Leaving for 3 weeks up north

End of the Trip

2007-07-08T14:06:01Z

Friday, our last day in Coral Bay, was a lovely sunny day. We did not do much. Just enjoyed the day. Anne did some sewing. Brian tried to update the Blog but had a few techincal problems and could not complete it, hence the delay in publishing. The bakery was a good place to visit when things were not right so went and bought some cakes and came back to the van for tea and cakes, followed by a beer and wine.

Caravan parks are a wondeful mix of people. We met a New Zealand couple who were travelling from Perth to Darwin in a campervan over 4 weeks. They were farmers from near Christchurch. Another young couple were from Tasmania and had lived in a station wagon for the past 6 months as they travelled around Australia. There were numerous overseas visitors travelling around as well as those from all states of Australia.

Time to go.

Saturday we packed up and started the journey home. We drove back to Carnarvon and then pushed on and stayed overnight at the Neren Neren overnight stay area. That was about 500 kms travel for the day. There were about 14 other vans, campers or buses there. The stars were absolutely beautiful overhead. There was no light from any cities or other places so it was very clear. It rained a little bit that night. It was so quiet after the caravan parks.

On Sunday morning we packed up and headed off again about 10am. We had intended to come home via the coast along Jurien Bay, Green Head and Cervantes, but the weather forecast was for gale force winds so we decided to push on to home. We arrived home about 6:30 pm after travelling over 600kms for the day. On the way home we passed through 4 speed traps. Yes four. 3 were well spaced apart in the Muchea area and 1 in Bullsbrook. As well, there were two on the other side of the road in Muchea catching those gloing north. We have never seen so many speed traps in an area. Obviosuly trying to capture all the holiday travellers.

Over both days there was a lot of traffic heading north. We have not seen so many caravans and especially boats travelling along the roads. It is the start of school holiday time but still it was incredible how many cars, vans and boats were on the road. The road was very busy.

Even though the weather has not been great over the three weeks we were away we had a great time. We have had a relaxing time doing as we feel, meeting some more people and seeing some parts of WA that we have not seen before. Our meetings with people have encouraged us to get the shower and toilet in action in the van as well as put on an annex and invest in some solar cells. These will allow us to stay in some of the off-track sites that exist on our beautiful coast as well as being able to stay overnight in roadside stayovers as we travel around. There really is a great world out to discover and many great people to meet.

We set off on August 1 for our Canning Stock Route adventure. Unfortunately there will be no opportunity during that trip to update a blog as we are out of any communication service except sattelite phone for the period. When we get back we will produce a blog on the experience.

Till then we hope life is good for you.

Cheers from Anne and Brian

End of the Trip remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 20 - Exmouth Day trip

2007-07-08T13:24:04Z

On Thursday we took a day trip up to Exmouth. Exmouth is about 160km north of Coral Bay. By the time we got home at 6pm we had done over 400km. That's some day trip.

Around Coral Bay there are a lot (hundreds) of termite mounds. They range in sizes. The ones in the picture are about 1.5 metres high. These are small compared with those in the very north that get over 2 metres tall.

Exmouth and surrounding areas are very nice. The town is packed at this time of the year with lots of caravanners and others taking advantage of the sun. The seas around Exmouth are very pretty with lots of beautiful coastline. The picture below is from Vlamingh Head lighthouse of the caravan park, coastline and in the background is the Harold E Holt Communication Centre. Vlamingh Head is about 20 kms or so north of Exmouth.

The area to the west of Exmouth contains the Cape Range National Park. This area is the north part of the Ningaloo Reef which starts south of Coral Bay where we are staying. There are heaps of lovely sandy beaches and although we didn’t do any, heaps of great snorkelling and fishing areas. There are many camp sites within the park although at this time of the year it is very busy. The pictures below are of Neds Camp and Turquoise Bay. They are absolutely beautiful.

We had hoped to get down to Yardie Creek station and Mandu as both these have lovely gorges with short walks. Unfortunately it took us until 4pm to get to Turquoise Bay and we had a 2 hour drive back to Coral Bay. We will have to come back again and spend a few days or a week up here as there is quite a bit to have a look at.

