Nullarbor Ho! (again)

The Eyre Highway starts at Norseman  — a small town that's your last chance to fill up with fuel at a reasonable cost. The next reasonably priced fuel is at Ceduna in South Australia, a distance of 1,200 kms.  Eucla, just over the SA/WA border, is probably the best bet for fuel on the Nullarbor itself.

This was Levi's first long trip and first time leaving his birth state of Western Australia. He handled it all with his usual enthusiasm and acceptance of whatever comes his way.

There are many free camping spots along the Eyre Highway - some have toilets and dump points and I usually try and stay in these. The main reason for using them is they are usually slightly cleaner than those without — less toilet paper around!

There are some magnificent spots along the cliffs just after the SA/WA border with spectacular views over the Great Australian Bight and, between June and October, the Southern Right Whales breed and give birth here

More Yanchep …

It was only a short hop across Yanchep, , to the next petsit again for folks who were returning to the UK, this time for a family wedding.

From the relative calm of Sid & Hector's home it was all go with the trio of Bella and Milo, the pugs and Squirt the jug (pug/jack russell).

This photo is a typical evening with us all snuggled up on the two-seater settee — (top—bottom) Squirt, Bella, Levi, Milo and myself.

Milo enjoyed just hanging out on the sofa when he wasn't joining us on the patio.

Bella and myself enjoyed a nice cup of tea or a nap whilst the boys and Squirt keep a sharp lookout for any crumbs or cats from next door that dared enter their territory.

It was lovely to have a short visit from Barry & Diana with Tilley taking the dog population to 5! Tilley also is a very sociable dog and she really loved playing with Levi and Squirt the younger members of the group.

We enjoyed a walk on the foreshore at Two Rocks and then dinner at the Yanchep Inn which was built in 1936 and is situated in Yanchep National Park.

Levi just loved the little guys here and they were quite happy to share their bed with him (afterall he shared his (and my) bed with them!)

New friends for Levi

Because I'll be petsitting again at Anna & Robs later this year it was important to pay them a visit with Levi so we could see how he got on with Jett and Ruby the Flat Coated Retrievers and of course Priscilla and Sylvester the moggies.

Please sit nicely together so Anna can take your photo

Levi waiting patiently for his special treat … these three are such good, obedient dogs.

So, how did it go … excellently! Ruby and Jett are really friendly, sociable dogs as of course is Levi so they all got on really well together even though Levi is younger by far than either of them.

What about the cats? Levi had a scarey experience with a black cat at Margaret River. The cat was sleeping in a camp chair and Levi sniffed it from the back (as dogs are wont to do) which was acceptable BUT then he tried to sniff it's head and the cat jumped up spitting, growling and hissing with it's hair on end … Levi yelped and took off for his life.

I was really interested to see what his reaction to Sylvester and Priscilla would be … Priscilla was sitting in the centre of the path when we arrived and she continued to sit there when we came in the front gate. After Levi and Ruby and Jett had checked each other out and decided they were all going to be good friends it was time to go into the house BUT … we had to pass the CAT.

What did Levi do … well what any self-respecting and sensible dog would do … he took a wide detour around the CAT keeping a wary eye on it.

Later that evening Priscilla, in particular, continued to provoke Levi by coming up to him all the time, he managed to avoid her and kept his self-composure.

Canberra

Well we're now down in Canberra for a few days - staying at the Exhibition Park (like showgrounds) - lovely setting with trees but close to the city.  It's been extremely windy today and apparently snowing at Cooma, just down the road - we've had the heater on all day [hence all the YouTube videos - I'm sitting inside browsing around the internet :-) ]

Pam, from Cobram, who's on a 2 year trip is also here - she's doing some research at the Australian War Memorial, it's been good to catch up with her again. 

Nambucca Heads

We're slowly tacking down south - bit of inland, bit of coast - this week we've met up with Vanda again at Nambucca Heads for a few days

Doing a bit of beach driving

View of our campground, we're right on the "lagoon"

View of the lagoon from inside Highland Drover

Hebel, South West Queensland

Have just driven into this gorgeous little town, just north of Lightning Ridge - consists of only a motel, hotel and general store/cafe with a very small caravan park attached.  

