All posts by Naomi Hax

Living life on the right side: Lisbon to Sagres

Picked up our rental car in Lisbon central at 9am with much trepidation. Our driver from yesterday had advised us to expect half an hour of terror (driving in the city) then smooth sailing as we hit the quieter streets.  David took to right hand driving like a duck to water- I had dejavu to the days of being a passenger when the kids were learning to drive- desperately trying not to make audible intakes of breath. 

Actually getting out of Lisbon was a snap- people must have been having a Sunday morning sleep in. It was once we hit the coast road things became trickier- being fabulous weather every man, dog, child were out. It was a bit like Mornington Penninsula mid-summer only on narrow, winding cobblestones with us going at 20kph and everyone else going at 120k.

Spectacular coastline heading south of Lisbon

After much glute clenching we succumbed to googles insistent requests that we turn around Return to the fastest route (the highway).  We will leave the road less travelled until tomorrow when we feel a bit braver.

Arrived in Sagres late afternoon just  a tad relieved to have made it.

Sagres is a small fishing village on the south west coast of Portugal.  The fishing dock  is sheltered by a breakwater. Today the waters were quite tranquil but I imagine it has a big job to do once the tide turns.

We are staying at an old classically Portuguese hotel, a bit more fancy than we are used to (I might need to take my hiking boots off for dinner) but absolutely beautiful. Set on the cliff tops it is now in a national park so immune to further development around it.  Managed an evening cliff too walk- spectacular.

Loads of locals fishing off the cliff top- no idea how they reel them in if they catch a big one
A cliff top beauty
David hanging off the edge by his eyebrows trying to get the money shot

Have two nights here so will have time to explore neighbouring villages tomorrow

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Room with a view
And sunset drinks. What more could a girl want?

Sintra day trip

Our lovely driver Andre picked us up at 8.45 for our day trip to Sintra. Sintra is a UNESCO world heritage site in the mountains  above Lisbon. Because of its cool rainforest climate is was historically a summer retreat for the royals, but now hosts the rich and famous – Portuguese football players (close to gods here), politicians and now Madonna and family.

Apparently paganism is live and well in Sintra – complete with full moon rituals. I’ll spare you the details but let’s just say the description left us wide eyed and determined not to be out in the woods at night.

First stop was  the Palácio Nacional da Pena (Pena Palace), originally a monastery and then transformed into a palace – there’s a whole King/Queen love story behind it, which explains the colourful exterior.  It’s been meticulously preserved, and as impressive as the castle is, it was the gardens that made it for us- acres of lush forest with cobbled patch’s and carefully constructed nooks, all on the (very steep) side of the mountain.  And. we were worried we might lose our fitness while we’re not riding!

No lifts in these babies – we climbed all the way
Spectacular vies from the castle walls – this one over the Moorish castle on the neighbouring hilltop

After 3 hours scrambling up and down turrets I now have the perfect (although inelegant) technique for descending narrow spiral staircases without breaking my neck – back to wall, hold the centre column, rotate your way down and hope like heck nobody is coming the other way – quite a visual, I know!

We lunched in a small family owned local restaurant – Portuguese steak for me and vegetable cannoli for David (both enormous), great atmosphere and being a Saturday, packed.

Next stop was Quinta da Regaleira – a small (non-royal) gothic castle, again with the most beautiful landscaped gardens. Its biggest claim to fame is the Knights of the Templar-esque initiation well.  Highly symbolic as you descend the spiral stair case down into the well you’re meant to reflect on all your regrets, and then emerge through the cave (toward light) with the new resolution of who you want to be. David is now ‘fully enlightened’ – but clearly they didn’t have the enlightenment of claustrophobes in mind when they designed it, so I am not.

Rapunzal
David’s enlightenment

Returned to Lisbon via the coastal road. Massive waves rolling in. Gave us a taste of what it might be like riding north.

