Scouts...that's I.H.,..not Boy.

We made it to the Scout Club Convention at Port Lincoln.  So many models and colours.  It's amazing.

The Scout was one of the original 4WD designed for personal use.

And as we listen to the pipes this morning (mmm..piiipes)... as they warmed up the vehicles, Chris, I know, is TRULY missing his Scout at the moment.  It's a testosterone thing for the guys to show their vehicles off to the others.  Sort of like, when girls show off their 'bargains' they got from the shops.

While most of these scouts are done up as the original, Chris modified his, which makes his a bit different.

Being a short wheel based ute with the up-to-date, colour  Neo' blue, the painted dashboard, (which our son-in-law did for us), the little cooler console, and a few extra bits, it truly is an exciting car to drive.

And being surrounded by the larger versions, our little ute would have stood out.  But.. still, we ARE having fun even though we're in the "Japanese" car,..or the 'Wife's" car.  Either way, no decent Scout man would lay claim to owning a Landcruiser.

Today, we meandered on down the peninsula which has a national park located on it.  This place is truly picturesque.  The water in the bay is pristine clear. 

We saw dolphins swimming along the shore and the emus were behind us in the bush. 

But never the less, a good day was had by all.  Tomorrow the Scout club has been invited to look at over 200 International Harvester Tractors.

 

Some how, that didn't appeal to us, so we're going to have a rest day while we wait for Col and Margaret to arrive. 

In the meantime, I'm off to bed.   And once again, I've run out of upload time, so all the pictures are being put on the "my space" link for the time being.  Enjoy.

Who's snoring?...not me!

We woke up this morning discussing each other's snoring habits.  While he absolutely DENIES he's snores, I don't.  I KNOW I snore.  But I slept very well last night and while I could feel him stretching out a bit further, I moved over to let him have more room.  Which I found out this morning, he wasn't stretching out, but trying to get me to STOP snoring! 

The caravan has a little double bed with rounded corners at the foot.  But we're both large people and we usually sleep in a Kingsize bed.  So it's been an adjustment JUST in the size of the bed.  But throw in the snoring and OH BOY!!  It's a real cacophony of noise at night between the two of us.  And we've BOTH been waking each other up with each others' snoring!

Now, normally,...when we're at home, if he's snoring, I just move to another bed and close the room door.  But you CAN'T DO THAT in a caravan!  So I'm stuck!  I've even slept on the little couch in the front part of the caravan with the little plastic accordion door shut, but  then I woke up very stiff the next morning.  So now I think twice before doing it.

He!...on the other hand..CAN'T go anywhere.  He's far too large to be sleeping anywhere else.   (  ...except maybe OUTSIDE.  IN THE SLEEPING BAG!!)   So that means HE'S stuck too! 

And while he contemplated divorce last night and has been a little snipey today, I think this might be one of those things that may need to be negotiated.  We're only half way through our trip and I'm finding that we're turning into Mr. Grumpy and Miss Vague. 

I've heard that weight is a major contributing factor for snoring, and we BOTH know we're overweight.  So maybe that is something that needs to be looked at.  And maybe some more walking.  I really DO enjoy bush walking.  Maybe we can convince Chris to do a bit more of that.

Now,...(The alarm just went off)... WHY did I put that alarm on?...oh yeah!! ...the clothes are ready from the dryer.  Okay, gotta go! Focus Kathy, focus.

Adelaide,....A large country town.

We've been here in Adelaide for two weeks now.  We've gotten a chance to see a few things around here, and we've had a a chance to rest while we waited for Jenny, Scott, and Camille to arrive.

We've been up to Hahndorf, which is a little town in the Adelaide Hills.  Originally settled by Lutherans, it's now a quaint little town that specializes in German sausages, danishes, and of course, German beer.  Chris and I went last week, and again with the kids.  Both times it was a wonderful place.  It's one of those places you'd like to live, JUST so you could walk into town and have a coffee and chat with the locals.

