Saturday 21 July 2012

Perth to Geraldton

Perth to Geraldton  18/5/12 - 24/5/12

From the northern suburbs of Perth to Dongara is a coastal route called the Indian Ocean Drive. We took this route as it was a scenic journey along the coast. We drove past seaside towns of Lancelin, and Cervantes, taking a short side trip to see The Pinnacles in The Namburg National Park.





The Pinnacles












The Pinnacles desert is one of Australia's most unique landscapes featuring thousands of wind-carved limestone spires ranging from 1m to 3 1/2 meters tall. The formations can be viewed by either driving through on a one-way 3km trail or a 500m walking trail. We chose the latter and found it interesting and worth seeing.

A few years ago the coast road (now the Indian Ocean Drive) stopped at Lancelin and you had to drive inland to meet up with the Brand Hwy coming up from Perth, but fortunately, 18 months ago a brand new road was opened, so you can now drive all the way along the coast. We were very thankful for this as it would have meant a lot more mileage and we would have missed out on some beautiful scenery. We chose to stay overnight at a beachside camp, Sandy Cape, which had two entry points. Unfortunately, the GPS advised us to take the northern entrance which turned out to be a narrow, windy, sandy track with thick bushes on either side. It soon became evident that we weren't going to make it through. With great difficulty and Nigel's frustration, we managed to turn around and head back to the main road and enter further back down the road by the southern entrance. This road was dirt and very corrugated so we got off to a bad start with this place. After about 6 kms we arrived at the camp site only to find it was overcrowded with caravans and campers and smelly toilets, which we could notice before we got near them. We managed to squeeze into a vacant spot as it was getting dark. There were 2 not very happy campers. Sandy Cape was the first place we didn't enjoy, which is pretty good considering all the places we have stayed.
After an overnight stay here we couldn't wait to get away so we left by 7.30am in order to have breakfast at the coastal town of Green Head further up the coast.











Green Head


We found a lovely grassy spot overlooking a delightful bay and stayed all morning enjoying the swimming at the beach. There were flushing toilets and fresh water showers on the shore.
Now there were 2 very happy campers.

Further up the coast we spent 2 nights at a free camp spot right on the beach at Cliff Head just south of Dongara but unfortunately the beach was covered in a thick layer of sea grass. Nice views, though overlooking the sea. There had been a fire which had come through here a few months ago so all the vegetation around us was black. Apparently, it was started by a lightning strike. Another picturesque spot on the coast was Port Denison/Dongarra where we had another breakfast overlooking the sea on another gorgeous day.





Ellendale Pool





Continuing north, we headed away from the coast to stay at a scenic water hole in the river called Ellendale Pool, 30 kms southeast of Geraldton as we were told this was a lovely spot. On our way we drove through the middle of a wind farm with 54 giant turbines. It was the first time we have seen up close a large windfarm.



Ellendale Pool is surrounded by giant gum trees and rocky cliffs and is a picnic and camping area. Unfortunately, the flies spoilt our time here so we only stayed 2 nights.



double click on photo to see the flies





Some people don't seem to be bothered by all the flies but we can't stand having to keep brushing them away from around our faces while trying to talk. Carol wore her fly net for the second time on our travels. We managed to kayak down the short river having to stop every now and then to brush the flies away. Not pleasant. We walked up to the top of the cliff overlooking the campsite with Carol wearing her fly net all the way. There was a flushing toilet here and a charge of $5 a night by an honesty box. Very good value.

Geraldton 24 - 25 May

At this stage of the journey we realised how nice it was to leave our overnight stays early in the morning and drive to a spot where we could get a nice view and have breakfast overlooking the sea. As Ellendale Pool was so close this is what we did going on to our next destination, the City of Geraldton, on the coast.
We were looking forward to coming here as it was one of the ports of call on our Asian cruise two years previously almost to the day. We knew then that we would be coming back again one day while travelling the country in our caravan.The weather was the same too, cloudless blue sky and pleasantly warm. Shopping again and even MacDonalds for a lunch special and 50c ice cream. (Special treat). We always have a busy time while in a city as there is washing and shopping to be done to replenish our depleted supplies. As we didn't need to go into a caravan park here we decided to use the laundrette here to catch up on our washing.
Geraldton is 415 kms north of Perth and has a population of just over 40,000 and rapidly growing due to mining in the mid west region.


