We were all packed up and ready to head off by 9am, the Cronans leading the way. If l thought the drive from Kings Canyon to Coober Pedy was boring, then l was shocked to find that from Coober Pedy to Woomera was bloody worse. Absolutely nothing to see but dirt, scattered trees and more burnt out cars (surprise surprise!). One great thing was the amount of wedge tail eagles about in the sky and also eating the road kill along the way. A huge one was feeding on what looked like the remains of a kangaroo when we scared it away. The wing span was huge! Have fallen in love with these birds in our time in Northern Territory.
We turned off the Stuart Highway to have lunch at Woomera. As we drive in it was as if we had arrived at an abandoned township. No one was around, plenty of houses though. Again another bloody hot day, so we scoffed down our peanut butter sangas and went and checked out the old missiles and rockets on display in the nearby park. The kids all enjoyed running about and pretending to be in the army, l think they needed to burn off some energy. Among the things Woomera is famous for, such as the detention centre outside of town, it was also the place where rockets were tested some time ago. Cool place, don't know how anyone could live here though, didn't look like too much to do around town.
We drove off and started our last leg of the trip for the day, everyone was excited to be heading to the ocean. It had been sometime, almost a year, since we had been near an ocean that we could swim in without the threat of being eaten by a crocodile. We passed through Port Augusta and took a left and arrived at Wyalla by twoish. We stocked up on some much needed groceries then made our way to Point Lowly, a free camp by the sea. When we arrived the kids all got out and ran down to the water, all so excited, while Nikki, Mat, Marty and l took almost an hour to decide where to park the bloody vans (lol)!!! The view was amazing, we parked right at the waters edge and loved the sound of the waves rolling in and then looking around seeing the awesome lighthouse protecting the shore on the other side.
For the next four days we had a great relaxing time with the Cronans. I especially enjoyed the relief from the heat by the bloody flies were so annoying. Funnily enough, we hadn't had much of a problem with the flies in NT!! At Point Lowly the kids enjoyed hunting for crabs under the rocks that lined the bay area we were camped at. We all also had a crack at scuba diving, saw a few fish but too nothing remarkable, just a sting ray every now and then!! I just enjoyed watching all the kids being kids and finding their own hinges to do. Whether that was hunting for crabs, swimming, playing sills with beanie babies, or jumping off the pier into the bay. Was great to see as l don't remember being able to do this s great deal when l was a kid, so am do glad our girls have had the opportunity to just be kids...
One night the adults had been enjoying a bit too much of happy hour and we let the kids control the music. Well, l just want to say that l am the queen at 'Gangham Style'! The kids had a ball and l couldn't stop laughing. Think everyone camping around didn't know what was going on, luckily l didn't wake up too sore (head and body) in the morning.
Last few days of our stay, Nikki and l headed into Wyalla to stock up in some food and beverages in anticipation of moving on. Was great to get away but also the bloody funniest time l'd had in a car for a longtime. Nikki and l were deep in conversation and a tad worried about the low fuel in the car, we took a turn and continued in our conversation when next thing we see this car approaching us head on. We both thought you bloody idiot, then realized we were traveling in the wrong direction on a way one street!!! Seeing l was he passenger l thought it was pretty funny, but l think it shook Nik up a bit.
On our last day we headed out for a drive along the coast and went to the nearby beach. Now our campsite was great but or was all covered with huge rocks, no sand. All the kids ran out at the beach and stated making sand castles. We stayed their for the morning, the sand fine in texture and the ocean crystal clear, absolutely breathtaking. Felt like we were in the Caribbean for gods sake. Hence, we all had a snorkel, unfortunately no real exciting fish around. We did, however, chase a few scuttling crabs on the ocean floor for a whole, until they got a little too close, big b******s!
Sadly we had to push on to our next place to stay, at Parham. Decided the closer we were near Adelaide, the better so we could check into the caravan park early on the 17th December. All the kids have gotten on tremendously, great to see them mixing well. Harrison and Wil took Meg under their wings a lot, actually looked like they enjoyed hanging out with her. Whilst Emma and Charlotte enjoyed playing dolls and games together. So it is great that we have all decided to keep together for the remainder of the wait till Adelaide. Think all us adults know that of the kids are happy then we can have some peace and quite!! Lol.... Loving the easy going way of the Cronan family, great mob to hang out with and l think long lasting friendship is being created. A high point of this trip for us is meeting all these fantastic families along the way, love it.....