Touring WA – the treacherous north

The northern leg of tour: the tour of hard knocks, big lessons and unforgettable swims.

Our first show was in the small Wheatbelt town of Dalwallinu, which has a population of around 2000 people. We were booked in by the local shire to perform in their newly built amphitheatre, with local support act Codie Sundstrom and another Perth band, A Beggars Second.
A beautiful drive through the red soil countryside gradually became more and more overcast, and by the time we were in Dally, it was clear that we were going to be rained on. So instead the show was moved next door to the town hall – shame, as the amphitheatre was gorgeous. Whether because of the weather or other reasons, the turnout was rather modest… which wouldn’t normally have mattered, but the room was huge, the stage was a good metre above the audience’s heads and the audience were sitting about 10m away from the stage… not very intimate! Either way, all three acts put on a great show – check out a media write-up here. We had an interesting moment during our last song where the PA completely carked it… I ended up singing the rest of the song acoustically, projecting from the edge of the stage!

So after a few dramas with a car door not closing (which involved a 6am call to the RAC after a 3am bedtime – lovely), we were on the road the next day, heading for Geraldton. I’ve played this gorgeous beachside venue, L’Attitude 28, a couple of times before on their Sunday afternoon jazz sessions, which always has a great crowd. This time they had slotted us in at 9pm on a Saturday night… which turned out not to be a great move, as the patrons seemed to be content with their dinner and began leaving the venue at 9:30pm! L’Attitude 28 always takes care of its musicians though: although the crowd was small, we got put up in gorgeous 5-star accommodation at the Broadwater Resort next door and enjoyed a fantastic dinner there (I recommend the soft shell crab :-)).

After a nice sleep in, we breakfasted by the beach, enjoyed a refreshing swim and headed off for Southerlys Bar and Restaurant in Port Denison. Got there without mishaps, except for a small scare where we got pulled over by a cop for speeding and let off with a caution! It seems to be a running theme of the tour that we were in the right place at the wrong time. Apparently Saturday nights are hopping at Southerlys, but Sundays are touch and go. Wish someone had told me… this was a very strange gig. We were performing inside to the two people at the bar, while everyone else was enjoying their dinner outside. We’d finish a song, the pair at the bar would clap, and then we’d hear a delayed but enthusiastic applause from all the folk outside, whom we couldn’t even see. It was hilarious…

It was during this part of the journey, whilst staying at the Lazy Lobster, that I began to pen a song… watch out for it at my next gig, it’s called “Boy”. Dedicated to my brother 🙂

Tuesday was driving day; we spent the whole day driving up to Karratha. Granted, we took some liberal stops… breakfast… lunch… 🙂 We drove through the some of the most beautiful Australian countryside – great red rock hills that reminded me of Central Australia, except with the stark contrast of green, leafy gums growing all around. Around 5ish we came upon a particular flat-topped hill that somehow caught our imagination, so we took the climb up to the top (with a few cuts and scratches on the way). The view from up there was simply breathtaking… and as we ascended, we called out and heard the echoes bouncing off the ranges all around. All around the ground at the summit were pebbles arranged to spell out people’s names… apparently we were not the first people attracted to that alluring hill.

We arrived in Karratha around 11pm and succumbed to the lure of the local McDonalds. 6am, Dale and I were up for an interview at ABC Radio. This morning set us up for what we would experience for a few days to come – it was gushing down rain! Pathways around the hotel rooms were flooded, and it was quite a feat to get the guitar out of the car and keep it dry. The first fateful phone call came after the radio show as we were driving back to the hotel– our school workshop that afternoon was cancelled due to flooding. A second phone call confirmed that our morning workshop was also cancelled for the same reason, which meant a day off. So we hit the hotel pool and enjoyed a good swim in the rain… what else was there to do?

The next day followed suit – our school workshop cancelled, we spent much of the day in the rainy hotel pool. Fortunately, our school scheduled from Thursday turned out to be made of sturdier stuff, and that workshop went ahead with great success… lots of questions from the kids, and the music teacher was very happy. We also spent some time visiting Year 12 music class after the workshop.

Thursday afternoon saw us drive out towards Carnarvon, planning a stop at Giralia Station (read: accommodation in the middle of nowhere) for the night. About half an hour out of Karratha came the scare: an enormous puddle of water, half a metre deep, extending for several hundred metres down the road. After phoning around the car tow places in Karratha, being quoted massive prices and failing to entice other stranded drivers into splitting the cost, a Good Samaritan with a tow trailer appeared out of the blue, and offered us a ride to the other side. Narrowly avoiding the cows and birds that were populating the road ahead, we made it to Giralia and bathed in its moonlit serenity.

Feeling rather optimistic after our fortune of surpassing the puddles of Karratha, we set out for Carnarvon the next morning. At this point we had been without phone reception for about 12 hours. And it was without reception, in sweltering heat and humidity that we arrived at the next big puddle. To cut short a long story of a drawn-out, agonizing day involving sunburn, wading in 0.6m red flood water and hitching lifts whilst carrying a heavy jerry can – the final result was that we had to cancel the workshop and gig in Carnarvon, turn back and find shelter in the only place that was not barred to us by flood waters: Coral Bay.

At this point, I was hot, sweaty and frustrated. Coral Bay was a little blessing in disguise… a swim in the tropical waters, a pizza, lemon lime bitters, a couple of rounds of table tennis with the boys and the fact that the accommodation was cheap helped me out of my angst. Staying for one night, it was with trepidation that we began the long drive to Broome.

We needn’t have worried. Somehow the floods that had chased us south from Karratha decided to leave us as we turned back northwards. With a stopover in Port Hedland, we drove the 16 hours to Broome without trouble crossing our way, arriving in time for yet another swim in our hotel’s pool before the show.

The weather turned foul just as we pulled up outside the venue. Without an ex-cyclone tropical low forecast for the next afternoon, we were copping the rain on its outskirts. It poured as we loaded our gear from the car to the venue, poured as we set up, poured as we sound-checked, poured as we ate dinner. Then miraculously, it stopped. Although it was the off-season for tourists, the show was well-attended by the locals (perhaps due to the great article in the paper); we had some terrific feedback and a lot of CDs sold! The management was very positive too… it looks like we’ll have to go back to Broome in the dry-season! So on a musical high we ended an environmentally challenging tour, and commenced the 24 hour drive home.

What did I learn from this experience?
1. Take some tarp even if you don’t have a trailer
2. Play Southerlys on a Saturday and Geraldton on a Sunday, not the other way around
3. Don’t go up north during the wet season. February is bang in the middle of said wet season
4. Arrange to stay for longer in Broome, it’s gorgeous
5. Even if it’s going to be a scorcher, take a jumper. Band members prefer the air con a lot colder than I can handle

But the best lessons of all were:
1. Robin is great to have on tour. Old friends who you can rely on are priceless.
2. Tal was a storyteller in another life… boy, does he have some great stories!!
3. Bronton may seem quiet, but he is one of the craziest people I know. It is his mission in life to save all the bugs in the world.
4. Dale never runs out of puns… and I never run out of laughs for those puns. And he could be a great singer, if only he took himself seriously 🙂
5. The best way to stomach 70 hours of driving with the same 5 people together constantly is through many a game of categories, rounds of hangman and singing along to Michael Jackson pumping through the stereo.
6. Baby Geniuses is one of the most funny-because-it’s-so-unfunny movies ever.