Off for a couple of weeks.

AussieMick

AussieMick

Senior Member
T6 Guru
Left today for a trip to Eyre Peninsula 800 km west of where we live. Weather today has been atrocious, starting out as lightning and thunderstorms, now we are parked for the night its blowing a gale.

Sitting in the van with the roof down as it's so windy observing happy hour with a few beers , wind rocking the van.

First trip with a solar panel also on the trailer feeding into the leisure battery in the van. Total now 280w to a 150ah lifepo4 battery. Hopefully that's my electrical system sorted for continuous off grid travel.

Due to covid19 we are only staying within our state South Australia until more people vaxed and borders stay open. Luckily its a big state with many attractions, coastal and outback.20211028_173415.jpg

Map of travels. Left Adelaide heading to Port Lincoln via eastern coast then up the west coast and towards home.
Have bikes and paddle boards on board for a bit of fun.20211028_195459.jpg
 
Good luck with your trip - keep us updated (esp with pics!) So envious of you getting away!
 
Heading down the east coast of Eyre Peninsula. Staying the night camped in the scrub/sand dunes at Port Gibbon.
Must be self contained with portable toilet, water etc.
Wind has moderated and sun is out so much nicer outlook today.

Wife and I relaxing with the afternoon wind down drink.
20211029_162509.jpg20211029_162432.jpg
A few pictures of where we are parked for the night. Had to get a permit from the local council for $10.
(£5.50) for overnight camping.
2 days of strong headwinds don't do much for fuel economy but winds are dropping so that should help as probably like you fuel prices are pretty high at the moment.20211029_164546.jpg
View out of window.20211029_165103.jpg
 
Haven't had much phone coverage so a bit of an update.
Spent a few days around Port Lincoln which is reasonably sized, it is a fishing town and has big grain silos so farmers can get their cereal crops to markets around the world .
Headed out now staying in the Coffin Bay National park. Camping spots provided for a small fee. No water or power provided but does have a drop toilet to share with other campers.
Plenty of wildlife around, birds, reptiles and kangaroos and emus. I can fish in the beautiful bay 200 metres from our van.
Been away for 9 days so far and solar has kept battery powered each day so fridge keeping food and drink cold. Very important.
Van behaving itself so that is good and fuel prices about the same as Adelaide, a few cents a litre more.
Some pictures so far.
Screenshot_20211105-073901_Maps.jpgreceived_592891205165213.jpeg
Had 2 kangaroos come to our camp yesterday afternoon. We had our black shower bags out in the sun and they could smell the water and were sniffing the bags.We put out a dish of water and they lapped it up as fresh water is hard to find. received_429203295264043.jpeg
Here is a picture of a tree obeying the road sign.received_574222177168764.jpeg
Coffin bay is famous for oysters, We went out on a boat to an oyster lease on a sandbar in the middle of the bay.25 minutes from shore.
Put on waiters and were shown about oyster farming. Then back on board and eating oysters straight from the sea.received_1212205345937573.jpeg

received_201684411999735.jpeg
 
Traveling further up the west coast of Eyre Peninsula. It is pretty rugged with a few sheltered bays that are fishing ports and holiday shacks.
There has been many shipwrecks and drownings over the years as this coast faces the full fury of the southern ocean.
Van going well ( touch wood) and ideal for this type of travel.
We are spending most nights in isolated camps as caravan parks here are crowded out, and
have had some great nights with an uncrowded camp with ocean views.
We have been travelling with a friend in her van so some nights there is just the 2 vans.
Here are a few pictures of the coast and random views. Screenshot_20211108-190831_Maps.jpg20211108_141812.jpg20211106_122819.jpg20211108_190634.jpgResized_20211108_141749_549836688741107.jpegResized_20211107_125050_549948226544489.jpeg
 
Parked up at Smoky Bay riding out a storm, been raining all night and will rain today, it was so windy we put the pop top roof down overnight. 20211111_075749.jpgJust wanted to show its not all sunshine every day.
Screenshot_20211110-172543_Maps.jpg
Later on today we will start heading east slowly towards home , depends on what the weather does.
The waters off this coast are full of reefs and rocks offshore. It shows how skilled the early navigators were.
Mathew Flinders charted large parts of southern Australia in 1802 entering bays and taking soundings of water depth readings which certainly helped ships that came after him.
You can see large breaking waves a long way out offshore all along
Great white sharks cruise these waters 20211109_105108.jpg
 
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AussieMick said:
Parked up at Smoky Bay riding out a storm, been raining all night and will rain today, it was so windy we put the pop top roof down overnight. View attachment 136076Just wanted to show its not all sunshine every day.
View attachment 136077
Later on today we will start heading east slowly towards home , depends on what the weather does.
The waters off this coast are full of reefs and rocks offshore. It shows how skilled the early navigators were.
Mathew Flinders charted large parts of southern Australia in 1802 entering bays and taking soundings of water depth readings which certainly helped ships that came after him.
You can see large breaking waves a long way out offshore all along
Great white sharks cruise these waters View attachment 136079
Click to expand...
Lovely update, thank you. It's great how you weaved a little history into it too. As a matter of interest, how many miles/km do you reckon you've done since you left home? (By the way, really appreciate how you've included the map - gives a perspective.) Safe travels
 
Have done around 1500km and have about 1000km till home , depends on the weather where we go.
There are several ways home.Screenshot_20211111-094704_Chrome.jpg
 
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20211112_184510.jpg20211112_200909.jpgHeading east towards home, 600km to go. Camped for the night, possibly the last, at a huge granite monolith sticking out of the plain.
Rock is cooled magma, 170 million years old that has weathered and turned into a very large dome.
One other camper here. Clear night with many stars visible. Its rained for the last 2 days so dirt roads were a bit slippery and some are closed until they dry out as vehicles destroy them.
4 motion would have come in handy.
If still rainy tomorrow we will drive Screenshot_20211112-213716_Maps.jpghome but will wait and see. The farms around here are mainly wheat , barley and sheep. There are wheat fields as far as the eye can see.
A few pictures.20211112_183958.jpg20211112_153142.jpg
 
Fantastic post - thank you again!

I don’t think the pic of van and trailer is going to help @VanDamMan with is trailer envy though!!!

Your whole trip leaves me green with envy!!!
 
I think predicted rain today may send us home a few days early. We are going into summer in a few weeks so it's meant to be warm at the moment.
Crazy weather.
 
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We are heading back into all that as we live in Adelaide which is the capital of South Australia.
The last 40km till home will be traffic and traffic lights again, haven't seen either for over 2 weeks.
 
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