Keep going or go back?

19/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 5 Comments

We spent the next few days discussing our options with each other and with family and friends. Very quickly we agreed we didn’t want to go back (we had to remind ourselves that we have no home to go back to anyway!) We may never get the chance to do this trip again. With that out of the way, we then had to work out how to move forward. Sending parts to Perth at great expense and sitting around for a month waiting for their return was not an option we liked either. We had to look at other ideas. Hire car companies were not interested in renting out cars for towing so that was out. Kyran gave us some choices – from him driving from Gove to tow us back there, to getting a mate to help us.

In the end, Paul (oldest son) suggested we send our car back to Mandurah with the RAC and buy a second one here in Derby. That way we could continue on our trip and sell the car at the end of our holiday. This did seem like a sensible option. So John organised for the RAC to take our car back home and set about looking for another car. If took several days and lots of phone calls to source a suitable car. There were none for sale in Derby so we knew we would be buying something unseen. In the end we bought a Volkswagon Amorok which could be brought to Broome from Perth for us. At the time of writing, we have a few days to wait. Everything is crossed that it will be okay.

We have been so blessed to have so much support from friends and family. Friends suggesting options, sending links to cars for sale, or trying to organise to meet us somewhere. Or just messages of support. And Liz and Pete happy to have us camped here. How lucky we are!

Standing still

18/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 2 Comments

We weren’t sure if the car would make it back to Derby. It took us two days to crawl 270 kms but we made it. We had so many caravanners stop to ask if they could help which was very heartening.

A few kilometres from town, our phones kicked in and I was able to call the four wheel drive repair shop and let them know we were coming in. I also rang the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park and asked for a drive through site, explaining that we couldn’t reverse the car. They said they would try their best and when we arrived, they were as good as their word directing us to a nice, long shady site. That was a huge relief.

We had thought about going straight back to Liz and Pete’s place as they had said we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted. But we felt it was unfair and, besides, if we were going to be without a car for a few days, we could walk to shops etc from the camping ground. By coincidence, Liz text me as we drove into town asking where we were and what we were doing. I briefly explained and she told us to come to their place to camp. However, we had already paid for two nights in town.

As it worked out, the news wasn’t good and we were going to be without our car for far longer than a few days. We don’t know if it was the near miss or just the rough Gibb River Road that caused the damage but there was a hole in the transmission line which had leaked all the oil, wrecked the gear box and damaged the brakes. We were told that it needed an automatic transmission specialist to repair it. In other words, our car parts had to be flown to Perth, repaired by a specialist, then flown back to Derby and put back into the car. This was expected to take about a month and cost around $10,000. An alternative was to have the car towed back to Perth and put the caravan on a truck.

Three weeks into our big trip and it looked like we were going back home.

We updated Liz and Pete on the situation. Within half an hour, they text to say ‘pack up your van, you’re coming to us.’ We had only had one night in the caravan park but there was no argument to be had it seemed.They drove via the 4wd repair shop, collected our special towball for the van and towed us back to their place. On the way they dropped John off at Kimberley Car Hire so he could pick up a little car for us to run around town in. Although we hated imposing, it was a relief; the night before when we went to cook dinner, we realised our pots and pans were in the car at the 4wd yard. Then I gathered all our dirty washing to take to the laundry and realised our soap powder was also in the car.

We set up camp at Liz and Pete’s and had access to anything we needed once again. We had so much to think about and sort out. We spent hours on the phone to the RAC, insurance companies, 4wd specialists and more. All it did was confuse us even more. Liz invited us to go out fishing for cherabins with them in the afternoon. Even though we had no idea what she was talking about, we said we would go.

The four of us piled into their ute along with another friend of theirs, eskys, fishing gear, chairs and more. Pete drove us about 70kms out of Derby then off the road, across dirt tracks and through bush. It was a very bumpy ride but it was worth it. We stopped at a lovely, little creek and set ourselves up on the bank. The others did some ‘cherabining’ which they explained was using nets and handlines to catch cherabins – prawn like sea creatures. I was happy to just watch and enjoy the view.

During the evening, they caught a bucket full of the creatures. They also caught a few undersized barramundi which they threw back. Meantime, I sat by the campfire sipping wine.

