Ceduna

I had a fabulous experience at the medical centre. I went for a general women's checkup & hit a small snag. The ultrasound doctor was booked out but when he found out we're travelling he squeezed me in. The mention of day surgery was raised??? Hubby in Melbourne, strange town...sounds great! Anyway, as it turns out, it wasn't necessary. I met a host of amazingly kind & caring health professionals...A1 service! 

I felt very blessed. 

I did, however, miss my hair appointment.  Lucky the adorable hairdresser understood & I've re-scheduled for tomorrow. I hope she can fix my rug of hair:-)

A day of school where we met Tenae's new teacher. He sounds fabulous. I think we are going to have an even more challenging year ahead for Miss Tenae. 

A day of washing...including bed linen. I swear, sheet day in this caravan is the equivalent of a 1hour BLF session :-) I'm all recovered though.

The world is wonderful at the moment. I am done with being a single parent in a caravan though...so...come home Michael (lol). I also don't want to know how many good coffees you've had or how fabulous your 3D movie was :-)

Ceduna

We were warned that Ceduna was not a great place. I'll be honest...I was a little nervous. I was very pleasantly surprised. Looking around town, I think some money has been spent. The streetscape is lovely & the foreshore looks newly renovated.

They have the same issues as a lot of isolated towns...alcohol. It is another example of why no one should get paid to sit around doing nothing. If you have no purpose you are lead to trouble. Alcoholism is a problem amongst some community members. It is a dry town so no drinking in public places. There are strict rules about what times alcohol can be sold. Sadly, there is a queue at the bottleshop when it's opening time. 

We've had a few wake up calls in the early hours but that's the extent of it. I believe they do have trouble from time to time but we haven't seen anything.

We went for a drive yesterday. Huge for oysters in this area. There is no shortage of clean, unpolluted ocean. Unfortunately, it brought us no luck with fishing yesterday :-(

After 5 months of home colouring, I need help. Mum & I have lashed out & booked a hair appointment...AT A SALON!!!!

This was my bed buddy last night...

We are ready for daddy come home. He will be pleased to know that I've mastered the art of emptying the toilet!

Ceduna

Michael is gone :-( we dropped him at the airport. There were tears! 7 nights away is going to feel like a long time after living so closely. I think we chose the best caravan park in Ceduna. Yes it does have a barbed wire fence around it but that's ok. The locals seem to gather in the park opposite so I feel a little more secure.

The bottleshop doesn't open until 12o'clock & a 2L cask of wine is $13.99. We paid that for a 5L berri cask in Streaky Bay. Lucky we're happy with one drink at a time lol.

A rainy Sunday today so we did a little school work this morning & then went for a walk. Nothing is open except the tourist information. The boys are going to play the Nullabor Links Golf game. It's Australia's longest golf course. It's $70 per card but they invested $1.6million To build. It should be interesting. I believe there are quite a few hazards.

Wet Sunday craft! She looks more like Isaac every day.

You know how I love a jetty!!!

A beautiful glimpse of blue sky.

Smoky bay

A ride into town...so cute. Just one shop. It's the general store, post office, takeaway, bottleshop & fuel station. A play at the park...even nan & pop!!!

The kids got sick of waiting in turn so they decided to go together lol

Sunrise over smoky bay. 

Had some new 'neighbours' arrive last night. The managers of the van park offered us the use of a fire pit & a wood supply so we invited them over. Then the managers knocked off work so we invited them for a drink. The owner of the van park then turned up...quite a gathering. The owner also owns the wreckers next door & the 200 acres to the horizon. Classic Aussie....even driven around Australia in a tractor.

We woke this morning to a car that wouldn't start. We decided we needed a new battery because this wasn't the first time. We went & saw tractor George for a new one. We have found maintenance parts for the car have been cheaper in the smaller towns than we pay at home. A lesson...when you travel, always give the local businesses a chance. 

This morning....after our final NAPLAN exam we head off for our new home of Ceduna. Michael flies out tomorrow for Austech trade show in Melbourne. It's going to be a long week :-(

Eyre peninsula

Today we leave our bush camp of Coodlie Park to "find our new home" as Charley says. 

We found a wiki camp just past streaky bay. Apparently you can camp right on the beach, but watch for tidal changes...

I think this is what they mean. Even the swings were underwater. That would have been interesting...over water bungalow...but it's our caravan.

We've ended up at Smoky Bay. Just a basic stop for a few nights. Clean showers & toilets, a TV room & $20 per night for a powered sight...it'll do.

Early morning run to get ready for the day ahead. I even had an escort. Isaac bounded out of bed & rode beside me. There were a few more stops than usual...a fall off a bike & a wee stop lol. 

Who needs a tow vehicle when you can use a tractor!!!!

Day 1 of NAPLAN today...writing & Language Conventions....Isaacs favourites...NOT! I explained that I could give no help & they were fabulous. They didn't even try to ask. 

Freshly baked scones for morning tea between exams kept them going. I think an afternoon ride & a treat will get them ready for tomorrow. Keira & charley did fabulous school work while I was gone. Nanny & poppy supervised for me :-)

Fishing at Venus bay

We had planned a morning of school & then an afternoon of fishing....BUT...the weather looked a bit iffy so we switched that around!

Tommy Rough is the fish of the day...apparently! No size limit...I think they are in plentiful supply. We ended up with around 15. That should give us a small feed.

The worst part of fishing...cleaning them!

