Master Sailor Tyrone Shoelaces

The rising sun gradually lit the wide expansive views of the river plains below the cliffs, it was a beautiful sight as the waters and reeds slowly emerged into view as the soft mist slowly evaporated under the warming rays. The myriad of birds were already calling out to each other as they began their daily ritual of doing all those birdy things that keeps them busy. As I lay in my warm cosey bed ensconced in my kennel on wheels I could barely hear all this over the constant roar of the highway over the fence. Dad got up and captured it all for slow TV viewing at a later time. With a tickle of my ears on the way past he said "we'll have the sound turned off when we watch it". Hopped back into bed and we arose 3 hours later with the pressure of having to vacate the site by "strictly 10:00 am". If it wasn't for me nagging them to get up and let me out for a tinkle I reckon the ground staff would have turned their sprinklers on the whole kennel in order to get us moving.

However, move we did (10 mins after the deadline) and headed up the highway towards Adelaide. Major issue there. I know (instinctively) that's not a place for a dog like me (arts festivals, Beaumont mysteries, Christopher Pyne etc.) so I forced Dad to turn left after crossing the river and headed south towards Victor Harbor (knowing they have an excellent beach there). We stopped for a great coffee at a really well adorned town called Strathalbyn. The houses are really olde' wordly' made from local sandstone and the locals sound like they're from New Zealand (according to Mum - who had to be corrected twice by a local truck driver later on the subject). The peninsular we were driving over has the most hardest name to pronounce (after Shoelaces) so we all gave up on that one.

When we got to Victor Harbour we had a great hour or so walking around the foreshore and on the aforementioned beach where I got extremely wet chasing the obligatory (by me - I demanded it) stick thrown in the water and then into the very salubrious nearby shops to get some lunch to be consumed on a bench in the park under the old pine trees originally planted as replacement masts for the old sailing ships. I had a fab time being a good dog  -  going on the lead when it was visibly correct to do so and then off lead in wide expanses of the lawns, and even leaving the ducks alone when told to do so. Too easy.

Another hour of some seriously concentrating driving over hilly winding roads (recalcitrant heavy kennel on wheels in tow) was then undertaken and we ended up at our port well in time and long enough to be standing around in the baking sun for a seemingly long time whilst we undertook the mechanations of ferry life. I was seen to be too excited and out of place to even have drink when prompted, however I knew that dogs aren't allowed to pee on boats (not telling how I know - it's a Kelpie secret) and thus was happy to sit in my happy safe place in the back seat and watch it all unfold.

Dad was astute enough to let the experts back the rig onto the vessel. He'd done the reversing thing with the kennel three times previously and pretty much missed each time, so good choice Dad.

He was going to leave me in the car for the journey but when we found out they have a dog lounge that was it - up on deck we went! Like a fish to water, I was like a bosun to a clipper. No chore to difficult for this old sea dog! I was more than happy to show off my prowess at navigating a rolling deck as we glided our way to the island of Kangaroos. I was also quite happy to sit at Mum and Dad's feet under the table whilst they nonchalantly sat there as if being on the high seas was just another thing one does. So now I'm a qualified sea dog. Master Tyrone Shoelaces of the High Seas - another bucket item ticked off. Next one is flying an airplane (give me time...).

The dive to Kingscote took about an hour and we were well and truly late for the traditional 4:30 drinks and nibbles as we dropped the Kennel on wheels off at the site and whipped into town (5 minute drive) to see what was available for dinner.

Ended up doing takeaway fish and chips to be consumed back at the site and afterwards went for a frisbee catch and splash at the beach which is a 2 min walk away. More good times. I'm exhausted, covered in dirty sand, wet from the sea and could not be happier. And we're here for four nights (yay).