4WD

Exemplary Customer Service in Perth

Posted on April 5, 2015 by John Sear

We had to head to Perth to get the Pajero and Camprite trailer serviced before we commence the journey north and possibly the most eagerly awaited part of our trip. Both have performed excellently to date but I had a list of items to follow up with for both.

I wanted to ask further questions about the problems with had with fuel consumption in South Australia and had been tipped off about possible carbonisation of an inlet manifold. We had also recently become aware of a recall notice on the model. I finally wanted to resolve the issue with our towbar being too low, and Mitsubishi Melville instantly gave me confidence with their understanding of each issue and ability to address them. We also needed to perform a tyre rotation having just clocked another 10,000km.

The Camprite trailer went in first and it was great to meet the team in person, as we had only had spoken by phone from the east coast. Matt patiently listened to my list, had a quick look at the trailer and spotted a couple of things we had missed, again assuring that they were all fixable. We left it in his capable hands and I took the boys to SciTech in the city.

Looking like new again
New steps

The next day was the Pajero’s turn. They kindly agreed  to complete the service by 2pm (so I had time to pickup the trailer on the other side of the city) and went through my list of items. They couldn’t put in a second battery, but I was less concerned about that. Phillip from Mitsubishi drove me back to the house, where we were staying and also picked me up promptly at 2pm. Everything was fixed up and the spare tyre lift meant we were set to fix our towbar issues.

Being the afternoon before Easter holidays, traffic crossing town was heavy and Matt at Camprite was patiently awaiting our arrival to pick up the trailer. It looked like new! Our damaged rear steps had been replaced with the new design and all the other items on the list had been addressed, leaving us a little time to fix the towbar. Matt optimistically thought it would be a quick reversal of the towbar, but that proved more difficult requiring some heavy duty hardware and hammering for quite a while to remove. Reversing it didn’t solve the issue as the tongue was not long enough so Matt quickly drove up to get one. He returned empty-handed and we jumped into the car at 4.40pm to try a different place. Success!

The tongue then needed machining the edges of the tongue to allow it to be inserted easily – more time passed.

Finally by 5pm the job was complete, Matt was still smiling, but we were so grateful that he had stayed back to help prepare us for the next stage of our journey.

Thank you very much Camprite – your attention to detail was probably the best we have ever encountered and thanks also to Melville Mitsubishi for your prompt, friendly and efficient service.

Categories: 4WD, australia, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Car, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, West Australia | Tags: , , , , | 5 Comments

Heading to Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park

Posted on March 25, 2015 by John Sear

Still in the forests a damp night was spent at Big Brook Arboretum campsite. Venturing into the Arboretum the following morning unveiled luxuriant colours in the bark patterns, vibrant orange bracket fungi, water droplets hanging patiently from the underside of the fungus, and abundant birdlife all around. Unfortunately for us the birds could be heard, but not seen, as most of them appeared to be high in the tree canopies.

Big Brook Arboretum
Big Brook Arboretum
Big Brook Arboretum
Bracket fungus

Still in Warren National Park a trip to Beedelup Falls was required, but the relative lack of waterfall in the area meant it didn’t offer much to photograph. The kids had fun on the suspension bridge, then Xavier slipped into the river and we decided to press on again.

Turning west towards the coast again we had the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park in our sights, and Conto campground. One of the features of this region is the abundance of Grass Trees, with their fire-blackened stems and almost spherical arrays of leaves sprouting from the top.

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Conto was such a peaceful spot, one or two nights ended up being a five-night stopover. Despite the presence of many caves in the area, with nearby Lake, Mammoth, and Jewel caves being the tourist showpieces, we felt we had seen enough caves recently and saved this for next time. Instead we used Conto as a base to explore nearby Margaret River (next blog), do some more geocaching, and a bit of fishing. With our Camprite trailer next to a water tap we could sit and watch all the wildlife come for a drink, from swarms of bees, to western rosellas, splendid fairy wrens, and silver eyes. Golden Whistlers and scarlet robins danced around the branches overhead.

More importantly it was time to get some schoolwork done so the distance education packs were brought out to get ahead of the curriculum before Easter break.

