Saturday 28 June 2014

A Birthday is celebrated.

Whilst at Kalbarri we celebrated Johns birthday.  Short story.....John always says he 'doesn't like sweet stuff'....Ha!!!!

After dinner, drooling.... John would say.......'how about some profiteroles, with some yummy warm chocolate sauce', 
or 

'some lovely sticky date pudding would go down well right now'...

John has been talking about the profiteroles on and off for most of the trip.  So, we needed to find some for his birthday.

On the pretext of doing "girls stuff"  (read: shopping, in downtown Kalbarri....you have got to be kidding), Deb and I went on our secret mission to find a good restaurant with some nice deserts.

We checked them all out and were debating between two of them, when the decision became easier after the owner of a cafe confessed to "The Edge" being the best restaurant in town.  So, sitting in the car, Deb rang and made a booking.  She then asked whether the Chef would consider making profiteroles and explained about it being a celebration for Johns birthday. They said she would ask the Chef and call us back....we waited with bated breath, and the answer was......

Oh, Yes!
Deb and I knew what was coming so we had small meals.  John and Nick had pork belly....which came with three pieces of pork on a plate the same size of the desert one in the photo.  It was a huge meal, but we couldn't say anything without giving the game away.

The Chef did a marvellous job and the profiteroles were delicious.  As full as we were,  we had to eat the profiteroles didn't we, what was more, it came with a service of hazelnut ice cream....I can tell you ~ no one had breakfast the next morning.

John would not allow us to sing to him in the restaurant, saying that he would leave if we started.  Nick and I had already embarrassed John by singing 'happy birthday' to him first thing in the morning, loud enough so the whole caravan park could hear.


Happy Birthday John!

Lazy days

You will notice I have not posted for a while.......we were enjoying some lazy days at Kalbarri, just chilling.....reading, going for walks, watching the sunsets, going on drives to view the coast line, Kalbarri National Park and Murchinson Station. Nick and John tried fishing, but no luck!

We came for a week and stayed for two!

We thoroughly enjoyed Kalbarri.  We had all sorts of weather.....wind, rain, cold fronts coming through dispersed with glorious sun shining on the incredible white sands and the rugged red cliffs of the Kalbarri coast line.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is Kalbarri.


Kalbarri foreshore where the Murchinson River flows into the sea
The waves that lulled us to sleep at night


The View

Nick and Deb enjoying the view
Sunset
The Rugged Coast Line
"Pot Alley Arch"
 "Pot Alley"
"Red Bluff"
Fire!!!
I will write about Murchinson Station and Kalbarri National Park separately.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Between here and there.....

After three days in Wyndham we were up early ready to leave by 7am....we must have felt the need to move on.  Went through Halls Creek and onto Mary Pool (free camp) near the Mary River about 118 klms out of town.  Lovely spot but a bit rough on the causeway going in.  

Didn't count them but there must have been move than 50 vehicles...combination of caravans, motorhomes, whiz bangs (camper vans) and a couple of Harley's with trailers.  It is supposed to be an overnight stop but I would suggest that people stay there a lot longer, much like the billabong at  Camooweal.  The guy next to us was a painter....of ships, had a gallery (free entry mind you) in his annex and paintings for sale.  

There were toilets and a dump point.  The bins were overflowing though and instead of taking their rubbish with them people had just left it on the ground next to the bins so it was a bit of a mess.  

Not many flies and no mozzies.  Had a lovely meal which Deb cooked.  I proposed a toast to the fact that we had been travelling together on the road for four weeks and that we have a straight, safe road, good food and wine, excellent company and make some fond memories together.   All concurred and toasted the sentiment.  For good measure, Deb spoiled us with desert. 

We were all up early again the next day and ready to head off again.  John was in the lead and as he pulled out he noticed on his 'tyre dog'  (tyre monitoring system) that his rear passenger tyre was low.  On inspecting it he found it had been punctured by some metal object so Nick and John had to change the tyre and which John had repaired at the next town... Fitzroy crossing.

