Day 52 Newman WA

Good evening, last night we stayed in Meekatharra, now this is a nice little town. Tidy with a little shopping area, the obligatory pub. The caravan park is also out the back of the service station, a small caravan park with only about 20 sites, but it had power & water.... Perfect. The reason I tell you about this is that it is such a contrast to Wiluna, it is scary! Funny how two towns only separated by 178km can be so different?

 We left Meekatharra and headed north, watching the outside temperature gauge climb slowly upwards. It hit 40 by the time we reached Newman. I just went shopping at the local Woolworths in Newman...I now treat grocery shopping like clothes shopping.  The grocery stores in the mining towns are often huge and have everything you could imagine...so I wander up and down the aisles browsing the products, reading the labels and make a real outing of it!!  It’s ok...we are going to Perth for work in a few weeks so I will get a city fix soon!!

 The trucks up here are huge, 3 and 4 trailer road trains! Lucky Dolly has heaps of power as these things are over 50 meters long! But the truckies are great and let you know via the CB if it is clear to pass.

 Rob, thank you for looking forward to the blog each night, but do I read into it that you have not much else to do over there? Keep the comments coming it is great to hear from you.

 Sandy & David are back in Melbourne, the old discovery did not break down on the way home, so if any of you know anyone looking for a practically rebuilt Landrover 4WD give them our number! Apparently they had a great time in the Flinders Ranges and a well deserved break.

 Hey Mel, nice to see you join the bloggies and glad that tom is going well. 2000km HA! We had that done in the first week! By the time we get back we will need to trade it for a new one!

 Mary & Pete asked how many kilometres we have done so far, well in the old SHEDisco we had done 8965 km & this one has 5500km on it, so 14465km so far (Far out...that really puts it in to perspective, no wonder my butt feels a little sore every now and then.)

 Getting back to Meekatharra we met a couple that were stuck there due to car troubles, Trevor & Mary were driving a Pajero and the gearbox died! The only place in town that could fix it sent down to Perth for a new one $4200! Plus fitting and towing, they will be looking at $6000 plus for repairs! And on top of that they have been stuck in Meekatharra for 5 days!

 Nikki not only do you support the dragons, but you call me granddad!

 Hey my son Dan goes up to his aunties in Qld today, I rang him while he was at the airport. It will be a great adventure for him, do you remember the things you did when you were young? Some of these things stay with us for the rest of our lives, and if I know my sister & her husband they will make it a trip to remember!

 To my cousin Marc, we are out of farming country and in to mining territory, I will try and get some pictures of big trucks, dozers and diggers. Awesome machinery.

 Not much else to report, there were lots of cows on the road today, alive and dead! Can you imagine what it would be like to hit a cow at 100km/h? Not fun hey!  I am not convinced that all the cows that are no longer alive on the side of the road have been hit by trucks, ,many of them up here are strays(we think) and they are skin and bones, so I think some of them die of heat and lack of food.

 Oh just another thing, Vanessa is covered in mozzie bites, last night there were heaps of mozzies in Meekatharra, I layered on the aeroguard and they left me alone and went for her. So I am not allowed to take pictures of her until the spots go away.

 And to my sister Shona & little Sam, have fun with Granny when she comes home, I bet you have missed her Sam, give her a big kiss and lots of cuddles and make sure you give Bert one too.

 Nighty Night..... Dont let the mozzies bite (Too late for Ness)

 James

Day 51 Meekatharra

Hey Bloggies, another marathon day today, 700KM.... but Dolly did it with ease! But more on our day later.

 First I need to explain to you all how our web site works, when you read my blog you will see at the bottom a section that says POST A COMMENT.(Or if a comment already it will say 1 Comment or 2 comments...you get the drift) If you click on this it will ask you for your name and then there is a space to leave your comments. Most of you do this already, these comments are added to the blog and everyone can read them.

 The other option is to use the CONTACT A WOOD section on the web site, this sends an email to me and Vanessa. No one else can see your questions, just V & Me.

 The reason I am explaining this is that we stuffed up, some of you have been sending us emails through the CONTACT A WOOD section and we have not been receiving the emails. This has been fixed and we last night received all of your comments and questions. The only disadvantage to this way is that if you ask me a question I can’t really reply via the blog as no one else will know what you have asked.

 So your choice is... Leave a comment (Everyone can see it) or Contact a Wood (Just V & I will see it)..... Hope that clears it up.

 Ok so back to our day, Kalgoorlie was “Interesting” the first thing I will tell you all is if you ever get here DO NOT drink out of the water fountains in the main street! After seeing what one guy did in the fountain I will certainly not be drinking from them in the future, this guy virtually bathed himself using the fountain! I was surprised he did not wash his clothes while he was there!

 We set off at 8am, this meant we had to be up at 6 (takes Ness 2 hours to get ready!).... just kidding, she is quicker than me and we headed north. We went through Menzies, where the service station is for sale, you have to see this place, on the outside it is covered in number plates and signs.... nothing else in the town though! Next stop was Leonora.... now this is a place you have to see to believe, the old part of town is basically a ghost town. Most of the buildings are corrugated iron shacks, but the beauty of it is that they are still all intact, looks like they just packed up and left! I am sure it is heritage listed, if it is not it should be.