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Esperance and surroundings

Posted on March 4, 2015 by John Sear

We finally had to leave Quagi to re-stock supplies and get some water in the tanks again. A couple camping next to us kindly donated an inflatable boat for the kids that they no longer needed.

Lucky Bay
Beach at Thomas river
Wharton beach
Mt Arid peak
Wreck on Quagi beach
Lucky Bay
Salmon at Dunn rocks
Wild brumbies
Chilling on the beach boulders
View east from Mt Arid
Boating in Thomas river
Wharton Beach break
Emus in dunes at Dunn Rock
New Holland Honeyeater
Mt Arid western panorama
Stonehenge, Esperance
Dugite at Cape Le Grand
Sand storm at Dunn Rocks
Mt Arid peak
Dunn Rocks camp
Hannah and friend at Lucky Bay
Brumby in front of Frenchmans Peak
Hellfire bay
Dolphin bay
Quagi beach rocks

Next stop was Cape Arid National Park and a campsite called Thomas River, ideal for the inflatable boat. We drove the length of the beach, over 24km, then along some 4WD tracks to beaches beyond. Ranger Jo, who was brilliant with the kids told us how to get to the Mt Arid walking track, and even lent us some boogy boards. The next day we conquered the mountain which offers amazing views over the picturesque beaches and park. The mountain itself is very barren with little vegetation and lots of bare rock but well worth the 3 hour return walk. Back at camp I even managed to catch some super-sized herring that were delicious. From Cape Arid it was tempting to head further east to Seal Creek, but we chose to turn back West, passing through to see Duke of Orleans bay and Wharton beach which must rate as one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia, with its pure white sands stretching into the distance. Our next destination was Cape Le Grand National Park and Dunn Rocks, where we could camp on the beach. We arrived as the worst winds we have encountered so far whipped up from the south, giving us a true desert sandstorm experience that piled several tonnes of sand in a pile behind the trailer annex. There were thousands of mouse footprints on the sand in the annex the next morning and it began to look like we still had a stowaway! The weather improved though and before long we were swimming and fishing and the salmon finally arrived for us to start catching dinner! The kids loved playing on the rocks by the camp and Hannah even found a python in a crevice. She also found the mouse again and after it bit her a short chase across the sand saw it dispatched with my leather sandal. No more footprints since! From Dunn Rocks we had planned to head back west beyond Esperance again after checking out Lucky Bay and Le Grand beach campsites, both of which tend to be quite hard to get in at. Arriving at Le Grand first we fell in love with the place and grabbed the last camp spot, a sheltered little spot between the trees, 50m from the beach and with a kids hideout amongst the scrub. Lots of snakes here, a couple of coastal pythons and plenty of Dugites, apparently number 13 on the list of world’s most venomous snakes. Late one evening I stumbled out of the tent to hear the pitter patter of footprints scuttling into the undergrowth, and fearing another mouse infestation I grabbed a torch in time to see a crab disappear into a hole in the undergrowth. Phew! With the crabs and snakes I think we’ll be mouse free for a while. Rob and Kris, who we met crossing the Nullarbor, were at the same campsite, told us that there were wild brumbies that visit the beach daily. Hannah was thrilled and makes it her daily ritual to get as close as possible. It’s just a matter of time before the carrot supply gets raided. The kids have finally been introduced to Geo-caching too and with a few nearby we should be teaching them how to navigate expertly very soon.

We visited nearby Lucky Bay, famous for photos of kangaroos on the beach, but found a cramped and crowded campsite, a beach covered in knee-deep weed, very swampy and compared with other beaches we have seen, only worth the visit for the “kangaroo on a beach” photo. At least some of the roos were obliging on that front

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Offroad, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, Walks, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Wave Rock, Hyden and other rock formations

Posted on February 19, 2015 by John Sear

West of Eucla, we stopped briefly at Cocklebiddy and headed down to the Eyre Bird Observatory. The road to the escarpment was pretty rough but we had to unhitch the trailer to get the last 12km to the observatory. The road was very soft and sandy, making it a fun ride in.

