Easter at Langhorne Creek

29/3/2018.  Thursday.  With the presence of only one or two mozzies, despite trucks moving bins of grapes incessantly, R & R slept soundly and in. They had agreed that laying low over the Easter weekend break would be a really sound choice, so having nowhere much to go and not much to do, they rolled over and slept in until about 8am.  What indulgence.  Finally, at about 10:30am, they headed into Strathalbyn which is only 16kms north, to do some washing and shopping.  This really is a premier location for vineyards and wine production, including Angus Plains, Langhorne Creek, Pecador, Fabal, Lake Breeze, Bremerton and Belvidere and for olive oil namely Vasse Virgin, Angus Grove and Talinga Grove.  The harvesting season is in full swing and the movement of machines and produce seems endless.  There is also quite a large turf farm (Bormann) just before Strathalbyn.  Strathalbyn, on the Angus River, has the most beautiful parks which R & R had already seen the other day. They sat reading magazines in the Laundromat while waiting for their $5 wash before heading to shop for thongs.  It’s a sad story when your thongs have a ‘blow out’ and you forgot to bring a spare pair. They picked up some food supplies for the weekend, refueled and were back at the camper hanging washing at 1:15pm before lunch and a cat nap.  What indulgence!  About 3:00pm, R & R rang their daughter, S, and chatted over coffee before walking back into Langhorne Creek which is part of the Bremer River.  Turns out that Frank Potts, who was the first person to buy land there, was also heavily involved in the ship building business. Fortunately, the doors were still open at an old building called the Backdrop Gallery.  Here, the artist in residence, Zilpa van der Gragt, not only had her work on display but she openly demonstrated her method to them.  She has combined pyro (burnt wood work) with wax paints that she makes herself and has penned the term pyrowax-art.  This combination works particularly well with buildings because it conjures up a sense of depth and texture. Check out www.pyrowax-art.com.au   Well over an hour later, they returned to get the washing in and read/write before dinner.  After that, RL surfed on the ipad hot spotting to the phone (looks like Optus has it over Telstra here) while RA worked on the diary. Just proves how wrong a person can be … thinking that there was little to do … and tomorrow … back to Strathalbyn, attend a Good Friday service and walk the bridge and trails around that beautiful park and gardens on the Angus River.

30/3/2018. Good Friday.  R & R woke and were out of bed about 7:30am, disturbed by the Alexandrina Council rubbish truck emptying the bins.  Then, low and behold, a cleaner arrived to clean the toilet.  RA joked about this free camp being almost as good as a serviced apartment.  They had breakfast, did ablutions, dressed and filled in time waiting to head into Strathalbyn for 11:00am Good Friday service.  By noon, R & R were sitting in the car having coffee and chatting with RL’s sister, R. It was delightful parked under the shade of a grove of trees with yellow leaves gently falling in a mild breeze and the temperature at 22*C. RL decided that another pair of thongs for emergency to be kept under the seat was a good idea so they picked up another pair.  R & R spent a couple of hours eating lunch, walking around the Soldiers Memorial Gardens which has many paths and tracks over and around Dawson Creek and the Angus River and sitting at a table with the computer tethered to the phone chatting to their daughter, H.  The park is home to a surprising variety of water birds, including seagull, despite the fact that it is about 16kms from the coast.  They also saw for the first time a large group of birds known as Purple Swamp Hen.  These are much like the little black swamp hens but larger, have a brighter red beak, a white bottom and an iridescent blue breast. They squawked and carried on, darting in and under the reeds and across the water making it difficult for anyone to photograph them.  By 3:30pm, R & R were back at the camper, having coffee before a quick cat nap, another coffee and ringing RL’s sister, K.  RL read while RA wrote her diary before another half hour walk.  Setting off down a road going east from the entrance of the Frank Potts Reserve, R & R took in the smell of the vines, some sections harvested and others not yet, overhead irrigation of a crop something like vetches for fodder for Hereford cattle and a lovely dense stand of gum trees.  Though no longer in use, they saw wood, concrete and metal structures, evidence of irrigation channels, along the roads that they had not noticed before.  After fish for dinner, RL downloaded his photos and deleted some while RA typed blogging notes on the ipad.  Heaven knows what tomorrow will bring … but RA was sure there would be some surprises.

