Brisbane Trip Day 23: Brisbane -> Armidale

Our friends were leaving for dancing at 6.30am so most of them were up before 6. Caitlin and I were as well, hanging out with them before they left. Amelie woke in time to hug everyone goodbye, and Liam woke enough to say good bye, then fell asleep again. Once they were gone I had breakfast and had a shower, then started putting everything in the car. I woke Liam because I needed him to eat so I could pack the rest of our food. We were pretty well packed by 9, then our host pulled the trailer out of the driveway with his ute (it was going to be too heavy to pull over the steep lip of the driveway with my car) and I hitched up out on the street. We were in the car and had said goodbye to the kittens and the youngest boy, ready to go by 9.30.

Not far into our drive we saw 2 wedge-tailed eagles – an exciting start to our journey. We were all sad to be leaving our friends, although confident that we’ll see them again soon and it will be like we never left. The drive south was all new to me, I’ve never done this inland trip from Brisbane. The mountains we were driving towards were fascinating to look at, so many craggy peaks and interesting shapes. We were very slow going up and over the gap, but managed it ok.

We stopped in Warwick for petrol, and continued on towards Tenterfield. The land here was less lush and green than in Brisbane, although not dry. We saw lots of cactus by the side of the road. Liam and Amelie had a nap. Driving through Tenterfield I still felt ok, then soon after started to feel tired so stopped at a rest stop (near Bluff Rock) and we had a toilet break and a bit of lunch, and I made a cup of tea. I put my window down to get some air in the car when we stopped, and then it didn’t go back up. I managed to get it about halfway and we had to do the rest of the trip like that.

I felt better back in the car and the drive was interesting and mainly easy. I had downloaded a heap of music in the last week so we were listening to that, it was a pretty cool mix. We stopped in Glen Innes for Caitlin to run into McDonalds and get 3 soft serve cones, I made myself another cup of tea. I was feeling excited by now as the terrain felt familiar – I think I may have driven to Glen Innes once, but it was more that it felt like New England  and felt comfortable. One part of the road near Guyra was tricky, it was a long, steep downhill section. I’d had a truck behind me for ages – I’d lose him on uphill stretches then he’d catch up in between. He was right behind me on this section and it scared me – he was supposed to only go 80 down the hill, but I think he wanted to go faster. I was only going 80 because I was quite scared, the trailer was pushing the car and it felt much faster than I would have liked, and the truck was on my tail the whole way. At the bottom there was an overtaking lane and he went past me and I felt much better.

Arriving in Armidale was quite exciting, very keen to have a look around and see the places I remember. There was a hint of autumn in some of the trees and it looked pretty as we drove in. We came in from a slightly different direction than I’d expected, but I soon got my bearings, and was excited to drive past 2 of the streets I lived on while I was here. We easily found the showground and rang the caretaker to check us in. She came over and charged us $15 per night, I was expected to pay $20 so that was a nice bonus. I’d thought it might take us 6 ½ hours, with rest stops and driving slower because of the trailer, and I was right!

 I picked a spot and backed the trailer in, and the kids went off to explore. Once I’d unhitched I made a quick call to Tony before he went to work, went to the toilet myself, and then started to set up.  Caitlin had a shower and the others wandered around and talked to people with dogs. There’s several other people staying here, including some show people who are staying for the autumn festival next week (Armidale show was last weekend). Once they’d explored enough they played on their ipods in the car – it is a lot cooler here than in Brisbane and they were staying out of the breeze. We’re lucky that the last 4 days or so in Brisbane were only mid twenties instead of mid 30s like the first few days – otherwise we’d really really be feeling the cold here! We rummaged around in the car and found jackets and long pants which we hadn’t needed for a while.

Set up was pretty easy and it was nice to be back in the tent again. Once I had the beds up we walked into town – it’s 3 blocks along the same street from here to Coles.  (Before we left I covered the open window with a blanket). The kids found an abandoned Coles trolley and took turns pushing each other in it along the path. Amelie skipped ahead. The sun was setting and it was very pretty.

We bought some food for dinner (ravioli and soup) and breakfast (hot cross buns) and a couple of other supplies and headed back. It was completely dark now and everyone was tired. Back at camp we quickly cooked our dinner and ate it. I put the blankets on the beds and made sure everyone had enough to keep warm, and everyone was in bed by about 9pm (which is only 8pm for our body clocks).

