Coffin Bay National Park 3rd to 6th April

In Yangie Bay at Coffin Bay National Park.

Were we are camped it doesn't seem to be as pretty as PL but we are assured that a car drive away is some of the most beautiful beaches.

Day One hasn't gone completely as planned. Molly has come down with a virus and a temp of 39ºC. Poor little pumpkin. Even the offer of a lolly was rejected. I knew she was really sick then.

Rasmus took Kasper for a spot of fishing with his new rod, which he got as an early birthday pressie, but they came back rather quickly. Not sure Kasper has the same passion for the sport as his brother. It's pretty cool buying the gear though!!

As Molly couldn't really go anywhere we decided to have a day at home and catch up on school work.

The pattern we have fallen into regarding the schooling looks like this:~

1. We begin with the usual complaining, whinging and general time wasting
2. Followed by bursts of pencil using for a approximately 1-2 min
3. Then comes the 'I'm hungry, thirsty, tired' -slot in appropriate statement
4. 'I can't do it' is interspersed with 'I AM trying' routinely and usually at high sound levels.
5. Steps 1 through 4 are repeated for the next 4-5 hours until the mother/supervisor wants to ring somebody's neck.

Remarkably, we got through it without me having to resort to violence so, a good day ;o)

The next day Molly had picked up and we slotted back in to tourist mode.

Our Caravan next to Yangie Bay

Rasmus on a hike

The camping-ground which we were staying in-Yangie- was not, in my opinion, of the pretty style. Although strangely, Kasper claimed it was his number one spot. The camping places were undefined which actually made picking a spot more difficult, the trees, despite it being a national park, were quite ugly; spindly and in need of a good drink and the nearby Yangie Bay was muddy and looked like mangroves grew there. Further more, there was more dust than I care to live in.

We had committed to 4 nights in our dust bowl due to Easter.

On day 2 we ventured out to find these illusive magical beaches we had heard about.

Our trip took us through some sandy areas and pools of sea water which was a bit scary for us novice 4 wheel drivers.

It was very cool to spot a mother emu and her 3 young chicks following behind her.

We came, at last, to a lovely area and pulled the car up. The water was clear and blue and very inviting so we all stripped off and made for the sea. Rasmus and the kids donned their snorkeling gear and went to have a look for what was about underneath.

Another family was also there so the kids quickly made friends had some play mates too.

Next to our beach there was a sandy hill which must have led to a camping spot as a number of cars and their camper-trailers came past. Several got bogged and it took them ages to get through. They dug up the previously hard sand which we had used so we were a bit nervous for the ride home.

But it was all good.

It was a great time.

Painting Easter Eggs

In the evening we all sat together and had lots of messy fun decorating the boiled eggs I had cooked that morning. We soon had a basket full ready for the Easter Bunny to hide in the morning.

Collecting Easter Eggs

On Easter Friday Molly exclaimed, “We must do Eastery things today”. Ok, I thought, Eastery??!? We have been a bit slack on doing kinder kind of stuff (and grammar lessons apparently) so I brought out the craft supplies and we got busy making Eastery stuff.

Bunny Ears, egg baskets and colourful easter egg shapes were duly made and stuck to various places around the cluttered (Fiedler style) van.

I made up a batch up Hot Cross Bun dough ready to bake but suddenly we heard some scuffling out in the camp site and Rasmus exclaimed that he had just seen the tail of the Easter Bunny!!!

We grabbed the newly made easter baskets, dashed outside and set to work finding the hidden boiled eggs. It was a lot of fun and a bit tricky too as the eggs had been set into some very secrety spots :o)

Egg rolling

Eventually they were all found. They would be for our lunch later on in the day.

Next on the Easter agenda was the annual Fiedler egg rolling game. It was blowing a gale outside so we had to pull the van apart to fit in the rolling board and a generously lolly littered sheet.

Let the fun begin!

We all took turns rolling the egg down the plank and soon our plastic bags were filled with lots of sweet, sugary goodness.

Oh! Easter we love you.

The following hours were spent eating our spoils along with the boiled eggs.

As we were on an adventure to see our part of the world we thought it only right to take a drive, despite our rolling tummies, along the south-west cost line of the Eyre peninsula. Facing towards the Great Australian Bight we saw some amazing and powerful water. The colour always amazes me, that wonderful blue-green turquoises of the sea-my absolute favourite.