The cafe made me stop - of course!  We've booked in for the night - only $15 powered site - free washing machine and good clean amenities - very hospitable, friendly owners as well.

Pre-dinner drinks at the pub

Danni had a good homemade lasagne, I had chicken with hokkien noodles

Tow Bar Problems

We were happily bouncing along (remember we're on Queensland outback roads) south of Emerald - just as I decided we needed a cafe! break and had pulled into Rolleston someone went past flashing lights and with all the passengers hanging out the windows - as I rolled down the window heard a GRATING sound - the towbar of the trailer was dragging along the ground!

Left side

right side

Went into the general store and asked the people congregated there is anyone knew a good welder - one of the owners/managers of a nearby station said he had a good welder on his team but they were 45kms out of town - if I could be there 7am the next morning he'd get him to look at it (after they'd managed to get the trailer detached from the camper and up onto it's jockey wheel - which was minus all rubber.) 

 

Next morning, one of the boys there undid everything, they discovered that it wasn't the tow bar that had broken off but the chassis!! Yep that's right - not actually a tow bar problem more a problem with the chassis, or rather the chassis extension - approx one metre extension which appears to be made of a thinner material than the rest of the chassis.  Welder said it had cracked along the side some time ago and then had broken off (see photos) on both sides. Anyway "Grubby" the welder spent 6 hours repairing it - he welded extra supports to the chassis then they refitted the Hayman Reece Towbar - which hadn't broken at all - it's obviously a heavy duty one. 

Maybe just a slight warning to anyone else with a longer vehicle to check that last bit of chassis. Know my trailer and vehicle are quite heavy, but it's supposed to be well balanced - although to be honest I am beginning to consider towing on an A - Frame - but it seems that no towing situation is easy (I've been through gypsy trailer and now this tandem one). 

The really amazing part of all this is that they wouldn't accept any payment for the work even though they were busy preparing for wheat harvest in 2 weeks time - another case of good old Aussie friendliness , it really restores your faith in us human beings. 

Different dogs

 

Different lifestyles!

Mission Beach

After an exhausting few days at Upper Liverpool Creek we all moved down to Mission Beach where we were fortunate enough to both get powered sites at the Council park there — only $15.50 p.n (or $12.50 unpowered).  Pretty basic park but the LOCATION — right on the beach, just a few palm trees separating us from the views below. Also it's only about 100 metres to the lovely Mission Beach shopping centre with lots of CAFES — you can walk along the beach, through the rainforest, or even along the footpath beside the road.

This is the closest shot you'll get of me in a swimsuit!

Danni and Linda walking through the rainforest to the shops

Clearing up the palm trees (he cheated and has spikes on his feet)

Upper Liverpool Creek

On the way south from the Tablelands we passed many beautiful waterfalls - here are just a few

We spent a few days at Upper Liverpool Creek free camp with Jim and Linda - it's a beautiful spot - a sparkling clear creek surrounded by cane fields.  

Skye thinks there might be something interesting in the cane field - Linda was interested too until we pointed out it might be a SNAKE!

Danni, as usual, made friends with neighbours

One of the many small trains full of sugar cane

Visitors whilst we were at Yungaburra

Whilst we were at the Lakeview Motel and Caravan Park at Yungaburra we had a few visitors - Jim and Linda (from Scotland) and Vanda (and Biker the dog) came to stay for a few days.

No comparisons to the 'Two Fat Ladies' PLEASE!!

Sunset over Lake Tinaroo - we had drinks and nibbles whilst watching the sun set on a number of occasions

Had to put up a couple of tarps to keep rain out of annexe - however after 3 days the sun came out and the Jimny's roof came off again.

Jim took Danni out for a paddle - she LOVED it.

Ducks on Lake Tinaroo

Turtles feasting on a dead Barramundi - UGH

Jim and Vanda (and Biker) went for a paddle to see the turtles and platypus - Skye stood guard for their return.

View from our campsite at Dusk