Home at last

Thursday 17th July 2008

We made it home safely having done over 17000km in just less than 3 months.

Paul will be home in a couple of days.

It's weird to be home but at the same time it's like we've never been away.

Canal Rocks and Dunsborough

Wednesday 16th July 2008

Lovely lazy morning – Paul and Duncan took Charlie for a walk – I slept in then read book

Paul cooked pancakes, girls sort of entertained themselves

After some lunch – sarnies – we headed out

Photos at Smith’s beach – end of trip ones

Climbing rocks at Canal Rocks – always a favourite

Checking out development at Yallingup

Into Dunsborough – coffee and hot chocs – lolly shop for girls

Food shopping then home

Duncs played tennis with H and K

Paul and I prepared roast dinner and I cleaned out pantry cupboard of mouse poo

Watched Grumpy Old Men, did a bit more washing

Paul put girls to bed and they must have been tired!

Finished my book

To Smith's Beach

Tuesday 15th July 2008

no photos due to constant rain all day

Took all breakfast things into house so we didn’t have to wash our stuff up!

Yvette slept wrapped up in her sleeping bag on the front seat of the Honda

More chatting, displaying of bikes, photos etc.

Girls fascinated by birds – fairy wrens and another small bird – they also saw a bandicoot

By the time we were ready to pack up the rain had started – yuck

Paul managed to edge camper carefully around back of house – very tight, tho’

Drove to Pemberton in lots of rain – through the Valley of the Giants, too

Nice lunch in smart cosy cafe

I drove next stage to Margaret River

Called Liz who was at shop so called in on her and the boys (Trav up in town)

Shopped for essentials

A relief to get to Smiths – real beds, real comfort, hot showers, for the girls there is tv, space to run around, books to read and games to play

Also found 3 dead mice – yuck!

Inside of camper is damp – water getting in somewhere – also getting into boot of Cruiser

Brought in all perishable food – can’t believe how much fits in that fridge!

Showered and did a hot wash of clothes

To Albany

Monday 14th July 2008

Cold start to the day but hot shower helped with that

Packed up again – getting more chaotic with everything everywhere now

Drove out of town along scenic drive

At lunch stop (burgers and sandwiches from roadhouse eaten at picnic spot) rang Ron and Janet to see if we could camp in their garden – v short notice but they took it well!

Into Albany at 5pmish, stopped at supermarket for supplies

Out to Torbay in the dark – missed one turning and ended up in Cosy Corner

Lots of branches and leaves everywhere after storm of Friday

Made it safely – they were so welcoming, we were so loud and girls were so bursting with noise and energy!

Chicken, salad, bread and garlic bread for dinner, followed by fruit salad and ice cream

Girls and Yvette into bed, rest of us chatted a while

Yvette sick in the night – up and down in the cold – poor thing

To Esperance

Sunday 13th July 2008

Walked Charlie

Inside of camper damp with condensation

Easier packing up with three

On the road – spots of rain around

Stopped at Norseman roadhouse for lunch – Katie had b’fast, too

Girls watching movies and reading

Into Esperance pm

Set up in damp (but not wet) conditions then went for a drive

Drove along coast westwards, walked on beach, watched sun set

Back into town – ate at Taylor St Cafe – v nice, quite posh – us in jeans and dirty, scruffy clothes

Another early night

Kalgoorlie

Saturday 12th July 2008

Slow start – breakfast, dog walking, washing and hanging out to dry

Eventually to Jesters for pie for Holly

Then to Mining Hall of Fame

Panning for gold – Duncan found some – tiny piece, less than 1mm diameter!

Down into pit for a tour with hard hats and squishy cage lift

Bitter wind

Pouring of gold – fooled me

Into cafe for refreshments

Look around museum/art gallery/look out/shop

Back to town – all shops shut!

Walk for Charlie in park opposite

To food court for v average meal

Everyone home and in bed by 9:30pm

To Kalgoorlie

Friday 11^th July 2008

We were all awake earlyish this morning (by WA time, anyway), despite no longer needing to get away quickly – isn’t that just typical. It was cold but not as freezing as the last few days – I actually didn’t put my socks on til later, but I didn’t go outside the caravan, either!

There were lots of grey clouds loitering in the sky above us so we packed up as quickly as possible to avoid getting wet and were on the road refuelled and ready to move by 9:30.

The road from Laverton to Leonora is bitumen but it still had a few car bodies lying beside it and the road kill toll was horrendous – dead skippys everywhere – made even worse by the onset of rain turning everything to mush. We also saw more of the blue wine boxes – must find out what brand they are and check out if they are the cheapest around which might explain why there are so many of them.

We passed a couple of road trains and considerably more traffic than in the last two days, but the scenery was still spectacular and even the clouds and rain couldn’t dampen that.

