New Zealand Sth Island - Part 1 Kaikoura

Day 1 - Sydney - Kaikoura


I'm finally on my way to explore the South Island of New Zealand. Our travelling party is myself (45), my adult daughter (25), my sister (53) and the traveller of honour - my elderly mum who is 73 and mobility impaired. We have a very civilised time for our departure - 10 am Sunday. Perhaps odd not to leave on Friday or Saturday, but I wasn't planning on skipping our tix to the Wharf Revue yesterday which were booked a year ahead. (The Wharf Revue was hilarious of course!!) We travel Air New Zealand and as the Qantas ground staff give mum chair assistance to the plane they - like everyone else you meet - assures us the South Island is just gorgeous and we'll love it. The plane is new and comfortable with screens and individual viewing choices or games for each passenger. Heaps of leg room. Great friendly service. We are all very impressed. The lunch provided is delicious too with a strange salad made from noone seems to know what. Little balls a bit like giant cous cous crossed with tapioca with roast pumpkin and fetta and of course a delicious dressing. We've opted for the Shepherds pie, which is lamb and quite tasty. The pudding provided is banana cake. The drinks service comes around and while my companions procrastinate I tell the stewardess to give them L&P. Then I explain to my family that this is the appropriate thing to try under the circumstances. Mum doesn't like it. Too sweet. Sis and daughter LOVE it. I just don't do fizzy, but I take a small sip for educational purposes. Interesting. We watch some shows on New Zealand. Mum reports she watched one on deer farming. I watched one about a private penguin reserve on the Banks Peninsular where there is a colony of white flippered penguins. What a great idea for people heading over the ditch, having this option on the plane.
As we approach landing we fly in over beautiful snow capped peaks, patchwork fields and a broad braided river.

We have no dramas picking up our Europcar rental - a Suburu Forester, but we find it's a squeeze fitting in the luggage for 4 adults, after some initial alarm we manage it OK and set off directly for Kaikoura. I need to ring to confirm the whale watch.. what to do about a phone?Daughter and I head back into the terminal to find a phone and are pleased to find a vodafone phone rental outlet. We end up buying a NZ phone and local SIM card that has a deal going where we can ring any landline in Australia and talk for 2 hrs for $2. This seems better value than the rental as hubby and I are back in Feb so we can use it then also. I had meant to buy a phone card before leaving home, but this seems a more convenient solution anyhow. The girl on the desk at vodafone is friendly and efficient. I'll save time in the report and say now, the service just about everywhere was.. yep you guessed it - friendly and efficient. Well done NZ your service and hospitality is consistently outstanding.

Looking back on it, it's amusing how enchanted we were by the scenery in this early part of the trip. We find it beautiful, and fascinating with the hedgerows and flowering broom everywhere we look. I just cannot resist it and we head off to explore the road down to Motunau Beach. The weather is a very windy and it creates fascinating patterns in the grass which we look down on from a road with expansive views. I pull over when my companions request a video stop. We arrive down at the beach and enjoy the views of the waves with the plume being tossed back by the wind. We stop to use the local public toilet facilities which are reported to me (without prompting) as clean and impressive and much better than is typical in Australia that's for sure. Really? Pipes up Mum and out she hops to see this wonderous sight and take the opportunity for a comfort stop. As we pack ourselves back into the vehicle all bemoan our own country's pathetic lack of achievement on the toilet front -especially the growing trend of installing those horrible stainless steel jobs with the in-built seats. Rant concluded we press on, leaving Motunau Beach about 6:15 and decide to throw caution to the winds and take the inviting little dirt road back to the main route which is signposted Happy Valley Rd. This was a delightful little detour. We stop when we come to a flock of birds. Out with the binoculars. What are they? Maybe wild canaries??? They look like canaries with brown bodies and yellow heads. There appears to be house sparrows among them, but they are definitely not all sparrows. We have not yet acquired a NZ bird guide, but we later check and think perhaps they were yellowhammers. This is later confirmed by locals familiar with this bird.

On we drive thoroughly enjoying the countryside. We come to a flock of sheep along the road where there are no fences. This is the stuff! We're back on SH1 by about 7pm. The main road is good, but winding in places and eventually we come to a beautiful oceanside drive. There are occasional railway tunnels for the trains that run alongside the road. We're loving it. It's already wonderful scenery. You can't go too fast, but why would you want to with scenery like that?

On arrival in Kaikoura I find that the road atlas I'd aquired in Sydney is hopelessly inadequate, but fortunately Kaikoura is not a huge place and we find the Admiral Court Motel without too much trouble and check in. It's clean and fresh smelling with all units open for airing when we arrive. A good sign. Perhaps a little more modest in the appointments than you would find in 4 star at home, but perfectly adequate for our needs. It's a bit out of the town centre, but everywhere else mum would need to be driven to the things we're doing anyway, so once in the car the distance is no matter.

With our leisurely drive up from Christchurch it's time for Dinner and the Green Dolphin Restaurant is next door. My research on the NZ dining websites has suggested that this is the place to eat. We are not disappointed. This being Kaikoura - kai meaning eat and koura meaning crayfish - daughter and I decide to go for the crayfish. Sis has the lamb and mum has the steak. We also decide to sample the whitebait which has been "microbattered" ie each individual tiny fish battered and cooked separately. We add the scallops and some breads. Everything is totally delicious. Totally delicious. It's a wonderful bread selection. The reviews online have got it right. Dessert follows. All are delicious but the white chocolate cheesecake with fruit compote is the unanimous winner. Not baked. We don't like baked Cheesecake and, it appears as our trip unfolds, neither must kiwis. The service was efficient and friendly. Good stuff. What a fabulous start to our trip.

We make for our beds as we have an early start tomorrow for our whale watch cruise and NZ is two hours ahead of our body clocks. Uggh.

Day 2 - Whale Watch Cruise and Nin's Bin and Ohau Point

We rise at 6am with great excitement. It's time for my own pinch me moment. I'm here. I'm finally here in Kaikoura!! We get ourselves ready and after a quick stop by the waterfront for some snaps of the mountains in the morning light we make the short drive down to the whale watch office which sits opposite the beachfront.
The beach presents a broad expanse of black sand, white breakers and glorious blue ocean. It's a strange sight to us who have been raised on golden sand beaches. To be honest I had seen on the local website comments about the beautiful black sand beaches and I was a bit sceptical, but beautiful they most certainly are. Blue white black in a stripe. Simply lovely. The whole area is simply beautiful, and the snow on the mountains is the finishing touch.

We check in and have time for a quick spot of brekkie at the whale watch cafe. We order our food and step back to get organised before heading out to a table. An English mum and adult daughter step up to make their choices. The older lady goes to pay and the kiwi behind the counter says "nah, that's Aussie money so it doesn't work". We laugh. The English lady gets real huffy. Says she's been given it in change in NZ and it's too early in the morning to be poked fun at. We are puzzled and think she really needs to lighten up. A short while later the penny dropped. The poor lady thought we were all laughing at her for handing over the wrong money. So I went across to her table and explained. We weren't laughing at her, we were laughing at the dig the kiwi was having at us Aussies with his comment. Kiwis and Aussies do that to eachother all the time and this poor lady just got caught in the crossfire. She seems relieved at the explanation and a lot happier. What a dreadful misunderstanding. Glad we got that sorted.

We are bussed to South Bay to join our cruise. The weather is good. We are told that for weeks the weather has been dreadful. Lucky for us, not today. Lucky for us this has kept the snow on the mountains which we are told is quite unseasonal. There is not much wind and this makes for a comfortable trip. Everything about the cruise was slick and professional. You are required to be seated while underway, which was no problem for us who have our sea legs and iron stomachs, but maybe not the best way to avoid sea sickness for the more delicate land lubbers. All through the cruise there is entertaining commentary and educational video presentations on the whales and the local marine geography. Our young guide - who has an English accent - is very competent and professional. We stop occassionally to listen for whales with the underwater listening gear. We chase after whales. The whales dive for extended periods, usually about 45 mins or so in this area, though they are capable of longer. They stay on the surface for just a short time maybe 5 - 7 minutes, so there's only a small window of opportunity to get close enough to see them before they dive once more. The helicopters also keep in touch with the boats tipping them off as to where they may be successful. Some of the passengers managed to see a whale just as it dives, but the majority do not. None the less it has been a very interesting and impressive cruise. We even got a lesson in how to pronounce Kaikoura. Apparently it's more like Kai - koda or kai-koe-ra with a strongly rolled r sound. Apparently it's common to say kai-koora but "koora" means "feathers" so Maori find that pronunciation rather funny as it means "eat feathers". We make the necessary adjustments, but as we travel the south island we find a number of kiwis find our not saying "kai-koora" a bit strange and they correct us.

Along the way a cape petrel lands on the water near the guy with the listening gear. They're not feeding the birds but I guess this little guy figures there's no harm in trying. Off in the distance a large white blob is announced to be a Gibson's Wandering Albatross. We find both interesting and exciting. Haha. Just wait till tomorrow and our Albatross Encounter!

As we have not been successful in seeing a whale it is announced that we will all get 80% of our money refunded. Just pop to the check in desk for that. We decide to skip the queues and come back later. We've already decided our refund money will go towards a helicopter whale viewing flight. So we high tail it over to the i-site to make enquiries. We're a bit dim really. The heli office is right back next to the whale watch offices. Never mind, some of us wanted to stop at the motel first and change into cooler clothes anyway so we were going right past the i-site.

