16 September – 17 September New Norcia We packed up from Janine’s place and said our goodbyes before hitching Hervey and Bay up and setting off. We headed south along the coast road which gave some nice glimpses of the ocean and the sand dunes on the foreshore. There is a new highway along the coast that extends all the way to Perth and it has opened up a lot of the smaller places that look like they were only fishing villages until a few years ago. Lots of new developments and houses being built and they are in prime spots with great views. We stopped our southward trajectory for a side trip into The Pinnacles Desert just past Cervantes on the coast road. This is a desert that incorporates pillars of limestone that sit up from the sandy desert floor. They range in height from ground level to 5 + meters. They were quite a drawcard and several busloads of foreign tourist joined us in looking at these magnificent specimens of our planet. A good thing about them was that there were two options to see them – walk the k or so or you could drive . Tracy and Matty took the walk while Liam and I opted for the drive and pickup on the way. I think Im catching his lazy leg disease. The only prob with the drive was that you couldn’t tow trailers so we left Bay in the carpark and enjoyed the short drive through the structures. After this brief interlude where we also grabbed a bite of lunch out the back of Hervey we hitched up again and were on our way. We were intending to get to New Norcia by the end of the day so we headed east when we reached Lancelin and drove inland towards the town of the monks. We passed through a lot of wheat country as we had now entered the wheat belt of WA or at least the outskirts of it. We got to New Norcia late in the day and Tracy arranged for us to camp the night on the oval for a small fee – about $7. New Norcia is the only town in Australia with a monastery in it. There are several monks ( not the hairy variety ) still in residence and there is a bakery that still operates and the products are sold to the public at the visitor centre. There were about a dozen or so vans and vehicles spread around the edges of the footy field so we picked our spot between a few of them and backed Bay under some trees near a fence overlooking a wheat field. I was a bit knackered from the drive from Port Denison so was in one of my ‘happy’ moods as Tracy likes to call. I tried desperately to encourage the boys to get off their butts and help set up camp so we could all sit down and have a rest. As I was getting something out of the front of Hervey I heard Liam screaming from the other side and thought he must have jammed his fingers in the door as Tracy was yelling “Get out Get out”. I raced around to see Tracy brushing ants off of Liam’s legs and feet. He had literally stepped down from his side and his foot went through the entrance hole of an ant’s nest. Now these are not your average sugar ants. These are some of the biggest buggers that ive seen and a more than a few had tasted Liams flesh while he stood lopsided in the hole oblivious to it all until he realized that he was getting bitten. Needless to say he was quite inconsolable for several minutes and even the stingose didn’t really have much effect on him. We consequently moved Bay out a bit further from the trees and set up away from the ants nest. He was very brave and helped us set the camp up and we all had a nice early night for a change.
18 September – 19 September Goomalling Wind and RAIN !!!!!!!!! I was awoken through the night with the tender kiss of a light shower on the roof of Bay that lasted for not more than a minute. We had been getting warned by people as we headed south that we were heading into the wet part of WA so was pleased that it was only a quick sprinkle. To my horror several hours later I was again woken by rain and thunder and wind. It was pissing down. Now to give you a bit of an idea about how long it is since we have seen real rain – we have travelled up the centre and down the other side of Australia , seen our boys and me have birthdays , seen some fantastic sights and met some great people. Last rain was at Fitzgerald Bay down in SA. So I was a bit anxious when the skies opened and dumped on us at 7 AM and the clouds were dark and the wind was picking up. We hurriedly packed up Bay, not that it helped , as we got thoroughly drenched in the process. We made our way out of NN and decided that we would keep going and not stop and explore the town any further than we had yesterday – which we hadn’t. We set off on a local road towards a place by the name of Calingiri. On the way we had to play dodgem cars but instead of cars we were dodging all the trees that had fallen down on the road. They were pretty big trees some of them and we had to move at least one to allow our journey to Goomalling to proceed. We later found out that it had been a strom that had moved up from Perth and east towards Kalgoorlie and had done considerable damage in some areas. We were very glad to finally reach Goomalling and meet up with Fred and Bec at the BP where they work on our arrival. They pointed us towards the van park where they were residing and told us that they would see us later. We made our way about another k and pulled into the Goomalling Caravan Park run by the shire. A very pleasant place indeed with about 30 spots. We made ourselves known to Kaz the caretaker and were directed to a spot on the grass where the ground was so hard I thought a concrete slab was beneath. We were kindly allowed to try another spot , not much softer , which worked out well as it was slightly bigger than the initial spot. We set up Bay and caught up with Fred and Bec later in the evening. We had a short , the place is not very big , tour around the town and found the oval and playground where the boys had great fun in the spinning top . Fred and bec were heading down to Freemantle the following day so we said that we would head down in the morning and catch up with them in the evening when they had arrived from work at Goomalling.
