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| OUR BIG TRIP MARY & OLI GOING AROUND AUSTRALIA |
PERTH - Page 1
25 September 2007, Tuesday
How did we get to stay with somebody in Perth? Well, before we started the trip I posted a note on the Ausjeepoffroad Forum
and explained what we are doing and if anybody wanted to meet with us on the way. We did get a response from Mike and
Abbey in Dampier and stayed with them as mentioned before - we knew them from the last two Jamborees. The second
response we got was from Roger, or better "Rodgebone" from Perth. He and Robyn invited us to their home and any repairs
which needed to be done. Rodge is a passionate automechanic from Portland, Oregon and moved to Australia to marry
Robyn about 5 years ago, we also met the kids - Wesley, Emily and Sarah, not to forget Sandy and Rolex - the dog and cat.
We were surprised at first to get such an invitation from "strangers", but that is what Jeeps and also Australia does to you -
friendly people around and Jeepers hold together. We did accept the invitation and let me tell you now before you read the
next few days and see the pictures - Rodge and Robyn are fantastic people!!! It will be hard to ever pay them back for what
they did for us, not just taking us in for a few days, and hosting us for the Muster with their Jeep Gang, but also fixing the car
and working like crazy before the Muster. We hope they will visit us one day when we are back in Europe and we will take
you out, mates!... O.k. back to the days events, we arrived at Rodge at about one in the afternoon and Callum was already
there from Dampier. He needs to get his two axles done (change ratios and locker for the front). He was basically waiting for
me to arrive and get my job done before he would be in tomorrow. Tony at USA4x4 has send me again some parts from
Melbourne, two inner axle seals and two front axles to replace the ones I have. Thanks, mate! Besides that, we started with
the rear brakes on my TJ which seemed to be frozen and they were. I actually learned how to do it, well I would still rather
have somebody at least look me over the shoulder before I drive with wrong brakes in the rear. This took some time and we
started to take off the front to get started on the axles. Ken and Jude, friends of Rodge and Robyn and also Jeepers, came
by and welcomed us. At the end of the day, the job was not quite done and it would be continued tomorrow. Just a couple of
pictures from the house we stayed at in Perth. By the way, in most pictures on the next few pages you will not see the
number plates - this has certain reasons, mine is still there, because the webpage itself gives it away somehow. The pictures
from Perth are either ours or from our Jeep friends, Rodge, Callum, Widodo, "Crazy" Dave or others. Thanks, guys!
26 September 2007, Wednesday
Friday is the start of the Muster and my car and Callums needed to be done. This meant long days of working in the garage.
Not that I did a lot, but I tried to help. Today was the day of the axles and the second hand ones went into the car fairly
quickly. As soon as my car went out of the garage Callums went in and Rodge and Callum started to take out the axles which
needed to be delivered to Brian for having the Ratios and Locker been put in. We also did a wheel alignment on ours and
bought some stuff. That was somewhat the day. Mary went with Jude for some shopping and having some time off from
watching us in the garage all the time. So far we have not seen anything besides the garage of Rodge and the surrounding
shops. We thought that this might happen and decided already to come back to Perth after the Jeep Muster in Harvey. We at
least need to have a look at Perth and Freo before we are heading towards the Southwest. Just a couple of pictures of Cal's
Jeep in Rodge's Garage.
27 September 2007, Thursday
Last day before the Jeep Muster in Harvey and we are waiting for the axles to be ready for being picked up from Brian. I was
washing my car for the Muster, should be looking somewhat acceptable for the Show & Shine. Besides that, we did nothing
significant today. So let me tell you a little bit more about the WA Jeepers. Rodge, as said before is from the good old US of A.
Now you think that he would be an old Jeep nerd from the US and just continued here in Oz. Not so, he got into Jeeps when
he bought the XJ in Oz, however he is an old school mechanic and worked on Ford's before - had also some Mustangs - now
we like him even more. I had a couple of Mustangs before... The so called "She'll Be Right Jeep Gang" was founded by
Jeepers from the Ausjeepofforad Forum, maybe I should not call it members - just a group of Jeep friends. WA Jeepers which
are keen to get out and 4WD but do not necessarily want to be associated with a club. In this case the JOCWA (Jeep Owners
Club of WA) loses some members. I am not sure how many people get together in the "She'll Be Right Jeep Gang", but they
just meet for some trips every month or so and have fun - lots of fun! Mainly highly modified TJ's, but also other Jeeps.
During the time in Perth and at the Muster we would be hosted by "The Gang" and would get to know to Vic, Sue, Ken, Jude,
Dave and Brother & Girlfriend, Aaron, Murray, Lee and others - Sorry for not mentioning all... They are a great bunch of
people and thanks to everybody for having us for the Muster at your campsite. We will get to the detail in the report for the
next few days. Back to the days events, the axles for Cal's Jeep were back in and the job finished off around 11.30 pm before
we went to bed and prepared for the Muster tomorrow. No pictures from today.
