The Kowsas' Big Lap: November 2011

Since writing last time we have moved through Victoria, N.S.W, the A.C.T., back into N.S.W. and have now landed back on the eastern coastline.

We left Whyalla early on the 11th of the 11th, 2011 and celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary on the road. The girls had anticipated a day of celebration, so they were quite disappointed that we had plans to drive most of the day. We did stop in for lunch at a beautiful little town called Burra and the girls decorated the van for dinner, which we enjoyed at a free stay just out of Mildura overlooking the Murray River.

The drive through the South Australian country side was magnificent and had us passing many old homesteads on stunning properties. Crossing into Victoria was quite uneventful, but as we hit the Murray River and followed its path south-east the journey became more fun. The girls were also entertained by the fact that we tick tacked back and forth into N.S.W. and Victoria every time we crossed a bridge.

Our journey following the Murray started in Mildura which is a very pretty town, as were most of the places we visited on the river. We got to see our first paddle steamer on the Murray and watched it move its way through the lock system.

Our next stop for the night was behind the Nyah Harness Club, which was a ripper free stay on the river again. Paddy and I thought it would have been even better if the trots were on though! A short drive in the morning and we arrived at Swan Hill nice and early and ready for a day at the Pioneer Settlement. Unfortunately being a Sunday, there wasn't as many of the volunteers manning each building, but the day was still enjoyable. The highlight for the girls was getting to dress up in the old style clothing and they also loved watching a nice young man make a horse shoe.

The next stop was Echuca, which once again was a beautiful place. We managed to pack a lot into our day there starting with a stroll around the historical port, which was made all the more enchanting with the continual "toot toot" whistling from the restored paddle steamers. We moved into the adjoining streets and fossicked through the array of shops. Our tummy's beckoned and lunch was had at one of the little pubs.

Next came the adventure! We hired a canoe and spent an hour paddling, laughing and screaming our way up the Murray, trying our best to stay dry and out of the way of the paddle steamers and house boats. The girls and I headed back to the van while Paddy went for a look around the Holden Museum and came back wishing his garage housed some of the collection.

The next morning after the usual chores of groceries, finalising washing and also some school work, we once again followed the mighty Murray. We stopped in for a very special lunch treat at The Big Strawberry in Koonoomoo north of Cobram, then headed for our designated camp for the night north of Rutherglen.

Once again we were right on the river in beautiful surroundings and all for free! The weather was cool with misty rain when we woke the next morning and our camp spot was such a delight that we decided to stay another night. The day was spent doing lots of craft work, exploring down at the river and creating the perfect camp fire to cook our dinner on. Our time meandering down the Murray River Highway was very special and we were glad to have made the last minute decision to explore the area and not take the Sturt Highway in the north.

We moved on from Rutherglen and the Victorian leg of our journey and followed the Hume Highway to more relatives in Bungendore, which is just east of Canberra. A nice piece of footpath was designated for the stay outside their house and a night of catch up was had.

Friday we ventured into Canberra for the day with the first stop being Parliament House. We spent a lot longer there than we had anticipated and the girls were actually quite interested. Unfortunately though there were a lot of questions from the girls that we couldn't answer very well, like "So Mum, why do we have to have politicians?"...hmm, "That is a question we ask ourselves often love!" we answered.

We also spent a long time at the Royal Australian Mint, with the girls wishing they could pocket a few hand fulls of Goldie's for their money boxes. Lunch was had in the city and also some shopping for Christmas was done (oh lord is Christmas that close?). Sadly we didn't make it to the War Memorial, as our day just seemed to fly by. We enjoyed another great night with my relatives, while the kids all enjoyed a few movies.

Saturday we packed up once again and headed towards the N.S.W. coastline, with a few hours stop over to see my cousin's farm and the house they are building in Braidwood. We made it to Durras Beach north of Batemans Bay late in the day, after winding our way through some beautiful National Parks.

