Menindee then “Home Area”

Friday, 26 October 2012
A worthwhile excursion whilst in this area is to Menindee and the huge lake system which surrounds the small town. We were lucky to see the lakes when full providing a wonderful habitat for an incredible number and range of birdlife. The lakes form a huge wetland area on the Darling River and have a capacity of three and a half time that of Sydney Harbour. We were able to see the main lake from a boat cruise which we enjoyed for approximately one hour.
We also visited the historic Burke and Wills Campsite where we saw the famous “dig tree” where food was buried for the explorers, but as they never found it they perished.

Kinchega Woolshed, originally a 62 stand shearing shed built in the 1880’s was of particular interest to Crawf. In its heyday up to 140,000 sheep were shorn here each year. It is now owned by Parks and Wildlife and is used as a recreation area and camp.

Saturday, 27 October 2012
After spending last night at Bunnerungee Bridge Rest Area we travelled through Mildura and after lunch made our way to Lake Benanee where we set up for another night at this pretty lakeside rest area.
Sunday, 28 October 2012
We once again crossed the Hay Plain and as there aren’t many suitable rest areas in this area, other than on the Murrumbidgee River banks, we decided to continue on to Griffith. Our trip from Griffith, April 2012 to Griffith, November 2012 was 22,369kms. We will now spend the next few months in our old home area, catching up with the family and friends and Crawf has his harvest job again.

Across South Australia to Broken Hill

Friday, 19 October and Saturday, 20 October 2012
We travelled quickly across the top of the Eyre Peninsula as we had made the same trip last year. After camping at a rest area 25km west of Port Augusta, we climbed slowly up and over the South Flinders Range to the east of Port Augusta passing through Wilmington and Orroroo before stopping for a lunch break at Peterborough. While in Peterborough we visited the Steamtown Rail Museum which was very interesting. We gained more of an insight into the early days of rail transport in this area and viewed the details of the different gauge lines used in different states. Some of the carriages were very luxurious and some very basic.






After lunch we followed the main east-west rail line towards Broken Hill. Along the way we passed through Yunta, Mannahill and decided to stay at the rest area opposite the hotel at Olary. These town are virtual ghost towns with only a hotel or roadhouse still operating and a scattering of occupied houses. Olary was the most interesting of these town as the young locals were amusing themselves by doing wheel-stands on a motorbike along the main road in front of the pub while their mates sat in the back of a ute lined with a tarp and filled with water to act as a swimming pool. Several other travellers called in to watch the silly antics.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
We arrived in Broken Hill before lunch and after gathering some information from the Tourist Centre we commenced exploring the town by firstly driving a few kilometres out of town to view the Living Desert and the Sculptures Symposium. The Living Desert has breathtaking views of the Barrier Range and the surrounding plains. There is a flora and fauna walk trail as well as a cultural walk trail. Unfortunately we were too late to see the wildflowers and the plants were very dry as it has been a very dry winter.
We then drove to the nearby Sculptures which were created in 1993 and have become an icon of Broken Hill. 53 tonnes of sandstone was transported from the Wilcannia area and in its uncut form was, after a huge logistical exercise, roughly arranged in tow columns on the top of the large hill some 12km from Broken Hill. 12 sculptors from many countries turned these sandstone blocks into works of art with the support of the local council and community. 







Monday, 22 October 2012
Silverton was our destination today and after bouncing our way through the 39 dips in the 25km of road we reached Silverton. We drove another nine kilometres to the Umberumberka Reservoir, Broken Hill’s water storage facility, a very pretty site. Along this road we also viewed the Mundi Mundi Plain where several movies were filmed e.g. Mad Max 2, Mission Impossible2 and A Town Like Alice. We then returned to Silverton and spent the rest of the day wandering around the old mining town which was the original mining settlement before Broken Hill but is almost a ghost town now. There are many old buildings remaining including the hotel, churches, shops and homes. The old gaol now houses the museum and we spent at least two hours there. The Mad Max car, other memorabilia and quirky things, as well as arts and crafts can be seen around town. Movie making in Broken Hill has become another artistic activity and movies such as Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Razorback and Reckless Kelly have scenes filmed in this area.

