Time Zones, Quarantine and Police Checks!

Departing Border Village this morning the MOAM crew were well and truly confused. There was mass uncertainty as to what was the correct time. The roadhouse has on display three clocks depicting the time in Western Australia, Adelaide and local time. We were keen to get across the border so that we could all set our watches and phones correctly.

I have nothing to declare.

Within 200m of leaving Border Village Caravan Park our first highlight for the day unfolded….passing through the quarantine station. The officers on duty were great sports  'frisking' Brad as he rode through.

Can't quite remember my last beer, sir!

Eucla was the scheduled stop for morning tea. A quick opportunity was taken to have a glimpse of the ocean. Five kilometres out of Eucla a full police roadblock had been set up. Every driver was being breathalysed, licence and vehicle checks were also being done. 

Crossing the border meant we gained 45 minutes meaning an earlier finish to the day and an ideal opportunity to catch up on some chores. On arrival a man came over to Shane and enquired about MOAM. After a brief explanation, he reached into his wallet and produced a $200 donation! His generosity, like so many others along the way has been overwhelming. During the day, Brad had commented that his gears weren’t changing smoothly so bike mechanic Shane began to search for the problem. After some considerable time it was discovered that the gear cable had frayed inside the shift lever which certainly sounds complex and is exactly that, to repair. To make matters worse we had no coverage at all on our phones so we had to revert to the satellite phone to consult a guru (Matt) back in Perth. With Matt’s guidance and Shane’s ability to fix almost anything, Brad’s bike was up and going again.

While the bike repair drama was unfolding, we welcomed Tarli and Gracie into the traveling crew who had been driven out from Kalgoorlie to Mundrabilla by Ross. Thanks Ross, your generosity in getting the girls out has certainly added some youth to the team! Brad is not only going to enjoy the girl's company but certainly benefit from now having his own personal physic (just like Crawf!)

An action packed day without a doubt. The day's events were recapped around the bbq and the girls updated us on all the news from Perth.