On the Road Again!

Well after a long stay in Adelaide we have hit the road again and it didn’t take long for the adventures to begin.

We left Adelaide on a cold, rainy Friday night about 8 pm and decided to drive all night and get as far north as we could. We spent our first night driving through Port Augusta and then on to Coober Pedy by late afternoon. We camped at the underground camp ground and went for a short tour around town. We then decided to find out which was the best route to take north. Many travellers had told us there was water in Lake Eyre and worth a fly over, so we headed for William Creek. We had wanted to go via the Painted Desert, but the road was closed due to flood waters and recent rain. When we arrived in William Creek we found that the flights were booked out for days, so we took the 4WD track to Halligans Bay and saw water, a once in a lifetime event!

Our next trek was back to William Creek and north along the Oodnadatta Track. We left William Creek about 6 pm and arrived at Oodnadatta at approx 11 pm. It would have been sooner, however we got bogged in a particularly muddy part of the track about 10 kms south of Oodnadatta. Unfortunately car troubles struck again and we found that we couldn’t engage 4WD. After much swearing by Doug, we ventured into the mud and luckily found a tree that was capable of withstanding the winch and we winched ourselves out sideways. The troopy and trailer were up to the running boards with mud and half of Doug’s leg as well.

We decided that we would have to get back onto bitumen (with no 4WD) however, that meant following the Oodnadatta Track all the way through to Marla. While most of the track was great to travel on, there were some very muddy patches that were quite treacherous and you could feel the mud pulling you every which way. And Sue hit a kangaroo! But not just a kangaroo, a mummy one with a joey in her pouch. After much tears and angst, Doug was able to get the joey out and since it was quite large we felt confident it would be able to survive on its own.

Continuing along the track we reached Marla at 4 am, and headed for the Northern Territory border. We pulled up for a 2 hour sleep and then took to the road again to reach Alice Springs on Monday morning. We had mail there for collection and rocked into town only to find it was a Public Holiday. So we are happily camped in a caravan park, constantly pulling mud off the troopy, the trailer and shoes. Meanwhile Doug has tried every mechanic in town to fix the 4WD for the rest of the trip. Even though everyone in town is busy for weeks (great for them, not for us!), we were able to get it fixed and are on our way tomorrow. It looks like we will take the Sandover Hwy to Mt Isa, continue on to Normanton and follow the Savannah Way or Gulf road around to Darwin. Well that’s the plan at least!

1. Map of Oodnadatta Track.

2. Doug at Lake Eyre

3. Dead fish at Lake Eyre

4. Salt crust and muddy footprints at Lake Eyre

5. Swirling mud patterns in Lake Eyre Mud

6. Bogged on Oodnadatta Track

7. Winch tree in background

8. Troopy after a wash

9. Muddy trailer

June Update

It’s been a long time since the last blog and while the time has been filled with working, catching up with family and friends, and travelling to and fro, we don’t feel like we have been on the year long trek we set out to take. It’s amazing how plans change and even more exciting things happen!

Sue finished working at Mandurah and Doug got a week's work in the Perth CBD drafting. So a little bit of money was earned, but made us realise how much we enjoy holidaying and don’t want to go back to work.

We spent a final week with Doug’s parents in Perth and flew back to Melbourne to pick up the troopy and trailer. We spent a freezing cold week in Melbourne making sure everything was to Doug’s satisfaction with the new gearbox. We decided to take the vehicle up into the mountains, so visited Marysville that was destroyed in the bushfires of Feb ’09. It was very sad to see how much of the town had been destroyed, but very uplifting to see people rebuilding and lots of other people visiting and putting money into the new community. We also spent some time visiting Sue’s old family home and primary and secondary schools; it’s amazing how much things change when you don’t visit very often. Finally, after all was satisfied with the vehicle we set off for Adelaide, via country Victoria. We passed through Bendigo, and headed west using a crazy GPS to take us through every small town and unused highway possible.

