Up bright and early as Stephen was busting to see the bus we were parked next to pack up and leave. Not just a bus but a huge luxury motor home which we had seen once before when we were in Katherine many moons ago. He had spent the previous evening talking to the Dutch guy and his wife who owned it but was unable to talk his way into an invitation to actually get inside the thing and check it out. He watched their car, a Mirage, being loaded onto the hydraulic lift and then fitting neatly inside the bus chassis. All very impressive and made our little caravan seem quite small and insignificant.
The weather was not too flash and the rain was quite persistent. The drive from Clare to Adelaide was very pretty and we even saw a tree which had been stuck by lightning not all that long ago. It had been completely split down the middle; you don’t often see stuff like that.
We were finally confronted by lots of traffic as we drove slowly into Adelaide, all a bit much for these country travellers. We set up in Gerard and Lola’s driveway and while we waited for them to come home from work we watched the Melbourne Cup on the TV in the van. It was lovely to see them after such a long time. I don’t think Bruce, the dog, was all that happy as we were invading his territory. We spent our time in Adelaide visiting the Gallery of SA - saw John Brack’s exhibition, checking out the Adelaide market, cruising around the CBD and shopping at Coles in Glenelg, the biggest we have seen on our travels. We spent time with Naomi, Simone and Matthew and listened to all their news. Gerard was working at the races most days because of the ‘Melbourne Cup Carnival’. We didn’t realise that all of Adelaide celebrated this event with such vigour. Lola was a gracious hostess and spent lots of time with us chatting.
Stephen had picked up a newspaper advertising a tool sale at some place in Adelaide on Saturday and was mad keen on picking up a new saw if he could. On Saturday morning we packed up to leave and put our destination, Penola, into the GPS. Stephen also put in the address of the tool sale but we realised it was 30 kms out of our way so he deleted it, or so he thought. I was very surprised by the route we were taking but Sheila has managed to get us all around Australia so why would I doubt her. Suddenly we were in an industrial estate where – you guessed it I’m sure – the tool sale was being held. Someone had not deleted the address it seems, or was it Sheila’s fault who Stephen seemed to be blaming!! “Oh well, we are here so I might as well take a look”. After many strange stares from hardware men at me sitting in the ‘Vic’ car with the caravan on the back, and having to answer comments like “you’ve come a long way for a bargain luv”, and one large saw and a saw horse later firmly tied to the top of the Blue Lux we headed out of Adelaide.
We arrived in Penola late afternoon, probably because we had added 60 kilometres to our trip in the morning, and spent the rest of the very hot day in the very small town having a look at what was on offer which was not much. We had nibbles with a couple from Glen Waverley before retiring to our van for dinner. We had a very slow start to Sunday with a newspaper and a cooked brekkie, both rare treats. Around 11.30 we ventured out into Coonawarra for some serious red wine sport. With the temperature around 35 it was not the best day for tasting red wine but like the troupers that we are we managed to fill the day in and buy a number of good reds to take home. Now these are good, bold red wines from the best area in Australia. Another very warm night followed by a slow start to the day before hooking up the van for the last time. We watched a couple take 2 hours to pack up a camper trailer and were very grateful we had bought a caravan which takes us about 15 – 20 minutes for the same procedure.
The drive to Ballarat was quiet. We were both a bit stunned that we would soon be home and weren’t too sure about how we felt about that. After stepping over the line back into Victoria, we stopped at the Royal Mail in Dunkeld and had a drink at the pub to celebrate. The scenery all started to look familiar as the town names like Casterton, Coleraine and Hamilton flew by. It was not long before we arrived in Ballarat to a wonderful welcome from Chris and Di. Our grassed site was ready and waiting for us and, as we were not going anywhere that night, we left the van on the car. This overnighter was one of our brighter ideas as Chris and Di did a similar trip 4 years ago, so we had lots of experiences to talk about. It was almost like a debriefing session for us. A late night and a few drinks resulted in me not feeling all that flash the next morning but thanks to the healing powers of Berocca I was much improved on the journey home to Strathmore.
