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Published: August 5th 2009
The Big Koala
Our first (of many) big things!On the road… finally!
Our expected date of departure came and went due to car problems; the kids had left a small interior light on and flattened the battery overnight. Despite the fact we are with RACV total care, the battery man would not replace our battery because he had to remove the intercooler to get to it and he is only licensed to work on batteries. I figured its not worth getting upset over - if a man isn’t confident to touch our car I don’t want him touching it! Coupled with the fact that we had noticed coolant leaking underneath, the car sat there until Tuesday for our mechanic to fix the problems. The online Delicashop certainly came in handy with speedy service and the small part we required.
With the car all fixed up, we spent Wednesday working like mad men catching up on lost time - this meant I missed out on visiting my Grandma to say “see you later” (not “goodbye”). This made it hard on Thursday, when I called her.
Thursday was nice with family and friends visiting with their respective farewells, but I was frustrated at the amount I had not
The sort-of-big fish
I'm telling you, we are on the lookout for "big" things! finished up in order to leave. Eventually we were ready to go and were getting ready to say our goodbyes in the next 10 minutes or so, when Cody (3) fell off the side of the lounge and split his head open on the corner of the fire hearth. After a stressful visit to the doctor in which his cut was glued back together (with a lot of screaming), I returned home to Seth (10) with a toothache. Off to Barwon Health we went and by 2.30pm he had one less tooth and one frazzled mother!
We bid Grady’s mum a difficult farewell - after 9 comfortable weeks together, we were taking her grandchildren away - and headed to Horsham to visit Grady’s auntie and uncle, who is fighting cancer.
After 10+ years of dreaming, our departure wasn’t the joyous time we had anticipated. We did not really speak for the first hour or so, as we were waiting for the next thing to go wrong with the car or caravan. I found myself nervously watching the fuel gauge dip and wondering how we would go.
We arrived in Horsham late, but were happy to have seen our first
S.A. border crossing
Romance on the border in wine country..... “big” thing: the big koala just out of Horsham. The kids all had photos and were quite excited by the time we arrived at our first night away from home.
The next day we left for Naracoorte after a lovely time with Grady’s Auntie, Uncle and Cousins, and his dad who is there helping at this time.
NARACOORTE
We stayed at Naracoorte for three nights because we loved the campsite we had found. For $21 a night we had power, clean showers and toilets, free barbecue, camp fire and a laundry with $2 washing machine and a free dryer! It was the perfect way to unwind and organize the van before we next headed off.
I would highly recommend the Naracoorte Caves to anyone who hasn’t been there before. For around $65 we had entry to the museum and two caves. We chose to see the Victoria Fossil cave which was very interesting for both us and the kids.
The Victoria fossil cave was first discovered in 1894, sans fossils. The original tour ended with the tour guide “playing” the stalactites like a glockenspiel. This resulted in the breakage of some stalactites and compared with how careful people are
Naracoorte Camping Ground
$21 a night - great rates for a family of 6! now, it was amazing to think the caves were treated this way.
The fossil section of the cave was discovered in 1969 when cave explorers felt a draught in a 25cm crack. They tunneled their way through to a massive fossil find the size of an Olympic pool with the fossils of over 100 species of animals, including some complete skeletons and some extinct animals (the megafauna). This has earned the Naracoorte Caves South Australia’s only World Heritage listing, due to the sheer magnitude of the fossil find. Skeletons have been reassembled for viewing and researchers have guessed the appearance of animals and made movable castings complete with skin coverings for the museum, so people can imagine what these megafauna would have looked like. It was interesting to learn how the researchers had made educated guesses on what the animals would have looked like, based on the similarities of jaw structures to marsupials/mammals. The kids enjoyed the presentation at the fossil area, especially when they held the jawbones (castings) of animals. It was an educational day which was just as well, given their lack of schooling whilst we settle in.
