Day 14 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Hello, hello! How is everyone today? GB & I are a little weary as we were back on the road today. We're gradually making our way home to QLD over the next few days because they insist that we have to go back to being grown ups next week. SIGH! 

So this morning we bid farewell to the Adelaide Hills to head north, but took time to check out one more attraction along the way ...

A giant rocking horse. It's a bit hard to see in the pic, but below the front leg there's a normal size rocking horse to compare it to. You wouldn't want to fall off! 😜 Then it was driving, driving ...

... Til we crossed another state border back into NSW. We're in Broken Hill for two nights ... Which is a bit confusing because even though we're in NSW, we're still on South Australian time. Not seeing the logic ... But then again, day light savings doesn't make any sense to me. 😜 We're looking forward to seeing a couple of sights we missed last visit & catching up with GB's friends. And tomorrow I'll share some pics of the cute cottage we're staying in. 😁 

But right now, the kettle is singing my song. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Day 12 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Happy Tuesday to you all! Brace yourselves ... This is likely to be a shorter-than-usual post. 😁 Really we're at the part of our holiday where we've done most of the things we'd planned to do (& spent most of the play money! 😂) so we're not going very far afield & just taking it a little easier.

Today we took ourselves off to the nearby town of Strathalbyn. We paid a flying visit there last year as we passed through, so decided to have more of a look around. It's a pretty town that is also known to have several antique & collectible shops, so you KNOW I was keen to take a peek! 😜 On our way, we drove past a lovely stone cottage that thousands of people around Australia would be familiar with ... Sophie Thompson of Gardening Australia on ABC lives 'just down the road' from where we're staying. I couldn't get a pic because it was back from the road with lots of lovely gardens blocking most of it & a tour bus blocking the rest! Ah well ... I can now picture what the landscape is like when next I watch GA. 😁

On arriving in Strathalbyn we discovered it's a town that lives for weekends, with a couple of the shops I'd hoped to visit being closed except for the weekend. SIGH! But we DID manage to find a couple! 😜 And, yes ... A few new treasures will be coming home with me. 😁 As well as enjoying shuffling through treasures, we enjoyed driving around the town admiring the lovely stone buildings that are characteristic of this area ...

This is the tourist information office, housed in the old railway station building.

One of the antique shops visited.

A gorgeous church building.

All in all, we had a nice cruisy day ... & enjoyed some delicious macarons at the bakery with our lunch. 😁 

And that's our last play day here in the Adelaide Hills. GB has his work training day in Adelaide tomorrow before we start to wind our way north again on Thursday. SIGH! Neither of us are really ready to go back to our grown up jobs, but I guess we need to so we can start saving for the next holiday. 😝 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Day 11 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Hey-ho everyone! How was your Monday? I hope it was pretty fabulous ... I know mine was. 😁 It's Day 11 of our road trip & today we headed off to see some animals ... The ones who call Gorge Animal Park home. Now, it being a zoo, I'm about to spam you with animal pics, so brace yourself. 😜 We had a warmer, brilliantly sunny day today, which made it very pleasant to meander around the exhibits. First critter greeted was ...

... The lemurs. This guy was just sitting around in the sun, contemplating his tail.

I'd never seen brolgas before ... Only sung about them in an Aussie Christmas song. 😁

This wombat was pretty sweet. He even let us give his head a scratch.

Quokas are known for their 'smile' but this little guy was too busy chowing down. 😜 

Apparently Monday is even too much for gibbons to deal with. 😝 

I actually find camels cute. This one was enjoying a midday siesta.

There were a surprising number of albino wallabies, including some joeys like this little one.

Meerkats on patrol! He was watching a hawk having an argument with the peewees. While we enjoyed all of the animals, the koalas were the stars of the show ...

Just chillin'.

