Sunday 27th September Nullarbor/Streaky Bay

We were one of the last to leave the caravan lay by area but as we weren’t in any great hurry we didn’t really mind as we didn’t intend to travel too far. Prior to leaving, we were walking back form the toilet block and encountered a local dingo who seemed to be quite interested in what we were doing, so we jumped into the car and drove off,  just to be on the safe side.

During the night we heard the road trains passing by and then in the morning a small single engine aeroplane landed just behind us on the gravel runway  and then taxied round to the front of the road house to pick up some passengers.  These small planes are used by most of the owners of  outback stations as its the only way they can get around in the shortest time frame.

Not long after leaving we turned off the highway and drove the 12 km down to the Head of Bight. This is where the white sand dunes and beaches meet the Bunda Cliffs of the Nullarbor. Here we paid our 10 dollars each and walked down the board walk to the cliff top and was rewarded with the sight of at least 10 Great Southern Right Whales and their calf's just cruising around off the beach. We really enjoyed the views and watching the whales even if it was a bit windy and cool.

We pressed on along the Eyre Highway stopping at the old and now closed roadhouse at Yalata to have our lunch and finish all our remaining fruit before crossing the quarantine inspection point for South  Australia. Here we saw the start of the dog fence that controls the wild dogs (dingoes) that goes up through the country.

We stopped at the quarantine check point and opened up the trailer for the contents of our fridge to be inspected, however as we had eaten all the fruit and dumped what vegetables we had earlier we were given the all clear and drove on to Ceduna where we stopped off at the

Tourist Bureau to pick up some information and collect our certificates to say that we had crossed the Nullarbor. We then headed off to the Flinders Highway driving south to Streaky Bay where we arrived at about 5pm. We booked in at the Foreshore Tourist Park  for two nights,  set up our home and then went out for an inexpensive meal before settling down for the evening to discuss the next days activities.

26th September – Nullarbor crossing continued

We set off again for a full day of driving and sight seeing. Not much to see really as we were crossing what they call the treeless plain of the Nullarbor.(See the link and read all about it)

After leaving Caiguna we advanced our clocks by 45 minutes. We were driving through what was mostly just scrub land along the Hampton Tablelands.

They do have signs up warning that the roads were unfenced and that there was the possibility that we could encounter either Camels,Emus or Wombats and kangaroos. We only saw a kangaroo and that was a road kill just off in the gravel.  We drove on passing by the Madura  Pass and Roadhouse.

We encountered many road trains that thunder along this stretch of road that seems at the maximum speed that they can get away with. They loom up behind you and pass by at  great speed causing the car to sway from side to side so you have to ensure that you have a strong steady grip of the steering wheel and keeping as steady as you can whilst maintaining your speed. Having your UHF radio on channel 40 you can hear the drivers talking and there is the possibility they could call you and let you know they are about to pass. 

We stopped off at Eucla to have a look at the view and walk around the gardens of the motel.Here there was also the ruins of one of the original telegraph stations that first opened in 1877 which helped link WA with the rest of Australia sending 11000 messages annually

We had our break and lunch just past the WA/SA border check point and advanced our clocks another 45 minutes so we would be in SA time. We didn’t have to go through the quarantine checks here as they do when travelling west as the east bound travellers go through at Ceduna, another days driving away. We will have to ensure that we have eaten all our fruit and vegies by then.               www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au

We stopped off to see some of the magnificent views of the cliffs and coastal beaches from the top of the cliffs which were all well sign posted as being unstable and could possibly fall away. We kept well clear from the edges as we didn’t fancy plunging down the +50 odd feet to the bottom.

We finally stopped for the night at the Nullarbor Motel/Hotel Caravan park (see map) at about 6.30 pm new time. It was quite cold though fortunately for us there was no rain. Tomorrow we will try and reach Streaky Bay and then go on to Port Lincoln.

25th September- Nullarbor crossing

With the sun shinning and the wind a little cool we prepared to leave Kalgoorlie and head down to Norseman and then start our journey along the Eyre Highway to Adelaide.

Leaving the caravan park at 8.30 we set Tom Tom for Norseman which took us a different way this time by not going through Coolgardie which we did coming up. The country side was much the same mostly scrub and general bush. With so little rain fall in this part of the country there are no crops or live stock. This is mining land with many roads leading off from the highway to the various gold mines and nickel smelters. Driving through Kambalda we pasted Lake Lefroy a dried up salt lake.

