Albany WA to Ceduna SA

The time is just flying by and I find I am getting very behind on my blog – sorry everyone.
Our last entry was from the 25^th August. WOW that is almost 2 weeks L
Sunday 26^th August.  Today we drove into Albany to check out the sights and the shops but no major shops were open L  They are only just introducing 7 day a week trade into some places in WA and Albany is NOT one of them L.  We had a good time wandering along the foreshore to the ANZAC Peace Park

 

and out to the “Brig Amity” a full sized replica of the ship that bought the first settlers to Albany from Sydney in 18-something J [Sorry I forget]. 

 

 

I then had a wander through the Museum with Faye whilst Darryl and Arthur were outside.

We then walked back into the town and had lunch at a café before heading to IGA to get some supplies before we head out tomorrow.  On the way back to the van we called into a Super Cheap Auto store that we found was open, and Darryl got oil and a filter to change the oil in the car.  Back to the van and a night inside as the rain started once we got back to the van.

Monday 27^th August.  Today we left Albany and headed Easterly and arrived at a free camp on Fitzgerald River near Jacup Station.  Darryl and Arthur changed the oil and inserted the new filter whilst Faye and I went flower hunting and we found a ‘White Spider Orchid’ in the grasses beneath a tree. 

 a White Spider Orchid

 

I believe this to be a swamp-donkey orchid

 a pink hakea

 

 a cowslip orchid

Whilst we were doing this another van pulled in and enquired if we were going to stay the night – yes was the reply so they said they would stay too.  We found that we had met Peter and Connie at Big Valley Campsite near Margaret River and whilst they were in Albany they had purchased a new van.  This one is a bit bigger than their old one and they seem quite happy with it. 

 enjoying our campfire in the free camp

 We had a great night sitting around the camp fire until about 10pm.  The rain stayed away and so did the mosquitos.  We were joined that night by a bus, a van and a large motorhome.

Tuesday 28^th August.  Today we drove into Esperance after a little debacle with the wheel chocks this morning L and will be staying at the Pink Lake Tourist Park. 

We are about 3km from Town and about the same from the pink lake – that is not pink at the moment.  This is a reasonably sized park and is lovely and clean and cared for.  We will stay here for 5 nights.  Faye and Arthur will be here for 4 nights before heading out to Kalgoorlie.  We settled in and had a quiet afternoon as we caught up on some household chores and marvel at the fact that the hot water service is heating water on 240V for the first time in 4 months!!!!!  We then sat back and listened to the rain fall constantly all night.

Wednesday 29^th August.  Today we headed into town to check it out.  There is quite a nice shopping precinct with all of the major banks and businesses. We found the Caravan supply stores to replace the chocks Darryl broke yesterday and to get a replacement electric switch for the hot water service as it was NOT heating the water this morning.  We then went to Bunnings and got some supplies for Arthur to fix a connection for the fridge in the car when we are on 240v.  It is good having an electrician travelling with you who offers to repair small things J.  Into town and the waterfront and stopped at the ‘Dome’ coffee shop for MT and they even gave Buster a bowl of water too.  Back to the van and all the little repairs done whilst I washed some curtains and cleaned the back window screen after Darryl cleaned the window.

Thursday 30^th August.  This morning Faye awoke feeling unwell and so has gone to the hospital to be checked out.  Darryl and I are going into the bank to change some coins for the washing and drying machines and then go to the Chemist to get his script filled.  We went to town and met up with Faye and Arthur whilst they were getting a script filled for Faye.  We then went for a drive up to the lookout and saw all the islands in the Esperance harbour – 21 in total.  The water here seems so clear and blue – various shades but lovely.  Whilst going for a walk along the cliff tops we found some more lovely wild flowers.  Back into the cars and travelled about 10 km along the coast checking out the various bays as we went and witness a fisherman haul in a lovely big salmon. Back to the car and hoping that the rain will stay away J.

Friday 31^st August.  We booked Buster into a ‘day-care’ so that we could go out to Cape Le Grand Nature Park for the day.  He is staying with Biddy and her dog ‘Freda’ and seems happy.

