Home Jones and onto the next adventure God has planned....

Where it all began!! Hitting the road for the first time!
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Post many modifications and about 33,000kms and 18mths later

Well hello again. Neil and I were going through photo’s last night- inspired by a special deal on canvas ATM. My what a task- some 4000 of them. You know how it is, been the uneducated photographers we are, we figured 10 photos of the same thing might just get us one beauty of a shot. Any how we have given up on the photo sort- we’ll leave that till the next 50%off offer comes up . But I decided it was time to put the final chapter of our Aussie adventure together better late than never.

We have been such slack communicators of late that many of you are probably still under the illusion we are on the road somewhere in northern Aus. But we actually are not far from where we started. Tamworth is our new home. Yep so if you’re into boot scooting baby come visit us in the Country Music Capital. I (Naomi) am working back at Laverty Pathology- a gluten for punishment  clocking up 10 yrs with them shortly. Nah it is going well and a real blessing to have a job and a familiar one at that. Neil is been the most amazing house husband- if fact I’m secretly praying he doesn’t get work anytime soon cause coming home to dinner cooked, groc shop done and a clean house with all secretarial duties done is amazing!!! Whats more he is way more efficient than I am. I’m a very lucky girl!! So let me fill in all the blanks of how we came to be in Tamworth.

Katherine was the last stop I wrote of and our guest writer ‘Baby Woods’ chimed in then too. Somewhere back at Kununarra Neil and I toyed with heading back to the land of work and responsibility. We were both a little tired of the daily pack up, the intense heat and weeks of 400 plus Km’s a day. Don’t get me wrong we have had an amazing trip!! but 18mths on the move and we were thinking of a change. So in Katherine that was one of the first decisions made- to come home a little earlier than our previously decided Aug settling down and to do the top end of QLD another trip.

Little did we know God totally had a big hand in us wanting to be homeward bound!! Many of you have heard, though some of you may not have, that our Precious little guest traveller, ‘Baby Woods’, silently slipped home to Heaven, safe in Gods arms, in May. ‘Baby Woods’ was born in Coffs Harbour hospital at 2:05pm on the 24th May 2013. We are so blessed to be ‘Baby Woods’s parents and had an amazing time enjoying ‘Baby Woods’s’ company on the last 4.5 months of our trip. We had many many moments of joy that the knowledge of bubs eagerly anticipated arrival brought and treasure those memories dearly. ‘Baby Woods’ shaped every morning with an early rise least sickness set in before breakfast. Many meat pies were consumed and many hot chips care of ‘Baby Woods’ as were a lot of pistatchio nuts. ‘Baby Woods’ got us the generator out and aircon on many times in the 40 plus heat- a great excuse to get cool and burn some fuel . ‘Baby Woods’ made for many funny pictures when Daddy Neil would lift or suggest a lift of my shirt to expose bub in many shots at many locations across SA, WA, NT and QLD- So well travelled was our ‘Baby Woods’ for such a youngen. Some day Baby Woods can be our tour guide around Heaven and until that day we take peace knowing God knew best and Baby Woods is safe and well in His care. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the Heavenly lights, who does not change” James 1:17a. What a perfect gift Baby Woods is to our lives and this adventure. Thanks be to God.

Hello from inside Hippo Rock

I love the cheeky looks on our faces in this one at the Valley of the Giants, WA

From Katherine we headed south to the 3 Ways just North of Tennant creek. The trip like many across the top end was HOT. We froze every water bottle we could find and hour by hour consumed our icy bricks defrosting them on our foreheads in an attempt to maintain some cool. Our airconditioner was not coping with the heat and towing the caravan. The road speeds were 130 so we did 100 most of the time but when we wanted aircon we had to drop back to 70 and be really annoying nomads. A night a 3 ways and it was east across the Barkley Tableland to the QLD border along a road with crazy cross winds. The signs showed caravans been blown across the road and a few kms in we saw the first victims- a nice new 4wd and caravan upside down on the side of the road having succumbed to the wind. Many more similar wrecks dotted the route and amazingly they don’t seem to tow them away. We figured that that was a good sign cause if any of them were fatal we assumed the crash investigation mob would have to tow them away for testing.

