More planning

Back in August I contacted my mate Brian who had been up to the Kimberly a few years ago. He was over the moon with praise for that area but warned of the dangers of the roads – it sounded familiar and reminded us of the days we pounded corrugations (OK – in a Land Rover) in Ethiopia and East Africa. I started out with a few thousand dollars in mind and she’d be right, but at this, our point of departure, I honestly don’t want to know how much we have spent but tomorrow (after purchase of a second regulator for the gas ring for the wok – we’re not going to go short on the food stakes) will hopefully have us all squared away and kitted out to do this every year from now on.

The first decision was where we should sleep. On top, along side, or maybe to the rear? In no time you will be buried in options, but because I heard of an architect who was selling a good camper trailer, who had been to the Kimberly a couple of times, I was able to get the low down from a fellow traveller, and that made buying easier. It probably added $10,000 to the bill, but he was very helpful! Within a week or two we owned our own suitcase with wheels on it. It’s a Tvan made in Melbourne, and can be confused with a waste recycling vehicle (as one “friend” reminded us!). But we think it’s going to be very good. We’ll let you know – it’s pouring outside and we’re thinking a fire and a steak and a warm and cosy bed will do just fine tonight! Perhaps we’ll leave after lunch instead.

Decision making

Helen and I first met each other in 1971 when we joined a group travelling from London to Dar-es-Salaam and return, by road. That was four months of what seemed like non-stop driving and diving into and out of some wonderful places and cultures. After we had returned we all agreed we would repeat the exercise as soon as possible. Instead Helen and I agreed we should get married. It’s been non-stop ever since but so far we haven’t been able to go back to Africa!

The experience has meant that we have always, subconsciously really, used that trip as a reference point. We discovered early on what a fabulous time can be had by going off the beaten track, and have never “sought the resort” in all the time we’ve been together. Our favourite place on earth to date has been Currango in the high frost plains of Kosciuszko National Park. So, when Heather and her husband Hamish suggested we join them on their upcoming trip to Cape York “because they know we enjoy red wine”, it was clearly time to revisit remote travel again. Or give up the grog.

We jumped at the idea instantly and it was as if the thought had been gestating for many years just waiting for the right opportunity. We have after all, and in best English Pioneering Tradition, purchased and driven a Land Rover for nine years already, against this event. That is why it took me about nine months, to realise that only Brave Englishmen go where we’re going in a Land Rover. My apologies to owners thereof, I am still one myself (no-one seems to want it), but the statistics speak for themselves and we don’t want to be a statistic thank you.

The Toyota Prado is very nice, and everyone else seems to own one too, especially where we’re headed. It will do the job well and reliably whilst costing only half the national debt in diesel. You can’t have everything can you.