WA Border to Ceduna

 I have disappointing news.

If you read yesterday's post, you may recall that during a late-night talk-fest I was roped into being a passenger on a paraglider flight morning. 

But the wind was too strong for paragliding this morning.

Ohhhh bugger!

I know!

And I had a sleepless night stressing what I'd got myself into for no reason too!

Apparently Mick, the safety officer, said it was about 5 knots too strong to go up.  It was a grey old morning, only about 20 degrees today.

Oh well... I set off for a jog towards the edge of Australia instead. Here's my Strava stats I'm sure you're keen to analyse:

The terrain was very rocky.  I had to be careful not to twist an ankle.  After about 3.5km South, I turned back.  The red squiggly line is my run path (out and back), and the vertical line to the left of it is the WA-SA border.  So close, but yet so far!!! Grrrrr!

With every step of my run I have the opportunity to reflect on my situation. 

I concluded that I will ask my daughter to investigate having her car placed on a truck as close to Adelaide Airport as possible.  I think I should drop the car off there, and catch a cab to the airport to fly home.

As every day passes, I'm learning that I have to get better at accepting that life doesn't always go as planned.  I suppose the most important thing about all this is accepting that none of us, except for Dictator Dan of course, have the necessary power to do as we prefer at all times.  

I think you can infer from that there is a higher power out there that does. 

It doesn't mean you and I shouldn't plan ahead, it just means we may need to have plans B, C, and D at the ready.

For me right now Plan A is drive to Adelaide via Ceduna, put the car onto a COVID free transporter, and put myself on a flight to Melbourne.

Plan B is drive to Ceduna, Pt Lincoln, Adelaide, play some golf, have a whole lot of fun on my own, and then return to the WA border on 23rd Jan, and continue my journey West.

Both Plan A and Plan B need me in Ceduna.  Plan C is to stay put, but that plan would introduce stresses that are all too obvious.  So... I'm off to Ceduna today.  

But first, I wonder if I can do better on the golf hole up here.  Will the higher powers in the golfing world allow me to improve?

Yep... 5 yesterday, 4 today.  A magnificent 1-putt.

Phew... what excitement!

Now for the 500km drive back to Ceduna.

I say goodbye to my pilot friends, wish them well, and I drive off intent on enjoying a relaxing drive through outback Australia.

(Again)

On the drive back I'll stop at some of the scenic spots I missed on the way out.  Check this out:

You might have seen it before, but it never gets boring hey!

You can see the grey sky.  It was quite blowy too - no way anyone could keep control of their paraglider in that wind.

So not much to tell you about today's drive to Ceduna.

I had a go at turning the video recorder on my dash mounted phone.  It's a bit blurry, but you might be interested to see me overtake a road-train.  The one I recorded has only two carriages, but it's scary enough.

The speed limit is 110Km/hr - I generally drive right on the limit and I therefore catch up to these big transporters.  I'm guessing they're doing about 100.  When I overtake them, my theory is to get it over with, when its safe to do so, as quickly as possible - this means I need to accelerate to at least 120 so I don't hang out there for too long.  Check it out:

I only drove 480km today.  Too easy!

I had time to play the Nullarbor Links holes again.  I'd prefer not to tell you about my second attempt at each hole.  But as long as you don't tell anyone, I'll disclose to you that I scored exactly the same score second time round on 3 of the holes, and on the other 3, I scored one better.  So some improvement was achieved, but gee I found this course tough.

If I return to cross the border on the 23rd... well, I'll be doing my darndest to score my first par on one of the holes.

I booked into the Ceduna Foreshore Hotel Motel for the night.  That's when I found out about Dan's new permit system.

OMG... 

You will recall I travelled through Brisbane airport in returning to Melbourne on 7th Jan.  This is in the "RED" zone.

OMHP (Oh My Higher Power) I have to APPLY for a permit to RETURN to the place I have lived ALL MY LIFE.  If I just come home without "applying", then I'll be fined $4,953.

And the fact that I flew to Melbourne from Brisbane on the 7th Jan means my permit application will be refused.  Is that not a violation of my human right to return to my home city?

I'm sorry I am such a huge risk to Melbourne society.  But I can't help but see how much the famed Aussie community spirit has been eroded.  

It feels to me that Dan is looking after himself by showing potential voters how strong he is in keeping me out but if I'm sick, his constituent (me) is allowed to infect any and all South Australians with his blessing - it's their problem,  Not his problem!

I'm having real trouble accepting the higher power right now!

So my equation has become quite an interesting choice now.  

I must stay in SA until 22nd January.  On the 23rd Jan, I will have the choice of travelling West or East. 

If I choose East, I lock myself out of seeing my daughter, son-in-law, and 2 grand kids till Victoria has achieved a minimum of 28 days of zero community transfers of COVID (We're currently up to 2 days).

If I choose West, I miss out on being with my life partner, daughter, and cat for another week.

IF SA has a community transfer of a COVID case, I may as well find a house to live in here somewhere!

HELP!!!

I have about a week to think about it.  In the meantime, I'll find something to do here in Ceduna. I may as well keep you informed; I haven't got much else to do!