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Published: April 7th 2009
DAY 149
When you are travelling it is easy to forget what day it is, you can have a rough idea but time escapes and the days blend into the weeks as easily as the weeks blend into the months. So I guess it was only natural that I kept forgetting that my birthday was coming up. So today is my birthday, 21 again I can hear you all say, though Andy is a bit more brutal than that with 21 times 2 and then some.
I woke up during the night and saw that it was after midnight, “Happy Birthday” I said to myself and smiled knowing that there is a card waiting for me on the table at the bottom of the bed. It was to be my only card of the day, knowing that there is no address for anyone to send me a physical card, although “Mrs T, Somewhere, Australia” may eventually find me.
I am sure that none of you are going to feel sorry for me though as we are on our Big Adventure and not many of my friends can say they have had a birthday in the Outback.
Morning
came, we could hear movement outside, the daylight was trickling in through the gap in the shutters, it was a little chilly as it was still windy and the wind was definitely cooler. Still we were up at 7.00 and Andy made me a breakfast of boiled eggs and tea, we sat in the car and ate our breakfast as it was warm and I opened my solitary birthday card. Days like these do make you feel like you miss home, but again it is the people I miss.
One by one our camping buddies pull out of the rest area, the two motor homes have gone and we say our goodbyes to the Robert, Jane, Doreen, Don and their friends that managed to catch up with them. Humblest apologies because I cannot remember the names of the friends especially embarrassing as she very kindly gave me a Rock Melon yesterday when we pulled up.
They all left and we were soon alone, only the occasional Road Train came past or some lonely traveller on a journey to somewhere. We had our baby steps into the Outback, but sometime soon we are going to venture fully into the Outback and explore further, we are both nervous but of course any outback adventure you will have to be prepared for.
For now though we are heading back to civilisation and down to Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula, this does mean we have a little back tracking to do though.
We are packed and on the road by 9.30, however just as we pull out and commence our journey South we stop and talk about our options, for a brief moment there we thought we would turn around and drive up to Darwin, via Alice Springs and Coober Pedy. However there is talk that it is still a little too early to head up North, some of the dirt tracks may still be washed out with the rain, so after discussion we continue on our journey to head south.
On route I phone ahead to Port Lincoln Tourist Park and book us in for the night, she says to me “see you in a few hours then”. Crazy isn’t it, such a short hop on the map is actually a good few hours drive.
It is a long drive, Andy gets a few waves on the move, but not as many as I had yesterday, though some he missed. I think he is still a bit miffed that I get more waves. Turning right at Port Augusta for a brief hop down the A1 and then a turn left onto the B100 and onto the Eyre Peninsula.
Not long after turning onto the A1 we see a horse float, just bumbling along the road, not going fast but people managing at intervals to overtake, it was soon our turn to be right behind the float, we laughed when all we could see were two great big horse behinds almost hanging over the back door of the float, they looked far to big for the float and it looked very uncomfortable.
We listen to the UHF, again scanning for good information. We listen to someone talking about Petrol/Diesel prices, he says “don’t pay the prices on the Eyre Peninsula, those mongrels will rip you off time and time again, the cheapest fuel is at Port Augusta”, his travelling companion is grateful for the tip and decides to take his advice. For us it is too late as we are already on the Peninsula heading to Whyella, where we filled up at a cost of $1.27 per litre for diesel - “Ouch”.
We were listening to people’s comments about the area and someone said they had just driven through a “Floodplain” and commented that it would be hard to imagine this very dry territory with water stretched across this floodplain. They would need a lot of water to fill this area.
The sky above us is cloudy and very black in places, it will be sure to rain. Every now and again the sun and blue sky show themselves, fortunately when we decided to stop for lunch. We sat under a shelter and had a cheese and biscuit lunch, but despite the sunshine the wind was so cold! I had a nice surprise Andy produced a birthday cake for me with candles on it. I thought that we would need a fire engine to put the flames out. Andy had advised the fire authorities that we would be lighting so many candles, it was so bright it could have been seen from space.
I had forgotten to mention a few blogs ago, that Andy did buy me a birthday present, that I chose, of course, I bought a long skirt to wear on those hot Australian Days, that right now seem so far away!
The journey was uneventful and by 3.00 we were pulling into Port Lincoln, it was very grey and very cold, but the City of Port Lincoln seems to be quite nice. Well this city has a population of 15000 people.
When we found the Port Lincoln Tourist Park, I checked in and asked if there was a cinema around, the answer was “Yes, but it is closed on a Monday”. How about that, a city where the cinema closes on a Monday! I cannot imagine that in Southampton, albeit a much bigger city, I think it is a long time since the cinema closed on Monday there.
We find the site and pitch up, the sites are narrow here, you could not put an awning up if you wanted. The site itself is not very busy though, but Easter is coming and I am told that they have a lot of people coming in on Thursday and Friday. We will be moved on by then.
Inside the cosy confines of our tent, we get everything that has a battery plugged in to charge up, we get online to check email and look at the blog stats. I find that Mum and Dad are online so I Skype them for a chat. We are on Skype for quite a while, but it is nice to catch up properly with them, especially as it is my birthday.
On email I find I have loads of birthday messages, via Facebook, via the blog site and a number of E-cards. Thanks everyone for your terrific birthday wishes that makes for a special day to have so many wishes from everyone. Hope you all had a drink for me. One good thing about travelling is that I didn’t have to buy cakes for everyone at the office!
We shower and get freshened up, clean clothes etc. then Andy suggests that we should go out and celebrate my birthday, we weren’t going to as we have food in the fridge that needs cooking and eating, so I give in easily and we head into town to find a restaurant, hopefully Italian.
Town is quiet, but it is Monday and it seems that nothing happens here on Mondays, we find one Indian Restaurant and one Italian, we choose the Italian and go in. We are not quite used to the concept over here that you just find a table and sit down, no one comes over to greet you with a menu or directs you to a table.
We find a table by the window and review the menu. I look through the wine list, as you would expect in Australia there is so much wine to choose from, the list is endless. I choose a glass of house red, which in fact is not just any old house red it is a Lindemans Premier Cabernet. Very full bodied, smooth and delicious, one glass and I feel quite tipsy, so I have another as I enjoyed the first so much.
Our pasta dinner is huge, no HUGE!! Looking at it I wonder if I can eat it all, I manage most of it, but just cannot eat another mouthful, I think we should have had the Entrée size, which would have been more manageable.
We both feel very tired, it is only 8.30, and it seems amazing that we are so tired, but maybe the drive takes it out of you. We head back to camp, neither of us has the energy to pick up the laptop and write the blog, so we get into bed. Wow! We are real party animals aren’t we? My birthday and I am in bed by 9.00, still if we are tired then that is that. Sleep takes over us very quickly.
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Darryl and Sarah
Wallaby Wanderers
Birthday Girl!
Happy Birthday Caroline, sounds like you had a lovely day. Bet it's a birthday you won't forget in a hurry! Take care, love & best wishes Darryl & Sarah