Pemberton, what a gem!
We arrived around lunchtime after a picturesque trip through beautiful forests and pasture land. After satisfying our appetite with a Woolworths 4 seed roll we boarded the Pemberton Tram which meanders through towering karris, marri forests, over trestle bridges and across rivers. This was a 1¾ hour trip and the first chance we had to stop and look at the scenery without worrying about where we were driving. Needless to say staying so still we soon found ourselves falling asleep in such peaceful surrounds. Stephen then climbed the Gloucester Tree, 61 metres, while I stayed on terra firma. Late in the afternoon we drove out to Big Brook Dam where we were amazed that some ‘youths’ were swimming in the freezing dam while we watched the sun go down with a drink in our hand.
Friday was a lovely morning and the ‘plan’ was to drive to Beedelup Falls then onto Yeagarup sand dunes for some 4x4 ing. We were surprised to find the falls in a beautiful national park with lots of walking trails. We spent the next couple of hours bushwalking and passed the Karri Valley Resort which was set on a lovely lake, a name to remember. By the time we left the NP it was lunchtime and we found ourselves at the Silkwood Winery enjoying a platter for two and a bottle of very nice Cab Sav. We spent the next 1½ hours as the only guests in the most beautiful setting before a number of people crashed our party. The food was delicious with garlic prawns, dolmades, smoked chicken pate, spring rolls, cheese, biscuits and fresh fruit. It was now obvious that we would not be going to the dunes today and would need at least another day to enjoy the area.
Saturday was hot, back up to 30 degrees, a designated beach day. First call was the Yeagarup sand dunes, a series of vast mobile sand dunes which are steadily moving inland swallowing up forest, lakes and woodlands. The tyres were let down to a very low 12 and we made our foray onto the sands. The first hill is a doozy and we had to have a second go before getting up as the driver was a little tentative and didn’t have enough momentum. Once over the top you are confronted with a huge oasis of sand. We followed the markers over the dunes and through the sandy woodlands for about 12kms that led us to Yeagarup beach which is on the Southern Ocean. The water was bubbling and there was no swimming in this water unless you had a death wish. We had great fun returning, this time with more confidence as we knew what was confronting us. We left just as the yahoos were arriving, complete with stubbies in each hand! On the way back we drove through the Warren NP and climbed the Bicentennial Tree, 75 metres high. Even I had a go this time. We stopped at an avocado farm and bought a box of 35 avocados for $5.00 and a Crownie! We have been giving them away to our NBFs along the way. Twenty percent of Australia’s avos come from this area. Our next stop was Windy Harbour via Northcliffe, an interesting holiday and fishing spot. What started as a fishing cabin village has developed into a holiday town but still with the fishing cabins, some more glam than others. The beach has a sheltered area which is safe for swimming but is surrounded again by the Southern Ocean, a truly wild stretch of water. A kip on the beach and a stop at the Warren Winery where we chatted to the owners for sometime then home for dinner. We sat and had a drink and shared nibbles with our neighbours, Merrill and Norm, and never quite got to the food part; let’s just call it a liquid dinner that night. Merrill and Norm still hadn’t appeared when we left the next morning. Some people just aren’t stayers.
We loved Pemberton, it is what Margaret River used to be like before it became far too commercialised. It is a quaint old town which has retained its character surrounded by some of the most amazing scenery. Michael Butler assures us that it is the home of Bunnings. Stephen was devastated that he was unable to take a tour of the timber yard as they close at 12 noon on Friday and don’t reopen until Monday morning. Not bad hours if you can get them!
Up early and packed up to move to Albany. This day we had lots of stops planned on the way. First stop, Walpole. The chap at the Visitor’s Centre was more than helpful and provided us with maps of the area and stops to make along the way. We drove around a loop which took us past the inlet that Walpole is built on. Next stop, the Valley of the Giants and the Tree Top Walk. A great way to enjoy the red and yellow tingle trees which make up this forest. A few more kilometres down the South Coast Highway and we came to the toffee shop – free samples – where we made a small purchase so that the owners wouldn’t feel bad!! The next port of call, Denmark, the home of the largest barometer in the world, woohoo. Here we experienced the joy of running up and down the 6 flights of stairs watching the water level in the barometer rise and fall on a 6 minute cycle. Some people just don’t know when to stop having fun!! (Stephen: water boils at the top of the barometer at a very low 19.1oC, interesting)?? Denmark is a lovely little seaside town and we probably should have stayed here in hindsight. We eventually reached Albany (not Allbany) around 5.00pm just as the rain started to fall. Albany is a big town and we tend not to like these too much anymore. A big day in the car but a lovely drive and well worth taking the time to stop and see things.
Monday morning we awoke early to a clear sky so took advantage of this and went for a walk along the very nice Middleton Beach and were rewarded with some whales playing off the point and some seashells for Maggie and Frances. Unfortunately the weather closed in and we spent the day on the computer updating photos and blogs although around lunchtime we did take a break and went for a drive to Frenchman Bay. Here we went to Princess Royal Harbour, King George Sound, Stony Hill lookout, the Blowholes which weren’t blowing water but made a huge sound that made me jump about 3 feet and think I was about to be blown off the rocks - much to Stephen’s amusement, the Natural Bridge and the Gap. All of these involved climbing up and down trails and while the sun was out, the wind was blowing a gale. We were treated to our first, then second snake sighting for the trip; however they kindly crawled off the path into the bushes to allow us to pass.
