This is what we did thusfar, from Perth to Albany we have driven about 38.000 kms.

This is one of the first… plans we made. In the mean time we have made alterations and we will probably make changes again when we are doing the trip. Anyway, you get the gist.

Hans did send our repaired camera-lens. Almost unbelievable but the day before this pick-up our other lens broke down with, as far aswe could tell, the same defect. We continue to recycle the cardboard box with which we received the new lens originally.

Byron Bay has beautiful beaches but is also very, very busy with surfers, backpackers, old hippies, neo-hippies and similar people. We did not like it at all and decided to drive to Grafton as it was still early and the weather not so nice on the coast. During the drive alongside the beautiful Clarence River the weather started to improve. Grafton is a very nice town with lots of jacaranda-lined trees. They already started to bloom and would definately be ready for the Jacaranda-festival the town had planned later that month. The tourist bureau was already closed because QLD is one hour slower than NSW.
So WA to NT is 1.5 hours, NT to QLD is .5 hr and QLD to NSW 1 hr difference. Now I understand why Australians say Too easy!

We eventually found a camping. Although a BIG4 we decided to stay as we desperately needed maintenance (showers, electricity, laundry, internet etc.). The park itself was very nice and we spend three nights in total. Most mornings we eat muesli but sometimes we treat ourselves on toasted bread if we can use a camp kitchens toaster. So I took a stack of bread and toasted away. Here I was spotted by a lady who also helped Agi using a machine in the laundry. This was Gill (from the car with the bright yellow kayak on the roof) as we learned later.

From Grafton we went to Dorrigo and the National Park. We camped there and heard the next morning that three days bad weather was forecasted. After a beautiful morning with blue skies walking in the park we were having lunch near the parking. Within an hour the sky turned dark, a fog rolled over us and it started to rain. We hastily left and decided to drive more inland to avoid the bad weather.
After about 50 kilometers with fog and rain the weather improved and at Armidale we were driving in the sun again. The next day we experienced such a fast change again. During lunch at Gunnedah we were almost blown away from the picnic tables and freezing as well.
Just before that we were huffing and puffing to the lookout, looking out for koalas. (We did not find any, in this self-proclaimed Koala Capital of the World, even with very detailed directions from the helpful man at the tourist office).

Onwards to Narrabri and The Pilliga Forest where we had a great time camping, watching for birds (yes, yes, yes: the Turquoise Parrot!) and Koalas (none found).
At the tourist office in Narrabri they gave us maps, routes and birdlists of the Pilliga. These were made by someone called David Johnston. We went to look for 80 year-old David, found his house, were invited for tea and had a wonderful afternoon with him. With one of his poems we left this new found friend and already exchanged some e-mails.

On we went to Warrumbungle NP. On the way our brakes were ‘hanging’, it seemed that our pedal needed some oil. We decided to indulge ourselves and ask for a powered site in the park. The ranger told us only the new part was open. Usually new means better amenities so we said yes, of course.
When we asked about koalas and the best place to look for them she told us that they can be in any tree and were not seen for a while.
Arriving at our site was a big disappointment. New meant: no trees and standing in the baking sun. Although a very large place and empty two other caravans took the sites next to us. They must have thought Idefix would give some shade! The second couple/caravan brought us news from the ranger: Koalas were seen close to the Ranger Station. As it was close to closing time we thanked them quickly and walked the 1.5 km to the Ranger Station. And yes, almost next to the car park we found a koala mother and baby (well… a bit bigger but still with mum).
After the looks and pictures we headed back to our site and resumed our whatever we were doing.

Later the same people with the yellow kayak on their car’s roof invited us for a glass of wine.
Usually it is BYO and more often than not we do not carry our own. This time we were really invited and enjoyed a very pleasant evening with Mike and Gill who remembered us better from the camping in Grafton than we did them. But memorable they made themselves! Not being used to wine every day, Mike poured an entire bottle out that evening, one of us slept like a log and the other one did not feel very well (wine/not wine related). Thus instead of long walks around the Breadknife and other points in the park we did a small walk (where we met Mike and Gill..) and left heading south.

Although this meeting seems normal, it is not. The road we took from Grafton to the Warrumbungle is not logical. First going south and than north again..

Mikes advice on car trouble: WD40 – works like a dream. Yes, our brake-pedal did not get stuck anymore.

