April – Not nomads yet!

Rapid Bay, SA

Sssh! Don’t tell anyone. If anyone ever asks this place doesn’t exist.

If you are in SA and you are looking for a great place to stretch out and relax then I couldn’t think of a better place than Rapid Bay.

Rapid Bay is south of Adelaide on the way to Cape Jervis and the Kangaroo Island ferry.

Wikipedia states “South Australia Colonial Surveyor General Colonel William Light made his first landfall on mainland South Australia at Rapid Bay on 8 September 1836. The site was named after Light’s ship, the 162 ton brig Rapid. To mark this historic landfall the Colonel’s initials, “W.L.”, were carved into a large boulder – a replica is visible in the township, while the original is stored in the South Australian Museum, in Adelaide. The first European child born on mainland South Australia was delivered at Rapid Bay on 7 November 1836. His name was John Rapid Hoare“.

It’s an old BHP constructed town and the jetty was built to load ore onto ships. The town was handed to the SA government in 1982 at no cost.

What’s left is a very quiet* little beachside camping spot. It’s just $7/adult and $3.50/child per night.

There’s a new jetty beside the old one that is used for fishing and has a scuba diving platform. We saw some scuba divers and a seal while we stayed here. I’ve heard dolphin sightings are also common.

Our girls loved playing in the beach and riding their bikes. We had a great spot to relax and could keep an eye on the girls.

We took a drive to the nearby town of Cape Jervis. The girls loved watching the ferry coming and going and I was amazed and the shear size of the wind turbines at nearby Starfish Hill wind Farm.

Cape Jervis has the most modern looking lighthouse I’ve ever seen. I’d like to know its history.

*Apparently long weekends and holiday times can be quiet busy here. We were here in the middle of the SA school holidays and it was fine.

Cockatoo Lake, SA

Sitting on the foreshore of Cockatoo Lake in South Australia I am just starting to relax on our current holiday. The first few days have been great but it usually takes awhile to get into the slower pace. The phone calls and texts from work stop and getting away from everything and everyone, spending time with just the family is when I start to really chill.

The lake is very quiet, the type of quiet only nature can bring. The rustle of the wind in the trees, the chirp of the tiny finch’s and budgies. The distant squawk of a cockatoo. Even the girls are quiet. Sitting on the grass discovering all sorts of things.

The sun is starting to set. Not a word is being spoken. Just quiet.

This is why I like to get out here in the bush. No bullshit. Just the real deal.

Mt Franklin.

In previous years we have been part of a group who go away on the Queens Birthday weekend and get together for a “Mulled on the Mountain” trip. This trip usually coincides with the colder months and is a chance to stoke up the fire, eat good hearty food and drink a glass or two, usually more, of mulled wine.

It’s been a couple of years since we’ve done this trip so we decided to go out this last weekend to scout out some spots to hold the event.

We have been looking at Mount Franklin, just out of Daylesford, as the venue so we based ourselves here for a night. It’s such a nice spot and our girls, who originally didn’t want to go bush camping had a ball. They played non stop and made some great friends. One dad had bought along a tyre swing which he hung out of a tree and let all the kids use. It was such a great idea and I am going to do a similar thing in the future.

I’ve been to Mount Franklin many times over the years but never to stay overnight. It was a great group of people and at night was very quiet. It surprised me just how quiet considering you camp inside the crater and the acoustics mean that you can here any noise from other campers. We stoked up a nice fire and cooked a chicken on the spit and roasted marshmallows after dinner. The girls and I also made a batch of damper and baked it in the camp oven.

Even though we had such a relaxing time, we decided to check out two other locations the next morning on our way home. One ended up being too small and risking taking a large group wasn’t an option.

The second spot though was perfect. It’s a huge area and very flat. It is well maintained and fire pits are built into the ground with a large gravel circle around the pit to accommodate camp chairs. We’ve found out spot for the next “mulled on the mountain”.

So if you’ve been to a “mulled on the mountain” before look out for your invite because you won’t want to miss out.

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