Tuesday morning we set off for the Stirling Ranges which we had been told not to miss. A fabulous but short (90 kms) drive along Chester Pass Road to the Stirling Ranges Retreat, a gen-u-ine nature reserve. The further we got away from the coast the higher the temperature got. An early lunch before climbing Bluff Knoll, a mere 1095 metre stroll up, up, up, up – are you getting the picture – up, up, up. At the halfway point I told Stephen to go ahead as there was no way I was going to make it. He went ahead and I decided to go a little further, then a little further, then a little further. Next thing I knew I was only 10 minutes from the top and no one was more surprised than Stephen when he walked around the corner on the way down and there I was. He walked back up to the top with me and I was very grateful that I had made the effort – my God, it was some effort – as the view from the top was spectacular. There was an ‘older’ chap at the top who took our photo and if Stephen had come down and told me that I hadn’t made it up there and some really old geeza had, I wouldn’t have been too happy. By the way, it was the old geeza’s third attempt at climbing the Bluff, the first 2 attempts failed but he has since stopped smoking. I think there is a message in that for all the puffers of the world. Coming down was no mean feat either. I could hardly believe how bloody steep it was and was amazed that I had actually made it to the top. We arrived back at the van very tired and hanging for a drink. A tour group were gathered around a blazing fire so we sat and chatted for a while before making dinner and hitting the sack.
A beautiful morning, just perfect for a ‘Wildflower Tour’!! Now that you have all picked yourselves up from the ground, I will proceed. The couple who run this retreat are very into their flora and fauna and we had been told their Wildflower Tour was not to be missed. Ayleen (yes Aileen, this is the correct spelling) took us in her little Hi Ace van and we ‘gutter crawled’ – a totally new experience for me although I’m not sure about Stephen – along the road stopping to spot wild orchids. They are obscure little plants but once shown where they are you quickly learn what to look for and believe it or not are soon spotting them for yourself. I could not believe the stuff coming out of Ayleen’s mouth, botanical and common names of every plant we saw. Tony, her husband, took over after morning tea and continued the lessons with the larger plants, symbiotic relationships (???) and some history of the area. Three hours later we were disappointed when the tour finished. Who would have thunk!!!
Back to the van for a quick bite of lunch then we moved to Hyden, the home of Wave Rock. The drive through the ‘food bowl’ of WA was very interesting, acres and acres of wheat, canola, oats, barley and any grain you can think of. The biggest problem we have is that farmers do not provide signage on their properties informing the passing public what crops they are producing. We must ring “Macca” next Sunday and suggest they install electronic boards along the fencing with this information. We arrived at Hyden around 4.30pm and by 6.00pm had completed all the walks around the rocks. Wave Rock was quite impressive but the million dollar question was: Was it worth driving 250 kms out of our way to see it??? The answer is yes, as Chris and Di Ridsdale have seen it and we couldn’t have them seeing something that we haven’t. We were treated to the sight of an Obscure Dragon while here (see photos) along with swarms of mosquitoes. Joy of joys! Back to the desolate caravan park, dinner and a very early night. The most redeeming feature of this place was that the temperature was around 27 degrees.
As we had not even unhooked the van we were away from Hyden around 8.00am the next morning. The drive from here to Ravensthorpe was again through the wheat crops yet this area has many salt lakes and has a serious salinity problem. We have heard a lot about Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun on the ABC on our trip. BHP Billiton were going to ramp up a nickel mine in the area so lots and lots of Government dollars in infrastructure was put into the area then they decided not to go ahead with the project. The city now has 200 new houses, new cafes and shops with no one to buy or run them, so the mining company and the government have given the Shire $10 million as compensation. We stopped for some morning tea at one of the cafes and the owner, a local, told me that 7 of the 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom houses in Hopetoun had been sold (apparently to local farmers for holiday houses: it’s near the beach) for $375,000 each, well below cost. Unfortunately it’s a bit far from home for us to pick up a bargain.
We continued on towards Esperance but were stopped in our tracks by a grass fire. With the road closed we took a gravel road detour, always a worry with the van, however the road was quite good and we only passed about 5 road trains going the other way; uggh, clouds of dust!! As we approached Esperance the temperature once more dipped to around 21 and the wind was hurricane force.
Why is it that as soon as we approach the beach the weather turns sour???
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/PembertonAlbanyStirlingRangesHydenEsperance#
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Perth, Woodman’s Point, Collie, Nannup, Yallingup 1 – 14 Oct
Our move to Karrinyup, which is a northern suburb of Perth, coincided with the increase in the temperature. The caravan park was delightful with lots of grass and lakes with ducks and swans. We no longer judge the parks by the pool as it is not warm enough to use them. Hopefully that will change soon.
Our old NBFs, Janet and Rob joined us on Friday and the days and evenings became a lot more interesting. Stephen no longer had to put up with just me, he had someone else to play with!! I must admit it was nice to speak to someone other than him as well. Over the next week we spent days sitting in the sun, reading and chatting and on occasions went for a drive to do some shopping or have a look at the coast.
Our weekend was very social. On Friday night we had dinner at Suzanne and Adrian’s home in Mosman Park. Suzanne and Adrian were our ‘partners in crime’ on the Great Escape cruise we had last year. It was as though we had just stepped off the boat, the conversation flowed as did the wine. Sunday morning we drove into West Perth to Jen and Warren’s apartment overlooking Kings Park and the Swan. They too were with us on the Great Escape last year. It was lovely to see them again and to recall all the wonderful memories we had of our 2008 adventure. We were privileged to cruise with them on Warren’s boat “Cyanic”, a 50’ Riviera, very nice indeed. We were joined by two other couples and Suzanne, unfortunately Adrian was singing in a concert and was unable to join us, for the trip up the Swan from South of Perth Yacht Club. We anchored near Freshwater Bay for a lovely BBQ lunch. Adrian joined us when we came back to the marina. Thanks to Jen and Warren for a wonderful day. That leaves only 3 from, in the words of Sue Pentelow, “the fishing trip”, that we have not caught up with. We hope to catch up with Sue as a visit to Adelaide is scheduled for the trip home so watch out Tasmania (Jane and Brian).