 Spoke to Sandy & David on our journey.... They are home, thanks for taking the old Discovery back..... Now if you can just clean it & sell it for us..... (Just kidding, we really appreciate your help.)

 Next stop was Wiluna, ok all you political correctness police, sign out now.... but I would not live here for all the tea in China. When you drive down a main street that sparkles with broken beer bottle glass & the pub has bars on the windows and doors, you know that it will be an interesting place to live. We arrived at an opportune time as the grocery truck had just turned up at the service station/supermarket (only shop in town apart from the pub) lots of the locals were stocking up on essential items (Chips, Coke & Cigarettes) so while we filled up with Diesel, (well we were actually filled up because there are a lot of petrol/diesel thefts the service station has a person that fills you up!) we watched a family with 3 beautiful kids feast on Coke, Creaming Soda & packets of chips..... And we spend millions on aboriginal health! (sorry but just my opinion)

Ok so we saw the turnoff for the Gunbarrel Hwy, Pete we will have to add this to the list of trips to do, I could feel Dolly pulling the steering wheel towards the turn off... she just wants to go!

 The next part of today’s journey was the best, it was 170km of dirt road from Wiluna to Meekatharra, it was all dirt road... first chance to get Dolly dirty. I have to say that I am even more in love with her,  she just glides over corrugations and ruts! It is only when I look in the rear vision mirror that I remember I have 3 tonnes of van behind us!

Had another good experience with a truckie today, we were on the dirt road eating dust, the truckie saw us and got on the CB and told us to come past, he would pull over and let us pass.... The courtesy on the road is just beautiful. You should all get CB radios and be nice to truckies!

Rob just messaged Vanessa on Facebook saying that he was disappointed that I did not have my blog up yet! It is only 7pm here Rob and I have driven 700km today! How’s your new computer by the way? Is it the right colour? Did they deliver it on time? I hope so.... I know what it is like to be late for you!

Campbell do you know that it is close to $100 a carton up here! I know freight is expensive but come on! Appleby’s have a great trip, try to read my blog when overseas, I am doing trip reports for our future journeys together, Angie I have met some tough truckies and mineworkers on this trip, I would challenge any of them to do 24 hours in your shoes! (Except sleep with Sandro!).... they would not last 3 hours! Nikki sorry but if you support the same team that my brother in law does you will have to cop the same abuse that he does! Heather about time you reconnected with manual labour, you have lived in your ivory tower for too long, Lorraine Gay.... we have not hit or killed any animals so far (touch wood..... Oh I’ll just touch Vanessa) Juan this is your first mention.... if you need to get away from town there is a bed in the caravan of love for you..... It’s a bit small & you will have to listen to Vanessa’s music for hours on end.... But it’s there! Meredith, the same offer is there for you but you will have to fight Juan for it!

See you soon Chappies & Chicks..... If you get amorous with your partner make sure you have not washed your hands with antiseptic germ killer gel (trust me on this one!)

James

Day 50 take 2!

Ok, we have to say sorry to the following people-

•         My sister Shona & her son Sam
•         My cousin Marc
•         Liz & John Pearse
•         Arama from NZ
•         Angie
•         Susanne & Tim
•         Lorraine Gay
•         Greg Hancock
•         Meredith from NZ
•         Peter Appleby
•         Tracy  H

Tonight we worked out that we have not been receiving all of your emails that you sent from the web site, Some of you have sent several lovely emails (Shona & Marc) and we did not get them until tonight. Thank you to Susanne for sending me an email and asked if she sent to the right address on the website...made us realised we weren’t getting any from the website.  A quick adjustment in our outlook account setup fixed this. Thanks S. Vx

 Thank you all so much, you have given me heaps to answer and lots more to write about, I will never complain about my day again after reading Angie’s day!

 Thanks again and sorry, I will answer them all in the next few blogs. Shona tell Sam I am looking out for pictures of diggers for him.

 Love from James & Ness

Day 50 Kalgoorlie- Day 2

This place is fantastic, did you know you can do a brothel tour in Kalgoorlie? Apparently at one stage there were lots of Brothels here, now there are just a handful, but they actually are quite proud of their history. Ness was here when she was 10 with Sandy & David, they drove down Hay st (where the brothels are) and Ness wanted to go back and see if it was still the same. (That’s what she said anyway!) Most of the legal brothels offer tours, where you can go through and have a look. Great business hey!

 Lots of locals here have drinking problems though, Ness & I were having an early lunch today and just across the road from the cafe we were in there was a Rotunda, several of the locals were sitting in it passing around a bottle of red wine! It was 1130am! Heather no comments about why did they wait so long!

I reckon my sister Georgia would love this place, it is like Menindee multiplied by 20,000! But no dirt roads (at least not in town) Georgia I have lined up a job for you at one of the local schools. Truancy is obviously a problem here as one of the schools has a big sign out the front saying “To stay away is not ok!”

 This caravan park is great, nothing fancy but clean & open, although you can’t leave your clothes on the line overnight as the “Locals” will steal them.

