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We last visited Warrnambool in November 2018 and loved it so much we wanted to stay permanently. It was lovely to return and still have the same feeling for this rugged seaside town oozing with maritime history and a vibrant gourmet food and artistic scene, which reminds us very much of Albany in Western Australia. We met new local James, at the Grape and Barley, a craft beer aficionado now living in Warrnambool with his Mum after being priced out of the competitive rental market in Melbourne, and Simone and Richard also from Melbourne who had stopped over in Warrnambool on their way to see family near Robe in South Australia.
  Warrnambool Art Gallery (WAG)Exhibition: "There's no place like home" curated by Serena Wong "looks at both the good and the bad as equal threads in the story of this nation."
Exhibition: Local artist Rachel Robb uses oil to create slow, small-scale paintings that merge the mundane with the sublime in a traditional still-life format
Exhibition: "Structures of Feelings" aligns the work of two ground-breaking Australian artists from different generations, Paul Yore (1987-) and Albert Tucker (1914-1999) to interrogate the response by each artist to their socio-political surroundings. "By aligning the practices of Tucker and Yore, the exhibition draws attention to the incredible power that cultural regimes wield in shaping belief systems."
   Little East BeachKnown as Port Fairy's safest dog beach because it is a protected cove with little to no surf and it didn't disappoint. We left Cherry at the end of Griffiths Street and walked along the beach towards Battery Hill, then into town.
Battery HillThe concrete fortifications at Battery Hill originally known as Flagstaff Hill, the Harbour Master’s signal point for shipping, were completed in 1887 in response to a perceived invasion threat by Russian after the Crimean War, which was won by a British and France alliance. Each year in January on Sunday morning the cannon is fired to celebrate the New Year and share the history of this quaint seaside town.
 Around town
Tower Hill and KoroitA wildlife reserve managed by the Worn Gundidj Aboriginal Cooperation is home to emus, koalas, echidnas, turtles, possums and kangaroos who can be seen around the crater lake and rugged bushland. The Natural History Centre, currently under renovation, was designed in 1962 by Australian architect Robin Boyd, cylindrical in shape echoes the form of this now inactive volcano. The reserve is a no dog zone so we could only drive around the circuit track but it was still very impressive, and the crater loop track would make for an exciting walk.
Located near Tower Hill, with rich volcanic soil, Koroit is a historic Irish farming settlement dating back to the 1840s, which is said to boast Australia’s most “complete examples” of early Irish architecture.
Shovel and I were up obscenely early on Friday morning to drive approximately 1,100kms from Mount Isa to Airlie Beach for the wedding of Amy (Shovel’s sister) and Zak. We stopped in Richmond for a steak sandwich at Treats for your Table a locally owned café serving homemade goods from an old weatherboard house on the main street, and arrived into Airlie Beach later that evening at around 9pm, after enjoying a curry for dinner in Bowen.
Amy & Zak's WeddingAmy and Zak were married on a private out-of-town beach. In March 2017, Airlie Beach was hit by a category 3 cyclone, known as Debbie, which produced winds of 150km/h and left homes destroyed, with insurance losses totalling almost $2 billion. Two years on it’s difficult to imagine the town had experienced such devastation, as the region is recovering, thanks to the combined support of local residents who rallied together to restore the paradise holiday destination. 
  The Wedding Gift
The Big Mango at Bowen Crossing the Burdekin River
Townsville
The Flinders Highway The land around Julia Creek and Richmond recovering after the devastating Jan/Feb 2019 flooding event The township of Esperance was absolutely swelling with holiday makers, so we had to opt for a three-night stay in the overflow caravan park at $35 per night located at the show grounds with a communal kitchen and dingy flooded bathroom facilities. Before even making it to the grounds however we had to find Florence a new jockey wheel. Shovel is so amazing improvising and sorting out these kinds of things, then once she was settled in her new home for the next few days, we were off to explore.