Rough Sea with and windy day

As well as endless landscapes of flat water we also saw, and heard, waves smashing along the rocks at the beach line. We wondered how we could ever survive the rips pulling along side the rock islands just off the coast. I didn't want to frighten the kids but I wanted them to understand the power of the ocean. And from our vantage, on top of the cliff, the view was magnificent and the water undeniably potent.

A beautiful end to a great Eastery Friday.

Sunset over Yangie Bay

Rasmus' hike


View Yangie Bay Campground in a larger map

Kangaroo trail on spotted on Rasmus' hike

Port Lincoln NP 30th March to April 2nd

We had quite an exciting episode during the trip out to our next camp spot. We were coming down the highway and drove through a small dip, as we came up the other side we heard a huge THUMP and the caravan began to sway from side to side!! Rasmus managed to slow us down and move ever so slightly to the side of the road and come to a stop.

When we got out to have a look we saw that the caravan had jumped off the towbar!!! One of the chains between the car and the caravan was ground down and the caravan's nose was now sitting on the ground!!

Oh shit!

How were we going to fix this?

A car pulled up to see if he could help and then went to the top of the hill to direct traffic as we were taking up a lane and sitting halfway up the rise!

We got onto the RACV who kindly informed us that they only deal with mechanical breakdowns!! I took the phone from Rasmus, who is way too polite in these circumstances, and proceeded to lay an emotional guilt trip about 3 children and being stuck in the middle of no-where- she said she'd see what she could do.

As luck would have it a policeman came past and he began to direct the traffic in a very professional manner. Then another man stopped and then went back into the town to ask a friend of his who had a fork life to come out and help us. And the friend did come out to help.

The whole procedure, accident to driving off again took about 30mins!!! And restored my faith in the goodness of humankind :o)

Welding

It could have been a much worse incident with caravans tipping over or both chains breaking and...who knows what might have happened. We were very lucky and then we were blessed (yes, I said blessed) with some remarkable strangers who stopped to help.

As we were driving off the RACV rang back to say they had found someone to help. “Already done.” I said with a know-it-all grin.

The rest of the trip was without incident and we arrived in Port Lincoln safely. We were able to find a welder straight away, with the help of a lady from the Information Office, and 20 minutes and $60 later we were on our way to the camping-ground for the night.

Port Lincoln National Park.

Right on the beach.

Campsite

Dolphins left, Kasper right
Boat in the background

Our kids found some other kids to play with within 2 minutes of our arrival and we never saw them again until dinner time :o)

Later, a scout group moved in across the way. It was cute to hear them still up and playing at 11.30 at night and know it's not my kids! All power to the scout leaders :o)

The boys saw a dolphin today!!! Kasper was only about 5 meters from it! They have come running back to get their wetsuits on so they can go swimming with them. What an adventure. Now if only I could get them to write about it their schooling would be covered too!

Benjamin holding a Razor fish

Granite reef

Sean and Kasper

There is a lovely reef just off the rocks near us so the family, which we met on first arriving, have introduced us to snorkelling and the kids have now had their first experience and caught the bug. Ben was sooooo excited when he stuck his google wearing head in the water that he said he nearly had a heart attack. The colours of the coral and fish were right out of the books he's been reading. Lots of little Blennys came crowding around nibbling his hand and fingers.

Rasmus was so disappointed he couldn't go in- no wet suit and no way to wear his glasses under water. All was soon rectified on our first trip into Port Lincoln town when we visited the local surf shop. Goggles, flippers and wetsuits for all ($435 worth thank you very much!!!)

One slow day we decided to go for a 2.5km walk around the area where we were camping. Three minutes into it we spotted a monitor crossing our path. How cool!

We walked on listening to the sounds of the bush, the waves crashing onto the beach and Molly screaming that she wants to be the leader!!

We eventually moved down from the track to the rocks at the water's edge for a closer look. The sea was so clear and inviting. It was a warm day and I was imagining stripping off and jumping in to the coolness. If only I had the courage. Unfortunately, we all came fully dressed with no bathers. We contented ourselves with just exploring the stuff around us.

But the water was so lovely. It was calling me to come in. There really was hardly anyone around. Just the odd boat which came past. But I had no bathers. Could I really pull off bra and undies as a bikini?? Me??

