PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES

Hi folks, just wanted to take a moment to dwell on a few personal issues and observations.

Firstly, on a light note, I am amazed at how much I feel out of my comfort zone, leaving the home state behind!. I wouldn't have thought I would notice any difference, but it is quite noticeable. I no longer 'know stuff' - in WA I was always able to give some advice regarding places, weather, etc., now, I don't even know where I am most of the time. The produce is definitely different - it's hard to describe how it's different - it just is - Cos lettuce seems hard to find and the iceberg lettuce are beautiful - on the other hand I don't like the tomatoes here - they have much more seed than at home. Apples, so far, are described at red or green - not Granny Smith, etc. Dairy is just so different, having left behind all the WA branded dairy. It's really funny, but when part of your identity is know how to shop for food and then you have to re-learn, it's a little bit diminishing.

People seem a little different here - people from WA are so outgoing, here they seem a little more 'closed' for want of a different word.

As for missing home, well - it's really hard to describe. I miss my boys and their families - and I must confess, I am a bit miffed at how little we seem to be missed by them. We initiate most of the contact and my emails are often not responded to, or even read. I know realistically they have busy lives and we have opted out of their lives for a while, but still..............

As far as mum is concerned, of course, the guilt is still with me for leaving her - I doubt if that will ever change - it's just something I will live with. She seems to be coping quite well, with the help of my wonderful friend and her husband, but I still feel I have deserted her in her 'hour of need'. Not much I can do about it tho' - we are loving our adventure, and we have done the right thing, but still...........................

Doesn't guilt just piss you off?!! I also feel guilty for leaving my wonderful friend to keep an eye on mum - she and her hubby have taken the task to heart and have really been doing much more than I ever expected them to, and I know my friend has her own health and family issues to deal with. She will doubtless read this at some time, so thank you darlin' - you and him indoors are wonderful, thank you so much.

Missing the house, and missing having a home - not a bit - I did have a short lived moment when I was thinking of our back yard and garden, but I have devised a mental exercise which keeps them with me and now I have no probs with that. Not having a home doesn 't bother me at all, as far as I am concerned, the caravan is our home and that is that.

Health wise - we are doing OK, but we have until very recently been living much to much of the good life - an easy thing to do living this life. Sun downers are the killer, a few drinkies and a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and a relatively sedentary lifestyle - un-good!! I have recently started walking again in the mornings and intend to keep this up as a regular regime - sadly the body is protesting vigorously to this, and my knees and back are pretty much screaming at me most of the time now. One thing I will never do again is run out of Omega 3 - since I increased my dosage (as per Dr's instructions) I have been much better, we ran out this week and boy oh boy, did I feel the difference - I have both the bloke and myself back on track with those now. We have also decreased our meals and meal size - something we really needed to do, and now it's back to the straight and narrow. TBBITW is trying to reduce the beer intake and to go to a lighter beer when he can get it.

The Spiritual re-awakening I spoke of in earlier issues of the blog has taken a slow turn for the bloke, he really has given it up again, at least for now. I on the other hand, had an amazing experience in Esperance with an intuitive healer during a reflexology session and have since then started a major psychic cleansing program. This involves re tracking all the emotional hurdles and upheavals of this life and removing the barb from those experiences. I am probably one third of the way thru' but have dealt with most of the really big issues and am already feeling much better for the experience. I need to do this exercise before I can move on to the next phase of my spiritual journey. It is all progressing well. I have to say, tho' raking thru' a lot of old grief has prompted some amazing dreams - really interesting stuff.

One realisation has come to pass, and that is we are not on holidays - this is how we live now - that thought helps to keep us honest as far as alcohol and food consumption is concerned.

Am I happy, yes, and despite the pre-mentioned guilt - I am also content - I believe that applies to TBBITW as well - see you in my dreams - Steph.

MORE SMOKIN'

I know I am being a bit long-winded regarding Smoky Bay, but I did want to give a good perspective on the place. We would not normally stay so long in one spot, but it became a bit complicated with Easter and making sure we had a berth over the Easter period.

