8th April 2013

7th April 2013

We did cross into South Australia in fact we got all the way down to Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills.

We got underway from Underbool around 0830, Nancy was easier to get up this morning as daylight saving has finished down here (thank goodness). Getting up in the dark and trying to get Nancy moving when it’s already 0700 is no joke.

Once again there was very little traffic on this highway so we made good time at our own pace. For best part of the journey we passed through grain growing areas in fact on either side of the road as far as you could see in this flat land, was either land prepared for planting or kilometre after kilometre of stubble from the last harvest presumably around Xmas. Ploughing and planting must be done by laser these days as each row is as straight as a die and just disappears like parallel lines into the distance and the ground is so flat and stubble fields are cut so even they almost look like well manicured golden lawns.

From Underbool to Tailum Bend a distance of 230 kls where the Malee Highway meets the Murray River again and a 100 kls from Adelaide, grain country dominated the scenery. The highway is called the Malee Highway so we presumed the dominant scrub that lined the highway like a treed avenue was actually Malee . Considered scrub in most areas these small trees were rather attractive with their glossy green leaves and crimson trunks, it would appear that at some stage of their lives or season the coarse stringy bark just falls off exposing smooth, shiny, scarlet limbs that eventually dry to a matt crimson finish.

We stopped at Tailum Bend for fuel at a Subway servo and both demolished a foot-long, hungry business this travelling. Another 68 kls and we lobbed into Mount Barker Caravan Park, a really nice, quiet and spotlessly clean park and only $28 a night.

Nancy’s front loader was hard at it within one minute of power and water connection and ran until late to catch up, and again the next day for a couple of hours.

8^th April 2013

We’ve done nothing but spend money today. As a precaution I decided to get all of our batteries checked due to their age and not wanting to get caught when in more remote areas. Sure enough two deep cycle house batteries in the caravan on their way out and one of the two big cranking batteries in the Toyota was shot, so both had to be replaced. So $1400 plus later we have new batteries all round, pop goes the weasel. My concern started when we had been driving hard for a while and when we stopped a smell of rotten eggs came into the vehicle, Nancy got most indignant when I just looked at her, so I knew I had problems one in the cab and the other under the bonnet. When I checked the batteries one was boiling and obviously giving off Sulphur Dioxide, hence the smell. With the caravan our batteries should last several days especially as we have solar charging them, but at our last campsite they only lasted a couple of days and started to fail miserably. We also needed to get a gas bottle filled today and tomorrow I have organised an oil change.   

cheers