On the road early-ish. I said I wasn’t going to mention the Karratha Caravan Park again but as we left, here is the other side view of the one drive through park and all the other vacant spaces behind unused. Oh. Also, before we left, the water went off.
Into town.
Gallery.
Then off to Dampier for a bit of history, especially canine.
Yep. Red dog statue made in I think 1979. Seen the film. Classic. A must see. Plus google and read all about him.
Done the dog now to Port Hedland.
Been looking for a break and there is a spot we are looking for. I spot this at full speed. I say, ‘What is that?’
This was the spot we were looking for, but it didn’t happen. Bummer.
Going to stay at the Golf Club but no power sites left, so we pass it and go on into town for a look. Big, Big BIG with lots of dust, ore, trains and other BIG stuff. BUT not a real tourist town.
We find a fuel station that looked a little like out of Zombieland. Old wrecked cars out front and side.
Working our way back to the Golf Club.
Monster ore train with an undeterminable number of carriages.
Back to Golf Club. A cancellation so a powered site.
Sparce in the unpowered section.
Here we are.
Club. Friday Fish and Chips $20. One between us.
Green oasis. The Golf Links.
We have our meal with another couple. We have a torch for back to the car in the dark mainly guarding for SNAKES!
Showers, more drinks, do the blog, tired so a bit limp. Bed.
Alarm set for 7am. I get up earlier as we are leaving ‘early’ for us and I have duties to perform.
My first view from the bathroom window. It was much nicer than what my dodgy little camera displays.
The second thing of note are the Cockies on the scav. Amusing to watch. Little buggers.
Now the ultralights come over. a long way to fall if the motor stops, or do they glide? They’re after all gliders! Of course.
Farewell to Exmouth.
It says Bullara. 5kn right. That’s where we were of course and we have to retrace our steps to here then go on to the main highway.
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As we pass the entrance of Bullara who should be see but our ex neighbours, Ross and Geraldine. What Geraldine photographed leaving Bullara and what we saw 2 minutes earlier (but not quick enough to photo it) was a Britz camper/RV on the back of the same tray top that picked us up two days earlier. Apparently this problem was Unleaded in Diesel. Silly, silly little person.
This is a cross on the road with ‘Suzy’ on it. Memorial or illegal grave?
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First stop/park past Bullara, we pull over for a ‘Hello. Long time no see. etc etc etc’ with Ross and Geraldine. Nice people.
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Fare thee well to their monster fifth wheeler.
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KM’s fly. We have 6 driving hours today.
A caravan in an unorthodox park.
Mesa or Butte or Plateau?
Nanutarra Roadhouse. Half way-ish.
Anne said photo it so I did. Tilt right for details.
162km to Fortescue Road house next stop. I wonder if ‘Twiggy’ Forest is on today. Then another 110km or so after that to destination.
Fortescue Road house. We don’t stop so didn’t get to meet ‘Twiggy’.
Karratha. We go to the big commercial van park on outskirts of town for $40, warned by the reviews that they cater for the mining community. We did not go to Discovery Park because they are the same price and 10% discount as well but reviews say ‘people’ jumping the fence at night at Discovery and ‘borrowing’ things … but completely forgetting to bring them back in the morning. Theft or a tacked on after thought in a mining environment. One night only so mining environment.
Bathrooms basic but robust for lots of people.
One little guy formed a welcoming commity.
We were jammed in a park that we were told we would not have to disconnect. This was it.
So I thought, ‘bugger them!’ and stayed connected part blocking the road.
I couldn’t help but notice these ‘umpteen’ drive through parks.
Wait. I will crop it down.
Also, I couldn’t help but notice this guy who did a drive through and did not disconnect. Sooooo …….what did we do to become second class citizens? WE WEREN’T MINERS! That’s why.
Then next morning Anne goes to the Laundromat at 7.45am with lots and lots of machines. The Lady says, ‘Sorry. They are all being used. Maybe after lunch? Why? Because WE ARE NOT MINERS. She is doing the MINERS washing.
We were told it had a great café. Yes. $30 per person all you can eat, FOR THE MINERS.
Pay attention. DON’T bother. Just go somewhere else and lock everything up.
N.B. I have talked about tomorrow morning and the washing NON-exercise as I am actually doing this in the morning. I would normally put this in tomorrows BUT I don’t want to waste any more time on this place.
Water seemed OK. Shower (in van), food, grape juice TV bed.
Morning in the park and short term shopping. We are waiting for a call to bring the car in. Anne spots this cheeky little bugger next door.
In the Information centre, a fine facility with not so fine proof reading.
I can only assume that the 1999 Cycylone must have been bigger and better than just a common old ordinary everyday Cyclone.
