The Bloody Wind - down the west coast

We arrived in Carnarvon after driving into a head wind all the way - see if you can guess the prevailing wind with the trees above (this was taken along the main street in Carnarvon).

Irene and Brian (Hallett) were already in the park and after we arrived Judi and Brian (Moodie) and another two couples we had met at Coral Bay showed up - great to see everyone again. Carnarvon has a one mile pier - Brian, Brian and Peter almost froze one night when they braved the wind and cold to go fishing. They all came home mutterring about being mad going there, the wind was horrible and the surf was crashing against the botto m of the decrepit old pier (which had no side rails). We did manage to have a good lunch of prawns and crab at the Hacienda Shack at boat harbor (we bought these no thanks to the hunter gatherers )- other than that nothing exciting about the place.

The Hallets left a day early as they had employment prospects in Geraldton..

At the park they had a lawn bowling green, so to pass the time and to have some fun we had a bowling tournament. Brian Moodie and Peter were the eventual champions - something we all heard about for a while. It did bring out many styles of bowling and lets just say that we could all do with a few lessons.

After two days we were off to Shark Bay - a world heritage area. We travelled part of the way with the Moodies (Brian and Judi) and first thing in the morning it was like travelling through Jurrassic Park - Kangaroos, Goats, Emus, cows and camels all making an appearance by the roadside. The Moodies continued to Geraldton while we turned off the Denham - this has probably been the only mistake we have made all trip.

At Denham the wind was blowing so hard that we could not put the awning out and if we could we would have had to hire a kanga hammer to put the pegs in with - the ground was so hard! Again the advertising blerb let us down.

There was one area, Eagle Bluff which we enjoyed - it was a boardwalk which went over the edge of the cliff and when you looked down you saw manta rays, sharks and there was a lovely coffee place where we relaxed and looked out to the Indian Ocean. As for Monkey Mia -we think it is so overated and not eally worth the effort. We had intended to stay a few days in this area but after two (and that was too long) we decided to go to Geraldton. On the way we stopped off at Hamelin Pool and had a look at the Stromatalites, Shell Beach (made up entirely of very small shells) and the shell beach quarry - they make most walls at Denham out of these bricks they cut.

About the same time we were leaving there was agroup of Boat People arriving illegally - we reckon they can have the place.

Once again a head wind all the way to Geraldton - our friends were already there and Irene had told us what site we wanted. It was so good to see them again and we were welcomed with dinner supplied for us that night. The wind was also blowing at Geralton but in comparision to Shark Bay it was a gentle breeze!

The park was right on the beach, so it was good to be able to walk down and have a look at the sunset with a glass of vino. We found Geraldton an interesting place, the memorial for HMAS Sydney is pretty special and the port is very busy - at times there was no less that 8 ships waiting or in port - minerals, iron ore, wheat and livestock. Plus there were some very pretty places around the area - Kalbarri (up north), Port Gregory (with a pink lake) and Greenough, Dongera and Port Denison down south.

This area is one of the main crayfishing areas but they are also doing it tough at the moment with number of pots reduced and the weather has not been kind to the early catches (too cold apparently). Judy and I are still waiting to see a decent sized cray that would make good eating although we did have a beautiful seafood meal on our trip to Dongarra. One of the things that facinated me was that you have the coast, sand dunes and then the wheat paddocks start (so close to the ocean) plus fine merino wool is grown - so much farmland so close to the water!

The seven of us set ourselves up very well in the park and Tim the toolman (Brian Hallett) and his assistant Frank Spencer (Peter) kept themselves busy doing some maintence jobs on the van. We were never too sure what they would be up to next! Peter also received a surprise when a sattelite dish arrived for installation (an early christmas present) - so he is now right for TV wherever we are. Thanks again to Brian for organising and installing it for me. It was also about this time that an opportunity arose and we decided to upgrade the car. The Territory had done a great job but we want to continue to travel - so we took the plunge and now have a Nissan Patrol Ti (3 litre Turbo Diesel).

We also managed to witness an interesting event with the moon, venus and jupiter - and managed to capture the smiley face.

While in Geraldton we took the opportunity to see the film Australia - the best bit was seeing some of the places we had been to in the Kimberleys - none of us thought we would rush out and see the film again.

The others also decided that they had better look for work - Irene and Brian gained work in Geraldton, and Judi and Brian took employment at the van park in Jurien Bay. Before everyone separated we decided to have a final meal together - but we made it christmas dinner. We had the full meal, with decorated van, secret santa and other surprise presents - a great night had by all.

We spent 17 days in Geralton, and probably enjoyed ourselves more, particularly because of the company - we still keep in contact with the others and believe that we have made lifelong friendships - we had many a good laugh, good meal and Brian and Peter even managed to catch a couple of whiting from the beach - which they enjoyed for breakfast. So funny that 7 people and in the group there are 2 Irene's, 2 Brians, 2 Judy's and one Peter - not often that would happen.

We have had a thought about changing Australias national faunal symbol fromthe roo and emu to the mighty ant. Those little bastards have annoyed us all around Australia at every stop and ar totally resistent to every chemical thrown at them. It is not at all uncommon to find them crawling along a narrow twig or up a rope to get into the van and once inside they go everywhere.