Half-lap Day 75: Port Hedland

It wasn’t as cold this morning, and it was beautiful again sitting under the gum trees and having breakfast, exploring the site and taking it easy. We got ready and headed off to Port Hedland around 10am. There were some interesting rock features from time to time on the drive there, otherwise the land was mainly flat. We crossed the railway line that LiAM and I had seen the day before, and saw a few mining areas. We also saw some wedge-tailed eagles – a couple in the air and one on the ground. We hadn’t seen one since before Mataranka and we were all thrilled. As always we were astounded at how big they are.

Coming in to Port Hedland things were suddenly busy and there were trucks and mining cars everywhere. We passed the airport and saw several areas with demountable accommodation, assumedly for the mining workers. We decided to go in to the Port first and were heading in on that road when I remembered that we’d been going to go to a camping store first so that we could get a new fuse for the fridge cord, and the store we wanted was in South Hedland. We decided to check out the Port first then come back later.

As we drove in we saw a very large hill of salt with a large digger driving around on it, I’d heard about these salt piles but it was even more incredible to see in reality. The salt was near the railway bridge, and as we approached one of the kilometre+ long trains was driving underneath. It had a 44 and 43 class engine on the front, and we drove alongside it for a long time, seeing the 2 similar engines in the middle and then another long line of empty cars. I’ve wanted to see these trains since I worked at BHP in my early 20s, so I was incredibly excited. We drove past BHP Billiton Iron Ore, the entry way and the works reminded me a lot of the steel works in Newcastle, I was feeling quite nostalgic and excited at the same time.

We followed the signs to the town centre and did a quick cruise around the block, seeing the impressive Esplanade Hotel – 3 stories of sandstone bricks, with a dark railing around the balconies on the top 2 floors. It took up all of one side of a block – a massive and beautiful building. We parked near the port and wandered out on to the little viewing jetty. As we’d approached there was a large ship coming in, and we saw one being put into position along one of the wharves. It was amazing to watch the tugs maneuver this massive ship into place so easily. We could see ships out on the horizon and 3 berthed across on the other side of the (fairly narrow) port. I was a bit nervous on the jetty as it was just iron lattice, and the railings were just 2 horizontal bars. We  went to the lower level of the jetty – even less railing and much closer to the water (which was at low tide) and we didn’t stay down there long.

We walked down to the Information Centre and got info on all the things to do in Port Hedland, as well as about Karajini National Park where we will be headed next. We bought a 4 week National Parks Pass which should cover us for the rest of our time in WA. Millie had wanted to come to this Visitor’s Centre because her friend from home who we’d seen in Broome had bought a toy turtle here, and she wanted to buy one too. We found the turtle and I suggested getting a smaller (cheaper) one, and she decided to buy both of them. They are pretty cute and she later offered to share the small one with LiAM if he gives her half the money, he was happy to do that.

Back to the car and we drove out to South Hedland to the camping store. We saw some more trains on our way out over the bridge. The guy there said that he didn’t sell the fuses we needed – it would be best to go to Pilbara Motor Group, way back in Port Hedland, not far from the Visitor’s Centre. So we drove back in and found the place he talked about, Tony popped in and bought the fridge, put it in the cord – and the fridge started working again, hooray!!! Because it is so well insulated and we didn’t open it much once we realised it was off, all the food stayed pretty cold and we didn’t lose anything.

We drove back out to the railway bridge and sat at the viewing area at the base of it to have our lunch. Caitlin dropped her phone on the concrete as we arrived and smashed her screen. We said we’d get a screen protector for it as soon as we went shopping that afternoon, and she wasn’t too upset. A train came past as we were getting our food out, so we rang my Dad and chatted to him while it went past, he was excited about it as well. We also talked to my Mum and nephew, he was thrilled to talk to LiAM and the girls. A few trains went past as we ate, all of them loaded with iron ore, and with only one set of engines (shorter than the train we’d seen on our first pass over the bridge). We had a great view of the salt hill too, with the huge road trains coming in to collect the salt and take it to the port – the big digger scooped up salt and dropped into the trailers – 2 scoops into each of the 3 trailers, then that truck would leave and another would arrive. There was rarely a break for the digger.

After we’d eaten another train came through so we ran up to the lookout at the top of the bridge to watch the train pass underneath it, which was pretty cool. We had an even better view of the salt pile here too. It was so white, and a great contrast against the blue sky. There were lots of road trains of all types thundering over the bridge. We’d only occasionally seen 4-trailer road trains so far (most of them had had 3) but here, 4 was as common as 3. Everything just seems bigger in Port Hedland.