As we arrive at the heli base we find the English ladies we met this morning have had the same idea. We have a friendly chat before we head in for the flight briefing and before long we're all wishing eachother good viewing and boarding our choppers and heading out to sea. Sis was a bit dubious about going up in a chopper (though she loves small planes) but she's in the front seat and loving it. We locate a whale on the surface and circle it and circle it for what seems like an age before it finally does a shallow dive followed by the longer deep dive and we head back towards land. Daughter announces when we get back to ground that she was praying for the whale to dive. Each turn around the whale and she was edging closer to motion sickness. She manages pretty well almost always without taking pills or remedies, but that circling while looking at the water took her to the edge. We've opted for the longer flight so we head down the coast a bit to look for dolphins. At this time of day they have dispersed from the bigger pods, but we find a few and watch them leaping and having fun. After the whale they look so tiny. We also spot a couple of seals before turning and heading up along the coast. Wonderful. Maybe not as exciting as some other chopper flights, given that ocean below for much of the flight isn't the most thrilling scenery, but it is certainly an effective way to really get a good look at the whales. They look like a submarine travelling along.

Back on the ground we get a snap of us all with the chopper - volunteered by our pilot and taken with our own cameras. Gee thanks!! As we walk from the helipad we observe a dotterel with chick which is wandering about by the train tracks close by.. so cute.

Time we claimed our refund thinks us and we go into the whale watch desk. You could have knocked us over with a feather. They have already run our refund through with the bank and here's the paperwork if we'd care to sign it please. Wow. That's organised. We would have expected the refunds to be given only if and when you claimed it. We are really impressed with this operation. Boy oh boy do they know how to run a business!!

The weather is beautiful and sunny but cool. Our plan for the afternoon is to head up to Nin's Bin for a crayfish lunch, visit the seals at Ohau Pt and try to find the waterfall suggested to us by the cruise guide which is pretty special at this time of year.

First we head to the local supermarket for some supplies. We are fascinated to find lots of interesting chip varieties. Once again it looks like the Kiwis must run things better than we do at home. How come a tiny little nation like NZ can have all these varieties and all these companies producing chips while we in Australia have so few. I'd like to read a comparison of the laws relevant to these matters between countries because clearly we must be able to learn something. We buy a selection. The most memorable of which were the Lamb and mint.. mmm.. tastes like roast potatoes, lamb gravy and mint sauce. Well well.

We stop again at the bigger New World supermarket on the way north out of town for Sis to pick up some pure aloe vera juice which she finds medically necessary (very expensive here in NZ double what she pays at home apparently) . Finally we're on our way.

At Nin's Bin we find some convenient picnic tables and the rocks just off shore have some seals basking on them. The water is clear and inviting and appears fairly protected and daughter regrets not having brought her swimmers and snorkel with her this afternoon. As I get to the table with my plate of crayfish ($39 NZ). I realise I need something from the car, so stupid here, puts the plate on the table and takes the few steps necessary to get to the car. A cry of alarm and the lovely young family at the table next door are shooing a gull away from its attempt at highway robbery. I hadn't even noticed any birds around but I guess that was pretty predictable. Much thanks to our (Canadian?) defenders and they say it's not a problem they did the very same thing!! We devour our crays partly straight and partly on delicious cray and avocado sandwiches.. mmmmm. Glad sis was thinking ahead and brought some avocado and some salt. Everyone is blown away to find my picnic sack I've brought includes a claw cracker... well I KNEW I was coming to Nin's Bin after all!!

So to our friendly gull. He's beautiful. He's solitary. He's got his patch well under control. A couple of times over the half hour or so we're eating another gull makes a move to see what they can get from us. One threatening squawk from the godfather of the gulls and they think better of the idea without even getting to land! This gull is watching us with a level of intensity and concentration such that you'd swear he was a hypnotist or something. He's not pushy he just stands there never taking his eyes of us. Not afraid of making eye contact with us at all. He clearly knows just what he's doing. Finally when we finish our meal daughter tosses her cray shell. He's well and truly ready for it. He starts devouring the meal in the most extraordinarily efficient manner. He's done this before that's clear. We comment to eachother on this extraordinary bird, but we conclude... well of course.. this is a New Zealand gull so obviously it must be friendly and efficient!! Talk about a national characteristic!!

We pack up our plates, return Nin's Bin's stuff to them and pack away our own. Clear up the rubbish (including the shell the gull is finished with) and we head off up to Ohau point. We spend a while just watching the seals. Conveniently a big male has set up a territory right in front of the viewing platform and we watch (and video) as he persuades another big male that coming into his patch might not be such a good idea. Over to the right a little a young seal has found a convenient spa and is clearly having a ball playing in the breakers as they create aquatic turmoil in the pool. Wonderful.

Dragging ourselves away there is some discussion about where to find the waterfall that was recommended by the whale watch guides. Sis had thought it was right here at the point, but I said nah, it's just somewhere in the area. Our map isn't much help so we decide to just keep driving north and see what we find. We find a sign that points to a waterfall and walk and figure this must be it. A bit dubious as to whether mum will manage this walk, we set off leaving mum and sis who is also a bit restricted in her walking, to take their own pace. We head up the path, up, up for what seems a really long time. Nah this can't be it. Daughter is well ahead of me and after a while she comes back saying - It's AWESOME. I just came back to tell Gma not to turn back. Finally we all have arrived at this beautiful spot. It's a seal pup creche!! The mother seals leave their pups here while they go out fishing. When daughter arrived there was about 8 pups just sitting around on the rocks, but some have made a dash up the very steep hillside. A couple have headed down stream. We are absolutely gobsmacked that they come so far up away from the sea and at their agility on the steep terrain. We sit as quietly and as unobtrusively as we can, while the shadows lengthen, watching the seal pups play in the water of a waterfall that is worthy of a visit in it's own right. FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!

Finally we tear ourselves away and head back to town, stopping to photograph a field of male deer with lovely antlers all sitting in most picturesque fashion in a field along the road. Back in town we head across towards Sth Bay and notice there's a BBQ stall still operating at 6pm. Looks tempting, but we're keen to go to the pasta night at the Green Dolphin. Once again our meal is delicious. The pasta servings are huge. Sis had the pick of them we felt with her Papardelle with chicken bacon and orange mustard sauce. .. Yep you guessed it. A couple of serves of the white choc cheesecake to share between us for dessert.

Day 3 - Albatross Encounter and Maori Tour

The weather is holding once again. It's a beautiful windless morning as we check in at the Encounters desk at 5:50 am. Again we are bussed across to South Bay. This time the boat is smaller and we climb up the ladder onto the boat which is then launched. Apparently sometimes the swell is quite intimidating and this is the safest and easiest way to do things. The birds clearly know the encounter boat and before long we have something of a following. The lovely little cape petrels are prominent and early devotees. After a short while we get far enough out for a cage of fish liver and scraps to be put over the back of the boat. From there on we follow a pattern of travelling a bit, stopping for a while. Travelling a bit stopping for a while getting further out and attracting more birds and new species along the way. I am beside myself with happiness and excitement. NOW this is the pinch me to end all pinch mes. I have wanted to come on this tour for sooooo long and it's living up to all my expectations. We photograph, we video, we exclaim. Salvin's Albatross wins the beauty stakes. No!! look here this is a white capped albatross! Woah! he's gorgeous. And what about those southern giant petrels. The vultures of the sea.. they'd crack a mirror but what characters!! A few westland petrels turn up - they breed around Westland only (naturally) and are here on summer holiday. Classy birds. Very schmick, but not so easy to get a photograph. And look here's a white chinned petrel. Notice the difference in the bill to tell it from the Westland Petrel, otherwise they look very similar. Gibson's wandering albatross.. woah, big, but not so attractive as the Salvin's or White capped... Northern Royal Albatross.. AWESOME!! The time goes so fast. We've been out here for hours but it seems no time at all before we're heading back in. This time we're looking for rafts of Hutton's Shearwater. They feed off the point closer in and breed up near the snowline!! Seriously, who would have imagined that? They're in trouble though and numbers are seriously low. Up in the Seaward Kaikoura Range is where they still are hanging on. FANTASTIC!! A Kaikoura must do.

Daughter has expressed disappointment that I am not booked to swim with the dolphins. I'm only booked to observe. Clearly unable to deny her and with much trepidation, on return to the Encounters office, I upgrade my dolphin viewing to dolphin swimming after an enquiry as to the weather forecast for tomorrow. I don't feel confident if the sea isn't quite calm. It's looking OK for the morning with a change moving through a bit later. I am booked in and have until 4 oclock or so to change my mind... hmmm.. what am I thinking.. the things you do for your kids!!

Back on land Mum and Sis go back to the motel for a rest before our Maori Tour this afternoon. We have been advised that the snorkelling is good everywhere when it's clear and that the thing to do is just take the opportunity when you find a clear spot. I can't leave without daughter having a snorkel so we get her gear and jump in the car. Stupidly we pass the clear waters right near our accommodation and decide to head up towards Nin's Bin once more. When we get there however the water isn't clear as it was yesterday, and the Bin is pretty busy causing daughter a spot of shyness. We go a little further along and pull down into a layby by the ocean to park. Unfortunately it's low tide and access to the water just there doesn't look real safe - would have been awesome at high tide here, but we keep our distance from some seals that are basking and have a fossick among the rocks all the while serenaded by lovely birdsong from the bush on the other side of the road. We find brittle stars very much like what we get at home and a cute little fellow under the rocks that perusal of a guide in a gift shop revealed was a false crab, more like a bug or something it has long fine feelers and very flat nippers. He tucks himself into the cracks between your fingers in a most adorable and inoffensive way. There were also other crabs that just play dead when you discover them, some sea anemones and an unusual star fish that we couldn't extract from the rocks without risking hurting it; not to mention the limpets which caused daughter to comment "man, they even have beautiful limpets!!" Finally we figure we need to head back so we're not late for our tour but we both imagine returning one day and allowing time for some more extensive fossicking around and snorkelling.

