Day 346 Sat 03/23/2013
Rockingham Beach Dive
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| Leah & I before our first dive off of Rockingham Beach |
“Leah came & picked me up at Laza’s house on the way to pick up our dive gear at Dive Ski Surf in Frio. We had a 2 tank dive lined up at Rockingham Beach today. This was about 45 minutes south of Fremantle. There were a ton of divers here today. The site consists of a few sunken ships, an airplane, & some other various objects (like a large cage). Leah had a few issues with her BCD being under weighted. It was hilarious getting her out of the water. We ate lunch at the markets by the dive shop back in Frio. These 2 dives might be my last dives in Oz. L
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| GEAR! |
Julia & I are heading north approximately 1.5 hours near Woodridge. I met her good friends Chris & Jody. They have an awesome house in the country up here. Chris cooked a delicious dinner for us consisting of lamb chops & enormous garlic cloves. While he was cooking we played with his RC car in the back yard. Their dog chased the car constantly.
We drank beers until Chris pulled out the whiskey while playing Chinese Checkers. He had some pretty wild stories from being a skipper on multiple fishing boats.”
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| Bow of a sunken ship at Rockingham Beach |
Despite the number of classes here at Rockingham today Leah & I were able to have our own private dive here on the west coast of Australia in the Indian Ocean. The water was a little chilly for Leah, & her BCD was not playing nice. We managed to have some great dives, even though the visibility was not good at all today. I took a few good photos. The larger of the two ship sank here was hardly visible. From a few feet directly in front of the bow we were only able to see maybe 6 feet past the bow sprit.
We were not able to see a whole lot of marine life due to the visibility. Leah’s back had been hurting here lately, so her getting back out of the water was a great show from my perspective. Dive gear is super heavy and not meant to be worn around on land. That’s for sure. I just had her dump it in the water and carried it all back up to exchange tanks. The photo of Leah sitting helpless in the water is hilarious though.
I will try & tell Chris’ stories from the night the best I can. The first story, which I remember the least, was from almost hitting a large Indonesian flat bottom boat caught in quarantine. Julia, I might murder this story, but you can edit this later if needed. Chris & company were on his boat fishing. They had run up river from the Indian Ocean and became caught in some storm. Maybe they were running from the storm, regardless. They end up running aground near this large Indonesian boat that had been put in quarantine by the Australian government. The authorities on shore see this smaller boat, Chris’ boat, raising all kinds of hell right next to the boat they have captured. They believe he is trying to board this vessel & likely take whatever cargo they are hauling. The boat is either in quarantine for drugs or something else illegal. |
| Leah coming out from Dive #1 all smiles |
Chris hears them shooting at them. They end up getting off the bottom & running. How did I do Julia? Is this even close?
The second story I remember much better. He had cattle at one time & a feral bull has come into his population of cattle. He didn’t want this bull messing with his herd, so he was going to shoot it & make burgers out of him. He goes to get his rifle.
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| Bullet holes from Chris' bull fight |
As he is telling me this story he walks me outside to his old Defender 110 Troopy. He continues the story. He shoots the bull from a safe distance explaining that feral bulls are very aggressive. He dropped the bull out in the pasture with one shot. He loads back up in his D110. He drives up on the bull & sees his bullet has hit the mark. The bull lies dead as far as he can tell. He gets out of the vehicle & approaches the bull. Chris is only a few feet from the bull when it decides to get back up, and he is pissed. The bull begins to chase Chris back to the truck. Chris said he couldn’t get back into the vehicle quick enough. He had to run a lap around at least once to get away from the charging bull. On the second pass by the passenger seat, where his rifle is sitting, he manages to open the door and grab it. The bull has caught up to him again. They run another lap. He gets the rifle loaded and ends up shooting a hole straight through the hood of his own vehicle trying to drop the bull for the second time. He points to the hood and one can clearly see the large bullet entry & exit points.
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| Chris on the bags |
This was one of the most True Blue stories I heard in Oz. Well, this one along with every story told on the Rum Runner by Richie or Jase. Chris did finally kill the bull, & he has the body damage in the Defender 110 to always remind him.
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| I took this picture tonight while out on the back deck at Jody & Chris' place |
After dinner Chris pulled out the drinks. Jody knew it was party time when Chris came out with his favorite whiskey. We played some bagpipes! Chris had played bagpipes for years in school. He was awesome! We then convinced Jody to go get her saxophone. She must have worn herself out playing the sax, because she was not a fan of the Chinese Checkers later. I think it might have had something to do with Chris & I making up rules since we had forgotten how to play from when we were kids. Aren’t there only two rules to this game? Move one spot or jump everything to get to the other side! Hahaha. Dinner was excellent tonight. Thanks for having us over tonight, Chris & Jody.
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| What a spread of food! |
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| Just pretend I am playing Amazing Grace or the Spicy McGuiness Jig & not a huge fart noise. |
Day 347 Sun 03/24/2013
Chris & Jody
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| Brekkie at Chris & Jody's near Woodridge |
“Chris woke up & cooked brekkie for us this morning. We ate out on the front step. Once again, it was more than tasty. We were going 4x4’ing (wheelin’) out on the beach today. I managed to get Julia’s Hilux stuck. We had to use an exhaust jack to get out of the sand. West coast Australia is absolutely amazing. There was much hill climbing in the sand today on our way to the mouth of the Moore River. We toasted with one cold beer by the sea.
