Merry go Round - Misery

 Bad Weather.

Out by 10am we arrive at the train station for a ride on the steam ranger train. we by our tickets and then as we are about to leave the ticket booth i mention to the woman behind the counter that this will be the first steam train ride for the kids. the woman explains to me that the steam train is not running because of repairs and so t is a diesel locomotive. i hold her right there and ask for a refund. why would i spend $50 to ride a shitty old diesel engine. No Go! i want the kids to experience a true steam  train ride... i guess we will have to wait for it further along the trip. So we go for coffee and prep for our long drive ahead.
   We steer for a place called Parhnam which says it is a free camping ground just north of Adelaide.
  Along the way we decide to have lunch by the ocean and let the kids play on some swings etc to loosen up a little. Finding a spot near Adelaide ocean line was just about impossible. even the round abouts in the area were testing me with the limits of size etc. Certainly not for a fully laden 25 foot caravan with NSW travellers inside. After what seemed 30 minutes of undecided entry points we found a roadside type of carnival. But as luck would have it South Australia was putting on its normal state of weather for us "rain". shitty bloody rain. everywhere we go it raining. hoe do people live with such a shitty ,gloomy outlook over everything. the beach was bitterly cold with icy winds and raining. crap crap crap. we are beginning to think SA will have one less travelling family and head straight to warmer weather.
Victor harbour had no tram service which we wanted to do. The Steam train was broken, and now the carnival has packed up as we arrive due to no-one participating. Awful time so far for all of us. We did mange to pop the girls on a Cool Merry go Round and we were the only ones on it. pretty sad place in general. but i put it down to weather related let downs. To cold for any more activities we watch the kids on the swings for 20 minutes and a push on their scooters and then back in the "warm" truck to soldier on.

Warning! This video may contain negative material

  

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As we finally arrive at the destination it is the spookiest little town we have been in so far. unusual vehicles all around that the locals have hand made and when i walked down to see the beach it was 1 meter high in kelp ribbon seaweed. like a huge mattress on the shoreline. This area held nothing visually exciting for both me and heather. there was nothing for the kids to do or see. no Internet. no phones. Forget it. Sorry girls we are not stopping here. lets keep looking. 20 minutes more in the car on endless Flat as a pancake roads in the middle of dreary weather to places that looked like they needed some life pumped into them. How people live in these towns is beyond me. Ugly, lifeless and in need of a face lift. we spot another roadside stop on the map but this is just a gravel side road and again nothing here to see or do. it is getting late so we decide a van park it is.

We find a little park in balaclava. it is very quiet very  clean and just nice enough for $23. Done we are all feeling better with the stop here.

More excitement tomorrow as we push through these very average areas on our way to Port Augusta.

balaklava Van Park

Victor Harbour

 Victor Harbour

All set up in a BIG 4 caravan park in Victor Harbour. We have met a young couple on a similar trip to ours. they pulled in next to us as we arrived and they have 3 kids similar ages to ours and a dog, all in a 16 foot little Millard Caravan. That will test them I'm sure. They told us about the penguin centre out on Granite island so we thought the kids would like to see it. off we go but this time we are walking to the island and leaving the car behind in the park. The walk is about 1 kilometer to the beginning of the jetty, the jetty is about 500 meters long. It normally has a horse drawn tram that gives you a ride across everyday but they were working on the pier this month and so no go for us on the authentic tram line. This means the kids are going to feel it by days end. After what seems hours of walking we finally arrive at the penguin centre. Not much to speak of, just a cage around some poor orphaned little black and white birds with a young girl feeding them for us to see. We shot some video and photos and headed onward to walk around the island, the girls complaining of sore legs.
   This was all we did this day due to tired limbs from the big walk. We leave tomorrow but before we go away from Victor Harbour we are taking the girls on a steam train ride along the coastline. seeing as though we missed the puffing billy steam train at Frankston earlier in the holiday.

Victor Harbor Beachfront Holiday Park

Even the bins are excellent features throughout Victor Harbour

Thirsty little walkers

All aboard

LocaL park scene

Granite island

Natives to the island

Mia cuddles the penguins

Town fountain

Trestle Bridge and the Koala

 

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The fast pack up!

 Our first real pack away from our farm stay at Cooma took us 35minutes which is pretty good considering it's our first time doing this procedure. I recorded it (of course) and sped it up for the clip. Notice how we pack the floor away and have to repack it because we haven't got the fold size right for the storage box it lives in.

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The Sticker

 

 Our Theme for the trip

Easter Egg Hunt

 Its Easter time and the Easter bunny has been through Cooma. The girls can't wait for their basket filling adventure to begin.

We have briefed them on the Reason for Easter. Its all about Eggs and Chocolate :) and for a 3 and 4 year old, that's all it should be about.

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Mia Interview

My little Girl has an interview

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The Great Camper Damper

 When you ask the girls "where does milk come from"? the used to say  .... "from the shops". After showing them some farm life we have tried to re-educate them on the basics.

   Making bread was one of the things we knew would be educational. But first we had to make "FIRE". and without matches or a lighter. We baked some potatoes as well in the coals.
Then mummy kneaded up some dough and away we go!

Sorry for the corny poetry...

Lighting the fire with flint steel 

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The Great Damper camper

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Dinky - The Singing Dingo

Stuart Wells Road House

On the trip north to the upper Northern Territory, you cannot go past a  stop at the Sturat Wells Roadhouse. This infamous road stop is home to an Australian icon. DINKY, the singing dingo.

Not much here to see but a a novelty, non the less. You are greeted by his owner Owner Jim Cotterill, and then he takes you into the local bar area to be entertained by Dinky.

Firstly, someone has to volunteer their piano playing services to get the Dingo into position.. and then.......

Well just watch the video and see!

Hot Air Balloon Ride

 Come Fly With Us

One of our trip 'Bucket List" adventures was to Hot air balloon over Ayers Rock, but with the weather not on our side we took a Helicopter ride instead. That loeft the Hot airballoon ride to be carried out at another time. 

That time was in Alice Springs. The weather was spot on to go up and this is how it happened.

Bitterly cold morning of 2 degrees, but this is what is needed for hot air to rise i guess.

After about 30 minutes travelling against the wind through paddocks and bush terrain, we arrive at the lift off site. Then the filling of the balloon takes place.. at least another hour of prep time

Then we are all loaded into the Balloon as the sun starts to rise. they predict the time peerfectly for the best experience

Lily is smailing hut very nervous to be going up...

Some beautiful scenery from the balloon 

We earned our Hot air balloon certificates. 

Another adventure off the bucket list