Meet Zoe, a new 4WD adventurer, with a major dose of wanderlust!
Here's a great tale from Zoe in a few parts. Zoe joined us for a FTO (First Time Out) recreational training course earlier in the year with a view to getting some skills up prior to her big outback adventure. Joined by her sister she displayed huge enthusiasm and a keeness to absorb all the tricks we roll out during the program. Those skills have obviously paid off because as you'll read she's now seen the Centre and the West in a winter touring season that's been the wettest in around 20 years.
Zoe's preparations were a little thwarted by an unscrupulous tyre reseller. Doing the right thing she had fitted some new tyres to her 80 series prior to doing the course and her journey. After hearing our advice in the theory session and then upon our inspection on the pratical day we discovered the fitment was not only illegal, but also hopelessly inadequate. I hate to say it but the business tried to take advantage of her inexperience. If you have a look in the "Ask Dave" pages you'll see how the tale unfolded. The moral to this story... buyer beware!
Hi David
Remember me? Well I thought I would forward you this, I won't send you anything else just this one, but to let you know I miss the dirt roads so much already! Tyres have been great, no way would the original ones that dumb dealership put on would have survived what we went through, survived plenty of mud too, the Recovery was just as you showed us, had the rolled up newspaper but also had mud trax for extra help, 2 snatch straps, drove out quite easy thankfully! Still spewing I didnt take pics, but you would have laughed. Total clacker moment haha.
Zoe.
Part 1
Well it’s been 2 weeks and I (actually mostly Dad) just washed the mud off the car, spattered that mud on ourselves and caved in for the home comforts of electricity, Internet and mobile phone reception (Big 4 caravan park, Alice Springs). Here’s a breakdown of the last 14 days, a whirlwind trip, 5,000 kms, 3 states.
Day 1.
Left Adelaide, went to Wilpena Pound. Raining. Have wrong gas bottle connection, bugger, but never fear found free bbq to use for boiling kettle on and heating leftovers (thanks Sue xx). Emus, Kangaroos, birds and stuff.
Day 2.
Had toad-in-the-hole for brekky. Climbed Mt Olssen-Bragg, wind is really cold but sun is out at least. Legs crying from being used. Chips and chocolate (thanks Brenda!) to recharge batteries on. Drove to Brachina Gorge, first bit of 4x4ing, slatey riverbed and a bit of water to drive over. Pretty cool though, I made a crap burger for dinner and didn’t cook the onion well enough (guess what happened next… hehehe).
Day 3.
Detoured to Blinman, highest town in SA. Cute little town in the middle of nowhere. Had a coffee, wasn’t that great, had to add our own sugar, high town people are lazy can’t lift spoons or something. Met a tour guide who’d been driving some wet roads, learnt when there’s water on the road you gotta drive through the middle, as the sides are soft. Wise advice. Completely ignored by me and Dad until we got taught a lesson. More on that later. Kept going to a place called Chambers Gorge, and met this little flower called a Sturts Desert Pea. Splashes of red all along the riverbed, Dad was ecstatic! Lunched in the gorge then kept driving to camp in Copley.
Day 4.
Hitting the Oodnadatta track today as hear the Birdsville track is a bit wet and scary. Hopefully it dries out in the next few days so we’re going to Lake Eyre first. Got some supplies at Marree (3 things, $77 later ouch!) Drove to Coward Springs which has its own little artesian spa, following the old Ghan track, you can see the levee where the track used to be but most of the wood and metal has been taken except for on bridges. Small amount of water on road. Camped at William Creek and met a couple doing the same thing as me, got drunk and sang songs around the campfire. Heaps of travellers, heaps. Towing big campervans or trailers, or just with the tents on top of the roof. So far dad has been doing the cleaning. What will I do without him lol. Dust dust dust, in all the cracks in the car. Car doing great, corrugations not so bad. Desert flowers like you would not believe, and water water everywhere!
Day 5.
Went to ruins, Peakes telegraph station. 19kms, 40 mins each way. Bit of rock climbing with the car. The wind is bloody freezing, but when it stops the sun is bloody hot. Mostly driving today, made it to Oodnadatta which is a dump. Pink roadhouse is a gimmick. Made Dad buy us dinner. Picked up a mouse.
Day 6 / 7
Drove to Dalhousie Springs and stayed 2 nights. It’s almost the last point before you cross the Simpson Desert. Lots of people hanging around ready to do it, or just came across and chilling out relaxing after it. Dalhousie has a 37 – 44 degree spring which is just beautiful to lie in, but there are fish in it that nibble your bits, suck on your skin hairs, don’t go nudey, I’m just saying. A hundred little Gobeys nibbling your legs and armpits is sorta interesting after a while. Really good camping facilities, great loos which you come to appreciate. I drove in at 15km per hour which took about 6 hours as the road was so corrugated. Then Dad advised after reading a magazine to try 60- 65km which is what he drove on the way out. Gosh, such a difference! Didn’t I feel a bit of a knob after that hahaha. Just gotta ride the top of the corrugations. The last night at Dalhousie Dad just randomly decided to repack his bags, and he cried mouse! There was a bloody mouse in it. It jumped out quick as lightning, then I pulled all the food out of the car to find it had chewed through 5 bags of food and eaten the glue of one of the cardboard boxes! Bloody little shit kept hiding in the bushes until it thought we weren’t looking, then dashing back to the car. I repacked ALL the food into the esky and moaned about mouse babies growing in my car for the next few days. I could just imagine them growing under my seat. Or the mouse getting squashed in the bouncing of the stuff as we go over the corrugations and decomposing in my car. Yuck Yuck Yuck!
Day 8.
Driving out of Dalhousie, stopped to look at a smashed up corolla (only god knows how it got there in the first place) and Dad happened to check the tyres and heya, there’s a massive nail or end of a screwdriver sticking in one of them. We left it in there feeling sorta freaked out at changing a tyre, and made it back to Oodie where an old feller said, just pull the thing out. So we did. And it was Alright. OK. Went back to William creek to camp and had the best steak ever there. Lotsa cowboys in the pub as the big tourist muster thing happens on the Friday, but they be real cowboys yeah.
Day 9.
Dad did a flight over Lake Eyre, I chickened out so I parked next to the airfield and sat on the roof racks on my car. When he got back we drove to Halligan Bay, edge of Lake Eyre, and camped there. Mouse alert again! Apparently they are at most camps so watch your stuff! This mouse ran under my tent and did reconnaissance missions from it, then I just filled in the gaps with sand and stuffed that up ha! Watched a full moon come up over the Lake. Windy, cold, overcast. The lake is drying up even as we were there but apparently in 6 weeks it will be even more full. Seagulls everywhere.
Day 10.
