NIK `N` OFF

New Year Update

2012-01-17T17:25:00.009+10:30

Christmas and New Year has been and gone, quite a relief for me actually as the shopping razzamataz that occurs at this time is not appealing. Sure the young kids love it but they all get way to many presents and i don't think they really appreciate it all. Anyhow that's me being a Grinch ....what have we been up to since my last post.

Christmas this time was spent down South at Jo and Dave's property near Donnybrook, with around 25 people attending we choose to tow the Van down so we would have our own bed, some other family did the same with their Van and along with the house beds Jo & Dave's Camper trailer we all had somewhere to sleep. Jo and Dave put on an excellent venue, with 60 acres and no close neighbours it was a great place to chill out and enjoy the company. Our nephew Chris bought a heap of black plastic sheet and set up a slippery slide which got a lot of use from the younger crew, Christmas lunch was a feast to behold with enough food to feed us all for the following few days as well. One awesome surprise was our Daughter Erin and BF Scott surprising us with a visit from Adelaide, I had only just spoken to her that morning and she was sitting down to their Christmas lunch, 6 hours later here they were!!

With Christmas out of the way the next to get past was New Years Eve, we usually don't bother going out and celebrating the New Year, most years we would be in bed by the time clicked past midnight. This year though we had been invited down to South Yungerup to see in the New Year with Geoff & Vickie and their family Julie & Darryl. Julie & Fozzie as his mates call him have a lovely home on the Murray River with cleared park land between their home & the river, the ideal spot to park the Van and lovely views of the boats travelling up & down the river.

Ist job was to have a look at Fozzie's Van and find out why he had some gremlins in his electrical system, with much checking and undoing wires and connectors we soon all agreed that the problem was with the size of the wiring used on the two batteries and the way they had been connected together. With that diagnosed it was time for a beer. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent chatting and laughing at the many jokes Fozz could roll off, Yes we saw the New Year in, all 6 of us were determined but none of us were really jumping out of our skin with excitement and we all headed off to our beds at 1am.

Next day Geoff & Foz kindly helped me adjust the caravan brakes and replace the handbrake cable, simple jobs but those that i am finding harder to do with my hips & back giving me grief. I really appreciated the help.

Since New Year we have just been parked up at home base, our eldest Daughter and her family have been living in our home for the past 3 years whilst we have been touring around and it's handy being able to come back and visit. Even at home though we still choose to live in our van, having our own space helps not just us but our Daughter and family stay sane. What else helps my sanity is i have a shed and am able to muck about fixing or fabricating all the jobs that have been adding up.

First off the rank was to modify a bike rack that i bought on our trip so that it could be attached to the rear of the Ute, this wasn't to difficult as i was able to utilise the spare wheel lifting brackets to fit the carrier to. I then had to alter the spare wheel carrier's themselves which was a job long overdue as i was never happy with the way they were attached in the 1st place. Unfortunately i cannot weld aluminium and was only able to do the steel fabricating leaving the actual welding of the brackets to my Aluminium fabricator Paul who has done jobs for me in the past.

Spare wheels yet to be added

Next job was to alter the stone guard on the front of the Van, Bushtracker use a double outrigger style for attaching the stone guard to the van but this is annoying as it requires stepping over each time you need to access the drawbar of the van. Some mates had changed theirs to get easier access and i copied their idea but didn't go to the same detail they did. Having weighed the Van recently i was concerned about adding more weight and decided to keep things simple by just doing what was required. I went and bought a 2.4mt length of 50x25 steel and welded that to the sides of the stone guard where it is the closest to the drawbar, then cutting off the unwanted sections of steel, It was a simple matter of drilling 2 holes either side and using galvanised bolts 200mm in length along with a section of 6mm plate being the bottom plate the bolts went through, tightened up it is solid and adjustable if required.

Another job to do was get the Thetford Toilet Cassette flushing again, this problem 1st arose 3 years ago when in Alice, one of the micro switches that control the flush had packed it in and replacing that fixed the problem, so i was fairly sure it was the same thing again. Getting the mechanism out though is fiddly, with a small opening and the switch contained in a plastic cover on the ceiling of the cassette it requires a mirror, long arms and ability to operate in an uncomfortable position. Having done it previously i at least knew what to do and soon had it out and changed over the switch. Reassembling it all was harder as i had to locate the screw holes whilst looking in a mirror and trying to hold everything in place. Finally after some cursing it was done and time to test, Bugger ! more cursing as the unit didn't flush, with only two wires to connect surely i didn't connect them incorrectly? With only one thing to do and that was remove it all again and change over the wires, and go through the process of putting it back together, this time i had some luck as it worked.

Getting through the jobs on the van i turned my attention back to the Ute, now coming from an F250 to the Toyota Ute was a big change in internal dimensions, the F250 had enough space to fit a 40lt Engel between the front seats, not only were the drinks handy but it made a great arm rest. The Toyota ute has the smallest excuse for a centre console so i set about making a larger one that could double as an arm rest. Geoff had already done this on his Ute and was happy with the result, mine was to be slightly different as i wanted to use a console lid off another vehicle to make it appear more genuine factory look. All this did was restrict me in the size i could make but the end result was a console 4 times larger and high enough to rest my arm on comfortably, I also did away with the small open storage console and made another to match in. With that done i then attempted to make an overhead console, The vehicle already has a centre roof mounted console and the new one was to fit in sideways across the screen, so out came the cardboard for templates and the jig saw, a few hours later i had it covered in auto carpet and fitted up. Both these modifications make the storing of maps and the usual bits and pieces we have in the cab easier and safer to access.

With me mucking about in the shed finished for a while it was time to take our Granddaughters away in the Van, being 7 & 5 and the 1st time they had been away we decided to not go to far and chose the Woodmans Point Caravan Park for 4 nights. Unfortunately we chose to go when the weather was at it's hottest, with temperatures hovering around 40 for the 1st 3 days, 2nd mistake was to go to the Zoo in those temps as the girls soon were tired of walking around looking at exhibits that were either empty or holding lifeless animals. So cutting that short it was off to the beach for a swim & play, within 5 minutes of being in the water the eldest had been stung by stingers ! Back to the Van park to treat her with fresh water, and burn cream we then went to the van park swimming pool only to be some of many doing the same. Sleeping arrangements required the centre lounge to be changed into a bed for the oldest Millana with Ruby sleeping up on the main bed with Vickie, i got to sleep outside in my swag.

Looking back they say they enjoyed it, we certainly loved having them but being Grandparents it is wonderful to be able to give them back.

So that just about takes care of what we have been up to, some things yet to happen are:

Vickie's next eye operation, we are unsure exactly when it will be as this time the op is being done under the public health system, she does have a specialist appointment in February and we may fly back to Adelaide to attend that. In the mean time she needs to undergo a stress test and see a cardilogist to find out why she gets unexplained chest pain.

With all that, i also have seen Dr's and a Specialist regarding my hip and have been scheduled for a urgent hip replacement, urgent meaning sometime March, we are hoping that none of these medical problems stuff up our plans to go to Ningaloo in May, fingers crossed.

Nullabour - Home - Dec 2011

2011-12-14T22:50:00.011+10:30

With both rigs covered in mud in wasn't a difficult decision to get off the bitumen again and explore some more caves along highway. The 1st we checked out was Murra-El-Elevyn and like the other's it was a large sink hole in the ground, the next was well known being Cocklebiddy Cave though after driving 11klms in on muddy tracks we found it to be closed to the public due to the danger of rock falls. It didn't stop Geoff from getting close to the entrence and taking a few photo's, the cave has been explored to the length of 6.34klms and much of that requires the use of scuba tanks and lot's of carting gear up and over ledges. I wasn't prepared so that was my excuse.

That night we stayed in the bush not far from Caiguna Blowhole, a last chance for a camp fire and a bike ride down a few tracks before settling down in front of the fire and enjoying the serenity of a clear night.

Like most .... we were no different, when the horse turns for home we were the same, clocking up more klms the next day than what we would normally do in 2-3 days found us in Norseman for lunch at the lookout and then stopping the night between Southern Cross and Coolgardie. Tonight was the solar eclipse so that was a good enough reason to sit up and view the night sky, the fact that we had our mates with us and it was to be our last night together for a while it made it even more special.

So our three year journey has come to an end with us now home for Christmas, but it isn't a total end to our travels, we have some medical appointments to keep and depending on the outcomes of those plus impending birth of another grandchild we intend to be back on the road again ....... heading to our much loved Ningaloo for two months next year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR, SAFE TRAVELS TO ALL

Streaky Bay - Nullabour - Dec 2011

2011-12-08T13:30:00.020+10:30

Ceduna was a planned shop stop with the girls heading off to Food land whilst Geoff and I went to the bottle shop to get supplies for the drive West. It was also where we had lunch at the Bakery, whilst certainly not up to Stone Hut standards it was good tucker.

We stopped at Penong Cemetery and introduced Geoff and Vickie to the the head stones that we have visited many times before - [See Here] We then decided to drive out to Point Sinclair and the Penong Town Beach in the hope that no one would be there and we could stay a night. Unfortunately that wasn't the case with some local ladies telling us that 50 Aboriginal children were due to arrive any moment for an overnight camp, hearing that we decided to move on and found a rest area along the highway far enough away from the road and the night truckers.

BBQ Lizard anyone?

