As reported last time we are now headed home; South and then East and a bit more South/East. Not sure why we are going home because the weather improved the moment we left Cape Range – should have extended.... We did quite a lot of free camping on the way South after we had proved that we can go a lot longer than a week on our water supplies. And for those who are wondering, yes that was with showering everyday and clothes were washed in the run-off shower water, not perfect but it worked well. Our first 2 nights free camping showed us separate examples of very poor camp etiquette. At the first camp which had 2 shelters and fire pits, a couple of campers travelling together put their vans at the side and end ... read more

Carnarvon gave us a chance to catch up on a lot of things, not the least of which was the shopping. Geoff will be out of hospital soon after suffering a complete breakdown when seeing the total come up on the cash register. Never have so few spent so much on so little to restock the larder; and it didn’t even include grog! After 3 previous visits to the region, it was time to visit the O.T.C dish display and museum on the outskirts of the town. Although it is now no longer operational, it was certainly a vital piece of infrastructure for the Australian and U.S governments during the days of the early moon shots. As you would expect, there were numerous valedictory letters written by the astronauts who had relied on the Carnarvon dish ... read more

It seems like we have not had a day without rain or drizzle since we left home. In 2008 we were away for 6 months and had 6 days when it rained; oh, how I yearn for the old days. Gripe over. We checked into a caravan park in Esperance amongst the tree fellers and branch munchers, and were able to do all the ‘van duties’, i.e washing, water replenishment and something that her in-doors knows nothing about – emptying the cassette. We also tried unsuccessfully to find out how we could lodge an absentee vote in the upcoming election. Geoff washed the van in the fading light (into the dark), but it was to no avail as it rained on and off as we headed westward. The main problem with the wet roads is that ... read more

Week two has been a bit better – maybe. We enjoyed Mildura a lot. Marg had not had her birthday present from Geoff, so after acknowledging that $95 p.h for a fixed menu at Stephano’s was too rich for our blood, she was very excited to find a great Thai restaurant called Thai-riffic. Indeed it was good, although their service was so efficient we were in and out in a little over an hour. Our second day there saw us doing a bit of sightseeing, and in particular looking at some of the historic places that were the result of the work of the Chaffey Bros from Canada. They saw the opportunity to create something grand in irrigation on the Murray River when the Alfred Deakin (P.M at the time of the day went on a ... read more

Well all good things have to come to an end, and so it is with this trip. We have been asked which was the best place we went to, and that has been a really hard question to answer. The fact of the matter is that Geoff would say that this was one of the best trips over all that we have done. At the end I will put in all the figures (so those that do not find that interesting can skip it). Suffice to say here that we have been pleased with the trip on a number of fronts; we are still talking to each other, the caravan performed well, the car performed well (mostly), and we visited places and stayed in places that we have not done before. We left you in Lightening ... read more