Hi ho – off to Birdsville we go! Packed up and left as soon as ready. The way into/put of Lake Eyre looks like a Doctor Who set, brown hills and weird mounds and gravel. Got to Marree about 1pm, had lunch and filled up ($1.86 per litre) and heard that the Frome River is only about 40cms now (initially it was 70 cms high with water over the track which is why we waited a bit cos we are chickens.) I said, OK I’m driving! Got to the creek sign, ok not much of a creek it was only on half the road. Then hit the actual water 50 metres later – first creek crossing coming up! I just screamed and shut my eyes through the most part, and made it! Piece of piss so they say. Then it was pretty good track most of the way, except for little bits over the road, but on the detour to the Coopers Crossing it was muddy, sandy and wet and a little scary. Got to the crossing feeling like I needed to go to the toilet or throw up. Pretty intense. You guys are probably laughing but it was intense for me! Made it to a place called Mungerannie which also has an artesian spa and a wetland and heaps of birds. Had another great steak and a feed at the Mungerannie pub filled with cowboy hats hanging from the roof and all sorts of nick nacks taken from tourists I’m sure when they are very drunk (drivers licences lining one wall, yeah right!)
Day 11.
Woke to fog everywhere, thought maybe that it might rain but it didn’t. Dad drove out, and the track was horrid. Wet, muddy, no rain but there was water all over the road which is fine, the mud is the killer. Dad hit a massive muddy patch and thought he was going to bog it, but I’m like nah it’s cool, keep going, take your foot off the accelerator, you’ll be right. All very well I was really shitting myself on the inside. Hit the sand which is about 100kms from Birdsville and quite nice, then I heard a squealing metal on metal sound coming from the wheels. Thinking oh shit the suspension is broken, or something’s broken, ahhhhhhhhhh! We did some investigating (Dad getting out and listening, me getting out and listening to the squeal, determining the side it came from.) Dad is like, right get the jack out. I’m like, jack? Huh? Really? Got it out and learnt how to put it up, pulled the tyre off and there was this bloody tiny stone caught between the brake and the backing plate. Picked it out with a screwdriver, but all that for that? You have GOT to be joking! It was humid by then and lots of flies, buzzards circling overhead like we were about to die or something. Made it to Birdsville after that and everyone is like, isn’t that road closed yet? The road closed the next morning due to RAIN!
Oh yeah, the Simpson was alive with lightning that night too, Dad and I walked to the sign at the beginning of it while lightning lit up the horizon. Wild.
Day 12.
Birdsville.
Cool place, considering we would now be stuck here for possibly YEARS! We didn’t know the road had closed at first, drove out to Big Red which had a massive bumpy sand detour around a huge lake at the bottom of it, then when we made it to the other side where the road would have crossed to had there been no water, these 2 people said yeah, this is big red. I’m like, oh really? It doesn’t look like it, but they said yeah it’s this whole dune. That’s why the sign pointing north and saying Big Red down the bottom and sign pointing South “Detour” is just nothing? Anyway me and dad climbed what we later were told was “Little Red” and completely missed big red altogether. Which was OK as when we got back to town, had lunch at the Birdsville Hotel, and set off back down the Birdsville track – to find it CLOSED. We had to stay another night. We’d do Big Red in the morning.
Day 13.
After tossing and turning all night I woke with the decision we had to either go to Broken Hill via some really long way or go to Alice via another really long but shorter long way, because in the end it’s either that or get a job in Birdsville, which wouldn’t be too bad considering every man and his dog was now stranded here. Dad agreed and we packed up, tried the Birdsville track again but it still said closed, so we drove north to Boulia. Rain peppered the sky, the sky looked REALLY grey and ominous, but we kept on. The track up was great, we made it to Boulia and it was about 30 degrees and humid. I’m wearing shorts and glad I shaved my legs at Birdsville. Just before Boulia we stopped to look at some sacred stork ( I think, like the brolga but without the vivid pink). Dad’s like, I smell diesel. I’m like oh yeah, me too. He looks over and says, the petrol gauge has gone down a bit, I’m like yeah I’ve been doing a hundred and twenty clicks. He’s like, no Zoe that’s gone down a lot.
Do do do do do, Inspector Gadget! I’m definitely not Penny or Brains although I once thought I’d be a great Penny. Dad checked under the bonnet and low and behold, a loose injector pipe union nut was spewing diesel all over the engine. He tightened it up and do do do do do Inspector Gadget. He actually fixed it (unlike Gadget who is just useless). This Dad dude is impressing me something shocking. Somehow it had jolted loose. Problem solvered.
Got to Boulia and did all the right things, asked on road conditions at the tourism information for the Plenty Highway (NT side) but they only ended up giving us the road conditions for the Qld side (Donohue Highway) which was perfect, full steam ahead! The road was great, we camped just over the border at a truck yard and looked at stars.
Day 14.
It was windy as, but the tents held firm. Today we set off, me driving. Hit some mud, ok. Bit of rain. OK. Seeing a random car coming towards us looking like some mud monster. OK no worries. Stopped passing some black fellas who were traversing the track in a Ford station wagon, the chick with a XXXX Gold in hand, the guy changing a tyre and someone else stopped and chatting to them. Dad saw their tracks veer off the road a few hundred metres back and into a bank. They must have kept going a little before the tyre blew or they realised the tyre blew. Both seemed pissed, apparently the chick was driving at the time hehe. Dad and I stopped at a termite mound that was really big just down the road and the other well to do traveller passed by and mentioned the road was supposed to be a bit hairy up ahead. We got on UHF channel 14 to keep in touch. He (Chris, later found out) kept going, then Ford flew past us. 5 minutes later going through some muddy but not so bad road works Chris gets on the radio and says “This is getting really scary after the road works, after the creek. Pretty bad.@ Dad is like yeah we just passed the road works, I’m like Dad he is ahead of us. Chris gets back on “No there’s more roadworks, gotta stop talking this is really bad and muddy.” OK I’m shitting myself now. We pass Ford, come to the next lot of roadworks, come to the creek, and hit mud. MUD. Slippery as a snake and on full tyre compression I’m sliding all over the place. The side looks heaps nice and smooth, so Dad and I decide to go up on it.
Come to a drain.
I’m heading left, but the car is heading right.
BOGGED.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SHIT! Bogged good and proper up to the running boards! I tried to go back and forward in low range but only got more mud. It was deep and unforgiving. I opened the door (into the mud as it was on a slope) and took my shoes off and rolled up my pants.
Cigarette.
Shit what now!
The car looked like it was about to tip left.