Someone else finding Monday too hard. 😝 The highlight, though, was ... KOALA CUDDLES!! 😍 

This is Ozzie. He sure was a cutie! 😁 

Ozzie being bribed with his fave eucalyptus leaves to pose for the camera. The only other time I've been this close to a koala was when I was about 6 so this was special. 😍 

There were lots more animals to chat to, but they were hard to get pics of. All in all, a nice way to spend a Monday. 😁 More adventures tomorrow, so stay tuned. 😁 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS

KRIS

Day 10 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Did you have a relaxing Sunday? I certainly did. 😁 Day 10 of our road trip & my Aunt & I left the boys at home to do boy things while we drove down from the hills to partake in one of our favourite pastimes ... Shopping! 😝 Our first stop was a farmers' market that I was rather envious of & would love to have within a 15 minute drive of home. We treated ourselves to some yummy hot brekkie treats from one of the food stalls before exploring the fresh produce. My Aunt stocked up on some gluten & lactose free products before we headed off to our next destination ... Glenelg.

Apparently Glenelg is referred to by Adelaide locals as "the bay" & is one of THE places to live by the beach. While I wasn't overly fussed on most of the high rise unit blocks, there were a couple of the original historic homes that would do me nicely. 😜

Look at those chimneys ... & those balconies look like jolly good spots for relaxing with friends & a drink. 😉

You could almost see ladies in long skirts fanning themselves as they listened to the wireless & enjoyed the views ... Views that were pretty spectacular ...

It was a bit cool & still very windy, but that ocean view would be enjoyable in all weathers, I reckon. 😁 We then enjoyed a stroll past the interesting array of shops before heading for home & a Sunday arvo lay-me-down. A very civilised way to spend a Sunday. 😜 Tomorrow's plans are a bit fluid & we'll make a decision based on what the weather throws at us, so stay tuned for the next update of our holiday road trip. 😁 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Day 9 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Hello everyone out there in blogland! I hope you're enjoying your weekend so far ... We certainly are. 😁 Time sure is flying & today is Day 9 of our road trip. Since its still blowing a gale & it's Saturday, we decided it was a good day to find a nice cafe for brunch, so we jumped in the car & headed off to fave spot of my Aunt's which meant winding our way down from the hills ...

It's a bit hard to see in the pic as it was taken though a windscreen decorated with bug guts 😜 but this was the point where we saw the ocean stretching across the horizon ... That was our destination ... Port Noarlunga. After fighting our way through the nasty wind, we found a cosy spot at Cafe Cody for our brunch. Can I just say ...

YUMMO! 😋 And there were lots of GF options, too, so everyone was happy ... & waddled away full. 😜 To help brunch settle, we took a windswept stroll to the beach ...

Aren't the colours magical?! I love the deep teal of the water on a blue-sky day... But you can see by those whitecaps that it wasn't an ideal beach day ... Though there were crazy surfers out there a bit further round! 😳 After a bit of a wander through some fun boutiques & specialty shops, we took a different route home for a change of scenery ... & because the map ap was having hiccups & hissy fits! 😝 A nice cruisy way to spend a Saturday.

Tomorrow GB is staying home to help with a few chores while my Aunt & I are let loose unsupervised! I KNOW! The potential for adventures is HUGE! As is the likelihood that shopping of some kind will be involved! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Day 8 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Aunty Em! Aunty Em!! Bit of a "Wizeard Of Oz" reference for you there from us today because Day 8 of the road trip has seen us just about blown back out of the Adelaide Hills & threatened to land us in Oz ... Wicked witches wearing stripy socks, beware! 😂 Gusty, gale force winds have been blustering around today, so it was a perfect day to enjoy an inside sort of day. As it turned out, we were "Inside" quite a few food & beverage establishments! 😜 Yep ... Foodie Friday! 😝

After making sure we all had only a light breakfast, we took ourselves off to a nearby strawberry farm that has value added to their business with a cafe offering all sorts of delights ... Funnily enough, many featuring strawberries. 😜

So many tasty treats to choose from! But choose we did ...

Here we are with our treats ... MMMMMMMMMMM!! There were some yummy gluten free options for my Aunt & GB & I both decided on ...

