Back to the Begining 19 - 20 November 2013

We heard the other day that the 'up' at the end of so many place names in WA  is an aboriginal term implying 'close to water'. I'm not buying it though. Why would they come up with a special suffix for something so common? There is water everywhere in southern WA, so why the need to add the up? Now something to indicate poison water, or no water would make sense. I'm sticking to my theory that the traditional custodians have been having a quiet laugh at the ignorant newcomers for the last hundred and fifty years or so ;-)

Anyway, From Padthaway we headed for Victoria via Penola and even more vines full of Coonawarra goodness. Once a gain no stopping allowed, but we definitely have some places to come back to soon.

The only stop of any significance was Nigretta Falls which while not as huge or possibly spectacular as some we have seen in NT and WA, it did not involve any rock climbing, river crossings, or slogs through the desert to get to. All very civilized really.

Our last night was spent in sunny (NOT!! - more like freezing cold, windy as anything and threatening to rain) Ballarat. Found a great Thai resuarant for our last supper. I had a jungle curry that was so spicy it did not let me forget it for two days. Fantastic :) Next morning it was a slightly damp and slow final pack up before hitting the patchwork shops (the things we do for love...) then on to Ballan for a fantastic lunch to payback for all the fat quater drooling earlier. I think we both got a good deal.
After lunch we waddled back to the trusty truck and headed home. It felt slightly unreal pulling in to the driveway.

Our epic journey was done, but the memories will remain. What a terrific time we have had. What amazing places we have been, and what incredible sights we have seen. We have driven 19,877 kilometers over nearly four months, paid up to $2.25 for a litre of fuel and $54 a night for a caravan site, but it was worth every bone shaking corrugation and every wallet lightening cent.

There is no place like home, and that's a wonderful thing. Otherwise there ould be no excuse to recharge the leave and bank ballances so we can do it all again!

Incase you haven't been paying attention, we've been everywhere man. We've been to:

Adelaide River           Anbangbang        Ballarat                      Batchelor          Bridgewater
Aileron                       Annaburroo         Barkly Homestead    Beagal Bay        Broome
Alice Springs             Arckaringa           Barn Hill                   Beladoonia        Bunbury
Amalia Gorge            Ballan                  Barrow Creek           Border Village   Bungle Bungles
                               
Burra                           Cape Crawford    Casterton                   Cervantes           Coleraine
Busselton                    Cape Leveque      Caversham                 Charlton            Commodore
Cadney Park                Cape Naturaliste  Ceduna                       Clare                  Cooinda
Caiguna                       Carnarvon             Central Greenough   Cocklebiddy      Coomandook
                               
Copley                          Daly Waters         Denham                     Dumosa             Ella Gorge
Coral Bay                     Darwin                 Denmark                   Dunkeld             Erldunda
Coward Springs           Daytrap Corner    Derby                        Dunsborough     Esperance
Crystal Brook              De Grey River      Dongara                    El Questro         Eucla
                               
Exmouth                      Gaudju                 Gulnare                     Humpty Doo     Jabiru
Florence Falls              Gawler                 Hallett                       Inglewood         Jurien Bay
Francois Perron N.P.   Geraldton             Hamilton                  Iron Knob          Kalbarri
Fremantle                    Glenthompson      Hawker                     Ivanhoe              Karijini
                               
Katherine                     Kimba                   Kununurra                Lyndhurst          Manning Gorge
Keep River                  Kooljaman            Lake Bolac               Lynton                Marble Bar
Keith                            Kulgera                 Leigh Creek             Madura               Margaret River
Ki Ki                            Kungara                Litchfield                 Malaga               Marla
                               
Marree                         Minilya                  Mornington              Murray Bridge   Northhampton
Mataranka                   Mintaro                  Mount Barnett         Nanutarra           Nourlangie
Maylands                    Monkey Mia           Mundrabilla             Naracoorte         Nullarbor
Mildura                       Morgan                  Munjina                    Norseman          Nullawil
                               
Nundroo                     Ouyen                     Paraburdoo              Penola                Pintumba
Oenpelli                      Overlander             Parachina                 Perth                   Plane Henge
Oodnadatta                 Padthaway              Pardoo                     Peterborough     Poochera
Orroroo                      Palmerston             Pennywortham         Pine Creek         Port Augusta
                               
Port Denison              Purnulu                  Red Cliffs                Sandy Creek       Skipton
Port Gregory              Quinco                   Renmark                   Scarsdale           South Headland
Port Headland            Quobba Station      Roebuck Plains       Sea Lake            Springfield
Port Pirie                   Ravensthorpe          Sand Fire                 Sevenhill           Tailem Bend
                               
