Karratha and Dampier

There is not a lot to interest tourists in Karratha as it is a working town. There are good shopping and other facilities as it is the largest regional town in this area.

We had to visit the local vet because the dogs were due for a vaccination and they need to stay up to date to be allowed to go to the occasional doggy daycare. Number One dog has been suffering from anxiety when we are on the road with the van, but she is OK in the Jeep at other times. We have a few sedative pills to try her on, but as they are a Schedule 8 drug (controlled drug) I could only get 8 pills at a time. If they work we will have to see if other vets will supply us along the way.

An unexpected discovery at the Karratha Vet was framed photos of the original Red Dog and the original chain collar and tags worn by Red Dog. The chain was "lost" for many years before being found in the vet's safe where it had been long forgotten. When the film was made the star of the show Koko wore the original chain and tags. Dampier is a mining port that also has salt mines. There wasn't much to see apart from the statue of Red Dog and the flowering Sturt Pea.

Currently Number Two dog is in a state because the family behind us are bursting balloons. Apparently it is dad's 40th birthday and he thinks that gives him licence to disturb others in the caravan park. Tomorrow we are going to Port Hedland, the first of many towns in this area that does not have any dog-friendly caravan parks. The local council provides "overflow" facilities at the racecourse for travellers with pets, and the golf club has a few sites so we shall see what is on offer.

 

Exmouth to Karratha

Today we drove almost 600kms from Exmouth to Karratha. We don't normally do such long trips but the only places to stay en route are roadhouses or free roadside stops, all of which are right next to the highway and not very attractive.

There was an additional reason for not staying at the roadside stop where this Burger Bus was campaigning for One Nation! Food and drinks were for sale but we would not buy anything, and did not fancy staying where that banner constantly reminded us of the troubling election.

Fortunately the scenery for much of the drive was very interesting. We passed on the western side of part of the Hammersley Ranges where there are large iron ore deposits. It is green everywhere except on barren rocks or bare sand and there is water in some of the rivers. The highway continues to be of an excellent standard, with long stretches of road improvements compliments of the mining industry.

The picture of the range was taken at the Fortescue River Roadhouse. In the foreground there is a modern structure covered with solar panels. We have seen many such buildings along the highway and they provide power for telecommunications towers. We could not see any communications facility for this structure.

We will explore the Karratha region tomorrow but probably only stay two nights because the town itself is not particularly interesting.

Exmouth and Ningaloo World Heritage Area

Exmouth is close to the tip of the North West Cape. The area was first used by Europeans during WW2 as a base for submarines. It was bombed by the Japanese but there were no casualties.

In the 1960s a very low frequency communications facility was constructed at the tip of the Cape to provide communications to US and Australian ships and submarines. It was named the Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt after the then PM presumably died. There are 13 metal towers the tallest of which is 357m. The pic shows only one third of this tower. There are two cars at the base of the tower. It is worth looking at this site on google earth to see the layout of the towers.

The main reason people come to Exmouth these days is to visit the Ningaloo World Heritage Area along the western side of the Cape. Dogs are not allowed so we left our two with the vet since there are no regular boarding kennels in town. We spent a couple of hours snorkelling at Turquoise Bay, which truly is turquoise. The coral reef is only metres out in shallow water. There is no need to take a boat out to see the reef but there are plenty of boat trips available to see the whale sharks. We just donned our snorkelling gear and swam around. Unfortunately I have not managed to get the gopro working yet so no underwater pics.

The beach in the pic is near the Lighthouse Caravan Park on the north west tip of the Cape. This is not within the World Heritage Area but there are sites in the WHA for camping and self sufficient caravans. There were no campsites available today and the school holidays have not started WA. This is definitely on our list for our next trip.

Monkey Mia to Carnarvon

On our final afternoon at Monkey Mia there were a dozen or so dolphins just playing and feeding in the shallow water near the resort. It was lovely to watch. They rub against mooring ropes to clean their skin.

This Frenchman was taking pictures with his gopro but just after I took this photo he was underwater up close to the dolphin. Of course I told him off because the clear direction is to keep away from the dolphins when swimming - certainly not to swim towards them! The dolphins are at risk of disease or injury from contact with humans, and the males can become aggressive.

