AROUND AUSTRALIA IN 2010

We are finally home after 110 days away.
Lots of work to be done around the house although our wonderful neighbour has looked after the yards etc very well - mowed the lawns and picked the fruit off the trees. The garden beds do need a lot of weeding though.

We had a wonderful trip with great company.

Highlights especially those not seen or done before included;-

The trip into the Bungle Bungles.

Bee Hive Domes 9

Eighty Mile Beach and the Mud that George took us into'

Caron Dam

Koorda and meeting Mui (Richards special friend)

The Karri Forrest in the South West of Western Australia

Karri Trees 2

The stay at Glenda and Duncan's at Youngs Siding and their 2 wonderful, inquisitive children (Beth and Jim)

Esperance and Cape Le Grande - what marvelous beaches here. The sand so white and the water so clear.

Pildappa Rock in South Australia (and more mud thanks to George).

Renmark and the wonderful street of roses.

And of course ALL of the wildflowers in Western Australia. No more photos here - you will have to look back in the Blog.

One other highlight - especially for Hiroe was Kunanurra and The Diamond Shop.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BOTH YOU PRIVATE AND PUBLIC COMMENTS AS WE WENT ALONG.

Hope you all enjoyed our trip and maybe you should all think about getting out on the road and doing it yourselves some day.

Fond regards and Love to all

Bob and Hiroe

We travelled 18,586 km

We spent $14,378.95 made up of
Fuel $2814.82
Accomodation $1506.20
Food and Groceries $2182.64
Other (Including Diamond ring) $7875.29

We used 1971.31 litres of fuel so even though we towed a 1800kg caravan that averages out at 9.43 Kms per lt

Thursday 28th October. Departed Ceduna just after 8.30, refuelled the vehicles then headed east. first stop was at Wirrulla where we drove through the town and had morning tea. Onwards to Poochera and again we drove though the town before continuing on to Minipa. We turned off the Highway here and drove 15 km on a dirt road to have a look at Pildappa Rock. It certainly is unusual and we went for a walk all over it. We are camped here for the night. IT IS VERY WINDY.

Hiroe and Bob went for a brisk walk right around the rock. It took a little over half an hour and we were exhausted.

Friday 29th October. Well, George has done it again - let us up a dirt track for 15 km and at 1.00 am this morning it started to rain and kept up for the rest of the night. We had to severely chastise him. We were all up early and left Pildappa Rock at 7.00 am. It was a slippery sliding ride out to the bitumen at Minipa. We drove east to Kimba where we had morning tea. It's still raining and sometimes quite heavy. We continued on to a rest area at the water tanks 25km west of Port Augusta where we had lunch. We were going to stay here overnight but it's too early to stop so we drove on into Port Augusta.

We did minimal shopping in the rain then drove on turning north to Wilmington over Horrocks Pass then east again to Melrose where we have camped for the night in a Rest Area. We have discovered that in very heavy driving rain our caravan leaks so this meant placing a lot of the things under the bed into the back seat of the car and remaking the bed with fresh linen.
There are some lovely trees near where we have camped.

Saturday 30th October. Lovely quiet night last night. We discovered why we had a leak at the back of our van - The rear window wasn't latched properly and in the very wet conditions with water all over the road and flying up the back of the van as we drove through it - it came in through the window. Oh well - Live and Learn.

There are a lot of grain crops around here and we saw a lovely ruin in one field and couldn't miss the chance to photograph it.

We drove into Gladstone and had a walk around town. Some really old lovely buildings here as well as an unused railway station where Hiroe tried out the scales to see if they would take her weight (didn't register anything).

We drove on to Jamestown which is another lovely old town. Again we walked around town and took a couple of photos before going to a park to morning tea. There were some pretty good murals in town.

Next stop was to have a look at some wind generators on the hill (hard to see them in the photo). There seemed to be a lot so when we reached Hallett we stopped and asked how many at the tourist Info Centre. 126 installed so far in 3 groups with another 64 being erected. These are being constructed by a firm in Helsinki. Another company from Holland is to install more. The ones in so far have blades on which are 50 metres long, The Dutch ones will have blades 80 metres long. AMAZING sight.

Onwards to Burra where we looked at some remains of an old Copper Mine here. There is an open cut mine working now.

We continued on to Morgan but didn't stop and drove to a Rest Area about 90 km west of Renmark for the night. Some other vans have pulled in here as a result of our stopping.

