National Lampoons Chardy Vacation Part Two: South Australia

Coober Pedy – Port Augusta – Adelaide – Victor Harbor

If you missed the first instalment of our 2017 Summer Holiday you can catch up HERE.  Now onto South Australia…

Well I have to be honest my friends, South Australia wasn’t our favourite state, the scenery looked a lot like this right up until we landed in Port Augusta (I know it probably wasn’t our best introduction to this southern state) …

Our first night in South Australia was spent in Coober Pedy.  I wasn’t all that fussed about staying underground but was out-voted by the boys who thought we needed the real experience.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect… I didn’t have great images going through my head but I just went with it.  You can imagine my thoughts when we arrived here…

I didn’t have high hopes for the night but I was pleasantly surprised.  We were welcomed here at the Comfort Inn by the lovely lady who owned it.  She took us for a little tour of the underground motel and told us how her Father had built (or should I say dug) it.  There were opals in the walls.  It was beautiful and cool underground and not at all claustrophobic like I had imagined. The rooms were lovely and Clancy even had his own bed and boy they were comfy.

We brought our bags down and settled in, it was dinner time. Harry turned on the TV and a familiar song was playing… “Holiday Rooooooooooooooaaaaaaad……” no… it couldn’t be… surely.  But it was… I kid you not but National Lampoons Vacation was JUST STARTING.  Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.  I was beside myself, after singing this for days and days before we left and telling the kids our holiday was going to be just like the Griswolds!!!  I couldn’t believe it.  The boys didn’t know what the hell I was going on about.  So I ordered some pizza and told them we were settling in for some family (albeit inappropriate viewing for some members) movie time.  Mr Chardy and I cracked some red wine and we had a lovely night.  Turns out laid back Chards is fun Chards.

Next morning it was time to head to Port Augusta.  Again I didn’t have great images in my head and most of the scenery was again pretty boring as we drove on.

It wasn’t until we were right at Port Augusta that it changed a little.

The highlight of our stay in Port Augusta was overnighting at the Big 4 Holiday Park.  We stayed in a gorgeous, brand new, 2 bedroom villa.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Until the power went out, so Mr Chardy and I sat on the verandah and, well… had a Chardy while the kids had a cool soft drink – what a treat.

The great thing about staying in holiday parks (I think that sounds much classier than Caravan Park) is the space… you get a little house, room to move, the kids can wonder around and have a swim, you can get some washing done and also have a cook up either in your cabin or at the camp kitchen.  Too easy!

The next day it was onto Adelaide.  It wasn’t a huge day so we decided to take a slight detour (much to the kids disgust) and go via Freeling.  To all of those McLeod’s Daughters fans Freeling is better know as Gungellan.  We thought we may as well while we were in the area.  So we took a few back roads, which was really nice and hardly any traffic – perfect.

Well, we can say we have done it and don’t ever have the desire to return.  It was so hot and dry, may as well have been back home.  It was like a ghost town, we felt like the only people there.  Had lunch at the pub which was really nice but then we were out of there.

Next stop Adelaide… we probably should have given this a miss because we didn’t really know where to go or what to do and only had one night there.  Now I am sure it is a very lovely and fun city but we didn’t really have time to see or do much.  I think, actually I know, we stayed in the dodgy part of the city… that’s what happens I suppose when you are not familiar with the city.  Anyway, it was ok but nothing to write home about.  Adelaide is a pretty city, more like a big country town really.  When we arrived it was still 42 degree heat but when we woke up the next morning the temp had dropped to 20 degrees.  Oh I cannot even tell you how excited I was.

We packed the car up again and headed off to Victor Harbor.  A really short trip and finally some pretty countryside and hills.  A quick detour through McLaren Vale and then we were in Victor.

My friend, Felicity, had suggested we go to Victor Harbor and I am so glad she did.  It was just gorgeous.  We had 2 nights here and I reckon that was probably enough.  What I thought was going to be this sleepy tiny little village was actually very busy, much bigger than I thought and full of holiday goers.  I think it might be Victoria’s equivalent to the Sunshine Coast.  But much colder.  I was happy with the cold weather though – 19 degrees, yes please.  There was even a Fair so the kids were beside themselves.  We stayed right on the Esplanade so could walk everywhere. It was a really nice couple of days.  Very relaxing.

Next it was onto Victoria, so stay tuned.

Have you been to Victor Harbor?
How about Gungellan?