John trying his hand

The others finally dragged themselves away from the creek after dark and we fought our way back through the bush. Unfortunately, it was so dark that we ploughed into a hole and got stuck! Liz and I were sent off with torches to find branches while the men (ie Pete) worked under the car to find ways to get out of the ditch. It took a lot of patience and a lot of skill to get us out of there but within an hour we were on our way home where they cooked the poor cherabins on the campfire and had a feast.

We had a great evening and it certainly kept our minds off our car troubles!

Limping backwards

18/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 4 Comments

We got up bright and early the next day, packed up ready to head off to explore a few gorges – Adcock, Calvans and Manning were on our list. However, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry! John hopped into the car to reverse it to connect the van as we do every day, and the car wouldn’t move. We did a quick check of everything as we’d been in 4wd the previous day and had locked the wheels, but everything looked fine. It took the best part of an hour to find a way to inch back the car. Finally we were all hooked up and ready to go but the car had different ideas. It crawled out of the park revving loudly. This wasn’t good.

With no phone range, we had no option but to take our time moving on, hoping the gears would click in properly. We had travelled over so many corrogations, just maybe it would fix itself as we negotiated the next lot. We can always hope.

In one of our camp books, John remembered seeing an advertisement for a mechanic. I found the ad but we couldn’t phone so we decided to make our way to him – about 70kms on rough road.

We pulled into the Imintji Community Store for fuel, and I noticed a pay phone on the verandah. John rang the mechanic who reminded him it was Sunday and he closed at 12 noon.

‘Over the Range Tyre and Mechanical Repairs’ is located in the middle of the bush between Adcock and Galvans Gorge.

When we arrived there was a queue of cars and caravans waiting for help. The owner, Neville, was on his own trying to wade through the various car problems before noon but they kept coming. He was a lovely man, cheerful, helpful and courteous. But he couldn’t do much to help us. He said our best chance would be to limp back to Derby as it was 100km closer than Kununurra. He was sure we had a transmission problem.

Over the Range is in the middle of nowhere in the outback

John chatting behind the pile of wrecked tyres from the previous day – the Gibb River Rd is challenging!

This poor tyre had a pair of pliers stuck in it!

It was disappointing having to turn back and pass some gorges we had yet to see. The car was really struggling but we crawled along the road for several hours to Lennard River Bridge and camped there for the night.

The next morning we limped the road to Derby at 30kms per hour with our hazard warning lights on.

Beautiful Bell’s Gorge

18/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / Leave a comment

We set off on the Gibb River Road. As I said before, we had done a bit of this previously on a tour, now we were doing it on our own. We had a near miss on the first day which I’ve talked about in the previous post. Leaving that aside, it was an interesting drive. We came upon the rough road sooner than I expected but John deflated the tyres a bit and later we put the car into four wheel drive.

It was my turn to drive and it was only supposed to be an easy short drive but turned out to be five hours, and my first time driving through creeks. Luckily the deepest creeks were about half a metre so it wasn’t too bad.

We pulled off the road towards the Silent Grove camping area near Bell’s Gorge. It was late afternoon and we were surprised at how busy it was. However, we managed to find a nice shady spot. It was a lovely campsite. After the rough road and the near miss, we were happy to stay for two nights. We were both exhausted from the day so ended up having cheese and biscuits then going to bed around 6pm! Of course, we are both doing lots of reading but I doubt either of us read more than a chapter before falling asleep!

Bell’s Gorge

We made an early start the next morning driving 10kms to Bell’s Gorge. John drove and had only one creek crossing. Since we hit the Kimberley, the weather has been just over 30 degrees every day. We parked the car and began the very manageable walk to the gorge. Much of the walk was along a babbling stream and it was so peaceful. Just the noise of the water and the birds. We remembered the walk and the gorge from our Kimberley Wild trip in 2017 but it didn’t detract from the beauty. It was just lovely and some visitors (not us) took a swim. We sat in the shade for a while just enjoying the ambience of the gorge then we slowly made our way back to the car.

