Half-lap Day 4: Grampians -> Keith, SA

(Oh I forgot to mention yesterday – when we returned to our unlocked car after our walk, all our stuff was fine)

LiAM had a hard time sleeping, I think he was exhausted from the walk and couldn’t settle, so I lay on his bed with him for a while in the middle of the night and we chatted – we have great chats like this when he is trying to get to sleep and everything is quiet.

In the morning we had breakfast and eventually started to pack up. The kids wandered the campsite and played with sticks, followed the wallabies some more, helped with packing up a bit, Caitlin rode her bike, and they met a 10 year old girl, also an unschooler, and played horses and did some colouring and things with her for the rest of the morning. I had a good chat to her parents too, nice to talk to someone who has been on the road longer than us and get a few tips and some reassurance that this is doable!

We were packed up and on the road just before 1pm, so we’re getting quicker each time. We went back in to Hall’s Gap as the kids wanted to spend some of their holiday money (thanks Grandma and Grandad) at the lolly shop. There was a wonderful selection of lollies and chocolates, and everyone found things that they liked. LiAM also won 2 bouncy balls on a pinball type machine.

Kids with kangaroos in Halls Gap

We walked up to the top of that mountain yesterday!

It was very cool to look up at The Pinnacle and know that we had walked up there the day before. Everyone seemed recovered from the trek – I was a bit worried it would mean people weren’t enjoying themselves so much, but everyone seemed happy again. We drove through the Grampians to get to Horsham – a windy road with a drop off on one side – with the trailer on I know the car is so much heavier and I was terrified. Tony was calm and drove carefully – maybe I was still tired from the day before or just a bit overwhelmed at what we’ve taken on, but I was way more scared than I normally am in that situation (I’m normally a bit scared, this time I was seriously freaking out). I kept it mainly to myself though so the kids (esp LiAM) weren’t worried, and we all made it through ok.

We stopped in Horsham for one last stock up at Aldi – most of the things we buy from there are half the price than we can get from supermarkets so I filled up on our favourites. We ate lunch in the car, and had a bit more to eat when we stopped at a rest stop to tighten some of the ropes on the trailer that had come loose. We listened to the first of the audio books I’d downloaded – Almost Super, which is very funny.

We were keen to at least get in to South Australia today, to feel like we were really on our way. We were watching but didn’t see the Border sign – suddenly I realised the time on my phone had changed and we must have crossed the border. We made it as far as Keith before the sun set, and pulled in to Keith Caravan Park. The office was closed (it was around 5.30) but the sign at the front said to pick a site and pay when someone came around, or in the morning. So we set up on a grass area bordering what likes like a wildlife reserve – lots of grass anyway with lots of kangaroos.

We made a quick dinner of pasta and kabana and tomatoes, then some of us had a shower (we’d decided we needed flush toilets and a shower tonight). We were all in bed fairly early and read Brisingr for a while before crashing.