Adelaide to Portland

Saturday 27th January
We collect our camper van and are lucky enough to be given a box of goodies from a Dutch couple returning their van and flying home today. Only 4 years old and a Mercedes with automatic gear box, Jim is very happy with our new temporary home which drives very nicely, and copes with the bumpy road surfaces. We visit Hahndorf, a picturesque German town but by now it is so hot at 40 degs, so we buy some sausages and wraps and head off. We saw some emus in a field and one kangaroo (couldn't stop and take photos of him).
We drove all the way to Robe, on the coast, but struggled to find a site as we

hadn't booked and, unlike Europe, the site offices closed at 5pm. Eventually we found a site without a locked gate and drove in. Again nobody there to help so we just chose a spot and settled in. The site manager did eventually appear - he had been on the beach. We said we were staying one night and all was fine. We cooked our supper on a camp barbeque and it was delicious. We slept well as the site was very peaceful.

Sunday, 28th January
Next morning we walked to the beach before breakfast but, as it was rocky, we didn't swim and walked back to the site for breakfast. By now the temperature had already gone from 20 up to 30. We drove 110kms to Naracoote and decided to visit the World Heritage Caves just to get out of the 42deg heat. A steady 17 in the caves. Our site was at the Bellwether Winery and we a good welcome from Steve and Mabel, the Australian sheep dog. With only one other van on the site we pitched where there was a bit of shade, near a Eucalpytus tree which was constantly shedding bark and

leaves. The air was like being blasted by a hair dryer on full power. It was seriously hot. We had a snooze in a couple of hammocks swung between some trees with the sheep wandering around us, but eventually had to take cool showers as the heat was unbearable. Steve, who calls himself a Boutique Wine Maker, did his training in France and travels the world visiting other wineries. He gave us a wine tasting session in the old building which was once a sheep shearing shed. At least it was cooler in there. The wine was delicious and we bought a couple of bottles. Jim needed to watch the last ODI cricket match so we headed 15kms into Penola and settled in the Royal Oak Hotel. Just one other couple were eating there, and they were British too and keen on cricket. We were asked to leave at 9pm as the restaurant staff wanted to go home. It was still well over 30 and our van was like an oven. We put on the air con to cool it down but it doesn't work very well and didn't help that much. With a breeze it was actually a bit cooler outside. Then what a noise. A group of Kookaburras were having a party in the tree above us and the laughter and chatter was incredible. But they soon

settled down once it got dark. We were delighted to find the cricket on the van radio and listened to a very exciting finish to enable England to go 4-1 up in the ODI series - revenge for the Ashes! We had to sleep with all the doors and windows open so were lucky there were only a couple of mosquitoes that bothered us. We didn't actually sleep that well, for obvious reasons.

Monday, 29th January
What a difference a night makes! The temperature has dropped massively - at least 20 degrees. It is also cloudy and quite windy. We drove through Coonawarra, passing beautiful vineyards along the way, many with very recognisable names. We stopped at Mount Gambier to look at the famous Blue Lake - but it was very cool and we needed to hunt out our jumpers. The roadside scenery was pretty boring and we didn't stop until we got to Portland - 190kms from Bellwether. It was only 19 degrees when we went into the Information centre and, seeing a cosy cafe, decided to stop there for lunch and plan our stop for that night. The lady at the tourist info counter told

us of a nice site just out of town, so we thought we would give it a go. The site has a lot of rather ramshackle caravans which are now permanently positioned with add-on sheds, but we were delighted with some of the residents. There is a whole colony of koalas here up in the trees - some with babies on their backs. There is no turning away and going to another site when we have koalas for company. How lucky are we! We popped into the town for a wander but the weather deteriorated into rain and we walked around for an hour but then came back. We saw a wallaby on the grass verge but he hopped away as soon as he heard the word "photo". So, from being in an oven last night, tonight we are in a washing machine with rain water running down the windows. I wonder if the koalas huddle together when it rains? I need to take a closer look!