#roadtrip – Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond

Triptipedia USA roadtrip review

USA Roadtrip by Edi Biasutti from Sydney Australia

(over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA Roadtrip and beyond)

Since returning from my mega Odyssey, driving 29,000 kilometres (18,000 miles), through all the continental USA states, people ask me what was my favourite place.

I find it difficult to answer because every place has something special.

However, this last trip to the USA included the majestic Mississippi River. I discovered the Great River Road https://experiencemississippiriver.com/

A series of roads which run along the Mississippi River through 10 states. Below are photos of some of the towns on the Mississippi as well as a photo or 2 of state highlights. I captured a lot more on this trip than I have on any trip to the USA. However, this is such a miniscule part of this great country. I can’t wait to share the rest of what I have explored.

Wisconsin -Pucketville

Enjoying some fishing. And no, I didn’t catch anything this time.

Wisconsin-La Crosse

Captured this beautiful sunset after a free concert in the park.

Wisconsin – Hager City

Quirky sculptures with the Mississippi backdrop

Minnesota – Wabasha

National Eagle Centre on the Mississippi

Iowa – Dubuque

Iowa – Guttenburg

Kentucky – Augusta

The place George Clooney spent a lot of his childhood with his aunt Rosemary Clooney.

Tennessee – Memphis

Mississippi

Vicksburg

Arkansas

Crossing the Mississippi

Louisiana

New Orleans

Bedwick – not on the Mississippi River but the bridges in this state are incomparable

Minnesota

Red Wing – the home of the famous Red Wing shoes

Red Wing Famous boot

Minnesota

Northfield – the town which defeated Jesse James

Illinois

Arcola – the birth place of Raggedy Ann and RAggedy Andy

Home of the only hippie memorial

Missouri

Hannibal – the home of Mark Twain and the “Unsinkable Molly Brown

Meet Mark Twain’s through this must see show at the Historic Planters Barn Theater

The birthplace of the Unsinkable Molly Brown

This is just a taste of the amazing places I have visited in the USA. You can check my blog for more of my adventures.

More Triptipedia to come.

Thank you Triptipedia for your interest.

Kruger National Park

For previous trips from 2018 to 2024 please refer to my blog edibiasutti.au.

I just returned from an exciting solo trip in South Africa. I had many people make me doubt my ability to continue travelling as I have done for the past several years. I feel I did more research than usual. I found one friend who has done safaris in all African countries with his wife, and self drove, who gave me the most support. He understood my ability and I thank Arun for this support and advice. I also accessed information on a highly informative FB page of Solo Women Travellers Over 50 and asked the following specifically to local women in Johannesburg: “Hi fellow travellers. I have everything booked for my drive from Joannesburg to Kruger as well as accommodation. Can local people provide tips on where I can stock up on what I should buy for the roadtrip. Thinking snacks, a food cooler etc. I am staying first night at the airport hotel. I normally use my phone GPS but been told not to have my pone in view. To leave my handbag in the trunk (boot – I’m aussie). I am aware of the high statistics of car jackings. What areas to avoid? Any other tips? Thanks in advance“.

I knew there are 20,000 car jackings in South Africa per year so I needed to take care driving the 500km (300miles) from Johannesburg to Kruger.

I arrived in Johannesburg airport at noon on 7 February 2025 and picked up my rental car at 1pm. I knew that I did not want to start a 6 hour drive and be driving through dusk or night so stayed at the City Lodge Hotel at OR Tambo International Airport. I felt very safe as I walked from disembarking the plane, to my hotel, to the car rental pickup, to restaurants and Woolworths all in the same building complex without going outside. I signed for my car rental with Europcar which I had booked with my usual broker billiger-mietwagen.de whom I use around the world. I always pay for the cheapest vehicle I require and almost always get an upgrade. This time I was given an upgrade to a Suziki Swift which was perfect. I would like anyone to see if they can get a better rate from any other company. I paid $165AUD for 8 days and that is including all full insurance.

After preparing my supplies for my roadtrip I left at 9am on 8 February 2025 to drive to my first lodge Kholiwe On Kruger Lodge & Safaris. There are so many places to stay inside and outside of Kruger National Park (KNP) as well as private reserves. A lot of the private reserves have now joined Kruger so that the animals move across everywhere and there is only one big electric fence around Kruger. Kruger is 350 km (217miles) long and 60 km (37 miles) wide. Some reserves are still separated though. There is so much varied accommodation available from basic tent sites to 5 star lodges. You can find any type of accommodation you want and availability from the South Africa National parks website. Although I just found my two from booking.com because I like the reviews which come with the site and I also get a decent discount because I have used them enough.

