Final Post (By Simon)

Staying with Mum in Paynesville was fantastic, not only were we able to help her with packing up the house but it also gave us time to rest before getting home.

The weather on our first day gave us a dose of reality, turning on a classic Victorian winter with rain, wind and was bitterly cold (glad to be in a house). However, once it cleared we had a couple of calm, clear and beautiful days.

Nath and I did a little fishing (pity the fish are so small in Victoria).

 

 

While Liz had a sleep on the jetty.

Paynesville, as always, was beautiful.

After 3 days we said goodbye to Gran and left Paynesville and started for home. As we drove through Melbourne we dropped in on our great friend Ash (great to catch up with him after 3 months away and see what he has been up to).

After what seemed like hours we finally pulled into our driveway and received a wonderful reception from the dogs, cats and cows.

It was great to finally be home and we can't believe the absolutely awesome time we have had over the last three months. It's hard to describe how amazing this trip has been for our whole family but hopefully reading this blog paints a bit of a picture. Hope you have enjoyed reading and thanks for sharing our trip. We have been truly blessed, thank God!


Our trip by the numbers:

18354                                 Kilometres travelled.
5508                                   The number of photo's taken.
3489                                   Litres of Diesel used.
98                                       The number of days away.
47                                       The number of times we set up the camper.
44                                       The number of fuel stops.
19.25                                  Average Litres of Diesel used per 100 km.
17                                       Number of National Parks visited.
5                                         The number of states passed through.
2                                         The number Oil and filter changes on the cruiser.
Too many to count             The number of good memories, smiles and laughs.


And last but not least, for those that are interested! After 3 months of personal grooming (or lack of) here's a picture of my beard. Not a bad effort I say, but not sure how long it will last now that we are home.

See to you soon, Love the Pounders.

The long, cold trip south (By Simon)

Leaving Alice Springs we were very aware that our trip was fast coming to an end. Travelling further south we were leaving the warmth and blue skies to which we had become accustomed.

Although driving through some of Australia's most barren landscapes there is always something to see and do, not to mention the multiple toilet stops!

Our first night we free camped 60km north of Coober Pedy and had dinner while watching a glorious sunset.

The next day we put in a lot of miles, passed a lot of road trains and made it Crystal Brook (100km south of Port Augusta).

Given my Mum is in the process of moving house we decided to take a detour and drop in at her place at Paynesville on the Gippsland Lakes. Rather than take the route through Melbourne that we have driven many times before we chose the scenic route, following the Murray River from Mildura, through Swan Hill, Echuca, Cobram and Wangaratta, then over Mt Hotham on the Great Alpine Road.

After a 12 hour day travelling we stopped for the night 20km out of Cobram. While backing in the camper a disturbing noise developed under the hood of the cruiser. Popping the bonnet the grinding sound seemed to be coming from either the Alternator of Turbo. On further inspection I was relieved to see sparks coming from the front of the Alternator (a turbo bearing would have been a lot worse for our trip and wallet).

After a restless night dreaming of seized Alternators and delays to our trip we awoke to our coldest morning yet.

After breakfast we limped back into Cobram and visited the Toyota dealership. He directed us to an auto electrician just down the road who, thank God, had the correct Alternator in stock and was able to fit it starting at lunchtime. We were only unhooking the camper when he came over and said that the parts for the car he was now working on had not arrived and he could start our car right now. Amazing answer to prayer!

So for the next two hours we explored the little country town of Cobram. The kids enjoyed the playground and skate park while Liz found Country Target and Dimmy's and picked up some bargain winter clothes for the kids.

The cruiser was fixed within 2 hours (the Alternator internal fan had come adrift) and we were back on the road heading to the Great Alpine Road. We were soon driving up the mountains and into the clouds.

With the increasing altitude our bag of chips was bursting at the seams!

At the top of Mt Hotham the wind was howling and visibility was very limited. We had heard that it had been a poor snow season and it was certainly true with very little snow (although there was quite a lot of people skiing the runs at Mt Hotham).

Driving over the summit the clouds broke and we descended in blue skies and sunshine.

 

We completed the last hour in darkness with the kids being very excited to see Gran and share their stories from 3 months travel.

 

 

 

Travel Log:

Alice Springs to Coober Pedy: 688 km
Coober Pedy to Crystal Book: 650 km

Crystal Brook to Cobram: 931 km
Cobram to Paynesville: 413 km
Total Trip: 17931 km

Alice Springs (By Simon)

Arriving in Alice Springs Liz and I were both surprised by how big the town had grown since we were last there. We drove around town, visited the tourist info centre, an aboriginal weaving gallery and found a suitable caravan park to stay.

Alice Springs was certainly cold at night (-1 deg. C) meaning we had to dig out all our warm clothes which we had not needed for the last 3 months.

After doing an oil and filter change on the cruiser we had a big breakfast and lazy morning. Once we did get going we explored a couple of aboriginal art galleries in the town centre and then headed out to the Desert Wildlife Park.

At Desert Park we saw and learnt about the abundant wildlife in the red centre including Dingo's, Kangaroo's, Goanna's, Snakes, Bilby's and birds.

They also had a fantastic bird show of Australian Raptors (birds of prey).

We finished the day watching the sun set over Alice Springs from ANZAC Hill.

The next morning we packed up and started the long, cold trip south!

Karlu Karlu (By Simon)

After a cold night we woke early, rugged up and headed out to explore Karlu Karlu at sunrise. The rounded boulder stacks looked amazing in the sun's first light.

After watching the sunrise we hiked around the marbles and then set about getting some extra exercise.

Feeling very fit we headed back to the camper for a good breakfast and then set off south to Alice Springs.

 

Mataranka Springs & Daly Waters (By Simon)

Leaving Kakadu we headed south and stopped for the night just outside Mataranka.

After a good night sleep only broken by a few road trains passing by we woke up early and headed into Mataranka and to Bitter Springs for a pre-breakfast swim. The springs are about 30 deg. C and flow through a natural, tree lined creek. We hopped in at one end and drifted along enjoying the warm, clear water.

After breakfast we jumped back in the car and continued to head south. At lunch time we pulled into Daly Waters pub and had an amazing Barra Burger. Em also signed a pair of her broken thongs and added them to the collection hanging from the ceiling.

We continued south pushing to make it to Karlu Karlu (Devil's Marbles) for the night. Stopping at Tennant Creek for fuel we all felt the dramatic change in temperature. For the past 2 months we had enjoyed hot days and warm nights but as we headed south and inland the temperature at night was certainly dropping.

As darkness fell we pulled into Karlu Karlu and camped beneath the silhouettes of the iconic "marbles".

Travel Log:

Kakadu toMataranka: 441 km
Mataranka to Karlu Karlu: 691 km

Total Trip: 14,910 km