3 500 km to Austerlitz no. 2: Part 1

A couple of year's ago I was most fortunate to join the fellas from the Nunawading Wargames Association for their game of Austerlitz, the second of their annual grand-game weekends that I had participated in. They had a break from the big game this year (Jan. 2018), but will be back into it in the new year with Austerlitz II (this time giving the commanders licence to diverge from history from the start) and I have been lucky enough to be invited back!

This time I'm combining three passions of mine: a road trip, speedway racing and wargaming.

I left home on 24th December, allowing the better part of three days to get to Murray Bridge, South Australia for Round 1 of 'World Series Sprinters'.

In Western Australia, we like our roads nice and straight, but still have the odd 'scary' bend to deal with!

A few passengers (locusts) had tried to catch a lift at the Caiguna end of the long straight.

The first night, after 1 135 km, was spent at one of my favourite spots, overlooking Madura pass, on a decidedly chilling evening--no chance of seeing Santa's sleigh that night#
(#Pretty fortunate actually as it was 43ºC their two days later).

Had a beaut lunch on the 25th at a stop west of Nullarbor Roadhouse; the sound of the birds and wind in the trees only occasionally broken by a passing car on the highway.

A bit of tourism with a visit to Smoky Bay (and then Streaky Bay) on western Eyre Peninsula...

... before settling in for a mallee camp. Bloody bewdiful!

A bit more tourism on the way to Murray Bridge, taking in the northern agricultural, mid-north and Barossa regions. I discovered when reading up on the Peninsular War battle that the Barossa was named after it, but they got the spelling wrong!

'World's end highway' on the east of the mid-north looked the part on a dry summer's day.

Finally in Murray Bridge on a warm evening^ for Round 1 of World Series Sprintcars. The track looked an absolute picture.
^Fortunate again with the weather as it had only been 36ºC or so and cooled down dramatically through the evening—it was 44ºC the next day.

It was a fabulous night of racing. With a fast and furious 'A Main' resulting in a close win to SA driver Steven Lines over the favourite Kerry Madsen.

Round 1 over, it was on to Mt Gambier for a 'rest day' ahead of tonight's Round 2. I can't wait