Happy Hour

The next couple of days were to be very interesting, Geoff had mentioned to us about going in and checking out some of the caves and old sites along the old Eyre Highway. I first drove across from Victoria to WA in a Holden Station Wagon back in 1973 and most of the Nullabour was a dirt road. I don't recall the names of all the small servo's but there is a good chance i stopped at Koonalda for fuel, on this trip we still had to take to the dirt road's but it was far more comfortable with 4WD and Van in tow.

Before getting to Koonalda we left the Highway to visit Wigunda Cave, here Geoff and i got adventurous and climbed down the rocky shale slopes to the base before venturing into the cave itself, equipped with torches and rope we manged to get so far in before walls became to tight for large guys like ourselves. Back safely up top we continued on to the turn off for Koonalda, the access road taking us down to the Old Eyre Highway is quite good, some rough limestone sections but overall better than i remember back in 73'

Wigunda Cave

Clay Dam Soak

Getting to the Old Homestead at Koonalda was for us a very enjoyable experience, with the old house still intact and with a new roof, another smaller building in good condition and shearing shed though not in as good condition it was still standing and very interesting to walk around and have a look inside them all. The best part for me was checking out all the old cars scattered around the property, majority were Holdens with a mix of Ford, Valient, Vauxhall & Zephyr's along with one lonely Mini. It would have been a brave person to attempt the Nullabour in a Mini back then.

Old Sheep Yards Koonalda

Knocked off for Smoko

Geoff & Vickie surprised us with a Christmas Dinner of Turkey & Cranberry sauce and plum pudding and custard for desert

Geoff did some exploring on his Mountain Bike and found a small cave a kilometre from the homestead, we all went and checked it out and i wasn't that disappointed it's opening was too small for us to squeeze in though Geoff did try. That afternoon we drove a further 6klm's to check out the Koonalda Cave, this cave is fenced off and permit required to explore it, the base was a long way down and interesting to see a forest of fruit tree's down the bottom.

Geoff the 'Caveman' sink hole

Koonalda Cave

It was just as well we decided to explore that afternoon because later that night the rain started and it did not stop. As we lay in bed listening to the thunder and crack of lightening i was thinking about how muddy the drive out would be. The next morning we awoke to small lakes of water around us and the track looking like a river in parts. A small tour vehicle had left earlier and i half expected to find them stuck along the track. We stopped to take some photo's of each other forging through the mud and water but in the end it was an easy drive out, thankfully the rain continued and we got to wash the majority of the mud off the vehicles driving along the bitumen. We are now camped 15klms from the Border Village, overlooking the Great Australian Bight, the rain has stopped but the wind has picked up. With phone and Internet signal it has given me the opportunity to catch up with the blog.

Geoff & Vickie's Rig in the wet

Our Rig - photo taken by Geoff

Not the best weather for a walk but the view is lovely, our 'home' for the night.

Sheringa Beach - Streaky Bay - December 2011

2011-12-08T12:19:00.010+10:30

We stayed two nights at Sheringa Beach and moved on up the Peninsula stopping at Locks Well for a look and possibly i hoped, a fish. Vickie got all paranoid on me about driving down to the lower car park something we have done previously when we had the F250 so to save any 'eye explosions' i stopped at the top car park and got my rod and fishing bag and walked down the steep road to where the 291 access steps are to the beach. From the top the beach didn't look to bad, the tide was in but i thought if i can get around a rocky section i could cast into a deep hole at the Southern end. What i couldn't see until i got to the bottom was the tide was right up to the rocks and it would have been risky to try and get around and then possibly be stuck until the tide dropped, so with one single cast i then proceeded to climb back up.

Lots of interesting water pools

Further along the Flinders Highway we stopped at Colton Bakery, this is unlike any other bakery with just a small tin shed with loaf's of bread and rolls for sale if you get there early enough in the day as they are popular with locals and travellers. We were lucky and bought a nice tank loaf, some bread rolls and a packet of sticky buns, yum. We were heading to Streaky Bay to visit Lloyd and Heather, Bushtracker friends we met when we stayed at Streaky Bay previously, but we were also waiting for the Parkers to catch up after they visited people at Venus Bay so we decided to spend a night at Walkers Rocks, another attempt at beach fishing bought no results, the next day we continued on calling into Venus Bay and a walk out on the jetty, we spoke to a nice Italian couple who surprised us by giving us some Herring they had just caught, we had them for dinner that night and they were delicious.

Vickie and the bread, Colton Bakery

We have been along the Westall Scenic loop before and always stop at the Inselbergs known as Murphy's Hay Stacks. These large rocks were weathered and sculpted into their present form about 100,000 years ago. Geologists say the Hay Stacks are composed of pink granite from the Hiltaba suite of rocks which were laid down some 1500 million years ago. Amazingly these beautiful pink granites were formed at a depth of 7 to 10 kilometres below the earth's surface.It was nice to see the walk trail had been extended and we were able to explore further even finding a large Bee Hive forming on one of the rocks.

Murphy's Hay Stacks

That night we stayed at Tractor Beach a free camp spot nestled in amongst shrub & low tree's close to the beach. Getting in was fiddly with the track winding in close to large rocks but after reversing in with guidance from Vickie on the UHF radio we found a nice spot where we had our own private track to the beach.. Another Van was already camped up but apart from an initial hello from a lady who mentioned that she would let us set up, we didn't see them again at all until we were leaving.

Tractor Beach - Streaky Bay

Catching up with Lloyd and Heather at their beautiful home was great, such lovely people and very easy to like. With Geoff and Vickie still a day away from joining us, Heather took Vickie into town to show her some shops while Lloyd and i set about fitting some spring retainer brackets to their new Bushtracker Caravan. Lloyd has a large shed big enough to fit their Van, cars, boat and still lots of room for a work shop, something most blokes would envy. With Lloyd doing all the crawling around underneath and me supervising the job was soon done, Lloyd showed me the new style pivot blocks for the simplicity suspension and they certainly look a better style than what was available previously, I can see another job on my list when we get home. The girls arrived back and it was time for a beer or three relaxing under their patio looking at the amazing view they have.

The new pivot blocks compared to old style.

Spring Retainer Brackets

View from Lloyd & Heather's

The next day Geoff and Vickie arrived and we spent most of the afternoon chatting before going to the Streaky Bay Hotel for a great meal. On the walk back Heather took us on a tour of town and a visit to their Daughter Ursula & Son In Law Dion's home. A beautiful old style limestone home that was once a Hospital, they have modernised it but kept all the character the buildings of this era had. Dion is a bit of a legend in the district as we found out when we saw a huge set of Great White Shark jaws hanging in their home. At the local Shell Roadhouse there is a large display of the newspaper clippings and photographs along with a replica of the 5.5mt Shark that Dion caught when he was 21 years of age on 28lb line, even though it was the largest recorded capture it was not recognized as the leader line had stretched, what that has to do with it i don't know.

Photo courtesy of Saltwater Cowboy his phone worked mine didn't.

Early the next morning Lloyd and Heather drove to Adelaide leaving us to re-fill our water tanks and take both our rigs around to the local silo's weighbridge to check our total weights. Suffice to say Parkers Van was less than ours by around 400kg and not unexpected, luckily we are heading home to unload some gear. By mid morning we were leaving Streaky Bay and heading towards Ceduna & the West.

Erye Penninsula - 30th November 2011

2011-11-30T09:11:00.009+10:30

Time to catch up on 10 days, ....... After leaving Stenhouse Bay in the Innes National Park we drove across to Warooka to try and find some lizards, these are not the crawling live variety but arty crafty replicas made from road kill by a talented lady by the name of Kylie. Unfortunately we couldn't track her down but we did find out that the Minlaton Visitor Centre had some on display, it was also the town that friends Rob & Glenda have a property that we had previously stayed with some other Bushtracker owners after the Quorn Muster, Time for another visit we thought.

Rob & Glenda were out sailing the day we arrived so we set up camp and made ourselves at home introducing ourselves to some other Farmers who dropped in to borrow or replace items, Friendly lot all of them, but we did think we were just being checked out as to who we were and what we were doing. Late in the afternoon R&G arrived home and joined us for happy hour which then turned into a BBQ dinner. Next day I jumped in the Harvestor with Rob as he had to take it over to a neighbouring property, it was the 1st time i had been in one of these machines and was very interesting, i also got to see the B Double Semi get filled up with 40+ tonnes of barley. After that it was back for a coffee and then Geoff and myself filled the vans tanks with fresh rainwater and said our goodbyes.

Reaping at Minlaton

Geoff and I consulted as to which way we would head towards Mambray Creek which is part of the Mt Remarkable National Park. The distance was to far to travel in the day so we chose Bunyip Park at Koolunga to be camp for the night. The camp area is in a lovely corner of the town with plenty of tree's and bird life, All the bikes came off the Vans and we checked out a few trails, that was untill Geoff's bike broke a chain so a tow back to camp and we set about doing a bush fix. To make sure all was ok we rode around the town and found the pub so called in and had a couple of frothy's, Friendly people, Cold Beer all was good.

Next morning Vickie and i rode over to a Junk Shop and i could not believe my eyes, there laying on the verandah was a dual bike carrier in excellent condition! Geoff and i had discussed many times about how i should go about making a bike carrier when i get home and here was one almost exactly how we imagined it to be. $30 later and it was mine and we had cable tied it onto the draw bar of the van. Geoff kept muttering about how lucky i was ..... and yep i have to agree.

