The idea was to get away for a week or two for a break and importantly to test run our new tow vehicle.
You will notice that it is no longer a Troopy but the new 300 Series Landcruiser. We have been using the Troopy for 14 years and it had served us very well. However, it was a site vehicle designed to take a lot of stick and was built like the proverbial Portland cement loo!
Due to that functionality it was a bit noisy and a bit hard on the suspension but for all of that a very suitable vehicle for the kind of outback travelling that we do.
The 300 certainly fills that bill, it is very luxurious compared to the Troopy, the ride is considerably more comfortable and so quiet inside, I can hear Pat talking without my hearing aids, though some have queried the benefit of this!
Sadly, everything has to be electronic these days and so far I’ve found out how about 20% of it all works!
The new engine is only a 3.3litre V6, compared to the Troopy which was a 4.5 litre V8 but the V6 actually has about 13% more torque than the V8. It’s auto of course, something else to get used to and, whereas with the Troopy I could tell within a few kph the speed we were doing, by just the sound of the engine and the ‘feel’ of the transmission, with this one we could be doing 40 or a 140! In fact, this morning when we pulled out onto the freeway, I suddenly realised that we doing 103kph! We normally travel at 80-85kph!!
Tuesday 29th March
So, we finally got away today, originally it was planned to be Sunday but we have had several electrical mods done on the car, i.e. an auxiliary battery, rear view camera (from the caravan) ,new fridge sockets, etc. When we put the fridge in the car it blew a fuse, couldn’t get to the electricians until Monday morning to get it fixed but we decided to leave it ‘til today so as not to be rushing.
Eventually, this morning after we had hooked the van up and with everything having been packed (and re-packed in some cases) over the last few days I discovered a flat tyre on the caravan, which was probably my fault having not done the tyre pressure monitor up tight enough! No problem, pumped it up, got things ready to go, locked up the house and finally got on the road about 1100.
Having got about 50ks and filled up with diesel (having taken out another mortgage!), we realised that the GPS wasn’t charging properly. This involved turning round and going back to Mandurah and letting the auto electricians sort it out.
By the time we got away from there it was lunchtime and we needed to stop and have something to eat!
After lunch we did a couple of hours driving and decided that the day had been so exciting that I, in particular, didn’t fancy driving for much longer and we called it a day and pulled over behind Quindanning Village Hall.
Having put some additional air in the rear tyre on the Cruiser, I got out a chair and my thermos of tea and completed a challenging killer sudoku!
After dinner we sorted out our route for tomorrow and took it easy, with a glass of red!
Wednesday 30th March
The wind was quite strong last night which rocked the caravan a little but not enough to spill the red!
This morning it started to rain and has continued to do so all day. Pat has been looking at the weather reports and it looks like it is going to keep doing so for the next week, generally across the south west.
We left our night stop about 0930 and set off in the direction Williams and stopped for morning tea just out of Wagin. The rain continued and on top of that we had some fairly strong headwinds which put up the fuel consumption.
The countryside is not particularly inspiring along this area of the southern wheatbelt and in the rain it is even less inspiring. So I’m afraid that there’s not much to show you from today’s travels.
After lunch we decided that heading off into the rain was not much fun so we changed direction and headed for a little place called Kukerin, which has a caravn park with a good write up in WikiCamps.
It is still raining when we arrive but we get set up and inspect the facilities which are very clean.
Having got established we put out the awning so we can have a cup of tea and watch the rain!
Thursday 31st March
Another grey sky greeted us this morning and having reviewed the weather forecast we decided that a change of plan was needed so we got on the phone to our friends Ron and Zoe in Albany, who are expecting us at some time in the next couple of weeks, to see if we can pitch up today. “ Of course you can” was the reply and we head off southwestwards towards the coast.
On our way we’re passing through small wheatbelt communities. In one, called Pingrup, has had its grain bins graphiti’d!
On our way down to Albany we had hoped to drop in at the Castle Rock Winery, it is closed!
The welcome at our friend’s place is great and the catch up begins.
Friday 1st April
A late breakfast turns into morning tea and an excursion into the seething metropolis of Albany doesn’t begin until late morning. One of the goals was to get a couple of warm shirts for Roger who had forgotten to pack his! Sadly, nothing fits and it’s frustrating that 2XL is needed in one make of shirts but 3XL is like a tent in another! So no success with this venture. A cup of coffee eased the disappointment!
On the way back we visited the local bottle shop in the hope that we could get some wine from the ‘closed’ winery. They have none on the shelves. They do have other local wines so we get some of those. We try down the road for the elusive vintage without success. On the way home we decide to drop into the original shop again. Detecting my disappointment, the guy checks the computer which tells him that he should have three bottles – we find them in the cool cabinet, yeah!
That’s the evening meal’s libation sorted out.
Saturday 2nd April
The sun is shining this morning!!!
Another leisurely breakfast and morning tea, it was just nice to feel the warmth of the sun.
We agreed on going for a walk by the Kalgan river and eventually set out late morning, ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ sprang to mind as we got out of the car, noting that the temperature was over 30oC.
We have a choice of upstream or downstream but are happy to be led by our friends for whom this is a regular walk. The river flows in what could almost be called a gorge, as at this point both sides are fairly steep. Shortly after we set out the local tour boat, ‘The Kalgan Queen” comes upstream and moors up. We believe that they make damper, (a flour and water bread), for the tourists. The tour used to visit a local winery accessed from a landing stage a bit further up stream. Our local tour guides didn’t know why this had stopped.
It was quite a warm but very enjoyable walk which was along the river bank along an often shaded track.