Sand track into the observatory
Amanda at Eyre Bird Observatory
Caiguna blowhole
Kids catching Wave Rock
The Breakaways
Wave Rock
Granite-Woodlands road
The Original Telegraph Station at the Eyre Bird Observatory
The Breakaways
Australian Bustard
Hippos Yawn
McDermid Rock

Whilst very little remains of the original telegraph station (1877-1897), the later built telegraph station now acts as a tranquil rest for bird watchers and bushwalkers. The caretakers showed the kids the weather station and took measurements, a task performed 3 times a day. The building also houses an interesting museum that the kids loved due to the amount of bones and preserved animals there. We had a quick bird-watching bushwalk and headed down to the beach, over one of the most challenging dunes we have encountered yet. The beach was tough driving so we made a hasty exit and departed.

The explorer, Edward John Eyre, passed nearby in 1841, on his epic 1500km journey from Fowlers Bay to Albany.

Back to Cocklebiddy for an overnight stop, then saw an Australian Bustard (a bird, not a person!) in the morning before commencing a long drive to Norseman. This stretch saw us diverting to find Caiguna blowhole, driving for 20 minutes in the worst dust roads, only to find it back by the main road on our return. Tidal airflows blast through many such blowholes on the Nullarbor, some over 70km/h. Jumping into them offers instant air conditioning on hot summer days. The next stretch of road is the longest straight road in Australia – 146km of boring driving.

Past Norseman we continued on towards Hyden via the Granite-Woodlands track, stopping overnight at McDermid rock. A brief stop at Disappointment rock was far from it! We watched a small bush fire working its way towards us, until it got within a kilometre, when we had to press on to camp before sunset. McDermid Rock is actually a mini-Wave Rock formation and an impressive sight, but to avoid disappointment see it before the Wave Rock. The road took us past the Breakaways, another obligatory stop offering more rock formations and beautiful colouration in the rock.

Wave rock was impressive but quite busy. Having seen pictures of it as a kid growing up it was great to see it in reality. Well worth a visit.

 

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Natural World, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Eucla

Posted on February 14, 2015 by John Sear

Arriving in Eucla we headed straight for the Telegraph Station that has been engulfed by sand. Movement of sand dunes along the beach slowly overtook the station following a rabbit plague in the 1890s that ate all the vegetation that stabilised the dunes.

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We then set off looking for a beach camp and once again found a maze of 4WD tracks leading everywhere except where we wanted. Anyone watching from the escarpment would have been amused to follow the trail of dust billowing up behind us as we negotiated the multitude of paths. Finally we gave up and headed back into Eucla for the night and enjoyed a dip in their pool, refreshing after several days of inhaling dust from remote tracks. I got some local knowledge and found that one of the sandy paths we had tried actually lead to the jetty and beach and I was keen to go so I dashed down before the sunset. With just the car and no trailer in tow it was a lot easier to get through the sand but I wasn’t expecting to pop onto the beach so quickly. A great photo opportunity indeed and the time of day offered great lighting.

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Beach, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, National Park, Offroad, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , | 5 Comments

Into the Nullarbor

Posted on February 12, 2015 by John Sear

As we drove towards the Nullarbor Plain we couldn’t resist to stop for the road signs, look out for Camels, Kangaroos and Wombats. Pulling over at lunchtime the kids soon were running back to car clutching beautiful feathers, asking what they were from. A quick scan of nearby trees revealed a group of Major Mitchells, or Pink Cockatoos, beautiful birds and one to add to the list of sightings.

 

Camp on Bight cliffs
Zebra crossing in the Nullarbor!
Murrawijinie Cave
Watch out for …
Major Mitchell
View from camp at sunrise
Not for sleepwalkers
Exploring Murrawijinie caves
Ochre hand prints
Sunrise at the camp on Bight
Climbing out of the caves
On the Nullarbor
Hot day on the Nullarbor
Monochrome Bight

At Nullarbor we turned north off the road, to look for Murrawijinie Caves, lying approximately 10km along a dirt track. The temperature gauge snuck up to 46 degrees and was testing everyone. Why were we looking around in this heat in the bush for caves didn’t need to be said but the moment they set foot in the cool shaded environment below all was forgiven. I have never seen Amanda move so fast down a 3m log to get out of the heat. We found a wall with aboriginal red ochre hand paintings which proved quite exciting for the kids. In one cave we climbed down some tight passages until we found a large pile of bones, those of animals who had entered and perished after failing to find their way out. Many raptors roost and nest in the cool caves and so we found many rodent bones scattered in piles too, particularly beneath one owl nest.

