Day 77 Barrick Gold, Darlot Mine WA

Hey all of you, I hope you are all enjoying the ANZAC day long weekend, did any of you go to the dawn service this morning? I watched some of it on TV, it’s a bit sad though as some of the people who served in the wars are really quite frail now.

 Well the last two days I have only posted a small blog, it is hard to travel & do all of the things that Ness & I do on our travels, and then try to write about them every night! But I will try and do a decent blog each night we are on this site.

 Ok lets start from yesterday morning, we left Newman at 7am, we decided that rather than go back the way we came up we would go a different way. May as well see as much of this state as we can while we are here. Now it is just coming into “Grey Nomad” time of year so the roads are relatively quiet. There were a few caravans, camper trailers and converted buses on the road, but the trucks delivering equipment to the mines are unbelievable! 3 and 4 trailer road trains all packed with mining “Stuff”. I reckon it would be hard to go 3 minutes without a truck coming the other way. Lots of oversize loads too, it is really important to have a CB radio as the pilot vehicles escort the wide loads and let you know what is coming.

 So the only thing exciting that happened was the size of some of these loads, we actually had to get off the road to let some of the trucks past. We also saw heaps of dead animals, Roo’s, Emu’s, cattle.... Imagine hitting a cow at 100km/h!!!! Ness & I mentioned that we are surprised how few “Live” animals we have seen on this trip..... sure we have seen a few kangaroos, some emus, plenty of cattle & sheep, quite a few Eagles (awesome!!!!)

 It was actually quite a boring drive, the top of WA is beautiful, it can be so bare & sparse that it is quite pretty, and at other times it can be so busy & beautiful that you struggle to take it in all at once.

 Anyway the trip was strange, for those of you who read the blog you will know that this is the first time we have been in the car & van heading away for almost a month! We were at Yandi for 10 days, then went down to Perth, Then stayed in Newman..... so it has been a while. Ness bought 2 women’s magazines (she says she buys them just for the crosswords but she also manages to read all the trashy articles!)..... but she has also missed being in the car as she was a bit loopy during the drive! I asked her several questions & she just giggled like a school girl!....... What the!!! What did you have for breakfast Ness? Who was the loopy one...I seem to remember you singing Air Supply songs at the top of your lungs!! 

 Her cross stitch is looking great, there were a few weeks where it just looked like a whole heap of thread on a black back ground..... now I can actually see what it is going to be! Ill take some pictures of it.  Makes a big difference doing cross stitch in Dolly...the suspension is great and I am no longer pricking my finger constantly.

 All right so we went through Meekatharra, this is a place where I would like to have a bit more of a look around, it has a large aboriginal population and the town is very “Neat” I can only speak from what we have already seen on our travels but many of the towns that have a big aboriginal contingent are pretty messy! Crappy houses, cars on nature strips, messy streets, drunk people under trees and in the streets.... But Meeka is quite a tidy town, even the aboriginal part of town is neat.

 Look I know a lot of you will criticize me for what I say about the aboriginal people, but I am just saying what I see!

 From Meekathara we headed to Mt Magnet, again a very beautiful but boring drive, I reckon we have been spoilt on this trip because even the nice stuff we are used to!.... but that does not mean we do not appreciate it!

 We arrived at Mt Magnet to find out that the annual race meeting was on today (Horses) if only we had known we would have come down the day before and gone to the races! But the caravan park was full of race goers! So you can imagine it was a pretty lively place when everyone got back to the caravan park! Even the caravan park owners were out with the party goers in the park.

 Ness & I went for a walk up the street, Mt Magnet looks like a really nice little place, mining & farming combine to keep the town alive.

 We had a quiet night & then hit the hay...... I slept like a log & we woke up & had brekky and then packed up the van. We had to go to Leinster, you might have heard of this place as a guy was killed here just two weeks ago in a mining accident!...... Bloody dangerous industry to work in!

