The crossing back to the mainland had been much better. Still plenty of rolling about, but this time being in the middle of the boat we felt it less and has less noise of the hull groaning and moaning as it cut a path through the Bass Strait. Our arrival into Melbourne was early, approximately 0530. We disembarked without incident and made our way to our accommodation for the next week.
City life in Melbourne
Yes, we are without Golidlocks for the week while she has her suspension serviced and solar panels re-wired and re-configured. Ken has been doing a lot of research on our solar and the desired and required output. We bought a generators in Tassie to help meet our needs. With a love of free camping and it edging closer to winter when the sun drops lower in the sky, reducing our capacity Ken felt it was necessary. Our energy demands are pretty high and our current system just doesn’t cut it.
So while Goldilocks gets some attention we are hoping to have a bit of a city break and explore Melbourne City. Turns out we didn’t really get much exploring done at all. The Airbnb house was just lovely and being the home of two young girls there were loads of toys! The girls where in heaven and not really keen to go anywhere.
So the week filled up with school work, planning and lots of lovely homely activities. Cooking, baking, craft and dress ups. The local area was perfect for scootering around and with lots of Parks in the near vicinity we enjoyed just getting out amongst the beautiful leafy suburb of Middle Park.
Our one big outing for the week was a lovely long walk along Port Philip Bay, down to the Saint Kilda foreshore and Ackland street for lunch. It was a glorious sunny autumn day and before we knew it we where at the St Kilda Pier, then Luna Park and finally the hub of St Kilda, Ackland street. Soaking up the vibes for lunch we then caught the #96 tram home to complete a quintessential Melbourne day out.
Ken was kept busy dealing with van issues. Turns out Goldilocks had some pretty significant issues with her chassis and was going to need to return to the Zone RV factory in Coolum Beach. Well that wasn’t in our plans! The negotiations, re-organizing and investigation all took up a lot of time but a new plan was born.
We reluctantly sent the bikes home and stripped as much weight off the van as we could. We’d continue with our planned fortnights tour of central Victoria before returning to Melbourne and sending the van up to Coolum Beach on a truck.
Delicious food and good coffee all around
It was a mad rush making all the necessary arrangement but eventually we were ready to pick up the van and head for Easter celebrations in Daylesford. Here we caught up with my oldest school friend, (we met in year 3 at 8 years of age). Back on the road again and it feels good like we are home.
Today we are leaving the beautiful Bay of Fires and Georgia is still in a fair amount of pain and unable to walk more than a few minutes at a time. I really wanted to have her checked out but couldn’t get a Dr’s appointment in St Helens. We’d been told of a good GP down the coast at Swansea, so will bypass our planned stay at Coles Bay and head for Swansea.
View across to Coles Bay from Swansea
Coles Bay and the sights of the Freycient National Park, home to the famous Wine Glass Bay, (features on most brochures about Tasmanian) is all about the magnificent bush walks and stunning scenery. It was looking like we were just going to have to give this gem a miss. With Ken still having what now appears likes weeks worth of work left and a fast approaching dead line, Georgia unable to walk more than 50 meters and Lulu not going in the sling and wanting to be carried everywhere it was just all too hard.
The lunch stops (Orford) are magnificent when you caravanThe girls loved the practice road marking in the Orford park
Swansea was on the other side of Great Oyster Bay looking across to Freycinet National Park. The caravan park was a very short walk from the bay and the views were stunning. The park itself wasn’t anything special but it was obvious the owners cared a lot and invested in the maintenance and experience of there clients. Super friendly and they’d developed a scavenger hunt for the kids to keep them occupied for at least a few hours. The big hit was the communal TV room though. The girls enjoyed getting out of the van and having TV to watch.
Lulu, having a cruise on the Scooter in Swansea
Our planned to stay in Coles Bay was also were we were to collect mail. With a day to wait for the Dr’s appointment the girls and I jumped in the car and drove the hour and a half drive to pick up mail. Wow, soooo glad we did, cause the views as you drive in to Coles Bay are breathtaking. Easy to see what all the fuss is about. Cute little town to, but the natural beauty surrounding it, absolutely awe inspiring. We picked up the mail, had an icecream and wonder around before the hour and a half return trip home.
Our visit to the GP went really well, she was a fabulous GP. No X-rays or scan required. Phew!!! It was a really thorough and great assessment and the Dr was awesome with getting Gigi involved in her assessment. I felt really reassured as we left with the advice to just have a couple of quiet weeks, to let the swelling and bruising subside and ensure Georgia doesn’t get another knock to the head so soon after a concussion. With that knowledge we left the stunning wildness of the east coast of Tassie behind and made our way to Hobart.
