January 2015

Thursday, 1st January 2015 - Howatharra … Day 575 of our ‘Around Oz’ tour

 

We were late getting up. A sunny day … good morning 2015.

We just fiddled around until Roy moved the tractor out of the shed and we were able to move completely in and get away from the strong gusty winds.

Later we went down to the h0use for drinks and nibbles and then only had a light tea.

 

Friday, 2nd January 2015

Up early again as we were going into town with Allana and Roy so they could complete a few chores and then take us to the Dome (café) where they treated us to breakfast … thanks guys!

Back to the farm where Geoff attempted to drain the waste water tank which was starting to pong a little. This is an ongoing problem for us and what causes it is unknown. It could be the little amount of fat that gets down the sink, even though I wipe everything off with paper towel before washing it or it could be a bore water problem and calcification. Anyway, I think he had some success. He then completed topping up the radiator with the coolant he had bought when we were in town.

When we were relaxing in the motorhome the laptop pinged and Denny and Terry were calling on skype so we had a really long and interesting chat.

We had another light tea with Roy and Allana and then left them to it. We had just finished watching a movie when the laptop pinged again and Laura had managed to get dad’s computer to skype us and the picture was good and the sound clear. It was great to see him looking so good and, once again, we had a great chat. We were so pleased to see how well he had bounced back. Thanks Laura for fixing that up for him and we are sorry that you got a cracked windscreen on the way back home.

 

 

 

Saturday, 3rd January 2015

Up really early again … yawn … to take Allana and Roy to the airport as they were off to New Zealand until the 15th January. Once again, Macca’s for breakfast and then on to the post office to pick up a parcel which turned out to be Geoff’s new glasses. They are quite stylish and made using his old prescription and he’s very happy with them. When he got back he modified the arms of the clip on sunnies which tend to scratch the glasses.

I spent some time moving stuff back down to the house … sigh. Suddenly there was a loud noise and a hose had shot off a pipe so Geoff got a hose clip and soon had it fixed. Spent the afternoon catching up on the bush fire situations in Vic and SA. Not good!

 

Sunday, 4th January 2015

Bacon and eggs then off to the tip, 13 minutes’ drive away.

Too hot to do much so watched the coverage of the South Australian fires. 26 homes lost so that is so sad.

 

Monday, 5th January 2015

Bloody hot today … 43ºc.

We went into town today, primarily to drop off the tyres which we had sold for a pittance, but at least we don’t have to carry them around with us anymore. Firstly we made our way to the Sydney11 Memorial for the 10.30 am free guided tour. Stupidly, I had not got my sunscreen with me. Where is the one I bought specifically to keep in my bag? Probably in another backpack! Because of the lack of sunscreen I was very aware that I had better not be out in the sun for too long. The guide was very informative and I hugged the shade wherever I could but I could soon feel I was started to burn so headed off to the shade. Luckily the tour was about over so I didn’t miss anything.

From here we made our way to ‘The Dome’ café where we had a warmish milkshake which was a bit of a disappointment and then caught up with the guy who had bought our tyres.

Back to the farm with ominous clouds forming heralding that we may get a storm. We had a quick shower and a few rumbles of thunder which Smeg wasn’t at all impressed with and that was it. Cooled down a touch but not much.

 

Tuesday, 6th January 2015

Woke up to the news there had been an earthquake in the south island of New Zealand and thought of Roy and Allana and wondered which part of the country they were in.

It was too hot to do much but Geoff did get to polish out some scratches off the headlight lenses of the Fiat.

 

Wednesday, 7th January 2015

Cooler today, around 30º, and a sprinkle of rain overnight and but not enough rain to show up in the rain gauge.

We pulled the motorhome out of the shed and gave her a wash and it is nice to see her clean again, well … at least for a while.

Didn’t do much except watch a very weird Terry Gilliam film called ‘Berlin’ and then had a spa… nice.

