Kevin
The sheer size of Australia is massive in scale, but Nic, Idalis and I will attempt to cover much of it nonetheless. Our road trip began on Wednesday, October 7th when we we loaded up Nic's Nissan Pulsar sedan with the essentials and set out onto Australia's interstate system en route for the great Outback. For six weeks we will attempt to cover approximately 10,000 kilometers, most of which can be rugged and inhospitable. Our tour began in Adelaide and has thus far moved north to the Flinder's Ranges and then continued upward towards the mining town of Coober Pedy, opal capital of the world. If successful, our plan will have us continue north to Darwin and then east to the coast at Townsville and ultimately south along the eastern seaboard for as long as we can go until Nic has to return to Adelaide for preparations for her next big adventure and we continue to unfold ours.
We expect to cover a lot of ground kilometer by kilometer and we invite you to come along...
0 KM – Pack up the car, say goodbye to Manfred and hit the road. Ladies ad Gentlemen, we've got ourselves a road trip!
38 KM – Stop for first tank full of gas.
134.2 KM – Have a road side pic-nic of tuna, crackers, cheese, apples and peanut butter while admiring the lush, green rolling hills inhabited by sheep and cows.
259.8 KM – Stop for three “Golden North Giant Twin” and one “FruChoc” ice cream bars in the town where they are made. Yum!
300.8 KM – Spotted first “roo” out of the window while driving by at 112 kilometers per hour
486.1 KM – Make it to Wilipina Pound National Park, in the Flinder's Ranges, and set up camp just before sunset. Brown rice and chilli for dinner with hot tea on a cold night. Wake up next morning and hike steep four hour return trail to the peak of Olsen Bagge mountain for stunning views of the Pound and surrounding area. Sleep well!
511.4 KM – Next day drove out to Bunyaroo Lookout for a view of the Bunyaroo Valey.
546.2 KM – Hiked to Arkaroo Rock to see well preserved ancient Aboriginal rock paintings.
566.4 KM - Spend three nights total in camp dining on amazing barbecue meals (burgers & baked beans / sausage, peppers & onions) all the while surrounded by wild kangaroos, emus and beautiful birds that like to sing...very early. Awake to an amazing sunrise on our final day that turns the mountains from bright orange to brilliant gold. Break camp and head for Coober Pedy.
726.0 KM – Stop in Port Augusta for gas en route to Coober Pedy, start a gas fund. Also stop at “Ian's Laundrymat Chicken Hut” for a rotisserie chicken, curry rice and coleslaw, skip the laundry.
1019.6 KM – Stop in Glendambo to top off fuel and have lunch at a windy pic-nic table. By chance, run into Nic's niece Eva (who we met in India) and her boyfriend Nick, also headed to Coober Pedy.
1286.3 KM – Arrive in Coober Pedy at Nic's brother Maurice's house where we are warmly greeted by him and his girlfriend Sonya. Shortly after joined by Nic's niece Eva and her boyfriend Nick. Sit around the big square dining room table eating pizza and drinking wine.
1287.1 KM – Next morning pull up to Umoona Opal Mine and Museum and watch a short movie and get a tour of the mine by Austrian ex-pat Rudi. Have free cup of coffee, buy a magnet and read about the history of Coober Pedy, opal mining and the local Aboriginal tribes.
1287.9 KM – Return to Maurice's house for lunch of snacks before heading out to go “noodling”, or searching the desert for traces of opal. Find some great stones and opal traces but not enough to strike it rich. Returned back to Maurice's for dinner of home made pasta with putanesca sauce. Completed the evening with a most entertaining sampling of famous, and not so famous, Australian beers which included...Victoria Bitter, Melbourne Bitter, XXXX Gold, West End Draught, Carlton Draught, Blue Tongue, Cascade and Toohey's Extra Dry. Individual votes were cast by the seven attending “judges” and it was a tie for the lead between Carlton Draught, Blue Tongue and Cascade. Taste test immediately followed by the most amazing rendition of the Schuplatler (Bavarian Dance) as performed by Maurice. Go to bed warm and fuzzy!
1291.4 KM – Woke up to enjoy our last Coober Pedy brekky before saying good bye to Maurice and Sonya, fueling up, filling the coolers and heading to Uluru (Ayer's Rock). But not before making a pit stop to see the crumbling desert mesas known as the "Breakaways”.
