The following day was Reo’s actual birthday and we celebrated with a delicious cooked brekkie before heading down to the local swimming pool to meet up again with Aston and Taris for birthday water play. 3 hours of slides, inflatable fun and then an ice cream, we headed back to The Hemmings to pack up.
Finally, we bid our farewells and hit the road again. Given it was 6pm, we didn’t have that long before dark, so returned, after a quick stop at some highly decorated silos – all the rage now don’t you know – to the picturesque Port Gibbon where we’d stayed on the way down.
We continued up to Wyella as we’d been told about the resident dolphins you could get up close and personal with. Kids weren’t too enthusiastic to get out of the car initially, but after a little coercion (read kicked out), we went to explore. We could see fins at a distance, intermittently poking through the surface as the dolphins lazily hung around teasing us. We’d given up on seeing them any closer when a local returned from a fishing trip; the dolphins could smell a treat!
The whole pod immediately began following the boat in to dock, playing in the small wake the boat was throwing out. There were no such tasty treats for the dolphins, but it was great to see them so close.
We were heading back over to Yorke Peninsula to Hardwicke Bay to meet up with Susie who we’d originally met in the West and previously stayed with her and Sue in the Barossa prior to flying to the UK. They were camping outside a friend’s house and using the house as a little retreat. We found ourselves doing the same for the next 4 nights!
I’ve said in the past, houses make us lazy, and once Susie introduced us to Guitar Hero, it brought a whole new level of procrastinating behaviours replacing anything else we’d intended to do! However, it did serve as a great motivation for the kids to focus on their schoolwork so they could swap pencils for drumsticks and bass. Susie had a couple of days off work and was instrumental in their Guitar Hero music lessons (pun intended) and english and maths. Being a schoolteacher, she knew how to handle the kids far better than us!
It was great to know someone with local knowledge and we did a couple of trips out to explore some more before deciding where to head to next. We drove round the jagged shorelines and ventured to the sandy-white beaches in the south around to Corny Point and beyond. Many of these beaches are surf beaches with large breaking waves, but it was what was in the waves that held the incentive for us. Searching with the sun in our eyes, we squinted hard, concentrating on the rolling waves and there they were! Chasing the waves like the professional surfers they are, a small pod of dolphins jumped and played. Susie had swum many times with them but unfortunately the sea was too rough today, tempted as we were. We also explored the calmer northern beaches finally cooling off at a local brewery. After one last Guitar Hero session, we finally dragged ourselves away from the Rock ‘n Roll lifestyle we had become accustomed to and returned to the road.
We liked the look of Burners Beach when we visited it on one of our tours around the coast, so pulled up mid-afternoon next to another Complete Campsite Hybrid; a sibling of Minty! The Meandering Morgans, another travelling family were extremely friendly and had already been there a few days so knew the lay of the land. Kristy is a schoolteacher and kindly took charge of Reo one day to help him complete his maths!! My angel. 😇
The days were lazy. The sky blue. The sea calm. The sand soft. Had it not been there was no water available at site, I think we’d have stayed here a lot longer. Lexi and Ella (11) and Reo & Max (9) hit it off straight away; the girls shutting themselves off in one of the vans at all opportunities to colour, chat and play games, the boys taking to the dunes and playing cowboys, hunters and whatever else they thought up. Ah, the serenity for the adults.
After a spate of more late nights, and partying with the Morgans had finished, our familiar motto reappeared, “tonight we’re going to get the kids into bed early”!! Then we met the Andersons. A local family who’d come down for a weekend of fun in the sun. We’d been playing on the beach when some dolphins came into the bay, so we donned snorkelling gear and set off to see if they wanted to play with us. Of course, that was like pouring hot water on ice, melting into the expanse leaving us splashing aimlessly around in the water. They hung around but further out and I managed to locate them with my drone to get some footage.