 

Thursday, 8th January 2015

Wow … 12 people shot at a newspaper office in Paris. Such a hateful thing!

A full on day today so, at last, something to write about. We decided to go to Northampton to have a look around and get some shopping. Northampton is 27 kms north of the farm whereas Geraldton is 37 kms south so Northampton is actually closer. When we got there Geoff decided that we might as well make a day of it and go up to Kalbarri National Park. We drove via the ‘Principality of the Hutt River Province’, which is a separate country within Australia, because we had seen something on TV about it in the 1970’s. The Hutt River seceded from Australia on 21st April 1970, one week before we boarded the Fairstar to start our new life in Oz. It had always stayed in our minds so we thought it would be good to visit as we were so close. We thought they had seceded as a publicity stunt but this was not so. They were deadly serious about it and it all came about when the WA government, in 1969, slashed their wheat quota from 13,000 acres to 100 acres which would have ruined them. They lost their appeal to the WA government and then the government said they were going to seize the, now surplus, land leaving the family no option but to secede.

Since then the government has tried to stop and ruin them, but what they set up was all legal and above board and now they even have letters from the Oz government saying they are non-residents of Australia. It is their 45 anniversary in April and Geoff and I got a personal invite from Prince Leonard to attend. It was all very interesting and you can read more by clicking on the following hyperlink …

http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/PHR_The_Formation_of_the%20Principality_of_Hutt_River.htm

The Hutt River Province is about the size of Hong Kong island with its main administration centre, Nain, housing a chapel, the government Offices, post office, museum, souvenir shop, café and swimming pool.

 

 

From here we continued on to the Kalbarri National Park where we visited the Coastal Cliffs area of the park. The coastal area along this area was very spectacular and we had soon visited the areas called the Grandstand, Island Rock and Natural Arch. The cliffs are made of striped Tumblagooda Sandstone and are varying colours of dark brown through to coffee and quite striking to look at although I don’t think the photos do it justice. We also visited the township of Kalbarri which was, basically, just a coastal tourist town which was attractive but not very big. We visited the Zuydorp Shipwreck Memorial and then thought we had better head back as poor Smeg had been home alone all day and probably wanted a pee. This meant we would have to leave the river gorges but, as I stated in a previous journal, we were out-gorged anyway.

 

 

On the way back we popped into the very small community of Port Gregory which was located on ‘The Pink Lake’ (salt and algae) where we stopped in the only shop there to have an ice cream and then get sandblasted by the flying sand (yep, still very windy). We eventually did what we had intended to do ….our shopping at Northampton and got back to the farm around 6am. Smeg was pleased to see us and didn’t seem too much in a hurry to go out for a pee so I checked the house and no mess. Good girl!

 

Monday, 12th January 2015

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were just normal house sit days. They only things of note (maybe) are that Geoff took the paddock 4WD out around the property to have a look around. We also started to move things back up to the motorhome in readiness for Thursday when Roy and Allana return. We also got a call from a neighbour saying there had been a lot of break ins around us and to be aware and to look out for a certain vehicle.

On Monday we decided to go into Geraldton (definitely locked the gate) to pick up the mail and have a look at the St Francis Xavier Cathedral. As cathedrals go it was small but had some really nice stained glass windows. After a quick look around it was on to the post office and supermarket and that was it for the day.

 

Thursday, 15th January 2015

Nothing worth mentioning for Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Thursday I got up early to strip the bed and get the bed linen washed and on the line. Geoff was up and about by 6.30 and doing a few things then at 7.20 we were on the road to the airport to pick Roy and Allana up. We had a quick chat when we got back and then left them to it as they needed a nanonap each. We fiddled around up at the motorhome getting things ready for the off in the morning.

Later Roy and Allana came up for a chat and to give us $300 for petrol money as a thank you for looking after every-thing. We tried to say no but that wasn’t an option so thanks guys. Roy stayed on when Allana headed back to the house. Geoff and Roy enjoy chewing the fat, so Roy filled us in on his NZ experience. Later we went down to have a last drink with them.