Waving goodbye and a little sad we set off for Perth and our first stop was going to be Jurien Bay. This was a very pretty place but again the wind was pretty fierce. We did however travel to Cervantes to see the Pinnacles - these are just fantastic, there are so many of them and they are facinating - very hard to describe and so many different sizes without any vegetation around.

We had initially intended to stay there about 5 days - catch up with Judi and Brian, do day trips to the Pinnacles at Cerventes but.....we found the wind just too much to handle so after finding out we could go the park in Perth a couple of days earlier we decided to do that. It also gave us a few more days to organise ourselves for Christmas.

So 20 December after 22,000kms we arrived in Perth.

Red Dust to the Coral Coast

One thing I forgot to mention was that in Broome Peter requested that "Nurse Gladys" shave his head - the result you can judge for yourself, however we have all collectively decided that this will be a once only happening!

Anyway, we arrived in Port Smith which was a little fishing village 140k south of Broome after being told that it was a "beautiful caravan park" - the road in was corragated red dust, and the sites and facilities were about a one star rating. We had travelled with Irene and Brian and we all decided to make the most of it as we were also told it was a fantastic fishing spot. The two "hunter gatheres" decided to try their luck - first at the lagoon, which was very pretty and at least we were able to update the suntan - but no fish!.

The next day Judy and I stayed at home while the other three tried their luck at another "fantastic fishing place" - off they set, following the handdrawn map over the sanddunes. About two hours later back came the 4WD at a fast pace so we naturally thought they had had success - wrong, they could not find the place and were sick of playing Malcolm Douglas so returned to camp.

"Nurse Gladys" did have occassion to use the large first aid kit we have been storing when Brian scraped his arm on some oyster shells, also came in handy for doctoring the sand fly bites (Port Smith is the sandfly capital) - we really do now have every potion known to man in order to treat these.

After a couple of days, off to Port Hedland the only way to avoid the bumps on the Port Smith road was to drive as far as possible up the side walls of the road, many times we thought we would tip over on that bloody 23 ks of dirt and sand.

The drive to Port Hedland was so boring - red dirt..... We had been told to pass through Port Hedland but thought we would have a look. Certainly opens your eyes as to the size of the mining industry - everything is big and it seems that each person has a white 4WD with an orange flag attached. Highlights were the mound of salt, the very long mine trains (up to 3 kilometre long) and the red dust covering everything!. We had to get some new tyres and the fellow while talking to us told us that the best restaurent in town was the BP Roadhouse - this tells you something! The good part was that we met up with some other people in the caravan park and enjoyed a good meal and laugh.

Interesting information fromPort Hedland was the pay rates. Unskilled people cleared about $1800 per week- skilled people much more! The rent for a one bedroom unit in the park was $1200 per week which was paid by the mining companies - disposable income was huge.

We aslo visited South Hedland which was the dormitory town built when Port Hedland got rocking...... unbelievable. In places it was difficult to discern it from a tip, very high crime rates and violence at night reported and very high indigenous unemployment rates.

We heard about another small beach area Point Samson (50 km north of Karratha) and thought we would go there, so the convoy set off. Getting close we went through Roeborne and thought oh no this could be another Port Smith - but we were pleseantly surprised. We decided to go the the park behind the tavern which was directly across the road from the beach. We settled in here for 3 nights. Bill and Emma (Kiwis who had worked in WA for 28 years) that were staying in the park insisted in putting on drinks and eats for us on one night, they were extremely nice people and very generous hosts.

While in the area we went to do banking etc at Karratha (which is not exciting) and then took a drive down to Dampier - a very pretty harbour, and also took a drive to Cossack an abandoned town that has a few buildings left that have been restored. Cossack was the pearling capital prior to Broome.

The convoy then decided Exmouth was the next stop. Again the drive was not exciting - red dirt a few large mines, big trucks - it really did remind you just how remote some parts of this country are. (Did you note the changes made to the sign in the photos). Exmouth was a beaut few days - good park, Judi and Brian Moodie (who we had met in Port Hedland) were already there plus some others we had met in Point Samson.

Peter managed to snorkel and go fishing and the water was just so blue. The view from the lighthouse was spedtacular. Judy, Irene and I managed to find the big prawn and we had a nice lunch of fresh prawns. Peter and Brian tried beach fishing, fishing from Learmont Jetty but only caught small ones - but still had a good laugh and enjoyed themselves. Emus are protected and in Exmouth they are seen strolling down the main street.

We have been on the road for 5 months now, travelled 20,000kms and all that time have had a Weber BBQ under the bed (we had used it once in Port Macquarie) - well we decided to have a communal Roast Lamb - so the weber came in very handy and it was one of the best roasts we have ever had.

Judi and Brian decided to go the Cape Range National Park and free camp for a few days, but Irene and Brian and us decided to go on down to Coral Bay.

We had been told to go Peoples Caravan Park at Coral Bay as it had good water - this was true, only what we were not told was that you could not hook up to water but obtain it from taps in containers for drinking and cooking. Neither of us filled our water tanks in Exmouth, so the first little while was spent bucketing water for our tanks. Once that was complete we were right. We had a site 20 metres from the beach - just beautiful!. The cost of living is pretty high (luckily we had stocked up before leaving Exmouth) and the bakery cannot make coffee - but Coral Bay is a delightful place. Peter managed snorkling and Judy and I went to sea in a submersible - got a very good view of the fish and coral.

