October 5, 2024 • 33 mins
Have you ever found yourself locked out of your van in the middle of nowhere with only a soldering iron for company? We sure did! Join us for a laugh-out-loud recount of our Family Travel Podcast Road Trip as we navigate the misadventures and triumphs of exploring Australia's breathtaking landscapes. Our recent escapade in Larrmah had us grappling with a van lockout, a hint of mystery thanks to a notorious Netflix documentary, and the realisation that carrying multiple sets of keys is a travel necessity. But fear not, our spirits were lifted by our two free drinks waiting for us at the Highway Inn!
Come along for a whimsical ride with Mick, the local groundsman, as he introduces us to the delightful world of bowerbirds and the colorful eccentricities of Australian slang. We recount the unexpected joys of roadside relaxation—complete with poolside lounging and deliciously affordable food—and the spontaneous decision to extend our stay with the promise of more drink vouchers. As we patch up our window and secure that elusive gas bottle, we wrap up this episode with a reminder of the joys and challenges of life on the road. Embrace the unexpected, cherish the camaraderie, and revel in the simple triumphs that make every journey memorable.
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Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Paul Guerin (00:00):
This week's podcast is brought to you by Nakie home
of the world's first 100%recycled hammock made from 37
plastic post-consumer waterbottles and weighing less than
one kilo.
Nakie products will not onlymake you feel good see what I
did there but they make theenvironment feel good too.
Katie Guerin (00:21):
Love it, Nakie.
Relax wherever you go.
Seriously, what are you waitingfor?
We love the Nakie products somuch.
We have so many of the Nakieproducts and they are all
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Look, if you want to get yourhands on some Nakie products,
jump on over to our website andtake advantage of the awesome
15% Feel Good discount code thatour good friends at Nakie have
(00:44):
provided for our awesome feelgood family audience.
Paul Guerin (00:48):
Welcome to season eight, episode 17, of the Family
Travel Australia podcast.
We are Paul, katie and Jasperfrom the feel good family.
Join us as we explore thisgreat country, australia, its
people, places and cultures.
Katie Guerin (01:11):
Yes, welcome to the Family Travel Podcast, where
we share the latest in RVindustry news road trip travel,
caravanning and camping, productreviews, where to go, what to
do, and so much more Thanks forjoining us this week.
Paul Guerin (01:25):
There's drama, we lock ourselves out of the van
what Five years full timetravelling around Oz and we make
this rookie mistake.
We do find a new campground atDally Waters, and Katie is
finally talking to me again.
Katie Guerin (01:42):
Yeah, let's just say it was one of those days,
definitely.
And, look, we're pretty blessed.
We've only had a couple ofthese sorts of moments across
our five years, but this onereally hurt.
It was a culmination of justyou know, it was one of those
stub your toe mornings, wasn'tit Paulie?
And then we just seem to keepstubbing our toes all day.
Paul Guerin (02:06):
Yeah, we've talked about that before.
You know, you take yourselfwith you is a great quote that
we like to recall, and this wasone of those where, as you say,
we just were both niggly, wasn'treally feeling the feel-good
love or the feel-good vibes, andjust kind of this knock on
event.
But we'll get to that, okay,all right, so we left you last
(02:28):
in Catherine and we'd beenexploring further afield in
Catherine.
We'd never done before a coupleof outstanding experiences, and
now it was time to really makeour way down, to start what we
refer to as Season 9, theultimate out-back-to out back to
the ocean road trip.
Oh yes, our road to riches, yes, which will be coming to you
(02:52):
next week.
And so we realised that we'vegot quite a lot of kilometres
and quite a lot of weeks infront of us.
We'd better do a massive shopat Woolworths Woolies in
Catherine and $500 plus later,ouch.
Katie Guerin (03:09):
Yeah, I think this was our biggest shop across the
entire time we've been on theroad.
But we, as we said, paul, we'vegot so many weeks ahead of us
where, well, one, we're notgoing to see a grocery store of
any kind for hundreds andhundreds of kilometres, and then
, two, when we finally do getacross that Queensland border
(03:32):
and into towns like Bullier andWinton, obviously we'll be
making the most of their smalllittle supermarkets and the IGAs
.
But there are plenty of things,of course, that if you are about
to set off, knowing that you'regoing to be in the middle of
nowhere for a long time, youreally do need to get from these
bigger supermarkets.
So we stocked up, got all ofour bits and pieces I mean, god
(03:56):
forbid we would run out of anyof those tasty treats for Jasper
along the way but in allseriousness, no, plenty of fresh
fruit and veggies, and that'sthe main, I guess, element of
our diets.
Being pescatarian vegetarian,we eat a lot of fresh produce,
so it was great to jam pack thefridge full and I tell you what
(04:17):
we certainly ate our way throughit, that's for sure.
We were on bare bones by thetime we pulled into Winton.
Paul Guerin (04:23):
Oh, my gosh, you know there's this moment which
we, on bare bones by the time,we pulled into Winton, oh my
gosh, you know.
There's this moment which wewill get to in the next couple
of weeks, but where you crossthe Northern
Territory-Queensland border andit says Winton, 730 kilometres,
and I'm like how, how can itstill be that far?
Oh man, massive, you know, andthen Winton is still 1,350
(04:45):
kilometres from the ocean.
I mean, this country is massive.
Katie Guerin (04:49):
Yeah, it really is .
It really is.
And just when you feel likeyou're getting that little bit
closer, that little bit closer,you see those signs.
It kind of puts it back intoperspective, doesn't?
Paul Guerin (04:58):
it?
Oh, it sure does.
Okay, so we say goodbye toCatherine.
That's not before.
Jasper and I go around the benda little bit.
We're looking for a small gasbottle swap and go.
And we go over to Ampol.
They've got the big sign swapand go, and unfortunately they
only have the big ones, which Ithink are like the nine kilo gas
(05:19):
bottle replacements, and weneed the four kilo one.
And so then we get sent aroundto the shell and fortunately
they had it there, so that wasgood.
So we got that.
We got back to the van, lockedeverything up, Katie has her
rolls and I have my rolls.
Okay, we have the same routinefor five years, and that way you
(05:44):
know your responsibilities.
We still check each other'swork.
Not this day, for some reason.
Katie Guerin (05:50):
No, look, it definitely was just an off day,
and I should say that the fewdays preceding this day were
extremely windy as well, and youknow how wind can.
Just it really grates on youafter a couple of days of just
full on windy conditions, and itwas hot like pushing 40 degrees
.
And so I think all of thisadded to get us to where we were
(06:14):
in this situation, and I'dalready hopped in the vehicle
and I was on the phone to my dadand we just, I don't know.
It was just one of thosemoments that we both made a poor
decision in.
She'll be right, paul's goingto lock up, I'm in the car, I'm
on the phone, and it really justunravelled from there, didn't
(06:37):
it?
Well, it did, yes.
Paul Guerin (06:37):
See, so I did lock the van, but I left the keys in
the door so that Katie couldcome and do her final checks.
And then her dad.
He's been a little unwell interms of his mental health and
he's connecting with Katiemultiple times an hour in some
(06:59):
instances where he's justconstantly checking in and you
know, just sort of on thisrepeat, this sort of cycle at
the moment.
And I think you were so caughtup there and answering his call
and making sure he's okay, andso then I hopped into the
driver's seat and I said toKatie, you know, but she was on
the phone, the keys are readyfor you.
(07:21):
But obviously this just didn'thappen and we drove off and
we're driving 180 kilometres forour first stop, which was
Laramie, and we got to Laramieand we got out of the car.
Katie Guerin (07:35):
Late on a Sunday afternoon.
I mean gosh, we didn't leaveCatherine until three o'clock
probably on Sunday afternoon,maybe a little bit earlier than
that.
