A creek, a pan, a fortune might be found.

With a rare weekend free, we accepted an invitation with geologist friends to try and find our fortune at a public fossicking area somewhere near Tumbarumba, west of the Snowy Mountains.  We were lured not only by the promise of rubies and sapphires, but also a picturesque camp beside a pleasant creek.

And what a wonderful weekend we had - with plenty of reward for our efforts.

We were all keen to get out under canvas again.  The boys were eager to sleep in their swags, and soon found a spot that wasn't too lumpy.  The little supervisor (aka Dylis) was thrilled that our camp was in State Forest - so she could come along for the fun too.

Siding Springs and the Warrumbungles Grand High Tops Walk

The Warrumbungle Range rises from the surrounding plains with an unmistakable silhouette.  On the peak of one of the mountains is the unmistakable dome of the Siding Springs Observatory.  This 3.9m mirror telescope is one of several observatories on the peak of the mountain, and has contributed to some startling discoveries since it was opened in 1974.  It is open during the day, and we all learnt just a little into the amazing world of space, black holes, nebulas and dark matter. 

 

A couple of nights later we enjoyed a stargazing tour down the road at the Warrumbungle Observatory.  With our host named Peter Starr, we knew we were in good hands, and we spent an hour and a half observing Saturn, distant nebulas (star factories), other galaxies and even more.  Peter used to work at Siding Springs Observatory, and explained that the site was chosen for a number of reasons. 

• The high elevation reduced the amount of atmosphere thereby increasing clarity
• The mid latitude location allows the full southern sky to be observed
• The area has few cloudy nights

The Pilliga Forest took us all by surprise.

From Lightning Ridge, we headed south, looking forward to spending four nights in the Warrumbungles... but like all good plans, it changed for the better with a diversion to the Pilliga Forest.

We drove south through Walgett and Coonamble - all productive country, with crops of wheat ready for harvest.  The ominous storm clouds brewing explained the urgency in the movement of harvesting machinery on the highways.  There was rain forecast - plenty of it - and the farmers were desperate to get their crops off the paddocks before it hit.

At Coonabarabran we restocked, and were just about to head down the back road to the Warrumbungles, when I suggested we head to the Pilliga Forest Discovery Centre at Barandine.  Our last house was made of Cypress Pine from the Pilliga, and we had always wanted to see the country where the timber had come from.  It was a great decision.

The Queensland Gemfields nearly gain four residents!

We left Longreach early in the morning and started heading east.  We were basically following the Tropic of Capricorn towards the coast, but there are some interesting things to see on the way.

We stopped at Barcarldine at the famous 'Tree of Knowledge'.  Under the branches of this tree in the 1890's, shearers gathered to protest the poor pay and conditions offered pastoralists.  There were many shearers camps in this area from the Great Shearers Strikes, however it is believed that it was here that the genesis for what was to become the Australian Labor Party was formed.

Move forward a hundred years and it is rumoured that in 2006 someone poisoned the tree - and the resultant sculpture around the dead tree trunk (opened in 2008) is stunning.  Regardless of your political pursuasion, this is an interesting place.

Tree of Knowledge at Barcarldine

We continued on our way east and made our way to a small community called Sapphire.  In the heart of the Queensland Gemfields, this area is famous for its sapphires funnily enough.  To be honest we weren't sure what you could fossick here, as down the road is Rubyvale and Emerald is about 50km further east. 

Wallaman Falls and the first time the boys refuse to get in the car!

From Mount Surprise we took a scenic cross country route to Ingham via Valley of the Lagoons.  Crossing through dusty cattle stations, before passing Mount Fox Volcano and descending down the range to Ingham, we took great pleasure in traversing the road less travelled.

Lunch Stop - Valley of the Lagoons

The Pelican Lakes in the Valley of the Lagoons was a completely unexpected change in scenery from the dry savannah woodland.  The headwaters of the Burdekin River, this area was explored by Leichardt in 1845.

