Wydon Crafts

MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER

 

On our way back down to Katherine we decided to visit the Litchfield National Park (I’d read about some lovely waterfalls that still flowed at this time of year).   We called in at the Information Office in the small town of Batchelor, just before the park and then headed for the main attraction, Wangi Falls.   We were a few kilometres into the Park when there was an almightty BANG.  “What the f— was that” says me, thinking someone was shooting at us.   “Sounds like we’ve blown a tyre” says Jeff, calm as you like!!   Now he’d thought about going back into Darwin to call in at a scrapyard we’d spotted yesterday, to see if he could get another spare wheel for Betty, but decided not to bother as we don’t much like going back on ourselves too often.   Oh dear does he regret that decision now.   We gingerly carried on to Tolmer Falls where there would be a car park where Jeff could attempt to change the tyre – nowhere safe to stop on the road.   There were already several cars and campervans there, but we managed to find a flattish spot and Jeff proceeded to empty the cavernous boot to get at the jack and the wheelbrace.   It was also quite a performance to get at the spare wheel.   A group of three European tourists appeared with an Aussie guide who remarked that it wasn’t a very good time of the day to be changing a tyre (11am), got in his 4-wheel drive and buggered off.   A little while later a tourist in a hired Maui camper pulled up almost alongside and just sat there looking at his map with the engine running, obviously to keep his A/C going.   In the meantime I was standing over Jeff with a brolly trying to keep the boiling sun off him (there was no shade whatsoever)  He remarked that the fumes from the Maui exhaust were really getting to him so I waved the brolly at the exhust pipe.   The driver got the message and turned off his engine, then got out of the van and said with a strong European accent “Flat tyre”? and went on his merry way to the Falls!

By this time we were both sweating buckets and Jeff was still having difficulties as the tyre that had blown was the inner one of the pair of nearside rears.   There had been several cars and coaches coming and gong all this time and NOT ONE person offered to help or even to phone for help.  Not one of the miserable buggers did anything but look.   And then to cap it all some fat Australian woman came up to us and asked which of the Falls in the Park had pools that you could swim in as Tolmer Falls was just to be looked at.   I must say I was very restrained and told her about the ones I knew of.   I think Jeff just stood there with his mouth open, the perspiration just running down his face.   So much for helping others in difficulties on the road.   The age of Chivalry and Knights of the Road have long gone out the window.

 

Finally Jeff decided that he couldn’t get the inner wheel off so we limped back to Batchelor and found a garage who’s tyre man would be back later and should be able to help.   Almost next door to the garage was a Big 4 Caravan Park so we booked in there and Jeff took Betty to be fixed up the following day.

We stayed a couple of nights here – Batchelor itself is a very pleasant little town and the Big 4Park ticked all the right boxes.   Also, every evening a member of staff fed the local birds – quite a sight.

 

TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER

 

We resumed our tour of the Litchfield National Park after the tyres had been sorted.   Surprised that the total cost was only $189.

 

On our way to Tolmer Falls we had a look at the Magnetic Termite Mounds, huge structures pointing north/south – apparently to create their A/C, the Falls were good but as it’s the end of the Dry Season it was more of a big dribble than a falls.   Then on to Wangi Falls which were a bit more spectacular and there was a big pool with quite a few people swimming.   Unfortunately I didn’t have my cozzie on and it was a bit of a walk from the carpark and back to the waterhole (it was, once again very, very ‘ot) so we decided to go on to the next place.   This was called Buley Rockholes – and this time I put me cozzie on before we left Betty G.   Just a short stroll and we came across a series of pools linked by small waterfalls.   In I went into the lowest one, while Jeff walked up to the top pool and made his way back down through all the pools and waterfalls – collecting a few bruises on his rear in the process.   We stayed there for a couple of hours, thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

 

Evening back at the campsite we had a loverly pizza in the site bar and prepared the van for leaving early next morning.

 

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WEDNESDAY 1 OCTOBER

 

Left Batchelor at 7:50am for Katherine.    Highlight of the morning – Betty G OVERTOOK a roadtrain!!!!   OK, OK, it was going rather slow but we still overtook it.   We stopped briefly at Pine Creek for some pics of some old trains and mining equipment.   Very hot already at 9:50.

 

Considering this is the end of the Dry Season and there has apparently been a drought as well, everything is very green and lush.

