A journey back in time

We knew it would be cold when awakening - and indeed it was. Astutely waiting a couple of hours after sunrise until the weak warming rays flickered over the hilltops and filtered into the depths of the valley where the kennel is situated in order to take sting out of the air, it was still an effort for the humans to roll out from underneath their copious layers of the aforementioned blankets in order to brace the elements to effect their first pee of the day in those blocky things that they all congregate to when everyone is watching. When they're not, they just go where I do ( I observe but don't comprehend - I'm a kelpie).

The early morning sun was reflecting off the rushing waters below casting a complex pattern of glittering lights on the curtain of green leaves which up until now was blocking the view of the frisbee field below. Now they were putting on their own show which Dad tried to capture on the GoPro. I shake my head sadly at his pitiful attempts at cinematography - whilst I appreciate being there (what the heck - it gets me out and about) - I generally totally ignore them when he plays them back in the home kennel. Now if he did something seriously interesting - like (say) sheep running amok, then I'd be fully onboard.

He left me and Mum in the kennel and returned with coffee for her and acquiescenced to giving me breakfast (same old dried pellets - but who am I to complain? - at least I'm not overweight like some of my peers..... I can smell it in their pee on the posts - one of those many factors I was referring to in that earlier entry) and then we all jumped into the car and headed off along a long winding road, up over a mountain that manged to make both of us passengers fairly queasy. Not saying anything about his driving technique mind you (I'd never be so crass, being a passenger as such) but still....

And so with tumultuous insides we descended into the Kiewa valley, turned right and rolled into the township of mountainous beauty which resides at the end of the flat lands that used to be covered in tobacco. Nowadays it all just looks green and very picturesque.  Dad was born here and spent his puppy years here. He showed us the building he was born in (since replaced), the house he tried to drown the cat in (points for that as far as I'm concerned - reckons he wanted to just give it a bath - yeah right) - the kinder and school which are still there and apparently the squeals coming out of the grounds today are still the same as he emits to this day (good one Mum!). 

They do some weird arty things here, here's a pic of me hanging around under a really big bird of which I had no idea of what was about to happen to me if it was actually a real bird this big. But is it art? I'm a kelpie - it's not within my remit to answer these questions - simply to pose them.

The Cafe in which we stopped to try and settle the stomachs was really appreciated by me at least as I have now perfected the art of putting my ears back when people look at me and they say things like "he's so cute" and then I sit when they suggest it. And then I shake their hand when prompted and then they say  "I'll go get him a treat" and they do. Too easy. Settled tummy. Free snacks. Far better than those boring dried pellets...

We then did something Dad said he never did in his puppy years - we walked the entire circumference of the pondage (~5,000 steps apparently) and got to take in the whole panoramic position of the place - with the majestic mountains in the background (with still a hint of snow on the upper reaches), The Hyrdo infrastructure still in place, the old huge galvanised tin sheds that used to dry the tobacco (long gone) and the trees that 60 years ago adorned the streets are now creating canopies above them. One can see why it's called the mount of beauty - Dad reckons only beautiful people are born here. Mum and I reckon he's full of it.

And so we headed back over the pass into the next valley to which we came from and spent the rest of the afternoon hangin' around the kennel on wheels. Dad dragged me up the creek on the pretense that being a kelpie I like to run along beside him whilst he takes it easy on his bike. I was really feeling like I'd prefer to be back in the kennel with Mum, sleeping off the stress of a few hours sitting idly in a car, however I'm a good dog so I did what I was strongly suggested to do that I should do.

It was fun - I especially liked it when we stopped by the water and he threw sticks in for me to catch. Now this is weird.... I'd put them down and they'd disappear. Dad was pointing and yelling at me that it was downstream "over there" but I'd seen the ducks floating upstream, so surely sticks would do the same thing..... we went though a few sticks. Then we ran/rode downstream back to the kennel where I got to dry off laying in the warm sun on the luxurious lounge on the patio deck whist the parents sorted out their finances in the office.

The original dinner plan was to drive into town and leave me in the car whilst they went inside a fancy pancy restaurant. I'm OK with this notion (basically I'll do whatever - especially if I'm so exhausted from chasing sticks floating upstream all afternoon), however they did their research and apparently the menu was carp.

I think that's what Mum said. Anyway, instead we all walked back down beside the stream (not paying any attention to the plethora of sticks floating by) and into town where I hung around next to bean bags (not on, which would've been awesome) whilst they had beer, taco's and wine surrounded by a bunch of happy youths pretty much doing the same thing. I kept doing my ears back thing and everyone wants me to lick their hands - even though Dad keeps telling me not to. Jeebers that's confusing.

We walked back up by the creek to the kennel - me off lead and basically having a great time. Once there, Dad did what I fully expected him to do and herded me off (bike again) up the hill, over the bridge and into the frisbee field down across the creek from the kennel and we did the catch/return thing until I was totally pooped...making very sure that there is absolutely no way I am ever going to willingly actually hand him the frisbee. I'm doing all this work - he has to put in at least some effort. There may be a huge power imbalance in this relationship but I'm always going to do my darnedest to make sure I have some control and therefore I'm going to drop it here.

Right here and you're going to have to walk over and pick it up yourself. I know you will. You have done it before. You will do it again. There's a good dad... just walk over and pick up, good dad, now point in the direction you're going to throw it, good dad, now throw it, good dad... and I'm off running and now I'll catch it. Good dad - now let's go home and I'll go to bed and snore soundly whilst you stay up document the whole thing..there's a good dad....and don't ever forget - never try to bathe a cat.

Cold to the bone

According to my parents it was not unexpected that the sunny morning turned into a really cold blustery wind that could have been to reason for the kennel park to become well, mostly just a park.

After the big days adventures of yesterday the plan was to basically sit around and do naught. Apparently that was the whole idea of coming here, just enjoy being instead of on the move all the time. Because not much happened today here's a pic of me yesterday below the kennel.

When the waves of grey plumes swept up the valley it seemed the looming surrounding hills focused them with a particular ferociousness at our little kennel perched on the bank. I think Mum and Dad felt it more than me as I have a built in two layer fur coat and don't really feel the icy blasts the way they seem to.

Unlike yesterday when Dad got a lesson in how to react quickly when the wind took off his hat and he jumped up to stop it flying down the bank into the creek whilst the same gust then promptly toppled his deck chair spilling the full stubbie of his last cold beers onto the dirt - I didn't quietly have a laugh to myself today as I did then. Wasn't so funny with all that was happening today was the squalls coming in under the awning and getting their shoes wet.

Mum and I took a chance in a break in the deluges to walk into town, whilst Dad settled down in the dining room to do some reading, with a real book. I must say these people do look different when their faces are not lit by the glow of their devices. After a fab adventure into town where I got to hang out the front of shops whilst she went in, hang in cafe whilst she consumed some extraordinarily priced coffee and the purchase of my highlight of the day - a wonderfully smelling bone. They label this perfume "Rancid" and I just can't get enough of it. If I could bottle it I would. I'd be the most entrepreneurial kelpie on the planet, with high end stores in all the most expensive strips. Dogs would come from miles around in order to get in on the action. I tried to bury it within the (verbally expressed) bounds of our kennel, but there was nowhere that really worked. In the end I just got frustrated with all the dirt and grit stuck to it and left it to mature on the annex mat. Then we (me and Dad) spent the rest of the day fighting off the Currawongs that wanted a piece of it as well. 

