south australia: limestone coast, coorong

We spent the night in a campsite on the beach at Wright's Beach just out of Robe. It cost $13 for the five of us for the night and has basic toilets. The beauty of this spot is that it is a stones throw from the beach which is reef for almost as far as the eye can see. 

It used to be a great spot for crays but the word from fishermen is that there aren't as many fish of crays due to the winds.

Another afternoon of driving and we made it to the Coorong - a wilderness area like nothing we've yet seen on this trip. The place is famous for the setting of Colin Thiele's Storm Boy in 1967.  

There are a few free camps in the area but we chose to camp at Parnca Point 2 which cost us $8 for the night. There are no facilities and I'd urge visitors to take their rubbish and grey water with them. Given that you're right on the water it would be shameful if grey water seeped in to the sanctuary. 

We spotted another four emus on the way in to Parnca - two on each side of the car which was great for the kids to see. 

We slept by the river with the sounds of the pounding ocean over the dunes a kilometre or so away. The night was clear and waters sparkly. 

Just a few J's down the Princes Highway  and there's a shed where you can buy the famous Coorong mullet ($25 for a big kilo & caught a day prior) or a rabbit ($10 skinned and frozen) if you fancy. 

You simply need to buzz the door bell and Shane, "a real bushy," flies down the paddock in his ute, dogs in tow. 

It was here, at the shed, that we met two more new friends, grey nomads, who were returning to their home on the outskirts of Adelaide. We ended up crossing the Murray, by ferry at Wellington and having lunch with them in Strathalbyn. 

Just as we were coming in to Langhorne Creek, through the wineries, we spotted a gorgeous little free camping spot, Franks Potts Reserve. It was only a 100m walk to a cellar door and 200m to a little brewery too.

Strathalbyn had a great store, the Old Market Shed which has been there for years but which sells a great range of local produce- cheeses, milks, preserves & pickles, olive oils, fruit & veg and other nuts, seeds and flours in bulk. You can grab coffee grounds and beans and fresh coffee too. I resisted stopping for lunch or some of the amazing-looking homemade carrot cake though. 

victoria: port fairy

We've fallen in love with the quaint town of Port Fairy. As her name suggests she's perched on the water. Sailing boats line her shores and cows graze in paddocks a few blocks away. 

We spent a while deciding where we'd stay. There's a caravan park positioned nicely behind the dunes on the southern side of town (which has some sites that would be protected from southerlies) but we finally decided to stay at the Big 4. We think that it's important that the kids get time in these places socialising with other kids too. Plus there's a jumping pillow, mini golf, three playgrounds, a movie room, a games room and an indoor heated pool. The kids can ride their bikes within the park too. 

J treated me with some "me time" so i rode in to town - just as hundreds of road cyclists finished the final leg of a tour of Victoria. I felt like a bit of a fraud because it took me all of six minutes to cycle from the caravan park. 

A local gave me a tip for where to find coffee. As with some places it can depend on who is behind the machine but Slitti is known for producing consistently good coffee, not to mention homemade chocolates & raw/pales treats and tasty sandwiches. I treated myself to a particular good slice of chai cheesecake. 

The kids spent the morning making their way through the various activities at the CP but we jumped on the bikes to the little lighthouse on the point past the mutton bird colony. This is a pretty flat ride but a picturesque one. You can ride down the path by the water for a lot of the way.

It was magic weather for it. 

These two spotted some seagulls and they're signing "bird."

victoria: great ocean road

From Bimbi, Cape Otway, we headed west towards Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road. 

This country is quite remarkable. You can be driving through the dense coastal shrub and rainforest ten minutes later, through farmlands and back on the coast with views like the Twelve Apostles (of which there are now only eight). 

I feel so lucky to be seeing so much of Australia. We've already seen so much and there is plenty more to see. 

victoria: the great ocean road, bimbi park, cape otway

Where do you get your travel tips from? 

I've got a scrap book and we've written down suggestions from Facebook caravan and camping pages, from friends, from travel guides and we also use ideas of people we meet on the road. 

Our new friends (whom we met at Kennett River) suggested that we stay at Bimbi Park in Otway National Park - near Cape Otway. This was a magic place. And so interesting. 

