PORT AUGUSTA TO ADELAIDE

Some of the beautiful pink lakes south of Port Augusta

Beautiful old farmhouse ruins

We even saw the Loch Ness Monster

800 kms from Melbourne - a day and a half - this can't be happening

My beautiful Prado

Towing the van to the caravan park

DAY 95 – PORT AUGUSTA TO ADELAIDE                     Wednesday, 5^th October

Well, today did not go exactly to plan.  We started off well with dear Kevin rushing to Woolies to buy the kids a selection of breakfast cereals!  What a gem!  So we all had breakfast and then a shower (with fresh, white towels!) and said our farewells (again!) and headed off in the rain for Bordertown or hopefully even further.  Best laid plans ….

The kids did quite a bit of journal work in the car and we got to Adelaide, filled up and then decided we would have lunch somewhere on the other side of Adelaide on the way to Murray Bridge.  We got part way up the hill to Mt Barker and then the engine started to rev very high and there was a terrible smell of burning.  We did not get any further up the hill.  The stench was overpowering.  So that is where we stayed while we rang RACV and organised for roadside assistance, discovered that it would need to be towed to a mechanic, that we would need accommodation for the next couple of days, etc etc etc.  It is probably the clutch but we don’t know.  Could cost anywhere between $700 and $3000.  Great!  

Anyway, things could be much worse.  We have RACV Total Care so the towing, taxis, hire car, accommodation are all covered (a bit extreme to go to these lengths to get some free accommodation but oh well!!)  Yesterday we were driving between Nullarbor Roadhouse and Port Augusta with no service and pouring rain.  That would have been a nightmare.  We are in possibly the best caravan park we have EVER stayed in – the kids are in kid heaven – and we are right on the beach.  We are so blessed in so many ways.  Just have to wait a little longer to see all those we love.

So tomorrow we will investigate a bit of Adelaide and hope and pray they can fix our precious Prado quickly.  As David says, it is a good thing we bought our painting yesterday because there is absolutely no way the Chancellor of the Exchequor (me!) would have allowed it now!!  Anyway, things always look better in the morning.

NULLARBOR TO PORT AUGUSTA

The beautiful Nullarbor plain

Classy pizza and wine at Port Augusta

The tent on the left looking out to a huge green

The campsite in the morning

DAY 94 – NULLARBOR TO PORT AUGUSTA                                  Tuesday, 4^th October

Well, we all almost blew away last night!  The pole in the tent creaked all night so the kids claimed to have not slept a wink.  It is still very warm and children were cursing mum for making them wear singlets to bed last night.  Well, we WERE in the middle of the desert!!!  David cooked pancakes for all while we tried to pack up quickly before the rain poured down on us.  Unfortunately, right at the last minute, Caleb’s front wheel came off his bike and he went over the top of the handlebars into the hard gravel.  Poor thing winded himself and has some impressive grazes on his elbows, hands and chin.  Not a nice experience but David, being always one to look at the bright side of things, said:  “Chicks dig scars, mate”.

Off to Ceduna where we had a classy lunch in a carpark!  Then said farewell to the Patersons as they went off to Streaky Bay and we headed towards Port Augusta.

The whole trip we have wanted to purchase a piece of Aboriginal art for our new home.  David suggested we buy a Seven Sisters painting we saw at Mt Ebenezer which is between Uluru and Erldunda.  But, ever the cautious one, I said we should continue to look to make sure it is what we really want.  Of course, my ignorance meant that I did not realise the extent of the different styles of Aboriginal art throughout the country.  Whilst I can appreciate all types of art, I really like the traditional dot paintings, which are really found only in central Australia.  So when we got up north, we realised we had missed our opportunity. 

It has been one thing I have regretted.  BUT, God is indeed smiling on us because we popped into an Aboriginal art gallery in Ceduna, in the pouring rain, just as we were heading off on a long drive to Kimba.  And I just loved the work in there.  There were two paintings by Verna Lawrie about her mother-in-law who had travelled inland Australia, mainly through western and northern South Australia.  As a child, she travelled with her parents through the desert, sometimes by foot, sometimes with the Afghan Cameleers, and sometimes they would “jump a train”.  They continued to travel until she married and settled in Coober Pedy.  The painting is entitled “She Knows this Country”.  It just spoke to me about needing to travel through places to really understand your country and your place in it.  I just love it – and I think David does too.  Anyway, it is a fantastic momento of our trip – and also my 40^th Birthday present (did I just say 40??!!).  David decided we would take it with us in the van – it is two metres long and probably almost a metre wide!  Lucky we have only got two nights left!

