Blogs from Paraburdoo, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

'From coast to outback.' We departed Yardie Creek, Cape Range and Ningaloo Marine Park on a beautiful sunny morning and drove back to Exmouth where we visited the post office to post our post cards. Supermarket for a top up of supplies, bakery for coffee and rolls. Peter filled up the caravan with water and fuel and we set out for the Pilbara. Following the Warlu Way. Warlu was an Aboriginal Dreamtime sea serpent who emerged from the sea and travelled through the pulsating heat of Western Australia's North. Warlu Way extends from Exmouth to Broome revealing the mysteries of Warlu and other Aboriginal legends. Warlu Way extends 2480kms through the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberly Regions. It takes in the Ningaloo Reef, Karijini and Millstream National Parks, the Burrup Peninsula and Cable Beach. We will be ... read more

Set off this morning for the last spin around Paraburdoo, a 10 k run, no pack, just camera tucked in the hand. Was not going to take it, but you never know and was glad I did as I had fun with Paraburdoo scenes, grey Falcons and corellas in the early lightSince the 5 x 30 km runs, I have done another 2 x 30's on the working week weekend, mostly to test out the hernia site to see if it had settled down with a few days off. It hadn't, 7 ks into the 1st day the area was really pinching me at every step. What to do? 'mana from heaven' is this my easy out? Limp home and start cancelling everything ? Insurance,hassle, end of this quest? Can barely do 7 ks with it ... read more

The next major goal in the training schedule was to try several days pack shuffle in a row. Decided to do 3 x 30 kms and the following days off a bit of a dress rehearsal of 5 x 30, if it can be completed well, a little psychological boost before the event. The idea would be,get away before 5.30 am and back by mid morning to beat the midday heat. I have already suffered a mild heat stroke shuffling around out there in the afternoon heat between split shifts. Another goal of these runs was/will be too complete the 30 kms within 5 hours, 6 kms an hour, slow but at this stage possibly better too complete than crap out. Another part of this training is being able to recover and get up and do ... read more

With our time up in Karijini at an end we packed up camp and started another day of driving to the Pilbarra Region. As per all of the journeys, we stopped at several roadhouses for fuel and comfort breaks. As we were leaving Auks roadhouse Jess pointed out a sign that had a towns name removed leaving an obviously large gap. Apparently the township of Winter noon had been removed from all signs and is no longer recognised as it was evacuated due to the health risks associated with a type of asbestos mining that was the primary industry for the town. We even had the privilege of listening to a song that the Australian band midnight oil released in relation to winter noon!As per a lot of ... read more