Day 62 29th September Cocklebiddy to Konalda

DAY 62

 29th September

Cocklebiddy to Konalda (Nullabor)


Very cold night on the Nullabor Plain so didn’t hang around in the morning. Headed off to find Cocklebiddy Caves. These are the caves under the Nullabor that go for 6.3km and divers swim through them. We have seen them on TV. Well were we lucky a group of 4 young guys arrived and were going to dive the cave. They had all their gear stowed down the entrance yesterday ready for the days dive. One was filming and had a torch/camera set up on his head, one was from the US and the others had done it before were supporting his dive to get him to the end of cave. They had dry suits and scooters to get them to the end otherwise a very long swim. Great to see them entering down their ladder and disappearing into the darkness. The water in there is crystal clear but it is pitch black. NOT FOR ME!!!

To light the way in cave 

The cave was huge

We then found a smaller cave in Nuytsland Nature Reserve a few kms down the road. They are everywhere on the Nullabor and there are sink holes in the ground all along the way.

Passed through the roadhouse of Madura down the Madura Pass on to the Roe Tablelands then through  Mundrabilla, Eucla and Border  Village. That is all that is on the Nullabor. Eucla has an old Telegraph Station that is almost buried by sand now. One of the first telegraph stations around. Eucla is also on the coast at the beginning of Great Australian Bite.

          Firstview of Great Australian Bight
Stopped at a few lookouts on the way to our campsite at Konalda Homestead. We had to find the unsigned turnoff and then 14kms to homestead. It was pretty late so will look around tomorrow but looks like it was just abandoned plenty to check out in the morning, no one else here!

Day 61 28th September Kalgoorlie to Cocklebiddy

DAY 61

28^th September
Kalgoorlie to Cocklebiddy

We said goodbye to everyone and headed off to Norseman via Kambalda. We spent some time at Norseman looking around the town and lookout.

Norseman the horse scratched a gold nugget

 Great view over the mines and saltpans. The landscape is different in every direction. We fuelled up and headed off on the Nullabor.

Very good bitumen road lots of roadtrains going both ways. Quite a few wide loads so had to be careful. Stopped ta Newman Rock a large granite rock that has permanent water hollows in it. Continued along through Balladonia Roadhouse and on to Caiguna where we saw a blowhole in the rocks at the side of the road. The pressure in the underground caves builds up and releases through blowholes at 72km per hour at places on the Nullabor. Found a roadside stop near Cocklebiddy and set up for the night.

Nev at the edge of a blowhole

Day 60 27th September Kalgoorlie

DAY 60

27^th September

Kalgoorlie

Today we headed up to Menzies and Lake Ballard a couple of hundred km away. Menzies is a tiny town with a couple of lovely old buildings and an interesting service station that is closed. It is covered with number plates on all its walls.

 

Number plates from everywhere.

 We continued on to Lake Ballard which is a huge Salt Lake(no Water) and in 2003 an English artist was commissioned to put some sculptures on the lake.

Lake Ballard

Nev and his mate!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sculptures on Lake Ballard He used the people of Menzies  and reduced their size by 1/3 and made cast iron sculptures of them and placed them randomly over the lake bed, 51 in all. They are very unusual. Walked around some of them and up the lookout, then had morning tea it is freezing out here. On the way back we had a storm and it poured raining. We stopped at the Ora Banda Pub an old pub in the middle of nowhere, nothing else there for lunch.

Then on to The Broadarrow Pub where you could write your name on the walls. It had writing on everything you could think of even the toilet. We found a spot near the dart board.

                                                               Can you spot our names??

We continued on back to Kalgoorlie and called into the old Two Up shed. It was operating when we were there last time 23 years ago but no longer operates. It was strange because it was exactly the same just no people there. Nev found a stick and had a couple of tosses of 20cents.

                                                       Old two up shed.

 Back home to fuel up and get organised for tomorrow.

Day 59 26th September Kalgoorlie

DAY 59

26^th September

Kalgoorlie.

