Sydney & points north

After time with friends at St Georges Basin, we headed to Sydney for some time with family (Ric's this time). We spent a day with Joanne and David (Ric's 2 Sydney children) and an evening with them plus Geoff (Ric's brother) and his wife, Isobel and Cathy (Ric's sister). That evening we went to Geoff's son Alex's restaurant (Angels on Freshwater headland looking over the beach) and enjoyed a gourmet meal at the table next to Margaret Pomeranz the ABC movie critic. It was lovely to catch up with them all, the family that is. We stayed in Lane Cove National Park in Sydney, with the possums, bandicoots and lorikeets, who, as can be seen from the photo, were not shy, particularly when bread soaked in watery honey was on offer. I learnt that one from Currumbin Bird Sanctuary.

On the way to Myall Lakes for our next stop, we called in on Ric's sisters, Linda and Anne in Newcastle. After some good company and sustenance we headed off to Seal Rocks where Ric had a swim before we returned to find a more sheltered camp beside the lake. We set up camp at Neranie right next to the lake. What a beautiful and serene location (photo).

Our next stop over was at Crowdy Bay NP north east of Taree. We stayed at Kylie's beach campground for 2 nights. This area has the name Kylie attached to a few features in recognition of author, Kylie Tennant, who owned property here which she later donated to national parks. We did a couple of walks here, which exposed us to some amazing coastal and bush scenery. (photo)

We actually swam in that surf and it was very refreshing indeed.

We then headed further up the coast to east of Grafton and Yuraygir NP. We checked out Wooli and a couple of the camp grounds in the area before deciding on Illaroo Camp area near Minnie Water. What a delightful little spot - lovely beach walks and bush tracks to follow as well. (photo). We saw a ramshackle beach house on the headland here and thought it might be a great weekender for say $300k, but further investigation revealed it was being advertised for $1.1 million????

On our way , we were notified that Kristy, Sue's daughter, had gone into hospital to be induced with her second, grandchild number four for us. All ended well with Tana being delivered by emergency caesarian on October 23rd. Mother and son are both fine in spite of things happening nearly 5 weeks early. Nan and Pop are fine too and very much looking forward to meeting the little fella on our way through Brisbane in a few days time. In the meantime, we have a little bit more time to enjoy ourselves.



Yalwal & St Georges Basin

Travelling ever closer to home we arrived at Yalwal (West of Nowra) and camped next to the Dangera Dam

and the historical site of gold mines dating back to the 19th century. Exploring these old mine sites reveals the severe conditions that these miners endured, and the extent that they went to to chip out the seams in search of gold. Unfortunately the area has been neglected and discovering and accessing remarkable constructions such as open cuts, shafts, and  tunnels through the side of the hill to remove ore and mullock,

 is becoming much more difficult. Thanks to the directions from our mate Bob from St Georges Basin we managed to locate and explore some of the best sites.

We also launched the canoe both days and supplemented our diet with some delicious fresh bass as well as enjoying some pleasurable paddling on this serene waterway.

We then went four wheel driving to visit Jerrawangala Lookout,

with this mega dollar platform

that has no signage so that it is only visited by those lucky few who know where to look.

From here we went ti visit our good friends Bob and Margaret at St Georges Basin and enjoyed chewing the fat. Bob and I spent many hours exploring the region on dirt and mountain bikes in days gone by, guided by Bob's wonderful knowledge of all the old forestry trails, many of which have been closed or destroyed by NSW National Parks. Thanks Margaret and Bob for your great hospitality and wonderful friendship.

Hobart Beach - Bournda National Park, Tathra & Mimosa Rocks

From Green Cape we drove via the far too hectic Merimbula, glad to escape, to Bournda NP for a night in a very well appointed camping area that had hot showers and provided fire wood for a blazing fire to keep the visiting possums and bandicoots warm as they continually raided the site in search of bounty. The abbundance of Bell Minors (Bellbirds) was overwhelming with several birds in every tree and visiting the trailer, they are usually easy to hear but hard to see. In the morning it seemed that we had woken within a carrillion.

Next stop was Tathra where we restocked on oysters before heading to the historic wharf for a coffee. Unfortunately the cafe is no longer operating but the vista is still magnificent, as was the fur seal who came to visit.

Next stop Bermagui to restock the fridge and enjoy a coffee and hot chocolate at this pretty little harbour side town. We then backtracked to Mimosa Rocks where we spent a couple of nights warding off the marauding possums, and the less pesky bandicoots, and again warmed by entrancing flames of camp fires.We enjoyed some lovely walks and Sue caught a cod off these rocks

 that provided a wonderful entree before a main course of lamb stew.

 What a delicious fish, we really have been eating very well on this trip.