While watching the reports on the rugby league grand final over here (WA), you will all be pleased to know that the most reported item on the Melbourne Storm win over Canterbury was that the Storm originated from the old Perth Reds thereby somehow making it a Western Australian victory. Congrats to all of WA on this amazing feat!!!!
Wednesday I celebrated my ## birthday with lunch at the Soda Café at North Beach with Stephen, Janet and Rob. At the tender age of ## this is the first time I have ever been able to spend my birthday outdoors in the sun looking at the beach. We had a wonderful meal although the wine left a little to be desired. We drank it anyway!! A birthday with NBFs, what will the OBFs say?? Also a first, I received a birthday call from each member of my Dalton family. Obviously my being absent makes their hearts grow fonder, although Sue, I wish you hadn’t called me at 5.55am (or #:##)!! Thanks to all those who rang or emailed me, it was lovely to hear from youse all, especially Fynn, Maggie and Frances and of course, Cath, Julian, Pat and Fleur.
On Thursday morning Stephen drove the caravan to a nearby service centre to be ‘serviced’. By noon he was back to pick me up at Janet and Rob’s where we said our goodbyes and headed off to Woodman’s Point, which is about 10 kms south of Fremantle. As it was still WA school holidays we were biding time before heading south. We will probably not see Janet and Rob on this particular journey again as they are heading back to Qld and we are not. You can now feel happy Ails that we no longer have any friends left on this trip, unless we befriend someone else!! However, they are coming to see us in Melbourne in the new year.
We spent Friday in Fremantle at the Maritime Museum, the market, walking around the streets and admiring the wonderful old architecture of this very quaint town. We also drove to Cottesloe Beach just so that we could say we had been there.
Saturday morning we left for …….. we didn’t know ……. but as the weather had again turned sour we thought we would head away from the coast and go inland. This turned out to be a very good idea as the drive was delightful with rolling green hills and lots of farm animals. We drove through Pinjarra, where we stopped at the Saturday morning farmers’ market and tasted juices, fudge, olives and cheese and bought some handmade curry paste and some bio-organic rump steak. Next stop was at Coolup where diesel was a record low 113.9 per litre. This is the cheapest we have paid on the whole trip. We were thrilled when we arrived at the next petrol station and it was 120.9 per litre. Finally a win!! Next was Harvey where we visited HaVe cheeses and tasted their samples. We purchased a lovely soft triple cream Ash Blonde brie and some yukky blue for Stephen. The day was disappearing and the weather starting to close in so we settled on stopping in Collie. What we thought would be a lovely little country village surprised us when we were confronted with a town of 19,000 which swells to 30,000 mid week when the miners arrive Monday morning. We unhooked the van and took a drive out to Harris River Estate and Block 42 Brewery for a taste then onto Wellington Dam for a look see. The dam was full but we were told that the day before it had been overflowing – dam, we missed it. We continued through the Wellington National Park, a very pretty drive to see the King Jarrah, which was a dud. By now it was quite late so we decided to try one of the 5 pubs in town for a counter tea. We settled on the Fed (The Federal Hotel) where the clientele was very reminiscent of the “Bay of Pigs” at the old Vic Park: an IQ of around 90 and an average of 3 teeth each. The night was very, very cold and the following morning grim.
Sunday we had the same plan ……… none. By 9.30 we were in Boyup Brook, the country music capital of WA. Yahoo!! Of course as it was so early nothing was open, except the churches so we headed for St Dodgem’s and found ourselves in …. Bridgetown. This was a lovely little town of 1,600, but most of them were still asleep. As the rain came down we bought a hot chocolate at the café then as the town came to life and shops opened, we strolled around and visited the Christmas shop, as you do. While there we received a call from the Mitchell Footy Tipping crew who were waiting for us to arrive for the end of season BBQ. Stephen gave them his bank details so that the winnings could be directly credited to his account. He does live in a fantasy world at times. The drive through to Nannup was lovely - at one stage the temperature reading was 12 degrees although it was quite sunny - and we decided to spend the rest of the day there. A trip to another cheese producer and a winery rounded off a very pleasant day. Our side trip into the country proved to be a winner.
The big news item this night was that Guy McKenna (Gold Coast) had signed Brandon Matera, son of Wally and nephew of Peter!!!!! It’s really hard when you are travelling in a different country!! You don’t know what major news items you are missing. Now we do believe that “WA” stands for “WE’RE ALONE”.