On the way to Sydney we decided to have our broken brake-lights (other problem, WD-40 did not help) fixed in Singleton. After a windy and wet morning waiting for the auto-electrician to finish his work we left for the Yengo NP. On the way we both started to near more noise from the car. Hearing, looking, driving, stopping: we could not find anything wrong and decided it might be the bitumen.
So we went to Yengo, Dharug NP (another Koala!), Wisemans Ferry to Sydney. Mike advised the Narrabeen Big4 Campsite, our CMCA booklet had it in it as well and later Greg also mentioned this site as convenient. At first we did not find the AUD 45 (criminal) convenient, but decided to stay as our CMCA membership gave us AUD 20 discount (also criminal). After spending a few days in the city and one day with Greg in and around the Ku-ring-gai Chase NP we decided to go during the week to the Blue Mountains and return to Sydney for some more sights and walks we had on our list. On the way to the Blue Mountains we visited Mt. Tomah Botanical Garden, beautiful gardens with lots of birds! We just missed the Rhododendrons but there was still plenty to see. At the parking Agnes saw oil lying under the car. Oh no, not again a problem.
Oil was dripping out of the transfer box.
We decided to head 10 kilometers back into the direction of Sydney and spent the night in Bilpin, throw in the morning some oil in the box and find a garage in Richmond or Windsor. In Richmond we found a garage interested in helping us (that’s the way in Australia) but they could not start before Monday (it was now Thursday Morning). We decided to leave the car at the garage as it was really crunching metal and walked into Richmond to find a place to stay.
Caravan parks with cabins were not close by and also not close to public transport. For a reasonable price (if you are not on a tight budget) we found a motel with a very helpful employee.
We became temporary members of the library and had there internet access(AUD 3.40 for 28 days with a max. of 3 hrs. a day). On Friday we phoned with Mike to explain that it would take a bit longer before we would be able to visit them. Since that call our live in Sydney changed.
We were at a low and came out on a high. Mike and Gill picked us up from the motel and drove all the way back to the North Beaches to put us in their guest room. From Idefix to a normal house was a big change. Not sharing a bathroom, people who were pampering us, plenty of space.
Actually, it is not a normal house, it is a beautiful bungalow overlooking a part of the Hawkesbury River system. Both Mike and Gill kept us busy while waiting for the repair of Idefix. Ten books to read (managed one and a third), lots of fun, walks to make (we did The Spit to Manly, Dee Why to Manly and Bondi to Coogee and Mike had at least 21 more for us), sea-kayaking in Sydney (Kissing Point to Cockatoo Island and back, last kilometer no feeling in arms anymore), a picnic and beers opposite the opera and then: A night at the Opera with Pomp and Circumstance! and a full Moon), first taste of Toohey’s Old, real conversations, internet and telephone, every morning muesli AND toast for breakfast and fun and on and on and on.

One and a half week later we were back in Idefix with suggestions for our travels towards Melbourne and South Australia. Both itineraries will take us six weeks each whilst we think we have only half the time. What would have happened if we discussed with Mike and Gill our trip in Africa?

We will tell about our road south and west but for now:
Thanks to the Best and the Greatest of The Southern Hemisphere!

Before we got there we spent time in the West MacDonnell National Park and King’s Canyon. Alice Springs lies at a gap between the East and West MacDonnell
Range. On the West side are a number of attractions we looked at (this is a tourist post..), the first one being Simpson Gap. Like ABC in Europe Australia has something similar, instead of Church, Castle or Cathedral it is Another Bloody Gorge or Gap.

This first location in the Park was just a gap in the Range with a waterhole. Even if it took in this very rainless environment millions of years for water to cut a gap or gorge we were not impressed. Already a lot nicer was Standley Chasm. The drawing of the walktrail
showed that after the first chasm a second one could be seen. We just walked on behind the people in front of us, climbing on the mountain over boulders in a dry creek bed, until the men turned and said that they (and we) must have taking a wrong turn! Yes, it is possible to do that in this environment. Although the Chasm is in the National Park, it is owned and managed by Aboriginals. The path to the first Chasm was good,
however it did not have the markings as we saw on other trails in the NP.
Anyway, again following the same men, we climbed up another mountain through another dry creek bed until we got stuck in the second chasm. This was as far as we could go.  A jump of more than 2 meters high was not on our programme today. People walk the Larapinta trail (about 130 kilometers) through the National Park and they have to take this obstacle. Coming from the other direction is a lot easier though as one can lower her/himself 2 meters down better than up.

The way National Parks and Aboriginal Owned Land works is not very clear in some cases. For this little walk we had to pay the local aboriginals a whopping AUD 18 per head whilst the rest of the National Park is free. Staying on the subject: camping costs AUD 3.30 per person and driving the Mereenie Loop AUD 2.20 . When you buy this Loop Pass you get a booklet with information on various sights in the area, but none are on the Loop!
The Pass must cost more than the 2.20 to produce, but is probably subsidised by one of the many Government Organisations dealing with Aboriginals.
We had the pleasure of driving this most horribly corrugated road for 154 kilometers in about three hours. It is of course forbidden to stop and leave this road. When the curtain still hung, the old road from West Germany to Berlin gave the tourist more freedom!

