Blinman

Thursday 28/3/13

Today we drove from Adelaide to Blinman just north of the Flinders ranges.  We took the highway because we didn’t have time to do any wine tasting in the Barossa or Clare Valley. As we don’t really like white wines, and these areas produce remarkable Riesling’s, we didn’t care.  Also, our wine cellar is full, and more wine would encroach on the beer reserves.

This stretch of road is the most boring so far on our trip.  There is only farm land, with nothing growing (possible due to the dry conditions).  No tourist stops, nothing worth seeing.  Even the lakes were dry.

This must be our record driving day, at 510kms... 

Friday 29/3/13 (Good Friday) - Blinman

We left the van behind the Blinman Hotel and got an early start, heading for Arkaroola in the Gammon Ranges.  To start off, we had 160kms of dirt roads, the first 20 or so were pretty bad condition, correlated and rutted, so we had to go pretty slow.  Once we hit the main road (still dirt), and surface condition was much better we were able to drive at around 100kmh, slowing for the floodway’s and wildlife.

 

 

We stopped at Chambers Gorge, which had some aboriginal markings on the rocks there.  We walked through the (dry now) Gorge - which would have been awesome if there was some water -and found the markings.  They were scratched into the rocks, so were standing up to the elements.

 

 

We got some direction on the attractions when we reached Arkaroola, and it was just as well, because the main thing I wanted to do was go swimming in the “Paralana Hot Springs”, but the girl said they are not thermally heated like the hot springs you think, they are heated by radioactive material, and themselves are radioactive, and are green and horrible looking. Needless to say, we didn’t go there.

Instead, we went on a 4WD track to Nooldoonooldoona Waterhole, stopping at the “Pinnacles” and Bollabollana Spring along the way.  This track proved the worth of having a 4WD as the tow car, because this track would not be accessible in a 2WD car.  Most of the track would be possible in a 2WD, but there are tough bits where only 4WD will get through.

 

Parts of the track are along river beds, so whilst it was easy to drive on dry river beds, it was not as much fun as it would be if it was flowing.  At least a little bit would have been nice.  We found some rocks that were a sparkly as gliter, and crumbled in your hand whan you squeeed them.

 

On our way back to Blinman, we went to see the Ochre wall.  This is a very crumbly / soft rock that the aborigines used to make paint from.  This particular wall has all the colors and is very pretty to look at.  In the area, there are hard rocks with the same colours, so it pretty amazing that some ended up soft and some were as hard as rocks.

Even tho it was Good Friday we decided to have a local pizza. It was one of the BEST PIZZA EVER. The supreme had even prawns!!!

Saturday 30/3/13

We did some more 4WD driving as most of the places to see in this part of Ranges have only 4WD access. Before we hit the dirt road we went to see Great Wall of China on Mt Emily. We took a 4WD track along a “Scenic Route”, but this time, the 4WD’ing was much tougher - but nothing that the Pathfinder (with awesome driver Graham) couldn’t manage. We went to see the Patawart Gap and don’t ask us what is it as we don’t know. We went to the place and it was just some flat field with trees and .....nothing other than a massive gap between mountain ranges!!!  Some of the roads where so narrow that we had to fold mirrors in and in some Graham was “making” roads for the car (at least it was he was telling me he was doing). I just saw him breaking some trees.

We were shown some slate rocks, and the (older) people recalled when they were at school, and had a piece of this rock in a timber frame, and would use another rock to scratch markings on it, then a wet cloth to eraze it.  We tried a little slate markings of our own..

 

Sunday 31/03/13

We had enough of driving on those crazy roads and wanted to do some walking. We stopped at the nearest petrol station at Angorichina Village and stumbled upon a 12km return walk to the Blinman Pools. This was the first place where we found some water in creeks, and they were jam packed with yabbies.   Graham was trying very hard to catch them but poking them with a stick wasn’t working very well.

The walk was great, and it was very nice to see some water about. Lidia found a rock that resebled Australia (barely). I was hoping to catch Lidia falling into a pool during one of the stepping stone croosing but unfortunately she was as sure footed as a mountain goat.  But, one of ofthe crossings, she steped on a pile of algea instead of a rock and her whole trainer went into the green.  Her aboriginal name now translates as "one wet foot".

