The Joy is in the Journey

James Blundell and James Reyne recorded Way Out West by The Dingoes and sang: 'Way out west where the rain don't fall.........' And how true is that of late, although Broome recorded plenty last wet. The road from FC to Broome is like a long ribbon, easy driving though there were some roadworks in the later stages. The Boabs at this end are amazing in that there are some that are completey bereft of leaves while others have plenty. Many are bearing fruit at this time. The raptors are commonly perched in their branches and you see many nests from quite some distance. We were listening to Elton John's Greatest Hits and discussing his success despite the dysfunctional family and all the rest we learnt from seeing the movie 'Rocketman' recently. When 'The Circle of Life' was playing I was thinking about my Dad as that was the song we chose to play in the background as images of his life were displayed at his funeral. Not long after, we came to the tur...

In 'West' by Lucinda Williams she sang Come out West and see The best it'll ever be I know you won't stay permanently But come out West and see And we could only agree, it is beautiful and vast, vast, vast.  Saturday 6 July We began the day with a walk back along the walking trail by the golf course only to be met by a big mob of people, both locals and tourists, doing the parkrun. They were wearing tshirts from all over. New bird sightings this trip included the Australian Reed Warbler and White-browed Crake.  We pulled out of Kununurra and took the Great Northern Hwy to Bungle Bungle Caravan Park. It is just 1km off the hwy on Mabel Downs Station, 50kms beyond Warmun. Warmun is where one of Eric’s mates from the Ringwood Athletics Club taught for many years. It is also where they charge $1.89 for a litre of diesel. We filled up at Kununurra for $1.45, so luckily only had to top-up. The rugged landscape continued but you have to keep your wits about you as ...

Dire Straits sang: Some people get a cheap laugh breaking up the speed limit Scaring the pedestrians for a minute Crossing up progress driving on the grass Leaving just enough room to pass Sunday driver never took a test Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west.......... Well there are not a lot of pedestrians out here and we are certainly not breaking any speed limits. We've found most drivers pretty respectful of the speed limits and laws to date to so far.  Tue 2 July After a short delay having the bike rack securely welded to Joy's bumper and then the flat battery given some shock therapy (because we forgot to disconnect while all that work was being done) we were on our way again. Special mention here of Ray at Katherine Sheet Metal who delivered great service and did a very professional job on our rear end. Ray, who owns the joint, happens to be Fran's son so it all turned out to be very fortuitous that Eric ran into her the day before.  Today its 'Tru...

As the Village People sang in the movie 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert': Go west, in the open air Go west, where the skies are blue Go west, this is what we're gonna do ........... But from Darwin first we have to go south or we end up in Darwin Harbour. So we took to the Stuart Hwy towards Katherine and in this instance we included a little deviation to Manton View Retreat ( https://www.facebook.com/MantonViewRetreat/?ref=py_c )   for an overnight with friends.  It was a challenge to navigate our rig to the top of  the ridge overlooking the dam, but well worth it.  What a find! Loved the individual cabins, each with its own unique quirks. We had No.2 with a separate bath house and rockpool. Below is the uninterrupted view from our balcony. The serenity of waking the next morning to just the sound of birdsong topped off a very pleasant stay.  Fabulous indoor/outdoor kitchen set-up and spacious social area with everything yo...

Saturday March 30 So this morning we woke to the sound of birdsong supported by the gentle hum of the site 24/7 generator at Douglas Daly Tourist Park. As would have it, at this time of the year, we are the only tourists.  There are a number of Sterling NT workers contracted to maintain the roadsides staying here in dongas (charming NT colloquialism for demountables) this week, but other than that, the campground is all ours.  This is our first venture out in Ted and Joy and it didn’t start well when Eric fell ill mid-week. Then in preparation we tried to cool down the fridge a few days before we left only to discover we needed a 15amp extension cord and 10 > 15amp adapter, no one told us about this. Who knew houses ran on 10amps while caravans were set up for 15amps? (Everyone else probably.) Another trip to the shops, another hundred dollars. That evening I went out to dinner with some friends who have lived for years on cattle stations. When I mentioned to him what...

The idea for this blog came to me on a recent trip to Apollo Bay that I shared with my siblings and their partners to attend a funeral of a treasured friend of our parents. Pat and Jim raised 9 children and whenever they visited our quiet dairy farm in the Yarra Valley they brought heaps of colour, fun and laughter. Jim died while we were in Singapore and now Pat has joined him along with my mum and dad so they will all be upstairs sharing a toast together by now; the boys on the beer and the women with a sherry.   Apollo Bay is situated on the Great Ocean Road and as we drove west I noticed the great number of caravans on the road, in the townships and every camping ground. The travelers were making the most of a long weekend in the great outdoors and my enthusiasm to join them escalated. A few months back we bought a caravan and a car big enough to pull it, but up until now the van hasn't ventured out of our backyard. The wet season in the Top End is probably not the best seas...