Dad took off for a while on the fold-up to explore the trails along the river and then returned carrying some local vino he found in a local shop and seemed very pleased with himself. I noticed, but didn't pay him any credence in his efforts as I had a gritty bone to try and stash nearby (and thus improve the potency of the perfume). Later the rain came in harder waves, Dad read a bit more in the living room and then when the sun came out - went and captured the creek canopy on the GoPro whilst reading some more in the sun room.

Mum spent her time reading (and surfing) in the bedroom. I'm getting really good at waiting at the kennel whilst they go off to pee. Needless to say - when they do go I will wait attentively for their return. When the next wave of rain came through we headed inside and I lay around in the dogs room whilst they played scrabble in the games room.

After the game (Mum trouncing the opposition with the highest ever score with Dad complaining about the plethora on vowels dealt to him in the game of life) we all headed out onto the patio as the lowering sun briefly warmed the deck area under the pergola. They to consume their pre's and nibbles whilst I finally got stuck into the now matured bone. Personally would have preferred to wait until tomorrow, however I instinctively knew it was now or lose it for good - to many creatures wandering around here, not like my home kennel where I can bury these treasures for months without them being disturbed. Life on the road - use it or lose it is the kelpies credo. After the consumption I did lay around on my patio lounge whilst admiring the setting sun.

I then lay around on my indoors palatial bed whilst they ran around the kitchen (room) figuring out how to cook an extremely expensive family pie in an airfrier. Suspect this is why we go out more often than not when on the road. And so as the evening extends into night the predicted coldness settles on the kennel. Apparently we're looking at 1 degree by the time the sun decides to pop over the hill tops. If I had've left that bone out there it'd be frozen - yeech - where'd be the perfume then? 

 

Bright in the sunshine

It was just like old times on the road, waking up them up with impatience and then directing them to pack everything up in an orderly manner. I got to ignore a rabbit sunning itself across the road whilst Dad had breaky whilst contemplating how smoothly everything was going. It didn't go quite as well as planned today though as Dad almost blew a pffooherr valve when the tail gate on the car refused to rise according to instruction. This meant all sorts of stuffing around trying to reset the beasts thinking, reading manuals, getting annoyed that nothing worked as he wished. Eventually (following the instructions in the manual) he called the nearest dealer with the intent of speaking to someone to help him work it through. That ended up in a booking for the beast in Wanga on Friday ... Four days away, so that didn't really help get the fold-ups into the back, the kennel hitched and get to our destination.

I dragged Mum down to reception to tell them that were were going to miss our checkout time. It's off-peak, no-one coming in, the place is about 1/4 full so they didn't care. Dad sucked it up and took Mums advice and loaded the boot via the back seats, so much stress due to one faulty tail gate. I didn't care though as I'd found a stick and Mum was willing to try and take it off me amidst the whirlwind of the pack up. I consider my help invaluable.

So we exited the park an hour later than expected, No complaints really, the sun was shining and the glowing trees waved their goodbyes in the still brisk westerly blowing up the valley. Didn't even get to explore the weirdly placed bubbling creek which goes around the the top of the lake instead of naturally flowing into it. This was creating a uncomfortable sense of universal displacement to my inbuilt Kelpie space/time kineses, however I let it go - Mum had shopping to do. We parked the rig 2 blocks from the main street and wandered up with me on the lead making sure that I could be annoying as possible stopping at every interesting smell and adding my own if it meets the correct criteria to do so. This is tricky and I really do get the feeling sometimes that not everyone around fully understands the complex set of equations that need to be worked through in order to make a decision on this. It's a fine balance - especially when so many peers have been to exactly the same spot and have undoubtedly gone through the same thought provoking process. Sometime I get yanked away before I even get to decide, decision made for me - but who is to say that lost opportunity may have had huge implications in the future of the universe? All for the sake of trying on a dress. Which didn't even fit. At least sheep do what kelpies decree is correct in the world.

Armed with our extraordinarily expensive pre-purchased pie we drove away and down off the Beechworth  escarpment with Dad saying he was really pleased we didn't have to go up that long steep winding road and drifted our way through very picturesque valleys to the town that literally does glow in the sunshine and is thus called Bright. Stopping along the way at roadside stop that specifically said - "No Caravans to enter here" - Dad did anyway because he wanted to pee. Go figure - he didn't even bother to check out who'd been peeing there before (like I do), there was a sign tugging on his lead saying "don't pee here" and yet he did anyway. Honestly, sometimes the power imbalance here is simply mind blowing. Anyway, he did get to suffer the indignity of having to do a multi-turn reversing maneuver in front of some head shaking incredulous tourists (sans vans) to get the rig out of there without causing any damage to anything (Mum helped brilliantly). 

Our new kennel location is on top of a steep bank with a swift creek running below. Ducks go by swimming the rapids with what looks like a lot of fun. Curiously the tailgate on the beast now works - so all that stress was for naught (I could've told him that - except I was too busy contemplating that creek scenario at the time). 

It's a short bike ride into town and so we did that, checked out the blanket shops (there are a few options in this place) and landed in the brewery in order to relax and decide what to do about blankets. Seems to me it's harder for them to decide about a blanket than it is for me to add to a post of collected pee's. Anyway - the pending forecast and the cost of two drinks pretty much sealed the decision.

Back to the kennel on the bank, dropped the goods and then we had a serious run around the famed Canyon Walk. Why walk when you can run (me) and ride (them). It was a very pleasant adventure with the sun making all the old imported trees glow in a fabulous palette , there was even one section which was literally frothing in some sort of blossomy bloom - didn't look too healthy but was impressive in afternoon sun. Apparently that excursion was purely performed to wear me out, that it did. So when we all wandered back down to the brewery for dinner I did as expected and crashed on the floor at their feet whilst they consumed some pretty boring fare. Limited menu options - can't have pizzas two nights in a row - and we had to head out now as tomorrow the weather turns (I nose this - my kelpie senses are telling me so).

Back up to home on the bank, whilst Mum went to experience the different shower block, Dad and I went down to the flats across the creek to show off how well we do the frisbee thing. I was pretty excited about all of that - even though I was previously exhausted - just say that "F" word and I'm on.

Needless to say - now that it's down time, it's a bit hard to hear that inevitable clacking of the keyboard over the sound of the rushing waters below.

The worthy beaches of Beechworth

Rumor has it that the place inappropriately named because it's miles away from the ocean. Ha Ha - I get the joke (Kelpies do have a sense of humour - just not when it comes to sheep), however some bright spark decided to put a lake in the middle of a gully and lo and behold ! there are beaches here. Maybe not so much as one next to a sea but still sandy bits between the water and the land and therefore (considering the expense of putting the lake in the first place) pretty darn valuable. "worth" a lot - especially to the birds and the kids and the (breaking the rules) dogs off leashes enjoying them.

I got to run around the lake this morning after the slow start of Mum and Dad staying in bed until I nagged them to get up. I was bursting.

