A wee trip to Mount Gambier and beyond......

On a recent trip to Mount Gambier we stopped to check out the blue lake here - it is really blue, how about that and this is an overcast day

We spent a pleasant evening at a local Thai restaurant celebrating my cousin Sandi's 50th milestone - I think Sandi is the only one with her eyes open ha ha

and then the after party back at Sandi's place - and no I don't know why I am posting this gorgeous photo of myself ??????? hence why it is smaller than the rest!!!!!!

The next morning we decided to do a long tikki tour on the way home so we went down for a drive to Port McDonnell, a very rugged coastline here

and also the most southern point of South Australia (and 5700 kms to the South Pole)

Which way do I go which way do I go

We went from here and stopped off at some really rugged ports and coastal towns along the way

We came across this massive wind farm near Millicent on our drive back and stretching for about 40kms - it really was an impressive sight. You can see how big just even a blade of one of these windmills is by the size of the one on the ground below 

they seemed to go on forever





That's about

Frances - Adelaide - Sydney - Adelaide - Frances

We recently visited Rob's mum in Randwick, Sydney. Hi Janet!!!  :)

We went for a swim at Coogee, out for dinner at the Intercontinental (thanks to a friend of Janet's, Liz who won a four night stay there including a sizeable spending spree to be had in the hotel), we visited the brother in law on Australia Day for a great bbq and a nice dip in the pool (of course being over 40 degrees it was a good place to be), we also went for a lovely seafood lunch at Danny's at La Perouse.

All in all it was an enjoyable stay and it was lovely to catch up with Mum.

We had a day and night in Adelaide on our way back and caught a tram out to Glenelg

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.....

A nice suburb by the sea

Adelaide is a beautiful city - full of old architecture and stunning buildings.

We went to the Adelaide markets,we strolled around Rundle Mall and the Torrens River

Here Rob runs into an old friend in the street

Then it's back to the farm - where the dogs are just loving the country life

and don't think Buddy missed us at all

It certainly is a dogs life

Felix and Buddy are certainly great friends now - when they hear the bike or ute start up they're off like rockets to join Heather out for some fun on the farm.

Frances - South Australia

We arrived at Heather's property and she had been out that morning and bought 500 new sheep and lambs

And here is our welcoming committee

A few days reprive then it was off to work on the Monday - Rob captured some of Frances and Binnum from the silos at work

Then off to Mt Gambier the following weekend where Liz caught up with some of her long lost cousins

Frances Viterra was a lot more laid back than Bowmans 

instead of 450 trucks a day it was more like 50-70

Still the work was tiring especially after a 72 hour week and not a day off for 15 days

Then finally the rains came and the local pub was flooded

A big brown snake was signposted just outside the Frances pub as a sign that they are around

It also meant a few days off work and Heather, her daughter Kyla and aunty Maureen took ourselves to Penola (also the home of Mary Mackillop) where we visited some nice wineries and had lunch at Hollicks

We stopped off at Bool Lagoon on the way back (see picture of week for the froggy shot)

and we watched some bird life

The next day Rob and Liz drove down to Beachport - felt the need to be near the ocean

This jetty used to go 4,500 metres into Rivoli Bay but now is approximately half that length

still a long jetty though

Where the waters are pristine blue

Beachport was a beautiful spot with great coastlines

Then we drove round to Robe where we had some of the nicest fish and chips and calamari for a very long time (I can certainly recommend the deepsea boarfish - delicious!!)

Then of course it was a pale ale at the local pub before venturing off home

The Granites - somewhere along the limestone coast of South Australia

After leaving Narrung we drove down the limestone coast - a very scenic route

Next stop for us was the Granites - a great camping spot on long beach - it was great to get some fresh air, stretch our legs and even time for a game or two

The Granites are named after these rocks

This was our campsite for two nights - superb views looking out over the southern ocean

We watched the sun sink into the ocean

We left on a blustery cold morning and now heading to Frances

(via a stop in the main street of Naracoorte to update this blog)

Next stop, Liz's cousin Heather's 2,000 acre sheep station.

