WA TO SA & VIC
8th October Arrived today in Kalbarri (also on the coast) having seen the much talked about and eagerly anticipated WA wildflowers today. The drive from the highway into Kalbarri through the Kalbarri National Park was colourful and amazing. We had been concerned that it may have been too late for us to see the wildflowers. While here it was out into the National Park to see yet more gorges and the natural rock formation called “Nature’s Window”. Unfortunately at this stage Rossco is all ‘gorged out’ and not really interested.
Spent 12th to 16th October in Geraldton – a larger regional centre with not a lot going for it from a tourist’s perspective. However they do have an incredible memorial to the HMAS Sydney II which, if you get there at the right time of day, a volunteer guide will give you a talk about the how the Sydney was sunk at sea and how this memorial came to be and what the various aspects of its design represent. Incredible!!!
Still following the coast it was then down to Dongara and onwards towards Perth.
21st October Arrived in Perth and looked up some friends we have made earlier on our trip as well as Bob & Glenis Homewood who are living in their caravan in Perth while Bob awaits a knee replacement operation. Great to see both couples again and have a catch up. Did some of the touristy things in Perth and spent a whole day in Freemantle. Visited the Freemantle Prison which, up until 19 years ago operated as a maximum security prison, where they had executed 44 prisoners during the life of the prison. Fascinating to walk the last walk that a condemned prisoner would make and stand at the gallows looking down into the long drop below. The Maritime Museum (home to the America’s Cup winning yacht Australia II) was also excellent. Not enough time to do justice to all there is to see in Freemantle – you could spend most of a day at each of the above facilities.
Continued on to Bunbury where we did a day trip through Dardanup to ‘Gnomesville’. The village known to the locals as ‘Gnomesville’ is situated adjacent to the roundabout at the intersection of two roads. Originally a few gnomes were placed at this roundabout by persons unknown but as the numbers grew they were moved to the road verge by council for the safety of passing motorists. This has grown – gnomes of all types – left by visitors from all over the world. Carefully displayed – some with poems and stories – some suspended from trees – sadly many broken and faded over the time. Thousands and thousands of these quaint little creatures. A real treat.
Left Bunbury on 28th October and from there on the weather became very windy and incredibly cold and a little wet. Over the next 2 weeks we had days where the top temperature was only 15 and 16 degrees. Out came the tracky pants and jumpers in conjunction with the heater in the van not to mention the doona for the bed.
The weather was like this all the way around the south-west of WA. Augusta was an attractive little town. Just out of town at Cape Leeuwin is the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse which you can do a tour of and climb the 186 steps to the top for a fabulous view of where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. You can literally see where the waves come in from two different directions and meet. Operating since 1896 the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is an important link in the chain of essential navigation aids maintained around the Australian coast. It was way down here at the most south-westerly point of WA that we ran into (not literally) Rob and Miranda Gill. Having sat and chatted to them for about an hour, we had Mark & Trish Bruere come around the corner. All the way across here and we run into two couples from Yea who just happened to be holidaying separately in the south-west.
From Augusta it was on to Pemberton to see the giant karri forests and the Gloucester Tree – one of a series of giant karri trees with a lookout constructed at the top and used as a fire spotting tower. These days you can still climb to the top although the rungs or steel spikes, driven into the trunk, winding their way around the tree with a thin wire on the outside of each linking them together as a hand rail does not look like an experience for the average person. Next stop was the recently constructed tree top walk through the ancient tingle forest at Walpole. The 600m long steel walkway is supported by 4 pylons which only occupy 4 sq metres of the forest floor. A fascinating fact when you consider the amount of steel swaying up there in the trees tops.
Albany was our next stop and here we spent the best part of a day at Whale World which is the Cheynes whaling station which operated until 1979. The buildings house displays and audio aids recreating the life of a whaler and the workings of the whaling station. We followed the process from where the whales were tied up after they had been killed and then towed back from out at sea, to where they were winched up on to the flensing deck and cut up, through to the boilers and tumblers where the carcass was totally turned into useable product. The only thing not rendered down was the teeth. Within the precinct is one of the whale chasing boats used right up until the close of the station. It is open to the public and you can stand on the bridge, pretend you have the whale lined up and are about to fire the harpoon, climb down to the galley and cabins and sit at the table where the crew would have spent their spare time. A fascinating exhibit.
Continuing west it was on towards Esperance and then Norseman – the beginning of the Nullarbor crossing. By this stage the weather had improved and went from one extreme to the other. We travelled the 1194km of the Nullarbor (Norseman to Ceduna) in just a little over 2 days with the temperature on the second day being 43 degrees.
12th November Arrived today in Renmark SA having travelled down part of the western side of the Eyre Peninsula, through Kimba to Port Augusta. With the southern Flinders Ranges in the distance it was on to Wilmington, Orroroo, Peterborough, through Burra for morning tea and a chance to admire this historic town with so many well preserved historic buildings and houses. Today has been another scorcher 42 degrees so we will spend tomorrow in Renmark and relax. At this stage it is too hot to be worried about doing any of the tourist things just need to keep inside with the air conditioner on or flop into the pool.
14th November Still pushing on towards home in this incredible and unseasonal heat. We have followed the Murray River through Robinvale, Mildura to Swan Hill and then on through Kerang and Cohuna to Echuca. We decided to stay at Echuca and have come back to the same park we stayed at on our initial test run in the caravan back in November last year. We are now only about 60km (as the crow flies) from Numurkah which was our first stop after leaving home back in January. Boy it hardly seems like twelve month since we were here.