You would've been too if you'd spent 10 hours cooped up inside a kennel dreaming about splashing through the shallow water chasing ducks. So we hung around a bit whilst they had breakfast and enjoying the sunshine filtering through the overhead canopy whilst half the park packed up and moved out. The old vintage cars across the road sounded like trucks without mufflers as they warmed them up - just on the verge of stalling for about half an hour before they finally trundled off into the distance. The AP6 version Dad (and Grandpa before him) drove never sounded like that! The park ranger told Dad off because I didn't have a lead on - even though I was within my kennel boundary. "If I let one dog go off lead I'd have to do the same for all of them."... really? this guy obviously does not understand how well behaved I am.

Just to prove his point later on though when Mum and Dad were talking to my sister on their device I took off after a rabbit and disappeared from the kennel surrounds. The resulting panic for them was telling. That'll teach them to take their eye's off me (heh heh). I'm a Kelpie - never said we're consistent.

The run into town around the lake was great - finally got to expend some energy and poop along the way. They on their folded out bikes with me on my own legs. When we got into town we hung around a fine foods cafe where they got their caffeine hit, I got to pose in front of the the old buildings and then sit around whilst they consumed their bevies. Fine food indeed - this is one of the numerous places around the state that advertise they have the best award winning pies in the country. Either they are all making it up or there are so many awards handed out that everyone gets one. Possibly the award for the most expensive pies goes to this place (the categories are never mentioned) as we bought 3 pies and it cost $80. Back in the day, they dug gold out of the ground, nowadays they dig it out of the tourists pockets. Apparently they're good pies though - I wouldn't know because all I get to eat is the same old dried pellets (but I won't bother going there again...).

We ran home via the rail trail - I say "we", meaning I ran, they rode and didn't seem to spend anywhere near the effort I did. Neither did they keep stopping and sniffing all the fabulous scents that had been left there by my peers in order for me to do exactly what I was doing. They did have to stop and wait impatiently for me whilst I fulfilled my sacred rights in this matter though. I was having a ball and they didn't seem too upset - probably due to the lack of having to immediately be somewhere else.

Lunch (for them) back at the kennel was the aforementioned pies warmed with various degrees of success in the airfrier and we then drove back into town for the inevitable hang around outside the shops whilst Mum goes in. Dad told me this is nothing compared to being with her overseas, so stop complaining.  I put up with it for a fair bit but eventually started to get a bit antsy because there's only so many hair deranged people getting in and out of run down vehicles you can look at in one day. Regardless of the variety of scents they trail behind them. They are an eclectic bunch up here. Dad didn't seam to notice, but I did. I can't help it, I'm a Kelpie.

We hung around back at the kennel mid afternoon before heading back into town for dinner at the brewery. Apparently it's not possible to come to this town without doing this. So Mum says anyway. We were not complaining - I got to lie on the ground watching the plethora of young kids running ruckass around the place whilst fabulous pizzas, beer and wine were consumed above me.

Back at the Kennel (on wheels),  Dad & I went down to the lake where he captured the sunset on the Gopro whilst I captured balls which were thrown for my enjoyment in the warm glow of the fading sun. Now as I drift off to sleep in my nice comfy bed it seems a bit colder tonight, luckily Mum had spent the afternoon carefully washing and drying a blanket her mum had made and they'd bought another one during the day in order cater for the elements. Tomorrow we head off to another place - Dad says it'll be bright - I thought this place was perfectly luminescent. Can't figure it out. It's tough being a kelpie on the road..

Another Dog Darn It adventure

Here's me, Master Tyrone Shoelaces... king of all I survey.... yes, yes, I know ... being a Kelpie I have a very narrow tunnel vision and thus the breadth of my "surveyership" is limited to balls, bones, licking and the occasional most excellent catch of a frisbee in flight, however, my superiority over other mortal beings is so profound I can casually pretend it does not exist and thus relax in the comfort of it being so. I'm comfortably cool. Nothing upsets me. I lead a great life. So much so when I woke up this morning Dad was poking me say "Road Trip". He's done this once before and we all know how that worked out! So me fully understanding what was about to transpire I decided to play the cool Kelpie, idly watching  whilst they ran about the house doing all that collecting of bags and stuff they seem to be so fond of taking with them when ever they vacate the home kennel for while.

The rain god (aka Mum) had cast her wares and as such the heavens persisted down for the whole morning as we (well.. they) packed up, drove up to Grandma and Grandpa's, collected the on wheels kennel and eventually hit the road with me controlling the whole shebang from my now well worn position in the back seat.

Eventually the rain sodden clouds gave way to overcast and as the rain god slept her way through the boring chilled soundtrack her power over the weather diminished so by the time she awoke the sun was shinning and the world was warming and it almost seemed that it was indeed time for a holiday. I was sitting in the back seat pretending to be asleep myself, however there's always at least one eye half open, making sure things are going to plan.

A small detour at Wanga to purchase some pillows (whoops according to those up front) and then a short hop over to Beechworth and here we are are. Ensconced in a very picturesque location with me naturally hanging around the kennel whilst Mum and Dad re-learnt everything about setting it all up

.

I'm so cool I don't need a lead. I just hang. Occasionally they'll put one on me, mostly to assure those people in the vicinity that I'm not going to jump up on them and lick them ( which I admit, given the slightest indication that it's OK to do so, I will). This afternoon Mum spotted a pub sidewalk strewn with vacant tables and seats bathing in the glow of the late warm afternoon sun and declared that it would an ideal place to have "one" before heading back to the now well set up kennel. Here I was on the lead. I didn't mind ... to start with, but after a while (her "one" seemed to be pretty big according to Dad - who used that to justify having two) I decided it was time to start chasing balls, sticks.. whatever - don't care, but come on...let's go and do something! Anything! eventually they got the idea and headed off back to the Kennel on wheels and I got to hang around off lead again whilst I tried to tempt them into a session of ball whilst they performed the age old ritual of grey nomad "pre's".

Finally they acquiesced and we all headed of to the most splendid lake which adorns the kennel park and Dad finally produced the frisbee, of which we managed to do our thing in the relatively strong wind which was flowing up the valley as the sun slowly made a majestic exit over the glistening waters. Inevitably the plethora of birds provided the aural soundtrack whilst the firepots from the campers provided the olfactory equivalent. Being a Kelpie I took all this in. Not so sure about the parents.

Just to prove my coolness, later on a rabbit ran past our kennel (they are prolific here - as they are down the beach), I looked , was tempted...Mum said "stay" and so I did. Not sure why, but frisbees are far more catch-able than rabbits. Actually I do know why... frisbee's don't mind being caught... 

Dinner using the airfrier is apparently the way to go according to Mum and Dad. by the time they'd sorted themselves out in that regard I was ready to hit the bed. So here I am, once again living the best life, sleeping in my extremely comfortable "orthopedic" bed (yet to rip it up, give me time I haven't finished on that yet) whilst Mum snores and Dad pounds away on the keyboard above me.

Life on the road - it's just another dog darn-it day to me.

The dog nose

So from the tail of the dog to to the other end (being the nose) here ends my woofy two week adventure with my Mum and Dad as they finally took me with them on one of their blog worthy experiences.

