We spent three quiet, memorable months farm sitting in regional Victoria, caring for four alpacas—and it turned out to be one of those experiences that stays with you long after you’ve moved on.
It was winter, proper winter, with crisp mornings that fogged your breath and paddocks dusted in frost. We loved it. There’s something deeply satisfying about rugging up in layers, pulling on beanies and coats, and stepping out into the cold knowing there’s important work to do.
Each day began and ended the same way: feeding the alpacas morning and night. They quickly learned the routine and would amble over as soon as they saw us, curious, dignified, and quietly expectant. Hay needed changing regularly, water troughs topped up, and everything checked over to make sure they were comfortable and safe.
One of the alpacas was elderly and needed a little extra care. She had to wear her own coat to help keep her warm through the colder nights, and checking that it was sitting properly became part of our daily ritual. There was something quite special about that simple act—making sure she was snug before the temperature dropped again.
Winter farm life has a slower rhythm, and that suited us perfectly. The days were simple, purposeful, and grounding. Feeding, refilling water, changing hay, mowing, and taking a moment to just stand in the paddock, watching alpacas chew contentedly while the cold air bit at our noses.
Those three months reminded us that comfort doesn’t always come from warmth. Sometimes it comes from routine, responsibility, and the quiet joy of caring for animals who depend on you—especially when you’re all braving winter together.
What a year 2025 turned out to be for us on the road! It was a year filled with extreme heat, big decisions, surgery and recovery, exciting new towns, house and farm-sits, footy moments, and plenty of unforgettable memories. Here’s our wrap-up of a year that challenged us, changed us, and ultimately reminded us how lucky we are to live this travelling life.
🔥 We kicked off 2025 in Western Australia—in the middle of a scorching heatwave. Temperatures soared to 45°C, and hotter in our caravan in Muchea (just north of Perth). It felt like living inside a toaster. We did our best, but the heat was unrelenting!
🐾 Saying Goodbye to Our Beautiful Winston – February brought one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever had to make. Our much-loved dog, Winston, had car anxiety and it grew so much worse, and after consulting with a veterinary professional, we knew our travelling lifestyle just wasn’t right for him. With heavy hearts, we rehomed him.
We miss him terribly, but knowing he has a loving, stable home where he is thriving brings us so much comfort. We will always be grateful for the joy he brought to our travels.
🌏 March: Our Ninth Nullarbor Crossing
In March, we packed up and made our ninth trek across the Nullarbor back into South Australia. By now, we know the road well—but the Nullarbor never loses its magic.
👀 Surgery Success & SA Adventures
The next few months were dedicated to Jude’s cataract surgery—both eyes—and the results were fantastic. With sight refreshed and spirits high, we enjoyed a house sit in Victor Harbor, caught up with friends, and spent time exploring The Coorong and the Murray Mouth, areas rich in beauty and birdlife.
A stay in Tailem Bend gave us front-row excitement at The Bend Motorsport Park, where the adrenaline and roar of engines topped off an already vibrant autumn. We also visited Narrung, where we saw the church featured on the Australian $50 note—a quirky and uniquely Aussie moment.
🏡 Winter in Adelaide & A Scare in June
Another housesit took us into Adelaide, where we cared for the gorgeous Poppy dog—an absolute delight.
But June delivered an unexpected challenge when Ray became seriously ill with a perforated appendix and a nasty infection. Thankfully, after a rough stretch, he recovered well enough for us to continue with our winter plans.
🦙 Victoria Farmsit: Alpacas, Cold Nights & Coat Shenanigans
We headed to Victoria for a three-month farmsit, leaving our caravan at a friend’s place. Our job? Caring for four alpacas, including an elderly girl who needed her coat on during the icy winter. Of course, she had other ideas. There was a constant back-and-forth: we’d put the coat on… she’d pull it off. Repeat. She kept us on our toes and made us laugh through the frosty mornings and evenings.
After six weeks we collected our caravan and brought it back down to Victoria, ready for more adventures.
