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24. Great Life lapping Australia 2024

Esperance Area

The beaches and coves around the South West Australia coastline, present a scene worthy of an inviting collectors post card. Each bay presents a ‘wow – what beautiful colours’ feeling. Lucky Bay Beach is considered in the top ten sandy beaches of the world so it was well patronised with 4WDs on the shore, although I waited for them to move for my photos.

The bay with a whole in the rock (twilight bay) fascinated us and we returned to get photos when the sun cared to shine brightly.

The Nullarbor Crossing

Unconsciously, The Nullarbor crossing seemed to be a hurdle that we had thought would be a major venture. Now that we have completed the crossing, we are wishing we had taken it differently over a longer period of time.

My photo of the 4 road trains at Norseman BP service centre, are a sample of the many vehicles that keep West Australia supplied with appliances, equipment and processed food; we didn’t count them but would have been a good number indeed. The roadhouse stops are busy as motorists ‘top up’ with fuel and other requirements to their liking. Lyn has been collecting hat pins and patches along the way. Some roadhouses have a small museum of machinery to display the way things were done in the ‘olden days’.

Back in the 1950s, Lyn had crossed the Nullarbor with her dad and two sisters. She was looking forward to seeing the change since then so I managed to have her at the steering wheel for the full 90 miles with just the one break. She did well and felt that ‘accomplished’ feeling at the end. Long straight stretches are common in outback Australia, but to drive the longest straight is ‘different’.

The border crossing from West Australia to South Australia is interesting. Travelling into West Australia requires a horticultural inspection to safeguard little pests that travel in honey and some other products. The inspection point for travellers from West Australia to South Australia is just before Ceduna more to the east of the state border. Golfers can make the longest golf course in the world a pleasant stroll every now and then at each of the 18 holes. You can see a fairway beyond the kangaroo picture below.

Bunda Cliffs

Inspiring views of the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight are available at various, but not many, locations during the crossing.

At a location know as the ‘head of the bight’ is a sanctuary for the southern whales that come up from colder waters in the Antarctic for calving and mating. This year, there were 52 whales born in these waters. There are plenty of view areas to enjoy seeing the whales breaching and slapping their fins and tails.

Kimba

It seems that Kimba is the most easterly border of the Nullarbor desert. We rested at Ceduna on the foreshore for lunch and on to the interesting town of Kimba; home of the Big Galah. There’s is a very busy free camping zone at the recreation reserve. The “donations for use” have been put to very good use in the recreation area for the locals. Development for those who have travelled or about to travel the long crossing, is appreciated.

In Kimba, the local ladies have taken over a large tin roofed building and made small areas to sell their wares to tourists. Not the quality of a market, better.Take a visit when you get to Kimba

Here’s a summary of the fuel usage I kept of the crossing.

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Little train on the Busselton jetty and underwater observatory.

This little train is always full of people not wanting to walk the 2 km to the underwater observatory. At 1,841 metres (6,040 ft), the jetty is said to be the longest wooden structure in the Southern Hemisphere. Of course, at each end of the pier is a souvenir shop.

Meetup with an “old” friend.

A benefit of grey nomading is the times we meet up with others along the way. We met Brontë last year where we stayed in Darwin. His wife had not long gone and he won the “best dressed Christmas in July” person with a simple tee shirt, “Merry Christmas” written on it; judged by the other campers. He became everyone’s favourite. Annually, he drives his caravan to Darwin for two months of the winter. The warmer weather encourages him, and to see his daughter there. We had a lovely lunch at Kyrs Restaurant.

Cape Leeuwin

The southern tip of West Australia is where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. There sits a lighthouse which has often played a part in ensuring safety for “ships of the night” And you’ll notice a lazy cow is the kid’s favourite.

Elephant Rock

For obvious reasons, this rock is known as Elephant Rock. The waters around it show great ocean colours when the sun is shining.