HMAS Sydney Memorial
One of the major attractions here is the memorial to honour the 645 seamen who lost their lives when HMAS Sydney sank between Canarvan and Geraldton when it had an encounter with a German submarine in 1942.

There are some very nice safe and sheltered beaches here, one being town beach where we had a lovely swim, the only ones in the water. The weather was glorious so we enjoyed a chicken and chips meal watching the sun setting over the horizon.

As we needed to spend 2 days in Geraldton we headed out 20kms to a camp site in the Chapman Valley for the night. The facilities which included a drop toilet and shelters over BBQ areas were made by prisioners doing community work and were very new. We thought that was a great idea using the men in this way.

On our way back into Geraldton we stopped at Bunnings to get a gas bottle filled and bumped into Ron, the man we travelled with for a while back in early February and said goodbye to him in Broken Hill, NSW. We were amazed to meet him as we had no contact with him since that time. We may bump into him again perhaps down the track when we least expect it. The day was spent enjoying the township and going for a walk to view the town, beach and port facilities from the nearby hill.

Sadly we had to leave Geraldton as we needed to move on. This town will become a major West Australian city in the years to come as more than $19 billion worth of projects are being planned or proposed for the Mid West in the next 5-7 years.

Next blog is Geraldton to Canarvon

 

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Margaret River region to Perth

Margaret River to Perth 11/5/12 - 18/5/12


Leaving the southern forests area we crossed west towards the Margaret River region. We were told there was a great camping spot at Alexandra Bridge. 



This was  right on the Blackwood River.  A great place to take the kayak out and also to leave the caravan so we could do our sightseeing of the southern part of this region.


Blackwood River


From here we made a quick visit down to Augusta and then  to the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse which sits on the tip of the peninsular and is the most south-westerly point of Australia where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet.  This is the tallest lighthouse on mainland, Australia.  During the months of June to September humpback and southern right whales can be seen from here as they migrate north.


Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

This region is also scattered with over 350 limestone caves, with 6 being developed into major tourist attractions. Beautiful sunsets and surfing beaches also feature in this region. We managed to fit in a delightful paddle up and down the river before setting off north towards Margaret River. The river was so calm it was like a mirror, as can be seen in the photo above.





Margaret River

The country town of Margaret River is situated 10kms in from the Indian Ocean on the banks of the Margaret River. It is set amidst green pastures and forests and is the state's largest premium wine producing region. It reminded us of the Barossa Valley in Sth Australia.  We were now getting good weather, with temps in the low to mid 20s. Very nice.

While in Margaret River we stayed a few kilometers out of the town at a sheep farm which had a part of the land turned into a caravan park. We had a gorgeous view overlooking green rolling hills where sheep were grazing.


Prevally Beach
The Margaret River township is very nice with many trendy cafes, gourmet restaurants and specialty shops. It has a relaxed laid back atmosphere.  Our stay here was short before travelling north along the coast passing some great surfing beaches and on towards the beachside towns of Dunsborough and Busseltown which lie within Geographe Bay.

Busselton


The resort town of Busselton has a population of 15,000, has lovely beaches and is famous for it's 1.8km jetty. It is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. For those unable to walk the distance  of the jetty there is a train to help transport people out to the end where there is an underwater observatory. Here you can view the ocean floor via a spiral staircase to view some of the amazing tropical and sub-tropical corals, sponges and fish living beneath the jetty. Unfortunately it was closing as we got there but we didn't mind too much as we see all this when we go snorkelling. While out on the jetty we could see a large storm approaching which meant a quick return but it caught us up as we neared the shore. Henceforth, we got a bit wet.  Being Mother's Day, Nigel thought he would spoil Carol, i.e. not having to cook a meal, so we finished the day up nicely with fish and chips. (Our 2nd bought meal since leaving Burleigh Heads.)

