Innes National Park

18-21 March 2017

Innes National Park

Relaxing in camp

Pondalowie Bay

View to West Cape

Shell Beach

Browns Beach

West Cape

Cape Spencer Lighthouse

Cape Spencer Lighthouse

Inneston Lake

Innes National Park is at the southern end of the Yorke Peninsula, we had a great campsite at Pondalowie Bay with just a short walk down to the beach.  We spent lots of time relaxing at camp but also explored the nearby beaches and Inneston historic township for a walk through the abandoned buildings.

Barossa Valley, SA

15-18 March 2017

Barossa Valley

Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop

Chateau Tanunda

Chateau Tanunda

Chateau Tanunda

Jacobs Creek

Road to Seppeltsfield

Seppeltsfield

Seppeltsfield

Yalumba – tough decisions

Our first stop in the Barossa Valley was Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop where pretty much all of their products are available to try, we couldn’t resist the Raspberry & Pomegranate Jam and the Salted Brandy Caramel.  We watched a cooking demonstration in the kitchen that was used to record the TV show The Cook & The Chef and sampled the 4 dishes that were made.

We did the estate and winery tour at Chateau Tanunda where we were taken through the 3 centuries of wine making history and told how the building was saved by the current owner as it was about to be demolished.  At Seppeltsfield we did another tour and visited the 1851 Seppelt homestead, Elm Walk, 1877 Distillery and 1860s Blending Cellars, we got to smell the 100 year old tawny but at $700 for a 100ml bottle we didn’t indulge.

Adelaide, SA

11-15 March 2017

Mount Lofty Summit

Our main sightseeing in Adelaide was a drive out to the hills stopping at the summit of Mt Lofty to take in the expansive views over the city, unfortunately it wasn’t a very clear day so the view wasn’t as good as it could have been. We went to Hahndorf, Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement and had a wander along the Main Street checking out some of the shops along the way.

Naracoorte, SA

9-11 March 2017

Naracoorte Campground

Alexandra Cave – straws

Alexandra Cave – reflection

Fossil Cave

Fossil Cave

Fossil Cave – the dig

Blanche Cave

Our reason for stopping in Naracoorte was to visit the World Heritage listed Naracoorte Caves, we did the World Heritage tour which went for 3 hours and we had our own guide. We visited the Fossil Lab and had a close look at some of the fossils stored there, we then went on to Victoria Fossil Cave and took our time going through the twisting and turning chambers where Shane had time to set up the tripod for photos, eventually reaching the fossil pit with hundreds of fossils spread everywhere. This was where we were able to crawl through under the ledge into the working fossil digs where more and more fossils are being uncovered. We also went into Blanche cave which is very different as it is a lot more open, there was a fascinating dig showing the different levels in the ground going back hundreds of thousands of years, our guide showed us the levels which indicated ice ages, when humans arrived and even when the mega fauna was extinct. It was a fantastic tour probably one of the best that we have ever done. We headed back to the caves in the evening to Bat Cave to see the endangered Bentwing Bats leaving after sunset. There are about 20,000 of them in the cave so we were hoping that there would be a mass exodus but we only saw them trickling out 2 or 3 at a time, although we didn’t stay too long after dark as the mosquitoes were shocking.

Mt Gambier, SA

6-9 March 2017

Blue Lake

Blue Lake

Valley Lake

Umpherston Sinkhole

Umpherston Sinkhole

Piccaninnie Pond

Back into South Australia at Mount Gambier we stayed in a holiday park on the edge of the crater lakes. The Blue Lake is spectacular, sitting in a steep volcanic crater it is a beautiful cobalt blue especially when the sun is shining on it. We walked around the lake a few times and also did a tour of the pumping station which supplies the water for the town, getting down to the level of the water really showed the depth of the crater.  In another volcanic crater next to Blue Lake is Valley Lake which doesn’t have the vibrant blue water but is still pretty.
We also visited Umpherston Sinkhole where a garden has been created in the base of the sinkhole. It was surprising to see these lush sunken gardens especially as there is a wood mill right next to them.

Australian International Airshow, Avalon, VIC

3-4 March 2017

Havard

Constellation

F16 Falcon

F22 Raptor

F22 Raptor

F35 Joint Strike Fighter

F35 Joint Strike Fighter

Arrived and Excited

Super Hornet

Super Hornet

F22 Raptor

F22 Raptor

F22 Raptor

F22 Raptor

F22 Raptor

Behind the lens

F22 Raptor

Spitfire and Kittyhawk

Meteor

Constallation

PC21

Superhornet

Super Hornet

TigerMoth and Pup

Hudson

Boomerang

Front row

Pitts S2S

F16 Falcon

F16 Falcon

Spitfire

Ground Display pano

Harvards

F35 Joint Strike Fighter

FA18 Hornet

F35 Joint Strike Fighter

F35 Joint Strike Fighter

F35 Joint Strike Fighter

AP3C Orion

F22 Raptor

Super Hornet

Super Hornet

F16 Falcon

Aerial Refueling FA18’s and KC30

Miltary Working Dog attack

Miltary Working Dog grip

Miltary Working Dog attack

Miltary Working Dog pose

F22 Raptor

F22 Raptor

CT4’s and Winjeels

Pitts aerobatics

Taipan

Tiger

Pitts S2S

The Australian International Airshow occurs every 2 years and has been on the bucket list. We went on Friday afternoon/evening after driving 250km’s from the Grampians and whilst busy it was pretty easy and quick to enter with light traffic (unlike Saturday which took a couple hours to get in, the last 7km’s took an hour alone).

