0031 Perth to the Gold Coast - Across the desert

 0031 Perth to the Gold Coast

20th March - 10th July 2021

Driving across the Red Centre !

Troopie set up at camp

So today is the 19th March, and my buddy Jamie is on the plane from

VHF aerial mounted on bull bar

the Gold Coast to Perth right now - Due into Perth in an hour or so.  I will pick him up tomorrow morning, and we will set off on a great adventure - We are driving from Perth to the Gold Coast - But not on the roads.  We are following the Great Central (dirt)  Road from Leonora to Uluru / Ayers Rock.   I have always wanted to do this trip following the original Gun Barrel Highway, but the Gun Barrel is getting pretty

Light bar on Troopie

tough now (need to convoy, be prepared to winch out of dunes etc) which is a bit much for me.  Hopefully the Great Central Road will allow us to see all the great sights, without the extremes of the Gun Barrel !!   This blog will probably not get finished until I get back to the Gold Coast, so if you want to follow us, come on to my Facebook page and we will try to put a few pics up there as we go.    In the past week while I have been in Perth with son Damien and his family, he has fitted a VHF radio as well as a big light bar (so we can see the kangaroo's before we hit them ?? !).  I have also fitted some new tyres, and had a big stone chip in the windscreen mended, so I think we are ready to go !!  

More later ........Bookmark this spot !

0030 Gold Coast to Perth June 2021

 0030 Gold Coast to Perth                                                              

1st - 13th June  2021                                                                                                                            

Being chased by Corona Virus !!!

We have been planning this trip for some months, and with shut downs for Corona having been minimal recently, we thought we would be good to go.  We both had our first Astra Zenica jab a few weeks ago, with minimal side effects, and more recently had our annual flu shots.  Our second AZ covid shot was booked for while we were in Perth.  So our plan was to have a leisurely trip to Perth, taking about 10 days and travelling via Sydney, Yackandandah, the High Country and down to Melbourne, before driving the Great Ocean Road west, up through Adelaide, then across the Nullarbor (only one road !), and on to Perth.  

0029 Spending time at home

 0029 Spending time at home

Feb - May 2021

Filling in time !

Sophie, Hayley & Emily

The girls in Hobart markets

The 4 months after we returned from Christmas in Tasmania (with
Sarah, Benn, and their girls Olivia and Evelyn) were a mixture of various activities - A bit like life in general, I suppose ?  Anyway, some things were more exciting than others, but all were important in keeping us busy while the Virus continued to rage both around Australia as well as around the world, so limiting our ability to do any travelling.  Of course our primary wish is to get to the Netherlands as soon as we can so we can meet Nick and Tanja's twins (who are already 1 1/2 years old !) and see Hayley and of course Nick and Tanja.  Keeping families apart is one of the several sad aspects of the virus.