Chapter 1
Seaford to Kangaroo Island
Hello friends old and new,
We hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year Period, hopefully spent with family and friends. But those of you who were working, as always we thank you!
Let's jump straight into it and hope you enjoying reading about our trip so far.....
Mildura
- So our journey began with a week in Mildura, spending Christmas with Maddy's family and catching up with our friends before we set off too far from home.
Christmas Day was really special for us as last year we didn't see each other or either of our families, so to have the day at the Power family home was magic. As always, we ate way too much food and drank our fair share of sparkling shiraz which isn't that hard to do!!
We ended up having a pretty busy week up there but it was great to meet some of Maddy's extended family at Aunty Kate's 70th, enjoy the party at "Lloyd's Christmas Spectacular" and also to catch up with Jess and Stu for some wakeboarding/water skiing down at Robinvale.
-> Christmas Day 43 Degrees
-> The Powers + Luke!
Adelaide
- The New Year period saw us spend a few days with our amazing friends Maddy, Ben and little Tommy J at their place. We had a few day trips including Seppeltsfield Winery in the Barossa (Yes, more sparkling Shiraz!!) and Maggie Beer's Farm Shop, but our highlight was probably NYE at the sold out Twenty20 cricket game at Adelaide Oval. And even my cricket hating Maddy enjoyed the night!
-> Our First Border Crossing
-> Adelaide Oval NYE
-> Maggie Beer's Farm Shop
-> Seppeltsfield Winery
Victor Harbor & Kangaroo Island
- Heading down to Victor was momentous as it marked the first real unchartered territory for us, so it seemed appropriate that we settle the nerves with a detour via some of our favourite wineries in McLaren Vale.
-> Our Favourite Winery!
We checked out where the Murray River joins the ocean and had a little look around neighbouring town Port Elliot. Victor Harbor itself is also a cute little town but the beaches were somewhat underwhelming; I think possibly as a result from all the water coming out the Murray making the beaches hardly inviting. Granite Island was fun to check out and to see the horse drawn tram carriage across the island. In a true showing of the saying "it's a small world," we bumped into a friend of mine from St V's, Libby and ended up having a drink with her and her partner back at the campground.
-> Granite Island Horse Tram
-> Maddy Vandalising Granite Island
Kangaroo Island
- KI was truly a surprise packet for us and harboured so much of what we envisaged our entire trip to be. White sand beaches, clear blue waters, heaps of wildlife and more.....
-> Vivonne Bay was our first destination which proved a good starting point on the island. We met a great family who are doing a similar trip to us, but over a 3 year period and hung out with them in the campground that was full of locals asking us both every day "when are we going to leave?". I found my first surfing partner in young Molly and have a slight feeling she is going to remember her first wave for a long time, just as I remember mine from when I was younger. Vivonne was the first time we swam in the ocean which was a God-send on a 38 degree day whereby we didn't leave the water for about a 4 hour period. The seal colony at the neighbouring bay was an awesome place to visit as we watched young seal pups learn their craft in the small waves and play fighting with one another on the beach.
-> Seal Bay
-> Molly On Her First Wave
-> Western River Cove is an amazing place to stay and turned out to be our favourite part of the island. A long valley (after a horrifically corrugated road) leads to a river and secluded campsite which shadows a beautiful crystal clear beachfront. Neither of us expected such beauty on Kangaroo Island.
-> Western River Cove Beach
-> Western River Cove Campgrounds
-> Snellings Beach allowed us to spend our first night camping on the beach with Clancy (our car, in case you haven't quite worked it out yet!) and we met some friendly locals here who gave us a feed of fresh Salmon; we must have looked hungry!
-> Stokes Bay was next and unfortunately the weather didn't really coincide to showcase the beauty of this place, but it did allow us to eat out for the first time at the renowned Rockpool Cafe. Even though we didn't have any great beach days, the walk through the caves to the beach was pretty cool in itself and Maddy spotted a pod of dolphins playing near the shore.
-> Emu Bay being our last destination on the island ensured we were headed closer to town, which meant a stop in at the newly opened Kangaroo Island Brewery for some refreshments after lunch. This was a funky brewery built in to an old shearing shed with wonderful views across a valley; and yes, a great selection of beers.
I think we'll definitely get back to Kangaroo Island one day!
-> Remarkable Rocks In The Background
Our next leg sees us tackling the Spencer Gulf before gearing up for a trip across the Nullaboor....wish us luck my friends!!!
Love Maddy and Luke
(Chapter 1 written by Luke)
Tally Update:
Amount of times Maddy has got us lost = 4
Amount of times Maddy has cried = 0 (Almost once!)
Tally Update:
Amount of times Maddy has got us lost = 4
Amount of times Maddy has cried = 0 (Almost once!)