From Norseman we put in a reasonably big effort. There are things to see out here but they are a long way apart, so our plan was to try to get to Fowler's bay in two days. Along the way you have to go down Madura Pass. The view from the top of the Pass is quite spectacular and we will photograph it on the way back (hopefully with better light.) From Madura you drive along the southern side of the cliff face that makes the Pass necessary. It certainly breaks the monotony of the scenery prior to the Pass.
We travel at around 80 KPH - 85 KPH when the weather is hot, to reduce the load on the car. It's bad enough that the van weighs 3.5 Tonnes and that we've had howling headwinds for the entire trip so far, without adding 40 degree temps to the mix. We managed to get to a roadside rest stop about 7 Km short of Mundrabilla at around 4:00 PM. It was spacious and we got a good spot with plenty of shade. The only drawback was the rubbish. Poo tickets everywhere, along with overflowing rubbish bins, yuck!
At the campsite we met a couple from Austria who have shipped their customised Land Rover Defender over to Australia because it was $11,000.00 cheaper to do that than it was to hire a 4WD vehicle in Australia. They had everything but the kitchen sink hanging off the bloody car, but obviously didn't carry a lot of water because the girl was a bit on the nose. They told us that they were going to have a crack at the Canning Stock Route, but seemed to have changed their minds after we first picked our jaws up off the ground, told them that they were bloody crazy and informed them that they would be the only vehicle out there. They had rung the Capricorn roadhouse to arrange a fuel drop and weren't fazed when told that the servo didn't do fuel drops during the summer.
Next day we took off at 5:30 AM and headed for the Border. We went right past the servo at Eucla, after hearing that the fuel was cheaper just over ther Border in South Oz. Wrong! It was 5.5 cents per litre dearer, but rather than drive the 24 Km round trip to Eucla, I just put enough fuel in to get us to Ceduna. For a while it looked like I'd stuffed up the fuel calculations because the strong headwinds were giving us a hammering. While in phone range at Eucla we rang ahead to Fowler's Bay and were told that they didn't have any caravan park bays large enough to accommodate our van. Fowler's Bay is about two-thirds of the journey from Eucla to Ceduna and would have broken the trip up nicely, but alas, not to be. So it was onward, ever onward.
We made the mandatory stop at a rest area on the Great Australian Bight and took some photos and some video footage of the coastline. Talk about windy! Here's a short video clip to give you an idea of the bloody wind.
We punched on into the wind and after about 200 Km I was getting indications from the fuel computer that we weren't going to make Ceduna on the fuel we had left. No big deal, just another stop required. We stopped at another roadside bay close to Nundroo to have lunch and were beset upon by March flies. It was 40 Degrees outside (and about the same in the van) so we knocked up some snacky stuff and ate it on the run in the car.
After a while the wind eased and the fuel computer was a lot happier and in the end we rolled into Ceduna about mid afternoon (having lost an hour and three quarters in time-zone changes.) First stop was the Quarantine Inspection Service, where we had to chuck out all of our remaining fruit and vegies (except for our solitary carrot - go figure?) Next stop was the Visitor Centre where the Lady running the show was very helpful.
She directed us to a nice caravan park down on the waterfront and from the door of the van we have pretty good views of the beach and water. We are going to stay here for a few days and have already contibuted to the local economy with the purchase of some wire and fittings for a clothes line, a pair of diving boots (for reef-walking), a cycle helmet (How I hate those bloody things, but we were warned that the Coppers here are very strict on the wearing of them - and mine was stuffed anyway), some morning tea (coffee was absolutely dreadful) and a light jumper for Sue. She's been feeling the cold in the evenings.
Ceduna is actually a very pretty, clean, smallish town. It is quite likeable and it won't be hard to spend some time here looking around. Photos in the next Blog.
Saturday 31 December 2011
Wednesday 28 December 2011
Geraldton to Norseman
We left Gero after farewelling our Son, his Partner and their children and meandered down the Brand Highway to Dongara. Along the way you see large signs saying "Beautiful Marina x Km" (where "x" is the number of Kilometres from that sign), so we thought we'd go to the Beautiful Marina and have our breakfast.
A number of lobster fishing boats operate out of Port Denison, near Dongara, and many of these were tied up in their pens at the various jetties. People were also kayaking or just sitting and having breakfast like ourselves. The view was pleasant, but fell short of what I would call "beautiful".