Sunday 31st October. After another good nights sleep we drove to Waikerie to refuel after crossing the Murray River on a ferry. We had another crossing of the Murray at Kingston On Murray and took a couple of photos.

We drove on to Renmark where we had morning tea and did a very small shopping (we don't need much before reaching home). There are some wonderful roses growing all the way along the main street through town.

Took a couple of photos of the Murray River here as well. Some houseboats tied up and an old paddle steamer in the background.

Soon after Renmark we crossed the border into Victoria.

We continued on to Mildura where we crossed the Murray again and into New South Wales. It's still raining and we had lunch at Gol Gol before continuing on through Euston and then Balranald where we have camped for the night in a Rest Area well off the highway and sealed.
Just on dusk, a large cloud appeared in the west and withinh an hour it was pouring.

Monday 1st November. Nice quiet night last night. We were all up bright and early and drove to Hay expecting the local Winery to be open. Sign on the door said "Opening at 11.oo am today" since it was only 9.00 we moved on to a rest area on the banks of an overflow of the Murrumbidgee River. There must have been quite a bit of rain as the overflow was quite full. There were some lovely trees in the water as well as fields of Salvation Jane (Pattersons Curse) everywhere. We had morning tea here.

We continued on to Narrandera for lunch. Took a photo of Hiroe and the largest playable guitar in Australia, also one with a Tiger Moth aircraft used as a trainer here during World War 2. There were a couple of bottle trees in the large garden where we ate lunch.

We made a decision to drive to Jugiong Rest Area for the night so headed for Wagga Wagga where we drove straight through. It really needs by=passing as it takes forever to get through and the lights and traffic is terrible.

This will be the second last installment of this trip as we will be home tomorrow. We will make the final entry sometime soon with suitable comments on the trip.

Saturday 23rd October. We left Esperance rather later than usual this morning (8.45) and drove up the Norseman Road stopping in a Rest Area at the site of the town of Truslove - nothing here now apart from a few signs showing where the school, hall, general store & Post Office and garage were. There were some very red Kangaroo Paws growing here as well as some very small Pink Isopogen whose flowers resembled small roses.

We continued on through Grass Patch and took a photo of the towns entry sign

Onwards through, Salmon Gums and Kumari to a rest area at Bromus Dam where we had lunch. This area has been ruined with a lot of rubbish everywhere. We had intended staying here the night but decided to move on. We drove into Norseman and refuelled. Hiroe did a load of washing and George filled his cars gas tank. Took a photo of the statue of Norseman the horse who supposedly kicked over a rock which turned out to be gold and stated a gold strike and they are still mining here.

We have camped for the night in a rest area 15km east of Norseman on the Eyre Highway.

Sunday 24th October. There won't be much to write about today as we cross the Nullarbor Plains. The scenery does change a lot however. We stopped at Balladonia where we had morning tea and took a look in the Service Centre shop. Parts of a American Skylab fell near here in 1979.

We continued on and came to the longest straight stretch of road in Australia (146 km) as well as straying stock signs.

There was a tree nearby which had been decorated with all sorts of items. Bob added his shirt to the collection.

We drove to Caiguna and stretched the legs then continued on to a rest area 21 km east of here for the night. There was a lovely sunset tonight.

Monday 25th October. We drove on through Cocklebiddy and then Madura Pass where we had a look at the plain below from the lookout before leaving the plateau we had been travelling on.

We carried on to Mundrabilla where we refuelled and had lunch.

There are quite a few Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Emergency Airstrips along this Highway. They make use of the actual Highway.

We drove into Eucla up through Eucla Pass and then down a dirt track to have a look at what remains of the old Telegraph Station here. Last time we looked at it, only the top of the chimney could be seen out of the sand. Today more has been exposed by the wind.
The inter-colonial telegraph station at Eucla.

The lonely outpost at Eucla, built 20 kilometres inside Western Australia's border with South Australia, ensured that up to 600 telegrams a day successfully travelled along iron, and later copper wire between the two states.
In 1874, the WA Legislative Council voted £15,000 for the construction of a telegraph line from King George Sound, Albany Western Australia to Eucla on the border with South Australia.
At the same time, the South Australian authorities agreed to construct a line from Port Augusta to Eucla.
As the line was hung and inched closer each day to the border, telegrams were carried between each end of the line by horsemen - so - telegrams by morse and horse!
This inter-colonial line, 2532 kms long, was opened on 8th December 1877 at a total cost of £33,000 amid congratulatory messages keyed along the single iron wire linking the colonies.
This enabled Western Australia to be in telegraphic communication with the rest of the world.