Yacka Picnic & Camp Ground

Next day called into Yacka and checked out a lovely picnic / camp ground, lots of mossaic tables and tidy grounds showed that the town had great pride. We were on the road that we had previously travelled when we went to Quorn and we knew that we would be passing by Snowtown and Stone Hut, so they were stops for morning coffee and the Hut for a bakery lunch. We all ate our fill and also bought some take away, were not sure how we ended up paying less and having more, just more luck on our part i guess.

Infamous Snowtown Bank - known for the bodies in the barrells

Mambray Park was dissapointing for us, we do not have a Parks Pass so had to cough up $26 for a night, any extra night was an extra $17 which we were prepared to pay but after getting chatted for riding the bike on some of the tracks we decided it was not for us. Our mates have a parks Pass and needed to catch up on some washing so we split with the intention of catching up again down the road. Vickie wanted to visit Melrose so that required another drive up over the Range, no drama's for the Toyota Ute, 3rd gear all the way up the steep windy road. Melrose was also a dissapointment, the Blacksmith Store that G&V wanted us to check out was simply a cafe and closed, their was an excellent Mountain Bike shop with some stunning bikes that i checked out, even taking one for a ride, very nice!

With that part of the journey being a waste of time we headed to Wilmington and back over the Range and down to Bush Bay at Fitzgerald Bay, here we would sit for a couple of days and wait for G&V to turn up. Being on the coast we were copping the wind but not alot we can do about it, Port Gibbon was our next overnight stop, we had been here a few times before but never stayed due to the amount of seaweed usually about, today that wasn't an issue and all we required was space to park up. My back & hips were not behaving themselves so some pain relief in the form of prescribed medicine was taken, the mistake i made was then to follow it up with some Scotch & Cokes, mixing both was not the smartest move as i then lost 9 hours of my life not really being aware of what i was saying or doing.

Port Neil Jetty

Port Gibbon Beach Shelter

Mick wearing Scottys NIMBIN Jacket

Next day we called in at Port Neil and then onto Cape Hardy, another spot we had not stopped at before turned out to be a lovely camp overlooking a sandy beach. We met another family who came over and shared our camp fire, they were 'local's' and told us about the Eucalyput Gallery back at Port Neil so next day it was back the 10klms to check it out. The owner was there but in the process of packing up and moving overseas but he did take the time to explain the process required for coating the leaves and other objects, suffice to say it was very involved. The girls bought some items and then we were back on the track this time heading to Lipson Cove.

Cape Hardy Beach

Being a Sunday the camp sites were all full but luck was again on our side as a family was leaving in the afternoon so we both were able to position the vans with plenty of space. The family we met at Cape Hardy had given us some Blood Worms and we were keen to finally get the rods out and try for some whiting. I managed to catch 3 and Vickie caught one, some young fella's gave some fillets to Geoff in return for lending them some mineral turps so between us we had enough fillets for a good feed of fish & chips for dinner for all of us. One of the young guys told us he had a scary moment with what he described as a 2-3mt white shark, close enough that it bit his flipper off ...... we are 50/50 on the truth of all this but he did appear to be shaken by it.

Geoff and Vickie were keen to check out Port Lincoln National Park whereas we decided to call into Louth Bay and visit Lawrie who has an excellent display of shells and critters plus sells smoked fish. Surprise !! G&V had beaten us and Geoff walked out with packets of smoked fish in his hands. After a long talk with Lawrie and saying our goodbyes again to G&V we checked out the camp area only to find it full. No worries we changed plans and headed to Sheringa Beach instead, here the wind continues to blow, an attempt at fishing yesterday only produced seaweed, today things are not much different.

Sheringa

Mitchell Park SA - Innes Nat. Park - 19th Nov 2011

2011-11-19T21:52:00.003+10:30

Two weeks after leaving Erin's new home in Mitchell Park we were back, we had arranged to catch up with Geoff and Vickie during our time as they were attending the KD Lang concert on Sunday. We had mentioned to them about 'Chicken & Rice' our favourite meal in China Town in Adelaide and they were keen to find out if it was as good as we had talked it up. Fortunately for us, the Parkers and the business concerned it was given the thumbs up.

Together we checked out the market for inexpensive and delicious food, Geoff and i took a walk to the local Cash Convertor store and checked out a large range of 2nd hand Mountain Bikes for sale, surprisingly for a shop like cashies they had some good bikes at reasonable prices. I was tempted but resisted the urge. The very next day [Saturday] i decided to drive back in and take another look, it was also the same day the Christmas Pageant was on and traffic and parking was a PITA. After cruising the streets for 30 mins i managed to park directly out front of Cashies. The bike i was going back to look at was still there but also they had another that had just been put up for sale, coincidently it was the same brand of bike that Geoff has though his is newer and has suspension forks. I took it for a ride and straight away knew that it needed a new crank bearing but at $90 it was still a good deal so i bought it.

Getting it back to Erin's i gave it a clean and decided to take it to a bike shop to get the bearing changed, apart from that and a new gear cable it was set to go, all up cost was $165 a lot cheaper than $500 - $600 for a new equivelent bike that would only end up getting scratched.

We left Erin's on Sunday when the Adelaide traffic was slight, our destination was Port Parham near Dublin. We have stayed there twice before and this time we hoped to 'rake' up some Crabs, alas that was not to be, we saw 5 but all under sized and the tides were not in our favour. We had decided to stay two nights and to our great pleasure Geoff and Vickie turned up the 2nd day, their original plans changed they choose to call in hoping we would still be here, they even bought us lunch of some Dublin Pies! .... arent they good mates !

We all had bikes so we spent some time riding around the small community of Parham, another great night of laughter and good music and we left the next morning heading to the Yorke Penninsula together. We called in at Ardossan to catch up with Jar & Pam a couple of Bushtracker owners we had met at the Quorn Muster, a lovely couple with great taste in cars, 3 Classic Mustangs and an Italian De Tomaso Pantera ..... SIGH ..........

With the hello's over it was time to say goodbye and we continued down the Yorke, we called in at Port Julia but it wasn't worth a stop, after a confer we decided to just take a drive down a few dirt tracks that headed to the coast. After a few no goes we came across a track that took us down near the Port Vincent Golf Club, here we found a good spot overlooking the cliffs and ocean, the only down side was the wind picked up and we were blown around trying to have our 'happy hour' How inconsiderate of the wind!

Down below us a car had ended up smashed on the rocks so Geoff & i walked down the cliff trail to check it out, no idea of how it ended up there but it wasn't going any where now except maybe further into the sea. Geoff and i got the bikes off and had a couple of good rides it was great being back on a bike, something i used to do regularly but hadn't for a few years.

Next day we found ourselves at Mozzie Flat, a nice secluded camp spot southwest of Yorketown. No mozzies around but we had more than enough bush flies to keep us company. We stayed two nights here and we all spent time walking along the beach, Vickie and i tried our hand at fishing and i caught a small flathead and two stingrays that were released.

Friday morning we broke camp and headed South to the Innes National Park, Vick and i had been here in 2009 and it was here that Vickie 1st had her eye problem, time has seemed to have gone by so quickly since then, and here we were again! Not a lot had changed, Stenhouse Bay camp ground appeared to require some TLC with the grounds looking uncared for, perhaps all the work and money went into Pondalowlie Well Camp that Stenhouse was treated like the poor cousin. Even the Information bureau needed a good clean with bird droppings all around the entrence, not a good look especially when they require you to pay them money to stay. Mind you the scenery is stunning and totally recommended.

Two nights here at Stenhouse and we had filled our time in with riding the bikes around many of the trails, an attempt at squidding and fishing of the fantastic jetty resulted in nothing! Vickie did come close to catching a huge squid but it dropped off the jig when she had half hauled it up. Last night we were entertained by a fabulous electical storm, here we all were seated in our chairs watching the lightening, listening to the thunder rumbling, and singing all sorts of silly songs .... it's moments like those .......... that make great memories.

Mannum - Mannum - 6th Nov 2011

2011-11-06T16:46:00.008+10:30

Saturday saw Geoff tackle the blocked drain in our Van, this had been annoying us for a couple of weeks, i had attempted to fix it by inserting some plastic coated wire cable down the plug hole but with no luck. My next attempt was to push some plastic tubing down as far as i could and then blow compressed air through it. This resulted in the water & air exiting the drain pipe but didn't fix the 'blockage'. I knew i needed to get down into the bathroom cupboard and remove the plastic T piece but my lack of flexibilty just would not allow me, fused spine and hips that no longer bend are limiting me and i cannot stand the frustration of not being able to do things, something i still have yet come to terms with.

Thank goodness for Geoff, he was able to get down and remove the T piece and as i thought it was blocked but not with food scraps but a plastic top off a small bottle had found it's way down the drain and was preventing the water escaping from the bathroom sink and causing an air flow blockage from the kitchen sink. With that removed the water now flows out quickly.

The next thing we tackled was the vans suspension, in particular the pivot block's. These are usually an easy to replace item, they are the main pivoting point on the simplicity suspension and will wear out depending on time and useage. I had already replaced both sides in the 1st year of owning the Van but at the same time i fitted some spring retainer brackets, these are i believe essential with this style of suspension and proof to me was that 3 years had passed since i had to 1st replace the pivot blocks. This time i had Geoff's help and we quickly had the Van jacked up and sitting on some axle stands and the suspension hanging freely, another 10 minutes or so had the suspension undone and removed from under the van. That is when the fun began, getting the stuck bolt of the pivot block out from the spring pack had us trying all sorts of things until we decided that the only option left was to dismantle the spring pack.

