Friday 20th June, 2025

Quite a bit of time has passed, so let’s see if I can catch you up.

We had a peaceful night at the Mooloo Downs RA. In the morning we took a walk down to the river. There was no water, but evidence of floods, with debris pushed up against the tree trunks. We then continued our journey to Gascoyne Junction. The roads have been very rough the past couple of days, but we have still managed to travel about 180kms each day.

At Gascoyne Junction we were disappointed to find the roadhouse kitchen closed. We made our own picnic lunch at the day use caravan park up area, which is very nicely done and has a potable water tap and toilets. We then went back to the roadhouse, which has a nice caravan park attached, to empty the toilet and get fuel.

The road into the Temple Gorge campground in the Kennedy Ranges was very rough and we took it very slowly. The campground wasn’t full, fortunately and the camp host gave us some choices of where to stay.

This was on Saturday last week. On Sunday we had a restful time and I made some healthy soup for lunch. We’ve realised that we can only stay two nights as we don’t have enough water to stay an extra night, as we had hoped.

We walked into the Gorge in the late afternoon. The path follows a rocky creek bed, similar in a way to the paths at Mt Augustus, but with better views. It took us about an hour and we were able to get back to the campsite just after sunset when we still had good light.

We rang Matthew and had a good long chat with him. He seemed quite relaxed and cheerful, I wonder if the fact that we rang at 6.00 p.m., about 40 minutes earlier than last week, helped as he wasn’t in the process of going to bed.

We had homemade soup, with a boiled egg and bread and butter for tea whilst chatting with him.

On Monday morning we packed up early and went along the range to the Sunrise Viewing Platform. Not in time for sunrise though. I walked up to the viewing area without taking my hiking stick as the path looked easy. However, it was actually rather steep coming back with loose rocks, so I should have had walking shoes and the stick.

After that, we went to Honeycombe Gorge, which has beautiful natural carvings. There was a sign saying that we shouldn’t take photos, which was a pity. But I later did a search and found there were a great many photos of the gorge on the web, including in Adobe stock photos. The sign hasn’t worked.

When driving back to Gascoyne Junction I decided to go much faster to see if we could ride the corrugations better. It worked, plus the time went more quickly, and made it seem a much easier journey than getting there.

We stayed overnight Monday at a station stay on the road to Carnarvon. On Wikicamps it said with was great, with flushing toilets and a campers’ kitchen. However, we arrived when it was rather hot and it was very dry. The campers’ kitchen turned out to be a sort of little museum. But the flushing toilets were real.

There was another couple staying overnight as well and they had a campfire in a little fire pit which we got to enjoy as well. The farmers, husband and wife, showed up and we chatted with them as well. Stephen noted that the farmer never stopped talking, so it was hard a get away.

In the morning the campsite seemed somewhat nicer and we didn’t get away until about 10.30 a.m.

Arriving in Carnarvon was wonderful. We were refreshed after the bitumen road and everything seemed particularly lush after the dry desert areas. We drove into the centre and had lunch at a cafe, enjoying the cool weather. We spent a bit of time getting to know the surroundings before going to do our shopping.

The caravan park we had chosen was fairly central, not far from the Woolworths where we shopped. We took a pitch with ensuite as a bit of luxury. The next day was extremely wet, it rained most of the day, although in the afternoon it was quite light rain and we went for a walk to the Gwoonmardu Mia Cafe and Art Gallery. 

The exhibition about the lives of the indigenous people of the area was very interesting. The art gallery is very small, but I liked a couple of the paintings, so worth a visit as well. The local people seemed very proud of their work for the stations in the early days, which helped to get things established. Children had a chance to be educated at a Christian school, a very good experience for the children who knew each other at the school and had ongoing contact with their parents and extended family, not good for the children who were just taken there and had no further contact.

The coffee, scones, jam and cream, were excellent. The cafe it on a veranda and was shelters enough, without cutting us off from the open air.

After the afternoon tea we walked back past our caravan park to the library. The art gallery there was closed, but we spent about an hour in comfortable surroundings, not keen to get back to early to our tiny van.

There are food vans that come to the caravan park each evening and the choice was to have a pizza. That’s it! So, we had a pizza and salad. We are happy to be eating fresh salads again.

