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......

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

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

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.