So, I did it!! Yes, me!!

And the water felt soooo good.

Then one by one each of my family spotted me, felt inspired and stripped off their gear too!

Naturally Rasmus did the full monty. I had to keep pleading with him to get in before a boat came past and he was arrested!

We did only manage to walk 2 km that day but it was worth it.

On leaving Port Lincoln I remembered that I never did get to see those dolphins. Rasmus claimed to have a photo and video of them-looks a little like the famous blurry Loch Ness photos if you ask me :o)

Two dolphins or Loch Ness monster?

Oysters provided by Ingrid and Sean of Geelong

Port Lincoln

Bushfire near campsite

Lucky for us it was across the bay

Big flames

Don't tell Molly not to get her clothes wet

Rob and Sue

Sean and Ingrid

Vis Port Gibbon to Port Lincoln på et større kort

Melrose 21 - 24 & 27 -28 March

Melrose in the southern Flinters Ranger

Set on the edge of the local footy oval the camping-ground had lots of lovely green grass and a friendly camp-host called Rolly. He had a pet Galah named Cocky-Bob which had huge fat deposits around its ankles from eating too many sunflower seeds.

When I first met Cocky-Bob we exchanged hellos. I thought this was pretty cute but then he asked, 'What ya doing?'. I just caught myself before I started answering him like he was one of the other campers we were meeting. 'Oh, we are travelling for a year with the kids.....'. Kinda freaked me out a bit.

We didn't do much here except relax, catch up on school and read. It was nice to just “be” and not have to “do”.

Watching MTB rides

Bike Shop Cafe

Rasmus Bike ride

Rasmus did manage a cycle tour to the mountains nearby. He also found a cute bike shop with a coffee shop attached so we all drove into town to give their brew a try. It was very cosy on one of the few cold days we have had..

In a fit of energy I even decided to walk the 2kms home!

The "donkey"

Did I mention that in the paddock next door was a donkey! Odd, I agree but that's what it was. I'm not sure he liked me though. I went for a stroll to say hi one day and as I approached he made this frightening noise , snorting in a very unneighborly way. Then he just stared at me-I assume it was a male as another kindred spirit wouldn't be so rude.

I thought he might charge me! So I quietly stepped backwards and took the long way home.

On another occasion, I was walking to the bathroom for my evening abolitions and I heard that same snort!

It was so frightening.

Down town Melrose

I thought I was being attack by a Minotaur-or had I just been reading too much about demi-gods! Whatever, the sound scared the bejezzus out of me and when I realised it was our donkey neighbour it just confirmed that he had it out for me.

As I said our caravan was set up near the footy oval but on the other side were the local netball courts. One evening all the girls from the area came out to play a few quarters in an endeavour to decide the season's teams. In a wave of nostalgia I wandered over with my cuppa to watch them. They were working so hard, zipping here and zagging there. I couldn't imagine that I was once able to run and jump around like they were doing now.

Clouds over the Flinters

On the footy oval the fellas were having their work out too so the evening had a real community feel to it which I loved :o)

27th & 28th

Ah! It was nice to be back amongst the greenness again.

We said hi to Cocky-Bob and found out that amongst his other talents he could 'sneeze' on cue which gave to children a few giggles.

The travelling residents had changed while we had been gone and one spot in particular had been replaced by a group of female grey-nomads! I had a chat with one of them as I was so excited to see them out in a group travelling together. I wanted to find out more. Each had their own van or combi so were independent in most respects but they socialised and moved around the country collectively. They were well seasoned ladies but they were out in there doing stuff that lots of us don't have the courage to do when we are young and all partnered up.

I found them quite inspiring.

My screaming, I mean delightful kids brought me back to reality and the chores we had to attend to after the week of dustiness of Coober Pedy. The biggest issue, was washing spilling out of the laundry basket. Rasmus has taken on the role of washer-man for our trip but this time he was given some time off as the camp kitchen also had a washing machine-what a treat! Cozy fresh sheets...hmm.....can't wait for bed tonight :o)

Biggest flog of cockatoos we've ever seen… there were thousands

a white mare

Molly and so beautiful flowers

Rasmus on a hike

Benjamin's can swing by himself for the first time

Swallows... introduced species and free to kill

homemade koldskål with real kammersjnunkere