Perth Break and Family wishes
We have been in the outback & bush for a while now and spent some time inPerth with families..I also spent time in hospital with an infected testicle ( and boy did it hurt !) all is well now and it was fantastic meeting up with kids and grankids (Annies in Mount Barker) and mine in Perth.Thanks to Jayne n Paul for putting us up and making sure we we comfortable.Great seeing Adam n Issy altho Adam makes a lousy cuppa !!! Annie caught up with daughter Janene and Grandaughter Dejanna,spending some quality family time.Pictures wont,t be available of our Perth time at the request of me daughter .We are about to set off on our return trip with hopefully lots of pics.Our original plan was to take the Darling River Dirt Road BUT the weather has closed them down !!maybe next year.Few more outback days then a return home and daily updates on where and what we have done
Lovely fires and almost there
Day 7 Stayed at Nundroo overnight and light a lovely HOT fire cos it was so bloody cold !!We then crossed the Nullabor inclusive of the very straight 90 mile road onto the State Boarder where the vehicle was searched for hidden fruits by a lovely gravelled voiced Inspector who when asked graciously then on to Newman Rock campsite 50 kms west of Baladonnia where we stayed in a freezing cold bush/desert forrest amd lit another HUGE fire,coupla beers and it was heaven
Moving on thru Streaky Bay towards family reunions
Day 6 and we set of and had a variable day mostly dodging Goanna,s that seemed to like the path we were taking.We cruised along thru Streaky Bay and into Ceduna and finally came to rest in Nundroo where we just about managed to read an email sent from the station advising me I may have taken the Station Van out of the yard illegally,I do wish people would get their facts right before making FALSE accusations I don’t dive the Van at any time ! No doubt I won,t be receiving an apology !!! Big day ahead tomorrow as we cross the Nullarbor into Western Australia and meet up with families
Still Travelling OK onto Iron Knob
Day 5 after a cuppa and fare wells we set off to say guday to Annies younger brother John ( he has issues and lives in a sheltered home,and is very happy to be there!) and off we went again stopping at Port Pirie for a brief look and thru Port Augusta to where we camped overnight in Iron Knob (really) at this venue I lit a wood fire and had a wonderful evening keeping warm,drinking beer and having a go on my Didgeridoo and after putting the fire out safely off for an early night and as mentioned before A very comfortable bed to collapse into
Adelaide here we come !!
Day 4
After an early start we headed of towards Adelaide and made it in good time where we met Annies brother Mark & wife Wendy (son Jake we met briefly later on) After a welcome chat,hugs and handshakes Mark took us for a visit to the house he is rebuilding that used to be a Church !! and it looked magnificent with the spiral staircase featuring on the exterior and a front entrance that really has to be seen to be admired.We set up the Palamino and I had tea with Mark etc,Annie was feeling sick and decided to rest awhile Mark,Wendy and myself put the wrongs of the world right afore Annie joined us..THEN it was my turn !! sinuses were out of control so I retired early with a tissue jammed up each nostril!! Although we didn,t see any Koala,s we certainly heard them thru out the night !!
Day 3 Horses n everythin !
Up bright & early and off we go to Balranald and was a lovely fast trip except for herds of cattle being mustered along the Highway by a genuine cowboy on horseback,lovely stuff on the way a road was closed due to flooding,however we chanced it and just as we got there the road was reopened !! (Forbes) otherwisewe would have had to back track 40 kms or so !! We arrived at our campsite ($20) where we enjoyed the luxury of proper hot showers.In the evening I lit a fire in our Brazier and because of my skills learnt as a nipper setting the coal fire after school,it was a very easy task to light FIRST time using paper and twigs as kindling.We roasted spud and they were delicious !! and to help I drank a lovely bottle of white !! A good evening was had simply by sitting at the camp fire and discussing the ways of the world !
Day 2 still going strong !! on our way West
Up around 6am fully refreshed and ready to go by 8,30 the whole of the 600 kms we have covered today was drenched apparently some have never seen so much rain ever !! We passed a lot of swollen creeks and rivers with the Mcquarie river in Dubbo putting a fantastic show of water power for the gaping onlookers and if present trend continues the bridge will be flooded consequently cutting their main road in & out of town off! So we quickly crossed it and headed for our overnight stay ..Oh Dear the long drop toilet is flooded and out of bounds and we are currently camped in an “open” overnight park and wouldn’t you know it? It rained again !!
From Hervey Bay to Perth a proper Story Day 1
Day 1 2nd sept
Travelled over KMs thru various small outback towns and stopped at the Kilkivan Cafe to say thanks to the lady who helped me get an ambulance for Annie who had broken her arm !! Today was extremely windy which helped slow us down and not reaching our target of 650kms as we whittle down the kms to the 5000 kms Perth !! We were hoping to cross via the Darling River Dirt track BUT disaster! the rains have flooded the roads there and consequently the roads are impassable & closed. Hopefully we might fit that in on the way back. We are currently a free campsite 50 kms this side of Goondiwindi. Because of the high winds we have decided NOT to light a fire. For some reason the chains (1 of 4) holding the Slide On in place has loosened twice. Hopefully after a wee bit of maintenance we seem to have mastered the problem. We sat outside for a while and just as we went indoors the rain fell and what a gale to go with it !apparently 4 ins of rain overnight ! the area was drenched !We watched part OKLAHOMA and was SO tired (after afew Bicardi n cokes) was in our very comfortable bed at 8.30 paway from home and I,m informed my Radio Prog as been given to someone else EVEN while still in contract mode..SO Much for loyalty
Twas the Night Before >>>>>>>
Almost ready to go..we set off early am tomorrow Friday 2nd September and head on the the 750 km first leg then overnight stay at Moree …Day 2 will hopefully take us to Bourke for another overnighter and the head of (weather permitting) along the Darling River Dirt Road for around 1000 kms…Friends David n Margaret came to see us and after saying goodbye to our new baby JB we are OFFFFFFFFFFFFFF !!!!!!
Friends David n Margaret Our new Baby JB
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 