Mitchell Park SA - Innes Nat. Park - 19th Nov 2011

Two weeks after leaving Erin's new home in Mitchell Park we were back, we had arranged to catch up with Geoff and Vickie during our time as they were attending the KD Lang concert on Sunday. We had mentioned to them about 'Chicken and Rice' our favourite meal in China Town in Adelaide and they were keen to find out if it was as good as we had talked it up. Fortunately for us, the Parker's and the business concerned it was given the thumbs up.

Together we checked out the market for inexpensive and delicious food, Geoff and i took a walk to the local Cash Converter store and checked out a large range of 2nd hand Mountain Bikes for sale, surprisingly for a shop like cashies they had some good bikes at reasonable prices. I was tempted but resisted the urge. The very next day [Saturday] i decided to drive back in and take another look, it was also the same day the Christmas Pageant was on and traffic and parking was a PITA. After cruising the streets for 30 mins i managed to park directly out front of Cashies. The bike i was going back to look at was still there but also they had another that had just been put up for sale, coincidental it was the same brand of bike that Geoff has though his is newer and has suspension forks. I took it for a ride and straight away knew that it needed a new crank bearing but at $90 it was still a good deal so i bought it.

Getting it back to Erin's i gave it a clean and decided to take it to a bike shop to get the bearing changed, apart from that and a new gear cable it was set to go, all up cost was $165 a lot cheaper than $500 - $600 for a new equivalent bike that would only end up getting scratched.

We left Erin's on Sunday when the Adelaide traffic was slight, our destination was Port Parham near Dublin. We have stayed there twice before and this time we hoped to 'rake' up some Crabs, alas that was not to be, we saw 5 but all under sized and the tides were not in our favour. We had decided to stay two nights and to our great pleasure Geoff and Vickie turned up the 2nd day, their original plans changed they choose to call in hoping we would still be here, they even bought us lunch of some Dublin Pies! .... aren't they good mates !

We all had bikes so we spent some time riding around the small community of Parham, another great night of laughter and good music and we left the next morning heading to the Yorke Peninsula together. We called in at Ardossan to catch up with Jar & Pam a couple of Bushtracker owners we had met at the Quorn Muster, a lovely couple with great taste in cars, 3 Classic Mustangs and an Italian De Tomaso Pantera ..... SIGH ..........

With the hello's over it was time to say goodbye and we continued down the Yorke, we called in at Port Julia but it wasn't worth a stop, after a chat we decided to just take a drive down a few dirt tracks that headed to the coast. After a few no goes we came across a track that took us down near the Port Vincent Golf Club, here we found a good spot overlooking the cliffs and ocean, the only down side was the wind picked up and we were blown around trying to have our 'happy hour' How inconsiderate of the wind!

Down below us a car had ended up smashed on the rocks so Geoff andi walked down the cliff trail to check it out, no idea of how it ended up there but it wasn't going any where now except maybe further into the sea. Geoff and i got the bikes off and had a couple of good rides it was great being back on a bike, something i used to do regularly but hadn't for a few years.

Next day we found ourselves at Mozzie Flat, a nice secluded camp spot southwest of Yorketown. No mossies around but we had more than enough bush flies to keep us company. We stayed two nights here and we all spent time walking along the beach, Vickie and i tried our hand at fishing and i caught a small Flathead and two stingrays that were released.

Friday morning we broke camp and headed South to the Innes National Park, Vick and i had been here in 2009 and it was here that Vickie 1st had her eye problem, time has seemed to have gone by so quickly since then, and here we were again! Not a lot had changed, Stenhouse Bay camp ground appeared to require some TLC with the grounds looking uncared for, perhaps all the work and money went into Pondalowlie Well Camp that Stenhouse was treated like the poor cousin. Even the Information bureau needed a good clean with bird droppings all around the entrance, not a good look especially when they require you to pay them money to stay. Mind you the scenery is stunning and totally recommended.

Two nights here at Stenhouse and we had filled our time in with riding the bikes around many of the trails, an attempt at squidding and fishing of the fantastic jetty resulted in nothing! Vickie did come close to catching a huge squid but it dropped off the jig when she had half hauled it up. Last night we were entertained by a fabulous electrical storm, here we all were seated in our chairs watching the lightening, listening to the thunder rumbling, and singing all sorts of silly songs .... it's moments like those .......... that make great memories.