 

We did a bit of shopping and looking around in Katherine itself and then went out to the Nitmulik (Katherine) Gorge campsite.    As usual, as soon as we arrived and got set up, I headed to the camp swimming pool for a cooling dip.   When I got there I found it full of Aboriginal kids having a whale of a time.   Apparently the campsite organisers allow them access to the pool and campsite for 2 days a week.   Their ages ran from 3 or 4 to mid-teens and they were having a great time.   That evening they had a rock band playing in their own part of the site and we strolled over to listen.

 

THURSDAY 2 OCTOBER

 

Sadly we found that the only way to see the Gorge was via tours which involved a fair amount of walking, and there’s no way I can walk any distance in this heat.   Walking in normal temperatures – no probs, but even a stroll when it’s over 30 degrees C is kernackering.   Jeff could probably manage it, but I think the heat is actually getting to him too.

 

We returned to Katherine to see if we could find anyone to do a service and oilchange on Betty G – but everyone was busy.    As it was now rather late in the day to set off to WA, we decided to stop at the Riverview Tourist Village just outside Katherine at the beginning of the Great North Road(?)    It advertised that it had WiFi, and a pool so we just had to stop there.    We were sited next to Karen and Geoff from Sydney and also met Malcolm and Sheila from Bedford (of all places!!)

 

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FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER

 

Set off a bit late after shopping (AGAIN) in Katherine and sending off Betty G’s insurance papers to Ken Tame, the Insurance Brokers.   When we arrived at our next stop, Timber Creek, we pulled into a garage forecourt and I went into the pub to book into the caravan park.   Very funny guy behind the bar said that there were in fact 2 sites – one with grass and a sunny pool and the other with plenty of shade all over.   Of course we opted for the shady one, pulled in, and there were Karen and Geoff in their Mazda bus.   We set up next to them and headed for the pool.   A little bit later Malcolm and Sheila arrived.  The evening’s entertainment at this site was the feeding of the freshies (freshwater crocs) in the creek at the back of the site.  These don’t jump like the salties, are smaller and far less aggressive.   People came from the other site as well including the nice German couple we’d been next to at the Kakadu Aurora site.   That night we were kept awake by a bird that Karen reckoned was a currawong, but I’ve since found a description in our bird book which actually fits a Common Koel – so I don’t know who’s right.   All I know is that the flippin’ thing kept calling all night long.   The locals even tried setting off fireworks to persuade it to go away as it had apprently been there for 5 nights already.   Did it go away – wot do you think!!!

 

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER

 

We left fairly early, heading for Kununurra.   Within a couple of Ks Jeff noticed that the speedometer was no longer working – no more mileage checks until we can get it fixed.  As we arrived in Kununurra we saw a sign for a garage sale so we entered the address into TomTom and Tommo led us right to the house.   Not very much there, but Jeff bought a cookbook (Potatoes!!) for a dollar.   As we returned to the main road I thought I should call Karen and Geoff to see if they’d arrived and if they’d found a site.   I was just leaving a message on Karen’s phone, and what did I spot tootling down the road – their Mazda bus.   Jeff called them up on the CB, just in case they didn’t see us, and Geoff said that they had just looked at a site, but it didn’t have a pool.   However he knew of another Big 4 site just up the road.   Jeff keyed the address into Tommo and off we went with the others following close behind.   The site looked very well-kept, if a little pricey, but we opted for 2 nights as Betty G needed an oilchange and service and we couldn’t do anything about that until Monday.   We did a little food shopping, returned to the park and headed for the pool.   I was wrong about the tempertaure before – it’s been over 40C in the last couple of days, and at one time hit 50C!!   The pool was a wonderful relief – so refreshing.   The park is full of birds – honey-eaters, magpie larks (including one with a poorly foot that stayed with us for ages – we tried to catch it so that we could possibly help it – couldn’t manage it), pheasant coucals, doves, ibis and many more.   There was one bird that sat in a tree above Betty G for hours on Sunday and reappeared on Monday.   It looked a bit like a kingfisher – maybe a female as it wasn’t very brightly coloured, but it was difficult to tell from below.

 

SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER

 

Thought we’d have a drive around K. but as it was Sunday, everything seemed to be shut, including the Tourist Information Office.   So after trying to find the local brewery (BG) we headed back to the Park and the pool.   Met a nice English couple, Marion and Terry, who now live in South Queensland.