Anne does her usual choreography a-la pirouetting to clean the windscreen.
In the mean time our joint duet of movement is ruined by the audacity of this mob to offer ….
… service! Armed with our discount card from the Information centre or van park, we get 5cents per litre discount from 165.8 cents per litre to a mere 160.8cents and an abrupt move along as we were filling out our records.
We were aware that about 8km out of town heading south, (where we were going) the Shell was selling for 10cents per litre cheaper and we only filled up here because firstly, we had a tight schedule tomorrow and did not want to ‘dilli dally’ on the way out. Secondly we were only topping up but it was 30 litres meaning loss of $3.
Point is I thought the guy could have been a bit more civil and not given us the ‘bums rush’ given that he knew he was screwing us for 10cents a litre.
While waiting for the call, on for shopping and a quick look at the town.
Lots of water, Marina’s, big boats, big houses, lots of money here.
So the car goes ‘in’ and is ‘in’ for 3.5 hours from them dropping us back to the park (2pm) to picking us up from same (5.30pm) and taking us to the vehicle for ‘PAYMENT.’
Very good people. Very capable workers. Good end result at this early stage.
Diagnostic machine analysis, kit for transmission, fluid plus odds and ends. $745. The invoice is below. You make the decision. I thought a bit ‘Exy’ for ‘Exmouth.’ As in the general slogan/saying, W.A. means Wallet Attack.
Anyway better than a new transmission.
Eats. Very nice eats. Green Chicken Curry, done by my lovely, personal chef. Very good meal. More authentic than a few Thai restaurants I have been to.
Or theirs. I just call them the ladies. Think I said that before.
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Resident emu
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Resident truck with an unpaid ‘extra.’
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Maggie again.
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Heaps of butter flies. Just check our car grill.
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Johns rural scenic awning screen.
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Indy, still pining for owners Tim and Edwina due home tomorrow, Wednesday, but she doesn’t know that. Dogs are good and clever. Just not that clever.
John makes his damper speech with Maggie ‘all ears.’
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Dusk-ish
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We leave tomorrow so we place our bottle on the bottle tree with names date and noting the obvious, ‘Any Port in a Storm.’
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The night ticks on.
A young foreign traveler getting a lesson on where her winter clothes come from.
Tuesday 27th April 2021.
The RAC man is due 7 to 7.30am and we await his arrival.
It’s FOGGY~
He’s on time.
OIY! That’s my car!
… and van.
Why so happy? No diagnostic check on site. It is going on the truck. End of story.
Geraldine and Ross. Good next door neighbours. Ross has swum with the whale sharks the other day, but he hasn’t got his photos yet. So we won’t see the pics. Bummer.
Still fog.
‘On the road again’ but not normal mode.
A little disconcerting to see your own car and caravan following close behind you. (in the mirror)
Hit the big smoke of Exmouth, or the mechanics anyway. We ‘enjoy’ the wait for assessment of the car.
Good news of a sort. (again ‘of a sort’ What an interesting term.)
The alarm was due to hot transmission oil so it can be driven temporarily to the caravan park but will be back tomorrow for new trans filter kit and new clean lovely trans oil.
So it was on to the RAC van park (seemed fitting). We set up, have lunch and an afternoon nap. Got up at dusk and went for a park walk. The only photo we took was the moon.
Alarm at 5am. Dragging the feet a bit but we attended the ANZAC Dawn Service at Bullara Station (outback station stay) 90km south of Exmouth, W.A. Lots of campers met at the open fire and flags to commemorate the 106th anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landing at Gallipoli. The Ode from ‘For the Fallen’ was read, both National anthems played and a minutes silence and reflection held.
We did compensate for lack of wind at one stage via manual intervention with the flags
We had a classic ‘gun fire’ breakfast of bacon and eggs on toasted muffins and some of us (me and Anne) has a few drops (lots) of rum in our coffees.
My elegant ‘Blossom.’
We also displayed our own flags both outside our caravan …
…. and inside.
There will always be an ANZAC day as long as we remember. ‘Lest We Forget.’
Life goes on. Filled water bottles. from our drinking water back up 20 litre plastic jerry can in the back of the car. The bore water is good for washing etc but, some say not drinking. Others say yes, you can. I don’t want to test it.
I had to wait to past midday so no one was using the showers before I could ‘drone’ the park. That is because some toilets and showers do NOT have roofs. They would be tiny dots but some people are a little shy in that respect. And I quote a Carry on Doctor film when I say, ‘All that fuss over such a little thing.’
N.B. Unfortunately I cannot show drone video because the internet is not good enough to load it, even via youtube.
