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 !

The idea was to leave at 5.30 am and try to cover as many kms as I could in this first very boring day.  The first 2 days are probably the worst of the trip, just crossing western NSW down the Newell Highway, then turn right at Gilgandra and go through the garden spot that is Wilcannia and then on through Broken Hill.  After Broken Hill, in my opinion, the trip gets much more interesting.  Anyway, despite the best efforts of my neighbours Naomi and Gordon to lead me astray last night over a very good bottle of Christmas red wine, I was home and in bed by about 11.30 pm, and awake and getting ready to hit the road by 5.30 am as planned.  I took Trooper for a quick walk round the block, during which he did everything he was supposed to (very important when one wants to drive all day !!) , and then, as I left the house, I decided I should lock the inner garage door before closing the main garage tilta door – And just as it closed I remembered I had left my phone on charge beside the bed !  Without a front door key, I had to try to remember where the front gate and front door keys were hidden – I had last heard of them some 3 years ago.  One is in a fake rock that is SO good a fake that I had to pick up virtually every single rock in the rock garden before I found the right one !!  By the time I eventually got back in, got my phone, and got ready to leave (again), it was almost 6.30 !!  Ho hum.

Beautiful day on the Gold Coast – Clear skies and forecast for about 30 degrees.  I had checked the weather forecast for my route, and although it had been up in the 40’s a day or so ago, it was supposed to be cooled down today. Supposed to be !!

Heading out to Warwick

At about 8.30 am I stopped for a half tank of surprising cheap diesel in Warwick ($1.16 a litre), and then half an hour up the road we stopped for Trooper to have a quick walk in the trees, I made a ham and cheese roll, and then we continued on.  I work on the theory that I try to keep driving until Trooper gets restless, and then depending on how restless he gets, I either stop for a quick walk for him, or I keep going as long as I can.  In the back of the Toyota he has his large bed on the bed framework (where Janet normally sleeps) inside, which takes up a lot of the space.  I then have the staircase I have had to make for him to get in and out (he is too old and arthritic to jump in and out anymore, and too heavy for me to lift him in with my bad back, and then all the cushions for the beds inside are piled up at the very back.  So to actually get Trooper out of the car takes about 4-5 minutes, and as a result, I only try to stop when he is very restless (ie desperate !!). 

Warming up in the Outback - 39 deg C !

Today, he seemed to settle down OK, and as the morning wore on, the temperatures outside got hotter and hotter, until by about 1 pm in was 39.5 deg C !  Not only would this make it most unpleasant to stop, but out in the middle of the bush where we were, the flies were atrocious – All the flag men at road works I passed were wearing head nets to keep the flies away, and everyone not wearing a net was swatting hard – Not conducive to stop !  Luckily Trooper seemed to be OK in the back, so I kept going !

The new side awning over the kitchen

By about 3 pm I knew he must be getting a bit desperate, and by this time not only had the temps started to plummet, but it even started to rain !  Worse than Melbourne with its 4 Season in one Day !!  So we had a quick stop and then I kept going till 5 pm when we came to Coonabarabran, where I saw a campsite we have stayed in before, right beside the road, so I decided that was enough for the day. Sitting in a muddy layby free camping in the rain wasn’t too attractive.

Trooper checking everything out

I was able to try out my new side awning that I have recently fitted which overs the cooking area, and was able to cook my spaghetti supper outside despite the rain, sheltered by the awning.  A quick walk round the park for Trooper before bed, and that was enough for today.  Disappointingly, despite about 9 hours driving, I only managed to do 707 kms today, which I will need to improve on if I am to get to Perth in 5 days !!  We will see..

Other pics of the day here :- https://goo.gl/photos/rCQW2Zm9vhxEwQeXA