Adventure Before Dementia

2011-03-12T00:54:00.000-08:00

BACK TO TRAVELLING! FROM BEVERLEY TO ALBANY

It was with joy that Walter received a good health report from his Cardiologist in Perth at the end of January. It didn’t take us long to clean and pack up at Beverley and resume our travels!

We left Beverley on 25th January and headed South to Wave Rock. After 40˚heat the day dawned cold and showery! We arrived at the Wave Rock Caravan park in the afternoon and after we set up camp, planning to stay a few days we strolled around the area. We found a small zoo and bird park so we paid and wandered through it! It really was great and we were the only ones there.

The next day dawned sunny so we donned our walking shoes and headed up the path from the caravan park to view Wave Rock. It really is an incredible geological feature! After viewing the actual “wave rock” we walked further around to Hippo’s Yawn. The track meandered its way through the bush. At one stage we had a rather large brown snake sunning itself beside the track! It was so hot by the afternoon we headed for the pool with our books and stayed there for the rest of the day.

The next day we rose early and drove out the 18kms to another area known as Mulka’s Cave. There are 2 walks here, the first we undertook was the one up to the top of the range. You can view here other rocks that are in the makings also of a wave. The second walk was about 2 kms, more flat but was very interesting with good signage along the way. This was as area rich in aboriginal heritage and also has water holes in the rocks that they used to use and protect when on walkabouts. We were glad we did the walks early as by the time we arrived back at the start and Mulka’s Cave it was getting very warm. Another afternoon spent sitting around the pool!

As is had been a while since we had travelled any distance, we took it easy and only drove as far as Mungilup where we had a road side stop for the night before moving on to Esperance. Esperance is a beautiful place, turquoise clear water and white sands. The jetty is also fascinating with many opting to try their luck fishing from it as the sun is setting. At the end of the jetty is a sigh cleaning table and underneath, Sammy the sealion patrols each evening waiting for his dinner when those lucky enough to have caught fish toss him the scraps over the jetty!

One of the lovely drives around Esperance is the coastal drive. The road follows the many bays and passed the Wind Farm. The sheltered coves, white sands and rocky cliffs make this a very spectacular area. The circular route then comes back inland but pass the Pink Lake. Like near Kalbarri, this lake is tinged pink because of the Beta Carratine in the water.

We also took the cruise to Woodie Island. This island is one of the hundreds in the Recherche Archipelago. Only a half day cruise but you get to view the amazing coastling, cruise coast to other islands that are the home to the Australian Sea Lions and Cape Barren Geese and see dolphins and Sea Eagles in their own environment. Whilst on the island I took the chance to snorkel the clear waters of the bay whilst Walter hiked up to the lookout at the top of the island.

Caravan parks are not really “our thing” so then we drove 60kms east of Esperance to Cape Le Grand National Park. There are two camp areas in this park but our research made us choose the Le Grande beach camp. This is an amazing beach – 22 kms long – pure white sand and clear turquoise water. Our camp site was tucked away in the vegetation which gave us privacy and also shelter from the winds. We were only 150 metre walk to the beach and had a toilet and running water just opposite us. This is an amazing park as water is not a problem here, then even provide flush toilets and solar showers. There is a great camp kitchen too! As in many of WA’s National Parks there are Camp Hosts. Dinese and Mac were our camp hosts here and were a delightful couple and very willing to help out when help was needed.

First though we were saddened and devasted by the news that Fred (from Beverley) had passed away suddenly less than a week after we had left. Only 55 years of age and had such a zest for life. He apparently had a very severe heart attack. At the same time Walter wasn’t well again and was having problems breathing. After 3 days I packed him up and took him back into Esperance to the outpatients department where they then referred him to a local Doctor. Well, after X-Rays, Blood tests etc, they admitted him to Esperance hospital. At first they believed he may have had a number of blood clots so he had to have a CAT scan. Thank goodness this proved negative and found that he had fluid on his lung. Now he is on double the fluid tablets and he hasn’t had any further trouble.

After a week of recuperating he then felt well enough for us to tackle a couple of walks. The first one was from Hellfire Bay to Little Hellfire. Lovely walk (only about 40 minutes through the bush) to reach a delightful bay, again white sand and turquoise water. No one else there, just us. We both went for a swim and wandered down to the other end of the beach where we found a Rosenberg’s Goanna wandering around.

Another more ambitious walk was to the top of Frenchman’s Peak. This is 262 metres above sea level and is virtually a straight up rock face with an incredible cave at the peak and 360˚views of the National Park.

We had a great crowd camping there and that resulted in a few special nights! First we had an Italian night, then a curry night and followed by a Pizza night! Gosh, eating on the road is tough!

Over all we had 3 lovely weeks at Cape Le Grand before we felt it was time to move on. We began to head west along the coast and the first stop was Stokes Inlet National Park. This is a hidden gem only about 70kms form Esperance. We caught up with the camp hosts, John and Christine, who we met nearly 2 years ago just outside Sandstone when we camped the night. They (then) were heading up to Cape Range National Park to take up their first Camp Hosting appointment. Since then they have hosted in many of the WA’s National Parks including King Edward river in the north. They will be hosting at the Bungle Bungle NP later this year.

From Stokes Inlet we travelled on west to the Stirling Range NP. Just a small camp ground but the volunteer Ranger gave us a great site. Lovely Camp Hosts here too, Margaret and Ken. We took the Stirling Range drive, about 80 kms return trip right through the ranges. We hiked up to one lookout, quite a bit of a rock climb at the end, but the views were worth it! We had taken our picnic lunch so we found a nice spot among the ranges and gum trees to have this before returning. We opted out of the other walks as they are over 5-6 kms but all straight up the mountains. So instead we drove to the Bluff Knoll lookout (where one of the most popular walks begins) and looked at the views from there. The Stirling Ranges are spectacular in the Spring. They have over 1500 species of wild flowers, including 10 species of Mountain Bells, and only 2 are found outside of the park. There are also a huge variety of orchids found here too. Even though we were outside of the wild flower season, there was still quite a few species out.

The bird life here is also wonderful, kookaburras, Scarlet Robins, Red capped parrot, Carnaby (short billed) cockatoos, Grey Fantails and the amazingly coloured Splendid Fairy Wren. Very hard to get a decent photo though as they never stay still!

After 4 days (and some rain) we drove another 40 kms to the Porongurup Ranges and booked into the lovely caravan park there. These are only a small range but spectacular. These have a volcanic origin whereas the Stirling Ranges were once a part of an ocean. This means the vegetation is completely different. The Porongurups have huge jarrah, karri and marri trees and also many wild flowers but a different selection.

Walter and I decided to undertake one of the walks here, up past Tree in a Rock, then a 5.5km trail that took us right to the top of the range, via Nancy’s Peak and Morgan’s View. The views were spectacular! There are plenty of birds too, but many hard to see as they are high in the canopy. A number of Rufus Tree creepers and Twenty Eight parrots were visible.

We stayed a week as we found the Porongurup Wine Festival was to be held on the Sunday of the long weekend. There were 12 local wineries, a wok cooking competition and grape stomping! Live band entertainment and free wine tasting made for a very enjoyable day.

We left yesterday and now have arrived in Albany. So much to see and do here but today was a domestic day! Washing and cleaning! Tomorrow we shop and then begin the tourist bit!

So time now to sit back with my Porongurup Wine Festival Glass topped up with a nice local red, a bit of cheese before our roast dinner tonight!

Now we have started to discover Albany. After shopping and topping up our wine cellar, we took a drive around the coastal bay. Albany has a number of small suburbs set around the Princess Royal Harbour. Emu Point was delightful as was Bayonet Heads. We enjoyed a lovely coffee at the little coffee shop at Emu Point, whilst watching the children swim in the protect swimming enclosure and we delighted in the magnificent views in all directions. Across a very narrow isthmus of water is the Botanic Reserve. To get there though it is a much longer drive right around the bay!

We drove up to Mt Clarence and visited the ANZAC Memorial and one in particular to the Desert Mounted Troops including the Light Horse. It meant quite a lot to me as my Grandfather’s brother were in the Light Horse Brigade. From there a drive up to Mt. Adelaide and the Princess Royal Fort. This fort was built in the late 1800’s when there was a scare that either the French or the Russians might invade Australia! However, there has never been a shot fired in anger from these guns.

No one can visit Albany without a trip out to Frenchman’s Bay and Whale World. This is the site of the whaling station that operated for 26 years, closing in November 1978. It has been kept pretty well intact with even the triple expansion steam engine has been kept in working condition. Cleverly designed with the 4 huge tanks that were used to hold the whale oil, now converted as theatres. One of these is a 3-D experience on these giants of the sea. The others have features on sharks, one a hologram on the day in the life of a whaler, and one on the history of the area and the whaling station. Even one of the last whaling ships, the Cheyne 1V is moored here forever on dry land and you can walk through it and imagine how it must have been. There is also a great gallery featuring photos of the work on the station and the ships.

We took a picnic lunch with us so after spending quite a few hours here we drove to the small and beautiful Frenchman’s Bay for lunch. Great facilities and the flashest public toilets we have ever seen!

Then is was a drive back along the coast, popping into the different spots along the way. Places like Salmon Holes (great Salmon fishing here) Stoney Hill (another observation post particularly for W11) , then onto the Blowholes followed by Natural Bridge and the Gap. The day was overcast and a couple of times we had showers so it wasn’t the best for photography. Back into town for a drive around the port area. Quite a busy terminal with grain handling, fertilizer and wood chips. Quite a few ships have been in to be loaded whilst we have been here.

There is also a replica of the brig Amity, but again the light was failing. We may go back before we leave if we get a fine day for another go at taking its photo!

Albany has 2 markets each weekend. A Farmers Market on Saturdays and The Boat Sheds Markets on Sundays. The farmers market is great, such great fresh local fruit and vegies, bread and meat of all varieties: chicken, pork, beef and lamb. There is a Strawberry farm we found here on the outskirts of Albany and we have been buying the best strawberries, 1 kg for $3.00! At the markets, we also found fresh blueberries and raspberries too!

The Boatshed markets are held on Sundays and feature fresh local seafood. This was another great market so we bought fresh Red Snapper, squid, oysters and mussels. We have also been getting stuck into the beautiful fresh local strawberries from the strawberry farm! $3.00 per kg! Oh, life on the road is tough....

Until next time…

Rob & Walter – The Happy Travellers

2011-01-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

THE END OF 2010 - PERTH AND BEVERLEY W.A.

Well, another year has passed and we are already into the end of the first week in 2011.

Following from our last blog, we are still in Beverley. Walter had his Triple heart By-pass at the end of November in Perth at the Mount Hospital. All appears successful but he still has lots of recovery to do. He has had the first check up with the surgeon the week before Christmas and he was happy with his progress so far. He has limitations on his driving and also what he can lift. Nothing over 5 kgs at this point at least for another 2 months. Walter has another appointment at the end of January with his Cardiologist and if he gets the OK then, we will commence travelling again.

Entrance to Kings Park

Before we arrived in Beverley and whilst we had the van in Perth, Walter and I took a couple of sight seeing trips around Perth. We did the Double Decker bus tour. This took us up to Kings Park and around the city. Kings Park is magnificent with its views out over the city. We had lunch there before rejoining the bus and travelling around the CBD, including around Burswood the casino. We also found that we could upgrade which gave us a reduced price on a trip the following day that took us on a ferry down the Swan river to Freemantle and then onto the Freemantle tram. Similar conditions of being able to get off and on as you wish.

Maritime Museum Freemantle

This trip was great, driving around Freemantle, passing the Maritime Museum where "Australia 2" the yacht that won the America's Cup is housed, the Freemantle Prison, the Markets, and the Seafood Marina and Round House (from the convict days). It is a lovely trip cruising down the river, it takes about an hour and on the way home we were treated to a wine tasting! Lovely Margaret River reds.....we were catching a bus back to the caravan park so having a couple of good reds wasn't a problem!

Photo from 1968 after Earthquake

Picnic on the Avon at Northam

Lorraine & Pete have been fantastic, allowing us to stay here in Beverley all this time. We have done a bit of sight seeing around Beverley prior to Walter’s op, including a trip out to Meckering where the whole town was demolished in an earthquake back in the sixties. Even today you can see where the ground was raised by about 2 metres over a 37 km section, buckling railway tracks and roads. We drove back around through Northam where we had a lovely picnic on the banks of the Avon River.

Peter ready to shear

Peter, before retiring, was a shearer who was born and bred in the Beverley area. But even though he is retired, he is often asked to shear smaller flocks of sheep. Walter has been out with him twice to assist him prior to his op. Some of the merinos were huge, even giving Peter difficulty in dragging them to be shorn!

Merinos ready for shearing

Harvesting Barley at Beverley

Barley Fields at Beverley

Beverley is a small town of about 1200 people on the wheat belt area of W.A. Grain crops just as wheat, barley, millet and canola stretch away over the hills on all sides of the town. Pete took both of us out one day to a property where a friend of his was harvesting barley. Like two kids, we both had a ride in the harvester as it made its way through the waving fields of barley. Only half the grain silos are opening this year though as this area is in the middle of severe drought. Ironic, when you look at how much water is flowing over the eastern states. The computerization of the harvester is quite amazing. It can tell you when the storage bin is full, how much tonnage per acre is coming off the field, and can control the height and width of the cutting blade

Cottesloe Beach

Whilst Walter was in hospital in Perth, we left the van at Beverley and I stayed in a cabin in a caravan park there. Friends have been fantastic with both of us receiving a lot of support. I took the opportunity to explore a bit of Perth whilst I was there. I took many strolls through the lovely CBD, took a tour of the Perth Mint, walked up the Bell Tower and with Val (another lovely friend met whilst travelling in the Pilbara) visited the aquarium.

Another couple that we met whilst staying at Cape Range, Tony and Vicki, picked me up from Mount Hospital and took me out to their place at Cottesloe for lunch. After dining, then drove me around to Cottesloe Beach and up the beautiful coastline to Scarborough and Sorrento. On returning they then persuaded me to stop for tea before driving me home.

Christmas Day

Ham & cheese Croissants with Moet!

Preparations for Christmas for us were minimal but we still had a great day. Noddy (Lorraine) and Pete’s two adult children, Kelly and Baydon came home from Perth for Christmas and we felt really included. Santa came in the form of a friend of Pete’s who also arrived from Cardwell in Queensland. Moet champagne and Ham and cheese croissants for breakfast after the parcels under the tree were opened. Like most Christmas’es, we went from eating one meal to another, Lunch was punch, more champagne, crayfish and prawns followed by pork, duck, turkey, chicken and all the salads. Desert came as fruit salad and pavolva and trifle. Most opted for afternoon naps, but Kelly, Noddy, myself and Baydon played games such as Scattergories!
Then of course tea at night was late and we polished off some of the leftovers.

Next day, Noddy and Pete were up early as they were leaving in their van for a 12 month trip to the eastern states following a week at Cape Ritche between Esperance and Albany.

We are currently looking after the house and chooks until we leave when a neighbour will take over.

Harem Gnomes at Gnomesville!

Before Christmas, we received a phone call from Hazell & Bill, who we met initially at Cape Range N.P. when they were camp hosts there. We have become good friends and they rang us up to ask if we would like to come down and spend New Year with them at Australind (near Bunbury). We took up to offer and left on the Thursday morning 30th, and drove down through Brookton, Pingelly and Collie to get there. All new territory. They like us, are actually of “no fixed address” but stay at their son’s place over summer. He had flown to Rockhampton for holidays over Christmas (a water logged holiday as it has turned out). Lovely brick open plan home on 5 acres. Bill and Hazel gave us a tour around the lovely city of Bunbury and Australind on New Years Eve. Their other son lives in the property next door, so they came over for a BBQ and we all sat up to watch the Sydney fireworks and see the New Year in.

Next day, we packed up a picnic and Bill told us he was driving us out to Gnomesville! I had read about it in a couple of travel magazines but seeing it was amazing! Literally thousands of gnomes placed here by people from not only of Australia but from all over the world! We were only disappointed that we did not have a gnome with us to leave there. If we ever go back we are going to leave our little gnome there too!

Honeymoon Pool

We travelled on up through a beautiful forest road and stopped to see a King Jarrah tree on the way to Wellington Dam. We had our picnic there and enjoyed the cool breeze as it came off the water. Water levels are way down but that didn’t stop a huge influx of New Year campers there. Then we drove onto Honeymoon Pool. Again, being New Year's day it was packed. It is a beautiful place but Bill told us if you come out of school holidays you can have the whole place to yourselves. Great swimming hole, fresh water, and the National Park has made a lovely timber deck and safe steps down into the water.

In the Pool with Lena & Mark

Time to leave, but we decided to drive home via Mandurah and drop into other friends that we had met at Nine Mile. When we arrived, Lena and Arthur insisted we stay so we had another 2 nights ways. They also took on the role of tour guide and drove us around Mandurah , the waterfront and down around the estuaries. Both days were very hot at around the 40˚C mark. Arthur had put up a small pool, so we sat in it to keep cool, with a glass of champagne! We then headed back to Beverley where we are beginning the “spring clean” before we start travelling again.

We hope you all had a safe and Happy Christmas and New Year and that 2011 treats you all kindly.

Rob & Walter

2010-10-21T00:21:00.000-07:00

THE AMAZING PILBARA
The Pilbara is located about 1,600 kilometres north of Perth. The region covers roughly 500,000 sq kilometres and is bordered by the Gascoyne Region in the south, the Kimberley region in the north, the Indian Ocean to the west and the Northern Territory border to the east. It covers some amazing contrasting landscapes, from beautiful Ningaloo Reef, to the gorges of Karijini National Park.

It’s the colours of the Pilbara that capture artist’s and photographers imaginations! Winter is the best time to visit these areas.
As you can see from our last update we started at Ningaloo, but then we moved onto Karijini. We camped at Dales Camp Ground. Dales is divided into quite a number of different camping areas, some have generators and some haven’t. We camped at Bungarra which is a generator site. Some areas had been burnt out by a bushfire earlier in the year but our site was lovely.

We began by heading to Dales Gorge the first day packing our lunch in our back pack and going to the viewing area over Circular Pool. What a sight! 100 metres down this amazing turquoise pool and running creek amongst red rock gorge walls. We then made our way down the cliff face and walked up along the creek to reach Circular Pool. Some very brave back packers tried swimming in it! Freezing cold! We then retraced our steps but then went further and trekked along the creek bed for about 3 kilometres down to Fortesque Falls. All along the creek the views blew us away, in some places it looked like a Japanese garden with the little waterfalls, long grasses all flanked by the amazing red gorge walls. We had lunch perched on rocks admiring this incredible vista. Fern Pool was another area further along but we decided to leave it to another day. Then we had to climb, albeit slowly, up the steps out of the gorge, a long way up!

The next day we decided to go back down the cliff, taking lunch again and swimmers, this time to Fern Pool. Easier climbing down to the top of Fortesque Falls, then took the track off to the right covering about 300 metres to the pool. This is another breath taking sight. This turquoise pool complete with two waterfalls, dripping ferns and surrounded by huge fig and paper bark tree and even has a timber deck and steps into it for swimmers. A swim was definitely on the cards as it was a lovely warm day before we had lunch. We also had taken our books with us so we sat and read before having another swim before walking back and climbing up the cliff face again!

Karijini gorges varying in depth but the patterns and colours of the ancient rock – rich ochre’s, reds and blues are spectacular. We then decided to drive about 40kms to another gorge, this one not so well known, called Kalimba. It was not as steep into the gorge but beautiful. We criss-crossed the creek making our way down to as far as we could before retracing our steps back up to the waterfall. Another swim and shower under the waterfall!

We drove further out to Weano & Hancock Gorges to go to the lookout. This lookout actually is where 5 gorges intersect. If you are afraid of heights this lookout is not for you! You look down over 100 metres into the narrow gorges, each with its running creek and waterfalls. It is mind blowing! There are a number of hikes to take here but we decided to undertake these on another day. The Karijini experience is all about adventure but caution is needed as quite a few people have been killed at Karijini. The rocks can be slippery and the water is freezing even in summer.

We were planning on leaving and heading further north to Millstream National Park so we thought we better pop back into Tom Price (98kms away) to stock up on food before we left. There is no phone reception at Karijini so we had not been in contact with anyone. Just as we drove into Tom Price to shop and get the laundry done, my phone rang and it was my brother Ian and his partner Anna. They were in Port Hedland and were going to come down and join us.

So next day as early as 9.30 am they arrived and got the camp site right next to us! So as they wanted to hike Dales Gorge, I went and did it again with them and included Fern Pool. We then planned with them to drive out to Hammersley Gorge. We packed up lunch and lots of water and left early the next day to drive the 90kms out to this gorge. Again we hiked down the mountain, sometimes feeling like a couple of mountain goats, marveling at the rock formations and the emerald coloured rock pools and waterfalls. Our daily shower under the waterfall and swim before having lunch and hiking out again.

Then we decided that the following day was going to be one of adventure! The walks in Karijini are graded, with 1 being the easiest and 6 being the most difficult. In fact a Graded 6 in Karijini means you have to have a guide and be experienced in abseiling and rock climbing! We all decided that we would drive out to Weano Gorge and walk it and include Handrail Pool which is a Grade 5 walk!
The first part of the walk down into the gorge and along the creek is beautiful and only a Grade 3. It is when you get down to a certain point (where you also have the option of climbing out of the gorge) that you have to wade through the water, climb along rock ledges and enter a very narrow gorge with the creek running through the centre of it. The gorge towers above you and in some areas you only have a slight glimpse of sunlight about 75 metres above you! You then get to an area where there is a Handrail! It runs along the rock wall and then disappears down over the waterfall! You climb down this to get down into the cavern and pool. We all achieved this and sat around the pool with our lunch. We all did look at what we achieved and then though, Jeepers! We have to climb out of here now! As it was it wasn’t as hard as it looked and when we got back and reached the top the exhilaration we all felt at achieving this was awesome.

We didn’t get to walk all the gorges in Karijini, there were still Joffre, Know, Hancock and Red Gorges! We decided to leave these for someone else!

We then packed up (Ian and Anna decided to come with us to Millstream) and headed north. We travelled up through Wittenoom (where the asbestos mining was) and then headed up the red dirt Pilbara road. We took our time and decided to stay at Mt Florance Station (which takes campers) about half way up. This is a 330,000 acre property. What a surprise when we got in there! Beautiful grass camping sites, solar showers and a free washing machine! They even had a lovely campfire area with a big pile of timber! So nice we decided to stay another night! Also Anna and I had an invitation to go with the station guys the next day on cattle muster. So we headed out the next day to muster cattle only about 20kms from the homestead. So utes, trail bikes and quad bikes were the order of the day! It had been so dry out here that they had to muster up the cattle with calves and take the calves off the mums as they just didn’t have enough milk to feed them. It involved a lot of “paddock bashing” going over very rough ground and creek beds chasing animals that just did not want to go the way we were mustering them! It was such fun. We arrived back at camp by about 6 p.m. for a shower and then tea that the boys had cooked on the campfire in the camp oven!

Next day saw us head off again to Millstream. We managed to get our vans into the Crossing Pool camp site right on the backs of the beautiful Fortesque River. The only drawback was that it also the home during the day for hundreds of Blue Eyed Corellas! The boys were not impressed to have the corellas defecating all over their cars! The river was also good for a swim but the water was very cold!

We spent three nights here and so on the second day we undertook the walk from Crossing Pool to the Homestead (6.8 kms return). Whilst we were at the Homestead we also walked to the Water lily Ponds (another 1.75 km return). The day was getting pretty warm by the time we made it back to camp! Whilst here we also caught up with Sue & Tina whom we had met at Mt Florance. The girls were great and took both Anna & I for a kayak up the river. Amazing to see its beauty from this angle. Thanks girls!

We all left Millstream and headed to Karratha where we spent 2 days washing and cleaning everything! That Pilbara red dust was in everything, cars, caravans and clothes. We all went out to dinner that evening after a hard days work to the Chinese restaurant. Next day it was time that Ian and Anna and ourselves parted company! They were heading south to catch up with their friends and we were going further north and out to Marble Bar.
Whilst we were in Port Hedland staying at the Golf Club overflow, we went on the BHP Billiton Iron Ore tour. Now this is really “big boy’s toys”! Amazing to see the scope of BHP’s operation, not just in iron ore but manganese and salt too! We also sat by the harbour watching the huge freighters being loaded and being shunted around what is pretty small space and narrow inlet! Most were from China, and Taiwan.

Then we headed south east to Marble Bar. We stopped firstly for two nights and Dolena Gorge, only 40kms out of Marble Bar. No running water but very pretty. Marble Bar was fascinating. The name Marble Bar was given it by early prospectors who took the Jasper Ridge running through the creek as Marble. It is apparently even more spectacular just after rain as it is a stunning bright blue, red and white. When we saw it, it was more grey red and white but still amazing. Gold is also in “dem thar hills”! The Comet Gold mine is also an old mine but the company that owns it is about to open it up again. We also drove out about 35 kms to the incredible “Invisible Airfield”. In the WW11, it was one of the top secret air bases in Australia, being home to the US 380 Bomber squadron and an Aussie contingent too! The long runways are still drivable and you are able to wander around the old foundations of the hospital and admin buildings. Apparently the Japanese kept trying to find it but never found it. The bomber squadrons used to fly from Marble Bar to Surabaya and return on bombing runs.
Then we being quite adventurous, headed out along the bitumen mining road, 170 kms east to Woodie Woodie Mine. Our target was Carrawine Gorge. This is on private property but open for free camping. To our amazement it had running water and the most incredible bird life we had seen for ages. We had a lovely grassed camp site on the side of the river, overlooking the sheer 100 metre gorge walls on the other side. We had a whole week camped in this oasis. Whilst we were there, Walter & I identified 32 different species of birds that we saw! Goodness how many we didn’t ID! We met some other lovely people camped there, Martin & Val from Glen Forrest near Perth, to name names. We also took a drive further down the road towards Woodie Woodie then turning left towards Nullagine. Our goal was to locate and visit a place called Eel Pool (or Running Water). We had directions on how to find the 4WD track off the road. We found the track in (about 3 kms) to the car park. Then there was a further track of 500m to the pool. The first part was OK but the last 500m was the roughest 4WD we have ever undertaken. However, the pool was delightful. Artesian water about 27º seeping through the walls of the creek! The tree roots of the paper barks looked like something out of Lord of the Rings!