We opted to stay just outside of Hobart on the outskirts and base ourselves here until Ken was finished his work. This way the kids and I would have plenty to explore either in Hobart city, or nearby Richmond and even take a big day trip down to Port Arthur.
Caught out again by a public holiday and long weekend and had difficulty finding a campsite. Finally the park at Seven Mile Beach took pity on us and squeezed us in. Turned out to be a great sight looking into pine forest and a fabulous place for bird watching.
Lulu, after checking out the beach at Seven Mile
With Ken needing to crack on with work, us girls headed into Hobart for a little look around. First stop Salamanca and the fairy shop the girls had been told about. I thought i’ll get it out of the way early and then the question of ‘when can we go to the fairy shop?’ would stop. After that we had a little food shopping to do and visit to office works for school supplies.
Serendipity played a lovely role as we discovered the Hobart Cat Cafe was just around the corner and it turns out a lot of cat lovers are also Coeliac as the entire menu was gluten and could be dairy free. What luck. As for the cats, i’ll leave that for Georgie to share.
Our day wasn’t done and I was trying to give Ken as much quiet time as possible so we ventured out of Hobart and to the delightful historic town of Richmond. Along the way we came across the Beatrix Potter garden, another attraction the girls had been wanting to visit. Being so late in the day we had the place to ourselves and the girls loved revisiting these stories they have listened to so often. It couldn’t have been better timing as Georgia had recently been inspired to do an English presentation on Beatrix Potter.
Mrs Rabbit and the floppy bunnies
Mr McGregor in his shed
Bumblebee! I never knew we had them in Australia
Finally we reach Richmond to visit Australias oldest bridge, built by convicts and opened in 1825. Beautifully restored, and full of charm and character it’s amazing what those poor, unskilled workers accomplished. As we travelled around Tassie time and time again we discovered stories of how the convicts were an efficient and an effective work force. Unfortunately these success stories were short lived as industry couldn’t compete with the volume and quality of convict production. This lead to the convict teams and lines of work being shut down.
Our last couple of days of this week were spent out and about sightseeing. Trying to be out of Kens way meant we where seeing loads of stuff but they were long exhausting days. Back to Hobart for the famous weekend Salamanca Markets, and a little retail therapy. The following day a full day back in Richmond. A yummy brunch, Old Hobart Town (a miniature replica of Hobart as it was in the 1820’s), and the Pooseum.
Yep, you read that right. The Pooseum. Who would have thought, poo could be so fascinating. We spent hours here. A very unassuming building but the quality of the displays, the fun in which the topic is presented and the passion and knowledge of the owner was fabulous. Of all the museum to attractions we have visited around Australia I think both the girls would rank this one right up the top! Educational and funny. Let’s face it, there’s a lot we can learn from poo and who doesn’t love a good fart joke!
Having had a brief sighting of bioluminescence in the waves at Bay of Fires we were intrigued to learn more about it and start noticing posts on Facebook about places to view it around Hobart. Reports had a bloom of this algae near us so after dark, dinner and getting ready for bed we jumped in the car to see what we could find. It was very cold 🥶 and took a bit to coax the girls out the car but once we started splashing and playing in it ……. epic!
Squeals of delight as the sand beneath your feet would magically light up. Every time a wave crashed or someone splashed the water a blue glow would appear. Tassie really is the coolest place, what more hidden treasure are out there?
We just love Derby and quickly settled into a nice daily rhythm. Get school work done, followed by a morning ride before swinging by Crank It Cafe for a play, lunch and maybe a little more school. Then back to camp for rafting, platypus spotting, dinner and camp fire.
The girls are enjoying the pace of the routine and without travel days there is plenty of time to play, create and perform. We were treated to a concert of ‘The Owl and the Pussy Cat’ with the newest member (Llewella) of the ‘Sister Stars’ group.
The girls have been loving the riding and getting out on to the tracks. Vertigo Mt Biking were great for Kens skills lesson and keen to not miss an opportunity to outsource some teaching, we enrolled the girls in a skills class too. An hour lesson together, and it was money well spent. Doing it early in the week meant they were able to put their new skills into practice. During the week Charlotte signed up for another lesson to take on some more difficult tracks.
The Crank It cafe doubles as a museum to the history of tin mining which is the reason Derby existed in the first place. It provided a great opportunity to delve into how the discovery of tin changed our world and explore what a mineral rich country we live in. Schooling was a bit of a focus for the week as the time had arrived for us to complete the homeschooling evaluation with our Moderator (liaison from the education department).