Back at the motel, we rest for half an hour and are collected at 1:15 by Tania and Maurice our guides for the Maori tour. When everyone is on board we head up to an old pa site up on the hill with beautiful views across Kaikoura township and the coastline. Before entering the pa we are all given Moari names and taught the welcome protocols and how to introduce ourselves. Which is a challenge to some of us.. you have to name your mountain... hmmm. I really don't think I have a mountain... but my river and my canoe are not so difficult.. We learn about the history and the settlement that was reached to compensate the Ngai Tahu about 11 yrs ago complete with written apology from the queen for past wrongs. We hear the creation story about earth mother and sky father and the work of Tane Mahuta. we visit some carvings of Maui and have them explained as well as the site of the local Marae which we do not enter, but hear some more about the history of this significant place and have the totems out the front explained. Along the way we progressively learn a song that has been written for the tour. When we have the protocols in hand we adjourn to Maurice's own home for afternoon tea where we hongi on entering and introduce ourselves to Maurice's wife following the protocols. Delicious food and stimulating conversation and finally we head off for the next section of the tour.

On the way to our bush walk we are taught to do some flax weaving. At the bush a good omen as we see two Kereru (NZ Pigeon) which is pronounced to be quite unusual to see them just sitting out openly like that. We walk. We hear about the traditional uses of various plants, try some traditional tea using the leaves of one of the plants but prepared earlier from a plant in Maurice's garden. We come to some significant old trees where we pay our respects by singing our song. Finally we return to the car park where we see the Kereru plus a third one has joined the group and some good times are being had ;o) ;0) The path along the walk was quite undulating but mum coped OK with it.

We clamber back in the van and head back for dropping people off. With some lovely parting words from Maurice and an invitation to contact them whenever we're in town as we are now friends.

Wonderful tour very interactive and real. It deserves the high ratings people give it on Rankers. This is another Kaikoura must do.

We have some time before the Paua shell factory shop closes so we head on in there for some souvenir buying. I find some sterling silver earings shaped like gum leaves but with paua and decide these are a nice anzac sort of thing to wear so get those. We get some polished paua shells and a few other bits and bobs. Paua decorated stainless salad servers and cake server. Daughter selects some nice bangles and we're off.

We're pretty tired now and decide once more to sample the delights of the Green Dolphin, there still being tempting things on the menu we have yet to try and that bread platter is just sooo good. it's Tuesday night and it turns out not as quiet in the restaurant as they planned for. There's a bit of a melt down in the kitchen unfortunately, but the staff address the issues and compensate in an appropriate way and we certainly would not hold it against them.

We fall into bed. Our earliest rise yet is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Day 4 Dolphin Encounter and back to Christchurch

OK so today we have to be checked in by 5:25 am. We're a few minutes late and are playing catch up in the wetsuit room where we squeeze ourselves into some really thick wetsuits. We are assured they are the right size for us (larger are certainly avaialable) but it feels like we're spring loaded as we walk. I can't believe I'm doing this. The wetsuits are warm enough that even in bare feet we're toasty. We get a briefing before we head off. Tips on how to behave. How to make ourselves both attractive to the dolphins and amusing to the people on the boat who have to watch us. Basically you have to sing to the dolphins, don't try to touch them, swim, dive if you can - you know basically pretend to be a dolphin.. makes sense doesn't it.

Again we board the bus down to South Bay and board the dolphin encounter boat. Nab ourselves a good possy and busy ourselves with putting on the hood tucking it in and in my case at any rate psyching myself up to actually engage in this lunacy. Good grief what am I doing this for?? It will be cold. It will be DEEP. I hate deep water... I'm scared of sharks... was raised all my life to have a BIG DEEP awareness of sharks and I'm dressed up like shark food ...but there'll be lots of dolphins around right? Sharks and dolphins don't like eachother right? I didn't regret jumping into the deep water (briefly) at Balls Pyramid did I? I'll probably love it...Oh god....

Time comes when we are summoned onto the back deck. Our briefing said when the horn goes we have to slip quickly and quietly into the water, minimal splashing. Certainly no time for painfully slow inching yourself into water... bloody hell.... Of course all this is - well mostly is - an internal dialogue... so out on the deck I go. Mask and snorkel in position. I slide into the water. Aahh!! ... and it's not cold at all!! Well hardly at all anyway. Nowhere near as bad as getting into the water at the beach on a 30C day. And these suits are so bouyant you couldn't sink if you wanted to. It's EASY!! A slightly bigger swell would be OK I think!! We snorkel we sing... and here they are... AWESOME!! Being an independent thinker I decide to try speaking skippy to the dolphins and am satisfied to find that they seem to find this quite intriguing.. We swim and commune and circle and make eye contact with these beautiful dolphins for quite a while and the horn sounds.. back on the boat please. We're just relocating so do feel free to just sit on the back steps ready to go back in the water. At our next stop there are so many dolphins it's unbelievable. Apparently there's hundreds of them around the boat. Daughter has the camera (in underwater housing) and she's given up aiming it. It can just film where it wants as it will get dolphin in any direction. Finally the horn sounds again. Most people had got back on the boat of their own volition, there is only myself, daughter and one other still in the water. The crew express in a surprised tone we've been swimming for a total of about 56 minutes!! AWESOME!! We can hardly wipe the smiles off our faces. Sis says I look happier than she's seen me in many years. The crew crack up when I exclaim excitedly - I swear those dolphins speak skippy!! "how's that go?" they ask. I give my best skippy impression and they laugh "ah, you Aussies you just crack me up".

There's warm water which we are encouraged to hose ourselves with then we strip off our wetsuits and cozzies and get dressed for some standard on board dolphin viewing. We stop by some rocks with nesting birds and a seal colony and head back into South Bay. Another Kaikoura must do. We chat to the crew. Some people are apparently not feeling too well. Apparently they get a lot of people who have never before been on a boat. Poor things. I am thankful once more for being brought up from before I was born even, on boats all the time. Never been seasick in my life. I am so lucky.

Back on land we buy some things in the gift shop before we leave. We cannot believe our luck with the weather. We have time to get back on land before the weather starts to turn. We've been given exactly the amount of clear calm weather necessary to do every tour we had hoped for. There is no other conclusion than that the powers in charge approve of people doing something nice for their mum.. as you will see the weather is our friend for our whole trip pretty much..

These early tours finish in plenty of time to head back to the motel, shower, change, pack and check out. We head back to the Paua factory shop.. which we had visited yesterday. Having consulted with hubby last night I'm up for those nice paua cufflinks. But first a quick stop at the i-site to buy a tree from Trees for Travellers. With these you can check your tree online and visit it to see it's progress when you return to the area. Great idea! You can choose between small trees ($20) and large trees ($40).

Mum and sis need to go into the shop in town to get their little kiwi that actually make a kiwi call. .. incidentally we didn't see those again anywhere so just as well they got them in Kaikoura when they saw them. Only cheap too. Basically everything we bought in kaikoura we didn't see cheaper anywhere else and often not the same or not as nice, so we were glad of all our purchases.

Finally we head for Christchurch. Lord we have Ko Tane tonight! But we take turns in driving and have some naps in the car along the way. The weather is now decidedly rainy and wind has picked up. We stop at a winery for a break. A cuppa and comfort stop. Share a cheesecake and blueberry lemon tart. Feeling refreshed we head on and arrive at Lorenzo Motor in approx 4pm. We ring Ko Tane from the motel as I have a hunch I need to confirm as their system was playing up and they had emailed me to say they'd taken the booking by email as a consequence. Sure enough they have no record of our booking, but I book in then without a problem. We're pretty zonked and sluggish getting out of the motel to leave for the show. The traffic is heavy and we've misjudged the time, but we ring again and reschedule for the later show no worries. We arrive with time up our sleeves and are invited to wander around Willowbank, but don't worry about the NZ native stuff as that's in the guided tour later. OK. We amuse ourselves in the park but a lot of things have settled for the night. We're back for the show. First things first. The photo with the Ko Tane leader and Maori maiden (NZ$25). Then the introduction is done by a German(?) lady who is partner to the Maori chief bloke and clearly is very knowledgeable on the things she is speaking about. She says right up, well clearly you've noticed I'm not a New Zealander and she explains who she is. She does a really excellent job of telling the creation story and goes on to explain the rules and protocols for the night. Our chief is appointed and we are led down along the path. As we look at one of the animals, suddenly out of nowhere the challenge comes. All done very well to our untrained eye at any rate. Very impressive and enjoyable. No photos in the performance space, but we are slow to discover that at this stage with the challenge outside video and photos are OK.

Inside the show is not so much a show as an exercise in hospitality. Sure the Ko Tane folk perform some songs for us and some poi, but then some ladies are taught a simple poi and some blokes the haka. It's quite interactive and we are taught the Maori way of expressing satisfaction with the proceedings, though many are shy to use it. We enjoy the show and take our leave and head back to the gift shop area. I'm really tempted by a guide to the NZ seashores and creatures but it's all black and white line drawings. If it had a few colour pictures I'd have got it. I picked up a little book on flax weaving for daughter who has expressed a desire to learn more weaving. We pay for our photos and these come with a handy little book that covers the stuff they told us. Very helpful.

We hang about for what feels like a long time and then head off on the guided walk. The first stop was to feed the eels, and this we took our time over and enjoyed very much. Unfortunately from that point on the guide went way way too fast through exhibits and was moving to the next exhibit before everyone had even had a chance to look at the first thing let alone maybe take a photo or enjoy the critter for a while. It really was most unsatisfactory in that regard. We were really unimpressed that several people used flash photography in the kiwi house photographing the kiwi. The guide however was nowhere near, so all the people had to do was wait till she moved on and then snap. She said nothing whatever to them. We felt the approach at the Te Anau caves more appropriate where they just say to people no photos whatever inside the caves... but more on that issue in upcoming episodes.