We ate our cereal and enjoyed the fine weather before hitting the road and heading further south to Badgingarra. Here we were to head south-east to Moora. This road takes you through some grazing country with gently rolling hills and some very attractive eucalyptus trees. Also in abundance are the Western Australian Christmas tree.
Nuytsia Floribunda - Western Australian Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree is so named because it flowers at Christmas time. It is a true member of the Mistletoe family. Rather than grow on its host, it has a parasitic root system that seeks out the roots of other plants. When it finds a root it grows a parrot-like beak around it which then cuts into the host root. The Christmas tree then draws its nutrients from the host. I have had first-hand experience of this from my former life as a Telecom Technician. The Christmas Trees regularly mistook telephone cables for host plant roots and would literally cut through the telephone cables with their "beaks".
We carried on to Moora, a town that has made a good comeback from devastating floods back in March 1999. The town has bucked the trend of rural towns shrinking and has a great community spirit. We stopped in at the local supermarket and contributed to the local economy by buying a few things. Then it was time to head more eastward.
We headed to Whalebing, then across to Piawanning, Wongan Hills, south to Goomalling, back east through Dowerin (famous for the Dowerin Field Days), Wyalcatchem and then southeast to Merredin. I was going to buy fuel at Merredin but couldn't find a servo that was open, so we turned east and found a campsite just east of Burracoppin.
As campsites go, it was more like a truck stop, but we did find a little nook up one end of it and parked up out of direct view. As it happens, Burracoppin has a claim to fame in that the original "Rabbit Proof Fence" (now known as the State Barrier Fence) was commenced there. Two teams started at Burracopin, one went north, erecting the fence to Cape Keraudren (east of Port Hedland) and the other headed south and built the fence to Esperance. Unfortunately the rabbits were quicker than the fence builders and had already gotten through before the fence was finished, necessitating two additional fences inside the original. A small section of the fence remains at the rest-stop we were at, along with a blurb about its history.
We were also adjacent to the water pipeline that feeds water to the Goldfields. The pipeline is also steeped in history and was a major undertaking in its day.
Sue finds a use for the water pipeline. She also got silver paint all over her duds.
The rig in its little "nook" at the end of the Parking Bay.
We were pleasantly surprised that the traffic on the highway dropped away to almost nothing and had no effect on our ability to get some sleep. So it was, that at 5:30 AM the next morning we were on our way east again.
We fueled up at Southern Cross (also unfairly....or maybe fairly.....called Suffering Cross.) By 09:00 AM we had reached Coolgardie, where we had a roadside breakfast (with views that certainly made thoughts of the "Beautiful Marina" a lot more appealing.) Sue and I have been to Coolgardie plenty of times and were keen to get to Norseman nice and early so that we could have a decent break from driving. We were at the Gateway Caravan Park in Norseman by 11:00 AM.
Again, we've spent a couple of bob here, filling the car, buying some groceries, a magazine and some hardware. We also gave $3.00 to the local Visitor Centre for the key to the only Dump Point in town! We've never had to pay to use a dump point before. The rest of the afternoon has been spent chillaxing before we tackle the Nullarbor tomorrow.
A number of lobster fishing boats operate out of Port Denison, near Dongara, and many of these were tied up in their pens at the various jetties. People were also kayaking or just sitting and having breakfast like ourselves. The view was pleasant, but fell short of what I would call "beautiful".
We ate our cereal and enjoyed the fine weather before hitting the road and heading further south to Badgingarra. Here we were to head south-east to Moora. This road takes you through some grazing country with gently rolling hills and some very attractive eucalyptus trees. Also in abundance are the Western Australian Christmas tree.
The Christmas tree is so named because it flowers at Christmas time. It is a true member of the Mistletoe family. Rather than grow on its host, it has a parasitic root system that seeks out the roots of other plants. When it finds a root it grows a parrot-like beak around it which then cuts into the host root. The Christmas tree then draws its nutrients from the host. I have had first-hand experience of this from my former life as a Telecom Technician. The Christmas Trees regularly mistook telephone cables for host plant roots and would literally cut through the telephone cables with their "beaks".
We carried on to Moora, a town that has made a good comeback from devastating floods back in March 1999. The town has bucked the trend of rural towns shrinking and has a great community spirit. We stopped in at the local supermarket and contributed to the local economy by buying a few things. Then it was time to head more eastward.
We headed to Whalebing, then across to Piawanning, Wongan Hills, south to Goomalling, back east through Dowerin (famous for the Dowerin Field Days), Wyalcatchem and then southeast to Merredin. I was going to buy fuel at Merredin but couldn't find a servo that was open, so we turned east and found a campsite just east of Burracoppin.