My drive to the first lodge had me take only one stop at Milly’s as everyone recommended this. It’s a restaurant, fast food, fuel, truck stop which took me 2 hours.

2.5 hours later I arrived at the entrance to Marloth Park which is a wildlife sanctuary and shares a boundary with KNP.

Hobart Tasmania

In September 2024 I finally got to explore my final state of Australia. A little embarrassing considering I have been to every USA state on a roadtrip in 2018, most of which you can check out here edibiasutti.au.

Well Tasmania was a delight and a surprise. So much to see and do that I will break it down into areas. Tasmania is often forgotten on maps, but this gem should never be considered an inferior place in any way. I would put it on my list of first places to explore after Sydney. I would be so happy to go back there, even though I am not a fan of cold weather, Tasmania is beautiful, quirky, stunning, historical, modern – a must go to place.

I had wonderful company on this almost 2 week trip with Tess, who had started as my Airbnb guest in October 2023 and she just never left. Tess was on a work holiday visa and used my Sydney home as a base to live and learn the Aussie city culture but went off on trips around Australia for weekends and a week at a time. I was fortunate to have her company for her last few days in Australia on this wonderful trip.

We picked up our rental car at Hobart Airport. I get my rental cars through the broker billiger-mietwagen.de with whom I always get amazing deals. They are a German company and most of the information is in German but I have had no difficulty getting translations with Google and communication by email is efficient in English.

We based ourselves in the Waterfront Lodge Motel just outside of Hobart city for the first three days. Warm, clean, comfortable and good communication with management.

Hobart has it all. Great food, history, culture, beautiful waterfront, mountains and wildlife. A must do is the MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). You can either drive or I highly recommend taking the ferry and you can go as a Pleb or a Posh. Tess and I decided to go Posh.

This Museum requires a bit of a warning that some things may offend if a bit prudish, but we loved it all. I loved the resident composer. It was his last day. He had been there for 360 days. Every day he composed a piece of music for a quartet. Every day a new quartet would come in and perform the piece he composed. What an amazing piece of art!

There are many walks around Hobart including the Battery Point Sculputure Trail or the In Bobby’s Footsteps are self guided walks. These walks show you some beautiful old residential areas, Salamanca Markets area and the beautiful waterfront. And it is where the Sydney to Hobart yacht race ends on New Year’s Eve.

We got up close and fed some Aussie wildlife at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary Highly recommend the after hours tour.

Mount Wellington is an amazing drive. Be aware not to look over the edge of the road if you suffer vertigo. It is bitterly cold and windy but the views are spectacular.

Roadtrip Caloundra QLD to Warwick QLD

I left Sydney 9 days ago to go to a rock n roll festival Cooly Rocks On held in Coolangatta Queensland. I won’t go into that here much yet except to say I spent 3 days at the festival, then drove to Caloundra, the Glass House Mountains and then drove from Caloundra to Warwick today. I have been to various things in Queensland many times but I have never travelled this part of Australia the way I am today, as a “real” traveller. Queensland is such a pretty state and there are quirky and beautiful sites all along the way. I will just pop a few in here.

The hinterland has the Glass House Mountains which are made up of 7 mountains which, from a distance, they look like they are lined up in a row but they are actually the rim of a very old volcano. My school friend Toni Nosworthy took me to a lovely Cafe Mount View Cafe to see the lovely view. However, you decide which is the better view. The first photo is one in the distance of all 7 mountains, and then there is the view from Toni’s verandah.

I stopped at Kilcoy in the Queensland hinterland because I heard of Aboriginal folklore of a Yowie. The Australian equivalent of a Yeti or Big Foot. Yowie Park has its own Yowie statue

Kimba South Australia

Driving back to Adelaide for New Years Eve I found a night stopover in Kimba. What a cute little town. It claims to be the the town in the Middle of the Australian east and west coasts. First had a rest stop in a place called Wirulla, population 104.

They have a “secret”. A dry jetty which was erected as a joke but is the 5th tee on the Nullabor Links golf course. Said to be the longest golf course along 1365 kilometres of the Eyre Highway across Western Australia and South Australia on the Nullabor Plain.

