WE’RE IN WOOMERA, PORT AUGUSTA AND THE BAROSSA VALLEY

FRIDAY 8TH AUGUST   -   We left Coober Pedy and travelled through some very flat open land for 374 kilometres and arrived in Woomera Traveller’s Village and Caravan Park early in the afternoon.  We wanted to stay here to break up the long journey to Port Augusta and also to check out the outback desert town that in the 1950’s and 1960’s was the busiest rocket and missile testing range in the World. The testing area covered 124,000 square kilometres.  From 1947 until 1982 it was a completely closed facility.  The testing area was one seventh the area of South Australia, or the equivalent of one and a half times the area of Scotland.  Australia was the fourth nation to build and place a satellite in orbit.

In 2007 it was inducted into the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauts Hall of Fame as a site of historical significance.

We walked up to the National Aerospace and Missile Park close to the caravan park showing rockets and missiles developed and tested over a 60 year period at Woomera. \

In the 1960’s Woomera took part in the Mercury and Gemini Space Programmes, which played an important role in the first moon landing mission.

The caravan park was $25 per night for a powered site.  It was in a big, dry and dusty area.  The facilities were pretty basic.  The town itself was very clean but pretty deserted.  It was an interesting overnight stop.

SATURDAY 2ND AUGUST   -   We left Woomera and drove for 180 kilometres to Port Augusta.  We stayed at the Shoreline Caravan Park where we stayed 2 years ago.  The toilet blocks had been upgraded since our last visit and there was actually a patch of bright green grass outside the park – something we haven’t seen for a while!!  We had great views of the Flinders Ranges behind the park and we could let Sally off for a good run on the rusty red sand by the water behind the park.  She looked redder than the sand by the time we left!!

The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia.  They start 366 kilometres north of Adelaide and stretch for over 430 kilometres and are spectacular to look at with their mingled deep mauve and brown colours stretching for further than the eye can see.

Port Augusta has a population of 14,000 and is the seventh largest city in South Australia.  It is situated in the Spencer Gulf and is called the “Crossroads of Australia” where “The Desert Meets the Ocean” and where the highways from WA, NT, NSW and Victoria meet.

MONDAY 11TH AUGUST   -   We left Port Augusta and drove 283

Kilometres to our next destination the Barossa Valley tourist Park in Nuriootpa, meaning “meeting place”.  We have passed through the Barossa twice before but have never actually stayed here.  We also wanted to catch up with our friends Rob and Ros that live nearby before they went on an overseas trip. We only intended staying 2 nights, but when we arrived they told us there was a Wine and Food Festival on over the weekend and they had a special rate for 7 nights stay, plus our 10% Top Tourist discount as well (we normally only get one discount or the other), the total cost $192.   It sounded like a great idea and we decided to stay for the 7 nights.

It was pretty cold in the Barossa, 10 – 12 degrees at midday – the coldest temperatures we’ve had for a long time, so we had to get the winter trackies and jackets out.  We also had to buy a fleecy lined coat for Sally.  She adjusted to it remarkably quickly and absolutely loves it.

The scenery on the drive down was just beautiful with such lush bright green fields, paddocks and hills, water in the rivers and huge healthy trees everywhere.  It was refreshing to see such gorgeous landscapes again.  The only drawback was the much colder climate.

The caravan park was on a big block of land with several football ovals.  We had a large drive through site overlooking one oval.  There were lots of local shops and cafes within walking distance.  It was also close to lots of wineries.  There were some lovely walks in the park and duck pond behind the park also.

We went to Linke’s Central Meat Store and bought home-made German sausages and smoked bacon and meats.  It was just like the old fashioned butcher shops of yesteryear with friendly service and hand cured meats. Richard got a free “beer stick” on the way out.  It was a thin spiced salami stick and was very tasty.

WEDNESDAY 12TH AUGUST   -   We went to 3 wineries:  Jacob’s Creek, Peter Lehman and Wolf Blass, all within a 30 minute drive from the caravan park.  It was pretty cold and windy but the sun was shining and we set off looking forward to some good wines. We had a lovely meat and vegetarian platter for lunch at Peter Lehman’s sitting right besides one of the two big welcoming open fires.  We were so toasty and warm with good food and an excellent glass of pinot grigio (my new now favourite wine) to wash it down with.  We were both very impressed with the quality of wines there and the lovely surroundings and friendly staff.

SOME OF THE SCULPTURES AT JACOB'S CREEK WINERY

We met our friends Rob and Ros at the Indian restaurant in town and had a banquet for 4 which was delicious.  It was lovely to catch up with them once again.  Last time we met them was in Rockhampton in May of this year.

THURSDAY  13TH AUGUST   -   We went on a loop drive around the Barossa with our picnic lunch.  We went through historic Angaston with beautiful Lutheran stone churches and onto Eden Valley which was more remote but with beautiful scenery. 

We stopped at Springton where we saw the Herbig Tree, a large hollow red gum tree about 300 to 500 years old with a diameter at the base of 7 metres and a height of 24 metres.  It was the first home of Friederich Herbig when he came to South Australia in 1855.  He married in 1858 and 2 of his 16 children were born in the tree house.  As the family grew, he built a pine hut nearby and later a stone cottage adjacent to the tree.  The Herbig family have a reunion every 5 years by the tree.

We followed the loop through to Williamstown and into Gawler a big busy town, then got on the freeway back to the caravan park.

We had a lovely roast lamb dinner with Rob and Ros.  Once again we had too much food and wine and great company in their beautiful home in Stockwell.

SATURDAY 16TH AUGUST   -  We went to the Farmers markets in Angaston.  There was such a gourmet array of fruits, vegetables, chutneys, relishes, fresh baked breads, pies and cheeses.  We just couldn't decide what to buy.  We bought some pear chutney that we'd had on our lunch platter at Peter Lehman's.  We also bought a huge round single cream brie and 2 other cheeses for $20 for the lot as well as fruit and vegetables.  We were pretty loaded up by the time we'd finished.

We were invited to the “Dometic  Follow The Sun Happy Hour” in the camp kitchen of the caravan park.  It was hosted by competition winners Kellie and Corey Stephenson and their 5 year old son Zac.  They are touring around Australia for 12 weeks in their pop top van which has been refitted with lots of new Dometic appliances.  They were one of the three lucky couples chosen for an all-expense paid 12 week trip to various parts of Australia.  They are on week 2 of their trip and really enjoying their travels so far.  Kellie is also pregnant with the couple’s second child.    They were a lovely family and we had a great chat to them and really enjoyed their company. We had a great get together with other couples from the park with some lovely wines provided by McGuigan Wines and nibbles.

SUNDAY  17TH AUGUST   -   Unfortunately, Richard came down with a heavy head and chest cold and didn’t feel like eating or drinking anything much for the day, so we didn’t partake of the Food and Wine Festival weekend activities as we'd planned by taking the hop-on-hop off buses touring around the vineyards.  

We've had a great time in the Barossa and I must say it's so refreshing not to be covered in red dirt and dust in the van, the car and on ourselves and Sally.  I had to wash my feet at least 10 times a day and they never seemed to be clean. On the flip side, it's now quite cold and that takes a bit of getting used to. Hopefully soon we'll be in a place with warmer weather.  We're very much looking forward to walking along a beach again.

THE BUSH CHAPEL BUILT IN 2005 IN THE PARK   BEHIND THE CARAVAN PARK

NEXT WEEK:  We will be visiting the German Village at Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills and making our way around to the Yorke Peninsula.