Day 1 - 24th September
Southern Cross to Madura
Distance Travelled - 919 km
After a somewhat restless and troubled sleep with a stack of things running
through my mind I got out of bed at 6.15 am and finished packing and sorting
last minute things in the house that I really should have done earlier but
lacked the motivation to do so. When everything at the house was ready I went
to the courier depot and found that my camera was back from getting fixed by
Canon and was getting delivered today so I picked that up and took it home,
deciding at the last minute to come away with only 1 camera. I also visited the
postie and finalised arrangements for my mail while I am away then did some
early morning visiting to double check on other arrangements. With all the jobs
now done it was just before 8.30 am and time to head off.
I spent pretty much the whole day driving with no photography at all. The
driving was pretty uneventful and to some degree a bit tedious but it still
retained some enjoyment for me. I arrived in Norseman just before 12 and got
some fuel for the car and me and continued on after about a 30 minute break.
Drove through to Balledonia and stopped to stretch my legs with two laps
around the car before heading off again. I continued driving to Cocklebiddy
where I fueled up again and had another stretch and walk and spent about 20
minutes just wandering and spending some time not sitting down.
After leaving Cocklebiddy I drove just over 100 km where I pulled over for
the night. I was about 20 km Adelaide side of Madura and quite happy with my
progress. I will lose 1.5 hours tomorrow crossing the border so was pleased to
have made a bit better time than expected today. Hopefully another full day of
driving tomorrow will get me in striking distance of Aunty Jan and Uncle John's
place and I can get there not long after lunch time on Saturday.
Having arrived at camp I quickly set up the tent before darkness completely
descended and made the obligatory phone calls to the people that required them. I
then set about cooking tea and writing the blog. I think this evening will
consist of a small walk to help remove the kinks from driving all day. a bit of
a read of my book and then an early night ready for another all-day driving
session tomorrow.
Day 2 - 25th September
Madura to Iron Knob
Disstance Travelled - 1063 km
Had a semi -disrupted night with a truck pulling in to the campsite at
about 2.30 am, banging and clanging in and around the truck for about 20
minutes before heading off again. I managed to get back to sleep and slept
through until 5.30 am when I awoke to light streaming in through the tent
opening. I managed to doze on and off until 6.30 am when I eventually got out
of bed.
Looking at the tent I discovered it had been a very heavy dew overnight and
the fly was quite wet. Had breakfast and read for a while as I waited for the
tent to dry out. Packed everything else away and got completely ready to leave
and finally the tent was ready to pack away. By the time I was ready to go it
was 7.45 am, at least 45 minutes later than I had hoped for last night.
Drove pretty much all day, stopping only to refuel and stretch the legs
with some quick walks around the car parks at the service stations. Lost an hour
and a half with the time change coming into South Australia and more time with
a couple of sets of roadworks with speeds down to 40 kph.
Eventually drove into Iron Knob, about 70 km short of Port Augusta, at about
7.45 pm South Australia time, quite tired and not prepared to take on any more
night driving. There has been significant numbers of roadkill this trip over.
It possibly seems like more than usual as last time across there was almost
none which was unusual compared to other trips I have made.
Listened to the football for a bit before setting up the tent and then
listening to it again while writing the blog. Once the footy is finished I will
head to bed to hopefully wake refreshed and ready for the last 420 km of
driving tomorrow to get me to Aunty Jan and Uncle John's place. No photography
today.
Day 3 - 26th September
Iron Knob to Macclesfield
Distance Travelled - 445.1 km
Woke up at 5.00 am to the sounds of people getting ready to leave - packing
of cars, opening and closing of doors and not so hushed whispers. Rolled over
and eventually slept again waking at 7.15 am. Got up and packed, had breakfast
and left by 7.45 am.
Drove through stopping for fuel and to do a little bit of shopping for some
things I had left behind in Southern Cross. Obviously the brain wasn't properly
engaged when getting the ready the for the trip. Bought a pillow and a book to
record things in and a coffee cup before pulling in to Aunty Jan and Uncle
John's.
Once there spent a bit of time chatting to them and their guests before
heading off to make a couple of calls and for an afternoon nap - I was feeling
surprisingly tired. Spent a couple of hours asleep while Aunty Jan and Uncle
John went off with their visitors and then got up and met them in the house.
Spent time chatting before eating some amazing home made pizzas for tea.
After tea watched the Eagles win their way into the grand final and then
went to bed, still feeling somewhat tired after the 2427 km of driving in the
last few days. The next day or so will be spent relaxing and re-energizing
before heading off to Melbourne and catching the ferry to Tasmania on Wednesday
afternoon / evening. No photography today.
Day 4 - 27th September
Macclesfield
Distance travelled - 0 km
Woke up about 6.30 am and rolled over back to sleep for a little while before waking again and then dozing on and off until about 10 am. Got up and had some breakfast before wandering around outside in the very pleasant sunny weather to do some photography of the flowers around the property here.
Had lunch with Aunty Jan and Uncle John before heading off with them to see my cousin Michael and his partner in their recently acquired house. It was a pleasant afternoon and it was good to see Michael who I haven't seen for a very long time.
Got back and spent some time with another cousin Scott who had turned up here. We all chatted for a while before having a very nice, very spicy chicken dish for tea. After tea I did a bit of photo work, made some phone calls and posted the blog before getting ready to go to bed. Still not sleeping particularly well so it will be good to possibly get another decent sleep in tomorrow.
Not a lot planned for tomorrow except to wash the car and organize some sea sickness tablets just in case. At this stage I plan to leave Adelaide Tuesday morning and make my way to Melbourne for Wednesday afternoon. Hope you enjoy some of the photos I took today.