This was the first time (12th June) since we left Dongara on 21st May, that we had the rest of the day to relax. We sat in the shade to read, ate lunch and pottered around. It was perfect. When it cooled down, we took a short walk along a track beside the Silent Grove Creek. Then it was time for a (cold) shower and happy hour!

A bit of a stumble!

18/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 2 Comments

It was my turn to drive from Derby. We planned a short drive (120kms) at the beginning of the Gibb River Road before camping at Lennard River Bridge, but missed the turn off and had to keep driving. Our second choice to camp for the night was Silent Grove near Bell’s Gorge. The Gibb River Road is a combination of sand, gravel, rock and corrugations, so a lot of care is needed when driving it. We had already let some air out of the tyres.

The near miss happened not far passed a sign that warned of 14kms of very windy road. As I drove round a bend, I came face to face with a car towing a caravan in the other lane and a white ute overtaking it at high speed in my lane. I had nowhere to go. I slammed on the brakes. John screamed at me not to brake because of the gravel but I knew if I took my foot off, I’d slam into the ute. Although he kept yelling, I just couldn’t not brake. Our car began to skid and I felt the caravan skidding too. I tried to drive into the skid but we were going towards the bush. Unbelievably, we screeched to a halt with the passenger wheel hanging over a swamp. We must have missed the ute by a hair’s breadth and it took off into the distance, without stopping to help. John told me to reverse but he didn’t think there was any chance of us being able to get back onto the gravel road. I reversed hard, keeping my foot on the pedal trying to coax the car and caravan to move back. Finally they did and we got safely back onto the road. It was then John told me we had come to a halt just inches from a ditch.

The caravanners, who had been coming the other way and had been overtaken by the ute, had stopped to help and to see if we were okay. They were furious that the driver of the ute had been so stupid and hadn’t even stopped to help. They and John were very shaken but I felt very calm and had done throughout the incident. John checked the car and caravan. Everything seemed fine. Once everyone had calmed down, we went our separate ways.

Although I was calm throughout, it wasn’t until I went to bed that night that perhaps I had delayed shock. I slept for twelve hours but woke a few times with an image of the ute coming towards us. Needless to say I was happy it was John’s turn to drive the next day.

Driving to Derby

17/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 2 Comments

A teacher colleague from Dongara told me to keep in touch during our trip as she and her partner would be in Derby and we could catch up. I hadn’t expected to see my work colleagues for the best part of a year but we had already met up with Robyn and Jock, Peta and Greg for coffee in a parking bay. I know the ladies from school, John knows their husbands from playing golf!

So here we were planning a night or two in Derby. I contacted Liz to let her know. She wrote back saying she had managed to book us a camping spot with toilets, power, barbecue and shade. We were very impressed and when we asked where it was, she said on their five acre block!

John hadn’t met Liz before and neither of us had met Pete but they made us feel very welcome. We had only finished setting up the caravan under the shade of a beautiful tree, when a Britz van pulled up and out came Dana, Rod, Karina and Darryl. Dana is another teacher from Dongara and she was on a trip along the Gibb River Road with her husband, her sister and partner. They planned to camp at Liz and Pete’s for one night but it actually stretched to two. The hospitality proved too good!

Our beautiful camping spot at Liz and Pete’s in Derby

Darryl, Karina, Dana and Rod in front of their accommodation

Over the couple of days in Derby, we had a look around and also met up again with Leonie and Jim for lunch at the Spinifex Hotel. We also visited Anne and Peter Brown who have the Desert Rose Bed and Breakfast, a beautiful home in the middle of town. I’d heard a lot about the b and b from Ann when her daughter used to bring her into my shop in Kalbarri several years ago. John and Peter managed to fit in a round of golf. John told me the golf course was lovely, very green, with boab trees instead of bunkers. It costs each player $1 each time they hit a boab tree!

A $1 fine each time a player hits a Boab tree

Me standing in front of a magnificent Boab tree in town

On the way home from Anne and Pete’s, the sun was just setting over the water. The sculptures, ‘Contemplation’ by Mark Norval, and ‘Outback Football’ by Mark Norval and Midge Wilkinson looked wonderful against the night sky.

