Day 22: Mon 06 Mar 23 - Port Elliot to Adelaide

Mon 06 Mar - Port Elliot to Adelaide (Towed 82 km)

A bit of a mixed bag of weather today - 14 Deg overnight and a beautiful last morning at Port Elliot. By 0900 the clouds had rolled in and it started drizzling. By mid morning it was raining heavier and the wind got stronger. In Adelaide the strong westerly winds became even stronger, gusting up to 65km/hr. It only reached 22 Deg throughout the day. This mornings walk was along the foreshore and headland up to Freeman Lookout with amazing views along the coast and out to sea - a picture perfect morning. After breakfast, we packed and left by 0930, and with only a short distance to drive we took our time. First stop was just 30 minutes later at Mount Compass where we found a nice big open grassy site adjacent to the main street and next to the wetlands. We have seen very few free camp sites on our trip through South Australia, but this site would make a great place to stop for a sneaky overnighter if needed. The wind was getting quite fresh, so we continued towards Adelaide, and not being able to check in before midday, thought we would stop at Willunga or McLaren Vale on the way past to kill some time. Unfortunately the rain had started falling heavier so we continued slowly to our five night stay destination at the Adelaide Showgrounds Caravan Park. We arrived 15 minutes early and simply entered our access code and made our way in to our allocated site, and setup. This was the most efficient checkin to any caravan park ever (and we get a free bottle of wine for a more than three night stay - bonus). It was a little daunting driving into the city with an 8.5m caravan in tow, but there was a good time of day and very little traffic. It turned out to be a relatively straight forward trip. After setting up (including the awning with some reservations about the wind), we caught a bus from the front of the show grounds into the city to orientate ourselves and to buy a couple of Metrocards for city transport for the remainder of our stay. After a wander through Rundle Mall and then some initial challenges finding the right bus route, we made our way back to the van, stopping at Drakes supermarket across the road from the caravan park to buy something for dinner (a well stocked supermarket with an excellent range of products and well priced). Back at the van, we were fed, showered and ready for bed in no time....until the wind got so strong that I decided to pack away the awning for a worry free sleep. The first thing on the agenda tomorrow is take the car to Stilwell Ford where I have it booked in for another periodic service, then we’ll head into the city for the day.


Old Port Elliot Wharf in Horseshoe Bay

Horseshoe Bay and Life Saving Club

Anchors from some of the 7 ships that sank in Horseshoe Bay in the 1850's when Port Elliot was a major Murray River trading port

Windswept trees overlooking Horseshoe Bay

View to Victor Harbour

View from Freeman lookout

View from Freeman Lookout


Another Hills Sculpture Trail sculpture - The Water Stone at Mount Compass

Mount Compass Wetlands

Mount Compass Wetlands coffee stop - another good brew from a very small cafe. 

Mount Compass

The big smoke - Rundle Street Mall in Adelaide


Showgrounds Mural

Showgrounds mural

Showgrounds Caravan Park. Spot our van?

Showgrounds Mural

The weather in Adelaide - strong gusting winds, rain and not too warm




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 57: Mon 10 Apr 23 - Port Augusta to Flinders Ranges (Wilpena Pound)

Image
Mon 10 Apr 23 - Port Augusta to Flinders Ranges (Towed 165 km) 11 Deg overnight reaching 23 Deg through the day. It was a beautiful morning and it remained so all day. We packed and drove away from Port Augusta at 0800, and our first stop was a short 42km later at the historic township of Quorn. This was our original destination, instead of Port Augusta, but everything here was booked out over the Easter long weekend. We parked, and walked around town for about an hour and decided we would not have been disappointed to stay here. Luckily our stop also coincided with the Pichi Richi Steam Train tour which was also about to depart on one of its daily tours. Quorn is a lovely town, and we would be happy to return for a longer stay some time in the future - even just for an overnighter, and maybe even a steam train ride. From Quorn, we continued to Hawker - the gateway to the Flinders Ranges. There is not much to see here, so we had a wander around, refuelled to make sure we had a full tan...
Read more

Day 48: Sat 01 Apr 23 - Elliston

Image
Sat 01 Apr 23 - Elliston 9 Deg and very still this morning reaching 22 Deg throughout the day. The strong SW wind arrived mid morning making it feel very fresh, and didn't let up until the late evening. This morning, I went for a 5km walk to the Jetty and along the town beach and back. It was a little fresh, but a beautiful morning with sun still rising and providing a little warmth. Back to the van and after breakfast, Dale (next door neighbour) and I went for about a 12km bike ride half way along the hilly Clifftop Drive around the Headland Sculpture trail with more spectacular views over the Great Australian Bight and the amazing coastline. Meanwhile Noeleene went for a walk into town and back. We all met back at the van, had lunch, then Noel and I drove the full loop of the Clifftop Drive and sculpture trail stopping several times. Watching surfers clamber down the steep rocky cliff face and paddle out 100s of meters into massive surf, captivated our attention for quite a while...
Read more

Day 13: Sat 25 Feb 23 - Robe

Image
Sat 25  Feb - Robe Another mild night; 15 Deg with steady rain falling from 0300, easing in the morning and reaching a very moderate 18 Deg throughout the day. It was nice laying in bed listening to the rain falling on the roof, and thankfully it cleared early by 0800.  I headed out for my morning walk, around the headland and back to the van past two very stale and smelly lakes - Lake Charra and Lake Fellmongery. Lake Charra is also known by locals as the smelly lake and looks like a dirty cesspit. There is conjecture about what causes the smell - some suggest its from acid sulphate soil in the lake when it dries and is exposed to the air, giving off the smell. Others believe it's a plant or weed giving off the smell, but I'm just glad we're not staying in the caravan park that backs onto it. We are however staying in the park that backs on to the larger albeit less smelly Fellmongery Lake. This lake has an interesting history in that a fellmongering business (the process ...
Read more