We have loved our trip, our time together and the adventures we’ve had. We could keep on going, for sure. It’s been so exciting to show Fergus and Harry all the amazing places there are in our very own country, all the adventures you can have, how to make the most of where we are and what we have, and to teach them about the history of this place. We know they’ve learned so much that they’ll never forget, and will talk about “the trip they did with mum and dad in 2013” when they start planning something just like this with their own children.

And just for the records, we have

• Driven ….km (to be updated after the winner of the bet is announced) in the legendary Landcruiser – and just one flat tyre the whole way.
• Been on the road for 103 days through 3 states and one territory.
• Stayed at 70 different locations.
• Been in one helicopter, one sea-plane, one car ferry, one yacht, one really fast jet boat, one more leisurely motor boat to not see whale sharks.
• Taken lots and lots of photos.
• Walked, hiked, climbed, ridden bikes, swum in water holes, gorges and the ocean, paddled the kayak, dived for spear fishing and just for looking, surfed (okay, so I didn’t surf) and flown a kite.

Favourite camp sites: Harry – on the Warren River near Pemberton, Fergus – Red Bluff north of Carnarvon, John – Middle Lagoon north of Broome, and me – the cliff top looking over the Great Australian Bight near the WA/SA border.

Favourite memory: Harry – helicopter flight over Purnululu (Bungle Bungle), Fergus – seeing the whale right next to the beach at Red Bluff, John – surfing Red Bluff on his own, and me – snorkelling at Turquoise Bay on Ningaloo Reef.

Next up? Well we have to complete the lap round Australia! Or there’s Alaska, Uganda, Italy, America – to name a few of the ideas being tossed around the car.

Pardon the pun, but “Stay Posted”.

It’s only a few days till we get home now. What a fantastic 100 days it’s been so far though. We all have different favourite sights, camps and experiences. There will be stories to tell for years to come.

But for today…..we awoke to a light breeze. Phew! But that meant the return of the wretched flies. We all agreed that these are the worst, thickest flies we’ve had on the trip so far. It was a relief to get in the car. We drove on to Cowell, a lovely old town chock full of historic buildings. From there it’s only 15km to Lucky Bay for our ferry trip. Now I don’t know how this particular Lucky Bay got its name, but I sure hope that Matthew Flinders didn’t name this place Lucky Bay here in South Australia, and then forgot all about doing it and then named the other Lucky Bay near Esperance. Just to confuse us.

We crossed the Spencer Gulf from Cowell to Wallaroo rather than driving up to Port Augusta and on to Adelaide via Port Pirie. It saves about 350km, but I’m not sure if it’s a whole lot faster.

The Ferry from Lucky Bay to Wallaroo. Last on, first off.

The ferry rolled about on the swell quite a bit, and I was glad to get on solid land. The trip was about 2.5 hours, but the play list of music was only about an hour long. I couldn’t listen to ‘American Pie’ a third time, so I went up to the open deck to get really bad hair.

Once we left Wallaroo, it was like being dropped into another planet. Figuratively speaking. Suddenly there was traffic, power lines, residential squeeze, and humanity in general. Life sure is different on the Eyre Peninsula. At least the price od diesel is under $1.60. We’re camped next to Belair National Park about 10km south east of Adelaide CBD. It’s cold.

There was nothing left to do in Elliston with the wind blowing like this. We went south to Locks Well. There’s no well there, but we checked anyway. It’s a beach that was copping a blasting, down 283 stairs from the car park, and a chance to get out of the car.

The beach at Locks Well

From the west coast to the east coast. Driving across the Eyre Peninsula was a beautiful drive, so long as you stayed in the car out of the wind. We took mainly back roads, and sometimes you can’t be sure exactly where you are.

Just watch where you’re going in South Australia

This area had 9% of the state’s farmers, but produces 40% of the state’s wheat harvest. I daresay they are rather wealthy farmers in these parts. The patchwork of paddocks from this lookout near Cleve was a great view.

Eyre Peninsula countryside near Cleve

Some areas have the old hand built stone walls, many of which are still in good condition. There are virtually no trees in many places.

We stopped in at Arno Bay on the east side of the peninsula. They’ve done huge amounts of work on the foreshore here as well as building a great marina. This was done to assist the aquaculture industry here where they have a breeding program for Southern Bluefin tuna, Yellowtail Kingfish and Mulloway. The old part of town is still here too, with a row of tiny old shacks lining the beach. It’s rather a contrast to the new bits.

Tonight’s camp is a bushy. We’ve found a patch of dirt near Port Gibbons with a few trees to break the worst of the wind. Hoping tomorrow bring calm weather.

We did the coastal drive around the area of Elliston. The wind kept blowing, the sea mist continued to cloud the horizon, and the surf was elusive.

But we did find these quirky sculptures along the way.

It felt like we should be at The Easter Islands.

There’s always a silver lining, right? That’s what we found when living through another day of seriously strong wind in Elliston. In a continuing quest to use everything we brought (with the exception of the high lift jack and the jumper leads), out came the kite. This is no ordinary kite. It’s a kite surfing trainer kite. This is the sort of kite that will lift you off the ground and drop you, well, wherever you let go.

Harry hanging on in a strong gust

The concentration!

And you can just see the actual kite in this one….