By the time we did all of ourjobs, our food shop.
We'd come out from NipmulookNational Park that morning, had
plenty to do to get ourselvesorganized to hit the road.
We stopped in Mataranka forsome fuel.
Paul Guerin (07:57):
That's right.
Katie Guerin (07:57):
And then by the time we got to Laramie, we
hadn't had lunch.
So you can imagine how we'reall feeling already, because
we're already frustrated, we'realready tired, it's hot, now
we're hungry.
Paul Guerin (08:10):
Oh hangry.
Katie Guerin (08:11):
Hangry.
It's 4.30 PM on a Sundayafternoon.
We pull into Larimer, which islike a 10 people town, and I say
to Paul look, let me just grabsome snacks for Jasper, because
he's complaining in thebackground about how bad parents
we are.
Because we some snacks forJasper, because he's complaining
in the background about how badparents we are because we
haven't fed him lunch and he'sstarving.
We've still got an hour to goto get down to Daily Waters and
(08:34):
I open the glove box where thecaravan keys always live when
we're on a travel day andthere's no caravan keys.
Paul Guerin (08:42):
And I'm like, well, where did you put them?
And she goes well, where didyou put them?
And she goes well, where didyou put them?
And I'm like, don't talk to me.
Katie Guerin (08:47):
And so she didn't.
I was like, well, be carefulwhat you ask for, husband.
Oh look, we spent the next hourso late on Sunday afternoon
basically ripping the 79 apart,pulling everything out,
searching high and low, lookingin all of the craziest places
(09:08):
for where these keys could be.
Couldn't find them.
I rang every.
Paul, went in, spoke to thelovely staff at Larimer who you
know did their best to help in asituation that wasn't really
able to be helped by anybodygiven the time of day and our
location.
(09:28):
And I rang around everylocksmith, every, you know,
anybody.
Paul Guerin (09:35):
Mobile service.
Anything you could think of, wetried.
Katie Guerin (09:38):
Oh, we tried, but again Sunday afternoon.
By this time it's like after5pm.
Paul Guerin (09:44):
Now it should be noted that we do have a spare
set of keys.
They are in the van, and forgood reason, because across our
five years we've always thoughtwell, there'll be one in the car
set and one in the van, andthat makes sense.
Katie Guerin (09:59):
Yeah well, we're often not together, you know,
and so we do need those sets ofkeys.
Each in hindsight, oh, isn'tthat a great thing.
We've obviously learnt a lotduring this experience.
Paul Guerin (10:11):
It's amazed us how many locksmiths have come out of
the woodworks to give us someeducation on their YouTube
comments.
Katie Guerin (10:19):
I know who would have thought Thank you.
Locksmithing is a popularcareer.
Paul Guerin (10:22):
Locksmith.
Nick, thank you for that.
Katie Guerin (10:24):
Yes, absolutely.
Look in hindsight, three setsof keys for your caravan is
obviously the way to go,particularly your front door key
, and so that is something thatwe will ensure that we have
sorted, moving forward so thatwe can put a caravan front door
key on our vehicle keys as wellas we do.
(10:44):
We have it the other way around.
We have vehicle keys on thecaravan keys, we just don't have
it the other way.
Paul Guerin (10:55):
Anyways, look, lots of things to learn from here.
Kate did eventually, you know,acknowledge me, but before we go
on now we decide okay, we'regoing to still travel another
100 k's down the road to DalyWaters and we know that there's
accommodation there if we haveto overnight there, and we'll
see if there's a locksmithlegend just walking around the
pub there and see if we can getit.
Katie Guerin (11:16):
Do our best to manifest somebody who can break
into our van for us.
Paul Guerin (11:19):
Yes, exactly.
But going back to what you saidnow, larimer, exactly, but
going back to what you said nowLarimer, infini has struck this
town.
It's notorious on Netflix, amurder mystery documentary a
little bit lighthearted, butit's all around.
You mentioned 10 people livedin this town.
Well, there's now only nine.
Okay, paddy did go missing andhe did have a couple of enemies.
(11:45):
You know he was a bit of anantagonist with a couple of his
neighbours Right and oneparticular lady who's the pie
shop owner.
Katie Guerin (11:55):
Right.
Paul Guerin (11:56):
And her gardener.
They didn't really want himaround.
Okay, now look, nothing's beenproven and there's been some
really damning evidence that hasactually been inadmissible and
has been thrown out that youwould straight away say well,
these people are responsible.
Katie Guerin (12:15):
Right.
Paul Guerin (12:15):
And potentially Paddy ended up in a pie.
Okay, now there's still amissing person here.
Katie Guerin (12:24):
Yeah.
Paul Guerin (12:24):
Who I now believe murdered, because it's now, I
think, almost eight years downthe track.
Katie Guerin (12:28):
Wow.
Paul Guerin (12:29):
And Larimer now has a huge following, I guess,
around the world, of people whoreally just are bewildered that
they can't find out whathappened to this guy.
Katie Guerin (12:41):
No, I mean, it seems crazy that in a town of
only 10 people somebody can gomissing without a trace, doesn't
it?
Paul Guerin (12:48):
Yep, it is remote, though.
It's incredibly remote, soanyway.
So now we'll go past that.
Hopefully something comes aboutfor Paddy at some point, and
he's surely he's got friends andfamily out there, he'd be
worried about him?
Katie Guerin (13:04):
Yeah, absolutely.
Needless to say, though, wecertainly didn't have a pie, and
nor, I think, would we inbetter circumstances anyway.
Paul Guerin (13:12):
True, true, especially after losing our keys
Not as bad as losing a paddy.
But we continued on down toDaly Waters or Daly Waters as
it's pronounced and we decidedlet's not go to the iconic pub.
We go there all the time.
Let's try the Highway Inn, afabulous roadside.
(13:32):
Really it's like a truckie stop.
There's various accommodations,there's power and water for
your vans, with big green grassysites and towering old gum
trees, plenty of shade.
And it is $30 a night for powerand water.
Let's get around there and thensee if we can get in the van.
Katie Guerin (13:53):
Yeah, well, we called the Highway Inn as one of
these phone calls that we madeacross that hour in Larimer, and
they have a workshop on sitebut unfortunately, being on a
Sunday afternoon, no staff atthe workshop.
So they said to us look, wewill have the team here on
Monday morning, so you know, ifyou can get yourselves here then
(14:17):
potentially there's somebody tohelp you out tomorrow.
Anyway, we did decide to rollin there and we're glad we did,
because it was a great place tojust pull up.
And yes, it is a roadhouse andyou know it is just on the main
Stuart Highway, but thatcertainly didn't bother us at
all.
There was no real noise.
The truckies do pull in, butthey basically pull up and have
a rest overnight as well.
And we pulled up, found oursite on the end of a row,
(14:39):
overlooking the paddock, withthe livestock wandering around,
which was really lovely, andPaulie got to work.
Paul Guerin (14:48):
Yes, I had, during this last 100 kilometers, a fair
bit of quiet time.
It was very quiet in the cab,wasn't it?
Katie Guerin (14:57):
It was quiet Time for reflection, Doug.
Paul Guerin (14:59):
And I decided that I was going to break in using
the soldering iron, because Ican access 240 volt power from
the cab of the 79 and I can plugthat in, heat it up and then
put it through the side window,the little side window, and undo
(15:21):
the latches, feed Jasper'slittle body through and he can
unlock the door and let us in.
Katie Guerin (15:28):
It was an absolute great plan and it's probably
worth noting.
The door on our zone RV is nota standard caravan door.
It's actually one of the fourlock motorhome doors.
You seem to see these doorsmostly on motorhomes, so it is
very secure.
