The Final few Kilometres
NORDLYS
David and Annette Ridout
Sun 29 Oct 2006 09:35
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Kalgoorlie to
Fremantle
Fremantle Sailing
Club
23rd October
On the 18th October at three o'clock in the
afternoon we drove through the imposing gates of the Fremantle Sailing Club with
14230 extra kilometres on the odometer since our departure two and a bit
months earlier. The 'big trip' was over. Now after a few days
reflection we are very happy with what we achieved and that we made the effort
to do it, for effort it certainly was. Nick wrote to Annette before
we started and asked if the sun was affecting me as he could not get over that I
was prepared to go camping. Well we camped for just under half the days we
were away and enjoyed every one of them. Without our trusty tent and
accoutrements we would not have been able to visit many of the places we
did. Experiences were many and varied. Going out at night to attend
to nature with a million stars twinkling down at one. Taking a siesta
in the heat of the day and watching in fascinated horror as a dust twister
started on the dirt car parking area and then headed straight for us.
Dust, dirt and straw pervaded everything as the whole tent shook
uncontrollably. The metal clips on the overcover all straightened under
the load but the guys held and we did not go tumbling. Waking at 00
something to the dawn chorus is an experience that is in many ways unique
to Australia. Bird life in the bush is prodigious and very noisy at this
time of day. All these happenings and many more will remain with us for
ever. As will the many interesting people and places we managed to get
to.
We rarely used the 4WD capabilities of our car as
it was dry for all our travels and we did not do any really long off-road
trails. What we did gain by having it was the ability to go to many places
that were only accessible due to its great ground clearance. Also the tank
like qualities it possesses came into their own over the nearly three
thousand kilometers of dirt roads we covered. We managed to get round
without a puncture, probably because I invested in two spare wheels and an
expensive airbag type jack to lift the two tonnes that the
car weighs. We only used the air compressor once although it was
nearly needed several times and without it would not have got into the Eyre
Bird Observatory under our own steam. Our special extra fuel tank, giving
us over 1500km range was a big relief and also saved us much money as the cost
of fuel in some of the out of the way places was high. Our double battery
system enabled us to keep our fridge cold in camp and to have electric light at
night. Annette's back problems curtailed some planned off road stuff but
to be honest we would not have been too adventurous without being in the company
of another car. There are many chances to go serious long distance 4WDing
in Australia but to do so alone is to our mind rather irresponsible.
Rather like we know that Nordlys is able to take a lot more rough stuff than we
are it was a relief to always know that we had a vehicle that could handle more
than we were likely to throw at it. We would get the same type of car
again and have actually become rather attached to the old girl.
We motored west out of Kalgoorlie through bush with
many gum trees that sported an attractive shiny khaki coloured bark.
A new species to us. Slowly the land improved and we entered the wheat
belt. Here the sadness that is wheat growing without enough water showed
clearly. Also the problem of salt that we had heard about. Basically
because the land has been cleared of its original growth and because the water
table has been lowered by over use the heavy salt content of the lower levels
has risen to the surface making much land unusable. Various techniques
have been pioneered to clear this but it would appear to be a slowly loosing
battle and any land that was just a meter or so lower than its surroundings was
covered in a sheet of dry white. Our final picnic was very
Australian. Driving off the main road we parked with lovely views of the
countryside. Got out of the car to find a pleasant if fairly hot
temperature and within two minutes were back inside the car with all windows
shut as we fought to kill the thousand or so flies that had entered with
us!
So ended an adventure that gave us an
unforgettable insight into this great country. For much of my working life
I had viewed it from 35000ft and swore that one day I would drive it. Now
I have and am very pleased to have done so.
 Kalgoorlie still has many fine examples of early 19C outback
town architecture
 120 feet down posing as a gold miner. When our guide
actually started
this compressed air drill the noise was absolutely deafening
and the dust!
 Memories, memories. This is actually me sending a
webdiary from the Murray
River. Tent, Landcruiser, sat phone, computer and
frazzled grey nomad
endeavouring to master the latter two.
So I close up shop until sometime in May when we
set sail across our third ocean. For our readers we do not see
over the festive season may we wish you all a very happy
Christmas.
David and Annette
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