Committed Travellers

It was cold, wet and windy last night. We put our awning away as gusts over 40kph were forecast. If we leave the awning out in high winds our van rocks, and I worry the awning might be damaged. It was miserable outside. The cold wind kept the temperature down all day, never getting above "feels like" 10°. We left Blue in the van with Tilly while we went to town by tram to the Adelaide City Market. The attractive front of Her Majesty's Theatre is opposite the market Anita found a nice pair of boots in her favourite shoe shop. We had lunch at the very popular Lucia's Pizza and Spaghetti Bar. Anita had traditional spaghetti carbonara, while I had a custard-style tart with fresh fruit and a side of yoghurt. I left Anita in town to spend time at the casino, while I headed back to the van to spend time with Tilly and Blue. I took them walking - separately - and Blue had a couple of runs on the showground arena. At times they share the cra

Rain is forecast for the rest of the week. We drove to Glenelg but would have taken the tram if Bluey could have come with us. Imagine how many trips in gas guzzling cars could be avoided each year if cats and dogs were to be allowed on public transport.  We wandered along the foreshore which is busy with building works. We had coffee at Cibo and Blue kept licking the air trying to get the taste of Anita's coffee. A few historic buildings remain in Glenelg. European settlement commenced in 1836 on what is now mainland South Australia. Unattractive high-rise buildings overlook St Vincent Gulf, but Sussex St has retained many historic houses and flats. Anita found a shop where they could redo her fancy nails. I walked Blue around for over an hour, managing a third consecutive day of more than 8,000 steps. Blue has four legs and takes about four steps to each of my one, so he is way ahead of me. There are lots of chain stores

I took Blue for a walk in search of coffee, for me not him. The first two cafes were closed as it is a public holiday. I kept walking until two people coming from the opposite direction told me nothing was open. We turned back and I remembered another cafe near the vehicle entrance to the caravan park. I phoned and was assured the Orange Cafe was open so that's where we went. A friend from the Gold Coast is in town for a couple of nights to see Robyn Archer's caberet show. We explored the showground buildings near the caravan park. Six of us went to the Goodwood Hotel for lunch. Hardly any venues were open in the city so this was our best option. While the others each had a main meal, my lunch choice was the rhubarb and apple crumble - it was good. After lunch I took Bluey to chase balls. He is not good at catching so I videoed his efforts. He surprised me by catching the first ball. Anita didn&

The market was on at the showgrounds this morning so we walked over for coffees. Blue had a long run on the arena chasing birds because I forgot to take a toy to throw for him. He had another chance to play with his frisbee later in the day. We left him in the van while we caught a tram into the city to collect our seniors 14 day free travel passes. It was our first sunny day for a while so I took Tilly for a long walk around the park on her lead. We came to Adelaide to see several shows during the Caberet Festival. Tonight we kicked off with Tim Minchin - Back at the Festival Theatre. He is an amazing pianist, incredibly fast talking/singing philosopher, songwriter, and comedian. He describes himself as a "call comedic minstrel". The theatre complex by the Torrens River has a dedicated tram stop operating on weekends. We only had to walk a couple of hundred metres from the tram to the theatre. We were lucky to secure a table to enjoy a drink in the QBE Gallery be

It was cloudy all day but there was no rain. We walked Blue to Goodwood for breakfast at Gingers Coffee Studio. It was cool sitting outside but bearable. Anita did some shopping and spent time cooking. Much of the day was spent washing and drying bedding and our clothes. The caravan park has large modern washing machines and dryers. When I stripped the bed I discovered condensation has caused the mattress to get damp so we had to dry that with the fan and air conditioning. One shelf in my wardrobe also had condensation so I had to air some clothes.  All of this left our van in chaos so Blue and Tilly spent much of the day in their playpen outside.  We were able to take a break after everything was dry and put back where it belongs. Blue had a couple of runs on the showground and Tilly was on her lead with me while I checked all of our tyre pressures. Tonight we met up with two other Roadies at a Kelly Brouhaha concert at the Wheatsheaf Hotel ( the Wheaty). This old hotel has no poker m