Right side half way up, entrance. Left of there to middle is office and shady coffee area and bosses home, off limits.
created by dji camera
Top middle woolshed where the burger night was. Other amenities. Rental rooms etc. Bottom left camp kitchen part.
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Camp kitchen better shot
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A close look at the camp kitchen because it is the engine room and meeting place. Silver roof is ‘it’ then down and right is the fire pit out in the open and two arched ‘things’ right are benches. The brown diagonal strip on the top left side is the dirt ‘Bocce’ or Becce’ (?) Italian (?) ball game court.
created by dji camera
There we are of the group of three, we are right. The big white one is a fifth wheeler. They are off to Coral Bay to swim with the whale sharks today. The other is a nice couple who I forget the names.
created by dji camera
Work to do. I have to pull/unbolt some gear out of the back to get to the fridge. Once done, I plug in the 240volt lead and re-assemble. so now we can connect the car fridge to 240 volt with relative ease. There is a reason for that which will become evident in due course. That was a ‘win’ and I have another one. Somehow in the course of shifting and moving about, the lead joining the two batteries has unplugged. That means the car fridge has been getting by for a day or day and a half without connection to the van or car, with only one battery and not two. Which means it will last twice as long with the two. It also means I spent money on a second battery and it’s connection when it wasn’t really needed. Hmmm.
A four inch shifter is a good little tool.
The resident roo.
A vintage photo of her. Notice how shy she is if there might be food in it.
I/we adjourn to the camp kitchen for social interaction … and chatting.
Getting dark. Time to head home. There will be another damper night tomorrow night.
NOW here is the ‘will become evident in due course’ moment.
On the way up here about two hours south, an indicator light came on the dash labeled ‘Powertrain warning lamp.’ We dropped back from 90km to 30km. and it went out. It was on for a mere 3 minutes and then it was gone, not to be seen again. We went another half hour to Coral Bay, had a look and proceeded on. No lamp. We went another 1.5 hours to Bullara and no lamp. I start the car the next day and ‘no lamp.
We are booked in till Monday morning because we did not want to rush off after Sunday ANZAC Dawn Service.
I think, I can disconnect and drive the 85km to Exmouth to get it checked out even though it is probably nothing. SO to save a trip, I phone RAA Adelaide who contacts Exmouth RAC. I suggest to the RAC chap that I will drive to Exmouth . He says, ‘NO! Do NOT drive the car. This could be the start of something bigger. He suggests, because it is a long weekend, he will come out with his tray truck and diagnostic machine Tuesday morning. He will see if it is something simple. If not, he will put the car on top of the tray, hook the van to the back and take us into town where we can book in at a park and he will take the car to the workshop.
Hmmmm. The thing is we are in a park. If we had been on the side of the road, he would have had to come out and do all that whether it was Sunday or the Public Holiday morning, noon or night.. We have extended yet another day to accommodate his delay to Tuesday morning.
Anyway, we did not have a confirmation that he has got the job from the RAA. I was to be contacted to confirm. I am not. I chase it up. Yes it is booked. 7 to 7.30am Tuesday. Always nice to have something to look forward to. I am truly hoping he has his diagnostic unit with him, because we can assume that is how it is determined whether it is minor or not. I don’t want to go through all that, on the truck to Exmouth just for the hell of it.
Now, who has heard of Dale Carnegie? He wrote ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’ He also wrote, ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.’ In that he explains when you have a potentially huge problem, first, resign your self to the fact the problem might have the worst possible result. Resign yourself to that and accept it. Then work through the problem and attempt to mitigate the effect as much as you can. So I sit here expecting the worst but looking forward to ‘mitigating’ my sox off.
N.B. So I had to pull things apart and plug the 240 volt lead in, just incase the car does have to go to the workshop, in which case they can plug the 240 volt in and save the fridge food. I could not have done that at short notice and I am also following the Carnegie rule of accepting the worst (Car must go to workshop) but mitigate. (arrange to plug in 240volt to save the food.)
‘Here Endeth the lesson.’
Showers, food, grape juice, TV, bed. Another grape juice. It’s been a bit of a day. (Aren’t routines good …. to a point.)
N.B. Not 50,000 cattle but about 2,000 breeding stock. I am assuming that is the females/heifers and not the bulls. I wanted to do a Drone view of here but the internet is dodgy and most of the time, just not good enough. So we have had breakfast but go to the office for a nice morning coffee.
That’s the wool shed across the way from the office where the burger night was last night.
Art.
Dare to tell me this isn’t part of the original station?
Shearing shed.
Shearing shed back laundry area.
We wander
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Lava trees tilt right.
Tilt left.
This is the ‘donkey.’ It is fired up for hot water to some bathrooms 3pm and 6am.
