Monday 21st June - Pingandy Road to Tom Price

Anne uttered the words “Sweet bitumen” as we turned onto the Paraburdoo Tom Price Road, and I have to say it’s a nice change to be on a smooth surface after the last three days on gravel.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was only going to be for 30km before turning off to short cut to Tom Price (saving 60km).

We can now understand Heini’s preference of gravel roads over rough tracks, and tarmac roads over gravel roads.  Despite all the bumping, thanks must go to Heini for his route advice as it was great to get away from the main tourist roads, only passing one car in three days, and we saw a different type of Australian countryside; winding roads through low ranges, with numerous dry creek crossings to catch you out if you aren’t paying attention. SPOT

Driving into Tom Price was almost surreal.  After three days in the wilds with stony desert, low ranges, scrub land and not much else, to suddenly see manicured lawns, well kept houses, a shopping centre and other vehicles, it felt like we’d arrived back in civilisation.

Strange what a few days without facilities does to your mind.  I got rather excited being in a Coles and we quickly filled a shopping basket with offers such as semi-dried tomatoes, vintage cheddar, Hungarian salami and savoury crackers - essentially all the basics.

We saw sunset from the top of Mount Nameless (how lazy), then drove to the one and only campsite in town for welcome showers after sweating in 36oC heat on the way from Mt Augustus.

We also had a couple of Land Rover maintenance issue to resolve, the first being a familiar problem of not being able to wind up the driver’s side window.  Anne blamed me again as I was driving when the winding mechanism broke and the window fell into the door with a clunk, but I think the corrugations took their toll on the plastic clips.  Superglue and duct tape were called into action to provide a fix.

Duct tape has also stopped our GPS from shaking loose, and was used to patch Anne’s swimsuit after too close contact with some sharp rock when snorkelling at Oyster Stacks the other day (it’s a classy look).  Indispensible stuff.

The other problem we have is a cracked wheel rim.  We found the front O/S tyre rather soft this morning, and taking it off in order to fit a spare (presuming a punctured inner tube, as happened in Greece) we noticed an eight inch crack in the inside of the wheel rim.  We’re not sure if it happened yesterday or has been like that for a while (with the puncture unrelated), but we’ll have to get it checked out at a tyre place tomorrow - luckily there are two in Tom Price.  If it’s terminal, I don’t fancy our chances of finding a replacement as we’re in Toyota and Nissan country now.