07 January, 2009

2008 in Retrospect - Driving Holiday

Well, this entry was supposed to be the first in the series entitled "2008 in Retrospect", but I goofed. Oh well.

This year we haven't been able to affort to go on homeschool camps or even to go on our usual driving holidays, so the last time we went away was back in January 2008. We went to Pt Pirie, Jamestown, Canowie Belt, Apilla and Apilla Springs, Whyalla and Whyalla Norrie, Pt Augusta, Moonta Bay and Moonta, Wallaroo, Pt Vincent and Edithburg.

Our preferred choice of accommodation is cabins in caravan parks, but as it was school holidays, and Christmas to boot, we ran into problems finding vacancies along the way, so for Moonta Bay and Pt Vincent we were forced to upgrade to the significantly more expensive option of holiday homes.

Along the way we picked up our friend Ya-Ya, who was able to enjoy a free holiday with us for part of our journey as we visited various beaches and homeschoolers, too.

Our trip started ominously as we left very late, then had a minor collission less than an hour from home (from which the culprit sped away !!!), then we made a navigational error and ended up more than half an hour in the opposite direction, then we became temporarily misplaced trying to get back to where we should have been up to, and then once we were on our way properly a tyre on our trailer shredded! So in 42+ degree heat, on a sandy siding, with millions of flies, my poor husband tried to change the tyre - fortunately a passing local stopped to give a bit of a hand.

The rest of the trip was reasonably uneventful, except for when I walked full force into an air conditioning unit sticking out of the side wall of one of our cabins - I've never been so close to fainting as all went black and my legs began to give way beneath me! Fortunately my husband, who never breaks into a run, must have decided that the squawk he heard come from me sounded sufficiently serious enough that he managed to dash and catch me before I hit the ground. I had a lovely nap in the cabin after that ...

But really, overall it was a great trip ... um, except for when David gashed his foot open on a razor fish (not really a fish at all, but a huge shell).

I do miss our little driving holidays.


Photo #1: playing chess with Daddy in one of the hotels at Jamestown

Photo #2: fun with old tyres while waiting for a new tyre to be fitted in Pt Pirie

Photo #3: wading in the rock pools after dinner at Moonta Bay

Photo $4: climbing the cliffs with homeschool friends at Apilla Springs


























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