Nick woke up with the dog and took her for a walk while watching the sun come up, then came back to bed again and read the paper. We were in no hurry to leave as we only had a short drive through to the coast so we sat and chatted to Peter and Helen again over coffee and eventually hit the road around 1030am. Kimba had advertised a bakery and the kids were keen to get some morning tea but when we drove through town there was only an IGA so I picked them up a ...

We were all awake early and as Nick had packed up most of the van the night before were on the road by 830am. The drive through SA to Port Pirie was very pretty and we stopped in a lovely little town called Burra for morning tea. Without children it would have been a great place to stay for a while and explore the old book and antique shops. Once at Port Pirie we were retracing our steps and it felt like we were finally heading home. We stopped in Port Augu...

It was difficult to sleep due to the heat and the trucks roaring past at all hours of the night and then the sun streaming in through the windows meant we were all awake by 6! We had breakfast and then the kids wanted to swim in the river although they didn't last long as it was a bit cold! We went into Berri for a look around and to buy dinner and on the way called into a roadside fruit stall and got an enormous box of mixed stone fruit for $10! Once home w...

Although we woke up early there was no point in getting out of bed, as we couldn't start the generator until 8am. We read until everyone was awake and of course Tally joined us in bed as otherwise she barks until she wakes the kids up!! We had breakfast and packed up the van then stopped on the way out to fill up with water. We had a four an a half hour drive today crossing three State borders and we drove passed fruit and nut trees and grape vines all the w...

Nick and I were woken in the early hours by a storm that came through and the din on the roof was incredible. The annex sounded as if it would take off down the river but we were all toasty inside so it didn't matter. Before going to bed I cut up a tarp and lined the queen and double bed with it and it seemed to work. The kids slept through the storm and we all remained dry. Anna woke later on, about 4am, wanting to look in the mirror and check her nose - i...