Hi all,
My thoughts go back to 2007, when I had a few days to kill in
Wiluna. I was in
Wiluna early due to changing my mind about a route I had planned to take, which I didn't due do to my hesitance of being in a remote area by myself...more about that in a moment...
I didn't want to hang around thumb twiddling in
Wiluna so had decided to go up the first bit of the CSR to after
well 5 and visit the
Carnarvon Range, before heading back to
Wiluna via Neds Creek to meet my brother at the airport, to go on another remote journey. No problems!!!!
When I got to
Well 2, which was near the beginning of the CSR, there was a couple stopped there in a Troopie. The Troopie was very
well set up, enough to make the normal 4WDriver quite jealous; they could have driven anywhere in my opinion, and for extended periods...
The man was comforting his missus. She was spewing up, had the runs, and was crying. Most upset. It turns out she was very anxious about going into this "very remote area" by themselves. She was panicking, and their planned journey up the CSR to
Well 23 was cancelled at that point, right at the start. I felt sorry for the bloke, all decked out with nowhere to go....he said they would go back to
Wiluna and probably head north along the bitumen.....I bid them farewell and continued up the CSR by myself.
Well I can empathise with these people, as I had just cancelled a planned route I had in mind, the very reason I was in
Wiluna early.
I had planned to head into the bush from
Windy Corner to visit
Nipper Pinnacle and then head south to the
Alfred and Marie Range and then back via
Mount Cox to come back to the Gary Highway near the
Young Range (off road).
After I had passed the CSR heading east along the Talawana toward the corner (by myself, single vehicle) I started to think to myself what would could go wrong if something went amiss with the vehicle or myself once I got into really remote country (this was only my second really remote trip and first by myself). I didn't spew or have the runs, but the beads of sweat would have been visible on my forehead. Thinking hard to myself, I changed my plan - I'll only go out to the
Pinnacle by myself (90 kms east of the Gary Highway) and then come back and pick up my brother at
Wiluna and do the rest of the planned journey to the
Alfred and Marie Range with him, at the expense of seeing other areas - which I still to this day have not visited.
I was a bit hard on myself later for chickening out, however when you have a gut feeling that something may be amiss, I think it wise to act on your feelings.
These are two extremes, examples of what that remote bush air does to your soul, however, even though they were completely different circumstances I completely understand what that woman at
Well 2 was going through.
Anyone else had the heebie geebies out there?
Cheers
Alan