Paul Guerin (15:48):
It's difficult to get into this thing unless
you're a locksmith, likeLocksmith Nick pointed out she's
a teaspoon mate.
Yeah, we had a few of thosecomments.
Katie Guerin (15:55):
Yeah, all you need is a teaspoon, guys, and a
couple of moments and you'll bein.
We're like okay.
Paul Guerin (16:00):
Yeah, or a bit of an idea, but anyway.
So I soldered iron this littlecircle, like I mean, oh gosh,
you know, just wide enough forJasper to be able to put his
little wrist through.
And as I got through I thenrealized I was reminded that
it's double glazed with thatkind of thick perspex.
(16:23):
I was like, ah, of course.
So then another half an hour ofputting more holes in to make a
circle, and then I tried topush that one through and it
split the hole inside of thatparticular window and I was like
you're kidding.
Anyways, we got in and you know, the sun's almost down.
(16:47):
Now we realized that Jasper'shand, as it's going in, well,
it's really sharp, you know.
He's like, oh, oh, oh you knowthe whole time.
He's already flipping outbecause we're locked out.
He's thinking we're locked outfor life, yeah, and we're trying
to just stay calm, but at thesame time just thinking you're
kidding, you know.
And so then we use a bandageand wrap his arm completely
(17:11):
around so that he won't getscratched.
Katie Guerin (17:13):
Shout out to Anthony for our recent first aid
training.
Thank you, ant, for helping usmanage that bandage efficiently
to get the best results,covering Jasper's little arm.
Paul Guerin (17:25):
Well, he gets his arm all the way in and he's kind
of stuck a bit, but he justcould not reach the lock and the
latches.
He was already on edge.
I mean like we need to findanother version of this.
So, out coming his hand and, bythe way, I'm holding him up
stepping because it's too highfor him to even reach.
Katie Guerin (17:48):
We've got him standing on an expedition tub
With me holding him up.
Oh man, it was a sight to see,that's for sure.
Paul Guerin (17:54):
Hopeless, and so I'm like you're up, katie.
Luckily you're such a tinyframed lady.
No time for compliments, dollBit of a big attitude issue,
though, at this point.
Katie Guerin (18:11):
Compliments aren't doing you any favours, oh doll.
Bit of a big attitude issue,though at this point I must say
Compliments aren't doing you anyfavours, oh Lord.
Very fortunately, though, I wasable to squeeze my arm in,
through Paulie's handiwork, andaccess the lock to be able to
get us inside.
So it was happy days.
Paul Guerin (18:30):
And Kate's just got this arm stuck in this window,
if you can imagine, because it'sjust so sharp that Perspex you
know it's like glass.
Katie Guerin (18:38):
I took a few war wounds for the team.
You did, but that's okay,Nothing to really complain about
.
I tell you what.
As soon as that front dooropened, all of our troubles
disappeared.
The floodgates opened as well.
Well, it did.
Yeah, for Jasper too.
There was a big release of allof that pent-up emotion, poor
little bugger.
But as soon as we were backinside, well, it was almost like
(19:01):
well, what were we so worriedabout?
You know, like it justimmediately made everything
better.
It wasn't that big a deal.
And Paul and I both looked atourselves and said, well, you
know.
Let's go to the pub, Well we didsay that and actually on that,
two free drinks at the roadhousewhen you stay the night.
So your $30 for a power andwater site also gets you a
(19:24):
beverage each.
How good is that?
So we did.
We definitely went up andenjoyed that free drink and then
purchased another one to calmourselves down.
But look, at the end of the daywe pay for a replacement window
, Not a huge deal.
We're in the van.
Paul Guerin (19:40):
It was the first thing I did when we got to the
pub where we ordered our mealsand our drinks, and then I
quickly Googled how much is itto replace a window?
And it is.
It's like $300.
Yeah, $300.
Mistake, a new set of keys,obviously.
If you find our keys, pleaselet us know.
Katie Guerin (19:59):
Yes, who knows where they are?
They literally could beanywhere.
But not to worry, we got inside, all was well with the world
again and we ended up having,you know, a really restful night
.
I think we all needed a reallygood sleep and got up the next
day and actually decided youknow what, we're going to spend
another night here because wecan crack on, we can get some
(20:21):
work done.
Paul Guerin (20:22):
So what do you think happened?
Kate walks back into thehighway in the next morning and
says we're extending a night noworries, love, $30.
Here's two free drink vouchers.
Yeah, ending a night no worries, love, $30.
Here's two free drink vouchers.
Katie Guerin (20:32):
Yeah, it's my life , I'm like this place is
unbelievable, Bloody awesome.
So let me tell you we made themost of those drink vouchers the
next night as well.
Paul Guerin (20:38):
And obviously a hot tip don't book in for two
nights If you're going to staytwo nights, just do them as
singles Make sure you get yourvouchers.
Katie Guerin (20:48):
It's very thirsty out here in the open.
No, it's good.
Look, it's a great overnight ortwo stop for us, and certainly
somewhere we'd be happy to pullback in again.
Paul Guerin (20:56):
Something cool that happened the next morning.
Mick, who's a local groundsman,there, he is passing me and I
just say, hey, g'day mate.
And he's like, hey, mate, howyou doing?
And then he goes hey, uh, youinterested in seeing some of the
local birds?
Now, if you're listening fromoutside of Australia, birds, you
(21:20):
know, not in a derogatory sense, uh, but it's a term that can
be used, uh, in that ochre.
Australian way to representfemales, australian way to
represent females, women Mm-hmm.
You know she's a nice bird.
Oh mate, how good looking werethose birds.
Yeah, you know, this is justpart of Australian slang, you
know.
(21:40):
And so I'm like, oh, some localbirds?
I'm like I'll check with thewife.
And he goes, no, no, no, mate,no, like feathered, feathered,
feathered birds.
I'm like, sure, I mean, whatcould go wrong?
I'm in the middle of nowhereand some guy that's uh in a sort
of mangled up land cruiser withno front windscreen pulls up
(22:02):
and says do you want to checkout some local birds?
So I'm like, yeah, I've got thegopro.
I said, kate, I'll be back.
She's like what are you doing?
Katie Guerin (22:09):
I'm like I'll be back, I'll be back.
Paul Guerin (22:10):
Well, I'm not, you know, come looking for me.
My first question should havebeen do you know where patty is?
Uh, but off we went and I saidto him what happened to the
windscreen.
He said, yeah, it was.
Uh happened.
When we found it had beenstolen, rolled and the
(22:31):
windscreen I've tried to putanother one in and I can't.
And he goes.
Actually, I've got a brolly, anumbrella behind my seat and
when it rains I just drive withthat out in front of me.
This is a true story.
Now.
I mean, I'm filming this guy.
This whole moment was capturedon our YouTube channel.
And then, sure enough, down theroad and over there and up the
(22:53):
dusty, dirt road and behind thisother area, and I was just like
righto, and he goes just overhere, righto, be a bit quiet.
And he goes.
Oh, just be aware, there's afew snakes around this guy's in
thongs, flip-flops and anyway.
So he traipsed through the bushand there's this amazing bower.
Katie Guerin (23:11):
Anyway, so he traipsed through the bush.
Paul Guerin (23:12):
And there's this amazing bower, mm, you know,
there's a bower bird nest whicharcs up in a beautiful display.
It's something very specialthat the male does and he
collects a certain colour of,you know, ornamentation to help
dress this bower that's made outof twigs.
Oh, to impress the ladies.
(23:32):
Oh yeah, yeah, impress the birds.
And so his color was silver.
So he had all this silver andlook, I mean silver rubbish, alf
foil, and he even is believedto be the thief of keys from the
machinery shed.
The guys who work in themachinery shed have come over
and found the missing key, oryou'll grab it off the workbench
(23:55):
.