 

MONDAY 6 OCTOBER

 

Eventually found someone to do an oil change and service on Betty G but he couldn’t fix the speedo cable.   We finally set off for Wyndham at about 11am.    I’m not sure what we expected but Wyndham ain’t eggzackly impressive.   We drove around for a bit and then decided to visit the Crocodile Farm – I’m glad they only charged us $10 each (we’d missed the guided tour) instead of $16.50 coz it wasn’t even worth 10 bucks.    The whole place looked run down and the poor crocs were either in very small enclosures, considering their size, or in a couple of lakes which were covered in green algae.   We then had lunch at the pub – a very nice barramundi basket washed down with a lovely drink that we’ve recently come across – lime and lemondade with a dash of Angastura bitters.   We then carried on our way.

 

As we passed a campsite at Doon Doon I spotted Karen & Geoff’s disctinctive bus, so Jeff called them on the CB.   “Nice site but no pool” was their comment so we said that we would carry on to the next likely stopping place, Turkey Creek (Warmun) which had a pool, plus a rather large Brahmin bull wandering across the highway and into the campsite.   Then a small herd of Brahmins appeared but were soon sent on their way by a bloke in a ute (aka. utility vehicle – a small truck).    Had a much needed dip in the pool in the company of a young couple who were working there, but off-duty at the time, and their daft dog, who wouldn’t go in the water, but wanted to play anyway.   Spent a relaxing evening doing very little.   During the night the heavens opened and we had to get up and shut all the windows – we can leave them open most of the time because of the mesh and steel insect-cum-security screens.   The rain lasted about an hour and by morning there was very little sign of it – just a few puddles in shady areas.

 

TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER

 

Left early this morning as we have decided that it is the best time of the day for travelling in this heat.   After an hour or so we spotted a 4WD in a parking area with its hood up.   As we drove past we noticed that the driver looked a little stressed.   So Jeff turned round and pulled in alongside the vehicle.   This of course was in the middle of nowhere, stinking hot already.   We asked the driver if he needed any help and he said that his fuel pump was not working properly.   He’d cleared the fuel line, but fuel still wasn’t getting through.   Jeff said that he was sorry but he couldn’t help – it was a fairly new car and they can be pretty tricky to fix if you don’t really know what you’re doing.     I noticed that as well as his wife(?) there was a little toddler in the back.   We could get no signal on any of our phones – his or ours and our call out on the CB was ignored so we said that we would go on and try to get them some help.   As luck would have it, about 5Ks down the road there was a roadgang working alongside the highway, so Jeff pulled in, went to the site office, explained the situation and asked if there was a mechanic who could help.   The foreman said that he was actually expecting a mechanic to arrive within the next halfhour who he would send back to help.   Our good deed for the day done, we went on our merry way.

 

We had thought about stopping at Hall’s Creek, but we weren’t terribly impressed.   I went into the Tourist Information Office and the very helpful lady there said that there were a few interesting places and a couple of good campsite that could be reached along Duncan Road – bitumen for a couple of Ks then dirt road “but OK for 2WDs”.   We duly tootled along Duncan Road and then came to the dirty part.   I took one look ad said “No way!!”, but Jeff said “Let’s just try it”    Well poor Betty G was shaken sommat rotten.   The ruts on dirt roads in Oz don’t run along the road as any self-respecting rut should, but they go ACROSS the roads – these are known as ‘corrugations’ – if you can imagine driving across a very long sheet of corrugated iron you might have some idea.   After about 5 yards (sorry – metres) Jeff admitted defeat  carefully turned around and returned to the Highway.   We filled up with diesel, said bye bye to Halls Creek and headed for Fitzroy Crossing.   We arrived there at about 3:30 and entered the Fitzroy River Lodge – it had been recommended to us by a guy near us at Kununurra.    As we drove around the site looking for a nice shady spot, this couple sitting outside their caravan waved at us enthusiastically.   “How nice and friendly” I thought.   We found our spot in the shade, set up and headed for the pool – as usual.   It was a bit of a trek without much shade, but we gratefully sank into the cool water when we eventually got there (cool??? – it wuz bluddy cold actually).   A few minutes later, who should arrive but Terry and Marion who we had chatted to in the pool at Kununurra – they were the ones who had recognised Betty G and waved so enthusiastically.    We arranged to have drinkies at their place before dinner and trudged back to Betty G.   We then spent a delightful couple of hours chatting before returning to our little home on wheels to eat. 

