We are home! After 6.5 months, 199 days we pulled into our driveway on Thursday. I know once again I am a little tardy and I should have written this on Thursday. However I have been thinking how to finish this trip on the blog, there will be more to come, other trips that is!
We packed up at Point Louise and headed south for our last night on the road. On the way we stopped at a couple of tourist lookouts to check out the coast and make sure that it was still there unaltered from when we left. Once again the efforts of government at whatever levels to create these lookout was very evident and very good. There is signage, shelters and paths all high grade. Anyway we found a spot about 65km from home and had lunch then prepared to settle in for the night. BUT the temptation was too great so we started the motor and went home.
I will write a summary sometime next week but that's it folks the Cohen's have completed their first big road trip.
Friday 3 October 2014
Wednesday 1 October 2014
Wednesday 1st October.
It is now afternoon and Elaine and most of the other people here are nanna napping. The camping area here at Point Louisr is also the car park and at the moment is temporary home to 9 campers of varying descriptions but mostly, for the first time this trip, motorhomes.
This place is just north of Greenhead which in turn is about 200 kms north of Perth. The point marks one side of a small bay inside of which there are 2 small lumps of rock otherwise known here as islands. It is also quite shallow and we walked out to one of the islands, at least I got to within about 20 mtrs before the bottom got too spikey to walk on and Elaine got about halfway. It is about 200 mtrs offshore. We also walked up to the lookout on the point and got a good birds eye view of the shallow reef system, then along to the next bay which is a delightful beach. The forecast was for 32degrees and had it been correct we would have had a swim. As it is the forecast is incorrect with lots of cloud cover, upsetting our solar panels, keeping the temperature way down. One thing that I should point out to all the detractors is that the sand at all the beaches on this coast is white, some like this one absolute persil white others just white. Other staters eat your hearts out!
It is now afternoon and Elaine and most of the other people here are nanna napping. The camping area here at Point Louisr is also the car park and at the moment is temporary home to 9 campers of varying descriptions but mostly, for the first time this trip, motorhomes.
This place is just north of Greenhead which in turn is about 200 kms north of Perth. The point marks one side of a small bay inside of which there are 2 small lumps of rock otherwise known here as islands. It is also quite shallow and we walked out to one of the islands, at least I got to within about 20 mtrs before the bottom got too spikey to walk on and Elaine got about halfway. It is about 200 mtrs offshore. We also walked up to the lookout on the point and got a good birds eye view of the shallow reef system, then along to the next bay which is a delightful beach. The forecast was for 32degrees and had it been correct we would have had a swim. As it is the forecast is incorrect with lots of cloud cover, upsetting our solar panels, keeping the temperature way down. One thing that I should point out to all the detractors is that the sand at all the beaches on this coast is white, some like this one absolute persil white others just white. Other staters eat your hearts out!
Tuesday 30 September 2014
Tuesday 30th September 2014
I know it is Wednesday morning and this should have been done last night, I will go stand in the corner for 5 secs as punishment!
We woke up parked, as I said, so close to the beach that we had to check and make sure that we hadn't been eroded and dropped into the ocean overnight. Chris and Kim were packing up to head home but there was no hurry for us to leave. So I went for my usual walk along the beach and marvelled at the huge trees that, due to the aforesaid erosion had fallen onto the beach. The beach shacks here, and some are fairly serious homes, are on a lease that runs out in 2016 and the owners have been advised that they won't be renewed so they have been offered land in the nearby development at beneficial prices. This is ok except for a few people who actually had lifetime leases, these are going to be cancelled in 2016 and again they have been offered land. This also is ok except that these people, or some of them, have spent money setting their homes up as permanent residences and are retirees who now have to find the money to build a new house and demolish the old one, that isn't really very fair!
Late morning we completed our tidy up and jobs and hit the road. We have both been to Geraldton recently so we drove through and on down to Dongara. This is pretty countryside with green farms, trees etc and on reaching so Dongara there is a top drawer pie shop, naturally we stopped and indulged. We also bought their nice vanilla slices which we part ate for afternoon tea, I saved the rest of mine for morning tea this morning, but Elaine ate hers last night
After passing through Dongara we turned on to the Indian Ocean Drive which runs down the coast to home and is really nice drive. We stopped about 60 kms down the road at a spot called Point Louise, obviously named after our sister in law Louise. We will stay here today as the temperature is predicted to go above 30 and we can swim here.
I know it is Wednesday morning and this should have been done last night, I will go stand in the corner for 5 secs as punishment!
We woke up parked, as I said, so close to the beach that we had to check and make sure that we hadn't been eroded and dropped into the ocean overnight. Chris and Kim were packing up to head home but there was no hurry for us to leave. So I went for my usual walk along the beach and marvelled at the huge trees that, due to the aforesaid erosion had fallen onto the beach. The beach shacks here, and some are fairly serious homes, are on a lease that runs out in 2016 and the owners have been advised that they won't be renewed so they have been offered land in the nearby development at beneficial prices. This is ok except for a few people who actually had lifetime leases, these are going to be cancelled in 2016 and again they have been offered land. This also is ok except that these people, or some of them, have spent money setting their homes up as permanent residences and are retirees who now have to find the money to build a new house and demolish the old one, that isn't really very fair!
Late morning we completed our tidy up and jobs and hit the road. We have both been to Geraldton recently so we drove through and on down to Dongara. This is pretty countryside with green farms, trees etc and on reaching so Dongara there is a top drawer pie shop, naturally we stopped and indulged. We also bought their nice vanilla slices which we part ate for afternoon tea, I saved the rest of mine for morning tea this morning, but Elaine ate hers last night
After passing through Dongara we turned on to the Indian Ocean Drive which runs down the coast to home and is really nice drive. We stopped about 60 kms down the road at a spot called Point Louise, obviously named after our sister in law Louise. We will stay here today as the temperature is predicted to go above 30 and we can swim here.
Sunday 28 September 2014
Monday 29th September 2014
Today we are visiting our friends the Morrisons in Geraldton. After the usual morning beach walk we drove the very short distance here, first checking the local shops. Chris and Kim have a fantastic, literally beach front house at a place called Drummond Cove just a few kms north of Geraldton proper. If it were any closer to the water they would be swimming! Chris told me that over the last few years their beach has been gradually eroded from about 30 metres to the water to about 2 metres from their back patio area! Anyway it is very kind of them to allow us to park on their front lawn and we are looking forward to catching up as it is little while we last spent time together.
Today we are visiting our friends the Morrisons in Geraldton. After the usual morning beach walk we drove the very short distance here, first checking the local shops. Chris and Kim have a fantastic, literally beach front house at a place called Drummond Cove just a few kms north of Geraldton proper. If it were any closer to the water they would be swimming! Chris told me that over the last few years their beach has been gradually eroded from about 30 metres to the water to about 2 metres from their back patio area! Anyway it is very kind of them to allow us to park on their front lawn and we are looking forward to catching up as it is little while we last spent time together.
The weather was much better today the sun shined, just a little bit of cloud and a little bit of wind, although the wind was cold.
This mornings walk was in a northerly direction along the beach. It is always nice walking on the beach waves rolling in, in this case with a little bit of seaweed included. Other than that the day was spent relaxing so nothing much to report.
This mornings walk was in a northerly direction along the beach. It is always nice walking on the beach waves rolling in, in this case with a little bit of seaweed included. Other than that the day was spent relaxing so nothing much to report.
Friday 26 September 2014
For the first time this trip we have been confined to the van by inclement weather, it has been raining on and off and it is blowing very strongly and very coldly!
The day didn't start that way it was blowing quite strongly this morning but not yet raining. So we went to watch a couple of young guys kite surfing and they were having fun. I got roped in to help secure one of the kites as it's owner finished, but that was as close as I got. It does look exciting but I suspect beyond my physical abilities at this point! Then I went for a long walk along the beach and spent some time watching a sailboarder having a ball jumping over the waves on the way out from the shore then riding the waves on the way in. Once again I would need to dramatically improve my fitness to do that again (I did sailboard some years ago but gave up when my back started complaining). I had a chat earlier with the caretaker who is a long board surfer and he told me that this area has some really good surf breaks and as a consequence is really busy on good days.
So now we are in the van, Elaine listening to the footie ( we can't get the appropriate TV channels here) and I am reading.
The day didn't start that way it was blowing quite strongly this morning but not yet raining. So we went to watch a couple of young guys kite surfing and they were having fun. I got roped in to help secure one of the kites as it's owner finished, but that was as close as I got. It does look exciting but I suspect beyond my physical abilities at this point! Then I went for a long walk along the beach and spent some time watching a sailboarder having a ball jumping over the waves on the way out from the shore then riding the waves on the way in. Once again I would need to dramatically improve my fitness to do that again (I did sailboard some years ago but gave up when my back started complaining). I had a chat earlier with the caretaker who is a long board surfer and he told me that this area has some really good surf breaks and as a consequence is really busy on good days.
So now we are in the van, Elaine listening to the footie ( we can't get the appropriate TV channels here) and I am reading.
26 September 2014
Still privileged but today because I have been doing very little, just relaxing in very pleasant surroundings.
First up was my morning walk and once again I was impressed by the efforts to make the beach more user friendly. There are cabanas on the shore, a BBQ gazebo, children's playground and of course lots of parking and the camping area. The rest of the day was spent enjoying it all. We went or rather I went for a swim in the cold water and then we went for a walk along the beach. This is a sheltered beach inside a low reef, the surf breaks quite strongly on the reef but the beach is not bad. There are about 21 sites here and to get one you need to be here early in the morning to grab a site as people leave! There is a caretaker but we haven't seen him yet and we just put our money in the honesty box.
Still privileged but today because I have been doing very little, just relaxing in very pleasant surroundings.
First up was my morning walk and once again I was impressed by the efforts to make the beach more user friendly. There are cabanas on the shore, a BBQ gazebo, children's playground and of course lots of parking and the camping area. The rest of the day was spent enjoying it all. We went or rather I went for a swim in the cold water and then we went for a walk along the beach. This is a sheltered beach inside a low reef, the surf breaks quite strongly on the reef but the beach is not bad. There are about 21 sites here and to get one you need to be here early in the morning to grab a site as people leave! There is a caretaker but we haven't seen him yet and we just put our money in the honesty box.
Thursday 25 September 2014
Today I am feeling very privileged to be able to do a trip like this and to see all that we have seen. We have seen inland towns, tropical rainforest, more inland areas, tropical forrest, rugged countryside, spectacular scenery and green pastures. I don't know that I have used all the right words but suffice it to say lots and lots of varied scenery. I know that lots of you have travelled extensively overseas and I wonder if you have seen anything better than what we have seen inside Australia.
Today we left Kalbarri travelling south along the coast road or 'tourist drive'. For the first 16-20 kms there are a lot of lookout points along the rugged coastline, where lots of early visitors came to grief. The cliffs are high, the surf is strong and spectacular, altogether a stunning coastline. What is again obvious is the effort that government of various levels had made to attract tourists like us. There are sealed roads in, properly made walkways, fenced lookout points and story boards explaining everything - fantastic. There are lots of travellers on the road, in buses, on airplanes, etc. so maybe it is working and will help compensate for the mining slowdown.
Another sight that was well worth the effort was Hutt Lagoon, otherwise known as the Pink Lake, and it is pink. Apparently the source of the colour is the red food colouring which is extracted from this lake.
Tonight we have camped at Coronation Beach just north of Geraldton and will probably stay here for a few days.
Today we left Kalbarri travelling south along the coast road or 'tourist drive'. For the first 16-20 kms there are a lot of lookout points along the rugged coastline, where lots of early visitors came to grief. The cliffs are high, the surf is strong and spectacular, altogether a stunning coastline. What is again obvious is the effort that government of various levels had made to attract tourists like us. There are sealed roads in, properly made walkways, fenced lookout points and story boards explaining everything - fantastic. There are lots of travellers on the road, in buses, on airplanes, etc. so maybe it is working and will help compensate for the mining slowdown.
Another sight that was well worth the effort was Hutt Lagoon, otherwise known as the Pink Lake, and it is pink. Apparently the source of the colour is the red food colouring which is extracted from this lake.
Tonight we have camped at Coronation Beach just north of Geraldton and will probably stay here for a few days.
Wednesday 24 September 2014
I just had a look at yesterday's blog and saw the size difference, sooner or later I will learn how to use this thing!
Today was explorer day, we drove out to the gorges. They are all part of the Murchison River and are really spectacular with steep deep sides of striated sandstone. The first was called the Loop and the walk culminated at a feature called Natures Window which is a rock formation with a great big hole in it, I was a little suprprised that a window did not have any glass in it!! Then we went to another feature called Z Bend and another walk to the lookout. Both walks were fairly strenuous but well worth the effort and Elaine only managed part of them, although she did make it to the lookout at Z Bend. We were relly impressed with the effort that has been made to make the whole thing user friendly with paths and story boards. I should note that this has been our experience at a lot of this sort of attraction here in WA and in the NT. It would seem that governments are fairly keen to encourage tourists, good on them.
Today was explorer day, we drove out to the gorges. They are all part of the Murchison River and are really spectacular with steep deep sides of striated sandstone. The first was called the Loop and the walk culminated at a feature called Natures Window which is a rock formation with a great big hole in it, I was a little suprprised that a window did not have any glass in it!! Then we went to another feature called Z Bend and another walk to the lookout. Both walks were fairly strenuous but well worth the effort and Elaine only managed part of them, although she did make it to the lookout at Z Bend. We were relly impressed with the effort that has been made to make the whole thing user friendly with paths and story boards. I should note that this has been our experience at a lot of this sort of attraction here in WA and in the NT. It would seem that governments are fairly keen to encourage tourists, good on them.
Tuesday 23 September 2014
Today we are living in the lap of luxury having booked into the Kalbarri Anchorage Caravan Park for a couple of nights.
Last nights camp was another in a long line of excellent free 'rest' areas in WA. There were about 39 plus vans there sharing 2 sets of toilets and 2 dump stations. I am confident that this attracts many travelling people like us and must be a big benefit to the local economy.
On the road it soon became obvious that we were back in farming country. The scenery was green fields ready for harvesting, green trees and shrubs and quite a range on wildflowers. It was pretty and quite a contrast to the rugged spendour of Northern areas. The criticism is often levelled that WA has long distances between attractions. This is true if you only consider the major attractions, but the roads have their own sightseeing value provided you think along those lines. There will always be people who disagree because they are not really taking in the continual beauty as they travel, and this applies to all the places that we have been to (admittedly we still have an great deal more to see).
Anyway we arrived at the Kabarri National Park and stopped to see the sights. The first was a lookout called the Ross Graham Lookout, we now choose to call it the Graham Lookout! This was a magnificent sight looking down on the Murchison River and the walk down to the river was well worth the effort. Us city people don't realise the size and extent of the outback. This river is 820 km long winding all the way from Merkatharra to the coast here at Kalbarri. It is easy to say and easy to read but try for a moment to visualise the scale of this river and all the others up and down this coast. Just to put it in perspective the Swan is only about 100 km, I think!
Last nights camp was another in a long line of excellent free 'rest' areas in WA. There were about 39 plus vans there sharing 2 sets of toilets and 2 dump stations. I am confident that this attracts many travelling people like us and must be a big benefit to the local economy.
On the road it soon became obvious that we were back in farming country. The scenery was green fields ready for harvesting, green trees and shrubs and quite a range on wildflowers. It was pretty and quite a contrast to the rugged spendour of Northern areas. The criticism is often levelled that WA has long distances between attractions. This is true if you only consider the major attractions, but the roads have their own sightseeing value provided you think along those lines. There will always be people who disagree because they are not really taking in the continual beauty as they travel, and this applies to all the places that we have been to (admittedly we still have an great deal more to see).