The boys had an audience waiting for scraps. The rain set in so off for a coffee & hot chippees for the kids :-)))))

Coodlie Park showers as promised

Adventuring

We headed out for a day of adventuring.

We headed off to take a look at Talia caves when we stopped at a lookout. I managed to get service to call & say congratulations to the race finishers. We look out to the ocean & see approximately 30 dolphins diving in & out of the surf...perfect!!!

Talia caves...The Tub!!! A giant sinkhole. The base rock is granite but covered in limestone. An incredible sight to see.

The Woolshed is next....incredible walking steps down to the waters edge. Hugs slabs of rock that have fallen from above to their new resting place.

We were heading out to the sea lion colony when we came across Baird Bay. Desolate sheep grazing country surrounding this beautiful turquoise water...just stunning!!!

Another beautiful Eyre Peninsula coastline.

Point Labatt sea lion colony...it's hard to see on an iPhone photo but there were approximately 70 sea lions on this relatively small rock platform. There were loads of seal pups.

Just my crazy short stack who made a person out of weed.

Coodile Park

This is on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It's real bush camping...$10 per night. No water, a toilet I'm not game enough to use...but...the showers. A bucket shower...you run you're own water which is heated to a set temperature. You tip it into your own "shower head". This is another bucket with a shower rose fitted. It's water efficiency at its finest. 

I think someone fancies themselves as an artist.

A big day today... As some of my run buddies from home take part in an event being held in the Blue Mountains...the Northface 50 & 100. It was expected to be a late night so we collected LOTS of wood. Michael had set up satellite internet. I had no phone service but could send & receive iMessages. I was also able to track the girls using GPS & forward that information to Lisa who was in the Blue Mountains...😞. I was a little flat that I couldn't be there to support them.

We set up Base Command. I can only imagine how cold the crew were running through the Blue Mountains because we were freezing. We moved inside around 2am to watch the finish. A fabulous event...and even a proposal amongst the team. What an evening 😘

Murphys haystacks

Sunrise over Murphys Haystacks. Apparently it got its name because the farmers on the surrounding properties, many years ago, used to travel past and admire the bumper crop of hay (that were actually rocks) on Murphys property. It is still privately owned land but the owners allow visitors for a small donation ($5 per family).  You can camp overnight for no extra charge.

The kids thought it was fabulous...each of them tore a pair of pants sliding down the rock face.

We finished a little school work & Michael some work & then off to find our next home...as Charley says. I called Streaky Bay post office to check on our school parcel. It had arrived so we headed into town...so pretty & so helpful.

We bought a nice coffee & the kids had some hot chips for lunch & a play under the jetty.

Off to Coodile Park bush camping. We pull in the driveway & pops cars just stops...oops. Road service....no phone service. We drive a little further up the road with dads NRMA card in hand. I phone...street address number has 6 digits...lol...love the country!!! Anyway, they say they'll be an hour. Michael unhooks my bike & I ride back to mum & dad whilst Michael goes to pay camp fees & let them know we have a car/van in their driveway.  The owner pops his head out of his office & says "are they sending someone from Elliston or Streaky?" Michael isn't sure so next minute he's on the phone to Elliston to check that they got a call. They did ...he's happy with that & even tells us the mechanics name.

I follow Michael by bike to our campspot so we can unhitch & go back to help poppy. In the rush to get in we take out the side of the van on a protruding tree...ARRGH! something to fix at our next stop. Lucky it's just a wheel arch plastic strip. 

We wake early to set up satellite internet to try to watch my run buddies as they start Northface. Michael succeeds.

The kids watching 850 GPS tracker as they run through the blue mountains. Isn't technology fabulous!!!

Pildappa Rock

It's a lot more beautiful than I expected & really quite large. It's very under developed so you are free to camp & explore as you like. It's a granite rock. It has the highest & longest wave formations on the Eyre Peninsula. 

The kids have been runnin up & down for two days. They even found a small pond with tadpoles. Isaac is complaining of sore legs. He's been the messenger boy though, up & down the rock all day. He looks after his sisters.

Our campspot in the distance....

There is a handmade built stone wall around the base of the rock, and also a few still standing on top. At some stage an attempt was made to contain the water than ran from the rock.

My attempt at an artistic photo.

We'd found a big hole. What else to do but pose for a photo.

Keira catching tadpoles.

Phone service is terrible so Michael spent a lot of time on top of the rock for better service.

Pildappa Rock to Murphys Haystacks

Michael & I climbed to watch the sunrise from the top.... Never get sick of sunrise or sunset.

A little adventuring on the rock before the kids wake. The good thing is we could see the caravan below...

Stopped at Lock for some groceries. I didn't realise how far away we parked & most IGA stores don't allow trolleys to leave their stores. Lucky I had poppy lol

A stop at Elliston for a Skype call to school. Tenae's teacher goes on maternity leave next Friday so she met her new teacher...Martin. He seems lovely and she doesn't seem fazed by the change... My new worry free Tenae! She's growing up so quickly. She received a special award for a poetry unit she completed. We've had a breakthrough in creative writing. I knew there was a writer inside... We just had to find her.

Great park for Skype call. Check out the fence :-)

Entertainment while they each wait their turn to Skype. 

 

Charlotte made herself a wig :-)

We'd picked a fabulous farmstay camp...fire pits & all...40kms to go. It'll work perfectly...we thought? We pull up in the driveway & there's a sign "closed for private function"....no! Anyway, we've pushed on to Murphys Haystacks. No one here & they're amazing...photos to follow tomorrow :-)

Sunset tonight xxxx