 From Leinster we had to drive 70km out to the mine site, 40km was on dirt road so I was again in heaven, Dolly the Land Rover & Bart the caravan love the dirt roads! The roads were heavily rutted and had corrugations caused by the trucks driving to & from the mines. But I loved it, I will post some pictures of the back of the van after our drive!

 Earlier in the blog I mentioned that I was surprised how few live animals we have seen, well this leg was different we saw several emu’s, plenty of cattle, some sheep lots of eagles, 2 kangaroos & even 2 horses just grazing on the side of the road!..... but the best thing was a herd of feral goats. We drove past a place called the Granites, which was a whole heap of rocks.... looked really cool. But then we saw these huge goats, they were big & all had a full head of horns!..... So being me I decided to get closer, Drove the car & the caravan down tracks that we probably should not have gone down..... Just to see these goats, you should see how they climb..... Cool. We will put some pics up tomorrow.

 So we arrived at the mine site only to find out we have no internet or phone coverage! But we have a great place for the van and we are surrounded by cardboard eating kangaroos! Serious they eat cardboard from garbage bins! There is one spot at the top of a hill in the camp that we can get phone reception and internet sometimes.  So please be patient with the uploads this week, they may not be very consistent.  Will take a photo of where I have to go to get internet access....

Oh and it has been raining too.... it has been a while since we have seen rain.

 Ok gotta go, early start tomorrow...... Yuck!

 Did you see Melbourne Storm win today?..... cool huh!  Did you see Collingwood won???

 James & Ness

Day 76 Travelling Day to Magnet Mountain

Hello again, sorry to dissapoint but another short blog, we did over 600km today. i will write a long blog tomorrow, but i just wanted to say to Dan & Brad it was great to speak to you both tonight..... Miss you both guys and can't wait to catch up when we get home.

The trip today was fun, Ness must have eaten magic mushrooms for breakfast as she was crazy all day! But then again she is crazy most days!

Speak to you soon.

Love J & N......xxx

Day 75 last night in Newman

Hello Blog followers, what have you all got planned for the weekend, long weekend for most of you. As for Ness & I we work in an industry that is 24/7/365 there are no days off!

So this weekend we head south to our next round of site visits. We will be busy too, we work on Monday and then every day for 12 days straight.

But we are at 4 or 5 different sites so there will be variety.

Anzac day long weekend, “Lest we forget” I love the tradition behind Anzac day, there is a certain romanticism behind the men & women that fought in the wars for Australia. And I don’t say that lightly, many lives were lost fighting for the freedom we all now enjoy. I reckon it is the one time that I actually stop to reflect on their sacrifice.

Thanks to all of you that commented on yesterdays Blog..... But mum I did not understand yours?..... I reckon you have been spending too much time in the garden with the hot weather that Melbourne has been having!

Dan plays Basketball tomorrow, good luck mate.... he has made the starting 5 for his team, run like a mad dog is chasing you Dangaz.... can’t wait to get home & see you play again.

Short Blog tonight as most people don’t read it on Friday’s.... Especially Friday before a long weekend! (We do know how many of you read it...... technology is awesome!)

Have a great long weekend, drive/ride/walk safely. Speak to you from a different place tomorrow!

May peace be with you.... and you ..... and you!

Love from us!

Day 74 Back in Newman

 Well after yesterday’s adventure in the bush, it was back in the caravan at Newman last night & today we are planning the next leg of the journey. We actually have to backtrack South 700K’s or so back down to the goldfields. So we are looking at alternative routes as we want to see as much as we can on this trip.

 This morning Ness went for a bike ride, and I stayed at the caravan and rode my bike on the rollers, Why you might ask? Well on the rollers I can exercise more consistently, if I went out on the road I would have to stop and start, up hill & down, so for me it is better to ride on the rollers, some days Ness & I go out for a ride together, but when it is for exercise it is better just to do it on the rollers.

 It also gives me time to think, you would be amazed at some of the things you think about while sitting stationary on an exercise bike!

 Today I was thinking about the trip so far & decided that I would write Ness a letter which I will share with you all.