 

Friday, 16th January 2015 … Caron Dame Reserve Rest Area

Up around 8am as Roy and Allana had come up to say goodbye as they were off into Geraldton to complete some chores.

We did a final pack up, scooter on and then we were also on the road by 9.30. It was a quick trip into Geraldton to go to the post office to pick up a small parcel for Geoff and also pop into Rivers to buy Geoff some sandals and I grabbed a couple of pants that were on special and then we were off.

We also stopped in the RV Friendly town of Mingenew to post a parcel off to my dad and get some cider etc. before continuing on but stopping for a cuppa at Depot Hill rest stop.

We got to our overnight stop at the Caron Dam Reserve rest area around 2.30. This small dam was the water supply for the steam trains of days gone by, and was dug by hand in 1915 and has since been covered over with tin. Not the most pleasant of aspects but there was a tad of shade and we were alone which meant that we could have the genny on which, in turn, meant we could have the air condition on as it was 37º inside. Who knows what the temperature would be outside? And that was our day!

 

Saturday, 17th January 2015 - Cadoux … Day 591 of our ‘Around Oz tour’

By 7am the temperature was already 27ºC outside but it wasn’t too bad overnight as it dropped to around 18º. At least there was a breeze coming in through the open window.

We were on the road by 7.45 … shock, horror … and for the first 90 minutes we saw one car every 40 kms on average. The roads were very straight through flat endless wheat lands with only stubble sticking up in the paddocks at this time of year.

We got into Cadoux about 11.50 and had a look at the campsite there which looked shady so we went back to the Cadoux Traders to see how we could grab a spot for the night. It turned out to be only $5 which included power so was very cheap. We would have used more money running the genny! Whether it was cheaper because we said we had no need to use the toilets and showers I can’t say, doubt it. The lady in the store said it was very quiet for tourists this time of year as most tourists use the RV camp during wildflower season. There’s not many RV-ers traveling through the wheat belt at this time of year as it is so hot. What do they say? Only mad dogs and Englishmen … say no more!

After spending some money in the store on lunch and ice creams we went back to the camp and found a shady spot and it was on with the power and the air conditioner.

An interesting note … On 2 June 1979 there was a significant earthquake just east of the town. It had a Richter magnitude of 6.1 and was the second most damaging earthquake in the history of Western Australia. Damage to the area was estimated to be $3.8 million (in 1979 dollars). Only one injury was recorded in the entire earthquake. This was a broken arm sustained by a child from falling masonry.

 

Sunday, 18th January 2015 - Merredin

We eventually got to sleep with the two fans blowing on us and no sheet and slept reasonably well. But it was on with the A/C as soon as we got up and it was time to cook bacon and eggs, of course.

We were on the road by 8.50 which was still reasonably early for us. The poor fridge is really struggling in these 40º days. Once again, the roads were really packed, with 5 cars in two and a half hours. We even had one overtake us in this time.

Geoff took the back road into Merredin where we found the visitor information centre closed which meant we had no idea where the free camp was. Even the cashier in the IGA had no idea where it was so we went onto the web and found it and it was a pleasing camp if a little small but it did have shade. Once again we were the only ones there so it was on with the genny and the A/C and within minutes the temperature inside had gone from 34º to 28º and was still dropping and was nice and comfy.

Later Geoff realised he couldn’t find his scooter and bin keys so thinks he left them on the ground back at Cadoux. He has spares so we will get some more cut in Kalgoorlie.

 

 

Monday, 19th January 2015 - Kalgoorlie

A reasonable night and on the road before 9am again and travelling through stands of Salmon Gums, so called because their trunks are a stunning salmon colour. We were also following a water pipeline all the way into Kalgoorlie. We later learnt that this water pipeline was commissioned in 1896 and completed in 1903 and still operates today to supply the townships of Coolgradie, Kalgoorlie, Boulder and Norseman. This pipeline runs from a reservoir in Perth over 650 kms away and was quite a feat for its day and was, for a long while, the longest water pipeline in the world.

