Days 107 - 108 Saturday 30th July - Sunday 31st July

Day 107    Saturday  30^th July

We left Kalgoorlie this morning at 8.30. The sky was clear and the wind had dropped. We headed off to Coolgardie. There seemed to be a number of small gold mines around here but it was a much quieter town than I had expected. There were however, some beautiful old buildings.

After leaving Coolgardie we went to Norseman. Just before Norseman we saw this huge lake called Lake Cowan, however, there was very little water in it.

From here we turned off onto the Eyre Highway to cross the Nullarbor Plain. The landscape was quite beautiful with forests of salmon gums. They have lovely golden pink trunks and very shiny leaves. We stopped in Balladonia and went through the museum where they had some pieces of Sky lab which fell to earth here in 1979.

The landscape has started to flatten and there are fewer trees. We have just started driving on the longest, straight stretch of road in Australia. It is 146.6 km long. We decided to camp the night in a free camp on the side of the road. Already there are at least 10 vans here. (4.00pm) It is called Woorlba.

Distance travelled today  441 kms

Total distance travelled 16378 km

Day  108  Sunday 31^st July

We left our free camp at Woorlba at 8.30 this morning, after a lively evening of cards. The countryside soon became very flat as far as the eye could see with very few trees. The grass was, however, so green and lush. When we came to Madura the ridge of the Nullarbor Plain rose up and we travelled all along it to Eucla. There were more trees growing next to the ridge than previously. Unfortunately we did not see any camels, emus or kangaroos as there was too much water and grass inland for them to feed on. In fact we hardly saw any crows either.  We continued on to the border between SA and WA and turned our clocks forward 1 ½ hours.

We then found a free camp at the top of the ridge with magnificent views of the Great Australian Bight. It has been so windy all the way across and is blowing a gale here.

Distance travelled today  492 kms

Total distance travelled  16870 kms

Day 106 Friday 29th July

Retirement Day (Mum)

After doing our shopping this morning and preparing for the Nullabor, we headed off for our Super Pit Tour. We were able to go through the whole mine site with a guide explaining the process to us. It is a very expensive business mining gold. The Super Pit is over 3 kilometres long , a kilometre wide and 500 metres deep. As you look into the walls of the cliff you can see some of the mine shafts dug by the early gold miners. Apparently some of their shafts go down 1600 metres. That would be really scary as they were all underground mines.

The trucks are huge and the whole process is quite complex.

We are off to dinner to celebrate my retirement and then we tackle the Nullarbor tomorrow.

Day 105 Thursday 28th July

Today we went to the Visitor’s Centre which was in the old Kalgoorlie Town Hall. We went through the hall which had been done up beautifully. It was so ornate.

Then we went to the museum . We went to the top of the museum in what is called the head frame which is 33 metres high. The view over the city is beautiful.

We looked at the miner’s cottage. There are many of these still in use in Kalgoorlie. This one even had the “outside dunny” although it was not to be used.

There were many other rooms we looked at, including the history of gold mining, life of the aboriginals and life on the goldfields. It was a very interesting museum.

There are many interesting hotels and buildings in the town. We had lunch at the Exchange Hotel, which is the oldest hotel in Kalgoorlie built in 1898.

There is a statue of Paddy Hannan in the main street. He is meant to be the first goldminer in the area. There is also a statue of Saint Barbara who is the patron saint of mining.

Day 104 Wednesday 27th July

We left at 8.30 this morning and travelled through Norseman to Kalgoorlie. The countryside soon turned to scrub land although there were lots of trees. There were also some really large lakes with very little water in them.

Apparently in Norseman a horse with the same name, pawed at the ground and kicked up a nugget of gold and thus began the gold rushes in the area.

Gold was discovered in Kalgoorlie in 1893. The mine is now called a Super Pit and is 3.5 km long. We tried to see it this afternoon but the lookout was closed. We then went to the Mt Charlotte Lookout. This lookout is where the pipeline begins. The pipeline brings water 690km from Perth and was opened in 1903. The original pipes are still in use.

We then drove down the main street of Kalgoorlie, Hannan St and the Hay St where the brothel is situated. We also drove down the main street of Boulder, which is Burt St. There are some beautiful, old buildings all around town.

Distance travelled today  402 km

Distance travelled altogether  15840 km

Day 103 Tuesday 26th July

We went on the Great Ocean Drive this morning around Esperance. The Bay here is fantastic with such clear blue water, white sand and huge boulders. Apparently the temperature of the water never gets much hotter than 17 degrees even in summer. It is such a shame as the beaches are fantastic. First we went to the Rotary Lookout where you could see the islands and rocks in the bay.

We then travelled around the bay looking at various beaches including Blue Haven and Twilight beach. This beach has been voted the best beach in W.A. It was great. It had white sand, calm water near some rocks and surf close by.

Then we went to Observation Point. This is a cliff overlooking the bay on a nearby island where the French boats Recherche and Esperance took shelter in 1792. I find that amazing.

We then went to a wind farm. They have about 20 windmills here which are used for electricity. We actually walked right up to the windmill. It was a bit scary as it made strange noises.   

         

After that we drove on to find Pink Lake. (yes another one)

This lake was much bigger but not as pink. Apparently the beta-carotene in the water is collected to make food colouring.

We finished off by looking around town. There was a village in town with some very old buildings, one of which was the school house.

