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. 

tasmania: cradle mountain caravan park

The landscape quickly changed and the sides of the road were vegetated with alpine plants on the drive to Cradle Mountain. The aircon in the car was on fresh and the smell of the damp forest blasting through the vents was intoxicating. The kids have been singing Travelling Wilburys' songs in the car & Baby A is really enjoying his new view. 

The Discovery Park (Big 4) at Cradle Mountain has unpowered sites for about $35 per night and a camp kitchen to beat all camp kitchens. 

We took a while deciding on the position of the caravan at this site which is a very private site surrounded by trees and mossy logs. It's simply stunning. 

NW Tassie: hellyer gorge and philosopher falls

Hellyer Gorge 

Philosopher Falls 

B, P and I drove west of Waratah toward Savage River in search of Philosopher Falls which we'd heard was about 10km out of town. This was about as much as we knew. The right hand turnoff came up quickly and we drove down a scrubby track with a canopy with just enough of a clearing to accommodate the truck with the bikes on the roof. 

We were soon amongst thick Tarkine Rainforest. The walking sign indicated a 1.5hr return walk, easy grade. No distance was indicated on the sign and I wondered if the children would make it there and back without complaint. 

The kids had a ball playing hide and seek amongst dense Tarkine rainforest. 

On the return I told them the story of the kids on a search for theTassie tiger. It would be special if the creature did exist somewhere in the thick forests of the north west.