Yesterday morning (Friday) we left the caravan park at about 10.00 a.m. We went to a tire shop where Stephen checked our pressures, then to the Woolies to do a more comprehensive shop. 

We didn’t want to leave too early as our next camping spot was only about 100kms away, so went out to see the old jetty and do some more research on coffee and scone with jam and cream. The scone was good and we had a very nice fig jam with it, but the cream was just the one from a spray can, not real cream as we had the previous day. The cafe is very nice, with a play area for children.

I decided we needed to drive a bit further more, so chose a different campsite, about 150kms along the road. This was unfortunate as the whole area is still damp from rain and I didn’t feel it would be safe to try to drive into the camp, which was around a small hill, well off the road.

We decided to head on the Overlander Roadhouse where you can camp for free out the back, or pay $11 per person for access to showers and toilets with a key code, and plug into power. Quite a bargain I would say, but we chose the free option.

Although it was partly cloudy for most of the drive it cleared after sunset and there was a really good view of the stars. The Roadhouse is sufficiently far away that we weren’t bothered by the light. However, Carnarvon casts quite a glow in the sky.

We had fresh salmon, potato and salad for tea, an easy and quick meal. For a few years I’ve been using a very small electric frying pan for cooking, but for this trip I’ve brought a somewhat larger pan that gives us more options for the types of meals we can cook. It makes preparing a quick meal, like the salmon and potatoes, very easy.

So, here we are, up to date. The woman in the cafe yesterday commiserated with us about the rain, but actually we were so grateful to have finished our travels on gravel roads before the wet weather that we didn’t mind at all. We were able to get a big load of washing done yesterday morning and used a dryer instead the outside line. We had a bit of extra stuff that couldn’t go in the dryer and used the ensuite bathroom to hang it overnight. It still needed time in the sun in the morning.

June 11, 12 and 13, 2025

On Wednesday we went on the drive around Mt Augustus, stopping twice to do little walks. Our first stop was a Oramboo, where we did the short trail, plus a little of the longer trail. There were Aboriginal etchings on the rock, with a rope to keep visitors from getting too close. As we started about midday the sun was penetrating as we left the shade of the trees, so not a good time to see how far we could go.

Our second stop was at Beedoboondu where we had lunch and a rest before doing the second short walk to Flintstone Rock. The trails are very well marked here, with a sign to say that you are at the end of the trail, very useful.

On the way back to the caravan park we stopped in at Cattle Pool, which is a permanent waterhole. We only spent a short time there and decided to come back the next day.

On Thursday we packed up relatively early and have spent the day here at Cattle Pool. It is a lovely oasis, with a short walk clearly marked along the bank. There appears to be plenty of birdlife, though we’ve heard far more birds than we’ve seen.

It’s been very peaceful indeed and we appreciate having a fairly restful time here at Mt Augustus before we start travelling again. There were other places we could have visited around the Rock, but we do feel we’ve done a good enough exploration.

In the evening we went to the pub for meals, a hamburger and a T-bone steak. We had a little bit of salad on the burger and some veggies with the steak. The meals were good, but a huge amount of food for us, still we did our best.

This morning (Friday) we managed to get away quite early, despite having done quite a few chores before leaving, such as filling up our tank (water is non potable, but we don’t drink it), doing a little shopping at the reception shop, getting fuel and visiting the dump point. All in preparation for camping without services for the next three nights. The plan was to do a loop around to stay overnight at one place, then arrive at the Temple Gorge Campground in the Kennedy Ranges.

It was cloudy this morning and we had a colourful sunrise.

On our way out we went to the lookout and took some photos. It was only a little way off the road and has a lovely view of Mt Augustus and the surrounding areas. We left there at about 10.30 a.m.

After a few kilometres on the road we realised that the road conditions were pretty bad. It was stony as well as deep corrugations and just hard work to travel on. When we reached a junction we decided to take the road that leads more directly to Gascoyne Junction, with the hope that it would be a bit better. And it was, but still had some difficult patches.

We’ve driven about 180kms and have pulled up for the night at a rest area. We are fairly close to a river and can see some ranges (probably the Kennedy Ranges) in the distance. We’ve pulled off away from the road so that if any cars come through we won’t be choked with dust.

We think we can make it to Temple Gorge Campground tomorrow, but don’t really need to stress as we have plenty of time.

