Thursday 23 October 2014

esCarpade 2014 Day 5 - Tanunda (Barossa Valley) - Berri - Wentworth

Morning in the beautiful Barossa Valley, and Damian was up early enough to catch a hot air balloon sailing overhead in the sunrise...


At breakfast, Deano and Kylie made a guest appearance...


Breakfast at Lehman Brothers winery... tough to take!!


Ben getting ready for the driver briefing...


But first, a group photo... Safety first!!


Angus waiting with Booger Mobile for the school visit to start...


Photobombing Car 5!!


Lined up waiting for the school visit...


Lots of cars!!


On the road towards the school visit...


Past lots of wine trees!!


Sunny days... sweeping the... clouds away!!


Nice old buildings in Angaston...


Lining up waiting to make a grand entrance...


Lots of cars...


But only one Booger Mobile!!


The Good Shepherd Lutheran College welcomed everyone!!


Kids collecting lollies... Teachers collecting water from water cannons - whether they wanted it or not!!


The excitement was palpable!!


Inside, it was time for the kids to watch the Camp Quality puppet show...


Deano and Kylie...


Up the back was Damian, Angus and Laurie from Fireman Sam...  Good times!!


Post song celebrations...


On the road towards Berri...  Damian and Angus decided to give Booger Mobile one more good run on the bitumen before heading back onto the dirt after lunch if it works well!!


Watch out for stunt trucks!!


Nice views...


Long, straight roads!!


Damian and Angus being somewhat happy...


Past a sign...


Across the Murray River...


More straight roads...


And what would a road-trip be without Angus having a bit of a kip along the way?


More wine trees...


Murray River again...


And again... sort of!!


Almost there...


How much longer could it be?


Oh... that much longer!!


Keep going... Berri is coming up!!


Turn right...


The boys arrived at lunch in Berri, on the banks of the Murray River!!


Not a bad spot to stop for a bite!!


Damian testing the Team Booger Mobile inspired mint slice!!


Murray River...


And looking the other direction...


Booger Mobile at the Murray River...


After lunch, Damian went in search of a new water cannon, after the unfortunate demise of the one he had for the past couple of years...  Sadly it sprung a leak to the extent that as he tried to spray kids, he got sprayed more!!


Also, Damian took Booger Mobile to be fuelled up...  Turns out he was the very first customer of a newly opened BP service station (the GPS said it was a Caltex).  Damian asked if there was some prize for being first, but apparently not!!

Arriving at Berri Public School after lunch, Damian ran amok with his new water cannon while Angus handed out lollies... 

Time for a quick selfie on the way to the puppet show...


Heading to the show...


Buzz Like You dancing up a storm...


Puppet time!!


esCarpadians doing their song...


Toot toot HONK HONK!!


Waving their hands in the air like they just don't care!!


Another awesome set of esCarpadians...


Last chorus!!


Back on the road, ready to head onto the dirt!!


Lined up...


And they're off!!


Crossing the Murray River... again!!


A bit of bitumen...


Then onto the dirt!!


This is the same road...


So is this...


And this...


This one too!!


This one was a different road, but looks the same!!


Back on the road, and under the big Dunlop archway...
 

Heading towards the SA/Victoria border...


Driving on the highway...


Then this lunatic passed a line of esCarapade cars at well over 150km/hr!!


There's the border...


Driving down the Border Fence track...


Vroom!!


Not a bad track..


Had a couple of hairy bits, but was pretty good!!


Briefly back on the bitumen...


Then back onto the dirt...


Some of the roads were fairy white...


Others red...


This road clearly is on a flood plain, otherwise why would they need the side markers?


Go!!


Great tracks today...


Vroom!!


Angus looking serious while navigating...


Damian happy that Booger Mobile was finally going well again!!  The latest consensus is that there was simply some bad fuel collected along the way...


These roads were great to drive on, and were long!!


Very long...


Awesomely long!!


81 getting some assistance...


Some of the roads looked as though a bit of moisture was coming up through the surface...


These would be treacherous in the wet!!


Back onto a white road...


A bend!!


Ho hum, the Murray River again...


Making good progress, Booger Mobile was going sweetly!!


Couple of cattle grids...


More white roads...


The occasional pothole...


And some ruts to keep things interesting!!


Nice, wide and smooth... perfect!!


These roads were a whole lot of fun...


Coming up to a give way sign...


And out the other side...


Back on the bitumen...


A nice, old bridge...


One way!!


Pretty...


Out the other side, and heading to check-in at Wentworth!!


Not too much further...


A bit of 100km/hr...


MW2 following Booger Mobile...


Crossing the Murray River... again...


Might have been the Darling River...


At this point, Damian was confused by the very clear instruction given by Angus, and missed the final left turn to check-in...

Proceeding straight ahead, Angus wanted Damian to do a U-turn, but Damian figured that driving around the block and checking in from the opposite direction was a better option, and since he had the steering wheel, that's what they did!!

Dinner was at the Wentworth Services Club...


Damian had fun with the split picture function on his camera...


Some results were hilarious!!


Reg (OKA) and Susan (Camp Quality staff member) posing for a photo...


Ben giving out his awards...  Usually you don't want to feature in Ben's somewhat based-on-a-true-story stories...


Day 5 was done and dusted, and Booger Mobile went very well...  Damian and Angus are quietly hoping that it's a sign of better times to come - hopefully the final two days of driving will be just as good!!

Stay tuned...

3 comments:

  1. 119 photos in this picture blog. We love it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were 121... two seem to have disappeared into the ether!! Never mind, they weren't that interesting!!

      Delete
  2. Nice to see you had a great day!

    ReplyDelete