We drove the 59km out to the Cape Le Grand Park and went past the ‘Stonehenge’ that has been built on a property 8km from Esperance.  You have to pay to go in and see it but this is not available during August L.  The construction doesn’t look right to us but will have to check it out on line when we have reception.  You cannot pull up on the side of the road and take photos as they have built a fence along the road and the council have put up ‘no stopping, no parking’ signs.  Spoilsports :P.  We entered the park and drove to Lucky Bay.  Here it is reported that the kangaroos come and lie down on the sand and sunbake – not today though L.  VERY white beaches here and the water is crystal clear.  We stopped many times on the road into the bay to take flower photos.  It really is amazing how many you find when you stop and get out of the car.  We lunched at Lucky Bay after visiting another bay first.  We then went to Thistle Cove and whistling rock and then onto Hellfire Bay before going to Cape Le Grand Bay.  We then decided that we had better head back as Buster had been in care for 6 ½ hours.  When we got back to the van it was to be told that Buster was a very clever dog – after we had left and Biddy was called inside, Buster climbed her lattice fence like a ladder and was sitting on the top of it, just about to escape, when Biddy came back outside.  He then watched every car that came into the park to see if it was us L - but other than that he was a good dog but would not eat anything or drink anything.
Faye and Arthur have decided to extend their stay in Esperance so that she can go back to the hospital tomorrow and have her ear and throat checked again before they head to Norseman.

Saturday 1^st September.  Faye and Arthur heading off to the Hospital and Darryl and I went and washed the car and gave it a reasonable vacuum at the car wash.   The ‘super-sucker’ wasn’t so super L but at least the car looks cleaner than it did J.

We then met up with Faye and Arthur and went to old tanker Wharf and saw ‘Sammy the seal’ and a small one frolicking in the water.  We then went to the supermarket and got our supplies for the next five days (we will be starting to crossing the Nullarbor and free camping) and making sure that everything is full and in working order.  We then went to the Pier Hotel for lunch to celebrate Father’s Day and also the fact that Faye and Arthur have their 45^th Wedding anniversary tomorrow.

Sunday 2^nd September.  Darryl got a lovely call from Beckie and the children for Father’s day at 8am – prior to us leaving the caravan park in Esperance.  This was lovely.  We then made our way out and up to Norseman – heading north into a headwind – bugger!  A 200km trip took us 4 hours with the wind and our stops to take photos of the flowers!  We found some ‘Swamp Donkey Orchids’ in the grasses and also some ‘yellow trumpets’.  We arrived in Norseman at 1pm and finally found a service station and filled up before stopping in a rest area for lunch.  Unfortunately we both forgot the phone and we missed a call from Ben for Father’s Day.  Sorry love.  Will ring when we have reception!  We continued on for another 79km to our rest area for the night.  A great big area in amongst the trees and we had no sooner set up then the rain began to fall L bugger!  It rained on and off until about 7pm and then the skies cleared and we managed to sit and enjoy our lovely campfire.

Monday 3^rd September.  We headed out at about 9.30am heading towards Caiguna.  The wind was really starting to pick up this morning and we heard on the radio that Perth was expecting some terrible storms and winds up to 120km an hour.  Hope everyone over there has managed to baton down the hatches and keep safe.  We met up with Christine and Gordon whom we had met at Sullivan’s Campground and several times since.  They are going through to Nullarbor roadhouse, so will be in front of us from now on.

We have put our watches FORWARD by 45 minutes here as we are now in the ‘Central West time zone’ and are now only 1 hour and 15 minutes behind the rest of the family J :D
As we went along the wind became stronger and we called into two rest stops to check them out, but they were very open and unprotected, so when we were at Caiguna we decided to park at the next stop for the night.  Unfortunately it was again a very open area and we tried to park the vans to minimise the wind and dust but it just came up under the vans anyway L, even with us parking in behind some of the vegetation.  It was amazing how hot it was today – regardless of the wind – it got up to 34 degrees and we all changed into shorts and t-shirts for the afternoon and the shoes came off in preference to thongs…. By nightfall we had been joined by a whizbang and a caravan.  The wind finally dropped at about 7pm for us to enjoy a drink or two together before retreating to the vans.

