The Knob to Tumblong

4 December to 5 December                        Clare

We departed the extremely windy Knob and headed north. As we came to the southern entry to Whyalla ( we hadn’t come this way before ) it was a bit like coming home as we had spent so long here and it was our first really long camp. We went through and stopped for a bit of stock and supplies in town and then went out to Fitzgerald Bay. We thought that it would be good to have a night or  two at the place that we had enjoyed so much on our first visit to SA. As we breached the top of the hill and looked down into the bay towards where we had camped so  long ago we got a huge sense of return . The boys remembered the place as we drove down the hill and headed towards the campsite. As we got there we saw a few vans but as we got closer to ‘our spot’ we realized it was totally empty so we parked right where we had months ago. We got out and had a look around for all  the rock houses the boys built. It was still pretty windy and as as we walked around soaking up the atmosphere we made a decision not to stay but continue on our way. It was hard to leave , and the boys really wanted to stay , but the weather wasn’t as good as we would have liked so we decided to keep our  wonderful memories of Fitzgerald Bay and leave it at that.  It was a fantastic place and we all really enjoyed the area and hopefully will return another day.        We got to Port Augusta out to Wilmington and then south along the B82 through Gladstone and the onto Clare in the heart of the wine land. We set up camp in the van park on the south side of town out near the visitors centre after we had to contend with someone parking their car in our space to go to the shower. Bloody tourists. Didn’t take us long once we glared at them and they moved on  to flip Bay out and get him set up. While we were at Clare we went for a drive around the small winery town and then took a walk through the town itself. Fairly big place with plenty of the usual shops and attractions that we had been getting used to. We walked up to a lookout and had a great view over the surrounding countryside and took a few photos of us sitting on the rocks . While we were in town we sneakily bought a couple of fly swatters for the boys for xmas only to have them found by Liam later. Just cant hide anything from him. Clare was a great little spot and would be very popular in the peak of the wine season.

6 December       Overland Corner

We left Clare behind and veered off to Eununda and had a quick stop at Bower for a photo. There wasn’t a lot at Bower apart from a few houses on the north side of the road. We couldn’t even find a toilet. We continued onto Morgan and crossed the mighty Murray on a small free ferry similar to the one at Narung. After a short drive on the south side of the river we crossed again to the north side via yet another ferry at Cadel. We turned east towards Renmark and pulled up at The Overland Corner Hotel and went out the back to where we found the river and several camp spots beside it where we set up. There were a couple of vans there also but we had plenty of room for all. There was a track with a gate across it so the boys and I took a short walk and found more camp spots in amongst some big gum trees and right beside the river.  Unfortunately the recent floods from the beginning of the year had swept through the place and left the area as a bit a mess. The drop dunny which was built well up off the ground had water marks above the door handle and had been pretty well trashed by the water. I was very surprised that nothing had been repaired or cleaned up by the DEC that looked after the area and had locked the gate. It was a great area and would be a fantastic spot to camp as was right beside the river and sheltered under plenty of trees.We tried our luck fishing in a waterhole where we could see fish swimming in the muddy water but still didn’t have any luck. Getting a bit of a complex by now.

7 December to 8 December        Vinifera  State Forest

We packed up and headed out of Overland Corner after having a quick look at the pub that was shut. We stopped at the Renmark visitor centre to try and get some info on how to get to the corner of SA , VIC and NSW. The old woman that we spoke to was very unknowledgable about the area and could only tell us that it was very difficult to get to as she remembered it when she last went out there as a child rabbit hunting with the local bush fire brigade. She did bring to our attention something that I didn’t know. The northern point of the SA / VIC  border doesn’t meet up with the southern end of the SA / NSW border. As the story goes one team started from the top in QLD and another started from the bottom on the ocean but didn’t have batteries for their GPS’s so the two ends don’t meet at opposite sides of the river. Have a look at a map – its quite interesting.  After leaving the info center more confused than when we entered we left Renmark behind and headed out on the A20 to Mildura. We crossed the Murray and onto the Sturt Hwy down to Euston and back across the Murray  along the B400. The boys and us were getting a bit confused  as to what state we were in at times with all these river crossings. We got to the Vinifera State Forest north west of Swan Hill and took a short drive through the forest beside the river looking for a camp spot. We stopped when I looked out the window and saw fish bobbing around just under the surface of the muddy water against the current. We quickly set up camp and tried our luck. If we couldn’t catch a fish here there was no hope for us at all. We set about catching a fish or two with much gusto. We tried lures  , cheese and bread. I think that I hit a fish or two on the head with the lures . Tracy ended up catching the only fish by using a dead spider that we killed and stuck on a hook. CARP. We tried everything to catch the things. I made a net out of some wire and one of Tracy’s ENJO bags , I made a spear with wire tips for the boys to try. Not a thing . It truly was unbelievable that we couldn’t get anything. We are truly among the unlucky , unskilled , when it comes to fishing. I don’t know how people do it as the river is very muddy and you cant see the fish at all even though they are just below the surface.

9 December                       Deniliquin

We left Vinifera and through Swan Hill to Echuca.We took a ride on one of the Murray’s paddle steamers which was quite good and scenic. Still plenty of the old boats on the river as well as lots of house boats which must make the river very crowded in peak season. After our trip we headed north towards Deniliquin where we pulled up for the night at the van park just over the bridge.

