Some reccommendations for anyone thinking of spending the night in a Toyota Yaris

1) Don't
2) DON'T
3) If you really really have no other option- really really DON'T

After a night at Swan reach station- much of it spent trying to shut up the noisy items around the place I headed out to look for the cave. A stop off at the local Post Office- 'to tell someone what I was doing' -much to their surprise. I'd been given directions to find the cave- out to the golf course, go through the double gates opposite and head left and climb down the cliffs- there's a track you'll see it. Uh Huh. Well the double gates were easy enough but no sign of any tracks to the left - just a nasty rusty fence to get through. I headed downstream along the cliff top but it was getting steeper so I started looking for somewhere to get down. I got a good looking spot and started heading down, it turned into a bit of a bum slide but was OK but furtehr down whe I was scrambling thorugh dead leaves I did start thinking about snakes and lizards and things that like to live in the undergrowth. I reckoned it'd be ok tho cos they'd have to bite right through my shoes right? Then I got to a 15ft overhang at the bottom which was impassable so had to climb back up- now I'm having to bury my unprotected HANDS into those leaves to get a grip- hmm lizards, SNAKES, spiders! At the top the limestone turned into about two to three feet of oyster shells which was quite impressive- I'd have liked a picture but it was a bit difficult to hang on and balance so I didn't and just had a rest to wheeze for a bit- who forgot her inhaler then?
Once at the top I headed upstream and after a couple of attempts found an easy spot to get down. next problem - which way to go. There were vehicle tracks following the bottom of the cliff in both ways. So I headed downstream until I can to where there were some pumps taking green smelly water out of the scummy pond which was once a river before it dried up- urgh and I had tea last night with water from the tap. The tracks ran out here and I had a look around but couldn't see a way on. So i turned around and looked the other way. There was a horrible squirmy crawl partly blocked by a couple of trees brought in on flood water from the days when there was water in the Murray but no one else had been in there (?ever?) so I came out again. By now I was getting pretty p-d off with the directions I had been given- no one had mentioned the pump station or whether the cave was up or down stream. the cliffs just disappeared upstream so back down I went. This time while following the end of the vehicle track to where it stopped (boggy horrible stuff- wet feet ) I saw a grassy patch off to the left, in that I saw the footpath immediately- bingo!
The actual cave entrance was a big walk in thing with bats and swallows and of course graffitti. Not the most interesting cave I've ever been in- but it was the hottest, driest, easiest, QUIETEST cave ever. I've never been in a cave before where the only sounds of dripping water was my sweat! Anyway after following a passage which got smaller and smaller to the point where I couldn't be bothered any more I cam to some bottles which some jerk had left there to mark their furthest point- if I hadn't have been on my own I would have gone on but couldn't be bothered as it would have meant crawling out backwards and it didn't look that fascinating.
I went some way down another passage which had a nicely pocketed chamber before coming out. How these caves formed is a bit of a mystery- there's NO water, nor any signs of water erosion, no features nothing.
After signing back in at the Post Office I set off for the Adelaide Hills via Angaston. I had decided to sleep in the car to save money (tight wad) so bought a cheap tarpaulin to block up the windows. the next problem was finding some where to stop. The map showed a whole load of camping places in the Crawford Forest- but at each one the gate was locked and there were signs up everywhere saying no camping! I was getting slightly miffed when I finally found an open gate (Chalk Road for future reference1) but it said a permit was needed (no hints as to how to get one!) and the gate would be locked at night. A fellow traveller in a camper van said he had asked at a local attraction and they reckoned he would get away without a permit. A few more vehicles arrived later so the gate couldn't have been locked ( I have a phobia about getting locked into Forests for reasons to do with a job interview many years ago!). So I blanked out the car windows with the tarp, several T shirts and a towel and found 101 uses for a St John road coat. Then it was just a question of finding something warm to wrap up in- thermals (NEVER wear thermals in an Assie cave- I never thought I would be at risk of getting heat stroke underground until today!), lots of fleeces and 101 uses for a St John jacket. then it got cold, and then it got colder so out came the silver blanket from the first aid kit- aren't those things CRAP! You can't get them to stay on. Oh and if you are ever seriously considering sleeping in a Toyota Yaris take my advise and reconsider but if you have to then don't bother putting the seats down cos that leaves a six inch gap between the boot and the seat and the cover thingy sits proud so there's a lump and even a serious shorty like me couldn't lie down full length on it anyway. So don't waste your time trying, I ended up just on the back seats which wouldn't have been too bad if it hadn't been so bloody cold!
So after not very much sleep I got up to find that you DO get frosts in Australia- I have the photos to prove it.
Next stage was to head off for a nice hot cup of tea and after that find the Morialta waterfalls which had been reccommended- and rightly so. you drive through what looks like wilderness bush country and then suddenly you're in Adelaide. The waterfalls are just off the edge of the city. A friendly local told me not to bother with the five dollar fee for the top carpark but to park for free and walk up - good advice. Being a good Kiwi tramper I took my pack and a fleece and water etc etc and got lots of funny looks from the locals (average age 60) who were carrying nothing. But I did the 10km walk and they were all doing the shorter walks- so there!
The scenery is spectacular and worth the climb as not only do you get the waterfalls but also a look back out across the city. I went up to the third waterfall and had the track to myself but back towards the second and first waterfalls it got busier and busier- it's a popular spot with the locals.
Today (Friday) I'm with Clinton of the SOT for another look at what they get up to- except he's had to go to a meeting so I'm at the Emergency and Major Store - with PC access- whoo hoo!
So far today I've been to SOT and the Police Academy where the major event staff were doing some training- they have quite a bit of kit at their disposal- so much so that the Manual handling trainer was there to supervise them, he got me to take some pictures of the things he's not happy with so I need to remember to send them to him when I get back.
The Sprint Team leader (i.e. Rapid Response) is based here and he's just in the process of trying to track Clinton down to pick me up cos he has to leave so I'd better finish up.