Australia - its bloody big mate!!

No disrespect to people living in Europe and the UK but this map that I found in a tour book gives some perspective on how big Australia actually is, even though this map is in reference to Western Australia.

Nick and I, along with our good friends John and Deb has travelled together for 165 days.  We part company tomorrow which is sad but we have had a good trip together and have great memories of the places we have been to.

Farewell BBQ complete with Trilogy Pink Champagne and Margaret River Three Bears Semillon Sav Blanc

We departed from Atherton in the State of Queensland on the 26 April 2014,  travelled through to the Northern Territory, then through the States of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and now we are in New South Wales.  (yes, I know my travel blog is not up to date, but being retired and travelling is “busy work" ).

Some facts and figures:-

• We have travelling some 17,500 kms
• We have spent Aus $5600 on diesel fuel
• We have stayed in 51 locations
• Of those 51 places, 15 of them have been bush camps (note to self…more bush camping required)
• We have had 15 fabulous fires (thanks to John’s battery operated chain saw and both Nick and John’s pyrotechnic tendencies)
• We have experienced weather from 40c to 2c celsius (yay for thermals)
• We have endured umpteen flies and red dirt in the Northern Territory and the top part of Western Australia, a two day plaque of bush bees in Whyalla (South Australia) and a one day plague of flying ants in Merimbula  (NSW)
• We have endured cold fronts in Western Australia which in North Queensland, would be called cat 1 or 2 Cyclones
• We have met and shared experiences with many fabulous people
• Seen many places that we would like to return to one day and many more that we missed this time round that are earmarked for the future
• We have enjoyed many a meal cooked cooked by either Deb or Gail with ample aid from John and Nick
• We have enjoyed many a glass of wine
• We have enjoyed visits to many wineries, cheese places and chocolate places
• We have seen fantastic sunsets and sunrises
• We have seen and experienced many places of great beauty and history 

Mainly, Nick and I know that we love this great big country of ours and look forward to many more years “living on the road” in Australia.

Surfing Wave Rock

From Kowlyin we headed for Karlgarin to use it as a base to explore the area.  We stayed at a fantastic Caravan Park called Tressie’s for three nights.   It is on part of a large family farming enterprise and is managed  by Laurel and Merv.    Merv was no longer able to do many things on the farm so he wanted to start up a caravan park to keep himself busy.  It took some three years for the plans to be passed through council  (seems councils are the same everywhere...incredibly slow).   Merv put a lot of thought into the design of the park and although it is some eight years old, you wouldn't know it.  It is spotlessly clean and Merv and Laurel are very friendly and helpful.  Merv also has a museum and for $3 you have a look back in time on a museum tour which he runs twice a day.

I’ve got to tell you, the $3 is well worth it.  His private collection has been a labour of love and when he starts the tour, he switches on special lighting and old fashioned music.  He has to refer to his hand written notes, but he did an excellent job.  The show cabinets themselves are a work of art…made right on the farm but he was only the helper he told us, they were actually designed by someone else, I forget who.

Everything is beautifully presented and he has everything in there that you have ever seen (except for one item…more later)  and there were much of “I had one of those”….or “remember them”. Part of it is his very large collection of gramophones and 5000 records.  There are seats so you can sit a listen to the vinyls (LP, 33 or 33 1/3 rpm) or records (78 rpm) he plays or any of your favourite tunes from his catalogue.

The one thing he has in his collection that is unknown is a metal item marked with the words “the third hand”.  The family has done much research and can't find out anything about it.  Merv asks each visitor doing the tour if they can identify it for him….it is still unknown as to what it is used for.

The weather turned nasty as another cold front was coming through (who would have thought !!) but we were still able to have a fire due to the relocatable metal fire places that Merv designed and the kindling and firewood he had available.  Nobly Mallee tree roots make the best fire wood, they burn hot and long, so we discovered.

Keeping warm at Tressies

We used Karlgarin as a base to visit Wave Rock at Hyden and also to drive along the Tin Horse Highway to Kulin.

Wave Rock is an amazing natural attraction in a reserve 4 klm east of Hyden.  The spectacular granite formation reaching over 15m high and the “wave” is approximately 110m long.   We also visited two other rock formations - Hippo’s Yawn and Mulka’s Cave.