10 December to 11 December                    Carrathool Bridge

Left Deni and set out for Hay to the north. We arrived and had lunch at the local swimming pool where the boys enjoyed a free swim to cool down a bit. It was great to be free and there were several other people there as well. We turned east along the Sturt hwy again and started looking for a camp for the night beside the river. Took us a few attempts to get access to the river and when we did the spots we found weren’t the best so we continued on our way. We  were getting a bit disheartened until we came across an innocuous  brown tourist sign pointing north. ‘Historic Carrathool Bridge’ is all it says. We decided to take a quick look and see what was so historic about a bridge. It’s a bridge that used to lift up to let boats through as they went along the Murrimbidgee.  It has huge drum weights up the top which would be winched down on a curved frame to the bottom of the bridge thereby lifting the deck of the bridge up. Quite an ingenous method actually. We crossed over the one lane bridge and as soon as we saw the other side and the picnic area on the other side we knew that we had found our camp for the night. We had a walk around and coulnt see any signs saying ‘ No Camping’ so that’s good enough for us. We backed Bay up under the bridge and set up. There were a few tables around the area but the toilet left a little to be desired so I dug a hole under the bridge for our throne. Carrathool Bridge is a fanastic spot to camp. Tracy said it was her pick of the whole trip because we all just chillaxed.  Had a chat to a bloke that camped overnight and he said that there was plenty of fish in the river just under the bridge off the bank. Bingo. This was our spot for sure. We made a couple of shrimp pots out of a bucket and tin and stuck some cheese in them and threw them into the river. The boys had great fun catching the shrimp that seemed to flock to the bait. We set about catching us some fish now that we had some decent bait.  And catch fish we did. First got some catfish but moved onto other fish which we weren’t to sure of what the were. Not the  biggest fish in the world but we all had a great time and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Definitely one of the better days and spots of our trip. Really great family fun. After we felt better that we were still able to catch fish , they all went back by the way, we drove into the metropolis of Carrathool. Very small place of about 6-8 streets and probably about 100 people who would probably be mostly farmers from the local area as there wasn’t a lot else there to be had.

12 December to 13 December                    Horries Beach Camp      Darlington Point

We left the great  spot of Carrathool Bridge and headed east along the north side of the river until we arrived at a north bound track and take this until we get to an east bound road taking us into Griffith. Tracy informed me that this was the place that some cop or someone was killed by the mob in years past. There was enough Italians in the place for it to be called little Italy.We stocked up on the needed supplies and  after a bit of lunch we headed south towards Darlington Point. We stopped at the park by the river and had a look at the twin of the Carrathool bridge that sits at the entrance to the Darlington van park. On this one the weights were down at the bottom of the steel curve so was easy to have a good look at them. From here we took a track west past the sawmill  into the forest along the north side of the Murrimbidgee.  We continued on for a few k’s until we got to a spot beside the river where we set up camp at Horries beach.The river was pretty high and  there wasn’t much beach  but apart from a few cows there was plenty of space for us. We again tried our hand at fishing after our excellent attempt over the last few days and we were rewarded with several fish of smallish size.  While we were camped at Horries Beach the level of the river dropped quite dramatically and when we left the level had dropped about 4 feet and left us with a nice sandy beach as the name implied. The boys enjoyed had a great time as well swimming and playing in the muddy water.

14 December to 16 December                    Tumblong

We packed up and headed out of Horries Beach and turned east to Narrandera and the onto Junee.We had a look at the Licorice factory and Tracy and the boys paid a visit to th Junee train museum which they were very impressed with and told me that I should have gone in for a look as well. We left Junee and took the back roads through Wantabadgery to wards Tumblong. We took a short stop at Sandy Beach which is a nice looking camping area next to the river with lots of space . We continued on and got to Tumblong to find Les and Maria and Nan waiting for us and after a few hellos and a quick catch up we set up Bay in the back yard.  A few of Tracy’s other aunts , uncles , cousins etc  dropped in over the afternoon and we all went to bed fairly tired . The boys were grateful for a tele to watch but had great fun with the dogs and other animals around the  place. Tracy and I took a day into Wagga to get some xmas pressies and the boys stayed with Les and Maria back at Tumblong and visited some Lewin Lane relies. The boys enjoyed also the walks with Pop  and Nanny up to Uncle Allan’s place and back. They loved riding their skooters and ripsticks along the road out the front of the house between the relies. We packed Bay up on the last night at Nan’s and stayed the night at Adam’s place next door so that we could get away for Shell Harbour early in the morning