Hahaha typical chick driving, is all I can think. OK so got Chris on the UHF but he wasn’t coming back to save us! So I’m like, Dad get the spade down. He’s like, nah lets just wait, so I get the spade down and start digging. Then some possible help arrives, a couple and their 3 kids and dog rock up in an old landcruiser, from a community down the road but they been at Harts Range, I beg for help they are probably laughing their heads off at me covered in mud, but they turn around to help, and bog themselves beside us. The kids jump out, we push, they go forwards and back. We put grass and branches underneath. Then lights in the distance and this little Hilux side skids up besides us. This cool chick with dreds jumps out and saves us both with her bog mats and she snatch strapped me out of the bog easy peasy. Awesome! The other LandCruiser buggers off down the road we just came from, and then Ingrid lets us follow in her tracks down the road to Jervois station, where we bid her goodbye (she’s crazy but has guts and is a great driver!) as apparently the roads should all be closed due to rain mud and rain, we shouldn’t have even been on them!
We stay the night, watching people coming in with caravans (amazing in that mud!) and also that bloody Ford station wagon pulled in not far behind us almost clean, how it got through that mud beats me! Those guys are crazy and can drive (mind you pissed as nits they probably are too). Chris comes up to us shaking his head, my car is COVERED in mud and I’m a little freaked, but it’s OK. Until we look at the sky and the clouds are still dark grey and threatening, and random spots of rain are falling….
Day 15.
No rain during the night which was good. The weather report had said rain clearing, but that was yesterday. Dad and I decided to risk going on, as everyone who had stopped here had pretty much decided to go on or risk being stuck for days with no shop (only some lollies at the shop) if it continued to rain. The clouds still looking grey around the horizon, but after psyching myself up all night to do the mud again and get it right, I was ready. We set off, the first muddy bit we did in low range, then as I got the feel for it I switched to high range, and went at it pretty slow. Chris had set off earlier and said meet you in Alice, so we couldn’t not make it there considering seeing that Ford get through the road. Made us all look like wusses. We did 50kms in mud, thick slippery mud. I let the cars towing campervans go first and tried to follow their tracks, but as long as it was slow and steady and I stayed off the side, it was OK. After the mud mud is was only patchy mud, and we actually got through and made it to Alice. Yippee! What an adventure! That was cool, brilliant. My car finally looked like the mud monster it was supposed to be. We met up with Chris again and swapped adventures, but then set off to the car wash. An hour later (and still mud needs to be washed off even now) and I could see my car again. We drove to the holiday park and I’m like, dad the steering wheel is shaking. It was shaking horribly! We pulled over and Dad got under the car, to find mud caked unevenly on the rims of the tyres. Such thick heavy mud it was unbalancing the tyres, so he scraped it off and that fixed it.
And here we are in Alice, couple of wine spritzers and a $10 roast later, it’s 11.03 pm Adelaide time (considering every day we have got up and gone to bed with the sun, this is crazy late now!) And I am ready for my next adventure.
WA here I come (with Mum!)
Click here to view the photo gallery of Part 1.
Part 2
Hi all,
The last three weeks with mum have been interesting and fun! Starting from Port Augusta we went to Port Lincoln national park, it was windy wet and cold, but not too bad. You can go to a beautiful wilderness area for a little bit more $, get the key from the tourist info and check availability of sites, but we didn’t. Mum discovered her tent cot was pretty shit and decided to get a tent like mine (Speedy tent, up or down in a second!), plus I thought hers looked ridiculous and it didn’t have any sitting room and was wearing and tearing (and that was before I put it on the roof racks).
The national park has heaps of fishing, but mum didn’t catch anything. September Beach has lovely raised camp sites facing east so the ocean views were spectacular and mum kept seeing whales, which were really birds or seals. We talk to everyone we meet, even if it requires a little stalking, and from the locals knowledge we got a sheltered site which when the weather is a bit warmer would be a fantastic holiday spot.
After PL we went to Coffin Bay national park and stayed a few days there at Little Yangie Bay. Had some oysters of course, which were smaller than I thought they would be. Mum tried her luck at fishing with squid and dried worms. Anything that bit I reckoned was a crab. The pelican was catching fish right next to the line. Guess squid wasn’t good enough for the fish, thank god mum didn’t sneak it onto the dinner plate as she thought it was good enough for us. Yuck!
Massive sand dunes if you walk / drove further along to Yangie Bay. The tide comes in over the road in some places so have to check tide times if driving out there. We chanced the rain and walked it, almost dying of thirst after a few hours in the sun. Mind you thunder was all around but it seemed to miss us. After meeting some Tasmanians that live near mum and were camped in the next spot over (of course!) we packed up camp and made our way to Gunyah Beach, lowered the tyre pressures (ok I cheated and only went to 24) and went out there. Whoopsie do! Great massive creamy sand dunes that wind out to a really long blue and white beach. Just follow the red marked poles and you’ll be right. Mum almost made me turn around because the sand was wild, but no way. Being windy and all we didn’t stay long and hit the road to Lake Newland Conservation Park for the night.
Ok so solar powered toilets don’t work if it’s cloudy. You know that feeling when you get the last flush, and then you see someone walking towards you. Yep, you high tail it out of there. Visited Talia Caves, which are caves / holes in the cliffs where people get stuck in the tides. Saw the blue van man who’s been on the road for 4 years and was actually the other camper where we were last night. J We passed him all day, at Venus Bay where we saw about 20 dolphins resting in the mouth of the bay, and somewhere along the road on the way to Streaky Bay where, alas but required, we booked in for a couple of nights at the caravan park.
Not a moment too soon, such a storm that first night like you wouldn’t believe! I thought the cabin would set sail for Oz at every creak and shudder. Next morning visited the sea lion colony, Murphy’s Haystacks (big pink granite rocks left from erosion that some guy once mistook for haystacks at quite a distance, hence the name.) Mum shucked some oysters for dinner, and I shucked 3 in about 10 minutes. Drank wine, did the washing, all that jazz.
Ceduna was next port of call, as mum had some mail sent to the PO. Funnily enough we forgot about what day it was, and ended up missing the PO as it wasn’t open on a Saturday. So it was another couple of nights at the dodgiest caravan park ever where I refused to sleep on the bed and hoped I wouldn’t get cosy with any resident nits or bed bugs. The place stank and the other patrons were a bit rough, not to mention the guy that booked us in, ex tax office employee who was convinced identity theft happened every time you turn on the computer, but was nice enough to let mum on the computer for $3 as long as she wanted, that we later found out should have been $3 for 15 minutes and the caravan park owner was a bit pissed about that. Ceduna is where I bought a lock for my gas bottle, had overcooked steak at the hotel and I still itch when I think of the place. But Ceduna opened up Maralinga, where mum managed to push for a permit in 2 days, which we waited for in Fowlers Bay.
