I read recently that 97% of every location in the lower 48 states of the US is within 3.2 miles of a road.* In Australia it’s probably the other way around: 97% of Australia is further (much further?) than 3.2 miles from any road…
Some more from our trip to the Gascoyne. After leaving the Kennedy
Range, we headed towards Mt Augustus, another national park, this time a
slightly more upmarket one. You know, with a few luxuries like running
water, electricity, a shop, petrol/diesel pumps, hot showers and flush
toilets. Not, you understand, that we didn’t enjoy our time in the
Kennedys!
And so, there we are bowling down a road that looks like this, with nary a car in sight (and in fact, hardly a car seen in either direction for over 100km):
…when we had a puncture. In fact, two punctures, at same time — which in a place like this, is a bit of a disaster, as we only have only one spare tyre.
Fortunately for us there is someone around with a sense of humour, witness the sign.
Cobra Station. Or, for American readers, Cobra Ranch.
Otherwise known as the Old Bangemall Inn, once the local pub for station hands…
The station is called Cobra because of the cobra snake-like shape of the land concession.
One of the tyres blew up when an attempt was made to mend it in the station workshop — so we have no spare and are not happy with the idea of continuing on without one. We take decide to stay put and settle in to the Cobra caravan park.
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| The caravan park at dusk, day 1 |
We order a tyre from Carnarvon, back on the coast (some 400 kms away). Deliveries via Gascoyne Traders take place once a week, but we are hoping there will be someone else coming through earlier. And so we begin our wait.
We sit outside the van, sipping a glass of wine as the sun settles behind the trees.
Things could have been a lot worse…
*USDA Forest Service figures as quoted in Wired Science Sept 19, 2012
Oh noes! On my first trip to outback WA (central) we did two tyres, one on the road to Uluru (bitumen) another just before of Warakurna roadhouse. We had two spares and luckily the roadhouse carried the same make.
My sister who was with us said she has always carried to spares — for the past twenty-five years, and never had to use both. so this time we didn't…and…
And that should read TWO spares…