Karratha to Lake Argyle

After several weeks at Josh and Kendehl's, we left to travel eastwards for about 1900Km as far as the WA-NT border, the intention being to get there quickly and then slowly make our way back to Karratha after the new baby was born, to be close enough in case of problems. About a week later, we arrived at Lake Argyle.
Lake Argyle has been formed by the damming of the Ord River; it's reported to be up to 16 times the size in water storage than Sydney Harbour, (a de-facto comparison of water storage in Australia). The East Kimberley region and around the lake is so spectacular with rugged ranges and vast areas of land tracts home to some of the largest cattle stations in Australia. The waters of the lake irrigate the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, which is currently undergoing massive expansion. The waters of the lake are barely touched by the usage for irrigation and are the envy of many in the drier southern states.
Lake Argyle Resort is a great place to spend a few weeks, very restful. There were magnificent sunsets, (and sunrise if you get up early enough) for spectacular colour variations, a joy for camera enthusiasts. Highlights for us were the day cruise of the lake, the cruise taking in about half of the 54k long lake. Saw fresh water crocodiles, searched for Zebra Rock on a remote island and sailed along the escarpment under a glorious sunset. A morning cruise was taken down the Ord River Valley to enjoy spectacular gorge scenery and hear of the history of the original station owners and the origins of the scheme. The resort pool of icy-cold water proved to be a popular spot each afternoon.
Whilst at the Lake, we drove across the NT border for a day trip to Keep River National Park, to see permanent water holes, bee-hive rock formations and bird life. A friendly galah came to say hello by appearing out of nowhere to land on my shoulder, much unexpected.

 Kununurra
After the Lake Argyle, we came back to Kununurra to do more sight-seeing, Zebra Rock Factory one day. More of the Ord River and Lake Kununurra Irrigation Scheme; we saw plantations of rape seed, legumes, Sandalwood, Sorghum, Paw-Paw and Chia-seed. A major attraction of the irrigation scheme is nearby, "The Hoochery", the only private rum distillery in Australia. A few dollars allows one to sample different blends of Rum and they do great meals. I had to produce a driver's licence to prove our eligibility to purchase as a condition of their liquor licence.
The major tourism attractions of the region have to be the many air-flights around the Lake and surrounds. We booked onto a day trip by fixed wing aircraft down the full length of the Lake Argyle; around the Bungle-Bungle Range of Purnululu National Park and landing for a tour of the Argyle Diamond Mine. Being a hot day, turbulence spoiled the flight for Vicki, but by air being the best way to truly see the size of Lake Argyle, the National Park gorges and bee-hive rock formations that the Bungle-Bungles are famous for. The landing at the (again) world famous Argyle Diamond Mine gave Vicki some respite; we had lunch and a ground tour of the mine. We got to see how and where the rare pink diamond is found, saw displays of rare jewels and yes, they did give us a free sample each, (about the size of the full stop but one just the same).
We drove a day trip to Wyndham where we visited the Five River Lookout, climbed the 144 steps down to "The Grotto" along the way and a side trip to Parry Creek Farm.

Fitzroy Crossing Returning West from Kununurra, via Halls Creek and an overnight stop at the Mary River Pool, we next camped at Fitzroy Crossing, a small town on the Fitzroy River. Here we encountered a very close bush fire when a burn-off across the highway got out of control, (as most of them seem to do!). From here we visited the Geikie Gorge National Park and did a 2-3 hour walk along the river to view scenery, bird life and the odd signs of resident crocodiles. It was a hot day and by the time we got back, very exhausted.

Derby Spent several days camping in Derby, (same as my place of birth in the UK), and did the touristy things there; walking around the old wharf, observed the nine metre tides and the ancient Boab Trees, One such tree reputed to have been used as a prison in the old days.
From Derby, we had a day trip to the famed Gibb River Road and onto Windjana National Park and to Tunnel Creek National Park. The former is a deep and ancient gorge along the Lennard River. Basking fresh-water crocodiles and Barramundi in the clear deep pools, (fishing not allowed), ancient escarpments that are testimony to pre-historic upheavals. Tunnel Creek is where the river has carved a passage through ancient rocks forming a kilometre long cave under the Range. The cave is wonderfully cool after the heat of the day, is home to bats, freshwater crocs and surprisingly, butterflies. This visit involved wading by torch-light and much spirited banter among our group who searched the darkness for hidden snags and the hiding place of at least five "freshies".