What would you say if I told you that as you drive to the Cape you pass through acres of dying forest due to koala habitation? It's a skeleton forest really. 

Cape Otway grounds costs $20/adult to enter and it's a great day out for a family. The money is going towards the establishment of a permanent dinosaur museum on the site. Fossils were discovered nearby. While the lighthouse is the dominant structure, the headland also houses other buildings - a telegraph station, accommodation, cafe, bunkers. There is evidence of the site being used as a place where people have gathered to eat for thousands of years. As well as Indigenous links the place has a dark history of shipwrecks and (mis)adventure. The coastline is known as Shipwreck Coast for a reason.

Ever since I spent weekends at Greencape Lighthouse (near Eden) as a child I've been fascinated by lighthouse communities. What sort of characters worked in those isolated conditions? I imagine eccentrics and resilient people and families. 

I loved the book, The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman and I've just picked up a secondhand copy of The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. 

Bimbi Park is a beautiful park which has sites for campers, caravans (water limited) and cabins. There's a camp kitchen, laundry, amenities and a playground for the kids. 

victoria: torquay farmer's market

Another bit of serendipity lead us to Torquay. 

I'd remembered that Mamacino (food blogger extraordinare) had a stall at Torquay Farmer's Markets (which run every Saturday) so I planned around the markets. It suited us because we also needed to stock up on fresh fruit and veg, snacks for the car and a few frozen meals for when we arrive at a site in the afternoon. 

Mamacino has stopped her weekly stall but not her enthusiasm for good food and local produce so we met at the market anyway. 

With barely two dozen (lots of organic) stalls this little market is a gem! I had so much fun chatting with local farmers. And met Sarah who's running Eat Local Month in the area. They have so many fun things coming up in April so if you're in the area, look them up!

I also managed to pick up some great stuff including coriander, parsley, basil (huge branch) - all $2, the sweetest strawberries, dried bananas, hamburgers, homemade pies & pastries for the freezer, goats cheese, fresh bread, lamb shanks and lamb mince. I grabbed a big bag of apples for $5. We can't get enough after Tassie. 

Yesterday I transformed the mince, using my $2/kg tomatoes into a few pies - think moussaka/kafta filling topped with mashed potato. These will be easy to reheat and serve with salad or veggies. 

I couldn't resist these vego rice paper rolls with seaweed from the Tastes of Tibet stand. If you like this type of food you'd love these. Oh man. Smothered in house made chilli sauce. I'm still dreaming of them. She does dumplings too. 

And then I met Annette. She whips up some tasty treats for the markets. Our kids couldn't be dragged away from the samples. I don't blame them. Check out her Afghans! J and I sneaked a couple of Annette's finest homemade Monte Carlo's for the next leg of the trip. I'll be dreaming of those buttery, jammy delights for some time yet. 

It is so good to see the community getting behind local farmer's markets. I'm much happier knowing that our money went to farmers thriving to provide healthier food with safer farming practices for the long-term good of the environment. I'm pleased that our cash supports someone like Annette who bakes like a mad thing & gets to the markets early for the love of it. 

Our money was so well spent and the bottom line is that I'm pleased our $150 didn't go to either of the big two supermarkets that dominate the market. 

victoria: great ocean road, otway NP, kennett river

Our kids are so lucky (though they don't quite appreciate it yet). We've seen more koalas in the past week than we've seen in J and my lifetimes combined. 

We had booked four days in Kennett River with dear friends but unfortunately they were unable to come at the last minute. It was something we'd all been so looking forward to but these things happen. 

We decided to go anyway. Kennett River CP is well protected in southerlies. The beach was great for our kids and we had the park almost to ourselves after the weekend. 

We also met some really lovely locals - who we ended up staying with for two nights! It's amazing being on this adventure. We just don't know what each day will hold and we know we'll stay in contact with our new friends. 

One eventful (and very wet) evening, on our return from Lorne for dinner, we pulled over because a koala was sipping from a puddle on the side of the road, and making its way closer and closer to the road. We hesitated but decided to move it. A few people stopped to help persuade it to move (unsuccessfully) but a local pulled over, grabbed it by its rump & the back of the neck and took it off in to the bush. Despite what we'd predicted the koala wasn't fazed at all and certainly not aggressive. 

victoria: mount franklin reserve

There are some places that we visit that we'll never forget - Buchan (Vic), Boat Harbour Beach (Tas), Bay of Fires (Tas), Cradle Mountain (Tas) to name a few. 

