Yahoo for Yowah!

Nick packing (60kg of) all-important "black death"!!

Although we were keen to go to Yowah in 2009 Nick and I weren't both able to obtain leave at the appropriate time; so booked our July 2010 leave nearly 12 months ahead to avoid missing out two years in a row!  There was much excitement as our departure date approached - and considerable preparation also.  Yowah (pop. 120)  is located in "outback" (south-western) Queensland, 1200 km from home -  and 160 km west of Cunnamulla (pop. 1,200), the nearest large town.

Given Yowah's remote location, we planned to take all provisions - including the usual meat, tinned and dried vegetables, UHT and powdered milk, snacks and so on.  Of course, while some food items would be available, price would be at a premium so we strived to be as self-sufficient as possible.  Nick's Wallangra experience was still sharp in his mind, so a three-week supply of Pepsi Max was high on the agenda also!

We bought another 3-way fridge, as much as our budget could cope with at that stage.  We created a meal plan for the trip and purchased all meat cryovaced from our usual bulk butcher.  (Once packed, it filled one 39 litre fridge). 

We were expecting cold nights, so some bedding modifications were made as a result of our Lithgow and Watagan Forest camping experiences.  eBay culling funded single bed upgrades for Vaughan and Nissa - airbeds on legs in the same style as ours.  I made fleece covers for the air mattresses, inside their checked sleeves to provide an extra warmth layer (sadly, didn't think to make one for our bed also).  We packed a lot of bedding and trialled vacuum bags to condense the load as much as possible.  (Although we had some extra space in the car on the journey up, Nissa was joining us for the final two-weeks so space would be even more limited on the homeward trip).

Given the loss of a camping chair during our Lithgow trip still rankled, Nick built a bigger box to ride on the trailer draw-bar - so our chairs could be stashed more safely inside.  He modified the tie-down system for the table/trailer also, with a view to tightening the ropes more easily/effectively.

Finally, the packing could commence!