How do I cram three more months of travel into a short space. Our phone hotspot decided that
it didn't want to play the game so we've had to go without most of the time. After Mataranka we went to
Katherine for N.T.Day then up to Darwin for a week. Car needed servicing. Did tourist things around Darwin
which was great. While there we purchased a 120a/hour battery and wired it in. On our way back we called into
Katherine and an auto Elec to wire in an anderson plug and redarc isolator to car and van so we could stay longer
in free camps. Having done that we then stayed at a number of free camps across to the West. including Big
Horse camp ground, C o c kburn Rest Area, Spring Creek Rest Area (visited by 2 big Steers.) Mary River Pools.
We travelled through Hayes Creek,& met Tanya Kernighan(?) Lake Argyle, Pussy Cat Flats, Halls Creek, Fitzroy
Crossing,Derby, Roebuck Plains. (Broome) Then off to Gold Wire Rest area, Sandfire R/House, Pardoo R/House,
Port Headland, Des Stuckfress Camp site, Marble bar, Karatha, Nanutarra R/House, Barradale Rest Area,(The
Burger Bus comes here every day, great burgers.), Canarvon, Denham(Shark Bay), Nerrin Nerrin Rest Area
(Question, why do people who are fully self contained stop close to the toilets?) Principality of Hutt River,
Kalbarri, Geraldton, Badgingarra R/House, Swan Valley,(Train to Freo & Perth,plus the Chocolate Factories.)
Quairading ( almost new C.Park $25pn 2a.)Kalgarin ( Tesses C.P. Wave Rock for the flowers etc.) Ravensthorpe Esperence, Norseman,Caiguna, Mundrabilla, Nullarbor R/House, Head of Bight, Ceduna, Elliston, Port Lincoln. This is where we are at present and it has been raining most of the day. This is just a quick highlight of where we've been, it doesn't tell of the fantastic country we are in, or the great people we've met on our little journey of 139 days so far. (We've found that without a charge system of some type we cant free camp for any more than 3 days, so when we get home we'll have to investigate what we will need for the next trip.) We have been astounded by the beauty and variety of the flowers and countryside that we have seen so far. It's a great country PeterpanKev n Hil
-- Edited by Peterpan on Tuesday 20th of September 2016 06:29:19 PM
Bushpie said
07:44 PM Sep 20, 2016
That is a fair swag to take in in three months, I reckon you will be at home for five minutes and want to do it all again. I reckon when we get out there we would like to do five days free camping so will watch with interest to see if you can get that set up.
Glad you have enjoyed the wild flowers of the wild west.........they are pretty special and this year exceptional.......keep on travelling
Gaylehere said
08:04 PM Sep 20, 2016
Great you're enjoying your trip. On a whole what was the weather like?
Peterpan said
10:13 AM Sep 21, 2016
Gaylehere,
The weather has been pretty good for most of the time. The northern parts were quite warm.
SWMBO says Hot. Coming down the west coast was very nice until Esperence when the rain and
cold winds began to arrive. The 5 Days across the Nullarbor, for 3 of them it rained, the other 2 it was
fine but cold winds made it uncomfortable.The nights were very cold. Mostly scattered showers on
the way to Port Lincoln, 1st day fine and sunny with cold nights, next day it rained all day, today the
sun is shining but still cool.
Peterpan.
-- Edited by Peterpan on Wednesday 21st of September 2016 10:14:59 AM
Aus-Kiwi said
02:53 PM Sep 21, 2016
What a difference the south coast is this time of the year . During summer I was out swimming . Yes up north temps stay pretty much the same . You went the other way . We started Mt Gamier the coastal all the way to Darwin . The back down centre . Man oh man . It's winter down there !! Back home in Penrith NSW now . Till New Years .