🏉 Bucket List Moments: AFL at the G & Marvel
While in Victoria, we ticked off some major bucket list items—watching AFL at both the MCG and Marvel Stadium. The highlight? Seeing our team, Fremantle Dockers, defeat Collingwood by one point. The atmosphere was electric and the celebration unforgettable!
🌋 Spring in Mount Gambier
We then made our way back to South Australia for a four-week housesit in Mount Gambier, caring for the adorable Daisy dog.
Between puppy cuddles we explored the region, visiting: Umpherston Sinkhole, Mount Schank, where we climbed the extinct volcanic crater, and of course the dazzling Blue Lake, which never fails to impress. The landscapes were breathtaking, and the slower pace gave us time to unwind after a busy few months.
🐈 Finishing the Year in Adelaide
We wrapped up 2025 with another house sit in Adelaide, this time caring for Annabelle the cat—a sweet and serene companion to end the year with.
✨ Looking Back, and Moving Forward
2025 tested us, surprised us, and blessed us. From the heat of WA to the cool winds of Victoria, from house sits to farmsits, from surgeries to sporting thrills, it was a year of resilience and gratitude.
Through it all, we kept doing what we love—exploring Australia, caring for wonderful animals, discovering new places, and living life to the fullest.
Here’s to a healthy, happy, and adventure-filled 2026! Thanks for following along with Smiffs Travel Oz—your support means the world to us. ❤️
In our December 2023 blog, we wrote the following:
“We are very hopeful that 2024 will be much more exciting with a great deal of travel involved. We have plans A to Z and it will be interesting to see which of those plans actually turn into a reality.
One of the biggest lessons to come out of the Covid Pandemic is never to plan too far in advance and be willing to adapt and change at short notice.”
Plan A, as of December 2023, is to head back to Alice Springs to the Women’s Museum of Australia for our 5th, and probably final time, in March 2024. We aim to stay three to four months and then head to Western Australia.“
It’s just as well we were willing to adapt and change, as 2024 did not turn out as planned.
Alice Springs ended up being a no-go. For Ray, much needed and long-awaited kidney surgery finally happened in March in South Australia. However, he also developed a nasty hospital acquired infection and was quite unwell. He stayed longer in hospital on intravenous antibiotics. This meant he was not strong enough to be driving and towing a caravan 1500 kilometres to Alice Springs.
Although Ray recovered well, there were a few other health needs that required us to stay local to the Noarlunga Hospital. We don’t have private health care, so are at the mercy of the public system.
We were fortunate to be offered a property sit for five months in McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide CBD. This is a beautiful location, and we jumped at the chance. It is semi rural but close to all necessary amenities.
In late October, we finally set off on a bit of a road trip and took nearly a month to get back to Western Australia. We visited a variety of folk, explored pink lakes and old jetties, and crossed the Nullarbor for the 8th time.
One of the things we needed to do in WA was sort out our belongings stored in a shipping container on a friend’s farm. Those of you following us on Facebook will know that it didn’t end well. We lost most of our stored belongings to wet rot and mould. But the silver lining was it helped us decide what to keep…..nothing!
So although we stayed put for the majority of 2024, life wasn’t totally boring.
We would like to end this update with a Merry Christmas to one and all, and every happiness for 2025. Thanks for following us! 🙋♂️🙋♀️🐶
Enjoy some pics from 2024!
We enjoyed a visit to Adelaide Botanic Gardens for the Chihuly Exhibition. Sheepish neighbours!Life is a jigsaw.Unexpected finds of an ancient landscape in Hallett Cove A man and his bird!Winston enjoying the new bedD’arenberg Winery Brighton Beach Sculptures Winston reflecting on life!Winston and friend.Rockingham BeachNot another selfie!Woodman Point sunset.
Chihuly In The Botanic Garden – we were advised by friends that this exhibition was on in Adelaide, at the Botanic Gardens. It started on Friday 27th September, 2024, and runs until Tuesday, 29th April 2025. This year the exhibition made it’s Australian debut exclusive to Adelaide.
We went on the opening day and thoroughly enjoyed walking around the gardens. It was perfect weather for such an event. It is free to view during the day, plus there are free guided tours daily, but there is a fee to see it lit up at night. We highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in Adelaide between October 2024 and April 2025.
Watch our YouTube video.
Dale Chihuly is an American Glass Artist who is well known in the field of blown glass, “moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture”.
According to his website – “In 1961, Dale learned to melt and fuse glass and immediately began to explore unusual applications of the medium, such as incorporating it into weavings. But it was not until four years later, when he attempted glassblowing for the first time, that he discovered what would be a lifelong passion. Alone in his basement, melting stained glass, he used a metal pipe to blow his first bubble, and he never looked back.”
In 1976, while Chihuly was in England, he was involved in a head-on car accident that propelled him through the windshield. His face was severely cut by glass, and he was blinded in his left eye. This damaged his depth perception, and he has worn his signature eye patch ever since. After recovering, he continued to blow glass until he dislocated his right shoulder in 1979 while bodysurfing. Check out his website via the link below.
After 10 years of loving our memory foam mattress, we bite the bullet and order a custom made caravan mattress. Will we sleep well and will we/it make new memories? Clink on the link below to see our YouTube video.
Since 2019 we have made a number of visits to D’arenberg Winery and Cube in McLaren Vale, South Australia.
Chester Osborn is chief winemaker and viticulturist. He is a fourth-generation winemaker, taking over from his father in 1983.
The Cube, similar to Rubik’s Cube, was a 14-year dream in the making. Each level, five in total, have been carefully designed to attract and stir the senses. The features include a wine sensory room, a virtual fermenter, a 360 degree video room, and many other tangible experiences.
You can explore the Alternate Realities Museum, located on the ground floor, and view the many art installations on display.
Over the years, the main exhibition has been a display of Salvador Dali sculptures and other works. The exhibition features 25 sculptures and graphics valued at approximately twenty million dollars.
We also took part in a wine blending experience, which was fascinating. We got to take home a personally blended bottle of red wine each.
During our travels, we like to push our comfort zone and try new experiences. A while back, we found ourselves living on a free-range chicken farm on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia for eight weeks.
We became egg collectors! There were five mobile trailers (caravans) with each pen housing a total of 3000 hens. Each pen was guarded by a Maremma dog. During our time there, we also had the pleasure of looking after some young Maremma puppies. We volunteered for approx 3hrs a day, except for Wednesdays.
Jude collected the eggs off the conveyor belt in a little room at the end of the caravan and stacked them into plastic egg crates. The number of eggs had to be entered into a database on a tablet.
Ray would feed the dogs, clean and refill the hen’s food and water, and collect and dispose of any broken eggs. He would collect the crates that Jude had filled and would load them into the farm vehicle.
We would drive back to the farm shed and stack the crates into a refrigerated trailer. The farmer would take the trailer off-site for processing of the eggs.
We had a lot of fun and laughter and learned heaps about the chook egg business.
Check out our little video below and see just what we got up to.
2024 is the 16th anniversary of the Brighton Jetty Sculptures Exhibition (South Australia), and the third time we have been since 2019.
The Exhibition is the initiative of the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club. They were inspired by the “Sculptures By The Sea” at Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia. We have been many times to the Cottesloe event as we are originally from W.A.
The event helps promote local artists and give them an opportunity to showcase their works. The artwork is for sale, plus most of the artists are willing to take on commissions for individual pieces.
These last 5 pics are from previous exhibitions in Brighton.
Check out our video below, which gives an overview of what we saw on two different days in January 2024.
To video or not to video! We have been contemplating the future of our social media postings, particularly uploading to YouTube.
Below is a totally unplanned chat (about our postings) we had recently whilst driving in the car. Let us know what you think. We would value feedback, positive or negative.
Smiffs Travel Oz 