Silver Schoolies No More - Chapter 2 - Kalbarri to Carnarvon

We will be on our own from today. Up early my aim is to give us a fresh start by cleaning the car fridge. The past few days have seen the bait I have been using strat to get a but rank, freezing, unfreezing and freezing again and in the meantime any “juice” that may have accumulated, now frozen on the floor of the freezer and permeating throughout all the rest of the contents. Thankfully the only “other” thing we have in there are drinks.

Without taking it from its slide in the Cruiser, it is emptied and rinsed, then disinfected and cleaned again. The disinfectant now giving it a much better smell than hit you every time you went looking for a cold drink. That is the start of the bug out process. The rest of the plan falls into place. I start with checking and filling the water tanks. The lack of water pressure has seen the van use some internal water reserves.

Silver Leader and Rose our travelling companions since the end of May, are heading south whereas we are going to start retracing our steps north for now. They too are moving today. Last night we hit the pub and fueled bodies with seafood platters. We are all struggling a little, but not too much as not being safe on the road.

The jockey wheel has locked up. After 3 years and in excess of 30,000 kilometres of travel and the continual set up and bug out, it has given up the ghost. It will not turn at all. I think the dust and dirt has gotten to the internals and gummed it up.

This creates a problem. How do we get it off and be able to travel. I get out the jack and the blocks I use for the stabiliser supports for the van, build up a block and use the jack to take the pressure off the jack, I can get it off and deposit it in the storage tube for now, ready for removal and potential reuse if we cannot find an alternative in Carnarvon.

A good start to our first trip alone. Immediately we start the brake alarm starts again. Damn annoying high pitched, nerve jangling beep.  What else can go on now we are on our own. Thankfully the brake alarm is only happening when we use the brakes, which thankfully is not often on the open road.

Before we get to speed, we are on the brakes and pulling over to interview an emu. A wild emu is crossing the road just out of the township but prior to a full speed limit. Brake alarm screaming we stop and the intrepid reporter is out of the Cruiser and videoing the emu wandering off into the distance about things food labelling. It is, because there is only the one chance, for one take. Robyn is most happy with the outcome. More work on post production required but for now the raw material safely “in the can”.

First stop on our own is Billabong Roadhouse. We drop in for a refuel and morning tea. We are in no hurry. There are a couple of spots we want to check out on the way. The first is just past the Overlander Roadhouse and the road back towards Exmouth. Hamelin Pools and the Stromatolites is a bit out of our way, but something we have seen signs to and would like to quench our thirst for more knowledge of the phenomenon and the place.

Robyn has taken over from Billabong. There are more emus to negotiate, but this time no stopping. This time the male is accompanied by a litter in excess of 10 chicks. They bugger off into the bush and as we pass the spot they traversed the road, they are not to be seen such is their camouflage.

She catches up to a similar van to ours. They contact us via the UHF and ask if we wish to pass. They are going the same way as we are and we have not a huge amount of distance still to travel. The road is not as wide as the highway here and Robyn is happy to stay behind.

This is their virgin trip. We relate our first trip. They mistakenly believe because of the cleanliness of the van at present, that this is an early trip of ours. They are amazed when we suggest we have more than 30,000 kilometres under our wheels.

Hamelin Pools is a quaint little caravan park. Our new friends are not staying here. They have opted for the Station Stay version. As we are not staying we do not drive in, opting to park on the outside and walk in. The Post Office/Reception staff are extremely helpful, discussing with us the Stromatolites, and before we head out to investigate, we have a cup of tea and a bun.

The break relaxes. Back to the Cruiser and van. We can drive right to the Stromatolites with the van on. We have been told there is plenty of turnaround room.

At the beach, parking is as suggested. There are the obligatory information boards and a short walk to the water. 

A recent cyclone has destroyed the infrastructure and the pier allowing people to walk over the reef has been all but destroyed. The only vantage points are from the beach. This is still close enough to get a good view.

We spend a deal of time walking the length and breadth of the possible space before heading back to the van and back out to the road. More emus make themselves seen. It has really been the day for it.

There is nothing more on the list of extraneous things to do, just get to Carnarvon and set in. But we cant set up until we sort out the jockey wheel issue. The best fix is to go directly to AutoPro in Carnarvon. This is a place where, if we haven’t been able to get what we need, the advice about local alternatives has been more than sound.

I tell them of the issue, and rather than just sell me a new one, they first want to see the buggered one just in case they can fix it. They cant, but rather than a simple “like for like” replacement, I want to investigate the Trail-A-Mate option.

There are alternatives and the staff work me through each with pros and cons before we purchase what we have at the front of our van now. Armed with this new weapon we head to our destination for the night. Our first choice Wintersun Park is full – its school holidays – and we need to resort to one (The Big 4 Park) at which we had stayed on our first trip around Oz.

Once in we can now “play” with the new investment. Its a struggle to get it in place as it needs to fit within the jockey wheel attachment assembly. It takes a bit of mucking around but eventually, after much gnashing of teeth (and anyone who knows me knows that potentially comes with some blueness of language). In time the lugs mesh and the van is off the Cruiser and stable.

Set up and ready for the first night on our own, Robyn has pangs of loneliness but we have a normal dinner and being in a  decent sized regional centre we have TV reception, so we settle in.