After 206km we arrived at Norseman where we stopped to have our lunch take a few photos of the tin camels and visit the tourist information office to pick up our free map with all the fuel stops and places to stay overnight during our 1979 km drive across the Nullarbor. We had marked the places for the clock changes and where we would have to pass through the quarantine check point in South Australia. We would have to ensure we had eaten all our fruit and veg's otherwise we’ll have to dump it all before continuing our journey.

Having filled up with fuel and filled an extra 20ltrs in our jerry can we set off east.

Tom Tom was set and indicated that we should drive along the Eyre highway and after 1198 kms turn left!

Our first stop after 188 kms was at Balladonia hotel/motel/roadhouse to fill with fuel again and have a stretch and a walk around. Not much here at all so after a short break we pulled out and not long after passing  the old ruined Telegraph Station and the Afgan rocks we started to drive on Australia's longest stretch of roadway-145kms ( 90 miles). Since leaving Norseman we haven’t had to negotiate any stop , give way signs or traffic lights. In fact the drive is non stop unless you pull over for a rest or fuel.

Just at the end of the straight stretch we pulled into the Caiguna road house for a fuel fill up and to stop for the night at a powered site as it was going to be cold and we also wanted some hot food, heater and  hot showers before setting off again in the morning.

During the evening we saw a light plane land right behind us and then taxi back to the rear of the roadhouse to fill up with aviation fuel before taxing out to the runway and taking off again. During our drive we had driven along a stretch of road that is also used by the Royal Flying Doctor in emergencies as this is all very remote country.

With a little light rain falling and a cool wind blowing we settled down for the night along with another 12 caravans parked by the Caiguna roadhouse.

Thursday 24th September Kalgoorlie

Today the sun was shinning and the temp was expected to reach 22deg. So we headed off to town to Coles so we could restock our supplies before we headed down to Norseman and then start our drive across the Nullarbor Plain. We replaced our LPG gas and will fill our water tanks so we can be independent and stop off at the overnight rest stops on our way across.

Had my hair cut and then we had another look around the town before going back for our lunch.

It was then off to tour the historic Questa Casa,Australia’s oldest working bordello.Over 100 years old.it is the last of the original tin bordellos.We were advised that the tour would surprise the 11 of us who lined up outside to do the 2pm tour. It was interesting and gave us all an insight into the part the bordello plays in this mining town. Read http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3597/columnists/13158/in_the_pinkmadam.html for a good story about the place, though we didn’t meet Carmel as her daughter was looking after the place whilst she was away on stress leave! Her daughter emphasised that it was a business for her and her mother and that neither of them were working girls and never had been or intended to be.

Buildings in Boulder and Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie and Boulders are almost unchanged from the turn of the 1900’s. They say that the streets of Kalgoorlie are paved with gold which is not too far from the truth as the used all the tailings from the gold fields which at that time, they were unable to extract. Now days that problems doesn't exist and all the gold possible is extracted . We visited the super pit www.superpit.com.au which has a viewing platform overlooking this famous landmark which will eventually stretch 3.2 km long,1.4km wide and go down to a depth of more than 600m which has incorporated all the  gold mines that were once in the so called golden mile and are now all in the Super Pit which is run by KCGM.

Another fascinating fact about this area is that all its fresh water is pumped by a water pipe-line from Mundaring Weir in Perth which is 563 km away that was built in 1903 by the genius foresight of the States Engineer C.Y.O’Connor. Its obvious that water here is a very valuable commodity and very expensive.

Kalgoorlie 23rd September

www.kalgoorlietourism.com

Cool night though it soon warmed up to 24 deg with not a cloud in the sky or a drop of rain!

Today we drove off to the Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame. We booked in for the underground tour and the gold pour demonstration and as a bit of fun we took the opportunity to make our fortune by doing some gold panning. 

The underground tour took us down 120mtrs to the first level to see the tunnels and chambers where the gold was extracted up until 1967 when it declared exhausted of all payable gold. On to the gold pour when gold was poured from a white crucible into a bar,though we were told at the end that it was actually not gold but other minerals giving the same effect.

