Are we there Yet, wherever there is?

Anyone who has driven any decant distance with kids knows this phrase only too well. Any road trip we had done previous to our big trip had this and every other one, "I'm hungry", "I'm bored", "he's touching me", "she's looking at me". It is never ending. Which is why it is so surprising for me to report that we had hardly any of the that through, NSW, Tas or Vic. But I don't know what it was about South Australia that made the kids feel the need too make up for lost time, an onslaught of all of the above and more, nearly all the time.

We drove across the boarder into South Australia and headed to Mt Gambia. Here we spent only enough time to check out the beautiful Blue Crater lake and have a pit stop. Then it was back in the bus for another 100km or so through to Penola. Is was my request to head here as apparently my mums family were from here. This historic little town provided the kids yet another Australian history lesson, in Ryder's words "another old time place". The whole row of National trust houses on Petticoat lane was where we found the family name up on the wall.

With the history lesson over we drove to the coast. We parked our bus over looking a deserted windswept beach and as I watched Sonny off exploring in his own world I thought of the movie 'Storm Boy' based on the Colin Thiele novel. As it turned out this was the area where this story was based. We camped here only long enough to cook some marshmallows and collect some cuttle fish then back in the bus.

The kids were beginning to feel it. "Are we there yet?" We put them off as much as we could with every non committal answer we could think of. In reality our trip has had far less planning and the 'there' the kids were asking about was unclear. Sime and I decide where 'there' is when we get 'there' . Dakoda is the one doesn't like this the most, she wants to know where 'there' is as soon as she gets out of bed.

We parked the bus just out of Adelaide while we explored the Adelaide hills. Quaint towns like Handorf founded by German settlers allowed the kids to look in a wonderful puppet shop and be amazed by some very elaborate cook coo clocks. We scootered along the Glenelg foreshore and had a surprise catch up in the botanical gardens with auntie Katie. The Barossa Valley was stunning but not so kid friendly. We still weren't there.

The kids kept asking about the Nullabour, they seemed excited to get there. But before then we had to explore SA's Eyre Peninsular. It was here we found some beautiful free camp spots and I guess if we liked fishing a little more it would have been even better. Port Lincoln, at the bottom tip was a good base to look around Coffin Bay National Park. We drove through the park getting up close and personal with the emus. It wasn't long before the kids saw the big sand dunes and we suggested we might go there later. We did go there and passed a stuck 4x4 on the way, of course we stopped and offered our help but they were fine. CB channels were swapped just in case, little did we know it was us who would need the help. We ventured down onto the flat sand just to turn around and head back to the dunes but in a second we were bogged. We all leaped out and our barefoot, bearded saviour from earlier pulled us out just as the waves washed away our tyre tracks. The appeal of the dunes seemed to disappear.

We headed north again, passing through paddock after paddock dotted with sheep. One of the ways we pass the time in the bus is to listen to audio books, read or play UNO. Since leaving home a few audio books had became favourites, one of which was "Are we there yet?" By Allison Lester. Maybe this became so popular with the kids because they could relate to the family as they also travelled around Australia. The book mentions certain landmarks and places which the kids wanted to visit too. One of these is Murphy's Haystacks, which is found on the Eyre Peninsular. It is an interesting group of rocks which protrude out of the seemingly flat ground. I am constantly surprised as to how interested they are when we get to places like this.

We left the Eyre Peninsular, stopping only in Ceduna for supplies before arriving at or next camp, Penong. This little town with its iconic windmills was our last stop before we hit the Nullabour. The kids were still on at us, are we there yet? Really their enthusiasm in wanting to get to the Nullabour was a little too much, but I guess unless you have driven this road you can't really understand its relentlessness. Before we left the next morning Sime had one more request, he wanted to drive the 40km of corrugated dirt road to see the famous surf spot, Cactus. So we did and to me and the kids it was another beach but Sime was chaffed and to think he only missed seeing Kelly Slater there by a few days. So of course vibrating back on the corrugations the kids asked "dad are we there yet?".

Finally we saw the sign, 'Nullabour'. Oh it all came back to me and for those mothers, you know that feeling you get when the first contraction of your 2nd birth hits, 'oh no, I don't want this pain again'. But the kids, unaware were still excited. We drive and drive and drive stopping every couple of hours. The bus has a toilet so we don't have to stop every few mins for someone to go to the toilet. However this also means there is no reason to stop except for fuel.

We made it to Border town in one piece to spend our last night in SA. We were all over driving for a little while at least, but although the kids were pleased we had crossed the Nullabour we didn't tell them that there was still a whole lot of not much to go. We would continue to put them off when they asked and they would keep asking. But what do they say? It is not so much about the destination but about the journey getting there. We are still enjoying the getting 'there'.