round-the-world in 2005
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Jan 28 - Feb 15 2005
We started our journey, leaving our home and most of our belongings in Canberra, filled up the car and headed west towards Perth. Also read about the final days of our trip in Australia.
28 Jan 2005 Day 1 – Canberra to Balranald – 657 km
We left Canberra late after having to wait for the final inspection of our unit. After days of packing and cleaning, we passed the two minute inspection and thankfully got all our bond returned. We finally hit the road at lunchtime, to start our lengthy journey to Perth, the beginning of our expedition around the world. After a warm afternoon of driving we made it as far as Balranald, where we camped at a grassy caravan park by the Murrumbidgee River with the mossies.
29 Jan 2005 Day 2 – Balranald to Adelaide – 588 km
Today’s target was Adelaide, to catch up with some friends and to have a nice soft bed to sleep in. At lunchtime we stopped at Hahndorf just out of Adelaide, and enjoyed some German fare. Anna’s great directions got us across town to their doorstep. Anna and Ryan were nice to put us up in their mansion, we visited Greg and Kristen and their new baby twins, and Gus replied to the last minute catch up call. We all met for drinks at the Grand Hotel in Glenelg, followed by a nice meal up the road.
30 Jan 2005 Day 3 – Adelaide to Ceduna – 832 km
After a comfortable sleep we headed out at 9.30 am with a mission to reach Ceduna. In the meantime, we wanted to revisit a favourite winery of ours in the Clare Valley, called Reilly’s wines. It was an amusing stop at Andre’s winery and we couldn’t resist buying a few bottles. We ate some lunch at Port Augusta. Every time we pass a BIG thing, we have to stop and take a photo. And there seems to be plenty of these around. The big Galah is at Kimba, half way across Australia. The detour to Reilly’s added a bit of time to our trip and we didn’t pull into Ceduna until 9.30 pm, a total of 12 hours on the road. The first few caravan parks we checked were closed. Lucky Ceduna is a popular resting place, and we eventually found somewhere to pitch our tent. After a hot day’s driving, it was a surprisingly cold night that we were not prepared for, making us rethink our backpack gear for the European summer.
31 Jan 2005 Day 4 – Ceduna to Balladonia – 1034 km
It was a restless night and we woke early. We immediately put our clocks forward to Perth time, which meant that it was 4 am when we hit the road - it was going to be a long day. This section of our trip is where we actually cross the Nullabor plain. Surprisingly, the true Nullabor only lasted about 20 km, as we passed through the very southern end of it. Also along this road, we traveled the longest straight stretch of road in the world – 90 miles. At the Nullabor Roadhouse, unleaded fuel was the dearest we had come across - $1.45 per litre. We stopped at a couple of lookouts to see the very spectacular Great Australian Bight. At Eucla just across the SA/WA border, we visited the old telegraph station which is slowly being buried in the white sands. We stayed at a dusty caravan park in Balladonia after 14 hours of driving, camping again as we were promised it would not get as cold as it was in Ceduna.
01 Feb 2005 Day 5 – Balladonia to Hyden – 506 km
We woke early with the sun again and got an hour’s drive in before breakfast, which consisted of cereal at one of the roadside pit stops. Just out of Norseman we came across a large object on the road, and even after seeing the caution signs by the side of the road for the last few days, we were still surprised to see a camel that had been hit by a truck. From Norseman, the usual road taken is either north to Kalgoolie or south to Esperance, but we took the shortcut straight through to Hyden. This dirt road had the reputation of being excellent, which in parts it was, but also corrugated in others. It took a bit more concentration along this 300 km stretch, but the Coxon farm at our destination, with a home cooked meal was well worth it.
02 Feb 2005 Day 6 – Hyden to Perth – 394 km
After saying goodbye to Auntie Stella and Uncle Ken, our first stop was to catch a barrel at the local tourist attraction Wave Rock. On the drive from Hyden to Perth, we came across the sign to Bruce Rock and thought about visiting our friends Tanya and Dean, but we were so close and focused on reaching the end we could not deviate. We were well over driving by this stage. We finally arrived in Perth 3.30 pm. A total of 4,011 km from start to end.
15 Feb 2005 Departure Day
Since arriving in Perth we have been very busy catching up with family and old friends, and doing the last minute preparations that there always is. This last day it has reached a crescendo, with both of us running around madly. It is also 38 degrees in Perth so we are getting hot and sweaty too while we make sure that all our affairs are in order. Our plane leaves at 6 am tomorrow morning, so it will be an early start to get to the airport. We have been pretty organised, and I am sure we are ready, but of course there are always a few things forgotten - as long as we have our tickets. Oh yeah, don’t forget the tickets.
From here we start our overseas adventure in Costa Rica