August 30, Day 493 Eyre Peninsula

We are gradually making our way around the bottom of Eyre Peninsula, we've visited Streaky Bay, Murphy's Haystacks, Talia Caves and even bought wood fired bread from Colton Bakery – an unmanned bakery with an honesty box on the side of the road.

We stopped in at Walker's Rocks with the intention of staying for a few days of fishing but thought it more of a dump than a campsite and they wanted $10 a night! We continued to Sheringa Beach instead for the same price. We only stayed one night there as it was too rough for fishing off the beach.

We are currently free-camped at Mt Dutton Bay near the top of Coffin Bay. It is absolutely stunning and the locals are very friendly. We quizzed two locals on their way out fishing on the best spots, as Terry has a boat, and they brought us a big bucket of Salmon Trout when they got back. About an hour later the same two locals came over and offered to take us out fishing in their boats, so Terry, Geoff and the girls went trawling for Salmon Trout and Shelley and I stayed behind to enjoy some peace and quiet. We threw the lines in off the rock wall behind our camp site and caught 5 King George Whiting, two were too small and had to be thrown back but the others were ok. Geoff and the others came back with another bucket full of Salmon Trout so it was good fishing had by all. The local guys – Lloyd and Bob, had fish cleaning areas on their beach fronts, complete with sink and bench, so Geoff and Terry cleaned up the catch ready for a good feed.

The rocks behind our camp site are an adventure in themselves, we've seen sea urchins, stingrays, a dolphin goes past daily, loads of birds, the girls are having a ball and have been fishing daily with success, will post a photo of Erin with her best catch.

Still making running repairs with Terry's bus, this time the driver's side window wiper failed and needed a bit of spot welding done to fix it; luckily he carries a welder with him so Geoff was able to fix it up. We are still installing our 12 volt lighting and now have a few more lights to see by.

August 26, Day 489 Eyre Peninsula

We crossed the Nullarbor without further incident and on clearing the quarantine station at Ceduna, we pulled straight into The Oyster Bar. At $7 a dozen for fresh oysters, Geoff couldn't help but get a couple of dozen, he loves his Oysters Kilpatrick, not my thing; yuk.

We stayed at Ceduna until Friday so that Terry could get his trailer fixed properly and it gave us girls a chance to catch up on shopping and laundry. We also found a couple of op shops and I managed to score a pair of Jag jeans for $2 and a couple of jumpers for Erin as she's grown so much since last winter. We stayed at the little A1 caravan park in town for $18 a night which is almost unheard of these days, especially for three people.

For the last week, we have been camped at Haslam where the guys have been squidding daily. I even went out one day in the pouring rain and caught two, they didn't seem to bite as much when the weather was clear. Erin fished also and caught a little Leather Jacket, good for bait. Terry caught a King George Whiting and it tasted great so I've put my order in with Geoff to catch some more of them.

The local farmers had oysters for $5 a dozen so we had no end of seafood available.

The weather has been pretty horrible with wet mornings and cold windy days but it hasn't got us down at all. We just don our beanies and (especially in my case) many layers of clothes and go out fishing and walking along the beaches. The girls have been busy exploring and getting fresh air and are finally spending less time on their DS's.

Shelley and Terry are getting the hang of bush camping, still yet to talk Shelley out of TV of a night – though we did manage to coax her out for a couple of nights around the campfire; maybe if it was a bit warmer of a night it would be easier.

August 15, Day 478 Nullarbor

We are crossing the Nullarbor, after almost a year in WA we finally made it to South Australia.

Our travelling companions were still having power issues which looked like posing a problem with our free-camp plans. Their inverter was playing up and they ordered a new one in Kalgoorlie which turned out to be the wrong one so we had to wait out the weekend to change it over. The next new one is also playing up but the old one is behaving itself now so we have been able to stop at many of the roadside camps available.

We have been stopping overnight every 250km or so, no need to rush this. Our last camp (a scenic lookout) overlooked the Great Australian Bight and a few people that stopped for a look said they had seen whales but we only saw a few seals frolicking in the surf at the base of the cliffs, can't complain about that. One of our first camps had a mangy wild camel that just walked around in circles when anyone tried to get close.

Our current camp wasn't our intended stop, we pulled in for water only and when Terry pulled up beside us, we heard a bang then one of his wheels rolled out from behind his tri-axel trailer. We found bits of brake and melted hubcap further behind the trailer, apparently the brake had locked on and caught fire then melted the grease and bearings. Geoff picked up the wheel, which was still smoking, when the tubeless valve melted and the tyre deflated loudly, we all jumped, especially Geoff, then we all had a good laugh. Our afternoon was spent with the guys replacing the bearing and wheel, minus brakes, and us girls watching the Variety Bash cars go by. Some of the cars were very imaginative.

The camps sites have been good with plenty of room to get well away from the road, although a little muddy. Yes, it's been raining most of the way and blowing a gale which means no campfire get-togethers of an afternoon.  Tonight has been our first night without rain and we've managed to finally have a campfire.

We have been very lucky with a strong tail wind and I really feel for those heading west into that wind. I'd say the caravans outnumber the road-trains 3-2 and there have been very few cars and a couple of cyclists. A couple of road-trains have been carrying brand new caravans and we tried to organise a swap but they wouldn't go for it.

For those interested in fuel prices on the Nullarbor, here goes – Norseman ranged from 139.9 to 141.9, Belladonia was 169.9 when we got there for lunch and went up to 172.9 as we left, Caiguna was 172.9, Cocklebiddy 172.8, Madura 169, Mundrabilla 161, Eucla 161, Bordervillage 173.9, Nullarbor Motel 172.9, Nundroo 136.9, Penong 131.9. These prices are diesel, petrol was about the same though.

August 8, Day 471 Ora Banda

After two and a half weeks here, it is our last day, hopefully. We have been ready to leave a couple of times but our travelling companions are having a little power trouble and want to get it sorted before we cross the Nullarbor.  We keep thinking that we are being kept here for a reason, and that we are meant to find the "Big One". Wishful thinking, I know, but stranger things have happened. We have heard about the boy peeing behind a tree and having a rock turn gold, and about the lame horse and the nugget found in his hoof.

We have enjoyed our stay here and are leaving with a little Gold Fever. Geoff and I managed to find 6 nuggets – about 10 grams – as well as some old bottles from days gone by, so we are happy. Erin came out prospecting with us once and got bored very quickly, I went out about 7 days and could've kept going I had so much fun. I think we have found our retirement hobby (never too soon to retire).

It is remarkable how deep some of the shafts we have seen are. I know I mentioned this in my last entry but we've seen many more and it just astounds me how deep and steep they are and how they got down into them let alone how they dug them out by hand. We are out here in winter and even though the nights are cold, the days are quite warm; we've been told that summer here can reach 50 degrees some days and with very little water around, life here must have been very hard.

July 25, Day 457 Ora Banda

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in updates, I've been a bit slack, not to mention busy.