After the Standley Casm we camped at Ellery Creek Big Hole. The pattern is here the same. Mountain Range, dry Gorge and a semi-permanent waterhole at the
end of the gorge. So we went to look at the Serpentine Gorge and Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge and Redbank Gorge as well of course. At the Serpentine Gorge we also walked up the lookout and enjoyed early in the morning the warmth of the sunshine with our fellow sunbather : The Rock Wallaby!

 A cousin of his could be seen at Ormiston Gorge. Here we had the most beautiful walk in the West MacDonnells: The Pound Walk. 8 Kilometers in a very varied country-side and ending walking through the Gorge and the Waterhole.

The best part of Glen Hole Gorge were the 2 nights we bushcamped on the bank of the dry riverbed opposite the gorge. Especially the first night
we were glad with our campfire as the evening was biterly cold.

Very impressive and a bit of a mystic place is Gosse Bluff. A large meteorite hit the earth and created a crater. The rim has weathered down over time but it is still very visible from afar on the flat plains surrounding it. The Abos have another theory about the creation of the crater: a (god)child fell from the sky and since then the evening and morning stars (father and mother) are looking for it every day. Most of the
park is closed to the public as the Abos have many sacred sites in the area.

Before taking the Mereenie Loop to King’s Canyon we went to Finke Gorge National Park. This is really worth your while, the two 8 kilometer walks in the Park are beautiful. The track from the campsite to Palm Valley is only four kilometers but seriously offroad. It took us almost 30 minutes one way without damaging Idefix. Susi and Ruedi (on tour) were working as volunteers in the Park. It is very nice to meet such travel-veterans with their healthy curiosity and enthousiasm. Hopefully we meet again and have some more time together.

After spending so many nights in basic bushcamps we were completely shocked in Watarrka National Park (King’s Canyon). Here the Aboriginals teamed up with a commercial operator. A crowded overpriced campsite with no alternative is the result. Spending even more money on wine and beer we went happily drunk to bed (two glassses each were sufficient after a long dry spell). The walk around and in the canyon is worth all this trouble though. The domes along the rim were even better than the ones in the Bungle Bungles we thought.

Next on the agenda is: The Rock! Another long day driving in this country of long distances. Toni is right of course: do not go here just for The Rock, it is not worth the effort.
After several hours driving we see a glimpe of it: see, see, there it is. An hour later at a Park Area: it does not look so nice as on the pictures, the side is not smooth at all. Yeah, but it is big isn’t it, we are still 200 kilometers away and it is already this large in the otherwise flat landscape. At Curtis Springs Roadhouse (free camping!), we met two elderly men who just went for the one day to Uluru. The same group of Abos and Commercial operator of King’s Canyon run this park as well. Here one must also pay an entrance fee of AUD 25 per person. The fee is for a 3-day pass registered on your name and car. As the passes of the two men did not have their names and car registration they offered their passes for AUD 10 each. We had already decided to spend one day at Uluru and one day at The Olgas so a deal was made. At the Entrance of the Park we were asked to fill in the missing info on the passes….
Uluru looked a lot better than the previous day and we spend a couple of hours walking around it. Although we would not have done it anyway, the walk up the Uluru was closed during the two days we were there because of too strong a wind. At the bottom the wind was not very strong but cold, we wore all day our fleece jackets. The camping was a lot better and worth it’s money if compared to King’s Canyon. After seeing the Olgas and spending a couple of hours on Internet and phone to locate our radiator-fan we left the Park heading for Alice Springs. When we saw The Rock getting larger again after a couple of hours driving it finally dawned on us: we looked at Mt. Connor before and took it for Ayer’s Rock! I hope we can recognise
the Opera in Sydney better

Martha Gellman – “The only aspect of our travels that is interesting to others is disaster.”    

Day 1: The watertanks are being filled and we read on the meters: 20% full. After looking under the car we did not see more than the 50 liter water we spilled during the filling of the two 60L tanks. Shit, the meters are not working properly. Oh well, we cannot fix it and it is a luxury anyway. Open issue until we are home again I guess and then we will no longer bother.

First weeks: the hairblower is not working. “It is not important, your hair dries very quickly in this weather”. Buzz, wrong answer: a hairdryer is not just drying hair, it is much more important. (Open issue for me until the rest of my life). In the first few weeks on every camping the hairdryer is tried with the adaptor plug but is is not working. At home it worked fine and it was bought specifically
for our travels.
With a lot of more stuff, we had too much, it was send by sea-mail home.
Much later: this battery charger is not working anymore. “Try it with turning the adaptor plug to Australian instead of German outlets”.
Huh?
It is nice to know a good hairdryer is waiting at home.

In the same box we returned our original number plates. To put the different-sized copies on properly, Hoesche drilled some holes and gave me nuts and bolts with me. It took only one hour to undo the plates on the back. The frame broke but did not look good anyway. Undoing the front plates was a piece of cake – 5 minutes. Half an hour later:” this is not going to work, you know what, we will just put the plate with cablebinders on the grille”. If the police asks about the poor visibility because the bullbar is blocking the view and sees the cablebinders, we will just say that it is the Swiss perfection they are looking at.
The plates must be protected at all times!