Tennant Creek           Ti-Tree                     Victoria River         Wauchope          Williamstown
Three Ways                Tom Price               Walpole                    Wedderburn       Wilson
Timber Creek            Tunnel Creek          Wangi Falls               ickliffe               Windjana Gorge
Tintinara                    Twin Falls               Wannon                    William Creek   Witchcliffe
                               
Wudinna                    Yacka                       
Wycheproof               Yalata                       
Wycliffe Well            Yamba                       
Wyndham                  Yardie Creek                       
                               
                               
And then there were all the 'Ups':                               
                               
Amelup                      Dalyup                   Milyeannup             Neerabup             Pingerup
Beedleup                    Firenup                  Munglinup              Nornalup             Takinup
Coomalbidgup          Jerramungup          Nannup                   Nowergup            Toolbrunup
Cowaramup              Joondalup               Needilup                 Peerabeelup         Wilyabrup
                               
Yallingup and Yellanup.

But we haven't been to Woolongong, so there are still challenges to be had.

Padthaway 18 November 2013

Plans changed again today as we bypassed the accommodation options in Keith (which according to the books is pretty naf) as we didn't think we could stand the excitement of the main local attraction - a Land Rover on a Pole - Yep, A LAND ROVER ON A POLE!!!!! Now tell me you would have coped with a straight face ;-). Wound up in Padthaway at one of the nicest parks so far. Beautiful gardens, full lawn coverage of the sites, a little basket of rolled and towels in the shower block. Just really nice, and in the middle of the Padthaway/Limestone Coast/Coonawarra wine districts.

All those vines and nothing left in the budget. Definitely spent too much in Clare.......

Clare 16 - 17 November 2013

After giving Port Augusta a final once over it was off in search of Clare and for something completely different, wineries. We managed to Resist the strong magnetic pull towards Quorn again and pushed on to Gulnare where my paternal Grandmother grew up - couldn't find the old tin house this time though (suspect it has been clad in fake vinyl weatherboards now). A lap of the old town took all of two minutes, which were packed full of nostalgic thoughts, and it was onwards to Clare.
We have never been to Clare before, and it was quite surprising. For an important wine area, the grape vines can be a little thin on the ground if you don't go looking for them. Sure there are plenty on the main road and even more in the hills to either side, but they are spread in little patches between wheat fields and gum forests, so it is unlike anything you expect from say, the Barossa, Margaret River, or even Mornington Penninsula. I think that their insistance on continuing to produce what they do best - Riesling - even when it is not a market favourite has led to a more boutique feel to the place, with a lack of acre after acre of sav blanc and chardonnay vines. The wines we tried were fantastic - my fermented grape juice budget is now well and truly blown :(
Cruised out to Mintaro (a heritage listed town nearby) for a beautiful lunch at Reillys winery (that word again..) and then to Martindale Hall which was used as the mansion in the old ozzie flic 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'. This was very special, but left us both thinking that they need to do more with the surrounds to make it even better.



 

 

 

Port Augusta 15 November 2013

Some trivia I forgot to mention in the Ceduna entry - it is likely that the two largest islands off the shore here (St Peter and St Francis Is) were the setting and inspiration for Gulliver's Travels. Francois Thyssen and Pieter Nuyts of the Dutch East India Company ship Guilden Zeepaert (you remember them don't you?) sighted the islands in 1627 and reported that giants 'might' be found there. According to Jonathon Swift, Lilliput was supposed to be north west of Van Diemens' Land  in the vicinity of 30 degrees South latitude and these two islands are the only land masses which fit this location.

Next stop was supposed to be Kimba, "Halfway accross Australia", but there was still plenty of daylight left, and frankly the Big Gallah, though undoubtedly big, and pink, just didn't do it for us, so we pressed on all the way to Port Augusta.







Now Port Agutta has some not so fond memories from the last time we visited the "Pearl of Spencer Gulf", and I've got to say, the caravan park did nothing to alter our feelings. What a dump. Train assembly noises, loud bad pub music, and drunk and screaming 'custodians' throughout the night. To ice the cake as it were, the park hands out tickets with your departure day writ large on them which are to be displayed prominently so that no-one overstays their welcome - FAT CHANCE!!!!! We have only seen this at one other place on our travels, at El Questro, but they need to. First off the place is simply devine, and secondly, they get so many people coming through it would be easy to cheat the system (we actually met some people who had stayed overnight without paying!). But Port Agutta????? Have to admit that we drove through town central on the way out in the morning, and things actually looked pretty good. Quite a vibrant little CBD with shops, offices and eateries and not a sign of anyone after your last $5.00. There is a 24/7 alcohol ban in public places in the town and this seems to be working (at least in the CBD), so maybe there is hope for the place, and the local custodians - It would be good if things could be turned around here.