Katie Guerin (23:55):
Did you look for our stuff?
Paul Guerin (23:57):
They weren't there.
Katie Guerin (23:57):
Okay.
Paul Guerin (23:58):
No, and so I got these beautiful shots.
It's the greater bowerbird.
There's a satin bowerbird downin northern New South Wales
sorry, New South Wales aroundthe Blue Mountains that we
filmed as well.
That collects blue and it'svibrant black, silky, kind of
deep blue black colour andthat's stunning, their bowers
(24:20):
and they do this whole dance andritual and if she likes it then
she stays, If she doesn't, shedestroys the bower.
Katie Guerin (24:28):
It's a bit mean, isn't it really Like you could
just go?
If you don't like it, just moveon and find another bower you
like.
You don't have to like kick itto the curb.
Paul Guerin (24:36):
Exactly, Katie, which is what I thought was
going to happen had I not goneinto the van.
She's going to go looking for anew bower.
You're very handy Del.
Katie Guerin (24:45):
I will give you that you are very handy.
Paul Guerin (24:47):
Thank, you're very handy.
Thank you, that was quite aunique experience.
Katie Guerin (24:51):
Yes, thank you, mick.
Paul Guerin (24:53):
Yes, thank you Mick .
And then over to the pub, andthey've got a pool there as well
, so really for a roadside stop,we would do that again.
The food was excellent.
Katie Guerin (25:07):
Yeah, yeah, it was Nothing to complain about about
our stay here for 30 bucks anight.
Paul Guerin (25:13):
So we we decided, okay, let's go.
Before we leave, though, Ipatch up the window with the
broken bits of Perspex.
So now it's resealed, and andthen I actually added some
gaffer tape over the outside,just so that it looked neat, I
guess.
Katie Guerin (25:31):
Yes, and we're also about to hit, you know,
hundreds of kilometres of dirtroads, so we wanted to ensure
that we were keeping our caravandust free.
Paul Guerin (25:42):
Yes, exactly, katie .
Okay, so the next couple ofdays let's just fly through
those.
There's 300 kilometres down toBanka Banka.
Another great little overnightstop, yes, met some new
neighbours, as we refer to them,had a drink over there at happy
hours, and then next morning upearly and again another almost
(26:03):
300 kilometres I think it was285 kilometres to a place that
we've never stayed beforebecause it's a private property,
it's a farm.
It's actually called DesertSprings Farm.
It's a mate of ours, a fairlynew friend that we had met up
there in Litchfield NationalPark, and he owns one of the
(26:24):
largest watermelon farms inAustralia, probably one of the
largest ones in the world, infact and it's in the middle of a
desert.
Now, I'm talking about thehottest, driest country on Earth
, australia.
In the middle of Australia, inthe outback, in the very middle
of Australia, there is thismassive farm and they are
(26:45):
producing 9,000 to 10,000 tonsper crop and they have a couple
of crops each year of watermelon.
Katie Guerin (26:54):
Unbelievable.
Paul Guerin (26:55):
What did that equate to Katie?
Katie Guerin (26:56):
That equated to over a six week or so period of
harvest.
They're shipping out in theroad trains and the road trains
out here are huge.
They're three massive trailerson a truck.
So three road trains every day.
(27:17):
So that's three road trainswith three trailers full of
watermelons every day for asix-week period are coming out
of this farm and when you seethe size of the road trains it
really puts into perspectivethat's a lot of bloody melons
babe 53 and a half meters, theseroad trains longest in the
(27:38):
world and they travel all theway down to Adelaide to
distribute those watermelons.
Paul Guerin (27:44):
In fact a whole heap of them come back past the
farm and up to Darwin, and up toDarwin.
Katie Guerin (27:49):
yeah, bizarre, bizarre.
Paul Guerin (27:50):
Chances are, if you've had a watermelon in
Australia, you've probably hadone from Desert Springs Farm.
Katie Guerin (27:55):
So cool.
It was an amazing overnightstay for us.
I mean, how thankful are wethat we meet people like this on
the road who say to us come andpark up, I've got a property,
you're welcome to come and stay.
But to be able to get out onthe farm and have all of that
education, it was the coolestafternoon at.
(28:15):
You know, I'm doing myquotation fingers school for all
of us, but let alone Jasper.
I mean his little mind was justblown that we're literally out
in the middle of Australia.
I mean you've got that rich reddirt that you just think
nothing can grow in this otherthan the native trees and plants
(28:35):
that are meant to be here.
And then we're standing inamongst these you know crops of
where the watermelons grow.
They're also growing asparagusout there.
They're doing some other reallycool things out there for the
bees as well, to keep the beeshappy.
Paul Guerin (28:52):
Amazing.
And the asparagus, the littlepatch of asparagus which was a
test patch to see how they wouldgo, maybe also farming
asparagus, and it was a hit.
Katie Guerin (29:06):
Oh my God, Let me tell you if you're not a fan of
asparagus that you buy from thesupermarket, I can understand.
But when you have the abilityto pick fresh asparagus from the
soil, we literally picked itand ate it raw.
And it's more like a snow peaflavour when you pick it fresh
(29:31):
from the ground.
And it was incredible.
And we were fortunate enough tobe able to pick some for our
dinner and we picked a littlebit, knowing that, okay, we're
going to have quite a few weekswhere we really want to keep our
veggie supply high.
So we took a little bit with usand it was amazing.
Paul Guerin (29:49):
I tell you what that shallow fry in some butter
and garlic.
Oh, stop, you're making mymouth water Boom, that is all
you need, and just how crunchy.
Katie Guerin (29:59):
Oh, so good.
Paul Guerin (30:00):
Yeah, thank you so much to Paul, our friend, who
owns and operates that farm,also doing some amazing work,
looking to increase actually aprogram that's supporting the
local Aboriginal communityaround Indigenous employment
opportunities within the farm tolearn practices, to farm the
land and really grow with thewhole process.
(30:22):
It's a great model, isn't itthat they're doing yeah as part
of this community, we're justamazed at him and his operation.
So such a treat.
Katie Guerin (30:32):
Yeah, a great story.
If you want to check that outin more detail, definitely jump
on over to our YouTube channeland have a look at that episode,
because the footage isbeautiful.
Paul Guerin (30:43):
Now we're not far, well, still another few hundred
kilometres from starting seasonnine, which is, you know, the
ultimate outback to the oceanroad trip over 2,000 kilometres.
It really follows the CapricornTropic of Capricorn line,
tropic of Capricorn line and,from our opinion, gives you the
(31:06):
whole taste of Australia, likefrom the most remote part of
Australia and that outback andthose true, authentic Aussie
characters all the way throughand amazing natural assets and
you can fossick for everythingfrom garnets to sapphires, to
gold to thunder eggs.
Katie Guerin (31:26):
Zircon.
Paul Guerin (31:26):
Fossils, I mean there's dinosaurs out here so
many things.
And then you get to thatnatural wonder of the Southern
Great Barrier Reef.
You know, world natural wonder.
And you have all of this in onedrive.
Itinerary.
Katie Guerin (31:38):
Yep, incredible.
So excited to start this, soexcited to cross this plenty
highway it's been on the listfor a long time and to get back
on the dirt, because weabsolutely love it.
So look out, season nine startssoon.
Paul Guerin (31:53):
Okay, so that will be from next week?
Excellent, we're looking atabout a 10-week journey to get
this 2,000 kilometres covered,and we're looking forward to
bringing you not only thosenatural assets, as I mentioned,
but those rich, authentic Aussiecharacters that you know just
make Australia so great.
Oh brilliant, Bring it on.
Okay, the takeaway for thisweek.
(32:14):
It is from the famous MontyPython fame, Michael Palin, and
I love this.