We've been to a winery, we've been to Glenelg, which is one of the original towns from the 1800's.  Now, a popular tourist spot to walk along the beach.  We've been into the city and seen ANOTHER gaol.  (Last one Chris, I promise)  We've been to Victor Harbour and ridden on the horse drawn tram across to Granite Island and had morning tea at Yankalilla.

And we've spoiled Camille rotten and sent her back home with her parents. (Teehee)  She's been an absolute delight considering she's been out of her element and on the go for 3 days.

And this morning, we're heading off towards Port Lincoln for Chris's Scout Club convention which starts on Wednesday.  But first,..some breakfast to get the day moving.

Domestic Bliss....Am I crazy?!

When you're a child, your mother tells you to clean your room.  At an early age, you want to help Mummy so you feel like you're a contributing member.  When you become an older child or teenager, your mother tells you to clean the house.  So you moan and groan about child labour laws and lay around for hours until 30 minutes before Mum comes home and THEN do the mad dash trying to get everything done.

When you move out on your own, you learn no one is going to clean up except you.  When you get married, you WILLINGLY clean up because THAT'S what you do, because you KNOW if you don't do it, nobody else will.

At some point, the tide turned.  I like a clean house.  There's a sense of satisfaction in having a clean house.  Someone once said, " A clean house represents your life and the way you think"  Hence,  an orderly house is an orderly mind and life.  And pride forbade me in having a cleaner come in once a week. At one time,  I thought it would be nice to have a cleaner come in, but the reality is, is that I would have ended up cleaning BEFORE they arrived, so why bother?

it was also a good way to work off any anger.  I just had to be careful not to slam doors in the process, scaring the rest of the household.  But all in all, it WAS a great way to work out any negative feelings you may have.  Even if you're feeling depressed, you can start with one small thing and work your way around it and give yourself a sense of satisfaction at the end of it.  And sometimes you find that your feeling of depression is gone too.  Kill two birds with one stone...I like it.

And as time passed on and the kids moved up and out of the house, I found I didn't have to clean as often.  There's a sense of accomplishment in cleaning a house.  The best part is you don't even have to think about it.  The music comes on, everyone clears the house, and I start from one room and work my way around the house.

And as I make my way around the caravan, cleaning up as I go, satisfaction is mine in knowing that my life is in order once again.  Sad, you may say, but now I feel like I can move forward to do new things or just fix a cup of tea and .........relaaaax.  (sigh)

Lessons and Ponderings.

Today, we have ponderings...well, maybe just 'THOUGHTS' for the day.

!.  If you're going to report on the current news, you need to have ALL OF THE FACTS!

ie.  Reporting that Chris had a 'scraping' off his ear, when in actuality, he had the growth CUT out of his ear and the SCRAPING part, was the scraping of cartlidge to be covered with a SKIN GRAFT,  that was SCRAPED from his arm.  Not too mention the pain and suffering that went with it.  Sorry Chris.

2. You MUST vacuum once a week.

ie.  If you don't vacuum, the floor gets dirty.  When the floor gets dirty, it attracts ants.  AND you need to make sure that you CHARGE THE VACUUM up, otherwise it runs out of 'go' juice and the ants will crawl all over you while you wait.

3. You MUST remember to drink more WATER.

ie.  Coffee, Iced Tea, and Coke are not WATER.  When you drink your two cups of coffee in the morning, and your glass of Coke for lunch, and your Iced Tea for the hot afternoon, be prepared to be lying awake until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning.

4.  EXERCISE is imperative.

ie.  Making the bed in the morning is NOT exercise.  I KNOW you have to lift the bed to tuck the covers in, but it's not an exercise. Washing the dishes and walking to the amenities block is NOT exercise. Vigorous walking is the best.  More walks should be included in your touring, preferably WITH STAIRS!

See?...I learn something new everyday.  And while learning can sometimes be painful, it can also be a lot of fun.

Driving Miss Daisy.

Have you ever noticed how we give inanimate objects names?  It strikes me funny that as a people, we do that.  Like the object is a real living being.  Although, there WILL be SOME who actually believe that objects have feelings too.  I do it just for the fun of it.

