Well folks, at last the time has come. After our unplanned sojourn in Adelaide for over twelve months (we did take a break on Yorke Peninsular for a few weeks in early autumn) the shackles of family obligations have been released and we are again 'on the road'.
As you are no doubt aware I have failed dismally in my mission to 'be out of Tasmania' before this event blogwise, but I'm afraid that could not be helped. There was just too much else going on to allow me a good three hours or so each morning at the keyboard or the photo file (at the moment it takes two of these sessions to prepare one missive).
I'm determined to complete our Tassie tour, but may skip a few spots, and through sheer lack of alternatives, from now on shall intersperse the last of these with our current adventures (that could be interesting for all concerned!)
So, to present plans. The first major announcement is that, to the extraordinary astonishment of my spouse, I have finally capitulated....detailed planning is now a thing of the past.....the gypsy spirit has won out.
In fact this has been put into practice already, but one day out of Adelaide. As we made our way north to Crystal Brook yesterday, to spent two days allowing Liz to catch up with an old work colleague who now lives here, with the plan to then immediately head east across the Barrier Highway, it occurred to me that we were going to be only 30 kms or so from Port Pirie, a town in which we had planned to spend a few days at about this time............a year ago!
The moment of truth occurred as we were abreast the dry salt pan which is usually the large lake at Lochiel (I have never seen it dry before.....in over 60 years...I used to stay on my Uncle's nearby farm as a kid).
"Lizzie, I've been thinking. Why don't we hop over to Pirie for a few days after we leave Crystal Brook?"
Stunned silence. No reaction at all. I took my eyes ever so briefly off the road to make sure that my navigator had not fainted. She hadn't, but words were not forthcoming for what seemed an eternity. Even then they were slightly less than encouraging. "Are you feeling OK?"
I should explain that my dearly beloved has been on my back for eons to 'just wander about as the mood takes us'. This very thought has been anathema to one so professionally used to planning things down to the last detail, but after the wake up call of forced immobility, the penny has dropped with a resounding clang.
So, dear readers, I can tell you that from Pirie we shall be travelling east across to Broken Hill, with an overnight stop at the border pub at Cockburn, a few days in Wilcannia and a detour up and back to the opal mining village of White Cliffs, and, because there is no where else to go, a stopover in Cobar.........but beyond that at this stage (apart from our arrival into Kurrimine Beach in mid July) ??????
The pretty little town of Warren is on the radar, as is Walgett, and we are thinking of going bush through the Channel country (up through Quilpie, Windorah, Jundah etc to Longreach) before turning back towards the coast, but with the new mood prevailing, anything is likely.
I suspect these updates will become a much more regular feature of the Mobile Marshies' missives than has been the case in the past.
Let the new adventures begin!
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