Broome After Derby, next stop Broome, world famous tourist spot where thousands of back-packers from all over come to see the legendry Cable Beach, camel rides at sunset and the historical Broome China Town and to learn about the origins of the south-seas pearling industry. Broome claims to be founded on "buttons" as it developed as the world supplier of pearl shell for buttons, knife handles and the European and American demand for shell based jewellery. When plastic replaced pearl shell, the pearlers learnt to seed the animal and so developed an industry that still today supplies some of the best and most expensive pearls.
We took day trip drives to Cape Leveque, Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm and another to James Price Point. The latter currently the site of the proposed development by Woodside as a major gas processing plant. Along magnificent wilderness coast line, pristine blue waters, not surprisingly, now the site of anti-mining and development protester's camp. Having visited there, one can only wonder when preservation will take priority over relatively short term profits.
The famous old Broome wooden jetty has long gone, now replaced by a more secure construction to a deep water wharf. Walking there at sunset over several nights, seeing the ships coming and going that were all associated with the mining industry, off shore gas drilling and gas pipelines. At the end of the walk-way, we saw lads fishing for giant trevally; their baits attracting a huge spotted cod (or groper?) that lived among the pylons and it was quite entertaining to watch this animal of such large proportions, mouth like the proverbial dustbin.
On this visit, the tides were not favourable for walks out to the WW-11 Catalina air-craft wrecks or to see "Stairway to the Moon"; luckily we did all of that last visit but we did enjoy the magnificent views over the bay, lovely blue water and clear late winter skies.

80-Mile Beach A favourite place for many to spend the winter, 80-Mile Beach Caravan Park was still busy even this late in the season. No sign of the cyclone damage that occurred earlier this year. The usual activities of looking for shells after the high tide; fishing for the short duration of the high, and just walking or driving the many miles of beach, make for quite a restful place. Evening sunset viewing with a glass of something in the hand is de-rigueur for the regulars and visitors alike. As it was at the end of the season, we observed several caravanners packing up and saying their farewells with a cheery "...see you next year..." They book the same site year after year.
Fishing was not very productive and the highly prized conch shells were not to be found but we had a good week anyway.
After here, via Port Hedland and then back to Karratha where the new baby Nikita June Heinze-Hann awaits her nanna. Arthur of course was also keen to see us again and to introduce his new baby sister.

Wet Season, North West Western Australia
It is important for our overseas followers to understand the seasons in the North of Australia. Having crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, one is subject to tropical seasons not encountered further south. We chose like many to visit the North in winter, the weather being cooler and drier for the winter months. Clear blue skies, we haven't seen rain for months. However, all changes from November. The wet season arrives. Many of the places we have visited would probably be inaccessible for us and the huge river systems of the north-west, dry in winter, run in flood after monsoon rains. Tropical cyclones are regular across the "top-end", cyclone warning signs that we saw as "all clear" give way to levels of alertness if and when cyclones are formed. Karratha, Broome Port Hedland, all go into tie-down mode in the severest level of immanency. This year they are predicting a possible five cyclones after the longer dry and higher than average temperatures of late. We can't be there in cyclone season.
The northern aborigines have many mythical tales and traditions of the seasons. They recognise several more seasons than the simple "wet" or "dry" of the white settlers, their traditional seasons include changes in food gathering, hunting traditions and for where they would migrate to escape the flood plains of the "wet". The summer rains refreshing the country for the next "dry" season and the flood of a different kind, tourists in campers and caravans.

 

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 https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/KarrathaToLakeArgyle?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCN6Vw9vAgorIXQ&feat=directlink

Newman to Karratha

We left Newman for a free camp about 140k north of Newman, an overnight stop before heading off to Karijini National Park. The Park is a bit of a detour off the Northern Highway, but as we had been there before, we couldn't be this close without revisiting the beautiful, rugged and unique landscape.
Camping is strictly controlled in the park, we decided on the "generator section" in case we needed to use the generator to recharge the batteries. This proved to be un-needed as the two solar panels on the roof easily kept the batteries charged and with judicious electrical use, we had a total of 14 nights off power without having to use the generator.The Dales Camp ground is next to the lovely Dales Gorge, there the climb down to the Fortescue Falls and the beautiful Fern Pool is not for the unfit, (you have to get back up again!), but we managed it. Vicki had a swim in the Fern Pool, quietly as to comply with the request of the local indigenous peoples so as not to disturb the ancient beasties that live there.

