Our first Big Trip...
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Our first Big Trip... |
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ALICE SPRINGS TO ARNO BAY - EYRE PENINSULA S.A.
18/05/2006 DAY 1.
We left Alice Springs about 9:00am after checking the van tyre pressures at the local Woollies fuel stop. We made our way down the Stuart Highway towards Stuart's Well(Jim's Place). Just before we reached Stuart's Well we heard strange sounds coming from the rear of the vehicle so I pulled over for a look see. To my surprise I found that the safety chain had lost a D shackle and there were two ends that had been bouncing along on the bitumen. I thought I had a spare D shackle in the van boot but do you think I could find it...no!! The only thing we could do was head on to Stuart's Well and hope that they had D shackles for sale ...yeah right! No such luck, so there was only one thing left to do and that was me returning to Alice 90kms away and buying a couple of the shackles so that we could re-attach the chain and be legal again. So, first thing was unhitch the van in the free camp ground next to the Camel Farm and while Geraldine stayed with the van I headed off back to town, a 180km round trip. Two hours later I returned with the damn shackles and we were able to head off again. What is that saying about Murphy's Law...
Because of this delay it put our timings out by two and a bit hours so it was 3:00pm before we managed to leave the SA/NT border behind. So much for getting to Coober Pedy on the first day. We passed a couple of rest areas where there were other vanners and motor homers parked for the night but we decided to keep going to Marla where we stayed at the caravan park behind the main building. To our surprise we found the park quite good and the facilities were quite reasonable. ($17 per night for a powered site for 2 persons).
Just as an aside that bloomin shackle that I thought I had as a spare,... well, while we were setting up the van in the Marla park guess who found it, Geraldine!! Could have saved myself a two hour trip back to Alice if I had lifted the TV aerial bag hanging on a hook...Murphy's Law again...! Oh well, tomorrow is another day. At this rate we will probably take another two days before we get to Pt Augusta.
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19-05-2006 Day 2.
Today we managed to get on the road by 8:15am after a good night's sleep. We travelled down to Cadney Park where we topped up with fuel ($1.65 per litre) and grabbed a coffee before continuing on to Coober Pedy. There was a continuous stream of motorhomes and caravans heading up north all day. Most of them were Grey Nomads heading for warmer climates or doing the 'Big One' round Australia. Petrol prices going up hasn't made any difference to their travel plans.
We arrived at Coober Pedy about 11:30am for more fuel and a short break. We then continued on to a rest area about 80kms down the highway for lunch. We have found that the left front passenger door on the vehicle does not want to lock. That will need to be checked in Port Lincoln. Also, the gear change lever is playing up occasionally refusing to go into gear. The car is already breaking down. Also, the fridge doesn't seem to stay cold with the 12v system even though we have had the wiring checked by an auto electrician in Alice before we left. On the positive side, the Waeco freezer is working like a dream staying at -18c all day. No problems there. We will just have to make shorter distances between overnight stops so that we can switch the fridge to gas or 240v. As we get closer to Pt Augusta we will start to maybe only do 300kms per day.
After lunch we plodded on till we got to Glendambo where we booked in for the night ($18.50 per 2 persons (about $15 over-priced for the facilities)). Tomorrow we will hopefully get to Pt Augusta. A couple from Geraldton W.A. parked alongside us just as the sun was going down and we chatted about our trip and theirs. They have just done the trip from Perth to here via Pt Lincoln and the Eyre Peninsula in two weeks. We told them we were doing the same to Kalgoorlie. They are heading north to Three Ways and then heading east to Cooktown and then down the coast. Retired for a year they said time was not an issue.
Typical Murphy's Law again, we bought a Satellite TV system for use in remote places where we thought we couldn't get any TV reception. Both at Marla and Glendambo we are getting Imparja, 7Central and ABC/SBS using the normal TV aerial. Maybe we will get some use out of it crossing the Nullarbor!!! Tomorrow is another day.....
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20-05-2006 Day 3.
Glendambo, what can I say. It's a fuel stop between Woomera and Coober Pedy that has a Hotel and caravan park out the back. Ok for an overnight stop and that's all. Got up early to take a photo of the sunrise which was quite good as far as sunrises in the outback go. We got away by 8:15am, no point in hanging around when you have to get somewhere else!! Along the Stuart Highway there are lots of photo opportunities with the wildlife. Wedgetail eagles, dingoes, crows, white cockatoos, galahs, emus, cattle and the occasional kangaroo. Roos are nocturnal and end up as roadkill on the highway after dark. Then in the morning the eagles and crows come in to clean up the mess. An easy meal for most. Sometimes, however, they become victims as well as the cars speed past. Wedgetails do not like to leave their meal once it is claimed and sometimes wait a little too long before taking off to avoid being hit by cars. It's really sad to see such beautiful creatures get injured or killed.
