Back in Adelaide

It started raining in the night and was still raining in the morning when we left Streaky Bay and the rain kept up pretty well non stop for the next 2 days. We stayed in Port Augusta so that we could have a look at the Wadlata Museum, it is well worth a visit - it was a good thing that we had some indoor activities to keep us busy.
Our UK friends headed off to Wilpena and we headed to Adelaide in bright sunshine.
This is our second time "all the way round" and we have had lots of fun, seen some fabulous new places and met many interesting people. Heading north has the extra bonus of avoiding a cold and wet winter and once again the Suzi has performed impeccably.
This is my last blog for this year, Greece and Turkey are on next year's agenda - sounds like fun!

Streaky Bay

Streaky Bay has provided a good opportunity to do some more fishing (mostly fishing rather than catching), but after a couple of false starts some success using razor fish as bait - a good meal for both the fishermen and the pelicans who crowd round the cleaning table.

Esperance, the Nullabor and on to Streaky Bay

I am writing this from Streaky Bay, we crossed the Nullabor in drizzly rain and unbroken grey skies and didn’t stop except to refuel and overnight, so made the trip in good time. We celebrated with Ceduna oysters and a glass of sav blanc - very nice!
Esperance lived up to its expectations of being a beautiful place, we had a good look at Cape Le Grand National Park and our UK friends were brave enough to swim, the water is straight off the Southern Ocean, cold and beautifully clear.

Crabs and Wave Rock

We are now heading east, the first time we have driven in this direction for about 5 months, which of course means that we are now travelling towards home. We stopped in Albany where there is a pretty harbour, historical buildings and crab boats! We bought some live blue swimmers for our tea - we cooked them in the camp kitchen, as you can see we are dining in style!
The famous granite Wave Rock was next on our agenda, it meant a side trip of nearly 400km but it was worth it.

Valley of the Giants

Do you know what a Tingle Tree is - we had never heard of them either! There are some of the oldest and largest species of eucalypt trees and some we saw are up to 400 years old. We visited the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk (near the town of Walpole) - a 600 metre walkway which rises 40 meters above the forest floor and gives a real bird’s eye view of the forest. A bit scary for those like me who don’t much like heights particularly as the pathway also sways! We are back to winter weather, cold wet and windy.

Pemberton and Walpole

The towns of Pemberton and Walpole are famous for their majestic forests and tall trees, especially the karri and tingle trees.

In Pemberton we took the tram ride through the forest, the track was through scented bushland, lots of native shrubs in flower and views of forest giants. The Gloucester Tree has a peg ladder and if you are fit/brave enough you can climb to the platform at the top and have a fantastic view over the forest. This tree was originally used by rangers to detect forest fires. We are now in Walpole and yesterday it rained all through the day, there are some sunny breaks this morning and we plan to do the tree top walk.

Margaret River

Cowaramup is 20km north of the township of Margaret River and has been our base to explore the area. We had a good look along the coastline which is famous for its surfing beaches and visited the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse which is on the most southerly point of the mainland and where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. There is spectacular coastal scenerey and wineries at every bend of the road. Too much to see in one visit. Next stop Pemberton and its forests.

Perth

It has been a busy time in Perth, Ann and Dave, our friends from Runcorn arrived on Friday - the airport here has a lot of incoming international flights and we had a long wait at the arrivals gate - and finally they appeared! A celebratory glass or two of champagne was in order. They have now picked up their camper van and on Monday we head south to the Margaret River area.

Moora

We have spent this weekend in Moora, it is a holiday weekend so a busy time with locals coming up to look at the wild flowers for which this area is well known. This morning we drove to a wildflower farm where they grow and dry flowers for export. Dried Australian flowers are exported to many countries and are particularly popular in China. There were racks of banksias, smoke bush, kangaroo paws and everlastings in the drying sheds. Good to know that there are still some things that don’t come with the “Made in China” label.

Yalgoo

Yalgoo is another of those towns which once, during the gold mining days, had 5 pubs and a thriving community but now it’s nearly deserted, one shop and not much else. Surprisingly the caravan park was very pleasant and the sort of place that attracts ex farmers looking for somewhere quiet to spend a few days. Our next door neighbours were from down south, having a break and hoping to find an alluvial nugget, so far without success. The view from the nearby lookout gives an idea of the sense of isolation.

The balloon goes up in Meekatharra

There’s not a lot to do in Meekatharra, they still find a bit of gold in the local mines but it’s a bit of a ghost town. Nice sunny days, cold nights and some wind.

We met up again with some fellow travellers who are heading south in the same general direction as we are, an interesting couple from Port Lincoln with whom we have had 5 o’clock drinks a couple of times. They were in Meekatharra when we arrived and had already done the “sights”. They told us that out by the airport there is a meteorological station where at 7.15 am each day a weather balloon is automatically released - so we got up early today and went out on a brilliant sunny but windy morning to have a look! The things you do on a Sunday morning when there’s not much else to do!!

