The Road Home

There is a small amount of relief when one makes the journey to and from the Red Centre relatively unscathed. Although the highway is in great condition,  the road is dotted with perilous reminders of how isolated things are.

About a dozen abandoned cars lay on the side of the road like this. It's not the sort of place you want to have a breakdown or run out of petrol.

You need to have a good sense of humour to live in these parts.

At least!

It's not everyday you see a "Camel Train" with about 100 Camels on board all destined for the export market.

And it is a bit disconcerting having to show identification before filling your car up with petrol. The Petrol stations in The Northern Territory only sell Opal Petrol - it's apparently less toxic when you sniff it (ahem!)

With Roadhouses/Petrol Stations 250km apart, I had to regularly pull over to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere to breastfeed baby Flynn. 

We did see some amazing wildlife - Emus, a Dingo, Kites and Wedge-tailed eagles feasting on the animals hit by the Roadtrains at night. It's extremely dangerous driving at night for fear of hitting cattle and other animals so ordinary cars are best driving during the daytime.

Needless to say, we were all thrilled to arrive back at the Coast. We stayed along the great Ocean Road  and the scenery was truly spectacular and a complete contrast to the hot and dusty conditions of the week before.

We fell in love with Port Fairy, the quaint and historic seaside town. There were walks on the beach in the morning with the rare colony of Shearwater who have travel here each year from Alaska.

There was an abundance of birdlife including this unusual bird that looked like a white owl. Does anyone know what it is?

We then moved on to Apollo Bay, stopping to see the "London Bridge" - that has unfortunately fallen down.

And "The 12 Apostles" although these too are no longer 12.

We arrived in Melbourne on Saturday just in time for the boys to see an Aussie Rules Football Game - Essendon vs Great Western Sydney while Eleanor and I (and Flynn) enjoyed a few hours of shopping and eating in the City. We finally boarded the Ferry for the overnight voyage back to "our Island" as the boys call it, and arrived back home on the most glorious Autumn day you could imagine. We picked up the Whippet and everyone was so excited to be home again after such a wonderful trip. We entered the gates of the farm and made our way up the windy driveway, when it suddenly became apparent that all was not as it should be on the home front...

But that is for a future less uplifting post!