Anyway we arrived at the Kabarri National Park and stopped to see the sights. The first was a lookout called the Ross Graham Lookout, we now choose to call it the Graham Lookout! This was a magnificent sight looking down on the Murchison River and the walk down to the river was well worth the effort. Us city people don't realise the size and extent of the outback. This river is 820 km long winding all the way from Merkatharra to the coast here at Kalbarri. It is easy to say and easy to read but try for a moment to visualise the scale of this river and all the others up and down this coast. Just to put it in perspective the Swan is only about 100 km, I think!
Monday 22 September 2014
Friday August 29
Well, well, well we are out of range again, so today's blog get uploaded when we next get coverage.
The day started with a fabulous view over the river, complete with some very attractive reflections. A work along the track alongside the river revealed that we did have neighbours. It also revealed that various animals had been down to the river for a drink, quite a feat as the banks are very steep and about 3 mtrs high.
The next move was to drive down to Old Onslow to see the ruins, but while the locals have been very careful to label all the sites there were no ruins to see.
There was of course construction activity all around the place, the Wheatstone Project is happening here. We saw a pipeline being built and trucks laden with construction materials arriving.
After we left Karratha I though that we had left the powerhouse (of the Australian economy) area, but we were wrong it continues with pockets of activity all over the place. This is all very exciting, but I am not 100% convinced that it is good for Australia in the long term. The various plants, yards, offices, etc take up an absolutely tiny proportion of the space available, so that is not a big issue. What worries me is that we are selling all these bits of Oz and not creating an enduring industry to fill in when it is gone. I also don't think that making the projects use more local companies is only part of story, the other part is new industry processing and using the refined products.
So much for my solution to the nations problems. The other thing that we are now seeing is the re-emergence of anthills, or termite mounds. Now we are seeing thousands of these. Today we saw some with what looked like yarmulkas on their heads and I even photographed one that was wearing a Tullas (prayer shawl). Seriously though maybe they are an alien life form preparing to take over the country!!
Saturday August 30
We spent last night at a rest area called Barradale Rest Area on the banks of the Yannarie River. So this morning I went looking for the the river, what I found was a dry river bed! When it is running this must be quite a river, the river bed is about 500 mtrs wide and, judging by the size of the trees uprooted and carried down river it has a lot of power in its flow. Today however I could not find any water.
We packed our bags and headed south once more, then we saw our first animals for some time, 2 emus standing by the side of the road watching the traffic pass by. We spent a bit of time trying to photograph them then moved on. Turning right we headed up towards northwest Cape and Exmouth stopping for the night at a parking spot about 60 kms south of Exmouth.
Sunday August 31
Last night, just as we were thinking about sundowners, 2 cyclists arrived at our campsite. They were a Spanish couple who have been on the road for 2 years travelling across Spain, Corsica, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, etc - quite a feat I think. Anyway we struck up a conversation watching them set up camp from the gear that they were carrying on their bikes - tent, mattresses, etc. Then Elaine offered the girl a shower which was gratefully accepted, followed by dinner, goodonya Elaine who felt good being the good samaritan.
This morning we all got up late, the cyclists, another van that was parked in the same area and of course us 2 sleeper inners. Next stop was Exmouth and while Elaine did the shopping I refuelled, rewatered and emptied the thingabob. Then off round the top of North West Cape to the western side of the cape (we were on the eastern side) to the Cape Range National Park were we will spend the next few days at the Yardie Creek Camp.
North West Cape is quite an interesting place. Firstly it is home to the Learmonth RAAF base which is also used as an alternative landing site to Perth Airport when necessary. Then it has the town of Exmouth and the Harold E. Holt naval communications base, which is connected to the huge radio setup they the USA used for there world wide communications and their space program. Then down the middle of the Cape we have Cape Range which is a long but not particularly high mountain range. It is the home to many species of animals and today for the first time in ages we have seen wildlife in the form of a couple of emus, one with chicks. The other big feature of this Cape is Ningaloo Reef which runs down the western side of the cape. Where we are camped we have Cape Range on one side and Ningaloo Reef on the other side, not bad eh!
Well, well, well we are out of range again, so today's blog get uploaded when we next get coverage.
The day started with a fabulous view over the river, complete with some very attractive reflections. A work along the track alongside the river revealed that we did have neighbours. It also revealed that various animals had been down to the river for a drink, quite a feat as the banks are very steep and about 3 mtrs high.
The next move was to drive down to Old Onslow to see the ruins, but while the locals have been very careful to label all the sites there were no ruins to see.
There was of course construction activity all around the place, the Wheatstone Project is happening here. We saw a pipeline being built and trucks laden with construction materials arriving.
After we left Karratha I though that we had left the powerhouse (of the Australian economy) area, but we were wrong it continues with pockets of activity all over the place. This is all very exciting, but I am not 100% convinced that it is good for Australia in the long term. The various plants, yards, offices, etc take up an absolutely tiny proportion of the space available, so that is not a big issue. What worries me is that we are selling all these bits of Oz and not creating an enduring industry to fill in when it is gone. I also don't think that making the projects use more local companies is only part of story, the other part is new industry processing and using the refined products.
So much for my solution to the nations problems. The other thing that we are now seeing is the re-emergence of anthills, or termite mounds. Now we are seeing thousands of these. Today we saw some with what looked like yarmulkas on their heads and I even photographed one that was wearing a Tullas (prayer shawl). Seriously though maybe they are an alien life form preparing to take over the country!!
Saturday August 30
We spent last night at a rest area called Barradale Rest Area on the banks of the Yannarie River. So this morning I went looking for the the river, what I found was a dry river bed! When it is running this must be quite a river, the river bed is about 500 mtrs wide and, judging by the size of the trees uprooted and carried down river it has a lot of power in its flow. Today however I could not find any water.
We packed our bags and headed south once more, then we saw our first animals for some time, 2 emus standing by the side of the road watching the traffic pass by. We spent a bit of time trying to photograph them then moved on. Turning right we headed up towards northwest Cape and Exmouth stopping for the night at a parking spot about 60 kms south of Exmouth.
Sunday August 31
Last night, just as we were thinking about sundowners, 2 cyclists arrived at our campsite. They were a Spanish couple who have been on the road for 2 years travelling across Spain, Corsica, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, etc - quite a feat I think. Anyway we struck up a conversation watching them set up camp from the gear that they were carrying on their bikes - tent, mattresses, etc. Then Elaine offered the girl a shower which was gratefully accepted, followed by dinner, goodonya Elaine who felt good being the good samaritan.
This morning we all got up late, the cyclists, another van that was parked in the same area and of course us 2 sleeper inners. Next stop was Exmouth and while Elaine did the shopping I refuelled, rewatered and emptied the thingabob. Then off round the top of North West Cape to the western side of the cape (we were on the eastern side) to the Cape Range National Park were we will spend the next few days at the Yardie Creek Camp.
North West Cape is quite an interesting place. Firstly it is home to the Learmonth RAAF base which is also used as an alternative landing site to Perth Airport when necessary. Then it has the town of Exmouth and the Harold E. Holt naval communications base, which is connected to the huge radio setup they the USA used for there world wide communications and their space program. Then down the middle of the Cape we have Cape Range which is a long but not particularly high mountain range. It is the home to many species of animals and today for the first time in ages we have seen wildlife in the form of a couple of emus, one with chicks. The other big feature of this Cape is Ningaloo Reef which runs down the western side of the cape. Where we are camped we have Cape Range on one side and Ningaloo Reef on the other side, not bad eh!
Well there has been almost no rain today, the sun has shown itself on and off but it us freezing cold and we are just not used to that.
We left last nights camp after meeting another couple from Yokine, also in a motorhome purchased in Brisbane and as usual we were almost the last to leave. Our trek for the day was only 70km and we are now at a rest area called the Galena Bridge Rest Area along with at least 30 other vans. Once again it is well set up with ablutions, dump points and lots of space. Unfortunately it is plain dirt and as you might expect affected by the rain. This bridge crosses the Murchison River so it is quite a pleasant spot and if the weather does not improve we might stay here tomorrow, otherwise ever onward.
We left last nights camp after meeting another couple from Yokine, also in a motorhome purchased in Brisbane and as usual we were almost the last to leave. Our trek for the day was only 70km and we are now at a rest area called the Galena Bridge Rest Area along with at least 30 other vans. Once again it is well set up with ablutions, dump points and lots of space. Unfortunately it is plain dirt and as you might expect affected by the rain. This bridge crosses the Murchison River so it is quite a pleasant spot and if the weather does not improve we might stay here tomorrow, otherwise ever onward.
Sunday 21 September 2014
Hey it's raining and it's cold, is this a good welcome home for us on the homestretch part of our trip?
This mornings walk was accompanied by really strong winds, strong enough to be gently rocking the van. I walked up the hills next to our campsite and was greeted with fantastic views of Shark Bay and even stronger winds. We were in what could be described as the main peninsula of the bay, there were 2 others between us and the open ocean and we were near the southern end of the bay. To get some idea of the size of this magnificent area we had to drive nearly 100km to leave the park, that is from our campsite some 20km south of Denham.
Then it started raining and has rained on and off all day and as is usual on such days it has become progressively colder. We are now tucked up in a rest area called Nerren Nerren along with about 20 or more vans all hiding inside and we have got our winter clothes out. This is first rain and cold weather since we left the Gold Coast.
This mornings walk was accompanied by really strong winds, strong enough to be gently rocking the van. I walked up the hills next to our campsite and was greeted with fantastic views of Shark Bay and even stronger winds. We were in what could be described as the main peninsula of the bay, there were 2 others between us and the open ocean and we were near the southern end of the bay. To get some idea of the size of this magnificent area we had to drive nearly 100km to leave the park, that is from our campsite some 20km south of Denham.
Then it started raining and has rained on and off all day and as is usual on such days it has become progressively colder. We are now tucked up in a rest area called Nerren Nerren along with about 20 or more vans all hiding inside and we have got our winter clothes out. This is first rain and cold weather since we left the Gold Coast.
Saturday 20 September 2014
This is yesterday's blog, just a little late!
We left our top of the hill campsite, as is usual for us, last to leave although the 2nd last was just in front of us. Shark Bay was our destination, duly reached late morning. First stop was the stromolites at Hamelin Pool, these are inert or apparently inert 'mats' on rocks. They actually contain large numbers of tiny creatures, too small to see, in a sort of village environment and they do eventually grow to protrude from the water in a mushroom shape. Next stop was Shell Beach and if you have she'll grit on the bottom of a bird cage it probably comes from here. They also have, in the past, built buildings from shell blocks and now only make the shell blocks to repair these buildings. This was a very interesting beach, the shell are tiny little cockle shells supposedly up to 9 metres deep and the shoreline was quite wide with lots of little hills running parallel to the shore.
We finally made it to our campsite at Fowlers Camp after phoning to book the site, which you can only do on the day and you can only stay one day.
We left our top of the hill campsite, as is usual for us, last to leave although the 2nd last was just in front of us. Shark Bay was our destination, duly reached late morning. First stop was the stromolites at Hamelin Pool, these are inert or apparently inert 'mats' on rocks. They actually contain large numbers of tiny creatures, too small to see, in a sort of village environment and they do eventually grow to protrude from the water in a mushroom shape. Next stop was Shell Beach and if you have she'll grit on the bottom of a bird cage it probably comes from here. They also have, in the past, built buildings from shell blocks and now only make the shell blocks to repair these buildings. This was a very interesting beach, the shell are tiny little cockle shells supposedly up to 9 metres deep and the shoreline was quite wide with lots of little hills running parallel to the shore.
We finally made it to our campsite at Fowlers Camp after phoning to book the site, which you can only do on the day and you can only stay one day.
Friday 19 September 2014
OK I know it is 2 days again, but yesterday we were still in carnarvon and nothing much happened. I spent a few hours up at the Space Museum again as they got ready for show time today. Elaine did some bits and pieces on the van and around the house. Di & Mark got back after school and after lunch respectively and we heard all about the camp. Elaine had cooked dinner and after dinner we saw Marks photographs, as usual very high standard.
Today however is different. Elaine and I attended a morning tea to mark the end of this stage of the museum project and to welcomeAndy Thomas, the Australian astronaut, to town. After that our van was extracted from its parking spot, which Mark had to do because it was such a tight fit and he was used to it. Then we did the usuals and headed out of town. Naturally we are going south and expect to be home in about 10 days.
Our camp for tonight is the Gladstone Scenic Lookout, which as the name implys is a fairly high hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. Looking to the west we can see Shark Bay, if I am correct the top of the Peron Peninsular. It is quite a sight and we are expecting a good sunset.
Today however is different. Elaine and I attended a morning tea to mark the end of this stage of the museum project and to welcomeAndy Thomas, the Australian astronaut, to town. After that our van was extracted from its parking spot, which Mark had to do because it was such a tight fit and he was used to it. Then we did the usuals and headed out of town. Naturally we are going south and expect to be home in about 10 days.
Our camp for tonight is the Gladstone Scenic Lookout, which as the name implys is a fairly high hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. Looking to the west we can see Shark Bay, if I am correct the top of the Peron Peninsular. It is quite a sight and we are expecting a good sunset.
Wednesday 17 September 2014
I know it is 2 days since the last blog. I can remember doing one yesterday but it is not there so I must have failed to publish.
Yesterday and today I have been helping out at the Space Museum which is coming along nicely. As is usual for this sort of thing there will be a last minute panic but it will probably work out well. While I have been there Elaine has been doing jobs at the van and at Di & Marks house. They are away at the moment taking kids from Di's school on a 2 day camp and we are babysitting Birdie. Yesterday after I got back we sis a little shopping then went down to have a look at the One Mile Jetty. It is a few years since we last looked and they have added a new building for the cafe and they now charge $5 to walk on the jetty! Anyway we had a look around and headed back to our van.
Yesterday and today I have been helping out at the Space Museum which is coming along nicely. As is usual for this sort of thing there will be a last minute panic but it will probably work out well. While I have been there Elaine has been doing jobs at the van and at Di & Marks house. They are away at the moment taking kids from Di's school on a 2 day camp and we are babysitting Birdie. Yesterday after I got back we sis a little shopping then went down to have a look at the One Mile Jetty. It is a few years since we last looked and they have added a new building for the cafe and they now charge $5 to walk on the jetty! Anyway we had a look around and headed back to our van.
Monday 15 September 2014
Another nice day in Carnarvon, this is a very underrated town. I know there are a lot of caravan parks but somehow they are not getting a big share of the tourist dollar, or so I am told. There are a lot of vans in town so maybe they are not as badly off as I have been told. Perhaps the flow on effects of the last very disasterous flood and the loss of plantations is the biggest issue and they are looking for tourism to compensate.
Anyway today our van got new front brakes and I went up and did a bit of work at the soon to be opened Space and Technology Museum. This is quite a good setup and when complete and settled down will be well worth the visit.
Anyway today our van got new front brakes and I went up and did a bit of work at the soon to be opened Space and Technology Museum. This is quite a good setup and when complete and settled down will be well worth the visit.
Sunday 14 September 2014
Shame on you Mr Cohen, no blog for 4 days, such lack of attention will not be tolerated. So a 4 day blog follows.
Having been shoehorned into their backyard by Mark we have settled into Carnarvon. Our hosts are very good having provided all the usual facilities and we have dinner together every night cooked by Mark, while Di is at work, with a little bit of help from Elaine. It is a time for catching up on phone calls as we have been out of range a lot lately, doing jobs (the van has been cleaned, etc) and generally relaxing. When we are moving almost every day we are on the go, breakfast, tidy up, pack up, drive to the site selected probably yesterday, park, unpack, cook, go to bed and freshen up for the next day.
