8th – 14th April, 2017
Saturday & Sunday 8th, 9th
We can’t get our tyres repaired until Wednesday in Adelaide so we’re just moseying slowly in that direction. Bowman Park outside the little town of Crystal Brook was recommended to us and it is a lovely camp spot. In 1847 it was appropriated from the indigenous peoples for use as a pastoral lease. A stone cottage, gardens and stables remain – the rock-wall enclosed garden is being renovated and cared for by a community group. There’s also a function hall here and a lovely grassy oval where local families picnic, etc. Several walking trails showcase interesting parts of the property.
We spent a reasonably quiet night only disturbed by some rustling in the drawers and Steve claiming, very indignantly and noisily, that a mouse ran over him while he slept.
Sunday moved into Crystal Brook which is a lovely town with many beautiful stone houses and a really good cafe in what was once the bank – the vault now holds jewellery and antique giftware for sale.
We parked in the free camp which just happens to be alongside the railway line. During one hour while we were chatting with friends and family about 12 trains went by!! Despite this we lazily decided to stay here the night and not return the 5km to Bowman Park’s peace. Luckily there was only one train overnight that barely disturbed us. We did, however set a mouse trap that caught a rat!! Steve is becoming a little disturbed now about this visitor to his bed last night!
Monday 10th
Moving a little closer to Adelaide we travelled down the eastern side of Spencer’s Gulf to Wallaroo. Wallaroo is a comparatively big town with large port facilities for grain as well as a vehicular ferry that crosses the gulf to the Eyre Peninsula and a very expensive-looking canal housing development. We lunched here before crossing the peninsula to St Vincent’s Gulf. Despite needing to do some grocery shopping we eschewed all the big stores here deciding to shop in Port Wakefield, which looks quite big on the map.
Not so – Port Wakefield does not have even one store that sells fresh groceries. Moving on we’re now settled into the recreation reserve at Mallala (pronounced mal-lar-lar) which does have a small general store. Lesson learnt!
Tuesday 11th
Today we go to Adelaide. Wow – big city lights, and traffic! We’d nearly forgotten what it was like.
We haven’t previously seen much of Adelaide but the one thing we do remember from quick trips down is the Central Markets. We spent a happy few hours here revelling in the variety of foods available – such a treat! From here we went to cousin Terry and Greg’s for a catchup and great free camp for the night. Dinner tonight was at the very beautiful and historical Largs Pier Hotel. This hotel was the primary port of call for new immigrants to Australia between 1882 when it first opened and 1892. More recent history has seen it as a popular music venue. In the 1970s and 80s it was the breeding ground for Australia’s rock music scene with rockers and bands such as Jimmy Barnes, AC/DC, Cold Chisel, Split Enz, Mississippi, Skyhooks and Little River Band performing regularly. It’s been beautifully maintained and restored. Food was also delicious.
Wednesday, Thursday, Good Friday 12th, 13th, 14th
It’s our wedding anniversary today (Wednesday) – 42 years! At last, we’ve got the answer to life, the universe and everything!
After getting the tyres fixed and rotated we headed down the Yorke Peninsula to Moana Beach where we’ll stay until Easter Saturday. It was good to just set up camp and sit back and relax. The campsite was spacious and not many here … until Thursday night when they started rolling in, and by Friday lunchtime it was packed!
We went for a drive to McLaren Vale township and had a general look around one day and especially enjoyed a bike ride along the beach cliffs from Moana north on another day.
To see our photos from this part of the trip CLICK HERE.