Fowlers Bay is BEAUTIFUL! We got for $50 each a whale tour on a boat (ask at the kiosk), where we got up close and personal with 2 mothers and calves that had been in the area for a couple of weeks. Suffice to say I didn’t see much, they just looked like logs in the water, in a little boat you get no depth and they actually look quite weird. But you can sort of see their bodies as a whole in the waves and can make whale noises at them if you like, gentle cooing noises that you would make to a cow or a baby. Why we do this? I don’t know. Silly humans. Here whaley whaley.
Mum chatted up some fishermen who were on the jetty and scored us some lovely fresh snook, which was just melt in your mouth gorgeous! Hugger and Fonz were doing their male bonding grunting thing in the bay for a week and took great personal jesting interest in our waiting for a permit to go to Maralinga over the next few days.
The next day we went looking for a beach that mum, dad and the kids (before my time) visited long time ago, and found it just out of Penong at Cactus Beach / Cape Le Grande. Wild weather that day, blowing a gale and just when we decided to walk to the cliffs it rained. I have to say it’s been a while since I was drenched. Everything rubs and, well you know, is unpleasant, so I abandoned Mum and choofed back to the car before the rain got through to my elbows and put on the heater which is just so fantastic in the cruiser.
Mum couldn’t believe the bay was the one she thought it was, but it had to be. When we got back to Fowlers the sun was out and we stripped and put our clothes all over the campsite, as you do. Climbed the big sand dune behind the little town for sunset, but didn’t make it over the sandhills unfortunately (much to Huggers and Fonzs disgust as they reckoned I’d get bogged there and they wanted to come and have a laugh).
The next day was permit day, and whether or not we would get it or not we didn’t know, just many calls to the Maralinga Tjarutja council in Ceduna and by 1pm we had it. Cool! Fonz and Hugger wished us luck “up there” and we were off. Must say I had no idea what to expect. What a bloody gem of a place that turned out to be though, once we got through the Barrier (using the old wind up phone in the Tardis to call through to the caretaker to let us in) we followed Robin into the ghost town of Maralinga, a fully functional, water /septic /generator equipped little town with only the caretaker (Robin) living there with his wife.
Little dongles with beds, kitchen, showers and toilets are setup for govt workers and scientists, who visit at certain intervals, and the tourist who gets in and of course, in winter, they all come up and it can get quite busy. Plenty of all the mod cons. Robin offered us a dongle where we could stay in almost luxury! What a star, although the hot water service was broken but we could get by without it.
The next day his wife took ill and had to go to Ceduna, but when he had sorted all that out he took us personally in his troopie to meet up with a four wheel drive group coming up to the Emu Barrier (only other way into Maralinga restricted site). Oh so fun in the back of a troopie I tell ya!
We met the group and then toured all the bomb sites, as it was quite a long way we didn’t fit in all the sites, but saw glass created from the hot sand in the explosion that still had radio active dust particles (if you cracked it open and inhaled it you would have radiation poisoning), land where the trees have never grown back, paraphernalia from where the rocket towers were cabled to the ground to avoid any movement, massive pits where the big clean up happened – all the radiated soil was scraped up and put into the ground and covered up.
Stories about brand new Harley Davidsons still in their boxes being buried, cars, planes, all sorts of machinery. And apparently the plutonium is still out there in the desert spread over such an expanse of land that it would be almost impossible to clean it up. The aboriginal people don’t go anywhere near Maralinga, don’t hunt there, don’t camp there, and Robin doesn’t think they ever will. Lots of people died in the bomb blasts and their skeletons remain in the desert, maybe never to be found in the ever changing sandscape.
Robin had so much information about the area, you could see he truly loves the place and the history and he’s been around the place for forty years so has seen a lot. A mine of information, and the sweetest man to boot. Definitely worth a visit, but you should allow a few weeks for the permit going onto aboriginal land. We were just lucky.
3 nights we stayed there, for a nominal fee that eventually goes back to the community of Oak Valley, as they are the traditional land owners, or gets reinvested into Maralinga. Take your tennis racquets if you go, although there’s a few weeds in the court!
Well unfortunately we had to leave, to vote! Stopped off at Head of Bight and saw heaps of whales and baby whales, a shark and a few whale antics (breaching, spyhopping). The cliffs and the ocean are just breathtaking, the blue in the ocean is so clear and pretty and enticing that I felt like swimming, but didn’t feel like being a Great White’s lunch!
We sacrificed our 2 onions, honey and half a sweet potato at the quarantine (not to have the opportunity to buy fresh food until we get to Norseman mind you) and then we just made it to Eucla, and they had a polling booth open which we were freaking out about because everyone we asked was heading to Ceduna to vote, and that was going back the way we come and, hang on I’m starting to scratch… Anyway, Eucla seemed like a nice little town so we booked into the caravan park, which has really outstanding facilities in the camp kitchen and the bathroom, although it is $1 for 5 mins to shower but water is scarce so fair enough.
After eating mum and I hit the pool table, only to find free pool (yes!) and a local shark who was getting pissed at the bar and who mum challenged and then I played him and I still don’t know if he was pissed and accidentally letting us win, or just letting us win. Sharkie his name was, and he kept me and mum up quite late in the camp kitchen telling stories of his fishing days. What a lad. I woke with a hangover of sorts, and spent the day doing as little as possible, which is quite nice when it’s warm and sunny.
We visited Sharkie at the petrol station and he made us take his Suzuki off to the beach, so I let Mum drive (all the way with the hand brake on mind you) and we checked out the beach which is beautiful, and there were a few people driving along it and hanging out. When we got back some Victorian had driven down a path with his camper trailer in tow and got stuck near the camp kitchen, so Sharkie and his mate had to come down and whilst they were very nice to the guys face, well lets just say I was trying not to laugh too hard at the poor guys stupidity.
Had an early night as it had been a late night previous. Next day I said goodbye to Sharkie, he got in a couple of ass gropes which made me wonder just what video he was watching when I called into his den, and then we were on the road again. Stayed the night at Balladonia, way to expensive food there ($20 for frozen veg and roast silverside, each. BS!), no basic food supplies in the shop, but we hit the pool table again and played the chef (it was his night off) and then the bartender joined in for some doubles games. Once the promise of dinner to the winners was on the table they thrashed us, and I must say we left early the next day.
Norseman next, and it was cold and the weather along the coast was cold, so we decided we’d go North to Kalgoorlie. I bought a Camps Australia book which has free camping sites off the beaten track (and on) and we headed to a place called Cave Hill which was free (45kms off the road at Widgie), and had toilets (almost new compost toilets). We stocked up on a little food in Norseman as I wanted to do the big shop in Kal, but we found the place so magical we only left 3 days later because we ran out of food!
