Day 21. Mypolonga to Claire

A sad goodbye...

Today we had to say a sad goodbye to our new friends. The Walton's have been the most amazing hosts.

Scarlett had a sleep over in Reilly's room last night, and they were both still sleeping when Bec tippy toed in this morning to check on Scarlett. Later, when everyone was up and ready to face another day, we were treated to a fully cooked BBQ breakfast on the front deck overlooking the Murray River. It was a great start to the day, even though a light rain began to fall.

We eventually had to say goodbye, and Scarlett was heartbroken. She had made some new friends in the 3 boys, and really didn't want to leave. We promised to catch up again - at Bathurst in 2012! The date has been set and we look forward to seeing them all!. I think 2012 will be the year we introduce Scarlett to 'the race', as I'm sure she will want to see her new friends again.

We had plans on heading down to Victor Harbour this morning, and then up to Hahndorf for the afternoon - but again the weather had other ideas. Its beginning to feel like the rain just wont leave us alone, and will continue to follow us wherever we go. Hopefully our luck will change soon.

We decided to head north via the Clare Valley wine region, and we ended up staying at the Clare Caravan Park tonight. It's a great little 'Top Tourist' park, and due to having everything cleaned and 'topped up' after our stay at Mypolonga, we went for a non-powered site which was only $23.40 for the night. Bargain!

Scarlett had her 1st chance to speak with her best mate Connor today via 'Skype' and really enjoyed the experience. She was very disappointed when we had to end the call - but we'll make a point of doing a 'Skype' call fortnightly so they can both get their 'fix' of each other. It's great that they can still keep in contact with each other during this year.

Tonight, my little girl took another step closer to growing up. Scarlett lost her first baby tooth. Its a sad goodbye, but also a beautiful thing, as Bec is quite emotional over the whole thing. We wrapped up the tooth in a tissue and placed it under Scarlett's pillow. She is so excited! A tooth fairy is going to visit 'her' tonight - for the very first time! She even asked me how will the tooth fairy find her - as we are on holidays. So I ended up ringing Tinkerbell (who I know for a fact is a good friend of the tooth fairy), and asked her to let the tooth fairy know where Scarlett is tonight. Its so cute....

Day 20. Mypolonga

See! I can do it mum!

A lovely sleep in today. After our big drive back yesterday from Kangaroo Island, we were all exhausted. Troy's brother in law Kym, sent the kids over to the van this morning with an offer to take Scarlett off our hands for a couple of hours to go with them to watch the boys play tennis, a huge YES from Scarlett! She had missed the kids over the couple of days we were away, and was keen to catch back up with them.

With Scarlett gone for a few hours we managed to do a few loads of washing, clean out and pack away all the camping gear and get ready to move on again tomorrow.
When they got back Kym asked if we were keen to come down to the river (they live across the road from the Murray River) and put his ski boat in for a few rounds. All three of Kym's boys are great on the wake board and knee board, having lived on the river all their lives.

It wasn't more than 20min in and Scarlett was asking for a turn. I must admit I wasn't very keen as I didn't think she would be able to hold onto the rope, not to mention she only just learnt to swim and it's a very big river right now. Kym assured me she would be ok, he would go slow and his eldest son Cooper would jump in on the other knee board to keep an eye on her. Well blow me down if the little bugger jumped straight into the river and pulled herself up on the knee board and managed to not only hold on through the take off, but lasted for at least a kilometre.

We were all so surprised, and totally amazed she pulled it off. When she got back into the boat she turned to me and said with attitude "See mum, I told you I could do it" nothing this kid does now will ever surprise me again.

Now Troy's sister and brother in law are both named Kym, slightly confusing but made our job easier remembering their names anyway. So when talking about Troy's sister Kym I will just refer to her as Troy's sister.

Troy's lovely sister (Kym) made us yummy roast pork for dinner and the kids played happily for hours. It was so nice to just sit out on their front balcony and watch the Murray River flow by over a couple of drinks. Later in the evening after we put the kids to bed Troy's sister casually walked past and commented "The table is on fire". OMG she was so calm, the outdoor table was very much alight. The kids had sparklers earlier so there were spent matches and we also had mozzie candles on the table and something somewhere had gone wrong.

