Day 12 - Monday 5/8/2024 - Adelaide

Woke to clear blue sky and the morning was again so calm I managed to get more photos of the port at Port Pirie with amazing morning reflections. Pulled out of Port Pirie with an easy run into Adelaide, navigating the city highways with google maps, we decided to camp near the coast so we could enjoy some afternoon walks along the coast, Booking into Christies Beach Tourist park - a small boutique park. Good choice, our afternoon walk along the coast was lovely with the warmth of the sun. The views of the ocean is too the horizon, and there are some pictureque cliffs along the coast.

Day 13 - Tuesday 6/8/2024 Adelaide city centre

Today we chose to catch the train into the city, to eliminate the hassle of parking etc. A very picturesque train ride into the city, it hugs the coast for some it making the trip quite a relaxing ride. Adelaide city, I must admit is nothing spectacular! The city claims to be the fifth largest in Australia, being a modern and multicultural hub. Established in 1836 it was a planned city for free British settlers. Standing on a street corner in Adelaide one could actually imagine yourself standing on the corner of Hay and Murray streets in Perth city. Walking through Rundle mall you come across some quirky sculptures - 4 bronze pigs that were named by the public - Truffles (sniffing the ground), Oliver (standing), Horatio (sitting), and Augusta (in the bin). Another is the "malls balls' that look like 2 highly polished stainless steel balls balancing. We took a stroll around the botanical gardens, which are not very exciting during winter, although it is quite peaceful from the drone of city traffic. We looked around for somewhere to have lunch, not much choice so we ended up finding a place called Harrys Bar which offered $20.00 meals with a free drink! It was actually a great lunch. With a short walk back to the train station to head back to the van.

Day 14 - Wednesday 7/8/2024 - Victor Harbor, Strathalbyn, Murry Bridge

Back on the road today to see more countryside on the Southeast of Adelaide. Our first stop was Victor Harbor. This is a nice place on the coast, the weather was perfect with clear blue sky, and not a breath of breeze. It was visited by Matthew Flinders in 1802, which he called Encounter Bay. In 1837 Captain Richard Crozier was enroute from Sydney to the Swan River Colony, anchoring just off Granite Island he called the place Victor Harbor after his ship The Victor. It was an important port known for whaling and fishing. Settlers in the regions also made a living with sheep grazing and cattle. The first view of the harbor for us put on a display of dolphins playing in the water. We took a short walk over a causeway out to "granite island" which supports a little penguin population, but you would have to wait for dusk to see them 😊. The causeway has a tram pulled along by Clydesdale horses, they have a team of about 5 horses to rotate through out the day. Our next stop took us to the town of Murray Bridge, travelling through meadering country side, often crossing the Murray river. This little place is a main transport link between Adelaide and Melbourne. We managed to see a paddle steamer on the river.

The highlight of the day (for me) was a stop in the town of Strathalbyn. This little town was settled in 1839 by Scottish immigrants. The word Strath is used in Scotland to mean a wide flat river valley, and Albyn is the ancient Celtic name for Scotland. I was looking forward to looking around the town because I remembered a street of antique shops, I wanted to look in. Its interesting the tricks your memory can play on you - there were 2 shops opposite each other! But I got to have a good look around for nothing in particular. After a coffee at a nice little café it was time to head back the Adelaide.

Day 15 - Thursday 8/8/2024 - Mt Lofty, Hahndorf,

This morning we woke up to a winter's day, Rob was confident the rain would settle. So we set off to Mount Lofty, climbing the Adelaide hills is a little challenging with google maps! At the lookout - freezing was an understatement! Amazingly we could see Adelaide which is more than I expected. Mount Lofty is 710 meters above sea level and offers panoramic view across the Adelaide skyline to the coast. To keep warm we sat in the café for a coffee while watching the views, leaving just in time to miss a couple of busloads of school excursions. Weaving our way through the hills we headed off to make Hahndorf for lunch. Just as we got into town the rain started to set in, and looked like it was going to be quite a wet day. So after a fairly quick walk up and down the main street, we chose a nice warm pub to sit and enjoy a good German inspired lunch of brackworst, mash and sauerkraut. The history of Hahndorf starts in 1938 when the town was settled by Lutheran migrants. They were the first large group of Germans with financial assistance of an emigration fund, most moving out into the Barossa Valley and settlements in the hills, living in socially closed communities.

This was my 3rd visit to Hahndorf over the past 10 - 12 years and I'm sad to say it's losing a little of the village vibe to commercialism. Quite a few large opal jewellery stores that were never there before.

We cut our travels short today due to the wet conditions, a little scary navigating the hilly roads in the rain, but we made it back to the van to tuck in with the heater on and watch more of the Olympics on TV.

Day 16 - Friday 9/8/2024

Today turned out to be a day of rest and relaxation. We woke up to a complete "pea soup" fog out, where you couldn't see 500m in front of you. It blanketed the whole of the city, and lasted at Christies Beach all day. Caught up with some housework, refuelling and getting ready to head off to Renmark tomorrow.