My morning walk took me down to the fascine and across the 'tramway' bridge. It is 5 years since I last spent time in Carnarvon, although we did stop here on Sue & Brian's boat in 2012. Anyway in the meantime they have done a fantastic job refurbishing the Fascine. It has a new wall, new ridge capping on the wall, new seating, a wide new footpath and the gardens are very well kept. There is also a new playground, a very nice new playground. Along with various other bits & pieces funded by Royalties for Regions.
N
Today Di & Mark took us for drive to Rocky Pool. When Todd was here with me in 2009 we visited this place and it was a nicely grassed picnic area with a healthy river providing the pool. Today it is a rocky wasteland, not quite but certainly no grass, very few trees and not much water. The first 2 issues due to serious flood that occurred a few years back that cleared the area. The floods also wrought havoc around the plantations, destroying dome and causing dome plantation owners to quit....not good. The government is building levies around the town and plantation areas in an effort prevent similar devastation in future. In the meantime there has been very little rain since the last flood which exacerbates the situation.
Tourism is fairly strong here, there are about 6 caravan parks plus various other accomodation options. But this has also suffered so some effort is being expended to counteract this. One of Carnarvon' s attraction is a huge satellite dish that saw service, amongst other things, during the American space program. It sits on a large, hilltop site that contains other dishes. Thanks to some dedicated volunteers it is being turned into a space museum. They have done a huge amount of work which is about to be opened by one of they astronauts Andy Thomas. It will add to the towns tourist attractions as it really is something to see. We were lucky enough to get a look around today, there is still lots of activity getting it ready for Fridays opening, as Di is taking a school group through next week and on our way out we called in to confirm arrangements.
Having been shoehorned into their backyard by Mark we have settled into Carnarvon. Our hosts are very good having provided all the usual facilities and we have dinner together every night cooked by Mark, while Di is at work, with a little bit of help from Elaine. It is a time for catching up on phone calls as we have been out of range a lot lately, doing jobs (the van has been cleaned, etc) and generally relaxing. When we are moving almost every day we are on the go, breakfast, tidy up, pack up, drive to the site selected probably yesterday, park, unpack, cook, go to bed and freshen up for the next day.
My morning walk took me down to the fascine and across the 'tramway' bridge. It is 5 years since I last spent time in Carnarvon, although we did stop here on Sue & Brian's boat in 2012. Anyway in the meantime they have done a fantastic job refurbishing the Fascine. It has a new wall, new ridge capping on the wall, new seating, a wide new footpath and the gardens are very well kept. There is also a new playground, a very nice new playground. Along with various other bits & pieces funded by Royalties for Regions.
N
Today Di & Mark took us for drive to Rocky Pool. When Todd was here with me in 2009 we visited this place and it was a nicely grassed picnic area with a healthy river providing the pool. Today it is a rocky wasteland, not quite but certainly no grass, very few trees and not much water. The first 2 issues due to serious flood that occurred a few years back that cleared the area. The floods also wrought havoc around the plantations, destroying dome and causing dome plantation owners to quit....not good. The government is building levies around the town and plantation areas in an effort prevent similar devastation in future. In the meantime there has been very little rain since the last flood which exacerbates the situation.
Tourism is fairly strong here, there are about 6 caravan parks plus various other accomodation options. But this has also suffered so some effort is being expended to counteract this. One of Carnarvon' s attraction is a huge satellite dish that saw service, amongst other things, during the American space program. It sits on a large, hilltop site that contains other dishes. Thanks to some dedicated volunteers it is being turned into a space museum. They have done a huge amount of work which is about to be opened by one of they astronauts Andy Thomas. It will add to the towns tourist attractions as it really is something to see. We were lucky enough to get a look around today, there is still lots of activity getting it ready for Fridays opening, as Di is taking a school group through next week and on our way out we called in to confirm arrangements.
Wednesday 10 September 2014
Yesterday we left Quobba and drove up to Cape Cuvier and boy was the road rough, actually we have had worse but this was about 20km which is further than we normally drive on unsealed roads. Anyway it was worth it, the view is spectacular from the top of the cliffs looking down at the place where I have anchored on a few occasions. We then went back to the blowholes and they were in fine form. The sight of waves hitting the rocks sending columns of water 20mtrs up and of other waves just hitting the cliffs and spraying way up into the air is, dare I say it again, spectacular. It is also pretty in its own way.
After lunch parked overlooking the cliffs and the waves we drove into Carnarvon where we are now safely parked in their back yard.
After lunch parked overlooking the cliffs and the waves we drove into Carnarvon where we are now safely parked in their back yard.
Sunday September 5 Fathers Day
The day started very nicely with a phone call from Russell, Toni and Ashley had given me greetings yesterday when we got them on the phone. We had also phoned Russell but he didn't answer his phone. Elaine made me breakfast then we got under way.
First stop was Coral Bay, Elaine hadn't been here before and we had no intention of staying due to the exorbitant prices at the caravan parks. It is a nice spot with nice beaches, clear blue water etc. After a walk around we went up to the lookout and got a good view of the bays, there are a few that make up the area, watched a proper yacht with 2 hulls and the local charter boats moving round.
We then moved on, planning to spend the night at Warroora Station. On the way to Warroora we passed the a Tropic of Capricorn, there was a sign telling us where it was, I don't remember seeing anything like that in Queensland.
All in all a good Fathers Day except that we miss our grand children. We found the turn off and started the supposed 23 km journey in to the campsite. The first 15-20 kms were ok, unsealed road but not too rough, the the road turned to s.... It got very badly corrugated and we saying we will just go round the next bend or over the next hill, but each time there was more of the same ahead, so after a while we turned around and went back to the main road. So much for Warroorra Station!
This diversion was followed by a special Fathers Day lunch then we found a campsite at Lyndon River Rest Area for the night.
Monday September 8
Moving on south and getting closer to home and family and friends with every kilometre we drive. Today's target was the blowholes north of Carnarvon and Quobba Station for our overnight camp. This meant driving south almost to Carnarvon then turning north for about 60kms all on sealed roads. Then when we got to the blowholes a short, 8 km, drive on an unsealed road to the station. So here we are parked close to the ocean, we can here the waves but there are no blowholes in view. Anyway, lovely spot and we will stay here for a few days.
Tuesday September 9
Still here and a nice place to camp it is!
This mornings walk was accompanied by a couple of kangaroos, good stuff it is the first time in ages that I have seen them on my morning walk. Then I looked at a working windmill which pumps it's water into a couple of tanks a kilometre up the hill from the windmill. There were also a couple of reasonably deep wells next to the windmill. This is a working sheep station, currently only about 5000 due to 3 bad seasons. Normally they have about 15000. There is 2 camping spots nor here at the homestead where we are and it holds up to 70-80 vans. The other is further up the coast at Red Bluff. Between them they account for fair portion of the station income which gives them a bit of a buffer for bad seasons. It must be a good life outdoors all the time bit with a fair bit of pressure as the weather is something that the stoic owner cannot control, again a good reason for alternative income.
At the moment there is only about 9 or 10 vans here but it must be pretty hectic in the busy times mid-year and Christmas period.
D
K
The day started very nicely with a phone call from Russell, Toni and Ashley had given me greetings yesterday when we got them on the phone. We had also phoned Russell but he didn't answer his phone. Elaine made me breakfast then we got under way.
First stop was Coral Bay, Elaine hadn't been here before and we had no intention of staying due to the exorbitant prices at the caravan parks. It is a nice spot with nice beaches, clear blue water etc. After a walk around we went up to the lookout and got a good view of the bays, there are a few that make up the area, watched a proper yacht with 2 hulls and the local charter boats moving round.
We then moved on, planning to spend the night at Warroora Station. On the way to Warroora we passed the a Tropic of Capricorn, there was a sign telling us where it was, I don't remember seeing anything like that in Queensland.
All in all a good Fathers Day except that we miss our grand children. We found the turn off and started the supposed 23 km journey in to the campsite. The first 15-20 kms were ok, unsealed road but not too rough, the the road turned to s.... It got very badly corrugated and we saying we will just go round the next bend or over the next hill, but each time there was more of the same ahead, so after a while we turned around and went back to the main road. So much for Warroorra Station!
This diversion was followed by a special Fathers Day lunch then we found a campsite at Lyndon River Rest Area for the night.
Monday September 8
Moving on south and getting closer to home and family and friends with every kilometre we drive. Today's target was the blowholes north of Carnarvon and Quobba Station for our overnight camp. This meant driving south almost to Carnarvon then turning north for about 60kms all on sealed roads. Then when we got to the blowholes a short, 8 km, drive on an unsealed road to the station. So here we are parked close to the ocean, we can here the waves but there are no blowholes in view. Anyway, lovely spot and we will stay here for a few days.
Tuesday September 9
Still here and a nice place to camp it is!
This mornings walk was accompanied by a couple of kangaroos, good stuff it is the first time in ages that I have seen them on my morning walk. Then I looked at a working windmill which pumps it's water into a couple of tanks a kilometre up the hill from the windmill. There were also a couple of reasonably deep wells next to the windmill. This is a working sheep station, currently only about 5000 due to 3 bad seasons. Normally they have about 15000. There is 2 camping spots nor here at the homestead where we are and it holds up to 70-80 vans. The other is further up the coast at Red Bluff. Between them they account for fair portion of the station income which gives them a bit of a buffer for bad seasons. It must be a good life outdoors all the time bit with a fair bit of pressure as the weather is something that the stoic owner cannot control, again a good reason for alternative income.
At the moment there is only about 9 or 10 vans here but it must be pretty hectic in the busy times mid-year and Christmas period.
D
K
Saturday 6 September 2014
Today we left the Cape Range National Park, with regrets. It had been a nice stay in a nice area, the campsites were quite nice and good value, the scenery worth looking at and the swimming lovely.
On the way out we stopped at the Cape Vlaming lighthouse. This is quite high and a great lookout, from here we could literally see for miles. We saw whales and oil rigs and the communications towers, all 13 of them, along with a grand view of the countryside. After shopping etc in Exmouth we headed out for tonight's campsite. On the way we had a look at the Krait and Potshot memorial sites. Between the three of them we get a bit of a picture of the military activity in the area, and there has been and still is a lot of that.
So once again we have stopped at the Termite Mound viewing area and had the usual issues getting level.
On the way out we stopped at the Cape Vlaming lighthouse. This is quite high and a great lookout, from here we could literally see for miles. We saw whales and oil rigs and the communications towers, all 13 of them, along with a grand view of the countryside. After shopping etc in Exmouth we headed out for tonight's campsite. On the way we had a look at the Krait and Potshot memorial sites. Between the three of them we get a bit of a picture of the military activity in the area, and there has been and still is a lot of that.
So once again we have stopped at the Termite Mound viewing area and had the usual issues getting level.
Friday 5 September 2014
Thursday September 4
Just another fine day in paradise!
Today we moved up the line to Kurrajong, another of the fine camping areas in the Cape Range National Park. This turned out to be fairly drawn out procedure, firstly the queue at the park gate had to be attended to then our host was able to transfer us from there to here and we were able to pay our money for the extra day. On the way we stopped at Mandu Mandu Gorge and I went for a walk, it was much too difficult for Elsine to even attempt so she stayed in the van and did things. The first part of the walk was over the dry rock strewn creek bed which was fairly hard going. Then I started climbing and when I had climbed I went down and repeated this about 5 times before getting back to the car park. It was a good walk through a gorge with high cliff walls then along the top of the cliffs. Unfortunately no animals although we did see some during the day as we drove around. Eventually we settled down in our new campsite.
Friday September 5
Another day another move, this time to Mesa camp which is a little bit further north than the last one. So far my favourite camp in the Cape Range National Park is Kurrajong., however Elaine's was Yardie. The system here is a bit unusual in that most bookings are by internet so you book and arrive, but you can just come to the gate and if there are empty spots pay and settle in. If you want to stay longer than your booking you have to hope that there are spare spots, this means waiting each day until the people queued up at the gate are dealt with then taking whatever is left, which often means moving, sometimes within the camp, sometimes to a new camp. Supposedly tenancy gives you some extra rights but doesn't guarantee success. Did that make sense? If it did please explain to me, but it does seem to work. This whole area which is the west side of a North West Cape is a really nice area and well worth an extended visit to these camps which are spread over about 40km of the coastline.
After settling in to our new campsite we checked the beach out and busied ourselves doing very little. Later we had a swim then joined the other campers here for a sundowner on the dunes overlooking the shore.
Just another fine day in paradise!
Today we moved up the line to Kurrajong, another of the fine camping areas in the Cape Range National Park. This turned out to be fairly drawn out procedure, firstly the queue at the park gate had to be attended to then our host was able to transfer us from there to here and we were able to pay our money for the extra day. On the way we stopped at Mandu Mandu Gorge and I went for a walk, it was much too difficult for Elsine to even attempt so she stayed in the van and did things. The first part of the walk was over the dry rock strewn creek bed which was fairly hard going. Then I started climbing and when I had climbed I went down and repeated this about 5 times before getting back to the car park. It was a good walk through a gorge with high cliff walls then along the top of the cliffs. Unfortunately no animals although we did see some during the day as we drove around. Eventually we settled down in our new campsite.
Friday September 5
Another day another move, this time to Mesa camp which is a little bit further north than the last one. So far my favourite camp in the Cape Range National Park is Kurrajong., however Elaine's was Yardie. The system here is a bit unusual in that most bookings are by internet so you book and arrive, but you can just come to the gate and if there are empty spots pay and settle in. If you want to stay longer than your booking you have to hope that there are spare spots, this means waiting each day until the people queued up at the gate are dealt with then taking whatever is left, which often means moving, sometimes within the camp, sometimes to a new camp. Supposedly tenancy gives you some extra rights but doesn't guarantee success. Did that make sense? If it did please explain to me, but it does seem to work. This whole area which is the west side of a North West Cape is a really nice area and well worth an extended visit to these camps which are spread over about 40km of the coastline.
After settling in to our new campsite we checked the beach out and busied ourselves doing very little. Later we had a swim then joined the other campers here for a sundowner on the dunes overlooking the shore.
Wednesday 3 September 2014
Wednesday September 3
Two more days at Yardie Creek and very enjoyable days they have been.
Yesterday I walked along the gorge, only about 2 km each way but up and down little gorges so moderately hard going. Also worth it I got to see a rock wallaby, very briefly, but at least I saw one. The creek itself is quite pretty at the bottom of a gorge, about 10-12 mtrs high, lots of fish and birds, again I saw some blue heron (at least that is what I think they were). Only 2 but that is more than one! Then we had a swim and spent the rest of the day busily doing nothing.
These camps, there are 9 or 10 of them, all have a volunteer host who lives at the camp in his/her van and generally makes sure that all runs well. They also deal with on the spot bookings as opposed to offsite bookings. At this camp we have a sundowner at 5.30pm at a pair of tables set up at the top of the dunes and overlooking the beach and with a great view of the sunset. On the boat sundowners mean going to another boat with your drinks and some nibbles, here we just take our drinks and talk, but it is a nice idea and helps get people mixing together.
Following a chat with a photographer here I went this afternoon around 4pm for another walk along part of the gorge in the hops of getting photographs of the rock wallabies and sea eagles and ospreys. Bad luck about that but I did get a couple of shots of ordinary wallabies on the path and inside a bush eating.
Two more days at Yardie Creek and very enjoyable days they have been.
