So we have had quite a few eventful weeks so far. We have been staying 40km out of Exmouth, and have been out of phone reception, thus no internet and no blog posts.
So the title has 5 dramas in it (did you count?) and yes, we have actually had 5 dramas. Here they are:
1. The wheel studs (minus one) came off the wheel of the caravan and the wheel was on a lean. It was just hanging on!
2. Our car broke down
3. Our generator broke down (Someone even 'helpfully' stated that breakdowns come in threes!)
4. Then the troubles started with fixing the car. We had to get it down to Carnarvon (400kms away!) to get it fixed, and plans on getting it down there chopped and changed heaps.
5. Then it rained, and rained, and rained. A dumping of 400 mls in 24 hrs. We had water come racing through our campsite.
So, after Port Hedland, we headed down to Karajini National Park (stay tuned as a post definitely coming on that) and had a stopover for one night. Then, we headed to Exmouth planning to stay in Cape Range National Park for 2 days (we only got the 2 part right as it was 2 weeks not 2 days).
Quick thing here, did you know Ningaloo Reef was on a National Park? Excuse my ignorance, but I didn't think of it like that, and don't you dare ask what I thought.
SOOOO, we spent one night, and all was going well. After visiting the popular snorkelling spots, we decided to go for a surf and work out the surfboards that we have now carted for over a year.
Yeah, we have now reached our 1st year anniversary of travelling, and are in our second year!! And no, we didn't have a celebration. We were too busy running around in the rain and collecting all our gear before they vanished out to sea.
Then the car wouldn't start. After jump-starting the car, then it wouldn't stay in drive. The car was mucking up again (only 2345 kms after replacing the engine) and we got it towed into town. We had picked the worst time to have a broken down car, with it being right in the middle of Easter. The only mechanic who would have worked on Transits (yes, a common problem) had no workshop, and couldn't do it. Thus, we had to take the car down to Carnarvon.
Now, while all this drama was going on we were camping at Ned's camp, in Cape Range National Park, with the only facilities being drop toilets, and no phone reception. So while arranging all this, Dad had to ride up to the National Park Visitor Centre and use the public phone there.
The staff became quite used to him, and one lady said that he was keeping them in business with all the phone cards and refreshments after a long ride. Another person thought Dad was training for a bike event, him riding around everyday and all that.
So that's drama No.2 explained. I suppose I had better explain drama no.1, and then try and do the rest of the dramas in the proper order.
So, drama No.1. Take your mind back to when we first pull up at Neds (aka Neds Campground, affectionately known as Neds). We are parking our caravan up, and then the car stops to arrange where we are parking. They seem to be taking an unusually long time, and I tore myself away from my book and decided to find out what was happening. Just stepping out from the car, I immediately detected a problem. The wheel was on a lean. Whaaaatt?? Looking closer, the wheel was only just hanging on by one nut.
Just in case I didn't mention it, we got all our bearings re-greased in Port Hedland, a long overdue maintenance work. So, Josh removed the hubs (look, don't rely on me for the technical terms) and we decided to take it in Exmouth Engineering. They reckoned that they could replace the wheel studs, and we left it in their capable hands.
I won't bore you with the rest (a good excuse cause I don't know exactly what was wrong, and how it was fixed) but we got everything fixed up, and the caravan is running fine.
You will have to come back tomorrow for the next 3 dramas, and boy are they interesting (do not miss no.5 especially).
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