Peaceful Bay

Like many of the places we have stayed on this lap, Peaceful Bay was never in our thoughts when planning the trip. However, the imagination found it an easy task to add it to the list of places to return to whenever we come over to “the West” again.

Tree Top Walk

The valley of the giants is certainly well created from a natural valley filled with giant Karri trees. Yes, commercially, the work done creating the suspended walk would be well paid for by now with a continuous steady flow of tourists. An enormous structure of steel sways with your walking motion – a little perplexing for those with balance problems, as I found out; but we both made it.

A free camp is always a welcome resting place. Peter’s brother lives on 100 acres with his very hospitable Russian wife. Des is an accountant and works from home for some Aborigine Community Services group. He has a great office lookout.

Albany Whaling Station

The whaling station used to provide work for many when it was heavily involved in capturing whales to provide whale oil, meat, and other resources which were eventually frowned upon when closure took place in the 70s. Jo, in the picture, is now a volunteer guide at the museum. At 19, he left his love of surfing in Perth to find “the wave” near Albany during a two week holiday. He’s still on that two week holiday 60 years later. He took up a job on a whaling ship and now is part of history.

Shell Collection

At the entrance to the whaling station museum is a private shell collection of a local, Hilda.

“After a lifetime amassing this spectacular collection of shells from around Australia we are delighted Hilda has trusted us to display her prized collection here at Discovery Bay.”

“60 years ago I found a really beautiful shell on Middleton Beach and that was the beginning of my collection.”

“My grandfather William Cooper worked as a whaler in Albany back in the late 1800s, so I feel very happy about all the shells finding a home at Discovery Bay.”

The display was well worth visiting to see the intricate shells lined up in their makes and sizes.

Albany Wind Farm

Albany has created a “wind farm” tourist spot. They explain the benefits of wind energy to maybe soften the sarcasm a little. However, after hearing the noise of the large fans, I wouldn’t want one in my backyard. They promote the fact that the wind farm provides 85% of the energy for Albany’s 40,000 residents. That’s not bad I suppose but longevity and recycling itself is a conundrum yet to be discovered. Any takers?

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When you arrive in Perth by road, immediately you notice the freeways are wide and can cope with the traffic well. Many of them have train services running between the carriage ways; all tidy and well supplied.

Kings Park in the central area of the city, is always good to visit as much care is taken to make the grounds look a treat and even makes you feel good. The wildflowers are set in different garden beds for each region of the state.

Wildflowers

Lyn was taken with the work done on mannequins at the door to the visitors center. See how the clothes are made of many crocheted squares, circles and whatever and attached to the mannequins.

Visit to Hawkes Nest

We had a number of jobs to be done on the vehicles before heading for the south west of the state. Our first overnight stop had views out towards the ocean. We felt at ease and replenished with the hospitality from Ken and Kay.

Camping at Busselton

We moved the following day down to the coast at Busselton where we will use as a base for a few tourist days around the coastal good spots.

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Feeding Pelicans in Kalbarri

For over 40 years, some senior citizens of Kalbarri have taken on the voluntary effort of feeding Pelicans each morning at around 9:00am on the foreshore of Kalbarri beach. Yes, some pelicans are just as reliable as the volunteers in turning up for a feed and chin tickle or some first aid when injured from another aggressive pelican. Donations can be given and the funds raised are used to support other volunteer organizations in Kalbarri, like the fire brigade or SES.

Cliffs south of Kalbarri

As we departed Kalbarri, we didn’t know what was ahead until we made our way to the coastal viewpoints along the way. You can see from the photos just how nature has formed the various sandstone cliffs into interesting headlands and cliff faces of significance. Red Bluff Lookout, Mushroom Rock, Pot Alley, Eagle Gorge, are well worth a look.

