Road Trip Part 8: Adelaide to Melbourne... Or Not!

Day 35:

It is time to leave Adelaide today. We have had a brilliant stay here and this is definitely one of my favourite cities so far, but it is time to move on. We are planning to get to Melbourne, but stretch the journey over 2 days so we don't push Maggie too hard.

To get out of Adelaide we had to take Maggie up a massive hill and she could only plod along at 60kmph maximum, which was a very slow pace. At least the trucks were driving slower than us this time but we were kicking out a load of smoke.

So we broke down at least 5 times and then finally made the decision to try and get the car back to the farm. However getting back may take a while as we were only doing 30kmph.

We couldn't bare the pace any longer so we stopped off at the next town to try and buy a drain plug as ours was leaking and, the story of our lives, nowhere had one available. Then Leigh had a brain wave and gave Maggie a temporary fix by bypassing the fuel filter. Now Maggie works like a dream, but for how long?

We arrived at Renmark by 5pm and found a campsite for the night. Hopefully tomorrow will be a less stressful day.

Animal count: We saw a strange possum creature (I'm afraid I have no clue what type it is) and it's family. We couldn't get a picture as it was way too dark. Will have to research the creature once we get back to the farm.

12463 + 267 = 12,730km completed.

Day 36:

We left Renmark by 9am and headed towards Mildura to see if we could pick up the part for the car before heading back to the farm. Typically there wasn't a part, as we expected but Leigh was sure we could make it back.

The journey wasn't very exciting and we definitly didn't see as many emus as we did on the way there. However we arrived back at the farm by 5pm and it was so nice to see everyone and Chonny cooked us a delicious dinner. We will have to make other plans to get to Melbourne.

Animal count: We saw over 30 Pelicans at the campsite this morning.

12730 + 606 = 13,336 km completed.

To be continued...

Road Trip Part 6: Perth to Port Lincoln

Day 26:

We were packed up and checked out by 10am this morning. Aimed to head towards Kalgoorlie-Boulder which was a bigger city so we could pick up some bits.

It hasn't been a very exciting day today as we spent most of it driving and only stopped a few times for a toilet stop and lunch. We arrived at a rest stop 158km from Kalgoorlie-Boulder by 4pm and set up camp for the evening. We had picked up some famous Australian rissoles for dinner tonight.

It's going to be another long day of driving tomorrow, but we are slowly getting closer to Adelaide.

Animal count: we mainly just saw farm animals, apart from a few wild goats which were casually chilling next to a 3 lane motorway.

9912 + 433 = 10,345km completed.

Day 27:

We had a lay in this morning and woke up at 7.45am, munched down some breakfast (Tested out the gluten free Weetabix, which weren't too bad) and once ready, we headed off.

Drove to Kalgoorlie-Boulder and grabbed a few essentials (Which included stopping off at Maccy D's to buy a drink so I could use the wifi to download a new book or two).

Then for the rest of the day we just drove. We travelled through Norseman and arrived at one of the longest straight stretches of road in Australia at 146.6km long.

We decided we weren't going to conquer the whole straight today, so stopped at a roadside rest stop not far in and made camp for the night. The weather had been on off raining all afternoon, but luckily there was a table with a shelter at the rest stop which made cooking dinner that little bit easier.

We are hoping to reach the Southh Australian border tomorrow as well as hoping the Sun might make an appearance. Fingers crossed!

Animal count: Nothing special.

10345 + 585 = 10,930km completed.

Day 28:

Driving, driving, driving. That pretty much sums up today. Even though Australia has some pretty amazing sights, they have a lot of nothing in between.

We crossed the Southern border, which meant we lost and hour and a half due to time difference. We found a roadhouse, got a few beers at the bar and cooked some soup for dinner before hitting the sack. 

Hopefully tomorrow will bring a bit more excitement.

Animal count: Nothing of interest.

10930 + 469 = 11,426km completed.

Day 29:

Woke up to find the roadhouse which was once packed with caravans was now completely empty. No wonder when we woke up at 8.30am! Still we were in no rush and left at 9.30am to head towards the border quarantine point. We were prepared again and didn't have a single piece of fruit or veg (We are learning slowly).

