May 11 / 12...Perth

Mum arrived after a really good flight, raring to go. A quick cup of tea and she wanted to know where we were going!  So we headed off to Cottesloe Beach to watch the sun set behind the Indian Ocean ... a "must-do" on the west coast. It was a perfect afternoon, no breeze, warm, and not a cloud in the sky. The beach looked beautiful and the sunset was exceptional. The whole experience was further helped by a big bucket of delicious hot chips!
It was interesting to see the heritage listed pylon which is all  that remains of a shark proof pool that used to exist at Cottesloe before it was destroyed by a storm in 1936. Given the number of white pointers that are regularly seen off the coast in the area, I am sure that a lot of people still wish the pool was there.

Cottesloe Beach

Maurn at Cottesloe Beach- Pylon can be seen in background

Almost down!

Time to head home.

Another amazing day weatherwise. We drove into the city today and eventually (very confusing road system) parked near Barrack Square to catch one of the Captain Cook Cruises down the Swan River to Fremantle. The return trip took almost 3 hours and the commentary was very interesting. We sailed past the most expensive house in Australia, many other historical places, yacht clubs, and finally right through the Port of Fremantle.

Perth City

Angela and Peter Bennet's House - $51.8 million !!!

The Port of Fremantle

The Happy Tourists - Linda, Garry, Maurn

Following our cruise we drove south to Fremantle to have a look around there. The city has so many lovely old buildings and is full of history. We stopped in the harbour area to have a gelati at Kallis' before we tracked down a tourist office to organize some details for tomorrow. We also had a quick look in Myer and I managed to find a few bargains that were on sale.

Some of Fremantle's Historic Buildings

Full of gelati !

Finally tonight I got to try the sweet potato fries that I thought looked delicious ... and they were okay, certainly worth another taste test!
What a pleasant day it has been.

The Perth Skyline.

May 5-11...Perth

How lovely it is to be here again. We both love Perth and Morgan's place feels so comfortable. All the plants have grown and her home does not feel so "new". I had brought with me a few wall prints that were to be gifts. They are really nice pictures of Greek boats but they neither suited nor fitted anywhere in her house ... so that was a bit of a dud. They are now repackaged and stored in the shed! The clock I bought is perfect though.

Morgan's Front Courtyard

Lounge room

Back outside area

The new clock

On Saturday we were up early to go to the Kalamunda Markets. It is huge and often has some very original stalls. There was a little bit of time pressure as Morg had to be back for her "Bronze" training but we moved quickly and saw most things. I bought some earrings and  some dried fruit but again I learnt that travelling in the van does have storage restrictions.

Entrance to the Kalamunda Markets

When we went to leave the car would not start and there was a strong smell of petrol. It had only been serviced that week and this was its first real drive so we were a bit surprised. It turned out that the fuel line had come off...not an easy thing to happen as it has a safety lock. Obviously it was checked during the service and not put back on properly but the Service Agent claims innocence! Anyway, despite being late, Morgan still got to her training session at the East Fremantle Surf Club, and we followed later on.
It was a beautiful afternoon, really warm and still, and the water LOOKED very inviting ... but it was cold! Garry  went for a swim and enjoyed it but I was content with a beach walk.

Sunday was Mothers Day and we started at the Melville Markets. Only about 70 ms away from the unit, they are an excellent, and big, "junk" market at which we ALWAYS find something. Everything is bartered for so that can be a bit of fun. Most of the regulars are a bit pricey but there are always some one-off sellers and these are usually bargain prices. It is an interesting way to spend a Sunday morning.
After that we went for a picnic on the Swan River. Morgan knew of a great spot on the bend of the river and there was constant boat traffic to watch, as well as the occasional dolphin. We had a feast to eat, with champagne, so it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. It was also 30 degrees but the cloud kept things very pleasant.

Garry and Morgan enjoying a Picnic Feast

Mothers Day Picnic on the Swan River

For my retirement I had bought a leather Pandora bracelet. As an early birthday present I also bought 3 more beads. I now have a very expensive bracelet ... (what a racket this jewelery market is!)... but I love it. Each bead represents a member of my family (very sentimental) and it is exactly how I want it.

Retirement/Mothers Day/Birthday  Pandora Bracelet

On Monday we started our new car shopping ... from scratch. Prices were a surprise but so far Morgan is still deciding on shape and size. Ideally she would like a "soft SUV" but there is still a LOT of looking to do although, she did like the Lexus! We have started collecting brochures for her to look at and she and Garry will put in some serious time once Mum, who is only just arriving today, has gone home.
So, we are spending the morning sprucing things up and getting organized. It will be nice to have a visitor because it forces you to get out and do things, otherwise it is all too easy to be lazy. The weather is perfect and we can only hope that it holds for the next 8 days.

