Its Saturday 23rd of May 2009 and I am sitting at home. The clock conveniently placed on the bottom right of the computer has informed me that it is 9:34 pm.
My nose has been running for the last 36 hours. My head hurts and I have just had a shower and rubbed myself down with Rawleighs and Tigerbalm. I’ve dosed up on all the non-prescription pain killers, cough defeaters and tranquillisers that I could obtain.
I am cursing the fact that I didn’t take the free flu shot when it was offered at work and I’m promising myself never to miss out on a flu shot again, all the while hoping that I haven’t picked up a bit of the swine flu.
Instead of feeling like death I am turning my thought to the impending trip. Now less than six weeks away the road and the warmer climes of the north are beckoning long and loudly.
The second hand Rodeo has been set up pretty well. A winch and bull bar, a borrowed transmitter and a new Cooper spare tyre to match the others.
The Aussie Swag camper trailer (aka our retirement) was purchased second hand but is a beautifully made unit. It came with an engel fridge in the large forward mounted box on the draw bar and is fitted with a deep cycle battery.
We also fitted a second engel fridge and slider to the rear of the Rodeo along with an auxiliary battery to run it. The purchase of a Honda 2.0 generator, a Coleman hot water service and a porta potty has me very keen to try out all three and not in any particular order and will enable us to spend more than a week somewhere remote if we so choose.
It is now Sunday 28th of June and we are off tomorrow. Both the Camper and the Rodeo are chock a block with all the essentials as well as a few luxuries.
I have just held the pre trip briefing designating the various duties essential to a well organised trip.
Robyn – Navigator, technical support, itinerary planner and catering officer.
Chad – Driver, camp and transport logistics, beverage and crisps consumption
Jannaya – Dish pig, camp slave, depth of water tester, frivolous entertainment and amusement.
This map has been on the cork board wall since January as friends have given us tit bits on what to see and where to go we hurried home and updated the map. The red pins are where we expect to set up camp. We ran out of red pins at the south west corner of Western Australia.
Day 1
An in auspicious start to the journey. First light was the call we leave at first light!! At 10:30 am we rolled out of the driveway.
First stop was the Terrick Terrick State Park. A quick coffee there, replace a geocache that had gone missing and back on the road, said hello and good bye to Pyramid Hill then onto Kerang for lunch. The country north of Bendigo is looking green and lush, I can't remember it like this in years.
We stopped at Swan Hill to find a cache and took a photo at the big Cod. I just love the big things.
Out towards Robinvale through Nyah and those lovely little river towns. The amount of grape vines, olives and of course the infamous Timber corp almond orchards are amazing.
We stopped at Hattah National Park with the light fading fast and set up on a clay pan near lake Hattah. Hmm Hattah a palindrome – was it a cat I saw?, Dennis and edna sinned. Thankfully one of the reasons for the late departure was that Robyn had prepared devilled sausages and potatoes in the dream pot. Nothing better than sitting down to a hot meal with none of the preparation.
There are about five camps nearby it is very quiet.
Robyn's version -
We left a lot later than we had intended for a range of reasons – none of which were my fault. We took a slight detour to Terrick Terick a tiny little National Park that is looking beautiful after the recent rain. We maintain a cache there that seems to have gone missing so while Chad boiled the kettle I placed a new one in what we hope is a safer spot. Its a shame it doesn't get visited more often as its a great place to visit and climb up to the trig point.
Not much caching to do today as most of the ones we passed we had placed or I had already done. There has been one in Swan Hill at the paddlesteamer Gem but it is off line at the moment so we did the one at The Big Cod. Also took some photos as there is a locationless for “Big Things” and I don't think the cod has been claimed yet. It required the height of Jannaya and Chad to retrieve though.
Hattah was lovely – I have memories of it from childhood when Dad used to sell insurance in Mildura and often made the trek up there for work and clay target shooting. I don't ever remember seeing the lake with so much water. Jannaya wasn't impressed that the camp was so quiet and no other kids around but spent the evening texting her friends goodbye. We deliberately planned a bush camp so we could check we haven't forgotten anything. We broke out the hot water service in the morning to wash us and the dishes. It is quite a luxury item and takes up a lot of space but it beats the hell out of boiling water in saucepans which seems to take forever and is so dangerous. It works beautifully and we have hot water within minutes.
On the way we talked about expectations of the trip.
Jannaya wants to meet lots of kids and be able to keep in contact with her school friends. She also wants to see lots of animals.
Chad wants to do some fishing and see Lake Eyre. He doesn't want to travel too far each day and be setting up in the dark.
Robyn wants to survive and get to 1000 geocaches. She also wants to spend a couple of days in Perth and on the Copper Coast finding the puzzle caches she has been working on (with assistance from others.)
Day 2 Tuesday 30th .
Left Hattah National Park. I was surprised at how well the Lake looked. Drove to the look out and checked out the view. Nothing but trees, trees and more trees.
Drove up towards Mildura and skirted the south side headed for the S.A. Border. Wow, the wind that had come up the night before was blustery and cool. The head wind heading to Mildura was full on – almost got beaten up by rollipollis heading south. Once we started on the Sturt Highway heading west the wind from the North threatened to push the car off the road. At numerous points the dust was so thick it was lights on.
We stopped at Cullcullarin lake for lunch – the surf was up on the lake. Jannaya and I amused some workmen by having a wrestle on the green lawn.
Then on the horizon we could see a giant front of brown, a real dust storm,
as we drove into it the heavens opened up as well. It was all but raining mud. Once we got to Yamba just into S.A. The brown was gone the skys reverted top a gun metal grey.
A quick stop at the Fruit Fly Stations where cars were being checked by the guys there, then it was off again.
We picked a Big 4 Caravan Park at Renmark, a quick shop for some fruit and veg, a latte and a piece of cake each and we were ready to set up camp. Jannaya had the biggest vanilla slice I have ever seen, she couldn't finish it. After my piece of pecan I couldn't touch it either.
Now camp has been set up – a brilliant spot right next to the Murray.
we are in the camp kitchen cooking tea. It is still a bit cool but I'm hoping tomorrow will be brilliant. The diesel consumption on the beast is a bit higher than usual and the cross/head on winds south of Mildura didn't help. I reckon we are doing about 400 km to a tank instead of the 500 I get when unladen.
Robyn's version
We travelled to Renmark on a revolting day. Dirty dusty wind and occasional rain. We really felt for some of the big caravans that were being blown all over the road. Driving was no fun so we stopped in Renmark which seems to have a lot of caches. We had been aware of the Fruit Fly Station so had cooked up the left overs in a casserole and got the all clear quickly. Unfortunately we were behind a camper trailer who had stocked up for their 2 week holiday in the Flinders Ranges and were devastated to have it all confiscated. I shot down the road while we were waiting to collect a cache. There are quite a few placed along the highway at sites of interest but most seem to be Eclipse tins. The emergency services were very busy in Renmark, cleaning up after the storm as there were lots of trees down. Fortunately for us the wind settled a bit and while it was noisy we were comfortable. Jannaya was disappointed to find there was a jumping pillow but wasn't able to use it as it was wet and covered in dust. She did enjoy the river and feeding the ducks though.
Wednesday 1st July,
The wind is still from the north and still pretty cool. Jackets and long pants and beanies.
This was a pretty easy day with a look round Paringa - visited the black stump. It is a massive root from a red gum. The bloke who bought it to Paringa did so by strapping a motor to it and floated it down the Murray. His name is Turtin and he is the famous chook man at Daly Waters.
Then over to the Monash playground. It is a lot more tame than when I visited back in the 70's Ted Mullary Gang were playing at Renmark and I was staying at Barmera. Back then the playground was all sand and bush and apparently very unsafe. Now it is a bit safer and sterilised to protect people from themselves. It was sort of a method of natural selection in its day.
Although in the instance above it appeared not to have worked especially well...
I think the photos that I have been loading on are too big. I'll try and sort it out.
Day 4 Thursday 02/07/09
Good early start except for the wait at Renmark Police Station to make a report about the theft of Jannaya's camera.
Took the road through Monash to Morgan where we stopped for a snack and a coffee made from the ingredients that we carried with us. Morgan is a delight. The ferry man was plying his trade going backwards and forwards across the Murray River. “Hi pet anything exciting happen at work today?” "For the last time Glennis NO!!! I go backwards and forwards across the river day in day out nothing different."
Then off down the highway towards Crystal Brook. We stopped at a tree at a spot labelled Boot Hill, the tree was full of all manner of foot wear from gum boots to thongs.
Speaking of which about 20 metres further west was another tree filled with various articles that could only be described as a snow droppers Mecca.
The country was open and flat and covered in saltbush about knee high, there were a few sheep about and windmills seemed to be the order of the day.
Once we got closer to Burra we entered the small hills that make up that part of the world. Burra was a little off the highway. The town was looking stunning – again the recent rainfall has greened up the area beautifully. I remember visiting this area in the mid 70's at Christmas time – it was dry and dusty. Today was wet and windy. Unbelievably so. Jannaya made sangers while I had a look at the Catholic Church nearby. The stone work round all of Burra is awesome. A great deal of effort has gone into keeping newer buildings in the old style.
Then on towards Crystal Brook. On the way there we passed a wind farm – The company would have been making $$ as the wind had the propellers fairly grinding along. We arrived in Port Pirie at about 5:00 pm and set up camp in a caravan park right on the water. Port Pirie is an industrial town of the first degree. Alas it doesn't have the character of places like Burra or Crystal Brook but it is still quite picturesque in an industrial landscape kind of way.
I checked the little GPS and found that we are now 790 KM from Bendigo.
Day 5 Friday – 3/7/2009
A very leisurely day. We set off after packing up in the rain and got to port Germain. A very small port which probably only has the longest wooden jetty as it's claim to fame now the wheat transport is via rail and road.
It was blustery and wet but Jannaya seemed up to a walk to the end and back. She has long legs and kept up easily to me as I marched out at about 6km/h. The jetty measured via the GPS 1.4km from the start of the wood work to the end.
Despite the cloud you could see the chimney stack at Port Pirie across the bay. We then meandered into Port Augusta and set up camp at a Big 4 Caravan park. Again it was a bit wet and blustery but luckily not much was wet inside. As we use it more and more in inclement weather we get better at sorting out the workings so as to keep the water out.
Then it was a lunch of left overs before doing a few caches round Port Augusta. Like Port Pirie it is very much a working town but blessed with a few great buildings. It is pretty picturesque outside the Big W and Woolworths with the car park having the best view along the waterfront.
A visit to Macdonalds to use the free wi-fi for the Internet then back home to do some washing and administration then off to a little fish and chip shop for fish and chips by the sea. The shop had fresh oysters that had to be shucked - $4.75 for 6 of the little beggars – they were very fresh and succulent.
Tomorrow we start to head north, hopefully I'll get my shorts on then.
Day 5 Port Augusta to Roxby Downs
A gentle drive across the open plains. Every now and again there would be a small stand of stunted trees along an intermitant creek bed.
We stopped and did a cache on an old very wide eroded sealed road. The road lef down to a salt lake and in the middle of a salt lake was an island. There must have been a great dreamtime story explaining that one. The government road was initially used as part of the space exploration in the 50s and 60s. It must have been quite a shock to the boffins who came to the outback to do their space stuff.
We had lunch at Woomera. What an ordered little town that one was. It reminded me of Canberra with it's right angles and neat intersections. The civic services available and the army welfare office speak of a time when it was truly a government town run by civil servants.
In the central park is a display of rockets and missiles and a couple of aeroplanes. Hopefully all decommisioned.
Then it was an easy drive to Roxby Downs. Roxby Downs is quite a dirrerent town to Woomera. Basically the town was set up to service the huge copper mine at Olympic Dam some 8 km north of the town. Despite the surrounds of red desert sand there are a few green bits of lawn. There are also coffee shops and huge supermarket and library. The roads are curves and sweep gently through the small red sand hills that this town is built on.
People congregate around the library as it has free wireless internet access. I was a bit concerned that spending a Saturday night in a mining town would be a bit boisterous – Nothing. Not a car hooning, not a raised voice and no music.
Apparently most of the miners stay out at Olympic Dam.
Day 6 Roxby Downs 2.
A very easy day once we prised Jannaya from her bed. Quite a task indeed.
We then did the 30 km drive out to Andamooka and went noodling. Jannaya still can't say the word without breaking out into laughter. I can only imagine what the little beast was thinking when we mentioned the word.
Anyway we found a few bits and pieces in the noodlers heap near the public playground. The town itself has no street names. Andamooka opal mining started in the 1940s when two boundary riders from the nearby Andamooka Station found a piece of opal. The rush started soon after that. Just having a walk around – they do it tough. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like with 40' C days, no water to speak of, dust and flies and the likely prospect of failure. Still if you wanted to disappear for awhile it wouldn't be a bad place to do it.
We visited the cemetery and read the story of the unknown miner who died in the 40's thus becoming the first death in the town. In true bush fashion a hole was dug beside the body and he was rolled in. Apparently it was summer and hot work and when the intrepid grave diggers rolled him in and realised that the hole was not wide enough they simply buried him sideways!!!
We did the drive out to Lake Torrens only to see a smaller version of the Loch Ness Monster. You will have to visit to see it for yourself.
We then did the drive to White Dam another smaller opal mining area.
After visiting Andamooka (clearly town planners were never welcome nor I suspect are any other council services) where the streets have no names it was lovely to be back in Roxby Downs. A town of neatness and tidiness.
Tomorrow we are off on dirt heading towards the Oodnadatta track.
Robyns
We went to Andamooka – grossly exaggerated as a tourist destination in the coloured brochures. Jannaya loved noodling and found a few chips in the public noodling spot. Apparently the mound of dirt has been there for several months and has had a thorough going over. I was impressed wtiht the post office. The lady running seems to have brought her mum, who almost certainly has late stage dementia and she wanders around standing next to you and just staring. She didn't seem interested in conversation. We took in all the highlights of Andamooka, the cottages, the long bus (which is long but closed) and the bottle house. Also did a couple of caches that are in interesting spots.
Loved the cache at Lake Torrens – worth the drive out there. For some reason Chad wanted to drive out to White Dam – J and I just wanted to leave – nothing attractive about huge mounds of soil around humpys.
Back to Roxby Downs where J was able to talk to her friends on myspace until dark while we read the papers.
Day 6 Roxby Downs 2.
A very easy day once we prised Jannaya from her bed. Quite a task indeed.
We then did the 30 km drive out to Andamooka and went noodling. Jannaya still can't say the word without breaking out into laughter. I can only imagine what the little beast was thinking when we mentioned the word.
Anyway we found a few bits and pieces in the noodlers heap near the public playground. The town itself has no street names. Andamooka opal mining started in the 1940s when two boundary riders from the nearby Andamooka Station found a piece of opal. The rush started soon after that. Just having a walk around – they do it tough. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like with 40' C days, no water to speak of, dust and flies and the likely prospect of failure. Still if you wanted to disappear for awhile it wouldn't be a bad place to do it.
We visited the cemetery and read the story of the unknown miner who died in the 40's thus becoming the first death in the town. In true bush fashion a hole was dug beside the body and he was rolled in. Apparently it was summer and hot work and when the intrepid grave diggers rolled him in and realised that the hole was not wide enough they simply buried him sideways!!!
We did the drive out to Lake Torrens only to see a smaller version of the Loch Ness Monster. You will have to visit to see it for yourself.
We then did the drive to White Dam another smaller opal mining area.
After visiting Andamooka (clearly town planners were never welcome nor I suspect are any other council services) where the streets have no names it was lovely to be back in Roxby Downs. A town of neatness and tidiness.
Tomorrow we are off on dirt heading towards the Oodnadatta track.
Robyns
We went to Andamooka – grossly exaggerated as a tourist destination in the coloured brochures. Jannaya loved noodling and found a few chips in the public noodling spot. Apparently the mound of dirt has been there for several months and has had a thorough going over. I was impressed wtiht the post office. The lady running seems to have brought her mum, who almost certainly has late stage dementia and she wanders around standing next to you and just staring. She didn't seem interested in conversation. We took in all the highlights of Andamooka, the cottages, the long bus (which is long but closed) and the bottle house. Also did a couple of caches that are in interesting spots.
Loved the cache at Lake Torrens – worth the drive out there. For some reason Chad wanted to drive out to White Dam – J and I just wanted to leave – nothing attractive about huge mounds of soil around humpys.
Back to Roxby Downs where J was able to talk to her friends on myspace until dark while we read the papers.
Day 07 Coward Springs
An easy start to the day as we left Roxby Downs and headed up the Borfields Road towards the Oodnadatta track. The road through the BHP leased bit of Roxby Downs Station was beaut. After crossing the final grid it turned bloody horrible but only for a couple of km then it was surprisingly good. I was stunned by the amount of traffic on the road both heading north and south. I thought I'd seen it all when a little white charade came trundling south with two burly bearded boys in the front.
We then got to the Oodnadatta track and turned left heading towards William Creek.
We took a rest stop at the lookout at Lake Eyre South and read the sign that informed us that we were 8 metres below sea level.n It was then that I saw it all. A dirty white little honda civic or similar missing a window with a couple in it who were dubious at best. Where are the police when the bad guys are about?? Probably doing latte's with shortbread biscuits. Hmm latte's..... Then while contemplating the latte' I would find when we get to Coober Pedy I saw a bus towing a car towing a trailer go past. Please tell me that it wasn't the wordly possessions in procession.
We stopped at a funny little set of springs named Mound Springs with clear bubbling water and various creepy crawly creatures living in the water out in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Very strange.....
We stopped at Coward Springs at about 1:00 pm which is a station where the trains used to stop. There is an artesian bore – no pumping and a sort of spa made out of railway sleepers that has the water bubbling away in it. Jannaya and I jumped in with another 7 travellers and had a chit chat about where we had been the last few days.
The camp costs $10.00 per person but is well set out with beautiful toilets and a donkey that has to be lit to produce hot water. Obviously not a donkey with big ears donkey - no to the uninformed a donkey is a water heater that needs a fire to heat the water - just like gas hot water systems. Imagine trying to light a real donkey every night not to mention the smell of burning hair or the noise of protest and at some time you would have no hot water because you would run out of donkeys. Really I suppose you could use camels there seem to be plenty of them.....
By 4:30pm the camp was full and the owner of Coward Springs was organising camps in the day visitors car park.
Highly recommended as a spot to stop, have a spa a beer and a packet of crisps.
Robyn
We weren't sure whether to stop at Coward's Springs or travel on to William Creek which looks bigger on the map and has lots of facilities. We made the right choice. Great long drop toilets – no smell and no flies.
I wasn't going to venture into my bathers until some of the winter growth had been removed and I cut my toemails. So while Chad and J ventured in I performed the necessary.
Did a couple of caches along the way – had intended to replace yet another Eclipse container (which had been a replacement for one that got washed away) wirh something larger but some one had already done so.
There is one placed at Cowards Springs near the museum. The GPSr batteries died as I approached so had to trot back to camp to get some new ones. Camp has rally filled up by now and there is a queue for the spa.
Ate the last packet of chips – there'll be sooking.
Day 8 Coober Pedy
Well we did the road from Coward Springs after a gentle start of a spa in the artesian bore. Robyn and I left Jannaya in bed and went and soaked in the 27' water. Very nice indeed and the bonus was that there was no one else around. Given the crispness of the morning it was lovely, the ideal start to the day.
Then it was off with more dirt to go. Speaking of Donkeys and camels, Coward Springs run 7 day camel treks as a side line. We could see about 8 of the noble beasts off to the north - In the morning sun their silhouetts looked quite stunning as they marched along in single file on a slight rise in the distance.
The drive to William Creek was relatively easy going – however it was not a road to let your mind wonder away on as every now and again there would be soft, soft patches of sand which would have the Rodeo in a brief slide to the left or right.
Again I was stunned by the amount of traffic on the road going in both directions especially the convoys of 4WDs with camper trailers in tow.
William Creek was an eye opener. There must have been near 50 4WD and campers as well as some serious dirt bikes. Most were in a queue for the petrol and diesel pumps selling both at $1.89c a litre. A quick calculation and the use of the jerry can would give us ample to get to Coober Pedy.
The road from William Creek west through Anna Creek and the top of the restricted Woomera area was a step down from Borefields Road. The sections of deep corrugations were a little more frerquent and deep.
We arrived at Coober Pedy in time to book into one of the parks. No taps to hook up to. Showers are .20c for three minutes. But the use of the washing machine was the cheapest we've ever seen at $2.40 a load. Time to rid ourselves of the dirty stuff.
Tea was a simple affair of pizza at the caravan park's own pizza bar. Delicious!!
Jannaya has met Hannah a girl from Sydney. We've not seen her since arriving except for tea and a shower.
Thats it for day 8 -
Not quite. When camping you have to moderate the liquids in prior to bed time otherwise it is a journey across to the toilet in the dark and cold of the night, especially in a caravan full of oldies who use the toilet all night anyway. (You can't just nipround the back as someone will see you) Alas as we all know pizza will leave you thirsty at the best of times so it was at about 2:00 am that with my mouth suffering from 2,000 times the regular intake of salt that I got up and sat outside while downing a can of coke while (seriously) watching the oldies trip across to the toilets. A wait of five minutes and I too joined the passing parade funnily enough once in the light I was greeted by the sad knowing nodding of these nocturnal nomads. Maybe they are called grey nomads not because of their hair but because of the eerie grey shadows they cast at night.......
Robyn's
Finally rid of the winter growth and into the spa. Nice start to the day.
William Creek was an eye opener. I was expecting a run down old pub, which it was, but there were masses of people there refueling. Glad we stayed at Cowards Springs. Made the mistake of ordering lattes. Worst ever.
No caches between William Creek and Cooper Pedy – its all still part of Woomera so I guess it would be hard to get one published.
Day 9 Coober Pedy 2
Called in at the Tourist office as we were a bit concerned that we may not get accommodation north of the border at Alice Springs or Ularu.
After several phone calls we had the major accommodation needs sorted out then it was off to have a sticky round Coober Pedy.
First stop was the tourist run through some of the opal shops. The characters behind the counters varied from a sad old croation man who blamed his past two wives for taking him for all he had and then setting up shops nearby and trying to break him even further. His tales of marital misfortune must have been a successful patter that and him offering a 40% discount when we walked in the door had us believeing that we were in for a bargain.
Robyn purchased a lovely necklace for Jannaya and it was off to visit one of the tourist mines.
The mine was great – we all know that people live underground but to actually see what had been a house on the top level and a working pit downstairs was amazing. There were rooms everywhere where the family had followed seams of opal over the last 40 years.
We had a noodle in the pit at the front of the shop and found some bits of opal that had some real colour to them. Robyn ended up with an opalised sea shell and Jannaya found a piece of opalised squid something or other.
A bite of lunch then off to the Serbian church that was impressive, Jannaya and I lit a candle each for good fortune and the blessing of the prophet Elijah. We then tripped up to the big winch on the hill. Photo coming soon.... I love the big stuff!!
A visit to the catacombs which service the anglican population of Coober Pedy then home for a lager before tripping off to watch the sunset at the Breakaways.
The Breakaways are an area about 20 km from Coober Pedy where the plains end abruptly and descend of cliffs onto a bleak plain of mesas and buttes. The sunset was not spectacular but the place had a certain eeriness about it that had Jannaya all to happy to start heading for home. We took a circuitous route following the dingo fence for a period of time before heading back to camp. Tea, dishes a quick chat about tomorrows plans and it was bed time.
Robyn's
I'm not very popular, I seem to have lost my glasses at the Breakaways and I'm not getting much sympathy, mostly strained suggestions on how not to lose them in future. Only one cache in Cooper Pedy and I wasn't able to find it despite there being a kettle marking what I assumed was the spot. Later on back at camp reloading the GPSr I found I had 2 lots of coordinates, quite different. The next day the second set had us in a much more logical spot and with more success. We enjoyed the touristy things around town, but the grocery prices were a surprise. I had expected the supplies to become harder and dearer before now but each town had had a Woolworths (even Roxby Downs).
Day 10 Cadney Park Servo
Not a big drive by any stretch. We drove off and returned to the painted desert to see if we could find Robyn's glasses that were lost last night while we were out there. No luck but nice to visit a second time. The plan was to head towards the Roadhouse and visit the painted desert.
The drive out from Coober Pedy in the lovely warm sun soon had boith Robyn and Jannaya sound asleep. I reckon we could have got to Marla with out either waking up but I had had enough and was feeling a bit doughy so stopped at the Road House.
Quite a Roadhouse it is. Camping, units the “Eagles Nest Gaming Room" with a couple of poker machines, a pool and an airport and train line.
After toasted egg and bacon sangers all round we set up the camper and had a snooze. The painted desert was going to miss out on our visit but we looked at some photos at the road house and they colours and scenery resemble the Breakaways.
As I was leaving the cafe to attend to setting up the camp a very cheerful faced woman said "Hi, Hows the holiday?" I couldn't help myself and replied - "Just lovely thanks but I can't wait to get home and have a good bowl of all bran and use my own toilet." Needless to say she looked horrified then burst into laughter and replied with tears in her eyes "yes. I know just what you mean - it will be nice."
I set out and had a jog up the Stuart Highway for 3 km into the sun and the wind making a 6 km run. I was a bit sore as it was the first run in many months but marvelously enjoyable. I watched a train head north with three locomotives driving it and 104 carraiges. Quite a sight compared to the 40 we sometimes get going up to Mildura past home.
Tea was soup and a wine then we retired with cribbage board and rummy-o game to the expansive bar for another red or two and dessert.
A flutter on teh polies saw Robyn return $2.00 up - alas I then went and lost the prophits."
While not much was achieved we are all very relaxed as the last week has been pretty constant and we are ready for the next phase of the trip which will be towards Mount Connor and Ularu.
Day 11 Erldunda
Another gentle start to the day with all of us feeling quite rested – the plan is to get to Erldunda a road house/pub/caravan park etc near the turn off to Ularu. We managed to get a Herald Sun dated the previous day but worth the catch up value none the less. A few names popped up.
We ended up playing leap frog with another two cars and vans travelling together who were chatting a bit on their two way radios. At one point they were in front and made the call that there were a couple of eagles sitting on a dead roo. Knowing what to look for we slowed to about 60 and then saw them, we slowed to about 20 as we passed them. A couple seemed a bit edgy and gently lifted off on the north wind but the others remained. What huge magnificent birds. The largest would have stood thigh height and with his wings half extended was clearly the boss. The three remaining ones were just waiting for their turn at lunch.
Day 12 Curtain Springs
An easy drive up the road towards Ularu. Apparently Mt Connor which stands an impressive 750 metres or so is sometimes called Foolaru as many people stop and take pictures believing it to be Ularu.
We stopped at a little way side stop with toilets and crossed the road to a red sand hill and took a few snaps. Behind the sand hill is a salt lake with a little island in the middle. Unfortunately it was a little too far to get a close look at.
Curtain Springs is like so many of these major stops – sprinklers going mid day opn green lawn with a Japanese guy mowing the grass to the standard of a world class golf green.
The showers are very rough and work on an honesty system which requires you to pay $2.50 a shower. There is a resident emu which is particularly friendly and I am in no doubt that he pokes around camp sights when he thinks he can get away with it looking for food.
Again Robyn was none to impressed by it's presence.
There is a large set of bird avaries with parrots and the like.
The bar prices are exhorbitant with $6.40 for a stubbie of Island Cooler, $24.00 for a cask of Morris Red wine and $4.50 for a bottle of coke. The costs are higher here than anywhere else so far......
There are eight powered camp sights and they are very very tight. We have made friends with all the neighbours and I have no doubt we will hear any nocturnal goings on. Thankfully they are all oldies so the birds and bees discussions I have been putting off can be put off a bit longer. Fingers crossed.
The last few stops have all had generators which run 24 hours to provide power to the Roadhouse facilities.
There is an intrernet cafe but no access via wifi or the modem. Jannaya is spewing as she is now out of the loop again with texting, I think she has run out of credit anyway.
Ha, the emu has struck!! Just as the male was inserting the dipstick back into the hole with his body bent right into the engine well the emu joined him. At first I thought he was very cool but I can only guess that he thought it was one of his companions. When he realised that it was a beast from another world with beady eyes he just screamed something foreign. My comprehension of a language I can't understand isn't that good, however whatever he screamed was not just heard by one and all but but understood as well. That was just before he bumped the back of his head on the underside of the bonnet trying to get away before losing his balance and impaling himself (not seriously) on the radiator then extracting himself and challenging the emu to a duel with the dip stick which was miraculously still in his hand.
Day 13 Curtin Springs
What a horrible night!! The pub was in full swing filling the jackaroos and station hands up with booze. The singing continued until 3:00 am as the crooner wannabees belted out songs with the enthusiasm nay recklessness of Jimmy Barnes, at one point a cow (honestly a bloody cow) put his two bobs worth of stentorian moooooooooo in as well.
The generator I could live with but the two compressor motors for the cool room and the temprites at the pub cut in and out intermittantly accompanied by the pump at the septic tank buried nearby.
Then the rain started. Cows, singing jackaroos, compressors, the bloody generator and then rain so it was up and put stuff away that we didn't want soaked.
Sometime at about 5:00 I fell off to sleep.
