Travelog Australia 2015: Ayer Rocks to Port Augusta.. or not..

Date: July 2nd, 2015

We had a very long journey back, 1200km+ to Port Augusta. But this time, we had 4 drivers. Left the Park at around 11.30am and reached NT-SA border 4hrs later. Nothing much interesting to tell until we pulled over the rest area for iftar at around 5.30pm.

We departed at around 6.45pm for our journey. The moon was so bright yet it was so dark. Not a single soul was around and occasionally, trucks or pick up passed us through.

Few minutes after that, it happened... We had a collision with a herd of cow crossing the road near Marla, SA. my BIL broke his arm and I fractured my left ankle. my friend (the driver) suffered wound and bruises on her hand and leg and another one of my friend had bruises along his torso.

I wont elaborate more. Few minutes after the accident, a truck of prison wardens was on the way back and saw us. We had to wait for more than 2hrs until the ambulance arrive (nearest hospital was 170km away). We're brought to the Marla Outback rest area (a pub actually).and were pretty lucky that Marla does have an airstrip.

Me and my driver friend were accessed there and all of our clothing were cut. The guys were sat down and rested while waiting for us. 3 of us were later brought to a nearby clinic while waiting for flight clearance. I had no idea what time it was but I remembered I saw a clock while being wheeled out. It was around 4am. my BIL was sent to the hospital via the ambulance instead since his injury wasn't serious (we found out later that he broke more bone than me) and will be taking the flight the next day.

I was given morphine and the side effect showed when I threw up right after I boarded the plane. The plan was small, it could only fit 2 patient on stretcher and maybe 3 passenger on chairs. So it's basically me + my doctor; my friend + her doctor and my other friend. I could only remember the panels on my left where all the gadgets were and the doc/nurse seated on my right. I could barely opened my eyes after that and dozed off.

When i woke up, we had reached Adelaide and was heading to the ambulance. I was still drowsy, then next thing I know I was at Royal Adelaide A&E... I was scheduled for surgery the next day but after some discussion with the Orthopedist, I will have the surgery back home (5days after the MV accident).

We had to extend our stay in Adelaide, thanks to the Malaysian students there. I will forever be grateful to them and the world is small, their family resides in Sg. Petani, about an hour from when I'm living now :)

All in all, it was an unforgettable experience. One main lesson to learn is to make sure you have Travel Insurance or to confirm if you Medical does cover overseas hospitalization. Usually I do purchase travel insurance but for this trip, I was too busy to do so. Luckily, my medical insurance from work does cover overseas hospitalization although none of us really use our insurance to pay for this accident.

We pretty much ended our Oz trip here. back in Sydney, my friends went around on their own but just to few places and me? i stayed at home entertained by my 2 adorable nieces :D

Travelog Australia 2015: Adelaide Shores Caravan Park, West Beach.

Date: June 27th-28th, 2015

Our 1st overnight stay was at the Shores Caravan Park. By the time we drove in, it was around 9pm. The office was already closed so we had to call the number at the door.

Couple of minutes after, one of the staff came and handed us an envelope with our cabin number and map. The park was huge and luckily the cabin area was at the front side. There were a lot of camper van but not a single soul in sight. it's not even 10 but everybody  was asleep? Yes, that is how Australia is.

It was really cold so we hurriedly brought our stuff out. We tried to on the heater mode on the aircond but despite of our attempt, it just didnt work. The temp was set at 26C but it was as cold as outside temp. In the cold night, we cooked fried rice for dinner and set for our plan tomorrow before going to bed.

We stayed in a 1bedroom cabin, a family type cabin. They're 2 bunk bed in the room and 1 double bed in the main living area. The room was really small where the space was just enough for me and Nad so it was more like a room for small kids. We initially wanted to stay in the living area but changed our mind since the living area was a bigger space and colder. 

The cabin has everything including a fully equipped kitchen but NO ENSUITE TOILET/bathroom. All 'business' need to done at the nearby common restroom (50m away)..

We started the not-so-early day by walking around. There was a beach nxt to the Park but  since we're tight on schedule, we just quickly walked around. No photo here since they're all in my lost camera.

We left around 9am for our furthest distance leg of the trip- to Coober Pedy, 893km away

Travelog Australia 2015: Melbourne to Adelaide, Adelaide CBD

Date: June 27th, 2015

Our flight to Adelaide was at 10.15am. Hence, we took the 8am train from Flinders St. Station and later a bus from Broadmeadows to the airport. Being Saturday, not many people were around and I noticed a lot more of backpackers while waiting for the bus. By 9.30am, we have checked in and dropped our luggage at Qantas counter.

The flight was smooth and we arrived in Adelaide as scheduled around 11.10am. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Fifi waiting for us right at the gate! Then only I know that domestic terminal in Oz allowed people to wait and escort up to the gate.

Right after we arrived, our next destination is the Camper Van rental. For this, I dont really have the detail as the rental was settled by Fifi. After watching the safety video and signing the agreement, off we go.

 Our 1st stop was a Park, the 1st stop for the Free tram CBD zone. I cant recall the park name but it was most likely close to Railways Oval since the tram line was from the suburb area towards to Airport. We left our camper van there and board the tram towards Adelaide Central Market.

 We bought rice, veggies,fruits and chicken there. My gosh, it was a lot and so we decided to return to our Van to leave the foods there before heading to Rundle Mall..

 Of course, we borong bottles of mineral water, chips, chocolate, Timtum, Timtum and more Timtum LOL!

 Had our iftar at the Swinging Bowl (a.k.a Mangkuk Hayun). The pricing here depends whether you're a student or not (they have student discount). Thumbs up! This was our 1st proper Melayu meal in days but it was tasty. The drinks were free flow, same with the bubur jagung. With mat-sallehs' portion, we dont really need to top them up.

After iftar, we returned to our Camper and bid Fifi farewell. It was close to 7pm and we officially start our Red Center Roadtrip with our 1st stop -->> the Laundrymart. Kind of stupid, i would say. Coz the Camper Park has laundry! Arghhh if only we knew, we could settle down to our cabin earlier while doing our laundry. We spend almost 2hrs here but while we're there, couple of policemen came and talked to a guy there. He looked homeless but we're not sure as he was doing his own thing, not bothering us. It ended up with the man leaving the laundry mart.

p/s: You can see our food stock for this trip. Timtum and Chips have got to be on top hahaha.

 Anyways, after everything was settled, we drove to our 1st camper park @Adelaide Shores Caravan Park, West Beach.