 

 

WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER

 

Went on a boat trip through the Giekie Gorge this morning with Marion and Terry.   We probably wouldn’t have gone it they hadn’t offered us a lift as the Gorge is about 17K from the campsite.  Driving in the luxury of their Landrover with it’s A/C was great – soooo civilised<BG>    Wonderful experience –  gliding along the Fitzroy River through the lovely Gorge with its fascinating rock formations, birds, freshies and plants.   Back to the campsite – another swim and drinkies again before dinner – ooh it’s a hard life.

 

THURSDAY 9 OCTOBER

 

Left early again to get well under way before it got too hot.   Called in briefly at Derby (pronounced DERby, not DARby like wot we Poms do).   Not too much to see, so we just filled up with fuel and carried on to Broome.   Poor Betty G had to go off-road for about 6-7 Km due to roadworks – most uncomfortable.   Four road trains coming the other way – three did the right thing and slowed down, but one driver just carried on oblivious to anyone travelling in the opposite direction, chucking up dust and stones as he careered past.   Jeff tried to send him a few choise words over the CB, but he didn’t have it switched on – dipstick!!

 

We stopped at the Roabuck Roadhouse for lunch and saw a great column of smoke rising from the nearby bush.   Nobody at the Roadhouse seemed to be at all bothered, so I guess it was quite a normal occurrence.   Pretty impressive though.

 

We carried on the Broome, and as we approached a Woollies supermarket, who should we see but Karen and Geoff.   We had a brief chat with them and found that they were staying at the Cable Beach Resort, so with did our shopping and joined them there.    This resort is pretty big, around 500 sites and the pool closes at 6pm – not much good to us as we arrived at about 5:30!!

We stayed overnight and when Karen and Geoff left the following morning to head on down the coast we left and went to the Palm Grove Resort – quite a bit smaller and the pool stayed open til 7:30.    We pulled in alongside Marion and Terry and once we were set up, headed for the pool.

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FRIDAY 10 to THURSDAY 16 OCTOBER

 

We stayed overnight and when Karen and Geoff left the following morning to head on down the coast we left and went to the Palm Grove Resort – quite a bit smaller and the pool stayed open til 7:30.   We pulled in alongside Marion and Terry and once we were set up, headed for the pool.   That evening they took us with them to Cable Beach where they were able to drive onto the beach and we set up table and chairs, nibblies and wine and watched the sun got down.   It was a great atmosphere – the beach was lined with 4-wheel-drives, their occupants all doing the same as us.

 

Went to the local cinema one evening to see ‘Mamma Mia’ – great pic in a great setting.   The cinema is one of the last open air movie houses in the country – we all sat in deckchairs and ate popcorn and icecream.

 

Jeff has bought himself a bike and goes for a ride every morning – usually along Cable Beach.   He had to get a rack to carry it on Betty G, but she don’t seem to mind.

 

We both had much-needed haircuts and a very good job the hairdressers did, too.

 

We gave pyrography and knot-tying lessons to Marion and Terry – I think they may be taking up new hobbies

 

On the 15^th and 16^th we joined that crowds at Broome’s Town Beach to watch a local phenomenon called “The Staircase to the Moon”.   It only happens from March to October when the full moon rises over Roebuck Bay and is reflected on the mudflats exposed by the low tide.   A lovely site (we’ve seen the photographs) but this month it didn’t happen – too much cloud.   However, on both nights we could see huge columns of smoke arising from bushfires along the coast.

FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER

 

We decided to move on today towards 80-Mile Beach and stayed overnight at the Pardoo Roadhouse.   As we passed the Roebuck Roadhouse and turned south, we could see the results of last night’s fires still smouldering.   Luckily it was just open bush and no buildings were in the area.   We refuelled at the Sandfire Roadhouse and then a few Ks further down the road we came to the turn off to 80 Mile Beach and bravely decided to go for it.   The 6Ks of dirt road turned out to be 10Ks of bone shattering corrugations.   We had been advised to travel at 10 – 15 Kph so we did and it took nearly an hour.   When we eventually arrived at the caravan park, Jeff took one look and said “Book us in for a week” – this in spite of the fact that there ain’t no SWIMMING POOL! And there’s too many nasties in the sea for safe swimming!!!!!    OK, we’re right by the sea, but the temperatures are still in the high 30s.