Barkley Homestead fuel stop

The first border town in QLD, Camooweal, was unique, tiny and had just one fuel station. With the next fuel station east and west been a tank of fuel away everyone stopped at this tiny spot- the queue of trucks and caravans took up half the main st and the fuel area had room for just 2 vechiles at a time. We stopped for lunch and were approached by the ALP campaigning. Good to see they were getting out in the sticks but don’t think this little town of population 20 it seemed would have helped them out much .

From there it was onward to Mt Isa, another one of those 600 km plus days . First thing we noticed in QLD was the roads – horrendous!!! Though the roadworks were commencing just before the road disappeared into nothing. Mt Isa was packed with grey nomads- apparently the weekend we hit is the first weekend on the annual northerly migration. Heading south we were breaking the mould once again. We were in home bound mode now and with Mt Isa and QLD generally not been that far from home we spent just 2days there, a day in Longreach, a night in Roma and Moree and then back to Neils folks at Urunga. We decided to save the Stockmans Hall of Fame, the Mines in Mt Isa and a few other tourist sites for another time- a time when the kitty had more in it too cause my word every place big or small has a starting entry price of upward of $25 pp. Our stop in Moree was a quick car and caravan wash- we had a lot of dirt to get off and a lot of Martha Guy Flee burrs to leave out west. Mind you those burrs have a way of hiding out and we are still finding them in socks and shoes, even towels months later. So we made the final stop in Neil and Nays Aussie Adventure- back in Urunga.

Many a fun time (competitive time should I say) was spent around this table on our trip

We have loved this adventure and thank God for the opportunity to spend so much time together exploring His amazing creation and this great country we live in and visiting many of you along the route. We’d recommend the trip to one and all and look forward to more adventures to all the places we just couldn’t fit in this time. Until the next trip thanks for following our journey and God Bless.

Fried little Wood ducks

Hello from the NT- yes were making progress and have jumped states now.

Before we get into the in’s and out’s we invited a guest writer to our blog to give an intro:
“Hey there- so I have been given permission to say a quick ‘Hi’. I am currently serving 9 months on the inside. I am nearly 4 months into my time. Currently that makes my EDR October perhaps early November if I behave cheekily (EDR= Estimated Date of Release for those not down with the lingo). Mum and Dad assure me that early release for good behaviour is not preferable- I wouldn’t be reformed (or maybe it was refined) enough or something like that.
So apparently Mum and Dad didn’t want to fit the true grey Nomad style so they invited me along and now I am confined to doing and going wherever Mum and Dad take me- which today was a hike in Katherine Gorge in the middle of the day-will someone remind them i’m in here! and not a fan of exercise at 35 degrees!. I’m hiding out back at the moment so I guess with no ‘baby bump’ to show- due to mums amazing abs (brownie points please) it is hard to tell I exist. (P.S Dad says I can’t pull the wool over the eyes of anyone who knows Mum- apparently exercise isn’t her strongest point so those ab’s arn’t likely to be why I get to hide- maybe I am just shy like Dad). I was trying to remind them every morning with the sickie trick but Mum was so not impressed and even Dads patience even ran out on that one so I have given up on it. Kicking will be my next skill and I can’t wait- for now I have to grim and bear Dad squishing me with his head trying to feel any movement- just you wait till I can kick back in objection. Don’t get me wrong I do like affection but Dads head is heavy- brains for sure (more brownie points pls). Anyway before I ramble on like Mum will after me  I shall see you in October God willing. As for photo’s they as so backward- still black and white, so I shall wait until you can see me in person.”

Well if that isn’t news enough we will fill in the gaps between Carnarvon and Katherine. HOT HOT and SUPER HOT pretty much sums it up. We have become caravan juckies to escape the up to 41 degree heat. Free camping when the min overnight temp is in the late 20’s early 30’s is not favourable.

From Carnarvon we followed the coast to Kalbarri- a pretty coastal town in the middle of nowhere. Cyclones off the coast of Exmouth threatened but we frightened them off. We skipped Exmouth- unless you had a million dollars (well a lot) to swim with the whale sharks and go on cruises it seemed to be more beaches- of which we had seen thousands. Onto Karrutha/Dampier where the caravan park in non peak was $54 a night!. Karrutha was very much a mining town surrounded by mining camps. A 3 bedroom basic tin house rents for $2000/wk and the town is surrounded by mining camps- lots of donga’s for the purpose of housing FIFO- flyin flyout workers. Dampier had a large salt mine and a busy port and natural gas plant.

