Poor Barfridge :( *56k warning - lots of pics on page 2*

[Todd B. Rexington]

That caused by all the storms there?

Guessing so.

Wasn't aware of anything wrong with the roads until I got an sms at about 7:00 saying they were just pulling into Esperance.

[Jamathi]

Sounds more like another over the top "safety measure" after their major balls up.
1500km's detour, Hello!!

[FJ Steve]

yeah ... the sign said something like..."Southern Cross is boring....Road Closed"

[BigTim]

Is there that much out there to burn?
All I remember (it was about 10 years now) is a bunch of low scrub on the way to Kal. And some camels.

[Todd B. Rexington]

Is there that much out there to burn?
All I remember (it was about 10 years now) is a bunch of low scrub on the way to Kal. And some camels.

Well, camels are pretty flammable.

[Dingo]

I bet hes detoured to esperance to buy another RGV ...

THIS time in a colour of Cillias choosing

[BigTim]

Well, camels are pretty flammable.

Part of me wanted to keep on believing that their hump would pop like a water balloon.

[Ryven]

I'm not sure why people would even want to think about camels on fire...

1500 kms is a motherfucker of a detour, but if the danger is great enough to justify it, I'd rather read this than an RIP thread.

[mark_r]

Is not quite that bad.
Kal->Perth via Esperance is only ~1150 km compared to direct = ~600km.
Even via Esperance and Albany also is only 1350km all up.

[chief wiggum]

via esperance? why didnt they just zip across the norseman-lake king road? i'm sure it's in great condition after all the traffic they had at chrissy

[Hired_goon]

via esperance? why didnt they just zip across the norseman-lake king road? i'm sure it's in great condition after all the traffic they had at chrissy

Was wondering the same thing. Road is excellent and accomodation at Hyden a fuckload cheaper.


Damn good excuse not to work Monday though.

[resist]

pfftt "just keep the high line, and keep on the gas cole, you can just drive right through it cole"

[Billywhizz]

Are we there yet! ho de ho de ho Are we there yet!
Are we there yet! ho de ho de ho Are we there yet!
Are we there yet! ho de ho de ho Are we there yet!
Are we there yet! ho de ho de ho Are we there yet!

[Barfridge]

hehe, cheers guys, just got home.

Was a bit of a bugger. Saw lots of new countryside, will post some pics soon. We left Kal at about 3pm, planning on being home a bit after 9. Got to Coolgardie, and was told by a nice guy at the roadblock that the road was blocked by fire.

Drove down to Norseman, then discovered the road to Lake King was gravel. Considering we had no food, water, maps or anything else for that matter, we decided to stick to the sealed roads.

Did some quick sums, figured out we'd get home about 3am, that's if we didn't encounter a tree/roo/truck on the way in the dark. So we then went on to Esperance, where Cam sorted a lovely motel room for us. Didn't see much of Esperance, got there on dusk, left at dawn, but I did do a bog lap to take a couple of shots.

Today was uneventful, just lots and lots of wheatbelt *yawn*

[potato]

welcome home from your adventure

[Barfridge]

ok, here be pics

Got to Kal late afternoon, met the real star of the show: Sprocket (yes, Cam got permission from Desmo to use the name).



The we went for a drive around town, there was a storm coming through, and around sunset the light was amazing:






Cam is from Kalgoorlie, and spends much of his day pondering what the things on the ends of his arms do.



The next morning we went for a look around the superpit



They had just blasted, as you can see in this shot. The dust in the air made for some good shots.



The Miners Hall of Fame was next on the list, which was cool for nerds like us
Live gold pouring:



Random Chinese garden in the middle of the desert



It was all going great until then, we left and the shit hit the fan. Oh well..we did get to see this leaving Esperance this morning:



And we visited Wave Rock, which to be honest is a little underwhelming. It's a cool shaped rock, but there isn't anything else to hold your attention for more than 5 minutes.

[jonnyking]

There ya go not only did you have a great road trip with the missus you got to see a huge hole, a chinese garden and a big stone wave!! sounds awesome

Good to hear you made it home safe.

[mekon]

Noice, that second shot of the superpit shows the wall collapse from last week.

[ddmoore]

didn't notice that the first time I looked at it - what do they do to get down because it looks to be breaking up the road.. I couldn't see another way down.

[Todd B. Rexington]

didn't notice that the first time I looked at it - what do they do to get down because it looks to be breaking up the road.. I couldn't see another way down.

There are a bunch of other ramps the photos don't quite show because the look out is right above them. There's a rather complex road system in the pit, Tamika can provide commentary on the pictures as required (as she drives in there all day).