Well after a not so good sleep, well actually the first bit
was great but then in the wee hours of the morning I woke to the fridge
clicking, which means the gas has gone out.
I just assumed it had blown out or something and restarted it. Not long after I had gotten back to sleep, I
was woken by Jason as the fridge was doing it again. Jason of course was smart enough to check the
stove top and we were out of gas. This
is a simple fix, you just go outside and switch over to the other full gas
bottle, but why oh why does it have to happen in the wee hours of the
morning. Couldn’t it have happened at
say 7am?
Eventually we pulled ourselves out of bed and started to put
away everything ready to move on. Just
as we were about to hitch on in rolls a campervan! No wonder we miss out on the good spots when
they are arriving at 9am and we still haven’t even left for our
destination. It was exciting today as we
were leaving the Yorke Peninsula, going back up to Port Augusta and then down
onto the Eyre Peninsula. We decided to
take the more scenic route which would apparently take longer but at the same
time being a whole 3 km shorter. When we
travel so slowly anyway it isn’t like a massive difference.
We thought we would stop in Port Pirie for morning tea and as
we had forgotten to fuel up the day before, we knew we also had to stop to fuel
up. How hard could that be? Driving along we soon realised there wasn’t
really any servos on the side of the road so we just assumed there would be one
in Port Pirie. Yes there were plenty, on
the other side of the road with sharp turns into them. So we tried to do a lap of a block to come
back the other way. However mindful of
the small roundabouts we thought it was best to pull over and take off the
Hayman Reece bars. This certainly
allowed us to easily make the right hand turns on small roundabouts and pull
into a servo.
As Jason was fuelling up I noticed that to get back onto the
road we needed to be on was impossible as there was a stupid island in the
road. So I thought maybe we could go
left and around that block. Just to be
sure I got Jason to ask as he paid for the fuel. I think he thought I was being silly, but he
came out looking not as smug as he had been told he would have to do a U-turn
down the road. Of course he was
confident we could just pull into Beaurepairs across the road and use their
carpark. Just pull in, reverse back and
drive out. It was in fact actually that
easy, except I did get out to just double check we didn’t hit anything.
Then as we went to leave I noticed two of the workers had
come out to watch. Naturally I
apologised for using their carpark and they said it was no problem, but that we
could have just driven straight through as they had an exit out the other side,
onto the road we wanted to be on. I just
wanted to face palm myself as I couldn’t believe it. Though not being local how were we to
know.
So after that drama we decided the coffee wasn’t worth
driving more around town and that in future we really should fuel up the night
before. It isn’t like the red centre
down here. We just pulled over down the
road to put the bars back on and we were out of there. It did look like a really nice place. Mind you about ten minutes out of town we
joined the main highway. Guess what was
there on the right hand side of the road – a massive big easy to use service
station!
The rest of our trip was great and the kids were well
behaved. Mind you they absolutely went
through every activity and toy we had in the back seat. Each trip we start off with a clean floor in
the car and everything is organised and in its place. However by the end of most trips it is a pigsty
in the middle row. I even took photos to
show you the difference between the start and end of our road trips. Still I don’t mind cleaning it all up. Only takes about ten minutes and if it gives
us a peaceful three hour drive it is certainly worth it.
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| This is what the middle road of the car looks like after a 2 1/2 hour drive! |
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| This is what it looks like at the start of a trip. |
Our destination was Whyalla which looked like a bit of an
industrial/mining town. We had found
that the local football club allows you to pull up there for only $10 a
night. No water or power but they have a
shower and toilet and is right in town.
Otherwise there was a $5 a night one but it was over 20km out of
town. To me the convenience is certainly
worth the extra $5 a night. There were
only a few other vans pulled in so there was still heaps of room. Now the decision of where exactly to pull up
came up.
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| Our introduction to Whyalla. |
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| A train waiting to unload. |
Honestly it is really hard to try and decide as you want to
take into account the solar panels, where the sun rises/sets and of course the
wind. We can never get it perfect as
normally something gives. At least this
time we have blocked the wind and we get sun on the solar panels until mid-afternoon. As for sun in the awning area, we couldn’t
care less as it is too windy to sit out there anyway. Whyalla took us by surprise as to how big it
actually was and very well designed in my opinion. Once we unhooked we decided to treat the kids
to McDonalds for lunch and then get a few jobs done.
