I’ve read a few blogs and often find that entries can be long winded, self indulgent and /or written by women who wish they were called Carrie and lived in New York. But there are many benefits to writing a blog; the main and most important one is being able to let those people who care about Martin and I keep up to date with our whereabouts. The second reason is wanting to bottle just a little bit of this once in a life time, 12 month holiday.

So I’ll attempt to refrain from rabbiting on too much and keep it punchy (postcard length) instead.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Adventures in the Outback

Having spent 5 months in Oz without bumping into Skippy or his pals and never being more than a stone-throw from the sea, we felt the need to venture into the bush…

So we planned an epic road trip, from Sydney to Adelaide, via Broken Hill - apparently a ‘must- visit’ destination... in the middle of nowhere.

While part of me looked forward to experiencing the ‘real Australia’, I also questioned whether miles upon miles of straight road and red soil would make for a damn boring trip!

It has to be said that it was a rollercoaster of highs and lows…

The highs

·     Being given a crate of beer AND an esky (cool box) by our friendly campsite neighbour in Nyngan
·     Going to Nyngan RSL for dinner – a cross between a school canteen and bingo hall
·     Beans on toast with garnish for breakfast

·     Strawberry picking with the hill billies in Huntley!
·     Drinking ice cream sodas in an original 50s diner in Broken Hill 
·     Driving at 150kms per hour on the open road in Bruce, our Mitsubishi Outlander

·     Spotting some amazing monster ‘road train’ trucks
·     Camping next to a crazy / scary Australian who had a trailer full of beautiful little puppies!
·     Visiting the pub used in the Castlemaine XXXX adverts

·     Hungry Jack’s pancakes – surprisingly good!
·     Martin having an argument with a motel manager who told me off for not filling out the Check-In form correctly, then storming out of his office!

 The lows…

·     Getting to Cobar and then having to take a 600KM detour because the main road to Broken Hill was closed ‘until further notice’ due to a burst dam! NOOOOOOOOOO.

·     Driving for 3 hours, feeling famished and walking into a pub that looked like it hadn’t had a customer for the last 2 years only to be told by the butch woman behind the bar that they’d stopped serving food 10 minutes ago
·     Showering with frogs and spiders in what you or me would call a shed, not a bathroom

Overall, it was a great trip… despite the detour and yes, we found Skippy and his not so fortunate friends...

The kangaroo count was as follows:
7 dead (full body)
1 dead (head only)
1 live and jumping!
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