Sunday, September 11, 2011

On the Road Again Chookaloo September 10th 2011

Well here we are “ON THE ROAD AGAIN”, this time at a favorite camp at CHOOKALOO, yes, the spelling is correct.  This is a nice camping area in the Kuitpo Forest about half an hour from home, between Willunga to the west and Meadows to the east, camping is only permitted during the cooler months April till November due to the fire bans in this area.  Chookaloo is maintained by Forestry S A and a small fee of $3-00 per person per night, basically it is bring everything although there is pit toilets for those with a need, we just hold on.
T here is kangaroos but rarely seen, however, a large variety of birds can be observed all over the camp grounds.  (Please do not feed the fauna as our food is not their stable diet & they can a, become dependent on humans for food thus lose their skills of getting their own b, our food can make them sick and shorten their lives).    Dogs are permitted and our faithful mutt Misty loves the freedom, no matter where we go she is only half a step behind, although she is getting on in years now here she thinks she is still a puppy.
Well Saturday was a disaster, forecast an occasional shower and it was, one in fact, started at 12:30 stopped at 6:30 just the one continuous rain constantly changing from drizzle to bucketing down, yet we struggled through inside the van.  Magpies kept us entertained trying to coerce us into giving them food, they failed miserably yet the Kookaburra’s sat on the post looking at us sitting in the van keeping out of the rain, then along came some Kangaroo’s for a peek a boo with several varieties of parrots, gala’s  and cockatoo’s it was really great. 
I will not mention that I ran out of gas in the caravan which meant a quick trip McLaren Vale to have the gas bottle refilled, it was nice a sunny there, once back on top of the hill the hill the rain continued. 
Sunday was a great day cool with a couple of light showers allowing us a short walk through the campground, with a late lunch and pack up and homeward bound.

Monday, January 3, 2011

On the Road Again Langhorne Creek January 2011

Rest Stop Langhorne Creek

Well off again; this 2011 New Year long weekend we decided at the last moment to hook up the caravan and take off to Langhorne Creek.  This is a small wine region of South Australia on the northern side of Lake Alexandrina between Strathalbyn to the west and Wellington to the east, 1hour and 15 minutes from home.

We were lucky enough to have been given a Webber Q for Christmas, this was our main source of cooking and the most hassle free BBQing I have ever used, heat it up, place the meat on the grill & wait 10 min then turn it over and 10 min later it is cooked to perfection just brilliant.  Once finished with the BBQ we popped on a pork roast, same deal except 30 min each side perfect outcome.

Friends from Christies Beach Allen and Merredith popped in to see us on Sunday with Allen's mother and his daughter Elizabeth who is on holiday from Brisbane, was great to see them and meet Elisabeth.

A nice relaxing time with some small walks that our dog Misty enjoyed, this morning we found a fence with about 20 foxes hanging on the wire, a little further was the Langhorne Creek cemetery with graves dating from 1861 to 2010.

Whilst camping we met a family from Armidale NSW  that have been on the road for 6 weeks of their two year holiday around Australia, mum, dad and 5 children aged between 3 and 14 and believe it or not another due to be born in Adelaide in April 2011.  The children are the best behaved and a credit to their parents, during the school year they will be home schooled using the Ace System.  Another family pulled in on Sunday afternoon starting their 12 month trip around Oz mum, dad and 4 children, another couple were staying at Mannum however over Christmas and the New Year it had become too noisy with bad behavior therefore moved out till later in the week, all very nice people, all using different forms of camping from tents to motor homes and combination of tent and caravans.

Thank you Sheryle for a great weekend.

Keep the shiny side up
John