After about 200 kms I took the wheel for a while to give Geoff a break but after about an hour we came upon really heavy duty road works and I had to drive on narrow dirt side tracks which I did not like at all. Eventually we got stopped by a traffic (lollipop) lady and I took the opportunity to hand back over to Geoff.

Once in Kalgoorlie we sought out the Visitor Information Centre and got a list of caravan parks. With the temperature hovering at around 42º (107ºF) we were soon ensconced in a large and shady site at the Prospector Holiday Park close to town. On with the A/C but it took ages for the temperature to become bearable inside as it was so hot.

When the sun had started to sink below the horizon we thought the temperature must have dropped enough for us to go out on the scooter (it was still 35º) and went to the Mt Charlotte Lookout where the water pipeline finishes in a reservoir there. As we got there the sun had just sunk below the horizon and the sky was ablaze with varying reds and oranges and was very spectacular with the outline of Kalgoorlie and the poppet head silhouetted against the skyline. Where was the camera? Back at the motorhome, that’s where … but Geoff took some photos on his phone so I am really hoping that they turn out.

 

 

Tuesday, 20th January 2015 - Kalgoorlie

We eventually got to sleep and we awoke to another scorcher today!

We went out early to try to beat the heat which turned out an impossible task. We needed to get some new keys cut etc. and then we went into Boulder where we stopped at the Metropole Hotel which was built in 1900 and still had one of the original mine shafts below its bar. This mine shaft is covered in hardened glass so you can peer down into its depths. This building, and many others, got damaged in an earthquake in 2010. It was hardly mentioned in the press as the Christchurch earthquake quickly followed and then the earthquake in Japan and the disastrous tsunami that followed. After a lemon, lime and bitters it was on to the Boulder Town Hall to have a look at the theatre curtain which was designed and painted by Philip Goatcher who was the most famous scene and curtain painter in the world at that time. The curtain scene portrayed the Bay of Naples and was quite fascinating and I am sure my arty sister, Glyn, would have liked it.

 

 

 

 

The main hall was also very striking and, as Geoff says, in the early 1900’s this theatre would have been the only source of entertainment around apart from the 92 pubs that were around in the town’s gold mining heyday.

By this time it was midday and was HOT HOT HOT and I was really starting to feel it. We nearly got branded by the scooter seat; it was so hot, so it was back to the cool of the motorhome as we had left the A/C on.

After lunch Geoff had to brave the elements to go to a doctor’s appointment as the end of his fingers are ulcerated again … poor B! He wasn’t long and he said it was extremely hot out there and it really knocks you about so he was soon snoozing and my eyelids were getting heavy. One more day of this heat and then it cools down some.

 

Wednesday, 21st January 2015 - Kalgoorlie

Up and out by 9am to try to see some more of Kalgoorlie/Boulder before it got too hot. We made our way back to Boulder where we went up to the Super Pit lookout. The Super Pit is the largest open pit mine in Australia and produces up to 850,000 ounces of gold every year. The pit is 3.5 kms long by 1.5 kms wide and 570 metres deep. The view of the Super Pit was extremely mind blowing.

 

 

The massive trucks (they have 31 in total costing over $4 million each) looked like little Tonka trucks from where we were and we watched as they slowly made their way down into the pit, loaded up with four shovels of ore from the large diggers and then slowly climbed their way up to the top of the pit. A nonstop clockwise motion of little Tonka toys going round and round. It must be a boring but profitable job.

From here we went back into Kalgoorlie to look around their town hall which was quite interesting but I liked the Boulder Town Hall better. Getting towards midday it was starting to get extremely hot so it was back to the cool of the motorhome. Geoff put the thermometer out under the awning and it registered 44º (115ºF). Wow … this is the hottest temperature I have ever been in and I wouldn’t recommend it. So we fiddled around and stayed inside until about 3.30 pm when we decided it must be time for a dip in the pool to cool off. There were quite a lot of others with the same idea but they all seemed to be travellers and of the same age as us. We stayed in for a while and cooled off very nicely until we got out and within minutes we were just as hot again.

