Friday, February 25, 2011

We are in South Australia & we've found the hot weather!


We hit the South Australia border & we hit the heat on the same day...holy cow! Took the jumpers off & got the summer gear back out. It was quite strange after almost 2 mths of our driving being on the coast & the drive being quite slow due to the roads being so windy & hilly to entering South Australia & the roads are all so flat & straight & even the landscape is just flat & dry, trees seem to be rare thanks to the farmers clearing everything. Our first stop was at Mt Gambier & while to me it was just another city we did visit the Blue Crater Lake to see the amazing blue water & it was so worth seeing, you can hardly believe the colour, it didn't look real. We also went to visit the sunken garden but couldn't go down as it was closed due to 1000's of very angry bees. It looked really pretty from the top though. We moved on to Kingston SE which is a nice little town & we camped about 20mins north of there at a beach called The Granites. It was a great beach & it was so hot we all went for a swim in the ocean which was lovely but I had a very good eye on the water looking for any friendly Great Whites who may have been looking for a snack. We had a fantastic arvo swimming & making sandcastles & then to top it off we got to see the most incredible sunset over the ocean & if we turned around right behind us was a full moon over storm clouds, awesome sight!
The next few days were spent making our way slowly to Burra via Murray Bridge, Hahndorf & Adelaide. The kids absolutely loved Hahndorf where we took them to a Farm Barn & they got to play with heaps of baby animals & also got to feed them all & they got to milk a cow the old fashioned way & they were super excited when they got to hold a snake!



We are in Burra now for a few weeks were Glen has some work at the local school painting which is just over the fence from the caravan park we are staying at. We have meet a great couple staying next to us & are spending alot of time having fun all together, the kids are loving the extra little friend to play with. Burra is a beautiful little town with alot of history & old houses & buildings to look at. We are spending alot of time catching up on lots of school work which the kids are handling really well so far. It's pretty hot here at the moment so we are spending alot of time playing under the sprinklers....I miss my air con when it's this hot!


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Back in Vic & busy busy busy!

We had a great boat ride back to the mainland & when we got off at Melbourne it was boiling hot. To come from Tassie where we were sleeping in winter pj's every night to a night in Melbourne with the kids sleeping in their undies with wet washers to try & cool down was very weird. The next day was back to cool weather, hard to believe this is summer when your used to needing a/c to survive summer back at home & down hear you need a jumper instead. We've been back in Victoria for 4 days & we have not stopped, it has been busy busy busy sightseeing all along the Great Ocean Road (AMAZING!!!!). The first day was drizzling rain but still got to see some beautiful views & places. The place we camped for the night was 3 kms off the highway amongst farms & was so lovely. We had a special treat while there getting to see 2 wild koalas for once not sleeping but awake feeding...the kids though it was fantastic. The next day was beautiful & sunny & was just an incredible drive with the most amazing sights to see. So worth the drive, the coast line is just breathtaking & so different to anything I've ever seen, so very different to anything up north. We have seen many beautiful places like Bells beach, Lorne, Gibsons Steps, 12 Apostles, The Arch just to name a few.
Yesterday we spent the day in Portland Vic & took a 3 hour round walking trip to see a colony of Australian Fur Seals which is something I had really wanted to to do & it didn't disappoint, it was just fabulous to see them in their natural environment...loved loved loved it! Even got to see a Tiger snake on our path on the walk back to the car, thankfully he just slide off into the grass & didn't seem interested in us. Later the same day we went for a fish down at the boat ramp 1 minute away from were we are staying & there were two seals swimming around & waiting for the fishermen to throw  their scraps to them...awesome to see! We are heading off to a small country town for the night tonight & then in South Australia tomorrow!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Leaving Tassie :(

Sad day...we are on the boat back to Melbourne & although I know we have so many more amazing places to see I'm really sad to leave Tassie as we had an absolute ball there seeing some incredibly beautiful places & spending so much fun time with Glens family. Loved every minute of it & can't wait to go back again!!! 
Thanks so much to Don & Karen & all the kids for having us & for all the fun & laughs we had...we miss you all already!!!
Time the next adventure to begin...

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Tassie is a beautiful place...

WOW!!! Tasmania truly is a place everyone has to come & visit & spend some time here!!! Glen grew up here (so it's great having a local tour guide) & I've been here a few times but this is the best weather we've ever had when holidaying here, it's been so sunny & warm...just gorgeous!
We have been staying in Somerset in the North of Tassie so spent a couple of days travelling through the centre of Tassie to visit places like Latrobe, Elizabeth Town, Campbell Town, Ross, Oatlands, & Richmond before we made made our way to Port Arthur for a few days. Such incredibly beautiful old places to see, the history is amazing...first time I've actually been interested in Australian history, hahaha. We saw all the old bridges there are too see in Tassie & a massive amount of beautiful old churches & houses. Our first stop on our travels was at Oatlands & holy cow it was absolutely freezing but a gorgeous spot to free camp. Loved exploring this old town, very interesting.
We eventually made our way to Port Arthur & camped at the same camp ground Glen used to camp at when he was a kid. We visited the Port Arthur historical site & it was an amazing experience & more emotional than I thought it would be. Incredible to think about everything that took place at Port Arthur & the kids really loved learning about the history of the place. A great day!
The next few days were spent camping at Coles Bay which is such a great place to visit with amazing views. We had a couple of days of RnR here just chilling out, reading, sitting by the fire & fishing...Caught some awesome fish here!!! 
Next stop was my favourite spot so far at Swimcart Beach at the Bay Of Fires...absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!! The beach was white sand, crystal clear beautiful blue water with incredible big boulders of rock on parts of the beach which made it so pretty. Was so nice, we spent a few nights here fishing, walking along the beach & doing not much really! It was here though that poor Ty had a tick attach itself to him & he had an allergic reaction to the bite so we had a midnight run to the hospital with a very sore, sick little boy. Thankfully after some medication & a couple of days doing very little he was back to himself driving us up the wall again! 
The last stretch before heading back to Somerset was a stop off at Deloraine & Mole Creek to visit King Solomon Caves. Really awesome in the caves, the kids were so excited, the boys thought it was like being in an Indiana Jones movie!

Tiana fishing at Coles Bay

Bay of Fires

Back in Somerset now loving spending time with Glens family. We have a week left, bit sad to think about leaving next week because we are having the best time here with everyone. We are only a few minutes walk from the beach so we're loving being able to walk to the beach most arvo's for a walk exploring rock pools & if it's hot enough going for a swim. Having the time of our lives!