We made it away last Monday 19^th as planned and free camped at the old Kulyaling townsite near Brookton. It was a nice little spot perfect for a little campfire and marshmallows to toast our first night back on the road. We had the whole camp area to ourselves and woke to the sound of bleating sheep instead of noisy neighbours and traffic.

We splurged the second night and stayed at a caravan park at Kondonin, $15.50 a night powered and we were the only people again, beginning to think we smell. Lovely hot showers and free washing machine, nice town.

On Wednesday we visited Wave Rock, Hippo's Yawn and Mulka's Cave near Hyden, many people had told us it wasn't worth the visit but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We took the gravel road from Hyden to Yellowdine (near Southern Cross) and the van handled well, expect for a bit of bulldust coming in the back window.

Free-camped again at Boorabbin, this time sharing the camp ground with half dozen grey nomads' vans so we are now back on the tourist route.

On Thursday we lunched on the side of the road at Coolgardie – immensely wide streets, it kind of reminds me of Camooweal. We took the back road to Ora Banda from Coolgardie, another well kept road, easy travelling, though more bulldust in the back window, even though I tried to stuff the gaps with paper towel.

We have now caught up with our friends, Terry and Shelley and their daughter Maddy, from Sarina, QLD, they left Fremantle just after Easter. We are staying at the back of Ora Banda Hotel in the caravan park. Shelley and I are working as housekeepers for the hotel, there's about a dozen "rooms" (dongas). Geoff and Terry are going out everyday prospecting, Geoff has borrowed a detector and Terry has had a little bit of luck finding gold.

In 2000 the hotel was bombed by bikies in retribution for a murder. One of the walls in the hotel remains showing the damage. The retired police officer that owned the hotel was later killed in Perth after they had also firebombed his house.

Today (Sunday) we took a touristy drive around the area and Terry showed us the open cut mine nearby, it had a few old mine shafts exposed in the wall of the pit and showed how deep the old timer's went with just a pick and shovel (see photos). The two pictured range from 100 – 150 feet deep - impressive. Some of the shafts along side the road were also pretty deep, wouldn't catch me going down one, not on purpose anyway, few of them are fenced off because of their depth but most are not.

Shelley and I gave Terry and Geoff haircuts today with the clippers and an old ex-army guy came over and asked me if I could cut his hair next, so I did, then I packed up quickly before anyone thought I had an open shop and wrongly thought I knew what I was doing. He was pretty chuffed though and left a happy camper.

We have updated our photo album, finally, hope you like the pics.

Cheers for now.

Shelley, Geoff and Erin

July 12, Day 444 Fremantle

Greetings everyone.

Well the World Cup is finally over – loved the action, hated the vuvuzela's, sounded like being stuck in a beehive while we were watching the matches, as I'm sure everyone would agree.

We are almost ready to hit the road again, our ETD is Monday 19th July, end of WA school holidays. I don't know if you've been following the weather over here, but it's blowing a gale and rather wet. This makes it a bit harder to pack up than anticipated but also makes us grateful that we aren't in the camper trailer anymore.

Geoff and I both finish work at the end of this week. We delayed a little as the clutch decided to play up and had to be replaced last week. All good now, glad it didn't happen on the Nullarbor while we were towing.

We fully intended to explore down south of here as we had heard so many great things but the cold and being homesick for the east coast has postponed that. We prefer to free-camp with a solar shower and porta-potti and a very cold winter down south is not at all appealing. We shall return though, never fear.

We are excited but also a little apprehensive about travelling again. The van is a lot bigger than the camper trailer so we have to make some allowances – can't just go bush like we're used to and have to watch for low branches!

Geoff is currently setting up the van for 12 volt lighting – he's got 2 deep cycle batteries and all the lights and is in the process of installing the wiring – little holes everywhere. The fridge is 240 volt so we'll have to use the car fridge again when we're mobile. Just got used to having a freezer again too.

I think Erin is looking forward to heading east the most. Unfortunately it hasn't been the best caravan park for her, it doesn't cater for kids so most families stay further south at Coogee and Woodman Point, but they don't take long-termers so we had to stay here at Fremantle Village, convenient for work and grocery shopping though.

Hope this finds everyone well.

Cheers for now

April 30, Day 371 Fremantle

Just a quick update to let you all know that we well and still in Freo. Can't believe it's been just over a year since we left home, it's gone by so fast.

We are enjoying the caravan, especially now that the weather is getting cooler. We sold the camper trailer to a couple from Port Hedland who I'm sure will get plenty of use out of it as they like to go to really remote places.

We are both working at the moment, I finally managed to get some night fill work at Woolies, they took around 6 weeks to process my application even though I'd worked for them before. I'm working Monday to Friday, about 20hrs a week, at least they don't work past midnight at this store, the last one I worked at, I was finishing anytime between 1 and 5 am.

We are hoping to get back on the road by early July, finishing out the financial year here, all going well. We are already looking through the Camps 5 book and online to plan a rough itinerary to see down south. Eager to get back on the bitumen.

Hope this finds everyone well.

Cheers for now.

 

January 12, Day 263 Camper trailer to Caravan

Hi all

just a quick note to update you all. We took the plunge and bought a caravan. It is a GT Classic 23' Viscount with 2 single beds up front, kitchen and sitting area in the middle, double bed in the back and two concertina doors making it 3 rooms plus a full size annex. We bought it privately from a family that just returned from 9mths in Broome. It came with a washing machine, TV, rubber matting for the annex, huge fridge (can finally have icecream without scoffing it in the park), box of choccies and bottle of champers as well as a stuffed toy lion for Erin. One of our neighbours gave us an aerial so we could watch the TV so that was an added bonus. Erin hasn't stopped smiling, she is so happy to have her own space that she can make her own.

We still have the camper trailer, I have almost finished moving everything across and cleaning it up, just have to wait for Geoff to take his tools out then we can pack it up and put it in the paper.

Geoff changed jobs today, he didn't like the job he was at and Monadelphous offered him a position in the same area so he accepted it and is much happier now. I am still waiting to hear back on my applications but keeping busy with moving 'house' and sorting Erin's school work out before that gets back under way. Her report card last year was A's and B's so she's accepted Distance Ed as being a good school for her.

We hope that everyone is well and had a great New Year, may this year be better than the last for us all.

Cheers for now,

from the Happy Caravanners!

 

December 24, Day 244 Fremantle

Merry Christmas Everyone.

We hope that everyone has a very happy Christmas and a very safe and prosperous 2010.

For those of you at home, we miss you all very much, but wouldn't give up travelling yet for quids, wish you were here.

For those of you we have met along the way, thankyou for making our trip much more memorable, we also wish you were here.

For those of you we don't know personally, thanks for reading and hope that we have inspired you.

We hope you have all enjoyed our journey so far, we still have many, many more kilometres to go and looking forward to it.

Safe travels everyone.

