Hello everybody! I am so bloody excited that you could cut me off at the knees and call me Shorty. We are at the end of the first day of our nine week epic adventure to infinity and beyond (east of Marble Bar) before we begin the long voyage home (apologies to Stark Trek).
We have driven all the way to Nungarin in the Wheatbelt (about 200 kilometres from Heavenly Beverley) as we wish to check out the Military Museum there and undertake some investigation of the feasibility of metal art welding with some of the locals. Having never been to Nungarin before, the draw of a new location to explore was irresistible.
The drive along the Goldfields Road and the Great Eastern Highway was pretty and pleasant. We drove the distance in three hours very easily. Even so, we were tired when we arrived at the Nungarin Shire office to book into the caravan park and were looking forward to setting up Will for the first time on this trip. Less than ideal was the pub being closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We have had to resort to cooking on our first evening out. Probably just
as well, as Michael had difficulty working out how to disengage Will our caravan
from Lily the car...A job for the morning.
Pity about the weather. The temperature is positively frigid with Antarctic winds and freezing rain. We are the only residents of the local caravan park which is adjacent to the sports centre.We have parked as close to the loos as possible and are grateful for power. Our trusty fan heater has been running at full blast since we retreated out of the cold before five o'clock. The watery late afternoon sun did nothing to warm the van even though I opened all the curtains to absorb as much sunshine as possible.
Michael is already missing Stella immensely but we know she will be well looked after by the divine Miss Paula Frankling. Recently, Stella has turned into a traitoress, wooed by Paula's bed and the promise of being wrapped up in a fluffy blanket like a sausage roll. Even Chop the black and white fiendish feline has taken to traipsing into Paula's room, acknowledging her as the supreme being in our family. We are so fortunate to have Paula as the ultimate house-sitter and animal companion extraordinaire. And later this year, we hope to have another doggy addition to our quirky family.
We are taking a month to wend our way to Onslow in the Pilbara. We plan a route through Dalwallinu, Yalgoo, Cue, Mount Augustus, Gascoyne Junction, the Kennedy Ranges, Carnarvon and then onto Onslow. Once there, we intend to soak up the Northwest sun and regain our mojo over ten days. Then, Millstream, Karijini, onto Marble Bar and further, Upper Carawine Gorge, Nullagine, Newman, Wiluna, Leonora, Menzies, Mount Palmer and home. We are not hurrying; we are pausing what has been our frenetic lifestyle this year, so we can return refreshed and full of vim, vigour and vitality. That is the plan...
Till next post.
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