Can you charge the laptop for me, I want to download our photos. Uh, the electrical outlet we have made especially for this is not powerful enough, you have to wait until we are at a camping with poweroutlets again.

The charger of our electrical toothbrush is not working. Next evening: it is working, you see. The morning after: oh, it did not. Several tries later we threw it away and bought two new brushes with charger. European brushes cannot be charged on an Australian charger (Braun!). Actually, we found the latter out the evening that we bought the first brush for 50 dollars, the next day the second one in the opposite shop only costed 30 dollars. We’re also good buyers eh?

In Coral Bay it was decided after five days deliberations that the new greasegun would be tested. We properly documented Hoesches test-run and within an hour all 12 points under the car (try crawling under a truck when it is 30 degrees and the snorkels, coral and beautiful fishes are waiting. All 12? No two of the bastards have hidden themselves. No worries, 6 were very near to where the two should be so that is good enough isn’t it? (Open issue until now after one more greasetrip and many, many more views under the car). The prescribed physical inspection was done as well: all nuts and bolts look allright, no parts have dropped off, as far as I can tell, which still isn’t much by the way. The only thing: the right side of the front axle looks wet, check, yeah with oil. The left side is dry.
Okay, it does not look like it should but what the heck, it is only the brake, I think. Open issue until today. Still wet on one side and dry on the other. Servive is planned in Alice or Darwin and there we will address the issue (if we ever get out of the Kimberley, that is).
Hey, where does this screw come from? Later that evening the appropiate hole is found in the dashboard. Three days later: Another screw is found and some twenty (!) are found loose in the cabin only. I am still checking the rest of the 10000 screws and nuts and bolts which are on the car. Some are lost forever I discovered.

A few missing bolts could be replaced after I hit a major pothole on the road to Cape Leveque. As the space between the wheel and the mudcover is not very much we had to have the damage repaired at a workshop in Broome. They supplied us with some other missing bolts as well. At 1.50 each, mind you.
Although you should not hit potholes too hard we think this is a construction fault from Bremach. Our mudcover is at least 10 centimeters lower than that of Dirk’s Bremach )and the Toyotas, Nissans and Mitsis that we see offroad. Some of the many admirers of our car stated that unsollicited as well.
One screw is rolling over our heads on the cabin every day since that hit.
Nothing fell off until now so we leave that on the open issue list too.

In between we noticed in Chicester-Millstream NP that our warning light for the radiator started to blink. Stopped, topped up the cooling fluid a bit, drove on stopped, drove on, stopped. Now the light is burning all the time! Yes, but the temperature gauge is ok. The motor is not overheated. After another panic attack and the advice of some prison wardens we decided to ignore the light and drive on the meter reading only. Several attempts were made but the fault is not found. Open issue until we have a service done to the car. But it was a bloody omen!

After Broome we bypassed Derby and went via Fitzroy Crossing on the Gibb River Road. We have been told afterwards by Derbians (?) that that is the cause of our problems. On Charnley River Station we arrived early in the afternoon and decided to have a look at one of their sights.
Donkey’s Hole is only 8 kilometer away from the Station and campground so we decided to have a look. What a place to bushcamp would it be.
A nice pond with waterlillies at the bottom of some cascading waterfalls. Lots and lots of birds and cangeroes. Already on the first kilometer to the Hole we saw various wallabys and cangeroes. Also on that kilometer was a small creek crossing. Looks like it has only 30 centimeters of water in it. Ooops, and a much deeper hole. So on the way back we were warned. We stopped, looked for the best way to go and
gently moved forward in first gear, low range. Yes, the hole is still there but last time we did not hear that tearing sound, did we. We quickly drove back to report us back at the station and parked at our spot. There I could see the last drops of our coolant fluid drop on the ground.
After opening the bonnet we could see a ring of torn metal in our radiator, a broken and partly ripped cal (keeps the air to the radiator) and a fan without any blades left. How could this happen, no way was the water deep enough. Quick check, the bumper is still dry, only the bottom side of the wheels are wet.

Yes, we are in deep shit. Some of our supplies were running out, we could not charge our batteries, did not have enough cash to stay for another two to three weeks replaement parts would need to get there. Peter, the station owner offered to drive our car back to Broome on the back of his truck the next day. Great, we are rescued as the place that fixed our mudcover is actually a radiator specialist. Next day the truck did not leave because rain would come according to the forecast . Rain did come and it poured a day and a night. Roads closed until they are dry again.
Peters trip to Broome was postponed indefinately as he had other things to do on his stations. He did make a couple of phonecalls and found a person in Derby who would come and get us on his tow truck. First the roads had to dry again. Surviving on a generator we could use until the unleaded fuel ran out, the use of solar power from other campers we managed to save the meagre contents of our fridge until the tow truck arrived after six nights. Derby is 40 kilometers on the station and 260 kilometers on the Gibb away. Broome is another 200 kilometers. Through the helpline of our insurance company we found a person in Broome who was willing to get us for AUD 5.500! No thanks, we take the now cheap guy from Derby for less than a third of that price. We are talking towing only, not repairing.