Pink Lake – Port Gregory

Salt has often been in our view as we have traveled down the coast towards Perth. From Port Hedland where there are large commercial sized collection points down to the smaller region near Port Gregory. Although fishermen keenly fish on the ocean side of the point and harvest enormous weights of crayfish, visitors to the area come to experience the changes in color of Pink Lake where high grade salt is harvested.

We chose to take the Pink Lake Buggy Tour around the sand hills with an excellent commentary on the area and the process involved in the salt industry. As the sun rises, the color of the lake changes from deep pinks to brilliant violets and blues. Part of the color change happens due to the stage of the harvesting of the salt and the density of the algae in the purification stages.

As we were leaving the lake, I thought it would look good from the drone. About a kilometer past the lake, I found a spot to park and flew the drone 1200 meters back towards the lake before filming a few shots. You can see the color split of different age groupings of processes.

The Glass Marble – Geraldton

Friends ahead of us mentioned to stop by the glass marble that has become the icon for Geraldton’s tourism promotions.

Green Head

We found a small fishing village made up of three bays and would you believe that there was a fish and chip shop. The seagulls were happy with the leftovers after we had taken our share of good chips.

Wildflowers along the way

September and October are supposed to be the time when we’re to experience the vast desert of wildflowers. Either we have missed them or we have traveled the wrong roads.

At one wayside stop we stayed a night at, the ranger came to tell us that we should not be using the space. Interesting, there are no signs about to warn us that the sheltered, well hidden from residents, bowl of red dust and gravel, is not a camping area.

The Pinnacles – Nambung NP

After touring around the pinnacles area at Nambung NP, I got wondering how this place existed here but nowhere else on our travels. And it is millions of years old. The logic leaves me bewildered. But then, there’s no need to argue because honestly, no one really knows. The stories seem to fit so let’s set up a visitors centre and make some money.

We journey into Perth on brilliant highways, for a time of meeting old boarding school mates and adjustments to vehicles.

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The highway – again

Found a right hand turn onto this plateau lookout and couldn’t resist pulling out the drone for a look around. Such desolation amongst such beauty; well worth the delayed arrival at the next spot.

Denham

This little town is quaint and tidy. We had visited “shell beach” on the way to this town and found lots of areas are covered in cracked shells used as a driveway topping. One restaurant which looks like a disused church, appears to be built of these cracked/broken shells made into bricks like a stone walled building.

There appears to be a strong link between this town and the HMAS Sydney II which was sunk by a disguised German raider “dressed in Dutch medical ship colors”. The German ship headed towards the HMAS Sydney and, when close enough, attacked the HMAS Sydney destroying the front of the ship with a torpedo, sinking it in a very short time, without any survivors making it to safety. 645 Australian lives were lost.

Monkey Mia

Monkey Mia is world-renowned for its friendly dolphins which visit its shores almost daily.

Monkey Mia is a conservation park area that’s a must-visit destination for families and nature lovers alike. Best known as home to the Monkey Mia dolphins, famous for their ritual of swimming to shore most days to interact with humans, and who attract thousands of people to Australia’s Shark Bay region each year, Monkey Mia is also the perfect place to unwind and to discover the wonders of the surrounding area.

For some reason the dolphins were well behaved for us and did what their trainers told us they would do; come and show off to the visitors. They didn’t perform like sea world exhibits but gracefully swam in close to us.

Little Lagoon near Denham

We had heard there is a little lagoon that exhibits brilliance in color at various times when the sun provides a mean light at different angles on the lagoon. How else to capture that display than to “put up the drone”. (What a great asset to have while traveling!)

Eagles Bluff

This bluff is very cute in a way. The head of an eagle can be seen in the headland formation.

