The Final Oz Blog

Well we are home now and have had an absolutely fantastic and unbelievable holiday of a life time which is exactly what Steph wanted.......

The downside is that she has pushed herself a little too much and is quite ill and was admitted to hospital yesterday evening as her blood test results are all over the place. Not to worry a lot of it is down to her anemia and I'm sure she will be fine, I will keep you posted.

However we realised we did need to thank a few people for making our trip extra special and in no particular order and I'm sorry if i miss anyone who thinks they deserve a mention but thats life and my old brain cells are still jet lagged a bit!

Firstly to you all my Blog followers for reading my rantings and dribble and poking me when I wasn't posting.

To Dr Falk who said we could suspend chemo and disappear for a month.

To Deb's and Paul for the books, the inside info and the beer at the end of the bridge climb. We hope everything goes well for the future and that you get the spare room sorted.

To Jo & Al for being so understanding that we couldn't visit everywhere even though we had a month, especially when i found out you had a pool!!! Your definitely top of the list for the next visit. Floods permitting......

To Budgie, Andrea and Jade our first no cost accommodation and showing us the sights of Melbourne and Bri's favourite beach.

To Pete and Di for helping us to swing the lantern about the good old days in Germany.

And finally to our Best Friends Bri & Tracy (not forgetting Jemma & Daniel) who picked up from where we left off when they emigrated 2.5 years ago like it was yesterday. We are both sorry that Steph wasn't on top form when we arrived and curtailed some of the great events you had planned for us but you didn't care and as always just went with the flow. Frustrating i know but I have learned to live with that now and you were all so understanding, thanks for that. I can't put into words what i want to say as the tears are blurring keys......

OK emotion over, thanks everyone for everything and for the lucky ones we have approx 2500 photo's to bore the arse off you sometime soon.

Thanks again everybody and Australia for an adventure of a lifetime.

Lots of Love

Steph, Mick, Ste & Chris.

Aussie Rules Football

Mad as a box of frogs these Aussies..... An oval pitch, 4 goal post at each end, 18 players per team and 9 referees....

Aussie Rules Football here we come......

With a little help from Daniel and the nice lady in the seat in front of me they explained the very simple game of ARF. Which is basically like Rugby, Football and Basketball all roled into one with Referees who make the rules up as they go along.

Highly entertaining once you get head round the scoring system........

Well we watched a pre season round robin warm up between Melbourne, Adelaide and Port Adelaide. With Melbourne the overall winner with a 2 games to nil, very convincing wins, Adelaide second after pulling themselves together to beat Port Adelaide who took home the wooden spoon!!!! Good job theres a few more months before the actual league begins.

Petting Sanctuary

Steph wasn't up for it so we all abandoned her in front of the TV with her glass of water and the remote control and we went off to the FREE petting Sanctuary which was brilliant because it was FREE and the animals weren't scared at all, especially with a bag of special food. So off we went to see what was there.....

After 5 mins we met our first cute critter and then we were surrounded, the pictures say it for themselves. I have loads but will bore you with all of them at a later date and just give you a taste.

A great couple of hours, such a shame Steph wasn't there she would have loved it.

Mt Barker the final days

Well we haven't got long left and Steph is getting more tired due to her anemia kicking in big time, the iron tablets just make her feel sick so she hasn't got much energy left but is putting on a brave face and trying her hardest but you can see she is really struggling which is a shame. I think our holiday of a lifetime is catching up with her and she really needs that transfusion.

Saying that we still manage to get out and about and the next adventure is to Hahndorf for some traditional German beer and essen (not sure if that is correct spelling?) It's the oldest known German settlement in Oz dating back to the 1800 and somethings. Anyway we are not too hungry so don't go mad on food ordering but OMG check out the pictures and the portion sizes.

Jemma's was only a starter......but nearly as big as Dan's main meal.

Steph's was at least 2 pints of soup.....

Brians burger must have been over 1/2lb in weight....

And Ste and mine was a meat and sausage fest.....

Well we were well and truly stuffed and if you ever Adelaide way and have a spare evening and are famished checkout the traditional German Bier Keller........

Port Victor Break

Tracy has organised a 3 day break down in Port Victor in a massive house by the coast, I have to drop off the van and then we are down the road to the south of Adelaide to the seaside.

So vans gone to a very friendly lady called funnily enough Sheila!!! We are zooming down the road with the aid of Tom.

The house is fantastic with pool table massive BBQ and terrace, plus the added value of a rumpus room downstairs for the kids with table tennis hiding in the garage, massive TV's so everybody is happy.

We check out the town which is like a sleepy seaside town in winter, there doesn't seem to be many people about and much open but we find the essentials a pub and Coles (The local Supermarket for those who don't know) So we have a wander, a beer and BBQ shopping and it's back for more beer and pool. Ready for more exploring tomorrow.