Yesterday we had a look around Batemans Bay and made it to our current spot at Lake Conjola. We are in a lovely caravan park with a site right on the lake. There is a lot of wildlife in the park and on dusk it becomes infested with kangaroos. We also back onto the playground and the jumping pillow is only a few more steps away, so the girls give this park a very high rating! This morning we ventured to the beach and walked to a little island that is only accessible during low tide. We tried with no luck to snag a feed of fish for dinner, while the girls had fun with the beach ball. This afternoon has been lazy, with some craft and Polly Pocket play and a few hours of school work...while of course, I compile the blog.

First night on the Murray River 11/11/2011

Lunch at Mildura on the river

Dress ups at Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement

Jail Birds

Watching the Blacksmith

Christmas Craft

Echuca

Canoe fun on the Murray

Yummy lunch

Deluxe

Special times on the river

Nothing like a camp fire

Heading into Parliament House

Great debates on who they thought was nice or not.

I'm the next Prime Minister...no I am!

MONEY!

Farm fun

Getting to know her cousins

Paddy and his friends at Lake Conjola

Albany was a beautiful town, but still a little too windy for our liking. I enjoyed my birthday during our stay there and as I mentioned in my last post, I was lucky enough to snag the Show n Shine (yay for me!). Looking at old hotted up cars was just what I had wanted to do on my birthday. The rest of our day was lovely though and was topped off by a delicious dinner I created from our purchase of mussels at the seafood markets during the day.

We moved onto Esperance and had a quick visit to the jetty to see Sammy the seal and also get supplies. We then set up for a few days at Lucky Bay camp site in Cape Le Grand N.P. We had a great spot with views through the trees down to the beach. Lucky Bay was officially named as having the whitest sand in Australia and it was just spectacular.

After exploring many of the bays in the National Park and also trying our luck with the fishing rods, we were ready to move onto the next adventure. Crossing the Nullarbor. And it was straight! Actually, it wasn't as arid and straight as I had thought it was going to be. We travelled in good time, predominately with a tail wind and after two night stops in free stays we moved down to Fowlers Bay.

We were a little unsure when we rolled into this little fishing village, but soon warmed to the place. The van and car finally received a good wash down on our first day though, as a decent storm came through the afternoon we arrived.

The next day was great weather though, so we ventured in the car to the next bay and Scotts Beach (which was recommended by locals) and set up with the fishing gear and sand play equipment for a few hours of fun.

Paddy snagged a great Australian Salmon not long after arriving, which had us all running around with excitement...Paddy included. After a very enjoyable day, we were all on the shore line ready to pack up when we noticed around a dozen dolphins racing through the small waves just off shore. It was amazing to watch and we raced to get the camera.

We then realised that they weren't just having fun, but were actually rounding up an enormous school of the salmon we were fishing for. There was lots of screaming "look at the bloody fish!" and "get the rods!"

After a quick re-bait of the roads and the girls (and possibly Mummy) jumping around just about to wet their pants, we were ready to go. Paddy made it into the water first to cast and immediately had one on. I waded in next and watched my bait cast right into the middle of the huge mass of silver. And then it was on! We were both hooked on at the same time, but after nearly getting his fish all the way to the beach, Paddy's fish broke free and swam right past me back to the pack. I however, being the amazing fisher women that I am, managed to lure mine all the way to the sand. I won't tell you though, that his first catch was bigger than mine. I certainly got how my husband can spend hours out at sea fishing and almost felt a little sad at the fact that I have been missing out all these years.

Our last few days have been spent moving down the Eyre Peninsular. The scenery has been stunning, with acres of grain and sheep farming and many ruins of old pioneer settlements. We stopped at a free stay on the beach our first night and then enjoyed two days at Lincoln N.P. just south of Port Lincoln.

The weather has been windy and rainy at times, but we have also had some beautiful days with sunshine. Unfortunately as I type though, we are in the process of trying to get the van fixed. We were ready to head off nice and early this morning, when Paddy noticed a problem with the van. After trying to fix it for two hours, we got it to a point where it was drivable and have spent the morning searching Port Lincoln for someone able to fix it. Now most of our day has flown past and we are nearly reading to move on. Hopefully what they have done will get us back to Brisbane!