Tuesday, 23 October 2012 to Thursday, 25 October 2012
We spent the day looking around Broken Hill, the lovely old elaborate buildings and museums. The Albert Kersten Mining and Mineral Museum houses a world class display of Broken Hill minerals. It is also home to the “Silver Tree”, once owned by Charles Rasp, one of the original founders of BHP. The tree is made from 8.5kg of silver and was originally a table decoration. We also visited the Silver City Art Centre and Silver City Mint. The Centre has a very large variety of art, souvenirs and a chocolate factory. At the back of the Centre we viewed “The Big Picture”, a painting 100 metres in length and 12 metres high. This is an incredible mural/painting which circles a viewing area and portrays Broken Hill’s surrounding landscape. This centre is also an outlet for the silver jewellery produced from local silver.
We also visited the late Pro Hart’s Studio. Pro was a prolific artist who started his working life in the mines but with the encouragement of his wife became a full time artist. He was a very interesting character who didn’t like attention and was also a very talented shooter, musician and a weightlifter. Broken Hill has many art galleries, lookouts and memorials. The Miner’s Memorial overlooks the town and honours those who have died in the mining industry in this area. There are also several memorials to the unionists involved in the improving of miners working conditions and rights. Another interesting art display is at the Palace Hotel, where the publican has painted giant murals in the hallways, bar area and the stairwell. This is the hotel featured in the movie “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the Goldfields

Tuesday, 9 October to Saturday, 13 October 2012

After picking up our mail from the Esperance Post Office, we set off towards Kalgoorlie-Boulder. About 80kms north we had a blow-out in one of the van tyres and after changing it we stopped at Norseman to purchase a new tyre. From there we continued on to Mt Thirsty Rest Area, 23kms north of Norseman for the night.

The following morning we made our way to Kalgoorlie-Boulder, via Kambalda, a small town on the Goldfields Highway.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is made up of two old goldfield towns, now grown together. The old buildings in the towns reflect the prosperity of the area, now and in the past. One old building, I think it is the Post Office-Mining Registrar Office has a clock tower which is capped with gold plating which shines brilliantly in the sunshine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kalgoorlie Town Hall is also a magnificent building with a huge wooden staircase to the dress circle of the theatre area which also has cast iron seating upholstered with velvet.

 

We also visited infamous Hay Street, Kalgoorlie, when we took part in a tour of the oldest remaining ‘house’ in Kalgoorlie. This was a most entertaining afternoon with the current Madam, a real character, telling us about the history of the industry and an insight into the goings-on behind the walls.

We visited the famous “Super Pit”, a huge gold mine, hundreds of metres deep and kilometres long. We viewed it from the lookout and then Crawf went on the two and a half hour bus tour into the pit and the processing plant. The machinery used in the mining industry is huge and very expensive, for example, a dump truck costs approximately $10 million and uses about 140 litres of fuel for every 10kms travelled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boulder is also on the edge of the Super Pit and the plans are to tunnel under the town to extract more gold way below the surface. We visited the Metropole Hotel where we viewed an old mine shaft in the floor of the pub. According to the locals, several pubs were accessed by the miners in this manner as it was a safer way to get to the gold buyers who bought gold in the hotels. I think it was also a short-cut to a drink.

Many of the buildings in Boulder were badly damaged by an earthquake in 2010. Unfortunately we were unable to view the Boulder Town Hall as it was closed. It has a Philip Goatcher Stage Curtain, believed to be the last remaining curtain in the world painted by Philip Goatcher.

Sunday, 14 October 2012

While in the goldfields area we visited Coolgardie, the town where the first substantial amounts of gold were discovered by Paddy Hannan. Coolgardie is now a slightly deserted town compared to Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Many of the old buildings still stand in the very wide main street.

We completed our round trip of the goldfields area and commenced our exit trip from Western Australia by calling into Norseman for fuel and then commenced our third crossing of the Nullarbor and spent the night at a great rest area 77km east of Norseman. We also camped at Moonera Rest Area and 157km Peg Rest Area before arriving at Ceduna where we spent two nights while doing some washing, grocery shopping and indulging in some local oysters.

Albany and The South of WA

Monday, 1 October 2012 to Wednesday, 3 October 2012

We chose to stay at Kalgan River Caravan Park which is about 20kms outside Albany, set in a rural area and very spacious which suited our needs. The park is on the banks of the Kalgan River and the park is very quiet and relaxing. There are many kangaroos, birds and sometimes bandicoots wandering around the park.

While in Albany we visited the Whale World Museum, an old whaling station which only ceased operations in 1978 when the government banned the killing of whales for commercial purposes. Until then whale oil was very valuable and used for heating, fuel and in the cosmetic industry. Life was very hard for the whalers and when the station closed about 200 people were out of work. The town has recovered and is now committed to the preservation of the whales.

Albany is also the port where the original Anzacs of 1914-15 set sail for Gallipoli and the middle east. The town has honoured them with a large memorial.

 

 

This is also the site where the Brig, “Amity” brought the first convicts to Western Australia. A replica of the “Amity” overlooks the harbour. Many of the buildings from that time are still standing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While in Albany we also visited the local blowholes but due to the low tide they weren’t blowing. We then made our way to the Gap and the Natural Bridge. These are very incredible rock formations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, 4 October 2012

We commenced our trip towards Esperance and had lunch at Jerramungup and then spent the night at Munglinup in the rest area opposite the roadhouse.

While in Esperance we caught up with Cyril and also restocked the pantry in preparation for our trip back across the Nullarbor.