Nick and John Surfing

The other side of the Wave

Nick and Gail at Hippo's Yawn

The town of Hyden was interesting. They play music continuously from the amphitheatre in the centre of the main street…..I mean, it is loud and never stops...during the day that is.  Friendly people though…a lady just stopped us in the street and wanted to know where we were from etc and the people in the coffee shop were lovely too.  The information centre at Wave Rock had a great collection of stuff including stuffed birds and a dried flower arrangement on the ceiling that was spectacular.   We had coffee there and John and Deb had sausage rolls.  A guy from the next table asked John how he like it...it turned out that he bakes them.  He is a motor mechanic by trade but just decided that he would take up baking for a change.  John is a connoisseur of sausage rolls and was happy to oblige with his opinion...."tasty but the sausage meat was a bit soft" -  John prefers it firmer.

Part of the Butterfly flower arrangement on the ceiling.

Nick and his birds.

We had dinner in the Karlgarin local Country Club one night ……sat right in front of the lovely fireplace, good food, a New Zealand Chef with a wicked sense of humour.... good night was had by all.

The following day we laughed our way down the 15 Km Tin Horse Highway to Kulin stopping to take photos of the “community art” along the way.   I have twenty three photos of different and quirky creations.  Unfortunately, can't put them all here.

Since 1995, Tin Horses have been popping up along the highway as farmers try to outdo each other.  They even have an annual competition where you can go in the running to win a share of generous prize money for the best “Tin Horse”.... and there are some very specific guidelines.  The judging takes place  by public vote and the winner is announced at annual Kulin Bush Races.   We had lunch at the Kulin hotel… had the best, juiciest, succulent Chicken Parma ever.   They were holding a darts competition at the time….serious stuff by all accounts.

PS...Leave a comment to let me know how the photo's are...most of them that I have posted here are at a lower resolution so that I can put more on.

Kwolyin Bush Camp

Well, we were heading east from York, the plan being to visit Kokerbin Hill (Australia's 3rd largest monolith) and we would have driven right past it if it wasn't for Trevor.

Watch out..... its going to fall on your head.

As we were travelling along Quairading Road, somewhere close to the township of Yoting, a guy in his vehicle on a private road was waiting to turn onto the main highway as we passed him. John dropped back to channel 40 on the UHF just in case the guy wanted to speak to us……that was Trevor.   Well, Trevor did speak to us and we found out from him that we were not far from Kokerbin Rock and that there was a fantastic bush camp at Kwolyin. So, that is why, if not for Trevor, not only would we have driven right past Kokerbin, we would also not have known about Koberbin Bush Camp.

In 2008 the Western Australian Government instigated a program called the "Royalties for Regions" where they have focused on development that is supported with the reinvestment of mining and onshore petroleum royalties on regional projects.  Kwolyin was one of those areas that benefited. 

Under the Royalties for Regions program, the Bruce Rock Shire opened an excellent new bush campground at Kwolyin which has flush toilets, hand basins, camp kitchen with a gas hob, covered and uncovered picnic tables, gas BBQ’s and good water supply with plenty of water pressure.   It has been designed with individual caravan sites as well as group camping/tent sites.  

Kowlyin used to be a small town in the Wheatbelt region of WA which was settled in 1908. The townsite was selected in 1912 due to its position near a spring and the townsite was gazetted in 1913, the same year that the railway opened between Quairading and Bruce Rock.  

There seemed to be some rivalry between the next town, Shackleton… after all, Kowlyin had a pub  (hotel) and Shackleton didn’t.  The Kowlyin pub was a two story building of brick construction located on 1/2 acre of land opposite the Kwolyin Railway Station.  The closest other pub was Bruce Rock, so you can see why it was popular and a social hub.   The Pub opened in 1914 and was demolished after it was burned down in 1992. There was speculation that the owner was responsible but it could not be ruled out that some one else, perhaps from Shackleton was the culprit.  However, in January 2012, a cold case investigation saw a Port Kennedy man and women charged over the devastating fire.

Kowlyin Pub after the fire (file photo from the internet).  There is nothing there now. 

Kowlyin is now a ghost town….the only sign that it was once a thriving little town is the cricket pitch and the Church.  