Thanks for reading again

Hopetoun to The Knob

HOPETOUN TO THE KNOB

21 November to 23 November                  Esperance

We packed up the trailer with all our stuff and after some farewells headed out of Hopetoun for Esperance along the South Coast hway. Really a wide bitumen road more than a highway. We arrived at Esperance and after a short visit to the visitor centre and a quick sidetrip to Woolies for another hot chicken we made our way to the van park in the north of town near the beach. We got our allocated site from the office and went to our site to set up but unfortunately there was someone already ensconced on our bit of turf. The rude pricks. We went back to the office and were assured that the sight given to us should be empty as the passkey was for that site no. so someone was on the wrong one . The office advised us to take one of the vacant ones nearby which we did. The lady later came and gave the offending campers a strong talking too when they got back from their day of highjinks. Esperance was full of beautiful blue water and white beaches which many people on our trip had told us that it would be. We still had a bit of Liams schoolwork to complete so we took a trip to the peir where we saw a seal swimming just under it where the fish cleaning area was. Obviously this guy was a bit of a freeloader as he was not scared off by any of the people who were snapping pictures of him as he swam around the pylons waiting for someone to throw something down to him. We completed Liam’s work by taking a few photos of him attired as an ‘eco warrior’ cleaning up the beach and advising some hapless litterer ,me, of the wrongness of littering. Photos done we had officially completed both of the boys schoolwork and it was all holiday from now on  YEE HAA. It truly was a happy moment. We continued our first day by taking a drive along Beach Road to the surf club and taking a swim at the beach there. Meant to have been voted the best beach in Australia  and although the water was crystal clear and the sand extremely white I personally wouldn’t have given it this claim to fame.  We paid a visit out along Merivale road to the Cape Le Grand national park and started our day by taking the climb to the top of Frenchman’s peak. We had been told by a couple of blokes at the van park that this was a walk to the top of the mount and there you could find a huge cave which overlooked the surrounding area. I found it a rather challenging walk with my fear of heights as there was a fairly brisk breeze blowing and the climb was fairly steep over the granite surface of the rock. I kept my hat in my bag and my centre of gravity as low as I could get it but made it to the top without incident several minutes ahead of Tracy and the boys mainly because I wanted to get to the top as quickly as possible. At the summit there indeed was a large cavern that could be accessed from the back area and walked right through to the front giving excellent views of the Cape Le Grand beaches. I waited in the solemnity of the cave for the trio to arrive and a few photos were taken and then I made the tortuos downhill traverse which I wasn’t looking forward to at all. To my surprise going down was much easier than up and made it safely and unscathed back to Hervey and terra firma. After the others got back we drove to Cape Le Grand beach and had lunch at a small creek about a k south of the beach access road. The boys had fun here swimming with the multitude of tadpoles that inhabited this water the number and size of which I hadn’t seen for many a year. Im not sure if they swallowed any or not but they didn’t eat a lot. We drove back to Esperance along the beach and as soon as we got past the sign at the start of the national park there was an abundance of tracks leading off the beach into the dunes where there was heaps of camping areas which would have been free to stay at. We arrived back at camp and the boys headed off for the playground and we did a bit of washing and then at down for a few beers with some of the campers nearby.

24 November    Nullabor ½ way along 140k straight          We decamped and headed north out of Esperance after stopping and exchanging my out of date gas bottle. We had intended to go to the Nullabor through the Cape Le Grand park via Palmango and Balledonia rds after camping a few days at Cape Arid but we had been advised by many people that these roads were fairly bad and weren’t really suitable for campers. We were later to find that this was bad info and these roads were quite good and would have cut about 100k or so off our trip.   Tracy had spoken to someone at the van park about a mice plague that was on the Nullabor and into South Australia so we intended to mouse proof Bay again before we got to the trouble zone something we hadn’t done since leaving Alice Springs. We arrived at the metropolis of Norseman where we had lunch in the visitor center carpark and then took a sharp right and headed east along the Eyre hway. We hit the start of the infamous ‘longest straight stretch of road in Australia’ and took some obligatory photos. Some not suitable for the blog unfortunately. I pity the poor  bloke that drove by – hes probably still trying to get the memory out of his mind. The straight is 144k long by the sign and as they say its pretty straight. We made camp that night at a reststop on the south side of the road at the 70k marker and although we mouseproofed we had a peaceful night. Wed done about 5000k since Goomalling , hard to believe, so took the opportunity to do a oil change on Hervey. I had installed a pvc pipe behind the solar panels for the fishing rods while we were in Esperance – something that I had been trying to do for mths now – so didn’t have the worry of where to store them without breaking them.

25 November    133k marker east of Bordertown              We yet again did the necessary pack up and commenced our days travel eastward along the Eyre hway towards Eucla and Bordertown. As we were driving along we came across lots of squished things covering the road and while we were discussing these and thinking that they were mice that had been resting on the road at the wrong time we hit a flock of green budgies. These small pretty little birds that many people have in cages were in there thousands and sitting on the road until as we got closer they would take to the wing and fly off as one – very coordinated they were. The unfortunate thing for them was that they would fly off the road into the paddocks but then immediately back towards the road and straight infront of Hervey. This happened not once but several times with us coming across many flocks of them hanging out on the bitumen for whatever reason that they did. They would all fly off and then back to be nailed by the behemoth of Hervey and Bay. We squished many budgies that day and by the end of it I was giggling madly with the absurdity of these kamakazi budgies hitting Hervey as we travelled along the hway. We were later to find out that there was a budgie plague in the area and thousands were being creamed to a pulp by vehicles on the road. Two vehicles we heard of had to be tilttrayed out as there radiators had been blocked off and engines had overheated. An expensive day for those travellers.We stopped for fuel at Eucla on top of the cliffs and took some photos of the beaches below them. Eucla is by no means a huge place but has its own copper and several fishing shacks in the nearby area. While at Eucla we were again advised that there was a mouse plague over the border into South Australia so we again pledged to stay vigilant against the vermin. We passed through Bordertown without needing to stop and rid ourselves of all the fruit we had as they only seemed interested if you were coming from east to west.

