Paddy & Jen Adventures

From Kangaroo Island we spent a lovely few days at Brighton Beach, South Australia, staying at a gorgeous caravan park right on the beach. We spent an afternoon riding our bikes on the beach trail to Glenelg. We had plenty of sunshine but not enough to entice us in to the water. We caught the train in to the city and had a whole day walking around Adelaide. We have been in SA for over four months now and this was our first day visit to check out the city, which we loved. It has such charm and is very small and a lot less populated than Melbourne.

From Brighton Beach we returned to the West Beach Caravan Park. The purpose of that stay was it was close to the airport and for my early morning flight to Bali. On 3rd May I had a pre-planned trip with my friend, Charmaine Brown (work colleague) to celebrate her upcoming 50th birthday. It was just the two of us staying at a villa in Seminyak. We had an incredible week together on our girls trip. Plenty of shopping, eating great food, swimming, sunbathing, massages, facials, yoga and mediation classes. The highlight was definitely our visit to the Mason Elephant Park (the only welfare accredited elephant park in Asia). I had gifted Charmaine for her 50th a wash & swim with the elephants. It was an incredibly moving experience for both of us to stand beside & wash an elephant. The elephant put her trunk on our heads and around our waists. I was not expecting it and it was a really beautiful moment. After washing her, we then swam with an elephant as it cooled itself in deep water. My favourite moment was when the elephant leaned back, as I held on and he blew water in to the air. My boys commented that in that moment I was living my best life! Sure felt like it. At times in my life I have let fear get in the way, but that day with the elephants I was so relaxed and enjoyed every minute of it.

Whilst I was lapping it up in Bali, Paddy spent the week getting the van & car serviced, whilst also getting some work done. He did manage to do a big hike in the Onkaparinga Gorge and see the David Attenborough documentary “Ocean” at the cinemas. He happened to be there on opening night and after the film 3 marine biologists spoke to the audience, which he found really interesting. Apparently the algal bloom issue in South Australia has created more destruction than people realise. Paddy highly recommends we all see the film. It’s apparently not all doom and gloom but it is an eye opener on how humans are destroying our oceans. With no action there will be no more coral reefs in our world within 30 years!!! Discussions are under way to ensure 30% of our oceans are protected marine parks so that the ocean can rejuvenate and its creatures can thrive.

My flight home from Bali was delayed and I got back in to Adelaide Airport at 7.30 a.m. Saturday 10th May. Paddy had dropped the van in to storage and he picked me up for a drive back to Melbourne! Weird to think I was in Bali, Adelaide and Melbourne all within 24 hours. It was Mother’s Day and we wanted to surprise my mum by heading back to see her. We had told our boys that we were coming so that I could have time with them too (and to make sure we had a bed!).

It was a lovely visit back home where we packed in a few other catch ups. It was fun knocking on some of our family & friend’s doors to see them when they were not expecting it to be us. We made a trip down to Phillip Island to check out the area as this is where we think we will settle when we eventually return to live in Victoria. We used the time to also walk on Grandma Carmel’s bridge in Beaconsfield, attend a few appointments and had lovely dinners with our own family. It was an action packed 5 days but well worth the sneaky visit.

We picked up the van on Thursday 15th May after our long drive from Melbourne and headed to a beautiful little town called Auburn, in the Clare Valley. Our timing was impeccable as we arrived on the week of the Gourmet Food, Wine & Music festival. The wineries are stunning around Clare and we spent a day riding our bikes along the wine trail to check out a few of them. A great way to kick back in to our travels. The weather has started to cool right down, particularly at night. Waking up to very cold mornings is not something we have experienced in SA this year and I am grateful we have a diesel heater in the van. Time for the beanies to come out.

Our next stop is the Flinders Ranges for our last adventure in SA on this trip.

(Remember to check out our photos in the gallery)