Surprisingly I woke up in fine fettle and ready for the day's adventures. One thing that is reinforced talking to fellow travellers most who are in their 50's + is that they realise that their time is finite and they are making the most out of it. It is a philosophy that gets lost in the day to day running of life, work, family, friends. As one bloke remarked this is it, not a practise run – this is the whole show, every day you are doing a performance for yourself. Make it good.
We set off for the 218 km drive to Kings Canyon a little later than I would have liked but once underway I was amazed by the changing country side. The openness of the Lassiter Highway soon gave way to treed grassy undulating plains as we drove up Luritja Road.
Every now and again expanses of small cliff faces would appear in deep orange colours. The trees were tall slim bushy sheoaks and the grass would be belly high for any cattle grazing on it. The road had some straight stretches but there were some beautiful sweepers – I caught my mind wondering off briefly thinking that these roads would be great on a road bike.
We stopped at Kings Creek which showed how a working station/tourist stop should be run. Everyone there was helpful and up beat. All boded well for as we approached there was a sign informing travellers that “real coffee” was available.
$4.50 for a medium latte and another $1.80 for a large. The guy serving informed me that the extra cost included not just a larger cup but another shot of coffee. Jannaya had a caramel milk shake that she described as 'supacalfrigginawesome' whatever that means.
As for the latte, it was brilliant and washed almost all memory of what I now refer to in a grim voice as "the William Creek latte disaster of 2009" from my taste buds. With a couple of 'no-doze' I reckon I could drive to Darwin and back!!
Anyway another 30 km took us to Kings Canyon. I did the rim walk which starts off with a ferocious hill climb that had my ticker beating it's 150 bmp. A serious hill indeed. Once at the top the view was impressive to say the least. There were quite a few people doing the walk no doubt all enjoying the solitude..... If the powers that be are arguing about Ularu being a sacred sight they need to have a walk round the rim of Kings Canyon.
There are spirits or something here that leave you feeling as though you are visiting a place that is so old and so special. The reds and oranges of the walls and floor are of such raw and real colours that they could never be manufactured by a professor in a laboratory. The walk from that first peak was then pretty easygoing the only bit that took a bit of negotiation was the wooden stairs down into the canyon and then back up out onto the cliff top.
In the canyon was a rich little eco system comprising of pools of water, gum and palm trees. The tops of the cliffs had nothing except the odd tree that had somehow managed to gain a purchase in a small crack and manage to survive but looking old and gnarled before it's time. The second half of the walk gave beautiful views of the sheer cliffs that we had just walked. Again the colours were breath taking.
It took just over an hour to do the 2 ½ hour walk. I had left Robyn and Jannaya to do the look out walk along the canyon floor up to where a geocache was.
At the bottom Robyn explained that it was further up the canyon. So I checked the coordinates and this time set off with Jannaya and happily did the walk again. After tackling the first formidible hill with much negative comment (it is steep!!) she settled down into a pretty steady rhythm and about half way round we found it.
We actually lapped a family who had started infront of us yet still managed to take a huge amount of pictures.
Back at the bottom I passed a drinking tap that had a small puddle of water round it. There must have been a dozen zebra finches chittering and chirping who made up the murmuration (I think that is the closest appropriate collective noun that will spring to mind at 10:00PM) gathered round the tap.
We then drove back to Kings Creek where we refueled at .10c a litre cheaper than Curtin Springs and after a second killer latte and a marmelade muffin it was back on the road. Before Robyn could drive we had to wait for a silly old man to get off the road and out of the way. This put Jannaya in very good form and she kept us amused with her jibber jabber sooking about how stupid old farts can be. This tirade didn't let up for the remaining 180 km.
Back at Curtin Springs we opened the dream pot in which we had cooked tea that morning – it was still warm and given that the wind had picked up and it had become quite cool we dined inside. A quick tub each in the windblown showers and it was to bed.
I'm sitting on the bed and I've tapped this out while listening to the intermittent droplets of rain falling accompanied by the starting and stopping of the various compressors and the gentle drone of the generator.
Day 14 Uluru
Arrived after an easy 1 ½ hour drive and were greeted by friendly staff at the Ayers Rock Camping Ground. We set up camp then went for a drive to Uluru. The climb was open but on advice from a fellow Bendigonian we visited the cultural centre first.
I recall visiting twice in the 1970's as a whipper snapper at about Jannaya's age and a bit younger. The first visit had us staying maybe 750 metres from the climb starting point. At the time there was a motel and we fed the dingos after tea. On the second visit we camped in a caravan park round the back of the rock.
Now there is no camping except at the Yulara resort which caters for campers through to deluxe units. There is a 'Safeway' supermarket (very reasonably priced), post office, cafe's newsagent and clothing shops.
Back to the cultural centre. After reading a bit about the dreaming and the secret mens business (Anangu) that takes place at various parts of the rock and the deep significance to the Pitjantjatjara people it was a pretty easy decision to acquiesse to the wishes of the Pitjantjatjara and not climb Uluru. Interestingly there is a 'sorry' book there which I thought was for people to say how sorry they were about the treatment of the Aboriginal people in Australia since white settlement, instead the book contains letters from people who have taken bits of rock away with them only to return them for various reasons including simple bad luck, sleeplessness and a host of other reasons.
We did a small walk to a water hole and were surprised to hear the water running off a section of the rock into a small pool. A fellow traveller took a family photo of us.
We did the sunset thing and watched the changing colour of the rock with about 500 other people. It was pretty special but nowhere as good as the post cards are.
Back to the camp for tea and that was it for the day.
Day 15 Uluru Day 2
Well bugger me!! That was the coldest night I have spent under canvas in some time. It got down to -3 in the camper next door. Everyone needed to go to the toilet but no-one was game to move. There was a thick frost on every surface – and the fridge motors didn't have to do any work at all. Just plain freezing.We were howefver treated to a stunning surprise sunrise as the sun came up behind a bush shining the shadow onto the canvas of the camper.
Things warmed up a bit once the sun made it's more formal appearance. We packed a lunch and set out for the Olgas. Like Uluru there are many places where tourists can not go and like Uluru it is easy to see why the whole area is of such importance to the people who call the area home. The Olgas are made up of various types of smaller rocks which make it completely different in composition to Uluru which is basically just sandstone. They are however both still quite similar in colour. The Valley of the Winds walk was a good walk – although the ground was a bit uneven in parts and loose underfoot the canyons between the giant boulders had to be walked to be appreciated. There are also water tanks provided to keep the fluids up.
The aboriginal name Kata Tjuta means many heads – in all there are 36 such heads that make up the area. Again while there it is hard not to feel something and as the Uluru Centre pointed out it isn't about taking photos or climbing it, it is about listening to it to understand what it is all about. “A vibe thing” is my interpretation of what they were saying.
A gentle drive home enjoying the undulating red sandhills, fill the car with diesel and it was tea time and plans for the next day.
Day 16 Mount Connor
Well it was a liesurely start to the day as we only had to get to Curtin Springs then get into the Curtin Springs Property proper for our night at Mount Connor.
We got to Curtin Springs at about 12:00 noon then had to wait for a couple of hours until the tour man Ian BARKER escorted us out to the Mount. We played a bit of cricket and you just know who was watching.... Yes the emu!! He came over after watching the ball go backwards and forwards had a rather half hearted peck at it while it was in my hand and plonked himself down on the grass at about slips.
Eventually we followed Ian out to his camp. While the cost was a bit it did mean that we had the camp and the entire area to ourselves. We had a tea of hamburgers followed by potatoes cooked in foil in the pit fire we had going. Hot potatoes, butter, cheese and pepper. Honestly the potatoes were about the consistency of sour cream and done to a perfect brown. No black burnt bits at all. Then marshmallows purchased at Curtin Springs for more than I was happy to pay but did none the less.
The night was clear and starry and we kept watch for shooting stars. It started to get a bit cool. There wasn't a sound. We were miles from the Lassiter Highway and on the otherside of a 750m high mountain.
Day 17 Henbury Meteorite Conservation Reserve
The following morning there was a frost – but before Jannaya and I could set off Robyn cooked her a breakfast of bacon and eggs as it was always going to be a bit of a climb. We drove down some way and left the car under a big old bloodwood tree then followed a dry water course up towards the mount. From a distance and from the Lassiter Highway (the north) Mount Connor looks like a loaf of bread. The top is flat and the sides are sheer. It is apparently 750 metres in height. From the south the mountain is a bit less loaf like and has obvious valleys. As per the mud map we had been shown we threaded our way through blue spinefex and loose rocks the size of basket balls. With blue spinefex it is best to leave the spikes in until they fester and pop out themselves. The going wasn't that easy and you had to really watch your step.
As we edged higher there appeared a chasm between two peaks so staying in the water course we headed towards the gap to the right. About halfway up we passed under a native fig tree. It was the only fig tree there and I can only guess that in years gone by a bird had stopped and depositied the tiny fig seed leading to a mature tree. The roots had sought out every nook and cranny in an effort to secure itself and while it would look spooky in anything but day light. Under the treee was a tunnel through the fig tree and other undergrowth while underfoot the creek bed was made up of huge solid slabs of orange rock. It was pretty special.
As we neared the peak we passed through the chasm which was pretty impressive especially as we were still in the shadows and only the peaks were lit by the sun.
Eventually we got out of the creek and started to wander in a northerly direction towards the face that faces the Lassiter Highway. As we moved through some bushes we came across a stone cairn. It wasn't that big but we both picked up a rock in my case and a stone in Jannaya's case and placed it on the cairn. From there it was about 10 metres to the cliff face. What a view. You could see Uluru off to the west north west but couldn't see the Olgas. We both had a muesli bar and just sat and took it all in.
When I asked Jannaya the best thing about the climb she simply remarked that not having anyone around was the best thing in that she didn't have to share any of the mountain with anyone.
The trip down the mountain took less time but was perilous due to gravity and tiredness. The colours of the cliff faces and the bed rock was simply stunning with a million shades between brown, orange and red. Contrasted with the saltbush blue of the spinefex and the dusty green of the native fir trees it is truly a stunning aesthetic experience.
We returned to camp where Robyn had cooked soup for tea, done the washing and attended to the other camp duties that seem to be ever present.
At 2:00 pm we met our host at the locked gate who explained that we were now in a select group of people who had camped and climbed Mount Connor. Ian bade us farewell and we headed off towards Erldunda and the road to Alice Springs.
Somewhere along the road we took the 11 km detour along the Ernest Giles Road that heads back towards Kings Canyon. The dirt road had it's moments with the stinking corrugations and we ended up stopping at the Meteor Site.
We did the walk but it wasn't anything to get excited about. We camped the night there out in the wilderness, had a fire, had hot soup with chicken and went to bed. Again the stars were magnificent with shooting stars flitting across the sky. I reckon I even saw a satellite on its circuitous route around the earth.
Robyn's
I was looking forward to 5 hours around the camp cooking soup, catching up with the washing and getting things organised for the next leg. Made sure I had my book and the laptop (one laptop for 3 people who are prolific users it is not good.) Planned on a couple of hours reading in the sun. Complete isolation with noone around for several kilometres and the gate is locked so we can't escape.
The walkers set off in the early frost and I decided the first job would be the washing.
Decided to leave the dishes until the soup was done, then I could do all the dishes at once.
We purchased a barrel from a home brewing shop. It is plastic and about half a metre tall and fits perfectly into a plastic milk crate. With a couple of plastic balls and a small amount of water it gets the washing done as we travel. I didn't pack anything white or red or that I cared if it ended up bore water brown.
I couldn't get the hot water creator working so it was all done in cold water – no big deal, just very cold handling it.
Now the soup, it took forever to cut up all the veges (don't tell Chad there was parsnip in it) and I managed to cut 2 fingers, one of them fairly badly. That delayed things a bit and then the soup took an hour and half to boil. I couldn't really leave it unattended either as it was a bit windy. The chicken had gone in the freezer with Chad and Jannaya so that would have to go in later. Finally it boiled, cooked for 10 minutes and into the dreampot to continue cooking until teatime.
Had a wash, in cold water and got dressed.
Washed the dishes in cold water. By now the egg in the fry pan had set solid. No hot water and I'm not going to try and boil any. Soooo over that..........
During the dishes, Chad and Jannaya arrived home full of talk of their journey. Chad got the hot water going in 2 seconds. I made a coffee, sat back exhausted and nursed my wounds. All of them.
Day 18 Alice Springs.
A beautiful quiet night. I'm loving these quiet nights.
In the morning I did a quick walk up to one of the ridges overlooking the craters. I was rewarded by the hippety hop of a small mob of red kangaroos following the creek bed between the ridges. I was stunned by the differences in the geology of the area. Each ridge that I crossed had various types of rock which were not found on the next ridge.
The view from the top was just more of the nothingness that made up the area. We had breaky and then packed up and hit the road north after negotiating the corrugations again.
The first stop was at Stuart Wells for a quick break. There we were treated to the legendary singing dingo. Quite a treat. He stands on the piano and howls like a wolf baying at the moon. I didn't know that the name of the dingo is canineus lupus or similar which is dog wolf.
Back into the driving – I am still constantly amazed by the changing nature of the lendscape and the vegetation and the incredible richness of the colours that we pass through. I suppose enjoying the green to brown to green to brown of central Victoria dulls you a bit to the diversity of colour and vegetation and change in landscape over minimal distances. This is truly as varied and changes as frequently as Victoria.
We checked into the Big Four MacDonell Ranges at Alice Springs. Ohh Ahh very nice indeed. There is a little pancake booth that sets up every night. Jannaya has just come back with a feast. See you I'm going for a serve myself.
Robyn's
The end of the cacheless days. Why isn't there one at the meteorites? There is a perfect little spot in the stones at the entrance but without knowing what the rules are in the NT parks I am not game enough to place one. Have run out of containers replacing some anyway. Spotted some ammo cans in the camping shop where we purchased a new table (the old one gave up the ghost in Coober Pedy) but they were a bit pricey. Lots of caches around Alice so as we are having a touristy day tomorrow we should gather a few.
Nice to have a shower and change of clothes after a couple of bush camps. Chad had never heard of the expression “a lick and a promise” but is now enjoying saying it at every bush camp.
We have a bit of red dust on the camper trailer but not much has seeped into the beast and there is none in the trailer at all.
Have just managed to get the photos worked out sorry they have not been in order.
Day 18 Alice Springs
The Big 4 Caravan Park is impressive as can be. The sites are huge with almost enough room for three caravans!!
We settled ourselves in and got a load of washing on the go before going for a bit of a look round the town.
Alice Springs isn't particularly large but has a bit of a shoping precinct.
I needed a hair cut so I made sure that a shower and shampoo was had before stepping out.
We did a bit of a shop to restock the pantry and picked up a few largers as well.
In order to purchase alcohol in Alice Springs it is necessary to show id. This is then scanned at the point of sale so you can't exceed your maximum purchase. Not being a big drinker by any stretch I didn't find out the limits per person per day. But from all accounts it gets pretty hot.
The female doing the scanning and taking my money looked at my paltry purchase of ½ a dozen light beers with almost a sneer. I'm almost I'm sure I heard a murmured 'nancy boy' as I was leaving.
We had a tea of bbqed chops. Yum yum obviously we all needed a hit of red meat. Still feeling stung by the 'nancy boy' comment I had number of red wines as well as a light beer.
There is a pancake booth at the caravan park that is open every evening. Jannaya begged and carried on until we flicked her a $10.00 and off she went returning five minutes later with a monster feast of pancake, strawberrys (fresh), cream and icecream.
On seeing it I too was off and returned with my feed as well. A lovely way to finish a day.
Day 19 Alice Springs
Today we set off to do a bit of sight seeing. Up to Anzac Hill, a visit to the reptile centre which was excellent. They had a couple of critters out who you could hold which was a treat. There was even a warning on the door informing visitors that “Frank” the Spencer goanna was on the prowl and not to step on him.
Took photos round the place of things as they popped up.
We then visited the Desert Park. We had been told by everyone that we had spoken to that it was a must see and do. It was a stunning collection of different desert landscapes with all the vegetation you could hope to see in the one place.
The nocturnal display was awesome and I lost Robyn and Jannaya inside. There was also a bird show that was pretty special featuring a magpie, an owl and two kites.
It was the botanical displays that really amazed me – while I was aware that the desert isn't as desolate and dead as it appears this was a real eye opener. My favourite sign on a tree was for the acacia tetragonophylla – the Dead Wood. “If the hardy Dead Wood dies in a drought it is said to be the finish of everything.”
I purchased a couple of packs of seeds – it'll be interesting to see if I can grow them.
That was the day then home to bed.
Day 20 Alice Springs.
The caravan park must have a thing about pancakes because on Sunday mornings you queue with your plate and a sticker with your name on it for free pancakes. I couldn't believe how long the queue got to probably over 100 people waiting for their morning manna.
After such a good start it was off heading towards the McDonnell Ranges. We picked up a couple of geocaches and stopped at Stanley Chasm. It was an impressive bit of geographical feature. There was a cache some 5 km away with explicit instructions about how to get there. I had the coordinates on the gps and went off in search of it. “Instructions – for losers” Not entirely true. While I wasn't lost it took me two valleys to cross before I got to where I was meant to be. I was sore, cut by spinefex, the quartz cliff (well close to a cliff) I had to scale took it's measure of flesh and a nasty little prickley thing had both hands wretched with small spikes.
I was knackered by the time I got there and it took me about 2.5 hours. Lo and behold I saw a path and in 45 minutes of easy going I was back in the car park. A coke, some carbs, some protein and a shower helped but I am still exhausted.
On the way back we stopped at Flynns Grave. What a remarkable man and what an interesting story about his grave. One of the rocks on his grave came from Tennant Creek at the Devil's Marbles. It took some years of negotiation before the rock went back to it's home to it's keepers of the secret woman's business. A second rock was then sourced by the women for the grave as they acknowledged the great work of Flynn.
It is pack up time as the next two days need to be long ones as we are contemplating missing Darwin as time is going faster than we can. Tonight we have done a big ½ pack in anticipation of an early start to the day.....
Day 21 Three Ways
It was an early start (on the road by 9:00am) as we had a lot to cover in order to get to Darwin in the first four weeks. Clearly 3 months for the trip we had planned is no where near enough as there is so much to see and do but we'll struggle on and pick the best for us on this trip.
Currently it is 6:11pm and still beautiful daylight. We have set up camp at Three Ways the intersection between the Stuart Highway and the Mt Isa Road. The park here is great and the bloke in the shop a wag. He refers to all children as scone grabbers a name I think I'll adopt when refering to the small wretched ones.
The road was pretty straight and boring. Jannaya survived until we got to Tennant Creek where she was vocal in expressing her opinion about sitting in the back seat with the sun making her back wet. We were all getting to the end.
We stopped at the tropic of capricorn where there is a monument. We stopped at a small conservation park which is also a meterological position where the frosts cease to occur. Not that much further north there started to appear advertisements for mango icecream. Well the turn off popped up so we took it. Damn me if there wasn't a mango orchard, grape vines and olives growing in the middle of nowhere. I purchased three serves that were ice cold and rock hard – Into the freezer they went.
Somewhere along the way there are a couple of statues of aboriginals at a place called Arante or similar. The male is up on a hill and is probably 5 metres. Closer to the road house are a mother who is about 5 metres tall and a child wrapped around one of her legs. She is magnificent.
The next serious stop was at Barrow Creek where the telegraph station was set up.
Wycliffe Well was interesting as it is the third place on earth where the most UFO's are spotted.......
It was also a spot for lunch and the icecreams they got a tick in the box – magnificent. I thought about staying there and trying our luck at UFO spotting – which reminds me that it is probably time for the prostate check.....
On to the Devils Marbles which we didn't really spend the time we should have as it was pretty warm.
A refuel at Tennant Creek and finally stopping at Three Ways.
NT is a big state!!!
We then had an after dinner drink in the road house and I thrashed Jannaya at cribbage again.
Then bed, as I prepared for bed I did a quick spinefex count of my hands and ankles. I lost count but they are all itchy.
Day 22 – Mattaranka Springs
Another big day driving with over 600 km clocked up to get us here. The stops were short and the sightseeing minimalist as in – “over there!! didn't you see it?? – maybe next time then”
We got to Elliott to find the town out of diesel which didn't matter as we had enough to get to the next Road house at Dramarra at $1.63. There we had a chat with a Melbourne couple who were travelling in a camper that the bloke's father had imported from Canada many years before. This chap was one of ten children and is now himself in his 70's – well he got the little camper in his Dad's will in 1970 something. He and his wife have been up the middle four times and all over Australia. The wheels were no bigger than wheelbarrow wheels and they were towing it with a holden Barina. You certainly don't need all the good gear to get around in.
He proudly explained that it had just been given a $1,500 upgrade so all the canvas had been replaced and a new mattress fitted.
We left them to lunch and continued north, the ant hills changed from short red constructions to more robust deep chocolate brown ones and finally to a grey colour.
The signs all said that Daly Waters was the place to visit so visit we did. We had lunch there in a small park and then called into the pub and had a beer at the bar. Well I had a beer and enjoyed it as we listened to the whirr of the pump doing it's work on the septic that was full. We actually called in to see Frank TURTIN of Paringa fame but suspect it was his afternoon snooze time so missed him. We visited the “Elsey Homestead” sight home of “We of the Never Never” and checked out the graveyard. They were tough times but thankfully a slice of history remains in the form of the novel.
All through the area we travelled today were WWII signs that included marshalling areas, air strips and old hospital sights. There are still nissan huts to be found at some of the not so out of the way places just off the highway – Who really knows what is out there in the back blocks that lies forgotten.
Finally got to Mataranka where I spotted the giant anthill. Whoo Hoo another photo oportunity.
We purchased a few things before finfing a campsight in the crocodile infested waters of a National park nearby. We all had a dip in the still waters and emerged unscathed. I took the liberty of jumping in first - although I didn't stay in for too long. No point in tempting fate.
At the camp sight we were inundated by a flock of pecking birds. They working in a line about 4 metres wide pecking at whatever they were interested in. Quite chatty, busy little birds.
Tea was a simple serve of scrambled eggs then bed. Again I checked the spinefex spikes and I am becoming concerned as nothing is happening except for this infernal and internal itching. I thik the puncture points are starting to swell. I will have to do a google check to see if there is such a thing as spinefex poisoning. During the night we could hear the honking of wild donkeys somewhere in the scrub. Jannaya was talking in her sleep and I being a light sleeper heard her and started to ask her simple one or two word questions. Although she wasn't making much sense when I mentioned Cleo (the dog) after she said something about wine glasses she said - “You are the most stupid person” by now Robyn wqas awake as well and wisely saying nothing. I replied with “Of course – Cleo doesn't have opposing fingers and thumbs I am stupid” Robyn then started to shake with laughter. Fortunatley Jannaya didn't wake up and thankfully her recollection of the nocturnal chit chat is minimal.
Day 23 – Hayes Creek.
The aim was to get to Lichfield N.P. We set off and visited the thermal pools at the Matarranka Homestead. The short walk was through a veritable rain forest with palm trees and the like. Then in the midst of the trees and scrub was a deep pool of water with a few “wrinkleys” as Jannaya called them under her breath.
The water was tepid but the pool was blue and crystal clear. Jannaya and I had a dip and it took some nagging to get her out again. In the pool we met a couple from Bendigo but we didn't chat for too long so don't know who they were.
It was then onto s second set of springs known as the Bitter Springs. These are one another road out of Mattaranka past a caravan park where they feed the barammundi at 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM.
Again the water was crystal blue and full of swimmers accompanied by small fish. We left them to their pleasures and off we chugged for Katherine. The RAAF must have been doing take off and landing practise at the Katherine airfield as the sky was busy above Katherine.
A quick refuel and a bite and off again.
Unbeknownst to us the temperature sneaked up to the mid 30s for the day. We were concerned that the car aircon wasn't doing a good job but infact it was just very hot. Lichfield N.P was still someway off and the tempers were getting frayed. We crested a hill at Hayes Creek where they advertised a camping ground and a pool. There was no discussion as we turned off the road. Robyn followed me into the bar/reception area and ordered two UDL cans of vodka tonic and all but finished it.
We checked in, changed into bathers and went for a dip in the salt water pool. GLORIOUS!!
The park is down in a valley off the Stuart Highway and the area is grassed and treed. In the background there is the exposed rock of the nearby hillside.
After the glorious dip and it was truly brilliant we set up the camp (I was able to prise the can from Robyn's hand for long enough to set up) Jannaya and I then took a rod and visited the creek nearby and after about four casts landed a little sooty grunter. It doesn't sound like an attractive fish or a good eating fish for that matter. It is neither so we flicked him back in and had a few more hits of the lure until it turned dark. We noticed that there is very little dusk time in the evenings and not much piccaninny light that we enjoy in the mornings in the southern states.
A simple tea with Jannaya giving me a foot rub and Robyn a foot and back rub. (I think she was trying to make amends for being a baggage during the long days).
She refused to rub anything near the mild swelling of the spinefex disaster as I am now calling it. The wounds seemed to have healed but are now starting to swell slightly. I might need some sort of poultice on the sites of the spinefex disasters.
Robyn's
I am never getting back in the car again. I now live at Hayes Creek, please forward all mail to me here.
Day 24 - Darwin
Well we got here but first a bit about the trip here.
It took some cajoling to get both Robyn and Jannaya into the car. We have all nearly had enough of the car and if I am getting sick of it they are both well sick of it. Anyway with the feeling that Darwin was now achievable we set off.
The first stop was the Adelaide River train station then onto the most delightful place I have visited in NT so far - Batchelor. It is the gateway to the Lichfield National park and has won lots of Tidy Town Awards. The place has encompassed all that is good between the indigenous and the white population. Everyone is chatty and the oval was a splendid green. There is a little castle in the town that was built by a resident who was from Yugoslavia. It is a replica of a castle built in 1348. It is quite magnificent and worth the stop. We left the camper trailer at the general store/post office and went into Lichfield Park.
We visited the east west ant hills that were all pointing east and west. Althought not high the field of ant hills looked pretty impressive. We then visited the Buley (or similar) swimming hole which is very well managed. There is limited parking available which keeps the numbers using it to a minimum. It is a series of little waterfalls and pools of varying depths suitable for either bombing or just lying on the bottom enjoying a spa effect. If you visit the park it is a must do.
We then got packed up and back to Batchelor for an icecream and to collect the camper trailer.
We checked into the Free Spirit caravan park in Darwin. (Wow we made it!!!) a bit of messing around as the site reserved for us was a bit small. A tub and then a feed in the restaurant/bistrom of the caravan park. I had crocodile spring rolls and a feed of barramundi. A couple of beers (heavys - I'm still smarting from the beer wenches comments in Alice Springs) and now I'm feeling pleasantly mellow.
I'll do a quick survey of the spinefex disaster areas as the ones in my right hand are starting to swell and pustulate under the skin. I fear I'll have to lance some of them to assist with the healing process.
Enough for now.
Day 25 – Darwin
There seems to be a problem with the airconditioning. Not a major one I hope but the air is far too warm for it to be working as it should. This has been making the last couple of days travel pretty unpleasant as the temperature from about 11:00 am has been in the high 20s – low 30s. I spent the day making phone calls to air conditioning experts in an attempt to get it fixed. This week end is the week end of the Darwin Show which accounted for the huge amount of traffic heading out of Darwin on the Stuart as we were heading in.
The ramifications are that Friday is (as I found out towards the end of the day) a public holiday. Nothing, no-one anywhere. Robyn suggested calling the RACV as we had paid the big $$$ for total care. They were great and got onto someone here who organised a visit in an hour.
A second issue raised it's ugly head – the battery in the camper trailer was too hot to touch in the morning. Deeply concerning as my worst fears were that it would ignite. (It didn't) It was still very hot so I cut the power and called the company “Aussie Swag” who build the camper trailer. They explained things as best they could that I should check which I did. Most everything seemed in order it looked as though it would be a new “glass” battery at $300++ . “Oh great thought I”.
Not wanting to waste time we went down to Palmerston for a quick shop. In the interim Robyn and Jannaya decided to beat the heat by taking in the new Harry Potter movie and I was happy enough to take the shopping home and get the cold stuff away while waiting for the man.
I was 200 metres from the gate to the park and a call came through, it was the NTAA the NT equivalent of the RACV and he was a minute off. He actually pulled in behind me and young Matt had a look at the beast. “It's the compressor, it'll cost a mint”. “Oh , great this is getting better and better” said I.
With time up my sleeve I unloaded the car and went and joined Robyn and Jannaya to watch the movie.
We went for a drive through the centre of Darwin after taking the less than scenic route past the industrial port area. We eventually got to the more beautiful part of Darwin and had a walk round. By then the afternoon had cooled and the centre of town was just perfect.
We got home just on dark and had burgers and salad for tea. An early night was on the cards. Speaking of which I beat Jannaya at cribbage again.
Saturday was going to be busy as I needed to first of all find an air conditioning expert then think about visiting Battery World to replace the camper trailer battery. I checked it before bed and noticed that it had cooled and seemed to be keeping the power up to the fridge that it has to run. Beaut thought I and restored 240 volt to see how it was in the morning.
Thinking that things could be better I chanced a quick look at the waste sight that my ankles and hands had become. The trauma seems to be abating with the individual injuries looking like red angry sandfly bites but with a black centre.
