2geonomads

Tuesday 5th August 2014

Have decided to spend two nights at the Windjana Gorge Campsite and enjoy the facilities which included hot showers, at least some of the time. Given the extra time available we have a leisurely start to the day but mid- morning sees us embarking on a delightful stroll into the gorge itself and being able to see at very close quarters a number of freshwater crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the Leonard River.Information boards on the entrance to the gorge assure visitors that the ‘freshies’ are not aggressive if left alone but cause some ” horrific wounds” if, when cornered, they take a liking to your leg. However, I am comforted by the thought that one of my legs would hardly represent a satisfactory entree for any self-respecting croc and on this trip I have already come across many more tasty morsels among fellow travellers.

Back to the camp for lunch and then off to Tunnel Creek along probably the roughest bit of road encountered so far on this trip. Nevertheless , the drive is well worthwhile as armed with torches we are able to follow the creek as it tunnels its way through the Napier Range. This involves wading through some fairly cold water up to our thighs in complete darkness, apart from the torchlight and the Irelands have come armed with a pathetic little torch which is totally inadequate. At one stage we find ourselves in the middle of the tunnel, standing in the water with no other tourists in sight and unable to proceed as our torch does little more than shine down on our shivering knees. Eventually, some saviours arrive in the shape of better-prepared fellow tourists and we are able to get through the lengthy tunnel to the very pleasant creek at the other end. By the time we return we have memorized the wading path and emerge unscathed after a memorable experience.

As is her wont Gail is able to come up with a very tasty meal from the assorted provisions purchased in Derby and we chat for a while with our new camping neighbours, Cameron and his wife. The topic of conversation always seems to follow a familiar pattern, namely what PSI are you using in your tyres for such a trip. The owner of Pioneer Camper Trailers, Jim had told us to keep the tyres at 35 to 38 and never bother changing this as it would suit all road conditions. As we had found out when we came across our first severely corrugated stretch of road using such a high PSI is a recipe for disaster and we had lost all traction. Reducing them to about 28 enabled us to drop our Torvill and Dean impersonation and proceed comfortably and safely.

Windjana and Tunnel Creek have given us a great start to our adventure and the two day stay had also given us some time to ‘stop and smell the roses’

The brilliant Kapok flower.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Sunday 3rd August 2014

Start the day with a lovely breakfast cooked on the BBQ by Dean and then prepared the camper trailer and ourselves for the long trip north to the start of the Gibb River Road.
Kylie had kindly made us some fresh homemade bread and provided us with some corned beef for the journey.
After two great days with Dean, Kylie and the kids it’s time to get out of the comfort zone and tackle some serious outback travel.
Dean had forewarned us that the trip from Dampier to Derby would be less than enthralling and he was ‘spot on’.

This stretch of road is really nothing more than a mini Nullabor Plain and apart from a quick coffee break on a very windswept foreshore in Port Hedland ( not one of the most beautiful towns) and a lunch stop at Sandfire Roadhouse ( about 420 kms south of Broome ) where we enjoyed Kylie’s lovely bread and corned beef we merely tried to cover as much distance as we could during daylight hours.

However, coming into Port Hedland we had to confront convoys of extra wide trucks carrying plant machinery from the enormous Port Hedland iron ore operation. These make Gail nervous and at one point almost screamed at me to pull to the side to allow one large rig to go through. Now I do understand how drivers are required to act in such situations but Gail and I differ on how far in advance of the truck’s arrival one needs to pull over. It’s just that I feel that we should wait until the trucks and ourselves are in the same time zone!

We eventually make it to Nita Downs free camp site which in truth is pretty terrible but after covering over 600 kms we were both happy to get an early night in preparation for next day’s stage to Windjana Gorge some 520 kms ahead off the Gibb River Road.
So far the car and trailer are performing beautifully although we know that stiffer challenges probably await us on the GRR.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Saturday 2nd August 2014.

As is to be expected during the dry season in the north of WA we awake to another superb day and as Kylie is involved with a fund-raising event at the local school Dean has arranged for the five of us including Dryden and Kaysha to visit a local beach , the salt mining plant and a site of some Aboriginal rock paintings.
Dryden and Kaysha are great kids but could not be more different. Kaysha is a lovely little girl who loves to pose as soon as the camera comes out whilst Dryden is a real character who always has the look of a little fellow who has either just been into mischief or who is about to embark on some minor misdemeanour. At this stage in his life he has come to the conclusion that his cheeky grin will enable him to get away with most things and he is probably right!

The visit to the beach provides us with one interesting moment. I wandered off down the beach leaving my sandals on the sand and in spite of Dean’s comment that the tide was coming in I was confident that the said sandals would be safe from the water- wrong again. Gail and I return to the sight of Dean 30 metres out with water up to his thighs retrieving one sandal.
We then head off to view the huge Dampier Salt Plant and then finish off with a drive to view some impressive Aboriginal Rock Paintings in a nearby Gorge.

Returning to Dean’s house he kindly loans us a fan to use on our travels and we purchase a chemical loo from him to use when camp facilities are lacking in such essentials. Just like his parents he has gone out of his way to ensure that we will have all we need for this trip- much appreciated.

End the day with a fantastic corned beef dinner served up by Kylie.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Friday 1st August.

Finish the now fairly routine process of decamping at a reasonably early time and embark on the next stage from Mia Mia to Dampier, where we will meet up with Lyn’s son Dean, his friend Kylie and her two children, daughter Kaysha and son Dryden.

