Way down South

Sorry Its been a while since my last blog, but too be brutally honest not a great deal has been going on since then, Basically just slowly wending my way South towards the coast.

I left Bunbury on the 16th after my eye appointment and I knew I couldn’t go too far before I had to come back and pick up my new spectacles. So I had found a free camping place called Jayes Bridge on my app which was about 14kms South of a town called Boyup Bridge. It was a lovely spot right beside the river and plenty of trees to provide a bit of shelter (unfortunately not from the flies). I ended up stay for nearly two weeks until I got the call that my new glasses were ready. Boyup Bridge was a really nice little township with a great little cafe (The Treehouse which was for sale) and a very good IGA. So although I was free camping I was still able to get a regular fix of coffee and to keep topped up with fresh supplies. The free camping spot was very quiet and the odd travellers who did turn up usually only stayed for one or two nights. Cody especially enjoyed having a good couple of acres to run around in, it made a pleasant change for him to be off the leash when out for his walks. So on the 29th Nov it was back to Bunbury get my new glasses.

While I was back in Bunbury another trip to the vet was called for and just to make a change this time it was for Whisper. I noticed some sort of growth just in front of her right ear and was concerned that she had possibly been bitten. The vet took a swab of it and said it was a tumour and after examining the swab I was told that it was benign, which was a huge weight off my mind. I was told to keep an eye on it for a few days and if it got bigger or if Whisper started to worry it to bring her in to get it removed. The vet did warn me though that putting her under a general anaesthetic at her age was in her words very tricky. So its been nearly two months now and it hasn’t grown at all and it doesn’t appear to bother Whisper in any way so Ive put it on the back burner for now. Any change and I will have to look at the options.

After leaving Bunbury I went back inland again to a town called Collie, mainly to see a large dam which had a mural painted on the front of it. Before getting to Collie I free camped for two nights a Stockton Lake (well not technically free camping as it was $7 a night) but very little facilities. It was very busy there with lots of people using the lake for water sports so you had to put up with a very regular background noise of speed boats. But all in all a pleasant enough location. Anyway after two nights it was in to Collie for 3 nights. I had also booked the car in for a service while I was in Collie as it had been nearly 6 months since the last one. Well the dam was a bust as it is situated inside a National Park so it was a no go for me. Apart from the coal train which came through twice a day there was not a lot to see in Collie. On picking the car up after the service I was told I needed some work done on it, the mechanic noticed I needed a new disc, brake pads, brake callipers on the right rear wheel, basically I only had full braking on 3 wheels. and also the right rear drive axle was leaking and needed to be resealed. The mechanic couldn’t do it until the following week so it was back to Jayes Bridge for a few days before heading back and getting it done. As per normal the part they ordered didnt fit so they had to get the part from Nissan so what should have been a one day job ruined into one and a half days. Anyway it all got sorted, the Ute got a wash (first time in ages) and I had just enough change out of $1000 to buy a newspaper.

On leaving Collie I went further into the Wheatbelt of Southern Western Australia to a free camp spot at Carrolup. On my first night there I had a knock on the van for a very pleasant chap and his wife inviting me across the road to a bbq and a few drinks as the local farm workers and contractors were having a wee end of season pre Christmas get together. There was a good crowd of about 25 or so people who turned up and it was very social. On the third day of being there I had another knock on the door this time from a very irate women telling me I couldn’t camp here as it was a cross country equestrian course and I was blocking it. Well I had noticed the jumps that were in the vicinity and had also noted that most of them were either falling apart or falling over, and the grass around most of them was well over a metre high. So I concluded it was no longer in use. Anyway as I said she was very irate and indignant and I just said ok I will leave then no problem. This took the wind completely out of her sails, I think she was hoping for a bit of an argument. Anyway I found another spot called Badgebup which was a far nicer location and certainly with a few less flies and set up camp there instead.