... Waffles with fresh strawberries & vanilla ice cream with strawberry coulee drizzled over ... YUMMO! It was the yummiest waffle I have ever had! And the strawberries had so much flavour. You can't beat farm fresh. 😉 Next stop was to a cheese shop where no photos were taken due to a large, pushy group hogging the space. 🙄 We did replenish our cheese supplies, however, before escaping the noisy mob. And as we left, we noticed that the business next door to the cheese shop ... Which is usually only open Saturday & Sunday ... Had its doors open & GB's eyes lit up because it was ...

... A whiskey firm! 😝 Apparently the friendly proprietor was in to do a bit of work, saw quite a few people wandering about & decided to open ... Much to GB's pleasure! 😜

The specialty here was whiskey cocktail blends & a very tasty salted caramel vodka limoncello whiskey blend came home with us! YUMMO! By then it had been a whole hour or two since we'd eaten so we toodled off to a fairly recent, but highly popular, addition to the Hills, Lot 100, which offers ciders, gins, wines & boutique beers produced in the local area, all in one place. Well ... We HAD to try some, right?! 😝 

A toast ... To gluten free pizza that was DEEEEEELICIOUS! 😜 The toasting glass holds green ant gin served with a crushed lemon myrtle leaf & tonic on ice ... Yes ... Green ANT! 😜 And some of the Apple blend ciders on offer are in front. A very good spot to while away the hours on a blowy kind of day. And we timed it well, as we were just finishing up when the power went off due to wind damaged lines ... So we took ourselves off home to act like pythons with full tummies. 😜 Needless to say, dinner was more in the line of a few nibblies. Tee! Hee! Hee! 

Tomorrow we had planned a visit to an animal park, but the nasty blustery weather is set to continue, so Plan "B" will now be put into effect ... You'll have to stay tuned to find out what that entails! 😜 Have a fantastic weekend ... I know we're planning to! 😁 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Day 7 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Rest day?? WHAT rest day?? 😜 We originally thought we'd have a quiet day of hanging out at home today, but like all the best plans ... They changed! 😝 GB was up early this morning to help with a little farm chore ...

Making hay while the sun was shining! 😝 Actually, it was picking up the bales, hoisting them on the ute to be carted to the shed to be stored before predicted storms arrived in the next day or so. They were too far away to show up in this pic, but there were some alpacas watching proceedings with interest, because the hay will be their winter dinner. When all bales were stacked & GB had showered off the sweat & dust, we decided to choose somewhere within a half hour drive to visit so he could stay awake until afternoon nap time. 😜 So we took ourselves off to the Australian Motor Vehicle Museum at Birdwood. Now, I'm not much of a rev-head, & if you ask me what type of car someone drives I'm likely to answer, "blue" or "big red one" 😜 but even I found it interesting. There were some general car displays along with specific vehicles that had played a role in Australia's history & the stories of people & characters who were part of motoring history. Everything from ...

... Classy classics to ...

... 'What were they thinking?!' Models like this one that LOOKED smooth & sophisticated, but had worse mileage than a Sherman tank! 😂 If you're ever playing in the Adelaide Hills I'd recommend a visit, especially if you're with a motoring enthusiast. Just make sure you wear comfy shoes & set aside at least half a day, cos there are a LOT of vehicles to walk around & information to absorb. We then headed home for GB to have his restorative nanny-nap ... Which I think was well earned today. 😜

My Aunt has a day off tomorrow to play tour guide for us, so stay tuned for the next instalment of "Kris & GB's Road Trip Adventures". 😉 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Days 5 & 6 of The 2019 Road Trip!

Hello all! It's the happy travelers checking in again from the Adelaide Hills and both GB & I are enjoying the quiet of my Aunt's rural home. In fact, day 5 of our trip was spent kicking back enjoying ...