The Dales Gorge is one of several in the park, cut out of the rock by millennia of water; the gorges are around 50-80 metres deep, some places quite narrow and steep, all hard to climb out of but spectacular as the various sun angles change the colour and shadows of the rocky cliffs.
We spent two nights in Karijini, walking around the second night on the gorge rim, it wrenched my ankle on a loose rock, and this proved to be a problem for the next few weeks.

From Karijini, back to the Northern Highway and a brief stop at Munjina Gorge Lookout; the new highway had to cross through a series of ranges before getting to the northern plains. Munjina Pass is the route through the ranges and the lookout views the most spectacular scenery of where the road wends its way. We also discovered above the lookout, a lovely free camp for next time. After the range crossing, the highway finds us at the Auski Road House, here for a fuel stop; stretch our legs and a bit of lunch. Like Capricorn, the Auski Road House is a hive of industry, trucks caravans and motor homes, mining company vehicles and again, a mining camp of "dongas". There were very few cars on this highway, most small vehicles were utes or 4x4's with mine company signage, campers and rental 4x4's. At one roadside rest area, we pulled in for the usual hourly tyre check, there was a coach stopped just before us and out of it jumped about a dozen blokes who promptly set about relieving themselves, much to the amusement of Vicki following behind. No trees, no privacy and the single dunny just couldn't be waited for.

After one more night free camp, Peawah River on the highway between Port Hedland and Karratha, we neared our destination and arrived around midday on 13^th June, Josh came out to the highway to meet us and guide through the town of Karratha to his house.

The Landcruiser clocked 4090 kilometres towing the van from Napperby, used 961 litres of diesel, (yes, ouch!!!), and took a leisurely month to get here. Now we have parked at Josh and Kendehl's house driveway, we swapped to their spare room and second bathroom and are living in a house again. Young Arthur was very pleased to see "nanna" and especially pleased to be re-united with Elmo, his favourite doll he had left behind. Elmo has plenty to tell him about his wonderful trip across to WA and of all the places he visited along the way.

Plenty to see and do around Karratha-Dampier and we will probably be here a few weeks. Vicki will treasure some time with her son and family and a rest from driving the Hilux ute all the way from Adelaide.

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https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/NewmanToKarratha?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIPb49PimbmYSQ&feat=directlink.

Lake Nallan to Newman

Lake Nallan proved to be a haven from the strong winds blowing from the north, fuel consumption is bad enough in the Landcruiser without battling head winds. The Great Northern Highway, from Perth to Port Hedland has to be one of the busiest highways in outback Australia. The road is in good condition and a tribute to WA transport, noticeably better than many of the roads that we travelled over the east. Just look at the map of WA to see how remote the route of this highway is. Most of the vehicles travelling north were road trains carrying machinery to support the enormous mining industry. Most of the road trains heading south were empty, going back for more freight. Many vehicles were wide loads, the wider ones up to 8 metres wide. These had special escort vehicles and the UHF CB in our vehicles proved to be greatly beneficial, channel 40 being the communication to truckies, road workers and fellow caravanners who saw sense and ignored the recommended ch 18.

A free camp at Gascoyne River, Middle Branch gave us a couple of days respite again. The Gascoyne is a huge seasonal river system having three main branches where it crosses into inland WA. Runs all the way west to near Carnarvon on the coast, it had recently been in flood. Several nice billabongs, (water holes) remained and were home to myriads of birds, parrots, raptors, wrens and finches, a bird-watchers heaven. We even saw fish in the pools, amazing this Australia, no water for years but when it does come, the fish and shrimps and yabbies are there.
The camp at Gascoyne River, is at least 200k south of the next city of Newman, we were then amazed to find that we had a good Telstra phone signal and were able, here in the middle of the WA outback, able to use the Internet better than we could when we lived 20k from the city centre. This proved to be an example of the side effects of the spread of mining camps across the country.

From Gascoyne, still heading northwards, we arrived at the Tropic of Capricorn. It was starting to warm up and a complete change in the country side. At the Tropic Of Capricorn, some 20-odd k south of Newman is the Capricorn Road-House or Cappies as the truckies were calling it. This place has to be the busiest road-house in the country, dozens of road-trains were there, pulling in or heading out, an amazing insight as to how much freight is being carried by road to the resource hungry mining industry of the north-west. Next to the roadhouse was a large camp of typical "dongas" small two or four room accommodation for the fly-in-fly out (FIFO) mine workers. The comings and goings around Capricorn seemed quite extraordinary after all the kilometres of seemingly empty country that we had passed.