It has rained ever since we left Ceduna – steady, soaking rain – so we have decided (for the first time) to be slack and get a cheap and nasty motel in Port Augusta.  It is so hard to put up the tent in the rain, especially with all the things that need to sit outside the van at night (most importantly, our new painting!)  Kimba looked like such a lovely town too.  But all of this will be for our South Australian holiday!  We are dying to come back and do the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas one day before the kids are too old.

But we just wanted to get as far as we could.  The Flinders Hotel in the main street of Port Augusta is a very old hotel, with the huge bedrooms and big verandahs.  All of us are in one room and, while the menfolk went out hunting and gathering for our dinner, Alanna and I reached new levels by having to drink wine from a cheap tea/coffee cup!  Pizza was the dinner they “hunted and gathered” so we sat in our hotel room, eating from the box!  Oh how the mighty have fallen!!  We had a good laugh on the verandah after putting the kids to bed and then realised we have another huge day in the car tomorrow.  Today, at 765kms would be our biggest day.  The kids were so good for being stuck in the car all day and they did quite a bit of catching up on their journals!

We are all depressed tonight because after the last two weeks of average weather, we have all lost our beautiful tans!  Broome seems like such a dim and distant memory!

EUCLA TO NULLARBOR

Still a long way from home

All the kids with one foot in WA and one foot in SA

The sad adults (Laurence and Vi, Sarah and David, Kevin and Alanna) at the SA border

Bunda Cliffs

Hansen family at the Bunda Cliffs

Aren't they stunning?

Hansen family at one of the many lookouts along Bunda Cliffs

You have to be careful on these roads!!

More Bunda Cliffs, Nullarbor National Park

At the Head of the Bight

The Boys - David, Laurence and Kevin

The Girls - Vi, Sarah and Alanna

Sunset over the Nullarbor Roadhouse

Teeing off on the Nullarbor Links - Dingo's Den

Down the fairway

DAY 93 – EUCLA TO NULLARBOR                                Monday, 3^rd October

Things looked so much brighter in the morning.  Tent survived the night and was not wet.  Children did not drown and items did not need to be recovered from all over Eucla!  By 7am the entire caravan park was deserted!!  All these grey nomads get up very early in the morning!  My husband did a magnificent job of reversing out of the corner we were squashed into and exiting the park.  We headed off to WA/SA Border Village where the time was one and three quarter hours later than it was ten minutes earlier, and two and a half hours later than it was the day before.  So we were due for lunch only a couple of hours after breakfast!! 

We stopped at a number of lookout spots along the way which were just stunning – the sheer drop of the cliffs, the blue water, the white limestone cliffs and beautiful sand dunes.  Bunda Cliffs was particularly beautiful.  We just could not stop taking photographs of the water and the cliffs.

We arrived at Nullarbor at about 3pm Nullarbor time, which was only about 1:15 or even 12:45pm “our time”!!  We decided that we wanted to see the Head of the Bight and the caves which are close to here so decided to book into the roadhouse and take the vans off.  When we booked in, the man at reception told us that there was a private function at the Head of the Bight tonight so we needed to get out there quickly.  So we all unhooked the vans, grabbed our Saladas and vegemite (no fresh bread to be found on the Nullarbor) and hot-footed it out there!  Great fun buttering saladas and putting on peanut butter and vegemite in a car travelling first at 110kph and then on a rocky uneven road!  After that nutritionally satisfying meal we jumped out and walked to the boardwalk hoping to see some Southern Right Whales.  