As campsites go, it was more like a truck stop, but we did find a little nook up one end of it and parked up out of direct view. As it happens, Burracoppin has a claim to fame in that the original "Rabbit Proof Fence" (now known as the State Barrier Fence) was commenced there. Two teams started at Burracopin, one went north, erecting the fence to Cape Keraudren (east of Port Hedland) and the other headed south and built the fence to Esperance. Unfortunately the rabbits were quicker than the fence builders and had already gotten through before the fence was finished, necessitating two additional fences inside the original. A small section of the fence remains at the rest-stop we were at, along with a blurb about its history.
We were also adjacent to the water pipeline that feeds water to the Goldfields. The pipeline is also steeped in history and was a major undertaking in its day.
Sue finds a use for the water pipeline. She also got silver paint all over her duds.
We were pleasantly surprised that the traffic on the highway dropped away to almost nothing and had no effect on our ability to get some sleep. So it was, that at 5:30 AM the next morning we were on our way east again.
We fueled up at Southern Cross (also unfairly....or maybe fairly.....called Suffering Cross.) By 09:00 AM we had reached Coolgardie, where we had a roadside breakfast (with views that certainly made thoughts of the "Beautiful Marina" a lot more appealing.) Sue and I have been to Coolgardie plenty of times and were keen to get to Norseman nice and early so that we could have a decent break from driving. We were at the Gateway Caravan Park in Norseman by 11:00 AM.
Again, we've spent a couple of bob here, filling the car, buying some groceries, a magazine and some hardware. We also gave $3.00 to the local Visitor Centre for the key to the only Dump Point in town! We've never had to pay to use a dump point before. The rest of the afternoon has been spent chillaxing before we tackle the Nullarbor tomorrow.
Saturday 24 December 2011
The Black Hole
We've just spent six wonderful days at Ningaloo Station. Our camp site was about fifty metres from the water's edge, close enough to see everything and far enough away to escape the wind-blown sand. And windy it was! Not in the terrible sense, though. The wind was strong enough that I could only launch the kayak on one day, but it kept the temperatures at a very comfortable level. We didn't need to fire up the generator to power the air conditioner, even though it was 49 Degrees C at Exmouth, just a hundred Km away.
Ningaloo camp sites are just $5.00 per person per night, or $20.00 per person per week. For that you get a key to gain access to your site and nothing else. There is no water, no rubbish collection, no toilets or dump-points and certainly no electricity. What you do get is a couple of shady trees and lots of serenity. From the beach in front of our van we could walk for an hour in either direction and not come across another camp site. We did meet one other couple, but only because they had walked an hour from their camp site!
Here's the camp site. That's the southern end of the range of hills that run the entire length of the North West Cape. The Tamarisk trees around the camp offer good shade but you don't leave anything important under them - they drip pure brine from their leaves in the cool of the evening.
Looking south from in front of our camp. The water is crystal clear and very safe for swimming (if you don't mind sharks).
The view facing north from in front of our camp site. The next closest camp to us was about a kilometre around the other side of the Point that you can see in this picture.
The fishing at Ningaloo is excellent. You could literally catch a fish at will. The first time I went fishing I noticed massive schools of Mullet swimming past. I figured I'd catch some to use for bait, so I tried catching them using my very light tackle and some bread dough on a very small hook. They were interested, but didn't bite. I gave up and started using small pieces of prawn on the same rig, trying to catch a whiting or two. To my surprise, the "Mullet" went crazy over the prawn and I had one on the beach within seconds. It was then that I realised that the "Mullet" were actually Threadfin Salmon! From that moment on, I fished with small lures like the one in the photo (above) and could literally catch a thready whenever a school swam past (and that was pretty often.)
So, we didn't need to worry about fish for food for the rest of the stay - I could just go and catch one on demand. The fish in the photo is a Golden Trevally. Unfortunately, they lose their beautiful golden colour immediately after coming out of the water. This little beauty put up an excellent fight after being tempted with the lure while I was sight-casting for fish. I landed the lure pretty much on its head and it was hooked almost instantaneously. I released him to fight another day. (It is a "him" as they all turn into "hers" after they get larger.)
I mentioned sharks earlier. We saw dozens of sharks. You could bank on one swimming by at least every three or four minutes. They always swim in the same direction - south during the rising tide and north during the falling tide. I identified four different species and although none were very big (the largest was just two metres), it certainly made us keep our eyes open while swimming.
