Our Australia trip

Sunday morning at 8 am we were packed and ready. Overnight it had rained and was cold (so much for 40 degrees in the Nullarbor). I got the flat spare and rolled it to the mechanic. He was already briefed and told me that they couldn’t do split rims, so sorry and goodbye. I asked him if I could do it myself, considering they had the required tube and I was not going to leave with a flat spare. He told me that it was too dangerous as the rim splits in two and when reassembling both halves, the pressure of the tube was known to kill people. They were not supposed to help or instruct. I talked a bit more and ended up taking the rim apart, fitted a new tube and with some care assemble the thing again. By 10.30 we were on the road with a good spare tyre and an extra spare tube for re-occurrence.

The road is monotone with similar vegetation so one looks for other distractions and we find it in the many big eagles that feast on the abundance of road kill.

Some of the bicycle riders that have to go close to 1,200 km between towns. Crazy.

Luckily they have the homesteads and roadhouses that are located between 100 and 200 km apart.

And the oversize trucks.

We were not far from the border with South Australia and we know that again we need to have consumed or binned all our fruit and vegetables so we select a camp ground before Eucla and decide on Hearder Hill. It is somewhat strange that hardly any of the many rest stops along the Nullarbor have anyone staying. We had a nice and healthy stay with loads of fruit and vegetables.

Posted from Sheringa, South Australia, Australia.

The next day we were kind of tired and decided to go very slow. At around 11 am we decided to do the round the bus check and depart when Marjo noticed one of the back tyres being flat. Luckily they are double wheels (two on either side) but one wheel would give too much weight on the remaining one so I got out the tools to replace the flat, inner wheel.

The bus wheel nuts have counter clockwise thread on the passenger side of the bus as we found out last time near Uluru. So this time we weren’t fooled. The outer wheel came off quite quickly and then I was stumped by the inner wheel. It didn’t want to budge. Obviously there was no reception so no internet to look up or anyone to call. Again Marjo came to the rescue. On her way to the toilet on the rest stop she happened to see a fellow Toyota Coaster camper couple who just pulled in for lunch. Marjo scared the living daylight out of them by just walking out of the bush towards their bus and quickly explained our dilemma. The couple were very kind to help and he knew exactly what to do. Meanwhile Nossi and their dog played around and Marjo and the lady (I never knew their names) talked and helped by pushing the brake when required. We got the wheel replaced quite soon after.
I never knew but all that time Marjo held whatever she needed to do so the second the helpful couple left she made a spurt for the toilet. In the rush she hit her toe on a little root stump and still has a hurting toe 🙁

Then we left much later than originally planned, in search of a service station that could help us fix our tyre….on a Saturday afternoon…..

Our first stop with a service was at Calguna but they didn’t have our size of tube. They had one of the friendly guys that spread poison though 🙁

They also had as attraction a part of a crash landed NASA craft.

Then we passed some oversize trucks (they seem to enjoy shipping humongous things over this road).

Then the scenery started to get more barren.

And we end up at the roadhouse of Cocklebiddy Wedgetail. They have the right size tube but by now the mechanic has left for the day (no idea where he would go as we are in the middle of nowhere, at least 500 km from the nearest town). Tomorrow, Sunday, he is back at 8.30 am. We don’t mind and stay at the scenic campground of the roadhouse. Luckily the showers are new and awesome, as this camping is not famous for the quiet (with a very loud generator on 24/7) or the scene.

Luckily we also found some contrast.

An eventful day.

Posted from Sheringa, South Australia, Australia.

We wanted to drive quite a bit today so left early, helped by the stinging ants that became so irritatingly active after the storm that standing still was impossible. Every time one of the dogs or we stood still, the little buggers climbed on our feet and stung. Luckily we had packed up most of our stuff before the storm so we had a quick start.

Nossi was a little dopey after our quick get away, but adjusted soon.

Our first stop was Norseman, where the Nullarbor starts. We wanted to stack up on petrol and visit the information centre to get the most out of our trip. Norseman has been put on the map after in 18 something someone tied their horse up to a tree overnight and the hoof of the horse revealed a substantial piece of gold. We tried our luck with Dotti.