An amazing sight greeted us!!  As we searched the horizon for signs of breeching or blowing, our eyes turned downwards to just below the cliffs where a mother and her calf were lazing in the water about 50 metres offshore.  She was beautiful!  We stood watching about four or five mothers and their calves playing in the water for about an hour.  They stay at the Head of the Bight for some time to allow the calves to acclimatise to the cooler waters and to get stronger for the big journey down into the Southern Ocean.  As we looked westward, there were maybe five or more mothers coming down with their calves.  They were like new mothers; their calves were with them constantly, and there was so much touch between them, it was beautiful.  Some of the calves were clearly more adventurous than others, jumping out of the water.  Alanna managed to capture, just before she left, a picture of a mother lying on her back with her flippers in the air.  These majestic, peaceful animals were just exquisite.  Such a special experience to witness such a superb display of magnificent animals in their natural environment caring for their young.

We were all on a bit of a high when we left but we had to say goodbye to the Tedescos who were travelling on to Ceduna that night.  After the traditional “Leaving on a Jet Plane” serenade, we headed back to the roadhouse for a spot of golf.  My goodness!  My husband wonders why I don’t play golf with him!  ONE HOLE TOOK OVER AN HOUR!!  Many minutes of searching for lost balls in the scrub and hitting into a wild wind, meant that it was an excruciating hour!!  But lots of fun, with Alanna teeing off in her bat cape that had to be variously tucked into her knickers and bra to keep it from interfering with her excellent golf!!

Aftet that, we sat outside to eat dinner whilst watching the most magnificent display of lightning and thunder lighting up the whole sky.  The tent was a little way from the van so we wanted to put the kids to bed before it started raining, when it becomes difficult to get kids into bed without everything getting wet!  Bridgie managed to score Caleb’s bed in the Paterson van (ultra comfortable) while the other five were in the tent.  We then noticed that a fire had been started by a lightning strike about 8 kms away.  It was a decent size fire to be seen from the roadhouse.  Scottie Gordon would have been in his element.  David, Kevin, Alanna and Caleb set off immediately to investigate!  As they got closer, it completely disappeared but David managed to speak to the local SES volunteer who had seen the fire and headed off from the roadhouse within minutes.  Fortunately, the wind blew the fire back on itself and it burnt out within minutes, otherwise a fire break would have had to be lit just behind the roadhouse!  That would have been so much more exciting!

We consumed coffee and chocolate whilst looking at Alanna’s fantastic whale shots before hitting the sack, hoping to hell that when we woke, we wouldn’t have to search the surrounding Nullarbor Plain for the tent … oh, and the children!

BALLADONIA TO EUCLA

Ben teeing off at the Skylab Par 3, Balladonia

David giving Bridgie a few pointers

Look at that swing!!

On the fairway and headed for the green!

Trying to get onto the green!

On the Nullarbor

A team photo - The Tedescos, the Patersons and the Hansens

Tess and Tess enjoying the Hansen Travelling Cinema

Stormtrooper on the way from Perth to Sydney

The Nullarbor

Tess, Bridget and Tess in the travelling Hansen Cinema

All the kids in the van waiting for dinner

DAY 92 – BALLADONIA – EUCLA                                         Sunday, 2^nd October

This morning, the guys decided that they had to “have a hit” on a few of the holes of the Nullarbor Links Golf Course - longest golf course in the world.  Kevin had three golf clubs (2 left-handed) and some golf balls so they hit the course.  You should have seen the fairways!!  Undulating rock and sand and scrub!!  A Par 3 turned into a … well, let’s say that they were almost double figures – and some more than that!

After that we hit the road towards Eucla.  The first stop, of course, was the sign saying “Longest straight stretch of road in Australia”.  90 miles or 146.6 kms of dead straight road!  So we had a team photo and then a stop halfway so ALL the adults could say that had driven across this famous stretch of road.  We saw some amazing sights along the way.  Enormous semi-trailers carrying funnels for wheat farms and trucks, emus running across in front of the cars, and beautiful Wedged-Tail Eagles sitting on the road, dining on dead kangaroo and brazenly staring us down as we thundered past.  They don’t move from their dinner table!!  They are just amazingly beautiful, powerful birds.

We came across a Stormtrooper, walking from Perth to Sydney to raise money for the Starlight Foundation.  And Superman was there too, raising money for the Heart Foundation!