The morning sun up next to the river was non-descript, it was cloudy and grey - possibly foggy and therefore nothing much seemed to be happening under the extremely large pine trees that we were camped under. This lack of sun rays streaming through the windows combined with barely realised time zone shift that some dogs call jet lag (Pistol and Boo told me about it) meant that we didn't really get up as early as we wanted and therefore the idea of getting the kennel underway at 9:00 am was a bit too ambitious. Besides - I wanted to play ball in the really cool location, while Mum and Dad seemed really intent on packing everything up. Honestly, if they hadn't have spent so much time putting it all out yesterday then they wouldn't have needed to spend so much time putting all back today. And that would be more ball time for me. There was no ball in sight though. There were, however, a couple of frisbee's lying around. There was the purple one I was retrieving in the sunset last night just ... there. And there is the glow in the dark floppy one I was catching on the beach last night just ... there. Can't you see that? I'm ready to go?!! Come on on you two ... really? Oh for goodness sake - I'll pick up this pine cone then and make a game out of that instead...Almost got their attention with that one as they slowly moved around making everything stowed away (like a bone in a pile of dirt), connected the car the kennel, and headed off. I was just sitting there on the hill watching, wondering if they would just leave me sitting on the hill with my pine cone in front of me, however of course there was the call - the open door and the instruction to get in - and we were off! 

The time-frame pressures fell apart even more when we realised that we couldn't just drive out of town, petrol was required as was coffee and brunch, so we turned right and went back into town (instead of left and scootin' outa there). 30 minutes later (and thus doubling the Pistol and Boo effect) we finally hit the highway and headed back eastwards. I nose this, this is where the sun comes from. I'm a Kelpie.

The drive back was a conglomeration of driving experiences. I could tell from my control seat (also known as the "dog lounge" - this is where I can choose to watch out either side, forwards, backwards (when there's no kennel blocking my view) or I can lay down and go to sleep. Pretty much do whatever I want whereas Mum and Dad up the front are tied down and can hardly move compared to my freedom. Pistol and Boo reckon'd they could ask for food as well by pressing a button when they were travelling... I reckon they were were full of it) that the roads were varied and with some interesting challenges for Dad to work his way though. Luckily the swaying issue was resolved, so he could artfully dodge the potholes and other crappy surfaces that continually appeared. roadworks were in full swing (obviously needed as they were in really bad condition in spots - sometimes even to the point of me having to adjust my comfortable position as the rig bounced around! ) and thus causing more delays.

We learnt a bit about the lady behind the dashboard and need to figure out how to remove "C" roads from her directions as she took us on some doozeys today. Dad stated at one stage "he was not happy about this" as we headed off down yet another weird back-road at the behest of her directions. We got there though, not sure if the time made up was lost by having to slow down due to the narrow roads. For all we know we may have missed some more major delays due to the "A" roads works going on.

We stopped for lunch in truck parking stop that had pot holes big enough to swallow the kennel whole. Had to mention that to justify the photo. Then we cruised/bounced our way down the Hamilton Highway and joined in the chaos known as the Geelong road, the bridge and tunnel at a crawl. Gaining a new appreciation for all those truck drivers that maneuver their huge rigs along narrow lanes with only inches to spare on each side.

Eventually we pulled up at our base kennel. Luckily no-one was parked out the front so we could. The the unload took place. really weird how much stuff we'd manged to get in there via the car on the way out, seems like we had so much more stuff now.

I (being the dog controller of the whole process) was directing from my position of being sprawled on the floor inside.

We then cleaned the kennel, I offered physically help as I'm really good at cleaning myself. Dad suggested that licking the whole kennel would be difficult for me, especially the higher up bits where even he needed a ladder. I acquiesced, even though I was feeling I was not pulling my weight (for the first time mind you). So here we are, home kennel. And that's my trip. Dad and I will take the kennel back to Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow but that's probably not post worthy. Guaranteed I'll be peeing on post somewhere though. 

Port of Fairies

There was not much to report on today, so I'll try and and make it quick so Dad and I can sneak down to East Beach (Port Fairy) for a last night frisbee and dip in the ocean before we head off home and the whole road trip comes to an end. At least that's what's going to happen tomorrow according to Mum. Dad keeps going through the motions as if this life will never end. Just one great big frisbee throw after another...

Our early morning slumber today was disturbed by a plethora of young parents coming up to the seats out the front of our place to watch the sunrise. There was something happening over there that Dad saw when he popped out for a pee - assumed it was Venus (but found out later that it wasn't so we had no idea what they were all looking at). No problem at all except from one young tacker who didn't want to be there and kept yelling/grisseling/carrying on telling the whole kennel park that this was his position. And good on his parents for letting him do so, for about an hour. That's they way. Poor little blighter was probably upset about the fact that he was being forced to watch something that was not screen based. I don't know, I'm a dog and really don't understand the large parent psych, let alone the little parent psych. What I do know (dog psych wise) is that I poop therefore I am. I also know that when a dog pup is giving me the poops I snap at them, they yelp, they learn and thus they change their behavior. Deep thinking stuff from a wise kelpie on the road.

Speaking of which, on the road again we went today. I was busily packing everything whilst Mum and Dad sat in the kennel eating breakfast. Here is a picture of me contributing:

With out my help they would've been hours late. I was particularly helpful in dropping another poop which Dad didn't notice but our astute ranger did as we where leaving - pointing it out even - making sure Mum collected it. She reckons it wasn't mine, but I know it was. I put it there.

Mum got the the take away coffee's and Dad had and I a fun set of petrol pump jostling games before we headed down more southwards through the variating countrysides. An interesting pee stop in middle of nowhere saw what Dad thought was the coolest free book swap library (was in an old fridge ... hahaha) to then be accosted by an old local dude that just appeared to tell us about the bookswap fridge. He must wait there all day ready to pounce on the unsuspecting travelers in order to coax books out of them. It was all pretty unremarkable until Mum got bitten on the bum by a wasp as she sat back down in the car. Never a dull moment in Rendelsham.

On the way Dad insisted we stop and see the Blue Lake at Mt Gambier. I was unimpressed. This is because (as a dog) I'm clourblind and so for me it was just a fenced off body of water a long way away from any sort of swim for me.  Apparently is is very blue. My highlight here was (yep, proud of myself here) got to do another poop on their lawns.

Probably the highlighty/scariest moment of the trip happened shortly after when the lady in the dashboard directed us out of town via a back way and instructed us to turn right onto the the B1 - just here at this intersection. No one ( well especially Dad, the driver) realised it was a dual highway at this point, once completing the turn the notion that the service lane to the left having 100kph speed signs seamed a little odd. Needless to say once it was realised that we were literally heading up the wrong way of a double road the quickest and corrective action was to launch the whole rig up over the concrete verges across the grass and down the concrete verges on the the correct side of the road. Being the left. Surprising to all of us - this 2 seconds of instinctive driving did not cause any scrapes, bangs, thumps or distress on the entire rig. A few takeaways from that little escapade indeed.

South Aus's every body of water seemingly to be salted giving way to millions of hectares of pine trees then gave way to Victorias crappy roads and eucalyptus plantations.

The rest of the journey down to the port of faeries was a nice drive through the country side. The lady in the console took us on a risky yet rewarding detour of Portland , saving us at least 15 minutes and was along well made roads with no-one else on them. So that worked out well.

Our new kennel locale sits us under some really old pine trees that define this town and is extremely windy so the awning has not gone up.

Dad tried to find  beach which I could play in but they're all closed to dogs until after 6:00pm. We found this one but it was too rocky for me to do my kelpie stuff. (which is why we're heading out after this).

