Tess'n'Scoobs Awesome Across Australia Adventure

26/11/2022

Dear Meta - this page was created over 10 years ago as a memory of our trip across Australia. Yes I own this page and I do not believe I have breached any security issues. I am happy for any one to view this page. Thank you, Tess'n'Scoobs Awesome Across Australia Adventure

07/05/2012

left pt augusta on sat morn and drove thru the flinders rangers ... awesome but the road was so narrow, climbing and winding that i couldnt stop to take pics .. really gotta teach scoobs how to use the camera lol
first stop was the big gum tree. i'm a sucker for gum's ... have always loved them. arthur streetons 'silver gums' is one of my favourite paintings. all the australian impressionists outback / rural paintings ....
road to broken hill was another long one ... i am so over driving, so stopped there for two nights. the town itself is divided by the mine site ... pretty dismal on the west side but the east side was very pretty. stopped in at pro hart gallery, another artist i like, especially his 'ant' and 'insects' series ... met up with some crew i met in mt magnet & leinster and another cool family travelling aus in a bus, mum, dad, 3 kids under 5 and 2 dogs ... mate a six month staffy and jack, a 8 week staffy .. scoobs had a bit of a play but hard when u can't really let them off the leash in the parks. lakeside caravan park was packed but would highly recommend it. and have i said i have discovered 'ensuite' powered sites. a definate in big caravan parks. ohhhh, the shower here was too die for!!!!!
left broken hill this morning and talk about time and state confused!!! in nsw but on sa time, drove about 50k's add 30 mins ... not much until wentworth which i think is in nsw. this is the junctiont of the murray/darling rivers .. nice spot, took 30mins to have rest on the grass while scoobs dried out.
only 35ks to mildura but i think i crossed the murray about 3 or 4 times ... nsw, vic, nsw ... the buronga c'van park is the only one on the river and was recommended and glad we are here. not right on the river but nice long walks and very quiet given the size.
will have a bit of a look around ... and buy some fruit from the orchards :) in the morning before heading to hay ... i highly recommend keeping a little blog if you do travel, even if you don't write everyday it helps jog your memory of where you have been ... thanks for joining me :)

07/05/2012

04/05/2012

have just been chilling out in pt augusta, so things have been pretty quiet. we left penong mon morning and it was wet and miserable. if i thought it was a horrible drive across the nullabor with the wind, penong to kimba with the wind and rain was even worse. and unfortunately, there had been a bad accident on that stretch. penong was cute, really nice clean van park with a big field next door for scoobs to have a bit of a run on.
pt augusta west is really really nice. we have been here since tues night just walking, reading, sleeping, organising a few things and playing on the foreshore. had to get the doona out weds night - only 5 deg. not really looking at sites but we have a pretty good view of the flinders rangers and spencer gulf from our 'ensuite' powered site. living it up - our own toilet & shower!!!
off to broken hill tomorrow for a night or two. another day's drive :)

04/05/2012

Penong (Mon) to Pt Augusta (Tues to Fri)

30/04/2012

wow ... what a lot of driving!!! we left kalgoorlie late on sat as we had to grab a few things and of course had to drive all around town. the town itself looked a bit drab. i was there with mum in about '99 and it seemed a lot fresher then.
drove str8 thru norseman and hit balladonia just before sunset (sat night). not a bad little caravan park but telstra lies - there was no mobile coverage from norseman until eucla. you get spots along the way for emergency use only tho.
balladonia to eucla (sun night) was pretty non exciting. lots of treeless plains, funny about that on the nullabor!!! the most memorable for me was watching an eagle land beside the road and as i passed, right beside the eagle was a fox ... pretty awesome photographic memory :) then i got to eucla caravan park ...for those who know of Don at the Billabong Homestead .. his brother works at Eucla Roadhouse!!! ruff, gruff and definately not helpful .... my power plug didn't fit their (prob illegal) socket and when i asked if i could buy/rent an adaptor he just said .... use a file luv, then u can get it too fit ... oh well u get them everywhere!!!!!!

30/04/2012

from balladonia (wa) sat night to penong (sa) mon night

27/04/2012

Leinster to Kalgoorlie .. thru Laverton and Menzies not much to say really. Would have like to have gone out to Lake McLeod to see the sculptures but would have been a 120k round journey on unsealed road .... wish we had a 4wd.
Anyway, not many choices to park the van so as you can see Scoob's is not too impressed .. notice the chain ... poor little tyke :( ... but funny as .. when we got here all the other dogs started barking ... scoobs did nothing so i took him for a walk around so he could see everything ... at the end of the walk he just went WOOF ... and all the other dogs shut up!!
I think we are heading to Balladonia tomorrow so early start.

27/04/2012

The old 'telegraph' office in Sandstone

27/04/2012

Mt Magnet has the most DELICIOUS PIE SHOP mmmmm to die for :) I had steak, cheese & bacon and when i mentioned scoob's wld be p'd off that he couldn't have any, she gave me one from the day before she couldn't sell!!! That's 2 freebies in 2 days for scoob's lol.
On our way to Leinster, we stopped in at Sandstone. What a gorgeous little town. Coming from the Billabong (which is a small roadhouse in comparison to some further north and north east) i had to take a pic of their servo!!! On a busy day the lady in the tourist place across the road where it is run from, says she has to run across at least 12 times!!!!
Lots of roadkill on the way means lots of EAGLES!!! They just sit there picking and eating until you are almost beside them then maybe they will fly off. Will have to stop and get a pic hopefully today.
Leinster is the town built by BHP. Good thing about having Scoob's is we walk around every little town we stop at every morning or afternoon. It's a pretty little place with lot's of birds and heaps of social facilities - gym, pool, tennis/basketball, youth club.
On to Kalgoorlie today. Then the big trek across the Nullabor - reverse to what I did in 1989!!!

26/04/2012

We left the Billabong late afternoon on Tuesday and stopped in at Geraldton, camping out at the back of Tam's place where I had a good old girls night in with Tam and her mum. Dinner and few reds :). Weds morn Tam very kindly did my hair so even if I am joing the nomads, I am not grey!!
Got a bit confused driving to Mt Magnet as we passed thru Wagga Wagga (then Windsor the next day). Joined up with a few Downers work crew who had mutual acquaintences. Got a few tips about the roads east and Scoob's got a lamb bone ... they were his new best friends :)