Christmas

We went to Nowra last November for about three weeks.  It was great to catch up with the kids and grandkids and our friends. The lunch we had at The Bridge Tavern for our early family Christmas was terrific and noisy with all the kids running around and talking. Mark and I had a very nice lunch with Mum and Ruth at the Red Raven. We got back to Laurel Hill a couple of days before Cath and Owen left for Hong Kong and China.

Since we have been back we have had Christmas Day with Lauren and Todd. Attila and Marg visited with their dog Lennon, Glenn and Judy came up in their new Pajero and Trackmaster van. They are a neat full on four wheel drive van. PA and Robyn also came down for a couple of days. Kerry and Mark, Ethan and Zarli visited but not for nearly long enough. We had a nice lunch with Lauren and the kids while Kerry was here. It’s nice to spend time with all the kids and their kids.

Glen and Judy's new van

Sunset from the front of the 'Headache House'

Looking up in the sugar pine walk

 

Chelsea, Riley and Zac

Mark and Jane with the Grandkids

Penny and Beemer chilling out

PA and Robyn

Zarli playing with Dad

'The Kids' hanging around

Ethan and Dad with JD trying to keep up

The boys had fun in the mud

Killarney to Laurel Hill

After farewells to Kel and Michelle, Jen and Kim ( we had a few late nights with them playing cards in the camp Kitchen and around the fire) we went on to Killarny and had a couple of lazy days on the beach. Mark found a few young French boys to chat to until the late hours and after convincing them that our cheese in not so bad after all and we didn't have any daughters they could mary so that they could become Australians we moved on to Winchelsea and back to the farm for a few days with Noni and Fox. The farm is looking great and the baby's we had left behind in June had grown quite a bit.

A little bird getting nectre near our van

From there we traveled on to Laurel Hill where we have settled into "The headache house". We have had time to go through all the things we don't need in the van and are able to take them back to Nowra and into our storage unit. Laurel Hill is beautiful, with wild horses and kangaroos under the trees. We are missing being in the van but the house is very comfortable.

The wild horses under the trees

Beemer amongst the daises

Milang and Mount Gambia

We had a couple of days with Trevor and Charmane before heading off for Milang.  From there we were booked into Victor Harbour for a week to catch up with Owen, Lisa and Luke. Unfortunately that plan had to be cancelled as when we got to Milang we found we had done in a bearing on one wheel. We were stuck in Milang for a couple of weeks waiting for the part to arrive from Victoria. It was a good place to be stuck in as we were on Lake Alexandrina so we were lucky. As we were only 50 klm’s from Victor Harbour we were still able to see Owen, Lisa and Luke. The weather was great and it was lovely to see them after so long. Luke was only 2 weeks old when we left. Now he’s a big 7 months old.

Luke. He's not too sure about the oldies

Three generations

An old vine at Langhorne Creek

 

We finally got the van back on the road again and headed back to Mount Gambia. The Blue Lake is now very blue. It doesn’t look real it is so blue. Apparently it’s the limestone and calcite when the water warms up in the summer that makes it look bluer. We have booked in for just over a week. Jen, Kim, Kel and Michelle are still here so it’s great to catch up. Kel and Michelle are off back home to Queensland for Christmas so we had a bit of a farewell for them on Sunday night. It was good to sit by the fire and yarn for a few hours.

Beemer in his "Kennel"

The BLUE Lake

Edithburgh, Port Clinton and Burra

We had a week at Edithburgh, which is on the bottom of the York Peninsular on the eastern side.  The country side was lovely and green, with grain and canola growing in the paddocks. As we got closer to Edithburgh we saw them. Lots of wind generators. That’s when we found out the other name for Edithburgh is Windyburgh. As it turned out the weather wasn’t too bad. We tried fishing a couple of times off the pier but got nothing. The old buildings are grey stone and beautiful. 

A row of wind generators

More wind generators. There were 55 all together.

An old well by the side of the road to Edithburgh

Inside the well

Old stone buildings on a farm

 

We had a couple of days at Port Clinton. The caravan park is right on the beach and because the tide went right out there was plenty of room for Beemer to run about. Razor fish is popular there but we didn’t try to get any as you had to go out to the mud and we didn’t want to get our shoes dirty.

The view of Port Clinton from the van.

 

From port Clinton we travelled to Burra. We only booked for two nights but ended saying for a week. It is a lovely little town with lots of old buildings, goal, open cut mine and rows of miners cottages. The local show was also on so we thought we would stay for that.

The old copper mine at Burra

A retired sheep dog on the move

The sheep dog and his master, a retired Sheep Shearer were riding to raise money towards MS

The apple orchard at the Cider Cellar

The Cider Cellar. They made a great Scrumpy.

The old stone church at night

The Burra Library

Burra Town Hall

A row of stone Miners Cottages

The School, also made of stone

The front of the school

The school from the caravan park

A handsome Dog

Streaky Bay and Walleroo

From Elliston we travelled to Streaky Bay.  It didn’t take us very long to get there as it was a bit over 100klms. We were going to spend a week at Venus Bay but the wind got up and almost blew everyone away. We heard that some caravans had their awnings damaged so we are pleased we didn’t go there. Streaky Bay is fairly sheltered and there is quite a bit to see. We drove around to Cape Bauer, the Whistling Rocks and Blow Holes and a lookout which was spectacular. The Whistling Rocks were working very well and the whistle was amazing.

Stumpy tail at Streaky Bay

Cape Bauer

Cape Bauer

Whistling Rocks and Blow Holes

Whistling Rocks and Blow Holes

The caravan park at Streaky Bay

Streaky Bay

We travelled for 620klms and get to Wallaroo on the York Peninsular where we booked in for 3 nights. Mark got the crab nets out and set off to the pier for a bit of crabbing and squid fishing.  We caught 4 crabs and no squid. By the end of the three days we were having so much fun and the people we met at the caravan park were so friendly we booked for another 4 nights. Mark started to get the hang on catching crabs that we ended staying for 12 days and 120 or so crabs later we will be glad to have a sausage on the Barbie for a change. We have over half a dozen bottles of pickled crab in the fridge. Wallaroo is only a small seaside town but we both liked it very much. There are silos near the wharf with large ocean going ships loading grain. It took almost 6 days for one to load up and there were two more off shore waiting to get in. A seal was sitting on the steps of the sea swimming pool and every now and then dolphins cruised past. We meet an older couple, Bob and Hilary who went to Wallaroo for over 17 years fishing. Also met Julie and Glenn from Wodonga and Russell and Carol from Port Lincoln. They were all great value.

Just a few of the crabs we caught

Crabs for tea! Yum

Old pool and copper smelter (The caravan Park is at the bottom of the smelter)

Sunset at the pier

"That's a crab"

The Happy Crabber

Walleroo at night from the pier

A ship and fishermen on the pier

The Silos

Sunset and grain loader

A ship being loaded with grain

Mark and Beemer catching crabs from the wharf