The Homeward Leg

The trip from Tom Price was pretty uneventful, although we did clock our 25,000th km almost exactly at Nanutarra.

We were heading for Bullara Station for the night, but after a lengthy stop at Tom Price I suggested to Max that we just find somewhere to lay up for the night, however he was adamant that we should keep going no matter how late it got as we really needed to find a shower. Given his desire to avoid showers wherever possible up until this point I needed no further urging and it was Bullara here we come.
When we arrived there Max was excited to finally be on a real working station, after visiting historic homesteads several times on the way down. As far as a campsite went it was one we really enjoyed – even though we were the only people there. Apparently they had had a mass exodus the day before…
There were fire pits set up with wind breaks in the required areas, plenty of fire wood available and comfortable showers/toilets. As far as we were concerned it was luxury!
Next morning we set off for the Ningaloo. On the way down we had heard from a few people that the area was starting to clear out a little with many of the longer term campers starting to find it a bit warm so thought we may even be lucky enough to find a camp spot with some room for us, especially given the school holiday rush was still a couple of weeks away.
We headed up through Yanda Station, along the coast, rather than straight into Exmouth so that we could check on the camping options as we went. It was quickly apparent that there was some room along the station and is some of the caravan parks, but the National Park sites were all full, which was a shame as that was ideally where we wanted to stay.
At lunchtime we pulled in at the beach and Max went back into construction mode. It was quickly apparent however that beach going wasn’t particularly attractive as the wind was up and it was like being in front of a sand blaster.
In the end we sat in the car to eat and then kept poking around on the way into Exmouth. Once in the town itself I was able to check the weather forecast and it was clear that the wind was in for a few days at least so we decided that rather than wasting our time in the area this trip we may as well cut short the stop and head for home, with a return trip to be planned in the future. This was fairly disappointing for me as taking Max over the reef was supposed to the final major event.
In the end we made it another couple of hundred kilometres towards Carnarvon before pulling over for the night. Once again Max was happy to be in a roadside campsite – as for some reason he has come to largely prefer them over virtually all other options.
Next day we headed in to Carnarvon with the first aim being to visit Mum’s aunt – Ena. Luck was with us as it turned out and Mum’s cousin’s Roger and Jan, were visiting from Geraldton. Given I hadn’t caught up with them since I had left Geraldton in 1996 our quick stop ended up becoming a much longer and more relaxed affair.
In the end we left with enough time to get just past the Overlander Roadhouse, leaving us with a fairly simple run on home the next day – and a Saturday arrival at home meaning Max and Harry would have a full day together before school reared up.
That morning Max pronounced our campsite the best we had stayed in for the entire trip, which I think was more of an emotional call based on realising it was the last one, than any really substantial feedback on the campsite itself (although it was pleasant enough).
As we set off Max confided that he was a bit conflicted, really looking forward to seeing Mum and Harry after several weeks apart, but very sad about the prospect of travelling, exploring and camping out coming to an end. He also decided that the last few weeks had been his favourite part of the entire trip, mainly because he had enjoyed being able to sleep out under the stars. I do think that being just the two of us had a big impact as well, largely because it meant he felt a little more grown up, he regularly referred to himself as my ‘travelling companion’ while we were going along.
Given the longest stop we made on the run into home was the time it took to fill up the car with fuel I was very impressed with the change in Max’s ability to withstand, and now enjoy longer drives. As we headed down the Forest Highway he turned to me and said that the 3/4’s of an hour to the farm didn’t seem like such a long drive any more and he now understood why I considered it close enough to head down for dinner. It will be interesting to see how long this lasts!

In the driveway at home!!!

Arriving home was obviously joyous for all involved, however I hope we an hold onto some of the changes in priorities we managed to develop over the past six months. I also hope that the travel bug has been well and truly installed in the kids!!
All in all a well worth while exercise – now how do I settle down into one place again?