On our drive out of the World Heritage Area we called in to Eagle Bluff which was along 5kms of gravel road. This may have caused the fridge door and one of the cupboard doors to fly open in the van, which was not discovered until we reached Carnarvon.

The Wintersun Caravan Park has been a great place to stay. It is seriously pet friendly, even designating one of the washing machines for washing pet bedding. There is a small grassed off leash dog area that is fenced so Max and Coco have had a chance to chase balls. A lot of Perth residents escape here for part of the winter.

Carnarvon is famous for the historic mile long jetty. We walked part way out but did not get to the end. I stopped when I saw the missing railing so took this pic to show what it was like. The timbers are very weathered and it was difficult walking, especially for the dogs. We overheard people complaining about the $5 donation for walking out on the jetty, but we think these fees or "donations" are justified if these historic sites are to be maintained.

We are not sure where we will end up tomorrow as we have no fixed plans but possibly Exmouth.

Monkey Mia - Cats, Dogs and Emus

When we arrived yesterday at the Monkey Mia resort I confirmed we were travelling with 2 dogs and mentioned we also have 2 cats. The woman serving me then said that cats are not allowed anywhere in the World Heritage Area. This would have meant that we had travelled over 400kms including 160kms off the highway and would have to turn around and drive back at least 160kms until we could find a roadside stop.

Eventually commonsense prevailed and we were allowed to stay on the condition the cats remain in the van the whole time. I paid $200 as a bond - $50 for each dog and cat but nothing to tell me what might cause the bond to be forfeited.

The issue regarding cats as it was explained to me is there are feral cats in the park, the surrounding area has been baited with 1080 for wild dogs and cats, and no cats are allowed anywhere in the World Heritage Area. The town of Denhan is about 20kms away and I was told that no one in the town is allowed to have cats. I noted that there had been no signage advising visitors that cats are not permitted in the area.

This morning I was walking the cattle dog and saw a cat under a car and rubbing up against another traveller's legs. I asked if it was his cat and he said no but the cat had adopted them from the time they arrived last night. It was a very friendly feral cat.

I then walked both dogs being vigilant they not pick up any scraps because crows have been known to drop baits in areas not otherwise baited. Number one dog was busy doing her number twos when an emu came striding towards us. The information provided to dog owners was to keep away from emus as they will attack dogs. I stepped forward and yelled at the emu in an attempt to chase it away but it kept coming towards us. The cattle dog wasn't going to sit idly by watching me deal with a monstrous bird he had never before laid eyes on and he gallantly growled and barked causing the emu to quickly have a change of heart and take off in the opposite direction.

I rechecked the website for the Monkey Mia resort and confirmed it advertises itself as "pet friendly" without any suggestion that pets only means dogs. I also checked the website for the local shire of Shark Bay which covers Denhan and it refers to registering cats so the information given to me about cats not being allowed in the World Heritage Area seems to be incorrect on several counts. I will save my complaint till after we have left because I don't want to run the risk there will be a change of heart about our cats staying here.

Monkey Mia - Dolphins

One of the attractions here is the feeding of dolphins. This is controlled by the national parks authority because in the past dolphins had become dependent on human feeding at the expense of their calves. Only selected females are fed and only up to one tenth of their daily food requirements to reduce the chance of them becoming dependent or aggressive towards humans.

The beach is lovely as it is sheltered. The dolphins come into water that is only ankle deep, but they cannot stay there for too long because the calves can't feed from their mothers in such shallow water. The people standing in the water during the first feeding session had cold feet when they left the water as the wind was chilly.

I also saw a couple of loggerhead turtles swimming under the pier. Today we are taking it easy, enjoying a bit of sun and relaxing in the surrounds of the resort.

Geraldton

Today the weather cleared and we were able to see some of Geraldton. We had to have a chip in the windscreen repaired, and of course stock up on supplies.

At Point Moore the locals have erected a platform suitable for osprey eagles to build a nest. I saw two young ospreys in the nest and was lucky enough to see one of the parents deliver a feed. It wasn't obvious from the ground but the photo shows the nest is built in an old wicker basket.