PeterD said
02:53 PM Sep 21, 2016
Peterpan wrote:
G"Day All,
How do I cram three more months of travel into a short space. Our phone hotspot decided that
it didn't want to play the game so we've had to go without most of the time. After Mataranka we went to
Katherine for N.T.Day then up to Darwin for a week. Car needed servicing. Did tourist things around Darwin
PeterpanKev n Hil
Kev, a tip for you. You don't have to use the carriage return like you do on a typewriter. Don't hit the enter key at the end of the line. Let the computer word wrap the lines for you.
newhorizons said
03:15 PM Sep 21, 2016
Hi Peterpan, I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned the Burgerbus on here but it was the biggest surprise to me. You could hardly get a more isolated spot than Barradale and there it was halfway between Minilya and Nanutarra! An enterprising station owner is running a great little business there in the tourist season and doing very well from what I could see. Also, there are extensive roadworks going on just south of there and there seemed to be a few roadworkers taking advantage as well. The burgers are well worth it too, very generous, farm style. I took a photo and will try to add it below. Also, Nerrennerren was a great spot to camp. It was a Sunday when I stayed there and you wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near the toilets as they were well used and only seem to be cleaned on weekdays. I'm not self-contained but got there early and got probably the best spot up by the station fence. The bird life there was remarkable. There was a blue wren dancing to its own image in my car windscreen and I managed to get photos from inside the car. (not a great photo as it was moving too fast!) Both were great spots to camp and generously maintained by the local shires. If the picture appears below, I've managed to do it. If not I may need instructions. NH
We have reached SA in time to park at Wallaroo Nth Beach CP. just in time for the high winds and rain to hit us. We managed to get through that without any damage to either car or van. Moved on to Minlaton to do some Family History stuff. From here on the wheels have fallen off my little red wagon,I have succumbed to a very serious bout of sciatica,pain is reducing my efficiency as a driver and set up person. We drove from Wallaroo to Windsor Gardens CP and only needed 2 stops to relieve back pressure, tomorrow we move on again and hopefully will be home next week. It's a real bummer as we had plans to do lots of things on the way home.By the time we get home the 6 months will have just flown by,and the things we didn't experience this time we'll get next time.So until our next journey on the road
Safe travels to all.
Peterpan
Kev & Hil.
-- Edited by Peterpan on Tuesday 11th of October 2016 09:39:41 PM
Gaylehere said
10:54 PM Oct 11, 2016
Safe travels to you to Peterpan and I am pleased the weather didn't play havoc with your van ans vehicle. Sciatica pain is no fun at all. I hope it passes soon and you get to go back to SA to see and do what you missed this tie round. Take care.
Peterpan said
09:02 AM Oct 18, 2016
Thanks Gaylehere,
We have arrived home, the travelling was fairly slow as I couldn't drive long distances.
Xrays have been done, physio today, hopefully some improvement,so we can plan the next trip.
G"Day All,
How do I cram three more months of travel into a short space. Our phone hotspot decided that
it didn't want to play the game so we've had to go without most of the time. After Mataranka we went to
Katherine for N.T.Day then up to Darwin for a week. Car needed servicing. Did tourist things around Darwin
which was great. While there we purchased a 120a/hour battery and wired it in. On our way back we called into
Katherine and an auto Elec to wire in an anderson plug and redarc isolator to car and van so we could stay longer
in free camps. Having done that we then stayed at a number of free camps across to the West. including Big
Horse camp ground, C o c kburn Rest Area, Spring Creek Rest Area (visited by 2 big Steers.) Mary River Pools.
We travelled through Hayes Creek,& met Tanya Kernighan(?) Lake Argyle, Pussy Cat Flats, Halls Creek, Fitzroy
Crossing,Derby, Roebuck Plains. (Broome) Then off to Gold Wire Rest area, Sandfire R/House, Pardoo R/House,
Port Headland, Des Stuckfress Camp site, Marble bar, Karatha, Nanutarra R/House, Barradale Rest Area,(The
Burger Bus comes here every day, great burgers.), Canarvon, Denham(Shark Bay), Nerrin Nerrin Rest Area
(Question, why do people who are fully self contained stop close to the toilets?) Principality of Hutt River,
Kalbarri, Geraldton, Badgingarra R/House, Swan Valley,(Train to Freo & Perth,plus the Chocolate Factories.)