Port Hedland was a fun stop- we stayed with friends who showed us the sights, introduced us to their friends and took us on picnics. Neil did some beach 4wd and sightseeing on the weekend- meanwhile Baby Woods really turned it on and I spent a day or so between bed and the bucket. The town itself was once again a mining/industrial town. Rent was even higher- up to $2500 a week. The port was very busy and we saw many ships come and go to be loaded with Iron ore from the mines. Large trains with over 300 carriages bring the iron ore in to the port.
Port Hedland

The stretches of road are huge with nothing in between. 500-600kms a day are the normal- and that’s not rushing- there is literally nothing in between.

Broome was like a little oasis! We loved it. For starters the temps was closer to 34 than the 41 which had been killing us. The coastal breeze made for happy campers too. It was like a holiday within our holiday- been the first touristy town in ages. We made sure we were at Cable beach for sunset each night to see God’s stunning array, watch the camel teams travel by and enjoy a cool swim. We exchanged tales in the park swimming pool with fellow travellers trying to get cooler in the middle of the day. Pearls beautiful pearls tempted at every corner. We learn’t a lot about the pearling industry. Got to hold and admire a $156,000 strand of pearls- not I (Naomi) didn’t get those for my 30th a few days later. Actually the south sea pearls don’t come cheap- the cheapest item in that jewellers was $500 so I guess I shall be sticking with my beautiful freshwater pearls grown in mass in Asia somewhere but equally as beautiful. We explored the old Chinese settlement/town and were surprised by the huge tide variations- water on minute- kilometres of sand the next.
Sunset Cable Beach Broome.
Cable beach in background.

From Broome it was east through Fiztroy Crossing- a small predominately Aboriginal town – largely dry due to tight restrictions and milling with people- reminded me of Africa where people come out of the woodwork everywhere. We stayed the night at Mary’s Pool- a nice spot on the Mary river. The road in had only recently opened by the looks as water was still lapping at the causeway. We didn’t see the illusive crocs on every warning sign.

On through Halls creek to Kunnunara where we checked out the Ord river irrigation scheme- surprisingly a lot of which is used to grow Sandlewood plantations and of course the beloved Mango- which was out of season. We met George the freshwater Croc who came daily to the caravan park for a free feed. Definately give me a freshie any day- they are so much smaller than their saltie cousins. He even looked a bit cute and friendly- though we weren’t getting into the water to find out though the locals actually use that lake often for water ski-ing.
Ord river scheme.

Boab trees have fascinated us over hundreds of kilometres – they really are quite clever storing water and have the most unusual shape about them and large nut.

From Kunnunara it was straight through to Katherine- had to bypass the Bungle Bungles as the road is for hardcore 4wd only- one guy had 5 flats on the 52km of road in so with our caravan in tow we continued straight past. Flights over the Bungle Bungles weren’t an option either (neither were they over Katherine Gorge) At $101 for 8 mins- yes thats 8!. Must be the overseas tourists who are cashed up cause we saw plenty of helicopters on the ground but they must get business at some stage.
Victoria River on route to Katherine

So here we are in Katherine- oh fresh bread is the first thing we notice- would you believe that right across the top of WA Woolies and Coles sell only frozen bread- actually several weeks out of date frozen bread- sure it goes mouldy in a heartbeat but seriously they charge twice as much for expired frozen bread than normal bread- which they never have on the shelf- go figure.Aside from bread we have been for a lovely swim in the hot springs- a constant 32 degrees. A walk at Katherine Gorge was interesting- quite hot and not quite as spectacular as the brochures and TV ads lead you to expect- that said by walking we could only see one gorge- several hundred dollars each would have brought us a 1hr cruise to see 3 gorges. Perhaps flights and cruises are the best way to see the area but the cost is mind boggling. One gorge and we were happy to come home for an arvo nap.
Katherine Gorge.
Mmm now we may sign off for another visit to the hot springs .