We packed up and headed towards Woolworths, and as we drove along next to the line there was an empty train headed out, with the engines in the middle again. I counted 132 wagons between the 2 sets of engines, and it looked about the same number beyond the 2^nd wagons.

There was a phone repair place next to Woolworths, so we decided to get Caitlin’s screen fixed as it was a pretty serious smash. We went in to get groceries for our trip to Karajini, this will be our last chance to shop before then. Millie wasn’t really enjoying shopping to Tony took her back out to the car and the rest of us finished it off. The girl at the checkout put only 2-4 things in each bag when she packed them, so I think we now have enough plastic bags to use for our rubbish bin for the rest of the trip!

Next stop was the foreshore where it’s possible to see turtles at high tide. We weren’t going to get a high tide before the sun set, but as the tide was coming in it was worth checking out anyway (I figured they didn’t just turn up exactly at the moment the tide was highest). There was a walkway along the foreshore, then an area of honeycomb rock which then formed a small cliff down to the water. There was still a bit of sand between cliff and water when we arrived, Caitlin and LiAM climbed down and found some shells, then came back up and we wandered along the top. There were bits of seaweed in the water which at first looked like turtles, but no other signs of life at this stage. It was so beautiful to be there though – the sun was low in the sky which made the honeycomb rocks glow red and cast interesting shadows. The waves were rolling in and splashing and to the east it was a gorgeous coastline. To the west we could see all the port equipment silhouetted against the setting sun. To the north we could see all the ships on the horizon. (The coastline here faces north). We sat near the edge of the cliff for a while and watched the water, then Tony took the kids to the playground. I stayed and simply enjoyed watching the waves and the shadows and the increasing tide and the port. Caitlin came back over after a while and I was thinking I’d be saying ‘I haven’t seen any turtles yet’ – and then a turtle popped it’s head out of the water! From that point on I saw them fairly regularly – just a large, dark, round head popping up for a couple of seconds – very hard to take a photo off as they were so quick and could come up anywhere, but very exciting. Caitlin soon saw them as well, and we called the others over.

It took a while for each successive person to see them, and we showed a few other people where the turtles were too. Eventually everyone except Millie had seen one – I had managed to get a photo finally, and when I showed it to her she said ‘oh – I’ve seen those, I didn’t know that was what we were looking for!’ Very occasionally we also saw a flipper, and once one swam by close enough and on the right angle that we could see its shell and flippers as well. Beautiful Flatback Turtles and a very exciting way to spend the evening.

Flat-backed turtle

Once the sun was down we got our hot chook out of the car and had a picnic tea, although soon moved back into the car because the mosquitoes were so bad. We drove back into town because I wanted to see the port at night. We went back out on the jetty – it looked so different at high tide – and watched some tugs moving around, then walked along the Esplanade where we could peer through the security fences and see different parts of the port. I love that night time industrial noise and look – just a dull hum and bright lights which suggest lots of busyness. Walking past the Esplanade Hotel we heard a loud engine of some sort start up – after a while Caitlin said ‘Helicopter!’ and she was right, a few minutes later we saw it appear from behind the building near us and head out towards the ocean – I’d say taking a pilot out to bring a ship in. I always find it very exciting to see a helicopter suddenly appear at low altitude like that.

The walk was very well signposted and decorated and was enjoyable even at night. From the end of the road we could see the salt trucks dumping their load – once we got back to the car we drove around there to see it more closely. They opened a flap at the bottom of their triangle shaped trailers and the salt poured into a big hopper, then along a conveyor belt and up high where it was poured onto another massive hill of salt, ready to be loaded on to the ships. It was incredible to watch.

We drove back out to our campsite (having to stop once to avoid 2 large cows in the middle of the highway) and got back around 8.30. Everyone was exhausted so we went straight to bed and read a quick chapter of Inheritance.

Half-lap Day 29: Devils Marbles -> Elliott

It got a bit windy overnight, and with the windows open it felt different, and none of us slept very well. It meant that we were easily all up before sunrise which was great because we really wanted to see the sun come up over the rocks. There was a rainbow to the west, and some nasty looking storm clouds (heading south) – the rainbow was there for hours and added to the magnificence of the changing colours on the rocks as the sun rose.

