Day 2 - Canarvon to Gerro!!!!

Hello my fellow followers, 

Today started with a crack of the back and a tea in those massive novelty mugs... ( by the way I opted against tea the night before because of those annoying bugs, I actually think they were thirsty as well)..

packing was snap easy, looked around to find that nothing was stolen, a hop skip and a jump later Heba was in the Nav to start the day of driving. We didn't have much ground to cover (bout 460k or so) good time to teach Heba how to drive!!!! Haha gotta love it.

Not too much fauna to speak of just a few sheep and cows but the roadkill toll is now up to 2045 locusts, 45 dragon flies, 20 butterflies (by the way as apart of my morning ritual I have to check oil, power steering, coolant, engine oil, tire pressure, hoses, break fluid, fridge and clean bugs off of everything!!!!)

The Nav preformed outstanding again... I'm actually really impressed with this car and how much we have managed to fit in it, we are completely self sufficient, we can travel up to 800kms, 25l of water, gas and butane for cooking, and about 4 days worth of food, all the safety gear I could possibly fit, oh and the main ingredient is a carton of mothers milk, BEER!!!!!

We arrived in Gerro at around 1430, checked in and went looking around town. To our amazement there was a BCF, a BUNNINGS, and for Heba a SPOTLIGHT! Coming from K'Town it really was amazing to see, so we spent the next hour walking around BCF saying things like "oh that would be useful", or "that tent would be awesome for us", then " look Ceejay a SPORK! Can we get it?" to which i responded with a sigh saying "yes Heba".... 

At this moment I'm sitting drinking said mothers milk looking around the campsite trying to find someone thats under 60 without a 30ft caravan with satellite to make friends with but its been about half an hour and heba and i are still the only ones on this side of sixty...

To M&D these people really take everything with them which is what you guys do, so go re-invent yourselves buy a 30ft, drop everything, invest in shares, get on the road and do it because you guys would love this....

Any-hoo off to listen to some triple J, more beer, watch the sunset on the beach and eat some stroganoff...

Laters guys, 

By the way don't stay up too late wishing you were here with us, doing how we do!

Bye-bye

CJ & Heba.... xx

Ps - H here - just wanted to quickly let you know L - in setting up camp this afternoon; the tent was true to form and erected itself perfectly!! :P xx

Day 1 - KTown to Carnarvon

Ok now this is my first post and I'm not to sure what to write but here it goes...

Our day started off with saying goodbye to the shoebox for one last time... then to pack the car head to the real estate office to hand in the keys..

Now all we had in front of us was 639kms of relatively straight roads with one or two turns. I had first dibs on being the one to see K'Town in the rearview, the town that has given me so much and taken from me so little... to think now looking back at how many times I wanted to leave that place, its quite amazing how you appreciate  things when you leave...by the way the count got up to 104...

The drive started great with no hiccups the car ran like a dream. Since we are only carrying camping gear the weight is great for fuel consumption and is easy on the Nav. Ok so the road kill count is up to 1001 and it consists of 1000 locusts and 1 small lizard, (poor thing couldn't see the BFgoodrich AT's coming at him)... 

As far as animal spotting goes I saw 5 lizards and a few cows, and Heba saw a few cows, a star picket and a tire which looked like an emu!!!! Poor Heba!!! 

We made it to the Big 4 Cvan park in carnarvon and we set up camp in a snap thanks to 1) my packing, 2) 3 second tent (which doesn't take 3 seconds by the way - it just takes getting it out of the bag!) , 3) heba and i really work well together.

Onto the food we had deviled snags in massive cups eaten with chop sticks... because on every big adventure you have to forget something and on this particular trip it just so happened to be FORKS... 

Also with these novelty cups we are compelled to have some tea and that time just so happens to be now, because these bugs are really annoying on this laptop screen...

So we bid you goodnight from the tent....

CJ & H xx

Our Home

After my last post - literally hours after Cj walked back into the shoebox to inform me that we'd hit a problem. The trusty ol' Nav just couldn't fit anymore of our "STUFF"!! Close to tears, we brought it all back inside, discussed our options, looked at each other and headed off to our dear friend N's - there was no more to be done for the night...

I will pause now for the many of you who warned us that this would be the case. Laugh now and say your "I told you so's" and then I never want you to mention this again!!!! (D - this is mainly for you!)

So now we are sitting back in the shoebox waiting for a price from the removalists to find out how much it will cost to get our three boxes and 3 bags back to the coast. I am avoiding the next task where we have to drive BACK to trusty N's abode drop of ALL the gear in the back of the tray (only to repack it tomorrow morning) then come back to the shoebox to pack ALL the boxes and bags for the removalists and drop at their depot and then go and fall onto the couch at N's house and not move for the rest of the afternoon!

What makes a home? Is it in the aesthetics or the design? An architect would probably say so. Is it more what you fill it with - your possessions? A hoarder would probably agree. Does it come down to the people within these walls - your husband, your wife and your children, and how they "feel" in your place of residence? A family man would definitely think along these lines.

Some of you may not have heard our interesting adventures when it comes to our experience with housing in K'Town - and this is not the place to bore you with the details - however it's fair to say we've had our fair share of "fun experiences". I had a little moment yesterday when I got into the car after yet another one of these "fun experiences" had unfolded to hear the amazing "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's. If you haven't heard it - go find it. Funnily enough this song always seems to "appear" when ever I am just about at the end of my tether when moving from place to place and feeling very homeless...I am reminded that my home is right by my side.

So....we haven't quite left...yet...but I swear we're getting closer!!

Ta ta for now...

H & Cj xx

Farewell K'Town

After almost 2 years in K'Town the time has finally come to say our farwell's and start our long journey home for the next chapter.  

We decided to set up this blog so you can keep track of us every kilometre of the way as we make our way across the country back to the good old Tweed Heads. As well as keeping track of us - it will also be a way for us to stay sane as we attempt to survive 3 weeks of living in the trusty Nav! We've decided if we can survive this - marriage will be a piece of cake!

It's funny - we have joked about the size of our little apartment, affactionatley dubbed "the shoebox" (a fitting description for all of those lucky enough to step inside!) However, it has amazed me at the amount of "stuff" we have succeeded in fitting in here! As I sit in the middle of it all, (yes it is still not packed!) I wonder how we managed to actually live in here with all this STUFF!!

Now we attempt the seemingly "easy" task of fitting it all into the Nav! Hmmm - for some reason I think this will be not so easy! Especially when said Navara is currently in the auto-electricians and the packer of the Navara is currently sleeping off a hangover!! One last Sunday sesh at the 'Brey finished in true style. 

So as the Nav get's it's "Thumper" installed (portable dual battery - for all of you non-4WD enthuisast :P...yes I'm learning!) and while Cj sleeps off his hangover, I am sitting huddled up on the couch in the middle of what feels like a mountain of crap that will never disappear, reflecting on our time here in the Pilbara.

Funny isn't it when you count down to something for so long - when it finally arrives it's almost so over whelming you don't even know how to react!! 

The Pilbara is a surprising little place. People are quick to judge it as boring and horrible...but if you give it the chance it has a lot to offer. Amazing little places, with no one for miles, and some of the best friends we've ever made that we know we will keep for a long time to come. 

So farewell K'Town - thanks for having us...no doubt we will be back!! 

xx h & Cj