Blogs from Port Augusta, South Australia, Australia, Oceania
To the other side of the world ... in 80 days!
Published: April 30th 2012Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Port Augusta
April 30th 2012
Flights booked, savings plan revisited, check list created. Official departure date is 9am 20th July. I thought I had plenty of time before departure but when I see '80 days to go' on my iphone app it sounds so close! The time is going to fly, between now and then I have to squeeze in normal work commitments, parent - teacher interviews, coaching at the combined carnival as well as the carnival in Adelaide over the long weekend andget everything on my pre-departure check list done! Ahhhh freak out... Think I need to invest in 'dummies guide to being organised'... read more
April 27th 2012
Hello peeps :) Most of you know I have been planning on living and working overseas for some time, well, it's finally happening! Destination: UK, I am hoping to end up just out of London so as to avoid chaos and stress trying to figure out how to get to different schools each morning on the crowded underground! A fun-spirited co-worker has shared wonderful stories of her time supply teaching in Cambridge recently so this is where I hope to end up. (I hope I have just as much fun as she did). Of course I will miss my current workplace, I have come to feel so at home there with the supportive staff and entertaining students. I hope that I can return there when I am done venturing around the UK and Europe, I would ... read more
Direction Port Augusta
Published: March 18th 2012Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Port Augusta
March 17th 2012
Réveil matinal sur notre campement de fortune. On trace vite fait, direction Port Augusta qui est aux pieds des Flinders Ranges, c’est la destination pour les prochains jours. Premier arrêt petit déj à Widunna, qui fière de son activité agricole a érigé une belle statue de fermier australien faite entièrement en granite. Ca a pris 12 ans pour la faire car ce sont uniquement des bénévoles de la ville qui l’ont faite. On prend nos céréales tout en l’admirant, et surprise à côté se trouve les fameuses Sturt Desert Peas, ces fleurs rouges à pois noirs que l’on voit partout sur les guides/cartes postales. Un couple d’australiens qui se trouvent à côté nous avons que c’est seulement la 2nde fois qu’ils en voient, quelle chance nous avons !! Bon ce n’est pas tout mais il faut ... read more
Mount Remarkable......and then Mount Remarkable
Published: October 27th 2011Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Port Augusta
October 27th 2011
So......followed the GPS like the trained monkeys we are and just ignored the "no caravans" signs on our way in because no way does that mean "no camping" but guess what????? yep, we were on the wrong side of Mount Remarkable......a quick 50km detour and we found the right place....lovely. Went on a leisurely 8km walk to the lookout and totally collapsed after that......with some nice wine, cheese and crackers while the sun set. fantastic steak and veggie dinner and early to bed.... Some noisy school aged campers (trekking club) came in but was still OK. Headed off this morning and ran into a 35km traffic jam.....saved by Mr GPS....10Km on the dirt and we were on our way.....Oh, OK, there was a fella at the side of the road saying go this way! Will try ... read more
the entertainment value of polaroid sun glasses..........
Published: October 27th 2011Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Port AugustaOctober 27th 2011
....remember that we had trouble with the FM transmitter in an earlier episode??......well, it had a problem with the display, looked like it was burnt out...OMG...not good, no IPOD music, but it was still working so we persisted....then it seemed to fix itself a few times, only to fail again later on....WTF!.....anyway, we finally realised that the display only failed when we were wearing our sunnies! Polarising lenses, not good for looking at little LCD screens...........we are such nuffers! ... read more
Leaving Port Vincent and the Yorke Peninsular
Published: October 20th 2011Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Port Augusta
October 20th 2011
Bit sad leaving today, this was really a magical stop for us, where we met a lot of really great people including a 96 YO and his 88YO wife from Adelaide, still pulling a van and living the dream, there is still hope for Neil and Faye yet !! (only joking :) But....... It was not all that bad as we were loaded with fresh Salmon fillets caught that morning by Vincent and his Welsh mate, Owen, from Porthcawl. Fish for dinner for the next few nights, thanks lads and sorry to the the rest of you. not ! We headed north to Maitland, which is the geographical centre of the Yorke, on a ridge with views of Spencer Gulf to the West and the grain rich Yorke Valley to the East. Maitland is the main ... read more
'The Crossroads' - The Southern Flinders
Published: October 31st 2011Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Port Augusta
October 20th 2011
This entry covers our stay at Port Augusta - 20th Oct to 22nd Oct. Hi Guys we have been out of range having fun at the beach for a while so now we are trying to catch up, this will probably happen a few times over the trip ! Arriving in Port Augusta (PA) which will be our base for the next 3 nights. PA is known as "the Crossroads", as major highways to the Northern Territory and Western Australia converge in PA along with 2 of the worlds great train journeys , The Ghan to Darwin and the Indian Pacific to Perth. Our first day was taken up with visiting the Wadlata Outback Discovery Centre, a must see attraction particularly if going to the Flinders Ranges. Trish and I enjoyed a good 3 hours walking ... read more
August 20th 2011
Here we are in Port Augusta. We drove from the Barossa via the Clare Valley today. dad was excited to see more of the wineries that he loves, like Skillogee and Pikes Creek. Dad had us listen to Weddo's and Bon Jovi he reckons the Glee Soundtracks which I love is really lame. But he is an a excellent singer and really shows up the Glee cast. May be he could join the cast. Will and I have been to the lolly shops in Hahndorf- yum. Dad had a great time in the Barossa with Grand Dad. They bought some special wines that Dad will put under the house when we get back. He reckons we were really patient yesterday as we toured around the Barossa. One boit I really liked was going to Maggie Beer's ... read more
Alice Springs - Coober Pedy - Port Augusta
Published: August 9th 2011Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Port Augusta
August 9th 2011
The last two days have been huge. Monday we drove from Alice Springs to Coober Pedy (900km) and today we drove from Coober Pedy to Port Augusta (550km). Coober Pedy was a really intersting place. We drove in to town late on Monday night so didn't get to see much, we did go and have a beer in the underground bar. We took a look around this morning an had a tour of the old mine. The old guy who took the tour used to be a miner, he and his cousin started mining in the early 60's. We also checked out some of the opal shops and bought some lovely opal jewellery. The drive from Coober Pedy to Port Augusta is pretty unintersting with the landscape being pretty much the same the whole way. We ... read more
June 22nd 2011
Wednesday 22nd June 2011 We have spent the day packing up - we are going to leave Port Augusta this time. John finished working for Jimmy Martin yesterday - Port Augusta has been very good to us with the weather being a little cold but very little rain and nice sunny days. We have had plenty of sight seeing to do with plenty of day trips around the county side but we are ready to carry on with our travels. We are going to start heading north towards Queensland where we will look for some more work where the weather is a little warmer. I am recovering from a fall last week where I landed face down on the cement out side the caravan needing to have a gash over my eye glued up. So of ... read more
