Day 10 – Laura to Adelaide

‘Departed Laura 9.40 am’ is the last entry in my notebook and sadly the last time I’ll feel the freedom of the road for a while. From here on, the open road gets shorter as does the distance between small towns; the volume of traffic increases, as does the tension in the vehicle, until we are in the thick of outer city traffic. We detour/escape briefly to have a look at Tara’s investment property, but too soon re-enter the game of dodgem cars. We’re all hungry, we haven’t stopped for lunch yet but we’re in the wrong lane whenever we spot a potential lunch stop so keep going, negotiating a combination of Brian’s hard-copy map book with my feeble attempts at navigating with Google. But then somehow we get there. We’re outside the property we’ve rented. I have the codes to the locked box and the electronic gate in my notebook. We’re all busting for a pee. Brian parks across the street. I suck in my bladder, I get out, notebook in hand, I key in the locked box number, the box door falls open revealing the door key.  I grab it. Now all I have to do is open the gate, open the door, find the loo and pee! But that is not to be. The electronic gate won’t open, so I have to go back to the vehicle, look up the contact details, then, legs crossed, phone the  ‘owner’ to get the correct access code! One essential digit had been omitted. I enter it and we gain access find the toilets and take up residence. The rest, as they say, is history. But not one I want to relate here.

That’s the end of the roadtrip. Almost our entire Australian family is in one city at one time, we just have to get us all in one house at one time, hopefully Chrisatmas Day.

Thank you for joining me on this roadtrip. As time permits I’ll post brief updates and photos of the rest of our trip but this is a time for family, so from my family to you and yours may I wish you the happiest of Christmases and everything you wish for and deserve in the new year. And you do deserve it!

I love youse all!

Joyce xoxo

Day 9 Port Augusta to Laura

As usual we checked out, fuelled up and got back on the road.

Today was a leisurely scenic drive to Wilmington and Alligator Gorge where we walked to two lookouts. It was such a change from the open landscapes we’d been through up to now. The tree-lined winding road felt like Nature giving us a big welcoming hug.

After eating lunch and trying out the swing bridge in the picturesque town of Melrose, we drove to Port Germein where the longest wooden jetty in Australia can be found.

The Council caravan park at Laura didn’t disappoint. We’d stayed there a few years ago when we were camping on our way back from Kangaroo Island. The camp kitchen was the best equipped we’d encountered before or since and it still is. I had to borrow a grater from there to grate cheese for our Mexican meal Brian was cooking. It’s probably the only thing our cabin didn’t have. It even had a microwave-safe casserole dish with a lid. This was a first so far on this trip!

We had a walk around town before dinner. It was obvious from the decorations that the people of Laura knew how to get into the spirit of Christmas.

CJ Dennis, author of The Sentimental Bloke is commerated in the main streeet.

This was our last night on the road.  Adelaide beckons tomorrow and we must exchange the tranquility of the bush for the hustle and bustle of the city which will be even more overwhelming due to Christmas being just days away. But we have Tara’s 30th celebrations to look forward to and many reunions of family and friends along the way.