Kate and Will's 2016 Outback Aussie Adventure: Woomera to Gol Gol

We made our way to Port Pirie but not before a look through the Woomera Rocket Range Museum as well as the Town Museum. It really is a fascinating place. We saw maps of just how long the rocket range is (all the way to Western Australia and the Indian Ocean) and learned that some of the people who first made the calculations as to the speed and distance travelled were women. This surprised me for those times. We also saw a ‘town pass’ which you needed back in the 1960s if you were going to enter the township. It surprised me how recently Aboriginal communities were just coming into contact with white Australians as Len Beadell who surveyed the roads in that area was still the first white person many of the locals had met.

By morning tea time we were back on the road. We once again got ourselves slightly twisted around in Port Augusta but eventually found a fish’n’chip shop and enjoyed lunch in the local park watching a bus load of Victorian High School students play hide and seek. We also bumped into Joe and Lynn again which was lovely.

By 3.00pm we’d been met by and welcomed into David and Liz’s home. (Hadn’t been expecting to dine with an Order of Australia recipient, but there you go! Liz received the award for her work in preserving the Australian Transport History) Straight away talk of cars and trucks abounded. Will occasionally saw fit to interpret for me – ‘Kate a 360 is a car, not a truck’ I was well and truly back to being an ‘amateur’ again as it was very hard to keep up when I was the only one who hasn’t eat, slept and breathed vehicles all my life.

David and Will headed off to visit some restored vehicles that David has worked on so I took the opportunity to have a walk around Port Pirie. The house wasn’t close to the water but I did get a lovely look around the local golf course and both some of the new and old housing areas.

We had a lovely evening together with David regaling us with stories of the old days in Port Pirie and beyond. We heard of trips to Ayers Rock as it was called in those days with a coach load of school children and being bogged for days! Each time David thought of a new story he’d break into a smile before he even began telling it. He had us in fits of laughter as he shared stores of the mischief the men on the railways would get up to.

Next morning we visited a mate of theirs, Keith. Guess what – he eats, sleeps and breaths trucks!! We had a look at some of the great restorations he has done and a dig through the graveyard. David was sure there was a door or two that Will needs, but no luck, they had already been used on some project or another. Not to worry, David is ‘looking into it’ for Will. I’ll bet there will be an extra door or two on the load when David delivers the D-Line from Alice to Kyabram for us in March. After a cuppa and more stories we headed off, with a stop at the bakery and a view of the water for lunch.

ext stop, Renmark! Another wonderful night with Trev and Vina!! And rain, lots of rain! We’d enjoyed sunshine until late in the afternoon but it rained late into the evening. We were pleased to have a dry bed but placed the cup in its usual place just in case the leaks were back. Next morning after a leisurely breakfast we bid goodbye to Trev and Vina with a heavy heart and for Kate a wet backside!! Seems the van didn’t leak anymore so the Patrol had stepped up to take its place. A leak near the windscreen saw Kate’s seat, floor mat and camera all wet to varying degrees. Luckily the camera was least wet!! Will consoled Kate by drying the camera on the windscreen vents – ‘like we do with the laser light at work’.

The wet continued all the way to Wentworth. We had a look around the still machinery items on the river bank and then made our way to the pub for lunch. I’d heard there was a grey Fergie in the bar and sure enough there is. There are also plenty of photographs around the wall of the 1956 flood. When I was asked if I was in one of the photos I replied, “No, don’t think so, I just like the old truck!” Time for a better beauty crème obviously!! After a look at where the Darling and the Murray meet and a wonder up to Loch 10 we headed East to Gol Gol, next stop Liz and Frank’s.

Frank and Will spent the afternoon looking at restored trucks and I took the opportunity for a quiet walk along the NSW bank of the Murray. Ducklings, budgerigars, pelicans and kookaburras were just some of the bird species I spied. I really must get a small book for bird watching! I also spotted a house boat meandering its way up the river before I turned and headed back to Frank and Liz’s. Just after I arrived Liz returned home, followed not long after by Frank and Will. We spent the evening reminiscing about last year at the Hall of Fame and hearing about their trip overseas and listening to rain continue to fall. Another lovely evening in the home of new friends!!