Norseman, Caiguna, Cocklebiddy, Mandura, Eucla, Nundroo, Ceduna 10 - 14 November 2013

Ah, Norseman. Beautiful one day, it's just that no-one can remember when. The few shops still open have their windows covered in corrugated iron, and the whole main street just looks desolate. It's not that nobody's trying, but they appear to be flogging a dead camel. Speaking of camels, a more picturesque use of the ubiquitous corrugated iron is the tin camel installation in the middle of the roundabout on the main drag:

Tin Camels

Other than that, there is really nothing to report from Norseman.
Next day it was Eastward Ho and full steam ahead for the Nullarbor Plain, or at least what we thought was supposed to be the "Treeless Plain".
Given that there was only a stretch of about twenty k's without anything you would normally refer to as a tree, I think we need a referendum to change the name to "Multis Arboribus Plain", with the emphasis on the bori(ng) part. What a Tourism WA/SA/Australia con it is.
Just one boring long straight after another, with the previously mentioned longest straight in Australia of 90 miles (145.6km) between Balladonia and Caiguna just rivetingly full of suspense - when will it ever end??????



We planned to overnight at Caiguna, which likes to paint itself as the "Hub of the Universe" (they are either seriously up themselves, or are having a gigantic lend of all travelers), but since there was absolutely nothing there to entice us to stop (a recurring theme out here...) we pushed on to just before Cocklebiddy (got to love some of the names at least) and free-camped in a rest area on the side of the highway. There was one other bloke camped there with his dog, Hilux and van who had been there for a couple of days. The question "Why?" sprang instantly to mind, but we didn't really want to know. Ran into him again later on in Ceduna where he said he had come into town for his weekly shower :(=



Bidding a fond (?) farewell (well we were glad to be leaving anyway) to Cocklebiddy, we set out towards South Australia. There were actually a few interesting bits on this leg. The highway drops off the tablelands and down to the coast at Mandura, and the views from the top are quietly awesome. The photos don't really do it justice as we are still relying on the mobile for picture snapping - got to get that replacement camera!

Traditional Rock Art??

The old Telegraph station at Eucla was an interesting set of ruins. The building is slowly being overrun by sand dunes and will disappear all together if they don't actively try to save it. You've got to believe that the dunes were nowhere near the station when they decided to build there.









The last interesting bit was at Head of Bight. This particular tourist trap has been set up on the cliff tops of the Great Australian Bight at a spot where many whales spend up to three months of the year calving, resting and playing, close in to shore. Of course with our immaculate timing we missed the season by a month. Typical... Still worth the $7 entry fee just for the views. Definitely the highlight of the crossing.

The target for the night was Ceduna, but that proved a bit too far and we spent the night in the very swanky (not) caravan park/motel at Nundroo. If you've never heard of the place, don't worry. I plan to forget it as soon as possible myself.
Somewhere along the way to Nundroo we passed a big brown sign:



Now we thought we had been crossing the Nullarbor since we left Norseman - as I said, it's all a big tourism con. Not far down the highway there is another big brown sign facing east which had the word Nullarbor on it, and I'm pretty sure it was marking the Eastern end of the plain (couldn't read it all in the mirror as we sailed past, and frankly, couldn't be bothered to stop and check). A couple in the bar of the Nundroo motel (well there is nowhere else to go!) had caught the train across from Adelaide to Perth, and were driving back. They said that the landscape is very barren around the train line which is further north than the highway. So it appears that if you want to really experience the Nullarbor, the only way is by train.

After all the excitement of our plain crossing journey, we finally reached civilization in the form of Ceduna. Nothing spectacular here, but a very nice change after the last few days. Our timing is spot on as usual - the local Oyster Festival finished last week........ In case you are wondering, the biggest oyster this year weighed in at 585 grams. That's one big mollusc!