Plenty to see, plenty of history, plenty of other tracks we will do when we leave Kal. The roads are bone dry due to lack of rain, lots of dust, the spring flowers are predicted to not bloom so well because of no rain. Here in Kalgoorlie, mum and I went to the Exchange Hotel last night for more pool, and I must say the locals (both men and women) are all surprisingly pleasant and I would stay here for a long time if it wasn’t so damned expensive staying close to the cbd! Tomorrow we leave after we do a mine blast viewing, and then it’s back to wherever those free camps are with a full esky and full tank of fuel, heading south to Esperence or somewhere that way.
** Running 12.8 litres per hundred doing 90km on the highways, nearly up for another service! AAAARGH!
Over and out!
:)
Zoe.
Click here to view the photo gallery of Part 2.
Part 3
Ahem.
Dare I say the last account said: dry roads and dry weather etc etc.
WELL…….
Bone dry, my proverbial ass. As you all know the rain has been falling, falling, unlike many a raindrop for many a year. Once again my travels have been followed by some impressive low pressure systems that likes to rear its head at the most inconvenient time, like at the commencement of every single four wheel drive track I get on. EVERY ONE!
Ok, start at the beginning. I spent the day in Kalgoorlie with a hangover, so it was with my whiny, rather dry and feathered voice I petitioned mother – “Muuuum can we stay another night, just go pay I’ll stay in bed.” Awesome mother, she did it. How I will convince myself when I’m on my own, I can’t wait to discover. Maybe I will have to grow up, goodness forbid.
The afternoon dawned, to me, and then we set off to explore a bit of the local sights. The art gallery, not so flash. The aboriginal art gallery however, was something worth seeing, and the owners worth meeting. The dog, part Irish wolfhound, was ever so friendly and put hair all over my pants. Don, the eclectically talented all rounder, runs a tree lopping/HR licensing/gallery with his lovely wife, and made mum and I tea, and I am considering doing my HR license with him as I would love to go back to Kal, and I will need a job at some stage. Don shared his chocolates and some rather interesting stories, one of those characters you meet and really take to heart. We had to leave though because mum had to feed me.
The next day we went to the museum which was quite good, but we missed the super pit blast, apparently it can be scheduled at the last minute, so therefore it was. We hung around looking at the pit, which is just amazing. The trucks looked like ants, the dust was flying, too bad the earth didn’t move. After a few hours combing the supermarket, picking out dehydrated and canned everything and chocolate, plus fruit and veg that would last in the cool weather, I dragged Mum to Victoria Rock.
Beautiful place, just like Cave Hill, but this time with a twist. We planned to camp a few nights, and the morning after the first night it rained. Talk about kaleidoscope of colour on the rock, just out of this world! Peg up your guy ropes, lock up your sons, the rock glittered with silver pools and vivid colours like you would not believe, especially in the dawn sunshine, just breathtaking.
How lucky are we, the guy at the museum at Kalgoorlie said something like 300mm annual rainfall (which they hadn’t seen any of in months). All the national park signs discuss living in the 300mm rainfall zone. Well I reckon, judging by the water in the ginger beer bottle I left on the bonnet, it was at least 8mm overnight. Plus it sprinkled all day and a little more over the next night. Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get Radio Rational, no news – not much of anything, so a lovely man who wandered into camp this fine drizzly 2nd morning said, oh yes! We are going on the Holland track, this rain has fallen just perfectly to eradicate the dust. We’re due back in Bremmer Bay today, so that’s about 5 or 6 hundred k there no worries, you’ll be right.
Because both mum and I recommend cameras as attachments to faces as compulsory surgery, we had to stay in the semi wet conditions and explore all the gnammas (water holes) on the rock, as well as the donkey’s ears (those cute orchids), sundew, casuarina, harass the tadpoles (that was me) and put bottle tops on the ant holes to see how creative the ants could get (6 different types we counted), we decided we could put off leaving another day.
Holland track day dawned drizzly. I got semi saturated tying the gas bottle up, and both mum and me got saturated tying the tarp and tent poles to the roof racks.
Every time I take off to anywhere I do my pre-car check, coolant, oil, tyres, look for oil leaks under the bonnet and under the car. So far so good. So we set off, at the beginning of the track there’s a sign advising to drop tyre pressures down 18-22 psi. I went to 20.
The track looked OK, sandy and flat albeit wet, but couldn’t see any water filled holes. So we forged ahead, and I was happy to see car tracks probably from the guys that went through the day before. The scenery was quite boring because it was wet and grey, no fauna the whole time we were on the track except for a roo at the beginning and a couple of birds.
Steeped in history though, John Holland cut the track with horse and cart back in 1893 for 530kms in just over three months. The sandy track went through low shrub land, and although was wet it was quite firm. Then we hit some bush, quite tall trees and the track turned to – yep you guessed it – mud! Sticky, red, clay monster mud.
To make things trickier, it seemed where there was red mud there were potholes. Or should I say ditches? (I thought we’d disappear in them. I remembered Birdsville but no camel lady to pull me out this time. Plus tree roots, rocks and sticks, potholes, more potholes, branches, rock faces, all with a dash of fat erratic rain drops that neither rained nor poured, just plopped, and because my wipers only work well in lots of rain, I had to put up with them screeching in agony whilst wiping the window.
I think I only breathed half the time – whilst we were on that lovely sand. I don’t think I breathed when we were skating through the mud, and the car wheels got so covered in mud that I did skate through most of it and the back end swung out a few times and I nearly went sideways at one point. We had gone too far to turn back plus I wasn’t going to let it beat me. 8 hours and 119kms later (no kidding!) it was getting dark and the rain was setting in again, so we had to do an emergency camp. This is what’s going through my head as the rain consistently fell:
No one knows where we are.
I have a first aid book.
We have plenty of food and water.
Have plenty of fuel unless I get a leak.
Car’s fine unless something goes wrong. (I did hit something with a bang in one of the holes, but nothing looked different underneath the car when I checked.)
Mum likes digging, but I wouldn’t fancy a serious blunder in the mud on this track.
I don’t like mud.
No one knows where we are.
Don’t think about that movie Wrong Turn just now.
Where are we???
PLEASE STOP RAINING!
Mum was having an absolute ball though!
Next morning it had actually stopped raining and the wind did blow through the night, so we packed up camp in record time and hit the road again, me looking in horror at the clouds and praying they didn’t open up again. I really didn’t think I could keep going if it had rained through the night, as the road was pretty bad. It was really bad. But the worst was to come.
Every bog hole we came to we stopped and walked the track, thankfully most of the bad spots had a detour, but one really bad spot had a detour into another really bad spot. So we filled the lesser boggy track with bark, and I spent a good ten minutes scraping the clay off my thongs before I could get into the car and actually attempt it. And this is what was caked to my wheels! I have great tyres (thanks to David) but they aren’t mud tyres. And a two and a half tonne (thereabouts) car sliding on a single lane track with trees and rocks leering at the sidewalls is not fun.