Changing out the Pivot Blocks

After working out what we had to do it didn't take long to get the old pivot block out and the new one in. It was just as well we decided to change them as they did not have much life left in the old blocks, had they stayed in much longer they would have damaged the face plate the pivot block sits on and that is a much harder job to repair. An hour or so later we had both sides replaced and just to show that Geoff really was fitter than i am, he then chopped up the fire wood. Of course that made me feel very worthy ......... Geoff & Vickie made a beautiful meal that night with a camp oven cooked Occo Bucco, Vickie cooked the vegies, we even had 'special' chilli garlic bread to accompany the meal, simply delicous!

Occo Bucco - Mmmm Yum

Sunday was a day to relax so we walked into town and the girls visited the shops, Geoff and i went down to the riverfront to check out what looked like a car show from across the river, it turned out to be the MG car club out on a run and lunch at Mannum. Some very nice examples of MG's dating back to 1933 to present day.

MG Car Club

Monday we were both going our seperate ways so Sunday night we went out for tea at the Mannum Community Club again for a meal. Next morning it was hugs all round as we left on our seperate ways, Geoff & Vickie down to the Fleurieu Peninsula and us further along the Murray River.

We have been through before and knew of a nice camp at Murtos Landing near Paringa and that was to be our camp for the next two nights, we had thought about ducking into Victoria to visit a mate but decided the distance for the time we had wouldn't work so we changed tack and the next night we spent at Thierys Sandbar out of Loxton.

Vickie relaxing at Murtos Landing on the banks of the Murray River

Both of these places are very pretty with great camps on the edge of the River, Our 3rd night was Ramco Point it was here i finally put a line in the river and was rewarded by two Carp not the result i was hoping for as the Carp are a pest in the river system and any caught are not allowed to be released back into the river, so i guess i did my small part in cleaning up the river.

Mick and Carp

The Murray River Paringa SA

Flood Level 1956 even the snorkel would not have helped

Camp Views

Next night's camp was at a place we had not been before, Swan Reach. The camp is only 500mts up from the Ferry crossing and we nearly missed it. Turning around we found a nice spot close to the water and away from the only other camper that was there. We had a lovely Morning and afternoon untill 5 vehicles came in and almost camped next to us, none of the occupants were speaking English and we found out later that they were from Serbia. They wern't a bad bunch of blokes, they kept to themselves but they did have crap taste in music, it seemed to sound like Serbian Marching music to my ears. I shouldn't complain because an hour later we had a bunch of Aussies camp the other side of us and stuck on their Doof Doof Music ..... I went to sleep wearing ear plugs that night.

Swan Reach our vista for the night

So where to next we thought? .... we had arranged to be back at Erin's on Wednesday and meet up with Geoff & Vickie on Thursday at a Van Park they would be staying in for a few days before we both head West to travel the Yorke & Eyre Penninsula's together before heading for home in December. We choose to come back to Mannum for a couple of reasons, one was to go to the Club for another meal, the other i cannot mention as it is a surprise .....

Two Vickie's

Mick & Geoff

Let me say .... Do Not Bother Camping At Mannum On A Weekend !!!

We arrived to be greeted by dozens of scattered beer cans & bottles from the previous night and being told the young'ns had been playing up all night. After our night with the Serb's and Aussie Doof Doofers we thought ...... great just what we need, but a visit from the local Police soon convinced the party animals to move on and we thought that would be the end of it so set up and settled back watching the river action. Late in the afternoon a family arrived and set up their tents, we were then entertained by the language of the Mother as she swore and cussed at her children. To top it off just as we were going to bed we were entertained again by a phone conversation where she cursed and cussed at [we guessed] another Daughter they had left at home who had broken a glass window and cut herself ....... hardly any concern shown for the hurt child but the window must have been very precious to them due to the amount of screaming and yelling going on.

Next morning we moved camp ..... 300mts away we have a nice possy to ourselves and all is well with the World.

Adelaide - Mannum - 28th Oct 2011

2011-10-28T14:03:00.004+10:30

We spent nearly three weeks staying at our daughter Erin's & her partner Scott's new home, Erin & Scott had just moved in and here we were ready to invade their privacy, they say they didn't mind and it did give me the chance to fix up a few things that needed doing so i guess that was the trade off.

Vickie's appointment with her Dr went as expected, it has been confirmed that she will require another operation within the next 6 Months or so to peel back the membrane on the retina plus at the same time perform cateract surgery. Again it has made us think just what we should be doing as far as travelling goes, at this stage we will just continue on and wait for any phone calls informing us of any surgery date.

We stayed a bit longer at Erin's so we could attend their house warming & Erin's 30th Birthday party, it was a good night but the Doof Doof Music from DJ Scotty G was not my style of music, and some neighbours thought the same as the Police turned up at 2 AM asking them to quiten up. Everyone was cool though and the party was over and the last of the guests left at 2.30am.

We were keen to leave and hit the road and catch up with our mates the Parkers, they left us at Quorn and had continued along the Murray River visiting friends along the way before making their way back via Mt Gambier and along the Coast and Coorong. Before we could leave Erin's i had to wait until Thursday as i had bought a 2nd hand Mountain Bike from a German Uni Student and i couldn't take ownership until then as she needed it as her transport. Up early Thursday i went and picked it up and by lunch time we had left and were heading to Mannum to meet up with G&V.

We have stayed at Bolte Reserve before 3 or 4 times and it is a lovely spot on the edge of the Murray River opposite the town of Mannum. We had heard a rumour that a fee was now charged by Council so it didn't surprise us to see a sign up stating Camping was $10 per vehicle per night. Part of me feels like it is unfair considering the amount of money we spend in a town and that we personally do not require any services nor amenities, I would prefer to see a time limit on camping enforced rather than a cost. Geoff and i rode the bikes around the town and gave the legs a solid workout.

This was one of a few Possum's that live in the tree's around us.

View at Night across the river

Our Camp

The Paddle Steamer, Marion

Mannum is home to many houseboats, The Marion is a well known Paddle Steamer,and is unique, as she is the only vessel of her type left in the world today, Another well known Boat is the Murray River Princess, both are moored opposite our camp.

We are staying a few nights here, today we walked into town and the girls visited all the shops, tonight we are going across to the Community Club for tea, tomorrow it's another bike ride and try and fix our blocked drain in the Van, when we do part G&V are heading to explore the South Australian Penninsula's and us going East.

The Gap - Minlaton - 8th October 2011

2011-10-08T13:34:00.003+10:30

We spent four nights at the Gap during that time we just relaxed, went for the odd walk and mucked about doing some maintainance on the rigs. The weather was overcast for most of the time and it was one of the few times i have got the Honda generator out to charge up the Van batteries. The Honda is 5 years old and has performed faultlessly in the time's we have used it, i topped it up with fuel and started it up and after a few minutes it gave a cough and started running rough. Thinking it was a dirty spark plug i checked it and also gave the filter a clean but the generator would only run on full choke.

Bob had an on line service manual for it and after having a quick look decided to check and clean the fuel filter, easy said than done as it required the plastic body to be removed to gain access. By this time Noel had wandered over and gave me a hand, after stripping the body off and finding what we thought was the filter and giving it a blow through with compressed air we put it all back together only to have it not start at all. IT WAS THEN the penny dropped!! i had filled the tank with DIESEL !! ....... talk about a dumb moment, with Noel walking away mumbling to himself about dumb bastard awards i quickly emptied the tank, gave it a flush and refilled it with unleaded petrol, a pull start and away it went running better than ever.

On the last night we had a lovely meal with each camp contributing, mains was a lovely camp oven roast pork cooked by Muzza & Judy, Vickie made a potatoe bake and Judy P cooked the vegies with Denise & Noel making a lovely chocolate pudding for desert.

We left the Gap and drove to Maitland for a restock before heading to Rob & Glenda's property just out of Minlaton. With 4 vans to start with we formed a square and produced the fire pots for our 2nd Fire Pot Challenge, we had a new contestant with Bob's SS Keg conversion which was named the Holy Pail, along with Muzza & Judy's Pig, Noel's Tankard & our Kimble we soon had the fires roaring which was just as well as it was a chilly night. David & Maureen Walker also turned up and camped alongside us all.

I enjoy looking around old property's especially at their 'Bunnings' section - the old tip. A lot of history can be seen in the old dumps with plenty of car bodies and machinery. Farmers throw nothing away, they never know just when they might need some steel, wheel, cog etc to bodgy up some useful piece of gear.

The main reason we had come was to celebrate Rob's 60th Birthday, they had around 50 - 60 other guests attending on the Saturday night. Friday prior Rob had two large lambs to cut up and get ready for the BBQ. I helped bone out the legs & forequaters and Rob and his SIL took care of the rest with a dangerous looking band saw. Bob had a semi secret recipe for marinating the shoulders so that is where they ended up for 24 hours.