I had been compiling and collating the girls work from over the year, reporting on progress, while aligning all our experiences with the national curriculum. It was a daunting process but also a rewarding one to see just how far we had come on our homeschooling journey.
Katoomba
Adelaide
ACT
Thursday Island
Gunnadah
High Country
It’s not been without its ups and downs, tears and tantrums (from both me and the kids), and I have been tempted to throw in the towel on numerous occasion. Still we have found a rhythm (of sorts) and made it through. However, I was still nervous to see how we had faired. A few emails, many photographs and a FaceTime session with Robyn our Moderator and we were given the thumbs up. Oh what a relief! I had been stressing about this and what a load off my shoulders. High fives all round, a big long breath out and the warm glow of pride in my heart.
Ken’s birthday week came to a conclusion with a Keto birthday cake. Looked amazing but tasted down right nasty. A bunch of lovely elements, sponge, rhubarb coconut cream filling, topped with chocolate ganache and berries. Should have been delicious but without gluten, dairy, sugar and experience baking this way, it turned out to be an epic fail! Still the effort and thought was appreciated, the berries were nice and the candle and singing always part of the birthday magic.
We were just loving it here, no one really wanted to move on. The riding, rafting, and location were just totally delightful. Being camped on the banks of a lovely running river we got the chance to use our creek in / creek out system for drawing up water from a water source to fill the water tanks. After a little fiddling around the tanks were full and we were sitting pretty.
Right there in that moment we were living the dream. The planning, hopes and wishes for the lifestyle we maybe able to live on the road had all come together here in Derby. Tassie had been ear marked as a highlight and it wasn’t disappointing.
But there’s more…… I’d got chatting to this couple, and it turns out they are from Parabadoo, W.A. All week I’d been watching them return to camp each afternoon and hang up their waders from a day of fishing, or so I’d thought. Turns out they weren’t fishing but fossicking and the area was good for sapphires.
I’d been to keen to try this fossicking for sometime and when they offered to take the kids and I out the next day, I couldn’t refuse. We didn’t have any luck with the sapphires but it was a lovely morning and after picking up my own sieve in town I was keen to continue fossicking as we travel around Tassie and back on the mainland.
Blue Sapphire fossicking
It had been such a lovely free camp and the people we met there were all really lovely. The kids even struck it lucky, with a gorgeous family moving in next to us later in our stay. Alas it was time to move on and after squeezing in one final ride we packed up and made a late departure for the Bay of Fires. On paper it was going to be a short travel day but what we hadn’t realized yet about Tassie is they are very few straight roads.
Bye Bye Derby … hope to see you again one day. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
After a long, yet scenic drive we arrived at the beautiful Bay of Fires and jagged the lucky last spot with views at the north end of Cosy Corner. But that’s not all, we are parked next to another Zone RV caravan and it’s got three bunk windows. OOOhhhhh super exciting, more children to play with and a chance to meet some other Zoners.
What colours, what a view!
We arrived on dusk and did a quick set but before racing down to the beach for a wee explore. A stunning place with white singing sandS, clear turquoise blue water and dramatic flame colored rocks for added theatre. Total WOW of a camp and we looking forward to a week as beach bums. Finger crossed for some fine east coast Tassie weather.
Not for all of us though. Ken has got a full week of work to get done and a deadline to meet. He is going to hunker down at the library in nearby St Helens and power through it hopefully. So, the girls and I will explore the area solo.
Staying with the delightful Carol again, giving her time, joy and netball knowledge
Having not been successful in seeing any health professional during our last visit to Melbourne, we’d lined it up this time. GP, Pathology, Dietician, Peadiatric Gastroenterologist. Georgia took it all in her placid, easy going stride and doesn’t fuss much, but she was well and truely over being poked, prodded and the source of much talk and attention.
But the good news was we we‘re doing all the right things and the advice from all the health professionals was to continue our travels, continue our management, plus a few added supports and lets review all the test results when we return from Tassie. I felt much better about things and we had a better understanding of Coeliac Disease now.
Eating out and about in Melbourne at a couple of Ceoliac safe restaurants. A really treat these days.
At this point Georgia was doing much better and we were really coming to grips with the fact we just cant really eat out anymore. There are very few places that we can really be sure the food and preparation of the food is safe for her. That said old habits die hard and we keep finding ourselves looking for places to eat and don’t always get it right. I have to keep reminding myself not to be complacent, we are finally making progress and she seems to be healing.