28 September 2007, Friday
Last preparations in the morning and we met with Vic & Sue and Ken & Jude at the fuel station to drive to Harvey which is
about a 2 hour drive. At the fuel station, we had to help a guy to jumpstart a brand new BMW - you do not see that very often
that Jeeps have to help other vehicles - rather the other way around when they break down. During the drive I noticed some
sprinkles on my windscreen and thought that it had started drizzling again. Using the windshield wipers just smeared it a
little bit - not thinking much more I just drove on. At the next fuel stop Rodge looked underneath his car and discovered that
the transmission was leaking oil from a broken shifter seal - well here are the sprinkles on my car, because he was driving in
front of me loosing trans oil all the time. My car was quite full of oil in the front. We stayed at Lake Brockman caravan park
which was quite simple, but unique. The sites were large enough for maybe up to 20 people in tents or trailers and two
powerpoints for the entire group. We managed due to extension cords and enjoyed the fire place for the first night. Before
enjoying the fire, Rodge had to fix the car quickly and the Gang went for the first run on the hard tracks around Harvey. We
instead went to the Commonage to meet the JOCWA guys and say hello and greet them from the official MJOC members
attending the WA Muster. When we arrived at the Commonage we could not believe the beauty of the place and the race track
they have. JOCWA shares the facilities with two offroad racing clubs and therefore they have a wonderful race track with
offroad sections. They also have plenty of obstacles which are purposely build. Great place for the Jamboree next year. First
we saw Mike in his CJ already trying some of the obstacles and the first thing he said was that he just broke the rear axle on
the tyre wall. Great, here is one obstacle we won't try over the weekend. He luckily has a spare at the campground and just
needs to change it. We also met Steve from the JOCWA and signed in for the Muster and talked a little to him about the
Muster, Jamboree and the next few days. Back at camp, we said hello to Mike and Abbey and also Andrew Knight, who came
to our MJOC Muster in April. The Gang came back from the trip and we shortly afterwards started the fire and the BBQ. They
were having lots of fun and we enjoyed their company very much. Andrew, Mike and Callum also joined in for the fire and had
a couple of beers. Now you would notice the main difference between people going for a long weekend (Queens Birthday on
Monday) and people travelling around Oz - we went to bed quite early and the Gang partied on. Maybe they think that we are
quite boring, but we are just exhausted and not really used to party anymore - not that we have much in the last years
anyway. Here are a couple of pictures from today.
25 September 2007, Tuesday
How did we get to stay with somebody in Perth? Well, before we started the trip I posted a note on the Ausjeepoffroad Forum
and explained what we are doing and if anybody wanted to meet with us on the way. We did get a response from Mike and
Abbey in Dampier and stayed with them as mentioned before - we knew them from the last two Jamborees. The second
response we got was from Roger, or better "Rodgebone" from Perth. He and Robyn invited us to their home and any repairs
which needed to be done. Rodge is a passionate automechanic from Portland, Oregon and moved to Australia to marry
Robyn about 5 years ago, we also met the kids - Wesley, Emily and Sarah, not to forget Sandy and Rolex - the dog and cat.
We were surprised at first to get such an invitation from "strangers", but that is what Jeeps and also Australia does to you -
friendly people around and Jeepers hold together. We did accept the invitation and let me tell you now before you read the
next few days and see the pictures - Rodge and Robyn are fantastic people!!! It will be hard to ever pay them back for what
they did for us, not just taking us in for a few days, and hosting us for the Muster with their Jeep Gang, but also fixing the car
and working like crazy before the Muster. We hope they will visit us one day when we are back in Europe and we will take
you out, mates!... O.k. back to the days events, we arrived at Rodge at about one in the afternoon and Callum was already
there from Dampier. He needs to get his two axles done (change ratios and locker for the front). He was basically waiting for
me to arrive and get my job done before he would be in tomorrow. Tony at USA4x4 has send me again some parts from
Melbourne, two inner axle seals and two front axles to replace the ones I have. Thanks, mate! Besides that, we started with
the rear brakes on my TJ which seemed to be frozen and they were. I actually learned how to do it, well I would still rather
have somebody at least look me over the shoulder before I drive with wrong brakes in the rear. This took some time and we
started to take off the front to get started on the axles. Ken and Jude, friends of Rodge and Robyn and also Jeepers, came
by and welcomed us. At the end of the day, the job was not quite done and it would be continued tomorrow. Just a couple of
pictures from the house we stayed at in Perth. By the way, in most pictures on the next few pages you will not see the
number plates - this has certain reasons, mine is still there, because the webpage itself gives it away somehow. The pictures
from Perth are either ours or from our Jeep friends, Rodge, Callum, Widodo, "Crazy" Dave or others. Thanks, guys!
26 September 2007, Wednesday
Friday is the start of the Muster and my car and Callums needed to be done. This meant long days of working in the garage.
