13th – 15th Nov Fri-Sun
Part 1
Got up 6 in the morning to get ready to load in the finally frozen stuffs & load water into the trailer, buy bread & all.


Packing List:
1. 40+20L Diesel
2. 12V Generator + Fuel
3. Freezer
4. Chiller x 2 with ice packs
5. Microwave Oven
6. Cooking Utensils: frying pan, pot, kettle
7. Dining ware: plates, cutlery, cups
8. Table x 2
9. Chairs x 3
10. Water tank
11. Spade (Can you make a guess what is this used for already?)
12. Sleeping bag x 3
13. Safari bed x 2
14. Pillows x 3
15. Extra tent for shelter
16. Food: bread, eggs, sausages, bacon, instant laksa, steak, biscuits
17: Beverage: drinking water, beer, wine
Finally left at 8-ish to meet with fishing friends, John, who had Stephen & Adam with him. So we had 3 vehicles in a convoy.
Jono was going to clock in the hours for driving as he is on L plate (there is such requirement in AU to clock learning hours before a P plate is issued), & this is the first time he was driving the Nissan Pathfinder, & on top of that a camper trailer..
Cervantes is a good 250km+ from Perth city, & we were expected to be on the road for 3 hours or so. Most of AU’s roads are straight & VERY long. It was indeed a long ride with vast plainfields on either side.
When we finally reached our destination, John & Co decided to take a left turn of the fishing site whereas Mel wanted the right. So we splitted up.
I had originally thought that is is a proper fishing site & we are going to be maybe fishing from the deck or something. Turned out that is a shore of beach – white beach – facing the Indian Ocean. The in-road to our camp site is all sand & bushes. In fact, there are known as Sand Dunes because many parts are white sand piled up like a dune. There were many news things for me on this trip. Like before we enter driving into the dunes, we actually have to let out some air from all the wheels so that the wheels are broader (you will have to pump out before you hit the road again).
My crocs boat shoes has no use here since we were doing surf fishing (ie beach fishing). I was better off in my Haivainas or bare-footed! and without a 4×4, there is no way you can get through these dunes.. even then, as I found out, the adventure began..
.. when at 1:15pm we are stuck in the sand dune! The sand was so soft that there is insufficient traction for the wheels even when on 4W lo. While trying to reverse, the tralier got stuck. Then we could not move forward to backward. Mel & Jono tried to get the vehicle.. We use the spade to remove sand from the body & wheels (very tough work, & not much I could help). Each time we tried to drive, it get trapped deeper, & we had to dig again & again. We even jet-up the vehicle, even then we were not successful. I tried to make myself useful by walking off to find things that can be stuck below the wheels like wood blocks. It was definitely tough cos Aussies don’t usually litter!
One other main job I had was to take photos! Hahaha….
At 3pm we were so exhaused, or rather they were so exhausted that we had to stop, & make a quick lunch of copala (cured pork) sandwich. And I discovered how the word “sandwich” came about – literally sand! Yes, there were sand all over, including in our lunch! Menace: summer flies!
We had earllier tried to radio-ed John, but they must have gone beyond 15km cos we could not get a response from them. And yes, no mobile phone cos there is NO reception in this vast area at all.
Thank God at 3:30pm, an oncoming vehicle came! We were blocking the way, & the 2 Aussie men has “no” choice but to help us!
Actually they were very friendly & helpful, & we found out they have been fishing there for 40 years! Mike & Sam (PB007).
After assessing the situation, we took out a belt & connect to the vehicles, not before disloding the trailer first. And their vehicle basically pull our vehicle out of the pit. We then filled up the pit, & pulled the trailer & then engaged with our vehicle again. By 4pm we were ready to go!
The camp site Mel wanted was only less than 50m away! We had overshot & wanted to reverse before we got stuck. Then it is another hour of setting up the camp. And voila! We were done by 5:15pm. Had a break before having a hand at fishing at 6pm.
Boy! The Indian Ocean wind was sure C-O-L-D. We had definitely underestimate the Summer wind.. Grrrr…..
By 8pm, Mel managed to catch a Taylor fish! Yippie….. There are strict laws in AU with regard to fishing, & this self-govern rules everyone keep, quite unlike back home where we are well-known as a fine city. You cannot keep fish that is shorter than 30cm (it means they are not fully grown), & for Tailor, you can fish more than 8 per day per person, among many other rules. The fishermen all keep to the rules & are honest enough to throw back the fishes into the ocean. Its amazing..
Chef Jono was still sleeping by the time we returned & we had to wake him up to cook for us.
Menu:
Tenderloin Steak with Seared Garlic Potatoes
Red Wine (eh.. cant remember what!)
By the time we ate it was already 9:30pm! Meal times with the Wees are very rubber
! Did I mentioned we actually have metal cutlery for our steak? Are we camping or what?
Had our wine & chatted under the stars. There are 2 particular things I missed about AU – the clear blue sky & the starry night.
That night the stars were plentiful & filled up the entire sky. So beautiful. Love it!
By 10:30pm we decided against night fishing as we were really tired, & went to sleep.
By 2am I had to get out in the dark & cold for a pee under the stars!