Day 26 Darwin
An early start with me on the phone trying the auto electricians close to Palmerston. Nothing, no-one within miles. I finally got onto one about 15 km away. “Bring it in as soon as you can in case it is a big (expensive) job.”
I checked the camper trailer battery which seemed to be fine, had a quick look at the spinefex sores that were appeared to be healing and starting to swell with pustulant badness. It was also warming up a treat and this was at 8:30 am!!
I took off with the car and my man bag - don't even snort!! They are very useful and it carries important manly things like a torch, pocket knife, multi tool, camera, small gps, pens, check book, memory stick, monocular, MP3 player, lip balm (not very manly but one out of 11 objects isn't bad) and wallet. Well it didn't have the wallet, it had fallen out and Jannaya had put it under her pillow as there had been some reports of people having stuff stolen while they were asleep.
Anyway I got there and booked it in and realised no wallet. Already stressed with the battery issues, the heat, the cost and the impending poisoning due to over exposure of deadly spinefex toxin and now no money what else could go wrong. I tried to ring both Jannaya and Robyn but to no avail.
I started to walk. Funny how soothing to the mind a steady walk can be. Not today however. I walked about 2 km and saw a bus stop at the Darwin show. FREE BUS the sign said. I caught the bus to Palmerston and the lovely lady driving must have taken sympathy on my sad demeanor and let me off at the caravan park. (I know I could have caught a taxi the 15km and then raced in and found my wallet or Robyn who still wasn't answering the phone and might not be there and I'd be searching the caravan park's three pools trying to find them, I know all that but the free bus was an omen.....)
I returned and found the ladies at the camp with freshly made pancakes and fresh strawberries. Good omens indeed. I had a feed, had a drink and caught the No. 8 Bus back to the auto electricians at the cost of $2.00 for a 30 km round trip.
The car was in the carpark, in a different place to where it had been left. Good omen/bad omen?? Was it fixed? Would it cost the earth??? Was it impossible to fix on a hot Saturday morning in the time available to them and I'd have to spend the rest of the holiday in a fan forced oven slowly being rendered into a fatty deposit on the seat???? Would I die of spinefex poisoning bought on by heat exhaustion...Oh the questions.... too many unanswered questions.........
As I entered the air conditioned shop and made myself breath deeply the bloke explained that “the air conditioning system appeared fine”, ('appeared fine” =$$$) thought I, 'appeared fine' was like you look good but you've only got three months to live... “Yes, it appears that the flap in behind the dash (Oh hell he's had to pull out the dash – more $$$ thought I) worked loose and needed a minor adjustment” ('minor' – that might not be too bad after all – don't be happy yet) “Yes” said he “some adjustment was needed and it is working fine now”
“How much is the damage?” I tentatively asked
“$52.50. including GST” said he.
“Bravo” said I and paid the bill and drove home feeling that the omens had indeed been good.
A light lunch of salad rolls and we were off. We ended up at the new crocodile park in Mitchell Street in the middle of the CBD. A very impressive venue indeed. They have maximised the space available into a three story corocodile showroom with a live reptile display to boot.
They also run a cage diving experience for $160 where they pop you in an acrylic cage and lower you into the various ponds with the crocodiles. For the people not in the cage you can watch from either above the water or below the water at ground level through the acrylic windows.
Well worth watching, judging by the deep scratches on the sides of the cage I thought we (the viewing public) would be in for a treat. Sadly for us the crocs weren't that interested. Apparently the water is a bit cool and they had not long been fed. The buggers grow to more than 5.5 metres and 700 kg. In winter (now) they survive happily on 2 kg of meat a week. In summer when they are more actrive this goes up to 6 kg a week. When you think that there is a restaurant here that gives a t shirt and a free dinner for the patron that can eat the 2 kg of meat dinner that makes the croc an extremely economical beast indeed.
The reptile show was also good there were only six people so I got to hold the olive python for most of the show. Jannaya and I both held a small crocodile as well. A very impressive venue indeed.
We left there then headed over to Casaurina which is a lovely part of Darwin. We watched a Darwin sunset that was pretty special and got home in the dark. Due to the slow start and the airconditioning problem we decided to extend our visit for another night.
A quick tea of nachos and fresh avocado, a session on the computer and it it time for me to go to bed. Feeling that things had gone well for the day I tentatively peeled off my socks to inspect the bomb sight. Ah ha small changes are happening. While the punctures have healed over the pressure of the pulsating pustulance is slowly forcing the spikes up through the epidermous and out of the skin. SALVATION!!
Day 27 Darwin
The joys of air conditioning. Yep an absolute joy. Well off we went to find a few caches but we kept getting waylaid at shopping opportunities. I sat in a discount chemist with a buzzer which would signal the the script for high cholestrol and blood pressure was ready to be picked up.
One particularly large women came waddling in wearing a mumu and made rather loud inquiries with the lady who had served me - “I need a tube of 'canestan'” Having had involvements with various tropical ointments at different times I suddenly twigged to the walk and the mode of dress. The poor dear maybe her airconditioning couldn't be fixed in the car or the house.
We passed by a little road side shop selling fruits and stuff, mangoes were $5.00. (too early in the season). But they did have a fruit called 'dragon fruit' see below.
We returned to the campsight for lunch then set off for Palmerston shops to grab some groceries before heading off to Coroboree Billabong off the Mary River wetlands for a one hour cruise. We decided against the three hour cruise just in case the weather started to get rough. The tiny ship had a flat bottom as opposed to the lady in the mumu who was more of a fat bottom. But I digress.
The Captain – Captain Ted had both eyes, both legs and didn't have a parrot. Needless to say I had brushed up on pirate jokes and all things nautical but given his very casual dress and the foreigners on the cruise it would have been wasted.
The trip along the billabong was a bit special. We saw crocs sunning themselves and Captain Ted motored right up to them without disturbing them at all. They just continued sunning themselves watching us take photos. The birdlife above was impressive with sea eagles who apparently mate for life which may last 30 years. Again a myriad of jokes were at the ready but not entirely suitable. There were ducks, some herons, shags and jacanas – little birds who hatch from eggs left on the leaves of the water lillies then spend their life on the lillies.
All in all a well spent hour or so. We drove back as the sun set had a quick tea and partly dismantled the camper trailer ready for the next day.
Day 28 Kakadu
Left the Free Spirit Caravan park at 10:00 am on the knocker. Purchased a bit more fuel filling the jerry cans with petrol and diesel as it will probably be the cheapest for some time.
As we left the BP a warm feeling engulfed me, it was good to be on the road again. I think I had a glimpse of what Willie Nelson was writing about. The airconditioner was chugging away, the batteries all running well and the family in the car ready for the next adventure.
We made our way into Kakadu which has six or so different mini environments. All quite fascinating. We kept heading towards Jabiru in the north end of the park then took a turn to the left heading towards the Border Shop at Meri. The border is the river and separates Arnhem Land from the rest of Australia.
About 1 km south of the Border Shop we found a camping ground with hot showers and flushing toilets where we set up prior to going for a drive to the shop. In the middle of nowhere it was advertising french pastries and espresso. We went in and it was. We decided not to indulge at that point in time and headed off to have a look at the crossing before having a look at the rock paintings further up the road.
We visited the river crossing and stood amazed as Robyn pointed out a 2 metre croc floating down towards the ford. The croc was on the up stream side near the opposite bank - there was a bloke fishing high on the rocks on the near side just off the ford downstream.
While we watched there were locals driving backwards and forwards to the commmunity on the Arnhem Land side. Then amazingly enough two of the brothers walked past us carrying a couple of cans and walked across the ford about shin depth in water. At one point the lead one pointed upstream and said something to his mate who was lagging behind. He popped on the pace in a Northern Territory (marginally) kind of way and they both walked out the water on the other side. A bit too cavalier for me!!
We managed to catch the tail end of a tour and got some of the talk about the rock paintings at Ubirr. I took a few photos of the rock art. It is hard to believe that some of this art work was there before the pyramids were built. Never mind the Louvre for history it was on the rock walls all around us. Some of it over 5,000 years old. There was even one of a Tasmanian Tiger. We then followed the track and started to climb up onto a rock outcrop.
Personally, after Uluru, Kings Canyon and Stanly Chasm this was better by a country mile. I would even go so far as to say it was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. As we negotiated the rocky outcrop and got to the level below the top I was stunned to see so many people. As we moved through them no-one was talking everyone was either sitting or talking photos such was the magic and the beauty of the place.
I spoke to a female ranger who has a boyfriend whose family live in Rowan Street in Bendigo. She also went on to say that ½ of the Jabiru population are also from Bendigo. I asked her what it was like to have the best scenery in the world and she said that almost as good as the stunning landscape was the stunned look on peoples faces when they come to the park and just sit in awe.
Truly this is a wonderful place and a worthy of a mention on the bucket trip.
We returned to the camp to be absolutely inundated with mosquitos, Aeroguard, Off and Bushmans, mosquito coils, spray and an electronic bug device had enough woomph to keep them from stinging but not out of the food, ears, eyes and clothes. We still ended up with stings and cooking was an experience I wish not to repeat – ever.
We actually had sausages and hamburgers chopped up in hot baked beans (a proper camping meal) served in a bowl. We all clambered into the camper trailer and sat huddled in there eating.
Robyn and I did the run to the bathroom (read mosquito incubating chamber) and risked a shower in order to wash off the various lotions and potions clogging our skin.
Just at this point in time the spinefex is playing a rather soft second fiddle.
Robyn's
Now the air conditioner is working Chad has convinced me that working for my board in Hayes Creek is not a good long term plan and we are back on the road again.
Ubir is pretty cool. There is a sacred rock there for women's business and they employ a ranger for the whole time the park is open. Their sole responsibility is to prevent people from climbing the sacred rock – we saw 2 almost get to the top. They don't want to fence it off or put signs on it – they are trying to keep it as natural as possible. There is a small generic sign nearby that just warns of interfering with a heritage site, fines up to $55,000.
Jannaya is great fun when it comes to showers – I think she has managed to find some kind o wildlife in every bathroom we have been in. Tonight she spent ages with a green tree frog that hides in the stainless steeel toilet roll holder and chasing a cane toad. She doesn't understand what we mean when we say they love playing golf though.
We've managed to pick up a few caches most days and we are edging towards 1000. Caching has to fit in around whatever else we are doing apart from yesterday when we went out to collect a few puzzle caches I had solved along with some assistance from a couple of caching friends. Because of the 5 year patchwork burning you often find you are searching in burnt areas up here – tough on the clothing but easy on the legs (no spinifex or long grass.)
Day 29 Mary River Road House
Right, I'm knackered. It is 9:56 pm and I'm knackered. I am tempted not to write a thing but I will persist with this log of events.
We survived the horrific onslaught of mosquitos and managed to get the camp tidied and packed up in reasonable time. Jannaya has found that by doing her face in the mornings and showering in the evenings she can avoid various duties/most duties assigned to her. That and the sleep ins almost eliminated her from the packing up. However her constant humour and good nature contributes to the overal mental health of us all.
Robyn and I had things packed up then with Jannaya and her freshly washed face on board we visited the Border Store at Cahills Crossing and purchased a latte each. A delightful way to kick off the days travel.
The first stop was at Jabiru where we refueled before admiring the crocodile shaped Gagudju accommodation for one of the accommodation providers. We then stopped at the Mirrai Lockout which is perched on top of a hill giving a unique 360' view. There was a bit of smoke haze which limited the distance that could be seen.
There have been constant areas that have been on fire. The aboriginal people have been burning off areas every five years or so. This has the effect of getting rid of the dead debris and promoting new growth. Apparently there are land management groups from Victoria up here studying the effects of the burn offs. Maybe Victoria will see a different strategy for national park management. The areas under fire here are just left to burn. There never seems to be anyone monitoring the fires.
We stopped at a small reserve off a dirt road. We even had to unhook the trailer to negotiate the narrow winding track to the reserve. The area was lovely and the water crystal clear. The water was flowing gently and the area had some lovely large cabbage palms dotted around. There was no one else around and the water looked very inviting. There was however the ubiquitous crocodile warning sign so while we had a look we didn't get too close to the water.
It was only when leaving that we re read the signs to see that they were warning us about the freshwater crocs which are inherantly afraid of people and would rather have nothing to do with us. A far cry from their salt water cousins!!
We ended up stopping at the Mary River Roadhouse where we did a load of washing. Tea was the last of the sausages. I lit a fire in the fireplace and we had double foil wrapped potatoes – brilliant!
The birdlife at the road house is amazing. A kite nearly landed in front of us but was hunted away by these small magpie looking birds. There were budgies, parrots, galahs, crows, a local minor bird with a blue head and yellow slashes on it's wings and a few others I have no idea about.
The car is still hooked up so it should be an early start. We'll see.....
Day 30 Katherine Gorge
A good start to the day as we continued to head west out of Kakadu back towards the Stuart Highway. We eventually popped out at Pine Creek the home of Au Toy who must have been one of the Chinese who was made wealthy on the back of a gold rush. There was lots of old machinery on display in the main street in the Pine Creek Gold Mine Park. An opportunity for a couple of photos. We then did the look out which gave a great view of an open cut goldmine that had been filled in with water. Apparently some $393 million in gold was mined in the ten years 1985-95.
We then headed south and some 30 km north of Katherine turned west into the Nitimulek (or similar – home of the cicadas) National Park to where Edith Falls are located. Everyone was feeling a bit doughy and we were all getting a little short with eachother. Edith Falls (at least the bit we saw) was a small waterfall w and ell more like rapids cascading into a huge lake as large as a footy oval.
We had lunch and as we started to pack up a tour bus driver came over and explained that the food she had left from her tour was bin bound unless we wanted it. It was quiche as well as a potato, pea and corn salad with a hint of rosemary!! Mmm. We loaded up a couple of plates, popped them in the fridge and went down to the lake.
The water was cold but it was too good to resist so I swam off for the other side (with goggles) towards the waterfall. As I was swimming I could see catfish on the large rocks below me. I got to the waterfall and was amazed by the cliffs surrounding the waterfall area on the southern side of the lake. They were high and sheer. Below the surface of the water they disappeared into the depths. There were plenty of fish swimming around which is the reason why fishing is a no go in the area.
Incidently any of the fishing in the crocodile areas must be done with only lures – bait is strickly forbidden.
After the swim we ventured back into the car and back heading south. His time we went through Katherine and turned west to the southern entrance to the park. We staying in a non powered sight and we all had the heads down pretty early.
Day 31 Victoria River Road House.
It was an early start to the day as Robyn had booked us on the 9:00 am boat ride up the gorge. We had to pack up the camper trailer and vacate the sight and be at the boat stop (jetty) by 8:45 am. We made it with 30 minutes to spare.
I rehersed my pirate jokes and all things of a nautical terminology but alas Shane was a 20 something Koori from Melbourne who was driving boats up and down the gorge. The trip was a four hour tour and takes in three gorges. To do this we have to change boats at each set of rapids between the gorges.
The scenery just keeps getting better and better. I thought that I had saeen enough amazing things not to be left almost speechless but these river gorges were something else again. The sheer sides, the vegetation growing on the sides of these incredible cliffs not to mention the clear water and the natural colours. A veritable kalidescope of sensory stimulation. On checking the camera tonight I noticed that I had taken over 60 pictures of the gorge trip.
On the way back in the second gorge we stopped betweet boat rides for a bit of lunch – le snack biscuits and cheese, a muesli bar and fresh apples or mandarins. We also had time for a swim. Again the water was cold and we were assured that at the end of each wet season the rangers trap all the saltwater crocs and transport them back to the north.
To be lying back floating on your back looking up at the cliffs with the sound of water running gently over the rapids was an absolute thrill. Robyn wasn't ready to brave the water until I explained that this was truly special and well worthy of being included on the bucket trip.
Captain Shane was to his credit very quick with a joke or two as well. He explained that a scene from the 1956 movie Jeddah had been shot off the cliffs at one point in the gorge, he then went on to explain that a second movie was going to be shot called......... I saw it coming........ Yes, Return of the Jeddah.
As we set off from the last boat change back to the jetty or dock if you prefer Shane treated to us to a bit of a tune on his didgereedoo. The bulk of the passengers were foreigners but I assure you I was no less impressed than any of them. The sounds echoed off the deck of the aluminium boat and left everyone a bit mesmerised.
Once we got back to the pier or landing (if you prefer) we disembarked and grabbed a latte' before heading back to Katherine and out on the Victoria Highway headed for Victoria River Roadhouse.
The road out is fine with the exception of a few spots that have been damaged by the annual wet. Again the scenery changes from open plains to red ironstone cliffs with dry water courses. The vegetation also changed from lightly wooded areas with high grass to heavily wooded areas with minimal feed. There seemed to be more livestock on both sides of the road than we have seen for the entirety of the trip to date. Brahaman cattle seem to be the top end favourites.
We got to Victoria River Roadhouse at about 4:00pm. There is a new bridge under construction which is a good 10 metres higher than the bridge currently being used. After setting up camp in a great expanse of caravan park I headed down to the river with the fishing rod in hand. After about 30 casts I landed an even smaller fish than the one from Hayes Creek. Infact I'd have to say that the lure was slightly larger than the fish. Although the water was relatively clear the rocks I was fishing from were lefvel with the water. Given the prevelance of crocs and the various warnings and stories I was staying well back – nothing was going to drag me anywhere near the water. As soon as dusk descended I was out of there.
I think I'll have a go in the morning as well.
Day 32 - Kununurra
It was up early for a quick fish under the two bridges. I was under the old bridge casting to a spot between two supports under the new bridge. Through the trees and down the river the sun was just hitting the red cliff faces. Stunning.
No fish this time but I enjoyed the serenity – again being very careful not to get too close to the water's edge and remembering to check the water behind me as well.
We packed up with the practiced precision that we should have after a month of travel and it was off heading for Kununurra. The road through the cliff faces is very scenic indeed. The country just continues to surprise with what it delivers from place to place.
We got to Timber Creek where the might of the Victoria River can be seen in all it's glory. There is a bridge that is Army Property over the Victoria. NO VEHICLES – I wonder what goes on in there. I think it is the Bradshaw Training Reserve but that doesn't mean much. I'd like to say that there were unmarked vehicles crossing the bridge and helicopter activity for the time we were there and a vehicle crossed the bridge to check up on us and to move us along but none of that happened so I took a few pictures and off we went.
We got to the quarantine checkpoint which is right on the border with WA. There we surrendered the fresh potatoes, tomatoes, fruit and honey. Yes honey. A jar of Bendigo Gold from Kangaroo Flat. We hadn't even had much out of it. Apparently there are two areas in the world where certain diseases do not lurk and this is one of them.
Once through the crossing I took a couple of photos of Jannaya at the crossing. As I was doing this a LinFox Road Train passed us and the driver gave a stentorian blast on his air horn. Jannaya was most impressed.
Back in the car and off towards Kununurra. We got held up behind the road train through a twisty section and then he gave us the right blinker to wave us through. As we passed I thanked him via two way radio and asked if he could give another blast of the horn. He did and Jannaya got on the two way and had a quick chit chat and thanks.
As we crossed the border the clocks went back a hour. Robyn decided to change from Victorian time to WA time, two hours behind. The 250km took us well under two hours!! More about the time changes later.
We set up camp at the Discovery Caravan park with a view of a large water way. It was $6.00 hamburger night with profits going to St Johns Ambulance. Once set up we drove into town to restock what quarantine had taken and had a sticky round town. Kununurra is quite a pretty place, some of the government buildings have an asian feel to them despite being made from corrugated iron panels. The grass was green and there were lots of roadworks going on. Lots of palm trees and open spaces. It has a well to do feel about it – I liked it and Robyn commented that it was much prettier than she would have expected. As we emerged from the Supermarket it was dark – 5:30 pm.
Back to the camp and hamburger night. There was a country and western singer who wasn't bad at all. Once he started to do a bit of Johnny CASH I was more and more impressed. A few beers and a couple of burgers and I was ready for bed. The only drama was that it was 7:00 pm and Robyn forbade such an early night.
We checked some emails made vague plans and then it was 8:00 pm when I crawled into bed. Ahh sleep.
Robyn's
When we initially planned our trip, Darwin wasn't included. Chad wanted to head west at Katherine. I didn't see any point in driving all that way (and I only intend to do it once in my lifetime) and not seeing Darwin and Kakadu. It now feels like everyone has just been marking time until the real trip begins in Kununurra. Jannaya had studied Kununurra at school and was really excited to see it. My only knowledge was of the documentary “Kununurra” which doesn't paint the town in a very good light. It is a very pretty town with the river, lake and mountains.
The $6 hamburgers were too good to pass up but I wasn't too sure about the C&W singer Evan Unpronouncable. I live in fear of camp singalongs and this was getting very close. Fortunately we only lasted until half time. Mum would know him – he mentioned he goes to all the main C&W events such as Tamworth and Barham.
Lots of caches here including some FTFs. We know another team has been travelling one day ahead of us, maybe they have claimed them all. The family decision is caching and fishing tomorrow.
Day 33 Kununurra
Early to bed early to rise, early birds – worms etc etc etc.
Yep it was about 5:30 am and getting light when I first stirred. At about 6:00 am there was movement beside me so Robyn and I got up I had a quick bite as Robyn scribbled a note to Jannaya and off we went searching for geocaches.
We ended up checking way points via the GPS and eventually found a massive boab. After another short drive we found another one that had a scout pack camped under but they like us were up and about nice and early and had gone walking.
We had a look at the actual dam wall that holds back the millions of litres of water and returned home on receiving a text message that Jannaya was up and about.
Then it was a drive into town for a look at the Argyle Diamond outlet/jewellery store. For such small things they are extremely pricey. There were diamonds up round $60,000 for sale.
We stopped at a park where VIPs to the town can plant a tree. There were a few well known names including Gus Mercurio who used to nurse Robyn as an infant. We got a few pictures in the park which was right on the water.
We popped over to a small market that was in full swing a block away. It had a really warm feel to it with lots of hand made items for sale as well as some foody bits and pieces. There were two ladies selling mango ice in a cup for $5.00. They put frozen pieces of mango in the juicer and out comes a sausage of frozen mango. Mmmm Mmmm.
I bought some boab pickles which we'll have tomorrow night with the corned beef Robyn is going to cook tonight in the dream pot. Mmmm Mmmm.
We then went for a drive out to Ivanhoe Crossing which is where almost everyone drives across the ford over the river, turns around and drives back. There were a couple of the brothers having a fish with handlines off the the ford. They landed a couple of barramundi while keeping an eye on the still waters behind. I had a fish to no avail before we headed back for lunch.
After lunch I had a small nap before we went driving round the back blocks of Kununurra again. This time we ended up at a small waterfall just on dusk (5:20 pm). It was an eco system all to itself and was full of butterflys. The water was cold and when Jannaya filled a water bottle up with it I couldn't believe just how sweet and clear it was. The sides of the tiny valley were awash with lush green growth and the standard native fig tree was present. I got some great photos of boabs as the moon made it's gibbous appearance.
After that it was back via the dusty dirt road to camp.
Robyn's
Early start this morning as we haven't adjusted to WA time. We knew Jannaya would sleep for several more hours and Chad was happy to go out chasing some FTFs before the heat struck. We nailed 8 or so caches including 2 FTFs. I was filthy and covered in scratches where I had become wedged in the middle of twin boab trees. Also managed to attract a few prickles. After a midday rest we went out again to see if we could get our 1000 cache and another couple of FTFs. We did try but nothing went right and now I'm even filthier and more scratched. We received a call from the other caching team in town who had managed to get some FTFs too. They are staying here for a week so we will catch up with them on our return from the bungle bungles.
Day 34 – Bungle Bungles
Off we set from Kununurra taking the road towrds Wyndham. Some 40 km before Wyndham the Great Northern Highway turned south and south we went through some rolling hills, open plains then through a small mountain range. While the range may have been small it was still spectacular. I know I keep referring to the landscape with adjectives that suggest that it is all brilliant and stunning and that it simply because it is. If things aren't amazing because of their height or colours it is sometimes the sheer desolation or absolute nothingness which still make it so awesome.
We refueled at Dunn Dunn then continued south the the Bungle Bungles turn off. The national park is accessible by car through a cattle station, the road condition bans caravans and insists that it is 4wd only.
We had a bit to eat then set off on the 53 km drive. Drivers are warned that the trip in takes between two to three hours. It does!!
The road was by far the worse road I have ever been on. It was paradise for avid 4wd people of which I am not one. There were corrugations on almost all sections of the road. Any faster that 50 km was just too quick as the road is also very twisty and has many dips thus eliminating visability for any distance. The road is narrow and traffic flows both ways. There are creek crossings with water up just past the doors, there is a section of bull dust equipped with deep furrows from each previous driver. There are areas to negotiate where you follow a creek bed that are just rocks. All the while the car feels as though it is about to just rattle apart. It didn't although we felt as though we had.
We got there and after setting up at the Kurrujong campsite where there are fireplaces with wood supplied and long drop toilets with a toilet brush in each one as well as water on tap (not for drinking) it was beer o'clock. I also set up the shower tent and the hotwater service as we were already dirty just from the set up.
At about 5:00 pm we drove up to the Kungkalahayi look out and managed to get some great sunset photos of the Bungle Bungles from the side where we were camped.
On return it was tea time and we enjoyed jaffles of corned beef, tomato, onion, boab pickles and pepper. Not just good, damned good!!
We cooked at the communal campfire which we shared with three men, two of them Jim and Fred in their 60's and Binky in his 80's. A very funny bunch who all had leave passes for three weeks from their wives. After watching their cook up of sausages, bacon, eggs and mashed potato with butter I offered to shout them each a couple of rounds of my cholestrol tablets so they could keep on the heart food.
Jannaya made damper which she cooked in foil in the coals of the fire. It was excellent minus the one slightly burnt corner. So jaffles were followed by damper, butter and jam.
It was bed time but not before a quick shower. I was last and not quite sure just what Robyn and Jannaya did in the shower tent but when Robyn emerged clean sending Jannaya in who emerged having a monumental tanti – a full blown bunter fit cursing camping, hot water and especially her mother who was bent double in fits of laughter I went to investigate. Somehow they had managed to get the water in the bucket going into the unit so hot that it was impossible to have a shower under it. I figured that they had been circulating the heated water back through the machine by leaving the showerhead in the bucket.
Little wonder she was cross, it was too hot and of no use at all. I tipped in some cold water from another bucket that was there and had a beaut shower. By then Jannaya had changed out of her towel and showercap and had vented enough to be reasonable and instead of never having a shower again would try again the next day.
Robyn's
Oh that road. What a horror.
1000 finds – we finally did it. No caches in the Bungles except for one at the entrance so my scratches will have a chance to heal.
Day 35 Bungle Bungles
Poor Robyn has lost the ability to sleep in. That and the sun rising at 5:30 am is taking it's toll. That said it still wasn't the earliest start to the days touring.
We set off for the Cathedral Walk. Which is some 25 km from the place where we are camped. The distances in Purmululu National park are huge. The walk in from the car park was pretty impressive as it was through the bits of the Bungle Bungles that you always see on the coloured brochures.
The striated mounds are simply stunning. Mind you it was at about this time after the horrible three hour drive in that we were all a little jaded and “gorged out” - A term coined by travellers who have visited too many spectacular gorges in a short time and have little or no desire to see, walk, experience or swim in another one under any circumstances.
Anyway the stroll through the honeycombed mounds into the catherdral gorge was impressive none the less. The high sides that seemed to almost dissapear into the sky were hit by the sun turning them a moulton gold colour. The inside of the cathedral was enormous and the only way to get a photo to show the true size is to have a person somewhere in the photo.
We stopped inside for some time chatting with another couple and their child from Mansfield, Victoria.
After that it was back for lunch. Robyn had a snooze, Jannaya a play on the lap top and I went for a walk into the nearby bush climbing up an outcrop of very dark grey rock. The rock must have been heated to extraordinary temperatures as it actually rang a note when it was hit. After contemplating my navel for about five minutes which left me riddling that age old question why is belly button fluff dark blue I returned to camp. With Robyn awake we set off for the second gorge for the day Echidna Gorge.
This was in many ways a far more amazing gorge than the Catherdral Gorge – not for it's size inside but it's depth into the ranges. The entrance had Robyn moved enough to remark that she thought she was in a biblical tale. There were different types of palms as we followed the water course up into the gorge.
At one point there was a sign expailing that a bower birds nest was nearby. What a beautiful little nest. I'll bet this bloke was jagging all the female bowers for miles. It consisted of blue/grey and white trinkets that he had collected.
We continued on entering a narrow crevice into the side of the solid rock. The walkway continued on for some distance finally opening up into a well lit area about the size of tri axle caravan. Thoughtfully seats had been provided. We sat and contemplated the incredible view up the walls to the sky above until we were interupted by approaching voices. The voices however didn't come from behind but in front. How?? It appeared to be solid rock then two people popped out from behind an overlapping curtain of rock into the half light of where we were sitting. “There's more” said one and off we traipsed disappearing into further into the crevice on our journey to what could well have been the centre of the earth. By this point the passage would not accommodate anyone fat. Well larger than a size 20. It was very narrow with only a thin ribbon of sky visible high overhead. There were some rocks to negotiate and as I looked heavenward I could see large boulders wedged at various heights in the slightly wider parts of the wall above us.