Jeff turned out to be quite a character and very pleasant person to be with. After checking whether we could empty our water tanks, no: the valve is broken and stuck, we can only pump it out in liter portions using our tap in the car. The 300 km to Derby were done in about 6 hours as the road was still bad from the rain.
First stop was Imintji where I could buy some cigarettes after gone cold turkey for 24 hours, after the last breakfast of pumpernickel with jam the steak pie tasted delicious as well. A few more stops were made on the way back and the first two beer were drunk. Jeff seems to live on beer and cigarettes
only. He offered us to stay in his ‘garden’ for the night. In the midst of his wreckyard he had a house with some palms and grass surrounding it. On the one side palm trees and on the other rows of car-wrecks was our campground for 4 nights. Although no worries in Australia is often said things move so slow that not worrying is very difficult. Jeff called the Iveco dealer in Perth about a new fan and radiator. The Iveco partnumbers I gave him were apparently not a lot of help as they could only identify after two days! the fan. This was in stock in Perth and could be flown out in 24 hours.
The probably right radiator had to come from Melbourne and would need a few days more. We could use one of Jeff’s cars to drive around town and do some shopping and other stuff. The evenings usually started at about three in the afternoon when Braddo, Blue or Barney would come for a beer. A beer is not the right expression, cases of 36 cans of XXXXGold were disappearing fast. New supply came from customers paying this way for some part taken of a wreck or some other service.
Many true lies were told and we had a great time with these guys. Their Derbian/Kimberley hospitality has been one of the highlights of our  trip thusfar. On the third day we finally started doing something. The fan was ordered from Perth and we decided not to let the allegedly correct radiator come
from Melbourne but patch up the damaged one. Jeff was convinced that if we stopped the leaks we could drive to Darwin and let an Iveco dealer take care of the ordering at his risk than ours. On the day our fan was supposed to arrive (Friday the 13th) Jeff and I worked on and off for 9 hours fixing and testing the radiator. Tools we used were you-knead-it and another steel putty, seal-it, two pairs of very old pliers, a broken nailcutter, kitchen scissors and about twenty cans of beer. In between Jeff was forced to eat one sandwich of us. More people were coming, drinking and going and witnessed our ‘professional’ leak testing. In the mean time to Jeff’s displeasure his wife arrived back from a holiday rather than our fan.
Next morning we decided to build the fixed radiator in the car again to have it tested under working conditions. The fan would not come on Saturday as the expedition companies were closed. We actually drove ,in vain, around town to find the van which usually does the deliveries.

Saturday morning a few minor leaks were repaired and nothing would be done anymore until the fan would arrive, cross our fingers, on Monday. At any rate, the horse races which are held twice a year in Derby were on in the afternoon and some pre-drinking was required. We decided to move to the caravan park to have a hot (bliss) shower again. Just before we would leave Jeff got a call that the fan arrived in town and we quickly went to pick it up.
At the races all people from town showed up in their best dress and exqusite hats. Jeff even put in his false teeth and looked dandy. After the two-up spectacle
we left and returned on Sunday morning to Jeff’s place to build in the Fan. Jeff was gone but Barney came looking for his shoes, hat, hous-keys
and mobile phone. Someone (he did not know who) brought him home after the races where Barney had to sleep in his shed by lack of house-keys.
To sober up some beer was drunk and together with the returned Jeff we took out the radiator again and build in the fan.
A fifty kilometer test-drive showed no more leaks and finally made us mobile again. The 1700 kilometers to Darwin would not be a problem anymore according to
the experts, we could even see the sights on the way, no worries!

When I tried to take out the radiator the first time I happened to undo the wrong hose and we had to top-up the gas in the airco. This could not be done on Monday so on Tuesday we finally left.
Back on the Gibb we saw a road-train coming towards us with the driver waving like a maniac. Ah, good old Barney, returning from his run to the mines
with his delivery of food and other supplies. With big smiles, a cool cabin and a confident feeling about the car we went to March Glen bushcamp to
to have that wonmderful feeling of freedom again. The next day we visited more gorges and decided not to go to the Mitchell Falls to make
up some of the time we lost. At Russ Creek we bushcamped again and had a great evening under the stars by the fire.

