23 - 25 September 2016 - Days 174 - 176 - Ballarat

It was sad to be leaving as we all had a great time on the farm and loved catching up with our friends.  Just as we were about to leave Tom pulled his 22 rifle out.  Well the boys eyes lit up and they were allowed to have a few goes each.  Both John and Tom showed them what to do.  Cooper did a great job and hit the target twice.

A massive thank you to John and Sue for having us and we look forward to catching up with them again next year.  We have so much fun with you guys.

We finally hit the road after saying our sad goodbyes and our first stop was the Giant Koala.

 

We arrived in Ballarat and dropped the van off at the Big 4 Goldfields and went straight to Sovereign Hill which was only a few hundred metres down the road.

We had a great time at Sovereign Hill and the kids had an action packed day.  They participated in old fashioned ten pin bowling, dipped candles, went to school and wrote with old fashioned ink pens, watched a gold pour and tried their luck at gold panning.

At the end of the day we went on a mine tour which went for an hour.  We boarded an old tram which took us underground and we were in the dark for 90 seconds before arriving in the old mine.  It was a scary ride down but we all enjoyed it and learnt alot on the tour.

That night we went back to Sovereign Hill after having a really quick dinner back at the caravan park and went to the Sound and Light Show.  The show was good but a little different as it had no actors in it just Sounds and Lights set around a mining town scene.

The next morning we were a little tired and had a lazy morning before we went to The Gold Museum.  The kids completed the school worksheet that the museum gave them and found different things in the museum before they received there price which they were very happy with. It was a gold chocolate coin.

The boys missed out on having a horse and cart ride the day before at Sovereign Hill so we used the second day free tickets that we received and went back in.

I had noticed an oven in the camp kitchen and got abit excited at the thought of cooking something in a proper oven so I made Mitch his favourite, Zucchini Slice that afternoon.  He wasn't complaining!!

That night we had a relaxing night and the boys watched the football.

We decided to stay in Ballarat another day so we could visited the Kryal Castle.  The Kryal Castle was a funny place with jousting demonstrations, wizards that made magic potions, a maze, pantomimes and a torture chamber.  For the entry fee of $92.00 it was abit of a rip off and we had completed it all in 3 hours but the kids found it interesting.

After a quick shop we took the boys to the skatepark and went out to a Chinese Restaurant as we haven't had chinese since we have been away and thought we deserved a treat.

21 - 22 September 2016 - Days 172 - 173 - Horsham

We left Adelaide at 7.15am so that we would be at our friend's place at Horhsam by lunchtime.

After driving for half an hour the fuel filter light came on in the car so we pulled over on the highway and looked up you tube to find out how to change it.  Luckily, Michael had packed a spare and we changed the filter in the rain on the side of the road.  This is another thing that we have learnt how to do on this adventure.

We had met John, Sue, Tom and Emma on The Gibb and travelled with them thru Karijini National Park and Exmouth.  It was great to see them again and they had told us not to expect much as they live on a farm out of town.

Just before Horsham we drove past a pink lake.  We have passed quite a few on our trip but none were actually pink.  This lake was bright pink, so Michael did a quick u turn and we went back for a look.  It was very impressive, even in the rain.

Driving along John and Sue's street we were stopped by a road closed sign.  The water was so high on the sides of the road because of all the rain that they had had over the past few weeks the road had been closed.  After a quick phone call to John we moved the sign and drove thru.

Tom met us at the end of their driveway on his motorbike and the kids were so excited, not only because Tom was on a motorbike but they really enjoy Tom's company.

From the moment we arrived we had a great time and it was action packed.  Within an hour we had a fire going that we all stood around to keep warm and had a quick drink.  The boys hooked two small quad bikes to the back of the ride on lawn mower and Tom towed them thru the mud and puddles.  The boys were in heaven!!!

John and Sue have lots of machinery as they own an excavating business and also run a 200 acre farm.

Tom drives all the machinery and took the boys for a drive around the property in the tractor to find fire wood.

That night we had a great night catching up over a lovely home cooked meal cooked by Sue.

The next day Michael and I headed back into town and we had no chance of getting the boys to come with us, as they were having way to much fun on the farm.

Horsham butchers make a thing called a flory and they are only made in Horsham, you can't find them anywhere else.  Sue and John had cook us some in Exmouth that they had taken away with them and they were beautiful.  So we went to town and stocked up.  They are two really thin pieces of topside steak with a piece of ham and cheese in the middle and crumbed.  It is abit like a beef parmy but crumbed and with no red sauce.  Delicious!!

I quickly gave the caravan a quick clean and sweep out when we got back.  I walked out of the caravan to find an old man in a dressing gown standing next to the van.  I looked at the old man's face and then down his body and thank god I saw Emma's feet in thongs.  She had scared the absolute **** out of me.  It was very funny and she had done the same thing to Michael.  This is the lovely mask that she is wearing in this photo.

Then we  all drove to Dunkeld and had a lovely lunch in the pub before we drove thru the Grampians and stopped at Halls Gap for an ice cream and a walk around.  The drive thru the Grampians was beautiful and the view from the lookout was amazing.

When we got back to the farm John and Sue drove us all around the paddocks and showed us their crops.  The kids enjoyed standing in them.  They were taller than Mitch in spots.

There was never a dull moment and it was time for a another fire.  John drove one of his big machines and the boys all jumped back into the tractor and they went and collected firewood.  It was great to watch as John picked up the wood and put into the tractor driven by Tom.  The kids loved it.
The fire that they made was massive and kept us all warm.

That night we had a BBQ and another fun night watching movies that Michael had taken on his
Go Pro of our adventure.

It had been another great day.