Brian and Judi joined us after a couple of days - so again some good socialising. Irene and Brian left for Carnavon a day before us, and we decided to travel in convoy with Brian and Judi., hoping that we would not have a head wind, but we were wrong!!!

13 Days in Broome and now heading South

We have spent the most delightful thirteen days in Broome. As well as Irene and Brian arriving from Kununurra we met Denise and Denis (who live in Canberra) and the seven of us have celebrated Melbourne Cup, socialised nearly every day had many a good laugh and generally really enjoyed ourselves. I have no doubt that we will keep in touch.

Judy was in charge for Melbourne Cup - ran the sweeps and organised the gambling on each race - very large bets of 20cents. Food was prawns, chicken , fruit and champagne - which we managed to finish off down on the beach at sunset. You will see from the photos that no expense was spared on the fashions of the day.

While this has been a great time to rest and given Peter the opportunity to "tinker" with the van (thanks to the assistance from Brian and Denis) it is expensive to live and lets say that the shops are not really that exciting unless you wish to buy pearls, pearls or pearls.

Broome has a beautiful port, and last Thursday the Dawn Princess was staying in Broome for a day - we were up bright and early to watch it come into port - just magnificant to see. Not to be outdone, we watched it leave the Port from the pleasant surrounds of the golf club (the only hill in Broome) - good cold beer and good company.

We are going down tonight for one last look at the sunset on Cable Beach - tommorrow we are off to Port Smith. This is only a small trek (140km) but it is a good fishing place, so hopefully the hunter gatherer will have success again. Irene and Brian are going to join us so we will have their good company for a while longer.

Kimberleys and sweeping into Broome

Well we have made it to WA!

The drive from Katherine to Kununurra was one of the most enjoyable so far for the whole trip - the scenery is just so exciting and so many colours. We passed through Victoria River and Timber Creek Roadhouses and have made a mental note that we probably need to explore Gregory National Park at a later date.

It is worth noting the price of beer in Timber Creek where thr majority of the population is indigenous. This is particularly interesting for Peter as both Judy and Irene have rediscovered the joys of a cold beer and are drinking his stock.

The price Peter paid in Cairns was $33 for 30 can slab of xxxx, in Timber Creek the same slab was $98.50!

The entry into WA was interesting going through quarantine, we met a very thorough but personality challenged inspector who went through every cupboard and even under the car and van without cracking a smile - he took his job very seriously!

We found the caravan park at Kunurra and after one night decided that we would need to pack up and move sites, due to the amount of sun we would experience (I have now resigned as site manager and that is handled by the manager of transport, planning, logistics and anything else that Judy and I feel needs to be done). On a positive, the site we moved to was not available the day before and it turned out to be a fantastic site - very shady and close to all amenities.

We ended up staying in Kununurra for a week as we found it to be a great place. We decided to treat ourselves and went for a two hour flight over the Bungle Bungles - which really was well worth the $. So many colours, so vast, so hard to describe. The flight also went over the Argyle Diamond Mine which is the largest diamond producer in the world.

The following morning we spent on the Argyle Dam - so much water (30 times the size of Sydney Harbor), 45 klm wide - hopefully the photos above give you some idea, you cannot see from one side of the lake to the other. After that wewent back to Kunnurra on another boat on the Ord River. - a 55 km trip. The Argyle Dam has so much potential it is unbelievable only about 10% of the water is used the other 90% goes inmto the sea. In the last major wet 7 gigalitres per second were going over the spillway, this is enough to supply Perth for 1 year going over the spillway in a day-this went on every day for three months!

As Judy has missed out on seeing crodiles we went for a day trip to Wyndam (temp at 42degC) and took in the crocodile farm and the other sites of Wydhan - not a lot but the view from the lookout where you can see the five rivers meet is truly magnificent. It would be something to see in the wet. Again some interesting facts about Cambridge Gulf at Wyndam, there are 5 rivers running into the gulf. Of all the total outflow of every river into the sea along thje Australian coast 25% comes out of these 5 rivers into the Cambridge Gulf.

Wyndam was very hot the day we were there, the average daily temperature year round is 37.6deg.

While in Kununurra met with people who were managing the Daly Waters pub while we were there - very nice people and as Irene (yes that was her name and also a strong willed capricorn) was a hairdresser both Judy and I took advantage of her skills - probably saying "make it short and tidy " may have been a mistake but at least I will not need to worry about it for a while. We did have a laugh though as they were also at Katherine and witnessed us driving around the park (eight times) looking for the right site - another reason why I have resigned as site manager.

After a week of the beautiful scenery, taking in the sunset at the old pump station and flopping in the pool every afternoon we finally decided to move on. We had been advised by everyone to just get petrol in Halls Creek and then drive on however we thought the drive thrpough to Fitzroy Crossing (600k's) may have been a bit much so thought we might free camp at Mary Pool rest area. We arrived at Mary Pool by lunchtime and it was a dust bowl, so after lunch decided to go on to Fitzroy Crossing - what an oasis in the desert is the Fitzroy Crossing Lodge which was just lovely. Hall's Creek made the claim to be the oasis in the Kimberly but someone had strategically changed the sign to read "Arse of the Kimberley" - we did not disagree.