Before the border control we stopped at the Head of Bight, which a couple a few days ago had told us was a good place to see whales. It cost $15 each to walk along the boardwalk, which seemed a bit steep but turns out it was completely worth it because this is one of the areas where the Southern Right Whales come to breed. We saw 3 mothers with 3 calves and few males lurking about the waters. Two of the mothers with their calves came right to the edge of the cliff so we were able to see them a lot closer than we had done before. Obviously the same old story, iPhone photography makes the whales just look like a black blob in the water, but trust me when I saw you could even see the barnacles on their heads. I definitely would recommend this little stop to anyone passing by during whale migration season.

We arrived in Ceduna by 3pm, showered and put on a load of washing, as we both desperately needed both of these. Hunted down a supermarket to buy some decent meat for dinner as the camp kitchen was pretty decent. Then finally sat down with a few beers and got chatting to some Aussies about farming and travelling.

After dinner we went for a nice stroll along the jetty and watched some of the fish swimming about below us.

Tomorrow, as a last minute decision, we have decided we are going to stop at Port Lincoln on the way through to Adelaide to see what's there. 

Animal count: We saw some Southern Right Whales with their calves. 

11426 + 269 = 11,695km completed.

Day 30:

Finally we have woken up to a beautiful sunny morning, it's still fresh but sunny. We left on our travels by 10am and stopped at Elliston for lunch by the sea.

We arrived at Port Lincoln by 3pm. There was a free sausage sizzle at the caravan park at 4pm but we both felt it was way too early to eat dinner. So we went and got a magazine and a mini chess board so Leigh could get in a bit of practice. He still lost!

We then took a stroll along the waters edge and by then the temperature soon started to drop and it became freezing cold, 

We had bought our own sausages and cooked them up at the camp kitchen whilst watching The Amazing Spiderman on their TV. 

There were a variety of things to do in Port Lincoln and I really would have loved to have dived in a cage with Great White Sharks, but until our tax rebate comes through, these experiences will have to be on hold for the time being. 

Animal count: We saw a few Pelicans hunting for fish in the water.

11695 + 404 = 12,099km completed.

Road Trip Part 5: Exmouth to Perth

Day 20:

We left Exmouth this a morning at around 8.30am. I really enjoyed Exmouth as it was so relaxed and there were lots of things to see and do. But it was time to venture on and we drove only 155km down the road until we reached Coral Bay.

Coral Bay is still part of the Ningaloo Marine Park, so we spent the morning at the beach. The water seemed a lot warmer today, so we didn't mind going in for a dip. We both tucked into a meat pie from the bakery for lunch before heading back down to the beach to watch the fish being fed. 

The fish were obviously used to being fed at the same time three times a week as they were already there waiting for their food. The lady running the activity handed out a load of fish pellets so everyone was able to feed the hungry snappers which were swimming between our legs.

The campsite was full when we arrived so we settled for the overflow car park, even though you had to pay the same price but use the amenities across the road. Nonetheless, we needed somewhere to stay so we made camp here for the night.

Treated ourselves to homemade pizzas from the restaurant at the campsite opposite us, which meant we could grab a few drinks too. Then settled for an early night as we had planned to head to Monkey Mia tomorrow and you can't prebook unpowered sites. Hopefully there will be one available when we arrive!

Animal count: We saw a school of snapper fish during the feeding session at the beach.

8216 + 155 = 8,371km completed.

Day 21:

Up and ready by 7am this morning as we had decided we would stop along the way to eat breakfast. It has been very chilly this morning, but hopefully it will brighten up as the day goes on.

Maybe I spoke too soon, as the weather decided to be overcast all day, just our luck. However, we arrived at Monkey Mia by 2.30pm and thankfully there was a campsite available. 

We layered up and decided to take a walk around the complex. We strolled along the pier and saw 2 wild dolphins swimming around, it seemed the weather wasn't affecting their moods.

There was a large chess set outside the restaurant so we couldn't pass without having a game. Turns out Leigh used to be on the chess team in Primary School, not that that helped him as he lost twice.

We then cooked some burgers on the bbq before taking shelter from the rain at the backpackers bar. It would be rude not to grab a few drinks as we were on holiday (I'm not an alcoholic I promise), whilst we watched the lightening striking over the sea. I think we are going to be in for a wet night.

Animal count: We saw 2 wild dolphins swimming by the pier. Hopefully we will see some more tomorrow.

8371 + 588 = 8,959km completed.

Day 22:

Another early start today as we had to be on the beach by 7.45am for a briefing about how to interact with the wild dolphins. But before that I had to find my flip flops which had been washed away by the torrential rain last night. So after sludging around in a puddle which completely covered my ankles, I found my flip flops 6 caravans down. 

It wasn't soon after the briefing that we were lucky enough to see 6 wild dolphins swimming extremely close to the shore. Leigh was very lucky and was chosen as one of the people who got to feed them. The dolphin he fed was named Surprise. The dolphins hung around all morning, as they could be fed up to 3 times a day. We stayed to watch all three feelings as it's not often you get to be so close to these magnificent creatures.

We got a beer at the bar at lunchtime and chilled by the sea for the rest of the afternoon as the weather improved. We could resist a few more games of chess, still no win for Leigh though. By the time we had finished it was happy hour at the backpackers bar, a perfect time to pick up a few cheap drinks before bed. Please don't rain again tonight!

Animal count: The amazing dolphins which kept swimming close to the shore all day and 3 very large Pelicans.

8959 + 0 = 8,959km completed.

Day 23;

It was time to leave Monkey Mia this morning, there were a few slight showers but it wasn't one before the Sun came out. We started to head towards Perth.

Before we completely left Shark Bay, we stopped at Hamelin Pool to see the worlds best known sight for stromatolites (brown rock like formations made up of microbes almost identical to those that existed 1900 billion years ago). I have to admit they just looked like rocks in the water to me, but never mind.

We then just stopped for fuel and made some driving progress. It has rained on and off all day today, you can tell we are back in the South of Australia!

We stopped at Geraldton for a few supplies and booked up a room to stay in Perth as we both didn't want to spend a few days stuck in the car if it was going to rain.

Found a roadside stop, cooked some soup then watched Shooter on the iPad as yet again it was raining and everyone else was retreating to their cosy caravans. We keep forgetting it is Winter here so it is not going to be sunny all the time, but a little bit of sunshine wouldn't hurt anyone.

Animal count: We saw a family of wild goats.

8959 + 564 = 9,523km completed.

Day 24:

We left by 8am today and and arrived in Perth by lunchtime. After we checked into our room, showered and done 2 loads of washing (Which we ended up having to turn our room into a Chinese Laundry as the tumble dryer didn't dry it all properly), we went exploring around Freemantle. Unfortunately we missed the markets, so we just decided to walk around in the cold, rubbish weather. We stopped for a late lunch and came across Spud Bar, which is now my new favourite fast food outlet.

As the weather wasn't great at all, we trained back to the hostel, picked up a few snacks and then took an early night. We will brave the rest tomorrow.

Animal count: None.

9523 + 391 = 9,912km completed.

Day 25:

We took the train to City West to do a bit of shopping around the discount outlets, before heading back to the city centre. I had heard he Belł Tower was worth a visit, so we took a stroll down to it to find it was closed as work was being completed around it. Typical! We did that to do some tourist things but everything seemed to be against us, so shopping it was. We should have gone to the science museum but we found it a little too late. 

Now there is a company in Perth called Sweet Lips which is meant to sell the best fish and chips in Australia. So we thought we would give it a try, turns out it was just like every other chip shop in Australia, rubbish! I'm afraid it just doesn't compare to Aldeburgh.

It hasn't been the most successful day today, but never mind.

Animal count: None.

9912 + 0 = 9,912km completed.

Road Trip Part 4: Broome to Exmouth

Day 15:

We left Broome at 8am this morning and stopped off at Woolworths to pick up some milk before heading further South. The radio didn't sound very positive about the weather that we were heading into. It sounds like it is just constantly raining! So hopefully by the time we get there it might have brightened up a bit.

On route we stopped at the 80 mile beach, where we found lots of pretty shells. My Mother will be so pleased to take them back in her suitcase when she comes to visit in September. 

We then travelled until we were about 100km from Port Headland where we found another road side stop. This meant no shower tonight, just another smelly long drop toilet and more soup for dinner! 

Let's hope we wake up to sunshine tomorrow, fingers crossed!

Animal count: When we stopped for lunch at the Roadhouse there was an albino peacock. It was a truly magnificent bird and obviously quite a rare sight to see. Unfortunately I didn't have my phone on me at the time to take a picture, so you will just have to take my word for it.

6578 + 541 = 7,119km completed.

Day 16:

It was a very foggy start this morning and all the bits we had left outside over night were nice and damp. Oops! Even though it wasn't sunny this morning, we still seemed to get up at 6.30am and had left the site by 7.30am. We headed towards Exmouth where we were hoping to spend a few days and hopefully the weather might be a bit better too.

Our lunch stop was at a lovely modern town called Karratha. You couldn't see the town from the main road and it felt very random having this little spot in the middle of nowhere, but it was a nice little surprise. 

We kept driving throughout the afternoon until we arrived at a rest stop about 50km from Pannawonica. It was a wifi hotspot as well which was perfect as we were told Exmouth is quite small and can be hard to get a site in peak season, so this gave me the opportunity to prebook somewhere online.

We had a nice change of chicken pasta for dinner by the roadside. Obviously it was all washed down nicely with a few beers.

I am really looking forward to going to Exmouth tomorrow as it is a brilliant spot to see some amazing sea creatures. Hopefully luck will be in our favour. 

Animal count: We didn't see anything special today.

7119 + 430 = 7,549km completed.

Day 17:

The plan was to get to Exmouth today, which could easily be completed. I am truly looking forward to a hot shower. So we grabbed some weetabix and set off.

We arrived at Exmouth around 12.30pm and couldn't check in until 2pm, so we stopped at the visitors centre to see what we could do during our stay. There were lots of tours to swim with Whale Sharks, and as much as we both really wanted to do it, it was a bit out of our budget especially if we were hoping to dive the Great Barrier Reef later on in the year. So we picked up a load of leaflets and decided we would have a think about it.

Once we arrived at the campsite, we realised they had given us a gigantic plot which was way too big for our minimal equipment. As it doesn't take us long to set up our table and chairs and the weather was still warm, we took a stroll along the Town Beach. This beach didn't really compare to the eighty mile beach we had visited previously, however it was a nice afternoon stroll.

We then took the car towards the lighthouse as this was meant to be a good spot to view the sunset. We stopped at the car park just before the lighthouse and I am so glad we did. Shooting water from their blowholes and splashing their tails in the water were Humpback Whales. They were a good few kilometres away, but still in the calm waters they were easy to spot. We saw at least 3 different whales, unfortunately iPhones don't quite cut it for this level of photography so we didn't get any decent pictures. But it did help us to make our minds up on which tour we would like to complete whilst we were here.

Let's go whale spotting!

Animal count: 3 beautiful Humpback Whales (the first time I have ever seen whales) cruising through the sea.

7549 + 407 = 7,956km completed.

Day 18:

Nice early start of 6.30am this morning, the perfect time to get some washing done before the mad rush of caravan owners arise. We had our breakfast and set off to book our whale watching tour. We had to book the tour for tomorrow, which meant we also had to book another night Exmouth. Not that we were complaining, there are a lot worse places to stay than here. This also meant it gave us the day to explore the surrounding beaches.

We headed to Turquoise Bay in Ningaloo Marine Park and straight away realised we should have brought some snorkel gear with us as the reef was extremly close to the waters edge. We will have to remember for next time, so instead we soaked up the sun and went for a quick dip.

We then went to Oyster Stacks to see the coral which is even closer to the shoreline and can only be snorkeled during high tide.

Next we drove to the lighthouse on the top of the hill, we weren't sure whether Maggie would make it up such a steep incline but she did. The views were beautiful but we saw no whales today.

The final stop of the day was to Mildura Wreck, where you can see an old cattle ship which is half submerged in the water. We couldn't go the whole day without and ice cream, so stopped off on the way back to camp.

Treated ourselves to steak and cous cous for dinner.

Feeling like a little child again, I can't wait for tomorrow and hopefully we get to see lots of whales.

Animal count: We saw a school of fish in the ocean which came jumping out of the water whilst we were soaking up the sun on the beach.

7956 + 134 = 8,090km completed.

Day 19:

Today we spent the morning at Bundegi Beach. There was a cool breeze but the sun was still shining brightly. We sat watching people trying to sea fish from the shore. There were 3 couples and all 3 couples caught nothing whilst we were there. We stayed at the beach until lunchtime, before heading back to the caravan site to cook some lunch and get ready for the whale watching trip this afternoon.

The whale watching trip was amazing. We took a large boat (there was only 21 people on the tour, so it wasn't cramped at all) out to sea and it wasn't long before the Humpback Whales were popping up all over the place along by the reef. A baby whale even breeched out of the water right in front of us. It was such a brilliant experience and I took so many snaps of just the water where I was too mesmerised by the whales to press the camera button quick enough. Overall I took 147 photos, I deleted 100 before getting back to camp. This is definitely another situation where a decent camera would have been ideal but the trusty iPhone done ok. Nonetheless that is another experience ticked off my bucket list, my mother will be so jealous!

Whilst aboard the boat they stocked us up with loads of canapés, Turkish bread, sticks and dip and delicious locally caught prawns. Leigh still frowns at the idea of having to remove the shell off the prawn before eating it, but they were well worth the mess.

We arrived back at camp by 7.30pm, we had eaten way too much aboard the boat so we skipped dinner and just chilled out for the evening.

It is definitely going to be hard to top this day anytime soon!

Animal count: Humpback Whales galore!

8090 + 126 = 8,216km completed.

Road Trip Part 3: Darwin to Broome

Day 9: 

Today we left Dawrin city centre and went on the hunt to find some salt water crocodiles. We done a little bit of research prior, and decided to drive to the Mary River which is the most densely populated river for salt water crocodiles in Australia. Once we arrived we stood by the river and guess how many crocodiles we saw? None. Not even a little ripple in the water. We blatantly must have been at the wrong spot, at the wrong time. It was getting close to lunch time so we pulled up at a service station. Here there were 2 crocodiles in a cage (one salty and one fresh), we thought that this was going to be the closest we were going to get today.

As we drove back towards Darwin, we drove past the Orginal Jumping Crocodile Boat Tour which went along the Adelaide River instead. We thought there was no harm in trying here as we were going to have to go past it anyway. Guess how many crocodiles we saw this time? LOADS! We were sat at the very front of the boat, even though we were the last ones to arrive, but turns out they were the best seats in the house. The tour guide dangled pieces of pork chop into the water and within about 5 seconds we could see crocodiles popping up everywhere. They got extremely close to the boat and would jump up high to reach the meat being dangled above them. One crocodile was 5 1/2 metres long and had lost both of this front legs from fighting with other crocodiles. Every kilometre we travelled down the river, there was a dominant male crocodile who had about 10 females in his territory (which were all his). At one point there were two dominant males in one area at the same time and it was not long before a scrap broke out between them. There were lots of kite birds flying all around the river too, diving for food that the tour guide chucked into the air. I didn't realise they were one of the only species of birds which can eat their food whilst on the move.

Once finished we headed towards Litchfield National Park and set up camp in a caravan park as we both desperately needed a shower after the heat from today. 

Busy day of driving about, but at least we got to see the enormous beasts in the end.

Animal count: Loads and loads of wild salty crocodiles and kites.

4308 + 298 = 4,606km completed.

Day 10:

Today we had planned to explore Litchfield National Park before making our way towards Broome. We were told Litchfield National Park is made up of lots of waterfalls, pools and gigantic termite hills. So we had to see it all for ourselves.

They weren't joking when they described how big the termite mounds are. They were huge! It's crazy how such small creatures can make something so big.

We then headed to Wangi Falls, which is one of the most popular parts of the park due to its two large waterfalls which fall into a large swimable pool. We decided to take a walk up to the top of the waterfall which was 1.7km round trip. As always we came prepared for the walk in flipflops. It didn't take long to reach the top and on route we past thousands of fruit bats which were hanging from the trees above us. The climb down was a bit more rocky but quite an easy and pleasent walk altogether.

Once we hit the bottom, we were dripping with sweat so decided it was a perfect time to take a dip in the cool water pool. The water was so clear and refreshing, we completely understood why it was so busy and popular. However, we did keep an eye out for the smaller fresh water crocs which live in the waters at this time of year. Luckily we didn't see any!

We stayed at Wangi Falls until lunch time and made use of their free wifi. We then decided we needed to make a move towards Broome. I can't tell you what we saw along the way because I slept the majority of it. We arrived at Katherine, picked my a Maccy D's and the drove another 60km along the Great Northen Highway until we found a rest stop with toilets and made camp for the night.

It was a hot day today and we were both shattered. We were both looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight before a long day of driving tomorrow. 

Animal count: Hundreds of fruit bats at Wangi Falls and lots of little fish in the pool.

4606 + 420 = 5,026km completed.

Day 11:

We left the rest stop at 8am today and headed through the Western Australia border. This time we were prepared and chucked the last of the apples and carrots out before we got to the quarantine point. As we crossed the border the time went back another hour and a half. This confused us at first because as we ate our lunch before crossing the border (as it was 1pm at the time) but once we went through it turned to 11.30am.

We headed to Kununurra and arrived by 12.30pm. We both decided we couldn't be bothered to drive any further today and we both needed to get out of the car. So we went to the supermarket, stocked up and then went to find a campsite. We managed to find the perfect little spot right by the lake. We were even given a plot which was about 5m from the waters edge. 

We spent the afternoon by the swimming pool as the temperature was reaching around 35 degrees centigrade at this point (plus the bar had free wifi too).

We ended the day with dinner with a view. It wasn't a bad way to spend the afternoon, we will definitely be making up the miles tomorrow.

Animal count: As the sun set over the lake, a magical thing happened. We didn't have a clue to begin with what everyone was staring at, until one lady informed us that as the sun sets over the horizon thousands of fruit bats come flying over the lake, right over our heads and like clockwork, it happened. The bats took to the sky and effortlessly floated towards us over the lake until they came so close you could see them as clear as day. It was very spectacular to watch.

5026 + 455 = 5,481km completed.

Day 12:

Last night was exteremly windy, however there was a welcoming breeze this morning. Thanks to the clocks going back, sunrise is now at 5am, so I was nicely wide awake at this unsocialble hour. I forced myself to stay in bed until 6am, then I decided enough was enough, so I jumped in the shower then made some breakfast. It meant we were ready pretty early this morning, so we went to the poolside to use the wifi before we left. Looking at the map we knew we would easily get to Halls Creek by lunchtime today, then we decided we would just carry on from there and see where we ended up.

We kept driving until 5 in the evening and ended up at a road side rest stop 87 kilometres past Fitzroy Crossing. I sang along to lots of old school tunes off my phone most of the way as there was no radio signal. Thank goodness for spotify, however I think Leigh couldn't wait to get away from me.

We ended up staying in the same place as the people we set up camp next to last night. It turns out they are doing the same route as us, so there is a chance we could bump into each other again.

It is now only 300 kilometres to Broome so we will easily make that tomorrow.

Animal count: Only the usual today; cows and horses.

5481 + 734 = 6,215km completed.

Day 13:

We were ready to leave by 7.30am today, which meant we arrived in Broome by lunchtime. We found a campsite and booked in for two nights, then it was time to go exploring. First we headed to Target and got ourselves a CD so Leigh wouldn't have to endure my singing as much. Then we went and got a few more supplies from Coles before heading to Gantheaume Point where we went exploring for real dinosaur footprints. The tide was quite low so there were a few footprints to see, but some could easily be mistaken for just holes in the rocks. We think we found some footprints from the larger dinosaur because they'd looked very similar to the pictures on the information board, but who knows!

We then headed to Cable Beach to top up the tan for a bit, before heading to the bar to grab ourselves a drink. When we got back to camp, we went for a quick dip in the swimming pool and got chatting to all the oldies (I mean they were all well into retirement, sorry mum!) about their travels.

More soup for dinner again today but might treat ourselves to something special tomorrow!

Animal count: We saw lots of camels along Cable Beach which are used for their tours. Did look out for a fellow Ipswich traveller who I knew was working with the camels, but couldn't see him.

6215 + 348 = 6,563km completed.

Day 14:

We had another early start this morning so we could spend most of the day soaking up the Sun on the beach. We went to Coles and invested in a Sun and wind shade to reduce the chance of us burning. We then headed straight to Cable Beach. Soft sands and a clear blue sea, what more could you ask for? We could have done with a few less jellyfish, however they weren't killer ones so everyone was swimming anyway. The sunshade didn't work because I got burnt (not that I sat under the shade at all, too much of a sun worshipper)! We stayed here until 1pm (We arrived at 8.45am, so we got a good few hours in) and then we were both desperate for a nice cold drink. McDonalds it was (free wifi time!).

We had lunch back at the caravan site and washed all the sand off. I spent the afternoon reading my book, determined to finish the last few chapters of the series. We treated ourselves to steak and salad for dinner. It was nice to eat something a bit more fresh for a change, rather than long shelf life meals. 

A day of driving tomorrow, as we start to head to Exmouth.

Animal count: Only the jellyfish we saw in the sea.

6563 + 15 = 6,578km completed.