Whales Tail (At the right time of year you can see these in the bay)

Beer Time

Daniel & Jemma having a pint

Exploring is the order of the day to find nice beaches and Kangaroo's as we haven't seen a live one out of the zoo. Bingo we find both and here are the pictures to prove it......

Adelaide 20/20

We have made it to Adelaide and are greeted by Brian, Tracy, Jemma and Daniel and there tiny Army quarter, OMG it's huge they are so lucky but it must be strange rattling around on their own with Carrie in UK and Jem doing her Uni course in Melbourne. Although Jem and Daniel are stopping whilst we are here, which will be a nice bit of company for the boys.

Tiny Lounge

Little Rumpus Room

Our first nights entertainment is all planned and we are off to see the 20/20 Cricket at the Adelaide Oval where Adelaide Redbacks versus NSW in the final of the series. It's about an hour away so we jump in the cars and get on the freeway down the massive hill into the City center.

20/20 Cheerleaders

Adelaide stuffing New South Wales

We get our tickets and find some seats and well Adelaide stuffed them with balls to spare, it was a great first evening of our stay in Adelaide albeit a little cool in the stands but it is 10pm.

Chilly in them Stands!!!

The Gang!!!

Back home for beers and a dip in the Spa. Whilst Bri gets on with the washing up !!!!!

Steph decided to chill on the patio and check out the the night sky absolutely gorgeous. Red Sky at night Shepherds Delight......

Catch Up - Birthday Girl

Hi Blog fans well we have made it and although I have been behind with my blogs hopefully you've followed them all the way to Adelaide.

Bri & Tracy have made plans for us and we are off for couple of days to Port Victor and off to do some other cultural things. Which as I type you'll know we have already done them!!!

We do have a problem in that Steph's anemia has crept up on her after a very busy 3 weeks and it's beginning to tell she is very tired but putting on a brave face and trying really hard. It's her birthday today and Bri has made his excellent Carrot Cake something to rival Helens....

Luckily or Unluckily we have only 2 days left and we will be able to get Steph sorted with some blood once we are home.

So blog chasers watch out for our Adelaide fun over the next few days hopefully posted before we get on the big plane home on Sunday.....

The Great Coast Road - Day 3 - Last Leg

It's the last day before we blast off to Adelaide to see Brian & Tracy. Our plan for today is to go to Robe another little seaside town on the way to Adelaide. We do have a stop on the way at a place called Mount Gambier to check out the Blue Lake; A volcanic crater which changes colour throughout the year with due to chemical changes and is also the water supply for the town. A pretty impressive feature, as hopefully the pictures show.

It's really Blue......

Check out our arty farty photo's

Courtesy of Christopher.....

After lunch just outside Mt Gambier we head for Robe and aren't disappointed with the town check out the views......

Doesn't that look inviting such a shame it was bloody freezing..... We had a paddle but that's all then it was back to the Campsite for a pitch which you could have put 3 of our campervans on.

As you can see Chris took it easy yet again and adopted his usual pose.

Well another day done and we enjoyed some great views and hazard free travelling although we have seen some strange road kill, Dingo's, Koala's and Kangaroo's but they are just like our Rabbits, Foxes and Badgers. Hopefully we will see some live ones soon.

Bye for now......

The Great Coast Road - Day 2 - 12 Disciples

OK so we've had our coco pops and toast and we are all good to go on the second day of the GCR we are hoping to see the twelve disciples for those of you who don't know they are big rocks that sit on the coast although due to weathering I'm not sure if they are all there.

Our next location we intend to stop at is Port Fairy so off we go to find the Disciples.........

As you can see we not only have the coast we also have the countryside as the road twists in and out and up and down.

So 1 hour later here we are at the Disciples and yes I think there is only 8 or 9 so much for 12, some are just little stumps in the water with waves crashing over them but I must admit they do look very impressive. We park up and walk under the road a bit like Stone Henge in UK and out across to the coast, I think the pictures speak for themselves.

These blokes ignored the signs and jumped the barrier we filmed them for a while hoping we would see them arrested but no such luck.....

After a few more pictures we decided to have some lunch in the fun bus and then move on to Port Fairy

Bye Bye Disciples...........

After a few more hours we arrive in Port Fairy a lovely little town on the GCR, we find a lovely campsite the boys go for a swim in the cool pool apparently the owner forgot to switch on the heating but they didn't mind too much they just wanted to cool down. 34 Degrees can become a bit unbearable.

Next stop a wander into town to find a restaurant and a cool pint.........

Mission achieved although Chris's gourmet taste will cripple us soon I think he's been watching too much Gordon Ramsey and Raymond Blanc.

So blog fans Day 2 done and we are off to bed before we head for a little coast town called Robe!!!