Pelican Lakes

A relaxing break with family, then Rocky returns

After being completely surprised by Jo's parents at Chris and Shelly's block, we enjoyed a wonderful few days catching up on family news and enjoying the serenity of their piece of paradise.  It was truly wonderful to relax and enjoy time together.   It was also a good time to take stock of all our gear and make sure we were ready for the imminent return of Rocky...

A wonderful picnic at the future house site

Making new friends - the adorable Millie enjoys a bonus cuddle from The Little Fisherman and Mum

Kakadu - a definite must do!

Kakadu is one of Australia's largest National Parks.  It is an impossibly large area that requires years of exploration to see all of its features in all its seasons.  All we had was a week - and after our big few days on the road getting up here, taking it easy was a big priority.

We came in from the south on the Kakadu Highway, and stopped at the Park Entrance Station to pick up a pamphlet on the park.  

I don't pretend to be a historian, but the history of Kakadu is tied up closely with Aboriginal custodians coming to stand up against mining interests who threatened to destroy their land.  One way or another there is a lot of uranium, lead, mercury and arsenic in these hills - and the Aboriginals knew much of this area as 'Sickness Country'.  Interestingly as geologists mapped the area, the areas with the highest concentrations of those minerals correlated strongly with the sickness story.  

The small display at the entrance station did a good job to introduce the many eras of Kakadu's history, from the ancient geological processes that formed its landscapes, the Aboriginal history here, and then the pastoralists and miners.  It is a complex story with many chapters.

Relics from the Uranium Mining at the Park Entrance Station

Our first camp for the night was at Gunlom Falls.  A good gravel road deteriorated into a rough track leading to the camping area.  A stunning plunge pool at the base of the falls looked inviting.  We had heard that the active monitoring and trapping process for keeping Estuarine Crocodiles out of this pool was assisted greatly by a big male crocodile nick named 'The Gate Keeper' who lived downstream.  The irony that a crocodile kept this pool crocodile free wasn't lost on us, and we chose not to go for a swim that evening after we set up camp.

Gibb River Rd Part IV - Home Valley And El Questro

With a big day ahead of us, we made a quick getaway from Mitchell Falls campground, leaving well before 7am.  We literally got out of bed and folded the camper up, although a couple of sleepy heads allowed me time to get a brew made.  After a breakfast stop at Lawley Hill, we paused again near the King Edward River to check out some more of the exquisite art painted in the rocks around here.

  The art gallery was amazing in every way

We found some beautiful Gyorn or Bradshaw figures.  These paintings are around 17 000 years old, and remind me of traditional Indonesian puppets.  

The Gyorn (Bradshaw) figures were incredibly detailed

I sat for a moment looking at the paintings, and then out at the Pandanus Palms and Savannah woodland.  I wondered how much the view had changed in this area in the thousands of years since the artist painted their figures, and if there would be anything as beautiful left behind from our generation.

Gibb River Road Part II - West Kimberley - Mornington and Manning Gorge

We had been taking every alternative route and diversion off the Gibb River Road that is possible so far, drinking precious fuel.  Our next destination was around 100km off the Gibb River Road, so we were relieved the Imintji store was open on a Saturday.  We refuelled at our most expensive diesel of the trip so far (at $2.365 per litre) and bought an ice cream... who cares that it was half past nine in the morning and cost a fortune... it was delicious. 

About to fuel up at the Imintji Store

Our planned destination was the Mornington Wilderness Sanctuary run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).  We had no idea who the AWC were on our arrival, but it turns out they own 23 wilderness sanctuaries around Australia with the aim of protecting all of Australia's native animals, birds and their habitat.  Free from the bureaucracy of government, 80 percent of their staff are in the field actively studying and managing these sanctuaries.  They're assisted in their studies by an army of volunteers.  We came away greatly impressed with what they have achieved here, and the way they are going about it.

The Mornington Station was acquired by the AWC in around 2001,  and since then has been destocked, the fire reigeime altered and feral cats monitored leading to a dramatic rebound in the abundance and diversity of native animals, birds and plants.  We found it remarkable what a difference a fenceline made to the vegetation on the way into the property, being distinctly healthier and more prolific on the sanctuary's side.