 

SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER

 

Had a go at fishing from the beach.  Both of us had several bites but I reckon that them fishes was just getting a free feed from us.   It was rather hot and there was no shade so I wasn’t really sorry when all our bait was gone.   Standing in the water was lovely and cooling, but a pool would have been soooo much more betterer.   Marion and Terry arrived in the afternoon and set up just across the pathway.    There was a wonderful sunset this evening and I took several photos.   It made up for missing out on the Stairway to the Moon – this was a Stairway to the Sun.   The setting sun’s reflection on the water left by the outgoing tide was amazing.   Today was the wedding of a friend of mine back in the UK so I sent one of the best pics to her.

 

SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER

 

Jeff went fishing on his own today – I opted for spending most of the day in the TV Room which had A/C going full belt, reading or doing computer stuff – luverly.   When I finally emerged and went down to the fish-cleaning area, there they all were, cleaning off their catch.   Jeff’s tally was a baby shark and 3 blue-nose salmon;  Marion had caught 3 or 4 of the same.   Actually Jeff caught 12 catfish as well, but threw them all back.   We all ate very well that night.

 

MONDAY 20 – THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER

 

More of the same – Jeff fishing and me escaping from the heat in the TV room.

 

One evening one of the other fishermen made us some sushini using some king white salmon Jeff caught that day – using white vinegar, soy sauce, finely chopped onion and lemon juice.    The fish was thinly sliced and marinated in this mixture for about 30 minutes – abso-bluddy-lutely superb.   We all enjoyed it so much that Jeff made some more the next day – the only problem was we only had some pickled onion vinegar so it wasn’t quite as good – still great though.

 

FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER

 

We finally took our leave of 80-Mile Beach and carried on along the road to Port Hedland.   On arrival called in at the Tourist Information Office to get directions to the Big4 Caravan Park.   We did a bit of shopping and proceeded to the park which was situated near the Turner River.   It was a bit pricey ($35 per night), but it did have a nice pool.    We parked alongside the Ks who had arrived the day before, and headed for the pool.

 

SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER

 

Carried on to Point Samson, just off the road, before Karratha.   Only a short hop this time, but I had read about a ghost town called Cossack which I thought might be quite interesting.   We parked up next to the Ks and headed for Cossack in their car.    What a flippin’ disappointment!!!

OK it was interesting enough, but not exactly a “ghost town”.   People lived there and the old Post Office has been converted to a Backpacker’s Hostel. 

 

It would have been nice to stay on a little longer, but it was uncomfortably windy so after a lovely fish meal at the local chippy, we decided to move on to Karratha tomorrow.

 

SUNDAY 26 & MONDAY 27 OCTOBER

 

Stopped at another Big4 site in Karratha – even more expensive.   The facilities are good, but certainly no better than other far cheaper sites.   Spent some time in the pool, of course, but also went with M & T to Dampier and called in at the LPG Plant Information Centre.   Fascinating place – very interesting visit.

 

TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER

 

Stayed overnight at the Nanuturrah Roadhouse – Marion and I had a little walk down to the Ashburton River which runs alongside the caravan park – beautiful scenery.   There is a footbridge over the river which used to carry the old road before the new bridge was constructed a few years ago.   ~We walked halfway across and I looked down to some rocks in the middle of the river and spotted what looked very much like a 3-toed dinosaur footprint on a large flat rock.   I took a couple of photos and then told the guy in reception – dunno how interested he was though.

 

WEDNESDAY 29 & THURSDAY 30OCTOBER

 

Carried on round to Exmouth and booked in at the Ningaloo Reef Resort Park.   The first thing we mentioned was the pool.   We didn’t need to ask because friends of M & T had stayed here and reported that there was a particularly good pool.   You can imagine our reaction on being told “Sorry, the pool’s closed”.    What a shame we said – or words to that effect.   We booked in for 2 nights anyway, and cast longing looks at the pool every time we passed.   That evening Jeff and I had a nice spaghetti meal at the Italian restaurant attached to the caravan park.