Once in the gates there is a massive area covered with a wide assortment of ground displays though of most interest were the wide variety of planes and the military working dogs (no prizes for guessing who was most interested in which ones).   Working our way through the displays we quickly found a good spot for watching (and taking photos) right at the front of the fencing against the main runway at the corner with the taxiway. So a couple of great views of the planes.

A couple of the key draw cards were the new Australian F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and the US F-22 Raptors. This was the first time seeing these aircraft and the display of the F-22 which put on an impressive display. Whilst the F-35 also put on a display on the Saturday it was a limited display, though power could be heard and felt especially at takeoff, with that being the loudest and generating an amazing vibration.

Other displays of note were from the F/A-18 Hornet, SuperHornets, EA-18 Growler, F-16 Falcon, Super Constellation (old civilian passenger airliner), Spitfire, Meteor, P40 Kittyhawk, Harvards, C130 Hercules flare drop. A couple different displays of aerobatics planes were also very impressive.

On the ground the display put on by the Military Working Dogs was impressive, showing both the power the dogs have along with the discipline in which they act. After the show the handlers and their dogs spread around to chat and the bond between them was great to see. At the end of the dogs working life they then go through another 6 months of de-training before going to live at home with their handlers to see out their days.

Still on the ground there were so many different planes and queues of people. A couple of the ones we spent more time at were the C-17 Globemaster transport plane where we could get inside the massive cargo area. A US B1 Bomber was also on display which is an impressively streamlined plane.

Halls Gap, VIC

26 February-3 March 2017

The Grampians

The Balconies

Mackenzie Falls

Boroka Lookout

Grand Canyon

Silent Street

Silent Street

The Pinnacle

The Pinnacle

The Pinnacle

Lakeview Lookout

Lakeview Lookout

Silverband Falls

Lake Bellfield

We really enjoyed Parkgate Resort in Halls Gap as the section we were in felt like a campground instead of a caravan park, we were right next to the bush which kangaroos appeared from at night to munch on the grass around us. It was lovely to see them but they left so many poos that it was like crossing a minefield to get to the amenities.
The Grampians were mighty impressive with jaw dropping lookouts and hard but rewarding walks, our favourite was the walk up to the Pinnacle. First walking through Grand Canyon with lots of hopping over huge rocks that had been placed to make a path through the narrow gorge. At the end were some stairs to take us up and out of the canyon. Still going up we were walking in the sun for some time before entering Silent Street a very narrow corridor through the rocks, so tight at one point that we could only just squeeze through without turning sideways. We eventually made it up to the Pinnacle and the amazing view from the top of the sheer cliffs.
There were some good waterfalls, at Mackenzie Falls the path to the base of the falls follows the cascading water down the steep rocks to the final plunge throwing a fine mist into the air. We also visited Silverband Falls which was pretty despite being less than half a metre wide.

Warrnambool, VIC

22-26 February 2017

Middle Island

Port Fairy

Griffiths Island

Shearwater burrows

Wallaby

Hopkins Falls

Warrnambool is home to Middle Island which has a small colony of Little Penguins, the recent movie Oddball was about the dogs protecting them. People are no longer allowed out onto the island so the penguin burrows aren’t damaged. We did get out onto Griffiths Island at nearby Port Fairy, walking around the island to the lighthouse we passed through the huge Shearwater colony, their burrows were everywhere coming right up next to the track.

Port Campell, VIC

19-22 February 2017

Port Campbell

Port Campbell Holiday Park

The 12 Apostles

Thunder Cave

Loch Ard Gorge

Gog & Magog

Gibson Steps Beach

The Razorback

Mutton Bird Island Lookout

Mutton Bird Island

Shearwaters

London Bridge

The Grotto

Bay of Isles

For the western section of the Great Ocean Road we stayed in Port Campbell, a great little town with an almost rectangular inlet.  We didn’t have the best weather, almost every day was really windy and cold, and we were rugged up like it was the middle of winter.

We were pleasantly surprised that the 12 Apostles were more impressive than we had expected, you see so many pictures of them that you almost expect to be disappointed but they were beautiful.  We also really enjoyed all the varied areas around the nearby Loch Ard Gorge which we had never heard of but spent hours wandering around the offshore stacks, towering cliffs, beaches and blowholes.  We returned in the evening to the lookout next to Mutton Bird Island to wait for the Short-tailed Shearwaters to return to their burrows.  It is a small towering island just 150m by 80m but is home to 12,000 shearwaters.  Sunset came and it was getting dark and we were getting worried as there was still no sign of any birds.  Suddenly we could could see a few birds flying above the island, then there were more and more until there were hundreds of birds darting around above the island.  For the next 15 minutes there was a constant stream of birds arriving and swooping into their burrows.  They were everywhere and mostly silent except for the occasional call.  It was a mesmerising sight.