The Norval Art Gallery was not to be missed according to Liz and she was right. She took us in and we spent at least an hour in there looking at the artwork. The video they had on re-run was about how the gallery started and was very interesting. I went back the next day with John and he also enjoyed it. (In fact, by coincidence he was partnered with Mark Norval at golf during our stay!) There were a few Aboriginal artists sitting outside working on their dot paintings which was great to watch.

An Aboriginal lady working on her dot painting outside Norval Art Gallery

In the evenings, Liz and Pete lit their big campfire and cooked a barbecue. On the second night, Liz made damper and showed us all how to press it over branches and cook it over the fire.

Another highlight of our stay was the frilled neck lizard that lives in a tree. It usually comes down when Liz calls it. She feeds it and it loves being tickled with a leaf.

In the evenings the bathroom was overrun with very cute green frogs that sat on the leaves of the trees around the top of the corrugated wall. They also placed themselves around the bathroom to watch us, and small frogs poked their little heads out of holes in the metal. They were very cute to see.

Hiding in the leaves overlooking the bathroom

Before leaving Derby, we had a good look around. John found the tides amazing. We took a walk along the wharf in the morning at low tide, then came back again in the afternoon for high tide. He was shocked at the difference. Derby has one of the highest tides in the world, and the highest in Australia.

Our reflection from the wharf at low tide

We were sad to leave Liz and Pete’s. They invited his to stay as long as we wanted but we wanted to get back on the road again. We really did have a great visit and enjoyed everyone’s company very much.

Bouncing our way to Broome

17/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 2 Comments

Most people are horrified when I say that Broome is my least favourite place in Western Australia. I don’t know why I don’t like it. I was first there in 1989 when our car had broken down and we were without our own transport. Everything seemed so disjointed. When John and I stayed there at the beginning and end of our Kimberley Wild trip, I enjoyed myself but still couldn’t see why people fell in love with the town. This time, we could only book in for one night as Broome was very busy but I was determined to see it through different eyes and get the Broome Bug.

As we drove into town to get fuel and supplies, we had trouble finding parking due to roadworks. It seemed like the whole of the town centre was blocked off by fences and machinery. It wasn’t a good start. We drove around in circles trying to find somewhere to stop, eventually parking (probably illegally) in front of some accommodation. The shops were busy, the precinct was busy and I couldn’t wait to get out of there. We had booked a night (all we could get) at the RAC Cable Beach Caravan Park as we had arranged to meet friends, Leonie and Jim, there.

We much prefer free camps but the caravan site was very nice with lots of amenities including a pool and a cafe. Although I hate camping right next to other people, I was relieved to get three or four loads of washing done. The bonus of staying there (other than the laundry) was having Happy Hour with Jim, Leonie and their friends. Our house in Dongara settled that day so we toasted that with champagne – even though we are now homeless.

Neither John nor I slept well that night. The noise of traffic and the reticulation kept us awake. So, although I had a lovely visit, I’m still not Broome’s biggest fan.

Coasting around Cape Leveque

17/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 3 Comments

So we by-passed Broome and headed for our first camp which was Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. My son, Kyran, had left home at 17 to work there and I’d always wanted to see it. It took another 17 years but we got there. Our campsite was lovely, nestled in amongst the trees, and close to the ocean. We had read that the food served was excellent so decided we would treat ourselves to dinner in their restaurant overlooking the infinity pool and the beach. Unfortunately no-one told us we had to book and a tour bus had beaten us to it. So cheese and biscuits under the awning was it. We did go for breakfast instead but it was disappointing.

We had a lovely, shady camp at Cygnet Bay

We were only able to book in for one night but, if we had been able to stay a few more, we would have booked some tours as they had great reviews. As it was, we had to be out by 10am but at least I now know where Kyran lived and worked for a while when he was young.

We drove from Cygnet Bay to Kooljaman, Cape Leveque on the other side of the peninsula. As we drove off the rough road, we came to a little oasis with a Visitors’ Centre and restaurant overlooking the sea. There was also a camping ground where many of the campers would have had amazing views over the beach.