Quairading ( almost new C.Park $25pn 2a.)Kalgarin ( Tesses C.P. Wave Rock for the flowers etc.) Ravensthorpe Esperence, Norseman,Caiguna, Mundrabilla, Nullarbor R/House, Head of Bight, Ceduna, Elliston, Port Lincoln. This is where we are at present and it has been raining most of the day. This is just a quick highlight of where we've been, it doesn't tell of the fantastic country we are in, or the great people we've met on our little journey of 139 days so far. (We've found that without a charge system of some type we cant free camp for any more than 3 days, so when we get home we'll have to investigate what we will need for the next trip.) We have been astounded by the beauty and variety of the flowers and countryside that we have seen so far. It's a great country PeterpanKev n Hil-- Edited by Peterpan on Tuesday 20th of September 2016 06:29:19 PM
Glad you have enjoyed the wild flowers of the wild west.........they are pretty special and this year exceptional.......keep on travelling
Gaylehere,
The weather has been pretty good for most of the time. The northern parts were quite warm.
SWMBO says Hot. Coming down the west coast was very nice until Esperence when the rain and
cold winds began to arrive. The 5 Days across the Nullarbor, for 3 of them it rained, the other 2 it was
fine but cold winds made it uncomfortable.The nights were very cold. Mostly scattered showers on
the way to Port Lincoln, 1st day fine and sunny with cold nights, next day it rained all day, today the
sun is shining but still cool.
Peterpan.
-- Edited by Peterpan on Wednesday 21st of September 2016 10:14:59 AM
Kev, a tip for you. You don't have to use the carriage return like you do on a typewriter. Don't hit the enter key at the end of the line. Let the computer word wrap the lines for you.
Hi Peterpan, I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned the Burgerbus on here but it was the biggest surprise to me. You could hardly get a more isolated spot than Barradale and there it was halfway between Minilya and Nanutarra! An enterprising station owner is running a great little business there in the tourist season and doing very well from what I could see. Also, there are extensive roadworks going on just south of there and there seemed to be a few roadworkers taking advantage as well. The burgers are well worth it too, very generous, farm style. I took a photo and will try to add it below.
Also, Nerrennerren was a great spot to camp. It was a Sunday when I stayed there and you wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near the toilets as they were well used and only seem to be cleaned on weekdays. I'm not self-contained but got there early and got probably the best spot up by the station fence. The bird life there was remarkable. There was a blue wren dancing to its own image in my car windscreen and I managed to get photos from inside the car. (not a great photo as it was moving too fast!) Both were great spots to camp and generously maintained by the local shires. If the picture appears below, I've managed to do it. If not I may need instructions. NH
We have reached SA in time to park at Wallaroo Nth Beach CP. just in time for the high winds and rain to hit us. We managed to get through that without any damage to either car or van. Moved on to Minlaton to do some Family History stuff. From here on the wheels have fallen off my little red wagon,I have succumbed to a very serious bout of sciatica,pain is reducing my efficiency as a driver and set up person. We drove from Wallaroo to Windsor Gardens CP and only needed 2 stops to relieve back pressure, tomorrow we move on again and hopefully will be home next week. It's a real bummer as we had plans to do lots of things on the way home.By the time we get home the 6 months will have just flown by,and the things we didn't experience this time we'll get next time.So until our next journey on the road
Safe travels to all.
Peterpan
Kev & Hil.
-- Edited by Peterpan on Tuesday 11th of October 2016 09:39:41 PM
Thanks Gaylehere,
We have arrived home, the travelling was fairly slow as I couldn't drive long distances.
Xrays have been done, physio today, hopefully some improvement,so we can plan the next trip.
peterpan