The gold panning yielded us a few specks of gold which we picked up with some cello tape which we were told was probably worth more than the gold speck.

Here we also learnt about the history of prospecting and mining in Australia. www.mininghall.com

We drove into the Boulder part of the town and walked the historic main street and were fascinated by the many building still standing from the turn of the century and which are still in use for some retail businesses. www.boulder.com.au

Back to the caravan for a late lunch and some quiet time before going out for dinner in Kalgoorlie.

22nd September 2009

It continued to rain on and off throughout the night with the temperature dropping to 5 deg, so it was all quite unpleasant.

However when it was time to get up in the morning at 6am we were delighted to see that the sky was blue and the sun was shinning, however it was still quite cold.

As we closed up the trailer I noticed that one of the shock absorbers to the leaf spring had snapped the holding bracket and was hanging down loosely. We would have to have it repaired as soon as we arrived in Kalgoorlia-Boulder about 205km north.

The drive was good, the sun was shinning and we were warm in the car as we pulled out of the caravan park just after 8.15am.We were on the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway which was in good condition. We didn’t see to many other caravaners on the road and those that we did always waved as they passed which we eagerly acknowledged, it was always good to see fellow travellers.

We passed some vast salt lakes and dead trees from the salinity in the ground. The soil was now no longer sandy as in the south west, here it is red. The land here was cultivated in some places that supported live stock and the growing of wheat and canola along with other crops that we were not able to put a name to.

We drove into Coolgardie which was once a very busy town with a population of nearly 15000 at the turn of the century in the 1900’s.

Today the gold mining days are over and the population is down to about 800, as the nearby town of Kalgoorlia is the main hub of the area. However some of the old buildings from its glory days look quite good and along the main street we stopped to read the history of  many of them. It was still quite cold and we were looking for somewhere to have a cup of coffee but not finding anywhere we set off for Kalgoorlie 39 km away.

As we entered this much larger town we saw a truck and trailer repair centre so we pulled in to see if we could get the repairs we needed. Not being the right place we were directed to a steel fabricator  where we could probably have the brackets made and fitted. We  found them to be very helpful and they could make and fit what we needed. So we unhitched and left the trailer which we could pick up again at 3pm.

We immediately left for town where we had our coffee and then off to the tourist bureau where we picked up a local map and some info and then headed out to the gold museum and a walk along Hannan street which was the main street in town which had many great historical buildings.

Here we also read all about Paddy Hannan whom the street was named after.

We treated ourselves to some lunch, walked around town a bit more and then went back to pick up the trailer and check in at the caravan park and set everything up for our stay.

Check out some of the photos of the city buildings etc.

Monday 21st September-Ravensthorpe-Esperance

We managed to set up last night in the dry and was pretty well assured that it wouldn’t rain during the night, so we unfortunately did not roll out the awnings over the bed ends. Well needless to say it wasn’t long before the rain came thundering down,we didn’t get wet just a little damp. By morning the rain eased and we made sure we got the trailer packed up at top speed so much so that we pulled out and on our way just after 8am having had breakfast and our showers etc.

We set Tom Tom for Esperance 186km away and said we would decide what we we would do when we arrived there. We had passed the WA Standard Time Meridian line and then the No 1 Rabbit Proof Fence which goes all the way up north. This has protected WA from the rabbits entering from the other states since it was built in the early 1900’s.

The rain started again soon after we had started and continued until we reached Esperance. It was also quite cold with the down to about 10 deg along with a very cold wind.

Needless to say we decided that we would drive around the 40km circuit that would take us past some of the best beaches in Australia. In fact Twilight beach was voted the best beach in 2007. They did look good though the seas were very rough and windswept. 

In the summer they would be magnificent as would all the other tourist attractions and activities that can be enjoyed here. Not for us though or in fact it seems anybody else as the caravan parks were quite empty and there weren’t many tourists around. The warmer weather and better conditions were forecasted for the coming weekend which is also the start of the WA school holidays.

We finished our drive,visited the tourist centre and then drove on to Norseman. The rain stayed with us until we arrived at Norseman 207km north stopping only at Salmon Gums to refuel. Here they were ecstatic that they were getting some good soaking rain which they said they needed very badly.