We are doing our own thing around Kalgoorlie today and meeting at 2.50pm for a Brothel Tour. We went to Boulder and walked down the historic street and looked at lovely buildings some of which were damaged in the 2010 earthquake. They are still trying to restore the old pubs. There were 53 pubs in Kalgoorlie at onetime lovel old building and there are still a lot there.We went to the Super Pit Shop and watched  video on the mines it was excellent. Showed the blasting and process they use to get the gold from the ore. Then we went into Kalgoorlie (only a couple of streets away!) and walked down there historic main street. We did a tour of the town hall which still is original and still has the council meetings in 100 year old chairs. They have a lovely theatre with the original chairs in it.

Old mining shaft in middle of town

 

Met  the others for the tour. Madam Carmel talked about the Questa Casa brothel the oldest running brothel in Australia and still runs. She gave us the history of brothels in Kalgoorlie and the history of the  famous Hay Street. Interesting but not for us!!!!

Nev in the brothel doorway

Did the shopping and went out to the Exchange Hotel for dinner as Jack and Robin are having their birthdays on Saturday and this is the last night we will all be together. Had a good night and lots of laughs today.

                                               Old Exchange Hotel where we had dinner

Day 58 25th September Esperance to Kalgoorlie

DAY 58

25th September
Esperance Cape Le Grande to Kalgoorlie

Left Cape Le Grande very early after watching a magnificent sunrise with kangaroos on the beach.

A beautiful sunrise at Lucky Beach Cape Le Grande NP

Called in to Thistle Cove and saw "Whistling Rock" very unusual shape rock sticking up and curved towards the sea and made a noise from the wind.

Whistling Rock at Thistle Bay

 Stopped for a look at Frenchman's Peak. 

There are salt lakes all around us now.Thought we might catch up to the others at Norseman but didn't see them. Had morning tea and headed off to Coolgardie. A very old mining town with lovely buildings and a great museum. Had lunch here still no sign of the others so headed off to Kalgoorlie. We checked in and we were lucky because we were running a day earlier than we had booked and only just got enough sites. We are staying 3 nights the others 4 so we will leave them here and make our own way home.
We had time to go and see the "Superpit" which is what they call the gold mine here. It is 400m from the town, a huge hole in the ground.

                                                               The Super Pit at Kalgoorlie

Started by Alan Bond when he started buying up individual mining leases from the golden mile to make one huge mine. He went broke before it was started and another company completed his idea. It is the largest gold mine in the world and longest still producing gold and will contiue for many years. Great viewing platform, again huge trucks etc that go with mining. Went to the town lookout and drove down the old streets it has certainly grown in 23 years since we were here. The others arrived late in afternoon.

DAY 57 24th September Esperance to Cape Le Grande NP

DAY 57

24th September
Esperance Cape Le Grande

We all headed out early for Thomas River in Cape Arid National Park as we have been told there are whales there that come up to rocks and look at you! Well, we were sceptical. We drove for an hour and a half to get to a beautiful beach but it was freezing cold and windy.

The water is crystal clear

 Walked out onto the rocks and saw nothing but white caps on the ocean. We were told to bang the rocks, so we did. Nothing! Then we saw a spurt so we climbed over more rocks to get closer. Wendy banged “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” she said it was that anyway!

 

Rocks went straight into the sea

WOW! What a magic experience! We saw about 6 whales all up. One started slapping his fins down on the water over and over and showing his tail until another whale swam right up to it and they almost touched each other.

Slapping fins on the water

 They played together for a while we could hear the noise of their spout and as we started moving back they followed us about 100m off shore. We banged rocks and one stayed still on top of the water and you could see his eye looking at us, he was close enough for us to see him blink. We watched for about half an hour as he followed us along as we walked back along the rocks. THIS WAS VERY SPECIAL! We will never know if the rocks worked or not but who cares!

                                            His eye was looking at us on the rocks

After 3 hours with the whales we went to Thomas River Camp ground for lunch. Then drove back to Cape Le Grande National Park to Lucky Beach the others had a quick look and headed off to Esperance and we stayed, walked on the beach and set up camp.