Eventually we could go no further and in the half light available we turned round and began the return. I can only imagine what this would look like with the sun directly overhead – it would be truly mind blowing, but the window of opportunity would be small indeed. Bearing in mind that it was 4:30pm and the sun has set by 5:15pm it was time to hustle and get out before being stuck there in the dark.
As we left a small group of about 12 visitors were on their way in. I hope they either didn't dally or had torches.
We drove back to the camp for a planned BBQ tea of sausages, onions and baked beans. Jannaya made another two dampers which were simply marvellous with butter and jam.
We had set up the privacy tent with the hot water service inside. I had used it the previous night with great success unlike Jannaya.
Jannaya and Robyn showered while I cooked. After tea we chatted with two ladies who had been travelling the Kimberly for a couple of months. It started to cool of quite a bit and I decided that with the sweat, dust, smoke and cooking smells that it was time for my shower.
Everything was laid out the buckets full of cold water ready to be heated, the towel fluffed up and a clean pair of my most comfortable undies waiting to be filled...........
The Coleman water heater is an ingenious little device. It has a pump mounted on the end of the hose which pushes water into the machine when the knob is turned. The knob also activates a pilot light which is powered by a rechargeable battery. Once the battery is clicking a solenoid activates and gas is released which is ignited under a coil of copper pipes giving nearly instantaneous warm to hot water.
The rechargeable battery..... Yes it had run out of charge and the little red light was informing me of this fact. So it was either a cold wash – NO WAY or pop the unit on the recharger and top up the battery to light the gas etc. Well I was cold, dirty, smelly, naked and not happy at all. There were a few mosquitos that hadn't been bothering me near the camp fire but were circling like so many mini vultures eyeing the soft white flesh of my buttocks before them. I hooked up the charger but apparently five minutes is not enough. After a few attempts I too had a bunter and after a reasonable tanti went off to bed well aware that the bedding was all to be washed the next night.
Jannaya seeing my angst and obviously having suffered similar misgivings as far as the water service was concerned gave me a face rub probably saving me from a complete melt down.
I dozed off cursing rechargeable batteries and the world.
Day 36 Kununurra
After a liesurely hot shower where I scrubbed the dust and dirt off under water that was circulating at just the right temperature we packed up the camp for the torturous drive back out.
The drive out took about one hour and 45 minutes. I did move along a bit quicker than on the way in. Maybe the driving for the last couple of days on these rough tracks lead to my cavalier attitude. Once we got out I had a quick check and found the only issue was one of the extra driving lights had gone awry. I unscrewed the lens holder and popped the whole lot back in and it seems to be as good as gold. I will run the gaffer tape round it prior to driving the Gibb River Road.
We stopped for egg and lettuce sandwhiches at Turkey Creek (in support of the turkeys!!) and refueled and changed drivers.
Once back at Kununurra we settled into the Ivanhoe Crossing Caravan Park which gave us a view of the mountains in the distance instead of the water.
I booked the car in for a service as it was now 1,000 km off a service and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Jannaya checked her phone and found some 34 messages most of them asking why she wasn't talking to her friends. Robyn did the washing. I cooked tea and that was our day.
Day 37 Kununurra
It was a slow start to the day with no-one in a hurry to do anything. We had promised Jannaya a visit to the Zebra Rock Factory and that was about it.
So off we choofed for the first Factory in the industrial estate nearby. From all accounts it seems that zebra rock has the geologists completey baffled. There were samples of rock which were neatly striped, some had spots, the colours were amazing and they were all enigmas in their own way. Sadly I didn't take any photos as it would show what I can't explain. Apparently this area is the only area in the world where zebra rock is found. There were also Ning Bing which is quarried off the north coast. The colours and patterns looked like a blue print for the dream time paintings.
Robyn and Jannaya each made small purchases.
We then visited a second Zebra Rock Gallery which was set up on a large property which fronted onto the Kununurra waterway. Again the work was impressive.
There was free bread for fish feeding and Jannaya fed the enormous school of catfish. We also had mango smoothies in the cafe and were entertained by the cocky who could swing upside down in circles while chewing on a stick.
Then we took a ride up to Kellys Knob – the lookout in the middle of town. The view was good and you could see the town, the river and some of the cropping nearby. The potential of this area to grow absolutely anything is unbelievable. One of the issues is that the nearest port is Wyndham which has huge tides so it can only accommodate small flat bottomed boats which end up sitting on the sand once the tide is out. So the transport infrastructure and costings to get fresh fruit and vegetables to the large markets makes the competition very stiff.
The day had warmed up considerably so after a small shop in preparation for some days away from civilisation we retired to the pool for a soak. There I got chatting to a bloke from Laanacorie of all places and a second chap who drives raod trains between Adelaide and the top end.
Day 38 Kununurra
Yesterday I spoke with John from Bendigo who was telling me about just how wet you can get in a scotch mist. Suitably bouyed I checked the weather forecast in Bendigo for the month and saw that is was miserable before hitching up my shorts and lamenting the fact that I was in prime beer drinking weather and John was not.
Today started out as a warm one and we went for a stroll into town. Bearing in mind that pre the daming of the Ord River in the 1960's the town did not really exist it is devoid of any historical buildings or landmarks. It is however similoar to Roxby Downs – the streets do not run left and right and up and down instead they tend to curve and sweep into roundabouts. It easy to negotiate and quite picturesque with large areas of greenery throuout the CBD.
After having a look about we stopped in at the Lovell Art Gallery which had some fanstastic art done by local artists. There was a display by one artist who does beautiful boab trees. Well worth a visit. There is also a huge seven panel painting of the Bungle Bungles which is stunning.
We walked back towards the Caravan Park via the outdoor cinema. Apparently the film 'Australia' was first released here in the outdoor cinema. One of the locals was telling me that as nthey watched the movie there was a lightening storm in the distance behind the screen which made it all the more enjoyable.
I then walked down to the Ivanhoe Road and collected the car before returning to the caravan park for lunch and a swim. The water in the pool is freezing almost too cold to stay in there for long.
We then went for a drive to the hidden valley and did a few geocaches. If you were on a budget and did not want to do the Bungle Bungles then a walk through here would be a substitue of sorts. Speaking of the Bungle Bungles I spoke with a couple who looked into a day tour which included lunch and morning and afternoon tea. $600.00 per person!! As we drove along through the Hidden valley Jannaya asked me to stop as she had spotted a bower bird's bower. We went and had a look at it. It was truly a work of art. The bird had collected whites and some blues and was starting to collect green as well. The bower is a walk through affair and both the front and the back are highly decorated. When I looked inside there was a collection of the brightest of his collectibles in the centre of the bower. If female bower birds are impressed by incredible levels of bling this guy has it made. I couldn't help but be amazed and left a small white plastic dog at the bower in the hope that it gives him the one up on any competition.
We then went for more beer and UDLs and wine as the next leg down the Gibb River Road is through either expensive roadhouses or dry areas.
The Gibb is some 640 km of dirt, tidal river crossings, corrugations, rock and sand. I hope the scenery is inversely related to the quality of the road.
I filled the car and the jerry can with diesel and we tidied up the camp in anticipation of an early start. I also gaffer taped up the suspect light.
Day 38 El Questro.
It was an early start to the day with everyone up and the packing done with absolute economy. With the decision made the night before to visit Wyndam we chugged off down the highway, again heading north. We are so over travelling north with the winter sun beating in through the windscreen.
As usual the road sides were stunning with the Cockburn Ranges looming on our left. Crossing Cheese Tin Creek had Jannaya in stitches but she didn't find Dead Horse Creek quite so funny. I'm not even going to touch on Cockburn Ranges – There is nothing funny about a burning rooster.
We visited the Afghan Cemetery and were amazed to see the size of the graves. Apparently they would bury the lead camel with it's master. The graves also had a large headstone at one end and a smaller footstone at the other.
After that it was a drive to the top of the look out at Wyndham. WOW what a view. You can see the port which has a six hour window for loading /unloading a boat at high tide. The tides are something like 7 metres.
Five rivers flow into this waterway, The Durack, King, Pentecost, Forrest and the Ord. I can only guess what it looks like at the peak of the wet season.
We popped through a town which is trying hard but struggling – it needs the tourist $$$ but apart from the lookout and the crocodile farm there isn't much there.
The crocodile farm was a treat – Chris our guide and feeder was an absolute hoot. He had everyone in stitches and we were all amazed when a croc pitched out of water as he predicted as we passed it. There was absolutely no way you would have known there was a four metre croc in the murky green water that close to the edge. This one had apparently eaten 25 dogs at an aboriginal community and after the last dog was taken while on a chain chained to the house it was decided that he had to go somewhere safe.
As we crossed a caged in walkway over some ponds for the breeding pairs “Princess” leapt from the water at our little princess. While Jannaya was protected and the cage slanted out and up away from the walkway she still gave a shriek of surprise.
A quick bite to eat then back down the highway to the turn off to the Gibb River Road. Our first stop was El Questro Station. After a checkin we found ourselves a camp site on beautiful grass and set up then it was off to the swimming spot for a quick dip. The water was bracing but very refreshing and you could feel the tension of driving on dirt wash away.
We went for a drive to the look out but it got late and the road got rough and after driving along a wet creek bed with water up to the doors and bumping and thumping all over the place we returned for tea and bed.
Day 39 – Manning Gorge
We left El Questro and took the advice of all and sundry stopping at Zebedee Springs. What Zebedee from the Magic Roundabout with Dougall the dog had to do with springs is anyone's guess. Anyway after a brief walk through an absolutely stunning array of different palms including one that had the fronds growing in a spiral pattern from the trunk we arrived at the springs. The water was warm but not hot.
It was stunningly clear with lots of individual rock pools with water flowing through them dotted the creek. It wasn't full of people but they were arriving and departing so it was constantly about ¾ full. Lying back with only my head out of the water, looking up through the palm fronds with butterflys flitting across my vision was pretty good. Beyond the palms was a red cliff face of the nearby ranges which just capped off the scene perfectly.
Mataranka is great but this was truly better in so many ways. While we could have stayed there for the remainder of the day we had to get moving as Mount Barnett was the intended destination for that night. That and the fact that the springs are shut from mid day for the rich who stay at El Questro so they don't have to mix with the poor campers.
The Gibb River Road was no highway although some parts were slightly better than others – although not by much, I had put the Rodeo into 4WD which I'm sure makes the ride a lot more comfortable and seems to give far better traction while negotiating the corners on the corrugations. I keep saying it but this trip is continually stunning me with the landscapes and the colours, but it's true!! As we approached the Pentecost River our right side was taken up by a massive line of cliffs that followed the road but zigged and zagged nearer and further as we drove.
We got to the Pentecost River Crossing and waited for an oncoming vehicle to cross the wide water way. As we crossed it I doubt the water even got as high as the bottoms of the doors. Robyn is not a fan of the river crossings but Jannaya seems to enjoy them especially the longer ones. I have to admit to enjoying the sounds and sensations of driving through that much water. As we drove on with me negotiating the road at speeds between 40 and 80 km/h we arrived at Ellenbrae Station.
We had been told that this was the place to visit for scones of all things. As we drove down the driveway that was about 8 km long there were signs encouraging us to keep driving and finally a sign telling us that we could almost see the station.
We were greeted at the entry to a great shelter shed by Brian who warmly explained that they did toasted sandwiches with ham, cheese and tomato or a combination of the three. Coffee and tea was self serve and scones were also available.
We sat under the shelter overlooking the garden and were delighted by the antics of double banded finches and Gouldian Finches feeding from the feeders round the verandah. After blowing the budget on toasted sangers and scones (with homemade rosella jam and fresh cream) it was off again.
The next stint of driving to Mount Barnett was slow at times and in places very very rough. I cursed dirt roads and my desire to drive the Gibb River Road. Eventually we came across the road house at Mount Barnett and after filling with diesel at $1.95 a litre and paying our $10.00 per adult camping fee we were in the gate and setting up.
The roadhouse was an interesting shopping experience – it stocked odd things like marinated fetta and fresh mik but didn't have fresh bread.
By the time we set up it was dark so we didn't get a swim in. We were invited over to share a camp fire with Don and Rhonda from QLD who had been on the road for the last four years travelling in their camper trailer.
I was hoping for an early night but it was about 9:00 pm when I crawled into bed.
Day 41 Windjarrnah Gorge.
After a leisurely pack up we headed down to the water to do the hike up to the Manning Falls. What an experience. First we stripped down to our bathers and put our shoes, camera, hats etc into foam boxes and then swam across the water to the other side. I was sorely tempted just to stay at the beach that was there and loll about in the water on the tyre tubes for the day. It is only when you have a proper relax that you notice how tired you have become and in need of a day off.
Anyway we paddled our possessions over to the other side, got dressed and started the walk to Manning Falls. It is a reasonable walk and probably took just under an hour. The last part takes you up and down through a couple of smaller gorges before you arrive at the waterfalls. At this time of the year there wasn't much water flowing but we all stripped down to the bathers again and had a leisurely swim out to where the water was falling. We all swam in behind the water fall and stayed there watching the world from behind the waterfall. There was a rock ledge that had us kneeling on it in the water – it was very comfortable. Up above us there was a small single bat sound asleep enjoying the quiet and the dark.
We eventually left the spot emerging into the sun and swimming back to where our gear was. After a warm up lying on the tanin stained rocks we got dressed and started the walk back. It was as I mentioned a reasonable walk, requiring I thought, sturdy shoes, hats and appropriate clothing so I was surprised when a Miss Piggy look alike in her crocs appeared clothed in bathers with a sarong. She was on the other side of 50 and looking a bit flushed with the effort of getting to the half way point where we met her. Unbelievable.
Once back at camp it was a quick lunch then back into the travel. We drove through some beautiful rich coloured country until we crossed the King Leopold Range. On the other side of the range the country changed markedly from that tropical savanah to a drier environment. We eventually set up camp at Windjana Gorge some 20 km south of the Gibb River Road. The Range behind us is made from black sedimentry sandstone and is like nothing I have seen before. This part of the world just continues to amaze and stun me.
Robyn's
After we packed up and walked down to the swimming hole Chad saw it and said “I think we should stay another night.” I glared at him thinking why didn't you say that before we packed up. Oh well it's a nice spot. We had a great time at the waterfall although the walk is a bit of a killer in the heat, nice that you get to cool off in 2 spots along it. We all took our time and then I was horrified when he said let's go. Shoved some lunch down and off we went. I really regret we didn't spend another night there. More dirt, more dust, more bumps. And then Winjarna where we are dwarfed by jet black cliffs. Jannaya has been really keen to sleep outside so she has set up her bed tonight. It will be interesting to see how she goes.
Some camping reflections
You can never have too many pegs, cable ties or zip lock bags.
Screw top jars are only good for sitting in cupboards. Not for bumpy roads (yes I know all the old hands know this but it wan't in anything I read.)
Jam, once out of the jar, will spread much further than if it is in the jar.
Eating dirt and insects IS good for you.
Many of the gray nomads are interesting travellers. They drive all day and watch satellite TV all evening. Then they wander the parks all night to and from the toilets. Some of them are so far away I reckon it would time for them to go again by the time they get back. And they think they own the caravan parks and clothes lines.
Chads – I'm sure it is the insects that give you wind.
Day 42 Windjana Gorge
An easy start to the day had been planned and it was. Jannaya who had slept outside decided that she was still tired and got into our bed while Robyn and I looked at maps, tidied the camp and planned the day.
Eventually the young Miss surfaced but only after the threat of me singing to her. Robyn had thrown some tit bits out onto the ground nearby and a group of mud larks had come in and fed. Shortly afterwards the whistling kites appeared and Robyn threw out some ham which they dived down onto the ground and seized in swift flowing economical movements.
I raided the ham and started to lob tit bits into the air and was instantly rewarded with kites diving and swooping grabbing the morsels in mid air. It was a spectacular show indeed. We kept at it until the ham was gone and then aware that the bird life was indeed plentiful packed away all food before departing for Tunnel Creek.
The drive was about 35 km on dirt towards the Great Northern Highway. On the way there Jannaya mentioned that she reckoned we had just passed two bower bird bowers. I noted a couple of landmarks and promised to have a look on the way back.
At the Tunnel Creek National Park we began our walk. The tunnel is a combination of course sand and rock and water. There are little pockets where bats are happily doing bat things and a selection of stalegtites and stalecmites. In the middle of the tunnel it is truly pitch black and torches are a must. After a walk of 200 + metres you emerge into sunlight and a second part of the tunnel. The limestone formations are even better and the fact that you are walking calf deep in water makes it all a bit more special. There are also fish in the water which don't seem to care about the intrusion by footed beings into their domain.
Eventually we emerged into the open where the water formed a very slow moving creek. Walking back through the tunnel we were treated to a display of what initially appeared to be a myriad of fire flys in the dark recesses of the tunnel. As we moved deeper into the tunnel and closed the gap on the swarming beasts it became obvious that they were the lights of another party coming through the tunnel from the entrance.
We trundled back along the road and I spotted the 'siamese' boabs and the ball like ant hill and mentioned that this was the spot where Jannaya had thought there were bower birds. I was dubious but it is easier to entertain the fantasies than to ignore them. Anyway after about three minutes she called out “there they are!” and they were.
These bower birds need a lesson in bower decoration Kununurra style class 101A. Very ordinary. These blokes will be enjoying batchelorhood for the duration of their lives. Sure they had a few token bits of shiny quartz and a couple of white shells and stones but they were nothing compared to the palatial domains of their Kununurra cousins.
Back at camp we all had a relax and a read until about 3:30 PM when we coaxed Jannaya into yet another gorge. “Why?, What's special about this one?, I've seen enough I am so over gorges!!” Well just inside the gorge we spotted the first of about 20 fresh water crocodiles. They were basking, swimming or just resting in the shallows with their eyes and noses out of the water. You could get pretty close to them but only a twit would get too close. Jannaya was suitably impressed and I got some good snaps – no pun intended well actually it was because if it wasn't I probably wouldn't have bothered to put it in....
The Windjana Gorge is located in a range made out of black Sandstone which some 36 million years ago was a sort of barrier reef. As you look at the rock faces and in the caves dotted along the walk you can see sort of squid fossils. Pretty amazing. The only drama with a landscape of grey black it that sunset is a non event. Nothing at all.
We returned to camp and started to think about the fire and tea. We had new neighbours move in around us, one family from Castlemaine doing what we are doing with their children all missing a term. There was also an older couple from Pyramid Hill. Victorians are everywhere.
I fed the whistling kites a bit of tomorrows lunch – bacon from the bacon and egg sangers which kept them happy but clearly Robyn was less than impressed.
Tomorrow should see us in Derby.
Robyn's
Tunnel Creek was pretty cool and I loved the gorge which is home to some of the mega fauna such as giant wombats. Tunnel Creek is also the place where Jandamurra (one of the few aboriginal rebels we know of) was shot.
Only one cache on the Gibb River Road which we were lucky to find as I had stopped turning on the GPSr. Did so 2km from it and it was at the top of a hill which provided some great views. Jannaya is delighted the people from Castlemaine have a 13 yo daughter, shame they are heading in the opposite direction. Great campsite here with solar hot showers and we have finally used the generator. Will be sorry to leave the Gibb River Road tomorrow – it has been the highlight so far. I can see why people rave about the Kimberlys. I think we are going to give Broome a miss for now and head north to the Dampier Peninsula. Accommodation is difficult to obtain and we don't want to line up twice for a camping spot. Apparently when you arrive in Broome you go srtraight to the visitor's centre who direct you to the caravan parks with vacancies. When they are full they then direct you to the overflow parks such as the race course, lions club etc. You are only supposed to stay for the night and then line up for a park but most people choose to stay at the overflows as its cheaper, not so squished and they have a relaxed atmosphere. They also have all the facilities as the are used so often.
Day 44 Lombadina
In writing this the following day yesterday is a bit of a blur.
We left Derby and visited the prison tree where 'Blackbirders' (who used to round up aboriginal males to use as pearldivers and labourers) held their captives on the way to Broome. Nearby is the longest stock trough I have ever seen.
We drove west along the Great Northern Highway towards Broome then turned off just before Broome and again headed north. At first the road was sealed and great going. After about 50 km it turned to red sand.
Again corrugations and loose sand. The driving was really taxing and I would rate this road rougher than the Gibb River Road. The only saving bonus was that this only lasted 100 km. However that 100 km took a good two hours before we hit the sealed section.
Apparently the north has the sealed section so that the communities of the cape can be evacuated by areoplane in the event of an impending cyclone.
We got to a place called Lombadina where Barry Ennis a past headmaster from St Peters in Bendigo is now headmaster at the Catholic School.
We got there at about 4:00 pm and found Barry easily enough. As Barry drove us round the town kids came from nowhere and jumped up to see who the visitors were. The dogs, there are lots of dogs, everywhere you go there are dogs. Barry says they follow the kids to school, they are everywhere and every ½ hour or so there is a dog fight within earshot.
The dogs also show up at church with their owners but seem to not fight there but have been known to join in with the singing of hymns.
After giving us a tour of the school and the township we retired to a pristine beach nearby and had a lager with Barry and Biddy (another St Peters teacher working here). There were about five other people on the beach spread out over the five miles. Absolutely beautiful!!
The school has a house used for visiting bishops to stay and Barry gave it to us for a couple of nights. He also organised a ½ day at school for Jannaya to see how things are done Lombadina style.
Lombadina actually has two communities living next to eachother, the Lombadina and the Judderjung. The Lombadina community are business focused while the Judderjung are more traditional. The families are apparently all related to eachother.
Day 45 Lombadina
What a treat to sleep in a house. Jannaya was wrapped not to have to share a space with her parents and have the tv in the morning.
Surprisingly she was up and ready for Barry to collect her and take her over to school. Robyn and I had breakfast to the sound of Barry rounding up any stray children who should have been at school. The attendance rate varies from very good to not quite so good.
At about 10:00 am I went over to have a look at the little church that is part of the mission. What a fantastic rustic old building, very airey and calming. Barry was there taking some students through the upcoming confirmation ceremony for some of the community.
I volunteered myself to play the Bishop for the practice run so the six students ran through the ceremony. I bade them all the best of luck for the big day and ledft them to it.
Jannaya arrived home soon after so we went for a little drive, the first stop was the brand new police station which is a three man affair. Paul and Norm were on duty and showed me round the station. The station was designed with a magistrates' court and an office for visiting child protection staff. The magistrate flies in with the defence, prosecutor and the court staff.
The station has holding cells and the cameras throughout the station are on a live feed to Perth HQ. Pretty hard to substantiate a false allegation with that much c overage. They had two Toyota 4WDs and two quad bikes as well for beach patrols. In W.A. Some of these remote stations have a maximum tenure of three years.
After that is was off still heading north to One Armed Point. At the end of the dirt runway is the sea. There was a pretty strong swell drifting round the point. There is no way you could swim against it. It was pretty spectacular looking our across at the small islands off the point.
Jannaya went down to the beach and sat watching some sea turtles that were poking about in the shallows. After a poke around a small hatchery that didn't seem to have anything happening we drove south to the Cape Levique Lighthouse. There is some private property that has various levels of accommodation. You can use your camper trailer (caravans aren't allowed on the road north from the Great Northern Highway), there are permanent tents setup on wooden platforms with beds off the floor, there are larger tents on the hill side looking out to sea with ensuite facilities.
There is also a restaurant (loosley termed) which has a view of the beach and the sea. We had missed the lunch sitting so treated ourselves to toasted ham, cheese and tomato sangers.
Then we hit the beach for a swim and a snorkel. You only had to go out about 20 metres to see fish swimming about below, it was great watching Jannaya duck dive to the depths and return to the surface blowing water out of the snorkel holding shells and coral. While we were there, there were some whales about 300 metres from the beach breaching and swimming about. All in all a beautiful spot and a bit of a treat to see.
We returned to Lombadina as the sun was starting to set and had a relax watching the news on TV.
Day 46 Lombadina
I woke to the pulsating thump, thump, thump of a basketball being steadily bounced on the $140,000 concrete basket ball court of the Lombadina School. This was at about 7:30 am. The school day starts at 8:10 am and finishes at 2:00 pm except on Fridays when school is out at 12:30 pm.
Again we were treated to Mr Barry trying to round up as many stray children as possible and get them into a class. Apparently lunch time requires no teacher for yard duty as all the children go home to their families. Some don't seem to make it back to the afternoon session of school.
We packed up our bits and pieces, cleaned the house and humg out the linen we had used after washing it and went off to return the key to Mr Barry. We updated Mr Barry on our meanderings from the day before and thanked him for his recommendations. I mentioned that I had visited Paul and Noel at the Police Station and Barry explained that Paul had phoned him last night. It seems that a few of the younger students had sneaked off and climbed into the water tower where they had been swimming etc. The police had found them and let Mr Barry know with the extra bit of advice that perhaps boiling water for the next week or so would by a hygiencally advantageous given the debris left behind by the young scally wags.
Mr Barry went on to explain about the sight seeing we had done at One Arm Point. Just north of the airstrip where he had sent us to look at the Islands nearby is a small beach where the locals launch their boats when they go searching for turtles. I remembered seeing a huge turtle shell nearby. The beach is where they have their turtle cook ups.
We left Lombadina and headed south down 92 km of sealed road then it was onto the 90 km or so of rotten, bumpy, sandy, corrugated red road to the sealed section to the Great Northern Highway. Ahh sweet sealed roads. We are all so over dirt and dust. The locks on the rear pod of the car are so full od red dust that I will have to disassemble and clean them for the locks to turn again. Tomorrows job.
We found our way to the Cable Beach Vacation Village which isn't in Cable Beach at all. Cheeky monkeys ae cashing in on the Cable Beach name. Once settled I had a lie down that turned into a Nanny nap. After a tub and a shave I was ready to face down town Broome.
We had a walk round China Town which is very tourist orientated. Plenty of pearl shops with some stunning pieces of jewellery for sale. One of the streets must line up with the airport as every incoming aeroplane was following the street on its descent to the airport. After a haircut we stocked up on some groceries then had a drive around before darkness descended.
A delightfully manly tea of barbequed ribs and potato salad with a couple of reds and it was time for a slightly less than manly game of cribbage in which Jannaya beat me by two paultry points. Plans were made for tomorrow as my bed beckonned.
Day 47 Broome
True to my word I dismantled the two rear locks of the canopy and removed the dust. I can now turn the handles as well as being ablt to lock them.
We chugged off ending up at the market in down town Broome via the Japanese cemetery. The market goes from about 8:00 am – 1:00 pm. There were eats as well as local art and crafts, massages and drink stands. All in all a good little market with something for almost everyone.
Robyn and Jannaya bought a few odds and ends while I concentrated on the culinary delights enjoying some Philipino spring rolls and a mango smoothie. Jannaya and I found the licorice lady – She was selling thick strings of licorice in a multitude of flavours. The vanilla centered licorice was a hit with me while Jannaya opted for the slightly more disgusting variations on sale. Robyn organised an iced tea from the Japanese stand. The colour was fine but the little jelly seed ball things in the bottom and the maxi straw failed to impress. Although the surrepticiousness with which she was able to transfer the dubious little things from her cup to the far flung reaches of the park was a pleasure to watch for it's sheer subtely and decorum.
We returned to the camp to collect a few things like camel riding gear and bathers. Jannaya used the pool while I had another Nanna nap. It perked me right up it did.
We did a tour of the port and the back road to Cable Beach. The port is a deep sea port and as such the jetty is shut, however there is a walkway to the T at the end so everyone was out having a fish though not with much vigor or success. The aqua blue of the sea was impressive none the less. It would be pretty hard to take crappy photos here.
We then stopped at a little back beach where Jannaya and I found a small population of hermit crabs living in rock and rock pools. I guess that they would really just be crabs with shells as if they are all together they couldn't be hermit crabs?????
Onto Cable Beach – I was a bit suspect on how nice it would be, its Cable Beach this, Cable Beach that, Cable Beach, Cable Beach, Cable Beach......
Well I was impressed the beach was clean, life savers were on duty, there were plenty of people enjoying the day and there was a wedding taking place. It was all a bit magical. You can even drive your car onto the beach as many people had and set up the nibblies table with bubbly, deck chairs and bright shirts and watch the sunset. Then to top it all off there were the three camel trains parading up and down the beach.
Robyn had booked us on the evening ride along the beach with Alison Bird, Camel Safaris. I had my own camel choosing the serenity of my own company to that of the more noisey alternative.
The ride down the beach and back was great, the four staff walked along grabbing cameras and taking photos of the camera owners as the camels ambled along at a gentle almost hypnotic pace. I reckon I'd be quite happy doing a week long trek on a camel through the outback. The camel ride was one of the things that Robyn had put on her bucket list so that one has been crossed off.
We ended up driving back through town and having a feed of fish and chips in the fish and chip shop opposite MacDonalds. The fish was to die for. Then it was home to the Caravan park and plan the next day.
Day 48 Broome
A lazy start to the day – thank goodness. The constant rush rush slowly starts to wear you down. This is no go to a Bale Resort and lie around the pool before going for a shop and a feed.
Eventually we got going and returned to the jetty where Jannaya and I had a fish. There was no wind at all and the water was very clear. So clear you could easily see the fish swimming round. After a walk along the jetty we opted for a spot near some rocks about ½ way out.