.Then when the water and the food were nearly gone we headed back to Marble Bar & Port Hedland to stock up before going south down the inland highway.

We camped a lot off road on the way down including a lovely spot at Munjina Gorge before stopping at Newman in a caravan park for two nights. One of the goals for Walter was to undertake the Iron Ore mine tour in Newman. This is the biggest iron ore mine in the world. We had to don all the safety gear including goggles and hard hat to undertake this bus tour. Walter has now added a piece of iron ore to his rock collection.

It had been quite hot whilst in Newman so it was more than a shock when we only travelled about 250 kms further south and the temperature plummeted to 15 degrees! We had to go digging for the jumpers! We travelled further south down through Meekatharra, Cue and Mount Magnet before turning west again to head to Pindar. Now this is a tiny place, only an old stone B & B (which used to be the pub). They offered a place for free camping (at the old sports ground) and we set up camp there as we wanted to find the well known and rare Wreath Flowers. We drove around (with the info they offered) and found these incredible plants. So beautiful and unusual. Then it was into Geraldton and back to Kalbarri for a longer time than first expected as Walter could not get into his Cardiologist until 1st October. This enabled me to go back on the Ambo roster for St John Ambulance again. Lovely also catching up with such good friends.

His appointment on the 1st, led to us heading back down to Perth for more tests after staying a couple of days at Dongara with Lorraine & Gary. Great to also catch up with Klaus & Carmen and Mary whilst there. It did look a bit like a caravan park with us all there!
Walter’s Angiogram in Perth did not have good results so is now waiting for a Double heart by-pass in Perth. We have not got a date yet so we are in a “holding pattern”.Whilst there we did explore Perth and Fremantle, including Kings Park. WE left on the Saturday, spending two nights at a little rest stop called Noble Falls before going through to York and Beverley. Beverley is where Noddy & Pete Smith live so now we are camped in their yard until we go back to Perth.

2010-07-24T02:33:00.001-07:00

On the Road Again – Kalbarri to Ningaloo and Tom Price………….

Well after many fond farewells, we left Kalbarri on Tuesday morning the 28th April and headed north. We stayed the first night at a roadside spot known as Eddergee, about 76kms south of Carnarvon. Bit noisy with all the trucks coming and going but it cost nothing! Early the next morning we arrived into the town of Carnarvon and shopped at Woollies for groceries and collected some wonderful fresh fruit and vegies from the roadside stalls before heading off north again. We had planned to go out to Quobba and camp there a week, catching up with Pat & Phil who we met in Kalbarri. On checking out the campsite, we were not impressed, lots of flies and weed on the beach and so many vans camped on top of each other. We saw Pat & Phil and they too had not been impressed and were planning to leave the next day. So the decision was made to have lunch at the spectacular Quobba blowhole and then head straight up to 9 Mile north of Coral Bay. Meant a long drive but we arrived just on dusk to find hardly anyone camped there, a full moon and barmy evening. We had made the right decision. The following day Pat & Phil arrived to join us. One other pair of campers, Bruce & Robyn from Perth made for a happy and pleasant camp.

The three couples joined up and off we went with the 4WD’s around some of the tracks we had not covered before. Some very spectacular scenery over Ningaloo Reef between us and Coral Bay. We also tried our hand fishing along the coast but Walter and I at this point had caught nothing! On the way back we found our motor had heated up to over the top levels! We stopped and found water pouring out of the bottom of the radiator. We always carry water so we topped it up, radioed our friends that we had a problem and then limped back to 9 Mile! Found that we must have a large hole in the radiator so had to ring roadside service and organise for a tow truck to pick up the car and get it back to Carnarvon for repairs. Walter went with it and I stayed minding the caravan. It took 4 days for the parts to be delivered and the repairs effected. So we now have a good car again. Thank God though for NRMA as the pickup and tow services would have cost us over $1,200 without being a member! They even picked up for a hire car for Walter and his accommodation whilst he was in Carnarvon. Good service!

After he returned Bonne and David Heawood from Muswellbrook rang us and we were happily surprised to find that they were in WA, north of us. So we advised them where we were and arranged to catch up! It was great meeting up with them after 3 years! We camped together for a week at 9 Mile before we all headed 140kms north up the coast back to beautiful Ningaloo. It really is now one of my very favourite places in Australia.

We stayed the first night at Yardie Homestead Caravan Park and got up early, leaving the vans there, and lined up at the Ranger station. We got into Osprey camping ground where we also knew we could catch up with Pat & Phil who we had first met in Kalbarri, then camped with them at 9 Mile also. Osprey is beautiful and the camping spots overlook the reef. We snorkelled there, finding turtles, lion fish and cuttlefish amongst the large variety of beautiful reef fish. Tried fishing but again came up empty handed. Whilst there met another lovely couple, Janet and Dennis, plus another couple from New Zealand, Allan and Alison. This made for some very long happy hours! We also hiked the Mandu Mandu Gorge track with Pat, Phil, Janet and Dennis. Great walk and views! Some travelled on and then we met up with another couple from Newcastle, Ron & Tina who owns Australian Motor Homes. They also apparently used to live next door to other good friends of ours, Bob & Julie Nelson! What a small world. Whilst there we also heard that Howard & Lyn Grigor were travelling and they had arranged to stay at Yardie Homestead Caravan Park. They have a new little dachshund called Millie, so having a dog meant they could not stay within the National Park. That small world continued to exist as Ron had sold them there new 5th Wheeler!

Once when everyone travelled on to their respective destinations, Walter and I moved to Tulki Beach, another camp spot in Cape Range. The camp hosts there were Hazel and Bill who we met last year. A much smaller camp but the happy hours were still good! We had birthday parties, sausage sizzle and fish BBQ nights. The second day I took my new beach rod down to the beach, baited it up with some Octopus and cast it in. Hazel had walked down the beach to talk to me and we were chatting happily away when she called out for me to rescue my rod! It had pulled out of the rod holder and was heading towards the water! At the end, when I had pulled it in was a 65cm Spangled Emperor! A lovely fish and easily the best I have caught outside of the Blue Fin tuna in South Australia.

Walter found he had a bad infection in his foot, and after a few trips to Exmouth and the hospital for Antibiotic injections, they decided he needed hospitalisation for a few days to kill the infection. Whilst he was in there, a few of us decided to climb Tulki Gorge. No track here, so we had to follow kangaroo tracks and make our way around rocks and Spinifex! The view from the top was worth the climb, overlooking both Tulki Beach camp ground and Ningaloo Reef.

We had a few varying snorkelling expeditions to Turquoise Bay and Lakeside where I was able to play with my underwater camera. Another couple of campers, Vicki & Tony who were also friends of Bill and Hazel’s were great company, Vicki definitely being “Action Woman’! She made a great snorkelling companion for me! She also wanted to swim with the whale sharks so together we booked the trip and we snagged a beautiful day. Lots of sunshine and the water calm as a mill pond!

What an amazing experience! These gentle creatures are the largest fish in the sea, some reaching to a length of 20metres! We swam with 6 the day we went, with the largest being about 7 metres! Trust me this is still BIG! They live on krill in the water, found after the coral spawning each year. So between May and July they are found regularly around the Ningaloo Reef.

Walter ended up with pneumonia after getting some water in his lungs from snorkelling and had to be taken again to Exmouth hospital, this time by ambulance. This ended up being an 8 days stay! Thank goodness he now appears to be well.

We left Ningaloo Reef and went back to 9 Mile for 8 days. This was to give Walter some R & R time and also to catch up with dear friends, Klaus & Carmen. We hadn’t seen them since we left 9 Mile last September! This also gave me a chance to celebrate another birthday with friends. Arthur and Lena, and Rex were also there. So good food, good company and good wine! Arthur made me a lovely Birthday cake, Carmen cooked a casserole of goat, Lena a casserole of Rabbit. It was all beautiful, and Carmen made the most luscious Chocolate Soufflés, just melted in your mouth…..

This week we left and headed inland towards Tom Price. About 640 kms so we took it slow and stayed the first night at a lovely rest area called House Creek. The Pilbara colours are spectacular, White Ghost gums, red earth, blue hills, and bright blue skies. The temperature is quite a bit cooler here, but we were able to campfires on the 2 nights camped out.

We arrived in Tome Price on Thursday. A town purpose built for the iron ore mine run by Rio Tinto. Very neat, sitting beneath Mt. Nameless. This is the highest mountain in Western Australia. We booked into the caravan park, even though it is not cheap. However, having running water and power after 3 months was a blessing! So the van has been cleaned from top to bottom and the car has even had a wash!

Yesterday, after shopping and collecting mail, we took the 4WD up the track to the top of Mt Nameless. This is the highest vehicular access in WA at 1018 m. We took lunch with us so sat there mesmerised with the view and the colours. The view is spectacular! One side overlooks Tom Price township and the other side the large iron ore mine. It also has views right across the mountains towards Karajini National Park.

Tomorrow we leave the comforts of power and water and drive out the 50kms to Karajini National Park. We believe the camp site is a bit barren at present as they had a fire through it earlier in the year, but everyone states that the gorges and pools and amazing.

We will bring you further updates when we get up towards Port Hedland. It this part of the world phone and internet access is scarce! You have to be in a town to be able to access these services.

So until then

Cheers Rob & Walter

LEAVING KALBARRI......

2010-04-20T23:47:00.000-07:00

As I write this we have less than a week left in Kalbarri before we hit the road again! We will leave here on Tuesday 27th April after having spent 7 months here. It sounds a long time but boy, has this time gone quickly! Before outlining what our plans are I will get you all up to date on what we have been doing since the last travel update!

Firstly, in February I flew from Geraldton to Perth then to Sydney, arriving at 10.30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings time. I was me by my sister Annie and husband Bob who met me and drove me from Sydney back to Bowral. Mum came for breakfast at 8.30 a.m. and then I went with her back to her place. It was lovely catching up with everyone. Lunch with my aunt and Uncle at Mittagong and a few games of Scrabble, shopping, and then Tuesday saw Annie, Mum & I go back to Sydney for a couple of days. They had organised a beautiful apartment overlooking Darling Harbour so we were able to celebrate Annie’s birthday in fine style. Firstly it was champagne and cheese on the balcony before my nieces Tash and Kate arrived and then my nephew Jabe and his girlfriend (now fiancée) Emma. Then we all went over to Darling Harbour to a magnificent Greek restaurant where diets flew out the window and we dined on marvellous food chased down by great wine!

The next day was a number of ferry trips around the harbour until we reached Doyles. Again diets flew out the window as we all dined on either lobster of fabulous fresh fish and washed it down with more champagne! We again caught the ferries back to Darling Harbour where we had a snack tea before heading out to Star City to see a show. This show was the Fab Four. They were amazing; they looked and sounded just like the original Beatles! Most of us in the Theatre of our age felt we had been transported back to the 60’s!

Back to Bowral where I caught up with my brother Ian and his partner Anna. They were just heading off on their caravan adventure up the north coast. They also came to Sydney with Anne, Bob, Mum and I as they took me back to enable me to fly back to Kalbarri.

As you would have read on the last blog, we had flown out to the Abrolhos Islands and loved it. So much so we decided to do it again, this time with David and Marion from the Kalbarri Ambos’ and Mick Cordwell, a pommy police officer exploring the W.A. coast. Mick had been here before but had not been out to the Abrolhos. A great flight over again and even though it was a little cloudy out there so you didn’t quite get the clear turquoise colour of the water it was still fabulous. This time we also walked over to the other side of the Wallabi Island and viewed the Osprey’s nest that has been there over 30 years.

I’ve been busy with St John Ambulance, helping on market days, a bit of office work and driving on call outs, a number of times also driving to Geraldton with hospital to hospital transfers. I also undertook the Primary Ambulance Care course (one weekend) which enhanced my skills. I am really going to miss this great group of people and am proud that Walter and I will always be able to count them as friends. They bought me to tears when a Barbeque they held turned out that it was for me. They presented me with a card that they had all signed and some lovely mementos of Kalbarri.

Walter had a few health problems which resulted in a trip to Perth. It was discovered that he had a blocked Coronary artery, but the Angioplasty in Perth was unable to move the blockage. He was given medication, and is required to follow a healthy diet and increased exercise. On the trip home we drove the scenic route through Cervantes, Jurian Bay and Green Head. We visited the Pinnacles at Cervantes and drove around amazed at the varying rock formations.

Now we are gradually packing up and wondering how everything will fit in! We have accumulated quite a bit since staying in one place for a while! Fishing nets, more tackle, new chairs, walking poles, new annex flooring etc. I’m sure that we will get it in but Walter does scratch his head a lot at present wondering how!

We leave Tuesday and head towards Carnarvon. We plan to spend a bit of time at Quobba, which is slightly north of Carnarvon. Those who have stayed there only have good things to say about it so we are going to check it out for ourselves. Then we are going back to Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range National Park. We both truly loved this amazing place so we have planned to stay the maximum we can of 28 days. After this, we will travel further north and east to Karajini National Park through Tom Price, then Millstream and Chichester NP. Our rough plan form there is to go to Port Hedland, Roeburn, Newman and Marble Bar before heading south again. We have promised the St John crew that we will come back for a week about the end of August before going further south to spend summer in South West W.A. We hope to get to the Stirling Ranges for the spring wild flowers on the way.

So it will be adios Kalbarri………………

The Happy travellers

Rob & Walter

2010-01-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

LIFE IN KALBARRI

Where has the year gone already!

In November I undertook my Senior First Aid Certificate as mine had expired some years ago. From this, I discovered that here in W.A. the Ambulance service in regional areas is staffed and run only by Volunteers. They have to raise funds to buy their own ambulances, uniforms, buildings and general running. There is no state or Federal funding. Kalbarri was short of volunteers so I asked whether they could use me for the short time that I am resident in Kalbarri. Well they wanted me, so I am spending a number of hours there, fast tracking my training in First Aid and as an Ambulance Driver. I love it and they are all such a great group of people. They are even trying to get us to stay longer so they can keep me!

One of the guys who was on my First Aid course runs the boat called “Reef Walker”. Rob runs fishing charters and cruises but he also has cray fish traps. He invited us out to go with him early one morning to check the traps for crays. As we went out of the river mouth at 6.15am there was a great pod of dolphins playing in the waves. We watched them for a while before checking the traps. Rob has a winch on board to pull the traps in, they are checked and any crayfish in them are measured to ensure they meet the regulation length before being kept, the traps re-baited and then put back. A lovely morning spent out on the water.

One day we heard that there was a whale stranded at the river mouth. We drove down and a poor baby whale had been separated from her mum and washed into the mouth of the river and onto the rocks. SES and VMA tried to save her but the baby died. Sad to see.

Christmas was very quiet for us here in Kalbarri. There were a few in the Anchorage Caravan Park but mainly family groups who kept to themselves. We had duck with Orange sauce for Christmas dinner along with a bottle of bubbles. It was a hot day, around 35 degrees so we spent the afternoon watching old movies on TV. Along came Boxing Day and in flocked the hoards of people. The park was full of tents and camper trailers and lots of kids. No hope of getting into the pool for a swim as it was wall to wall kids.

We haven’t even done a lot of fishing as the winds have been very strong and gusty which made even sitting on a beach uncomfortable – that is unless you wanted to feel that you have been sand blasted.

New Year’s Eve was spent having a Barbeque up at the St John Ambulance centre as I was on call. Quite a number of the volunteers attended so it made a nice social night. We left at 12.30am after watching the Sydney fireworks on TV. I was off call for the night. Two of the others got a call out at 3am in the morning to a car accident, the driver being well over the limit.

We did take a drive down to Port Gregory about 60kms south of Kalbarri. To get there you drive south from Kalbarri and passed the Pink Lake. This lake is pink! It contains beta-carotene and it is mined here and used for many purposes. Well, we discovered what makes the Pink Lake pink! It is an algae that produces carotenoids. For example, beta carotene is a carotenoid that makes carrots orange. This algae contains a mix of carotenoids of different colours and the mix of them makes the water and salt turn pink! Amazing stuff eh? They extract the algae from the water and sell it to the food industry as a food colourant. Coincidentally, they also extract garnet from the ancient beach sand in the same location and the garnet is also pink in colour. This is the only alluvial deposit in the world but although the grains are of gem quality they are too small to cut so they are used as abrasives because they are really tough little guys. Some days it is pinker than others depending on the temperature of the day.

Port Gregory is only a very small place but very pretty with the bay looking very similar to Coral Bay. Clear crystalline water with the reef being just off shore. We tried fishing from the jetty but the fish were so small you couldn’t even feel them taking the bait! We then drove out of town and down a 4WD track to where the Hutt River enters the ocean. Beautifully isolated wind swept beach. Very soft sand and we ended up being bogged! Tide was coming in and we could not get out! Walter had to walk a couple of km’s back up the road to a property where they were good enough to bring their 4WD down and pull us out. Enjoyed the rest of the afternoon but still no fish!

One of the lovely experiences we have had just last week was a flight out to the Abrolhos Islands. These islands lie about 53 nautical miles west of Kalbarri. It was a ½ hour flight from Kalbarri with Nathan the pilot.
There are 122 islands approximately 50nm off the coast of Geraldton, Western Australia. These lay in 3 distinct groups. Southern (Pelseart) Easter (Rat) & Wallabi (including North) Our visit was to the North Wallabi group.

22 islands are inhabited 14 weeks of the year and are used for crayfishing & aquaculture.

It is the Worlds most Southern Coral Atoll and the corals are some of the best I have ever seen in Australia. All colours of blue, lilac and deep purple and in all forms!

Webbie Hayes’s fort on West Wallabi Island (Batavia 1629) is said to be the oldest European building in Australia.

The Dutch founded the Houtman Abrolhos in early 1600’s. Low lying islands were a danger to their journey and are named after Frederick Houtman and Abrolhos meaning “Look Out, Beware”

There are 2 most famous shipwrecks at the Abrolhos. Zeewijck (1727) & Batavia (1629)

The Batavia Mutiny is said to be the worlds worst betrayal of shipwreck, mutiny and torture. The shipwreck you can see the footprint it has left from the air. Many men, women & children were murdered on Beacon Island by blood thirsty Mutineers who were later caught. Several mutineers were tortured & hung on Long Island, 2 dropped off on the Australia’s mainland & others taken back to Batavia where they were dealt a horrific death.

Tropical Corals & Marine life surround these nutrient rich waters. We walked from the airstrip to Turtle Bay were we snorkelled and had morning tea. I even had the greatest pleasure of swimming with a very large sea lion! He was really curious and swam right up to me and around me! What an experience! The water is clear turquoise and abundant with fish and marine life!

Guano Mining (phosphate, bird droppings) was mined in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s leaving the islands limestone rocks up turned.
One of the worlds largest marine bird breeding sanctuary with many different species of birds.

None of us (5 passengers) wanted to leave! However the pilot, Nathan, had two more flights around Kalbarri and the cliffs booked for the afternoon so we had to leave. We have asked to come again if there are any vacant places at the end of February!

Australia Day was a great day here! It meant an early start for us both as we were helping St John Ambulance set up there stall for the Market Day at 6 am. The markets began at 8 am and was the largest market Kalbarri had ever had with around 50 stalls all set up around the foreshore. St John ran raffles and also ran the First Aid post. In the afternoon we had a combined exercise exibihition with the VMA (Volunteer Marine Assoc), the SES, Police and St John Ambulance. A boat was set alight and the victims had to be rescued from the boat and the water, bought ashore and transported by the Police Quad bikes to us and we carted them all away with lights and sirens!

Then, when it grew dark a fabulous fireworks display set up on the other side of the river. For a small town they really know how to put on a great display.

In two weeks I am flying from Geraldton to Perth, then Perth to Sydney to spend a week with my Mum. I am really looking forward to catching up with her and other members of my family as it has been 2 years since I have seen them! This is a big country so it makes getting home hard. Walter is staying at Kalbarri keeping the home fires burning!

We trust you all had a safe and Happy Christmas and that you haven’t broken too many of your New Year resolutions at this point in time.

We leave here after Easter in late April and will wind our way back to Ningaloo Reef to start with then head to Karajini National Park.

Until next time,

Cheers The Happy Travellers

Rob & Walter

2009-11-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

2 MONTHS IN KALBARRI

It has now been two months since we took up residence in Kalbarri. It is such a pretty place, 500kms north of Perth where the Murchison River meets the Indian Ocean.

We have a bit of a routine now but we have time to explore the area.

We went out on a fishing charter before the season finished, leaving at 6 am and the boat, called “The Specialist”, headed out the river mouth and travelled about 1 ½ hours north beside the Zuytdorp cliffs. The wind blew up so it got quite choppy with many of the fishermen being sea sick. Neither of us caught very much but some on board caught Dhu fish, pink snapper and coral trout, with the catch being shared when we returned to Kalbarri.

We have taken some drives out along the cliffs and out into the National Park to view the wild flowers. They have been truly spectacular and when you think they must be nearly finished another variety appears. At present the beautiful pink feather flowers are coming out and you look across acres of hot pink!

The cliffs on the south side have spectacular views and you can often see dolphins surfing the waves. We have not had the chance to use our beach rods as it has been quite windy. We were told when we were in Ceduna SA that W.A. stood for “Windy Always”! We haven’t had much luck yet on the fishing but we keep trying had hope.

The school holidays in October meant that the caravan park was very busy……but its good in lots of ways as we keep meeting such great people and shared many interesting “Happy Hours”. Now it is very quiet in the park as the residents from southern WA who went north for the winter have now returned home and the kids are all back at school. But this peace will be short lived as there won’t be a blade of grass not camped on when the Christmas School holidays begin!

We have had a number of visitors, Henry and Zenny stayed for a fortnight and Zenny & I went fishing, Mike & Fran called in and stayed two nights on their way back to South Australia after working in Coral Bay and Karen & Phred who stayed out at Wagoe came and spent a couple of hours with us catching up on the news and friends movements.

Melbourne Cup day here in Kalbarri was looked forward to as we were told well before we arrived that it had a great reputation. It is held at the Kalbarri hotel and believe you me it did not disappoint! Neither of us have seen food like it, and so much of it! Crayfish, prawns, oysters, mussels, salads, roast, Asian rices, deserts and it went on! It was a smorgasbord and nothing including the crayfish got a chance to run out! They just kept topping them up. As far as the horses were concerned we both bombed out. We went with another couple who were camped next to us in their 5th wheeler.

It’s hard to believe that another year has disappeared so quickly! Only 5 weeks to Christmas. When we look we have covered quite a bit of Oz but so much still to see! We will be here in Kalbarri until after Easter 2010 and then our plan is to go north again back towards Ningaloo Reef which captivated us both. From there, the plan is to go out to Karajini National Park, Mill Stream and Chichester and then to Port Hedland and Karratha. But all our plans are always susceptible to change!

We want to wish all of you a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year from our current home in lovely Kalbarri Western Australia.

2009-09-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

NINGALOO REEF BACK TO KALBARRI

Time again has flown! We spent a lovely 28 days on Mesa Camp in the Cape Range National Park, right on Ningaloo Reef.

Whilst there we snorkelled the amazing reef many times, often spotting marine creatures we had never seen before including an Undulate Moray eel. It had the most amazing gold pattern over its brown body – very spectacular. The reef in all areas was so colourful, corals and reef fishes abounded. We fished a couple of times in different areas with the best fish being a Golden Trevally. We also took the Yardie Creek boat cruise of about an hour in duration. This creek is perennial fresh water but only flows out into the ocean every couple of years as it is stopped by a sandbar. The bar had washed away whilst we were there so were treated to this great sight. The cruise goes up through a beautiful gorge of red cliffs and you get to see the rare Black Footed Rock wallabies in their caves along the gorge. There were also lots of rare plants and trees only found in the Cape Range National Park.

It was also a great place for me to add to my Scuba diving experiences! So we booked a trip to the outer reef, me to dive and Walter to snorkel. It was a full day trip leaving from the boat ramp at Tandabiddi, just outside the National Park and not that far from our camp site. Good sized boat with about 12 other people on it to also enjoy the day. Humpback whales were prevalent coming so close to the boat. Even a Mum and a baby calf! The diving was OK but it was a big swell that kicked up a lot of sand! Sometimes it was like diving in a snow storm! The really cool thing was that you could hear the whales calling to each other underwater! Amazing experience!!

Whilst there (on Ningaloo) I was also able to undertake and Underwater Photography course. It has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. It was fantastic and my instructor was an amazing photographer, I learnt so much.

We went into Exmouth (about 50kms from Mesa Camp) for shopping, laundry and water about once a week. On one trip we drove further south to drive up into the Charles Knife Canyon. Another spectacular drive with the road along the top of this stunning gorge with views right out over Exmouth and the Gulf. On the way home we also drove into the Shothole Canyon which was completely different, the road winding its way along the bottom of the gorge. You felt very small as the track was narrow and the cliffs towering on either side of us, red and rugged.

