woo hoo have reached our final destination enjoy some pics an will update asap.main star sally (pats turtle).

After a 5am wake up from the "locals" (aboriginal truck drivers) making their coffees outside our room we packed up and left our little sanctuary. Next stop was Deniliquin - attached find photo of large Murray Cod which we caught ha ha. The weather was getting a little rough - large black clouds and thunder in the distance. We drove off and stayed in front of the weather for a little while till it hit - lightning strikes in the paddocks only a few metres from the car - in front - out the back - thunder so loud it was scary. We managed to stay in front of it until Berrigan where we were advised to get somewhere and get somwhere quick to stay the night. There wasn't much in Berrigan so Corowa became the stop for the night. Another great find - lovely clean motel and advice from the owner was head to the Australia Hotel an go for the stone grill which was on special for $18. After the obligatory wine (or two) before dinner we dodged the storm and headed to the main street for the meal. We can't publish the photos at this stage cos they are on our phones but basically the meal was a whole eye fillet and it came out raw on a large VERY hot stone. We had to turn the steak when it came to the table then slice pieces of it off and cook them to our own liking on the stone. AMAZING. Probably the best steak we had ever tasted. Got to get to the store and get a couple of them stones to take home.

The next day we headed off at the late hour of 8am and made our way to Cooma. Through the Snowy Mountains Highway - we had to stop in Tumut to check of we needed to have chains on our tyres to get through. EEEEK was what we thought - lucky for us the weather had blown through and cleared the ice and snow so there was no need. Phew. Saw the amazing sights of the mountains - brumbies and snow and sheep traffic jams - all that you can imagine. Arrived in Cooma early in the arvo and settled into Made & Cheryl's lovely home. Made was still at work so Kim headed off to the hairdresser for some well earned pampering, while domestic Marg did some washing and chatting. Hee hee. When Made got home we had a huge catch up then headed to Cheryl's Pizza Shop and tasted the delicasies of the town. It was lovely. The next day we went walking with Made and saw the town of Cooma, had a lovely BBQ lunch, squeezed in a massage (Evelyn you are an angel) and had quite an early night to prepare for the city leg of the journey.

So where were we? Thats right we hit Port Lincoln after travelling through Streaky Bay and picking up a couple of dozen oysters from Coffin Bay. Not realising that the "shucking" of the oysters would take man size strength. Thank God for Ben he shucked a dozen and he & Kim threw them back with lemon & wasabi. Kylie and I looked on while they enjoyed themselves immensely. We headed out for dinner and had a lovely meal of the local produce including the famous Port Lincoln tuna steak.

Next day we drove again - through all those man towns with loads of hi-viz fashion - Whyalla, Port Augusta, Port Pirie, etc etc. It was so windy and so we drove straight through - hit Adelaide and managed to get lost in the city - found our way out and headed to Murray Bridge where we thought we would stay the night. Unfortunately for those locals we found the place a little bit too big for us Manji girls so we kept on truckin to Tailem Bend. What a score that was - the room was $60 per night for a two bed "apartment" with a scary balcony view right over the Muray River. Meals home made with loads of salad and home cooked vegies. YUMMO. Those photos from the last post are from that very place.

here is some happy snaps from port lincoln thru to tailem bend .more text to follow as were been on the road for 10 hours an have enjoyed a few wines watching the sunset on the mighty Murray.

We set off early from Mundrabilla - we had heard that there might be whales and calves at Head of Bight -which is 200 km along the road. After a quick brekky snack and coffee at Nullabor we turned off the Eyre and headed to the coast. WOW WOW WOW. There were about 35 mothers with their calves in the big bay. Some off in the distance spouting and rolling around and others right in front of our eyes - lolling in the big surf next to the cliffs, you could almost reach out to touch them and the sound of their talking to each other gave us goose bumps it was sooooo unreal.

Stayed there for ages just watching and listening then hit the road again - next stop Ceduna. On the way we decided that we would just spend some time on the phone to the hubbies while there (got phone signal back) and push on to Streaky Bay. Glad that we did it - first thing when we got there was straight to the fish shop and a piece of King George Whiting each to pig out on. Next stop the Pub and booked in for the night. Lovely old hotel built in 1866 we had a room upstairs overlooking the bay - nice verandah to watch the sunset whilst enjoying a glass or two of Fonty's Pool's finest.

We hit the road from Esperance, got to Norseman and thats where we said bye to any communications apart from through phone boxes. So heres an update - we drove and drove and drove and that day we drove for 10 hours. We coluldn't believe we had done it!!!! Spent the night at Mudrabilla (try saying that after a few). Met some colourful characters and we are still laughing at some of the things we heard.

We have made it to Esperance it has been a great day - no dramas on the road and about to crack open a bubbly to celebrate the first day travelling the wide open road. Tomorrow the Nullabor and we might be off line for a couple of days so we'll catch y'all on the other side. Yeeha

Woohoo its the day before - we've done the waxing and all the stuff to prepare. Packed the car with room to spare and now it looks like we've got blonde hair!!!! hahaha These are gonna be handy if we have change a tyre or two. (Hopefully not) Quiet night tonight then head for Esperance at 7am tomorrow. Catch ya then.

good bye party

woo hoo one week to go ,and decided on celebrating our road trip with friends.started the day at 2 by heading to our favourite winery to get our supplies for our trip,which we did after a long tasting hehe.continued on home were we got organised for the night ahead.fun was had by all an fininsed up in the wee hours.

woo hoo count down 8 more days ,getting the vino organised this weekend an going away drinks with friends on saturday night.cant wait to add our first photos which we will take from the moment we head off .

kim an margs aussie road trip

not long to go 29th august our set off date from manjimup to mount perry queensland.