The kennel site is situated on the river so it's a fabulous outlook and as the evening got older the wind dropped off, so it's actually quite comfortable now.

I was a really good dog while they had dinner in the oldest pub in Victoria. I have taken the art of sitting under their tables and at their feet to a new level.

and afterwards we had a bit of a frisbee catch on the grass behind the kennel.

We then did a quick and sneaky in the dark ride down to the beach which was spectacular in the full moon, a gentle breeze and small soft waves rolling in. Didn't spend too long though as we have a big day of (hopefully) nothing eventful happening in order to get home safe and sound. Will be a long drive.

Roaming Robe

Our last full day of not being on the road and with the weather turning for the cooler there was no hurry to do anything much today.

Dad got up early again to catch the sunrise from the top of the cliffs above the gently crashing waves next to the kennel park and was a bit disappointed about a large cloud bank in the eastern horizon blocking the spectacular event it could've been and meaning the shoot went for another 15 minutes until the blistering bright orb decided to rise above it all. Still better than going into the office. I slept though the whole scenario, keeping Mum company back in the kennel. We all then had another long sleep in as the nomads began their next step on their never ending journey's around us. So it wasn't really 'sleep' as such as they are all very noisy, especially the diesel engines which continuously growl their way slowly along the roads as they prowl around the park. More so - just lying here is relaxing and not having to think about having to do anything. I even stopped thinking about chasing frisbees for a while and actually relaxed too. Admittedly though, the worry about forgetting where I had actually buried that bone back at home is constantly preying on my mind (I'd had two great spots and now I can't remember which one I chose).

The big event which all the parents were talking about today was the electricity going out - just as Mum was boiling the kettle for the first cuppa of the day. Therefore it was her fault. Good impact as well as it not only killed all the power in the town but also a large region of the state. She sure does have some influence does my mum. The kennel also has a gas kettle so the stress was not too much and the devices still worked so they could get an understanding of the extent of the event as well as remaining connected to the world. This means absolutely nothing to me although it must be important to them as they seam to to spend an extraordinary amount of time peering into their devices. I use a different method of mind control over them, with generally the same outcomes though. Apparently it wasn't Mum turning on the kettle but more so due to to storm damage. I don't believe them - it was too coincidental for my liking.

So the power outage had direct and dire impact on our trip. No power means none of those gurgling machines that make the caffine hits that my parents are now well and truly set in their ways of getting. To make matters even worse (for Mum) all the stores in town were closed. Her one day of freedom for shopping day ruined. That'll teach her to turn on a kettle without considering the consequences. We wandered through the eerily quite town with me tugging on my lead and stopping to sniff every post and peeing on every second one as if nothing was amiss. Mostly because that's what I'd do anyway, but also as a lesson to them that there is more to life than gurgling machine created coffee and succumbing to the compulsion to purchase yet more chameleon coatings. Annoyingly my lesson was lost because we stumbled on a place that was still open because they have a generator. 

Good chance it paid for itself this one event as they were packed and the wait was long. No care here though as I got to sit under the table (again) whilst they caught up on the world on their devices until the coffee arrived. once consumed we headed back to the kennel via the beach.

Woo Hoo! was not expecting that! and so we'd found a new beach, really close to the kennel, we also found a stick and I was therefore extremely happy, getting extremely wet playing fetch in and out of the water. Afterwards I got in trouble by doing a big poop (on our site) in front of the ranger, who was a bit grumpy about the fact I was not on a (visible) lead. Mum and Dad were inside the kennel not watching me so they were in trouble as well. After that we all sat inside for a bit contemplating pooping on lawns and what it means in the overall scheme of things. I came to the conclusion that I don't care. From a philosophical perspective I've worked out that "I poop, therefore I am". You can take it or leave it. Dad seams intent on doing both (taking it away and then leaving in a bin).

With the weather turning we picked a time where Dad's (still working) device showed not too much rain heading our way so I packed them up and herded them on their fold up bikes again. More good times. After mis-guessing where the bike path should go and having to push the bikes across the sandy beach we headed off to the local bluff on a well made and very interesting sealed trail. There is a lot of money in this place it seams - very nicely built houses (also known as kennels if they have dogs in them), immaculately restored historical buildings and a very well appointed marina. Lots of nice green, well mown lawns in the public and private spaces between them all.

The view up the top of the bluff was cool and thus I got in some pics for Dad and then we went back into town with Mum stressing about getting me a drink.

Which she got for me eventually and it very nice.  By now the power was back on so we left her in town for that retail therapy hit and headed back to the kennel, and tidy up a bit and hang for a bit more.

Dad then whipped into town for some lunchy supplies on his bike, returned and put together some capriata bread roles with tomato, cheese, salami, olives and well traveled avocado. We all then had an afternoon nap as we all seamed pretty exhausted from the day of not doing anything much.

Afterwards, they had a game of scrabble in the kennel whilst I hung around under foot. And then we all wandered into town (with me checking out the same peeing posts to see what had changed since I went through a few hours ago) and we ended up having dinner in the outside courtyard at Olives with me at their feet whilst they had (yet again) seafood pasta.

We walked home and when we got back to the kennel Dad took me down to the beach because he'd spotted a sunset happening, so we had a lot of fun for 30 mins or so with me getting yet another dip in the sea chasing sticks (got dumped at one point - that was interesting as I can now swim) and posing for photos. Exhausted and very wet I then sat back up at the corner of our kennel site watching the world and letting strangers scratch my ears as they walked past. Our kennel park is called SeaVu. Seemingly the owners don't know how to spell and it's a little deceptive as not all the site have views of the sea (maybe "Vu" actually does mean - not a guaranteed view). So all the poor plebs who are camped on the back side of the hill come up and sit at the tables in front of us. Which is all good as we get to watch them and they get to admire me - sitting at the edge of our prime site as a good dog should - letting them scratch my ears if they want to. I'm so exhausted I don't even bother to try to lick them. Maybe I'm learning.

The persistent rumble of thunder

Dad disappeared early to catch the sunrise and was back in bed by the time the great kennel pack up started around us. From the place being choc-a-bloc yesterday, to the time we trundled out of there ourselves the place was looking deserted with most of the prime waterfront positions now empty, waiting for the next influx of parents with their kennels. And their dogs of course.

Being so impressed with the coffee's and african flavoured chicken wraps discovered yesterday we did  quick detour northwards in town (like all of 300 meters) in order to get the mandatory caffeinated beverages and food for the ensuing trip southwards. I know my directions. I'm a Kelpie. Dad has taught me "left" and "right". My ancestry DNA within me knows where the south paddock is (and of course the ability to herd all the sheep out of it).

So I knew that Robe was south of us and we'd gone north a little bit for Mum to spend some time across the road while Dad and I played frisbee in the park next to the lake. I met an ostrich. Looks like the Emu I once faced off but it's bottom smelled like plastic.

Good thing the parents were well stocked as as useful road sign said "no services for 145 km". That resulted in some really nice landscapes to wind our way though. We came up behind a motor home that was cruising along between 85 and 90 kmh and having no desire to push the rig beyond it's safety limits as well as being mindful of the others on the road behind us (they didn't have attached kennels), we maintained a nice safe distance (to allow overtakers to overtake both of us individually) and leisurely cruised behind them. It was a nice drive with the seemingly endless lakes of the Coorong glistening in the late morning light, beckoning to be explored and admired. No dogs allowed - so I mind-tricked the parents up the front to continue southwards. I wanted a beach that I could play in and that beach I knew was south of there (don't ask me how - just accept the fact that I'm a kelpie and therefore I know stuff like that).

