We only had one night at the lighthouse cottage which meant it was time to pack up and leave in the morning. Thankfully we had tried not to bring in too much stuff. I cut up the 2 remaining mangoes that we had to enjoy before leaving as we were crossing into South Australia today and you can’t take in any fruit (due to the risk of fruit flies). Kevin ate the last tomato and we only had to throw out 2 sad looking bananas.
We left here later than planned and headed into Portland to charge the car. When I had been doing planning I thought we could manage without charging overnight (which I thought we wouldn’t be able to do). Kevin later informed me he could have since he has very long leads. It wasn’t too bad though as after leaving the car the Quest apartments (where there was a Tesla charging port) we just walked into town to get some breakfast.
One of the places with vegan options was The Lido Larder. It was really cute too, had lovely staff and some yummy looking food. They offered to make me a vegan panini and Kevin opted for the vegetarian one.
There was no seating inside (I assume due to covid) so we sat outside, where it was luckily protected from the wind. We both really enjoyed our breakfast. Kevin got himself some desert and I picked up a yoyo to have later in the car.
We wandered down to the water to see if any truck lifting was going on but there wasn’t so we walked back to the car.
Along the way we heard chirping and looked up to find a nest with 2 baby birds in it and Mum & Dad fluttering around. While we watching one of the babies was practicing flying. One of the locals stopped to chat and we found out there had been 5 babies.
We also ran into Gordan (our lighthouse guide from yesterday) who owns the “whole foods” shop in Portland. It was actually another place we could have eaten in but it didn’t look particularly welcoming so we hadn’t gone in. We did chat with him for a bit and then finally made it back to the car.
Then we were on the road again.
Around 1.30pm we arrived in Horsham and found the Tesla charging station for another charge. It was right near a shopping centre so we had a quick look around (just your normal Aussie stores) and got some lunch from Subway, which we took back to the car. We watched some YouTube while we ate and waited for the charge to finish.
Back on the road and into some real farming country. I loved how so many farm gates/entrances were decorated for Christmas using hay bale, farm equipment, etc. Sadly couldn’t get any photos.
3.30pm we finally reached the Victorian/South Australian boader where we had to show our passes 4.15 We stopped in Keith for the final charge of the day. It was just a quick one here – enough to get us through to Murray Bridge. It was a long day of travel and I had a bit of a case of the munchies so was pleased to discover they had vegan Magnums here. First ice cream of the holiday and I really enjoyed it.
We saw our first silo art – which I think is just the most awesome idea. We were too tired to stop though so just took photos as we drove by.
We lined up to get a covid test (we are required to get one within 24 hours of arriving in the state) but were told there was about an hour wait and that there was another testing place further up the road, just before Murray Bridge.
We continued on our way arriving at the testing place at 5.45pm. It was quick process here and only took about 10mins all up.
Then finally at 6.15 we drove into Murray Bridge and got checked into the Bridgewater Hotel. We didn’t think we’d be able to charge the Tesla here but Kevin spotted a power point right near where he had parked the car. Which meant we wouldn’t have to spend 30min the morning charging before we could set off.
I thought we’d be here mid afternoon to actually enjoy the hotel and room, which is really lovely and has a nice view of the Murray River.
As it was, as soon as we got our luggage (just the absolute essentials) Kevin had to dive into some work that was needing done. While he did this I worked a blog post and finishing a video. Not getting much editing time so I’m only managing to get one up every 3-4 days now we are travelling/moving on more often.
With Kevin working we didn’t get to order room service until late so it was after 8pm when we finally had dinner (but there is a time difference which meant it was actually after 8.30pm NSW/VIC time. I had the roasted cauliflower salad (which was yummy) and Kevin had a pizza.
Obviously we went to bed straight after dinner, where Kevin was on reddit and I finished the vlog and the read for a bit before going to sleep.