Broome & Beyond: Minilya

Saturday July 9th, almost 1pm

An advantage of driving alone is that I can scratch, sing out of key, invent and test new methods of spot removal...

At Wooramel Roadhouse I buy iced coffee and a curried egg sandwich. It's a good sandwich. I eat it as I drive. Unfortunately, some curried egg falls onto my lap. Not to worry, I think, a bit of water and a wipe with the serviette will stop the egg from turning into a permanent stain.

So I finish the sandwich. Take a water bottle. Dribble a bit of dampness onto the egg on my pants. The water runs straight off the stain... onto the rest of my pants... and the car seat. The paper serviette crumbles before it can dry anything. I drive the next hour or two with wet pants.

Into the outer suburbs of Carnarvon. The Clay Shooters Club has the red flag out, they must be shooting. It seems to be at half mast -- is that a sign of *bad* shooting?!

A bit later there's a sign by the road, "event ahead". Sure enough, there are a hundred or more people, dozens of cars, a bus, parked round what I assume is an oval... but it's not. It's the town cemetery. An event? At the cemetery?! Perhaps someone famous has died... someone who deserves a flag at half-mast at the gun club next door.

Closer to town. There's a sign, "Reduce vehicle noise". I turn off the Queen CD. (For those who don't travel with me: that's a very old joke :-)

Past Carnarvon. I always drive past Carnarvon. It always stikes me as such a nice town, with pleasant suburbs. The only time that I can remember actually entering the town is when Deb & I were heading to Mt Augustus. Carnarvon was an overnight stop, we ate in a restaurant in the town. Today, I just drive past.

My memories of the road just north of Carnarvon is, Water. Lots and lots of water. Today it's as dry as any other stretch of road... Obviously subject to flooding -- it has the look, and the signs -- but no obvious water. Nearer Perth, crops and paddocks had a brown & grey & dry look. The native bush, though, is much as ever.

There's a sign, "189km to Mt Augustus". If Deb were with me I'd suggest that as a minor detour... By myself I just drive. I enjoy the driving. But I miss the occasional detours that I will try when I have a navigator. When it's two of us we do a lot more stopping, exploring, just looking. Eating-while-driving is not as relaxing! But I do have a definite place to go and a clear deadline.

The road climbs out of the Carnarvon flood plain area.

Today I've plugged in the next bit of technology... "The GPS" is plugged in, it's a Garmin, useful for navigating and essential for geocaching. I've also plugged the Spot Tracker into a cigarette lighter. The Tracker is a dubious device, clearly designed by someone who never actually used it.

Today I also plug in the Hema map GPS. It can't geocache -- unfortunately -- but it can display proper maps. As I drive I can watch where I am on the map... and I can see why Deb enjoys watching where we are on the map!

For example, there are long skinny hills to either side of the road. Long strips of red sand dune, perhaps. Sure enough, the Hema map shows contour lines for long skinny hills. All the way to the edge of the current display.

Now I'm stopped at Minilya. Stopped because I decided to take a blog break. Plus cake, coffee and icecream. With bonus that the seat in the shade -- where I sit to type -- is a metal grill. And my pants have a chance to get dry :-)

And now... Onward !

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot." ... André Breton