Monday saw us driving through Busselton to Yallingup, by the beach. The weather report had promised improved conditions over the next week so we were preparing for some sun. We spent 3 days waiting for it to come out and, it finally did, …… as we were packing up to move on Thursday. Meanwhile we spent a pleasant couple of days taking in the wineries, galleries and food of Margaret River, always hard work!! We also managed to fit in a couple of stops along the coast to check out the surf and the Canal Rocks, a real find. The sea has carved canals through the rocks and when the swell hits the rocks the water surges through the canals in a very dramatic fashion. As we were climbing down the rocks Stephen tripped and fell. What is it with this guy, the month of October and not being able to stay upright??? This time the result wasn’t quite so dramatic with just a skun knee. Another pleasant little excursion was to the Ngilgi Cave (pronounced Nil Gee). I have never really been a big wrap for cave trips as they are usually dark smelly places with bats. No such thing at Ngilgi, you experience stunning stalactite, stalagmite, helicitite and shawl formations lying beneath the limestone ridge which forms Cape Naturaliste (copied this from the brochure). We went down to the bottom of the cave 37 metres below the surface where there is an underground amphitheatre with these stunning crystal formations rising and falling. I really hope Stephen’s photos do it justice. We also drove to the lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste. Stephen was in a particularly stupid mood this day. As we were climbing to the top of the lighthouse he was leading the way with me following. As you do when you reach the top and there is a door, you slam it in front of your wife so she can’t get in unless she knows the secret password, leaving her and 10 other people stranded on the steep steps. Of course this backfires when the door won’t open and someone has to practically get in a pinch bar to rescue the idiot who is left red faced. Who was laughing now??? Me. We stopped at Bunker Bay on the way back, a truly beautiful beach with whales playing off shore and surrounded with very expensive holiday homes.
We now move onto Pemberton, who knows what awaits us there.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/PerthCollieYallingup?authkey=Gv1sRgCNaGq6_fkojT2AE#
Our old NBFs, Janet and Rob joined us on Friday and the days and evenings became a lot more interesting. Stephen no longer had to put up with just me, he had someone else to play with!! I must admit it was nice to speak to someone other than him as well. Over the next week we spent days sitting in the sun, reading and chatting and on occasions went for a drive to do some shopping or have a look at the coast.
Our weekend was very social. On Friday night we had dinner at Suzanne and Adrian’s home in Mosman Park. Suzanne and Adrian were our ‘partners in crime’ on the Great Escape cruise we had last year. It was as though we had just stepped off the boat, the conversation flowed as did the wine. Sunday morning we drove into West Perth to Jen and Warren’s apartment overlooking Kings Park and the Swan. They too were with us on the Great Escape last year. It was lovely to see them again and to recall all the wonderful memories we had of our 2008 adventure. We were privileged to cruise with them on Warren’s boat “Cyanic”, a 50’ Riviera, very nice indeed. We were joined by two other couples and Suzanne, unfortunately Adrian was singing in a concert and was unable to join us, for the trip up the Swan from South of Perth Yacht Club. We anchored near Freshwater Bay for a lovely BBQ lunch. Adrian joined us when we came back to the marina. Thanks to Jen and Warren for a wonderful day. That leaves only 3 from, in the words of Sue Pentelow, “the fishing trip”, that we have not caught up with. We hope to catch up with Sue as a visit to Adelaide is scheduled for the trip home so watch out Tasmania (Jane and Brian).
While watching the reports on the rugby league grand final over here (WA), you will all be pleased to know that the most reported item on the Melbourne Storm win over Canterbury was that the Storm originated from the old Perth Reds thereby somehow making it a Western Australian victory. Congrats to all of WA on this amazing feat!!!!
Wednesday I celebrated my ## birthday with lunch at the Soda Café at North Beach with Stephen, Janet and Rob. At the tender age of ## this is the first time I have ever been able to spend my birthday outdoors in the sun looking at the beach. We had a wonderful meal although the wine left a little to be desired. We drank it anyway!! A birthday with NBFs, what will the OBFs say?? Also a first, I received a birthday call from each member of my Dalton family. Obviously my being absent makes their hearts grow fonder, although Sue, I wish you hadn’t called me at 5.55am (or #:##)!! Thanks to all those who rang or emailed me, it was lovely to hear from youse all, especially Fynn, Maggie and Frances and of course, Cath, Julian, Pat and Fleur.
On Thursday morning Stephen drove the caravan to a nearby service centre to be ‘serviced’. By noon he was back to pick me up at Janet and Rob’s where we said our goodbyes and headed off to Woodman’s Point, which is about 10 kms south of Fremantle. As it was still WA school holidays we were biding time before heading south. We will probably not see Janet and Rob on this particular journey again as they are heading back to Qld and we are not. You can now feel happy Ails that we no longer have any friends left on this trip, unless we befriend someone else!! However, they are coming to see us in Melbourne in the new year.
We spent Friday in Fremantle at the Maritime Museum, the market, walking around the streets and admiring the wonderful old architecture of this very quaint town. We also drove to Cottesloe Beach just so that we could say we had been there.
Saturday morning we left for …….. we didn’t know ……. but as the weather had again turned sour we thought we would head away from the coast and go inland. This turned out to be a very good idea as the drive was delightful with rolling green hills and lots of farm animals. We drove through Pinjarra, where we stopped at the Saturday morning farmers’ market and tasted juices, fudge, olives and cheese and bought some handmade curry paste and some bio-organic rump steak. Next stop was at Coolup where diesel was a record low 113.9 per litre. This is the cheapest we have paid on the whole trip. We were thrilled when we arrived at the next petrol station and it was 120.9 per litre. Finally a win!! Next was Harvey where we visited HaVe cheeses and tasted their samples. We purchased a lovely soft triple cream Ash Blonde brie and some yukky blue for Stephen. The day was disappearing and the weather starting to close in so we settled on stopping in Collie. What we thought would be a lovely little country village surprised us when we were confronted with a town of 19,000 which swells to 30,000 mid week when the miners arrive Monday morning. We unhooked the van and took a drive out to Harris River Estate and Block 42 Brewery for a taste then onto Wellington Dam for a look see. The dam was full but we were told that the day before it had been overflowing – dam, we missed it. We continued through the Wellington National Park, a very pretty drive to see the King Jarrah, which was a dud. By now it was quite late so we decided to try one of the 5 pubs in town for a counter tea. We settled on the Fed (The Federal Hotel) where the clientele was very reminiscent of the “Bay of Pigs” at the old Vic Park: an IQ of around 90 and an average of 3 teeth each. The night was very, very cold and the following morning grim.