The ferocity of sharks became very apparent to me on one occasion. I had hooked a Threadfin Salmon and it was putting up a very good fight on light tackle. Unfortunately it also attracted the attention of a 1.2 metre Black Tip Reef Shark that swooped in from the weed bank and savagely attacked the poor Salmon. At the time that it struck I pulled as hard as I could on the fish, trying to get it away from the shark. There was an explosion of water and spray and then the Salmon came in a lot faster. The shark rounded for another go and I cranked like crazy to get the fish up the beach and on the dry land. The shark came straight at the fish and literally launched itself up the beach until fully two-thirds of its body was high and dry - and the entire time it was snapping away at the Salmon!
Realising that it wasn't going to get the fish, the shark rolled itself back into the water. That was a real eye-opener for me. Close inspection revealed that the shark was successful in the first strike and had taken about six inches off the back-end of the fish - which explained why I was able to pull it in so quickly after the initial attack. What to do? The fish wasn't going to survive and the shark had worked hard for his dinner, so I threw the remains to the shark. It devoured them in a single gulp.
Our "neighbour" from around the other side of the Point
Some of you will have noticed that the title of this blog post is "The Black Hole". This is a reference to the only drawback of staying at Ningaloo Station......no signals of any sort get in or out of the place. We could not get mobile phone coverage, Internet coverage, AM radio, FM radio, any TV stations.....nada, nil, nothing. So for almost a week we knew nothing of what was going on in the outside world. This isn't a bad thing in itself, but in this part of Oz, at this time of year, you really need to know if there are cyclones about. The only contact we had with anyone was the people at the Station Homestead via UHF CB radio.
Right now we are at Geraldton (got here this morning) and will spend Christmas with our both of our children (a rare event these days). From here we will leave on the 27th and start our way East. Next blog will be from somewhere on the Nullarbor Plain (Satellites and/or other whizzy things permitting.)
Ningaloo camp sites are just $5.00 per person per night, or $20.00 per person per week. For that you get a key to gain access to your site and nothing else. There is no water, no rubbish collection, no toilets or dump-points and certainly no electricity. What you do get is a couple of shady trees and lots of serenity. From the beach in front of our van we could walk for an hour in either direction and not come across another camp site. We did meet one other couple, but only because they had walked an hour from their camp site!
Here's the camp site. That's the southern end of the range of hills that run the entire length of the North West Cape. The Tamarisk trees around the camp offer good shade but you don't leave anything important under them - they drip pure brine from their leaves in the cool of the evening.
Looking south from in front of our camp. The water is crystal clear and very safe for swimming (if you don't mind sharks).
The view facing north from in front of our camp site. The next closest camp to us was about a kilometre around the other side of the Point that you can see in this picture.
The fishing at Ningaloo is excellent. You could literally catch a fish at will. The first time I went fishing I noticed massive schools of Mullet swimming past. I figured I'd catch some to use for bait, so I tried catching them using my very light tackle and some bread dough on a very small hook. They were interested, but didn't bite. I gave up and started using small pieces of prawn on the same rig, trying to catch a whiting or two. To my surprise, the "Mullet" went crazy over the prawn and I had one on the beach within seconds. It was then that I realised that the "Mullet" were actually Threadfin Salmon! From that moment on, I fished with small lures like the one in the photo (above) and could literally catch a thready whenever a school swam past (and that was pretty often.)
So, we didn't need to worry about fish for food for the rest of the stay - I could just go and catch one on demand. The fish in the photo is a Golden Trevally. Unfortunately, they lose their beautiful golden colour immediately after coming out of the water. This little beauty put up an excellent fight after being tempted with the lure while I was sight-casting for fish. I landed the lure pretty much on its head and it was hooked almost instantaneously. I released him to fight another day. (It is a "him" as they all turn into "hers" after they get larger.)
I mentioned sharks earlier. We saw dozens of sharks. You could bank on one swimming by at least every three or four minutes. They always swim in the same direction - south during the rising tide and north during the falling tide. I identified four different species and although none were very big (the largest was just two metres), it certainly made us keep our eyes open while swimming.
The ferocity of sharks became very apparent to me on one occasion. I had hooked a Threadfin Salmon and it was putting up a very good fight on light tackle. Unfortunately it also attracted the attention of a 1.2 metre Black Tip Reef Shark that swooped in from the weed bank and savagely attacked the poor Salmon. At the time that it struck I pulled as hard as I could on the fish, trying to get it away from the shark. There was an explosion of water and spray and then the Salmon came in a lot faster. The shark rounded for another go and I cranked like crazy to get the fish up the beach and on the dry land. The shark came straight at the fish and literally launched itself up the beach until fully two-thirds of its body was high and dry - and the entire time it was snapping away at the Salmon!
