A week in Morgan on the Murray River was enough to refresh........and not to mention John becoming an avid yabby catcher, John managed to catch some good yabbies in Morgan one of which was atleast 20cms and really great on the BBQ (John made me write that!) ! We did the touristy thing while in Morgan......museum, cultutral walk etc but when the local antique shop owner told us about a really cheap caravan site over at Cadell. (across the river by ferry and about 11kms) We packed up and moved post haste!!! (I was not keen about taking the van across ferry....too many horror movies?) We we rolled in Cadell (who also hosts a lovely training complex for those who broke the law) unsure if this was the right place to come - like a population of 100 and a store that charged $5 or more for bread.....ergh! However, after paying our site fees at the local deli we rolled through the gates of the old footy oval to find one van and a campervan.....and their occupants sitting around a cold fire pit, cold glass of wine in hand, we knew we had hit the spot. The old bloke Jim jumped up in a sec (self made/one man welcoming committee) and directed John into a site like an old HC driver pro.....we felt liked we were at home...strange i know!
Well we have a lot to say about Cadell, Jim and Sandy....the nomad couple we lived next to for a month - who became our grandparents, Patrick the guy who came from Ireland 15 years ago and is still travelling Australia.....the stop overs who either enlightened us or made no impression at all. The community club...lovely family atmosphere, cheap meals and a character local called Mick Mcann (who is 109% when asked how hes is........110% if he owned the pub.) Or Damien and Jo a lovely community couple who gave John work and made us feel a part of things! To top it off our friends Julia, Jamie and Chloe came all the way up to spend time with us and provided some very memorable days.....including saving some abandoned kittens lives......we will never forget!
Cadell one little town that was amazing, thankyou!!!!
July 2, 2011
Take me to the river!
We left Port Broughton and i can tell you i was feeling quite nervous every single KM we drove. We have been quite comfortable, not only in a familiar town with family, but not having to tow the beast in a while! We drove through Crystal Brook, Gulnare (where imtold my Grandpa was born) and on to Burra. Burra being quite a nice town from what we saw on a picnic lunch, we were thinking of staying. but after much discussion and a rude caravan park manager....we decided to keep moving. John was so keen to get to the river and so on we went. This is where a moment occured that almost ended the whole adventure for me!!! Such beautiful, pastoral country side, with rolling hills, grazing sheep and open plains....but one of the open plains with its cross wind caused us to get up the wobbles, like SERIOUS wobbles!!!! The van swayed violently from side to side, it was out of control! John was advised to speed up when this happens to pull it back into line but this made it worse!! The whole back of the car was being thrown about left to right, i was terrified, John was playing it cool and Adam was thrashing himself side to side like it was a fun show ride!! But seriously for a moment i thought we were going to be pulled off the road (like countless grey nomads like telling us stories about!!) Luckily we had the road to ourselves as we literally used the whole road to steady.......needless to say the sway bars we had in the boot of the car, were going on next chance AND we are never going over 80k's again....phew!
Rolling along the river!
Well we have learnt a few things about ourselves during this early phase of our caravan adventures and one of which is that i am no good at keeping up a blog! : / With that said its time to update our whereabouts and experiences along the way! :-)
Port Broughton
Well Port Broughton was amazing......but i had been going there all my life so i am biased (granted, not living in a van.) After some time in the caravan park we hooked up at my mums house (which i might add is on the foreshore!!!) what a spot. We fished, drank spirits and thoroughly enjoyed the last warm days of Autumn. The weather for the most part was warm and sunny, we couldn't believe our luck! John made a great friend.....Stan....a young 87 yo fisherman who lived a few doors upfrom my mothers house. The fishing tips that this old fellow gave to John, sparked a fishing motivation i have never seen and a hell of a lot of fish for dinner!!! :-) Half the time John was missing from the vacinity of the van, and was found safe and well hanging around Stan :-)
Johns Grandad from Newcastle also came through to see us and John was so excited to see him and spend some time with him, he decided to (yes, you guessed it) take him fishing! Well not only did they have fantastic quality time together, John came home with 2 huge Snook!
I was rapt when some of my friends rolled in for my nephews 1st birthday party.What a lovely afternoon that was!
Alas, it was time to move on......no point making the decision to travel Aus and not go past Broughton!!! We were heading to the Mighty Murray, the Riverland.......so time came to pack up and head off!