Sunday we had the same plan ……… none. By 9.30 we were in Boyup Brook, the country music capital of WA. Yahoo!! Of course as it was so early nothing was open, except the churches so we headed for St Dodgem’s and found ourselves in …. Bridgetown. This was a lovely little town of 1,600, but most of them were still asleep. As the rain came down we bought a hot chocolate at the café then as the town came to life and shops opened, we strolled around and visited the Christmas shop, as you do. While there we received a call from the Mitchell Footy Tipping crew who were waiting for us to arrive for the end of season BBQ. Stephen gave them his bank details so that the winnings could be directly credited to his account. He does live in a fantasy world at times. The drive through to Nannup was lovely - at one stage the temperature reading was 12 degrees although it was quite sunny - and we decided to spend the rest of the day there. A trip to another cheese producer and a winery rounded off a very pleasant day. Our side trip into the country proved to be a winner.
The big news item this night was that Guy McKenna (Gold Coast) had signed Brandon Matera, son of Wally and nephew of Peter!!!!! It’s really hard when you are travelling in a different country!! You don’t know what major news items you are missing. Now we do believe that “WA” stands for “WE’RE ALONE”.
Monday saw us driving through Busselton to Yallingup, by the beach. The weather report had promised improved conditions over the next week so we were preparing for some sun. We spent 3 days waiting for it to come out and, it finally did, …… as we were packing up to move on Thursday. Meanwhile we spent a pleasant couple of days taking in the wineries, galleries and food of Margaret River, always hard work!! We also managed to fit in a couple of stops along the coast to check out the surf and the Canal Rocks, a real find. The sea has carved canals through the rocks and when the swell hits the rocks the water surges through the canals in a very dramatic fashion. As we were climbing down the rocks Stephen tripped and fell. What is it with this guy, the month of October and not being able to stay upright??? This time the result wasn’t quite so dramatic with just a skun knee. Another pleasant little excursion was to the Ngilgi Cave (pronounced Nil Gee). I have never really been a big wrap for cave trips as they are usually dark smelly places with bats. No such thing at Ngilgi, you experience stunning stalactite, stalagmite, helicitite and shawl formations lying beneath the limestone ridge which forms Cape Naturaliste (copied this from the brochure). We went down to the bottom of the cave 37 metres below the surface where there is an underground amphitheatre with these stunning crystal formations rising and falling. I really hope Stephen’s photos do it justice. We also drove to the lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste. Stephen was in a particularly stupid mood this day. As we were climbing to the top of the lighthouse he was leading the way with me following. As you do when you reach the top and there is a door, you slam it in front of your wife so she can’t get in unless she knows the secret password, leaving her and 10 other people stranded on the steep steps. Of course this backfires when the door won’t open and someone has to practically get in a pinch bar to rescue the idiot who is left red faced. Who was laughing now??? Me. We stopped at Bunker Bay on the way back, a truly beautiful beach with whales playing off shore and surrounded with very expensive holiday homes.
We now move onto Pemberton, who knows what awaits us there.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/PerthCollieYallingup?authkey=Gv1sRgCNaGq6_fkojT2AE#
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Denham, Kalbarri, Geraldton, Cervantes, Perth 18 - 30 September
The drive along the coast has not improved. We have never seen so much road kill, roos, cows, sheep, goats, one about every 100 metres. The animals are either very stupid or there is a lot of traffic along this road. The latter is the most likely although we actually had to stop while a herd of goats leisurely crossed the road.
We stopped at Hamelin Pool to see the stromatolites which were very uninspiring and just looked like rocks to us, then Shell Beach where we stole a bucket of shells (Hamlin cockles) rather than them ending up as chook scratchings like they usually do, and finally Eagle Bluff where we were lucky enough to see sharks, manta rays, turtles and schools of fish from the boardwalk. The visibility was fantastic and the water very still. Unfortunately we were not here at the right time of year to see a dugong.
The CP at Denham was booked out so it’s lucky we had booked ahead. Not a blade of grass in sight; shellgrit is the ground cover of choice here. The weather was lovely until about 3pm when the black clouds came over and the wind started to blow a gale. Our stroll down the esplanade came to an abrupt halt and out came the jumpers. Stephen went to the camp kitchen to make a curry as we were short on gas. While there, another camper chipped him for sampling the cooking with the wooden spoon. She wanted to know if there was anyone else sharing this meal and whether he had permission to lick the spoon. She shut up when he told her that (don’t puke Cath) he and I share other bodily fluids and so he didn’t need permission. Dinner was early as we had to be settled in to watch the Saints v Bullies. Unfortunately for Denis Grant the result was not what he wanted but the game was a ripper and our NBF Rob is one happy man.
Unfortunately, we have had less and less interaction with other campers as we have moved further south because as soon as the sun gets lower in the sky it turns cold and everyone retires to the warmth of their vans. Camp kitchens can be great places to meet others, especially travelling foreigners and tight fisted pensioners.