At Irene's re quest we dropped into Derby which was a nice little place although not much to see or do and we only stayed one night.

Some of the places we have seen recently look suitable candidates to house "Australia's most wanted" they are a bit sus.

The next day we arrived in Broome where we have decided to stay for about 8 days - at least that way we can celebrate Melbourne Cup and relax - more about that in the next update.

Some of the trip has been a bit like Chevy Chases' classic movie American Vacation, at Derby for example we went into have a cup of coffee and like Wally World they were closed for the day. Not to be disappointed when we got to Broome we went to the Waterfront Cafe and ........the only day of the year it was closed too! A good note though, Irene and Brian have arrived in Broome and we will be all lunching together for Melb Cup - as usuial Judy is the grand organiser!

Drought breaks in Darwin but still no rain

Most importantly you can see from the picture that Peter has broken his fishing drought, but more about that later,

Our first stop enroute to Darwin was at Banka Banka Station. This is part of a 3 million acre station owned by the Kidman Pastoral Company. There are three stations in all - Helen Springs, Binchilli and Banka Banka. The manager gave a slideshow and talk on the station (which is still a working cattle station) which gave some insight into the work and lifestyle - I dont think we want to change our lifestyle. It was a great place to stay for the night.

Next stop was Daley Waters Pub - a must for anyone travelling to stop at. The facilities are a little rustic but the Barra and Steak BBQ - the best ever!

I have also found that Beer is just the best to drink in the heat - I had forgotten how good a cold beer tastes - although Peter reckons it diminshes his supplies!

While we were in the area it has given Peter and I an opportunity to visit some of the WW2 sites Peters Dad served at. Pleasingly were were able find all, but not get to some, but we did take some photos and send them home for him to look at. There are sites all the way to Darwin so it gives some indication of the effort and hardship of the time. Soberingly when you visit the Adelaide River War Cemetery you realise that most of the guys who gave their lives were only kids.

Mataranka was our next stop, just for the night so we could visit the hotsprings. We went to two of them, Bitter Springs and the one near the Caravan resort. Both were very nice and refreshing, however it was bat mating season and the one at the resort you had to ignore the smell on the walk to the spring.

We decided we would go via Kakadu to Darwin - so that where we went to next and stayed at the Kakadu Lodge at Jabiru, where a little lizard I christened Hector became friendly with us. While at Jabiru we went on a cultural cruise down the East Alligator River - saw many many "snaping handbags", great scenery and the biggest sand beach due to erosion of sandstone during the wet in 2006 - 750,000 tons of sand. They are now hoping for another big wet so that the river can be washed out as some of it has blocked access further up the river. The escarpment is just wonderful - so many colours. Also the guide told us to go to the crossing (it goes into Arnhem Land) at high tide and the crocs would come down to catch fish - sure enough there were the crocs, and a guy trying to catch Barra from the crossing.We watched for a while while two crocs eyed him.

It was then off to Darwin. I last went to Darwin some 20 years ago and I thought I would keep an open mind as I did not like it then - well in my opinion there is still nothing good about Darwin - except the colour of the harbour. It probably did not help that the caravan park we stayed at (after recommendations) was not up to the usual standard - facilities not clean! But we had to get the van and car services - so there we were. Also we thought we needed to give ourselves a rest and we were hopeful that Judy would get the all clear and be able to join us.

Interestingly in Darwin you are quite restricted with the number of places to get work done. We were lucky to find Pratt NT who were great with the van and had to endure Hidden Valley Ford (sole Darwin Dealer) who really gave the impression of not caring. We had tried to email them on two ocassions on our way to Darwin to make bookings using their system and they never resonded. When we rasied this with them - care factor zero!

But enough grumbles - where did we go? Mindil Markets (sunset the best), Cullen Bay, Wharf Precinct, Nightcliffe - all over really, we had a good look and went to most areas. I was also able to catch up and say hello to Lyne Balchin who is with the police force in Darwin and I have not seen her since high school days. We had an intersting day when the van had to go for a service. I decided that it would be better for me to stay at the site and keep the engel cold - so Peter made a humpy for me and that is where we stayed all day with jug and coffee makings. Peter also joined me, (see photo of him doing the quick change after a swim and he is decent!)

We then got the good news that Judy would be rejoining us on 13 October, 0.50am the plane would arrive! Arrive she did after having very close calls with boarding planes on time. Poor Pete was taking the car for the service at 7.30am so he did not have much sleep that day.

On Tuesday 14 October, the drought was broken - the fishing drought that it. Peter went fishing at Corroborree Billabong - he caught 5 Barra, a saratoga, a tarpin and a gigantic catfish (8kg) and all in all was very pleased with himself. I am suree he has already contacted a considerable number of people to gloat. Funnily enough - the guy that took him out was Peter who was a bricklayer from Jerrabomberra, it really is a small world. We have photographic evidence for all the non believers and boy has the Barra been beautiful to eat.

We took a drive up to Adelaide River and Litchfield National Park - in some ways it is prettier that Kakadu. For our travellers with recuperating fractures and knees that need replacing the waterfalls and views are more accessible. Again beautiful country. Adelaide River was interesting in that it has a war cemetary - some 400 people are buried there - beautifully presented. Also the little pub has Charlie the Buffalo stuffed - he was the buffalo in the original Crocodile Dundee movie.