December 14, Day 234 Fremantle

We spent 39 days all up at the Old Townsite of Marrinup and almost got evicted for squatting! Apparently there is a 28 day limit, but we couldn't find any information to back that up. There is a cleaner that comes in once a week and he took our photo (campsite, not us personally) and told us that the ranger would be around to see us soon. We said that was fine and we'd see him when and if he came, he hadn't been in the whole time we'd been there and there are people there that have been camped there longer than us.

Fortunately, as luck had it, we got a phone call offering Geoff work at Henderson so we were able to leave anyway. We were only staying long enough to find work without paying van park fees.

If you look in the paper here, there are always around 8-10 boilermaker/welder jobs each week. I think we applied to each and every one of them and had around 50 applications in from Collie in the south to north of the river, Perth. (I say 'we' but I mean Geoff, I just do the computer work). Port Hedland and Karratha weren't even in the running, too hot and no accommodation available (houses start at $1250 a week).

So now we are in a caravan park, with an en-suite site (mandatory for long termers we are told), with a real shower and flushing toilet and a tap. This is a huge luxury for us, for the last month or so we have been bucketing water from the creek, using solar shower bags and roughing it with pit toilets. We are gradually settling in, Erin has met another girl in the park, a little younger than her but they get along well, another Queenslander. I am now looking for work for myself so we'll see how that goes, I'm trying to find afternoon or weekend work so Erin isn't home alone.

The days have been quite warm but there's usually relief when the Freo Doctor comes and cools us down again.  Our neighbours are nice and one couple has already invited us to Christmas brekky with some of the other permanents.

Erin finished school a week early and WA school holidays don't start until the end of this week so she has been a little bored, I've offered her plenty of jobs to keep her occupied, but she has declined. I wonder why? She has been counting down days as she turns 14 on Wednesday and keeps telling me, as if I'd forget.

I will try and sort out photos today and get them uploaded, I know, very slack of me. I missed having power.

I hope everyone is well and not getting trampled by pre-Christmas shoppers, I haven't missed shopping centres or crowds that's for certain.

Cheers for now.

 

November 17, Day 207 Marrinup

Well we managed to find a free camp after all. We caught up with the big family we camped with at De Grey River so Erin is very happy to be with kids her age.  We have been camped here for a little over two weeks, there is a creek running nearby and the old POW camp up the road. The place we are camped at is an old townsite with very little evidence remaining except a beautiful rose bush in amongst the weeds.  Dwellingup is about 4km away with drinking water and shops and oodles of railway history including a running steam train.

It's nice to be out of the dust, heat and wind but the temperature is a lot lower here. The nights are much cooler and we've even had rain on and off for the last two weeks.

We went for a walk to the POW camp last week and learnt about the Italians and Germans that were held there during WW2. One amusing story that was told on one of the information boards around the camp was of POW's escaping and later being found in local hotels "soaking up the atmosphere". Some of the prisoners were allowed to work on the local farms without guards and formed strong friendships and even romances. Many of the Italian POW's returned home and later immigrated back here.

Last Friday we took a trip into Perth to see the 4WD show and browse through the many caravans they had on site. I think we walked through every van there and picked up lots of brochures and Geoff has narrowed it down to a few that he likes. Now all we have to do is find work to pay for it.

Geoff has applied for a few jobs in and around Perth but we haven't heard anything back, they seem to take ages to process applications, as follow up calls have found out. At least we're not paying caravan fees while waiting.

Still haven't gone through all of our photos yet, I am waiting for unlimited power that a caravan park has to offer so I can sort through them properly, there's just so many.

 

 

October 31, Day 190 Ellendale Pool, Carnamah

We drove through Geraldton for groceries and fuel just as school let out, it reminded us how thankful we are that we don't have to fight the traffic to pick Erin up from school.

We have been looking for somewhere to stay for 4-5 nights to just stop before going to Perth and beginning the work hunt but have found this to be rather difficult. We spent a couple of nights at Ellendale Pool which was nice but too windy for the camper trailer, then Geoff wanted to try Arrino Siding which looked nice in the Camps 5 book but turned out to be a rest area in front of someone's house, no thankyou. Koolanooka Springs sounded nice, the flies thought so too, so that was a bust, we ended up spending last night at a nice little caravan park in Carnamah. We have decided that rather than run around the country side spending money on fuel looking for the few and far between ideal camp site, we'll check out the caravan park and job situation around Perth before beginning work.  Oh, and look for a caravan too.

To date we have travelled 21,182 kms (Carnamah), spent $3912 on diesel, 3148 litres, average economy 14.86 l/100km

We have averaged $6.45 per night for accommodation, and spent 94 cents per km (includes all expenses). Granted we didn't do any of the tours or go out on boats but we found we didn't miss out on much, we still saw whales, dolphins, turtles, etc without the expenses. In the last week alone, we have seen wild emus, echidnas, kangaroos, shinglebacks, rabbits, foxes, goats as well as the above marine life, not to mention loads of wildflowers.

 

October 27, Day 186 Hamelin Pool, Monkey Mia, Steep Point

On the way to Hamelin Pool, we stopped at Carnarvon to have a look around. We arrived in time for the markets at One Mile Jetty on Sunday morning and enjoyed a browse and a walk up the jetty. Part of the jetty was burnt out and closed so we couldn't walk out to the end but we still went a fair way. They were also doing train rides out but we chose to walk as we thought the jetty was so rickety, the weight of a train might be a little scary.

Hamelin Pool is home to the Stromatolites that used to inhabit earth 3.5 billion years ago and produced all the oxygen on the planet that we have today.  This is a small patch that still remains due to the water having a higher salt content.

On Sunday night we had our first rain since around Cairns. We had been hoping on rain to wash some of the dust off the tent but found that after 4 months of dry and heat our canvas wasn't very water proof anymore and had a few leaks.  The wind behind it didn't help any.

On Monday we went up to Denham, Shell Beach and Monkey Mia, still raining. The dolphins started coming into the beach about 20 minutes after we got to Monkey Mia at around 10am, and a very pregnant one stayed in shore while the rangers talked. The remaining dolphins stayed out a little and didn't come in for feeding, but they still fed the pregnant one. Geoff was picked to feed her but sent Erin out in his place so she was very excited.  Denham was a nice little town and we stopped for lunch and a walk along the beach before continuing to Shell Beach, where the shells are around 5m deep and used in the shell quarry.

Due to the rain, the roads were closed out to the National Park and Steep Point and we were really looking forward to going to at least Steep Point.

Another family was camped next to us at Hamelin Pool with two young boys and waited patiently with us yesterday morning to hear if the road to Steep Point had been opened or not. If it was closed, we were all moving on, if open, we'd extend our stays. The rain had stopped early yesterday afternoon so we were hoping the road had dried out enough for us. At 7.30am we got the news that the road was open and as it was 4WD advised to stay together to help each other if needed.  That was fine with us as we all got along really well.

Steep Point is the western most point of mainland Australia and about 160km of gravel and sand roads. At about 100km in, tyres have to be let down to 20psi and later on there is a sign notifying everyone that "tyres will be checked and incur a $25 fine if over 20psi". This is on top of the $22 per vehicle entrance fee.