After a coffee, we wandered down to the deserted beach, passed the stunning red rocks. The colours of the sea, the sky, the sand and the cliffs were stunning. We didn’t want to leave but we strolled over to the beach on the other side. It was just as beautiful but there were lots of campers swimming and sun bathing.

The colours were amazing. I haven’t edited any photos.

Reluctantly we left to head south to Pender Bay Escape where we had booked in for the night. Pender Bay is one of the bush camps near Middle Lagoon. It has 4wd access only because the road in is narrow and about 20kms of a combination of sand, rock and corrugations. Driving in took a couple of hours, partly because of the lack of signs at forks and junctions, but mainly due to having to pass cars and caravans on the narrow track. But it was worth it.

It was a really rough road to Pender Bay Escape!

Pender Bay Escape is stunning! The campsites have been cleared in the natural bush, most on the top of the cliffs with spectacular views of the beach and sea with the red cliffs around Cygnet Bay in the background. It is very rustic and unspoiled here. They have basic amenities with a washing machine run on solar. Each camp has its own small campfire and ours was right on the edge of the cliff.

We had the most peaceful evening, cooking dinner and eating by the campfire. A little slice of heaven.

Spoiling ourselves after a tough drive in

Hop, skip and jumping our way towards the Kimberley

10/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / Leave a comment

We really liked Onslow but had to move on. Since Carnarvon we have been averaging around 400 kms per day. We share the driving and take our time, stopping for morning tea and lunch, ideally finding a place to camp between 2 and 3pm. Since covid-19 became the norm and stopped international travel, Australians are taking the opportunity to see their own country. There are so many caravans, campers and mobile homes on the road so it is important to find a free camp (or even a caravan park) early before it fills up. I don’t expect we will travel this distance for much longer, but WA is very flat; the same scenery goes on for a very, very, very long way and there are very few towns along the road.

After Onslow we camped at the very pretty Miaree Pool, a free camp right on the river. John tried his hand at fishing but gave up very quickly.

The next morning we took off towards Karratha, Dampier and Port Hedland. We by-passed Karratha as we have been there before but were impressed with Dampier. By the time we reached South Hedland, it was time to find a place to camp for the night. I suggested the local Golf Club that had camping, and John was quick to agree. We had an unpowered site (which is fine as we have solar) but we were able to have a nice, hot shower and a drink at the club. As it was Friday evening, we were told they had fish and chips on so we didn’t have to cook.

The next morning, after another very comfortable night’s sleep – we are sleeping up to 12 hours a night – we took off heading towards Broome but without travelling that far. We called in at Pardoo and Sandfire Roadhouses for fuel and camped at Stanley Rest Area. We arrived by 2.30pm and, as it takes us just ten minutes to set up, we read for a while and enjoyed the quiet.

Stanley Rest Area is a free camp, off the main road. Very clean and safe with toilets.

The weather has been odd for this time of year. Cloud cover has followed us from day one. Apart from the storms at Useless Loop, most days it has been cloudy with a little drizzle. The clouds have kept the nights mild and the days are warming up but not yet hot.

Onwards to Onslow

10/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / Leave a comment

After a coffee stop at the Nanutarra Roadhouse, we made our way to Onslow. Neither of us had been there before but I had heard good reports about it. We also wanted a powered site and fresh water.

We booked into the Ocean View Caravan Park right on the beach. It was a lovely park with friendly staff and guests, clean facilities and close to everything. In the late afternoon, we took a walk along the Ian Blair Memorial boardwalk and admired the ANZAC memorial park. The sun sets at one end of the beach and rises at the other end. Unfortunately it was too cloudy for us to enjoy the sunset.

ANZAC memorial where the sun rises above

We loved this idea of the two Digger’s hats on the bench. John’s dad had one the same.

We enjoyed a cappuccino at the Beach Club before taking off north to continue our journey.

Tip towing our way north!

02/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 1 Comment

After a good night’s sleep, we drove to Carnarvon to sort out the issue with the van roof. Josh at Eagle Outdoors had called ahead so the auto-electrician was expecting us. It turned out that the problem was just a blown fuse but we would never have found where the fuse was hidden. Within 15 minutes, we were back on the road aiming to free camp at Minilya.

