Gareth is full of excitement about the prospect of visiting the town which has is own Welsh town's name
Back on the road after our short beach holiday and we only just had enough fuel to reach Carnarvon. The outback had become all wide open grassy plains, and with no trees or hills anywhere to gauge any perspective the land looked bigger and wider than I can remember. It was late in the day by the time we arrived in Carnarvon and we tried in vain to find somewhere to lay our heads. Everywhere we went to ask for work was met with incredulous looks and tuts of indignation. At one point I was even ushered into the middle of a group of sitting pensioners who forced me to explain what we were doing. After what seemed like an age the Alpha elder gleefully told me I had no chance. It seemed like nobody wanted to help, and we were on our last and final option when Simon and Tiffany at the Wintersun Caravan Park kindly acquiesced. We were given a campsite for the night, however we knew we would be lucky to get any fuel and without this precious resource, we would be stuck. There was no work to be found anywhere in the town and with the recent floods in the area damaging a lot of property most residents had understandably tightened their purse strings. This meant we would have to rely on a charitable donation of fuel and things weren't looking too good.
Dean Rowe donates fuel and helps us get out of Canarvon
It has most often been the case when turning up at the Roadhouses and Servo's of Australia, that even when we offer to work in exchange for fuel the owners insist on giving it as a donation. Without this generosity it may not have been possible and certainly would have taken us a lot longer to get around the country. This kindness never goes unappreciated and we never dare take it for granted that this astounding generosity will continue.
The proprieters of the S Bend Caravan Park fuel us up and give us what would turn out to be one of the most important contacts on the journey so far
We set out in the morning ever hopeful that somebody may be interested enough in what we are trying to achieve. That is, interested enough to donate some fuel. The process followed a similar pattern to the previous day and we arrived at the last servo in town with all our digits crossed. The saviour here was Dean Rowe, who came to our aid with a full tank of fuel. We have found ourselves in situations like these a few times in the last few months, and the sense of relief when we avoid getting completely stuck is palpable. We could now keep heading south.
During the first few weeks of the trip we had all keenly studied Bill Bryson’s laugh-out-loud account of his time in Australia, 'Down Under'. This had given us a few ideas of places in Australia that we wanted to visit, and it just so happened that one of these was only a short distance off the highway on which we were currently travelling.
Clare and Tim, who work at Hamelin Pool camp ground and museum show us around and feed us cream teas
Hamelin Pool is located in the Shark Bay World Heritage Site and is home to the earliest examples of life on earth, a form of cyanobacteria termed Stromatalites. There is a campsite and museum next to the former Hamlin Pool Telegraph Station and the engaging Shane, Clare and Tim who run the place agreed that we should stay with them for the night. They were more than accommodating, sorting us out with food, wine and a place to pull up for the night making sure that we wanted for nothing.
We sat and talked together for hours and we were shown round the museum. All three of our hosts had travelled widely and they had interesting tales to tell about the rest of Australia as well as stories of the local area. Apparently it is mainly us foreigners who are interested in the Stromatalites. Most Aussie's who turn up asking ''where are those bloody rocks mate?''.
It's Februrary 26th and we finally get a piece of Christmas Cake! Long live longlife cakes!
It was a great night and we also had the pleasure to meet Dafi and Gili, two Israeli girls who were on their way to Perth. We had to tear ourselves away the next day and we agreed that Dafi and Gili would come with us to Hutt River Province. Shane called up the Prince and as a knight of the realm himself, secured us somewhere to stay and a free tour of the principality. We were very sad to leave, but needing to keep up our momentum. Intrigued at the prospect of visiting a little known country within a country, we departed.
Stromatolites, 3.5 billion year old fossilised examples have been found, not much to look at but impressive nontheless
We journeyed towards The Hutt River Province (See next post) curious as to what and who we would find there. It was good to have fresh company, as we three had been with each other non-stop for way too long and knew all too well each others' stories. We stopped only to refuel at the Billabong Roadhouse (thanks to Shane who had phoned ahead and arranged it with a friend). Arriving at the principality we were given somewhere to camp and free use of the showers. We heated up the contents of a few tins of food and tried to mix it in proportions that might look or taste appealing. Dafi and Gili looked on nauseously, vehemently refusing all our attempts to share the concoction and insisting that we have some of their salad. We drank the dregs of the previous nights wine and talked about life outside 'the trip'- a pleasant and refreshing change. We were up early for the guided tour and then parted ways shortly after as the girls were in a rush to get down to Perth. Our next port of call was only a short drive away at Geraldton, but with it being Labour Day weekend arriving early would work in our favour; or so we thought.
The industrial skyline of Geraldton
Public holidays often result in harder times for us. They are a good time for fundraising, as people are more laid back and approachable, but nationwide during the holidays there seems to be a complete absence of people who have the power to make any decisions. This makes it exceptionally difficult to find work, fuel, accomodation, food or anything else we may be in need of. We should have learned by now not land somewhere new over a holiday periods, but we had no idea what Labour Day was let alone that it was that particular weekend.
We were not exactly given the warm welcome we had hoped for in Geraldton, the pictures taken during our first few days summed up our mood well.
Labour Day (originally called 8 hour day) is an Australian public holiday that celebrates the achievements of organised labour on behalf of the worker to bring about the 8-hour day. As this was achieved at different times in different states each state celebrates on a different day of the year. Many of the union buildings across Australia have 888 inscribed on their fronts in support of British socialist Robert Owen who believed that people should have 8 hours to work, 8 hours for recreation and 8 hours to sleep. It was this philosophy helped foster The Eight Hours Movement. Marked by various parades and festivities it is a notoriously difficult time to find accommodation in any town or city.
Geraldton looks brighter and friendlier once the holiday weekend passes
We needed fuel to move on and knew we would have to wait till Tuesday, a normal working day, to get some - we were stuck. By the skin of our teeth we managed just to find somewhere to stay each day whilst subsisting on a diet of dried noodles and donated junk food. When Tuesday came round, people returned our phone calls and within half a day we had the means with which we could leave for Perth. In what would turn out to be one of our most useful and rewarding chance encounters, we stopped at the S-Bend Caravan Park and Roadhouse on our way out of town. Here we met Phil, Kathy and Kelly who, very enthusiastic about what we were doing, donated some more fuel and fresh fruit and veg to us. They also told us about an organisation called Apex, giving us the contact name and number for one of the club presidents in Perth. They themselves were also in Apex. Little did we know it then but very soon we would need the information they gave us. Apex would play a huge part in trip from here on end.
Geraldton beach
A seagull enjoying the kid's water play area along the shore front, Geraldton
A part of the wonderful play area for children complete with water area and climbing jungle funded by Variety Club
Francis Xavier Church, Geraldton
Thanks to Batavia, the Christian hostel which donated a room and laundry facilities to us
The girls at Adam's takeaway happily donate food to three very hungry and grateful people
Sand dunes blowing their tops off
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