Lipson Cove

Catastrophic! that is the weather forecast for lower South Australia, for the past week we have been experiencing high temperatures around the 40c, the last two days have been the hottest and hot gusty winds around 30knts. Last night we slept with all the windows & screens open to get what sea breeze we could catch, it wasn't the most restfull night sleep we have had. With the hot winds and temperature already heading up i went for a fish, within a few casts i had hooked onto a nice sized salmon around 2.5kg, I had been fishing for whiting and was using an old baitcaster that a Western Angler forum member Ed Oklowski sold me around 8 years ago for $50, if you read this Ed you can be assured the 'old' setup is still working well, best $50 i've spent.

I percervered with a some more casts to the deep gutter but nothing else other than a small blowie took the bait, so it was back to camp where i filleted the fish and Vickie cooked it in a egg wash and coated with breadcrumbs & parmesan cheese, delicious with some tartare sauce.




With forecasts for high fire danger throughout the area we are staying put where we are untill things cool down, we don't have to be in Adelaide untill the 25th January for Vickie's eye Doctor's appointment. We have a friendly crew of other campers around us to enjoy happy hour with, John a retired police officer from WA in a 25' Retreat Caravan, Paul & Sally from the Hunter Valley with a Bushtracker, and Steve & Jo in a camper trailer, others have been and gone throughout the time we have been here.

Well what a change a few hours can make, since writing and posting this up we have had the cool change hit us along with lots of rain and wind, i was up in the night making sure things were put away and the drawers that we are carrying over for our daughter where covered with a tarp, I have also set up our water catching bucket to funnel what water we can into our holding tanks. Now it's a wait and see game to find out what the day brings.

Pildappa Rock - Lipson Cove

Change of plans, with the gusty coastal winds increasing we decided not to head back down the western side of the Eyre Penninsula instead we choose to go check out a Rock, Pildappa Rock which is 15klms NE of Minnipa. This was a fantastic spot, a mini Ayres Rock with no restrictions on climbing or camping, here the Shire encourages picnics and overnight stops with plenty of long drop toilets, picnic tables, shelter with lighting and water tanks provided.







We spent plenty of time climbing over the rock which resembles Wave Rock at Hyden WA but nicer, it is easy for all ages to climb, the views are great and the cooling winds on top of the rock blew away any flies, the same couldn't be said for around the base as the flys were very friendly but not as bad as we encountered leaving home.

We were joined by two other vehicles during our stay, one couple travelling with a caravan and the other couple with a camper trailer, they were keen as they had 4 large dogs with them and we were quite happy that they stayed on the opposite side to where we were and both left early in the morning, i don't even know whether they bothered to have a look at the view.





We decided to drive down through the towns of Wudinda, Lock & Cummins and head for Lipson Cove which is on the eastern side of the Eyre Penninsula 19klms North of Tumby Bay. Wudinda has a great granite statue symbolising the Australian Farmer, the sculpture is beautifully carved and well worth a look.





Lock & Cummins were like most of the small towns we passed through, hardly a soul out and about and with all the businesses closed for the weekend, except for the Cummins Hotel where we were given the thumbs up by a few patrons as we cruised slowly past.

We have been to Lipson Cove previously and enjoyed it enough to come back, we just hoped that it wasn't busy like Point Sinclair at Penong. Driving over the last hill the ocean looked fabulous and there appeared to be only a handfull of other campers, but with limited sites we had to wait untill someone left before we could take their place so we just set up on the side of the main entry for a night. The next day some campers left so we are now in 'our' spot and spending our time relaxing, walking along the beach or rocky cliff trail's and fishing, we have seen hundreds of rabbits. Today we will get the kayak out and have a play with that, we saw plenty of Dolphins yesterday afternoon so we hope they will be back.

Back on the road - Denial Bay

Christmas 2009 ..... all finished, we had a lovely time back at home and though we 'lived' in our van and shared the cooking duties 7 weeks was long enough. I'm sure our kids living in our home would think the same, our grand daughters are beautiful and at the age where they continue to surprise us with the things they come out with, we will miss them dearly on the next part of our nomadic lifestyle.



