I’m in a group of 24 this time – 2 "Yanks" (one me), 2 Aussies, 3 Dutch, 2 Japanese, several English, 1 Welch and several Canadians. I had my ticket in my hand but my name was not on the roster….. the guy says "no worries"! We really have found Australians to be very helpful and accommodating. This was a little different traveling arrangement than we’d done so far. The bus helped us "travel" somewhere not just "transported" us. We rode the bus 4 or 5 hours a day but had 4 hours a day to explore along the way. It was really nice to be able to get out and stretch and do something active.

We pulled out of Adelaide and began climbing a mountain right away. Then we leveled out to a rolling hillside. We passed through a great deal of dairy country and saw many cows, barns FULL of hay and many fields freshly baled. Sheep were also plentiful. Farmlands were all around and we passed areas of grapes growing. This is beginning to be a major area for wines. The farther we went the drier it became. Soon it began to feel like the "outback" territory. We made our first stop in Hahndorf, which was clearly a German town. It was so quaint. I went through the historic hotel and saw all the wurst and German foods in the markets up and down the street. Menus included lots of German dishes. German music played over speakers. Flowers in gardens and baskets were everywhere. The town was actually settled by Lutherans from Prussia in 1839. Ottos was my stop for a homemade pastry! I wandered through a number of cute little shops.

The next several hours took us through an area of salt lakes or salt flats. This time of the year most have dried up leaving a crust of salt. They are like the massive salt flats in parts of the outback. The ones that still had water were beautiful shades of blue, green and AMAZINGLY one was PINK. I heard different reasons for the colors…the minerals and the algae in the water make the colors. It was fascinating. We got out to check it over and take pictures!

We took the Wellington Ferry across the Murray River. That is Australia’s longest river. There was only room on the ferry for our bus and one other truck. We all stood on the outside along the edge. It was just a short trip and a beautiful area. We had lunch at Meringie on Lake Albert. A small town by a big lake! We had sandwiches and lots of veggies, oranges, tuna, ham roll, corn and beans, and beets. Sliced beets are served at every meal! They put them in all their sandwiches. I thought that was so strange but I’ve come to love them and they’re great in sandwiches. There was a cool breeze off the water that just felt great. It was generally a cool day and I wore my jacket a lot.

From here we went to Beachport - a fishing village of 500 where we spent the night. It had a protected harbor with a long pier that the dingy boats were tied to. Walking to the end of the pier and back is a mile. It’s one of the longest. The beach here is 200 k long - one of the longest in Australia. All the fishermen were still out working for the day. What they really "fish" for here is Southern Rock Lobster.