The Final Leg - going for Home (well almost!)

We were pleasantly surprised arriving in Port Lincoln - a very pretty and attractive town, although it was blowing an absolute gale. It was a good opportunity to completely clean the van of the dust from Streaky Bay. It proved a marathon effort to put washing on the line as the wind held it horizontal (straight out!) - at least it gave the doona a good airing.

Following the coastline we called into Port Neil, Arno Bay and Tumby Bay - all very pretty seaside villages that have potential for our next visit.

Next stop was Whyalla, through country side that seemed more desert than central Oz. Whyalla proved to be - the "Pink " town - everything the one colour! We stayed on the forseshore of the caravan park and this was lovely until.....yes the bloody wind!!!! It was so strong that we were not able to open any windows or vents and when you opened the caravan door you held on with both hands - not a good experience. It was however an eyeopener to see the steelworks, the scenery was good and watching the many wind surfers was good entertainment. We also experienced a magnificent sunet from this beach

By this stage we were over the wind, and decided to head for the Clare Valley, we arrived there to sunshine and a calm day - what a delight!. While it was very dry and they badly needed rain we had three lovely days.

It was then off to Adelaide as we wanted to catch up with Len and Wendy Pennington friends we had not seen for some time plus say hello to Mary Byrnes again. Well, not sure if it was us but Wendy ended up in hospital the day after we arrived, however we were able to catch up before we left and had the usual few laughs. We also spent pleasant hours with Mary - lunch in Handorf, shopping and dinner and we managed to catch the caravan and camping show.

After a week it was time to head off again -down to Victor Harbor and the lovely Clydsdale horse tram accross to the island. We are definatly going back - just such a great area - Goolwa, Middelton and we sat opposite the Hindmarsh Island Bridge having coffee (but that is all secret womans bussiness). It was then off across the mighty Murray River on the river punt.

Warracknabeal was the next overnight stop as we wanted to find Peters Grandmothers grave plus see if we could see a horse race on Sky channel - we found the grave, saw the horserace (it did not win) and had a couple of cold beers in the pub.

Next stop was Goornong where we stayed overnight with friends Susan, Anthony and James - thankyou for the kind hospitality. Great to catch up on all their news.

The final day was almost here - next stop Yarrawonga where we set up in Liz and Gregs backyard where we stayed and celebrated Gregs 60th birthday, then a couple of days in Jerilderie on the lawn, back to Albury in Judy's drive and finally off to Jerrabomberra. We had decided that we would stay in the van once back in Jerra, as we were only going to be there for the time it took to pick up Mr Trump, do tax etc, see parents and family however....... after travelling 32,000kms around Oz and no issues with accommodation every van park in Canberra and Queenbeyan was booked out. So a quick call was made to the Hebrons and we found ourselves at "Club Bungendore" for the first night. We then made arrangements and returned to our house for a week. Mr Trump looked at us very suspiciously and is still giving us a bit of the "cold shoulder" - it will take a while. Renee and Glen have taken very good care of him and the house while we have been on our journey.

We are now down at our house at Turross Head for at least the next 6 months (unless we just pack up and go again) - trying to decide where our base will be.

We have had the best time, met some wonderful people and found the "nomad" lifestyle to be something that we both enjoy (much to many peoples surprise...ha, ha) - some stats for you, remebering that there were three of us for about 4 months.

Over 9 months we travelled 32,032 kms, used 6123 litres of fuel (the dearest at Barkley Homestread $2.10litre), ave $33 per day for food/living, ave $34 per day for accommodation. (used caravan parks including some ensuite sites). The most expensive state for living was definitly WA - everything is just so far away. Favourite place? - too many to say - Oz really is an amazing country and after 9 months have only seen a very small cross section of it - so we definitly will be going again.

Travelling East

It is time for another update, but today with the news of the fires in Victoria, I am not feeling that we should be so happy about our adventures, so I will be keeping this update relatively short.

Having left Esperance, we made our way through Norseman to Kalgoorlie. We stayed there for three nights and I found it to be a facinating place - one we will revisit. The wonderful old buildings, wide verandahs that you no longer see and the most amazing size of the super pit! This is an open cut gold mine right in the town, we did not go on a tour but viewed it from a platform. Apparently the trucks take 1 hour to travel to the surface once filled with their load of 240 tons - the photo above this will give you some idea of the massive size of the trucks. In the photo above you can see an ordinary size large grader next to one of the massive trucks.