Cricket Pitch

Shackleton, only seven kilometres up the road has survived well and is home to a number of people including artist Steve and his wife Christina.  Steve uses chicken wire fencing and discarded metal bits and pieces to design very interesting sculptures. 

When we called to say “g’day” to Steve at his Art Studio, he was working on his cafe called “Floe’s Place” which he hopes will entice more people to stop in the town.  Although we didn't go into the Art Studio, the garden is an artwork itself, full of interesting sculptures.  

Bank in Shackleton

Shackleton, was also home to the smallest bank in Western Australia.  Originally, the 3 x 4 meter building was the Bank of New South Wales before it became Bankwest.  It was also used as an aircraft observation centre in WWII and at one time was a child health centre. 

It was windy and cold along with a sprinkle of rain at the Kowlyin bush camp.  Nick and John set up a tarp as a wind break and collected firewood with the aid of John’s battery operated rechargeable chain saw.  I went looking for something that could be used as a wind break and came across some small sheets of corrugated iron.  I got Nick to come and get it.  He picked up one sheet and we both got a fright as the blue tongue lizard that was living under it demonstrated quite clearly that he was not happy about being disturbed.   Nick said it was a rather silly thing to do, picking it up with his hands as it could have been a snake.  He put the sheet of iron back as it was the lizards home and with a stick, looked under two other small sheets before picking them up and taking them back to the fire. 

 

Deb sheltering against the tarp keeping out of the wind and rain

Nick and John cutting up firewood

Nick tending the fire (note the small corrugated iron sheets)

We thoroughly enjoyed our bush camp there but pressed on the following day to Karlgarin.  

York, heading east…..

From New Norcia we made our way some 150 kms south east to York, an historic inland town that was first settled in 1831 and is a reminder of life in the pioneering days.  It is a lovely place that we remembered from our last trip to Western Australia some 19 years ago and were keen to return.  Mind you,  previously we rode around York on a Harley but this time we just walked the main street as the vans remained hitch up because we were moving on the next day. 

Well, nothing much has changed in York since we were last there…. except they now have a sock factory.  Yes, a sock factory.  Apparently, it is the only remaining sock manufacturer in WA, although I noted that many items in the shop (not the socks) came from the Waverley Knitting Mills in Tasmania.  The focus is on Australian wool and cotton.  I sound like an advert for them and I didn't even buy anything, well except for some stuff to keep my Ugg boots looking good.  The jackets and wraps from the Waverley Knitting Mill were just beautiful…(note to self… save some $$$ to get something when we are in Tassie). Their socks are made elsewhere  and come to York to be packaged up.  You can see the local ladies doing that through a glass window into the workroom.  

Misty Morning at Avon Pioneer Park

Suspension Bridge over the Avon River

The York Council is very switched on and welcomes RV’s.  You can park your van or motorhome at Avon Pioneer Park, one street back from the main street in the middle of town for free and there are limited number of free power outlets….did I say FREE. There are also loo’s.    Anyway, we stayed in town for a night, met some lovely people from Cairns (can you believe it) …it was a very cold night and woke up to a misty morning. My new Ugg boots kept my toes, toasty warm.  

The Avon River

Whilst in York we were told that the CWA (Country Women’s Association) was in town celebrating their 90th year in WA, the theme for this conference was “Change”.  The Associated Country Women of the World president Ruth Shanks addressed some 400 CWA members in the York Town Hall telling them that in order to remain relevant and up to date, they had to recognise that times were changing.  Women’s lives had changed, they are time poor, have little time for community involvement and that young women need to participate in their own way.  Could be a good relationship, the young learning skills from the older generation and the the older generation learning different skills from the young….I like it.  Also, in  typical CWA fashion of giving instead of receiving, they raised a whopping $75,000 for the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

We walked the town, called into the sweet shop…ah, the memories…..

And we saw this...... Accommodation for "Respectable Couples"

And, last but not least, you can get your own little flock of sheep....this is sheep country you know.  Personally, I like mine either as a lamb leg in the BBQ or fried lamb chops.  But each to their own.

Subject to change without notice…….and we headed to New Norcia instead of….

The weather, these cold fronts and the wind they bring are not conducive to caravanning.  If the winds are strong enough to blow the roofs off houses, imagine what they could do to a van.  We held a round table conference, all four of us, and decided that we didn't want to risk our vans so we would not venture further south to the Margaret River Region, Bunbury,  Busselton, Augusta, Albany and Esperance etc.   This was disappointing and a real shame as there was much to do and see down there and was mostly the reason for the trip.  Will have to leave it for another time.