The final part of the journey to Mt Augustus and arrival yesterday

Saturday 7th to Monday 10th June, 2025

We had a couple of nights on the road here to Mt Augustus. The first day we drove approximately 200kms to the Murchison Settlement. We stayed overnight at the Roadhouse/caravan park. We were on grass with non potable water and power, with a short walk to excellent toilets/showers. Even I took advantage of the showers, though I usually want to shower in the Sherwood.

On arrival we found out that the kitchen closed at 5.30 p.m. As we were hungry and hadn’t had lunch we decided to have a meal right away. We had steak and onions on Turkish bread with salad on the side. The dining area at the Roadhouse is very attractive and we were glad we had decided to stay there.

Stephen had a shower before sunset and I went for a walk to look at the Murchison Rangeland Botanical Walk. It is well maintained and signposted and I thought that Stephen would enjoy a walk there in the morning.

In the morning we packed up, bought 10 litres of water in 2 five litre bottles, fuelled up, emptied the toilet, and went and parked near the walk. We spent about half an hour there.

On the first day we found that most of the road was bituminised, apart from about a 40k section of gravel. However, for our second and third days, the roads were all gravel. Still, it’s a good road and there was evidence of graders and other machinery working on it.

Our second night was spent at Billing Pool. This is a free camp and we were one of only two campers spending the night. We enjoyed a walk along the banks of the river bed to explore the pools. The river bed is like a gorge and our camping spot was overlooking a dry section.

Another quiet night, and we slept well.

On the second day we reached the turnoff to Mt Augustus and took many photos of the sign. The gravel road became a bit more rough, with even more dips. Fortunately we didn’t have to do any water crossings, even at the creeks, which have a concrete causeway to help getting through. But it was evident that the rain, when it comes, causes a lot of flooding and maintaining the road in good condition must be a major, ongoing job.

On the first day we crossed a creek with a very steep entry and exit, fine for our little vehicle, but as we saw two articulated road trains shortly before we got there I could only imagine what it was like for them.

We stopped for lunch at the Gascoyne River picnic area yesterday. According to Wikicamps some people stay overnight there, but there were signs forbidding camping so we imagine they must have ignored them. Anyway, we wanted to get to our destination and it was only 100kms away, so we kept driving and arrived at about 3.30 p.m.

There are surprisingly few people here and we had a choice of camp sites. We went to the evening meal at the pub, a lovely beef stew with mashed potatoes. The deserts had sold out so the waitress made us up icrecream with chocolate sauce and kit kat wafers. She charged us $10 for these, the deserts were $15 each, so we considered that a win.

This morning I’ve done a big load of washing and Stephen helped hang them out.

The weather in the last few days has been ideal, cool enough overnight to snuggle under the doona and clear, sunny days in the low 20’s. It may be a little warmer here, mid twenties, but overall just lovely. It was windy in the afternoons, but it’s too early today to know if we will have a windy afternoon, only 11.30 a.m.

We spoke with Matt last night. He seemed agitated and was clearly trying to tell us something, but as we don’t understand him, we don’t know why. We did ring a bit late whilst he was getting ready for bed, so perhaps 6.00 p.m. would be a better time.

Tuesday 3rd June to Friday 6th June, 2025

Day 1: Victoria Park to New Norcia 139kms

We are taking things rather slowly as there was heavy rain for a couple of days and we were a bit concerned about the condition of the gravel section of our trip. Today we spoke to someone at the Mullewa Visitor Centre who assured us that they haven’t had enough rain to cause problems. She said that the gravel sections are well maintained and should not cause any problems.

We left on Tuesday morning at about 10.30 a.m. and stopped at the Bindoon Bakehouse for hot drinks and to buy some of their lovely bread. We had a choice of routes to get to Mullewa, but decided that we would like to see New Norcia again, and perhaps even visit the museum. On arrival we made the decision to stay the night in the camping area near the oval. This costs $10 per night and after settling in, having lunch, a nap and afternoon tea, went out for our evening walk, stopping in at the Roadhouse to pay our $10.

We walked around most of the village, taking in the various building styles.

 Our evening meal was leftovers from home.

Although it rained for most of the afternoon and evening the rain wasn’t heavy and it was possible to have a good walk without having to dodge showers.

