To 20-Nov-06 (Adelaide SA to Melbourne Vic)

MURRAY BRIDGE SA (Long Island Caravan Park & Marina)
Spencer was in his element here with a marina, boats and yes, even a place to park the van. We happened to see some guys building a huge houseboat and just had to stop to check their progress. We also checked out some other boats at their moorings nearby.


ROBE SA (Sea-Vu Caravan Park)
What a great place with beautiful buildings, boutique shops and good variety – we could ease right in to the lifestyle here. We enjoyed a delish fish & chips feed, walked along the beach and did the tourist drive – saw heaps!




How’s this for a lunch-time view from under the van’s awning? The sharp-eyed reader will notice that we decided to lash out and invest in 2 bananas (just to see whether they still taste the same – they do!).









We found this to be a rugged, interesting coastline and even scored some beautiful weather for photos too!











MT GAMBIER SA (Central Caravan Park)
“Central” in the van park’s name is correct – it’s almost right in the middle of town. We were entertained by a few boy-racers with great sounding cars. They were very considerate and were gone well before our bedtime.


There is so much to see and do here. We checked out the Blue Lake (which provides Mt Gambier’s water supply - lucky people). It was sparkling and we thoroughly enjoyed a tour of the pumping station, including a lift ride almost to water level.

We enjoyed fellowshipping at Mt Gambier Presbyterian Church, a delightful, progressive congregation with a beautiful new building. We were made most welcome.




This is the Umpherston Sinkhole (where a cave roof collapsed to create a huge hole). This is a very big area and we spent ages wandering around in these most beautiful gardens way below ground level. We also met a very friendly possum who thought that we should have had a piece of apple for him at least.









An Agricultural Show was on in Casterton Vic while we were in Mt Gambier (it was only 70k from Mt Gambier and just down the road in country terms). We wanted to go because we had seen the ads on TV and just had to see the Sheepdog Trials. Boy, sheep are dumb! And any that aren’t so dumb are plain obstinate! These are Australia’s best working kelpies and they are amazing. We spent much of the day watching them in action.



PORT CAMPBELL Vic (Port Campbell Caravan Park)
Wild, windy and awesome are good descriptors for our time here. Fortunately, our van was nestled between 2 other vans and we were somewhat protected from the very strong cross-winds. We marveled afresh at this amazing coastline and visited The Bay of Islands, Thunder Cave, The Blowhole, The Grotto, Loch Ard Gorge, the Twelve Apostles and more. Even though it was raining at most places, we were amazed how God provided breaks in the rain long enough for our photos.



This is London Bridge (which really did fall down in 1990). We remember walking over the now missing span 28 years ago on our first big family adventure to Perth.










Recognise the Twelve Apostles (well a few of them anyway)? This photo was taken in rain and with very heavy winds – well done to Rhonda!











LORNE Vic (Lorne Foreshore Caravan Park)
This was a beautiful park on the banks of the Erskine River and with lots of ducks and ducklings just outside our van. Spencer knew he was in Victoria when he started cooking some steaks in the late afternoon sunshine, and then rain and then hail – thankfully the umbrella was nearby to keep the BBQ dry until they were done (not needed at the end because it was sunny again!).


MELBOURNE Vic (Sylvan Caravan Park, Campbellfield and then Apollo Gardens Tourist Park, Craigieburn)
All these cars, trucks and traffic lights – busy, busy, busy, rush, rush, rush! Rhonda says that she is definitely now a country girl and Spencer, after some adjustment, reckons that he is now in the zone (traffic-wise at least).

We will catch up with friends while we’re in Melbourne and check out the local sights. We will also have a little warranty work done on the van while we’re here.



With best wishes & may God richly bless each person reading this,




Spencer & Rhonda

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To 6-Nov-06 (Kulgera NT to Adelaide SA)

SOME MORE DETAILS AND A MAP
Phew! The Paj has now travelled 35,400k and dragged the van 22,300k – naturally, all with style and aplomb. The car tows the van very well – although it does seem to prefer travelling alone and leaps away like a gazelle when freed from its shackles.