Stopped at 'The Boab' rest stop for lunch....the tree was huge, bigger than the one at Wyndham and you could climb right in it.  We didn't, but John did and we took his photo standing inside the Boab and he took one of us on the outside.  As I said previously, the Boab is hollow.  You might have heard of the Prison Boab which is up at Derby. 

The Boab rest stop

John inside the Boab 
Nick and Gail from the outside looking at John

  

Pulled into Nillibabbica rest stop at about 3 pm for an overnight stop.  We need to get to these places earlier because they fill up quickly.  We did get spot big enough to top and tail though in the middle of the rest stop. More vans came in after us so we were glad we got the spot we did. The soil was soft red dirt and it got in everywhere.  Had to leave our sandals outside and go barefoot in the Shack so that we reduced the amount of red dirt getting in. 

The next day, we overnighted at the Sandfire Roadhouse.    It had turkeys, geese, a camel and an albino  peacock....have never seen one of those before. 

Set up at Sandfire Roadhouse and more red dirt.....
Well....are you going to fed me or what?
Pretty white Peacock.

Next stop....Port Headland.









Tuesday 17 June 2014

Wyndham....the oldest and most northernmost town in the Kimberley


If you travelled up the Great Northern Highway from Perth for some 3216 klm you would get to Wyndham - population 1000.  The port services the cattle industry, the Ord River Irrigation Project and the many mining companies around the region. 

Originally, we had decided to stay at Parry's Lagoon (bird lovers paradisewhich is before Wyndham but then changed our minds and stayed in Wyndham itself.  It was very hot and the air-conditioner was on most of the day and all night.   

Talk about chalk and cheese....the swimming pool was freezing and I mean freezing, not just cold. It had two shade cloth covers over it and was the place to be mid afternoon around 3pm.  It was quite a shock getting in but it really cooled your core temperature down.  Each day I would get out before everyone else because I became so cold.  Didn't take any photos though....didn't think you would like the look of 'blue' people. 

We met a French couple who have returned to the Kimberley for the second year in a row and had arranged work before they came back.  She works as a waitress at the Rusty Shed Cafe and he is the Chef.  We had morning tea there one day, it was delicious!

There was also a very large and old Baob in the park...quite a sight. Did you know that their limbs are hollow? I have a photo to show you another time...


A couple of posers

Overlooking the town at the summit of the Bastion Range, some 350 metres above sea level, is the Five Rivers Lookout.  From this vantage point you can watch the Ord, Forrest, King, Durack and Pentecost Rivers flow down into the Cambridge Gulf and of course, is the best spot to watch the spectacular sunset (sorry, you know I love them).
Looking left - in land view
Looking right - View to the Cambridge Gulf
John and Nick
The sunset didn't disappoint 
The local fun fair was on and Nick and John went over for a visit.  I jokingly said that I wanted some fairy floss and Nick brought me back a bag of it.  We found it so sweet....guess ones taste changes over time.  

I made enquiries about doing an overnight tour to the Horizontal Falls out of Derby.  The three days that they had available were not conducive to getting the best view due to the tides and the next best tides were two weeks away. We decided that we did not want to wait around for two weeks in that heat and that we will come back and do it next time.....Click here to see info re the Horizontal Falls - we wanted to do the overnight one.  Good reason to return !!!


The view from my window

Cabin bound due to a cold front coming though - currently 30 knots, gusting to 37 knots and there is a severe weather warning for destructive winds right the way up the coast to where we are located.  I hear thunder as I write.
The view from my window
The waves are up....the water next to the road is the Murchinson River and the other is the sea.

Winds gusts as high as 111 kilometres per hour have been recorded at Busselton Jetty this morning and 106 at Rottnest Island this afternoon.....sounds like a cyclone to me.

We decided to drive the couple of blocks to fill the truck up with fuel and to get some petrol for the generator because when we arrived here seven days ago there was a power failure and we were told we could use our generator but didn't need to because not only were our batteries fully charged but the power came on shortly after we had arrived.