It's still light when we emerge and we head back to our accommodation. We're tired and it's late so we commit the unpardonable sacrilege of picking up some Maccas for us oldies. Daughter orders Thai from Bamboo Styx which she reported as excellent.

We fall into bed once more.

Sydney - Adelaide Pt 3

Day 6 (Friday)

This morning our priority is Adelaide Central Market after confirming ability to extend our stay at Rydges another night. Arrived at the Markets about 9 am. Parked in the carpark near the escalator ($3.40). Heading down the escalator our first stop is a shop called Swiss Glory. I buy a breakfast bun which was like a sort of brioche-like bun with sultanas in it and daughter sampled the Berliner bun. Both really fabulous. Daughter bought a few of their hand made chocolates. Very very nice. Really good stuff. We then proceeded round the market. Sampled and bought cheese at "Say Cheese" as well as some skordalia and baba ganoush dips for a picnic. The prune and walnut logs were 1/2 the price they were charging at the cheese shop in Angaston so I buy some of that too. Right next door is a great bakery outlet. Sourdoughs and turkish bread. Just too tempting. We buy a huge turkish loaf for our dips etc. Some cold meats from Barossa Meats. Strawberries and Mangos. Then we find a fabulous yoghurt shop where they have the plain, thick, greek style yoghurt and a long list of toppings you can select. A bargain deal of three small tubs for about $10. Yes please. Oh man why do they not have a shop like that in Sydney? We buy up big from the Mettwurst shop (who do mail order by the way). Yummo.

We drop some fridgeables back at the hotel and head off for a look at Mabarrack furniture. By this time I'm a bit over it. It's getting late and we have an urge to explore the beaches and down along the Fleurieau Peninsula so we cut our furniture explorations short and head south about midday.

We head down to Port Noarlunga sticking as close as we can to the coastal road. The weather is a bit iffy. Cold and windy. We stopped a few times for a look or some photos and to eat our lunch overlooking the water. The dips are absolutely beautiful. Everything is absolutely beautiful. We are all big fans of the Adelaide Central Market. Not huge, but what's there is top stuff. It's a very nice coastal vista and the Port Noarlunga Reef and Onkaparinga Estuary Aquatic Reserve looks really interesting if we were feeling better. Turns out everyone but me is coming down with something. We blame the water in Waikerie. I think I'm the only person who didn't drink any unbottled water in any form while we were there.

We press on for a squizz around Maclaren Vale. Meh. Not a patch on the Barossa. Not by a long long way. Rosemount Estate appears like the antithesis of Seppeltsfield. A huge ugly, white industrial blight on the scenery with apparently no attempt whatever to mask the industrial character of the huge wine making machinery/storage etc. Yuck. We do come across one classy outfit called Chapel Hill, but my passengers aren't feeling up to going in so we skip it. We go out as far as Willunga and we like this small town quite a lot. Had a quick look in the glass studio which had some nice lead light windows with native animals plants and birds depicted.

Back at the hotel about 6pm we find that housekeeping has for some reason turned the fridge right down and there is water dripping everywhere from the fairly iced up freezer. Why would you do that when people clearly have stuff in the fridge?

Then we notice that the fridge is not the only source of water dripping. Pouring out through the halogen light in the ceiling - water. Hmm. We ring reception. They investigate. Turns out the room above has flooded their bathroom. We have to go out, so we sup on left over delicacies from lunch and leave the hotel staff to fix the water problem.

The Adelaide Festival Centre is our destination to see a new show by Windmill and Big hART and featuring Trevor Jamison called Nyuntu Ngali. We find the centre a bit confusing to the uninitiated, but we find the relevant theatre, drop mum off and go and park. The show was great, very creative with a goodly portion of modern dance. Creative and an interesting new perspective. I do enjoy indigenous theatre and am very glad to have been able to see the show while we're in town. The two young performers playing the main characters where both excellent and of course Trevor Jamison is always marvellous. I'm a serious fan of Trevor Jamison.

Day 7. (Saturday)

We're obliged to shift accommodation tonight so we decide to pay a visit to SMIL before heading off towards our homeward destinations. We will explore up around the east of Adelaide and the hills and head home via Ouyen. But first daughter wants some more stuff from the Central Market. We're a bit early for Swiss Glory which is staying persistently closed beyond their alleged opening time. Mum wants to try a russian piroshki, which is also not quite operating yet, though clearly they are in the process of making them. A little stereotypically russian grandma is beavering away which gives us increasing optimism about the end product. We wander about find the fish mongers which looks particularly uninspiring. Finally we aquire a cheese and spinach piroshki and take it up to mum in the car. Naturally we all sample it. "Oh my god. How yum is that!!" We decide we'll have more of those thanks. We wait patiently as they are cooked and tried the beef and rice which is filled with stuff like a cabbage roll, the leek and potato is very mild in flavour but tasty. The clear stand out was the ricotta and spinach. DELICIOUS!! I can't resist more of the fantastic yoghurt... which I think I'll never live down. Eventually Swiss Glory opens and we stock up on hand made choccies to take to family at home. Fabulous stuff. Adelaide Central Market is even better than Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne. Not as big, but the quality is there without having to negotiate so many vendors.

Before we can head out of town Mum is keen to see the pig sculptures in Rundle Mall. We find ourselves a reasonably close drop off point for her, she wanders in and takes some snaps, clearly enjoying the playfulness of the sculptures and the beautiful detail of the bronze rubbish in the bins.

Finally we head for the hills. Destination Hahndorf. We take a slight detour to Mt Lofty and a tiny little exploration of some streets. It's cold and rainy, but the areas is lovely and leafy and pretty. I'd happily return to this neck of the woods. Next stop Handorf. Except we didn't actually stop. Very busy and crowded with people and cars. Very touristy looking. We're not remotely tempted to stop especially given that people are not well. We move on towards Mt Barker. We really liked Mt Barker. What a sweet little town. Real and not at all touristy. We visit the chemist for some cough tablets and avail ourselves of the local facilities. Our hunt for a good (and appealing) german restaurant somewhere having not borne fruit, Mum and daughter opt for a snack wrap from the Mt Barker Maccas.

It had been our intention to do the night tour at Warrawong Sanctuary, but again, as folk aren't real well and the weather is iffy we ring them and cancel in favour of getting closer to home for tonight's stop. We feel we have enough time so we decide to wander down and sus out Strathalbyn. What a wonderful little town. Beautiful streetscape. Wall to wall antique shops with lots of fab stuff. I splurge on some black Australian Carnival glass dishes and Brownie Downing plaques. Brownie Downing plaques have always looked pretty ordinary in photographs, but these I see in the flash are absolutely charming. What a shame daughter feels so unwell and isn't able to drag herself around - she loves antiquing. My passengers tolerate my browsing a bit as they nap in the car, though I do drag daughter out to look at a potenial wedding present and everyone is keen to look at the Australiana stuff of which there is a good selection. Really nice town. Loved it and really hope to get back before too long has passed. We wave goodbye to delightful Strathalbyn about 3:30 and head for the SA/VIC border.

Daughter is keen to head for Mildura although it does take us out of our way. This was a scheme that almost ended in tears as it was a long way to go and we're late starting out. Along the way we cross the Murray on the Jervois Ferry and pass some fascinating pink lakes. We're finding more of interest that we expected along the way. We stop at Polly's Well and the war memorial there. A huge flowering shrub is putting on a show. A net bush I think. Further along the way I notice a sign directing us to the Kow Plains Homestead but of course it's dark and no way we could stop by on this trip but I'll add that to the list... the ever growing list of things I'd like to visit... We are tickled to find ourselves passing through Galah but are unable to identify a single building in the dark.

As we drive the moon is shining directly over the road ahead. We stop and play with our cameras. Naturally I've forgotten the tripod, so we don't have much success with the shots we experiment with, however just chilling enjoying the moonlight makes for a nice diversion.

It's late when we rock up into Mildura and oh lord, what were we thinking!! It's a long weekend and there's a country music festival on. No vacancies just about anywhere but eventually we are successful and are shown to the last room. It's partially under renovation so no wonder they have left it last to fill, but it's perfectly adequate to our needs for the night and we are grateful for it. Most dining places have closed the kitchen but we are able to get a perfectly acceptable meal at a chain called Fasta Pasta where the service was friendly and efficient. We fall into bed.

Day 8 (Sunday)

Daylight savings starts today. Being closer than anticipated overnight today it's a nice easy day today working our way across to Hay. We breakfast at Stefano's cafe and bakery. Buy some more souvenir beer for hubby. Then it's off to the orange orchard to buy some citrus cleaning stuff for the bathroom. We bought a bottle of concentrate here about 5 yrs ago or so and it's great, so I'm going to stock up while I am conveniently near to an outlet. We stop at the local Angas Park shop in the hope they have the cheap stonewear bowls they had in Angaston. No joy. (BTW I did eventually get the same bowls at Peters of Kensington even cheaper as for chrissy pressies- great for proving bread... but I digress).

We head out from Mildura about midday. It's a fairly standard run across the plains to Balranald. Here we stop for fuel and are impressed by the service provided. We wander a few streets slowly watching some local birds. Nice town.

As we travel the sky is again putting on a show and we stop to take a video. Daughter says she thinks her favourite part of the trip was driving across the plain to Hay and watching the light show the sky was putting on that first day of the trip. I'm happy to find I'm not the only being on earth that actually enjoys driving across this, one of the flattest places on earth, where you can really feel the separation between earth and sky and the void between earth and clouds. It's awesome. I'm surprised though, because Daughter 1 is a beach baby and I never expected her enjoy the remote west so much. Indeed I think she's a bit surprised too.