Tuesday 4^th September.  Up at 6.30 this morning as Faye is not well with fevers and vomiting during the night. There are medical facilities at Eucla (uncertain as to the extent of them though) but Arthur has decided to drive back to Caiguna and if necessary park the van there and drive back to Esperance (600km) to the hospital to get her checked out.  They left the camp spot at 6.45am.  Hopefully they will catch up with us again across the track.  The winds are starting to blow again this morning, coming from the north or nor, nor, west.  That is not good for us as they will be pushing us in the side as we travel.  We left the camp at 8am and as we drove easterly (more north-easterly) we were being buffeted by the winds.  At 12md we decided to find a camp and park for the rest of the day and night.  We are now camped 10km West from Mundrabilla and the winds are gale force with really heavy blast in between the gusts.  We have got plenty of protection but the van is rocking and the dust ingress is terrible.  No point trying to dust things down as they will be just as bad in five minutes time L.  We have been joined by a camper, a small motorhome and three caravans in the past hour as the winds have really picked up.  The clouds are starting to roll in from the west – so hopefully we won’t get too wet tonight. Only time will tell.  By nightfall there were about 20 vehicles taking refuge from the wind and some rain and trying to wait out the night.

Wednesday 5^th September.  We were up and on our way by 9am and we were the last ones to leave the campground.  We had been debating whether to stay in our camp for another day and hope that Faye and Arthur catch up to us – or keep going until we are in phone range.  We decided to keep going.  We reached Eucla at about 10am, and we have full reception on the phone, and filled the fuel tank and then had a walk around the site.  We had a coffee and then decided to go down to the ‘Old Telegraph Station’ for a look see.  We were able to dive the van the 4km down the hill to about 50 metres from the old building.  This building is being slowly engulfed by the shifting sands and would have been an impressive building in its time. There were some more ruins about 25 metres away – closer to the beachfront but it was difficult to ascertain what they may have been.  There were no interpretive signs there to inform you as to the roles of the buildings etc. L.  We then decided to walk out to the ocean – this was about 1km away as the crow flies, but in actuality was about a 2km walk.  As we started this walk we got a call to say that Faye and Arthur were only 40km out of Eucla – so we will wait for them to arrive.  I continued the walk and Darryl went back to get his camera and lock the car.  I got all the way out to the beach and virtually walked straight onto it. :D.  I thought there might have been a bit of a drop off to get to it – but there wasn’t.  I found an old pier there that had quite a few Cormorants sitting on it and they seemed to be enjoying the windy conditions.  The day had started out cool (because of the wind) but walking across the sand and rocks it certainly started to warm up.  On my return to Darryl I got another call to say that Faye and Arthur had arrived in Eucla and were heading down to the old building now.  It was good to see them once we got back to the car and to learn that Faye was much better.

We decided that we would stay the evening in Eucla so that they could have a rest and catch up (they had travelled 1,100km over the past two days for medical assistance), so headed back to the service station to book into the caravan park.  $20 per night with power – but no water available to attach to the van, we were able to get buckets of water and pour into the van though.  Amenities were big and clean and a cost of $1 for 5 minutes in the shower.  The laundry facilities were also nice and clean but there were no clothes lines to hang the washing on – so our little rotary clothes lines came out.  There was A clothes dryer available but just about everyone wanted to do their washing and one dryer would not cope J.  By 7pm there were 29 vehicles in the park – so a good night at Happy hour.  We met another couple from the Australian Caravan Club (ACC) tonight.  Ray and Merle hail from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria and are travelling across to WA – so we gave them info on different places along the way.

