5 August 2021
A long driving day today, 729 kms. We left at 6.50am just as the sun was rising. Mist lay low in the fields to our left from Busselton through to Bunbury. To our right the sun was rising, but still low in the sky, flashing through the trees like a strobe light.
We by-passed Perth, missing a turn as we journeyed along. The missed turn didn’t add a lot of kilometres to our trip, getting stuck behind two big loads added a bit of time. We remind ourselves we’re retired, and a bit of delay is of little consequence. Besides, it’s a great experience to watch the co-ordinated effort of police and multiple support vehicles controlling the traffic so as to allow these heavily laden beasts to travel safely at 80kms an hour. We followed behind them for close on an hour before they turned into a roadhouse for fuel.
The fields are full of crops, green wheat beside golden canola – just gorgeous.
Another support vehicle, this time coming towards us, signals for the road train in front of us, and for us to move to the verge and stop. A police vehicle follows to ensure we’ve understood. As the massive loads approach we’re only to happy to oblige. The road train in front of us on the verge was notably large, yet it looks like a matchbox toy compared to these beauties.
We arrived at Kirkalocka at 4pm, found a lovely campsite, and set about lighting a fire. An hour or two of lovely sunshine to wander around and stretch our legs. Then we put a brew (mulled wine) in the billy over the fire and settled in to watch the stars come out. A long but pleasant days travel done.
Life of Riley - on whatever 
Those big loads are a pain! And the road trains. We saw lots on our recent journey to Kalgoorlie. Beautiful photos Chris and wonderful descriptive writing.
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Thank you Alison. We have a CB in the car so can communicate with the truck drivers. We let the pass us when they need to, and they let us know when it’s safe to pass them when they’re on a up hill trek. The great big loads are fascinating.
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That’s a great thing to have!
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We’ve had several, but they’ve been heavy, and awkward to carry. These ones are no trouble at all.
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Okay, Chris, now I’m confused. Being a Melburnian, I virtually have to ask permission to stick my nose out the door. You obviously don’t have these restrictions over there.
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You’re right Carol. Our Premier shuts us down tight as soon as there’s even one case. It keeps us safe, and because of it he keeps us at zero. We enjoy the freedom to travel anywhere within our own state, and as we’re such a big state, that gives us a lot of freedom. I hope it stays that way, but with this Delta strain, who knows!
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Those huge machines are a sight aren’t they. Your shot of the road train on the side of the road really gives a great indication of how big that thing really was. I love your idea of brewing your mulled wine over the fire.
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We took a couple of bags of wood with us.Tills sits quietly in the back, not overly happy, but he copes well.
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That is some “huge” equipment traveling down the road.
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An even bigger one passed us today Ingrid. We had to pull right off the road. They Mai Tain a good speed too.
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I am surprised to see what looks like a Danish canola fields in WA! How fantastic! It was a long drive. You deserve the mulled wine! How do you make it?
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The canola fields are breathtakingly beautiful. Mulled wine – approximately 1 part fresh squeezed orange juice to four parts red wine. Some pieces of orange with rind studded with a few cloves (not to many or it’ll taste like cough medicine), a stick or two of cinnamon, and brown sugar to taste. Don’t scrimp in the sugar, it needs to have a bit of sweetness. Then simmer gently and sip from either a cup, or a heatproof wine mug (a pottery wine glass would be good). We just use our coffee mugs on the road. Particularly good sipped in front of a fire.
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Sounds close to the Scandi version! Wonderful. I will try it out soon.
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Big day travelling. Did you take the wood for the fire or was some there for you? How did Mr Tilley cope with the big days travel? Stay safe on the roads.
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