Next morning: shall we stay for another night? Uh, well, I don’t know, the auxiliary bateries are very low, we must drive a bit to fill them. The time we have been
standing still in Derby must have drained the batteries completely and it might take some time to recover, or are they damaged? After a few hundred kilometers
we arrived at Hidden Valley campsite in Kununurra. Batteries were hooked up on the power and recharged. The next day we bought a voltage meter I could work with.
Before we went on our trip I looked at these but decided that these meters with dials and symbols that I did not understand anyway, would be
a waste of money. The new voltage meter was just right. It can only read whether a car battery is bad, fair or good. Other than putting minus on minus and positive on positive
nothing had to be done. Yes, all our batteries are good,let’s get going again. Two nights in the bush at Keep River NP and then on to Bungle Bungles. After that
we will take the Tanami Track to Alice Springs were a new Radiator flown in from Europe will be waiting for us (for less than half the Melbourne price). Yes, I can build it in myself now. I have
seen it done a couple of times now.
We decided to camp at a roadside camping before driving the 2 hours on the 60 kilometer entrance road to the Bungle Bungles. Quickly we collected some wood
to have a nice fire for the chilly evening. Table, chairs set-up and then: hey, have a look, the fridge is not charging! Oh no! Yes, it stopped and the auxiliary batteries are flat again.
Okay we will quickly drive to Halls Creek and use power on the Caravan Park and then decide what to do. We arrived at dusk in Halls Creek and got more depressed.
Also the Caravan Park is a pretty awful place. We have to get out of here as quick as possible again.
The split relay charging our batteries must have burned out when we took the earth cable away from the radiator and had the motor running for a test.
New plan: we can live two nights after a full charge out in the bush. We go to the Bungle Bungles and spend two nights there, return to Halls Creek, recharge and
drive the 1000 kilometers across the Tanami Desert in two nights. In Alice we can then sort out our radator and battery problem, we might even give Idefix a full service.
Great, we are happy again. The drive in the Bungle Bungles was indeed on an abysmal road. Many, many creek crossings, horrible corrugations and in between potoles and rocks in and on the road. About two thirds of the way our EDC warning light went on. Stop, check the code. Yes, soething is wrong with the brakes
or with the fuel pump. But what, and what to do? After 15 minutes hectic communication between two complete ignorant people we decided to head on. Ah, warning light is off again, must have been
the heat. No, there it is again. I have the feeling the motor sounds different after that last creek. No, it must be our imagination, we are driving on edge. The thought of having to be towed from the bush again is put very, very far away.
Safely at the campground Erich Christ gets a call from us. Warning light is not to big of a deal. 4 fault codes are not that important and the fifth must be a confusion in the system when the brakelights have to be of or on, I will mail you a PDF to explain what to do. If the warning light is constantly on it is ok, it is only a big problem when it blinks. We slept wonderfully. Next morning: I still think the motor sounds different. The next next morning after the daily oil and watercheck: here, have a look, we have two blades missing of our new fan. Oh ferthef. Okay not to panic, we drive even more careful back to the main road and then we are on the tar road to Halls Creek again. If all goes well we go on across the Tanami as planned. Let’s first see the other sights here.

Pfff, we survived that horrible road and only have to do 100 km on tar to Halls Creek. 70 Kilometers later we pulled off the road. What are you doing?
The temperature meter is going up too quickly, look there is a new hole in the radiator. Shit is almost dark, we have to move to a flat spot where we can stay overnight.
Let’s try to fix it. Fix it, you’re mad. Let’s just try, look whether we still have enough power in the battery to use the waterpump and fill these bottles(the valve on the tanks is still an open issue). Because the radator lost half of the water it was surprisingly cool. You-knead-it kneaded and a wack is put on the leaking part. First bottle went in,
still leaking, but less. Please fill the bottle again. Fifteen minutes later we were driving again with the four eyes on the temeperature meter and none on the road. Yes, we are back on that horrible beautiful caravan park with power. As every else we quickly have some spectators admiring our car.
That thing looks great, you can get anywhere in that can’t you. Yes, we can. (Loud and silent scream!)

How is it possible that a third blade broke of the fan on a smooth tar road? It might already have been damaged. Perhaps something happened when we pulled out of the
parking and went on the road again. The motor is moving at will. Scream!!!

Next morning a helpful camper looked at our problem and did what Peter, Jeff and Barney did before, check whether the engine mounts are broken.
No, seems to be alright.

Okay, what do we do now? Well, last night after we drank the beer we bought in the Fort Knox bottle shop we were more brave. We take the Tanami and repair any new leaks if we get any. We take plenty of water with us and are not afraid to go through the desert like that.
In the morning we decided to be a bit more cautious and drive the 400 kilometers on tar bak to Kununurra. The one mechanic in Halls Creek is not in on this Friday and Australians normally
do not work on the weekend. The place where our wheels were balanced (another story) had pretty competent people I think. At any rate, the town has more possibilities, is pleasant and the caravan park is great.

