Are We There Yet?

Well we came back last october for Tania’s wedding and it was a great weekend, the grand children looked absolutely fantastic and the whole thing went without a hitch. Then we decided to stay for xmas because it wasn’t that far off so Mark got work and l did a bit of relaxing haha. An army mate of Mark asked us to house sit for him so that came in at a great time so we moved in with him and then after xmas he left for sydney and we had a house to our selves. I gave the fags away for xmas and in Feb became sick any to cut a long story short we are still in Vic due my illness but all wil turn out good. So wht is it like to be home after 3& 1/2 years away, well we wonder why we didn’t just fly in and fly out because we don’t like they way we have to live e.g you have to watch what you say incase you offend some-one, or you don’t want to interfere on the way the kids are living or bringing up their children because its not our right. You want the best for them but l think they have to learn that them selves now. We are hopeing to head off as soon as we can but we want to get our van this time and give the tent arest haha. We have also caught up with some of the people we meet during out trip from Adelaide and Perth and its great to remember the things we did, and then we all get itchy feet to get going again. After xmas is the goal. Anyway will do my next input soon as l can signing off the happycampers

Well the master games were fantastic and the closing was just as good as the opening with Daryl Braithwaite closing. After that finished the park started to slow down as people started heading south because it gets to hot here and the wet season begins. So apparently when you have seen the Todd River over flow 3 times you are a local, well guess who are locals now haha. The xmas parties started and l got to meet the guys mark worked with, a good bunch and we had a great night out. It was hard saying good bye to Tracey and her family, she was so much fun, on Tuesday nights mark had army so Tracey would come over to my place and we would put on a face mask and then watch family tree, but by the time it finished Traceys mask was all over the place because she would cry that much and mine would crack due to me laughing at her we had such a good time. Vicki and Brian arrived and she is so much like Tracey and they are from Leongatha not far from where we live in Vic. Small world. We get on great and Brian and Mark do to. Well xmas was on us and there were a few of us that weren’t going anywhere, and Marks boys Stephen and Anthony came and had xmas with us so Vicki, Maureen and l organised xmas lunch and tea for who ever wanted to join us, at tea we had about 18 it was great. Xmas eve we put lights around the buggy and Pete dressed up as santa and l drove Vicki and Pete around the park, by the time we got to the camp kitchen we had about 50 people there it was so much fun. New years eve we put on a party for the park and we had the kids up doing the chicken dance we rock and rolled till around 3 in the morning. The boys went back on the 4th o9 and it was a bit sad to see them go but its the grandkids turn next. Mark has been promoted to second in charge at his work so we are staying here until September then will work our way back to vic and spend some time with the family and my daughter Tanis is getting married so will head off again after that. In the mean time the weather is so hot here and thank god for electricity and air cons we are copping, also the pool gets a work out as well. haha So HAPPY NEW YEAR to all and will talk again real soon the happy campers.

We left the Olgas and headed for Uluru where you could see from the distance and it is huge. There was a lovely culture centre there where the three tribes show their art work and you can learn all about them but you cannot take photos, and the gifts a very expensive so we drove around Uluru and then went up to the viewing part with about 100 other people and watched the sun set over the rock. They also have helicopter rides that fly around about the rock. We stayed that night at the resort and shared the grass area with the local fauna you could here them during the night. The next day off we set for Alice another 399k’s to go. We stopped at a road house called Curtin Springs where we had lunch. It was free camping and they were looking for people to work there, we neally took the job but while we were having lunch in the car an emu decided he liked our car and tried to eat our wipper blades then stuck his head in and tried to pinch our footy scarf, maybe he didn’t like st kilda haha, everyone was standing around laughing at Mark on one end of the scarf and the emu on the other, l was going snap happy with the camera but not sure whether they will turn out because of laughing to much. We finally left there and headed off, its so beautiful the country side that you don’t get tired of looking out the window, we also had a face off with a group of camels, by the look of their faces it was like we were in their road so a few blasts of the horn and they soon moved. We came to a beautiful roadhouse that was like a resort and that was bought us on to Sturt highway, 130k’s road speed boy did l have to keep Mark under control haha. Arrived at Alice on the saturday and started my job at the caravan park on the monday, cleaning but hey its all money, Mark started a week later. The first week here they had the Finke Dessert Races so the park was packed we motorbikes and everything else to ride across the dessert on, it was great. Here in the park there’s something on every night, mon: 4×4 drive show , tues: star talk and you can see the stars through a telescope Mark saw Saturn, wed: they had a country and western singer singing around a bonfire thurs: a viideo night about the central australia and on sunday morning’s the park puts on a pancake breakfast and you line up with a name tag (your name and where your from) and you see with everyone and meet people. Its a small world, l met a couple from vic that new my uncle and other people from where we come from its great. Well we are here for a few weeks to get our money up again because it quite dear here grocery wise and petrol so we need a bit of money to get us to Darwin which is about 1600 k’s away so we are still enjoying our travels and will fill you in again soon love the happy campers

