Playing in the park
Michael’s longest road trip for club soccer was today to Portland in western Victoria. Read more
The Lazy Journalist’s Plane Story Generator
Courtesy of Aussie Bloggers Forum, this story generator is a bit of fun:
Adelaide passengers told of their terror aboard a Melbourne bound Qantas flight which was required to return to Adelaide yesterday due to large bits falling off.
Some passengers were distraught that the 309 passengers were told few details of the catastrophe.
They said the plane “porpoised like a dolphin chasing small fish” before turning around.
As a precaution, fire trucks were on standby when the Airbus Concorde landed.
Passenger Bob Kobb last night was still recovering from the ordeal.
“I wasn’t so much worried for myself, but for my children losing their only parent,” the passenger said.
Quite topical given the recent Qantas flight losing bits in mid air over the Philippines.
What would I do if I could?
I’ve had trouble getting motivated to write here for a while. It’s not that I’ve been unproductive or away from the computer … the main reason is probably that I’m spending a lot of time updating content on The Border Watch website.
I’d love to be logging on here telling you about my latest adventure; that I’m half way through cycling the silk road, currently drinking a refreshing cup of yak’s milk in Kyrgyzstan.
Alas, it is nose to the grindstone stuff. Read more
Princess Margaret Rose Cave
This picture shows the Glenelg River near the Princess Margaret Rose Cave in Western Victoria about 25km from Mount Gambier.
The picture to the left shows my princess Margaret in the cave that was named after the Queen’s sister.
We visited there today and really enjoyed the experience, right on our doorstep, just 20 minutes away across the border.
The cave was first discovered in 1936. The local landowners were curious about a hole in the ground and one was lowered down by rope with just some matches and a candle.
We saw the hole today and can’t believe the risk they took. The ranger explained to us that animals were known to fall down the hole, and the cave at that time was inhabited by snakes! Read more
South Australia’s top 10 destinations
I was talking to a tourism industry leader last week and asked him what was South Australia’s top tourism attraction for interstate and international visitors outside Adelaide.
He surprised me by saying it was Kangaroo Island. I thought it should have been Mount Gambier’s Blue Lake, but imagined it was probably the Barossa Valley.
He said there were studies to confirm Kangaroo Island’s status. I’ve been there (admittedly for work) but didn’t think it was anything special. Read more
Blackfellows Caves
The final picture in today’s travel series is of Blackfellows Caves between Carpenter Rocks and Port MacDonnell near Mount Gambier. Read more
Exploring Port MacDonnell
We’re determined to visit a new place in the Mount Gambier district every weekend. Today we drove 28km to Port MacDonnell, the southernmost town in South Australia, population 650.
It was proclaimed a port in 1860. Ships anchored a mile out to sea and supplies were taken by launch to and from the jetty.
We saw a stone race where sheep were washed before being taken aboard.
Port MacDonnell has a village feel with a good mix of historic buildings and modern homes. There’s a hotel, bakery, cafe and a couple of seafood shops. Read more
Arrival in Mount Gambier
We now feel that we have arrived properly in Mount Gambier. The previous stopover to unload was brief and included a night without power.
In between times we drove another 1200km to visit my parents. Dad was at home, and pleased to see us, but obviously unwell.
We just heard he was admitted to hospital again today, so it was nice and lucky to spend some time with him in the home environment instead.
Some random observations from the trip in no particular order:
- Traralgon is bigger every time I go there.
- There are a lot of Africans in the Latrobe Valley now. I can’t recall any when I was growing up there in the 70s.
- I drove on the new Pakenham bypass for the first time.
- It’s 580km from Mount Gambier to Moe. The journey took six and a half hours with one stop.
- There is no sign between Mount Gambier and Hamilton on the South Australian side to mark the state border.
Oversize vehicles on the road
I mentioned in the previous post about crossing the Nullarbor that I saw a large number of oversize vehicles on the road.
I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say we saw about 40 or so between Norseman and Port Augusta in two days.
I can’t recall seeing any on my previous crossing in January 2006. Read more
Crossing the Nullarbor
We successfully crossed the Nullarbor in two cars with four kids and arrived safely today in Moonta Bay on Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.
We’re resting here a couple of days while waiting for our furniture to catch up. We’ll head to Mount Gambier on Thursday and unpack on Friday.
We bought a house in Moonta Bay last year and will inspect it on Wednesday.
The trip across the Nullarbor was my second. Here are some observations and impressions: Read more
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