We arrived there about 4pm to find the camping area was full to the brim with caravans and campers. The Roadhouse was also full so we had no choice but to keep going. This was not totally unexpected. With covid-19 shutting international and interstate borders, people (like us) have taken the chance to see Australia and there are caravans everywhere.

We found a good camping spot at Lyndon River. It was busy too. This was a lovely, clean area with toilets but the noise of the trucks roaring passed us all night would have kept many people awake – not us though!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

02/06/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 1 Comment

Much as we liked Useless Loop (as well as Bec and Kim’s wonderful hospitality), we had some teething problems and ended up staying a few more days. The first issue was with the van. The rough road and corrugations must have done something to the electrics because the roof, which usually rises with the press of a button, would not lift. There is a way to over-ride the button but we weren’t keen on doing it as we lacked confidence in following the instructions correctly! It wasn’t a major problem for me as I can stand in the caravan without the roof raised, but John can’t. We did ring Eagle Outdoors and they gave us some things to try but without luck. We had four nights with the roof lowered!

Our second issue was the weather. The storm that started when we were in the pub, lasted all night. Despite the low roof, we were very warm and comfortable in the van, and there is nothing nicer than listening to rain on the roof and thunder in the distance. It rained on and off all weekend and the road from Useless Loop to Overlander was closed. Apparently it becomes very slippery when wet. Kim and Bec made us very welcome and looked after us all weekend.

When there was a break in the weather, we all went to Tourist Beach. John and Kim tried some fishing off the beach, the kids and Mojo the pup ran around, and Bec and I sat chatting. We all noticed the dark clouds – but too late! We all got drenched packing everything into the cars.

Bec and I enjoying the (short lived) sunny weather

We had planned to stay two nights in Useless Loop and ended up staying four. When the clouds cleared and the road opened, we took a chance and headed to Overlander Roadhouse for the night. It was a bit hairy at first but we made it.

We had a night at Overlander to pump up our tyres, get some of the red dirt off the caravan and re-fuel, ready for the next leg of our trip.

Our caravan got its first taste of the red dirt visiting Useless Loop!

Setting off (almost) on our own

31/05/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / Leave a comment

It was time to leave Kalbarri and family behind and head off on our own – well almost. Some friends suggested we call in and park our van in their driveway at Useless Loop in Shark Bay. We have never been there and thought it was a lovely way to start our holiday. Besides, Useless Loop is fairly remote and we thought they probably didn’t have many visitors. We decided to pop up to visit and stay two nights. Great plan!

Useless Loop is located in Shark Bay, opposite the town of Denham and Monkey Mia. It is a closed company town with 70 employees and their families servicing the Solar Salt Operation. John and I had to be sponsored and meet certain requirements to be able to enter the town.

View of the salt ponds from Useless Loop pub at dusk

Kim and Bec warned us that the road to Useless Loop was not in the best condition. Boy were they right! We filled up with fuel at Overlander Roadhouse and set off towards Denham with me in the driver’s seat, and then took the road to Useless Loop. It started off as bitumen but soon changed to gravel and corrugations. We expected it to be a bit rough but we were not prepared for the shaking around our poor car and caravan had to endure. We were all shook up for the best part of three hours. But we survived and made it to the town before dark.

Kim is Principal at the Useless Loop Primary School, a beautiful little school with only two classes – lower and upper primary. They have a lovely home and a lovely life actually. We met some of the locals and it is clear that Useless Loop has a tight-knit community. While Kim was working and Lennox was in school, Bec and Naia took us on a drive around the area. We had a picnic at Cosy Corner, a lovely little bay with an area for camping, and also checked out the fish cleaning area where we saw lots of small sharks swimming all around. It is a beautiful little town with the ocean on one side and the salt ponds on the other.

With a population of around 200, there is a small convenience store that opens for an hour each day, a medical room, library and playgroup. In the evening we joined the other families at the Mess (aka the pub) and had dinner there. There was a pool competition going on and a raffle for meat packs. Everyone knew each other and all the children played together. What a great atmosphere and a terrific place to bring up a young family.