We checked in at the caravan park and sat in the car until the rain eased off so we could put up the trailer which we were able to do in one of the rain breaks.

The weather forecast for the next week is clearing showers and sunny breaks with the temp expected to reach the low 20’s. Lets hope so because tomorrow we are heading for Kalgoorlie where we intend to stay for a few days before coming back down to Norseman and then heading east across the Nullarbor to Adelaide.

On the circuit we drove past the pink lake which was no longer pink as the rain and freshwater had cleared all the alga which causes it to go pink

20th September- On to Wave Rock and beyond.

Quite a cold night however we didn’t have any rain. We learnt that west of Katanning the rain fall was far less than on the SW of WA.

Lake Grace is a wheatbelt town with a population of about 650 people and has a very large commercial centre.It got its name form the two large interconnected  north and south salt lakes 8 km west of the town making up the lake system and is 50.5km long and up to 7.25km wide. www.lakegrace.wa.gov.

As we drove on we passed some of the wheat silos and the many acres of wheat fields along with the canola. We were heading for Hyden and the Wave rock which is located near by.

Wave rock is a very popular tourist site with a caravan park and resort there to cater for the many visitors that it attracts. We were only going to stop long enough to have our lunch and walk over the top and around the rock which in fact took us a good couple of hours by the time we had finished.

Wave rock is 15 metres high and 110 metres long and its rounded like shape has been caused by weathering and water erosion which has undercut the base and left a rounded overhang.

Here is Hippos Yawn

 

Hippos Yawn consists of an unusually shaped granite tor that was formally part of the crop.This is second most visited site and is connected by a walking track from Wave rock with interpretive sites located along the route explaining about the landscape.

We were lucky that the rain had held off whilst we had been out walking on the rock, however it was a bit cooler than we had expected.

Time to make tracks for Ravensthorpe about 180 km SE where we were stopping for the night. It just started to rain very lightly as we set off along some very long straight roads with very few cars  travelling along it, so we had a very good run except for some minor road works where we had some speed restrictions.

The country side was planted with fields of wheat, barley, oats and canola, as we were still  passing through the wheatbelt, however here the dams were not as full  and it all looked much drier than where we had being driving through a few days before when we were further west.

www.ravensthorpe.wa.gov.au     www.railtrails.org.au

Saturday 19th September-Leaving Margaret River

Thankfully it was not raining as we packed up our little camper to start our journey eastwards heading for our home state. We have now been away for nearly four months and probably still have another month before we actually get home. However we are still enjoying ourselves though we don’t like the cooler weather and of course the constant rain that we seem to have been having for the last few weeks.

We had to go south on the Bissell Hwy passing some more of the vineyards on the way until we reached Karridale where we turned east and headed for Nannup. Here the country side was very green with the dams full and the crops looking very healthy. Cattle and sheep grazing country interspersed with acres of canola, wheat  along with other crops growing in abundance. WA is expecting a bumper grain harvest this year which no doubt will be the best for many years.

Pressing on for Bridgetown we drove for many km through the rain squalls passing along side the Great Southern Plantations of trees which in time will be logged.  We saw evidence of recently logged areas being cleared and made ready for the replanting and the process starting all again under the renewable forestry timber logging plan.

As we neared Bridgetown we drove along side a most magnificent Blackwood river which was full and gushing as it cut its way through the trees and fields. Here the country side is most appealing and the many tracks and walks that are posted shows  its popularity with hikers and campers. The town of Bridgetown was another great discovery looking very much like a southern highland town in NSW such as Bowral. Cafes offering log fires and hot soup, restaurants , arts and crafts, and the general shops of a small town. With many people milling around it looked like it was a very popular place to day visit or stay in one of the many small hotels that we passed and of course the caravan park.

We headed on for Lake Grace which was to be our stopping off place for the night. We drove through Kojonup, Broomehill, Gnowangerup and then on through Pingrup to Lake Grace. This route took us through cultivated fields, cattle and sheep grazing country, more tree plantations and uncleared scrub land and finally the lakes areas and the salt pans.

Our stop was a small caravan park which just had a few sites occupied so we didn’t have any trouble finding a spot. Having set up for the night we ventured off for a walk into the small town that consisted of an IGA, Bank and some government offices and of course a pub which we stopped of and had  a drink before making our way back to the caravan whilst watching a very beautiful sunset dipping below  the fields in the distance.