Newman
Newman is one of the oldest iron ore mining regions in Australia, indeed, Mt Newman was well know when I first arrived in Australia in 1964. Along with Mt Tom Price, the region has the richest deposits of iron-ore in the world. Newman ore lode has been assayed as up to 60% plus iron, many of Australia's big money men have been made their fortunes up here in the region called the Pilbara. Iron ore is transported by privately owned freight trains. These trains are over 2 kilometres long, thousands of tonnes of ore trained to Port Hedland for shipping to China and other overseas buyers. Tom Price ore is trained to Dampier, again to be shipped off around the world. One story that we heard was that the Queen owns substantial private shares in the Iron Ore mining industry in Australia.

At Newman, we drove up from the visitor information centre to the look-out above the town; it was easy to see the expansion since we were last here in 2006. And busy? Definitely not a quiet outback town is Newman but could be a good base to stop at to explore a fair bit of the outback.

At the visitor information centre, the town had considerately provided for caravanners, a toilet dump point and a tap to re-fill our water tanks, as we were going to be camping again for the next four nights, this was very handy.

Click on the link below to view some photos.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/LakeNallanToNewman?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKagybrKm_bqVQ&feat=directlink

Leonora, Home of the Golden Gift

We had three days stop-over at Leonora, another old gold-mining service centre, the city stands today as a major supply base for several mines around the area, busy FIFO airport, busy cross roads where mining trucks and mine supply vehicles hold sway. What could have been average stay, we happened to have arrived at the weekend of the first Sunday in June, Western Australia Foundation Day, Leonora was about to be invaded by cyclists and athletes from all over Australia.
First, the Leonora Golden Gift, a foot race around the main street with several thousand dollars of prizes, apparently has a long history and attracts runners from all over. Just so happens that we were able to watch two of Australia's Olympic hopefuls, cross the line to take out both the male and female first places. Hopefully it was a fine lead up to London for both.

The other event is relatively new, only been going a few years, a cycling classic race. Originally a race from Kalgoorlie to Menzies, the race has been extended to take in a second day for the ride from Menzies to Leonora. Again, entrants from all over Australia cycled the 140-odd k for a prize and personal achievement. From the commentary as the peloton arrived in town, local riders didn't disappoint. The final sprint around town was quite exciting, to see that the athletes were able to find reserves of power for the final few hundred metres after the long climb from Menzies. A fun weekend, busy in town, we were camped at the town sports ground, a great view of the Saturday night fireworks and far enough away from the music to be able to hear in a more comfortable environment.

Leinster-Mt Magnet
Our next phase of our tandem drive north was first to Leinster, a purpose built modern small township that serves a local mineral mining community. Visit to the shop and top up fuel, a nice little place that seems quite welcoming to travellers. Fuel had to be obtained from a self serve, card in the slot servo. Bad luck if you needed fuel on a public holiday without a credit card, but handy for us, cheaper than we were likely to get for a while.

We next free camped west from Leinster at a nice stop-over, Peter Denny Lookout. This camp site has a lovely aspect over the break-a-ways, coloured craggy cliffs where weather and water has eroded the land creating a spectacular amphitheatre with view across the vast outback WA. Kangaroos grazed below as we watch again, a spectacular sunset to be followed by brilliant star-studded night, the "clouds" of the Milky Way clearly visible above. We observed a man-made satellite passing overhead, the third night running and we wondered if it was the International Space Station.

Next morning, further westwards to the small town of Sandstone, this proved to be a bit of a surprise place. Again, built around the gold rush days and early pastoral settlement, there was a good exhibition of historical photographs and paraphernalia of old. Included was an interesting article about a famous murder mystery which involved the author of the well known Detective Bonaparte novels. (Arthur Upfield). Not the author doing the deed, but someone who apparently heard him explaining how to get rid of dead bodies in one of his novels. The alleged murder was suspected of several killings, disposing of the bodies in a fire mixed with animal bones to cover up the deaths. The man was caught out, tried and eventually hanged in WA. This could well be a good example of the old adage of truth being stranger than fiction.

Further westwards, along a good sealed road, we arrived around mid afternoon at Mount Magnet, the junction of the Great Northern Highway. Had a quick visit to the information centre to suss out some of the mining and pastoral history and considered our next stop for the night.