Day 2: New Norcia to Watheroo Station Roadhouse 92kms

Well, it was a short day of driving, but we had spent the morning in New Norcia visiting the museum and art gallery. The information at the museum stresses the positive impact of the Benedictine monks and the establishment of the settlement, but Eversley has alerted us to a documentary that includes interviews with people who lived there as children. Their treatment was abusive. I noticed that although the early settlement included families of the Yued people, later they were sent children from all over the state, thus participating in the Stolen Generations of indigenous children.

We made a stop at Moora where we shopped and bought fuel.

We then drove to Watheroo Station Roadhouse and set ourselves up outside, plugging into the free power. Later, when the Station opened we had access to toilets and shower for free, if you have a meal there, which we were happy to do. We shared a very large hamburger and chips, very tasty, and they served each half on separate plates, so that the meal looked very good. I wasn’t able to eat all of my section.

Day 3: Watheroo to Yandanooka 143kms

We both had showers in the Station ablutions in the evening, but decided to just wash in our own bathroom in the morning. As we were on power we were able to use the air conditioner to take the chill off the air a couple of times.

It was promising to be another wet day as we set off, but fortunately the rain had finished by the time we arrived at Yandanooka. The clouds had mostly cleared by sunset.

On the way we stopped at Carnamah to admire the Big Tractor. Our main aim was to empty the toilet, but the exhibit is on the main road, so very hard to miss. We enjoyed walking around it and taking photos. Some other visitors took a photo of us together.

We had our lunch at Yandanooka, then rested for a while. It was interesting to visit this place again. We had one other camper overnight, a solo woman with a small, pop up caravan towed by a 4WD. She and I exchanged greetings.

We saw a goods train going through, quite exciting as you are so close to the rail line. 

In the evening I tried flying the drone and more or less lost control of it. Still, I eventually landed it and actually was able to capture a good photo from the video feed of the area where we were camping. That’s the image at the top of this post.

Day 4: Yandanooka to ‘The Waterfalls’ just out of Mullewa 120kms

Well, this is us all caught up. I’ve been making notes about the journey so far on a daily basis, and just now have entered it into my book on the laptop. From here, I can cut and paste into WordPress and Substack for publishing.

So, it feels lovely to have sunshine, even though we know it means it’s likely to be colder overnight. We may need to use our diesel heater!

Our first stop was at Mingenew, where I went to the bakery for fresh bread. Disappointingly, they didn’t have any interesting bread, just white rolls and a round loaf. I opted for the rolls. Then I joined Stephen in the IGA. It is nowhere near as good at the one in Moora, of course, so we bought some of the things on our list, Stephen having assured me that the Mullawa supermarket would be much better as it is a larger town.

When we arrived in Mullewa, it became clear that we should have finished our list in Mingenew. Stephen enquired at the Visitor Centre and was told that people go to Geraldton to shop, or shop online. The service station had some groceries and we were able to get some Sunshine milk and yogurt anyway.

We had a couple of the fresh rolls with cheese for lunch as apparently the cafe did not serve lunch. As there was a coffee machine at the Visitor Centre I bought there rather than going to the cafe.

It just goes to show that I’m not the only one in this family who makes dogmatic statements, then has to eat his/her words! Thank goodness.

We are camped at the beginning of the road up to Mt Augustus. The rain caused some damage to the road into the camping/picnic area, but the main road is bitumen so far. Still, we are feeling happy as the real adventure begins. On our fourth day of travel we are in new territory for us.

Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th May, 2025

Clearly, we hadn’t had enough of getting away because on Friday at 4.00 p.m. we finished packing up the Sherwood and drove up the hill to Glen Forest. There was a talk by Malcolm French who is a botanist and farmer, a man of experience and wisdom.

Curiously, we had something of the same hopefulness after his talk that we felt after the film ‘Oceans’, with David Attenborough. David spoke about the regeneration of life in the ocean by creating sanctuaries, and how everything could come alive after just a few years, with spill over effects which make fishing viable. Though not deep sea trawling, which creates deserts on the ocean floor. 

Anyway, Malcolm’s message was that many of the beautiful native trees to the east of Perth can thrive in very hot, dry conditions. He suggests that we start to plant these trees closer to Perth so that we still have lots of trees as climate warming bites.