Port Broughton
Well Port Broughton was amazing......but i had been going there all my life so i am biased (granted, not living in a van.) After some time in the caravan park we hooked up at my mums house (which i might add is on the foreshore!!!) what a spot. We fished, drank spirits and thoroughly enjoyed the last warm days of Autumn. The weather for the most part was warm and sunny, we couldn't believe our luck! John made a great friend.....Stan....a young 87 yo fisherman who lived a few doors upfrom my mothers house. The fishing tips that this old fellow gave to John, sparked a fishing motivation i have never seen and a hell of a lot of fish for dinner!!! :-) Half the time John was missing from the vacinity of the van, and was found safe and well hanging around Stan :-)
Johns Grandad from Newcastle also came through to see us and John was so excited to see him and spend some time with him, he decided to (yes, you guessed it) take him fishing! Well not only did they have fantastic quality time together, John came home with 2 huge Snook!
I was rapt when some of my friends rolled in for my nephews 1st birthday party.What a lovely afternoon that was!
Alas, it was time to move on......no point making the decision to travel Aus and not go past Broughton!!! We were heading to the Mighty Murray, the Riverland.......so time came to pack up and head off!
April 1, 2011
Packing up, hitching up, towing, setting up & settling in....
Leaving the 'burbs'...
Well.......our last few weeks in our house were not a lot of fun! We cleaned, scrubbed & cleared 24/7! It was exhausting and seemingly endless. But finally, when that last floor was swept and mopped...and we pushed in the lock and closed the door behind us, we breathed a massive sigh of relief! We were glad to be seeing the back of our lil rental home - but did not forget that in this house our first baby was brought home.
Hitting the road....
The next challenge was pulling this 1 tonne plus caravan 2 hours with an old car! It was a little hairy, i must admit although we kept brave faces. We pulled over at Lower Light to adjust towing mirrows, and have a small break...and got chatting to a lovely truckie that pulled in (himself an avid caravaner) we started to really feel a part of a special club. We pulled our home into Pt Broughton with no trouble (apart from the occaisional wobble) and were directed to our site. John was a lil nervy backing her into our site, but all was okay (apart from a few 'choice' words). We settled in and set up our 'camp'.
Settling in...
Sounds quite lovely doesn't it? Well it really wasn't at first!!! Lack of sleep plagued us the first few nights!! Johns snoring and Adam getting sick. Adam also was continually trying to run off from our camp, dog barking at everything that moved. I was amlost ready to throw it all in and get a house!! But each morning brought fresh energy and within days we were really finding our feet and finding ways to make things more relaxed and homely! Cooking meals and watching TV felt awesome. Adam has been kept so busy with walks and runs on the beach that he is literally begging me to put him to bed :-) and we are all getting used to sleeping in the same small space.
Becoming normal......
We already have made friends (none of them are under 50) and its been fantastic! John even managed to catch our dinner for tonight (blue crab) with pasta.....(which Adam adored!) We watch people come and go in our caravan park, we walk everyday, play on the beach eat lots and have a few beers. Adam thinks this is all great and cannot stop talking. I'm sure there is a tonne of challenges ahead, but this isn't a bad start!
Well.......our last few weeks in our house were not a lot of fun! We cleaned, scrubbed & cleared 24/7! It was exhausting and seemingly endless. But finally, when that last floor was swept and mopped...and we pushed in the lock and closed the door behind us, we breathed a massive sigh of relief! We were glad to be seeing the back of our lil rental home - but did not forget that in this house our first baby was brought home.
Hitting the road....
The next challenge was pulling this 1 tonne plus caravan 2 hours with an old car! It was a little hairy, i must admit although we kept brave faces. We pulled over at Lower Light to adjust towing mirrows, and have a small break...and got chatting to a lovely truckie that pulled in (himself an avid caravaner) we started to really feel a part of a special club. We pulled our home into Pt Broughton with no trouble (apart from the occaisional wobble) and were directed to our site. John was a lil nervy backing her into our site, but all was okay (apart from a few 'choice' words). We settled in and set up our 'camp'.
Settling in...
