Day 347 of retirement

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Hi All

Monday 21^stMay:

After a sleep-in this morning it was off to Elephant Rocks and the Greens Pool. Awesome and beautiful beaches and rock formations.

Another awesome lunch at a local brewery and caught the sunset at Lights Beach.

Tuesday 22^ndMay:

Off to the Walpole area today for a look see.

First stop was the Valley of the giant’s tree top walk. This walkway is 40m high and makes its way up into the tree tops of trees that reach 70m high. Fantastic walk in the tree tops although the walkway does sway a bit.

Next stop was Mt Frankland which involved 24km of dirt road driving but luckily the road wasn’t too bad.

On the way back we called into the Swarbrick Art Loop. This is a series of sculptures in the bush. Interesting.

Back to the cabin and we went for a walk from our cabin to Ocean Beach and back while enjoying the setting sun.

We both really like it here as you are spoilt for stunning choices.

Wednesday 23^rdMay:

Left Denmark for Porongurup (110km). Arrived in Mount Barker midday and had an awesome lunch at a local winery.

Then off to Porongurup where our mud brick cabin awaited us. Very nice cabin with a rustic feel.

Late afternoon went for a drive into the Porongurup NP to check out a couple of hikes, which are on the agenda for tomorrow.

Thursday 24^thMay:

Off to Castle Rock Granite Sky Walk this morning. A nice 2.2km hike up the mountainside gets you to Castle Rock. The lower lookout is just around the corner from the climb to the skywalk.

To get to the skywalk you have to rock scramble over two sets of obstacles then climb a 7m ladder up a cliff face.

Guy made it up (awesome effort) but sadly I didn’t. Had an attack of vertigo. First time this has happened in 40 years. Old age catching up with me.

Next stop was the Stirling NP and the Bluff Knoll. Awesome monolith. Lots of dust and smoke about so visibility wasn’t so good.

Friday 25^thMay:

It was a wild cold night last night. Lots of wind and heavy showers of rain. After a nice long sleep-in we went for a loop drive round to Mount Barker.

Had a very nice lunch at Nic’s Café and then back to the cottage for a relaxing afternoon (with the gas heater on) watching the rain go by.

Saturday 26^thMay:

Left Porongurup for Narrogin (250km). Rained most of the way. Arrived 1:00pm ish at my sister’s Lyn’s place.

A quick unload of the Mazda and packed a smaller bag as we were heading out to Mel (my niece) & Mark’s farm some 40km out of town.

Arrived at the farm and cooked up a big batch of Pork Adobo for dinner as we settled in with the pot belly roaring away keeping us nice and cozy.

Sunday 27^thMay:

Spent the day at the farm with all nieces and nephews, as Bronte and his two girls were present as well. Great family day as it blew and rained outside.

Monday 28^thMay:

Back to Narrogin with Lyn. Dumped our gear and spent the day wildflower hunting with Lyn and Andrew (orchid hunting friend). Got to see some of the local countryside and some very nice orchids and wildflowers.

Back mid afternoon for a nice hot cup of tea and relaxing.

Life is good.

Trevor & Guy.

 

 

Day 338 of retirement

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Hi All

Monday 14^thMay:

Off exploring the Bremer Bay area today. Lots of awesome beaches with squeaky white sand and crystal clear turquoise water.

Pity it is so cold. We could have been enticed into a swim.

Tuesday 15^thMay:

Left Bremer Bay for Albany (220km & 3 hours). On the way we detoured into Cheyne Beach. It is 20km off the main road so a little remote. But such a beautiful place.

Arrived into Albany, checked into our cabin and off for a very nice lunch at The Three Anchors restaurant. Some shopping for supplies and back to the cabin in time for an afternoon siesta.

Wednesday 16^thMay:

Off exploring the Torndirrup National Park (Southern peninsula from Albany).

Awesome place with our favorite places being The Gap, The Natural Bridge, Salmon Beach and the old whaling station.