Mount Franklin Reserve is another place to add to the list - a free camp - which we found in Camps 8. In paddocks, just out of Castlemaine, is an extinct volcano and within it is Mount Franklin Reserve. There are toilets but otherwise campers need to take home rubbish & have their own water. 

The sites are under towering pines and it's absolutely beautiful. The kids & J enjoyed a short walk around the top of the volcano and playing hide and seek in the forest. 

I'm sure there'd be times when this is very busy. 

victoria: hepburn springs, sovereign hill

Many teacher friends of mine have taken school groups to Sovereign Hill which is hardly surprising. It's an enjoyable educational experience for kids and adults. The Sovereign Hill experience really is a step back in to the time of the gold rush. Characters from a town - a doctor, a sweet maker, a blacksmith, people trying their luck in search of gold and others - interact with visitors. 

Our kids loved visiting the blacksmith, the lolly shop and panning for gold in the creek which runs through the property. We also watched as gold was poured (all $140k worth), had a ride on a horse and carriage and watched a demonstration by red coats. 

This easier free camp for the night. We found out later that it was wrongly identified on a map and isn't a public place but we were able to stay. 

tasmania: bakers beach

We arrived at Narawntapu NP in the afternoon during the week and it was deathly quiet. There were three or four campervans and caravans spread throughout Bakers Beach where we decided to pull up for two nights before our trip back across the Strait. 

The brochures suggest that you can spend twilight with the wombats, pademelons and wallabies. You probably can if you don't bring your own heard to little (loud, enthusiastically loud) people along. Needless to say, we enjoyed searching for the elusive wombats! 

Remember that rainbow trout J (literally) caught at the caravan park at Launceston? It went on our smoker tonight on the Weber on she-oak (Casurina) chips. As it took a while for the smoker to start the flavour was subtle & perfect for the moist morsels. Thank you fishy. And thank you husband for catching & cooking it. 

These were those Fresh Water Oysters cooked with locally made Worchestire Sauce and Bok's Bacon from Tassie. So good but so different from natural. 

Bakers Beach is a great getaway. We find that in the freecamps there's little pressure to do anything. A walk is usually on the itinerary and then there's the obligatory tinkering of the truck or the van  while I prepare meals but we are forced to relax so much more than in CPs. I haven't yet worked out why that is. 

victoria: melbourne castlemaine mount franklin

Farewell Tassie! We will be back! 

We had a crazy what-could-have-been-disastrous moments when we disembarked the Spirit of Tasmania. We'd planned out route out of Melbourne, avoiding the CBD, when, as we approached a bridge J, thankfully, noticed the CLEARANCE 3.0M sign. And was able to stop twenty metres before the bridge. Luckily, whilst there was a steady stream of traffic, rush hour wasn't in full swing. 

The CB radio comes in so handy in times like these and I jumped from the truck to check the traffic behind the van. We were able to wait for a break in the traffic and do a u-turn. That got the heart pumping! 

First stop was breakfast and I'd opened my Broadsheet app the night before to plan ahead. I hadn't been to Zaatar on Sydney Rd in Coburg before but this place made us a mean coffee and amazing pizzas (think Lebanese Gozleme with fluffy dough) for breakfast. 

"Okay - we'll have a second coffee. Why not?"

Our boy noticed a man with a cowboy hat grooving to the music and he decided he'd draw a portrait of him. After a few minutes B stood up and took it over to the man. He was so pleased to have received the drawing that he presented B with a $5 note. Rarely have I seen B floored but he was. His face glowed and it was so lovely.

P quickly grabbed a texta and went about making her own portrait of the gentleman. 

Sometimes in life there's a sense of 'meant to be.' Do you remember last year when I flew to Melbourne and J met me there to collect the caravan? 

It was when J walked in to the Brooklyn Arts Hotel dining room that he first noticed Maralinga Test Dummy - a bronze by the very talented Craig MacDonald. J was instantly taken by the sculpture and we decided that we'd buy him and take him home. 

