Big Valley 6th - 13th April 2013

Big Valley

Dropped into Witchcliffe as they were having a market, interestingly there was a real 1950's theme in the town. I had trouble finding Patrice but found her chatting to the local witch.

Big Valley, what a great spot, Kevin and Shelly are the owners and are great country people and made us feel welcome. We originally paid for 3 nights but ended up staying for 7.

Bumped into Geoff and Judy again and ended up camping directly beside them. What more could you ask for satellite tv, phone and Internet and it is a sheep farm.

We got to experience sheep crotching, the is where they shear the sheep's crotch to stop the dags being fly blown, is this what they call giving a Brazilian in the bush. An interesting thing was that they also sheer the top of the head so you can pick which sheep have been done. The shearers

work bloody hard, they get 50c per sheep which takes less than a minute but it is tough.

Texas the pet goat was wandering around, apparently we were lucky that we kept our door closed as one van left it open only to have Texas pay a visit and make himself at home.

We decided to fuel up at The old store at Rosabrook, it is the original store and not much has changed. I filled the car and went in to pay and he asked me how much I had out in, he then wrote it down in an exercise book. On the shelves were old packets of Vincent's Headache powder, how old is this place? At the back if the shed is the old screen for the outdoor movies and on a stand was the original truck used for carting fuel, this is magic.

The berry farm was just down the road and was just nice to sit back with a gigantic scone, jam and cream with a nice coffee.

Just a lovely stay with great owners and made some signs as well.

Alexander Bridge 3rd to 6th April 2013

Alexander Bridge

Off to Alexander Bridge, we dropped in to One Tree Bridge, the remains of the original bridge which was a large Karri tree laid across the creek with planks attached was standing to demonstrate the harshness of conditions. the 4 Aces were 4 huge Karri trees which sprouted in a straight line from a burnt out tree about 400 or 500 years ago.

 

We found Alexander Bridge, a lovely spot this is but if you want to get close to the river, the sites are very uneven. Normally we are set up in 15 to 20 minutes, not here, over an hour later and I must say no raised voices we finally got set up. Trice was paranoid that the van was going to fall into the river so I fed her a few wines and she was ok, she was happy with the outlook.

It is only when you review the map and realise how far we have come. That 15,000 kilometres has gone so quickly, we crossed the WA border on 8th December and have only now got to the corner.

A beautiful day, Met David and Dianne from the Gold Coast, they are travelling around Australia in a CamperTrailer similar to Jeff and Shell, off to Augusta today. Visited Cape Leeuwin lighthouse here the Southern Ocean and Indian Oceans meet. Flinders bay, Augusta for lunch, Lookout 8klms out of Augusta, pretty average. Cosy Corner at Cape Hamelin which was beautiful, rock formations, blue water and white sand. The coastline did not disappoint once again.

Hamelin Bay was a complete surprise, bumped into David & Dianne, beautiful sand and clear water and enormous Stingrays which are very tame and come in on the wave to let you stroke them.

Patrice was busy sneaking up on them continually telling me to be careful of the barb. While she was concentrating I brushed her leg, she let out an enormous scream which started all these other people screaming - weird. Checked out the camp area in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, Boranup Camp bumped into David and Dianne again, far too small for our set up. Back for a beer and a scotch, camp has filled up a bit while we were gone

Geoff and Dee, Steve and Maree, Craig and Maria, all from the Perth area. We went for another drive today to visit the surrounding camp sites. Sue's bridge was a great site with big sites and easy access. The same couldn't be said for the others. We travelled many kilometres of dirt road, some very rough. In the middle of nowhere we bumped into David and Dianne from Helensvale. The sites were often very small or the access was very narrow, the cruncher came when we found there was no phone service. Dropped into Margaret River, I don't know what I was expecting but it is a thriving big town with people everywhere. It is very modern and has everything you need to have a great time. We arrived back in camp late afternoon after doing nearly 200 klms, ready to start the camp oven for our roasted Silverside. It just became a natural thing to sit down around the camp fire and start a bit on banter. Craig is a New South Wales League follower and couldn't resist talking about State of Origin, could it have had something to do with the fact I was wearing my Qld State of Origin cap. He then appeared a little later with a NSW State Origin Jersey, so I put on my Qld State of Origin shirt. That is how the fight started......



Waterwheel at Cape Leeuwin

Decided to stay another day before heading over to Big Valley Campground in Margaret River. Decided to go for a paddle so I started undoing the straps on the kayak. The strap for the paddle got hooked up on the roof rack so I pushed the kayak back up to see what the problem was. Remember the sites are very uneven and as soon as I walked around the back of the car the kayak slide off the racks and and belted the side of the car. I now have a dent in the drivers side bumper and now on the top of the drivers side rear guard. I am not very happy with myself as both of the errors were just plain stupid.

I carried the kayak down to river and went for a paddle to settle down and see what is around the bend. Then to top it all off down came the rain, I may as well enjoy the view. It seems that the ducks are blind here as they must have thought I was a big duck and followed me into shore.

I was still cranky about damaging the car the next morning so we packed up to head to Big Valley.