Bussellton Jetty


 Heading north towards Perth we arrived into Bunbury the following day, which was one of the largest towns (pop: 66,100) we have been to since leaving the Gold Coast. This is a very attractive and well laid out town. There were all the major shops here so we had to spend the day having various things to do. On our way out we drove past one of the coastal beaches where we found some kids doing some spectacular stunts on their body boards in the surf.

Look for the person upside down on the left


Still heading north we stayed a few days at Herron Point, inland from the coast, on an inlet south of Mandurah. This is a beautiful peaceful spot which was ideal for us to use the kayak and relax for a few days. There is a camp host here and every Wednesday night people come from around the area to put their nets in and catch fish from the inlet. We had beautiful weather as you can see from the photos.




From here we put aside a couple of days to visit friends and relatives who all live between Mandurah and Perth and were all conveniently located in close proximity to each other. It was lovely meeting up with two of Carol's cousins, Janelle (and 5mth old Lena), and Sandra who Carol hasn't seen for 35 years.


Also we were able to camp on the front yard of a house with access to showers and toilets.
A great camp site thanks to Neil. (Neil and Kerrin are friends from Melbourne who have just recently moved over to Perth). Kerrin was not there at the time as she was finishing up work in Melbourne before joining Neil.
At the same time Carol was also able to catch up with Bev, who Carol lived with in London, nearly 40 years ago.
It made a nice change seeing people we knew.

As we have been to Perth and Freemantle before we decided to drive straight through the City.   Nigel did very well  navigating the freeways with all the roadworks and traffic. We had a beautiful sunny day driving through and saw Perth at its best. 
A couple of other people we visited were Geoff and Lois Sutton, on the northern side of Perth. Geoff and Lois are friends from Wellington, NZ who moved to Perth about 40 yrs ago. We left there place late in the day as it was getting dark and weren't sure just where we were going to spend the night but we did find an overnight stop just off the road. Thank goodness.

Next blog will be from Perth to Geraldton.

Sunday 8 July 2012

South West of WA

The South West of Western Australia  14/4/12 - 9/5/12

After crossing the Nullarbor we headed south towards the south west coast. We found a delightful caravan park at Salmon Gums which is a small country town on our way to Esperance.













We were the only ones there. The ablutions block had been partly burnt down over Easter but the womens toilet and showers were still operational. The power had been cut off but that didn't matter too much. Water was still available. We liked it so much we decided to stay another night and took the opportunity to clean up the car and caravan after all the dust and dirt of the Nullarbor. At $10 per night it was good value.

Esperance

Heading towards the south coast we came to Esperance our largest town since leaving Ceduna. We were expecting it to be a bustling tourist destination as it was right on the coast but it was smaller than we imagined it to be. After overnighting at a caravan park we drove out to Le Grande National Park which is about 60 kms east of Esperance. We stayed at a beautiful bay, Lucky Bay. The bay was named by Matthew Flinders who had to shelter his ship, the "Investigator", from a storm and luckily found this sheltered bay in 1802 while they were circumnavigating Australia.




Lucky Bay










As soon as we arrived at Lucky Bay we were able to eat lunch outside as there were 'no flies'. What a luxury. The beach had beautiful white sand which was so fine it was like powder. It felt like walking on fresh snow which made a similar crunching sound. The sea was crystal clear and the colours went from turquoise to deep blue. The camp ground was owned and run by the National Park and had flushing toilets and solar showers, so it was best not to be too late as the hot water ran out quickly.



Carol holding up Whistling Rock
Lunchtime break

Whilst staying at Lucky Bay we hiked over to Hellfire Bay, several kilometres away, via a coastal route which was quite spectacular. On route we walked past a large rock 'Whistling Rock'. When the wind direction and speed are right the rock makes a loud whistling sound. We then walked along a beautiful bay called 'Thistle Cove" which was named by the explorer Matthew Flinders after the Master of the Ship "Investigator". John Thistle was his name and he managed to find fresh water behind this cove.  The duration of the walk was about 5 hours return. A relax and swim was most welcome there. 