Late Saturday afternoon the friends started arriving so that was time to have a beer or ten, I helped Bob cook the BBQ shoulders and carve them up, Adrian was cooking up the chops & snaggers. The girls helped by contributing salads and Vickie made 3 large potatoe bakes, no one was going hungry here. We all enjoyed ourselves during the evening but due to the early start by most of us we headed back to our vans by 10.30, all starting to show our ages.

Next morning it was the Bacon & Egg Recovery breakfast which went down a treat. Not long after that we had said our goodbyes and headed towards Adelaide where we would be based at our Daughters for a fortnight helping them do some jobs on their newly purchased home.

Quorn - Yorke Penninsula

2011-10-04T14:13:00.009+10:30

On Saturday we went on the Pichi Richi Railway, the BOGGERS filled two carriages and we drew the most uncomfortable with seats not suited to my back & hips i was feeling very sore by the end of it. The train ride itself was nice, one way would have been plenty as all we saw going back was the same as heading forward. Back at camp i settled down on the bed and watched the AFL Grand Final and saw the result i was hoping for with Geelong beating Collingwood.

It was a thrilling ride back for some with Julie and John beside themselves with excitement...

What we didn't know was they were just catching some rest before taking on the Inaugral BOG Race and coming out winners.

We had originally decided to leave Quorn and the BOG Muster on Sunday but the weather was so lovely and the Camp Oven Cook Off being on we decided to stay another night. This also gave me the opportunity to attempt some baking in the camp cooking of my own, usually we just use the Furphy for cooking our camp roasts or making a stew but the rules for the BOG Cook Off was it was to be a cake or something along those lines. I choose to do a Continental Damper which is basically any simple damper but with olives, sundried tomatoes and some chives, 4 Cups of selfraising flour, one stubby of beer, mix well without over handling the mixture and place it in the camp oven with a trivet and baking paper underneath.

Camp Oven Cook Off

With approx 20 other 'contestants' each making their choosen recipe i certainly didn't expect to do any good, but to my great surprise and delight my Damper was given 1st place in the Damper section and Overall winner. To be honest i was lucky to win as the damper had not cooked fully in the middle but it met Judge Judy's criteria and i wasn't about to protest. All in all it was just a bit of fun and we all enjoyed sampling all the dishes that had been baked, it was also a great learning experience myself and i am determined to experiement and attempt a few harder recipes.

Monday morning we said our goodbyes and left Quorn, we drove back the way we came just so we could go to the Stone Hut Bakery for lunch, there we caught up with Turist & Muzza who were also heading to the Yorke, after mentioning that we were going to the Gap it was a pleasent surprise to arrive and find them already there, an hour or so later the Flavs also turned up so the 8 of us are having an Un-Official Mini Muster before making our way to mutual friends Rob and Glenda's property to celebrate Rob's 60th on Saturday.

Stone Hut Bakery - Laura

Sunset at the Gap

Quorn - BOG Muster - 29th Sept 2011

2011-09-29T07:46:00.006+09:30

We have been camped at the Quorn Race Track with 60 other Bushtracker Owners for the past week attending the annual muster, each year it is held in a different part of Australia. We went to Jeparit in 2009 and just made the end of the Muster held at Herberton last year. This year Quorm and the Flinders Rangers was to be the site and an excellent choice it is.

We have caught up with many people we have met before and made many new aquaintainces, most day's something has been organized but we all have plenty of time to do our own thing and explore the area surrounding Quorn. A few days ago G&V and ourselves drove to Hawker stopping along the way at Kanyacka Ruins. We had visited here previously but completely forgot that we had until arriving at the turn off, it certainly made us feel foolish but as things turn out there was the 'old shearing yards' that we didn't see last time which we did now, it also proves that we often explore over 'old' ground and always find something new.

Kanyacka Ruins

We drove on to Hawker where had lunch in the park and then headed back stopping in at a small old cemetary that was overgrown but still interesting. Back at Quorn Base the weather has been a mix of very cold days to stinking hot, two nights ago many were entertained by a Thunder & Lightening show, i missed it after putting in a late night and when the head hit the pillow i heard and saw nothing. One day G&V and ourselves drove to Dutchmans Stern which is on the road to Warren Gorge, it is renowned for having a great walk trail and spectacular views from the top. Vickie gave it her best effort and managed 2klms up the trail but her hayfever and difficulty breathing forced her to stop and rest and she decided to take her time and walk back down. G&V and myself continued on and effort was rewarded with the beautiful view. Of course going up meant coming back down so it was another 5klm walk back to the cars, my hip & body in general has been paying for the exercise since.

Dutchmans Stern

Yesterday the winds have picked up, a severe wind warning was put out with winds around 100kph expected so it was batten down the camp's. It was also the day for the demonstrations and Geoff & my Window screen replacement demo being last for the day was forgotten as BOG members ran around helping take down awnings. Unfortunately a large willy willy ripped through the camp damaging a few awnings and even blew one member over who was slightly hurt. Happy hour last night was held in the hall with entertainment provided by Nadine a local publican who gave us an insight into a person with split personalities, she needed an assistant and her eyes locked on me, i was quite relieved when someone called out Richards name who was sitting next to me and he foolishly got up ........ what happened after that was very funny as Richard was subjected to a cake making exerice with sexual overtones and the sticky flour eggs & liquid mixed up plastered over his thinning hair.

Storm Approaching

We awoke this morning after a windy blustery night, we are faced away from the direction of the wind and still have our awning out but tightly secured with many ropes. Laying in bed last night it sounded like everything was coming adrift but checking a few times all was secure and undamaged. With the Camp Oven Cook Off Day cancelled we went for a drive to Wilmington where we found the only cafe in town and had a coffee and morning tea, from there we visited an interesting shop that specialised in puppets and the more unusual of toys & gifts. A couple of small purchases for our Granddaughters later we drove onto Alligator Gorge which is part of the Mt Remarkable National Park, we chose to do two of the shorter walks one to the valley of the gorge which consisted of 227 steep steeps down and 227 back up plus a shorter walk to the look out. Both were interesting but to be honest we have seen far nicer.

Alligator Gorge

Adelaide - Quorn - 21st Sept 2011

2011-09-21T22:17:00.006+09:30

With Vickie's eye operation over we have a Month of freedom before the next follow up appointment. Our 1st night after leaving Adelaide we spent at Port Parham, a place we had stayed at 6 years previously. Nothing much had changed except there were a few more campers this time, because we stopped early we were able to take a long walk along the beach and watch the 'locals' putting their boats in by using jinkers. These were a strange motorised contraption that towed the boat and trailer out into the deeper water, there they were left untill the fishermen returned and did the same thing in reverse, towing the boats back to shore.

We had already organised to attend the Bushtracker Muster at Quorn on the 22nd of September and we had just over a week to fill in, our mates Geoff & Vickie were also coming to the muster and we arranged over the phone to meet at Fitzgerald Bay and spend a week camping before arriving at the Muster.

The wind was howling as we left and our original idea of heading to Whyalla started to look like it may not be a good idea being camped near the ocean. We instead headed inland towards Snowtown and the road to Quorn stopping at Stone Hut Bakery for a couple of the best wood fire cooked pie's in Australia. With lunch out of the way and the wind debating we changed minds again and phoned G&V telling them we were heading to Fitzgerald Bay after all.

We both arrived within 30 minutes of each other and after some initial confusion on my part working out just where they were, we hooked up and let the good times begin. The first day & night came and went with the usual lots of laughs we have when we get together, the 2nd night i wasn't feeling great with persistant pain in my back/hip/shoulder and we had a relativily early night. I was awoken by Vickie at 1.30 am who was in extreme pain with her stomach, after an hour of her in agony and being sick i decided to wake up Geoff & Vick and let them know i was taking her to Hospital.

The drive in at 2.30 am wasn't fun with the winds blowing ferociously and Vick moaning and groaning in the passenger seat. Arriving at Whyalla Hospital she was quickly taken in and given a bed in the emergency ward where she was given an examination and 3 injections. This settled her down and after an hour she fell fast asleep leaving me sitting in an uncomfortable chair awake for the rest of the night. At 8am we were told because the pain had subsided it was best for her to go to the Dr surgery herself. So an appointment for 9.15 was made and which we attended, the Dr and his assistant took over an hour in asking questions and an examination before determining she had a bladder infection or possible gall stone. She was given some antibiotics and pain relief and we returned to our friends at Fitzgerald Bay.

With the wind continuing to blow we decided to break camp and head to Warren Gorge 20klms north of Quorn, a place where many Bushtracker Owners had mentioned they were going to stay prior to the Muster. When we got there we were by ourselves and made claim to a lovely camp site overlooking the beautiful hills of the gorge.

The next day G&V and myself walked the scenic route around the gorge which was very nice, Vickie stayed back at camp and while we were away some BT friends called in telling her to come on into Quorn as the race course was starting to fill up already with 2 days still to go before the 'official' starting date. Hearing that when we arrived back from our walk we broke camp and heading into Quorn.

We are into our 2nd night here and we have just arrived back to the Van after having an enjoyable time around one of the many camp fires. It is lovely catching up with many of the people we have met before either out on the 'roads' or at previous musters. With the 1st day really starting tomorrow we have the next 10 days to look forward to enjoying ourselves providing Vickie doesn't come down with any other mystery illness.

Adelaide Update - 9th August 2011

2011-09-09T16:51:00.008+09:30

Finally the day came around for Vickie to have her eye surgery, she wasn't scheduled in untill 4pm and the day dragged. A week prior she had another injection into the eye to stabilise and shrink the blood vessels, the Op was to hopefully fix the problem once and for all.

