The Trip of a Lifetime!

 

Well…. Where do I start? It has been about 5 weeks since I left Gladstone on my big journey to the otherside of the country. I travelled over 6000km with just my dog as company, and she wasn’t very good company as I found out on day two of driving, each time we got in the car, she just went to sleep and even got a little car sick which I felt utterly terrible about. Through long days I kept myself awake with singing, yes im sure my dog wanted to mawel me, because I am not a great singer but hey, I will sing if no one is around to hear it!

After about 5 days in NSW I started getting that horrible gut feeling that I was doing the wrong thing, making the wrong choice by leaving. Most things never go to plan for me, so I thought that yeah my my car is gonna break down or blow up. But I said good bye to my family I was staying with and head south to see some friends and then to stay at my brothers on the south coast of NSW. What a beautiful area, coming over the range and seeing the amazing views of Batemans Bay. I spent the day in Narooma while my brother was off teaching kids how to surf. Wow Narooma is such a beautiful place. I could have hung out there for days.

 My next stop was to be in south Australia. But I did leave the coast at 4am, I got to wagga wagga after a very surprising drive through Kosciuscko National Park, and wow wasn’t it spectacular in the early morning light! It was a slow journey through a mass of winding roads up and down round and round.

But once I made it to Wagga I spent lunch with my beautiful friend Mel and Ruby. It was great to catch up, but I had to keep going. I was heading west on the Sturt highway towards the South Australia Border. I only made it to Hay, it was 4:30pm and I was exhausted. 12 hours on the road and I slept from 730pm til about 7am the next day, much needed rest and I was off to Berri to see Jess and meet Cullen! Although it was only a 4-5 hour drive it felt like it took a lot longer, and to my surprise I crossed the Murry River into Mildura Victoria! It was a beautiful little place and after a lunch stop Ruby and I hit the road again. Once we got to Berri, Jess took me on a lil town tour, down to the Murray River and around to see the wineries. We had a lovely dinner and a bery much needed catch up, and of course some bubbly cuddles from Cullen.

The next day I headed only a couple of hours west towards Adelaide and stayed with My auntie in Dublin, I was so exhausted I had an early night, its crazy just how much driving takes out of you. I was up early the next day and left at 4am heading toward Ceduna, 713km of driving via Port Augusta, where I called in to see an old friend Raylene from Birdsville. I also took a small detour via Stirling cemetery to say hello to my pop, and 2 great grand mothers. There were a lot of headstones and walking around reading them all to find pop wasn’t easy. I have Ruby with me walking around to give her some exercise after being cooped up and she stopped and her lead jerked me back, I turned and to my surprise we were standing in front of poppy Georges grave, I couldn’t believe it and I instantly burst into tears, it was the most amazing experiences I have felt and I could feel that love all around me.

I got to ceduna after what felt like 100 stops for fuel and breaks, to discover an amazing sunset over the southern ocean. The next morning I left ceduna about 4am again heading across the Nullabor to Norsman in WA, 1200km away. I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but I was gonna give it a go. I prefer to drive at day time so I wouldn’t come across too many animals, but by going from SA into WA I was gaining daylight hours, and off I headed across the world famous Nullabor…. After quite a few hours of driving I thought I saw water, and so decided to take a lil side track off to the left and after twists and turns and bumps in the road I stopped at the edge of the continent! I was at the beautiful cliffs of the Great Australian Bite and I was again over- looking the Southern Ocean! WOW My breath was literally taken away for the first time in my life! I was so excited and happy, I wished I could have shared that experience with someone else, I couldn’t, so I filmed a short video to share my excitement. After taking a tonne of photos off we went back to the highway! A little further down the road I discovered an actual lookout, and wow what an amazing view there too, with less risk than the last view HAHA!!

 

I hit border town around lunch time and kept heading towards my destination of Norsman WA. By 5pm I still wasn’t at Norsman, I had stopped earlier for a rest and decided to stay in Balladonia tourist park which was 217km short of Norsman. I slept in my car because I wasn’t allowed a cabin with Ruby sleeping outside, annoying and I had the worst sleep for a day of 995km ahead of me. But I had no choice and was up at 530am and left around 6am.

After 2 redbulls and a coffee I was only just surviving the drive, I stopped a few times for fuel ups and short breaks for me and Ruby to stretch out legs and back in the car again to be stuck behind slow moving trucks leaving the mines near Kalgoorlie heading towards Perth. The areas I was passing through were red and dry, not much greenery over here until you start getting closer to the coast, but then once I hit the coast everything was sandy and brown. Once I got through Perth peak hour I was within 40 minutes away from my new home. Thank whoever invented GPS I would have been lost without you…. Sometimes you got me lost, but for the most part I was on track. It took me 3 days to get from Adelaide to perth, I think that’s good time, I was on a mission, but the way home will definitely be more of a holiday, time spent taking in the sights and stopping more often to enjoy the diverse scenery this great country has to offer. I really hope I have a driving buddy with me!

 6367km in total!