But she didn’t get what we were after, even when we helped her scratch the dirt. Ah well, no luck this time.

After a while we stopped for lunch, it started already to become a hot day and the forecast was 40 degree days across the Nullarbor.

Marjo’s artistic eye fell on the nice trees.

And I spotted a little sunbathing leathery lizard.

More inland the damage of last night’s storm was good visible.

The road was long and straight and here they pride themselves on having the longest stretch (90 miles) of road in Australia with no bend.

It goes on….

And on….

They even have room to build in a landing strip for airplanes.

Then we turned into a rest area not far from a homestead. A huge site with a toilet and dump point. Almost no one camped there for the night.
We slept like babies.

Posted from Sheringa, South Australia, Australia.

The forecast is for little wind and storms at night. With no wind the flies are horrible and seem to favour the side of the bus where we sit and where the door is. Great. So every time we open the door we have to hit ourself with a twig to get rid off the flies on our head, backs and bums as well as hardly open the door as not to invite flies in. A futile exercise and we decide to move on.

The caretaker of the campsite saw Marjo’s kayak and wondered whether we had checked out the river already. “River?” we said and then decided to check it out.

The walk from the road to the river over a sandy 4Wd track was picturesque, but a bit too far to lug a 4 meter kayak. So we limited our venture to a walk.

And see many wild flowers.

We then moved on to Esperance of which we had high expectations, ideal for kiting, white beaches causing snow blindness.

I must say, it’s not bad, but the stories were a bit over exaggerated. The beaches are not that white and most of the city is on a high rock which makes the wind very unstable. Plus the fact that there was hardly any wind that day made us decide just to go for some sight seeing and a refreshing swim.

Not sure that it woke up everyone though.

Then the weather started to turn, a storm was predicted.

And we decided to get on the road for our trip across the Nullarbor. First north from Esperance towards Norseman. When the sky turned darker, we decided to pull into Salmon Gums and stayed at the small community campground. It had a good shower and was quiet.

That evening the tail of the storm that played havoc in inland Western Australia came over our bus, with ferocious winds, sandstorm, severe rain and thunder. Afterwards all four of us were on the bed, the dogs spooked and we literally shaken from the wind rocking the bus.

We slept well that night.

Posted from Salmon Gums, Western Australia, Australia.

Now we’re not too far from the ocean again, it feels only right to check out the beach. The coast here has many rocky parts, National Parks and sandy access roads (4WD only). So we decide on Manglinup that ticks all the boxes for us.
About 20 km bitumen of the main highway plus 8 km of dirt road is acceptable. The dirt road is not nicely graded so the 8 km of corrugation takes about half an hour at snail’s pace.

Then the last turn until we come to a surprisingly nice beach.

Despite the howling wind strength, the wind direction and the flat stretch of water is too hard to resist. Walking with the 12 meter kite in this wind is a bit hard but once in the water the kiting is exhilarating and exhausting.

Some think that beaches are also for things like walking and exploring and have pictures as proof.

Then back at the campsite.

We all have a few almond nuts.

And then when the sun goes down it gets a bit chilly.

But the wait is well worth the result.

Another beautiful day.

Posted from Salmon Gums, Western Australia, Australia.

We’ve seen wave rock. Tick in the box. No, that’s unfair. Everyone you talk to says “don’t go there as it is exactly as the picture” which is true but that picture doesn’t have us in it, it doesn’t give the memory of the place, so I’m glad we went.

We don’t want to take the same road back though and decide to skip a bit of coast between Albany and Ravensthorpe which is mainly inaccessible National Park anyway.

The road takes us past many large canola fields.

And places where they collect the harvested canola for transport to the factory.

Then we switch drivers and M. Monroe takes the wheel.

That’s Marjo Monroe.

And we found people have a sense of humour around here. Thats understandable with only fields of Canola and dried up lakes around you.

