Day 6 early

Having been out nearly a week it is apparent that more planning has to be done before a similar trip

Information from other travellers is that Cape Leveque, North of Broome is booked out until August and by the time we reach Broome the camp grounds will be over flowed onto the football oval.

Probably means showers will be available at Half time or the end of play.

So far only a few things have been forgotten, The long handled wok and the fire grill/bbq plate for cooking over the open fire. Not drastic and we can get around not having them. No Chinese or BBQ kangaroo on the menu this trip.

The importance of having the top of the line sleeping bag has been proven here with the cold nights.

Even then you do not want to move too much or feel the cold areas.

I think the body has taken to trying to catch up on some of the sleep it has missed out on lately.

Even with the alarm set this morning it was hard to motivate the body to get going. It is good to get up and have a cuppa to warm the body and get moving.

Plan of attack today is to locate all the day to day things for normal cooking ,eating, etc then sorting out the loads on the vehicle. A plan of travel for tomorrow to be thought out with toilet stops and lunch breaks then a trip to the shops and post to the blog. After that maybe a tourist look around.

If we get moving!!!!!

Sorry this page is out of sync,  we are sitting outside the library as they threw us out in the cold, just because I said their clocks were wrong.

Day 4

Left Port Pirie and the cold and heading further North,

By lunch time, not long after we left, there are no clouds in the sky in front of us as we motor on.

Arrived Port Augusta about lunch time and called in to the Information centre to locate the caravan park. The camps book only covers for, what they term “budget camps”. We were looking for any caravan site so we had showers. I expect there will be several camps later on with no showers. Cost is a little higher but the facilities are far superior. The Information centre is very impressive with info for the surrounding area and toilets built into water tanks.

The middle of the building's roof is glass and looking up you are below a working windmill sitting on the steel building frame and the pump rod comes down inside a clear plastic pipe and goes through the floor.

Having set up camp and had a cuppa and a lovely hour or so sitting in hot sun we went shopping for some fresh veggies for dinner. Having to dispose of fresh fruit every time you cross a border is a pest so you cannot carry much.

Met a couple of travellers in the camp kitchen last night and they took some time telling us of their favourite places along our route.

Not sure of how we will go as any side treks add to the time table and might mean that we have to miss some places further up the country. We will not see everything so have to decide what and where we go and be happy with that

Day 5

Declared a lay day or two to recover from the colds and running noses.

Hope to go to Macca's today as we hear they have Wifi. The camp has internet but the machine is out of action. Probably should have got a internet dongle before we left. Might have to see if you can get them here. Very laid back here they all have their clocks half an hour behind us and are not worried about changing them.

Just sitting in the sun here and there are 4 crested pigeons just wandering around at our feet. They don't like rice cakes but do peck at bits of bread .

Late start again today as we did not get up until 8.30am.

Got to get out of the camping mindset and get into the travelling mind set or we will be home next year.

Did some shopping and signed up for the internet at the library. Now able to access via Wifi from any South Aust library for free. You can sit within range of the library and connect. Amazing stuff this Wifi.

Both colds are nearly over but having another day of sunshine before we head North into the desert.

Looking at re-arranging the load on the vehicle and camper to reduce load on the trailer drawer bar.

Vehicle handling well and you can notice the load come into effect when you brake. Takes longer than usual. May re adjust the electric brakes before the desert,

Readerts may get confused by the dates at the start of each post, they are applied by the google blogger and I have not figured out as yet how to change them. I am guessing that they are on a google server in the US somewhere and inserting their time.

Day 3

Made it to Port Pirie today and made camp just before the snow came, or it felt that way.

Freezing after the sun goes down. Glad we got a heater to keep us warm.

Both of us have a cold now. Tissues by the packet are a requirement.

Good view of the bottom end of the Flinders Ranges just outside the camper, only if you are quick before the lens fogs over with the cold. Glad this is just an overnight stop.

This is Peter's rock found near the PT Pirie park as being distinct from his elder cousin,Ayres , found further North.

On the road again.............................

Day two

Sometime after eight the travellers got out of the warm sleeping bags and breakfasted and packed ready for another quick start on the road about 10.30am.

Having crossed the border and complied with the quarantine requirements we dropped our apple cores in their bins by the road. The signs say you cannot take fruit, live stock or vegetables past the bins or you can get fined $600.00. One fruit bin was full and sealed off the other was open for the KT's to put fruit in. Could not see the bin for livestock though, its a pity as I thought we might have got a few lamb chops for dinner.

Lunch was a short stop at Keith's Bakery, Keith. He wasn't home so some of the girls served us some hot vegetable soup and hot roll. Yummy. Half an apple slice and a cuppa and we were on the road again.

Another stop about 4.00 and the KT's are on the side of the Murray river at Tailem Bend.

After setting up camp (which only took 32 minutes) saw a quick trip to the local supermarket to replace some fresh fruit and goodies to keep us going. Found a couple of bunnys nibbling at the grass next to the tent when we got back.

Tailem Bend sunset

Tomorrow is another day and we are heading for Port Augusta or some where in that direction.

Day 1

Having finally left home and dropped off a key to the security alarm we left about 9.00am in steady rain. This rain kept up until we were the other side of Ararat. First stop was Horsham for a late lunch of some pumpkin and chicken and corn soup..

Having decided to stop about 4.00pm so we could set up and organise dinner the above park fitted the bill. It took an hour to set up which was much better than the 5 hours it took for the first time.

Dinner became a meal at the local pub with Parma and pasta dishes to feed the weary travellers.

Back to camp and a cuppa and a couple of games of Rummikub then off to bed. Guess what! We were in bed by 9.30.

A good night's sleep came to an end with the noise of some chooks wandering around the camper.

Long time since I have heard that. The chooks gave way to several hundred Galahs swarking as they circled the park making sure everyone was awake to see them. (Well maybe not hundreds but there was a lot of them)

Hi All,
I am on a very steep learning curve here trying to insert pictures and have just found that I have to shrink them all first to insert them on the blog.
Thanks to our technical adviser Tarn, we will perservere and you will have pics.

Following a false start the KT's will be leaving tomorrow early

The car is loaded and the camper is ready

All tanks are full!

By the time we were ready today it was 2.00pm and it would have been dark by the time we got to Ballarat.   Not wanting to set up in the dark and minus whatever temperature we decided to leave everything loaded and ready and move out early in the morning.

Times are changing, as instead of just a tent and camp gear we have a box of power adapter come chargers for all the gear we have on board plus all the other gear.  Just as well we are travelling light.

Maybe I had better get a roll of cable on the roof to power up all the chargers.

Look out Adelaide we are on the way I think?????

Are we there yet?

Packing is starting, the weather is fine and the road is waiting.
Nanna goes into care tomorrow, the camper is about to earn it's keep and the water tank is full.

There has to be a family get together to hand out contact details in the off chance someone wants to tell us that we left them behind or the school fete is coming up.    So this is just to test my ability to put finger to keyboard and try and make sense instead of calculating paybacks on energy recovery


More may follow if anyone comments and the carbon tax does not make computers too expensive to operate