From 6 to 42 in 12 Days

Hello all
Relocation  is now complete and a new adventure begins.......

Over the last 12 days I have relocated from Siberia to Heaven, it was 6.5c when i left Manjimup, where I have been working for the last 13 months.
First port of call was Perth and dinner with friends. I have covered the North West coastal highway in previous posts so will not go into too much detail this time.

Bridgetown heading North

 With everything going well I pressed on through Geraldton and Carnarvon, About half way between Carnarvon and Karratha whammo the heat hit with fury........
All the way through to nearly Broome was 42c day temperatures and high 20's at night so free camping was off the list. you can't run the airconditioning in the van on Gum Trees.

Approaching Broome the temperatures dropped to a more pleasant 35-36c but with that the humidity soared. during the day was quite good but once the sun went down the humidity was well over 80% with temps sitting around 27c at night.
Being school holidays friends from Derby towed their van down for the week, suffice to say we spent a lot of time catching up in the pool....... 

The hilux on Cable Beach

Sunset on Cable Beach

Camel rides on Cable Beach

It was nice to experience Broome without the rush and crush of Tourist Season,

Cable Beach

Cable beach

After a few days in Broome catching up with friends and getting a few last minute things sorted it was time to head onward.

The countryside was looking good after the recent numerous tropical lows and cyclones.

The Van towed beautifully behind the Hilux, even in the 42c temperatures. The only issues I had was, for some reason my driving lights decided to stop working (yet to investigate) and I need to fit some sort of vent into the roof of the alloy canopy on the ute. On hot days I could slow cook a roast in there.........and with the Waeco in there running on freeze its working pretty hard.

I was opening the Scupper vent on the van on hot days travelling and that was keeping the van from heating up so much, so I need to do something similar for the canopy.

Scupper vent faces forward and creates positive air pressure in the van limiting dust entry

So now I settle into my new adventure in the East Kimberley, I have iconic destinations like Home Valley, Elquestro, and Lake Argyle a little over an hour away. Places like The Bungles and Gregory National Park an easy weekend away.

 

Meanwhile, "just another day in the Kimberley" taken at Ivanhoe Crossing just outside town. 

Stay tuned for more regular updates as I head out and about in this stunning part of the country.

 

Bye for now. 

Time to move on

Hello all
After 13 months in Manjimup the time has come to move on and scratch my itchy feet.
The thought of spending another endless Winter here is in no way appealing.

During the time here I have not been idle. I have been busy setting up the new setup to suit my needs.

The rear of the ute has been fitted with a lockable, dustproof, sealed alloy checkerplate canopy. On the roof i have fitted a 130w Solar Panel and a 120AH AGM battery is fitted inside. This will allow me to run the Waeco independent of the Caravan on trips where taking the Van is not an option. As I get time I plan to set the back up as an overnighter.

This is inside, the anderson plug allows me to plug the Air Compressor in, and also to link the van and the ute together, should the need ever arise. This would give me 250w of solar and 360AH of battery power.

130W panel of canopy roof.

A big thank you to Gordy for helping me set it all up.........

Over the Christmas break I had a few days at Boat Harbour Camping Park.

Christmas at Boat Harbour

I took the fairly easy track into boat Harbour to have a look.

Boat Harbour

Boat Harbour

Then in march I took a week and headed to Perth to Catch up with friends, and we went Overseas for Lunch............

Kwinana Freeway looking North

South Perth Foreshore

Approaching Rottnest Island for Lunch

Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island

Rottnest island

watching the 'boat people' arrive

a Quokka joined us for lunch

Rottnest Quokka

a lap of the island after lunch

the water clarity was amazing

It is certainly an advantage when you have a mate who owns a plane or two or possibly 3................
Tomorrow I trek North for the next adventure in the kimberley and the endless Summer.

My time in Manjimup.................
I have mixed opinions about Manjimup...........on the one hand I have had the pleasure of meeting some lovely people who will be welcome around my campfire anytime I have also found it to be unfriendly and unwelcoming.
The fact is it is a cold and bitter place and I think that has embedded itself into the personality of a lot of the residents...........cold and bitter.
Also after being a renter all my life I have NEVER experiences such BAD service from one VERY UN "Professional" Estate Agent. 
I have had occasion to express an opinion to her on several occasions, such as leaving lights on and not locking doors after Rental Inspections. Not to mention the Drug dealing adjacent Tenant being replaced by an ICE addict and overcharging the Water account, and come End of Lease Inspection it was time it was time to get back at me.
After a Professional cleaner was used she came back with 2 pages of petty, nit picking faults. Thus delaying my departure several days.
So away with the negativity and to a happy place.............when I get there, I will be starting a new job in Kununurra. 
its going to be difficult having iconic places like Lake Argyle, Home Valley, Keep river and Elquestro an hours drive away but I will try to cope 😁😀😁😁😁😁
The trip up i will drop in and say hello to friends and thoroughly enjoy being back in the red dirt and Boab country.
stay tuned for updates
Bye for now