Now we’ve splurged $16 on last night’s camp site and $22 on my cooking (ok, $3.50 of which was the beer at the pub while waiting for the food), it is now time to camp for free. We find a nice rest stop with ample space and only one other caravanner, 6 km from Ravensthorpe which is our stay for the night. A nice spot and hardly any flies. we think they have all been captured by the giant ants as the ground is covered with quite large holes, the size of Marjo’s little finger. We are not concerned and set up for the night.

Another nice day.

Posted from Salmon Gums, Western Australia, Australia.

The next morning we leave at around nine to cover the remaining 90 km to Hyden. The sky is clear blue and the temperature rises quickly to a nice 29 degrees.

Then we arrive at the wave rock. A pleasant location NOT in a National Park and NO signs that deter dogs. We like, we like a lot.

The wave rock by itself is intriguing and a great amplifier of sound. It is even better when we’re part of the picture.

The view from the top of the rock is also nice.

As well as the surroundings.

Then I’m sure that the same imaginative person that visited the big ‘Elephant’ rocks near Denmark came here and had animals in their mind…..

….and called this ‘Hippo’s yawn’.

We thought that now we had come this far, we better look at all the attractions and made the 40km round trip to the Mulka caves. The cave itself is tiny but the story is intriguing and the aboriginal markings are nice.

Posted from Salmon Gums, Western Australia, Australia.

The Two People Bay location has no mobile reception, hence no blogging, emails or phone calls. Unless…..one stands exactly 50 steps down from the campsite and 22 steps West then suddenly the iPhone has some reception, enough to update the weather forecast on the web. Today I tells us: rain and no wind for the next 2 days. Time to go.

We pack up, say goodbye to the anniversaries and the Dutchies and make our way towards Esperance via Ongerup (somewhat inland route). This brings us past the Stirling ranges of which we have heard great things. The road reminds us of the outback.

With the promised ranges in the back.
And we drive on….

Until we see an orange lake which we haven’t encountered before (we have seen white, pink, green, black and various shades of blue, but never an orange one). We stop alongside the deserted road and take some shots.

The ranges are nice but not as spectacular as we have seen before. Are we spoilt?

As the forecast promised, the clouds are threatening. When we come to Ongerup it becomes evident that this is a place not worth visiting (we did it anyway) but also that the clouds are still upon us. We talk to a friendly diesel pump attendant who offers us the local groceries store (for us to buy) and when we friendly decline, tells us that Hyden is a merely 140 km away. Hyden is where the wave rock can be found. We decided earlier not to take the 500 km detour to visit the wave rock but now it suddenly looks more enticing. Wave rock it is.

One other advantage of traveling away from the coast is the higher temperature. We have looked at the map for this region and have decided to take the small regional bitumen road past many lakes instead of the highway.

The higher temperature though means that these blue lakes on the map have turned into salt plains which is a strange sight.

As you know, we have recently been to Denmark, so we only thought it would be fair to visit Holland too. First we see a windmill.

And then Marjo visits a house very similar to the one she grew up in.

We wanted to see if they served space cake or broodje kroket but it seemed they stopped opening daily since September 2007 and it was unclear when they would run their mill tours (for 4 people only at $25 pp). We lost interest.

Then we came past a cross road that spiked interest.

We had seen the movie “rabbit proof fence” and wondered if that happened near here. No fence looked of the right size and structure to deter any rabbits though.

Then we came to Lake Grace and thought that we had covered enough kilometers for a day. This little town has four (!) banks and when inquiring at the local pub, it seems that it is a hub for the agricultural activities around here. This area is called the wheat belt and everywhere we have seen road trains transporting Canola.
At the local camp ground we see a variety of agricultural machinery come past.

Then we decide it’s my turn to cook.

And we tuck in for another beautiful (rainfree) day.

Posted from Salmon Gums, Western Australia, Australia.

To all good things comes an end and we leave Cosy Corner only after sharing coffee with snijkoek and speculaas with two Dutch guys. One of them keeps playing Dutch songs on his iPod and drives the English speaking people mad.