Yesterday I walked along the gorge, only about 2 km each way but up and down little gorges so moderately hard going. Also worth it I got to see a rock wallaby, very briefly, but at least I saw one. The creek itself is quite pretty at the bottom of a gorge, about 10-12 mtrs high, lots of fish and birds, again I saw some blue heron (at least that is what I think they were). Only 2 but that is more than one! Then we had a swim and spent the rest of the day busily doing nothing.
These camps, there are 9 or 10 of them, all have a volunteer host who lives at the camp in his/her van and generally makes sure that all runs well. They also deal with on the spot bookings as opposed to offsite bookings. At this camp we have a sundowner at 5.30pm at a pair of tables set up at the top of the dunes and overlooking the beach and with a great view of the sunset. On the boat sundowners mean going to another boat with your drinks and some nibbles, here we just take our drinks and talk, but it is a nice idea and helps get people mixing together.
Following a chat with a photographer here I went this afternoon around 4pm for another walk along part of the gorge in the hops of getting photographs of the rock wallabies and sea eagles and ospreys. Bad luck about that but I did get a couple of shots of ordinary wallabies on the path and inside a bush eating.
Monday 1 September 2014
Today was spent at a little piece of paradise called Yardie Creek. The campsite is almost on the beach, from our site at the inland side of the camp we have to walk about 30mtrs to the beach. But we do manage it with getting to tired!!! We both had a swim today and the water was lovely. We also walked to Yardie Creek itself, that was longer about 100mtrs and a walk along the creek bank, another 1.2kms. Like a lot of these walks it is well set out, with a smooth path, seats to rest on and story boards, most enjoyable. There is a longer walk, maybe tomorrow but only me as is.it too difficult for Elaine.
Friday August 29
Well, well, well we are out of range again, so today's blog get uploaded when we next get coverage.
The day started with a fabulous view over the river, complete with some very attractive reflections. A work along the track alongside the river revealed that we did have neighbours. It also revealed that various animals had been down to the river for a drink, quite a feat as the banks are very steep and about 3 mtrs high.
The next move was to drive down to Old Onslow to see the ruins, but while the locals have been very careful to label all the sites there were no ruins to see.
There was of course construction activity all around the place, the Wheatstone Project is happening here. We saw a pipeline being built and trucks laden with construction materials arriving.
After we left Karratha I though that we had left the powerhouse (of the Australian economy) area, but we were wrong it continues with pockets of activity all over the place. This is all very exciting, but I am not 100% convinced that it is good for Australia in the long term. The various plants, yards, offices, etc take up an absolutely tiny proportion of the space available, so that is not a big issue. What worries me is that we are selling all these bits of Oz and not creating an enduring industry to fill in when it is gone. I also don't think that making the projects use more local companies is only part of story, the other part is new industry processing and using the refined products.
So much for my solution to the nations problems. The other thing that we are now seeing is the re-emergence of anthills, or termite mounds. Now we are seeing thousands of these. Today we saw some with what looked like yarmulkas on their heads and I even photographed one that was wearing a Tullas (prayer shawl). Seriously though maybe they are an alien life form preparing to take over the country!!
Saturday August 30
We spent last night at a rest area called Barradale Rest Area on the banks of the Yannarie River. So this morning I went looking for the the river, what I found was a dry river bed! When it is running this must be quite a river, the river bed is about 500 mtrs wide and, judging by the size of the trees uprooted and carried down river it has a lot of power in its flow. Today however I could not find any water.
We packed our bags and headed south once more, then we saw our first animals for some time, 2 emus standing by the side of the road watching the traffic pass by. We spent a bit of time trying to photograph them then moved on. Turning right we headed up towards northwest Cape and Exmouth stopping for the night at a parking spot about 60 kms south of Exmouth.
Sunday August 31
Last night, just as we were thinking about sundowners, 2 cyclists arrived at our campsite. They were a Spanish couple who have been on the road for 2 years travelling across Spain, Corsica, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, etc - quite a feat I think. Anyway we struck up a conversation watching them set up camp from the gear that they were carrying on their bikes - tent, mattresses, etc. Then Elaine offered the girl a shower which was gratefully accepted, followed by dinner, goodonya Elaine who felt good being the good samaritan.
This morning we all got up late, the cyclists, another van that was parked in the same area and of course us 2 sleeper inners. Next stop was Exmouth and while Elaine did the shopping I refuelled, rewatered and emptied the thingabob. Then off round the top of North West Cape to the western side of the cape (we were on the eastern side) to the Cape Range National Park were we will spend the next few days at the Yardie Creek Camp.
North West Cape is quite an interesting place. Firstly it is home to the Learmonth RAAF base which is also used as an alternative landing site to Perth Airport when necessary. Then it has the town of Exmouth and the Harold E. Holt naval communications base, which is connected to the huge radio setup they the USA used for there world wide communications and their space program. Then down the middle of the Cape we have Cape Range which is a long but not particularly high mountain range. It is the home to many species of animals and today for the first time in ages we have seen wildlife in the form of a couple of emus, one with chicks. The other big feature of this Cape is Ningaloo Reef which runs down the western side of the cape. Where we are camped we have Cape Range on one side and Ningaloo Reef on the other side, not bad eh!
Well, well, well we are out of range again, so today's blog get uploaded when we next get coverage.
The day started with a fabulous view over the river, complete with some very attractive reflections. A work along the track alongside the river revealed that we did have neighbours. It also revealed that various animals had been down to the river for a drink, quite a feat as the banks are very steep and about 3 mtrs high.
The next move was to drive down to Old Onslow to see the ruins, but while the locals have been very careful to label all the sites there were no ruins to see.
There was of course construction activity all around the place, the Wheatstone Project is happening here. We saw a pipeline being built and trucks laden with construction materials arriving.
After we left Karratha I though that we had left the powerhouse (of the Australian economy) area, but we were wrong it continues with pockets of activity all over the place. This is all very exciting, but I am not 100% convinced that it is good for Australia in the long term. The various plants, yards, offices, etc take up an absolutely tiny proportion of the space available, so that is not a big issue. What worries me is that we are selling all these bits of Oz and not creating an enduring industry to fill in when it is gone. I also don't think that making the projects use more local companies is only part of story, the other part is new industry processing and using the refined products.
So much for my solution to the nations problems. The other thing that we are now seeing is the re-emergence of anthills, or termite mounds. Now we are seeing thousands of these. Today we saw some with what looked like yarmulkas on their heads and I even photographed one that was wearing a Tullas (prayer shawl). Seriously though maybe they are an alien life form preparing to take over the country!!
Saturday August 30
We spent last night at a rest area called Barradale Rest Area on the banks of the Yannarie River. So this morning I went looking for the the river, what I found was a dry river bed! When it is running this must be quite a river, the river bed is about 500 mtrs wide and, judging by the size of the trees uprooted and carried down river it has a lot of power in its flow. Today however I could not find any water.
We packed our bags and headed south once more, then we saw our first animals for some time, 2 emus standing by the side of the road watching the traffic pass by. We spent a bit of time trying to photograph them then moved on. Turning right we headed up towards northwest Cape and Exmouth stopping for the night at a parking spot about 60 kms south of Exmouth.
Sunday August 31
Last night, just as we were thinking about sundowners, 2 cyclists arrived at our campsite. They were a Spanish couple who have been on the road for 2 years travelling across Spain, Corsica, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, etc - quite a feat I think. Anyway we struck up a conversation watching them set up camp from the gear that they were carrying on their bikes - tent, mattresses, etc. Then Elaine offered the girl a shower which was gratefully accepted, followed by dinner, goodonya Elaine who felt good being the good samaritan.
This morning we all got up late, the cyclists, another van that was parked in the same area and of course us 2 sleeper inners. Next stop was Exmouth and while Elaine did the shopping I refuelled, rewatered and emptied the thingabob. Then off round the top of North West Cape to the western side of the cape (we were on the eastern side) to the Cape Range National Park were we will spend the next few days at the Yardie Creek Camp.
North West Cape is quite an interesting place. Firstly it is home to the Learmonth RAAF base which is also used as an alternative landing site to Perth Airport when necessary. Then it has the town of Exmouth and the Harold E. Holt naval communications base, which is connected to the huge radio setup they the USA used for there world wide communications and their space program. Then down the middle of the Cape we have Cape Range which is a long but not particularly high mountain range. It is the home to many species of animals and today for the first time in ages we have seen wildlife in the form of a couple of emus, one with chicks. The other big feature of this Cape is Ningaloo Reef which runs down the western side of the cape. Where we are camped we have Cape Range on one side and Ningaloo Reef on the other side, not bad eh!
Thursday 28 August 2014
Today started out with a starfish hunt, I realise that they are not aggressive or dangerous, but they are difficult to find. It was low tide so I walked all the way out on the tidal flats in a great big circular patern, about a 3 km walk. Guess what I found, 1 small starfish, 1 large shell and a few smaller shells. There were lots of shell to pick up but the whole area seemed almost devoid of life. Probably I am not a good looker, maybe I walk too fast and am just attuned to seeing what is there. Oh well I will just have to keep practising. We had breakfast, tidied up, did our jobs and took off at about 11am intending to stop about 100km down the road.
On the way out we saw some people topping up their water tanks, do we stopped to do the same. The water tap was outside the Apache Gas plant and is provided by Apache. The deal is don't wash your car or van, just fill your tanks and put a donation in the Flying Doctor box next to the tap. Apache promise to match the donations dollar for dollar and there is a note next to the tap saying that $4670 has been donated so far and that the Flying Docter will be getting a cheque for $9340. Well done Apache and campers!
Off we went, at the first spot on our list Elaine couldn't find a suitable site, so off we went again. The next 2 spots had no shade and no other vans, the 3rd spot had no shade and 1 van, so we kept going. We have finished up alongside the Ashburton River, strangely enough because this is a nice spot, near Onslow. The river is quite wide here, lots of trees on the banks and we have seen a couple ducks swimming along, but the water is muddy in colour.
On the way out we saw some people topping up their water tanks, do we stopped to do the same. The water tap was outside the Apache Gas plant and is provided by Apache. The deal is don't wash your car or van, just fill your tanks and put a donation in the Flying Doctor box next to the tap. Apache promise to match the donations dollar for dollar and there is a note next to the tap saying that $4670 has been donated so far and that the Flying Docter will be getting a cheque for $9340. Well done Apache and campers!
Off we went, at the first spot on our list Elaine couldn't find a suitable site, so off we went again. The next 2 spots had no shade and no other vans, the 3rd spot had no shade and 1 van, so we kept going. We have finished up alongside the Ashburton River, strangely enough because this is a nice spot, near Onslow. The river is quite wide here, lots of trees on the banks and we have seen a couple ducks swimming along, but the water is muddy in colour.
Tuesday 26 August 2014
It would seem that beaches and their accompanying reefs are all different, somewhat like people. We have landed today at 40 Mile Beach Nature Based Camping Area in the Karratha shire south of Karratha. You may recall that a fees days ago we spent some time at Cleaverville which is the other side of Karratha. The caretaker there told us that we would not be able to drive in here, he said that the road required 4wd. It just shows that you have to check for yourself and not listen to the naysayers. We were driving along heading south when we saw the sign and decided to have a look, the road was unsealed but great, much better than the road to Cleaverville. So we are camped at the end of the track, all by ourselves about 29-30 metres from the beach, lovely spot, there are lots of other vans here parked at intervals along the track. Back to the shore and reef, at Cleaverville was high out of the water and rather speccie to look at, here it is flat and completely characterless. The tide still goes out a long way and this afternoon we walked about a km offshore at low tide without reaching the water. The beach itself is sort of light brown sand, much like the beaches on the other side of Australia. It is still nice to be camped by the beach.
Just to complete the days happenings we spent most of the morning washing our van with water from the Maitland River where we were camped. In fact we actually had morning tea at the traditional 'smoko' time before leaving, I even had a swim.
Just to complete the days happenings we spent most of the morning washing our van with water from the Maitland River where we were camped. In fact we actually had morning tea at the traditional 'smoko' time before leaving, I even had a swim.
Monday 25/8
Another interesting day in fantasy land, at least that is one way of putting it, but in fact it is very very real. Everything one sees here is real but it is very difficult understand the sheer scale of this part of the world.
We left the caravan park at our usual leisurely time and travelled out the Burrup
Peninsula to the visitor centre. On its own this is a very impressive place tracing the development of the offshore gas fields, the onshore processing and the export processes. The investment involved is around $27billion. This visitor centre does not deal with iron ore from Rio Tinto and others or salt. It also doesn't deal with all the offshore development in oil and gas in the region. You certainly can't visualise all this from afar, at least I can't, and even close at hand it is almost like fantasy land. This commentary is totally inadequate but it the best that I can do!
After that we went looking for the Aboriginal Petrographs that have been featured so strongly in anti-development protests here. We found them, it involved a very strenuous 1km walk over very rough ground, Elaine managed the first section but I completed the the walk. The most exciting thing about the walk was a kangaroo that watched me for a while towards the end of the walk. As you can see I was disappointed in the Petrographs that appeared to be little more than scratchings on the rocks. Admittedly there were a lot of them so one must concede that they are deliberate and meaningful to the aboriginal people.
Tonight we are at a very small campsite on the southern side of the Maitland River, and a very pretty spot it is.
Another interesting day in fantasy land, at least that is one way of putting it, but in fact it is very very real. Everything one sees here is real but it is very difficult understand the sheer scale of this part of the world.
We left the caravan park at our usual leisurely time and travelled out the Burrup
Peninsula to the visitor centre. On its own this is a very impressive place tracing the development of the offshore gas fields, the onshore processing and the export processes. The investment involved is around $27billion. This visitor centre does not deal with iron ore from Rio Tinto and others or salt. It also doesn't deal with all the offshore development in oil and gas in the region. You certainly can't visualise all this from afar, at least I can't, and even close at hand it is almost like fantasy land. This commentary is totally inadequate but it the best that I can do!
After that we went looking for the Aboriginal Petrographs that have been featured so strongly in anti-development protests here. We found them, it involved a very strenuous 1km walk over very rough ground, Elaine managed the first section but I completed the the walk. The most exciting thing about the walk was a kangaroo that watched me for a while towards the end of the walk. As you can see I was disappointed in the Petrographs that appeared to be little more than scratchings on the rocks. Admittedly there were a lot of them so one must concede that they are deliberate and meaningful to the aboriginal people.
Tonight we are at a very small campsite on the southern side of the Maitland River, and a very pretty spot it is.
Sunday 24 August 2014
How do I describe today? Interesting to say the least, we have actually fitted quite a bit into the day. This part of the world is really the powerhouse of the Australian economy. Their are a number of ports here, I am not confident of the total but I think 3 - port Hedland, Cape lambert and Dampier plus a host of minor ports operational and being developed. Dampier and Hedland are probably the busiest in Australia and are amongst the busiest in the world. It is really a mind blower just to see it all, in fact every where you look there are things that are difficult to comprehend. Such ad today we went looking for the Cape lambert wharf, supposedly one of the longest, and on the way we passed the parking area for staff on the way to work. The numbers of cats was huge, the number of work vehicles also huge and I lost count of the number of buses to take said workers to work. We then had a look at point Samson and Cossack which were very early ports for the settlement of the north west. Then drove down here to Dampier where we are on sconces in the caravan park.
Saturday 23 August 2014
Today is Saturday, see I am keeping up with the real world!
