Last night when Bernie was cleaning his teeth the smoke alarm in our room went PEEP, PEEP and then stopped. Then, just as we were settling in to go to sleep, the smoke alarm went PEEP, PEEP and then stopped. Hmmn, it probably means that the battery needs replacing? However, the ceiling was too high to be able to disable the alarm to ensure a good nights sleep so we settled in regardless. Fortunately, we didnt hear anything more from the smoke alarm until 6.20am this morning which was sort of about time to get moving for the big drive home anyway.
After a shower and a quick breakfast, we packed the car for the final time and checked out. Shannon, our tour guide from last night, was in the reception area and said that the road from Mungo to Balranald is ‘smooth as. Ahem, by whose measure?? Its about 150 kilometres from Mungo Lodge to Balranald and only the last third of that was ‘smooth as when we reached the Road. The rest was a mix of corrugations, uneven gravel and roadworks with the occasional patch of bitumen when we crossed cattle grids!
for a leg stretch and to make use of the public conveniences at the Visitor Information Centre. Very clean! According to the maintenance board they had been cleaned at 9.45am this morning and they still smelled lovely and bleachy.
We crossed into Victoria at Swan Hill where we had to check out the BIG Murray Cod, mainly as an excuse for another leg stretching opportunity! It has to be said that Swan Hills tribute to the Murray Cod is much bigger than Tocumwals. It was a bit early for lunch so we continued to Kerang through still more roadworks!! Kilometres of 80km/hour and 40km/hour roadwork restrictions with little evidence of any work taking place. Frustrating. We tracked down some tasty Italian focaccias at the Kerang Bakery for a quick lunch before hitting the road again.
Our final stop for the day had to be at the Bridgewater Bakehouse to pick up some of their delicious vanilla slices. They took the title for Australias Best Vanilla Slice again in 2021. The vanilla slices have been consumed at the time of writing this and they did not disappoint. Its lucky that the bakery is as far as it is from
After nearly 7,000km (thanks Cathy and Steve for keeping track!) and five weeks on the road it was lovely to arrive home while it was still daylight at about 4.30pm. The has performed well, but is absolutely filthy. It had a few washes along the way, but will be going to the car wash again tomorrow to start trying to rid it of the red dust that has infiltrated every nook and cranny. A couple of accessories didnt survive the rigours of the journey quite so well, but nothing too serious and nothing that cant be fixed.
A big thank you to Cathy and Steve for joining us on the Great Retirement Road Trip. With some of the rough and remote driving that we did it was good to and a Plan B if we really got stuck!! Thanks Steve for helping Bernie to dig the out of the sand in Coffin Bay National Park!!!
I havent kept a daily record of who has been winning at cards but, of course, we have been playing Bolivia throughout the trip. The pairings have varied from night to
night so Cathy recorded the wins for each of us individually. I as I enjoyed a remarkable run of luck. It didnt seem to matter who I partnered up with, I won more games than I lost! The final reckoning was: Tracey 18, Steve 12, Bernie 10, and Cathy 8.
