takin that ride to nowhere

Phew! It's been a massive couple of weeks. I've got so much to say but also a minor block to deal with after so much time without writing. Blog Block... sounds painful +/or messy! Wish me luck with the unblocking. I've got me plunger out!

Weeze + I hit the road last Saturday + are into Day Four of our Outrageous Outback Odyssey. My mind's eye had us driving comfortable distances with long hair streaming in the wind + a hip soundtrack belting out in the background. Each evening - at a glamorous hotel with firm-but-not-fat pillows - I hammer out a witty update before we stroll to a stunning-but-surprisingly-affordable restaurant for a spot of tea. Of course reality is slightly different. After fanging it down the Road To Nowhere for six or so hours, the last thing I've felt capable of is witty updates. A couple of glasses of vino, a flick through cable tv + an early night have been waaaaay more appealing. But hey, don't get me wrong, I'm not whinging. I'm unemployed, I'm discovering new places, the world is my oyster. In fact we've just entered Oyster Country!

Tonight finds us in Port Augusta, enjoying the spacious comfort of the Poinsettia Motor Inn. It's spacious because the only option left was a family room encompassing two wings + five beds. The proprietor suggested we might like to bring a couple of fellas home. No, I am not joking. The guidebook tell us that this industrial town is known by South Australians as 'Port-a-Gutter'. The sign on the back of our door tells us that we should use the security chain at all times. Call me a wuss, but trawling the streets for fellas seems a tad unwise given the little we know about the place.

There have been some risks taken so far, let me assure you. Crazy new car-dancing moves, loud car-singing, impromptu waves to passing motorists, a tiny bit of fruit smuggling. We've even considered writing "Weeze + Claire woz ere" in some outback dunnies. There's plenty of scope for crazy behaviour out here in the wild unknown. Let me tell you.

Okay... so... highlights thus far...

--the place names: Widgewa, Curlwaa, Gumly Gumly, Gol Gol, Goolgowi, Oodlawirra, Orraroo.

--the expansive landscapes + huge skies: everything feels enormous + somehow like we're at the very end of the earth, although clearly we're not... yet. I can only imagine how it might feel when we hit the Head of the Bight.

--the differences in the land as we motor across it: dry rolling alpine country around Yass + Wagga; lush farming land surrounding Griffith; the flat flat flat of the Hay Plain; red dirt making its dramatic entrance before we hit Broken Hill; a sense of real live desert beyond the silver city; + finally unxpected green + actual hills (not just occasional hillocks) as we moved back towards the coast. The variations seem infinite!

--the wildlife: plenty of it dead on the side of the road as we'd expected, but also the live stuff - an enormous range of birds, hundreds of feral goats, occasional kangaroos + emus.

--the tumbleweeds: they tumble, they gather in families in the middle of paddocks, they find themselves choralled into fences or sitting in strange (juxta)positions in fields of green vegies, they rock. I wanted to hug one until I discovered that they're highly prickly. I also wanted to take one with us as a mascot but I had to be happy with a couple of photos.

--the soundtrack: it IS hip + we HAVE been belting it out. We have wonderful friends with amazing taste in music, it must be said.

--the company: silly jokes, dance routines, good coffee, bad coffee, great conversation, shared driving, fun fun fun.

Okay... I'm even boring myself with my endless lists. I'll attempt to get some photos up on my Flickr site tonight so there's a pictorial version instead. Tomorrow we head into the Serious Desert - Ceduna + then onto the Nullabor. No such thing as internet out there my friends. So I'll be seeing you on the other side.

Hugs to everyone who finds time for a read + even those who don't!

xxx