Lisbon on foot

ay 2: Lisbon

Up round 6.30 having slept a full 12 hours and down at breaky within the hour.  Standard (yum) European breakfast – boiled egg, deli meats tomato & fruit for me and cereal/fruit for David. And of course pastries…… 

Started the day with  a 3 hour guided walking tour of the historical quarters of Lisbon. Our guide Maggie was incredibly knowledgeable  and mapped out an interesting and diverse route starting at the Fort of Lisbon and weaving our way through the winding, narrow medieval cobblestone streets of Alfama. – the oldest and arguably the most picturesque part of Lisbon.  The multi-story terracotta roofed building layer upon each other down the slopes creating a labyrinth of small streets, with loads of dead ends. Many elderly owners live in the homes they were born in and their connection with each other was evident from the lively banter. Sadly the AirBnb boom means that the area is going through rapid gentrification – so we feel lucky to have seen it  while it still has the buzz of a vibrant, traditional community.

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St Augustus, the unofficial Saint of Lisbon is the patron saint of all things lost- throw coins at his feet and you’ll find any items you’ve lost- throw a credit card at his feet and you’ll find a husband. Needless to say…….
Houses in Alfama have tiles on them with photos and a short story about the person living there

We continued our walk through central Lisbon – called the ‘New’ area – having been fully rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake- featuring beautiful tiled buildings and broad ornately cobbled avenues. Ended our walk  in the chic Chardo neighbourhood- home to the oldest bookshop in the world, numerous cafes and stylish people of all ages. Break neck heels were standard wear in Chardo – goodness knows how many ankles get broken on the cobblestones. 

Finished our day in Belem , launching point of early Portuguese maritime explorers and home to the famous Pasteis de Belum- the 19th century bakery responsible for the invention of – you guessed it- the Portuguese tart.  Apparently tarts are so yellow as they only use egg yolks- back in the day, the nuns used to use the egg whites to starch their whimples- and the tarts were invented as a way of using up the egg yolks.

‘arrived back at our hotel 16,000 steps plu under our belts and exhausted. Dinner at a tiny cafe round the corner ‘Embers’ which the lovely young man told us he and his wife opened one month ago. Tasty simple fare – just what we needed.

The mandatory purch
Belem Tower
Jeronmous momastery- absolutely worth the half hour wieue

Portugal: prep, pack and the long haul to Lisbon

No time for a practice pack this time, so we held our breath, pulled our past packing lists out of the archives and got to it. 

These guys knew something was up as soon as the cases came out

Dissembling the bike was the easy bit (for me anyway as my role was primarily encouragement).  Getting it neatly into the cases was another matter- no matter how we tried the pieces wouldn’t go in the same way as the photos showed we’d done it last time.  But after an hour of juggling and tweaking we eventually proved there is more than one way to skin a cat (or pack a tandem in this case). And with a bit of culling,  our clothes/backpacks came in just a squeak below the 10kg limit for carry on.

Giant Jenga

Taxi driver had to be equally creative fitting the bags and us into the taxi but finally got away with one half of the bike riding proudly in the front seat and David and I and smaller bags squished in the back.

Trip over went smoothly . Leaving at 10.30 meant we both managed to sleep through most of the Dubai flight. The flight to Lisbon was another story – totally packed  with every second person coughing. Hopefully our N95s were up to the task!

Very glad to see these babies come off the baggage carousel in Lisbon

Arrived in Lisbon midday Thursday local time just 30 hours after leaving home, dropped our bags at our hotel (as check in not until 3) and set off in search of coffee and a supermarket.

Ended up in little pizaria, sitting outside and feeling very European albeit looking a bit bedraggled after our long flight. Food was amazing. Embarking on my mission to eat all things seafood, I had the smoked anchovy and basil pizza, while David had a tasty (and enormous) mozerella and spinach ciabatta.

Headed back to our hotel (Ollissipo Marques de Sa) in a full on food coma.  Hotel seems quite well located,  opposite some beautiful gardens, but a bit of a hike from the ‘old town’ which we’ll explore tomorrow.  Don’t feel like we have a sense of Lisbon yet but too tied to walk another step. Stopped off at grocery on the way back. So it’s fresh fruit and a Portuguese tart for dinner and early night.

Chillin’ bush camping weekends 2023

 A change of pace from our long haul trips we’ve locked in a couple of  ‘long weekends’ to explore what’s right under our nose (or within a few hours anyway) with friends. 

 Edi Cutting

Our first was to Edi Cutting, a large bush camping site right on the banks of the King River. 