After a week in Adelaide with more freezing cold weather and lots of rain we are finally making plans to head north, however no decision has been made as to where and what route to take.

Perth Update

It’s been several weeks since we limped into Melbourne and then flew across to Perth. We stayed with the Senior McEwans for about 3 weeks and then this week Sue got a 5 week locum job working at the Mandurah Hospital (75 km south of Perth). We have been given wonderful accommodation to stay in as part of the job; we have a 3 bedroom, 2 storey townhouse on a canal estate, with canal and sea views. Doug couldn’t be happier…he’s a kept man!

We spent the last few weeks catching up with a few friends and family. We weren't expected to be in Perth for Easter, so we have missed catching up with some having been away on school holidays. But really we want to get back on the road, Northern Australia is calling us. Hopefully all car repairs will be made at the end of Sue's job and we will head back to Melbourne and the start our desert trek.

Planes, trains and automobiles

I don’t even know how to start this blog…since the last posting we have had a couple of dramas, starting with car troubles and ending in a plane flight to Perth.

After leaving our last beautiful location we headed for Hobart to do the final stretch of our Tasmanian adventure. Then Doug started hearing a noise from the gearbox he didn’t like. Several mechanics in small towns lead to a service in Hobart that declared the Troopy a ticking time bomb. Well the ticking didn’t last long and ½ hour after booking a non-refundable ticket on the Spirit of Tasmania to return to Melbourne and start the next adventure; the gearbox decided it only wanted to work in first gear, second gear and reverse. Well thank goodness for RACQ Ultra…a couple of phone calls and we were towed first to a caravan park, then from Hobart to Devonport where we able to limp onto the boat.

We decided that the best possible and most expensive gearbox available was the only thing that was going to get us through the rest of the trip. So we left the car and trailer in Melboure on Good Friday, poor Doug…tow truck, car, boat, car, train, tram and plane in 2 days!

Anyway we thought let's not waste the time we have, let’s visit the family in Perth…and maybe get some jobs. Maybe that will help pay for a gearbox that is worth more than the vehicle!

East Coast of Tasmania

 


After a beautiful day at Cape Naturaliste, the next day was a big disappointment, with smoke from a bush fire choking us out. It was not close to us, but the wonderful view we had was obliterated. So we headed south via the Bay of Fires to stay with Doug’s aunt and cousin in St Helens. Like a lot of people they have made the sea change, from Perth to Tasmania and loving it! We had a wonderful stay and explored the Bay of Fires beaches. Even though the Bay of Fires is defined by blue sea, white sand and red algae on the rocks, this extends all the way down the east coast. We have stopped at some amazing beaches all the way down to Freycinet and Swansea.

We spent a day exploring Freycinet National Park and stayed at Friendly Point at the Friendly Beaches. And once again couldn’t help ourselves and went down a 4WD track. Well this one was signed as a hazard, but it wasn’t as difficult as some of the other tracks we’ve been down recently…probably to stop litigation! Anyway after a stop at the beach we noticed the axle on the trailer was cracked…so some investigation under the trailer showed it was actually nearly broken through. This suggested that we should brace the axle with anything we could find…2 jack handles, 2 hose clamps and fencing wire! Eat your heart out MacGyver! We made our way out of the National Park extremely slowly and headed for Swansea for some welding repairs and blogging.

1. Map of East Coast of Tasmania, 2. The Gardens, Bay of Fires, 3. The Hazards (Granite Outcrop), Freycinet National Park, 4. Friendly Beaches, 5. Friendly Beaches, 6. 4WD Hazard Sign, 7. Broken axle on trailer, 8. Swansea, view from where I am writing this blog.

North Tasmania

Well once again it’s been weeks since the last blog and we’ve been having such an amazing time in Tasmania. It has been such a fantastic surprise to explore Tasmania and find beautiful places, friendly people and relaxing experiences. We simply love it here…but we can see that the weather has been perfect most of the time and we are seeing it all at its best.