It was a sad moment when we left Western Australia as we had spent about 6 mths there and had found the whole place amazing. We had been enthralled by the beauty of the Kimberlies and the long days of travel with nothing much to see. The money being spent by the mining companies had given us ideas on how to get some of it and the magnificent area in the south west corner will have us going back just to spend some more time there. We had made  friends and stayed at some wonderful places and it will be hard to get the Western Australia out of us. We will be back.

We had a few stops at some lookouts from the cliffs where I managed to keep my fear of heights under control despite the huge drop to the rocks below. We made camp that night on the north side of the road in a rest stop at the 133 k marker. The ground was extremely hard so had to have a couple of attepts at finding a suitable site for the night.

26 November – 27  November   Perlubie Beach                  We packed up yet again and were encouraged by the thought that although we had heard a few scurrying sounds after we had gone to bed we had not been tormented to the extremes of the mice at Lake Eyre. It was going to be a good day.We headed back on the tar but took a northerly track to the Old Eyre hway and travelled this track for about 40k to try and imagine what it must have been like crossing the Nullabor not that many years ago.It was a fairly good track and would be easily used instead of the Eyre Hway on our next adventure this way. We got back to the tar at the Nullabor Roadhouse which we found to be quite a popular stop with several trucks in the lot compared to other roadhouses we had passed on our west east trip. We took a short drive to the Head of the Bight where Tracy and Liam walked to the lookout while Matty and I prepared lunch. After this short break we headed south east down the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. We made a quick visit to Haslem Beach but made camp that night at Perlubie Beach right beside the ocean with a few other campers.  The following day we took a drive to Streaky Bay which we had been told by many people was a must see and were delighted by its beautiful beaches and caravan park right on the water. We continued through Streaky and out to Cape Bauer for a look and this turned out to be a place of more high cliffs and crashing waves. We took a walk down to some of the blowholes and tried to record the whistling holes with not a lot of success. We returned to Streaky Bay where we had lunch at the playground but were a bit dubious about entering the waters as at 1:00pm there was none else in the water despite it being a hot day and right beside the van park. We braved the odds and let the boys go in first. Tracy followed as did several other people when they turned up about 10 mins later. We seemed to have opened the floodgates  by going in .  We left Streaky after lunch and the dip and went back to Perlubie Beach via Eba and a short drive along the beach. The boys and I went back for a beach drive later and climbed one of the huge sand dunes that surround the place.

28 November – 29 November    Coffin Bay van park                         We packed up camp and headed east into the Gawler Ranges. We finally got to see the Pindappa Rock that we were told about way back when we were camped at Fitzgerald Bay in South Australia. Seems like a life time ago. It was a fairly impressive granite rock not on the same scale as Kokerbin rock but pretty big anyway. We had a walk over it and then continued onto the Organ Pipes in the Gawler ranges. Had a short walk to get to a section where there were large hexagonal rocks lining a waterfall which wasn’t running but a nice spot anyway. After a quick lunch we headed down the centre of the Eyre Peninsula through the wheat farming area. Bloody hot in this section. Came across a semi dog trailer that had come off and was lying about twenty yards into the bush on its side. Turned around and had alook and the boys had a bit of fun playing in the wheat that covered the area from the overturned trailer.  We continued south after a few photos and came across another trailer just south of Cummins. This one was a semi bin and looks like the driver had taken the corner too quickly and the bin had rolled off the chassis as the bin was on the right side of the road and the truck and trailer chassis was on the left with the hydraulic ram pointing skywards. I don’t think I would have liked being anywhere near it when it had let go.  Continued southwards and got to Coffin Bay and headed for the Coffin Bay caravan park and checked in there for a couple of nights. We had to move a few resident kangaroos around but the place was pretty good. Had new toilets and camp kitchen that had recently been built. Didn’t like the idea of someone watching me eat my dinner from the cctv in the corner of the room. Took a drive out to Coffin Bay NP but was a fairly miserable overcast day so not nearly appealing as I thought it would be. We headed up past Yardie beach and got to the start of seven mile beach where we had a bit of lunch and a play on the sand dunes there before heading back into Coffin Bay.

30 November – 1 December                       Lincoln NP - Spalding Cove                           Left Coffin Bay and drove the short distance to Port Lincoln which I had been told by the park manager at CB had the highest per capita ratio of millionaires in Australia. Thanks to the big tuna industry down in that region. We went past the huge silos near the wharf which were probably the biggest we’d  seen so far before heading into the shops to restock a bit. We made our way out to  Lincoln NP and started to look for a camp for a few days. We finally found Spalding cove empty after driving down a few dirt roads. It was a sheltered little bay with heaps of black swans in the water and heaps of dead puffer fish on the high water mark. Although we tried we didn’t catch a fish here. The water went out a fair way leaving behind banks of seaweed and seagrass. We had a couple of days here just relaxing and playing on the beach.

