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
Me,The Community at Large & the ZPac Theatre
Its a while since my last blog and lots has happened in the wonderful place called Hervey Bay.The Radio Station is attached to the local Community Centre and just one of the activities involved me getting involved with the local amateur group that were producing a play based loosely on the very popular “Are you being served” starring John Inman ( it seems like a 100 yrs ago I used to have a pint with his lovely brother Geoff ) The group called themselves The Rolling Bones (yeah,corny but we loved it) The leader of the Group,Julie,asked me if I would sit in for an absentee actor,which I did,being of a very cheeky nature and a little bit if fun ad lib they commandeered me into part !!(playing 3 different characters) and I have to say it was brilliant stuff as well as wonderful people in the group. End result was a show at the other Community centre in Urangan (which boasted a lovely stage) and TWO shows at our local theatre known as the ZPAC (seating for around 200 people) Volunteers manned the sales tickets and cafe (Tea & Biscuits @2.00!!) and the audience were treated to a live singer who in turn was very entertaining.The Event earned around &2000 for the upkeep of the ZPAC (production,upkeep etc all carried out by Volunteers) We have now finished our little play BUT what great fun it was (more next year)
Day 4 DISASTER !! Broken Bones etc
Up at 7 am and it was 3 below !! Never known such cold whilst in Australia,when I awoke I thought I was in the North of England again !! Outside chairs and fields were actually covered in hoar frost ! my fingers were frozen and IF I were to stand in front of a fire my mothers famous warning from a lot of years ago were ringing in my mind ! “Geoffrey ! you will get chillblains standing in front of the fire ! ” A statement from those far flung days when warmth inside English houses was provided by COAL .Last packing away (slide on) included electronically lowering the roof,but, didnt happen because we forgot to take the TV down from its pedestal preventing the lowering of the roof !! SO? Annie decided to climb inside the Unit to lower the TV which she did.Getting out of the Slide On Annie stepped onto the top 3 runged ladder and slipped of (we suspect an iced rung) fell to the ground and broke her Left arm close to the shoulder joint! Being rendered helpless I managed to secure the Slide On and drove to Kilkivan with Annie in extreme pain hoping to find a Hospital.Arrgh NO Hospital,NO Doctors (who only visit twice monthly!) I then called for an Ambulance that duly arrived some 40 minutes later from Gympie some 5o kms away. Annie was treated,X-rayed and trussed up (at all times in extreme pain!) On the way home ( 130kms or so) we unbelievably discovered a Chemist in the middle of nowhere and obtained some prescribed drugs ( that didnt help at all!) Annie was in terrible pain all night and I took her to our local hospital then onto out local GP.At this stage food and liquids would not stay down and poor ole Annie was continually vomiting and was once again admitted to Hospital in Hervey Bay where she is currently (we suspect she may be transferred to Maryborough some 30 kms away) We are up to Thursday and I have now cancelled my Radio show to help Annie recover quickly.It is estimated it could take around 6 weeks to heal ( and that means a HUGE pile of washing awaiting Annie when she is better !) I am currently making my own meals..i.e McDonalds,Hungry Jacks,Pizza Hut,Fish n Chips etc) On a serious note poor Annie is in extreme pain and on morphine injections to ease the pain and depending on the healing process goes,may affect our travelling around Oz come August
GET WELL SOON OWER ANNIE XXX
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 