Sounds quite lovely doesn't it? Well it really wasn't at first!!! Lack of sleep plagued us the first few nights!! Johns snoring and Adam getting sick. Adam also was continually trying to run off from our camp, dog barking at everything that moved. I was amlost ready to throw it all in and get a house!! But each morning brought fresh energy and within days we were really finding our feet and finding ways to make things more relaxed and homely! Cooking meals and watching TV felt awesome. Adam has been kept so busy with walks and runs on the beach that he is literally begging me to put him to bed :-) and we are all getting used to sleeping in the same small space.
Becoming normal......
We already have made friends (none of them are under 50) and its been fantastic! John even managed to catch our dinner for tonight (blue crab) with pasta.....(which Adam adored!) We watch people come and go in our caravan park, we walk everyday, play on the beach eat lots and have a few beers. Adam thinks this is all great and cannot stop talking. I'm sure there is a tonne of challenges ahead, but this isn't a bad start!
February 28, 2011
She's here, she's here - the van is all ours!!!
Well the old girl has arrived, our caravan, our new (well 1970's) home. After a few garage sales we were delighted to take delivery and get stuck into modifying her for the journey. John has had blood, sweat and tears converting a single into a double bed, but boy, what a fantastic job! He literally was absconding from work to be able to play with his new toy, but luckily he finally has gone back before he was fired!
A big THANKS to Leeanne, who is the most amazing person who gave us a chance, by letting us pay off this van XXX
Now with less than a month to go before we set off we are busy getting our house cleared, the van and the car ready and our paper work in order.
The first small leg of our journey has taken shape (well atleast planned for) and we still start in Port Broughton, then head to Waikerie, where John will try his hand hand at fruit picking/farming and we hope to stop here for a bit (also rock and roll festival!! Break out the cask!!). We will then spend plenty of time in the riverland (Berri, Bamera etc) and while John is trying his luck to catch that ever elusive Murray Cod, i will look ahead to our next destination. Mildura will be our first interstate stop and we will look beyond that as we get nearer. Of course....not everything always goes to plan (even a rough plan).........lets just wait and see! But we will see you Pt Broughton Caravan park on the 25th! Yahoo! More then...!
A big THANKS to Leeanne, who is the most amazing person who gave us a chance, by letting us pay off this van XXX
Now with less than a month to go before we set off we are busy getting our house cleared, the van and the car ready and our paper work in order.
The first small leg of our journey has taken shape (well atleast planned for) and we still start in Port Broughton, then head to Waikerie, where John will try his hand hand at fruit picking/farming and we hope to stop here for a bit (also rock and roll festival!! Break out the cask!!). We will then spend plenty of time in the riverland (Berri, Bamera etc) and while John is trying his luck to catch that ever elusive Murray Cod, i will look ahead to our next destination. Mildura will be our first interstate stop and we will look beyond that as we get nearer. Of course....not everything always goes to plan (even a rough plan).........lets just wait and see! But we will see you Pt Broughton Caravan park on the 25th! Yahoo! More then...!
January 30, 2011
Can we pull this off?????
Well our lease is up here in 8 weeks and i can tell you that i have had a few moments that verge on a nervous breakdown!! Although we have paid another installment on our caravan and that feels very good, we still have a bit more to pay on it so we can get it up our drive, work on it and pack it with time to spare. Not only that we have to clear out an entire house by storing, selling, giving away and throwing our stuff. We also need to have the time and money before John finishes up his work - to work on our towing car to ensure its completely safe and reliable. Oh boy - will we make it???
The point is we have to, the caravan will be our home for however long and if we are not organised in time we may be homeless!
The good thing is once we take off for the first time with caravan in tow, we will be spending a month or so in Port Broughton, which is only 2 hours from our suburb in Adelaide. This will give us a good practise in living the caravan life and should point out to us what we else we may need to consider. With family in Port Broughton its a good support to start us off before we head off on our own to venture Australia. Just our little family....my fiancee, John our toddler, Adam and our little old dog Titan...........hmm should be interesting to say the least!
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| This will be our home, its almost ours!! |
The good thing is once we take off for the first time with caravan in tow, we will be spending a month or so in Port Broughton, which is only 2 hours from our suburb in Adelaide. This will give us a good practise in living the caravan life and should point out to us what we else we may need to consider. With family in Port Broughton its a good support to start us off before we head off on our own to venture Australia. Just our little family....my fiancee, John our toddler, Adam and our little old dog Titan...........hmm should be interesting to say the least!
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