Clare to Wycheproof

This is the last day in what has been an unforgettable journey through some of Australia's remotest country ,as we thundered through this desolate landscape at times with not a lot to take our interest .  I took many moments to reflect on just how lucky I have been travelling with these 3 wonderful brother in laws ,no bull s....t or bad manners just an all out great time was had by all. As we sit in the cabin here in Clare time is running out and the dream will soon be all over , life will resume some sort of normality at sunset tonight. Leaving Clare around 7.30am we are heading for Tanunda for our last big breakfast together,we filled our little bellies one last time then hit the road for home. With about 550 ks to go I sure that I will enjoy the remainder of this wonderful trip. We continue in a easterly direction cutting through the Mallee towns of Murrayville   Under bool    Patchewollck and Speed This country has gone from just so so 3 weeks ago to a green paradise since the good rains have gone through this area ,this is the Mallee at its best. We haven't eaten a lot of s..t today because  mother inlaw Mary has promised us a roast on our safe arrival into Wycheproof ,I hope she has peeled a bag of spuds because we have not had a decent roast for over 3weeks. We decide to have just one last drink at the Patchewollck pub but alas not opening till 4pm, one last chance for that elusive drink and the location is now set for the Minapere hotel at Lascelles . One quick pot and were off again ,Wycheproof here we come the smell of a roast is calling. Our arrival goes unnoticed in this small sleepy town but that's how we like ,no fanfare for this group of weary travellers . With the gear unpacked and sorted I think we can all smell that roast, better get to Mary's because we would hate to miss out on a good feed . Thanks to all our followers and I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we did.............WADDA

Ceduna to location unknown

As we scratch around the cabin at some ungodly hour the decision has been made to alter our travel arrangements ,today we will head for a little known place called Lucky Bay where the touring party will board the  ferry to Wallaroo . As we check all the marine charts for wave heights and tidal flows i suggest sea sickness pills might be the order of the day for some . STOP PRESS the big Ford has just died from a mystery ailment ,with heads downs and bums up we are un able to locate the problem . 3hrs on every Tom Dick and Harry has probed the guts out of the Ford but no cure can be found,so the decision is made to leave our faithful friend in Ceduna. With our bums in a new set of wheels called a land cruiser we head out off town bound for home , today is day 21 of this fabulous trip so we have been lucky nothing happened at one of the many remote locations we visited . As we head back towards Port Auguasta passing through many small farming towns you can see life creeping back after the rain ,the paddocks are green and the crops are starting to come through ,the rain continues. The Agent has taken care of our last nights accomadation in the small country town called Clare , just another cabin and a long way out of town so taxi required to get a feed and return. Still raining so it's home to watch the footy on a very small TV. The excitement of a roast at Mary's is to much so it is early to bed for our big run home tomorrow..............WADDA

Cocklebiddy to Ceduna

We awaken to rain and more rain ,yes in the middle of the Nullarbor the rain is coming down, we have a quick breakfast then hit the road to Ceduna . The road home is still about 2500 ks long and care still needs to be taken , after stopping at Eucla for fuel and a quick look around we March across the  SA boarder .We manage to stay ahead of the rain but it looks gloomy up ahead , after the Nullarbor roadhouse we arrive at the head of the Bight so we detour down to view the coastline and try to spot some whales, no luck with the whales and the coastline was rugged . Another side trip to Fowlers Bay then we continue to push eastward ,we arrive on the scene of an accident where a small camper van has tried to force its way past some native fauna . The 2 young people from Holland have tried to park a kangaroo on their dashboard, with the wind screen broken the 4 Man Aussie assault team get to work and make it safe to drive this bongo van to the next town to have repairs done . With still along way to Ceduna we loosen the reigns on the big Ford, the Big4 will be our stopover point tonight and we can't wait. Just on dark we arrive at the Big 4 and check in to our 3 bedroom cabin, now it is off to the pub for a counter tea .The rain has finally caught up with us again so we grab a cab home for an early night ,there will be no nightcap tonight ,with 1 more night on the road with these 3 wonderful travelling companions just let me say how lucky I have been to have these 3 blokes      make my dream come true let's hope this trip meant as much to them as it did to me .........WADDA

