Judy's Thoughts

This is my contribution to the blog at this stage of our journey!

As we headed across the Nullarbor, I had time to ponder and reflect on the last nine months of our trip around Australia. As the car and van turned on to the Eyre Highway (Nullarbor) towards the east, I had a sense of excitement about heading towards home and our family and friends. I also had a sense of sadness as this wonderful trip was coming to an end, for now.

Firstly the scenery from the beautiful East Coast, to Outback Queensland, to the colorful Kimberly Region, to the rugged West Coast and the spectacular Southern Ocean, this Country is awesome in so many ways and will be etched in my memory forever.

Secondly the people we have met, so many different types all leading very interesting lives, some like us. We have cemented some good friendships and will continue to be in touch with them further down the track.

And lastly Rob my Soul Mate and best Friend. We planned this trip with much excitement and anticipation,not knowing what was ahead, we had a couple of low times at the beginning of the trip, with stolen wallet and car accident, but we carried on and conquered all. It is hard at our age to leave our comfort zone and change our life but we got passed all the barriers and headed on.

Rob has learnt to Grocery Shop, he knows where most things are in the supermarket and waits patiently for the staff to mark down the meat and grab some specials even if we don't need it. He is very good at sneaking things into the trolley when I am not looking and makes wacky remarks to the check out chicks who don't know what to make of him. And PATIENCE something we both don't have much of, but at least we try, you certainly learn a lot about each other living together 24 hours a day. Living in our small van which I would not change for anything has been great fun, love you babe!

Looking back on my life, I would say that apart from the years raising our family, this last nine months has been the best of my life, and Rob agrees. As the quote goes "A Boat in the Harbor is safe, but that's not what Boats are made for",as we continue on the next part of our journey, we are still not sure what the future holds but with our love and strength together we will conquer all....

Cheers Judy

Kalgoorlie

Another long drive, to Kalgoorlie a distance of around 480 K's. Thankfully it is Saturday and the road is not busy, we drove through Norseman and dropped into the visitors centre, we will be returning here after our visit to Kalgoorlie, because it is the starting point of the Nullabour Track. After picking up some maps we beetled off to Coolgardie, this place has not developed as much as its counterpart but I was told that a new mine in that area is producing big quantities of gold and there might be a resurgence in Coolgardie.

Into Kalgoorlie and our G.P.S decided to take us 6.5 hours west, so after a little map reading we managed to find our hosts for the next few days Jarrod and Tess. We are going to mind J and T's house and dog while they have a break in Bali with our friends Jude and Col. After a bit of a challenge setting up the van in the front yard we spent time getting to know Emilia the beautiful daughter, who at 8 months old is an absolute charmer.

Later we went into Boulder to the Shamrock Hotel where we met up with new friends Pat and Pete and old friends Jim and Magg's. We all enjoyed catching up and meeting each other.

We spent the next day with our hosts and enjoying a break from touring.

Next morning our hosts left early to travel to Perth, we went the The Mining Hall of Fame, where we went on a tour of the first level of the mine. Judy suffers from claustrophobia and had a bit of a wobbly on the way down but once there settled down and completed the tour. The tour was very good, we had a lady who provided an information packed talk on the mine and added some humor and insights on modern mining.

I would like to say something good about the rest of the place but there was nothing. Just about everything else that we went to see was broken or not working, Theatre not working, Hannan display broken, gold pouring could not melt the gold and to top it all off the Cafe staff stuffed up our lunch order. This place needs a manager that gets things happening.

Our next stop was the Superpit, we arrived just after a blast and witnessed the pit full of smoke and fumes, we are here for a few more days so we hope to return and see some action. We followed this up with a visit to the Superpit Shop where we watched a Video which had us in stitches, it was a very funny doco about a pommie joining a mining crew to learn how to be a gold miner, the Aussie drivers had a lot of fun with the Pom, its a must see. The pit itself is gigantic, one of the most impressive sights I have ever seen. Our friend Pete had told us about finding rocks with gold on them in the car park at the superpit and on our second visit the next day we managed to find some, the sun reflects off the gold on the rocks which makes them a little easier to find. I can understand how gold fever gets to people because looking becomes addictive. We also saw the pit in full operation with giant tip trucks being loaded by giant shovels (like massive front end loaders), 225 tonnes per load and an endless chain of trucks going up the sides of the pit and down again. This is a very impressive sight and obviously a very profitable operation, with the current value of gold at a record high it would be a good operation to have shares in.

