Big Chunk

Kangaroo Island is in South Australia. Kangaroo Island (KI) has lots of interesting things to do like sandboarding or taking a look at the Remarkable Rocks. It's full of animals like seals, penguins and maybe even the occasional pod of dolphins.

Did you know that Kingscote on KI was the capital of South Australia before Adelaide? There are 2 ways of getting to KI: by boat or plane. If you like the bush, Vivonne Bay is the place to go. KI has the very rare Glossy Black Cockatoo. KI is wonderful.

No matter where you are, you're always close to something pretty. It's a place like no other. It's a place for you & me.

Sandboarding and tobogganing at Little Sahara

We're a complete family again. Keith had joined us, flying into Adelaide day before yesterday. It's great to have him back! He's been our pit crew while we've been on the road but we'd rather have him with us, joining in the travel rather than us just telling him about it via phone or email.

We've been exploring Adelaide together and just chilling out. We also caught up with friends from Sydney. They've been on the road too and had some wisdom to share about camping, like how to put up a tent on rocky soil and where to scavenge for clothes pegs if you run out.

We all went to check out the brand new SA Aquatic Centre today. The kids tried out the water slides, in the dark. And before that, we watched chocolate being made (and sold - we bought heaps) at Haigh's Chocolate Factory. Did you know chocolate fillings aren't coated in chocolate? They're enrobed. We saw pistachio and cranberry white choc clusters being handmade. Yum.

PS: In case you're wondering from the photo below why we had such an elaborate sign to welcome Keith at the airport, you should know that Keith has a town named after him. He's famous in these parts.

'Giant Wombats Ahead' may have been a road sign near Naracoorte in South Australia if they had road signs 100,000 years ago. Naracoorte Caves, north of Mount Gambier, is a World Heritage site listed by UNESCO for its fossils of ancient mammals, one of only two such sites in Australia.

This happy chappy, shown being tickled under the chin by Susie and Michael, is a life-size statue of a Diprotodon, a forerunner of the wombat. Fossil bones from these and other super-sized ancient mammals (short-faced kangaroos, marsupial lions, etc) are still being found at Naracoorte. Fossils there cover the period from 500,000 years ago to about 60,000 years ago when the animals became extinct. Many fossils are there because the poor animals fell into caves and holes and couldn't get out. We saw real fossil bones on display and did a tour of Alexandra Cave, one of the limestone caves noted for its lovely formations, including 'cave carrots'.

We're in Adelaide now after stopping two nights at the beautiful and historic town of Port Elliot on the Fleurieu Peninsula. We caught a steam train along the dunes there - the Cockle Train. It made up for the fact that our caravan park cabin was pretty basic!

Scenic roads or school halls? In Victoria, during the Depression, they built a scenic road - the Great Ocean Road.

Completed in 1932, it really is great. So many clear streams flowing onto beautiful empty beaches and so many caves and gorges and natural bridges that you end up stopping every 5 minutes for photos and it takes forever to get anywhere. The GOR (as it seems to be shortened to, at least in writing) begins just east of the surfing mecca Torquay where, this Easter, the 50th annual Rip Curl Pro was run. Susie's ex-Year 4 teacher's daughter was competing. Then the GOR winds west, through upmarket Lorne, via the famous bit at Port Campbell where the 12 Apostles are, and on to Warnambool.

We stopped for 2 nights at the EcoBeach YHA at Apollo Bay. The kids loved the hostel. They made a friend there who'd also brought his Nintendo. So much for computer games killing social skills!

With kids across Australia, including their new friend, returning to their BER-sponsored school halls for term 2, our trip is really just beginning. Will we last the distance? A few tears before bed tonight suggests it might be harder than we thought . . .

Michael says: "What I liked most about Melbourne was the Tutankhamun exhibition. There were lots of golden, royal and beautiful blue colours. We saw coffins, shrines, statues, jewellery and vases. The best bit was looking at the golden coffin of Tutankhamun that you see on the posters."

Susie says: "And what I liked best about Melbourne was the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) at Federation Square. The Walt Disney exhibition 'Dreams Come True' showed you how they made animated movies the old fashioned way. We made our own 'cels' by painting a character on a thin layer of plastic and then colouring in a background. Last of all, we put the two together. I had great interest in the Melbourne trams too. You could press a button when the tram stopped at some traffic lights and open the door. The tram we caught most was the 109."