 

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER

 

We left Exmouth for a look at and an overnight stay in the Cape Range National Park.   There was ‘free’ camping in several sites all along the various beaches – well not ‘free’ in the monetary sense, but ‘free’ in the ‘no facilities’ sense.   We thought we needed to find out if we (and Betty G) could manage this ‘free camping’ lark, and having the Ks and their rig and generator there as backup it seemed an ideal time to try it out.   There’s a small fee to enter the park, plus a charge of $6.50 per person for camping.    We checked out a couple of sites and settled on ‘Mesa Beach’.   There were only two other caravans there, one of whom was just packing up as we arrived.   We settled in a choice spot, sheltered somewhat from the wind by several tea trees, and went for a walk on the beach – what a place, white sand, blue, blue sea, cloudless sky – magical.   The only problem was it was windy, very, very windy and I hates windy!!

 

Jeff and Terry went fishing, but by the time Marion and I joined them, all ready to have a go too, they had decided that enuff was enuff and we all retired to the relative shelter of the campsite.

 

That evening after dinner we all sat out in the middle of the campground and did a bit of stargazing – no light pollution whatsoever.   We saw a total of 5 satellites within an hour – two at the same time, their paths crossing the sky.    Several shooting stars, too.   Unfortunately, none of us know the southern hemisphere star constellations.  So although we could see literally millions of stars and the Milky Way was very clear, nothing meant anything.   Must see about getting some sort of reference book – the nights are so clear here, most of the time anyway.

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I don’t know if you lot reading this realise that there is a Guestbook on our site – it would be nice to see some comments there, just so that I know that SOMEONE’S reading this load of old tosh!!

 

SATURDAY 1 NOVEMBER

 

The wind did not improve and we decided to give up being blown all over the place and escape back to the relative comfort of Exmouth.    The Resort pool had been mended and was open so you can guess what my first move was!!    It was a lovely pool.  

 

SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER

 

Today the Ks went back to the Cape Range National Park to have a look at Turquoise Bay, further down the coast from where we camped.   They asked us if we’d like to go with them, but Jeff had decided to do a bit of maintenance work on Betty G and I thought that they should have a bit of time to themselves without us tagging along – I wanted more of that pool anyway.

 

Jeff had a very successful morning – not only was he able to re-attach the speedo cable, but he fixed the windscreen washers (not that we’ve needed them), and finally he tweaked the radio so that reception was somewhat improved.   I did some washing and general tidying up.

 

MONDAY 3 NOVEMBER

 

Decided to move on to Coral Bay today.   Nice drive down, although the land was very flat.

 

Coral Bay is a delightful place and the campsite is practically on the beach.   We can see the beach and and the bay from our pitch.   We went snorkelling and even I could see all the different fish (without me specs, of course) darting in and out of the coral reef – magical!!   The whole place is lovely, but the flippin’ wind is still a bother.

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TUESDAY 4 NOVEMBER

 

Melbourne Cup Day – had a flutter on the Sweepstake at the local pub – Jeff and I had the first and second favourites – thought our luck was in – NOT!!!    A lot of locals and visitors turned up some all dressed for the occasion.   We stayed for a while and had a drink, but the band was pretty awful so we beat a retreat.   Unfortunately it could be heard all over the Bay (I reckon!!) – so I just sat with Jeff’s special earphones that shut out most outside sounds and listened to Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, M People and Celine Dion.   Jeff went to fly his kite on the beach, but got his lines all tangled up and spent ages unravelling them.  

 

There is a daily fish feeding session every afternoon at 3.30.    A local hands out handfuls of fish food and the fish come right up and swim around our feet – great experience.   The rotters wouldn’t let me take me fishing rod, though.

 

WEDNESDAY 5 NOVEMBER

 

Had another go at snorkelling today – I could really get into this – Jeff reckons I’m jet propelled!!

 

THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER

 

Tried snorkelling again but the wind had really picked up and rather spoiled things.   So we went for a walk along the beach with the ‘Special Ks’ instead.

 

 

FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER

 

We all left Coral Bay for Carnarvon via Quobba, and stopped for a break at the Minilya Roadhouse.    About 45 minutes later we got a puncture!!!   Jeff tried to let Marion and Terry know by CB but they had just disappeared over a low hill and were out of range.   So once again everything had to come out of the back of Betty G to get at the jack, and Jeff changed the wheel.   At least this time some people stopped to offer assistance, but a lot of people just sped by, not even slowing down as they went past.   Some even had the cheek to wave as they shot past.   Changing the wheel took some time as the jack couldn’t quite go high enough to get the wheel off – Jeff managed to deal with it eventually and then some of the wheel nuts were very tight and took a lot of shifting.   We knew that the Ks would have been worried when we didn’t appear behind them at the turn-off to Quobba and sure enough soon after we resumed our journey there they were, heading back towards us.   They’d waited and finally managed to ask a passing motorist if he’d seen us – “yes, changing a wheel” was the reply!    So they hightailed back to find out how we were.    We continued towards the turnoff to Quobba and Marion (on the CB) said that they had seen a strange sight along the road.    An elderly gentleman leading a camel pulling a van (with no engine) and another camel.   Apparently he’s been walking around Australia for many years.   We also passed him, but he already had a crowd of people around him taking photographs, so we didn’t stop.

