Aus Day 5 - Heading North at last

Friday 24th September Aus Day 5


Well, today is when I set off on my travels round Australia proper. So, up early to get the cases packed. Trying, of course to ensure that nothing got left behind. I am keen to get going but have to confess that I will miss the bed I have been sleeping in for the past few nights. Right on cue, the weather is improving and the sun is shining this morning and it looks as though it will get out quite warm.

Valerie is very kindly driving me into the North of Adelaide in order to pick up the Camper Van from the depot and we set off at about 10.00. Traffic was quite heavy but we made it to the depot by approximately 11.15 to find the van sitting there ready for me. Always a good start.

Went through the hand over procedure fairly quickly, bade farewell to Valerie, as she continued on her way to visit son Ben again, and then hit the road heading North, with the intention of making a fast first leg up to Port Augusta commonly known as the Crossroads of Australia. While on this occasion I am heading North to Alice Springs and Darwin I will no doubt pass through again in early December on my return to Adelaide via The Nullabor Plain

Once beyond the Adelaide suburbs, the road passes through a considerable expense of flat countryside which seems to be devoted to mainly arable farming. I stopped briefly after a couple of hours to take the following photos just as an indicator of the area I was driving through. Eventually, without incident, I arrived at Port Augusta and located the camper van site before going to stock up on provisions.

Off the A1 Near Port Pirie heading for Port Augusta



A1 Near Port Pirie heading for Port Augusta

Returned to the site, where I set up for the night and took the following photos from within the site fence since it boasts a view of the Flinders Range.


From the Shoreline Caravan Park - Port Augusta



Flinders Range from the Shoreline Caravan Park

As I sit in the van, drafting this Blog entry, it is 9.40 pm local time and I am still warm, even though wearing only a tee-shirt and jeans. A significant change from my last night in New Zealand and even the last few nights at Willunga. I am looking forward to a comfortable night and another fine day tomorrow as I head up the A87 past Woomera to Glendambo. However, I can now hear Zebedee calling, "time for bed".

Aus Days 3 & 4 - Murray Bridge & Adelaide

Wednesday 22nd September Aus Day 3


Another leisurely arising this morning but, down for breakfast by 08.00. Completed a little administrative work and then waited for Valerie to get ready for a planned visit to see Nick’s brother John.

We drove to Murray Bridge and had a nice lunch with John at his house which overlooks the Murray River.

The View from John's House to the Murray River

Another view from John's House - Can you spot the Rabbits?

Valerie at Murray Bridge

View across John's Property showing some of his crop

Following lunch we went for a walk through John’s property where he grows Geraldton Wax and Banksia, on a commercial basis, and then down to the banks of the River Murray.

Geraldton Wax which John Grows and Exports

A slightly different variety of Geraldton Wax

Walking along the banks, initially along the Bilabong, we saw Pelicans sailing majestically along, a pair of Black Swans building a nest and listened to a whole choir of croaking frogs, although we didn’t actually see any. This must be a delightful place to live and work and we eventually bade farewell to John, with me feeling somewhat envious.

Getting back to Willunga, we had decided to eat out in the local hostelry that evening so relaxed for a while before we were due to go. The establishment we went to, the Alma Hotel, is a pleasant enough venue with bar and restaurant. However, we were unfortunate enough to be wanting a meal at the same time as a rather large group of what appeared to be school children were being catered for so we spent some time waiting for our meal. We passed the time with yet more childhood memories over a couple of beers. Having eventually been presented with or meal, we ate up and then strolled home by about 9.30 pm, watched the News on the TV before retiring, in response to Zebedee’s exhortations.

Thursday 23rd September Aus Day 4

Up relatively early at 07.30 this morning as Valerie & I are going into Adelaide to do s bit of shopping and then to the North side of the City where Valerie’s son Ben is taking possession of his brand new house.

Before setting off I took the opportunity to gab a couple of photos of Valerie’s house, “Willunga House”; See below:

Willunga House

Willunga House

And also the Alma Hotel where we had our meal last night.

The Alma Hotel - Willunga

The Alma Hotel - Willunga

The drive into Adelaide took just over an hour, we concluded the business that needed doing and I took the following photos. In Adelaide, one can ride the trams in the central zone, free of charge. An obvious attempt to minimise the City centre traffic. Very handy it is too.