Speaking with locals we found out that the best time to visit that area of Western Australia is February, March, April and May but the best time to see the wild flowers would be from September onwards so we might have to come back and spend a lot longer here.

To leave the state, heading east, well north-east actually (132Km from Perth) in the first instance to a Benedictine Community called New Norcia.  It is Australia’s only monastic town, founded in 1847 and you have to work there, for the monks, if you want to live in New Norcia.  The Monastery used to house 80 monks.  They were a self sufficient lot, doing everything themselves….baking bread, growing olives, wheat and veggies, looking after the piggery, cattle and sheep and making ale, Abbey Ale, they call it and it has 7% alcohol.  We had a couple with lunch…very nice stuff.  The only thing the monks failed at was they were unable to produce chocolate because they only planted female cocoa trees, well they were monks after all…hehe.

Map of New Norcia

We bought some of beautiful sun dried tomato and rosemary bread and their fruit nut cake, which was exceptionally nice.

There are only nine monks now….. can't just go on a recruitment drive I suppose.  The Abbot is around 50 and the youngest monk is in his late 30's.  These days, they hire others to do the work and the monks meditate and pray six times a day.  One of the monks was supposed to play the huge Moser organ that sits in the Abby Church for us but that activity was cancelled…..boohoo. The Moser organ was bought in Germany and brought to Australia in 1922.  Unfortunately, the monks that where sent over had the organ made and it was too big for the church so the church had to be extended to accommodate organ.  Would have loved to hear it….they even have guest musicians that come to New Norcia to play it.

St. Gertrude's

The Baroque, Gothic, Byzantine, Italian, Renaissance and Latin architectural style and artwork is truly amazing, quite extraordinary in fact.  We were given a lot of information on the 2 hour walking tour we did and access to some buildings that we would not otherwise have been able to go into.  The Monastery itself is a restricted area but we got a good look though the gates.  It is a huge place for only nine people.

The Moser organ at the rear of the Abby Church.

New Norcia has evolved with the times and now provides accommodation for groups up to 200 who can stay in the amazing buildings that house a variety of work and performance spaces along with access to the town’s recreational facilities.  It is a favourite for school camps, art and music workshops, retreats and special events. Well worth a visit.

We camped by the oval for $10,  and were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow in the morning….and look what is at the end of the rainbow…our vans :)

Gold, or rather our Kedron and John & Deb's Trackmaster at the end of the Rainbow

Freo...as the locals call Fremantle

We drove to Fremantle on our anniversary.  We wanted to go to the E-Shed Markets and then somewhere for lunch.  We went to the E-Shed Markets which were a bit disappointing and then for a walk to find the "Cappuccino Strip".  We seemed to be walking for ages before ending up at a restaurant upstairs in a pub....well it was so noisy that we couldn't hear each other, on top of which, we where running out of time on the parking meter.......

So, we decided to go to Freo again but this time in style.  We all went on a Captain Cook Lunch Cruise, which provided tea and coffee on the way over, a tram tour of Freo and lunch on the way back.  We took the bus and train from Gwelup into the city and onto the esplanade and then walked to the Barrack Street Wharf.  While waiting to board the boat, just off the jetty, there were three dolphins that seemed to be herding fish for the pelicans and other birds. Apparently, there are lots of dolphins in the waters around Perth.

Located at the mouth of the Swan River, Fremantle and its harbour serve as the port of Perth.  Fremantle was settled in 1829 and in 1850 the first convicts arrived there with the thirty-seventh and last convict ship docking in 1868, signalling the end of penal transportation to Australia.  Fremantle was declared a city in 1929.  It has a population of approximately 25,000.

Fremantle is named after Captain Charles Fremantle, an English naval officer who pronounced possession of Western Australia and established a camp there. It is know as Freo to the locals.

The tram tour (well it is not a tram at all) hosted by tour guide extraordinaire,  Geoff, was very informative.  It took past the Round House, which had eight cells and a gaoler's residence but when the first 75 convicts arrived from Britain it was apparent that the Round House was inadequate to house them so the convicts had to build their own goal...Fremantle Prison which was used until 1991.

