Day 1 - Perth to Norseman

No photos for this post as the camera was a little too well packed and impossible to get out without unpacking the whole car.

We left about 6.30am on 21st of February and stopped in at Maccas in Canning Vale for brekky. The sun was shining and all was going well. Until we stopped at Merredin for a wee break... a cursory check of the roof tent and roof rack found that the roof racks were held on by two little metal pins at each fixing point. The front was intact but the rear racks were missing 3 out of 4 pins!! Everything was very loose and how the whole thing hadn't flown off I have no idea!

A bit of duct tape to ensure the front rack didn't lose its pins sorted them. The rear was more of an issue... thanks to the kind staff at the roadhouse we scored a coat hanger and whilst not perfect managed to cut a couple of bits off to use as temporary pins.

Crossing our fingers we made it to the Norseman turnoff, not happy to risk another two full days travel with the coat hanger pins we took the chance we might find help in Kalgoorlie even though it was now late on Saturday afternoon. An 80km detour we hoped would pay off.

Thankfully not only was there a SuperCheap Auto (same place we bought the racks from) it was open and staffed by a very friendly and helpful guy who allowed us to exchange the faulty components of the rear rack :D A bit of sweat and swearing in the carpark - replacing the struts without actually removing the rest of the rack and roof tent was much quicker but somewhat awkward!

With all struts back in one piece and duct taped just incase any of the pins should try and work loose again we were set to go. A quick stop at a lovely fenced oval to let the dogs wear off some steam and toilet properly and we were back on the road. To keep it interesting we took the road via Kambalda to Norseman.

Spotted our first live "wildlife" in the form of feral goats - and very healthy they looked too! There is also an interesting collection of teddies nailed to trees along this road... weird?! but entertaining! :p

We arrived in Norseman about 6pm and booked into the Caravan park. A lovely hot shower and some dinner and we were feeling almost human again. With the roofrack dramas and delays it had been a bit of a stressful first day!

The caravan park was nice tho the flies were extremely friendly and when they went to bed the mozzies came out to keep us company. There were also lots of the biggest ants I had ever seen... until the next day... and the next day! *lol*

Finally got to bed around 10pm and realised I had forgotten to pack my pillow! Had to sleep with a rolled up towel as a pillow but when your tired you really don't notice!