We arrived home at 11.30am, unhooked the van and drove straight up to see Cath and the girls. We were a bit dubious about the reception we would get from Frances but our fears were soon put to rest when we were covered in hugs and kisses from both she and Maggie. Cath was also very happy to see us and in only minutes managed to have her diary out and had us booked in for babysitting on a number of occasions over the next few weeks!! We now pay the price for being away for sooooo long. Later in the afternoon we walked around to St Martin’s to pick up Fynn. He didn’t know we were home and his little face, with no front teeth, lit up when he saw us. It was a priceless moment. We had dinner with Pat and Fleur that evening and of course our good friend Aileen who told us we weren’t to go away for that long ever again.
So the journey ends.
In 7 months we have travelled 33,160 kilometres, have used 4,696 litres of diesel at an average price of $1.37 per litre and a total cost of $6,332. Unhooked and re-hooked the caravan 66 times and stayed in 77 different camping grounds, and a horse paddock in Broome, at a cost of $5,402. The most invaluable thing was that we had no trouble with the car or the caravan. Between us we also took 6,468 photos: of which I took, maybe, 68.
We set off to escape suburbia and have an adventure. We’ve achieved those things in bucket loads and, in addition, we’ve discovered much about our country. It’s even more beautiful and vast as those Qantas ads show. I still don’t feel qualified to make any grand pronouncements on the nation and its people. I do, however, feel a new connection to the country. The Red Centre, the Kimberley and the Pilbara are no longer just places on a map. The two great issues facing Australia are the environment and the Aborigines and neither gets the attention they deserve. It will be a crime if the north coast of WA is handed over to the gas companies. The issue of the aborigines will still be with us long after the global financial crisis ends with precious little progress in sight.
One of the best things about the trip has been spending time with each other. We discovered we have lots of fun just being together and even found the time to really talk. Time is a wonderful thing and you certainly need to grab every moment you can as life can sometimes be short. We have met some fabulous people and now have a blog full of yarns. As we return to our ‘normal’ life we again have a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom: a place to pee in peace with thick toilet paper.
Paul Keating once said: ‘If you’re not living in Sydney you’re camping out.’ He obviously didn’t understand the value of camping out.
Thanks to each and every one of you for your emails and best wishes. We hope you enjoyed the journey as much as we did.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/AdelaideClarePenolaBallaratStrathmore#
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Nullarbor 23 October - 2 November
The next few days could only be described as bleak and miserable. Finally we got a site directly across from the ocean and what do we get but gale force winds for days on end. The beaches in Esperance are beautiful and unfortunately we have not seen them at their best, which is in full sun and with no wind. We drove around the Great Ocean Drive and the sun peeked out of the clouds which enabled Stephen to take a few photos. Sunday we drove to Cape Le Grande. The sun had finally come out and the sky was clear, however the wind did not give up. We walked along Cape Le Grande beach and watched some young kids (with wetsuits) boogie boarding in the very impressive surf. We then gave our calves another workout by climbing Frenchman’s Peak. The higher we got the stronger the wind was and there were times when I thought I would be blown off the rock face. The temperature was quite high but wrecked by the wind chill factor. After completing this climb we spent a very pleasant hour or so eating lunch at Hellfire Bay and walking along the pristine white sand. Lucky Bay and Rossiter’s Bay completed the drive and we were treated to a number of emus grazing on the roadside. Stumpy tailed lizards are prolific in the area and we spend all our time trying not to run over them as they love to warm themselves on the bitumen.
