the quest continues...............

As we continue our quest to find the best pastie and the best vanilla slice we both agree that todays contender came close! The Bakery on the Sturt Highway as we left Wakerie gave us excellent coffee and and the second best pastie and best vanilla slice so far.

After petrol cost our coffee and cake budget is the most expensive part of the holiday ....but is also good fun....so we will keep looking!

day 10 - 14

Sunday - day of rest! well every day is rest day when on holidays. Today we have had a quiet day to take in the beauty of our surroundings. We have walked a little and rested, and cooked a great little roast on the mini charcoal burner that we picked up from Harris Scarf 70% off. It is a little beauty and the coals were ready about the time it was finished cooking. Will take a bit of practice to get the timing right.

Monday we packed up and moved on to Morgan. The camp ground here is just on the river just near the ferry crossing and walking distance to the shops. We did the walk around which did not take too long - coffee and cake and the day was over. No internet here so Ron is in withdrawal. Finally worked out how to tune the telly but we had some murder she wrote on disk so that kept us amused for a while.

Tuesday we did a loop around drive taking in some scenic spots and ending up in Waikerie for coffee and cake. Ron discovered his second best pastie for the trip and the vanilla slice not too bad. The first of the locks & wiers at Blanchtown and the second in the middle of nowhere gave us some photo opportunity. We have 3 cameras on the go and so plenty of snaps will hopefully give us a few good shots to put in an album.

ron had his first attempt at fishing but was back fairly quickly as he had snagged all his gear and so he gave that up. He then went off for a long paddle.

Wednesday - moving day as we head off to Loxton. We have this great site to walk out our door and face the river. I think a few days here is required as we realise that our holidays are nearing half over. The weather today has been rain and cloudy, but at least the wind has settled this afternoon and the mozzies are not too bad. So as the night falls we finish tea looking out over the river.

day 9 saturday

Footy grandfinal day!

We took a drive for a couple of hours to investigate the river and check out the cliffs along the way. Some great pictures and some memory pictures as we explored.

No tv reception so it was grandfinal by radio and internet - bit like being overseas.

The small caravan park has filled to capacity with a variety of people. The young with their powerful motor boats anxious for the weather to break so they can get out and ski. Some grey nomads meandering their way around, including an older single lady in a small motor home from Queensland and touring on her own, There are families obviously at their regular retreat place - so good to see people relaxing and enjoying the activities.

Seemed a predominant cats supporting influence amoungst those listening in to the loud car radio. the rest of the people had gone up to the one pub to watch on the big screen.

We tried to take the boat out today but the waves splashed over into the boat almost sinking us to the point we were nearly waist deep in water so gave that up and headed to the bank to empty out and return to base.

Lets see what tomorrow brings - the weather is set to improve and hopefully the wind settles and we can have a decent paddle.

one week down - friday

the weather is what it is - can't do anything ab out it. We moved on from Mannum today and aimed for Swan Reach just a few K's up the road. Stopping at each photo point we made a cuppa and waited for the storm to pass before getting out of the car. At one stop I said to Ron you can go and take a picture but after a short while he came back and said I would want to see this! The view was amazing as the river sweeps around a big bend. Steep red cliffs and flood plains covered in water.

We pull into the park a little earlier than expected but no worries we set up again and for the first time have a go at the annexe. It took some patience as we endevour to work out how the different bits all put together. Finally all up just as the next storm came flooding down.

A walk over the small town area, coffee and carrot cake at the cafe, afternoon rest and a little grocery shopping and the day is over.

The SkipBo cards have been out and we wait for the storm to pass and look forward to some sunny days.

day 7 - thursday

Today we are based at Mannum and have been for a drive up to Walkers Flat. This is one of the areas where the big red cliffs of the river give a magnificent sight. We crossed over on the ferry and returned to Mannum in time to wander down the street for coffee and cake - seems to be a daily habit developing....trying to find the best bakery on the Murray.

This afternoon the weather has remained stormy with rain and wind so I curled up in bed with a book. Ron sat out for a bit and retreated into the van when the weather got too bad.

Some photos will follow when we have better internet.

day 6 - wednesday

Moving day today and we had the challenge of putting everything in its place and developing a routine for how to prepare for travel. I thought everything was connected and ready to go and discovered the pop top had not been put down!

We quickly realised that nothing goes to routine, everything needs to be set in place and even then things go wrong. When connecting the power connector plug to the van we kept blowing brake fuses. We managed to change every spare blue fuse and the problem was not resolved so it was a call to RACV and then the wait - so we put the kettle on and pulled out our ipads and filled in the next half hour until a very friendly man from RAA arrived. He had a bit of a fiddle with the connector and suggested we stock up on fuses until we discover the cause! The brake lights were working and we were on our way.

It had been raining most of the morning and we planned only a short drive to Mannum so we arrived there in time for lunch.

Tonight we are in a modern caravan park that is quickly filling. We are beginning to see the masses of grey nomads on the road and are looking with interest at their setups and trying to learn some tricks of how to manage this caravan experience.

