Esperance

Hello again

We have been in Esperance for a few days and have a great spot overlooking the water on the Esplanade.  We have had a variety of weather and temperatures since we have been here, but are thoroughly enjoying it.

The first trip we did was on Saturday when we drove east to the Le Grand national park, taking in some gorgeous sandy bays and more granite rocks.  It reminds us a little of the Pink Granite Coast  or should I say Cote Granit Rose, Brittany, France where we spent a couple of weeks with our extended British family a few years ago.

The contrast of the granite rocks where they meet the blue water & the pure white sand is quite spectacular, and makes for a photographers photofest.....so hard to decide on the keepers later on when sorting the days photos.  We thought the water and sands of Coral Bay were magnificent, but the turquoise of the water here especially as it rolls over this brilliant white silica sand is nothing short of dazzling.  The sand itself is literally "squeaky" clean, even squeaking loudly when driven on.

On one of the beaches we were treated to the sight of a lone kangaroo standing on the sand nonchalantly observing the people going about their leisure activities, before he ambled into the undergrowth to graze a little, still oblivious to me with the camera. Such an unexpected little treat - don't expect to see roos on the beach !

Not particularly sunny in this spot, but lovely nevertheless

Yesterday we went to the local Baptist church - a small congregation of lovely friendly people, but this time unlike other occasions, we were the ONLY visitors, so of course we were noticed and therefore had to stay and have a cuppa.  The local market was still going strong when we left the church, so we wandered around the stalls in the sunshine.  Later drove in the other direction (west) to the town beaches & were wowed again by more pristine beaches with brilliant coloured sand and sea.

We have also been treated to some wonderful wildflowers in this area too.  We thought we had certainly missed the season, short as it was according to locals.  But here in Esperance the hills surrounding the beaches are covered in pinky-mauve coloured bushes, which bear a slight resemblance to the heather adorned banks & braes of Bonny Scotland.

Have to say we are really loving Esperance, it has more of a holiday feel than Albany, which surprised us considering so many West Aussies name Albany as their preferred holiday spot. However, it seems that a large number of Kalgoorlie people have holiday homes here, as it's only a 4hr trip, whereas Albany is 8hrs.  Likewise people from the eastern side of the wheat belt would more easily travel to Esperance.

Anyway we'll probably stay here for most of this week before taking on the Nullabor.  We have water views, wifi & a lovely coffee shop just down the road - what more could we want ??

Cheers

Albany

Hey there

We've had a lovely few days in Albany. Managed to catch up on the washing & ironing while Trev vacuumed the car. Nice to get some jobs done & feel a bit less like "bush-bashers" especially now the van is shiny white instead of red !!

Monday was pretty wet & cold, but we did stock up the grocery cupboard, and have the all important coffee in town.  But yesterday, Tuesday, was a lovely sunny, albeit blustery day, so we did the lookouts over Albany and then went out to Frenchmans Bay to the old whaling station.  This was in fact only operational for about 22 years, beginning in 1958, so it was a bit bizarre to walk around knowing that it wasn't all that long ago that the place was buzzing with its macabre activity.

The tour guide (a lovely old geezer) was extremely knowledgable and very interesting as he talked us through the various processes from sighting of whales to the kill & ultimately the processing.  Apparently the stench was so bad that a worker entering a shop or a pub could clear a space around him in seconds !!  The effect of the closure of the plant had drastic consequences for the whole town &  naturally the economy was devastated as many many people were without work.  The factory employed hundreds of townsfolk in some way or another and so many Albany families had a really tough time.

The cafe at the whaling station served great coffee & delicious seafood too, so we spoilt ourselves with lunch as well as morning tea there, whilst enjoying the view over the waterfront.

We visited the blow-holes, the Gap & Natural Bridge on the way back to town, which are all amazing configurations of the local granite, which permeates every lookout, and hill side within sight.  So we got our exercise yesterday whilst exploring these natural wonders.

Today we have set off from Albany, heading East although first detouring north to drive through the Stirling Ranges, which offered a number of rocky granite climbs to places unimaginably high & particularly unachievable for yours truly. So we admired them from a distance & drove on through some of the best wildflowers we have seen.  I think there has been a fair bit of rain in this area, so the flowers are looking fresh & pretty.  Not the carpets of ground cover wildflowers that one would expect from photos, but certainly many colourful bushes & shrubs.  Unfortunately we weren't able to photograph them as the sun was just not shining enough to do them justice.

