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- 18 Jun 2016 | Home to Katherine Quick trip with some free camping to Katherine to stock up for our touring of the 'The Kimberley' and down the West coast of Western Australian as follows: 1. Miles Showgound (7/8 June) 2. Augathella (Free) on the riverside area (8/9 June) 3. Longreach Tourist Park (9/10 June) 4. Fullarton River North Rest Area (Free Camps Qld 365) (10/11 June) - Caravan shower cold water tap broke off! Could not get it repaired until we got to Exmouth, WA. 5. Camooweal Hotel Caravan Park (11/12 June) 6. 41 Mile Bore Rest Stop (Free) on the Barkly Highway (12/13 June) 7. Daly Water Pub (13/14 June) 8. Knotts Crossing Resort (Caravan Park), Katherine (4 Days). Restocked, temp repairs to Caravan (cold water pipe to shower) and bathed for the dogs.(14/15 - 17/18 June) |
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- 25 Jun 2016 | Katherine to Kununurra Booked into the Lakeside Caravan Park. Day trip to Lake Argyle and viewed of the Ord River Dam that forms the Lake. Day trip to Wyndham and viewing from the Five Rivers Lookout on the Baston Rangle that over looks the Cambridge Gulf. Bungle Bungle by Sea Plane with landings on Lake Argyle and flyover the Argyle Diamond Mine. Wow the Bungle Bungle! Gibb River road to Emma Gorge, El Questro and Home Valley Station. Crossings of the Pentecost River on the way to El Questro Home Station and Home Valley Station. Bit of touring in and around Kununurra including Ivanhoe Crossing and the Ord River Irrigation Area. |
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25 to 27 Jun 2016) | Kununurra to Derby Mary's Pool on Mary River (Free Camps WA 500) overnight (25/26 June). Ngumban Cliff Lookout morning tea (26 June). Boab Tree Rest Stop (Free Camps 494) overnight (26/27 June). Booked into the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park. View Staircase to the Sun at the Jetty. |
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Day 27 to 3 Jul 2016 | Derby to Broome Camped at the Broome Seventh Day Advetist Caravan Park overflow - Because we were travelling with dogs. It was great with green lawn for the fur babies! Horizontal Water Falls - No Falls trip this time as they were booked out for a week or two! Colleen met up with Ex Army Lady from here recuit course after 48 years Dog minding at Broome Vet Hosp for M & M while we checked out Cable Beach, Willie Creek Pearls farm plus did a scenic and prehistoric tour by Hovercraft |
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Day 3 to 9 Jul 2016 | Broome to Karratha (Dampier) Overnight stop at the Pardoo Roadhouse Caravan Park before Port Hedland. Roadhouse is in the middle of nowhere running on generator but had WiFi. Port Hegland was a planned stop but was not that inviting as no Caravan Park took Dogs and overflow sites were just dirt with no power, etc. It looked like a shit hole anyway so we continue on to Karratha overnighting at the West Peawah River (Free Camps WA 403)! Karratha we stay 4 nights at the Discovery Balmoral Caravan Park, which has large sites and is well setup. Hit rain for the first time in our travels. M & M checked out Red Dog. Delayed moving to Exmouth by one day because of rain. |
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Day 9 to x 14 Jul 2016 | Karratha to Exmouth Overnight stop at Yannarie River (Free Camps WA 378) All the caravan parks full and we had to go to the shire overflow, which had no power, however was OK to run the generator. Note: This overflow site had the dearest land in Exmouth at $35 per night! Made arrangements for the caravan shower to be repaired plus one of the windows at the local caravan shop. First caravan repairman located since the shower cold water broke before Mt Isa! He did a good job! Enjoy Exmouth with its WW2 history, RAAF Bare Base (Learmonth) and the RAN and USN communication bases. USN has the VLF communications for Nuc Subs. |
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Day 14 to 18 Jul 2016 | Exmouth to Carnavon Checked out Coral Bay on the way. Coral reef and beautiful blue water! Overnight stop at Lake MacLead Rest Area (Free Camps WA 358). M and M had a bath in the tub! Booked into the Carnarvon Caravan Park. Trip out to the Blowholes, which is North of Carnarvon near Lake MacLeod. Also the HMAS Sydney Memorial was in the same area, which also had the Harold Adams Family plaque. Allan Adams is a mate and his father Harold was the last member to leave the ship before it sank with all hands. Look around Carnarvon and the One Mile Jetty. Delayed moving to Shark Bay by a day because of rain. |
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Day 18 to 20 July 2016 | Carnavon to Shark Bay Booked into the Demham Seaside Caravan Park, Shark Bay - Overflow again no power or water! Generator keeping the caravan alive again! Shell Beach, Hamelin Pool and Monkey Mia Dolphins plus a good look at some beautiful coast |
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Day 20 to 22 Jul 2016 | Shark Bay to Kalbarri Booked into the Kalbarri Tudor Holiday Park (Nice Park). Power and water - Woo Hoo Pink Lake and the Principality of Hutt River! |
