Up and ready to go, Tez arrived with the van, the last of the bags were packed before leaving Northam at 5.30am. Pilot Bugsy and Co-Pilot Sue welcomed the back seat passengers Mags & Tez aboard the special bus as we headed out for a scenic drive through Bolgart, turning onto the highway at Bindi Bindi.
Walebing - First pitstop for the morning, where you had to buy something to use the toilets so “coffee everyone” and on the road again.
As we watched the sun come through the clouds, the layers that had kept us warm in the early hours started coming off . Mags tuckerbox of lollies was passed around as we were introduced to our trip mascot Albert which soon changed to Baarb, Alberta, Babs etc.
Caltex Dongara - First fuel stop $1.54 pl – picked up homemade sausage rolls (yummy) which were divvied up for breakfast.  |
| Albert keeping his eye on the road |
Geralton – Drove straight through after our first view of the ocean, the fuel $1.45pl (damn it).
Northampton - just outside of town, time for a quick smoke stop where Sue couldn’t resist a taste test of the red things she found growing on a tree. And so, with her bushtucker skills "a smell first then a taste on the tongue" she decided to give it a go finding it tasted a little like tomato but spat it out ... just in case.
Sue also impressed us with a demo of her circle work on the road, leaving her skid mark of course.
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| Tasty tomatoes - we think |
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| Leaving her skid mark behind |
Binnu roadhouse left us fascinated with their clean rainwater tank toilets and after a quick pit stop and change of Co-Pilot, Mags sat up front as we headed along the road with Sue taking a back seat awaiting side effects of the bush tucker she had tasted earlier.
Billabong roadhouse was out next pitstop where we ran into bus loads of tourists but the toilets were free to use, no purchase required. The walls of the restaurant are covered in photos of people's tattoos and others but you would need a day to look at them all. We were on a mission, so had to keep going. Sue was issued her Pilot’s licence and off we went. Things soon sped up as we cruised along the highway passing the beautiful array of wildflowers, mulla mulla, smokebush, wattle, paper daisys, white & yellow pom poms and loads more colours blanketed the roadside, pondering who trims the neat edges on the highway.
Carnarvon - We came in through the Memorial Drive which has 645 plaques & palms representing the 645 lives lost on HMAS Sydney II in November, 1941. It was really quite solem.
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| HMAS Sydney Memorial Drive |
Unfortunately the visitor's centre was closed, so we had no choice but to visit the most disgusting public toilet we have ever seen, it is one of those automatic ones which obviously didn't work properly. After we had all been, Tez whipped out her bottle of hand sanitiser and we had a quick bath.
A wander up the main street, found tulip & frangipani trees, the start of Kingsford Smith's mail run, Sheridan’s kitchen and the Pimping Beauty & Apparel store, where "guess who" couldn't resist a photo. *See photo of the day*
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| Tulip Tree |
Refuelled at the Caltex $1.57 pl and grabbed a bite to eat before heading off in search of the organic fresh fruit & veg which took us past the big banana, bougainvillea and hibiscus.
Flood damage was still evident as we followed signs and found our way to a little stall with a lovely garden of Poinsetta and old roses. $20.00 got us a feast of fresh fruit & veg. Bananas were $6.00 a kilo so we brought 2 bags. A chat with the lady sent us off in search of a bougainvillea display passing lots of "no work" signs on the gates of banana plantations and mango trees. The walls of different coloured bougainvillea were gorgeous but we didn't take any photos. Maybe on the way back.
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| Heading over the Gascoyne River |
As we got back on track, heading over the mighty Gascoyne River, we contemplated the force of the river in full flood as it was earlier this year. We then drove past the organic fruit & veg place we had been trying to find earlier - always the way.
Minilya Roadhouse 6.00pm saw us parked up with the big rigs while we had a quick break. Twilight was upon us and cattle were starting to appear on the road.
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| The special bus - looks very special parked up with the big rigs |
We passed the Tropic of Capricorn sign but it was too dark to stop for a photo, things got a little strange when we saw a well lit telstra phonebox in the middle of nowhere.... could it have been the Tardis. What on earth is it doing there?
Nanutara Roadhouse 9.00pm a quick pitstop as Mags headed into the gents loo and Bugsy checked on road conditions ahead. Noting fuel was $1.86 pl. we didn't get any. Cattle on the road 20kms ahead meant a little slower and more cautious drive with not much longer to go.
Travelling 40kms, we turned left at the Onslow turnoff with only 80kms to go.
There were a couple of roos to avoid on the incoming road and we landed in Onslow at 11.30pm only to find absolutely nothing open and no rooms at the inns.
After checking a few places for accommodation, finally found a little patch of grass at the where Mags & Sue pitched the tent, Bugsy opted for the raft and his sleeping bag while Tez took the easiest option and curled up in the van with her snuggie.
As we drifted off into a well deserved sleep, all was good until 2am when Tez needed a pitstop and set the alarm off getting out of the van. Funny enough, Sue didn't hear a thing.
After checking a few places for accommodation, finally found a little patch of grass at the where Mags & Sue pitched the tent, Bugsy opted for the raft and his sleeping bag while Tez took the easiest option and curled up in the van with her snuggie.
As we drifted off into a well deserved sleep, all was good until 2am when Tez needed a pitstop and set the alarm off getting out of the van. Funny enough, Sue didn't hear a thing.
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