Friday, January 6, 2012

Fully Insured...




...are the only two words you want to hear when you come into caravan strife and you have already blown the budget purchasing anti-infammatories for the Whippet.

Despite dodging Floods, Storms, Bush Fires and Cyclones, what we weren't able to dodge was the cheeky unforeseen dip in the road that jumped in front of the car and brought our caravan proceedings to an abrupt halt.

The Bad news is that it happened 200km from our destination near a little town where an abandoned caravan would only last a couple of hours before it was put to good use, if you know what I mean. 

So we dumped the caravan and quickly drove back to the little town where we had the option of soliciting help from the pub, the petrol station or a police station. We opted for the police station where a young officer confirmed we had about 2 hours to get the caravan off the side of the road. 

The good news is that after 5 calls we were able to get a tow truck to travel the 2 hours from Kununurra to come and pick it up. The good news is that it would be an easy repair job and was fully insured. The Bad news is that all the mechanics were closed over the New Year holiday period and we didn't know when it could be fixed. This is where the bad news ends. 

Because the good news was that we wanted to chill out in Kununurra for a bit and use it as a base to see The Kimberleys. Our insurance also included a week's emergency accommodation and the caravan couldn't be fixed for a week. So we have spent the last week here in air-conditioned luxury.

I really couldn't have planned a caravan malfunction better myself. 

But we have maxed out our emergency insurance allocation so we can't afford any more booboos. And we still have a long way to go so I don't know how realistic that is. 

Anyway, I have put off relaying the tale because we only spoke to the engineer this morning and had the repair job done thisafternoon. 2 new bolts and we're ready to roll again. We are continuing along through the gorgeous Kimberley's towards Broome and Australia has just won the cricket so all is right with the world again.

I'll leave you with some photos of the freshwater crocodiles that have brought so much fun to our trip. LOOK AWAY NOW if they will give you nightmares for they are scary beasts. The lake is full of them. The locals swim in the lake. Apparently they don't like to eat humans, unlike the saltwater crocs. But would you want to swim with these creatures?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend wherever you are.













9 comments :

  1. Wow!
    Those are some scary eyes.
    Some scary-stay-the-heck-away-from-my-digs eyes if you ask me!!

    I'm so glad your caravan mishap has turned out to be a blessing in disguise - and wish you nothing but smooth roads ahead.
    :-)

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  2. Hi Mel, I'm new to your blog and am really enjoying following your family's great adventure. Glad to see this slight bump in the road had a silver lining.

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  3. I am new to your blog also. I enjoy reading about your travels. Beautiful pictures of sunset with the scary crocs. Hope you have no more boo boos just great times.

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  4. The crocs really are the ultimate predator, nothing can touch them. Yet they are so alluring and all we want to do is find them and sit watching them!

    Hi Teresa and Lisa, thanks do much for stopping in. Will pop over and visit your blogs now :-)

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  5. Oh Mel. You know the insurance lawyer in me was worried when I saw the post title, followed by the '...'! But then I reasoned that the lawyer in you would have had it all 'covered'! Whew, what a relief. And yes, those crocs give me the heebies ☺. J x

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  6. Great photos! I just popped over after meeting you at my place and discovered your adventure. Looking forward to more!

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  7. Wow, those pictures are amazing Mel!

    Glad to hear you're all fixed and on the road again after your welcome respite. Hope the rest of your journey is uneventful x

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  8. I have loved the photos of your trip and am pretty sure that I will soon fall off my perch dead with travel envy. I am pretty sure I could not bring myself to swim with crocs no matter what the locals said.

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  9. Beautiful photos again Mel!
    Good planning on that dip in the road too, allowing some respite. Fingers crossed for no more boobois though. Safe travels.

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