Delicious gourmet breakfast made by Charlotte. We are so lucky the girls love great food.
It wasn’t all appointments, we visited Chadstone the fashion capital and caught up with Uncle Geoff for lunch. Ken, Geoff and the older girls went on to LEGO land while Lulu and I went for a cuppa with Aunty Corry. We had a lovely evening with Carol and Sean Michael and a catch up with Stef and Nic. Dinner in town at Georgias favorite Ceoliac safe restaurant and a impromptu Alpha Alignment and catch up with Robert. (I had done Roberts course and training in 2015/2016 and still hope to become a Alpha Alignment practitioner when I get home). And of course, school, blogging and trip planning / research is a constant of each week.
As with each week it just flew by and it was time to pack the van and ready ourselves for getting on the Spirit of Tasmania. A little nervous about the crossing but super excited. Tassie is one place I have been really looking forward to visiting and everyone says is a highlight of a lap of OZ. Pumped!
Federation Square, we’d just being doing triangles in Maths ….. cool!
Ken and I have fond memories of Port Fairy, visiting here with Mum and Dad Hall in 2005. Life these days always feels hectic but with all the happenings with the Tour Down Under, visitors and family catch ups it is nice for a bit of a change of pace. We need to get schooling back on track, get ourselves ready for appointments in Melbourne and planning Tassie and beyond.
The caravan park is verily empty and the kind owners popped us right next to the playground. Which for us is a total bonus. The kids can play and we can still get a few chores and jobs done around the van.
On our first full day, following breakfast, school and chores, we got the bikes down to go and explore the town. Perfect for riding bikes, the streets are quiet and wide. Port Fairy is full of character with beautifully restored historic buildings and homes.
Being coastal and the harsh southern coast line of Australia the building are solid and very much remind me of Scottish Croft’s, might be why I love them so much. Port Fairy has had a couple of name changes, Port Fairy to Belfast and back to Port Fairy. The Fairy was the first ship/boat to sail into the port and establish it as a whaling and sealing hub.
We found out delicious cafe with safe eating option, pottered and paroosed in some shops and found the library. The girls love a library and here we spent the remainder of the afternoon only leaving with the promise to return the next morning. Being a Friday it was pizza and movie night. We are still trying to find a pizza base option that works for everyone and people enjoy but the real killer is no dairy. No cheese on a pizza! It just isn’t the same, so it looks like the Friday pizza tradition is going to be no more.
Saturday morning saw to the local markets on. Us girls love a market so we left Ken at home for a bit of peace and quiet and rode the bikes into town. Small, quaint and cute. We enjoyed the markets and as promised made our way to the library. In the afternoon Ken took the kids across to Griffiths Island on the bikes and they rode around the island visiting the lighthouse along the way.
Always on the hunt for Coeliac safe eating out option I’d discovered a fish n’ chips shop in Warrnambool the next town over. As we would be driving through Warrnambool on our way back to Melbourne we couldn’t pass up the chance for Georgia to get to eat fish n’ chips and for the rest of us to have it without feeling guilty about eating it in front of her.
Thanks Port Fairy for a lovely and thanks to North Point Fish n’ Chips, Warrnambool for making on Coeliac family very happy! Melbourne here we come …….. again.
The next cat I saw was in Paris. We we’re having a morning stroll when I saw a cat coming along. It was hanging around a restaurant, I bent down and stroked it and it came and brushed up against me and we called it Paris cat.
It was ages before we saw another cat and this time it was a kitten. It was Stef’s kitten she got it for Christmas. We went to her house for dinner I played with her the whole time, by the way she is called Mini. Dinner was delicious and we had dessert and Stef has a big toy tiger!
It had been an emotional day saying goodbye to Heidi and Ruby. After the farewells it was a long driving day, pulling up just in time to see the sunset over The Coorong. Argh, just what the doctor ordered after the sadness and emotion of the day. Some clean, fresh air and a good dose of awe and wonder.
We camped in the National Park, booking and paying for the site on the way. We never really know how far we may travel in a day, so being able to book and pay online is fantastic. It’s just a quick overnighted and after a good feed and a good nights sleep and we were back on the road the next morning.
The Coorong, a lagoon, runs some 140km from the mouth of the Murray River to Paranki Lagoon. It was made famous in the classic Australian Book, Storm Boy by Colin Thiele and two movies, the first starring David Gulpilil in 1976 and more recently in 2019 with Geoffrey Rush.
We didn’t have a lot of time to stop here and explore but listening to the audio book as we drove gave us a better understanding and connection to the dunes and landscape we were looking at. With an added bonus of providing a great literary study opportunity for homeschooling.
