The time has come again to set off on another adventure, this one being titled Around Australia I, hopefully the first of many! But before setting off we had a LOT to do.
Firstly, Friday April 7th was the final day of our lease at Ebden St, so once we left there was no returning. Secondly was getting everything we owned into storage and tying up all loose ends, as this is going to be a half year trip.
Our aim of this trip is to do a lap of Australia, with the halfway point set for Darwin where Linda will turn 40yo and we also get to visit Ned and Peta who are relocating to live for a year.
The second half of the trip is through the middle of NSW and QLD, rather than the coast, which we did in the past during COVID.
Friday, April 7th – (Day 1)
KOONDROOK – Our initial plan was to set off around lunchtime for Koondrook to meet up with Adam’s family, which is now an easter tradition. However, midday turned out to be a modest plan is it took absolutely forever to tie up loose ends.
We were back and forth multiple times to the storage unit, meanwhile trying to get the house clean and presentable for the next tenants. Matt and Jac also came to pick up our plants and we had food to cook for our stay at Koondrook. There is no electricity there, so we like to prepare food ahead of time.
Goodbye house. Nice knowing you! 
Goodbye Ebden St living room 
144,701 on the speedometer to start the journey
Doing all that was made even harder with shit weather, with it raining on and off all day. We looked up what time sunset was in Koondrook, 6:12pm as it turns out, and it was a 2h45m drive to get there. It was just our lucky that we didn’t set off until 4pm, so we were destined to arrive at night.
We set off with 144,701km on the speedometer, so it’ll be interesting to track how many km’s we do for this trip in total!
Fortunately the weather cleared up for the drive and it was mostly sunny. On the journey we listened to the Carlton vs North Melbourne game on the radio to pass time.
And then it happened. When we were about 25 minutes out and the sun was just going down, it started belting down rain. We rocked up to the campsite in pitch black and bucketing down rain so just decided to park the car, with the caravan attached, to the first open spot we could fine.
We cooked up our tea, caught up with everyone and by that point the rain had stopped. The rest of the night was spent around the campfire talking and listening to music. Our adventure had finally begun!
Saturday, April 8th – (Day 2)
The next day we got a good look at the campsite and ended up deciding to stay in the spot we had chosen in the dark. It was in the middle of the entrance, but luckily there was another way out.
Lou and Rod left early, before we had even gotten up, so unfortunately we missed out on saying goodbye. There were plenty of people here, Ned and all his friends (minus Peta, which was sad!), Kane, Lisa and Emma were here as well. It was a good group of people.
Today it rained a bit around lunch time, but the weather was mostly fine. We didn’t really get up to anything, the day was mostly sitting around the fire listening to footy and music and drinking beer. It doesn’t get much better!
The footy matches today weren’t that exciting, with the exception of the Richmond vs W. Bulldogs match, which the Doggies hung on to win by 5pts .
We spent a lot of time sitting around this spot
Sunday, April 9th – (Day 3)
Today was much like yesterday, but with one small difference. Easter Bunny had arrived and left some goodies around the campsite. We still don’t know who’s playing the role of Easter Bunny (who came last year too), but we do have our suspicions.
The day was spent sitting around the fire eating and drinking, with the only exercise going to get firewood, plus finding spots to dig a hole to take turds in. No toilets around here, we’re back to basics.
Today’s footy games were the Bombers and Giants, then the Eagles and Dees. Both were kind of boring so we ended up listening to music.
The best time of year! 
A typical night here in Koondrook 
Monday, April 10th – (Day 4)
MILDURA – Our easter getaway was over for yet another year, but for us it was time to say goodbye to everyone for half a year and set off on our journey. There were plenty of hugs and tears, but hopefully we’d see each other again in Darwin come August.
The drive to Mildura was about 3.5 hours and we had perfect weather for the drive. We stopped in Swan Hill along the way to grab a coffee and something to eat, then arrived in Mildura not long after 3pm.
Washing the filthy car and caravan 
Relaxing swim in Mildura 
Our camp spot in Mildura
Along the way we found a car wash to clean the car and caravan. The amount of mud and dirt on it from our drive on the first night was madness, it was absolutely slathered with dry dirt. It took a while, but our home was finally clean again.
Our plan was to stop in Mildura for 1 night, then head to Renmark and on to Adelaide by Thursday. The good caravan parks were booked out, so we ended up booking one a bit out of the way near the airport.
It wasn’t the best park but it did the job. Adam had a swim, we both had a shower and cleaned up from three days camping at the Murray and set up our caravan properly for the first time in a couple of years. We were finally on our way!
Tuesday, April 11th – (Day 5)
RENMARK – Today we crossed the border into South Australia, the first time we had taken the caravan into the state. It was supposed to be a nice quick drive of about an hour, but SA Quarantine had other thoughts about that.
Because we were trying to take our Hello Fresh bags across the border, which had fruit and veg, we unfortunately got done by quarantine. That’s likely a $350+ fine coming to us in the mail over the next few weeks. Doh!
The caravan park we are staying at is pretty awesome and has everything we need. It’s right on the Murray with a nice green grass bank, and the amenities are great. There’s a swimming pool, gym, games room with table tennis and it was only a short stroll into town.
We were recommended a restaurant named The Renmark Club so decided to take our laptops into town and catchup on some much needed work. It had been five days and we’d barely done anything, so there was lots to catch up on.
The pub was good, it had nice views of the river and we made plans to come back tomorrow for the Timberwolves game. The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent chilling out and watching some telly.
Wednesday, April 12th – (Day 6)
Today was another beautiful day in paradise. The goal today was to go watch the Timberwolves and Lakers play in game at the same place we were at yesterday.
Fortunately they had the channel, but unfortunately it was on mute as they opted to play 80s music instead. Pretty much your typical gaming bistro.
The game was a cracker, but as usual the Timberwolves did Timberwolves things, giving up a 15 point lead, before eventually losing the game in overtime. That was the 7th seed gone, now it was on to the final play in game against the Thunder which would be on Saturday while we’re in Adelaide.
Watching the Wolves vs Lakers play in game 
Ducks everywhere in Remark 
Our very own custom HIIT class
We then walked back to the park and did ourselves a custom HIIT class in the gym which was pretty good. Next was our first game of table tennis for the trip which Adam took out comfortably. He played like a visionary.
Game 1: 21-13, 21-19 (Adam wins)
After tennis we spent the rest of the day sitting around chilling and had a shower. Tomorrow we’d be off again on the road to Adelaide for Gather Round.
Week 1 of our trip had been a success!