Again nothing much to report about the 600 kms drive as the scenery is decidedly underwhelming and we arrive at Dean’s house about 2 pm.
We park our trailer in his front yard, admittedly with some help from Dean. I am gradually mastering the art of reversing the trailer but the three hours it would take for me would make for a very late night!
Dean works for Rio Tinto in a senior role as Site Supervisor and takes us on a truly fascinating tour of this enormous plant, the scale of which is awe-inspiring. In fact it’s difficult to know which is the more impressive , the staggering size of the plant or Dean’s remarkable in-depth knowledge of not only his specific work but also the workings of the overall Rio Tinto operation at Dampier/ Karratha.

In the evening we head off to the nearby Sailing Club and enjoys some superb food at very reasonable prices.

I turn in for the night wondering what the hell will happen if the rate of economic growth in China slows down by just a couple of percentage points.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Thursday 31st July

Up bright and early and pleased to find that packing the camper- trailer is a very straightforward exercise. Our aim is to get up into the Kimberley as quickly as possible and on this trip we will not be making any detours to such well- known locations as Monkey Mia , Denham , Coral Bay or Exmouth. They will have to wait for another day. Apart from a quick drive through the township of Carnarvon we have a very uneventful 700 kms drive, through some fairly uninspiring country, aiming to reach a campsite about 220 kms north of Carnarvon.

Unfortunately about 50 kms short of our intended destination we encounter an extra wide load which takes up the whole of the road. After crawling behind it for about 10 kms we admit defeat, do a u-turn and check into the Mia Mia free camping ground.Whilst this does not have any showers the toilets are fine and we are able to find a location far from the madding crowd with their large caravans and noisy generators.

We now have erecting the trailer down to a fine art and get off to bed confident that we are well on the way to becoming seasoned off-road travellers!
Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Wednesday 30th July.

Our first stop as we drive north through Perth is to call in to Pioneer to collect a duplicate key which fits most of the compartments on the trailer. The first one had snapped off in one of the locks a day earlier- not a good note on which to set off.

We eventually leave Perth at shortly after 10.00 am and by early evening we find ourselves in Northampton, 477 kms north of Perth, at a well- appointed caravan park. Arriving in the gathering evening gloom may not appear to be ideal for such off – road travel novices but it does offer one major advantage as fellow travellers are not able to see Gail and me attempt our first erection of this trip! We finally manage to get the trailer up after three attempts and settle in for a very comfortable first night on the road.

Cheers
The Obese Ferret

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Monday 28 th July 2013

For much of 2014 Gail had been asking me what I would like to do to celebrate my 70th this year and after weighing up a number of options I had decided, in a moment of madness, that Gail and I could head north and spend 4 weeks driving the iconic Gibb River Road from Derby to Kununurra. Now for anyone as auto-mechanically challenged as me this is tantamount to climbing Mt Everest with two broken legs but as they say ” there is no fool like a septuagenarian fool !”
So we find ourselves collecting an off-road camper which we are hiring from Pioneer Camper Trailers in Perth. Probably recognizing our inexperience from about 5 kms away they have kindly offered us a deal whereby we can pick up the trailer today although the actual rental period starts on 1st August . This is designed to help us become more familiar with the trailer before setting off up north. They also upgrade us from the basic Prospector model to the Argyle with improved suspension.

Having collected the trailer we head off to stay with Gail’s sister Lyn and husband Bert for two nights before leaving Perth on 30 th July.
Over the next couple of days Lyn and Bert provide us with an off- road travel induction course and we are able to benefit greatly from their past experiences in the Kimberley area of WA. Thanks to them both we set off far better prepared for this demanding trip than we would have been without their invaluable help.

Cheers

Obese Ferret

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Monday 4th August 2014

Quite happy to get up early and get out of Nita Downs Holiday Camp ( also known as Stanley Camp) after our normal Weight Watchers breakfast .
As we had decided not to take a detour to the Eighty Mile Beach the long road up the Roebuck Plains Roadhouse was another nondescript stretch of highway. Although we settled just for a cup of coffee at the roadhouse we saw ample evidence of many truckies tucking into enormous breakfasts, not doubt much needed as they drive the huge road trains in this part of the world.

On this occasion we do not call into Broome as we will be calling in to see Keith and Sandra Yelverton who have a holiday apartment in the town on our way back to Perth in a few weeks time.

However, we do drive up to Derby to stock up on provisions before we hit the Gibb River Road.

The infamous Boab Prison Tree near Derby

Gail had worked at Derby Hospital as a radiographer in 1967 and seemingly not a great deal has changed from that time.
We saw evidence of this when we tried to buy some cask wine ( more practical to carry than bottles when camping ). The shop assistant explained that cask wine is prohibited in The Northern Territory, presumably because of drinking issues among the locals but we are amused to see a young aboriginal guy buy a carton of 10 bottles of wine without any questions being asked.

5 kms south of Derby we finally hit the Gibb River Road and after 124 kms we take our first side trip down to Windjana Gorge. As we arrive in late afternoon we only have time to set up camp and enjoy dinner under a beautiful night sky. We also meet up with Ron and Liz from Leura in the NSW Blue Mountains. As they had been driving the same model Toyota Prada as our own for 11 years and towing a similar camper trailer we were able to glean a lot of valuable information on the joys and the perils of off-road travel.

Just over 500 kms covered during the day so gradually racking up the kms.

Cheers
The Obese Ferret.

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