While in Kalgoorlie we managed to meet up with Leanne Bilham (nee Taylor - left) who originates from Jerilderie. Thanks to her and her partner Rebecca and son Jimmy for their hospitality - good to have a good catchup on all news.

We spent the next two and a half days crossing the Nullabor - something I have always wanted to do with the longest stretch of straight road, 90 miles. I was so surprised by the landscape - the first part was fairly heavily vegetated, and then we had an escarpment, then coming to the treeless plain and then having the most magnificent views of the ocean from the Great Australian Bight - the Bunda Cliffs. Contrary to popular opinion the plain does not have an aboriginal name, it was named by a european botanist Nul (nil) abor (trees).

Of interest was the signage - slightly different animal crossings - camels, wombats etc Plus the road is used for the RFDS as a runway when required for emergencies.

Except for the massive head wind on the second day the trip was uneventful and at times boring (those are Peters words - he hates flat country), and we were lucky in one sense that it was overcast and not too hot. While it was a little cloudy we have at least had a sunrise on the Nullabor. I think next time we travel across we will take a few extra days to really appreciate this magnificent part of the country.

We arrived in Streaky Bay SA- 46 degs, pleasantly surprised that the park was right on the water - lovely to sit under the awning, have a drink with a great view. Then the wind came! and it has blown ever since, so we have decided that tomorrow we will continue onto Port Lincoln. We will at some stage return to Streaky Bay as it really is a beautiful little town.

The only thing to happen to lighten the mood of the current time was when we went into the Streaky Bay Township still attached to the van by an electrical extension lead we forgot to unplug. Needless to say the 10m lead was not long enough. Luckily it pulled straight out of the van socket with no damage and is now a little worse for ware (but still working) from its drag around town. The penny did not drop until we were sitting in town having lunch and neither of us could recall unplugging the Engel fridge in the back of the car. When we got back to the car someone had drapt it over the side mirror - at least we were able to get a laugh out of this.

There you go - short and sweet, we getting realtively close to home and the end of our adventure so we will only have a few more reports to make. The next stage will take us to Adelaide and then on into Victoria (if anything is left!).

Water, Wind, Wine and Wood (SW WA)

After surviving the Hopman Cup, and finding out we were very ambitious to go to both a day and evening session we set of for Bunbury. The drive was disappointing as there was not a lot of scenery but it was a short trip for us.

Bunbury was an interesting place with nice beaches a florist called "Florist Gump" which tickled our fancy,and someone with initiative had developed old grain silos into very trendy apartments. We quickly settled in the park which was straight across the road from Koombana Beach.




It was easy driving to do a day trip to Busselton - this was just lovely, beaches and the long jetty. On the way we found Geographe Bay - a millionaire playground - beautiful houses and very large boats! Through Dunsborough (which reminded us of Double Bay) and a lovely drive to Cape Leeuwin lighthouse and then back along the coast stopping at Meelup Beach for lunch (and drooled over the 5 luxury boats moored in the bay). The beach was just beautiful and lots of people had the same idea as us. We returned to Bunbury via the inland route stopping in Donneybrook for a well earned ice cream.

Our next stop was Margaret River. We chose to stay at Tauntons Farm in Cowramup which is a central location for the whole area and it was very easy to access all highlights both north and south. There are about 120 wineries located in the area, and we decided to do a wine tour - this comprised 4 wineries, a brewery, cheese and chocolate tastings - with a lovely lunch as well at Notting Hill Winery. Judy and I managed to go another day to Churchview Winery and arranged for some wine to be sent home. It was interesting to see the differences between some of the wineries - particularly those new and those of the "old establishment" such as Vasse Felix and Leeuwin Estate. These two in particular are outstanding and beautiful properties - but also the price per bottle is beyond my budget!



We managed to see the whole area travelling down to Augusta (where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean) and up to Yallingup calling into lovely beaches such as Gracetown on the way. It was here that we managed to catch a few more "rays". All in all while we enjoyed this area we did think it was a bit overrated and very overpriced.



On the way to our next stop, Albany, we stopped to have a look at the Valley of the Giants and took the walk among the treetops - which is a suspended walkway and yes it does get up quite a swing. At its highest it is some 60 feet above the ground - so for those like me that do not like heights it is a little challenging - but I survived. The trees are very old, very tall Karri and Tingle trees, you can see from the pics the size in relation to Peter and I. While we enjoyed these trees the actual drive to Albany is so boring - nothing to look at except trees, trees and more trees! It would be quite different during the wild-flower season as there were bushes and shrubs everywhere including many we use at home for garden specimens - our next trip will take the wildflower season into account.