 Hey Ness,

Today is our 74^th day on the road, and apart from the time you went back to Melbourne to pick up the new car, we have been together 24hrs a day 7 days a week. When I think about this I reckon we are two of the few people that ever get to do this. I mean most couples get married, have a honeymoon that lasts for a week or two, but then get back to their lives where one or both of them work apart & spend very little time together. Sure they might have dinner, watch some TV, go to bed..... but very few couples I know spend so much time together. So I reckon we are lucky.

 But the thing about it is that we actually enjoy it, when we are on the road, we have our conversations about anything & everything, puzzles, talking books, you do crosswords, and we do trivia. Not to mention the things we see, places we visit & people we meet (good & bad).

 When we work, we do most of it together & you have your roles, I have mine & we have shared jobs too, setting up & packing up the van is always a fun thing, never a chore! And planning our next journey is always exciting!

 One of the things that makes the trip so easy is that we have a lot of people around us that are helping, Sandy & David have been excellent in looking after Saltbush while we were are away, they take care of our mail, water plants, do our odd jobs, drive the old Discovery home for us, work in the C&B Safe Distribution Ctr, my Mum & Bert since they got back from Scotland have also been out at Saltbush daily, pottering around and making sure the garden is not out of control when we get home, looking after Panda & also making sure that Bradley & Daniel do not turn feral!

 The great thing about Sandy, David, Mum & Bert is that we can rely on them for any of the things we need while we are away, and that allows us to concentrate what we have to do on our journey.

 The Blog has helped us too, without it we would be doing this trip alone, but with the blog we have all of our family & friends with us. You have to take credit for this because you suggested I start to write about our trip. My 4 sisters are a constant source of amusement, all of them have been keeping us informed of their opinions on what we are doing. My brother in law Brad has been excellent in providing me with things to write about! The blog has also allowed people to get to know me. Not sure if this is a good thing or not! Arama from NZ is with us always, Meredith I have not met but I feel I know her, Rob is in Vietnam but he is also always with us, Marg & Norm are on their own journey but they are with us too, Nikki is in Sydney but she is in the Pilbara as well, Granny reads the blog daily and usually gives us her two bobs worth, Lorraine & Michael, Katrina & Anika, (we all know Matt reads it he just doesn’t tell anyone!)  The Appleby’s, Susanne & Tim, Angie, Bonnie & Egg, Flick, Mark & Christopher, Box & Lou, Karen & Campbell, Marc & Sandy, Liz & John, Mel & Tom Cruze, Sarah F..... all of them are on our trip and many more of our family & friends that read but choose to enjoy our journey in silence!

 So Ness we have another month on the road, it has been so cool & I am sure it has given us many things to share with Brad, Dan & any other kids that we can bore with our stories. It has been the bestest way to start our married life together and I am sure that the way we have survived the last 74 days will help us to survive the next 45 or so years together.

 Here’s to the first of many adventures that we will share with each other, our families & our friends.

 With love from James.

Ok that is my letter to Ness, don’t tell her you read it!

 Heather asked last night if I got the car rust proofed before I went into the water, Well Heather did you know that Land Rover actually use aluminium panels, that is why there are so many old Land Rovers around, they just don’t rust out!

 Meredith, you girls don’t have to “Get it” you just have to tolerate us “Doing it”.

 Sarah, Whats wrong with Hey Hey? If you don’t take it seriously and enjoy it for what it is along with the nostalgia value it can while the night away in downtown Newman, we did! And as for the problem with the aboriginal people, it seems that you & my two sisters have the answers to their problems, you three should get together and come up with a solution! Bring plenty of deodorant with you though!

 Lesley I have sent you photos of me in the water with the car, bit strange though, you have a husband that works in I.T. and you are the only ones in Australia that can’t see our photo’s? What the....!!!!

 Mum/Granny..... you always told us it is the thought that counts! You have no idea how hard it is to find tea towels on our travels! But we have traipsed through souvenir shops all over Australia to find them for you. But you might have to build an extension if you are going to hang them all on the walls!

