gardenofwine.com

Adelaide Shores Caravan Park, Adleaide, South Australia.  Total Oz km = 7555

The kids are in bed sleeping, the bags are packed, and we can’t believe two and a half months have passed by so fast. Australia was a warm friendly and inviting country, and it was not too hard for us to lapse into the easy going Aussie life. While we weren’t overwhelmed by gigantic mountains or deep canyons like some of the parks in the US, there were several things here that have made Australia special for us. (more…)

Western Kangaroo Island Caravan Park, Kangaroo Island, South Australia.  670km

Click here for pictures

Shabbat Shalom!

We have spent the last 4 days on Kangaroo Island, relaxing and exploring nature and wildlife. The weather has been very hot during the day (hence the relaxation) and cool in the evenings. We saw sea lions, seals, pelicans, koalas and kangaroos galore. Not as many kangaroos as the island’s name implies, but still a great finale to our Australia visit.

Our week started on a sour note when we returned the RV in Adelaide. (more…)

Adelaide Shores Caravan Park, Adleaide, South Australia. 2850km

Click here for pictures

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). (more…)

Wilpena Pound Campground, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia. 2295 km

Click here for pictures

Driving 400km up here yesterday was worth the effort. Today’s adventures were well worth the long haul.

Yesterday began with a short visit to a winery/gourmet shop owned by a famous Aussie cook called Maggie Beer. We bought some goodies and started the long drive up north. Along the way, many pastures with cows and sheep. Interesting to note that the farther north we drove in the last few days, the warmer it has gotten. The predominant color has changed from green to yellow, and towards the last part of the drive yesterday, red.

As you may know most (70%) of Australia is arid land, and most of that is a red dirt. We finally reached the famous “outback”. Took us almost 2 months in country, but we did it. (more…)

Barossa Valley Holiday Park, Nuriootpa, South Australia. 1905km

Click here for pictures

Australian word of the day: Cellar Door – An on location winery shop where you can get a taste or two.

We got lucky on Friday and had a few dry hours during the day. Our first order of business was to get the children outside. Happily just a 2 minute drive from the campground was a huge park with tons of climbing sliding and swinging activities for tots. I ran after the kids with a towel to dry off the bottoms of slides from the night’s rain. After 2 hours of exercise we stopped in the local supermarket, bakery, butcher and fish store to stock up on supplies. We had a nice B-B-Q supper at the campground kitchen. (more…)

Big4 Ocean Beach Holiday Park, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia. 1115km

Click here for pictures

Yesterday was great, today was wet. That sums it up, but here are a few more details. We left our campground yesterday morning and drove to the Apollo Bay lighthouse. On the road we encountered koalas once again. This time all the kids were awake and we had a fun time spotting the fuzzballs in the trees and watching them eat and climb. Koalas are usually quiet animals and you would expect them to have a soft voice when calling out, so nothing prepared us for the hippo-like roars that we suddenly heard from the koala in the tree next to us. Interesting. (more…)

Apollo Bay Holiday Park, Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia.  885km

Click here for pictures

Today we saw koalas in the wild for the first time! We were driving on the great ocean road and we saw a few people standing by the side of the road. Suddenly Paola spotted a koala hanging from a branch right over the road. I parked the car and ran to get some pictures. In the meantime Paola tried to wake the children who had all fallen asleep. Shir was the only one that wanted to come outside. The little koala was busy grabbing and chewing eucalyptus leaves, oblivious to the roadside commotion it had caused. When we looked around us we spotted several more koalas in the trees nearby, but this one was right smack in our face. Lovely. (more…)

Big4 ashley Gardens Caravan Park, Near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  260km

Click here for pictures

We got back this evening from 2 fun days at Wilsons Promontory, locally known as the Prom. It is a pretty national park, 3 hours south east of Melbourne. The park is surrounded on 3 ends by the sea, and is rich in flora and fauna. (more…)

Big4 Phillip Island Caravan Park, Newhaven, Phillip Island, Australia.  260km

Click here for pictures

Yesterday, a gray and rainy day, we started our second phase of Australia with a new motorhome. We plan to tour the provinces of Victoria and South Australia for the next 4 weeks and I hope the weather will improve.

To get the motorhome yesterday, I took an early morning train from Melbourne to a suburb 45km away called Berwick where the rental company has its office. After the paperwork and vehicle examination, I drove back into the city and we loaded the kids and the bags, a task that took about 45 minutes with all the crap we have, and the “naglot” I had to make from the hotel room to the driveway. (more…)

Albert Heights Apartments, Melbourne, Australia.

Click here for pictures

The last three days sped by like the wind that was blowing in the chilly streets of Melbourne. After Sunday’s short lived heat wave, we have had cold and rain for two days, and today just cold. That did not stop us from enjoying what the city has to offer. (more…)