As soon as the squid hit the water the fish were nibbling. I managed to pull in four fish within minutes and they were all different species. None of them big enough to keep but entertainning none the less. Then our friend the orange sea snake appeared. Jannaya had her line out of the water very smartly but he didn't seem interested in our bait.
There were turtles and squid passing by with the currents as well which made for a maritime delight as we stood with our lines in the water. Every now and again I'd throw a bit of bait in to keep the fish interested. Sometimes a mankie old sea gull woould do a duck dive and steal it before the fish could latch on.
Poor Jannaya didn't manage to land a fish at all and I have to admiot that using larg hooks on small fish is a tricky business. I promised myself I'd purchase some smaller hooks when we next had the chance.
We finished up there and returned home to camp for a bite to eat then went off to grab some supplies for the next leg south. I purchased the small hooks.
Then it was off to Cable Beach to meet up with some geocachers that Robyn had been in contact with. It was lovely sitting on the lawns outside one of the cafe's on the hill overlooking the beach. Jannaya and I had a fly of the kite which was rather excellent, although a tad more wind would have been better for me it was perfect for Jannaya who flew the flexifoil beautifully. While flying the kite a couple of whistling kites came over to have a look then circled around getting pretty close to my six foot kite.
Then it was drinks and watching the sunset again. Like the gorges I am nearly sunsetted out as well. I know that sounds blaise' and it's not like being over the daily grind of early starts or driving in heavy traffic every day but I can't help feel just a little guilt when every day here has been a great sunset and a lager and crisps.
Tomorrow we leave with a couple of big days to get to Exmouth.
Day 49 Cape Kerauden
The packing up this morning was an exercise in precision and economy of movement. Yes possibly the most organised one yet.
We left Broome topping up with diesel and filling the jeyyr can at Roebck Bay Roadhouse. Then it was south along the boring bit. Also traveling along the same stretch of road was the Moscow Circus who have crossed our path since arriving in Darwin.
Thye road south is on the western side of the Great Sandy Desert. As with all the deserts we have gone through the country isn't so much desert with sandhills and nothing else but is a combination of spinefex and many shrubs and bushes than can easily be mistaken as mini forests, with their small branches and woody trunks.
Sorry, I just went to the beach to have a look at a pod of dolphins heading south. You'll have to read about them tomorrow as this is yesterday.
Back again, the Great Sandy Desert – every now and again there is an outcrop or a small range of rock but for the most part it is red sand, spinefex and stunted little trees.
We stopped at Sandfire Roadhouse to refuel but found ourselves in a long queue with the convoy from the Moscow Circus. A couple of years ago there was a fire here and the Roadhouse burnt down. There are only two bowsers functioning at the moment which means that long queues form. We opted for lunch in the shade knowing that we had enough go juice to get to Pardoo Roadhouse.
While having lunch at Sandfire we were all astonished to see an ostentation (group) of peacocks strutting through the carpark looking for titbits from the customers. There was even a white peacock which had the cameras clicking like so many mice tap dancing.
It was mid afternoon and remembering that the sun sets at 5:30pm we decided to organise a camp for the night. Enter Kerauden. We drove down some dirt to a rangers station and met Lance who booked us in for two nights before giving us and a second car the lecture about his park and his rules. While he was lecturing us on the evils on tissues two birds were flying overhead. One a peregrine of some sort and the second a sea eagle. Both had been the subject of hand rearing after some sort of accident. They were looking for tucker from Lance.
We ventured down to one of the spots and found ourselves a camp less than 20 metres from the high tide mark. The low tide mark varied from being 100 metres away to 2 km away. From where I am sitting at the keyboard I can see the sea and last night as we lay in bed we could hear the crash of the surf.
I hooked up the generator to give us some proper light, a problem I must address next time we are in a reputable camping store. Jannaya organised a campfire which we used to toast marshmallows on then it was bed time.
Robyn's
I had always wanted to visit Broome and had looked at it a couple of times when we were planning a holiday. I'd read several books set in Broome in the pearling days and it sounded so beautiful and romantic but the travel agents said each time that there wasn't much to do there and we'd be better off going to Bali. Cable Beach is nice and I'm sure if you are young and looking for a party holiday its a great place but I was a bit disappointed. Except for the camel ride – that was special. And the fish and chips.
We knew the drive from Broome to Exmouth was going to be a long and boring one along the fringe of the Great Sandy Desert so we planned to stop at either Sandfire or Pardoo. We collected a couple of caches along the way but at the cape at Pardoo there was an unfound cache so after setting up I wandered down to the rocks and found it.
The Victorians, while they complain about it, should be very pleased with the quality and quantity of the swaps in their caches. I think we have only found one which I would consider equivalent. I started off by adding a few swaps in each one as we travelled but soon ran out of things. While we know they degrade over time we have found enough newish caches to know that the WA and NT seem to start out with very little in them. Still, it IS about the locations and we don't swap much anymore anyway.
Day 50 Cape Kerauden
It was a funny night's sleep. At first the sound of the waves was very soothing but at one point the sound changed as water must have been flooding in to a low spot as the tide rose. After a stunning sunset I got up to take I the morning. The night had bought a dew but I didn't realise just how heavy it was until I discovered that everything outside was soaked. It hadn't rained but it was very damp round the camp. Seeing that there was nithing I could do I went for a fish off the rocks. The tide was out by this stage at slack water so with the surf rod I had a go at catching something. I was rewarded with two fish in three casts the first was an undersized silver fish that looked like it would be good eating. The second was a large silver catfish or silver cobbler. I popped him back as well which was probably just as well as they apparently have an extremely nasty spike on the side of their body as well as in their top fin. After those two fish they went off the bite and I returned for breakfast. All this before 8:00 am.
While doing the previous day's log outside our camper trailer a lady (Dianne) interrupted me with the news that there was a pod of dolphins just off the beach. We all walked down and there was a pod of about 30 dolphins slowly heading south – at one point they wheeled round and I think they were after the school of threadfin salmon that I had been after.
As we returned to camp I struck up a conversation with a neighbour who has been visiting for 28 years. He pointed out a spot where there is a concrete slab that enters the water. This spot marked the end of the infamous rabbit proof fence.
We went for a drive around the area to see what there was to see and to recharge the spare battery in the car. Having the second fridge as a freezer draws a lot more current that just having it as a fridge.
While driving round the different campsights we found a fishing spot. There was a bloke there fishing off the low cliffs into the mainly sandy area below. Much of this coastline is rock outcrop so with the option of not losing hooks and sinkers to the sharp rocks we gave it a crack. We ended up fishing right where the rabbit fence actually ended. There is a concrete slab that enters the sea which was fenced. There is a plaque on a rock which testifies to the brave souls who worked tirelessly with camel teams to build the fence which actually went into the depths of the Indian Ocean. Apparently the rabbits would try to swim round the fence to get into the verdant pastures of the Sandy Desert...... or not..
We had no luck fishing but we were treated to Robyn having an “ikky” swim according to Jannaya who was horrified that Robyn was with out a thread of clothing. A sea turtle probably over ½ a metre was also poking round as well as a sea eagle drifting of the thermals above. The sea was a studding obsidian blue and the distant sand hills dazzlingly white. Picture postcard stuff except for the lack of fish.
We packed up and drove round a few more spots before returning for lunch. Jannaya has a new best friend Dianne who has loaned her a Nintendo DS to play with. Robyn sneaked off for a snooze so I returned to the beach. By this time the tide had well and truly receeded over a kilometre from the spot where I was fishing in the morning. I walked to the ocean edge looking in all the rock holes. I was rewarded with shrimps, flat heads and the best of all was the octopus who was lounging in the shadowed recess of a rock pool. When I moved round to the other side of the pool to get a closer look it had either changed it's colour or disappeared under a shelf for as far as I could tell it was well and truly gone.
While enjoying my walk I got to chatting with another camp dweller who invited the MckENZIE family back for their happy hour that goes from 5:00pm – 7:00pm. Robyn had had a snooze and Jannaya had been playing on an X box portable that a lady traveling by herself had bought with ther to keep boredom at bay. She hadn't even used it so she was happy to see someone get some use out of it.
We joined our near neighbours for drinks and met most of the other campers – I can't get over how friendly and active people in their retirement are. They are also full of handy tips on keeping batteries recharged when there is no power available and what products work and what doesn't. I will look into organising a solar cell setup to keep the auxillary car battery topped up. It does the most work as it has to keep the freezer going all the time. If the car is not driven for a day and the freezer is being used then the generator is needed to keep the temperature down. A solar cell would do that during the day and the battery would have enough to keep it going at night.
After tea we had a bit of a pack up as we were expecting another heavy dew like the previous night. We didn't want to pack anything away wet if it could be avoided.
Day 51 Roebourne
From the night before – Robyn and Jannaya did the walk to the long drop toilet just before bed. It was pitch black as all the external camper's lights were off.
Just before I launch into the incident I must explain that as we drove into the reserve we saw two very large bulls. No cows, no calves, no steers just these two very large bulls. Hold that thought.
As our intrepid toilet goers sauntered off into the dark with a torch to light the way they passed by Dianne's caravan which had her car parked next to it some four metres away. Unbeknownst to Robyn and Jannaya the two bulls who are a very dark brown were nibbling on the scant growth between the vehicles. They must come in during the night when no one is about to enjoy the softer morsels of grass as opposed to the spinefex and other unpalatable vegetation of the area.
I still can't decide who got the biggest fright. The combined shriek of Robyn and Jannaya was something resembling the agonised wailing of a banshee having it's eyes gouged out by a demented goblin using a rusty fish hook, but the startled stentorian mooing of the two bulls as they bolted through a neighbouring camp bringing down the guy ropes holding up their toilet tent and then their shower tent was also something to behold.
These were two big beasts blindly running around in the dark. I can appreciated how scared Robyn and Jannaya would have been, that realisation almost stopped me from laughing but I didn't stop. Well not until Robyn and Jannaya returned looking none too impressed with the whole incident and possibly especially with me.
When Robyn asked me to escort them over to the toilet I was happy to explaining that it was the bulls that got the biggest shock.
The dew was very light and once the sun was up what ever had been left out had dried. As we were packing Dianne our neighbour called out that there were whales in the water. We walked the 15 metres to the water's edge and saw the whales sort of heading north. Some of them where breaching creating spectacular splashes as they did. It must have been a large pod as they were strung out over some kilometres doing their thing.
It is quite mesmerising just sitting and watching them – a bit like babies – time wasters!! There was packing to be done so we got on with it and got moving.
As we approached Port Hedland we passed an area dotted with ant hills. On the ant hills were white miner's hard hats. We could only guess that as miners leave the mines for the last time they must stop and place a helmet on the top of an ant mound.
BHP have spent a lot of money on parks and sculptures around Port Hedland, although probably not a lot compared to how much they are making out of iron ore.
We stopped at a small shopping centre to stock up on a few things. Port Hedland must be the 'high vis' (visability) clothing capital of Australia. No shorts and singlets here. No thongs or beanies either. It is flouro shirts with long sleeves, long pants, work boots and high vis vests.
We found a little park courtesy of BHP in the actual loading port and watched 'The Korean Princess' – I hope not all the princesses in Korea inspire people to name ships after them because the only conclusion I can draw from looking at a very large ship is that Princesses in Korea are very well nourished.
The 'Korean Princess' had a wide conveyor belt running ore into it's cavenous bowells. You could actually see the ship slowly sinking into the water's of the port with the weight. Mr Plimsol's markings seemed to be doing their job nicely.
The day started to warm up but instead of the sun warming the inside of the car through the windscreen it was now coming in the driver's side window. There must be some dollars in the areas as there were roadworks in progress all the way south.
We ended up at Roebourne where the information centre is set up in the old prison. The story goes that it took three years to get the smell of prisoner out of the building before they could use it for anything else. Further up the road is the new Roebourne correctional facility, although in W.A. they tend not to mince words or name things in politically appropriate terms - prisons are just called prisons.
We popped into Point Samson which boasts two caravan parks and from anyone who has been there came highly recommeded as a place to visit and to stay. It must be good as it was all booked out!! We returned to Roebourne and got a spot at the Harding River Caravan park which is on the river and not on the sea.
A quick tea of toasted egg and bacon sangers then bed for me. I was knackered.
Day 52 Roebourne
Well we are well over the half way mark for the trip. Looking back it has been quite an adventure and I am now glad I have persisted with keeping some sort of log as there is no chance I would remember it all without a written reminder.
It was a day to take stock and have a break from driving as we had a couple of bigger days in front of us. So after three loads of washing very cheap here at $3.00 a load it was off to Karatha to have a browse. Karatha was built as a service hub for Dampier and Port Hedland as well as the outlying population. There is plenty of accommodation with various “donga” cities scattered around the area. There is a housing boom here and it is rumoured that with the new $50 Billion gas project and plant that will be built here that accommodation for another 6,000 workers will be needed.
Karatha has the inevitable Centro plaza shopping centre with various other well known franchise shops nearby. We enjoyed the products of 'Muffin Break' and 'Wendys' which gave me an opportunity to pay some insurance and make a booking for Exmouth. We then had a drive round the CBD where we found a camping store that is not a franchise that was absolutely massive. Sort of like a Rays. One of our issues has been lighting at night when away from 240 for a single night so we purchased a rechargeable fleuro lantern.
After having a quick drive round it was onto Dampier for lunch. We had been told that the Roadrunner cafe was the place to go as it had a view of the sea and you could watch the boats being loaded while eating lunch.
As you enter Dampier there is a statue of a red kelpie x on the left in a small park. This is the statue of “Red Dog” who is famous in the Pilbara area. When he arrived in Dampier from Parabadoo he left home and started to wander the Pilbara visiting and moving in with people for a day or a week before moving on to visit other people and places. So many people knew him that if they saw him on the side of the road they would stop and open the door. Sometimes he'd get in and then would only get out if he wanted to. There is a tale about a lady from Port Hedland finding him at 2:00 am and having to drive him to Dampier before he would leave the car. Some weeks later he showed up at her house and stayed for a couple of days before moving on. The stories go on and on about him. There is even a little book dedicated to the life of “Red dog”.
We had a look and finally found the Roadrunner cafe but we were too late. These are mining towns and lunch is from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm. It was 2:20 pm and we'd missed lunch. I felt a little coyotesqe.... However I managed to get a picture of what our lunch view would have looked like.
Fortunately Robyn always has the tuna meals and the cheese and bicci packs for just such occasions. Lunch on the grass foreshore wasn't too bad anyway.
We trundled out of Dampier to look at the north west shelf operation. As you drive out the hills are green (spinefex) or red (the iron ore boulders) – we crested a hill and there before us was a massive processing plant for the gas that comes in from the gas fields at sea. Absolutely massive, we were all amazed at the size. Anyway they have a visitors office which goes through a bit of the history and then the process of getting the gas from the sea bed to the container ships. Apparently any downtime on the drilling rigs has an immediate affect on the Australian economy and the price of LPG such is the scope of this operation.
Suitably impressed that this veritable city is sitting in the middle of nowhere we chugged off down to a little beach made entirely of shell grit. There were supposed to be aboriginal petroglyphs on some rocks nearby.
After a little drive around through masses of desert pea which I initially tried to not run over but then gave up and ran over as many of them as I could we found a small car park and went for a walk. Yes there on the rocks painstakingly etched into the various rock faces were facsimilies of animals, animal prints and what may well have been initiation rites.
One picture had a male prostate on the ground with a rock or similar hitting his testicles very very hard. From the angle of his arms and legs he was clearly in pain. The next had what we interpreted as future generations of his family. Our conclusion was that after undergoing the traditional smashing of the testes only the fittest and strongest would recover sufficiently well to father future generations. Sort of a natural selection process. Of course we maybe completely wrong and it something quite different.
After that it was back to camp for a quick tub then down to Point Samson for a slightly budget blowing feed. Robyn had T bone and I had steak smothered in prawns and calamari (I know, no gourmet chef would ever serve it and no food critic would ever order it) but it was magnificent. Jannaya opted for fish and chips which was also delicious. Hmm, as I said a budget blower but we had been pretty frugle so it was completely guilt free. There are some meals you just can't do as well when camping as a fully stocked kitchen.
Day 53 Barradale Rest Stop.
We got going pretty early and were well on the way back via the outskirts of Karartha heading south towards Exmouth.
The country started to change from the deep red brown rocks and the almost lime green spinefex to more open plains with the occasional cock outcrop. There wasn't much traffic on the road which makes driving a breeze. Just the other side of Karartha we were over taken by a black Ford, he was really hiking and I thought if there was a candidate for speeding apart from the Audi north of Alice Springs he was it.
Over a couple of rises about 10 minutes in front he had been pulled over by the fine officers of the W.A. Police. I waved as we passed and the driver looked forlornly at me through sad chastised puppy dog eyes.
Dare I say that this was probably the least exciting scenery I had encountered so far on the trip. I say least exciting as opposed to boring but it was starting to get close. Usually I can find little things like the subtle changes in vegetation interesting or the geological changes that we are treated to but on this stretch I found my thoughts drifiting a bit as I ruminated on the black tar strip I was driving along. There were the sections of road where it appears that there is water on the road but we all know it as a mirage, due in part to the heat haze. Then as a car was approaching with it's headlights on I could see the reflection of it's lights in the apparent 'water' that wasn't real on the road. If I could see the real lights reflected in something that wasn't really there does that means the car's headlights reflection are a mirage or are they real as obviously the real car's lights are on and belong to a car that is real. Hmm........ deep thoughts indeed.
Maybe this is how people traveling many miles in the outback slowly go mad. Well that and listening to too much country music that features cars breaking down, dusty roads, failing marriages, too many children, a boy named Sue, dogs and horses dying, cattle stampeding and needing to be rounded up, Annie with a gun, and something about old guitars and windscreen wipers beating in time while a town has no beer. Madness, slow hebetating madness!!
We refueled at a place called Nanutarra and paid an exhorbitant $1.65 for diesel. The diesel bowser has no automated console and is perhaps 30 metres from the office so the attendant has to run over, unlock it, fill your car, write down the amount, lock the bowser then you follow them to the office and pay for the fuel. This attendant was a Scot and a bit of a character. He'd had to leave Perth when his love of poker took over his common sense. Anyway, he reckoned that he had already clocked up a couple of kilometres running backwards and forwards to and from the bowser.
I asked him how long he had been here and how long he had to stay and he replied that he was already rooted and it was his second day and he was here for three months!! Madness.
We trundled on deciding that we would have a stop at Barradale, one of the free 24 hour rest stops that are along the roadways of W.A. As we got to within five km of the planned stop there was a car and trailer facing the other way with it's bonnet up and the driver looking concerned.
I did a U turn to see if I could help in any way. It was an over heating problem and I couldn't. Eventually the decision was made to drive the five km and leave our camper in the camping spot then return and unhook his camper, tow that to the camping area, then return and tow his car to the camping area. That would all serve two purposes. One, there was a farm nearby who would have a phone with which to summon help. Two, it would be better leaving the car and trailer in a camping area than on the side of the highway with the road trains roaring past all night.
The camp had a very clean and well presented long drop toilet (if a long drop can ever be described as well presented) which we camped about 200 metres from. The spot we picked was near the Yannarie River which was dry except for a few large puddles. The white gummed red gums offered plenty of shade making the whole free camp very relaxing indeed. Fran and David were very grateful and once they set up their camp dropped of a bottle of red for us. Robyn cooked a pasta dish which complemented the wine perfectly.
Robyn's
I think the long drives are starting to get to Chad – he is humming C&W songs and belting out German Christmas carols. Rescuing David and Fran will do him the world of good in breaking up the routine. They are being taken off the highway 90kms to a town we were told was a must miss. Still with no mobile coverage it was amazing that they broke down near the only house we have seen from the highway since we left Port Augusta.
We haven't heard much from Jannaya – she bought herself the new Short Stack album (they are a Sydeney band) and has put it on her Ipod. I reckon she has listened to it 30 times. She's running out of money and is keen to earn her pay by doing chores. For some reason she has decided she MUST have a skateboard NOW but can't afford it so she is trying to con us into advancing her pay, ratting her bank account or giving her more chores to do.
She is loving the trip and isn't missing the TV or her friends as much as she thought she would although it is not unusual for her to receive 40 texts as we return to mobile coverage.
We ran into Liz and Bruce while geocaching this morning. They are permanently wandering nomad geocachers who are about to find their 6000. They were full of suggestions of locations and caches to do as we head South.
We are all resisting heading to Perth. We know it is only 19 there and has been raining. None of us want to go back to cold weather yet.
Looking forward to Exmouth and catching up on the footy and cricket news. Will Essendon beat Fremantle and make it to the finals?
Day 54 Exmouth
It wasn't a hurried start to the morning. We all bundled into the car for a communual visit to the single toilet. As we finished breakfast we caught up with Fran who explained that the RAC the RACV equivalent would collect their car and camper and tow then to Onslow a bit further north and on the coast.
We only had about 200 km to go to get to Exmouth. It seemed the slowest 200 km I have ever driven. While the country changed subtley I was surprised to see sheep in the paddocks as well as cattle. I think some of the sheep had escaped muster as a couple had huge fleeces and had tails as well. The road seemed to go on for ages, but in effect it was a little over two hours when we rolled into Exmouth.
We settled into the Big Four and got ourselves organised, Robyn and Jannaya had showers and used the computer while I had an indulgent afternoon snooze. Once we were all showered we went for a quick drive to the supermarket and a look around the town.
While I like the big things this is a reversal of that theme. A big whale shark would take up two house blocks so Exmouth have cleverly opted for a 'small' thing instead.
Exmouth was established in 1967 to service the wool industry. Part of the highway in makes up the Woolwagon Pathway. With the reef on the weatern side of the peninsula and a protected bay and further protected man made boat harbour on the eastern side this is a town that I think will easily rival Broome in the tourism stakes in years to come. There is plenty of tasteful construction of waterways and infrastructure going on and with the reef, hump back whales and whale sharks as well as all manner of fishing, diving, snorkeling and water sports available it is also much closer to Perth. Time will tell.
I caught up with a work colleague over a few beers at "Gracies Tavern" the local 'Thirsty Camel' outlet before returning for tea and planning the following days touring.
Day 55 Exmouth
As I strolled down to the amenities block who or rather what did I see? It was the tiny little camper trailer that we say on Day 22 Mattaranka of our trip. It was good to see that they were still chugging along at their own pace.
We took a liesurely drive north up the cape from Exmouth. The Navy have a communications tower that cost $23, million or so in the 1960s it is a low frequency tower and the set up is huge. There are towers over a couple of acres all joined together in a complex web shape. Who knows who is listening to who?
We went up to the very point, the wind was blowing from the south east and the waves were coming from the west. Nearby is the wreck of the Mildura which was copping a pounding from the waves.
After that we headed south down the peninsula into the Ningaloo reef area and towards Cape Range National park. We stopped at the light house which had commanding views as light houses tend to do otherwise there would be little purpose etc etc etc.
We stopped at a turtle breeding information shelter. Jannaya found a pool full of angry crabs obviously well accustomed to curious people as they all raised their claws in a cheery hello as soon as we got a bit too close. Not that many of them retreated either. I got a small one out to show Jannaya and was impressed with it's strength.
I went for a walk down to the boat ramp nearby and saw a sea turtle doing laps in the swell. This time I had my camera with me and managed to get a shot as it came up for a breath.
We proceeded south, Robyn had a geocache that sounded interesting it was in a cave, off the beaten track that was 4WD access to the final point. We poked along for about 100 metres then it was into 4WD Low and second gear crawling over rocks up and down hills. After about 3 km we could go no further and we climbed about 50 metres up an incline to these caves. The lack of rubbish and tyre marks suggests that the area is rarely visited. In the caves that seem now to be the resident of kangaroos were stalectites and stalecmites – some were still being formed as the water was still dripping from the ceiling. Apparently the caves were inhabited some 10,000 years ago when the sea was some 3km inland from where it is now. In the largest cave were some scratchings on the walls. They could well have been from that era.
Back down the road to Turquoise Bay which offers two swimming spots. The first is a drift where you walk south on the beach get in and drift down the coast but not too far or you get washed out to sea. The water was cold but I convinced Jannaya to come in with me. We found ourselves waist deep in water surrounded by maybe 15 beautiful silver fish about 40 cm in length. They didn't seem to care we were there and just swan round us as we were carried to the north.
As we got closer to the coast we were engulfed by a school of slightly smaller breed of fish, but there must have been hundreds swimming around us. Jannaya started to shiver from the cold as the wind was up and had turned into a southerly so we poked round the corner into the second part of the protected bay.
The water was very calm so I snorkelled out about 30 metres into a coral bed. There below me was Nemo or friends of his. Unlike the bright orange that the clown fish seem to have in the picture books these ones were a very dark orange with the white stripes. As I turned round there was a coral banded sea snake about five metres from me. He was not the slightest bit interested in me but I did keep my eye on him as I put some distance between us.
I returned to shore and after cajoling Jannaya she jopined me in the water. It was cold and the poor thing really didn't want to go in but bless her she did. We swam out to where I had seen the clown fish and there were about five of them swimming round this one clump of coral. There must have been another ten different types of fish there as well. Some very small blue ones less than a finger length and then larger colourful fish including a sea slug. Jannaya had seen enough and headed back and I followed soon after.
Robyn then braved the water and came back after doing a very large lap of the lagoon taking it all in. Robyn has dived on the Barrier Reef and was under no illusions that the Barrier Reef is the ants pants but when you can just get into the water from the beach and be treated to this sort of snorkelling with out the need of an expensive boat ride it ios pretty good.
We made one more stop on the way back to the camp and that was near the cape. The surf was up and there were three surfers and another two guys on surfboards except they had paddles as well. While we were watching them you could see whales in the middle distance doing the whale thing. Not a bad way to end our time at Exmouth.
Day 56 Canarvon
We left Exmouth vowing to return next year or the year after for at least two weeks in winter. We called in at Coral Bay which is a beautiful smaller town dedicated to earning the tourist dollar with good reason. It is truly stunning.
After that it was down the Great Northern Highway towards Canarvon. As we approached the tropic of capricorn mark I noticed that our constant travelling companions the termite hills had finally left us. Interestingly enough they made their presense felt as we crossed the tropic of capricorn going north in all of their various guises. Red in red sandy soil, grey in the river soils, black and orange. The shapes changed too from small pointed ones knee height, magnetic ones, high ones 12 foot high, big splodged ones that were very casual affairs to the final ones of red-grey that we saw as we headed towards Canarvon. I think that I'd mentioned that the tropic of capricorn was very close to the mark where the frosts cease if you go further north. The termites must know this.
As we got closer to Canarvon we realised why people kept telling us to do the grocery shopping there. Bananna plantations greeted us some 10 kilometres from the CBD, along with tomatoes at $1.00 a kg. Not a bad price for winter and they were big juicy red ones not the poxy green hard ones we get in the south at this time of the year. The skyline is dominated by a radar tower that played some part in the space tales of 1969. As we got to Canarvon we drove right up to the radar tower checked it out. The wind had started to blow and will apparently blow for the next six months. At the radar tower there were two kites or some sort of raptor having the best time ever on the winds being deflected by the radar. I could have watched them for hours as they merely adjusted their wing position and either dropped dramatically or soared effortlessly to the heavens on the wind being deflected by the tower.
A drive down the main road in highlighted the constant wind that Canarvon must weather. The gum trees are all at an angle nearly closer to the horizon than the vertical. It is a cool wind too.
Once the camp was set up I left Robyn to do a load of washing while I went to wash the car. The poor old Rodeo came up looking pretty good after it's ordeal over the last two months. I noticed a pop rivet and the odd screw missing from various covers so I replaced what I could and took note to pop rivet the other bits.
We popped out to the Crab Shack which is the place to buy seafood and bought three fillets of pearled perch and some prawns before having a look round the one mile jetty. The jetty fell into disrepair but a committee was formed and they are steadily repairing it and have managed to assemble the bits and pieces of a bygone era and preserved them in an area especially for that purpose.
We also drove out to a bit of a point that had the sea on one side and part of the bay on the other. Inside on the flat still water of the bay were two kite boarders enjoying the smooth waters while above them their kites were almost at the mercy of the winds.
As we drove back to the caravan park we could see the radar dish as it was lit in a subtle blue. It looked stunning. The fish was fantastic just cooled in butter. The prawns which had been caught that morning were lovely and fleshy so with a bit of cracked pepper, a smidge of rock salt and a twist of lemon they were scoffed down over a larger.
Not a bad way to end the night.
Day 57 Denham
Well the drive out of Canarvon south was not that interesting, the traffic was light, the road was dry and the conditions fine. Our reason for travelling south was to eventually get home. I'm writing this a day late as we have just returned from Monkey Mia so please be patient if I prattle on a bit trying to remember yesterday. You'll have to wait until Day 58 for the dolphins.
After heading south for about an hour there in the distance through the flat open paddocks that were mainly red soil and almost Hay Plains like vegetation were some hills. As we approahed the GPS gave a burp suggesting that there was a cache at the top. I took the turnoff and drove up onto the top of the plateau. The view was pretty good and you could see the coast in the middle distance. There were a couple of rock cairns, the larger one for visitors and a smaller one that someone had started as a memorial cairn. People had written the names of those they wanted remembered on rocks and placed them on the cairn.
