Travel ....Repeat...

We made the most of a free weekend and headed over to Ardrossan to visit Mum and Dad Winen.

We took the girlies with us so that Brent and Alex were free to attend Sarahs hens night and Lukes buck show.

I think its safe to say that the girlies had a lovely time.

We walked to the shops....

Bells spent many a moment waiting for the cuckoo clock to chime....

she asked Grandpa .. "does the cuckoo know my name is Bella?"

We walked along the jetty..... and checked out all the fish the fisherman were catching.

We spent an afternoon on the beach..... it started with sandcastles....

then changed to paddling our feet...

It soon changed to a little more than paddling feet....and a layer of wet clothes came off

Poppy and Grandpa did some fishing....

We explored Grandmas garden....

Bought a donut at the bakery....

Had a feed of fresh caught fish...

Entertained Grandma and Grandpa with lots of funny stories....

It really was a fun weekend.

We have been making the most our weekends lately....heading off camping every chance we get.

This last weekend we re-visited the Yorke Peninsula....we have travelled there many times over the years....but it had been awhile since we were there last.

Friday night we travelled as far as Wallaroo....

Then we were up bright and early for a  look around.....and a delicious coffee from Cafe Mia on the foreshore... what I didn't realise until I got home and was talking to a friend ...was that I knew the owners of the Cafe ...what a shame they weren't there when we called in.

We then drove on to Moonta ..... we browsed the shops...and bought a Cornish pastie for lunch..

The next morning we stopped at a few spots within the park before starting the trip home again....

First stop was the old historic ruins of Inneston.... site of the first Bellco chalk factory.

We stopped in and surprised Mum and Dad Winen on the way home.... another lovely little highlight of our weekend.
It was such a shame it was all over so quickly.
I wonder where we will head off camping to next.

Sometimes the planets align and everything just falls into place.. like this weekend away.

Bring shift workers its very hard to get a weekend off....let alone a weekend off at the same time as our friends who are also shift workers. So when I noticed on the roster that we were all off this weekend.....I sent out a text.....asking if anyone was up to a camping trip...it was met with a resounding YES!

So we packed up our campers....and set off on Friday afternoon for Burra.....

Burra is only a a few hours from here....so a nice and easy drive.... its also a town steeped in history... it was first settled in 1845 after the discovery of Copper in the area.....by 1851 it had grown to be Australia's largest inland town and the site of the Burra Monster mine.

We set up at the Burra creek camp ground about 10km outside of Burra...

it was a lovely quiet spot amongst beautiful trees....with a little creek running by. 

This little store was part of a guided tour.....it was an original store of the times....with a shop front....and then down through a narrow low little doorway into the three room residence at the back.

The following day we finished up the tour...there was too much to see in one day....

We began with this little township called Hampton....which was founded in 1857 and modelled on an English village. It was home to 30 miners cottages and a Chapel. It is mainly ruins now....but it was quite easy to see the rows of streets and homes.

It was also very foggy this morning....so it looked quite eerie in the mist.

Our final stop was the Miners dugouts.

These just amazed me.... apparently there was an acute shortage of housing in the 1840's.

So miners dug these dugouts into the sift clay banks of the Burra creek to use as free housing.

Apparently by 1851 there were approx 1800 people living in 600 dugouts along the creek bed.

Sadly in 1851 flood devastated the homes and drove the miners out.

Why is is that the working week drags by....

and yet....a weekend away is over in a flash!

Tonight we are home from a fabulous weekend in Ardrossan...

We had the best time with friends.

caught up with Dad and Mum W...

We talked....

We crabbed....

We walked....

We got sunburnt...(just a little)

We ate too much...

and we all said that we must do it again.... soon!

So here are a few phone snaps to remember our weekend......

in magical Ardrossan.

I  adore the cliffs....the water....and the contrast of the white silos against it all.

We took an early morning stroll along the jetty.....and then made a compulsory stop at the bakery for a delicious pre-crabbing snack.

Then the tide was right so .....we all geared up for crabbing.... old shoes....hats....and sunscreen.

and armed ourselves with tubs...bags....hooks and rakes.

We weren't disappointed.... we caught plenty....then cooked them up.....

....and ate until we were overfull and ready to burst.

Yep.....we have been away for a couple of weeks.

Hence why its been a little quieter here at my blog.

This was a low key type of holiday.....

Just Ian and I.....and our camper

plus.....kilometre after kilometre of nothing'ness.... salad sandwiches..... freezing mornings.......bad coffees (and the odd great one)..... fuel stations....talk back radio......camp kitchens....kangaroos....goats.....wild pigs....national parks.... the odd tourist attraction.....the 'Harp in the South' DVD series......

and total relaxation.

Heres a super quick run down....mainly for my benefit....seeing as my memory is like a sieve.

July 8th...

Typically... as usual.....all plans to leave early went out the window....it was 4pm before we were packed and ready.....we even considered staying home and leaving the following morning.

Eventually we just left home....and set off....

We travelled to just the other side of Wentworth.....then camped for the night.

July 9th....