I am a very cautious person though and I took it very easy, not wanting to hurt the track or the car. Used low range a few times just to err on the side of caution. We must have done all right because we got through, and I have never been happier to see power lines (eg civilisation)! Mum was very good in offering her valuable driving knowledge to me and always offered a huge grin in the tight spots. I almost feel sorry for going through the bush closer on her side than mine when her window was open… hehehe. And we didn’t get bogged! YAY
Next stop was Hyden Rock (Wave Rock), and we ducked into the tourist info to find out that the Holland track had actually been closed the day we’d set off, but had still been open when we started on it. I owe it to my car. She’s amazing. I’m really looking forward to some 4x4ing in dry weather. We stayed at Hyden Caravan Park that night to regain our senses, which is right in front of the rock.
The next day we drove to Norseman and got a weather report that was such that we decided to skip Esperance and go inland to avoid more rain on the way. Frankland national park was closed anyway due to mud. I referred to my trusty camp book and found a place to stay in the Stirling Ranges. Mt Trio Caravan Park. It was beautiful, the best park I have ever been to with excellent facilities. We stayed 3 nights and climbed Mt Trio and took over a thousand pictures each (Mum more like 3,000.) Saw a snake, hugged a tree, that sort of thing. The Stirling Ranges are out of this world, full of flowers and 65kms long. The highest mountain is Bluff Knoll at 1,095 metres. Canola fields for as far as the eye can see, like sunshine on the land, go for miles from the perimeter of the national park.
Albany next, and what an awesome little big town it is, with everything from Supercheap to Coles. We stayed 3 nights at the Big 4 caravan park because I’m a member and get 10% off, and it was right on the beach where there were heaps of whales and calves just offshore. Their breathing in the night sounds like air blowing through pipes, and their tails and fins slap on the water. Mum thought it was a ship in distress. I thought they were gunshots. They were just whales, being whales.
The sand was white and fine like salt with soft grassy dunes where you could stand and watch the whales. Here in Albany I finally got to wash the car. Now I have to look twice to make sure it is my car, because I am unfamiliar with the colour white. We also went to Gull Rock national park hoping to see some whales breaching, but just watched the Southern Ocean pulling and pushing against the rocks with great force even though it was a calm sea. Mighty ocean here! The fish and chips were expensive but we found a great fish and meat market called Drovers where we got cheap leatherjacket that Mum cooked on the bbq whilst filming herself as if she were on a cooking show. And it was delish.
Rain still about, it bucketed down the last night we were in Albany, which made all the sad little campers huddle in the campers’ kitchen round the crappy fire. The show must go on however, so it was packing up again the next morning and moving on. There is a place called Cosy Corner, which is about 30kms out of Albany heading west (near Torbay). Free camping, but coveted!
About 6 caravans were there but we claimed a good little spot quite sheltered from the SW / NW winds, roped up the tarp, flung out the chairs, table and gas bottle and huddled out of the rain. Me and mum took about 3 goes each to park the car where we wanted to, which prompted our lovely new neighbours to come out and offer advice, not to mention the ones who thought I couldn’t see them laughing! Cold cold cold, and because it was nearly dark when we got there the ocean sounded like it was going to come and take us away. Take me, but not my car!
Scouting round the area the next day we went to Shelley Beach, not much left of the beach but quite pretty all the same. Not much of a beach at all round these parts, but there is a salmon fishing season. The clouds looked ominous so I cut the scouting short and we went back to camp, watched a movie, watched a bandicoot run around our camp looking for food. Slept really really well. I didn’t feel like packing camp up today either so we went to the valley of the giants.
The giant trees are Tingle trees (eucalyptus) which mature between 400 and 500 years old, then live quite resourcefully for as long as they can after that so can be up to a thousand years old if not more (no way to tell as they stop growing out and just grow on). They have a shallow root system and can only be found here in SW WA due to the climate and soil condition. The treetop walk was OK, but because I could see pasture in the distance it sort of ruined it. Walking round the bottom of the forest was much better but because there is so little of that particular forest it is quite sad, this is just a smidgen of what it was 200 years ago. Hopefully we will find more as we head west.
And some sun, yes some sun would be good. My shavers are getting rusty, my legs are albino. I think we have had enough rain and deserve some sunshine so more flowers can come out. Going to the farmers market in Albany tomorrow (Saturday 11th Sept) as I didn’t want to miss them considering they are the best in Australia. And if it dries up (please, please) we can lock those hubs and hit the DUST!
Here are 10 things that I consider important and have learnt so far relating to driving / camping:
- Put things back in the car where they belong (Mum!)
- Always plan for the worst, then when it happens you are ready for it
- If in doubt, get out and check the track. Build it if you have to, always think safe and be considerate
- Always let people know where you are going
- Check the weather
- Use the car as a wind shield (camping)
- Don’t underestimate the value of other people’s knowledge
- Ask lots of questions of locals and other travellers
- Always do a pre car check
- Smile, if people are looking at your face they won’t see your legs shaking (or anything else….)
PS - the markets weren't the best in Aus!
:)
Zoe.
Click here to view the photo gallery of Part 3.
Zoe Part 4
27.09.10
I’m sitting in a room at the Red Castle Motor Inn. I’m revisiting the 70’s, well what I assume I would have experienced had I been alive. It’s got the kitsch wooden panelling, the corner bar, the big retro style radio with reading light and message wait light as a bedside table (with a pelmet light switch??), little sliding windows in the toilet that you look at and wonder, what the?, and of course the big old faded photograph of some crappy scenic vista on the wall behind the TV. It’s clean (and psychedelic!), it’s got city views and highway noises. It’s where I ended up today, being the Queens birthday holiday and all (how could she!) and since I have to wait til tomorrow to book the car in for a service, it will do. You know, how you need a holiday from the holiday? It’s hard work I tell you! The ice is melting in the esky and I don’t have a stove here. Argh!
It is hot, too, well not really that hot but hotter than I’m used to since being on the road, and it’s draining me a bit. But yes, I got my wish - sunshine. This means I have to get creative with my esky, as one ‘hot’ day (mid to upper twenties) means all the food goes wilted and off, and it’s not pleasant. I also stupidly did my food shopping today, when I have no idea when I will get the car in so it’s in the hands of the car gods at the moment. At least Mum got away before the Virgin Blue kerfuffle (literally just the night before).
Since the last update I haven’t done any 4x4ing. It’s been cram, cram, with nature and flowers and trees and birds and whales. It’s the wildflower season, and me and Mum got to see some fantastic flowers and also the wildlife is just amazing when you’re camping. We have seen: red tailed black cockatoos, a brush tailed phascogale (of which the males mate themselves to death and don’t live past 12 months old), brushtail possum, roo’s, a musk duck doing some sort of mating display, quenda (southern brown bandicoot) which hang around camping / picnic spots and scavenge - (most people think they are rats, but they are native), humpback whales and more southern rights. I think I have found an endangered species, I got some video but have to get it identified – it’s possibly a Dibbler. Also seen black yellow bellied snakes, frogs, lizards, orchids, bottle brush, everlastings, what an eclectic mix of life there is here in the wilderness of WA.