Many of our days were spent just soaking up the sun with a good book. Close to Mesa there was also a bore where we could get water suitable for washing (not drinking or cooking). It also was the hang out for a couple of emu families who used to hang around waiting for you to turn on the tap so they too could get a drink. Made great photo opportunities! Whilst we were here we also had received a message from Kalbarri that they now needed us to start work earlier than initially planned so we now were going to have to be there by the 17th September.

Our time seemed to go so very quickly, the time to leave was upon us so we headed south about 150kms to a place known as Nine Mile. It is just north of Coral Bay lying on the beach, overlooking the amazing reef with its turquoise and clear water, just and still on Ningaloo Reef. A number of our friends were already there, some like Klaus and Carmen having been there for about 2 months. It was about 12 kms off the highway down a sand track that we took slowly with the van on behind. When we arrived we also found Zenny and Henry and Kaz and Phred, who we had also camped at Old Onslow with. We found a nice camp site overlooking the bay and set up camp. We planned to stay about 3 weeks before heading to Kalbarri for work.

Whilst we were here, we had a phone call from two lovely friends we met whilst working in Arkaroola, M ike & Fran. They had secured work at the caravan park in Coral Bay. It was so lovely to catch up with them. We had some lovely Bar-B-ques and shared a glass or two of red wine!

Happy hour(s) were a great part of every day and we met new friends in Lena and Arthur, Noddy and Pete and Rex and Cheryl. Whilst we were there, Walter celebrated his 68th birthday. A curry night was decided upon and Arthur offered to cook him a birthday cake. It turned out to be a great party, with fabulous food, balloons and streamers. It also turned out to be the very first birthday party that Walter had ever had!

Our days varied from reading to fishing. Phred needed a “deckie” so I went out with him onto the reef when the winds allowed. I caught my first of many squid here and didn’t escape from being squirted all over with black ink! It is hilarious and made even better by going back with a good catch. Also caught lots of “Charlie Court” whose proper name is Rock Cod. Zenny and Carmen took me with them on low tide one day where we wandered over the exposed reef looking for octopus. They use this for bait. Zenny has the most incredible eyes for finding these elusive creatures and it’s not easy getting them out of their holes either!

Water and laundry required a trip into Coral Bay. Water had to be purchased at 10cents per litre. Groceries though were NOT bought in Coral Bay. The prices were so astronomical it was cheaper for a trip of 150kms back to Exmouth. Apples for instance were $1.00 each and Onions 80 cents each!

The three weeks again disappeared quickly into the realms of time and we had to leave to drive the 400kms south to Kalbarri. We stopped one night at Carnarvon, taking advantage of the markets to stock up on great fruit and vegies before driving to Galena Bridge – a roadside stop beside the Murchison river. We spent 2 nights here surrounded in wild flowers. The flowers started well before here though and we had many stops taking umpteen photos! Around Galena, it was a picture of white and yellow predominately although we also found blue and red.

After leaving Galena we turned off the highway and drove in towards Kalbarri through the National Park. It is only 80 kms but it took us a long time with many stops as we kept finding more and more amazing flowers!

We are now resident in Kalbarri for the next 6 months working in the Anchorage Caravan Park. We have the same site as we had when we travelled through here in May. Jack and Julie who found us the work were still here and we worked with them for a week for the change over before they left to resume after nine months, their travels. The work is easy, Walter mowing the grass and watering after vans move off their sites, putting garbage bins out and general maintenance. I am cleaning cabins and a Park Home. The cabins are basic but OK and only take about ½ hour to clean. The Park Home requires a bit more as it has its own ensuites and is serviced with linen. We are both usually finished by lunch time then free to do our own thing. It’s rather nice to have our feet in one spot for a time, particularly such a pretty spot as Kalbarri. I will also probably be taught the booking system and office work to enable me to fill in at the front office when required.

So for the next couple of months the web site may stay the same unless we have other news to impart!

Cheers The Happy Travellers, Rob & Walter

2009-07-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

GERALDTON TO NINGALOO REEF

Again time has flown! We left Geraldton and travelled a whole 23kms to Coronation Beach where we camped for 3 days. It isn’t a free camping area but only charges $10.00 per night. No power but pit toilets and a dump point. Weather was good but the fishing wasn’t. Too much weed being blown into the beach. What was great though was that the Crayfish boat anchored everyday to take its catch into Geraldton and so we were buying alive and still kicking Crayfish for $10 each. Very yummy!

After 3 days we travelled up to Northampton just for one night. Nice little town and we stayed in the caravan park which enabled us to get our washing done and fill the tanks with water. The road from there, towards Kalbarri passed the Pink Lake, quite an incredible sight. Hard to get a good photo though as there really wasn’t any close viewing points. We had planned to stay at Lucky Bay (a free camp) but when we saw it we were not impressed so went onto Kalbarri. No free camps around Kalbarri so we stayed in the Anchorage Caravan Park. Kalbarri is a very pretty place on where the Murchison River enters the ocean. Kalbarri National Park is also only 28kms form the town. In actual fact, Kalbarri sits in the middle of the National Park. The caravan park we stayed in overlooked the river, very pretty and we had some really lovely sunsets whilst there too. It is an easy place to spend time in. The coastal scenery is spectacular, and there are lots of walks around the area. We undertook a number of those including a Canoeing trip out to the gorges in the National Park. This tour included walks also to Natures Window and what is known as Z Bend. A figure Z cut into the landscape by water flowing through over millions of years, maybe not the Grand Canyon but pretty spectacular all the same.

We also drove out to the Hutt River Province and had an audience with Prince Leonard. He is well in his 80's now but definitely has all his marbles. He hasn't had to pay tax to the Aussie Govt since 1970! It was really interesting going through his Government buildings, having to get our Visa and Passport and sighting his own currency!

From Kalbarri we headed north, stopping firstly only 100kms away at a free camp beside the Murchison River, called Galena Bridge. Toilets, picnic tables and Dump Point. Then it was further north via the Overlander Roadhouse where we turned left and went to Hamelin Pool. This is where the Stomatolites are. One of the earliest life forms on the planet. It also was an early telegraph station. After 2 nights we headed towards Denham but stopping at Whalebone Beach for a free camp (1 night stay only allowed). Such a pretty spot before heading into Denham for 3 nights. From here (leaving the van in the Caravan Park, we went up to Monkey Mia for the day to feed the dolphins. Lovely spot and really interesting but they now chare $6.60 per person for the pleasure of going into it. It is part of the NP but even though we have an Annual pass for WA, this is not covered! Coming back we drove a short way into the Francis Peron NP to visit the old homestead where we read it had an artesian pool. We had taken lunch so decided as we had our swimmers this would be a great spot to stop for a while!

We had had contact with friends that we had crossed the Nullabor with and they planned to meet us and join up again. The original plan was to go and stay at Tamala Station but when we all found that the station had put up their costs to $13.30 per person per night (unpowered, unwatered and no fires) Lorraine did some researching and found another station property known as Carrarang Station, also on the shores of Shark Bay that offered camping. The costs here were only $5.00 per person per day and fires were allowed. It was another 40kms further along than Tamala but it was great. We (4 vans) actually could pitch camp right on the beach! We stayed for 2 weeks and it was great. A long way to go though to stock up for groceries if you needed too! It was 167kms to Denham (one way). The only other drawback was that the fish were not biting. Two of the vans have boats and none of us could catch a feed. We played plenty of cards, and had lots of great camp oven meals.

After Carrarang Station, we headed toward Carnarvon or a little bit south of there, to Bush Bay. Another free camp site with dump point but no other facilities. Only 30 kms to Carnarvon so it was easy enough to get good water and food supplies from there. The fruit and vegie markets there are fabulous. Garry & Lorraine also used to work for Sunland Caravans and they earn some money as they travel effecting caravan repairs. After our 2 week stint at Carrarang (longest we have ever stayed Off road in one period) we found that just 1 solar panel was not enough so with Gary's contacts, had another panel ordered to be picked up in Carnarvon and Gary then put it in place. Makes it so much better having full power charged up through the inverter each day. Whilst we were there Walter & I had an email from 2 couples we had travelled to Cape York with in 2006. Barb & Tony and Vic and Norma. It turned out they were now both travelling together and were at Denham. So when we told them where we were, they advised us they were coming our way, so we met up with them at the markets in Carnarvon and the following day all came out to Bush Bay for a BBQ.

Then we headed further north, looking for that warm weather, spent one night at an overnight rest stop called Lynton creek. Lovely spot beside a dry creek bed, toilets and lovely camp fire areas before heading to Old Onslow. Old Onslow is the original site of Onslow before the river silted up and it was relocated to its current position. A number of the couples had been there before and said they planned to stay for a month as it is so pretty and the fishing is also pretty good. The camp sites are along the banks of the Ashburton River. It is fresh water where we are but about 2 kms further down there is a barrage across the river and it is salt water and the estuary going out to the sea from there. The guys have about 7 kms to the boat ramp. The fishing hasn't been too bad. They have caught some giant salmon and good mud crabs from the boats and I have caught thread-fin salmon, good sized bream, flathead, 3 really good sized Jew fish and catfish form the banks of the estuary. We have about 40kms to travel into Onslow where we get fresh supplies of drinking water and food. Two of the guys have "F" trucks and have pumps on them, so they have submersible pumps in the river, pumping up river water for showers and washing up. It is a bit brackish but fine for this. We stayed here 4 weeks, so peaceful and the bird life truly plentiful. Black swans cruised the river, alongside Pelicans and ducks. A Whistling kite family had its nest and a chick right across the river from us. Rainbow Bee eaters, Sacred King fishers, White plumed honey eaters, ospreys and sea eagles were seen regularly along with herons.

I celebrated my 60th birthday there. Camp cooked roast with vegies and Birthday cake and champagne!

We then went our separate ways, 3 couples going further north, one staying a bit longer and we headed south and west to Exmouth and Ningaloo Reef.

Our first sight of the reef was unbelievable! The water is so turquoise it is hard to believe it is real! We stayed 2 nights in Yardie Creek Caravan park as the National Park camp sites were totally full. To get in, we had to rise at 4.15am and line up at the Ranger Station to see what sites were available. We were second in line and got into Mesa Camp. Prices aren’t bad. With our concession card it only costs $4.50 per person per night! We had driven through the park the day before and had a look at each camping area to see what suited us. Mesa has large open sites where we could get plenty of sun for the solar panel. Many of the others were small and camped on top of each other. We plan to stay for the 28 days which is the longest stay you can have here. It makes it a very fair system. We have had plenty of wind the last 2 days but hope it will improve by Tuesday. We are going into Exmouth (about 50kms) to shop tomorrow and re-stock the grocery supplies. Then Tuesday we want to explore the many snorkelling areas, Lakeside, Turquoise Bay and the Oyster Stacks. No one seem to be catching fish at present, they say that a cold current came through about the middle of June which the experts say is the reason. We hope it changes whilst we are here!

The rain that fell in early July has contributed to many wild flowers now coming out. Western Australia is known for its wild flowers and here in Ningaloo there are already plenty to be found including the beautiful Sturts Desert Pea. However, the pea found here in the park is totally endemic to this area. It has an all red centre instead of the better known black centre. There are also lovely purple daisies, prostrate wattle, and a deep red pea flower. Most I have no idea of what they are!

Since writing this we have snorkelled Lakeside, Turquoise Bay and The Oyster Stacks. Lakeside is lovely, beautiful corals and lots of fish just like an aquarium! Even anemones with "Nemo's" swimming around. Turquoise Bay was also interesting but water a bit cloudy on the day we were there. The Oyster Stacks are something very special. Spectacular coral and so many and varied fish of all colours shapes and sizes! Water was crystal clear too. We will definitely be going back there again!

Tomorrow we will head into Exmouth to possibly book a dive trip for me and a snorkelling one for Walter, stock back up on drinking water and take a drive out to one of the other lookouts in the Cape Range that overlooks the reef.

We still have the Yardie Creek boat cruise to do, walk the Manu Manu Gorge and the Yardie Creek gorge and hunt for the elusive Black-footed Rock Wallabies! Plus all that fishing and snorkelling to keep doing! Time is just flying!

Until next time,

Cheers to you all for the Happy Travellers - Rob & Walter

2009-05-02T01:18:00.000-07:00

PORT LINCOLN TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Gosh, how time has flown! It seems an age now since we were in Port Lincoln. So much to tell you all.

We left Port Lincoln and travelled to Coffin Bay. Such a pretty spot! Our main goal was to undertake the drives into Coffin Bay National Park. The coastline around this area is stunning! The first day we drove out to the park we just followed the bitumen road which takes you to Point Avoid. The rocky cliffs and white sand beaches are truly beautiful. The other 4WD track requires travelling along Seven Mile beach which can only be undertaken at low tide. We decided that we would try and extend our stay by another day to enable us to drive right up to Point Isaac and camp overnight (tent) and then drive back the following day, giving us plenty of time to explore. However this wasn’t possible as the Caravan Park had booked out our site so we have to move on on the day we planned to drive back. So instead we rose very early to drive the track so that we were on Seven Mile beach 1 ½ before low tide, explore Point Isaac and return down the beach to the road track 1 ½ hours after full low tide! We saw emus along the way and amazing scenery. Really enjoyed it even though it was a bit rushed.

The oysters here at Coffin Bay had to be seen (and tasted) to be believed. If anyone had said to us that either of us could not eat a dozen oysters we would have laughed at them! But here they were so big, (you got 2 bites out of each oyster) we could only get through 8 each at the most.

We left Coffin Bay at the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula and headed north and west towards Streaky Bay. But before we reached there we called at Talia Caves. This is an area of limestone with caves that have been hollowed out by the wind and waves.
From there we went onto Murphy’s Haystacks. These are amazing rock formations sitting in the middle of a paddock. A guy called Murphy used to own the land and grew hay, these rocks sat in the middle of his paddock so the locals named them Murphy’s Haystacks. Geologically they are about 150,000,000 million years old.

Baird Bay was our next stop where we planned to spend a couple of days as it was here we were able to swim with the Endangered Australian Sea Lion. Baird Bay has only 6 houses and 5 permanent residents. There are no shops or communication but it sits on the prettiest bay. There is a small camping area with pit toilets and good camp kitchen but no power or water. There is a small rain water tank for drinking water. Volunteers from this small community look after it and it is immaculate and also has a viewing platform to view the bay.

We had to be down at the water by 8.30 am and don our short legged wet suits. Taking our mask and snorkel (no fins) we headed out by boat to the end of the bay. There is a rocky reef across the entrance to the bay protecting the bay from those big ‘biteys”! The sea lion colony is also within this protected area and here this colony of sea lions has its home. The colony has been growing as the mums have been pupping here. You are dropped into the water out from the shore and you have to let the sea lions come to you! In fact as soon as they saw the boat pull up, they were in the water and swimming out to us. There are less than 12,000 of these creatures left in the wild so it is a heartening thought to realise that this colony is growing. They were the most curious creatures, so inquisitive. I took my underwater camera with me and had it on video so did get some pretty special footage. We spent a good 2 hours in the water with them. It was one of those special lifetime experiences.

Then we trundled onto Streaky Bay. Another very pretty little seaside town. We spent a week here going for drives around the area. Sceales Bay, the Whistling Rocks, sea lions frolicking in the surf, more incredible rock formations and cliffs along a stunning coastline. We met a lovely lady called El (short for Eleanor and her 11 year old son Ben. They are also travelling Australia in a comby known as Roaming Paws. El does Dog Grooming on her travels.

Ceduna then beckoned so on we went further around the Eyre Peninsula. Last stop really, shopping wise, before crossing the Nullabor. Ceduna was a lovely town. We stayed at Shelly Beach Caravan Park about 3 kms out of town but they were great sites and great people staying there. We met up with many people but three couples we became good friends with. Henry and Zeny (from Gosford), Klaus & Carmen from Buderim and Garry and Lorraine from near Brisbane. They were all keen fishermen (and women) and supplied us regularly with King George Whiting. They also talked us into staying longer to go back to Streaky Bay for the day for the Streaky Bay Cup! Gary does caravan repairs whilst he and Lorraine are on the road and Klaus sells satellite TV. Well we now have satellite TV and Gary sold us some new LED lights for the bedroom.

Streaky Bay races were fantastic! We all visited the local OP shop and purchased something to wear to the races. I now have a lovely hat ($2) El bought me some roses to go onto it. We travelled down with Klaus and Carmen leaving the vans in Ceduna. We had breakfast at the M'ocean Café before heading out to the track. The first race one of the horses dumped his rider even before he got onto the track, it raced off onto the track, jumped the fence and headed out over the hills! It was hysterically funny! The officials tried for half an hour to catch it before starting the rest of the horses! We had a little sweep going between us and came out at the end of the day winning a small amount. It was worth going for.

After this we all headed further west to Fowlers Bay. Just a small spot but we were told the fishing was fantastic! It might have been the week before but it blew a gale and we didn’t even catch a cold! Carmen caught one squid.

Then it was the trek across the mighty Nullabor. We planned to spend a couple of nights camping off road before crossing the border and going through the Quarantine gate. No fresh fruit or vegetables, nuts in shells or honey are allowed through. We froze, peeled or cooked everything we had to stop it being confiscated. We found some lovely camping spots and had campfires most nights.

At the border we passed inspection and entered WA. It was Easter so we found a lovely camping spot and decided to stay 2 nights there. Another purchase the group persuaded us to buy in Ceduna was a Breadmaker. So with solar panels on the van, I could use the Inverter to make the dough and then shape it and cook it in the gas oven. So we had fresh bread all the way! So on Easter Saturday I decided I would give making our own fresh Easter Buns a go! They were a hit for Easter Sunday!

Carmen and Lorraine cooked dinner Sunday evening, Gary presided over the camp fire and we helped collect wood. What a menu we had!

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
(on a red curry base)

Roast Duck & Quail
(Served with a Cointreau & mandarin Sauce)
Red Cabbage & Potato Dumplings
Honey seeded mustard carrots & Beans

Homemade Chocolate Muffins
(with an Easter egg inside)
Piped with chocolate
Not bad for the desert!

At Cocklebiddy, Walter and I left the van locked up at the roadhouse and travelled the 35kms of 4WD track to the Eyre Bird Observatory. This was one of the early Eyre Telegraph Stations. It is run by volunteers on 3 monthly stints. We were served a lovely homemade morning tea and then given a tour of the old house and museum. It is also a B & B and you can stay there. It is so nice that when we come back to the south in the summer we plan to go and stay a few days. All around the house are bird bathes and hides. There have been over 250 species of birds identified in the area, along the shore and in the dense Mallee scrub. We drove back, hitched up the van and travelled on to our next camp site where we caught up once again with the others.

We came off the Nullabor into Norseman, then made the decision to go on towards Kalgoorlie. We camped at Lake Douglas about 10kms out. We went Yabbying there and again had great campfires. Then we all went our different ways, with the other 2 couples going towards Perth and we went into a Caravan Park in Boulder (suburb of Kalgoorlie).
It took us nearly the week to clean and get all the red dust (and dead flies) out of the van. Curtains were washed and became white again!

Kalgoorlie is an interesting place with its main industry still being gold mining. It has lovely buildings (very similar to Charters Towers). One original facet of Kal though, is its Red Light area. They are still the original bordellos and still working! You can even undertake tours of these working bordellos!

The main attraction now in Kal is what is known as the Super Pit! In the 1980’s Alan Bond began purchasing all the privately owned leases. He never completed it all but KGCM (Kalgoorlie Gold Consolidated Mining) completed it and now have excavated the most extraordinary large open cut. It is over 1 km long and when completed it will be 680 metres deep. You can watch the blasting from their lookout. (You can't get it in one photo!

We also had a tour over the old Boulder Town Hall. Dame Nellie Melba sang there and the stage curtain is known as the Goatcher curtain. It was hand painted by Phillip Goatcher in 1904 and is the only one of its kind left in the world. It is a beautiful work of art.

We left Kalgoorlie on the 22nd April and headed north up the Gold Discovery trail. This goes through Menzies, Lenora, and Leinster before turning west to Sandstone, Mount Magnet and Geraldton. The road is all completely sealed. We planned to camp off road over this trip but the first night saw us in Lenora Caravan Park as it poured rain, over 10ml and on red soil country it is not wise to get off the bitumen or you could be there until it dries out! Outside Lenora is the ghost town of Gwalia, a remnant of old gold workings. It is fascinating to walk through the old houses, with many looking like people just walked out!

From Lenora we passed by Leinster and headed west, looking for a camp site that we were told about by a fellow camper. It was supposed to be a lookout so we were looking for a “raised” area. We kept travelling through flat country and when our GPS readings told us we were there, we still could not see where this “lookout was! There was a parking bay so we decided we had had enough travel anyway for one day so pulled in. To our absolute amazement, when you drove right into the camp area it was on top of a breakaway! (For those overseas, not knowing what a breakaway is, it is like a cliff that drops away to the valley below. It was an amazing view, red rocks, limestone and an endless plain. It is known as Peter Denny Lookout. For anyone travelling that road, it is a must stop and see! It was so nice we decided to stay for 2 nights. Stars were like diamonds, we had shooting stars and satellites too! We viewed this panorama whilst sitting around our new fire pot (with its “Aztec” design.

Travelling on again, we went through the lovely old gold mining village of Sandstone. We took the Sandstone Heritage drive (in the van) and viewed the old Contradiction Well, used to provide water for Cobb & Co coaches, and travelling prospectors and pastoralists. Then it was the old Stamper that crushed to gold ore. This is now in a fairly derelict state. A few more kilometres down the track was a beautiful natural formation known as The London Bridge. In the gold days, the miners and town’s folk used to travel out on a wagon for picnics. Like most mining communities an important aspect of a town was its brewery. Sandstone being no exception had a brewery set up by an enterprising Irishman. It operated quite successfully for a number of years until the railway was put through from Mount Magnet. Then beer began flowing into town from a number of other sources so it wasn’t long before this brewery closed down. Nothing much is left from it now bar the foundations and the made tunnel in the rock for the cellar that kept the beer cool.

The streets of Sandstone were very tidy and lined with flowers. There is a park currently “a work in progress” showing off a number of old mining relics and a history of the pastoralists. Garden beds are currently being planned and you can see it will be a lovely place when completed. The town itself still has a number of interesting heritage buildings, including a lovely old pub and the General Store that was the old Post Office and still operates as such today. It will celebrate its 100th birthday this month.

After our tour of Sandstone we moved onto Mount Magnet, about 158 kms before stopping again for the night. We used the booklet from Jan Holland to find this camping spot, known as The Granites. It was a lovely spot and very interesting. Another big breakaway with lots of caves, some with aboriginal painting. We arrive late in the day on Sunday of the Anzac weekend, only to find a sign stating “ No Camping – Shire Patrolled”. Well it was too late to find anything else so we thought we would risk it. Didn’t think council workers would patrol on a long weekend holiday!

We found a lovely spot and camped all by ourselves, never saw another person and left early next morning leaving no trace of being there!

We had a journey of about 258kms the next day to a roadside rest spot only 80kms from Geraldton.

We arrived in Geraldton at the Sunset Beach Caravan Park which is on the northern end of the city and right on the beach. Lovely spot. We opted to stay a week here as we had arranged for our mail to be sent here.

It’s a beautiful city of 33,000 people with barmy weather. We have had an average of 25-30 degrees most days but always with a lovely soft sea breeze. We have driven all around the waterfront and even north to Coronation Beach about 20kms away. Coastline is lovely and there is often Kite surfers and wind boards scooting around in the waves in front of the park. We often take our wine up there and watch the magnificent sunsets over the Indian Ocean.

One special tour we did was to the fairly new Memorial to the HMAS Sydney 11. There are tours each day at 10.30am run by volunteers. Without going with the tour guide we would not have realised or understood the amazing symbolism of the construction. It has to be one of the most moving memorials I have ever visited. The HMAS Sydney was lost at sea in 1941 after a battle with the German raider KormoranV. with the loss of 645 men.

The Memorial has a stele – portraying the bow of the ship, unturned propellers – a sign of a ship lost at sea, and a cupola featuring 645 seagulls. These seagulls are a British tradition which signifies the returning souls of sailors. Within the roof of the cupola there is an anchor holding eternal flames, as port and starboard lights. Both these were lit from the Eternal Flame at the Canberra War museum. There is also a bronze figure of a woman staring out to sea, waiting for her man to return.

Whilst we have been in Geraldton, the huge and lovely Sun Princess cruise ship came into the harbour. Incredible sight.

Well Tuesday we will leave here and head to Coronation Beach for a few days before heading further north, most likely first to Kalbarri. So much to see.!

I know this is a very long screed, but until Geraldton we have not had a lot of internet coverage or time!

Until next time,

The Happy Travellers

Rob & Walter

2009-03-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

THE EYRE PENINSULA
(Up to Port Lincoln!)

We found our caravan park in Whyalla was in a great location, right on the beach. Interesting at low tide as you had to walk 1 ½ kms to the water! However it was a haven to catch (by raking again) the Blue Swimmer crabs! Here you did not even have to rake as they were swimming around in the water! On one day with another couple we caught 44 in an hour. After cooking them up we sort of fed half the caravan park as we didn’t have the room to freeze this amount.

Whyalla was a lovely city, great shopping and as the caravan park handed out 3 pages of discount vouchers we decided to take advantage of them! We saved quite a lot of money with a variety of local businesses offering deals. From Lingerie to butchers, hair dressers, book shops to sporting goods. Great value.

