McLeod's Daughters country

I love, love, love the countryside around the Barossa Valley in South Australia. Rolling hills, trees everywhere, old homesteads, rivers and creeks, plus the odd drop of lovely wine.
I was a big fan of the Australian television series McLeod's Daughters filmed around Gawler and couldn't help but take some photos of the Gungellan Pub and the outdoor bath beneath the windmill where those farm girls had many a steamy romantic encounter.
I don't think Halle and Louie were feeling the love though;)

Catching a ferry

During the mid-January heatwave in South Australia and Victoria I opted to catch a ferry from the Eyre Peninsula to the Yorke Peninsula across the Spencer Gulf in South Australia. It saved six hours of driving time over terrain that I'd already driven, and gave me a much needed break. It was also very affordable.
So Louie and Halle had their very first experience on a boat of any sort and they were gems. Well-behaved, patient and quiet. They've truly become seasoned travellers.

Long distance operator

One of the advantages of returning via a route you've already travelled is knowing the good spots and avoiding the bad spots.
The old Eucla Telegraph Station on the Western Australia/South Australia border is the one place where the dogs can get out and stretch their legs and have a really good run without fear of dog baits or roaming rangers ready to issue a fine. A lovely quarantine inspector at the border recommended it to me when I came across and as you can see by the dogs' expressions of joy the tip was a winner.
They chased rabbits, ran up and down sand dunes, and then chased seagulls in the ocean. I had quite the workout trying to keep up with them, especially through the sand dunes!
I drove 600km that day (a record for me towing the van) and after Eucla the dogs settled in and slept all the way.

Oasis in the outback

Louie and Halle check out the old shearer's quarters

We're back!

Crossing from Western Australia into South Australia is a hard slog, either way. The driving is relentless, your mind wanders, roadhouses serve the same crappy fast food, it's a long way between toilet stops and most accommodation is at the back of roadhouses, or campsites are in roadside rest stops, just metres from a busy highway.
One amazing place is bucking the trend and offering travellers comfortable accommodation options, two course meals each night, and an Australian history lesson thrown in for free. Fraser Range Station is a former 440,000 acre sheep station located in between Norseman and Belladonia. We stayed there when we headed west and I knew it would be one of those stops we just had to come back to going the other way.
The staff and owners are incredibly hospitable, the camp kitchen and BBQ area are the best I've encountered in my travels, and the scenery is stunning. It's about 2km off the highway so we didn't hear any traffic noise.
The gardens are a blooming feat in the middle of the dusty outback and I love how they've thrown in old farm equipment as garden ornaments. The station calls itself an oasis in the outback and it lives up to the claim.
I can't recommend this stop highly enough.

Happy New Year

May you always find safe, peaceful waters at the bottom of treacherous cliffs. Have a wonderful 2014. Renee xxx