We experienced two storms in Darwin and the van site was a little mudheap, plus I have been suffering from insect bites and news came through that there was to be a midgie plague - something I did not need - so we decided to move on from Darwin a couple of days earlier that we had anticipated.

All were in agreement the right decision was made - Katherine (which was our next stop) is great - good dry heat, van park excellent and this morning we had the best breakfast cruise on the Katherine Gorge. It was two gorges and we had to walk about 600metre from one boat to another - Judy managed it very well, although she did try and throw her walking stick away in the water only to have it rescued by one of the other tourists. Thank god they were nimble! We really enjoyed the gorge - one of those pieces of Australia that everyone should try and get to at some stage.

Peter and I also visited the hot springs and while they were refreshing they were not of the same standard as Mataranka. I also need to mention the indigenous population - not until you see the towns can you realise how they live and the intervention has pushed many from the rural to the urban. It really is a sorry sight.

Next it is off to Western Australia, we expect to stay at least a week in Kununurra, then Broome and down the west coast.

The Red Centre

Following our stay in Mt Isa we continued our way west passing through Camooweal crossing the NT border and stopping for the night at Barkley Homestead. At this night stop we met Denis and Joan who are also travelling around Oz and we may meet up with them further on up the track. Peter was also able to watch the football at the roadhouse while we were having dinner.

At Three Ways we then turned south going through Tennant Creek where we made a quick visit to Battery Hill - the history of mining in the district and continued to Wauchope (pronounced walkup) where we stayed the night in the grounds of the pub (it is the only building in town). We went to see the Devils Marbles (9km) and found there was a lovely campground - so will stay there on the return trip to Darwin. The pub was a wonderful oasis and the dip in the pool was just the thing against the temperature of about 37deg.

Enroute to Alice the next day we passed through Ti Tree where Peters father spent a couple of days during WW2 as we progressed you could see there was a storn brewing and then the rain came! Twice we had to pull off the road - two storms went over us. Then picture on the left is taken in the rear vision mirror and show the storm overtaking us. As we drove into Alice Springs we realised just how fierce the storms were - trees and power lines down everywhere. When we found our van park we were lucky we did not arrive earlier - trees down, awnings ripped off etc. People were making the best of it and having a few laughs and at least no one was hurt.

We decided to only stay the one night in Alice and continue to Ayers Rock and the Olgas (we would stay a few days on our return). So we set off for the Rock - many people think it is just down the road but it is a 1000km round trip and one that requires a lot of concentration - road trains, narrow roads, road works and cows cows cows. We decided on three days stay and we went to the only campground available (you have no choice unless you stay 70km away). This turned out to be very expensive and the worst facilities (filthy) we have had since starting our trip. Talking to people - all the complaints were the same. I decided to provide some feedback and they apologised and said it was due to busloads of schoolkids they had arrive - of course I could not help but continue the discussion with some advice about appropriate resources to meet requirements and the busloads would not be a surprise for them etc...They are a large resort and have the monopoly so doubt anything will change.

Enough with the grumbles - Ayers Rock, the most fantastic thing I have seen yet. Just brilliant, something really spiritual about it. Everyone must see it in their lifetime. It is hard to describe the sheer size and magnitude of it - you do not get sick of looking at it. The colours, the surface (to me looked like granite with red excema). I am not sure how people climb it (it was closed for the days we were there) - it would be so frightening. We were talking to a young english guy Nick, the night we were in Alice and he said he climbed it but he was so s... scared it was terrifying. We spent day at the rock and then went to the Olgas the next day. They also are magnificent - it is hard to imagine their age. What was differtent about the Olgas is they seem to be made of "glued"rocks and pebbles. The surface is scared from points where huge clumps seem to pop out.

On the way to the Rock we were also dumfounded to see Mt Connor in the distance (100ks before you get to the rock - it is 3 times the size of Ayers Rock and have decided that we will do it and Kings Canyon (would have been another 600km )on our next trip.

Just a general comment about the trip to the Rock is the diappointment about how people treat the place. The rangers try very hard to tidy up visitors still toss their rubbish around and don't give a stuff where it ends up. There were numerous times we did not take photos of gorges, caves, rock paintings etc because of the rubbish which would have been in the shot. Similarly there are defined paths people are asked not to stray from -means nothing to some. Finally Peter's patience was sorely tried on a number of ocassions when trying to frame the perfect photo only to have it interrupted by some ignorant prick (peters word) from the orient wandering in without any consideration of anyone but themselves.

We have been back in Alice for three days, staying at the same van park - G'Day Mate, it is a family owned pary and one we would recomend. Next we will head off up north for Darwin via Jabiru on the next part of the trip.

Further North and then Westward Ho

Our stay in Airlie beach was just delightful, although we did wonder as we had a pary of 25 school kids move into the van park righy behind us. For some peace and quiet we thought that we should do a cruise around the islands - not just any boat but a delightful catamaran, here we are thinking a great time we will have until the night before Peter was talking to the teacher in charge and we found out - they were going on the same boat! As it turned out they were great, the boat was not crowded and we had a great day (managed to have a few chardy's). One of the things Peter laughed at was my application for seniors cards for both of us ($39) - well by using them we saved $60 on the cruise. It was a good bit of advice from Trevor and Sylvia and we have now used them a number of times.

