The Adventures of Kaye, Meg and Bessie: The 3 Best Friends That Anyone Could Have

So, given our ridiculous experiences with our lovely Ford Falcon Bessie, Meg and I decided to write a manual on how to deal with our good friend. So, here you are.

The Official Guide on How to Handle Bessie

1. DO NOT lock the driver's side door. (Or really any of them)

2. ALWAYS leave driver's side window down--the handle doesn't work

3. If you break down...pull over quick, cause the hazard lights don't work

4. Wash your windows down at fuel stops, as the wiper fluid doesn't work

5. If the driver side window gets stuck, roll back down then up again. She'll be 'right.

6. There's a wooden stick in the boot of the car to keep the boot up. Don't lose it.

7. A/C doesn't work. So keep those windows rolled down and enjoy the breeze!

8. DO NOT turn on the heater--car will overheat. (yes we realize this is the OPPOSITE
 of what should happen. Bessie is not a normal car.)

9. If car stalls out, leave her for 30 min to cool down

10. If driving for a while DO NOT turn off unless staying somewhere for 45 min or more.

11. Before turning the car off make SURE you're exactly where you want to be, because you won't be leaving for a while

12. She runs best on the tens. (100, 110, 120..etc.)

13. Be gentle with the center arm rest, the top falls off

14. Be gentle with the glove box, it can fall out.

15. Be gentle when closing the boot, the light can break if slammed.

16. She has an oil leak...there's oil in the boot for ya

17. No jack included...so don't get a flat.

18. When fueling, find the sweet spot on the pump or she will stop fueling

 

19. Boot button is tempermental. Press her a few times to get her to open.

20. Cigarette lighter doesn't work...so charge anythign you have at caravan parks

21. Don't get pulled over by police. The wheels are bald as hell.

22. Be gentle when offroading, as the crack in the windshield is growing

23. When finished fueling, don't press petrol flap in too far as it will get stuck

24. Lever for bonnet has snapped, now it's just a metal bar sticking out

25. She's shaky, but she runs and we love her. We're sure you will too!

Road Trip Rules

Road trips in the outback teach you a lot. So here are some of the things we've learned along the way.

1. Don't get the mechanic drunk the night before he looks over your car

2. Make sure you ALWAYS have at least one iPod charged and ready

3. Know where the fuel stations are and fuel up as OFTEN as possible

4. Buy snacks before long journeys

5. Have water--you never know where you might break down

6.Squash makes warm water taste way better

7. Sunglasses are a MUST

8. Don't break your thermos. You WILL want tea. (RIP Mitch)

9. Amuse yourselves by laughing at the ridiculously empty giant river beds that occur ialong the way in dry season

10. Check Bushfire warning signs--make sure the conditions are not catastrophic (you think i'm joking. it's been on that twice)

11. If you see TWO cars with flashing "oversize" signs PULL OVER. They are NOT joking.

12. If you struggle with your tent, ask a grey nomad

13. If you struggle with your car, ask a grey nomad

14. Collect as many leaflets from info booths as you can. They WILL come in handy.

15. Hard boiled sweets don't last longer than normal sweets, no matter what you think.

16. When you find a stray animal sign, try not to write an "a" after the Stray to make it Straya Animals.

17. Beware of wandering cattle in the early morning--and kangaroos if you're in Queensland

18. If you have windows down and smell something terrible, it's fine. It's just a decaying animal.

19. Wave at oncoming cars. They're just as happy to see another human as you are.

20. Random signs with letters and countdown numbers are NOT just random signs. They're counting down to the next major stop.

21. Stay at free campsites whenever possible--some have free WiFi!

22. Careful! Rocks may look like cows, and cows may look like rocks.

23. If cows surround your tent at night....just let them do they're thing. They'll leave you alone.

Roadtrip Part 3: Broome to Perth

Day 12: Broome to Robe River (9 hours)

This was sot of a filler day where we were just trying to get as close to Exmouth as we could in a day. So the only real exciting things were 1) staying at a free campsite which had WiFi, and 2) having cattle surround our tent overnight chomping on grass and whatnot.

Day 13: Robe River to Exmouth (should have been 4 hours...ended up like 6)

This day was....hectic to say the least. We woke up freezing in our wee little tent, so we turned the heat on in the car as soon as we could. Unfortunately we discovered later that this was a bad decision. About 20 minutes down the road our car died. We were stuck on the side of the road about halfway (1.5 hours) between 2 different towns. We popped the hood of course and tried to figure out what was up, but the oil and everythign was looking good. So we decided to try a mechanic and tow trucks. Called the Aussie version of AAA, couldn't help us. Called operators and mechanics, find out it's a public holiday, it will cost $1000 for us to get towed to the nearest town Karratha. Luckily Bessie magically starts up and we start heading to Karratha (back from where we want to be) to make our costs less. About an hour into this we decide maybe we should just try and go to Exmouth, and if we get stuck at a rest stop in between, at least we'll be closer to where we want to be. She runs great the rest of the way, even though we ran out of music and our phones both almost died (Mine was already dead).

Finally after the insanity we get to Exmouth in pretty good time, wander around town, grab some food and get set up at the caravan park before passing out for the evening.

