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Today is the 7th of January 03
We are camped off road up a side service track leading to a telstra comms. tower, 100kms east of the SA / WA border. Weather is cool and blustery but after the heat we experienced on Saturday and Sunday on the Nullabor ( 45degs ) , the change is appreciated. Everything is going well, after leaving Smokey Bay and all the goodbyes we made our way to Ceduna for some restocking of supplies. Found a tap on the foreshore area and filled up with water. Had a look around Thevenard and moved on to another camp between Ceduna and Penong. Fuel at Ceduna was 98.9 cpl but Penong was 93.4 cpl so it was worth waiting to fill up when the amount was 152lts. Move on for a look at Cactus Beach and Fowlers Bay. Cactus Beach was a disappointment as the owner of the land wanted $7.00 per person to camp, no facilities only bore water pick up points a couple of kms apart.
They should have called the donkey track to Fowlers beach Cactus as it was very rough. Fowlers has changed a lot since the last time we saw it ( 15yrs ago ), no camping in the area unless you stay in the caravan park with bore water and limited power from a small generating plant, has a very long jetty to fish from but the weather was to hot so gave it a miss. There was a boat ramp further out of town but no camping allowed, unless you are a resident of Penong, a group of farmers and residents of Penong camp at this spot after they get permission from the council, there was about 20 vans and tents, all very friendly but no vacant sites left.
Went for a look at the whale watching area as the office checkpoint was unmanned ( so I didn't have to pay for once ) Tee and Dee hadn't seen it before. Was allowed to fill up a 20ltr water container at Nullabor roadhouse which was appreciated as I know how scarce water is out here. Fuel was $1.30ltr at the roadhouse and apparently the only cheap? ( $1.25ltr ) fuel is at Eucla if we need it, so hopefully I won't although Tee and Dee might as they haven't the range as we have. Ok this email won't get sent until we are back in phone range which will be at the end of the week at Norseman about the 10th of Jan.
Today is the 12th of January 03
Hi everyone, just a short one as you will get this the same time as the other email, as we will transmit when we get in phone range.
We are currently camped at Newman's Rocks, it is a nice camp site off the main highway 50kms west of Belladonna in Western Australia, or 135kms east of Norsman on the Eyre highway. It's a pleasant 25deg at 9.00pm, we coverd 460kms today, our longest stint so far. The shortest distance was I think 35kms after we left Smokey Bay. Anyway we should be around Norseman on Sunday and Monday we will slowly move south towards Esperance. The price of fuel at Eucla was $1.10ltr and Mundrabilla was a $1.19ltr, but I didn't need any till we get to Norseman, thank goodness for the long range fuel tank. Also meant to mention to our travelling fraternity, we managed to fill a 20ltr container at Nullabour with water but you must ask permission first, also the roadside water tank on the left after Mundrabilla road house is still useable as the government have relined the gutters on the cachment area and it is clean, but still only use this water for washing / showers etc, as some bloody moron has broken the top of one of the tanks and who knows what could have got in there, so use the other tank if possible. No water at Eucla only very brackish bore water not suitable for much.
Ok that's it for now don't forget that if anyone needs to contact us or Tee and Dee you can leave a message via the VKS737 Radio Network, phone number is in the phone book, just ring them and tell them that you would like to leave a message for Graham and Cathy, our call sign is S203 and our celcall is 2039. Ok, till the next installment of the travelling willburys …...OORROO.
Today is the 23rd of January 03
Hi all from a very warm Esperance ( 41c ) . Yes even though locals that we have spoken to, tell us that it doesn't get that hot in Esperance it is today. But we must admit that the day time temps have been in the mid to high twenties and mid teens at night so absolute perfect conditions, we have been here four days due to Dorothy having a bad attack on the sciatic nerve in her back, we had only planned on a couple of days in the caravan park just to clean the vehicles and stock up on food and water but as we often here the best laid plans can go awry.
At least there is a good hospital here that is looking after her, but unfortunately we can't stop here due to budget restraints so we have decided to leave Tee and Dee here in Esperance and move on Friday the 24th of Jan. further up the coast towards Albany. We will be making camp in the next national park, not sure at this stage which one that will be but it won't be to far away so that Tee and Dee can rejoin us when health permits.