Up very early on Saturday to get out to Monkey Mia by 7.45am to watch some pommy girls!!! feeding the dolphins (does anyone work in any of these tourist centres who is Australian?). Some good photos but really it is a bit of a rip off. It costs $8 each to see and lasts about 20 minutes, if that. We hightailed it out of there and drove back to the Francois Peron National Park. The 4x4 track was very sandy and quite thick in places and took us across some large birradas (gypsum clay pans). After 48 kms we reached the cliffs of Cape Peron with its magnificent rust red sand dunes and brilliant white sand dunes contrasting against the aqua blue ocean. We walked to Skipjack Point hoping to see a bilby (nocturnal of course, so no hope of that), but were treated to some beautiful wildflower displays, a blue tongue (stump tail) lizard and lots of beautiful birds. Another boardwalk overlooking the ocean but unfortunately the water was a bit choppy and visibility limited. Walked back along the beach through a large flock of Stephen’s favourite birds, the Pied Cormorant. For some reason he has fallen in love with these strange critters. We drove back to Peron Homestead and sat in the artesian tub which was damn hot, in fact too hot for Stephen, who didn’t even bother to get in, except for his right foot for all of 10 seconds. Back to the van to begin preparation for the big match between the Pies and Geeeeellloooonnnng. A long night!! Hope the ‘greatest team of all’ get done by the Saints next week.
Left Denham and drove to Kalbarri. The drive was quite lovely with some magnificent displays of wildflowers along the roadside. We had a shower or two of rain but not enough to worry about. Kalbarri is a seaside holiday town with the river mouth coming into the ocean, so lots of fishing. This is the first really big surf we have seen on the trip. The coastline is very rugged and reminded us a little of the Great Ocean Road. We drove around the town then along the coast and finally settled for some fish and chips for dinner. The snapper and red emperor were very fresh and quite yummy, the chips not so good. It rained quite heavily overnight – what has happened to the sun??
Monday we went to the Rainbow Jungle, a bird sanctuary. Some really beautiful parrots, cockatoos and even some macaws. This is a privately run sanctuary which gets no government funding and I must say they are doing a wonderful job. We followed this adventure with a trip to the Wildflower Park. We saw hakea laurina, scholtzia uberiflora muell, grevillea trachytheca, chamelaucium uncinaturn schauer, banksia hookeriana, acaia hemignosta, etc etc, need I go on?? A day of Flora and Fauna!! Another windy day but the sun remained out and valiantly tried to push up the temperature. Fish curry for dinner. We are slowly making our way through all of the fish we caught. Spent the night watching the Brownlow, a treat because it was live (starting at 6:30pm WA time) and didn’t finish at midnight like it does in Melbourne. Congrats to Gazza.
Tuesday we pottered around (slept in) before heading off to the Kalbarri NP. First stop Nature’s Window, a short walk down to this view over the Murchison River and valley below. We took a path down to the river from the lookout and Stephen was rewarded with some wonderful photo opportunities of the rock face along the river. Back into the car and along the road to the Z Bend lookout. Along the way we came across a Horny Devil – no, not Stephen, another one . You will see pictures of this magnificent creature (its actually a Thorny Devil) in the web album attached. We managed to add to our rock collection which is now soooo large the car is beginning to list. We went to Finlay’s Fish BBQ for dinner. We will begin to grow gills soon! A very informal affair with outside tables, or should I say old school desks, a big fire and a wonderfully friendly atmosphere. A party of young Italian girls had booked for dinner so the cook prompted us all to yell out ‘bongiorno’ when they arrived. They were suitable shocked and started to giggle. We chatted with a couple from Morwell and a young family from Perth who had pre empted the holidays and arrived a week early. When we got back to the van I discovered I had lost my glasses so back we went and fortunately they had been handed in. Phew!
Wednesday we left for Geraldton, a short trip of 170 kms. We are no longer in the outback. The landscape has turned to rolling plains of lush grass and farming land with fat cows and sheep. The wildflowers are everywhere and make for a delightful drive. Properties no longer have north and south boundaries with hundreds of kilometres between each. We were affronted by the sight of traffic lights and streets with names, not just signs directing you to a community. Oh my God, we are back in civilisation!!
We spent the afternoon walking around the town centre and found the ice cream shop (Jenarlie’s) which we had heard all about on the radio. The owner had entered her ice cream in the Perth show for the first time this year and won several first prizes. We chatted to her about her radio interview and she was quite chuffed. Stephen chose licorice (1st prize) and I had passionfruit (1st prize). They were delicious. We also sampled some of the other flavours as well – what can I say, she liked us!! We drove up to the HMAS Sydney Memorial and checked out Uncle Frank Mitchell. A very sobering place. Did you know the Lieutenant Commander’s name was Dalton, just like my maiden name?
Thursday we had a late start before getting on the bikes and riding the path along the beach, past the town centre and beyond. A lovely day with bright sunshine, but still a cool breeze. We stopped for lunch at a seaside café then back to the ice cream shop for a second round, this time passionfruit for S and hokey pokey for moi. We also bought a 1kg tub of passionfruit ice cream for the next few days; I doubt it will last much longer than that. Back on the bikes to burn off the calories gained.
We moved onto Cervantes the next morning. A lovely drive along the coast, with ocean views this time. Cervantes is a lovely seaside resort for the residents of Perth. It is close to the capital and there are quite a lot of holiday homes here and at other little towns along the coast. We set up the van then drove to the Pinnacles about 13 kms away in Nambung NP. These are a natural phenomena, lime mounds very similar to termite mounds. To be perfectly honest it was a bit boring. We did see some very big sand dunes on the way home and had a bit of a run up and down them. The wind once again blew up in the afternoon and it was very cold.
