Mount Gambier

Had a brilliant day of sight seeing in Mt Gambier and Port Macdonnell which is only about 1/2 an hour
out from Mt Gambier. Port Macdonnell is the Southern most point of South Australia. The coast
line is very rough and there has been an amazing number of ship wrecks along it in times past.
sand but the rest is very rocky - sort of like Tatapuri. With huge limestone cliffs and jaggered edges.
We stopped at Mt Schank on our way back to Mt Gambier and climbed up it to look in the crater -
very impressive - although it only had a very small pond of water in the bottom with heaps of greenery growing.
We then went to the stone tower in Mt Gambier which proved to be an extremely steep climb - but well worth it as
the views were fantastic. Carried on to the lookout over the Blue Lake in the crater of Mt Gambier this is
just breath takingly beautiful and the colour has only just started to change around the edges - we would
love to see it at Xmas when it is fully bright blue. Then had a look at a limestone sink hole that they have
done an amazing garden in - very big and deep down into the ground - gave me the willies walking down
the stairs to the bottom. We had been into town this morning and checked out the sink hole in there
which is also really well down with steps down into it and gardens.

Adeliade

Well we are having a great time - this tiki touring is fantastic.
Adelaide is a beautiful city - it has a real mixture of old rock building and new modern archititure. It must have been a large City even way back as the old rock buildings are very large and high. Fantastic old churches etc and lots of trees abit like Christchurch or Dunedin. Then you have Glenelg which is a suburb - it is a beachside settlement and is really cool - neat atmosphere and good shopping.

We have been for an hours walk this morning around the bottom of hill that the motor camp is on and saw a big fat Koala Bear
climbing up a gum tree ,neat to have them in the wild so close to the city centre pity we did not have the Camera.

Had a beautiful day yesterday - then high winds last night (Had to get up about midnight and pull the roll out awning in). Today is still abit windy and cooler but still nice.

We went to the old German Township of Handorf for a look around some amazing shops and old stone cafes and restaurants. Yesterday we stumbled across a Hogs and Rods show - pretty small but interesting all the same.

Map of trvels so far

This Map gives a bit of an idea of our travels
so far.Follow the purple line if you can.

Albury/Ouyen

On Wednesday we left Canberra and drove to Albury this took 5 hours instead of the expected 4 due to some massive road works - they really go all out here and do major projects all at once.

From Albury to Ouyen - left at 9.00am and arrived at the camp at 4.00pm with only a couple of short stops on the way. We stopped at a little town called Holbrooke which is in the middle of no where and no sea for miles - when you drive through there is a huge submarine in one of the parks - crazy ah! so they class themselves as the submarine town. Baffles us how they got it there - we assume it was shifted in small pieces.

Then futher along the way we had to stop at a place called Yarrawanga as there was this beautiful lake named Lake Mulwala which was huge but had big trees sticking out of it all over the place - it would prove really challenging to water ski in it.

After staying the night in Ouyen we headed towards Adelaide - we now know where most of Australia's grain is grown - just miles and miles of it and such huge paddocks - it must sent them silly doing the plowing etc. So when up North Queensland every town was visible for miles by the sugar gain chimneys - down this part of the country it is the grain silo's that notify you that a town is coming up.

It was a very long straight road that didn't have a lot of scenery on it - so we were pleased to get to the end of it. It has made us reconsider driving to Perth, Broome and Darwin - maybe flying would be kinder?

We drove through a small historical township (Thanks Ian for telling us about it) called Handorf - which is just outside Adelaide - really cool looking place like a little old German town - but parking was an issue - so we will have to head back without the caravan on the back to have a look around.

When we crossed the boarder from Victoria to South Australia we had to throw all our fresh fruit out as you are not allowed to transport it into South Australia (what a waste of great fruit) you are also suppose to throw away any vegetables - but I had forgotten about the potato's and a couple of carrots in the fridge so thankfully we didn't get pulled up and checked as it is an on the spot fine if you are caught carrying it.

We are really looking forward to the rest of the travelling over the next month as it will be mostly around the South Coast Roads which are suppose to have beautiful scenery.