Monday, 26th October 2009, exactly one year since 26th October, 2008. That’s right, I am sure you have all guessed that it is Stephen’s anniversary, the day of the dreaded fall, with pike, from the ladder. It has been declared an accident and titanium free day. At no time is he allowed to leave my side and definitely not allowed to climb a ladder. Yeah right, as if that is going to happen!! We spent the morning on a boat cruising around the Recherche Archipelago and having morning tea at Woody Island. We saw lots of seals, sea eagles, pacific gulls, Cape Barron geese and the fin of one dolphin. We also laughed a lot as Stephen constantly pretended to fall over his feet the whole morning. It was a lovely morning with the sun shining and the wind finally still. As we returned to shore the clouds closed in but the humidity was high. As you would expect, Stephen spent the afternoon cleaning the top of the caravan – on the ladder – and washing the car. You can’t keep a good man down – literally. It is great to see him fit, well and very happy.
Tomorrow we are off to Kalgoorlie, to spend a couple of days with Rebecca Sherry (daughter of Jan and John) and her family. Finally little people to play with.
We had a wonderful time with the Thomsons of Kalgoorlie. We spent time reading books and playing at the park as well as lots of time in the 'little house', as the girls – Jasmine, Leah and Chloe - liked to call the caravan. As all good grandparents we had a good stash of lollies to bribe them with. The superpit is something to behold and we took several trips out to see it, one to just gap at the enormity of the hole, another to see a blast and the last time at night to see it under lights. One can’t visit Kalgoorlie without a tour of Langtree’s Brothel, a real working brothel. There were six on the tour, two couples and two ladies who were attending a conference in town. The two guys were somewhat outnumbered but quite okay about it. We asked lots of questions and probably went to a level of enquiry that was way beyond what we needed to know. The most interesting room was the Sport Room which came complete with a boxing ring around the bed, a racing whip with feathers, a round (as in boxing) bell and lots of other sporting props. Veeery interesting!!
After being farewelled by Rebecca, Greg and the girls we turned our attention to the Nullarbor. We decided to head for Cocklebiddy for the night. We took turns driving so as not to go to sleep with boredom. There is absolutely nothing to see on this journey except for k after k of bush scrub with the occasional tree thrown in. We unexpectedly reached Cocklebiddy around 3.30pm and decided to press on as it looked rather ordinary and we still had a couple of good hours driving left in us. We figured we could make the Mundrabilla Roadhouse before the light failed. And we did, only to find that the caravan park was closed. Hmmm. With the next stop 68 kms away we went back 10 kms to an off road camp site we had noticed. No power, but for one night and with it now being dark, we had no choice. One notable fact was we had only passed 19 (yes I counted) ‘freshly dead’ kangas for the day. We had been told to expect a virtual massacre across this road but it just didn’t happen. A quick dinner and straight to bed. A 845 km drive tends to make you very tired.
We woke up with the birds the next morning at 6am. We wanted to get away by 7am as we were keen to get off the Nullarbor and hopefully to Streaky Bay. We got into the car and went to turn on the radio for the 7 o’clock news when we noticed the clock display was 6.03am. We had misread the time when we woke up at apparently 5am. Groan!!! As if all day on the road wasn’t enough for us we were adding to it by an extra hour. The most interesting part of the day was the Madura Pass, a wonderful high view of the Nullarbor, very unexpected. I was driving and Stephen was sleeping when I was surprised by this fabulous site. Of course I woke him up as we had to take a photo. We passed a number of cyclists crossing the Nullarbor. I wonder at what point they asked themselves, “what the hell am I doing and how can I turn back???” We also had the delight of having to turn our clocks back 2½ hours which meant we had less time to cover the k’s. We made a stop at the Great Australian Bight and took some photos but were gazumped at the Head of Bight by a closed gate. We weren’t overly concerned as the whales have all but stopped migrating and the chances of seeing any were minimal. Around 4pm we arrived in Ceduna and handed over the fruit and vegies to the fruit fly Nazis. We then stopped and restocked at the IGA, a most annoying necessity. Onto Streaky Bay in time for a well earned drink and nibbles while we overlooked the water. It was very warm and the forecast for the following day was 35. After 672 kms for the day we felt we deserved a day of rest in this lovely little seaside stop.