By lunch we had finished the book and arrived back in Mt Gambier. We stopped in with Ann to collect some post and ended up staying for lunch. It was a lovely break and as always Anns warm and generous hospitality filled our tummies and nourished our souls. After lunch we had a further 150km to travel to Port Fairy were we would pull up for a few days.
What a stinker! The forecast is for the records to fall with a max of 48 degrees celsius. It certainly is the hottest we’ve ever experienced, burning not just your skin but your nostrils as you breathed in the hot air. Regardless of the scorching weather we were excited! Nothing was going to put a dampener on seeing Heidi and Ruby today.
Our ferry to Kangaroo Island wasn’t until 6pm. So with time to kill and the McClaren Vale, (another of S.A.’s top wine regions), just 15 minuets away, it would have been rude not stop and taste the flavours. There is no better place than d’Arenberg. So we booked lunch and arranged to rendezvous with Heidi and Ruby here.
Golidlocks at the Cube
We have loved their wines for many years, stopping here in 2007 on our way home, after living in Melbourne. Since then however things have expanded and they have built ‘The Cube’. Wine tasting, restaurants, events space, and wine museum. All sounds pretty normal but there is nothing normal about the extraordinary experience of The Cube. Multi sensory, quirky, crazy from the moment you arrive. Suspend all expectation and enjoy the journey down the rabbit hole is the best advice.
The quirky Cube!
But by far the best bit was meeting up with Heidi and Ruby. A reunion at the top of the cube was just amazing, as was the food we enjoyed in the restaurant. It was so surreal sitting across the table chatting sharing a beautiful meal and seeing the girls just picking right up where they’d left off some 9 months earlier. They are just so cute together.
Besties on KI
After hiding out in the air-conditioning for as long as we could it was time to hit the road and make our way to the ferry. The journey wasn’t without incident as the extreme heat was all too much for Audrey, the car. On a long and reasonably steep hill, the engine temp just got too hot kicking into a safety mode, which left us limping up the hill. Intermittently we’d lose power and be reduced to a crawl before it kicked back in for 30 seconds and then die again. Slow and steady we made it, hoping there weren’t any other hills to come.
The ferry was pretty straight forward, accept for the bit that was in reverse. Loading the van and car on required Ken to back it on to the ferry, which he nailed. Heidi also did a great job, in a new vehicle, in the stinking heat, but she was making it all look easy, like the boss lady she is.
Reversing the van onto the KI ferry – nailed it!
Getting off the ferry at about 7pm we opted to spend the first couple of nights in nearby Kingscote. It wasn’t too far to drive that evening and gave us the chance to explore to eastern side of the island before having our last four nights at the western end of the island. We pulled in and set up, but it was just so damn hot and not much fun! A real baptism of fire for Heidi and Ruby. The heat, with not even a breath of wind was just a killer and it only compounded the adjustment to the dusty / dirty / lack of privacy lifestyle, that can be the traveling camping life. It’s fair to say at this point Heidi was wondering what she had gotten herself into.
We got through dinner and somehow Heidi got Ruby to sleep in the hot little minivan. The floor of which was still roasting from radiant heat off the road surface. A new record was set for the hottest day, officially reaching 46.5 and then finally at 11.30 p.m. the cool change arrived. It was still a sleepless night for our visitor but at least the heat was gone and it could only get better from here.
The following day was almost cold. What a contrast from the day before. After breakfast, Heidi and I were inducted into the LOL (latest kids craze for our girls) club before we hopped into the car / van and made our way Stokes Bay Beach. Turning up the the bay itself didn’t look that impressive or maybe it was the inclement weather. Other travelers had told us to find our way through the rocks and then you come out on a beautiful beach, they weren’t wrong.
It was an adventure itself getting through the rocks, twisting, turning, crouching through low passes and then a lovely little lagoon and the beach beyond is revealed.
Stokes Bay Beach
Too cold for us big kids to swim but the kids weren’t going to let a drop of nearly 20 degree put them off. Although it wasn’t long before they too were feeling cool. After a bit of sand play we made our way back to the cars before finding somewhere for lunch. Unfortunately as is often the case, we were assured on the phone that gluten free eating is all good. However then when we try and order it turns out there is only one thing Gigi can eat, usually a salad. The lady was very kind and tried to be as accommodating as possible but not much fun for Gigi. The views at least were stunning.