There were kids swimming in some of the pools, but not quite hot enough for us to jump in.  We also saw some cactus with massive flowers on them.

 

We had pizza again form the pub for dinner.  Those pizzas are amazing. We asked them, and the chef makes the bases and all, really unexpected to have such a nice pizza in Blinman...

Adelaide - Kingston Park

We spent one more day in Rapid Head and went to see Deep Creek Conversation Park. It was very disappointing, more like Deep s*** .  When they say only 4WD past this point, they dont joke - we had to use the LOW range 4wd capabilities of the Pathy to get back out.  Those hills are steep. Blowhole Beach wasn't that bad,and gave Graham some casting practice with the new rod (Not called fishing because there are no fish). Never mind, the Rapid Bay was beautiful and we still had fun. 

 

 

 

 

Lidia even found some "pretty things" on the beach

 

 On the way to Adelaide we went to visit McLaren Vale, famous for its Shiraz. But besides Shiraz we found this really nice, and extreamly unusual wine made by Rosemount - Pinot Grigio: blood orange & rosewater and green apple & cucumber.  It's not just wine that are great in this area. The region's beers are making a name for themselves as well. We went to check out two local brewery: Ekhidna and Goodieson.

 

The Ekhindna wines and brewery made nice wines, and their beers set a good standard, but not carton worthy.  One point to mention was their wheat beer, which I found pretty amazing.  I have never before enjoyed a wheat beer, and assumed it was because I didnt like it. But the wheat beer they make, was really quite nice.  I think the secret is in the yeast, which gives the banana/cloves taste to it.  They sold take aways in 500ml bottles which are hand marked.

 

 

 

The Goodieson  Brewery  was Graham's favourite.  Carton and stubby holder worthy.

 

 

The caravan park in Adelaide is by the ocean as well (hurray) and maybe 20min drive from the CBD. We went to tourism info yesterday to check out the local attractions just to find out that there are not that many in Adelaide.  

Lidia has some friends living in Adelaide from Poland so we had some nice home cooked dinner with them.  Today we went to some museums (South Australian Museum was quite good) and just walked around the city.  Not much to report. Tomorrow we are off to Flinders Rangers to escape the Easter rush.....

Rapid Head

Yesterday there was not much to report.  The drive from Petes fish farm to Wellington was one of the most boring so far - even the scenic sections were just dry salt plains.  We crossed the free ferry into Wellington, and parked the car and van there for the night.  It was an empty nothing town, but, it gave me a chance to check the old schedule.

 

Schedule summary:  Itinery is going to be around 22,000 kms, requiring an average of 180 kms / day to make schedule.  Presently, 3 weeks in, we are at around 2500kms which puts us 6 days behind.  I am going to have to beg like a dog for more holidays I think. I will add the chart to the progress page.

 

PS, we want to go to the tip of Queensland, but the software im using to plan the trip doesnt show all of the roads.  We will have to check that out closer to the time, and see if we can shortcut somewhere through the ranges there. I will revist that in a month or two.

 

So, today... We found the most awsome brewery, The Steam Exchange Brewery in Goolwa, and did some tasting.  I must say, the brewer there was very hospitable, and is beer was even better.  We left with a mixed carton of of beers for the fridge.  They are right on the steam railway there, and last week, they actually had a steam crash trough the doors you can see in the photo.

 

 

 

 







Next we did some sightseeing around Goolwa.  Watched where the Murray river joins the coastline,and the lock immediatly upstream, to prevent the salt water getting upstream

Barrage on Muarry River

We then continued on our trip into the Fleurier Peninsula to Granite Island named because the whole island was formed from granite, which is exreamly hard and the reason the island still exists.  The rocks and landscape were pretty good.

Access is by a pridge, and if you shell out $6 each adult, we can get a ride on a horse drawn tram.  Thankfully, the times of this tourist trap ride didn't allign with out timing, and we walked the 300m bridge, and kept the 12 clams in my pocket  :)  Got a free photo though ;)

And snapped a few picks of seals..  Have to be quick to catch them..  Here's his bum

 

It was getting pretty late (pasted beer oclock), so we decided we would just look at the Ingalalla Waterfall.  Would have been great, but it had no water...