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| At the main lookout where there were bunkers during the war to protect the town. |
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| Looking down onto the foreshore. |
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| A creative statue on the foreshore. |
Just boring things like fill up the empty gas bottle, buy
some spare oil as Jason is particular as to the type of oil used when they
service the car. Once all that was done,
Jason dropped the kids and I back to the caravan to set up the remainder whilst
he went in search of some water to top up our water tanks a bit. In the end our neighbour told him of a tap
about 50 metres from the van, you just needed your own tap key. Jason had bought one before we left, so
finally it came out of the packaging.
Certainly beats driving to the showgrounds.
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| Hamish entertaining himself (he is a ghost). |
Later one of the other mums and her son who was two popped
over to say hello. They have been
travelling for over a year and still haven’t made it to Western Australia. They were on their way over there but have
been presented with a business opportunity here. She has studied vet science and spent most of
her working life with dolphins. We were
very grateful when she told us how on not so windy days (which apparently today
was one) you can go down to the marina and watch the dolphins come in behind
the boats.
Unfortunately neither our kids nor her son wanted to share
their toys, so it was a bit of a disaster.
She was also one of those parents.
You know the ones who just seemed to know everything and if their kids
behave badly it is because as she said ‘mirroring the others’ behaviour. So her son wasn’t sharing because mine
weren’t! Interesting because when they
first came over her son was pushing Kayla out of the road and not wanting to
share my kid’s toys! I know my kids
aren’t perfect but I really am not a big fan of those types of parents who are
blind to their kid’s behaviour. I mean
it would have nothing to do with the fact he is two and most kids go through
this! Anyway I bit my tongue, but I
won’t be encouraging any more play dates whilst we are here.
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| Statue of the loaded dog. |
Eventually after some afternoon tea we headed down to the
Marina to spot the dolphins. We were in
luck as just as we arrived in came a little boat and low and behold a pod of
dolphins were behind it. They naturally
followed them right up to the boat ramp, so we got within touching distance to the
dolphins. The kids loved it, especially
when they swam under the pontoon. After
a while the dolphins swam back out to sea and we made our way up to the
lookout.
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| Why hello there. |
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| I think someone is trying to hop into your photo Hamish. |
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| They were so curious. |
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| Our kids just loved it. |
There we got to watch a ship being loaded with iron ore and
then head back out to sea. Watching the
tug boats turn it and get it back out to sea was impressive and in the distance
we could see the next one heading in to be loaded. Meanwhile there was also a train waiting to
unload all of its contents onto the conveyer belt that I am guessing takes it
to the ships - very impressive. In the
distance you could also see the metal smelter and you can do a tour of it if
you want. Unfortunately it only operates
three day a week and not on public holidays, so we won’t get to do it. Not that you can take kids under six on it
anyway so only one of us would have been able to do it.
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| The ship has been loaded and is heading out to sea. |
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| A different angle of the loaded area. |
It was nice to have a good night sleep and start the day all
refreshed. Mind you before we headed out
on Sunday morning we decided to pull in the awning as the wind seemed to be
picking up more so we thought we should put it in to be safe. Off to the Information Centre we went, but it
didn’t open until ten so we returned to the foreshore area to have a nice
morning tea and let the kids loose on the playground. You really have to give it to South Australia;
they seem to have awesome playgrounds everywhere.
Once we were all refreshed we headed back to the Information
Centre as it was there that we could do the Maritime Museum. It was only $12 entry for an adult and that
gave you a tour of the Whyalla ship that used to be a mine sweeper in the war
days and was the first war ship to be built in South Australia. We got to go all through the ship and the
kids loved it as they got to ring the bell and toot the fog horn thingy. Okay that isn’t what it really is but I can’t
remember its technical name. There is
certainly a massive difference in the quarters of a sailor to an officer. Though I don’t envy any of them as the boat
had a flat bottom so not to hit the mines, but this meant it had the potential
to rock 45 degrees when in the open waters.
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| On board the Whyalla. |
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| Hamish pretending to use the emergency steering. |
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| Family photo back up top. |
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| They actually let them have a play which was great. |
Then there was also the museum which had a lot of history, a
model railway and best of all, activities for the kids. So we took the bingo activity sheet and when
we saw items, Hamish crossed them off.
On returning to the Information Centre on our departure, Hamish was
awarded with a certificate and a little prize.
He just loved it, and it was such a great idea to entertain the kids and
keep them interested.