We are parked up for the night just out of Ravensthorpe and will head to Esperance tomorrow, where we plan to spend a few days, maybe?

More soon xx




  

Perth - Albany

Had a lovely day in Perth with Tom & Carol, visiting Kings Park overlooking Perth City, and down to Fremantle for a yummy fish meal on the wharf.  However, we are now into the cooler climes & the heat of the northern coast seems a distant memory now.

So, left Perth for places south - called to visit more old friends from Beverley, the Morells in Mandurah,  who fed us handsomely, and then drove on to stay at Busselton en route to the Margaret River area.  The weather took a turn for the worse and being wet and cold, we weren't able to do much other than meander through the winery district and appreciate the scenery from the warmth of our vehicle.

We made it through to Pemberton, diverting to Augusta & Cape Leeuwin, the most south westerly point of WA.  Leaving the Cape we are now officially heading East, being very satisfied that we have done all we wanted to do in WA.

Unfortunately the rain and cold persisted and on leaving Pemberton we were only able to call in to the site of the tree-top-walk of the Valley of the Giants (massive karri trees).  Some hardy Japanese tourists bedecked in plastic ponchos and huge umbrellas were taking on this awesome attraction, but having become a bit soft in the months of sun & surf, we opted for a couple of photo's then back in the warm car !!

The drive through to Albany was the most difficult and intense for the whole trip so far, with extremely high winds and at times torrential rain.  However, we made it without any hassles and were pleased to check into the Albany caravan park and indulge in a loverly hot shower after getting a bit damp doing the usual and necessary setting up stuff.

Church this morning, and a lovely coffee at Middleton Beach before lunch, and this afternoon relaxing and catching up with a few domestic things.  We plan to stay here for a few days as there are some interesting and historic spots to visit, before continuing east to Esperance.

Woohoo - sun has just come out, so tomorrow we might get some good pics of Albany.
More later xx

Memory Lane = York, Beverley, Brookton

This has been a nostalgic and very enjoyable few days of revisiting places that we knew so well 45 years ago, as well as renewing old friendships with significant people in our early married life.

We arrived in Beverley in January 1969 after travelling in a convoy of truck loaded with furniture, car & trailer, and Mum & Dad Stock's car & caravan.  It was a gruelling, hot journey over the then unsealed and very corrugated Nullabor Plain road, but it paved the way for our 4 years of farming in the WA wheat belt town of Beverley.  Our property was in an area out of town called Mt Kokeby, which consisted then of a shop/post office/telephone exchange & a railway siding.

Now in 2013 we approached the town from the east, through Meckering which was all but flattened by a strong earthquake in 1968, and on to York where Stuart was born in 1969 - we took the obligatory photo outside the hospital where it all happened.  That memorable night we had been sent on to York from our local Beverley Hospital because my doctor was away in Perth at the races.  En route to the hospital we sat at the railway crossing for ages where a train was parked for the night.  After sitting in the car for a while I encouraged Trevor that perhaps we should find another route across the line.  That done we finally arrived to the relief of the hospital staff who were waiting at the door for us having been notified by Beverley that we were on the way.  Trevor was sent home to Mr Kokeby (in those days the father was unwelcome in the delivery suite) & wasn't aware of the birth of his son until after the Kokeby exchange opened at 7.30am the next morning, some 2hrs after Stuart was born.

So back to the present, from York we drove on to Beverley & Brookton, where over the next few days we caught up with old friends, and had a really good luck around the area, especially enjoying the country in all its springtime greenery.  Another must do was to have a photo taken outside the Beverley Hospital where Sarah-Jane was born in 1970.  Fortunately the doctor was there, but Trevor (who was allowed in this time) almost missed it as he had ducked into town to buy a pie for lunch !!  He only just got to finish it before our daughter arrived.

A visit to the old farm which hasn't been lived in for some time was a bizarre & poignant feeling.  Sadly the little old farm house is derelict and has been unoccupied and definitely unloved for a long time.  As we pulled up outside there were rabbits running around all over the place, and darting under the house.
The sheds, yards & outbuildings strangely empty and overgrown and the whole atmosphere was completely lifeless.  There is a crop but no livestock, so it is worked somewhat, but there wasn't much evidence of the busyness, the dogs, ducks, cows & kids that once enjoyed the undulating paddocks & the quaint little house & garden.  So having reminisced about another lifetime, we drove out the tree-lined drive (which trees we lovingly planted & watered) now metres high, closing for good that chapter of our lives.