Tyler (8) and Summer (10) paddled over in their kayaks and, as if they’d grown up on the same street, all 4 kids were instinctively sharing stories and water gear and the afternoon and evening just disappeared. Alex and I caught up with their parents Jodie and Todd and as the night was coming to a close and they were heading back to their home ready for the following week, Jodie thoughtfully offered to have the kids over for dinner one night so Alex and I could have a date night. WOWEE!! The kindness of strangers. Well, you don’t have to offer twice….
The following night we were all booked into the Stansbury Pub, recommended by Jodie and excitedly (perhaps hysterically) waving goodbye to Lexi & Reo as we began to drive through the dusty back roads for our “smoochy smoochy” (as the kids like to call it) night out. It was decidedly something we really needed but hadn’t realised until sat at the table with a glass of wine in our hands and started chatting, properly, for the first time in a while. There had been a few issues bubbling under the surface, occasionally raising their ugly heads when things came to a peak, then plastered over again as something else took its place. Being together 24/7 can be good, bad and ugly. We’ve not made it routine to personal take time out on a regular basis and as a result there can be fallout. Certainly nothing too drastic, but enough to force discussions on the why’s and how’s of what we can do to work better as a couple, as parents and as a family, to ensure we create a loving environment we all want to be part of. As well as offering an amazing babysitting service, Todd and Jodie kindly gave us some steaks, from cows which had been reared on their farm, for another amazing home-made dinner! It was with grateful hearts that we bid our farewells to the Anderson’s that night as we took our 2 sleepy heads back to camp.
We explored Innes National Park the following day. We returned to Stenhouse Jetty, a place where Alex and I had visited over 20 years ago with the Adelaide Uni dive club we were members of. We had the most amazing night dive underneath the jetty, seeing the bewitching blue ringed octopus come to life with its pulsating, shimmering rings, and of course the fun getting down to and back up again from the water!
We then headed to a secluded beach with a hidden deep rock pool that we’d read about from locals on Insta. It was great fun jumping in from the rocks and watching the waves roll in. The fun was a little much for somebody though, so tired from the night before, Mr. Grumpy couldn’t even finish his favourite pizza and Fanta before dropping into bed at 6.30pm (unheard of these days) and not rising again until 14 hours later!
It was time to head back up the peninsula and continue our journey east. You can’t visit the peninsula and not go crabbing for Blue Swimmers and that was exactly what we did as we headed north. Susie had shared a good spot for us to try and with a borrowed rake from a local, Alex and Reo ventured off in search of lunch. Reo’s interest waned about 10 minutes in and he happily played in the sand, making up stories about what creatures were around and entertaining himself as Daddy slaved over the sand raking in lunch. It was a successful trip! Lunch was delicious and there was more for another day.
We’d decided to head around the coast south of Adelaide after stopping to get a few jobs sorted around the city. There is a HUGE park just north of Adelaide which we’d been told about. The kids stampeded off while we waited for dinner to be served next door at the pub and screamed their way around the slides and swings until the light was fading and it was time to eat. There’s nothing like a ginormous playground to get you out of bed raring to go in the morning and after another play, we continued on our way. We made a quick stop at James and Tammy’s for a cuppa and hello then continue to Rapid Bay, a popular destination for city dwellers and alike to kick back and escape the rat race – if there even is a rat race in sleepy Adelaide!
Of course, we arrived Friday evening! It was already busy by the time we pulled in, however we managed to wiggle our way into a prime sea view spot and set up camp. With its long sandy beach and towering cliffs, it was a fun place to explore. Renowned for its very long jetty, fishman galore were pitched over the side anxious for a catch, while scuba divers were floating in the blue hoping to catch a glimpse of the famed Leafy Sea dragon, cleverly using its gossamer, leaf-shaped appendages to camouflage itself in with the seaweed.
As sure as night follows day, the kids found friends and scurried off to the playground while Alex and I settled down to the leftover crab accompanied with a glass of chardy to watch the sun set. Reo spent most of the next day with his new friend Brody while Alex and I took Lexi and her friends, sisters Emily (11), Amber (8) & Katy (6) off to explore the caves in the rocks. We went for hours and after exploring the largest cave from land, we continued around the cliffs paddling, wading then swimming from alcove to alcove in search of nature’s secrets. It was a great adventure!