2 December – 3 December          The Knob – North of Port Gibbon             We left Spalding cove behind and after stopping at Port Lincoln to resupply we headed north up the Lincoln Hway and had lunch at Arno Bay.  We continued on but had to pull over to help a couple of women that had a flat travelling south. They were having trouble undoing the last wheel nut , not a bad excuse , so I felt that I needed to render some assistance and they were very grateful for the help. After playing the good Samaritan we hit the road again and veered off towards Port Gibbon and got to The Knob just north of the village. Bloody windy spot right on the beach and ground was rock so took a few goes to get the pegs in a few inches but we finally got Bay up and got out of the wind for a bit. We again attempted to try our luck at fishing but the fish god must have something against because we again came away empty hooked. We had a couple of days at the windy Knob and contemplated life and the head for home that we were undertaking.

Thanks for reading this episode and hope you are looking forward to the next ( and possibly the final) one.

Read ya then.

Goomalling to Hopetoun 24/9 - 20/11

24 September to 31 October       Goomalling , Goomalling , Goomalling.                   What can I say about Goomalling. Not much to say about Goomalling but it was a very nice little spot to spend 5 wks while we visited Fred and Bec before they headed home to Hervey Bay to get married. We were in Goomer  from 24/9 to 31/10 in which time we both got WA drivers licenses. Tracy had to get hers because of the stolen wallet incident in Freemantle and I got mine because I wanted to get a truck license which I thought would be easier to do there than at a bigger place. Tracy had all sorts of identity issues after her wallet got pinched as all her ID was in it so couldn’t get a birth cert without license and vise versa. Finally got it all sorted out with the help of the friendly staff at the Goomer shire office and another birth cert. We also dropped back down to Perth and had another look around as well as picking up the lid for Bay with a proper sized zip attached to it. We ran into Mrs Macs pie shop and got some of the seconds so we lived on pies and sausage rolls for about a week. Bit over them by the end of the week. Only so many ways that you can dress up a pie. I think that even the boys were getting a bit tired of them and that’s saying something. We visited some of the other towns in the vicinity of Goomer  to kill a bit of the time. We did shopping at Northam which is a bit smaller than Maryborough and also dropped into Dowerin ( pronounced Darrin) which has a pop of about  600. Tracy and the boys went over to the Gold Coast for a couple of weeks as Les needed a bit of attention after he had his 5x heart bypass surg. I decided to relax in Goomer for the time but was very happy to see them when they got back at midnight on a Friday night.Didnt do a hell of  a lot while they were gone and the couple of times that I tried to put some photos on just didn’t happen so gave up in the end. Fred and Bec left Goomer on Monday 24/10 after a Sunday BBQ and few beers down the pub  so the place was very quiet after that and the boredom set in .  Was relieved only by contacting the tax department several times trying to find out why they hadn’t paid me my tax return which we were waiting on so that we didn’t have to work for a living. Very frustrating the tax office but most of the people I spoke to on the phone were pretty helpful and did what they could which wasn’t much due to the rules that they have. Anyway  after Tracy and the boys returned from their little holiday within a holiday we packed Bay up and thought that we had better head off lest we become part of the Goomer furniture..

31 October – 1 November            Kokerbin Rock   We said our farewells to Kas and Greg the caretakers and pointed Hervey and Bay in an Easterly direction and with a bit of trepidation set off on the next leg of our adventure.  We passed thru Dowerin again and onwards to Wyalkatchem , Trayning and Merriden until we finally got to Bruce Rock. Now although the name hints at a big rock that’s gay this is not the case. Fairly unimpressive granite rock with a plaque at the top which can be walked upon fairly easily from the southern side only to find a farm on the northern side.  A short visit was had here after which we dropped into the town proper and had lunch near the park and had a look at the Vietnam vets bunker museum . They were having a big week for the Vietnam vets who would be coming from all around to have a shindig for the week culminating in the weekend festivities. We opted not to stay in Bruce , something about the name, and continued west , again, past Shackleton with the worlds smallest working bank , only open one day a week for an hour , to Kokerbin Rock. This rock is Australia’s 3^rd largest monolith. For you philistines this means’ big bloody rock’. We drove around it and set up camp on the SW corner just outside the DEC’s perimeter.  We took a walk up to the top and over the other side . Had some good views of the wheat countryside surrounding the thing.  It was pretty windy on the top which was great as it gave a slight reprieve from the little black flying critters that seemed to have come in plague proportions and were set on driving a person insane with their continual buzzing and annoyance. Our flyhats , not since worn since Algebuckina Bridge , look that one up , were becoming part of our regular attire although one had to remember to remove them before drinking , eating or sneezing. Our camp was good and a fire was had each night after the flys had let up at dusk. Where do flies go at night. One minute they are a black mist and the next minute theyre gone like my last pay cheque on diesel. If anyone knows the answer to this mystery that keeps me awake at night please enlighten me.