Once the travel bug bites,there is no known antidote and I
know that I shall be happilyinfected until the end of my
life.
Katie Guerin (32:33):
I love it.
Well, I think we've alldefinitely been bitten, and yes
we're going to have to deal withthat for the rest of ours too.
Paul Guerin (32:43):
Well, we will wrap it up for you there for this
week.
A dramatic week, but a reminderfor us that you know it's a
first world problem, reallyisn't it?
Katie Guerin (32:53):
Oh, it is, Stuff happens.
Have a glass of wine, get overit, get on with it.
Or two, if you stay at thehighway inn.
Paul Guerin (32:59):
Well, there we go, we'll leave it there.
If you stay at the Highway Inn,well, there we go, we'll leave
it there.
Thank you so much.
For now we'll say dream big,look after yourself and look
after your family.
And happy travels.
This week's podcast is brought to you by Nakie home
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Katie Guerin (00:21):
Love it, Nakie.
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provided for our awesome feelgood family audience.
Paul Guerin (00:48):
Welcome to season eight, episode 17, of the Family
Travel Australia podcast.
We are Paul, katie and Jasperfrom the feel good family.
Join us as we explore thisgreat country, australia, its
people, places and cultures.
Katie Guerin (01:11):
Yes, welcome to the Family Travel Podcast, where
we share the latest in RVindustry news road trip travel,
caravanning and camping, productreviews, where to go, what to
do, and so much more Thanks forjoining us this week.
Paul Guerin (01:25):
There's drama, we lock ourselves out of the van
what Five years full timetravelling around Oz and we make
this rookie mistake.
We do find a new campground atDally Waters, and Katie is
finally talking to me again.
Katie Guerin (01:42):
Yeah, let's just say it was one of those days,
definitely.
And, look, we're pretty blessed.
We've only had a couple ofthese sorts of moments across
our five years, but this onereally hurt.
It was a culmination of justyou know, it was one of those
stub your toe mornings, wasn'tit Paulie?
And then we just seem to keepstubbing our toes all day.
Paul Guerin (02:06):
Yeah, we've talked about that before.
You know, you take yourselfwith you is a great quote that
we like to recall, and this wasone of those where, as you say,
we just were both niggly, wasn'treally feeling the feel-good
love or the feel-good vibes, andjust kind of this knock on
event.
But we'll get to that, okay,all right, so we left you last
(02:28):
in Catherine and we'd beenexploring further afield in
Catherine.
We'd never done before a coupleof outstanding experiences, and
now it was time to really makeour way down, to start what we
refer to as Season 9, theultimate out-back-to out back to
the ocean road trip.
Oh yes, our road to riches, yes, which will be coming to you
(02:52):
next week.
And so we realised that we'vegot quite a lot of kilometres
and quite a lot of weeks infront of us.
We'd better do a massive shopat Woolworths Woolies in
Catherine and $500 plus later,ouch.
Katie Guerin (03:09):
Yeah, I think this was our biggest shop across the
entire time we've been on theroad.
But we, as we said, paul, we'vegot so many weeks ahead of us
where, well, one, we're notgoing to see a grocery store of
any kind for hundreds andhundreds of kilometres, and then
, two, when we finally do getacross that Queensland border
(03:32):
and into towns like Bullier andWinton, obviously we'll be
making the most of their smalllittle supermarkets and the IGAs
.
But there are plenty of things,of course, that if you are about
to set off, knowing that you'regoing to be in the middle of
nowhere for a long time, youreally do need to get from these
bigger supermarkets.
So we stocked up, got all ofour bits and pieces I mean, god
(03:56):
forbid we would run out of anyof those tasty treats for Jasper
along the way but in allseriousness, no, plenty of fresh
fruit and veggies, and that'sthe main, I guess, element of
our diets.
Being pescatarian vegetarian,we eat a lot of fresh produce,
so it was great to jam pack thefridge full and I tell you what
(04:17):
we certainly ate our way throughit, that's for sure.
We were on bare bones by thetime we pulled into Winton.
Paul Guerin (04:23):
Oh, my gosh, you know there's this moment which
we, on bare bones by the time,we pulled into Winton, oh my
gosh, you know.
There's this moment which wewill get to in the next couple
of weeks, but where you crossthe Northern
Territory-Queensland border andit says Winton, 730 kilometres,
and I'm like how, how can itstill be that far?
Oh man, massive, you know, andthen Winton is still 1,350
(04:45):
kilometres from the ocean.
I mean, this country is massive.
Katie Guerin (04:49):
Yeah, it really is .
It really is.
And just when you feel likeyou're getting that little bit
closer, that little bit closer,you see those signs.
It kind of puts it back intoperspective, doesn't?
Paul Guerin (04:58):
it?
Oh, it sure does.
Okay, so we say goodbye toCatherine.
That's not before.
Jasper and I go around the benda little bit.
We're looking for a small gasbottle swap and go.
And we go over to Ampol.
They've got the big sign swapand go, and unfortunately they
only have the big ones, which Ithink are like the nine kilo gas
(05:19):
bottle replacements, and weneed the four kilo one.
And so then we get sent aroundto the shell and fortunately
they had it there, so that wasgood.
So we got that.
We got back to the van, lockedeverything up, Katie has her
rolls and I have my rolls.
Okay, we have the same routinefor five years, and that way you
(05:44):
know your responsibilities.
We still check each other'swork.
Not this day, for some reason.
Katie Guerin (05:50):
No, look, it definitely was just an off day,
and I should say that the fewdays preceding this day were
extremely windy as well, and youknow how wind can.
Just it really grates on youafter a couple of days of just
full on windy conditions, and itwas hot like pushing 40 degrees
.
And so I think all of thisadded to get us to where we were
(06:14):
in this situation, and I'dalready hopped in the vehicle
and I was on the phone to my dadand we just, I don't know.
It was just one of thosemoments that we both made a poor
decision in.
She'll be right, paul's goingto lock up, I'm in the car, I'm
on the phone, and it really justunravelled from there, didn't
(06:37):
it?
Well, it did, yes.
Paul Guerin (06:37):
See, so I did lock the van, but I left the keys in
the door so that Katie couldcome and do her final checks.
And then her dad.
He's been a little unwell interms of his mental health and
he's connecting with Katiemultiple times an hour in some
(06:59):
instances where he's justconstantly checking in and you
know, just sort of on thisrepeat, this sort of cycle at
the moment.
And I think you were so caughtup there and answering his call
and making sure he's okay, andso then I hopped into the
driver's seat and I said toKatie, you know, but she was on
the phone, the keys are readyfor you.
(07:21):
But obviously this just didn'thappen and we drove off and
we're driving 180 kilometres forour first stop, which was
Laramie, and we got to Laramieand we got out of the car.
Katie Guerin (07:35):
Late on a Sunday afternoon.
I mean gosh, we didn't leaveCatherine until three o'clock
probably on Sunday afternoon,maybe a little bit earlier than
that.
By the time we did all of ourjobs, our food shop.
We'd come out from NipmulookNational Park that morning, had
plenty to do to get ourselvesorganized to hit the road.
We stopped in Mataranka forsome fuel.
Paul Guerin (07:57):
That's right.
Katie Guerin (07:57):
And then by the time we got to Laramie, we
hadn't had lunch.
So you can imagine how we'reall feeling already, because
we're already frustrated, we'realready tired, it's hot, now
we're hungry.
Paul Guerin (08:10):
Oh hangry.
Katie Guerin (08:11):
Hangry.
It's 4.30 PM on a Sundayafternoon.
We pull into Larimer, which islike a 10 people town, and I say
to Paul look, let me just grabsome snacks for Jasper, because
he's complaining in thebackground about how bad parents
we are.