Kalbarri National Park – Ross Graham walk

Natures Window

Arguably the scene we have been waiting to be part of for a number of weeks whilst coming towards Kalbarri. It’s been useful holding back in our advancing towards Perth as fellow travelers have alerted us to “what’s coming up” in our similar itineraries from Darwin. I had a BIG warning of the terrain conditions coming up when walking towards this iconic showpiece amongst the treacherous terrain around the natures window area. The warning – BE CAREFUL ON THOSE POLES. (For those who haven’t been aware, I have a Traumatic Brain Injury which has confused the balance mechanisms in my brain. Walking is now more difficult than it used to be)

Anyway, we both made it. And a great feeling of accomplishment filled our minds for a few moments. Those around shared congratulations with one walker offering to film the moment for us. Thanks, whoever it was.

Close-by is the skywalk made up of two cantilevers hanging out over the cliff edge.

We made it!!!

Wildflowers are blooming; we hope to see lots next week on our way to Perth.

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Quobba Blowholes

A rather startling sign greets visitors to the Quobba blowholes, “KING WAVES KILL”. And I guess they have but ironically, there are no fences to prevent you getting up close to the blowholes. Only the authorities know why. Also, only the tourist board for the blowholes knows why they haven’t built a board walk, to prevent viewers testing out their balance mechanisms and abilities on the rocks leading to the vantage viewing spots. We watched for an hour on each of two days. Hearing the buildup in the chasm before the water blow, was a new experience.

We camped for a night in high winds not far along the beach in the sandhills. The location would be quite good in fine, calm, weather. The wind sent us onto “the aquarium” nearby but with the tide out, it’s a bit difficult to get into to view the coral and fish. Then it was on to Carnarvon.

Carnarvon Space Museum

As you near Carnarvon, you can’t blot the skyline out of your vision; the space museum dominates it. We spent nearly 4 hours here. Can I suggest to all who visit Carnarvon, to go experience the modules in the display? Get some photos of yourselves on the moon – if you want to don the space suits provided to make the experience more authentic, do so. This display has to be top of the ladder for displaying something instilled in all our memories the day that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Think back, where were you at that momentous occasion in history? What interested me was the fact that there weren’t numerous attempts to make it happen – the event took place without a hitch, and on the first attempt.

We also have thoughts come to mind of what has been discovered or invented during the planning of man’s walk on the moon. People with grandiose ideas bring their ideas to fruition in good time, and we benefit from their mistakes and successes. Yes, even Musk and his satellites revolving around earth will benefit the world for years to come. Thanks innovators!

Carnarvon one mile jetty museum

We didn’t have anything planned one afternoon, so decided on a brochure recommendation to visit the museum a little out of town at the dilapidated old jetty. With school holidays now finished, anything you visit is taken at your own pace; easy as you go. The history of the area has some embarrassing times and also some devastating weather sequences.

Carnarvon has a long history of being hit by devastating cyclones which have, on occasion, brought a number of deaths.

The more embarrassing times included the taking of local folk to an island because they had health problems which were seen as incurable. Most of them died as medical technology hadn’t proved appropriate treatment for the “prisoners” on an island of very sick people.

The museum includes modes of transport used years ago. There are trains, boats and farm machinery for all to reminisce on.

Our time to get home to Victoria is shrinking so we may just suddenly make fast tracks home.

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Exmouth and Ningaloo Reef

Exmouth survives predominantly on water sports holiday makers; fishermen, jet skiers, divers, surfers, snorkelers, whale watchers, and those who like to swim with sharks in a controlled environment. Pre-accident, I would have jumped at the idea of swimming and diving with sharks and tortoises, but these days, I find it hard to get into water and do adventurous activity.

The town is busy with school holidays on and many families getting into the sun from Perth’s winter. Beyond Exmouth is where all the water sports and activity occur. There is a lighthouse atop the hill at the northern part of the peninsula with views to all directions. The road goes another 70km further south with lots of access points to small beaches from which you can snorkel or dive or be patient waiting for migrating whales to surface and play. There is an abundance of whales these days. Since the Japanese whale culling became unlawful, the numbers have increased enormously.