The trip covered about 50 nautical miles and we actually got to 16 knots under sail on the way home.

Like the rest of the east coast, Airlie is undergoing huge development, with a new marina almost completed and development muted for Shute Harbor. Developers have bought and closed 2 van parks for worker accommodation so things will continue to change. The locals are not too thrilled as it has become a bit dangerous at night with fighting at night a pretty regular occurance.

From there we travelled to Ingham and met Marg and Flyn from Jerilderie who were on their way home from Mareeba, the main aim was to give them some clothes that we have realised we will never wear. Spent a lovley few hours having a look at Lucinda which has a 1 kilometer pier which is used to get refined sugar to ships.

Finally on the 6 September we went to Cairns, making sure that we stopped at the Frosty Mango just north of Townsville. We discovered this icecream 14 years ago and it is still just as good - although they have upgraded the building and facilities.

We stayed in Crytal Cascades Van park - thank god no mosquitos or sandflies. I forgot just how alergic I was to sandflies (blisters and welts) - so it was time for the antihistermine and a rest from them (Peter did really well choosing this park). For the first two days - lovely weather and then rain, rain, rain!!!!! But taking the good with the bad drove to Port Douglas, northern beached and reaquainted ourselves with places we had been to some years ago.

We seemed to be blessed (not) whenever we had to hitch up or unhitch the van in Cairns - it bucketted rain every time.

It was also great to catch up with our friends Rendal, Jim and Karleah - we see them infrequently, so good to have the laugh and catch up on all things.

We also took the opportunity to c atch up with "Australia oldest Navy sailor" Tim Van Wyck who was still in Cairns with a job - for those who know Tim - he has not changed! He has recently had his appointment extended for another two years.

We also caught up with a very old friend who we have not seen for too many years - Bruno Mayne. For those who may have known Bruno during those mad times we did the Childrens Diabetic camps - like the rest of us he is a little older but still has the same sense of humor and gentle nature.


We were also able to get the couple of minor warranty repairs carried out to the van, so that we can be self sufficient on the road.

It was off to Cooktown on the 13 September, and as Peter had been doing all the driving up the east coast, once we were through Mareeba (it looked flat) I suggested I have a drive. Bad mistake! Everything was going well until some hills appeared (they were a mountain range actually) and I caught up to a road train who was travelling about 5km/hour - well my anxiety rose, blood pressure high. I could not do anything except follow Petes instructions (he was so good) - anyway we got through it but I pulled up at the first available area and let Pete take over again.

We stopped at the Palmer River Roadhouse for a coffee and the noted road train was there. I am still amazed by the Black Mountains just outside Cooktown.

While there has been some development since we were last in Cooktown, it is still small and still has the aura of yesteryear about it.

This was the place we thought Peter may get his fish, but...... on talking to the locals at the wharf, and the guy next door - the advice was "save your bait and money the only F#@* fish you will get is one in newspaper" So still no fish

The wharf in cooktown is a place where most people migrate to - even this fashion accessory for a BMW bike - her name was Candy.

For those interested cost of fuel in Cooktown was $1.50.9 per litre.




One of the more interesting things to happen in Cooktown was the change to Peters appearance - I was let loose with the hair clippers (see photo to the left). He did ask me to do it but I certainly thought I had really stuffed his hair, at the end of the session I did not know if I had a bowling ball or a criminal for a husband - mind you now 7 days later it is looking great!




On the 16 Sept we decided to head south to start the trek to Alice Springs. We did not stop on the tablelands as we have been there before and thought we would leave that for another time. So drove to a rest stop south of Tully - Bilyana, where we stopped for the night. Yes free camping, there was about 6 others there that night. It was great to have our own shower, hot water etc.

Next day was a right turn at Townsville and we headed west passing through Charters Towers (lunch and a walk around) - stopping at Hughendon for the night. That was a big day - some 500km. The next day we drove through Julia Creek (petrol $1.72per litre), Cloncurry and arrived in Mount Isa - another big day, but we knew we could rest up as we were staying in Mt Isa for two days. It was amazing how quickly we left the lush green of the coast behind, although it was considerably hilly to Mt Isa and we noticed the temperature climb. Today in Mt Isa it has been about 35deg - but a nice dry heat with a bit of a breeze. Needless to say the cold beer has been appreciated.

I also got over my previous driving experience and decided to take the plunge again. For the past couple of days Peter and I have shared the driving on the road - but I do not do towns, traffic lights, mountains or anything too difficult like reversing!. I was not looking forward to the road train experience but Peter has been excellent in his teaching - so while we are on the flat - I will continue to assist to be able to give Peter a rest.

We will next head for Alice Springs.

Well we are almost to the end of our third month and some stats for those interested- travelled almost 9000k's, used 1650 litres fuel, average cost for food and accommodation is less that $50 per day - and we have not been stingy to ourselves.

Spoke to Judy tonight (we contact her most everyother day as she is having the virtual tour) and the update is, after having further surgery in Albury, she sees the specialist on the 30 Sept, so we will then have a better idea when and where she may join us again. All her possessions are having a good time!

Further north 2 months on......

We cannot believe that 2 months have passed, we really are enjoying settling into this lifestyle.