Adelaide from Victoria Square

Victoria Square

Some Waif & Stray Waiting for the Tram

Victoria Statue in the Square

JB In Victoria Square - It's Still Not Warm

We eventually got to Ben’s new property, where he was waiting to have various appliances delivered and services connected. We all had a Thai take-away for lunch, standing up and straight from the plastic containers as Ben still had no furniture of plate & cutlery in the place. Having had a good look around and voiced her approval (or not), Valerie and I departed to return to Willunga but, went via the depot from which I will be collecting the Camper Van tomorrow morning.

We had made arrangements with Michael & Lawrence to meet up and go out for a meal again this evening, although we are going to a different establishment. At 6.50pm we set of for the Bush Inn in Willunga, otherwise known as the “Top Pub” because of its position at the top of the hill in the Main Street. This place was largely as I remembered it from the year before and we were soon seated as Michael had pre-booked a table. As our meal was served, I persuaded the waiter to take the following picture of; from left to right: Michael, Lawrence, Valerie and Yours Truly.

Michael, Lawrence, Valerie & JB

I have to say that the quality of the meal was better than the previous night and we had very soon cleared our plates. Then it was time to retire to the seats round the open hearth log fire for a final beverage, when Lawrence decided that she just had to take a photo of Yours Truly and sister Valerie.


Valerie and JB

Shortly after this we made our way home and at about 10.45 Zebedee gave forth with his usual cry of “and so to bed.” Since I need to be up in good time in the morning I promptly obeyed his request.

Australia Days 1 & 2 - Ain't Life Civilised

Monday 20th September Aus Day 1


After a good night’s sleep, in a proper bed, I rose at 06.30 and unpacked my cases, putting clothes into drawers as appropriate. Showered in the en-suite facilities and went down to breakfast at 07.45 to find that Valerie had transported Nick to the airport at 05.00 to catch his flight to (eventually) Papua New Guinea and arrived back at07.40.

Following a leisurely breakfast, I spent most of the morning updating my accounts and the Blog and bringing various other computer programmes up to date. This is probably the last opportunity I will have to ensure that all is in order before I set off on my travels.

After a delightful Skype conversation it was time for tea at about 6.30pm. Valerie had prepared a lovely meal and we had the company of Nick’s brother Michael and his wife Lawrence (pronounced Laurenz) which led to a very pleasant evening.

Once the visitors had departed, Valerie and I watched TV for a short while before retiring for the night.

Tuesday 21st September Aus Day 2

I have to confess that I was a late riser this morning, the sleep gremlins got me and I didn’t surface until 07.45 so, by the time I had showered and dressed, it was 08.30 before I got downstairs for breakfast.

Valerie had arranged to meet a long time friend for lunch so, at about 10.30 we set off for Port Elliot, a small seaside town on the Fleurieu Peninsula near to Victor Harbor (sic). Valerie met her friend, who teaches English in Japan, and we went for a fish & chip lunch in the ‘Flying Fish Cafe’ right in the bay.

Horseshoe Bay - Port Elliot

Horseshoe Bay - Port Elliot

Valerie & Shirley outside the 'Flying Fish Cafe'

This establishment serves very good fish & chips but does not provide any cutlery so, fingers were the order of the day.

Following a leisurely lunch where Valerie and Shirley spent time catching up with events since they had last met, some 12 months ago, Valerie and I headed back towards Willunga calling in the the Kay Brothers Vineyard on the way to try and get some of their Rare Muscat. This is a very palatable fortified wine which I had first sampled on my previous visit to SA in 2009.

Unfortunately, they had none available at the moment, nor would they be able to ship any to the UK for me. A different strategy is obviously called for so, we departed, empty handed, to re-think the situation.

Arriving back at Willunga, spent some time before tea drafting this Blog entry before attacking an enormous home made pizza.

Valerie and I then spent most of the evening dredging up 1001 childhood memories. It's amazing the things you can remember from up to 60 years ago (or at least you think you can remember)

At 10.30 I made a successful Skype call to Eileen, following which I happily complied with Zebedee's instructions and went to bed.

Day 20 - Farewell to Beautiful New Zealand

Day 20   Sunday 19th September


Final day and rose at 06.45 to a bright, sunny morning although there had, once again been a frost overnight. The usual ablutions and breakfast then disposed of any un-used stuff that I couldn’t take with me such a bread, milk, coffee and cooking oil. There wasn’t much but it would benefit someone else. I finished cleaning the van (internally) and eventually set of for the Apollo Depot remembering to refuel on the way.