The boys ran for the fire extinguisher, I can laugh now, but the extinguisher didn't quite work as well as they expected and after running then for water they finally got the table out. I felt bad for them. It was a beautiful table and some melted through onto the floorboards below, thank god they were all laughing about it later and discussing what we could use the new hole in the table for!

After a few too many Vodka's and Port's we watched a movie and I think we went to bed at about 2:00am, I honestly can't remember. I was pretty stressed when I did go back to the van, Shane realised I had accidentally deleted all the photos from the ski boat earlier. I couldn't believe it, I didn't have one photo left of Scarlett's big ride or anything. It is very disappointing. I will have to be more careful in the future.

Troy's sister Kym

Troy's brother-in-law Kym

Scarlett, Cooper, Mitchel and Reilly

Day 19. Kangaroo Island to Mypolonga

A day for the birds...

It was a dark and wet morning. The rain drop were heavy, and the clouds looked as though they had set in for the day. (Bugger)

We had so many plans today, but it looked like none of them would eventuate. By the time we climbed out of bed and had the Pajero packed it was already after 10am.

The rain kept falling and it kept getting heavier and heavier.

Buy this stage, we thought it couldn't hurt to see if the Raptor Domain Free Flight show was still going ahead as we were driving past it anyway. We called in and I jumped out to find out what was the go - while Bec and Scarlett stayed nice and dry. As it turned out, they have an undercover area that they still do a slightly modified show in (with very little flying) - but at least it was up close and personal, with lots of hands on.

We all scampered under the cover out of the rain and patiently waited for the show to begin - wrapped under blankets provided by the raptor show people.

First to make an appearance was two orphaned birds - a Currarong and Magpie. These guys are still fairly young and they ended up being quite cheeky and mischievous doing the show. Scarlett wasn't impressed, and kept asking when are the big eagles coming out.....

Next was a cute little guy called "Chip", an Australian Kestrel. He was a beautiful little bird, and we soon discovered that we were lucky to see him - as during a show in the open flight arena the previous week, she was attacked by a wild Sparrow Hawk! She was last seen flying at a great rate of knots over the open fields with the Sparrow Hawk right on his tail. After a couple of hours, and after "Chip" had relaxed a little, he returned to the Raptor Domain a little worse for wear but uninjured.

We were then introduced to "Boo" next, a Boobook Owl (or Mopoke). This little fellow was very wet, and duly shook all the water off his feathers and onto the entranced visitors. Very funny. We were all given a chance to have "Boo" fly onto our hands and both Scarlett and I jumped at the chance.

Soon, "Casper" the Barn Owl made an appearance. He was a beautiful boy who walked around the visitors and jumped from person to person from knee to knee. Bec and Scarlett posed with him while I jumped up and took a photo or two. At the end of the show "Casper" was rewarded with his own form of chocolate - a mouse. It was great to see this little guy polish off the mouse and stand there for the next 5 minutes with a mouse tail hanging out of his mouth! (It reminded me of when we feed our pet Diamond Pythons Willow and Achilles).

Next was a surprise! We were the first group of visitors to be introduced to an orphaned Barn Owlet that still had its baby plumage and looked very cute. It still didn't have a name, so Scarlett raised her hand and suggested "Soren" from the movie 'Guardians of Ga'Hoole'. I think the name might stick, as the keepers were very impressed.

Lastly, we were introduced to "Alex" a 9 year old female Wedge tail Eagle. She was majestic! Unfortunately due to her size, we weren't able to touch or hold her, but we still had the chance to get up close and personal, and watched her finish off some yummy Kangaroo meat.

I found the Raptor Domain to be a very informative and hands on experience. These guys save injured or orphaned birds, and release what is viable back into the wild. I ended buying some 'Hot' Raptor Sauce, as proceeds go into bird rehabilitation.

Although it was a wet day, we were still able to salvage something with the Raptor Show. I can seriously recommend this place to anyone considering visiting Kangaroo Island.

The rest of our visit was cut short due to the rain - as it only got heavier. Bec rang the ferry people and changed our return ticket. It was now a 'controlled' mad dash back to Penneshaw to catch the ferry.

The say theferry ride itself was a 'little rough' is an understatement, as the seas were a little sloppy and all over the place. Bec and Scarlett were both feeling a 'little' seasick, and were very relieved to finally reach land again.