On the Sunday after our arrival we spent the day getting re-acquainted with Jarrod and Tess and getting to know Emilia who as I said is a contented little baby, we even had the pleasure of baby sitting her for a while on Sunday afternoon. We also got to know Zoe the dog who is one of the best dog's I have come across for a while, a Border Collie, Zoe loves chasing balls and watching T.V. Her antics while watching T.V are hilarious and had us in stitches laughing at her.

We were sorry we had to leave before Jarrod and Tess return, but on Friday morning we had to leave to tackle the long drive towards home. And so sadly had to leave Zoe in the care of a neighbour. Our agenda going forward is to accelerate our travel a little to enable us to be in Brisbane in time for Christmas.

Esperance

Monday 1st November, packing once again for the long trip to Esperance, 482 K's is a long drive for us caravaners. Packing driving and setting up can be tiring, chuck in, 5 to 6 hours in the car and one does not feel like partying at the end of the day. Anyway the drive took us through Jerramungup, Ravensthorpe and Munglinup and I must say that between the Dutch, French and Aboriginal they have provided us with some challenging names for towns. Down in our current area there is a predominance of aboriginal names, the "yup" on the end is apparently aboriginal for "place off". Anyway these little places are clean tidy little towns where obviously the residents put a lot back into their community to keep their towns as pleasant as they are, and good on them for that.

We arrived in Esperance mid afternoon and were greeted by Pat and Pete our friends from Melbourne. We scored a site that was one of the most difficult to get onto that we have encountered but after several attempts we got there. Once set up we joined the others for a happy hour or two.

Next morning was Melb Cup Day and after a walk along the bay we headed off to the local pub for a day at the races, because of the 3 hour difference in time we were on our way at 10am with the first two races finished. We had a great day, but expensive, we had no luck at all with the horses but the food and drinks were great. Happy hour we met a guy whose wife had fallen over and broken her leg, reminded us of what can happen and with Judy having developed a habit of falling over it's a bit of a worry.

There is a local drive along the coast, which in my opinion is better than "The Great Ocean Drive" in Victoria. It is a 38 km loop along the coast, with many lookouts and beautiful white sand beaches. The water looks such a beautiful color of blue and matched with the white sand and the islands in the background it was easy to just sit on a bench at one of the lookouts and just get lost in the beauty of it all. The return loop goes past the "Pink" Lake, which requires quite a bit of imagination to be pink, a little bit of imagination could maybe make it a mushroom color.

There is a lookout at the end of town that provides 360 views of the area and Esperance being known as the Bay of Isles the views out over the Ocean reminded me a lot of "Halong Bay" in Vietnam. Luckily the lookout had a direction plate which helped to identify which Isle was which. Just under the lookout is the Port Area, where ,much to our annoyance, trains and trucks deliver ore and grain to be loaded for transport overseas (our caravan park is basically beside this route) and they deliver all night.

The other major highlight of this area is Cape Le Grande, 56 Ks East of esperance lies Cape Le Grande, an area of the most beautiful beaches and surrounded by magnificent granite peaks. This is home to Lucky Bay the most beautiful beach we have ever seen, it is possible to drive onto the beach and also to camp beside the beach, this is a national park, so fees apply, next time we visit we will stay here. It is also home to Hellfire Bay and Thistle Cove. I am not even going to try and impart how nice this park is, only one downside, the flies are horrendous.

Another place of interest is a place called The Mermaid Leather Shop where they tan fish skins into leather and sell value added products, the fish leather is very strong and looks good. The products are very expensive but look really good. We also enjoyed a walk out on the jetty which these days is purely a fishing and tourist attraction but is also home to a Sea Lion called Sammy, who lazes about the end of the wharf waiting for fisherman cleaning their catches to throw him a handout. He shows no fear of people and one can only hope that no harm comes to him as happened at Albany.

Our time in Esperance is coming to an end and I must say that this is a wonderful place, one that I could easily live in, the only problem is that of distance, it is a long way from everywhere but is a beautiful part of the world. Saturday we are off for the long drive to Kalgoorlie.