May 5 ... Perth

Only 260 kms to drive today ... pretty much a straight run into Perth. We now remember something about the Merredin Caravan Park ... it is on the main highway west AND beside the main rail line! Even though we had road trains and rail trains passing ALL night, it was okay really, but we would hesitate to stay here again.

Our first stop was at Cunderdin, another service town that looked similarily successful to Merredin. It was interesting enough for us to seek out the lookout and we had lovely views over the town and wheatfields. What was alarming though, was the amount of land obviously salt affected. All of the wheat paddocks are on the hills and rises, anything low is white with salt.

The "salt" plains

Cunderdin Lookout

From here we continued to Northam for morning tea. We had not approached Perth from here before and for a population of just over 7000, the town was huge, and busy. We stopped in a park beside the River Avon but it was looking very dry as was the surrounding countryside. Obviously this part of WA has not had the rain that much of the rest of Australia has.

The Avon River - looking dry

Northam Park

Once we left Northam we were at Morgan's within 2 hours. It was refreshing to see her home looking so good. All the plants have grown and it was nice to be back in familiar surroundings.  We spent the afternoon unpacking the van, shopping and re-meeting the neighbours.We really do love it here but I would have to convince the two boys to move west before we could consider the change. We will have a good look around anyway and you never know what might turn up!

Linda: Finished reading Bill Bryson's " At Home. A Short History of Private Life".  Really good. Packed with interesting historical information. Non-Fiction 9/10

May 4 ... Merredin

Today we headed north and the road threaded its way through a series of very large salt lakes. These extended almost all the way to Coolgardie but despite the obvious salinity problem, this is also one of the largest areas of natural forest in Australia.

Lake Cowan

A salt lake near Norseman

Much of this forest consists of Salmon Gums and they are a really striking tree, expecially when the sun is on their red bark. They lined the road for most of todays journey.

Salmon Gums

The road north

We stopped at Coolgardie because we both had fond memories of this township from our earler trip. It was as beautiful as ever but VERY quiet. We could not even find a coffee shop or cafe, and like many other towns we have been through, there were many closed shops. Historically, Coolgardie has been very important and grand. During the goldrushes, over 15000 people lived here and this is reflected in its buildings.

The Coolgardie Courthouse

Coolgardie shops

We spent some time in the secondhand bookshop making a few purchases for future idle moments. and then we pushed on towards the west. Not far out of town we encountered the beginning of the WA wheat belt and the wheat fields stretched to the horrizon. They are all just stubble at this time of year but still a lovely gold colour.

Wheat fields

This whole day we have been following a water pipeline. Known as The Golden Pipeline, it was designed and built by C.Y.O'Connor, and it brings water from Perth to Kalgoolie, a distance of 560 kms. To do this it has a number of pump stations along its route and it pretty much runs alongside the road the whole way. From this there is also a second pipeline that now takes water south to Norseman as well. Poor old CY copped a lot of criticism about his grand scheme and he actually shot himself dead one year before it began operating in 1903. These amazing pieces of engineering are not done so much today and this was certainly an incredible accomplishment.

CYO'Connor Pipeline

The Golden Pipeline

In Southern Cross we had a fabulous lunch of homemade meat pie as we sat in the park and admired the town. Only small, but very neat with lovely old buildings and wide streets.

The park at Southern Cross

Southern Cross Hotel

Just on from there we stopped to read about the history of the Rabbit Proof Fence. There is also a remnant of the original fence to look at and its construction and purpose are all explained on the information board. There is still a fence operational today but it is a bit shorter, running from Kalbarri to Ravensthorpe.

The Rabbit Proof Fence

Even though we had stopped at Merredin on our last trip, we were getting a bit tired and, knowing that it had a nice park, decided to call it a day. Merredin is an exceptional town. It is a service centre for a wheat area but it has a proactive and enthusiastic council. Because of their efforts, the town has a unique water collection method, a training centre for pilots from China Airways, a grain collection centre that is massive, and much more. It is one of the few country centres that is thriving. Since we were here 3 years ago they have installed a wind farm of approx 20 turbines.

Unusual "pink" tree

So, this is to be our last night in the van for almost a month. It will seem like a whole new trip when we head off again at the end of May after spending the next few weeks with Morgan in Palmyra.

Garry: Finished reading "Gold" by David Hill. Very interesting and relevant, especially walking around Coolgardie where he found "Russian Jack's" wheelbarrow! Non-Fiction 9/10

May 3 ... Norseman

First off, in fairness, I have to say that the families were very considerate and quiet, and so no problem at all. Secondly, the price of petrol did continue to surprise us. Premium unleaded ranged from $2.01/litre to $2.06/litre. Fortunately we only needed to get a little to take us the whole way across.