Well we finally left W.A. and headed for Alice. It was not easy saying good bye to our work mates and the family we had made in the caravan park. We went up to greenough for the weekend and Ron came with us and Mike and Lee came down from Kalbarri and we spent 3 days of fun, group therapy and lots of drink with everyone before heading off on our next adventure. We left on the Monday and headed for mount martha and stayed there the night in an old pub, it was nice and the road trains would go pass about every hour going from Geralton to Meekathourra and back again. Left there and made our way to Leonora where we stayed at a lovely caravan park.The price of petrol was rising at each town we came to, not knowing of the price we had to pay when we went across the Great Central Highway. After Leonora we got to Linster where the start of our 1,500 k’s of unsealed road began. It was a scary feeling because we were going somewhere new, challerging and fantastic all at once. Our first stop was a lovely road house where we meet a german man about 65 who had chucked his buisness in and decided to ride a bike around australia, starting 8 yrs ago but now he has a small van with no engine, 2 dogs his tucker box and swag and it is pulled by 2 camels, he was fantastic to listen too. The next day we headed for the next roadhouse where the petrol was $2.15 a litre so we just filled up then went to the next one where we thought we were on the right time zone but it was about 100 k’s from the border so they go by N.T time so guess what we were later getting there so had to wait till morning for the store. If you get to these roadhouses after 6pm it cost you an extra $20 for fuel. We left there the next morning and headed to Docker River roadhouse where we filled up, it is an aborigine community and you had to climb over the dogs and locals to get to the store but the people who run it are lovely and l asked what it was like to live there and they love it. The next 100 k’s were 4×4 driving because the road was just sand and very soft ,there were parts where we were only doing 20k’s and other parts of the trip we could do 90, you just couldn’t go to fast. We were wondering we we came out at because we had never been there before but once we saw the most unusal rock formation we knew that it was the Olgas. It was just a fantastic sight, they are beautiful to look at and you can get mesmerised by the structure and the colours it turns by the sun, it was great the happpy campers

Well its time to move again,and at this moment l am unemployed and enjoying it. I have to tell you about our caravan park we have been living in the last 7 months. You could write a book, we have had stabbings, some-one with a gun, fights at one end of the park where the ferals and alco’s live every night, we keep the police in buisness haha, and we had a young girl with 3 children and her dad and 2 sisters all living in the one van, and did they cause trouble. So it has never been a dull moment, you just sit out side and watch or listen to whats going on. With our group when we got to gether for a drink we called it our therapy sessions, and were they a laugh. But Mike & Lee have moved on to Kalbarrie and Val, Val & Shirl have gone to Graniff just out of Geralton. So that leaves Ron and Mark & l still here. We are about to leave in the next week or so and catch up with the others for a weekend then head over to Alice Springs. Its hard to say goodbye to people we have grown to love and treat like family knowing we may never see them again, but will keep in touch. Our boss doesn’t want us to leave, he keeps saying just go for a couple of months then come back, but we will be around again and there is always work waiting for us there. Don’t let anyone tell you that if your in a tent, caravaners won’t talk to you and they don’t talk to people in buses or motor homes because its not true, we are in a tent, Mike & Lee are in a motor home, Rons in caravan and Val & Val are in a bus and we all got along, one big happy family. Well better have a nanny nap before Mark gets home and so will talk some more, from the happy campers.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We arrived at the caravan park around 6.30 and Val and Val and Ron were there to greet us and we also meet Mike and Lee who were from Melbourne so its been the 7 of us and Val,s sis Shirl since then. We are also back at our old job and they were glad to see us. Its like we never left or we just went on a holiday and now we are back. We all have tea on a sunday night together either some one cooks all we all cook something and then go to Val,s and all eat together or we put in and get take away. They don,t have new year here they celebrate Australia day so we hired a bus and picked Mark up from work then went to Val,s sister Bev,s place and Mark had a shower there and then we walked across the foot bridge and stopped in the middle set up our table and chairs and eskies, l had bought flags and funny hats for all of us and we stood and waved to the traffic going under us because we were on the main freeway to the city and we saw everything, we had the best time. On the monday Mark, Mike,Lee and I went on a jet boat ride at Freo, it went around 75ks and did dounuts and crashed waves and we got totally drenched. We had to walk around for 2 hours too dry off. We did nothing but laugh, thank goodness we weren’t the only ones. Mark and l also went on a camel ride at a wildlife sanctuary and that was wonderful. So at this stage we are getting the car ready for a next journey which hopefully will take us back to Kalgoolie and then up to Leonora then across 1600ks of dirt road to Alice. We have to get permission first because its Aboriginal ground and there are guide lines you must follow. Will let you know what happens from your Happy campers X

We arrive at Broome in a heap of sweat, temp around 38deg found a park and set the tent up. It was so hot there. We had a tour around Broome, went to cable beach and to Anistasia,s pool which was beautiful, its at a light house and the keepers wife had arthritist so he made these pools out of the rocks so she could sit in them and relax, there where also dinosaur tracks there as well but it was lovely. We also went to see the pearls, every second shop are pearl stores and if not them there are a lot of hippy things. Its a real tourist place though. We next went to one of Malcohm Douglas crocodile farms that was in town and there we got to hold a baby croc.They are just like rubber. We did our sight seeing in the mornings because by midday we were in the pool trying to cool down. We found Broome as dear as Karatha and just as unpleasant, so because of the heat and the wet season due the next week we were no safe enough in a tent and decided to come back to Perth for a couple of months again. We headed out of Broome around 8 in the morning and went to malcohm douglas other croc farm because you walk through a huge croc mouth to go in so l wanted a photo for Damian, so we pulled up and then another 4wd came up beside us and guess who, the man himself got out and started talking to us. We told him where we were from and what l wanted to do so he opened the gates for us to get a good picture and better still l had my photo taken with him in side the crocs mouth. My five seconds of fame haha. So that was our talking point for the next so many miles. We got more adventurous and turn before port headland and came down 400ks of dirt road through Marble Bar and down to Newman. It was 45deg, the dirt was the same colour as the trees and the birds, a crimson red it was amazing. We also passed great big road trains where the dust just flew up over us and some stages we had to pull over because the roads were not wide enough. Fantastic. It was a trip that you had to keep watching because you didn,t want to miss anything. We saw camels, bramar bulls, kangaroos, emus, so many car wrecks and dead cows it was non stop. We stayed at Newman and then continued back to Perth.