Country Retreat - 26. Heading North

I read out loud the email to Jarred, and we sat there stunned at this news, “It is still going to be bloody hot there, especially when it is so far inland from the coast, but I think we should give it a go,” Jarred said breaking the long silence, “I agree with you mate, I will send an email back to them when we get home and I have checked a few things first,” I responded.

When I did get home a day later, I had a look at my timetable and realised that I would be graduating at the end of the year, although I had applied to other universities for further studies, I still had not heard back from them, with one of them being the Australian National University, and even if I did get in there, the course would not start until February 10^th, which would give me five weeks of work from straight after Christmas.

After speaking to Jarred the following day, I sent a return email to accept a job offer at their new cattle station, and I am available from Boxing Day for five weeks of work, and that Jarrad is available for two weeks before Christmas, as he had to prepare for his third year at University straight after Christmas.

It was late November, when I received an email from the Australian National University, informing me that I had been accepted to attend the University next year for the three-year Undergraduate Course in Environment and Sustainability. Gramps and Gran were thrilled with the news when I arrived home that evening, and after completing some studies and eating dinner, I started to look at options for accommodation, while staying there, knowing that I had my Grandparent's financial support for all of my education.

With just a few weeks of my studies at University here in Perth remaining, I received a text message from Jarrad one evening, “Hey buddy, I finish up on December 8^th, and I am heading north a few days later, do you want to come up north to the station with me. The boss would like us to work before Christmas if possible, Jarrad.” I thought about this for a while, as I continued to prepare for my final exams, and during dinner, I sent a reply.

“Yes, ok. I finish on the 10^th, so I am free after that date. OQK,” and I got a response soon after. “Awesome, I will let the boss know. Good luck with your finals, let me know when they are all over.” The exams were brutal but I think I did alright with them, and now it was a matter of just waiting and seeing how I went, and my grandparents as always were very supportive as I went through this stressful time.

As a reward for doing so well at university, I was informed that I was getting a brand-new vehicle, and Gramps suggested that I remove anything that I wanted to keep before we went to the car yard. A few hours later, I drove home in my new Earl Blue Turbo Diesel Jeep Wrangler, which was not quite brand new, but close enough. My new vehicle already has a front bull bar, triple spotlights, front winch, snorkel, side steps, half-size roof rack with attached awning, protective seat covers, a sliding drawer in the back, 130-litre long-range fuel tank, UHF Radio and tow hitch.

I was proud as punch with my new vehicle, which was very roomy and I was looking forward to giving it a test run out to the coastal property the following day, as I headed over to Jarrad’s place to show off my new vehicle. “Hello mate, are you all done with the exams?” Jarrad asked when he opened the door.

“Yep all done, thank goodness,” I replied, as I stepped aside so that Jarrad had a good view of my new vehicle, “Wow, a new vehicle, that looks impressive, are we taking this up to the station?” Jarrad asked when he noticed, and he followed me towards the Wrangler, and I showed him all the features. “If you grab some gear, we can go and give it an overnight test run to the property,” I suggested.

Ten minutes later, Jarrad had an overnight bag packed and we were heading over to my place so I could do the same, as well as add my car fridge to the back of the vehicle, with a few supplies. “When are you heading up to the station?” Gran asked me, as we loaded up the vehicle. “In a day or two Mrs K, we just need to be stocked up with supplies, and we will be on our way,” Jarrad responded.

An hour later, we arrived in the town of Ledge Point, where I drove down to the beach access point, where I stopped to put the vehicle into a four-wheel drive before I turned south. “OK, any reason for going this way?” Jarrad asked, “I just wanted to give it a go since this vehicle has a higher ground clearance,” I replied, as I drove high above the water, which was a lot sandier than I thought, but the Jeep was coping very well.

We soon passed the first of the sand dunes in the area and continued southwards, and when we reached the second set of dunes I stopped. “Ou there is Marakoona Reef and the site of one of the many shipwrecks in the area,” I said to Jarrad before continuing to drive south. About a kilometre later, I looked towards inland. “We are now in line with the front gate of the property,” I announced as I turned inland onto a sandy track.

Two hundred metres in, I turned south again, and not long after we came to a bit of a clearing. “This is where one of the illegal coastal shacks was located until the state government ordered the removal of all coastal shacks,” I informed Jarrad. After a total of just over seven kilometres from the townsite, I turned once more, this time further inland, and less than half a kilometre later, we arrived at the property boundary.

