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Published: September 2nd 2012
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Day 62 – Thursday 30
th August - Minnipa to Barossa Valley
Once again we have been lucky with the weather and it stayed dry last night. The temperature was 8 degrees this morning but without the sun it felt much cooler than it had done at Karijini. We sent Luke for a quick walk up the Tcharkuldu Rock on behalf of the rest of us as we packed up the tent, eager to get on our way and eat into the kilometres on our journey home. We have been amused by the road safety posters in South Australia, aimed at a definitely male target group – “Don’t drive like a red button”; “Don’t drive like a rooster”; “Don’t drive like an anchor” (with a w in front of it). See if you can work them out for yourselves (sorry no photos).
After an hour’s driving we get to Kimba, which calls itself “the town half way across Australia”. Its other claim to fame is that it is the home of the Big Galah, a giant 8m high wire and fiberglass pink and grey bird standing proudly at the side of the car park of the “Halfway Across
Australia Tourist Shop”. As it was too early for even the shortest stop we took a quick photo out of the window as we drove past.
A check of the map and the sat nav had told us that driving through the Clare Valley and Barossa Valley (famous Australian wine growing regions) on the way home wouldn’t add too many kilometres or time to the homeward journey. So we drove through Port Augusta and then into the European looking countryside of the Clare Valley. The very helpful ladies at the Clare Valley visitor centre told us where we could get a great tasting platter as late lunch, so we made our way to the award winning O’Leary-Walker winery after a quick drive through the historic town of Mintaro. Lunch and the wine were absolutely fantastic and it was a great mini detour to make. From the Clare Valley we drove the hour to the Barossa Valley and passed the well know wineries of Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Jacob’s Creek as we made our way to our free campsite in the Mount Crawford forest nearby.
We are making good progress on our Harry Potter quest and hope to get
to the end of audio book number six (Deathly Hallows) by the time we get home tomorrow. Kids go to bed early after a cup-a-soup by the campfire as they are both coughing badly, and adults retire soon after with a hot water bottle and the laptop for another in-tent movie session. This will be our last night under canvas for quite a while. The Red Rock camper trailer has been brilliant and has lived up to its slogan of “Built Tough to Play Rough”.
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