Vickie was very brave and kept her nerves under control, the Op was performed under local aenesthetic and she was aware of all what was happening around her. Within 30 minutes or so it was all over and her Dr is confident that it will be a success, he has told her to expect to need cateract surgery within 6 - 18 months though, one of the side effects of the operation.

She followed up with an appointment the next day and has to be seen again in one week and then a months time, by then we are hoping that she has regained some vision in her eye.

Other than that we have been kept busy house hunting with our youngest daughter Erin and her partner Scott, we must have looked at dozens of property's and hundreds more on the internet. Finally they found one that ticked all the boxes, a very nicely renovated older style home close to the CBD of Adelaide. With finance pre approved all should proceed along without any hiccups for the settlement in early October. We haven't missed out either with room for the Caravan when we visit.

Today i went and visited the Birdwood Motor Museum, i was very pleasently surprised in just how interesting it was, a reasonible admission fee of $9 per adult and many displays of motor vehicles & motor bikes from all era's. With hardly anyone else about i spent a relaxing 4 hours checking out all the displays. One thing i didn't find out and that was the total value, i'd imagine it would be many millions of dollars.

One warning to all our followers, make sure you wear your safety Belts whilst driving, i witnessed a vehicle coming to a sudden stop with both occupants being thrown out, luckily neither were injured .... well if they did they didn't complain :-)

Update Adelaide - 4th August 2011

2011-08-04T13:35:00.003+09:30

We are presently in Adelaide, Vickie was able to get an appointment with her Eye Specialist for the 2nd August plus she needed to see her GP for a referral so it only gave us six days to drive on over - plenty of time when i think i have driven solo from Brisbane to Perth in 4 days - We didn't leave untill Monday Midday and the weather was lousy, we struck heavy rain almost from the moment we got onto the Great Eastern Highway, we hadn't really considered the distance we needed to drive the 1st day before getting to a suitable overnight stop and it was headlights on for the last hour before getting to the camp.

The next few days were just get up in the morning, have breakfast and hit the road, We generally stopped around 3pm with a few coffee stops in between. We have lost count of the many times we have driven across the 'Nullabour' I still don't mind it, being out on the open road with the vast scenery even if it is just scrub is relaxing for me.

We arrived at Erin's on Saturday afternoon which gave us Sunday to settle in before seeing the Dr's on Monday & Tuesday. Getting the referral for the Specialist wasn't a problem along with a referral for a CT scan of Vicki'e back as she has been having lower back pain. Tuesday it was off to see the Eye Specialist who confirmed what the Perth Dr had recommended, an operation to remove the damaged blood vessels to try and stop the problem re-occuring, but 1st she has to have an ultrasound of the eye next Thursday to make sure she has not had a partial retinal detachment, depending on the test will then make the decision to operate an easy one.

Vickie has had her back scan and will see her GP on Monday for the result of that.

Life on the road is still good, it can just be a bumpy ride at times.

OK - Latest Update

Vickie is booked in to have surgery on the 7th Sept, a week prior to that she needs to have another aveston injection in the eye, after surgery it's another visit the next day and then a week later for a check up ...... we then have a month before the next appointment. We have worked out the dates to fit in with the BOG Muster that we want to attend at the end of September at Quorn.

Not to be left out, I had some Xrays & Ultrasound on my shoulder and received two injections into the shoulder joint to try and settle down the pain & inflamation. Other than that the weather is freezing cold most days along with drizzling rainy days. Neither of us feel inclined to get out and about and we are just keeping warm.

Gascoyne Flooded Roads

2011-07-24T14:15:00.005+09:30

We really enjoyed our time around the abandonded Big Bell Mine out from Cue, if the rain had not started we would probably still be around the area detecting. We had planned on heading to Leonora and across the Great Central Road to Alice but all roads were closed, we also had the dilemma of Vickie suffering yet another bleed behind her eye, her 3rd in the past few months. Darryl [Fozzie] & Julie received the phone call we all dread that a family member was extremely ill and they left us the next morning to drive back home.

It was decided to spend another night out with Geoff & Vickie at a nice spot called Lake Nerene, at least i think that is what it was called.

Geoff called the challenge for the Great Bread Bake Off and it was taken up by myself, little was i aware at the time that it was Geoff's wife Vickie doing the preparing & kneading, with not much sun about it took a while for the bread to rise and then knock it back down and wait for it to rise again, The Saltwater Cowboy had the jump on us and had his in the Weber Q long before our's was ready to bake, We also had a roast to cook for all of us so it was just as well their loaf was cooked and we were able to use their weber to cook the roast in.

The proof is in the photo's as to who's bread turned out the better. :-)

With G&V heading back to Geraldton, we checked out the Historic Photographic display at the Shire Offices before heading back home ourselves for a week to enable me to re-fit the ute out for the addition of the Stainless Steel BBQ that we bought, what was supposed to be a day's job turned into nearly 4 as there was a lot of cutting, measuring, glueing to get the job to my satisfaction, plus the rain rarely let up and i was having to work in cramped conditions. The end result was worth it though and we are very happy with the finished job.

We also had the opportunity to see our beautiful granddaughters again, plus Vickie's sister Sue who was still over from Melbourne. We intend to leave again tomorrow, we know where we will end up, just not sure which way we will go to get there. Vickie needs to see her Specialist in Adelaide so all going well with available appointments we may just head straight there.

Geraldton - Cue - 16th July

2011-07-16T11:23:00.003+09:30

We had a purpose for returning to Geraldton and it all went extremely well apart from one instance which i will mention a bit later in this post.

Arrived at long time mates Geoff & Vickie's place around midday and straight away Geoff and i got into the job of replacing all the white cotton fly screens in the Dometic windows with black fibreglass mini weave mesh. The standard screens are useless in Australian conditions, bugs enter the van by crawling around the mesh, the mesh itself shrinks and gets stained easily from dust. Geoff had changed over his a month ago and the job was excellent so it was organized then to do ours when we got back.

Our van has 6 windows plus the small bathroom one and we managed to finish five that afternoon with the sixth getting completed the next day, we couldn't be any happier with the result, the screens not only look good they fit nice & tight, time will tell if they stop 100% of the bugs but we are confident. Geoff had also changed over the tungston downlights in the range hood with some LED style lights, another idea we gladly copied, instead of having 22watt globes the lights now don't even register on the load output on the regulator, the amount of light they put out is amazing! The next job on the list was to replace a gas strut on the bed lifting mechanisim, lucky for us we were in Geraldton and near a very good Caravan repair business that was well stocked with all the goodies. A longer 600mm gas line was also purchased to replace the shorter one that was on our gas regulator, no need to remove gas bottles and swap positions any longer, i can just swap over the gas hose. All these jobs that i have been wanting to do for a while now have just been completed in less than two days.

I neglected to mention that Vickie went with Geoff & myself to the Caravan repair business and spotted a stainless steel BBQ for sale, Vick has been wanting one of these for a long time now, We are very happy with the Weber Baby Q for it's roasting & grilling but we felt the small hot plate that can be purchased was inadequate, So upon spotting the Sizzler Marine BBQ it was suggested we buy it, I wanted to try the other option of getting some Stainless plate cut to suit the Weber and after running around town with Geoff getting some expensive prices just for a plate i decided to just surprise Vick and buy the Sizzler. We used it this morning and very happy with it.

So with all the jobs completed and Geoff having to work on Wednesday we decided to leave and catch up again at Mount Magnet on Thursday, Now getting the van into Geoff & Vickie's wasn't difficult, their home is one of four on a large block and access is via a central drive with tight turn at the end, with the help of Geoff getting in it wasn't a problem .... BUT getting the rig back out with Geoff at work was a nightmare!!! With the front of the ute milimetres away from one fence and the side of the van millimetres away from the other side we couldn't go any further - Then it was mentioned that Geoff unhitches and uses the power jocky wheel to swing the van around the final few feet .... Aaaargh !! Our van has a different mounting bracket and not designed to take the moving weight of 3.5 tons but i had no choice - Eventually THREE HOURS later after having to use the winch on the Ute, dismantle and reassemble the power jocky wheel to replace the tyre that had rolled off the rim, combined with the help from Geoff's Son Aaron we had the Van pointing in the right direction and i was able to hitch it back up and finally left Geraldton.

1st night we stopped at Pioneer well on the Yuna road just before Mullewa, we had a great camp fire all by ourselves, a few bourbans & coke and the stress of the day dissapeared. Geoff & Vickie caught up with us at Mount Magnet around midday the next day and just down the road we met up with Vickie P's Sister Julie and hubby Darryl - The Billabong Bonkers, Together we all drove out along a track and spent the night around another great camp fire with lots of laughter. Next morning we went into Cue before heading out to the abandonded Big Bell Mine, what an interesting place this is! We spent a few hours with the metal detectors out and Geoff found what we think is a small piece of gold, I found some wire, a survey peg and some alfoil.

Last night it rained and we awoke to more rain this morning, the tracks were already water logged and we wont be moving today so it gives me time to catch up on the important things like writing the Blog.