Saturday arrived, Grandfinal Day. A beautiful sunny morning after a freezing cold night, a little different from the day in Melbourne. We ventured out for a look and a walk along the beach but quickly went back to the van when we saw what should be a lovely white beach absolutely covered in seaweed. Gross!! The caravan park is chockers with people as it is a long weekend and the forecast is for a couple of days of around 28 degrees. We watched all the whoopla before the game started then settled in to watch the game at 12.30pm!!!!! A great game but I must admit to going and sitting outside in the sun several times as it was just too nice to be inside. Congrats to ‘the greatest team of all’ on their success this year. Groan.
Sunday we packed up and left for the Swan Valley via New Norcia. A very pretty drive on a beautiful sunny day. New Norcia is Australia’s only monastic town and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours walking around the grounds and checking out the museum. We arrived in Caversham late in the afternoon and visited the Chocolate shop where you couldn’t even get in the door. Far too many people around so we bought some strawberries at a local vendor and headed home.
Monday was cold and miserable, just the right sort of day for a winery tour and lunch by a nice fire. We visited several wineries in the morning where we made a few purchases then had a late lunch at Chesters. A very nice meal with a fire and some good wine to compliment the very yummy food. More rain Monday night and a very cold Tuesday. Cath rang to brag about the beautiful day in Melbourne while we spent most of the day out of the weather in a shopping centre; haven’t seen many of them lately.
Wednesday we ventured into Perth CBD on the train. Finally the rain has stopped although it is still quite cool. The train was full of families going to the Show. Perth is quite a nice city with a well set out shopping district. Stephen managed to buy a new pair of boots, socks, a new shirt and a CD while I somehow didn’t get anything. The day improved with the sun shining and hopefully continuing for the next week.
Tomorrow we move to the other side of Perth, a bit closer to the beach. What can I say, we live in hope!!
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/DenhamKalbarriGeraldtonCervantesNewNorciaPerth#
We stopped at Hamelin Pool to see the stromatolites which were very uninspiring and just looked like rocks to us, then Shell Beach where we stole a bucket of shells (Hamlin cockles) rather than them ending up as chook scratchings like they usually do, and finally Eagle Bluff where we were lucky enough to see sharks, manta rays, turtles and schools of fish from the boardwalk. The visibility was fantastic and the water very still. Unfortunately we were not here at the right time of year to see a dugong.
The CP at Denham was booked out so it’s lucky we had booked ahead. Not a blade of grass in sight; shellgrit is the ground cover of choice here. The weather was lovely until about 3pm when the black clouds came over and the wind started to blow a gale. Our stroll down the esplanade came to an abrupt halt and out came the jumpers. Stephen went to the camp kitchen to make a curry as we were short on gas. While there, another camper chipped him for sampling the cooking with the wooden spoon. She wanted to know if there was anyone else sharing this meal and whether he had permission to lick the spoon. She shut up when he told her that (don’t puke Cath) he and I share other bodily fluids and so he didn’t need permission. Dinner was early as we had to be settled in to watch the Saints v Bullies. Unfortunately for Denis Grant the result was not what he wanted but the game was a ripper and our NBF Rob is one happy man.
Unfortunately, we have had less and less interaction with other campers as we have moved further south because as soon as the sun gets lower in the sky it turns cold and everyone retires to the warmth of their vans. Camp kitchens can be great places to meet others, especially travelling foreigners and tight fisted pensioners.
Up very early on Saturday to get out to Monkey Mia by 7.45am to watch some pommy girls!!! feeding the dolphins (does anyone work in any of these tourist centres who is Australian?). Some good photos but really it is a bit of a rip off. It costs $8 each to see and lasts about 20 minutes, if that. We hightailed it out of there and drove back to the Francois Peron National Park. The 4x4 track was very sandy and quite thick in places and took us across some large birradas (gypsum clay pans). After 48 kms we reached the cliffs of Cape Peron with its magnificent rust red sand dunes and brilliant white sand dunes contrasting against the aqua blue ocean. We walked to Skipjack Point hoping to see a bilby (nocturnal of course, so no hope of that), but were treated to some beautiful wildflower displays, a blue tongue (stump tail) lizard and lots of beautiful birds. Another boardwalk overlooking the ocean but unfortunately the water was a bit choppy and visibility limited. Walked back along the beach through a large flock of Stephen’s favourite birds, the Pied Cormorant. For some reason he has fallen in love with these strange critters. We drove back to Peron Homestead and sat in the artesian tub which was damn hot, in fact too hot for Stephen, who didn’t even bother to get in, except for his right foot for all of 10 seconds. Back to the van to begin preparation for the big match between the Pies and Geeeeellloooonnnng. A long night!! Hope the ‘greatest team of all’ get done by the Saints next week.
Left Denham and drove to Kalbarri. The drive was quite lovely with some magnificent displays of wildflowers along the roadside. We had a shower or two of rain but not enough to worry about. Kalbarri is a seaside holiday town with the river mouth coming into the ocean, so lots of fishing. This is the first really big surf we have seen on the trip. The coastline is very rugged and reminded us a little of the Great Ocean Road. We drove around the town then along the coast and finally settled for some fish and chips for dinner. The snapper and red emperor were very fresh and quite yummy, the chips not so good. It rained quite heavily overnight – what has happened to the sun??