We also caught our first sunset over the Indian Ocean. The caravan park has a specially built viewing platform which is where I took the photo.

Tomorrow we are driving to Monkey Mia where we will spend two nights.

Rain - Lots of Rain

We left Leonora in fine weather but about an hour before we reached our destination of Mount Magnet the rain started and was quite heavy. Fortunately the caravan park here is accustomed to people stopping for just one night so has lots of drive-through sites.

On the way we called into the mining town of Leinster. This town is unusual in that it was not established until 1976 as a company town so has no historic buildings. The shopping centre is better serviced than Leonora which does not even have a hairdresser. There is an olympic size swimming pool and several other recreation facilities for the 1400 people who live here. About half of the population is FIFO but the rest live and work in the town. A helpful Irish woman at the service station told me that you have to have a job in the town to be able to live there.

Sandstone is the only other town between Leinster and Mount Magnet and we had a short visit.

Leonora

The only caravan park in Leonora is busy at this time of year because of prospectors who come looking for gold. These are mostly retirees but I met a French couple travelling the country who stopped here for a couple of weeks to try their luck.

Yesterday we visited the Sons of Gwalia Mine Precinct which is only a couple of kilometres out of town. There is a large open cut gold mine which is no longer active as the mining is now limited to underground.  The workforce is fly-in-fly-out so there are dozens of dongas around town to accommodate them.

There is also an airstrip where 747s can land and was used to bring in "boat people" when an immigration detention centre was located here.

The mine at Gwalia was closed in the 1960s and the miners just abandoned their corrugated iron homes leaving many of their personal items behind, including a piano. I walked around this historic site and looked inside some of these buildings. They must have been freezing cold in winter and wickedly hot in summer as the only internal lining was hessian and newspapers. 

Up the top of the hill is Hoover House which was designed by Herbert Hoover who was the 24 year old mine manager at the time. It cost 600 pounds to construct when the average house only cost 100 pounds to build. Hoover went to the goldfields in China and eventually became the 31st President of the United States.

Menzies between Kalgoorlie and Leonora

It was yet another grey and misty day when we left Kalgoorlie. We stopped for a break halfway between Kalgoorlie and Leonora at a town called Menzies. This is another former mining town which flourished in the late 1800s and early 1900s but virtually died when the gold petered out. Tourism is generated by an interest in the history of the area so local shire councils in the goldfields renovate some of these old buildings. The population is less than 50 people in the town. 

Visitors always appreciate a decent toilet block and that has been provided by the shire council in Menzies. There is also a large collection of old machinery on display in a park. A clock was ordered from England for the newly constructed town hall but the ship carrying the clock was apparently lost at sea. It was not until 2000 that a clock was finally installed in the tower.

Menzies is surrounded by several abandoned gold mining towns but is most famous for stainless steel statues in Lake Ballard created in 2003 by an English sculptor and artist, Antony Gormley. We did not drive the 50km dirt road to see these sculptures as rains made the track pretty muddy. Another destination saved for our next trip but at least photos are available on the internet!

Coolgardie

Today I drove through fog to Coolgardie about 35km from Boulder. This town is on the main route between Perth and Kalgoorlie-Boulder so has a fair amount of traffic passing through, including heavy vehicles.

Gold was discovered near Coolgardie in 1892 and there was such a rush the population increased to 16,000 within 10 years and several substantial buildings remain from that era. In the damp conditions the poor state of some of these buildings was obvious with water dripping through verandas, and rocks used to construct masonry walls disintegrating. The exterior of the town hall is pretty impressive.

Hammond Park Kalgoorlie

This surprisingly green park in the middle of Kalgoorlie has some weird features. There are native birds in aviaries, peacocks, ducks and other water birds in the lake, and emus and kangaroos in a separate fenced area. I tried to entice the kangaroo and emu in the picture to pose as though they were in the Australian Coat of Arms, but they were not cooperative as I could not capture the kangaroo on the right.

The miniature Bavarian castle is said to be studded with 40,000 gemstones but on an overcast day I could not see any from the boundary fence.