Yardie Creek Boat Cruise

At the end of the road from Exmouth, is a little boat that does tours up the Yardie Creek. The guy that drives the boat and does the commentary is a real oker guy with a warm sense of humour. All the kids get involved with finding the Rock Wallabies that inhabit the gorge. The kids counted around 30, some with young in the pouch.

We had made the decision to return to Bullara for their Friday Burger Night before we left for Exmouth and made a booking. Their scones and cream are worth more than one serve too. Our stay ended up being for 4 nights.

Coral Bay

Coral Bay has a reputation of being busy and expensive so we just did a quick 80km day drive from Bullara. They say some units are $1000 per week and campsites near $95 per night. The sandy beach is safe for shallow swimming and snorkeling. We still haven’t ventured in for a swim in West Australia.

We have moved on from the Exmouth region now.

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Karratha

The rain came on Saturday morning for a few hours; enough to turn the red dust into red mud. However, apart from keeping us inside for the morning, we weren’t put out too much. Saturday evening, we found a swish Italian restaurant with genuine Italian waitresses. The girl that cared for us had a very strong accent but a great sense of humor. There are so many backpackers from Europe, South America and Japan in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions. Makes you wonder how many Australian backpackers are seeing the world in their youth.

Sundays, the town is dead. Nothing open and no one doing anything, so we found some motor home owners we have met up at various campgrounds and spent a few hours talking into the sunset. They are taking off to Karrijini in the morning and we towards Onslow more towards Perth.

On to Onslow

Always interesting when you arrive at a roadhouse or small cafe in the middle of nowhere; busy as. The cappuccino machine performs to the max to “bring drivers back to life”. At one stop, it was evident that electric vehicles weren’t on the wanted list – the recharging point had security fencing around it.

We weren’t far from Onslow and came to some roadworks. The water truck had been through to dampen the road for setting ready for a next coat of blue metal. With the speed limit at 60kph, we got through quite quickly, not realizing we were preparing both the motor home and Suzuki for the car wash. We didn’t know until we arrived at the check in at Onslow Caravan Park. My sense of humor is usually “laugh because it was funny” but Lyn is a little different “$&@?!&$”. (Disappointment written all over her face). And right after you get through the security chain, a sign that says, “No washing of vehicles in the caravan park”.

Onslow

We found the water towers at the towns entry very colourful. They were quite different in that they depicted some of the lifestyle of the locals when Europeans arrived. The paintings of the marine life was well done too.

This little town prides itself in having lots of memorabilia from years gone, on display in the little museum. The volunteers were very well versed in what made this town tic from when the region welcomed miners and farmers to the Pibara.

At one end of town, is an interesting sculpture that depicts a sun rise. We had an early morning just the once, to see the sun rising within the sculpture.

There is a sculpture along the coastal walk of paparazzi dogs. I do not know why the sculpture exists here, but there was some way-out explanation.

Onslow is in the midst of expanding its ports and access from inland for mining companies who are now eager to export minerals from “them there hills” and gas from “way out there”.

Bullara Station

This cattle station covers an area of 250,000 acres; that’s BIG. There are at least 1700 head of cattle that regularly get rounded up by helicopter for tagging and health tests. The station closes in the second week of October to spend the next month preparing the camp ground property for the cyclone season. All the old farm equipment, which is on show during the open season, has to be secured in case a BIG cyclone arrives. Reopening happens in April.

There is a “we’re happy to have you” feel about the way staff settle you into your site and advise you of just how the station works in busy season. I found a couple who are members of my facebook group “Working on the Road in Australia”. They were ecstatic to meet, of course. Haha.

The building around Bullara are all restored from original wool sheds, shearing sheds and shearer accommodation. The showers and toilets are made to “the old days” specifications; rustic and often with an ingenious motivation. There is a coffee shop and a bar in the wool shed. Scones and cream are top of the list for the morning teas prepared by courteous staff from many countries around the world. The pies use meat from the property. There are copious amounts of red dust, but it’s an experience to remember.