The road out was good, a little slushy in areas from the rain and the grader had also been out and was half way through grading the road. We drove through narrow sand tracks and along the beach and eventually made it to the rocky cliffs of Steep Point just before lunch, after 3 hours driving. The view was fantastic, the sky clear and the ocean a very deep, inky blue. We took lots of photos and swapped cameras so each family had a photo by the sign marking the western point. During the afternoon we did a spot of fishing and had a large whale and her calf come really close to the cliff we were standing on, absolutely breathtaking.  The kids all collected heaps of shells along the beaches and we all had a fantastic day, no fish caught though.

We started making our way back to camp about 3.30pm because we knew it would take at least 3 hours and we had to stop and re-inflate our tyres. Half way back, we got a puncture and had to stop and change the tyre but it didn't dampen our spirits. We got back to camp well after dark, all very hungry and tired.

I thoroughly recommend Hamelin Pool Caravan Park to anyone staying out that way, the people there couldn't do enough for us, offering advice and chasing up road closures and were a very friendly bunch.

I've taken over 300 photos in the last week so I have some sorting to do before I can upload them.

 

October 24, Day 183 Exmouth, Coral Bay

We went for a walk along the beach at Exmouth yesterday and saw a large turtle swimming off the beach, we tried swimming but it was a bit rocky and with the danger of stone fish, we decided to make use of the pool at the caravan park we stayed at. On our return from the beach, an emu was ahead of us on the path and we followed him all the way back to where we were camped, apparently he is a regular and freely roams around as he pleases, much to the delight of the foreign tourists and kids alike.

Today we stopped at Coral Bay for lunch where Erin tried to swim above the coral off shore but got a little spooked and didn't want to go in again. I think too many tales of sharks in reefs might have had something to do with it.

We are staying overnight at Rocky Pool, about 50km east of Carnarvon tonight, there's water in the pool but around it is very dry and dusty. Still finding it very windy everywhere, at least it has settled down of a night here, Exmouth blew all night.

 

October 21, Day 180 Broome

Wow, it's been a little while since we updated but here goes. We spent all up 3 weeks at De Grey River before returning to Broome on the 13^th to catch up with my mum for a week.

We did a lot of the touristy stuff like going to Gantheaume Point and checking out the dinosaur footprints at low tide, swimming at Cable Beach (nice but I think overrated, Sunshine Coast is much better), shopping, cafés, more swimming, markets, Japanese and Chinese Cemeteries.  I cannot get over the colour of the ocean, we could see the beach from our Roebuck Bay Caravan Park site and it was a gorgeous turquoise colour. The beaches are similar to Fraser Island in that at least one 4WD get lost at low tide every week.

Last Friday we drove out to Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge (800km return trip) which was well worth it. Tunnel Creek was fantastic and a welcome break from the heat – the creek flows for about a kilometre through a very dark tunnel and torches are definitely needed.  Erin finally got to see freshwater crocs in the wild at Windjana Gorge, swimming is not recommended here there are far too many freshies.

We figured we'd be back in Broome by about 8pm, what we didn't figure on was the police and fire brigade closing the only road in or out of Broome at about 7.20pm. For the past week there have been a number of fires blazing along the highway and the road has been closed on and off due to it flaring up and blocking visibility. This night, of all nights, they decided to close the road for the night and back burn the whole lot. We tried very hard to talk them into letting us through as we had accommodation in Broome but they said no and started the fire right next to us at Roebuck Plains Roadhouse.  Big thanks to Mum for putting us up in the on-site dongas, our first night in ages with a TV and we were too tired to watch it; we did enjoy the air conditioning though, the temperature during the day had reached 42.

We left Broome this morning and headed back to DeGrey River, just for an overnighter this time, before continuing on to Karratha and Robe River, hopefully to catch up with some friends that are ahead of us.

Geoff has sent off some job applications to Perth so we may be stopping there over summer to top up the bank before returning east. Thankfully we haven't had to use the credit cards yet, touch wood we won't need them either. There seems to be plenty of work on in the Pilbara with positions vacant signs everywhere for all fields of work. The wages are also good with rumours that juniors in MacDonalds, Karratha get $25 an hour to keep them out of the mines and tradies are on at least $50 an hour. Accommodation is expensive with a two bedroom house renting for around $1250 a week, also in Karratha. Too hot for us in a Camper Trailer with no air-conditioning and too expensive to find an alternative.  If it was over winter, we'd probably stay but it's already too hot and, for Geoff, welding is no fun in hot weather, no matter what dollars are offered.

Finally got around to updating the photos, hope you like them.

Very belated Happy Birthday to Jessica (double digits now) and Alison, hope you both had great days.  Happy Birthday to Mum for next Sunday, enjoy your day off.

 

September 25, Day 154 De Grey River

Well the repair job on the punctured tyre wasn't acceptable according to the tyre guys and we now have three new tyres, though they did say that Geoff was good to seal it as much as he did considering the damage.  Karratha was a bust as we couldn't find anywhere away from the wind to camp and had to continue up the coast back up to Port Hedland. The first place we stopped and tried to set up blew the poles out and turned our camper into a balloon so we packed up and tried 3 more stops before finding one with enough shelter to set up, we have enough expenses at the moment without adding caravan parks to the list and prefer to free camp.

On the way up one of our spotlights fell off when the bracket on our 3 month old bulbar snapped off, so Geoff has been having words with Karma and feels he has been ripped off. He says that Karma has a lot to answer for when we have stopped and helped everyone we've come across that need help, so why has so much been going wrong. His reply from Karma was a melted fridge plug and another trip into Port Hedland (82km away) to buy a more heavy duty plug and another set of fuses as we have blown 4 trying to get the fridge working again. Not happy Jan.

On a brighter note, Erin hasn't been happier. We met a large family at Clem Walton in Qld with 4 kids (11yrs boy, 13yrs girl, 16yrs boy, 19yrs boy) and bumped into them again while shopping in Port Hedland last Monday. They have been camped with us at De Grey and their daughter has been staying with Erin in her tent, so every night has been a slumber party. The youngest two have DS's also so they link and race each other between swims in the river. It's common at the moment to find 4 kids crowded around under our awning and we have to hunt them out of our chairs just to sit down. Earlier in the week there was another 13yr boy nearby and he had joined in too. It's great to see Erin so happy.

As for me, I am enjoying comparing notes with other mums and quite content to just stop for a little while and catch my breath. Too many trips lately and what's the rush? I don't mind if we stop here for a few more weeks, plenty of water, shade and company, what else do you need?

Hopefully I'll get around to updating the photos soon, it's hard to pick the best from so many. I'll also try and get around to updating our trip map eventually, we are not in range very often so I can only update as we pass through towns and the map takes a lot longer.

Happy Birthday to Brianna and a big hug from Erin, she misses you heaps.