Esperance 07 - 09 November 2013

What a beautiful part of the country this is! Yes you guessed right, it's not raining in Esperance :)
We set up camp in the late afternoon after over 400k's driving under grey skies and through intermittent showers between the down pours and opened every window and flap on the camper to speed the drying process after two wet pack ups in a row. It was bloody cold though, and the long pants were a definite fashion fixture. We ate in the camp kitchen out of the wind and then headed straight inside the camper to read and watch telly. The next morning was full of promise and blue sky, so a look around town was in order. One of the attractions here is the very long Tanker Jetty which used to be used by tanker ships for offloading fuel to the storage facility in town. There is even supposed to be a local seal (Sammy) who hangs around the jetty waiting for scraps from fishermen. Well, that may have been, but obviously the good people of Esperance heard we were coming, so the jetty has been condemned and the first 50 metres of it have been removed so there is no possibility of walking along it, fishing from it (as if...), or seeing the seal. Another must see is Pink Lake which is turned pink by the algae in the extremely salty lake water. Only problem is that it is currently basically blue - can't even rely on the algae to do their job right :(
Oh well, they do have an exceptional french bakery with all kinds of baked goodies to help overcome the dissapointment.
Headed out to Cape Le Grand National Park for a days exploring. What a fantastic place it is. Just one stunning beach/cove after another. The water is sooo blue and the sand is sooo white. The sand has a high silica content and squeaks when you walk on it (just like Squeaky Beach at Wilsons Prom). For something completely different we also walked/climbed/scrambled up to the top of Frenchman Peak which is a 262m high lump of granite which is supposed to resemble a type of cap worn by your typical French sailor back when they were naming places around here. This was a bloody steep climb which took nearly an hour from car park to summit, but the views were spectacular.

We are off to Norseman tomorrow for the start of the Nullarbor Plain which contains such highlights as Australia's longest straight stretch of highway at 146.6km - we can hardly contain our excitement ;-)

Not so Pink Lake

 

Frenchman Peak

You can just see the Patrol in the car park from the top.

Albany, Stirling Ranges National Park 06 November

It basically rained all day today. Grey sky and cold air. Bah Humbug! It was so miserable that I was forced to forgo the shorts and put on a pair of jeans for the first time since we hit the Oodnadatta Track all those weeks ago!

First port of call today was Albany for the three staples of travelers the world over - money, food and booze, all of which were running perilously low. While we were there we looked around the 1832 Patrick Taylor Cottage wattle and daub house which is the oldest existing dwelling in WA. Then it was up to the Mt Clarence lookout from where, surprisingly, you could still see the town and bay quite well.

Well not in Albany you can't!

Overnighted in Stirling Ranges National Park which is renowned for it's wild flowers and scenic views. All we could see was rain, rain clouds, and more rain.
The Ranger came around and said he would collect our camp fees later in the afternoon as he had to rush off to an emergency. He didn't make it back until the next morning when he told me he had to assist a hiker down from the mountain after breaking an ankle and then get him to medical attention - who said Rangering was boring? He was back in camp at sparrows next morning though so he could "catch all the German tourists before they bugger off without paying". He also shared the happy news that the rain was supposed to lift lat in the afternoon. He only told me this after confirming that we were moving on to Esperance - cheeky sod ;-)

See the glorious mountains in the background? Neither did we!

Walpole Tree Top Walk, Greens Pool, Denmark 05 November 2013

Definitely heading homeward now as we speed towards Denmark. On the way we did the tree top walk just outside of Walpole (Valley of the Giants) which was pretty cool. They have built a suspended walkway up to 50 metres high which takes you through the upper levels of a Red Tingle tree forest. While they may not grow as tall as a Karri tree, these things are still huge.

Note the strange flowers on the trunk :)

Awe Pretty

Then it was on to Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks which were very picturesque before finishing the day in Denmark.

Can you spot the Elephants?

 Now Denmark is one of the towns I have been hanging out to get to as they had the world's biggest barometer there which was more than 12 metres tall (yep, it's strange what some people find interesting I know). Note the past tense there. Apparently about 18 months ago the Visitor Information Centre (where the barometer was installed in a specially built tower) and it's board couldn't come to grips with the fact that the barometer could not be turned into a profit turning attraction as one of the conditions under which the maker in the Netherlands insisted on was that no admission charges could ever be levied for viewing it. After much to-ing and fro-ing, the maker took it back and expressed his dismay and disgust with the town of Denmark and in particular the lack of vision shown by the Visitor Centre board. Of course not a word of this is mentioned in the Visitor Centre. There is just this weird tower in the middle of the building with a staircase to nowhere running up the inside wall.

What it used to look like

Woke up next morning and it was raining! Everything was sodden and getting soggier by the minute. This was not part of the plan! We were supposed to chase the sun for four months and completely skip winter. Oh well, it had to happen sooner or later.