Apart from the fact that perhaps we are 'fish out of water' ourselves here, the area does have a bit to offer. There is major oyster farming here, and I have to say the local product is delicious. It seems they have two tides each day and that ensures a particularly good end product. The general fishing in the bay is very, very good - particularly if King George Whiting is what you like (and don't we all) - the crabbing is also quite good here. In fact, we were very spoilt, some of our new friends supplied us with crabs or a few days while they were here (freshly caught, cleaned and steamed -mmmmm!) and they also gave us a good amount o freshly caught KGW. TBBITW did go out with them in their boat (boat not tinny) and he had a great day. Unfortunately, there were no seats in the boat, and he is still suffering with a crook hip and leg from the experience (nearly 2 weeks ago!) - it seems he is not as young as he once was folks.

In the photos, you will see two of the local beauty/fishing spots, the first is Point Brown to the east of here and the other is Laura Bay to the west. The photos of Laura Bay are a bit on the dark side for some reason, which is a shame as it was a particularly beautiful little spot. The air there was some of the sweetest I have ever smelt. Speaking of photos I have included one which just looks like grass - in fact it is, sea-grass! The photo was taken from the jetty, and really shows the clarity of the waters here. The jetty is very high and the water is quite deep - we were amazed that the photo's turned out so well. I must pay tribute to the photographer here - TBBITW takes 99% of our photos, and he is doing brilliant job! Some of them are quite breathtaking. We had a big storm front come thru' one evening, and hence all shots of clouds - just beautiful - hope they don't bore you too much.

Anyway, tomorrow we head off for Elliston, another 190 odd kilometers to the east - I look forward to talking to you again there - keep smiling - Steph.

STEAMY SMOKY BAY

Well folks, never thought I would get there, but I'm finally up to date with the 'blogging' - I am actually writing this from Smoky Bay! Nice to not have to wrack the memory to find things to tell you.

Last time we spoke, we were leaving Fowler's Bay, Smoky Bay is just 40ks east of Ceduna where the Quarantine station for entry into SA is located. I have to say there, that trying to find out beforehand just exactly what you can and cannot bring across the border was very frustrating. In the end, I simply decided that I would presume that absolutely no fresh produce could be brought across, and in the end, I think that is probably true. The only thing I had to declare was some home grown fresh-frozen chillies - these I didn't have a problem with. Unfortunately, the caravan myths and legends committee is very lively on this subject, and I had heard stories of officials demanding that caravans be empties out, in order that they could effectively search - I had visions of us painstakingly removing everything from the van (a good days work at least) and going thru' all sorts of hoops just to get across. Needless to say, the whole exercise was painless. I had cooked all the remaining fresh stuff donated at Fowler's into a nice savoury mash (which I was able to use for days in various different ways) and the nice man on duty, did enter the van and check the fridge, but that was all. On that particular day, the Ulysses Riders had started filtering back across the border and I think the guard's attention was much more focused on what they may have in their bags, than on what we may have had in our cupboards.

As I mentioned previously, we had been glad to leave Fowler's behind us due to the heat and bugs, so it was with great anticipation we drove on to Smoky Bay. We passed thru' Ceduna on the way, but have to say that at that stage, we didn't get a very wonderful impression. Twice since then, we have returned to Ceduna for shopping and on the last occasion I convinced TBBITW to have a good look around, and it really is an interesting place. We drove out to Thevanaard, a place with great views and interesting history pertaining to shipping and salt production.

There is only one caravan park at Smoky Bay, and I will preface all that I have to say about the place by saying that it is very well run, immaculate and had excellent amenities. Having said all that however, the camp is very small and whilst we were there it was jam-packed all the time. Apparently, the norm is that from this time on (Easter) it quietens down for the cooler months. The following information, is given simply as a guide to anyone who may be thinking of staying here. We have been here for almost 4 weeks (3 weeks to long as it turns out) and so have had a good chance to draw an impression of the place. It would be fair to say that 95% of people here come with tinnies. Their sole purpose is fishing. We have, by listening to our fellow travellers, learnt a whole new vocabulary, ie., "Did you get your bag today?" (not asking if he bought his wife incidentally!) , "Did you bag out?", "Great day, got my bag!", "Didn't bag out, only shitties today" "Going out?" - this one was usually shouted from one end of the caravan park enclosure to the other at somewhere around 6.30 in the mornings, and was only drowned out by the sound of all the tinnies being hitched up to all the lovely diesel run 4wds in the park ! There was absolutely no sleeping in in this park. This was made all the more difficult for us West Aussies, as not only had we just lost 1 1/2 hours to SA time, we had lost another hour due to their daylight savings regime. Not a peaceful experience I can tell you. We have never been in a noisier park or in one where people were so 'groupy'. The noise in the park did start very early every morning as each of the occupants rose early and started shouting at everyone else in the park. As a general rule, everyone (except us) knows everyone else (as they have all been coming here for the last 100 years) and it appears that most of them are hard of hearing too!!! The camp kitchen BBQ (excellent facility) hums all day from lunch time on as all the respective groups meet there to celebrate their catch and catching up. The noise of their revelling reverberates around the small completely enclosed park like you wouldn't believe. This revelling tends to go on at night for quite a while as well, although bearing in mind all these fisher folk are up early in the mornings, not past around 9ish. We even had a Scottish piper here one night - not to say I didn't enjoy that, I have a particular love of the pipes.