Text of the first telegram:

"SATURDAY 7 PM (DECEMBER 8TH 1877)
EUCLA LINE OPENED. HURRAH."

Built in sight of the sea, it operated as two colonial terminal stations and became perhaps Australia's most important telegraphic link - all day, all night the sounders clicked.
The station was staffed equally by Western Australian and South Australian telegraphists and the staff worked each on its own side of the 'border'. The telegraph table extended north and south the full length of the room, and for telegraphic purposes the boundary line between the two provinces ran up the centre of the table.

Took a photo of George and a whale in the Eucla Village.

There no link between the 2 meant either.

Went through the border of Western and Southern Australia and took more photos.

We continued on to a spot on the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight about 70 km east of the border. Just have to be careful where we walk in the dark

There was a lovely Emu Bush growing near the lookout

Todays highlight must have been all the decorated small dead trees like the one yesterday. Someone has started a fad and it has been catching. Just wish we had taken the time to stop and photgraph them all. Most have been dedicated to one specific item like; "Shoe Tree"

As well there were; "Bra Tree", "Bottle Tree", "Mens Underpants Tree", "Ladies Dress Tree", and empty tree with a sign "Nude Tree", "Doll Tree", "Childrens Toys Tree", etc. It should be advertised earlier as a tourist attraction.

Tuesday 26th October. Bob didn't sleep very much last night. Blames George for parking him so close to the cliff edge - he imagined going over the 80 metre drop all night. As well, at about 5.00 a wind came up at about 500 km/hour (well it seemed like that lying in bed). Could have blown us off the cliff. The only thing that saved us was all the things that Hiroe has managed to store under the bed and weigh us down.

We departed last night camp at 7.30 and drove out to "The Head of The Bight" lookout. We took some photos of the cliffs here which are about 80 metres high and run for about 800 kms.

There was a lot of fog this morning and for the first 2 hours of driving we had to put up with it.

We arrived at Nullarbor Station Roadhouse and made use of their facilities. Hiroe was interested in catching a bus but couldn't find a timetable nor what the bus destination might be.

We crossed the Nullarbor Plain (all 50km of it this far south - if you want to see more of it you have to go 200km north).

Around Nundroo we came across many fields of yellow everlasting.

We camped for the night 25km east of Penong.

Wednesday 27th October. Drove into Ceduna this morning. Booked into a caravan park. George and Hiroe did washing and after lunch we had our car serviced.

George is calling me for "Happy Hour" so that's the Blog for this time.

Sunday 17th October. We left Parry Beach Campground and drove to William Bay which we have been to before - it is a lovely place.

We continued on to Denmark and had a great tour around town on foot. It must be one of the prettiest towns in Australia.

Onwards again to Youngs Siding and Duncan and Glenda's home. It has a lovely view. We had lunch with them and then cousin Wendy (Glenda's mother), arrived and we went for a drive to have afternoon tea at a wonderful cafe in the hills.
After afternoon tea we went to have a look at Minchin Road, named after Tom Minchin Senior.

Duncan then took us to see Lowlands Beach. It is a great looking place.

We returned to Duncan and Glenda's for a roast lamb dinner.

Monday 18th October. We unhooked our van and took George with us. 1st Stop was at Wendy's home on Rutherwood Road, Torbay for morning tea. The views here across the paddocks towards Mt Barker are magnificent.
We drove into Albany and had a look at the Light Horse Memorial.

There were some very good views of the Albany Harbour (King Georges Sound) from up here.

Next stop was at the Princess Royal Fort which was built to protect Albany before World War 1. There were 2 x 6" guns here.

As well as the guns there were ruins of the Warrant Officers quarters and the married quarters etc.

We then drove down into the city for lunch; bought a new antenna for the caravan's radio and had a look over the replica of the Amity which brought soldiers, settlers and convicts to start a new settlement in Western Australia at Albany in 1826. This was to deprive the French from claiming West Australia as a colony.

Later in the afternoon we went to have a look at the wind farm which currently produces 50% of the City of Albany's electricity. There are plans to shortly double the output.

There are a few new wildflowers growing up on the hill here

We returned to the vans in time for "Happy Hour" with Duncan. Because of a bit of smoke about, the sunset tonight was spectacular.

Tuesday 19th October. The morning was nice and quiet. Hiroe did some washing and we had scones, jam and cream for morning tea thanks to Glenda. Duncan has been moving sheep and sorting cattle out ready for market so George and Bob caught up with Blogs and diaries.
Went for a walk to the end of the property and took a photo of an old abandoned house.