 

September 19, Day 148 Millstream-Chichester NP

We stayed three nights at Karijini and thankfully by the second day the wind finally died down and we were able to relax without being windblown so much. We were a bit slack and didn't do all the gorges and walks however we did go back to Fern Pool a second time for another swim, that's still about a 2km walk return.

We left yesterday morning, nice and early, and headed for Tom Price to pick up fuel and supplies and give ourselves plenty of time to get to Millstream. We were told by the camp hosts at Karijini that the road between there and Millstream had claimed a few tyres and to take it easy. About 105km from Tom Price, Geoff noticed the car swimming a little so he pulled over and found that the rear passenger tyre was punctured, I circled the hole for later and we put the spare on from under the car (this took two hours as we had to set up a tarp to shade us from the midday sun and retrieve the buried tyre changing gear, compressor, etc, then of course we figured we may as well have lunch too). This spare had been there since we bought the vehicle and was a retread, we assumed it would get us to at least Millstream where we could fix the punctured tyre in the comfort of camp. 115km later, that spare blew and took with it the mudflap, flare, a piece of the tail light and somehow managed to knock the rear view mirror out of its bracket next to me, it was just hanging there so the mirror wasn't broken. There were pieces of tread and tube for 200 metres up the road behind us as well as the mudflap. Luckily we had another spare on the roof rack that wasn't a retread and we were on the road again, arriving at Crossing Pool Campground at around 5.30pm, very tired and covered in red bull dust. 

The following morning while Geoff was fixing the punctured tyre, he checked the tyres on the trailer to make sure everything was in working order. Three for three, one of the tyres on the trailer had a bulge under the tread and it was considered too risky to continue with it on, so another tyre change was made. The tyres on the trailer are one inch bigger than the cruiser tyres so we were very lucky we were carrying three spares, one for the trailer and two for the cruiser. The punctured tyre is almost fixed, it has a very slow leak and is our only spare so fingers crossed we will be able to get it fixed properly and replace the other two in Karratha on Monday. The mirror is being held in the bracket with sticky tape and the pieces of tail light have been superglued back in place. The flare and mudflap are sitting up in the roof rack with the remains of spare number 1. In the course of changing the tyre the second time, one of the wheel nuts jammed and broke a stud off so now we need to get another stud as well as new tyres.

On the upside, Millstream Chichester NP is very nice and it is incredible to see the amount of flood damage from February this year. Near our camp is a very large tree trunk about 600mm across, complete with roots, hanging 5 metres above the creek wedged in the branches of a paper bark tree. The paper barks across the creek have had over a metre of their roots exposed from erosion and the landscape is incredible.

 

September 16, Day 145 Karijini National Park

Our search for somewhere with water took us to De Grey River near Port Hedland via quite a few overnight stops. We left the Bungles on Father's Day with the intention of staying at Sawtooth Gorge (south of Halls Creek) but gave up after 24km of driving on dry, dusty corrugations with no sign of water anywhere and returned to the highway to stop overnight at Mary Pool (no water, despite the name and very windy).

We were finding the heat quite exhausting and decided to skip the gorges (Geike, Windjana, Tunnel Creek etc) and check them out when (if?) we come back up after the wet and do the Gibb River Road at the same time.

We tried another freebie at Myroodah Crossing (south-east of Derby) where there was plenty of water in the river but also a few too many crocodiles and someone had hung a dead pig from a tree, a little disturbing.  Instead we continued to Derby and enjoyed fish and chips while watching the sun set over the mudflats near our camp.

We stopped overnight in Broome to stock up on supplies only; we are saving the touristy stuff for next month when we return as Mum is flying in to spend a week with us there, although we did get to see the "staircase to the moon", well two steps anyway, we missed the staircase by a day.

We stopped at De Grey River as people had told us about the pretty rocks there and that we had to take Erin there. Three nights later we had to sort through many kilos of rocks that had been collected as we couldn't carry them all. At least water was plentiful and I managed to catch up on all my laundry.

We arrived at Karijini National Park yesterday as we had been told that it was a definite go-to place. We were sent to the generator loop to set up camp as we run the generator occasionally to top up the batteries, the wind was incredible, there was not a tree in sight and to top it off, we couldn't get a peg in the ground! We had to pack up again and move to another campground with no generators, luckily this campground was a bit protected from the wind (though still very windy) and offered shade.  

The national parks here have a total fire ban and no solid fuel cookers are allowed, so no Cobb and therefore no Birthday Cake for Geoff, luckily we had bought a fruit cake so he didn't really go without. Not the birthday that he had in mind, setting up camp once a day is hard enough. An offroad caravan has been on the birthday list for a couple of months now and he has bought the last few issues of the caravan trader magazine.  He even has his sights set on bus/coach after seeing one in Kununurra that was completely decked out, complete with two bedrooms. He has been sketching out designs ever since.

After we finally got our camp set up, we walked down to Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool where Geoff and Erin enjoyed a well earned swim, there was no way I was getting in, too cold for me.  

I'd love to see northern WA after the wet season, at the moment everywhere is dry, flat, brown and very, very windy. There are a few patches of mulla mulla in flower and the golden senna seeds around but other than that, there is nothing much to see. Fortunately it is pretty quiet tourist-wise so it is easy to get in anywhere and caravan parks are in lower season rates.

September 6, Day 135 Bungle Bungles

We spent three nights at Kununurra and day tripped to Lake Argyle and the Durack Homestead. We didn't realise just how big Lake Argyle was until we got there, it's just awesome. We had a picnic lunch down past the spillway where there was green grass and plenty of shade – a rare sight in these parts.

We gave in to Telstra and bought a prepaid Next G phone as Optus just doesn't exist anywhere near where we go and I don't like to be out of contact for too long.

On Friday we arrived at the turnoff to the Bungle Bungles at around 2.30pm and were almost put off by the sign that said to allow 3 hours to drive the 53km in to the park if towing, it was rough going but it only took 1 ½ hours, thankfully as we didn't want to set up in the dark. When we got to the visitor carpark, a couple asked if we happened to have any spare bolts, as their roof rack had lost one and caused a bit of damage on the way in, Geoff, ever the Spares Parts Guy, found one that fit and saved the day. The roof rack was part of their roof top camper so there would've been a problem with accommodation for them if it wasn't fixed. They were so grateful that they gave us a bottle of wine and a bag of lollies for Erin. They weren't the only casualty of the road into the park, a camper trailer had problems with their leaf springs and had to have it picked up by a tilt slide tow truck and another guy was seen holding onto his roof rack while driving out. The only problem we had was a blown fuse on the fridge, thankfully Mr Spares had a few more.

We got up at dawn on Saturday morning and completed the Cathedral Gorge walk before the sun got too hot, it was a bit overcast so we were spared the heat a little longer. When we got back to camp Erin sat on the ground and did some of her schoolwork only to be spooked by a rather large snake cutting between her and the tent, a space of only centimetres. We are hoping it was only a python as we didn't see it, we were sitting further away at the table. Erin was very good and stayed very still until it moved away, it was only when she started crying and we heard the snake in the dry grass that Geoff and I realised something had happened. We went up to the visitor centre to look at their snake book and see if she could identify it but nothing stuck out to her.