COOBER PEDY SA (Stuart Range Caravan Park)
Our second visit here confirmed our first impression – Coober Pedy is indeed HOT and DUSTY! The air-conditioner is definitely our friend!!



Just as we stopped to take this pic of the “Big Truck”, a huge cattle train drove into the big dirt parking area to turn around. It raised its own dust-screen in no time at all – gosh this IS a dusty place!








WOOMERA SA (Woomera Travellers Village)
Woomera is a fascinating place. There is much evidence of boom times here and they could be here again if plans for a space-port facility eventuate (push on Richard Branson). There are some great museums and displays here too – Spencer spent ages checking out rockets, engines, guidance systems, etc., etc. while Rhonda graciously found plenty to enjoy too. Most of the locals are connected with the nearby (in outback terms) Roxby Downs mine.



This is Lake Hart. It is huge but sadly, it is just salt with no water at all! Lake Hart would look beautiful brimming with H2O.

Also, after driving so far on sometimes pretty raggedy roads, we were surprised to score our first broken windscreen (ever) south of Woomera on the bitumen Stuart Highway. Spencer had pulled over as a huge road train passed the other way and BAM, there was suddenly a huge hole in the outer layer of glass plus a crack which started snaking right through the driver’s line of vision (of course).


WILPENA POUND SA (Rawnsley Park)
These Flinders Ranges sure are a beautiful place. Even with the countryside so dry, they are awesome. We would like to come back here after some rain. We had intended to stay just 2 nights and ended up staying 4. There is so much to see that we were tempted to stay even more.

On the way to Wilpena, we visited a panorama in Hawker. This amazing place was created by local Christian artist Jeff Morgan who has painted the Wilpena Pound panorama as seen from St Mary’s Peak. We were delighted to meet and get to know him.



How is this for beautiful country? We did enjoy driving down this road in the Flinders Ranges, through some awesome gorges and to some great lookouts.











We particularly liked the red gums in river beds – Rhonda is getting pretty good at nature photography don’t you think.

We also met Chris and Barbie from Scotland at Rawnsley Park and enjoyed their company heaps. A delightful retired couple travelling in a “Wicked” van - the ones with sometimes awful artwork on them. Chris & Barbie had many stories of arriving to shocked expressions, then relief (these vans are usually hired by young & sometimes rowdy backpackers) and then “Do you mind if we take a photo of you and your van?”. The response “We’re British you know!” seemed to fit perfectly here!


MELROSE SA (Melrose Caravan Park)
We stopped one night in this lovely town and caught up with Chris & Barbie again. Lovely place and delightful couple.


We liked the novelty of these cabins – built on the back of trucks. This one even looked as though it had collided with a tree and was still attached. We’re told that these cabins are very comfortable.








CLARE SA (Clare Caravan Park)
This is one town Rhonda really liked – it had a peaceful and prosperous feel, some beautiful stone houses, enough shops to keep the dedicate happy (it’s pretty impressive when Spencer wants to go grocery shopping with Rhonda – to a store with more than one aisle!).


ADELAIDE SA (Adelaide Beachfront Tourist Park, Semaphore Park)
Great to be here and to have the windscreen fixed. Good too to be rid of that pesky, eye-level crack which seemed to catch the slightest bit of sunlight and from any angle.

We caught up with Rhonda’s good friend and bridesmaid Narelle, her mum, and friends Ilona, Karen and Di. We also saw some of the Christmas Pageant in Adelaide City (many floats - some with only a pretty tenuous connection to Christmas).



Here is a live steam train which ran right beside our caravan park – our van is about 40 metres @ 2:30 to the engine (see if you can work that out!).

We have really enjoyed our time here and will move on tomorrow towards Mt Gambier and then on to Melbourne.






With best wishes & may God richly bless each person reading this,



Spencer & Rhonda


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