Day: February 17, 2018

The Roadtrip: Day 3

.Reading time 6 minutes.

What. A motherfudging day.

I thought yesterday’s rains were exciting – I had no idea what was in store for me!

After going out for a few drinks last night and waking up slightly hungover (sorry Mum!), I checked the weather forecast and decided to get back on the road before the storms got any worse and the roads were closed. It was now or never!

I made it out of Broome and onto the Great Northern Highway in a couple of hours, and tackled a bit more rain and flooding but could certainly see it dissipating.

Fast forward to 3pm and I’d only covered about 300km but it was better than nothing and I was definitely out of the worst weather.

I was only 50km from the next town but I desperately needed a rest, so I pulled into a lay-by to have something to eat and rest my eyes – ended up snoozing for an hour!

I woke up and prepared to make my way into Fitzroy Crossing, where I’d fill the tank and decide whether to call it a day or carry on the next 200km or so to Halls Creek. In the end, my decision was made for me.

Shortly after setting off I noticed that the tiniest bit of added pressure on the gas made the engine rev like mad, but made no difference to my speed. Odd. For 5km or so I crawled along at 50 kmph, and then noticed, when I went to change gear, that there was no pressure under the clutch. Worrying. I optimistically hoped that pulling over, cutting the engine, and restarting it again would solve the problem. But alas, a car is not an iPhone – you can’t just turn it off and turn it back on again! The engine restarted just fine but the car wouldn’t go into gear and the clutch was being about as much use as a Swiss cheese umbrella.

The clutch was burned out. Bollocks.

I called the roadside assistance number provided by the car hire company and the Northern man (yes, Northern English) on the other end gave me some advice and said he’d try and source a towing company in Fitzroy.

As luck would have it, at this point a 4WD drove by and the three guys inside stopped to see if I was okay. Fitzroy is a small town so of course they knew the local tow truck bloke and called him out for me! Then they gave me a lift into Fitzroy and kindly offered to take me to the cheapest accommodation in town so I could find a place to stay the night.

Thomson, one of my rescuers, came into the hotel with me and asked how much the cheapest room was; $189 for one night. That’s £120. I’ve been paying no more than $35 a night for my accommodation since I got to Oz. Up until this point I had been taking the whole situation in my stride and very much keeping my cool. Not any longer; I could feel the waterworks coming on.

Clearly pitying me, Thomson offered to let me stay in his caravan and he would find a mate to stay with. Without stopping to weigh up my options, and blinded by the thought of not having to pay almost 200 bucks for a night’s sleep, I took up his offer. Though later, having spoken to Mother dearest, I decided the hotel was the better option after all. Don’t get me wrong, the guy was lovely, and I don’t think he was planning on cutting me up into pieces and BBQ-ing me, but he was a complete stranger so you can never be sure!

They very kindly bought me dinner and then dropped me back at the hotel. Just as I was about fork out, the lady I’d spoken to earlier on appeared and made an announcement: a businessman from out of town had paid for a room which he wasn’t actually planning on using, (something to do with tax, I wasn’t going to ask questions), and since it was paid for and empty, they were going to give it to me!

So that brings us up to now. I’m tucked up in bed, looking forward to a good night’s sleep, and even a lie in, since I won’t be leaving in a hurry in the morning, and feeling much much calmer than 5 hours ago.

I don’t know what’s going to happen with the car or with my transport to Alice Springs, nor do I know what of this mess I’ll have to pay for, if any. But that, my friends, is a problem for future me.

The Hermione of tomorrow morning will have to deal with those questions; let’s hope she’s got her thinking cap handy!

Goodnight 😴

Edit: After writing this, I discovered a beautiful little green frog living the bathroom of my motel room. His name is Floyd. He is looking after me tonight.

The Roadtrip: Days 1 & 2

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Wednesday: Today I set off up North for my big drive to Alice Springs. After filling up the car with petrol, buying some snacks and plugging in some tunes, I was well on my way!

The day was uneventful, but that’s exactly what you want when you’re driving alone across Australia!

I did have an interesting experience with a lady in a service station though… I had decided to buy a jerry can to fill up and keep in the boot, just in case I needed it in an emergency. The first can I picked up had no lid, so I checked the others and sure enough they didn’t either.

When I mentioned this to the lady at the till, she didn’t seem to get what my issue was – her response was along the lines of ‘what’s on the shelf is all we’ve got’. Sigh. “Okay, but I can’t put petrol in something that doesn’t seal,” I countered.

After some backwards and forwards and a bit of sign language, she disappeared into the back room and came back a full ten minutes later with a lid for the Jerry can. I presume they keep the lids out the back to stop people from stealing the cans, and this is fair enough. Just a shame the whole thing took so long!

I covered 550km and ended up in a town called Karratha for the night, where I stayed in a very quirky little Backpackers hostel. My supplies were waning and I was feeling tired so I decided to treat myself to a bought dinner out rather than cobbling together my own. It was only when I got into town and seated myself in a restaurant that I realised it was Valentine’s Day…

But! I stood my ground, sat on my own, and enjoyed my Valentine’s date with myself…because I could!

Thursday: Word of the day – rain. It’s wet season up north so this wasn’t unexpected. I left Karratha around 8:30am and managed about 600km without a hitch. Then I had another interesting petrol station experience – anyone noticing a pattern here?

I stopped at a roadhouse with about a quarter of a tank left, only to discover they were only taking cash…of which I had none. The next service was another 230km away, and even with the contents of the Jerry Can I wasn’t going to make it. Thankfully the cashier finally agreed to let me owe the money – she took my card details and name and said they’d charge the card once their system was back up. The fuel here was also horrendously expensive so I only filled up enough to tide me over and then made a point of driving more economically (aka slower) to the next service.

But alas, I didn’t get that far before another interruption! The rain had already hit by this point and about a kilometre after the roadhouse, I encountered my first bit of flooded road. No matter, it was merely a couple of centimetres and nothing to write home about. There were a few more of these before I eventually found myself facing one which did look a bit more dodgy. I’m pretty sure I could’ve got through it, but since there was a guy and his daughter with a tow truck, literally waiting to give me a ride over (yes, really), I didn’t bother taking the risk. Saved me some fuel too!

I eventually got to Broome around 7pm, having covered 850km, and checked into the YHA. A shower, a cold beer, and some time spent watching the incredible electrical storm unfolding were the next things on my agenda, and since I have achieved all of these, I am satisfied.

There’s a chance that if these rains get worse overnight then I may be stuck in Broome tomorrow if the roads are closed. I can probably spare a day though, it’ll just mean the other two are much more km-heavy. We’ll have to wait and see!