As it was still raining, we decided to head up to the southern outskirts of Adelaide and visit the Horndale Winery that had been highly recommended by John and Ann Palmer, the parents of our close friends Damion and Kristy who live on the Gold Coast. This was an excellent detour, as Bec 'enjoyed' tasting all the different ports available. Phil - our proprietor, was an expert on wine and port selection. When he found out that John and Ann had highly recommended them, he was very accommodating and a wealth of knowledge. we were going to buy a 'small' 5 ltr Baltic Barrel of Tawny Port (for caravanning of course), but he insisted we wait as the barrels on the shelf still had not been broken in or aged properly yet. So unfortunately we walked away without a barrel - but Bec still bought a bottle! We have their contact details and plan on ordering a barrel in the near future to be delivered somewhere down the track! Mmm...

Rain! It never stopped all day. We then headed back to Myopolonga to where we had left our caravan. ....And went to bed

(and it was still raining!).

Day 18. Kangaroo Island

 What a Remarkable day

Secret Passage to Beach



Our lovely tranquil sleep-in was cut short by of all things, the local garbage truck. See even out here in paradise, the daily grind still goes on.

We packed up camp as the clouds were rolling in, we were concerned that the tent was going to get wet. It ended up holding out, but we still headed out early and went for another walk down the beach for one last look and photo opportunity. It didn’t disappoint, this place is beautiful; Stokes Bay is by far the most beautiful of all the bays on Kangaroo Island. And the secret passage cave walk to get through to the beach, a real novelty.



As we began our drive around the island our first stop was King George Beach. This beach had the most amazing red lichen (similar to moss) all over the rocks, a photographer’s paradise. We explored the rock pools, and took a million photographs.



King George Beach


We then ventured onto Western River Cove, another picture perfect area and like the last stop we had the whole place to ourselves. To get to this cove we had to drive down into a very steep winding valley, totally worth the thrill ride and we could see why not many people ventured down here.


Western River Cove

Next stop was Flinders Chase National Park Visitor’s Centre to have some lunch, and purchase a national parks pass. This park is home to the famous Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks, both part of the reason (other than the wildlife) we came here.

Admirals Arch is home to hundreds of New Zealand fur seals, they are everywhere. There were mothers with pups; juveniles play fighting, huge older seals asleep everywhere in the sun, and more playing in the water. The actual arch was down a long stairway and is a huge natural wonder cut out of the side of th cliff by water erosion, providing a great sheltered breeding area for the seals.



Admirals Arch

While walking out to another lookout at the Arch, Scarlett nearly trod on a Tiger snake. I knew they were very common in this area, so walking along I was always keeping a lookout along the edge of the path. Poor little bugger I nearly broke her arm pulling her backwards in mid air just as her foot was about to come down on him. She quickly forgot the pain in her arm and turned from crying to excitement, and wanting to take a closer look at him. On the way back from the lookout, we were able to find him again not far from the path, slowly cruising for lunch.

Tiger Snake

The beautiful sculptures of the Remarkable Rocks did not disappoint either, they really are actually quite ‘remarkable’. They look so out of place, yet blend in beautifully. There are so many colours and shapes, and they seem to be poised so delicately here that a small wind might just blow them all off. We had a great time posing for photos and finding shapes in the rocks, we could have stayed here for hours. The rocks are so smooth, I don’t know if this is from natural erosion or the fact everyone who visits can’t help as they walk around running their hands all over them, I know we did.

The Remarkable Rocks

Next on the list today was a guided walk through the Kelly Hills Caves. On the way to the cave entrance we spotted an echidna, he was huge, and so busy digging for ants so we were able to walk right up to him. We were the only people on this tour so the ranger let Scarlett hold one of his torches, and pretty much let her walk us where ever she wanted to. These underground wonders were discovered in the 1920’s and there is still more paths being opened up and explored today. The photo’s here don’t do the experience justice, it was really beautiful inside.



Kelly Hill Caves



When we came out of the caves the clouds had really rolled in and rain drops were starting to fall, so we decided to ditch the tent and booked in at the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Retreat, located at the entrance to the park and very eco-friendly. Scarlett purchased some kangaroo food and laid a path through the motel and right up onto our veranda. Within half an hour she had three small wallabies feeding out of her hand right at our door. All the overseas tourists wanted to take photos of her - too funny.

