Road trip through three states

03.08.-05.08.2018

On my last day on the farm, I set off around 3 PM.

I had about 1500 km ahead of me to Cadell, where I wanted to work as a fruit picker with Katharina. But first, I had to stop in Mittagong, as it was the nearest registration office in New South Wales where I had to transfer the car to my name. I had to wait for quite a while, since I don't have an Australian driver's license and had to go to the counter, but once it was finally my turn, it went quite quickly. I had to fill out a lot of papers and they asked for the same information about the car and me everywhere. In the end, I had to pay a small fee of around 33 AUD and the car was officially mine.

I was completely happy when I left there around 5 PM and headed towards Adelaide. My goal was to arrive there by Sunday to pick up Katharina. We planned to drive from there together to our farm job. Since it was already quite late and getting dark quickly, I didn't get very far on the first day. I decided to stay overnight at a rest stop in Bookham (only 218 km away). There were toilets there and another camper was parked there for the night as well. I changed clothes in the front seat, quickly ate something, and then crawled into the back of the car to test my bed for the first night.

It was super cozy and not cold at all.

On Saturday morning, I realized that I had slept surprisingly well. I was still up early and quickly got ready. The couple from the camper was already awake and there was generally a lot of coming and going in the parking lot. Seems to be very popular there. I made myself cornflakes at ease and used the last of the milk from the farm. I was just about to make myself comfortable in the driver's seat and enjoy the cornflakes with good music when it happened.

I dropped the bowl and the milk with the cornflakes ended up in the center console of the car. Breakfast was therefore canceled and I had to quickly clean up because everything was covered in milk. It was definitely not the best start with me alone in the car. Luckily, I had a washbowl, a sponge, and a towel with me. I washed everything as well as I could. I just couldn't reach under the handbrake. I just hoped that not much had landed there. The rest looked fairly clean. It at least smelled fresh. I had eucalyptus oil from Suzanna, which she always uses to clean everything, and I used it generously.

After that, I named the car 'ALMA''. She is white with black on the outside like a typical German cow, and now she was also baptized with milk on the inside. The name seemed very fitting to me. So, Alma and I set off fresh and clean back onto the highway around noon and drove across New South Wales. I stopped briefly on the side of the highway around 4 PM and cooked myself something to eat.

I wanted to do it while it was still light and I could see everything. I wasn't alone for long, as another older guy came along who had the same plan as me. We had a short, nice conversation, and then we each focused on our own food. He was Australian and on his way home from work. Since the journey was quite far and he didn't want to drive in the dark, he simply stopped to sleep in between. He explicitly pointed out to me again how dangerous it is to drive in the dark. After I had eaten, I still drove quite a long way. Since I had lost so much time because of my breakfast incident, I had to cover some more distance in order to make it all the way by Sunday. Driving in the dark was actually fine, until the kangaroos started showing up. They sat in groups at the side of the road and there were also several dead ones on the road. Eventually, it became too eerie for me, and after a total of 563 km, I looked for a rest area to sleep. There was nothing there except a bench, but I didn't mind. I was too tired anyway and just wanted to sleep.

I got up before sunrise on Sunday morning and quickly got ready. After watching the sunrise in the middle of nowhere, I set off and had to find the nearest gas station.

I didn't want to refuel the day before because I was already so exhausted. That wasn't very smart, as the tank was almost empty. After a short time, the low-fuel light came on and I knew I couldn't go further than 50 km. Luckily, I only had 45 km to the next gas station. I was overjoyed when I arrived there. I filled up the tank right away, as the price was okay, and also filled up my 10-liter jerry can on the roof. It was obviously empty since I had forgotten it every time. So, it's really useful when it's just standing there empty =) 103 AUD lighter, I hit the road again.

When I turned off to the gas station, I crossed the Murray River, which is also the border between New South Wales and Victoria.

So, I finally managed to get out of NSW. This state is really huge. I continued along the river for a while and then crossed over to Victoria in Mildura.

However, I didn't stay there for long because after only 116 km, I was already at the next border and entered South Australia. I continued along the Sturt Highway, and there's really nothing to see there. Barren land for the entire stretch.

There were signs along the way warning of the danger of falling asleep because there is nothing for 90 km. And that was the case. Except for sand and trees, there was nothing there. Thanks to good music, I was highly motivated and far from falling asleep. I briefly stopped at the border to South Australia and shortly after that was the checkpoint.

Every car was stopped and checked. What I stupidly didn't know was the fruit ban. You weren't allowed to bring in any fruits or vegetables. I naturally still had fruits and vegetables from the community pantry with me. He took most of it from me and disposed of it right away. It was quite annoying, but not really a big deal. Luckily, there wasn't much. From there, I only had 277 km to drive and I quickly arrived in Adelaide. I met up with Katharina in the city center in the afternoon. I parked in the parking lot of a church because parking was difficult elsewhere. When I arrived, I had to find somewhere to pee and went to the church's community center. I thought it wouldn't be noticeable, since there were many cars there and many people. The stupid thing was that there were only Asians there. Not that it's bad, but it made me stand out a bit :) Luckily, no one said anything. After a quick greeting, we immediately continued because it was raining and we decided to drive to the farm on the same day. So, I didn't really see much of Adelaide.

After another 178 km, we arrived in Cadell before sunset, where we were accommodated for the job. We didn't find it right away and drove along some country roads. Fortunately, there wasn't much, so it wasn't too difficult. We arrived at a huge barn surrounded by caravans. We parked the car in the midst of the other vans and checked out the barn. We greeted everyone and finally arrived at our new home for the next period of time. In the barn, there was a dining table, a stove, dishes, and some kitchen appliances. There was also a pool table, sofas, and a TV. It wasn't excessive, and everything looked quite messy and dirty, but that was to be expected at a backpacker accommodation. We sat down, drank beer, and slowly got to know everyone. After quickly making ourselves something to eat in the evening, we went to sleep in the car. Surprisingly, we both fit in there quite well, and on top of that, we got along well.

My first solo trip with Alma went great, and I think we'll be good friends. At least I hope she'll be a loyal companion for the rest of my time here :)