May 28- June 3

28^th May Sunday

8 degrees

The rain was still pouring down as we packed up this morning and so very cold.

Today we are leaving Tantanoola and driving onwards through many seaside towns. We passed a wind farm at Millicent with well over a hundred wind stations.

The next town was Robe where we came across an old historic relic of a goal and other relics.

We saw a sign about a Obelisk which we had no idea what that was until we read the sign. The sea was pounding and very rough as we got closer to the ocean.

After Robe we decided to walk past some shops and have a look before heading to the camp site for the afternoon.

Following Wiki we decided on Pinks Beach Kingston  RV reserve SA, we were trying to get away from this cold howling wind but the camps are far and few between.

We have a huge fifth wheeler motor home beside us and a few other cars have driven past to look at the beach, not stopping here as there is only room for very few vans.

Billy has finally settled on his bed in the sun next next to us, we are all rugged up against this cold wind.                                                                                                                                                                   

29^th May Monday

12 degrees

Quiet night with a bit of rain- woke to clear skies and finally no wind.

Packing after breakfast and moving on further towards Adelaide although not today. Will be having a look at the town before we leave. 

We stopped in at Salts Creek for a morning tea, just a little place West of Adelaide as we bypass Coorong National Park and a few rest stops. As we slowly make our way ever closer to Adelaide we expect to see fewer free camp sites. Stopped in a nice little town Meningie for a look around. Nice beach and quite busy compared to other seaside towns we have passed. We bought a coffee before moving off to our camp for this afternoon at Punong on The Murray river camp spot. Long grassy bank with a lot of fireplaces from previous campers. Nice river view and we couldn’t really get any closer as we were already less than two metres or we would be a floating pontoon. Later in the afternoon we had a few houseboats and a variety of paddle wheelers drift past us.

A pair of cyclists rode into the campsite with all their gear and set up their tent for the night. Further down the bank is one other motorhome closer to the ferry. This ferry is a free service to anyone that needs to cross the river 24 hours a day.

Whilst we have been here the bird wildlife is amazing to see with pelicans, kookaburras, egrets, ducks, galahs and many small finches.

30^th May Tuesday

Sarinda’s Birthday.

Deciding to stay here for a few days and relax, check stock in van and Russell is planning to do maintenance on the cruiser and check van. We found the third battery has collapsed which runs the car fridge, quite unfortunate to have to purchase another one.

Everything else seems ok.

We went for a walk to one end of the street past some houses here, most are accommodation style houses.

Today Sue did some baking and we all sat outside in the glorious sun most of the day, enjoying the river views. Billy has missed sleeping outside I am sure.

Billy is keen to try to get in the water but the banks are very steep with no access to climb back up, so he resorts to lying down in the thick grass looking at the wild ducks.

As the afternoon ends we take the opportunity of good weather to have a fire, not only to use up the timber we have been carrying from three weeks ago, but to cook in our camp oven and sit around.

The stars are out which we haven’t seen for some time due to the weather we have had over these weeks. We enjoyed the warmth of the fire right to the dying embers before we went back inside the van.

31^st May Wednesday.

3 degrees.

Fog encompassed us as I wearily opened my eyes to only see white windows, condensation within the van and Billy waiting to greet me on the bed.

A coffee awaits Sue which she happily slurps as we plan our day ahead. 

This morning after breakfast we decided to go into town at Mannum which is only 15 minutes away or so. There is a ferry service to cross the Murray on either side which we used on the way back to Punong. 

Once back to camp we begin the pack up process to move on a bit further up the Murray to Swan Reach, hopefully more service on a few things like mobile and TV.

Well the new camp we moved to is not as nice as what we left, no grass, lots of caravans and we had to move up to a hill so nowhere near the river. But we do have TV service for the origin tonight and mobile range is better......so for the sake of an argument it was a better move.

We will be moving on tomorrow.

Qld lost ☹the Origin. 4/28

1^st June Thursday

First day of winter.

1 degree last night, must be getting used to these constant cold mornings and nights.

Packed and moving on from Swan Reach and of course looking at towns along the way.

Stopped in at a town at Blanchetown for morning tea, prior to that we had to re fill our water tanks. I walked around and spotted a community garden that was flourishing with many vegetables and had a great watering system. I spotted some parsley growing outside on the ground so I picked it for later use.

Truro was the next small town of interest and an old antique shop which I looked in.

We planned to follow a Wiki camps at Angaston but unfortunately it was only a rock based carpark and we weren’t keen to stay. So, we decided to walk along the streets and check out the shops. We came across a pet shop which welcomed pets so we took Billy in and wasn’t he the star. He performed tricks for treats and loved all the attention. Within the shop was a holding room for adopted kittens and cats that Billy had an interest in. After this we located a pizza place further down the street and had thought this would be nice for dinner if we had stayed.

Anyway, we continued further to a $5-night stay at Greenock Centenary Park. Nice and green so the camping is just around the outside area. Within this park is a dump point, water and we are close to a small town for shopping. We plan to stay a few days and leave the van here, drive into Adelaide and look around.

Cold again tonight.

2^nd June Friday

Slept in till 8am and so very cold.

After a nice coffee and pancakes for breakfast we decided to join the traffic and drove into Adelaide for a few things which we hope to find. The trip in is about 70kms away so we hope to be back to camp around 3pm.

We have never been within Adelaide city before so getting around is by our GPS and frustrating as ever with not knowing the roads, parking and finding what we want to look at. But we were lucky enough to find an inner-city parking bay and a beautiful beach with a jetty (dogs allowed) at Henley seaside. Nice café and restaurants to stop and have lunch at as well. Billy loved the off-leash beach and even got to make a few friends with a puppy border collie of 12 weeks old. We were of the opinion dogs have a lot more freedom here in South Australia than other States we have been through.

After leaving the seaside we tried our luck and ventured further  further into Adelaide looking for Spotlight and Super cheap before heading out and back to camp. Glad to see the sun out again without the wind.

3^rd June Saturday

Third night here.

Absolutely freezing again last night……. diesel heater has well and truly been worth buying.

Need to do some food shopping today at a close town Nuriootpa food co-op, and find a butcher as well.

The sun is out and no wind thank goodness.

Most of the smaller shops here like boutique shops, post office, bank, gift shop close by midday but the food co-op is open till 7pm.

After we come back from the shops and put the food away, Russell has plans to convert the long orange lead to a new short lead specifically designated for the power supply, rather than running the orange lead outside all the time when we need it.

Billy had some grooming as well, not that he was very happy about it at all watching his hair come out in handfuls and blow away in the wind ( treats work wonders)

16 degrees at 1 o’clock and feels way colder.

Billy has learnt to play with almost any dog that is keen to venture his way, must be missing Forest and Parker.