 

Thursday, 22nd January 2015 - Twelve Rocks Rest Area

Wow … what a difference a day makes! We awoke to an overcast and cool day of a low to mid 30º day … what a relief!

We were on the road by 9am to do the normal pre travel things of filling the gas, fuel etc. We were soon heading south to Norseman and had some short lived rain splatters on the windscreen. As we drove the Kalgoorlie-lie to Norseman road we constantly saw stuffed and plastic toys adorning the trees on the side of the highway. It seems an Aussie thing to do … adorn the remoter highways with stuff like this, be it a tree festooned with hard hats or termite nests dressed up in clothing.

190 kms later we were in Norseman and expected a decent sized town but were disappointed as it was relatively small and looked like it was trying to die but they were trying to dress the place up with metal camels on the one roundabout. A lot of the shops in the main street were up for lease. It was here we topped up on groceries and we didn’t seem to have much to show after parting with $93.

We then drove another 60 kms east through Gimlett Gums (like skinny Salmon Gums) and pink salt lakes until we found a camp site to our liking. We were all alone, or so we thought, when there was a knock on the door and it was a solo lady who asked if we were staying for the night as she didn’t like to camp on her own and I don’t blame her. In the end there were five RV’s overnight.  

 

 

Friday, 23rd January 2015 - Crossing the Nullabor … Moonera Tank Rest Area

Up early after a restless night with a bladder problem, yet again. The probiotics I had started on had kept it in check but made me very dizzy so I had to stop them but now my problem has come back so I have started up on half the dosage of probiotics to see if my body can handle that. As I get older my body seems to have more intolerance for things I put in my mouth ... such as fish oil, non free range chicken, probiotics etc. It is such a pain!

So I was up early which meant we got away reasonably early. As we continued east we noticed there were emergency phones every 150 kms or so along the route. Not much help really if you break down in the middle but there is plenty of traffic, every 2 to 8 minutes or so, so you wouldn’t get stuck.

We stopped to top up on fuel at Balladonia which is where a lot of skylab rained down when it fell to earth all those years ago. They have a small museum there but it only has a little piece of space junk and a display which you think is the real thing when you enter only to soon realise it is just a bit of fakery to look good. Apparently the then president of the USA, Jimmy Carter, rang the Balladonia Roadhouse to apologise for any inconvenience that the skylab debris falling may have caused.

Onwards and there was soon a sign saying this part of the Eyre Highway was used as an emergency Royal Flying Doctor Service airstrip.

After leaving Balladonia we were soon traveling on the longest straight stretch of highway in Australia and one of the longest stretches in the world. This stretch was 90 miles or 146.6 km and would have been much longer only they put a manmade kink in the highway to stop boredom. We stopped for a cuppa on route and then I drove for a while until we reached the Caiguna Roadhouse where we stopped to make lunch. Phoned a few friends whilst we had a signal and then did a quick detour to visit the Caiguna Blowhole. This was not a coastal sea blowhole but one of many air blowholes connected to the various limestone caves and waterways below the surface of the Nullabor. At one of these blowhole entries the wind was measured at 72 kilometres per hour. Quite fascinating.

We then continued on to the Moonera Tank rest area where we were stopping overnight. This turned out to be a huge and shady area but without facilities which meant we had the place to ourselves for the night.

 

Saturday, 24th January 2015 - Somewhere along the stretch of Bunda Cliffs, the Nullabor

It is staying darker a little longer in the mornings now as we have been through one 45 minute time zone. Nice as we sleep in longer. We were still on the road reasonably early and were soon at the Madura Pass which was quite a surprise as we hadn’t realised we were as high as we were. We stopped to admire the view and take photos, of course, but Geoff said the photos didn’t come out so good so they are not shown here. Even the web photos were not much so it must be one of those places that is spectacular to the eye but does not photograph well.

