Blogs from Clare, South Australia, Australia, Oceania

Watervale this morning is Windyvale, man it was blowing big time and then some. So bad, the dude in the landcruiser had to make a windbreak with his vehicle, so that we could pack up our tents without them taking off like Mary Poppins. Kirk decided to ride with us to Clare to stock up on his food supplies, as Watervale completely shuts down on Sundays. We battled the wind to Clare, on the way we stopped at the Golden Fleece roadhouse to fill our water bottles and grab some eat & ride food. We don't have the luxury of the Tour de' France riders with their support vehicles handing out snacks and water bottles along the way. So we just had to store food and water and ride heavy loaded bikes all at the same ... read more

Thursday 6 October 2016 - Black Point to Clare Valley Black Point, primarily a beach holiday town on the east coast of Yorke Peninsula, offered us beautiful weather although the morning was a little breezier than the night before. During the evening the sea was like glass, however there were a few white caps further out to sea. This sun was still shining. We headed for Ardrossan and was looking forward to eating mini-Kitchener buns we had with Sheryl & Brian when we were last there. We arrived at the brilliant red cliff face which backed the beach area, and parked our vans to walk to the bakery. Sadly, they only had large Kitchener buns and they put too much jam in them so they were a bit too sweet. We had become connoisseurs of the ... read more

Day 1: Melbourne to Grampians National park After goodbye’s with our Melbourne friends Yamuna, Ankit, and Ari we load into the van to begin our great 6000km Australian road trip. We have one big suitcase, one small suitcase, one large backpack, and two small backpacks for our journey. We loaded up on food yesterday at the grocery store and Yamuna grilled us some Tandoori chicken to take with us so we are good to go. Next stop: Grampians National Park! Gas in Melbourne is $1.19/liter. Coming from New Zealand we find this amazing. We fill up the van for less than $60 and we are off. Not long after getting on the highway, though, we pull over. There are signs for a fruit stand: 10 mangoes for $10! It’s busy and we wait in line but ... read more

Hi travel lovers. I figured it was time for a travel update since it has been some time. We spent a couple of weeks in Adelaide checking out all the local sites in and around the city and surrounding country side. Included was a quick 4 day trip to the Gold Coast (Mullumbimby) to celebrate my sisters (Isabelle) 60th birthday and brother inlaw (Darren) 50th birthday. A great time and congratulations to you both. Included in the Adelaide adventure was trips into the Adelaide Hills to see Mt Lofty, Bridgewater (Bridgewater Mill and water wheel), Hahndorf (German Village), Lobethal, Gumeracha (giant rocking horse) and then the Gorge Wildlife park before heading back to Adelaide. On leaving Adelaide we headed for Clare (another wine district - Riesling) to spend a couple of days checking out the surrounding ... read more

Part II of the adventure. I joined a tour with a company called Top Deck, a week long tour of south and central Australia. An area approximately 4 times the size of England. Crazy. Day 1 An early start: 7am pick up ready for an adventure. The tour bus picked me up from my hostel in Adelaide. There were 5 of us on tour altogether and I was happy that every one of them were great. We all got on really well. Good thing as we would be spending 24 hours a day together for the next 7 days. There was a French girl, Australian girl, American, stereotypical Texan, girl, a Swedish guy and me. We all introduced ourselves and chatted like we'd known each other ages. We set off, heading north. Our tour guide was ... read more