Thursday 17^thMay:

Back to the old whaling station to visit the attached wildlife park and botanical gardens. On the way back to Albany called back into the Gap / Natural Bridge. Love this place. Sadly several hours after we left a tourist fell into the ocean at the Gap and didn’t survive. It is a very treacherous place and not to be taken lightly.

Back to the Squid Shack for lunch (thanks Dani) then off to the National ANZAC Centre.

Its focus is on WW1 history. You get a card with a solider on it and you then swipe it round the centre and it gives you his history. Over 40,000 soldiers went through Albany off to the Great War.

Awesome but sad place.

Friday 18^thMay:

Off exploring Little Beach today in the Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve. Beautiful spot with squeaky white sand.

Lunch was Yabbies, Marron and smoked salmon at the Old Marron Farm Café. Awesome.

At 4:45pm my sister Lyn turned up (lives in Narrogin) to stay with us for two nights. She is taking us orchid hunting tomorrow in the local area as we have been unsuccessful finding any.

Saturday 19^thMay:

Off orchid/wild flower hunting with my sister Lyn round the Denmark area. Saw some amazing plants. Thanks Lyn.

Back to the cabin at 4:00pm and settled in to watch the royal wedding. Yeah I know, we are a sad bunch.

Sunday 20^thMay:

Left Albany for Denmark (100km). Lyn took us to another orchid spot on the way then we parted ways. Lyn headed back to Narrogin and we headed to Denmark.

Had an awesome lunch at Lake House (winery restaurant).

Checked into our “house” (huge Chalet cabin), which is very roomy and nice.

Spent the afternoon exploring the local Denmark area.

Life is good.

Trevor & Guy.

Day 331 of retirement

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Hi All

Monday 7^thMay:

Off exploring the Esperance area today. We followed The Great Ocean Drive which is a 40km drive along the coast. The seas were up today so some spectacular scenery was seen by all.

After lunch at Salmon Beach, we went off to the Lucky Beach area for the afternoon (140km round trip).

Another beautiful part of the world with white sandy beaches.

On the way home we called into Stonehenge. It is a full size replica of the original Stonehenge, as it would have looked in 1950BC. The structure is aligned with the summer solstice sunrise in Esperance.
137 stones of Esperance Pink Granite were quarried and assembled on a local farm. Awesome structure.

Tuesday 8^thMay:

Quiet day today as we explored the township of Esperance soaking up the warmth.

After lunch Guy cooked up a big pot of pork adobo for dinner. Our last night at Deb and Alan’s and it has been awesome spending time with them and enjoying their hospitality.

Wednesday 9^thMay:

Left Esperance for the Munglinup Beach Holiday Park (150km & 2 hours). It rained all the way but cleared up late afternoon. Weather is clearing for tomorrow so will explore the local area.

Munglinup is a real little gem of a spot. Set in secluded bushland spot 25km off the highway and 2km from the beach.

The two-bedroom cottage is awesome especially with a potbelly stove, which we have fired up. Awesome spot.

Thursday 10^thMay:

Went exploring the Munglinup area. Visited the beautiful Oldfield Creek and Munglinup Beach.

We had the whole beach to ourselves. Our footprints were the only ones on the beach. Didn’t see anybody the whole time we were there. Loved it.

Back to our awesome cabin and cranked up the potbelly stove as the afternoon cooled off.

Friday 11^thMay:

Left Munglinup for Hopetoun (120km & 1.5 hours). We arrived at 11:00am and were able to check in to our cabin, as it was ready.

Off to downtown Hopetoun for a very nice Pork Spare Ribs lunch.

After lunch we went west along the coast and explored the Fitzgerald River NP. Came across some awesome vegetation. The highlight was the Royal Hakea, which were stunning. I have never seen them before so very special.

Fitzgerald River NP is called a Biosphere. It is world known and many overseas botanists come to WA to visit the rare and unique flora in this park. Truly an amazing place.

Saturday 12^thMay:

Explored Ravensthorpe today and visited the silo art, museum and farm gate art, very nice and interesting.

There are over 20 different farm gate arts scattered around the area that we tried to look for. The idea is that the artist will use only disused farm materials.

