Home James...

With another wine region in our sights as our next destination we left Lincoln National Park (and Xmas) behind us and headed into Port Lincoln town for a quick fill up on diesel and groceries.  Travelling up north to Port Augusta and then back down to Clare was a long drive that day (especially after having lunch at Port Augusta McDonalds).  As the crow flies we’d only travelled a few hundred km’s across the Spencer Gulf, but traversing it’s coast was a lot lot longer.

Anyway we arrived at the Clare Valley and slotted into a spot at the one and only caravan park in town.  Of course, being Xmas holidays the park was busy, but we managed to grab a decent spot right opposite a big lush lawn area where we had a few games of good old ‘tippity run’ cricket.  Plus with the jumping pillow and swimming pool (heated too!) nearby we were happy campers.

Heated too...

Plenty for the kids to do.

The next morning after getting a load of much needed washing done, we rounded the kids up and convinced them that more wine tasting was good for them and the parents.  After our stay at Margaret River the Clare Valley wineries had a lot to live up to and while it was nowhere near the size of Margaret River it had a charm of its own... and some very nice wines too.  So we ended up doing a couple of tastings and tried to find a cellar door that served food as well.  As we hadn’t booked a table at any we ended up at the Seven Hills hotel/pub for a nice meal instead.

Annie's Lane Winery

Ben the poacher. (You should see his Rhino collection.)

After that the kids were itching to get back for a swim in the pool so we headed back to the caravan park. Some more World Series tippity run and Clare Valley was turning out to be a top choice for us. 

But alas two nights was all we could afford time wise, so off we went again the next morning.  This time though the car trip wasn’t so long and we could afford to spend a bit of time in the town of ‘Keith’ for lunch (what a great name for a town... neighbouring town should be ‘Bruce’).  We had lunch there while the kids played on the playground and rode on the awesome ‘roller coaster’.

And we shall call this town "Keith"... (*snigger*)

We noticed that coming back into Victoria along the Western Hwy was quite uneventful.  I don’t know if we were expecting some kind of fan fair or ticker tape parade but the only thing we noticed was all the big signs about speed limits in Victoria.  The one thing we did note that is different in Victoria is that elsewhere you have Rest areas... here in Vic we have Powernap areas!  Which to mind is a bit of a gimmick... who wants a powernap when driving? I want a full blown Sleeping Beauty 100 year sleep.  Anyway I digress...

We pulled up at Dimboola and into the Little Desert NP.  We’d been past Dimboola a few times over the years (usually on the way to Wyperfeld NP) but never ventured into the Little Desert.

Yes well done for spotting that it was taken on the way out!



Ackle Bend

We chose to camp at Ackle Bend which is right beside the Wimmera river and it’s one of the two camp areas, the other being Horseshoe Bend.  So after setting up we went and collected some fire wood (but never got round to lighting it that night) and had a quick look down at the river.

The next morning after being woken by the inconsiderate camping neighbour with his generator (still yet to meet one that cares about the others around them... mongrels) we had a very short walk around the camping area and through the park.  We told the kids at the start that this would be the very last walk for our holiday and we were greeted with a resounding heartfelt “Thank God” from Ashley.  Yeah, I think they’re about done for the whole holiday walks thing.

So after the walk we settled in for doing absolutely nothing for our last full day of our 4 month holiday.  And what a nice relaxing day it was.  The kids played happily together while us parents made headway into the books we gave each other for Xmas.

Very lazy day indeed.

That night, for the first time in a looooooong while, we lit the fire and felt the warmth to take the chill off the cool night air.  Aaaah Victoria, how we’ve missed your weather...

Bring out the marshmallows!!!

Retiring to bed that night it was sad to think that this was our last night ‘on the road’.  The next morning, for the very last time Lee made the usual call: “It’s moving day let’s get packing” and the cycle of strategically packing everything up once again came around.  This time though we weren’t to a schedule to get somewhere by a certain time; if we got back home late (or never!) who cares, we could be assured they’d be a nice clean bed (and house) waiting for all of us (thanks to Lee’s mum, Glenis) where we didn’t need to book in.

So back on the road again, the map wasn’t needed this day.  After a dodgey coffee from a cafe in Dimboola, it was homeward bound.  Pretty soon the familiar sights of Melbourne welcomely started to appear... along with the traffic and the general impatience of everyone on the road.  Everyone needs to chill out and take a 4 month holiday.

Yes but how far to the Powernap area?

Downtown Metroplis

Finally pulling into our street, we noticed a couple of the neighbours places were up for sale (perhaps they’d heard we were coming home!?) plus a whole new house had been built.  A lot can happen in 4 months apparently.

So with the Patrol and camper trailer parked in the driveway, the sadness had gone and was replaced by the excitement of coming home on such a nice sunny day.  The kids were excited especially... they were looking forward to playing with their long lost toys as it would be like Xmas all over again.

Home Sweet Home

All we had to do now was find those damn house keys...

Thanks for joining us on our trip, we've had lots of fun making memories.

xx The Jackson 5 xx