This morning I walked along the beach. Scattered along the beach and occupying about 50% of the shoreline are rocky outcrops. They would be quite nasty if one discovered them by mischance with a boat. In their own way are quite beautiful is not quite the word, characterful (now there is a word for you!) perhaps eye catching is a good description. They are, of course, sharp, random and unusually for reefs mainly black in colour, although there are some variations to that. The other noteworthy thing about this beach is the multitude of sea polished rocks on the shore, my Darwin grandchildren would describe the quantity as 'infinity'. These rocks are all sizes (not huge pickupable sizes), all shapes and an absolute multiplicity of colours. Not just plain colours stripes, circular patterns, random patterns, etc. I have rescued quite a lot of them and if our van was bigger I would have rescued lots more, everywhere you look there are lovely rocks.
Then we spent the rest of the day working hard at doing very little, mind you we didi do a few jobs and Elaine did a bit of cooking using the BBQ as an oven to make a nice meat loaf. While we are on the subject of food Elaine has been able to serve great meals all the way along this trip. That is quote something as she only has 2 saucepans and a frypan but we have really eaten extremely well. It is always good to be amongst a group of caravaners as you get to meet people as everyone is friendly.
Late this afternoon we had the first of our nightly drinks, went for another beach walk then had the second and last of our nightly drinks and watched a very nice sunset.
This morning I walked along the beach. Scattered along the beach and occupying about 50% of the shoreline are rocky outcrops. They would be quite nasty if one discovered them by mischance with a boat. In their own way are quite beautiful is not quite the word, characterful (now there is a word for you!) perhaps eye catching is a good description. They are, of course, sharp, random and unusually for reefs mainly black in colour, although there are some variations to that. The other noteworthy thing about this beach is the multitude of sea polished rocks on the shore, my Darwin grandchildren would describe the quantity as 'infinity'. These rocks are all sizes (not huge pickupable sizes), all shapes and an absolute multiplicity of colours. Not just plain colours stripes, circular patterns, random patterns, etc. I have rescued quite a lot of them and if our van was bigger I would have rescued lots more, everywhere you look there are lovely rocks.
Then we spent the rest of the day working hard at doing very little, mind you we didi do a few jobs and Elaine did a bit of cooking using the BBQ as an oven to make a nice meat loaf. While we are on the subject of food Elaine has been able to serve great meals all the way along this trip. That is quote something as she only has 2 saucepans and a frypan but we have really eaten extremely well. It is always good to be amongst a group of caravaners as you get to meet people as everyone is friendly.
Late this afternoon we had the first of our nightly drinks, went for another beach walk then had the second and last of our nightly drinks and watched a very nice sunset.
Friday 22 August 2014
One of the nice things about retirement is having to remember what day of the week it is today. Now having checked my phone, who says that I am not technologically switched on, it is Friday and probably has been all day!
We are still at Cleaverville and enjoying the rest by the seaside. My morning walk took me along the camping strip away from the beach. It is a rather featureless landscape dotted with campsites, most occupied but still quite a few vacant. We have spent the day doing little jobs, and walking on the beach collecting shells (Elaine) and rocks (Graham).
Yesterday while we were looking for a suitable campsite we came across a couple well & truly bogged. As we approached the lady came out and waved us away, I was already telling Elaine not to go there and, to give her her due, she was not going there anyway. So we stopped the van, got out and asked if there was anything that we could do. It was really just a gesture as there was no way our van could unbog them, but they may have needed drinks or some such. Certainly they did need someone to give a little bit of moral support, so we did and after a little while Elaine and the lady had a hug and off we went, while they were waiting for a tow truck to come and get them out of the sand. To cut a long story short they phoned us this morning to da ta and we shared a sundowner this afternoon.
We are still at Cleaverville and enjoying the rest by the seaside. My morning walk took me along the camping strip away from the beach. It is a rather featureless landscape dotted with campsites, most occupied but still quite a few vacant. We have spent the day doing little jobs, and walking on the beach collecting shells (Elaine) and rocks (Graham).
Yesterday while we were looking for a suitable campsite we came across a couple well & truly bogged. As we approached the lady came out and waved us away, I was already telling Elaine not to go there and, to give her her due, she was not going there anyway. So we stopped the van, got out and asked if there was anything that we could do. It was really just a gesture as there was no way our van could unbog them, but they may have needed drinks or some such. Certainly they did need someone to give a little bit of moral support, so we did and after a little while Elaine and the lady had a hug and off we went, while they were waiting for a tow truck to come and get them out of the sand. To cut a long story short they phoned us this morning to da ta and we shared a sundowner this afternoon.
Thursday 21 August 2014
We camped last night at Yule River and like most rivers in this part of the world the is not much water in it. This river is the same as most with some pools of water, but mostly dry river bed. This mornings walk was on the river bed and I had the absolute pleasure of coming across a lovely grotto formed by the river, surrounded by green trees and shrubs plus some large rocks. The rocks probably left over from the bridge construction. After that we packed up and got going on the road once more with plans to have a pie & sauce lunch at the old Whim Creek pub. So we get to pub, which was only 50 kms down the road and, lo & behold, it is closed. So we had a chat to the friendly cocky in the cage, took some photos and moved on. It really is a pity, the old pub was a piece of history and according to a couple of locals we met when we got the main road it has been closed for years, maybe someone will rescue it.
Next planned stop was at Sherlock River which looked very nice but the parking area was very small and we decided that there was not enough room and moved on again. We then passed through Roebourne looking for a place called Cleaverville, which we had been told was very nice. Our plan was to stay there for a week using it as a base to visit all the sights in the Karratha area, these include Samson, Cossack both historical towns, Karratha itself, Dampier and the Burrup Peninsular. After a lot of searching we found Cleavervile which is a beach and has lots and lots of van parked here, it is also a really nice spot. However the road in is not the best, also not the worst, so we will stay for a couple of days then move on to do our sightseeing.
Just one more aside. We were blown away by the road systems, existing and under construction at Port Hedland. They were huge and very modern, obviously to cope with the amazing amount of traffic, trucks and 'mine spec' vehicles. After leaving Roebourne we passed another bit of serious road work, a bridge over the rail line to Cape Lambert. While crossing the bridge we had the pleasure of seeing one the huge trains stretching far into the distance both sides of the bridge.
Next planned stop was at Sherlock River which looked very nice but the parking area was very small and we decided that there was not enough room and moved on again. We then passed through Roebourne looking for a place called Cleaverville, which we had been told was very nice. Our plan was to stay there for a week using it as a base to visit all the sights in the Karratha area, these include Samson, Cossack both historical towns, Karratha itself, Dampier and the Burrup Peninsular. After a lot of searching we found Cleavervile which is a beach and has lots and lots of van parked here, it is also a really nice spot. However the road in is not the best, also not the worst, so we will stay for a couple of days then move on to do our sightseeing.
Just one more aside. We were blown away by the road systems, existing and under construction at Port Hedland. They were huge and very modern, obviously to cope with the amazing amount of traffic, trucks and 'mine spec' vehicles. After leaving Roebourne we passed another bit of serious road work, a bridge over the rail line to Cape Lambert. While crossing the bridge we had the pleasure of seeing one the huge trains stretching far into the distance both sides of the bridge.
Wednesday 20 August 2014
Tuesday morning saw us tidying up the van, having a last look at the delightful DeGrey River and heading off, next stop Port Hedland. We arrived just before midday, had a look at the harbour which is one of the busiest in Australia, and made some phone calls. Next came the visitor centre which like the rest of the town is showing the benefits of royalties for regions with assistance from BHP. It is 20 years or thereabouts since I was last here and the difference is remarkable, new buildings everywhere and tourist friendly stuff aplenty. So we shopped, watered and fuelled then went looking for a campsite. By then it was dark, we couldn't find the road despite the efforts of our gps and when we did find it couldn't find the campsite. So we headed for the golf club caravan park arriving at about 7.30 pm, which is very late for us to be setting up camp etc. Thus you now have my excuse for not doing a blog yesterday.
Now today we headed back to town with just a few little things to attend to, but didn't leave until about 3pm. However we are now settled at the Charlie Parker Rest Area on the Yule River. The river is pretty well dry with just a few pools of water but it is still a nice spot. A few other vans are here including a couple that we have met along the way.
Now today we headed back to town with just a few little things to attend to, but didn't leave until about 3pm. However we are now settled at the Charlie Parker Rest Area on the Yule River. The river is pretty well dry with just a few pools of water but it is still a nice spot. A few other vans are here including a couple that we have met along the way.
Friday August 15
We have very poor coverage at the moment so these next few blogs will be published when we get proper coverage.
Got up this morning it was blowing its ....... off, we decided to stay at Cape Kerauden as it is a nice spot. We really enjoyed our walk yesterday at low tide, or partial low tide, in amongst the rocks that appeared as the water receded. There were rock pools, mini waterfalls and so on. This is something that sailors don't see very often and it quite a phenomenon, actually quite spectacular. There were no shells to be found as they were all firmly attached to rocks. Anyway after enduring the wind for a while and finding sand getting into the van from every closed window and door we decided that nature had won and we would depart.
Down the road we went, paid the ranger for our one night stand, turned right at the highway to head south once more. Next stop was the DeGrey River which we had been told was great, the comments on Wiki Camps were also very positive. Experience, we are learning slowly as we travel (by which I mean slow learners), to look around before selecting a site. For once we did just that moving along the river away from the highway and found a great spot next to the railway bridge. I will say old bridge because the rails have surface rust so the line probably hasn't been used for a while. On the other hand there are lots of concrete sleepers some dated 2012, so we will see what happens.
Saturday August 16
We are nicely settled here at the DeGrey River and will probably stay for a few days. The site that we have is grassed, flat, has nice shady trees but still has sunny spots for our solar panels. Yesterday Elaine made bread and today she is sorting out her shell collection, it will be interesting to see what she does with them. After sleeping in this morning we went for walk along the railway line over the bridge to the other side of the river. This is the dry season so the river is not in full flow. There is water in there but in pools, quite a number of pools of reasonable size. The view from the bridge is great and shows the rather large size of the river when it is flowing. I would like to revisit this part of the WA at the end of the wet season, the rivers, waterfalls and billabongs must be rather spectacular. There are a lot of rocks around the railway line, apparently quarried locally that are interesting - zebra stripes in various dark colours, although we did see some white stripes, and textures. Surprisingly we collected a few.
Last night we lit a fire and enjoyed a sundowner with our neighbours. One couple we have met and shared campsites with over the past week or so and will continue to as we head south as our itineries are similar.
Sunday August 17
Another day in paradise! We are still camped at the DeGrey River along with a large number of vans, I'm not good at counting them so I'm not sure how many, but I would think at least 50. Some are right on the river bank, some on the high ground well back from the river and some like us in between. All the sites, just space in amongst the trees, are very nice. Most with green grass and shade. In the top section near the road there are 2 sets of toilets, 2 dump points and signs telling everyone about the rest area. It is one of several that we have seen since Kununnurra and they seem to be a result of royalties for regions and in cooperation with the local shire, main roads and the indigenous land rights people. It is my suspicion based on what we have seen here and in the wheatbelt, that a lot of royalties for regions has gone to promote tourism. Tourism can't be our main industry but as mining slows down and our population gets more leisure. It must be an important part of our income mix.
Monday August 18
Still here and I could stay for a few more days, but we are heading off tomorrow, much to madams delight. This morning I walked firstly through the upper area then under the road bridge along the river bank then back through the lower area and along the river bank. At this time of year it is possible to cross the river bed on dry land but there is enough water to attract a few swans, white and black. On the way back I found a tree branch that had been cut and left on the ground, so I dragged it back for tonight's fire (I did the same yesterday). However we are low on BBQ meat so the cooking will be indoors tonight, although we will still have a fire.
We have very poor coverage at the moment so these next few blogs will be published when we get proper coverage.
Got up this morning it was blowing its ....... off, we decided to stay at Cape Kerauden as it is a nice spot. We really enjoyed our walk yesterday at low tide, or partial low tide, in amongst the rocks that appeared as the water receded. There were rock pools, mini waterfalls and so on. This is something that sailors don't see very often and it quite a phenomenon, actually quite spectacular. There were no shells to be found as they were all firmly attached to rocks. Anyway after enduring the wind for a while and finding sand getting into the van from every closed window and door we decided that nature had won and we would depart.
Down the road we went, paid the ranger for our one night stand, turned right at the highway to head south once more. Next stop was the DeGrey River which we had been told was great, the comments on Wiki Camps were also very positive. Experience, we are learning slowly as we travel (by which I mean slow learners), to look around before selecting a site. For once we did just that moving along the river away from the highway and found a great spot next to the railway bridge. I will say old bridge because the rails have surface rust so the line probably hasn't been used for a while. On the other hand there are lots of concrete sleepers some dated 2012, so we will see what happens.
Saturday August 16
We are nicely settled here at the DeGrey River and will probably stay for a few days. The site that we have is grassed, flat, has nice shady trees but still has sunny spots for our solar panels. Yesterday Elaine made bread and today she is sorting out her shell collection, it will be interesting to see what she does with them. After sleeping in this morning we went for walk along the railway line over the bridge to the other side of the river. This is the dry season so the river is not in full flow. There is water in there but in pools, quite a number of pools of reasonable size. The view from the bridge is great and shows the rather large size of the river when it is flowing. I would like to revisit this part of the WA at the end of the wet season, the rivers, waterfalls and billabongs must be rather spectacular. There are a lot of rocks around the railway line, apparently quarried locally that are interesting - zebra stripes in various dark colours, although we did see some white stripes, and textures. Surprisingly we collected a few.
Last night we lit a fire and enjoyed a sundowner with our neighbours. One couple we have met and shared campsites with over the past week or so and will continue to as we head south as our itineries are similar.
Sunday August 17
Another day in paradise! We are still camped at the DeGrey River along with a large number of vans, I'm not good at counting them so I'm not sure how many, but I would think at least 50. Some are right on the river bank, some on the high ground well back from the river and some like us in between. All the sites, just space in amongst the trees, are very nice. Most with green grass and shade. In the top section near the road there are 2 sets of toilets, 2 dump points and signs telling everyone about the rest area. It is one of several that we have seen since Kununnurra and they seem to be a result of royalties for regions and in cooperation with the local shire, main roads and the indigenous land rights people. It is my suspicion based on what we have seen here and in the wheatbelt, that a lot of royalties for regions has gone to promote tourism. Tourism can't be our main industry but as mining slows down and our population gets more leisure. It must be an important part of our income mix.
Monday August 18
Still here and I could stay for a few more days, but we are heading off tomorrow, much to madams delight. This morning I walked firstly through the upper area then under the road bridge along the river bank then back through the lower area and along the river bank. At this time of year it is possible to cross the river bed on dry land but there is enough water to attract a few swans, white and black. On the way back I found a tree branch that had been cut and left on the ground, so I dragged it back for tonight's fire (I did the same yesterday). However we are low on BBQ meat so the cooking will be indoors tonight, although we will still have a fire.
Thursday 14 August 2014
So after one night at the Eighty Mile Beach caravan park we have moved on. The park was fine, in fact well set up and despite the number of vans there it was not all squashed up like sardines, but the only thing that the beach has going for it is it's length. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice beach, not pristine white sand but ok, but there are no special features like say rocky outcrops to give it real character. I sound as though we didn't like it, we did it just that one day was enough. This morning I walked over the hill to the beach, got to the top of the hill and did a double take, the ocean was way in the distance, probably more than 1 km away! It was low tide but I have never seen such a large extra amount of beach disclosed. We have seen big beach exposure variations at Broome (I went back and got Elaine so that she could see it) but this was much more. Anyway we packed up again and hit the road, this time aiming for Cape Kerauden and after 100 or so kms and a snack at Pardoo we were right on target. After turning off the main road there was a short piece of sealed road then we were on unsealed road again. A little rougher than yesterday but my driver handled it ok.