Sunday 13^thMay:

Huge happy mothers day to my beautiful wife Guy. Celebrating with a nice restaurant dinner tonight.

Left Hopetoun for Bremer Bay Resort (260km & 3 hours). Checked out some more Farm Gate Art along the way.

Nice easy drive and arrived early afternoon. After dropping our gear it was off exploring the local area.

Life is good.

Trevor & Guy.

Day 325 of retirement

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Hi All

Wednesday 2^ndMay:

Off on the Super Pit gold mine tour this morning. Did a tour of the gold mine facilities and the HUGE open cut mine. The open cut is one of the largest in the world measuring 3.6km long, 1.6km wide and 700m deep. An awesome spectacle to see.

The mine produces about 60kg of gold per day. In today’s gold prices (approx $1,700 per ounce) that is $3,597,200 per day. But when you see the infrastructure and machinery required to produce this amount of gold it is mind blowing. Just in dump trucks alone there are 40 CAT793 trucks that cost $4.4 million dollars each ($176 million dollars total).

1 in 7 trucks carries gold bearing ore (the other 6 carry out waste). This one truck’s gold is about a golf ball size (500 grams = $30,600 worth out of a 225 tonne payload).

Wes our tour guide was a wealth of knowledge and gave an awesome run down on the day-to-day workings of the mine and its history.

At 4:30pm we did a tour of the Questa Casa, which is one of two of Kalgoorlie’s working brothels. It is the only original brothel left in Kalgoorlie and is over 100 years old.

The madam gave us a very interesting talk on the history and day-to-day operations of the brothel along with some very interesting stories. Also showed us round the working rooms (it was closed at the time) and the costs associated with the rooms. Very interesting.

Thursday 3^rdMay:

Off exploring today. First stop was to see my cousin Wendy who I have never actually met. Great to catch up with her and hear all her family history.

Next off to Coolgardie (90km round trip), which is a Gold Ghost Town. In its heyday (gold rush) it was the third largest city in WA with a population of 15,000. Sadly back to 850 people now.

They have a great museum there which has one of the best old bottle collections I have ever seen. Very impressive.

Back to Kalgoorlie and the public Super Pit viewing area. This was across the other side of the open pit and gave another perspective of the huge operation.

On the way back to our cabin we called into the Mount Charlotte lookout to see a view of the township. Great views.

Friday 4^thMay:

After a leisurely morning which included a load of washing it was back into town and the Goldfields Museum. Awesome museum especially the vault with its “real” gold displays.

In 1991 the London Bullion Market Association granted accreditation to Australian Gold Refineries Kalgoorlie Plant to produce 400 ounce gold bars. This is the first one produced (it is real) hence the K00001 serial number. It is worth $6-700,000 in gold value but really worth several million as it is the first bar produced. It is kept in a very secure vault that is open during the day.

Then off to the balcony (over looking the main street) at the York Hotel for a very nice lunch.

Back to the cabin for our afternoon siesta followed by a visit to the Hammond Park for our evening stroll and last look at Kalgoorlie.

Saturday 5^thMay:

Left Kalgoorlie for Esperance (390km & 5 hours with a few stops).

Staying with my cousin Deb and Alan (hubby). Great to see Deb as I last saw her when she was 15 (48 years ago). Lots of catching up was had by all.

Sunday 6^thMay:

Off exploring today with Deb and Alan in their 4 x 4 in the beautiful Duke of New Orleans Bay area. Awesome part of the world and we loved it so going back to stay for a few nights.

Called into the Condingup pub for a very yummy lunch. A great day out was enjoyed by all.

Life is good.

Trevor & Guy

 

Day 319 of retirement

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Hi All

Monday 23^rdApril:

Time to repack our gear and load it into the car. Off to Port Augusta tomorrow then the Nullarbor on Wednesday. Got some long kilometres to travel over the next week.

Tuesday 24^thApril:

Left Port Willunga for Port Augusta (360km & 4 hours). Rained quite heavily as we passed through Adelaide but fined up as we headed north.

Nice smooth trip and arrived mid afternoon. Grabbed some late lunch and a few supplies then back to our cabin for an afternoon nap.