Boulder Town Hall

The street frontage of the Burt St heritage precinct in Boulder has recently been restored. The aim was to re-establish a vibrant town centre but that has not yet been achieved as about half of the shops and other buildings are vacant. This was not obvious when driving through the area on Sunday, but after walking the length of Burt St it became apparent that the well restored verandas and facades have not attracted the hoped for revitalisation of the area.

Historically Boulder was a blue collar town and has a strong union history. After World War I the only men who could get work in the mines were returned soldiers or those who could prove they had unsuccessfully tried to enlist.

Today I went on a guided tour of the Boulder Town Hall. This was an excellent way to learn the history of the town as well as see parts of the building not otherwise accessible to the public. I didn't know there had been an earthquake to the west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in 2010 which caused extensive damage to several of the pre-WWI masonry buildings in Boulder. The town hall was severely damaged and had to be extensively restored.

I had never heard of Philip Goatcher and did not know he was a famous scene painter for theatres. The Boulder town hall has the only remaining screen curtain painted by Goatcher in 1908. The centre of the screen depicts the Bay of Naples and is surrounded by painted "curtains". The drop down canvas was restored by conservationists in Sydney after locals raised the money for the project. The curtain is insured for a quarter of a million dollars but is considered to be priceless.

Kalgoorlie (3)

Our otherwise unattractive caravan park was greatly improved by the sunset.

Tomorrow we will explore Boulder and some of the other parks in Kalgoorlie.

Kalgoorlie (2)

Walking the dogs I found we are camped close to a corrections facility. I had seen what appeared to be a tall building made from lots of glass but it turned out to be the high fence made from steel mesh that reflected the light.

One dog is sporting a bandage because she managed to tear a front dew claw. She was constantly licking her claw so we treated her with antiseptic powder and bandaged it. The fact that she has tolerated the bandage all day suggests it has eased the pain she must have been suffering because the quick is exposed.

In a neighbouring street we drove past this house which has been decorated with gnomes, plants and other structures all the way to the roadway.

 

 

 

Kalgoorlie (1)

On Sunday morning there were few people in downtown Kalgoorlie - most of the shops and pubs were closed - so it was a good time to walk around and admire the historic buildings.

At the information centre we learned there was a multicultural festival in one of the parks and found a large proportion of the local population enjoying foods and music from many countries.

In town both Coles and Woolies were closed all day but we found an IGA that was open and doing a roaring trade. It was close to the Super Pit Lookout so we drove up and viewed the largest open cut gold mine in Australia. The huge dump trucks looked tiny as they drove up and down the roads cut into the side of the pit. Driving those trucks would not be a career option for people with a fear of heights. 

We visited an arboretum and saw that some of the river gums had interesting vertical stripes up their bark. The dark bark falls off and leaves grooves on the outside of the tree. I researched this phenomenon and discovered EUCLID which is the "definitive electronic identification and information system now covering all 894 eucalypts of Australia" which provides this explanation:

A curious but easily recognised bark type is the minnirichi which is restricted to a few species from southern Western Australia and arid Central Australia. This bark seems rough at first glance and on close inspection is seen to be formed of partly shed longitudinal strips that curl outwards, initially exposing pale or greenish underbark. The older attached strips turn deep red on aging. In one minnirichi species, in particular, the lower bark becomes thick and fibrous while only the upper bark is typical minnirichi.

Drive to Kalgoorlie

On the drive from Esperance to Kalgoorlie we passed many more road trains than anywhere else so far, because of the mines. Roadside signs informed drivers that road trains can be up to 53.5m long and their maximum allowed speed is 100kph. The speed limit on most sealed outback roads is otherwise 110kph unless towing when it is 100kph so we are unlikely to be overtaken by a road train.

Our caravan park is at Boulder which is the town just down the road from Kalgoorlie. We drove to Kalgoorlie just as the sun was setting and captured this picture of the Exchange Hotel. The once separate town of Boulder is now a suburb of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder but I doubt many eastern state dwellers have heard of Boulder WA (as opposed to Boulder Colorado).

