Fuel Prices -Part 2

Drew,

that same fine establishment recently charged me more than $30 for 3 Mrs Mac pies and three 600mm flavoured milks. Only bad taste on 3 great weeks in the West.
I didn't stop again on the way back south.

ian

Obviously a place to avoid if at all possible.

That last .9 is the problem.....

El Questro last week $1.80.

Drew,
I am pleased you brought up a reminder about the blatant " rip off" prices charged by the Nanutarra roadhouse.A lot of W.A. travellers including myself are very aware of that place and avoid it like the plague,but Eastern states visitors should be warned as I am sure with a little forward planning you can get to the next stop.Iwould not even stop there to go to the toilet let alone donate my hard earned cash to people who think they can take advantage of unsuspecting travellers just because of where they are.To them I say "get a life" to others just beware.

The tales of this place are spreading far and wide. I heard of it in Broome and planned to fill up at the truck stop just out of Karratha instead and gave Nanaturra a cheery wave as I passed.
Another place to avoid is the Barnett River Roadhouse the operator of which is on a par with the management of Fawlty Towers for attitude! Go instead to the Imitjiri (I think that's how it's spelled) Roadhouse. It's not that much further away and fuel may be the same price, but they're pleasent people and there's also a mechanic and tyre fitter available if necessary.

If you're going to Broome and have gas bottles to fill, try the Home Hardware just off Guy St. as they weigh bottles before and after and charge just for what you've used! How rare is that these days?
If you want to leave the van in Broome as we did to go further North, call the storage people in Lucas St. They're fully protected with dogs, barbed wire and an on site caretaker plus they don't rip you off just because you're a tourist.
We normally stay at the Cable Beach Caravan Park but couldn't get back in when returning from a couple of weeks up the GRR, so tried Roebuck Bay Park ......... the receptionist there looks and acts as if she sucks lemons for breakfast! Cable Beach may charge a bit more but the difference in attitude is amazing.

On the GRR we stayed at Home Valley Station and they also are nice people.
While we were down at the Pentecost River I lent the owner/manager a screwdriver to investigate a foul odour coming from his Troopies aircon and they found a dead mouse in there! The pong had nearly killed his wife and her sister the day before when they switched it on.
The ablutions here are a bit antiquated but are clean and the waters hot plus,there's the amusing sight of frogs popping out from behind mirrors and the toilet when you're in there.
At least I thought it was funny but the cook didn't as she hates the things.
Drydale River has excellent ablutions but only room for about 6 power sites from memory, but is a good place to stay. Diesel was $1.75 per litre and may be more now.
There were some horror stories around about damage to vehicles and we saw a Nissan Navara plus van/or camper totally burnt out on the Kalumburu Road.
Story was it was an electrical fault or they were running on gas but whatever it was unrecognisable. The people were from Queensland and luckily got clear and run from it without injury. What a way for a holiday to end!
If you go up to Wyndham before the GRR, try going via the King River Road, Diggers Rest Staion and then the Old Karunjie Road which goes round the Cockburn Range and meets the GRR at the Pentecost. Terrific scenery and the road is not bad just requires a bit of common sense in a couple of places.
Have fun out there, avoid places with bad reps. as above and drive carefully.
Alan H.

Alan,
Have had nearly exactly the same experiences in those areas and Ithink your description and advice is spot on for the newcomers.Will be leaving Perth on Monday for a couple months up North so am looking forward to getting out of the cold weather--cheers.