Whilst the trip across the Nullarbor(ing) was pretty boring in parts, there were lots of beautiful wild flowers about, many more trees and shrubbery than we expected, collections of clothing, shoes, socks, hats, and stubbies hanging in trees, and heaps of very long road trains which nearly blew us off the road. There were also areas of the road which were marked as landing strips for the Royal Flying Doctors Service - it would have been awesome to see one land on the road!
 |
| Great Australian Bight |
After leaving Cocklebiddy on Monday 20 September, we drove 470kms to Nullarbor Roadhouse, stopping along the way at various lookout points of the spectacular Great Australian Bight cliff faces. The day was overcast and showery with a cold wind of course but the scenery was breathtaking. The border check from WA to SA is not right at the border, so that night we had to cook up all our vegies before the border check next day at Ceduna.
 |
| Whale at Bunda Cliffs |
On our way to Ceduna the next morning, we stopped at the Head of the Bight whale viewing platforms and saw a few whales lolling about below the 70m Bunda Cliffs. There were no big tail splashes or anything, they were just taking it easy. We drove on to Ceduna and stayed for one night, enjoying a dinner out at a very nice tavern near the caravan park, and we were joined by a lovely couple whom we'd chatted with at Cocklebiddy.
Next day we drove to Smokey Bay for a quick look on our way to Streaky Bay, a very nice little town with a caravan park along the foreshore. We walked around town for a look and out to the jetty and then had a delicious and cheap $10 soup lunch at a waterfront cafe. The weather was still quite cold, especially at night.
 |
| Coffin Bay |
Our next stop was at Coffin Bay for a couple of nights, where we braved 91kms of scenic dirt road to see Sceales Bay, Cape Labatt (for the sea lions) and Murphys Haystacks which are actually bolders not hay. We then drove on to Elliston and did 6kms more of dirt road to view the cliff top sculptures which were interesting but not interesting enough for me to get out of the car to take a photo in the arctic cold wind! We headed back into Coffin Bay to settle into the caravan park overlooking the beautiful bay. Coffin Bay is renowned for its oysters, so next morning we did the oyster trail walk around the bay and watched some of the boats come in with their oyster collections. They are big boats and are towed to the ramp by tractors, so it was funny to see all these tractors parked in the carpark. I don't eat oysters, but Paulie loves them, so we tracked down a dozen which he devoured for afternoon nibblies with a chardy. We also bought some beautiful fresh King George whiting fillets for dinner (from the local butcher of all places) - delicious!
Saturday 25 September we drove to Port Augusta (via Arno Bay, Cowell and Whyalla) and stayed at the Big4 caravan park there. We didn't feel like exploring the town much, so just chilled out for the afternoon listening to the AFL grand final (the first one, that is) on the radio.
 |
| Sevenhill Cellars |
Our next stop was the lovely town of Clare in the Clare Valley wine region which is considered Australia's home of riesling. We drove there via the Main North Road instead of the highway, as it was much more picturesque through the lush green countryside and the gorgeous historic buildings. We checked into the caravan park for two nights and then drove around town and to the lookout. The weather was overcast and very cold and we planned on doing the Riesling Trail on our bikes the next day but it was raining and bitterly cold. Next morning we stopped at the Sevenhill Cellars which is the oldest winery and vineyard in Clare Valley and also unusual as the winery has been owned and operated by Jesuit Priests since 1851. The beautiful Aloysius Church is at the heart of the winery.
|
| Kapunda's historic copper mine site |
Kapunda (northern edge of the Barossa) was our next stopover and we visted the information centre in town, where they had a great interactive mining display downstairs telling the story of the town's copper ore mine history - the highest grade ore found anywhere in the world, which began in 1838 but then closed down in 1878 after the rich ore had been worked out. For those "McLeod's Daughters" fans, this was the town known as Fisher in the series. That afternoon we did the walk around the historic mine site past open cut tunnels, the mine chimney and lookouts. Even on an overcast day, the colours in the rocks were amazing. Unfortunately it rained as we were nearing the finish and we had to sprint back to the car in the rain! The town was also once home to Australia's cattle king - Sir Sidney Kidman and is renowned as some of the best farming land in Australia. His horse sales were recognised as the largest in the world, supplying horses to the Light Horse Brigade. Kidman donated his family home "Eringa" to the Education Department which is now the Kapunda High School. A very interesting and beautiful town.
 |
| Wolf Blass Winery |
Wednesday 29 September we drove on to Tanunda and then on to Nuriootpa (Aboriginal word meaning "meeting place") where we secured a site at the caravan park. A surprisingly large town with some of the best-known cellar doors. We did the tourist drive to the Mengler's Hill lookout for a picnic lunch, even though it was quite cold and windy. Next we visited the Maggie Beer's Farm Shop filled with lots of her yummy chutneys, pates, sauces and other goodies - Paulie bought some delicious pheasant pate with quince jelly. Next stop was the beautiful Wolf Blass winery and cellar door (one of my favourites) where we read all about it's history, did the wine tasting of course and walked out with a couple of bottles!
 |
| Grant Burge Winery |
Next morning we did a walk before leaving Nuriootpa and then headed out of town to the Lyndoch Lavender Farm - such peaceful and beautiful countryside. We walked amongst the lavender bushes in some lovely sunshine and then checked out the lavender shop, buying a few goodies there. When leaving the lavender farm we came across Grant Burge winery and cellar door - wow, a magnificent looking winery with the most beautiful gardens - and the wines aren't too bad either! Again walking out with a couple of bottles under our arms after the wine tasting ... oh well, this is the Barossa. We then drove on to Gawler for the night but couldn't get into a caravan park as all booked up - school holidays plus an orienteering weekend had filled the town. So we drove on to the town of Tailem Bend on the Murray River and went straight to the Information Centre where we chose a caravan park from the the two in town. Well, I'm just going to say it ... dodgeyville with some very strange folk ... think movie "Deliverance" and you might get the picture! The caravan park amenities rating was about -1 star, we couldn't even bring ourselves to have a shower there even with our thongs on! Once again we had been fooled by the glossy brochure. One of the permanent tenants came over to chat to us (a little scary but harmless enough), anyway we locked ourselves in the van after dinner and slept through the night with one eye open!
Dust flew up as we hightailed it out of Tailem Bend early next morning without breakfast and drove to Meningie on the Murray for breakfast (an omelette we prepared the evening before in preparation of our early escape from Tailem Bend). Our destination was Mount Gambier, some 400kms away. We drove through Woods Well, Tintinara and Keith and stopped at Padthaway for a very informative winetasting at Padthaway Estate cellar door and magnificent old homestead - tasting their champagnes, whites and reds and again walking out with a few bottles. The wine cellar in the van is well stocked now but then we are drinking some as we go ... as they say, life is short - drink the best!
 |
| Mt Gambier's Blue Lake |
 |
| Cave Gardens |
We drove on through the Coonawarra region to Naracoorte and Penola and then settled into the Blue Lake Holiday Park at Mount Gambier. After so much town-hopping lately, we wanted to stay put for a few days and catch up on some washing, shopping, relaxing etc, so we stayed at Mount Gambier for four nights. The park we stayed in was nice and grassy, quiet and lots of space around us, so we chilled out for a few days just doing local sightseeing to the beautiful Blue Lake and Valley Lake within walking distance. Blue Lake is one of three craters of an extinct volcano and each year around November changes colour to a spectacular turquoise blue colour. We also visited the amazing Cave Gardens which is right in the middle of town. At last we had some slightly warmer sunny days to enjoy.
This was also our last stop in SA before crossing the border into Victoria.
No comments:
Post a Comment