We need to get to Hay quick sticks as daughter needs to finish and submit a uni assignment before we go to the sound and light show at Shear Outback tonight. We're in position at the Saltbush Motor Inn by about 3:30. Napping, uni work and critiquing then we opt for dinner from the Wok in Hay just down the road. The Wok in Hay is sort of an all purpose food joint. You name it they do it. Pizza, hamburgers, thai. It is the most scrupulously spotless take away I have EVER seen. It is absolutely immaculate. There is a big screen TV on the wall and tonight it's the rugby league grand final playing so everyone's paying at least some attention. The food was great and something to please everyone. Good milkshakes too.

Just before 8 oclock we rock up to Shear Outback and spend some time chatting with Charlotte - our guide - waiting for some people who turn out to be no shows. I crack up as I notice the headlines proclaiming that Greg Norman's marriage has ended after ooooh approx 5 minutes. Geez all that hoo hah and disruption of the family for that. Good grief. None of anyone's business, but I can't help but laugh given the publicity they so actively sought. What a goose.

As it gets dark we set out on the trail for Shear Strife - A Baitlayers Tale. What a hoot!! If you want to see a real dinky di Australian show this one fits the bill. It's hilarious. The only caution I would give is that it is so very steeped in Australian culture, humour and language it might go over some visitor's heads, but we thought it was brilliant, and it so doesn't take itself seriously. We were in luck and even managed to spot a couple of frogs hopping along near the dam which due to some decent rain a while back still has water and frog song cheering the night. At the end of the show which takes place in the big shearing shed we supped on delicious home made scones and tea/coffee in our complementary enamel mugs. How fitting. Brilliant. We spend ages talking to Charlotte well after our expected finish time. In part about the continued significance in country communities of being proficient in the scone department. These scones are made from a recipe that uses lemonade. Our time at Shear Strife and with Charlotte is a real treat. Thanks Charlotte!!

Shear Outback and Shear Strife are both wonderful and worth every penny as well as the effort we've made to have longer in Hay this time. Don't miss it!!

Day 9 (Monday)

This morning we return to Shear Outback to continue the cultural indoctrination of daughter and watch the demos in the shed. There's a modest crowd here today, families with little kids right up to grandmas and grandads and plenty of questions being asked. Everyone is clearly having a good time. We browse the excellent gift shop and have some devonshire tea (scones with cream and jam). As we depart daughter pronounces Shear Outback to be a top class attraction and very interesting. So there you go, people of all ages love Shear Outback!!

From here we head for the Hay Goal Museum. This only takes a hour or so to wander through. They have some great windmills and farm machinery along with a room presented as it would have been when the place was used as a reform facility for young girls. Hay Gaol has a pretty sad history really. A few weeks later I see a story with interviews of girls who'd been resident there and I was glad to have a better idea of what they were speaking about.

Next we wander down to Bushy Bend and spend some time exploring there, birdwatching (ringneck parrots) and taking in the river. Enjoying the indigenous art works on the pylons of the bridge over the "bidgee". There are signs up warning people not to swim or come into contact with the river water due to poor water quality. It's criminal what we've done to our river systems. The good ol Murrumbidgee is in a shocking state, though still retains it's scenic beauty at bushy bend and is nice to visit.

Then we're off to Bishops Lodge just quickly to pick up some roses to replace a favourite I lost during house construction or through misadventure (BL Muriel Linton and Sidney Linton). Packing things carefully in the car we're off. Our destination - Booligal via the one tree hotel - situated on the one tree plain and then from Booligal through the back roads in to West Wyalong.

We find the drive across the one tree plain fascinating. Plentiful small birds flitting but we don't have time to hunt them down really. Flowering pink pigface and simply the fascination and beauty of the open vista. Long strings of Galahs sitting on the wires. Daughter is always excited to see wild Galahs. She has a companion Galah that she has inherited care of named Charlie. He's known to be at least 40 yrs old, has personality to burn and talks all the time. Rescued by a country doctor when found after having been shot in the wing, Charlie's no flyer anymore - but boy does he LOVE travelling at speed in a car - bring your ear plugs!! Just like the wild Galahs, Charlie loves to sing as he goes fast. I guess it's the next best thing to flying again for Charlie. However in the tradition of eccentric bushies, Charlie can take a dislike to you and if he does, watch out. He'll chase you around the house challenging you to put up your dukes which in charlie's language is "come on puss, come on puss". If the target person runs in and shuts a door away from him, Charlie will march up and down outside the door peering under it and repeating his challenge.. "come on puss, come on puss". On the other hand if Charlie thinks you're pretty hot and he likes you a lot his greatest compliment is to utter his smoker's cough. You only get the smoker's cough if he really likes you. He'll preen your hair and kiss your cheek and give a seductive smoker's cough in your ear. A great character.

We arrive at the One tree hotel and find it surrounded by security fencing for protection but it is an interesting sight just the same and the information panels quite sad. The family simply died out as noone married and reproduced. By that time of course the hotel was an icon. I was pleased to hear that the one tree plain was always just one tree before white settlers came anywhere near it. The one tree blew down in a storm so I guess it's now the no tree plain (LOL????) . Onto Booligal. Tiny. Modest.

We make the turn to West Wyalong which is onto the dirt, but well maintained. We don't have far to go before we start finding shingle back skinks on the road. In singles and sometimes two together they are everywhere and of course we stop for the obligatory photos and greetings to our reptilian compatriots.

There's a reasonable level of traffic along this road and we pass 4 or 5 cars as we travel. Suddenly there's a call. EMUs!!! We pull over and go for the binoculars. We've happened upon an emu creche! WOW!. There must be 40 odd young emus virtually grown with a couple of adult male attendants just slowly making their way north up ahead. For those who don't know, Emus are raised by the father bird. The female emu lays the eggs (and plenty off them) then buggers off and leaves the male to it. When we pull over and turn off the engine they look over at us and are clearly curious. They change their heading and are coming our way!! They mosey on up pretty close, but not too close and are having a good look. Some more intensely interested in us than others. We film. We photograph. We exclaim. It's unreal! After a while their interest starts to wane and the leaders are taking the creche on it's way finally some break into a trot and they're off. Encounter. FANTASTIC. I never thought I would see an Emu creche!! Wow we are so glad we came through the back route! Always more fun than sticking to the main highways.

We've spent so much time wandering about in the wilds it's time we made a purposeful effort at getting to West Wyalong were we have booked into the The Club Inn by the golf course. This place must have been quite something when it was built. Now it's still spacious with all the inclusions, but a bit tired and in need of some refurbishment. However it does the job, though the rooms are bit stuffy and perfumed and we need to air them to enable mum to stay in the room.

Day 10 (Tuesday)

Today our priorities are the butchery at Grenfell to buy some steak and a stop at the Japanese garden in Cowra. We pick up some brekkie at the Bakery in West Wyalong. Everything looks pretty good. I notice that they want nearly $4 for a croissant. $4. In the country. Man that's expensive. I think to myself, "you've really got to have balls to charge that for a croissant in the country. People must pay it. Why?" I buy one as I have a hunch they might be pretty good. We tuck into our baked goods bounty and I have to tell you that croissant was outstanding. Best most flavoursome croissant I've had in a mighty long time. Quite possibly ever (though I note I have not visited France LOL). It's hard to really destroy a croissant, but equally difficult to find one as good as that one we bought in little West Wyalong!!

We stop for a squizz at the rustic sculptures in the yard of the scupture workshop as we leave town. I make a mental note for future garden decoration. Grenfell here we come. Again we decide to take some back roads and head off along the Quandialla Rd then up on the dirt through Bimbi SF and past the Weddin Mountains National Park. We make occasional stops for bird viewing. It's a lovely drive. We pull up in Grenfell and march ourselves directly into the butcher. The Butcher and his wife are there apparently getting ready for sausage production. We have a chat to the butcher, tell him we've made a special stop to stock up on his meat. He seems pretty pleased at the compliment and we walk out plentifully laden with scotch fillet. Some for us and some to give to the boys as souvenirs. Son 1 loved the steak when we did our Grenfell trip last year I'm sure he'll be pleased to receive some. Yumm. We've loaded up with ice, so the keeping it fresh aspect isn't a problem.

It's only a hop and a skip across to Cowra, especially if you don't accidentally head to Young like I did last time.

When we get to the Japanese garden Mum seems a bit unenthusiastic about going in, but I tell her it's compulsory and we find they have scooters for the mobility impaired. She takes off around the path after an instruction session and the provision of advice on route and managing the scooter on the slopes of the path. The gardens are beautiful. They look pretty modest from the street or the carpark, but like Japanese gardens everywhere, this one is designed to be viewed from particular points and explored along a specific route. Well worth the modest entry fee. I take a jaunt up to the top of the garden to the lookout and see the two resident lizards basking in the sun. Cool. Never seen a wild one of those before. They must be here all the time as I later notice they score a spot on the gardens post card.

We stop for lunch at the gardens cafe. On the website it said that if you're planning to lunch at the cafe they would appreciated if you make a booking. So a while back when I knew we planned to eat here I did just that. We lobbed up and they have no record of the booking. It's pretty busy but luckily we are able to find a table. The food was OK. The mix up with the booking sort of takes the shine of it but lets concentrate on the beauty of the garden and laugh at mum's antics with the scooter. She got herself bogged off the edge of the path at one stage when I'd got a bit far away. The staff were understanding though and very nice when she told them.

With our gardens jaunt behind us we make a fairly business like drive home. It's good always good to be home, but I look forward to the next time we get out to explore inland areas. We never fail to have a good time exploring the inland.

By the way - that steak was once again totally delicious and got rave reviews from all who got some. I only wish I'd bought some to freeze :o)

Syd - Adelaide Part 2 - Barossa Valley and Gluepot Reserve

Day 3:
After a reasonable nights sleep we pack up and make our way back out towards the Barossa Valley and stop along the way to pick up step-mother-in-law (SMIL). She's all packed and ready to jump in the car. SMIL was born and raised in the Barossa and we're going to tour the sights on the way up to Waikerie and our birding tour of Birds Australia Gluepot Reserve with Peter Waanders.