Wudinna is the home of a granite sculpture celebrating the spirit of farming life communities ” The Australian Farmer”. 17 years in the making by a father and son team Marijan and David Bekic represents the sun, grain crops, sheep farming and commemorates the early settlers.

Kimba from the aboriginal word for “bushfire”. Population around 600. Has “The Big Galah” which marks the halfway point between East and West coasts of Australia.

The town also provides low level Radioactive Waste storage. The facility provides 25 ongoing jobs for the community.

Lovely silo art.

Local art

Edward John Eyre was an English explorer, the first to cross Australia from Sydney to Swan River in Perth Western Australia. The sculptures located at Whites Knob Lookout represent Edward Eyre and his indigenous tracker Whylie.

Mallala has a population of around 900 and is home to an impressive World War 1 Memorial in the centre of town

It also has an international Motor Sport Park.

I arrived in Adelaide on 30 December and the previous evening I was notified the Masquerade Gala to be held in Glenelg was cancelled due to COVID19. So, after another marathon drive for 6 hours, I returned my hire car, went and had a rest at a friend’s home before getting an 8pm flight back to Sydney to celebrate New Years Eve in my home town. May 2022 bring the world some normalcy and better health.

Ceduna/Nullarbor/Head of the Bight

I had a marathon day today. Drove over 600 km exploring a place I did not imagine I would drive alone. The Nullarbor means treeless in Latin. Although I found the changing landscape not as barren as the name suggests but is ever changing. Although I am aware this is the Eastern part of the Nullarbor and it gets more and more arid further west.

Leaving Ceduna I stopped off at Penong for the windmill museum.

Along the way I snapped some cute Christmas decorations at the entrance of several properties.

Roadsigns and you know you are in the outback

The Great Australian Bight. I had no idea the Bight would be so turquoise and violet. Breathtaking. At the bottom of the centre of Australia.

Nullarbor Roadhouse

would not be the Nullarbor without a roadtrain

Ceduna

What a pretty place!! A population of around 2000 friendly people. Great feed at the Ceduna Foreshore Hotel Motel Bistro. Lovely beach. Only problem is that it is soo windy at this time. I understand that it is not normally this windy. Walking along the jetty is very scary. There is a railing on only one side and down at the end, there is no railing at all and I was too worried I would be blown into the ocean. Taking photos I thought my phone would blow out of my hands. The water is so clear with changing colours.

Some indigenous pavement art

Fossiking for treasure for my daughterinlaw

What a sunset!!

Port Lincoln

3 days in Port Lincoln over Christmas with my son’s inlaws. They live in Point Boston, 20 minutes out of Port Lincoln. There is nothing here but a few locals and a private beach. The beach is 20metres from their home.

I am staying in a quaint motel called First Landings complete with a four poster bed.

Walk into town

Whyalla to Port Lincoln

Whyalla is a steelworks and mining town and parts look a little old and disadvantaged but the area near the jetty has lovely old homes. I did a quick drive through and a little stroll. I love the smell of the beach in this part of the world. Even when low tide, it is a clean ocean smell. It is very windy and I wonder if this is why there are no people on the beach.

Next stop was Cowell. Known for their crabs. Apparently it is so easy to find blue swimmer crabs. When I have more time I would like to explore this. I stopped off to snap a photo of the silo art.

I bought a lovely pair of earrings in the Jade Shop. Cowell has the largest deposit of Jade in the world. The mine is run by Japanese but you can pick up some locally made jewellery from the Jade Motel where the stones are cut, polished and set on site.

Then on to Arno Bay to check this beachside village.

Tumby Bay silo art.

Adelaide to Whyalla

On my way to Port Lincoln for Christmas and I have broken up the trip a little. First stop was Lochiel to see the Pink Lake (Lake Bumbunga). Lochiel has their own legend or a sense of humour with their own Lochness monster known as the Loch-Eel.

Next stop was Port Germein to walk what was once the longest wooden jetty. I had a blustery 3 km walk on a very hot day. I should have stayed overnight in this quaint fishing village. Perhaps on the way back to Adelaide.

View from the Sea end looking back to shore 1.6km away

On to the Arid Botanical Gardens. I had a very quick stop here as I didn’t have much time but the gardens had a very particular scent I would liken to herbs and pine trees.

On the way the Port Wakefield tank art required a short stop.

Overnight stop at Whyalla. Very, very windy but the cabin I am in is very warm. I am too tired to check the new jetty in town but I did capture this pretty sunset.