Ron has found some more tv channels and so is relaxing on the bed with the remote in hand.

Rain and hail is expected tonight and we hope it clears tomorrow so we can put the boat in the water.

day 5 - tuesday

Today was the day for a walk around the sights of Murray Bridge. We picked up a tourist map from the 'i' place and played tourist. We wandered and drove around looking at the highlights and that took a little over an hour!!!!! Well it is not a very big town and everything is shut - open for tourists on the weekend. So we wandered the main strip and had coffee and cake. A drive down the main road, found Bunnings so we took a walk through. Then it was back to the van and time to prepare tea. Ron has set up the telly and the only station is SBS. Must be some way to get it working better.

A few more people have been arriving in the park as the long weekend and school holidays approaches. This park is particularly used by weekenders from Adelaide. The many permanent sites have a huge variety of watercraft - seems to be the place to be for water skiing.

day 4 - monday

We begin our Murray river experience by heading down to Goolwa to stand at the mouth of the Murray - the point where the river ends and flows out to see.

The road from Murray Bridge to Goolwa is through the farmland along the river. We drove around the western side of Lake Alexandria,passing mostly dairy farms and some crop farms. As we neared Goolwa we went through some hills and down into the port town on the edge of the Lake.

A coffee and pie from the bakery and a walk around the main tourist sites before driving out to the barrages. These were concrete construction built in the mid 50's to hold back the fresh water.

Here we discovered a family of seals resting on the jetties in the centre of the river. It was a cloudy day and they were looking for some sun. There were a few swimming in the water and rolling around.

The drive to the Murray mouth was out on Hindmarsh island and a short walk to the sandy beach and we were able to look out to see the river mouth in the distance.

On our return trip we crossed the river at Wellington on a ferry to look at where the river meets the Lake. A short dirve to Tailem Bend and we were able to cross back to the other side of the rivewr on the 2 ferry for the short drive back to our caravan park.

day 3 - sunday

We felt the cold in the early hours but snuggled under our doona. As they day was breaking I opened the window blind to look out on the foggy mist over the water. And for the new little while watched the sun rise and the mist disappear. It was really beautiful and a little memory picture because it was way to cold to get out and snap a shot.

Breakfast in our chairs looking out over the river....we are on holidays!

We travelled into Adelaide today today visit Jez & Heather and enjoyed some time with them and some good food. Jez has come quite the cook! and Heather does a good job backing him up and cleaning up after him.

We arrived back to our van after dark and time to curl up again to keep warm.

day 1 and 2

Our goal was to get to the first MacDonalds for coffe without incident. The Maccas on the ring road was our first stop for coffe and muffins at about 11 am and we were on our way.

We settled for a shorter drive on our first day and after 4 hours arrived at Dadswells Bridge in country Victoria for the first night. We were able to unpack and set up the van before settling on for the night. On the road again our next day our aim was to make for Murray Bridge.

A stop in Horsham for coffee and the Australia's best Vanilla slice gave us a chance to buy a few things we had not prepared for.

We pulled into the caravan park late afternoon. No dramas on the road and the van pulled really well. As expected the petrol usage has doubled......$$$$$$

We are in a quiet little park with our view across the lawn to the Murray river. We are on holidays and ready to explore the Murray river from the mouth to as far as we can go in 4 weeks.

to van or not to van

After much discussion and lots of looking, I finally found what I was looking for. A small caravan, modern enough to be light and have some convenience and comfort for 2 people. I had been researching the trading post for a little while and had visited a few places to look at some cheapies.

You would think that if you were advertising a van for sale that you would at least clean it up!

Ron had been a little hesitant. Spending money on something that would sit for the larger part of the year. So I have encouraged him to say it does not need to sit! It is up to us to use it whenever we can. With long service next year I was keen to see that we can manage to live together in a tight space and to make sure we had it set up well before we left on a long journey.

With the purchase made and the trip to motor registry complete the van was parked in Amey's yard as our current home is unsuitable for van storage. We became van owners part of the new grey nomad generation planning for our first trip!

We began to discover then that this chosen course comes with cost. Fitting electric brake outfit to the car.......$$$$$$$$$

The first outing was to venture to the garage to have the underneath checked out and make sure the brakes were working. We were reassured by the mechanic what a good little van we had. He was very helpful with lots of little hints and Ron began to feel more confident.

That confidence lasted just a short while as he managed to wipe out the side of the van on the mechanics bumper bar...so it was off to van hospital for repairs. Thankfully I had taken out insurance.....$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The mechanic suggested that even though it was a small van some level ride bars would make driving so much easier. The van man said the tow bar would be safer if we had a heavy duty tow bar......$$$$$$$$ and the level ride bars you should buy these ones as they will be good for any size van you trade up to and they are the safest and easiest to use on the market......$$$$$$$

We picked up the van the day after our holidays started and threw everything into the car and off we went. We were on our way!