November 28th-30th, 2011- Geraldton- Belair Gardens Caravan Park

Monday morning saw us up early and packed up for our trip to Geraldton. Spent a very frustrating 30 minutes on hold with QBE Insurance only to be transferred to an overflow number that was unable to help me. I was anxious to connect with QBE before I left Carnarvon, as knew we would be out of Telstra mobile coverage most of the day; and they wouldn't be able to call me back as promised.

I'll just take a bit of time, for a short (but very sincere) rant against the Federal Government. Why the hell are they spending untold billions of taxpayer's dollars on the Bloody NBN (National Broadband Network), that hardly anyone cares about or needs, when so much of Australia is without basic mobile coverage???

Most anyone that travels extensively throughout Australia realizes the following:

1. Mobile Coverage in remote areas of Australia is woeful. Even major roads connecting major centres are not covered in several areas. Carnarvon to Geraldton for example is almost completely without coverage for most of 500KM. The same can be said for many other major roads in the Northern Territories and Western Australia.
2. Mobile broadband speeds (if coverage is available) are more than adequate for the average individual; and becoming faster and more affordable everyday.
3. The lack of coverage creates grave safety concerns for travellers, and considerable inconvenience; given modern societies' requirement for phone and Internet connectivity.

For my money the government would be serving the Australian public much better by investing a fraction of the NBN money in infrastructure ensuring quality mobile coverage throughout Australia. They could still offer the upgraded infrastructure to multiple Telecom Companies (Telstra, Optus, Virgin, Vodafone, etc) to ensure competition and even lower mobile and mobile broadband pricing. David Thodey, CEO of Telstra, must be laughing at the government like crazy as he takes their 11 Billion dollar cheque for outdated technology and continues to invest in mobile upgrades to continually increase the speed of mobile broadband making the NBN even less viable.

Whew! Sorry about that but I feel better getting that off my chest.

We left for Geraldton around 8am. As we were repeating the first 125km for the 3rd time, it was very boring. Stopped at the Gladstone Scenic lookout about 150Km south of Carnarvon and took a few pictures and had a stretch.

Funny coincident happened; as just before we got to the turnoff for Denham we saw a white SUV vehicle and Jayco (like) caravan pull out in front of us. I thought to myself, "that wouldn't be Di and Terry, would it?" Sure enough when we pulled up behind we saw the "Dun Dreamin" logo on the back. Pulled up on side of road, had some big hugs, and discussed our plans for the next few days. They are off to Kalbarri for a week and we hope to catch up with them there before they leave. Although we have known them only a short time, they have become great friends! Can't wait to rejoin them in our travels.

The drive and scenery picked up quite a bit after we crossed the 26th parallel as we continued south. More vegetation; and finally a bit of colour! No mobile coverage for most of our trip as expected. After we passed the turnoff for Kalbarri the scenery definitely picked up with lots of green, agricultural fields, historical buildings, etc. We pulled into Batavia Coast Caravan Land about 1pm to find our caravan there and waiting. The Rans had called earlier to say they saw it being brought in and unloaded. They were already well into the analysis and quote when we got there. Sounds like it will be expensive! Still unable to get a claim number from QBE as closed in NSW by time we were able to contact.  Picked up a few more things from the caravan before booking into Belair Gardens Chalet (booked by NRMA). Very nice park with friendly service. Unfortunately, our Chalet is very old and basic, although clean.

Carol and Stephen had already booked in there with their caravan after their 5 days in Kalbarri. We had a lovely dinner out with them at a local pub; with lots of gluten free options. Had a great night and visit. As usual they were wonderfully supportive and helpful with dealing with our travel problems.

We saw Carol & Stephen off Tuesday morning before heading out to explore Geraldton. A very nice little city with lots of history and modern conveniences. Went for a grocery shop before touring the HMAS Sydney Memorial. Beautiful and moving!

From there we carried on to the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral before returning home for lunch.

We went out again in the afternoon for a lovely drive around the coast where we saw the lighthouse, coastline views, lovely parks, and some beautiful housing. It was very windy during the afternoon and evening.

We had an easy late afternoon and steak dinner.

Wednesday we were up early and off to Batavia Coast Caravans to update them with our insurance information and check on status of our caravan. Good news as they have started on the repairs and actually already installed our new fridge (3rd one). It was working beautifully on 240v (-10 degrees in fridge) and they will test it now on gas. The axle upon closer inspection, now appears to be OK which should speed up our repairs. We picked up a few more things and dropped some off that we won't need for a while. Our plans are to move on to Kalbarri tomorrow for 5 days or so. We have maximised our NRMA benefits now and will get only 5 days alternative accommodation through our QBE Insurance. We are looking forward to rejoining Di & Terry and other friends in Kalbarri. Will try to put our troubles behind us for a few days and get back to enjoying our adventure. We will reevaluate our next moves during our stay at Kalbarri based on the progress being made on our caravan repairs.

Talk to you all soon!