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 3rd 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 3rd 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 2nd 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 15th 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.