Like that of Kalgoorlie, Esperance, gazetted in 1893 was born out of the 1890’s gold rush and became a jumping off point for prospectors making their way to the Goldfields. Now the town is a jumping off point for tourists seeking the crystal-clear oceanic waters of the Southern Ocean and a sail through the Bay of Isles. In 2018 the town had a population base of approximately 12,000 with tourism, wheat farming and exporting through the port and fishing the main industries of employment. I was fascinated to read in 1979, Stan Thornton aged 17 flew to San Fransico with a few pieces of the space station Skylab for a San Francisco Examiner competition. He collected the $10,000 prize being the first person to present the newspaper with pieces of the Skylab that he had collected from the roof of his Esperance home. Furthermore, the Esperance council at the time fined NASA $400 for littering as fragments of Skylab had to be removed from the town. The fine was never paid by the US Government only being settled in 2009 by radio show listeners of the Highway Radio morning program. Also fascinating to learn was that Esperance was home to Australia’s first electrical wind farm, built at a research facility in 1987, and now boasts several wind turbine facilities that supply the town with electricity. Read more about the internationally famous Skylab incident by pressing the button above. The Esperance Look Out   Around Town
Lucky BayWhilst sailing a treacherous route through the Recherche Archipelago in 1802, Matthew Flinders steered his vessel HMS Investigator into a cove to take shelter from a summer storm. He named this piece of paradise and his saviour Lucky Bay. Located approximately 60kms west of Esperance in the Cape Le Grand National Park, Lucky Bay is home to sunbaking kangaroos and the most spectacular beach of squeaky-clean sand lapped by magnificently coloured turquoise water.
Frenchman Peak on the journey to Lucky Bay through Cape Le Grand National Park 
Mini Wave Rock
Lake MacDonnell aka the Pink LakeSouth of Penong, approximately 70 kilometres west of Ceduna, is Lake MacDonnell home to the largest gypsum deposit in the Southern Hemisphere. The colour pink is the result of the high levels of salt contained within the water.
Point Sinclair & Cactus BeachAfter passing the Pink Lake we arrived at Cactus Beach, known throughout the surfing community for having one of the best 'left' and 'right' breaks in Australia. Point Sinclair was declared a National Surf Reserve (NSR) in 2013. Other areas we have visited that have been declared NSR are Lennox Head and Phillip Island. The area is intriguing, flanked by mountainous sand dunes to one side and vast salt plains to the other.
Fowlers BayFurther west past Penong is a turn off to Fowlers Bay, a genuinely sleepy fishing village, with nothing more than a few houses, a tiny caravan park and jetty. The population of this small habitation swells however during the months of May to October, when eager Whale watches descend upon the bay to marvel at what I can only imagine would be a specular sight. We lazed on the rippled snow-like sand before taking a walk along the jetty where local indigenous kids plunged without fear into the ocean depths below.
PenongHome to the largest windmill in Australia, this cute windmill museum and the place where we ate our pre-made potato salad and turkey meal for Christmas dinner.
Ok, so here's the story.... Whilst toiling away at the Broken Hill Outback Resort, during the dust storm two couples of Grey Nomad caravans checked in for the night on their way from the Gold Coast heading West.... After listening to them vent their frustrations at the lack of dump point at the 'Resort' - agreed, extremely inconvenient and their apparent enormous fuel consumption driving through the dust storm they mentioned their destination was Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula. 'You've not heard of Streaky Bay' one Grey Nomad squarks 'Everyone's heard of Streaky Bay' the other chimes in...
So here we are at Streaky Bay checking out what all the fuss was about and I have to say, 'not impressed' and very thankful we didn't park Florence here for the few weeks over Christmas and New Year... Kids and Grey Nomads everywhere! After lunch and a bit of a walk around we decided to head out to the Point Labatt Conversation Park... this on the other hand was well worth the trip and certainly demands hype, although I'm pretty sure this isn't what the Grey Nomads were talking about given they appear more interested in W(h)ine Time than actual travelling... Our Happy Place
 On the 50 odd kilometre drive from Streaky Bay to the Point Labatt Conservation Park, Shovel made a detour onto an inconspicuous dirt road that lead to a small carpark. We ventured out of Cherry and onto a timber staircase that lead directly to heaven....
