Four stations in one day.......

I like truckin', I like truckin'........

Driving around Australia in a campervan is a great way to see the country, and makes arriving and leaving new places refreshingly simple.  No need to book ahead, no need to lug your rucksacks out of the car or bus and then unpack them.  And consequently no need to repack them when you are leaving.  You just park, turn on the gas for the cooker and you are good to go. Sure, the journeys are long and the scenery can be boring at times, but there are a heap of things that could happen on the way to keep you on your toes.

Ready for the 'Kangaroo Slalom'

Firstly, there's the possibility of a kangaroo about to leap out, especially if you are early in the morning or approaching sunset.  You see enough dead ones to know that this is a reasonable bet at some point. Then there's the added drama of overtaking road trains, all fifty-plus metres of them, with the excitement of the rear trailer (some have four trailers in all) snaking along and threatening to whip across and push you off the road as you attempt to pass; the sheer length of the road trains making you sometimes question whether you have left enough road to pass them as it takes an age to do so, and forget the huge sideways gusts of air as you finally pass the front of these giant road beasts. I chatted with a road train driver, he said they drive sometimes 1,400 kilometres in a day, up to 17 hours. (I couldn't help thinking about the "I like trucking" sketch from the 'Not The Nine O'clock News' team all those years ago, but there wasn't a kangaroo sticker in sight on the driver's door). 

Move over,  house coming

You get plenty of “wide loads” coming along, which force you to come off the road sometimes less you find yourself embedded in the side of a moving house......yes house. Then every now and again you'll see a flurry of activity on the road ahead, and as you get closer, you'll make out crows and wedge tail eagles feasting greedily on a bloody carcass, probably the latest victim of the merciless road train, that stops for practically nothing. The eagles are always last to leave the table, circling lazily around to return once you've passed.  But the crows are cannier - we've seen quite a few dead eagles, but not a single dead crow. 

Australia is the most expensive of all the places visited on our trip to date. So when we found ourselves visiting four gas stations in one day yesterday on a particularly long trip from Karajini to Sandstone, I figured we'd definitely not be coming out under budget for the day.  I'm not saying that we used four full tanks, but the received wisdom out here is generally to top up whenever you can, as the distance between filling stations can often be 200 or 300 kilometres or in some cases, particularly when you get inland, considerably more. 

Beach breakfast al fresco

Head to toe in their cosy RV bed

Still, this part of the trip was particularly for the boys, who loved the idea of an RV trip ever since we spent a week on a houseboat in Canada a couple of summers ago. And they, and indeed we, haven't been disappointed. Lots of meals al fresco, (except when the flies become just too much), and opportunities to sleep close to nature - like in the Cape Range National Park by the beach on the amazing Ningaloo Reef amongst inquisitive kangaroos; or in the outback at Karajini National Park close to the beautiful gorges and refreshing lakes; or overlooking the curious metal sculptures that dot the dried out salt flats of Lake Ballard and seem to continue endlessly out towards the shimmering horizon. 

Camping on the edge of Lake Ballard

I'm sure we'll miss the RV a little when we hand the keys back in a couple of days. Although having a little more space will no doubt be welcome too!

Loads of room, really, when you have a system.......