After killing some time out of the heat we finally had to re-emerge from the caves and find a camp. We camped at the head of the Great Australian Bight, literally on the clifftops, not a place to go if you are at all susceptible to sleepwalking.

Up early and off again before the wind could blow us over the cliffs! We found a zebra crossing in the middle of the Nullarbor Plain (only a few hundred cars cross the 1600km plain daily) so we had to use it. After a couple more lookouts we decided to explore and drove off along an unsigned little track.

After 15km a myriad of diminishing tracks brought us to a homestead and a vintage car graveyard. We were looking for more caves but gave up eventually fearing our ability to retrace our route back along the tracks. But first we had to take photos and a GPS position to check where we had been later.

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Finally we worked our way back to the main road and headed West again. Next stop West Australia!

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Photography, South Australia, Travel, Travel Adventure | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

West Australia – here we come

Posted on February 12, 2015 by John Sear

Just as we approached the West Australian border a wild dingo calmly crossed the freeway in front of us. It was our first on the trip. We pulled over for lunch to eat some residual items that we knew would be lost through quarantine. 25km short of the border the coastline becomes a sloping descent rather than precipitous cliffs. Whilst a dirt road to the beach beckoned we gave it a miss and the kids had fun catching desert cockroaches in the car park. These insects were of herculean stature, buzzing past slowly everywhere. We swatted a couple for closer examination.

Big Roo at Bordertown
Amanda chips onto green
Nullarbor Links
Golf Challenge completed!
Desert cockroach
Hannah tees off
Big putt required
Xavier putting
Desert cockroach
Oscar sticks to the fairway

At the border we decided to play another Nullarbor Links hole to relieve the boredom of long straight roads. The straight par 3 hole looked a doddle, but when the clubs were handed over without balls, “because everyone loses them”, we noticed the fairway was largely rocks and dirt and it wasn’t long before balls were ricocheting into the bush in all directions. Armed with two clubs, one for striking the ball, the other for defence against abundant brown snakes, we zigzagged our way up the fairway several times, as we all wanted a go and we only had two balls. Best score of the day, two over par, 5.

50m away as we crossed the border we had a good chat with the quarantine officers who spoiled the kids with chuppa chups. We surrendered the few remaining items we hadn’t been able to eat then drove through. Here we are in West Australia after almost 15,000km on the clock.

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, Animal Action, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Car, Challenges, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, Photography, South Australia, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Coffin Bay National Park

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Sear

Another short drive west from Lincoln National Park brings you to Coffin Bay National Park. Determined to keep up the adventure we decided to camp at Black Springs, the tides were in our favour so we drove down to Yangie Bay, deflated the tyres and headed on. We had a temporary bog that took five minutes to get out of then plain “sailing” from then on in, albeit quite rocky and rough in places.

Anemone
Shell
Goby
Seven Mile Beach
Crab
Running down dunes
Seven Mile Beach
View from the camp
Dead Dolphin on the beach
Beach in Coffin Bay
Fiddler Ray
Seven Mile Beach Sand Dunes
Beach Tree
Shell on beach
Point Sir Isaac
Avoid Bay

Despite being a very dusty campground, the site we chose was on the edge of a low cliff directly above the beach. With its own bench it offered glorious views across the bay to the east. We took the Black Rocks hike to Avoid Bay, a 3.8km walk across the peninsula. A large osprey nest perched prominently on top of a stack below the cliff and a pair of ospreys circled, one with a fish in its talons. The beach was really shallow and water warm so we spent some time snorkelling to cool down. Plenty of fish life but nothing big enough to catch for dinner without a boat!

We took one day with just the car to explore the whole National Park. There is plenty of 4WD fun to be had with lots of sand to Morgans Landing, then rocky to Point Sir Isaac where we watched sea lions and dolphins cruising up and down the coastline. Sensation Beach presented a dune that appeared to go nowhere from below, but in fact a right turn at the crest takes you down to a huge surf fishing beach. On our return we stopped at the big sand dunes beside Seven Mile beach and let the kids run up and down them for an hour.