Albany

Not very far from Walpole is the Town of Denmark, which we only drove through, however next time we visit we will take more time to have a look around because it looks like a beautiful area. This 120 K drive was a very pleasant experience, the scenery changing from Forrest to farming areas, along the way we came across a Farm Factory Outlet specialising in Toffee. They also made and sold Sauces, Jams, Ice cream and Cider. All their products are excellent and most are made in house. This place is well signposted and well worth a visit, even if you do not buy anything the free samples are well worth stopping for. Onwards into Albany (pronounced locally as Al-bany unlike Albury). King George Sound is home to Middleton Beach, a beautiful beach with 5km's of fine white sand, which, in turn is home to Middleton Beach Holiday Park which is a small park but a very good one with excellent amenities.

A short walkway from the park to the beach leads you to a wonderful walking beach which is what Judy and I did the next morning. Taking an early morning walk along a beautiful beach is one of life's greatest pleasures and when the beach leads to a walkway around the rocks of the headland to the next bay, it becomes even more of a pleasure. This cycle/walkway around the bay from City to Middleton beach, is a highlight of Albany. It was constructed as a project for unemployed aboriginal people and is a credit to all concerned and well worth a visit.

The biggest attraction in Albany is Whale World, an operating whale processing plant until 1978 when escalating cost's and opposition to whaling forced its closure. This is a well run and maintained and very interesting exhibition. We thought that two hours would do to see all, we spent almost all day there and were entertained the whole time. It brought back memories of my younger days as an Electrician working in an abattoirs, I even found myself recalling the smells of the cookers and processing areas. The most interesting exhibit was the whaling boat which we toured with great interest, this purpose built ship was used for many years before becoming an exhibit. You do not have to stretch the imagination to get a feeling for what it was like for the men who worked this ship, one thing to think about if you visit is "How did they manage to get the ship onto its resting place?" I also have great sympathy for the family's that worked in this plant and overnight had their life turned upside down. It's not only the loss of income, it's like the loss of a family, your co-workers become family and when someone suddenly makes a decision that destroys your world it also destroys a little part of your soul. Sorry but I am going through the same drama in my employment at the moment.

The people behind the scenes that run this Tourist Attraction should be very proud of themselves, I know it is a co-operative, so well done.

One final word, without delving into the rights and wrongs of whaling, I wonder if there is food for unlimited numbers of whales. Will the numbers be regulated by the ability of large numbers to survive and how will that affect other marine life. I wonder if a complete stop will have any dramatic effects? will the balance of marine life be tilted?

Whale World is a short drive out of town and on the return trip we turned off the main road to visit "The Gap and The Bridge". The Bridge is a span of rock which has been eroded underneath by the sea, the surf comes in under the bridge, and with a good surf running, it looked good. The gap is what it sounds like a gap or alcove in the rocks, the surf pounds into the rocks and shoots vertically up, there is a lookout right at the top on a ledge. Yet another scary high experience. I do not know if these places looked so good because of the big surf or if they are always this good, but they are worth a look.

Next morning we were off to the Boat Shed Markets, a small market where I found some delicious bread and Judy found a Yabbie Pie which she devoured with great delight and declared it fabulous. We then got some photo's of the "Amity" a replica of the ship that brought the original settlers of Albany from Sydney, then it was off to the city center for a walk around to get a "feel" of the city. As in most of W.A being Sunday nothing much was open however being the determined shoppers we are we found "Icky Fink's" a $2 shop that everyone enjoys wandering around..

We then took a drive up to a lookout and found a Military Museum, which we had a look at. We found one interesting fact there, that Japan was an ally of Australia during the first world war something that I did not know. Museum's are normally off our list these days but this one was worth the visit. We also looked out over Mount Melville obviously named after Steven, my son in law and very well deserved.

We also took a drive to Emu Point Marina to view the statue of "Sam" the N.Z Fur Seal who lived in and around the Marina for many years until killed by persons unknown. The upset locals raised money to commemorate Sam's life. Back in the Park we enjoyed a relaxing spa and had a quick preliminary pack up for an early start for the long drive to Esperance tomorrow.

P.S The name of the Toffee outlet is"The Toffee Factory" and I think they have a web page!

Pemberton and Walpole

Monday the 25th October after a clean up we finally got out of the Park a little after 10am, telling everyone we were heading towards Walpole and that was our intention, however along the way Jude who constantly reads brochures became interested in Pemberton and so our plans changed. The drive was very pleasant through forests of trees and lots of wildflowers. Along the way we came across a Cheese Farm specialising in Sheep's Cheese, Judy's new relationship with sheep being on a high, she insisted on visiting and after a tasting bought up big. Personally I do not like this type of cheese much and I find it hard to imagine milking sheep like cows, pity they were not milking while we were there.