Because we some snacks forJasper, because he's complaining
in the background about how badparents we are because we
haven't fed him lunch and he'sstarving.
We've still got an hour to goto get down to Daily Waters and
(08:34):
I open the glove box where thecaravan keys always live when
we're on a travel day andthere's no caravan keys.
Paul Guerin (08:42):
And I'm like, well, where did you put them?
And she goes well, where didyou put them?
And she goes well, where didyou put them?
And I'm like, don't talk to me.
Katie Guerin (08:47):
And so she didn't.
I was like, well, be carefulwhat you ask for, husband.
Oh look, we spent the next hourso late on Sunday afternoon
basically ripping the 79 apart,pulling everything out,
searching high and low, lookingin all of the craziest places
(09:08):
for where these keys could be.
Couldn't find them.
I rang every.
Paul, went in, spoke to thelovely staff at Larimer who you
know did their best to help in asituation that wasn't really
able to be helped by anybodygiven the time of day and our
location.
(09:28):
And I rang around everylocksmith, every, you know,
anybody.
Paul Guerin (09:35):
Mobile service.
Anything you could think of, wetried.
Katie Guerin (09:38):
Oh, we tried, but again Sunday afternoon.
By this time it's like after5pm.
Paul Guerin (09:44):
Now it should be noted that we do have a spare
set of keys.
They are in the van, and forgood reason, because across our
five years we've always thoughtwell, there'll be one in the car
set and one in the van, andthat makes sense.
Katie Guerin (09:59):
Yeah well, we're often not together, you know,
and so we do need those sets ofkeys.
Each in hindsight, oh, isn'tthat a great thing.
We've obviously learnt a lotduring this experience.
Paul Guerin (10:11):
It's amazed us how many locksmiths have come out of
the woodworks to give us someeducation on their YouTube
comments.
Katie Guerin (10:19):
I know who would have thought Thank you.
Locksmithing is a popularcareer.
Paul Guerin (10:22):
Locksmith.
Nick, thank you for that.
Katie Guerin (10:24):
Yes, absolutely.
Look in hindsight, three setsof keys for your caravan is
obviously the way to go,particularly your front door key
, and so that is something thatwe will ensure that we have
sorted, moving forward so thatwe can put a caravan front door
key on our vehicle keys as wellas we do.
(10:44):
We have it the other way around.
We have vehicle keys on thecaravan keys, we just don't have
it the other way.
Paul Guerin (10:55):
Anyways, look, lots of things to learn from here.
Kate did eventually, you know,acknowledge me, but before we go
on now we decide okay, we'regoing to still travel another
100 k's down the road to DalyWaters and we know that there's
accommodation there if we haveto overnight there, and we'll
see if there's a locksmithlegend just walking around the
pub there and see if we can getit.
Katie Guerin (11:16):
Do our best to manifest somebody who can break
into our van for us.
Paul Guerin (11:19):
Yes, exactly.
But going back to what you saidnow, larimer, exactly, but
going back to what you said nowLarimer, infini has struck this
town.
It's notorious on Netflix, amurder mystery documentary a
little bit lighthearted, butit's all around.
You mentioned 10 people livedin this town.
Well, there's now only nine.
Okay, paddy did go missing andhe did have a couple of enemies.
(11:45):
You know he was a bit of anantagonist with a couple of his
neighbours Right and oneparticular lady who's the pie
shop owner.
Katie Guerin (11:55):
Right.
Paul Guerin (11:56):
And her gardener.
They didn't really want himaround.
Okay, now look, nothing's beenproven and there's been some
really damning evidence that hasactually been inadmissible and
has been thrown out that youwould straight away say well,
these people are responsible.
Katie Guerin (12:15):
Right.
Paul Guerin (12:15):
And potentially Paddy ended up in a pie.
Okay, now there's still amissing person here.
Katie Guerin (12:24):
Yeah.
Paul Guerin (12:24):
Who I now believe murdered, because it's now, I
think, almost eight years downthe track.
Katie Guerin (12:28):
Wow.
Paul Guerin (12:29):
And Larimer now has a huge following, I guess,
around the world, of people whoreally just are bewildered that
they can't find out whathappened to this guy.
Katie Guerin (12:41):
No, I mean, it seems crazy that in a town of
only 10 people somebody can gomissing without a trace, doesn't
it?
Paul Guerin (12:48):
Yep, it is remote, though.
It's incredibly remote, soanyway.
So now we'll go past that.
Hopefully something comes aboutfor Paddy at some point, and
he's surely he's got friends andfamily out there, he'd be
worried about him?
Katie Guerin (13:04):
Yeah, absolutely.
Needless to say, though, wecertainly didn't have a pie, and
nor, I think, would we inbetter circumstances anyway.
Paul Guerin (13:12):
True, true, especially after losing our keys
Not as bad as losing a paddy.
But we continued on down toDaly Waters or Daly Waters as
it's pronounced and we decidedlet's not go to the iconic pub.
We go there all the time.
Let's try the Highway Inn, afabulous roadside.
(13:32):
Really it's like a truckie stop.
There's various accommodations,there's power and water for
your vans, with big green grassysites and towering old gum
trees, plenty of shade.
And it is $30 a night for powerand water.
Let's get around there and thensee if we can get in the van.
Katie Guerin (13:53):
Yeah, well, we called the Highway Inn as one of
these phone calls that we madeacross that hour in Larimer, and
they have a workshop on sitebut unfortunately, being on a
Sunday afternoon, no staff atthe workshop.
So they said to us look, wewill have the team here on
Monday morning, so you know, ifyou can get yourselves here then
(14:17):
potentially there's somebody tohelp you out tomorrow.
Anyway, we did decide to rollin there and we're glad we did,
because it was a great place tojust pull up.
And yes, it is a roadhouse andyou know it is just on the main
Stuart Highway, but thatcertainly didn't bother us at
all.
There was no real noise.
The truckies do pull in, butthey basically pull up and have
a rest overnight as well.
And we pulled up, found oursite on the end of a row,
(14:39):
overlooking the paddock, withthe livestock wandering around,
which was really lovely, andPaulie got to work.
Paul Guerin (14:48):
Yes, I had, during this last 100 kilometers, a fair
bit of quiet time.
It was very quiet in the cab,wasn't it?
Katie Guerin (14:57):
It was quiet Time for reflection, Doug.
Paul Guerin (14:59):
And I decided that I was going to break in using
the soldering iron, because Ican access 240 volt power from
the cab of the 79 and I can plugthat in, heat it up and then
put it through the side window,the little side window, and undo
(15:21):
the latches, feed Jasper'slittle body through and he can
unlock the door and let us in.
Katie Guerin (15:28):
It was an absolute great plan and it's probably
worth noting.
The door on our zone RV is nota standard caravan door.
It's actually one of the fourlock motorhome doors.
You seem to see these doorsmostly on motorhomes, so it is
very secure.
Paul Guerin (15:48):
It's difficult to get into this thing unless
you're a locksmith, likeLocksmith Nick pointed out she's
a teaspoon mate.
Yeah, we had a few of thosecomments.
Katie Guerin (15:55):
Yeah, all you need is a teaspoon, guys, and a
couple of moments and you'll bein.
We're like okay.
Paul Guerin (16:00):
Yeah, or a bit of an idea, but anyway.
So I soldered iron this littlecircle, like I mean, oh gosh,
you know, just wide enough forJasper to be able to put his
little wrist through.
And as I got through I thenrealized I was reminded that
it's double glazed with thatkind of thick perspex.
(16:23):
I was like, ah, of course.
So then another half an hour ofputting more holes in to make a
circle, and then I tried topush that one through and it
split the hole inside of thatparticular window and I was like
you're kidding.
Anyways, we got in and you know, the sun's almost down.
