April 8-10 – Geraldton

After stopping for a few days the camp pack-up seems a bit more chaotic as more stuff than usual has been unpacked and spread everywhere. But we took our time not in a huge hurry and we still spent some final time on the beach before heading off.

We looped through Port Denison finding a newly opened fish co-op was selling fresh cooked western rock lobsters for $25 each – thanks very much we’ll take two (they were AMAZING…). In Victoria they were asking $100 for a crayfish so we liked this price better. The usual 110litres of diesel at the reasonably priced roadhouse and some hot chips for an in-car lunch and we hit the road.

Our plan for Geraldton was primarily based on a major service the Hilux needed at Geraldton Toyota – it was due and we decided the larger towns were starting to be few and far between so the time had come. Next we wanted a caravan park that was close by so we could easily drop the car and walk back – Belair Caravan Park was the closest and we booked in. A nice place opposite the beach and a huge port with towering silos and other massive storage sheds.

On Monday morning Josh and Lach drove in and dropped the car in for the service at about 8am and strolled back checking out the beach along the way. We had a few other tasks while in town – Amy needed a Thai menu to choose dinner (Priority 1), we needed a new gas hose from BCF (and we had another strange $10 credit with them so perfect timing) and we needed to visit the last TJM store to get our winch wiring checked out which luckily we’d noticed wasn’t working properly during some routine maintenance (luckily finding it then rather than stuck in the mud somewhere).

BCF was quick (and cheap), TJM were very helpful and found the kill switch has rattled itself loose with several bolts gone and the wiring detached. Two of the blokes who knew their stuff had it apart, back together and much more solid with some locktite adhesive stuff to keep it together – they see a lot of vehicles coming in having lost nuts, bolts, aerials and other bits and pieces from the rough roads that need to be traversed to see this country. They did a quick check over for other loose items but then we were good to go – no charge for such prompt and expert assistance.

In between all of the hard work some great days were had exploring the streets of Geraldton, which has a very similar feel to Darwin (without the temperatures!). The boys were excited to find Nanna (Fleur’s) Cafe and some cool wall art.