Six hours of driving at 200rpm only we went straight to the workshop. Little discussion, it is not the motor but a wobbly fan. That cannot be the cause, they have designed it like that.
I would put on two electrical fans on the radiator, that will sort the problem out. Your battery problem can easily be fixed. We left and agreed that they would get to the bottom of the problem on Monday. At the Post Office we were told that our Radiator can be send from Alice (if it arrived already) through to Kununurra. The request will
take three full working days to process. Shipment will probably be Alice to Adelaide to Perth to Kununurra and probably takes about 10 days.
Well Kununurra is a nice place. We can spend here easily a couple of weeks (louder scream!). Phone call to frustrated Erich Christ: it has to be the motor that moves.

Today is Sunday, tomorrow we’ll bring Idefix to the workshop. If this story has no follow up you know where to find us: somewhere in the Kimberley, the last Frontier!

The Ningaloo Reef is with 600km smaller than the Great Barreer Reef (2000) but offers for the weary and yet curious traveler ample opportunities. The reef starts at Coral Bay about 20 meters from the beach. A five minute walk from the camping and you put on your snorkel and fins and there you go. Corals in all shapes and forms as well as
colourful fish within reach. Although the coral is not very colorful it is an amazing world you can explore looking under water. The snorkel has to fit of course or else you have a regular flush of salt water through your nose as I experienced.

Because going out for a snorkel twice a day is a drag we decided to book a tour and swim with sharks. Although we also saw Tigershark the skipper guided us to a spot where a Whaleshark was swimming. After some nervous minutes and hectic dressing we jumped with a group of ten in the water to follow a guide to swim with the shark. And suddenly it was there, a friendly creature of 5 meters long, within a few meters from us. After no more than a glimpse we were picked up by the boat again. Each time after, when we went in the water again, we were able to see more of him/her and less of our fellow swimmers..

One of the crew went with us in the water to take pictures, see them in our Photo Album. After some stops two snorkels (?) at the outerreef and an excellent buffetlunch on the boat we arrived back on the shore with a ‘We did it’-'Once in a lifetime’ experience. Next goal is swimming with Manta Rays.

After the sun and the beach we decided to cool down more inland. After over 600km we arrived at the very pleasant mining town of Tom Price. Alas, for me the cooling down was too abrupt. In Coral Bay the temperature during the evening was still pleasantly in the mid-twenties whilst in Tom Price it quickly went down to below ten after sunset. Another cold and not a pleasant one either.

Not interested in mining we went into the Karijini National Park which is 50kms from Tom Price. A beatiful rugged area full of green and red (plenty of iron around there) and mountains and hills
with the odd cangaroo checking out Idefix passing by, we arrived at the Savannah eco-retreat.

A beautiful camp with longdrop toilets and solar hot showers in a setting which could have come straight out of Africa. A nice and even colder night was spend with Rony and Christina from Bubikon, of all places. Rony recognised Idefix as we had it parked there, in Bubikon that is, before it was shipped to Fremantle. It is a small world indeed. Definitely for Ronny and Christina as they are doing a round the world trip.

The gorgeous gorges are in this park. We checked out a bit of Weano Gorge on the day we arrived and went the next morning down to the Joffre Falls and Gorge. In a flat landscape suddenly a chasm lies in front of you with water flowing from  a waterfall ino the gorge. In the gorge you see layer upon layer of rock, water takes up to a 100 years to
flow from the land above through the layers into the river. Also here a magnet clings to most of the rocks a
it contains a lot of iron. By the way, the ore mined in this area is so pure it has to be diluted (I have no clue) before it can be processed to make steel.

After moving to the more basic campsite at Dales Gorge (only longdrops) we checked out the Gorge and Pools there as well. Although it was getting colder by the night the water was still warm enough to swim in.

On our way to the coast we had a stop at the Hamersley Gorge. This Gorge is different as the layers are wrung (?) into waves of rock. Incredible powers much have been at work here. The lanscape here is also the oldest in Australia, it is more then 2500 million years old!

Because of an old asbestos mine we decided to leave Wittenoom Gorge as it is and headed to the Millstream-Chicester NP. On the way we camped at a station of only 300.000 ha with 4000 cattle. We were only the 4th guests of the season but Dirk and Gitta probably stayed here as well as the 2nd or 3rd.. It was a booming day for the farmer as Dirk (not the same) joined us early in the evening. It was very pleasant to share a meal with him. He must have expected more people as he had, at least for a dozen grownups with appetite, desserts with him! More about Dirk and some of his activities can be found at:
www.weltgeschichten.com

After the Karijini we needed to wash urgently. Not only ourselves and our clothes but Idefix as well. He is white and not pink. The dust is so fine and in abundance that everything which is not sealed gets a good coating. One shoe of mine was in one of the two plasic boxes underneath the car and will from now on continue to have a different colour.

