Dawn at Port Gibbon

A picture paints a thousand words.

Ports, bays and beaches galore

After our lovely rest stop in Port Augusta we moseyed on down the coast road of the Spencer Gulf. First stops were Lowly Point with its lighthouse and Stinky Bay just north of Whyalla. It was low tide and the area is so flat that you can see lots of low lying flat areas in False Bay and other areas further south of Whyalla. In Whyalla, we expected to do some sightseeing but were disappointed on several levels: the proposed bike trip around the wetlands doesn’t work out as the wetlands are still being developed and are incomplete. The shipyard/museum didn’t look much so we passed on by and so forth. So we continued down to Cowell where the caravan parks were booked out . We found a site at what appears to be in a showground, but you had to be fully self sufficient which was OK except for that we still had to pay for the privilege of parking there. Blow me down, I don’t mind paying for something if I get something in return for it but there was no toilet or shower facilities. There wasn’t even any shade or grassy area to park in. So what was the charge for??? So we just kept going down the highway until we came onto the next campsite which was on the beautiful Port Gibbon. The sunrises here are spectacular, not that many people were up at 6.30am to witness them first hand.
One thing that surprised me here was the depth of the seaweed on the beach; it was up to 5 feet high in some places and for miles along in one direction. Also the march flies are bad here, though Tony M’s homemade insect repellent works wonders. There was lovely fresh water on tap. We stayed here for 2 nights and we used our solar shower water bags for the first time - not bad, it is certainly hot enough! There is a ‘beer garden’ area set up under some trees where a lot of the guests come in the afternoon to chat and mingle. Once again we made some wonderful friends esp in Bill & Dawn who we hope to meet up with again in about 4 weeks when we both realized we will be heading up the Centre at roughly the same time. We also received many suggestions in what to see and where to stay at various places along the way. I am starting to take a notebook with me everywhere as you never know when someone has a gem to pass on. Soon it was time to head further south to more bays and such, Arno Bay & Tumby Bay are 2 more worth mentioning.

Go Go Go .... at long last

The sparking waters

False Start

After a false start on Saturday 13th March 2010, we were finally off and away just after lunch on Monday 15th March. The false start was due to one of the trailer brakes locking on. Thankfully we were less than 20 km from home. So after trying to repair it on the road unsuccessfully we turned around and carefully came home to buy a new unit which Bob had to go to Sydney to pick up first thing on Monday morning. (Thanks Mark for all your help).

Junee

We spent the first 3 nights in Junee (near Wagga) with Bob's cousin, Evert and his darling wife, Willie. She introduced me to Line Dancing. What a blast!

Hay

From Junee we went west through Narranderra to Hay. We stayed at Sandy Point Reserve which is a beautiful free campsite right on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. This is a great spot for families with BBQs, easy walking tracks, swimming and canoeing at this spot. It had rained heavily just weeks beforehand and the mosquitoes were out in force once the sun starting setting. I really didn't want to know just how many bites I had but it was well over 23 before I gave up counting. After a quick visit to the local shearing shed, we went straight onto Mildura.

Perry Sand Hills

Mildura

An early morning start the next morning saw us climbing the Perry Sand Hills just outside Wentworth and then a quick peek at the Darling River and Murray River junction, however we missed the turnoff and decided not to backtrack with the Robbiebago on the back.

Burra

Burra Copper Mine

So onwards ever westwards, this time to spend the night in Burra which is a great little town with a rich Copper mining history. We attended the local Anglican Church in Burra, which was our first experience in a high church, They sang a few familiar hymns and the sermon was great. Before moving on, we visited the old copper mine and gobbled up some history as well as the town lookout.

Port Augusta

Finally we reached Port Augusta via Jamestown and Port Pirie late on Sunday afternoon. We'll stay here and rest for a few days before moving on south towards Port Lincoln.

Crossing the Darling River by ferry

Ready Set....Set....Set...

The reclining lounge in the slideout is opposite the dining area

I got the idea of the title of this post from a sermon our senior minister did at the end of January. He was talking about "what you do next is important." He was leading us to think of making the most of our time, each and every one of the 365 days in the year.
To think about where are we going now, this year and even 10 years from now. He pointed out that churches in the western world are in the ready, set...set...set mode, where we train and train and plan but not actually get going. He wants to challenge us to change that trend and get going.

Well that sort of made me think of our life and especially our big trip. We hoped and then planned to travel in the future. We made inquiries of what and how. We decided to make the Robbiebago for the trip. We had to wait for the right time as far as family and the business is concerned, So we made do with smaller excursions and make minor adjustments while we waited for other things to fall into place. We looked up magazines and viewed some travel DVDs. We talked to other travellers.

We made sure the Robbiebago was set up right and the LandCrusier readied. (I don't know much about vehicles but this one has been tuned, tweaked, new tyres added etc, etc in preparation for the big trip). We have bought some extra goodies that will make life easier on the road or just plain fun like some folding bikes, night vision binoculars, an awning etc.

Looking at the Dining area with the slideout open

Now we are just about ready to pack the clothes and the perishables and hit the road. The pantry items, linen, games, the few winter clothes we just might need, and of course my craft stuff is in the Robbiebago already. It is amazing how much we need to take (or rather we think we need to take. LOL) and how much of all this we can actually fit in and still have some room left over.

So now it is not long before we actually can add that last word to the title. Here are a couple more photos of the interior. It will most likely never look this clean again! Our comfy lounge and dining chairs are opposite each other with the kitchen you can see in the background that goes right across the van with the entry behind the little wall you can see behind the dining chair.