... The view from our front deck. Yeah ... It's a tough life! 😜 It was good to have a quiet day after a few days of constant driving, but today, Day 6 of our trip, we were ready for adventures & headed off to the Barossa Valley. Now, since we'd visited the area only last year, there weren't a lot of new spots we wanted to visit, but there were a few we enjoyed enough to return to. Firstly, though, was a fun discovery. When planning our trip we discovered our path to the Barossa led us past ...

The distillery that makes the favourite tipple of my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette ... Applewood Distillery. I MAY have sent Lynette this pic to gloat a little! 😜 The staff were all lovely & friendly, including the guard dachshund. 😉 And we felt obliged to do a bit of a taste test ...

We didn't try ALL of those bottles! We'd never have found our way back to the car! 😂 There was a bit of suspicious clinking from the back seat as we drove off, though! Tee! Hee! Hee! Next stop was a revisit to a fave destination from last year ... Maggie Beer's Farm Shop. I love Maggies philosophy about food & cooking & I've always loved the tv show "The Cook & The Chef" featuring Maggie & her chef friend Simon, so it was fun to see the kitchen where this series was filmed ...

Last visit, this area was chock-a-block with a class/tour, so we didn't get to see it. We stocked up on some of the delicious chutney, jams & sauces that are part of Maggie's range of products & decided to treat ourselves to a late morning tea/early lunch ...

Savoury muffin with yummy chutney & a sparkling apple juice made from apples grown on Maggie & Colin Beer's farm ... YUMMO! GB went with an iced coffee & chocolate brownie ... Which had disappeared before I got a photo! 😜 And while we enjoyed our tasty treat, we had entertainment ...

Tortoises were easy to spot in the clear water ...

When we managed to tear ourselves away from the tortoise antics, we made a quick stop at a lavender farm to stock up on my lavender & peppermint balm that is s lovely for headaches but I also rub a little on my temples before bed. And we popped into the Barossa Cheese shop to pick up a couple of tasty treats to enjoy with our afternoon drinkies on the deck to watch the sun go down & chat to my aunt. Yeah ... This holiday gig is TOUGH to take! 😂

I think tomorrow will be a pretty cruisy one to rest up for the weekend, as my Aunt has some more fun destinations in mind to introduce us to, so stay tuned. 😁 Are you enjoying your virtual holiday with us?? I hope so. 😉 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Day 4 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Hello there everybody! Here we are at the end of day 4 of our road trip & we've landed in the Adelaide Hills at my Aunt's quiet rural property where we'll base ourselves for the next week & a bit ... & we're looking forward to not having to pack up every morning. 😜 But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself with the latest doings of my Beloved Geek Boy & I. Now, there are quite a few pics, so make sure you're comfy before you start reading. 😉

We Overnighted in Mt Gambier, where we hoped to see the Blue Lake actually being BLUE & see the sinkhole garden that proved to be elusive last year, but when the weather was cloudy we were resigned to seeing a repeat of the BLACK lake. 😜 So we decided to check out the garden first ... Hey Fiona ... We found the right garden this time! 😝

And the sinkhole ...

WOW! I want one for my back yard! 😜 After walking down lots of steps ...

There were gardens & paths winding around the edges of the sinkhole ...

And a waterfall. It looked like there used to be more water & reading the history of the unique garden, the water level has dropped significantly over the life of the garden. After walking back up the 67, 000 steps (OK ... There weren't really that many, it just seemed like it when I was huffing & puffing! 😜) we set off to see if the Blue Lake was feeling blue.

And it WAS!! 😁 The photos don't capture it quite as vividly as it was in person, but it was pretty special.

Definitely well worth the return visit. 😁 We weren't able to visit the tower lookout that would have given a fuller view, but we found a different lookout that highlighted another lake ...

This one was green ... & also pretty. 😁 It was then time to head west again, but we called into the info office to see if there was anything interesting to see on the way ...

