Breakdown in West Australia
11 March 2015 | Fitzroy Crossing, Australia
Our road trip with a campervan had been uneventful since we left Brisbane on February 10th; however on Friday afternoon, March 6th, three hundred kilometres west of Broome in Western Australia our van came to a sudden stop. There was no overheating, coolant and oil levels were fine, but the van would not restart. A passing motorist helped push us further off the Great Northern Highway. Road trains with 3 trailers pass by and the two-lane road is undulating so the farther away from the road the better. After several attempts we reached the caravan company and got connected to the NMRA who arranged a tow from Fitzroy Crossing about 120 kilometres to the east. We got in Fitzroy Crossing and were let off in the Caravan park where we stayed for three nights waiting for Monday - no mechanics work the weekend. Temperatures were near 40 degrees each day and we followed the tree shades as the sun passed overhead. On Monday, the verdict was a dead fuel pump and the closest one was in Perth thousands of kilometres away. Thankfully, while waiting for the pump to arrive, the caravan company's contract with NMRA allowed us to stay in the Fitzroy Crossing River Lodge with air conditioned rooms. Today, Wednesday, the pump arrived and we got the van back in the afternoon. We should be back on the road early tomorrow and our next stop is Kununurra about 600 kilometres to the east.