Kalgoorlie to Cocklebiddy

Today we have lined up a fairly easy day, but not before we sus out a few sights around this very historical town. First on the list is the super pit and what a pit it is , it is impossible to explain the size of this hole in the ground it is so incredible . As we drive the streets viewing some very old buildings we come across the shady past of this old mining town, yes Hay street is alive and well . The worlds oldest profession is thriving in this old town. 0930 we had better fuel up our bodies before we hit the wide open spaces of the Nullarbor Plains . We will have all eyes focused on the road ahead today because Red and Blue lights scare the driver ,we will undertake this 700k journey with care and caution . These wide open plains don't have not much to offer the travelled hardened traveller but we manage to stay on the side of sanity till we reach our resting place tonight. COCKLEBIDDY . The evening meal was fine but the wine was harsh ,so we retire to have a night cap . Stingy people out here I tried to borrow 4 wine glasses to take back to our room ,but a solid NO so now we sit at this lonely desolate bit of space in the middle of nowhere drinking some $9.99special out of a vegemite jar. Well the lads have found another gear so I must stop blogging and take care of the next round of fun.....WADDA

Kalbarri to Kalgoorlie

To knackered to send a blog last night, what we set ourselves yesterday was just shy of 1200 ks to get to the mining town of  Kalgoorlie. On our departure from Kalbarri it was still raining and dark, with our arrival in Geraldton this will be our last look at the civilised world for about 10 hours. We turn the Ford to the east and off we go, the first small town we come to is Mullewa about 100 ks out of Geraldton. This place does not do much for us so we push on passing through small places like Pindar and  Yalgoo then arriving at Mt Magnet some 350ks east of Geraldton. This is the main stopover point for the transportation of mining equipment throughout this vast area, plenty of big rigs and big loads parked here. The tummy rumble is back for a couple of the travellers ,so 2big breckies coming up. With another 300 ks to Leinester we continue eastward arriving at Sandstone a small historic mining town about halfway to Leinster. My interest in this remote place is called London Bridge ,this is a sandstone natural formation in the form of an arch. My well laid plans are soon shattered due to heavy rain in the area ,yes the road is closed . Leinester will be our next stop some 600ks inland from Geraldton. To my surprise this well planned and well maintained place in the middle of nowhere is almost a ghost town. Able to house  4000 people this town is slowly dying ,as we fire up the jets and begin to head south the last 300 ks won't take long. The Ford has been making easy work of these huge mileages ,as the throttle is eased back we see flashing light approaching us from the other direction. This could be a ticket to the police mans ball, yes when they saw these 4 travellers get out of the car they knew we were harmless so we kicked into HAVA CHAT mode . No ticket so we head of to Leonora for a fuel stop ,this town has to much idle time as everybody seems to be doing nothing. Not far out of Leonora is GWALIA another mining town , but this one has a very deep hole called the pit . Very impressed with this operation ,this is the only place outside the USA to employ a future USA president ,his name was HUBERT HOVER. With time fast running out we head for Kalgoorie arriving just on dark, gotta eat again so hoo roo,,,,,,,,,,,,,WADDA

Denham to Kalbarri

With our arrival at Denham we are on the lookout for a good feed of seafood, after checking in to the Tradewinds apartments we head off in search of a small restaurant we have heard about. Not long and we turn up a place that should suit our needs, this small but tidy place had me just spellbound. What a quaint little place to spend an evening ,plenty of food and plenty of wine then retire to our gigs for the  night .With the last of our Mitchelton fine wine collection almost gone it is time to think about the times and places where we consumed this lovely wine. Exotic places like Port Augusta. ,Alice Springs ,Top Springs. ,Kununurra  ,Derby  ,Broome. ,Marble Bar  ,Point Samson. ,Exmouth  ,and  of course Denham yes this much travelled wine has been consumed as a part of our survival training in the harsh outback of Australia . Now back to today's blog ,up and off to Monkey Mia to see the dolphins and try out there big brecky  ,the weather has turned on me it is cool and wet . If you remember Fly left my only pair of jeans hanging behind the door at the Top Springs pub so I now have to battle the elements. The road to Kalbarri is long and lonely with a couple of roadhouses in between not much else. We arrive in Kalbarri  with the rain still falling gentely so we locate the Villa Reef  Resort ,with a bit of haggling we rent another room so now we can spread out a bit . With the foxtel on the go we intend watching the footy  before going out for tea ,,,,,AGAIN ,we all need a good home cooked roast very soon . Tomorrow if the rain stops it is off to wander through a few gorges ,so see ya tomorrow...........WADDA