Our friends at Brookton (Carol & David Bond) looked after us so well and we left them with our fridge stocked up with wonderful garden fresh vegies, herbs & fruit.  It was a wonderful few days and served to remind us again that true friendships always survive the passage of time, and are taken up as though no time has passed between meetings.

Likewise, leaving Brookton, we drove on to Perth, staying at the lovely property of other old friends from the Beverley days, Carol and Tom Knell.  We all belonged to a young marrieds group through the Methodist Church in the area, and although we've all gone our separate ways we have kept in touch all these years.  Our farms were all some miles apart, but we gathered regularly at each others homes, putting children to bed in cars while we did a Bible study or just fellowshipped together.  Some of us also played night basketball, and there again, watched each others kids sleeping in the cars, while teams were playing.  They were good days & lovely to share memories together.

More coming ......

Geraldton to Gold Fields & Kalgoorlie

Hello again - we are still here, but time flies when you're having fun & suddenly it's been a week or so  since I last wrote in Geraldton.

From Geraldton we headed east through some old gold mining towns, which was an interesting trip & delayed the need to face the cooler temps if the southern part of WA.  Once again the old mining places we visited just served to reinforce our awareness of the hardships that the miners of old endured for the sake of the chance & hope of finding gold.

We had hoped to see some wildflowers as well, but although the rains came & the flowers sprouted earlier, the recent lack of rain has meant that most of those flowers have long since died off.  So unfortunately the carpet of purples & pinks that they usually experience out there just haven't happened this year.

In Mount Magnet & Sandstone we saw relics of times past and the hunt for gold, and although the countryside we drove through was hardly scenic, it still has a fascination as you ponder how and why these men happened to be way out there, and it amazes me how they knew where to stake their claims.
And the numbers of mines still in operation all through that country is quite astounding.

We arrived in Leinster (a mine town) about 4.00pm and were intending to stay there for the night, but it was 41 degrees and blowing a gale, so we did a quick drive through and kept going towards Leonora, which was about 10 degrees cooler and less windy.

In the morning we left Leonora to visit the nearby historic town of Gwalia. This State heritage listed site includes the remnants of the old Gwalia townsite where about twenty small iron and hessian miners' cottages are open to visitors. They appear as though their owners have just walked out and left them - everything rusty & dusty but virtually undisturbed and amazingly not vandalised or graffitied. You can peer through the windows at Mazza's Store on the main street, and also imagine the life of itinerant workers at Patroni's Guest House next door.  There are also a number of mine management buildings on Staff Hill, and the largest timber incline headframe in Australia. This headframe has been moved there from the original mine site, which is now hugely extended of course, but we were told that when they moved it, they found enough gold around the headsite which had obviously been spilt over time, to pay the cost of moving it - about $350k's worth I think.  

In 1896, the Sons of Gwalia Lease was registered by Thomas Tobias, a storekeeper in Coolgardie. The name Gwalia, the ancient poetic name for the country of Wales, was chosen because of Tobias' Welsh heritage. By the early 1900s and throughout the life of Sons of Gwalia Mine up to the mid-1960s, a large proportion of the miners were Italian or Yugoslavian. There was considerable competition between Gwalia and Leonora. Leonora was gazetted an official townsite in 1897 and developed rapidly but the government refused to officially gazette a townsite at Gwalia, because they said replication of services in towns only two miles apart was unnecessary.

The historical mine management precinct on the hill above the township affords a great view over the mine, (which has been closed and re-opened several times in its life) as well as sporting a very elegant "managers house", which is now open as a B&B and for functions.  The mine is no longer the Sons of Gwalia but is now St Barbara & fully operational.

After spending a very interesting morning at Gwalia we set off for Kalgoorlie, the temperature dropping considerably with each turn of the wheels.  Consequently we arrived in mid-afternoon to pouring rain and 12 degrees.  Dressed in the typical short shorts and singlet tops you can imagine our shock at having to get the caravan parked and organised in the rain & as soon as it was done we both hightailed it for the ablution block where we stood under the hot showers until we'd thawed out!!

The next day was warmer and dry I'm happy to say, and we enjoyed checking out the various places of interest in Kalgoorlie, as well as the obligatory grocery stock up.  Finally we managed to get a ticket for Trevor to do a mine tour, so on the next morning he went to see the Super-Pit (which produces up to 850,000 ounces of gold every year and its operation far outweighs any other mining centre in Australia. The Super Pit is the biggest gold open pit mine in the country.  