With three busting bladders on board we arrived in Kensington SE. This the town where the locals decided they needed a unique landmark for tourists, went with the "we need a big something" and came up with a lobster. Great idea. Being a dog I'll always appreciate a big lobster, however also being a road-wise traveler on the road I also appreciate a sign (or two) saying what is coming up. i.e Three bursting bladders in the car, no signs (at all) saying "peeing posts this way ->" (usually a stylized picture of parents - white on a blue background standing next to each other....my mission in life is to get dog into that frame as well) or even and indication that creatures in this part of the world have biological needs at all. Nothing. not even a sign saying "big lobster ahead".. that may have indicated a reason to slow down and get off the road so the locals can pass through without cursing at those idiot tourists in town blocking the roads. So in frustration Dad pulled off the road, performed a ridiculous illegal U-turn at an intersection because he'd spied a public peeing post in park across the road. The grass was green and all seamed good with the world and we opened the doors - to an oven outside - yep the temp was 38 degrees and we all wilted in it. Geebers this is a harsh land.

Suitably pee free we headed out of that town not even bothering to find out what the "SE" means. If they can't bother putting up signage to the public peeing posts then we couldn't be bothered exploring the nuances of their local culture. Even if it includes a big lobster. Besides, I had a beach I needed to be on. Sooner than later. So HURRY UP ... (that's my mind tricks over the parents in the front seats. I tried to use the old "are we there yet?" but Dad is immune to that and just replies "almost, just around the next bend".  I blame my sisters for wearing that one out before I even got a chance to use it effectively).

It seamed to work as for the first time in a week we actually came up behind someone who was slower on the road than us. Major front end damage so they were limping along and thus Dad actually did a passing maneuver with the kennel on the back, mostly so anyone else coming up behind didn't need to deal with two slow vehicles at once (that was his justification). I wasn't entirely convinced, however, any step closer to the beach is fine by me. And so we cruised into Robe. What a place to be in. Thanks to Mum's persistence we have the best site in the best kennel park in the whole place. We have a 180 degree view of the ocean (and surrounds) and spent the evening soaking up the grandeur of what nature can attempt to throw at us.

It was hot when we were setting up the kennel. So hot in fact that I actually lay underneath it in the cool wet grass/sand (watered earlier obviously) and let Mum and Dad do all the work. Thanks to our friendly neighbors next door advice, instead of just walking down to our local beach we drove over there (picture someone pointing across to the other side of the bay to see a very long white sandy strip strewn with vehicles - yes we can see it from our site because we have the best site). And so we all hopped back into the car and I got to go to the beach I'd been banging on about pretty much all day.

People are encouraged to drive on this beach. It's called Long Beach because it seems to go for a long way around the bay. Public Holiday today so there were lots of cars and hey!, still a lot of space. The water was warm. The waves a little dumpy but fun, the shallows perfect enough for me to run myself ragged catching the frisbee. Over and over again. Not being used to having cars on the beach I almost got myself run over in an uncontrolled excitement phase but apart from that it was amazing. Just the beach I was after. Mum had a swim. Dad caught a wave and no-one got taken by the shark that was spotted earlier (well not that we know of - haven't actually watched the news tonight).

We then decided to have dinner in the kennel (instead of walking into town) and it was a great choice. Apart from the fabulous meal Mum constructed for Dad and her. I had another bone and we got to watch a big storm rollover the bay, touch us briefly and and then rumble off into the distance as the sun gently lowered itself over the horizon throwing coloured shards of light all over the place. Dad was in his happy space, taking photos and videos constantly.

I was in a bit of a tizz as I've decided that loud bangs that I don't understand require me to source some sort of comforting. Maybe I'm getting soft - I really should speak to some cousins who work on a farm to see what they think. Problem with them is they don't really seem to have the same demure conversation skills that I do. Cage vs. Kennel - think I'll stick with Kennel thanks.

However, as the night rolls on so does the rumbling thunder in the background as the cells move around and bypass us.- with the white noise aural sheen tonight being delivered by the surf and the wind. the storms are bringing relief from the heat at least. Maybe. Only tomorrow will tell. 

Here's a bonus pic Dad couldn't help but share with you. I'm not in it. Not sure how that can be justified...

A canine in the Coorong

Another really hot day, which always drains me. Having black fur in the hot sun doesn't help. Pouncing into the cool waters of the lake does. So as soon as they woke up and we'd had our breaky I started nagging about going over to the water. They thought something was wrong with me, so I had to be forthright and tell them in very clear language that I should be in the water.

Now. Stop sitting there drinking your coffee. We need to go over there to where the water is. Now. I don't care that you're still in your PJ'S, the kennel is a mess and DJT is about to start WW3. I need to go jump in that water over there. Eventually Mum understood and took me over. I got wet and I was happy.

There is an underlying background noise in this place. It's wierd. No-one seems to notice it but I do. When I'm at the beach I know (now after all these years) it's the sound of the ocean casting a white noise aural sheen as the base upon which all other sounds rise above. At the kennel at home it's the roads and the never ending sound of cars moving about. Here it's the Correllas. All day long they sit in the trees and quietly caw at each other, sometimes in groups (picking on a particular tree) and then it's more noticeable, probably as they're talking over each other as parents seem to do when they get into large groups. Often it's just two of them, maybe working through the nuances of Uncle Harry's petulance for gum nuts. I don't know. I don't speak Galah. However the noise is always there when we are here.

I also heard the sound of a pelican flapping it wings today as it pushed it's way over Dad and I when we were down at the lake having another dip. That's a big bird with a very distinct flapping sound. I'm glad I'm not a bird crazy dog because if I was, this place would be driving me nuts. 

So I herded Mum and Dad into town on their bikes again in the hot late morning sun, it was only a 10 minute run but it really took it out of me. I was quite agitated sitting under the table in the cool shade whilst they consumed their standard machine (that goes fssiiittt, gurgle, gurgle, fssssitt, splutter, splutter, phshhhtt) made caffine hit. They decided to get lunch as a take away upon leaving.

It was just one of those wraps there (picture Mum pointing at the item). 20 minutes later of me standing around Dad being a good dog she got it. Weird, but most likely due to one of the staff leaving her shift just as a few nomads wandered up to order at the same time. Busy place this Meningie. A nice stop on very long roads it seems. We checked out the pub as an option for dinner and Dad said no way as the afternoon sun beating into the outside (dog friendly area) would be horrendous. Good call, it was already 35 and getting warmer. So I herded them back to the kennel with great efficiency and even managed to stop and sniff some interesting posts along the way. They thought they were in control by going ahead, stopping and yelling at me to hurry up, but no - it's me in control here. I'm a kelpie.

It was a heartwarming and relieving sight to see the swag of our incessant verbiage motormouth from last night packed up with the (assumed now empty) esky in the back of our neighbors car. His must've been parked outside the kennel park. Have not heard a peep from them since. They've turned into a standard quiet couple on the road. Strongly suspect they are relieved as well. 

