Leaving Adelaide

From Pt Moorowie travelled to Auburn, a small town in the southern edge of the Clare Valley in the mid-north of South Australia, where we stayed for 4 nights.  Always great to stay at this small Caravan Park and enjoy Eric and Helen's hospitality.  Drove to Pt Willunga Caravan Park where we stayed for 10 days and enjoyed days at the beach and our final catch up with friends and family.  From Pt Willunga drove to Windsor Gardens Caravan Park for a week to catch up with friends and family, then off to my brother's home at Tea Tree Gully to housesit and look after their puppy 'Trixie' for approx 3 weeks.  During this time we were able to have the Caravan serviced,  Doctor appointments, spend time with family and friends and squeeze a few massages in from a very good local Masseuse.

After our housesit we went back to McLaren Vale for 3 nights where we caught up with Todd and Tenelle for a couple of hours (they flew down for an Engagement Party) then went to the Food and Wine Twilight @ McLaren Vale which was a nice evening.  I drove back to Windsor Gardens Caravan Park while Helen stayed at her sisters place for a few days, helping her pack up things to move into a new home in a Retirement Village in McLaren Vale.

Whilst in Adelaide we attended the Women's AFL Grand Final between the Crows and Carlton.  With over 52,000 in attendance, good football and a win to the Crows, was a great feeling to be apart of this event at Adelaide Oval.  I was lucky enough to be given a Members Ticket to the Crows v Geelong night match, also at the Adelaide Oval.   Was great to catch up with family and friends and always sad to say goodbye but at the same time we are certainly ready to get back on the road again.

After being in South Australia for nearly 5 months it's time to escape before it gets too cold and head north. Our first stop was along the Murray River at Younghusband where we stayed with my sister together with my brother for a few days. This gave us the opportunity to have a good chat before venturing up to the Territory.

Early morning mist on the mighty Murray River 

This kookaburra would fly in around meal time, very friendly

Happy hour around the campfire at Younghusband

Of course I had to play with my drone

Bacon and egg breakfast on the upper deck 

From Younghusband we traveled via Waikerie to look at the silo art and stayed at Morgan Riverside Caravan Park, on the Murray River for the night. Great spot and very appealing as it was a warm afternoon and the shady trees and green grass were appreiated.

Pelicans by Garry Duncan at Waikerie

Regent Parrot by Jimmy Dvate

The Silo Art at Waikerie - Regent Parrot, Yabby and Pelicans

From Morgan we travelled through Burra (very dry and sheep were so thin) to the Princes Highway and up to Port August where we stocked up with food and stayed the night at Shoreline Caravan Park.

Yorke Peninsula

Departed our McLaren Vale housesit on a very hot 41 degree day and stopped at Mallee View Bush Camp where we stayed 2 nights.  Temperature on first night was around 40 degrees until a wind storm blew in around midnight and we wound the awning up in the early hours as wind was quite strong rocking the caravan.  The next day the wind blew all day however cooled down to a comfortable 28 degrees.

Early morning bush walk

A few changes since we visited last, cleared more area and a new amenities block.

Some farm art or a fence load of teddies, on the way down to Yorktown.

Travelled onto Port Moorowie, very small town on Yorke Peninsula, where we house sat for 4 weeks.  Were welcomed by Judy and Peter and Penny their dog (German short haired pointer), and after going with Peter and Penny on their usual dog walk, had a lovely tea cooked by Judy then retired early as they were leaving around 6 am. Their home is 2 storey with a magnificent view of the sea from the upstairs living area - not too hard to take really!

Port Moorowie, the walking track went around the bay.

One of many sunrise picture looking towards Troubridge Point.

We would stop on the morning walk to watch for Dolphins. One morning Penny spotted a Dolphin and made growling noised to tell me she had spotted a dolphin.

On arriving at Port Moorowie, while unhooking the Caravan I noticed a crack in the chassis which was not good.  On reflection we were very lucky to notice it at this time as we were stationary for the next 4 weeks and was able to book into Minlaton Engineering to have the problem fixed.  We were also very fortunate that the chassis did not crack through while we were travelling, could have been one bump away from disaster!!  Rang New Age Caravans who were not really interested, emailed New Age Caravans who did not reply!!

Big thanks to Minlaton Engineering for the repairs, all good to go again.

The crack in the A frame, which seem to have started at the end of the weld for the mesh carrier!!!

After the first day of walking, or being pulled along, I was absolutely buggered as Penny usually has two 3-4 km fast walks a day.  Very hard being pulled along and if she saw a rabbit, fox or kangaroo she would be off and it took a lot of strength to hold her back!  After the second day Helen and I worked in tandem - I did the morning walk and she did the evening one!  Penny was a lovely dog to look after and certainly loved her walks!

Helen took on the afternoon walk, view from the balcony and way in the distance is Kangaroo Island.

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay - weather was good but windy on occasions (no sitting out on the balcony on these days!), and we also endured a 46 degree day, thankfully we were inside in air conditioning.  We went on a few drives to Yorketown (for supplies as no shops in Pt Moorowie), Edithburgh, Minlaton but also happy to stay home and enjoyed the view

Sign posts indicate the closest towns at the very bottom of Yorke Peninsula