We choofed off southwards and after another hour or so came to the turn off to the west taking us into another Wolrld Heritage Area, Francois Peron National Park.
Some of the views from the high points into the coastlines were breathtaking, the white beaches and the torquoise blue sea beds stunning. The vegetation had changed from ankle to knee high shrubs to sort of mallee country infact the road side advisory signs warned us of mallee fowl and bilbys. Hell, you wouldn't want to hit a bilby they could do all sorts of damage what with those big ears and all!!
We pulled into Denham at about 4:00 pm and found some accommodation in an unpowered site. It is apparently the high season here so any site was a good one.
After dropping off the car and camper trailer we went for a walk to the tourist/world heritage office to enquire about the Monkeys at Monkey Mia. I made a detour past the supermarket and purchased some beautiful Canarvon bananas in preparation of our visit to see the monkeys.
On return to the camp we set up and after a lager I got to talking to a recently retired W.A. Police Deputy Commisioner from the Major Crime Squad. From what he was saying we have nothing to sook about in Victoria regarding the management of the police force.
A tea of kebabs and it was bed time. I trounced Jannaya in a game of cribbage making me the cribbage king of the century. The wind had blown up during the late afternoon and it was blowing pretty hard during the evening. Next door in the carpark of one of the accommodation units was a refrigerated transport. Yes it ran all night, except when the thermostat cut the motor off for brief respites. Naturally I was the only one who heard it switch on and off and on and off and on and off ….. till about 6:15am when I looked at the alarm.
Day 58 Denham.
Quite a day and the family coped well with the early start. It was up at 6:30 am a quick bite then off to Monkey Mia to see what I thought would be monkeys obviously. I stocked up on bananas and had secured camera, keys and wallet securely in zipped pockets – we all know what little buggers monkeys can be if they think there is something that you have that they want.
We joined a bit of a convoy from Denham as we drove the 24 km or so. Once we got there is was down to the beach (with the bananas) and joined the others on the shore line waiting for the monkeys. Well imagine my surprise when fish appeared and no monkeys.
We stayed for the three feeds and in between feed two and three I managed to pull the bannana gag on a family who arrived as I was walking back to the beach with a couple of bananas.
We stayed for a latte and while sitting on the beach were treated to the larger group of dolphins cointinuing to frollick in the shallows.
We left there and checked out a couple of lagoons which were the standard stunning blue of the north and mid coast of Western Australia, then it was back for a bite to eat.
Robyn was going to get a hair cut so Jannaya and I went for a fish off the jetty for a couple of hours. Jannaya whipped me in the fishing stakes landing over ten fish to my two or three.
It was just a pity that they were all puffer fish or blow fish as they call them here. Still she was well pleased with herself and beating Dad at something. It wasn't a bad way to spend burn a couple of hours as the alternative probably would have been a snooze.
A tea of sort of mini pizzas done on bread proved a hit with the last of the red wine from the good deed being consumed. An early start was planned for the next day given the successful start of this day.
Robyn's
I was walking behind Chad so I saw the stunned look on the family's face after he handed them the bananas.
I now have a brand new haircut so you may see some photos of me without a hat on now. We'll see how it looks after the first wash.
The dolpins were fun – Finn the 12 month old baby likes to play with puffer fish. He was mouthing it and throwing it into the air repeatedly for ages. Apparently they get a bit of a high from them. We heard the ranger say naughty little junkie dolphin.
Bad day's caching – the GPSr seems to have been dropped on the rocks one too many times and is not very accurate – no hope with most micros unless there is a clue. The remaining caches near here are at the end of serious 4x4 roads and noone is in the mood for that today.
We're all feeling a bit down that we are heading South and into the cooler weather. Jumpers are now on a dusk and stay on until 9am. The last couple of nights we have even had to put the trackie dax on (well Jannaya and I have.) Jannaya doesn't want to go home if we can bring Grandma and Cleo here.
Day 59 Coronation Bay
We set out with a stunningly quick pack up. Part of the advantage of an unpowered site is that there is no electrics to deal with. As we left Denham I was still stunned by the terrain. While it used to be sheepo country it was country that horses would still rule when it came to mustering sheep. The growth varied from knee to shoulder height making anything other than horse useless.
Once we had left the Shark Bay Park area we continued south along the Northern Highway refueling at Billabong.
Not 10 km from Billabong the land changed to a real mallee landscape. The soil was still red and the vegetation straggly but displaying good growth after a good rain. I think this is the start of the wildflowers that W.A. is famous for, there were mats of pinks, then whites then yellows. Quite spectacular. This area also marked the end of the large holdings and the start of cropping.
I certainly wasn't ready when we were greeted by vast fields of wheat and conola as well as large flocks of sheep dining on green grass. Some of the country could almost have been country to the west of Bendigo except for the occasional view of the Indian Ocean in the distance to the west.
We stopped for lunch at a little place called Northampton which is described as “quaint” in the tourist brochures. This is the first town that is an obvious working town. There is history in the streets and a feeling of longevity that the newer towns such as those further north just don't have.
I was stunned by the colours that we were passing in the small amounts of wild flowers both carpeting the road sides and also the brilliant orange blooms of the banksias on the road sides.
After the red soil and semi arid landscapes we had been enjoying, the rapid change to cropping and verdant rolling hills was quite a change and not one that I was ready for as it bought more traffic – something that the remote areas just didn't have. It also bought the first cloudy days since leaving the coast in S.A. for the warmer climes of the north.
In many ways it marked the end of a major part of our adventure as we were now approaching civilisation after two months of not having to share roads, camping areas or just our own space. Certainly I will recall the drive from Monkey Mia south towards Geralton as a turning point in our trip which bought us back to cool weather and people. It is not without a bit a small bout of melancholia that I write this log tonight.
We settled on a cheap camp staying at Coronation Bay just north of Geralton. It is a beautiful spot with only about 30 individual camps, drop toilets and no power or showers. It is times like that that the Coleman hot water service proves itself an absolute winner in the cooler coastal areas when a shower is a must.
When we did the set up we all went for a walk down to the beach, the clouds had assembled overhead blocking out all the sun, I think the only two people who were really enjoying the wind and the waves were the two kite surfers carving up the still waters in between the reef and the shore.
We set the generator up and ended up having drinks with some retirees, two from the Isle of Manne and two from Ireland. No great love of the English amongst that lot.
After too many red wines it was a proper camper's tea of burgers and beans the log then bed.
Day 60 New Norcia
Robyn had a bit of a flat day and spent most of the traveling in the back set curled up under a towel so the sight seeing was kept to a minimum. The landscape changed from forest to swamp to cropping to towns to wind blown plains with a ferw sandhills thrown to the west of us for good measure.
We slipped through Geralton which is a big big city, probably a bit smaller than Bendigo. We went to refuel in Port Denison which was a quaint sea side village with a lovely relaxed country feel to it. Not commercialised at all and everyone seemed to know eachother as there was an abundance of waving.
On we went finally turning off the highway south onto the Midlands Highway. We stopped for a pie each then kept going. The day remained overcast with rain showers, scotch mist and every now and again a reasonable downpour. The sides of the roads had lots of green parrots with a white band round their necks and black heads.
Eventually we got to New Norcia which is a town sort of run by the Benedictine Order of monks. Given the weather and the fact that it was cold none of us wanted to camp in the camper trailer, have it get wet then have to pack it up cold and wet (and miserable) in the morning so we opted to try and get a room in the New Norcia Hotel.
The licencee is “The Benedictine Community of New Norcia Inc” and as you walk up the steps you are greeted by the word “SALVE” on the door step which is spanish for welcome.
A good start for three tired and disshevelled travellers. There was one room left with a twin. We did a deal and took up Jannaya's fold up bed which cost us another $5.00 to cover her breakfast.
All the rooms are traditional style rooms with a shared bathroom at the end the first floor. There is a bar at one end on the ground floor and a restaurant at the other. We booked the restaurant for tea and had a quick look round in the fading light.
The interior of the hotel is an aethstetic treat, pressed ceilings, 450 year old works of religios art hanging in some of the communal rooms, some spectacular furnishings and a commanding view from the huge frst floor balcony.
The town started when a Benedictine monk from Spain - Salvatora who arrived in the 1840 organised the building of a monastry in 1846 and started mission work in the area. From not very much at all an entire community was built followed by orphanages, schools and colleges for the students.
From what I can gather things started to unravel a bit in the 1970s when New Norcia was probably it's peak and now much of the grounds and buildings are under utilised. The buildings are a combination of Victorian and Byzantine architecture and are quite stunning as you enter the area compared to other towns in the wheat belt of W.A.
There is still a working monastry here with a monk who arrived here when he was 18. He is now 99 and still working the fields and attending the seven prayer sessions each day. There is also a bakery that bakes five days a week and a couple of other smaller industries run by the Benedictine Monks.
Tea was great, as I mentioned from the Roebourne stay it is always good to have a feed from a well stocked kitched where preparation is the key. After sitting round an open fire place in one of the ground floor guest rooms chatting with some other guests wishing that I was wearing a fez, a smokers jacket with a port and a cigar it was time for bed.
Day 61 Freemantle
Breakfast at the New Norcia Hotel was a delightful affair. I dined alone as the women folk were doing women folk business. After a continental breakfast I went for a walk marvelling at the buildings and the complete serenity that greeted me on my walk. Even the raucous bird callings didn't seem quite as loud and the mournful crawk of the crows seemed a little less depressing than normal. The paddocks and olive groves were all festooned in a vivid green blanket of lush grasses. The large flock of sheep were grazing under the shade of the redgums along the river and all seemed right with the world.
Then, Robyn and Jannaya appeared a short time later...
We had a tour of some of the buildings including the church. In it there was a picture of the Madonna and child called “Our Lady of good counsel” The history of the painting dates back to 1845 when it was given to Bishop Rosendo SALVADO. Apparently during a bushfire when the monastry was threatened by fire SALVADO prayed before the flames holding the painting and the settlement was saved.
We all did the river walk which was about an hour through fields over styles and across the river. There was a sort of weir but it was in flood – I managed to leap from stone post to stone post but as I got to the middle of about seven of these leaps the size of the landing pad and hence launch pad got smaller and smaller. In doing so the distance between them seemed to increase leaving me feeling a little like Shakespere's MacBETH. It was no worse to go forward than to go backward. I stood and pondered before taking the leap of faith and managed to get to the other side though not without a little tightening of various bottom muscles.
Once we got back and got under way the driving was very pleasant, over hill and down dale. We stopped at Bindoon which has a bakery, Robyn bought a large pull apart loaf of bacon, cheese and garlic which we then nibbled to bits all the way through the outskirts of Perth to Fremantle.
By the time we booked in our collective breath would have been absolutely revolting. I apologised in advance to the lady at reception who was very helpful with tips about getting about Fremantle.
The caravan park is very clean with plenty of room for car, camper and annex. We ended up with a bunch of lads camping just behind us. As they fell out of their two 4WDs with clothes, beer, tents, more beer and other stuff I had that premonition that it would be a gruelling night. They had all been down in Albany planting trees for three months and had $$$ to burn and were here to buy a car.
In actual fact they weren't too bad except for the language. They went off after pre-dinner drinks lasting about three hours and returned at about 3:00 am after being kicked out of the disco by a couple of big bouncers who “didn't appreciate our positive energy.” In all, they didn't yell, fight or even raise their voices for the next ½ hour so full credit to them for I know it could have been much worse.
Day 62 Fremantle
We had an easy start to the day. I sneaked off to a gym that is about 400 metres away and did the minimum required while on holidays. I know I'll be a bit sore tomorrow but it was worth it just to push myself a bit.
We ended up going for a drive to the south to do some geocaching that Robyn can expand on.
We visited an area that had orange groves, olive groves and banana plants all growing in the samer valley. There were also banksias and grass trees. Amazing how the one area could support the different plant life.
After some hours away we returned to Freemantle in time to grab a latte' and sweet snack thing in the port area. We had a drive round in the diminishing Sunday afternoon tourist traffic taking in the stunning old buildings both business and residential of the port area. Lots of sandstone and federation style architecture a real look into the past.
After that it was back to the caravan park for tea and thankfully bed. The boys next door didn't have too much steam left in the engine after two nights out in a row so they were pretty quiet and subdued.
Day 63 Freemantle
An early start for him as he had to drop the car off round the corner at Ultratune for a service. I grabbed a few things from the supermarket for us and a packet of wagon wheels for the boys at Ultratune. You have to look after the tradies for without them the world would stop.
Then it was on a courtesy bus that took us down to the docks and onto a boat over to Rottnest Island. The island was named after the large rats that a Dutchman described and the name stuck. It is a beautiful spot indeed. I can only imagine that summer would be hell with the tourists and visitors. The boat mooring facilities in Thompon Bay have a 17 year waiting list. A second mooring point round the corner has a 13 year waiting list.
We joined on the tail of a free talking, walking tour which gave us a bit of history and an insight into life on the Island. We also saw the first of many of the quokkas aka 'rats' that inhabit the island.
Hmm quokkas,
“Don't play soccer with your quokka or put your quokka in a locker,
don't be a quokka knocker cause knocking quokkas isn't kind.
The quokka's coloured moccha and remember he's an ocker
He's a very friendly little focker - as you will find”
sorry........
From there we took a shuttle bus ride round the island that lasted for 45 minutes. The driver was great and shared lots of stories about life on the island. There are some very beautiful beaches on the island both for surf and for diving, the waters are clear and the sand white. Above all is the distinct lack of cars. There are a few buses and that is about it except for the bikes. There are people everywhere riding bikes. Very eco conscious.
There is also a single windmill providing about 1/3 of the power needed on the island which supports the generators on the island.
After the shuttle bus ride we joined the tour of the gun battery that we had booked. The first stage was the use of the train line on a single carraige train built especially for the island by out of work train builders. As we passed the run way the train driver explained that this was the one spot on the Island where the trains had to give way to the planes. Sort of made sense to me.
Once at the gun battery we were given a tour of the workings of the nine inch gun. A fair beast to be sure that could lob a round some 28 miles out to sea. It had all been set up pre WW II to defend the Port of Fremantle and any convoys or troop movements.
Although it feels like you are in the depths of the earth as you are lead through the tunnels it isn't quite as amazing as you think. The whole network of tunnels were initially trenches dug out by contractors as per the army requirements. Once the trenches were all formed they were then filled with formwork and concrete then filled up with sand.
It was all pretty interesting and no-one, not even the non english speaking Italians seemed not to be impressed.
After that it was back on the train to Thomson Bay, the main settlement for a latte' then onto the ferry.
Once back it was getting dark so a quick up date fore the log and it was time to cook tea. Tomorrow I think a visit to Perth is on the cards.
Day 64 Freemantle
I managed a second visit to the gym which was a treat. After a moderate start to the day it was decided that we would take the opportunity to visit Perth for a look. This decision was assisted by the caravan park as we thought we'd try for an extra night but to no avail.
Bus to the train station then a 15km or so trip to the city. While watching the commuters I was impressed with the ticketing system. People just had to swipe their card on the entrance to the platfrom as we do in Melbourne. The same carded ticket is then used on the bus trips. This makes it almost impossible for fare evasion. Coupled with that there are sort of transit security who have a gizmo into which they insert communter's carded ticket to get the (hopefully) appropriate reading.
From the Perth train station which only has seven platforms and has a really relaxed open feel to it as we set off to have a look round the shopping areas and found a little street done in a tudor style. It was just one out of the box. Interesting shops and stunning facades, from there we walked down to St Georges Cathedral in St Georges Terrace. Having spent the first two years of life living in the rectory it was a bit special to finally see it in the flesh. We also visited the Cathedral which was truly stunning. It has not long undergone a fairly major refurbishment and was looking the goods.
They have a small gift shop in the foyer, it turned out that the lady running it had moved to Perth from Bendigo some six years ago. We had a chat and worked out a few mutual people that we knew.
From there we went for a walk towards King Park as we had heard that there was some sort of festival taking place. We miscalculated our navigations somewhat and instead of getting a bus to the top entrance to the park we ended up at the bottom on the wrong side. The only hurdle was a 242 step stair case.
There were actually people doing laps up and down the stairs. Once at the top it was a short walk to the war memorial and eternal flame set at the peak in Kings Park.
I think it would be nearly impossible for anyone to sit in the circle of contemplation there and not be emotionally moved by the loss of life and the beauty of the spot. It is kind of fitting that the best bit of real estate in Perth is dedicated to those who gave their lives for what we have today.
Imagine my excitement at finding that the 'festival' was all about the wildflower season. My excitement was in complete contrast to the complete lack of interest shown by Jannaya and Robyn. “What a bonus for us” I remarked after over hearing Jannaya sooking to her mother.
The views over the city and Swan River from the top of Kings Park would have to make this the most beautiful capital city in Australia – Having visited them all nothing compares.
From there it was back by train to Fremantle.
As we got off the train we were nearly blown away with a severe scudding stormy wind straight off the sea. By the time we got home we were all but soaked. Half of our annex had blown away leaving the exposed chairs and towels soaked.
As we watched the weather a bit later things looked grim for the next three days. The discussion is now do we go to Kalgoorlie 16'C but sunny or do we persist and go south into 12'C and wet and windy?
The morning will tell.
Day 65 Bridgetown
The pressure was on from the get go with rain pending and windy conditions we wanted to get the camper trailer packed up without it getting wet again. The wind had dried off the rain that fell during the night which made the pack up while the rain held off all the more urgent.
The two great enemies of the camper trailer are water and wind. Water, because if you pack it up wet there is a chance that water will seep into bedding and clothing. Wind is a fair weather friend, it will dry out the canvas but if it is continually blowing it can be unpleasant and requiring constant monitoring of annexes and ropes.
Anyway we were all packed up, breakfasted and ready to hit the road. The destination was Bridgetown to the south, however as we were done earlier than expected we thought we could squeeze in a visit to the Freemantle Prison.
WOW!! The prison was built in the 1850s and was closed as a prison in 1991. It is huge inside but it wasn't what was inside that was amazing it is what was underneath that was really interesting.
When Fremantle was established the amount of fresh water was very limited and really came down to two small waterholes in central Fremantle, these were soon polluted with the effluent of the new settlement. Life was pretty hard without a workforce to carry out the construction of some of the necessary infrastructure so after some deliberation a request was made to the POMs, who it seemed were happy enough to transport out a few boat loads of convicts to work for Fremantle.
As the prison was being built it too faced the issue with water. Fortunately a reservoir of water was found below the prison in the limestone. Prisoners were used to sink and dig tunnels underneath the prison about 30 metres below the surface. The short version of the long story is that over 1,000 metres of tunnels were excavated and water was manually pumped from the depths to supply the prison with clean drinking water. The off shoot of this was that soon after with Fremantle's water woes worsening the prison ended up supplying the growing colony with water.
Anyway, that is the brief history – what happened when we arrived was we met Tristan one of the guides. He was decked out in climbing gear and happy to take the three of us on the underground tour. We all had to undergo a breath test. Seriously. Even Jannaya. Tristan was a very funny man who had us all in stitches from the word go. Anyway, as he breath tested Jannaya he said something to the effect that as she is a minor he couldn't show us her reading as it would be breaching her privacy as a child. This sort of banter lasted two hours.
We donned white paper overalls, climbing harnesses and hardhats. Then went through a safety briefing before being hooked up and climbing down 30 metres into the depths. After walking through numerous tunnels we returned to the bottom of the ladder then got into two person canoes and paddled through the rest of the tunnels. All were dug by hand.
We were all absolutely blown away by the experience and the history that went with it. Hard to believe that even when the prison shut in 1991 there was no running water into any of the cells only buckets. The exercise yards were only provided with shade in the 1970s. The white limestone walls would have been hellish on hot dry days not to mention the cells.
If we return to Fremantle we will definitely do the other tours – the torchlight tour sounds like a blast as well.
After a double shot latte it was off on Highway 1 heading southwards.
We stopped for lunch at a little way side stop off the highway rich in banksias, grass trees, small wildflowers and tall trees. Some years before someone had erected a sign explaining that when he arrived in Australia he had worked at a timber mill at the very spot we were having lunch. The sign explained where the various sheds and saws were located. It went on to say that the author had scattered pine cone seeds around the areas back in the 1950s. As I looked around I noted the small copse of pine trees. It was all very pleasant and restful.
After a couple of hours driving we reached Bridgetown where we got ourselves set up for the night. The reason for the slight diversion to inland instead of coast was that the weather was due to be horrible for the next four or so days so we wanted to at least be out of the coastal winds even if we couldn't avoid the rain.
Day 66 Bridgetown.
The area we are now travelling through is green and lush and very beautiful indeed. It doesn't have that raw harsh beauty of the Kimberly or the Pilbara or the soft colours of the areas round Exmouth and Coral Bay. There is less of it and it all just seems like a neater package. The country is similar in part to Victoria's western districts and also the areas round Lavers Hill with the giant trees, glow worms and forests.
The towns of this area are small towns built of the timber industry. Throughout the area are bluegum plantations, farms with sheep and cattle and areas of state and national parks. There are also large 'mischiefs' of emus roaming both the farm lands and bush areas. (I couldn't in good conscience call them a flock so I thought the maybe a 'mischief' would suffice as a collective noun as they can be a bit mischievous)
Where we are staying at the Bridgetown Caravan Park that is right on the river. There are canoes for hire and I believe that the town had a canoeing competition during the year. If it had been a bit warmer I would have been very tempted to hire one and go for a paddle upstream.
We stopped just outside Manjimup at the Diamond Tree. This tree is some 51 metres high and has a circular ladder to the top. The ladder has been made by drilling and inserting steel pins into the trunk and leaving about 24 inches hanging out. The next pin is then inserted forwards and upwards of the first and so on as you wind your way around the tree until you get to the top. As you get higher there is steel cable joining the outside of the pegs to the one above and below.
51 metres does not sound like a huge height but I think it is. Not being particularly fond of heights I started off taking the rungs at a steady pace, after about 10 rungs I slowed to single movements so that I always had three points of contact at any one time – left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg and so on. Nice and steady.
Anyway Jannaya was right behind me which surprised me no end as I didn't think she would be game to climb it. We got to the top and enjoyed the victory before descending in a similar fashion.
We drove on to the town of Pemberton that has the famous Gloucester Tree, a 61 metre giant of the forest. Before venturing too close we stopped for lunch. The info I read somewhere said that the parrots were very friendly so I'd purchased a large bag of bird seed earlier that day at Manjimup. After starting on sangers of corned beef and salad the remnants of tea from a couple of days ago we were set upon by green parrots and rosellas. Poor Jannaya had one sitting on her head, a couple in front of her at the table and one on each wrist pecking at her lunch. I was suffering a similar fate.
Time for the bird seed. I put out a generous helping at the other end of the table which only served to draw more birds. We got some good photos and I told Jannaya off a few times for not eating her lunch. Eventually we'd eaten our fill and the birds all just took off.
I climbed the Gloucester Tree by myself. This climb was actually almost enjoyable, it was still scarey but it seemed a bit less so. I am pretty sure that there is a photo of me at the age of two years old sitting on the fourth rung, so it was a bit special to return to the tree. Robyn took a second photo of me sitting on the fourth rung some 44 years later gazing into the past with a wistful expression.
From the Gloucester Tree we visited the Cascades nearby before venturing on to the third tree that is climbable, the Bicentenial Tree. This tree is 75 metres high. 75 METRES HIGH. It is very high and sits in a cleared space separated from the other trees on it's own just straight up with a four level shed at the top. This one really did scare me so I ventured off very gingerly, about 15 metres from the ground I was having trouble focussing on the rungs in front and I found myself looking at the large gaps between the steps. There are no safety harnesses on any of these trees, while there is a sort of netting behind you it is at your back and above you and serves little purpose except to possibly stop branches (or an unfortunate soul) landing on you from above. I got round the first bend and looked down to see Jannaya one twist below me and catching up and a constant pace.
Left hand, right hand, left foot, right foot, the mantra of safety, I kept going until I reached one of the little half way ledges that warns you that you have just completed the easy part and if you are the slightest bit worried you should turn back at this point. I couldn't do that so it was onwards and upwards. After circling the tree about five times I arrives at the bottom of the four top levels. From there I continued to climb but this time on conventional ladders to the very top. I was not happy at all. Jannaya joined me and seemed to actually be enjoying the view and the gentle swaying 75 metres from the ground. The tree wasn't swaying that much but there was no way I was letting go of the sides of the enclosed platform. Jannaya was first to go and off at a quick pace. I tentatively followed reciting my mantra – Right foot, left foot, right hand, left hand etc etc etc until I got back to the bottom.
While the first two trees were a challenge it was more of a physical one. The Bicentenial Tree was a test of mental persistence and focus. Would I do it again – yes. Would I enjoy it – I doubt it very much. Would I have dealt with a mental limitation- yes. As for Robyn she had returned to the car as both her husband and daughter started the climb as she had no wish to be witness to any of it at all.
We ventured on to the town of Northcliffe which is a town of 900. Like the other small towns this one is well organised, very clean and picturesque. There is a focus on tourism as well as the timber industry. The towns of Donnybrook which boasts the largest free playground in Australia, Bridgtown, Manjimup, Pemberton and Northcliffe are all places I hope to come back to they are of historic value and people are just friendly and welcoming. It would be very easy to spent a couple of months poking about through the towns, parks, doing some hikes, some mountain biking and some motorcycling on the beautiful bendy rolling hills of the area and to only be 40 minutes from the coast. The air is invigoratingly fresh and laden with an earthiness that the dryer areas just don't possess.
It's nearly 11:00 pm and I'm well and truly ready for bed, I thought the tunnels and shafts under the prison were another highlight that would be hard to beat but still after two months of travel I am being blown away by the sights and experiences that we are privvy to. Some on a micro scale like watching a kangaroo rat going about his business under a grass tree on the forest floor and some on a macro scale like looking down on the forest floor from 75 metres above and being able to see the sand dunes of the coast in the distance.
Tomorrow we leave and head for Albany.
Day 67 Albany
After packing up we left the camper trailer at the Bridgetown Caravan Park while we had a look round the township of Bridgetown. Like the towns we had visited in the area yesterday it seems to be a prosperous community. Apparently there is a festival of some sort be it kyaks, jazz, shearing, strawberry or anything else nearly once a fortnight.
The town is built in hilly country which does afford some stunning views at different spots.
Once we'd had a look round we collected the camper trailer and headed for Albany.
We stopped for lunch at the Fernhook National Park. Western Australia really do an outstanding job with the facilities in their parks. The park was deserted but the toilets were spotless and with free bbqs and large sheltered areas as well as very generous camping sights I hope we visit here to stay for a bit longer than just lunch. The parks people also seem to provide an easy to read history and a bit of info about what you can expect to find flora and fauna wise in the area. The native bushes were flowering, from delicate orchids to the less subtle giant banksias.
The Deep Creek flows through the area and is ideal for canoes except for the small waterfalls although I suppose the 'Solo' man wouldn't worry about it he'd just paddle through the waterfalls, crack a can of 'solo' wipe his chin and carry on.
This park was also wheel chair friendly so except for a couple of spots most of the path ways were asphalted so prams, walking frames and even people with walking sticks could get around and see the sights. Well done W.A.
From there we ventured on passing through Walpole and stopping at the 'Valley of the Giants'. This reserve has a stand of 'tingles' that are very large trees. They didn't seem to be quite as high as the kauris but there was a whole valley of the tingles all well over 50 metres high.
The reserve also has a walkway that takes you through the tree tops to a maximum height of 40 metres. Jannaya and I did the walk together and it didn't take Jannaya long to work out that she could get the long decks 'bouncing' up and down much to her amusement and her fathers dismay. I did the Otway Fly a couple of years ago with Jannaya and had no trouble and didn't feel any apprehension. This time I was a little uncomfortable – it must be the residual effects of yesterday's challenge.
We pushed on to Albany arriving at about 5:00 pm. We booked into the Big 4 caravan park at Middleton Beach for three nights. Once we had set up I went for a quick walk 40 metres through the sandhills just behind us to the beach.
The surf was up and there were a few surfers in the water. The moon was also just rising from the sea and looked absolutely splendid. I love digital cameras, you can take multiple snaps and on sorting through them you can pick the photos.
We were warned that the apparent 'rats' are in fact bandicoots and you shouldn't leave food scraps out or they'll rat, err sorry bandicoot through them. Just on dusk one appeared at our camp. Although very timid it poked about at out feet, however if you showed any interest in it it backed away. Robyn left a bit of banana out for it which it jumped on. So as I sit here tapping away on the keyboard I have to stop and take photos of it. Right at this moment it is scrubbing it's face in the sand probably trying to get the banana off. Now it is hopping round Jannaya who is sitting on the ground.
I have set up the surf rod for a fish in the morning, I also have the wet suit and the body surfing gear ready and as a fall back I have a map to the nearest gym. Which will it be??
Robyn's
I really enjoyed the tunnels at the prison - we all received certificates for participating in "extreme heritage." Very different from your usual walk and talk tour. We didn't spend much time in Perth and it feels like we have raced away to escape the awful weather forecasts - something we haven't had to think about since we left.
We had a days sight seeing and geocaching yesterday. Fortunately it is easy to combine both although the biggest tree of all didn't have a cache. It was sickening watching Jannaya and Chad being at the top I chose not to watch. Bit like the footy tonight.