As we continued on towards Eucla the trees got sparser and we passed three more emergency airstrips for the Royal Flying doctor. At Eucla we stopped to have a look at the old telegraph station which was slowly but surely being taken over by the sand dunes. We took photos so we could compare them to Wyn’s who visited over 40 years ago. I must say it was nice to see the sea again.

We continued on to find a spot for the night after visiting a few of the Bunda cliffs viewing areas on route. We found a spot that was shared by RV’s and trucks and we had two trucks come in for the night and they were fine … one choof of the air brakes and that was it.

 

 

Sunday, 25th January 2015 - Colena Rest Area, the Nullabor

Bacon, egg and fried potato … yum. Soon another time change … that’s 2.5 hours forward in total.

Our first stop was a lookout called Bunda Cliffs even though the Bunda Cliffs run for 800 kms west and then it was on to the Nullabor Roadhouse for fuel, pasties for lunch and a nice beach towel of the Nullabor which Geoff fancied. Alas, it was the last one in stock as I would have bought one too. We then continued on to the Head of Bight which is where the Humbolt Current ends as do the cliffs to be replaced by endless high sand dunes. You can see the difference in sea colour where the underground cave system waters enter the bay. The sea here was a beautiful light aqua colour caused by the sand underneath. The Head of Bight is Yalata country and the walk out to the lookouts is managed by a local aboriginal corporation but not one working aboriginal was to be seen. The corporation employs Caucasian managers who seem to be doing a really good job. It was $5 each to walk out to the Head of Bight and it was money well spent as you could see the money that had been poured into the infrastructure. We were told by Terry, the manager, that $15 million had been spent on providing the visitor centre, the long boardwalks and sealing the road into the area. The views were great and we spent quite some time there. On returning back to the visitor centre I found a towel by the same company, the same colour and size but a different graphic panel (more girly) so I bought one too (and mine was $5 cheaper). As we left to meet up, once again, with the Eyre Highway, we travelled due north and Geoff commented that he doubted that there would be another town between the Head of Bight and Darwin. Later he looked in our Australian Driving Atlas and confirmed there were no towns between the Head of Bight and Darwin. The line missed Uluru (Ayres Rock) but did go close to Timber Creek in the NT on the road between Katherine and the Kimberley. Any roads that intersected this imaginary straight line north were just desert tracks, some of which went to isolated aboriginal communities. Absolutely amazing when you measure the distance in a straight line between the Head of Bight and Darwin which totals approximately 2115 kms.

 

 

As we continued on east there were more RFDS emergency road airstrips and the landscape continued to be scrubland and treeless, as it had been since before the Nullabor Roadhouse. This was soon to end and we were soon back in, almost, forested areas. We stopped for the night in a large and shady rest stop called Colina Rest Area accompanied by about another 5 vans of various types.

 

Monday, 26th January 2015 - Colina RA, the Nullabor

We didn’t wake up until 9.30 am as our bodies still thought it was 7am due to the time zone changes… nice. Australia Day today and two years since the disastrous Bundaberg floods and the loss of 2Abreast. Australia Day will never be the same for us!

We decided to have a rest day today so didn’t do much except do an ‘Emu Bob’ (rubbish pickup) around near our camp site. We picked up three large bags of other peoples garbage which mainly consisted of loo paper … some people are just the pits! Other than that Geoff did a little 12 volt wiring job and I caught up on my journal.

 

Tuesday, 27th January 2015 - Haslam

Up at 8.30 and we were soon hitting the road and coming into the outskirts of Ceduna where we had to go through the Quarantine check point where I lost one lettuce and about three tomatoes as I had peeled the onions and carrots and vac packed them. I had also peeled and precooked the spuds and blanched the corn which allowed them to pass muster. You learn as you travel.