Realising that it wasn't going to get the fish, the shark rolled itself back into the water. That was a real eye-opener for me. Close inspection revealed that the shark was successful in the first strike and had taken about six inches off the back-end of the fish - which explained why I was able to pull it in so quickly after the initial attack. What to do? The fish wasn't going to survive and the shark had worked hard for his dinner, so I threw the remains to the shark. It devoured them in a single gulp.
Some of you will have noticed that the title of this blog post is "The Black Hole". This is a reference to the only drawback of staying at Ningaloo Station......no signals of any sort get in or out of the place. We could not get mobile phone coverage, Internet coverage, AM radio, FM radio, any TV stations.....nada, nil, nothing. So for almost a week we knew nothing of what was going on in the outside world. This isn't a bad thing in itself, but in this part of Oz, at this time of year, you really need to know if there are cyclones about. The only contact we had with anyone was the people at the Station Homestead via UHF CB radio.
Right now we are at Geraldton (got here this morning) and will spend Christmas with our both of our children (a rare event these days). From here we will leave on the 27th and start our way East. Next blog will be from somewhere on the Nullarbor Plain (Satellites and/or other whizzy things permitting.)
Friday 16 December 2011
Karratha Stop-over
We planned to leave Cossack yesterday, and we did just that. The rest of the plan was to stop-over at Karratha for just one night. Apart from me getting a lump hacked out of me by a visiting surgeon (last night), we also needed to buy our food, purchase a new Telstra 4G data modem and casual plan, fuel up the vehicle, fit a new cranking battery to the vehicle and then leave around midday.
That was the plan. What actually happened was, naturally, quite different. For starters, the freight company hadn't delivered the cranking battery. This was their second attempt, having smashed the first attempt, requiring my supplier to send another. They then lost the replacement and had unsuccessfully attempted to locate it, before I finally got the shits and rang the various depots myself, locating the damn thing within a few minutes. Anyway, even after finding the battery, they still couldn't get their act together and actually deliver it, so I picked it up myself (not without more drama as someone had moved it and they had to yet another seek-and-destroy mission to find it.)
Then I discovered that my auxiliary battery was in equally bad condition. The original one is quite unique and I wasn't hopeful of getting a replacement in Karratha. Couldn't have been any more correct! To cut a very long story short, some modified wiring saw a close match fitted, along with the new cranking battery and I could finally tick one box on the "things to do list".
Next came the Telstra modem. Oh Boy! Have any of you spent several hours in a Telstra Shop for what is, on the face of it, a really straight-forward purchase? Today's drama was that their "Contracts Computer" was down. All of the forms had to be printed off and completed manually. Should have done that in the first place and it would have saved an hour. Anyway, two and a half hours later I walked out with the new modem. No, I didn't walk out with a cord for the external antenna for said modem. Telstra didn't have one. I had to get that from a different shop. I actually tried to get all of this done a week earlier but there was a different glitch in a different system and nothing could be done. Sheesh.
One by one all of the boxes had been ticked, but not before it was too late to consider "rolling on down the road." So, we'll get away tomorrow morning - a day later than planned, but who cares? It's not like we're in a hurry.
That was the plan. What actually happened was, naturally, quite different. For starters, the freight company hadn't delivered the cranking battery. This was their second attempt, having smashed the first attempt, requiring my supplier to send another. They then lost the replacement and had unsuccessfully attempted to locate it, before I finally got the shits and rang the various depots myself, locating the damn thing within a few minutes. Anyway, even after finding the battery, they still couldn't get their act together and actually deliver it, so I picked it up myself (not without more drama as someone had moved it and they had to yet another seek-and-destroy mission to find it.)
Then I discovered that my auxiliary battery was in equally bad condition. The original one is quite unique and I wasn't hopeful of getting a replacement in Karratha. Couldn't have been any more correct! To cut a very long story short, some modified wiring saw a close match fitted, along with the new cranking battery and I could finally tick one box on the "things to do list".
Next came the Telstra modem. Oh Boy! Have any of you spent several hours in a Telstra Shop for what is, on the face of it, a really straight-forward purchase? Today's drama was that their "Contracts Computer" was down. All of the forms had to be printed off and completed manually. Should have done that in the first place and it would have saved an hour. Anyway, two and a half hours later I walked out with the new modem. No, I didn't walk out with a cord for the external antenna for said modem. Telstra didn't have one. I had to get that from a different shop. I actually tried to get all of this done a week earlier but there was a different glitch in a different system and nothing could be done. Sheesh.