The Round House

World Heritage Listed Fremantle Prison

In 1892, an Irish-born engineer C.Y. O'Connor commenced work to deepen Fremantle Harbour by removing the limestone bar and sand shoals at the mouth of the Swan River.  It was successfully completed in 1903.   His plan was controversial and contrary to previous expert advice it was thought that his proposal was impracticable.  More than 100 years of continued use of Fremantle Harbour proved O'Connor's technical judgement to be correct.

Today, the Inner Harbour handles almost the entire container trade for the state as well as livestock exports, general cargo and motor vehicle imports whilst the Outer Harbour is a one of Australia's bulk cargo ports angling a variety of commodities form grain to LPG.

C.Y. O'Connor is best known for his work on the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, also known as the Goldfields Pipeline, perhaps the worlds longest water main which carries water 530 km from Perth to Kalgoorlie.  O'Connor was subjected to prolonged criticism by members of the press, libellous newspaper articles (so whats new) and by many members of the Western Australian Parliament over the scheme which lead to him committing suicide less than a year before the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme was officially commissioned.

We didn't go to Rottnest Island which is 20 klms off the coast.  Geoff said there was not much there for a day tour but was good if you wanted to "get away" from the world for a while.  

Geoff took us to the War Memorial which stands on Monument Hill, an 11 acre public reserve.  It was impressive but the best thing was the kids who were "ice boarding" down it.  They had these slabs of thick ice which had rope handles and they would "board" down to the bottom and then drag them back up the top...but, mostly they fell off half way down...they didn't care, they were having so much fun., must have been cold on the old tush though.

Kids "ice boarding" down Monument Hill, Fremantle

Would like to go back and stay in Freo for a while.....it is an interesting place.

Perth kept us busy....

We spent three weeks and three days in Perth....could have stayed longer.   Everything is close, it takes no time at all to get somewhere.

Take the Swan Valley Winery's for instance,  it only took 30 minutes to get there.  We had a lovely day starting at the Mulberry Winery at 10am (yes, I know, it is a tad early, even for me) and it just went on from there, who would have thought...haha.  We visited the Margaret River Chocolate Factory...OMG...devine!  Bought dark chocolate, nougat, chocolate almond clusters, some salted carmel sweets and chocolate ginger.   We also went to Morish Nuts.  Didn't like them very much....too expensive and the candy almonds only have half an almond (yes, can you believe they cut them in half) and then have a very thick coat of candy....not nice at all.    And, visited the Honey Shop.

We went to the Cheese factory for lunch.....had a lovely cheese platter and a glass of wine.... bought some Brie and blue cheese and some 'pan de higo' (Spanish Fig Cake) and tomato relish.  Forgot to buy olives!  Sorry there are no photo's, enjoyed it too much and forgot to take any.  This is all I have.

The evidence...all gone now.

The Nougat Shop

We visited Kings Park, 400 hectare of parklands and natural bush on the banks of the Swan and Canning Rivers.   There is an impressive War Memorial and a number of lookouts that provide panoramic views of Perth's skyline and the water.

Nick and John went to the Perth Mint - Deb and I went shopping.  The Perth Mint was founded as a colonial branch of the Royal Mint in 1899 in response to the gold rush which began near Kalgoorlie in 1893.  It was to refine the gold that was discovered in Western Australia and turn it into bullion bars and sovereigns for use throughout 'the Empire'.  The ownership of The Perth Mint was transferred to the Western Australian Government in 1970.  Under the authority of the Commonwealth Department of the Treasury, The Perth Mint now refines the total of Australia's gold production and gold sourced from surrounding countries.  The taking of photo's inside the mint is prohibited for security reasons

The Perth Mint

We visited Hillary's Boat Harbour,  which opened in 1988 and has marina's, lots of restaurants (even a South African one called 'Hippo Creek' which has Boerewors, Peri Peri Chicken, Biltong, Droewors,  and dishes with names like the '400g Hunters Assaghai', 'Lion Kill' and Chicken Shazaloza").  There are shops, art and craft markets, cycle paths, charter companies, Rottnest Fast Ferries, walkways and parklands as well are the Aquarium of Western Australia.