(16:47):
Now we realized that Jasper'shand, as it's going in, well,
it's really sharp, you know.
He's like, oh, oh, oh you knowthe whole time.
He's already flipping outbecause we're locked out.
He's thinking we're locked outfor life, yeah, and we're trying
to just stay calm, but at thesame time just thinking you're
kidding, you know.
And so then we use a bandageand wrap his arm completely
(17:11):
around so that he won't getscratched.
Katie Guerin (17:13):
Shout out to Anthony for our recent first aid
training.
Thank you, ant, for helping usmanage that bandage efficiently
to get the best results,covering Jasper's little arm.
Paul Guerin (17:25):
Well, he gets his arm all the way in and he's kind
of stuck a bit, but he justcould not reach the lock and the
latches.
He was already on edge.
I mean like we need to findanother version of this.
So, out coming his hand and, bythe way, I'm holding him up
stepping because it's too highfor him to even reach.
Katie Guerin (17:48):
We've got him standing on an expedition tub
With me holding him up.
Oh man, it was a sight to see,that's for sure.
Paul Guerin (17:54):
Hopeless, and so I'm like you're up, katie.
Luckily you're such a tinyframed lady.
No time for compliments, dollBit of a big attitude issue,
though, at this point.
Katie Guerin (18:11):
Compliments aren't doing you any favours, oh doll.
Bit of a big attitude issue,though at this point I must say
Compliments aren't doing you anyfavours, oh Lord.
Very fortunately, though, I wasable to squeeze my arm in,
through Paulie's handiwork, andaccess the lock to be able to
get us inside.
So it was happy days.
Paul Guerin (18:30):
And Kate's just got this arm stuck in this window,
if you can imagine, because it'sjust so sharp that Perspex you
know it's like glass.
Katie Guerin (18:38):
I took a few war wounds for the team.
You did, but that's okay,Nothing to really complain about
.
I tell you what.
As soon as that front dooropened, all of our troubles
disappeared.
The floodgates opened as well.
Well, it did.
Yeah, for Jasper too.
There was a big release of allof that pent-up emotion, poor
little bugger.
But as soon as we were backinside, well, it was almost like
(19:01):
well, what were we so worriedabout?
You know, like it justimmediately made everything
better.
It wasn't that big a deal.
And Paul and I both looked atourselves and said, well, you
know.
Let's go to the pub, Well we didsay that and actually on that,
two free drinks at the roadhousewhen you stay the night.
So your $30 for a power andwater site also gets you a
(19:24):
beverage each.
How good is that?
So we did.
We definitely went up andenjoyed that free drink and then
purchased another one to calmourselves down.
But look, at the end of the daywe pay for a replacement window
, Not a huge deal.
We're in the van.
Paul Guerin (19:40):
It was the first thing I did when we got to the
pub where we ordered our mealsand our drinks, and then I
quickly Googled how much is itto replace a window?
And it is.
It's like $300.
Yeah, $300.
Mistake, a new set of keys,obviously.
If you find our keys, pleaselet us know.
Katie Guerin (19:59):
Yes, who knows where they are?
They literally could beanywhere.
But not to worry, we got inside, all was well with the world
again and we ended up having,you know, a really restful night
.
I think we all needed a reallygood sleep and got up the next
day and actually decided youknow what, we're going to spend
another night here because wecan crack on, we can get some
(20:21):
work done.
Paul Guerin (20:22):
So what do you think happened?
Kate walks back into thehighway in the next morning and
says we're extending a night noworries, love, $30.
Here's two free drink vouchers.
Yeah, ending a night no worries, love, $30.
Here's two free drink vouchers.
Katie Guerin (20:32):
Yeah, it's my life , I'm like this place is
unbelievable, Bloody awesome.
So let me tell you we made themost of those drink vouchers the
next night as well.
Paul Guerin (20:38):
And obviously a hot tip don't book in for two
nights If you're going to staytwo nights, just do them as
singles Make sure you get yourvouchers.
Katie Guerin (20:48):
It's very thirsty out here in the open.
No, it's good.
Look, it's a great overnight ortwo stop for us, and certainly
somewhere we'd be happy to pullback in again.
Paul Guerin (20:56):
Something cool that happened the next morning.
Mick, who's a local groundsman,there, he is passing me and I
just say, hey, g'day mate.
And he's like, hey, mate, howyou doing?
And then he goes hey, uh, youinterested in seeing some of the
local birds?
Now, if you're listening fromoutside of Australia, birds, you
(21:20):
know, not in a derogatory sense, uh, but it's a term that can
be used, uh, in that ochre.
Australian way to representfemales, australian way to
represent females, women Mm-hmm.
You know she's a nice bird.
Oh mate, how good looking werethose birds.
Yeah, you know, this is justpart of Australian slang, you
know.
(21:40):
And so I'm like, oh, some localbirds?
I'm like I'll check with thewife.
And he goes, no, no, no, mate,no, like feathered, feathered,
feathered birds.
I'm like, sure, I mean, whatcould go wrong?
I'm in the middle of nowhereand some guy that's uh in a sort
of mangled up land cruiser withno front windscreen pulls up
(22:02):
and says do you want to checkout some local birds?
So I'm like, yeah, I've got thegopro.
I said, kate, I'll be back.
She's like what are you doing?
Katie Guerin (22:09):
I'm like I'll be back, I'll be back.
Paul Guerin (22:10):
Well, I'm not, you know, come looking for me.
My first question should havebeen do you know where patty is?
Uh, but off we went and I saidto him what happened to the
windscreen.
He said, yeah, it was.
Uh happened.
When we found it had beenstolen, rolled and the
(22:31):
windscreen I've tried to putanother one in and I can't.
And he goes.
Actually, I've got a brolly, anumbrella behind my seat and
when it rains I just drive withthat out in front of me.
This is a true story.
Now.
I mean, I'm filming this guy.
This whole moment was capturedon our YouTube channel.
And then, sure enough, down theroad and over there and up the
(22:53):
dusty, dirt road and behind thisother area, and I was just like
righto, and he goes just overhere, righto, be a bit quiet.
And he goes.
Oh, just be aware, there's afew snakes around this guy's in
thongs, flip-flops and anyway.
So he traipsed through the bushand there's this amazing bower.
Katie Guerin (23:11):
Anyway, so he traipsed through the bush.
Paul Guerin (23:12):
And there's this amazing bower, mm, you know,
there's a bower bird nest whicharcs up in a beautiful display.
It's something very specialthat the male does and he
collects a certain colour of,you know, ornamentation to help
dress this bower that's made outof twigs.
Oh, to impress the ladies.
(23:32):
Oh yeah, yeah, impress the birds.
And so his color was silver.
So he had all this silver andlook, I mean silver rubbish, alf
foil, and he even is believedto be the thief of keys from the
machinery shed.
The guys who work in themachinery shed have come over
and found the missing key, oryou'll grab it off the workbench
(23:55):
.
Katie Guerin (23:55):
Did you look for our stuff?
Paul Guerin (23:57):
They weren't there.
Katie Guerin (23:57):
Okay.
Paul Guerin (23:58):
No, and so I got these beautiful shots.
It's the greater bowerbird.
There's a satin bowerbird downin northern New South Wales
sorry, New South Wales aroundthe Blue Mountains that we
filmed as well.
That collects blue and it'svibrant black, silky, kind of
deep blue black colour andthat's stunning, their bowers
(24:20):
and they do this whole dance andritual and if she likes it then
she stays, If she doesn't, shedestroys the bower.
Katie Guerin (24:28):
It's a bit mean, isn't it really Like you could
just go?
If you don't like it, just moveon and find another bower you
like.
You don't have to like kick itto the curb.
