Hello everyone, we are back in the real world after a bit of
a hold up with closed roads. Thanks to Dell for updating the blog to let
everyone know we were OK. Now for our blog update for yesterday and today to
catch you all up...
We woke at 5:30am WA time to head off from Warburton to Laverton. The time change is keeping us on
our toes. I even wanted to make dinner at 5pm!!
Rained heavily at about 2am and woke us both up as there was
a massive strong wind come through right before the rain. We were surrounded by
thunder and lightning from about 6pm but were lucky enough to only get a bit of
wind and some rain. Weather report says Warburton recorded 1mm of rain but it
was definitely more than that.
Left campground at 7am, on time for once which was nice. We
got 10km up the road and road changed back to Bitumen, it was a little
disappointing as it was a nice change to have the dirt. The road even though
sealed still had all corrugations that the dirt had. About 20km further up the
road turned back to dirt, this section was not as good as the last part.
We came across a camel on the road, we slowed down and
beeped the horn etc but he was happy to walk along beside us.. eventually after
a few more honks on the horn he turned and walked back into the bush.
At the 5km marker for Tjukayirla the road went back to
bitumen and we decided to pull up and stretch our legs etc and that’s when we
spotted the “Road Closed” sign just past the roadhouse.
We pulled in and went
and spoke to the attendant who confirmed road was closed due to torrential rain
and hail at Laverton and Kalgoorlie, totally flooding the road further up. They
were expected to open the road again in the morning providing there was no more
rain and another check would be done at 5pm today so see how it was going.
So we paid for a camp site knowing we couldn’t do anything
or turn back. Lovely little place with clean amenities, shop, restaurant, and a
“Billabong room” which contains a TV, coffee machine, microwave, fridge and a
ping pong table.
We spent some time in the billabong room hoping to get an
update on the weather, at about 3:30pm, management came and saw us and told us
that the road had just been re-opened again to 4wd’s only. We had to make the
decision to go or stay, not knowing the full condition of the road and knowing
we would be driving into darkness but on the other hand having more rain
tonight and having the road closed for another day or more. We made the choice
to stay the night, get a good night’s sleep and start fresh in the morning.
As
we were due to be in Laverton this now means that we will have to travel right
through to Kalgoorlie tomorrow as we have a pre-paid camp site waiting for us.
Due to wind and rain right from the start of the trip we are
both sick with a cold, but are getting better and hopefully will be 100% by the
time we get to Perth to have a good look around. It’s just another hurdle.
We met a couple that pulled up for the night too, we camped
near them at Uluru so we went and had a chat, they had been travelling along to
Gunbarrell Highway, they pulled off it onto the Great Central as they said it
was the worst road they have ever travelled on and they have driven most of
Australia, they said its not just rough, its car breaking stuff, not worth it.
They have a beautiful new 200 series cruiser and a Kimberley Kamper Trailer so
they didn’t want to ruin everything.
We may run into them again later down the track as they are
travelling in the same direction but with some different stops to us until
Broome.
Hoping for the best in the morning, clear skies and open
roads.
Please go back to menu to read about Today's (Friday) blog.
Cheers,
Rhianna and Anthony.
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