 I have to let you in on a little bit of caravan culture! Do you know that most caravanners are very competitive? The other day when we were coming across the Nullarbor we were overtaken by a Toyota Landcruiser towing a Bushtracker Caravan, now Bushtracker are in direct competition with Trakmaster (our van manufacturer).... Ness actually said “I bet they did that on purpose”

 We saw this car and van a couple of times at petrol stations and various stops along the way to Kalgoorlie, we passed it & it passed us depending on who was stopped or filling up.

 They pulled in to the same caravan park yesterday and the lady came over and had a chat to me & Ness. She was comparing our van to hers & our car to theirs! She even mentioned that they passed us the other day!

 But the other thing that happens in caravan parks is that people compare vans, it is a bit like visiting someone’s house and seeing what you like and what you don’t like.

 We are heading north tomorrow, another big driving day but we get to go to sleep in a different place tomorrow night.

 Rob you must have Googled Les Norton, as your description of him was just like a paragraph from a Google search...... but you are right. Heather you are also right but I’m betting that you have never read any of his books! I have read 4 now and they are hilarious, Ness and I have also listened to two of his books on Audio CD. I’m going to write my book in the style of Robert G Barret, Rob you will be one of the main characters, any preferences for your alter ego’s name?

 Today is Day 50 of our trip, 50 days away is a long time, I don’t think I have ever been away from home for this long before, even when I was competing I used to just fly out, compete, fly home. I think I am missing a couple of things.... Firstly Dan & Brad & Panda, Second my bed, Third my shed. When I get back I am going to spend a bit of time on my old Holden, I have been planning what I need to do to it and will have a plan ready by the time I get back. Pete take note, you will be required at my place one weekend....all beer supplied, any other volunteers that want to get stuck in to Herschell (the name of the old Holden) I have between now and when we get back to sweet talk Ness into working out in our budget where I can pay for a paint job for it. (Any spray painters out there?)

 A few of you are a bit slack, Karen & Campbell.... the can count is steady, although she did use two cans today! (I replaced the 2 cans with a slab of beer.... fair don’t you think?) Rob good to see that distance has not quietened you, Arama... whats new in NZ, Meredith you are quiet, Lesley & Georgia...any questions from the kids, Mrs Appleby.... you are quiet, did you watch Mark Webber fail again? Brad Atkins.... you are obviously lost in MANLAND somewhere.

 Until tomorrow.... sleep with the door open, the breeze is lovely!

 James

Day 49 Kalgoorlie

After yesterdays marathon effort we decided that today would be an easy day, so after spending Ness’s birthday in Norseman WA, where we had the most disappointing dinner in both of our lives we decided to make the short trip to Kalgoorlie and spend the day and the night there. It is about the company not the food....Ahhh!!

 A short 2 hour drive saw us in Kambalda, now some of you don’t know that I was not born in Australia, I am Scottish and came out here when I was young. We flew into Perth then jumped on a train to Kalgoorlie and then were driven out to Kambalda. This would be our home for the next couple of years. My dad worked in the Nickel mines and we went to school at Kambalda. So Ness & I spent a bit of time driving around looking at our old house & school....ahhhh memories.

 Kalgoorlie is huge! 30,000 people live in and around this area. A lot of mines still operate in Kalgoorlie and it is still a mining town, there are so many pubs in town and they all have signs out the front advertising “Skimpy’s” these are barmaids with very little clothing on. Otherwise known as strippers in my language.

 We found a car wash today to give Bart (the van) a bit of a scrub over, when the transmission hose came off the other week it sprayed oil all up the left side of the car and the van, Ness scrubbed the van clean and she is looking great again. Ness also used today to do some spring cleaning, rearranging shelves and cupboards! She must be bored!

 Thanks to everyone who sent Ness a message for her birthday, I don’t know what this means but she said to me that she is an Aries and to not have mobile coverage for most of the day on her birthday nearly drove her mad!.... but the messages made up for the fact that I did not have the chance to buy her a present! I’ll get you one in Kalgoorlie Ness. 

THANK YOU ALL WHO SENT MESSAGES....IT WAS SO LOVELY!!

 Brad Atkins asked me about Dolly’s braking power, well Brad she has 360mm vented discs on the front, 330mm vented discs on the rear, so the car stops very quickly, but the van also has 12” drum brakes on all 4 wheels, the car is fitted with an electric brake controller so that when you put your foot on the brake it sends an electric signal to the caravan brakes and they are activated. The controller is mounted in the car and is adjustable for more or less van braking. Works very well.

 Ness went for a swim today while I watched the Grand Prix, I took some photos of her swimming, look out for them on the web page. Hey how bad is Mark Webber, he has probably the best opportunity ever to win some races and maybe even the world championship but he still finds ways to blow it, Daniel (my 13YO son) can drive better than him!

 Arama.... My niece is studying music at uni, I have asked her to put some music to my song, once she has done it I’ll send you a copy, I expect you to have it on repeat in your car or on the home CD player. Heather I’ll send you a copy too because you liked it so much. Anyone else want a copy?

 No one answered me when I asked if any of you know who Les Norton was? I’ll take that as you don’t know? I’ll tell you later this week if no one answers me.

 James