Geraldton and the Uncrackable Krakkatinnie- 8000 and something kms in the bank !!

Dearest Intrepid Reader,

John is feeling better after a rest!

We left Denham just after 8. The MOTH and I were still settling into the riding day and chatting on our Sena about how we were warm enough and the day was beautiful. When the MOTH says in his calm understated MOTH way,

“We have a problem”

I checked the rear vision mirror to see the krakkatinnie on the right side of the road and the MOTH bearing left.

The Krakkatinne had come adrift from the Harley.

I asked if he was ok, and said I would turn around to give him a hand. One must remain calm. Plenty of practice from years of emergency nursing.

The trailer past the MOTH and slid silently and gracefully into a bush still upright on its little 8 inch wheels!

We are grateful that :

There was no injury to the MOTH.

There was no one coming the other way.

The chain broke and there was no damage to the Harley.

There was no damage to the Krakkatinnie except for the wiring harness.

There was no one following.

Luckily the Hitch stayed attached to the ball and was like a ski accross the sand.

It appears for an unknown reason the spring pin that holds the pin in place on the Haymen Reese tow bar broke, or was removed.

Was it sabotage?

Was it a tow bar theft gone wrong?

Was it a defective pin? ( it was brand new fitted by Harley Sunshine Coast, just before we left)

Another, mystery of the road.

Anyway, what do you do!

Well you just get on with it!

We hooked up the Trailer to the Lovliness.

As I turned her around to hook on, she did go for a bit of a slide in the loose sand, but due to sheer skill we managed to avoid hitting the MOTH or the trailer.

Your Welcome!

By the time John and Jenny noticed we had fallen back, we had the trailer hooked back on and were ready to go. The MOTH and John, did go back to see if they could see the pin but to no avail.

We stopped for a coffee at the Overland Road House 140 kms down the road.

The Loveliness, remember is big, in all the right places, so you can see her indicators and brake lights even though she is towing, so that had to do, until we got to Geraldton.

Just, I hope, a final word on Road Houses, they are so important in the North West of Western Australia, they have their own instagram pages, which they beg people to follow and they celebrate the opening of Ablution Blocks ( I have never seen a plaque for the opening of a toilet. But yes here it was at the Overland RoadHouse)

Elimination is very important, and so I guess should be celebrated. However, I did feel a bit sorry for Vince having his name on a shitter! ( oh I mean Ablution Block ) I only did a wee, by the way.

Any way, I digress.

We noticed a stark change in the country about 100kms out of Geraldton.

The country side became green . There was beautiful rolling hills with crops of lucerne, wheat and cranola. We were even buzzed by a very low crop duster.

The Town of Northhampton is the oldest town in Western Australia, established in 1861.

It was classified as an historic town in 1993 by the Historic Trust of Australia (WA)

In recognition of important historic buildings that are still in use.

Notable among them are two buildings by the eminent priest architect Mgr Hawes.

It is a romantic Neo Gothic, hammer dressed, sandstone building.

John and Jenny are staying at a Motel on the South side of Geraldton, as there were no cabins available at the Sunset Big 4. We will meet up again tomorrow.

Of course, as we entered Geraldton, the only thing on the mind of the MOTH, was to return the trailer, to full operational readiness. The first stop was Repco.

He was able to get everything required at Repco for a new wiring harness, but was disappointed in them when they were unable to provide big enough bolt cutters to cut a piece off our security chain, to fashion into a safety chain for the trailer.

All of us waiting outside REPCO. So great to be in Geraldton.

Geraldton has a very diverse Port, there is several large cargo ships just on the horizon, in this photo, if you look closely, I promise.

It caters for exports of grain, minerals and livestock and imports of fertiliser, mineral sands, general cargo and fuel. Cruise ships and oil rig tenders are also regulars at this Port.

We went straight to the Big 4 Sunset Caravan park, into our powered site and the work was underway. It was a beautiful grassed site, with plenty of space.

It such a relief that the MOTH allowed the Workshop Foreman to bring along the Auto Electrician ( same guy).

A kind caravan neighbour, loaned us a hacksaw and I held it still with my bare hands while the MOTH cut through our security chain links to make the chain for the trailer hitch.

So all is now repaired in record time. The tow bar now has a high tensile bolt and two locking nuts. The only way it would be safer from further sabotage or theft attempts, would be if the MOTH slept under the trailer.

There was still time for a beautiful dinner from the camp kitchen and then a sunset party with other campers looking at the Indian Ocean.