Day 20 - Exmouth Day trip remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 15-19 Coral Bay

2007-07-08T13:16:01Z

The drive to Coral Bay was pleasant. We stopped off at Minilya Station roadhouse and had lunch by the river. It was dry but the setting was nice.

We had sunshine through to Coral Bay however the clouds loomed. At Coral Bay the first night we had a fantastic sunset as you can see from the pictures below. During the night however it poured. Thank god we were in a van. Those in tents had a few problems. The water drained away very quick which was good.

We ran in Dave and Loris here so we caught up with them. They are here with a group of about 15 people. They are heading up to Yardie Creek which is another 80kms or so further north. Coral bay is quite a small place. It is quite lovely. It is well regarded for snorkelling and fishing. A fishing charter group had come in on the Saturday afternoon and that had heaps of beautiful fish. Boy it would have been nice to have one of them for dinner.

We haven’t done much here which suits this place. We went out on a glass bottomed boat over the coral and that was fantastic. The coral here is “hard” coral. It is not the really colourful coral that you see on the TV but still very pretty with majestic pieces of coral. These cabbage-like coral are over a metre in width. There were lots of fish around. It was very windy, cold and choppy out on the boat. Anne went for a snorkel and really enjoyed it.
We had a call from Laura today (Wednesday) saying that she had seen Anne on Getaway in the markets in Carnarvon. That was pretty amazing as we were only there on the previous Saturday and it was shown on the Wednesday.

Day 15-19 Coral Bay remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 12-14 (Wed to Fri) – to Carnarvon (400km)

2007-06-28T03:51:50Z

We left Horrocks this morning. We passed through Northampton to top up the fuel tanks. Northampton has a lot of lovely old buildings. The two pictures show the old convent and church. These are both made from the local stones of the area and are lovely. The convent is currently used for back packer accommodation.

After Northhampton we headed north for the long drive to Carnarvon. Along this road there is not much to see. The shrub is very low and there are very few land type features. There was lots of road kill along the way. Most were kangaroos, but there were a few emus, an eagle and a cow and a calf. Glad to not have been driving in the night. We saw lots of goats and some cattle along the side of the road. We stopped a few times along the way for breaks and lunch. There are some great camp stops along the way that you can pull off and camp at overnight, so we might take advantage of these on the way home.
We arrived in Carnarvon at around 4:30, checked out the tourist information centre and then found a caravan park close to town. Today (Thursday) we changed our plans and are to stay here for an extra day until Saturday. On Saturday we will move onto Coral bay and stay for a week before heading back home. It rained all night last night and is still raining this morning.

Day 12-14 (Wed to Fri) – to Carnarvon (400km) remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 10 - 11 (Mon, Tue) – in Horrocks (139 km)

2007-06-28T03:55:09Z

On the way from Dongara we dropped in at Geraldton to do some shopping and to fill up with fuel. Below is a picture of the lovely Catholic Church in Geraldton.

When we arrived in Horrocks it was past 3 PM so we decided to stay here rather than push on to Kalbarri. We still had about 90 minutes to get to Kalbarri and we like to be setting up around 4pm.Horrocks is a fishing and holidaying spot about 70km north of Geraldton. It is a very pretty and quiet place. It is also the base for a number of crayfishing boats. There is not much to do here if you don’t like fishing but the place is pleasant and peaceful. There are lots of fishing shacks. We sat on the beach with a glass in hand viewing a lovely sunset on the both the nights we were here. The coast here is also a path for migrating whales. From the beach we could see the splashes of a whale frolicking around jumping out of the water. Unfortunately it was a long way out so we could not see much except the splashing. A guy was doing some net fishing down near the jetty and he pulled in about 20 good sized whitings and a few herrings.

On Tuesday we took a trip up to Kalbarri via Port Gregory. Port Gregory is another small fishing settlement about 40kms north of Horrocks. Port Gregory is also the site for an unusual industry. The area has very salty lakes where a microscopic algae grows. The algae turns the lakes orangey-pink which you can see a bit of in the picture. The algae are harvested and the orangey-pink colour which is beta-carotene is extracted. This is used in vitamins and food colourings. Amazing.