 

 

 

In some local markets, I bought Lidia a replacement "Penny" because she missed her dogs

 

 

We arrived at our campsite in Rapid bay, and it is pretty awsome.  Straight away I got to work on my beer tasting, then some serious relaxing

 

 

Kingston SE

We left Pete's farm with a bag full of goodies: some smoked and fresh rainbow trout and live yabbies. Pete and his wife Kay were absolutely awesome, and the "magic fishing pool" was the best fishing place I have been to for a while.  We had to leave and were more than happy with our full fridge.

Next we headed back to the coast and the first stop was Beachport. We stopped at the pier and went for a walk.  I had to get into the caravan to check the yabbies were not crawling around everywhere, and when I got out I forgot to pack up our little step, and we drove off ane left it behind.  It's in the carpark right next to the pier if anyone is passing through.. 

We were looking forward to the Pool of Siloam, which boasts the salt content to be 7 times that of the sea water, giving extra buoyancy to the swimmer.  It was cold and windy when we got there and swimming was not really on the cards.  To top it off the water was brown and muddy.  We watched the seagulls and ducks swimming on the pond, and observed they were floating adequately.  That was enough proof for us.

 

 

 

We then continued to Kingston SE and parked the van at a free overnight park on the ocean.  Lidia got her photo with the giant lobster, and I tried a bit of fishing off the jetty, but did not even get a touch.

 

 

 

 

I was playing with the yabbies, and I thought they liked the flying lessons I was giving them, but really they were trying to bite me..  

 
 

They cooked up beautifully though, and tasted as good as they looked.

Oposcilismy Pete farme rybna z torba pelna smakolykow: pstragi wedzone i swieze a takze male, zywe homarki. Wlasciciele tej farmy byli super. Graham byl bardzo szczesliwy lowaic ryby w "magicznym jeziorku" pelnym pstragow. 

Nastepnie skierowalismy sie znowu w kierunku morza i  pojechalismy do Beachport. Zatrzymalismy sie  aby pojsc zobaczyc tutejsze molo i Graham poszedl zobaczyc czy te homary nie porozlazily sie po przyczepie kampinowej i zapomnial spakowac nasz maly stoleczek.

Bardzo chcielismy popywac w "Pool of Siloam", ktora ma ponad 7 razy wiecej soli niz morze, ale bylo wietrznie i zimno i zmienilismy nasze zdanie. Poza tym woda byla brazowata i blotna.

Zatrzymalismy sie w Kingstone SE na noc, gdzie Lidia zrobila sobie zdjecie z olbrzymim homarem Larry, a Graham poszedl znowu lapac ryby, a potem probowal uczyc homarki latac i o malo nie stracil paluchow:)

Kolacja byla pyszna!!!

Kalangadoo - Pete's Fish Farm

Graham decided to do some trout fishing (poor Lidia) so we went to stay at Pete's Fish Farm - "the last land based commercial trout farm in SA".  And it's really the last one as in 6 weeks there are going to be no more trouts on his farm. Instead he is going to farm silver perch. So Graham was a very happy camper because he could try his luck at "fly" fishing and eat some rainbow trout.

 

 

Before Graham could put his fishing hat on, we went to visit the local Coonawarra wine regon. The famous wine district dates back to the 1800s and has over twenty wine cellars!!!! We were not able to visit all of them (somebody has to drive) so we picked half of a dozen wineries  from the list and stacked up our own little "cellar". The area is renown for its cab sav wines, and we found a couple of Cab savs that for the rich earth flavors, without the mouth pucking dryness, namely Yalumba "cigar" and Jacks estate.  We bought a couple of cab merlot and Shiraz blends as well. 

The afternoon and the next day we spent fishing and relaxing.  Pete fish farm has couple of run off ponds where some of his farmed fish had escaped and were living wild. We were allowed fo fish in these ponds, but were advised that these fish dont taste as nice as the ones farmed due to their natural diet.  Graham caught around 15-20 rainbow trout of various sizes using a small spinner, but only kept the ones that needed surgery to retrieve the hooks. He even caught a white rainbow trout that Pete had been breeding!!!! 