Because we had a day off from being on the road, Dad took us for a drive.... He wanted some slow TV footage, Mum and I wanted to escape the heat, as so agreed to go along. We effectively drove around the Lake (Albert) and did a side step to have a look at the Coorong. Which is what this locale is all about. Between the land and the sea is along strip of sand dunes with water behind it and us behind that.

As it's a no dog zone we had to be careful as there was a ranger station within view of our veiwing point, however I had a good look and was actually pretty keen to get down there. The water looked very clean and tempting (not like the brown muck back at the lake) and there were birds (not my thing as you know) all over it. and the sand dunes beyond...Oooohh lah lah - my kinda playground. Anywoof, not to be. Mum was going on about snakes and Dad was going on about Rangers so we got back in the car and continued to the long (here we go in the car again) drive in order to appease Dad and his adventurous spirit. I did not see, could not see and even if I could I wouldn't have appreciated his fascination in seeing a large flock of pelicans majestically circling a thermal current higher and higher until the ones at the top were small specks in the sky. He would've watched this for hours. We would've killed him if he tried, so an in-effective picture was taken and we moved on. 

The road got boring (great slow TV footage apparently) and then the highlight - yes ! another ferry ! this time we had it all to ourselves and as such got a really good appreciation of how the whole operation works.

The road afterwards was also an interesting drive and Dad was having a great time cruising the roads without being inhibited by the kennel and listening to random music on his playlist.

Back at the kennel park by the lake - second night here and really settling in. It would be really enjoyable to spend a few days here in off season (it's the long weekend so we still have a fully booked situation place with a few large groups making parent based annoyances of themselves).

At sunset the Correllas are corralling themselves just outside of the park..Will they explode into a storm of screeching clouds again tonight? they are raising their voices - what will happen?

The wind was different today. Not the hot northerly being cooled as it traversed the lake but in the west where the ocean was lowering it's viciousness somewhat. Now its dropped off completely and the temperature is almost perfect and yet still has a feeling that it could be a restless night unless a breeze does pick up. I was unsettled. There was group of parents down at the lake where I splash that for some reason has piqued my interest. I was busting to go but Dad had me on his voice leash and so I hung around the kennel as good dogs do.

The Correllas didn't explode. Dad suggested to me that we should ride down there and throw a frisbee at them to see what happens, I said lets go do frisbee later in the dark and now go out for dinner instead. Which is what we did. Walked back to the same attached place as last night. Mum had her heart set on a Vietnamese noodle saladly thing that wasn't on the menu tonight. Tonight was pizza night. Dad could not come to grips with this because Friday night is Pizza night. Always has (since he got his pizza oven) and always will be (unless he's in Italy). Meningie in South Australia on a Sunday night does not cut the mustard. Even if they did put mustard on the pizza. Besides, it was too hot to think about that sort of food. So they had a squidy thing and burgery thing instead and seemed happy with the outcome. Me in the meantime sat around their feet restrained by an actual lead and made eye contact with the plethora of other dogs that had arrived. Kelpies ... thus they knew how to behave and I was showing them how as well.

We walked back through the kennel park with all its fabulously appointed kennels glistening in the sunset, with their little doggy pens keeping their totally untrained and thus always tied up (or seriously contained) dogs yelping in frustration that I should dare walk past them with such nonchalance of being a good dog. Money may buy you a kennel with an inside peeing post, a hot shower, a large screen TV connected via Elon's evil skynet but it won't buy you the freedom of living with a well trained dog.

Dad and I have a pact. Frisbee in the dark in the park - just over there. So we're off.

Pawnote:

With the half moon lighting up the surrounds and glistening off the calm waters of the horizon defining lake and a succulent night breeze wafting through the theater it was a show to behold. The pelicans were safely perched on their stands out off the shores whilst other water birds careened thier cries, echoeing through the stillness. Just me taking it all in with Dad occasionally focusing me with a subtle click of the fingers.

I'd caught enough frisbees to get exhausted and we just then trotted on along the banks of the lake to take in above. When we got back to the kennel it seemed that the world of the parents had all gone to sleep. Yet over in the distance that flock of Correllas was going off. Maybe Uncle Harry had flown back into town with some disturbing news from up Tail M Bend way, or maybe these guys just squabble the whole night long. I don't care because I'm not underneath them. The pelicans don't seem to care either. As the half moon heads towards its demise for the night and the landscape subsequently fades into total darkness I have no idea of what will transpire as I will be snoring asleep on the cool floor of my portable kennel with Mum and Dad snoring in rythym with me.

Two Ferries

On the road again - with Willie Nelson's song resonating in the background radio of our minds it was up as early as just before the sun in order to have to actually be somewhere at a particular time. It's this sort of stress that we have holidays to get away from - according to Mum and Dad - I don't actually have the capacity to think far enough ahead beyond (say) the next 15 minutes and therefore if I was actually in charge of the the timing here we would've possibly have missed the ferry. The here and the now is the space I operate in and due to my genealogy I do it very well. Thank you very much.

It appears that the local ants are extremely keen on expanding their species - we kept finding swarms of them everywhere i.e. half built nests within the support structures of the kennel extension. Pity the poor neighbors who had to put up with our packing up noises. The sounds of the floor mats being tightly coerced into the into the crinkly sounding plastic bag definitely got our ant fetish neighbor up and at 'em. They were polite enough not to mention it of course through the neighborly banter that occurs in these kennel parks. I was told not to lick their hands when contact was first established (geebers, that's really hard not to do Dad - why is it so bad?). My parents had calculated an hour and a half from get up to packed up and were pretty close by the time we'd pulled out of the kennel park with ours in tow. A slight delay while Dad attached the extension mirrors which he forgot about in the confusion and away we went. On the road again. With that goddamn song still there in the background.

After checking in with Grandma and Grandpa last night Dad had filled the water tank with more (well... water) and turned the steering assist off. And the rig now flowed a whole lot safer so it seems. Didn't take too long before realising that this wasn't a total free ticket to ride (no background songs there) as a tricky S bend on a down hill slope made him realise he still needed to fully concentrate. So the whole rig all flowing quite smoothly now - with the understanding that on steep uphills the engine is getting close to the limits of it's capabilities. Seems like the guys who backed it onto the ferry all either had just bought one or wanted to, so that was a fun conversation Dad had.

We'd stopped at the town of Penneshaw so Mum could run off and get the obligatory morning cafe dispensed caffination hit, time was ticking but of course there was no real hurry - unlike the other end, this end we were parked under the shade of some seriously big pine trees while we waited for the ferry to arrive, unload and then load all the waiting vehicles. It's absolutely extraordinary how many cars, caravan's, motor homes, etc can fit in this thing - and yet they all do. I got to intently watch the whole thing unfold from by prime position in the back seat.

And so we we left Kangaroo Island - without seeing a real one. I wasn't overly concerned about this as I've seen them before, met them, talked to them about their lives and dreams for a better future and fully understand that there are kangaroo genes somewhere in my DNA as well - so I wasn't really expecting anything more by actually being on their island, but still... surely they didn't name the place because of a silo painting.

