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Tales of the travels, trials and triumphs as we explore Australia in a converted bus

Motorhome Travels - June 2007

04/06/2007

Well, we have been out of contact for a while now. Not much CDMA phone signal along this coast.

Speaking of CDMA, we have at last updated our phone from CDMA (which served us very well) to the new Telstra Next G service. We are still able to use 'My Hour" for free phone calls and (very) low speed internet access, but we now have a data plan that allows us to use a small amount of high speed internet access each month.  It will be interesting to see how the coverage goes as we head further north from here.

 

The crayfish haul, WA. - [Click for a Larger Image]
The crayfish haul, WA.

When we were in Karratha we caught up with Matt and Marg, the guys we met at 14 mile last year. They have been working in Karratha for almost a year now. We spent a few days out at a great camp spot called Cleverville (about 20km north of Karratha). Matt and Marg came out to see us there with their tinnie and we all went fishing at the nearby island. Only a couple of fish were caught - but Matt and I got onto a good spot for crayfish. By the end of the day we had our bag limit of 8 big painted crayfish and we headed back to the motorhome to cook a couple on the BBQ.

 

As we head further north it seems like deja-vu  - we have been here before - last year to be exact. I think it will be nice when we are up past Cape Keraudren and back in 'virgin territory'.

 

Last night we stopped at the Yule river rest stop - I am guessing it is managed by the Port Hedland council. Since last year they have more than halved the size of the area by fencing a large part of it off. This means that the toilets and many of the bins are now inaccessible. Just to show how much thought went into that decision, they did not even empty the bins before cutting them off from vehicle access - that's clever.

 

The night-time temperatures are now dropping, with overnight lows in the order of 18deg - this makes for far better sleeping than the 30deg plus we have been used to.

 

23/06/2007

 

Broome is not what we expected. We were told that it was a nasty tourist town with nothing but inflated prices to offer.  Well it is not the place to bargain hunt - but it is really not that bad. Cable beach is really nice (at least the clothed end is - we have not been to the bare end yet) and the whole place reminds me of Cairns in Queensland.

Roebuck Plains Road House at sunrise - [Click for a Larger Image]
Roebuck Plains Road House at sunrise

We are staying at the Roebuck Plains Roadhouse, about 30km from Broome - my sister and brother-in-law are working here so it is good to catch up with them while we are in the area.

 

The right front tyre on the motorhome has began to show signs of extreme scuffing, and the motorhome is pulling badly to the left. We have been to all of the workshops in Broome but none of them want to know about the 10 ton motorhome. After a few phone calls we decided to try a 'manual wheel alignment' - this involves using an expanding tent pole to adjust the toe-in/out of the steering system. Sounds frightening ah? Well after the adjustment we took her for a drive and it is heaps better - she now sits on the road quite well. We will have to wait and see if the tyre scuffing has stopped or not. We will do a proper wheel alignment when we get to Darwin.

 

24/06/2007

Jimbo - Australian legend at the Roebuck Plains Roadhouse, WA. - [Click for a Larger Image]
Jimbo - Australian legend at the
Roebuck Plains Roadhouse, WA.

Last night the roadhouse tavern put on entertainment in the form of Jimbo the stand up comedian. We were warned that he was "just a bit on the crude side". This turned out to be like describing the Pope as "a bit on the religious side".  However, we both really enjoyed the show and while we may not be able to recommend that you take your nana to see him, we can say it was extremely entertaining and a fun evening. The Photo to the left is of Jimbo and I the following morning with his slightly broken car (which from what I read on his web site [www.jimbo.com.au] often doubles as his accommodation).

 Jimbo's website features a diary of his time on the road and it is well worth a read.

Good luck mate - we hope to catch you again sometime (and I hope the SPCA never catch you).

 

28/06/2007

On Sunday we took the Moke into Broome to visit the markets. We decided to take our cameras thinking it might be an interesting place to capture some images of the more colourful locals.

Broome photographer Nigel Gaunt was at the market with a display of his local landscapes. Nigel runs photographic tours in the Broome area. We decided to join Nigel on one of his full-day tours.

Sunset Photographer - Tracey shoots the sunset on Cable Beach, Broome, WA - [Click for a Larger Image]
Sunset Photographer - Tracey shoots
the sunset on Cable Beach, Broome,
WA

It was an early start to get to Broome for the 7:30 pick up. We had a really great day and found Nigel to be extremely enthusiastic and generous with his knowledge. There was a wide range of photographers on our tour but Nigel managed to deliver great value to everyone. The tour finished at about 7pm with an opportunity to photograph the famous Broome sunset (complete with the camels on the beach).

Check out Nigel's website www.reddirtphoto.com.au

 

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