Manjimup 19th March - 2nd April 2013

Manjimup

We used this as our base for 2 weeks, the caravan park was very quiet but was new and immaculate. initially only 1 other van besides ours, Mike and Janet. Mike was a pilot on contract for the fire bombing season. he had been here for 3 months and gets 2 days off per fortnight. The rest of the time he has to sit around his van waiting for calls. Every day at 6.15 he heads off to the airport to check the plane and start the motor. The only times we saw them was when they left their van to go to the toilet. He was not very social and kept to himself very much.

Day 1 and 2 were just admin stuff going to bank etc, new tyres being fitted tomorrow, went for Coopers. Spoke to Ken today wants to meet South of Perth around end of April, he will hire a campervan to try and convince Noela, I don't like his chances. Problems with TV reception, had booked a TV guy for $100 but managed to fix it myself, thank goodness

Ivan and Josie pulled in beside us and being Qldrs gave you a starting point. Originally from Gladstone but had recently packed up and moved- to Brackenridge, they have been on the road for 2 years and had another year to go, This seems to be the norm for travel. Another 5 vans pulled in over the 2 weeks and it is funny, some people just don't like to communicate or mix. We became friends with a couple from Adelaide and another from Perth. I have developed the habit of wandering around talking to everyone but some people just think I am weird.

Manjimup is a nice town with a large Coles, Woolworths and country Target, 2 bottle shops, a visitor centre, cop shop and wood museum just to name a few. Had the Waeco fridge fixed, new tyres fitted to the car, was even able to print out some documents and send them back to Brisbane.

 

We visited the King Jarrah Tree, a tree that was preserved in 1921 against felling, it was due to be dropped the next day. The trees being Karri, Marri and Jarrah are just enormous and with the roads form beautiful hallways through the forests.

Bridgetown was a bit of a disappointment, it was smaller than Manjimup and very trendy. Not much was open when we were there but managed to have a walk through the puzzle and photo display behind the visitor centre, this was very interesting.

Pemberton is again smaller than Manjimup but has built it's tourism on the the timber mill, coffee shops and train/tram trip though the forests. We sampled everything we could and did enjoy the town. From the Karri Forest Explorer Drive, Beedelup Falls, Big Brook Arboretum, Big Brook Dam, Bicentennial Tree, Gloucester Tree and the Cascades we spent

2 full days exploring and could have spent more. The tram ride was great taking us through the giant Karri, Marri and Jarrah Forests, the track is the old line which used to go through Albany. The last bridge on the trip, the Warren Bridge, is now condemned and is the point where the driver goes to the other end and returns us back to Pemberton station. we crossed Eastbrook, Lefroy, Bob's, Redgum and Cascade's Bridges. The driver was a bundle of laughs and kept us all entertained. The trip was 1 3/4 hours after stopping at The Cascades and Warren River Bridge.

Just South of Manjimup is the Diamond Tree which like the other gives you the opportunity to climb. We gave it a good go but up about 10 metres I had a severe case of jelly legs and had to come down, just think another 52 metres to go to get to the lookout.

Fonty's Pool is a caravan park around 10 klms out of town, beautiful spot with a large lake. It seems that Fonty owns half the town with his name on things such as skip bins etc.

 Said goodbye to Jeff and Pauline from Perth, Geoff and Judy from Adelaide, ex Jayco man and Ivan and Josie Carr from Brisbane. drove through to Nannaup and had a beautiful lunch.

 We drove to Dingup to have a look at the historic church and the local community hall. Very old and run down, across the road was an old race track that was probably used for motorbikes, took the Prado for a spin but the trees were hanging over too much around the back straight. saw the old Pioneer cemetery with 18 graves, mostly the Giblet family with burials starting around the late 1800's. a little further on was the Bararup cemetary which is still used with the last burial happening only about 6 weeks ago. Many children and very old people, a large number of the residents lived until

their late 90's. Not many in the mid range. first burial was 1904.
Played golf at Manjimup Golf Club, glorious golf course with beautiful greens. Played with Ivan using Josie's clubs, first round of golf for many years and was very happy with the game. I probably should have given up then and there but decided to play another game which brought back memories of how frustrating this game can be. First hole topped the drive, second shot air swing, third shot straight across fairway into the trees, I took 9 on the first hole, this was going to be a long day.

This area is renowned for forestry and has a great forestry display, Trice and I went for a wander, I had found the wood turning the Sunday before which was an absolute delight chatting to the locals. This time we wandered into the blacksmith shop where we met George. A very interesting and spooky guy from country Russia, we chatted for over 2 hours about everything from the steel in car springs to the slitting of throughts back in his home town being a very small fishing village. The conversation was diverse and at times we were glad that there was a mesh wall between George and us especially when he was showing us knives that he had made from car springs.

We did enjoy Manjimup, it is a low socio-economic town with nothing to draw tourists into the town but we are glad we decided to stop.

Next stop Alexander Bridge.

Ayr Sailene to Windy Harbour 12th - 19th March 2013

Ayr Sailean 12th - 13th March

As we are driving along Patrice notices that the door of the caravan is open. We try to pull over but there is nowhere to stop. We drove for nearly 5 kilometres before the road has a big enough shoulder to pull over. Somehow the catch on the screen has let go, bit of maintenance to be down when we get to the camp ground.

