Melbourne to Adelaide

After a busy time in Melbourne, running around fixing problems, we felt a bit sad to leave Nikki and Shan, and Katie, Matt and little Otto. We had spent some extra days there, which we really enjoyed. 

It was hard to leave Otto, that's for sure!

       

The back window was all fixed and better than the original one!

                             

 

   

Now was the start of our next adventure. The first overnight stop was at a place called Burnt Creek, where we set up for the evening. There was another couple there, travelling in their caravan, so we called them over for 'happy hour'. 

We weren't too far off the highway, so it was a bit noisy - even far into the night the trucks roll past.

We made some yummy muffin pizzas for tea. 

                                   

Our next overnight camp was another roadside one. Permangk was the aboriginal name for it. It was more a truck stop, so it was very noisy with trucks pulling in at all hours of the night. 

Our trip into Adelaide was very misty.

      

   It is a very steep descent too, so we were glad when we arrived at our destination. 

We had booked a night in the Levi Park Caravan Park. We have stayed there before and we knew it was very nice. Once set up, we got to work doing our washing. I am so glad we purchased our own little automatic washing machine. It is worth its weight gold!!

                                

       

Once the washing was done we headed out to the shops to stock up for the road ahead. 

Food shopping between Adelaide and Alice Springs is not the greatest, so we bought quite a bit of meat and groceries. We have a vacuum sealer, so I got to work when we got back to camp getting all the meat sealed so it will last a few weeks. 

                                 

      

We took the opportunity to catch up with my sister Penelope, BIL Jame, and niece Madeleine. 

          

  

Things happen in threes!

Well, what a busy time it was in the lead up to our departure!

Firstly, Randall lost a set of Mazda keys. How, I don't know. After waiting a suitable amount of time for them to turn up, it was time to order a new set. $500 later we got a new set. The other set is nowhere to be seen. On Friday ( my last day at work) I noticed I had several missed phone calls from Randall. I sent a text to see if it was important. Yes, it was, so I rang. Well, the back window of the Mazda was broken (in about a million pieces), but not to worry, we will sort something out. I could have cried! Randall was never happy with the way the back window closed so he was doing some adjustments, which didn't go to plan!

The canopy had originally come from Thailand via TJM, so it was not going to be able to be a quick fix. (Up to 3 months)!

I got home, and after much discussion we decided that if we could get a temporary fix, we could still leave as planned. We rang Alpha Caravan and RV Centre, the people that made our caravan, and we dropped our car off at 8am on Saturday and headed off to pack. We worked so hard to get organised, and we were so glad when we got a call to say that the car was ready to pick up. What a great job it was!! We could pack the car and lock it and head off as planned. 

                                     

After a VERY hectic few days we were finally able to head up the driveway and off to the start of a wonderful holiday.
We were very happy to arrive in Melbourne and head to our daughter's place to visit Otto for some grandparent cuddles.

 

                                       

 

                                                                            

 The third thing to go wrong happened when we were setting up the caravan outside Nikki's house.

Randall was putting the jockey wheel on the caravan when the attachment pin on the handle broke. Just as well it happened in suburbia as we were able to (after some driving to auto and 4WD places, then web searching) find the exact same jockey wheel).
However, that jockey wheel problem has also fixed the canopy problem! As we we arrived outside a 4WD place, Randall notice a car with the AeroKlas logo and web address on it - the very same brand as our canopy. We nabbed  the fellow when he had finished being served and discovered that there was an AeroKlas fitting centre only 10 minutes away. And, even better news, they had the back window in stock!! (Amazing that we couldn't have been told that in Hobart!)
We have had to delay leaving Melbourne for a few extra days so that the window can be fitted, but that just means more 'Otto time' as we call it!

So we are enjoying the company of Katie and Matt and Otto and Nikki and Shannon.