Hope you are all enjoying Chad waxing lyrical about the wildflowers and the countryside. He does it all day too.
Tea tonight was a disaster. The supermarket in Bridgetown was very dodgy and so were their hotdogs. As punishment I cooked Golden Syrup dumplings and as we sit here eating them we have the sound of the surf crashing and the little bandidudes wandering about our feet. Cooler than wildflowers (sorry Mum.)
Day 68 Albany
Robyns
Chad was up and off the gym and to buy some new socks – he was feeling the need for a bit of “me time.” He was also feeling the effects of climbing several hundred metres yesterday. No big deal – we would just potter around camp and get some housework done. There is also a cache about 600 metres away for me to wander down to. Jannaya was still asleep and the camp is almost deserted. Just me and the bandidude. This is probably the caravan park with the best facilities we have stayed in, rec room, theatre, camp kitchens with wood fires and right on the beach.
As the day developed so did the storm clouds. The wind started to blow up and flap the annex about. I tightened the guy ropes and checked that the front was secure. It is secured by two little straps that are pulled through a couple of clips and is not very substantial if there is any stress put on it. Then it rained. A sleeting rain that came in at an angle and wet everything at the edge of the annex. Moved the tables and chairs in further. The wind picked up even more. Oh there goes the front flaps, pull them tight again. Rain stops. Move chairs out into the sun and the wind will dry them in a few minutes. Front annex gone again. Raining, bring chairs back in. Wind is picking up even more. Front annex flap blows off completely and is folded back on the top of the trailer, out of my reach. Water is pouring off the front and back of the annex or as the wind lifts it it sprays everything for metres around it. Have to get the flaps back or the whole annex will lift. Manage to manouvre onto the top of trailer and get flap, water pouring down the inside of my sleeves. Hold onto flap, flapping madly in the wind, trying to hold it and grab the two pulls, manipulate the poles into position try to get another rope out and secure it better. Crocs have gone flying as have the bags for the chairs. Chairs have blown over, so has one of the tables. Damn, flaps gone again. Manouvre back and reach it, flap secured. Front completely saturated, should have put my raincoat on, where's Chad, uh oh tent pegs, are starting to pull out, push back in, front flaps have lifted, poles have gone flying off. This is hopeless, can I pull it down by myself. Push tent pegs back in. Shove chairs and table under the trailer. I'm soaking wet, freezing cold, my hands are numb, I don't know what to do, where's Chad, I need a coffee, oh look the little bandidude is eating the seeds we left him, how much longer will Chad be, should I text him, can I bang in more pegs, will I wake Jannaya up to help – no she's better off where she is, WHERE THE HELL IS CHAD, flaps are gone again, the annex now looks like a parachute, 2 tent pegs are nearly out and I can't get them back in, I GIVE UP. No have to hang onto the pole where the front flaps join onto the annex or we will lose the lot.
Oh thank goodness I can see our car coming. And Chad jumps out of the car in a T'shirt and shorts, all freshly showered and grinning singing “La la la la I've got new socks.”
Chad's version of the day.
Up bright and early, a swim? A fish? Or perhaps the gym. I had a look at the sea and decided the gym would be what I would enjoy. Robyn has avoided doing the washing for nearly a week now and I am out of socks. So I salvaged a pair donned appropriate clothing for some exercise and off I went.
The fitness centre is massive, two heated indoor pools, basket ball courts, creche, outdoor courts and the equipment room. Once I started doing a bit I noticed that things were turning a bit ordinary but as I was doing a few sit ups looking out the window across a green lawn with a well organised garden bordering it while soaking up the sun as the wind started to blow I thought - “Chad, old bean this is pretty good, I could stay here for some time if only I had a book and a latte, that sun is brilliant and it's nice to be in something solid and not listening to a piece of canvas flapping or such like.”
At about 9:30 am I'd done enough so with $10.00 I went in search of fresh socks. Found them and returned to camp.....
Perhaps I should have taken my book and spent the $10.00 on latte's instead.........
See above.....
Anyway eventually we left camp with me not saying anything for fear of inciting death by “squinty look”. We drove round town and still the wind howled and the rain came in at impossible angles everywhere we stopped.
We visited Cable Beach (the less well known one) and decided not to do the walk down to the beach as with the wind, the rain and the cliffs nearby it was just too dangerous.
Eventually we ended up at Whale World. This place is an actual whaling station that someone had the foresight to preserve as a glimpse into the past. (The cynical Robyn believes it is in case the economic climate changes and they can commence business again.) Our guide took us through the whole process from harpooning to rendering and transportation of the whale products at the end of the process.
There is something special that whale oil can do that mineral oils can't replicate. (Robyn – it doesn't change texture or solidify in cold) It was cold, we were wet and our care factor was probably a little low. That said though it was good to visit the station and as our guide explained when the whales were nearby the type of weather was of no consequence at all because the money to be made far outweighed the dangers.
These whale workers were hard hard hard men. Both the ones who worked at sea in at times such appalling conditions and the ones who worked on the flensing deck cutting the whale up into pieces small enough to fit in the cooking chutes. It would have been one of the most horrible jobs I can imagine, skinning 40 tonnes of whale with the flensing knives that were about the size of hockey sticks, smelly, bloody, slippery, messy with white pointers sometimes launching themselves up onto the concrete whale ramp up towards the wooden deck where the slaughtering was being done.
No-one was ever taken by a shark as the distance was too great but it was just another ever present workplace hazard. There is a book by a whaler who tells the story of how he lost his leg while 50 miles from the coast. The sea was boiling and just as the bull whale breached the boat was shaken by a large wave. As the whaler shot the harpoon the ropes at his feet bounced by the waves became entangled round one of his legs. The harpoon took off with it the rope and with that his leg.
Luckily there was the spotter plane nearby who managed to land his sea going plane on the water. The engineer and the man missing his leg got into the small tender and started to row across the 50 metres to the plane. As only one could row the boat just went round in circles. The skipper stripped off and dived in and helped swim the two over to the plane then swam back cutting himself on the barnacles on the boat as he had to climb the sides of the rolling boat.
The pilot then tried to take off before radioing the boat saying the waters were too rough and he had to ditch the engineer who couldn't swim. Back into the water went the skipper with the tender to collect the engineer then back to the boat a second time.
The pilot then tried to take off but broke one of the floats of a wing before breaking the tip of the wing off as well. The water was too rough for him to get up the necessary speed for lift off. Then as experienced seamen know there would be the seventh wave in the swell that was usually the big one he managed to get the plane surfing on the largest wave and got the plane into the air.
As for the harpooner, he got his sealegs back (a terrible thing to say but it was our guide's story) and was back harpooning within six months and continued for another five years. Hard hard hard men.
Day 69 Father's Day Albany
Robyn
A glorious sunny day and we spent most of the morning drying out what was wet the night before. The storm had been so horrendous that even the locals were shaking their heads. The 3 Irish people who had slept in a cheap K'Mart tent looked a little ragged this morning. Maybe because they wisely chose to spend most of the night at the pub.
We cooked bacon and egg rolls for lunch, continuing to dry everything out and I watched the St Kilda Collingwood match for a while. Long enough to be sure the pies were going to get done over.
Late in the afternooon we went for a drive to see some more of Albany and hit some caches. A cachers paradise, stunning locations, some clever camoflauge and lots of them. We had already weeded out the multis that didn't give you enough info to allow you to go straight to the last point. ;-). We allowed them to direct us so we visited some great lookouts and parks. One of the lookouts has a statue honouring the lighthorse brigade – very imposing and stunning views of the Southern Ocean. I think we saw Antartica as well.
A pleasant evening in the campers kitchen around the open fire swappping tales of the storm the night before.
Chads
A bit behind I'm afraid. There is always stuff that needs to be done to make the next ½ day or next two days travel more comfortable. Camping is one of those things where things can't be put off for too long otherwise it takes double the effort to put things right again. There must be some sort of exponential equation that explains the change from a small issue into a major disaster.
A trip to a resort however is all about relaxing and doing nothing but the pleasureable things. Camping is not a resort style holiday!! One of the pleasureable things for the day was to transfer the fishing tackle from the old small broken box into the new K-mart special tackle box. In fact the life and times of a tackle box mirror the whole camping expedition in many ways. You will always expand and use up every bit of space available, if you are not organised you can't find anything, if you are half organised you still have to move something to get the thing you are after. I'm sure I could come up with some more similarities but for the moment that will suffice.
Albany is quite incredible as a town to take in the scenery. There are various hill top lookouts dotted across the town, there are protected beaches on one side and beaches and cliffs pummelled by the waves of the Southern Ocean on the other. There are a couple of light industrial areas with a main shopping complex. There is also the older part of town which has the restaurants and pubs that leads down to the warf area.
Looking out from Middleton Beach where we stayed at the caravan park were a couple of islands, a semi surf beach and a beautiful white beach.
By the time we got home from the drive and after the effort of getting everything dry it was down to a swim or a quick body surf in the fading light. I took the body surf option and quickly donned the wet suit, grabbed the flippers and the surf gun (similar to a kickboard but with a hand groove in the middle for body surfing.
Down to the water I went and straight it. It was cold but not unbearable. I managed to catch about five waves, not taking the big ones but the smaller 4' of so waves. Then it was back up the beach, off with the wet suit, a 70 metres dash in the speedos to the pool and spa, into the spa and have a warm up. The water felt like it was boiling. It actually hurt and I thought that I had cut my knees as they were stinging. There were no cuts and after about two minutes I just lay back letting the warm bubbly water do it's thing. They even had towels to use once you'd got out. How good was that. Fresh towels.
After that it was tea, chocolate cake, a cup of red wine and bed.
Day 70 Point Ann
We didn't think we would be able to get to Esperence today – its just a bit beyond our travelling tolerance. The intention was to visit Bremer Bay (we had been told it was pretty) or bush camp a bit further along. Chad had the whatever's – he is sick of driving and doesn't want to head home anyway. We arrived in Bremer Bay late morning so it was a bit early to stop and it wasn't nice enough to entice us to stay so consulting several maps we decided on Fitzgerald National Park trying to squeeze the last value out of our monthly pass. We twisted and turned down a gravel road with short coastal vegetation and stark bald hills called things like Mt Bland and Mt Barren. Even Jannaya removed her Ipod at one point and asked “Where on earth are we going.” Eventually we emerged from this stark and hostile landcape onto the crest of hill overlooking the most exquisite azure sea and white sand. There before us were 8 whale mums and their babies.
Point Ann is one of the whale nurserys where they fatten up and rest the babies before they head back to Antartica. We had seen whales at most places on the coast but never so many or so close. Chad had a fish on the point and one sauntered over to have a look at him. He was close enough to hear it singing.
The campsites are on an estuary just a short walk to the beach where a mum and baby are about 30 metres off shore. Apparently if its not windy they will come in even closer to the beach. We can see her roll onto her back with her fins in the air while the calf lies on her to suckle. Everyone agreed we needed to stay here for a couple of nights at the grand cost of $7 an adult and $2 for Jannaya. No showers but it does have barbecues and toilets.
After setting up camp, Chad left for a fish in the estuary and I started to cook tea. Horrendous black storm clouds appeared, zoomed across us, dumped rain on us for a couple of hours and blew us all over the place. After a tea of jam sandwiches we read for a while and were all asleep by about 8pm.
Chads
Robyn seems to have summed it up pretty well.
The sight of whales so close to the beach was amazing. I went for a fish off the rocks and caught a PBT. I rank fish into two distinct groups. PBTs – Poohey Brown Things and Sos - Silver Ones – these are the edible pretty fish that I so rarely catch. Anyway score 1 to the PBTs as I latched onto about 18” of PBT. While out of the rocks I reckon one of the whales came over for a closer look. I could actually hear them doing their moaning thing which was pretty cool.
We found a camp site and instead of trying to back the trailer in using the car I unhooked it and we just pushed it in. It couldn't have been easier and to top it all off the ground was level.
We all went for a walk down to the beach and watched another mother and baby whale in the water about 60 metres away.
As we got back to the camp I decided to go for a quick fish in the estuary nearby. As I walked down I noticed the huge rolling grey cloud coming towards us. I delayed the fish and walked back and we all tidied up the camp utilising every bit of storage for anything so if it hit it wouldn't be a disaster.
Once the camp was tidied Robyn went off to the hot plates nearby to cook tea and I went for the fish. As I got closer to the spot I again looked at the clouds- they were bigger and greyer and angrier than before, the wind also picked up dramatically.
We didn't have the much anticipated pasta for tea instead once we were all safely in the camper trailer which was being rocked and rained on tea was a tuna snack pack each, bread and jam – no margarine as it was outside, a bit of chocolate and to top it off I slugged down a healthy plastic cup of red. Good night ...
Day 71 Point Ann
After the onslaught of the previous evening it was a beautiful sunny morning. I was up, grabbed a banana and went for a fish in the esturine waters. No value there. I returned and had a bit more breakfast then it was down to the beach with the surf rod.
The whales were still around doing their quiet lolling about some 50 metres behind the breaking waves.
This really is a beautiful spot, the mountains in the back grounmd the snow white sands and the rolling surf. I keep saying in the logs that I am continually surprised by what is around the next corner and I would have thought that after the Noerthern Territory, the Kimberly and the Pilbara areas that there was little left. How naïve am I?? Just better and better!!
I flicked the squid out into the breakers and waited while watching the whales. They seem to defy the ocean currents and just stay suspended in the one spot for ages. No bites on the rod and the sun was beautiful and warming. There was no-one about at all. The National Park is miles away from anywhere so it is pretty quiet. I stripped down to my smalls and stayed fishing (well more like holding a rod and reel to no apparent purpose for a couple of hours.
After that I strolled back to the camp and took up a position on the deck chair in the sun, luxuriating in the warmth of the sun's rays. It was just the sort of day that I think we all needed. Robyn was happy enough to read while Jannaya spent her time going down to the estraury, down to the beach, playing in the sand hills and even at one point lying on her bed compiling a power point of her holidays.
After I had a snooze I went back to the beach for another crack at the fish – still pointless but I did manage to get a few more snaps of the whales off the beach. A mother and baby were only some 50 metres off the breakers while out further there were a couple of whales doing the breach and splash a move peculiar to whales, dolphins and the fat beach goers.
It is now about 5:15pm and I have caught up with the writings and musings, time to do the photos from the last three days.
Day 72 Esperance
Oh ohh, the disease of the wrinklees, I had to do the nocturnal stroll at about 4:00 am. In my defence however I did crawl into bed pretty early, I won't put the time as it is embarassingly early – but a big day in the sun, breathing fresh clean air listening to birds and whales can take it out of a man. There was not a cloud to be seen and the stars were stunning. I sat outside and took in the starry night amazed by the brightness of them. It was still pretty cool so it was good to crawl back into bed. The whales were also in fine form as the wind had turned 180' from the previous night and was blowing straight in off the bay. We could hear the whale sounds and the only thing I can think that was making the bangs would have been their tails hitting the water.
With a beautiful starry night behind us I all but bounded up out of bed and was treated to the warming sun. I raced around and did most of the tidying up chores that were my responsibility, then it was a stroll down to the beach to have a look at the whales. I counted about four pairs of whales who continued to loll about just behind the surf line taking it easy.
The beach was all but deserted as I spotted a loan figure walking towards me from further round the beach. That was it no-one else for many miles. The feeling of remoteness in this place is quite special.
Once I had enjoyed my fill of whales for another day I returned to camp and scurried about completing what chores I could so I could have a quiet read in the sun. Ahh glorious sun. The spot we were camped in was probably the pick of them - Number 13. From the camp spot it is an easy walk through a little forest of stunted trees to the sandy banks of the river that has closed it's access to the sea. From there it is about a minute walk through the squeaky sand to the pristine white beach. The campsight is also well protected as can be from the winds – except of course the storm from two nights prior, but there would not have been anywhere that was protected.
We ventured off with about 250 km to Esperance. Just as we had finalised our packing up an English couple came and asked if they could have our “pitch” as it was the best out of all of them. We were more than happy to leave the spot in good hands and Jannaya showed them the little path to the beach.
There was 50 km of dirt road to get to the Great Southern Highway. The road was easy driving with a couple of spectacular views back towards to coast.
We stopped at for lunch and visited the old cemetery some four km from the small town. It was bizarre – there was a single line of graves, some with headstones, some with white wooden crosses and the remainder with nothing stretching for about 300 metres down the hill.
After a dose of trans fats in the form of a pie each, sugars and caffeine in the form of a latte' and it was back into the 180 km to Esperence.
In just over 15,000 kilometres I have hardly hit any bugs at all. Along this section of road I have almost emptied the washer bottle in less that 200 kilometres. Big squishy bugs with yellow gelatinous reserves all over the windscreen.
We stopped at a little spot where the highway crosses the rabbit proof fence. It was a bit special to have now been at the northern most point at Cape Krauden and now the southern point near Esperance.
We got to Esperance at about 4:30 pm and quickly set up the camp so we could do the quickest of quick shops and have a look around while the sun was still shining.
While checking out at the supermarket I asked the young lady there what three things were essential to do in Esperance. Her reply was pretty quick – 1. Visit the jetty to see the seals, 2. Go to the sand hills and surf down them and 3. Visit the Cape and have a body surf.
They all sounded like good plans so we'll try and hit a couple of them tomorrow as we are booked in for two nights. After that good advice we went for a little drive around the town. Esperance has a population of 14,450 people and has a feel similar to Apollo Bay. There are some streets lined with the standard Norfolk Pines which give the town that very relaxed beach town feel.
We'll see more tomorrow.
Day 73 Esperance
The day started off with a lung full of cool air from the south west. The plan was to do the tourist loop, do a bit of shopping, visit the sand hills, drive on the beach and get in a fish.
Alas as the morning progressed the winds picked up.
The view was amazing apparently this spot at Esperance is one of the few places where you can drive 30 km on the beach to Cape LeGrande. Once back in the car we had a drive along the beach until the tide and the soft sand convinced me that it was time to reverse back down the beach until finding hard sand so I could turn round.
The wind was still howling and the seas were streaked with white caps, at Salmon Beach there were two blokes with their surf rods. The beach slopes down sharply to the surf and the sets of waves were foaming white. I don't think the boys were going to catch anything as the wind was blowing their sinkers and bait back into the shallows.
From there we did a quick shop before returning to the camp. The camper trailer had been parked with the back facing the direction of the wind. The wind had collapsed the rear so we righted it but the next gust of wind flattened it again.
Decision time. I visited the office who had a cabin free for the night so with rain pending, no let up in the wind until the following day it was an easy decision to make the move and pack up the camper trailer.
Day 74 Fraser Ranges Station
There are some things about staying in a cabin that really make the difference. It was funny that despite having all the room available to us we all ended up huddled in one corner, Robyn and Jannaya watching the telly while I tapped away at the computer.
The pack up in the morning was not with out a couple of minor dramas. As we had extracted the bedding necessary for the cabin and then folded up the camper trailer it was impossible to get it all back inside the camper trailer in the morning. It took a little imaginative packing to sort things out but in the end a sort of success.
We ventured out of Esperance and stopped briefly at Salmon Gums. The town is named after the beautiful light pink coloured gums that grow in the area. After a quick break it was on towards Norseman however there was a little surprise in store for us before we got there. We stopped about 15 km south of Norseman at Bromus Dam. At this spot we found an old concrete water tank on a huge domed outcrop of granite. The amazing thing was that at the bottom of the granite dome, probably about a football field in circumferance was a concrete and stone wall about 15” high – the entire way round. There is nothing else remaining except for the tank and wall.
We got to Norseman that was named after a horse. Legend has it that the horse - “Norseman” kicked over a nugget that was the beginning of a gold rush to that area. Today there is still a gold mine working underground at Beacon Hill which overlooks the town. There is a huge tailings dump that is extraordinary to look at as you drive past.
We took a detour after Jannaya purchased a mining permit. This covered us to visit the agate fossicking area where we scratched for agates for a couple of hours. I found a couple of beautiful red ones.
After that it was back in the car and east along the Eyre Highway towards the Nullabour. The vegetation was very mallee like in colour and size of trees. We hit an area where the trees were predominatly coral gums. The trunks were a sort of pinky orange and when passing a large area they looked quite spectacular. The storm that we weathered (a reasonable pun) left water in many of the table drains leaving the area looking refreshed and verdant. There have been a couple of hills but for the most part the road has been straight and level. There is a section that we will have to negotiate that is 146 km long and is the straightest stretch of road in Australia. I have volunteered to let Robyn drive that stretch.
We decided to spend the night at Fraser Ranges Station a working sheep station that breeds sheep for meat. These sheep apparently don't require shearing. We saw some in the sheep yards as we drove in and they looked pretty shabby and in need of a bit of a trim.
The park here is very relaxed and the manager of the show was very welcoming showing us around and explaining the workings of the camp and a bit about the station. Showers cost $1.00 for five minutes. This is a timely reminder of the scarcity of water that this area has to deal with most of the year. We were invited to the camp kitchen for drinks where Robyn met a lady from Taradale and two blokes who work for the Bendigo Bank.
We set up camp and Jannaya and I went through the collection of agates to cull out the ones we thought substandard managing to get it down to ¼ of a bucket instead of the bucket that we had collected.
Once the singing started we graciously excused ourselves and did the bolt back to the camper trailer for tea. We are all a bit knackered and I think it will be an early one for all of us.
Day 75 Cocklebiddy
The rain came down during the night in the small hours accompanied by the persistent wind. I remember actually getting out of bed and it being very cold. Somewhere in the still asleep left hemisphere of my brain I had decided that I was going to pack up the chairs and try and stop anything else from getting any wetter.
I paused at the door flap with the zipper clutched tighly between my thumb and forefinger... as I started to lift the zip a sudden flash of common sense hit as the left hemisphere woke up. I smiled to myself and thought stuff it and got back into bed and fell asleep. (Fortunately Robyn had stowed everything before she went to bed)
The morning was a crisp fresh one with the rain clouds all but blown away although there were a few in the west heading towards us. It was a quick breakfast and into the packing up.
Once underway as we approached the Nullabour I was driving quite happily with a strong tail wind behind us. We were just over taking the cloud shadows on the road at 90 km or so which gives an indication as to the wind speed higher up.
There is a little refueling station called Balledonia which is near the start of the longest straight stretch of road in Australia some 146 km of it. We refueled there and had a quick look in the museum that is part of the road house. There were two things of great interest:
When Space Lab crashed to earth in W.A. in 1979 the Americans were hit with a $400.00 fine for littering.
The white round pebbles of limestone are actually called pistalites and are made up of a minute speck of dirt or stone that slowly becomes encased in calcium.
This had me very excited as I had cracked a couple of them while I was scratching for my red agates the day before and in the centre I had found a stone of different texture.
There was another treat in store for us at Balledonia – you remember the little mini camper trailer being towed by the Barina with the elderly couple from Melbourne well they pulled up as we were about to leave. We had a chat to them as the camper was sporting new wheelbarrow tyres. The lovely gent explained that they needed replacing by the time they got to Perth. It is hard to reconcile ourselves to the fact that these two oldies have been travelling at the same speed as we have since Alice Springs to here. The SAME SPEED in a tiny camper.
I was again struck by the thought that to do a huge trip can be very easy and not cost the earth, these two didn't need a satellite television, built in toilet and shower, internal kitchen and dining table, airconditioning and heating. They are legends they are out there doing it and this was their fourth trip round this half of Australia. Legends.
Off we went towards the straight stretch. Before we got there there must have been some test runs as there were some very long straight stretches of road. One was even marked out as an air strip for the Flying Doctor for use in emergencies.
The straight stretch wasn't half as boring as it threatened to be. The road is very similar to some of the Cobb Highway from Deniliquin to Hay. Very straight, very flat with no trees just low knee length bushes. The open areas changed to lightly wooded at times, to mallee country and back to open plains.
We stopped at the Caiguna Blowhole that we thought would be something quite spectacular – it wasn't. It was a hole in the ground that wasn't even very deep. I would put it in the same league as the famous stromalolites. Luckily the only detour to this was stopping at a wayside road stop. Judging by the smell of urine emanating from the hole other people were even less impressed than us.
The wind was still blowing and with a decision to make about taking the next accommodation stop or continuing on for another long stretch we decided to stop at the Cocklebiddy Road House for the night.
A Big 4 caravan park this is not. The scarcity of water was driven home as we booked in. There are no lawns and not many trees. Once you get the key to the ablution block you also get a shower token one per person. I knew I would have to guard my token as Jannaya would purloin it if given the chance.
There are two roads to the coast from Cocklebiddy. The first road takes you to Twighlight Beach. Apparently Twighlight Bridge is stunning with whales, dolphins and seals. The road is also a shocker and not for the faint hearted 4WDer. Well my heart nearly stopped when the bloke told me all this and I started to feel faint.
We took Option 2 the road to the Bird Observatory at Eyre. Well the road is the standard crappy dirt road with rocks, corrugations and pot holes. We persisted for about 16 km of rough going until we got to a big hill with a sign asking you to radio ahead. I called “Eyre Bird” who explained that the track after the hill was sandy and could we let our tyres down to 16 PSI to preserve the track, he also went on to explain what we could see but added that we had probably left it a little late.
That was all the encouragement I needed, we about faced and headed back to camp for beer and crips before tea.
Cocklebiddy is like so many of these remote places – they are self reliant and have to produce their own power. It will be interesting to see who wins the noise war, the occasional roadtrain roaring past or the constant drone of the generator.
Collingwood are playing the Crows at the MCG tonight.
Robyn's
Boringest day ever – does that road never end!
Hardly any caches that are reasonably accessible and bugger all to see off the highway. The only thing of interest is the in between timezone that we call cocklebiddy time. It is 45 minutes ahead of WA and 1¼ hours behind SA.
Oh and Collingwood getting beaten
Day 76 Koondala
We got away none to early as Princess Jannaya was due for a sleep in so we let her. Once on the road we continued east – not that we had much choice in the matter.
At one point we stopped for a photo from the top of the ranges at the Madurra Pass looking across the valley to the Hampton Plains. The view was spectacular and well worth the stop. We stopped at Mindibilla and refueled.
From there and it seemed like miles we left the Hampton Plains before climbing steeply up to Eucla. Eucla was a surprise. Someone sometime ago had put a lot of effort into building a stopover that people would remember. It would be great to stay at the motel here in summer and enjoy the swimming pool that looks down the hill to the sea in the distance. There is motel accommodation as well as a spartan caravan park. There is a play ground featuring a large concrete whale. I managed to get a photo of Jannaya Ahab sitting in to little boat next to the beast from the deep. Gregory Peck she is not but the whale is a bit undersized anyway.
The driving for the first time actually started to get a bit tedious. It may be that we all need a rest for a day or two as everyone seems to be struggling a bit with doing more than the minimum.
We got to the border and had our fruit all sorted out after Robyn made us gorge ourselves so we didn't have to surrender too much. Well east bound travellers don't have to worry themselves until they get to Ceduna it is the west bound travellers who have to surrender their fresh produce.
I got a photo of Jannaya leaving Western Australia for South Australia which sort of marks the end of a chapter in our adventure. The Border Crossing is also one of the holes in the worlds longest golf courses the “Nullabor Links Golf Course” that starts in Kalgoorlie and ends somewhere near Ceduna. The hole at the border is called the “Border Kangaroo”. I'd hate to be the caddy!!
We took a side road down towards the coast from one of the rest stops and were rewarded with a stunning view of the cliffs of the bight to the west and sand hills to the east all girt by a deep blue sea as far as we could see.
The next stretch of road must be the “Null Arbour” for which the Nullabor is named – there were absolutely no trees to be seen anywhere except for a very stout mallee gum that stood about 5' tall. The only other growth was bushy growth some as high as 6' but for the most part about knee height. The country still looked surprisingly green.
It was getting to the stage where a bed was going to be needed for the night so we were checking out all the road side stops. None of them had toilets and the family is still under the threat - “The first to use the porta potty will thereafter become the porta potty monitor”.
Eventually we turned north on an unsignposted dirt road. There is a geocache somewhere to the north 15 km away so follow it we did.
What a treat. There is an abandoned property “Koondala” that National Parks now own. In 1988 the family who had lived on the farm walked away after 50 years on the property. There is a car graveyard – old Fjs and all sorts of other beasts are rusting away. The farm homestead is still standing and looks reasonable on the outside. There is still a bit of furniture inside but for the most it is uninhabitable.
We poked about taking in the atmosphere before checking out a shed that had a newer roof and rainwater tank. Well, there was a fire place inside with wood set to go so we decided we'd stay the night here and enjoy the very rustic surrounds.
I located the toilet that was an experience not to be missed. It was in a largish shed and featured a 22 gallon drum with a tyre attached to the top. It had a bit of a lean but when faced with a lifetime of porta potty monitoring it was an easy decision.
Having been on a previous camping trip where I had juggled the toilet paper eventually losing it to the depths of the long drop I left my sunglasses outside on a bush.
When I exited the toilet they were gone. I looked and looked but they were gone. Neither Robyn or Jannaya were anywhere to be seen. It was all a bit strange. I hadn't heard anyone so it is fair to say I was just a bit spooked. Then Jannaya appeared and had a grin that she couldn't hide. The little baggage must have a bit of ninja in her to have stolen the glasses without being heard.