We also went to Scarborough Beach for lunch, beautiful white sand against the blue Indian Ocean with lots of green parklands.   Thats one of the lovely things about Perth - 75% of the foreshore has been kept as parkland for public use.

Scarborough as seen from Hillary's Boat Harbour.

There were two "cold weather fronts" that went through while we were in Perth.  They brought the temperate down, a lot of strong winds and rain. It's the wind that is the problem.   These fronts last for about three or four days from go to woe.  One of them was considered a "severe front" which would only happen once or twice a year.  We spent that day at a shopping centre.....safer and dryer.

Well, due to the bad weather, we had to take our annexe's down and roll up our awnings and we stopped having dinner together, which is a pity because with the annexe up and the heater on, it is toasty warm and we have dinner and then read, play on our iPads or play cards, or heavens above....talk (and drink, of course). With no annexe, we hibernate in our own vans and whilst that is good from time to time, it is no fun when that way of living is forced upon you.

We went down to Secret Harbour to have lunch at the Whistling Kite with our friends Michelle and Henry who we met at Lake Placid Caravan Park in Cairns....it was good to catch up.

(L-R)  John, Henry, Michelle, Gail, Nick and Deb

But with the weather being so bad in Western Australia this year, we decided not to go south and would make our way to Kalgoorlie and then head for South Australia.  Unfortunately, this also meant that we didn't get to catch up with a lovely couple, Carol and Gina, who we met in Harvey Bay earlier this year.  That will have to wait until we come back or we met them on the road elsewhere :)

We did get to go to Fremantle....twice....see next post.

An isolated beauty.

Perth, is a beautiful capital city.......it's a pity it is in Western Australia, but I suspect that is part of its charm and the locals like it like that.

The city of Perth is on the banks of the Swan River with the Indian Ocean only a few kilometres away.  Its population is 1.6 million with that total state population of 2.3 million.

City of Perth taken from Kings Park

Perth's climate is described as "Mediterranean" with warm to hot summers (from mid 30's) and mild winters (17c).   Ha.....mild winter, you mean freezing more like it,  with very cold, windy fronts popping through from time to time....bringing the temp down to 4-6 c.  The wind that accompanies the cold fronts is akin to a cat 1 or 2 cyclone.  Of course, we are here in one of the coldest and wettest months, July...although I am told that August is the actually the coldest.... won't be here to make any comparisons though.

Perth looks new, it is clean, fresh, nothing is far away (including the Swan Valley),  there are lots of green open spaces, fabulous white sandy beaches, people dress well, they look happy as they go about their business and the transport system is truly amazing. For example, we got on a bus that took us to the train station which is situated in the middle of a four lane highway, and the train arrived within a couple of minutes to take us to Perth.  It is planned that way.  The buses and trains all look new.   The cost.... $1.80 one way (concession, of course). We went on the train into Perth twice, once to go shopping and the other to get on a Captain Cook cruise to Fremantle.

Perth Skyline from Barack Street Jetty.
The building on the right with the glass spire is the fabulous Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower is an impressive structure.  It is 82.5 metres (271 ft) high made of copper and glass. There are 18 bells and 12 of them are bells of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, which are very old.   The bells were donated to Western Australia as part of the 1988 Australian bicentenary celebrations.  They come from before the 14th century, were recast in the16th century by Queen Elizabeth I and again recast between 1725 and 1770 by three generations of the Rudhall family, bell founders from Gloucester in England.  They are one of the few sets of royal bells and are the only ones known to have left England.

The twelve St Martin-in-the-Fields bells actually come from a famous church in London's Trafalgar Square and have apparently been rung to celebrate historic events like England's victory over the Spanish Armanda, the WWII victory at El Alamein, and among other events, they have also rung in the New Year at Trafalgar Square for more than 275 years.

Love Locks outside of the Bell Tower

A quaint  and different thing to do is to purchase a 'Love Lock'.  Love Locks originated in China when couples chose to fix a padlock to chains on sections of the Great Wall. Legend says that it symbolised their love and that it would last forever.   It might have started in China but the practice is taking place in many parts of the world...Nevada USA, Russia, South Korea, Italy, Hungry, Japan, Latvia...and the love goes on....So for $30 you can buy your own love lock in Perth,  it will inscribed with your names and the date, you choose a link on the chain and 'lock your Love'