As a farmer, he knows that local producers can get much higher prices selling to the European Union, if they adhere to the sustainable farming practices set by the Union. This means that farmers are adhering to these principles out of self interest. The EU does not take this on trust, but does satellite and in person inspections to confirm compliance. The farmers get 10% higher prices. A win for the environment and farming becomes more sustainable financially.

On arrival we had checked out the park where we stayed overnight last time to check for no camping signs, then went and parked near the hall to have our small meal.

At 7.00 p.m., when the meeting was supposed to start, we walked along the road trying to find the hall, but all was in darkness and we initially walked straight past. When people did arrive the lights came on briefly before going out. It took a fair bit of trial and error to work out what the problem was. The offending light switch was turned off and meeting commenced. 

We had a quiz to start, Stephen and I could answer none of the questions. Then we had the talk, with slides showing the various trees. Malcom is quite old, but he didn’t need a microphone to project his voice and we really enjoyed it.

After a peaceful night in the parking area we had breakfast and went for a walk along the Heritage Trail, heading east this time, we went west last time.

We still somehow ended up at the cafe for hot drinks and a savoury scone.

We’ve had yearly stays at Rottnest for the last three or four years. Eversley books a cottage months in advance and if we are in town (and somehow we always manage to be available), we join her for a short holiday. 

Note: there are no photos of Eversley here, but she is in the video.

We have usually travelled from Fremantle Jetty, although one year we travelled down river from the Barrack Street Jetty, then caught the ferry in Fremantle. This year I wanted to try something different. Eversley travels on the ferry from Hillarys and we decided to join her, driving up to Hillarys. This meant that we only had to take our cases a short distance to the pick up point. On return, we picked them up from the same place and it certainly beats taking our bags on public transport.

Eversley then guided us via phone to the dock where the ferry was waiting. We boarded fairly quickly and were able to get our preferred seats at the back on windows.

I had been waiting for a coffee, but was out of luck getting a hot coffee on the ferry as they had forgotten to stock up on coffee beans. I had a canned coffee instead.

It was a sunny day and the sea was fairly calm, so a good day for the crossing. As it was Sunday the ferry was full, though we could look forward to a quiet couple of days on the island for Monday and Tuesday, with fewer tourists.

On arrival we waited at the Dome for our cottage to be available. Although the official time is 2.00 p.m. we were able to get in at about 1.00 p.m. We dropped off our things and went to the local store to get some essentials, such as bananas, milk and yogurt.

We had an evening meal at Frankie’s and it was mild enough to sit outside in a sheltered spot.

On Monday we parted ways after coffee at the outdoor cafe in the newly renovated Rottnest Lodge. Stephen and I went to catch the train to Olive Hill, with the intention of walking from there to the Light House, whilst Eversley did other things.

The train journey was noisy, but being on it meant we travelled through parts of the island where we hadn’t been before, so it was interesting. The journey finished by going uphill to the aptly named Olive Hill, where there was quite a good view.

The Lighthouse didn’t seem very far away. We were warned that it was quite a challenging walk, but in fact it didn’t seem difficult and the only steep uphill part was right at the end. At the top we were delighted to find a caravan selling coffees and food. We opted for toasties and fruit juice as I’d already had two coffees.

After lunch we walked the rest of the way up to the Lighthouse, about 100m. When we left it was about a 600m walk down to the bus stop to catch the hop on hop off bus that goes around the island. We were really happy to just go back to the settlement and to our cottage.

We picked up some food at the store and had dinner at home. We had thought of pizza, but having the toasties at lunch time had rather spoiled our appetite for a similar type of meal. We bought some Thai curries, not really that nice, but filled us up.

It became very cloudy in the afternoon and by evening it was raining and there was a strong wind. We were happy to stay in and watch TV.

By Tuesday morning the weather had cleared to another lovely, sunny day. Stephen went on a walk to the lookout beyond Kingston Barracks and Eversley and I stayed near the settlement. We planned to go to the Lodge for an evening meal on our last night and Eversley booked us a spot with comfortable chairs where we could watch the sunset.

When we ordered dinner we moved to a dining table further inside. It was chilly and we wanted to be as warm as possible. When we returned to the cottage we tried out the heater, but it kept throwing an error message. We felt it was too late to ring up and complain, but apparently that’s what we should have done. We wrapped ourselves up in shawls and blankets instead.