We were excited to get to Albany - for some reason we had been looking forward to this stop with the park right on Middleton Beach - even though we knew it would be school holidays. Disappointment set in when we found our allocated site was down the back with tents and campers. We do not have anything against tents and campers but as we had booked some 9 months earlier, paid in full and we received confirmation, we were not happy. I had a discussion with the manager of the Big 4 Park there and explained that if I had wanted a powered camping site I would have asked for that, she apologised and said she wasn't sure how we got the booking as they were always booked out with regular returns - anyway it seems that someone overbooked and as we were not regulars we lost out. Iexplained to her we could have been a return booking but that would never happen, and I would ensure we also told others of our experience. In othert words they were happy to take our money 9 months ago but when we got there we were made to feel anything but welcome - we will never go back there and there are plenty of options to consider.

Putting aside the caravan park - Albany is a lovely place - wonderful harbour, so much granite and the old buildings are just beautiful. Whale world is a good value money outing - we spent about three hours there and it proved to be a real education of how the whaling industry operated before it was closed down in 1978.

Interestingly Albany was the jump off point from Australia for the Gallipoli soldiers and it was quite sad to stand on the spot which was the last glimpse of Australia for so many. They are doing quite a bit of work around town to commenorate this.

At Albany we were able to continue the Wally World part of our trip. A place called the "Squid Shack" was recommended to us "open every day" was the word, so we got ourselves organised and headed off. When we got there - you guessed it - it was closed for the day. The place had been burgled the night before and for the first time in its history was closed while the police investigated and re-organised. Bloody Hell!!!!!

Next we were off to Bremer Bay. This is a top spot - beaches and blue water to die for (although it was not hot enough for us to swim). Beautiful little boat harbour and holidays houses and apparently the fishing is good too. Peter tried his luck, managed to catch a couple of small bream and a very nice whiting (which got a reprieve to live another day) - he had fun anyway!

The caravan park was beautiful, very shady and lovely green grass - a big surprise for Peter was that the person next to us was Dave Jamison, formerly with ACT Forrests, who he worked with at the Emergency Services Bureau during the 2001 and 2003 bushfires - it really is a small world. All is well in Dave's world and he is now happily working at the UWA.

It was our intention to go to Wave Rock next, however on route after a phone call received by Judy we changed plans and headed straight for Esperance to get Jude onto a plane for Perth that night. Yes, unfortunately Jude has returned home - she made the decision to fly home to enable her to support her daughter Nadene through health issues concerning her father and grandmother. We will do Wave Rock next time around.

We were however also able to have a giggle as we realised that we did not have a bag for Judy to use for luggage (only a small cabin bag). Judy said "don't worry, I will buy something in Esperance". Upon booking into the park, I asked for directions to the shopping centre - the manager looked at me as if I had two heads and said "Esperance shuts down on Sundays - nothing is open" and they were right - all shops shut! (Remember Wally World!) So plan B came into action - Judy looked ever so fashionable at the airport with one of those plastic striped bags (you buy them in $2 or discount shops) - luckily I found one under the bed. We were so busy organising her that I forgot to get a photo of this occasions!

Judy arrived home in Albury the next day (modern technology is wonderful), and while we will not complete the trip all together we did have some fun from Darwin (when she rejoined after the broken leg) to Esperance.

We have spent a week in Esperance and it is a magnificent part of Oz. The beaches are very white and the water so blue, we probably have not seen it at its best as we have had overcast and rain following the cyclone that presented in the NW of WA.

Once again the coastline is rugged and a lot of granite. This can best be seen when you take a trip along the coast tourist road and a visit to the national parks. We took a trip to Cape Le Grande National Park and while we did not do any bushwalking, this would be an area we will return to as some stage. Areas that we visited were Lucky Bay, Rossiter Bay, Thistle Cove, Le Grande Beach and Frenchmans Cap Peak. Lucky Bay has recently been voted the beach with the whitest sand in Australia. There are a couple of really nice van and camping areas in the park which are worth visting, they are not powered but have everthing else for $7.50 per person per night.

I was also excited to catch up with Claire Slater (nee Campbell) who I went to primary school with in Jerilderie. Her family left and came to Esperance in 1964 and this is only the second time we have seen each other in that time. For those that know the family, Mrs Cambell is still well and hearty (at 80years of age) living in Esperance as do Claires younger siblings Meredith and Peter. Ian resides in Perth and Richard is the local publican at Bolgart a small town NW of Perth. Thanks again to Claire and Geoff for their hospitality.