Mother and Baby Brushtail Possum

This evening Shane booked us in at Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for a nocturnal tour. We saw heaps of wallabies, kangaroo’s, koala’s, and ringtail/brushtail possums. Most of the wildlife we have seen many

times before, but it was still entertaining for Scarlett and good support for the sanctuary. Scarlett was to tired from this huge day she was asleep before we even got out of the sanctuary’s drive way. A huge day for us all.

Day 17. Murray Bridge to Kangaroo Island

An amazing encounter!

This is a day late I know, but Internet isn't the easiest thing to access over here on Kangaroo Island -

But its worth the wait! Read on.....

It was an early start to make the ferry in time. The drive took just under two hours and we found ourselves boarding the Kangaroo Island car ferry and on the high seas! Actually, the seas were flat and the trip across went fantastic. Scarlett commented that she was travelling overseas!

First stop was Pennington Bay on the south coast where we had lunch and walked along the beach and crawled amongst the rocks and cliffs. Scarlett had a ball, and Bec and I were mesmerized by the beauty and coastline. It truly is an unforgettable place, as the water is a beautiful turquoise colour and the beaches are as white as any we have ever seen!

While travelling, we came across a salt lake and decided to investigate further. I took the Pajero out onto it so I could get some good off road photos. While I was doing this Bec decided to go for a walk, and before she knew what was happening she found herself breaking through the salt layer and sinking into stinking mud, It was hilarious! She was almost crying, and here I was laughing and taking photos! Scarlett was not impressed and told Bec that she was disgusting!

We then made our way to the north coast to a little place called Emu Bay. We found we could take the Pajero on the beach and travel the whole length of the beach. Scarlett thought it was great and can’t wait to go back.

Halfway down the beach, we had the most amazing encounter. While I was exploring the sand dunes, Bec and Scarlett decided to go for a swim. Bec called out to me that there were dolphins nearby. By the time I found the camera, Bec and Scarlett had practically walked up to them (very shallow water), and the dolphins came over to check them both out. There were 4 or 5 adults and 2 young ones in the pod. They got that close, that if Bec wasn’t holding Scarlett, she could of reached out and touched them. It was a magic moment that will live with Bec and Scarlett forever!

We then decided to check out what was happening towards the middle of the island and found a little place called ‘Parndana Wildlife Park’. Scarlett kept asking where are all the Kangaroo’s? She expected them to be everywhere. Well we were on Kangaroo Island, so I could see her point. This place has a plethora of local native wildlife, and the biggest collection of birds I have seen in one place. (Evo you would love it here!). We fed the animals and did everything possible, before enjoying an ice-cream and making more plans on where to head next.

We headed north to another place called Stokes Bay. We decided to set up camp here for the night, so we pitched our tent, made dinner, and then went exploring! We found another truly amazing place. We went for a walk and found a series of caves in the headland that opened up on another fantastic beach and natural rock pool. Scarlett and I left Bec to read her magazines on the beach, and Scarlett and I went exploring. We found more caves, and Scarlett soon had me squeezing through the tightest, narrowest holes imaginable. However we did end up going in one place and coming out somewhere else on more than one occasion. We even went rock hopping out past the natural rock pool, and by the time we found our way back, we had gone completely around one headland, and didn’t return for about an hour. I think Bec forgot about us, as by the time we returned she was almost sleeping.

The other thing about this place is all the little critters. We have all these small wallabies and bandicoots visiting and again, Scarlett loves it. We are just minding our own business doing our own thing, and the next thing we know we are surrounded by wallabies. Even now, I’m sitting outside the tent typing this blog, and I have at least 3 wallabies less than 6 ft away eating grass and checking me out. It’s a great feeling having wildlife so close!

Goodnight!

(Posted by Shane via Bec's blog access - I'm still having troubles)

Day 16. Mypolonga

Orange World Nostalgia

Mum sent me this really old pic of me at Orange World back in 1996, this visit was the whole reason I wanted to take Scarlett to this iconic place. It was a shame it was closed although I am now grateful I got a picture of her there now.

Me at Orange World 1996

Scarlett at Orange World 2011

Today was a maintenance da. We went into Murray Bridge, did some laundry, food shopping, shopped at Bunnings and got some parts for the engel freezer. We've booked a ferry for tomorrow to go over to Kangaroo Island for 4 days, so today was all about packing the car and getting ready to depart tomorrow.

