WA, Western Outback

16 March 2012

Day Nine. 14-03-12

Today is Thursday, more than a week ago I experienced the last drops of rain, today is still a beautiful day. The sun wakes me up again too early. I really need to tint these windows. (And no, no curtains, it’s ugly and I would look like a Dutch camper-van, no offense Josh:) ).

I decide I can’t do anything until Perth anyways, and since both radiator and head gasket have their temporary fixes, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t enjoy my time. Dum spiro, spero.

So I head up to Peak Charles through a 50km sandy track, very sandy at places (yes, tyres were deflated this time) and I make my way through a thick bushland. It’s so dense it looks like you couldn’t fit a needle between two scrubs. How the hell kangaroos find their way here? And why the hell did anyone decide one day to come this way? The track is rough but a very honorable 70kph make the corrugated bits somewhat comfortable.

Then it gets complicated. The map I have is either out of date or was drawn by a blind midget, but the track I’m on is no way the one I’m supposed to be on. I get to Peak Charles (elevation 650m) and wherever I look, for miles around me, I see nothing but red and green. No sign of a human trace for what looks like a day in each direction.

Nevermind, the GPS gives me the bearing; I just have to follow whatever track I find in the right direction. Well this proved to be a somewhat good method but I’ve still driven 300km through the bush before I reached the first town: Lake King.

Down to Albany, the Outback fades to a green and hilly countryside; we’re deep into farmlands here. It’s a nice change. The road follows the South Coast of Australia and beautiful sandy beaches call me for a dip. It’s already 4PM and I know the water will be ice cold so I decide against and push on to the campsite.

A beautiful lake welcomes me just as the sun sets; I’ll check it out in the morning.

Distance today: 678km, total: 4289km