We ended up having a fire in what must have been the head stockman's quarters. There is a log book that we read finding entries by some friends from Bendigo (Leanne, Dean and Shammaya) as well as another couple of parties we know who had stayed there too, We left our thoughts in the book for posterity. There are caves that we hope to find in the morning that used to be the source of water.
Day 77 Fowlers Bay
I spent a good hour having a walk around the abandoned station, the shearing shed and a second car graveyard were worth a look as well as having a second look at the farm house.
By the time I returned Jannaya was up and we started the pack up. We drove another six km north to the cave entrance to the Koonalda caves. The area has been fenced off and the ladder that allowed entry to the caves removed. Looking at the overhang it is easy to appreciate the dangers of caving.
From there it was back south to the Eyre Highway and on our way east.
We ended up stopping at the Head of the Bight where there is a whale watching platform. There were about eight mums and their calves in the area and the view from above on the cliffs was remarkable. I think though that having the whales to ourselves at Point Ann was better, but make no mistake this was still breathtaking. To the west you could see the cliffs of the Bight and to the east was an enormous set of sand hills that had blown into the cliffs completely covering them and leaving beaches instead of rocks.
Soon after leaving there we past a sign informing us that we were now at the western most point of the treeless plain. It was truly a sight to behold for there really was nothing higher than ankle height as far as you could see in any direction – the land was flat as could be and I have no doubt you could calibrate a spirit level with the horizon in any direction.
After that run that probably lasted less than 100 km we were into wooded areas. At this point we were all struggling a bit to maintain wakefullness so a stop and a coffee and muesli bar got us back on the boil. It wasn't that the country was especially boring (it wasn't) I think it is just the miles and the constant driving that were starting to take their toll.
We decided to put on to Fowlers Bay as Robyn promised me a fish so it was with great relief that we stopped and set up for the night.
Robyns
Chad has been bothered by the amount of food I have had in the freezer and the tinned veges I bought in Esperance but knowing that there would be nowhere to buy any on this leg I just ignored him. A very nice and clearly knowledgable man we met in Albany told him to keep the freezer full so it doesn't work as hard so now he has stopped questioning me. We had thought we would be in Ceduna by now so there is no fresh stuff left. With 2 nights in Fowlers Bay Chad better catch some fish or it will be baked beans for days.
We are all feeling triumphant the we have crossed the Nullaboar but it wasn't what I expected. Off course you know that there are long stretches of not much but I had thought there would be lots of places to stop and explore. Several of the lookouts and all the caves except Koonalda were closed due to danger. Nothing is signposted – you just have to hope that you take the right dirt track to anything that is marked on your map. I had thought we would be able to bush camp on some remarkable stretches of beach or cliffs but you can't get very close at all and the only public toilets are at the roadhouses. There were a few geocaches along the way – not necessarily where you would expect but they found us some good spots and provided some good legstretches. One at the turnoff to Koonalda was placed by a guy who's car had broken down. Its a good story and when you are there you realise just how isolated he was.
I placed this cache to mark the spot where I waited a long afternoon to be rescued by an old bush mechanic from Nullarbor roadhouse, 100 km away. I was nosing about by myself checking out caves and blowholes that are numerous across this long limestoney stretch of uninhabited southern Australia. I was 8 km up the track that leaves the highway here when the dreaded event happened! I had stopped to photograph the lovely country and a big circular depression that probably conceals caverns beneath. I climbed back in to my Falcon station wagon, and there was no kick from the starter motor at all. I tried everything, with no luck. It sunk in - I was very alone and had a longish walk to tackle - snakebites and twisted ankles must be avoided at all costs. I walked for two hours back to the highway, then stepped out to flag down a passing traveler. The first car, amazingly given the location, did not stop... The next - a hired tourist van - stopped about 150m past me. A German-sounding chap shouted to me from near the van and seemed understandably nervous - I was a heavily-bearded bloke covered in sweat and tatty clothing emerging from nowhere a full 100 km from the nearest roadhouse. Turned out this very nice German couple had also seen the movie 'Wolf Creek'! I managed to assure them of my decent intentions, and they agreed to take my request for help to Nullarbor roadhouse. |
Day 78 Fowler Bay
Well as I promised myself it was going to be a bit of a me day. It was well after 11:00 pm by the time I got to bed and sleep wasn'tlong coming.
I was up first and after a bite went for a walk down to the jetty for a look. There were whales out a fair way and you could hear them moaning away quite happily. The wind from the night before had died down and it was just going to be a beautiful day. Shorts, T shirt and a cap would be all that was required. Ye Haa.
After messing about for a couple of hours doing not very much at all I had a chat with the part time manager at the park. A really friendly bloke who offered to show us the beach and coast on the outside of the bay. Robyn was determined to have a Robyn day, more about that later but I was happy to go.
Paul, a bloke travelling with his family and his inlaws was all for a drive along the beach too. Like me he had no experience in sand but our guide promised it would be fine. I set of with Jannaya and Paul's daughter Sabrina in the mighty Rodeo following our guide's landcruiser followed by Paul's V8 Landrover Discovery.
After a quiet pep talk we got to the start of the beach run and it was time to deflate the tyres. I had a set of tyre deflaters set at 18 PSI which was ideal for the beach. Once we were all deflated it was off through a couple of small hills and then east along the beach. We were only about two metres from certain death – well being bogged in wet sand as the tide was high but second gear with the revs up in 4WD kept all of us going. I don't mind admitting that the first run up the beadh was a bit daunting.
We got the the eastern most point and then did a small lap through some more sandhills before setting off to the west. I reckon we must have done 25+ KM and a little over rough rocky exposed ground before we stopped at Mexican Hat another small beach area.
From there our guide and mentor left us in search of a school of salmon with easy instructions as to how to get home via the back roads unless of course we wanted to follow our tracks back up the beach.
We stayed at the Mexican Hat and Paul and I made the appropriate sacrifices to Neptune in the form of brand new $8.00 lures and a few sinkers and hooks.
From there it was the back roads back to Fowler bay.
Fowler bay itself boasts a caravan park, two phone boxes and a couple of homes. The population in winter would be no more than 50 people. It is a very pretty spot which is also very sheltered from the might of the Southern Ocean.
Jannaya and her new friend had a great time climbing the sand hills just behind the town and careering back down on the severly modified skateboard.
After a bit of a tidy up, a shower and some tea I went back down to see if anyone was catching any fish of the jetty.
There were two old blokes who had little four wheel trolleys with their gear and rods all laid out for easy acquisition for all things piscatorial. I watched in wonderment as they landed one Tommy Ruff after another with seemingly no effort whatsoever. Poetry in motion. They explained that they used maggots, small hooks, a bit of burley, fleuro floats and years of practice. It certainly showed as in no time they both had a full bucket each and off they went. A very classy show.
I returned with the fishing gear and met Paul and David his father in law and we had a fish. Well they did but with lightening and drops of rain coming in from the west I took the soft option and returned to write up the log.
Robyn had tidied up the camp so that in the event of a downpour only the barest minimum of gear would get wet.
Day 79 Streaky Bay
With the clouds looming overhead like crows around stale roadkill it was an enforced early start to get everything away while it was still dry. The princess was not quite ready to play the game – it is a fortunate thing that no one died after being hit by a pillow.
Once we said our goodbyes to Paul, Joanne, David, Trish, Sabrina and young William our 4WD and fishing companions it was off. Paul and David persisted with the fishing and ended up catching a feed of Tommy Ruff which were filletted and looked ready for cooking that evening.
We trundled through Penong famous for it's windmills (on the east side of town) then onto Ceduna. Having stretched our fresh fruit and vegies to their limit and eating almost everything in the pantry the fruit fly crossing was almost a none event. We happily handed over a tomato and some salad stuff.
I was treated to a concrete giant oyster – another big thing at the fruit fly check. I also took the opportunity to purchase ½ a dozen oysters from the oyster bay located at the fruit fly check.
We called in at Ceduna and stocked up on food as the supplies were well depleted. Ceduna is a small town with one supermarket. I took a photo down the main street that leads straight to the sea, on a sunny day it would be incredibly picturesque – with the drizzle it wasn't.
We ventured on stopping at Smoky Bay for a look. Again this would be a lovely place to have a relax with warm sunny days but it wasn't the venue for today. You would have to relax at these places as there is little else to do...
We called in to Perlubie Bay and had a look at the council camping ground. Again a lovely place on a sunny day but not today. Someone had built a playground at low tide because at high tide the swing was in the water so swinging would be a bit of a buzz out over the water.
We eventually got to Streaky Bay and found a caravan park. We left the camper trailer packed up hoping that the rain would abate and went for a drive.
After a lunch of trans fats in the form of pies and sausage rolls topped off by a particularly good latte' we called in to the Shell Servo that has a replica of the world record shark that a 21 year old caught in 1990.
The thing weighed 1450 kg and he caught it on 24 kg line, the struggle lasted some five hours after the two sharks had bumped and thumped the boat that they guys were sleeping in.
Anyway the replica in the shell servo is impressive. The lady at the servo gave us a map of places to visit and to have a look at while we staying in Streaky Bay.
So following the map we went for a drive out to the blow hole and the whispering wall. I sat in the car but Robyn stoic explorer that she is did the walk and listened to the sea whispering through the wall and was impressed and then watched the blow hole that failed to impress.
I had been checking out the surf and it was impressive, probably just under six foot high but the light off shore winds had the waves peaking beautifully before tubing into the beach. I was a bit surprised no one was out there but I suppose everyone was working.
We got back to the camp and popped ourselves into the camp kitchen waiting for the rain to stop so we could set up in the dry. It just wasn't going to happen so we did a minimal set up and retreated to the dry of the camp kitchen thinking about tea.
Then as darkness settled the power went off. Not just in the caravan park but in the whole of Streaky Bay.
Thank goodness for gas. I unpacked the generator – at this point it had stopped raining and bought it over to the camp kitchen providing enough light for everyone to eat and cook by.
It is now 8:30 pm and there are about 20 people chatting, playing cards and drinking cask wine in the camp kitchen. Jannaya is in seventh heaven with four girls to keep her entertained.
Robyns
Chad was the hero tonight – there was a bit of a panic when the power went off just before teatime. He pulled out our rechargeable light which lit the dining room and then got the generator to power another one which lit the kitchen.
Because it was raining all afternoon lots of camping people opted for a cabin. How cranky would they be that the power went out – they probably had some power in their campers (which were all packed up outside.)
This is a lovely friendly town – hope the weather clears tomorrow.
Day 80 Streaky Bay
The sun made it's presence felt from about 10:30 am and the day just got better. With plenty of sun and a laundry it gave us time to get bits and pieces opf the camper tidied up, groceries put away and some washing done. Jannaya slept through most of it. What is it with teenagers and their ability to sleep for 12 hours if you let them. They can't need that much as they don't appear to do much.
We popped into town and purchased a few odds and ends then it was off to visit the sea lions at Point Labatt.
We took the scenic route and visited numerous beaches and cliffs and potential fishing spots. My enthusiasm for fishing has wained a bit – there just hasn't been the intermittant reinforcement that I need to keep me going back trying my luck.
We must have seen forty or so stumpy tailed lizards for the day. Most were pretty docile and tolerated being handled as we moved them off the roads.
We eventually got to Point Labatt where there is a look out on the top of the cliffs overlooking the sea lion colony below. It was a bit of a treat as there were about 50 of them basking on the beach below. Every now and again one would move about and bother one of the other ones resting but that was about it.
Most of the roads were dirt but easy to drive on. The rain from the previous night had spruced everything up a treat, the natural scrub looked stunning and the vast fields of wheat looked as though the farmers would profit come harvest time.
Back at the caravan park I ventured down to the lawned area for some Chad time with a book while I watched a bloke cleaning his catch for the day. Just when the sqawking of the wretched sea scabs (sea gulls) had me about to leave the air force arrived. Ten pelicans muscled into the fish scaling table and took what ever scraps were thrown into the air.
The sea scabs completely outgunned retreated from their prime position and in due course all but lost interest.
Once again the trip has thrown up different landscapes that continue to leave me feeling as though we have only touched the surface of what is on offer. It is less than two weeks to go and we are all sort of in a state of flux, we are all wanting to make a dash for it and just get home but at least at this stage we also want to make the trip last as long as we can. The next couple of days will tell but hopefully there is another good ten days to go before the dash home.
Day 81 – Elliston
The pack up was executed brilliantly well this morning, partly because most of the furniture hadn't been unpacked due to the rain on the first night and partly due to the great camp kitchen and dining/television room.
Our first stop was at Murphys Haystacks which are beautiful domes of granite that have been worn into different curvacious shapes there are a couple of outcrops just sitting in a farmers field and against the green of the wheat and the blue of the sky they looked a bit “out there”. I hope I got a couple of good photos.
We called into Venus Bay which is a very small town but with million dollar views across cliffs and beaches.
Then it was on towards the town of Elliston. On the north side about 15 km out there is a wood fired bakery who put their loaves in an honesty system little shed for passers by. We had read about it somewhere so we stopped and grabbed a cob roll.
We got to Elliston and found a great spot on the beach with the standard concrete dining arrangements and sea gulls. There it was slices of bread and dips, ham, salsa and just plain old butter. Delicious!! We managed to keep the sea gulls at bay with lashings of rice crackers which we had bought but not really touched. Even the sea gulls weren't impressed with the orange ones and for the most part were dubious at best when they ended up with the green ones.
Elliston appealed to us as a place to stay so we booked in at the caravan park nearby and got ourselves organised. Robyn had a sleep on the camp stretcher in the sun, Jannaya withdrew to the comfort of the camper and I could hear her jabbering away to someone on skype. Me, well I sat in the sun and tried to finish my book. At one stage one of the neighbours came over asking “Is the Misses okay? – she looks dead”.
Once we were rested it was out to do the tourist drive along the cliffs. Apparently the edges can be a bit dodgy!!
There is a permanent art display on the cliffs for about four km. The artists have used various mediums (I love using technical terms like 'mediums') to portray beach life. Some highlight the frivolity of beach life using debris washed up on the beaches while others are a little deeper and darker in meaning using a more industrial 'medium' to portray the juxtaposition of man's id and ego. Yep – I made the last bit up but the sculptures were fun.
From there it was up to Locks Well a little further south. The spot where you will catch a fish!! We arrived as the sun was starting it's descent into the sea, I too started my descent some 287 steps down to the beach. This is not a swimming beach unless your children were beastly little brats and you wanted them gone. It has a brutal undertow and the beach is steep. I hooked on the pilchard and may or may not have had a couple of hits but in the end after replacing the bait a few times and the sun now below the sea it was give up time and back up the steps. Carrying the tackle box, rod and other accessories up and down the stairs gets the ticker doing a merry dance indeed.
We grabbed fish and chips then ventured out onto the old jetty and had a fish from there. An entirely unsuccessful venture except for Jannaya who hooked her first ever edible fish a Tommy Ruff – Australian Herring. I was tending to something else when a fish took my bait then wrapped itself and my line round a steel pylon to the point it was a lost cause trying to retrieve it. Robyn had one on that gave a deft body flick releasing it from certain death and a frying pan so Jannaya was the only one to catch a fish.
Robyn could't get the hook out so she bought it down to me. Once his head was off the hook came out with relative ease. Jannaya was horrified as she wanted to put him back into the sea with his family. I explained that it is tradition that you must eat the first eating size fish you catch, it's the rules.
Both Robyn and I had had enough but Jannaya continued to try her luck getting lots of bites but no more landings.
It was after 11:00 pm by the time we got back, showered and into bed. It was however a very good day.
Robyn's
We had intended to get down to Coffin Bay to bush camp for a couple of nights but between geocaching and sight seeing we didn't get very far. It was a beautiful sunny day and we just plodded around soaking it up. Elliston was a nice spot and we enjoyed an early camp and the sunshine.
I took one look at the stairs going down to the salmon beach and opted to search for a cache and take some sunset photos instead. Jannaya went up and down a couple of times though.
Fishing on the pier was pleasant, it was a rally balmy night and we were in T'shirts until late. The salmon beach and the pier are supposed to be guaranteed as successful for fishing according to the guidebooks. Chad is now completely disillusioned with fishing and Jannya is as keen as after her catch. It will be interesting to see who maintains what attitude over the next few days.
Day 82 Whyalla
I think we were all a bit sorry to leave Elliston it was a lovely stay and a further wind down after the distances travelled and the sights seen by us all.
We headed north a little bit then due east on the Birdseye Highway which took us across towards Cowell. About half way between Elliston and Cowell is a small monument to a chap who decided that a drought line was needed to define the richer pastures from the poorer ones. I'd say his line wasn't far off the mark at all as it was about 15 km from his reckoning that the country changes quite dramatically in about the middle of the peninsula, the crops of wheat seemed to be struggling and the area not under cultivation is the familiar red soil and stunted growth similar to country well north.
We stopped at another small monument that celebrated May Gibbs – the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie story teller. Apparently she was born in the area close to the monument. Don't worry I kept a watchful eye out for those miscreant Banksia men. They must have been having a holiday as the only tree nearby was a big red gum.
Cowell is a small seaside town and I thik it's main claim to fame is having 90% of the worlds known reserve of black jade. We stoopped and had lunch before dropping in on one of the jewellery shops selling both the black and green jade. $32.00 later we emerged with Jannaya sporting a black jade pendant and a free smaple of uncut blue jade. Across the road from the shop was a jade cutting yard. Some of the slabs were enormous but nothing compared to the three boulders of solid jade outside the yard. The owners had thoughtfully polished a small section of each boulder as they were all quite different in colour.
Then it was on to Whyalla. We decided to give Port Lincoln a miss as were are now tempering our keeness to get home with trying prolong the trip so the last week or so will be more leisurely and a chance to get our heads around the fact that it will end.
Some of the talk in the car is about things that will have to be done once we are back so the return is sneaking to the front of our priorities. It is a pity but there it is.
The caravan park at Whyalla is right on the beach and for an extra $6.00 a night the site we took has nothing between us and the beach.
The park also takes dogs which is good as Jannaya and I are missing Cleo so we have got a couple of pats in with other dogs. There must be a dog show in town as people have been prancing about of the lawned areas with their mutts all spruced up. Personally it just doesn't seem quite right to me.
Day 83 Whyalla
You'd think that after nearly 12 hours in bed you could wake up without yawning but alas no. Anyway we had a drive round the township of Whyalla before stopping at the Maritime Museum.
The centre piece is the corvette class “Whyalla” back in the 1940's this ship was the first ship built in Whyalla, it served in Australian and New Guinea waters for the war then became part of the merchant navy before being purchased by the Victorian Board of Works where it was renamed “The Rip”. In the 1980's it was all set for the scrap yard when the City of Whyalla got wind of it's impending demise so they made an offer and purchased it for $5,000.00 The dear old thing sailed back to Whyalla under it's own steam.
There is a video that you can watch at the museum which goes into the details with some great footage of the “Whyalla” being towed reluctantly from the water the two kilometres to it's resting place. The cost of that two kilometres of transport was over $500,000!!
Anyway the tourists are the ones who benefit as the work to maintain and restore it to it's past glory goes on it is a splendid piece to be guided through. While we were there two Navy Cadets were working onboard in the bowells on something that needed doing.
The museum also houses minature replicas of all the ships that have ever been built in Whyalla. From small frigates to huge container ships it is quite a display.
We then went for a drive into the centre opf town to one of the look outs. It is near the smelter that is still in use and the constant processing of the raw materials have coloured the nearby area a pastel pink colour. The railway sleepers in the park, the roadways, the walls and roofs of houses as well as the vegetation has a pink hue to it.
Tomorrow we head up through Port Augusta for Wallaroo on the Yorke Peninsula. The steady draw of Bendigo is getting stronger as we count down the days and get closer to home.
Day 84 Wallaroo
The weather started to turn as we left Whyalla. The dog people were walking their dogs up and down the beach. They are strange people.
We got on the road pretty early and were soon leaving Whyalla taking in the flat red landscape. It seems strange but I actually missed the nothingness after the green pastures of Eyre Peninsula. As we passed the El Alamain Army Camp the rain started to fall. It wasn't quantity it was quality – the size of the rain drops were enormous and as we got closer to Port Augusta we had a hit of hail lasting less than a minute.
We refueled and then it was off towards Port Pirie and down the Yorke Peninsula towards Wallaroo.
There are some big loads travelling that road, twice oncoming police cars flagged us off the road as buildings went flashing past.
Robyn had us do a little detour to a reserve that was the remains of the Clement Gap district school. There was a fascinating display of odds and ends in a small reserve devoted to this tiny school. Part of it featured tales about the school days. One of the stories revolved around one of the students being caned by a teacher. The boys decided it was an unfair caning so to pay back the teacher they decided to scare his horse that was tied to one of the termite ridden posts supporting the shelter shed. The horse would break the post then canter home and the teacher would have to walk the four miles home.
A good plan in theory. However, the reins didn't break and neither did the post. However the post did pull away from the shelter shed collapsing it. The resulting mess resulted in four more boys getting caned. The toy horse was attached to the small shed as testament to the veracity of the tale.
We stopped at Port Broughton for lunch which was sausages from the local butcher, an onion and some bread and tomato sauce cooked at one of the bbqs in the beautiful foreshore playground. Like so many of the towns along the South Australian coast Port Broughton has the Norfolk Island Pines, the wide streets and the beautiful turn of the century homes made from a combination of sandstone and limestone. Some are painted in contrasting colours and some are au' naturale displaying the warm earthy colours of the natural shades of differing stones.
This area is called the Copper Coast due to the huge amounts of copper that Cornish miners scoured from the nearby mine fields. The Cornish influence is very strong and can be found in the names of the streets, the buildings and some of the Cornish bakeries in the area.
As we approached Wallaroo the rain set in and it was coming down hard. We found a small caravan park in the centre of town near the coast line. Pouring it was so I got out booked in, drove the camper round to the site, unhooked and drove off (to the mild amusement of a couple of residents who were drinking beer as clearly there was little else to do on a day like today.
We had a drive through town and picked up a couple of caches. The town is filled with those beautiful old stone cottages and the civic buildings are even more impressive. There is also a massive wheat silo complex with a cavered in conveyor belt out to the jetty.
The rain dropped off and then came in intermittently sharing the sky with bouts of sunshine. It was one of those days when you just couldn't get the clothing quite right – put a layer on, take a layer off.
We finally stopped at a fishing shop and I reluctantly bought some bait – apparently the snapper season is about to start and some of the locals were catching them off the jetty the previous evening. The shop keeper suggested I go down there tonight as I'd be sure to catch something. We'll see but the wind will have to drop off before I stray too far from the camper.
Once back at the site we set the camper up in record time and even popped the annex up to offer a bit more shelter. While the wind is howling overhead it is strangely without wind in the park and although getting cold not entirely unpleasant.
While cooking tea in the camp kitchen I met a retired copper from W.Aust.
Day 85 Wallaroo
The weather has really turned bad. Apparently as we left the Eyre Peninsula the storms hit and farmers have lost crops due to the hail which was golf ball size, the wind has been unrelenting and all checks via the internet of the Bureau of Meterology indicate that there is a week left of this.
Robyn decided that it would be soup for tea so while Jannaya prised herself from the toasty warm bed – an operation that was clearly going to take some time we went shopping for a few goodies.
On return from the shops Jannaya was up so while Jannaya and I pottered about Robyn cooked soup in the dream pot.
The camper trailer seems to be coping with the wet but we have to be careful not to leave bedding touching the canvas sides or water from the outside is drawn inside.
There was very little to do as with heavy rain and strong winds anything outside would be a challenge. An even greater challenge however would have been if the three of us spent the day in the camper trailer reading and playing cribbage for the day.
So being tourists on the Copper Coast we took a bit of a drive round the district stopping in Moonta at the famous Cornish Bakery for lunch. Robyn and I had a cornish pasty each for lunch, Jannaya was fascinated when I explained that the pasties had the knob on the top of the pastry join so that miners could eat lunch without having to wash their hands, then throw away the pastry knob.
We drove round having a look at the side streets, still raining and windy marvelling at the beautiful stone cottages. When you look at the size of the homes of yesteryear the huge homes of today seem incredibly excessive but I guess the advent of the home entertainment system put paid to so many of the social aspects of days gone by.
Moonta seems as though it is quite the progressive community judging by the name of this shop.
We did some geocaches that seemed to be located at intersections of small dirt country roads, the roads were flooded but still surprisingly firm under tyre. The poor old Rodeo was covered in mud and slush.
We had a quick look at Kadina which is the largest town on the Yorke Peninsula then it was back to Wallaroo. The sea change is alive and well and property developers are fueling the market with mariners and coastal based living that is stunning. Wallaroo has one such enterprise going ahead on the north beach.
We got back to the camp at about 5:30pm, cold, wet and hungry. (The three sons of Mr and Mrs Death!!) The caravan park doesn't have an enclosed camp kitchen so we all warmed up infront of the little fan heater – possibly the best thing we packed and had a read.
We enjoyed the delicious soup in the open air camp kitchen which we didn't enjoy as much and then Robyn and Jannaya retired to the camper. I got to talking to the retired W.A. copper and we swapped tales for a couple of hours.
On return to the camper trailer we had a family discussion about the next couple of days. Armed with current weather information which promised more of the same as well as dust storms as far away as Sydney we decided that nothing would be gained by stretching the holiday waiting for sun and warm weather at the expense of our sanity.
It would be a day of driving for the Vic border and home by Thursday. I called Tamara who had been in residence at 71 since our departure, she has saved us a million worries by looking after the dog and cat and to a lesser extent Grandma Edna. Tamara was checking the mail and then scanning bills onto the computer to email to us. From that point on paying the bills via the internet was just so easy and hassle free and removed the aspect of unpaid bills from our holiday.
I don't think she was quite ready for the news of our return.
Robyn's
Did some fun caches today. They are part of the Educachion series and we had solved the puzzles before we left home. Each of the puzzles related to a school subject and then the locations related to that. Great fun except for the rain. By the time we had finished Chad and I were wet up to our knees and our shoes squelched.
Big winds tonight and yet more rain.
Day 86 Nhill
Wet, wet, wet, wind,wind,wind and more wet. A pox on the rain. The debarculous weather is leaving a sour taste in all our mouths. We have really tried to resist the urge/need to race home but with the pox weather it was really just costing us $$$ while we weren't enjoying the trip. Has it left a slightly sour taste? Yes. I suppose, we were aiming at 90 days away with the last five really relaxing and having a wind down before returning home, so we are but the up side is we are all keen to get home and pick up the reins of what we left behind.
As we drove from Wallaroo taking back roads through Gawler then the Adelaide Hills to Murray Bridge the country changed from the flat coastal to the undulating hills. As we crossed the Adelaide Hills we were treated to an outstanding view down towards the Murray River.
We had a quick lunch of last night's soup and then it was off again.
We stopped at Keith for a coffee hit at Henry and Rose's Cafe. I drew some solace from the name as opposed to Henry on George from Moonta.
However once I found out that Henry was a cow and Rose a chicken I less sure which one out of Wallaroo or Keith were the most progressive.
We decided that Nhill was a good point to stop making the following day's drive home an easy one. While driving I got everyone to name the top five things for the holiday.
Robyn's - Travelling the Gibb River Road, Exmouth, The Zebra Stones of Kunnunurra, Point Anne and Camels at Cable Beach.
Jannaya's - Gloucester Tree, Kings Canyon, Cable Beach Camel rides, Travelling the Gibb River Road, Climbing Mount Connor, Point Anne and Cape Leveque.
Mine - Point Anne, Crossing the Pentecost River on the Gibb River Road, Climbing the Gloucester Tree at Pemberton, The Gorge at Windjana (the fresh water crocs, the black sandstone and feeding the whistling kites) and climbing Mount Connor.
We stopped at Nhill and given the fact that rain was imminent, some of or bedding was wet from the day before and we were wrung out we took the soft option - a cabin. Shame, shame, shame.
Looking back through the hundreds of photos that I took and reading through the blog it is hard to believe what we have really seen and done. Long after some of the memories have become faded the photos and the writings will give us the opportunity to relive some of the amazing things we have seen and done.
The interesting statistics -
20,707 km travelled
2,326 litres of diesel used
$3,266 on diesel (this one stunned me)
My only regret is that the weather beat us in the end but it is the fact that when camping you really are at the mercy of Mother Nature so it is kind of right that she had the last say in this chapter.
I don't know if they'll be any more additions to the tales. To anyone who has followed the trip please feel free to ask any of us about any aspect of the trip we'll only be too happy to further share the remarkable experience.
Robyn's
I don't really want to go home yet but I also don't want to sit out 4 days of gale force winds and rain. Its been a great experience, terrific locations, some great caches and LOTS of Eclipse containers.
I was suprised at how rarely we actually felt like we were in a remote area. We could get internet access in most towns and we only ran out of fresh milk once on the whole trip. Its been great to reconnect with the family and its suprising how things like a decent shower become the most important thing in your life.
Jannaya has been amazing and coped with the long miles really well. If you warn her its going to be a long day, she creates a nest of pillows in the back seat, sticks the earphones in and zones out until we stop. She has spotted things we would have missed and has maintained her good humour throughout some tense times.
Chad has chatted incessantly about the changing landscape and has maintained his sense of humour as well. He did all the driving, I must have driven really badly the one time he let me.
Next time we do this we are going to.........................