Friday 19th July

When the tide is in here, apparently there are people fishing everywhere, some of them have obviously discovered that there are more comfortable ways to while away the hours!

   

We could have stayed here a bit longer but we have other places to go!

To begin with we follow the Great Northern Hwy and at one point my tyre pressure monitor tells me that one of the tyres on the caravan is going down.    Investigation determines that it is a loose valve core, so it gets pumped up again and we on our way.   The tyre monitor has paid for itself in one incident, since I could have been running on a flat tyre with expensive consequences.   On our last van we had the same thing happen but in that case we lost the tyre and the rim!

At one point we pass the location of an interesting experiment.   A Singaporean gentleman purchased Pardoo Station and he has started to grow Wagyu cattle.   He uses ground water to grow specific areas of grass for the cattle to feed on but there are enough of these areas to ensure that each section lies fallow for the year after it has been used.

We’re leaving the Hwy and going down the Boreline Road, this was built in the 60s to service the Shay Gap iron ore mine, the water supply running beside the road.    The scenery is vast, varied and spectacular – typical of iron ore country.

   

We are actually well into the Great Sandy Desert and it is quite thought provoking to be able to travel out here with our BT and Landcruisers and think of the first people to explore this land and even those who came this way looking for gold and minerals.   Many did it on horseback and others on foot, particularly those who rushed to the goldfields.  

Although this is a gazetted road we don’t see many other vehicles, some of them are station people from Yarrie.    As we get further into the desert the scenery changes to bluffs composed of mud and shale which give a very different perspective on the geology of the area.    Still further on and we run into broken ranges of red sandstone hills, which contrast magnificently with the azure blue of the sky.

We’re making for a campsite on the de Grey river which Brad and Denise have visited on several occasions.   When we arrive the first impression is that there is little or no water in the river, “there was a lot more here last year” reminds us again of the very poor ‘wet’ season they had this year in the north of the country.   However, once we drive into the the river area we discover that there is some water after all.   It is yet another beautiful spot.

       

As the sun goes down we are treated to a typical WA sunset.

  There is almost a mackerel sky and when the moon comes up it creates a lovely night sky. 

The is only one other van here, a couple from Gracetown in the south west of WA and we’ve invited them over for a drink.   They are interesting people and we have a good evening with them.

We also decide that we will stay here for another night.

Saturday 20th July

We had a very pleasant, lazy day today, a bit of walking, a bit of photography, a bit of blogging, etc.    Our neighbours visited again last night, a very nice couple and the conversation was quite lively and

interesting.   We initiated them into satellite spotting and we managed 10/11!

   

Sunday 21st July

We had breakfast outside this morning.

We had a bit of excitement this morning, when it was time to leave, Brad thought he might do a uey and go out the way we came in.   Instead he decided to try and go straight out but could not make it so we we had to let the tyres down and shunt backwards and forwards until we could do what Brad thought about doing originally.   This took close on an hour.   Eventually we got on the road and headed for Marble Bar.

The track wasn’t too bad and we made good time and then had to spend some time putting pressure back in the tyres, the road is sealed most of the way to Carawine Gorge our camping spot tonight.   In Marble Bar we emptied the cassettes then went out to Chinaman’s Pool for lunch.   This is a really nice spot and it is a pity that camping is not allowed.

    

We then went to the actual Marble Bar!   This is a rock formation across the river, the rock is Jasper and is beautifully coloured, so if you pour water on the rock you can see the beauty of it.   The first two pics are before water and after.

 

       

It must look fantastic in the rain!

Then we have to top up with diesel before setting out for the gorge, a two-hour run.

It’s getting late when we get to Carawine and the ground is just like that at at the de Grey river, so we don’t bother finding a good spot we just stop for the night.  It is actually quite chilly due to the wind coming down the gorge.

Monday 22nd July

We had a good nights sleep last night night but the wind prevents us from having breakfast outside again.   We decide that we will have a day and night here and move to a nicer spot looking down on the water.   So it’s a fairly leisurely day, a walk down the gorge in the morning and a walk up the gorge in the afternoon.   

Pat has time to make a new batch of muesli and Roger has a nice long read.   

There are lots of birds around so there is plenty to see, Corellas perching on sticks in the water so that they can get a drink, before returning to their love-making.    Several Black Swans and a Rainbow Bee Eater.

        

The satellite spotting doesn’t make double figures tonight in spite of it being a really lovely night sky.   We also went over to our neighbours at their invitation for a chat and got some good info on a couple of  places to visit.

All in all, a good day.

Tuesday 23rd July

This was the view from the caravan window and the landscape leaving Carawine and heading down to Running Waters.

 

Running Waters is a beautiful spot with a pool of really nice clear water fed by a small spring.    The track in from Skull Springs Road isn’t too bad but we had to stop at the river bed and walk the rest of the way as there was no way we were going to get a BT through the rocky river bed.     We all walked down to the pool and Roger went back for a swim before lunch.

 

After lunch we got back onto Skull Springs Road heading for Nullagine, stopping for afternoon tea and noting the camel prints in the road.

 

 

For tonight we had decided to stop at the Old Water bore, which still works on a handpump but a new bore pump further off the road is currently in use.   There is a lot of cloud around tonight and satellite spotting is a lost cause.

Wednesday 24th July

Today we’re heading for Nullagine and then Newman.   It’s a grey day but nevertheless the scenery on the way to Nullagine is truly awesome .

