Trip to South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales #7

#7

Mon 22^nd.  We were packed up and ready to depart by 9.30am.  We saw several of our friends depart by 8am and decided that was way too early :D.  We returned up through Mount Barker onto highway 80 before turning off towards Wagin and onto highway 120.  We stopped at HIGHBURY for a coffee and then the shop owner took us into his yard to show us his Kangaroo paw plants.  He had red, yellow, orange, black, white and the red and green ones also.  A beautiful display of these natives.

We travelled on to the town of Beverley, where they have a donation camp in town opposite the river park where there are amenities.  We set up the van and then wandered into town and had a coffee before walking up the streets and checking out the murals and the old buildings throughout the town.  We then went back to the van and had a quite night.

Tues 23^rd.  We set off at about 9.30 and headed up the 120 towards York.  There were hay sculptures here at the beginning of the month, but we missed them.  We continued on and arrived at the Karrinyup Waters Resort at Gwelup at about 1pm.  We were driven around the park to check it out and then we could select our own site.  We set up on the wood chip down the back and then had some lunch before heading out to visit Julie and Alan.  We spent until 9.30pm with them before heading back to the van.

Wed 24^th. I did some washing and put it through the dryer due to the misty rain showers that we were having and then to Hilary’s to check it out and find out about the ferries to Rottnest Island.

We had lunch and then went to Julie and Alan’s and then headed out to visit their son Michael and his family.  We had a few great hours with them all before heading back to Julie and Alan’s for dinner.

Thurs 25^th. We put the car in for a service not far from Alan’s home and then we waited for most of the morning peak hour to ease before heading to Bunbury to visit Erin and her family.  It is a two-hour drive to Bunbury, so we stopped about halfway there for a pit stop, coffee and lunch.

We had a great afternoon with Erin, Max and Leo. Once Erin’s husband Michael arrived home we had a visit with him before getting in the car for the 2-hour drive back to Perth.  As our car was still at the mechanics, Julie and Alan dropped us at the caravan park before heading to their home.  We really appreciated Julie and Alan driving us all that way to visit with the grandchildren.

Fri 26^th.  Alan came and picked us up and took us to pick up the car.  What a surprise when we arrived to find they had washed the car, vacuumed it and blacked the tyres.  They even left us a packet of tissues, a packet of mints and a garbage bag for the car.

We then travelled to the south of Perth to Mount Pleasant and visited our friends Lynne and David Wilson, whom we met last year in Tassie.  We had a very pleasant day in their company and hopefully we will meet up with them again.

Sat 27^th.  We were thinking of going to Rottnest today, but the winds sprang up again, so we went to the Westfields Whitford City.  Whilst here we got some scripts filled, but need to go back on Monday afternoon to get the rest of Darryl’s as they ran out :C.  Back to the van and Happy Hour with a friend, Banjo from Victoria, before adjourning for dinner.

Sun 28^th. Twenty years ago, we said farewell to Darryl’s Dad – Alan Walker.

We went to Warwick train station and met Julie and Alan and went into Perth City for the day.  Today is free parking at the train station.  We got off at the Perth station and walked up to the Horseshoe and then into Yagan Square.  Yagan was an Aboriginal leader, born c.1795 and died 1833, from the Perth area who was killed by the government at the time, as he was a very powerful man in the tribe.  His body was buried in separate areas and his head was taken to England and put on display.  It took years for the local people to get him returned to home country, and his head was buried on Noongar land in 2010.

We then caught the free bus to Elizabeth Quay and heard the Bell Tower ring.  We had a coffee at the Brewery on the Island before catching the free bus back to Nelson Street.  Had lunch in the Old Shanghai food court and walked back up to the mall and caught the train back to Warwick.  Said farewell to Julie and Alan and back to the van to update the blog……..

June 20 2018

Well the weather has turned icy here in Toowoomba ---- Yes I know --- just like everywhere else 😊.
We went out today to watch Mr 10 participate in his School athletics events.  He did very well in the discus and the Long jump.  Unfortunately he didn't place in them BUT he participated.
Thursday they will have their track and field events.  The wind today was making it very difficult for the discus throwing as it was moving it backwards, rather than forwards.

I have had a great time this semester teaching the students at the Primary school with coiling weave.  Some have 'run' with it and others have struggled a little but each and everyone of the young girls have persevered with learning this skill.

 all enjoying their weaving sessions

I was also asked by the High School to teach their year 8 and 9 Indigenous girls with the coiling weave.  We also did string bags.

 string bag making

 concentrating

coiling weave

I had a really great day teaching four ladies how to do the coiling weave on the 2nd June.  The time just flew past.  The ladies managed to make a small bowl each in the five hours and requested another day, so we are having another session on the 7th July and there are currently 11 women booked in to do weaving.  Should be a great day.

 Weaving with Raffia

 Concentrating hard on coiling weave

 My students and their work

We met up with Ben and Brad for Bradley's birthday on 11th June.  It was a lovely evening and the meals we had at Ashmore Steak and Seafood were huge.  I think we were full before we even started

 contemplating his Fettuccini

Can I fit in that Seafood basket????