We arrived here at high tide, found a million dollar campsite just a few meters above high tide and set ourselves up. This site if run by the local, East Pilbara Shire and has two sets of ablutions and two dump spots and a nice gazebo and that's it, but it is a lovely spot with a great ocean view. We have spent the afternoon watching the tide recede and expose lots of rock and beach which is always interesting.
We arrived here at high tide, found a million dollar campsite just a few meters above high tide and set ourselves up. This site if run by the local, East Pilbara Shire and has two sets of ablutions and two dump spots and a nice gazebo and that's it, but it is a lovely spot with a great ocean view. We have spent the afternoon watching the tide recede and expose lots of rock and beach which is always interesting.
Wednesday 13 August 2014
Just found this hiding and gave it new life, sorry for the confusion but now you have it all, in fact some of it twice.
Somehow the date of my last blog is wrong, it was for Sunday August 10. Be that as it may today is Tuesday, so once again I have missed a day. Sunday nights roast with entertainment was good, the food was a full 3 courses and was very nice. The entertainment was an aboriginal gentleman playing guitar and singing a mixture of songs, the best however were his own some of which were in 'language'. It was also of course a social gathering and we met and shared a table with a nice couple from the eastern hills.
During the day we wandered down to the beach and it was really nice to swim in 'real' water, funny how the ocean feels different to all the lovely fresh water swimming holes that we have visited. It was also nice to be back on real beaches with white beach sand. Just as a note this station is 43000 hectares, has 8000 head of cattle (I think that I have those number correct) but here is the big one, it has 82km of beachfront!
Monday morning I went for my usual walk to look around the station, but that didn't work out. What I did notice was the large number of vans in the park, I did not count them but I would say it was over 100. Which, over the 5-6 season adds up to a nice bit of extra income for the station.
This morning I did my walk along the beach and came a cross some rock formations just begging to be photographed. So back to the van I went, got the camera and photographed these wonderful rocks, all sorts of shapes, red and white or just red or just white, good stuff. Then we packed our bags and got back on the road. Down the rough road to the highway, then about 80 kms down the highway, definitely down as we are heading south, to one of the great rest areas that main roads provides. They are basically level ground, some bitumen, some gravel, toilets, dump spot, gzebos
Somehow the date of my last blog is wrong, it was for Sunday August 10. Be that as it may today is Tuesday, so once again I have missed a day. Sunday nights roast with entertainment was good, the food was a full 3 courses and was very nice. The entertainment was an aboriginal gentleman playing guitar and singing a mixture of songs, the best however were his own some of which were in 'language'. It was also of course a social gathering and we met and shared a table with a nice couple from the eastern hills.
During the day we wandered down to the beach and it was really nice to swim in 'real' water, funny how the ocean feels different to all the lovely fresh water swimming holes that we have visited. It was also nice to be back on real beaches with white beach sand. Just as a note this station is 43000 hectares, has 8000 head of cattle (I think that I have those number correct) but here is the big one, it has 82km of beachfront!
Monday morning I went for my usual walk to look around the station, but that didn't work out. What I did notice was the large number of vans in the park, I did not count them but I would say it was over 100. Which, over the 5-6 season adds up to a nice bit of extra income for the station.
This morning I did my walk along the beach and came a cross some rock formations just begging to be photographed. So back to the van I went, got the camera and photographed these wonderful rocks, all sorts of shapes, red and white or just red or just white, good stuff. Then we packed our bags and got back on the road. Down the rough road to the highway, then about 80 kms down the highway, definitely down as we are heading south, to one of the great rest areas that main roads provides. They are basically level ground, some bitumen, some gravel, toilets, dump spot, gzebos
Somehow 2 posts are missing, the last post dated Sarurday was actually Sunday and Mondays & Tuesdays posts are missing. So I will try to incorporate them into this post.
Monday morning started with a walk around the caravan park and I was quite intrigued by the number of vans that it accommodates, something over the 100 which, even after running costs would be a nice addition to the station income. The station is 43000 hectares and runs about 8000 head of cattle for the live export market and this caravan park has been in existence for about 27 years. The park is absolute beachfront, of which the station has 82 kms. Later in the day we went down for a swim to find that the tide was out and the beach had become a rocky reef. Tuesday morning I took my walk along the beach and came across some absolutely spectacular rock formations, good enough that I went back to the van, got the camera, then went back and took lots of photographs. Around 10am, the usual vacate you parking spot time we took off, braved the rough road and, once more, headed south.
Our camp for Tuesday was the Stanley 24 hr Rest area. We were the 5th van in, but by nightfall that number had swelled to 25. These rest areas since Kununnurra are rather good, consisting of a flattened area part bitumen and part gravel, ablutions, dump point and gazebos provided by main roads and we presume maintained by the local shires.
From the Stanley rest area we continued south, again turning of the main road onto an unsealed road. This one was reasonable and led us to the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park which, strangely enough is situated on the Eighty Mile Beach. We will probably stay here for a day or two, so more later my fingered are getting tired.
Monday morning started with a walk around the caravan park and I was quite intrigued by the number of vans that it accommodates, something over the 100 which, even after running costs would be a nice addition to the station income. The station is 43000 hectares and runs about 8000 head of cattle for the live export market and this caravan park has been in existence for about 27 years. The park is absolute beachfront, of which the station has 82 kms. Later in the day we went down for a swim to find that the tide was out and the beach had become a rocky reef. Tuesday morning I took my walk along the beach and came across some absolutely spectacular rock formations, good enough that I went back to the van, got the camera, then went back and took lots of photographs. Around 10am, the usual vacate you parking spot time we took off, braved the rough road and, once more, headed south.
Our camp for Tuesday was the Stanley 24 hr Rest area. We were the 5th van in, but by nightfall that number had swelled to 25. These rest areas since Kununnurra are rather good, consisting of a flattened area part bitumen and part gravel, ablutions, dump point and gazebos provided by main roads and we presume maintained by the local shires.
From the Stanley rest area we continued south, again turning of the main road onto an unsealed road. This one was reasonable and led us to the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park which, strangely enough is situated on the Eighty Mile Beach. We will probably stay here for a day or two, so more later my fingered are getting tired.
Saturday 9 August 2014
Caught you didn't I? You thought that I would forget again, but here I am to do today's blog.
Last night our solo campsite stayed solo, nobody else stopped to join us and nobody came to annoy us, so basically it was successful. Elaine lit one of her pyrotechnical fires using wood cut with our new chainsaw and we enjoyed a BBQ meal. This morning I took a walk up and down the road, but there was nothing special to see, just bushes and grass. Then at the early hour, for us, of 8.30am we were on the way with the spare driver, me, driving. 15km down the road we turned off onto an unsealed road and drove 9km to Barn Hill Station caravan park. The road was a bit rough but was manageable for the short distance involved through 2 station gates, which naturally had to be opened and closed after our transit. There were also quite a lot off vehicles going the other way, so it was fairly likely that we would be able to book in. Which we did choosing a site that had power, shade and limited ocean view. Not quite millionaires row but very nice, the best views are on a sand dune type cliff face with uninterrupted ocean views, but very little shade, no power and everyone had a generator ready to go!
We set up settled in, Elaine did a bit of her washing and we went down to the beach. The walk is only about 100mtrs to the staircase down, probably 100 steps, to a big, beautiful, white sand open ocean beach. The was our first salt water swim since leaving home, in fact my first beach swim in I don't know how many years, and it was very refreshing. The difference between fresh water and salt water for swimming is quite noticeable. The other thing about this beach is the beautiful rocks of many sizes, many shapes and colours, mainly the colours are red and white stripes. Tonight is roast night, bring your own plates, cutlery, chairs, table,etc but a 3 course roast for only $16!
Last night our solo campsite stayed solo, nobody else stopped to join us and nobody came to annoy us, so basically it was successful. Elaine lit one of her pyrotechnical fires using wood cut with our new chainsaw and we enjoyed a BBQ meal. This morning I took a walk up and down the road, but there was nothing special to see, just bushes and grass. Then at the early hour, for us, of 8.30am we were on the way with the spare driver, me, driving. 15km down the road we turned off onto an unsealed road and drove 9km to Barn Hill Station caravan park. The road was a bit rough but was manageable for the short distance involved through 2 station gates, which naturally had to be opened and closed after our transit. There were also quite a lot off vehicles going the other way, so it was fairly likely that we would be able to book in. Which we did choosing a site that had power, shade and limited ocean view. Not quite millionaires row but very nice, the best views are on a sand dune type cliff face with uninterrupted ocean views, but very little shade, no power and everyone had a generator ready to go!
We set up settled in, Elaine did a bit of her washing and we went down to the beach. The walk is only about 100mtrs to the staircase down, probably 100 steps, to a big, beautiful, white sand open ocean beach. The was our first salt water swim since leaving home, in fact my first beach swim in I don't know how many years, and it was very refreshing. The difference between fresh water and salt water for swimming is quite noticeable. The other thing about this beach is the beautiful rocks of many sizes, many shapes and colours, mainly the colours are red and white stripes. Tonight is roast night, bring your own plates, cutlery, chairs, table,etc but a 3 course roast for only $16!
Mr double slack here, missed another night but I have a slight excuse. The caravan park put on a sausage sizzle with music, bring your own chair and drink, which was very pleasant. We also caught up with a couple from an earlier campsite.
We were up early, for us that is, leaving Thursdays camp at 7am to drive in to Broome. The van was booked in for a service, so we dropped it off and got a car from the service company and started to make the best of the day. First up we got a site at the Pistol Club Overflow park, they are only the allowed to operate when the major parks are full (so we were told) and they are full. The major parks also charge $15 to $20 per night more. Next to Bunnings where I got a cordless chain saw to enable me to cut wood for fires. Then to Chinatown to look around have a milkshake, pick up the water cap that I left in Fitzroy Crossing that had been posted down to us and to do a bit of shopping. The shopping part didn't happen because madam didn't need anything that could sit in the hot car. Cable Beach looked beautiful, although there was not many travelling boats in view, and we had a walk on Gantheume Point. At 2.30pm we called in to get my paddie and, surprise, the van was ready. Back to the shops to pick up a few bits and pieces then off to the caravan park.
This morning, up at our usual hour, I had a walk up and down the road and around the park. We cleaned up and headed for the Broome markets. They have a good reputation and are much like any other markets, lots of very active and good food stalls, plus the usual hsndcrafts, clothing etc. After the markets we headed out of town looking for somewhere to park for the night. Another surprise madam stopped on a deserted rest area, maybe someone else will join us!
We were up early, for us that is, leaving Thursdays camp at 7am to drive in to Broome. The van was booked in for a service, so we dropped it off and got a car from the service company and started to make the best of the day. First up we got a site at the Pistol Club Overflow park, they are only the allowed to operate when the major parks are full (so we were told) and they are full. The major parks also charge $15 to $20 per night more. Next to Bunnings where I got a cordless chain saw to enable me to cut wood for fires. Then to Chinatown to look around have a milkshake, pick up the water cap that I left in Fitzroy Crossing that had been posted down to us and to do a bit of shopping. The shopping part didn't happen because madam didn't need anything that could sit in the hot car. Cable Beach looked beautiful, although there was not many travelling boats in view, and we had a walk on Gantheume Point. At 2.30pm we called in to get my paddie and, surprise, the van was ready. Back to the shops to pick up a few bits and pieces then off to the caravan park.
This morning, up at our usual hour, I had a walk up and down the road and around the park. We cleaned up and headed for the Broome markets. They have a good reputation and are much like any other markets, lots of very active and good food stalls, plus the usual hsndcrafts, clothing etc. After the markets we headed out of town looking for somewhere to park for the night. Another surprise madam stopped on a deserted rest area, maybe someone else will join us!
Thursday 7 August 2014
Mr Slack here missed last nights report!
Yesterday we packed up and left the station long after everybody else, in fact it was probably close to midday before we got on the road. In the morning I did my usual walk around the property, or part of it. There were water tanks and a pumping station run by solar power, there was a 22,400 watt solar array which I guess powered the whole place. There was also a big collection, a really big collection, of rusting farm equipment. The station had a lot of horses, in fact they offer horse riding tours etc, and I had the pleasure of watching one of the handlers working with one of their foals. After leaving there we headed back into Derby where Elaine send off a couple of parcels and I had a look at the old goal. The old goal told a very sorry story of the treatment meeted out to aborigines early this century, in fact up to relatively recent times. Then down the road we travelled to the Nillibubbica 24 hour rest area, like the others that we have seen since leaving Kununnurra it is basic but has ablutions, gazebos and a dump spot (for black water). It really is a small world, Elaine started talking to a couple in a motorhome parked near us and it transpired that he, the male part of the couple, had sailed with me on Ben Adam to the Abrolhos Islands some 30 years ago!
We have stayed put today as we have booked the van for a service in Broome tomorrow. This gave us a chance to partially repack the van. We have also met another Swiss couple travelling with their 2 children. That is also amazing as me met another Swiss couple back in Queensland.
More tomorrow.
Yesterday we packed up and left the station long after everybody else, in fact it was probably close to midday before we got on the road. In the morning I did my usual walk around the property, or part of it. There were water tanks and a pumping station run by solar power, there was a 22,400 watt solar array which I guess powered the whole place. There was also a big collection, a really big collection, of rusting farm equipment. The station had a lot of horses, in fact they offer horse riding tours etc, and I had the pleasure of watching one of the handlers working with one of their foals. After leaving there we headed back into Derby where Elaine send off a couple of parcels and I had a look at the old goal. The old goal told a very sorry story of the treatment meeted out to aborigines early this century, in fact up to relatively recent times. Then down the road we travelled to the Nillibubbica 24 hour rest area, like the others that we have seen since leaving Kununnurra it is basic but has ablutions, gazebos and a dump spot (for black water). It really is a small world, Elaine started talking to a couple in a motorhome parked near us and it transpired that he, the male part of the couple, had sailed with me on Ben Adam to the Abrolhos Islands some 30 years ago!
We have stayed put today as we have booked the van for a service in Broome tomorrow. This gave us a chance to partially repack the van. We have also met another Swiss couple travelling with their 2 children. That is also amazing as me met another Swiss couple back in Queensland.
More tomorrow.
Tuesday 5 August 2014
Another day in the life and times of the gypsy Cohens.
Left our camp, almost last out as usual, heading towards Derby. It was quite a good camp, labelled as Ellendale 24 Hour Rest Area, bitumen hard stand area with gravel edges on 2 levels and relatively flat, so that it was fairly easy to get the van level (although we did have to use our levelling ramps to be really level!). Probably about 30 vans in the area and room for more without being too overcrowded. The problem was, and is for a lot of similar sites, the rubbish bins were overflowing. The local shire does service them but if the site is busy they get overfull. As we left we saw on the other side of the road and about 3-4 kms further on a lovely spot next to a billabong, never mind maybe next time.
Derby was a bit over 200 km away and we got in shortly before midday. First port of call, as usual, the visitor centre, in this case a very nice building with lots of information and good helpful & knowledgeable staff. Then to look at a museum run by the local historical society. It is unmanned, one get the key from the visitor centre and returns it with a gold coin donation after the visit. I spent quite a bit of time there as there is a lot of information, too much to completely absorb, but I try to get as much as possible. Elaine took advantage of our phones being in range for the first time in days, phone coverage in WA is not good. Then off to the wharf to see it at low tide. The tide range here of 11 metres is one of the largest ranges in the world, we will endeavour to look tomorrow at high tide. After a bit of shopping, surprise surprise, we drove 15 km out of town to our nights stopping point at Birdwood Downs Station, more about it tomorrow.