Leaving day it’s good to get up early as we have to have our bags packed and outside the gate by 8.00 a.m. They are picked up by the ferry company and we don’t see them again until we arrive back. We also had to vacate by 9.00 a.m., but that gave us an extra hour and we were all ready in time. Eversley and I went for a coffee and Stephen had a bit of a walk around the settlement.

There were very few of us leaving at 11.30 a.m., so again we got good seats. It was another mild and sunny day.

At Hillarys we felt ready for lunch and went to the Dome, where we sat outside, but sheltered, with views of the the inner harbour. We felt that it was the continuation of a very lovely few days away.

Of course, we were all glad to actually get back home afterwards. I was so relaxed that I didn’t check on a couple of things planned for Thursday night and Friday morning, I was thinking they were happening the following week. However, I am all caught up now.

We did some filming. I took the camera around the cottage to make sure we remember it clearly. I think it is the fourth year because I think we may have had two years in one cottage, a different one last year, and a different one this year. Each time we feel like we’ve been very lucky to get such a nice place to stay.

I filmed the train ride and walk to Rottnest, and Stephen also filmed some of his walk to the lookout. I did a quick edit, which was pretty boring in parts, so I’ve done another edit this morning, taking out many bits that were too long and repetitive. I’ve also changed the order of some things and had to reapply the music. Hopefully, this is a much better edit. We showed Matt the first one and he got a bit bored.

I feel we should do what they do with the Olympics and vote this Rottnest trip as the best so far. Perhaps it always feels like that when we’ve just been away and feeling relaxed and refreshed.

PS: we saw lots of quokkas, but that is normal on the Island.

Tuesday 22nd April, 2025

At about 11.00 a.m. we walked to the library where Stephen was hoping to find more information about the town. After yesterday’s rain it was good to have a sunny day. We were told about a nearby cafe, so we went to check to see if Google Maps was correct about it being open. Fortunately it was and we enjoyed hot drinks.

Stephen had a chai latte made with sticky tea leaves and spices. Turned out to be very expensive and we paid $15 for both drinks. It was also difficult to get it strong enough and they had served the milk separately, with a strainer, and he found this a bit tricky to manage.

At that point we decided that we would go to Northam, a bit closer than York. Northam has a free RV camping area on the river. When we arrived we were able to get a good parking bay on the end of a row. The RV park is somewhat similar to the one at Wundowie and it too has a dump point and drinking water tap with a push button. You can’t fill your RV tank, but it suited us to just have access to fill our water jug.

We had a very warm and sticky afternoon. It was uncomfortable inside and by 4.00 p.m. the midges came in and made it uncomfortable to sit outside. We went for a walk to the bridge, but showers made us cut it short after a little while.

We had leftovers for tea, spaghetti and pasta, with frozen peas. We had bought some bread, salads and alcoholic ginger beer at the IGA in Wundowie. We had two cans of the ginger beer, unlike us as we usually just share one. The alcohol didn’t seem to have any effect on us.

By about 10.00 p.m. it had cooled down sufficiently for us to have a comfortable night. There was some rain overnight, but it didn’t actually storm until the morning. Fortunately, there was no wind, so we could leave the windows open and watch out for lightning and listen to the thunder and heavy rain.

We got ready to leave between rain showers and headed off at about 11.00 a.m.

We had a Working Voices Alumni meeting at 2.00 p.m. in Bentley. To extend our holiday a bit we shared a big breakfast at the Dome Cafe and only headed off in time to get to Bentley by 2.00 p.m.

The battery level was at about 50% by the time we left Northam. We didn’t get much solar due to the clouds and rain, but went ahead and did all of our usual things (boiling the kettle 3 times for teas and coffees, and I blow dried my hair) We also ran the Starlink. This was because we were testing out the system, we have the gas stove as a backup of course.

By the time we arrived at Bentley, with solar and the DCDC charger, the batteries were at 90%. We would not be able to use as much electricity if we were intending to stay for a second night.

The batteries reached 100% quite quickly on Thursday morning. The fridge is still on, but as we haven’t been using the electric appliances, there is very little draw on them.