Gibb River Road Part I - West Kimberley - Derby to Bell Gorge

And so at last, after a fleeting resupply visit at Broome it was time to point the bonnet east and start our journey into the mighty Kimberley.  We were held up briefly on the road to Derby due to heavy vehicle accident.  It seemed the beer truck had tipped his trailer wheels off the bitumen edge and lost control, ending up with the trailer on its side and beer all over the road.  Thankfully no one appeared hurt, and after a short hold up whilst they righted the trailer, we continued on our way without any more incidents.

Lunch on the Fitzroy River at Willare Bridge

We stopped for lunch out of Derby at the Willare Bridge.  It was a very pleasant spot to stop for lunch - although we kept well back from the river's bank ever conscious of the Estuarine Crocodile.  The river here apparently also has freshwater relatives of sharks and sword fish living in it, left behind when the water levels dropped some millions of years ago.  We didn't see any of course on our brief stop.

Richmond - the town time forgot

With the Amarok in for a service, we took the courtesy car on a trip to Richmond, a quant little town preserved in time when it was effectively bypassed in the 1890s.  Coming ourselves from a similar town - one that time forgot - we enjoyed Richmond more than we expected.

The weather was pretty ordinary as we stepped out of the car at the Richmond Bridge, the oldest bridge in Australia still open to traffic.  We took shelter under the arches, and pondered the labour involved in carving the sandstone blocks around 190 years ago.  It is no where near the oldest bridge in the world, you'll need to travel to Istanbul to see that, but for Australia it is pretty impressive!

Richmond Bridge - Built 1823

And from another angle

One sleep to go - Setting off for our lap around the block tomorrow

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our departure date.  This moment has been years in the making, and I am a little excited, and mostly exhausted!

I thought I would keep this a short post, except to thank some of the many people who have helped us get to this point.

At the risk of missing someone, I want to thank some of those wonderful people.

Firstly a big thank our to boys, who have embraced our camping lifestyle and bring so much joy to us when we see the world through their eyes.  We hope this year is one they will remember forever with fondness, and excite in them a passion for learning, travelling and all things outdoors.

Our parents I suspect initially thought we were mad... until they saw our camping set up which confirmed their beliefs.  That said, their support has been wonderful, culminating in a week long working bee at our little house getting it ready for tenants.  It is due in no small part to their efforts that we can leave our house knowing it is in tip top shape.  Thank you. 

I have the most amazing manager who gave me approval to pursue this dream way back in early 2009.  I also work with a great bunch of people who will cover my shifts for me whilst I am away - which will provide its own challenges and I appreciate no end.  

We are fortunate to be part of an an incredible tight knit community, and we have been touched by everyone's support and encouragement. From offers to keep and eye on our home, to completely unexpected little farewell gifts, and even looking after our little pooch, we have been blown away. We will miss you all!  Our school and it's wonderful teachers have been so supportive of our plan, we leave well armed for a year of homeschooling. 

And of course, Jo, who agreed to my foolish adventure.  She has worked tirelessly on all the boring bits to make sure that everything will carry on at home in our absence that needs to, and what needs to find us will find us.  An incredible woman and a tower of strength.  Thank you!

We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives, that funnily enough on the cusp of our grand adventure I feel a twinge of sadness.  Almost like being on a ship leaving for a long deployment, we will soon settle into our new routine, but we will miss our wonderful friends and family still at home.  Sometimes you have to leave to really appreciate how fortunate we are to be surrounded by such great people.  However unlike ships of not that long ago, we will be not far from mobile phones and email, so we hope to stay in touch!

And so here we are... Almost all packed, and due to hit the road at 8am tomorrow.  Fingers crossed we will get away before lunch, after all, what could possibly go wrong!

50 days to go!!!

We sat down yesterday, and for the first time counted the days to our departure... Today we are 50 days out from what we hope will be a great adventure, our 12 month journey around Australia!

Friends have been asking me how the planning is going?  And yes - whilst the concept has been on the table for many years now, we are not much closer to having our trip planned out.  There is so many little jobs to do in order to get us prepared to go, that we have hardly had a chance to think about what we will finally do, when we haul down our driveway, get to the end of our road and flip a coin.  Heads = turn right, Tails = turn left.