Don't you just love computers - I thought I had lost the lot then!!! Doesn't take much to cause a DA does it?? TBBITW is packing up at the moment (I did mine yesterday) and as such is a bit pre-occupied - it is true what they say about men only being able to do one thing at a time isn't it girls? Doesn't take much to rattle my cage at the moment either sadly. Ah well, luckily for us, these moments are fleeting and it's usually all smiles again within 30 mins or so - in this case even less.

Anyway, back to Smoky - the other not necessarily good item of note, is that whilst we have been here, no less than 2 ambulances have had to come and take people away! I don't know if it is because some of the fisher folk over-do it or what it is, but sadly, yet another reveller was carted away to a regional hospital last evening, and then flown into Adelaide hospital. As we are not on close terms with a lot of folk here, we dont know what was amiss - can't help but be sorry for the wife tho', who has had to rush off and leave everything here. The only good news for her, was that they were here with big bunch of friends and family, so she did not have to go thru' the ordeal alone.

We have felt very much on the outer here, very unusual for us, as we generally mix with all the other caravanners very well - we have made a few friends, but not like we usually do. We put it down o the fact that most people here, have come here to meet up with friends and family and are quite closed to outsiders. We suspect there is an unspoken entry into this group too, if you don't have a tinny strapped to the topside of the car, then you don 't belong.

I will finish up this part of the entry with a couple of shots of the jetty and then come back to give you a nicer report on Smokin 'Smoky Bay.

FOWLER THAN WHAT?!

The day we left Madura Pass we travelled much further than we would normally. We covered over 500ks to reach Fowlers Bay late that afternoon. We only travel at around 90ks ph as a general rule, so we don't cover the same amount of ks per hour as we would simply driving a car.

We actually had to take the car and van off-road to reach Fowlers Bay and we felt quite proud of ourselves for our efforts. The road in to Fowlers, coming from the west is around 30ks of reasonable gravel/limestone road. I must point out that there are two roads in and out of Fowlers. One of these is partially bitumised and much worse than the one which is not sealed. This can change however, depending on which road has been more recently graded. Just something to be aware of folks. We spoke to quite a few people who took the partially sealed road, and they had some small horror stories to tell about the corrugations.

Once you reach the tiny hamlet of Fowlers Bay you locate the one and only store, which also doubles as the Caravan Park Office and book yourself a bay. You are told then to go and find one you like and to make yourself at home. This we duly did. The park is, like the 'town', tiny. Nice and neat, unisex toilets and showers and lots of nice shell-grit. If you are unfamiliar with shell grit, it is a popular material for paving in areas which are light on water. Lots and lots of small shells, crushed and laid constitutes shell grit. It is actually quite effective, but it does get into your sandals and into the van.

Fowlers is almost entirely devoted to fishing. Huge shifting sand dunes are slowly devouring the settlement. One hopeful fellow has his home on the market for around $170k, the back yard is half under sand already!! These dunes are almost pure white and make the area very Egyptesque - the sculptured sides of the dunes look to have been carved they are so symetrical and smooth. The place consists of a handful of beach shacks, one store, the caravan park and adjoining units and a jetty. The jetty is the focal point of the settlement. Every man and his dog (literally) head for the jetty for a spot of fishing. The most popular catch off the jetty seemed to be squid - sadly we TBBITW didn't succeed in his endeavours to catch us a squid, so we didn't have the pleasure of consuming any whilst we were there.

