The Krispy Kreme Doughnut Dilemma

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Desert Ship Territory Log Day 15

I awoke to a beautiful view of the Back Stairs Passage which was like a mill pond and an overcast but rainless sky. Typical for the day we have to leave after 3 full days torrential rain but the world has bigger problems today as we also awoke to the dreadful news of MH17 being shot down and passengers at the ferry terminal are transfixed at the television. Before we ramped we did a quick tour of Penneshaw which looked like a quaint Cornish village stuck in the 70s. There are meant to be penguins right here near the ferry terminal and I had investigated going on a tour yesterday evening but there ws a big note at the penguin centre at Kingscote Wharf that all tours had benn cancelled since last year due to low numbers. Those low numbers are due to the NZ Fur Seal eating them all. I am now glad that the weather impeded my efforts to photograph them whikst on KI because I have now officially boycotted them. Why they just don't just stick to fish I have no idea. Every driver is still waving to us every time we pass a vehicle on the road here in KI, a true testament to how friendly our SA neighbours have been every where. On the ferry we will be busy planning our escape route, the quickest way back home. We were debating whether to spend a night in Burra which we were really sad about missing out on on the way down, but it is 7 hours from Ceduna, so maybe we will head straight to Port Augusta. We passed back through the stunning Fleurieu Peninsular where the dairies and rolling steep hills reminded us so much of New Zealand. We made the decision to go to the Barossa Valley via Adelaide rather than around the other side of the Adelaide Hills. I thought the hills way would take ages because of the windy hilly roads but I couldn't have more wrong. For a start, the major Southern Expressway was closed, the whole express way which meant we had to take the back roads through congested Adelaide. We were nearly wiped out twice by other drivers and none of it our fault. Both failed to give way and one managed to stop in time after we gave it a wide berth and had somewhere to move, the other just pulled out in front of us when we were going straight and we managed to brake in time. I always thought WA drivers were the worst in Australia! For the last 3 days we have heard nothing on the local news other than the opening of the first Krispy Kreme Doughnut store in SA. It just so happened that we were passing within 500m of there and there was much debate in the car over whether should stop and sacrifice the Barossa Valley due to severe time constraints. It was a huge dilemma because as with koalas WA is sadly devoid of and Krispy Kremes. In the end we heard there were still massive queues and not only that it was big news yesterday how someone was held up at knife point for their box of Krispy Kremes! There were also lots of road works on the way to the Barossa Valley, meaning we didn't get there until 1530 pm. We only had time for 5 minutes in Maggie Beer's Farm Shop before we ended up coming to a halt at a caravan park just before Clare which looked packed despite the cold that was setting in. It was a lovely location, similar to our other lodgings and the cheapest accommodation yet at $99! The Barossa Valley truly is scenic and beautiful and it's a shame we don't have more time here. We took a detour through the Seppeltfields Drive which was particularly scenic. I was gobsmacked to see the Seppelt Family Mausoleum which looked like a Roman mansion perched high on a hill and accessed by a mayan style staircase lined with palms. It was built in 1927. Because we only managed the get this far it means we have a 7 hour driving day with no stops tommorrow to get to Ceduna. Luckily they had space for us and funnily enough it has been the cheapest accommodation yet and is quite pleasant. I had my heart set on seeing a Georgian mansion, Martindale Hall, not far from here but am gutted to discover it closed at 4pm and won't be open until midday tommorrow. Curse you Adelaide! I guess I'll just have to look at it on the internet, not quite the same though. I hope the grounds are still open tommorrow. On the eve of returning home, I am already feeling nostalgic about our wonderful holiday. SA has been full of unexpected scenery, history, wild life and friendliness. I have totally loved it and can not wait to come back one day with an airline this time.

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