Not since Ellis Beach, had I experienced the 'I've made it' sensation until now... white powdery sand lapped by feathery waves, a gentle ocean breeze and crystal clear salt water... I said to Shovel 'get the beach towels, we've made it' Gateway to the Nullabor PlainIn local Wirangu language, Ceduna, from the word Chedoona, is said to mean 'a place to sit down and rest' and that's exactly what we intend to do over the next two weeks...
  Despite the first Europeans, the English Matthew Flinders and the French Nicolas Baudin to discover and name Murat Bay in the early 1800's it wasn't until the late 1800's that the area now known as Ceduna was settled for agricultural purposes. This was due in part to many others rejecting the land based on limited access to a fresh water supply. Today this remains an issue for the residences of Ceduna with fresh water being pumped from Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula, located approximately 450 kilometres away. Ceduna boasts a high-frequency deep sea port that exports grain, salt, mineral sands and gypsum, with the world's largest mineral sands mine located just 200 kilometres north-west of the township. About 25% of the approximately 3,000 strong population is indigenous, with many communities located not far out of town, this is the highest concentration of indigenous within South Australia. Being the last major township before entering the Nullabor Plain, the population of Ceduna fluctuates with tens of thousands of visitors passing through each year.
The previous few days on the road have felt like a hard slog compared to day. Dodging obscene amounts of road kill coming out of Broken Hill and winding our way through the rangers around Port Augusta. The Eyre Highway is flat, smooth and very easy going, our journey of 300 kilometres went quickly and we were at our next destination and set up by early afternoon. We have been so blessed with the sites this trip; flat, smooth and easy going. We are loving the Ceduna Shelly Beach Caravan Park, so much so we booked in for two weeks.
Christie's Beach
Port Noarlunga
South Australia was officially declared an English colony on 28th December 1836 near where the “old gum tree lies in the suburb of North Glenelg. Colonisation history took a different path to the likes of Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Brisbane. The approach to South Australia was a planned colony of free immigrants, promising civil liberties and freedom from religious persecution. Land would be surveyed and sold at a rate too expensive for labourers and journey man, this was to raise funds to immigrate working class settlers. These ideals were originated by Edward Gibbon Wakefield after reading about Australian settlements when he was serving time in prison for attempting to abduct a heiress. The ambition of a free settler colony was to create a utopian style crime free civilisation. Not even a Gaol was in the plans. This changed quickly in 1837 when there were reports of escaped convicts on the run from New South Wales on the South Australian Register. While a temporary Gaol was put on the cards, a burglary, a murder and two attempted murders occurred, this forced South Australia’s first governor John Hindmarsh to make the decision to employ the state’s first ever police force in 1838. Adelaide was off to a slow start economically until wool and livestock imports arrived in 1838 from Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. By 1860, wheat farms expanded as far as Encounter Bay to Clare, alongside producing wool, fruit, meat and wine, which were all strong exports in Adelaide. Through the mid 1800’s Adelaide was seeing large economic growth through it’s exports, the boom brought gas lighting, a university, a couple of reservoirs and the South Australian Art Gallery to the city. The 1890’s brought on an economic depression, the value of South Australia’s exports almost halved leaving their two main exports as wine and copper. Mining towns like Burra and Broken Hill lent an economical hand with Copper, Lead and Silver. The 1900’s brought in electric lighting and a tram network to Adelaide. The finish of World War 1 started a prosperous postwar boom, its growth made Adelaide the third most populous metropolitan area in Australia. The boom was short-lived with the droughts and great depression in the 1930’s. World War 2 times transformed Adelaide’s industry from agriculture to manufacturing. Companies like General Motors took advantage of Adelaide’s more safer location to bring the manufacturing industry to life, driving the city into the 20th century. The 1950’s brought an Airport and the Murray River pipeline, the 60’s was Flinders University and Medical Centre. The 1970’s started a social reform with the Adelaide Festival of arts, which created a cultural revival in the city. More recent highlights for Adelaide was being the host for the Formula 1 grand prix in the 80’s and V8 supercars to now, which shuts off parts of the city for cars to paint the roads with tyre marks. Cultural Capers Adelaide Walking Tour
