Flinders Ranges :: Day 1, 2 and 3 :: Melbourne to Adelaide

DAY 1
Leaving the house took considerable longer than we anticipated. We bought a Thule Force XT roof box for our Mitsubishi ASX. It offered a little more space but it seemed a challenge to pack it well as it wasn’t quite rectangular.

The children were tired. So, they were more quiet than normal. Most importantly they were not bickering.

The drive out of Melbourne was smooth. The absence of traffic surprised us a little for an Easter Friday morning.  But there was traffic built up just before Beaufort. That was due to the traffic lights in town. Thomas wanted to have lunch here but because it took us a while to get here, we preferred to push on. Just outside Ararat, we were stuck again. An ambulance drove by. We found out that there were three car accidents. We were directed to turn back by police. Not knowing where to go, we called Kim’s dad. He advised for us to turn back to Beaufort and head towards Skipton. We found ourselves on the opposite side of the Grampians and found a lovely town called Dunkeld. The view of Mt Sturgeon was very special from here. We discovered B and C roads through the country side. As daylight was slowly fading away, we were scanning for kangaroos and animals crossing. After refueling the car at Edenhope, we drove towards Western Highway to minimise collision with the animals.

The moon was as lustrous as a giant pearl. As if they emerged from the pages of Richard Adams’ Watership Down, two rabbits appeared in front of us on the C road. We applied the brakes. The bigger rabbit crossed first. The smaller one initially followed but changed its mind and back tracked. Immediately realising that it had made a mistake, it turned and paused in contemplation. With eyes full of fear and uncertainty, it gathered all its confidence and followed the bigger rabbit.

We had dinner in at a roadhouse in Keith. The chicken pieces were drenched in salt. A

diabetic’s dream. The kitchen staff tasted it after I complained and declared that it was normal.  

We arrived at Kim’s mum’s house. The boys ate pasta Bolognese she made. Ella Mae and I were content with the ability to rest our heads on the pillows and closed our eyes.

DAY 2

We had lunch with Kim’s dad at Mad Good Café in Highgate. Food and service were great. The space had an area for children to chill out.

We spent time at my parents’ place while Kim returned to his mum’s. The children had ice-cream. Ella Mae presented her gymnastics routine to my parents. She had forgotten the whole routine but I encouraged her by convincing her that no one knew the routine except for both of us. With a renewed confidence and a cheeky smile, she improvised. She showed them her warm up. Pa tried to mimic the stretches. He couldn’t and she laughed.

I cut Mi’s hair in the garden. This role reversal was a nice feeling. 

I treated my parents and family for dinner at Jing Zhang Chinese Restaurant. We had steamed Murray Cod with pork, stir fry vegetables, steamed chicken and steamed seafood tofu. The food and service were great. They even gave us free wine, dessert and a discount! 

Ella Mae stayed overnight with them and we returned to Kim’s mum’s. Mi lent her the bear my siblings and I bought her on one of her wedding anniversaries many years ago.

DAY 3

Ella Mae had a wonderful morning with an elaborate breakfast of berries, yoghurt, homemade kaya with toast and freshly blended pineapple and mango juice. They had a morning walk to Felixstow Recreation Park that was recently completed. They really enjoyed each other’s company.

We had a barbeque at his sister’s house. Mia and Jakob played board games together with our kids. Thomas and Ella Mae had a swim in the pool. After Easter Egg hunt and lunch, we visited Lucas’ work at Cibo’s on King William Road. 

At Pa and Mi’s, I tasted some stir-fried bitter gourd with egg. Ella Mae helped harvest the gourd from their garden that morning. The children and Mi planted this together about 18 months ago.