Up the coast to Eden

The car was overdue for a service so we rang Eden as we left Lakes Entrance and was able to book a spot for that afternoon, a bit surprising as we had to book in two to three weeks ahead in WA. We dropped off the car and walked up through the town and back down to the wharves where we had a seafood basket lunch taking in the views of the harbour and chatting with a fellow traveller. We then walked back up the hill for a hot chocolate in town and then picked up the car. Backtracking, we went to Green Cape where we set up camp in the Bittangabee camping area after first taking in the views from the Disaster Bay loookout (photo) and watching some playful whales frollicking just off the rocks from the lighthouse station out on the point. A short stroll from the camp took us out to a headland where we were entranced for an hour or so watching a pair of sea lions fishing with there tails in the air and then vanishing down as tey chased up a feed only to rise again to the surface with their bellies up, enjoying the sun. A hundred and fifty metres out three whales put on a great display, splashing their tails and fins, and occasionally launching themselves fully out of the water. We just don't get tired of watching their antics. As the evening was getting cool we headed back and made a good hot campfire and settled down to a glass of red in the company of kangaroos and wallabies, with pottaroos, possums and a bandicoot all jostling each other to hunt for any foodscraps that we were never going to share with them. They are quite cheeky and think nothing of climbing onto the table or into the pantry under the sink, returning time and again even after being chased off. This would rate up there as one of the top places for another longer visit.
The next day we headed north again, stopping again at Eden to buy some roysters and visit the headland above the harbour to enjoy the inspiring view south and down the coast.

Back to the east coast

Bright to Lakes Entrance.  After spending the night in a cabin in Bright because of rather cold temperatures forecast overnight, we left there with the thermometer in the car showing 10 degrees outside - quite chilly by our standards for 10am. As we slowly drove up the rather narrow, windy road to the top of Mt Hotham, we watched the temperature drop to 0 degrees. (photo).Small patches of ice and snow were still on the road, making it quite slippery, particularly, with the trailer on the back.  (photo) (Ric drove very carefully, Kristy). We stopped at the summit and had a coffee/ hot chocolate before going down the eastern slope  (photo). For a lot of the way we followed a stream which was flowing rather quickly - from all the melting snow, I guess. It was surprising to see the difference between the western and eastern slopes. The temperature rose very quickly down the latter and the snow and ice disappeared quite high up the slope.
We then headed for Lakes Entrance and the east coast which we left 16 weeks ago, passing through some lovely farmland on the way. (photo). Unfortunately, the bleak weather - wind, rain & cold - that had dogged us so far continued. After exploring the local bushland around the golf course, we adjourned to the Tyers Lake  hotel for a welcome glass of wine. This is a lovely part of the world with a well presented caravan park run by the local angling club, with a hotel next door with views out to the ocean and reasonably priced menu that is reportedly quite good. We returned to the caravan park on the waters edge in town where we had set up camp and enjoyed a long hot shower to thaw out before spending a pleasant few hours taking in the water views while devouring a succulent seafood platter for two at the Ferryman floating restaurant , washed down with a few glasses of chardonnay from Margaret River.

Fort Courage & Echuca

Where to go next? We looked at the maps past Renmark and noticed that there was a caravan park on a secondary road out of Wentworth and on the Murray river. There had to be a reason for a caravan park to be sited out there so we let the air out of the tyres yet again and headed down the gravel to Fort Courage. The roads along the way are crowded with abandoned stone farm houses, a reminder of the efforts of a brave generation of farmers in this harsh land. The park manager was a little bemused by our assumption that there would be plenty of room at the inn!!! the Mildura music festival was in full swing. However, tjere was still a site available and we stayed for two nights at Fort Courage (named after an orignal sponsor, Courage Brewery), that was set up to facilitate the Wentworth Angling Club. We canoed up the Murray, newly aquired fishing liscences in the kit, and enjoyed a trip up a liitle off-shoot (anabranch) of the river that was teeming with bird life and European carp. We dined on yellow belly provided by a more successful fisherman, and won a Lion's club Christmas cake in the Saturday night raffle.
Next we moved on to Echuca where we opted to stay in a free bush camp on the Murray with a glorious outlook over trhe river, only a couple of other campers, and enough firewood for a roaring fire to keep us warm. (photo) .We would have stayed longer but we had already decided to make the most of our dwindling time to explore the coast, so, following my mate Bob,s advice we headed off to Bright through the lush pastures, vineyards and orchard characterstic of this part of the continent. Tonight we are in Bright, a pretty little town, and have completed a walk down a section of the Oven's River. (photo). As the temperature is expected to be down to around 2 we have whimped out for a second time and booked into a cabin where we are currently washing down a punnet of strawberries with a little Baileys.