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Day 22 to 24 Jul 2016 | Kalbarri to Geraldton Booked into the Belair Tourist Park (Another Nice Park) View the HMAS Sydney Memorial - Wow - very good! Heater on in the caravan and Denis brought himself some slippers! |
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Day 24 Jul to 14 Aug 2016 | Geraldton to Perth Never made it to Jurien Bay and Cervantes to see the Pinnacles. We were hit by a vehicle while turning into a rest area about 100km South of Geraldton. No one unjured but the Navara is damaged on the driver side and the gear box has issues. The caravan missed getting any damage so we have a home. Continued (limped) into Perth for repairs! Booked into the Banksia Tourist Park. The Navara was a write off and we replaced it with a New (Demo) Isuzu D-Max LS-M to continue our travels. New vehicle nickname is "OS"! Final 12V tray and caravan wiring by Denis plus tray equipment installation (additional securing points) before leaving Perth. |
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Day 14 to 15 Aug 2016 | Perth to Merredin (Hwy
94) Free camped at Merredin. On the main highway 94 for the first day testing the new D-Max with the caravan. All very good - D-Max a bit more truckie then the Navara D40 but using less fuel and pulling the caravan easier, I think! Very happy with our new Tug. |
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Day 15 to 16 Aug 2016 | Merredin to Hydan Camped at the Wave Rock Caravan Park Wave Rock - Wow! |
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Day 16 to 18 Aug 2016) | Hydan to Esperance Camped at the Bathers Paradise Caravan Park. What stunning coastline! Last night in Esperance was a wild with freezing rain and high winds. Packed up in heavy freezing rain! Girls all stay in the caravan upto ready to move! Some high winds while towing for the first 50-100km. |
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Day 18 to 22 Aug 2016 | Esperance to Kalgoorlie Camped at the Discovery Park, Boulder. View the Super Pit - Bit hole in the ground! Checked out the Twin Towns and did a drive up Hay St! Note: 18 August 2016 - Vietnam Veterans Day but most of the services in WA were on Sunday before however service in Kalgoorlie on Sunday 21th and attended! 'Lady Lunch-a-Lot' found another Ex WRAAC for a Lunch catch up! |
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Day 22 to 26 Aug 2016 | Kalgoorlie across the Nullarbor Camp 1: 90 Mile Sign (Free Camp 19) - Near Mundrabilla (WA). Camp 2: Jilah Rockhole (Free Camp 6) - Near Balladonia (WA). Camp 3: Colona Rest Area (Free Camp 581) - Near Yatala (SA). Camp 4: Eyres Waterhole (Free Camp 519) - Near Streaky Bay (SA). Packed up in heavy cold rain again and headed for the Nullarbor. Just love the new D-Max Tug canopy in the rain - much easier then the old Navara tonnie cover to keep things dry. First fuel stop at Norseman, while we were refueling, a dick driver hit the side of our caravan and left a few small dents - he did a runner! The big paddock was a long drive with not much to look at until we got to SA and viewed the 'Great Australian Bight' from a number of lookouts. We also did a visit to the 'Head of Bight' and saw lots of Southern Right Whales resting before going South again. One Whale calf was white! |
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Day 26 to 29 Aug 2016 | Nullarbor to Port Lincoln Camped at the Port Lincoln Tourist Park Two rest days to clean up the caravan and tug, stock up on food and beer and give M & M a bath. |
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Day 29 to 1 Sept 2016 | Port Lincoln to
Canberra Camp 1: Orroroo Rest Area (Free Camp 233) - Near Orroroo (SA) Camp 2: Malleefowl Rest Area (Free Camp 993) - East of Mildura (NSW) Camp 3: Berry Jerry Rest Area (Free Camp 714) - West of Wagga Wagga (NSW) Heavy rain on day two and we were lucky to locate the Malleefowl Rest Area as it was sealed and therefore no mud! The planned stop's (either 308 or 303) were mud pits! |
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Day 1 to 12 Sept 2016 | Canberra Camped at the EPIC (Exhibition Park in Canberra) again - Great camp ground close to all in Canberra and very easy to manage the dogs. Family time with Nathan, April and the Kids. April's parents Danny and Ofelia were also in Canberra. |
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Day
12 to 15 Sept 2016 | Canberra to Glass House
Mountains (Home) 1. First night at the Cowra Van Park. Met up with the Veall's from Adelaide and had a great catchup! The Caravan Park was very good and is near the Cowra main street, on the banks of the Lachlan River. 2. Second night at the Narrabri Highway Tourist Village. Too much rain to free camp and the Narrabri showground was a bog! 3, Third night at Hampton (Free Camp 465) - North of Toowoomba (Qld). Home early on the 15th Sept - All good with the house. M & M very happy and it is nice to have lounge chairs again! Trip Stats 18,191km travelled (Caravan = 16,148km) 2718 litres of diesel used at a cost of $3542. Navara towing = 21/22 litres per 100km | D-Max towing = 14/15 litres per 100km |
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