Nice Steak

   my grilled fish was HUGE

Darryl is good.  He has a review with his cardiologist in July.  We went out to Hogs Breath for his birthday on the 14th June

I am off to the immunologist this Thursday to see if he can shed any light on whether he thinks I do have Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR).  My muscles and joints have improved greatly with the prednisolone - so will await his impression.

In September we will be heading to Western Australia for our Australian Caravan Club National Muster at Denmark (on the south coast).  From there we will head to Perth to visit family and then make our way up through the center of WA [hopefully see some wildflowers] and hopefully catch up with more family before moving on to Darwin to visit friends and Darryl's relatives before heading to Wagga Wagga for Christmas.

I also have been booked in to teach four 4-hour classes of weaving to the children, at the Child Safety group here in Toowoomba, in July school holidays.  That should be great as well.

 kits in preparation for weaving and string bags

Ben has moved stores with Woolworths and is now based at Helensvale on the Gold Coast as the Grocery [?long life?] Manager.
Bradley is moving into his second year as a baking apprentice and still loving what he is doing.
Beckie and the children are settled in Toowoomba and all doing well.

 coiling weave basket with twined handle

 twined basket base using flax and raffia and lomandra

Kalbarri to Perth

Thursday 2^nd August.  Today we left Kalbarri and headed south.  We called into Geraldton to have Darryl’s INR done but there was NO where to park the car with the van attached.  The streets were very narrow and there was a lot of road works being done.  We gave up and drove up to the HMAS Sydney II Memorial on the top of Mt Scott.  What a fantastic memorial. 

 entrance to the Memorial

 



There are props from a ship at the base of the light posts and there are rope holders (don’t know their real names) down the path leading to the memorial. 

Overlooking the bay there is a structure that looks like the bow of a ship with depth markers up it.  There is a statue of a lady looking out over the harbour and a pool with a seagull in it. 

 

 

The pool is made of circles that get smaller and deeper and represents the souls going to the bottom of the ocean.  The big dome over the memorial is made up of 645 seagulls, one for each soul lost. There are two walls which list all those on board the HMAS Sydney II – in alphabetical order.

Although most archaeological evidence suggests Aboriginal settlement of the Geraldton area extends back at least 40,000 years, it is probably not until the 17^th century that Europeans took an interest in the area.  The first official visit to the area was made by a British Captain, Phillip Parker King, in 1822.  In 1839, Lieutenant Grey and a party of 12 men were shipwrecked and had to walk back to Perth.  The following year H.M.S. Beagle charted Champion Bay and in 1849 John Septimus Roe, Western Australia’s first Surveyor General, surveyed the town site.  The town was named after the Governor of the colony, Sir Charles Fitzgerald.
We left Geraldton and continued on our way to Dongara and then onto Cliff Head North Rest area.  This is right on the beach front and as we drove in we saw three squalls out to sea and it wasn’t long before we were getting wet J.  Our friends Faye and Arthur were staying in Geraldton for a few days.
We went for a walk and found ‘our’ spot for the night.  By night fall there were about 30 vans and motorhomes in residence.

 an oil rig out in the distance

 What a sunset!!!

Friday 3^rd August.  Today we headed toward Cervantes.  This is the home of ‘The Pinnacles’ and also some Stomatolites.

Native Wisteria

native Wisteria

Old Man's Beard

 

The main attraction of the Cervantes area is the Nambung National Park with its famous Pinnacles Desert.  In this area of varied coloured sand there are thousands of limestone pinnacles, which range in size up to 5 metres tall and 2 metres thick at the base.  They were formed thousands of years ago when ancient plant roots formed a weak cementation of calcite within the dunes and have been exposed by wind and shifting sands.
Unfortunately we could not take Buster to either of the sites. L.  We were told that the National Parks office had some free kennels, where it was possible to leave him whilst we went out to see the desert and the stromatolites.  We left him in the shade with plenty of water and spent a couple of hours exploring the natural wonders.

Darryl near a pinnacle

me near the same one

everywhere!!!

 Old Man's beard in full flower

 Stromatolites

wattle :P

 

 view from the park at Cervantes

 

  Back to the parks office and collected Buster and back to the park.  We had to be very careful when taking him for a walk in the park as there had been rabbit baits laid.  Unfortunately no one could tell us what they looked like so that we could ensure that Buster didn’t eat any. 

Saturday 4^th August.  Today we head to Perth and will be able to spend some time with my cousin Alan and his family.  We left Cervantes at 9am and with frequent stopping for wildflowers, buying fruit from the roadside and chatting to a truckie for about an hour and a half – we FINALLY arrived at the Kingsway caravan park at 2.30pm. 

leaving Cervantes

a huge WHITE sand dune

 

thousands of Grass Trees

 yellow Kangaroo paw

 a White-tailed Black Cockatoo

 We checked into our site and were a little disappointed in the park L. The grounds need a good clean-up and the sites mowed.  The amenities are large and airy but look dirty with lots of cobwebs.  Apparently there used to be a lot of permanent residents here and the owners decided to give them all 3 months’ notice to find somewhere else to live.  The case went to court and some of the residents still remain.  A lot of the sites are not able to be used by vanners as the fronts of them have been terraced or have a huge drop off from the concrete slab.