One by one all of the boxes had been ticked, but not before it was too late to consider "rolling on down the road." So, we'll get away tomorrow morning - a day later than planned, but who cares? It's not like we're in a hurry.
Thursday 15 December 2011
Last Day of Preparation
Well, it's finally here. Today is the day we roll the wagons out. We are as prepared as we can be and all that remains is to put the last few things that we are using at the moment, into the van or car. As promised, some photos of the water bladder. I know that most of you won't care about this thing, but there are some travellers (especially our Kedron mates) who might be quite interested.
Here is the water bladder as viewed from the rear of the van. It was being filled while the photo was being taken. As best as I can work out, it will take about 95 litres when full. It fits very nicely into the recess under the van.
This is the view from the side of the van. The bladder is absolutely flat when empty and can be rolled up to store away. The corners are tied down with cable ties in this shot, but I will cut those when the bladder is emptied. The curious thing is that the bladder rises as it's being filled. Water does not spill out of the filler cap until the bladder can fit no more in.
This is just a shot of our Reverse Osmosis filter. We filter all water that goes into our van.....you never know when you may need to drink it, not just shower in it. The water that comes out of this filter is completely free of contaminants, including virii and bacteria, so we can take stinky water from any source other than seawater (too salty for the membrane) and turn it into drinking water.
Next blog will be when we are on the road.....and that will be about 10 days or so. We will only be able to update when we are in range of a Telstra mobile phone tower.
Here is the water bladder as viewed from the rear of the van. It was being filled while the photo was being taken. As best as I can work out, it will take about 95 litres when full. It fits very nicely into the recess under the van.
This is the view from the side of the van. The bladder is absolutely flat when empty and can be rolled up to store away. The corners are tied down with cable ties in this shot, but I will cut those when the bladder is emptied. The curious thing is that the bladder rises as it's being filled. Water does not spill out of the filler cap until the bladder can fit no more in.
This is just a shot of our Reverse Osmosis filter. We filter all water that goes into our van.....you never know when you may need to drink it, not just shower in it. The water that comes out of this filter is completely free of contaminants, including virii and bacteria, so we can take stinky water from any source other than seawater (too salty for the membrane) and turn it into drinking water.
Next blog will be when we are on the road.....and that will be about 10 days or so. We will only be able to update when we are in range of a Telstra mobile phone tower.
Thursday 8 December 2011
Preparations Well Under Way
I have found the leak in the roof of the caravan. The aluminium cladding had actually split in two places where it straddles the frame of the van. Obviously fatigued by vibration. Fixed it with some Sikaflex.
The water bladder is installed. Photos will be with the next blog entry. The other water tanks have been drained, ready for refilling with fresh, clean water that has passed through our RO filter.
All of the grease points on the suspension (all 18 of them) have been pumped full of grease, as have the two on the hitch coupling.
The electric brakes have been adjusted, along with the handbrake.
I still have to clean the solar panels, but they can wait until the day before we leave. It has been so windy here that cleaning them any sooner just wouldn't make sense.
Sue has already packed the clothes that I will need into the van. Hers will follow tomorrow.
We will be travelling considerably lighter than usual as we have worked hard to eliminate stuff that we just don't use. We also used to carry a lot of non-perishable food but have cut right back on that as well. Often we would finish a trip having barely touched any of the food.
Most of the work that we needed to get done at Cossack has been completed with just a few minor items left on the list.
All-in-all it's coming together well.
The water bladder is installed. Photos will be with the next blog entry. The other water tanks have been drained, ready for refilling with fresh, clean water that has passed through our RO filter.
All of the grease points on the suspension (all 18 of them) have been pumped full of grease, as have the two on the hitch coupling.
The electric brakes have been adjusted, along with the handbrake.
I still have to clean the solar panels, but they can wait until the day before we leave. It has been so windy here that cleaning them any sooner just wouldn't make sense.
Sue has already packed the clothes that I will need into the van. Hers will follow tomorrow.
We will be travelling considerably lighter than usual as we have worked hard to eliminate stuff that we just don't use. We also used to carry a lot of non-perishable food but have cut right back on that as well. Often we would finish a trip having barely touched any of the food.
Most of the work that we needed to get done at Cossack has been completed with just a few minor items left on the list.
All-in-all it's coming together well.
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