The ferry across to the mainland was a nice calm crossing with the seas glistening in the bright sunlight and a warm northerly breeze was carrying the heat and the scents of the mainland mixed with coolness of the water of which it had washed across. Nothing out out the ordinary for this old experienced sea dog. Some people tend to shy away from me (no idea why but I don't care) others seam to gravitate to me and actually encourage me to lick them. Dad always steps in here and tells me not to. It's very confusing, however I do seem to meet a whole lot of people who are ready and willing to scratch my ears when I sit on their feet.

After driving off the ferry we headed up the steep hills from Cape Jervis and over the unpronounceable peninsular to avoid Victor Harbor (been there, done that beach) and wound our way around the big lakes that feed into the Coorong. This was awkward because Dad did not want to go all the way up to Tail M bend (he likes my tail exactly the way it is thank you - and so do I) and so we were in hands of the talking lady behind the dashboard. It was a little stressful when we had to traverse a few dirt roads but the rig held together well, at much slower speeds - even though we had a timeline - there was free live music in our future kennel site and we would not want to miss out on that! So whilst we'd managed (quite nicely) to meet one hard timeline we were still under pressure to meet another.

We found a place on the side of a hard and fast sealed backroad to get the rig just off the bitumen to have lunch in the kennel. This was a real shock - the heat outside was a blasting 38 degrees, the northerly wind careening over the endless parched paddocks was hammering into us as we alighted from the comfort of the aircon'd car. I'm a kelpie. Hardened cattle dog. Bred for tough conditions and can work all day in them. This is my country. It's in my DNA....... stuff that - straight into the kennel and lying on the coolish floor in the shade for me. Toughness has it's limits when you're also given smarts in your genes. So Mum and Dad feasted on a delicious tuna and chick pea salad whilst I was daydreaming about catching frisbees in nice cool surf beaches.

The lady in the console threw us a curve ball when she said "and then catch the ferry" on the road ahead. What the ?!! The last ferry trip cost us about a grand and was planned months ahead. How do we do this? Will it sink? Do they take caravans? Do we have to book? How much will we have to pay? How long will it take" Will we miss our free music in the kennel park because of unexpected delays? Will we actually have to drive up through blinking Tail M Bend anyway because of this? Do we have to pay the Ferryman before we get to the other side? arrgghhh - the stress levels went higher than the scorching temperatures outside. Dad kept a steady hand on the wheel and an even foot on the pedals (he's learning the art of coercing the rig) whilst Mum did an internet search (she's learning the art of gleaning information on the fly) and found out that these things are the norm, free and only a 10 minute delay.

I went back to sleep. I did wake up though when we got to Wellington because something was going on. The trip across the river took about 5 minutes - we were nice citizens and stayed in the car. Pretty happy though that we'd done two ferry's on one day. If Mum (who was in charge of the music) had've played Avalon - that would've been three - but she didn't and so the post title stands.

Heading down south on the old no.1 highway (now relegated to B1 due to it's coastal behaviors) the harsh dry flat landscape came into the fore yet again. All the lakes are salt pans (rub your hands together you miners - thar be precious minerals under there...). Nothing grows out here but salt bushes and roads. the first being organic and the second being the opposite. With that hot northerly pushing us along the rig was sort of behaving itself - still felt like at any opportunity it would seriously start misbehaving, so by the end of the day Dad was feeling a bit pooped. Luckily, there is no secondary meaning to that, as I (as a dog) don't have that plastic bag dexterity capability.

We actually stopped (from speed) at a pink lake that wasn't pink. Took a photo to prove the point. I suggested that they should've put a sign further back up to road saying "warning - misleading tourist signage ahead".....It's really annoying when I come up with these really cool smart-arse ideas from the back seat and all they hear is "woof", and so they ignore me and think they had the original idea. 

And so we trundled into the town or Meningie and are now in their kennel park. It is chock-a-block as it is the long weekend. There is so much happening here it's hard to know where to start. I spent about an hour watching Mum and Dad set up the kennel - all the whilst listening to the booming voice of the guy sitting in a chair drinking beers and talking incessantly about stuff that I have no idea about. That was at 3:30 pm. It's now 11:30pm and he has not stopped. The heat is oppressive. We've got the fan in the box on the wall blowing air around - it helps with breeze but mostly it drowns out that continuous dribble that this dude keeps expounding. Pretty sure even the people who are with him would like him to shut up as well, but they keep prompting him. One line or one question and then we have a least 15 minutes of a story about water skiing on the Murray river and why person X had some sort of lesson the learn from situation Y... Fill in the gaps yourself.

Dad says welcome to Bogan Villa - I don't think he's referring to the flowering plant that adorn the ancient picturesque walls of the towns within the Greek Islands.

Whilst we (well Mum and Dad - I was lying on the cool grass trying to stay cool) were setting up the kennel, the live music started up over in the middle of the camp grounds. He is really good and really talented. He can play any popular song, by any artist, all in exactly the the same key, and pretty much to the same rhythm. According to Dad this signifies a very special talent. The highlight of the whole set (and yes - he played for about 5 hours to a crowd of, say one person per hour) was ... yes unbelievable poignancy  .. On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again... Go Willie ! the crowd goes wild 

On the bright side (there are plenty here) - the place is visually spectacular. The lake is really shallow so I can run in as far as the ball can be thrown. Mum took me down whilst Dad was stuffing around the kennel and I just quite simply fell in love with place. Water, miles and miles of it, all flat, and it's stinking hot so it's really cool standing here in it, looking at you, trying my mind tricks like "throw the ball" or "throw the stick"... she didn't have anything to throw, but I was so happy just to be wet I didn't care. I enticed Dad down later with a ball and then we really got in to it.

We went down for (the parents) dinner afterwards at a cafe/bar/restaurant attached to the kennel ground. On the way past our musician was still belting out his songs. Already pretty much destroying Cold Chisel, Paul Kelly, Slim Dusty, Elvis, Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra, Mike Brady, Dr Hook just to name few, Mum pointed out that we hadn't actually paid for it and Dad counteracted with the fact that we were paying for it right now. ... He'd stopped by the time we came back from dinner.

At which, was situated outside on a lawn and I entertained a couple of young parents - especially a 5 year old girl who needs (and will have) her own dog pretty soon. Dad spotted an AFL football left behind by some previous kid and suggested they use this to play with me. Well it all went a bit pear shaped from there. Mostly because it was a soft nerfball type ball and every time I picked it up it got destroyed a bit more. So when the kid comes back tomorrow to get the ball they left behind it will be totally disheveled. The young parents (at 5 years old she could still control me) did a great job of playing with me and paying sibling rivalry games with me. I don't care. I'm a good dog and will come back and sit under the table when told to. I also proved that I can easily and quite happily give the ball back to the parent that is playing with me - however never to Mum or Dad - I have an aversion with that.

It was a spectacular sunset - the screeching Correllas overhead seemed perfectly natural here (as compared to the destruction of the imported plane tress at home recently) and we're still finding those travelling ants in everything. They're keen - so is Dad in finding every one of the invasive little critters....maybe he's the one with the ant fetish?

So it took up to 12:15 am for the Bogunvillias next door to finally shut and go to bed - and guess what- the loud mouth dude who has to keep talking the whole of his waking life is sleeping in a swag. Right next to us. How do we know this? because his snoring when he's asleep is almost louder than the continuous verbiage of when he's awake.

Good thing I'm a dog - so this sort of parent stuff doesn't bother me.