Home...Well sort of...

So we've made it to Melbourne our new home...well it will be after our 8 months of summer travel...



So for all of you playing at home our final score card from Perth to Melbourne has been:

• 3,950 km travelled, all in a small purple hatchback,
• $442 on fuel, $225 on accomodation & $24 for 6 stubbies of Carlton draft,
• 18 holes of golf, 16 of which were played in thongs,
• 2 blocks of chocolate and 1 bag of lollies, mostly eaten by Louise...
• 1 crazy hitch hiker and
• 0 animals injured, despite the suicidal roo's

The overall drive has been an experience to say the least. I can now official say I have driven the Nullarbor & Great Ocean Road, been to South Australia (maybe not a huge claim to fame but I'm ticking it off my bucket list alright...), passed more road trains than I would of liked at speeds I shouldn't of been going and most importantly par'd 2 holes of the worlds longest golf course.



And what might you ask does someone do once they have finish a long 5 day session of driving across Australia... Well they get into the Festive Spirt by purchasing a 4 pack of Red Hill Christmas Ale and sharing it with their nephew... Merry Christmas to all!!!

Posted with Blogsy

The hitch hiker

Day 2 started well. We got away early and were able to reach the next hole, Fraser’s Range, whilst most were still having breakfast. The short par 3 was accompanied by magnificent scenery, which was only made sweeter once I made my first par of the course. After some very exuberant celebrating we were on the road again.

The day seemed to fly by almost as fast as the odometer kept turning and before we knew it we had another 5 holes down. Although I am sorry to report they were much less impressive than the first. Broken but not beaten we battled on to get 3 more holes in and reach the border before nightfall and the advancing storm.

Approximately 20km’s before the Mundrabilla road house we can across a very scruffy and lonely hitch hiker. It may have been the boredom of the road or his incredible eagerness for a lift but we decided to squeeze him in. Whilst quiet at first our new friend proved himself to be a very good travelling companion. Not only was he a super keen golfer but he was also willing to take the wheel for the final stretch. What a guy.....



Packed, ready to go and on our way....

Clothes..........Check
Water............Check
Snacks...........Check
Eskie............Check
Swag.............Check
Map..............Check
Golf clubs.......Check..........

Oh..... and Wife.............Check

And we are ready to go....

Its actually quite surprising how much you can fit into a small hatchback....

So our journey has officially stated today and what a day it has been. We have covered almost 800km in the little purple rocket and she is holding up well, with only minor treatment required so far {inset man holding duct tape, with smile and thumbs up here}. At approximately 6am (western standard time) we official said good-bye to Perth and made our way to Kalgoorlie, the first stop of the Nullarbor Journey. Here we took in the sights, main street, the red light district, Superpit lookout and of course the main event the Kalgoorlie Golf Course, the starting point of the Nullarbor Links. To be honest I was quite surprised with the quality of the course, rolling fairways, lush greens and the unforgiving rough, which of course I got to know very well in the two holes I played.

After Kal we hit the road again stopping only at Kambalda, for a very short and dusty Par 4, before coming upon Norseman, for another 2 holes and the rest stop for the night. The Norseman course has a lovely back drop right along the edge of Lake Cowan. The wonderful abundance of gumtrees is probably the best way to tell the rough from the fairway, with the native weeds providing minimal coverage of the dirt and rocks below in both areas. I can also definitely recommend wearing shoes rather than thongs, as my 8mm pluggers were no match for the monstrous bindies lurking at every step.

So after our first day my 3 points of wisdom I can share with you are as follows:

1.      Wear shoes when playing the links

2.      Duct tape can fix anything and

3.      Beer and rendang are the best way to finish a long days driving