Trip 46 – Twas the month before Christmas

Our period of extended leave is rapidly approaching its end, with work back on the agenda from early Jan ’25… 🙁

We did, and could continue to, get used to this life of luxury, where an alarm did not set our start time and our activities revolved around what we wanted to do that day.

Anyways, all good things must come to an end – for now – so with this in mind, Jules and I jumped in the van for a two-week jaunt south. We’ll then have a couple of weeks at home before partaking in our annual Christmas migration to Augusta. This trip was also our first opportunity to test out the new roof I installed on Goldy our van.

—— A quick recap of the ‘Goldy roof saga’ ——

Whilst away on our multi-month cross-Australia jaunt, we experienced a spot of bad weather in Merimbula on the far southeast coast of NSW where it rained non-stop for a week. During this wet period, Goldy experienced a case of incontinence and started leaking through the ceiling. Luckily it wasn’t a major leak, and we managed to “Mcgyver” up a custom-fitted tarp for the roof, which kept us on the road and on our trip. The plan was that the tarp would do until we got home to get it fixed properly, hopefully under our caravan insurance. But, due to a variety of reasons, our insurance company declined our claim and we were faced with three options, being:

1 – Leave things as they were and put up with the leak, using the tarp when needed. This plan was untenable as the tarp, whilst effective, was a pain in the arse to fit/remove, plus it meant we had no solar when fitted.

2 – Get a caravan repairer to fix the roof. However, this was estimated by the insurance assessor at between $10 and $15K as they’d simply replace the whole roof, so again this plan was also untenable.

3 – Or replace the roof ourselves. A bit scary, but this is what I did. So, after a bunch of googling and some phone calls, I cut out and removed the old roof, finding the water leak ingress point in the process, rang a local supplier who built me a new custom composite panel roof to my specified dimensions, and then with the help of friends and family, I SikaFlex’d the new roof in, refitting the solar panels and internal fittings. Whilst it was a relatively lengthy job occurring over a couple of weeks, it actually wasn’t too difficult and I’m really happy with the result. And the best thing was, the whole roof replacement, including new internal fittings and solar panel mounts, was done for a smidge over $3K, much cheaper than the quoted prices. Since replacing the roof, the van has withstood a couple of rainy days with no leaks, but this will be our first trip away with it.

—— returning to normal blog post programming —–

With no specific destination in mind, we opted to spend the first couple of days at Dryandra, a favourite haunt of ours. Bushy (aka Dean) joined us for the 1^st day, driving down and back on Sunday, to come spend some time, talk shit and take some photos.

Setting out early, our plans were nearly derailed at the get-go with a flat battery in Sir Gwavin (our car), but that was quickly resolved using some jumper leads. And lesson-learnt not to leave the van hooked up overnight. Arriving in Dryandra at 9:30 am, we quickly set up the van and then Bushy and I left Jules to chill out whilst we went a numbat hunting. However, we’d barely made it out of the campsite when we came across a young couple walking up the track. So, as you do we checked to see if they were ok and found out their car, which was at the other campground about 2km away, had broken down and they were walking to the Lions Village to meet up with someone they knew to get help. Unfortunately, I couldn’t offer them a proper lift as I’d removed the back seats from the car for the e-bikes, but I dropped the tailgate and gave them a slow lift back to the Lions Village, some 8km down the road. They were thankful and enjoyed the adventure, even though they were orange with dust. Good deed done and karma points earned, Bushy and I set off again in search of wildlife.

Luckily it didn’t take too long when I spotted a numbat on the side of the road. We watched it scamper into the bush making sure we knew which log it ran to. After parking the car, we quietly crept closer, eventually situating ourselves about 15m away from the end of a log in which I thought it had run into. Despite not seeing any evidence of it, we hunkered down to wait and after a few minutes we could see the little fella sitting just inside the log, watching us. Normally, in my limited experience, it’s then just a waiting game, and previously I’ve waited a further 10 to 30 minutes and the numbat will gain confidence and come out. It’s then fifty-fifty whether or not he’ll resume his day or make for the hills. But this little bugger was adamant he wasn’t coming out until we’d left. We ended up waiting for over an hour, in the meantime watching and photographing a baby Yellow-Plumed Honeyeater getting fed by its parents before we decided to call it a day and leave him be. We did end up with a few pics though so Bushy went home pleased with his first proper Numbat sighting.

Sharing the campground with only one other couple, camped some way away, meant we could sleep with all the curtains and windows open, providing great views of the stars and moon from bed. That first night, the planet Venus was the single brightest object in the night sky that I think I’ve ever seen. Monday dawned glorious, and after a lazy brekky, Jules and I got out the e-bikes and cycled a 28km loop around the park, again on the lookout for numbats and other wildlife. Unfortunately no numbats, but we did see a couple of Echidnas, some Gould’s Goannas, including a pair of Rainbow Bee-Eaters swooping a goanna who we assume was threatening their nesting hole and a humongous skink lizard. All in all, a lovely ride and after lunch we did another couple of hours driving around looking for numbats, again unsuccessfully. With the clouds sweeping in and the temperature and humidity rising, we had to partake in some gin and tonics that evening to combat the potential for dehydration.

Tuesday was another relaxing day, primarily spent driving slowly through the parking looking for numbats. But once again, the little buggers proved elusive.

Wednesday was pub lunch day at the Cuballing Pub, somewhere we’d eaten before and enjoyed both the food and the country pub vibe and history. But first, it was another slow drive through the park on the way out and SUCCESS!! I spotted a Numbat aside the road and when I stopped, it was perched on a log, no more than 3m from the car and just sat there for 10 minutes or so, allowing us to take our pics from the comfort of the car. This little nummie was missing an ear but looked healthy otherwise and as per the pictures, had a gob full of grass for its nest. A great, and our closest Numbat experience so far. I also managed to shoot a Rainbow Bee-eater, a pair of nesting Regent Parrots and a Bush Stone-Curlew en route. A short stop in Narrogin for a coffee and some shopping, and then it was off to the pub for lunch.

Slowing things down a notch on Thursday, Jules chilled at the van whilst I went bush walking, making a big loop through some known numbat territory. Alas, no numbats, but it was a lovely walk and I did manage to get some cool bird shots and some pics of what I think is a Southwestern Crevice Skink. Tomorrow, we’re packing up and heading off to Molloy Island to catch up with BJ for a week.

As per normal, we took the back roads from Dryandra down to Molloy Island, stopping for mornos and some shopping in Bridgetown. Along the route, we agreed there are heaps of places we still need to explore properly in our home state, many of which, like this morning’s stop at Bridgetown, are within a few hours of home, so we’ll have to book a local camping trip in the near future.

Now set up at Molloy, our plan is to take it easy for the week. Weather dependent we’ll take the yak out for a fish, likely do some local exploring and just chill!

The rest of this week has been spent in serious chill mode. We took the yak out a couple of times, mainly to enjoy the Blackwood and Scott Rivers, but also for a spot of fishing. BJ kindly skippered one day and we visited Walsh & Sons and Edwards wineries for the first time, enjoying the wines, service and cellar doors at both places. Jules and I snuck in a sneaky lunch with a lovely bottle of Glenarty’s Fume Blanc at ColourPatch on a glorious Augusta day. All in all, we chilled, enjoyed each other’s company and relaxed – it doesn’t get much better than this.

That wraps up Trip #46! We’ll be back in Augusta again in a couple of weeks for Trip #47 and our annual Christmas holiday with family and great friends. However, this year it’ll be a bit different as Georgia has just graduated from the Police Academy and Constable Budge will be on booze bus shift over the holiday break.

Till then, peace out.