After travelling about 25,000km we are ready for the next stage of our trip to Kalgoorlie then across the Nullabor to SA - time is going so quickly now our next major deadline is in Yarrawonga in eary March which is only 5 weeks away.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Arriving in Perth one of the first things we needed to do was organise ourselves for Christmas.

The green grass of the van park was a welcome sight - no red dust! For this part of our trip we are staying in the Swan Valley which is a wine and food area of Perth - 14km from the city. Our site is quite large and backs onto a vineyard which does make it very pleasant. We were advised to watch our for some local inhabitants - snakes, apparently they are known to wander through - (none sighted so far).

We did find though that the park is very quiet, and mostly made up of permanent people - so quickly realised that we would be a small group of three for Christmas lunch - so Judy and I started to organise our "bonsai "christmas. One of the first things that happened was to decorate the van - even had a little tree (much to Peters disgust). We decided we would have the traditional fare - so off shopping. Success was achieved - and on Christmas day (after drinks and chrismas fare on Christmas Eve) the following menu was produced from the travelling macs van.

Christmas breakfast - Eggs Benedict (with smoked Salmon

Christmas Lunch - Prawn Cocktail, Roast Pork with Apricot stuffing, Rolled Chicken with Cranberry and Macademia Stuffing, Baked Leg Ham, accompanied with 7 vegetables. Plum Pudding, brandy custard and cream.

I should say that the pudding was eaten for christmas tea as no one felt like anything else.

A couple more people have now arrived and it is now good to have neighbours beside us and opposite us and we have achieved the occassional natter and drink. On the subject of the park one of the things that has got up our nose is that the park would not accept our booking made about 9 months ago without full payment ($850) to secure the reservation. This was done as we were advised that Perth would be booked solid and it would be difficult to find a place - this is simply not the case, there are heaps of vacancies in our park alone and it would appear we have been spun a line which we are not happy about.

In the couple of days prior to Christmas we did have the time to go on a cooks tour around Perth (the sat nav in the new car has been great!) - it truly is a beautiful city - we just love the gardens, trees, river and the surrounds. It is so good to see Kings Park being used by families for picnics and leisure. The night lights of Perth show a lovely city scape and the lighting on the gum trees in Kings Park is an added bonus.

Judy and I managed to get ourselves into the city for the christmas sales, although it must look amusing to others when Judy gets out of the car and provides direction so that I can park it properly - just a little larger than the Territory! We also travelled to New Norcia (the only Monastic town in Australia) - this proved to be a real eye opener about their way of life and history. We came back from there via a different route and this gave me the opportunity to call into the pub at Bolgart and look up Richard Campbell who left Jerilderie some 45 years ago - still looks the same just a little older. I will be catching up with his sister Claire when we get to Esperance.

While on the subject of old friends, I contacted Annette Foster (Dalrymple-in black) an old school friend, and we made arrangements to catch up - Annette and Peter (her husband) very kindly invited us over for a BBQ on Boxing day. What a surprise! - Mary Byrnes who was also a school friend from Jerilderie was spending Christmas with Annette. As you could imaging quite a lot of "yakking" took place. Through Annette and Peters hospitality we had plenty of opportunity to talk as we were back on New Years Eve to their place and they took us out on the river (in their beautiful boat) on 2 Jan 2009 for a lookaround and BBQ lunch. We cannot thank them enough - it has been so good to catch up, share laughs and generally have a great time with such nice people.

Typically the blogger has not recorded any of the really important statitices for the serious readers. The boat is a 31.5ft Sea Ray powered by twin inboard Mercruisers and is able to sleep 4 below decks and two up top. It has a full galley a toilet and shower and dining area below. Also she forgot to mention admiring the black swans on thge river and having the pieceful scene rudely interrupted by a sea lion which scared the s--t out of everyone including the swans. She also forgot to mention the lovely house forsale in Peppermint Grove we saw, asking price is $60-80m and is Australias most expensive house- we seriously thought about it for a moment but decided Tuross had as much to offer.(this bit has been added by the editor in chief)

Judy has also spent a couple of days withfriends she met while overseas - they invited us for dinner and it was one of the best asian meals we have had in a long time.

It is off to Freemantly tommorrow, and as the Hopman Cup is in Perth we have made arrangements to go to two sessions on Monday 5 Jan. We will then be ready to continue on down south - Bunbury on Wednesday.

To all our Blog readers - we hope you had a Merry Christmas and wish a happy and safe 2009 to all.