From Albany we went to Shannon National Park camp ground, which in the 1940’s was a fully functional milling town (called Shannon) complete with church and servo. There’s not much left now, it’s almost completely disappeared and you would have no idea it ever existed were it not for the little signs “Post Office” - ? nothing there, “General Store” (plot with weeds?) and so on. I wondered where the cemetery was, and kept an eye out for ghosts. We stayed in one of the camper’s cabins, and had to light a fire to heat the water for the showers. The next day we did the great forest drive through the park and went to Big Tree Grove, which has some of the tallest karri trees in the world and was a much more fulfilling experience than the valley of the giants.
From there we drove to Northcliffe to check the weather, and since it wasn’t very windy and a bit of sun was forecast for the next few days, we went and stayed at Windy Harbour. The beach there was covered in blue bottles, so I don’t think I was game to stick my toes in the water although they aren’t deadly. I saw my first superb fairy wren, which of course was trying to kill its reflection in the side mirrors and crapping all over them too the little bastard. It was a nice enough place, but mum couldn’t get the campfire going and it got pretty cold. Much better to see in wild weather according to the locals, as the sea gets angry and that is always something speccy to see.
Next we drove to a place out of Manjimup called Green’s Island and camped there for 3 nights. The first night I heard barking nearby and freaked myself out with the notion wild dogs would come and raid the camp and kill us, only to realise the next day we were surrounded by civilisation and the dogs I heard barking were probably pets. Funny how my mind plays tricks on me at night!
The Bibbulmun track passes through here, a walking track nearly 1,000kms long from Albany to Kalamunda (which incidentally is where I am right this very second!) We spent a couple of days walking one side of the track, then the other, and that’s where I saw what I think is the Dibbler. Mum really enjoyed herself, but I must admit I got a bit bored as we were surrounded by hills which diminished the already minimal daylight hours, plus it wasn’t a very fun campground and I found myself getting excited over fresh car tracks, only to find no one else had set up camp.
Nevertheless we can say we’ve done some of the track, plus we saw the snake and I didn’t scream. I did all the cooking while mum read to me from her book. I enjoyed poking and playing with the fire, which entertained me for hours. Mum hasn’t been feeling 100% which is why I made the decision not to do any more 4x4ing, I don’t want to risk her safety by being too far away from medical help. Can’t be too careful.
I refused to stay any longer at Green’s Island so as soon as possible got out of there and went to Nannup, which is a very cute little town with heaps of arts and crafts, and not too far out is a place called Barrabup Pool which is in a national park and full of wildlife. We stayed the night there, Barrabup being another logging town that took a foothold, flourished, and died to leave nothing but memories and pictures, as there is nothing left to indicate a town there anymore. I thought of the cemetery again, it’s gotta be out there in the bush somewhere doesn’t it! Heaps of trails, both for cycling and walking, are around this area and if you are so inclined there is even an overnight historical walk about 40km long.
I get these cans of Stag chilli which are really yummy over squashed veges and spuds, and that’s what we had for tea, I cooked it on the gas though as the fire takes such a long time to get going with the Jarrah wood that is supplied for burning (it’s quite dense and I think it needs a really hot fire to burn properly). Had a bit of an issue with the gas, it was flaring and we couldn’t work out why. It scared the crap out of me as the flame wasn’t going out even after I’d turned it off at the bottle. So of course I think the worst which is, it’s gonna blow and we’re gonna die! I have visions of tent melting to my arms and gas blowing up in my face, and then there’s the possums running around with burning tails and cockatoos falling out of the trees…
Anyway next day after we left and went into Nannup for the Sat morning market, I rang dad and he didn’t know why it was happening either. I wondered if it’s because it’s the first thing I hit when I go into a car park (ummm, I forget my clearance height, so I don’t think I should attempt to drive a truck until I get this right). Turns out if I don't turn the gas off at the bottle and let it run out of the hose, it liquifies in the hose hence the flaring when I go and light it again. Typical, something so simple...
I am eager to get to Augusta and have a shower, as the last one was at Shannon and, well you know….
I’m glad I filled up a few k’s out of Augusta as it was 6 cents dearer in the town. Checked into the Turner caravan park which is only 1 km out of the town centre, and is bordered by the Blackwood River and has good fishing, not that Mum has fished since SA even though I found the fishing bag stashed in my car still harbouring bits of mouldy burley bread, but thankfully no stinky bait! I won’t fish til I find someone knowledgeable to do it with me, as I’ve spent many hours now watching various members of my family fish and never catch anything, and that’s pretty depressing. Heaps of beach four wheel driving rounds these parts, all along this coast there are places you can go, dunes and all sorts, but with Mum not well and unable to wield a spade, I won’t risk it.
So the trip has wound down a bit, a couple of nights in Augusta, then we went out to Leeuwin-Naturaliste national park and saw the lighthouse, which marks the point the Southern and Indian ocean meet, but they bloody charge to go up to the lighthouse which really sucked, so we couldn’t go and stand at the point where the oceans meet and that really annoyed me, because I like doing stuff like that.
We did pay to go and see one of the caves on Cave Road though, the Lake Cave. It’s only a little cave, and the waterline is receding which the tour guide explained the scientists haven’t found the scientific reason for it yet, but she did say the water flows in from farmland so that’s possibly a reason. Some politician let loose some yabbies in the lake many years ago, and they still survive. I reckon they should be caught and served in the café.
The cave itself has some great stalactites (holding tite to the ceiling) and stalagmites (mite make it to the ceiling) and straws, and has a suspended ‘table’ which is part of the original floor that has been mostly eroded away by water. But for $20, per cave mind you (so we only went to one, there are 3 that have entry fees on caves Road) I wasn’t that impressed. Sorry, but I’m finding it ridiculous that Australia is so expensive and when I decide to pay and go see something, it so far has let me down. I’ve been to more impressive caves in paddocks in the middle of Tasmania. I do find the cave geology really interesting though, and limestone sure creates a lot of amazing caves and rock formations.
We stayed the night in Margaret River and hit the town. Everyone takes the piss out of the river, because it’s actually a creek. Margaret Rivercreek has karaoke Monday night at the Settlers Tavern, if you’re into that sort of thing. Mum and I played some pool and lay the bet whoever lost had to get up and sing, we got to 5 all and ran out of change, thank goodness! I’ve never been drunk or sober enough to attempt karaoke in my life, I was quite happy to watch everyone else get up and have a go, and I tell you they were all pretty good! Mum and I headed home about 10, for some reason walking up the street singing JC Superstar at the top of our voices (my apologies to the residents who may have heard us!) What’s the buzz!
