Drive Around The World (Australia)
One family, one car, one year, one planetArchive for April, 2008
Day 8 and 9 – 14-15 April 2008 – Yulara/Uluru/Kata Tjuta
Day 8 and 9 – 14-15 April 2008
Yulara/Uluru/Kata Tjuta – 503 km
Running total – 2,751 km
Soundtrack: Gigantic – The Pixies
We headed into and alongside Pitjantjatjara land, and very much into the heart of the country. Crossing into the Northern Territory, we felt a sense of homecoming. We had lived in Darwin for two years until 2002, although this was a very different NT to the one we experienced then. Somewhat surprisingly, the soil is actually red. Of course we knew it would be – all the postcards, documentaries and souvenir tea towels tell us so, but it still had a significant ‘wow’ factor. Read the rest of this entry »
Day 6 and 7 – 12-13 April 2007 – Coober Pedy-Marla
Day 6 and 7 – 12-13 April 2008
Coober Pedy – 530 km
Marla – 382 km
Running total – 2,248 km
Soundtrack: Going Underground – The Jam
The Stuart Highway, our now almost constant companion, provided us with vistas of what initially seemed to be desolate and inhospitable landscape, but of course is full of life. Craggy escarpments, little vegetation and bright sun. The road atlas was tempting us with a number of lakes – marked in blue and conjuring images of small, aqua waves lapping against coloured sand, while locals fished and putted about on dinghies. Read the rest of this entry »
Day 3, 4 and 5 – Swan Hill – Gol Gol – Broken Hill – Port Augusta
9-11 April 2008
Soundtrack: Drive By – The Necks
The drive from Swan Hill to Gol Gol, near Mildura, took in the obligatory vineyards and orchards and hugged the once mighty Murray River. We know that the water here does not end up making it to the sea in South Australia because of the drought, and overuse by irrigators. Nevertheless, the countryside is picturesque, and the roads pretty good. Read the rest of this entry »
Day 1 and 2 – Melbourne to Swan Hill
Day 1 and 2 – Melbourne to Swan Hill
7-8 April 2008
Soundtrack: This is Not the Way Home – The Cruel Sea
This is it. Today’s the day! All done, all finished, all silent, no further bidding. We’ve planned, discussed, finalised, made lists, made lists of lists, created spreadsheets, developed work-plans, cross-referenced spreadsheets with work-plans, and ticked them off. We’ve modified the truck and purchased some new equipment. We’ve got the iPod and DVD player (if ever used) hooked up to the car stereo, the laptop synced with the PDA, the digital cameras talking to the laptop, and, subsequently, an entire box filled with various power chargers, cables, plugs, disks and sundry digital paraphernalia. It never used to be this hard.
Oh my, what have we done?
Oh my, what have we done?
This is a rough guide to what preparation we have done so far, and why…
