Travellers
I wonder how long we could keep travelling? It has been a couple of months now and all is going well, some of the people we meet have have been travelling for years. You tend to get in the rhythm of it, and rather good it is also. There is a large slab of retired Australians that have no home, they have a bus or a caravan and they keep following the sunshine, not a bad way to finish out your life?
It is a massive industry, since we left Darwin in June most of the caravan sites we have visited have been 80% full, several have been owned by a company called Aspen, I must check them out when I get home, might be worth a punt.
Western Australia has been fascinating. The Gibb River Road was disappointing apart from the ends, the middle was very boring, Mitchell Falls was excellent, but very remote. However the further South we go the more impressed we are with Western Australia.
The massive reef running down the coast combined with the lack of population and associated activities makes for a truly world class natural marine park, full of everything fishy and so remote.
Some of it is mind blowingly stunning, today for instance we turned up to a camp site (owned by Aspen) our tent is one minute to the beach, no wind, no waves, 28 degrees C, dolphins cruising by within 5 paces of my toes whilst I daydream on the beach.
Size does matter. Mining is big big business but only on a very small % of the total land area. Pastoral farming used to be the thing. The problem in WA is the sheer size of it and the cost of getting any products to the consumer. Some ot the new mines are building railways as long as England just to get the product out
In the 1890’s a one mile pier was built at Carnarvon to get the sheep and beef to the market via ships, I remember being taught that in school, I walked it this week.
We tend to stay in an area as long as the things in the area interest us, in the North one and two night stops were the order, as we get further South three seems the norm. Generally we travel two to three hours on a driving day or as the distance to the next area of interest commands. The Land Rover is proving an excellent way to travel, having no caravan or trailer means we can enjoy remote tracks and camp in a space 10m square or less. We have been slightly stuck a couple of times but the combination of sand ladders, shovel and ARB’ means we are soon on the move again. (don’t tell Warwick)
Travelling is a great way to expand the mind and meet interesting people. My theory is the more remote the area you are in the more interesting the people you meet. Most people that are struggling with life tend to be in areas of dense population? What do you think? The last couple of trips to Australia we were travelling with friends, this year we have been travelling on our own and have enjoyed the company of many, a varied cross section but a good one, people have been great.