Thursday 6^th September.  We were awake at 6.30 and found that about 6 of the vehicles near us had already left the van park – What The! – why do they have to leave so early????  If they are heading west they will gain 45 minutes about 200km up the road and if they are heading east they will have the sun in their eyes for the next hour…

So we left Eucla at about 8am and headed more Easterly.  13km across we had to go through the Quarantine station – amazingly we only had to drive through and apparently the real quarantine stop heading into SA is at Ceduna – nearly 400km away.  This is good for us as it will give us a chance to eat the rest of our fruit and the salad vegies before we get there.  We will also be able give Buster a good brush down and shake out his bedding etc. to make sure that there are no grass seeds and burs hiding in them and him. J.  We were amazed that there was no sign saying ‘welcome to SA’ and nothing signifying the fact that you were in a different state L  Apparently there is a sign on the side of the Quarantine building saying that we were now in SA (according to the truckie that was going into WA) but not one of us saw it.  We were hoping to stop and take a photo at the border L
We stopped at the next viewing stop and took some photos of the Bight and were nearly blown off the cliff top by the wind.  There were also some small squalls of rain coming in – so we went back to the van and kept going.  We stopped at another small viewing stop but had the same weather again, so we made the decision to keep going to the ‘Head of the Bight’ centre where hopefully the weather would be better and we might actually get to see some whales.
We stopped at the Nullarbor Roadhouse and had lunch in the van whilst it was being buffeted about by the strong winds.  A further 15 up the road we turned south and went to the centre.  Whales YES – we paid our entry fee and headed out on the walkway.  There is a wooden ramp along the coast with lots of viewing spots and the whales and their calves put on a good show for us.  We must have seen about 30 whales and calves in the time that we were there and hopefully got some good shots too. We then left the centre at about 3pm and continued a further 20km to the roadside stop for the night.  The wind is still blowing a gale and there are reports that we are in for some rain tonight.  There is lots of sand and dirt being blown around and it is difficult trying to find somewhere safe and warm.  We have now decided that it will be better to retire to our respective caravans until the morning as the temperature is about 12 degrees but with the southerly wind-chill factor – is about 6 degrees.  We have been joined by three other vans, a small coaster and a station wagon.  Being in amongst the trees is helping with the wind – in the fact that the van is not being buffeted about J - so we should all get a good night sleep tonight…
Buster is already snoring at my feet – so have tried to capture it on video.  Will see how I go.

Friday 7^th September. We headed toward Ceduna today after a night with some rain.  This morning was lovely and clear and only a very light wind blowing.  We headed to Nundroo for petrol (the cheapest in a long while at $1.589 per litre and then continued on our way.  We went through the town of Penong and there were windmills EVERYWHERE.  There was one cluster of about 12 windmills – all spinning madly in the wind (yes indeed, the wind had picked up again and it was really giving us a boot in the bottom as we travelled along).  We arrived in Ceduna just after 12 and the guy took our leftover salad veggies – he even took the onions Darryl had pickled in Vinegar as they were not allowed L.  There was no query about honey, and he wasn’t fussed about Buster and his bedding or mat in the car.

We drove into town and checked into the van park and then had lunch before heading up to the hospital to have Darryl’s INR done.  We then went to Foodland to get some fresh fruit and vegies and surprisingly they were NOT overpriced.  Back to the van and put everything in its place and by then it was time for happy hour.  We were joined by Sharon and Paul (who we first met at Sullivans Campground out of Katherine and then again in Esperance) and we all enjoyed a few drinks and chatter whilst sitting on the leeward side of the van.  Whilst taking Buster for a walk later I met John and Adrienne whom we first met at Robe River then Onslow and Denham.  This travelling fraternity really is quite small.
We have heard that the LIFEuphoria lads are currently separated.  Nick and Jimmy are cycling down the south west of Western Australia whilst Marcus and Tommy are in Perth.  Tommy was in hospital for four days with a [still] undiagnosed illness and is due in Adelaide next week for an exhibition of his artwork, and Marcus will cycle from Perth to Hyden and Kalgoorlie, where he will meet up with Nick and Jimmy again.