As the name implies, FB is on a large bay - the waters there are quite sheltered, and when the wind is not blowing, you can see straight to the bottom of the sea from the jetty. This is quite specky as the sea-grass beds there are very healthy and fish abound. As you sit there with your line in the water, you can actually see the fish approaching your bait, and pull the bait out if it is not a fish you are after - just amazing to sit there and watch the fishy population below you going about their day to day affairs.

FB was a very bountiful place for us - we had intended to stay only overnight, but TBBITW took a liking to the place and we ended up staying for 5 nights. As I thought we would be going through the quarantine station on the SA/WA border the next day, I had pretty much used all the fresh produce we had with us, saving just enough for that night. I was pretty pleased that my calculations had panned out so well. When we decided to stay longer, I was unperturbed, as we had plenty of frozen fare to see us thru'. Apparently, not everyone calculates so well, as whilst we were there, we were inundated with fresh produce that travellers heading in both directions wanted to off-load. We received lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, spuds, capsicum and celery. In the end, I was sharing this with whoever I could find that was willing to take some. One very nice local bloke gave us around one dozen freshly caught mullet - he didn't like them and was in the habit of giving away most of his catch. We hadn't tried them before and had heard many people say they were only a 'sh....t' fish, we were very pleasantly surprised and are now fans of mullet - freshly caught, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

TBBITW also caught a salmon of the jetty, he bled it well, and that too, despite all reports, was very nice. Perhaps it depends on how you cook it? Anyway whatever, we are apparently pagans as far as our fish is concerned as we have enjoyed it all so far.

FB was the first place we experienced the manic once a year fisher. It appears that many, mainly retired folk, go to these southern shores on an annual basis, to fill ALL their freezers with King George Whiting and squid. Some stay for weeks, catching their limit on a daily basis and stocking up multiple freezers to take home with them. Ostensibly, this lasts them for the next year until the next expidition.

We met yet another true Aussie character at Fowlers. A couple arrived in a van, accompanied by a small black and tan terrier. The bloke seemed quiet, but fairly normal, but the woman was something else. She was about as rotund as a matchstick and had the fag constantly hanging from her lips. Her hair was quite long and habitually dragged back into a tightly held pony-tail. She seemed to have ants in her pants and was rarely still. We discovered thru' chatting with her mate, that she is a fanatical fisher woman. Anywhere, any time, and in any weather, he informed us - inland or on the coast, she is to be found with line, net, hook, net etc. in hand pulling water creatures from their watery homes. It seems that she doesn't particularly like eating fish, (didn't look like she ate anything!), just absolutely loves catching them tho'. We met her out on the end of the jetty early one evening. TBBITW noticed that she didn't have a bucket with her in which to place her catch, when he mentioned this to her, she came over all embarrassed at having been so silly as to leave the bucket at the van. I have to mention here, that the lady in question, didn't speak below a low roar, and that her voice sounded very throaty indeed, due doubtless to the constant chain of ciggies that droop from her lips. "Tell Fred" she shouted at us, "that Mozzie forgot the f...ckin' bucket, and to bring the f....ckin' bucket down for 'er!" This request was repeated verbatim several times, unless we doubtless stupid looking couple with mouths agape, didn't understand the first 4 times or so. We duly went back with the message (also verbatim) to Fred, who dutifully set off to take her the 'f...ckin' bucket. He informed us that she would then stay out on that jetty until the early hours of the morning, supping on her port and happily catching anything that was unfortunate enough to jump on her line.

I must say, Fowlers was a great place for interesting people and events. One morning we awoke to the drone of a motor - a very unusual noise in that place, I can tell you. On investigation, it proved to be a "Mad Max" type construction - a sail attached to what appeared to be a dune buggy, was happily chugging along above the bay and the sand dunes. This character showed up for around 3 mornings in a row to entertain us.
We also had our first unpleasant caravan experience at FB. The weather for the main part had been quite good, but on the two days before we left it became increasingly hot and humid. Normally this wouldn't pose a problem for us as we have good air-con in the van, but at FB they generate their own power and you are not allowed to use air-con as it tends to knock out the power generator. This situation was exacerbated by the fact that the water supply from the taps was barely more than just a trickle and not a very tasty trickle at that. We had by this time, used all our own water. At one stage the temp was just under the 40 mark in the van. It may have been higher at times, that was just when we thought to check it. Just to put the icing on the cake, every fly and bug within a 500k radius descended on us - it was very unpleasant indeed - on that last night it was positively awful, the bugs were so bad, you couldn't even keep them out of the van. Sitting inside trying to avoid them, they were nesting in my hair and creeping up my nose and crawling around my eyes - as I said, not nice at all. Needless to say, we were quite glad to be away the following morning.

