Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Our World Cup heroes had taken us over to the dark side, the possibility of a win over Argentina, blinding us to all else. We discarded our maps and brochures, abandoned our on-line searches and barrelled straight down the highway towards Carnarvon. All we cared about was internet and an alarm clock.
The flat plains became undulating hills and the odd farmhouse and horizons of wheat stubble clued us in that we had indeed crossed back over the Tropic of Capricorn. And then, the sign – Kalbarri.170klms. Mmmm….that sounds familiar. Oh well, too far, no internet(?),stick with the plan you fool. And in a blink, it was gone. Onwards we drove till we arrived at Geraldton. It was only when we paid our usual call to the Visitor Centre, did the gravity of our haste smack us around the head.
Kalbarri is on the official RV bucket list and we drove straight past it! The horror…..the horror. Yes, we could redress our mistake by doubling back, but a raft of other factors drifted us away. It was a 400klm round trip, the winds were back up and the Xmas rush would soon be driving headlong towards us. Hobson’s choice, but in the end, just like Kate Winslet in Titanic, we had to let this Leonardo go.
All that wheat has to get loaded somewhere and Geraldton is the port. You can see the silos for miles and ships are lined up to receive. It’s a great town and they have both eyes on the tourist dollar. Lots of foreshore sights and sounds and most importantly, free camping in the heart of town, although we spent the first week at a seaside caravan park.
So dear readers, no tales of derring-do this time. We spent eight days in Geraldton, watched our team go down bravely to Argentina AND had our new fridge cooling fans installed and connected. What a difference! No more lumpy milk? We hope so.