Probably the fact that we had lost several hours meant we didn’t wake until 8.30am. By then it was quite hot. After breakfast we walked into town for a look-see and by the time we got back to the caravan park the temperature had climbed quite significantly. Unfortunately about the same time a hot northerly wind started to blow which made for a rather unpleasant afternoon. We put the airco on and were in and out of the van reading or sleeping. The wind blew a gale for most of the night and when we awoke the next morning it was quite chilly and a few drops of rain were falling. Streaky Bay is yet another fishing holiday spot which a lot of people seem to return to on a regular basis. An interesting fact about Streaky Bay is all the houses face the street when they could have a beautiful view of the beach if they faced them the other way????
Back on the road and to somewhere near Adelaide, not sure where. When we left Streaky Bay the temp was about 19 degrees, by the time we reached Poochera it was 28, Kimba it was 35 and as we drove into Portagutta it was 45. Thank goodness for air conditioning in the car. As we were leaving Portagutta Brudda we were confronted with a large dust storm caused by a cool change. The temperature dropped 16 degrees in about 15 minutes. For the past few days we have tried to entertain ourselves by picking on each other, laughing at those less fortunate than ourselves, listening to the radio or reading books. It seems the closer we get to Adelaide the bogan factor seems to kick in, it must be a proximity thing!! We made a decision to head for Clare for the night rather than Port Pirie as it looked very industrial. A sleep over in Clare then off to Adelaide tomorrow.
As this is the penultimate edition of Oztrek I will give you a list of the things I will miss about not being ‘on the road’/trailer trash.
• Looking at a black sky with millions of little sparkling lights while you have a 3am bush pee
• The road lined with beautiful little flowers I once thought were weeds
• Stephen devising his very own traveller’s wave which he used when passing other caravan travellers – this took several weeks to perfect
• Stephen practising his traveller’s wave while he thinks no one is watching
• Sitting quietly in the car while the landscape constantly changes
• The hurricane of a road train as it passes by
• The never ending broken white line
• The delight of meeting NBFs
• The fun with NBFs
• The five minutes it took to do the ‘housework’
• The absolute quiet of the night
• The constant temperature of the north and the sun on your face
• Not worrying about what was for dinner as Stephen would always have that covered
• No where to shop which of course took the strain out of ‘what will I buy’
• Animals that moved freely around
• The different colours of the soil
• Red dust on and in my shoes
• The challenge of climbing in and out of gorges
• The crystal clear water of swimming holes
• The freezing water of swimming holes
• The beautiful turquoise blue of the Indian Ocean
• The jagged rock faces of the mountain ranges
• A face that is not the same colour as mine – although I do have a pretty good suntan
• 5pm nibblies
• 6pm nibblies
• 7pm nibblies
• Speaking to Stephen and he has to listen because there is no escape from the Blue Lux
• Plotting routes and constantly changing them
• Listening to the IPod while we drive along
• Every day being either Saturday or Sunday
• Watching Stephen wash the Lux every other day
• Janet’s laugh – indescribable – we already miss it
• Sheila’s voice on the GPS – at the roundabout take the third exit
• Watching others back their caravans into tight spots – trailer trash sport
• Fresh air with no smog/Nature
• Waking to the sound of the birds
• Rob’s jeans and smalls hanging on the clothes horse everyday
Things I will gladly see the back of:
• Macca on a Sunday Morning
• Thursday with Colin on the ABC (Colin Barnett, King/Premier of WAland)
• Bloated animal carcasses on the side of the road
• Thin toilet paper at every amenities block in Australia
• Eco Toilets/Straight Droppers
• Showers with no water pressure
• The occasional ‘Dick’ we would run across who knew everything there is to know
• Information on the Eagles and the Dockers – who cares???
When next I write we will be home with our family. Here we come!!
