Blogs from Port Augusta, South Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 2

Port August across the Eyre Highway to Streaky Bay Friday 23 September After some fruit and vegie replacement shopping (since we lost some at the SA Biosecurity check point) we headed towards Port Augusta. Just out of Orrorroo we stopped at the Big Tree which was a red gum. It was massive and about 500 years old. We arrived in Port Augusta and parked the rigs outside the Wadlata Outback Centre where we went through the “Tunnel of Time”. There were 2 excellent videos, 1 about the formation of Australia during the past millions of years, and the other on the settlement of the outback in South Australia. It certainly made us proud to be Australian. The hard working pioneers who endured the most difficult times including droughts and floods, hot and cold weather. It was ... read more

Well I have given up with day counters! I do know it's Saturday and we left Port Elliot this morning with a quick stop to buy some deodoriser for my stinky swag, I have high hopes! So we have had to replan and as a result found ourselves with a long leg and no realistic camping option findable at short notice so we are in a motel. As we moved through to the other side of Adelaide the weather improved and we stopped at Port Germain to stretch our legs and revisit the old jetty where we have been before. The drive passed lots of wheat fields and tomato and olive plantations. At one point we were alongside a goods train that went on for ever. I counted 104 trucks but could have got that wrong ... read more

It's all a learning experience living in a small space as big as your bedroom, six people in a confined space.... Waking up in the BIG 4 Caravan Park in Adelaide we commenced our first pack up with a shower and breakfast. The girls starting Our Big Lap bathroom rating system, these bathrooms getting a big tick and a 9 out of 10. At 0830 we began a quick exploration of Adelaide. The capital of the State of South Australia is the fifth most populated city in Australia with a approximate population of 1.7 million inhabitants. The city founded by Europeans in 1836 by Colonel William Light and named in honour of Adelaide of Saxe-Meningen, queen consort to King William IV. The original land owners the Kaurna Aboriginal Tribes. The day began with a short sight ... read more

In the morning, we hitched up and left the caravan park but only drove as far as the Wadlata Outback Centre where we parked the whole rig and went in to finish looking at the displays in the “Tunnel of Time”. The next section dealt with the “Tea and Sugar” train, (with the display set up in an old railway carriage) that had been vital in bringing supplies in to the outback towns. This was followed by a hands on display of the establishment and running of the Telegraph lines and offices. They even had a telegraph key that you was attached to a computer screen. It sent you a message, which appeared in words on the screen, and you had to tap out the answer using the telegraph key and the alphabet of the Morse ... read more

It’s still too windy for the trip to Roxby Downs and Andamooka and doesn’t look like changing for the next few days so we’ll have to try and do it next year on the way back up north. I just hope we don’t encounter the same problem then! We’ve decided to head down to Port Augusta, which will be a strong tail wind, just what we need. Along the route we saw Island Lagoon, where some of the fossils were found that were in the Heritage Museum. It is a conical island that sticks up out of a dry lake so is now a clay pan, with a salt pan beyond it. The landscape keeps changing, sometimes having quite large hills, then undulating plains, often with sheep on them, and with mesas appearing from nowhere on ... read more