Tall Trees and Cliffs

Friday, 21 September 2012

Between showers of rain, we made our exit from Big Valley and wandered on towards Pemberton via Sue’s Road. We arrived just before the rain set-in, it rained and hailed all afternoon and most of the night and the following day was very, very cold and windy.

We braved the elements and went to see the famous Gloucester Tree, a huge Karri tree originally used, and sometimes now days, as a fire spotting lookout.  It can be climbed using the metal rods embedded into the trunk in a spiral fashion but we decided not to attempt it because of the gale force winds.These Karri trees are about 60 metres tall.

Sunday, 23 September 2012

Pemberton has some lovely bush walks and at this time of year many wildflowers. We took a ride on the tram along the old rail track through the Karri forest where the timber industry of the area took place. The driver provided a great commentary about the history of the timber industry and the railway. Most of the buildings in the town are very old, many of the original timber-getters cottages and stores are still being used today.

Monday, 24 September 2012

Walpole was our destination today. We travelled along the very pretty, but very hilly highway lined with huge trees. Our campsite for this area was Ayr Sailean, a farm based caravan park and chalets. We made this our base for the next week because the inclement weather made it difficult to see the sites of the area.

 Walpole is, possibly, most famous for the Valley of the Giants, Tall Trees Walk. We spent a morning exploring the Red Tingle forest from both the suspended walkway about 40 metres above ground through the forest canopy and also from the ground on the Ancient Empire boardwalk. Some of these trees are up to 400 years old. They have huge trunks which with time have become hollow and in some cases the tunnels are large enough for people and even cars to pass through.

We also visited Denmark while in this area. Denmark is a pretty little seaside town with many trendy shops and cafes. The beaches and coastline are dotted with rocks, the most spectacular being Elephant Rocks.

Circular Pool is another lovely spot, also known as ‘the cappuccino” as the water in the pool at the bottom of the small rapids is frothy and the colour of coffee. The water is coloured by rotting plant matter.

We also visited an old saw pit used for the sawing of the huge tree trunk into long slabs for use in the building industry of the day. We learned from the sign where the term “under dog” came from. The person working the saw from the bottom of the pit was described as the “under dog” because he was under the log of wood and during the day was subjected to all the dust and sawdust making his working day very uncomfortable. The worker on top was usually a more ‘superior’ worker who was known as the “upper dog’.

The Winery Coast

Sunday, 15 September to Thursday 20 September 2012

We decided to make Big Valley Campsite our base from where we could explore the Margaret River and south coast areas. Big Valley Campsite is a working sheep farm about 10kms from Margaret River, very quiet and relaxing and reminded us of home.
The first day of our stay we took a “Cheers Tour” and as the name suggests we visited wineries, a chocolate factory, a cheese factory, a venison farm and finally a brewery. We were collected from our campsite at 10.30am and delivered back again at 6.15pm. A great day with lots of taste testing along the way and a lovely lunch at one of the wineries. We didn’t want much for tea that night.
Another day trip was to Augusta and Cape Leeuwin to see the lighthouse and where the Indian Ocean meets the Great Southern Ocean. At this point we were only about 5,000kms from the South Pole.

We also had a trip to the north to Busselton to see the famous Busselton Jetty and from there to Dunsborough and to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. A walking trail around the lighthouse leads to a viewing platform from where whales can sometimes be seen, but they were a long way of shore. A colony of seals were sunning themselves on the rocks below.
Jewel Cave was another highlight with a guided tour providing a spectacular glimpse of the limestone cave, an example of the many caves in the Naturaliste-Leeuwin National Park which extends from Cape to Cape along the coast.

 Cowaramup is an interesting small town on the Bussel Highway. The streets are inhabited by dozens of cow sculptures, all sponsored by local businesses and towns people as a charity fund raising idea and is now a great tourist attracting scene.

Places We Missed Last Year

Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 12 September 2012

After two nights of camping on the old oval at New Norcia we ventured on to Wongan Hills, another grain growing area with more wildflowers.
Our next stop-over was at Goomalling, much the same type of area as the last but with a really great little caravan park with plenty of space for us and the price was unbelievably reasonable.
As we were now back in familiar territory we made very quick progress by passing through Northam, Beverley, Brookton, Pingelly until we reached Narrogin for one night.
The next day we found our way to Donnybrook, via Williams and Collie. With Donnybrook Transit Park as our base for a few days, we ventured north to Dardanup to visit a great privately owned heritage museum. Set on several acres, the museum was set up by Gary Brooks who owned a trucking company and was an avid collector. The museum was about to open when Gary died unexpectedly and it is now run by his wife and family. It is a great display and takes most of the day to explore.



We also had a trip to Bunbury but the highlight of this area was a visit to “Gnomes Ville” where we found a crossroads corner where people have been placing gnomes and messages for many years. This is an incredible sight with hundreds, if not thousands, or gnomes of varying shapes, sizes and colours.