The thought of staying here in Esperance did cross our minds but then we would have to look for work ( eh what is that ) so it was only a very fleeting though that dissipated quickly with the idea of alarm clocks etc. Esperance certainly is a beautiful place, temp and location are good but it is quite busy still with the holiday people from xmas and the Austraila Day crowd due in, that is also another reason for us to move as our site is prebooked and we would have to shift to another site which means packing up all our gear for a short hop, we decided it wasn't worth the effort.
Today is the 24th of January 03
We have found a great camp site at Quagi Beach which is about 73kms west of Esperance. camp fees are by honor box and there is a long drop toilet and there is also water here. The weather is lovely today, 23c after 44c yesterday at Esperance. We will probably stay a few days until we find out what is going on with Dee. After the rabble of the long weekend some more campers arrived and we are having a lovely time. There are five camps and all the people are great. Daphine and Roy we had met at a lookout when we were at Cape Le Grand. She came up to us and thought our rig looked familiar. Heard from Trevor today and he said that Dee is coming out of hospital tomorrow morning so will find out then what is happening. We were going into the big smoke tomorrow to get some supplies and also get the latest from Trevor, but he finally got us on the radio today. The weather has been really lovely this week. I don't know where the time goes. Get up about 7.30 a.m. have a leisurely breakfast and then do odds and sods. Nag with other campers and then after lunch usually go and do some fishing. We haven't got a lot but it is fun anyway.
We are still at Quagi Beach I am getting a bit toey and probably moving either Sunday or Monday. Had a lovely time here but getting itchy feet. Have had a few fish meals but not catching enough for my liking. The beauty of Esperance area is that the hot weather only lasts a day and then lovely for a few days.Tee and Dee are still in Esperance, they came for a visit on Wednesday and it was lovely to see them again. We have a resident frog in our camp and everynight he comes for a visit. Graham and I play rummikub on the nights that Eui isn't running and we hear him thump on the steps. We say hello and he is gone during the day. I listen for him everynight because I hope the snakes don't get him. Thanks everyone for your emails and bye for now.
Today is the 20th of February 03
We are currently camped at Cape Riche, it's a lovely spot and only $5.50 a night. Just come back from fishing and got ourselves a feed which is great. We have been eating a lot of fish and not bad either, we haven't been catching that many but we are being given heaps by other people. Graham reckons the old farts can't keep their eyes off my boobs, hey if it means getting fish who cares! We have been to a lot of places since our last E-Mail. Mungilup Beach which was great for three days however there was some pretty big bush fires when we were there and at times quiet frightening. We stayed at a few rest stops overnight and then went to Millars Point which is on the way to Bremer Bay. Could'nt stay at Bremer Bay as all gone yuppie and no camping anywhere except for the caravan park. We will leave soon and head for Cheyne Beach.
Today is the 23rd of February 03
Staying at a rest stop just 14kms north of Mt Barker in WA of course, have phone coverage up here so we will send e-mail before we set off again. Slowly making our way to my brothers to house sit there property which is just out of York. There are so many camp sites down in Southwest WA that we have'nt been in a caravan park since Esperance and most are just magic. We stayed at Normans Beach a couple of nights ago, we won't be seeing Tee and Dee for awhile as they are going to Perth for treatment and goodness knows when we will catch up.
Today is the 5th of March 03
We are ensconced into farm life and we will call ourselves farmers while we look after the property. We are going to bring them rain that is sorely needed and even sell the property for them while they are gone.There is'nt really much to do as they have sold all there cattle so only have to feed the horses and lock up the geese at night so the foxes don't get them. It is really strange living in a house again although we are sleeping in the van at night. Well, hope all is well with everyone and hope to here from you all soon.
Today is the 15th of May 03
Just a short note to keep you up to date with the travellers. The weather today is bloody terrible. We have lit the woodstove and are hibernating today. Thank God we only have another two weeks and we can travel where it is warm again. We hope to leave the first week in June and go to the goldfields. However, if it is too cold there we will travel up to a warmer place. Last week we went down to Perth and bought a Waeco fridge which we are going to use as a freezer. Now that we have the solar panels we might as well make use of the sun as much as possible. Well bye for now.
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