Our first town feature is Lyndoch. The village is very pretty with plenty of stone buildings and it's not too crowded. We don't stop other than to photograph a couple of almost impossibly pretty little scenes we pass along the way.

Again we just pass through Tanunda but again it looks a nice little place.

We head across to Angaston and make a stop at the Sunrise Bakery for some Beesting and German Apple cake and some pasties as well as a cob loaf for our lunch tomorrow. Here we also tried Nippy's lemon drink with 25% lemon juice - quite a sharp fresh flavour. Next stop, Schultz's Butchery where we sample the twiggys and bierstichs. Very yummy. Then it's off to the cottage industries shop for some home made jams, a few parfait glasses and a very nice crocheted tea cosy covered in colourful pansy flowers for daughter 2.

We get the run down from SMIL on how things were about 50 years ago. Where the book store is now was once an electronics store and SMIL's first job as a young thing. An obligatory stop at the Angus Park shop. We thought it a bit of a tourist trap and incredibly stingy on the taste test front despite prominent signs outside spruiking the taste tests. It was just a bowl of sultanas. Pathetic. We asked to try dried nectarine. Nothing doing. "True to taste" she said. The stuff for sale not cheaper than you'd pay in the supermarket. All in all quite disappointing.

A little way out of Angaston we come to SMIL's childhood home. Now a B&B with beautiful views of the Barossa Ranges. Up the hill behind the house SMIL gives us a run down on how they lived.. here was the pigs, there was the cows. It was hard work making a living and the kids worked hard alongside the adults. The house across the road is now fairly ramshackle, but back in day the owners kept the place spick and span and would be heartbroken at how the old place is now.

We next do a loop back to Nuriootpa, where SMIL attended high school. Here is the Linke's Butchery and Bakery, but we don't need more food at the moment. SMIL directs us towards Truro and we take an impromptu turn towards Kapunda to check out the Kidman sights. Many of the buildings in the main street are Kidman buildings and the site of his first offices and the famous horse sales is there in and around the main street. We pay a visit to the information centre and pick up a Kidman trail brochure. I'm keen to see his house that he donated as a high school back in the day when there were only 50 students in the town. It is a very beautiful building and would have been a great school for such a small number, but these days it's encased in asphalt. I try to imagine what it must have been like a century ago. It appears to be used as the school library now which seems an appropriate use, but I couldn't help feeling that surely the landscaping around the building itself could be done more sympathetically to it's original purpose as a fine home and garden. I play games with a white backed magpie that simply does not want it's picture taken before we picnic in the car outside the school which is now on holidays, and partake of some bee sting. Nice, but not a patch on the bee sting they used to sell at the bakery in Mittagong years ago. Now THAT was great bee sting this one is really just a mass produced imitation of the real thing... enjoyable though.

We back track across the route to Truro and make a stop at the Barossa Olive store. Here we found a broad range of oils and olives to taste and a hospitable host. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and bought olives, oil, caramelised balsamic and dukka for our Gluepot picnic lunch tomorrow.

On to Waikerie, our first stop is a fruit stall with an honesty box. Ah, thinks I, we can give those kiwi's a run for their money with their adds spruiking the idyll of an age they claim still exists in the land of the long white cloud where people can be trusted to use the honesty box... we snap a photo and then we look more closely at the signage. .. just this morning someone didn't pay. Please note there is a video camera filming your every move. Stealing is a crime.. a wry laugh and we depart without purchase as they didn't have a combination of product that met our needs.

We take a turn around the town and along the river front area where we note a small enclosure with kangaroos and emu. We felt for the poor creatures on their bare dirt as they try to reach the green grass that grows all around their "petting prison". We locate and check in to Kirriemuir Motel. Apparently the Kirriemuir hosts a steady stream of people making their way out to Gluepot. The months throughout spring certainly keep Peter quite busy and there are no doubt others who venture out under their own steam.

The Kirriemuir is clean and comfortable, but perhaps a little tired. An odd bathroom /kitchenette arrangement that we are doubtful would be allowed in NSW. Toilet one end of room, shower the other end and sink and fridge in between. The proprietor warns us off drinking the water from sink tap or shower which comes from the river. Jugs in the fridge for drinking and these are filled from the rain water tanks out the back. There is a strip of mallee across the road with lots of flowering gums and abundant bird chatter. In the driveway a large and elderly loquat tree, which in abundant seasons supplies to the Sydney market. We make our call to Peter, our guide for the morrow to finalise departure arrangements then make our way to the local pub for dinner. Daughter and I opt for the special, which is a rib steak in native dukka. Others had schnitzel which was beautifully cooked, although noone was much pleased with the gravy applied. Our steak was lovely. Great value.

Day 4:

An early night somewhat disrupted as I feel a need to rotate the freezer blocks to ensure max coldness in the esky tomorrow.

We're up bright and early about 5 am for a 5:45 am collection by Peter. About 5:30 I sneak across to the mallee remnant to photograph a lovely sunrise.

All in Peter's car we make our way to the vehicular ferry across the Murray. As we drive out of town roos are still about. One big red bounds away before stopping and looking back to what we're up to. It's always a thrill to see roos and most especially the big reds. A little further on a group of three roos bounds along in the paddock parallel to our car so we get to enjoy them for quite a while. We're in raptures of course and as we watch one of the three manages to hurl itself smack bang into a tree. It bounces off and does a sort of back flip taking out his mate with him before sitting somewhat stunned on the ground. His mate recovers and the hops off with the other roo. Not really what you expect is it, a roo jumping head on into a tree... reminds us of a friends puppy that recently ran full bore into a tree on their property and managed to kill itself.. just not what you expect..

Our first birding stop is in the mallee before we actually reach Gluepot. Quite productive with gilbert's whistler, white fronted honeyeater, chestnut quail thrush, masked and white browed woodswallows, brown treecreepers and white winged trillers. The bird watching is made a lot easier for people by Peter's expert use of his spotting scope. He can quickly get most birds in the scope so that newbies or the elderly can have a look and not have to find the bird for themselves in their binoculars.

We move on to Gluepot itself. It's still only about 7 :40am. Peter shows us an emu's nest from which the chicks hatched about 3 weeks ago. One egg was a dud. the nest is a discrete circle from the male pecking away the leaf litter from all around the nest. Around this area we also see Grey currawong, babblers nests, numerous southern scrub robins hopping about the ground everywhere and a cranky restless fly catcher with his crest very much on display.

We adjourn to the visitor centre for morning tea and a comfort stop. Blow me down if we don't run into a birding friend from Sydney! What a pleasant surprise! They've been out here banding (that is collecting data on the birds) for a week and have had dreadful weather. Cold and windy. Not great for banding.
We press on. SMIL announces she's going to hang around the visitor's centre with her book and some snacks while we continue birding. In the period before lunch we spot Chestnut rumped thornbills, mulga parrot, white browed tree-creeper; chestnut browed babblers; collared sparrow hawk; red capped robins including a female feeding two fledged chicks; white winged choughs; feral goats - including a virile and fat billy goat. Gluepot has initiatives to control the feral goats but apparently neighbours don't, so they keep coming in. There's also a very active fox baiting program. Cats are less of a problem though they do deal with them when they discover them. It seems the country may be a tad too dry for the cats. The bores put down are being capped and the dam that supplies the visitors centre and administrative buildings is fenced to keep ferals and roos out. If the roos get access to the water they over-graze so as the intent is the manage the reserve as it was prior to white settlement, that water is isolated from the native inhabitants as much as possible.
The great birds keep on coming, with hooded robin; jacky winter; crimson chat; Australasian Hobby (a bird of prey); crested bellbird; spiny cheeked honeyeater; black eared myna (on the wing and calling). Our final stop before lunch Peter took us to a mallee fowl nest under construction in an area thick with old growth spinifex. The birds started it after the rain in April, but no follow up rain so they abandoned the nest half constructed. With recent rain it's possible the birds might spark up and finish the nest. The mallee fowl has a special organ in it's foot to tell the precise temperature of the mound and they rake litter on or off to make sure the eggs stay just right for hatching. The young hatch and receive no care whatever from their parents.
On the way back for lunch, we dip on (don't manage to find) Splendid fairy wrens, though the scenery is pretty. Peter raises the possibility of a stop for a look around a fairly distant clump of shrubs that often has good birds. Is mum up to it? Not sure. Well how about we do a quick scan with the scope and see what we find. There's a nice little bench in the shade. Looks promising. A short time later Peter declares he's got orange chats. WHAT? I NEVER thought I would ever see an orange chat. Quite rare and highly nomadic, this is a species twitchers travel great distances for the chance of seeing. And here we are we have TWO males all coloured up for breeding and hopping around here looking spectacular. Brilliant yellow and with the colour intensifying to orange on the breast. A shining black face. Stunning stunning birds.
With the excitement level running at full bore we collect SMIL and head for the bird hide to have lunch. The hide overlooks a raised watering trough. Not likely to much action at this time of day, but some grey butcherbirds are going absolutely berko the whole time. We fail to twig that there's a reason for this until eventually as lunch winds down, I notice a large bird in a nearby tree. A collared sparrowhawk! No wonder the butcherbirds are less than happy! We also see yellow plumed honeyeater here and a cute little lizard who emerges from behind the bench at the back of the hide. We pack up and move on, beginning the drive back to Waikerie. The light is deteriorating but we spot a small flock of varied sitellas, brown headed honeyeaters and the next comfort stop; more mallee ringnecks; red wattle birds and drum roll, three wild budgies!! Budgies are also very nomadic and though they can accumulate in very large flocks, these are the first wild budgies we've ever seen and like the orange chats, the first sighting this year. Neither bird is a guaranteed annual visitor so this is a special treat.