NUDGING THE NULLAROBR

I just thought that the Nullarbor and the crossing between WA and SA warranted just a little space of it's own. I have heard so many people speak disparagingly of how boring the crossing is, I just wanted to express a contrary view. I just love it! I don't understand how people can find it boring. The sheer size and magnitude alone are awe inspiring. I doubt there are many places on this planet, where you can see for so far. The road itself, is a marvel - so straight and flat. OK - it is not green and lush, but it is very much alive - alive with all the amazing flora that covers that wide expanse and the multitude of wild life that inhabits the plains. Sadly, of course, there is also the road kill - lots of it, although we didn't see as much this time round as last time we crossed. The eagles are majestic, and also sad. I read an article not long ago, explaining that the Wedgetail mates for life and how the mate grieves at the roadside where the other member of the pair lays broken and dead. I am glad to say I didn't see evidence of this, but was conscious of the fact as we travelled.
The whole place is spiritually loaded - it is awe inspiring and so different to anything that we are used to. As I said, I just love it!

STILL THE LONG CROSS

Early next morning we hit the road again, leaving behind Fraser Range Station. The plan was to go as far as Madura Pass - the concept of free camping beside the road had somewhat lost it's appeal. Sadly, as you travel you become victim to all sorts of caravan myths and legend. These generally take the shape of 'crook stuff' that can happen to unwary caravanners. One of these oft told stories revolves around the bad things that happen to people who camp beside the road - we are almost sure that in most cases these stories have grown in the telling, but, have I mentioned that we are a couple of cream puffs? Well, we decided discretion was the better part of valour and so we stayed in parks all the way across. I dare say, we will do some free parking at some stage, but we will pick our time and place very carefully.

We did arrive in due course at Madura Pass, somewhere around early afternoon in fact. Once again, this was a desolate sort of place, but with it's own inimical beauty. I am fascinated by the bushland in these regions and would love to really explore it fully. Trouble is I'm an unfit fat old woman and I am not sure that I will ever realise this ambition! I think I may have to do quite a bit of 'going without' and 'going within' before I am fit to do this kind of exploration.

It seems that at these sparsely populated roadside caravan parks/road-houses, you meet the real characters. I guess there is nothing else to do except talk to each other, so lots of interesting stories come out.

As we were setting up camp for the night, one fellow, travelling alone except for his beautiful old blue heeler, wandered over, stubby in hand, to introduce himself. Turned out that he had been widowed a couple of years earlier and after the death of his long time wife had hit the road with his dog and aged cat. He had lost the cat, of old age, in Victoria the year before he said, with a bit of a catch in his throat, and he and the dog were just returning home. They were going into a retirement village and his next escapade was going to involve buying a race horse!! Don't people lead interesting lives?

As he was telling us pretty much his life story, a man -mountain approached us, also with stubby in hand. This bloke was the proverbial six axe handles across and was wearing an enormous black cowboy hat. The overall effect was quite overwhelming. Our other guest took one tremulous look and departed for parts unknown, and our new mate promptly made himself comfortable. Turned out that he was a cattleman from the north of NSW (God's own country he informed us several times), was only six months or so out of a 29 year marriage,and looking to have some good blokey fun. He was a real character, he wanted to borrow TBBITW and take him back to the west for a fishing and surfing holiday - I think it would have been the end of my lad, this bloke was on the tear and looking to burn off a whole heap of energy. It appeared that he had lost his heart in SA on the way across, but I don't think that would have stopped him from 'having a bit of a look around' at any other talent he may have stumbled across. He eventually ambled off to find some tucker and other drinking partners and we saw him again late that night after he had tired of playing with the people in the local bar/restuarant (I do use those terms lightly!). We saw the night out with him, once again under a canopy of dazzling stars, and then said a warm goodbye to him before leaving in the morning. He will remain one of the best and most memorable characters we have encountered so far.