Were leaving the van at Kim's for the four days we are gone, and moving everything into the tent. The car is packed to the roof, I'm so used to having all the space in the van, I'm now realising how spoilt I've been.
Chris and Brian cooked a lovely BBQ at Kim's for dinner tonight and we headed back to their home to stay so we are a little closer tomorrow morning for the drive into the ferry at Cape Jervis.

Scarlett had a great evening playing with Kim's three boys and was sad to say goodbye, she will be back guys so don't bother putting away all the LEGO!

Day 15. Mannum to Mypolonga

Happy Valentines Day!

Umm, well yes. Both Bec and I forgot. Oops!

Happy Valentines Day honey....... I Love You!

Weather wise, today was great! It got a little warm mid afternoon, but it was nothing compared to the heat we experienced back in NSW only a week or two ago.

As we prepared to set off from Mannum this morning, the "Murray Princess" pulled in alongside, and we had a great view of this majestic vessel. I would like to do a multi-day trip on her one day as I believe it would be absolutely beautiful.

We then headed off to Monarto Open Range Zoo and had a great time. We took the shuttle bus within the zoo to visit all the different exhibits, and even made a point of stopping in and seeing a few Keeper talks - namely the White Rhino, African Painted Dogs / Hyena / Lion, and the Chimpanzee. It was very informative, and turned out to be a relaxing day just checking out the locals.

We were even fortunate enough to witness a high speed collision between two land tortoises that ended in one roll over and had the zoo responding in minutes. It was truly amazing to watch.

Scarlett loved the 'reindeers', Bec loved the giraffe, and I enjoyed the Rhino's. We all ticked off our 'must see list' today.

After the zoo, we went down to Murray Bridge to visit Kris and Brian, the parents of Troy - a friend of mine who I know at work. They have been very helpful, and have arranged for our caravan to be parked/stored at Kim's house (Troys sister) while we visit Kangaroo Island for a few days to have a look at this amazing part of Australia. Its amazing how many people (friends and family) have gone out of their way to help us on our journey and made it that little bit more special - thank you to all of you - you know who you are!

Not a hectic day at all really, but it was nice just to spend some time as a family (on Valentine's Day) doing something we all enjoy.

I could almost get use to this.......

post by Shane (I couldn't log in and had to use Bec's access to blog tonight)

Day 14. Renmark to Mannum

McLeod's Daughters meets the Cheney's...

We had a lovely sleep in today, and Shane made bacon and eggs for breakfast. We packed up and left lovely Renmark this morning and hit the road only to stop 20km’s down the track at a huge adventure playground for Scarlett at Monash. This playground was huge and best of all free, I don’t know who had the better time Shane or Scarlett.

Next stop was Banrock Station winery, after some very nice tastings I settled on a Pink Moscato, some local Dukkah and Olive oil. This winery is very eco friendly situated overlooking a huge regenerated wetland area filled with birds. I would love to have sit here all afternoon drinking wine and eating good food if I didn’t have a 5 yr old hounding me to move on.

We stopped in at Brookfield Conservation Park just out of Blanchetown. This park was purchased by the Chicago Zoological Society in Brookfield USA as a wombat reserve to study the Southern Hairy Nosed Wombats. It’s now managed by S.A. National Parks, and it’s the first time we took the caravan seriously off road. When we parked this evening and I went to get a jacket out of my wardrobe and discovered that everything that was once hanging up was now on the bottom in a huge pile. We didn’t see any wombats….

Further down the track Shane had a lovely idea to take me for a drink in at the Gungellan Hotel (at Freeling) out of McLeod’s Daughters, it was so cool. Pity that show took a nose dive; I really enjoyed the first couple of seasons.

This evening we settled into a free camp, again on the Murray River at Mannum. It was a quick spag bowl eaten out on the riverfront, and when it got dark we did some spot lighting. It didn’t take long before we were seeing possums in every tree. Scarlett had a green apple and was hand feeding them, they were so tame. One poor possum was coming down the tree to get a piece of apple from her, when the little bugger slipped straight down the trunk and onto her, she got the fright of her life. Kept her cool though and stood still and he just ran back up alongside her again. Don’t know what it is with this kid and freaky animal encounters at the moment, tomorrow at the Monarto zoo should be interesting……..