Travel Diary: Journey to the Fleurieu Peninsular

Continuing along the coast after the Great Ocean Road we encountered ever changing landscapes from glorious cliffs and beaches to dry arid mountain ranges.  This is the last stretch of our journey with my mum and dad before heading off to the west. 21 March - Mount Gambier to Victor Harbor We woke in Mount Gambier with a chill.  We didn't want to get out of the covers it was so cold but we have a long stint ahead of us, about 450km up to the Fleurieu Peninsular, just south of Adelaide, so we had to get going.  We decided to take the inland highway instead of the coastal route to speed up our journey to try and chase some sunshine up in Adelaide. An hour in we stopped in Penola at a cute little French patisserie for a coffee and a chocolate almond croissant.  Penola is actually a very nice little town.  Most of the towns we pass look a little weird and creepy, and you just think who on earth would live there. A few hours in we reached Keith, my dad's name, so it was quite the novelty getting photos with the 'farewell from Keith' signs. We ate lunch in Keith at the children's playground which was too fun to leave to the children, we all had a go on the slide. Just as we were refueling leaving Keith there was a guy flapping around by his car.  We thought he might have just hit a kangaroo so mum went over to see if he was ok.  Turns out he had pulled over to answer his phone.  There was a dead kangaroo in front of his car and whilst he was chatting away he saw something wriggle in its belly.  He stuck his hand in the pouch and was shocked to pull out a baby kangaroo just the size of your hand.  He wrapped the joey in a towel and called ahead to an Adelaide rescue centre.  The joey was so small, all pink and it's eyes hadn't opened yet the poor thing.  The Australians are taught to check every kangaroo they pass just in case there is a baby.  This guy may have just saved the joeys life. A few hours later in Pathaway we stopped at Henry's Drive vineyard and had a quick wine tasting.  They do not do tours out in this area as most of them produce their wine in Adelaide but we were able to sample a few great whites and reds. We arrived at the peak of the Fleurieu Peninsular late in the afternoon and headed straight to find a campsite.  We settled on the first one we found which was Big 4 Port Elloit Holiday Park for $31.10.  The campsite had one site left so we were lucky but it was teaming with noisy children. Needing to stretch our legs we had a little walk along the headland but the paths veers off over the rocks so we called it quits and got the wine out instead. 22 March - Victor Harbor to Adelaide At last the sun is shining today.  The campsite had advised us that they had a children's life saving course on in which there will be 3000 children on Port Elliott beach so we packed up, had a coffee down the road and went back across the highway to Middleton Beach, which is supposed to be the best surf beach in South Australia.  The surf did look pretty good with lots of surfers out on the water but there was lots of seaweed so it wasn't the prettiest beach.  Nevertheless we got a few hours chill out time bathing in the sun. At 4pm we peeled ourselves off the beach and set off for the 80km drive up to Adelaide.  As we reached the top of the Fleurieu Peninsular we were at the top of Mount Compass and had a crazy 5km downhill road which was pretty cool. We headed straight to the Adelaide Shores Big 4 Campsite which is on West Beach, just in front of the Airport and the City.  They allowed us to stay on one site for $122 for 2 nights.  This turned out not only to be the best campsite yet but also the cheapest.  The campsite has modern toilet and shower blocks, a huge kitchen and a few swimming pools.  And the best part was the beach.  We each grabbed a beer and walked down to the shore and watched the sun set over the beautiful calm ocean. 23 March - Adelaide This morning we woke up to rain.  Our planned day on the gorgeous beach was a no go.  Instead, we got the bus into the city to explore.  We mooched around in the shops buying souvenirs to send home then we had a pretty awful lunch at Daniels Restaurant on the terrace.  With the City of Adelaide not having anything else to offer we spent the afternoon on a pub crawl.  It was nice to chill out and catch up with my parents hearing funny stories about them starting their life together. Dinner consisted of a Maccas and KFC and a taxi back to the campsite. 24 March - Adelaide Our time with my parents has come to an end.  Today they leave for Perth for a few days for some well needed sunshine and relaxation before heading home.  We have had an awesome 16 days driving over 2500km from Sydney to Melbourne, across the Great Ocean Road and up to Adelaide. The morning seemed all a bit rushed whilst trying to hang on to our last few hours together.  We had breakfast in the camp cafe then before we knew it we dropped off their van and then dropped them off at the airport.  We all had a bit of a teary hug goodbye.  This will be the first time ever when I do not know when I will next see them.  On each of our trips before they have always had a plan to meet us but now with our future plans unknown we can't really plan their next visit which will most likely be in New Zealand.  We were so rushed we didn't even get one last photo together. Feeling sad we spent the rest of the afternoon in the van watching The Walking Dead.  My brother had sent out a hard drive full of movies and tv series to get us through the long evenings ahead. Tomorrow we will be heading up the coast to start our long journey across the Nullarbor to Western Australia, on our own. A la perchoine, Jodie and Shaun x

Leave Blank:Do Not Change:

Your email: