The End of the Road

  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Saturday, November 22, 2008

The Great Aussie Road Trip is over...

* 14 weeks on the road
* 7 nights in hostels (in the first week when it was too chilly to camp - ha, if only   we'd known what we'd be camping in during the final week!);  21 nights with friends and Servas hosts;  70 nights in the trusty tent
* 25,650 kilometres on the clock
* $4565.08 spent on fuel ($1.29 a litre the priciest; 62 cents the cheapest)
* Hottest temperature: 52 degrees at Emma Gorge;  coldest: 2 degrees in the tent at Norseman)
* Rainfall: a short heavy shower at Edith Falls, Litchfield and on the road to Broome;  drizzle and heavy rain every day but 3 since we arrived in Perth!
* Personal injuries: a few sandfly bites
* Injuries to the Johnmobile:  loss of exhaust pipe;  near loss of roof rack (now strapped down);  but miraculously no flat tyres on the rough roads
* No record of the volume of beer downed...

So we're back in Melbourne, readjusting to real beds, duvets, food that isn't camping pasta and all the other luxuries of a house rather than a tent!
It's been a fantastic trip - Australia has so many beautiful places, though the wild, rugged Kimberley stood out amongst them all.  And, really, we only did a quick whiz around the country: there are plenty more locations to be discovered in future, lots of tracks across the desert to traverse...  I just need to win the lottery in order to buy a suitable vehicle to do the rest of it in...

The last section was covered in a bit of a rush, but there was little desire hang around in the weather we had!  Watching the weather forecasts on tv in camp kitchens we could see that the whole country was swathed in cloud and rainfall was heavy, with violent storms causing severe damage in some areas.  Parts of Victoria have had  their biggest November rainfall for 13 years.  And while I understand that this is a positive thing in drought-stricken regions, I don't think I'll ever be able to express the Aussie delight at a downpour!

 

Cliffs at Great Australian Bight

Leaving the southwest we spent a couple of days crossing the Nullarbor, a partially tree-less limestone plain which could contain England, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland with 7,000 square km to spare... it's preety big.  It was described by Eyre, an early explorer, as "a hideous anomaly, a blot on the face of nature, the sort of place one gets into in bad dreams".  Hmmm... it had looked quite appealing in Wayne's photos... maybe Eyre was in a tent too - camping in that freezing wind would give anyone bad dreams.  At times the road runs close to the high cliffs of the Great

Nullarbor crossing certificate presented!

Australian Bight, but these only received a cursory glance and click of the camera as it was just too bitter to loiter for any length.  Nullarbor crossing successfully completed, we made our way round the Eyre Peninsula and then across to Mildura in North Vicoria, where we enjoyed a trip on a restored paddle steamer, before driving back down to Melbourne.

Thanks to the many of you who pointed out my typo (since corrected!) in the previous entry, and questioned my tent hygiene - just for the record, I have never  started the day by 'peeing through tent mesh', but frequently by  'peering' through it...

And to all those of you who emailed me, reminding me that it's colder and wetter and Ireland, France, Scotland, England, Nepal and Canada and wherever else you are... that's no consolation at all and I will continue to be a 'whingeing Pom' until the weather improves!