20 September Freemantle We packed up and left the cosy Goomalling behind and set off for Perth and Freemantle through a place called Toodyay (pronounced Too Jay) where we filled up and I noticed that the driver’s side rear tyre was starting to crack along the bead. This is one of the tyres that was on Hervey when I bought it and had been using as a spare since buying the new Bridgestones before we left on our journey. I had put it back on Hervey when we had the flat before El Questro ( do you remember that – read back if not) and had been noticing that there was a squeak emanating from it for the past month or so. Seeing the reason for the squeak I prudently decided to swap it for the spare ( the one repaired in El Questro with internal patch) and get a couple of new ones as soon as we could afford them. We continued on our way and stooped at Midland where we found a Supercheap that I had contacted a few days previously about getting a replacement handle for the winch. The grub screw had come loose and the handle lays between Kunnunurra and Broome somewhere and I just couldn’t be assed to go back and get it. As it was still under warranty I thought a handle was not too much to ask for. Winch sorted we headed off towards Paul and his upholstery shop at west Perth. Paul is Tracy’s best friend’s ( Loretta from Shell Harbour) brother who has been living over here in Perth for some years.Tracy and Paul had a great chat and he had a look at the zip on Bay for me and gave me a bit of advice but yet again I have been unable to obtain a size 7 slider for the lid. Looking like I shall have to invest in a totally new zip . After our visit with Paul we set off through the city and headed towards Freemantle where we checked into the Fremantle Village for a hefty $58 for the night. We set up camp on a nice grassy spot , they had tried to give us a concrete slab but soon stopped that idea , and low and behold we ran into Darrin and Tracey whom we had met at the playground at Denham. They had been there for a couple of nights and had just come back from a day around Freemantle. We had a chat and caught up with the news about what we had all done since last we met. A few beers and wines were had later in the evening and night as we chatted like old mates. Fred and Bec came later and joined in on the party. We all went to bed pretty late with plans to catch up in the morning.
21 September – 23 September Swan Valley Caravan Park I was awoken in the morning with the park security guard calling out ‘ In the camper – your car has been broken into” Not the best wakeup call ive ever had I can assure you. Luckily I was still hungover fromj the night before so as I was surveying the damage to Hervey – broken ¼ glass on the passenger rear door – I wasn’t stressing about it to much. They had taken Tracy’s wallet, which had been sitting on the front seat under her PNG bag, and Liam’s DS and his camera that he had been taking photos with on the trip. We didn’t find out about the DS and camera until later and Liam was very upset about the loss. We had never got to download any of the photos that he had taken although I had promised several times to do so and I feel very bad for that as he had some good shots not to mention the ones of me on the dunny. We have since bought him another DS and camera. We were not the only ones to be done that night as I walked around the park I saw several other vehicles with their same window broken. .When I went to the reception to arrange another night I was advised that we would have to move as the spot we were on was booked for the next few nights and they were unable to do anything about it. This was after we had been told by a different person the previous day that we could extend on the same place if needed. After a bit of a discussion it was decided that rather than pack up and move the 20 feet to another site we would pack up and move out of the lovely Freemantle to the north side of town. During the packup the heavens opened up again and we finished the jobe very wet and by this time I was starting to sober up a bit and the ‘happy’ mood was starting – so early in the day too. We got on the net and picked a spot in the Swan Valley to the northeast of Perth city. We drove to Caversham and into the Big 4 there aptly named Swan Valley caravan Park. We got our spot and with the boys heads below window height drove and started to unpack and set up. At this time the heavens opened up yet again – noticing a pattern here?- and we got wet again. The park was a nice little place and we enjoyed the next few days there with the occasionally shower interspersed with sunshine. We also ran into the fella from Ningaloo station who had been at homestead when we were on our way out and collecting our deposit on the dunny. He was staying at the park for a while and trying to get some work in the area while there. We took the train into Freemantle and had a look around the heritage buildings that are in the area. We paid a visit to the Freemantle shipwreck museum which is dedxicated to all the ships that have been lost or sunk along the WA coastline in years gone by. It was a very interesting place and well worth the gold coin donation to enter. After a quick game of pingpong in the park and purchase of a new pair of thongs for Liam we headed back the way we went and mad eour way back to the park. I had been trying to obtain another ¼ glass window and priced them at wreckers. The $80- for one was a bit steep so I bought a sheet of Perspex for ½ the price and made a new one . I intend on tracking one down in the future travels for somewhat cheaper than $80-. We were going to get it replaced on insurance but it would take away the free windscreen offer for another year so opted for the cheaper version. Hervey got a present in the way of two brand new BF Goodrich for his front for the sum of $650-. We trudged around a shopping centre by the name of The Galleria which was a couple of blocks big and similar to any shopping centre on the outskirts of Brissy. We also took the Bay’s canopy to Morley canvas to have the zip replaced. For the price of $120- they replaced the zip in a day with a size 10 YKK. The only trouble was that when I collected it the zip was 20cm too short and there was a hole at the end of the same size. They told me that I seemed in a hurry for it and they could only get an 8M zip so decided to put it on. After a bit of discussion I agreed to pay for the work and zip but on the proviso that I would leave the canopy with them and for them to source a zip suitable and put it on at no extra cost.
