0031 Doon Doon to Wolfe Creek Crater

25th June 2017
So THAT's what a blowout feels like !

China Wall at Hall's Creek

In the morning we continued south down the main road towards Hall's Creek, which we had driven before so no big surprises. Arriving in Hall's Creek we went on a 6 km detour to the "China Wall" - http://www.australiasnorthwest.com/Destinations/The_Kimberley/halls-creek/china-wall
Not overly impressed, but certainly is different. Next time I see a "China Wall" will be in 2019 on the P2P rally !!  A quick restock of supplies in the supermarket, and refuel for the long Tanami Road, and after a quick lunch beside the road, we were off.

0030 Broome to Doon Doon Roadhouse.

21^st – 24^th June 2017

The Gibb River Road

Start of the Gibb river road

We were up early on the 21^st so we get could get packed up and down to the Toyota dealer in Broome by 7.30 am for an oil change and quick check of the car before we hit the infamous Gibb River Road. We said goodbye to Jos & Tony as they headed back home via the black top – We planned to catch up with them again in Alice Springs.  By 10.30 am we were all done, and although they found a couple of minor issues, I decided they could last till we got home, and after fueling up we headed east towards Derby – straight and  

                                                                                                   boring !

0029 Broome

17^th – 20^th June 2017

Cable Beach, helicopters, sunsets, and camels !

Tony measures out his parking space !

Originally we had only scheduled a couple of days in Broome, but we got there a couple of days earlier than expected, and the camp site wasn’t booked out, so we managed to have a good few days break from driving.   And a chance to look for a few spare parts and get oil changes done.   We had set up in the dark last night, so once we had everything properly sorted out, we headed into Broome to check out the action.  When parking we found out one of Jos and Tony’s “quirks” – Jos likes to park exactly between the lines, so Tony, being Tony, often parks

Hawk in the tree on Cable Beach

crooked in order to annoy Jos !   On this instance he reckoned he parked straight, but Jos wasn’t sure, so Tony pulled out his tape measure that he carries ONLY for this purpose, and measured the distance from his wheels to the white lines !!   I won’t say who was correct, but needless to say, Janet & I were in fits of laughter as we watched Tony (in a crowded parking lot) measuring up his car to make sure it was straight !!

0028 Bungle Bungles to Broome

15^{th –} 16^th June 2017

Geikie Gorge, Derby, and big boab trees.

Up early after a long sleep, and had a great shower in the corrugated iron units which have no roof on, so in the morning you shower in the sunlight, and in the evening you shower under the stars !  Very enjoyable, for a change !!  After filling the water tank, we headed out towards Halls Creek, where we refueled and had a coffee, then headed on.

0027 Lake Argyle to the Bungle Bungles

13^th June 2017

 The incredible formations of the Bungles

Ord River

After packing up, we crossed the Ord River again on the way out of the park, with the water flowing down from the dam and on out for use in all the irrigation projects in the region.  We headed into Kununurra for groceries, fuel, and information about the Bungle Bungles, as well as to post a birthday car to daughter Sarah in America.  At the gas station we found some interesting toilets, with the doors painted up as old style outdoor dunnies, and paintings of boab trees on them – Quite fun ! 

0026 N Territory to W Australia

8^th -  12^th  June 2017

Barkly Station to Lake Argyle

Barkly Highway

Peacock at Renner Springs

After getting our LPG bottle refilled (it was very close to empty), we bought an excellent  bacon & egg roll from the bar and hit the road.  It was an almost dead straight road to 3 Ways Roadhouse where the Barkly Hwy joins the north-south Stuart Hwy, with only about 3 corners in the 190 kms !   We got fuel at 3 Ways, but not very nice and quite expensive, so we kept on going past Banka Banka to Renner Springs, where we were set up by 1.30 pm, had lunch, and a lazy afternoon.  Jos & Janet tried to go for a walk but encountered a snake early on, so gave up and came home for a drink !!

0025 Queensland to Northern Territory

1^st – 7^th June 2017

Gold Coast to Barkly Station.  2399 Kms.

No more toll roads for us this trip !!

We had packed the Troopie up over the last few days, had a final oil change and service plus an electrical check for a wiring fault, so we able to have a relaxed morning and after saying farewell to Trooper and his babysitters, Col & Al, set off about 10 am on the 1^st June.  Pinch and a punch.  Start odometer reading 431,790 kms.  After a quick stop at the supermarket for some fresh bread, we headed out towards Toowoomba, passing through the last freeway tolls we would see for a while !!   No toll roads in the north !! 

