Epiblog
As most of you know Trox and I are back in the states. I wanted to come "home" and so we decided to leave Bunyip in storage and come back to the states for a year. We will return to Australia next May or June and continue our travels. Our final trip ended in the Adelaide area. We had to return to Melbourne to fly to the states so we took the train after dropping Bunyip off at his temporary home. When we return we hope to go up the center of Australia to the Darwin area (through Alice Springs and via Ayers Rock) and then west to the coast and southward to Perth. I'm thinking that will take about 4 months ending in Perth when the wild flowers will be spectacular. From there who knows. As you can see from the following maps we really only scratched the surface to this huge beautiful country. We did about 10,000 miles during the 9 months we were there. The next trip will be way more than 10,000 because of the huges distances from north to south but will not take as long as there isn't much to see or do in the inland areas. So this is goodby on this blog until next year when we return. I will let you all know when we head back down under.

The final trip in South Australia

As you can see we didn't
even scratch the surface

Decision Reached

10 June 2011
A consensus has been reached; plans have been made; tickets purchased; and logistics figured. In other words - we know our next destination. In the meantime we have made a number of day trips from Carol and Robin's and are now out for four days or so traveling the Yorke Peninsula.

12 June 2012
Before leaving for the Yorke Peninsula we made some day trips. One was to Hallett Cove north of Carol and Robin's. There are kilometers of boardwalk there along the cliffs above the shoreline in and around some pretty amazing geological formations. We spent a number of hours walking around looking at the rocks and the sea and the birds. Boardwalk makes for very easy walking even when having to go up and down.

Glacier waters melting and freezing
along with erosion make for spectacular formations

known as the sugar loaf

we had been watching this raptor
for awhile when he took off

the boardwalks go on forever

We also went to Willunga where I explored the town and walked part of the rail trail and Trox made a 55k ride along the same trail. We also checked out Myponga Beach - the closest one to Carol and Robin's.

Myponga Beach

On Yorke Peninsula we stopped at a caravan park the first night in Port Victoria. An orange tom was working all the people looking for suckers and handouts.

Finished my milk now wondering
if you have anything interesting

May I come in?

Oh, this is an exciting place to explore!

We stopped for lunch a little further down the peninsula where we were able to watch the birds and walk the beach.

This guy was sitting on the light pole

The gulls kept harassing him but he wouldn't leave

We went on down to the tip of the Peninsula for the second night where we stayed in the Innes National Park at the Pondalowie Well Campground where we were the only campers. Next day we hiked out to one of the light houses in the park.

the scalloped cliff edges were cool

this light house is stainless steel!

360 degree view near lighthouse

the water was amazingly clear

the wind and water can make wonderful rock formations

We spent last night at Hillocks Drive camp area way up on a bluff. Hillocks Drive is an old homestead with about 15 kilometers of water front that has been fenced off to control access. We were in a camp area with no one else in sight with wonderful views.

View from our back window of Hillocks Drive

Bunyip at Hillocks Drive

Tonight we are in a caravan park in Port Wakefield. Tomorrow will find us once more at Carol and Robin's where we will stay one night and then on the 14th we start the next phase of our trip.

That brings me full circle to our decision, plans, etc. We leave on an airplane the 14th for Melbourne and then on the 18th we head back to the U.S. where we will arrive in New Mexico on the 18th. Bunyip is going to stay at a very nice storage facility where they will plug him in once a week or so and start him every fortnight. He will await our return next May when we will head north towards Darwin through Alice Springs via Ayers rock.

And so this blog comes to a close with just one more update to let you know we have arrived stateside safely. Thanks for following us and keeping in touch.

Where should we go next?

2 June
We made it to Carol and Robin's on Monday the 30th. They have a wonderful place. About 105 acres with beautiful views of the Myponga reservoit to one direction and Bay St. Vincent to the other. There home is very nice and they have updated a 150 year-old cottage into a guest's quarters. Carol is a fantastic hostess and exceptional cook. Tuesday Trox made a ride around the area and I went into town with Carol.

spotted in front of Carol and Robin's

Yesterday we all went in together and saw the house they are building in the city and then up to the top of Mount Lofty where Adelaide stretched out below us. There we did a short walk and then drove to Hahndorf where we played tourists walking along the Main Street window shopping.

Today Trox and I are making a short excursion back along the coast to see some things we missed but will return to C and R's for the night. We don't know for sure how long we will stay with C and R and are not sure what we will do when we leave here - head north? west? or east? Not south - that is for sure.

3 June
Our excursion yesterday started at Second Valley where the geology is amazing. The rocks actually resemble beautifully grained wood.

walking along beautiful cliffs

One of the coves at Second Valley

rock? wood?

From Second Valley we went into Victor Harbor and walked out to Granite Island. You can either walk the 700 meter jetty from the mainland to the island or you can take a horse drawn tram. We elected to walk both ways but the tram looked like fun.

the tram

a covey of quail spotted on the island

Umbrella rock - one of the many granite formations

walking back along the jetty

Catching up:
On the way to Carol and Roger's after crossing the Murray we stopped at Middleton to watch the surfers. The water had an algae because of all the fresh water the Murray has dumped in the sea this year. It made the water look muddy.

surfers heading out to the "muddy" water

riding the waves

Kind of weird watching big brown ugly waves roll in on the sea. We spent the night at Rapid Bay which was very isolated and a beautiful place to be. Rapid Bay is supposed to be great for jetty scuba diving and the home of Leafy Sea Dragons.

the jetty at Rapid Bay

Rapid Bay

The campground wasn't very crowded

Monarch butterflies all over

When leaving Rapid Bay the next morning we worked our way south to Port Jervis where there is a ferry that runs to Kangaroo Island and a big wind farm. We were able to get upclose and personal with one of the windmills before heading back north to Carol and Robins.

up close and personal with a windmill

bunyip at a lookout

the damn wall right before Carol and Robin's