Paul Guerin (24:36):
Exactly, Katie, which is what I thought was
going to happen had I not goneinto the van.
She's going to go looking for anew bower.
You're very handy Del.
Katie Guerin (24:45):
I will give you that you are very handy.
Paul Guerin (24:47):
Thank, you're very handy.
Thank you, that was quite aunique experience.
Katie Guerin (24:51):
Yes, thank you, mick.
Paul Guerin (24:53):
Yes, thank you Mick .
And then over to the pub, andthey've got a pool there as well
, so really for a roadside stop,we would do that again.
The food was excellent.
Katie Guerin (25:07):
Yeah, yeah, it was Nothing to complain about about
our stay here for 30 bucks anight.
Paul Guerin (25:13):
So we we decided, okay, let's go.
Before we leave, though, Ipatch up the window with the
broken bits of Perspex.
So now it's resealed, and andthen I actually added some
gaffer tape over the outside,just so that it looked neat, I
guess.
Katie Guerin (25:31):
Yes, and we're also about to hit, you know,
hundreds of kilometres of dirtroads, so we wanted to ensure
that we were keeping our caravandust free.
Paul Guerin (25:42):
Yes, exactly, katie .
Okay, so the next couple ofdays let's just fly through
those.
There's 300 kilometres down toBanka Banka.
Another great little overnightstop, yes, met some new
neighbours, as we refer to them,had a drink over there at happy
hours, and then next morning upearly and again another almost
(26:03):
300 kilometres I think it was285 kilometres to a place that
we've never stayed beforebecause it's a private property,
it's a farm.
It's actually called DesertSprings Farm.
It's a mate of ours, a fairlynew friend that we had met up
there in Litchfield NationalPark, and he owns one of the
(26:24):
largest watermelon farms inAustralia, probably one of the
largest ones in the world, infact and it's in the middle of a
desert.
Now, I'm talking about thehottest, driest country on Earth
, australia.
In the middle of Australia, inthe outback, in the very middle
of Australia, there is thismassive farm and they are
(26:45):
producing 9,000 to 10,000 tonsper crop and they have a couple
of crops each year of watermelon.
Katie Guerin (26:54):
Unbelievable.
Paul Guerin (26:55):
What did that equate to Katie?
Katie Guerin (26:56):
That equated to over a six week or so period of
harvest.
They're shipping out in theroad trains and the road trains
out here are huge.
They're three massive trailerson a truck.
So three road trains every day.
(27:17):
So that's three road trainswith three trailers full of
watermelons every day for asix-week period are coming out
of this farm and when you seethe size of the road trains it
really puts into perspectivethat's a lot of bloody melons
babe 53 and a half meters, theseroad trains longest in the
(27:38):
world and they travel all theway down to Adelaide to
distribute those watermelons.
Paul Guerin (27:44):
In fact a whole heap of them come back past the
farm and up to Darwin, and up toDarwin.
Katie Guerin (27:49):
yeah, bizarre, bizarre.
Paul Guerin (27:50):
Chances are, if you've had a watermelon in
Australia, you've probably hadone from Desert Springs Farm.
Katie Guerin (27:55):
So cool.
It was an amazing overnightstay for us.
I mean, how thankful are wethat we meet people like this on
the road who say to us come andpark up, I've got a property,
you're welcome to come and stay.
But to be able to get out onthe farm and have all of that
education, it was the coolestafternoon at.
(28:15):
You know, I'm doing myquotation fingers school for all
of us, but let alone Jasper.
I mean his little mind was justblown that we're literally out
in the middle of Australia.
I mean you've got that rich reddirt that you just think
nothing can grow in this otherthan the native trees and plants
(28:35):
that are meant to be here.
And then we're standing inamongst these you know crops of
where the watermelons grow.
They're also growing asparagusout there.
They're doing some other reallycool things out there for the
bees as well, to keep the beeshappy.
Paul Guerin (28:52):
Amazing.
And the asparagus, the littlepatch of asparagus which was a
test patch to see how they wouldgo, maybe also farming
asparagus, and it was a hit.
Katie Guerin (29:06):
Oh my God, Let me tell you if you're not a fan of
asparagus that you buy from thesupermarket, I can understand.
But when you have the abilityto pick fresh asparagus from the
soil, we literally picked itand ate it raw.
And it's more like a snow peaflavour when you pick it fresh
(29:31):
from the ground.
And it was incredible.
And we were fortunate enough tobe able to pick some for our
dinner and we picked a littlebit, knowing that, okay, we're
going to have quite a few weekswhere we really want to keep our
veggie supply high.
So we took a little bit with usand it was amazing.
Paul Guerin (29:49):
I tell you what that shallow fry in some butter
and garlic.
Oh, stop, you're making mymouth water Boom, that is all
you need, and just how crunchy.
Katie Guerin (29:59):
Oh, so good.
Paul Guerin (30:00):
Yeah, thank you so much to Paul, our friend, who
owns and operates that farm,also doing some amazing work,
looking to increase actually aprogram that's supporting the
local Aboriginal communityaround Indigenous employment
opportunities within the farm tolearn practices, to farm the
land and really grow with thewhole process.
(30:22):
It's a great model, isn't itthat they're doing yeah as part
of this community, we're justamazed at him and his operation.
So such a treat.
Katie Guerin (30:32):
Yeah, a great story.
If you want to check that outin more detail, definitely jump
on over to our YouTube channeland have a look at that episode,
because the footage isbeautiful.
Paul Guerin (30:43):
Now we're not far, well, still another few hundred
kilometres from starting seasonnine, which is, you know, the
ultimate outback to the oceanroad trip over 2,000 kilometres.
It really follows the CapricornTropic of Capricorn line,
tropic of Capricorn line and,from our opinion, gives you the
(31:06):
whole taste of Australia, likefrom the most remote part of
Australia and that outback andthose true, authentic Aussie
characters all the way throughand amazing natural assets and
you can fossick for everythingfrom garnets to sapphires, to
gold to thunder eggs.
Katie Guerin (31:26):
Zircon.
Paul Guerin (31:26):
Fossils, I mean there's dinosaurs out here so
many things.
And then you get to thatnatural wonder of the Southern
Great Barrier Reef.
You know, world natural wonder.
And you have all of this in onedrive.
Itinerary.
Katie Guerin (31:38):
Yep, incredible.
So excited to start this, soexcited to cross this plenty
highway it's been on the listfor a long time and to get back
on the dirt, because weabsolutely love it.
So look out, season nine startssoon.
Paul Guerin (31:53):
Okay, so that will be from next week?
Excellent, we're looking atabout a 10-week journey to get
this 2,000 kilometres covered,and we're looking forward to
bringing you not only thosenatural assets, as I mentioned,
but those rich, authentic Aussiecharacters that you know just
make Australia so great.
Oh brilliant, Bring it on.
Okay, the takeaway for thisweek.
(32:14):
It is from the famous MontyPython fame, Michael Palin, and
I love this.
Once the travel bug bites,there is no known antidote and I
know that I shall be happilyinfected until the end of my
life.
Katie Guerin (32:33):
I love it.
Well, I think we've alldefinitely been bitten, and yes
we're going to have to deal withthat for the rest of ours too.
Paul Guerin (32:43):
Well, we will wrap it up for you there for this
week.
A dramatic week, but a reminderfor us that you know it's a
first world problem, reallyisn't it?
Katie Guerin (32:53):
Oh, it is, Stuff happens.
Have a glass of wine, get overit, get on with it.
Or two, if you stay at thehighway inn.
Paul Guerin (32:59):
Well, there we go, we'll leave it there.
If you stay at the Highway Inn,well, there we go, we'll leave
it there.
Thank you so much.
For now we'll say dream big,look after yourself and look
after your family.
And happy travels.
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