 

We turned off the main highway and arrived on the coast at the Quobba Blowhole.   We had intended to stay overnight in the nearby campground but that part of the coast was very exposed and it was VERY windy.   So we took a few pics, had some lunch and carried on to Carnarvon.

 

Marion and Terry had stayed there a couple of years ago and remembered the Wintersun Caravan Park as being a good’un so we pulled in there.   Jeff dropped me off and went to get the tyre sorted and I found a nice shady site near the Ks.

 

Jeff finally returned, his pockets over $1000 (£500) lighter for 4 replacement tyres!!!   Good ones this time.   Apparently at least one of the tyres wasn’t even the right type for a Coaster.   Others

needed replacing.

 

SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER

 

While Jeff was getting some things sorted out I went for a drive around town with Marion and Terry.   One of the places we visited was a fish shop right near the port.   We bought some prawns and scallops and as we were leaving I remarked on the knotwork mat in the doorway – I wondered if it had been made by a local.   Apparently Bruce, the owner of the fish shop, had bought it from a wholesaler but was interested in knowing how it was made, and possibly getting some more made.   I said that Jeff could easily make one and that I’d get him to contact Bruce.

 

SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER

 

Pottered around Carnarvon – went for a walk on the One Mile Jetty that is now just half a mile long thanks to some hooligans who set fire to it one night.    Plans are going ahead to repair it with donations from the public – including us.

 

Visited some local fruit plantations and bought nectarines, cucumbers, tomatoes etc almost straight from the field.

 

 

 

 

MONDAY 10 NOVEMBER

 

M & T left this morning as they had to head on down to Perth for some repairs to their caravan.   Jeff and I went back to the fish shop to meet up with Bruce for his mat-making lesson.    (Jeff always prefers to show people how to make the things they want rather than do it for them)    And then called in to a shop to see about tuning in our CB – we weren’t getting much of a range.   Anyway, the guy there said that it wasn’t the unit, it was the aerial and its placement.   So we got a new one and Jeff fitted it to the gutter just above the driver’s door – what a difference.   Now we can hear and be heard from a distance of several miles.

 

TUESDAY 11 NOVEMBER

As we left Carnarvon for Denham we spotted the camel man heading down the road in the same direction.   This time we stopped briefly and I walked alongside him for a few yards.   I asked him how long he’s been on the road.   “6 years, dear lady” came the strongly accented reply.   Other traffic was coming along so I said goodbye and hopped back on Betty G.

 

After an uneventful 194 kilometres we turned off the main highway and headed for Denham.   I’d read about some living fossils called stromatolites at a place called Hamelin Pool, so we again turned onto a side road and went to have a look.   There’s an old telegraph office, and caravan park and a gift shop/café.    We walked down to the preserved area through Shell Beach, where the original settlers in the 1800s cut the compacted crushed shells into building blocks.   This area has also been preserved and partially cut blocks can be clearly seen.   The stromatalites were fascinating – viewed from a boardwalk to protect them from visitors’ feets.

 

We carried on to Denham after lunching on a big bagful of prawns given to Jeff by Bruce as a thankyou for his knotting instructions.   We checked into the Denham Seaside Tourist Village      for 2 nights and were given a spot overlooking the beach.   Unfortunately it was still very windy and this rather spoilt it for us.

 

WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER

 

Went to Monkey Mia (pronounced Mya) and fell in love with the place.   Paddled on the beach with dolphins swimming nearby.   We regretted having booked for 2 nights back in Denham, and booked for the following night here.  We also booked a 3.5 hour cruise on the “Shotover”, a record-breaking racing catamaran tomorrow.   We then returned to Denham.    We had just parked up when who should appear but Carola and Rolf, a lovely German couple who we have been meeting a several campsites recently.   We arranged to meet them for pre-dinner drinks and spent a great couple of hours in their company.   They have been on the road for some time and their English is very good.  