We returned back to camp for a rest and later enjoyed a beautiful walk along the beach and a couple of beautiful wines. The kids were exhausted and were no trouble getting to sleep. Enjoying just a few more glasses of wine and chat we also retired earlish. Heidi was still trying to catch up on a few missed winks from the night before.
Australia Day today and it’s a travel day. Moving to the other end of the island with a stop off at Seal Bay along the way. We did a fabulous tour and had the chance to get down on the beach with the endangered Australian Sea Lion. Totally gorgeous they are and it was a delight watching them on the beach. The youngest being playful in the surf and the older one keeping the order of things just right.
Tough being a Sea Lion
Heavily hunted for there fur and oil their populations are still recovering however there are concerns for their survival as the colonies are struggling to grow. More research is required. It was something special to be on the beach with them even if it was from a distance. They can be very playful and relaxed in the water if they approach you however on land they are slow moving, making them more vulnerable, defensive and aggressive.
KI Sea Lions
A short drive down the road we pulled into Vivonne Bay for a beachside van lunch. The colour of the water was absolutely amazing but the wind, wild and most unwelcoming. After lunch I braved it out of the van down to the beach and received a complimentary exfoliation. Nature at its extremes, beautiful and brutal all in the one moment.
Vivonne Bay
Finally we pulled into the camp. Looking into the towering eucalyptus we spotted three koala’s before even checking in. The park was pretty empty so we scouted about and found a site that was going to suit us best. We weren’t even set up before Wallace the wallaby decided to adopt us and the Cape Barren Geese wondered on by. Wallace made himself right at home and appreciated the bowl of water Georgia put out for him. Finally before the day was out an echidna caught our attention in the bush behind our site.
Wallace the Wallaby
It wasn’t the most spectacular location and didn’t have stunning views but it certain takes the cake for the most amazing wildlife experiences. I don’t know how the wildlife park down the road makes any money when all you have to do is stay here at Western KI Caravan Park.
The girls have a lot of play to catch up on and I always have a lot of washing to catch up on so we opted to just chill out van side today. Kenny treated us to some Keto Lammingtons, which were delicious! And Heidi and I were still enjoying the fruits of purchases made from D’arnberg. Wallace the ever faithful (to his stomach) wallaby was never far away and it seems all the noise in the night was the koala’s swapping trees.
Having had a lazy day yesterday it was time to get out and see some sights. First stop the Flinders Chase NP Visitor Centre. An other great Visitors Centre with a fabulous display of how the region was formed, the history of the animals and peoples who have lived here. We spent a good amount of time here before getting out in the park and visiting Admiral Arch and Remarkable rocks.
Kangaroo Island – Admiral Arch and Hanson Bay
Both were remarkable and it was an absolutely beautiful day. We had taken a picnic of rice paper rolls but with a howling wind and no shelter from the midday sun we opted for a mini van picnic by the lighthouse. Heidi’s mini van was very basic and didn’t much enjoy the unsealed roads but all the girls loved having a bed to lie on, be it for watching a movie or having lunch on while out and about.
The evening produced two shows one an LOL performance, put on my the three girls and the other by a Koala who was on the hunt for some more juicy young leaves. I was surprised to look out the van window to see a large Koala walking past. He then walked around the back of the van, had a good look at us and then jumped up the tree nearest the van. The usual encounter with Koala’s is just staring at a tiny, sleeping bear way up in a tree. But these guys stay pretty low down and aren’t too shy, which is amazing.
Koala strolls through the camp
Our penultimate day on the island was a beach day at beautiful Hanson Bay. White sands and crystal waters just beautiful! The girls are still getting the hang of the boogie boards and it was a first for Ruby. Seeing them play, get dumped, help each other recover, get back out there and make memories in the surf together was just magic. We love our beach days and it was lol the more special for getting to share it with Heidi and Ruby. Can’t wait to do more when we get home.
Our final day is really a travel day and we are all trying to not think about the the farewell. We pack up, hitch up and drive the nearly two hours to the other end of the island to Penneshaw, where the ferry arrives and departs. A picnic lunch and play before we board and soak up our last 45 minuet together. Once we disembark we know it’s going to be a bit chaotic with other vehicles and passengers everywhere so we are ready for a quick but tearful goodbye.
Picnic before getting on the ferry
It was heartbreaking watching Georgie and Ruby farewell each other. They are a match made in heaven and I hate separating them, but they both do a super job squeezing all the love they can into each other with one last embrace. We then jump in the car with wet, blurry eyes that don’t dry up for nearly another hour. Dear sweet girls.
