It was the third of June, and it was another dusty day. Not-so-much delta and not at all sleepy, ‘cos we were driving! We’d had a great time in beautiful Kalbarri – stayed in a “posh” caravan park, eaten in an interesting restaurant, seen the surfing potential at Jake’s Corner and found a good physio. We now had “big plans” – dolphin feeding at Monkey Mia, a big drive into the Kennedy National Park for a couple of days of…
Before we leapt onboard our cray boat and benefited from China’s trade kerfuffle, there were domestic duties to be done at our Geraldton Sunset Beach caravan park👍. It’s become an essential part of our journey to ensure that we stop often enough to wash sheets, towels, assorted clothes and give ATGANI a moderately decent clean. Every park has a laundry and each has their own unique protocols in place – will it be tokens or coins? will it be the…
I don’t really remember Nixon in ’74 but I do remember another fine old crook back in ‘83. Alan Bond had just won the America’s Cup – who could forget Hawkie’s fashion-crime jacket and those execrable boxing kangaroos? Bondy eventually fell from grace but, like Nixon and China, maybe he was something of a visionary. Kalgoorlie made us think so. Mining here used to be all underground, mine numbers were high, costs were even higher and output was low –…
When we first saw Uluru, it was called Ayers Rock and it was still “ok” to climb it. But these days, to me, Ayers Rock feels devoid of character, maybe even of meaning – I’ve come to like Uluru. So what to make of Nullarbor? It “sounds” vaguely appropriate but why are we naming this massive, breathtaking area in Latin? (Latin is a language as dead as dead can be. First it killed the Romans and now it’s killing me). …
Not true! If you choose Port Kenny, you lose! Venus Bay was much better…and still woeful. How is it possible that ZERO places in small towns “famous for their seafood” offer any possibility of buying fresh, local seafood. Our first night meal at the Port Kenny Pub had crumbed KG whiting and crumbed Venus Bay prawns along with wedges (sorry, chips are off – probably reconstituted, Helen!) in the brownest plate of food I’ve ever seen 👎. Jeez, there was…
Tuesdays turn to Wednesdays; Wednesdays to Thursdays, and so on – finally we got to Saturday and left Broken Hill. The car was mended, some electrics worked, Trevor’s back was manageable, Lesley was accepting and we set our sights on catching up time by swiftly crossing South Australia to the west side of the Eyre Peninsular, self-contained camping all the way. Will we run out of water, will the power fail? What do you think? Still, Broken Hill had given…
Arrrgghh! My back does hurt! For no reason that we can determine, Trevor’s back decided to seize up👎👎. This has happened once before but it still hurts like blazes. Physios were found, hot packs applied, anti-inflamms ingested, sleep shattered (Lesley’s) but recovery was underway. Trevor was soon able to walk, albeit stooped over like an even older man. Poop! Fortunately, we had moved into central Broken Hill because we’d found a man to fix the LandCruiser. It had been carrying…
The rain continues to follow us around, which keeps the locals happy, but red dirt and water simply turn to sucky, boggy mud. Even a few mm closes almost all the unsealed roads – the shire councils don’t care so much if you get yourself bogged, but they do care that you mess up their roads. So, leaving Cunnamulla (nothing to report) and heading due south, we stayed on the blacktop. Our plan was to go to Bourke then towards…
With just 50 days before we are booked to arrive at Exmouth in WA on June 10, we really are now on-the-road. Casual meandering from Sydney to Brisbane has been replaced with a chipped-in-custard schedule that allows plenty of time to see plenty of things, but with the general intention of driving west without too much hesitation, deviation or repetition. So, as The Minute Waltz faded away, we arrived at Millmerran Golf Club (emblem: magpie) and pulled up on a…
And now for the shortest blog for the longest period. Thanks to Trevor catching Covid, that infection which just about everyone we know has now had, we spent the Easter weekend chrysalis-like within ATGANI at Bells CP at Redcliffe in Brisbane. And let me promise you, I’ve had it! Even more understandably, Lesley has had it too! But she refuses to become infected. Perhaps the virus is scared! Thanks to whatever the rules were, we only stayed an extra 2…