Back on the road - New Norcia

2011-07-10T17:39:00.004+09:30

The 11 days we spent back home went in a blur, the weather was cold and wet the first four or five days then after that it just got progressively colder with temps around 1 & 2 degree's overnight and not much warmer during the days. I did manage to give the Van & the Ute a good pressure clean and re-coat with underbody paint to protect the steel from our recent time camped on the coast. I also had the ute's suspension fixed with a new set of AGM upgraded rear springs fitted, the ute went up 60mm in height in the rear and can now handle the weight of the van and gear in the canopy a lot better. I didn't get around to installing the 3rd solar panel so i have bought that along and will get that done along the trip.

Dan & Elle

Of course the main reason we came home was to attend our Son's Engagement party, we had 14 in our group, Cad & Aaron along with Dave & Jo & their kids & partners we also had Vickie's sister Sue come from Melbourne and our Youngest daughter Erin & B/F Scott flew over from Adelaide. We all booked into the Hilton and caught taxi's to the party which was held at Elle's parents place, they had a big crowd turn up and at times it was standing room only. We all had a great night and it was really lovely seeing our son so happy where he is with his life, we love them both and look forward to the future. Hopefully we can get some photo's of Elle & Dan & the family to share, untill then this is the best i can come up with. That's Elle, Erin & Daniel on the right, Charles, [Elle's Brother] and Chas & Rae [Elle's parents are on the left.]

Today we got up early and had a big buffet breakfast, great hangover treatment that worked for some of us, it was then back home where we hooked the van up and said our goodbyes to the family and headed towards Geraldton, we have stopped for the night at New Norcia, another freezing cold night outside but we are toasty warm in the van with the diesel heater going.

Ningaloo South Lefroy Bay – Departure

2011-06-27T10:08:00.005+09:30

Yesterday we left our piece of Paradise at South Lefroy Bay, Ningaloo. Early plans were to stay at least untill the end of the Month with the choice then to stay on a further fortnight if we wanted, Whilst camped we received the excellent news that our Son Daniel had become engaged to his gorgeous girlfriend Elle and they were celebrating with an engagement party next weekend! Well with that news we could not bear to not be there so the decision was an easy one to leave a few days early and head back to Perth.

The Billys had left 3 days earlier to pick 'Big' Pop up from the airport after being away staying with one of his other daughters Sue in Victoria and Son Alan in Alice, He will stay with Jo & Dave for a couple of weeks before Sue fly's over and gets home & community care organized. Trev & Ashley stayed on and left with us as Trev has another medical appointment to complete for his application to re-join his mining job after having a year of travelling 1/2 way around Australia with Ashley.

Ashley, Vickie, Maddison & Joanne

We don't plan on being back in cold wet Perth any longer than we need to be, we have to have the rear suspension on the Ute fixed, we want to fit a 3rd solar panel and another deep cycle battery to the ute, giving us 3 x 80w panels and 2 auxially battery's which should help fix the problem we have had trying to run a fridge & freezer in the ute.

So where to next? We don't feel inclined to turn around and head North again so our initial plan is to take the Great Central Road across to Alice Springs, spend some more time around the MacDonnell Ranges before 'slowly' making our way down to South Australia and attend the BOG Muster at Quorn end of September, they are the loose plans, we will see what actually pans out, LOL

Before

After

Our nine weeks at NING was lovely, we had a great time with great mates & family, The weather wasn't perfect with wind most days, the occasional rain storm, and overcast sky's - BUT when we had the perfect days everything else didn't matter. Fishing started off HOT before tapering off to a struggle to catch a fish but again we didn't really care, we still sat on the beach untill the late hours of night waiting for the BIG ONE to take the bait, it happened a few times and we all got onto some big fish, some beached some were unstoppable, all were great fun and the stories will continue for a long time. Thanks eveyone for sharing it with us.

What we do know is we will again call 'Ningaloo Paradise' Home next year for 10 - 12 weeks, who knows we might see 'you' there.

Ningaloo South Lefroy Bay – Continued

2011-06-17T08:15:00.003+09:30

The past week, in fact if we think back to before May when we 1st arrived the weather hasn't been "paradise kind' to us, sure it's better than anywhere else in Australia but it would have to be the most unsettled weather conditions we have experienced here in the past 15 years. Windy days, cold nights, overcast sky's and a few rainy days, fishing has slowed down considerably and we haven't had a purple patch like we [I] experienced in the 1st couple of weeks.

We had to say goodbye to our mates, Kimbo & Ned who left yesterday for the long trip back to Newcastle. It was not a planned leave but the EPS struck .... Yes Elderly Parent Syndrome.... Ned's Mum hasn't been well and they thought it better to start making for home now. We hope they enjoyed their time here, even in the less than perfect conditions.

Of course yesterday we had the best weather ever! Dave, Trev & I paddled down to the Point and did some fishing which caught us some good sized Charlie Court's [COD] The tide was going out and the inner reef turned into a millpond with water crystal clear, superb Kayak conditions.

The Sunset was beautiful, i had the fish to fillet so didnt worry about the camera so i cannot share the amazing vista. One downside was the midgee's came out and both Vick & myself got attacked with numerous bites on our arms & legs.

Up early this morning as we are driving into Exmouth, the Ute is booked in to have the rear suspension leaf springs removed and new bushes fitted, hopefully that will fix the problem of a twisted spring pack and clunking noise.

Our Beach Camp

Vickie & Slender Sucker fish

Ashley & GT

Ningaloo South Lefroy Bay – Continued

2011-06-11T09:47:00.003+09:30

Not much to write about except we had a decent down pour of rain between 70mm - 90mm and we were able to collect enough to fill the potable water tank. We have met some people Bob & Sue whom we 1st met back at Kenilworth last year, they were walking along the beach just as Vickie and i went to sit on the hill and watch the ocean. They also have a Bushtracker and are camped on the flats in the same site we shifted to last year for our last two weeks here then.

John & Wendy have settled in at Point Billy and also know Bob & Sue from a previous Bushtracker Get Together, We were invited up to their camp for dinner and we had a great night. A few days later John & Wendy reciprocated and had us all up for sundowner drinks at their camp, lots of laughs from the girls as Vickie kept them entertained with the stories only she can tell. Us blokes stood around the 4WD's and compared canopy's, fridges, solar set ups & Kimbo demonstrated his HF radio features.

Last night everyone came to our camp and bought a dish and shared our meal, No one went hungry and the food was delicious. Trev made his Chocolate Mousse for desert. I had the TV set up outside with a slideshow of travel photos flicking through, along with a fire and some Creedence, Van Morrison & Chris Rea for the back ground music everyone had a great time with lots of laughs.

Some rough photo's of some rough heads :-)

We are all hoping the weather improves and the wind drops enough so we can get back on the water. Vickie's back is still very fragile so she won't be doing to much. Tonight we have a progressive dinner between our camp & the Billy's ... Camping can be so hectic some times.

Ningaloo South Lefroy Bay – Continued

2011-06-03T19:27:00.004+09:30

A lot has happened in the past week, yet not a lot is any different to what our previous weeks have been. I have mentioned Groundhog Day previously and it certainly can be like that camped along the Coast, we fall into a routine of Kayaking, Fishing, Swimming, Snorkeling, collecting water, emptying the toilet cassette – the last is not the most enjoyable but needs to be done, actually since using nappysan [home brand] as a sanitizer in the cassette the odours have not been greatly noticeable, plus i empty the cassette every couple of days ... a great topic huh? Bet your pleased you checked out what we are up to now ... lol

Getting back to the fun stuff, we have had mate’s John & Wendy arrive in the area last week and we caught up with them on the weekend. They are camped near their mate’s at Point Billy, not our ideal camp site with very little beach and but each there own. They came to our camp area and liked what they saw, being with other friends makes decisions difficult. Regardless they are loving the place and we expect to catch up with them a few times while they are here.

We were surprised to be contacted on the UHF radio one day by the adult children of friends Barry & Kerry whom we know in Mandurah. Vaughan & Rennae along with baby Shiloh and other family, Craig & his G/F and Leon are camped up the beach from us, We have known Rennae and Craig since they were baby’s and we attended Rennae & Vaughans wedding so it was a lovely surprise seeing them here with their bub.

We have had a few night time fishing sessions but none produced the results of our earlier attempts, the tides are all different along with the moon so hopefully things will swing around as the weeks roll by. Not sure if i mentioned about the huge shovel nosed ray that i caught, certainly the largest we have ever seen caught with friends over the many years we have been coming here. An estimate of 3mt long with a head almost as wide it took a while to reel in and when close to shore Kimbo attempted to grab it’s tail and haul it in the last few feet but was thrown to the ground by the force of it’s tail, with Big Trev and Kimbo grabbing the tail they managed to drag it in with Kimbo getting thrown again at the last few metre’s. A few quick photo’s and we dragged it back in the water and spent some time allowing it to get it’s gill’s flushed with water before it slowly swam away.