Stunning SW WA to roasting in the North

Wow told you it was catch up time-- feel free to skim afterall who has time for 2 blogs in a week. We will use this as our diary of the trip once home hence I am been ott not to skip stuff- but skip away if you like.

After Kalgoorlie we headed for Perth and had about 2 wks there getting odd jobs done, resting and awaiting my parents arrival.

Mum and Dad came across and travelled for 10days with us from Perth down thru the wheatbelt east of Perth to Esperance on the coast and round the bottom to back to Perth.

We did the tourist things in Perth:

-We saw Kings Park with it's stunning views of the city and array of beautiful and unusual plants that would interest even the not so botanically minded


- Viewed the Bell Tower. Mum and Dad had a tour and bell ringing opportunity and Neil looking all buff :) got asked by the ladies to help wind up the clock tower- a heavy task (truth be known I couldnt even move the winder (not that that says much))


- Went to the fire museum, factory outlets, malls, free bus tours etc.

From Perth we went across the wheatbelt- interestingly the wheat stubble was much sparser that we saw up Nth NSW. The country was pretty rocky and we saw some iconic rocks- namely Wave Rock, Hippo Rock and some aboriginal rock art.

Esperance was next. The weather was wet and overcast but we found the beautiful coast in the National Park out of town. This poser kept getting in my scenic photo's- but you get the idea:
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The coast the whole way along the coast was stunning and remarkably we had good weather. A few years ago when I visited I lived in a trackpants, froze to death and nearly got blown away by the Southerlies- weather that is normal for this area. I asked one guy whether their were any BBQ's nearby to which he responded that on any other day 'my sausages would be blown off before they'd be cooked so they didnt bother installing any'. Guess we struck it lucky this time :).
(One of the few pictures of Neil and I together- the joy of having my parents as travel companions).
They have the most amazing Karri and Red Tingle forrest along the coast- the trees are huge and gnarly and rather old. Dad and Neil did a tree top skywalk about the forrest- well they were 40 metres up but the trees were 70 metres plus tall so it was more of a mid forrest walk.
(Bring back the old blogger where I knew how to rotate photo's- apols).
We checked out the gourmet options in Margaret River- starting with the old English lolly shop.

Feeding rays in the wild was a real highlight- a local let us know that the rays came into the bay daily and were quite people friendly (aka bribed by the daily offal feeds they got from the local fisherman. The rays came right up to us, brushed against our legs and even got a pat (they are slimy). Neil got to feed them. I had no idea how big they got- they ones here totally dwarfed the rays we are used to over east. Probably the big boys were 1-1.5 metres in diameter and then had tails about 75-100cm long. The barb actually sticks out the side on the tail about 1/4 of the way back from the tip of the tail.

My (Naomi) wonderful Nan (Mum's Mum) passed away shortly after Mum and Dad left Perth. She was quite a character and I have very fond memories. This pick definately depicts her character for all who knew her- always having or causing a laugh.

From Perth we headed North to Geraldton, the Pinnacles, Kallbarri and then Carnarvon. In Geraldton we picked up some extra weight- in the form of a Red and Yellow Beacon- as if our roof wasnt loaded enough already. We could have picked up assylm seekers from Sri Lanka too. Though whilst they knocked on many windows of houses in Geraldton whilst we were their they apparently weren't interested in our home- the lovely caravan- maybe it seemed a little cosy after the boat trip- whatever the case we got no knocks and only knew about the drama unfolding under our noses due to the radio reports.

The Pinnacles
Kalbarri

We are currently in Carnarvon. It is so so hot and the weather up north isnt looking like improving anytime soon! We have enjoyed some good fishing. I caught a yummy parrot fish (a pretty fish too)- the good ol handline came through again and in my fast (impatient) style of fishing Neil and I brought in more Bream than we could count and barely went a minute without a bite. Neil was going for the unusual- catching a coral trout and about 3 other fish we had never seen before- if in doubt chuck it back.

Yay I am off the hook- we are finally up to date- better late than never :)

Adelaide to Kalgoorlie instalment

Well where to begin? Or where did I last leave off? Lets first say we are in the middle of no-where with no phone, no internet and to Neil’s disgust no TV so I wouldn’t have a clue what I last wrote or when- only that it was a long time ago- probably before we hit WA so lets start west of Adelaide.....
Windy night on the Eyre at Port Neil.

