Broome & Beyond: Billabong Roadhouse

Friday 7th July: at Billabong Roadhouse

The truck is packed, I did that yesterday. Just a few last-minute items to load: tablet, reading glasses... And I'm off !

Not too early, I drive via the city to drop Deb off at work. Set off late, traffic is worse than usual, Deb is a few minutes late for work. No time for fond farewells... because the drop-off space is closed for road repairs. I stop in a no stopping zone, just in front of a bus stop. Deb hops out, I drive on.

The GPS is set for "Broome". That's too far, so it aims to get to "Partial", which is, I guess, somewhere on the way to Broome. Except that the GPS is continually beeping, trying to get me to turn south... This much I know, Broome is north.

Luckily I know where I'm going and ignore the GPS.

Around the Midland bypass and the GPS is happier... Until I get onto the Coastal Drive (or whatever it's called). The GPS doesn't know about that road... the maps are quite old. Not to worry -- until I pass a sign which points north to *Perth* ! I'm ignoring the GPS, now I ignore the road sign.

Finally, a T-junction. Sure enough, one way (now south) leads to Perth. The other way leads north... Next city, Geraldton. I ignore the GPS and follow the road.

By the way: it's raining. Heavy showers, light showers, some clear patches. Temperature in double digits -- just -- and eventually reaches 21. Degrees celsius. Briefly. It's a good day to be heading north from Perth.

The coastal scenery is quite attractive. Last couple of times along this road I was unimpressed. The cool and wet makes the scrub look far better. Even the ocean glimpses are pleasant, on a cool day, from inside a warm car.

Now I remember the last time I drove this way... A few years ago, with Deb, we visited a farmer, and Drovers Cave, and stayed the night in Green Head. Today, I call in at Green Head to get some lunch...

There are signs pointing to cafes, I choose what turns out to be a small shop. Ah well, I'll have an iced coffee and chocolate bar. Where are the chocolates? Aha... in the fridge to keep cool... The shopkeeper and I look at the cold weather outside, sigh, shrug. Most chocolate sales will be in summer.

There are several towns (villages?) on this stretch of the road. They are set up for holiday-makers, for people who come and stay and enjoy the beach and the ocean. As a person who is just passing through, I have a lot of trouble with these towns.

I drive towards the centre of town. There is no centre. I see signs pointing to cafes. I have no idea how far I would have to go if I followed those signs. So I pick the first place I find which appears to sell food... My early lunch is not quite what I was hoping for. Not to worry, it's food !

Back on the older Brand Highway and the GPS finally knows where it is. Not that it matters. It's easy to follow the road north: just head north.

I'm now in geocache country... in country with geocaches that I have loaded into the GPS. In fact: I stop in a truck bay, for a brief break. And notice that there is a cache -- within two metres -- called Stretch and Relax. I stretch and relax and look for the cache. No luck. I'm no good at caching by myself... lack the enthusiasm to search :-)

Lunch -- late -- at Dongara. I enjoy an average sausage roll and coffee at a cheerful cafe. There is (or used to be) a geocache on the metal lobster at the entry to Dongara. I know because Deb & I found it, years ago. The memory of that lobster lingers on.

I bypass Geraldton... For some reason I never want to go into Geraldton. I remember visiting it once, there was nothing wrong with the town. Generally, though, I prefer to drive by without stopping... So I do.

On to Binnu, for fuel. I have to go inside to get the deisel pump turned on. The man in charge is finishing eating a meat pie, it smells good.

Binnu is an old shop / petrol station / cafe, a large "you are here" sign, a new-looking public toilet... And a very large set of wheat bins across the road. Having seen the highlights, I drive on.

Oh, Binnu also has a geocache. I don't even look. By myself I'm less likely to search for caches. Today, in particular, I want to drive quite a long way... so no time to stop and search.

North of Geraldton -- and I am enjoying the driving. Much more than before Geraldton. To me, Geraldton marks the end of the well-travelled road. There is noticably less traffic. It's no longer a matter of driving from town to town... it's roadhouse to roadhouse. I feel that I am truly clear of the city. It's an enjoyable feeling :-)

And now it's getting late. Late in the afternoon, that is. The GPS -- now operating on known roads -- predicts that I could get to Carnarvon by 8:30pm. I consider that, though I would want to stop before, for dinner. My goal for today is to get anywhere between Geraldton and Carnarvon... Having done that, it is feasible that I will reach Broome on Monday.

Road signs indicate that "Billabong" and "Overland" are somewhere ahead. Surely one of those will have accommodation...  There are several formal rest areas, all crowded. There are quite a few areas cleared for camping, I'm not keen and it's raining. It's just 160km to Billabong...

I reach Billabong Roadhouse just ten minutes before sunset. Do they have accommodation? Yes. Do they have a room? Well... for just one person? Ummm... ahhh... Yes! I take it.

It's a small square room in a large transportable. With toilet, basin, shower en suite. Fridge, empty. Cupboard. Desk, chair and single bed. Now I look around, there is probably as much space as in any motel room. Larger rooms would have more space occupied by the larger bed or beds. All very clean and pleasant. And I park directly outside.

I have dinner at the roadhouse. Or, possibly, at the restaurant in the bar in the building that is *not* the roadhouse. Unless that second building labelled "roadhouse" is no longer in use.

Anyway. It's quite crowded, I'm lucky to get a barrel to sit at, all the tables are in use. Deep fried fish (crumbed fillet of) and chips (crisp and delicious) plus salad. A two-cup pot of tea: an all-in-one pot+cup. I could only see "tea pot" until the waitress pointed out that the bottom half was the cup. A Kit Kat for dessert.

I phoned Deb before dinner, all is well. Now I'm back in my room. Typing, recharging phone and tablet, watching the wifi hotspot find and lose the Telstra signal... It seems to have stabilised now, I should be able to send this post.

And now a few statistics. More for my own records than for general interest...

700 km from go to here, in 9.75 hours. Mostly driving.

$125 for 91 litres of fuel, which had taken the truck 788 km.

$95 for the room, $16 for dinner.

And now to sleep, perchance to zzzzzzzz

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot." ... André Breton