The journey to this point begins back in 2009, when our eldest son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  We made a decision then that we would make a concious effort to live life to the full.  We had just started camping as a family, and a few months later we bought a four wheel drive - our faithful Terracan. In April 2012 we bought our camper trailer, Matilda.

Our first journey with our camper attached.

Our first camping weekend with the camper ended in failure (http://project2014australia.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/our-weekend-in-pictures.html), but we were hooked, and our dream grew and grew.

Big Red Run - Day 5 - Innamincka and the Dig Tree Circuit

We started our rest day with a nice lazy sleep in, followed by a delicious breakfast of home made pikelets.  As the sun rose, we amused ourselves watching the meandering pelicans, and other bird life making the most of the glorious day.  It was simply a magic camp, and we all appreciated the fact we didn't have to get up and get going in the morning.

The Cooper Creek was delightful place to camp

Playing in the River Red Gums at camp

We had a quick look at the map, and I suggested a quick dash out to visit The Dig Tree was in order.  The Little Helper was a bit puffed after the last few days travelling, so he asked to stay at camp with Mum, whilst the older brother and I made the dash.

Big Red Run - Day 2 - Condobolin to White Cliffs

We decided we wanted to be on the road by 8.30am, with the aim of making White Cliffs in the evening.  The kids were briefed that it would be a long day in the car, and after a damp pack up we hit the road.
 

We had decided to head north west to Cobar, before tracking west to Wilcannia.  The boys were bored with the black top, and kept asking when we would hit the dirt…  Not long was the answer, until we hit it, and the initial squeals of delight soon were replaced with the boys asking when we would be back on the black top!  I think they appreciated the fact we could travel a bit quicker on the bitumen roads, and the bumps were far more frequent and violent on the dirt!

Red Dirt!

Big Red Run - Day 1 - Home to Condobolin

As with all things requiring preparation, our shakedown trip to Birdsville was upon us before we knew it.  A previous commitment to a couple of weeks at sea ensured that I was unable to do anything much towards our trip - except occasionally ponder the situation between waves of nausea.

We berthed in Sydney on Sunday, and as the financial year closed, we caught up with family and friends in the big smoke, before barrelling south on the Monday to shop, pack and get our heads around the adventure ahead.

As we headed south we started to actually plan the journey ahead, and developed a rough meal plan.  We had originally planned to pack on the Tuesday, and get up at the crack of dawn on the Wednesday and make as much ground north west as we could, however Jo had a fantastic idea.  She suggested that if we were ready to head off on Tuesday afternoon, then we should aim to get a few hours down the road in order to break the journey.  I couldn't agree more - so the timetable was adjusted.

All packed at last...

Fitting out... the finer details

 

Whilst our dash to Birdsville might still be a couple of weeks away, the time at home available to prepare for the trip can be measured in hours. 

And the list of little jobs I want to get done on the truck doesn't seem to get any shorter... but there is always time for a little play! 

Rocky shows the limitations of an independent front end!

One of the many little things to do was a maintenance run on one of the local RFS trucks.  The boys love to crawl all over the BRT (Big Red Truck) - and declared that travelling around Australia in a dual cab 4WD truck would be a great thing to do.

After becoming acquainted with the capabilities of these trucks last year, I would be inclined to agree, that they would be a fantastic way to get around the country, with enough space for all the comforts of home. They can crawl up and down just about any mountain... however the thought of getting one stuck in sand sends shivers down my spine!

A new sound system for Rocky!

Whilst the canopy on the back was my first priority to get fitted out into a useful space for us to use,  with the prospect of a long road trip ahead of us, in car entertainment for the family became a much higher priority on the list.

The Canopy is starting to be useful.

So the next thing to sort out was the in car entertainment.

For some reason the Trendline Amarok is fitted with a four speaker stereo... where all four speakers are in the front!! So our previous trick in the Terracan of fading the speakers to the rear, and putting on an audio book weren't going to work. Oh, and the VW iPod kit was about $1000, and blue tooth another $1000... yeah no thanks.