We camped right next to this beach

Great spot got talking to a young guy taking tours across the Nullabor he gave us some good tips for places to see on our way back.  As we cooked our snags a kangaroo with a joey watched on hoping to get a snack. We prefer this to a caravan park!

Day 56 23rd September Ravensthorpe to Esperance

DAY 54

23 September
Ravensthorpe to Esperance

On the road again early and drove straight to Esperance through the rain. Pouring when we arrived checked in to caravan park and rain stopped. Morning tea then off to explore. We went to a Family Fun Day/market day nearby not really exciting but Nev got a sausage sizzle so he was happy. There was a lovely display of grevilleas there.

One of many types of grevilleas

Left there to follow the loop road around the sights of Esperance. Passed the pink lake which is not pink at themoment due to algae not there. Some great lookouts over beautiful blue sea and rock formations and very white sandy beaches. Watched a car get bogged on the beach. Did a short walk around the cliff edge.

Beautiful coastline

Went to a fish skin tannery. Yes theyactually make leather from all types of fish skins. Very interesting and some lovely wallets and bags made from brightly dyed skins.

                                                                Tanned fish skins!!!!

Drove back into town to walk on the jetty which is home to Sammy the seal. We didn't see him today but some kids were catching some good sized squid off the wharf.

                                                                   No Sammy today!!!
                                                          
Back for happy hour and cook tea. It will be good to sleep back in the troopy tonight it certainly feels like home!!!!

Day 55 22nd September Wave Rock

DAY 55

22nd September
Wave Rock

Today we are driving up to Hyden and Wave Rock and coming back to Ravensthorpe for the night before moving on.
Great roads and beautiful wildflowers all the way up.
Amazing rock just looks like a big wave.

Me under Wave Rock

 Did the walks and climbed and walked across the top of it. Lovely colours, the sun comes out now and then for photos otherwise freezing cold day and a bit windy but better than yesterday. No rain is good.
Next in the same area is Mulka's Cave which has aboriginal hand paintings on the roof and walls one of the best sites in WA.

                                                           We all checked our maps!!!!!!

The hump walk was also interesting with information about the Noonga aboriginals and the early days of the area.


          Mulka's Cave Art                                                        Where is Nev????????
                                                        

On the way back we stopped in at King Lake which is a huge salt lake with the road going through the middle on a raised levi. Had some water in it so very soft.
Backto our hotel again weather is not sobad now still cold but wind has gone.
Pub for dinner again a bit spoilt no cooking for two nights.

Day 54 21st September Waychinicup National Park to Ravensthorpe

DAY 54

21st September
Waychinicup National Park to Ravensthorpe

Off to Bremer Bay this morning. Quite windy and cool. Met the others at Bremer Bay and had morning tea trying to shelter from the wind. Went up to look out beautiful beaches with pure white sand and crystal clear blue water.

Bremer Bay

Very very windy

Headed off through the Fitzgerald National Park andstopped at an old homestead the wildflowers are beautiful around hereand very different from up north.

Stopped at Point Ann and nearly got blown off the lookout but watched a southern right whale and her calf playing in the clear water on about 50m from the beach.The weather is getting worse and worse we have heard there is a severe weather warning out for this area and have been advised not to camp. The wind was really really trong when we were driving and the dust was sand blasting the car as we went along. You could hardly stand up 120km per hour winds.
Went to caravan park but no cabins left tried the motel and she was empty but didn't want anyone because she was by herself and said she was going to be busy the next night. Work that one out!!!!
We ended up in the Hotel Motel we booked two nights as we weren't sure about tomorrows weather. Tea at the pub, ferocious storm at night.

Day 53 20th September Albany to Waychinicup National Park

DAY 53

20th September
 Albany to Waychinicup National Park

We decided not to stay in Caravan Park tonight so said we would meet the others in Ravensthorpe.  First stop after looling at the beach was the ANZAC memorial. This is the port where the Gallipoli forces left on the ships and where the first dawn service was held. Great views from the hill.
We then set off down the Frenchman Bay Road. First stop was Natural Arch and The Gap. The were amazing but the weather is very windy and overcast. Not good for photos! Rock formations on the rugged coast facing the Southern Ocean.