We say goodbye and go towards Albany where our first stop is the Gap and Natural bridge.

This is an impressive play between rock and water.

We decide to both have a look here.

Then we drive to Salmon pools and have a nice view over the Albany bay.

It seems that in February and March large schools of Australian salmon frequent these waters. Once upon a time this was a thriving industry but it seems that there is a preference for the more pink Canadian salmon which was the end of the salmon industry on the Australian south coast. Still a nice view.

Then Marjo had enough of walking stairs (the Salmon pools was 5 flights of stairs after having walked the whole Gap and Natural Bridge area).

So we decided to find our next bush campsite around Albany and planned for Betty’s beach.

And when we saw the turquoise waters ahead, we got blinkers on and ended up at East Bay instead. That worked out brilliantly as this minuscule campsite with only 4 camp spots had just one spare spot and that prime position was ours for the week (ok, for the observant people, we actually stayed only 5 nights, but who is counting). Right on the edge of the beach.

With a bedroom view to kill for.

The location is stunning and we had the beach most of the time for ourselves.

Also at dusk we had some impressive displays.

Marjo and Nossi had the time of their lives, exploring the area on long walks.

And in the evening we played a game of Kubb (see for an explanation Amamoor and more) with our ‘neighbours’.

While we stay here we get a change of neighbours from the couple from Albany trialling their modified caravan, to the young couple with kids that left at around midnight after their 4 year old daughter had been crying all evening, the couple with a big 4WD truck that celebrated their anniversary in quiet and the older Dutch couple that didn’t know English very well. All friendly and nice to talk to. We, meanwhile, enjoyed ourselves with kiting (yay), mosaic (beautiful), reading, guitar, a daily ‘bath’ in the ocean and bush shower, collecting shells, reading and many walks.

A fabulous stay at a magnificent spot where even fish smile in the afterlife.

When we have stocked up, cleaned up, shaved and laundered we move on. Around Albany there are several free beach camp sites that we want to check out. Our first destination is Cosy Corner and while driving there we see a wood carving gallery. We stop and admire all the things one can carve and turn out of wood. Impressive.

We select a new companion, a happy bird that wasn’t angry enough, to travel on our dashboard for the remainder of the trip and move on.

note: the reference is to Angry Birds, a well known game which has clearly formed the inspiration for the wooden birds.

The cosy corner camping is just that. Relatively small with many bushes and shade and quite busy. We are lucky to find a spot amongst the younger corner of the camp site close to the beach.

In the early evening we have visitors that excite Nossi very much.

A lot of turn over (daily leavers and arrivals) and people sleeping in their cars. Some Dutch, some German, some French. And of course the roaming Australians who seem to have fallen off the radar and live out of their cars. Generally angry with life. Tom seems to be a bit different. He is a traveling poet and we decide to buy one of his publications. Nice to read.

Marjo thanks him by giving him a personal message and a mandala.

The day travelers corner is quite social and we have a nice time with talk, dinner, guitar and of course a drink or two.

The nature and the beach here are also magnificent and Marjo and Nossi explore the rocky side.

Unfortunately the wind is not strong enough for kiting. That doesn’t stop me from trying though but I don’t get much further than dressing up.

And when the wind still doesn’t pick up, Nossi finds a way to keep me busy.

And together we dig a deep hole. After this hard work it’s time for rest.

And Nossi is clearly upset…

When Marjo claims that it’s her turn.

Later we all go an expedition to the other side of the beach which has an estuary with yucky brown water.

We need a cleanup and go back into the ocean. Nossi and I venture across shallow kind of water, ok not that shallow, onto a rocky island. And when Marjo calls him, Nossi makes the swim back.

And then of course nothing is nicer than to roll yourself dry in the sand.

Dotti is tired and Marjo decides to keep her company while Nossi and I check out the view.

Then we return and find a very nice message.

We enjoyed ourselves here very much and decided to stay for 3 nights. A great stay!

Posted from Manypeaks, Western Australia, Australia.