As we enjoyed the ambience of the local pub, we were treated to a wonderful display of lightning – then thunder and then a massive storm that went on all night. This made the road out impassable and it was closed. Kim and Bec must be used to this because they weren’t at all phased that they were stuck with us for a few extra days. Bec mentioned she had bought in extra supplies in case that happened. She had obviously been caught out before.

Our wonderful hosts, Bec, Naia, Kim, Lennox – and Mojo the pup!

We had a lovely visit to Useless Loop but, because of the rain, our planned two nights there stretched out…..

Finding our balance

29/05/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / Leave a comment

Before we could take off for real, we had a few important things to attend to. Of course, top of the list was seeing our children, grandchildren and friends to say cheerio. We used our visits to them as more practice trips and a way of getting to know more about our van. Someone said that it must be sad to say bye to everyone but it wasn’t; in these days of mobile phones and Zoom, we will still see them and chat regularly. Everyone is busy with their own life too, and they are all very happy for us to be going off to do this trip. (When I first came to Australia on a working holiday in 1979, I had to wait a month to receive a letter from my family and vice versa. It was very expensive to call home in those days. The world is a much smaller place in 2021).

The second thing we had to take care of was having our Emu serviced after 1000kms. Living about 350kms from Perth, it didn’t take us long to log the distance. We took the van back to Eagle Outdoors and they were incredibly efficient in carrying out the service and fixing up minor issues.

The last thing we had to do before leaving civilisation was have our caravan and car weighed. We had previously watched Youtube videos on how to distribute weight and we had tried to think it through as we packed. There was a weighbridge close to Eagle Outdoors and we were relieved to find that we were well underweight.

So having caught up with those around Mandurah, we headed for Kalbarri to see more family and friends. Six weeks or so after Cyclone Seroja hit, it was nice to hear stories of how the community had come together to help each other. Although there was a lot of damage still evident, the recovery process was well underway. We love Kalbarri and enjoyed a couple of nights there before heading off on our trip.

One of the few signs still standing around Kalbarri after Cyclone Seroja

First Step – Practice Run

22/05/202103/07/2022 / lynnie57 / 1 Comment

After collecting our rig, we knew the first step was to do a practice camp in it to learn about how everything works. We organised a weekend away with friends, Michelle and Richard, who had just bought an MDC15 hybrid. Our plan was to meet at 2pm in Perenjori and go out bush to camp for two nights. We were all really looking forward to the weekend.

Thank goodness it was a practice camp! The first thing that went wrong was that John had organised for a small, one hour job to be done on the car. It ended up taking six hours! I rang Richard to tell him we would be late. That was fine because he was also running late. This was his first attempt at towing a caravan but he said it was all going smoothly and he was feeling relaxed. It was four o’clock before we even left home but we thought we would arrive before dark and hopefully miss the kangaroos at dusk.

We were quite shocked at the devastation all the way inland from Cyclone Seroja four weeks previously. There were trees and fences down everywhere. This was my excuse for getting lost. I was driving and John fell asleep. The large sign to Morawa had blown down in the cyclone, so I drove straight passed the turn off. About ten minutes further on, I realised I had gone the wrong way but, with the caravan behind me, I could not turn around. The GPS told me to turn left and so I followed instructions but found myself on a gravel road at dusk with kangaroos hopping all around me and trees uprooted along the road. What a stressful detour it turned out to be. We finally reached Michelle and Richard close to seven o’clock.

Unbeknown to us, Richard had only just arrived himself – minus his caravan! While travelling along at 95kms per hour, the caravan wheel had sheared right off and he ended up in a paddock! Luckily he was unhurt and the van could be fixed. A few of the locals helped him find the wheel and get the van back to town. This was not the start to the weekend we had hoped for! However, we didn’t let it get us down and, instead, decided that John and I would camp on their driveway, we would have the campfire in the back yard, and do a day trip to where we could have camped.

The mark on the road after Richard’s wheel sheared off!

Richard and a friend found the tyre and limped the caravan into Perenjori to be fixed

Not to be beaten, Richard built the best campfire!

The next day, we went to explore the local area including Camel Soak, Experimental Farm, John Forrest Lookout and Rothsay. We had a picnic at the lookout and had a great day.