THE LONG CROSS!!!

After leaving Duke of Orleans Bay we returned briefly to Esperance to have the car tyres rotated and re-aligned, and to catch up with some friends. Having accomplished this, we headed off bright and early to make an onslaught on crossing the Nullarbor. We had really been looking forward to this leg of the journey. We were looking forward to camping by the side of the road, and enjoying the legendary stars at night around the comfort of a camp-fire. We were going to do our first free camping by the side of the road!

The first night however, we planned to stop at Fraser Range. This is an historic pastoral station which now accommodates caravans and travellers. We had heard so many positive and glowing reports, we just had to find out for ourselves. The campsite is around 2ks off the beaten track and comprises of several old original buildings, a few newer ones and a bit of a garden. The surrounding areas are surreal in their vastness and silence. The sparsely covered hills surrounding hills gently cradle the campsite and when we first arrived there was a family of emus wandering around on one outskirts. There was a lazy breeze blowing (right thru' you as it turned out) and the whole experience was wonderful. At night, a huge camp-fire blazed and the sky was bedecked with sparkling diamonds you could almost reach out and touch!!

We met, as usual, some lovely folk there, fellow travellers from all over the globe - what a great night we had swapping stories over a few glasses of red and then a robust port to finish the evening (and us) off. Certainly an experience I would recommend.

Delightful Duke of Orleans Bay

Hi there again, slowly but slowly catching up with these entries!!

When we left Ecstatic Esperance, we moved on another 80 odd ks to The Duke of Orleans Bay. We stayed at the one and only caravan park there. The area, as with all of that coastline is incredibly beautiful, as you will see in the photos. The park was OK, and the weather was bloody windy. By now, we had just about had it with the wind. Esperance, as much as we love it, is a windy place. Generally tho, the winds abate around March and the weather between then and winter is usually fantastic. We however, were not so lucky, it blew almost the whole time we were there. Apart from that tho', it was great. The park is right on the bay and even tho' we had no ocean views, it was only a short stumble to the beach. The actual bay itself is really not suitable for swimming, there was too much weed. There is a magnificent bay just around the corner, which is perfect for a little surfing and swimming. You will see the bay in the photos and will understand what I mean.

The people who run the park are a little different, and it took us a few days to become accustomed to their brusque manners. Once you came to know them however, they were pretty good folk. There is absolutely nothing else around for 20 ks so you really do have to stock up before you go. The kiosk there does do very good chips and burgers etc. and they have most of the basics.

The local pub, 20ks away is the 'Condy' or more correctly the Condingup Hotel - great meals at the Condy and a lovely little country pub - well worth the effort.

Duke of Orlean is squished between two national parks, Cape Arid and Cape Le Grande. As we had previously explored the Cape Le Grande park on previous visits, we concentrated this time on the other side and headed up towards Cape Arid.Now, I have to explain something here, about TBBITW and myself, we knew that we were not big brave off-road types, but we thought that with our lovely Cruiser, we could do a little bit of gentle off-road, beach type driving, hmmmmmm, perhaps not!!!

We set off one particular day to visit Alexander Bay and Thomas River. We had visions of staying at Thomas River, where there is an excellent eco park. It involves some 20ks of gravel road and a park with now power or water - huh, we could do that, blind-folded and with one arm tied behind our backs, couldn't we? We thought we would go on a reconnaissance mission and check it all out. Well, it went fairly predictably wrong when we went in to Alexander Bay - we checked with some locals about which beach track to take, and on their good advice, we headed up a very firm looking limestone track. Going up was fine, but as we hit the down-hill slope, we realised we had possibly bitten off more than we could chew. The down-hill side was soft white Esperance type sand. Very pretty, but!!!!! We reached the beach OK, but then we had to traverse this expanse of shifting sand to get back to where we started. Rather than bore you with the story here, I will attach a copy of the poem TBBITW convinced me to pen, describing our ordeal.

Needless to say, we were a little crest-fallen after our experience, and although we did go and have a look at Thomas River (which is exceptionally beautiful) we decided then and there that we would not take the van off road even tho' she is designed to take the tough stuff. We are the problem, we are not designed to take the rough stuff - couple of cream puffs really, but hey, if you don't know your limitations by our stage of life, what chance have you?