Kalbarri is located on the mouth of the Murchison River. The approach to Kalbarri is along a set of high cliffs. These are very spectacular as you can see in the pictures. While on the cliffs one of the other tourists noticed a whale splashing about. It was quite a way from shore, but this time we could actually see the shape of the whale out of the water. Even though they were still a bit far away it was still quite exciting. We were amazed to see how Kalbarri has grown since we were last here about 7 years ago. There are houses being built everywhere with a huge sub-division being built down past Red Bluff. We had lunch in Kalbarri, did a bit of shopping and then headed back to Horrocks. It was a great day and even though we have been to this area quite a few times we saw a lot of things we have not seen before.

Tomorrow Wednesday we pack up and head off to Carnarvon. We have booked ourselves into Coral Bay for at least 4 nights starting on July 29.

Day 10 - 11 (Mon, Tue) – in Horrocks (139 km) remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 5 – 9 (Wed to Sun) – in Dongara

2007-06-28T03:32:58Z

We originally booked into Dongara for 3 days but after the third day we extended for a further 3 days. Dongara is now a major crayfishing (lobster) spot in WA. It is a pretty little town that was a key trading and supply port to the Fremantle colony in the very early days of the Western Australian settlement when sailing ships plied the waters. The main street is lined with magnificent 102 year old Moreton Bay Fig trees.

The Seaspray Caravan Park at Dongara is very pleasant. It is right on the beach. The first night the owners put on 3 good sized Snapper so having some fresh fish was fantastic.

The Irwin River reaches the sea here and at present is blocked by a sand bar forming a nice lake that is great for birds. There were about a dozen black swans in the estuary. We wandered around the estuary and down to Port Denison which is about an 8km walk. Along the way we came across a large group of pink and gray galahs resting in the trees.

The weather in Dongara wasn’t very good. The strong winds continued and it was still cold. We had patches of sun on the last few days but most of the time it was cold and windy as you can see in the picture of Brian. Even though the weather was not very good we still had a great time. A lot of it was spent walking around town. We only used the car one day while at Dongara to pick up groceries and alcohol. Anne got a chance to get her sewing machine out and using it in the van has worked out pretty good. Brian has to perch on the end of the bed to use the computer which is not too bad so we will need to think up a few different options for that. You can see the laptop perched on the small bench just above the sewing machine.

On Monday we left Dongara for Kalbarri with a visit to Horrocks and Port Gregory on the way. We ended up staying at Horrocks.

Day 5 – 9 (Wed to Sun) – in Dongara remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 4 Tue - to Dongara

2007-06-20T05:57:22Z

After the visit to the local “Patchwork” shop we pressed on toward Dongara.

On the way we stopped in at the Coalseam Conservation Park. This was the first place in WA that a coal seam was found that was of a production capacity. The founder was given 2,560 acres of land for his efforts. This is a lovely park and would be even more lovely during wildflower season. The park has good facilities for barbecues and a picnic day out. We saw a few kangaroos hopping around. The Irwin River “flows” through the park but as you can see it is very dry and in some places very salty.

After Coalseam we headed onto Dongara via Mingenew travelling down a few gravel roads. This area is also very dry as can be seen in the photo.

In Dongara we are staying at the Seaspray Caravan Park which is right on the beach. We took a long walk along the beach and around the river conservation area. Back at the park we planned to have a barbecue with steak sausages and salad. When we went to the park’s camp kitchen area the owners were putting on a free feed of sausages and fresh whole fish so we put our meat away and had fish and salad. The fish was local Snapper and was beautiful. We sat around for an hour or so talking with others there, sharing thoughts and ideas. A really great night. We have booked in here for 3 days so will be here until at least Friday, but who knows.

All is going well with the car and van. No more problems and we haven’t broken anything else thus far.