On our way back to the mainland
Heidi and Ruby head back towards Adelaide for a night in a comfy bed, the privacy of walls, doors and your own bathroom! Such simple luxuries we take for granted everyday. For us we are legging it back to Melbourne to get ready for the next adventure, Tasmania.
Setup roadside for 7 laps around Uraidla in Stage 3 of the 2019 TDU
So today we are making our way to Aldinga Beach. Ken is leaving us to do a three day cycling event/tour – getting out on the routes and some of the climbs that the pros are doing and then watching the finishes. So I thought Aldinga would be a great location as the race comes past here on two days and Ken will actually ride past us too.
But before we get there we found ourselves a choice location road side to watch the TDU (Tour Down Under) some more. It was still hot but had dropped out of the 40’s, so having the van with us and the awning for shade, air-con for comfort, TV for the coverage and fridge for cool refreshment meant for a pleasant afternoon. Not only that, we were being treated to 7 laps so would get to see plenty of cycling and even get ourselves on the TV!
TDU Zone for a Day
I had some red plastic plates left over from christmas so we decorated the van to look like the KOM jersey (although in the TDU its navey dots), hung the bunting and chalked up the road with a big TDU ❤️. It was fun getting in the spirit of the event. There was loads of folks riding the course ahead of the pros and we cheered them all along. It always brought a smile to their faces, getting a clang of the cow bells and shouts of encouragement.
Then the race starts coming through. About a dozen police motorbikes, then the pre-race motorcade, more police, race director, race referee, neutral service car, more police, TV and photographer motorbikes and then the leaders of the race followed by the peloton, service cars, more police, ambulance, and finally the green light vehicle meaning the road is open to public again. Quite the procession.
The noise of the peloton passing is incredible!
A photographer from the Adelaide Advertiser even stopped to try and get a photograph of Lulu whom was sitting in her bath roadside keeping cool and watching the race.
Now that’s how to spectate – Lulu keeping cool in her bath!
It was super cute but in the end Lulu wouldn’t co-operate and we never made the front page. The photographer did get this shot though of Charlotte and Georgia. The girls loved it and we are talking about making it an annual pilgrimage, hopefully with the whole family next time.
CYCLING – Tour Down Under – Stage 3 – Lobethal to Uraidla. Picture SARAH REED
We arrived at Aldinga late in the day, with a quick trip to the shops, dinner then we made sure the van and Ken were all setup to be away for a couple of nights. The next morning we dropped Ken off in the city at his accommodation before picking up a few for bits from the health food shop. We tried to catch up with Ken on the road to cheer him along before the pro’s but just missed him. He got up the famous ‘corkscrew’ which was to feature as the final climb on Stage 4. With all the cyclists on the road I wasn’t going to bother clogging the road up anymore and Georgia doesn’t do well on the winding roads anyway.
Riche Porte takling the ‘Corkscrew’ about 20 times faster than Ken!
We weren’t far from the finish line of that days stage so we made our way there and watched the sprinters do their high octane finish beneath a couple of Koala’s snoozing away in the trees above. Seemingly totally oblivious to all the noise and goings on below. With an hour and a half drive back to Aldinga we got home very late. It felt like a big day driving, which I don’t do a lot of these days, but it was nice to be behind the wheel even though the google maps and I haven’t made friends, yet!
I was shattered today and keen for a day at home but it was really our only day to see Ken on the road. We rose early prepared a quick batch of pancakes and bacon and jumped in the car heading and hour away to Strathalbyn. A beautiful picturesque town, even though it was covered in race barriers, gazebo and branding. We jagged a totally fantastic spot and we set up for a picnic breakfast before watching Ken come into the final corner of his 100km ride. Not concerned about his time, he stopped for a chat before heading for the finish of this stage, the People’s Choice Classic.
Getting ready to knock out 100km in the Challenge Tour – part of Stage 5 – Glenelg to Strathalbyn
Ken was loving his own tour, it was well run and catered for all the participants needs putting on, breakfast, lunch, transport, bike hire and set up, riding gear and more. His legs were feeling great, even after minimal training so he was really pleased.
Ken was feeling pretty relieved and chuffed with himself as he crossed the finish line in Strathalbyn
The girls and I wandered down to the finish line to join in the festivities and meet up with Ken. There was a local market on which we enjoyed and the crowds and buzz of the TDU were mega. We decided to not stay for the professional cyclists to come through, we still had the drive home, and food to prepare for dinner and picnic lunch tomorrow with Uncle Peter, Aunty Merle, Meg and Jack.
