0021 Wilpena to Arkaroola July 10th

Morning was COLD !!  2 deg C.   I woke up before sunrise and left Janet sleeping while I took a hike up to the top of a nearby hill to watch the sun come up. I made a cup of tea first in my thermal mug, and took that with me to keep me warm.  Lovely walk – Got to the top and surprised a mob of 5 or 6 ‘Roos who had apparently spent the night there – Not sure who was more surprised – Them or me !!!   But they took off down the hill pretty quickly.   Then stood up on a rock at the top and watched the sun slowly light up the surrounding countryside as it came over the hill.  I do love dawn – It is a special time of day.  Always reminds me of the Cat Stevens song – Morning has broken…… 

0020 Wilpena Pound, July 9th.

Overcast and gloomy when we woke up at Rawnsley Station campsite, but at least that meant it wasn’t so cold – +8 deg C – That’s warm !!  By the time we had breakfasted, packed up, and showered, it was 10 am (must find a way to speed that up sometime !!), and we set off out of the campsite.  We drove just 35 or so kms to the Wilpena Pound Resort to have a look around and find out what we could do to see the Pound. 

0019 Gold Coast to Wilpena Pound

Original plans were to leave on a trip to the bush in Troopie in late June, heading due west from the Gold Coast, out to Innamincka, then down the Strezlecki Track down to Wilpena Pound before heading NE to Coober Pedy and then Ayers Rock, then  heading up to Darwin and Kakadu.  The purpose of the trip was to ensure that all the changes I had made to Troopie were working OK, and leaving me a few months at the end of the year to make any changes or final adjustments.  But as usual, things happened at the last minute to change all the plans, and suddenly my trailer was lent out for a week just before someone purchased Elsie !!  So the trip was delayed a week, and changed to being a run down south to Canberra where another Elise buddy was buying my trailer, and to where Elsie’s new owner had agreed to fly up to from Victoria and he would then drive “his” Elsie down across the Alps to his home.  So we prepared for an early start south on the Wednesday morning.

0018 Perth

Last week Nick had called us up and invited us over to Perth for his housewarming party for his and Tanja’s new home in Scarborough.  So on Thursday 16^th we flew over, and were met at Perth Airport by Nick and Tanja at about midnight. Nick had just been to indoor soccer and the pub so Tanja was driving ! Late to their new home, so after a quick tour, it was off to bed. 

Why ?

I found this poem on a World Traveller's site called Horizon's Unlimited. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/

It was written from a motorcyclists point of view, and I changed two words - "Four wheels" and "Alaskan" (memories) to better reflect my position.  Apologies to the author, James Richmond.

Why? by James Richmond

0017 Solar Power, Suspension, and other things

This week saw another major expenditure in the preparation of Troopie - The suspension !  Hopefully that is the last of the big bills, apart from the rear tent / awning which is currently under construction (Not by me, I hasten to add !)

Even though it is only 5 years old, all the original suspension (shock absorbers, springs (coil and leaf), plus various other bits and pieces) had done 260,000 kms, so in the interests of minimising any potential problems next year when I am on the road, I decided to have all the suspension parts replaced now.  So having agreed with Dean Futcher at Australian 4WD on the optimal parts and manufacturers, he ordered the parts, and this week they arrived, so Troopie went in to get them fitted.  Due to my limited knowledge and experience with 4WD's, Dean has become my resident guru, and I am totally dependent on his advice in terms of how to proceed in many of the upgrades and improvements.  So far he has proved spot-on in all the recommendations he has given me, and hopefully this state of affairs will continue !!!

0016 Incredible rainbow

Woke up this morning (Sunday 12th), and while lazing in bed with a cup of tea, reading my Kindle book, I glanced out of the window to see the most amazing rainbow across the sky.  It was so bright and wide and - just - stunning. Wider than I have ever seen before, right across the sky in a full arc, and all the colours were just SO vivid. And there was a second rainbow (albeit somewhat feinter) above the main one.

Decided some pics were required because it was such an incredible one !!!  It was still raining (a kind of sun shower), so got wet dancing around in the garden in "sleeping attire" trying to get a good photo !!   ROFL.

https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0016Rainbow?authkey=Gv1sRgCNnC_NjlvPSjMg#