On the road north! Perth to New Norcia, then Moora, and finally getting on the coast!

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In our hurry to get out of Perth, we packed up the car, bought enough canned food to last us over a week, filled up with what was to be the cheapest diesel for the next 4000 km, and drove to what seemed to be the closest and best option outside greater Perth. This ended up being New Norcia, which according to the Camps 6 book (the camper's bible in Australia) seemed like an oasis of services in the middle of nowhere, but really was just a patch of brown grass behind a roadhouse next to the road in what turned out to be Australia's only monastic town. We got our first night of sleep in the car (and the sturdy bed Øyvind had built), used all our gear for the first time since we just tested it for 2 seconds while buying it (luckily everything still worked!), had our first encounter with bull ants and the persistent Australian fly, and got our bearings.

We had had a strange thing going on with the car in Perth, but as it only had happened a few times and stopped, we decided to not spend any more money and just go. Predictably, the problem came back and got a lot worse. It basically involved the entire car's electrics (and thus all the power) cutting out suddenly while driving, in a varying rhythm (sometimes every couple of seconds, sometimes twice every minute), which felt very much like we were slamming on the brakes at an intermittent pace. Really not the relaxing, comforting feeling of being on the road we were looking for.

Øyvind, after trying pretty much everything else, figured out it was mysteriously linked to the fan. Every time we had the fan (not the AC, also just the regular fan) on above 2 notches (so, when it was noticeable), the cutting out would start (which would indicate some overheating shutdown and thus did not invite us to push it)... Did we mention it was well above 45°? And that we had recently regased the AC? We spent the night in a tiny caravan park in Moora (where two of the nice men over 70 there were eager to give us loads of advice) because the town had a Toyota repair shop AND a car parts store (we were now far away from Perth, and finding both of these things in the same town was striking gold).

The next day we perplexed the guys at the Toyota dealership who sent us to the auto electrician (this town DID have it all!) who tried for hours to fix it, came up empty and was nice enough not to charge us his hourly rate for the work. Well, at least we knew how to make it stop. And it wasn't something dangerous or obvious or he would have found it. So we were on our way...

That night we finally hit the coast at Cervantes, a quaint little seaside town where every street name is Spain-based. We did not manage to find out why, but did swing by Barcelona Way on our way out of town...

The next day we drove to see the Stromatolites on Lake Thetis. They may not look very exciting but these are descendants of the very first living things on Earth, and thus our oldest living ancestors (and the first ones responsible for turning all that nasty CO2 into lovely O2, just so we could turn it back again). So even though they just look like puffy rocks, it was quite cool to stand next to the origins of life as we know it... They only still exist a very few places on Earth, so it really was quite special.

We then visited the Pinnacles, which is the first proper tourist destination up the coast from Perth. We were excited to finally be able to test our Land Cruiser on some sand and corrugated roads, and the desert landscape there was spectacular, and, of course, spectacularly hot. The limestone formations make for some very cool photos, and have a way of creating a slightly lunar landscape (minus the German tourists, of course).

And so our trip up north finally felt like it was really happening!

- About camping in Australia: camping is only permitted in designated areas, and of those very, very, very few are free and out of the free ones maybe only a handful are actually worth staying at (think roadside layaways with no shelter and the roadtrains rushing by all night). The Camps book covers the whole of Australia and very many of its public and privately owned sites, and in addition camping is possible in several National Parks, for which one can pay entrance or buy a seasonal pass, and pay additional per-night camping fees. Usually, anything under 20 dollars a night means no shelter, no water, and no facilities of any kind. We don't mind those things, but it is odd having to pay for the absence of facilities....

- About Australian flies: they are smaller, and lighter than most European flies, but about 1000 times peskier and more persistent. They will try to crawl into your ears, your nostrils, your mouth, and even your eyes. They will not be deterred. They will not be swatted away. You will want to hit your head with a frying pan to get them off you. And you just might end up doing that. But trust us, it won't help.

- We have decided to name our Land Cruiser Bernie, after Sadie's grandfather, who up until just a few years ago, still ran marathons, loves the heat, is a bit worn around the edges but never, ever gives up! It is an '87 Toyota FJ 60 with more than 540.000 km on the clock...!

- Our setup: Øyvind built a bed in the back of the car and we bought two foam mattresses that fit in perfectly. They rest on three plywood sheets that can be pushed to the back, and the back seats are always folded, which means we have access to the back during the day, and at night move it all around so the bed takes up everything but the front seats. He built a support beam that runs all the way down the middle (and of all the other travelers I can guarantee it is the sturdiest). We have mosquito nets on the two back windows, and use our big mosquito net (initially purchased for Southeast Asia but only used about three times) to cover the whole back of the car when there is no breeze, so we can let some more air in without letting in snakes, spider, and god knows what else. We have three jerry cans for water (a total of 70 litres) and three for fuel (a total of 65 litres), since the further north we go the harder it is to find drinkable water, and sometimes the gas-stations are more than 600 km apart (and we can only do 450km on a full tank). We have a fridge that came with the car, which runs only on 12volt (the plug is old and irreplaceable and the previous owner must have lost the adapter to 240w, which means as long as we drive a few hours every day, especially towards the end of the day, things (especially Øyvind's insulin) stay cool enough. We eat mostly canned food, with some onions and other heat-resistant items thrown in, wash the dishes with a 3-step process involving paper towels, wet wipes and about a spoonful of water (which works suprisingly well!), and take the occasional 1,5 litre shower. And yes, we have a shovel. And it is not always for digging out the car.

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Photos

First night out
The first night sleeping in the car was spent in New Norcia, and except from the lack of almost everything in the town, it was still a great first night we had

At the beach
We finally hit the beach and could experience it with the seagulls, who sounds so very different from what we are used to

Bernie en route
We finally got to try the 4wd on our car, who we have named Bernie

Hola Barcelona
Sadie all of a sudden found herself back in Barcelona for a little while

Killing feet
Øyvind's sandals have picked up a bit of smell over the years, and it seemed like it was also to much for this big fish. Who knows how Sadie survives

Stromatolites guard
The birds are watching over the oldest living things on earth

In the beginning
This is what made us who we are - or at least gave us the chance of becoming who we are

The view from the dessert
Its a spectacular view when you're in the middle of the Pinnacles

Torn and worn
The nature is at constant work creating, building and tearing down the pinnacles

Salt lake
We came a cross a salt lake on our way, but we did not drive on to it as we were both worn in person, and by a huge pile of rocks on the road in front of it. It still was a cool sight

Quick check up
We have learnt that not all Aussie auto electrics are as well educated as they maybe should be, but we had to give it a try anyway when our fan made the engine halt

Comments

[The Travel Camel]

Glad to know you are on the road
I reckon the best part of Australia are those areas outside of the cities. The immense spaciousness and the rugged beauty of the dry continent are very special. Are you planning to head to the Northern Territory, in my opinion that is my favourite part of the country. Also (you may have already heard this) avoid driving in many places at dusk, for that is when the kangaroos become active and they are highly unpredictable in their movements - they are known to jump into the path of oncoming cars. I've driven around Australia and had a couple of near accidents involving kangaroos.

[Sadieandoyvind]

Need to be aware
Hello and thanks for your comment. We totally agree that any area outside of the cities of Australia is the best. We will probably go up to Darwin before heading south towards Uluru and then figure out where we want to sell our car, but when we'll get there, and just where that will be, we have no idea on yet. The kangaroos are a constant threat if driving at night, so far we have avoided doing so but when visiting the Francois Peron National Park we had a double close call as two kangaroos jumped out just in front of us. Luckily we avoided hitting them.