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I note our last part of our travels as relayed to the group ended at Ardrossan on the Yorke Peninsular. From there
we continued down the coast to Edithburg where we parked on the waterfront to get our bearings etc. Lo and behold, it turned
out to be opposite the house belonging to a couple of other motorhomers, Brian and Ros .. who asked us over for a cuppa.
They also have a Winnebago Alpine .. younger and shinier than ours! .. kept in a nice large shed. Three hours later we left
.. not before Brian received a phone call from Ron Young .. who we know well from near Mackay .. small world.
We continued down as far south as possible to Stenhouse Bay in Innes National Park where we stayed 3 nights. Spent
part of one day travelling as far as reasonably possible into the National Park .. there were other camp spots, but we
figured the one we had stopped at suited us the best. This sorta covered the east coast.
From there we essentially travelled as close to the west coast as possible .. checking out/staying at various camp
spots on the way. There are "fees" to be paid at most camp spots on the Yorke Peninsular .. we expected a care taker to be
in attendance, but he wasn't. We asked a local and was told the fee should be paid at various council offices before
arriving at the camp spot! Not sure how visitors are meant to be aware of this! We remembered Brian and Ros (above) saying
that four local councils had been combined into one and that put charges onto a number of facilities .. including the use
of boat ramps.
At Kadina we were pleasantly surprised to come across a Wollworths store. These (and Coles) are now a welcome sight
as we know there is a good variety of food (and grog) conveniently available. Travelled down to Moonta on the coast, where
there is a lot of Cornish history. Some of my mothers family were Cornish, so we had a good look around the Info Centre.
While speaking with the staff the subject of Cornish pasties was discussed .. my mum used to make them. So into town where
we purchased two .. we were told, traditional pasties. However, when we later started to eat them, they were terrible AND
didn't contain any meat .. maybe that was the problem .. Sue said they ahd the flavour of chaff!
Further north, just north of Port Broughton, we stayed at a place called "fish lab" for 3 nights. Interesting place
(and owner) who as well as the fish side of things is into alternate electrical enegy .. with 2 x 250 watt Dunlite wind
generators + another home brew one that he uses at high wind speeds (30 knots) when the Dunlite ones close down. He also has
some solar and is dabbling with an electric car! The fish he now has are mainly exotic species .. he also has a veggie
garden fertilised from the fish tanks.
From there we travelled sorta north east to Peterborough .. then south to Burra where we had 2 days in the caravan
park .. Sue did washing. Back north a short way to Mount Byran to look up Bob, VK5RI and Marie. Only stayed one night as
another 40 degree plus day was forecast.
South to near Gawler, northish to Balaklava, west to Port Wakefield (to complete that inland circuit). South to Port
Parham (on coast west of Dublin) where we stayed 10 days .. a record for us, but the excuse was we were waiting for friend
(from Vanuatu daze) Warren Stewart to return from Perth. We found shopping in the little town of Dublin to be a pleasure ..
friendly people, a new el cheapo shop had surplus undersize eggs .. a dollar for 30 eggs, so we gave some to a Swiss
couple in a fifth wheeler back at Port Parham.
Port Parham is an odd place .. in common with a lot of this gently sloping coast line, at low tide the water is a
km or so from the shore. Lots of the shore is covered with a type of sea grass that is washed ashore. The locals have
built unique vehicles to travel out through the shallows .. engine, driver etc. are on a platform about one and half metres
above the wheels.
Copy of e-mail sent to mailing list .. "we are at Port Parham .. about 60km up along the coast north of Adelaide.
Had some more hot weather a few days ago .. got up to 47 degrees in motorhome .. at that stage we started the generator and
ran the air con. The locals are still talking about it and one guy here, who has lived here all his life, said it's never
been like that since he was a kid. Funny shore line here .. about 500 metres of essentially level sand. At low tide its all
bare, and as tide comes in, it all seems to cover in a very short period of time. Lots of dead sea grass covering most of
the sand and lots of it blown up along the shore line. Am waiting for mail to arrive at Dublin, the nearest town out on the
highway. Hope to then look up an old friend in the suburbs of Adelaide .. he says this rig will fit in his driveway .. time
will tell! Regards to you all, Ron and Sue."
` Off towards Adelaide .. this meant a tussle with "city traffic" .. something we had avoided for a couple of years.
Also meant navigating narrow streets with lots of low overhanging trees at Warrens end (I still need to straighten out a few
bent radio antenna). We could only stay a couple of hours due to parking problems in that area. Warren gave me directions
re getting back onto the S.E. Freeway, Murray Bridge etc. However, due to rain, peak hour traffic and query if a right hand
turn was legal, we turned left and headed towards Victor Harbour .. it's great not being too particular as to where one is
going!!
Found Woolworths at Victor Harbour, more shopping for supplies, followed by a long conversation in the car park
with a woman who wanted to get a motorhome. She and her late husband were caravaners, now she wants to get on the road
again. From there east to Wellington near where the Murray River enters Lake Alexandria .. then up river to Mannup where we
are parked in a nice reserve opposite the town .. just 6 metres from the waters edge with wild duck, water fowl and the odd
pelican for company. Noticed the paddle ship "Murray Princess" moored opposite .. our friend Ian, VK5VJ (now in Portland,
Vic.) used to terrorise the passengers, over a number of years, in his position of purser. So we had to catch up with Ian
on 80m and advise him we were eying off his olde ship! Intend staying here a few days.
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