24 September – 11 September (Present) Goomalling After our short stay at the lovely Swan Valley park we packed up ( I must count how many times we have done that ) and paid a short visit to the chocolate tasting vineyard a few k’s east of the park. The country side around the Swan valley is green and full of boutique vineyards and the area would be clogged with Perthinians on the weekends tasting all the samples. The chocolate was quite stupendous so the family advised me when they came out with it smeared all over their faces. Liam got a freckle the size of a dinner plate , Matty a block of chocolate and I was given two violet crumble squares the size of medium house bricks. Very Tasty. We headed off and turned east again toward the Avon Valley where Tracy wanted to spend a couple of nights. Unfortunately when we drove in to the place it is not set up for camper trailers and more suited to car or tent accommodation. We decided to head instead for Toodyay and camp thye night there before heading to Goomalling again. Alas when we got to Toodyay we were to find out that the annual Avon triathalon was on and the van park bumped all the prices up accordingly. I didn’t really want to stay there so was quite happy to continue the drive and get to Goomalling that day. We arrived later than ideal and set Bay up next to Fred and Bec for the night before retiring . The following day more rain came so after partially packing Bay up we repositioned him and started a more substantial setup with a tarp thrown in for good measure. Fred had been kind enough to donate me a tarp( I now have three) that he no longer required when we were last in the big Goo. I threw this over Bay but as it only covered 2/3 and I couldn’t sort out my other smaller one to join it I opted to unpack the big one I have carried since home and try it out. Works a bloody treat and covers Bay totally with room for a portico out the front. The foam squares that I had acquired at Port Headland also came in quite handy for the front area especially in the wet. Whilst in Goo we have both obtained WA licenses. Tracy as hers had been stolen and she had no way of proving who she was which was very odd as you need some ID to get other ID . Bit like a catch 22 really. I traded my QLD license for a WA one and also added a Learners for HR truck as well. So am presently trying to obtain a bit of experience in them from someone in the local area but not having much luck to my surprise. We have made a few trips to Northam which is a bit bigger than Goo but smaller than Maryborough is to give some idea of its size. We have walked every one of the dozen or so streets in Goo but I still remain confused as to which way north is. Even when the sun comes up and the sun goes down it just doesn’t quite add up . Maybe ive been away from the ocean for too long. Fred and Bec have been planning their wedding with some input from us – whether they want it or not- and the boys have thoroughly enjoyed having them right next door to us in the park. They have become ardent Fred and Bec deciples so am thinking that may loan them to them for a few years or so. Its been good in Goo as we have been able to catch up with a bit of schoolwork and Matty is racing along with maths and not bad on English. Liam needs a bit of gentle persuasion more often and not and if he stopped yawing as soon as school starts would probably fare much better. Tracy and I are contemplating what to do with our futures and where we are heading with our careers. There is lots of work over here but it would be a very big step to move and we’re not quite sure whether we are ready for the leap.
Anyway we are all safe well and for the most of it having a bloody great time. We almost consider ourselves Goobers – I just made that up – we’ve been here that long.
Hope this finds everyone well and if anyone has got opinions on what we should do please send them to us as we value everyones input.
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