We stopped at Madura Roadhouse, pulled out the awning, got out our chairs and sat there for lunch, just like the Grey Nomads.  The men had another hit on a Par 3; very funny sight.  We arrived at Eucla, after crossing the Central Western Time zone and putting our clocks forward 45 minutes – bizzare! – around 5pm (not sure what time zone that was!) and were stunned to find the Roadhouse practically booked out!  We had to drive over to the Caravan Park and search for a site for our three vans – not an easy task with just plain sand and electricity boxes dotted around in strange spots.  We finally all found a spot, pushed into corners and parked in laneways!   It will be a very interesting time getting out in the morning as we really can’t move until others move!

We cooked dinner and had a record number of people in our van – at one time, four adults and ten children – before putting the kids to bed and cleaning up!  All children VERY tired!!  When we put the vans up, the sky was a beautiful blue, but the wind should have tipped us off.  David and Laurence were up at 3am putting shoes under cover and chairs away as the rain poured down and the thunder and lightning crashed.  There was absolutely nothing we could do about the tent at that time so we just hoped the kids would not get wet and stay asleep.  We would have to figure it out in the morning.

ESPERANCE TO BALLADONIA

Grand Final Breakfast at Norseman - scones and jam and cream care of the Tedescos

The kids playing pool at the Balladonia pub during the Grand Final

Caleb and Bridget discussing the finer points of the match

Ben carrying firewood for the campfire

All of us sitting around the campfire at the Balladonia Roadhouse

Tess, Beth, Gerard and Tess riding around the roadhouse at Balladonia

DAY 91 – ESPERANCE – BALLADONIA                                       Saturday, 1^st October

The convoy across the Nullarbor began today!!

The day started well with a few “omens”.  Firstly, a cat sitting outside our van in the morning.  Secondly, we ran over two dead magpies on the road to Norseman!  Things were already looking good for the Cats, much to the chagrin of Alanna and the Tedescos (all Magpie supporters!)

The Tedescos, the Patersons and the Hansens left Esperance just before 8am, heading first to Norseman.  Of course, we first had to discuss which car each child was going in (very important car swapping business going on!)  Violet and Laurence were first to Norseman and by the time we arrived, the table in the park had been set with donuts for the kids, and scones and jam and coffee for the adults.  Violet was HANDWHIPPING the cream, in her little disposable apron on the side of the road.  BEST Grand Final Breakfast ever!!

From there we had to step on the gas to get to the Balladonia Hotel by the start of the game.  The national anthem was given a good going over in the cars on the way there, sung over to each other over the walkie talkies the Tedescos had provided to each car!!  (THANKS, guys! – Two hours of “Hello??  What did you say??  Who is this??  And lots of screaming into the walkie talkie!)

We made it there about halfway through the first quarter.  Enjoyed the game immensely with another family from Geelong who were, of course, Cats’ supporters. Incidentally, the cousin of the mother in this family was Patrick Dangerfield of the Adelaide Crows who was running in the half time race.  We were all barracking for him and the pub erupted when he won the $5000 race.  The kids had a ball, having lunch and playing pool while watching the game.  [Beth says I should say that “Geelong won”].

After the match we parked the vans there in the roadhouse caravan park, and set all the kids the task of finding kindling and wood for a fire.  We all sat around the campfire, eating dinner and toasting marshmallows.  A great night, and a great story to tell when people ask “Where were you for the 2011 Grand Final”?  Will have to get out the map for that one!

ESPERANCE

The cave at the top of Frenchman's Peak which gives you a "window to the world"

We made it to the top of Frenchman Peak

David at the top of Frenchman Peak

The view from the top - pity it was cloudy

Our precious pearls in their clam, top of Frenchman Peak

Pretending to be pearls inside the clam

Bridget and Tess eating lunch at Rossiter Bay

Lucky Beach

Lucky Beach

Doing a YMCA at Lucky Cove

The beautiful granite boulders at Thistle Cove

Bridge and Tess at Thistle Cove

The beautiful granite boulders at Thistle Cove

The girls at Thistle Cove

The kids running from the waves at Thistle Cove

David at Thistle Cove

That's Frenchman Peak in the background - we climbed to the top!!

