Motorhome Travels - August 2013
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08/08/2013
Giles Breakaway (at the western end of the GCR) is a great place to camp for a few days - and a great place to photograph. We even had a visit from a group of camels.
The video of the second half of the Great Central Road is now finished and has been uploaded (see below). This has some footage of Tjukayirla Roadhouse, the Great Phantom Crash and Giles Breakaway
When we made it to the coast, Geraldton greeted us with high winds and some fairly serious seas. There would be no diving for a while. We took care of a few minor repairs while in Geraldton and purchased a 2.9m inflatable boat and a 5hp outboard engine. We have been discussing the (lack of) boat situation for months now and it was time to do something.
As always the big issue is "where are we going to put it? We decided to locate the outboard on a (soon to be constructed) bracket next to the washing machine in the Moke bay and the boat itself will need its own outside locker. There is just one place for this new locker and it will involve moving some air tanks.
![The new boat locker - [Click for a Larger Image]](IMG_0168.jpg)
The new boat locker
With the boat and engine inside the bus (not very convenient), we headed south from Geraldton to our old favourite camp spot at Cliff Head. While the weather had settled a bit, the water was still far too dirty for diving - this did not stop us from trying out the boat and engine. Both went well. After a few relaxing days at the beach we headed south to Leeman to visit my sister and bro-in-law.
Once parked up at Leeman we started work on the outboard engine bracket and boat locker. Our new drinking water tank has also been delivered and this will need to be fitted.
Building the engine bracket did not take long, and I'm very happy with the results - the boat locker has been much more of a mission. The packed size of the boat will require almost every available millimetre of space and to this end very careful planning and design was necessary. After three days of solid work we are almost finished but now the weather has decided to rain on our parade and we will be delayed for another day or so.
![My underwater visitor - [Click for a Larger Image]](G0041881.jpg)
My underwater visitor
Before the weather deteriorated we did get the opportunity to do some diving off the Leeman coast and were rewarded with a nice Baldchin Grouper. While diving, I had a visit from a friendly and curious seal (who almost made me jump out of the water when he first arrived).
We will be here in Leeman for another few days before heading north in search of good weather and clean water.
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