Lake Nallan, about 40k north allowed for two days camping. We had stayed here before in 2006 and the lake had been full, not so today, a small lake at the camping end was all that remained. Inhabited by 5 black swans, several pelicans, numerous other water birds, we couldn't work out what they fed on as there was no sign of fish or shrimp. One unique resident was a single Australian Bustard; shy, he kept away from our side of the lake.

Click on the link below to view some more photos.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/KalgoorlieToLeonora?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCML8_ab8qKCdfg&feat=directlink

 

Smoky Bay to Norseman

On a foggy morning, we agreed to get going to Ceduna and start our trip across the Nullarbor, taking advantage of a three day good weather forecast. A refuel stop at Ceduna and we were on our way across one of the worlds famous "drives". As this was our second trip from East to West, the road ahead didn't hold as much apprehension for us as before. Having done the trip both ways in 2006, it was now a bit hum-drum. The biggest worry was, and proved to be, the high cost of fuel.
We passed through Penong, famous for windmills; we didn't think that there were as many to be counted as last time. Looking at our 2006 photos, this seems to be the case. As many were dilapidated, they have either fallen down or been dismantled.

The start of the Nullarbor (no trees) is close to the Head of the Bight, a popular whale watching location but a bit early for them. However, along the way, talking to a truck driver on the CB, he could see a pair of whales from his cab; he was sitting a bit higher than us so we missed them.
We also found that several of the cliff top look-outs between Nullarbor Road House and the SA-WA Border have been closed since we last crossed, environment concerns for where the jagged 90 metre high cliffs plunge straight down to the Southern Ocean have led to restrictions of access.

After one night camp, we passed through the Border Village into Western Australia, a photo stop at the roadhouse, a final quarantine check; we reset the clocks to eastern WA time and set off for Mundrabilla, our next refuelling stop.

A near disaster, close to empty on one tank in the Landcruiser, pulled into the servo only to find out that the roadhouse had run out of diesel. Due to a major truck blitz by WA police and Road Transport Authority, Mundrabilla had a queue of road-trains that were having a "forced" rest period; they had caused a major run on the supplies. So our next refuelling stop, about 140-odd Kilometres away, Madura Pass. Just so happens, this was the dearest diesel on the route, $1:97 c/l, over $260 to refuel, ouch!

After another night camp, we travelled the "Longest Straight in Australia" (145.6K, 90 miles) to Balladonia, famous for its "Sky-Lab" exhibit, and then on to Norseman.

Norseman doesn't hold any attractions for us so after a fuel stop, a visit to the tourist centre, we headed north towards Kalgoorlie and another overnight free camp 12k away.

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https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/SmokyBayToNorseman?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNnasbmH3qzZGQ&feat=directlink

Kalgoorlie to Leonora

After crossing the Nullarbor to Norseman, we started to head north towards the Gold Fields Country. Lots of history is to be found up here. Here the State of Western Australia first derived its wealth and autonomy from the Eastern States. (The Gold Field population actually voted against WA joining the Eastern States at the Federation Referendums, city slickers carried the day). Kalgoorlie remains as the centre of gold mining where the "Super-Pit", the biggest open cut gold mine, still holds sway. Many buildings in the city are tributes to the original gold miners who came from all over the world to make their fortune or to die in the harsh WA outback.

The Gold Fields Way, the road north from Kalgoorlie to Leonora and onwards, is now the gateway to many more modern mines that are spreading across the state, now there is a plethora of minerals, besides gold, that is the new wealth.

After a week of R&R at Kalgoorlie, house-work and maintenance, we headed further north and spent a night at Menzies, remaining as one of the old mining towns, Menzies is getting a bit of a make-over, new caravan park, sealed back streets and under-ground power. A must do visit from Menzies is to Lake Ballard and a walk around the salt lake to view the Antony Gormley sculptures, 51 bronze-alloy statues and to sit at the Snake Hill look-out to watch the magnificent sunset.

Next day, headed north again for a free camp at Niagara Dam, south of Leonora, the dam was built around 1901 to provide water for the steam trains hat had followed the miners. An historical report of the time quotes "....the dam cost 50 000 pounds to build and was never used for its intended market, a gross waste of money". It seems that water pipes beat the dam builders to it. Badly affected by the vagaries of the inland WA weather, we were lucky to find the dam full to the top. Swans and many other water birds had taken up residency, yabbies were to be caught but it was the lovely walks through the scrub and around the "Breakaways" that appealed to us. We found that the old dam was badly weathered and leaking quite profusely from a large crack, causing us to recount the story of the boy who put his finger in the dam to stop a catastrophe.