We ate at the Palace Hotel which has an enormous upstairs dining area plus a wide balcony around two sides which had seating for over 50 people. The food was good and the restaurant deserves its 4 star rating on TripAdvisor.

Cape Le Grand National Park

This national park is only about 50km from Esperance and is magnificent. Most roads are sealed throughout the park and there are excellent parking facilities. At this time of the year not many people were visiting the park. The concession entry fee is $6 per car per day or monthly and annual passes are available.

Lucky Bay was our favourite spot and we will return and camp there on our next trip to WA. Rossiter Bay had piles of seagrass washed up in storms. Some of the piles were more than 2m deep and it felt like you were walking on a mattress. We saw several of the small kangaroos that inhabit the park. These are often photographed sunning themselves on the beach.

Tomorrow we are driving to Kalgoorlie.

Great Ocean Drive

The rain has gone so we did the 40km Great Ocean Drive along the coast to the west of Esperance which was delightful. The coast changes around every bay but the water was astoundingly blue everywhere. There is a bike path/walking track separate from the road and that would be a fabulous way to explore this section of coastline.

The drive leaves the coast and passes the Pink Lake. This salt lake can be very pink depending on the weather. The colour comes from salt tolerant algae which contains carotene.

Norseman and Esperance

The one and only caravan park at Norseman was ordinary but expensive at $40 for one night. We stayed hooked up to reduce the amount of packing up in the rain in the morning. We didn't see much of Norseman but I was taken by the camel statues made from corrugated iron which are featured at a main roundabout in the town.

It is only a 2 hour drive from Norseman to Esperance and it was dry when we arrived and set up camp but the forecast was for wind and rain with the possibility of 100kph gusts. We stocked up supplies from the local Woolies and battened down.

At 2am we were woken by the noise of the wind and rain which caused the caravan aerial to bang. We finally worked out cause of the banging but could not go back to sleep because of the noise of the wind and the shaking of the van. Our caravan park is one block from the beach and that has provided a lot of protection from the wind. The two parks on the foreshore don't allow dogs so we were lucky in having no choice other than to stay here because the wind at the foreshore parks must have been a lot worse. The wind did not get to 100kph but maxed out at 82kph at the Esperance airport.

At 5am the power went out for most of Esperance. The van ticks over to 12 volt for lights etc and we turned on the gas for the fridge and the water heater. The power was back on within a couple of hours.The downpour caused minor flooding at the caravan park and we needed gum boots to get to the toilet block.

It rained on and off most of the day but the wind died down by mid morning. The dogs have been in the car all day and night except when taken for walks. Both were keen to get back in each time to escape the wind or rain. As soon as the weather clears we will be visiting the car wash which also has a dog wash!

We plan to visit Cape Le Grande national park when the rain clears on Friday so the dogs will be off to doggy day care. In the meantime we will explore Esperance between showers.

Crossing the Nullarbor

The long drive across the Nullarbor was interesting and there are significant distances between roadhouses, particularly on the WA side of the border. Fortunately there are lots of parking areas to break the journey. We did not visit each of the sights, saving some for our next crossing.

The roadhouse at Balladonia has a museum featuring debris from the Skylab spaceship that landed in the desert.

We are at Norseman preparing to drive to Esperance. Storms are forecast for both towns so we expect to see more rain.

Bunda Cliffs and Whales

It was cloudy all day so the Bunda Cliffs lacked the red colour shown in many photos. The wind was blowing fiercely across the cliffs while we were watching the whales and that made taking photos very difficult. There was one episode of two whales together with their tails out of the water, a few blows and one breaching whale. They were clearly visible just below the boardwalk constructed specifically for viewing the whales when they calve which is from August to September. There were three other cliff lookouts on the route west but no whales at those locations.

The Nullarbor is a treeless plain and the name derives from nullus arbor. There is no permanent water course anywhere.

