Blogs from South Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 260

Hi All. I know you have all been waiting with baited breath to see what we have been doing. 2nd Jan 2006 Well we left Melbourne to spend or first 2 nights in Yambuck near a wind farm. On the way there we stopped at Gelong Botanical Gardens for lunch. We stopped at Campertown for a snooze as we wwere a bit tired and then once we found the van park we went for a walk along the foreshore and the river with the boys. 3rd Nard's parents met us at Yambuck so we spent the day touring around. We went to the Crags which is a rocky outcrop and the volcanic ation had fosilized the tree roots. We went to Tower hill and walked to the top lok out and then around a boardwalk down ... read more

Since our last visit to Mount Bryan things have certainly become more golden as the crops ripen and become ready for reaping. On Tuesday evening an enormous header appeared and stripped the grain in ‘number 1’ paddock. By about midnight the paddock was finished and the workers retired until tomorrow. Dan says … I had a ride in the harvester. Matt was driving. It was like I was a little man helping an evil villain to drive his evil instrument of torture (for wheat). Inside the harvester it was like being in a computer room. There were lots of buttons and levers and computer screens which told the driver how many times the big comb had turned. The small seat that I sat in was a massage seat - I was so relaxed I barely knew ... read more

During our visit to Mt Bryan we were treated to a historical tour of the area by Jim Quinn (Dan's Grandfather). This entry shares what we found out. The Quinn family migrated to Australia from Ireland in 1853 and have resided in South Australia ever since. The family homes have been around Mt Bryan, progressively moving in a clockwise direction around the mountain. Dan’s Great Grandfather on the Quinn side of the family spent the first 8 years of his life in a little house 8 miles north from Mount Bryan (section 662). His name was Thomas James Quinn (born 20/9/1892 at Mount Bryan East, died 9/4/1975 Burra). He lived with his parents William Henry Quinn (born 2/11/1861 at Princess Royal Station, south of Burra, and died 6/10/1948 Burra) and Anne O’Mealley (born 8/7/1865 Kapunda, died ... read more

We did a lot in the past week. Probably as much in one week as Les and I did in our first month here. As a result, and since this blog is first and foremost my way of recording our time down here, these will be some LONG blogs. I’ll be posting three in all, but I’ll caption them. So if you feel like you’d like to read about Flinders Ranges, you can skip to that section, or you can skip it altogether. I hope this way those of you who read in five minute breaks here and there will have some nice ‘break length’ snippets. Adelaide Our flight to Adelaide took place in two parts, and both went about as you’d expect given we were flying with a toddler. The only exception was that on ... read more

Introduction This walk is one we have enjoyed many times during our visits to American River on Kangaroo Island. American River is not a river, but a deep cove which is protected from the open waters of ‘Backstairs passage’ by a narrow entrance to the north. To the south are lagoons which are important fish breeding grounds. This walk follows the coast on the western side of the cove, but high on the side of a hill, crossing several gullies and passing through many sheoak forests (food for the impressive glossy black cockatoos that inhabit this part of the world). The well-marked path leads to the ruins of a fish cannery on the beach. If you are prepared to go rock hopping you can continue past this point and venture into penguin country. The rock holes ... read more