Eucla is very much an "over-night" stop for most people so, at the crack of dawn or before!... people started pulling out. There was no way we could have slept in even if we wanted to, but it was good to get going as we had over 720kms to drive.
This morning was heavily overcast and we continued to dodge quite heavy showers for most of the day. One thing that was disappointing for me, was the scarcity of wildlife. I was looking forward to seeing heaps of fauna but I had to be content with one emu and three wedgetail eagles. I am sure there was a lot more but it was hiding ... well!

Rain on the Nullabor

It was a long drive today but there were plenty of distractions. A number of dead trees have been decorated in various themes to entertain the traveller. There is the "cap" tree, the "thongs" tree, the "hard hat" tree, the "bra" tree and the "undies" tree ... all of which had many pieces of said apparel dangling from them, but this was our favourite ... the "domestic" tree! Remembering that we were some distance from anywhere, you have to wonder how some of this stuff got there. Should you wish to undertake the challenge, you can try to find these objects or, you can just take our word for it.

The Domestic Tree on the Nullabor

A vacumn cleaner; a TV; a VCR; 3 electric jugs;1 kettle; a clock radio; a jar of honey; a hard hat; many pairs of thongs; a pair of gardening gloves (unused); a book; black leather shoes; a bucket; a tyre; a drink bottle; a grater; a pair of overalls; a workvest; coathangers; a santa hat; a sun shade; a bottle of listerine; and sundry clothing!

On a less frivilous note, we stopped at the lookout near Madura and the view of the plains was wonderful. One big improvement that has occurred since our last crossing is that you can now buy a really good coffee at most of the roadhouses, and quite tasty food too.

Madura Pass Lookout

At Cocklebiddy we stopped to check out one of the holes of the Nullabor Links, the world's longest golf course, and it looked ROUGH! There was artificial grass at the tee and for the green, but the fairway would have been a real challenge. We believe you are advised to "tee up" your ball on a cut off drink bottle! No doubt it would be lots of fun if you were with a group of friends but a lot of time would be spent trying to find your ball.

Eagles's Nest Hole - Cocklebiddy

Looking down the "fairway" to the green

On this trip Garry drove the 90 mile (151kms) straight, but in truth, there are many stretches of straight road that go for 30 or 40 kms or more. I think this is one of the things that makes the Nullabor so unique.
Anyway, we made good time, changing our clocks and gaining two hours helped, arriving in Norseman around 3pm. This has been our longest driving day and we do not plan any more like it in the near future, but it was always interesting and, as always, the WA roads are excellent

Tin Camels at Norseman

May 2 ... Eucla

Got away pretty early and it looked like a much better day weather wise. We were glad because we knew we would be stopping a fair bit as this is the scenic part of the drive. Garry and I actually enjoy the whole Nullabor crossing but this coastal stretch is particularly good.

The Nullabor "treeless" Plain

Our first brief stop was at Penong to photograph the windmills. Not wonderfully impressive, but interesting. Every house in Penong had its own windmill so they could access the water which is in small underground basins. Water is now brought in from Ceduna and many of the mills are in disrepair.

From there we drove through to The Head of Bight. Last time we travelled across, this was a dirt road and it was closed as we were too early in the season. We were still too early for the whales (June to September) but the road was sealed and the structure was still worth stopping at as the views were excellent. From here you can look west to the cliffs and east towards huge white sand dunes. To the south is just ocean until you hit Antartica! The ocean was an incredible blue and we were lucky to see it in the sunshine as heavy showers had been about all morning.

The Bunda Cliffs

An amazing-blue sea

Sandhills from Head of Bight

We had been told by the tourist guy in Ceduna that all the other cliff roadside lookouts had been closed but he was wrong. Of the seven, two were closed, possibly because the cliffs had become unstable, but we were still able to stop regularly and enjoy the amazing views of the Bunda Cliffs that form the southern edge of the continent's landmass.

The edge of the Great Australian Bight

This activity happily took us through to Eucla where we had decided to stay even though it was quite early in the day. We found a great site, with excellent views of the coast, in an almost empty park. But within a few hours we had three families camping practically on top of us and I guess we will have a "pleasant" evening listening to their conversations!
Another thing to remember for next time is that, as well as the price of fuel varying by up to 50cents/litre at various roadhouses, not all of them stock premium unleaded, so it is a good idea to fill up when you can. Garry paid the most EVER for fuel today, $1.89 / litre! Let's see what tomorrow brings.

The view from our van at the Eucla Park