travelRays

6.5.10

THURSDAY 6th:

THURSDAY 6th:

We were in bed asleep by 7.30pm last night. Consequently we were wide awake at 2am.
Camping beside the Eyre Hwy on the Nullarbor is like camping beside an airport runway with planes landing and taking off every five minutes. That's what the road trains sound like as they thunder past. They actually sound as if theyre going to come thru the tent!!!!

At the camp site there was a sign on the toilet door asking campers to make sure to keep the door shut to keep the SNAKES out ! And, get this, they also added that all the snakes are poisonous and to keep away from them. Well, theres no need to tell me twice about that little hint. I made sure to keep the zip on the tent closed tightly.

We managed to get some extra sleep but were up and packed by 6.15am and on the road again. We were soon on the 90 mile straight. It was just after dawn and we were pulled over again for another random breath test. They make you remove the white straw after blowing in it and you have to keep it. We will have quite a collection of them by the end of the trip at this rate.

The next stop was the Balladonia Roadhouse where they have a museum with some space junk from the Skylab that crashed near here years ago.
We were in Esperance by 2pm. The place we are staying at is right on the waterfront.
Unpacked the car, got the load of washing on. Time for a drinkie !

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY:

Camped overnight at Kimba (west of Port Augusta), on Monday night.
We were packed up on Tuesday and on the road by 7am
Had a lunch stop at Ceduna - fresh Snapper and King George Whiting.
Took a detour down to Fowlers Bay then back up to the Eyre Hwy where we spent the night at Nundroo.
There was no mobile phone reception around this area (so our mobile broadband wouldn't work either)

WEDNESDAY: We were up and on the road by 6am today, we were on the Nullarbor Plain before daylight!!
Stopped for a break at the Nullarbor Roadhouse, then it was on to Eucla. Drove down and explored the old Telegraph Station which is almost buried in the sand dunes.

Back up the hill to Eucla for lunch.
After leaving Eucla, Peter had his first of two random breath tests in 24hrs.
Next stop was Madura, then it was on to Caiguna where we set up camp for the night.
We met fellow travellers Jan and Barry who we had seen earlier in the day at the Head of the Bight lookout. We had cocktails at 6 with them and enjoyed some of Jans homemade cheese cookies.

3.5.10

DAY TWO: Half way across South Australia

Left Renmark at 7.15am (we woke very early)

Stopped at a few places along the way: Morgan , Burra, Port Pirie, Stirling, Port Augusta, and ended up in Kimba. The sign as you enter the town says we are half way across Australia now!

THINGS WE HAVE LEARNT TODAY:

There are millions of acres of vineyards in South Australia

The Vehicular Ferry at Morgan is FREE. (we took a detour and ended up having to ferry the Murray River) Being free was a bonus!!

The Murray River Queen at Waikerie is a sight to be seen.

There are so many antique shops in Burra to explore (the town reminded as a bit of Richmond)

Not much happens at Stirling

Port Pirie was not as nice as we expected it to be, but we had a nice lunch there (B.L.T. and Yiros)

Annoying little flies try to get inside your mouth, nose and eyes.

There are no white lions at Kimba.

Its easier to put the tent up on the second night

2.5.10

Day One: WE MADE IT TO RENMARK

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Watching the sky-divers at our morning tea stop at Bridgewater on Loddon,.

(This is our tent site in Renmark - thanks for the loan of the tent Shaun & Reg)

DAY ONE: We made it to Renmark.

The trip across Bass Strait was a bit bumpy overnight. Trish usually gets seasick but someone recommended trying wearing an earplug in one ear to see if it helps. It did, no sickness!! Hooray.

Got into Melbourne by 6.30am but it was 7.15 by the time we disembarked at Port Melbourne. Found out way out of Melbourne easily and went up the Calder Hwy . First stop was at Bridgewater on Loddon which is past Bendigo.

We were plagued by millions of locusts with a death wish while driving through the Mallee. Trish was driving and tried to play pinball with them with the windscreen wipers. The car was clean to start with, but its a mess of locust corpses now, all stuck in grills, air vents and splattered all over the front of the car. Most people are driving around here with shade cloth attached to the front of their vehicles.

A quick lunch stop at Mildura then it was on to Renmark S.A. Where we are sitting here by the water at our campsite.