Thread: Port Hedland to Sale in 4 Days? Righto then...

So the story is that after months of searching and trying to get away from Port Hedland, I accepted a new job in Sale, Victoria. Filled with the enthusiasm that accompanies a new job offer, I set about moving myself, my fiancée and two cats 4700km across the country. I had four weeks until I started work, so by the time we’d sold up most of the furniture, packed and sent what was left with wridgways, we were left with one week before I had to front up for the first day of the new job.

Our plan? 4 days, averaging 1200km a day, camp in roadside stops each night and carrying food and water enough for the trip and fuel enough for one fuel stop a day. Oh, and my partner doesn’t have her licence, so I was doing all the driving. Plus we had two extra passengers – the cats. Suddenly the enthusiasm was waning.

The packing list was:
- Two aforementioned cats in carriers (under threat that if they misbehaved, they would be left halfway across the nullabor)
- Three large suitcases full of clothes, linen, and basic belongings (enough so that we weren’t struggling until the arrival of our removals)
- Overnight bag with clothes for the trip (so suitcases could stay packed)
- Two 20L jerry cans of Fuel
- One 20L jerry can of water
- Basic tool kit, inspection light and 12v air compressor
- Camp Stove & 3kg gas bottle
- Two plastic boxes, one full of food, the other cooking equipment
- 15L Engel Car Cooler
- ‘2 second’ pop up tent
- Foam Camp Mattress
- Tarp & poles in case of bad weather or need of shade
- Double sleeping bag + pillows
- Two camp chairs + Aluminium Slat Table
- One Guitar (was somehow left behind by removalists and had to go somewhere)

Oh, and did I mention the vehicle? The ever spacious Suzuki Jimny… (I know, I know... it’s not a land rover… although technically it does have an 80 inch wheelbase?) Saying it was packed tightly was an understatement - Getting all the gear on board just simply wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance of a roof rack.

Our first day took us from Port Hedland to just outside of Leinster, south of Wiluna, a total of 1300km. Dinner in the park in Meekatharra, then aimed for Leonora but rain stopped us (I forgot to tarp the mattress on the roof, and fearing a wet sleep we stopped). The rain stopped as soon as camp was set up, and the steam in the tent from the rain drying on the baked rocky earth was like sleeping in a sauna.

Day two was less productive, as we stopped over with a friend in Kalgoorlie for a lunch that ran into the late afternoon. Sandwiches on the fly, passed Norseman and stopped halfway along the 90 Mile straight, 900km and a very enjoyable day later.

Day 3 was an epic push – after losing time the day before we charged on, and after a few photo stops along the way and splurging on a (crappy) pizza dinner in Ceduna we stopped around Midnight after 1450km, just short of Port Augusta. The 2 second tent earned it’s keep this night keeping mosquitos at bay because (as we realised in the morning) we’d camped right beside a swamp.

Day 4 was the home stretch – 1250km from Port Augusta through to Sale. Relatively uneventful, although traffic and busier roads slowed our progress and we arrived to set up tent in the driveway of our new home at 2am, until the real estate agent opened at 9am.

In all, our plan was successful – reality dictated more frequent fuel stops during the day but the Jerry Cans were well used running into the night as most servos we passed were closed.

The cats were amazingly well behaved, and wanted to do little more than stay in their boxes for most of the journey. The little Engel cooler performed admirably – while not a ‘real fridge’, by loading it with a couple of icy cold bottles of water from a servo every morning it managed to maintain a constant cool environment for the small stock of fresh food we’d brought with us, and would stay cool enough overnight while the vehicle was parked.. The real superstar though, was the 2 second tent – while the ‘2 seconds’ might be optimistic, the reality was that in under a minute we had a tent, and in less than 5 we were bedded comfortable down for the night, cats and all. At the end of a gruelingly long day behind the wheel it was a revelation.

Pics to follow

by the way Welcome to Vic