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.