It wasn’t long before we were cruising into Kal. As promised, the main street is very wide and is long, too – but then it is the only street, really, with nothing much happening shop-wise on those around it.

Our caravan park is set way down the road back to Perth (well, still within the urban section but not what you would call the central hub) and small but we have a big site that is big enough for two vehicles and the dog.

I was decidedly ‘upset’ to find that there was more red dirt inside the camper – must have been hiding in the crevices, just waiting...

We had just finished setting up when Duncan rang to say he was at the gate – timing. The girls charged off to go and see Charlie who wagged his tail at me but didn’t go mad – he is SO laid back! It is definitely going to be squishy tonight with six people and a dog in the camper – at least we’ll keep each other warm. We have all been excited about this next stage in the trip – Paul because he’s been dying to spend some time with Duncan, the girls because they get to see Charlie again and me because it’s something new again. I am also sad because it’s nearly the end and also because it’s gonna be winter from now on and I don’t want to be cold again!

Paul and the girls had spotted the Dome cafe on the strip so plans were made to head there for chips and wedges to keep us going for the afternoon (lunch having been skipped amongst the excitement of arrival). Charlie sat perfectly in the boot of the car – we followed Mum’s theory that as long as he’s in the car he knows we can’t go anywhere without him so he doesn’t fret.

We then drove out to the lookout for the Super Pit which used to be known as the Golden Mile. It is where Alan Bond bought up all the small mining leases who were struggling to turn a profit from their underground work and turned it into one big, open-cast mine. It is a gigantic hole in the ground and is right next to the town. The machines looked like Matchstick cars and Tonka toys and it’s hard to appreciate how enormous they are. They had some statistics on boards saying that the big dumper trucks (as pictured at the Tom Price mine) cost $4million to buy and there are 35 in this pit! The big excavator and loader machine costs the same but they only have one of those down at the bottom of the pit.

Holly wore off some of the excess energy from the last couple of days by climbing a huge shovel thing they have on display that would have been big enough to fit a car in the bucket.

A visit to Coles for some essentials was followed by showers and more story-telling – obviously Paul and Duncan are the traditional holders of this role but Yvette has certainly inherited some of it from her Dad and wasn’t shy in joining in and Paul was most perturbed that Holly and Katie wanted to tell some of the stories themselves!

Dinner was taken in town after which I brought the girls and the dog home to a chilly campervan that soon warmed up with the use of the heater that Duncan had brought from home – yippee. Holly and Katie are sleeping on the bench and flat bit where the table goes down so that Duncan and Yvette can share the double bed (obviously Yvette is not too impressed and I have warned Holly and Katie about the volume of Duncan’s snoring!). Paul, Duncan and Yvette felt it would be a shame not to sample some of the local hostelries so they should be back some time later...

To Laverton via the Great Central Rd

Thursday 10^th July 2008

The new plan is to cover all the dirt bit of the trip today – no stopping til we hit the bitumen at Laverton. This adds 380 or so kilometres today’s travel but means that tomorrow will only be 360km instead of 760km. Paul had a chat with our next door neighbours who had arrived after dark last night and they’d come from Laverton but had taken all day. So it became a rush to get away which wasn’t helped by my fingers being so chilled that I had trouble doing anything – particularly making the sandwiches!

The girls received new books to keep them occupied but Holly got tired of hers and Katie read much quicker than she will admit to so we played some story tapes – Oliver and Just William (bequeathed to us by Sam) but that just seemed to make them grumpy. That left us with just playing music – same old stuff off the Ipod – but it seemed to suit everyone – luckily.

In the 220km before we stopped at Warburton for fuel we saw about 50 camels, only 5 cars and twenty four burnt out wrecks! Here the fuel pumps were in locked cages and they only sell diesel and a newly developed fuel called Opal that works in unleaded engines but is no good for the petrol-sniffers – apparently it is (or has been) a big problem around here. We’d heard bad things about Warburton but didn’t hang around long enough to be able to comment on that. The roadhouse was full of people buying hot chips, ice creams, lollies and, bizarrely, bananas – I think someone had just brought in a box of them and they were the only fresh fruit available. Apparently it is pay day today – not sure what they all do for a living, but maybe that is a euphemism for dole day?

We were served by a couple of northern UK lads who are travelling round Oz and are here for a few weeks because they can earn okay money, get free board and food and have no way of spending the money they are earning! Still, I can think of better places to spend a few weeks...

The landscapes were fantastic again and I spent a bit of time trying to capture some of them on camera. I also tried to snap some of the too-many-to-count vehicle shells that we came across but at the speed of 100km they tend to go past a bit quickly!

There was hardly any traffic on the road – it has to be the most deserted road we’ve been on this trip – but it is obviously well maintained and Paul was able to get an average speed of about 100km/h.

