Going up in the world

Before we get to our literal move up in the world, we need to back-track to see how we ended up in an engineering workshop…

There is a paucity of free camp spots around the Barossa and Clare Valley regions, so we had chosen to spend a night at the Auburn Caravan Park – a somewhat grand name for a few power poles under trees at the recreation ground. As we were leaving on Sunday morning, on our way to church, one of the other campers mentioned Mintaro as a lovely historical town in which even new buildings need to be built so they look old. It sounded interesting, so we plotted our course for Clare, via Mintaro, and then across towards the Yorke Peninsula.

As we slowly turned back towards the main road, after stopping up a side street in Mintaro, there was a clacking sound coming from the van. The suspension often squeaks, but a clack was new. The navigator jumped out and went to listen for where the sound was coming from. It didn’t seem to be the wheels, or the springs. Driver and navigator swapped positions and after a few more metres of driving the wheels and springs were ruled out.

‘Oh no!’ (Long time readers of our blog may recognise this expression as being associated with broken gear boxes, diffs, wheel bearings and other such episodes.) ‘What?’ ‘A cracked chassis.’ ‘Oh no.’

Now, we had been discussing and debating the idea of a new caravan over the past few months, and only the day before had come to the conclusion that we didn’t want something bigger and wider than the GT (the Grand Tourer – yes it is grand, even if it is only 13½ feet long). So now what? Were we being forced into a new van?

We had just been talking to a local and he had mentioned about an area behind the local park that was council land, which wasn’t officially designated for camping, but was occasionally used by travellers. Could we make it around the corner without splitting the van in half? Gingerly we crept metre by metre, praying all the way until we were safely off the road, and then it was straight online to look for options.

With nothing else to be done, the photographer decided to take a walk around the town. The neighbour to our paddock was out in his yard. Since we had the generator running, and it wasn’t really a camp spot, a conversation was struck up in order to explain our situation so as not to cause unnecessary angst regarding the gypsies camping behind the tennis courts. It turns out that the friendly neighbour used to be a caravan engineer, that he knew exactly what the problem was, and that there was an engineering company 14kms down the road that would be able to fix it.

When the photographer returned (with no photos, due to this fortuitous news getting him sidetracked - hence the lack of photos of Mintaro for the blog) he was greeted with relief. There were no second hand caravans in the whole of South Australia that appealed, and only one place advertising chassis repairs had been found, and that was in Adelaide.

Next morning it was off to the engineering company to see if they could come back and weld our little abode back together. After coming to look at it and hopefully brace it for the trip back to the workshop, the boss decided it couldn’t be braced and would have to be driven as it was. We unloaded as much weight as we could, some of it into our car, some into his ute, and emptied the water tank. The 14kms to Farrell Flat was the longest, most prayer-filled 14kms of our lives! (Actually it was reminiscent of the trip up the steep mountain road from Mann River with the car on the tow truck and the caravan being pulled behind.) The van was straight into the workshop and the guy was under it in a flash.

As we were talking to the boss we asked about the idea of putting the leaf springs on top of the axles, instead of below, to gain extra clearance. He said that wouldn’t take them long. We clarified that we were only asking ‘in principle’ about the idea and the effect it might have on handling and stability. Again, he said it would be no problem – they were manufacturing and fixing all kinds of farm equipment, some leaf-over and some leaf-under. We decided to go for it, as the clearance has caused problems for us a few times in the past.

That left us with half a day to explore the Clare Valley, so we set off to amuse ourselves driving a circuit around some small towns. We had a most pleasant afternoon and wandered back to the shed around 4pm.

The wheels were off the van still as the guy was just changing one of the bearings as he’d noticed it was quite loose. As we stood chatting he developed a perplexed look. The new bearing was tight as it slid into the housing, but once it reached the bottom it was loose. He asked if we’d ever had a collapsed bearing – which we’d had in Tasmania. Apparently the collapsed bearing had worn a small race in the drum, which probably should have been replaced back then.

Being late in the day we knew there was no chance of getting the part up from Adelaide until the next day, so we busied ourselves calling RACQ to arrange free accommodation and packing our pyjamas while the boss organised the part. We were treated to the most beautiful sunset as we drove back over to Clare to the motel. Staying in a motel should have been a nice treat, and having an inside shower was certainly appreciated, but we missed our own bed!

So now we have gone up in the world. Four inches to be precise. Our view is that little bit better, and going up and down gullies into that perfect camp spot has become that little bit easier. Oh, and we had the chassis repaired, so hopefully the GT will survive for a few more adventures yet.

Here are a few photos of the Valleys - the Barossa, Eden and Clare.

Adelaide

Once again the weather put a damper on our great walking plans for the Adelaide area. The afternoon we arrived was quite nice so we went out to the Port area where there is a kayak trail around a boat graveyard. It looked interesting, and even though it was windy we would start against the wind and tide, which always makes coming back easier. As we reached the end of the island we could see a pod of dolphins a few hundred metres away. By the time we rounded the island to where the wrecks began the wind was howling and it was hard work to get up and around the first of the rusting skeletons (again, no photos - maybe we should get a waterproof camera). Drifting back was certainly a lot more relaxing. Just as we got back the sun disappeared behind a cloud, and that was the last we saw of the sun until after we left Adelaide.

The next day we drove up into the hills and wandered around Hahndorf. The rain held off long enough for us to enjoy the autumn colours as we walked up and down the main street.












In the afternoon we were going to go for a walk around the city and Lake Torrens, but had to be content to drive up and down a few streets. Even when it wasn't raining the overcast sky and the threat of imminent rain took the appeal out of walking and taking photos. We'll just have to come back...

The cloud lifted high enough on our last day in Adelaide to do a walk to Morialta Falls. It was nice to finally give the hiking boots a bit of a work out. The views and photography would have been better with blue sky, but the cliffs were still spectacular.