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/EsperanceKalgoorlieNullarbor#
Monday, 26th October 2009, exactly one year since 26th October, 2008. That’s right, I am sure you have all guessed that it is Stephen’s anniversary, the day of the dreaded fall, with pike, from the ladder. It has been declared an accident and titanium free day. At no time is he allowed to leave my side and definitely not allowed to climb a ladder. Yeah right, as if that is going to happen!! We spent the morning on a boat cruising around the Recherche Archipelago and having morning tea at Woody Island. We saw lots of seals, sea eagles, pacific gulls, Cape Barron geese and the fin of one dolphin. We also laughed a lot as Stephen constantly pretended to fall over his feet the whole morning. It was a lovely morning with the sun shining and the wind finally still. As we returned to shore the clouds closed in but the humidity was high. As you would expect, Stephen spent the afternoon cleaning the top of the caravan – on the ladder – and washing the car. You can’t keep a good man down – literally. It is great to see him fit, well and very happy.
Tomorrow we are off to Kalgoorlie, to spend a couple of days with Rebecca Sherry (daughter of Jan and John) and her family. Finally little people to play with.
We had a wonderful time with the Thomsons of Kalgoorlie. We spent time reading books and playing at the park as well as lots of time in the 'little house', as the girls – Jasmine, Leah and Chloe - liked to call the caravan. As all good grandparents we had a good stash of lollies to bribe them with. The superpit is something to behold and we took several trips out to see it, one to just gap at the enormity of the hole, another to see a blast and the last time at night to see it under lights. One can’t visit Kalgoorlie without a tour of Langtree’s Brothel, a real working brothel. There were six on the tour, two couples and two ladies who were attending a conference in town. The two guys were somewhat outnumbered but quite okay about it. We asked lots of questions and probably went to a level of enquiry that was way beyond what we needed to know. The most interesting room was the Sport Room which came complete with a boxing ring around the bed, a racing whip with feathers, a round (as in boxing) bell and lots of other sporting props. Veeery interesting!!
After being farewelled by Rebecca, Greg and the girls we turned our attention to the Nullarbor. We decided to head for Cocklebiddy for the night. We took turns driving so as not to go to sleep with boredom. There is absolutely nothing to see on this journey except for k after k of bush scrub with the occasional tree thrown in. We unexpectedly reached Cocklebiddy around 3.30pm and decided to press on as it looked rather ordinary and we still had a couple of good hours driving left in us. We figured we could make the Mundrabilla Roadhouse before the light failed. And we did, only to find that the caravan park was closed. Hmmm. With the next stop 68 kms away we went back 10 kms to an off road camp site we had noticed. No power, but for one night and with it now being dark, we had no choice. One notable fact was we had only passed 19 (yes I counted) ‘freshly dead’ kangas for the day. We had been told to expect a virtual massacre across this road but it just didn’t happen. A quick dinner and straight to bed. A 845 km drive tends to make you very tired.
We woke up with the birds the next morning at 6am. We wanted to get away by 7am as we were keen to get off the Nullarbor and hopefully to Streaky Bay. We got into the car and went to turn on the radio for the 7 o’clock news when we noticed the clock display was 6.03am. We had misread the time when we woke up at apparently 5am. Groan!!! As if all day on the road wasn’t enough for us we were adding to it by an extra hour. The most interesting part of the day was the Madura Pass, a wonderful high view of the Nullarbor, very unexpected. I was driving and Stephen was sleeping when I was surprised by this fabulous site. Of course I woke him up as we had to take a photo. We passed a number of cyclists crossing the Nullarbor. I wonder at what point they asked themselves, “what the hell am I doing and how can I turn back???” We also had the delight of having to turn our clocks back 2½ hours which meant we had less time to cover the k’s. We made a stop at the Great Australian Bight and took some photos but were gazumped at the Head of Bight by a closed gate. We weren’t overly concerned as the whales have all but stopped migrating and the chances of seeing any were minimal. Around 4pm we arrived in Ceduna and handed over the fruit and vegies to the fruit fly Nazis. We then stopped and restocked at the IGA, a most annoying necessity. Onto Streaky Bay in time for a well earned drink and nibbles while we overlooked the water. It was very warm and the forecast for the following day was 35. After 672 kms for the day we felt we deserved a day of rest in this lovely little seaside stop.