Going up the east coast has been very enjoyable (except for Judy's incident) and as we have not been to some of the areas for up to 14 years it has been great - there are so many different terrains, follage and the wildelife is lovely. Peter has been doing a great job of driving (as I really did not want to drive on the Pacific / Bruce Highway).

The new van is going well, although with anything new there are som times little things to annoy you - we had to do minor repair to plumbing while at Noosa. Every time we let water out of the kitchen sink iy came up through the floor of the shower. Pete found this mobile caravan repair guy, Owen - well he turned out to be a real treasure. All fixed up now but we do have a sullage hose which we call "the alien" because it looks like something from he movie and seems to want to crawl out of the bag when ever we need to roll it up.

Before we left Noosa I managed to get Peter to go the the Emundi markets - I thought they were good markets but Pete's usual comment - "same crap" although he was entertained by these little fellows. The fellow working the "strings" really was very clever.

We next headed for Hervey Bay (waving to Jenny Hancocks and Mark Bonatos relatives n the way - we did not get the opportunity to contact them). We were last in Hervey Bay 14 years ago, and the amount of redevelopment going on is incredible (it is the same all the way up the coast). Although what they have done by the foreshore has certainly improved the walkways. We did walk right out to the end of the pier, and were entertained by a pelican atop a light fitting that caught fish that was thrown up to it. We also found that Barrhum Heads and Toogoom just north of Hervey Bay were lovely - both had nice little caravan parks right on the water and we did manage to have a nice fish lunch at a little place on the water in Toogoom.

We decided that we would have to visit Fraser Island again and this is what we went in (Arnie will be happy). There was only us and a young german couple, as it turned out the weather was not that kind to us - got very rough on the beach but we had a lovely day - morning tea, lunch (with wine/beer), afternoon tea, champagne / strawberies. A very good way to see the island. We chose this method as there had been three major accidents in the last 2 weeks, rollovers of troopies carrying up to 11 people. Seems the backpackers just cant handle the going at hi speed.

Rhonda Tulk, an old friend from Albury days who now lives at Buderim came dowm to see us - we were sitting having morning tea (as you do) when the caravan park manager came and asked if we were going and we said "No - tommorrow". Well it turns out we were due to go but.... our memory had left us and we quickly made arrangements to stay another night. It was great to catch up with Rhonda - although time passed too quickly.

Next it was off to Yeppoon. Very dry, still little rain in the area. Not sure if that area is top of our list but it was a good park and we saw two Tawney Frog Mouth Owls in the tree next to our van - a rare sight and to see two. We liked Emu Park a little place just south of Yeppoon - much more our style.

It was also at Yeppoon that I took to Peter's beard - amazinghow useful the plastic tablecloth is, and this is now another skill I have. Pete was pretty nervous to start with which was not alleviated when I dug the points of the trimmers into his throat twice (he doubted my motives). The result was OK.

We knew that we did not have anywhere booked between Yeppoon and Airlie Beach and we thought we would free camp, so Pete thought he better check all the gas connections worked. Well it was good news for the fridge and stove, but the gas hot water connection did not want to go (it works on electricity). It is probably some small thing as you can hear it try to start - but as the van is new we need to get an authorsised dealer. Unbelievably the closest is Alice Springs, so we have spoken to them and will get it attended to then.

We decided to go ahead with the camp idea, and decided to stay at Seaforth campgounds - lovely site just north of Mackay, 20 yards from the beach and they had hot showers for 20 cents (the only problem was the amount of mud on some of the kids using the shower and the lack of mum cleaning the shower after them). Everything worked ok, and I got to use the kettle given to us by Bob and Jenny to boil water for my coffee. Everyone would be proud of my efforts - although I did use the hairdryer in the facilities.

We are currently in Airlie Beach and will be in Cairns by 6 September

Thanks to those sending comments to the blog - we do enjoy reading them. Andy and Leanne were impressed with the look of the van, although I wonder if they will be as impressed with it in their driveway when we arrive for the Grand Prix in March.

We have got some news from home from Renee and Glen who are house-sitting ans looking after Mr Trumpy. He is obviously training them well. Firstly, they have put in nightlights so he can see around the stairs at night - now Renee organised to have him professionally washed although he does not look to impressed and has not shrunk in the wash (Renee sent this). We miss him terribly but are thrilled he is being cared for so well.

A new van and we have passed Brisbane

We returned to Nambucca to catch up with Judy, and she had made the decision to go home to Albury as it would be at least another 5 to 6 weeks before she would be able to join us. The target is for Judy to rejoin us at Alice Springs on about 26 September.



However while in the area we picked up a new van from Port Macquarie - yes only we would do this, but we decided that if we are to be on the road for the next 10 months then we would have a little more comfort (particularly good not to have to walk to facilities at 3.00am). The right offer was made on the old van so we decided to take the plunge. The new van is slightly larger (19ft) and has toilet and shower, hot water system, LCD TV and DVD, larger fridge and better heating / cooling etc.

After going through the saga of transferring everything from one van to another (did it in just under two hours) on 12 August we headed off to Ballina, only to find the pacific highway was shut due to an accident, so we stayed in the very small caravan park at Maclean and then had a short trip to Ballina on 13 August.

