Meningie to Port Augusta and places in between

Sorry folks. This will be a longer post than usual. We have had some adventures and were without contact for some time.

We set out from Meningie on a beautiful, cool but sunny Saturday morning the 2 June. We were heading for Port Wakefield on the eastern shore of St Vincent's Gulf a bit north of Adelaide. We went straight to Tailem Bend on the Princes Highway and then on to Murray Bridge. Maggie and I had by now come to terms with how smooth the day would be and so we started up the first of the hillclimbs over the southern Adelaide Hills in a relaxed and positive frame of mind. Suddenly a red light shone from the dashboard and a high pitched whistle broke our peace.  Now we all know that there are elements of Maggie's design that are rather quaint and old fashioned but the old girl has more sensors and alarms than any vehicle that I have driven before. This alarm was labelled "coolant". Sure enough, when I lifted the engine box cover there was a strong smell of antifreeze and green liquid was pouring onto the road. We filled the radiator with drinking water and coasted back down into Murray Bridge. We called into the first service station we saw.
 "Good morning", I smiled (it was the last smile for a good few days), "I have a leaking radiator, do you have a workshop?"
Blank look. "Nup".
"Ah, do you know where I might get some help?"
Incredulous look. "On Saturday?

Well, to cut a long story a bit shorter we parked Maggie in a caravan park and waited until Monday. Then our luck changed. There was one radiator specialist in Murray Bridge. After a lot of sucking air through his teeth and showing me how full his book was he agreed to start that afternoon and we got Maggie back late the next day. Too late to pack that night so another night in the donga. It was a bit better than the donga we used in Darwin all those years ago but not much. Tia DID NOT LIKE THE DONGA. Too well bred I suppose.

Once we got going again we sifted through the suburbs of Adelaide and finished up in the old fishing village of Port Wakefield

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This is where the old fishing boats were pulled up on the shore. They have now built the caravan park with a great view. This was the scene from our bedroom window.

Next day we drove right down to the bottom of the Yorke Peninsula. (If you look at the map we were just where the tinea would be between the big toe and the bunion.) It was a long drive and the roads deteriorated the further south we went. But it was worth it. The southern tip is rugged sand dunes and scrub with lovely little bays. We camped there for the three nights of the long weekend.

We were a little surprised to see an extra rock appear.

A whale-rock!

Very close. Just off the rocks.

When the long weekend was over we moved up to Moonta Bay and had a good dinner at the pub which is the brightly lit building on the shore near the base of the pier.

Now we are parked at Port Augusta. I couldn't resist the scene so typical of this part of the world. Once again from our bedroom window.