore no cooling / fans. And besides, the wind was forecast to stop 3 hours ago, so it wont be long now before it actually does stop. We are staying, Goddammit.
Less than an hour later, I was in the middle of packing up the van despite the 36 degree temperature and gentle breeze that made it feel an extra 5 degrees hotter. I also wasn't speaking to anyone, nor were certain people speaking to me. I love camping.

At one stage I felt hotter than a rhino in the middle of the African desert ( and quite possibly looked about as appealing), so i stormed over to the pool and jumped in to cool down. About 10 minutes later I had cooled down (on the outside anyway) and managed to get out just before the Whale Watch Centre staff came to see if I was going to make it onto their list.
Not long after we were all packed up and in the car, soaking up the air conditioning and the journey home began.

The balmy night proved pretty difficult to sleep in, even with the ceiling fans roaring overhead. There was no way in this lifetime I was going to say that out loud though.

I had Tuesday booked off work on the assumption that I wasn't a fair-weather camper and would be still away, so I spent the day doing stuff around the house, spending more money at Bunnings on stuff, and just generally keeping busy doing stuff. By the end of the day I was stuffed.
Another Holiday done.... time to get ready for work tomorrow to pay for the last 4 days... (which should have been 5 days, but I am not starting that again!)

Victor Harbor - another day of nothing

'Twas a glorious morning when we stumbled out of the van at some ungodly hour this morning. Apparently the kids didn't understand that winding the clocks forward an hour for Daylight Savings meant it was still too early to get up.

Just trying to get Dylan to slow down enough to eat breakfast was an exercise in itself, because at 8:30 the jumping pillow was opened. And sure enough, at 8:27 he was gone. Which is one of the many reasons why we love our caravan holidays.... When the kids are so excited about being outside having fun, I have no intention of getting in their way. 

Tracy's long time friend Eva (who lives nearby in Victor) turned up just after 10:30 with her 3 kids and we all headed off to the pool. It was still only in the very low 20's and overcast, but it didn't worry the kids... For 1/2 an hour or so anyway. 

Soon they were back on the jumping pillow and I took off into Victor as it seems I ran out of alcohol yesterday...(a good 3/4 bottle just seemed to vanish...) and got some supplies that we were running short of. And yes, it was Woolworths that received my money... A now mandatory stop when on holidays it seems. 

When I got back, the champagne was already flowing, and I joined in with my newly purchased bottle of bourbon. It was probably a good half dozen empty bottles later when Kayla wanted some attention, so I took her and Gracie to the beach to cool down a bit. We took Banjo (the Hardy's 10 year old Labrador that is looking closer to 20) and spent a little while paddling and watching the girls and their enjoyment of jumping one foot waves. 

We waddled back (literally with Kayla complaining of having half the sand from the beach still in her bikinis) and Banjo stopping every two steps pretending to smell the ground when he was really stopping for a rest due to the cracking pace of 10 metres an hour we were walking. 

The kids did manage to find a funny moment of dressing Banjo in the floaty starfish, and like the good responsible adults we are, we cracked up laughing and took as many photos as we could before Banjo moved... Only to realise that moving after a 100m walk wasn't one of Banjo's immediate thoughts!

We got back to a huge plate of cheeses, biscuits and dips, and my fleeting thoughts of dieting took another 3 day reprieve as I got stuck into the Udder Delights Camembert. 

Before we knew it, the clock had ticked passed 5:30 and the kids were starting to  do the usual "I'm hungry" complaints, so I became a contender for father of the year by abandoning my bourbon and Coke, and the not so sober trio of girls,  and started cooking up tea for us all. We were having Yiros tonight, so I do need to give credit to Tracy who actually thought of that at 9am this morning and got the chicken out to defrost, rather than having me staring at the fridge complaining that we had nothing to eat. 

The weather is supposed to be 35 degrees & windy tomorrow with a low of 23 tonight. It is currently about 14 so someone has got it wrong again. 

We have just managed to devour about 4  family sized blocks of chocolate and another few bottles, so the temperature isn't the foremost issue right now... Rather it is the thought of needing to go to bed even tho it is just 9pm and then how many times we will have to get up and go to the loo. 

Either way, it is too cold, and there was a faint hint of a promise with an early bed time, so I am gone.... (The I remembered the "we are camping - bigger off" rule, 

Much warmer in bed anyway. 

Over and out. 

Victor Harbor - Grand Final day

Woke up this morning to the sound of the kids whispering to each other whil playing a game on their beds big it wasn't 6:15am, I would have thought it was cute... However my inner niceness helped me to appreciate that they were at least trying to be quiet so I rolled over and went back to sleep for an hour. 

When I did finally roll out of bed and give the suspension on the van a bit of a rest, I momentarily thought about going for a run, but then chose to cook a bacon and egg sandwich instead. 

We then set off with the Hardy's and Mardles for a walk around Granite Island, which quickly turned into Rob, Ned, Tyler and myself walking round the track , whilst the others took all the other kids back to check out the Clydesdale horses and surrounds. 

The boys took it upon themselves to climb every rock that they could find, with Ned tripping on top of the tallest rock and Rob screaming profanities in the hope that Ned will stop himself falling and look up to see and hear what is being said.... Yeah right...  Ned did manage to get down in one piece and promised not to fall over again.... Yeah right😜. 

The Northerly winds were blowing a good 30 knots at this stage, so we pushed on along the trail, stopping momentarily to check out a stumpy tailed lizard before heading back along the bridge and catching up with the girls...

I was suffering big time at this stage from hay fever, so promptly lay down and fell asleep. 

I woke up about 10 minutes before the Hawks took on West Coast in the grand Final and set up the TV, but then decided the environment was a little less stressful sitting at the pool with the Rob and the kids, leaving Nic and Tracy watching the footy, and with the breeze blowing across the water, was also a hell of a lot cooler. 