Walter of course had to first visit the doctor that he had been referred to for his hernia ops and surgery was then scheduled for later in January. In the meantime we did the tourist thing. We visited the Maritime Museum and also viewed a video on the ship “The Whyalla”. This ship was a corvette and built in the Whyalla shipyards. However after it was decommissioned the Whyalla community bought it back and arranged for it to be transported the 2kms over land from the harbour to sit next to the Information Centre and Maritime museum. We also took a tour over it. Fascinating stuff. We visited both Hummocks Hill lookout and the Freycinet Lookout, both with great views. We also took a drive out to Iron Knob about 50kms from Whyalla and went through that museum and revisited the history of the Iron Knob (iron ore) mine. It is not being mined any more.

Another drive took us down south of town to Cowleds landing. Just a tiny fishing village down a very dry and dusty road. Whilst we were in Whyalla the city hosted South Australian Surf Kite championships. These guys (and few girls) were fascinating to watch their acrobatics on the waves. It is very windy in Whyalla so it was a perfect place to view this sport!

We also celebrated Australia Day whilst we were there. With another couple we walked down to the foreshore park to join in the celebrations.

Walter’s surgery went well and after only 2 days in hospital came back to the van. This week saw that dreadful heat wave with temperatures soaring to around 50 degrees! The evening that Walter came home from hospital, we took the thermometer out at 5pm to the shade under a tree and it was still 47 degrees!

We drove away from Whyalla on the Saturday morning of the terrible Victorian bushfires. It was so stifling hot the air con in the car wouldn’t work! The wind was so strong it was blowing huge dust clouds both from the dry paddocks and the Iron Ore mine at Iron Monarch. At one stage we could not see 50 metres in front of us. We arrived in Cowell with this limited visibility so once setting the van up we closed ourselves inside and watched a DVD! By the time the movie finished the winds had dropped so we decided to go for a drive.

One of the brochures the caravan park had given us was a drive to Port Gibbon and Point Gibbon via the coast road. The brochure stated that you could quite often see sea lions at Point Gibbon. Now we are a bit sceptical about claims like this but we thought we’d look! After parking at the car park we could not see anything resembling sea lions so decided to walk along the beach and around the point. After rounding the point we virtually tripped over two of them! We were within a metre of them so as you can see we took some great photos. The coast drive back was also great. It is an amazing coastline all around the Eyre.

Then we drove to Arno Bay planning to stay 2 nights. It didn’t take us long after discovering the park was easily the nicest we have ever stayed in, even has soft green grass to decide to stay for a week. We only had to walk across the road and through a gate to be on the jetty and the beach. Apparently the week before the beach was pristine but with those really strong winds, tons and tons of sea grass had been blown onto it. Also very close to the van was a great boardwalk, built by the Lions Club along a tidal creek and through the mangroves. They had even built platforms over the creek at intervals which made fishing a breeze! Walter and I took our prawn bait and tried our luck in the creek from one of these platforms. Well as soon as our line hit the water we were catching silver whiting, all good size. We caught 12 in ¾ hour so quit as we again did not have the room for storage! Fresh whiting made a great dinner! We fished from there a number of times, each time successful with whiting. We found driving the 27kms to Cleve was a better shopping option for food than the little general store in Arno. So we made the most of this trip driving a scenic route around through the hills and forest and visiting an old weir built in the early part of 20th century. The water it supplied was for both Cowell and Arno Bay but not for Cleve (even though it was only 5 kms away) as it was by gravity feed – lower than Cleve itself.

We had been told by fellow travellers about a few free camp sites south of Arno so we packed up another picnic lunch and headed out on the exploring trail. We visited Port Neill (very pretty but caravan park is not as nice as Arno) and then took the coast road (dirt) south. Camps 3 listed a number of ‘free’ sites. So we looked at Carrow Wells, Brayfields camp (also very nice and were we had a surf) then drove further to Lipsom Cove. Well, we came over the hill and just went WOW! This place is magic! White sands, turquoise crystal clear sea, bird rookery and lovely camp sites at least 200m apart, clean pit toilets and even garbage bins! We made our decision there and then to stay for a few days when we left Arno.

Whilst at Lipsom Cove we got out the snorkelling gear and walked at low tide over to the island that is also a bird rookery. We were amazed to find not only the Pied Cormorants nesting there but pigeons! Not in nests but holes in the ground like rabbits! Neither of us had seen anything like this before! Crested terns are also there in their hundreds, along with pelicans, Pacific gulls and silver gulls. We tried our hand at fishing but only caught small stuff. One of the other guys had caught a large salmon but it wasn’t our luck.

Then we drove the 60kms to Port Lincoln. This is a lovely place! Everything you could wish for. We could easily live here. As soon as we set up, again overlooking the bay, we called Meg & Graham who we met whilst on our Cape York trip. We then headed downtown to collect our mail and ran into them in the Post Office! They organised to take Walter for beers at the Great Northern at 5 pm and Meg would pick me up from there and we would go for champagne with the girls! Very civilised!!

From there we went onto the Tourist Information office and whilst we were there received another call from Graham stating he had something for us. What it was, was a fishing charter voucher that he had won and did not wish to use. He offered it to us and we decided that it was too good an opportunity to miss as we had been looking to do a fishing charter. We rang the charter operator and picked up the option for the Sunday. It was a great day, leaving from Coffin Bay. So it was an early start as it is 48kms to Coffin Bay and he wanted us there by 7.30am! The day dawned sunny and not a breath of wind! Just perfect for a day way out at Greenly Island! 60 nautical miles from Coffin Bay meant a good 3 hours sail. The charter was full and trolled for Blue Fin Tuna. Both of us caught one, Walter 20kg and Rob 22kgs. Boy these fish really fight! I needed Walter’s assistance to finally bring my fish into the boat! We have now added fresh tuna to our extensive seafood diet and I am now researching the different ways to prepare it! One of our favourites is the Sashimi way! Raw with Wasabi, pickled ginger and dipped in soy sauce. We have a freezer full so we do need some variety though!

With Meg, I have been attending Water Aerobics with her 3 days a week which is great fun as well as good exercise! Meg and Graham are members of Probus so they engineered for us to also go with them on a club visit to the Lincoln Marine Science Institute. This was a fascinating and informative visit to this centre that centres on the Aquaculture industry not only in Port Lincoln but through South Australia. Meg & Graham then also drove us with a picnic lunch out to Mikkira Station. This place was the very first station on the Eyre Peninsula. It has a restored settler’s cottage set among the old stone walls of sheep yards, and koalas hanging out of virtually all the gum trees! So lovely to see them in their natural environment and thriving!

Another picnic lunch packed and Walter and I drove down through the locked gate to Whalers Way. This is private property but you can pay a small price to gain the key to see some beautiful and rugged coastline. As Meg said it would be really spectacular on a rough day! We also took a half day trip with Triple Bay tours to a tuna farm and seal colony. There are a lot of millionaires in Port Lincoln who have made their money from this industry. However after finding out the work involved they have earned it!

Yesterday saw us take another full day tour, a once in a lifetime opportunity! We went out 45 nautical miles to the Neptune Islands and went cage diving with the Great White Pointer sharks! Another very early start – 6.30 am from the Marina. A good 3 hours sail in a 65’ Motor cruiser saw us anchor around 9.30am. The crew then burleyed old tuna and fish oil into the water to attract the sharks. The cage was placed into the water and then we waited! It was only about ½ hour when a huge white pointer hit the bait and made off with it! Then the first 4 guys went into the cage. They saw 2 sharks in their time in the cage then they were out and it was my turn. Then 3 huge white pointers turned up. What awesome fish! No photo shows their true size and awesome power! Walter went in after me and also saw really good action! From the boat you also saw the most amazing sights watching these awesome fish run for the baits! It was the best day! Now you will all say we are crazy but if I ever wanted to see a White Pointer in the water this is the only way I would like to! It was run so very well, very safe. We would recommend it to anyone who comes this way.

We are going to stay in Port Lincoln until next Monday (9th March) when we will head to Coffin Bay. We still have to drive out to both Memory Cove Wilderness area and Lincoln National Park. Meg & Graham have also organised for us to attend a stud cattle sale on Friday and then there is an Outdoor Living Expo here in the park over the weekend.

As you can see life is still pretty tough for us “homeless” people!

Until our next episode, we will leave you to feel sorry for us!

The Travelling Uhl’s
Walter & Rob

2009-01-07T17:54:00.001-08:00

THE YORKE PENINSULA

If any of you have not ever been to the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, let me tell you, you are missing something special. Over all we travelled just about all of it from the east coast, to the south, through the middle and up the west coast. We spent 8 weeks over all exploring this gem of Australia.

As we wrote in our last bulletin, we started at Ardrossan, then moved to Black Point and then to Stansbury. We called at Port Vincent on the way to Stansbury and found this funny sign outside the local IGA. At Stansbury we were able to obtain a great beach site for a month before moving to another site just one row back until January. As most other camp areas we contacted were booked out right throughout the school holidays, we decided to base ourselves there and explore the peninsula from here. Stansbury is a lovely quiet seaside township with the greatest community spirit we have ever come across. All the locals were so friendly and so were the “inmates” of the caravan park! Stansbury is directly across the Gulf of St Vincent from Adelaide. On clear nights we could see the lights of Adelaide (only 65kms across the bay but 200kms around!). Stansbury also received the South Australian Tidy Towns Award whilst we were there and goes into the National Judging in April 2009.

It was here where we really got into “raking” for Blue Swimmer crabs, ate Gar Fish and friends gave us recipes for Salt & Pepper Squid and Chilli Crab! Oysters you could purchase for $7.00 per dozen, so we also ate our share of Kilpatrick, Mornay and some other recipes we came across! We had great neighbours and have made some great friends. Janet & Barry from Adelaide introduced us to eating Gar Fish and Barry taught Rob how to fillet Gar Fish. We had our resident pelicans, seagulls, Crested Terns, Pacific Gulls and even a couple of Flesh Footed Shearwaters. The other residents who were very territorial over their section of the beach front were a family of Magpies. They would even get stuck into the Pelicans and the seagulls if they trespassed!

We had lots of lovely shared dinners, laughs, fishing and walks. This included helping Barry and Janet celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Another lovely event was Rob’s cousin, Allan Pierson with Megan and the three lovely kids arriving in Stansbury. Al & Megan, like us have been travelling Australia with their Ultimate Camper. They have been on the road for 2 ½ years but are now making their way back to Newcastle to settle back into their old life! We had three days with them were we took them crabbing and they did also a bit of sight seeing on the Peninsula. Last heard they are in Tasmania before heading back to Newcastle for a February start back to school for the kids.

From Stansbury we took many drives to explore the area. Yorketown was 20kms away and had a nice little shopping centre. Here we also took advantage of making dentist appointments to have that check up! It is so hard to get into a dentist when you’re travelling! Stansbury had a good IGA but Yorketown had a more extensive one. Good gourmet butchers were found in all surrounding towns including Stansbury. Minlaton was another lovely town with good bakery, butchers and here I could get our shoes repaired too! All the bakeries around made great Cornish pasties with much of the Peninsula heritage stemming from Cornwall and Cornish miners. The lovely old stone cottages are a feature in all the Peninsula towns and particularly in Edithburgh, about 25 kms from Stansbury going south. Most of the coastal villages have great jetties with much heritage attached to them as shipping was used in the early days to transport wool, lime, copper and barley. There are many huge grain silos as barley is the main crop of the area. They say if you have drunk an Australian beer then your have had the barley from the Peninsula! Port Giles silos were massive and extensive.

The Peninsula is a windy place and they use it to good advantage. The wind farm at Edithburgh was probably the biggest we have come across.

The coastal drive south from Edithburgh took us around some spectacular coastal scenery including the Troubridge Island Lighthouse, built out of red brick! Very distinctive. Another drive took us across the Peninsula (40kms) to Hardwick Bay then south to Corney Point and another lighthouse. We followed a dirt coastal road right down until we reached Innes National Park at Seal Point. From here though there is no direct road through the park so we had to head back inland and drive down to Marion Bay for access to the National Park. You drive through Stenhouse Bay into the park and it is truly beautiful. History shows how difficult it was though for shipping navigation as the coastline is literally littered with shipwrecks.

Another drive took us inland and north through Minlaton, Maitland and onto Moonta. Moonta was the home in the late 1800’s for approximately 15,000 people, mainly Cornish miners to mine one of the world’s richest copper deposits. It is now a nationally listed heritage area and even though it is still rich in copper ore it will be protected and not mined. Moonta Bay, next to Moonta township is one of the prettiest areas. We checked at the caravan park that was right on the bay and they could get us in for 2 nights after we left Stansbury.

Christmas we celebrated quietly, no turkey etc but we purchased a lovely Crayfish from in Inland Sea shop at Warooka. Rob turned this into a gourmet delight with a brandy laced mornay sauce, served with fresh mango and followed up with a brandy custard sponge flan topped with blackberries, strawberries and raspberries! Chased it down with a nice bottle of bubbly. We spent the afternoon being lazy and playing Yahztee! We did partake in a Stansbury tradition though and everyone from the park and the town heads to the pub on Christmas morning. Its happy hour from 9am to 10am and opens until 11am. It was a hoot with everyone wearing Christmas hats etc and being such a friendly down, everyone got Christmas kisses!

New Year saw an invitation to travel to Adelaide and meet up with Jan & Grant Nankervis from Cobar. We spent the night there and gently saw the New Year in. Travelled back to Stansbury the next day as we had to begin packing and dismantling the annex to leave Stansbury and travel to Moonta Bay. At Moonta we rode the Heritage Mining train around the mine absorbing the history, then drove to Wallaroo and checked out the new Marina there. This area of Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta is known as the Copper Coast. Then our time to leave the Yorke Peninsula had come and the 5th January saw us leave the Yorke Peninsula and head towards Whyalla.

We decided to free camp for four nights before heading into Whyalla and found a perfect spot about 30kms from the town at a place called Fitzgerald Bay. Lovely clear turquoise sea and all to ourselves. We have been snorkelling and caught some more crabs and scallops on which we dined. Tomorrow we head into Whyalla for new experiences.

Until next time,

The Happy Travellers

Rob & Walter

2008-11-08T23:40:00.000-08:00

FROM VICTOR HARBOUR TO THE FLINDERS RANGES AND BEYOND!

When we left Victor Harbour for Hahndorf the weather followed us. We arrived in Hahndorf in pouring rain and nearly got bogged on the caravan site! We could not recommend the caravan park to anyone. Expensive at $28 per night, poorly maintained and on a steep hill!

Hahndorf is a gorgeous little place though. We strolled the streets, dining in the German pub and shopping in the butchers for very different types of smallgoods. Walter was in German heaven. From there we also drove into the Adelaide Hills and up to Mt Lofty above Adelaide. On a fine day the view would be magnificent but again it was raining! Such a pretty and green area though.

On leaving Hahndorf we went north to Birdswood and visited the National Motor Museum. This is the most amazing place, so much to see and so much history. Even Tom Kruse, the Birdsville mailman’s original truck is there. We travelled onto Clare from there. This is the most beautiful valley, and so many wineries. We stayed in a lovely van park there on the edge of town and went for some lovely drives. Didn’t really go to too many wineries but two stood out. One was Skilogalee that is in a lovely old stone cottage and has a well renown restaurant there. We dined there for lunch and tried some of their wine. Very, very nice! The other was Paulette’s winery. Neil and Alison Paulette used to be at what was Mt Pleasant Vineyard at Sandy Hollow. They now have a lovely winery and vineyard just outside Clare. The view from their balcony was sensational and so was their wine! (We found no wine has any keeping qualities with us though so you’ll have to take our word for it!).

We travelled on from Clare heading north to the Flinders and decided to stop overnight at Orroroo. This is the loveliest place, so much so that we stayed 2 nights. Here we went on a walk to the dam alongside a creek and also found history and poetry along the way. In the late 1800’s a guy etched a poem into the rock before heading back to America. (see photo). Also outside Orroroo was Magnetic Hill. This is the craziest thing! It is actually an optical illusion but the road definitely looks like it runs up hill but if you place your car in neutral and turn off the engine it “runs up hill”! We did it a couple of times to prove it! Orroroo is part of the Central Flinders so has some lovely drives through the valleys and the hills.

From Orroroo it was on to Hawker then towards Wilpena Pound. However, each and everyone we spoke to advised us not to stay at Wilpena but at Rawnsley Park. We did and were very glad we did. Rawnsley sits right under the Wilpena Pound, under Rawnsley Peak. It was a much nicer caravan park and had its own lovely walks also. Walter and I undertook quite a number of the walks there including Pines Cave as well as driving up to Wilpena and walking into the old homestead. The wildlife and birds were fantastic. We also undertook a 4WD 75 km trek at a place called Willow Springs. The trek itself was called Sky Trek. It was a full 8 hours and some awesome scenery and 4WD road. We climbed as high as 950m above sea level to Mt Carnarvon where you had an amazing view over Wilpena Pound. It wound back down and into a place known as Skull Rock that just looked liked something out of the Phantom comics!

We left Rawnsley and headed further north up past Parachilna and into the Northern Flinders and the Gammon Ranges. We left the road north at Copley and headed towards Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. This is 140 kms from Copley and very remote. Arkaroola has a motel type village as well as a caravan park. We found a spot in the park opposite the amenities and next to 2 other couples that we had met at Rawnsley. We all went out to the restaurant that night to the carvery and then played cards after dinner.

This is also known as “the wild side of the Flinders”. It has been in drought now for over 7 years so most of the waterholes are dry and the scenery is wild and arid. It is also the home of the endangered Yellow Footed Rock Wallby. There are many drives – mainly 4WD recommended – that take you to really interesting areas both historical and geological. There are many old copper mines and uranium was discovered here back in the early 20th Century.

Whilst we were there Walter and I both gained work. We thought it a good idea as the weather just wasn’t right at that stage to travel down to the Yorke Peninsula. I was cooking in the kitchen for the A La Carte restaurant and bus tour groups including Banquets in the Bush. (These were 5 course Cordon Bleu menus for elected bus tour groups). Walter was employed to repair a 40 yr old Caterpillar loader and to repair the many, many flat tyres they get in the workshop. His work was for 4 hours a day but mine ended up being many 14-15 hour days – 6 days pr week! Money was good though and really nothing (other than the bar) to spend it on. Neither of us are bar flies so we saved quite a bit of money whilst we were there. It came with some problems though. In the first week, the exposed site we had at the caravan park caused the van to be hit with a freak wind that blew the whole awning off the van, wrapping around a tree on the far side. It smashed the TV aerial and the shower hatch on its way over as well as mutilating all the awning and poles. Walter then had to drive the van 600 kms to Adelaide to have it repaired under insurance! As they needed me as the cook they put me up in one of the motel units whilst he was away. When he returned we then moved the van to a less exposed position over near the staff quarters. However for the rest of the time at Arkaroola we left the awning rolled up!

We had quite a few really bad red dust storms that came off the Simpson Desert and even though we taped up the vents, the fine red dust seemed to filter into everything! We did make some lovely new friends there in Janet and Mary and working with Sian for the Banquets in the Bush was fantastic. However, small communities like this and being so remote also find many “misfits” who want to work in places like this. It was good that we had the solace of our own van and friends like Janet and Mary to keep us sane and laughing! We will never here the Italian term “That’s a nice” now without going into gales of laughter!

After 2 ½ months we left there on 29th October and drove to Port Augusta. We ended up being there for 6 days getting carpets cleaned, van and car washed, curtains all washed and ironed before heading south into the Yorke Peninsula. Also high on my list of priorities was a visit to the hairdresser!

We left Port Augusta on Melbourne Cup day and it’s the first time ever I not only never had a bet, I didn’t even know what was running and never saw the race run either! We arrived in Ardrossan a pretty little seaside town on the eastern side of the Peninsula. We strolled around the town and down to the wharf. From here and south is where you can catch Blue Swimmer crabs. But here, instead of using nets you walk through the shallows with a rake! We have now bought our own crab rake and are about to try our luck.

We decided to take a drive south from Ardrossan and look at some of the other small places where we might like to stay. We called at many including Black Point, Port Vincent and Stansbury. Black Point is a tiny place only about 20 kms south of Ardrossan. No shops but its Adelaide’s “millionaire’s row”. However we found it had a tiny little caravan park right on the beach with great views north and along the coastline. Port Vincent is lovely but the park was totally booked out and told us their next vacancies are about February/March! Stansbury however had a beach site available until 14th December and is a lovely place. Also had another site, one row back that we could have over Christmas. So we have booked this as everywhere else also appears to be booked solid so it will be a nice place to base ourselves until January and is central enough for us to drive out from there to explore the rest of the Yorke Peninsula. This a lovely area.

We are currently at Black Point (with crab rake) overlooking the most beautiful view and move down to Stansbury next Wednesday. It is quite windy at present and overcast. Have not had much rain though.

We are now going for a walk on our long beach here before having a glass of wine…..ho hum, life is tough!

Until Stansbury when I will update you again on our travels,

Cheers Rob & Walter

2008-07-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

MANNUM TO VICTOR HARBOUR

From Mannum we continued following the river through Taillum Bend and Williamtown. Although we didn’t stop, Williamtown looked fascinating and the ferry there is the oldest continuing service in Australia. The buildings, particularly the old court house built of stone was fantastic. We arrived in Goolwa and found the caravan park after missing a turn that took us firstly across the Hindmarsh Bridge onto Hindmarsh Island. A quick turn around put us back into Goolwa and into the park. Even though school holidays had begun it was very quiet, in fact we were the only van in the park when we arrived.

We travelled across to Hindmarsh Island again to explore and to reach our goal of following the Murray to its mouth. It is from Hindmarsh Island that you can view the Murray Mouth (or what is left of it). Hindmarsh Island is 15 kms long and 6 kms wide and is unique as it faces fresh water on one side and salt on the other. For some years (since October 2002) they have had to continually dredge the mouth to keep it open as there are NO flows coming downstream. You can see the dredge in one of the photos. However even though there are no flows coming down, the landscape is so green down here.

Goolwa is such an interesting town with such a colourful past. It was surveyed in 1840 and settled in 1841. Goolwa was one of Australia’s most important river ports with paddle steamers towing barges from NSW and Victoria laden with wool and other produce and returning with produce and building supplies. The Steamranger Cockle Train runs between Goolwa and Victor Harbour. It is a heritage train, picturesque and historic and only takes 30 minutes between towns and is the oldest public railway in Australia. You get a ¾ hour break before its return journey! Originally it was a horse drawn tram. Why called “The Cockle Train” you may ask? Well in the early days of settlement, local residents would take the horse drawn train to Goolwa to collect cockles from the beaches near the Murray mouth. We had a great day out on this, and it was a cold wet and windy day where there was not much else you could do anyway! Walter had a ride in the engine with the volunteers too! (Big boy’s toys!)

During the week in Goolwa we also took a drive up to Strathalbyn, a lovely heritage town with lovely old stone buildings. We then drove out to Langhorne Creek, tried some great wine and found a winery that also grows and sells fresh horseradish! Walter has been trying for 3 years since we were in Austria to find fresh horseradish here in Australia and this is the first time we have been successful! We then drove home along the edge of Lake Alexandrina through Milang. Now this is where you really get to realise the seriousness of the Murray-Darling basin. Check out the photos of the jetties, the water level is now well past the ends of them.

Another day we drove into the outskirts of Adelaide then down the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. Again lots of rain showers but the scenery is spectacular! And it is so green.! We drove right around into Rapid Bay and to Cape Jervis. Cape Jervis is where the vehicular ferry to Kangaroo Island leaves from. From here you can get good views of the island. We decided not to go over this trip as it is quite expensive. $89 for your vehicle then $1.50 for each 10 cm! Add that up for a one-way trip with a 23’ caravan!!

We also drove out along the Sir Richard peninsula to view one of the Barrages. There are seven barrages that have been constructed in the 1920’s to keep the fresh water from the Murray catchment separate from the salt inflows. These stretch across the rivers and outlets from Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island. Whilst we were out there enjoying the view we viewed our first seal frolicking in the water.

After a lovely week we then travelled a whole 23 kms to Victor Harbour to stay for another week. Now this is one gorgeous town and so much to see and do here. In summer months there would be even more. We have really copped some wet weather whilst we have been in the area though. I would love to come back here again in the warmer months. However, that aside we have been busy seeing and doing so much here. As we arrived to a partly sunny day we didn’t want to waste it, so we walked from our caravan park (facing the beach) up into town. We purchased tickets to go across to Granite Island in the historic horse-drawn tram and off we went. The causeway was built for the port in the late 1800’s and the tram transported goods to and fro from the ships coming into port. Now Granite Island is run by the Parks and Conservation department and has a colony of fairy (or little) penguins that have made it their home. There is a great walkway (1.5 kms around the island) which has great views of Victor harbour, The Bluff and Port Elliot and Middleton. Also when the whales are around it is a prime viewing spot for these magnificent creatures. We decided we would also take in the night penguin tour where you get a chance to view the penguins as they come home after a days fishing! They also have a Penguin Centre there that rehabilitates injured penguins so you get a chance to really see them close up. When we visited this we were lucky again that we were the only ones there so the penguin carer took us to show us a female with 2 lovely little chicks!

We took a drive down to Deep Creek Conservation Park and took the 4WD track down into Blowhole Beach. This is the prettiest area I have seen for some time! It overlooks Kangaroo Island and the valleys were filled with Arum lilies and kangaroos grazed and slept in the hollows. We had packed a picnic lunch so we ate that there overlooking this magnificent view. The Heysen Trail also runs through this place. The Heysen Trail is a walking trail that runs from Cape Jervis to the Flinders Ranges some 1200 kms. After lunch we drove north towards Victor Harbour to find the Newland Conservation park. We had read about a walk from there to a waterfall. It was a 3.5 km return walk and sounded pretty good. We headed off about 2 pm into the park along a wide trail. We had walked about ¾ km when the trail sign pointed to the left and stated it was 800m down to the waterfall. The track suddenly went to rock steps that went straight down for the 800m to the waterfall. Of course when we got down there we had to climb the 800m straight up again! It was a lovely walk but quite strenuous and we both had sore muscles for the next 2 days! Some beautiful wild flowers along the track though, many I have never seen before.