I am learning, as I make my way through my first continent, that it is remarkably easy to do things, and much more frightening to contemplate them.
-Ted Simon, Jupiter’s Travels

Hoesche and Ana who kindly took us in when we were homeless. Hoesche help with the technical preparations and trials of our car. He spend many, many hours during weekends with Idefix instead of going fishing.

Andre and Rosa for cleaning, moving our furniture and bringing us to the airport. Other movers and cleaners like Toni, Ursi and Rene. Pascal for doing the odd job.

Fabi for making all shipping arrangements. Edith, Marianne, Rosa, Bärbel, René, Ursi, Ana, Lari (what’s the recipe?), Hoesche for all the salads, cakes etc. during Up Up And Away.

The staff at the hospital making Agi’s farewell a once in a lifetime experience.

Dr. Stephan Plaschy and Gabriela Collenberg for fixing my arm (it is getting better and better). Dr. Thomas Gaehwiler, Dr. Barbara Krayenbuehl, Dr. Arthur Ruetishauser, The Travelclinic (15 injections each!) and Vreni Buergi for making us fit and prepared for the worst of medical times. When we leave Africa we can probably supply a small clinic with a lot of material they can put to good use.

Very inspiring and helpful have been Wolfgang and Birgit (www.bush-sweepers.org), Idefix would perhaps never been born without them. Lorenz, Thomas and the others at MWM who have been very creative and build our van into a ‘home’(minor point is that we cannot get the gauges of our watertanks to work and some drawers are hard (nail-breaking) to open). Jonas  for his valuable tips and patiently sharing his ‘Bremach-experience’ with us

Dirk and Gitta for sharing a container with us, running around Fremantle/Perth and hooking our batteries up again. May your trip be good!

Ernst and Baerbel for taking in Sissy and doing numerous good ‘neighbourly’ things. Both Freis for being good and lenient landlords (we want to come back).

Toni and Andi for negotiating a good deal with my previous employer while I was basking in the sun, so to speak.

Our friends Marcel and Andrea for being our mailbox, accountants and Swiss caretakers. Hans doing a similar job in Holland, Muriel for investing wisely and very, very profitable.

Erich Christ for preparing our car and supplying me with so much documentation on Idefix that, once I have read and understood it all, I can open up a garage or even start manufacturing cars!

Julia, Markus and Joel for being good friends and booklenders. With every cup of coffee Joel is smiling…

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Mark Twain [Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910)

Many small native animals have been extinguished by these predators.

One of the rules to bring in a car from overseas is that it has to be clean, clean as in new! Now, our car was fairly clean because it is new but one drive on the road, and dirt settles on the chassis. Our greatest worry was how do we get a clean car in a container during the Swiss winter. Snow, rain and ice does not keep your car clean. Working on the car in the cold is no fun either.

With a lot of help from Hoesche and the facilities we were able to use at his work place, cleaning the car was relatively easy. Hoesche and Agi needed ‘only’ a couple of hours (I was the onlooker..). The Sunday at the end of February had clear blue skies and it was 20 degrees with the sun shining. What is luck?

We parked the car overnight 20 kilometers away from the washing place and loaded Dirk and Gitta’s Bremach and ours in a container in Niederglatt. By rail it was sent to Antwerp and then shipped to Singapore, where it was unloaded and loaded on a smaller vessel (a feeder) for transshipment to Fremantle. All in all it was about 8 weeks in transit.

In the mean time we dissolved our lives in Switzerland and said goodbye to most of our family, friends and other special people. A series of pictures taken, and stolen from, by Miriam are in our Photo Album (Up, Up and Away). Just a few degrees too cold, the evening at the Fischerhuette was very good and special for us.

With two flight via Singapore Airlines through Singapore we arrived in Perth. Except for a squabble I had with a women who wanted to occupy four seats on the long haul to Singapore, the plane was only half-full, the flights were uneventful and smooth.

Within two hours after arriving in Perth we were in the cabin we booked in advance on the Fremantle Village Caravan Park.

The vessel arrived one day after us in Fremantle. So far so good. It then took us a week to get hold of our car. The dark machinations of the agent, customs and quarantaine offices were and are not clear to us. Dirk and Gitta were very agitated about our agent (Fracht AG) but were in the end as relieved as we were, when we finally got our cars. All in all the physical inspection by customs, quarantaine and the Vehicle Examination Center took less then two hours. Getting a number and some other data,in a computer system somewhere, took many, many hours and phone calls longer.

The weather in the Perth area was a lot worse then what we expected. Standing at a container depot in the rain watching grown men playing with containers like it is Lego is boring at a certain moment. We both suffered from colds in the first weeks. Agi was coughing all the time and we drove North towards better wheather much faster as planned.

Ambrose Gwinett Bierce – “PASSPORT, n. A document treacherously inflicted upon a citizen going abroad, exposing him as an alien and pointing him out for special reprobation and outrage.”