Jacko's Central Trip

[Jacko]

Day1 - Sat 21st Melb to Renmark
We had an early start, up at 4am to finish packing the car and woke the kids about 1/2hr later and we eventually hit the road about 5:40. Had an easy run to the other side of town and hit the Calder with the first stop in Bendigo and fed the kids maccas to keep them happy and on we went. Stopped at Sea Lake to stretch the legs and toilet stop and we were off again. Stopped and refuelled at Lake Cullulleraine roadhouse and had our pre made lunch of wraps, which we will be having alot of over the next 4 weeks.  This big thirsty petrol cruza is certainly chewing through the juice and having to stop alot for re fuels is all taking time!
We eventually made it to Renmark Big4 about 4ish and started seting up when bickiematt, Mandrake and lindamc drove past on their way to get supplies.  Had a look around the park and kids wanted to stay here for the next few weeks as the water park is amazing! Cooked dinner in the big camp kitchen at set the kids up in the games room to watch a movie and we went and caught up with the others for a few drinks and an early night after a long drive.... more to come with pics but not many on this phone

[Jacko]

Day 2 Sun 22 - Renmark to Rawnsley park station.  It was a cold night and woke to lots of dew and our first wet pack up, but not the last!  Heading towards Rawnsley Park we traveled through some interesting country side and nice little towns in Morgan and Burra and on to Peterborough for lunch and fuel,  kids found a strange little cafe in the old cinema with lots of interesting paraphernalia to look at. Then it was onto Rawnsley Park and checked in, the sites are large and the fully enclosed camp kitchen is one of the best I've seen and would come in very handy with the weather over the next 2 days.  The first night we hit the sack early at about 8pm as it wad very cold, then about 10ish the winds started!  OMG they were the worst I have ever experienced in a tent! I was up several times to re secure the awning as ropes were being pulled out of the ground! We made it through the night and woke up to a very cold and wet day.  A road trip to Wilpena pound but no walk as it was too cold,  so we continued on to drive through Brachina gorge and Bunyeroo gorge, both very spectacular drives with beautiful views,  we planned to stop for lunch somewhere but was too cold to get out of the car, and someone had forgotten to pack the bread, so it was cheese rolled up in slice of ham for lunch! The site seeing ended with a walk to the Sacred Canyon but we nearly got blown away. Back to camp and nice warm camp kitchen for dinner and a few drinks. ..

[Jacko]

Day 4 - Tue 24th Rawnsley Park to Farina
Woke to another wet pack up this time light drizzle but can't complain too much as the winds of the previous night had gone. So after a fuel up at the park we set of about 8:30 on a very overcast day, we decided to take the Moralana scenic drive which turned out to be a very picturesque trip with lots of skippy's and emu's one of which decided to try and drag race me for about a km, much to the delight of the kids. Next stop was Leigh Creek for a food break and decided to stop at Lyndhurst for fuel only to find it shut when we got there,  had just enough to get to Farina for the night and into Marree the next day. Stopped at the ruins in Farina and had a look around the old town, what an interesting place it is/was the kids were fascinated that anyone could live out here and not even have a  internet connection!  The camp ground is fantastic set amongst trees on a great grassy site with fire pits and bins everywhere,  the donkey fed showers and flushing toilets were great. On the rise above the campground is the War Memorial with a great read about the people that served in both wars that were from the area. As we didn't collect any wood on the way in it was very cold and early night was in order,  but what a great spot Farina is...

[Jacko]

Day 5 - Wed 25th Farina to Algebuckina
Woke up at about 5ish for a call of nature and it was beautiful clear skies, only to wake up at 7:30 to be greeted by thick fog and another wet pack up,  we're getting good at them.  Dried everything as best as possible and enjoyed a lovely shower before hitting the road around 9:30 a bit later than planned and in a bit of a rush as it was going to be a long drive up the Oodnadatta track to meet up with the others at Algebuckina, which is where my problems arose, more on that soon. A stop in st Marree to fuel up the car and ourselves and a photo at the start of the track and  we were off up Oodnadatta for the first time! It was a lot wider than I imagined it would be and a pretty easy drive most of the way, we stopped at Plane Henge gor a look and found Mandrake  taking a heap of photos. A quick chata they were off and us too,  we seemed to leap frog them a couple of times as we stopped for photo opps, we stopped and checked out Lake Eyre south and then pushed onto William Creek for fuel and just in time for lunch.  We arrived at Algebuckina about 4:30 ish and checked out the bridge looking for bickiematt and lindamc, couldn't find them until another group pointed out that there was more campsites on the other side of the track and there we found them setup. So we found ourselves a spot and setup when my daughter said "dad I like what you have put on the back window it looks good" then I found that a rock had shattered the rear window because I had forgotten to put the corflute  in place in my rush that morning,  with only the tint holding it together.  With over 250km of track still to go I was not confident of it holding together. I had few choice words with myself and after a few beers all was good again.

[Ynot]

Hopefully all good from here mate. Sounds great so far


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[shrek4]

Sounds like an adventure already and the main game hasn't event begun.

Oh, by the way we're camped next to you in Alice. Trackabout CT and brown Pajero. Check the number plate

[dlncooke]

Sounds like a great trip, Iv'e been following a few trips over the last week and every one of them has been great.
We have our big trip planned for june/july 2015 so i can collect info and put it to good use,

Have a safe trip and look forward to your next post/adventure.


Cheers
Dave

[GGV8Cruza]

A great trip so far, Rawnsley for us as well was the worst winds I had ever had, must be something about the place.

GG

[brickiematt]

Good report Jacko! Was a great trip along the Oodnadatta with you guys.
Looking forward to sharing a few more beers with you over the next few weeks.

[Jacko]

Defiantly Matt, as long as I can get the tailgate open to get those beers!


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[Snow]

Great report so far Jacko.  I hope the rest of the trip is a ripper. Looking forward to further installments.

[BAN]

Sounds like you guys are having a great trip, looking forward to reading more.

Say hello to the wife and kids for us.

BAN