WA: Breakdown in the Pilbara27 Mar 2006
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| The Pilbara must be some of the most remote countryside in the world, not to mention hardly populated. Basically the kind of place you'd prefer not to have car troubles. We are definitely not blessed with such luck. After a night of dancing with the bugs, we're up and ready to hit the road - bugs are still everywhere and in the light of day we can see why - we've camped right by a creek, which is very picturesque but almost impossible to enjoy. Only respite is in the car, so we pack up quickly and get out of there. Heading towards Tom Price, we're glad we left the drive to the morning because the countryside is amazing. Evidence of recent rains everywhere, with the red rolling hills covered in green. It's really quite awe inspiring landscape. Find a rest stop for a quick breakfast then jump back in car, eager to get to Karijini National Park. The car has other ideas and refuses point blank to start. Pop the bonnet, fiddle with various wires and thingummys but still no luck. Thankfully there's a couple passing by who stop to help, but after an hour of tinkering, we're still not getting anywhere. They have a satellite phone so we call for roadside assistance with the NRMA equivalent in WA, who no doubt are getting sick of hearing from us. They advise a wait of three hours. Tops. Long story short, we manage to start the car and limp into Parabadoo, the nearest town about 100km away, meeting the tow truck coming out to rescue us about 30km out of town. Rest of the day is spent in the garage while they try all sorts of things to get it going. It does eventually, but no one is feeling too confident it's a long term fix. The wise thing would probably be to stay overnight in town so that if there's car problems we're near help. Of course, we're not wise, and drive another 150 odd kms into Karijini National park to spend the night. It's a great camping spot and the weather is really pleasant so it's a good place to end a crappy day. |
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