And they're off.

.

An early start to the day as Jenny was woken up when Larry came through the door at 6am after doing his last night shift.  Grudgingly gave up the warm comfy bed to Larry and got up and had a shower and breakfast.   Played on my tablet for an hour or so waiting it to be the sort of hour when you can go shopping at Woolies.  Just as I was leaving the gardeners decided it would be a good time to blower vac the pathways outside Larry's bedroom - poor Larry trying to sleep through that!  Took the Jeep for a morning tour of Newman and experienced the decadence of a drive through Muzz Buzz.  In Newman!  Guess they do a roaring trade in sleep deprived miners!

Eventually it was time for Woolies to be open so spent a leisurely hour or so (well, I had a whole morning to fill!) perusing the aisles and buying fresh veg , meat, bread and milk for the caravan.   Spent a long time trying to think of something easy for dinner tonight as we will get into camp late and only staying overnight so won't feel like setting up too much.  Eventually settled on salad with squid rings tossed through which I can cook quickly on the stove.

 

Back to the unit and spent time packing the food into the caravan and sorting cupboard space etc.  Back to the unit to read until Larry woke up at 11.30 but by 11am the cleaners were bustling around the unit and Larry gave up trying to sleep and got up.  We had everything packed and the caravan hooked up by midday so said our goodbyes to the cleaners and Newman and headed northwest.  Unforunately we got stuck in a convoy of trucks and mine vehicles and so made slow time to Auski Roadhouse so a late lunch (and a truly forgettable one) about 2.15pm. 

In the car again and Jenny took the wheel for the first time with the new van.  At first it was a bit stressful having four trailer road trains hurtling past in the opposite direction, especially when they were in convoys of up to six at a time but after a while I got the 'feel' of the car and van and could move across the road out of the way of their wind gusts without sending the van into a sway and could relax my grip on the steering wheel a bit!  Did my two hour shift and then was happy to hand the reins over to Larry again, particularly as the sun was low in the sky and in my eyes.

Stopped in the outskirts of Port Hedland for fuel and then the final stretch to De Grey River campsite in the dark.  I was constantly amazed today at just how many cows are wandering around the north west and hanging around on the edge of the road.  I had my eye out for kangaroos jumping across the road at us in the gloom but it was the large, white bulk of a cow on the edge of the headlights that we saw most often and when we pulled up in the campsite it was a case of stepping around the cow pats!

Lots of campers here but very quiet.  I guess they've all had big drives today too.  Early to bed as Larry needs sleep after nightshift last night and not much sleep this morning and I confess to feeling a tad weary myself and we have another long day of driving ahead of us tomorrow.