Also took photos of some of Duncan's cattle, their house and son Jim.

Wendy came over just before lunch and after we ate, she gave Duncan help in doing the final sort of cattle for market.

Wednesday 20th October. We left Youngs Siding after showers, filling water tanks etc and skirted around the City of Albany. we drove up the road towards Borden and on the way passed through the Stirling Ranges which are quite attractive to look at.

We camped for the night at the 120 Meridian rest area.

Thursday 21st October. We left the Meridian Rest Area and drove into Ravensthorpe where we refuelled the continued 50 km out to the small town of Hopetoun. We were all pleasantly surprised by the size of this town out in the middle of nowhere, 300 residents.

There was a railway line built here in 1909 - it closed in 1935.
We returned to Ravensthorpe, had morning tea then headed south again. We arrived at Munglinup where we had lunch. Not much here apart from an amenities block and a fuel stop.
We drove on towards Esperance and on the way came across a few more wildflowers. It won't be long and we will run out of them as we leave Western Australia. I said sometime earlier that there were 3500 species of wildflowers in Western Australia - I made a mistake - there are over 17,000 species and more found each year.

We continued on into Esperance and booked into a caravan park (the first caravan park for almost a month and it will be the last till we are well into South Australia).
We will be here for 2 nights.

Friday 22nd October. George took us for a trip around the 40 Km Great Ocean Drive and then out to Cape LeGrande today.
1st Stop was at the Tanker Jetty which originally was a railway jetty but now is purely a tourist attraction.

We drove up to the Rotary Lookout which looked down at West Beach. The beaches here are simply amazing.

We continued on to Blue Haven and The Bay of Islands.

Onwards to Twilight Beach which has been judged Australia's Best beach. We can see why it is beautiful and clean.

We drove on to Observatory Point and had a look at where the French laid up in the shelter of some of the islands back in 1792.

On again past Nine Mile Beach, Ten Mile Lagoon to Eleven Mile Beach.
There were more little Bottlebrush around here.

We drove on around the eleven mile road past the Pink Lake (Which isn't pink at all) and took some photos of some Banksias.

We then drove out to Cape Le Grande National Park about 60 km east of Esperance and on the way took a photo of Frenchman Peak and some more wildflowers.

we drove on to Thistle Cove where there is a very interesting large rock which whistles when the wind blows and AMAZING beaches.
There were a couple of plants here which caught our attention.

Our final stop for the day was at Lucky Bay. We were here 16 years ago and the place has become even prettier.

We took over a hundred photos today and decided to spare you having to look at them all. They will have to go in our private diary when we get home. This will be the last entry to the Blog until we get to South Australia as there will probably be no internet access as we cross the Nullabour.

Note: If you want any info on the photos, Click on More Photos on the right then double click on the image you are interested in and much more information will become available. Bob

We spent a week at Mandurah at Graham and Dolly's talking over old times and looking at old haunts of Bob's when he was a young boy.
We visited Guildford and the old Rose and Crown Hotel built in 1841 and still operating. It is the 2nd longest serving hotel in Australia.

The next stop was at the old Guildford Police Station, Court House and Gaol (also built in 1841)

We went and had a look at the home that Bob and Graham's father had built in Bassendean after World War 2. It is a bit of a mess and the garden is overgrown. We drove to the swimming hold on the Swan River at The Point and then through Bassendean town and on to Perth and Kings Park which overlooks the City of Perth..


Kings Park has a lot of Western Australian wildflowers growing so of course we took some photos.

We saw the old Swan Brewery which has now been converted into units.

There was a lovely fountain going in the park.

George and us caught a train up to Perth from Mandurah and after a brief walk in Murray Street Mall we had morning tea and took a photo of George and Hiroe with the Commonwealth Bank as a backdrop.

We walked through an arcade to the Hay Street Mall and took photos both inside and outside of London Court which runs from Hay Street to St Georges Terrace.

A walk down Barrack Street with a photo of the old Town Hall in the background followed.

Then a bit of trouble followed making up our minds on what to eat for lunch before walking a short distance to the Northbridge area to the Art Gallery taking a photo of the Brass Monkey Hotel on the way.

We returned to Mandurah on the train late afternoon It is a quick trip on a wonderful train 85 km in 36 minutes stopping all stations.