Strathalbyn is a beautiful town and really knows how to host a TDU finish
We were always going to meet up with Uncle Peter and Aunty Merle but it was to total bonus to get to see Meg and Jack again. Just by chance we ended up being here at the same time. It was lovely for the kids because they had all got on so well when we stayed with Meg last August. Ken was missed but still we had a lovely evening in the warm, and relaxed hospitality of family.
Good old fun at Uncle Peter’s
During the evening Meg scoped out a good spot to watch the tour roll past tomorrow and plans were made to meet again and enjoy the TDU together. It was going to be a circuit again, with just four laps this time but beach front, so we were going to have lovely views.
Even though we were staying only minutes around the corner Meg and co had beaten us to the spot and nabbed the two best car parks for us to set up in. Location was perfect and weather sublime! I set up the batwing awning on the car and now we had shade too. It really was a wonderful few hours together. I love sharing these moment and making these family memories, with both Kens and my family, they are so few and far between which I guess is why it’s so special.
Charlotte and Jack encouraging the riders through ringing their ‘cow’ bells
From here the race and the TDU finished with a mountain/hill top finish on the famous ‘Old Wilunga Hill’. Only about 30 mins away and this is where Ken was. After climbing Wilunga himself his group set up to watch the finish. Instead of heading back to Adelaide with the rest of the folks we collected Ken here.
Daryl Impey takes the win – again!
He was totally pumped after a great couple of days but pretty exhausted, as was I. In my mind we’d have a couple of totally chilled days, hanging by the beach and pool but in reality it was hectic but totally enjoyable and to say I enjoyed having the bed to myself was an understatement.
We had a do nothing day around the van day the following day and our final day in Aldinga was spent on the glorious beach. You can take the car down so we set up on the beach and had a wonderful day. The water was lovely and the wind down. Perfect for paddle boarding and the kids finally got to crack our the Christmas boogie boards. We just love these family beach days.
Prefect conditions for the SUP!
The only downer was Georgie getting a bad sunburn! Every time I turned around she had her hat off and when I told them to reapply it never happened. Poor poppet was so sore and by the next morning her lip and cheeks had blistered. As a parent you feel so responsible but on the other side I know she will never ignore my instructions to wear her hat and put on and reapply sunscreen again. She’s never had a burn or seen bad sunburn before so never known what us pesky parents keep banging on about but she’ll not forget this in a hurry.
A top time here in Aldinga but we are all just a tad excited about what’s to come next. Visitors! And not just anyone but besties, Heidi and Ruby. It has all just come together with great ease and we can hardly believe we are going to be seeing them tomorrow.
Hooked up the extra shade cloth on the awning to keep cool!
HOT, HOT, HOT! Luckily I had booked this park well in advance, (top tip thanks Jacobsens). The tour was literally riding right past us and it had a huge pool and water park. Ironically it was too hot to venture outside, even too the pool. We did eventually go but not until it had started to cool down a little in the late afternoon.
So we mostly found ourselves flaked out in a puddle of sweat in the van. Even with the air conditioner on, lying still I was sweating. Ken was totally over cooked one of the days and didn’t even bother getting out of bed (Ken – I was probably tapering down for my own mini-tour in a couple of days!)
On our last day the tour was riding through, so we were going to have to leave the van and my FOMO was well and truly amped up or maybe it was the cabin fever setting in. I finally mustered everyone into the car so we could attempt to see a bit of this beautiful part of Australia. I had snuck out for an early morning walk through the town which was full of history old building and beautiful Lutheran Churches and I wanted to see more. We couldn’t leave without taking in some of the scenery and finding some delicious food and or wine from this magnificent region.
Maggie Beers Farm shop and Restaurant was not far away and seemed a good little outing before finding a shady spot to watch the race come past. The shop was delicious but mostly off limits for the dairy, gluten and sugar free diet. We did however manage to have a quick but yummy lunch and they were great at accommodating our needs.
From here we just headed straight back to the van and walked out the back gate of the park to watch the race come by. A beautiful elevated, shady spot on a slight hill. The usual fanfare come through first and Ken has rigged up the live feed on the iPad so we can watch the race as it approaches. The excitement is building, the cow bells ringing, and ………….. gone. Even on a hill the pace was up and in a moment it was all over.
The Peloton roll through Tununda on stage 2
Oh well, more fun and excitement tomorrow. We are leaving Tanunda but have discovered that we will be traveling some of the route the TDU is on and there is a section on which they do 7 laps. That sounds like a much better viewing day. We’ll have the van hitched on, providing all the comforts of home to set up for the day road side and get to see the riders pass 7 times. Perfecto!