Day 4 Tue - to Dongara remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 3 Mon - to Perenjori (274km)

2007-06-20T05:46:41Z

Northam had a Toyota dealer so we stopped in to get them to have a look at our fuse problem. The mechanic had a look and took some time to find the culprit. Eventually all was fixed. It turns out the mechanic was from Friesland in the north of Holland. He moved out here with his wife and 2 kids about 4 months ago and was living in Goomalling. We had a good chat. He was quite surprised to find that Anne can speak pretty good Dutch. We wished him the best with his future in WA and headed off.

After fixing the car we headed up through the mid-west wheat areas of Western Australia via Goomalling, Wongan Hills, Ballidu, Pithara, Dalwallinu and Wubin ending up in Perenjori. This area is where a large amount of the wheat in Western Australia comes from. Unfortunately this year they have not had much rain so it is quite dry and many of the farmers have not been able to sow their crops. If they don’t get rain with the next few weeks they will have no crop in for the year. Last year many did not get crops in either or had very poor crops that were not worth harvesting.
At Goomalling we stopped for lunch at the train station cafe and had a lovely, hot carrot soup followed by Devonshire teas. Outside the station was a magnificent white gum tree that had many forks and a lot of character in its bark.
The wheat silos at Goomalling are quite interesting as they are a conical shape rather than the normal longer shed style that is prevalent around most of the wheat belt area.

The Perenjori caravan park was empty. We had a choice of any spot we liked. The only other person in the park was in an on-site cabin. We walked into town (900 metres) and had a drink at the local pub. They had a great fire burning in the bar. We had a chat with a few of the locals and the barmaid who was an Irish lass over here on a working holiday. Once again it was very cold and windy but not as bad as in Northam. We didn’t need the heater on. Perhaps we are getting used to it.

Day 3 Mon - to Perenjori (274km) remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 2 Sun - To Northam (195km)

2007-06-20T05:46:26Z

We set out from Boddington around mid-morning but did not get far before we realized that the speedometer and the automatic gears were not working properly. This is a problem we have had previously. It is caused by some electrical feedback from the caravan to the car. We had disconnected the main power feed this time but it looks like the feedback may be coming from the trailer lights connections. The feedback causes one of the fuses to blow and the speedometer and odometer don’t work at all and the automatic gearbox will not go into overdrive. We hunted around the fuses for a while but could not find the offending fuse and decided to press on to Northam. The car was still safe to drive so there was no problem there.

We went to Northam via Wandering, Pingelly, Brookton, Beverley and York taking the inland routes to see some of the countryside.

York is a lovely old town that has been well preserved and maintains many of its early buildings and character. There was an arts and craft day at the town hall so Anne could get her fix. We got out pretty cheap, just a necklace and some lollies.

We wandered the main street and looked in the various shops and lovely old buildings in the town. It was a pleasant stroll.

We arrived in Northam around 4pm and set up at the caravan park. It was really windy and cold that night.Halfway through the night we had to have the heater on in the van

Day 2 Sun - To Northam (195km) remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 1 Sat - To Boddington (120km)

2007-06-20T05:23:56Z

Today we got underway, with first a short trip to Boddington. Here we met up with Mabel and Arthur (our Aunt and Uncle) and our other 4 companions for the Canning Stock Route trip planned for August. This was the second of our meetings to discuss the plans and arrange all our necessities. We have agreed on a departure date of August 2. This is good as it now allows for some definite plans to be made. We stayed overnight at Mabel and Arthur’s.

Day 1 Sat - To Boddington (120km) remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Getting prepared for the trip

2007-06-14T16:01:58Z

On Saturday June 16 we head off to the north of Western Australia intending to spend about three weeks around Geraldton, Carnarvon and Exmouth. This is a chance to get away for a break and check things out in the caravan and cruiser before we head off for some 4WD adventure (without the caravan) for 3 weeks and then off for 5 months to the south and east coast of Australia.

Initially in this trip we are going to Boddington which is about 1.5 hours south east of Perth to meet to discuss plans for our journey in August along the Canning Stock Route, Karajini national Park and Mount Augustus. These are all in the northwest of Western Australia and all is 4WD territory. We will not be taking our caravan on that trip.

Below is a picture of Brian standing alongside the Landcruiser and the caravan.

Getting prepared for the trip remains copyright of the author Itchifeet, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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