Kalgoolie

Great news!!!, Simon informed us that we are going to be grandparents again. Kelly is expecting in febuary,that will be five.

Wave Rock was awesome, we walked all over it and found a dam on the edge of it. They have constructed a cement wall around the top funneling the water into the dam. Friday 21st we headed for Kalgoolie via the Holland Track passed nickle mines and rock formations called the Breakaways,(worth a look.) We tried to skirt some roadworks and ended up bogged in mud, took ten minutes backwards and forwards to get out and lost a mud flap.

We stayed the following week in Kal with Emma and Ashley (Phil's nephew) in comfort. We checked out all the highlites,the Super pit(watched a blast ),Museum,Mining Hall of Fame(went underground),Pubs(skimpies) and shops, even the Brothel (for a tour,no samples!). It was good to stay put for a while, and some quality time with our wonderful hosts. We also checked out the buildings in Boulder that were damaged by the earthquake (nasty), and visited Diane's niece and nephew Angela and Scott and families and Vanessa's friend Liz. The work we had hoped for fizzled out, don't matter more holidays.

Friday28th we set off south west through more mining then grain country (big tractors). Camped near Corrogin with some Queenslanders and had a late night (good fun).Diane eyeballed a fox .

Today we travelled to Collie through some better country than we've seen for a while.(Jarra country).

A Big Country

Last Sunday we done the tour around Cape Le Grande, beautiful day and scenery. Caught more fish for tea that night, too easy. Caught up with Wayne and Coral Turley,[ Diane's relatives]. Had another day in Esperance on Monday just to relax.

Tuesday headed to Albany via Bremer Bay, nice spot but too early to stop. Then onto Albany through Great Southern plantations, done a quick tour around Albany and spent the night with David and Trisha Chaplin, terrific hosts and tour advisers.

Wednesday toured the rest of Albany , plenty of nooks and crannies. Quite a busy wharf, salt, woodchips and grain. On the way to Denmark more like Tassie but need plenty of rain. Bit like Latrobe. Went to the Valley of the Giants and done the tree top walk, 40 meters up in the tops of the gums. Camped the night beside the Frankland River below Gordan.

Thursday headed northwest thr ough millions of acres of grain country, fixed a puncture at Katanning then onto Hyden and Wave Rock, via the tin horse highway.( Statues of horses made out of drums and scrap)

Nullabor Plains

Mothers day was beautiful fine weather. We visited Coffin Bay national park and viewed

spectacular cliffs and dangerous reefs, and snagged another whiting for tea.

Next day we continued west,Point Drummond, Locks Well ,all rugged and dangerous coast, stayed the night at Elliston, a top spot but rough weather.We moved on to Talia caves,Venus Bay, (a nice sheltered bay),had lunch at Murphy's Haystacks, (unusual rock formation). On to Streaky Bay and watched some shark being unloaded at the wharf. Smokey Bay next then Ceduna and stocked up with supplies. We free camped at Davenport Creek in the sand dunes and was plagued with mice. They scratched around the tent all night much to Diane's disgust.

Driving toward Penong through more grain country,noticed some big flocks of Dorfer sheep,(the sheep that shed their wool).Camped the night at Fowlers bay, with big sand dunes beside the town. Could'nt resist a drive along Scotts Beach and back over the dunes and got bogged. Should have let the tyers down.

We hit the highway at Nundroo, fueled up and set off on Eyre highway across the Nullabour.

The cliffs of the bight were awesome but did'nt see any whales. Long straight roads,but interesting scenery. We had our dream camp near Mondura, warm night,good fire and good company of fellow travelers. Next day it poured with rain, with rivers running along the side of the road .Norsman was unappealing so we continued on to Esperance in the rain for a cabin. Today we had a lazy day wandering around Esperance, (Quilt and outdoor shops).

York Peninsula

We reluctantly left the girls behind , but also looked forward to the adventure ahead. Made our way onto York Peninsular . Very dry and barren in between grain crops, even the greens on the golf courses are blue metal, no water. The wind was blowing tumble weeds in front of us at Tiddy Widdy Beach,which suited the wind farms at Edithburg. The East coast was fairly quiet and not much progress and very shallow beaches. We missed the crab season by a fortnight. Blue swimmer crabs very popular. We managed to camp every night with showers and wind rocking us to sleep. Done a tour through Innes National Park and made our way to Moonta. All of the peninsular is grain country , very flat and appears to be over cleared. The west coast is where all the action is, new subdivisions in all the towns we came drove through, mostly mansions.

Next was Port Germeine and walked 1.2 klms along Australias longast wooded jetty. Weather coming good as we make our way down the Eyre Peninsular. Patted the great white shark at Port Pirie Visitor Centre and spent 2 hours going through the Wadlata Outback Centre in Port Augusta, very good , not to be missed. Camped on the beach at a beautiful spot called Fitzerald Bay. Locals were catching cuttle fish at Point Lowly and farming Yellow tail King fish in cages.

Done the museum tour at Whyalla, Philip done the Steel works tour, while Diane went off shopping. Nice drive down to Port Lincoln, hardly a bend. We arrived in time to watch them unload several hundred tons of pilchards at the wharf. The marina was spectacular with mansions and a hundred plus gleaming tuna and cray fishing boats lined up. Then onto Coffin Bay and booked a cabin for a couple of nights. A treat for Mothers Day. Philip snagged a couple of King George Whiting off the wharf for tea.

Adelaide

Friday 30th

We crossed the narrows on the ferry at Narung,then onto Mannum our favourite spot on the river, via Murray Bridge. Then north to Sedan, then west to Anguston and Nurioopta. Admired the magnificant stone walls that went for miles through the bald hills on the way. Picked up the very excited granddaughters from school and set up camp at Tanunda.
Saturday morning took the girls to netball where Antonia scored 11 of the 17 winning goals.Into the city in the afternoon to the Botanical gardens and called in to visit Heath Banfield and family at Elizabeth.
Sunday took the girls to Monarto open plain zoo and seen rhinos, lions, giraffes etc. Called into Hahndorf on way home. Lovely little german village, very busy. The dropped girls back home.