Funny though, we drove through a cold front on our way here.  We watched the temperature gauge go down in the car....,20c....19c .....down to 16c  in a matter of a few kilometres.

Other travellers had told us about Kalbarri, saying that we should not miss it, but the day we came in, it was overcast, windy and generally dreary looking.

But, it is actually a beautiful hidden little gem......unless  you live in WA and you fish of course.

Saturday 14 June 2014

The Nitty Gritty

I have been asked about the pros and cons associated with travelling on the road...the costs and anything that has come up that we had not thought about.

As we have been holidaying in a caravan on and off for 10 years before this trip,  we pretty much knew what to expect so there have been no surprises except for the high cost of everything in Western Australia, from groceries to caravan parks.

The main cost of course is fuel.  The cost of diesel out in the bush, that is away from the cities, is varied.  We have paid as little as $1.519 (after a 4c discount) in Mt Isa to as much as $1.999 (without a discount) at Camooweal (QLD) and Nanutarra (WA). We have seen it as high as $2.19 in WA at a roadhouse in the Pilbara....didn't have to buy it though...that is the beauty of having long range fuel tanks and being aware of what we have in the tank and how far to go to the next fuel stop.    

We use an app called Road Trip HD to record our fuel and accommodation.  It is a great app and easy to use.  It tells me that we have been averaging 19.73 L/100km.  It also tells us the cost of fuel averaged over the length of the trip in days and as well as overall.  It does the same with accommodation.  I also use it to record the park discounts that we get to see whether being a Big4 member or a Top Tourist member is worth it.  The Big 4 membership costs $50 and Top Tourist $30 for two years and you get a 10% discount on van park sites and sometimes a further 10% if staying for a week.

The other cost is food but it should be no different to eating "at home".  We have been out to restaurants a couple of times and had take-away fish and chips one night.  We are conscious of not going out for coffee, in fact, we hardly have done that.  

We share the cooking with our travelling companions, John and Deb, taking turns in cooking dinner.  This is great because, not only does if give each couple a physical break from cooking,  it also provides a greater variety in the type of meal we sit down to each night. The couple in the lead for the day, if we are on the move, provides morning tea and it has worked out that mostly, they end up cooking dinner as well.

We find that planning meals is important on two fronts.  One, we buy just what we need for the next three times it is our turn to cook and we don't run out of things when bush camping because there is no corner store to duck down to and two, we keep our stocks down in the pantry to just what we need due to space and weight considerations.

As we are on the road for a long period of time, we limit happy hours in regards to the nibbles but will still have a glass or two, which would be no different than if we were "at home".

The other cost is vehicle and van maintenance, we feel is so important to look after it as you don't want to get stuck out in the sticks.    There are things to consider in that regard.  Have a monitoring system fitted to your tyres is a good investment and on this trip, it has already saved John's vehicle as when we pulled out of Mary Pool Bush camp his "Tyre Dog" alarm went off, so he stopped and checked and sure enough, his rear passenger vehicle tyre was going flat.  Nick and John changed the tyre and John had it repaired in Fitzroy Crossing.  It could have been a very different story if he had got on the road, travelling at 93Klm/hr and have a tyre blow while towing the van.  We will be getting the same system fitted to our rig.

The joys of changing a tyre in red dust!
Making sure that we carry adequate water and use a good filter because drinking different water can affected you very quickly, and not in a good way, if you know what I mean.  Water is precious out in the bush, so looking after it is important as a traveller.

Investing in a UHF radio and tuning it to channel 40 is a good move out in the bush, it will warn you of things like approaching wide loads, road works and detours.

The only other thing is the toilet that has to be changed every three days, so making sure that we have a good supply of toilet "chemicals".  We don't use a chemical one, what we use is environmentally friendly and can be put down any type of toilet system.  Not that we have to do that very often as there are dump points everywhere.

Well, there you have it.....the Nitty Gritty.







Thursday 12 June 2014

Daly Waters Historic Pub

This is the second time we have been to the iconic Daly Waters Pub....somethings have changed and some have remained the same.