We saw a huge amount of Emu Bitter cartons and blue wine boxes strewn all the way along the road (amidst plenty of other rubbish, too) but very little wildlife apart from the camels and the occasional bird.

We stopped for a roadside wee and found the shock-absorber on the other side (of caravan) had worked its way off, the pipe to the tap on the A-frame at the front of the trailer had lost its cable tie and had potentially leaked out all our water, a d-shackle had come off one of chains between the camper and car, the whole front of caravan was now seriously pock-marked (yes, even more) by the gravel and one of the camper legs that sits on the corner had managed to lower itself and lose the rubber base – how it wasn’t completely ripped off itself I have no idea.

Needless to say, there were cheers as we came off the dirt – it was a big achievement – 780km of dirt road in 7.5hrs!

Laverton is not exactly a bustling metropolis but it does have a small caravan park with half decent showers.

The camper was full of red dirt – the worst kind! We had remembered to put on the tape but maybe because of the extreme cold (affecting both the tape and my ability to apply it) it had been completely useless and unstuck itself. The only consolation is that this should be the last time we’ll have to deal with it that quantity of dirt!

We found that all the water had indeed leaked out and despite refilling one tank the pump is no longer very effective – the leak in the pipe from the other tank was sufficient to lose the vacuum required. Oh, and when I took the last bottle of fizzy water from the cupboard we found it had a small hole where it had rubbed for so long on the floor (only been in the cupboard since Alice!).

Heated up leftovers from previous meals meant dinner was easy tonight.

It is nowhere near as cold here – possibly due to the fact that there are some clouds in the sky but hopefully no rain will come from them.

Kata Tjuta, back into WA

How's this for up-to-date, Lynsey?!

Wednesday 9^th July 2008

I had Katie as a hot water bottle for half the night. She wasn’t bad in the heating department and she wasn’t even too much of a wriggler but I am looking forward to my sleeping bag all to myself tonight.

Paul and I woke just before 7am, conscious that sunrise was in half an hour and we’d made vague plans to get up and watch the changing colours on the big rock. At 10 past Paul was up and out. I took another 5 minutes, partly because I needed to put yet more clothes on before I could venture up the hill but also because leaving a snug bed is hard for me at the best of times!

As it turned out we had to wait til gone 7:30 before there was any noticeable difference in the rock and by then I was chilled through. Imagine my amazement/horror when a spotty youth appeared on the hill wearing only tracksuit pants and a singlet! He must be born and bred in deepest darkest Tasmania or something!

Luckily Katie was still heating my sleeping bag when we got back so another 20 minutes (stretched to 30 in the end) was spent warming back up again. Needless to say, pack up was distinctly slower today since my brain was having trouble functioning at such low temperatures and Paul’s frustration was just barely contained!

Anyway, we got out of there ok and set off for Kata Tjuta (formerly known as the Olgas). The two whinge-meisters were all set to stay in the car but we once again worked our cajoling magic and all walked through the Valley of the Winds to the first lookout. Paul’s opinion of these massive edifices was that two of them looked like the top of a submarine! Holly was amazed by the blueness of the sky and Katie found some rocks that she used (quite tunefully) as tapping sticks. Fortunately, these particular rocks didn’t make it back to the car after we’d mentioned the bad luck stories of those who took rocks or sand away from the area. (In the Cultural Centre we’d found a folder full of letters from people returning parts of Uluru and Kata Tjuta and relating the bad luck that had come to them since stealing it – could be hocus pocus but who would want to risk finding out?).

I found it hard to concentrate on the beauty of the place because I was so excited about getting onto the Great Central Road and heading back over the border to WA. And I didn’t have long to wait. As soon as we turned off the nice bitumen roads of the Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park we hit the red dirt.

This road was not particularly better or worse than the other dirt ones we’ve encountered but like all the others it required serious concentration – particularly by the driver but also by the front-seat passenger, who, when not doling out sandwiches, drinks and other refreshments and not playing DJ or mediator, had her eyes glued to the road and her lips as sealed as she could keep them (not enough, if you ask Paul!).

There was probably mostly hard, gravelly road but there was plenty of deep sand (which even once set off the Stability Control alarm), washouts, dry river crossings, dips and crests. The one thing there wasn’t plenty of was other traffic, in fact, we saw more burnt out, upturned cars (20 in only 350km) than we did other ‘active’ vehicles and I lost count of the number of old tyres and bits of tyres lying strewn along the road. The colour of the road changed regularly – sometimes the deep red of the centre, sometimes a soft peachy orange or a whitey-grey and yet others a creamy gravel – and the surrounds were quite spectacular sometimes – the ever-present Spinifex, the changing treescapes and the occasional hill/mountain.