On the road again - YAY

We left Balaklava on Monday 12 December. Jo (my friend in the caravan park) decided to do a small trip to the Angaston fresh produce markets before we left. This is part of the Barossa Valley. We sampled some fine fare (or stuffed our faces is more like it) and even ran into the only Town Cryer of South Australia.

We thought it was a fine excuse to stop at one of the Barossa Valley wineries and stock up on Christmas Cheer.

After farewells to our friends in the Balaklava Caravan Park Mark and Jo and a big blast of the bus air horn we were on our way.

Our first stop was Tailem Bend were we had our first camp fire in many months.

We then decided to head to a lovely camp at Narrung on the fringes of the Coorong National Park.

We were situated right in the middle of the Alexandrina and Albert Lakes. These lakes are massive.

That afternoon we toured the Coorong National Park - we went out to Pelican Point but unfortunately we couldn't get out to the Barrages as they had been closed off. These barrages were built in 1830 to stop the seawater from the ocean penetrating the lakes so that they could use the lakes for irrigation. There are four and the longest being 3 kilometres long (you are supposed to be able to walk along them).

After turning back we found a nice spot were Rob went for a skinny dip (these photos are NOT for display).

We then drove through to Meningie around the Albert Lake then caught the ferry back to our camp

Today we are off to the Granites camp on the limestone coast just north of Kingston.

Moving on ....... bye bye Balaklava

We will be moving on from Balaklava on Monday and heading to Frances, where we will stay with Liz's cousin on a 2,000 acre sheep station. 

We are going to take the coast road and stop at a few nice places along the way. 

Christmas will be at Mt Gambier with Liz's Aunty and cousins.

On a day off recently we decided to take a small tour and headed out to Wallaroo.

It was nice to see the water and took a stroll on the beach

This is Viterra at Wallaroo -  conveyers run out to the boats where they load the malting barley ready for export, mostly to Japan

Where there were once fields of gold and green - crops are now ready for harvesting - a totally different landscape

Harvested crops on the other side of the road looking out to the head of the Gulf of St Vincent

Here is Liz probing a truck of Canola

After the crops have been classified they line up for the weigh in bridge before offloading to the sheds or bunkers

The classifying huts where Liz has been working (before the onslaught)

Here is a pic of canola after being loaded into the shed Rob was looking after - it is dumped on a grid

It pours through the grid onto a conveyor underneath and then it moves into the shed

We are now moving to a different site which is 15 minutes from my cousins place

The Wheat's Arriving, Bowman's SA

It's been so long since the last update, this is partly due to the fact that Liz hasn't had much to report on, sitting around the caravan park waiting for the wheat harvest has been mind numbingly boring!!!

Bowman's is starting to kick of for this years harvest - hooooray!  Liz gets her second big day at work tomorrow (Friday) so it's on with the hard hat and the steel capped boots (pictures may follow).

This year South Australia is expecting to harvest 7.5 million metric tonnes of wheat.

On top of that there is also canola, peas and barley.

This is one of many bunkers - the harvest is stored in bunkers, sheds and silos. This is last years harvest which has now been trucked to Outer Harbour to the ships for exportation. They are making room for the bumper crops.

Rob has spent the last 4 weeks doing maintenance on the bunkers - getting ready for the big intake

During the season this is where Rob will be working - Block O where there are six silos holding about 1,000 tonnes each - the wheat, canola, peas and barley are moved from the bunkers and sheds along a conveyor belt into the silos where they will be loaded onto trucks and trains - above you can see where a train is being loaded.

The sheds where the harvested goods will be stored

Here's some barley moving from one of the big sheds to Block O where it will be loaded onto one of the many trains passing through. Rob's been told he could be working 7 days a week and up to 14 hours a day - phew that's one long day.

As for me some pictures to come - I will be probing the trucks, classifying their goods and looking out for any nasties.  They tell me in the peak of the season the trucks are 4 wide and a queue at least 1km long. The classifying sheds (which thankfully are air conditioned - yay for Liz) are open from 7.30am to 7.30pm.

It  is certainly going to be busy - but hopefully interesting too.

Hope to have more to tell you soon so say tuned...................