There was very little rain overnight, and
when we woke up some of the puddles had started to recede, so it was a bit
easier to get to the car. I went for a walk over to the beach and the tide had
gone out – the water was out further than I could see, and the beach was a long
expanse of wet, flat sand and seaweed. In the far distance I could see the
darker blue of the deeper water of the gulf.
We left around 11 and headed back out to
the highway the way we’d come in – realising later that there was an easier,
sealed road that we could have taken. Looking at the map, there were 2 ways we
could go to get to Naracoorte, one through the centre of Adelaide and one
through Gawler and Mt Pleasant. We’d never been to Mt Pleasant so decided to go
that way even though it was a bit windier. The countryside we drove through was
beautiful. Mainly farmland, and hilly, and so so green. We saw great big gum
trees, the biggest trees we’ve seen in a long time. Lots of horses, and sheep
farms and some cows and even a deer farm. There were vineyards as well. After a
while there were less trees and the hills were covered in many rocks. It was a
very pleasant drive.
After winding through the hills for quite a
while we eventually came to a point where we could see the plains spreading out
below us, and drove down a steep hill between the rocky slopes. We got to
Murray Bridge and got petrol, then continued along the main highway, the road
we drove towards Adelaide on when we started the trip.
We turned off the highway just before Keith
and headed towards Naracoorte. More green farmland and big trees, which after a
while gave way to vineyards. The bare vines and poles looked so beautiful and
symmetrical, which felt exciting when I remembered that that’s what our place
will look like! The vineyards each seemed really huge, partly I think because
the land was quite flat and I’m used to the full size of the vineyards being
obscured by hills. It was another great place to drive through.
We stopped in Naracoorte to get some beer
and were impressed with the stone buildings and houses. It looks like a very
pretty town. Our friends live a bit out of town so we headed out there – we are
staying with the parents of one of Tony’s workmates. The kids were excited to
get there – they had met one of our host’s dogs when he was 8 weeks old and
really loved him, he’s now 6 months old and they couldn’t wait to see him
again. He’s much bigger now, still fluffy and playful like a puppy but big
enough to jump up and nearly knock Millie over. We stood outside and met our
hosts and played with the dogs, before going inside to have a drink.
They had made up beds for us in their spare
rooms so we agreed to stay inside. It was a beautiful house and there was a
room for the girls, one for Tony and I and a sofa bed for LiAM in a room with a
TV. The kids watched TV for a while and Tony and I chatted with the other
adults. LiAM played cards and the girls watched him and talked to us. They
cooked us a magnificent dinner, lasagne and then Lemon Meringue Pie – great food
and a really easy atmosphere to eat in. After dinner we watched some Olympics
(including the horse jumping, Caitlin was thrilled) and chatted some more. It
was warm in the house and we’d eaten so much food – I was feeling really
sleepy. Caitlin had a shower and then we went in to the girls’ room to read the
second last chapter of Inheritance – looks like we’ll finish it before we get
home! The girls went to sleep and I went and sat with LiAM for a while until he
was comfortable, then we went to bed in an extremely comfortable and warm bed.
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