And Finally...

6th October

Well we have arrived home safely and before long are back into the swing of everyday life. Kids are back at school, D's back at work and the weeks begin to the lead up for Christmas. Growing up I always heard how much some hated Christmas. It can be a very trying time and expensive as well but at the end of the day it is very special and we always need to remember that. So I am going to be organised and start preparing. 11 weeks I have to do just that.

I am sure you are all wondering why I got off the track a bit from talking about a wonderful holiday to the countdown of Christmas. I believe we should always have something to look forward to so now that our holiday is over I look forward to the festive season and all the yummy food and wine that comes with it.

Now, back onto the subject of our holiday.

It was all very worth it. We experienced four sections of our holiday. The first was areas of nothing, areas of scrub and areas of very dry. One of the few Australian set backs is that sometimes you have to travel through a lot of nothing to get to something wonderful.

Our second was the Flinders. A place that resembles not too many places anywhere else here is Aussie land. The colours of the landscape, the contours of the ranges and the harsh surviving land are reasons that everyone should come and see it for yourselves.

Our third was the departure of a dry and hot place to a coastal location of cold winds, sea mists and lots of ocean. The Yorke Peninsula is definitely an area of healthy and abundant farming and living, a complete opposite to the Flinders Ranges.

Our final part was the pleasant wander along the banks of the Mighty Murray River. A true gem she is, along with her history and the grand vessels that travel her.

In general the caravan parks were reasonably priced, clean and friendly. However I do have some negatives to say. 

Firstly unfortunately the price increase for children in the caravan parks has increased over time more than the cost of the tariff for just 2 adults. When we first started caravanning the price of an extra child was between $3 & $5. $5 always seemed to be very expensive. At that time also caravanning was not as popular and there were less of the large and expensive vans coming in. Now an extra child is most of the time between $8 & $10. If you are staying at a Big 4 or a Top Tourist you pay $10 per extra child. Broken Hill Top Tourist was the most expensive caravan park in our entire trip coming in at $58 per night. The park was neat and tidy but very dated. Wellington Caves Caravan Park on the other hand was also neat and tidy, had new amenities and charged us $31 for the night. Wellington Caves ran rings around Broken Hill. Why is this so? Supply and demand of the grey nomads? It almost feels that by making the childrens' tariffs higher they protect the major increase in the initial tariff!

Merna Mora Station in the Flinders charged a flat $30 per powered per night whether there was two of you or 10 of you. Thank you Merna Mora.

I understand that everything is expensive these days but I don't believe that our boys use $20 per night more electricity and water that just the two of us.

Lastly on a negative note sorry but Yass Caravan Park is not worth stopping at. The bathrooms were ok regarding cleanliness but more so they crammed the vans in so close that there was no room to deploy your awning. That's how close we were altogether. In some instances there was only an arms length between vans. We paid $40 per night. Never again.

Don't think that my negative comments about caravan parks will stop us. That is what it is. It is still cheaper than staying in motels or apartments however we do bring our house with us!!!!

Free camping can combat this problem and that is what we did at Menindee Lakes. Great location and beautiful with all that water. If you have a van that is permanently set up for this kind of thing I can see why more and more people are doing this especially regarding the rising cost of staying in caravan parks. Thank you to the person who invented 12 volt capabilities and of course to the wonderful writers and researchers of Camps Australia Wide.

We did experience some extremes regarding the weather. The first couple of days were absolutely perfect with warm days and cool nights. The Flinders gave us hot strong northerly winds and temperatures over 37 degress whipping up the dust like there was no tomorrow. Then the Yorke Peninsula also gave us strong winds but from the south so they were cold and wet. Then the last couple of days were back to perfect. We all know that travelling you are certainly at the whim of the weather.

On a final note our holiday was wonderful and full of fun. My favourite parts were all of the Flinders and of course seeing the Adelaide. I am sure we will be back to the Murray sooner than later but once the kids are no longer wanting to come on holidays with us we will venture back to the Flinders to see everything we missed the first time.

Check out Merna Mora Station on Facebook as well as the Chocolate Apply Factory at Shepparton. Also check out my Colonial Girl Facebook page.

Until again...