Peterborough and beyond

Checked out of the Tanunda caravan park (Trevor and Charmane’s) and travelled up to Peterborough. We spent a couple of days there wandering the streets. If you love trains it is old engine paradise. Mark found a motorbike museum and had a good look around. The India Pacific goes through there twice a week so we hang around for about an hour after the time it was supposed to come through. Apparently it is known to be late. We missed it by about two and a half hours. The weather was lovely in the day but very cold at night. We had to break the ice on Beemer’s water bucket in the morning so he could have a drink.

Mark and Beemer Bob the railway dog.

The motor bike museum

Jane and a train in the main street

The view from our van

Another sunset.

Sunset and the moon.

While in Peterborough Jane broke a tooth and had to find a dentist. The nearest one was at Port Augusta. We hadn’t planned to go there but off we went and had a couple of days there. It must have been the cold weather that broke the tooth because when we got to the dentist the man from the caravan next door in Peterborough was getting his broken tooth fixed too.

Sunset over the water at Port Augusta

The reflections were amazing

The goods trains with the flinders ranges in the background

While at Port Augusta we did a day drive to Quorn. the drive was lovely through the Flinders Ranges. Quorn is where the Pichy Richy steam train leaves from.

Beemer getting the wind in his face

One of the many pubs in Quorn

The Quorn Railway Station

The Community Hall

On we went to Arno Bay. What a great little place. It was so close to the water we could hear the waves on the beach at night. The local community had worked hard there and had made a walk around the mangroves over tidal flats and a mud flat where a special seaweed grew.

The park owner put on an Arno Bay Breakfast of as many pancakes you could eat on a Sunday morning and a steak, snapper, prawns and sausage night while we were there. We managed to be there for two breakfasts. What a great way to meet fellow travellers. 

Arno Bay mangrove walk

The creek from a veiwing platform

An Arno Bay breakfast

A storm at sea at sunset looking east

The same sunset looking west

Beemer asleep in the van

Our visit to Nowra

We were back on the road again, but to go back to Nowra for a couple of days. It was very tiring as we travelled over night and it took 15 hours to get home. We had a great time catching up with family and friends. Mark’s dad, Alex is 90 years old next month so we had an early family gathering for his birthday. Janey and Justin did a great job cooking for us all and Kerry made a lovely fruit cake and decorated it with fresh camellia flowers on top. It looked beautiful. On the way home we travelled about 12 hours before stopping at Renmark at a motel overnight then another couple of hours to get back to Tanunda and picking up Beemer from the kennel.

Janey, Alex and Mark

Fiona, Alex and Justin

Alex, Fiona and Mark. Three generations.

Charmane, Trevor and Jane at Better than Menglers Lookout over looking 'The Valley'

Sun set at Better than Menglers

From Better than Menglers over looking 'The Valley'

Sun set somewhere between Mildura and Renmark

Sun set somewhere between Mildura and Renmark

Sun set somewhere between Mildura and Renmark. It was beautiful.

We stopped at Blanchtown to have a cuppa and fuel up. Blanchtown is a bit like Morgan but smaller. The lock and weir were interesting to see and the flood levels over the years was amazing.

Lock and weir at Blanchtown

Jane and one of the flood level indicators.

Lock at Blanchtown

Lock at Blanchtown

Flood level on one of the old buildings

Working in the Valley

At present we are at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley visiting Trevor and Charmane. We have been to Parham where Trevor and Mark went out on the boat and caught squid, King George whiting and blue swimmer crabs. We had a great few days around the fire cleaning, cooking and eating the catch. Now we are at work in the vineyard pruning. It is very restful being out in the open air with Trevor’s radio on a station that plays all the ‘old stuff we all recognise’. Beemer is having a great time running up and down the vines between us, then sleeping in the sun.

Beemer in amongst the vines

Some of the vines we pruned. There is still a lot more to do.

Jane and Beemer hard at work.

Resting after a hard day in the vine yard.