Monday 4 April 2005

Another easy start to the day, letting the sun start to warm the day before we emerged from the caravan. First call was to the shower block for the morning shower in a beautifully clean, shiny and spacious ablution block. Our impression of Port Broughton and the caravan park are extremely good, so much so that we have decided to stay on here for a few more days, perhaps the weeks end will still find us here at the top end of the Yorke Peninsula.

Not having had any success at connecting to the internet web site to upload the web pages, we located a community resource centre at the local school that provides free internet access to the community, so we visited that centre and made use of the internet to check out our web site and the problems we were encountering. About 45 minutes later and after a 10 minute mobile phone call, the problem was isolated and on return to the caravan, connection was made and the web site uploaded with a 25 minute mobile phone connection to the internet server. We dread the next phone account but at least the problem has been solved and from here on in we should have very regular updates, maybe not every day but certainly most days.

After visiting the Community Resource Centre, we drove down the main street and visited the local butcher who had marinated pork chops out for $6.99 kg and marinated chicken wings very cheap. Needless to say our drinks tonight will be enjoyed with BBQ chicken wings and the pork chops will make a great main course.

We then took a drive around, or should I say 'along' the town, as it meanders along the beach area, only being about three blocks deep at any point. For those who like oysters, we saw Coffin Bay oysters for sale at $6 per dozen.

After 'One of Us' spotted the local bakery, it was decided that was enough exercise for the time so we returned to the caravan to build up our energy stock by resting and reading books for a while.

Tuesday 5th April 2005

Another slow start to the day, waiting until about 7:30 am before heading for the shower. We decided on another quiet day, spending the time catching up on a few chores that haven't been done for a while.

Whilst 'One of Us' made herself even more beautiful (she reads this page before it is uploaded) the 'Other One' (after a chat with another couple from Queensland) tackled the task of washing the Patrol and the caravan in an attempt to make it a little more respectable. This was not a complete success, however it does look considerably cleaner than before the wash.

Having expended so much energy on that task it was necessary to cook up a hot breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast on the BBQ, unfortunately it was too late for breakfast so we had it for lunch...

As we now know cousin Judy is joining us in Adelaide on Friday 15th April for two weeks, and we have booked our caravan and cabin sites for that period, we made the decision to stay in Port Broughton until next Monday. The park has plenty of space and is in a good location, so we booked our caravan site through to Monday 11th April and will them move to the Barossa for a few days before Judy arrives.

The rest of the day consisted of reading a book, data entry on the computer and a bit of general maintenance.

It appears that the inevitable can not be delayed any longer, tomorrow seems to be the day 'One of Us' has set for a visit to Moonta. The 'Other One' has been informed that it is imperative that we arrive in Moonta by lunch time. It wouldn't be anything to do with the Cornish Pasties that are available down there I'm sure!!!!!!!

Wednesday 6th April 2005

The day started with the usual routine, but then changed as we set off in the Patrol, away from the caravan park at about 08:45 am. We headed south through Alford and on to Kadina where we stopped in the main street, took a few photographs and walked up and down the street. We called in to one of the shops called 'Cheap As Chips' where we browsed the contents. This was like an up-marked 'Chicken Feed' shop that we loved in Tasmania. We ended up buying a couple of towels and a metal sieve. We then made I way back to the Patrol and continued on our southerly trek.

Our next stop was Moonta and yes... 'One of Us' bought out all of the Cornish Pasties available in the whole of the main street of Moonta. Once she had enough for her lunch, we drove down to Moonta Bay where we parked in the beach side car park and a couple of pasties were devoured!!! (And that was only morning tea!)

From Moonta Bay we drove the short distance along the ocean to Port Hughes and took more photographs overlooking the caravan park out to the jetty. It was then time to return to Moonta where 'One of Us' gave directions to the 'Other One' to scoured the streets until we found another shop in a side street still had some cornish pasties. They were soon added to the stock pile and placed in the fridge for consumption at a later time.

From Moonta we headed further south before turning off the sealed road onto a dirt road that took us directly to the little seaside resort of Balgowan. Just prior to arriving we stopped at a small lookout that gave views of the dirt cliffs (no stone or rocks at all) and around a bay to Balgowan itself. More photographs, then on into Balgowan where another lot of cornish pasties were consumed as an early lunch.

From Balgowan we headed east to Maitland, where the 'Bentley' grandparents came from many years ago. We drove around Maitland and took a few more photographs and video footage before stopping at a SAFF fuel station and topped the Patrol up with diesel at 118.9 cents per litre. Then we stopped to check the War Memorial and looked up the names of locals that had enlisted, but no sign of any Bentleys in that lot. The last call was past the old house that the grandparents used to live in, videoing as we went, before heading out of Maitland on the road to Arthurton, Melton and Kapunda.

There was not a lot to see at Kapunda so we continued further North through the little town of 'Bute', before making our way back to the caravan park in Port Broughton, arriving at about 2:45 pm.

Tonight may be drinks and a counter meal at the local, but tomorrow is intended to be a lay day, with a few more little maintenance jobs to be completed and maybe another chapter of a book or two to be read.