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| Someone wanted to hop in the hammock. |
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| Checking out the engine room. |
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| Ringing the bell. |
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| Proudly showing off his certificate in from of the ship. |
Most of the rest of the day was spent trying to do a few
jobs but the shops we needed were closed, so we will try again Tuesday morning
before we head off. Jason went to book
the next caravan park but luckily he read the reviews before he rang them. Someone had just posted a not so good one
that morning in regards to people drinking heavy, swearing and leading to
fights. We have no idea if they were
travellers, or permanent residents so just decided it was probably best to skip
it all the same. Instead we found
another one not far away and a shorter drive from here.
Late in the afternoon we went for a walk around the area and
did our next lot of exercises. I am certainly
going to feel that tomorrow. I really
just need to improve the diet. Mind you,
I am aiming to take one for the team and lighten our load by working my way
through our McLaren Vale wine collection!
Think about it, every bottle of wine I drink could nearly be an extra
litre of water we can carry! It is a
tough life, but someone has to do it. My
kids are helping too by eating us out of house and home or caravan in our case! I can’t keep up with them, but at least they
are happy to munch on a carrot stick.
Monday being a public holiday for Australia Day meant that
most of the local attractions were closed.
The local council had an Australia Day celebrations on the foreshore
that didn’t start until 3pm, so we decided that we could start school on Monday
morning to ease our way into it and also take the pressure off us on
Tuesday. We are moving further south,
not far but still we would lose nearly four hours of the school day by the time
you pack up, drive and set up.
Jason and I have decided to alternate the days that we are teaching
and so I took on the first day. I must
admit I was really impressed about all the details that Distance Ed
provided. For example, I thought Hamish
could cut paper quite well but after reading their handy hints on cutting, and
then watching Hamish I could then correct the way he was cutting and he could
cut out a square a lot easier and faster.
My aim was to just get two sessions done, but as we were on such a role
we ended up getting three sessions done before we went out.
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| Hamish all ready to start school. |
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| Of course you can't start without a happy snap with your tutor! |
So whoever isn’t teaching school is then responsible for
making sure Kayla doesn’t distract Hamish.
There are some lessons that she can be involved in, but some require a
bit more concentration. It worked really
well as Jason took Kayla out and did the food shopping in the morning which
allowed us to get through two lessons by the time they got back. Then they went out after lunch to vacuum out
the car in the afternoon so we completed the final lesson. It felt good to get through three lessons and
also note which ones required more attention so to do those ones in the
morning.
By now it was time to head down to the foreshore to enjoy
the Australian Day celebrations. We
really have to give it to the Whyalla Council as they wanted to do something that
all families could enjoy, so they had live music, face painting and jumping
castles all for free. Then they also
handed out Australia Day flags and tattoos for the kids, again free. Really the only thing you had to pay for was
the food. The kids loved the jumping
pillows (all four of them) and it was well organised with the kids waiting in
line for their turn. We were tempted to
enter the sand castle making completion, but the wind had picked up and we were
quite chilly.
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| Kayla getting into the spirit. |
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| The kids loved the jumping pillows. |
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| Of course Jason made damper. |
So we decided to return to the sanctuary of the caravan and
ended up having dinner there. Then just
after 8pm we decided we should head out and go to the lookout to watch the
fireworks. We knew there was another
lookout but for the life of us we couldn’t find it. We just kept driving round and round and
eventually asked a local for directions.
We pulled up with about ten minutes to spare and by now Kayla was fast
asleep. We had been trying to also charge
our laptop using the invertor but it hadn’t been working and then made a weird
noise before turning off. Once we pulled
up Jason worked out that we had blown a fuse that was in the invertor so now we
couldn’t charge the laptop again until we were plugged back into power.
Not anything major as Jason just noted the fuse needed, and
would buy it the next day and as we were moving onto a caravan park we knew we
could easily charge it when we go there.
However in future we will have to be a bit more prepared as in a weeks’
time Hamish will be starting his on-air lessons so we will need to have the
laptop fully charged before those lessons when free camping. We all (well other than Kayla who was sound
asleep) enjoyed the fireworks from the warmth of the car. I really don’t know what has happened to summer
down here in South Australia. Maybe if
it wasn’t so windy it wouldn’t be too bad, but with the wind it is quite cool,
even in the middle of the day.
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| Hamish holding up the boat. |
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| This chain use to be part of the anchor chain. |
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| The officers dinning room. It is bigger than our caravans. |
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| Oh look, another gun. |
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| Kayla thought this was a special seat for her. |
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| Doing some holiday research. |
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| Yep the car looks good everywhere. |
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Once she realised I was taking her photo she turned her back to me!
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