Exmouth to Denham

As our journey continues to head south the temp starts to fall, gone are our 39c days we are now back to 30c days and going lower. The trip from Exmouth today we went through some of the harshest and driest country for the whole trip. Saw plenty of wild goats but not a lot of cattle ,it is just so dry and all the rivers and creeks are dry . After we left and called into Coral Bay wasn't that impressed with ,people jammed in everywhere ,won't hurry back. Many more hours of driving  we arrive at Carnarvon ,seems a fair size town so we go for a quick spin around and yes we are surprised . Bigger than we thought and very tidy, gotta go still 300 odd ks to go not much to see but sand and saltbush. As we near Denham things seem to get a bit better yes they have got a town right on the edge of the sea ,and what a tidy little place. Mrs Chatter box from the Motel gives us a full run down on the town and every location within a100ks ,just doing her job I suppose. We are going to dine out at a seafood place for tea tonight , just hope it's ok. Nothing else say to on what could only be described as a lack lustre day on the road..........WADDA

Hunters and gathers

No more wobbly legs or head for me and Paul , yes we stayed on dry land today while the other 2 went out hunting and gathering on the high seas . While we stuck to domestic duties the others decided it was their turn to bring something to the table. The agent has sent a text message telling of some monster fish and to and start getting ready for a feast. We'll we kept up our end of the deal so now we wait ,the waiting is over and there bus has just arrived back and the Agent is carrying what looks like a bag of fish. As we all sit around the fishing stories just keep on coming ,there is the one the shark took ,then the tangled line story the one that got away story but all in all the boys had a pretty good day. The Agent was declared the winner on the day, but just remember that the Barra king did not venture out on the high seas . Yesterday's whale shark watching and diving took it's toll on me and Paul so well done to the Agent. So sorry no photos to night just to busy eating today's catch ,so bye for now.........WADDA

Ningaloo Reef

Monsters at Ningaloo

As I said yesterday we are off to swim with the whale sharks today ,and this is it how it went. The 40 min bus journey out to where the boat is tethered we passed the joint US & AUS communications area which serves the whole Southern Hemisphere . There were 20 people on this tour and at $410.00 a pop not bad work if you can get it. Pretty soon I noticed a frown on the dive masters face ,what's wrong with him I thought . Maybe he lost his dog or just maybe he spotted me and Paul ,the latter I would say. Time to do some snorkelling ,instead of sucking air down we were sucking water, all right for awhile but very soon you start to flood .After spluttering my guts out I returned to the mother ship for further guidance, with my leaky mask and air vent fix I was ready to return . Pretty soon the the first sighting occurs,and we are armed with every instruction on shark safety and our own personal protection . My information overload kicks in and I just keep clear as this huge thing glides on past,taking on the monster in its own environment is a risky business . After 2 dives we call it quits and retire to the safety of the the main deck, food is mentioned and  our attention is soon off the sharks. I spend the rest of the day just grazing on anything they offered ,after falling asleep on the bow of the boat I begin the pass air out of my nostrils which sound like snoring . Paul soon has me awake before people start to laugh ,it is still only about 2pm. The Agent has been absent from this trip today, the car needs cleaning and washing also our washing needs to be done food to be brought and dinner to arrange ,yes we kept him busy all day. Tonight's meal will consist of takeaway Chinese well done Kev , Terry and Fly are on a fishing charter tomorrow ...bye.....WADDA .