This is a big area for whale watching, nearly as big as Hervey Bay here in the south! Before we arrived there was a sighting of a mother and calf but since we have been here there has been nothing. So we went to the Whale museum instead. Really well done and definitely worth the visit.

One other highlight for Walter here was finding the equivalent to an Austrian Wuerstal Stand – (hot dog stand). Served only German sausage with sauerkraut, cheese and onions!

Tomorrow we will leave the coast and head north to Hahndorf for a few days before going on to the Barossa and Clare Valleys. From there it will be onto the Flinders Ranges. We initially were going to go over to the Yorke Peninsula but we are sick of the wet and cold weather so going north to hopefully have a change of weather.

We hope you are all well and life is treating you gently. We are both well and enjoying this life.

Until next time,

The Happy Travellers
Rob & Walter

2008-07-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

RENMARK TO MANNUM

We still had a bit to see before leaving Renmark.

We headed first to Headings Lookout about 12 kms out of Paringa. These are beautiful red cliffs overlooking the Murray and are spectacular at sunset. We actually visited them twice as the first time was a bit overcast and so we did not get the sunset reflection that they are renowned for. As you can see from the photo it was worth the second visit. Further out of town (about 30kms) we also visited the Customs House. It is run as a house boat agency and general store now but the building was built in the early days of the paddle steamer trade and all boats coming from NSW or Victoria had to stop and declare their goods and pay duty. A bit disappointing that it hasn’t been kept as an historical building though.

Another day we visited Rushton’s Roses. This is the largest rose farm in Australia and covers 25 acres and has 50,000 roses. Even though it is winter there were still enough roses out to see their beauty. It would be a spectacular place to visit in October during the rose festival. There are also large old fashioned display gardens and lovely nooks and crannies to explore. A huge avenue of David Austin roses and a corridor of ‘specials’ Such as roses dedicated to special people such as Princess Dianna, Grace of Monaco and even Ian Thorpe. They have a lovely cafeteria there too with a great old classic car collection and even some old outboard motors!

Within the town limits there is Olivewood House. This was the original home of Charles Chaffey – one of the Chaffey Bros. An orchard of very old olive trees stands in front of the house and even the old olive press is on display in the museum behind the home. Run by volunteers, it gives a fascinating picture into life in those early days. The volunteers are in the process of re-constructing the processing plant at the rear of the house showing the original methods of olive processing. They have sourced much of the original equipment and are currently putting it all in place.

After a week at Renmark we headed just 39kms down the road to a tiny place called Kingston-on-Murray (KOM). The village has only a population of 200 but again right on the river. We had picked up information on a number of things to do and see from this location. One was a river cruise called Loch Luna and the second was to visit Banrock Station winery and wetland centre. Banrock was only 5 minutes drive down the road and the winery overlooks their wetland. It is in a beautiful situation and they run a truly remarkable wetland conservation program and have been the recipient of many awards for this program. Their wine is pretty good too and in fact one of the rare wineries where we found the wine cheaper there than in the bottle shops! They have good walking trails around the wetlands but so bird lovers can see it in peace (no ankle biters running around making a lot of noise) you have to book. This way they leave at least an hour between walkers. We made our booking for the following Thursday, picked up some nice champagne at $7.50 per bottle and had a nice cup of coffee and wattle seed scones with Quandong Jam and cream….yum!

We also rang and booked our cruise (3 hour duration) on the Loch Luna cruise boat for the Monday. The weather was a little cool on Saturday and Sunday and Walter had a cold so we spent the time going to the Berri Farmers Markets on Saturday, also did some shopping there at Coles and then onto the Mallee Fowl restaurant which has really whacky décor and their signature dish was Quandong Cheese Cake!

On Monday we walked the 5 minutes down along the river to the cruise boat. The fog was thick but beginning to rise as we reached the boat. Blue skies were showing promise of a nice day. Cal was the boat owner and tour guide. He purchased the business about 8 months previously, quitting the bank for a ‘sea change’. He had a real passion for the river and its’ wildlife. His afternoon cruise cancelled just as we boarded so he said if it was alright with us we wouldn’t hurry and spend a bit longer then the 3 hours out there. It was a marvellous day with heaps of bird life and some quite rare sightings. We had homemade bikkies for morning tea and ended up spending 7 hours out along the river and the back creeks, arriving back after 4 pm. We certainly got our monies worth!

Banrock Boardwalk was 8 km s long and wended its way right around the billabong. Lots of black swans, Eurasian Coots and Purple Swamp hens around the water, but also Golden Rosellas, and many Mallee birds through the bush. Too many to list! We had packed our lunch and so just spent about 4 ½ hours wandering our way around.

We also took a drive ‘down stream’ to Loxton. Again a town of about 3,000 people has a pioneer village and lovely park areas along the river. We didn’t bother with the Pioneer Village as it didn’t look anything like the great one we saw at Swan Hill.

After a week at KOM we then headed further along the river (another 40kms) to Waikerie. Another nice park across the road from the river. It’s a town of about 5,000 people and like Renmark and KOM, rich in agriculture, particularly citrus and grapes, both wine and table. There is even a fresh orange juice factory here. Along the lovely cliffs along the river there is a cliff walk, and outside of town the Maize Island Conservation Park. Also the lovely Murray River Queen Paddle steamer resides here. You can even go on board during the day as they run a café/coffee shop on the back deck. We did this but also found that that evening (Saturday) they were running a 5 hour dinner/dance cruise. We jumped on that opportunity and booked. Gee now I had to go and work out what I was going to wear! Hadn’t “dressed up” for a while! We were treated to a couple of hours cruising down the river before sun set and then called into dinner. A lovely 3 course meal was served and they had a live band playing as well. After dinner (still cruising) everyone got up to dance. The cruise travelled for 2 ½ hours downstream toward Lock 2 before turning around and cruising back to Waikerie.

In Waikerie there is also Haverhand Chocolates and local place that hand makes chocolates mainly for the Adelaide market but also sell hot chocolate made with Belgian chocolate and also Chocolate fondues. We opted for a hot chocolate and a chocolate cookie only!

We drove out through Ramco towards Morgan through citrus orchards and vineyards. Morgan was one of the busiest river ports in the southern hemisphere during the Paddle boat era. Many travelled by train from Adelaide and caught the passenger boats to go along the Murray to Wentworth and then either along the Murray further or up the Darling. Morgan is also interesting as it is here where the BIG BEND is in the river. From its source, the Murray travels west until Morgan and it is here it turns south to the mouth. Geologists believe that many millions of years ago the river did disgorge itself into St Vincent Gulf, north of Adelaide but there was a great volcanic upheaval of the land forming the Adelaide Hills and blocked the river so it then found its way south.

Morgan had another great little museum run by volunteers which we found interesting. We drove back to Waikerie via the top road visiting Lock 2 on the way home.

From Waikerie we also spent a day driving up to Gluepot Reserve. This is about 65kms north of the town and owned and run by Birds Australia. Gluepot Reserve is Birds Australia's first publicly funded Reserve. Located in the semi-arid South Australian Mallee it is considered by many to be one of the crown jewels in the nation's reserve system. This 50,000 ha large area of virgin Mallee scrub contains no less than 6 nationally endangered bird species and a unique flora and fauna adapted to the harsh conditions. Purchased in 1997, Gluepot is rapidly becoming a centre for scientific research. Its accessibility means it is one of the few areas in Australia where birdwatchers can relatively easily observe otherwise hard-to-find species. So we packed another picnic lunch and went and visited and walked. Saw some amazing birds we had never seen before. If we come that way again we would go out and camp for a few days

From Waikerie we decided to drive as far (61 kms) to Swan Reach. This is another very tiny town on the river but we had a reason for going there. We wanted to drive up to Blanchetown where the first Lock is on the Murray is and just outside of Blanchetown is the Broomfield Conservation Park. This is one of the known habitats for the threatened Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat. They are only located in a few spots in Australia, another being along the Nullabor. So we packed up a picnic lunch and the Thermos and headed to Blanchetown. It’s another small place on the river but as we were having a cup of coffee in the café the girl told us we should go out to Portee Station. Portee Station was originally settled as a sheep grazing property along the banks and flood plain of the River Murray, the station took its name from the French verb PORTEE (to carry) caused by the need to unload and carry vessels and freight over the Moorunde sand bar at times of low river flow. It is 20,000 acres and now run as a B & B. However, the Australian Shearing team was there for this weekend to practice their craft. The team was punching through 3,000 sheep in order to get their time down so they can get their hands on the Golden Shears World Title being held in Norway in October. They were trying to raise money for their team so the public was invited. Well it was only 8 kms out of town so we made the decision to go. It was fantastic watching this team work. The roustabouts, Debbie Chandler from West Australia, and Mel Morris from Tasmania are wool handlers that are also part of the team heading to Norway. They made us tired just watching them! The current World Champion, Shannon Warnest, says this is the only time the team had to practice together. He told us that "This was pretty unique. This was the first time the Australian team had ever got together before the World Champs." The station owner and his daughter Liz invited us both back to their Gourmet BBQ dinner that night in the ground of the old homestead. So we went wombat hunting out at the reserve, finding plenty of warrens and holes but no wombats and then returned. It was a beautiful night with white tablecloths and crystal under gas heaters in front of the homestead. When Liz asked if we found any wombats and we said no, she told us a track on the property to drive on before returning to Swan Reach. Sure enough we saw three Southern Hairy nosed Wombats so all boxes and then some were ticked for theWe then left Swan Reach and drove another 69 kms to Mannum. It is a beautiful and historic river town with lovely stone buildings and good museum and lovely views across the river. We have driven further down to Murray Bridge (shopping and fuel cheaper here) and came back on another road crossing the free ferry back to the caravan park. The beautiful Murray Princess Paddlesteamer leaves from here for 4 to 7 day river cruises. It would be lovely to do but does fit the budget at this point in time.

Yesterday we travelled down to Monarto Zoo. This is jointly run by the Adelaide Zoo but is an Open Plains Zoo. We arrived early at 9.30 am and were on the first Zoo bus leaving for the Grasslands. This took us through Barbary sheep, Bison, Przewalski's Horses and varied Antelope including Bongo. We had never been up so close to some of these animals, even though they are at Dubbo Zoo. We got back to the Centre to be able to jump on the African Bus. Again so close to Giraffe, Hyenas, Zebra and then amazing Cheetahs and lions. Absolutely a different zoo experience. Very different to Dubbo.

Today is cold and miserable and tomorrow we leave for a longer trip (150kms) to Goolwa and the Mouth of the Murray. From all accounts the mouth of the river and Lake Alexandrina is quite sad with no water flow coming down at all so the salinity is rising and wildlife and aquatic life dying. We will report on this in our next bulletin.
We hope you are all well and happy,

Love to you all
The Happy Travellers

Rob and Walter

2008-06-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

SWAN HILL TO RENMARK

As we last advised we attended the Swan Hill Rural Field day. Very interesting with load of farm machinery indicative to the area. Things such as mechanical pruners for the vines we had never seen before! I had my shoes cleaned twice to demonstrate a leather cleaner and we bought stain remover spray, tried wonderful strawberries, could buy yabbie burgers and we could view much of the craft work in the community hall. All in all a very interesting day!

Whilst in Swan Hill we visited the BIG COD and the Burke and Wills tree. This tree was purported to have been planted at the beginning of the fateful expedition of these two well known Australian explorers. It is now listed as the largest one of its type in Victoria and of historical significance.

From Swan Hill we drove the 139 kms to Robinvale. This is another cute little town beside the Murray, rich in vines, olives and citrus. There are over 40 different nationalities now residing in Robinvale. We had a beaut site right on the bank of the river in a lovely park. Bird life was prolific and we also tried for that big cod! On booking in the owner told us that the guys camped just down from us caught a 90cm cod the day before from the bank with a yabbie! Well that got us excited and gave him a customer for bait too! Needless to say over the week we only caught a carp each and taught a lot of worms to swim!
We went on lovely rambling walks along the river first one way then the other. Whistling kites haunted the river early each morning and on nightfall hunting for their dinner and during the day herons and egrets along with purple swamp hens stalked their prey. Lovely golden rosellas and white wing chuffs populated the trees around us. We had a fire bucket (an old beer keg cut in half) and the owners of the park provided us wood for a small sum, delivered to us on site.
We had heard about the Robinvale Olive grove and their variety of products so we drove out of town through the asparagus, vines and citrus to visit them. Their olives were great and so was their hand cream. 3 jars of olives and one hand cream now live in the van.
One area that we both had read about for a long time and never visited was Mungo National Park. The park lies 110km north-east of Mildura and150km north-west of Balranald. So we left the van in Robinvale and with the 4WD, tent, wine and necessities we travelled the 150 kms north to camp for a couple of days.
Mungo National Park covers most of an ancient dry lake bed on the plains of south western NSW. During the ice ages, Lake Mungo was one of a chain of freshwater lakes strung along Willandra Creek, then the main channel of the Lachlan River. These dry lakes preserve one of the longest continual records of Aboriginal life in Australia, dating from around 50,000 years ago through to the present day. Dating of ancient burials shows that these are the oldest known fully modern humans outside of Africa.
We set up camp in the main camping area. Basic facilities there, only pit toilets. We had taken our change tent with us so we could boil the billy for warm water and wash down! We first visited the Information centre where we found we could also buy cheap fire wood and picked up the maps for the following days tour around the park. There are many interesting features in the park, but none more so than “The Walls of China”. These are also known as the lunette. It is a crescent shaped sand dune developed over thousands of years. The layers of soil and the different colours typify another era and time frame.
The Pink soils at the base is the Gol Gol unit, laid down between 120,000 and 100,000 years ago, a dry period.
The brownish cream and white sands are the Upper and Lower Mungo units, 60,000 – 37,000 years ago, formed when the lakes were full.
The grey clays which cap the residual pinnacles are the Arump/Zanci units 37,000-18,000 years ago, a period during which the lakes filled and dried out several times.
Within the latter 2 units extensive evidence of Aboriginal occupation can be found. Then beyond the main lunette are the white dune crests which have formed over the period since the lakes finally dried some 15,000 years ago.
Early next morning we packed our lunch and drinks and drove the 10 kms across the old lake bed to the lunette. The vision of the lunette and the fantastic shapes makes you feel that you have landed either on the moon or Mars! We spent 2 hours wandering over the lunette, discovering old bones, shells and fossils. Then back into the car for the drive the 70kms around the lunette, through the Mallee country, the white sand dunes, the old water tanks and evidence of station properties. There are even old wheel ruts where the old Cobb & Co coach used to pull up regularly at a perennial well. We ate lunch at the other camp site (no camp fires allowed here as it is Mallee country).
After getting back to camp we had afternoon tea but arranged to drive back to the lookout over the lunette for sunset. Check out our photos for the amazing colour changes – it was definitely worth doing.
Back to Robinvale where we then spent a day washing and ironing ready for our trip into Mildura. We stayed on the NSW side of the river at Buronga. Another fabulous caravan park, again on the river bank, with a fire bucket and this time the wood was free. We had a great view across the river to where the Paddlesteamers left for their cruises. Two friends, who used to reside at Cobar, now live in Mildura so we were able to catch up with Peter and Chris. They arranged to pick us up on the Friday night and we went out to the Coomiealla Club for dinner. Lovely club and nice meals. The following day again picked us up and drove us around the area. We visited Woodsies Gem Shop, the old Pysche Pump House, around the river to where old barges have been just left to rot, a great old country pub for hamburgers for lunch, then on to Red Cliffs to view Old Lizzie. Now how to describe Old Lizzie? It is a monster piece of machinery made to clear the paddocks of stumps etc. It was planned to take her across the river but it was found that she was too heavy for any of the river vessels at the time, so she stayed on the Victorian side.
On another day we met Pete and Chris at the boat ramp to go with them on the river. We drove up stream past many houseboats and amazing river front properties. Bird life on the river is great and this time we saw Mum and Dad swan with 6 little cygnets. We pulled up about 32kms up river and Pete was prepared with the Eco Billy , the BBQ for a sausage sizzle, coffee, tea and bikkies. After relaxing for an hour we then headed back down to Mildura.
On the Friday, Pete again picked us up (without Chris as she had Grandmother duties) and drove us north of Wentworth to where his son is Production Manager in the Gingko Sand Mine. Tim had organised to show us around the mine. It was about 1 ½ hours drive to the site. Now this is one big sand pit! With big boys toys too! They extract the sand and then they are able to separate it into about 8 different minerals including titanium. Most of the finer breakdown is done at Broken Hill after being trucked there. We left there and drove the 60kms to Pooncarie, had a drink at the pub before heading back down the Pooncarie road to Mildura. Two other friends who also used to live in Cobar, now have “retired” to a property on the Pooncarie road, 23 kms north of Wentworth. So we opted to drop in for a cuppa on the way through. Sheryl and Allan have a lovely 105 acres right on the Darling. They gave us a quick look around and we had coffee with them and arranged to bring the van up and stay for a couple of days.
We left Mildura and headed towards “Sullivan’s Run” on the Pooncarie Road, via Dareton. We arrived at lunch time, set up the van and Allan & Sheryl decided that we would have lunch on the “party boat” on the river. Lovely sunny day so we loaded up the boat and headed off up stream. Here the Darling looks quite healthy as the water is still under the influence of the lock at Wentworth. Check out the difference of the river at Pooncarie though. It was so lovely cruising slowly up the river. Again the bird life was great. Whistling Kites, egrets, herons and even a Royal Spoonbill and a juvenile Rufous Nankeen Night Heron.
The next day we repeated the exercise but this time down river after the horses were fed and the chooks released from their pen, allowing them to roam free. Sheryl and Allan are living in their “up market” shed at present. Their plans for their new home are lovely and the building of it is just about to commence.
The following day, Sheryl & I dropped into Wentworth to pick up the mail and get a few provisions. She took me down to where to two mighty rivers, the Darling and the Murray meet so I was able to get some photos of that plus the memorial to the Fergie tractor. These tractors built the levee bank that saved Wentworth from a flood. On return we again packed up the boat with the BBQ this time to go further downstream and find a nice bank where we could pull over and cook lunch. About ¾ of the way down, it was discovered that not one of us remembered the matches. Having No smokers certainly can have its disadvantages! We cruised on until we found some habitation and Allan went up to the house and begged for a box of matches – otherwise no BBQ! From now on they will have matches or lighter on the boat and we will have one packed up with the BBQ! Much laughter over this I can tell you.
With a bit of sadness we left their lovely property on Friday and crossed the border into South Australia. Whilst in Mildura we did pick up a brochure about what you could and couldn’t take into the S.A. Riverland area. My herb garden that has travelled up to Cooktown and back was a casualty. So I left the herbs with Chris in Mildura for her garden – just taking the empty pot with me. When we arrived at the border, it is a mandatory stop at the Quarrantine station. The inspector went through our glove box, our frig in the car and everywhere in the caravan. I had cleaned out just about everything at Sheryl’s but found I also could not take in my garlic or the chilli! So first stop in Remark after setting up the van was to the shops to re-stock for fruit and vegies!
One of the reasons we had timed our run into Renmark for the June long weekend was that it was when the Riverland Balloon festival was on. So Saturday after picking up the info at the Information Centre we drove out to the No 2 oval where they were launching. As the winds were in the wrong direction, they decided to launch at another site called Talda about 27kms from Renmark. So we dutifully tailed the procession out there. It was well worth it. Nine balloons of varying sizes being unloaded, laid out and going through the procedure of getting them inflated for flying. After they all flew off we went back to Renmark where again we are camped right on the river. The river is huge here and so much houseboat traffic. We overlook the old 1927 built Paringa bridge that opens twice a day to let the river traffic through.
At 6.30 pm we headed back into town to the No 2 oval for what they call “Night Glow”. All 9 balloons are again inflated but this time do not leave the ground. They use a yellow flame to “glow” the balloon. Very spectacular at night, with the varying balloon colours, all glowing in the dark! All this made us decide to opt for a flight the next day. So up at 5 am in the morning, down to the oval for the briefing, then back out to Talda, as again the winds were in the wrong direction. We had to help get the basket and balloon ready for flight, then into the basket and away. It wasn’t anything like I expected. It is very calm, quiet and amazingly serene. Initially we were travelling about 30 knots about 150 metres from the ground then we often dropped down to within 10-15 feet of the ground to cruise at lower speeds. Cruising over properties, trees and stock. The flight was about 1 ½ hours before we landed, packed up the balloon and treated to Langhorne Creek Champagne and chocolates. Then we were driven back to Renmark and the Renmark Hotel for a slap up breakfast. This didn’t finished until 12 midday! The Renmark Hotel has amazing history. Built by the Chaffey Bros. they only allowed it to supply meals and accommodation and NO Alcohol. This surely must be the original Pub with NO Beer!
We had a quiet afternoon as the weather came in and overnight we have had about 1 inch of rain. So today it gave me a chance to update the web site before we go off rambling around this beautiful area tomorrow. So much to see here including 25 acres of roses, over 50,000 of them, wineries such as Banrock Station, and Angoves. Berri with its almond shops and fruit juices, lookouts and lochs, old homesteads of the Chaffey Brothers. And so on, and on……

Until next time, enjoy life as we are
The Happy Travellers Rob & Walter

Birds Eye View of the Landscape from the Balloon

2008-05-05T04:25:00.000-07:00

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

We farewelled our friends Kev, Fran and Becky at Lochinvar and travelled to Medowie to stay for a time with Howard and Lyn Grigor and “Will & Wont”. These are the 2 baby wombats that Lyn is currently hand rearing. Gorgeous little things that without her love and care would not be part of this world.

We arrived on the Friday and planned to attend the Rotary District 9670 conference in Newcastle. We are honorary members of the Rotary Club of Salamander Bay thanks to Howard and Lyn. This enables us to continue to share Rotary fellowship with clubs as we travel.

The conference was wonderful and a great place for us to catch up with friends. The Friday night was a cocktail party held at the Harbourview Function centre on the foreshore of Newcastle harbour. Saturday and Sunday was held at the Newcastle Town Hall – lovely old building. It was an inspirational conference with great speakers.

We were guest speakers at the Salamander Bay Rotary Club at the Breakfast Club meeting on the Tuesday, outlining our travels up to that point. It was nice for us to meet the members and they us, as we have sort of been their “ghost” members! Following the meeting we packed up and headed to the Southern Highlands to spend some time with family before heading west.

It was great spending time with my Mum and sister and her family. Whilst we were there, the Open Garden scheme was available in a number of the local gardens. What a lovely time I had with Mum visiting a number of them, all very different but gorgeous and innovative. We first visited a small garden in Queen Street Bowral before going to the larger ones. Milton Park was one of the old established gardens, initially being the home of Anthony Hordern. It is now a resort but the gardens are a treasure. Some of the old trees there are majestic. On the Sunday, we went out to Exeter to visit Red Cow Farm. Mum said she had driven past this cottage built in the 1800’s many times but had never visited it. It just looks like a small cottage garden from the front but what a surprise when you go in and start to explore. It was over 2.5 ha! Lovely formal areas, lakes, ponds and 800 roses! It would be a delightful garden to go back to in the spring to see the differences. It was lovely now but would be different again with the seasons.

Fitzroy Falls has always been a favourite of mine so we packed up lunch one day and with 2 other friends from Queensland went and hiked right around to the Renown Lookout. Fabulous views of the falls and the valley, dropping away from the coastal escarpment. We even spotted a lyre bird and there were some great wild flowers out too.

We also caught up with one of my favourite Aunts & Uncles! Uncle Ken cooked a lovely Good Friday meal for us of fish and chips and arranged with Walter to go down to Thirlmere and visit the Steam Train museum. Mum and Aunty Judy and I played many games of Scrabble with the results being fairly evenly distributed!

I have been home to Bowral many times over the years but had never attended the Scottish Festival at Bundanoon known as “Brigadoon”. So Mum, Walter & I packed up our lunch and headed out early on the Saturday to attend this famous affair. Even though we were early by most standards, hundreds had already arrived! For those who don’t know the area, Bundanoon is a tiny village on the Southern Highlands of NSW. For this day even the name of the village is changed, all the signs now read “Brigadoon”. This is a fabled village in Scottish folk lore that rises out of the mist each 100 years and the villages celebrate the day. They cannot leave the village or the village will disappear forever.

It was a bright sunny day and the lads and lassies had donned their kilts and the pipers had skirled their pipes for a majestic and fun day. We watched them tossing the caber, throwing the haggis, tossing the hay bale and best of all the brawny lads had to heft the “Fergie Stones”. These are huge round stones weighing from 130kgs to 160kgs. They had to be hoisted onto wine barrels sitting in a stand and with a tyre on top! The winner was a policeman from Newcastle NSW! I heard a couple of young men behind me state “that they weren’t going there for a night out”!!!

We left in time to beat the crowd and went and visited Brian & Liz Patttinson. Brian & Liz did live in Dubbo for many years before making their “sea change” to Bowral. They have a lovely home and seem very well settled in to their new environment.

We had to say goodbye so that we could continue our travels. Our plans are to travel along the Murray to its mouth in South Australia.