We left the Dam camp site to stay for three days at Leonora, home of the richest gold mine of the era, Gwalia Mine. The old mine township has been recreated and makes for a great visit to see how the old miners lived. Modern Leonora is a centre for the new mines, the airport busy with Fly-in-Fly-Out (FIFO) mining staff. Ore trucks carrying the mining materials now dominate the Gold Fields Way, 53 metres long. Several trailers, best to keep out of their way.

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https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/KalgoorlieToLeonora?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCML8_ab8qKCdfg&feat=directlink

Napperby to Kalgoorlie

Well, here we are at Kalgoorlie, WA, 2,001Km from Napperby via Smoky Bay, SA. On our way to Karratha, far North West of Western Australia; a long story that we will keep short. 2012 was to be the year that we decided would be a return to WA, a big state with plenty of choices and places to see. Vicki’s son Josh has taken on employment at Karratha-Dampier, right up in the Pilbara district of WA. With his family, Kendehl and Arthur, they couldn’t have moved any further away from Melbourne without going off-shore. They had a problem, their Toyota Hilux couldn’t be shipped with them and we thought that it would be a good idea to drive it up there for them. Google Maps measured the distance at 3,856km via Kalgoorlie, through the Gold Fields Country and up to Newman and turn left at the Great Northern Highway.

As an aside, when grandson Arthur was last with us, he left his favourite toy, a talking Elmo, (of Sesame Street Fame), and we are taking him back. We are trying to interest young Arthur in our travels by photographing Elmo at strategic locations and at landmarks that identify our route. People have a grin when they see us posing Elmo and we even have got his own “I crossed the Nullarbor” Certificate.

Three days at Smoky Bay could easily have been extended but the weather forecast predicted a good few days ahead that proved ideal for the long crossing of the Nullarbor Plains, most will tell you that it is always windy and with fuel prices of up to $2 per litre, a head wind would be very undesirable.

So we have travelled to Kalgoorlie, Vicki driving the Hilux, me the Land Cruiser with the van, four nights of bush camping; here we will have a quiet few days before heading north via the Gold Fields Highway, Elmo, Vicki and me, in convoy with places to see and people to meet. At the end of the drive, Vicki will delight in catching up with “Smurf” and he can’t wait to be re-united with Elmo.

Click on the link below to view some photos.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/NapperbyToKalgoorlie?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMihptuQ2_SkiQE&feat=directlink

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all our readers, trust that 2012 will be a good year for you all and that fellow travellers have safe and exciting travels around this great country.
December saw us back at our “home” base at Napperby, South Australia where we joined the family for the festive season. This year we have enjoyed the extra company of my brother Pete and his wife visiting from Derby, UK. They insisted on coming to SA in December-January as they wanted a bit of sun. Well to date, they have seen the worst storm ever. Sixty-six mm of rain, hail and strong winds that blew down trees, a power pole and disrupted power for 17hrs. Since then, several days over 40 degrees, hot north winds today and praying for the cool change that might bring some rain.
We totted up the statistics of our first travels in the Truelux 5th wheeler van. We travelled a total of 16861 Kilometres, 8086 kilometres towing the van; Used 2907 litres of diesel, at an average cost of $1.49 cents/litre. We had 254 days of travel between picking up the new van, two visits to Melbourne for service and four states, one territory. We crossed state borders 11 times, changed clocks three times and had all four seasons of weather. Climbed a mountain, paddled in the sea and seen waterfalls, green hills and dry semi-deserts.
We look forward to more travels in 2012, not too soon due to family celebrations but April should see us heading North or West once more. Australia still has plenty for us to see and share.
Good health to you all, happy travelling wherever you are; we would love to hear from you soon.

Mylestom to Euroa

14th November 2011
We have continued our travels down the East Coast of New South Wales, through Sydney and on to The Australian Capital Territory and Canberra. So many things to see and do, so many places put off for “RON”, (“later on” in Aussie vernacular). This week we are back in Victoria and awaiting our appointment to have the van serviced again before heading home to South Australia by the end of November.