31/3/2018.  Saturday. R & R woke about 7:30am with a cooling mist rising over the vines just before sunrise.  They were in no hurry so took their time before leaving at 9:10am for Milang which is only 24kms from Langhorne Creek and the Frank Potts Reserve on the Strathalbyn Milang Rd.  There were more vineyards including the impressive Rosemont Winery and wheat farming.  Every town and settlement here on the Fleurieu Peninsula, like the Yorke Peninsula, has at least a few if not many, Viterra silos.  R & R had chosen to go back to Milang (pronounced mill-ang) as an excursion for the day, not only because the lovely Lake Alexandrina is so inviting, but because they had seen advertised an Easter Saturday Fair.  They spent a couple of hours wandering the markets and the rail museum which was open.  It really was a step back in time with lots of railway station memorabilia, a couple of interactive panels and several carriages decked out with one being used as a craft outlet.  Did you know that the nails used for the sleepers had dates printed on them as a record of when they were installed/replaced? In its heyday, Milang was the busiest port in South Australia.  It is a credit to the community that this restored railway feature is available free to anyone and it is great to see that they have another restoration project on the old butter factory in progress.  A couple of Milang residents had taken the opportunity of the fair to host their own garage sales so R & R went to both.  The Hum could not believe his eyes when he spotted pair of 2m aluminum slide out extension planks at $40 each.  A quick decision about their ability to fit on the roof rack was made and it was a done deal.  The husband laughed how he indulges the wife with little pieces of blue and white china for a couple of dollars but when he buys, he buys big.  Together, they laughed.  RL drove back to the foreshore and parked under a stand of she-oak in the shade.  Lots of people were there picnicking, jet skiing, canoeing and kite surfing. They sat in the shade as RA had intended to add another post to the blog but the laptop was not going to allow her to “Remind me later” about updates, anymore, so RA just had to let it run.  G, RL’s elder brother rang and chatted for about 45 minutes. It was lovely to catch up with his latest news. R & R went back to the car for a coffee before walking the jetty again.  RL chatted with his youngest brother, S, while RA finally finished the post.  Interestingly, the reception at Langhorne Creek is adequate for a phone call but just not strong enough to tether to the phone or use the dongle for tasks like that.  Now they know!  They drove back about 3:40pm, noted that there were a couple of road side stalls selling local produce, namely, pumpkin, beetroot, potatoes and pomegranate, and saw another large enterprise called Newman’s Horseradish Farm and Cellar. After sitting for a snack shortly after 4:00pm, R & R face timed their children and grandchildren as they were all having an Easter get together.  It was just the best to be able to see everyone – alive and well.  Then, they walked for 15 minutes in one direction and then turned around again.  The roads there were flat and the river red gums absolutely majestic, making their afternoon stroll a delight.  After dinner, RL finished another book, this time “Left For Dead” about Ricky Megee who survived 71 days in outback NT, while RA wrote her diary.  She’d be reading that one … when she has caught up with the blog.

1/4/2018. Easter Sunday.  R & R woke about 4:00am totally confused by the switch back from daylight saving, had coffee and went back to bed.  RA had a bad dream that, due to a series of circumstances, they were back in Barker.  Her husband was sad about the chain of events that had led to their return but RA was upset because she was not sure she wanted to be back yet.  Boy was she grateful when she realized that she was only dreaming.  Woken again by the rubbish truck at 7:00am, R & R got out of bed.  RA sent a few emails with Easter greetings, wrote a card to each of the grandchildren and flipped through the current Better Homes and Garden which she had picked up in a book swap. The Hum chatted with the campers next door about their air compressor which was not working. Together, R & R checked the jigsaw puzzle which they had bought yesterday for 50c to make sure all the pieces were there. Yesssss!  They drove into Strathalbyn for 10:45am Mass.  The Good Shepherd is a lovely big old church and it was one where the singing was strong.  By noon, R & R were at the Memorial Gardens for coffee while they face timed their son, Z, chatting for the best part of an hour.  Back at the camper, by 1:00pm they were enjoying lunch and catching up with their daughter, S, on the phone before a cat nap.  Then a favourite part of Easter – they had coffee and chocolate – something that RL never does.  Yum.  On a tip off from Z, they moved the GESB funds from one account to another online and went for a bike ride.  They set off east and pedaled along for 15 minutes before turning around to come back again.  On the way back, they stopped off at the Langhorne Creek cemetery.  There was a warning on the gate to beware of snakes so RA was very careful but RL said you’d be very unlucky/lucky to actually see one.  Oddly enough, there was another couple at the cemetery when they got there.  She was a lady with whom they had chatted yesterday at the Milang fair; this couple actually live in Strathalbyn and had come down to visit the graves of his relatives (Cleggett) there. They all chatted quite a while.  So by 5:00pm, R & R were back at the camper and reading/writing a while before cooking dinner. After dark R & R tried a couple of times to see if they could see the possum and her baby that their camp neighbours had seen the last couple of nights … but alas.