Maralinga Man (as we call him) rode in the kid's car seat for most of the way to Sydney. 

When we spoke to Craig over the phone about his artwork we said we'd like to see his studio near Castlemaine at some stage. Well, we found ourselves with a day and a night to spare and we wanted to get out of the city. 

The Foundry is Craig's studio and where he casts bronze for other artists and we had a ball visiting him. 

As a side project he and chef, Helen have gone in to the business of..... making ice- cream! True story! 

Ice cream Social does the rounds of festivals but they plan to expand and open a shopfront. Watch this space for the ice-cream that will give Messina a run for its money. 

Spaceman enjoyed pistachio, lime coconut, vanilla gold digger (with real gold), salted caramel, cherry Shiraz and peach & raspberry sorbet. 

tasmania: launceston

We were reluctant to head back in to town after our stay at Bay of Fires but the time came to refill the water tanks (2 x 95 litres) and find a dump point. I'd never paid attention to dump point signs until this trip! 

J planned a morning walk from town to Cataract Gorge. Naturally I planned a visit to the providore enroute to stock up on local ham, cheese & fresh Manu bread. Throw in a few of those Lucaston apples (love the IGAs in this state) and you have yourself a picnic! 

The Mill Providore is a stones throw from Kings Bridge in Launceston (& I dare you to walk out empty handed) where you can park and begin the 15 minute walk to the Gorge. If it's hot take swimmers as there's a pool. The chairlift can take you across or you can rock hop or take the path along to the suspended bridge. It's an easy walk for kids or those who aren't keen on an arduous outing. In other words, you won't burn off the cheese you've just eaten! 

As it's close to town we stayed at Old Mac's Farm which offers unpowered sites (with water) along the banks of trout ponds for $10/n. J paid $20 extra to fish from the ponds. This was the scene just moments before he hooked a fish.... 

And dramatically tackled it in the reeds when it flipped off the hook! He wasn't going to let it get away!! 

I'd read good things about the food in Launceston so we made the most of the two days we had. 

Stillwater is a posh cafe downstairs from the Mill Providore. We were squeezed in but couldn't entirely relax despite our children being well behaved. The granola was INCREDIBLE but it might be a nicer place to eat with friends without children! 

With so much great produce in Tassie it's hard to go a day without being inspired to cook. I made Anni's walnut, apple & spice biscuits with Lucaston Apples, Coaldale Walnuts & added some Diemen Native Pepperberry for a bit of bite!

http://missmayblossom.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/anni-walnut-apple-biscuits.html?m=1

I didn't have the Thermomix going so I melted the butter on the stove and added the rest of the ingredients to the saucepan (off the heat). 

I sometimes wish we lived in a house and didn't have a weight limit. The Mill Store supplies Tassie with freshly milled flours & in large quantities!

A visit to Alps and Amici was the last thing on my list for Launceston. I went there for coffee beans, completely forgot, and came back with more Manu Bread, Bok's Bacon, the sweetest corn, sweet potato, pears & Tassie snow peas for $6/kg! And two double-shot flat whites. These were some of the best coffees we've had in Tassie. And there were so many more temptations in-store but we just couldn't squeeze it all in! 

The Glenbarry Bush Maze is a short 45 minute drive from Launceston. It was a natural place for us to stop for lunch on the way to Narantapu National Park. The kids loved the maze and the giant games & puzzles set out within the grounds. You can enjoy a coffee while the kids play. 

tasmania: bay of fires

These were the recipes we used for the squid and the mackerel. Reknowned for being an oily fish it was perfect for the bbq. We had our trusty Weber on hand.

On the road there are times when it's just us and the kids but we've met quite a few lovely people including other families travelling with their kids. 

At Bay of Fires we met two families one if whom we sat chatting in to the night and then had a fry up the next morning. The other family we met had a little girl who shares the same birthday with our youngest. These guys brought champagne and salad to our feast of squid and mackerel.  

Have you eaten mackerel? How was it cooked?

Squid on bbq 

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/32665/barbecued+salt+and+pepper+squid

Mackerel 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4465/barbecued-mackerel-with-ginger-chilli-and-lime-dri