0020 A quick trip to Sydney

Collecting the Austin Healey

22^nd – 24^th March 2017

Queensland sunset

What a trip of contrasts – Heavy rain, fog, beautiful sunset, good night’s sleep, beautiful dawn and sunrise,  scenic drive down through the Northern Hunter Valley, and a safe landing in Sydney before rush hour !!  It really was great to be “back on the road again” !!

0019 Preparing to go to England

February and March 2017

And the Kimberley, and Mongolia !

Soon after we got back to the Gold Coast, Damien flew over from Perth to pick up his old Toyota van which had sat here for 3 years in our driveway.  I had put a new battery in it at the end of last year, and it seemed to start up OK, but Damien wanted to load it all up with his heavy tools, compressor, welding equipment, bicycles, surf skis, and lots more, and drive it back across the Nullarbor.  He had done some work on the engine 3 or 4 years ago when he was living here, putting on a new cylinder head, but it has over 400,000 kms on it, which is quite a lot for a petrol engine.  In addition, he brought his 5 year old daughter Poppie with him for the adventure, which Janet and I weren’t too sure about.   Hmmmm.

0018 From Perth back to the Gold Coast

6-10^th January 2017

A long, hot drive, and we lose our mattresses !

Perth to Balladonia Rocks (Day 1).

The road out of Perth

The journey back home from Perth only took 5 days because we went directly east to Kalgoorlie instead of coming round the south coast through Albany and Esperance.  This made it a bit easier, but this time our enemy was going to be heat rather than distance – It was now well into summer and I was keeping watch on the projected temperatures for the next few days, and we decided that if at any stage it got too hot for camping, we would go into a motel instead.  But it would have to be a pet friendly one because obviously if it was too hot for us to sleep in the car, it would also be too hot for Trooper given that he wears a fur coat !  With that in mind we set off east, following the amazing water pipeline to Kalgoorlie that was built between 1896 and 1903.

0017 Christmas break in Perth

21^st Dec 2016 – 6^th Jan 2017.

Relaxing in Perth.

Poppie & Trooper had a great time together

3 weeks in Perth – And after that drive, Trooper wasn’t the only one to enjoy sitting in one place for a while !!   Poppie and Trooper were happy to see each other – Mainly because it gave both of them someone to play with when the adults were not interested !!  And a new and very squeaky ball gave both of them endless hours of fun, both in the house and in the park during our morning and afternoon walks.

0014/0015/0016/0016b Coonabarabran through to Perth

16^th - 20th Dec 2016

Feral goats, Emus, and rain

  

0014  Coonabarabran to Olary Creek

16th Dec 2016

Olary Creek camp site

Through Broken Hill which doesn’t have a lot to offer, and then we kept going for  about 200 kms until I found a very nice off road area next to a dry Creek Bed, yet high enough up that any possible rain wasn’t going to cause me a problem !   Lots of emu and kangaroo foot prints in the river bed, but didn’t see a single living thing.  I had a great steak for supper, and ate up as many veggies as possible knowing there was a Fruit and Vegetable Quarantine place only 50 kms further up the road tomorrow, and turned in at about 8 pm, both of us exhausted after a long day.  932 kms completed today.

0013 Off to Perth - Gold Coast to Coonabarabran

15^th Dec 2016

A Day of Contrasts

Europe compared to Australia, size wise

Today was the day for us to set off on our 4500 km journey from the Gold Coast in Queensland to Perth in Western Australia – All the way across on the other side of the country.  Even if I had started further north in Cairns, I might have been able to do it on a shorter route by coming acorss the top.  As it was, the distance is about the same as in Europe if I drove from the Ukraine to the very far west coast of Portugal – In fact, a few hundred kms into the Atlantic !  So it is a long trip, especially when you are the only driver.  (To date, Trooper has declined to get his licence !).  I was planning on 5-6 days to get there – I will find out later how good my plan is !

0012 A boat ride in Surfers Paradise

November 2016

Big moons, big boats, and a big Healey !

A big moon over Benowa

Still working around the house a lot of the time, cutting hedges, (someone else does the lawns !), weeding pathways, and generally catching up on all the other things that need doing.  Also spending quite a lot of time working on Troopie trying to do some of the things that I found that I wanted to change after the trip – nothing major – Just trying to make things better.