So leaving home we decided to take the great eastern highway instead of dealing with the mobs of people that would have been flocking to the south west, it's hard enough to find a nice quiet spot near the ocean when it's not school holiday time let alone Christmas / New Year. The temperature was forecast to be 40c and they were spot on for the Perth area, where we were on the open road i think temps were closer to 50c!! It was a stinker of a drive even with the aircon on the winds were a hot easterly and we copped them head on for the next two days, economy dropped to what we usually get out of the F250 but at least it didn't get hot like the trip back home, the change of radiator fixed that problem. We stopped at Meckering for 'smoko' which has a lovely memorial rose garden and plaque for the Meckering Earthquake in 1968.



We stopped the 1st night at Boorabbin Rest Area [#332 CAW5] at the temp was 38c inside the van so i got out the Honda generator and fired it up so we could run the aircon, no hardships for us. The flys were horific and we recalled last time we stopped here we had an electrical thunderstorm and the flys were bad then.



Up early and we were greeted to already high temperatures and millions of flys so we didn't waste time hitting the road again, Another nice spot for a overnight stop would be the gorge just east of the Norseman / Eyre highway turnoff, we stopped for a cuppa but the heat was relentless. Our next overnight stop was at Moodini Bluff [#10 CAW5] we had driven a long time today to escape the constant heat and it was a pleasent cooling breeze that greeted us when we pulled in and 'set up camp' not that we have to do much, open the door and windows and get a cold drink out of the engel.

Our 3rd night we thought we would drive down to the town beach at Point Sinclair 21klms Sth West of Penong, we had stayed here last January on our trip over and enjoyed it, as were driving in on the dirt road we started to remember some farmers that we met telling us they bring their caravans down over the Christmas / New Year, it wasn't untill we drove over the last hill and saw the parking area full of vans & vehicles that we realised what they meant. We had no choice but to continue down the hill so that we could turn around and head back out, we caused a few raised eyebrows as i did a 3 point turn to face back up the hill.



We had spotted a large lake on the track in with a vehicle parked on the sandy beach so we thought we would give that a look, speaking with the couple who were enjoying the serenity we decided to take the chance and stay the night even though we saw a hand written sign saying no camping. During the afternoon a few other vehicles came in with the owners either swimming or water skiing, no one hassled us and we made sure we didn't leave any rubbish the next morning when we left. Refueling at Penong at a very reasonable price of $1.24 litre we stopped at the cemetary and had morning smoko, something we do everytime we pass the town of Penong.







Another place we have visited before was Denial Bay just before Ceduna's border inspection, as we had some vegies to consume we decided to go back for another look at a spot we camped previously. To much delight we found it and no one else was on 'our' patch of turf - or dirt should i correctly say. The temperature is down to a pleasent 27c but the ocean winds are up in the gusty / blowy cyclone level, still that means no fly's and it gives us time to catch up on a few things. We will most likley stay here a couple of nights before moving on and down the Eyre Penninsula again.

Itchy Feet

We have been home for nearly 4 week's and committed to stay untill 28th December .... the call of the open roads is becoming stronger ... 20 days to go ........

Since being home we contemplated with the idea of selling the F250 and buying a Landcruiser again but that didn't eventuate as we only had one strong enquiry and that fell over. Since then i have been arranging where our gear goes and making a false floor in the ute of the Effy to enable things to be more secure and organized, part of me thinks it's been a waste of time as now i have restricted where larger things can go, time will tell if it's any better and if i end up reverting back to what it was it hasn't cost me much.

F250 has been serviced and a new radiator fitted after it was found to be partly blocked.

Bought a 'Demo' Hobie Inflatable Kayak at the Perth Camping Show for what i thought was a bargain price, used it once and found that one chamber deflates over time, so it went back and i have been told that the problem cannot be found so they are replacing it with a brand new one .... Well Done Hobie !! I can't complain about the after sales service.







We wish you all a safe and very enjoyable festive season.

Head Home for Xmas

No site seeing for us on the journey home, it wasn't a quick drive as we took 7 days to drive from Adelaide to home, {i have previously driven Brisbane to Home in 3} I find the longest & most boring section was between Norseman & Home, i think that makes it around 24 times we have travelled the 'Nullabour'


Now at home catching up with jobs around the house and having Grand Daughters crawl over us, lovely to see them & family. I probably won't update the site again untill we hit the road again just after Christmas so,




Merry Christmas & Safe Travels to all our mates.

Coorong - Louth Bay

After leaving the Coorong we headed back to 'home' base Glenelg, It was Erin's Birthday so we decided to come back a few days early. So the van was once again parked on their front yard, we did the usual filling in time things for the week whilst waiting for Vickie's specialist appointment on the 29th. We went and visited Brian & Lis and did lots of walking around the street's.