Probably the fact that we had lost several hours meant we didn’t wake until 8.30am. By then it was quite hot. After breakfast we walked into town for a look-see and by the time we got back to the caravan park the temperature had climbed quite significantly. Unfortunately about the same time a hot northerly wind started to blow which made for a rather unpleasant afternoon. We put the airco on and were in and out of the van reading or sleeping. The wind blew a gale for most of the night and when we awoke the next morning it was quite chilly and a few drops of rain were falling. Streaky Bay is yet another fishing holiday spot which a lot of people seem to return to on a regular basis. An interesting fact about Streaky Bay is all the houses face the street when they could have a beautiful view of the beach if they faced them the other way????
Back on the road and to somewhere near Adelaide, not sure where. When we left Streaky Bay the temp was about 19 degrees, by the time we reached Poochera it was 28, Kimba it was 35 and as we drove into Portagutta it was 45. Thank goodness for air conditioning in the car. As we were leaving Portagutta Brudda we were confronted with a large dust storm caused by a cool change. The temperature dropped 16 degrees in about 15 minutes. For the past few days we have tried to entertain ourselves by picking on each other, laughing at those less fortunate than ourselves, listening to the radio or reading books. It seems the closer we get to Adelaide the bogan factor seems to kick in, it must be a proximity thing!! We made a decision to head for Clare for the night rather than Port Pirie as it looked very industrial. A sleep over in Clare then off to Adelaide tomorrow.
As this is the penultimate edition of Oztrek I will give you a list of the things I will miss about not being ‘on the road’/trailer trash.
• Looking at a black sky with millions of little sparkling lights while you have a 3am bush pee
• The road lined with beautiful little flowers I once thought were weeds
• Stephen devising his very own traveller’s wave which he used when passing other caravan travellers – this took several weeks to perfect
• Stephen practising his traveller’s wave while he thinks no one is watching
• Sitting quietly in the car while the landscape constantly changes
• The hurricane of a road train as it passes by
• The never ending broken white line
• The delight of meeting NBFs
• The fun with NBFs
• The five minutes it took to do the ‘housework’
• The absolute quiet of the night
• The constant temperature of the north and the sun on your face
• Not worrying about what was for dinner as Stephen would always have that covered
• No where to shop which of course took the strain out of ‘what will I buy’
• Animals that moved freely around
• The different colours of the soil
• Red dust on and in my shoes
• The challenge of climbing in and out of gorges
• The crystal clear water of swimming holes
• The freezing water of swimming holes
• The beautiful turquoise blue of the Indian Ocean
• The jagged rock faces of the mountain ranges
• A face that is not the same colour as mine – although I do have a pretty good suntan
• 5pm nibblies
• 6pm nibblies
• 7pm nibblies
• Speaking to Stephen and he has to listen because there is no escape from the Blue Lux
• Plotting routes and constantly changing them
• Listening to the IPod while we drive along
• Every day being either Saturday or Sunday
• Watching Stephen wash the Lux every other day
• Janet’s laugh – indescribable – we already miss it
• Sheila’s voice on the GPS – at the roundabout take the third exit
• Watching others back their caravans into tight spots – trailer trash sport
• Fresh air with no smog/Nature
• Waking to the sound of the birds
• Rob’s jeans and smalls hanging on the clothes horse everyday
Things I will gladly see the back of:
• Macca on a Sunday Morning
• Thursday with Colin on the ABC (Colin Barnett, King/Premier of WAland)
• Bloated animal carcasses on the side of the road
• Thin toilet paper at every amenities block in Australia
• Eco Toilets/Straight Droppers
• Showers with no water pressure
• The occasional ‘Dick’ we would run across who knew everything there is to know
• Information on the Eagles and the Dockers – who cares???
When next I write we will be home with our family. Here we come!!
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/EsperanceKalgoorlieNullarbor#
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