 And lastly to Anika..... it was really nice to see you today on the computer, hope your dancing was fun.

 James

Day 73 Out in the Bush!

Today was our day off, we decided that we would go for a look around the Pilbara, so we grabbed a local touristy guide and headed out to the Weeli Wolli Springs. It was going to be about a 200km round trip so we filled up with fuel, heaps of water & a picnic lunch. The first 50km was on tar & then we turned off onto a dirt road.  So far so good! After about 10km the road started to deteriorate into some serious corrugations..... now for those of you who have driven on corrugated roads there is usually a speed you can find that is tolerable! These corrugations were unreal, now Dolly (The Landrover) has great suspension, but I reckon most of my fillings were shaken loose! ... Ness doesn’t have fillings so her teeth were fine!

 We went through creek crossings (dry), gullies, mud puddles (wet) & more corrugations. The map book we had was printed in 2006 & we reckon it is way out of date as we had to guess which way to go at a few turn offs & forks in the road. We eventually made it to the springs, now we are not sure if they are naturally flowing or pumped up out of the ground as there was a heap of pumps and a pipeline in the area, but they were possibly to pump some of the water to nearby minesites.

 Now to be perfectly honest the springs were not mind blowingly beautiful! Sure there were a few pools & a flowing stream of water. I can imagine 100 or 200 years ago this place would be paradise for the explorers that went through here, but for us it was nice but nothing to write home about!  (Ha!.... what am I doing now!)

 I did get to play in the puddles with Dolly though, that was fun! Have a look at the photos in the blog! You will all notice that I was not in the car when he played in puddles. Reason 1. Well someone has to take the photos. Reason 2.  I would rather not go through anymore times than necessary.

 To my sisters Heather & Lesley, would you get over it! I’d like to see both of you Princess’s up here coming out of woollies with a bottle of wine & have some fat smelly person, black, white or any colour for that matter come up to you and slobber, dribble and spit all over you while they ask you for a smoke or a drink! Easy for you to have your opinions in your castles in suburban Brisbane! Write your own book about chipping a fingernail then not being able to get a manicure appointment! And Heather as for that poem, my country music song rocks compared to that depressing dribble!

 To Nikki, is it really that bad that some people call dinner tea? We should ask for what people prefer... Dinner.... or Tea? Let us know. I actually use both, sometimes I ask Ness what is for dinner, other times I say lets go out for tea! Still tastes the same. I too use both...tea if think is a more familiar term and I use say when I am going to Mum & Dad’s for tea...but when I am going to a restaurant I am going to dinner!! 

 Special thanks to Sandy & David, before we left they gave us a little printer that they were not using, it has saved us so many times on this trip. Some companies email us forms that we have to sign & send back. If we did not have the printer we would not be able to send it back.

 Another special mention to Daniel Wood, he had a fitness “Beep” test today at school, there is a classmate of his that is a little fitter than he is, but Dan likes a challenge & I think the week with his uncle Brad has given him a bit of competitiveness! So what he did was bet his classmate $5 that he would beat him in the fitness test. I spoke to him today and he said “Dad I was exhausted but I kept thinking that I had to win the $5” and guess what!.... He Did!..... Well done Dangaz, uncle Brad will ask for $2.50 commission!!!

 My mum has been busy since she got back from Scotland, she was away for 2 months and the garden was a bit out of control, she is also looking after my dog Panda. Dan looked after her for the first two months so I reckon I owe them both a big present when I get back! Mum I’ll get you a tea towel from Newman, Dan we can discuss your payment!

 Nikki also suggested we do a reality TV show, ok as long as you all will be part of it! Excuse me....I don’t recall you asking me if I wanted to be in a reality TV show!!

 Ok, time to go..... it has just gone 7pm here, which means it will be after 9pm where most of you are...... Nighty Night!  And Hey Hey it Saturday is on tonight....

 Lots of love from us.

James & Ness