Blogs from South Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 4

Monday 10th April 2023 - Wednesday 19th April 2023 We're still here, it's not as bad as it could be, in fact we're almost enjoying our extended time here. We tend to plan our days the night before, being very flexible and often changing our minds several times the next morning. Since the last blog entry we have travelled to Adelaide city several times, spoken to the Service Manager where our Jeep is more than several times, enjoyed a vintage car rally in town, been for a long walk from Belair down the hills to a train station closer to home, visited the town of Hahndorf for at least the 4th time, this time with an elaborate and filling lunch, plus explored the surrounding towns. If it wasn't for the fact that we are "forced" into ... read more

Monday 3rd – Sunday 9th April, 2023 We are trying to make this enforced stop in Gawler a positive one, just part of out whole trip and adventure. We have often said that we should settle in one spot for a while and get to know the area rather than moving on regularly as we have been doing. To this end we try to organize activities to do and see as much as we can in a day rather than just letting things happen. On Monday we met up with Judy’s cousin Kathy and husband Harald for lunch at a nearby hotel. We were joined by another cousin, Fred, who Judy hadn’t seen since she was 12 years old, and his partner. Good food and good conversation was had. Tuesday was our cycling day and ... read more

Melbourne was almost Batmania, the name suggested by it’s founder John Batman. The site he declared was “a good place for a village.” Thankfully saner (or more politically astute) minds prevailed and it was called Melbourne after the prime minister of the time. One of the first major industries was confectionery, MacRobertson’s Steam Confectionery Works developed and produced the crunchie and freddo bars in the 1920’s. Products taken over when Cadbury’s bought the company in 1967. Another proud first was the installation of the first traffic lights in Australia to ‘solve’ the problem of traffic,and pedestrian congestion. They went in at the junction of Flinders And Swanson Streets, still a major junction and still pretty congested. But given they were only installed in 1928 I suppose it is early days yet. Well we took the shuttle ... read more

What a difference a day makes! After the really hot day yesterday we were a little surprised to wake up to a cloudy sky and a mere 20 degrees outside. In some ways it was a bit of a relief as it was a little too hot to do much yesterday. We didn’t have any set plans today, but thought we’d head over towards Murray Bridge. We ended up at Old Tailem Town, which had lots and lots of replica houses, garages, stores and churches e.t.c. which represent how people lived and worked over the past 100+ years. As we walked in the lady warned us that there were ‘loads of mozzies out there today’ – marvellous! Good job we are now used to the morning routine of sun screen and bug repellent! We wandered around ... read more

We woke up to glorious sunshine here in Victor Harbour this morning so could get dressed for summer for our full day here. We tried to get on a morning boat tour but missed out so booked a shorter trip for the afternoon, we were halfway across the causeway so carried on to Granite Island to see the penguin centre. Unfortunately, even though the room map mentions it, it no longer exists so after a drink in the café we headed back towards town. We were going to use the horsedrawn tram but decided to walk instead, I think it was quicker anyway and saved us $30! We sat and had a quick beer in the Hotel Victor and then headed back to the room, for a bit of lunch and a top up on the ... read more