Day 102 Monday 25th July

We left Albany at about 8.30 today. We drove through lots of Australian bluegum forest then we drove through fields of wheat and canola. It was amazing . The fields went for miles and miles. Every so often there were huge silos. We arrived in Esperance this afternoon.

After we had afternoon tea we went for a walk along the bay and then onto the jetty. The bay was beautiful with over 100 islands off the coast.

As we walked along the jetty we saw a sea lion frolicking in the water. There were lots of fishermen on the jetty and the sea lion was waiting for some fish scraps to be thrown over to him. He was gorgeous.

It is quite warm here, being 17 degrees at 7.30 at night. It got up to 22 degrees today.

Distance travelled today 478 km

Total distance travelled  15375 km

Day 101 Sunday 24th July

This morning we went to see the brig, “Amity”. This boat is a copy of the brig which brought Captain Lockyer to Albany in 1826 with about 60 soldiers and convicts to start a colony. The downstairs area was very small, dark and I wouldn’t have like to sail down there.

We then went through the museum which was housed in the governor’s residence. It was a great museum detailing the history of Albany from the aboriginals to Captain Vancouver who charted the coastline in 1781 to The Amity and then to the choice of Perth as capital and not Albany. It also showed what Albany is doing now.

After lunch we went out to Frenchman’s Bay. On one side of this peninsular there were lots of granite

boulders which formed some amazing features called the Gap and Natural Bridge.

 Then we went to Frenchman’s Bay which looked lovely.

Day 100 Saturday 23rd July

100 days of travelling. Wow!!!

We left Walpole at 8.30 this morning and set off for Albany. We travelled through some beautiful countryside with lots of grassy fields and karri forests. We went through the town of Denmark and then arrived in Albany. The caravan park at Emu Point is  where we are staying and it is right on the beach. It lies between Oyster Harbour and King George Sound.

We took a drive up to Mount Clarence where we saw the Anzac Memorial where there was a magnificent tribute to the soldiers of World War 1. The view was sensational, looking out over King George Sound and into the harbour, called Princess Royal Harbour.

After driving along the harbour we continued on to find a rural area called Torbay. There is a bay called Torbay just near this area but we couldn’t get there. We found a hall called Torbay Hall and it was established in 1912. This is just for my Mum who lives in a retirement village called Torbay.

Distance travelled today  124 kms

Total distance travelled  14721 kms

Emu Point

King George Sound

Princess Royal Harbour

Days 97 - 99 Wednesday 20th July - Friday 22nd July

Day 97 Wednesday 20th JulyIt has poured rain all night and today it rained most of the day. Just as well we went to the lighthouse yesterday. Today we went to some wineries. First we went to the Coffee house and Cookie House where we bought some biscuits. Then we went to Leeuwin Estate and Voyager Estate to sample some wines. These are two of the biggest wineries out of the 150 wineries around the area. The countryside is just beautiful with vineyards, grassy fields, cows and sheep. A few wines were bought here. Then we went to the Dairy factory where we purchased some delicious cheeses.
After lunch we went to Vasse Felix Winery , the oldest winery in the district but surprisingly it was only started in 1967.
Then we went to the Grove liqueur winery where we tasted some liqueurs.
What a busy day but good fun.

Day 98 Thursday 21st July
We left Margaret River at 8.00 this morning and drove to Pemberton. The drive was lovely, passing many vineyards, beautiful rolling grassy hills dotted with cows or sheep and magnificent forest areas. When we got to Pemberton we headed for the Tram and caught the tram through the karri forest. At one stage we stopped to see the river and the
Cascades waterfall. It was very pretty but really cold. We all wore beanies and gloves.
We had lunch at a parking bay and then headed off to Walpole. Once again the forests were fantastic. We went to Coalmine Beach Caravan park and set up and then went for a walk. What a fantastic view was in front of us. The caravan park is on the Nornalup Inlet where the Frankland River, the Walpole River and Deep River flow out and then flow into the sea. It was stunning. We walked along the Bibbulmun Track for a short distance to a lookout over the inlet. The Bibbulmun Track is a walking track from Perth to Albany and is about 960 kms long. It winds around through many of the scenic areas of the south west.
A very curious and friendly kookaburra came down to see if we were offering food. We weren’t so he flew away.
Distance travelled today 263 kms
Total distance travelled 14513 kms.

Day 99 Friday 22nd July
Today we went to the Valley of the Giants. We passed through beautiful forests of karri and tingle trees. They can grow up to 70 metres tall. We arrived at the Valley of the Giants and went on the Tree Top Walk. This is a bridge constructed in the canopy of the trees. It was a bit wobbly but a sensational view.
Then we walked the Ancient Empire walk where we could walk along the forest floor and see the tingle, karri and karri oak trees from the ground up. Some of these trees are nearly 400 years old. Fires have occurred and burnt out the base of the tingle trees however, the branches are still living and the trees are still growing.
The weather started off sunny and clear this morning however, by 2.00 it was very overcast and started to rain. We went to Conspicuous Cliffs but there were no whales to see in the Southern Ocean, just Lorelle walking along the beach.
We then went to see the Giant Tingle Tree which is 24 metres around the girth. On the way we stopped at Hilltop Lookout.
We then went to Circular Pool where the tannin in the water not only made it brown but also churned up lots of foam. There were 2 people canoeing down the river. It looked like fun. After that we took a drive around the Knoll which is around the inlet and then returned to our van. Hopefully the rain will stop tonight.