We saw two wedge tail eagles feasting on roadkill. The road surface continued to be of excellent quality and there are a few straight sections marked as emergency landing zones for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

We stopped for a late lunch at Border Village on the SA side of the border, or perhaps it was morning tea based on WA time. We had missed critical information about produce cannot be taken into WA and had to surrender all of our fresh fruit, vegetables and even our honey. We knew about not taking fruit into SA but did not appreciate WA has strict quarantine regulations. The officer who inspected our Jeep and caravan knew we had dogs as Coco barked at him. He asked if we had any other pets and I told him about the cats. He asked again if we had any other animals because if we had birds they would not have been allowed to cross the border. If we had known we could not take the fruit and vegetables we could have cooked some of them, eaten others and given away the rest to east bound travellers. Instead it was all binned at the checkpoint except the one banana I ate while the van was being checked.

Our overnight stop is a free campsite just by the highway at Mandura Lookout. The lookout is over the plains and in today's cloudy conditions it was not particularly engaging. The trucks will be climbing up the hill during the night passing about 50m from where we are parked. We would have been better off stopping at the last free campsite as it had toilets and was a lot cleaner than this location, and was further away from the highway. Without electricity we don't have heating so will have an early night to stay warm in bed.

Tomorrow we will head for Norseman which will be the first proper town since Squeaky Bay.

Nullarbor

We headed west today and stopped at Smoky Bay and Ceduna, both of which have long jetties with swimming enclosures. The highway is in excellent condition and accommodates passing road trains reasonably well.

We passed a recently abandoned caravan along the side of the road. It was missing one wheel and the owner was here at Nullarbor trying to get a replacement.

The last roadhouse we stopped at was Nundroo which was very basic but we wish we had refuelled there because diesel was only $1.29 per litre and here at Nullarbor it was $1.65. These places are only about 150km apart so location cannot justify the much higher price.

There is a roadhouse, hotel/motel and caravan park here at Nullarbor. There is power but no drinking water, just water for showers and the toilets. There are some interesting murals painted on the old buildings that are no longer used or have been converted to camp kitchens. It is a popular overnight spot because Head of Bight is only 20km away and that is where we hope to see whales tomorrow. At the roadhouse there are a couple of small planes that do flights over the whales and the Bunda Cliffs that drop 90m to the ocean. These cliffs run for 200km. A large helicopter also landed and took off while we were here this afternoon. It was a rescue helicopter but there didn't appear to have been any emergency. 

The Nullarbor Links is the world's longest golf course. It is an 18 hole par 72 course spanning 1365kms from Ceduna in SA to Kalgoorlie in WA with one hole in each participating town or roadhouse. Each hole includes a green and tee and a rugged outback fairway. The green at this location is artificial grass and made a safe place to let the dogs have a run without hurting their paws.

Streaky Bay South Australia

During the drive from Port Augusta we passed a restricted military area where armoured vehicles were being unloaded for a major exercise. We have passed several loaders carrying these tanks.

While driving in South Australia we have noticed very little graffiti and hardly any rubbish along the sides of the roads. Since leaving Adelaide we have seen no wildlife and no roadkill apart from a couple of bunnies.

At the Streaky Bay Foreshore Tourist Park we have a partial view of the bay which is very calm. We drove the loop road around Cape Bauer and walked down to a blowhole. The calm sea resulted in a blow that was not very dramatic but from the surrounding area it is clear the water spout can spread over a 50m area.

The town of Streaky Bay has a long jetty with a fenced jetty swimming pool. It is a friendly, neat and tidy town with green lawns along the foreshore. We have seen fishermen cleaning large quantities of fish caught in the bay. The name of the town comes from the streaky effect in the bay caused by different types of seaweed.

Tomorrow we head further west and will drive through Smoky Bay and Ceduna. We will decide where to stop for the night depending how far we get.

Port Augusta

The first day of winter was warm and sunny. The Arid Lands Botanic Garden is wonderful in many regards. There is a great viewing area across Spencer Gulf towards the Flinders Ranges. The visitor centre is in a lovely building mostly built using rammed earth walls. There is a good café, a plant shop and a gift shop at the visitor centre. The plants are fascinating and there are various walks through the garden. The picture shows the leaves and nuts of a eucalyptus pimpiniana which also has fine yellow flowers. I returned to the garden at sunset to take pictures at sunset.

Tomorrow we drive across the north of the Eyre Peninsula headed for Streaky Bay