We were told that the best time to do the Echidna Chasm walk was around noon when the sun was high and gave the best light. They weren't wrong, we took a picnic lunch and enjoyed the temperature drop within, a nice change from the heat outside.

I can only imagine what the Bungle Bungles would be like during peak season, you wouldn't be able to take a photo without someone being in your shot, we were again very lucky that it was quiet and we had our pick of campsites and carparks. Well worth the effort getting in, it's such a pity that access is restricted to 4wds and camper trailers only. Apparently a guy drove his Commodore and caravan in a few weeks ago and was immediately turned around and sent out again by the rangers, absolutely no 2wds or caravans allowed, no exceptions.

We are now in search of a camp with somewhere to swim and chill out for 3-4 nights, preferably free. As it is late in the season, these camps are very few and very far between, a bit like Optus really.
Happy first birthday to James for Saturday, we hope he had a great day. 

September 1, Day 130 Kununurra

Yay we finally made it to WA.

Well we are back in a caravan park, hopefully this one will be better. On the upside, we are camped by the swimming pool and Erin is surrounded by other kids, one girl is a year above her with the same distance ed school and share some of the same teachers.

We ended up spending 5 nights at Keep River NP staying at Jarnem campground 32km from the Victoria Highway. The weather got hotter and hotter with days reaching mid 40's and the temperature staying at 30 deg until well after 10.30pm. We spent our days in bathers pouring the occasional cup over our heads as there was nowhere to swim. Erin was fantastic, she managed to cram as much school work into last week end as she could so she could have time off when we got to Kununurra.

Even with the hot weather, we did get up at dawn one morning and trekked the 8km loop walk at the campground, returning to camp at around 9.30am. I felt for the several people who were just starting the walk as we finished it, we were sweating buckets. The camp ground was pretty quiet with only a couple of other campers most nights, our second last night was on our own and our last was with at least a 8 other campers, so you just can't tell when a place will be busy or not. The ranger told us that the month before was crowded and it was hard to get a spot, so we obviously timed it well.  Spectacular place.

We got to Kununurra this morning and gained 1 ½ hours with the time change, so we managed to fit a bit more into our day today. While shopping in Coles we bumped into a couple who we'd been camping with at Clem Walton (near Cloncurry), small world, they were supposed to be heading south at Three Ways but they got as far as Tennant Creek, changed their minds and decided to check out Darwin then WA instead, very funny couple.

August 26, Day 124 Saddle Creek Rest Area

We spent two nights in a caravan park in Katherine and it reiterated again why we don't stay in caravan parks. We thought fantastic, we got an en-suite site with our own hot shower and a shady site, but that's about all we got. We had been put next to the workers' cabins and they didn't shut up all night, even after repeated requests. We complained to reception, they apologised but nothing was done. After two very sleepless nights and still no battery, we adjourned to Copperfield Dam, near Pine Creek, to wait out the weekend. We initially planned on staying at Umbrawarra Gorge but the trek to the gorge put us off staying when we could camp right near the dam and go swimming. Which we did, at least a few times a day.

We returned to Katherine on Tuesday, assured that our battery should be in by then and to get the brakes serviced on the camper. We went grocery shopping and found that the 2lt Streets Double Chocolate icecream was on special so we indulged ourselves. We don't have a freezer so we indulged further by sitting in the park with our spoons and devoured the whole creamy lot.

Our battery wasn't in so rather than stay in Katherine any longer we bought a cranking battery from Toyota instead of the deep cycle/cranking battery that Geoff wanted to get. We also bought a bird book for Erin as she has been trying to identify all the birds we see. While Geoff was running around trying to source another battery, Erin and I sat in Katherine Hot Springs, relaxing. Tough life isn't it?

When we left Katherine we had psyched ourselves up for camping for a week in Gregory NP staying at Limestone Gorge and were looking forward to it. We had left Katherine a little late in the day so we stayed at Limestone Creek overnight stop on the way to get an early start to Gregory. We stopped for a look at Victoria River Roadhouse and the Durack monument, then had a picnic lunch at Timber Creek before returning to Bullita Access Road to go to the gorge. To our dismay, the gorge was closed due to flood damage and no camping allowed. The rest of the park was open to camping but this was the only camp site with swimming, the remaining having crocs or no swimming holes. This was the third thing we'd found closed today, the first two were Joe's Creek Walk and Kuwang Lookout, both supposed to be pretty spectacular.

By this stage, Geoff was feeling pretty unimpressed by the NT and just wanted to keep going to Kununurra and WA. We have stopped overnight at Saddle Creek rest area to try out Keep River NP tomorrow. We need to stop and use up our fresh fruit and vege supplies before crossing the WA border as we can't take it with us.

August 21, Day 119 Katherine

Well we enjoyed Butterfly Springs so much we stayed three nights. We had other campers staying every night, but none for more than a night each. We also noted a midday rush as travellers passing through stopped to have a look and a swim then head off again.  

We had one of our batteries die on us, nothing lost (fridge-wise) thankfully but it was the cranking battery for the car so Geoff had to swap it around with the second of the dual batteries. We'll pick up another one tomorrow, hopefully it made it on to the delivery truck (don't know where from) so we don't have to hang around too long.

We stopped last night at Matarranka Homestead to soak out some of the red dust and corrugations and spent over an hour in the thermal pool. Aaaahhhh. We had a few wallabies visit us during dinner, Erin hand fed one and it allowed her to pat it, she also poured water some into her cupped hand which it drank from before laying down beside her like a faithful puppy. I must also mention that it got a little impatient with Geoff not feeding it and almost climbed into his lap to get at his dinner! Erin is still floating on Cloud 9 today. She made such an impression on it, it visited again this morning for breakfast.

Also Happy Birthday to Geoff's brother Scott, hope you had a great day.

 

August 18, Day 116 Butterfly Springs

More corrugations and bulldust, how unusual for this area! Thankfully we have had nothing come off and our tyres are okay, touch wood. We have seen quite a few pulled over for tyre changes and heard about a few more with bits needing welding back on.

Yesterday we stopped at Borroloola long enough to pick up some fuel and send a quick text to mum from a payphone (no reception since Cloncurry, thanks Optus for the excellent coverage).

We stopped at Caranbarini Conservation Park for just a walk, as we were on our way to Limmen National Park where we are now. Caranbarini is what we would imagine the Bungle Bungles to look like on a smaller scale, without having seen the Bungles in person I am not sure if that is an appropriate description, it was pretty spectacular though.

Butterfly Springs has a water hole not far from camp that makes a refreshing change from some of the camps that we've stayed in lately – no crocs.  There is also a wall of butterflies right next to the swimming hole, hence the name.

Some statistics if anyone is interested.