The Fleurieu Peninsula

A conflagration of driving, not being able to run the generator in one camp spot (which limited the time we spent on the computer to the essentials), feeling the need to be out and about the whole time we were in Adelaide to make paying for a caravan park near the city worthwhile, and a few other adventures have put the blogging a little behind.

When we left the Coorong we thought we'd continue up to the end of the little peninsula to have a look at Lake Alexandrina. We found there was a free ferry (there are lots of free ferries across the Murray in SA) which saved us going back around through Meningie. It also meant we could walk around the only inland lighthouse in Australia, which marks the narrows between Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert.

After going through Murray Bridge (the sight of the first bridge over the River Murray), we camped on the river at Mannum. We went for a kayak up past where the house boats were moored. An egret sat majestically on a jetty as we floated past - it would have been the perfect photo, but we don't have a waterproof camera so the images we see when we're kayaking don't make it to the blog.

The next day it was down to Deep Creek National Park. On the way we detoured out to Hindmarsh Island to see the mouth of the Murray. It was a lovely day and we wished we had more time to go kayaking (as well as somewhere to wash the salt off the boats before we put them back on the roof - an important consideration now we have a new car!).

Most of the time we were at Deep Creek the weather was windy and showery. We couldn't use the generator so had to drive each day to keep the batteries charged. One benefit was that we saw a lot of the peninsula, and did a few short walks between showers. The rocky outcrops at second bay were beautiful and Dazz found this lizard on a piece of wood at the mouth of a litte cave.


The car easily did the steep track down to Blowhole Beach, we caught a glimpse of Kangaroo Island between rain bands and the remains of the Talisker silver mine were interesting.










There is a horse drawn tram along the 600m causeway from Victor Harbour to Granite Island but we enjoyed the walk while the weather was nice.


We were really struck by the lack of trees on most of the Peninsula (apart from the forestry plantations), and the widespread clearing that had obviously occurred for agriculture.

Southend to The Coorong

Here are a few photos from Canunda NP, Beachport Conservation Park, sunsets in The Coorong NP, and a postmodern lighthouse for good measure!

Adventures with wildlife on the way to Mt Gambier

It’s been quite an eventful week. As we set off through Coonawarra and Penola, towards Mt Gambier, there were signs of some wildlife pecking about at the tissues and the rubbish bag in the car. Presumably the birds had had a skerrick around while the doors had been left open. Nothing more sinister came to mind until later in the day when, at snack time, the container of nuts was found to have been chewed through. A mouse.

A plan was needed for a trap (it was Sunday and we were not in hardware store territory), so the now useless container was drilled through to become a spinning wheel on which to balance some cheese. The rest of the nuts, along with some apple cores, were placed in the bottom of a big bucket, which was squeezed onto the front floor of the car. What mouse could resist?

Later in the evening the trap was checked and the cheese had fallen into the bottom of the bucket. Could the mouse have been that smart, or did the trap move when a door had been slammed shut?

Next morning everything was just as it had been left. The mouse had obviously vacated the car. That was the supposition until fresh droppings were found in a place where there had definitely been none the night before…

The whole car was emptied – not a small task for a car as jam packed with gear as ours. The mystery of the tissue bits was solved when a lovely little tissue nest was discovered in between where the back seats were folded down. Some wiping down and a bit of disinfectant spray and all traces were gone. There was just the one minor problem of the mouse, which was obviously hiding up under the dash with absolutely no chance of being spotted.

A proper trap was going to be necessary, and today. There was no way the mouse was going to be left to its own devices for another night in the car. Fortunately we were headed to Mt Gambier, so one of our first stops was the hardware store. After much discussion and testing of the wooden traps in the store, it was decided they were not sensitive enough for a mouse as cunning as ours. A more expensive ‘sticky trap’ was decided upon.

And the outcome? Suffice it to say that it was barely dusk when the trap was retrieved with the rodent helplessly stuck in the middle. The other half of the sticky trap is mounted behind the gear stick with a nut nicely placed in the middle. Apparently there is a bit of a mouse plague around, so we aren’t taking any chances.

The weather was less than perfect for seeing the Blue Lake in Mt Gambier, with a grey sky and a few showers while we were in town. We still enjoyed the gardens in the sinkholes and the area around

the lakes though. We also climbed to the rim of Mt Schank on our way down to Port MacDonnell (and saw a skink eating skink!). One benefit of the weather was a beautiful rainbow over the sea.

Bound for South Australia...

After almost a week of uneventful marking, odd jobs and a general lack of photographic opportunities we’ve certainly made up for it in the past few days. The usually dull and boring trip across the Hay Plains was incredibly pleasant. Not only was it green, but there was water lying around.

Our destination was the Pink Lakes in Murray Sunset National Park. The park books and website made it sound interesting but we really didn’t know what we’d find. There was a forecast for rain the day after we arrived, so as soon as we got there we went for a walk and found the lake was a salt pan. The pink hue comes from carotene in the algae that lives in the water underneath the salt crust (according to the book). We were treated to lots of spectacular views later in the afternoon and the next day as the rain came through. The rain formed a lovely thin layer of water on the salt crust and produced some great reflections.

Now we were so close to the South Australian border the itch to get moving couldn’t be kept at bay. Our first stop has been Naracoorte Caves National Park, and we weren’t disappointed. We did a tour of the cave where they have found fossils of the extinct mega fauna. The tour was very interesting, with explanations of how the animals fell down pit fall traps, as well as the types of clues they use to try to figure out more about the extinct animals’ diets and foraging/hunting habits. There was the usual array of cave decorations, and some pretty native gardens above ground too.

A few more days of marking await us, and then it’s further south to Mt Gambier.