We headed out towards Albury and booked into the All Seasons Caravan Park in Lavington. We nearly got lost on the way in as our wonderful GPS didn’t know about the new bypass freeway! We were into Albury before we knew it and had to do some back tracking! We had a nice site but before we even had our feet on the ground we had a phone call from two lovely friends we had met in Rollingstone Qld last year. Brian and Leonie live in Wodonga. We arranged with them to go over to their place the following day.

Their hospitality was exceptional and loaded us into their car and drove us to Beechworth for lunch. Beechworth is a lovely historic gold village about 40kms south of Wodonga. We ate pies at the famous Beechworth Bakery and wandered the streets looking at the facades of the buildings – all kept in the original painting. The autumn colours were also starting to be evident. Such an interesting history. The Chinese even cut long channels through the rock to assist in channelling the water to wash the gold. The old hospital, now only the stone front remaining used to treat over a 100 patients a day. Brian drove us around the village and even out to the old Powder store. We left Beechworth and drove through Yackandandarah, buying lovely apples from a roadside stall before climbing Mt Stanley and then back down through the pine plantations. The road then took us around Lake Hume. This is terribly sad to look at, as the water level is so low. The whole area down here is so very dry, you really do feel for the farmers.

The following day we again met up with them and drove from Wodonga up to Yarrawonga, checking out some river camping spots as we went. Yarrawonga is on the Victorian side of the river and is joined to Mulwala by a whacky bridge with a bend in it. The story goes that it was a joint consultative work between the two states and their engineers but after construction had commenced, found it didn’t meet in the middle! We drove over the bridge and found a nice spot beside the lake to have afternoon tea before travelling on. We then drove along the NSW side of Lake Mulwala. We found a place mentioned in the Camps 3 book called Kyffins Reserve. We drove in and found that it had some great free camping sites. We picked out where we wanted to be and then drove back to Albury. We went up to The Monument, situated above Albury, commemorating those lost in the wars. The sun was setting in a beautiful sunset as we were there with that lovely soft light reflecting off the Monument Tower.

A quiet day was decided upon just to enjoy each others company for the next day. Brian & Leonie decided upon a BBQ for lunch so I made some rissoles to take. However, after I had finished I turned around and knocked my knife block. I felt it falling and instinctively put my hand out to stop it. Whoops! Wrong move….the carving knife had already began slipping out and it caught my little finger on the way down. The end of the story was 6 stitches! (All fixed now though). Thanks to Leonie who played nurse and medical carer getting me to Wodonga Emergency whose staff did a great job it repairing it.

We left these lovely friends and headed to Kyffins Reserve at Lake Mulwala for some free camping on the edge of the lake. Lovely spot. We relaxed and had camp fires and watched the marvellous sunsets over the lake. There was a myriad of bird life with corellas, rosellas, black swans, ibis, Azure kingfisher, ducks, grass parrots and cockatoos. Many more as well that I hadn’t even been able to identify! We also had cute little ringtail possums running around our camp at night. Many an apple went their way! After 5 days though it was time to find a caravan park to fill up the water tanks and get the washing done!

We travelled a whole 6 kms to Lake Mulwala Holiday Park. This has now been taken over by the Lake Mulwala Ski Club but it is right on the lake and a lovely place to stay. Has great cabins too. So we did the full spring clean, inside and out. They allowed us to wash the van using the fire hose as it was water from the lake. We visited the Yarrawonga Info Centre and bought some great booklets called Murray River Access! They show all the free camp sites along the river and there are heaps! So we hopped in the car and did a bit of a “reccy”! We found a great site only 5 kms from town on the Victorian side down a road known as Forges Pump Road. Lovely spot right on the river with a great sandy beach.

So we left the caravan park and headed out for some more free camping along the river. We had 4 days in this idyllic place, reading and watching the mighty Murray amble by. There was quite a bit of water here as the weir forming Lake Mulwala was just up stream. We tried fishing but didn’t catch anything. I got a bit dirty though as my line was in and the fish were jumping right in front of me!

We spent one day driving the 40kms to Rutherglen where we checked out the famous Parker Pies and went wine and olive tasting! We can really recommend the pies; they are not cheap but worth the money. I even bought a couple of frozen ones – crocodile and crab to cook in the caravan for lunch the following day. They were very delicious for those of you turning up your nose here! All Saints winery is an incredible building built like a castle and we also visited the Indigo Cheese Factory for some local produce.

Then on to Tocumwal where we invited to park the van in the yard of other lovely friends who we met in Walkamin last year. Marion & Neil have a lovely home on 4 acres. Neil normally trucks grain but with the drought there was no work last year so they took their van to Walkamin on the Atherton tableland to truck sugar.

It was so good to catch up with them and catch up on their news. They sold their van in Cairns last year on their way home but only a month ago purchase a lovely new Regal van with shower and toilet. So lovely we could nearly swap ours for it!

Again this amazing pair showed us incredible hospitality and loaded us into their car and firstly drove us out to a place called Ulupna Island. It is on the Murray and I had read about it as it has a good population of koalas. Well I can honestly say I have not ever seen anything like it. There was virtually a koala in every second tree. So good to see this unique Aussie animal in such numbers!

Then the decision was to leave fairly early and take the 2 hour drive to Bright to see the autumn colours and come back via Milawa on the Food and Wine Trail! Now we are talking….

Bright blew us both away. We had heard that this is the place to see autumn colour but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the overall effect! It is so deserving of its reputation. It was a cold and misty rainy day when we arrived but that added to the effect. It is truly stunning. It isn’t far from the Victorian Ski fields and we found that Mt Hosham had 15cm of snow whilst we were there!

The town also has a unique quality about it and also has many craft and gallery types of shops. We left there and Neil drove us out of town and up a mountain to have lunch at the Red Stag Deer and Emu Farm. The food and wine was great and the views looking back over the Bright Valley a picture. There were lots of Emus, Ostriches and the big Red Stag deer to be seen and even a little tiny baby goat in its red knitted coat was running around. We then headed toward Milawa and firstly Brown Brothers winery. No poor wines on that list let me tell you! After buying a few good bottles we headed for the Milawa Cheese factory where we were able to participate in a great cheese tasting, then it was the chocolates. Loaded up with the “3 course meal” (wine, cheese and chocolates) we headed for Milawa Mustards. Here we undertook more tasting of mustards, tapenades and raspberry jams! Laden to the hilt we drove home via Wangaratta back to Tocumwal where we had a plate of soup for tea!

Again, we had to say goodbye and off we drove again, this time to Echuca. Cold and rainy but we are about now to go out and explore the historic port area here. The weather was not very kind to us and so we didn’t venture very far.

Saturday we decided again that it was time for greener fields so we headed off from Echuca towards Swan Hill. Swan Hill was named by Major Mitchell who had spent a sleepless night on the banks of the Murray on this spot, being kept awake by the noise of some swans – hence the name!

We met up with some lovely friends again, Steve and Vicki. We initially met them at Walkamin on the Atherton tableland, then again at Cooktown, then Yeppoon and then Mon Repos before moving into NSW and meeting them again in Dubbo. So we have had such fun being with them again. We have a great camping site on the river bank. Not quite the Murray but what they call an Anna branch. It is the “Little Murray” or Marraboor River. It comes off the Murray and runs into the Murray. We are only 100 yards from where it runs back into the Murray. The Paddle steamer makes its way past us twice a day, tooting its horn.

We have spent 2 days at the Pioneer Village. We initially thought that 2-3 hours would do it including the ride on the paddle boat but the village was so extensive and so interesting we extended our passes to go back again today. The village was wonderful and has something for everyone.

Tomorrow we are going to attend the huge Rural Field day here that show cases not only all the farm machinery and innovations but all the local produce including the wines for tasting! Its only $3.00 for pensioners! So we’ll be there…..

We will report on this jaunt in our next spiel..

Hope you are all well and life is treating you gently.

The Happy Travellers

Rob & Walter

2008-03-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Beach, Mudjimba to Dubbo

In December as previously stated, we left Rainbow Beach to spend Christmas with our son Michael, his wife Tanya and our three gorgeous grandchildren. It had been 2 years since we had seen them last so as you can imagine, we saw how grown up they had become.

We arrived there on a Saturday and both Nick and Briony were to be christened in the Catholic Church. Tomeeka our lovely 18 year old granddaughter had also come up as she was to be Godmother for the two. Tomeeka had just completed her HSC and hoped to get into Uni to undertake Nursing.

The christening was lovely with Michellie (the oldest) carrying the communion wine so she had an important part to play too.

Christmas Day dawned bright and sunny and Mike and Tanya bought the kids down to the beach before breakfast for a swim. They were allowed to open a couple of Santa presents first. We had a lovely swim at Mudjimba beach which was across the road form the Caravan Park before we headed back to Mike’s for Ham and Cheese Croissants’ for brekky! After that the presents under the Christmas tree were attacked. The kid’s favourites this year were Dora the Explorer for Briony, Spiderman for Nick and Bratz for Keelie!

Just before lunch the weather began closing in and Tanya’s dad, Bill, Mike and Walter hastened to erect a tarp over the patio area as we were planning to have lunch there. Then the rain came………….and it was the last we saw the sun in Queensland! It poured rain for the next 10 days, part of that nasty sub-tropical low that came in to much of the south east Queensland coast. One night we had 80 mls rain – like being under a waterfall! Although the weather was not kind and no more swims at the beach, we had a great time with them all. We went 10 pin bowling one day, watched the cricket, played card games with the kids, ate too much and just enjoyed their company.

On the 5th January we left Mudjimba and began heading towards Dubbo. Walter had a Pre-Admission appointment on the 15th January there that he had to keep. We made some good travelling decisions and went through the Glasshouse Mountains, down beside Somerset Dam to Toowoomba, then onto Goondiwindi. We stopped the first night just in a truck stop about 65kms out of Goondiwindi. Then headed on down through Moree to Narrabri. We decided to stay a few days here as neither of us had spent any time here. It was a fascinating place.

We visited the Cotton Centre that had a very informative display from which we learnt a lot. We understand now much better there use of water, the technology that has gone into plant development and the uses of cotton. We drove out to Sawn Rocks, part of the Mt Kaputar National Park. These are incredible rock formations dating back to the Vulcan era, many millions of years ago. On another day, we drove out to another part of the National Park, the site of Mt Kaputar itself. Its’ about an hours drive and you climb through steep valleys and mountains with spectacular scenic views over the surrounding plains. You can actually drive right to Mt Kaputar with only the last 100m being steps and a boardwalk. It was much cooler up there, Narrabri being about 36 degrees and on the National Park about 27! There was lots of wildlife and birds, Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Goannas, King Parrots and Black Cockatoos to name just a few.

Our third day we drove out the 23kms west of the town to visit the Australian Compact Array Radio Telescope. It is actually 6 telescopes, on a rail line. Very impressive and they can also work with the Radio Telescope at Parkes and the Radio Telescope at Siding Springs in the Warrumbungles. When this happens it is the same as one telescope with a diameter of 320 Kms! Amazing..

We then ambled further down the highway to one of our favourite places – The Warrumbungle National Park. We spent 3 idyllic days here surrounded by the usual wildlife. One kangaroo decided that the shade under our annex was definitely to his liking! We even had a huge goanna amble through one day.

Our destination of course though was Dubbo to have Walter’s errant left hip fixed. He has really suffered in terrible chronic pain over the last 8 months. The date of the 13th February was given to him for the operation so whilst he was waiting he decided to have his eyes checked out too as he found his vision was getting blurry. He though he needed a new script! Wrong!!! They found he had a large cataract on his right eye so another operation had to be organised.

Well he has now had the “full grease and oil change” and has recovered from both ops really well. Whilst he was undergoing all this I decided that I could get a bit of casual work for the 5 weeks of hanging around and I was employed by Fletcher International Exports. This is a lamb abattoir where 95% of its end product goes overseas. I was working in the Cold Boning room and it entailed packing meat, and after they gave and trained me on knives, preparing it for packaging. It wasn’t rocket science but I enjoyed it. The fellow employees were many like us travelling Australia and picking up work as they go along for a couple of months. They were such a happy lot and the company has another plant over in Albany in WA and we will most likely try for work again there too when we get that side of Australia.

We left Dubbo on Friday and headed to Lochinvar to meet up with our very dear friends, Fran and Kevin and Rebecca. They have a gorgeous house and property at Lochinvar and we can park the van in the front yard.

On Saturday I travelled with Fran to Raymond Terrace to watch her with Riding for the Disabled (RDA). Fran is sitting for her coaches exam in another 8 weeks and had the opportunity to attend and assist with placing wheelchair bound kids onto the horses. It was so rewarding to see these kids faces. Instead of looking up at people from their wheelchair they are looking down from the horse and interacting with these lovely animals. Some had Cerebral Palsy, one other girl about 14 years of age had been a bright and happy normal little girl and at 10 years old had had a stroke. We don’t have anything to complain about have we?

We had a great dinner out with them on Saturday night at one of the Lower Hunter vineyards called Mojo’s. Most beautiful food and fabulous presentation. We are now house sitting for them for a couple of days, feeding the dogs, Ruby and Tessa, checking the horses, Rags and Malibu, feeding and cajoling the chooks to lay eggs! Kev and Fran have gone to spend a few days at Mudgee Homestead, the most beautiful B & B where we were married. We are looking after Becky, getting her on the bus in the mornings to go to work as well. Kev & Fran don’t really get much of a chance to be able to take any days off so this is an opportunity for them and for us to spend a bit of time in a real house. They have 12 acres with a lovely dam at the end of it, there are so many birds too. W e are spending our time in the pool or reading, a real tough life.

From here we leave Friday to go to Medowie and stay with Howard and Lyn and attend the Rotary District conference in Newcastle. It will be great to catch up with many friends before leaving for the Southern Highlands. We will be staying in Mittagong Caravan Park for 2 weeks. A chance to catch up with my Mum in Bowral before Kim and Mary Jane meet us on the second week. After they have a look around the area we will be travelling the “wallaby’ with them to Albury/Wodonga and follow the mighty Murray River all the way into South Australia. From there we will either go across the Nullarbor or north up the Centre!

From the Merry Travellers

2007-12-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

Hervey Bay to Rainbow Beach

I cannot believe how quickly time is flying! We have been here at Rainbow Beach for two weeks already and only now have five days left before we go to Mudjimba for Christmas with Mike, Tanya and our Grandchildren, Michaellie, Nick and Briony. It’s been 2 years since I have seen them so I guess we will find big changes in them!

Maryborough

First let me tell you about our bus trip to Maryborough. There were only the 2 of us and the bus driver, Barbara. She picked us up and we headed the 40 kilometres to Maryborough. This is a town of about 29,000 people but has amazing facilities. Barbara gave us a good understanding of its amazing history that also incorporates Hervey Bay. Firstly Hervey Bay was only a fishing village and people from Maryborough used to take their holidays there. Maryborough sits on the banks of the lovely Mary River and was originally settled in the early 1800’s. The historic buildings and architecture there reminded us very much of Charters Towers. Truly lovely buildings. The town was moved though as the original spot was always flooding. The Council though still keep the maintenance on the old area and its graves as a lovely historical park.

The main city park is lovely and Walter got very excited when he saw the old steam train running around taking people for rides. Every Thursday parts of Maryborough’s main streets are closed to traffic and they have market stalls selling just about everything. You can pick up some great bargains but we stuck to the fresh fruit and vegies. So the old steam train, run by volunteers, chuffs its’ way around the track picking up customers from the markets. We also strolled through St Paul’s Anglican Church that has beautiful stained glass windows and a very old organ.

After the guided tour through the city part, Barbara took us to this amazing old store that opened first for business in 1871 and only closed in 1972. The owner at the time (who was the son of the original proprietors) just walked out and left everything just as is was. Owned by George and Agness Geraghty, IT SOLD EVERYTHING! They imported oranges and wine and sold butter, meat and packaged products as well as rural supplies and serviced a huge area all the way up to Bundaberg and south to Brisbane. Even all the old invoices and ledger books are left in the office!

Barbara then took us for lunch at the Pier side Restaurant that was part of the original customs buildings and overlooks the river. It was a very interesting day!

Rainbow Beach

We left Hervey Bay and arrived at Rainbow Beach about 2 hours later. We have a nice site and its only 5 mins walk to the beach. We can see the water and hear the waves, but not right on the beach. The shopping centre is only across the road but it is just a sleepy beachside place (at the moment!) Like most coastal places it goes berserk over the Christmas period! The beach goes for miles in both directions and to the north just across a narrow strait of water is Fraser Island. To the south is Double Island Point.

On the Tuesday after we arrived our lovely friends Marie and Bill arrived with Nora (Bill’s Mum). They stayed in one of the cabins. We took a drive out to a coffee shop for lunch and then drove over to Tin Can Bay for afternoon tea. When we came back we headed across to the Surf Club for dinner. Lovely little club with views right sown the beach. No too shabby at all! Food was good too! I can particularly recommend the Pesto Reef Fish! They left early next day to drive all the way back to Yeppoon.

After enjoying ourselves on the LARC trip at 1770, we found that there was another LARC here! So we booked ourselves on the Friday trip. Sad to say though that on the day, the LARC has an auto electrical problem. We did the trip though but in a 4WD bus instead. Still and all, it was fantastic. We drove out through the Coolangoola National Park through beautiful forest down to Freshwater. This is a little camping and picnic area maintained by the National Park right on the edge of Teewah Beach. Now for those who have their map out, Teewah beach runs 55 kms all the way down to Noosa. At low tide it is another beach drive. However once we turned onto the beach we drove north again towards Double Island Point and the lighthouse. Quite a bit of traffic on the beach including professional “wormers”. These guys spend hours finding worms that they then on-sell to the fish and bait shops. Back breaking work!

We have never seen water as clear as the ocean on Teewah Beach! It was crystal clear and so very beautiful. When we reached the end of the beach we climbed the 4wd track (about 2 kms) in the bus to the top and the lighthouse. And what a view! All the way to Fraser along Rainbow Beach and south to Noosa. It was spectacular! Whilst we were at the top we overlooked Wolf Rock (about 2 kms out to sea) and by all accounts a great dive site. Also below the headland the amount of marine life visible in the water blew us away. We saw at least 8 Loggerhead turtles swimming around, 2 Manta Rays and a Shovel Nosed ray. The bus driver told us this wasn’t even a good day! He stated that there is usually also about 40 dolphins which weren’t to be seen whilst we were there!

After leaving the lighthouse and going back down the track we then travelled about ½ km along the beach south before turning onto a track called the Leisha Track. This is another 4WD only sand track that crosses the headland and takes you onto Rainbow Beach. We then travelled along the beach beside the Coloured Sands, cliffs of multi coloured sand. This way is only negotiable at low tide. Once getting close to the end it is the rocks right at the end which cause many vehicles grief. We were told that the insurance figure (per year) for damaged vehicles at this point is approximately $1 million a year! What happens is that people get impatient and they can see Rainbow Beach township around the corner of these rocks and get over confident about making in it instead of re-tracing their tracks back along the 11 kms beach, over the Leisha track again and then back up the inland Freshwater track! So they try and negotiate the rocks. It is only possible on the exact low tide and sometimes not even then. The sand can wash away leaving the rocks exposed. Two places in town, including the Information Centre as a Wall of Shame, a wall of photos of the wrecks, some nearly underwater!

Our 4WD bus had high clearance and we struck the rocks right on low tide. The photos we took whilst we negotiated them will give you an idea! Again so glad we did not try it in our car!

We have wandered over to the beach most afternoons with our chairs and our books and have cooled down surfing then come back to read. When the tide is too high we use the lovely pool here. We also drove up to the lookout and took the walk to Carlo Sand Blow. Again the views were fantastic, over to Tin Can Bay, over the top of Rainbow Beach and out to the Pacific Ocean. This is also the spot where the Para-sailors launch from. So we stopped and watched their antics for a while.

Fraser Island (Again)

Fraser Island so intrigued us we found another 4WD trip to take us form here, but this time over 2 days. So last Monday we were again picked up at the front of the caravan park and headed out to Inskip Point where our 4WD bus caught the barge across to the island. It’s only a 10 minute trip from there. So we landed at Hook Point and started another adventure. Tide was still too high to drive around Hook Point on the beach so we took an old mining road inland for about 11 kms before cutting onto 75 mile beach. It’s an amazing beach to drive on and our first stop was Eurong Beach Resort for the “comfort” stop before heading further north along the beach. Again we stopped at Eli Creek and paddled our way all the way up as far as we could go before floating back with the current. Our tour guide had organised lunch why we floating down. Why does lunch always taste better when 1) we are outdoors and 2) when somebody else does al the work!

After lunch we were back in the bus to run all the way up to Indian Head. This is the end of 75 mile Beach. A steep but short climb to the top gave us another spectacular view north up to Waddy Point, Middle Rocks and the Champagne Pools and south right down the beach. Looking west you could also see a number of the sand blows. Looking down we could see two 4 metre long tiger sharks swimming around the headland. Another good reason not to go surfing at Fraser! The good thing about having the 2 days nothing was rushed. We were able to spend a good time up on the headland before climbing back to head back south along the beach. We again stopped at the Maheno wreck and the Coloured sands at the Pinnacles were more photos were taken. Further down we stopped on the beach for Rainbow Gorge. As it is a walk to a sand blow, Walter & I decided not to take it as we had already seen the Carlo Sand Blow. It would have been too much walking for Walter with his painful hip, so we sat on the sand watching the traffic roar past us on the beach and enjoying the view. Following this, we then headed back to Eurong Beach Resort for our accommodation and evening meal.

Next day we headed off at 8 am inland this time to Lake Mackenzie. We did not have any problem going back to this beautiful spot and able to have 2 hours there this time. Being wiser by having been there before, I took my mask and snorkel with me. Never though to take my underwater camera though – I’m still kicking myself over this! I spent most of the time snorkelling around the edge watching the turtles and the many small fish. The visibility is like over 100 metres the water is so clear and no current at all. After a cup of coffee and lamingtons (tour driver looking after us again) we headed over through the rough sand tracks to Central Station. This was initially the centre for the logging operation years ago. This was a barbeque lunch spot, so sausage sizzle it was! After lunch, all of us except Walter walked through to Pile Valley. It is along the rainforest floor beside Wooloonga Creek (also known as the invisible creek as the water is so clear you cannot see it!). Walter did not do the walk as there are also 136 steps to climb out of the valley up to the ridge and the car park where we were to be picked up. He with the tour guide just did the top part of the walk back into a 1000 year old Satinay tree.

Then again it was back in the bus, back to Eurong and back on the beach for the drive right down the beach to Hook Point and back to the barge. (Tide low now) What made our day though was at the south end of the beach was a Fraser Island Dingo and her pup. We had a few chuckles as we watched the little one try to get off the beach by climbing the sand dune and he just kept slipping back. It’s the only time on the 2 trips that we actually got to see the dingos.

Thursday saw us take a drive to Gympie where we did a bit of shopping at Coles and then drove back to Tin Can Bay for lunch. Whilst we were there we realised that the school holidays were about to begin for Queensland and everything was going to get very busy. So we made the decision not to leave coming back to Tin Can Bay for the dolphin feeding to the next week but we would do it tomorrow.

Tin Can Bay

We set the alarm clock early Friday and drove out to catch the ferry from Carlo Point to Tin Can Bay. It’s a lovely trip across the bay, about 20 minutes, so we could go and hand feed the dolphins. The dolphin feeding is free and run by volunteers. They often get up to 3-4 dolphins but only one came in when we were there. His name was Mystique. Poor old Mystique though had been in the wars this week and had been targeted by a Bull Shark. He was missing part of his dorsal fin and one half of his tail fin but seemed to be OK. The volunteers said he has his appetite back which is a good sign and that they have marvellous recuperative powers. He is very gentle when taking his fish from your hand and he definitely knows the procedure! It was a great experience.

Well we had planned to do a 4WD trip ourselves today to go down to Freshwater and Teewah Beach (coming back the same way) for a picnic. However when we woke up this morning it was pouring rain so we have put that plan on old. Maybe tomorrow if the weather is OK.

This will most likely be our last update for the year. I know I will be too busy with grandchildren and Christmas to do anything. Then we head back to Dubbo to get Walter’s hip fixed. Poor fellar has been in so much pain with it and gets frustrated because he cannot do what he would like to. Patience is not one of his virtues!

We both want to wish you all a very Happy and Safe Christmas and a wonderful New Year. If you are travelling we hope to catch up with you somewhere in this great outdoors!

Cheers Rob & Walter

Mon Repos to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island

2007-11-25T23:38:00.000-08:00

The time we spent at Mon Repos was very special for many reasons. Not only was it a beautiful place, next to the Turtle Rookery it teemed with wonderful bird and animal life. The history of the area was also fascinating.
In the late 1800's, sugar cane farmers bought in many islanders known as Kanaka's to assist with the cane cutting. Next to Turtle Sands Caravan Park is a hand made stone wall known as the "Kanaka Wall". It was built by the islanders from the stones cleared from the fields. It is heritage listed now in memory of them. They were little more than slaves but treated a bit better.

Being right on the beach meant we were in and out of the water all the time. Both of us are brown as berries. It was also special as whilst we were there, many of our friends came to join us on a number of occasions. First there was Bill and Marie from Yeppoon, then Steve and Vicki who we first met on the Atherton tableland but met up with them again in Cooktown and Ellis Beach, then Heinz and Anita (from Switzerland) who we met in Jindabyne last year. They went back to Switzerland for their summer and returned again in October, flying into Brisbane, to continue their trip around Australia, and last but not least Mary Jane and Kim from Brisbane. MJ & Kim we first met on our 4WD trip to the Victorian High Country 4 years ago, then last year we spent 5 weeks in the outback of South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. They have now purchased their first caravan and going to lease their house from 7th January 2008 and will probably join us on the road somewhere! It was great all to be together and swap ideas and travel stories.