Guess what we had for dinner?  Fresh Rainbow trout, BBQ whole with a nice bottle of Coonawarra sparkling Merlot

 

 

Mount Gambier - Day 2

Not much to report today. We stayed in Mount Gambier just to absorb some of the atmosphere here. We went to city hall and watched a free cinema movie titled "Volcano" which detailed how the volcanic explosions caused the blue lake, sink holes and the landscape around mount Gambier and Victoria mountain ranges. It was very interesting.

We bought some pies from the "OK Pie" shop. We had to queue for about 5 mins to get them, so had high expectations, but, the pies were just ok. I guess that's where they got the name.

After then, we took a tour down to the pump station on the Blue Lake, which was still amazing, but the tour was quiet boring.

Lidia got her photo in a limestone block.

Then it was beer o'clock.

Tomorrow, should be more interesting. I found an add for "Peter's Fish farm" just north of Kalangadoo, where they farm rainbow trout and yabbies. The best part, is he is going to give me tips on trout fishing, and allows onsite camping. I don't have the fly gear, but he reckons they will take a small spinner.

We are not sure if the internet will work there, so might be unable to update for a few days, but the photos should be worth it. It we have internet, the boast photos should start flowing as freely as the rainbow trout :)

Lidia should now finally have a chance to use her early birthday present (fishing rod and reel package)

Mount Gambier

Before we left Nelson, Lidia tried her hand at taming some wild creatures. First hand feeding magpies with Spam, then feeding strawberries to kangaroos. Successful with the magpies, but the roo would not come quiet close enough

 

Lidia and baby Kangaroo

Lidia and Magpies

The boarder crossing had come up quicker than expected, and we are not allowed to take fruit and vegies across the line. So, last night's dinner was all but vegetarian, and breakfast was fruit only. I don't think we will eat pears or apples for a while now.

Boarder crossing breakfast for 2

The car was hardly even warmed up in the few kms it took to reach the SA boarder, but at least this time they had plenty of shoulder room to the side of the road to cater for tourist photos, which I believe we nailed. We also snuck a cheeky VIC boarder photo facing the other direction. I know it's not the official one, but we have it anyway.

From here we visited Ewens ponds. They are fresh water ponds where the water comes from natural underground spring water, filtered by limestone. They are crystal clear. While we were there it was raining, so the photos didn't show the clarity, but it was truly amazing. If the day was a bit warmer, I would have jumped in - but, a 16 degree raining day, and colder water talked me out of it.

We then headed for the southern Rock Lobster capital of Australia, Port MacDonnall. When we got there, the fresh seafood shop had a big fat "closed" sign in the door. We went to the information centre, and they said that the fisherman bring all the fresh seafood in very early morning, then they sell it. When it's all sold out, he closes the shop until the next day. Short story, no lobster for Graham and Lidia :(
We expected more from Port MacDonnall, but it is basically just a fishing village, and getting out of the fishing season, things were very quiet.




 


Next stop was Mount Schank, and quiet volcano. They don't believe it's extinct, but the last eruption was 2500 years ago. The camera lens couldn't get the whole crater in, so the photos only show the part, but it is basically a crater.









We took a unmaintained, and probably the worst designated working trail I have ever been on to the inside of the volcano.  It turns out, the inside surface of the volcano is the same as the outside surface, just a lot more walking and climbing.







Someone had made a love heart in the centre, and I wanted to make other shapes using the rocks, but Lidia thought it not appropriate.

So, no funny shapes, I thought I would try something romantic, and craped out initials into the ground and filled it with water to make it stand out for at least a few hours - then got in trouble for wasting our drinking water.



With the walking done for the day, we headed for Mount Gambier. We found a caravan park, and dropped off the old van before heading out to do some site seeing. The Blue Lake was incredible. Standing there looking at it, it looks fake, but I promise, I didn't use any filters of photoshop on the photo, that just how it looks.

The lake changes colour during the year, and right now is in its blue phase. They are not sure why it changes colour, but have some theories relating to temperature changes and microbiology stuff. The lake is on average 70 meters deep and provides all of the town water.

Next we visited some sinkholes, which are pretty cool, but the stand out things to me is that one of them is in the city, and they have built around it. I'm assuming that someone knows their stuff, and the shop next door isn't going to fall in and become another sinkhole.