DAY 1 - Melbourne to Lake Fyans, Grampians - 375km

And they're off! We got off to a leisurely start after lunch on Sunday April 20th - a day earlier
than originally planned. We'd hoped to get to the Horseshoe Bend campsite in the Little Desert National Park (outside Dimboola) and stay for 2 nights to have a whole day in the area, but we had to stop a couple of times for various bits and pieces (flapping bag fly due to rivet popping off meant heaps of wind resistance, object removed and placed inside camper) and other well needed pit stops, so it was coming up to 4.30pm and still over 1.5 hours away. Called ahead to the Lake Fyans Holiday Park situated in between Halls Gap and Stawell to secure an unpowered site, and we were set up (sans extras) in time for 5pm gin and tonics.

Lake Fyans has the Grampians as a backdrop, sandy beach, lots of bird life, a kids playground, fire pits, and heaps of other kids to keep ours amused, so we congratulated
ourselves on a successful first night. One of the best purchases we've made so far to make our trip easier has been our DreamPot - 2-saucepan thermal cooker that keeps food hot for up to 8 hours. I'd cooked up a chicken and vegie stew to clear out the pantry and fridge just before departure, and very much enjoyed serving it up piping hot 10 mins after setting up camp. With G&T in hand, well fed, and a walk on the beach, it was a wonderful way to start our trip. And the campers next door thoughtfully turned their "Creed Live" album off after the second run through and turned in about 9pm, so that was good.

DAY 2 - Lake Fyans to Little Desert - 192km

The first night is always a late one, and with different noises around, means for very light sleep - resulting in a fairly relaxed pack up before we set off for Horseshoe Bend, just over 2 hours away. With Easter holiday makers on their way back to work and school, we arrived at a little past midday to find the campground deserted.

Surrounded by the Wimmera River in a horseshoe shape, the 7.5 hectare area complete with picnic tables, basic toilets, and fire pits as well as kangaroos, lizards and a couple of large spiders was a treat. Of course the kids didn't appreciate it quite as much as us with no one else around nor playground, and claimed instant boredom. We had a picnic lunch by the river and then proceeded on a short 1.5km walk down to Ackles Bend with a detour through some scrub. The youngsters complained for the first 5 minutes until we saw some kangaroos, then ran, laughed and played for the rest of the journey. There were a couple of markers with lift-up lids to show maps and Matilda discovered an extremely large Huntsman spider under one which gave everyone a start.

Arriving back at the campfire we made some meatballs and cooked it up on the 2-burner stove on the picnic table, while the girls played with their toy dinosaurs. Matilda has decided she's going to make a movie of the dinosaurs after seeing all the creative talents of the DreamWorks folks (recent trip to a visiting exhibition) and has been taking copious photos. We're still deciding on the soundtrack we'll use.

A family of 3 boys plus mum and dad dropped in and ended up staying for an hour or so for a glass of wine while all the kids chased kangaroos and waved sticks around. They were from the Netherlands (the family, not the kangaroos), but live in Jakarta and decided a 2-week trip driving in a van with 3 boys from Sydney to Adelaide would be a great idea.

Couple of early camping lessons learned overnight: clean up your campsite of chairs, new camera equipment and cooking stuff or it might rain and get everything soaked! Oh dear. Thankfully no lasting damage to anything - especially new Canon G16 which mercifully was in its new case.



DAY 3 - Little Desert to Barossa Valley - 420km



We woke to see several kangaroos enjoying the last of our marshmallows for breakfast (also
left out overnight), packed up and headed west towards the South Australian border. There's really not much to be said for this trip, except that the roads improved markedly upon reaching SA. We had an early lunch at a bakery in Bordertown, then turned off after Tailem Bend (stopped for gas here and saw some very whiz bang off road campers we gawked at) and headed towards a small town called Springton. The road took us through the gorgeous rolling hills of the Torrens and Eden Valleys before we stopped at an amazing old tree called the Herbig Family Tree just outside Springton. In the mid-1850's, a couple and their 2 small children lived in the hollow of the tree before deciding to have another 14 children! I can only imagine what Mrs Herbig said of their accommodation after discovering child #3 was on the way.

Our route towards Tanunda in the Barossa took us over the top of Mengler's Hill to give us an
incredible view of the entire Barossa Valley. I'd come to the Barossa on numerous occasions when studying and again with work events, but never seen it like this. The Tanunda Caravan Park is well serviced with jumping pillows, ponies, and very new bathrooms, plus super grassy camp-sites (no ground sheets allowed!) so kids all happy. Topped off the night with a fantastic dinner at the 1918 Bistro - though we did forget to wind back our watches half an hour
and were early anyway, so completely starving by the time our dinner arrived - washed down with a 2009 Rolf Binder SGM which was scrumptious. Oh, did I mention I left the new camera in the restaurant? Luckily a competent staff member ran it out to me as we were getting in the car. You'd think I was trying to get rid of it.

Another big driving day tomorrow up to Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges via the Clare Valley.