Distance travelled so far:  10,176km

Cost per km for diesel on average:  approx 18 cents/km

Average economy: 14.7 l/100km

Diesel used so far: Almost 1500 litres

Diesel prices: Innisfail 123.9, Townsville 119.9, Charters Towers 126.9, Hughenden 138.9, Cloncurry 138.9, Mt Isa 120.9, Normanton 141.0, Burketown 149.1, Hells Gate Roadhouse (open now with limited facilities, didn't get diesel, price only) 198.9, Borroloola 155.0 (BP at start of town was 177.9)

Accommodation so far: $406.80 (or $3.51 per night!)

 

August 16, Day 114 Robinson River Crossing

Yay, we finally made it to the Northern Territory.

We left Clem Walton last Tuesday (11^th) with two other vehicles, one a motorhome and the other a small caravan, both with terrific couples we had met during our stay. After re-stocking up in Cloncurry we headed north in search of warmer weather and new adventures. We stayed overnight at Terry Smith Rest Area with our fellow travellers and met a guy travelling in his Holden Premier HX Station wagon which was in mint condition. Geoff commented that if he lifted the bonnet he'd be over in a flash, sure enough, within half an hour the bonnet was up and at least 4 other guys were swarmed around the engine – a 1990 VN Commodore 5.0l and a turbo 700 transmission. I know, it doesn't mean much to me either but it obviously did to them.

We said goodbye to the caravan travellers the following day as they headed to Lawn Hill (we have already been there on a previous trip) and continued to Bang Bang Rest Area with the motorhomers.

On Thursday we had lunch in Normanton with Krys the Croc (a monster croc figure in the middle of town) and said goodbye to the motorhomers as they headed to Karumba.

We had heard on the ABC radio that the Morning Glory Cloud had come in a month early and was seen yesterday from Sweers Island, north of Burketown, and had debated whether to stay at Karumba and see it. We decided against it because Karumba was still supposed to be very busy and we continued to Leichhardt Falls as planned.

Leichhardt Falls was flowing and as the weather was still very hot when we arrived at 4pm, we took full advantage of the water and proceeded to fill buckets up from the top of the falls and toss them over each other. The area surrounding the falls is croc country so swimming was out and the top of the falls was shallow enough to keep them on the other side of the road several hundred metres away.

The following morning I got up just in time to see the Morning Glory Cloud come up over the horizon and sweep across us! By the time I got the camera out it was gone, but I did manage to open up the tent window to let a bleary eyed Geoff enjoy it too. I had no hope of getting Erin out of bed. We heard in Burketown later on that they had missed the cloud as it hadn't come across far enough.

We packed up the camper and got ready to go when we hit a patch of soft sand. Dry bogged! Lucky for us there was another landcruiser and camper trailer just leaving and they helped us out, also lucky for us that we had our own recovery gear as they don't carry any. Geoff had just finished chatting to them about tyres and such too.

We have spent the last two nights staying at Kingfisher Camp feeling human again with hot showers (haven't had real showers with plumbing since Townsville). Top spot with plenty of shade and kangaroos that come bounding across the campground.

I will never again have to sit on one of those $2 massage chairs in a shopping centre after the amount of corrugations we have driven over since Normanton. A few areas were quite teeth jarring and the some of the dips were downright V's. And don't talk to me about bulldust! It's all good fun though, and we've seen some amazing things.

Tonight we are at our very first solo camp, up hill from Robinson River Crossing. We did see a couple of caravans go past at around 6.30 but they stopped further down the hill towards the river crossing, sack that, there's crocs down there. Geoff was hoping to stay at Wollogorang Station near the border but it has ceased trading, apparently due to lack of staff.

We did have a nervous moment though, a pack of about 6-7 dogs approached our camp and we weren't sure of their intentions, we told Erin to get in the car, just in case, but they shooed off pretty easily, I wasn't far from getting in the car as well.

August 7, Day 105 Clem Walton Park

With every intention of only staying here for a couple of nights to pick up mail and supplies from Mt Isa, we have now been here a week, camped on the creek bank, it's just such a nice place. Every afternoon at around 5pm, everyone camped here gathers around a communal campfire and swaps stories, most nights we've had at least 8 couples. The first night here had me demonstrating how to fold up the pop-up ensuite tent, now that I have the hang of it.  Everyone had a go because they've all been where I was a few weeks ago trying to wrestle the thing back into its bag. The second night, I baked a choccy cake to take over and I think the burnt bum (that I'd carefully trimmed off) was just as popular as the rest of the cake.

The mornings have been pretty cool with the first few being zero until 7.30am but the days have been lovely with mid to high 20's.

On Tuesday we drove to Mt Isa for supplies and mail pickup and Geoff bought me a new washing machine. The washing machine is a funnel with holes drilled in it, attached to a stick and worked up and down in a bucket as an agitator. The couple next door have one and it works a lot better than straight hand washing and saves hands from icy cold water.

On Wednesday we headed up to Mary Kathleen Mine and township and saw the most spectacular blue lake at the base of the mine pit (see photos). I hadn't heard about it and there were no signs, a fellow camper drew us a mud map to find it and an area covered with crystal quartz just littered all over the ground. Erin had a field day and filled a bag with all kinds of stones and crystals, I think we now weigh an extra 20kg.

Erin met a family with four kids, two around her age, unfortunately they could only stop over night but she had fun while they were here.  She is very popular with everyone we meet and she has now thanked us for taking her with us on this adventure.

Everyone keeps telling us to keep moving, the weather's getting hotter up north. We know, that's when places are less crowded because everyone has gone back down south!

 

1 August, Day 99 Julia Creek

Wow, 100 days since we left home tomorrow, goes fast doesn't it?

We left Townsville, again, on Monday with clean, bat-poo free canvas. We set up camp on Monday afternoon at Fletcher Creek just north of Charters Towers. Apparently they put bollards up last month to prevent anyone camping along the riverbank but we were still close enough to enjoy ourselves. Caravans spread out for over a kilometre along the creek so while there were quite a few people camped, it was by no means crowded. We dropped the opera house pots in the creek at around 5pm and had around 30 yabbies/red claw by 8pm, yum. We stayed put for the rest of the week and left yesterday thinking that it's about time we made our way out of our state. A couple camped near us lent us their Camps 5 book in which they had written comments about places they had stayed, so I copied their notes for our own reference and they also told us about a few places that weren't in "The Book". Everyone we've met refers to Camps Australia as "The Book", "is it in The Book?", "you won't find that one in The Book". It's quite funny.

Last night we stayed at another free camp at Campaspe River (it's in The Book) and missed the warmth the coast offers at night, it was soo cold.

We are officially in the Queensland outback now. The country side on the way to Julia Creek was in vast contrast to what we had seen up until yesterday, not a hill in sight and trees few and far between and brown grass for miles around.