2/4/2018.  Monday.  R & R woke at 6:30am to a cool grey morning of approximately 17*C.  They chatted a while to a woman who had been there most of the weekend like them and swapped information about places of interest before heading for Woodchester 13kms to the north east.  R & R were in search of two places they had been before but could not recall exactly where that may have been.  The Bleasdale Winery is on this road and it is huge as well as Langhorne Creek Almonds.  The countryside became more undulating then hilly as they drove to the eastern end of the Adelaide Hills and it appeared that it had rained there a little overnight. Just out of Woodchester, they saw one of the best samples of fence made of stone and just a little further one of the best examples of old buildings still in use.  Naturally, both of these were photo opportunities. Callington was another 13kms north and has a one lane bridge right down town before turning east onto the Old Princes Hwy towards Murray Bridge a further 22kms past the Monarto Zoo.  The zoo fencing was impressive!  Here it had a sign about it being mushroom country and had looked like Golf Links Road (just out of Albany) with many smaller lots on the way into Murray Bridge.  The Rural City of Murray Bridge, as it calls itself has traffic lights, the White Hill Truck Drivers Memorial and is a thriving centre which does not seem to have suffered from being bypassed by the new freeways. R & R were waiting outside the information centre before it opened at 10:00am.  As always the staff there was really friendly and helpful and they spent a lovely hour or more at the river taking in the paddle steamer, the bridges, the rail engine and cars and the mill, Ridley Ag Products, which was in full production smelling of wheaten products. Their plan being to head south down the eastern edge of the Murray, they set the Navigator for Jervois (about 20kms) and stopped off at a boat ramp which requires passing through the White Sands Caravan Park.  But it was not the place they were looking for! There the road runs quite close to the river and at other times on the ridge with the flats below toward the river.  There is irrigation for Angus Beef, Willow Point Winery & Cellar, River Glen Marina for sale, hay production, horse training facility and generally a sense that conditions here are good. Jervois has a water tower which is not one with turrets like a castle, rather one of the type that looks like a spaceship on top.  The section of road between Jervois and Wellington (only 13 kms) is windy and has dairies all along on both sides.  Here there was evidence of old/abandoned and new/productive and there were signs “Mud on Road” which does not actually mean mud! RA could imagine it could be quite dangerous particularly in the wet. RL stopped at noon at the Barker Reserve in Wellington.  This was the spot entrenched in their memory, (They had happened upon it with their children when they travelled here in Jan 1996.) with ample shady parking a toilet block, playground and a boat ramp to the river’s edge.  It was delightful to sit on the grassed foreshore, surrounded by weeping willow, looking across the river in the pleasantly warm midday sun.  There was a family skiing while they ate lunch, watching them and enjoying the moment for about an hour.  The murals on the toilet block were another photo moment. It was almost too difficult to leave but they were on the lookout for something else so RL turned west back along Langhorne Creek Road toward the camper a distance of 33kms. The first 10kms is far from the shores of Lake Alexandrina and is fairly dry with wheat and sheep and salty plains.  The second section runs much closer to the lake and, at Mulgundawa, they saw a salt evaporator plant and a very large, new dairy.  A pair of large geese with cream coloured beaks flew only just above the aerial in front of the Ute. The last section veers away from the lake again and is quite dry.  About 1:30pm, RA spotted what she had been looking for.  A cape Dutch house! … on the south side of the road, on the corner of McAnaney Rd, about 7kms from Langhorne Creek.  RA needed to take a photo and asked RL to turn around for it.   The Hum just thought he’d go right up and ask if they could take some photos.  The owner was most gracious and chatted nearly an hour explaining her story and how the house was built beginning with a cement pad and a front door and a knocker and special bricks called hebal blocks which are very light because they are aerated and very easily cut. It was delightful. Very shortly, R & R were back for a snack and a cat nap before an afternoon walk.  They could not believe their luck to actually see the machines harvesting grapes.  The harvester, drives in the spaces between a row, so that the machine sits above the row of vines.  This machine gathers and agitates the branches removing the grapes and separating the grapes from leaf debris.  The debris is scattered while the grapes are shuffled up an auger and dropped into a huge tub carried by a second tractor travelling down a different row (similar to a harvester and chaser bin).  Quite a different process from what they had seen at home.  As always they enjoyed dinner.  It was hard for them to believe they had spent six days/nights at the same spot and had managed to fill each day … by only travelling a few kilometres  … 264kms in total.