I, on the other hand, indulged myself with a pedicure instead of a mine tour, succumbing to the pampering of my poor dry, cracked & dust abused feet.  By the time I met up with Trevor again, he was happy to have satisfied his desire to see a large operational mine, & I certainly was happy to have soft, clean feet again.  A very successful day for us both !!

Leaving Kalgoorlie, heading west again, bound for a few days of revisiting old haunts, renewing old friendships and cruising down memory lane.  

Watch this space :-)

Kalbarri - Geraldton

Have just spent a couple of lovely days in Kalbarri.  Beautiful beaches, and stunning views from the cliff tops.  In spite of being in the Overflow C/Park at the town's oval, it was a friendly bunch, some just spending a night, and some like us, waiting to move into another park when a site became vacant.

Whilst waiting, we took a trip on another rather corrugated National Park road, to see a couple of gorges.  They are entirely different from other gorges we've seen up north, but nonetheless spectacular rock formations, with the variations in colour in the obvious layer upon layer of ancient sediment.

Yesterday we had a picnic lunch on a beach, watching some surfers taking on some huge sets of waves, and then from atop a rugged cliff top were treated to a great view of a couple of humpback whales making their way south.  Later we visited the Australian Parrot Breeding Centre, called Rainbow Jungle.  Could not believe the numbers of different breeds of parrots on display, and the name "rainbow" was certainly indicative of the miriad of colours in every conceivable configuration displayed in the feathers of the birds. Every different cage was a WOW moment !! I have never seen such brilliant blues, greens, blues, reds, pinks, purples, yellows - you name it, we saw it.

This guy having a bad hair day, but so cute

Was it something I said ?

Is this my best side?

Now we have moved on to Geraldton, and this afternoon had a lovely coffee on the waterfront - almost back into civilisation again.  There is a magnificent memorial to HMAS Sydney on the hill overlooking the town, which was so amazing to see after watching the celebrations on Sydney Harbour the other night.

This magnificent memorial honours the 645 Australian sailors who were lost off the Western Australian coast during a World War II battle with a German raider in November 1941.RAN cruiser HMAS Sydney II and her men disappeared after a battle with German raider HSK Kormoran. 

The beautifully designed memorial features five elements : a silver dome of 645 seagulls to represent each of the lost Sydney sailors. The wall of remembrance shows photographs of the ship and the names of the Sydney crew. To the north, a bronze statue of a woman gazes desperately out to sea as she awaits news of the ill-fated Sydney. Nearby is a dramatic shape representing the bow of the ship.

The 5th element is the pool of remembrance 'Closing the Circle'. 644 Seagulls are lining the base of the pool, the 645th, standing 2 metres tall above the pool, its wing indicating the spot where the wreck lies together with longitude and latitude coordinates. The combination of these five elements results in an extremely moving memorial.

Heading inland tomorrow for a while - taking in some old gold mining country, Mount Magnet, then on to Leonora & Kalgoorlie.  Should be interesting - a bit of history too.  Hoping we might see some wildflowers too.  Have seen some on our travels - always such a delightful surprise to see pretty colours in amongst the scrub & dry red dirt.

More soon.  Ciao x

  

Denham / Monkey Mia / Kalbarri

Had a pleasant evening in Denham, after visiting Shell Bay en route, which beach consists of tiny shells many metres deep.  It was a hot day, reaching about 36 degrees, but cooled down quickly and we enjoyed drinks & nibbles on the waterfront, then feasted on the freshest seafood as a special birthday treat.

This morning we left for Monkey Mia, resisting the pressure of getting there by 7.45am for the dolphin feeding.  Imagine our delight when we rocked up at the beach there at about 9.45am - walked straight down to the "dolphin interacting area" and lo and behold it was all happening.  A delightful dolphin mum turned up and cruised up and down the waters edge checking out all the visitors, then her little one came in too.  To see these wild creatures at such close quarters was just an amazing experience.  She had the most beautiful and expressive eyes, and knew exactly how to charm the crowd by turning on her side to check us out, and then turning over on the other side and playing the crowd again.

