Days 129 - 141

We nearly missed the staircase to the moon in Broome, not because we were late, but because we and hundreds of others were sitting in the wrong place. A call went out saying that the moon was rising on the other side of the jetty and a stampede of people started towards the jetty to see the moon rise from the ocean – an incredible sight.

We left Broome with roughly 400 litres of WVO and new brakes and bearings for the Barnacle. The roads really have taken there toll on our little friend. We headed South to Cape Keraudren along a very long and boring stretch of road that felt like it went on for ever. Cape Keraudren was a beautiful spot set in a conservation area, with kangaroos playing on the beach. The sea looked very inviting but we did not venture in. The ranger told us that there were crocs, sharks, sting rays and stonefish all present in the waters. Our camping neighbours went out fishing in their tinnie and they confirmed the number of sharks in the water by the bounty they brought back.

We are becoming very good at “catching” fish. I say “catching” because Gerard and I are not having much luck fishing from the shore, but we always seem to be in the right place when the boats come in. Any spare fish are thrown in our direction and we dutifully catch them. Bronze whaler shark was on the menu in Cape Keraudren and very nice it tasted too!

We left the coast and headed inland to Karijini NP. There were a couple of changes in landscape from the drive from Broome to Cape Keraudren – firstly, we saw (and unfortunately smelt) a huge amount of dead cows on the side of the road and secondly, we pulled off the road several times for oversize mining vehicles that were being hauled which took up both sides of the road. Mining is huge here and almost every car you encounter is a mine vehicle with their red sand flags on top.

We are extremely glad that we took the time to go inland to Karijini as the scenery was stunning. The walks were great too, our favourite being “the Spider Walk.” We got to it after clamouring over huge rocks and braving freezing cold water. The Spider Walk is a bend in the gorge where it is so narrow that you need all four limbs to push off the walls and walk forward. One slip and you could end up on the slippery rock under the shallow water below. The narrow gorge opens up into the blissful and refreshing Kermit's Pool. What the creators of this walk did not cater for were people with short arms and legs like me. I really struggled finding footholds and to get me safely through the walk, I started singing a song to lift my spirits. The song was “Spider Pig” sang by Homer Simpson in the movies “the Simpsons”. I merrily hummed along to “Spider Pig, Spider Pig, does whatever a Spider Pig does.” I have no idea why I started singing it but it got me through the walk!

Up until this point, we had been starting our car every morning by using aerostart (we have heard others refer to this as “start ya bastard”) and had been doing this since leaving Manning Gorge up on the Gibb River Road. As we were having no problems running on waste cooking oil once the car had started, our aim was to carry on until we got to Perth, where we could get the car properly checked out. However, lady luck ran out on us as we were leaving Karijini. Gerard was driving and felt the car losing power when he pressed the accelerator. This had happened to us previously and he immediately identified this as the waste oil fuel filter needing to be changed. He switched to using diesel and decided we would get to the next roadside rest area where we would allow the engine to cool down before changing the filter. Once the filter had been changed, we tried to start the car to test whether the filter was on properly. The car would not start, not even with aerostart. We tried several times during the day, but to no avail. As we were at a roadside rest area, we set up camp and chatted to our new camping neighbours – Noel and Shelia from Adelaide and Peter, Tracy and family from Boulder, Colorado, USA. Both kept our spirits high, (the Butterscotch Schnapps provided by Shelia defiantly helped), and said they would tow start us in the morning if the Battered Fish still would not start.

The morning came and Gerard and I nervously tried starting the car – nothing. We tried it with aerostart – again nothing. For the fourth time on our trip, we got our beautiful purple tow rope out and Peter gave us a tow start. The Battered Fish started and the idea now was to keep moving until we got to the next roadhouse, nearly 300 kms away. We managed to get there but as we needed to fill up on diesel at the roadhouse ($2.07 a litre – now we know why we don’t travel on diesel!), we turned the car off. Again, the car would not start and for the second time that day, the purple tow rope came out and Peter gave us another tow start. What a sight we must have looked being towed around the roadhouse’s car park with the Barnacle bobbing along behind. We got going and did not stop until we arrived at Exmouth, a seaside town which leads to the Ningaloo Reef (I know, there are worse places to be having mechanical problems.)

It is now merely a waiting game for us to find out what is wrong with the Battered Fish. Unfortunately for us, WA celebrates the Queens Birthday each year and this happens to coincide with us waiting to see what is wrong with our car. Deciding not to sit around and mope about the future of the Battered Fish, we have ventured out onto the reef for some snorkelling and exploration. All I can say is wow. The reef is literally 5 metres away from the beach and the array and colours of fish, reef sharks, turtles and manta rays we saw was amazing for something so close. Our favourite snorkelling place was called “Turquoise Bay”. As you can imagine with such a name, the sea was a brilliant turquoise colour and the sand a glimmering white. We snorkelled what was called the “Turquoise Drift”, where you get in one end of the beach and the current takes you down to the other. We were so engrossed with the shoals of fish that we almost forgot to get out.

The evenings too were stunning as the wildlife really came to life. There were huge amounts of large, red kangaroos hopping along on the side of the road, goannas sitting on the road catching the last rays of sun and emus crossing the road with their chicks. Looking out towards the ocean, we watched the hump back whales putting on a great tail display for us, splashing their fins and tails against the ocean before resurfacing a few minutes later and repeating their performances.

I also discovered a new religion in Australia over the weekend – AFL or Aussie Rules Football. It was the grand final where two Victorian teams were playing each other – the Hawks v the Cats. We went along to watch the game at the local pub and I had my first taste of Aussie sporting mania. Not really knowing anything about aussie rules, I tried to blend in with the crowd so I didn’t stick out as a “pommie” and shouted out some of the comments I heard at what I deemed to be appropriate moments – “Through the Guts” was my favourite, closely followed by “knock ‘im down”. At one point, I really got into character and asked Gerard “what da youze wanna drink darl?’ (I thought using “hunk of spunk” instead of “darl” was going one step too far). The Hawks eventually won, much to most of the crowd's relief, and we had teary man hugging teary man, proud shouts of “that’s my boys” and general merriment. That night, we met up with the Vanderkellens, a family we met in Mitchell Plateau and then saw again in Manning Gorge and Broome, for pizza. It was their oldest son's 8th Birthday so they were celebrating. Camping is a very social life!

So life here in Exmouth has treated us very well whilst the Battered Fish has been hanging out at the mechanics. We will hear tomorrow the Fish’s diagnosis so fingers crossed.

I have added some photos of the sea at Cape Keraudren, our time at Karijini National Park including some of the stunning gorges and Gerard and I (aka as the Spider Pigs) on the Spider Walk, the warning sign at Cape Keraudren, a Goanna we saw crossing the road, the sunsetting at the Lighthouse, the Staircase to the Moon and the stunning Turquoise Bay.

We hope you are all well and please keep your fingers crossed for the Fish’s return!

Rach and Ged x