On Tuesday 12th October, Dolly woke us up shortly after 1.30 am. Brother Graham isn't well - He is shivering yet feels hot to touch.
Dolly rang for an ambulance and Bob followed. After many test - blood - urine and a chest x-ray he was found to have a bad chest infection at aboutr6.45 am. The doctor said he would be OK and would be admitted to a ward in the hospital and that they would continue to give him antibiotics.
Bob returned to the van at 7.00 am and gave Dolly the news.
We left Graham and Dolly's at about 8.00 am and headed south. 1st Stop was just north of Bunbury where we had morning tea.
We by-passed Bunbury and made a brief stop at Capel before driving through the Ludlow Tuart Forrest and on to Busselton in time for lunch. We had a look at the old Busselton Jetty (1939 Metres long) which is under repair.

After lunch we walked into town and did a little shopping then continued on to Metricup and the home of cousin Graham and Nancy Minchin where we had a look at their Bird Park and stayed the night.

We had dinner with Graham, Nancy, Katie, Sarah, Cody and Katies boyfriend - Jason. It was a wonderful evening.

Cody and Sarah caught us some marrons.

Nancy fed 4 of their beef cattle with some apples - they love them. She also has a baby emu which thinks its a dog.

Graham collects and restores old tractors and stationary engines - he has sheds full of them. Cody, although only 13, lends a hand as well.

Wednesday 13th October. We drove to Cowaramup and bought some cheeses and wine before continuing on to Margaret River where we stopped for a walk around and lunch. This place has changed a lot since the days that Bob and his Grandfather drove up the main street in a horse and cart.

We drove out to the Caves Beach Road and headed south. We came across a wonderful stand of Karri trees.

At the same place took some photos of a striking blue flower called Hovea which is flowering everywhere around here.

We continued on to Cape Leeuwin lighthouse and again took some photos

The Indian and Southern Oceans meet here

There are some lovely flowers growing here.

There is an old water wheel which was used to pump water up to the lighthouse. It was built in 1895 however, it has calcified due to the lime in the water.

The scenery around here is wonderful - many great rock formations

We drove up the highway to Karridale then turned east and drove to Alexandra Bridge Campground on the Blackwood River. It is a great spot.

Thursday 14th October. After a good nights quiet sleep at Alexandra Bridge we drove towards Nannup, stopping at a Rest Area for a break and photo shoot of more wildflowers.

We drove on to the small town of Nannup where we walked up and down the main street.

Then we went to a park on the banks of the local river where once a railway bridge crossed. The railway commenced operation in 1909 and closed in 1984. The bridge has been converted into a walkway.

After morning tea in the park we continued on towards Pemberton and called in to have a look at some Karri trees and falls at Beedalup.

Driving on to Pemberton we had lunch near the old railway station. There is a lovely o;d steam engine here which still works, however, the locals can't find a driver for it. Last time we were here we went for a 20 km run with it. It was great. Hiroe even blew the whistle then.

Pemberton main street is on a hill and there was an amazing Tea Tree growing here.

We did some laundry and George printed out a heap of photos. We then continued on to tonight's rest stop at Brockman Sawpits.

Friday 15th October. After another good nights sleep we left Brockman Sawpits and continued south east to Northcliffe. Nothing was open this early in the morning so we drove out to Windy Harbour. This small village has more than a hundred cottages, none of which is on free hold land but all on long term leases.
On the way we saw many blackboys flowering as well as other flowers.

We walked along the beach - there must have been a huge sea running lately as quite a lot of seaweed has been brought ashore.

We did a short walk to look at Cathedral Rocks.

On leaving Windy Harbour saw a group of pink flowering Verticordia.

We returned to Northcliffe and walked around town, Saw a nice looking red flowering Eucalyptus.

We drove on towards Walpole and on the way had lunch on the side of the road. We have camped for the night in a wayside stop 16km from Walpole.

Saturday 16th October. We drove towards Walpole and on the way took a photo of Nornalup Inlet.

When we arrived at Walpole, George did some laundry while we wandered around town. We unhooked our van and picked up George and drove out to have a look at the Giant Tingle trees. We stopped for a photo at The Hilltop Lookout.

Hiroe decided to walk the Bibbulmun Track which runs from Kalamunda (near Perth) to Albany. Well she did 30 metres of it anyway.
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We continued on to The Giant Tingle trees where again we took some photos.

We drove on to The Valley of The Giants and went on the Tree Top Walk - Amazing sights from up here.

Todays flowers included the following:- Tassel Flower, Dryandra Formosa and Sticky Thomasia

We then drove to Parry Beach Campground for the night.