Sunday 16th October
Packed up the van and moved on to Port Macquarie, a popular northern holiday destination. From there we accessed several popular drives around the district. Stopped off at Lake Cathie, a very pretty estuary, quickly becoming a bit of a “Yuppie “ holiday spot, new shops and many houses gone up since our first visit in 2004. North Head is also a pretty spot where we stopped off to enjoy our packed lunch, alongside the breakwater. From the popular Laurieton North Brother Lookout, we had magnificent views of the surrounding hills of the Hinterland and coastal lagoons, down to the river estuary of the harbour. The Don Johnson lookout is a popular hang-gliding launching pad and a better picnic spot than at the harbor.
Travelling the Hinterland, beautiful scenery, the old village of Lorne, on to Wauchope, an old timber town made for a pleasant day out.
Another day out, this time north across the ferry to follow the dirt road to Crescent Head, a popular surfing venue, frequently mentioned in surfing competitions , Crescent Head is popular with the younger set and families. From the headland lookouts, we were again fortunate enough to be able to watch several pods of Humpback Wales on their way south, several with calves that had been born in the warmer northern waters.
At South West Rocks, more surfies, and the near-by location of the Trial Bay Gaol, last used for German Internees, WW11. Now only a shell, the complex is a formidable reminder of how prisoners were accommodated.

Sunday 23rd October
Moving day and decisions needed. We wanted to go to Port Stephens, an area with several holiday destinations around the Karuah River Estuary. Nelson Bay is the major centre on the estuary and there are several caravan parks in the area. Finding one that first, could accommodate our bigger rig, and second, one that only charged a reasonable rate, was the issue. As we are getting close to the major cities of Newcastle, then Sydney, only a couple of hours drive down the freeway, prices are getting up, parks are prone to crowding and have fewer caravan sites. Preferring instead to be offering cabins or on-site vans for the higher paying holiday maker.
We decided that the caravan park at Karuah would suit, off of the main road, still on the estuary within easy reach of the resorts at Nelson Bay and Port Stephens.
Again, from there, we were able to enjoy pleasant drives out to the coastal venues of Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest and Myall Lakes National Park. We encountered several old towns of historical interest on a drive along the Buckets Way, (or is that Bouquet???). We found the old Monkerai Bridge, now unused the second oldest wooden span bridge in NSW. Stroud, named after the UK town; Clarence Town and Dungog, plenty of history to follow up.
On a day visit to Nelson Bay, we stopped off at the Williamtown RAAF Air Force Base; there is a great RAAF museum, Fighter World, which is dedicated to the fighter jets squadron based there. Very interesting and the F/A-18 Hornets we saw taking off probably used more fuel on the runway than we do on our whole trip. In the museum, one could sit in the cockpit of a jet fighter, see how weapons of the air-wars have developed and read about the RAAF pilot heroes of several wars.

Sunday 30th October
Check-out day again and this time, the relatively easy drive down the Newcastle Freeway to Sydney, (easy apart from the two heavy thunder-storms along the way); a short crossing of Parramatta A7 to get on to the 40km of the new M2-M7 Toll Ways. The ability to now get around Sydney to the South is well worth the few dollars that the toll will cost us when it finally gets billed to our Citylink Electronic Tag, worth its weight in gold, the tag works on all toll roads in the country.
We travelled along the Hume Highway, eventually to book into Moss Vale, another of the historical towns along the many routes throughout NSW. From there, we again took several drives out to tourist venues. We were able to visit several magnificent waterfalls where the rivers fell 80 metres or more from the Escarpment of the inland Great Dividing Range to the coastal plains. Fitzroy, Belmore, and Carrington are three popular, easy to get to and photograph waterfalls of the region. Near Moss Vale are two other historical townships of Bowral and Berrima. The former is the home town of Australia’s most famous cricketer of the century, Don Bradman. Followers of cricket can visit the Don Bradman Museum. We didn’t go, but we were told that it is a most comprehensive collection of cricket memorabilia. At Berrima, we visited the unique old Court House, watched a diorama of one of its more famous trials and were fascinated by the history of the building of the place. Next door, the prominent high stone walls surround the old Berrima Gaol, only recently the abode of 72 female prisoners. Perhaps this too will soon be part of the history tour of the town.
On another drive out, we visited Kiama, on the southern NSW coast and by the old lighthouse, watched the famous “blow-hole” in action as ocean waves forced a huge spray up through the rocks to the delight of many spectators. We headed back via the Macquarie pass that winds up the escarpment; one can only be awed by the thoughts of the original pioneers who built this trading route between the coast and the mountains. After making our way safely, we were to hear the next morning that the Pass was closed because a truck had jack-knifed on one of the tight corners.