Thistle Cove
Hellfire Bay

After 3 nights at Lucky Bay we moved a few kilometres over to Cape Le Grand Beach for a further 2 nights. While the camp ground was better the scenery was not as good and exposed to the onshore wind.


Our second walk was to climb  to the top of
Frenchman's Peak, situated between Lucky Bay and Le Grand Beach,  so named because it looked like it was wearing a cap or perhaps a beret on the top. This was very steep all around and Carol found she had a bit of vertigo getting nearer to the top. She felt that she might fall backwards if she stood up straight. She was fine coming down. The view was fantastic and worth the trip up. We really enjoyed our time at this National Park.





Nearing the top of Frenchman's Peak








Top of Frenchman's Peak









Back to Esperance, 22/4 and we stayed at one of the best caravan parks we had been to "The Pink Lake Caravan Park" with decent sized grassy sites and very good amenities. We did the usual when arriving into a caravan park i.e. the laundry, charged  everything up, fill up with water and of course had a nice long hot shower.

We rode our bikes around the tourist scenic drive which was a lot longer and hillier than we thought. It ended up being 38 kms. While passing the Pink lake we noticed it wasn't pink. It only turns pink under certain conditions e.g. algae and sunlight. The coastline was rocky with some lovely beaches, one being the famous Twilight Beach but we didn't see it at it's best because the weather was cloudy, windy and threating to rain which made us go even faster. It was a shame as it would have been lovely in the sunshine. The township was a welcome sight as it was getting dark and our legs were very tired. It was great stopping in at MacDonalds to reward ourselves with an icecream and relax our legs. The following day was the coldest day since leaving home, a high of 17 deg. It was here Nigel decided to buy some fleecy tracksuit pants as they were needed.
Consequently, we didn't take any photos while in Esperance because it wouldn't do it justice.


Stokes National Park


This National Park was west of Esperance some 75kms away. Again, another dirt, corrugated road greeted us for the 6kms drive out to camp site in the National Park. Most National Parks have camp hosts who are volunteers, usually retired. They collect the fees and generally look after the camp ground in return for free accommodation. They maybe there for a couple of months before moving on to another camp ground to host. The facilities at Stokes Inlet were very good and had been opened just 12 months earlier after being burnt down by a bush fire. Even the heavy timber doors to the toilets smelt of newly stained linseed oil. There was a great camp kitchen, too, where we had a BBQ for all the campers as the camp hosts were leaving and new ones were coming in. The sites here had their own little bays so it was very private. The camp ground was located on an inlet, fed by two rivers. This inlet, like many along this coast line, had a sandbar separating it from the sea. Every 6 years the inlet fills up and breaks through the sandbar into the sea which must be quite spectacular when it happens.
On Anzac day we walked the 3 1/2 km track to the sandbar which was quite a challenge as we had to find our own way around the inlet weaving in and out and ducking under branches of the paperbark trees. The view at the sandbar was of a lovely white sandy beach and deep blue sea. It seemed isolated and wild.



Sandbar at Stokes Inlet


While staying here we took the opportunity to take the kayak out on the inlet once the wind died down but couldn't stay out very long as dark clouds were moving in on us and we needed to get back in a hurry. Great exercise for us.

We enjoyed our stay at Stokes Inlet and moved on just up the coast, a little bit, to Mungalup Beach.


Mungalup Beach

This area was accessible down a another dirt corrugated rough road, this time 7kms. Not the best for our car and caravan but we took it slowly. A nice beach and camping ground. There was a reef about 100m out from the shore leaving a lovely area where we could swim. There was only a handful of people staying here. Stayed here 2 nights to make it worth the while travelling over the dirt road.