South Australia

With the unfriendly weather still chasing us, we headed for the SA border. Our visit to the Head of the Bight was rewarded by a prolonged close encounter with a southern right whale and her calf (photo). There were several offshore, but this pair came in so close that we didn't need binoculars to see them clearly - impressive stuff indeed and very humbling. However, it was disappointing to have to pay $12 each to pass through a building and get to the top of the cliff to see the whales in the first place. Enough said about that, as the expereince was priceless.
As we headed towards Eyre Peninsula, and moved away from the coast, we decided to follow the Navigator (our GPS) and head to the coast along some very obscure tracks. After some false starts (and finishes - with one track ending at a barbed wire fence with a paddock on the other side - confused the Navigator too), we finally came out on a lovely little beach - Cheetima Beach - on Cape Adieu (sorry Kath - another one for the atlas - try west of Fowlers Bay) (photo). We spent a very pleasant evening there with a very much appreciated fire to keep us warm, against the cold, wind and very bleak weather coming off the southern ocean. There was a family from Ceduna there who have been going there for years. They were amazed that a couple of travellers from Qld found their secret spot.We would have stayed there longer if the weather had been friendlier, but as it wasn't we moved on.
Because of the weather we weren't going to visit Streaky Bay, but Ric does love oysters and SB is famous for them, so off we went.   The only caravan park was on the water front and copping the worst of the wind and rain, so for the first time since leaving home we slept under a roof with four solid walls - we hired a cabin for the night. We really liked the area, in spite of the weather conditions.  (photo).It must be very beautiful in fine weather. We even checked out some of the real estate in the area - prices were quite reasonable in comparison with some places we have seen. Don't get too excited, we haven't found anywhere better than home yet!!!
As the weather was not improving, we decided to head directly east and leave the SA peninsulas for another time. We found a lovely free camp on the shores of Lake Gilles in the Conservation Park there. (west of Whyalla, Kath). (photo) It is a salt lake which actually has water in it at the moment. So we had a camp fire again - always a lovely treat on a cool/cold night.
After stocking up on supplies in Port Augusta, we deliberated as to which way to go - up through the centre via Innamincka, over through north-west NSW via Broken Hill, or directly to the coast via the alps. In the end the coast won out and we headed east. We had another lovely overnight free camp at Burra Creek Gorge with a little stream and another camp fire night. (Between Pt Augusta & Renmark, Kath - from now on it should be easy) .
This was our last stop in SA.

As you can see from the photos, the weather has not been the best. Not the fault of the camera RobnRose. We have a Canon Power Shot SX10IS with a 20x optical zoom, which has been doing a great job for us.

Cape Le Grand to Eucla

From Cape Le Grand we headed up Permango Road, not always easy to navigate (photo), on a four wheel drive track to Belladonia. We visited a couple of historic homesteads along the way which highlighted the harsh environments and living conditions that the early settlers endured trying to establish a life in the remote, unforgiving and infertile soils of the far south west.  (photo). The cold wind and occasional rain dictated a sheltered overnight stop which was conveniently facilitated by an old shed off the Eyre Highway on our journey to cross the Nullabor to fulfill one of Sue's dreams (photo).
Tonight we are at Eucla where Sue is viewed surveying the runs of the old telegraph station during the afternoon (photo) before we booked in to the caravan park for a long, long hot, hot shower and a bottle of red and a steak and salad dinner.

Cape Le Grand

From Stokes Inlet we went on to Esperance where we stocked up the supplies, especially the strawberries and chocolate dipping sauce, and headed off to Cape Le Grand, another of those spectacular locations that make Australia so unique. Striking granite monoliths outlined by stunning blue ocean waters and pure white sands, claimed to be the whitest in the world, that are simply breathtaking (photo). Here we had a very private and protected campsite in the national park at Cape Le grand Beach and enjoyed some fabulous walks through magnificent groves of coastal wildflower to rugged coastal bays and beautiful white beaches with crystal clear, and chilly, waters (photo). We also scaled the shear rock face of Frenchman's Peak, definitely not for the faint-hearted or unfit (photo), and here is the spectacular scene we enjoyed at the peak (photo).

Stokes Inlet

Albany threw a nasty little squall at us as we packed up to leave. But we did anyway! We intended traveling to Fitzgerald River National Park, but the roads were closed!! We talked to National Parks who recommended Stokes Inlet which turned out to be a delightful waterway at the conjunction of the Lort and Young Rivers which only breaks out into the ocean every few years after heavy rains. This is a beautiful area but the weather left a little to be desired with temperature near zero, rain and blustery winds bringing out the thermals, jumpers and wool socks on the first night (photo). The next day wasn't so bad and we went down to investigate a walk around the shores of the inlet to the ocean, about 3.5 klms, but the weather was still not good. We spent some time talking with a local commercial fisherman who had some great tales to tell and some interesting history. He gave us some fresh black bream from his overnight catch which we cooked up that night. In the afternoon the weather fined up and we completed the hike out to the ocean which was most picturesque (photo). The ocean was very busy as a result of the windy conditions. We found the decomposing remains of a huge humpback whale on the ocean side of the sandbar separating the inlet from the sea (photo).