“This is the northern corner closest to the beach,” I announced, and it is where a new vehicle-wide entry gate had been installed, once again with a high steel gate, that can be remotely opened. Once inside the property and with the gate closed and locked behind us, I headed further inland, until we arrived at the main water tank and trough that is used by the stock. Having put the vehicle back into two-wheel-drive, we continued for another 400 metres until we arrived at the complex, and driving into the garage area, I parked the vehicle near the tunnel.

“Well, that was an interesting way to get to the property, had that gate always been there?” Jarrad commented, as we grabbed our overnight gear and carried the car fridge down the tunnel and through the complex until we reached the master pod, where we settled in, and fixed some snacks. “No, it is a recent addition as a secondary emergency exit, in case of a bushfire,” I replied to Jarrad’s earlier question.

We relaxed for a while, before loading the kayaks onto the bike trailer and heading down to the beach, where we had a swim and a paddle along the coastline. “This will be the last time we will be doing this for a while, maybe we will get one last chance when we get back before Christmas,” I commented. “Will you be taking a kayak with you to Canberra?” Jarrad asked me, “No, I don’t think I will have any time for any of that sort of stuff, my university timetable is fairly packed with lectures, studying and tutorials,” I replied.

The following day, we arrived back home well before lunchtime, and we agreed to leave no later than 1 pm to head north to the station, with one overnight stop at Mullewa, which is a 5-hour drive north of home and would mean we only have a 5-hour drive to the station the next day. While I was getting the last of my gear loaded, Gramps checked the radiator for water as well as the oil and topped up the fuel ready for our journey north.

With a 130-litre long-range tank, we would not need to stop for fuel for this trip, which Jarrad informed me was a distance of 825 kilometres. “What is the name of this station, I don’t think anyone has mentioned its name?” I asked Jarrad as we set off northwards that afternoon. “They own two stations, but we are heading to Glenburgh Station, which is 20 kilometres south of Dalgety Downs Station where the bosses are based,” Jarrad informed me, as he entered the details into the vehicles navigator.

“Head north on Great Northern Highway, your destination is 810 kilometres,” the navigator announced. “How far to Mullewa, our overnight stop,” I asked, and Jarrad entered the information into the navigator and pressed enter. “Head north on Great Northern Highway, your destination is 415 kilometres,” the navigator announced. “OK, so we should arrive there in about 4 ½ hours I guess,” I responded to this information.

“Yep, that’s what the navigator estimates,” Jarrad answered. “Ok, we will stop in 90 minutes to stretch our legs,” I suggested and Jarrad nodded his head in agreement. Forty minutes later we turned off Great Northern Highway onto the Midlands Rd, and an hour later we stopped at Moora for a short rest break after covering just 140 kilometres so far. Our next stop two hours later was at Mingenew, where we stretched out our legs once more, with Jarrad having driven the last 195 kilometres.

Looking at my watch and seeing that it was 4.30 in the afternoon, I was wondering if we could maybe camp out tonight so that we could travel a bit further this afternoon. “Do you think we should keep going after we arrive in Mullewa?” Jarrad asked me and I gave a short laugh, “I was just thinking that myself. Are you ok if we camp out tonight?” I replied. “Sure, let’s just get a few items from the store and keep going,” Jarrad replied.

Once stocked up on supplies, we continued north and less than an hour later we arrived in Mullewa, where we stretched our legs once more before we continued onwards on the Mullewa Carnarvon Road, with just over an hour of daylight remaining. About an hour later with the sun now very low in the west, we saw a sign for Station Stay accommodation ahead. “What do you think, should we stop here at this station?” I asked Jarrad, who was driving and immediately began to slow down and indicated to turn off at the station.

“Good afternoon lads, how can we assist you today?” a lady said as we parked near the Wandina Homestead, “Just a place to camp overnight please, and a hot shower if that is possible,” Jarrad replied, “We have swags, and fairly self-contained,” I added and soon after we were parked under a shady tree, as we began to set up camp. After a nice hot shower, we got to work to cook up some dinner, using the portable gas BBQ we had with us, which was set up on the fold-up table just beyond the shade awning, where our swags are set up.