So, while I think about it,...we have Miss Daisy, the caravan.   So that we're ''driving Miss Daisy"  And mostly, it's because we drive 20klm slower than the rest of the traffic.  Hence the name Miss Daisy.   And she talks to us as well.  That's usually when Chris has to add some grease to the ball bearing.  We haven't named the Land Cruiser yet, or the Scout.  But it's not for lack of trying.  We just haven't found a name for them yet. 

When we had the motorhome, it's name was Tijuana Turtle, or just "Turtle" .  So when we talked about the "Turtle",..it's in loving reference to the motorhome.  The Turtle was a major part of our first taste in caravanning.   Of course, we gave the Turtle up last year and picked up Miss Daisy. 

She's working out quite well on this trip.  Personally, I wasn't that fond of her, but then I came around and now we're quite comfortable with each other.  No arguments of any sort, which is good. But then we take care of other, just like friends should.

A lovely Sunday

The day was lovely despite the cool sea breeze that cuts through you.  We're were having a lovely leisurely morning as we listened to the noises of the families that started waking up.

Funny, when we arrived here, the place was very quiet and in one day, like busy little ants, the caravans and holiday makers flowed in.  With kids heading off to the Jumping Bag or just riding their bikes around, the mothers and fathers finished setting up tents and vans.  Laughing and chattering billowed around us.  The weather, cloudy and wet didn't put them off.  They knew that it was going to clear up to a fine day.

And what a fine day it is.  The sea breeze hasn't let up, but it is providing a coolness to what could have been a hot day.  Chris and I packed the car up with fishing gear and picnic gear.  We headed up and then down the coast, looking for that perfect spot.

                                   We found it.  But it was just off the mainland on a little island called Granite Island.  We walked out to the island by a little bridge that was built in the late 1800's.  They had set up a horse drawn tram for the locals to use and it's now a local tourist attraction.

We made our way across to the jetty on the left.  Hoping to catch a few for dinner tonight.  We set the lines up with cockles or pippis and threw the lines.  The bites weren't strong, so we knew the fish were likely to be small.  But it was fun anyway.

Chris snagged the first fish of the day.  Too small, send him back.  In the end he caught four fish.  All of which were too small too keep. When we ran out of bait, we decided it was time for lunch and headed back.

Due to this weekend being a public holiday, South Australian Cup Day, this place was very busy with holiday makers and tourists. 

But we found a spot close to home and sat in the sun along the shores and ate our sandwiches.  It's been a lovely Sunday, who could ask for anything more?

Wet weather means a day of rest.

You may have noticed that I haven't written for a while.  It's largely due to the fact, that there's not much to tell.

We've travelled out of Warrnambool into Mt. Gambier.  Mt. Gambier is famous for it's blue lake.  The irridescent blue is such an unusual colour that you either think it's polluted or it's the purest water ever.  But this occurrence only happens between November and March.  After that, for the winter months, it goes back to a ''normal'' colour,..grey/green.  We were hoping to get a picture of the ''before'' and ''after''.  But we only got the before....which I'm glad!!  It was magnificent. 

The township of Mt. Gambier is sitting on an extinct volcano, which is why there are so many sinkholes and caves.  They made a community garden out of one sinkhole.  And there's stories about a cave that's located in the heart of the city.  And to top that, the cave also has an underground water table running through it.  Qualified divers are able to dive in there to have a look around and it runs quite a distance through the city.

And then, we headed out to Meningie for an overnight stay.  The rolling hills of gold stretched out before us.  So there wasn't too much to write about there. 

We continued on to a little place called Victor Harbour.  At the moment, we're still here.  We were going on to Kangaroo Island....that is until we found out the price to get there.  Far too expensive for a day trip, so we opted out and toured the Fleurieu  Peninsula.  The rugged coastline was very impressive and the still standing colonial homes were impressive as well.  We even met up with some kangaroos on one of the points. (Tappanapa Lookout)

And today, we're resting.  The weather is still miserable and I'm feeling kind of tired myself.  So fishing is out, touring is out, and book reading is in.  Maybe even take in a movie today.

There are photos to look at, so by all means, have a look.  In the meantime, the heroine in my book is about to escape the clutches of her captor,...so I'm off to see what happens.