18th September Margaret River.

After a night of wind and rain the morning sun came as a bit of a surprise. Still quite cool with the temp around 12 degs,however we made sure we had our raincoats and headed off in the car to do some exploring. We  drove up up to Dunsborough stopping off for a walk to the mouth of the Margaret River.

Here we had to battle some strong wind gusts as we walked along the cliff and down to the river side.

On to Gracetown and to the beach where we walked up along the cliff top and came across the memorial to the nine people who had been killed by the cliff collapse back in 1996. The tragedy occurred when the local primary school was holding a surfing carnival and some of the family and friends were sheltering from a rain squall on the beach under the cliff when it collapsed and buried them .

The one and only survivor was found after two hours of digging.We were very moved by the memorial that had been erected to the memory of those lost.

We watched the kite surfers skimming across the rough seas as we headed back down to the car to drive up to Meelup beach where we had our lunch of bread rolls and some venison bought from the local farm along the way.This is a beautiful beach and on a summers days we imagined it would be very popular place for the family as it safe and protected from the wind. Alas today was cool with constant showers which we had to shelter from every now and again.

We visited the Ngilgi caves at Yallingup one of 300 hundred caves in the Geographe and Margaret River wine region between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin. We didn’t venture too far as the tours would have taken too long and we had more places to visit.

It was back down the Caves Road where most of the 100 vineyards are situated. We stopped off at a few of the cellar doors and purchased some wine from Clairault vineyard. www.clairaultwines.com.au

The vineyards looked most impressive, very green with many of the vines beginning to sprout some leaves.

It was then back to the town to buy some provisions for the start of our journey heading east and towards our home state to rejoin our family and friends. However we still have a good few weeks of travel and at least 4000 km before we get there though. So far we have covered 19500 km since leaving home on May 29th.

17th September Karrinyup to Margaret River

Thankfully the rain eased off so we were able to finish closing up  the trailer and start off for Margaret River.

We passed through some beautiful country side with rolling hills, big properties, horses, black/brown/white cattle, lamas, sheep  and dams full of water.

Wildflowers in abundance with arum lilies in most of the waterways.

However it continued to rain with some very heavy falls which caused us to slow down and stop as the visibility was reduced to almost nil.  Here they have been in a state of drought for the last seven years so of course the farmers are overjoyed with the rain.The water restrictions however are still in force though the dam levels have almost reached 50% which is nearly double what they were a few months ago.

Our route from Perth took us across country by passing Bunbury.We just missed the opening of the new 73 km highway which is due to be opened this Sunday 20th, which will cut off half an hour from the route we had to take.

As we listening to an interview with Thomas Kenneally on the radio he was talking about his new book Australians and a chapter on Captain Stirling and the massacre of the aboriginals in Pinjarra,which we happened to be driving through at the time and then passing Sterling's cottage. Quite a coincidence we thought.

When we arrived at the Margaret River Tourist Park it just started to rain again as we checked in. We found our site and waited for a break in the weather and then very quickly set up. Thankfully the rain eased off so when we had finished we decided to stretch our legs and go for a walk down the local high street. Well we got soaked, as no sooner had we started off the rain came gushing down. We had had enough so we headed back home and tried to dry off before settling down for the evening. After our dinner we tried to have a game of scrabble but we were both too tired so we called it a day and turned in, listening to the rain belting down every now and again along with some strong wind gusts.

The weather forecast for the next few days didn’t sound encouraging either.

14th-16th September – Perth

Well since we have been here for the last few days we have visited Freemantle a couple of times so we could have a another look at the Maritime Museum and of course the markets. Unfortunately the weather hasn’t been good so we made use of the free CAT bus that runs around the town which gave us a good over view of the town.

We did much the same when we visited Perth using the 3 different  CAT buses that run throughout the city, which are totally free. We used the buses and the train to get into the city from the caravan park which only cost us 3.30 for any bus or train on the day. Here the public transport is excellent and Sydney could certainly learn a thing or two about running a transport system.

In Perth we visited the Art Gallery of Western Australia which had a great exhibition of Ariel photos  of Australia by the Dutch photographer Richard Woldendorp.