Albany

Albany, while cold and windy, is a beautiful place. We are staying in a great little caravan park beside the beach at Emu Beach and walked around to a fish shop last night for a feed of snapper, salt and pepper calamari and chips for two for the princely sum of $ 28. Today has been jam packed with sightseeing, first to the Whaling station where we spent several hours (photo of old whaling vessel), before visiting the memorial to the light horsemen of WW1 (photo). I thought you might be interested in this, Mum. The monument is on the top of Mt Clarence which looks out over Albany with Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound in the background. It is quite impressive, standing over 10 metres high. Then we took in some coastal sites including the natural arch (photo).

The wildflowers  are still prolific even in these windswept coastal areas (photo), and the coastal views are also intriguing (photo).

Margaret River

From Perth we traveled to Margaret River trying to escape the showers, wind and cold cold temperatures that were starting to become unpleasant. Surprisingly the weather improved a little, and we started to acclimatise to the lower temperatures. The coldest and windiest part of the year down here is September/ October, lucky us having spent so much time in the warmer climes up north.

Margaret River is a lush green farmland interspersed with tall timber forests and carpets of wildflower. There are magnificent vineyards wall to wall, interspersed with delightful stopovers such as the chocolate factory, the cheese factory and the chocolate factory, etc.
 We met up with Linda {Sue's sister) and Ben for a few nights. We had a great time touring the wineries and sampling their wares, and  enjoyed some wonderful sidesplitting times spurred on by Ben,s wicked sense of humour which only improved after Geelong's success on Saturday (photo). Funnily enough, he was watching tele, in one of the luxury cabins at the caravan park because the TV in his didn't work,while the rest of us climbed the lighthouse at Cape Leuwin (see photo).

Spurred on by deteriorating weather we then hurried down to Albany where the weather was not too bad as long as you had a singlet, tee shirt, three jumpers and anorak to ward off the cold. A Hot chocolate for Sue and a flat white for myself were in order as we communicated with the working class back home.This was taken while he was talking to you Cathy!!! (photo).

Green Head to Perth

We stopped off at Green Head to break up our trip to Perth. This is an interesting stretch of coastline with myriads of fishermen's huts lining the coastline. How you could return to the city from these glorious locations is beyond comprehension. We walked and explored some of the local beaches such as Window Rock where we cooked up some snags and onion sandwiches one afternoon after visiting Lesueur National Park(photo).
One of the the proprietors of the caravan park, where we stayed, provided us with a mud map of this park guiding us to the locations of various orchards that she had located several days earlier. She has made a hobby of photographing the wild flowers, particularly the orchids. We spent a fascinating day searching through the magnificent wildflowers for which this park is so famous, successfully locating and admiring many of these rare and beautiful flowers (photo - spider orchid). We have been so lucky to be in Western Australia for one of the best wild flower exhibitions in many years, with the display of wild orchids enhanced by recent bush fires that has stimulated the blooming of these intriguing flower, which explains why we returned to the caravan park looking like chimney sweeps.
On the morning that we where scheduled to leave for Perth, with the water heating for a cup of tea, the stormy night erupted into a serious squall that ripped the annex from it's moorings causing pandemonium. We retrieved all the canvas, guy ropes and tent pegs, undamaged but wet and muddied, abandoned the concept of preparing breakfast and packed up and drove off to find a cafe down the road for a hot chocolate and scrambled egg breakfast.
The freezing  gale force winds whisked us down to Perth where we have seen the sights of Kings Park, Fremantle and a wind swept Cottesloe Beach (photo), enjoying the wonderful West Australian Aquarium, highly recommended, visiting the Maritime Museum, and doing the acclaimed tour of the Fremantle Prison, an absolutely a horrendous experience to be avoided at all costs. We enjoyed the sights at Kings Park, as well as great food, coffee and chai latte at the restaurant. We also found a great seafood shop when we got completely lost driving around the suburbs and dined on fresh prawns and oyster in the camp kitchen that evening, to the consternation of other caravan park inhabitants lusting over our lucky find.
We caught up with Linda & Ben (Sue's sister & brother-in-law, who are completing a lap of the park on the tar) while in Perth, and plan to spend a couple of days with them at Margaret River, which is where we are off to tomorrow to stock up our wine supplies and continue our journey, hopefully leaving the wet & windy weather of Perth behind us..