After 3 nights at Naracoorte we headed to Kingston
In the caves
The inside of the cave was no where near as spectacular as the Princess Margaret Rose caves in Mt Gambier, but the uniqueness of the fossil find was the reason we travelled here. to see the Big Lobster and up to Tailem Bend. Cody was thrilled to see in the township an old steam train (inoperable) in the playground. Of all the kids, he is enjoying this trip the most - whilst the others watch dvds and play their Nintendo DS (much to the disgust of their father), he is happy to look out the window at passing animals.
This night was to be our first of many roadside stops, so we were pleased to see how pleasant this one was. Our area was well back from the highway behind tall trees and gave the appearance of a campground rather than a rest area. We lit the fire to cook tea and after the kids went to bed, Grady and I enjoyed conversing with other campers on their way home after doing the exact same trip we want to do, but in reverse (and in six WEEKS rather than our hopeful 9 months)! They had many tips for us and camp recommendations. It was a fun and valuable night.
The next day we traveled through Tailem Bend to Port Pirie. We had been anxious about traveling through Adelaide in case the car
Marsupial lion fossil
How do they know its a marsupial? They compared the jaw and saw similarities to other marsupials. How do they know it is a carnivore? It has sharp incisors at the front and sharp flat teeth at the back. Interesting that it is only a guess and still open to interpretation from other researchers who think its a root-eater. didn’t cope or used too much fuel, but everything went well. The conditions were horrible: fog so bad that Grady could barely see in front, but the car towed well and fuel use was not much different.
After Adelaide, Grady noticed the caravan brakes weren’t working, so we pulled into a caravan repair place in Port Wakefield and after spending 45 minutes looking, the repairman had found a loose wire in our trailer plug and repaired it for a grand cost of $20! We were thrilled as we had been expecting the worst.
Port Pirie is a beautiful town - we would like to stay there on our way home. The kids were sad not to play on the huge playground and skate park right on the water (not to mention the McDonalds eyeing us off), but we were hungry and needed to get the van set up for the night.
We did make time however, for viewing the shark exhibit at the information centre. It involves a casting made of “Shakka”, the 5.5m White Pointer who drowned in fishermen’s lines in 1998. No photographs are allowed, but to crouch down in front of her jaws, it gives a real
Seth in the museum
I don't know... looks like a huge wombat to me! appreciation (and fear) for the sheer size of the shark. The kids also got to stand in front of the real jaws of Shakka and learn much about the shark as a species. I have had a “thing” about sharks for a while since reading a book on real shark attacks, so I was probably the most thrilled to see the exhibit.
Our rest area was typical of what we expect for the rest of the trip: no facilities and just off the highway. Despite this, the view was magnificent of the ocean and behind us, the grandness of the Flinders Ranges. The porta-potti was set up without the tent, so using it with the million dollar view but right near the highway is an experience I don’t think the kids will forget in a hurry!
We have now made our way to Hawker where we are enjoying our first caravan park. Our temperature gauge read 26 degrees and the kids have had a dip in the pool (and I mean “dip” - it was freezing!). This will be a couple of nights to catch up on washing and to explore the Flinders Ranges, which Grady and I are
Cody
Cody enjoying a view of a large snake skeleton wrestling with a marsupial lion skeleton. anticipating with much excitement.
So far, the trip is costing us about $100 a day, so we are very thankful that Grady managed to work for a mate in the last two weeks before we left. As soon as we get to Alice Springs we will be looking for work and basing there for a good couple of weeks, or as long as it takes to save a bit for more fuel.
We are absolutely thrilled to bits that the kids have been good, the car has performed well and we are adjusting well to our family being our only company. It has only been in the last couple of days that I have brought out the schoolwork, as I just wanted everyone to settle in to life on the road. Its strange but wonderful that this isn’t just a 2 week holiday, but our way of life for next 9 months as we work our way through the centre and West Coast of Australia.
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Uncle Sam and Carly
non-member comment
Looks like you guys are having an amazing time, good to see Seth giving the plants a nice watering too!