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Published: November 28th 2008
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26th November 2008 - WAKEY, ADELAIDE & SUNSET STRIP!!!
We left Port Augusta and set off on the road to Adelaide fairly early. The roads were getting busier as we got nearer the city and you could see the sea!!! So excited at that point!!! We swapped drivers in none other than Port Wakefield....not the shakey we all know and love but cool all the same!! I then drove to Gelnelg and managed to avoid colliding with all the cars weaving in and out as we drove on the outskirts of the city!! My feet were in real shock though.....clutch control and braking?!!! New concepts after outback driving!!!
We found somewhere in Glenelg to park free for a few hours and wondered to the tourist information to check out campsites in the area.......turns out there are none and the nearest was at West Beach (a little back where we had come from)!! We only needed a toilet so we asked if there was anywhere free near the beach...a carpark or something. She wouldn't tell us and didn't appreciate my humour either when I asked her to tell us 'off the record'!!!
After lunch in Glenelg and a stroll about
the town we headed to the beach for a while. Massive beach and really nice with green sea! There weren't many people in the sea though as the waters are known for being infested with sharks. I thought some guys jumping off the pier were brave....I then realised they were just Irish (No offence meant)!!! I decided not to go in and to follow the natives......where Aussies swam then so would I!!!
We sat on the beach for a while watching the most spoilt child ever having a tantrum. He was only about 12 and kept swearing and stomping and chucking sand about!!! His mother tried the ignoring trick but he just carried on. Nat wanted to give him the finger but I wanted to bury him alive in the sand or feed him to the sharks.................we did neither!!!
As it got darker we headed back to the van and drove to the campsite in West Beach but it was too expensive for our Budget. Instead we found a nice little caravan park right on the cliff top overlooking the sea!! You could watch the sunset from their too and I named it Sunset Strip Caravan park. By
caravan park I mean carpark!!! There were signs up to say no camping but as we weren't in a tent we thought we would chance our luck!!!
Once we had parked the van we had an unsucessful walk into town to find a little cafe or pub and then came back to the van. The walk to the toilet across the deserted carpark was pretty eerie but I got over it.......it was free accommodation after all!!! Once the curtains of the van were shut we could have been anywhere and we crossed our fingers the council men didn't come and move us on in the night!!!
27th November 2008 - RAINY DAY AND COLD NIGHT!!!
We woke around 6am......no ticket on the van...woo hoo!!! We had made it. We did a run to the toilet to wash, dress and clean our teeth and then chilled back in the van until it got a bit warmer. As we were sat in the van a council van drove up and a burly man came over. 'You haven't stayed here all night have you ladies?' I was so glad we were both dressed and all our stuff packed up. 'No sir'
I replied 'We have been driving all night and arrived about an hour ago for a rest!!' I don't like lying and he so knew because he said 'Are you sure?' We have had reports of overnight camping in the area!!' I wanted to tell him that we couldn't camp because we didn't have a tent but instead I just smiled and shook my head until he got back in his van. Nat didn't say a word. I couldn't believe the neighbours had reported us....we didn't cause any trouble!! At least we weren't fined. We would need a new place to sleep though!!
We drove off to Brighton (other side of Glenelg) shortly after the council worker had gone, to scope out another place to stay. Once again the campsite was too expensive and we found another cliffside spot. This time in a bay on the road. There were no signs at all here though and I weren't as worried about being reported!! Once we had decided on a spot for later, we drove back to Glenelg and parked up for the day. It was pretty cloudy and rainy so we spent the day browsing the shops for christmas
cards, drinking tea in a cafe and using the internet to catch up on everything. The day went really fast surprisingly and before we knew it the sun had set!!
We headed back in the van to Brighton to our spot. Ther were only us parked there so we had our pick!!! It was dark and cold and we were both hungry. We got the gas burner out on the roadside but it wouldn't light in the wind!!! All we wanted was for a little old lady to bring us a brew out or some hot water for our pot noodles but no such luck!!! Not surprising though when I caught a glimpse of myself with my mac on and hood up......we looked like hooligans!!!
After settling for a tea of raisins and more raisins we went to bed. The van was cold and we wrapped up well. Big change from sweltering in there!!! We both hoped we wouldn't get woken by the big burly council man!!!
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