Day 80 - Home Sweet Home!

 
We’re finally home!!

While we thoroughly enjoyed the trip, there really is nothing like home! We should have named this blog ‘Around Australia in 80 Days’.

We thought we’d recall some of our memories from the trip:

Favourite Zoo: Dubbo Western Plains Zoo and the Caversham Wildlife Park in Perth.

Favourite Animal: Giraffe (Adrian), Meerkat (Kylie), Cassowary, Kangaroo and Dingo (Ryan).

Best Caravan Park: Big 4 Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort.

Best Cabin: Tamworth Big 4 Paradise Tourist Park.

Favourite Experience: Swimming with the dolphins (Kylie), Sky Diving Simulator (Adrian), Going to the zoo and spending time with Mummy and Daddy (Ryan).

Total Kilometres Travelled: Just over 16,000km in our car plus two flights, two hire cars and two crossings of the Bass Straight!!

Thank you for sharing our journey with us!


 

*Quiz Answers – Final Week*

 
Quiz Question #79 – Which TOWN is in South Australia just after the Victorian BORDER?

Answer #79 – Border Town – what more can I say?

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Quiz Question #80 – Which bird is the official ‘bird emblem’ of Western Australia?

Answer #80 - The official ‘bird emblem’ of Western Australia is the Black Swan.

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Quiz Question #81 – Compared to the other states, where does Western Australia rank in terms of population (e.g. 1st, 9th)?

Answer #81 – Western Australia is the 4th largest state population wise, beaten by New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

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Quiz Question #82 – What is chocolate made from?

Answer #82 – Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, grown in Africa, South America and parts of Asia.

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Quiz Question #83 – Which family are dingos from (e.g. bears, cats, frogs)?

Answer #83 – Dingos are from the wolf family – a common misconception is that they come from the dog family.

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Quiz Question #84 – What is the floral emblem of South Australia?

Answer #84 – The floral emblem of South Australia is the Sturt Desert Pea.

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Quiz Question #85 – What is Coober Pedy best known for?

Answer #85 – Coober Pedy is best known for opals, with numerous opal mines in and around the town.
 

Day 79 – Tennant Creek

 
It was a fairly quite drive today with not many people on the roads and we made good time now that we can drive up to 130 km/hr.

We had a couple of interesting stops along the way.

The first was in the alien capital of Australia, Wycliffe Well:







The second was at Devil’s Marbles which boasts some pretty impressive rock formations:





Accommodation – Outback Caravan Park

Rest Stops – Ti Tree, Wycliffe Well, Devils Marbles
 

Day 78 – Alice Springs

 
We were glad to leave Coober Pedy – it’s not a particularly nice place and the bed in the caravan park was basically a slab of hard foam....

It was good to cross the border back into the Territory!!

It took a few hours to drive up to Alice Springs from the border and when we did we crossed the Todd River which was dry as usual:



Poor Ryan has been cooped up in the car for a few long days in a row so we found a playground for him to work off some of his excess energy:





Accommodation – Big4 MacDonnell Range Holiday Park

Rest Stops – Marla, Erldunda
 

*Quiz Answers – Week 10*

 
Quiz Question #72 – Which other city in Australia has a Luna Park?

Answer #72 – The most famous Luna Park is located in Sydney.

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Quiz Question #73 – What is the average speed of the Spirit of Tasmania during crossings of the Bass Straight?

Answer #73 - the average speed of the Spirit of Tasmania during crossings of the Bass Straight is 27 knots or 50 kilometres and hour.

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Quiz Question #74 – What name was given to Tasmania in 1642 by Dutch explorers?

Answer #74 – In 1642 Dutch explorers named Tasmania “Van Diemens Land”.

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Quiz Question #75 – What is the name of the bridge that crosses the Derwent River into Hobart?

Answer #75 – The Tasman Bridge crosses the Derwent River into Hobart.

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Quiz Question #76 – In which town was Adrian born?

Answer #76 – Adrian was born in Launceston, Tasmania.

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Quiz Question #77 – On which river does Launceston sit?

Answer #77 – Launceston sits on the Tamar River.

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Quiz Question #78 – In which year was gold first discovered in Ballarat (hint: between 1850 and 1870)?

Answer #78 – Gold was first discovered in Ballarat in 1851.
 

Day 77 – Coober Pedy

 
We had a fairly quiet day today, with not much traffic on the long, flat and straight roads.

There were also very few towns along the way. The two or three that there were over the 500 kilometres were nothing much more than a pub and petrol bowser.

Coober Pedy is a small mining town with mines everywhere, in and around the town, with houses and shops built into the sides of the mines (and a few free standing ones too).



I couldn’t convince Kylie to stay in one of the underground motels so we had to settle for the caravan park instead.

We found one more of the ‘Big Things’ – The Big Winch in the middle of town:



Accommodation – Big4 Oasis Tourist Park

Rest Stops - Pimba, Bon Bon Rest Stop

Quiz Question #85 – What is Coober Pedy best known for?
 

Day 76 – Port Augusta

 
We had a long travel day today.

Ryan woke up at 05:30 after having had a 4 hour nap yesterday afternoon. I had arranged for a wake up call at 06:00 and it arrived on time….

At 06:00 the fire alarms went off in the hotel. We jumped up and started to leave when they stopped, so I quickly packed the suitcases.

About half an hour later a different alarm sounded so we decided to head for the airport earlier than planned.

No business class upgrades this time, but the flight was 30 minutes shorter. Ryan wasn’t as calm this time but luckily he went to sleep after an hour and slept for the rest of the flight.

When we landed we jumped in the car and drove 3 hours up to Port Augusta as Adelaide is hosting the Special Olympics and accommodation was scarce.

P.S. Ryan loves Aunty Kate and he is very sorry that he keeps telling Daddy to make jokes about her on the blog. ‘Arr me hearties!’.

Accommodation – Port Augusta Big4 Holiday Park

Rest Stops – Adelaide, Port Wakefield

Quiz Question #84 – What is the floral emblem of South Australia?