Overall, we are happy with our power set up. I’ve sold our two Ecoflow power boxes on Facebook Marketplace and our replacement Ecoflow Delta 3 plus hasn’t arrived yet, normally we have some backup. Perhaps it was good to test out the system without any backup, I found I was still prepared to push things a bit, just to see what would happen. But, I’ll still be glad to have backup power for our winter trip

Monday 21st to Wednesday 23rd April, 2025

We are testing out our new wiring. Up until recently, there were a couple of electrical items that hadn’t been added to the Victron shunt, which meant the battery percentage was basically only a rough guide and I was relying on the battery voltage to see if we had enough power. After dropping the van off to CaravansWA to correct this we can now rely on the percentage reading, which is such a relief.

The battery percentage went down to about 73% overnight. We had shade first thing after sunrise, so the battery went down to about 68% after boiling the kettle a couple of times and using the hair dryer. At 10.00 a.m. it’s now on 71% and getting about 200w of solar.

We’ve also had brackets for a fold out washing line put on the side of the van, a new, very sturdy clip for our front door, and a new hot water system anode. We are ready to go. We’ve also ordered new blind/screen cassettes, but as they are coming from overseas they may not arrive in time for our winter trip. CaravansWA will be the installer.

Separately, I’ve ordered some thermo blinds for the Hilux windows. This will not only ensure privacy, but hopefully keep out the heat and cold. We use the front cab as a storage area when we are parked up, so the blinds should also provide extra security as there shouldn’t be any gaps.

We had thought of going on an overnight on Thursday, but that takes us into the Anzac Day weekend, with possibly a lot of traffic. As we had nothing planned yesterday and our first appointment is on Wednesday afternoon it seemed a good time to slip away. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but in fact it rained yesterday afternoon on our way to Wundowie, and we had quite heavy rain, lightning and thunder overnight. We have one of the good sites with a concrete pad beside the door, so are not having to deal with mud.

Wundowie is a small village just off the Great Eatern Highway which offers a donation camp, with a water tap that is suitable for filling bottles, but the tap can’t be used for filling the van, and a dump point. It’s a short walk away from a general store. There is an open field next to the camp and a large sports ground nearby. On a clear night it would actually be quite good for stargazing. We didn’t bring the telescope this time as we knew the weather was likely to be unsuitable and it wasn’t the purpose of the trip. Next time perhaps.

Our plan for the day is to spend a little time here to check things out more, then drive to the free camping area in York. If we can’t get a spot in the town there is a free camp close by.

Thursday March 27th to Saturday March 29th, 2025

We did a lot of the preparations and planning on Wednesday and were able to leave by about 10.30 a.m. Lowles Road, Tammin, where the star party was held is approximately 190kms from here and I wanted to get a good deal of the driving done in the morning.

However, that didn’t stop us from making a stop at Mundaring to visit the bakery for drinks and to buy some of their beautiful bread. It was too early to consider having lunch.

Stephen drove from the Northam turnoff to Meckering, and we arrived in Cunderdin at about 2.00 p.m. Our plan was to spend the rest of the day there and only head to Tammin later in the day. We were too late for the hot lunch, but they made us some beautiful toasted sandwiches. We were able to enjoy their big lounge chairs to rest after lunch.

We then headed towards Tammin, and I was breathalysed by a nice policeman on arrival. Quite ironic that we had spent the afternoon in a pub, but hadn’t had anything alcoholic to drink.

We then headed out to the site. We were arriving a day early as we had to leave again on Saturday, and were relieved to find that there were other early birds who had taken responsibility for setting things up. We had been sent detailed information on this, a standard document, when we registered.

It was still rather hot and quite cloudy, so we didn’t expect to have a good night sky, but after dark the clouds cleared and we had a lovely view of the night sky. We were too tired to set up telescopes. Stephen got out with his binoculars and I just enjoyed the Milky Way.

The Tammin site is an area of land leased by the ASWA (Astronomical Society of WA) for about $1 per year. The land is rocky and unsuitable for farming, but ideal for star gazing. They’ve set up a line of concrete for the telescopes, a shipping container with air conditioning and a special waterless toilet. The toilet is especially nice inside, quite different to what I was expecting. There are a couple of portaloos and a shower for campers. They were running a generator constantly, including overnight, and I realise it was because of running a fridge.

On Friday we spent most of the morning on site, then headed off for the Tammin Roadhouse to ride out the heat of the day. We shared a steak sandwich and chips which were served on separate plates, very nice. There was a comfortable lounge where we sat after lunch, so in many ways it was like our day at the Cunderdin Pub the previous day.

