We have arrived in Ceduna. It is 47’ Celsius outside (that’s 118’F, in case you’re wondering).

Highlights of the day:

Iron Knob. Mining town in the middle of nowhere. Went looking for a loo. Oh boy, did we find one…

Kimba. Home of the Big Galah (not the white lion). And I do mean the Big Galah...

Not to be outdone, Streaky Bay has a Big White Shark.

And this is what happens when you tell The Princess not to put her head in the mouth of the Big White Shark.

On the bright side, we have plotted out The Palace of Impossible Dreams and a short story called The Clock Tower.

There’s a reason The Princess is known as the Chief Minion, Evil Plots Division, you know.

Picked up my travelling buddy, Princess Lee (as she prefers to be addressed) from the airport in Adelaide today. The Chief Minion, Evil Plots Division (as I prefer to address her), arrived to join me in my big trek across the Nullarbor, because, like me, she thinks hopping in a car and driving a few thousand klms across the outback just so she can take a train back the other way is, well, fun.

After I picked her up, we went over to the new Ikea store just near the airport, for the sole purpose of ringing Firstborn so I could say: Guess where I am? In the new Ikea store just near the airport. (That sort of thing irks Firstborn, and what’s the point of doing these things if you can’t irk your children, I say…hehehe).

Anyway, with The Princess navigating, somehow, we escaped Adelaide unscathed, and headed back to Port Augusta for the night.

So there we are, driving along, admiring the scenery, when The Princess turns to me and asks: what sort of trees are they? as we’re driving past some sort of plantation.

How would I know what sort of trees they are? I’m the Grim Reaper of Green Things! But I’m an author and therefore I must have some idea. So, trying to make like I have some idea, I say: I… um…think they’re green trees… of some kind…

This, of course, sent The Princess into paroxysms of laughter at my ignorance.

But I got my revenge. A little while later she spies some animals in a paddock and calls out: Look! There are some of those long necked things that aren’t llamas!

Yes, people, The Princess is a blonde.

We spent the rest of the trip cursing all cars with the nerve to travel on our side of the road, wishing we’d thought to stop and take a photo of the Loch Ness Monster made of tyres poking out of a salt lake, and admiring the giant cockroach sculpture (I mean who makes giant cockroach sculptures, for god’s sake?), the UFO, the giant blowfly and the giant robot all perched in paddocks beside the road.

Clearly you have to make your own fun in South Australia.

Random observations from my trip…

• Kangaroos are smarter in the NT than in South Australia. Way fewer of them become roadkill.
• The wedge-tailed eagles in SA are fatter than their Territorian cousins. More roadkill to eat, I suppose.
• Best road sign in SA is just outside Cadney Park Roadhouse. It says:
  

• South Australia is the only place I have ever been where they paint runway markings on major highways so the Royal Flying Doctor Service can land on the highway in an emergency.
• Underground hotel rooms are really, really dark and it’s very easy to oversleep when you don’t realise the sun is up
• The worst coffee in South Australia comes from the Glendambo Roadhouse.
• According to the sign on the edge of town, there are 50,000 sheep, 50,000,000 flies and 30 humans in Glendambo (none of whom know how to make coffee).
• The best coffee in SA so far comes from Wendy’s Ice Cream Parlour in Port Augusta.

Oh, and finally…

• If you cut me off by turning onto the highway in front of me and then try to annoy me by sitting on my ass for the next 100 klms, your engine will blow up.

Karma’s a bitch, ain't it:)

I’m stopped for the night in the thriving metropolis of Coober Pedy, the Opal Capital of the World. Home to 3500 people of 44 different nationalities, it not only has the only 5 star underground hotel in the world, but it must also be the only 5 star hotel in the world that doesn’t have broadband.

But that’s okay. I have Telstra’s wireless broadband. Now admittedly, I’ve used dial-up connections that are faster, but hey, what does it matter? I’m in an underground hotel room... oh, and try getting a freaking broadband connection when you’re underground!!!

Grrrr....

The drive from Alice was fun. It was 42’ in the shade for most of the way (long live the genius who invented air-conditioning for cars, I say). I had a good run, although slowing down to 111 kph once I hit the South Australian border sucked. (I know, the speed limit is 110, but the anarchist in me felt the need to rebel so I set the cruise control to 111).

BTW, Coober Pedy is where they filmed Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Mad Max III, Red Planet and Pitch Black. (Maybe I’m staying in Vin Diesel’s room…. hehehe… That would be cool:)

So, anyway, I’m here in my little cave, trying to blog on a connection that works only when you hold your mouth right, in a town that looks like it was built out of leftovers (all except the very posh 5 star hotel in the middle of town). Oh, and the whole town is surrounded by piles and piles of discarded rock from the opal mines and warnings about not walking backwards in case you fall into a hole.

Weird place, Coober Pedy

Decided to try and catch up on my fan mail today. I have a backlog that goes back to August, so I have sworn an oath of the life of Vera the Pyshotic Mastiff Puppy that I will answer every one of them by the time I get back from my holiday.

Having said that, for those of you who can't wait for an answer, there are a number of recurring questions that I can answer here.

1. When is Warlord due out in North America?
   According to amazon.ca it's due in August 2007. They know more than I do:)
2. Will there be an a sequel to the Demon Child Trilogy?
   Possibly. The best answer I can give you at this time is here.
3. When is The Immortal Prince due out?
   In Australia, it will be out in March 2007. In the US, the hardcover is due in early 2008. I'll let you know for sure when I check with Amazon.ca... lol
4. Will there be s sequel to the Second Sons Trilogy?
   I have no immediate plans, but never say never:)
5. When is the Wolfblade Trilogy going to be released in the UK?
   It should happen some time in 2007. The hold up has been administrative, rather than creative. Is is cleared up now, however, and I'm expecting it to be full steam ahead in the new year.
6. Can I buy your house?
   By all means. The price, however, is ten million, million dollars, according to my business manager. And he'd like the money delivered by dinosaur.
7. What can you tell us about The Tide Lords?
   Lots. In fact, I'll give you a bit of a rundown and tell you about some of the characters over the next few weeks. It will give me something to blog when I run out of creative ways to describe roadkill:)