The caravan park has changed, it is larger with new large ensuite type facilities, the food and the atmosphere has remained the same.

A new addition though, was the "caretaker" a character complete with a black akubra, who escorted you to your campsite on a bicycle.  Nick wanted to exchange something for his hat, but the bloke wouldn't be in it.   We were lucky that night as some travellers put on a  "Fire and light" show with burning whips, juggling amongst other things.  Much enjoyed.

Gail, Deb and Joh enjoying a wine, as you do...

Nick returning from the bar

Bill Pearce (no relation to Nick) and his wife Hennrietta built a store at Daly Waters in 1930 to service travellers, settlers and drovers and the pub was given a "jug license" in 1938.

Surprisingly, prior to the 2nd World War, Daly Waters was the site of the first International Airport in Australia, refuelling planes enroute to London.  The trip cost around 275 pounds and took a whopping 8 days.  The Pearce's provided meals and accommodation and Bill also refuelled the planes.  The airport is now used for private aircraft, mining exploration aircraft and remote Area medical Services.

This was an overnight stop for memory sake as Nick and I had a great time there 19 years ago.  









More Photos - M. Isa Underground Hospital



The Mount Isa Underground Hospital was constructed in the grounds of the Mount Isa District hospital by off duty miners from Mount Isa Mines.  It was thought that Mount Isa was a strategic target after the war in the Pacific reached the shores of Australia in February 1942.  

The drilling, blasting and clearing out of the tunnels was mostly done over a two week period in March/April 1942 during which time approximately 100m of tunnel was excavated.   There are actually three parallel tunnels which amount to roughly 20m square of space.  They are call the Onton Tunnels after Wally Onton who was the underground foreman who supervised the contraction of the tunnels. 
Deb, John and Nick at the one of the tunnel entrances



John, Deb, Robert, Nick and Carol

On the banks of the Georgina River, Camooweal, Queensland.

I said I would do a pictorial so here it is....enjoy!







The road we have travelled

It has taken me a while to get the hang of using this blog program, think I have got it nailed now so I will post more regularly.

We are travelling with our good friends John and Deb and have travelled a long way....this is the run down after leaving Atherton on Saturday 26 April 2014.

Queensland

  • Mt Surprise
  • Normanton
  • Mt Isa
  • Camooweal Billabong on the Georgina River,

Northern Territory

  • Attack Creek Bush Camp (Stuart Monument) after the Three Ways
  • Daly Waters Pub
  • Adelaide River
  • Howard Springs - Darwin
  • Bridge Creek Bush Camp
  • Sullivan's Campground - Gregory
  • East Raine River Bush Camp

Western Australia

  • Wynham
  • Mary Pool Bush Camp
  • Nillibubbica Bush Camp
  • Sandfire Roadhouse
  • Port Headland
  • Dampier
  • Robe River Bush Camp
  • Nanutarra Roadhouse
  • Barradale Bush Camp
  • Carnarvon
  • Kalbarri  ~ 48 days later
Our aim is to explore Perth and the bottom part of Western Australia. 

I will post a pictorial of some of the places we have been.  

No water.....

We have spent a couple of nights in a bush camp at Robe River between Fortescue and Nanutarra Roadhouses.

Not a pretty spot as there is no water in the river, but at least we could light a fire and be under the stars.   Saw the International Space Station go over for the second time this trip,  the first time being when we were at the billabong in Camooweal.

In the middle of the night, I heard cattle, didn't know they were so noisy......thought they would be walking through the two vans (we top and tail when we can) any minute but they were actually behind a fence which was about two foot away from John and Deb's van.

Dinner on the go


You can see the fence on the left hand side of the photo, behind John and Deb's van.

Our van, known as the shack, is the one behind the fire.

I have my apron on as I am camp cook tonight....there is lamb stew in that there camp oven.....





You will note that I like sunsets, and why not, they are pretty spectacular in Australia.
The first night there was hardly anyone here, but the second night the place was packed.