South Australia has had quite a progressive history, leading the nation and the world by example. It was the first Australian capital city to be connected to London by telegraph in 1872. In 1895, South Australia was the first place in the world to allow women to stand for parliament, in that year women were also granted the right to vote. In 1936 Adelaide was the first city to generate public housing for families in need known as the South Australian Housing trust. The first Aboriginal flag was raised in 1971 on Victoria Square to support land rights for Aboriginal people. In 1975, South Australia was the first state to decriminalise homosexuality. In 1977 South Australia introduced a 10 cent refund on every can or bottle recycled, which was a first. In more recent times, South Australia is still reputable for a progressive approach to combat issues. In 2017, U.S Company Tesla installed the worlds biggest lithium ion battery pack just outside Jamestown to combat wind power outages around the state, its response rate to power outages is within milliseconds beating its hydro, coal and gas competitors by well over 2 minutes. Although South Australia gets forgotten about by its east coastal neighbours, they’re a step ahead of the country. Glenelg
On our first day in Adelaide, we took a train into the city to do a walking tour. Our guide Graham met us at the Parliament building steps away from the train station.Graham took us around the city and enriched us with his knowledge on Adelaide’s history. We started off with no idea about Adelaide and South Australia and finished the tour with a new founded appreciation of Australian History. Our walking tour inspired us to visit the Adelaide City Library, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the South Australia Museum. The Art Gallery journeyed us through many eras of art ranging from Ancient Egyptian Art right up to modern contemporary art. Its variety of paintings and sculptures take you on a trip around the world and back in time with out a plane ticket. Adelaide’s South Australian Museum is filled with a wealth of natural history knowledge. The museum had an impressive display of taxidermied animals from around the world, the realness of the specimines leaves you waiting for them to come to life. The museum features a level of Australian Indigenous History and a level of Papua New Guinea History, all filled with paintings, clothing and beautifully handmade tools for hunting and gathering. The four story high squid keeps you interested, although just a plastic replica, it is 11 metres long and based on a real squid caught in New Zealand, the largest one caught at that time, the most recent largest recording stands at 13 metres. After hours of fuelling our minds with art, culture and science, we went for a walk around the Mortlock Wing, the first building of the Adelaide library. The Library was opened in 1884 to the public, and now still stands strong with a collection of 23,000 books. Every part of the library is so well preserved it feels like it hasn’t aged since the day it was built. Walking through the entrance feels like you’ve blasted through a time machine making you feel a part of the history. Its a beautiful inspiring place to wonder around, relax or maybe even read a book. On one of our days in Adelaide, we took a walk up to Mount Lofty, Adelaide’s lookout. The track begins at Waterfall Gully, named for obvious reasons, it has two running waterfalls which flow elegantly at the start of the track. It made for a very active day out in Cleland Conservation Park’s nature. Nestled on Adelaide’s shore is the coastal suburb Glenelg, its gorgeous town hall and Anzac memorial was surrounded by unfortunate lifeless feeling beach apartments. While walking around Glenelg we felt like it lacked a lot of atmosphere, shops lacked colour, cafes lacked taste and people lacked excitement of being there. Adelaide has spoilt us with a large amount of convenience. Everything to do there was just…..easy. Everything there just felt so easy to do, getting to a beach, getting to the city, getting groceries, a franchise acai bowl cafe we loved called Delicia would pop up every where we go and even to park a car somewhere, barely a sweat! Although Adelaide can lack hype compared to its other cities, it filled our days with some good solid chill. South Australian Museum
State Library of South Australia
Richard Bell, The Sign Says It 2017, Acrylic on Belgian linen, 200 x 200 cm
Street Art
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