Adelaide Shores Caravan Park, Adleaide, South Australia. 2850km
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Australian word of the day: Capsicum – Red Pepper (gamba). Goes well as a pizza topping.
We left Flinders Ranges on Friday after an interesting hike to Arkaroo Rock to see ancient Aboriginal paintings. The 3km circular hike normally takes 1 hour but we walked with the girls part of the way, and carried them on the stroller through rocks and stairs most of the way. Shir fell asleep 25 minutes into the hike. Orr walked nicely to the rock but on the return she was tired (nap tired) and got into a bit of a crying fit when we offered her the stroller instead of Paola’s arms. The rock paintings are nice to see but it’s not like we visited the Louvre. The walk itself through the hot, arid and red landscape was a good experience. Ron walked beautifully the whole way. In fact, it’s hard to remember the last time he had any issues with walking all the way on hikes. Next step is to start putting some weight on him (water bottle or two).
Friday afternoon we started a long 450km drive south to Adelaide which we intended to break at Port Agusta. When we reached PA, it seemed too industrial to us, so after a visit to the supermarket we decided to head on south. We found a nice campground in Port Pirie, about 225km north of Adelaide. They did not have a playground for the kids, but Paola wore them down running around the grassy area in our large site.
On Saturday morning I took the kids to the nearby river and they threw bread crumbs into the water, hoping for fish to come. When a seagull started to hone in on the wet crumbs, the kids were happy that someone is eating their hard work. When the bread was gone, Orr and Shir continued with rocks.
We started driving south to Adelaide just before noon, and got into the city at 2pm. The 2 day drive was not very scenic or beautiful. It was interesting to see the reverse color scheme to our drive up north. Barren red areas becoming yellow pastures, turning to greener fields as we neared Adelaide.
When we got into town, we wanted to visit the famous market in the town center, but we could not find a parking spot for the RV. After 15 minutes we gave up and drove 10km to our campground.
This is a huge campground and we are lucky to be situated in a good spot right in front of the playground, game room, jumping pillow, kitchen and amenities. Too bad the park is jam packed with people and kids though. Our children are so small that when they tried to get on the jumping pillow with 20 other big kids, they just got tossed off from the bouncing. Luckily the playground was a hit, as well as a play structure inside the game room.
A bit about the children. Ron is asking harder and harder questions, and I enjoy the challenge of breaking down grown-up concepts into bite-size information that he can swallow. Examples from the last few days: “Why are elephants so big?â€, “Why does god live forever?â€, “Why do say Kiddush?â€.
Shir is becoming a climber. In the playground here she fell in love with an arc shaped ladder that is quite difficult and dangerous to climb. She ran straight to it, and climbed up before I could even try to help her. Just so you understand, Orr (the monkey girl), has not been able to climb this ladder without help. Obviously Shir was very pleased with herself.
Orr is becoming a singer. We have some Israeli children songs that have been playing in the RV for the last few weeks, and Orr is now singing Ooga Ooga, Yonatan Hakatan, and a few more song fragments.
It’s fun to see the kids growing up. Understand, there are also temper tantrums, sibling fights, mid-night awakenings, and 2 x dirty diapers and no babysitters or grandparents to give us a few hours break. But overall I think as a father I am very lucky to spend so much time with my kids at this tender age.
Today we managed to find a parking spot in Adelaide and spent a few hours strolling around this pretty city. We fell upon a Remembrance Day ceremony for fallen Aussie soldiers and I explained to Ron that in Israel we also have a sad day before Yom HaAtzmaut. Next we walked into the South Australia Art Gallery for 45 minutes of culture. Trying to keep Shir and Orr from touching the horses in the paintings was a challenge.
Next we proceeded to Rundle street, which has an open street mall with lots of activities on Sundays. A Pink Fairy came to play with the kids while we were having lunch. Shir was a bit intimidated when the fairy blessed her by touching the magic wand to her head. We kindly refused Santa’s offer to sit on his lap and get some candy (“because we’re Jewish daddy†Ron said). And because candy is bad for our teeth.
Adelaide is a city of festivals and events. Yesterday there was a Christmas pageant with floats and kids activities, which we sadly missed. Today there was a rally for green living and anti global warming. No wonder South Australian is called the Festival State.
We got back to the campground in the afternoon and have been organizing and packing ever since. This is our last night in the RV and I am writing this post surrounded by our bags being filled by Paola. Tomorrow we rent a car and head off to Kangaroo Island for 5 days. When we get back it’s off to New Zealand.
Good Night,
-Hemi
This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 2:48 am and is filed under Australia, Big Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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