Darwin 2012 - Melbourne to Adelaide

We are off again, unfortunately minus some of the key family members. Sara, Bianca and Caitlyn have stayed home whilst Mum, Dad and I are heading back up to Darwin to see my sisters and their families.

The road to Adelaide is normally very quiet and we don't normally stop for anything other than food and fuel. This trip is no different excepting what will hopefully be our only scare on the road. Just outside Nhill we hit a massive bump in the road that was not sign posted or visible. The car and van went up in the air and the van began to sway. We could of been in quite a bit of trouble however we managed to get everything back under control. I am not sure if the local council will do anything but I sent in a notice via the iPhone app "Snap, Send, Solve"

We traveled to Adelaide to visit with some friends and family, having a great meal out at the "slug and lettuce". Whilst in Adelaide we stayed at the Highway 1 caravan park. The park, for us is nice and clean and provides an easy stopping place on the road out of Adelaide. I will place a camp rating On the Badgers website soon.

As I mentioned, not much to photograph but here are some to start the trip.

 

Next stop Woomera.

 

Melbourne to Coober Pedy

Day 1 – Melbourne to Adelaide.

This leg of the trip was quite un-eventful with the only highlight for the kids being the very thick Fog outside Ballarat. We spent the night in Adelaide at the Highway one caravan park which provided a very nice location for our camper for the night.

Day 2 – Adelaide to Port Augusta

We had Caitlyn with us on this leg of the trip. Bianca was with mum and dad, whom we met up with in Adelaide. One of the highlights for Caitlyn was a series of metal sculptures outside Adelaide, with a Martin, a giant bug and Ned Kelly being some of them. This leg of the trip was only 4 hrs so not much to see.

Day 3 – Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

This was a 5 hrs leg that saw the girls swap cars and we had Bianca with us. One of the real trip highlights was a massive dust storm. We saw it on the horizon, and due to the extreme winds we were experiencing from Port Augusta, it travelled right towards us at high speed. We managed to find a great spot to stop and observe the storm approaching, however we really did not appreciate the speed it was traveling and I believe the storm front was really only 500m or so from us when we got back in the cars to continue the journey. When the storm did hit visibility dropped and it was like driving through a thick fog in Melbourne, with the fog being orange.

We had planned to stop in at Woomera but with the wind and rain we were experiencing, we have postponed this for the return trip. The rest of the trip was quiet except for a large section of road works entering Coober Pedy, which managed to get the camper dirty for the first time this trip.