Go(ing) west: This is what we did. Part II

First posted on Feb 23, 2011 on my original blog www.blog.emmamayalldesigns.com.au



Camping at Gilbert River, Qld. Please note the use of
the legendary trailer.


I don’t want to put you off the place, but there are not a lot of reasons to go to Mutchilba. We stopped in because my friend B lived there but was, coincidentally, also moving to WA about the same time as us.
Her husband had been working in WA for a few months and flying home for days off, but they were now ready to settle in the west.

The move incorporated a camping road trip and, in our collective wisdom, we thought it a fantastic idea for B to join us for some of the way. And it was a good idea. I, at least, had a great time.
She, however, may beg to differ. Because she had to travel with her eight-month-old baby. Though not just a baby - a little parcel of wonderful.

Well, I thought he was wonderful. I had previously believed, perhaps inaccurately, that babies spent about 80 per cent of their day squalling, about 15 per cent alternately poking food and sundry other items down their throats and sicking them back up, and squalled again for the remainder. While also needing changing countless times and occasionally (finally!) sleeping.
So when this little fellow, whom was also teething at the time, cried far less frequently than this and ate with gusto, I thought he was lovely.
Nonetheless, it turned out that road-trip camping and babies don't make for the most ideal mix, and there were certainly challenging moments for B.

Also along for the ride were our pets - two dogs of ours and two of hers, so we were quite a troupe once we got going. Last-minute preparations were made over a rather frantic couple of days at Mutchilba. Including a visit to the supermarket, where we may have slightly over-estimated our needs. Slightly, in that Paul and I still had a couple of boxes of that food when we arrived in Coolgardie 10 weeks later.

I would say that miraculously everything fit in the vehicles (two 4WDs and two trailers). Except that having unpacked (for making camp) and then repacked (breaking camp) every single day - for near on a fortnight - enough gear and supplies to equip an entire AFL team climbing Everest, I know there was nothing miraculous about it. It fit because we jammed and shoved and beat it into fitting. Paul came to believe that the more he swore at it, the better it co-operated.

I must point out here (or risk divorce) that our trailer was built by the very clever Paul. With his bare hands. (And a welder). It is quite the set-up, with a pull-out kitchen and everything. Well done and thank you Paul!
The plan was to take about two weeks for us, B and baby to get to Katherine, NT. She would then go to Kununurra (WA), where she'd meet her hubby and they'd manage the remainder of their trip themselves. And we would go on to Darwin and get in a bit more exploring/bludging before our funds dried up.
Our first night of the trip was at Gilbert River. Sounded nice. Until we arrived and discovered the river was missing. Instead there was an expanse of sand, then dust, and beyond that some dirt. On the whole a rather unappealing place.
The next day it was on to Normanton, where we checked out a statue of a monster crocodile. VERY cool. Its sheer size did nothing to diminish the width of my thighs when I posed next to it though, more's the pity.

To be continued…

Replica of monster crocodile.
Pictured with monster-thigh woman