Dinner tonight was a shared curry, which was a fantastic way of trying different meals, until I ended up chewing on a chilli that was part of Nicole's offering and set my mouth on fire, Still... It was a great selection of curries and enjoyed by all. 

Tomorrow is going to be slightly cooler, but no wind - I interpret that as hotter

Victor Harbor - a good decision

After what turned out to be a fairly freezing evening, we all crashed after a few drinks and lots of chocolate and had a good nights sleep. Well..... I did and wouldn't really have any idea what anyone else slept like......  

Morning broke and it was still a little cool but quickly watmed up into a perfect shorts and singlet type of camping day. 

I shot into Victor to get some supplies, including the toothbrushes that at least 2 of us had forgotten to pack, then sat lazing in the sun pondering over my "That's Life" puzzle book whilst the others watched the kids at the pool for a while. Whilst I was there on my own, I started pondering over my erection skills and tried to figure out how to make it bigger and better... Cos that's what blokes do. It soon came to me that I needed to head back into Victor, and before I knew it, I had my hands on some poles that would do perfectly. 

Getting back to campsite, I started banging and securing until my poles were as tight as they could get, and finally had an extra 6 square metres of shade that would be perfect for filtering the afternoon sun. I had to actually add even more during late arvo as the sun got lower, but i was happy to keep extending my erection to satisfy everyone around me. 

We may have then got stuck into the drinks a little too hard too early, do I pulled out and took the kids to the pool so they could cool down whilst I followed the world in Facebook. 

Getting back to the caravan a little while later, I discovered Tracy and Liv had now seen their way thru 3 bottles of champers and I could tell I was on the cusp of either sending everyone away for 30 minutes ( OK , 2, but 30 sounds better....) or give up hope and have another drink myself. Seeing as it wasn't quite 4pm yet, I chose the latter and joined in with the merriment until Tea time arrived. We had a perfectly cooked BBQ for tea, thanks to my Weber skills, then set the kids loose again for an hour to expel the last of their energy. 

Early to bed for the kids, then out with the wine and more chocolate.... And more wine. 

A huge improvement on the temperature tonight.... Still in shorts and singlet at 10 pm.... But it is time to call it a day,

I love my camping - and drinking. Or should I have said I love my drinking - and camping. 

Victor Harbor - Cooler than Melrose apparently

So for the last 3 months we have been planning our October long weekend holiday to Melrose with Dylan getting more excited than a flock of circling eagles waiting for a rabbit to die on the track , and to actually climb to the top of Mt Remarkable past the plane wreck milestone of a few years ago. This winter has been long, cold and miserable so I was itching to go North where it was going to be warm and dry........ And then the plans got changed. The forecast was for 31-34 degrees for the 5 days, which now is described as too hot after enduring 13 degrees or less for the last 5 months, and the decision was made to go down South with a pool and/or beach.... Or in our case, both.

So Victor Harbor becomes the new Melrose.......

What I did like about it was the 1 hour drive from home, the 30 minutes setup and the ensuing "relax with a drink" moments that followed. 

The kids took off to an outdoor screening of Paddington, while we chatted to the Hardy's, listening to Rob's detailed account of his Jayco Swan and its 2 1/2 hour setup procedure, with Rob's love of their van diminishing quicker than his patience. 

Not long after, Olivia and Daniel turned up with Livvy immediately getting out and demanding a quick erection so she can sit down and have a wine.... And a drink. So Daniel diligently got it up as quick as he could, without making too much mess, and fulfilled Liv with her desire to have a deserved stiff drink. Their camper trailer really is a breeze to set up. 

We are back in the our van... And we love it. Ahhhhhh

Not too many people here yet... Nice and quiet. Suspect it is going to get rowdy over the weekend tho. 

Pt Augusta - day 3

This is it - today is the day we are going to catch some Kingfish.... So up we get at 4:20ish and get ready. If you could have spent the night listening to the noises coming out of 3 guys from both ends who had spent the night drinking and eating pizza and barbie food, you would understand that it was enough to make any zoo enclosure proud. I swear Michael was going to cough up the last weeks worth of breakfast a couple of times, but somehow he managed to keep it down for another day - not by choice tho I reckon.

We had a fog free morning so got out to the squid grounds relatively quickly and was still pitch black. My hands were colder than a bitter ex wife's heart, and it seems the squid thought so too and they stayed away. 

As the sun poked its head up above the mountain ranges however, the beautiful backdrop became second thoughts as the squid started jumping on our jigs and giving us that false sense of hope that this might just be the day we catch those sought after Kingfish. 

As we motored our way back to the Power Station, Peter got a call from his mate saying they were "busting up" in the shallows, so we hoofed it over and saws a great big school of our target fish rolling around on the surface. I immediately reached out for the camera while Pete jumped from one side of the boat to the other to get his new rod and popper to cast out amongst them. Apparently I can't video and drive a boat at the same time, according to the irritated tones flying out of Peters mouth as I am going left when I should be going right, and then going right when I should be going left. It turned out that the other 2 boats trying to get amongst the action had the same unlucky luck and the fish disappeared shortly after. We spent the next hour chasing them around the shallows, but as per the last 2 days they were nowhere to be found again. It was also at this stage I noticed The GoPro still recording the sky as I obviously forgot to turn it off... And I am seriously hoping I did actually press record earlier. I guess I will find out shortly. ... Later arrives and you guessed it..... I never pushed record initially, and then pushed record when I thought I was stopping it ...%^#}{!!!!!  We know we saw them so that is all that matters. 

It is beautiful weather again... So I am happy to sit in the sun and enjoy not being at work. 

(Picture was to be inserted here... If I had a picture to insert)

As they say.... a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.