Since the last blog we travelled from Crayfish Creek to Wynyard along the north-west coast, then headed south again to a small town called Tullah. When we visited Trial Harbour (prior to the horrendous 4WD experience), we met a lovely couple from Victoria (Helen and Alex) who offered us their holiday house to use when they went back home. So we took up the offer and spent about 4 days (maybe 5…can’t even remember the days anymore!) enjoying their home at Tullah. Of course we explored the surrounds, first visiting Montezuma Falls via a 4WD track (I know Sue said never again, but hey we didn’t die the last time!). The falls are the largest single drop falls at 104 m…and can be viewed by a swaying footbridge 5 stories above the riverbed (see Doug’s video). We then went back to Zeehan (only 11 kms from the falls) to drive through the “Spray Tunnel”…an old mining tunnel shaped like a keyhole to take a boiler through the mountain. The dimensions are 3 m high x 2m wide…troopy just fitted. The next day we took a steam train ride on “Wee Georgie Wood”…the train goes around town and passes the house we were staying in. If you happen to be sitting on the toilet with the window open when the train goes by…well a little bit embarrassing! There were also a couple of dams in the vicinity and up at one dam wall we saw several platypus happily playing.

We started our northward travels again by passing through Cradle Mountain…however the weather had turned a bit wet and overcast, so we didn’t stop to explore any further than the heavily populated car park. We travelled on to Leven Canyon and camped the night. We were told by some campers to view the canyon in the morning, it would be worth it. So not being morning people at all…we made the extreme sacrifice of getting up before 9 am. Well it was worth it! It was (well words can’t describe, and the pictures do not do the canyon justice)…morning sunlight on the mountains, mist rising and falling over the tree tops and a roaring river below.

We then travelled through some glorious countryside to Burnie and on to a lovely town called Penguin…where of course they have run with the theme and not only have the Big Penguin, but penguin rubbish bins, penguin murals and anything penguin you could think of. From there we travelled to Sheffield, south of Devonport, where the town has reinvented itself by painting murals depicting life in the area on their public walls. There are some fantastic art pieces to see and worth the visit.

We decided to bypass Devonport (as we will explore the town when we finally leave Tasmania) and went south to Launceston. We decided to visit a town called Carrick on the way, as we were told there was a caravan and campervan gathering. At first we were told 400 caravans would be there, then it was 600 and finally in the town the number exploded to 1000. So we had a perverse desire to see this many caravans in one place…well it was packed, vans parked head to nose…not for us…we like to be well away from all the other tourists.

So once again since we knew we would be back to Launceston later, we just visited the east side of the Tamar River that connects Launceston to the sea. Absolutely beautiful, and surprising how much land all along the river without houses …oh to be rich and buy up a million dollar view for a heck of a lot less! Well next thing we know we found ourselves on the “Wine Route”, so a tasting was in order…yes we did buy and are still happily drinking.

The next part of our journey has been along the north-east coast…off the beaten track a bit. Most people take the route to Scottsdale and then on to St Helens and the Bay of Fires. We will get there the long way. At present we are at Cape Naturaliste north of the Bay of Fires. We have the campground and beach to ourselves, so we have indulged in a little “naturaliste” ourselves. Swimming and sunbathing in mid-March! So here we are again, stopped for a few days in sunshine and beautiful surrounds feeling sorry for all you poor souls suffering the daily grind at home.




1. Map of Travels (North Tasmania), 2. Early morning cuppa at Leven Canyon, 3. Leven Canyon, 4. Big Penguin, 5. Sheffield mural, 6. Doug with sickly wombat, 7. Weymouth, North East Tasmania, 8. Cape Naturaliste, N.E. corner

Video Link

After many attempts by Doug to upload his videos to U-Tube he has given up and just has them on his Facebook page. So if anyone is interested in watching some short videos here are the links. BTW you may need to be a Facebook member to view????

Putting up camper trailer         


and 

4WD Tassie

  
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