2 November       North Yilliminning            We packed up and left the 3^rd largest monolith in Australia and headed south along some backroads towards Corrigin and then east past Kondini and finally got to Hyden . We passed through Hyden and reached wave rock where we parked next to the familiar GQ of Rob and Trish who we seem to run into in every now and then. We last saw them at Karagini NP and they had been travelling in much the same areas as we had.  Anyway after a bit of a chat and catch up we headed our separate ways again. We took the usual photos of wave rock and walked over the top to the Hippos yawn. Big rock formation that looks liked a hippos mouth when he takes a yawn. Got several photos of the boys somewhere near his uvula  (look that one up ). We finished the walk around part of the base and then headed back to Hyden where their was less flies and had lunch opposite the ‘Bower’s 2^nd hand shop’. Several sculptures depicting people that had participated in the making of Hyden and the surrounding community. After our brief stop we headed west again through Kulin to Wickepin along the Tin Horse hway. Most of the farmers along this 80k section of road have made horse or horse related statues and stuck them in their front paddocks next to the road. Wickepin is apparently famous for its races as many of these outback towns seem to be. It made the drive very interesting but very few photos were taken of the statues unfortunately. We passed through Wickepin and began looking for a camp for the night. We headed down Wyatt Rd , Newbolds rd and finally onto Armstrong Road. These were all dirt backroads with very dodgy signage , none, and we had to drive through someones paddock to keep going but we finally turned off the dirt road and headed into North Yilliminning reserve along a fence line. We drove for a few short k’s and found a spot in the middle of the bush where we could just hear the passing traffic of the hway to the north.We set up camp and covered Bay with the blue tarp in case of wet weather which we had been experiencing with regularity. We had the joy of removing several ticks from myself and Tracy  whilst there but otherwise a fairly nice place to camp.

3 November       Collie ( Lyalls Road)          After a quick pack up as looked like rain we headed past Narrogin , Williams and onto the dirt road of Harvey – Quindanning Rd which heads through mountain forest . Came across a few hikers that were wandering around and about five minutes later a fairly large thunderstorm passed through the area so Im sure that they would have been cooled off pretty well. We got to the Harvey dam andf had lunch and a bit of a walk onto the wall and then continued on into Harvey proper. Very green and lots of fruit around the place. We visited the Big Orange and were impressed by the many orchards around . Unfortunately the weather was pretty wet so we didn’t stay for to long and left Harvey and continued south through Wokalup and onto the Mornington Road , Coalfields  Road and into Wellington Dam for a look. We decided to keep on and Tracy pointed us east through Collie where we stopped just to the south at Lyalls Road. We turned just off the main north south road into Lyalls and found our camp for the night amongst some old pine trees. Very similar camp to Pinaster in Victoria so we felt quite at home.

4 November       Yallingup Siding Reserve               Nice night in the forest and located another tick hiding in my hair from our camp spot a few nights ago. We left our pine forest and headed out through Donnybrook , Bussleton and out to Cape Naturaliste. We took a walk in the park at the end and thankfully there were only 3 tracks that we could go on as me and the boys lost Tracy as she took a different pathway than we did and got a bit nervous when we couldn’t find each other. In the end we located her wandering around on a path that we were about to head back to Hervey on so all was good. After our reunion we headed south along a 4wd track in search of a camp for the night but unfortunately we found no suitable plots of land to plonk Bay on for the night. We therefore headed back out to the bitumen Caves Road and then east onto Wildwood road .  We were heading for another reserve but came across a sidetrack and found an old railway siding in the bush about 30M from the T junction of some backroads. We parked and set Bay up for the night and then had a bit of explore around the place.

5 November – 6 November         Blackwood River gravel pit           We packed up again and backtracked to Caves road where we made a short northerly drive to the wood maze. It was great fun and a excellent way to start the day.  After this we visited a chocolate factory and in the excitement to get there went down a wrong road. In my enthusiasm to turn around I reversed Bay into a dirty great tree and was to only later find that I had bent a piece of him in the manouver. I was extremely annoyed with myself for not getting out and checking behind me but the damage will be easily fixed on our return to Hervey Bay.After all that the visit to the choc factory was productive and tasty as well. We stopped in at a cheese factory and then continued south towards Margaret River. We didn’t stop at Margaret river township but continued on down to Augusta and Cape Leeuwin. Had a bit of a wander around and a few photos of the lighthouse on the bottom tip of Australia.  We set off back through Augusta and got to our camp for the night at a gravel pit just west of the Blackwood River Bridge. Great little spot off the hway where we stayed for two nights and got a lot of washing done and the boys got some schoolwork completed.We are all looking forward to the end of schoolwork where we can then enjoy the rest of our holiday doing nothing.

7 November – 8 November         Big Brook Dam Arboreum             After our brief rest at our gravel pit we headed east again towards another of Tracy’s picks – Pemberton and the Gloucester tree. Big tree about 60M tall with steel bars out of it that you can climb to the top and look out over the surrounding forest. She went all the way to the top but I had to go back to the Hervey as it looked extremely dangerous and definitely not for me. We headed into Big Brook dam and set up camp for the couple of nights that we would be there. The following day we headed towards Yeagarup Lake and Warren NP. We took a short stop at the Big Brook Dam itself but it was raining and hailing so decided to come back when the weather was more suitable. The hail was only smaller than peas but still bizarre to see here in the forest. We got to Yeagarup and had a bite to eat and then set off to get to the beach. We were confronted by a rather large sand dune which after several heroic attempts by Hervey to scale was just a bit to much for him so had to turn around and head back out the way we had come . (probably wasn’t very nice down there anyway)We decided to take some dirt roads back out to the Bicentennial tree which was another tree that Tracy wanted to scale. This one was 75M with bars out the side but I wouldn’t let the boys climb it as was just to risky and I am quite amazed that they allow people to climb the thing. A small slip would be all it would need to go plummeting to a very squishy death after colliding with a few bars on the way down. The boys , especially Matty , were very distraught about me not letting them but I told them that when they turn 18 they can climb away. Tracy got to the first landing and then returned to mother earth where we should all be.