The original unit. Functional - but pretty basic

With the Terracan, a simple replacement radio and wiring loom for under $150 was a sufficient upgrade to give us all we needed in a radio, and a free Garmin GPS when renewing our NRMA membership kept us on the right track mostly. Unfortunately with the Amarok, nothing was going to be that simple, or cheap!

The first thing to sort out was to put some speakers in the rear door.  Thankfully this was something I could do - and as the space was already there - it was a simple task of removing the trim, installing the speakers and refitting the trim.  I did purchase a whole heap of new trim clips as the original clips are very brittle. I managed to break every single one when removing the trim.  Thankfully I wasn't he first to do this, and had new trim clips on hand.

After reading many forums and reading most people's opinions of aftermarket gear for the Amarok, we went with the Zenec 2011D. It essentially is the following:

• CD/DVD Player
• Radio
• Bluetooth Handsfree Phone Kit
• iPod connectivity
• Bluetooth music streaming
• Satellite Nav
• Reverse Camera

What impressed us is that the dash looks just like it rolled out of the factory. It works beautifully and seamlessly and more importantly intuitively. The guys who fitted it upgraded the reverse camera, and gave me the other one, which I will be able to fit to the Camper Trailer - perhaps not in time for Birdsville!

The funny thing is that whilst this unit will support the playing of DVD's, including screens on the back of the headrests for the kids, this is something we will not do.  We have lots of audiobooks on the iPod, and the kids (and big kids in the front) enjoy listening to the stories such as Wind In The Willows, Peter Pan and all the classics by Roald Dahl.

The other thing we fitted was the old UHF radio,  in the parcel shelf under the A/C controls.  it slotted in easily, and I picked up power from one of the cigarette 12v outlets just forward of the gear stick.

Fitted up - and about to plug the microphone in.

It is a 40 channel UHF radio - but still in perfect working order.  The aerial I mounted to the bullbar.  This is not my preferred position for the aerial, as it resonnates beautifully on the dirt road home, and I am not entirely convinced thousands of kilometres of corrugations, or the odd kangaroo strike will do good things for it.  Still the mount is there, and I didn't need to use a Z bracket under the bonnet (which didn't fit comfortably with the Amaroks tight seams).

The aerial is mounted on the bullbar

So, now you will be able to hear us coming.  We will be the Amarok with audio books such as The BFG blaring from the rear speakers as we barrel along the highways and byways of Australia!  Gloriumptious!

Shake down trip... Destination Birdsville

Whilst we were at camping at Boorowa a few weeks ago, campfire conversation turned to a forthcoming concert to be held at Birdsville in July.  It would appear that one of Australia's most popular and engaging entertainers was going to be hosting a sunset concert on the top of Big Red, the famous sand dune on the eastern end of the Simpson Desert.

John Williamson was going to be performing songs from his latest album - The Big Red, at Big Red... Something stirred inside me and said we had to make it happen.

We returned to civilisation, calendars and the cloud.  A quick check revealed the concert was going to be the middle weekend of the NSW school holidays.... and I had already planned to take leave! 

The clincher though was when I found out the concert was part of a bigger series of events, The Big Red Run raising money for Type 1 Diabetes.  As the Little Fisherman is a Type 1 diabetic, it was all the motivation I needed, so in a moment of madness I bought tickets to the Big Red Sunset Concert.

It was only once the tickets were booked that I realized that it is over 2000 km to Birdsville from home, and with the whole family coming along for the ride, a bit of planning would be necessary. In short a swag and an esky won't cut it.



Of course planning can be fun... particularly when you spread your trip over three maps!

 

Making Shade!

Being married to a meteorologist, I have worked out that I may not be able to make the sun shine on demand, however I am able to make shade!

With us planning on chasing the summer next year, the ability to make shade anywhere will be an important part of making our trip an enjoyable experience for everyone.  As such, we had determined that an awning was going to be an essential part of our travelling equipment.

Our camper's kitchen is well equipped, however if the camper is not set up - there is no shade to be had anywhere - unless you're parked under a shady tree.  And with trees not always conveniently sited, an awning was added to the shopping list. 

And so it was off to the local 4WD shop to get a price on an awning.