  

   

Nullagine is another semi-retired mining town that, in spite of the effort of local residents has seen better days, we linger long enough for lunch and then move on.

Nullagine and Newman are both pretty scruffy outback towns although Newman does have a Woolworths, which the girls hit with relish!   Brad goes with them to carry the bags whilst I change the wheel on the Troopy because I have a slow puncture.   Having shopped we head off again this time making for Capricorn Roadhouse where we intend to top up with fuel.

We’re looking for a gravel pit that Denise has marked on her iPad but we probably don’t go quite far enough and the place we end up, sounds as though it is going to be a bit noisy, which it is until about 2200 then it’s reasonably quiet ‘til about 0530.    Anyway we have a nice fire but didn’t even bother to look for satellites due to the cloud cover.

Thursday 25th July

The day begins with mending a puncture in one of my tyres, there is a stone in it which we found very difficult to get out.   Then it was fairly straightforward, particularly as Brad has a far better plug insertion tool than me.  

We have morning tea just off the main Hwy and have another stop at Kumerina so Brad can grab a Savaloy and a Cherry Ripe.   In the roadhouse is a truck carrying tyres for large mining vehicles, each tyre estimated at around $70,000 a pop!

    A bit of lunch near a very dry Gascoyne river and then its on to Billyuin Pool a few ks off the highway for a night stop.    There is very little water, as you might expect but Brad and Denise were able to show us pictures of the pool with water, when it looks much nicer!   The sunset is magnificent and for a brief few minutes the sky was illuminated in red for 360^o, a phenomena that none of us could ever recall seeing before.   We collect firewood and build a fire and soon it’s time for a glass of wine and reasonably successful satellite spotting session.

 

Friday 26th July

Another tyre appears to have a slow leak this morning but I’m gradually formulating the theory that it is the tyre pressure monitors that are causing the problem.   To try to check it out I replaced the monitor with a standard cap and will check the pressures when we stop for morning tea.   

The Gt Northern Hwy is not a good road for us really, there is an awful lot of traffic and road trains every five minutes, fortunately most seem to be northbound this morning.   We had morning tea at Meekatharra and we had to follow a wide load southbound.    We had lunch at a pink lake and then caught the wide load up again we decided to stay in the chute rather than get us round them because we are going to turn off for our night stop shortly.   Then there is an 8m wide load northbound which requires us to get right off the road, unfortunately there’s not very far we can go because its a sloping shoulder which in places is quite steep.

We get to our night stop quite early and have time for a cup of tea and some reading before collecting firewood.    Unfortunately there’s not much good stuff around but we do find enough for a reasonable fire.   Over a couple of glasses of wine we increase our satellite spotting record to 19!

Saturday 27th July

The tyres checked out OK this morning but when we stopped for morning tea we could actually hear the air leaking from the nearside rear on the Troopy.   In fact it is leaking from the valve stem which has a hole worn in the rubber section, leaving no alternative but to change the wheel.     We wondered if we might get a valve change at Paynes Find road house but they have no facilities there.   Tomorrow is Sunday so there’s little chance of a getting it fixed tomorrow as we heading out into the bush again this afternoon.   We have confirmed that the monitors are causing the problem.

The road from Paynes find to Mollerin Rock is pretty good and we make very good time

 

Mollerin Rock is a bush camp site and there is more than enough wood for a camp fire which is duly lit and appreciated.   It is pretty cold tonight, we don’t do very well with the satellite spotting and an early retreat to the warmth of the vans is the order of the day.

Sunday 28th July

A couple of hours into Northam for lunch and a catch up with Garry and Vicki, the four of us left their place together on the 19th April and so have come full-circle.   Northam is looking much better than it did a few years ago and the restaurant produces a good lunch.   Garry is always good value and Roger got a couple of good ideas.

Then it is but a short trip to Gidgegannup to some more friends of Bras and Denise, where we intend to spend the night camped on their property.   

James and Steph are lovely people and we are very soon feeling welcome in their home, this is probably helped by a few beers, glasses of wine and the fact that Steph is a bit of an Anglophile though her husband James, who is actually an ex pom, isn’t!

It is definitely colder here and we are now up to 13 Tog in the duvet stakes!

Monday 29th July

This is where we part company, Brad and Denise are meeting friends in Mundaring and then staying the night on their daughters property at The Lakes, whilst we head south to Karnup.

It has been the most amazing trip, Australia is a very big continent and we have seen some of it’s treasures on this trip.   Brad and Denise have been the most brilliant of travelling companions and we have very much enjoyed their company.   We have also benefitted considerably from their experience of outback travel and have learned a lot.   They might not want to travel with us agin but we’d love to experience more of this country in their company, thank you, B & D.

We arrived home just before lunch to find that at some stage there had been a flood in the laundry, a pipe fitting on the washing machine had broken and of course the water pump just kept running, fortunately(!) the tank was nearly empty, nevertheless a great deal of water was obviously pumped into the house, the evidence was clear!   We normally turn all these taps off but somehow this one got missed.

Anyway, that can’t detract from a most enjoyable trip, 14,666 ks, probably half of that on dirt roads, the vehicles performed exceptionally well, particularly as some of the dirt was very corrugated, in particular the 500 ks from Doomagee to Roper Bar.  

The most northerly point on mainland Australia, huge landscapes and hemispheres of stars at night, camp sites by rivers and billabongs, crocodiles, beautiful birds, etc.

Can’t wait to get out there again.