After the ranger delivered a spiel about dolphins for about 20mins he got everyone to move back on the beach from being ankle deep in the water, and this was apparently the signal for the rest of the dolphins to come in closer because they know that means the buckets of fish are coming down.  It was simply delightful to watch, and although we'd heard negative comments about it being commercialised and crowded, we found it to be perfectly charming & well worth the trip out there from Denham.  Certainly one of my highlights, and a very nice coffee at the resort restaurant was a real bonus too !!

Then we visited an aquarium overlooking another magnificent turquoise bay, saw tanks full of the local fish that are caught for food, and other varieties of local marine life, as well as some sharks which are fed regularly, so who were decidedly disinterested in the food offered.

It took us the rest of the day to drive on to Kalbarri, which is another lovely seaside town, however being the middle of the WA school holidays, the 3 caravan parks are all full, so we are staying at the Oval along with another 30-35 vans & motor homes in the same predicament.  There are some more gorges to explore in the National Park here, and a few other things before we head down the coast to Geraldton.

More soon xx

Carnarvon / Denham

Hello again

It has been quite a few days since I wrote anything, but we did have an extra day at Coral Bay (such a hard place to leave), and then spent five days in Carnarvon, where we finally got our fridge fixed in less than 1/2hr and for $25.  Very happy campers !!!

We haven't been to Carnarvon since we were farming in WA, and when Stuart & Sarah-Jane were very young, about 2 and 1yrs respectively, I think.  We did remember the main road lined with palm trees, and that's about all.  Of course everything has changed.  They have a nice little main street, and have developed the waterfront into a pleasant area.  However, we especially enjoyed buying fresh fruit and vegetables from the growers market on Saturday morning.

Although there is no visible water in the Gascoyne River, apparently all the water is underground, and there is 16kms of plantations along the riverbank, where they obviously pump out the water to irrigate the fruit and veg.  Beautiful tomatoes, corn, zucchinis, aubergine, beans & even grapefruit as well as Carnarvon bananas were amongst the produce on offer on Saturday morning, and at very reasonable prices. So we stocked up, and bumped into people we had met in Exmouth, as well as our Upper Hutt friends Rose & Murray, who were also doing their Saturday shopping.

Saturday evening we had a meal with Rose & Murray in our van, and Sunday afternoon we visited our new friends from Exmouth in another caravan park.  Sunday morning we visited the very small, but very welcoming AOG fellowship, where the visitors largely outnumbered the regulars, but the pastor lady made everyone cappuccinos after the service, so it was a very friendly mob.

Monday was a holiday and we took the opportunity to drive out to the famous Blowholes, which were spectacular in the evidence of the awesome power of the sea.  The sound as the waves hit the rocks, and the water subsequently is forced through the blowholes, is quite deafening, and the spray travels for many meters across the rocks, and the many tourists observing it all.  There was a coffee cart parked in the car park, which was a welcome sight, and had to be patronised, of course.  Then a very rough & dusty 4WD road up to Red Bluff, past a very desolate looking Quobba Station.  This is a very remote area, and the camp at Red Bluff sported some eco-tents, and humpys constructed of sacking and palm fronds, with tarp roofs tied on to combat the strong winds.  The beach there was sandy but wild and rough, and apparently is popular with surfers, and people wanting a real getaway. We were so glad we didn't decide to take the van in there, the road would have wrecked more than the fridge I am certain.

Yesterday Trevor even got to wash the car, so he is feeling much better now !!  We are a bit sick of the red dust on everything.  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to wash our caravan on our site, but hope to do that in Geraldton.  However we stayed at the Outback Oasis Caravan Park in Carnarvon, and were treated to THE best ablution block you could imagine.  Travertine tiles lined the walls of each shower stall, as well as around the hand basins AND when they were cleaning at 9.30am, rather than shutting everyone out, you were allowed to use one of the toilets & the whole process was done in less than 1/2hr.  We left actually feeling as though it had been acknowledged that we were PAYING GUESTS.  A bit different from a lot of parks!!  We were given a couple of sweets in a stubby holder as a welcome gift too - Very impressed.

So now we are at Denham, a sleepy little seaside town.  We will duck out to Monkey Mia in the morning and hope to see the dolphins being fed, then we will head down to Kalbarri.  We did avail ourselves of some of the local cuisine this evening - namely fresh fish and seafood.  It was a special treat for my birthday and saved me having to cook - way too much food of course, but ooh the fish was gorgeous !! Snapper & whiting straight out of Shark Bay. yum !!

More later - Ciao x