We had some great trips and experiences whilst at Mon Repos. Walter and I travelled to Elliot Heads for a picnic lunch, taking our books sitting on the river bank near the river mouth to the ocean. Such a pretty place although we liked our caravan park better! Whilst with Marie and Bill we went shopping in Bundaberg, met Bill’s mum who will be 90 next year, and organised tickets to attend the theatre to see "Men in Tutu’s"! This is an International Ballet Company but spoofing ballet. It was an amazing show, so much talent but hilarious. We had tears running down our faces from laughing.

We found a lovely little café/restaurant over at Bundaberg Port on the Burnett River which became a favourite of us all.

We visited the Bundaberg Rum Distillery for a tour which was very interesting. Each vat was worth $6M of which the Government taxes take 2/3’s! $4m dollars worth of duty….The tour took about an hour. All I wanted was a “Bundy Bear” but found that they don’t sell them as they would contravene their license as it is classified as a toy! So I now have a T shirt instead! With Steve and Vicki we also visited the Bundaberg Botanical Gardens and went through Bert Hinkler’s house. He is buried in Italy where he died in his crashed plane in the late 1920’s but they bought his house from England and rebuilt it, brick by brick and tile by tile until it now stands in lovely gardens just like it used to in England. Also in the gardens was the Fairymead Sugar Museum. This is a history of the sugar industry that began in the area.

We spent a couple of hours there and found it really interesting.

On another day we also caught a river cruise from Bundaberg down the Burnett River to the mouth and returned. Really peaceful way to spend a couple of hours and so very pretty. We also drove up to the only hill around called The Hummock where the view was totally spectacular, 360 degrees over the coast, Bundaberg and the mountains and when the day was clear you could see Fraser Island.

On the first November the turtle laying season opened so we waited about 5 days before booking a tour. The Mon Repos beach is closed at night from this time and you can only go onto the beach with the rangers under very specific conditions. You cannot take any torches onto the beach as any light discourages the turtles from coming ashore. So we went down to the Ranger station at the rookery and the rangers give you heaps of info about the turtles and their laying habits. The Loggerhead turtles, that are endangered, use this beach nearly exclusively, they also get some Green and Flatback turtles too. They are very sensitive to light and they don’t get settled until after they dig their hole and lay at least about 15-20 eggs, it is at this time they let small groups onto the beach to view this special event.

The first time Walter and I went, it was a Flatback Turtle but she didn’t settle and headed back to the ocean. They had already called us down to the beach (in the dark) and we were waiting further down the beach. So when she began to head back they called us through to watch her make her way back into the sea. A week later when MJ and Kim and Bill and Marie came back again, we booked another tour and at 6.45 pm we headed back to the Rookery. There was a nice little walking track down through the caravan park to the Rookery. Needed the torch on the way back though as it was very dark.

This time we were hardly there when we were called down to the beach. This time a Loggerhead Turtle came up to lay and was already digging her hole. The rangers positioned us behind her, outside her field of vision and with a torch buried in the sand behind her so we could watch her dig her hole. The hole is an inverted V….very clever girl! Once she has completed the hole she begins to lay. Fascinating to watch. As soon as she had laid about 20 eggs she is committed to the task so we then could take some photos and walk to the front of her very slowly whilst the Rangers ensured she was tagged and measured. This girl had laid here before so was already tagged. This little lady laid 86 eggs and then spends about an hour filling the hole and bringing the sand level back up to the beach level. Then all torches are off and she makes her way back to the lowest point of light which is the horizon over the sea. This girl got it a bit wrong and had actually dug her hole below high tide mark. This means that all the eggs would be drowned. So as soon as she hit the ocean the Ranger digs them all up, counts them and we help them to relocate them to a “ranger” dug hole above the tide mark. So we saved 86 little turtle babies this night!

The hatchlings take about 6 weeks to hatch and when they make their way back down the beach into the ocean, they are magnetically imprinted with the beach and the females (after 30 years) will return here to lay. It takes that long for a female to reach laying maturity. The males never return at all. Once she leaves her eggs her job is over. She never returns to check on her eggs or young, the babies are on their own! Some parents I’m sure wish this for their teenagers!

Whilst MJ & Kim were at Mon Repos, MJ & I went on long early morning walks enjoying the incredible scenery and animal and birdlife. So many varieties of birds as there are so many different habitats. The bird book got a very heavy workout between us!

We received two large showers of rain whilst in Mon Repos, about 1 ½ inches in each. It was the first real rain we have experienced since beginning travelling!

We left on Sunday 18th just after Bill and Marie who were returning to Yeppoon. Just a little sad to be leaving such a unique spot. So we travelled down to Hervey Bay and to a caravan park at Urangan right near the Marina. Neat and tidy but we really don’t get any views.

We have undertaken a bus tour of Hervey Bay and surrounding area which was interesting. It is a city of 60,000 population now and expanding rapidly. So many building developments! Very pretty along the Esplanade and Urangan Pier is spectacular being nearly 1 km long. It previously was even 238 metres longer but when it ceased operations the end began to deteriorate quickly so it was demolished. Thank goodness the rest of it has been heritage protected now.

Friday saw us catch the ferry from the Marina to Fraser Island. We opted for a 1 day 4WD bus tour instead of risking our own vehicle. When we saw how many 1st time 4WD back packer drivers get bogged etc we were very glad of our decision. It was fantastic and this island is so very unique. We began our trip at Kingfisher Bay and travelled to Central Station and then on to Eurong Beach resort for lunch. Following a buffet lunch the bus took us onto the Fraser Island “Super Highway”. This is 75 mile beach. It is amazing hooting along this stretch of sand with vehicles and planes going in all directions! Our first stop was at Eli Creek. This is a fresh water creek expelling 4,000,000 litres per hour of rain water into the ocean. We paddled up it for about 500 metres. The creek actually goes for about 5 kms up into the island. The water is so pure and clean. A very popular spot for all travellers!

Back onto the “highway” and up to the wreck of the Maheno. This ship was a luxury liner that had been purchased by Japan and was being towed by a smaller ship when it was hit with cyclonic winds. Needless to say the smaller ship could not hold it and it was beached here in 1935. As you will now see from the photos nature in the form of sea and weather have caused its destruction. I believe given another 5 years and there will be nothing much to show, either rusted away or swallowed up by the sand.

Another couple of km’s further on were The Pinnacles or cliffs of coloured sands. Very pretty with the sunlight on them. It was at this point we were offered the chance of a scenic flight over the island taking off from the beach where we were. What an opportunity! The young female pilot also told us that we would get an extended flight as she was just about ready to finish for the day so she would drop us off back down the beach at Eurong Resort. The bus had to return the same way so we weren’t missing anything! So we took off along the beach and flew over the coast line and the island. It gave us a much better perspective of the sand blows, the extent of the fresh water lakes and the incredible variety of vegetation. The vegetation varies from temperate forest to rainforest, beach dunes, lakes and streams. All this on the world’s largest sand island!

Following the flight the bus picked us up and we wound our way through the sandy 4WD tracks to Lake Mackenzie. This is the most beautiful place; the water is so blue and clear. Even though we did not see any, this area is known for the famous purebred Fraser Dingos. There is a walker’s camp area all dingo fence proofed complete with galvanised locked boxes to store your food in. We spent over a hour here swimming and walking around the edge of this pretty lake. Then it was back in the bus to Kingfisher Bay to catch the ferry home. We reached Urangan at 6 pm so it was a very full day.

More rain saw us spend a quiet day yesterday but today we headed up to Burrum Heads and then to River Heads to check out the scenery. Burrum is on the mouth of the Burrum River and it is obviously a very popular holiday spot. River Heads is the mouth of the Mary River that flows through Maryborough. Low tide when we were there so there was lots of sand! There is a 3 metre tide fall here.

Thursday this week will see us on another bus trip to Maryborough, including the markets and a cruise on the Mary River. Sunday we will pack up again from here and head to Rainbow Beach for the next 3 weeks. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner.

For any wanting to send us anything by mail, it has to be AT LANDBASE before 14th December as this is our Posties last day of posting before the Christmas break.

We both send you much good cheer and hope life is treating you all gently.

Cheers Rob & Walter

From Airlie Beach to Mon Repos

2007-10-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

What can I say? Well we have been so busy enjoying this marvellous lifestyle I have not had time until now to update you all of our movements!

Last time I told you that I had to have a diving medical as I am over 55 years of age to enable me to dive at Airlie Beach. How things work in this life keeps amazing me! When I went to the Doctors I was sitting there filling out about 8 sheets of medical history when I was tapped on the shoulder. Who should be there but Judy Smith from Bargo. We met Judy and her husband Tony 2 years ago at a caravan park between Ballina and Lennox Head. Although we had not caught up physically in that time we had kept in touch by email and phone. Neither of us could believe our eyes. It turned out that she and Tony was “baby sitting” a boat at Hamilton Island. We arranged to travel over by ferry on Saturday and have lunch with them. I forgot to ask her the name of the boat.

Friday saw us get up early and head to Shute Harbour to go out to Hardy Reef on the “Fantasea”. It is about 1 ½ hour trip and we were lucky enough to have 5 separate whale sightings on the way out. Me, of course, was going diving and Walter snorkelling. It was a gorgeous day, not a breath of wind with the water that lovely turquoise colour. I had 2 great dives, getting up close and personal with a great Queensland groper and “Basil” a huge Maori Wrasse. Walter went for a ride in their semi submersible sub which cruised along the reef wall.

When disgorging passengers at Hamilton Island on the way back we tried to guess which boat it was that Judy & Tony were looking after. Some big motor cruisers and yachts in the marina that caught our eye, particularly one close to the quay.

Next day we again caught the bus to Shute Harbour ferry terminal and caught the ferry via Daydream Island to Hamilton Island. Saw another whale just off Daydream too! We arrived at Hamilton to be met on the wharf by Judy. I guess our faces were a real picture when she pointed out the boat that Tony was waving from! It was the biggest one and most beautiful that we were admiring from the ferry! It is called Kokomo 11 and belongs to Lang Walker, a Property developer multi billionaire! The boat is worth $40 million….. It certainly showed us what a lot of money can buy. It is total class and the most beautiful timber work and interior design. This is what Tony does. When we were in Ballina he told us that he outfits boats but didn’t tell us it is for this one guy only! He apparently owns 5 other boats including a big racing yacht and is also having another one built in Italy at present. The photos really don’t do it justice. It has a full spa and bar on the top deck, a formal lounge and formal dining room, 1 speed boat and 1 zodiac, 2 galleys, a masters/owners suite complete with office, 2 double guest bedrooms with private ensuites and 2 twin rooms again with private ensuites (all in black and gold). It also is fully outfitted for deep sea fishing and also for diving. They have a normal staff of a chef, an engineer, and a deck hand that is also a dive master, and 2 housekeepers or cabin hands.

Judy prepared a lovely lunch which we had on the second back deck. We spent a great day with two great friends on a boat that you had to see to believe. After lunch Tony hired a golf buggy and Judy and I toured Hamilton Island. Very pretty but very touristy!
From Airlie Beach we then travelled a whole 60kms to Midge Point. We stayed 4 days. A lovely park but the sand flies were too friendly! We walked or rode on our bikes along a couple of tracks through the bush to creeks and lagoons or Rob walked right out on the beach. When the tide went out here you had a kilometre hike to the water!

From here we drove further south to Cape Hillsborough Nature Reserve. This is a lovely spot. We were lucky to get in here because of Queensland school holidays. This meant the park was very busy particularly with campers and camper trailers. This is an amazing place where early in the mornings or in the late evening the locals (kangaroos and wallabies) come down to the beach. There are also a number of walks to do. Walter undertook the Mangrove Boardwalk with me, this is a fairly easy walk through a mangrove forest with 32 different types of Mangroves. It also went past a Shell Midden that is dated over 1000 years old. Very pretty with lots of bird life. I decided that I wanted to do the Andrews Point walk. This definitely wasn’t for Walter with his crook hip. So to beat the heat she got up at 5.30 am and went first to the beach and watched the roos and the sunrise for before starting off. The first section was about 256 steps straight up for 500 metres. When you reached the plateau the views were definitely worth it. It was about 4 kms around the top, overlooking a rocky beach called Turtle Bay and Wedge Island. Wedge Island is joined to the mainland by a causeway that is exposed at low tide. If you want to walk over there you have to give yourself an hour either side of the tide or you might be staying over there for a while! The track from the top is down more steps down to the beach, again you have to time it for low tide or you have to retrace your steps! I had a bit of paddling to do but not much. Another walk was the Beachcombers walk and again you time it with the tide as the track comes down the mountain onto another beach that you can walk back along to the park. So very pretty.

From Hillsborough we then drove further south to Yeppoon. We had a lovely site at the Beachside Caravan Park, just 50 metres from a beautiful beach with views over Great Keppel Island. We gave Bill and Marie a call (we met them at Rollingstone) and Bill drove down to see us then took us for a drive along the coast to Ridges Resort, around Yeppoon including Roslyn Harbour and the Marina. He took us back to their place in Yeppoon for afternoon tea. Marie had been shopping in Rockhampton with her daughter Debbie but was back in time for afternoon tea. They were fantastic to us during our stay in Yeppoon.

We had Barbeques with them, went out in their boat around Great Keppel and North Keppel, with a picnic lunch off a beach on the far side of Keppel, and had many drives, morning teas and breakfast at their favourite haunt called “Food for Thought” Best brekkys! We even travelled with them to stay and their daughter Debbie and son on law Alistair’s property at Calliope outside Gladstone. Deb had organised for us all to attend the Ubobo Spring Fair. As we had to dress appropriately, Marie and I went to St Vinnies in Rockie to buy the hats etc. We had a lot of fun their and came out with hats, blouses, shoes all for under $10! We turned out as the best dressed at the fair! We had a drive into Gladstone with them and saw the huge harbour traffic and loading facilities. Bill also drove Walter and I to Awoonga Dam. After the 2 nights we jumped back into Bill’s car and drove up to Monto and then onto Cania Gorge. We stayed the night in cabins there. Very dry at present and Cania dam very low. Usually there is platypus in the creek but the creek did not have one skerrick of water in it so no platty pussys. What was magnificent though, was the bird feeding. Lots of King Parrots, lorikeets and galahs, white cockatoos come into be fed each evening. The King parrots come right down and sit on your arms or shoulders, no fear at all. Such beautiful birds. Later in the evening the Rufus Bettongs also come into the feeding area to scavenge what the birds miss!

We left Cania Gorge and drove towards Biloeala where we had lunch with friends of Bill & Maries. Darryl and his wife are involved in a huge property development there of 229 blocks of land on the outskirts of the town. The land was originally a Lucerne farm. With the mining around the area it will be a sure fire money earner. They are big blocks and so close to the town. After leaving there we drove through Mt Morgan, another town with heaps of mining history and back to Yeppoon.

We also drove up to Emu Park and saw the Singing Ship (it wasn’t singing though) and to Zilsie. Beautiful views across the bay but land is not cheap. Found a nice block and rang the Real estate agent and he told us it was “cheap at $595,000”. Walter and I also drove up to visit a crocodile farm. This was quite different as he “farms” these 3000 odd crocs for their meat and their skins. The skins when cured are exported to Gucci in Italy. I was sceptical but deigned to try a crocodile dish. I had a crocodile pie and I have to admit it was lovely!

Whilst we were in Yeppoon we also attended Rotary. What a great club this one is and so friendly. They have an amazing project of low cost housing for the elderly. They have a number of both single and 2 bedroom units that they maintain and their tenants only get charged about $70.00 per week. I was also lucky and won the lucky door prize and it was a bottle of red with their own label on it. They buy the wine as clean skins and then label it!

Another 2 friends who we met at Walkamin came to stay at the same caravan park so along with Bill and Marie we arranged to travel to Byfield, about 35 kms from Yeppoon. It is a sort of arty community and also some alternative type lifestyles. We booked on a WaterPark Eco tour. This turned out to be great value for money. We cruised the river in an electric boat, saw water dragons and Azure Kingfishers, we then were taken by truck around the property which specialises in Tea Trees and the distillation of Tea Tree Oil. It was fascinating to look at the processes. Their oil is 100% pure and retails for $15.00 for 100mls. The crazy thing is that they get $50.00 a bag for the Tea Tree mulch! This is getting more and more popular as been found to protect against termites. Following that they had a lovely old horse and sulky ride around more of the property. Following this we went to a lovely pottery place with café and had lunch and then visited another potter and glass blower who apparently provided all the gifts recently for the APEC conference! Had lovely stuff but travelling in a caravan sure prevents you buying anything!

Bill and Marie had us all around again that night for a farewell BBQ as the next day we were heading south once again.

We travelled down to 1770 but were very disappointed in the caravan park there. Worst Park we have come up against. So instead of the 2 weeks we were planning, we changed it to 2 nights. However, 1770 itself is a very pretty place with lots of history. Captain James Cook landed here on his way up the coast, and the beginning of his many troubles too! We drove around and went to the lookouts and beaches and also had a peak at Agnes Waters. Lovely spots but the rates here are astronomical! For a block with no services you can pay between $3000-$6000 per annum just for the view!

We got out of the park at 7.30am on the morning and then left the van in the boat trailer park opposite the Marina as we were headed out on THE LARC for the day!

Now what is a LARC you ask? It is a Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo vessel. Totally amazing bit of gear and we were to travel with her up 35 kms of beach to Bustard Bay Lighthouse, the first ever built in Queensland. These fascinating vessels are equally at home on land or sea, were originally for military use. The one we travelled on was named in honour of Sir Joseph Banks who accompanied James Cook.

The beach was beautiful and runs beside Eurimbula National Park. It also has 3 estuary tidal creek crossings as well as a 4WD track up to the lighthouse. They provided both morning tea and lunch. The lighthouse was fascinating and also has a restored lighthouse keeper’s cottage. There is also a graveyard with sad tales to tell of the hard life these early pioneers had in trying to protect seafarers. After lunch the LARC travelled through more water to some large sand hills where they then issued us with boogie boards and instructions to climb to the top and slide our way down. Braking meant dragging your toes in the sand and if you didn’t get enough grip you could end up in the water! (It also takes off your toe nail polish!) Needless to say, I didn’t get much braking power and ended up in the water – I did have my swimmers on just in case!

Tide was in on the way back so much of the trip was in the water. For any coming this way it is a MUST DO!

On return to the Marina we jumped straight into the car (about 4.15pm) and drove down towards Bundaberg. Bill and Marie had recommended Mon Repos to us. What a lovely spot. We are now in Turtle Sands Caravan Park which is also part on the Conservation Reserve. This is where the Great Loggerhead Turtles come into nest and lay their eggs. Apparently they begin this process about the first week in November each year so we hope to get to see this. The Turtle Rookery is right next door to us. The beach is 50 metres in front of us and we are spending each afternoon swimming or reading on the beach, then come back grab a glass of wine and take the chairs back up to sit there and watch the sunset and at present the full moon rising over the beach. Ho Hum, what a life.

Hope you all are travelling well and health is also on your side. Until next episode,

Rob & Walter
The Happy Travellers

2007-09-11T23:21:00.000-07:00

11th September 2007

Well hasn’t time flown! Thought it was about time that we updated the web site to fill you all in on our travels.

What we didn’t tell you last time (it was a sore point at the time) but at Port Douglas at the Pandanus Caravan Park the van was damaged through a tree branch. Broke our heart at the time but then we realised that we are covered by insurance. A phone call verified that and we organised for the repair under insurance and found that they also would pay for alternative accommodation whilst the van was being repaired and we could have it repaired in Cairns.

We did do some nice things there. Rob went for long walks on the beach. We had a ride on the Bally Hoo Steam Train, and visited the Port Douglas Markets. Have a look at the photo of the guy riding a bike and crushing sugar cane that they then sold with lime juice for $3.50 a glass! We also had a wonderful day at the Rainforest Habitat. We had lunch with the birds here and saw some amazing birds that are usually very difficult to find. Also here we saw our first Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo.

We had booked into Ellis Beach Caravan Park which is on the highway between Port Douglas and Cairns. We had a lovely spot just 25 metres from the beach. The van was there for 5 days until the repair place in Cairns was ready for it and then we were able to move into a cabin also at Ellis just 10 metres from the beach! So we spent a lovely time here sunning and swimming. (No Crocs here!) We went into Cairns after dropping the caravan off but it is just another city and over run with tourists. We do like to more unspoilt places…. Whilst there Steve and Vicki (friends we met at Walkamin called down and spent a day with us and then we arranged to go up to Walkamin and have a day up there.

We had to leave Ellis by about 8.30 am as they have invited us to Brunch! When we got there, another camper who happened to be a Country and Western singer gave us a concert in the lovely community kitchen. He and his wife also travel around and play at various venues. So we got this all free of charge!

On the Friday we had to leave our little cabin and head into Cairns. We could not pick the van up until 3 p.m. so we had time to waste. We found the big Stockland Mall and managed quite successfully to spend a few hours here. Even found a Sushi Train restaurant for lunch which was great. The last time Rob saw one of these was in Vancouver in Canada! Walter was very taken with it.

We picked up the van which was now as good as new and headed south to Bramston Beach. This is about 60kms south of Cairns and our ex-neighbours from Cobar were staying there. We had earlier arranged to arrive a week earlier but the repairs to the van changed that. Bramston Beach is just a small place on the coast. The park had been badly hit by Cyclone Larry but has also been sold to a developer so the current managers are very slack and no maintenance of any kind happens. The community spirit between the campers there is fantastic. They organise all sorts of activities in conjunction with a couple that live across the road from the park. Friday night (the fishermen) organised a fish BBQ. You just come around the camp fire with your plate and utensils, you put $1.00 into the kitty and they cook up their fresh caught fish in a lovely batter. All you have to do is bring your salad etc! On Sunday night, the couple over the road have a pasta night (spaghetti bolognaise). They have hosted up to 40 people…! Tuesday night is a theme night. Whilst we were there it was a sausage sizzle. They have had Chinese nights, European nights, Italian nights and so on. Wednesday night everybody goes up to the only shop in Bramston which is post office, coffee shop, general store and fish and chip shop. This puts funds also into the local community. The whole place is amazing. Many caravanners there have been going there for years at this time of the year. For our ex-neighbours, it was their eleventh year.

Len and Elaine were great and drove us around into Babinda, up to the Boulders and to Josephine Falls. Both these places are incredible, both in the rainforest and Larry’s effect very much still to be seen. Huge trees that have been there for over 100 years, snapped off by the wind like match sticks. The Boulders is actually a rocky gorge where Babinda creek drops down from the mountain. Babinda’s theme is Sunshine in the Rain. It has one of the highest rainfalls in Australia. Josephine Falls comes down from Mt Bartel Frere which is the highest mountain in Queensland. Very beautiful and high in the rainforest. Very easy walking track to both places. There is also swimming holes above the Boulders and at Josephine Falls but it was raining and the water was freezing.

Len also drove us to a lovely park in Innisfail. Again, Larry’s damage still very evident in this town that took the front of that cyclone.

We left Bramston and headed to a place recommended to us by friends we met at Walkamin. This is Rollingstone Beach. It is 60kms north of Townsville. To get there though we had to drive through Cardwell where we were told to stop and try the bakery pies. They really were yummy. Cardwell really blew us away; it is right on the coast and overlooks the large island of Hinchinbrook.

Rollingstone Beach Caravan Park is really the most beautiful spot and caravan park we have so far visited. We have had an absolute beach front site, overlooking Hinchinbrook, Palm and Magnetic Island. The park is immaculate and includes the greatest pool with waterfall. The sites are large and views unencumbered. Our view was greater than 180 degrees. The tide goes out for miles and yet comes in so very quickly. We met some great people here, Peter and Sue (from Condobolin), Marie & Bill (from Yepoon), Brian and Leonie (now from Wodonga but Leonie was a Dubbo girl). We had happy hour each evening out the front on the grass strip facing the beach, we had joint BBQ’s and helped celebrate Brian’s birthday, travelled the kilometres to Balgal Beach for the fish and chips, and the km’s the other direction to visit “Frosty Mango”. This is a great little shop with beaut meals (all featuring mangos somehow), great coffee and fabulous ice-cream of all flavours. (Mango Chicken was fantastic).

Whilst here we made a day trip up the Paluma Range to the little village of Paluma and onto Hidden Valley. Very windy road but the view on the top was spectacular overlooking the coast and the sugar cane and Mango farms. We drove out to Birthday Creek Falls and Paluma Dam before going on to Hidden Valley. The changes to the vegetation in 22 kms were startling. Really thick rainforest (cassowary territory) to mountain ash, then the really dry scrubby country as you dropped down the western side of the range. We had coffee and damper at a lovely old coffee shop where the wild birds come right in (not for the damper but the jam!). We had McCleay Honeyeaters and Lewin Honey eaters eating out of our hand and even a beautiful Rifle Bird came down to the table. HE was after the damper!

We also stopped on the way down at Little Crystal Creek and a bridge built in the 1930’s to provide employment for the unemployed in the depression. Under this bridge was another lot of beautiful rock pools but water was too cold for us to swim.

We leave here Wednesday 12th to drive to Airlie Beach. We are sure though that nothing can be as lovely as here and we will be sad to leave it.

12th September

We arrived here at Airlie Beach . Boy, has this place grown! We are booked into The Flame Tree Caravan Park, a Top Tourist Park close to Shute Harbour. We didn't really want to stay right in town, too busy and too many tourists! Its a lovely park with heaps of birds and wildlife. We went out to dinner last night at "Shipwrecked". It was recommended by the park and they gave us a voucher for one free desert! Lovely place right on the waterfront.

