Arno Bay

Ended up staying at Arno Bay for 5 nights. Enjoyed exploring the area, found an awesome playground & a fabulous coffee shop so everyone was happy. Had 2 days of extreme wind so explored inland. We were happy to have the camp kitchen as it was impossible to eat outside as it was so windy. Wednesday was back to lovely weather so we went sandboarding at the Port Gibbon sand dunes, so much fun. We all got covered in sand, especially the kids who seemed to prefer sliding down on their bums as opposed to the boards), but enjoyed ourselves. Fishing was a bit of a challenge as you needed a boat to really get anything. Daniel got some squid off the jetty though so we were happy with that. Kids loved the massive seaweed piles on the sand (due to extra large easterly winds and tides) but it certainly wasn't the white sanded beach of the brochures (though we enjoyed ourselves anyway).

Emilia tried fishing with Daniel but no luck.

Climbing the dunes

Arno Bay Jetty- Sunrise

Seeweed Mounds along the beach

Eyre Pennisula

Arno Bay

Arrived at the gorgeous Arno Bay Caravan Park. Small caravan park run by lovely people. Saturday night consisted of a BBQ for everyone, complete with raffle (I won a stubby holder). All you can eat meat and salad for $12! This was after we had picked roses, from their extensive rose garden, to perfume our van. Ladies toilets are also full of vases of roses. Then on Sunday morning they do all you can eat pancakes. Emilia managed 4 ('Daddy let me have sugar and jam' she reported back) and Daniel had 8! The record is 11. 

Anyway lovely place to stay and a gorgeous beach up the road. Spent today swimming and exploring the sand dunes. Then cooked a bbq for dinner at the adventure playground next to the caravan park. Doing the boardwalk through the mangroves tomorrow and swimming and fishing in the tidal creek (hopefully Daniel gets some red snapper which seems to be biting here).

Red Banks beach at Arno Bay.

The paddle board was a bit hard in the waves, 

Roses from the garden at the caravan park.

Feel it Hot Hot Hot

Just sweltered through a SA heat wave. 4 days of around 40deg! Peak was 43deg at Port Augusta on Friday afternoon. Thankfully we were in a caravan park with a pool and air-conditioned camp kitchen and tv room. We moved between the 3 areas for the 2 days we were there. Nights did not get below 26 deg in the caravan. We moved east to the Eyre Peninsula
yesterday in the hope of a sea breeze. Cool change rolled in this arvo - bliss.

Early morning walk in Port Augusta, it was mid 30s by 9am.

Mt Remarkable Bin Scab

After leaving Port Julia we went to Mt Remarkable National Park (on the Southern end of the Flinders Ranges). Absolutely beautiful spot abundant in wildlife. The kangaroos and emus were awesome but the goannas were way too confident.
First day and they were skulking around the campsite. We went for a short walk and came back to find the bins raided. Then they proceeded to sneak up behind us whilst the kids were playing. Daniel had to chase them off with a stick (he even threw a stone at it and it didn't even flinch). Anyway the next day Daniel went for a bike ride whilst I put the kids down for a sleep, I decided to have a rest too and just as I was drifting off I heard a bang, I went to the door of the caravan to find a goanna completely in the garbage bag! I ran outside (in my undies) and threw a shoe at it, it proceeded to run away but it was still inside the garbage bag, it ran a few metres with me yelling at it and throwing more shoes until it finally got out of the bag and left our campsite strewn with rubbish!
That afternoon Emilia and Jackson took it upon themselves to build a 'Goanna Wall' out of sticks and rocks to protect our campsite!
Anyway it was a lovely spot and we did a few walks (kids managed a decent walk halfway up a mountain). Highlights were the huge trees burnt out in the middle, perfect for hiding in, and the kangaroos that bounded around the campsite (I also loved the hot showers, after a week with no shower it was very indulgent).

The BIG goanna

Campsite in the dirt equaled very filthy kids.

Red faced hiker.

Bin scab on the loose

 

Thumbs up for an awesome bush breakfast cook up

Katta the Bush Model

Daniel sporting his new Akubra! Since buying this he has been twice asked if he is related to Bob Katter (whilst standing next to the car with number plate 'KATTA').