MR has the best, most funkiest art gallery I have ever seen, and Mum finally met some artists who were great! Mum is an artist and she has been interested in meeting artists all over, but it seems success and arrogance go hand in hand in the art world, which I have no patience for. There are always lovely people to prove me wrong though, and I am glad Mum got to meet these people.
There was a big forest burn-off nearby, so we headed back to the coast away from the smoke, up to Geographe (Geograff) Bay where we saw the Humpbacks from Cape Naturaliste and had lunch, and I got to paddle in the water up to my shorts (yay!). Then to Busselton where there’s a really long jetty (longest in the Southern Hemisphere at 1841 metres), but of course it was closed for construction purposes and I was sad I couldn’t walk along it. It looks like it has little beach houses on it from the pictures I’d seen, but that’s an Interpretive Centre.
I could stay a week in Geographe Bay, it’s just a huge bay with amazing blue water and white sand, and you can walk around to the cape and climb a rock and watch the whales. Some locals we met claimed it’s the best beach in WA, but I have found locals always claim something or other’s the best, that’s why they live there! It’s still a beautiful beach though, to me the west side (Dunsborough) is definitely the prettier side.
We camped the night in Ironstone Gully falls, the place looked closed but we set our tents up anyway. There weren’t closed signs anywhere so I figured that was OK. I cooked dinner on top of the car so I didn’t have to take the gas bottle down. Later, while mum was reading the book, there was a noise behind me. We looked, and there was the little brush tail phascogale, a cheeky looking mini possum like creature with a long bushy tail. Mum blinded it with her head light (which is really bright, she blinds me with it all the time!), and I tried to take a picture, but I wasn’t quick enough.
It was busy hunting anyway, and jumped off the tree and scampered off into the night. Mum went back to the reading, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a shadow run between our tents. “Mum quick come over here!” I hissed, and ran over to find, yes it was a brushtail possum. We blinded that one too (sorry little creatures!), it was also out looking for dinner I guess and enjoying the almost full moon. That was exciting, that’s what I love about camping.
The next day we did a drive to Crooked Brook forest and did a wildflower walk. It was the hottest day since I started out, hit 28 degrees I think, and both mum and I were feeling it. I don’t mind the heat at all, but going from cold to hot is a bit of a shock to the system. Lots of noises in the dry undergrowth had me thinking snakes! I saw a big fat bobtail (lizard / shingleback) making itself comfy in the sun, and lots of skinks and lizards. I found a purple enamel orchid and Mum found a spider orchid, as well as heaps of daisies and bottle brush, clematis, pea flowers, native wisteria, sundew, grasstrees, irises, kangaroo paw, and many, many others.
Somehow we ended up at Gnomeville, a hideous tourist attraction, but worth seeing if you aren’t gnomophobic like me. Remember to BYO gnome, because there are thousands of them and I’d just follow suit and leave it there. My fingers itched for a baseball bat, but I was ONLY thinking about it!
We then went to Yalgorup national park, as only 3 nights left til mum flew back to Adelaide. We stayed 2 nights, and the mosquitoes were absolutely terrible. I have never seen so many mosquitoes in my life. We went for a walk at Lake Clifton and I swear, the bushes were so loud with buzzing mosquitoes we didn’t walk for very long. It was like, attack of the killer mosquitoes. I stopped walking and fifty mozzies descended upon me. I actually saw a sign, not very well sign posted mind you, that said cover up, these mosquitoes carry disease. Well, I would think that this sign would be HUGE and in black and red writing stuck in the middle of the road so you can’t miss it!
Yalgorup has some massive inland lakes, and also something very interesting called Thrombolites – living rocks that represent the earliest record of life on earth. How cool is that!
There has been a lot of rain though and the lake covered them up mostly, but we got to see them. Mum and I had a relaxing few days, well I relaxed and read a bit while Mum couldn’t sit still and had to go walking. It was too warm for me to want to do much. When we left we headed up the highway, and I left it to fate to find me a place to stay as I had everything against me – school holidays AND a public holiday.
The highway turn off signs only indicate the road name, not the town / suburb, which is really confusing, so I took a random road turn off and luckily I eventually found a caravan sign and voila! It was a Big4, and yes! They had a studio apartment with ensuite available so I took it, paid through the nose, but had somewhere to relax and where mum could go through her loads of stuff and work out what to take home. That was the biggest task of the whole trip! She finally worked it out (hours later) and we were only 10 mins from Fremantle so off we went to check out the marina and the markets, and had fish and chips at Joe’s fish shack. Fremantle is awesome, I really loved it there.
The next day we went into Perth and walked around Kings Park/Botanic Garden which is also really awesome, and it is a massive area – plenty of space for everyone. There was a 21-gun salute (for the Queens birthday I guess) and the first cannon made me almost jump out of my skin. After lunch we went to the art gallery, then found our way to the airport where I said goodbye to mum. I stayed at the caravan park another 2 nights as I needed to rearrange the car, and they had satellite so I got to fill up on movies and stay up past 10pm.
28.09.10 I booked my car in for Thursday (wow, last day of September already!) at a place recommended by someone I just met who’s done heaps of 4x4ing, and am quite content hanging round here in this inexpensive little caravan park at Advent Park Kalamunda for a little while.
29.09.10
I think Perth is one of the prettiest cities and best kept secrets in Australia, so I will hang around for a bit longer and explore it. I am planning next month to do the Great Central Road and visit a friend along it while I’m at it, so need to organise that as it’s coming up so quick!
And yes, I’m getting a tan finally! 31 degrees today!
Over and out, Zoe.
PS Oh yes, I made a couple of mistakes last update. After Hyden we didn’t go back to Norseman, we went to Ravensthorpe, and the Frankland NP wasn’t the one that was closed, it was Cape Le’Grande NP due to rain.
Footnote
Nothing like some sun sand and surf - let your hair down!
Got the service done yesterday, cheeky buggers tried to sneak in changing the clutch and brake fluid, even though it's only just been done, plus wanted to do a wheel alignment and rotate the tyres even though I left info saying it was only done recently (in other words don't touch my wheels!). You really gotta know your stuff eh. They did change the alternator belts and I couldn't remember if that had been done, I should have asked to see it, but I did check all the other info with my Adelaide mechanic and then let these guys have it. Can you believe they asked me if I trusted my mechanic had done the fluid changes! I said more than I trust you now.
The front sway bar link and rear diff support bushes are cracked, so I have to look into getting that done.
I almost envy you working... nah I don't.
Cheers, Zoe
Click here to view the photo gallery of Part 4.