‘Hanging out’ had become the norm since returning from the UK and I was liking the pace! We had a few plans before Easter, which was when we we’d arranged to meet our friends in the Simpson Desert. Mooching around places in South Australia we’d missed on our first visit, was a great way to spend time before heading further east back to Victoria again. As we continued around the coast, we repaid a visit to Victor Harbour to take a ride on the horse drawn carriage and walk around Granite Island before finding a roadside camp for the night.
It wasn’t until the next day we realised what an opportune camp we’d come across. Unbeknownst to us, we’d parked up in the midst of Langhorne Creek, a fab wine region that has fast become one of our faves! What followed was a couple of impromptu wine tasting days, mixed with a delicious, leisurely lunch at one of them before we had to tear ourselves away.
We’d organised a house sit in the suburbs of Melbourne, so we were on a bit of a time scale to get over to Victoria. There were a few more places on our to-do list before we left this State though. We reached Little Sip NP and had fun driving on the undulating dunes, the crystal-clear waters looked amazing from the sky as the water crashed around the craggy outcrop of rocks. We took a detour into Robe and stocked up with local produce; decent coffee, local fresh fish and local farm cheeses, but as time was ticking, we had to move on, otherwise we could have dropped a few more $$ in town!
As our route took us closer east, we paddled by a shipwreck and enjoyed watching playful seals at Carpenter Rocks, admired the blue hues of the Little Blue sink hole and Ewen Ponds and took a refreshing walk up Mount Shank, a 100m high dormant volcano, using the opportunity to pack in some geology schooling along the way! As we missed reaching the most southern point of Australia when we were in Tasmania due to the Huon fires, we popped down to the southernmost point of SA for a stretch of legs and so we could say we’d been to a southern point somewhere in Aus!
As we high-tailed it back to Victoria, we had a couple of wet, cold, camping nights, reminding us that our preference was warm weather camping!! Such softies aren’t we. We managed to dry everything out when we reached our house sit. A lovely house at the edge of The Dandenongs, a set of low mountain ranges east of Melbourne, known for its secret fern glades and towering forests. We were in charge of an adorable pooch and fellow feline friend.
The washing machine got a workout, the kitchen became a hive of activity with baking cakes and bread and we managed to catch up with friends. I’d arranged to meet Su Leen in town with her 2 daughters and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch. The gardens were big enough for the kids to run around while we managed some adult chat time. It was just over a year ago since we’d been welcomed into their home before we took the boat to Tassie – felt like a different lifetime we’d packed so much in since then!
In the heart of the town, lies one of Belgrave’s little gems – Puffing Billy. A finely preserved stream train run wholly by volunteers. It was a fun ride as we jumped onboard, stuck our heads through the open carriage sides, saw the Station Master ring his bell and began steaming. Slowly but surely, it’s shiny flanks wound their way up the mountains as it chuffed its way along the narrow-gauge track.
Through the beautiful Sherbrooke Forest of native Mountain Ash trees, over the iconic Monbulk Creek trestle bridge, passing hilltop cottages with sun-kissed gardens, skirting the edge of Emerald Lake on to Gembrook where our outbound journey ended. After stopping for some lunch and the return of Billy from picking up other passengers, we made our return journey back to Belgrave. It was a lovely day out and a great way to see the countryside.
The kids loved taking the dog Sanna for a walk and cuddling up to Oscar the cat. They have both really enjoyed looking after the animals at the house sits we’ve done. I’m not sure I’m fully convinced we’ll get any animals on our return to Sydney, but the kids keep asking!
It was soon time to leave the house comforts. We’d already ticked off the most southern part of SA, but we were aiming high, now focused on reaching the most southern part of mainland Aus. Off to Wilson’s Promontory we go.
Hi Guys, soooo much fun! What was the music you set the seals playing to?