On both days we had been able to park the Sherwood in shade, but the shade cover at the Roadhouse was really good. Of course, it meant that our batteries didn’t get topped up, but better than having it sitting out in the sun. Both days reached about 37C.

When we went back to the site more people had arrived. We had parked at a distance from the telescope area and began setting up the telescope.

When we walked down to the container for the meal, we found that the BBQ had already happened and the salads and fresh rolls were being served. The flies were still really bad whilst we were eating, but they went to bed after sunset.

We enjoyed talking with some of our fellow star gazers as we relaxed after eating. It meant that by the time we went back to the Sherwood it was after dark, which made finishing setting up quite challenging. I set up the SeeStar as well and got a bit of an image.

Stephen gave up on the telescope as he didn’t feel he had set up the scope correctly and he had a headache. However, we continued to sit outside for a while enjoying the stars and waiting for the Seestar. It takes a lot of patience to wait for the stacked images to result in a good, final result.

In the morning I found that Stephen had not slept well. He gets nauseous when he has headaches and had been half sitting up for much of the night.

After packing up we went to say goodbye to everyone. They had been very welcoming and we felt that it had been more like an actual Star Party than the other events as people socialised more. Of course, we had recently been to one of their monthly meetings, so we knew some of the people slightly.

The drive home was punctuated by a visit to the sweet shop in Meckering. This is run by a Canadian and has a wide range of sweets. We had hot drinks and bought some fudge. He doesn’t have seating inside, but we secured the only table and chairs outside just in time as a large group of bikers and vintage car owners arrived to have drinks and lollies.

Our next break was in Mundaring where we wanted lunch, so went to the Dome Cafe. At first we were glad of the air conditioning, but later we were freezing. When we were leaving it had become quite cloudy and looked like a storm was coming.

The Dome cafe has redone it’s menu to include some items it had on the specials list. We ordered Rosti and eggs to share and appreciated that the dish was put into separate, warm plates for us. Thank you Dome.

We arrived home when it was still quite warm. The clouds eventually covered Victoria Park and we had at least one shower overnight.

On Sunday we joined a friend for lunch, then went together to a fundraising concert in North Beach. We then called in to see Matt, who was having an early dinner. Afterwards we sat outside with him for about half an hour. By this time I was very tired and wanted to get home. We’d had a good afternoon tea and weren’t hungry until later.

Yesterday, Monday. I had to drop the Sherwood off for some repairs/enhancements at CaravansWA. We haven’t been to them before, but they have been a Suncamper dealer in the past, which is why I know about them. We need our blinds/screens replaced and they have now ordered them from overseas. It will take a few months for them to arrive, so we will probably have them installed after our winter trip.

I’m having our internal Anderson plugs and the 12V fridge linked to the shunt which gives me information on remaining battery percentage via Bluetooth. Both were installed by Ken Peachey Caravans, but not linked for some reason. I had contacted KP to have this corrected, but still hadn’t heard back regarding a time after three months, so gave up.

As it happens, they did ring last week and apologised for the wait, but still couldn’t do the work until mid May, so I went with our appointment with CaravansWA. We still have to wait for things to be done, but not as long.

As well, we are having a new catch put on for the screen door. The plastic catch has broken and they will install a metal one. They will put up brackets for an outside collapsible clothes line that fits into our rear locker when not in use. I’ve also asked them to check the HWS anode.

They used to be a Suncamper dealer, but the company has been getting a bad reputation for poor standards of construction, ignoring customers requirements and generally going downhill. New Suncampers, including the Sherwood, are extremely expensive, getting up around $200,000. For that money you really want to have a well made motorhome. It makes me very glad we bought one secondhand, with the issues already sorted out. So, CaravansWA has told them that they no longer want to be associated with them as the bad reputation is staring to reflect on their business as well. I’ve actually noticed this on the online forums.

Yesterday I was extremely tired and went back to bed after dropping off the Sherwood. I managed to get a few things done, despite being very lazy.

Stephen rang his neurologist a few weeks ago and was told he would have to wait five months for an appointment. He gave up at that point. However, he tried again today and now has an appointment on the 13th of May. I’m glad it’s before we head off on our winter trip. We are going to be quite remote and it feels risky given that we don’t know what is happening. He is really being affected by the headaches and nausea and it seems unusual for someone of his age to begin having migraines.