Handover of the van was concluded very quickly with the minimum of fuss and I was transported directly to the International Departures entrance of the Airport where I was checked in for my flight by 10.45. Nothing to do now but wait. However, took advantage of the airport half hour free Internet access to deal with emails and then took a final couple of photos from the departure lounge looking towards Mount Hutt with the fresh accumulations of snow.

Towards Mount Hutt from Christchurch Airport

Towards Mount Hutt from Christchurch Airport - More snow overnight

Boarded the aircraft (a Boeing 737-800) on time and that was then farewell to New Zealand. We landed in Sydney on schedule, passed through Immigration and Customs, re-checked my big suitcase into Quantas Domestic and then boarded the aircraft to Adelaide (another Boeing 737-800) on time for the 2 hour hop across, NSW, Victoria and into South Australia, where e landed a little early to be met by sister Valerie and her husband Nick. They quickly transported me to their house in Willunga where I was made very welcome with a meal and a beer. Brilliant.

So, my whistle-stop tour of new Zealand has come to an end. Considering that it was a last minute add-on to the 3 month Australian trip that I had been planning for 12 months, I have seen some magnificent scenery and it has whetted my appetite to come back for more at some time in the future. I would recommend a visit to NZ to anyone although, if forced to make a choice, would prefer South Island and I can certainly recommend travelling the West Coast Route which is truly spectacular.

However, I am now in Australia and Zebedee says, time for bed.

Day 19 - Travel to Christchurch

Day 19   Saturday 18th September


Well this is the start of my last full day in NZ and once again I had a leisurely start, not getting away from the Holiday Park after the usual chores until 09.50. However, there was no rush as this final leg is just into Christchurch. I had only been on the road when I had to stop for these views of Fox Peak;

Fox Peak - I think

A Closer View of Fox Peak

Followed 10 minutes later with the following views of Mount Dobson, Fox Peak and Mount Hutt.

Across the fields to Mount Dobson

Fox Peak

Cloud covered Mount Hutt

I think that I said earlier that it might be possible to get a bit blasé about this environment but in no time at all I was stopping yet again for another view of Mount Taylor and Mount Hutt. This is a major winter sports venue and looking at some of these views it is easy to understand why.

Mount Taylor

Mount Hutt

As I motored along, surrounded by the beautiful snow capped peaks, it is a wonder I didn’t veer off the road at some point, I was so busy trying to drink it all in, it is certainly a good job that traffic density is very light. After another hour I came to a major melt water channel at Rakaia Gorge and took the opportunity to scramble down to the water’s edge, where I took the following picture. Believe me when I tell you that, that water is deep, fast and very, very cold. You wouldn’t last long if you fell in.

Rakaia Gorge - Deep, Fast and VERY Cold

Needless to say, I didn’t fall in and was shortly on my way again. Apart from trying to keep one eye on the road and the other on the unfolding scenery, I need a third eye to watch for views unfolding in the re-view mirrors which is how I detected this view look back up the road to Mount Hutt.

Looking Back to Mount Hutt

Even though I was travelling quite slowly (more Sunday Driver syndrome) I was still progressing more quickly than I need to so, pulled into a picnic spot at West Melton for some lunch when once again the travelling chef did a sterling job.

I was now in the outskirts of Christchurch and so far I had seen no sign of any earthquake damage. I believe most of the visible damage is confined to the City Business District although thousands of homes have suffered damage and the area is still being subjected to after-shocks. I arrived at the Christchurch, Amber Park Holiday Park a little after 2.00 pm to find it was a delightful little site, all trellis work and well tended flower beds.

The newly washed van in the very pleasant Amber Holiday Park

Taking advantage of the beautiful warm sunshine, I set to and washed the van down in preparation for hand over in the morning and then set to with packing suitcases etc which was all done in good time . Once I was happy that everything was set for tomorrow’s handover and airport trip I cooked myself a spot of tea, (I had given the chef the evening off) then at about 8.45 wandered down the road to the local pub for a couple of pints of Tui as a last night treat. I got into the place at about 9.00 pm and found that, although the natives were friendly, about half of them were staggering drunk. I surmised that this was probably not the high end of Christchurch society. Still, a couple of pints hit the spot and then it was back to the holiday park and so to bed said Zebedee.