.: Aussie Road Trip

After leaving Rob and Kirstey’s sheep farm we spent two days on the road exploring little towns along the way. There was a very funky German town called Hahndorf that was great to poke around in. The highlight for me was going to Cleland Wildlife Park. Here you can wander through the park, along with kangaroos, wallabies, bandicoots and lots of birds. It was wonderful to be able to see them up close and personal.

Some species such as the Tasmanian Devil and the Wombat were not
left to wander at will, for obvious reasons.

Wombat....couldn't get a shot of the Tasmanian Devil

The Koala’s were also kept in an enclosure, where we could

watch them climb and play.

Of course, I had to do the tourist thing and get my photo taken holding a Koala. I also did this because our daughter Kylie was here almost 10 years ago and she had her picture taken here, so I thought it was a cute idea. What’s nice is that you can also have pictures taken with your own camera, so that’s what these shots are.

Next stop was to visit David and Jane. David is the professor who sailed from New Cal to Coff’s Harbour with Peter & Barbara. We met them for dinner in a great restaurant in their local Sterling Hotel. David insisted on shouting (meaning paying for it) as well as keeping my wine glass always half full!

We returned to their home in the woods up in the Adelaide Hills. They are living in a shed, while they are building their David-designed (David is an architect) home on the property. David has been single for many years prior to Jane, so he lived happily in this minimalist shed for 15 years. I fell in love with it. It is basically one room with a kitchen, living room and bed. He definitely had his priorities right because much of the limited space was taken up by his grand piano and wall to ceiling book shelves. There is an outdoor washroom, open to the elements. My kind of place.

We set up our car tent in the garage. While Peter was up getting the tent organized, I opened the trunk and managed to slam it shut on my thumb. Anyway, I had to call to Peter to come and open it. My thumb is still swollen and bruised, but no serious damage done. Peter won’t let anyone give me sympathy, because it was such a dumb thing to do. He says “who slams a door on their own finger?” Remember about the wine at dinner?

The house that they are building is amazing and I can’t believe I forgot to take my camera on the grand tour. It is still under construction, but is nearing completion for October occupancy. It has been designed to merge with nature with opening floor to ceiling windows throughout that overlook the infinity pool and gorgeous forest views. It’s like living outside, while being inside. We can’t wait to see the photos once it is finished.

We left early in morning and were rewarded by a Koala sitting up in the tree right on their property. What a great treat. Guess we didn’t need to spend the big bucks at the zoo the day before!

We all went out to a local bakery/coffee shop for breakfast. The one thing that we “rant” about in Australia is the cost of a cup of coffee. Generally speaking for a regular size black coffee it costs $4.50. This is even the price in McDonalds. The reason being is that they make each cup of coffee, which also means waiting for it. Personally we didn’t like the coffee at all – very strong – so we figured out to order coffee half strength (which theoretically should’ve been less money, but no such thing here). To keep things in perspective, you can buy a beer for $3.00 and can also choose from a selection of good wine bottles for less than $5.00. Mmmmm…..an overpriced, terrible cup of coffee or a bottle of wine? No wonder there is a bit of a drinking problem in Australia.

We arrived in the picturesque area of Clare Valley, which is renowned for its’ wine. We could’ve spent a week here, as there are many walking and biking paths throughout the area that have convenient stops along the way at various wineries. We went to Clare to see James and Alice, as this is where they live. James took us to the vineyard that he manages and then we went out to their house for dinner.

They bought their property two years ago, and all that was there was a shed. While they rented a house close-by, James and Alice slowly built this into their dream house, which is the perfect size for them and designed so they can add on to it when they have children. For those of you who know me well, you’ll understand that this is the way I think many young people can achieve their goals. Start with something you can afford and then either work up to another home, or fix and reno the one you have. Bravo James & Alice. The pictures here speak for themselves.

For our final weekend of the road trip we headed to Adelaide, which is where one of the houses that Peter & Phillipa live in, along with their son Sam, who is just about finished university this semester. Peter & Phillipa’s family home is in the heart of the Barossa Valley (which is where we visited them 25 years ago).

Living very close by is their daughter Alicia, husband Ashley

and their two adorable kids – Molly and Harry.

This is a photo of Peter & Alicia and of the kids at the racetrack.

Peter & Peter rode motorcycles to and from the weekend motorcycle race. From all accounts, Peter might be getting some speeding tickets in the mail, as the two “boys” registered over 200 kilometres an hour. Phillipa and I had lots (but not enough) of girl time to catch up – it was as if we had just seen each other.

We enjoyed a beautiful Sunday at the racetrack, especially since the whole gang was there. James did really well, getting another personal best.

Phillipa rarely goes, as I know it is really hard as a Mom to watch your son speeding around the track. Reminds me of watching Danny ride bucking broncos!

In this photo there is Phillipa, Leanne (front left – Sam’s girlfriend), Molly, Alice’s mother (and good friend of Phillipa’s), Alicia, Alice (only the foot showing) and two friends of Alice’s from Clare. (Harry is playing on the bleachers and ended up falling and cutting his lip with his tooth...normal boy stuff)

The boys – from the left – Peter, Scott (friend of Sam’s), Sam and Peter

It was so great to see them all again. It was also hard to say goodbye to all of them, but like all good friendships, our paths will cross again soon.

We took two nights to drive home the 1,300 kilometres. The 1^st night we camped and the final night, Peter said we should treat ourselves and stay in a caravan park. (He’s getting really soft!).

By the time we got back to Sydney, with 4,000 kilometres under our belt, our little car was splattered with bugs, but we got off easy not hitting a kangaroo.

We have booked our flights and will be leaving October 8^th to get home in time to spend a family Thanksgiving weekend, along with other friends at Danny and Ashley’s ranch. Next week will be the last QuickStar blog of this fantastic cruising season.

Until then…..Okay, so even Peter figured that I wouldn’t manage another sunrise shot, but we had this incredible sunrise on the final day of our trip.

This picture is blurry as I took it out of the speeding car. Peter said “I stopped once for you – it’s only a sunrise”. My poor, jaded husband…."don’t spit the dummy”.