 

THURSDAY 13 NOVEMBER

 

Left early for Monkey Mia and arrived in time for the last of 3 dolphin feeding sessions.   It was amazing to watch and be so close to the wonderful creatures.   The dolphins swim happily at our feet and then 5 volunteers arrive each with a bucket of fish for a particular animal.   Only 5 are fed out of the couple of dozen who come regularly to the beach.   They’re all wild and visit as a matter of choice.   The volunteers all select people from the onlookers to actually feed the dolphins and Jeff got picked out!!!   What an experience.   That afternoon we went for our cruise in the “Shotover”, skippered by Scotty and crewed by Ruth.   Whilst we were booking the cruise yesterday, Ruth had been in the office and expressed an interest in knots when Jeff mentioned his ropework, so we got along very well and chatted a lot whilst on board.   There were about 18 other passengers and we sailed around the Bay looking for wildlife.   We spotted a lot of dugongs – some with babies, and several loggerhead turtles, even a sea snake or two – it was a great experience.    We returned to Monkey Mia for a couple of ours before returning to the “Shotover” – the ticket deal was ‘buy tickets for the three and a half hour cruise, get the Sunset Cruise FREEEEEE!!!    The wind had picked up even more and the cat reached around 25 knots (about 30mph).   We all got soaked in spite of wearing waterproofs supplied by the company.   It was quite an experience.    We were pretty cold by the time we returned at 7.30 and hurried to the local restaurant where we had booked a table.   We were so cold by the time we got there that we had to rush back to Betty G to change into dry clothes and dash back to the restaurant as the last orders were at 8pm!!!   We made it in time and enjoyed a nice, if pricey meal.

 

FRIDAY 14 NOVEMBER

 

Got up early this morning in time to attend the first dolphin feeding session at 7.30 (Yes, folks, there are actually some things I will get up early for).   It was great and we realised that the volunteers had been some of our companions on yesterday’s cruise.   So guess who was one of the first bods to be picked out this morning – MOI – wonderful!!!

 

The rest of the day we just spent wandering around, paddling in the blue blue water, and Jeff went for a long snorkel along the beach, while I sat in the shade, reading.

When we got back to Betty G Jeff did his usual engine check ready for our early morning departure tomorrow

 

SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER

 

We left this morning expecting to be heading to Kalbarri further down the coast.   But the fates had other ideas.   We were about 20 minutes into our journey when Jeff said “I don’t like the look of that!”   I looked out of the back of Betty and saw clouds of black smoke.   “Possibly just the diesel filter” he said “I’ll take it steady into Denham”.   A couple of minutes later the engine started making a funny noise.   Jeff pulled into the side of the road and the engine cut out.   There was also a rather horrid smell coming from the engine.   We waited around for a while, but no one stopped, then Jeff tried the CB but no one seemed to be on air.   And of course there was no phone coverage out there.  Then a car and caravan appeared over the hill from Monkey Mia.   Jeff flagged them down and the occupants very kindly said they would stop in Denham and get somebody to come out.   They took a few details and went on their way.   Sure enough, within half an hour a tow truck appeared and Paul, our rescuer, winched Betty up onto his truck and took us all into his depot in Denham, having called up a couple of mates on the way.   They all had a good look at poor old Betty and hit us with the bad news.   Betty would probably need a new engine or at the very least a rebuild, and it could all cost up to $10,000 dollars!!!   Unfortunately, Geoff, the guy who would do the work, couldn’t start until Tuesday or Wednesday, so Betty was transferred, still on the back of the truck, to the Shark Bay Caravan Park.   We spoke to the manager and arranged to spend a couple of nights in Betty and then move ourselves and our stuff into a cabin.

 

SUNDAY 16 to TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER

 

After a couple of boring days we have now moved into quite a nice cabin.    It is rather good actually to have a lounge, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom after spending the last two-and-a-half months in one room – so to speak. The proprietors have let us have it at a reduced rate having proved to be very sympathetic to our little problem – there are some really nice people in this business.    Betty was carried off to be pulled apart on Tuesday morning and we just have to wait and see what the result will be.

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY 18 to WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER

 

Well it looks as if it will have to be a new (or rather re-con) engine.   Now we just have to wait for Geoff, the mechanic, to find one and get in shipped in – goodness knows how long it will take.

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