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.