Canberra

We moved out of Orange on Thursday - and it was still cold and wet - never mind a part from the weather the place was really good - a real out of the reach Aussie Town (City). We went through to Cowra and looked at the Japanese gardens which were lovely and ended up having a little extra excitement for our money when the Cafe there set their fat vats on fire and ended up with the fire brigade up there putting it out - needless to say we didn't bother having morning tea there. We went for a ride up the Road where the old P.O.W camp was and they have rebuilt a guards tower but there was nothing else to see - apparently they are looking at reconstructing it which would be interesting.

We then moved on to Goulburn where Mike use to do some work when he was at Macpro (at the freezing works there). It was another neat town with some amazing old buildings - they are so lucky to have retained so many interesting buildings in such good condition and they are still used today. We went and saw the big marrino sheep which has been moved since Mike last saw it. Once again the weather wasn't being kind to us and it was extremely cold, windy and wet. This has totally blown our impression of Australia being a hot and dry country as in NSW there weather patterns seems exactly the same as NZ. But hey once you have had some cold weather it sure does make you appreciate the nice hot days ah!

After staying Thursday night in Goulburn we moved on to Canberra - it was only an hour down the road so nice short day of travel. What a neat City - so much to see and do. We went up to the Telstra Tower on Friday and had a good look around in the blustering winds and a good hot drink. Also had a quick look around the shopping centre - will have to return to it!
Saturday - we walked to the Farmers Market which is in the same area as the camping ground as we are staying at the Canberra Events Centre (they hold the Summernats here) then we went to the newer of the two Parliment Houses and did the tour around the inside - went for a walk on the grassed roof and all that - very interesting. . During the week we also want to do the War Memorial Museum (which is suppose to be brilliant) they say to allow a whole day to go through it. Mike also wants to look at the huge Science and Technology thing here where they have a lot of interaction type things - sounds like another all day type place ah!. We are planning on heading off on Wednesday but will play it by ear as like I said there is just so much to see here - and hey! to top it off the weather is being real kind to us - sunny - still a bit chilly but we can live with that when there is sun ah!

From here we plan to head towards the South Coast and get back by the ocean. We will work our way up the coast to the out skirts of Sydney - then find a base and use the trains to go into the City - everyone we have spoken to - told us not to try driving in the City as it is pretty hectic - so hey we will take there advise - Mike is very keen to avoid driving in the big cities after his experience in Brisbane ha! ha!

Bathurst/Janolan Caves

Well we have had a fantastic weekend. Yesterday (Saturday) we went for a drive out to the Jonalan Caves which are absolutely stunning. There are all different caves that you can go into but we choose the imperial cave - beautiful. The Road down to the caves is a bit exciting being very steep and 15km bends and they aren't joking when they say 15km. It has the most amazing Hotel when you get to the bottom which wouldn't look out of place in the Swiz Alps or somewhere like that. The entrance to the different caves is cut out of a rock mountain and the road goes through it - really is worth seeing if you get the opportunity. It took us about an hour from Orange and the Road is good even the last bit as long as you take notice of the signage - like it says not suitable for caravans or buses and honestly we can see why.

Today we went to Bathurst!! Fantastic day even if the Holdens really socked it to the Fords! we figure after the hammering they took last year they needed to get some credit back somehow ah! and yep they sure did it at one stage the first 8 placings where all Holdens - and even if there was 2 Holdens to every 1 Ford - they deserved the win - thats about as gracious as I can be ok! We coped the usual Bathurst weather, the heat and sun, the freezing wind and then the rain - as expected but it was a great day! Took the bus up the hill and the atmosphere up there is incredible - some of the camp sites are a hoot on their own without the fact that the view of the racing is brilliant. Mike wants to go in this week and drive around the track as everyone tells you how steep it is - so we will check it out for ourselves. We found getting in and out of Bathurst easier than the speedway in Gisborne - really well worked out traffic flow and control. Mind you we got out pretty quick once it was so obvious the Holdens had it all.

We are in Orange until Thursday, we are then heading off to Cowra - this is where all the Japanese prisoners of war where held captive and there was a huge outbreak of the prisoners. Apparently you can see through the jail and there are some beautiful Japanese gardens etc to acknowledge this history. We will probably stay a night there. Mind you the weather is so cold.... here when you get inland - it matches anything NZ has in winter so we will be making our way back to the coast as soon as. We also want to go to Goulburn after Cowra as Mike did some work there when he was with Macpro and wants to show me the place - then it is on to Canberra (probably stay there a week) and have a good look around that area.

The Rasher of Bacon Janolan Caves