Homeward Bound

WEDNESDAY, 16th November 2011

We've had a couple of windy days in Esperence, the last few days have been a zigzag up to Wave Rock and Kalgoorlie and then down to Esperence only to be going up again to get back onto the Nullabor.  But we couldn't come this far around and not check out this town after we were told it was a "must do" by so many people. It is definitely a beautiful place, but I think January is the better month to be here without the winds.

THURSDAY, 17th November 2011

The time has come to leave for the Nullabor.  We made it through the straightest stretch of road, you can see the view we had for 146.6km.

 We drove until sunset just to avoid the onslaught of flies that honed in on you every time you opened the car door.

FRIDAY, 18th November 2011
There certainly are some characters along this road.  This fella was putting his corrugated iron to good use.

 And over the border we go.  And in much quicker time than we expected.

 You don't get to see much of the coastline as you drive along.  But of what you do see is pretty cool cliffs.

We overnighted in Fowlers Bay Caravan Park, which had put on a bbq for all the campers and was ready right when we rolled in, very convenient.  But it was a good cause too, each month they donate all the profit to a sick child somewhere around Australia.

SUNDAY, 20th November 2011
We've stayed in for a couple of nights in Streaky Bay.  Its evident where the name comes from as you can see in this picture.We took a drive up to the blowholes but the kids weren't all that impressed by the noise.

 Another beautiful sunset.

TUESDAY, 22nd November 2011
We headed down Port Lincoln and rugged up against the cool winds that blew in - and nearly blew the trailer away with it.

THURSDAY, 24th November 2011
Wind 1 - Tent 0.  We lost the fight getting the tent up in Whyalla, and resorted to staying in one of the cabins there instead.  The tent was being lifted up like a parachute while the tent poles were bending in some unpleasant angles.

We had better luck in Wallaroo, and the kids made there own slippery dips in the piles of dirt around the place.

SUNDAY, 27th November 2011
We arrived in Hardwicke Bay and the kids are thrilled to have their friends to play with for a few days.  Edie and Ben showed Ella and Ash where to find the crabs under the rocks, and then the challenge was to keep them alive in the buckets back at the house.

 Then we were treated to a trip out on the fishing boat.  I'm not sure what the kids liked more; being towed by the tractor down to the beach, or the boat trip itself.  I do know that Jace was very happy with the haul of fish and squid they managed to bring in - the tally came in at 49 fish I think, and sure made for a delicious dinner.

 Jason below with one of the many garfish they caught.

 The kids had a ball playing together, there were no more tears from Ella about not having friends to play with each morning.

WEDNESDAY, 30th November 2011
And then Rebecca and Jason also let us pitch the tent in their front yard in Adelaide - thanks guys!!! It was so nice having company with other adults...not that Jace isn't good company, just nice to talk to someone other than the same person 24/7 for 7 months.

So anyway we spent a few days exploring the beaches and city.

  And drove down through the Maclaren Valley winery region down to Victor Harbour, where we absolutely froze with the winds that were blowing in.

 As we left Adelaide we headed out to Beerenberg farm and picked a few buckets full of strawberries, I think about half of them were eaten by us all before we made it back into the shop to pay for them.  Such good fun.

THURSDAY, 1st December 2011
One of the random houseboats moored at Renmark.  We went onboard and had to be careful not to step on the chickens that were running around.  Ella had the wits scared out of her when she came up close with the rooster who crowed in her face.  Some very odd people on the Murray I think.

SATURDAY, 3rd December 2011
We stayed in Mildura overnight and woke up this morning with a 2 year old.  Ash was very impressed with his toy truck, and proceeded to tell everyone about "My Tonka" all day long.

 We took him out for a trip on a paddlesteamer, which we all enjoyed, thankfully it wasn't too full and the kids had plenty of space to run around.

 Oh and of course a cake!  I had planned on making a kids party cake when we got to Port Fairy but it never happened so the lamington cake is what he got.

SUNDAY, 4th December 2011
A big day of driving through country Victoria as we headed back down towards the lower corner of South Australia.  Plenty of wheatfields on the horizon.  And a quiet night at Horsham.

TUESDAY, 6th December 2011
Next stop was Mount Gambier, where I was informed it was time to put up a xmas tree, so I found the smallest tree I could and the kids spent the afternoon decorating and redecorating with the 1 piece of tinsel.

 We walked over to the Blue Lake which is contained in the inactive volcano.  Such an impressive sight.

 And then we also went down to the sinkhole in which they've filled with gardens and bbq areas.  There were plenty of bees buzzing around with their natural hives up on the rockwalls.

SUNDAY, 11th December 2011
Back into Victoria again as we made our way to Port Fairy. We had a lovely couple of days of sunshine while we were there. Once again left wishing that it wasn't so cold down there or we might be more inclined to live there.

And enjoyed such a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bunch of friends.  Mia and Brant we are so happy for you!

TUESDAY, 13th December 2011

Then it really was homeward bound as we headed through Melbourne on our way to Sydney.  Melbourne came through with some to be expected weather raining, windy, cold and hot all in the one day.

WEDNESDAY, 14th December 2011
We spent our last night at Gundagai, and the reality of the trip being over is really starting to sink in.  All thoughts are of finding somewhere to live, getting back to work, and more positively getting to spend christmas with our families.

The end.