Wentworth to Broken Hill....

For so long I'd wanted to visit here.....and I wasn't disappointed.

in fact I cant wait to head back there one day.

We headed out to Silverton to see Mad Max country.....and took a mine tour at the historic Day dream mine.

July 10th

Broken Hill to Cobar

After a last look around..we headed off toward Cobar....a lot of miles of nothing today.....

other than a little look at Wilcannia on our way through....

 ......and hundreds and hundreds of goats.....

and this grass that grew right up to the edge of the roadside.....

We stayed overnight in the mining town of Cobar.

July 11th

Cobar to Charleville

This was a loooong day....

We were up early and back on the road...... we stopped for a few hours in Bourke....

admired the wharf......and visited the 'Back of Bourke' centre.

 we stopped to check out these Steiger Vortex rainmaking guns....these were used during the drought in 1902....it was hoped by firing these guns that rain could be produced.....but sadly they didn't work.

then it was onwards....Augathello.....Tambo.......Blackall...

and then overnight at Barcaldine in the most wonderful park.

13th July

Barcaldine to Longreach

We really loved the Caravan park in Barcaldine.....and were sad to pack up and leave......but it was time to move on.

(I can only imagine this sight....... this morning I woke and headed through the park to the amenities block for my shower.....now my hair is a fine texture....and it gets 'bed head' very easily....especially when its just washed. So I smoothed it down as best I could and because I didn't have a mirror I relied on Ian for reassurance that I was decent. 

I headed off...."Good morning"....." Lovely day" blah blah to everyone I passed along the way.....all chirpy.....

Then...

I arrived on the shower block.....and took one look at my hair.....and realised I had the most enormous matted birds nest you have ever seen!!

Thanks Ian.....lol)

Anyway....once I was all neat and tidy....and we were packed up.....

 we stopped in Barcaldine to see the 'tree of knowledge' and the 'Australian Workers Heritage Centre'

Then it was off to Longreach....where we squeezed in a trip to the Qantas Founders museum....including a tour of the 747 .

14th July

Longreach and back to Barcaldine.

This morning we headed back to the Qantas Founders museum to see the last of the exhibits we had missed the day before. Luckily we had a pass out....which enabled us to come back in for free.

We then headed to the Stockmans Hall of fame.....

 we were just in time to see the daily show.....it was very entertaining...

After a great day in Longreach.....we headed back to our favourite park in Barcaldine.

15th July

Barcaldine to Emerald

Today was cold.....wet and miserable....

We spent the day travelling .... including a few stops in the gem fields.

I'm sure the little towns of Sapphire....Rubyvale would be wonderful little spots to visit....but because the weather was so lousy.....I didn't even get out to take a photo...let alone fossick for any gems.

Maybe one day we will get back there.....and get a chance to look around a little more.

Emerald was much larger than I had expected.....and we were glad to arrive and settle in for the night.

16th July

Emerald to Carnarvon Gorge National Park

Today we set off for Carnarvon Gorge.....we arrived mid afternoon.....and took a short walk...

We luckily conserved our energy.....

17th July

Carnarvon Gorge to Dingo

We were all excited this morning....and looking forward to the Gorge.

We set out....our first aim was to walk to the 'amphitheatre'...then someone on the track said the 'art gallery' with its aboriginal art work was not to be missed....and the moss gardens......and wards canyon....

so....we walked....and walked.....and weren't disappointed....it was simply beautiful.....

I just wish we had longer.....and could have taken even more of the walks.

There were countless steps.....slopes....creek crossings.....and we had a ball.

My photos really do it no justice......I didn't even take many.....I was just soaking it in.

This afternoon we made accommodation mistake number two... we should have stayed another night at Carnarvon.....but we didn't...we headed off....not realising that we were heading into mining country.....and even an unpowered site.....which is all we required this trip.....was totally unavailable.

The first available site was in a little place called Dingo....one of our more memorable nights.

18th July

Dingo to Rockhampton

Mmm....nice start to the day when I realise not only had we camped near a stinky drain all night.....but Id also stepped in dog shit.....I tried cleaning my shoes...and in the end just threw them out...

We left and headed to Rockhampton.....arriving around lunch time.

We spent the afternoon catching up on washing.....charging batteries.....and went for a long walk.

19th July

Rockhampton to Bundaberg

Today we headed to Bundy.....stopping to visit a few spots along the way....we were so excited to arrive in time for Shauns 21st birthday dinner that evening.

It was great to be with our dear mates the Stallans for a couple of nights.

20th July

Today was the only day we didn't travel.....

We were thrilled to catch up with Kerry and Brett for lunch.

21st July

Bundaberg to Goondiwindi

travel....travel.....travel.....

22nd July

Goondiwind to Parkes

travel....travel.....travel...with a stop at Mount Kaputar National Park.....to see Sawn rocks..

23rd July

Parkes to Barmera

travel....travel....home....phew...Yay!

So there is is......

two jam packed weeks.....and another piece of Australia we can add to our list of places we have been.

We loved it...and feel so fortunate that we could take this trip away...