Natural Arch at Albany

Next we stopped at some Blowholes but not with water spouting up blasts of air caused by the wave action under the rocks. Blows your hair straight up. A bit scary as coast is very rugged. They have floating ballson ropes in a basket there in case someone falls in and thesign says don't panic just calmly throw the float in. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING I would be freaking out their are great whites in this area!!!
Next stop was Whale World where we spent 3 hours. What a fascinating place very upsetting. It isthe last whaleing station to operate in Australia and only closed in 1978. Really well preserved and presented even movies in the round oil storage tanks. We both learnt a lot and really enjoyed this place. Well done!

                                                      Skeleton of a pygmy blue whale

We continued out of Albany and into a National Park where we found a very quiet camping spot at Waychinicup Inlet that we were told about. A little bit of rain but beautiful spot only one other couple there. Little bandicoots came walking through our campsite. Much better and cheaper than a caravan park in town. The others are towing camper trailers and can't get in to here and they don't like packing up every day. But we love it and are set up for that.

The scenery near our campsite

Day 52 19th September Walpole to Albany

DAY 52

19th September
Walpole to Albany

Rained last night so everything is a bit wet. Packed up and headed off to treetop walk in the rain. It opensat 9am and we satin the car for 45mins in the rain. It stopped just asthe ranger openedthe gate, we were all in our wet weather gear just in case. What a fantastic set up. The giant Tingle trees are huge and we were walking right up at the top through the canopy. Fantastic view. the walkways got quite a wobble up and the boys added to the swaying.

Nev on one of the walkways




 

The gang on the treetop walk

We then walked on the ground through the valley of the Giants.These types of trees and ferns have been here since the dinasours and you felt like you were in a movie set unbelievable old huge trees.

These trees are huge and hollow

We headed off to Peaceful Bay for morning tea but weather pretty ordinary-lovely white sand and blue water.
Next we went to The Elephant Rocks- a lovely beach with unusual rocks that look like the backsides of elephants facing the ocean. Very sheltered great spot to swim in summer tooooo! cold now.


        You can't really see how blue the water is!

Next stop was a chocolate factory were we caught up to the others again. Very expensive commercial 'touristy' place.
Called in to Denmark visitor centre and saw a local jewlellry maker and bought a silver tree necklace modelled on the giant trees. I think it is lovely.
Called in to Shelley Beach and saw a hang gliding platform and beautiful beach landing spot.
Just out of Albany visited a wind farm and learned how they work etc. Produces 75% of townspower.
Booked in to caravan park at Middleton Beach.

Wind Farm at Albany

DAY 51 18th September Walpole

DAY 51

18th September
Walpole

Today we are looking around Walpole. It is a town surrounded by National Parks. Unfortunately a cruise we wanted to do is off because the guy cut his finger off last weekend. So we headed off on a Scenic Drive through the forests. First stop was a lookout over the huge tingle wood tree forest.

 

We all fitted inside the tree!

Next stop was the “Giant Tingle Tree”. WOW a huge tree with a big hollow out of the middle. We all fitted inside it. There are photos of a vw combi in it in the 50’s.

 Next stop was “Circular Pool”, this was interesting- the water is coffee coloured and the top is frothy like a cappuccino. Something leeches from the trees and act like soap in the water. Aborigines use to use it for soap.

 Next stop “Swarbrick Art Trail” – this was different, an artistic interpretation of the struggle of the forests, including man’s influence, climate change, the original land owners rights and the National Parks conservation.

 

Next stop Mount Frankland, a fire lookout on top of a mountain and then a climb to the heavens on a huge rock. Lots of steps and ladders but a magnificent view of the forests below.

                                                                  Nev has a new hairstyle!!!!

Next stop Fernhook Falls pretty but we have seen much more spectacular ones.

Last we stopped at Mandalay Beach but it was very windy. Has an interesting history of the wreck of the Mandalay.

Back to camp for a quiet afternoon our first rainy day but just light showers on and off.