11 comments:
couldn't help myself. Saw no one had posted and felt I needed to be the first. I know I haven;t written for a while but I do follow the blog religiously. Just working more lately and not much time for anything. Be safe. All is well and can't wait to read the next one. Take care. Karen.
Good for you, Karen!
Hello Beloved Travelers...
Again, I enjoyed reading a new post. Jeremy and I checked out the pictures...He especially liked the yizard and the tangaroo pics. And threw in 'I love you Tialis' for good measure.
You guys look wonderful. I'd have to say life on the move agrees with you both.
Kevin, you look so handsome, I like the haircut:)
Grandma sends her love...thinks of you often and keeps you in her prayers...Oh, yes and misses you terribly, as do we all.
Stay safe and continue to take extra good care of each other.
Hello to Nic and love as well.
I love you and miss you...Mom :)
Oh, and "Tweet-tweet", Kevin!
Hello you two! It was so great to see your post up today. It's turning out to be an awesome day on our side of the world. I'll tell you more of why in an email. I love the pictures and all the updated information. It sounds as if Australia is beautiful and awesome which just cements it in as a place I will see before I die! Keep healthy and well and safe. Love and miss you! XOXO
AWESOME! Brings back soooo many good memories of our trip out there last year. Def go for a hike in Kata Juta near Uluru. Gotta hit it!! Man, you guys are so lucky!!! Enjoy Alice Springs too. Aw man, I wish we were out there with you!!!! Cheers!
Don't forget the Coopers!!!
Just looking through our pics and sooo wishing we were there with you both. Sounds like you guys were really trucking through the Outback? Just amazing expanses of nothing but orange against blue. Josue wants you to check out this crazy place called the Mutoid Sculpture Farm. Oh, you'll see it as you pass it. Crazy huge metal sculptures out of scrap cars and stuff. You can camp there too, but Josue was chased by wild hippy children there, so watch out! On your way to Alice, there is a pit stop shop with Dinky the Singing Dingo, very funny. Yes he is a dog, yes, he sings... what's not to love.
Those loud morning birds, the black and white ones, are Guberas, the Magpie. The Aboriginal Dreamtime story says that all of the birds were once white. Two particular birds were supposed to be helping their uncle, but instead were lazy and didn't come when the uncle called. The Uncle decided to punish the boys by having a celebration and not inviting the nephews, but the nephews showed up anyway! A great fire broke out and all of the other birds flew threw the fire, coming out the other side with beautiful colors on their feathers. The two nephews however, were scorched by the flames. When they emerged through the fire, the crow's feathers were all black, but the Magpie what black and white.
He's still pretty cranky and wakes everyone up in the morning.
Yes, Josue is right, one of the most memorable moments of a most memorable trip was the sunrise at Uluru. It was one of those moments when the world smiles down and says we are all one.
thinking of you both with love!
Hello wonderful travellers!
I thought I'd check your blog out - wow you have been on an incredible adventure :-) It was such a joy and blessing to meet you both and to have a few laughs and adventures in Coober Pedy. Thank you for the touching note you left in the music room! It was such a joy to meet two adventurous and sensitive souls.
I hope the remainder of your journey is a safe one.
If you can make it to the 'Gong' please do so :-) You may have to camp out in my loungeroom on an air mattress but I can guarantee some yummy meals and a few laughs!
God bless and be free!
Sonya and Maurice
Hey, got the first cold front swell in Boca with Greg and this old white haired guy says he knows you Kevin. Said to tell you the code word is Centenario? He wanted to get your blog so I gave him the address. Not my fault. Don't want to mention any names but his initials are MIKE ADAMS!
Looks nice where you are but Josue won't shut up about it! JEEEEESH, you both are making all of way too jealous.
Wyatt, I don't know if I know who you are...it doesn't matter either way. You're funny! Thanks for the laugh. (My initials are Kevin's sister.)
Nice to meet ja Jeremom! Kevin and Josue, along with Mike Adams went to Costa with me a few years back. I have always considered Kevin and Josue my oldest children. They keep me feeling young with their antics. A refreshing alternative to the I-generation.
Idie I miss you!!!!!!!!!!!
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