A little further down the track we came across a "Fine Woodwork Place" and after nearly burning out the clutch trying to turn the van around and rounding up the owner we witnessed some of the best woodwork I have ever seen. The prices were high but so was the quality and some of the pieces involved years of work and would be best displayed in one of the National Gallery's in Canberra. Fast turning into an expensive day.

Finally into Pemberton and a really nice little Caravan Park, really quiet, with parrots coming down to join in, any thing being eaten and families of ducks wandering around (gotta love spring time). After setting up the van we went for a quick drive around and found that everywhere we went they were closed. Coincidence or just a sleepy little town, the jury is still out however because most tourist places open over the weekend they take Mondays off. Anyway it was great to have a quiet night.

After a slow start we arrived at the Pemberton Train Station for a ride on a tram, destination being a cascading waterfall in the middle of a Karri Forest. The tour had a guide who talked of the history and explained the flower and fauna of the area. The little rattler took us over wooden trestle bridges which were quite scary, we stopped a couple of times and went on brief walks to appreciate the beauty of the forest. The ride was good without being spectacular and it did help us to understand the history of the town. We also visited the famous "Gloucester Tree" a giant Karri Tree with 153 steel spikes driven in to make a circular staircase to the top, Judy was very keen to climb to the top and even had worn her joggers for the occasion, but, alas she did not quite make the top. But she had a go, I comfortably enjoyed being at ground level.

There is a self guided tour drive around the area particularly targeting the massive Karri Trees. We undertook as much of this tour that we had time for and along the way visited a winery and cider brewery, the cider was OK but pricey so we purchased 6 bottles only. The drive was very good with a good balance of beautiful forest and farmland with avocados being harvested at the time. I would recommend a visit to this area, it is a pleasant relaxing place to visit.

Next morning we packed and headed towards Walpole a coastal town famous for its giant Tingle Trees and treetop walkway. Once again we were lucky with the caravan park, although a few K's out of town we had a good site and the amenities were good. We set up quickly and went for a drive to a forest art area which interestingly has been set up out in the bush and is still intact (not vandalised) amazing. It is an interesting concept, I find the meaning of some art to be quite oblique to my thinking, but I do like the shapes and colors and love the mental stimulation trying to fathom the meaning of some pieces. We quickly drove to the Valley of the Giants as we were running out of time and managed to get into the tree top walk. Here I am again, paying good money to be terrorised by walking around a swaying walkway miles above the ground, I managed to get around but went into a cold sweat every time I looked down. The walk is a 600 metre loop, the 60 metre steel trusses support the walk 40 metres above the floor of the forest. The Tingle Trees are really impressive, massive bases supporting these giants of the forest. They are so big they are really hard to photograph, they grow to a height of 70 metres and a girth of 20 metres. With daylight running out we returned to the van, a cold windy night had us having a little lie in in the morning.

We had been told by friends that the Wow Eco Tour was worth a try and so we fronted up the next morning. A cold windy day with showers of rain had us doubting the value of a boat ride but when the Guide showed up wearing shorts no shoes we were intrigued to know more about the man, Gary is a real character, a local man who's family has been doing these tours for 100 years. He is passionate about conservation and history and once the covered in boat was launched and heading out over the bay he entertained us with his stories about his family and the Walpole area. He had us laughing most of the time but underlying his stories were a lesson on sustaining and conserving our flora and fauna. Gary is a very interesting character and his personal entertainment value was worth the cost of the tour.

We followed the tour with a drive to the Conspicuous Cliffs, a wonderful lookout and great whale watching spot, the wind howling, we only stayed briefly. I reckon it would be good on a better day. A visit to a bead shop on a farm and then to the circular pool filled the remainder of our day.

Back to the Coalmine Beach Holiday Park for the night, I must mention the wildflowers in this area are excellent and prolific, it becomes a challenge to spot a new one, Judy is very good at it.

Tomorrow we are off to Albany, but once again that is another story.