Woke to the threat rain and pressed on -it never rains north of The Divide does it?  David and I headed off mid morning and took the slow road – stopping off in all the little towns now by-passed by the Hume.  The inevitable breakfast in Seymour., pit stop in Euroa, snoop around the thriving and much larger town of Benalla and then Glenrowan – which didn’t seem to have changed too much from when we used to drive through way back when. Each went through our mandatory ‘can we live here test – train line (tick); good cafes (tick), services for oldies (hmm only some passed the Pub Test here).  

We arrived at Edi Cutting only a few minutes before Rick and Bei so could seek out the ‘perfect spot’ together.  After quite a bit of backing and filling to fit Dora between the gums and get her remotely level (and to source and pile rocks as extra chocks so we didn’t end up in the river over night) we were set.

Tucked away nicely next to the (literally) roaring river.
Needed the campfire to steel off the night air

Great walks, and a beer garden/cafe just up the road.

Brunton’s Bridge: campling and 4WD adventures

This gem of a free campground is set right on the banks of the Thompson River, in the shadows of the historic Brunton’s Bridge. Quite a drive to get there – we entered from the North via Walhalla. While coming fromt he South is quicker, it requires a water crossing – which we avoided beause 1) I didn’t fancy doing the freezing cold wade through water-check, and 2) we were a bit reluctant to take Dora through without someone nearby to pull us out if she got stuck- so Walhalla it was.

David and I arrived frist and set up camp in a sweet spot, only to go for a walk and discuver an absolutely magical spot futher down the banks. Determined to have the perfect camp before Rick and Bei arrived, we upped sticks (groan) and moved the 50 meters down the bank (I am so like my mother!).

Great pozzie with room for our two rigs and a fabulous fire pit.

This big guy catching the rays, nicely camourflaged on the banks of the river
AWWWW – our lovely camp buddies. Who needs a chain saw when you can just load the whole darn tree into the fire pit!

Some fabulous four wheel driving to be had in this area – although poor old Buddy didn’t enjoy the twists and turns…. even his coat looked like it was turning green, poor little fella

Dora put on her bra for the eventual water crossing – David didn’t need one. (had a video of the water crossing but couldn’t work out how to upload it – so it’s a bit like the fish that got away!

Walhalla was beautiful – and turned on the good weather for us.

Summing up our outback adventure

As always we spent our last evening summing up the key stats, trip highlights and planning for the next journey. Here goes:

Distance travelled: 7,328 km – 4,454 of those on dirt roads (that’s about 69 hours of teeth chattering corrugations). Shortest distance travelled in a day – 79km, longest – 529km.

Most state borders crossed in a 5 minute interval: three (NSW, SA, QLD)

Days of sunshine: 34/35; Coldest night -2 degrees (only a little below the Melbourne daytime temperature when we arrived home)

The most consecutive days without a shower: 5 (thank goodness for baby wipes)

Winners of the fly-eating competition in order of consumption: Jatz (prize fly-catcher); David (inadvertent swallower); Andrew (snout inhaler)

Funniest moments: There were many but two clear winners. 1) Naomi mistaking a child sqatting in the distance for Jatz having a poo – and calling loudly for Andrew to get a poo bag (gotta love the blind brain assumptions), and 2) Someone who prefers to remain nameless inadvertently locking another poor camper in the shower cubicle (damn those slippery slide bolts) – we did let them out when we heard their cries for help from across the campground.

Most iconic moment: travelling alongside the ruins of the Old Ghan Railway for the full length of the Oodnadatta Track.

Best view; There were many good ones, but by far the best was the Painted Desert.

Best camp site: Bourke & Wills Dig Tree – nothing quite beats sleeping with ghosts. But the isolation of Haddon’s corner made a close second

And of course…..

Best feed (other than our own camp cooking of course): the roast pork dinner and birthday cake at the Beetoota Hotel.

Heading home for real

Leaving Quorn felt like heading home for real. We steeled ourselves for the journey with coffee from ‘The Scruffy Fella’’ – a recent addition to Quorn it sells an interesting mix of coffee, snacks and various manscaping products. The absolute best coffee in our whole trip, and perhaps a bit before that.

Inevitably we had to hit the road. At every turn we have resisted the urge to turn around and go back out to the never never.