The sheep property has a boutique caravan park and cabins. It is very tidy and has immaculate amenities. Sheep are wandering around, Trice and I have a walk around to see what is here. Sheep, a beautiful Border Collie and even a couple of Alpaccas.

The Waeco broken down again, looks like the control board this time. We drove to Conspicuous Cliffs, the work they have done on the paths and decking is fantastic, I would love to have this at home.

The park has very little atmosphere as there is only one other person here besides us. It is a woman in one of the units, she is a bit weird and runs away anytime we come out of our van.

We thought we may have been able to herd her when she was out walking her dog but she spun around and took off in the opposite direction, I suppose Trice can look quite scary some times.

We only stay 1 night before going back to a National Park. The walks are normally very relaxing. The sheep even great us when we are leaving.

 

Shannon National Park 13th-15th March

Our plan was to see the Giant Tingle Tree and the Circular Pools but you can’t get into there with a caravan. We decided that we can house ourselves at Shannon National Park and do some drives from there.

We drive in and decide to check out the sites, I slipped over on the newly laid gravel and ripped a tendon in my knee, did nothing for rest of day.

Day 2 I watched movies and laid on my back on day - bloody knee. Trice is off finding some beautiful sites. Met a young German girl who is stunned by how friendly and helpful Australians are. She also mentions that she has been warned off Queensland.

Day 3 feeling a lot better, knee still sore but I am starting to get around so we go for The Great Forrest Trees Drive, 48 klms of magnificent Karri, Jarrah, Marri and a few other smaller varieties.

The giant Karri trees are 300 years old weighing around 150 tonnes. These trees are the 3rd tallest trees in the world. The smells are refreshing and vibrant. Shannon was once a thriving township in the 50’s it was a logging town.

They were given very strict areas that they could harvest and when these ran out the town died. Many of the towns building can still be found in neighbouring towns. 

Came back to camp packed up and headed through Northcliffe to Windy Harbour.

 

 

 

 

Windy Harbour 15th - 19th March

We know why it is called Windy, because it is bloody windy and it is raining. Told we should be able to catch Salmon and King George Whiting, will give it a go tomorrow.

Got the satellite going and got to see the Broncos kick Dragons backside.

The next day is worse than yesterday. The caretaker has a wind turbine for generation power, it is on a tall pole with numerous stay wires. The wind is pushing so hard that the pole is bending just under the wind turbine.

We have a great site away from the wind with plenty of grass and beautiful little blue finches.

Went for a walk today to try and loosen up my knee, it is starting to seize after the walking around yesterday. Met this lovely fellow working under his house just up the road. 85 years of age and despite two buggered knees, open heart surgery earlier this year was cheerful and positive about everything, he was great just talking to him. I asked him about fishing from the beach, no good really, you are better off standing on the beach with a bucket and waiting for someone to give you a fish, which happens quite regularly he said proudly. The beach is covered in weed and apparently the flies come in and lay their eggs. When the maggots emerge so do the herring. You will get a few maggots in their guts but they are good eating. I left him and he starting singing to Tom Jones, what a lovely guy.

We wandered down to the beach but it is still blowing. Some brave individuals were attempting to fish but between wind and weed they were having no luck.

We went back to Northcliffe to have a look around town and visit the Understory Sculpture Walk.
This was recommended to us by Jim Rosie at Parry Beach whose son had built one of the sculptures.

The local council decided to build a sculpture walk to promote the forest of the area. They invited artists from around Australia and Overseas to submit ideas for their sculptures.
You are given a headset which conducts a tour of the walk.

It was interesting to hear the thoughts and processes that the artists had gone through before they had even made their submissions. One fascinating sculpture was 5 fingers made from old annual reports from large companies.

It was the artist’s interpretation of the grip the large companies have over the natural resources. He had carved the individual fingers from sheets of paper on a threaded rod concreted into the ground.

We then found Jim and Rosie’s son’s piece, this huge bronze heart representing the heart of the forest, amazing.

Some displays were using aboriginal themes and many others with quite interesting themes.

If I had time I would have done the display a second time.

Next door was a small museum based on the timber industry, now these guys were serious about their timber felling. Many examples of chainsaws as we know them and the biggest chainsaw I have ever seen.


The most insane piece of machinery was a circular saw attached to a motor, this was famous for cutting people in 2.

We ventured out for another walk to free up the knee so off we go to Cape D'Entrecasteau, if we weren’t hanging on I am sure we would have be blown away. The cliffs are limestone and wear fairly quickly when compared to other types of rock.

It leaves all jaged shapes and large chunks broken off in the ocean.

We have been trying to get a photo of a sunset on the water so off we go on our last night just before sunset. The clouds come streaming in and hide the sun.

Trice met Jack and his wife who have 2 pet Kangaroos, they have a little holiday hut. The 2 kangaroos are named  Munchkins and Stanley, guess which one was called Munchkins.

We now need a bit of time with internet service to do a few chores so we have decided to head to Manjimup. We will use this as a base and do a few day trips to see the sites.