We drove up to the Perth Hills,visiting Kalamunda, though once again the weather was not favourable for walking around as the rain and cold was not too enjoyable.

On a bleak Tuesday afternoon we drove to the beach suburb Cottesloe to visit family friends for a cup of tea.

We move on down to Margaret River tomorrow and just hope that it will warm up and the sun shines.

Sunday 13th September Perth.

Today the sun was shining though it was still a bit cool. Thankfully the wind wasn’t blowing like it has been.

We visited the Swan Valley to do some of the food and wine trail. With all the wineries being so close to the city it is a very popular place to visit,especially on a sunny spring day. www.swanvalley.com.au.

Among those that we visited were, Houghton's, Windy Creek Estate,Edgecombe Brothers,where we enjoyed a very pleasant lunch sitting in the garden and then on to Sittellas. Finishing off at the Chocolate Factory where we took advantage of sampling many of the products they produce.

After all that eating we drove on to Guildford a historic town where we did the town heritage walking trail. This was just what we needed having been eating and sitting for most of the day.

The weather stayed fine for us and we had a very enjoyable day in a very beautiful part of WA.

12th September Perth

The wind eased off a bit in the morning and the sun broke through the grey clouds so we headed out for the city. Tommy took us into the centre where we drove around for awhile before continuing on to Freemantle for our morning coffee and walk around town.

Its pretty much as we remember it all, though there are of course new apartment blocks being built but thankfully they are preserving the main historic parts of Freemantle, having refrained from demolishing them as so many other places have done.However it appears as though the developers are trying to move in and build some kind of massive 5 storey building down by the wharf which has resulted in posters and flyers being handed out to rally support to stop it all from going ahead.

That was our Saturday.

Drive to Perth via Dalwallinu 10th September

We pulled out of Geraldton having felt very lucky that the weather had been kind to us. Thankfully the wind had abated for a few days and the sun shone making it much warmer than we expected.

We decided to drive through the wildflower country www.wildflowercountry.com.au as we have read and heard so much about the wild flowers that are out about this time of the year. We headed for Mingenew www.mingenew.wa.gov.au which we were told was the best place to start. Unfortunately the sun wasn’t shinning however we were very impressed with country side which looked very green and the crops looked absolutely magnificent with the yellow of the canola glowing in the sun when it did come out from behind the clouds. After 6 years of drought the farmers must have smiles on their faces as the rain fall has been very good for them.

Back to the flower run. We were a bit disappointed with what we had seen so we drove on to Morawa where we had lunch and also went into the visitors bureau www.morawa.wa.gov.au  Here we chatted with Paul who had put together a local map marked with all the locations of the best flowers and wreaths that we could see. So we set off on a wild drive around which took us over open railway crossings and along dirt roads into the back of beyond. We did see some great flowers however the wreaths evaded us and as the weather hadn’t improved that much we finally decided to make our way to our next stop as we like to be somewhere for the night before 4pm. So we set tom tom for Dalwallinu www.dalwallinu.wa.gov.au where there was a caravan park we could stay at. We arrived as the wind really started to blow and found that the place was almost full as most travellers had decided to pull off the road early as the weather had really turned nasty. We were able to have a site between some of the bigger caravans which would act as a bit of a wind break and give us some protection. We set up just before the rain started to belt down and in fact then continued on for most of the night. As this was the first heavy rain we had had since Tamworth we were anxious to see if we would be ok. We shouldn’t have been concerned as we stayed dry, maybe a little damp but otherwise we were very happy with the Jayco.

Geraldton 8-9th September (09.09.09)

We we have been really lucky with the weather. Where as the wind had been blowing quite strongly before we arrived, for us it has just been a gentle breeze which has meant that we have had  a couple of very pleasant warm days with just a smattering of rain only occurring during the night.

During our time here we have visited most of the main attractions.  Fishermans Wharf, Separation Point Lookout,and the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery which is located in the old town hall building. Here we viewed the Doug Moran portraiture entries and the supporting photographic competition which is in its second year.

We couldn’t go past visiting the old historic gaol,(1858) located next door to the Visitors centre. They now run a local art and craft shop and display there.

St.Francis Xavier Cathedral we though was also worth a visit,though we didn’t think we would see anything that surpasses the great churches and cathedrals we saw in France. However it had its charm and is credited as being one of the masterpieces of John Hawes who before joining the priesthood was an architect.