Tonight we are free-camped by a little creek just east of Julia Creek with the town in walking distance and well back from the road (this camp spot is not in The Book). We thought that we might have the camp to ourselves tonight as every other camp we have been in we have had company but, alas, at 6.30pm we had a caravan come in and set up just across the creek. Oh well, I don't mind really, safety in numbers and all that.

Tomorrow we are heading for a camp on the other side of Cloncurry then Mt Isa to do a mail pickup then north back up to the warmth, we hope. Don't much like this cold, the days are nice and warm but I need 3 layers of clothes in the evening just to stop shivering. At least tonight we have a campfire going, but, damn, no marshmallows.

 

25 July, Day 92 Bramston Beach

Well we're getting the hang of staying in one place for a little longer now, as opposed to the short stays we had getting up here. We spent last week at my brother's place as per previous blog entry. Erin went to the Cairns show with them and got a few choccy show bags while Geoff and I ran around Cairns picking up some bits and pieces as well as general shopping. Last Sunday a friend of theirs had his prime mover there and got me to drive it! Those of you who know me personally will appreciate that I'm the biggest woose there is and it was a challenge getting me on the quad bike let alone in a big rig. Granted I only drove it about 50 m forwards in first gear then reversed back to where it was. Geoff also had a go and drove it up the road, turned it around and brought it back, he has a licence for it but hasn't had a lot of practice in one.

We left Gordonvale last Monday and arrived in Bramston Beach near Innisfail with light rain, we set up, put our feet up and down the rain came, perfect timing.

By Wednesday the weather was sunny and clear and the beach looked even more perfect. We went for walks at low tide and saw star fish and flat sea urchins and loads of shells. We stayed at the Bramston Beach Campground and even the bats pelting sea almonds at us every night didn't bother us, although we may have to clean the tent of the red juice they dumped on it. We were surrounded by other nomads on extended holidays and met some fantastic people. One couple had a German shepherd that Erin took a shine to, he kept visiting for more play time and she obliged by throwing the ball again, and again, and again.

We took a day trip into Innisfail to pick up some groceries when the car started making a flapping sound, further inspection revealed that the alternator belt that had just been replaced was shredded. Supercheap obligingly replaced it saying that they had never seen that happen before, it had only done 600 kms. We priced a pair of belts at Toyota for around $50 that they claim will last 40,000km so we might get them next time.

We left Bramston this morning when the rain came back. We always said that we wouldn't pack up in the rain, we'd just stay another day or too until it cleared but yesterday we made the mistake of making a plan, breaking our golden rule of not planning. We thought that as we were so close to Geoff's parents again that we would visit for a night or two before heading west and confirmed that we would be there today.  Lesson learnt.

On the way down to Townsville we visited Etty Bay and saw a young cassowary and its mum along the side of the road feeding. The beach was nice but very blowy compared to Bramston.  We stopped at Kurramine Beach for a picnic lunch and watched a kite surfer, he was going really fast, again, very windy. The township was nice, very tidy. We had been told that Mission Beach is well worth a visit and I have to agree, the road between Bingil Bay and Mission was great, we've never driven on a road so close to the beach before, the tide was in too, magic… The town itself looked a bit too touristy for us and the caravan parks were very full with the vans very close together so we didn't stop for a look around, just continued on our way.

 

July 15, Day 82 Gordonvale

Sadly we said goodbye to Carolyn, Terry and Rachael last Friday as they left to make the journey home, we had such a fantastic time with them it was a shame to see them go. Thanks guys, next year - the tip!

On Saturday we went into Mareeba and Atherton for a bit of retail therapy and Erin came away with a new winter jacket and hat looking very cool.

I find it incredible how much Erin has come out of her shell on this trip, she is so confident now. We got her end of semester report card the other day and she scored A's and B's in most of her subjects where last year she was struggling with C's. At the caravan park she seemed to know everyone and everything. One of the ladies even taught her how to use a metal detector and she proceeded to check the whole caravan park for treasure, we now have a few extra tent pegs, half a shackle and a bull dog clip.

We finally left the comfort of the caravan park at Dimbulah yesterday and made the short trip to Gordonvale to visit my brother and his family.  As soon as we got back into mobile reception our phones starting beeping letting us know we had messages and missed calls (Optus reception doesn't reach as far as we'd like and Telstra is too expensive). Mum and Adrian (my brother) had been trying to contact us to let us know that Mum was up for a visit while everyone was together. Fantastic surprise. We couldn't get here fast enough, Mum had already arrived in the morning and only had two days off work. Erin was both excited and upset "I don't want to say goodbye again."

Adrian got back from sea this morning so it was a big family reunion and catch up. We don't get together often enough.  Adrian and Kylie and their two sons, Sonny (3) and Bodee (2) have quad bikes which we all had a go on, even Mum. Erin had a ball and kept going up and down the street sometimes with one of the boys on her lap, I think a year ago she wouldn't have got on let alone driven it herself.

Tonight we went to the wharf to see Adrian's "office". He spends 5 weeks on, 5 weeks off on board the "Pacific Responder" out of Cairns. The Pacific Responder patrols the environmentally sensitive region from Cairns to the Torres Strait acting as a dedicated Emergency Towage Vessel (ETV). Pacific Responder is also engaged in the maintenance of the aids to navigation network in its area to ensure that maritime passageways are clearly marked for navigation. (as quoted from their website) All I can say is, it's huge, every thing on it is huge. Very impressive though, we went all over it, from the bridge to the engine room and from bow to stern.

July 9, Day 76 Ravenshoe and beyond

Today our aim was to go to Innot Hot Springs and Undara Lava Tubes to finish our tour of the Tablelands and surrounds. We checked out Undara online as soon as we had internet access (towards Mareeba from Dimbulah) and found that at $80 per head it was too rich for us so that was out. Oh well, we could've done the free walks but it seemed a little far to drive for a walk so skip that.

We did drive the highest road in Queensland to the highest town – Ravenshoe, and stopped at Millstream Falls, so "Check", done that. Lovely falls, and I bet they'd be a sight during the wet.

Now I'm not usually one to complain about places we come across or visit but in this case, I feel like I can make an exception. I wish someone had told us to skip Innot Hot Springs, major disappointment in our books. We had all been to Mataranka and we had been to Douglas Hot Springs so in comparison we were not impressed. What we saw was a narrow trickle through sand next to an opportunistic caravan park. In the area closest to the carpark, the springs were so hot that they burnt skin and no warnings signs were set up to keep children at a safe distance. Not happy Jan.

Dejected we continued on to Mount Garnet to at least check out a 4wd road between Mt Garnet and Irvinebank. Somehow we missed the turnoff and ended up on the Garnet-Lappa Road, which didn't turn out to be a bad thing. We got to do a creek crossing that was a bit wider and deeper than the Bloomfield Track crossings and lots of rough road and corrugations with some amazing views.

We noticed that we had "Budgie under the bonnet syndrome" (squealing fanbelt) while driving and discovered that we were missing one of our alternator belts, good job we carry spares, it's a bit far to Supercheap. At least we made it back to camp to replace that.

Cheers

Geoff