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| Julia & I talking RULES of CHINESE CHECKERS |
When we first pulled onto this 4WD track I hadn’t told anyone about any previous experience with 4x4’s. Chris in his Land Rover Defender 110 struggled to make this one hill climb (the carburetor or carburetter was causing the engine to stall out once on the incline of the hill). Julia was slightly tense. She tried the climb & was unsuccessful. Afraid to back down the hill in reverse she asked me if I could take over. “I guess.” Boom! Game on. Landy vs Hilux. This wasn’t the first time behind the wheel of a 4x4. 2nd gear to 3rd gear raising hell. Chris was getting out of his Landy to come taunt us for not getting up the hill in the Toyota. Wrong!”
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| Our wonderful hosts Chris & Jody in the Defender 110 |
The dirt roads out here are really just sand roads. There was not much rock to crawl. As far as the eye could see there were no cities. There was only ocean to the west & outback inland. One dirt road looked like it ran off 1,000kms into the unknown. I have forgotten to mention their dog, Pepper. She was a good wheelin’ dog. Once we got down to the sea Pepper went nuts. She was running up & down the coast having so much fun. She buried her nose into the sand a few times & took a turn rolling in the sand.
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| Staffanie LOVES the beach! |
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| Staffie digging a hole, with her NOSE! |
We all had a cold beer down by the water and took some photos. This would be such a great place to camp. Soon after we decided to turn around & head back I realized the Hilux was stuck. Once we stopped here in the sand it just buried itself to the frame. I was behind the wheel at the time too. I had to take full responsibility. We dug and dug to get the truck out. I was able to see an exhaust jack work for the very first time as well. In terrain like this there are never any trees big enough to hook a winch to. They make large plows or anchors you can drag out, bury, hook to & pull yourself across sandy areas that are heavy & I assume take much preparation & digging to use successfully. Chris had another option, which was the exhaust jack.
Essentially the exhaust jack is a huge air bag which when inflated will lift up the truck, axle, tire, or whatever it is directly under. The jack gets its inflation directly from the exhaust via a tube. I should google this question, but I feel like an exhaust jack would work much better on a diesel engine & not so well on a gas engine. I was surprised how well the motor pumped up the air bag. Once under a load the motor just revved up & filled the bag within 2 minutes. If one were to come out here for a camping trip make sure you have one of these exhaust jacks, a Hi-Lift jack, a shovel, & some tracks (like Maxxi Trax). I can daydream about how I want my Toyota setup to leave the city for a month at a time for epic camping, fishing, wheeling, diving, hiking, biking, climbing, the list is endless!
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| Once we got the Toyota turned around just over to the left we were stuck in the left fram of this picture. |
There are zero pictures of the exhaust jack & where we were stuck. The second I realized we were buried we began the excavation immediately. Everyone helped. It wasn’t like the girls stepped back and took photos or sipped their beers. They were full on elbow deep under the vehicle digging as well. A video getting out of the pit would have been awesome, but once we got traction I didn’t let out until we were so far up the dunes the pit was a distant dream.
Crap, I remember now how we actually got stuck. We got turned around and pointed back away from the sea with no issues. Julia & I were down the hill slightly more in some soft sand. Chris & Jody were able to power out with a few goes & get out of the danger zone of soft sand. As I gunned the Hilux over & over we eventually made the soft area one large sink hole. I think I had one chance to make it out of this soft stuff without issue & I blew it. My Aussie 4WD card was taken from me this moment. Chris thanks for being so kind in seeing that even the slightest trash talk to my fragile ego could have put me out of commission & into a very emotional place. J
Back to Julia letting me get behind the wheel for the first time, when asked what music I wanted to hear the immediate response was “AC/DC”. This was not because we were in Oz where AC/DC is from (Bon Scott actually went to grade school in Fremantle) but because when I was in grade school the entire “Wheelin’ 4x4” tapes I had were mostly all AC/DC. They are the best heavy right foot with blatant disregard for left pedal music on Earth. Seeing an Aussie gal in the passenger seat, a Toyota emblem on the steering wheel, the wheel on the other side of the vehicle, sandy outback roads & hearing AC/DC blasting was exactly what I thought Australia would be like the entire time I was here. It took me 11 months to find this moment. Everything else had been a bonus. I love hearing what people think Australia is all about. Big knives, kangaroos & you have to camp everywhere because there are no buildings. Well, some places YES. This is one of the most badass things about Australia. You can be in the city of Perth eating top notch sushi & one hour later you can be setting up the most remote campsite I have ever seen in my 31 year old life on the Indian Ocean. Why was I not right here ten years ago? I swear I was made for this country!  |
| Jody & the Land Rover Defender 110 on the left & Julia with the Toyota Hilux Trayback on the right |
To Chris & Jody: Thanks for such a wonderful weekend. Your hospitality has been so overwhelming. The food was superb, Chris. The stories last night were incredible. I hope Julia can shed some more light on the Indonesian vessel you tried to board ;) Thanks for everything, mates!
Julia, thanks for a hell of a trip. Next time we load up with gear & run the beach the length of the west coast. Can I ship my Toyotas here? I still haven’t seen a 4Runner like mine here. Top off year round. We will just run from the rainy season while the cold tried to catch us. Leah is in! (Leah, remember the time we took my 4Runner to Steak N Shake? It was raining so hard & the roof of the building was channeling every drop of rain right onto us through the permanent moon roof? Bahahahaha! I think there are pictures from that!)
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