Ok, I’m placing three stops into one post here as we have been go, go, go since hitting this region as there is so much to see and do. From Robe we rolled up the highway to Port Elliott near Victor Harbor for a few days then into Adelaide for a weekend of car racing, sight seeing, winery visits and a concert before moving onto Williamstown in the Barossa Valley to wind down.

Starting with Port Elliot, on the Fleurieu Peninsula below Adelaide, we take some time to visit the small fishing villages scattered through the region. There is certainly plenty to see during a driving loop from Port Elliot through Victor Harbor, Cape Jervis, Wirrina Cove, Aldinga Beach and up to Glenelg. The coastline is utterly unforgiving here and on a bad day would be treacherous. For us though we have visited on nice calm days that show its colours and history even if the skies are somewhat overcast.

 

We also make time for a loop through the McLaren Vale area to take in the winery experience including a stop for lunch at Penny’s Hill. Lunch there was amazing and the wine just as good, plus you have the added bonus of sitting in the restaurant looking out the picture windows to the meadows and vine runs beyond.

 

We move into Adelaide on Friday morning and setup camp at Brown Hill Creek, in Mitcham, just outside the city area. A great spot as it’s a 15 minute commute into the city either by car or bus.

Our first day in Adelaide sees us doing the usual wandering of the city which is absolutely happening with both the Fringe Festival and the V8 Supercars on at the same time. Think cultured persons, artistic types and petrol heads mixing together in a collage of suits, stove pipe jeans, piercings, t-shirts promoting car manufacturers and the odd radical hair-do and you will get the picture. They celebrate their lifestyles in their own way but somehow play harmoniously over the weekend.

 

Adelaide city centre is easy to get around on foot as it’s almost flat and is built as a planned city with a ring of parkland surrounding the CBD. You can easily walk through parkland and wide streets to places like the Adelaide Oval and the many ornate churches.

But we are here for the Supercars and Sunday sees us attending along with 90,000 other punters. Up early and into the grandstands for the first race at 8:30am it was a long day as we hadn’t realised that following the racing our tickets included a concert with Sheppard who are a great Brisbane band, and Robbie Williams or as he kept referring to himself during the concert “Robbie F#@king Williams”. Brilliant Day!

 

After a sleep in on Monday morning we head to Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills for a quiet day of site seeing and treat ourselves to a seventies classic cheese fondue lunch and a glass of local wine. Oh the memories…

From Brown Hill Creek we head to Williamstown for a day before starting our journey back to Queensland. But not before making a couple of stops at our favourite places starting with lunch at Maggie Beer’s Farmhouse and then sliding in for a quiet afternoon at Jacobs Creek winery. Both are well worth the time if you are in this part of Australia as the food was sensational and the wine a perfect match.

 

Well we have been 6 months on the road and are now looping back to home for the upcoming birth of our first Grandchild. To date we have setup camp in 49 places and branched out on day trips in all directions from those stops.

We still have a bit more to see on the way back with stops planned for Berri, Mildura, Hay, Yass (for access to Canberra) and then north towards Queensland. According to a route planning software the caravan has covered 10,500Kms and the car odometer is telling us it has covered around 30,000Kms so we have seen a lot but somehow only a very small portion of this huge country. More to come though!