9 November – 10 November      Shannon NP  Shannon Ruins camp         We packed up and set off for Windy Harbour where we had a short walk along the cliffs and took a few photos of the granite cliffs. We passed back through Northcliffe and out along Middleton Road to the South Western hwy. We turned off to the campsite on the north side of the road of the Shannon town ruins. Tracy had read somewhere that they had little cabins here that could be used and we were lucky enough that one of the two of them was empty. The boys were very excited so we moved in with our beds and set up for a couple of nights. We cranked the nearby donkey up and had a warm shower. Tracy was very proud and surprised that she had gone nine days without a shower. Us boys were happy for her and we enjoyed having a nice shower as well.  The cabin was fantastic and we had a fire in the stove both nights we were there. There were a lot of bushwalks in the area but we used our time getting more of the boys schoolwork done which they were really pleased about.  We had a great time in the Shannon  and got a lot of work done and all felt a bit cleaner while we were there. I had also contacted Faye back at work and arranged to return to work mid January. We had put a lot of thought and discussion into what we could do but decided that we needed to return to our previous lives and plan for a future trip.

11 November    Valley of Giants Road.    We repacked Bay with all the beds that we had removed for our cabin stay and headed out of the Shannon NP. We finally received my tax money back so we were fairly pleased and relieved about that. We were that excited that we paused at Walpole as we went through it and had a lunch of pies. We got to our camp for the night just past the VOG rd turnoff at a reststop on the north side of the road.

12 November – 13 November    Albany  Emu C’van park    We left our rest stop and headed along the Valley of the Giants road to the Tree Top Walk. Fortunately for us they were having their 15^th bday so the walk along the suspended bridges was free. They also had markets on so Tracy brought some presents for people back home after we had a wander through the bush. We made our way into Albany and found it to be one of the spots that we were taken by immediately we arrived. Large harbour and railway  in the town as well as hospital and tourist trade. We stopped at the visitor centre and set out for a recommended van park at Emu point. We made ourselves comfy and attacked a bit more schoolwork  that afternoon in the camp kitchen. The following day we took a drive around to see some of the Albany sights. We went to the war memorial on top of the hill , through the harbour and then out to Goode Beach and the peninsula for a look. The water around the area had some fantastic blue colours and would have been great for a swim if it hadn’t been so cold. We decided that Albany was one of the better places that we had come across in our travels and would definitely be a place that we would like to return to at some stage. We spent the rest of the day in the camp kitchen getting more of the schoolwork done . We were in the last few days and eager to complete it all. I was a bit taken back when the manager of the van park came over to see if we were going to pack up soon as there were more people coming in and they would probably want to use the camp kitchen as well. I advised him that I was sure that they would have tongues in their heads and be able to quite adequately ask us to move should the masses require the camp kitchen. I wasn’t surprised to see that only two other campers arrived that night and one used the kitchen.

14 November – 15 November    Albany  Big 4 Albany Gardens Cvan park                                         We had decided that we would move locations in Albany.  The general attitude of the manager of the park was the main reason for this decision. The toilets/showers/camp kitchen hadn’t been cleaned in the two days that we had been at the park and after the previous arvos attitude of the manager we thought it was time to move on. Tracy spoke to the cleaners that arrived as we were packing up and they told her that nothing was ever done on the weekends and it made their job on Monday morning that much harder. It just confirmed our idea that the manager was a bit reluctant to work. The park itself is in a great spot on the beach and as the manager is leaving in Feb 12 would be worth a trip back in the future. Tracy made a comment to the visitor centre later in the day and as it was a council run van park they were very interested. We made our new home at the Albany Gardens Big 4  and set up there for the next few days where we completed even more school work. I also had the manifold gasket of Hervey replaced as had cracked at the back of the manifold and sounded like a tappet was loose. $480 later and we were back in business.  There was also a lot of Harlies to look at as they were on their way to a meet at Margaret River in a few days time and were passing through.

16 November – 17 November    Stirling NP Moingup camp    We left the Big 4 and headed out of Albany. I tried to get one of our gas bottles filled but it had expired 2000. It was the Kwik Swap one that I had picked up in Marree roadhouse.  I wasn’t pleased as there was no one that swapped the size in Albany.We got out to the Stirling NP and set up in Moingup camp where we had lunch and then backtracked to the Porongurup NP and the Castle Rock walk. This is a walk that goes to the top of the mountain and a walkway around the boulders that  are at the summit. There were some excellent views from the top of the surrounding wheat farms but couldn’t work out what the little green houses were for on the farm to the south. Looked like pigs or something. The following day we  made an attempt at Bluff Knoll to the north. It was a fairly steep walk and a windy day and we got about ½ way up when the track got a bit narrow and ran beside the cliffs. I was a bit concerned about the wind so we turned around and headed back. We passed a young couple going up that were encompassed by the clouds and the rain by the time we had reached the bottom again.