Mungalup Beach foreshore
swimming inside the reef












Moving from Mungalup Beach we travelled west and then south towards Albany spending a few nights free camping along the main highway and a night visiting the coastal town of Bremer Bay. The weather was a bit poor here and we thought the 120 km return side trip was not a good decision as there wasn't much there, just another beach, unless you are into fishing, which Nigel is not.


Albany





Looking down the main street towards the harbour







Albany is the oldest European settlement in Western Australia, established 1826. We found the farmland around here very green and pastoral, good dairy farming country. It reminded us, very much of New Zealand. Albany was the town from which the Anzacs departed in 1915, their destination being Gallipoli. A memorial is located on top of one of the surrounding hills to commenorate this event.
Albany has a very picturesque harbour and the views are spectacular from the top of 3 hills surrounding the city.
Middleton Beach is the town beach. It is a very popular swimming spot. We didn't want to swim here as there was a strong cold wind blowing.  Would be lovely on a nice hot sunny day.



Anzac Memorial
Cosy Corner

We were told of a great camping spot (Cosy Corner) right on the beach about 30kms west of Albany so we headed there and spent 4 nights. We travelled in and out to Albany from there as the caravan parks were very expensive. We visited various attractions while there such as 'The Gap', 'The Natural Bridge', and 'The Blowholes' which weren't blowing.







'Natural Bridge'
After leaving Albany, at various points along the highway, we came across where the Bibbulmun track crosses the road. This is a 950km walking track which starts off in the Perth hills and finishes in Albany or vice versa. On average it takes about 6 weeks to complete, or you can do it in shorter stages. This would be a real challenge.



Denmark


We continued west to Denmark, about 65kms. A charming little town located on the banks of the Denmark River. It was here the weather started to change. Big black clouds started to roll in and the temperature dropped suddenly. A couple of attractions here was 'Greens Pool' which is rated one of Western Australia's idyllic beaches in a sheltered natural lagoon and 'The Elephant Rocks' which are giant boulders around the coastline. They do look like large grey elephants lying in the water. In good weather these would be beautiful sites to visit. Unfortunately we didn't see them at their best as it was very windy, showery and cool. On leaving this place we came across a board showing a picture of what Green's Pool looks like on a nice summer's day. So we decided to take a photo to compare.


A stormy 'Greens Pool'
'Greens Pool" in summer


















The Valley of the Giants tree top walk is another of Denmarks major attractions. It is here you can view the magnificent Tingle trees. These are towering eucalypts found only in the forests of the Valley of the Giants. You can get a birds-eye view from a walkway high above the forest floor 40m high or on ground level.  Many of these trees  are split open at the base and are large enough to walk under or through.


crazy driver


Giant Tingle tree















Walpole



West again from Denmark was Walpole, again around 70kms. Another beautiful small town nestled on the banks of the Walpole and Nornalup adjoining inlets. We did hope to take the kayak out on the inlet but unfortunately we had our worst weather here. For 2 days we had heavy rain squalls sweeping across the caravan park. We were kept inside. Fortunately we had electricity so TV helped to pass the time.



Flooded Jetty, 'Walpole Inlet' at the caravan park


Where's Wally again!
Long way down









Platform at top of tree




After having travelled west and south west for weeks we now headed north for the first time, towards warmer weather. The weather did improve so we to continued our journey north through the lush areas of Tingle and Karri forests. We stayed at a lovely spot in the Shannon National Park before visiting several towns which grew up around the timber milling industry. Towns such as Northcliffe, Pemberton, Manjimup, Bridgetown and Nanup, names which probably will mean nothing to you unless you are familiar with this region. In this area are several high Karri trees that are used as fire lookouts and have viewing platforms located at the top of the tree. Two of these trees are available for those to climb who have no fear of heights.


Climbing the 'Diamond Tree'

We climbed two of these trees, one named the 'Glouster Tree' and the other 'The Diamond Tree' which are 60m and 51m in height. Scaling the tree is by means of climbing the rungs which are embedded into the trunk and spiral up to the platform above. There are no safety harnesses or nets so you do this at your own risk. From the top we got a magnificent view over the forest.


The next blog will be from Margaret River to Perth.