Vickie's Doctor was pleased with the way her eye was responding to the injections and decided to give her some laser treatment and try and reduce the swelling behind the retina. Her eye sight will not ever be what it was but hopefully with the injections to reduce the blood vessels and the laser it will not get any worse, and it means she doesn't have to return for 3 months instead of every 6 weeks.

So instead of flying back to Perth to share our Granddaughters 5th Birthday at the end of November we have decided to drive the rig back and stay for Xmas as well. This allows us plenty of time to catch up with family and to unload some gear that we have accumulated over time and bring back some things for Erin when we return.

We are taking our time though and have re-visited the Yorke Penninsula and at present at Louth Bay on the Eyre Penninsula. The camp area is almost full with 6 other vans / motorhome and all seem a friendly bunch. Yesterday the weather was beautiful but during the night we heard the rumbles of thunder and saw flashes of lightning and awoke to the sound of falling rain, it didn't last long though and after Breakfast i went to the jetty for a squid, the wind came howling through and it was a battle to hold onto the bucket with one squid and my rods, next thing before i knew it my Akubra went flying into the water, Bugger loosing my hat! so i quickly rushed back to the car and left the gear on the ground, made sure keys and phone were out of my pocket and went into the water to retrieve my hat, by this time the wind had blown it 200 metres out but i wasn't going to lose it so i swam out and got it back, some 'locals' watching me said you must love that hat, plenty of sharks around here ..... lol

yes i do .. a well fitting Akubra is worth risking life for :-)

The bad weather seems to have passed us now so it's time to go back to the jetty and try for a few more.

Baileys Rocks - Coorong

Cherrypool Camp was a nice camp site ideally suited to owning some Kayaks as the river was so close and picturesque, far enough off the highway so the noise doesn't annoy. We stayed a night and moved South to the town of Hamilton and then started our journey West to Coleraine & Casterton where we decided to take the road North to the Dergholm State Park and Baileys Rocks Campground #646 CAW5.


Bailys Rocks was an interesting place, huge boulders laying around similar to the Devils Marbles in the NT. Again the weather was unkind to us with showers & cold winds, we saw no one else whilst we were there which was surprising as it really is a nice camp site.


Narracorte was busy with a local field day, we needed fuel but it was too busy trying to get the rig into a service station without blocking traffic so we drove another 40klms to Padathway where things were quieter. Just past the townsite we turned South again and headed to Kingston SE where Vickie did a small shop whilst i waited with the rig. Parking was limited so i parked in the main street, even though there were no signs or painted lines saying not to park i was aware i had blocked an entrance to the main parking area but with two other entrances to enter & leave i wasn't to concerned untill i started getting abused by some locals who didn't have the brains nor courtesy to exit the car park at either end, one bloke actually drove up to the rig expecting it too miraculously part in the middle. I guess i didn't make too many friends that day but i don't really give a damn, cars have steering wheels, use them.



We have been through these parts previously and decided to head to a nice camp site along the Coorong, 42 Mile Crossing. This is a popular camping / fishing spot with the Ocean Beach 1.2klms over the sand dunes, last time here we walked to the Ocean and up & down the beach and we didn't feel the urge to check it out again preferring to just relax, Vickie busied herself in the van while i went and looked for Wombats, plenty of burrows around and it didn't take long to find one with a large Wombat sitting at the entrance. We also saw lots of Emu's and plenty of birds, 3 other van's came in but they kept to themselves and we had a quiet night.



Onto Meningie and a stop to get some milk & bread, and then down to Narrung where we checked out Long Point #42 CAW5 a lovely spot but inundated with millions of sandflies or midgees, I also saw two 3' Brown Snakes not far from where we were camped, Vickie hates snakes so that was the icing on the cake to leave and check out Mark Point, here it was a lot less bugs and with short green grass no snakes to be seen, we did have plenty of Pelicans to watch and the Mark Mill Point to look at, it is a lovely camp area and we are staying here for two nights at a permit cost of $5 per night which is very reasonable. Vickie spotted a strange object floating in the water and with our binoculars we tried to work out what it was, Vick got to the stage of trying to wave down a passing boat much to my embarressment, luckily they did not hear her as moments later the 'object' gave a flick of the tail and we could see it was a large Seal just floating along on it's back with no worries in the World.

If we were to camp here again we would take the dirt track off to the left and through the gate to the Mark Point Mill, here there is a windmill, trough with plenty of water and lovely grassed camp area.