Yesterday we called into the BP station and got chatting to a Thai woman behind the counter, she once lived in Ingle Farm but now does a bit of take away cooking in the local servo. She said “I am cooking green curry chicken tomorrow” and when we hesitated said “what you want?” Of course we wanted Pad Thai, “I cook for you” was the response, so Saturday morning breakfast was a great noodle dish. It looks as though we will leave here with Red Curry Bif - that’s on the menu on Monday, they open at 5am and she was insistent that we call in before we leave here. It’s interesting the characters you meet in the bush.

Newman

More stunning countryside and another mining town, Newman, this time BHP Billiton - the ore goes by train to Port Hedland with most being shipped out to China and Japan. More superlatives on a tour of the Mt Whaleback mine at Newman, it is currently 5.5. km long and 1.5 km wide.. The benches you can see in the photo are each 15 metres high which may give some idea of the dimensions. More rain here much to the delight of the local community and bird life!

Karijini NP and Tom Price

Karijini National Park is in the Pilbara area of WA. This is Lang Hancock territory, the Hamersley Ranges are stark red and the vegetation sparse but there are also a number of gorges, waterfalls and rock pools which can be viewed by descending steep paths and steps - oh for some young knees and stronger legs!

We stayed at the Dales Campground which provides bush toilets and gas BBQs - plus a wonderful view of the night sky - we were blessed with warm, still starry starry nights!

And then on to Tom Price, a young Rio Tinto mining town - and another mine tour, the world’s largest open cut iron ore mine. More superlatives, trucks worth $M4.5 with tyres which cost $50,000 each.

And something new - today it’s raining, something we haven’t seen for quite a while, time for warmer clothes too.

Do you want salt on those?

Port Hedland has been established as a port since the turn of the century but in the 1960s came into it’s own when iron ore became a major export. The town has a distinctive atmosphere of being a part of the mining industry, most buildings have a reddish tinge, men in orange work shirts, numbered vehicles with flags on top - an unmistakeable air of what it’s all about. Huge ships tie up in the harbour to take on loads on iron ore, there a many superlatives when it comes to size of machinery, weights and lengths of machinery, trains etc etc. We took a bus tour of the BHP Billiton facility and got a good idea of what it’s all about. Guinness Book of Records entries abound.

Another local by product is salt, sea water is pumped into evaporative ponds and before you know it, there’s a big pile - most of which is shipped out to be used in industry although a small proportion ends up on our fish and chips!

South Hedland is a small satellite township 20kms or so away, built to accommodate the industry’s workers - the shopping centre even boasts a home made ice cream shop specializing in chocolate chilli - L’s favourite flavour!

I asked at the Information Centre about the Port Hedland Detention Centre - it closed down in 2004 and was mothballed - was the answer.

It’s good to be back in the land of technology, I really miss being able to connect to the internet, email, mobile phone etc. We leave here Monday and head inland taking the road to Tom Price, Newman, Meekatharra, Mount Magnet and eventually to Perth. Lots more mining towns to see and where there is industry there is usually an internet connection.

For the first time in several months we have woken to a chill in the morning air, it will soon be time to get out the doona and some warm clothes, not looking forward to that.

Port Smith & 80 Mile Beach

There are several places between Broome and Port Hedland that are renowned for their beaches and fishing. We chose to make our first stop at Port Smith, a drive down a lovely red “pindan” dirt road to the camp site on the coast. The colours of the landscape in this area are wonderful.
The other visitors at Port Smith were friendly and off we went and caught some fish for our evening meal. We found out later that in fact our fish were undersize, so it’s a good thing they were eaten quickly. The fishing inspectors are crash hot and come round, check in your fridge and can hand out substantial fines - and so it should be! We can only claim innocence, our bream were of a good size but still below the limit - you live and learn. Port Smith is a pleasant place but towards the end of our stay the sand flies or midges came out and we both got badly bitten. They are tiny blood sucking insects whose bites cause severe itching and inflammation which can lead to infected sores - not nice at all! We were pleased to leave and head for 80 Mile Beach - no biting insects - but no swimming either, sharks and sea snakes! However the beach fishing is excellent, L tried his hand without success but we were kept supplied with fresh fish by our lovely neighbours who had had good catches the previous day.

Saturday morning in Broome

A last swim at Cable Beach, check out the colour of the water.
And a visit to the Saturday morning market, big boab trees in the park and an aging hippy selling ceramic flute stones to another aging ex hippy - who now has something else to do as well as the crossword!