Day 14: EXMOUTH

This was legitimately my favorite day of the trip. We woke up early and got picked up to go on a snorkeling tour in Ningaloo Reef. Highlights of the day:

1. Swimming with WHALE SHARKS. (check the pics here)

                                                    

2. Swimming with Manta Rays

3. Giant Sea Turtle

4. Swam over a proper shark

5. On a boat all day

 

6. Free trial dive (my second one) it was AMAZING.

After heading back to the caravan park, we chilled then got ready to go to a pub quiz with some of the crew from the boat then headed back to hang out with them for the evening. Sidenote. The Quiz master decided to do a party trick after the quiz and did a handstand on the wall here he then sculled 2 glasses of rum and coke. His daughter (who was like 10) was unimpressed and told him to hurry up.

Such a hilarious and wonderful day...that we weren't even sure was going to happen the day before.

Day 15: Exmouth to Monkey Mia (7 hours)

Nothing exciting,....just a driving day. BUT Monkey Mia had an AWESOME sunset and we got to have ribs. So, not a bad day.

Day 16: Monkey Mia to Dongara (5 hours)

Woke up early this AM to watch a dolphin feeding!=] 

 

 

Well, unfortunately after an awesome morning of watching wild dolphins come up super close to us, our car broke down about ten minutes outside Monkey Mia. Luckily, a bigger town called Denham was not too far away so we got a tow pretty quickly. That's where we are as I right this. Let's hope this baby starts working! ANNNNDDD she did. So off we were...$300 lighter towards Perth. Ended up sleeping in the car at a rest stop to make up time....oh the adventures.

                                    

             

Day 17: Dongara to Perth (4 hours)

SO after getting up early and ready to hit the road...we got about 20 minutes outside Dongara before our car stalled out again. LUCKILY we are expert mechanics at this point and were able to fix Bessie up with some blue (gum) tack and she was right for the rest of the journey. Somewhat unfortunate given the $300 we spent the day before...but we're in Fremont loving life...so well done blue tack. Sadly though, we sent the day preparing for our trip to end by packing up our bags for the most part, putting up the tent for the last time, and putting up ads at hostels to sell the camping gear and car. It's starting to feel real...and it's the worst. We even had to say goodbye to our SANGRIA pitcher!

                                           

DAY 18: PERTH

Jokes aside, it was so sad to see Meg leave today! We had an awesome day of running around Perth going to an art museum, meeting  up with a girl she knew from home and getting a tour of the graffiti of Perth from HER friend. So overall a really cool day! But, seeing as Meg and I have been living and working together for the past 3 months and then constantly together for the past 3 weeks...its strange to part ways. I'm definitely excited for this next leg of the journey...but praying hard that I can make it to my next job without too much stress. So here goes!

Road trip part 2: Darwin to Broome

Day 6: Drive to Katherine (4 hours)

Left Darwin this morning to head for Katherine via Litchfield National Park. Unfortunately, about 45 minutes down the road, i realized my bag wasn't in the car....so we had to drive back to Darwin in order to get it. Turns out it had fallen out of the car when we'd left the door open earlier in the day. Then, because we used so much petrol, we went to ggo grab more and in our urgency i broke the glove box getting into it. Luckil Meg saved the day and fixed it. EVENTUALLY we did end up at Litchfield Park and headed to Wangi falls which spill into a swimming hole. 

              

So we spent an hour or so swimming under waterfalls and then had a famous mango cheesecake that wasn't NEARLY as good as Miia's (shout out to Miia for her sweet rasberry swirl cheesecake). Then we ended up in Katherine later in the day. 

                                                    

Day 7: Katherine to Kununurra  (6 hours)

Woke up early this day to do a short hike up Katherine Gorge. It was beautiful, and along the way we ran into this older woman from Perth who told us we couldn't miss out on swimming with whale sharks...and so an idea was put in our heads that wouldn't quite go away. 

              

Later that day we passed into Western Australia and through the quarantine area where they took our oranges from us =(

                                   

On the bright side, we had forgotten about the time change going into WA, so we ended up having enough time to detour down to Argyle Lake and the Ord River. We stared at a lake that was 18 times the sze of Sydney Harbour and swam in a river that had both crocs and rapids, but hey, what Aussie trip is complete wihtout that? =]

 

Day 8: Kununurra to Fitzroy Crossing (7 hours)

On our way to Fitzroy, our brake fail light came on....so we stopped in Halls Creek and grabbed some brake fluid to fix er up. THEN, as we continued on our way, the battery light came on. hahah of COURSE. So we made it to Fitzroy lodge, went for a swim and then enjoyed watching the State ofo the Union match betweeen Queensland and NSW up at the lodge. We had decided to wait til morning to see if we could get Bessie started, and then go from there.

 

Day 9: Fitzroy Crossing

HAH so not the best plan on our part. We got up and got the car started in the AM, and got her out of the caravan park and 5 minutes down the road right in front of a one lane bridge and then she decided to die. So, we spent the day in Fitzroy waiting for her to get fixed up by a local mechanic. Eventually they figured it out (seomthing simple) and we headed a bit further down the road to a free campsite for the evening,

 

                                                    

Day 10: Drive to Broome (3 hours)

This was a lovely day. We drove the 3 hours or so left to Broome, got to our caravan park, and then wandered up to China town for a while. Then later that evening we went to a delicious Thai food place called SOM THAI RESTAURANT. hahahhah okay. but yeah it was good. Then geared up to watch the movie Bad Neighbours at Sun Pictures Cinema which is the world's longest running outdoor cinema. It was AWESOME.

                                               

Day 11: BROOME

Just a chill day of beach sitting at Cable Beach. The water was like 30 degrees, the weather was perfect, and the waves were awesome. SUCH a nice day. Then we finished the day by watching a few movies at the caravan park.