We cruised into Warakurna Roadhouse (our stop for the night) at about 4pm, got a drive-through site in a modest caravan park type area behind the roadhouse and did the basic set up – no awning! The girls proceeded to play in the orange mud where the drips were coming out of our water tanks that had taken another battering from the gravelly road.

I wouldn’t normally mention the fact of doing the washing but this time it was so slow – the water pressure here is abysmal. Apparently, yesterday there wasn’t any water left in the tank that serves the visitors, so I guess we should be grateful for the dribble we were able to get but with a washing machine (ironically called the Speedy Queen) that would normally process a load (I deliberately didn’t say ‘wash’ the clothes – it’s more like ‘freshen’ than ‘clean’!) in 20 minutes it took over an hour!

Dinner was easy – sausages with leftovers from the last few days. We’ve got power here so the microwave is coming into its own for reheating! Afterwards we played Yahtzee which the girls picked up quickly and I was impressed by Holly’s adding up – despite the lack of schooling they’ve had while on this trip!

Uluru

Tuesday 8^th July 2008

It was SOOO cold this morning and inside my bed I was at least warm... I couldn’t get out of bed to check out the sunrise and I really didn’t regret it! The girls slept late as well so that made it a good reason to stay in bed.

In between Paul doing business deals and me cooking tonight’s curry we managed to persuade the girls to do some schoolwork although mostly through bribery and threats, sadly. For Holly I said she could get started on her presentation that she wants to do for her class and then we couldn’t drag her away from it! Katie did her maths and then was allowed to listen to Horrid Henry – again.

After lunch we dragged them out to the Visitors Centre and around the displays that were excellent with a sandy spot where they could make various animals’ footprints and some interesting info – Uluru is made of sandstone, Kata Tjuta is made of composite stuff, although both created around the same time.

The shops/hotels/centre was full of ‘other people’ which left us feeling not so special after all when thousands of others are here too – been spoilt by WA and the relative scarcity of tourists.

We went out on the road to Uluru – it is so impressive as you get close up to its 343m height. The actual climb was closed today due to high winds at the summit but normally you are allowed to climb it even tho the traditional owners (the Anangu) request that you don’t. They have a word called Tjukurpa which sort of means ‘the Dreamtime’ (all their laws on how to live, all their stories of how things were created , laws on how to look after the land etc) but they don’t like to use that phrase, very sensibly, because it diminishes what it stands for.

We started the spot where the climb would start and did the Mala walk (rufous hare wallaby) which takes you off to the left past some rock art (not so well preserved, but then there were hundreds of footprints inside the barriers intended to keep people out – I think policing the activities of the tourists would be a nightmare here, also, they tend to draw new paintings over old as they retell stories, which doesn’t make for clarity of pictures), and round to the Kantju Gorge (with signs asking us to refrain from swimming – quite amusing since there was not a skerrick of water when we were there). It was all flat and signposted and not at all strenuous but the girls added to their difficulty factor by climbing up inside some caves.

There are places around the rock where they ask tourists not to take photos – sacred sites etc. and I’m glad we didn’t because at the Cultural Centre we found that not only could you risk big fines but also it can bring you bad luck. It’s a bit bizarre, tho’ because the Sunrise Viewing Spot is right in the middle of one of those areas!

We did a circuit of the rock (in the car – there was no way we were going to try and walk with the girls around the 9.4km perimeter!) and stopped at another ‘water hole’ – the Mutijulu. Apparently there was water there in the beginning of May and the frogs are now buried underground waiting for the rain to return.

We had planned to visit Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) as well today but the 100km round trip and the fact that we have to go past them tomorrow anyway meant that I was able to persuade Paul to visit the Cultural Centre – another very well done presentation that even the girls found good parts about. It’s such a shame that they have been ‘over-cultured’ because I am sure that under normal circumstances (ie. A visit to here without two months of sight-seeing, gorges, visitors’ centres and culture overload beforehand) they would have taken a lot more in.

We then headed out to the Sunset Viewing area to secure a good spot before the crowds. Seems like plenty of others had the same idea because with 45 minutes to go the car park was nearly full already. However, it was well organised and everyone got excellent views of the changing colours of the rock as the sun set behind us. Holly sat in the car reading her book, poking her head out every now and then to check out this one-in-a-million view but it was exceedingly chilly already so I have to admit that I didn’t stay outside for all the time!

We joined the queue of cars leaving the park and enjoyed a good view of the Olgas with the lit up sky behind them.

Back at the caravan park I cooked dinner inside – two reasons – didn’t want to get cold myself and wanted to try and warm up the camper (with some degree of success). By the time we went to bed it was bitter cold – inside my sleeping bag and under the doona/duvet I am wearing thermals, thick socks, beanie and warm jacket and I could really do with some gloves. The girls have three or four layers of clothing, sleeping bag, doona and hats and I hope they stay warm – these canvas walls are useless – the only thing they stop is most of the wind.