Leaving Adelaide and friends we headed down the Eyre Peninsular- the tourist guides and maps list many towns in bold type-that means big- but it is all relative on the Eyre big is 200-300 and small is 20 and even makes the map after all in the summer months 20 can swell to 2000 if the fishing is good. Speaking of fishing, every town is the ‘King George Whiting’ capital- only no towns other than Port Lincoln sold fish fresh- go figure. The coast was pretty and rugged and windy and wet. One lovely free camp was disrupted and packed up at 4am due to horrendous wind- I was a none responsive participant in this pack-up so was left in the van while Neil drove off- a brief moment that last and then I was on the phone demanding he let me in the car PJ’s and all- do you have any idea how much the insides of a caravan rattle, creak and sway on a dirt road- tis any wonder anything stays where we put it or that the van doesn’t just self-destruct.

From the Eyre we hit the Nullabor. Ceduna, SA, was the first town- once again one might expect a bit of size but alas a small IGA supplied us with the vitals. For one who expected large expanses of red desert the Nullabor was full of surprises. Nobody told me it meandered along the Great Australian Bite and hence had stunning limestone cliffs and Southern Ocean winds plus plus. Though thank God we had a tail-wind most of the way. The poor people coming the other way were reporting 3.3km/L fuel-ouch!!! The temperatures were no surprise- well into the 30’s mean’t we often stopped in the middle of the day under some shade (yeah right- no trees- only the occasional shed road side). This let our struggling fridge recover- it’s worse than travelling with a 2yo and dictates of every move.

The ‘towns’ on the Nullabor turned out to be merely roadhouses with dirt parking spaces called caravan parks which charged upwards of $30 a night- granted they ran everything off generators and no doubt had lots of expense getting supplies out there. We free camp any way.We stopped at Mundrabilla roadhouse/ An aboriginal funeral was to be held to next day in the nearby dry community so we saw a number of the locals at the servo/general store. They must live traditionally because there is nothing out there by way of food supplies. Mind you the land looks fairly unforgiving too. We saw the stereotypical animal warning signs- roo, wombat and camel and like all good tourists stopped for a photo. The only animal we saw alive was a dingo or two. A pile of dead camels roadside led me to suspect a recent aerial cull had taken place. Neil shivered at roo bones everywhere- but took comfort that hopefully the graveyard was 20 years in the making :). The flying doctor service run-ways broke the repetitive black straight road and the odd storm rolled in creating massive barrel like clouds. Yes we had rain on the Nullabor- several times in fact.
Norseman marked the end of the Nullabor- another tiny town which welcomed us with bucketing rain till we were cool and drenched through- and all that red dirt washed off . Nothing remarkable there we free camped.




Telegraph station
The treeless plain

In total the most we payed for fuel was $1.92 though we saw $2.10. We had been given prior warning about when and where to buy the cheapest fuel on the trip across and with our large tank, sub-tank and a jerry we only needed fuel twice. I thought given fuel in civilisation was about $1.56- $1.60 at the time that $1.92 wasn’t too bad.

Well will end todays post at Kalgoorlie where we caught up with an old friend Becky Lee Young and checked out the large mines- watching a blasting. Well I was looking for a big blast and lots of noise so I didn’t even notice the event had occurred- but by chance or good management I happened to have the video camera on just the right part of the pit to capture the moment which Neil played back to me just so I could have the experience which my deaf ears found unremarkable.

Well the next instalment should bring you up to date- Kalgoorlie to Carnarvon where we are currently sweltering :) (or perhaps further North depending how long it takes me to get onto it).
Going fishing.........and the boss is waiting- actually should make him wait more often- he has done the laundry to kill time...mmm what more could I get done ;p.

Coastal route to Adelaide

Did I mention Neil got gaol time for his drug offences? :). This old gaol at bordertown SA was the gaol for gold robbers but today has been converted into the toilets- innovation :)Note the ladies toilets arnt in the gaol block- maybe only men need reinforced toilet structures :p.

Well we are now in Adelaide. We traveled some beautiful coastline to the East of Adelaide.