We checked out the  IRIS sundial opposite the Cathedral, which was quite unique,though it did take us some time to work it all out.

It was then a drive back out to visit the Hampton Arms Inn, Greenough,which we found was closed the other day.We chatted to the owner who had been there for the last 27 years and during this time has established a business dealing in rare and out of print books. They also a run a B  &  B  offering an opportunity to stay in a hundred year old converted shearing shed, all located in a rural  and historical setting. www.hamptonarms.com.au

Not far from here we could see the Alinta Wind Farm and some of its 54 turbines twirling away in the distance.

We walked along the 7 km path from the sand dunes to the Chapman river that goes all along the foreshore and passes through the towns newly opened (Oct O8) beachfront. Work is still in progress here with many new apartments being built along the marina frontage with most of them already having been sold off the plan.

 

Tomorrow we leave and head south to Dongara to pick up the wildflower trail.

11th September on to Perth

We slept quite well only being woken every now and again by the wind and the sound of heavy rain, had our breakfast and managed to put the Jayco down after we had wiped what we could to try and dry the canvas. We knew it wasn’t going to be packed up for too long as we only had a couple of hundred km to drive before we would be at the next caravan park .

The rain eased and we set off and once again we enjoyed some of the wildflowers ,but what really impressed us again was the luscious country side with the crops looking just great with acres and acres of fields, as far as the eye could see on both sides of the road,all looking very green or a golden yellow. This, is all land under cultivation with just a few fields with cattle and sheep grazing.

As we came closer to the outskirts of Perth the number of new housing estates that have been built are prolific,they seem to back on to each other, also there are so many sites that have been, or are being cleared with subdivisions in place and ready and waiting for the new homes to be built . The great thing about it all is that they have put the infrastructure into place ( unlike NSW) with excellent trains and divided dual highways criss crossing the suburbs. It also appears that each suburb has a huge shopping centre with Woolies and Coles and many of the other majors to cater for these estates.

However in the papers it was saying that this is still a rapidly growing city and that Perth’s population is expected to to exceed 3 million people by 2050 and that an additional 700,000 more homes will be needed which is double the infrastructure that is currently in place and fortunately unlike many other cities in Australia this city is not yet out of control, however, they must plan and discuss for its future.

Tom Tom had been set and continued to take us along the motorways and roads right to where we wanted to be. We have really come to rely on Tommy and sometimes wonder how we would have managed managed without it

It was a good thing that we had called ahead a few days beforehand for a site, as they were completely booked out. We set up on our powered site and were able to have everything in place before the wind and rain started up again. www.kwr.net.au

Tomorrow we’ll have a drive around and go into Perth to check the place out.

Geraldton 7th September – Population 33,000

First of all Happy Birthday to Danielle. Sorry we weren’t able to be with you to help celebrate the day. We were thinking of you though.

After all the domestics were completed like the washing etc we set off for the HMAS Sydney Memorial  which has been built on what was once just a sand hill. Here are the names of everyone of the

645 sailors that lost their lives on that fateful day in November 1941 just of Shark Bay whilst engaging the German raider the Kormoran. There are many tributes to the Sydney up and down this coast and although its final resting place on the ocean bed has been located there is still disbelief that there was not one survivor from the ship and

that there are many questions about it all that still need to be answered, however most believe that the events that lead to its loss will remain a mystery for ever.

After lunch it was on to the Museum where we learnt about the numerous shipwrecks in the area and the tragic story of the Batavia shipwreck and mutiny in 1629 and of the Zeewijk in 1727. This very well presented museum is well worth a visit and we spent a good few hours looking around it and still didn’t see it all.

We then headed out to Greenough 25 km south of Geraldton which is a historic settlement that has been recognised as tremendous heritage value  and has been extensively worked on preserving it. We walked around the eleven buildings dating back to the 1880’s and of its history and  the people that lived there  until the 1950’s, after which in fell into disrepair until the 1970’s when the National Trust started to preserve the buildings with the work still continuing.

We visited the Hampton Arms but we found it closed on Mondays.

We also were also fascinated by the leaning trees , a result of the wind that is constantly blowing.

(However today it was very calm.)

Tomorrow we explore further.