North to the Kimberley Western Australia

June 2013

Well the days are short and the nights long as we move toward the winter solstice in the year of "the big guy in the sky" 2013.

After leaving our partially finished project (house) in late May we boarded the ferry to that mystical place where a sizeable portion of the populace has paid work, and Tasmanians call the Mainland. Over the following few weeks we caught up with those near and dear who could see us at short notice. One highlights my granddaughter's birthday, another, two grandsons basket ball games and a night at Lorne where Gaels dad Doug, and Mary were recognized for their many years of service to the local community. An award such as this will no doubt elude me as selflessness is not one of my attributes!

Being camper based gypsies in any big city presents its unique set of problems. Like, do friends have a driveway where you can park!

The next small stage of our journey was from Melbourne to Sunbury, where a flora and fauna reserve near Riddells Creek provided an excellent camping base. From here we launched expeditions to friends in the area.

Next to Ararat, to visit a good old farmer friend of Gaels, and then a series of small stages through the wonderful and under rated desert parks of Victoria’s northwest. Here the camping is free, abundant, and blissfully quiet after Melbourne. It’s amazing how when you live in a city you become de-sensitized to the constant background noise of the place.

Gluepot Reserve in the Mallee is fondly remembered by us as a sanctuary for our native birds. At Gluepot the foxes and the domestic cat that has gone feral are as welcome as a case of the pox.

A perennial visit for us is the Flinders ranges and surrounds. Here we spent a couple of nights at a conservation park called Warraweena. This park is an old favorite. A place of glorious vistas, and native wildlife that has at least some protection from feral animals. Constant baiting of foxes in the park means slightly less pressure on the indigenous fauna although goats are a huge problem for the flora.

Arriving at Marree we had a short chat with a friendly, diminutive local wearing a very battered leather hat of indeterminable age. The hat being so battered as to appear to have been recently hacked of a piece of long dead road kill. The gentleman himself appeared to be in only slightly better condition than his hat. Years of smoking had rendered his tanned face somewhat weather beaten, as well as staining his bushy beard and mustache to a ginger color. The last time I remember seeing something similar was in the USA, in the form of a hastily retreating Raccoon.

The nights have been getting a little milder as are the days, as we move further north. This is to be expected I suppose as if we were home at Glen Huon at the moment I would probably be shoveling snow from the front entry. Whereas in Broom I could expect to be wearing my budgie smugglers whilst strolling up cable beach. Not a pretty thought I must admit!

I mention the weather because over the past weeks I have been installing a diesel heater in the camper. I have done this one step at a time at suitable campsites along the way. Not a simple feat for me even at home in the garage where I have a plethora of tools at my disposal.

The heater was quite expensive even though I saved a few hundred smackers by purchasing on the internet from the UK, but by Christ it makes getting up at 5.30 in the morning a lot easier! It also runs on the smell of an oily rag at only ¼ litre per hour and we only run the little sucker for an hour in the morning. The only drawback with this little baby is that you can’t camp within 100mtrs of anyone else as it sounds like a jet plane taking off. Well nothings perfect!

One is very careful that one is in dire need before purchasing anything in the outback. Fuel that normally costs say $1.50 a litre in the settled areas sets you back $2.22 at Mt Dare Station near Oodnadatta. And beer should be considered a luxury at $30.00 for a six pack! I can get 30 bloody cans of vintage Tooheys Red for $37 bucks in Tassie. And what a sweet drop it is. Even Panadol falls into this luxury bracket at $5.50 for 24 tabs, about twice the usual price. Gael and I eat them like sweets at the annual fair so it can get pretty expensive. Pain relief should be free for anyone over 60 with the option of a hollow tooth filled with a cyanide capsule if it all gets too much.

The station tracks that run from Oodnadatta through the stony gibber country to Dalhousie Ruins have been teeth rattlingly rough. I have traveled this part of outback South Australia three times now over the last, dare I say it, thirty years. But this is the roughest ride I can remember. Thirty years ago only a few of us mad *******s were interested in the outback. These days every Tom, d*** and Harriet wants the wilderness experience. And the bloody clowns are towing dual axle off road caravans with the lot into these places. Now it’s not enough to have a bed to sleep in, as Tom or d*** is expected to cart along all the **** you normally find in a small house or Harriet will stay firmly planted in Moonee Ponds. No wonder the tracks are stuffed.

We paid five dollars each for a shower this afternoon at Mt Dare station campground. Instead of staying in these camping grounds we pay to freshen up and then move on to find our own roadside camp. In most instances this works out just fine and we have no need to put up with all the noise and comings and goings of other campers that go with staying in organized accommodation.

Well, what can a person say about Uluru other than that I’d hate to drop something that big on my foot.

On the way to “the rock” you pass Curtin Springs campground. Curtin Springs offers free unpowered sites to grey nomads and others wandering aimlessly or with purpose around this country of ours. The other option is Yulara Resort camping ground at $35 for an unpowered site. Guess where we stayed? Yep, neither, as Curtin Springs had more grey headed old ***** like us per square metre than at the Huonville Medical Centre on pension day and Yulara at $35, not bloody likely my friends!!!!.

Like Mt Dare caravan park, Yulara will let you purchase a shower or use the laundry. Then it’s of the black top and down a dirt track at the end of the day’s activities – where Tom and d*** can’t go – for a quiet night under the stars in the sand dunes. So for the next few nights we also have the added bonus of still being close enough to Yulara Resort to get the Next G signal for our laptop.