We packed up but didn’t rush – it’s quicker after a 1 night stop because we don’t get so much stuff out. I had trouble with the zip on the main door of the tent – Tony managed to get it to a point where it can be closed all the way, but we can only use one of the zips, not two. As we were packing Caitlin’s iPad mini slid out of the car and the screen cracked. When Tony went to put his bike on the trailer he discovered he had a flat tyre. When Millie sat down to have her breakfast I noticed a spider on her seat – a redback! I was feeling a bit jangly after all of that but the rest of the pack up went ok, the kids played with their stuffed animals in the tent and had a great morning. It was pretty cool packing up with these huge boulders looming right above us. Oh and it only cost $7.70 for the night – a great place to camp. We had a long chat to our neighbours as we finished getting ready, a very friendly couple with a gorgeous little maltese terrier who the kids adored.

We drove to Tennant Creek and got petrol, decided not to do anything else there. We had hoped to go out to see The Pebbles, but it was 6km of dirt road each way and we chose not to risk taking the trailer out there. The drive north was quite similar to the day before, and we were hoping to do another 450km and make it to Daly Waters. Tony noticed the engine temperature rising alarmingly – we stopped, checked the engine and the coolant and everything else seemed ok. We kept going – the temp went up again. We turned the air conditioner off and the temperature went back to normal. We tried it a few time – air con on, the engine temperature rose, when we turned it off, it dropped back down. So we continued driving, with windows down and Harry Potter as loud as we could make it. It wasn’t too bad for a while but as the outside temperature reached 35 degrees it became more uncomfortable in the car.

The next town we reached was Elliott. We thought perhaps we should stay here for the night and continue on in the cooler part of the day the next day. I jumped out of the car to go and check out the caravan park, and could only find one of my Teva sandals. I looked everywhere and the other one didn’t turn up – I must have left it on the ground when I went to get out of the car to help Tony check the engine. I was inconsolable – those shoes were my birthday present for this trip and they were starting to get really comfortable. Caitlin lent me her sandals and she wore her thongs.

Tony went to see about the caravan park but they weren’t there. We had seen that there was a mechanic in town so we drove to see him and the kids and I walked back up to the BP to get ice blocks. The kids got a slushie each and I got a zooper dooper – they did help us cool down a little. The mechanic said he thought that maybe the compressor on the air con wasn’t working, and gave Tony the number of an auto electrician in Katherine. I asked at the BP about camping (wiki camps had listed it as an option) and he said only at the caravan park. We headed back down there as we figured we couldn’t drive any further in this heat without air con. A local indigenous man offered us a painting for $30 – I wasn’t prepared to pay that much at this stage.

The caravan park cost $30 for the night and it was very very basic. There was one other lady camped there in a campervan and no one else. The grass was long and unkempt in places, the fittings were all old and broken in places. We’d been given a key for the ladies toilets but the men’s weren’t locked – that makes it seem like it was a safety issue which made me a little nervous. It didn’t feel like a nice place to stay but we were all too tired and hot and a little stressed to keep going in the car. The girls were feeling so hot they went and had a cold shower in their clothes, which cooled them off a little.

There were a lot of peacocks and peahens around the park which was pretty cool. We got set up and sat around for a while, the kids played their ipads, I hung the washing out, Tony fixed his bike tyre, then another family arrived in their caravan and set up next to us – things felt a bit safer then. They had a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy and had driven all the way from Mt Isa that day – 880km!! The kids all played together – Millie and the other girl got all their stuffed toys out and played a Frozen game, LiAM and the boy wandered around and looked at peacocks and sticks. One peacock kept attacking its reflection in our neighbour’s car, it was pretty funny. More people arrived as the afternoon progressed and we relaxed a bit.

Tony and Caitlin went for a bike ride around the park, and found the swimming pool – wiki camps had said there was a pool and we hadn’t seen it so thought it was old information. The pool looked very inviting and not old and run down like the rest of the place. We went for a twilight swim which was beautiful. There were bats flying overhead and birds in the trees and a swim made all of us feel much better. Tony left first to go and heat up left overs for dinner – when I went to leave I couldn’t reach around to open the latch to get out of pool enclosure. The manager came out to feed his dogs and I asked him to help us – the dogs came with him and started fighting with each other right in front of the gate where we were standing  - it was quite scary. The guy called them off and we made it out of the pool yard and back to the tent with no further problems.

The town’s little supermarket was the store at the front of the caravan park, so I was able to buy myself some thongs so that I had shoes to wear. I haven’t worn thongs in probably 20 years or more so it’s going to take me a while to get used to them – they are pretty comfortable though.

In our visits to the toilets and showers through the afternoon and evening we saw several frogs (on the soap dish, on the window, on the floor) and geckos on the ceiling. After we ate leftovers and potatoes for tea we headed for bed as we were all exhausted, but it was still in the mid 20s so it took us a while to settle down enough to fall asleep.