Day 8 - The road trip begins!! Adelaide to Robe...

Good morning, I'm on a bit of a roll so I am hoping to get all up to date whilst V is in the showers....mind you we could just stand outside in the lashing rain and get clean, but more on that to come.  Lets get onto the goings on for day 8 of our adventure....when we head out on our road trip!

After a rather late night the night before it was a bit of a shocker for my boy to have to be up so early, as we had to be out of our unit by 10 and the camper needed to be picked up by 11. and of course Herbie needed to be dropped off back to the Heggies!

So we packed up our things, said goodbye to the unit that we both agreed that we could buy and make beautiful, took a last couple of pictures and headed down to Seacliff beach for a last coffee and to take in the view once again.

Now you may see a photograph appear now and then in some pictures, it is of my Pops and his mate Fred (remember the Big Fat Aussie Adventure for Me and my Pops....?) and we are delivering it to him as a surprise.  Well maybe not so now but Cath, if you read this, don't tell him!  So we propped them up on the seat while we grabbed a coffee and warmed our faces in the sunshine, and chatted to a couple of old guys (that I commented on when we pulled up, could be my Pops and Fred!) who thought the picture was of them! Lol! After bidding a fond farewell to my fave place (I know you get sick of hearing about it but I love it, and V is quite fond of it too now) we made our way to pick up our camper.

Now, you know from my previous exploits alone that I love a camper and have had the good fortune in spending a lot of time in them touring this great land as well as the epic 5 weeks in NZ.  And they are always named.  Immediately on sight.  Well of course, this time I was going to be sharing the same small space with V, a challenge but one I'm sure we can rise to and I told him that he could have the pleasure of naming 'it'.  We were finally given the keys to our home for the next 2 weeks, and it was (as always) like meeting up on a first date after only seeing pictures on line.  But, thankfully not disappointing, just the usual 'you get what you pay for'.  But most importantly a name immediately left my lips. Maggie.  It was a she.  But it was also V responsibility to name 'it', Doh. Like the gentleman he is he told me, with a little pout, that it was ok, she could be called Maggie but after several minutes he said 'I think she is more a Mavis'.

So now we had a dilemma.  Maggie (conjures up images of slightly rough around the edges but loves a good time kinda girl) or Mavis (ooooooo Mavis as in Coronation Street, a bit twee and a bit shy) and we decided we may have to leave it to a facebook vote to see the winner.  Or alternatively we would just call her M &M.....

Once we had checked her over and made sure she had all the important bits, and V had commented on the several badly repaired windscreen chips (he never stops) we drove in convoy with Herbie in the lead to the Heggie, to say goodbye and ready ourselves for the trip ahead.  Once there the van got a little bit of a clean and there was a slight kerfuffle when V opened the bonnet to check the oil and water, only to find threre was no engine.  Well, not there anyway....it was finally located by him and (thankfully) Graeme (can you imagine what it would have been like if I was trying to find it) and once Christmas presents for home from Carrie were safely stowed aboard (I must ask her what is in them to avoid an interesting conversation and quite possibly an embarrassing incident at the airport) it was time to bid farewell to the Heggies and Sue (who had popped over to bring me a towel I had left at hers 4 years ago, as I had forgotten mine this time round!).

With tears in my eyes I bid farewell to Carrie who has put up with me several times and who is always there with whatever anyone may need, and to Sue, another of the gang that has a heart of gold.  But once again knowing it won't be for long and as we drive off in M&M Carrie videoed our departure and I hung out of the passenger window, bingo wings wobbling in the breeze, our road trip was underway.  Well as far as Foodland at the end of the road and another tense trial at using my carsh card which was aborted by me in the hope that once I have spoken to my bank tomorrow they will realise its me and not a hacker trying desperately to get cash out.

We had cheekily borrow Jenns sat nag (sorry Jenn something else you gotta bring home with you, along with the 5 plug extension lead....) and she had finally got the message, taking us away from Flagstaff Hill the scenic way we had been trying to find all week.

And so we meandered up through the hills, marvelling at the rolling landscape so akin to home with sheep and cattle grazing.....

Right, I have a confession to make.  It is now the end of day 10, yes you read that right, day 10, and its is currently 8.43pm and we are both a bit pissed.  V is snoring like a baby (rhino) next to me and I am just ashamed that I have not got up to date with my blog!  I'm gonna blame it on the weather as it has been appalling, wind, rain and (almost but not really) freezing temperatures.  So, as this part of the trip was a while ago now I will have to summarise and not go into as much witty detail as normal (hang on I've just got to take the 3 sleeping bags, 1 blanket and a sheet off the bed so I can turn on the portable fan heater again as I can see my breath......).

Much better, now where were we, metaforically as well as physically.....ah yes.

Out of Adelaide, through the hills, flip flop failure as they broke getting into the van (another pair of the apparently unbreakable and small mortgageable  Havianas gone....the first pair to the raging torrents of the Ardeche and the second to the puppy), passing over the Murray River, counting the amount and variety of roadkill (2 roos, 1 pelican, 1 giant dragonfly, 1 lizard and a snake), a big red lobster that looks a lot more tired than I remember it (as were we as the cafe we were hoping to get a coffee at was now derelict!) seeing a kangaroo sign that someone had imaginatively written 'skippy' under in permanent marker and driving until we could find another one where no-one would catch us as we also wrote 'skippy' in permanent marker and giggled whislt taking a selfie, all the while hoping the rozzers didn't catch us, Vince enjoying the drive and me getting used to the the fact that I was in the passenger seat (much to my annoyance for not only was I not in charge but also the leg room in the passenger seat was shocking), driving through the Coorong NP with the ever changing landscapes and weather, finally arriving at our first road trip destination of beautiful Robe and finding the amazing SeaVu caravan site, with the even more friendly staff, setting up camp by the sea, finding a beach as our garden and drawing comedy cocks in the sand (it's a boy thing) as well as little markers of our visit, wandering into the pretty town and eating pizza alfresco whilst all around us looked in wonder at the mad Pomms eating in the cold (positively tropical if you ask me, if not a little breezy), and finally meandering back to the site for a good nights sleep with the waves and the wind lashing the van.  Little did we know that it was just the beginning of all that malarkey.....

And so that was the abridged version of day 8 - Adelaide to Robe.  Remember people, I am pissed and at the end of day 11 so bear with me, the rest will  be written today whilst Mr Snuffleupagus sleeps beside me, and all (hopefully) by 10pm.....

So until a bit late, TTFN......xx

We are sooooooo bad!!!

Boys will be boys...

Not much of a sunrise!