Port McDonnell


Showing just how far we have to go. Note Neil is doing a penguin impersonation as the fairy penguins were supposed to be there BUT as always they were out fishing (one day I may see one- more than the dead one Neil proudly photographed for me last yr :)).(Sorry for the orientation issue- blogger has issues :().


Robe SA.

We drove along the Coorong NP. I remember as a kid 'Storm Boy' set on the Coorong was a favourite movie of mine. Those of you who know 'Storm Boy' will know it is about pelicans BUT we saw only a couple of pelicans even when we were at the pelican breeding grounds where one typically see thousands- we sure have an effect on the wildlife- one of mass exodus.

We crossed the Murray via ferry (in fact our car and caravan combo took up half of the little ferry) and headed to the quaint village of Strathalbyn know for it's heritage buildings. Here we not only see a beautiful old church and many nice building but we discover that SA doesn't do plastic bags (NONE!!) not even for those who forget their 'Green' bags) so we loaded our pockets and arms up looking rather like thieves and awaited a break in the seemingly never ending traffic in this tiny village- a funny sight.

From there we stayed in the wine country at a great free camp with about 25 plus other caravning buddies- it was more like a caravan park.

Next stop Victor Harbor where we went across to Granite Island via a long bridge which we shared with the horse drawn carriage. I saw penguins- for which the island is know- bronze statues of them cause once again the penguins were out to sea.


Adelaide was the next stop. We timed it perfectly to see a friend of mine from my time with Mercy Ships and stay with her family. They headed off on holidays and we got to house and puppy sit for 6 days. In fact the puppies are so so spoilt by Neil that I think I will need therapy for husband neglect.

Our young charges.

We have caught up with old friends from Armidale and Mercy Ships, enjoyed 'The German experience' of sausages and pretzels in Handorf (a little German village in the Adelaide Hills, and been to the beach where the water is freezing despite the 38 degree weather here.

Till next time........

Police raids, volcanos and more

Well for those of you wondering how we have been funding our adventures.......... Yep our crop been hauled in the police raid at Taylors Arm that resulted in our questioning.



Never a dull moment camping. The truth is we arrived at Taylors Arm (remote place only known for the 'Pub with no Beer') and what do you know but police dogs and a chopper arrived at the free camp and set up a base to do raids on the Marijuana crops in the hill country. The police were very friendly and we scored a tour of the chopper and a run down on what the crop looks like, how it grows and it's street value- this raid turned in $400,000 worth of crop and was a overt operation meaning we could know about it. They were just focussed on ripping out the crops before they came to harvest and made it to the street. The covert team runs the on famr under cover survielance to catch the crooks at other times. The whole affair made for a very entertaining day as the chopper came in and out with the haul and men were lowered into crops to rip them out.
Oh and did I mention we were actually quitely camping with Neil's folks despite it feeling like we were witnessing a Hollywood film set. So we enjoyed a drink at the 'Pub with no Beer' a name that suits a pub for Neil and I, two no drinkers to party at :).

A couple of days earlier we all got our birthday presents which was a days kyacking on the Bellinger river. Fun times and when things got tough a good gentlemany tow was a bonus :)



We had a few days with family kicking up our heels at the Tamworth country music festival. We saw Becky Cole (for free) and Kasey Chambers also for free- we are true cheap scapes :)Oh and the chook man who is still alive (I remember him been old 10yrs ago at the festival but he kicks on).


From Tamworth we headed in land to Orange and Bathurst (where we did a lap of Mount Panorama with our caravan in tow quite a sight).
Crossing the Hay Plains we saw numerous bush fires and then headed into a massive wall or smoke- thankfully the wind got going and before too long we realised we were in fact in a huge dust storm not a smoke cloud- dust storms are a regular out there. We camped along the Murray in the vineyards of Renmark and were offered grape picking/packing jobs which we declined.

We meandered across the SA border and down south to Mt Gambier's volcanic country. We stayed with Kate Rhook an old friend who made a great host and tour guide. The Blue Lake is stunning as are the caves, sinkholes and volcano's.


Feeding possums with Kate at the Umpherston sinkhole.

Well thats not where were up to but thats way too much reading for you for one sitting so next time we'll up date you on Mt Gambier to Adelaide where we currently are.