The end of the road

So. We set off back to the UK on Friday 26th June. We said goodbye to the view from the airport motel.

It was a beautifully sunny day as we sat in Adelaide Airport, one of the sunniest days we've had.

The view from the airport lounge was amazing, you can even see the city in the background. We had some entertainment during the day, thanks to the teenage fans of a band called 5SOS or 5 seconds of summer to give them their full name. They had got wind that the band might be flying in to Adelaide from Melbourne, so they stalked each incoming flight. We never did see the boys from 5SOS, but their fans were lovely entertainment.

The sunset was beautiful to watch too, although not that easy to capture...

 

City bound

Today we left Whyalla for the last time. It was sad to leave the friendship and great Hospitality behind. We've had a great time with our cousins and their families. It would have been easy to stay. I think we will be back at some time..

The journey back to Adelaide seemed different somehow. Maybe it's because I noticed the crops, the bush, and was looking out for kangaroos... Who knows?

We are in the city now for a few days to visit Aunty M.

Going Bush

On Sunday morning after filling up with fuel, we set off for lookout point near the power station. What a beautiful setting.

We then headed inland into the Flinders ranges, through Port Augusta and out to Quorn. There is an old steam railway there and old settler pubs. We had lunch at one of these, the Austral. Kangaroo schnitzel, salad and chips was the order of the day. It's a red meat with a distinct but not unpleasant flavour. The sizes of the portions are huge, and it was many hours before we could even think again of food. However, we did think of food again and had pizza!

I have got to say a big thank you to cousin Stacey for all his hospitality.
He's driven us around, fed us and entertained us so much! He's one big hearted, generous person! Here are a few pictures of the journey. Others will have to wait till I get back to the UK and can get them off my camera.

 the Flinders ranges

Heading back to Whyalla

After a few lovely days with family in Port Lincoln, we have returned to Whyalla. The journey back didn't seem so long this time. There were (luckily) still no signs of kangaroo on the roads. Most people round here don't drive outside of town after dusk because of roaming kangaroo.

Tomorrow we are going bush. Hopefully the blog will be very photo heavy, although we might be eating kangaroo, so I might not be well enough to blog, so look out for something from us tomorrow, not saying what though!

Photo heavy today

today saw us up early and off to the airport to drop Aunty M to catch her early flight to Adelaide. after a power nap, we set off on our 3 hour drive to Port Lincoln.

One thing we have noticed is the lack of motorbikes. The lorries are strange too, they are twice as long as the UK, and in some instances three times as long! They call them the road train due to their length. The drivers are known as 'truckies'.

 

There is a trend for older couples known as silver surfers or Trekkies to pack up and travel around Australia in the winter. We followed several of these on the highway. it  seems like a great way to see the country. 

Rain and more rain

Going to Australia usually conjours up  images of sunshine, heatwaves etc. but that's not been our experience on this trip.

It's rained ever since we arrived in Port Lincoln, and of course, being winter here, it's cold too, but that doesn't take away from the beauty of the bay.

The sign next to Justin explains that when man and shark share the same space, things don't often go well. It outlines what to do.... What it doesn't say is that there are a lot of jellyfish in the bay too.  The water is so clear, and there were lots of tiny fish visible from the pier, just beautiful

The morning after the night before.

Last night was Angie's 40th birthday party. We celebrated at Whyalla Wanderers club building with a 1980's themed party. Justin had a great night getting to know his cousins Derek and Stacey, whilst Aunty M and I chilled, danced a little and enjoyed an amazing buffet. Angie's daughter had organised the party and what a great job she did. Photos to follow! So today we are going to celebrate again to eat up all the remaining food.

Radio silence...

So sorry we haven't posted before now. The flight took its toll on both of us. We left home at 03:00 on Monday, flew to London Heathrow, then on to Dubai and eventually arrived in Adelaide at nearly nine pm on Tuesday. My main abiding memory of the whole trip is wall to wall food. The airline meals have really changed over the years, and it was amazing how much we were offered! Pizza as a snack seems to be popular too, cooked breakfasts, cheesy omelettes, salmon with glass noodles, cake, wine, more coffee than you can imagine and the obligatory glass of red wine.

Poor Justin will remember the trip as 'the strip off' adventure. Every time we got to a new place he had to take off his boots, his leather jacket and waistcoat, remove his watch, money, belt and find his medication and iPad. What a palaver! The funny thing was when we finally got to Adelaide, it was me that got searched for my medications, not Justin who has more medication than you can shake a stick at.

Silly O'clock.

Good morning, it's been two hours since you went to sleep. Time to get up for the first leg of your journey. Maybe it's because I'm tired, but why do they call it a leg of a journey? Why not an arm or a foot or a hand? Yes, I'm sleep deprived and overthinking everything, but it's here at last, the first part of our journey and we're off to Manchester Airport. I'll write more as we go along...

It's now only 0930 and we're checked in at Heathrow for our flights.its been 8 years since my last long haul flight and I'd forgotten about the hassle of liquids in plastic bags and frisk searching, but do far do good, we are here and definitely on the way, a deodorant and shower gel lighter, but on our way.

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it.

This blog documents the journey of a brother and a sister from the UK who journey to South Australia to see family for the first time (pretty much - I was six months old when I last saw my Aunt, don't think that counts really).

Our journey begins the weekend before our first flight. My name is Natalie and my brother Justin and I are travelling to see cousins and an aunt on the other side of the world on Monday. We don't see each other often, as we live 300 miles apart, me in the north and Justin in the south of England. My brother has ridden his motorbike the 300 miles to my house so that we can start our adventure together.

So why the title? Well, that's simple.... It's been the theme tune in my head for the last week or so at work... Ask my colleagues, I'm sure they are now well aware that I'm going to Australia.

So for the next few weeks, follow this blog to see what we get up to, who and what we meet along the way and all the exciting things we get up to 'down under'.