... And found a ship. Guess it was a really big wave that washed it inland. 😜 We also found some limestone caves to visit along the way that are the site of world significant fossils at Naracoorte. If you're in South Australia & have the chance, I'd highly recommend a visit to the caves. Not only is it really interesting ... They have the YUMMIEST scones with jam & cream at the cafe! Tee! Hee! Hee!  We explored the fabulous animatronic diorama that showed what the fossil animals would have looked like before they become extinct ... I would NOT have been going outside during that part of history! 😝 Even the wombats were scary ...

Here's a slightly unflattering photo of GB & I ... But the giant wombat looks good! 😜 We then went underground to see one of the caves. I didn't take photos because I just wanted to enjoy the view ... & avoid tripping & falling on my face due to low light, uneven ground & a dodgy ankle. 😝 But I borrowed a pic from GB ...

Pretty! 😁 And then it was time to get back on the road towards our home-away-from-home for the next 10 days. We're planning a quiet sleep in & recovery day tomorrow, so there won't be an update, but we're already making tentative plans for the rest of the week, so stay tuned. 😉

But now, I'm hitting the shower then hitting the sack, so I'm signing off. I hope you're enjoying travelling along with us. 😁 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Day 3 Of The 2019 Road Trip!

Hey-ho! Here we are at the end of day 3 of our road trip ... This is actually the second time I've written this, thanks to a blog ap that kicked me off for no particular reason. 🙄 So ... Cranky blog aps aside, it's been a good day & the polar opposite of our first two travel days. It was half the travel time of our last two nine hour driving days & instead of flat, dusty red/brown mile of not-very-much,  it was green, lush farmland or treed hills ... NICE! 😁 So, we began the day where we left off (funnily enough!) ... At Swan Hill, where we overnighted ... If you want to know a motel in Swan Hill to NOT stay at, I can help you! 🙄 Before we hit the road we stopped for a chat with a larger-than-life local ...

Meet Mr Murray Cod. 😜 Swan Hill is on the banks of the Murray River (hence our fishy friend's name! Tee! Hee! Hee!)

Now you can read all about Mr Cod. 😉 Then it was time to get motoring, heading further south & starting to follow the advice of all the old western movies ... Head west! 😁 Our trek took us through the home town of a dear friend from our time in Bourke who passed away two years ago ... The town of Donald. Now on our first visit to the pretty country town some years ago, we had fits of giggles at the tourism slogan the town used ...

It's a bit hard to see, but, yes ... The sign says, "Welcome to Donald ... Duck Country". 😂 Apparently wildlife hunting is one of the attractions of the area. Run, Donald! Run! 😂 Slightly odd tourism slogans aside, we enjoyed pretty country scenery, picturesque country towns & fabulous historic buildings. One that particularly caught my eye was ...

A sweet little church at Cavendish. I just loved the combination of lush green grass, huge gum trees, old building & the golden wattle bush to the right. It was such a peaceful spot. And down the road a bit further we came across a sign ...

The third state border in three days was crossed & we're into South Australia & tucked up in a motel in Mt Gambier for the night  ... One I WOULD recommend. 😉 There's a bit of a story behind our re-visit to Mt Gambier ... When we planned our visit here last year, there were two sights we particularly wanted to see ... The sinkhole garden & the Blue Lake Mt Gambier is best known for. Well ... Like the best laid plans of mice & men ... Things didn't quite work out. You see, the Blue Lake gets its stunning colour through the reflection of the sky & of course when we visited the weather was grey, overcast & rainy. Typical of our holiday weather really. 😝 And when we asked a tourist officer how to find the sinkhole garden ... They pointed us to the wrong, much smaller attraction. SIGH! So when planning this trip, we included Mt Gambier on our itinerary especially to revisit these two places. So of COURSE when we arrived the weather was ... Grey, overcast & cold. 😜 Here's hoping the sun comes out tomorrow. 😁 

But right now I'm ready to head for bed ... I think! Our body clocks are a bit messed up with the crossover to our third time zone ... We're never quite sure whether we've gained or lost time ... Here's hoping we work it out by the time we get home! Tee! Hee! Hee! More adventures tomorrow. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS