Day 4 Coober Pedy to Yulara

The looooong drive today was the “highlight” of the day. 740km of basically what we saw the day before was a bit daunting. Sunrise over Coober Pedy in the morning was spectacular and put us in a good frame of mind for the long drive. We travelled well and whilst the last 250km after the turnoff onto the Lasseter Hwy seemed to go forever. We arrived at the resort at 5pm Victorian time only to discover that NT does not have daylight savings and they are ½ hr behind too. So we had lots of time to set up, find the supermarket (very good) and make friends with the neighbours we will be spending 3 nights with. Even though we are in the desert, in the middle of Australia, it is surprisingly civilised here and well organised. We spent a very relaxed evening laughing and chatting over a few drinks and homemade hamburgers for dinner. We trundled up to the top of a dune here in the campground and watched the sun set over the rock.

Despite the close confines here (yes we are quite close to some other campers with young children) we managed a reasonably good sleep and are looking forward to seeing some Australian Icons tomorrow.

The most exciting thing that happened as we discivered the next morning was the commotion that happened during the night. Our neighbours that we had been chatting to had left their rubbish out and a cheeky young dingo tried to get some lefovers for his supper. The dingo was duly chased off minus his food. He should choose a quieter bag with fewer cans in it! It is a timely reminder for us to be careful about what we leave out.

Day 3 Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

I didn’t realise how nice Pt Augusta was until we got to Coober Pedy. The shock and realisation that we really were heading to the outback hit home. So did the flies. I probably would have enjoyed Coober Pedy more had we had more time to look around its unique features, underground accommodation and mines. The drive there was certainly uneventful compared to the complicated drive of the day before. Basically turn right and stay on the road for 530km and you are there. What is said is true that you don’t really understand how vast this country is until you travel through it. Hats off once again to those explorers.

The Big4 in Coober Pedy certainly does not get a good rap from me personally but the games room and pool, both situated unusually in water tanks kept the kids cool and entertained for the short time we were there. We met up with the family that we met in Pt Augusta and we will be meeting up again in Yulara.

Day 2 Mildura to Port Augusta

The pack up, whilst wet was not totally miserable and we managed again to be on the road by 9am. It was still a bit rainy and once we worked out where we were going we were on our way.

The pack up came with a surprise this morning. The huge grey huntsman spider that Mum and I had already evicted at home had decided to return to the van and travel with us and made an appearance on the outside of the kids bed tent end under the fly. It gave Shannon a huge fright and sadly insisted on running towards the van. Had it run away, it may have lived, but sadly it did not and my brave husband was pressed into putting it out of our misery.

We revisited the Monash playground where Keith and I had both been as kids. We really didn’t spot it at first; we went through the back blocks of Monash until we spotted it. Really how we could have missed it is very strange. We spent a very happy half hour there and true to the code of generations of my family, I met someone I knew. They are travelling to WA but have camped across from us this evening at the Big4 at Port Augusta! They playground had been upgraded and made a lot safer than it was in 1986. Not as fun either, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. I did not enter the maze, needless to say.

After Monash, we encountered the quarantine station at Yamba and that held us up for a while as we tried to work out wether we would have to eat the sandwiches I made for lunch before we went through. Had to put the van up and lost a heap of stuff that I just grabbed from the fridge at home. Never mind, cheaper to chuck it out than get a $315 fine. I will have to get Dad to explain why they wanted the potatoes but not the sweet potatoes, the onions but not the broccoli or mushrooms. We managed to eat the fruit before we got there.

I really wasn’t sure how we were going to get to Morgan on the map I was using as it did not have enough detail. The GPS is borrowed and we don’t trust it yet. We picked our way through the Cadell Valley on the south side of the Murray River. I really don’t know if the other routes we passed were better, but we made it to Morgan on the wrong side of the river and had to use the ferry to get across. Very cool.

Through changing terrain, we finally made it to Burra for lunch at about 2pm. It was a bit late but we still had a lovely walk around this beautiful historic town. Justin added a small piece of Malachite to his collection and Shannon bout postcards. On out walk we came across a gathering of people on the creek bank and wondered what it was all about until we saw the hearse and the casket. Great spot for a Funeral. What a lovely send off.

There are so many different ways to get to Pt Augusta from Mildura and we seemed to really be taking the alternative route. We finally found the right road but seemed to be heading straight towards a seemingly impassable mountain range. How the explorers must have felt when faced with Mt Remarkable, I cannot imagine. The pass that the road took us through was windy and steep but we were only a few kilometres from Port Augusta. All of a sudden around a bend the vista opened up before us and there laid before us was the head of the Spencer Gulf and our destination, which from a distance did not look all that inviting. On closer inspection, the town seems lovely and the people I have met are very helpful and friendly. The park is spacious and clean and we have met some people who have a very similar itinerary to us.

Day 1 Melbourne to Mildura

By some miracle and a great deal of planning and preparation, we departed home right on 9am. We left the city quickly and were soon on the outskirts of Bendigo. Having worked out the borrowed GPS unit, we discovered that it was a bit out of date for the lovely new freeway that goes almost all the way to Bendigo.

We had lunch at Charlton. It seemed that we bought out the bakery. I felt sorry for the people after us ‘cos there wasn’t much left for the poor girl to sell. The coffee was pretty good too, Pam.

You could say that the drive from Melbourne to Mildura is totally boring, except for all this interesting stuff if you LOOK OUT THE WINDOWS KIDS!! Lots of interesting little towns that we swear we are going to back to, one day. Strangely enough the fascination that I held as a child at the railway line running up the middle of the road in Wycheproof was lost on my GenY children. Maybe my Dad was better at making things seem cool and interesting than we are? I did get a bit tired of Keith waking me up every km or so to point out all the rubbish on the side of the road.

Deakin Big 4 is certainly cool enough for the kids. It was still hot enough for a swim despite that the rain was falling lightly. Apparently we just missed the dust storm that went through town prior to the rain falling.

Keith’s mentioning our trip to members of the local car club here in Mildura meant that we got to spend an evening with quite a few people that we had not met before but were very keen to welcome us to their neck of the woods.

Got the computer up and running but issues with the internet modem. Will resolve but will be a couple of days late updating. Got the kids to start a video diary but all we have ended up with is silly entries for Funniest Home Videos – Camping and Caravanning edition.

I am not looking forward to packing up wet in the morning.

One more sleep

I have titled this post wishfully, as I think that sleep will not come easily tonight. Very excited to be leaving tomorrow. As I write, Keith is already snoring, but thats OK, he still has to pack his clothes. Yup, thats right and enough said.
We put the van down in a little more of a rush than I would have liked this afternoon as the few rain spots we received began to fall. Did not want to pack up wet before we leave! Anyway, it had to go down, otherwise I would have just kept putting stuff in it and soon there would be nothing left in the house.
I suspect that our fuel efficiency may suffer as a result of my packing and the fact that we could probably build a new Discovery from the spare parts we have brought with us. The hose kit that looks like a cross between an octopus and Sigourney Weavers Alien is staying on the table at home. Scary.
Thanks to all who have wished us well. We have spent a long time planning and preparing for this adventure and tomorrow we begin.
See you on the road.

Getting there

The packing continues. Some very generous friends that have done this sort of thing before have loaned us all manner of entertainment, information and emergency equipment. Still cannot imagine driving out on Sunday, clothes and food still to pack (yes I know there are shops where we are going) and last minute suggestions from Mum!

My biggest hurdle, leaving work for the person who is replacing me is done! Yippee. My colleagues have been very supportive and helpful with all of this planning.

Rain continues to fall where we are heading. We could be in for an interesting journey.

Welcome to the travel blog of us

Have never done this before, and I hope it works. Will try to keep you updated as best we can. We leave on Sunday 28th for Mildura.