Our feet in the beautiful sand of Hellfire Bay

Driving home to Wylie Bay along Le Grand Beach!

Tom Tom, the SatNav, says we are driving below the high tide mark!!

At Thiste Cove

Sarah at Twilight Beach (voted Best Austrlian Beach 2006)

Kevin, Alanna, Sarah and David at Esperance

DAY 90 – ESPERANCE (CAPE LE GRAND NATIONAL PARK)     Friday, 30^th September

Off to Cape Le Grand National Park this morning.  The Patersons headed off on a cruise of the Archipelago while we made lunch and headed east to the National Park.  I know I keep saying that all these sights are absolutely stunning, but they really are.  I just don’t have enough superlatives to describe them.  Cape Le Grand is about 50km west of Esperance, so easily accessible.

We started by climbing Frenchman Peak which was actually quite a difficult walk up the side of a 262m granite mountain!  Poor old Mummy was huffing and puffing up the side of this mountain, despite all the walks she has done in the last three months!  But the views from the top were absolutely superb.  Unfortunately, because it was a cloudy day, the photos really can’t do the view justice.  You can see both sides of the Cape from the top and you can see out to the water as well as pasture land.   As this mountain used to be under water hundreds of millions of years ago, there are many caves which had been hollowed out by wind and water.  Some of them naturally framed the view through the granite rock. 

The walk down was just as steep, so no less difficult!  From there we went to Rossiter Bay where we had lunch looking over a beautiful little beach where Edward John Eyre was rescued by Captain Rossiter in 1841 and almost did not complete his voyage of discovery from Adelaide to Albany. He was forever grateful and also named the point there, Mississippi Point, after Rossiter's ship.

From there we went to Lucky Bay and were able to drive onto the beach for the 3km to the viewing platform.  The beach and bay were just gorgeous, perfect white sand that squeaked underneath your feet, waves that just seemed to roll in forever and beautiful granite rocks which extended into the bay. 

Thistle Cove was our next stop where Alanna had seen dolphins jumping out of the water and surfing the waves the day before.  Alas, no such luck for us, but again, the view was superb.  There is a rock there called Whistling Rock which is enormous and obviously has a cavity so that when the wind blows, the rock sounds like it is whistling!  We walked around the coastline over the enormous, granite boulders for a view of the Cove, while the kids spent ages just running away from the waves crashing on the rocks high above the beach.  It is so beautiful to watch children playing the simplest of games and hearing their squeals of delight.  They could have done it for hours.  The water was so blue and the granite rocks so enormous – I have no words to describe. 

Off to Hellfire Bay where the water is just so clear and sparkled in the, by now, clear blue sky.  Here, Sarah wanted to take this opportunity to be a bit creative with her photography and demanded that everyone remove one shoe so that she could get a photo of our feet together.  Of course that meant that the less co-ordinated members of our family managed to get all their runners wet when an incoming wave, or U.W. (“unexpected wave” as Tess call them), caught them unawares!

From there we went to Le Grand Beach where we were able to drive onto the beach and along 22 kilometres back to Wylie Bay near Esperance.  Absolutely stunning!! Words fail me.  Although our 22 kms down Cable Beach is still the best, this was pretty darn good!  The only person we met on the beach was the Ranger.  It felt like we were the only people in the world.

I know I have used many superlatives during this trip, but this was an absolutely spectacular national park – very close to being the best.  The only reason I cannot say it was the best is not because there is somewhere better, but because there are so many other places equally deserving of that title. The photos, I know, will not do it justice.  The place was nothing short of one of God’s very best creations.

Once back in Esperance, we went along the Great Ocean Drive, past the Rotary Lookout, Blue Haven, Observatory Point, Twilight Beach and Ten Mile Lagoon.  It reminded me of the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.  Stunning coastal scenery.  On our way back, we went via the Pink Lake, parts of which are indeed, pink!  It was fascinating until I realised that what appeared to be a dried lake bed, was in fact, wet sticky mud!  Great getting that off shoes – thank God our car is looking like a pigsty both inside and out!  Couldn’t get any worse.