Not that I did a lot, but I tried to help. Today was the day of the axles and the second hand ones went into the car fairly
quickly. As soon as my car went out of the garage Callums went in and Rodge and Callum started to take out the axles which
needed to be delivered to Brian for having the Ratios and Locker been put in. We also did a wheel alignment on ours and
bought some stuff. That was somewhat the day. Mary went with Jude for some shopping and having some time off from
watching us in the garage all the time. So far we have not seen anything besides the garage of Rodge and the surrounding
shops. We thought that this might happen and decided already to come back to Perth after the Jeep Muster in Harvey. We at
least need to have a look at Perth and Freo before we are heading towards the Southwest. Just a couple of pictures of Cal's
Jeep in Rodge's Garage.
27 September 2007, Thursday
Last day before the Jeep Muster in Harvey and we are waiting for the axles to be ready for being picked up from Brian. I was
washing my car for the Muster, should be looking somewhat acceptable for the Show & Shine. Besides that, we did nothing
significant today. So let me tell you a little bit more about the WA Jeepers. Rodge, as said before is from the good old US of A.
Now you think that he would be an old Jeep nerd from the US and just continued here in Oz. Not so, he got into Jeeps when
he bought the XJ in Oz, however he is an old school mechanic and worked on Ford's before - had also some Mustangs - now
we like him even more. I had a couple of Mustangs before... The so called "She'll Be Right Jeep Gang" was founded by
Jeepers from the Ausjeepofforad Forum, maybe I should not call it members - just a group of Jeep friends. WA Jeepers which
are keen to get out and 4WD but do not necessarily want to be associated with a club. In this case the JOCWA (Jeep Owners
Club of WA) loses some members. I am not sure how many people get together in the "She'll Be Right Jeep Gang", but they
just meet for some trips every month or so and have fun - lots of fun! Mainly highly modified TJ's, but also other Jeeps.
During the time in Perth and at the Muster we would be hosted by "The Gang" and would get to know to Vic, Sue, Ken, Jude,
Dave and Brother & Girlfriend, Aaron, Murray, Lee and others - Sorry for not mentioning all... They are a great bunch of
people and thanks to everybody for having us for the Muster at your campsite. We will get to the detail in the report for the
next few days. Back to the days events, the axles for Cal's Jeep were back in and the job finished off around 11.30 pm before
we went to bed and prepared for the Muster tomorrow. No pictures from today.
28 September 2007, Friday
Last preparations in the morning and we met with Vic & Sue and Ken & Jude at the fuel station to drive to Harvey which is
about a 2 hour drive. At the fuel station, we had to help a guy to jumpstart a brand new BMW - you do not see that very often
that Jeeps have to help other vehicles - rather the other way around when they break down. During the drive I noticed some
sprinkles on my windscreen and thought that it had started drizzling again. Using the windshield wipers just smeared it a
little bit - not thinking much more I just drove on. At the next fuel stop Rodge looked underneath his car and discovered that
the transmission was leaking oil from a broken shifter seal - well here are the sprinkles on my car, because he was driving in
front of me loosing trans oil all the time. My car was quite full of oil in the front. We stayed at Lake Brockman caravan park
which was quite simple, but unique. The sites were large enough for maybe up to 20 people in tents or trailers and two
powerpoints for the entire group. We managed due to extension cords and enjoyed the fire place for the first night. Before
enjoying the fire, Rodge had to fix the car quickly and the Gang went for the first run on the hard tracks around Harvey. We
instead went to the Commonage to meet the JOCWA guys and say hello and greet them from the official MJOC members
attending the WA Muster. When we arrived at the Commonage we could not believe the beauty of the place and the race track
they have. JOCWA shares the facilities with two offroad racing clubs and therefore they have a wonderful race track with
offroad sections. They also have plenty of obstacles which are purposely build. Great place for the Jamboree next year. First
we saw Mike in his CJ already trying some of the obstacles and the first thing he said was that he just broke the rear axle on
the tyre wall. Great, here is one obstacle we won't try over the weekend. He luckily has a spare at the campground and just
needs to change it. We also met Steve from the JOCWA and signed in for the Muster and talked a little to him about the
Muster, Jamboree and the next few days. Back at camp, we said hello to Mike and Abbey and also Andrew Knight, who came
to our MJOC Muster in April. The Gang came back from the trip and we shortly afterwards started the fire and the BBQ. They
were having lots of fun and we enjoyed their company very much. Andrew, Mike and Callum also joined in for the fire and had
a couple of beers. Now you would notice the main difference between people going for a long weekend (Queens Birthday on
Monday) and people travelling around Oz - we went to bed quite early and the Gang partied on. Maybe they think that we are
quite boring, but we are just exhausted and not really used to party anymore - not that we have much in the last years
anyway. Here are a couple of pictures from today.
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| Rodge and Robyn have a nice house, Robyn has a TJ and Rodge has the XJ. |
| This is were my car spend most of the time in the next two days. |
| Cal's car in the garage shortly after I drove mine out. The garage floor was still warm from mine... he he he |
| Axles out !!! What a job - Rodge and Cal did great, not me... maybe I should re-emphasize - I am not a very good mechanic and try to keep my fingers off the cars. |
| Line-up for the Muster trip - from the left: Vic & Sue, Ken & Jude, Rodge, OLISTJ |