We say goodbye to Gluepot and drive back to a spot along the Murray. Here we dip on regent parrots but we do see little black and pied cormorants; little corella; yellow rosella; a darter; and pelican. Next stop is the wetland next to the vehicular ferry terminal. A dust storm is blowing up but so far it's not too bad, just a slight deterioration in visibility and we continue with our birding. We add pink eared duck; black winged stilt; black fronted dotteral; grey teal; 6 black tailed native hens (swamp chooks); and shelducks to the list for the day. Peter has us back on the ferry at the perfect timing. You can tell he runs this day trip often! He has supplied us with a site to go for mallee fowl this evening. The same place David Attenborough filmed the mallee fowl for life of birds. However we somehow manage to turn the wrong way on the highway and it wouldd too late to go rocking up now. Maybe disturb the birds and greatly annoy the owner of the reserve, so we decide to leave it for another time. A fabulous day's birding. We all agree Peter's fee was well worth every penny. No way we would have seen even a tiny fraction of what he showed us. None of the birds was obvious from the roads. Peter clearly knows Gluepot like the back of his hand. Highly recommended.

Dinner is back at the pub given the great meals they dished up last night. It's not as good tonight. Must be different staff in the kitchen, but it's OK. Home for an early night. It's been a long but wonderful day.

Day 5:
Thismorning we have decided that we will head back to Adelaide by exploring some more of the Barossa Valley. We had thought that we might go up to Burra for a quick look, but we're all a bit tired and we are sure there's more to be experienced on a leisurely wander through the valley.

It has rained overnight washing the dust of yesterday evening from the air - and all over our car. Passing showers and overcast, but we don't mind that at all. We have in mind a visit to Maggie Beer's farm shop and the Bush Garden in Nuriootpa - or Nuri - as the locals call it. As is our specialty we miss a turn to the bush garden and do a bit of wandering around out towards Penrice which although unecessary was an interesting detour. After this little jaunt we find that it is 10:15 and by the time we get over to Pheasant Farm Rd the farm shop will be opening so we go there directly. There's quite a few cars in the car park already and the staff are just opening the doors. We head in and find that all of Maggie's products are available for tasting. Pate's; savoury biscuits; sauces and chutneys; vino cottos of various flavours; fruit pastes; verjuice.. and abundance of opportunities. The difficult thing is what to buy as everything is great. The older folk aren't too keen on sitting down for a bite, but daughter and I definitely are. We order a pheasant terrine and a cheese platter and get a few sweet things for take away. Coffee or Hot Chocolate for all but me arrive first up, served in nifty Bodum double layer glasses. It is pronounced delicious and for some it is consumed with an accompaniment of hand made chocolates mmmmm. Then daughter's cheese platter arrives and we share two little loaves of bread sliced and decorated with some of the supplied Maggie's chutney or fruit paste and some of the cheddar style cheese which is the current seasonal selection. Delicious.

My pheasant terrine comes over. It is hot and wrapped in a golden roll of pastry. Sort of like a gourmet sausage roll of ample proportions. It is accompanied by a salad with a simple dressing which is nice, but the wooden cutlery supplied make it almost impossible to pick the salad up, so we largely give that a miss. The terrine was interesting, but I probably wouldn't be keen to have it again.

We buy up on the fruit pastes and the fabulous rosemary and verjuice biscuits, some chutney and off we go.

We then hunted around for the "bush garden" which is promoted in some of the tourist material. There was a cute outdoor chapel, but overall it was pretty crappy and not worth the hunting around for it. Not a sign of any emu bush at all. Just stuff you'd find in any surburban garden anywhere in Australia. There is a beautiful wattle in flower nearby and we snap some photos of that so it wasn't all bad and we did have a bit of a laugh along the way at the signs around the pond.

Next stop Greenock to buy some beer from the Barossa Brewing Company. The very cute shop front is closed during the week but the beer is available from the nearby pub. Daughter and I wander in and are enthusiastically greeted by everyone in the bar, which is just a few local blokes just getting started on a delicious looking pizza. Has to be the friendliest crew of people in a country pub we've ever struck. We buy our beers (souvenirs for our other halves) and head off feeling that Greenock and it's pub are a delightful little spot.

From Greenock we consult our map and opt to head next to Seppeltsfield Estate. Wow. Beautiful grounds, beautiful historic stone buildings on a fairly grand scale. This family had a vision and have created something very special. Nice spot for a picnic when the outdoor cafe is operating. It'd be a great spot for a wedding too. The history tours look really interesting but we've just missed one. We wander into the tasting room. There is a charge for tasting that is refunded if you buy something. We browse the other retail items and the historical displays, buy some dukkah and head off. Our intent was to visit Two Hands winery, but somehow we never make it there. Instead we mosey down a very beautiful little dirt road and are drawn into the charming little winery called Hently Farm. The tasting room is set up in some historic farm buildings that have been very tastefully rehabilitated. The setting is just gorgeous. Frogs singing in the creek. Big old gums with nesting hollows clearly accommodating some local bird couples. It's just beautiful. We're wine ignoramuses really, but that doesn't prevent a hospitable welcome and some wine education from the lovely hostess. MIL is more into the wine side of things and she buys a bottle before we head off.

We continue to just mosey around and decide to stop at Seiber Wines. As we step out of the car and walk up onto the grass outside the tasting room all we can do is look at eachother and say Wow! What a view! Beautiful gardens. It's so lovely it's a bit intimidating to head up the stairs into the tasting room at about 3:20 pm. We disturb our hostess with her grandchild and daughter in law, but we are made welcome though with a warning that they close at 4pm. Daughter comments "oh, well that's plenty of time for a quick taste". "Oh no it's not" says Val. Our hostess is Val Seiber and you'd go a long way to find a more hospitable and welcoming, down to earth and just plain fabulous hostess. Val kept us in stitches for over an hour and we really felt like friends not blow ins at a wine shop. We learnt some about the wines of course but overall we had a wonderful visit. What a treat. A definite highlight of our trip. Thanks Val!!

Getting a bit late, so we head back to MIL's place. Stop for a bit of a visit before heading back into Adelaide to grab some dinner and settle back again at Rydges South Park. Having intended to eat in the Barossa more substantially than we did, I had not spent much time researching restaurants but I remember one on North Terrace I enjoyed when in Adelaide for work. We can't find it but we spot the Balcony Restaurant at the Strathmore Hotel. We have a decided soft spot for the old heritage buildings with huge upstairs balconies. The menu looks good. Claims to have lots of awards. I wander up and sus it out. Looks good. Nice ambience. The downstairs alternative is noisy, so up we go, even though the major part of their chair lift is out of action. Most people seem to be ordering the stone grill. We on the other hand have an objection to paying to eat out and then being expected to cook our own dinner - at least at that price - so we make other selections. For some reason mum chose the steamed fish. Daughter the Suffolk Lamb Saddle and I opted for the pork belly. All very disappointing. My pork belly was downright aweful. Swimming in a sea of oil/butter. Nothing remotely resembling crisp pork skin anywhere in sight. Yuck. Very disappointing. We chalk it up to experience and head to the hotel.

Sydney - Adelaide Part 1 - 2 days driving overnight in Hay

It's been a hectic week and Sunday dawns without me being even moderately prepared for our trip to Adelaide. I throw some things together while daughter runs around to pick up her grandma and we depart at about 8:30 am. It's very windy and cold and in our little tiida sedan we are buffetted around on the highway, making for careful driving. We punch straight down the Hume Hwy to Gundagai. The countryside around the highway is now showing in various degrees of green, cloaking the red soil which last time we passed through this way was very bare and exposed due to the drought. We skip the dog on the tucker box and head in to Gundagai for fuel as I like to give business to the smaller independent operators where I an. We find the petrol station in the township closed. Apparently there's simply not the demand in town on the Sunday now the big road stop is open. I guess it's a bonus that the operators can now have the weekend off.

We head up to the lookout above the town. Mum and I are both playing with new cameras - compact super zoom with HD video and I'm keen to hop out and give mine a bit of a spin. It's still blowing a gale and it is bitterly cold even with my windproof jacket on. Ah, it is so good to hop back in the nice toasty warm car!! The lack of proficiency with the new camera makes for some inadvertent video content along with the spectacular views all around and we have a laugh before we move on.

Our next stop is the Crisp Gallery outside Yass where they have some excellent scrap iron sculptures of Australian animals, spiders and scorpions. I have a rare fit of self control and resist, but I'm thinking they'd look great in the garden! I do succumb to the temptation of a couple of nifty puzzles. One is a puzzle that forms a very realistic christmas beetle and the other a lobster. $55 each I'm thinking they might make good gifts.. if I can bear to part with them!

Straight through to Wagga Wagga were we have a quick look at the National Art Glass collection. One of the long term supporters of the gallery has some of her glass on display. The glass weedy sea dragon is popular among us, and of course Rish Gordon's leopard bowl is gorgeous. We depart after leaving a donation in the box.

Each of us has identified forgotten items so we make a stop at the local woollies and note that it's only 9 degrees C even in the early afternoon.... no wonder we're so cold!

Barrelling merrily along the Sturt Highway heading west, it is all too soon before we start getting the signs featuring large and menacing fruit fly and warning travellers to get rid of any fruit on board before reaching the exclusion zone. We groan and laugh. I've just bought some bananas in Wagga for brekkie tomorrow. We've had lunch but the fruit binge begins.. daughter laughs.. "I told you not to bring those tomatoes!" We think of Charlie and Boots and force down more fruit, but in the end quite a lot goes in the composting pit!