Shopping today (13th) and I (Rob) has to go and have a diving medical as they won't let you dive here if you are over 55 without one! Won't hurt me, just cheeses me off! With this done we will then most likely to book to go out on the reef either Friday or Saturday as the weather is absolutely perfect! Markets are on Saturday so it most likely will be Friday! If our mail arrives on Friday, we leave here Monday to head further south. If not, well we will stay another day or two!

Health wise we are not too bad though Walter’s hip prevents him undertaking much walking. The weather has been gorgeous and we are both getting good tans.

Until next time keep well and if you are travelling, travel safely.

The Happy travellers,

Rob & Walter

World Heritage Daintree and Wonga Beach

2007-08-15T02:51:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it is a hard life for us….after 2 lovely weeks in Cooktown we headed south. First we stayed a night at Rifle Creek, a free camping area at the intersection of the Cook Highway and the road towards Mossman. Our plans were to head the following day through Mossman, across the Daintree River on the ferry and spend a week right up in the Daintree.

Yes we took the van on the ferry, then over the Alexander Range. This is a bitumen road, but quite narrow and very steep and windy! Needless to say Rob had her heart in her mouth the whole way! We had made arrangements to stay about ½ way up towards Cape Tribulation at what is known as Rainforest Village Van Park. We were really happy with our choice of park. All fully grassed sites, all set in such a lovely tropical garden surrounded by the beautiful Daintree National Park. This World Heritage rainforest is really something special. Did you know that it is the oldest rainforest in the world, older than the Amazon? It has many species of what is known as Ancient Trees, direct descendents of the dinosaur days.

We did the usual in picking up many tourist brochures, so spent the first night pouring over them. The other ‘plus’ that we saw is that there is no TV and no telephones, in this remote location. All tourist operations north of the Daintree River run on generators as there is no power. We started off the first day on a Crocodile spotting cruise on Cooper Creek. Not many out, only two in fact but it was pleasant. We headed up to Cape Tribulation and sauntered over the beach. It is lovely but the entire tourist buses call there so there are always plenty of people on the beach. Amazing tides here, well over 3 metres. Bit of a shock when you see the same place at low tide! The sand seems to go on forever.

One of the afternoon trips we did was to an Exotic Tropical Fruit Farm where we got to try 12 different tropical fruits, some of we had never even heard of before. They also showed us how to prepare them and then we strolled through their orchard. One surprise was that Dragon fruit actually grows on a cactus!

There is so much to see in this area that people who just come up for a day trip from Mossman, Port Douglas or Cairns really don’t see very much. We organised to go ‘Jungle Surfing’. This was such fun. It entailed being put into an abseiling harness and you went on like a flying fox over 6 different platforms through the rainforest canopy. On each platform they had an ‘eco’ talk on life existing in this unique area. You also had views of over 45kms over the Great Barrier Reef.

We also undertook a day trip out to the outer reef again. This time a bus picked us up from the caravan park at 8a.m. and took us to the beach at Cape Tribulation. From there a rubber ducky took us out through the waves to the motor cruiser called Odyssey H2O. It was a beautiful day, fine and sunny with no wind. We motored out about 20kms to MacKay Reef. Walter was able to go snorkelling and of course, Rob was again at the bottom of the ocean this time chasing green turtles! Only Rob and one other diver on board so the bottom certainly was not crowded!

We had days just reading and sitting in the sun, of seeing cassowaries just down the road, even one with a chick. These birds are quite aggressive so close photos are just not possible. Another day we went south of the van park and found the Daintree Ice-cream Company. They make home made ice-cream from their tropical fruit orchard. (Remember too, they have no power and kick up their big generator on Mondays to make the weeks supply!) The flavours of the day were Wattle seed (like mocha), passionfruit, mango and coconut. It was so yummy!

Another trip south took us to the Daintree Discovery Centre. This is a private concern but has one heaps of tourism awards. They have sunk millions of dollars into it. There is an aerial walkway above the rainforest floor, then a five floored aerial tower that takes you into each level of the rainforest. You are provided with a great booklet and an audio guide. These guides were so well done, and described the varying levels of the rainforest, the birds, and the butterflies, the animals including the bats as well as descriptions of the trees, vines, flowers and water courses. We often got to spot the gorgeous electric blue Ulysses butterfly but never did see the Cairns Birdwing which is brilliant green and gold. Had to make do with a picture!

Our week came to an end and we headed back over the range and the ferry to a tiny place called Wonga Beach. Now this was paradise. A 5 km beach fringed with coconut palms. The Caravan Park was a Top Tourist and is right on the beach. (Close enough – within 200m) yet you were protected from any wind. It is 5km from Mossman so we did have phones again and internet connection. TV was not too good though. We met some lovely people here who come from Shortland in Newcastle, Alan and Julie. Again from Wonga Beach it was a great place to venture out to other areas. We went up to Daintree Village (this is on the south side of the river) and we went on an Electric boat to see the wildlife on the river. This meant a couple of crocs, a beautiful Azure Kingfisher and a Green Tree Snake. The camouflage on this one was incredible. Black on top and bright yellow underneath. When it lies on the branch you truly have difficulty in seeing him!

We also went up to view Diane Cilento’s Karnak Theatre and coffee shop and met the lady herself. Still a really beautiful woman. She also has a gallery there and displays many pieces of glass from Ola Höglund. This is the most beautiful glass I have ever seen. He originally came from Sweden and ever piece he makes is individually crafted. He blows the glass using the most incredible colours. The pieces are spectacular. When we saw how he made some of the larger bowls you realise that it is not expensive. So painstaking and intricate.

Then on Monday we again upped anchor and headed a little further south to Port Douglas. This is quite a unique place also. So many resorts, big names and expensive properties but the town itself has a lovely feel. So many tourists here though. We will leave here again on Monday and head just a little further south to Ellis Beach. It is just north of Cairns and we will base ourselves there for 4 days. We will check Cairns out from this distance before going onto Bramston Beach where we will meet up with our neighbours from Cobar. After that well we don’t know yet.

Nimrod Explorer and Outer Barrier Reef

2007-07-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday 21st July saw us set out on another adventure. This time we were catching the Nimrod Explorer from Cooktown for a 3 nights/ 4 day diving cruise to the outer Barrier Reef. All of the other 13 passengers began their trip from Cairns with a flight to Cooktown where we all boarded the boat at 6 p.m.

Nimrod Explorer is one of the roomiest dive boats anywhere. The vessel is twin hulled for optimum stability and measures 23m x 8m, making the saloon positively spacious. With a maximum 18 guests, we could have held a barn dance out there! There are 2 cabins on the saloon deck - 1 double and 1 twin and on the lower deck there are 4 quad share rooms and a double. All rooms have their own shower and toilet.

We had a quad share room, with both Walter and I bagging the bottom bunks, and a lovely young lass (Kat) who was a dive instructor from Cairns taking one of the top bunks. (She was much more agile than us!) We all gathered in the saloon/dining room once on board and were given a briefing by Captain Phil, Dive Masters Kelly and Dan, and Housekeeper Val and Chef Steph. This gave us a good idea of the procedures to follow for our time on the boat for our safety and the smooth operation of day to day.

It was a mixed group of people, 5 from USA, 2 from Spain on their honeymoon, 1 Japanese lady, an older Australian guy (even older than us!) Kat the dive Instructor (who was British), a Pakistani, and 2 other guys who we think were from South America. Even the staff was international! Cleaner was from Italy, Cook was from Britain, Kelly (dive master) New Zealand, and Dan (Dive Master) from Britain. The Captain and Engineer were actually Australians.

The boat has its’ own desalinator, which can churn out 6000 litres of fresh water per day, this meant we could shower after every dive. The boat has the old nautical charm of wood paneling throughout, but the Nimrod Explorer has fully air-conditioning throughout and has video and CD players. There are also plenty of fish identification books, a lending library, more board games than we had time to play, self-serve brewed coffee, a wide variety of teas and complimentary soft drinks. As if that were not enough to keep us busy, there is a shaded upper deck area with tables and chairs, as well as a sunbathing area.

The first night we left Cooktown about midnight and steamed throughout the night to anchor at first light on Ribbon Reef No.10, on the Challenger Bay. As the wind kept up, it was very “wobbly” as Phil the skipper put it, and I didn’t really get any sleep.

The first dive was at 6.30 am after a light brekky. Visibility was easily a good 25-30 metres. Pretty dive, nice corals, lion fish and a myriad of reef fish. Walter tried snorkeling but it was very windy so the sea very choppy on the surface that made it quite uncomfortable so he aborted the exercise! It was so nice underwater though, my dive lasted for 55 minutes….the joy of tropical waters! The timetable for the day was for 5 dives, including a night dive. The second was at Pixie Wall, again lovely with schools of barracuda, grey whaler shark, Trevally and thousands of highly coloured reef fish of all varieties. I even got to see some varieties that are particularly hard to spot, due to their ability to camouflage, such as the Leafy Scorpion fish. I had my new underwater camera so I had to start all over again working out its settings etc! The next dive was at Pixie Gardens. This is a very pretty area with Lion Fish, Anemone Fish, Christmas Tree worms and lovely coral of all shapes and types.

There were 2 other dives this day, the Monolith and a night dive but I was so tired after the third dive I opted out. Needless to say I slept like a top that night making up for the night before!

At 5.30 am we began steaming to the next site about 1 ½ hours away to the Cod Hole. When we arrived at the Cod Hole, the current was too strong for diving so we changed to Cormorant Reef. This was another amazing dive site, lots of fish, white tipped reef shark and Leafy Scorpion Fish. After completing this dive and having a lovely hot breakfast, we steamed back to the Cod Hole.

The Cod Hole, for me, was the pinnacle of the trip. I have read about the Cod Hole for years. The Cod Hole is known for its’ resident family of huge potato cod which enjoy protected status in the area, and have made this small section of the reef their home. They range in size from 25 to 60 kg (50 to 120 pounds). The diving depth at the Cod Hole varies from 10 to 20 metres on a sloping bottom that is dotted with high profile coral heads and stunning coral gardens.

Weather permitting, two dives are done at the Cod Hole on every 3 ½ day trip, including an in-your-face potato cod feed. Not only great fun for the divers, the feed encourages the potato cods to stay at the Cod Hole where there is an absolute ban on fishing. Unlike some dive boats, the crew of the Nimrod Explorer urges divers not to touch the impossibly cute potato cods so that we do not wipe off their protective mucous coating and expose them to possible infections. The feed was amazing and made for some fantastic photography! They are so cheeky! You really have to get out of their way! They have no trouble about getting up close and personal with you!

Following this dive, we motored back 1 ½ hours to Pixie Pinnacle for the next dive after lunch. This is a pinnacle rising to within 2 feet of the surface. You begin diving at the bottom, about 24 metres and spiral around the pinnacle. It is fascinating to see the changes in sea life as you go up. Very pretty, with Gorgonian fans and some pretty soft corals on this too. Also found some lovely Nudibranchs (see photo). After afternoon tea, we then did a dusk dive on the same pinnacle, different again as you see the ‘day’ fish and creatures going to bed and the ‘night life’ come out to play! The feather stars are beautiful at night as they extended their tentacles to feed, the red bass go hunting – they love the lights from the dive boat, and there are also the lobsters that are prowling around the reef. The parrot fish, they wrap themselves up in their cocoon to protect themselves from predators whilst they sleep. All so fascinating, and such a beautiful world.

Again we began steaming south straight after dinner towards Steve’s Bommie. About a 5 hour motor. There was a dawn dive (5.30 am) but I opted out! I had breakfast then did the next dive. This is another pinnacle named after a guy called Steve who died free diving at the Cod Hole in 1989. There is a plaque set on the bottom of the Bommie in his memory. Again you spiral around, going from the bottom to the top. The top of this Bommie is only 5 feet from the surface and I have never seen anything quite as pretty.. Real Nemo’s live here among a huge variety of corals, and fairy basslet reef fish in all colours of the rainbow.

Walter did not get to undertake any further snorkelling but he ate well and read books!

Then it was back to Cooktown. When we arrived back we were all served Champagne and nibbles on the back deck before we all departed. It was a great trip but we weren’t lucky enough to spot any of the dwarf Minke whales. Think it was a bit late in the season for them. We may have to do this trip again a bit early another time!

From Walkamin to Cooktown

2007-07-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well here is the next episode of our travels!

We ended up spending 5 weeks at Walkamin on the Atherton Tablelands. A beautiful place with so much to see and do. We saw waterfalls, volcanic craters, coffee plantations, markets where we picked up the best pineapples and fresh passionfruit, went flying in a Chinese trainer plane and did acrobatics, went to Kuranda and travelled on both the Scenic Railway and the Skyrail. We saw the most marvelous scenery, so green and pretty, with creeks full of clear running water and waterfalls everywhere. A bit of a change from Cobar!

We left the caravan there in storage for 12 days and went and did the most fantastic trip to Cape York including Thursday and Horn Island. (See previous chapter!)

We left Walkamin last Sunday and are now at Cooktown. It is a totally unspoilt, scenic, sleepy little village. Can't swim though because there’s lots of those "stumpy legged swamp dogs"!!!

When we went on the Cape York trip, because of the rain, we weren’t able to undertake the Bloomfield track because the track is very steep in some places on a clay base. On Monday, whilst lunching on fresh grilled barramundi and salad, Dot & Len Hutton, the 2 tour guides for the cape trip, arrived in with the next Tag a Long tour. Len offered us the option of jumping on the end of the tour the next day to drive the Bloomfield Track . Needless to say, we jumped at the chance. This is a 4WD track that runs down through Cedar Bay National Park into the Daintree to Cape Tribulation and southward. So we joined the tour at 8 am Tuesday and went back down through Black Mountain, Little Annan River Gorge and onto the Lions Den Hotel, Weary Bay and Bloomfield Falls. This is the point where it became new territory. We crossed the Bloomfield river and up the mountain into the rainforest. We crossed gorgeous clear creeks amongst dense rainforest, filled with orchids, tree ferns, staghorns and elks. Mangroves grew prolifically along the creeks, lots of kingfishers and honeyeaters. The road then parallels the coast, and the rainforest meets the sea. The views are spectacular. We walked onto the beach where James Cook played cricket with his crew (the poms won!). The beach is totally unspoilt and we were the only people on it.

We decided not to call in at Cape Tribulation as it appeared that thousands were there. We decided we would call back here from the Daintree end. We went down as far as what is known as the Dujabli Boardwalk. This is a boardwalk through the Daintree of about 1200 metres. The fan palms, mangroves, rattan palms, pandanus and so many other plants and trees. There is more species here in 1 hectare in the Daintree than there is in the whole of the USA! We left the tag a long tour here, thanking them for letting us join in and we drove back to Cooktown the way we came, along the Bloomfield track again. This time on the way home we stopped at a lookout over the Bloomfield river. We were so excited as we looked down on the river over a large sweeping bend and on that sandbank was the biggest crocodile! He was a good 5 metres long and huge! I was glad that we were high above the river! We arrived back in Cooktown at 5 pm after a wonderful day.

Yesterday we, with 2 other travelling caravanning friends, Roger & Jenny, caught a tour called "Catch a Crab Tour". It was a 6 metre boat and we all left the wharf at 8 am. (Boy that's early for us these days). We travelled up the Endeavour River, first checking all the crab pots he had put in the night before. Anything legal size was ours to keep. Lots in each one but only two were true legal size, so many of the others only 5ml TOO SMALL! But we had 2 lovely big mud crabs for tea last night after I cooked them!

We also went croc spotting (stumpy legged swamp dogs) and saw 2 huge ones. One was sunning himself on the bank and the other in the water. The one on the bank scared the livin' daylights out of us when he launched himself off the bank, over the boat into the river! We threw a line in but I caught the only fish, a small brim, which we sent back to his mother! We travelled 15 miles up river and into the rainforest. So very beautiful and prehistoric. Made you feel that you were the only one to have ever gone there.

Tomorrow we are catching the Nimrod Explorer at 5 pm for a 3 night/4 day Outer Reef diving trip. (Walter will sit on the deck and read whilst I talk to the fishies! He may do some snorkeling if his hip is OK). We will give you a whole chapter on this adventure next week when we return!

Today we drove out to Finch Bay with our lunch and sheltered behind some rocks out of the wind and sand. It is totally unspoilt and it is just the way James Cook would have seen it when he put his ship, “The Endeavour” in here for repairs all those years ago.
Check out the tide though, there is a 3 metre difference here!

We plan to leave here on the 28th at this stage and head to Mossman, Daintree, Wonga Beach and Port Douglas, beginning our trip down the coast. It is warm here but very windy. This is usual here apparently, even Cook’s Diary mentioned the strong SE prevailing winds!

Til next time, the Happy Travellers

Rob & Walter

Adventure Before Dementia: Cape York 4WD Adventure

2007-07-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.guidestoadventure.com.au

Cape York 4WD Adventure

2007-06-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

At last our trip to Cape York with Guides to Adventure from Atherton began to be a reality with first a briefing on Thursday 14th June. We were also issued with our “Dilly Bag” containing our plates and cutlery and a bag of fruit for the morning fruit stops. We met our guides, Dot & Len Hutton and had all our many questions answered. There were five other couples also about to set out on this adventure to Cape York.

As we were staying at Walkamin they arranged to pick us up on the way as the route took them right passed the caravan park. We all had UHF so we joined the convoy and headed towards Mareeba. One other couple, Vic and Norma met us there as they had been staying in Cairns. First stop was just out of Mareeba at Bruno Manobertoli’s Coffee Plantation. He and his wife and daughter run this and it was the very first coffee plantation in the area. Bruno and “Mama” are both is their 80’s and are very much “hands on” Mama even has the oldest Singer sewing machine there and makes all the Hessian bags for the coffee. Bruno has a 100year old roaster that he bought out from Italy that is still used to roast the coffee. The coffee “cherries” here are laid out in the sun to dry and they use their feet by shuffling through them to turn them!

One of the things we quickly learnt on this trip was the incredible knowledge base that Len and Dot have. This led to lots of “Show & Tells” along the road each day. One of the first of these was a plaque by the side of the road marking one of the camps of Kennedy and his group (an early explorer). We travelled onto Chillagoe through the tablelands of coffee, sugar cane and mango plantations.

At Chillagoe we stopped for lunch before heading out to our Chillagoe cave tour. A Ranger met us and guided us through one of the caves. Beautiful formations and some close encounters with both bentwing and horseshoe bats. Also some lovely huntsmen spiders whose eyes glow like diamonds in the torchlight.

Back on the road and then the rain came! And boy did it some down…..the car did not stay clean for long! After about 35 kms the road was dry and the rain ceased. Our first night out was to camp on the banks of the Mitchell River. Len and Dot had been telling us our lovely this campsite was. However when we got there it had changed completely. The wet season had flooded the river and the normally pretty grassy site had been covered with a foot of sand! We all managed to drive in and find a spot but some had trouble with anchoring their pegs in such soft stuff. We were lucky as we had some sand pegs with us.

Dot (cookie) provided us with a lovely camp oven meal and dessert before we tucked ourselves off to bed in the tent. It rained again during the night so we had a wet and sandy tent to pack up next day but that’s camping! My turn to drive so I was behind the wheel for the next days driving and this involved quite a few creek crossings. Whoever was last got to open and shut the gates (and it wasn’t us this day) and there must have been about 20 gates! We passed through the gold rush area of Palmerville (1880’s) before arriving at Hann River Roadhouse where we spent the second night. They had showers and toilets here – quite civilized! When bush camping though, Len erects a bush toilet and shower if we want it. The shower only went up one night on the whole trip as there were lots of beautiful creeks to swim in. He put the shower up the night that the creek where we were camped at was also the home of some File Snakes!

There are Road trains on this track and when they are approaching you have to pull right off the track. The dust they kick up is incredible and you cannot see a thing for 5 mintues after they pass!

From Hann we traveled to Moreton Telegraph Station on the Wenlock River. Again lots of stops for show and tells and each night we also had a firewood stop to collect wood for the cooking fire. Scenery just kept changing from plains to Open Savannah and then pockets of rainforest. The bird life was also so diverse, Blue Wing Kookaburras, black cockatoo’s, water birds and cranes of all varieties, dingoes, emus, agile rock wallabies, Tawny Frogmouth owls and it goes on and on. Flood level indicators at Moreton blew us away. The 1953 flood was above my head and the camp site itself was 20 metres above the current river level! That is one huge lot of water…

We joined the Old Telegraph track the next day and some amazing creek crossings. We all had to walk the river with Len first to work out the track we were going to take through the stream and to find out how deep it was running. The wet season ensures that no creek stays the same! We all decided to bypass the Gunshot Creek crossing (by its reputation for breaking many vehicles) but come back on the other side to have a look at it. When we did this we found we all could have negotiated it quite easily as Telstra had put a D9 through it! But note the photo of the old approach!

We camped again in the rain at Dulhunty Falls. Getting there though was slow for us as we had the misfortune to have a sharp piece of mulga pierce the side wall of the front left tyre. The group was great though and assisted us to change the tyre and get back on the road. We had a lovely swim in the creek whilst Dot was preparing dinner and then again down came the rain. Dot was saturated but still managed to serve us another incredible meal. Even the most amazing damper and golden syrup.

Next day we were headed for Seisia but stopped for a swim at Fruit Bat Falls. These are the prettiest Falls and such great swimming. To get to Seisia though you first have to cross the Jardine River. This is a large, fast flowing river full of crocodiles. The local aboriginal group now runs the ferry and it is a massive $88 for a 70 second trip! (Thank god it is a return price!!!!) But if you want to get to the top you just have to pay the fee!

Through Bamaga to Seisia and suddenly you feel in another part of the world. Seisia is an islander village and lovely place. We stayed in the caravan park there for 2 nights. Next day we had to be at the wharf by 8 a.m. for catch the ferry to Thursday Island. It is an hour’s trip over to T.I. and it was actually fine and sunny! T.I. is gorgeous, I could live there. We had 1 ½ hour bus trip of the island which is only 2miles X 4miles long. Amazing history, particularly of pearl diving and WWII. Then we were dropped back on the wharf and caught the next ferry to Horn Island. Lunch was provided here before another bus trip. This trip was very interesting, plane wrecks and airfields that were important to the defense of Australia in WW11. After ferrying back to T.I. then to Seisia we all took our chairs down to the beach to watch the sunset. What happened? It rained again so we had to pick up our chairs and run like rabbits for shelter!

Next day was a very early start to drive out to Cape York. We wanted to be there before the other 1,000 tourists! From the car park it is an 800 metre walk but what a thrill when we were finally standing at the very tip! And to top it off, Dot & Len provided Champagne and fruit cake!

This night’s camp site was Elliot Falls. This is National Park’s camp site but right at both Elliot and Twin Falls. Very pretty and good swimming again in crystal clear water.

The road next day was through Batavia Downs and only 2 creek crossings heading towards Weipa. We camped at Weipa Caravan Park right on the beach (croc territory again though – no swimming). Beautiful sunset here over the Gulf. After a late start next day as the bus for the tour broke down, they found a smaller bus and we toured the town and Weipa Bauxite Mine. Very interesting. We had lunch beside one of the eight lakes there and then headed out on the road towards Coen. This night we camped about 5 kms outside of Coen on Coen Bend. Very pretty river. Len filled up his water containers and found 2 File snakes in the creek. There are only 2 varieties of File snakes in Australia (both non venomous) and this one was the Arafura File snake. It did put people of swimming here though! Len put the shower up this night!!

The next day we were supposed to head toward Lakefield National Park but we found out that they had had so much rain that the road had been washed away. This meant a diversion for us down to Musgrave, then to Laura and Old Laura to enter Lakefield from the bottom end. We headed up the track for 75kms to the Red Lily Lagoon. These are amazing. This is the only place in the world where these red lotus lilies grow. After viewing the lilies we travelled back down the track to Kalpower and camped the night here. This is on the banks of the Normanby River and most definitely CROC TERRITORY. We were quite safe where we were camped but after tea we went “croc hunting” with torches. We went down to the crossing and shone torches up the sides of the river and we spotted 3 sets of glowing red eyes! The sign of the snappys!

From here we negotiated a few more creek crossings and headed into Cooktown. After setting up the tent we all headed into town for a lovely feed of fresh grilled barramundi and salad on the waterfront. Walter and I didn’t worry about running around to try and see everything as we are heading to Cooktown with the van for 2 weeks so we will be able to take our time then and see everything.

Each night during Happy Hour, a fine session was run with Tail End Charlie being the Fine Master for the day. All money raised is going to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Len also runs asession on the last night in Cooktown and also an Auction. We all are considerably broker and we will be interested in finding out just how much we raised!

Our trip the next day was to head down what is called the Bloomfield track through Cape Tribulation on our way home. Again though, so much rain found part of the Bloomfield track closed. We drove down to Weary Bay, the Lions Den Hotel and Bloomfield Falls before back tracking on to the main highway and home. We hope that whilst we are either in Cooktown or in the Daintree we might be able to go back and do this part of the track as a day trip. It apparently is one of the most beautiful scenic drives although the track is 3:1 in places on a red clay base. Hence why it was closed.

Back in Walkamin now and have spent three days washing and cleaning everything up. Wouldn’t you know it, the weather now is gorgeous. Another couple here in the caravan park came to us yesterday as they are leaving on the same trip with Len and Dot next week and wanted to pick our brains. I bet they have lovely weather!

We still think it has been one of the best value for money trips we have ever done and we have seen parts of Australia we certainly couldn’t have on our own.

Til next time,
The Intrepid Travellers, Rob & Walter