3/4/2018.  Tuesday.  RL did not sleep well as there was a group of fellow campers who were partying and did not appear to understand that generally everyone is quiet soon after dark.  RL wasn't the only one who was disturbed.  Their camper lady friend had gone over about 1:30am to speak to them but they just ignored her. RA slept well enough but was excited to be doing banking so she was restless early.  They got out of bed just after 6:00am.  By 7:30am, they were ready to pack down but it was way too early to head into town so they read a while.  A grey, but not cold, morning of 18*, R & R packed down and drove to Stathalbyn to go to NAB bank and shift their GESB funds into a retirement pension account.  They rang B, their financial planner, to let him know that, at last, it had been finalized.  They had coffee, popped into an op shop and refueled before heading back to Langhorne Creek at 11:00am to pick up the camper.  From there, they we went back to Wellington, the opposite direction they had come out yesterday.  They had seen what RL called a “doll’s house” just out of Wellington and were standing on the road taking photos when the owners called them in to have a look.. it was delightful to see another couple building their dream and it’s upstairs balcony had a great view of Lake Alexandrina and the mouth of the Murray, albeit it windy.  The Hum declined a home brew and his wife declined coffee as it was so close to lunch time. So it was that R & R were in line waiting for a ferry by 11:45am. It was over and off (heavier vehicles make quite a clunking noise as they drive on and off) by 12:10pm with the actual crossing taking about 7 minutes.  From there RL turned south onto the Princes Hwy for the 40km journey to Meningie.  The first section was flatter, the road straighter and not so busy with swampy grassed plains, some sheep, cattle and cropping. It became more undulating and hilly with the road curving.  It became quite stressful with so much traffic in both directions.  They had hoped to stop and look at the pink lake but there were no bays left.  By the time they got to Meningie, at just before 1:00pm, RL could easily have decided to head anywhere outback.  R & R had lunch on the foreshore of Lake Albert and wandered up and down the main street and into the information centre.  Meningie’s main claim to fame is that it was once the home of a very short, ostritch riding bushranger who had a fetish for parading his little bare torso in the jewelery he had stolen. Story goes, he was shot on the Coorong and his body and the jewels were never found.  Believe it or not!  About 2:00pm, they drove out of Meningie, turning east down and round Lake Albert.  There were farms left and right of the road though it looked pretty windswept but there were a couple of really big ventures operating.  It was almost as if the smaller farms had been taken over by a few bigger ones.  There was a lot of cropping for hay and it seemed farmers were bent on removing the last remaining belt of conifers that would be in the way of machinery.  R & R arrived at Narrung Jetty free camping area about 2:30pm and set up before a coffee and snack.  They walked for about an hour around the jetty and ferry area and back towards the settlement of Narrung, which means, big sheoak and was established in 1907.  They saw lots of water birds but were only able to actually identify a few.  RA was sure it would be a bird watcher’s paradise.  The ferry here is at the Narrows (the narrowest part between Lake Albert and Lake Alexandrina) and on the other side is the Point Malcolm Lighthouse which is Australia’s only inland lighthouse.  R & R had lots of quiet time before dinner.  It was such a lovely spot, like a little slice of heaven …  it seemed such a shame to leave it in the morning.