Busselton, Margret River Area

The drive to Busselton from Perth on Thursday 21st was mostly down a freeway which made for a fast trip but not a scenic trip. We only skirted the outskirts of Bunbury which was disappointing, but I guess we have to leave somethings to see next time we visit. Anyhow we had an interesting time trying to find the "Mandalay Holiday Park", but when we did, we found this five star rated Park to be everything it advertised. The sites were grassed and shaded by Peppermint trees, the amenities are fantastic, beautiful pool's and camp kitchens and games rooms. The manager told us about a colony of an endangered species of little possums who reside in the park, he even showed us a couple of them sleeping in a staghorn. He also warned us that we might hear them of a night as they eat the peppermint leaves over the caravan and poo little balls, which drop onto the top of the van.

We found out later that night that he vastly understated the activity of these little cutie's. We counted 6 up in the tree above us and the amount of poo and pee they excreted was amazing. The poo is like a hard little ball that hit the top of the van and then rolled off, this happened all night. The pee is sticky and smelly. Lucky the buggers are cute because after 4 nights a lovely possum stew was quite on the cards. Anyhow the quality of the park offset the annoyance and thanks to Greg Pinner who arrived the day before we left we managed to wash the van and car with his extendable brush.

Anyway we decided to use this Park as a base to tour the area and so the next day we set out to drive through Margret River to Augusta. Augusta is a little town perched beside the sea adjacent to the Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park (named after two French ships who investigated and charted this area prior to a colony being established at Albany). Spectacular scenery was a highlight of our drive to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, this lighthouse is the tallest in the area and is open to the public and for a modest fee you can climb to the top of the 39 metre tower and walk around the balcony. I do not know if I have mentioned before that I have developed vertigo over the years, so after a stiff climb up 167 steps stepping out onto a balcony off the side of this lighthouse I was gripped with terror and if any of you reading this ever go there you will find my fingerprints still in the steel of the handrail, and the most hurtful part of this is that I paid money to do it. Another life's decision was made on this day, no more towers for me, this little fat feller is staying on the ground from now on.

This Lighthouse is also the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean and noticing a couple of old guy's within earshot I began telling Jude that you could actually notice the joint because of the difference in salt content of each sea, we wandered off leaving them trying to see the difference. One of the most photographed items in W.A is a water wheel also at this location, the wooden wheel was used to pump water to the lighthouse site during the construction, the wheel is now encrusted with calcium and makes for a great photo.

On our way back we visited a couple of winery's and a coffee and cheese outlet and also a fudge factory. The coffee was a delight, the cheese ok, the wine crap and the fudge to sickly, I really am turning into a C.O.B.

Next day we traveled to Dunsborough and Yallingup, one of the highlights of the day was a visit to a Wool Exhibition and shearing display. The shop and shearing shed is on a working property and is well worth a visit. The shop has an extensive range of quality woolen products and the shearing exhibition is a must see. Firstly we were given a small dish of pellets to feed the sheep out the front and they are well used to being fed and will jump up on the fence and whip the pellets off your hand in no time. The shearing display was followed up by a display of sheepdog skill's after which Judy was pulled aside together with others to assist in the next display which was hand feeding lambs, she did a great job and after the lamb finished feeding the guy picked the lamb up and plonked him on Jude's shoulder to burp. One of the funniest sights I have seen for a long time.

We visited another winery the "Swooping Magpie" and were very disappointed with the quality of the wine. Off into Dunsborough for a "Sushi" lunch which we both enjoyed very much. Then on to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and then down to a rocky lookout where we spotted a pod of whales playing, we sat and watched until the cold wind beat us, then on to a olive farm for tastings, very yummy. We have over the last two days covered a lot of ground around the Margret River Area and must say that we really enjoyed our time here,but, it is very touristy and the many places available for tastings do put a lot of pressure on to buy their products, we find this unattractive and feel the pressure.

Our last full day we unpacked the bikes because in Busselton there is a bike track all the way along the beach. So we rode into town and visited the market, which we found was a good one with much local produce and other nick naks, we then rode to the jetty, which is currently closed for renovations and so we rode to the new boat harbour and back to the Park. We rode about 30 K's and we were feeling it when we arrived back to find Greg and Sophie had arrived and so we proceeded to a beaut happy hour where we forgot our tired legs. It is great to catch up with friends from home and compare travel notes, we never seem to run out of things to talk about.

Next day after washing the car and van we left to travel to Walpole but along the way we came across a little place called Pemberton and liking the look of the place we decided to stop a couple of days but that's another story.

We had a busy but great time in Busselton, but now "we're on the Road again"