We plotted a homeward route that aimed to stay ‘north’ for as long as possible -trying to soak up every last bit of warmth we can. So it’s Mildura, Echuca and then home. First sight of the Murray was at Morgan where house boats were in full force

Stopped for a big feed on all our fresh fruit and vegies before crossing the border. No errant oranges this time.

Overnight at Lake Cullulleraine between Renmark & Mildura
One of us even saw the sunrise

Luck was with us this morning as we had no sooner got Dora into her box than the heavens descended. Complete with thunder and lightning.

Canola fields literally glowed despite the rain

Decided that rather than go home with wet canvas we would spend our last night in a motel (a bit of a cop out I know). However it didn’t take long for us to appreciate the finer things in life -that is flushing toilets and a shower.

What is this foreign object in our room? Haven’t watched one of these for 5 weeks!

Home tomorrow – EEEK

Quorn

Left our little roadside camp around 9.30 this morning heading for Quorn- a relatively short 160km drive.
Quorn is a gorgeous s little historic town – very Maldon-ish complete with historic buildings and an old (still working) steam railway- cutely named Pitchie Richie railway.

Quorn is at the gateway to the Fllinders ranges. It was quite surreal to drive through windy green hills after so many weeks in arrid red-earth flatlands where anything over 150m is called a mountain.

Still blue skies but back in the land of jumpers

Arrived in Quorn in time for a late last lunch and were set up and doing a mandatory visit to the Flinders Gin Distillery by 3.

In the window of the Quorn museum- would have liked to have read this one!
This old surgical display was much more creepy

We are staying at the Quorn caravan park which is much quieter than the last time David and I were here. I have just had the best shower since Birdsville with shampoo that actually lathers (it’s the simple things in life isn’t it?). We have booked dinner at the Transcontnental pub. Feels very decadent.

A wild night in Coober

Had just settled in for a good nights sleep last night- at our usual embarrassingly early hour (we are such party animals) when gale force winds rolled in. I woke to the sound of our chairs, bucket, washing and ready-lad-out breakfast things heading west (note to self – never leave anything unsecured even if weather is perfect). After waking sleeping beauty and retrieving all of the above we unzipped all our windows to reduce wind resistance and hunkered down under the doona with wind whistling over us, canvas flapping and tent poles clinking. Dora stood up to it well and in the morning fitted nicely back into her box (thank goodness). We woke up a little sleep deprived with hairstyles straight out of the 1980s but otherwise fine. We now see the wisdom on dug out living in these parts.

After pack up we did a quick tour of some of the key sights including visiting one of the four incredible underground churches and the inevitable opal shop before hitting the road.

Serbian Orthodox Underground church

As we head down the Sturt Highway we are starting to feel the ‘real world’ creep back in. Landscapes are still barren but getting greener and the days of getting excited to see another car are well and truly over.

Tonight we are stealth camped in a treed clearing about 100km north of Port Augusta. We are about 100m from the road but the steady flow of road trains is a stark reminder of how much we rely on these monsters to get food on our plates. Have dusted off the woolly hats, puffa jackets and earplugs for our re-entry to the ‘south’

Oodnadatta Track: final part

We camped overnight at a free camp about 60km out of Oodnadatta. We’ve become quite attached to these free camps, most are on dry creek beds with lovely shade trees- mind you, they’d be a different cup of tea in the wet season. We stayed on the banks of Kathleen Creek- very pretty and had some water still that was attracting bird life from all around- even a family of ducks. Not sure what they were diving for but they were spending most of their time with bottoms up- probably yabbies given the amount of mud.

These free camps are just fabulous- so quiet

Brother & sister sporting matching bore water hair dos

left there round 9 am to complete the last leg of the Oodnadatta track. This is probably the roughest section of the track – I guess the graders haven’t got this far yet.- but still relatively smooth.
Hit the tarmac (for the first time in 3 weeks) round lunchtime. Pausing only for pictures at the end of the Oodnadatta.

We made it – Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks ✅

From Marla began our journey south to Coober Pedy. We knew we were getting close when we saw the sea of mining mounds.

A quick trip up to the Big Winch look out before heading to our camp at Riba’s underground campground. Needless to say the ‘underground’ bit is for those in tents and swags- we remain well and truly above ground.

Standing on the roof of houses
Nice and cool for the tents but would need to be confident with being underground