Our destination for tonight is Hay and as we drive across the plain we stop several times for photos. I am very pleased that my ocean loving daughter is finding the plain very interesting and different to any scenery she has experienced before. We stop at some nice roadside areas to snap some photos of the plain and the saltbush. Here on the Hay Plain - the second flattest space on earth after the Sahara Desert - the sky dominates. Today in the late afternoon the descending sun sends sunbeams through the clouds across the plain making a spectacular light show. We are mesmerised and stop several more times for photos. What a great start to our trip!!

Arriving in Hay as the sun is setting we are in the midst of playing for grandma a song that daughter is planning to use in her wedding. While we wait for the song to finish we explore the streets and end up down at Madman's Bend where we take some sunset photos. The river is low but lovely and tree lined. It's great to be back in Hay!!

It's getting colder and we think we've pretty much exhausted our photo opportunities so we go and check in at the (4 Star) Saltbush Motor Inn. The newest of Hay's numerous accommodation options. In reception there's photos of all sorts of celebrities who've stayed - Paul Hogan stayed in room 5 in November 2008 while in town filming Charlie and Boots.. I look around.. Jimmy Barnes and lots of signed sporting memorabilia.. I'm almost bowled over by the powerful blast of eucayptus.. "oh dear, I hope the room isn't like this.. Mum won't be able to get in the door!" As I hop into the car I tell the others about the smell and they say "we know we can smell it on you!" We drive in to park the car and there's a fair number of beautiful Harleys and bikers congregated in the car park. A couple of nice blokes offer to help us with our luggage and we gladly accept their gentlemanly assistance.

We enter the room with trepidation.. sigh of relief to find no eucalyptus smell. This, a family room has a comfortable queen bed and two singles and is very nice. Just what you would expect for 4 star. Free Wifi - so daughter can do some uni work during the evening. They even have cables if your laptop isn't equipped for wireless and you've forgotten your own. If you don't have a laptop you can use the internet kiosk at reception. Excellent. Reading through the info folder they seem to have thought of everything. The room has a full sized kitchen sink, kettle, toaster, crockery, washing up liquid. Microwave available from reception. Great for picnic set maintenance. They also have a bbq and a guest laundry with washing powder supplied. My only complaint is that the freezer on the fridge is too small for my 2 litre milk bottle ice blocks. Only big enough for an ice tray or not much more. Frustrating... breakfast service is reasonably priced and daughter opts for some eggs for tomorrow.

Day 2:

We set off directly after brekkie. Fill up the car at the local servo and move once more out onto the Hay plain. More saltbush visible along this route and we stop for photos and play with the settings on the camera for some macro zoom photos of some pretty flowers on the patterson's curse at the rest stop. Barrelling along the highway my companions are soon treated to my cry "EMU!!!......... AND CHICKS!!!" daughter stops as quickly as can be managed safely and we turn the car around and carefully head back on the hunt for our target birdy family all the while to the accompaniment of mutual exclamations of "good spotting" and other excited remarks. Daughter is in the best position in the car for the task so she get's the job of videoing the Emus. Unreal!! this is a first for us all, we haven't seen wild emu chicks before. SO COOL!!

8 kms before Balranald, we see signs directing to Yanga National Park. It's timely as I have been wondering as we drive across the plain whether there is any saltbush plain preserved as it would be in it's natural (ungrazed or cleared) state. We were heading in for a rest stop anyway so we decide to have a look at the Yanga Homestead. Yanga Station operated on the shores of the nearby lake until 2005 at which time it was purchased by the NSW government for its "natural and cultural heritage values". From the park brochure: "Yanga forms part of the Lower Murrumbidgee Floodplain, it includes 160 kms of Murrumbidgee River frontage, wetlands, lakes and breeding grounds for waterbirds. This iconic property includes approximately 76,000 hectares of River Red Gum forest, Black Box - Nitre Goosefoot swamp, Belah-Rosewood woodlands, native grassland and saltbush plains. Yanga has a rich history as a working pastoral, cropping and irrigation property for over 160 years. It has important Aboriginal and historic heritage values such as scar trees, ovens, middens and other artifacts, and historic buildings."

As we enter park we soon come to some large saltbush shrubs with small birds zitting and flitting but we aren't able to identify them before our patience runs out. Some yellow rumped thornbills are feeding on the ground and flitting in and out of some small mallee trees. I wander up the embankment to an old grave. It has one of the loveliest inscriptions I've ever seen. "In Memory of Alfred Morris Parker who was drowned in Yangar Creek on 17 October 1860. He was a fine promising young man and died universally loved and regretted by all who knew him. May he rest in peace and awake to a joyful resurrection." Looking out across the dry plain it seems odd that this young man drowned in the local creek. Southern whiteface are perched on the wooden barrier around some shrub or other and some modest houses are visible across the hump of the hill.

We drive on to the homestead and park, mum jumps on the nebuliser, and we spend half an hour or so wandering about the exhibition and the exterior of the homestead and it's garden. The first item on exhibit as you enter the homestead compound is an old corrugated iron canoe. Later we walk across to the old storehouse and look out across the - currently dry- lake. Almost impossible to imagine that the dry lake bed with vehicle tracks across it used to be usually under water. I particularly enjoy the marks on the wall of the exhibition noting the height of various floods across the years. There's been no floods for many decades now, since they built Burinjuck Dam in the 1928 and Blowering Dam in 1968. The water has to rise over 6 1/2 metres to break the river bank, but in such flat country only a small amount more than that creates a major flood. What a day it would be to wake up and find that Yanga Lake was full again and the plains having a thorough soaking. It's only been dry once in living memory before 2001. One of the park brochures shows the wetland when water is available.. it looks idyllic...

Another highlight of the exhibition is a series of edited home movies taken on Yanga over the years, from early to mid last century, and also some more recent interviews of people from Yanga Station.

We've not allowed time for much sightseeing, so although we could happily spend more time in Yanga National Park (and State Conservation Area) we must press on to make Mildura in time for lunch.

As we drive through Mildura the weeping bottlebrush trees are making a brilliant red spectacle. Native frangipani also common and smothered in flowers. It makes up a little for the horribly tortured avenue of gums along Deakin Street. Why have a beautiful avenue of trees if you're going to butcher them like that?

A late lunch at Stefano's Cafe and Bakery. Delicious bread and oil.. pasta for me, chicken salad for daughter and a steak for mum... we realise that I've come without all sorts of things.. no map, no itinerary with all the relevant contact nos on it. Thank goodness for daughter's Iphone. An email or two and the itinerary can (theoretically) be sent through by those at home.. we stop at the local shopping centre once more to buy a SA road atlas and Adelaide street directory.. and pick up some more forgotten items... lord we're a pathetic bunch of holiday packers this trip!! We're loving the scenery and I can't resist trying to capture the beauty of the landscape behind the beautiful swaying grasses.

Off we go to the Vic /SA border. We pull up at the border inspection point. Sure enough, the inspect our boot, ask for our esky and any fruit etc - naturally we've already binned our contraband and have no other plant material on board. You can't take any plant material at all into SA. Someone has cannily positioned a fuel outlet right at the border stop, so we do the predictable and fill up before setting off.

Given that we will be exploring multiple routes between Waikerie and Adelaide over the next few days we decide to take the opportunity for a different route this time and cross the Murray again at Barmera to head along the northern side of the river to Morgan. On the road to Morgan we see our first ever Emu road kill and stop to check we aren't imagining things. Have a look at those feet. Emu can fight quite effectively with them when they have a mind to and can kill a person if they are pressed. Morgan is a sweet little town on the river with the typical South Australian stone buildings. Quaint. Lots of potential.

From Morgan to Eudunda and on to Kapunda - though we don't have time to check out the Sidney Kidman sights on the way through this time. It's getting late and we need to make it to family by a somewhat reasonable hour, but none-the-less we are drawn to a few stops to photograph the scenery in the golden evening light.

We're finding our pocket Adelaide street directory not much help in the dark and with daughter navigating (gets car sick if she looks at books)... so with google as our ifone friend, we take what seems like a rather bizarre route out the back of Elizabeth ending up at the local tip... hmmm.. we get a call from waiting family.. "where are you" "well actually we're in your steet... that's good timing actually, what number house are you?.... oh, OK perhaps you could wait outside in your pink dressing gown?.... see you soon". That pink dressing gown was actually very helpful!!

The usual greetings and tours of the new house (relocated from NSW 18 mths ago)... this is where I was going to put you... apparently the look on my face was priceless. "oh no, I've forgotten the air mattress" "I didn't know you have an air mattress" says daughter. "I was going to use yours!" says I. I knew I was tired (hence the holiday) but this is getting ridiculous! No map, no itinerary with contact nos and addresses, no bed... what's next... Oh well. Too late to do anything else about it now. We'll go get a motel for tonight and we'll pick SMIL (step mother in law) up in the morning to head back up to Waikerie.

Off we go. Again with our friendly ifone, we have identified a Rydges on south terrace that looks like an option. I'm hoping for Rydges dream beds.. we can't just plop our ourselves at any old place as mum is severely asthmatic and sensitive to smells and dust and moulds and things. 4 star is usually the best way of ensuring a suitable room.. we drive up and down south terrace. Lord where IS this place. heading west we near a large intersection we really don't want to get tangled up in, so daughter does a quick uey and back along sth terrace we go.... we get right to the end no sign of Rydges. Another possible, but by now we just want to know where this bloody hotel is. Google comes to the rescue once more. Oh. It's right back the other end where we chucked the uey. Back we go and sure enough, distracted by some people on the street when we were turning around we were actually right out the front of Rydges!! Fortunately they have a family room available. It's getting ridiculously late, but we tuck ourselves in bed, glad we had a late and substantial lunch, and dine on scrape from the picnic kit and hit the sack.

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