Next stop after Rocky, was the thriving little community of Tannum Sands, which has a symbiotic relationship with another adjourning community known as Boyne Island. The local footy (rugby), bowls and golf clubs are known as ‘BITS’ Golf etc. Quaint. BITS is just a little south of Gladstone and the tropic of Capricorn, and as with most Queensland coastal areas is a great spot for fishing – if you have a boat. As with most Queensland coastal areas it also boasts a healthy population of sandflies. It seems that just when you think you have got over the little blighters, more itchy red spots appear on any exposed limbs. We by-passed the next lot of twin towns of 1770 and Agnes Waters, and headed for Hervey Bay. One of Margaret’s old family friends lives there and ... read more

Back to the task at hand… Yes folks we are back on the road and Marg is now well again and enjoying the travels. Enough of the schmaltz, the (caravan) suspension arm arrived in Darwin in the nick of time for it to be fitted on the Thursday before we were due to fly back to Melbourne on Friday. I did find out that the suspension guy had the money in the bank from the chassis supplier before he called us to pick up the van, and that sent shivers right through me – even in the 32 deg heat! We have been back to Melbourne, and while it was fantastic to catch up with friends and our girls, we were not sorry to leave a wet and freezing Melbourne for the warmer temps in the ... read more

It is hard to love Port Hedland, and we have to confess it did not win us over – despite the most amazing fish and chips at the golf club on Friday night. We moved on. To the north there are a number of locations that have been highly recommended, including Eighty Mile Beach and Barn Hill. We have to mention here that at our last free camp before Tom Price we met a lovely couple Joanne and David from South Aust. We crossed paths with them a couple of times including sharing the same caravan park in Port Hedland, and they were headed for Eighty Mile Beach. As that is before Barn Hill on the road north we decided that was good enough reason to head in there. It requires a short 12 kms of ... read more

Thank goodness for our differences; this blog will probably define where we sit in the big picture. Gascoyne Junction is a small village of about 7 or 8 houses, a caravan park of sorts – mainly for the local work force, and the Shire Offices (Upper Gascoyne) which also doubles and the local roadhouse. They sell fuel and other items needed by travellers and locals alike, and given that they are at least 145 kms from anywhere else, that is probably appropriate. The reference to the Shire Offices is important as the road from Carnarvon to GJ was undoubtedly the best (smoothest) we have been on all trip. Before arriving at GJ our intention was to leave the van there and do day trips to the gorges of the Kennedy Ranges. After checking in at the ... read more

Marg decided that we had had enough of South Australia, so we pointed the car North West and made a run for the border. With the long and barren drive across the Nullarbor in front of us we decided to stock up on a few items in Ceduna bearing in mind that all fruit and vegetable matter (not cooked) and honey wouldhave to be forfeited at the border control. It was a very judicious shopping experience. It was a fairly long day’s driving and we elected to stop at a free camp about 90 kms West of Ceduna. It was on the wrong side of the road, but we were able to get a reasonable distance away from the highway so the road trains did not disturb us too much. There was another van already at ... read more