The Run Home

It has been a long time since anything has happened on this blog and we must apologise. Now where were we last time, yes the Margaret River, not a bad place an we think next time we will stay for a few weeks.

Anyway we left the sleepy town (not really) for Margaret River and headed south towards the bottom, firstly stopping at Hamelin Bay where there are massive stingrays just swimming along the shore, not  a Steve Irwin in sight.

The next stop was Augusta and Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, where the 2 great oceans meet (Indian and Southern), it is very exposed and could easily see how boats ended up on the rocks (see below).

From here we made our way up in to the forests driving through Nannup on our way to Pemberton to see the famous Gloucester Trees (used in the old days as lookouts for forest fires). a very interesting concept, lets find the tallest tree, hammer a heap of steel spikes in to it and then put a lookout at the top.....seemed to work but i am sure it would have been a hard slog to work everyday. There are still a couple of these tree set up as tourist attractions and you can climb them. We did not take the opportunity for a number of reasons, firstly not fire season and no need to look for fires,  secondly may have looked like a stupid idea in the first place and thirdly at 75m high heights did not look like fun, especially when there is only one way up and one way down, passing looked very dodgy.

Leaving the heights of the lookouts we headed towards Albany, stopping for the night at a lovely place called Walpole. This place is a favourite for families and fishermen, has a great little river system and easy access out to the reefs if the weather is OK.

The next morning he broke camp and headed off to the Valley of the Giants (just outside Walpole). Here there are some massive Tingle Tingle trees that grow up to 60m tall and there is a tree walk that takes you up in to the canopy. It is amazing to be up that high and whilst it seems that the walk in constructed will there is a lot of movement up high.

After our walk through the trees continues east stopping at a magic little spot called Green Pools, seems to be a popular family swimming spot with massive protected rock pools. The water was the usual clear WA colour and the place was packed.

Declining the option of a swim we were back in Trev lot long after, next stop Totundirrup NP and Albany. Here we did the usual tourist things, Blow Hole (no blow that day), the Gap, Natures Bridge, all very interesting.

After exploring all or most of what Albany had to offer we decided to head straight to Bremer Bay for the night. This too is a popular spot for families and fishing with a great collection of different boats around. From all reports if becomes even busier when the local farmers decide they want to go fishing (normally in march when the weather is better), this is when the real boats arrive. Must be good money in growing 100,000 acres of wheat. Anyway, was a nice place even if it was only for a day.

Leaving BB, we drove through the back roads through some incredibly large wheat growing areas, whilst they had had a bad season (in their terms) there still seemed to be a lot of wheat around. May be they should try and grow something on the East Coast and then will see what they have to complain about. We arrived in Esperance by mid afternoon and decided to stay at one of the nice caravan parks along the front. The weather then closed in and as things were not great we headed to the movies instead. Was something about chicks dancing in their underwear so not too bad.
First light Tom headed down to the pier to see if he could catch some squid, no luck so it was back to bed for a while.
As we were heading across the bottom there were a few things that needed to be checked, this is when things turned. Trev decided he didn't like his battery any more so RAA was on the job, 1 new battery and we were on our way. We initially planned to head out through Cape Arid NP and up to 4WD track towards Balladonia but after talking to a few people and looking at the weather (rain forcasted) we decided to head the long way around up via Norseman (Gold mining town) and then across to Cocklebiddy for the night, a small run of about 650kms. As we travelled through this area we noticed a number of salt beds by the side of the road.

During this stretch we travelled across the longest straight stretch of road in Australia and Cindy decided it was her turn to drive.

Mission accomplished and we made it to our destination just before it closed at 9pm. Camping in the back of Trev for the night as there was little other option.

In the morning we kept on tracking East towards the board and the Great Australian Bight and the famous Nullabor. Shortly after crossing the border and with Cindy at the wheel we encountered our second major issue......now we are not sure of the reason but after 10,000 km Trev decided he didn't like his oil and would drop the lot, likely this happened just as Cindy was pulling up to see the start of the Bight.

Now she will say it had nothing to do with her but this is yet to be proven.......anyway with 1 sump plug missing we were on the phone to RAA again. Second time in 2 days. Luckily we managed to get a spare from Eucla (about 20kms down the road) and along with some of the most expensive oil you have ever seen we continued on our way stopping to have a look at various viewing spots of the Bight

and the eternal search for that perfect windmill shot Cindy had been chasing the whole trip....got it.

With the Nullabor conquered, what a barren place, we travelled 1000kms from Norseman across the Nullabor and only saw 2 sheep, nothing else...we only wanted to see a camel or two....maybe next time then. Did manage to see a lot of signs though....

Again arriving at destination after dark we slept in Trev, seemed like a nice place to stay shame we were not going to be there long......or so we thought, Day 3 with the RAA, Trev now didn't like his clutch. With the master and slave cylinder gone. As it was Australia Day and nothing was open no spare parts in town we were stranded for the next few days......3 days in Ceduna. Luckily the good people at RACQ came through with accomodation and hire car. The next 2 days were spent having a look around town (that didn't take long) and then a little exploring. We went down to Smokey Bay and Streaky Bay for the day, stopping at Streaky Bay for a great lunch looking over the water.

As we were stuck for a while Tom decided that it was time to put that very expensive and yet performing crab dilly to work, first night 3 sandies, not having a measuring stick clearly meant a lot went back that could have been kept. Also need more bait as there was hunders of them everywhere. Only 1 squid though. The next night was far more successful with 15 more in the fridge bound for Adelaide the next day.

With Trev fixed and only 800kms to go to make Adam's 40th we headed off after lunch, stopping for a look at a few places along the way. Arriving in Adelaide about 11ish, got lost driving in.........

Adelaide for the 40th, and whilst here we thought it was time to have a look at Trev and see if we could fix the manifold.......now you have heard of opening Pandora Box.....well this was an understatement.
With the assistance of brothers and father (as well as a qualified mechanic spectating) we went to work. The mystery was quickly discovered and the golden spanner from Cooroy obviously didn't tighten all the nuts/bolts on the manifold, hence the back ones had fallen off.....easy ...replace manifold. Whilst this was in process Tom decided he should investigate where this mystery nut (that had punched a hole in the timing belt cover) had come from. Well this made the manifold issue look minor. This nut had come off from the bottom wheel of the second timing belt (balancing belt) and had bashed around inside until finally punch through the cover. Now some history, this occurred when we were in the Kimberley's about 8000kms ago. Anyway the nut was gone, the bottom pulley had wedged itself sideways in the housing and the belt was raped around behind the time belt. Now some will say that we were lucky, other would say we should not have opened up Pandora's Box....your call, either way we were in too deep and the experts were called in (mechanics around the corner). We spend the next 4 days in the comfortable surroundings of Adam and Sasja's place, whilst waiting for the repairs. Was far to hot to do anything except head to the movies, so that's what we did.

With Trev all fixed we made a last dash for home (Kingsville), Cindy needed to be back for work and Tom for golf, and we need to find a place to rent. Was a slow trip through the night but managed to get back safely arriving at 5am in the morning. As little rest and we headed off to view a property in Mt Eliza.....the rest is history, we have now settled in Mount Eliza and both are loving it. Cindy is now commuting to the city and Tom had set up his own business TH Freight Solutions......life is good...........

We hope to finish the rest of our trip around NSW and Qld at a later stage but thanks to all for putting up with us and being part of the journey.....it is something we can truly recommend if you ever get the chance