We left home Saturday heading for Port Pirie, the normal stop for us on our way north. Before we left we took a shot to recreate a picture from four years ago.

The boys have grown a bit over this time!

When we left Pirie the next day we did the same...

We made good time during the day (after a tyre repair) and camped on the Cooper Creek. 

Susan even got the drive for a little while. 

The stopped at Mungerannie  Roadhouse for coffee  @ 9.30, not sure why as the owner was having a beer. Met a older fella driving a 93 year old Model T Ford down the track. 

Generally to track conditions where excellent with only a few areas with the rock we had heard about. But we discovered later on that there had been some rain a few days earlier closer to Birdsville.

Bore on the Birdsville track, very hot water.... 

Went into the pub for a beer. 

We headed north from Birdsville, spending one night on the road before camping at Mount Isa for the night. We topped up supplies and and then headed out to Lawn Hill 

We had 2 nights here, and spent the day either

canoeing or swimming in the gorge. The boys spotted lots of wildlife including a file snake, no picture though.

 while swimming in the river we spotted an enormous catfish

At the end of the gorge we tied up the canoes and 
had a swim by a waterfall  

Off again....Cape York, here we come

Keep an eye out here for updates. We are leaving on the weekend for an 8 week trip to Queensland, including Cape York. 

I'll leave some of the news to one of the boy's who can write some stories in lieu of being at school.

Will post some pics on the new 4wd and trailer in a day so.....

At Home for over a month now.....here is what I should have posted when we arrived home. 

Well we arrived home Wednesday afternoon (2nd oct). It was a weird feeling driving into Kapunda for the first time in over four months. We did likes the new stone wall and miniature mine chimney that welcomed us just outside town. When we pulled up and opened the back gate the boy’s ran around the yard calling out in excitement about seeing their  green lawn, chooks and especially Tiger, their cat.  After a quick bounce on the trampoline they all went to look at their rooms and them back outside for another look and run around the yard. I was expecting them to ask if they could all sleep in the same room together after doing this for so long. 

By the numbers

Kilometers traveled                                  18780

Days on the road                                        132

Fuel used                                                   2350L (highest $2.99/l at Kalumburu)

National parks visited                               14

set up/packed up camp                             60 - my guess was 30, that's a good thing

Campsites with waterviews                      9 – not enough

Flat tyres                                                   1 – on trailer (slow leak)

Powered campsites                                    5 – 16 nights (paid for 4 we did not need  in    Broome!!!

Shoes lost                                                4 pairs (Samuel 2, Lachlan 2)

Shoes found                                             1 pair of thongs for Samuel

Occy straps found on the road               2

Boardshorts found                                  1 pair

Sunglasses down the waterfall                1 – Susan at Mataranka

Shoes down the waterfall                        1 –(woodsy)– but saved by jumping in with clothes on

Fish caught and eaten                               0

Fish eaten, supplied by others                3

Well what a great experience we had. WA surprised us with it's fantastic scenery and changing landscapes with the rugged Kimberly area and Cockburn Ranges to the beautiful beaches of the damper peninsular and deep gorges of the Pilbara. Not to mention the Coral coast and shark bay area. I could go on. Anyway we did leave some places to go back to and some we will definitely want to see again. Most of all we made it home safely all together without injuries and no car trouble.....thanks SsangYong

.  

Back in SA

The end of the trip is looming fast and just to slow it down a little (and of course cause it was convieniently the right time of day) we stopped the night at Fowlers Bay. A great last stop, huge sand dunes loom over the little town. The boys had great fun trying to sandboard down them. The next morning we headed off with another family who we have crisscrossed the last few weeks with, the Francis’, over the sand dunes in 4wd, top views and great fun as we explored the peninsula and found Australian sealions and New Zealand furseals. We then headed for Ceduna and caught up with friends, Greg and Sonya just south of there at Perlubie. It was fantastic to catch up with them, we stayed the night so had time to visit the beach and enjoy the views over Streaky bay as well as catch up. The boys were very impressed by Sonya’s snake especially when she fed it a rat (defrosted and warmed up).

The next day we headed straight for Pt Pirie and arrived in the afternoon had a big catch up with Woodsys sister - Chub, Gil, Patrick and Ellen…………..so we are right back where we started nearly as this was our first stop on the start of our big adventure. We are just heading down to Kadina to catch up with Woodsy’s parents and then we are home………………

 On the way to Fowlers Bay

 Coastal python at Greg and Sonya's

 Perlubie beach

 Greg and me

Greg Sonya and to boys

Across the Nullabor

We left Kalgoorlie, stopped into Kambalda and looked over the massive salt lakes from the lookout. Next stop was Norseman for lunch and then we headed east across the Nullabor. Unsurprisingly we found the longest straight stretch of road in Australia. We stopped in at Eucla and had a walk around the old telegraph station that the sand dunes are slowly reclaiming. We finally crossed back into SA…….”we’re back in our own land” Lachlan said. We loved the views of the Bunda cliffs of the Great Australian Bight and spent some time watching the Southern right whales Mums and bubs club at the Head of the Bight, there were about 16 mother’s and calves there, really close in to the cliffs so we had a great view of them. One of the calves even put on a little display, breaching and slapping its tail around.

 GPS advising the next turn in 1197km!!! 1928 km from home

 Random camp on the Nullabor

 Telegraph station

 Great Australian Bight

 Whales at the head of the bight

 

Interesting camp on the Nullabor