Catch of the day

It's great fishing off Ardrossan jetty.

Sunrise at Port Julia

I got up early to practice my photography and was rewarded with a lovely sunrise. We are at Port Julia, a tiny town on the Yorke Peninsula, about 2 hours from Adelaide. Wild weather (loads of wind) but very pretty beaches and a lovely old jetty in every town ( Also great fishing, Daniel has got squid and blue swimmer crabs so far). 

Valentine's Day

My Valentines Day present, Blue Swimmer Crabs!!!

You know you're in the country when.......

The toilet in the campground looks like this..... and also has its own unique aroma and is full of spiders. Emilia went once then decided she'd much rather wee in the bushes!

The rustic facilities are easily forgotten when you are only a short walk from the beach though.

'Stray Katz' Mascot

Our official 'Stray Katz' mascot.

Us fully loaded.

The world's BIGGEST rocking horse!!

A trip to Gumeracha after leaving Hahndorf took us to the world's largest rocking horse. I remember going here as a child so wanted to show the kids. They amazed us by being able to climb the very steep ladders though Emilia was very keen to get down once we were at the top!
Anyway we then ventured into the Animal Park and proceeded to get attacked by two alpacas and two goats. I squealed as much as the kids and poor Daniel ended up fielding them off so we could get past. Jackson wasn't scared though but they kept trying to get the food out of his hands which freaked me out (I'm definitely not an animal person!).
A fun day though especially as the kids both found a peacock feather each so were very pleased.

Auf Widersehen Hahndorf

After stuffing ourselves silly on German cuisine (slow roasted crispy skinned pork hock with sauerkraut & a stein of German beer - and that was just me), tomorrow morning we are departing picturesque Hahndorf (in the Adelaide Hills) for the Yorke Peninsula and the promise of Blue Swimmer crabs.

Whilst here we visited the Beerenburg Strawberry Farm and picked a few kilos of delicious berries. Jackson managed to eat a punnet or two while picking and left with red stained fingers.

Posting comments

Hi Friends, 

A few people have said they have tried to post comments and it hasn't worked. It seems you have to choose Name/URL under the 'Post As' drop down box. Just type your name then Publish. It will then come up with a pop up box with your comment and a tick box that says ' I am not a Robot'. Once you have ticked this and pressed publish again it seems to work. However, this will not work if you have pop ups disabled on your tablet or phone. I'm pretty sure it works from all desktops and laptops. Anyway if any computer literate people have ideas please post. Thanks xxx

Yee-Haw..........Ride 'Em Cowboy

Dartmoor Rodeo - Saturday 7th Feb.
Well we chanced upon a Rodeo at Dartmoor and WOW did we get more than we expected. It was clearly the event to be at for the local area. Heaps of people and real cowboys from all over Australia. We saw bull riding (I screamed a few times!), bareback horse riding, barrel racing (you race your horse around 3 barrels in the small arena), bareback bull riding and general cowboy shenanigans (like throwing your cowboy hat into the air then frantically climbing the barriers when the bull that had bucked you off decided to try to finish you off). It was incredible. We had an amazing time and really felt like we had discovered the real country. I couldn't believe how lax they were about safety. We were allowed to climb on the fences of the arena to watch and just had to jump off (and pull the kids off) when a bull came charging our way. I was told bulls sometimes break through the barriers but it doesn't happen too often so don't worry. Anyway after we left we heard the major party from our caravan down the river and saw the aftermath as we left this morning. It was certainly an experience to remember.

Princess Margaret Rose Caves

Yesterday we ventured into the Lower Glenelg National Park to visit the Princess Margaret Rose Caves. They were found by two local teenagers in the 1930's, one of whom was sent down 17m on a rope held by his mate with only a candle and matches. They are some of the best underground cave formations in Australia and man were we impressed. The stalactites and stalagmites are millions of years old. The kids (especially Emilia) were in awe (Jackson actually enjoyed it more when they turned the lights out and we were in complete darkness - he squealed and laughed hilariously). Anyway the photos don't do it justice but here they are.