Laid back in Broome

This is our second visit to Broome, when we were here last year we did all the tourist stuff, this year we have been enjoying the laid back atmosphere and the climate. We are staying at the Broome Caravan Park, on the outskirts of town - the park has lots of shady trees and a magnificent pool - so dips in the pool, a chair with a good book in the shade or a visit to Cable Beach have been the go! We have been into town, a 5 minute drive away, to lodge a postal vote at a special polling booth set up for people from interstate, to stock up on supplies and for a visit to the outdoor cinema Bran Nue Dae is showing, very appropriate!
We leave here Monday for a week at Port Smith and then on to 80 Mile Beach, neither of which have an internet connection so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from us for a couple of weeks.

Fitzroy River and Crossing

Since leaving Kununurra we had our first overnight stop at what is commonly known as a “free camp” a road side stop some of which have facilities including water, toilets and fire place. This one at Mary Pool is on the side of a river, so lots of trees plus 3 long drop toilets for about 100 caravans but many vans now have their own toilets and showers on board and a power supply. (photo of 3 A'vans at Mary Pool). Free camps are very popular with retirees on a limited budget and we will be happy to give them a try now and then.
We spent 2 nights at Fitzroy Crossing - good to be able to have a shower - the area regularly floods and the ablution block in the camping ground is built up high to allow for the rising waters! We took the boat cruise down the Fitzroy River which runs through Geikie Gorge in the national park owned by the local Bunaba people who call the gorge Darngku.
The jagged limestone peaks are actually the top of ancient reef that formed in the Devonian Period prior to the evolution of mammals and reptiles - pretty old rocks!

Lake Argyle and Ord River Cruise

Kununurra’s water is available because of the damming of the Ord River and the formation of Lake Argyle - previously during the wet season and annual floods the river ran out to sea and during the dry season the land was parched cattle country. Now with water available all year round the vast black soil plains provide irrigated plantations which are green and productive.
We took a tour, bus to the lake and head of the dam and then a 50 km river boat cruise back along the river, we saw lots of crocs, bird and animal life. The surrounding countryside is just stunning, the river snakes through cliffs of the Carr Boyd Ranges and we arrived back to a spectacular sunset.

Rum and ...

Kununurra’s important assets are plenty of water, sunshine and good soils - there are acres of mango trees, vegetables, sandalwood trees and until recently a lot of sugar was grown here too. That’s not the case now and the sugar that is grown is for rum production. We have never been great rum drinkers but yesterday we visited the local Hoochery and were pleasantly surprised at the range they make. After several tastings we even ended up buying some!

Trainspotting in Katherine

We are back in Katherine and would you believe, it is raining today!

But yesterday was a beautiful day and we got up early to see the Ghan arrive from Adelaide. You may well say, why don’t you just go down to Keswick if you want to see the Ghan, but there are beautiful huge outback skies here and fun to see the long train appear out of the bush. Also a chance to people watch, about 300 tourists got off for a quick tour of the town and local highlights. Lots of old legs, limping in new pristine sneakers!

(For OS readers, the Ghan connects Adelaide to Darwin (via Alice Springs) by rail and is named after the Aghans who opened up much of the outback with their camel trains.)

We leave tomorrow for Kununurra.

Berry Springs - Northern Territory

Dear blogger - if you have just had a chilly day at work SHUT DOWN NOW!!

But as we are camping at Berry Springs we thought it about time we went for a swim in them - just great. They are fresh water springs which flow over a small waterfall (good place to get a back massage) into a pool and then down a small creek into 2 more pools. The bottom is light gravel and as you can see the water incredibly clear. Just wonderful to float on your back and look up at an intensely blue sky framed by a canopy of green leaves. Heaven!

Territory Wildlife Park

The mornings are cool so yesterday we got up early and before 9am were at the Territory Wild Life Park - it’s a cross between Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo and Desert Park in Alice Springs - and features the flora and fauna of the Top End. There are displays where you can feed whip rays, walk through the aquarium and get up close and personal with a salty, a huge aviary with raised paths and platforms and a display with free flying native birds including the jabiru, raptor, owls and buzzards plus heaps of natural bushland.

You can walk bush trails or take a shuttle train - we did both and spent nearly 8 hours at the park!

We did a “behind the scenes” tour and got to see where the vet works, food prep areas for various animals and an insight into a quoll (a small native animal a bit like a miniature possum) breeding program. The introduction of the poisonous cane toad which are eaten by native animals has been a huge problem. A woman has a project to discourage quolls from eating cane toads - she takes baby non poisonous cane toads and coats them with a product which has no taste or smell but which when eaten by the quoll makes them sick but does not kill them. After a meal of the treated toad the quoll refuses to eat them again. Quolls which take part in this program have a very successful survival rate. An interesting approach to a very serious problem!