I was up at 5, as I usually am when I have to drive a long distance. It used to drive the kids nuts when they were younger. I would bundle them all into the car with their jammies and their pillows and drive two hours before they were awake enough to want breakfast. Today we got to Carnavon, about 250 clicks south before we stopped for gas and a coffee. Another 250 clicks got us to Bilabong Roadhouse for more gas, lunch and a ten minute kip before we hit the road again. That left us only 200 clicks after lunch. We got into Geraldton about three.

We saw our first (live) kangaroo today, bouncing across the road in front of us and then along the verge as we drove down the road beside it. It finally found a hole in the fence and bounded away into the outback. We saw an emu along the side of the road as well, looking bemused and unconcerned, and what was either a very skinny dingo or a fox slinking into the scrub. The wind in this part of the world is constant and strong and driving an extra height camper van is more like piloting a boat in a gale than driving; my forearms are weary from fighting the wind for seven hours.

In Geraldton I finally found a jack splitter so we can both listen to Pam’s iPod, and as a bonus we picked up a couple of campchairs at Kashie’s Kash Konverters. Would that make them kampchairs I wonder? They are a nice addition as they allow us to eat outside the van and be a little more sociable with our camping neighbours. Some German would help as well, as many of our fellow travellers are from Germany.
We bought a barbeque chicken along the way, and warmed that up with the leftover potatoes from last night. It looks like it is going to be another early night for the old folks tonight, as it has been an early start and a long day on the road. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and we have a hotel room booked in Perth for the night as a special treat. I am hoping to get this first week’s worth of blogs uploaded when we get to town, along with some pictures. Internet has been patchy at best, with slow service and coin operated machines that will not allow for thumb drives.

We saw pictures of the camp site destroyed by the cyclone just up the coast from where we were staying. There wasn’t much left. We are so grateful for the way the Lord has been watching over us on this trip. We are coming up on three thousand kilometres of travel over some pretty barren roads. If we did have car trouble, it would several hours in the blazing sun before someone else came by on some of the more barren stretches we have been on. He has always been so good to us in this regard, and we count this among His many blessings to us.