We then found a spot down by the foreshore to stop for lunch and then did a quick tour of the town and the port area. At the port area there was a walking track and interps signs which stated that the islands we could see offshore were purported to be the inspiration of Lilliput in the book ’Gullivers Travels’. The town wasn’t very big and we were still unable to buy our favourite 5 litre Berri wine cask as only the dearer 2 litre wine casks were allowed to be sold due to the large aboriginal population.

From Ceduna onwards the land became a bit more fertile with grain stubble as far as the eye could see but this area was still fairly remote. We headed down the Eyre Peninsular on the A100 and found a spot for the night for a $5 donation at the tiny community of Haslam. It was very windy which seems to be the story of our life lately. After dinner we wandered down to the jetty and wandered along it and watched the seagulls struggling to make headway in the wind. There were loads of history signs in this area and it was all very interesting and one of the signs had a typical grocery order that came in from Adelaide, by sea in those days, and one of the items was Zambuk … what on earth was that? According to the web it is a medicated ointment that you can still buy today and made its debut in the UK in 1903. I love little things like this!

 

Wednesday, 28th January 2015 - Murphy’s Haystacks

Apparently I was noisy last night, according to Geoff. We have the doona back on as it is chilly in the mornings. It is the height of summer but where is it???????

On the road by 9am and stopping to have a look around Streaky Bay and to have coffee and scones at Moceans Café overlooking the beach. Whilst we enjoyed our morning tea we perused the local brochures and then continued out of town to visit Murphy’s Haystacks. These are rock formations of pink granite called inselbergs (like island coming out of the sea). They weren’t as pink as I imagined, more like a russet colour and were supposed to be 1,500 million years old. They were interesting as far as rocks go and were very similar to the ones on Kangaroo Island, which isn’t that surprising as Kangaroo Island isn’t really that far away … as the crow flies. After we had wandered around these big rocks we had lunch and looked at our itinerary. John and Irene, in Adelaide, had asked us to cat sit from the 19th to 28th February so we decided we would make our way up to Waikerie, on the Murray, to pick up our Hyundai generator which had not sold and then slowly make our way to Adelaide. We could then take a different route to Melbourne than last year. We decided to stay the night at Murphy’s Haystacks (on private land) and worked out a new itinerary.

Later the farmer came round to clean the loos and collect the money in the tin ($2 to go into the Haystacks) and Geoff and he had a long talk and we gave him a donation for camping the night. He said his surname was Cash and that Pat Cash, the tennis player, was part of the extended family. We thought we would have the place to ourselves but around 6pm a humungous 4wd (all 6 wheels) motorhome came in towing a large closed in trailer which held their other car. The guy had built it himself and had built two others for friends. Then a smaller pop top caravan came in to join us.

Before we went to bed Geoff set the mousetrap as we had heard one trying to get into a bag and Geoff had actually seen it scuttle into the cab area.

 

Thursday, 29th January 2015 - Dry Walling Rest Area

I heard the mousetrap go off last night then the mouse kept me awake with scratching as he tried to get out. Geoff popped him outside on the entry step until he could deal with him in the morning. He was a lucky little (fat) mouse as Geoff released him into the bush when he got up.

We were on the road by 9.30 and heading into Venus Bay for a look. The community was tiny and looked like it relied on recreational fishermen to survive. It had one general store, pub and a caravan park on a manky looking foreshore. But the scenic lookout just out of town was so much better. We were greeted by rugged cliffs and the pounding surf way below and the views were magnificent.

Back on the highway for about 15 minutes and then we turned off again onto a 6km dirt road that promised some sea caves and stunning scenery. The dirt road wasn’t bad and we got up a decent speed and it wasn’t long before we came to the first attraction called Woolshed Cave. You got to this limestone cave down 63 wooden steps. The cave wasn’t very deep in but it was quite an impressive sea cave anyway and the area surrounding it was very pretty. You could see faults in the base of the rocks where the pounding sea would eventually crack them, as it had other faults, turning them into fingers of rock pointing out to the sea and very pleasing to the eye.