While it was not so cold this morning, there was a fine mist that made everything outside damp. The Bushtracker has had condensation inside on some of the walls. The problem seems to be along the lines of the aluminium frame where there is no insulation. We have run our diesel heater non stop so the inside is about 16° while it has been below 10° outside. We struggled to find somewhere to stop in Tanunda with the van attached, so I propped in a side street to get a coffee. The drive to the Adelaide Showgrounds Caravan Park took about an hour, mostly on highways. We had one close call - I needed to move into the left lane but waited for a red car to pass us on the inside. Fortunately I waited for a longer gap before moving over as the red car had to stop suddenly behind a car turning left. It could have been untidy. It is a long weekend so the caravan park is busier than on our previous visits. We had to sweep up cigarette butts left by the previous occupiers of our site. Another Roadie

Blue had to stay in the car while we had coffee and breakfast at the Nuriootpa Bakery. The temperature has stayed in the low range so cafes generally don't have outdoor seating at this time of year. Anita went to the Co-op Shopping Centre at Nuriootpa while I walked Blue around the outside. I spotted this lovely flowering gum. After lunch in our van I walked 2kms into and through Tanunda,  then back. The town has a Prussian and German history dating back to the 1830s. There are more than 10 Lutheran churches within 10kms of our camp site! I enjoyed looking at some lovely houses in this area. There are also many historic buildings used now as shops or food outlets. 

It was sunny early this morning but still very cold. We saw the caravan park manager feed white bread to a large, probably overweight duck. Many different varieties of duck live on the dammed section of Burra Creek behind out caravan site. We stopped at the bakery in Burra for coffee and refuelled at the nearby service station that had limited access for long vehicles. Our next stop was Farrell Flat to see the painted silos completed in November 2020. There is an abandoned railway station by the silos, as grain is now hauled by trucks. The town has a hall, pub and community run post office.  The early morning sun caused glare on the front silo affecting the quality of my photo of the engine, so the first photo has been copied from Silo Art Trail website.  The fruit shop now operates as a B&B. In one of the old houses in the main street pressed metal has been effectively used as cladding. We stopped at Nurioopta

After lunch the rain started more earnestly. The BOM radar image showed cloud moving north towards Burra so we stayed inside for a while. Burra has not been hit with any hail or snow, but less than 30kms north snow did fall at Hallett.  We watched a couple of episodes of Manhunt starring Martin Clunes which is based on true events. I googled the ending to make sure it wasn't going to be too awful. It is a good show. Tilly wanted to go outside so I took her for 5 minutes. I didn't think she would last that long in the cold as she won't wear a jacket, but she was ready to explore. She wasn't shivering or fluffed up. Blue kept trying to get Tilly to play with him. The little critters were very active much of the afternoon. To get our attention Tilly was playing in the bathroom sink.  

The wind and rain continued sporadically overnight. The temperature dropped to 4° overnight, but BOM recorded the temperature at 10.30 this morning as 6° which feels like -3°.  I felt like the Michelin Woman by the time I had dressed in warm waterproof clothing - long johns covered by warm water- resistant trousers, Uniqol thermal top, warmest ever Kathmandu cardigan, hooded down jacket, raincoat and gloves. Bluey wore his warm raincoat and seemed to be oblivious to the cold. I let him have a run off his lead in a fenced playground. Tilly has not left the van since we arrived here in Burra, savouring the benefits of our diesel heater. I called in to the Information Centre and was given a bundle of booklets and brochures in a brown paper bag. Tilly moved into the bag for a couple of hours and stayed lovely and warm. The critters had a prolonged wrestle on the bed. Tilly started it by jumping off the crate landing on Blue. It looks rough but neither of them even gets a scratc

We left Broken Hill about 8am for our drive to Burra. Our first stop was at Mannahill. We followed this load of sheep as we dawdled through roadworks. On a recommendation from friends we explored Terowie, an historic town that is almost abandoned. The town grew late in the nineteenth century as a transhipment point from broad gauge rail to narrow gauge. In the 1970s the line to Peterborough was converted to broad gauge and Terowie became a near ghost town. Several abandoned shops are now owned by the South Australian Government. Unfortunately there is a risk associated with asbestos being blown around the town. The population fell from about 2000 to 130. In 1942 General Macarthur passed through Terowie on his way to Adelaide and Melbourne. He made a public speech at the railway station famously asserting "I came out of Bataan [in the Phillipines] and I shall return". A plaque marks the location at the rem