Day 1 Adelaide to Port Augusta

Mel and Loz at the Welcome to Port Augusta Sign

Port Augusta Foreshore

Mel Driving...

Well what a start to the trip...I got up at 6am and went to work, while Mel got a sleep in. She says her alarm went off at 7 so not much of a sleep in i guess. All was going smoothly and Mel messaged me not long after midday to say Kelly has kindly dropped her off to pick up the camper van. When she got there no one was there and a sign was on the door to say they would be back in 15...20 minutes later they weren’t back so she rang the number and they said they were still 15 minutes away. So there she was sitting in the sun for 35 minutes before anyone arrived.

That was just the beginning. Mel sends me a text messaging asking me to call the Calypso company too arrange a refund for Saturday as we now have to be in Darwin by Friday...WFT? I rang her to find out that the Darwin depot as of yesterday is not opened on Saturdays so our choices were to either pay $180 for the extra two nights till Monday or get to Darwin by Friday and they refund us $90. So we will now be in Darwin on Friday night...that gives us a night to find Valentines to take us out on Saturday night!!! I then got a phone call from Mel saying we needed an extra $1000 for deposit on the van which we were not told about before this afternoon...panic sets in...luckily Aunty Diane to the rescue and she helped us out...WHAT A CHAMPION!!!

Mel was stressing majorly so I left work half an hour early to head home. All seems to be going smoothly after the first hiccup...We pack the van and we are off. 10 minutes up the road Mel then decides to check if she has her camera...only the MOST important thing to bring away...and what do you know she doesn’t...so we turn around and head home...

We are off for a second time. Heading up Salisbury highway toward Port Wakefield road when Mel slams on the brake while I nearly go through the window. Only to look up to a heap of dust and a three car collision. We drove slowly past to make sure everyone was ok, they seemed fine so we continued along the way...

A quick stop at Aunty Dianes to say a big thank you and get her to sign some stupid piece of paper for us and we are finally off...

Hopefully that is the 3 bad things to happen and the rest of the trip is smooth sailing. We are driving along and Mel notices the temp gauge a looking a bit hot. So we turned off the air con...great move in 43 degree weather...NOT! We have since worked out that is how this car rolls...

We made a quick stop for life saving ice creams in Port Wakefield (this could be a long trip if we stop for ice cream every 100kms) and we were on the way again.

Waving and honking at the fellow campervaners and truckies on the road entertained us for part of the way...what simple and silly games can keep you amused when your on the road. Another stop at Warner Town just before Port Piere for me to find my phone I lost behind the seat and to put a tea towel in the window as it was getting hot with the sun pouring in. We are off again and Port Augusta comes into site about 630pm...Oh joy...this town has so much to offer.

Quick stop off to see where the caravan park is and check out our site. Nice place this Big 4 is. Then off the the Welcome to Port Augusta sign (that we missed on the way in) for photos and down to the foreshore to have a look. Stop off at Woolies for tomato's and salad for sanga’s (which are better then ranga’s) and a stop to grab a stable, a carton of Pure Blonde) then back to the park for a dip in the pool. Always a great place to meet people. So got chatting to a couple there...in there 60’s at least and they live in a Blue Priscilla Bus and just drive around with no plans...that’s the life.

We then made sandwiches for tea...not very exciting I know, but the bloody bread was dry and crusty before we even finished making the damn things...desert living is wonderful...
Well as we are only 350kms into our 4000km trip there will be plenty more to write. Off to bed now to get an early start to Coober Pedy in the morning...
P.S. Photo’s to come...