Left our camp, almost last out as usual, heading towards Derby. It was quite a good camp, labelled as Ellendale 24 Hour Rest Area, bitumen hard stand area with gravel edges on 2 levels and relatively flat, so that it was fairly easy to get the van level (although we did have to use our levelling ramps to be really level!). Probably about 30 vans in the area and room for more without being too overcrowded. The problem was, and is for a lot of similar sites, the rubbish bins were overflowing. The local shire does service them but if the site is busy they get overfull. As we left we saw on the other side of the road and about 3-4 kms further on a lovely spot next to a billabong, never mind maybe next time.
Derby was a bit over 200 km away and we got in shortly before midday. First port of call, as usual, the visitor centre, in this case a very nice building with lots of information and good helpful & knowledgeable staff. Then to look at a museum run by the local historical society. It is unmanned, one get the key from the visitor centre and returns it with a gold coin donation after the visit. I spent quite a bit of time there as there is a lot of information, too much to completely absorb, but I try to get as much as possible. Elaine took advantage of our phones being in range for the first time in days, phone coverage in WA is not good. Then off to the wharf to see it at low tide. The tide range here of 11 metres is one of the largest ranges in the world, we will endeavour to look tomorrow at high tide. After a bit of shopping, surprise surprise, we drove 15 km out of town to our nights stopping point at Birdwood Downs Station, more about it tomorrow.
Monday 4 August 2014
Well first of all a correction to last night, we were actually about 140kms from the precious nights camp.
Now today was interesting, firstly a long chat with some people we met back in Queensland. Interesting people, he is growing trees specially bent and twisted to make very unique walking sticks and I am very keen to see the results, probably still a year or two away. Then we took our house back on the road and drove into Fitzroy Crossing, from there we took the ranger run cruise on Geike Gorge. This was very interesting and something that I have heard about for many, many years and really wanted to see. The gorge is about to be renamed by the local indigenous people, but silly me, I have forgotten the new name. Anyway, whatever the name it is a lovely and interesting place. We then moved on to tonight's camp about 80 kms west of Fitzroy Crossing, that involved driving into the sun at dusk, something we have not done previously on this trip and won't do again (it is the most dangerous time for animals crossing the road). So we are at a nice campsite, have caught up with friends from a previous camp and met some new people with a van like ours and a timetable like ours.
Now today was interesting, firstly a long chat with some people we met back in Queensland. Interesting people, he is growing trees specially bent and twisted to make very unique walking sticks and I am very keen to see the results, probably still a year or two away. Then we took our house back on the road and drove into Fitzroy Crossing, from there we took the ranger run cruise on Geike Gorge. This was very interesting and something that I have heard about for many, many years and really wanted to see. The gorge is about to be renamed by the local indigenous people, but silly me, I have forgotten the new name. Anyway, whatever the name it is a lovely and interesting place. We then moved on to tonight's camp about 80 kms west of Fitzroy Crossing, that involved driving into the sun at dusk, something we have not done previously on this trip and won't do again (it is the most dangerous time for animals crossing the road). So we are at a nice campsite, have caught up with friends from a previous camp and met some new people with a van like ours and a timetable like ours.
Sunday 3 August 2014
How to I put this, tonight we are camped, along with about 20 other RVs, on top of the world. We are at a place called Ngambun Cliff which as the name suggests stands well above the surrounding countryside and provides phenomenal view. It also provides, if you take the time & effort to walk down the steep hills dome very pretty multi-coloured rocks. We both did that walk this afternoon. We are only 40km from last nights camp and found this place by accident......it just looked like a photo opportunity. The area is level and bitumised with toilets, tables, gazebos and a gravel overflow area.
Tomorrow onward towards Fitzroy Crossing.
Tomorrow onward towards Fitzroy Crossing.
Saturday 2 August 2014
I have just discovered that yesterday's blog did not get published. So I will do a summary just for the record.
We left the Muluk campsite, well after most of the others, and headed for the Bungle Bungles. The turnoff was just down the road from our campsite but the national park was a further 53 kms off bad road, they only allow 4wd vehicles and suggest 2-3 hours for the trip. After enquiring at the caravan park, just 1km of bad road in, about the tour which was all day, covering various things including the park and 2 meals and was very expensive I decided no go and we moved on. Halls Creek was next, we fuelled up, took a trip out to the so called China Wall and moved on.
Our camp for the night was at the Mary River 24hour Rest Stop, which was nice, crowded and the usual basic.
We left the Muluk campsite, well after most of the others, and headed for the Bungle Bungles. The turnoff was just down the road from our campsite but the national park was a further 53 kms off bad road, they only allow 4wd vehicles and suggest 2-3 hours for the trip. After enquiring at the caravan park, just 1km of bad road in, about the tour which was all day, covering various things including the park and 2 meals and was very expensive I decided no go and we moved on. Halls Creek was next, we fuelled up, took a trip out to the so called China Wall and moved on.
Our camp for the night was at the Mary River 24hour Rest Stop, which was nice, crowded and the usual basic.
Well I hope that all you good people realise just how hard it is sitting around out here and driving (or in my case being driven) around looking at Australia. Someone has to do the hard yards so we will join the thousands of others trying to take the pressure off all you people slaving away at home.
Last night there were 76 vans in this camp, the night before 79 and this is just one of hundreds, or is it thousands, of free camps around Australia plus there are even more caravan parks. Apparently there are 500,000 registered RVs so the migratory population is huge and must account for a fair proportion of the income in a lot of small towns. Enough philosophising it is another lovely day and we have stayed put. This morning I walked along the almost dry river bed without seeing the resident freshwater crocs, although Elaine has seen them since and taken photographs. What we have had though is a small herd of cattle wandering around the camp checking us out. There has also been a bit of bird life to watch.
Last night there were 76 vans in this camp, the night before 79 and this is just one of hundreds, or is it thousands, of free camps around Australia plus there are even more caravan parks. Apparently there are 500,000 registered RVs so the migratory population is huge and must account for a fair proportion of the income in a lot of small towns. Enough philosophising it is another lovely day and we have stayed put. This morning I walked along the almost dry river bed without seeing the resident freshwater crocs, although Elaine has seen them since and taken photographs. What we have had though is a small herd of cattle wandering around the camp checking us out. There has also been a bit of bird life to watch.
Thursday 31 July 2014
OK it is blog time again and we are sitting at a rest stop just north of the turn off to the Bungle Bungles. At this stage there are half a dozen other vans here and not much room for many more. The drive down was fairly ordinary small trees lots of small hills as part of the local ranges. We stopped at a place called Warmun to look at their local gallery of indigenous art. Big but, there were signs telling us to check in at the admin centre and we could not find the admin centre, so we moved on! Anyway now Elaine is talking me into taking a day tour of the Bungle Bungles, this will involve staying in the caravan park on the highway (53km of 4wd only road from the actual park) and it is an expensive all day trip which she won't do! I have sent off an email to check availability so we will see what happens.
Wednesday 30 July 2014
We didn't get into our camp until dusk yesterday, which is my excuse for missing a day!
We left Lake Argyle, regretfully as it is a lovely spot and we could have stayed longer (but home and our grandchildren beckon), but the specified time of 10am. Always intrigues me this checkout time irrespective of ones arrival time. First stop was reconstructed, the original site is under the lake but the house was rescued stone by stone, Durack homestead from Argyle Downs, their station. It was very interesting, giving an in site into the life and times of the Durack family. From there we went into Kununnurra fuelled up, shopped and made a few phone calls. Kununnurra is a reasonable sized town now, somewhat bigger and busier than it was the last time that I visited about 20 years ago. Then it was time to head north, we had chosen a campsite for the night, but as dusk closed in we chose another next to the junction of Victoria Hwy & Gt Northern Hwy. Luckily as this turned out to be quite a nice roadside rest area and the other when we found it today no good at all.
This morning it was pack up camp ( this takes very little time depending on the mess we have made inside the van) and continue our progress northward to Wyndham. Wyndham is still a sleepy little hollow although the port area had a little bit of activity, otherwise nothing much has changed, the town has not found an attraction to get much of the tourist dollar. We drove up to the 5 Rivers Lookout, the road is steep, very windy with some real hairpin bends, but the view from the top is huge or even huger! The local Lions club has put quite a bit of effort into the lookout, I presume with some help from the shire. It has a picnic area with tables, roof and lights, a very attractive and pragmatic stone fence, parking area etc. From the lookout one can indeed see 5 rivers, indentified by a bronze map on a pedestal, the port, the town and large amounts of the surrounding countryside. Well worth the drive up but after a good look and lots of photographs we headed down and drove out to the port. Not much there but it is low ground and judging by the buildings not really cyclone prone. There is also an old cemetery where the 12 workers who died during the meat works construction are buried along with a number of relatively young people. I guess the young people bit is endemic of areas like this where the conditions are still fairly tough. Then back on the road to last nights campsite.
Tomorrow we start heading south, paradoxically on the Great Northern Highway.
We left Lake Argyle, regretfully as it is a lovely spot and we could have stayed longer (but home and our grandchildren beckon), but the specified time of 10am. Always intrigues me this checkout time irrespective of ones arrival time. First stop was reconstructed, the original site is under the lake but the house was rescued stone by stone, Durack homestead from Argyle Downs, their station. It was very interesting, giving an in site into the life and times of the Durack family. From there we went into Kununnurra fuelled up, shopped and made a few phone calls. Kununnurra is a reasonable sized town now, somewhat bigger and busier than it was the last time that I visited about 20 years ago. Then it was time to head north, we had chosen a campsite for the night, but as dusk closed in we chose another next to the junction of Victoria Hwy & Gt Northern Hwy. Luckily as this turned out to be quite a nice roadside rest area and the other when we found it today no good at all.
This morning it was pack up camp ( this takes very little time depending on the mess we have made inside the van) and continue our progress northward to Wyndham. Wyndham is still a sleepy little hollow although the port area had a little bit of activity, otherwise nothing much has changed, the town has not found an attraction to get much of the tourist dollar. We drove up to the 5 Rivers Lookout, the road is steep, very windy with some real hairpin bends, but the view from the top is huge or even huger! The local Lions club has put quite a bit of effort into the lookout, I presume with some help from the shire. It has a picnic area with tables, roof and lights, a very attractive and pragmatic stone fence, parking area etc. From the lookout one can indeed see 5 rivers, indentified by a bronze map on a pedestal, the port, the town and large amounts of the surrounding countryside. Well worth the drive up but after a good look and lots of photographs we headed down and drove out to the port. Not much there but it is low ground and judging by the buildings not really cyclone prone. There is also an old cemetery where the 12 workers who died during the meat works construction are buried along with a number of relatively young people. I guess the young people bit is endemic of areas like this where the conditions are still fairly tough. Then back on the road to last nights campsite.
Tomorrow we start heading south, paradoxically on the Great Northern Highway.
Monday 28 July 2014
Well we are in Kununnurra and have coverage for the next hour or so, soooo here comes the catch up blogs
Monday July 21
For us it was an early start today, we actually left the campsite at 0840 (for landlubbers 8.40am). There were a few other people at the campsite, a group of 3 caravans, 2 camper trailers together and a group of young people sharing a camper van and a station wagon. The reason for the early start was a 225km drive to Edith Falls where we had been told to arrive before lunch to have any chance of a spot.
First stop was the southern end of the billabong on the South Alligator River ( so named by one of the early British navigators who thought that the crocodiles were alligators and there were plenty of them here) called the Yellow Water place, strange name because the waters were a lovely blue colour. The cruises here must be popular as there were 4 quite large flat bottomed boats tied up at the purpose built jetty. There was also a raised, above the water and grasses, walkway. A fairly pretty place with the green water grass stretching of into the distance. The bird life was reasonable with white storks (or brolgas??) ducks and I got a good photograph of a eagle sitting on a tree stump. The scenery whilst driving is fairly ordinary, lots of small trees, undergrowth and termite mounds, this park like most parks relies upon the various special spots to create interest and those spots are generally very nice. In this case we appeared to be surrounded by a low mountain, or hill, range. We cleared the park threw the exit gate/pillars, but due to my camera not behaving properly missed a photograph
So back on Stuart Hwy to Edith Falls which is about 19km the other side of the hwy. This place is busy, we arrived at about 12.40pm and wren the last van in, although later in the day a couple more vans and some tents came in. So we parked then I went for a swim in the lovely plunge pool at the foot of the waterfalls, Elaine had a nana nap then joined me at the pool.
Wednesday July 24
Well not much happened yesterday and we were out of range, so no blog yesterday and this blog probably won't go live until tomorrow.
Yesterday we stayed at Edith Falls, I did the so called loop walk in the morning to justify my breakfast. The walk is 2.6km up over and down again, mostly over rocky ground so it is rather good exercise. The time suggested is 1.5 to 2 hrs, as I started out I met a lady who does the walk daily (she must be one of the local staff although I did not see any staff quarters) and had just completed it in 31mins!!!! Anyway I took just under 1.5hrs and it was a great walk. We then had breakfast, swim, did a couple of jobs, swim and read in that order. This is a typical national park campground, reasonably set out, basic facilities and to our mind much better than the more caravan parks which have more facilities, but we don't need pools etc, usually pack the vans in tighter and charge considerably more for the privilege.
Today we got going fairly early in the hopes of getting a wheel alignment in Katherine as our front wheels appear to be out of alignment, no such luck. So we settled for swapping the front wheel, left to right etc, to even out the wear. We probably won't get an alignment until at least Kununnurra or maybe Broome. So with a bit of shopping done we started our journey west. Tonight we are at a roadside rest are called the Limestone Creek rest area, a very basic but pleasant enough spot. When we pulled in there were 5 vans here, but as we go to bed there is more like 20.
Thursday July 24
Day 3 without coverage but we soldier on regardless!
This morning I went for a walk to find Limestone Creek, but despite a 2km trek that ended when the track turned to high grass, I had to walk 2km back without sighting the creek. So we left our camp, ax usual well after most of the others and continued west. We are travelling on the Victoria Hwy which stretches from Katherine to Kununnurra and crosses the border into Western Australia. The scenery today had been quite spectacular as we passed through the mountains surrounding the Victoria River. The vegetation is still relatively low trees and scrub but the mountains, not very high, are varied and rocky. After thinking about stopping at the Victoria River road house we continued on to Timber Creek where we refuelled as this will be our last chance before Kununnurra We then found a side road, at least Elaine did because I was driving. Up the hills we went, steep road at that but good sealed road, to the lookouts, 2 one after the other and the view from both was well worth the effort. Then to our campsite for the night, Big Horse Creek campground which is very expensive at $3.30each !!!! It is the usual basic camp, some marked specs but mostly just fit in where you can with basic long drop ablutions and in this case close to the river. We got here about 2.30pm and there was very little space left, but after cruising round we found a spot and backed into it (we like to be facing out whenever we park for the night) with a bit of help from Elaine and our neighbours. More people have arrived, most could not find a spot but a couple of the smaller units have squeezed in.
Friday July 25
We decided to spend an extra day here at the Big Horse Creek campground for 2 reasons. Firstly the rather magnificent Victoria River which is a couple of hundred metres from the camp and second because we needed to prepare for the border crossing into WA. Sounds drastic but the issue is quarantine, you cannot bring any foodstuffs into WA, that includes honey, wood for fires etc. So Elaine had a big cookup and cooked all the extra stuff that she bought at Katherine. We now have a cooked stock of potato lutkas, hooray! and some other stuff. Still no coverage so this goes into storage with the last few days.