Puff, puff back up the steps … no, they weren’t bad as we took it easy. The next spot along the cliffs was a place called ‘The Tub’ and had originally been a very large sea cave until the roof caved in many eons ago. The cave entrance still had a roof but you could now look down into the main body of what was once the cave’s interior. It made you wonder how many other of the many limestone caves of this area were under your feet and whether the roof was just about to cave in taking you with it! The track finished just past this point so we were soon making our way back to the main road towards Elliston where we took yet another detour along the Coastal Cliff drive to find more stunning vistas and rugged cliffs. At one viewing point there was an actual picnic table installed almost on the cliff edge. Geoff went down to it but I refrained as I wasn’t as steady on my legs as him. When he returned he said it was in memory of someone who had died there. We found somewhere to park overlooking the scenery to have lunch and then it was on to Elliston to have a look around. Elliston was another small community but a tad bigger that Venus Bay with a small supermarket, bakery, post office, café, 2 caravan parks, motel and info Centre. The Info Centre boasted the largest community mural in the southern hemi-sphere and was painted completely around the info centre and toilet block totalling 500 metres. It depicted the history of the area to the cur-rent day.

From here it was time to look for our next overnight stop and we stopped at Dry Walling rest area, so called as there was a fine example of the dry walling technique on display with signage.

Geoff cooked battered fish for tea and it was as good, if not better, than the fish’n chip shop and the chips were good too!

 

Friday, 30th January 2015 - Port Lincoln

Today we were heading towards Coffin Bay and we found it a pretty little town but there wasn’t much there, not even a general store that we could see. We found a nice spot overlooking the estuary to have a morning cuppa and then drove to the scenic lookout which would have been scenic if the ‘powers that be’ hadn't allowed the trees to grow in front of the view.

So it was on to Port Lincoln where there were two motorhome parks for $10 a night for accredited self-contained motorhomes. The first one we looked at, near the Alex Stenross Maritime Museum, was no good as the area they had allocated had quite a slope. Off we went to the info centre to check on the one further out of town and found it was flat so paid our money and made our way there. It was only 6kms from the centre of town so wasn’t far. It was at Billy Lights Point near a boat ramp overlooking Porter Bay which is a little bay in the larger Boston Bay. No shade but it hasn’t been warm so was not a problem and there was a nice sea breeze.

After lunch Geoff got the scooter down and we went back into town (6 minutes) to top up on supplies. There was almost too much to carry back on the scooter but we managed it. Time for a cuppa and to relax and to catch up on a bit of TV and news as we hadn’t seen the news for quite a few days. Oh dear … we saw that Ken and Lorraine’s place at Waroona was under threat of an out of control bush fire which is a bit of a worry. Sent them an email then went off down to the boat ramp for a little walk.

 

Saturday, 31st January 2015 - Port Lincoln

It was an overcast and much colder day … in fact a little brrrrr!

We checked our emails and there was one from Ken with photos of the fire water bombers. They said the fire was very close and they were keeping very alert and it all depended on the wind. Their email was dated 9.30 last night (7pm their time) and when I checked this morning it looked like the fire was two streets over from them. So …. Fingers crossed.

After brekky we jumped on the scooter, rugged up of course, to go to the Alex Stenross Museum but we hadn’t done our homework and it didn’t open till 2 pm on a Saturday. So we strolled around town for a while and wandered up the jetty where we watch four kids and two adults swimming in the ‘shark safe’ swimming enclosure. They must make then tough around here as it was cold with an even colder wind blowing. The forecast for the next week is for temperatures in the low 20’s, not like summer at all. The lady in the Info Centre said they hadn’t had a summer this year.

Back to the motorhome for lunch, a snooze for Geoff and a fiddle.  Check the internet and it looks like Ken and Lorraine’s place is going to be ok.