The Kalgan river was a fairly important waterway historically for transporting local produce down to the King river and beyond. The winch (top centre) was used to haul out the boats for repair and/ or kareening. The stone cottage was probably a farmhouse, now a holiday cottage maybe.
A good walk in fairly warm by the time we got back.
A neighbour dropped in to have a look at our Landcruiser – he has ordered one and wanted to have a look at what he was going to get. Roger was able to give him a few hints on mods that he had had done or had planned for in the future.
Dinner was very enjoyable as was the conversation and everyone slept well apparently.
The weather was forecast to be foul on Sunday so when we were invited to stay another night we accepted with alacrity!
Sunday 3rd April
We heard some rain during the night but not as much as we expected, it is very noisy in the caravan when it rains. It didn’t let up all day, so a quick visit to Bunnings and the paper shop was about all the excitement to be had today. We had time to read the Sunday paper whilst our host went off to his portrait class to do a charcoal drawing of a live model, organised by the local art group to which he currently belongs. Over another tasty meal there was lots of stimulating conversation, taking on board each others viewpoints plus lots of laughter.
Monday 4th April
We had to leave today, our friends have been very accommodating but we needed to make up our minds what we were going to do. One option was to head off home, wasting diesel trying to catch a glimpse of the sun is a costly exercise these days. We hedged our bets and headed north to a place called Gnowangrup which is through the Stirling Ranges and has a newish caravan park that has good reviews in Wikicamps. We are choosing to stay on another caravan park because of this inclement weather as we rely on solar power and with a powered site we will be able to keep the batteries topped up.
On the way we see that the ‘bin painting’ has spread to water tanks and the results are quite impressive.
Gnowangerup is another wheatbelt town, this one must be a bit larger than most as it has a District High School and Primary school on one site. We easily find the camp site and find a suitable parking bay but we have to walk into town to the local supermarket to get the key for the facilities. The locals try hard to keep their towns looking good but with dwindling populations and funding it is very difficult.
There are some lovely old buildings, the bank on the right was established in 1903!
We were informed that there was a weighbridge that we could use, just down the road at the grain terminal. It is a commercial weighbridge and is therefore required to be checked regularly, apparently the cockys use it as well.
We put the Landcruiser over it on it’s own today, it came up as 2.92 tonnes, which surprised me, i thought it would be more.
Tuesday 5th April
This morning we rang our friends Carol and Barry in Mount Barker (more BT owners) and invited ourselves to afternoon tea!
The farmers have periods when they are not particularly busy and they spend the time making things out of the junk that they’ve accumulated over the years, you may remember Tin Horse Gully on the way to Hyden. In this area area they use old tractors and farm machinery and there is a road called Horsepower Highway. This piece of Mad Max memorabilia and the ‘Philippines Taxi’ are on that road.
On the way to Mount Barker we took a run through the Stirling Ranges, the last time we did this was when Pat’s Mother and Father were staying with us.
This is a very pretty run but unfortunately the sun was not very cooperative and it was a bit overcast. Nevertheless, you might like to see some excerpts from this run, excuse the windscreen!
We had time for some shopping and lunch before rocking up at our friends place. Great welcome, tea and conversation. We had a bit to catch up on since it has been a while since we have seen them. The time passed quickly and talking is thirsty work but wine at 1600 is the go and who are we to buck tradition! It was a quiet session since Roger was driving but it was still dark and past dinner time when we got back to Gnowangerup!
Wednesday 6th April
We’re in no real hurry to get away today because we won’t be going far. We made an early call to our friends in Dunsborough (more BT owners) to see if they will be around this weekend. We did not get a response ’til lunchtime but it was positive and we will head that way on Friday.
On our way out of town we put the rig over the weighbridge, 6.44 tonnes, this means that the caravan is close to it limit of 3.5 tonnes but we are well under on the Landcruiser.
So, we didn’t do a great deal today except drive through to a very small place called Frankland River which has a very recently built little caravan park with very clean facilities. We decided to stay because the access to a power box would give the batteries a chance to be topped up. However, the sun did shine in the afternoon but a keen wind got up too. The caretaker informed us that there was a community resource centre and a community sports building, both a short stroll away, the latter cooked evening meals at 6pm 3 days a week.
There is a tree-lopping crew here but they are very quiet, we hardly heard their big trucks come in this afternoon. The caretaker told us that they get $150 a day for subsistence, so they sleep in single tents and eat pot-noodles, never mind the cabins!
A bit of reading and blogging this afternoon and suddenly it’s dinner time! We’re expecting a colder night so the thicker duvet was put on the bed.
Thursday 7th April
Since it is so very quiet here we decided to stay here another night and spent the day doing very little. In fact there are a couple of good walks here and a few wineries within walking distance also the Porongerups are not far. So we will almost certainly be coming back here sometime in the future.
Friday 8th April
Today we have a run of about 250ks to Dunsborough, the first 150ks via Manjimup and Nannup is through the beautiful Karri forests, tall trees reach up to sky.
Toward the end of the trip we pass through Bussleton, we used to live here when we first arrived in WA but it has changed considerably since 1996, hardly surprising I suppose.
A couple of our travelling companions, Richard and Marge, are having a house built own this way at Toby’s Inlet, we pass it on our way to Dunsborough. John & Phyllis have an empty block at the back of their place which is just spot on for visitors with caravans like ourselves. They also have a Bushtracker and we met them up on the de Grey River last year. They are a fascinating couple who have travelled extensively around Australia and the world but, in particular, are a mine of information about places to visit in WA. They are great hosts and it is really good catching up with them.
The green line is our route on this trip.
Alloveroz 