CHRISTMAS IN THE CARAVAN

As I write this we are sitting in the van, trying to stay cool with the air-con working overtime. It's expected to hit 40 degrees today. The weather down here can be hard to predict. It was so cold just after Christmas that we were rugged up in jumpers and socks!

Foremost on our minds right now though is my brother and his family in Emerald as they face the worst floods there on record. When he rang yesterday the water was close to their house but they were still okay.

But let me look back over the last couple of weeks. I took the kids up to enrol them at the local school for next year and I picked up some uniforms. Tara had to try hers on as soon as we got home. As you can see we also picked up a small Christmas tree and some decorations to put in the annexe.

We went to the carols night in town and the kids were excited to see Santa there. At one stage he dropped his sack full of lollies and they helped him pick them up.

Casey got his face painted and then they posed for a photo with Santa.

The kids were all very excited that we made it back to Numurkah in time for the caravan park Christmas party.

.The kids sang a couple of carols for everyone. They were the only kids there so they were a bit of a hit.

Santa paid a visit to the caravan park party. It was a great night.

On Christmas morning the kids were very happy to see that Santa had found us in the caravan. Casey and Tara got a scooter each and Brodie got a skateboard.

Later that day we went around to Gran and Pop's and they had a lovely day with their cousins Olivia and Presley.

THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD AND GEELONG

Still managing to dodge the bad weather that was causing havoc on the east coast and through SA, we drove along the Great Ocean Road, pulling in to every lookout we could with the van. The entire length of the coastline is spectacular amd there is much more to see than just the Twelve Apostles.

The Grotto

London Bridge

These two rocks at Loch Ard Gorge used to be joined across the top to form an archway, but the middle section broke off last year and fell into the ocean.

The Twelve Apostles

We stayed in Apollo Bay that night, then drove the remainder of the Great Ocean Road (the winding, cliff-edge part) to get to Geelong the next day. Again there were some stunning views, but there was nowhere to pull up safely with the van to get photos. The good thing was we didn't have to get out of the car to see them.

We stayed two nights in Geelong. I lived there for three years when I went to uni, but haven't been back since I left Victoria in 1989. I couldn't believe how much had changed. The waterfront at Eastern Beach was still recognisable, but had many new features including figures such as these ones all along the foreshore.

It was a cold day and there were some light showers around, but the kids insisted on going to the playground - a decision I came to regret. Casey was chasing the others up the steps when he fell forward, shattering his front teeth. There was quite a lot of blood so we rushed him up to emergency at the hospital (only 600m away luckily). There was no serious damage to his mouth.

He lost about one third of one of his front teeth, and a piece off the inside of the other. It's off to the dentist on Monday. We almost completed a full lap of Australia without visiting a hospital! At least it's not serious.

We spent a quiet day in the van after the drama of the morning, then went out to have a look at Bells Beach.

The next morning we drove all the way back to Numurkah in northern Victoria, completing a full lap of Australia.

I took this photo of the kids just as we were pulling up in front of Gran and Pop's house. Needless to say, they were excited!

FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA TO VICTORIA

I can't believe how lucky we've been with the weather on our whole trip around Australia. On the day we left Adelaide they experienced their heaviest rainfall since the 1930s. The rainband moved east behind us, but all we got were a few showers that night. We spent our last night in South Australia in a little seaside town called Southend, about 60km west of Mt Gambier. We found this cute little caravan park called Lynnie's. It is mostly cabin accommodation and caters for group camps, but there was no one else there when we arrived. The kids were excited because it had a hall with a large kitchen, tv area, and a table tennis table. It was a novelty to have that much indoor space!

100m from the caravan park was the beach.

The outdoor camp kitchen area was pretty cool as well!

The next day we drove over the border into Victoria and stayed at a town called Heywood. It was a short drive down to Portland, the place of the first European settlement in Victoria. We climbed the old water tower to get a good view of the area.

We watched as trucks unloaded at the port. We had driven past thousands of acres of plantation forests that day, but couldn't believe the huge piles of woodchips we were seeing.

From there we drove down to the coast to have a look. There are many wind farms in this area, and we've seen a few others in our travels, but we were able to get quite close to these generators.

There are blowholes here but they weren't going that day because the waves weren't big enough.

The landscape was quite strange - almost moon-like. This area is actually called the petrified forest.

ADELAIDE

We stopped for lunch on Thursday at a place called Ardrossan. We realised we could easily make it to Adelaide and rang ahead to try and book in to the caravan park a day early. They were booked out though. The 2nd Ashes test was on, which is why we had booked ahead for the weekend. We headed off to a little town 60km from Adelaide.

Mallala is a lovely little town and location for V8 supercar races. We stopped at a free campsite in the middle of town at the local sports ground. The kids had the whole oval to play on as well as tennis courts and a skate ramp. The weather had also fined up and it was quite hot.

The next day we arrived in Adelaide - another very hot day. We had booked at Brownhill Creek Caravan Park, southeast of the city, for four nights. We told the kids that there was a surprise for them the next morning.

They couldn't believe their eyes when Nan and Kev arrived at the caravan, having flown down from the Gold Coast for the weekend. It was a wonderful early Christmas present for all of us. That afternoon we had a look around Glenelg beach then went out for dinner.

Near the restaurant was a lock where boats go from the canals into the ocean. It was interesting to watch as one gate opened and the boats moved into the small area to wait for the other gate to open.

On Sunday we all had a look around the city. There are so many beautiful old buildings in Adelaide.

That night we had pizza together in the caravan before saying a sad farewell. The kids agreed it had been the best surprise ever!

On Monday we drove up into the Adelaide hills. The view from Mt Lofty Summit was amazing.

From there it was a short drive to Hahndorf, a town with a rich German heritage. The kids loved this puppet shop, filled with hundreds of different puppets.

Hahndorf was also filled with many beautiful old buildings.

Back at the caravan park, the kids went straight to the playground (nothing but two swings). They've spent a lot of time over the past few days playing all kinds of their own made up games on these two swings! It's confirmation to me that this trip has been really good for them.

EYRE PENINSULA TO YORK PENINSULA

We pulled in to Port Lincoln at the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula to have lunch and stock up on groceries. It was still overcast and blowing a gale, as it has been since we arrived in SA. This life-size bronzed statue of Makybe Diva takes pride of place on the foreshore. Port Lincoln is the home town of her owner.

We stopped for the night at Port Gibbon, a free beachside camp spot. This is all that is left of the jetty. We were hoping to see some sea lions who are residents there, but it was too cold and windy even for them! The wind blew all night against the side of the caravan. It felt like we were sleeping on a boat!

Our next stop was Whyalla, a town of steelworks. We stayed two nights to have a break from driving.

We got a great view of the town and the foreshore from Hummock Hill lookout.

From there we headed around to the York Peninsula and paid for two nights at Minlaton Caravan Park. It's a good central location to base yourself and then drive around the peninsula. It is also a beatifully maintained park and only cost us $22 a night. The town is a lovely small country town - very friendly.

We spent the day down at Innes National Park at the bottom of the York Peninsula. We walked out to one of the lighthouses and the views were stunning.

In the national park is the historic town of Inneston. It was built in the early 20th century for the local gypsum mine and housed 100 men and 30 women. The town grew, but then died off during the Great Depression and is only ruins now. You can walk around the streets and see the old post office, bakery, school site and homes. We even saw the old cricket ground and tennis courts.

A beach in Innes National Park.