Turning The Wheels Update - June 2014

Having been home we have fitted right back in catching up with all the things that required doing when a home hasn't received any owners TLC for the past 6 years. Plus to be honest we have just enjoyed just being back in our home, having space to stretch out in, a shed to work in, a shower with never ending steamy hot water and a toilet that never requires emptying !

We have loved our 6 years on the road but like the old saying, "There Is No Place Like Home"

Our Rig

 Saying all that we have not given up on caravan travel and we fully intend on using the van a few times a year, but we intend to mix it up with some trips overseas and perhaps some cruises. But one trip we have planned and that is to go to  Ningaloo again for May and June.

Every other year we have been keen as to get there and immerse ourselves in the beauty of the Ningaloo Coast but this year was different, we felt different and our hearts just were not in it like previously. We put it down to the fact that we are going overseas for three months in August and felt like we had much to do back at home, we were still in the middle of selling our commercial property that has been on going for the past ten months and finally the contracts were starting to be drawn up and though we tried desperately to have it all finalized before leaving it was not to be, so phone calls & emails were still interrupting our Ningaloo solitude. I also had Doctors appointments to be arranged prior to our overseas trip so all the above combined made us question our choice to go to Ning this year.

But go we did, We called in at Geoff and Vickie's place in Geraldton, where we discussed our travel arrangements overseas, the four of us are travelling together and it's going to be a blast, we all get on extremely well but living with each for three months will surely be a test to our friendship. We have all made it very clear that if a couple needs time out or wants to do something by themselves that is accepted no questions asked.

This visit to Ningaloo was perhaps the best weather wise we have encountered since years gone by, with all the rain that Exmouth received in the lead up to our visit we were unsure what to expect of the conditions of the tracks but to our surprise everything was dry though very corrugated, in fact the tracks were the worst we have encountered them. With the Exmouth Shire no longer maintaining the gazetted road in it has become terrible.

After calling in at the Homestead and collecting our key it was on to our site at South Lefroy Bay, we have been coming here now for 19 - 20 years and the feeling is always the same when we 1st glimpse the aquamarine colour of the Ocean. I was feeling a bit crook upon arriving so didn't rush in to setting up our camp, as Murphy's luck would have it i also had a few problems to fix, with the Aux fridge in the ute switching itself off due to low battery volts i found the Aux battery had stopped taking a charge and was kaput. A phone call to Dave who hadn't left home yet had him organise one to bring up. Next on the list was the Aux Engel in the Van was no longer working, everything checked out OK power wise but the motor wouldn't run for longer than a few seconds, i thought the piston in the compressor may have jammed due to the corrugated roads so i emptied it and turned it upside down for a day, turning it back over we had an improvement with it running but not getting cold, i turned it off for another day to allow all the oil and gas to settle and separate and tried again, this time we had success and the Engel worked and has been fine ever since.

Our Camp

Fixing a fuse in the Ute that powers the compressor and changing a fuse in the van for the toilet flush were easy fixes, but a water leak in the roof off the van was definately an annoyance. The only people who have been on the roof of our van was the people from Sound In Motion when they serviced our Oyster Sat Dish, and one of them had squashed the roof cladding where it meets the side resulting in the sikafix sealent becoming unattached allowing water to flow into the wall cavity of the van. Luckily no damage was done as the water was leaking into the shower cupboard area, i was able to do a temporary job in sealing the gap.

So the after the 1st few days of feeling crook and fixing the problems, the Billy's arrived just as the weather turned bad, with rain pelting down we all helped to get them set up temporarily.

Our intentions were to stay the two months but with the hassles of contracts and Doctors appointments  required plus the fact we wanted time to have everything organised before going over seas we pulled the pin at 5 weeks. In the time we were the weather was beautiful, the water temperature was enticing enough to go for a swim a few times a day, i ventured out further than i ever have trying to put the thoughts of a 15' Tiger Shark seen in the area out of my mind.

Not a bad breakfast view ;-)

Chill'n Out

Fishing this year was lousy, it has been in decline for a few years now, towards the end of our stay we started to see more activity in the water, the resident dugong's were around and schools of hardy heads started to become more active. The Billy's had there kids joining them whilst they were there and they in turn had bought some friends up so things for us were not the same as previous years as we let the young'ns do there own thing. I beach fished with my nephew Trevor a couple of times but it wasn't until i pulled the pin late into the night that his perseverance came through and he caught a few sharks after i left.

Happy Hour Sunset

We caught up with some friends Anne and Elizabeth up there, and also had some friends Fozzie and Julie turn up and stay with us a few days and other than that we just chilled out.

Pose Shot

Oh What A Feeling

Our Crew, Ashley is the Fittest

Julie and Fozzie

The Fosters Leaving Ningaloo

Steve and Mary with their Ltd Edition Signed copy of Carnarvorn Tourist Brochure

When we did leave we caught up with some other Bushtracker friends Stephen and Mary at Galena Bridge who were heading North, we had a chatty night and Steven surprised us with a tourist brochure that featured a photo of our rig crossing the Carnarvorn bridge,  so being the kind guy i am i autographed it for them. In the morning we said said our farewells and that night we stopped at Geoff and Vickie's again for more discussions on our up coming overseas trip and then home the next day.