Denise and Barry's Caravan Travels: Port Lincoln - Port Augusta - Morgan - Mildura

Last Monday we headed off towards Port Lincoln which is at the tip of the Eyre Peninsular, stopping on the way to look at Murphys Haystacks, which are large granite structures in the middle of a field. It was a pleasant tip, the day was sunny with patchy cloud we passed acres of florescent paddocks of Canola and many rocky paddocks with fences made from the limestone rocks.We arrived at Port Lincoln before lunch and made our way to the Port Lincoln Tourist Park, which had uninterrupted water views from most sites, leaving the van we headed into town where we had a very enjoyable Chinese meal. After lunch we explored the town and was amazed at the size and number of fishing boats that were moored in the marina. We also ferreted out a fresh fish outlet where again we indulged in the fresh oysters from Coffin Bay, and could not go past the flat head fillets which we enjoyed that night.

We had a nice early start the next morning due to my error in the time zones, I had been watching Sunrise and it was being broadcast 30 minutes ahead of the SA time. Thinking I was getting up at 7.30am when it was really only 7am, thought there was something wrong with my watch! The scenery heading north towards Port Augusta was beautiful green paddocks, and again acres of Canola. We were about 70klms south of Cowell, when Baz and I heard a loud gush of escaping air, thinking it was a blown tyre we quickly pulled into the side of the road only to find that all the tyres were fine. Baz next checked the air pressure in the air bags, again no problems there, back in the car was another matter as when starting the engine we had a loud fan noise coming from the drivers. Baz next checked under the bonnet and found that a hose had come off the turbo, so lucky, he was able to connect the hose back on and tighten the clamp, it would have been a long wait for RAC. We stopped at Cowell for lunch before continuing on and the landscape changed from lush futile paddocks to baron saltbush plains.We spent the night at the caravan and motorhome park at the cricket/football club only $7 for the night. We went for a walk to the local bowls club where we were talked into have a roll up with a couple of the locals. It was the first time we have had the bowls out of the car since leaving home four months ago, it was good feeling to be back on the green, hopefully we will get another couple of chances before getting home and the start of pennant. That evening we went to the cricket/football club and enjoyed a nice meal along with another two Tasmanian couples.

The next day we were on the road early again heading towards Victoria, we stopped for lunch at the Historic Riverside town of Morgan, when Baz was checking the wheels on the van he found that one was quiet a bit warmer than the other three. We thought it best to book into the caravan park there and chase up a mechanic who said he would come to us the next morning. We waited patiently all morning trying his mobile to no avail, so Baz decided he would check things out himself. The bearings all seemed fine so after some tender loving care he put the wheel back on and took the van for a test run, without any problems. Thinking now that it must have been a sticking brake shoe.

After stopping another night at Morgan we set off to cross the SA/Vic border taking us to Mildura. Stopping along the way to eat a punnet of strawberries and our last apple as we were coming into a fruit fly free zone. Upon arrival at Mildura we crossed the bridge into NSW and booked into the Buronga Riverside Caravan Park, a very nice park right on the river. As we pulled into our site we were greeted by Alan a fellow Jurgens Caravan owner, who we had met on the road last year at Charters Towers and also in Cairns. It solved the problem of whom we were going to spend happy hour with.

After bidding farewell to Alan & June this morning we crossed back into Mildura and stopped at the shopping centre to get our live longer pills, a top up of our grog supplies and replenish our fruit and veg. Then it was off towards Swan Hill needing to use the window wipers occasionally and stopping for the night at Nyah where there is a free camp right beside the river about 25klms from Swan Hill. Also camped here are the two Tasmanian motorhome travellers that we had met in Port Augusta.