After stopping two days in Ballina, we then moved off to Noosa area, staying in Tewantin. Must say that we are not impressed by the Noosa area - too busy, too plastic and Peter says he has not seen so much makeup and spakel on so many "old shielas" for years.

While in Noosa we took the opportunity to have coffee with Gwen Robinson - a previous boss within ACT Health. For those people that knew Gwen - she has not changed, and retirement really suits her.

For those people that had money on Peter flying home from Brisbane - we have passed Brisbane and he is still here! He has not wet a fishing line - so still no fish.

Continuing the travels

There were no more events for the rest of our stay in Port Macquarie. While in PM we stayed right on the breakwater, which made it easy for Peter for fishing, a short walk to decent coffee shops and close for all other requirements – a very enjoyable stay, where we also met Jim and Mel from Cessnock. Jim took pity on Peter’s feeble efforts to catch fish and gave us 9 lovely bream rather than let us starve. Judy, was fitted with a “moonboot” engaged in physio and generally feeling a lot better and more mobile when we left for South West Rocks on the 18 July.

We stayed at a caravan park in Trial Bay – excellent facilities and friendly wildlife – visits from Kangaroos and a Kookaburra who thought he may be able to help when Irene was cooking. This really is a beautiful place, the views from the lighthouse (Smokey Cape), Trial Bay Gaol and the headlands and SW Rocks headland are fantastic! Peter went beach fishing one morning (still did not catch anything) and Irene packed a chair, book and coffee and had a brilliant couple of hours passing the time talking to those other healthy people taking their morning walk. It is funny how there have been good intentions to catch up on reading – but one does not seem to get the time! This is one place we will be revisiting.

The morning we left SW Rocks (22 July) it was very overcast, cool and blowing – but we were hopeful that Nambucca Heads would have some sunshine. Judy had arrived in Nambucca to stay with her sister Nancy and brother in law Brian, so we were also going to catch up with her. I am sure that Nambucca is a very nice place, however for the three days we were there it was cold, rained and not enjoyable. The site we stayed at was great except they put us in a spot which, after rain, was a bog-hole – we had mud about 4 inches deep outside the door. It was good to catch up with Judy, Nancy and Brian and we had two home cooked dinners thanks to Nancy. Judy much more mobile and we are hopeful her orthopaedic review on 5 August will be favourable and she may be joining us soon. Peter decided to give the fish a break and did not wet a line.

On the 25 July we left Nambucca (and yes it was raining) to head to Coffs Harbor and yes it was raining when we arrived. We had our first experience of packing up and setting down in the rain – all in all it went very well, mainly because we were pretty well organised. I am sure this will not be our first and last “wet” experience. We did not actually stay in Coffs, but at Emerald Beach which is about 20km north of Coffs. We loved Emerald Beach and other areas outside Coffs (eg Scotts Head – good park etc), but did not enjoy Coffs at all – it could have been any large town anywhere. While there we managed to catch up with Helen Van Wyck (Tim was on Navy duty in Cairns). There would be people in Canberra associated with health that may remember Tim and Helen – they moved to Sapphire Beach some 8 years ago. Helen has not changed at all – still very busy and still involved with baseball – it was good to catch up with her and both of us were envious of their housing arrangement – so close to the beach, with pool, tennis court, lagoon, ducks and a pet eel! Peter tried the beach – still nothing!! ( he is getting pissed off).

Emerald Beach was a delight – the park had a happy hour on the second day we were there, we thought we would go as a way to meet up with others. It was in the camp kitchen which was right next to our site, and which we used everyday. Well that proved the right thing to do – met some lovely people who we then met for drinks, nibbles, laughter and stories.

It was also Peters birthday on the 29 July – so he is officially retired now and soon to be pensioner. We went out for a birthday breakfast at the Coffs Jetty and decided we would have a celebratory dinner once Judy rejoined us and we were in warmer weather.

Yamba is our latest stop – arrived on the 30 July. Both Peter and I really like this area – particularly Yamba and the nearby town of Maclean (the Scottish town) – this town has the tartans painted on the power poles and has a beautiful Australian shopping street. We will be staying here until the 7 August. It is so easy to relax with this lifestyle, Peter usually finds a place to throw a line in and I “potter” - both of us tend to forget what day of the week is what and continually need to refer to a calendar – we hope this is how we will continue. The weather has been T-Shirt and shorts, with it being cooler in the evenings – something that we can put up with! We did not think a lot of Iluka but there was a camping area at Woody Head that at some time in the future we would like to stay at – good facilities and right on the beach, unfortunately it is National Park – so no pets. The view from the Iluka Bluff (which we both climbed!) was just fantastic – unfortunately we managed to wipe the photos from the camera.

Peter tried to catch a fish on the advice of the local bait expert. We tried the breakwater to Yamba which required a death defying scramble over the rocks and boulders to get near enough to the water to wet a line. Using all his agility and light-footed movement he got down to the water on two occasions and managed not to break his duck ( nor his neck). We are beginning to think we will be the only people who have travelled the length of the NSW coast line for 0 fish caught.

Had a surprise phone call from Peters cousin Glenn on Sun 3 August, he was going to Byron Bay the next day and we made arrangements to meet for a coffee in Maclean - had a good chat and caught up with news.

After all this excitement, we will be going back to Nambucca Heads (7 August) to meet up with Judy and figure out what is to happen next.