Adelaide – Clare – Streaky Bay

At the end of our pub lunch, after the Radelaide test, Belinda, Dillo, Carl and I climbed into the car that would take us across the Nullarbor to the next Ashes test, and farewelled the rest of the crew. Stopping on the outskirts of Adelaide to get some supplies for the start of the trip, like a cricket set and an esky with beer, we set off for our first stop.

Belting rain for the next hour or so teased us, knowing that our tailend batsmen had just needed to hang in till lunch. Alas.

As the rain started to ease, we reached Clare Valley, and plotted a couple of cellar door visits, close to winery closing time. Annie's Lane was our first stop, for a full tasting selection, and then we were entertained by the presenter at Skillogalee, and impressed with their wines. The Cabernets my favourite.

Reaching the town of Clare, we found the pub where our first accommodation was planned, and made it to the front bar just in time for happy hour. A few rounds to mark the beginning our this trip, planned for months, before dinner in the restaurant of the pub.

An alarm interrupted sleep, we hit the road the next morning, with our sights on Kimba and the big Galah. Through Port Augusta , we popped into Iron Knob for the laugh, and considered the tour of the quarry there. Discovering a whole lot of nothing, we kept driving and then made it to Kimba, which claims to be the halfway point across Australia. Here we stopped for lunch, and our first game of cricket, roadside.

Further down the highway, we ducked back to the coast along Anxious Bay, through Venus Bay as our first sight of the sea, and then up to our next night stop, Streaky Bay. Fish and chips on the beach in front of our cabin at the caravan park, making friends or enemies with the pelicans, and then some beachside cricket, we then entertained ourselves with card games, lots of beer, and Dillo's next installment of port consumption.