Location: ///stomach.implies.artery

Up early after a hot night anchored on a side street in Nuriootpa.

Oops. We got caught out not realising it was a long weekend…and it seems the entire population of South Australia pulled stumps and hit the road. Not a van park vacancy to be found. Not a free campsite to be squeezed into. We were forced to fall back on our plan D.

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Finding a quiet side street to park overnight (known as boondocking in the USA) is always a little tricky. Fear of the ‘dreaded knock’ at two am with a) the police or b) a grumpy +/- intoxicated local asking us to move on always makes for a restless nights sleep.

Plus it was a hot night without the hint of breeze. Even with all windows & vents open, at 8pm it felt as though Ripely was wrapped in an electric blanket…on the night side of the sun. We totally did not expect temps to be so high this time of year.

Finally, there was a group of enthusiastic but harmonically crippled girls partying up the street singing a Guns’n’Roses medley at midnight just to make sure we didn’t accidentally drift off to sleep.

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As is most often the case, things didn’t seem quite so cataclysmic in the cool refresh of the next morning.

Turns out, after dinner and a restorative shower on board Ripley, a late breeze did deliver a little relief. And the midnight medley turned out to be the party’s swan song. After which it was a knock free and uneventful night.

This morning we have stopped for coffee just a few kilometres up the road at Angaston, 77 km northeast of Adelaide. A beautiful little town accented by heritage buildings.

Sipping on our morning brews we engaged the cafe owner in a long deep dive into the woeful state of our aged care sector as she shared her own experience trying to navigate care for her mother.

Today temperatures are forecast to be in the low 30s with a good chance of storms tonight. After all the travelling days we have decided to spend a couple of nights in Hahndorf. Because laundry. Because air conditioning.