Wednesday 25^thApril:

Left Port Augusta for Ceduna (480km & 6 hours with a few stops). Had a good smooth run with little traffic. In Ceduna for two nights and catching up with cousins tomorrow as my Dad was from this area.

Thursday 26^thApril:

Went for a bit of a drive today exploring the surrounds of Ceduna.

For dinner we caught up with my cousin Kevin and his wife Sue. Caught up on 40+ years of family history. Been that long since I was last in Ceduna. Had a really really great night with them.

Also ran into Peter Treloar the local Member of Parliament. Peter is from Cummins (where I grew up) and the last time I saw him he was knee high to a grasshopper. I also worked with his dad Brian when he was a councillor in the local council and I worked there. Small world.

Friday 27^thApril:

Left Ceduna for Border Village on the SA/WA border (550km & 8 hours (lots of stops).

First stop was The Church on the Hill outside Denial Bay. This old Lutheran Church has been restored by the locals but more importantly it is where my Dad grew up. Standing in the old church I could just see him in the pews.

Also visited the graves of my Grandma Ross (nee Kloeden) who I can still remember. I visited “Uncle Wally” as well. Uncle Wally is actually my cousin but we always knew him as Uncle Wally. Uncle Wally and my Dad used to get up to a bit of mischief in their day.

The old church grounds felt good knowing the history of my Dad growing up there.

Found Kloeden Road and stopped for a pic.

Next stop was Penong and the windmill display. Windmills of all shapes and sizes are on display including one of the biggest in Australia. Very impressive.

We drive into the Head of Bight where the whale watching happens from the cliff tops when in season. No whales at the moment.

Stopped at Nullarbor for lunch and checked out the Nullarbor Links the world’s longest golf course.

Nullarbor Links is an 18-hole par 73 golf course, said to be “the World’s Longest Golf course”, situated along 1,365 kilometres of the Eyre Highway along the southern coast of Australia in two states notably crossing the Nullarbor Plain at the head of the Great Australian Bight.

Nullarbor Roadhouse is a Par 5 – 538m long. The whole course stretches from Kalgoorlie in WA over the Nullarbor to Ceduna in SA.

Also had three stops at lookouts along the Bight.

Saturday 28^thApril:

Left Border Village (SA) for Cocklebiddy (WA) (290km & 4 hours).

When you leave SA and enter WA you have go through quarantine, as you can’t bring fresh produce into WA because of fruit fly in SA and other eastern states. We ate all our fruits and thought we were okay with what we had left.

As it turned out our commercially dried bananas (from the Adelaide Central Market) were a no go so we gave up 2.5 packets of dried bananas. Damn.

Made a couple of stops along the way and cruised into Cocklebiddy early afternoon for a great good old country lunch.

Sunday 29^thApril:

Left Cocklebiddy for Fraser Range station (320km & 4 hours). This is an old sheep station which is now a cattle station and is set back off the highway.

Had a couple of stops for local attractions and a nice smooth run through.

We settled into the “Overseer’s Cottage” and loved it so much we booked another night.

Enjoyed a home cooked meal (fish & chips + desserts) by the station folk.

Monday 30^thApril:

Off on a nice long hike this morning before it gets too hot this afternoon.

We hiked up to the summit of the local “mountain” range then looped back round behind the ridgeline. Stunning country and had perfect hiking conditions. Not too hot and a nice wind blowing to keep the flies away.

Back for a shower, light lunch, siesta and another station home cooked meal for dinner.

Tuesday 1^stMay:

Left Fraser Range Station for Kalgoorlie (300km & 3.5hours) via Norseman. Nice easy run with no traffic.

Our cabin was ready when we arrived at midday so were able to unload the car. Then off downtown to the Kalgoorlie Boulder Information Centre. We booked two tours being for the gold mine and the town tour.

Got some supplies and back to the room where Guy cooked up a very nice Sinigang veggie / chicken broth.

Spent the afternoon resting and catching up on blog stuff as we now have 4G internet at last. Only 3G across the Nullarbor.

Life is good.

Trevor & Guy