A short excursion from the campsite to Black Springs Well was worth the walk. The hand pump finally brought forward a brown stream of water that did go clear, albeit full of organic detritus. The park also has a number of wells dug by 19th century Whalers which we found on our excursion around the park

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, South Australia, Travel, Travel Adventure, Walks | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lincoln National Park – Memory Cove

Posted on February 5, 2015 by John Sear

A short drive from Port Lincoln brought us to Lincoln National Park, and we drove down the 4WD track to Memory Cove. During Matthew Flinder’s trip to the area in 1802, eight of his crew took a boat to shore, foundered on the reef near Cape Catastrophe, and lost their lives. The surrounding offshore islands were individually named after them and Memory Cove as a reminder of the incident.

Sea Hare
White-bellied sea eagle
Memory Cove
Dolpins
Mother and baby dolphin
Xavier watches a show
Sealion
Sealion
Sealion

Access is via a padlocked gate and a very rough road takes you to the beach. Unfortunately as soon as you arrive a swarm of bees descends looking for water, so the full awning went up to protect us, but not before I accidentally trod on one and got stung. Once set up things got better and the next few days were spent exploring the beach, shoreline, surrounding area and a bit of fishing. Wildlife abounds in the National Park and when Xavier wasn’t finding sea hares, peninsula brown snake jawbones and more besides we were watching Australian sea lions frolicking around the bay, and sea eagles flying overhead. We even got to watch a newly born baby dolphin being taught the ropes by its parents in the shallows of a nearby beach. It was tiny, barely a metre long and looked very clumsy when it surfaced to breathe, pushing its whole head and torso out, rather than just exposing the blowhole. Fish were everywhere and when the wrasse had stopped eating all the bait the big stuff came out (around dusk). Having watched swimmers in the sandy shallows it was a bit unnerving to see a 2+m bronze whaler cruising in knee-deep water two nights on the trot. Memory Cove is famous for the presence of Great White Sharks in the murky depths but this was 10m from the shore. That said I couldn’t resist slipping into the water at a spot where the sea lions were hanging out to try and get a photo. Unfortunately they were very wary and not as inquisitive as I was hoping they would be in the water. When I didn’t have a camera at hand they were more than happy to mock and put on fantastic jumping performances as we approached. I landed a large eagle ray on the last night after a 30 minute battle, and released it back.

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, Animal Action, australia, Australian Outback, Beach, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, South Australia, Travel, Travel Adventure | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Oodnadatta Track – part 2

Posted on January 22, 2015 by John Sear

The next major milestone before William Creek was the Overland Telegraph Line, a milestone for communication with the rest of the world and particularly London. Completed in 1872 it headed north to Darwin then ultimately to London. Whilst very little of the original telegraph line exists, there are a couple of the original cypress pine poles by the side of the road. It was aligned with the new Ghan railway in 1891 but remained the main telecommunication link with the outside world for some time.

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William Creek is a small town with a population of approximately 20 people and owned by Trevor Wright who introduced himself as diesel mechanic, pilot, waiter and other stuff. His days are busy keeping the place going, flying tourists and journalists over Lake Eyre (due to the recent flooding) and the second day we were there he was interviewing with ABC News about installing Optus Micro Cell telephone technology. He claimed that shortly after he arrived 25 years ago, on a brief flying post, everyone left and sold it to him.

A macabre tree “Pussy Willow” stands at the entrance to the campground, with a dozen carcasses of feral cats, the ones who didn’t make it!

The hotel originates from 1887 and is adorned with plenty of interesting paraphernalia and graffiti contributed by visitors for a donation to the Royal Flying Doctors Service. Look out for our contribution and send us a photo – we forgot!

Just over the road lie some historical artefacts, including some rockets from nearby Woomera, worthy of a browse.

The next day Xavier and I took to the air with Trevor, flying over Lake Eyre and getting a good view of the water entering in brown plumes from Warburton river system to the north. Unfortunately for Xavier air sickness got the better of him and he fell asleep missing the magical calmness of the lake mirroring cloud reflections below us.

Mid afternoon saw us back on the ground and left William Creek behind and hit the dirt again.

 

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, Offroad, Photography, South Australia, Travel, Travel Adventure | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

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