On a more logical level, we just felt that neither the van nor the car and their attendant attachments like camera systems etc. need to be bounced and trounced along corrugated gravel roads. We had spoken recently to a woman whose enterprising husband had put her in the en suite of the van and driven it around the Adelaide hills so that they could determine how much stuff in the van moved around - she barely survived the 15 min trip!!! We decided not to do that to our stuff!! I must say, that husband is very lucky she let him live after that episode!

We spent a week at Orleans - I would have been happy to stay longer there, but TBBIW seemed to be keen to leave. He did convince me to take up the pen and write caravan flavoured bush poetry and for around 48 hours, I couldn't even think without rhymes - thank goodness for all concerned, it finally passed and now I cannot even imagine a rhyme!!

We headed back to Esperance for several days - a friendly neighbour at Orleans had noticed that the front tyres were wearing unevenly on Zed (the cruiser) and so we headed back to have them rotated back to front and re-aligned.

Well, enjoy the photos and endure the poetry - love each other - Steph.

THE BITTER TRUTH

In life there come some lessons rough
Ours was that we weren’t quite tough
Not tough enough to take the bumps
Off-road dips and sand hill jumps
That came our way that fateful day,
We went to Alexander Bay

The gravel in had been enough,
We had thought to prove us tough
We hadn’t thought about the sand
That covers this enormous land
We even asked a bloke along the way
How the track was set today

His answer put us both at ease
Avoid the back he said grinning
The sand back there will set you spinning
But take the front along the way
Nothing there will spoil your day
Now he seemed a dinkum bloke,
You could tell he knew by the way he spoke
The gravelly voice the steely chin
His blood-shot eyes, the whiff of gin?

So off we went with smiles alight
To get a bloody awful fright
The track was white and hard as rock
We crested the hill and what a shock
The downhill side was shifting sand
Fate stepped in and took a hand
No backing up could be done
We were in for the down- hill run

We hit the shore with eyes a bug
What the hell now, I said to Doug
We’ll give her some, he said to me
Of the sand we’ll soon be free
So up the mighty hill we roared
And down the sides the sand it poured

The steely beast it came to rest,
Upon that sandy devil crest
I looked across at him and said
In words of thrill and horror dread
I thought you said the tyres were fine
You didn’t need to let them down this time.
You know how to sink the slipper
He said retreating down the dipper

We looked back up that mighty hill
And down my spine I felt a thrill
Off to my left a crevice deep
Enough to plant a dozen sheep
And to his right a deep ravine
With really nothing much between

I think we really need to give her some
He said again now looking glum
So up again the monster roared
And yet again we found her floored
A crackly voice came from behind
Youse ‘avn’t bogged ‘er, are y’ blind
An ancient quaddie rider and his hound
Was wanting now to get around
He clicked his tongue in mute reproof
As Doug admitted that to sand he wasn’t used
He turned and went the other way
He must’ve thought we’d be OK

As we sat and mused our plight
A cheery voice came from the right
Up the hill a couple trudged
They could see we hadn’t budged
You could see we’d made their day
They hadn’t planned to come this way
They had heard our beast in pain
And had said, Oh not again!
Not another silly bugger stuck
Wouldn’t that be just our luck
The last one over the side we think
Was bloody stupid and full of ink!

By this time, Doug’s on his knees
Letting the air out, if you please
Seems to me, I’d said before
He should’ve first performed this chore
But as we know the bloke is always right
Unless you want a flippin’ fight

Now our new found friends
Had seen it all before, these trends
They seemed to think if Doug could arrange
To set the gears in low range
And plant his foot flat to the floor
We’d leap right out of that sand and more
And so we indeed do that,
To the floor his foot was flat
And after another try or three
We were out of the sand with a mighty ‘Whee’
With a cheery wave of the hand ‘good-bye’
Out of that park we did fly.

The trip to camp was rather quiet
As we reviewed our day and recent plight
The bitter truth of the matter was
Off- road hero’s we were not because
Our lives we love a bit too much
Along with the car and bits and such
We’re in no hurry to crash and burn.
This was the lesson we’d had to learn.