We saw a couple of emus walking alongside the highway on the gibber plain near Pimba. After coffee at Ranges View rest area (Cmp3 #502) we continued on to Pimba where we fuelled up again for the final push to Pt Augusta. Apart for it being a beautiful clear day the rest of the trip was uneventful. We decided that we would try out a different caravan park at the 'Gutta'. We will stay at the Foreshore C/P for two days before heading to Whyalla. We also set up the satelite TV system and tried out the shades that are attached to the van's rollout awning. It all looks good and the TV reception is DVD quality. What more can ya do except sit down relax and have a beer....
One thing is for sure, we have passed and met up with a lot of caravanners that were heading up the 'Track' to Darwin and beyond. They aren't wrong when they say the baby boomers are retiring and becoming the next lot of 'Grey Nomads'. There were hundreds of them in the last three days and they come from everywhere, W.A., N.S.W., Victoria, S.A., Queensland and Tasmania.
Ah, tomorrow we sleep in!!!
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21/05/2006 Day 4.
Today is Sunday and therefore a day of rest. We slept in till 7:50am, had a cooked breakfast and then went and did a bit of shopping at the Big W store in town. Geraldine had every intention to do a bit of washing but changed her mind and decided to do a bit of knitting instead. Washing can wait till another day. Earlier in the day we saw all the vans around us depart on their journey up north. After lunch the park started filling up again with more vans staying overnight. One lot of three vans that arrived were from Tassie. The first two drove themselves in but the third was towed by the RAA truck that had the Toyota landcruiser with a boat on the roof sitting on its tray. Apparently, so the the lady that belonged to this van said, when they stopped at the Woolies fuel stop in town to refuel, the pump that they thought was diesel turned out to be an unleaded petrol bowser. Now diesel and petrol dont mix very well so that could be an expensive repair job once they drain the petrol out of the tank. We found out later that the lady had gone for the cheapest price on the bowser, it was one of those multi fuel bowsers.Unleaded being cheaper than diesel!!!!!
Its late afternoon and I'm watching a NRL game on TV while I'm typing this entry ,Roosters vs Souths. Rabbitohs getting thrashed as usual.. The Sat TV system is working like a little ripper. 13 TV channels and about 30 Radio channels and all DVD quality..
Oh, I'm in the process of growing a beard. It's a weeks growth so far and all the hairs are grey or white; should be an interesting combination when its done.
Tomorrow we head off to Whyalla. Finally entering country that we haven't seen before.
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22/05/2006 Day 5.
We managed to get on the road today by 9:00am, heading west on the Eyre Highway towards Whyalla. The scenery along this section of the road is similar as that coming into Pt Augusta from the north, low shrubs interspersed with farm land. Around lunch time we drove into Whyalla and saw the HMAS Whyalla the largest permanent land-locked ship in Australia. The former wartime corvette was the first ship built at Whyalla's BHP shipyards in 1941. Finding a petrol station on the main road in Whyalla is near impossible. We spent a good deal of time looking for one. We drove into the old town centre and ended up in a dead end street. After driving around for a while we finally found an Ampol station of a side street to the west of the main highway and filled up. We weren't impressed with Whyalla so we decided to head further south to Cowell and see what that place was like. Cowell is situated on Franklin Harbour a 48sqkm natural harbour with calm waters that has for many years fostered it's reputation as one of the best fishing destinations in South Australia, or so the brochures say. It is a quaint little fishing village and we stopped to have a quick look around and tried out the Bakery and had a chicken pie. Very nice!
After lunch it was on to Arno Bay a smaller and quainter fishing village that has one caravan park, pub and general store. We booked in and soon were settled in. We met up with a retired couple who are on their way to Perth to see family but have been on the road for the past three months travelling across from NSW. They have crossed the Nullarbor about six times so they had good info about fuel stops and camping locations. We took a walk to the marina to look at the fishing boats coming in. The boats are involved in fish farming and basically go out each day to feed the fish held in large containment nets a couple of kilometres offshore.
After the walk we were invited to join in a happy hour with John and Joyce before dinner. We talked about vans and various other matters of importance to nobody in particular. We tried the local fish and chips for dinner and then watched a couple of DVDs because the TV reception was crap and I didn't want to set up the Sat system just for one night. Tomorrow we continue on to Pt Lincoln where we will stay for a few days while I see if I can get the passenger door lock fixed.
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