The dump point. Basic, but there is one.
More bathrooms. there’s heaps of them, unique and clean.
The bottle tree
Sculptures. Don’t touch!
More ‘unique’ bathrooms.
The great Aussie Emu.
The great Aussie FB or EK Holden.
Damper at sunset by John.
John. Ex copper from Bradford, England. Special ref for PCM.
Great experience.
Home. Showers. Put on the electric hotplate, air cond, microwave and electric hot water service. It tripped the circuit breaker outside, but of course waited till I was in the a’fore mentioned shower. Meal. A movie or two. Calls from great people (with good and bad luck reception wise) the ‘Deegs’ and Ken and Liz. ALWAYS great to hear from fellow travelers.
When are you coming to bed, I am asked? Now .. if the internet is good enough to post this.
N.B. ANZAC Dawn Service tomorrow here in the Station.
Scones with jam and cream, or should I say big, light scones with raspberry jam and plenty of fresh cream. Photo below, ‘Some mothers do have’em.’
Anne loves tasty food and always analyses it carefully. This scone has successfully passed her high standard of approval and will shortly be squaffed with enthusiasm and zest. Excellent barrista coffee as well.
It was a sheep station but the herd was apparently devastated by predators. There are six sheep remaining and they are retained in camp as pets. Predators find cattle just a tad too feisty. Not sure but I think they have around 50,000 cattle. (and 6 sheep)
Anne, always happy to meet and greet.
Two more of ‘the girls’ on their busy day.
The whole lot off for coffee and cake.
Anne presents the ‘do it yourself’ dump point.
Every toilet should have a sky view and a tree.
The bosses are away. So their sausage dog needs more/extra belly rubs to get her through the lonely ordeal.
Anne trying to wrestle some food away from this Roo.
The stand off. The roo wants its food back. Anne is standing firm. She wants to teach it to feel for other roos without any food. I don’t think it cares.
6pm (every Friday night) people gather for the burger cook up. Locally grown beef and great! Damper tomorrow at 5pm.
Snap the odd sunset stage.
30 burgers per hotplate.
Sunset 5 minutes later.
I ponder the concept of begging for another.
On the walk home we come across another ‘critter’ that lives here. Don’t panic. The only way he is interested in you is if you are interested in him. We stopped to look at him so he stopped to look at us.
We went home so he went home. I don’t know what he did when he got home but we had showers, flicked on the TV, had a glass of wine and went to bed. I’d say he ate a moth.
Need a new Jockey wheel. Only two years old and when I usually do NOT disconnect. Should have still been brand new. Bummer.
Where do they get these ‘facts (?)’ from? It reads … ‘If you laid out a years supply of bananas end to end , they would extend from Perth to Carnarvon and back around 6 times.’ ??
And … ‘You can make 10.5 million Fritters with all the Zucchini produced each year.'(?) I didn’t bother photographing any more. Too … what’s the word I’m looking for? Be polite … ‘Hypothetical.’ By the way these were in the Carnarvon Tourist Information facility.
North.
Coral Bay. A quick look. It is crowded as … and a real bun fight.
She does love the sea but, more often than not, a paddle is enough.
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North.
… To Bullara Station.
‘Scratchy’ The bull. Gentle giant.
‘Scratchy’ scratching on a tree.
Anne’s handiwork
Not a bottle brush tree. A bottle tree.
ANZAC day plans
Friday night. (tomorrow) Beef Burger nights.
A nice night at the Camp Kitchen.
N.B. Potential situation. A light came on the dash for a short time today. It can be looked at till Tuesday.
Time to go but I will photograph the great camp kitchen first.
It’s got everything fro wine glasses to cutlery, pots and pans.
This is Jackie. Doyen of the desk, patroness of the park, head of the house, senior of the station, boss of the base and head of Hamelin outback stay.
On the road, at the corner. Left to Carnarvon and only a few hundred metres right to the Overlander Roadhouse, but left for us.
Long stretches.
N.B. Tropic of Capricorn is 23.44 degrees (approx.) and only about 30km north of Alice Springs.
Trucks pulled over. Lots.
We wondered what the red line was on the GPS. It was road works.
Now at Carnarvon. What do these trees tell you about the prevailing winds?
We didn’t waste time. To the doctor for Anne’s crook eye and I get a prescription filled for my ‘high’ tablets. (blood pressure and cholesterol)
We confirm we can’t get a strut for the cupboard door in the van here. I am given a lead to have the jocky wheel looked at. We do some supermarket shopping.
Then the 5pm drinks with the ‘D’s’ movie, shower food sleep.
We will be tourists tomorrow and the ‘D’s’ will move on.