Saturday July 26
Still no coverage so this will also be put on ice. We headed out this morning back into Timber Creek to send of an important email. We had intended to take advantage of coverage to make some phone calls, but it was only telstra and we got involved with other things and left without doing the phone calls. So of to a rest/camp area close to the border intending to stay overnight. On the way we saw a turnoff to something that I wanted to see, so after some persuasion my driver headed down the unsealed road, a kilometre or so further on we decided that it was too rough, turned around back to the Victoria Hwy. Then on to the border where there really is a serious checkpoint. However other than a red apple that Elaine remembered there was nothing for them to keep, so after a quick walk through we were off again. Next stop was Lake Argyle and the first view of this was mind blowing, later viewing has confirmed the unbelievable magnitude of this man made lake. We are booked into the resort caravan park for 3 days and will do a boat cruise before leaving, my aren't we getting extravagant! I have just found out that free wifi is available in the beer garden so will try and send this missive.
Sunday July 27
Day 2 at Lake Argyle, or to be strictly correct day 1.5. This morning a 3 km walk to the dam lookout up and down some fairly steep inclines. It is hard to comprehend the big picture thinking that preceded the creation of this project. The damming of the Ord River, some 40 years ago, created a lake some 21 times larger than Sydney harbour, that is very hard to comprehend (same word but I can't think of anything else). Every where you look there is water, bays and islands. After early teething problems there is now, if my maths is correct, some 20,000 hectares under irrigated cropping of various sorts. I can't begin to describe the wonder of it all.
The other thing is this resort. It is relatively young, holds about 250 vans or similar, has a very busy shop come restaurant come bar and takes bookings for tours etc.
Monday July 28
Ok today was pretty special! We are still without coverage so this will be added to the last 7 days worth of blog.
This morning I bush walked on a trail up the hill next to the caravan park to look down into the Ord River Gorge. The view was, like everything else about this place, magnificent. Then this afternoon we went on a sunset cruise of Lake Argyle. This lake is more like an inland sea, at times the view was just like being on the boat. We were informed that it is actually only 19 times as big as Sydney Harbour, although that would vary a bit with the quality of the wet season. We saw a number of fresh water crocodiles, who I am reliably informed are shy creatures who do not normally attack humans. We also had a swim and photographed a very nice sunset. Everything about the cruise seemed to emphasise the size of this lake. I could go on forever but I think you get the picture, incidentally photographs will not do it justice.
Monday July 21
For us it was an early start today, we actually left the campsite at 0840 (for landlubbers 8.40am). There were a few other people at the campsite, a group of 3 caravans, 2 camper trailers together and a group of young people sharing a camper van and a station wagon. The reason for the early start was a 225km drive to Edith Falls where we had been told to arrive before lunch to have any chance of a spot.
First stop was the southern end of the billabong on the South Alligator River ( so named by one of the early British navigators who thought that the crocodiles were alligators and there were plenty of them here) called the Yellow Water place, strange name because the waters were a lovely blue colour. The cruises here must be popular as there were 4 quite large flat bottomed boats tied up at the purpose built jetty. There was also a raised, above the water and grasses, walkway. A fairly pretty place with the green water grass stretching of into the distance. The bird life was reasonable with white storks (or brolgas??) ducks and I got a good photograph of a eagle sitting on a tree stump. The scenery whilst driving is fairly ordinary, lots of small trees, undergrowth and termite mounds, this park like most parks relies upon the various special spots to create interest and those spots are generally very nice. In this case we appeared to be surrounded by a low mountain, or hill, range. We cleared the park threw the exit gate/pillars, but due to my camera not behaving properly missed a photograph
So back on Stuart Hwy to Edith Falls which is about 19km the other side of the hwy. This place is busy, we arrived at about 12.40pm and wren the last van in, although later in the day a couple more vans and some tents came in. So we parked then I went for a swim in the lovely plunge pool at the foot of the waterfalls, Elaine had a nana nap then joined me at the pool.
Wednesday July 24
Well not much happened yesterday and we were out of range, so no blog yesterday and this blog probably won't go live until tomorrow.
Yesterday we stayed at Edith Falls, I did the so called loop walk in the morning to justify my breakfast. The walk is 2.6km up over and down again, mostly over rocky ground so it is rather good exercise. The time suggested is 1.5 to 2 hrs, as I started out I met a lady who does the walk daily (she must be one of the local staff although I did not see any staff quarters) and had just completed it in 31mins!!!! Anyway I took just under 1.5hrs and it was a great walk. We then had breakfast, swim, did a couple of jobs, swim and read in that order. This is a typical national park campground, reasonably set out, basic facilities and to our mind much better than the more caravan parks which have more facilities, but we don't need pools etc, usually pack the vans in tighter and charge considerably more for the privilege.
Today we got going fairly early in the hopes of getting a wheel alignment in Katherine as our front wheels appear to be out of alignment, no such luck. So we settled for swapping the front wheel, left to right etc, to even out the wear. We probably won't get an alignment until at least Kununnurra or maybe Broome. So with a bit of shopping done we started our journey west. Tonight we are at a roadside rest are called the Limestone Creek rest area, a very basic but pleasant enough spot. When we pulled in there were 5 vans here, but as we go to bed there is more like 20.
Thursday July 24
Day 3 without coverage but we soldier on regardless!
This morning I went for a walk to find Limestone Creek, but despite a 2km trek that ended when the track turned to high grass, I had to walk 2km back without sighting the creek. So we left our camp, ax usual well after most of the others and continued west. We are travelling on the Victoria Hwy which stretches from Katherine to Kununnurra and crosses the border into Western Australia. The scenery today had been quite spectacular as we passed through the mountains surrounding the Victoria River. The vegetation is still relatively low trees and scrub but the mountains, not very high, are varied and rocky. After thinking about stopping at the Victoria River road house we continued on to Timber Creek where we refuelled as this will be our last chance before Kununnurra We then found a side road, at least Elaine did because I was driving. Up the hills we went, steep road at that but good sealed road, to the lookouts, 2 one after the other and the view from both was well worth the effort. Then to our campsite for the night, Big Horse Creek campground which is very expensive at $3.30each !!!! It is the usual basic camp, some marked specs but mostly just fit in where you can with basic long drop ablutions and in this case close to the river. We got here about 2.30pm and there was very little space left, but after cruising round we found a spot and backed into it (we like to be facing out whenever we park for the night) with a bit of help from Elaine and our neighbours. More people have arrived, most could not find a spot but a couple of the smaller units have squeezed in.
Friday July 25
We decided to spend an extra day here at the Big Horse Creek campground for 2 reasons. Firstly the rather magnificent Victoria River which is a couple of hundred metres from the camp and second because we needed to prepare for the border crossing into WA. Sounds drastic but the issue is quarantine, you cannot bring any foodstuffs into WA, that includes honey, wood for fires etc. So Elaine had a big cookup and cooked all the extra stuff that she bought at Katherine. We now have a cooked stock of potato lutkas, hooray! and some other stuff. Still no coverage so this goes into storage with the last few days.
Saturday July 26
Still no coverage so this will also be put on ice. We headed out this morning back into Timber Creek to send of an important email. We had intended to take advantage of coverage to make some phone calls, but it was only telstra and we got involved with other things and left without doing the phone calls. So of to a rest/camp area close to the border intending to stay overnight. On the way we saw a turnoff to something that I wanted to see, so after some persuasion my driver headed down the unsealed road, a kilometre or so further on we decided that it was too rough, turned around back to the Victoria Hwy. Then on to the border where there really is a serious checkpoint. However other than a red apple that Elaine remembered there was nothing for them to keep, so after a quick walk through we were off again. Next stop was Lake Argyle and the first view of this was mind blowing, later viewing has confirmed the unbelievable magnitude of this man made lake. We are booked into the resort caravan park for 3 days and will do a boat cruise before leaving, my aren't we getting extravagant! I have just found out that free wifi is available in the beer garden so will try and send this missive.
Sunday July 27
Day 2 at Lake Argyle, or to be strictly correct day 1.5. This morning a 3 km walk to the dam lookout up and down some fairly steep inclines. It is hard to comprehend the big picture thinking that preceded the creation of this project. The damming of the Ord River, some 40 years ago, created a lake some 21 times larger than Sydney harbour, that is very hard to comprehend (same word but I can't think of anything else). Every where you look there is water, bays and islands. After early teething problems there is now, if my maths is correct, some 20,000 hectares under irrigated cropping of various sorts. I can't begin to describe the wonder of it all.
The other thing is this resort. It is relatively young, holds about 250 vans or similar, has a very busy shop come restaurant come bar and takes bookings for tours etc.
Monday July 28
Ok today was pretty special! We are still without coverage so this will be added to the last 7 days worth of blog.
This morning I bush walked on a trail up the hill next to the caravan park to look down into the Ord River Gorge. The view was, like everything else about this place, magnificent. Then this afternoon we went on a sunset cruise of Lake Argyle. This lake is more like an inland sea, at times the view was just like being on the boat. We were informed that it is actually only 19 times as big as Sydney Harbour, although that would vary a bit with the quality of the wet season. We saw a number of fresh water crocodiles, who I am reliably informed are shy creatures who do not normally attack humans. We also had a swim and photographed a very nice sunset. Everything about the cruise seemed to emphasise the size of this lake. I could go on forever but I think you get the picture, incidentally photographs will not do it justice.
Sunday 20 July 2014
Ok day 2 of cruise part 2 and after checking on the albino buffalo who lives at the caravan park, in a fenced enclosure, we took off to head into Kakadu National Park. We had to negotiate some roadworks with traffic light controls and I had a thought that there have been only a small proportion of our actual travelling days when we have nor experienced some roadwork - I wonder what proportion of our population works on the roads or allied industries? We also passed a roadworks dump and again there are lots of these all over the place, ideal for a free overnight spot if needed. By the we were in the Mary River National Park (tenses national parks are quite a large industry, particularly in this part of the world, and deservedly so) and stopped at a story board. These story boards have been a feature wherever we have travelled and are a fantastic insight to the areas that they describe. Entering Kakadu there is not a big change in scenery, just bush with medium sizes trees, some gumtrees and palms, etc. There is also, of course, a story board, again very interesting. On to Jabiru which is sort of at the apex of the triangular road system which is (coming from Darwin in the north) the Arnhem Hwy into Kakadu then the Kakadu Hwy running sthwest down to Pine Creek on the Stuart Hwy. jabiru is a very small towns owe fuelled up, got some bread and headed out, stopping at the Bowali interpretive centre which like all the others that we have seen up here was great. Then down the Kakadu Hwy to our overnight stop at Jim Jim Billabong, a very very basic spot. The billabong is quite nice but you don't see much of it from the campground and the presence of crocs discourages swimming.
Saturday 19 July 2014
Well we have finally broken away from the gravitational pull of Darwin and are on our way again. We really enjoyed our time with our grandchildren and their parents. Up here they have a 4 week break for the 3rd term due to the weather conditions, the dry as it is known is hot and humid so they have the same break over the Christmas period. For our kids though it is a difficult time as they are shifting back to Perth with all that that implies. Anyway our 6 weeks is up, we have seen how well darwin caters for school holidays, visited a few places that we hadn't seen and had a couple of weekends of, which we spent in Litchfield park.
Today we have driven out to the Arnhem hwy which will, tomorrow take us into the Kakadu National Park. On the way we stopped at a place called Window on the Wetlands, this is a purpose built and rather spectacular building on top of one of the few hills in the wetlands. The building by the NT government is staffed by locals from theLimilngan-Wulna tribe who are trained by said government and if the lovely lady called Lynette we met there is an example both the training and the people are great. The wetlands themselves are what you would expect, flat low lying ground as far as you can see and quite a sight. Inside the building there is an explanatory display showing the ecology of the area, on the next floor is a balcony with tables and binoculars and story boards describing what you see and some of its history.
Tonight we are in an informal park that is part of the Coroboree Tavern, quit pleasant, reasonably priced and with a 4mtr sestuarine crocodile, a 1.6mtr freshwater crocodile plus some buffalo. A nice spot to spend the night.
Today we have driven out to the Arnhem hwy which will, tomorrow take us into the Kakadu National Park. On the way we stopped at a place called Window on the Wetlands, this is a purpose built and rather spectacular building on top of one of the few hills in the wetlands. The building by the NT government is staffed by locals from theLimilngan-Wulna tribe who are trained by said government and if the lovely lady called Lynette we met there is an example both the training and the people are great. The wetlands themselves are what you would expect, flat low lying ground as far as you can see and quite a sight. Inside the building there is an explanatory display showing the ecology of the area, on the next floor is a balcony with tables and binoculars and story boards describing what you see and some of its history.
Tonight we are in an informal park that is part of the Coroboree Tavern, quit pleasant, reasonably priced and with a 4mtr sestuarine crocodile, a 1.6mtr freshwater crocodile plus some buffalo. A nice spot to spend the night.
Monday 14 July 2014
Well what a week that has been......lots of school holiday activity with Acacia and Zimra, then Acaia's birthday on Friday, Zim's on Sunday and their joint party on Saturday. We also a couple of jobs on the van and started to get ready for our departure late this week. One of the things that we did was get a portable solar panel kit because we can't use our generator in a lot of the national parks.
On Tuesday I walked from the Waterfront to the mall in town. First the Waterfront this is a development on the city side of the harbour, that is the city harbour. So a little explanation is called for, there is another wharf called the East Arm Wharf further out of town and this is where most of the commercial shipping calls. The Waterfront has lots of high rise buildings, some specialised retail, a wave pool, a netted swimming area and an extensive grassed recreation area. Every day during the holidays there has been activities for kids, we have attended a few, the most popular being karate which we attended twice. Back to my walk, in all the years and all the visits I have have never been to this part of town..... My misfortune! It is a fairly short walk that starts with a lift ride up 5 floors followed by a walk over a footbridge and a fabulous view of the Waterfront and the nearby road etc. Then there is a very well presented heritage walk with restored buildings, very good explanatory story boards and the most magnificent modern Anglican Church.
On Tuesday I walked from the Waterfront to the mall in town. First the Waterfront this is a development on the city side of the harbour, that is the city harbour. So a little explanation is called for, there is another wharf called the East Arm Wharf further out of town and this is where most of the commercial shipping calls. The Waterfront has lots of high rise buildings, some specialised retail, a wave pool, a netted swimming area and an extensive grassed recreation area. Every day during the holidays there has been activities for kids, we have attended a few, the most popular being karate which we attended twice. Back to my walk, in all the years and all the visits I have have never been to this part of town..... My misfortune! It is a fairly short walk that starts with a lift ride up 5 floors followed by a walk over a footbridge and a fabulous view of the Waterfront and the nearby road etc. Then there is a very well presented heritage walk with restored buildings, very good explanatory story boards and the most magnificent modern Anglican Church.
Sunday 6 July 2014
We have just finished another lovely week with our Darwin family. We took the kids to some of the well organised school holiday activities here in Darwin and had some good conversations with their parents. Then we were again granted leave of absence and took of for Lichfield park on Friday. We spent the night at Florence Falls in the camping area above the falls. This is a bush camping area and we had the the pleasure of cooking on a bonfire. However the pool is 2 tracks and 135 steps down, and of course up again so we packed our bags Saturday morning and went back to Wangi falls. Here we met a very nice couple with a van similar to ours and spent some time chatting. This morning I did the so-called Wangi loop walk, 1.6km up and over the falls and down the other side really earning my breakfast. On the way back we stopped one of the roadside airstrips that housed both the American and then the Australian Air Force during the northern defence of Australia. This was all very serious as the Japanese forces put a lot of effort into preparing Darwin (and other places) for invasion and the Air Force was the stopper. This particular airstrip has story board telling about these roadside airstrips plus cut outs from heavy grade aluminium properly painted to represent the types of fighters using the airstrip.
We are now parked back at Tudawalli street ready for the next week.
We are now parked back at Tudawalli street ready for the next week.
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