As Christmas was looming I thought I would book myself into a caravan park for a few days, and saw a place called Pingrup had a rural outback park so gave them a ring a booked in for six nights. For the whole time I was there I had the park to myself so it was a very relaxing time to indulge in a bit of Xmas eating. I even opened a bottle of Shiraz to help wash it down. Pingrup was solely geared towards the grain industry, with a huge grain storage facility with three large silos (with some nice art on) and eight outdoor storages each about 100mtrs by 30mtrs or so. Talking to a few of the locals due to a fairly wet winter this years harvest was set to break a few records.

From Pingrup it was time to start drifting South a bit towards the coast. Schools were still on their summer holidays so most if not all the coastal camp spots were full so I was in no rush to get down there before 24th Jan when they all went back. I was looking to stay at a town called Jerramungup for New Year but they were fully booked so I moved on to Ongerup on the 29th so booked in over the New Year period as I didnt fancy being on the road during that time as I knew there was a good chance that the locals (Hoons/Bogans) could be on the road after a visit to the Hotel. Anyhow Ongerup wasnt too bad at all and it had a small local shop which sold the essentials and had a very chatty and friendly red haired lady serving (more on that a bit later).

After Ongerup I stayed for one night in Borden, free camping on the recreation ground next to the Oval. Then it was down to Gnowangerup. Now this caravan park was $25 a night water power etc, but the good thing about it was that it was run by the local community for the local community so all monies didnt go to some fancy company. It was very clean and tidy with a modern ablution block. Not a huge amount in the town but it did have a reasonable IGA. Again the park was fairly quiet there were three others parked up when I arrived but the all left the following day (maybe I should try some deodorant), and then there was one other who came the last couple of days I was there. Still having regular problems with the wind (weather wise not personal) I had to take my awning in during the first night as it was blowing so hard and it didnt go back out for the rest of the stay.

Next stop was Mount Barker (which I noticed on my new in car gps I got in Perth, doesn’t exist) I had an appointment here to see a doctor to get my prescription re ordered for the next 6 months and the following morning to get my 6 monthly blood test done. Both tasks were successfully achieved at no cost which was a bonus, I usually get charged a doctors fee as Im from out of town and state. So after just one night parked up in a rest area I was back on the road with a fresh months supply of pills and four phials of blood missing from the left arm.

Started to head a bit to the West from Mount Barker to a free camping area called Muir Bridge which is on the Frankland river about 11kms west of Rocky Gully. Parked up and I was on a bit of lean, not a huge amount but enough to be annoying (need to get some levellers). So the next morning I moved to another spot. I noticed that the door was sticking a bit and put this down to the lean. So when I moved to my new spot which was nice and flat (and more importantly the person who was parked there had moved on) I was miffed to see that the door was still sticking a bit, checked all the hinges and all looked well, it wasnt the main door that was sticking but the inner fly screen door. Anyway on further inspection as to why this was happening I noticed I had a flat tyre on the left rear wheel of the caravan. I won’t bore you with the full details of changing a wheel on a caravan but suffice to say there was a lot of swearing even more sweating and a huge amount of grunting. Lets just say trying to lift a nearly 3 ton caravan with the jack supplied with the caravan, I think even The Rock would have struggled trying to turn the screw to raise it. A large nail was stuck in the tyre when I finally managed to get the damn thing off, I had to stand on the wheel brace to get the thing to move. After nearly two hours the job was done and I was covered in dust and grime. On the day I was leaving two chaps on Harleys pulled into the campsite and we met up for a chat and one chap mentioned he was from Ongerup and him and his mate were just out for a ride around. I mentioned I had not long been in Ongerup over Xmas and he asked if I went to the local shop and noticed a red haired woman working there, I told him yes she served me a couple of times and always had time for a chat, and this turned out to be his wife. Sometimes it is a really small world. Well I cut my stay here short as I needed to replace my tyre so left not long after the bikers and headed off to Manjimup.

So currently in Manjimup, heading off tomorrow, new tyre purchased and also a trolley jack and now that Ive bought it Im hoping I never need it. Not sure where Im heading to next but will update you soon.

You have probably noticed quite a few places Ive been to ending in UP, this is part of an old Aborigine word or saying meaning Place of or Site of, just in case you were wondering.