18 November – 20 November    Hopetoun                We headed out of Moingup camp after a quick packup and started our day towards Hopetoun. We stopped at Ravensthorpe where we had luch and then Tracy dropped into Linda’s work there and picked up the keys for her and Peter’s house at Hopetoun. Peter is Les’ cousin so we had arranged to drop in for a visit. We made our way to Hopetoun and after a short drive through it went back to Peter’s place to find him there and we enjoyed the afternoon sitting in his shed over a few drinks. Linda arrived about 6pm after her day at the childcare centre and we all had a bbq tea. The boys had a great time catching up on some TV . We took the next day out to Jerdacuttup NR to the east of Hopetoun. Some fantastic beaches and some great camp spots right on the water. The pick of them would be Mason Bay with some shaded spots and right on the water. We got a lot more schoolwork done and had a bit more of a look around the area and enjoyed our stay in Hopetoun  with Peter and Linda. They were very kind and allowed us to stay at their place even though they went away for the weekend to a friends wedding and their sons engagement party.  It was a pleasure to sleep in a nice comfy bed to.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this late edition and will get more on soon.  Seeya

photos a bit of everything

Wnydum WA

El Questro  GRR WA

KunnunarraWA

the Gibb River Road (GRR)

Hervey and Maverick Kunnunarra

The Mighty Gibb River Road

Crossing the Pernacoste River GRR

Gorge - Home Valley GRR

Fishing the Durrak - GRR

Scones at Ellenbrae - GRR

Random car - Mitchell Falls road (MFR)

the Bradshaw paintings MFR

on the way to Mitchell Falls, start of the 6 hr crawl

fixed it! lucky the ranger had a welder

Mitchell Falls WA

it broke again - an 7 hour crawl back to camp

the other side broke now!

even the winch was used to get us back

rock art MFR

lunch!

making damper with Kris

Manning Gorge with Kris and kev

toilets at Manning Gorge!

Beautiful Gorge GRR

One for the Hoopers

Bell Gorge GRR

Tunnel Creek GRR

Locals

Winjirra Gorge GRR

Cable Beach Broome

2nd major disaster - lucky it didn't come off

Dinosaur footprints - low tide Broome

James Price Point North of Broome

80 mile Beach WA

Nice ride Broome

DAG (Donna and Graham) JPP

Natural state of Asbestos - Winternoon WA

Mine tour -newman WA

Dales Gorge - Karijini National :Park

Kermit pool Karijini NP

Spider walk - Karijini NP

Just an awesome place - Karijini NP

Nigaloo station WA

Esxmouth WA

exmouth WA

not a memorial but a geocache! Ningaloo Station WA

Ningaloo Station WA

what a find

Ningaloo

getting water janes bay ningallo station

canarvon jetty WA

lighthouse and dunny - interesting! Canarvon

exactly on the other side of oz frokm herveybay

Shark Bay WA

Shelly Beach ( tiny shells)

Kalbarri NP

Natures window - Kalbarri NP

'Bobbie' - bobtail shingleback lizard

Sunset at Dongara WA

Dongara

Janine and Benjamin Dongara

The boys and Ben

The Pinnacles

massive storm on the way to Goomalling

Fred!

Break in  Fremantle WA

Can I buy one?

or two?

Back and safe at Goomalling

Happy Birthday Beka

hanging out in Goomalling

boys and toys

round the world basketball

smallest roof top camper EVER

Beka!

Greg and Kaz - Goomalling

Smallest bank in Australia

Kokerbin Rock and the flies

Wave Rock - Hyden WA

Hypos yawn - Hyden WA

Hyden

Hervey in Harvey WA

a grader in our way! Cape Naturaliste WA

Maze - Margaret River WA

Augusta WA

The Glouster tree - Tracy made it to the top! 65m

suspension bridge - Pemberton WA

Almost made it!  sand dunes d'encasteux NP

shifting sand dunes

Bloody big trees in Warren NP

The Bicenntenial Tree 75m - tears for the boys when they weren't allowed to climb it.  TB got 1/2 way

the reason the boys weren't allowed up - nothing to catch them if they fell

2 angels at the cascades Warren NP

Cool little cabins - Shannnon NP

Our cabin - Shannon NP

Mandalay Beach WA

The Tingle Tree - Warpole WA

Free face painting - Valley of the Giants 15th birthday

dragon Man

Valley of the Giants tree top walk

light horseman monument - Abany WA

Albany WA

another gorgeous beach Albany

glass instead of barbed wire!  Old Albany Gaol

more stocks! Albany

Very clever (opposite of winabago!)

Castle Rock Climb

Nearly at the top of castle rock

excellent fun - castle rock

Bluff Knoll climb Stirling Range NP - the car park is in the background

as far as we could go due to the weather - Bluff Knoll

12 mile beach Hopetoun WA

Starvation bay WA

Hopetoun

the Bowers and the Bauers! -  Linda and Peter

Sammy the wild seal - Esperence WA - check out the water colour

Esperence

Cape Le Grande NP WA

Frenchmans Peak Cape Le Grande NP

Made it to the top - Frenchmans Peak

The climb - they did it no probs!

The beaches at Esperance - breath taking

Blue Haven Beach - Esperance

Twilight Beach - Esperance

Twilight Beach

Harley Davidson Owners Rally - crossing the Nullabor the same time

90 mile straight road

doing a 'Lyn'

Suicidal budgies - squashed budgies everywhere - so sad

1/2 way ish

Good bye WA! 5 months but we could have stayed much longer

desert landscapes - sa wa border

Bunda Cliffs one end

Sunset on the Nullabor

the old Eyre Highway

 the Nullabor Plain

xx

the other end of the Bunda cliffs at Head of Bite SA