Trevor and i had a near death experience when we and Dave decided to go and check out the surf with the kayaks, we had been fishing and with nothing happening we thought some wave catching could be fun. We started off small and kept getting closer to the bigger rolling waves, i had broken my paddle and was having to use the pedals & rudder to keep me straight, the 1st wave i caught was a ripper, i went flying past Dave & Trev, hooping and hollering like a teenager, it was very exciting but on the fine line of ‘Ooops this could end in tears’. Peddling back out i saw Trev catch a beauty but within seconds it turned him around and dumped him, i shouldn’t have laughed but it did look funny. It did cause me to think about securing the gear i had on and locking it away in the water proof hatches, luckily i did because the next wave heading our way was a lot larger than the 1st, I called to Trev to start paddling and he did only to be dumped again, no time to laugh this time as that wave was followed by an even larger one and i was in it’s path, all i could do was start peddling and hope for the best. The wave picked me & the Kayak up and sent me flying down the other side, the nose of the kayak was dangerously close to burying itself and i was laying back as far as i could to counter the balance, all went well for around 10 seconds and then i was broached with me chucked off the kayak and the kayak spiralling away. Unbeknown to me Trev was fighting his own survival with his anchor rope caught around the reef he was trying to free it, his paddle had been torn from his hands and the strap broken. 100mts away i was being dumped by a succession of large waves, coming up for air i called to Trev & Dave to come help, Trev of course couldn’t ... Dave started paddling towards me and caught his one and only decent wave and went flying past ..... See You in 5 Minutes he called out .... i started swimming towards my Kayak but the waves kept pushing it further away, finally Dave turned up and was able to hold it still and i got hold of it and we both turned it over and i climbed back on. Trev had sorted his own problems out and Dave found his paddle floating and took it back, the three of us headed back to safer waters. I must have swallowed some water and i was having difficulty getting air into my lungs but after a short time it came good. Both Trev and i suffered numerous cuts to our feet and Trev a nice graze across his back, i have also aggravated a shoulder problem. I think back and still enjoy the moment of that 1st exhilerating ride and if we were to do it again we would be better prepared with life jackets and leg ropes & stronger paddles. But perhaps i should just stick to fishing ......

Yesterday Kimbo and i took the tinny outside the reef, the ocean was reasonably calm but it was a new experience for Kimbo and rightly so he was a bit anxious heading out to Sea in 180’ of water in a 3.45mt tinny. There were other tinny’s already out and about and though we didn’t venture out as far as them, we did have a good time hauling up Gold Spot Trevally, Red Throat and unlucky for me a huge ‘something’ that took the bait and towed us around a while all the time ripping of line on my Saltiga reel. I knew i would win if i just took the time BUT sometimes things just don’t work out and this time it was my fault with a knot that seperated either by breaking or coming loose, either way the fish left with a brand new Owner Circle hook and 30cm of line in it’s mouth, everything else was undamaged.

Vickie had more luck with ‘keeper’ fish than us fishing from her Kayak inside the reef, catching another good sized Queen Trevally, unfortunately Vick has hurt her back and today it got a lot worse after we drove into Exmouth so we went to the Hospital. The staff there were very helpful in having her seen by the Nurse’s straight away but frustrating that the Doctor couldn’t find the time to check her over and left the Nurse to relay her diagnosis to the Dr. They decided a pain relieving injection and some panadol and muscle relaxent would help and sent her on her way. Lets hope that she gets better and it’s not another 400klm round trip back to town. Vickie has also had another eye bleed, her 4th now and not much she can do about it, so things are really not that crash hot at present.

The positives are we are still in love with this place & [each other] & enjoying the lifestyle.

South Lefroy Bay Ningaloo - 25th May 2011

2011-05-25T09:07:00.007+09:30

Another week has gone by, life here in Paradise continues to roll along. Some days are very groundhog day but even then there is always something to do, catch up on little jobs, go for a drive, kayak & beach fish or just relax and read a book. I am reading an excellent story written by Hugh Edwards titled 'The Reef, The Range The Gulf' it is all about the history of the area and gives a great insight on how life must have been for the early explorers, i can recommend it.

We all had a Gourmet Pizza night with the girls all making a couple of pizza's, Trev and Ashley made their own seperate versions and they were all fantastic! better than any Pizza Shop!

The weather has not been the best with windy day's and some overcast sky but it hasn't stopped Vickie from getting out on her Hobie Kayak, she loves being on the water and throwing lures around, she does very well with a couple of Queen Trevally [Queeny's] being her latest catch.

Kimbo and i have been squidding most days and though we haven't scored a bag like we did earlier we have still caught enough to keep us in bait for our beach fishing. The moon and tides have changed and we have not fished for nearly a week, we did catch another five Spangled Emperor between us on the wane of the full moon and Trevor caught another big Spangly the next night but nothing since.

We have driven into Exmouth again and also we took a drive to Yardie Creek along the coastal track, one section had thousands of locusts swarming out of the grass as we drove by, fortunately we were only going slow and they didn't splatter when hit. Coming back we had to deal with lots of Roo's jumping across the track, they didn't splatter either so all was good.

Last night Kimbo tried cooking us a camp oven roast Pork but had difficulty with getting enough coals hot enough so he admitted defeat and we stuck it in the Webber Baby Q and cooked it to perfection.

Towmorrow we go into Coral Bay along the track exploring the many side tracks to the ocean for a spot of beach combing.

South Lefroy Bay Ningaloo - 17th May 2011

2011-05-17T09:14:00.006+09:30

Almost another week has gone by, we had another Birthday celebration with Trevor turning 26 unfortunately the weather wasn't as nice and we had rain during the day but we were lucky it held off during the evening when we all had a BBQ down at Camp Meercat Manor [The Billy's new name for their site] Dave cooked the best Rib Eye Steaks and along with potatoe bake & coleslaw, Vickie made vanilla slice and apple turnovers, and Jo made Chocolate Mousse for desert. We all got into the spirit of playing Celebrity Head, even Kimbo who had kept saying he would only be the referree enjoyed the game.

Kimbo's hair was looking a bit wild so a new haircut was required,

Us blokes had a beach fishing night where we had a purple patch catching some Spangled Emperor, between the 4 of us we caught 10 with the smallest measuring 550mm, four of them were absolute stonkers all over 700mm.

Vickie bought the camera down when we had caught 5 and took the camera back so you will have to take my word.

Photo of Dave with one that went back to grow bigger.

Last night we had the best camp cooked Fish & Chips at Camp Meercat Manor, i didn't set a new record only managing to eat 10 portions of fish - they must have been larger sizes LOL - With lots of time sitting and watching the ocean we have been lucky to see some whales jumping out past the reef, plenty of dolphins cruise past along with many turtles & a few large stingrays.

The weather has been teasing us with one perfect day followed by 2-3 not so good, we have been collecting the rain as it has fallen so that's been good.

South Lefroy Bay Ningaloo - 12th May 2011

2011-05-12T12:05:00.000+09:30

Yesterday was the best day weather wise so far, we all got out on the water with Dave & I venturing out near the main reef in the kayaks. The fishing was good with large Golden Trevally taking the plastics and Dave caught a good sized Spangled Emperor which he was rapt about. Trev & Ashley have their camp set up next to Dave & Jo's and are here for the same length of time. We have heard that friends John & Wendy are also making their way up and staying at Billie's Point for 4-6 weeks in a couple of weeks time, so looking forward to their arrival.

We have been for a drive to Norwegian Bay and the old whaling station,we have been visiting it for many years, each time we have stayed at Ningaloo a visit to the Whaling Station is a must. Years of Salt, wind & cyclones have almost destroyed the area but still some old rusted machinery & boilers remain. The girls did some fossicking along the beach and i found a 3mt length of timber that i took back to the camp and used it for a base pole for my internet antenna. Things have improved in that regard and i am able to connect on to the NET most times.

May the 7th was my Birthday and Vickie made me a lovely meal of Lasagne with home made sausage rolls for entree. We had Dave & Jo & Ned & Kimbo over and had a few drinks. Joanne made me a beautiful cake which is simply the best!

Kimbo's 200 Cruiser broke a rear shock absorber and luckily we were able to organize for Trev to get two new ones and bring them up, Yesterday we changed them over, not an easy job when you dont have a hoist or air tools to get into tight places. Perserverance and a few bruised knuckles and couple of hours later the job was done.

The weather forecast is for thunderstorms this evening and rain for the next few days, the sky is dark and cloudy so they may well be right. If they are we go into water collecting mode.

South Lefroy Bay Ningaloo

2011-05-06T12:49:00.004+09:30

We have been camped at South Lefroy Bay, Ningaloo for the past nine days but this is my 1st chance to upload any updates and check email. We have driven in to Exmouth today to buy another Next G Antenna so hopefully that will give us greater signal strength. A trip into Exmouth isn't complete without visiting the Bakery and re-stock on the essentials like Beer & Wine.

The weather so far has been a pattern of mostly windy days but drops off enough to see us out in the Kayaks everyday. So far the fishing has been quiet, i have caught a small shark of the beach and a couple of small spangeld emperor, the Shark fed us all, the spangled went back in the water to grow a lot bigger.

Kimbo and i had a good afternoon squiding, between us we caught 10 squid ranging in size from large to medium, I cooked up a couple of tubes to go with our battered fish and Vickie's yummy coleslaw for tea the night Jo & Dave arrived.

Vickie has had a couple of experiences with having two sharks swim close to her Kayak, one was a Hammerhead and unsure of the other species. I spotted a very large Tiger Shark swimming past our camp in shallow water a week ago, we have seen a large Tiger Shark cruising in shallow water at previous times we have been here so mostl likley the same one.

The Mozzies and bugs have been a nuisance, one evening we had hundreds of Dragon Flies circling around our camp, we hope they were there to eat the bloody mozzies.
Other than that life here is enjoyable, we are certain that we will have perfect days to come and even the worst day is better than any alternative.