Monday we went to the Rainbow Jungle, a bird sanctuary. Some really beautiful parrots, cockatoos and even some macaws. This is a privately run sanctuary which gets no government funding and I must say they are doing a wonderful job. We followed this adventure with a trip to the Wildflower Park. We saw hakea laurina, scholtzia uberiflora muell, grevillea trachytheca, chamelaucium uncinaturn schauer, banksia hookeriana, acaia hemignosta, etc etc, need I go on?? A day of Flora and Fauna!! Another windy day but the sun remained out and valiantly tried to push up the temperature. Fish curry for dinner. We are slowly making our way through all of the fish we caught. Spent the night watching the Brownlow, a treat because it was live (starting at 6:30pm WA time) and didn’t finish at midnight like it does in Melbourne. Congrats to Gazza.
Tuesday we pottered around (slept in) before heading off to the Kalbarri NP. First stop Nature’s Window, a short walk down to this view over the Murchison River and valley below. We took a path down to the river from the lookout and Stephen was rewarded with some wonderful photo opportunities of the rock face along the river. Back into the car and along the road to the Z Bend lookout. Along the way we came across a Horny Devil – no, not Stephen, another one . You will see pictures of this magnificent creature (its actually a Thorny Devil) in the web album attached. We managed to add to our rock collection which is now soooo large the car is beginning to list. We went to Finlay’s Fish BBQ for dinner. We will begin to grow gills soon! A very informal affair with outside tables, or should I say old school desks, a big fire and a wonderfully friendly atmosphere. A party of young Italian girls had booked for dinner so the cook prompted us all to yell out ‘bongiorno’ when they arrived. They were suitable shocked and started to giggle. We chatted with a couple from Morwell and a young family from Perth who had pre empted the holidays and arrived a week early. When we got back to the van I discovered I had lost my glasses so back we went and fortunately they had been handed in. Phew!
Wednesday we left for Geraldton, a short trip of 170 kms. We are no longer in the outback. The landscape has turned to rolling plains of lush grass and farming land with fat cows and sheep. The wildflowers are everywhere and make for a delightful drive. Properties no longer have north and south boundaries with hundreds of kilometres between each. We were affronted by the sight of traffic lights and streets with names, not just signs directing you to a community. Oh my God, we are back in civilisation!!
We spent the afternoon walking around the town centre and found the ice cream shop (Jenarlie’s) which we had heard all about on the radio. The owner had entered her ice cream in the Perth show for the first time this year and won several first prizes. We chatted to her about her radio interview and she was quite chuffed. Stephen chose licorice (1st prize) and I had passionfruit (1st prize). They were delicious. We also sampled some of the other flavours as well – what can I say, she liked us!! We drove up to the HMAS Sydney Memorial and checked out Uncle Frank Mitchell. A very sobering place. Did you know the Lieutenant Commander’s name was Dalton, just like my maiden name?
Thursday we had a late start before getting on the bikes and riding the path along the beach, past the town centre and beyond. A lovely day with bright sunshine, but still a cool breeze. We stopped for lunch at a seaside café then back to the ice cream shop for a second round, this time passionfruit for S and hokey pokey for moi. We also bought a 1kg tub of passionfruit ice cream for the next few days; I doubt it will last much longer than that. Back on the bikes to burn off the calories gained.
We moved onto Cervantes the next morning. A lovely drive along the coast, with ocean views this time. Cervantes is a lovely seaside resort for the residents of Perth. It is close to the capital and there are quite a lot of holiday homes here and at other little towns along the coast. We set up the van then drove to the Pinnacles about 13 kms away in Nambung NP. These are a natural phenomena, lime mounds very similar to termite mounds. To be perfectly honest it was a bit boring. We did see some very big sand dunes on the way home and had a bit of a run up and down them. The wind once again blew up in the afternoon and it was very cold.
Saturday arrived, Grandfinal Day. A beautiful sunny morning after a freezing cold night, a little different from the day in Melbourne. We ventured out for a look and a walk along the beach but quickly went back to the van when we saw what should be a lovely white beach absolutely covered in seaweed. Gross!! The caravan park is chockers with people as it is a long weekend and the forecast is for a couple of days of around 28 degrees. We watched all the whoopla before the game started then settled in to watch the game at 12.30pm!!!!! A great game but I must admit to going and sitting outside in the sun several times as it was just too nice to be inside. Congrats to ‘the greatest team of all’ on their success this year. Groan.
Sunday we packed up and left for the Swan Valley via New Norcia. A very pretty drive on a beautiful sunny day. New Norcia is Australia’s only monastic town and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours walking around the grounds and checking out the museum. We arrived in Caversham late in the afternoon and visited the Chocolate shop where you couldn’t even get in the door. Far too many people around so we bought some strawberries at a local vendor and headed home.
Monday was cold and miserable, just the right sort of day for a winery tour and lunch by a nice fire. We visited several wineries in the morning where we made a few purchases then had a late lunch at Chesters. A very nice meal with a fire and some good wine to compliment the very yummy food. More rain Monday night and a very cold Tuesday. Cath rang to brag about the beautiful day in Melbourne while we spent most of the day out of the weather in a shopping centre; haven’t seen many of them lately.
Wednesday we ventured into Perth CBD on the train. Finally the rain has stopped although it is still quite cool. The train was full of families going to the Show. Perth is quite a nice city with a well set out shopping district. Stephen managed to buy a new pair of boots, socks, a new shirt and a CD while I somehow didn’t get anything. The day improved with the sun shining and hopefully continuing for the next week.
Tomorrow we move to the other side of Perth, a bit closer to the beach. What can I say, we live in hope!!
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/DenhamKalbarriGeraldtonCervantesNewNorciaPerth#
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