Friday 4th November
Moved on to cross the border into the Australian Capital Territory, (ACT), and set up camp at the EPIC Showgrounds. Vicki hasn’t been to Canberra before so this was to be a first for her, just a short visit to see how the Capital of Australia is looking today.
Here we visited the lookout tower at Black Mountain, the Mount Stromlo Observatory and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla.
At Mt Stromlo, the remains of the two oldest Newtonian telescope housings are a stark reminder of the devastating bush-fires that came to the capital and claimed several lives, many homes and thousands of hectares of forest and farm lands.
The Canberra War Memorial is the highlight of any trip to Canberra; we were there for over three hours and still hadn’t seen all of the exhibits. The new building addition with aircraft G-George, WW11 Bomber, Japanese mini-submarine and videos of Australians at war, too much to take in on one visit. The playing of The Last Post at 5:00pm closing time is quite moving. A definite RON agenda!
The Canberra Mint was another must-see tourist stop. We set off for a visit and down came the rain, bad enough trying to navigate Canberra roads without the added stress of teeming rain. When we got to the mint, we had to sit in the ute for quite a while until the rain eased. The visit was well worth the trouble, history of coinage in Australia, exhibits worth many millions and the gallery for viewing the modern coin stamping processes. The most fascinating was the automatic robot which travelled around to pick up 44 gallon drums of coin blanks to tip them into the counting bin, marks on the parquetry floor showed that “he” didn’t deviate from a perfectly constant line of approach.
One could spend weeks at Canberra, so many highlights, history and events, just a taste for us this time. Thought about extending but the park was fully booked owing to the 70th anniversary Remembrance Day Service 11/11/11, at the Canberra War Memorial, an opportunity missed.

11 November 2011
So on Remembrance Day, we crossed the border back into Victoria, booked into Euroa Caravan Park for a few days. We are close enough now that Vicki’s family and especially grandson Arthur were able to come up and visit, great to see them “live” after last being with them in May. We took a day trip up to the Victorian Alpine Country; we visited Mount Buller, a winter Ski Resort. There we were able to see the idle ski lifts against the rocky back-ground of the mountain and tried to imagine it all covered in snow. In summer, one can drive through the village to near the Summit Ski Lift Terminal. From there, a steep climb up to the summit itself. Of course, we had not prepared for this height, 1805 metres above sea level and it was quite cool. Picture me in my shirt sleeves and shorts, Vicki same. Luckily she carries a fold away jacket and fleecy top; we were able to wrap up a little bit. The climb up the few hundred metres to the cairn and fire-watch tower on the summit, was quite an ordeal, I was panting before too many strides and several times thought about giving up. I am sure that the many photos we took will not adequately show the gradient. Nevertheless, we did get there and were rewarded with magnificent 360 degree Alpine Country vistas. There is not much activity in the village come summer, however, the post-office shop was open to get post cards and the Cattleman’s Cafe did us a welcome hot chocolate.

We have the van booked into Truelux for its next big service, a few days to spend with Vicki’s family and then we will be heading back to South Australia. Christmas and a visit from the UK of brother Pete and sister-in-law Mavis, going to be a busy time ahead, it’s all happening.

Click on the link below to view some of the magnificant array of photos in our next album.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/MylestomToEuroaVic?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPjC0aG127i09wE&feat=directlink

Tin Can Bay to Mylestom

October 13th 2011

We left Tin Can Bay on Wednesday with the intent of making a night stop-over at Yandina, this town is home of the Buderim Ginger Factory and the Macadamia Nut Factory. Therefore a mandatory stop to top up with ginger products, macadamia samples and a nice cup of hot chocolate at the cafe. It is a very busy tourist stop and is the major drawcard for the town.
The next day, we crossed the border into NSW and on to Murwillumbah, our third visit. Unfortunately, the caravan park has deteriorated a little since we were there in 2006. We decided to go there because of the NSW school holidays, inland is less busy than the coast and no holiday loading for site fees. On our previous visits we had made friends with the proprietors, Stuart and Gwyneth. They would be heartbroken to see how their hard work has been let go. We did find that long term resident Margaret was still there and pleased to see us, one friendly face. Three days was enough for us to revisit a few of our favourite venues, The Natural Arch Waterfall, just over the Border Ranges; Clarrie Hall Dam and to Mount Warning. The dam is a beautiful picnic spot, the Mount is quite different. Being the core of an ancient Volcano that formed steep crags of the Border Ranges, Mt Warning is said to be the first part of Australia to greet the sun every morning. The walk/climb to the top is reputed to take over 5 hours, so we only did enough to show us that we would be making hard work of it.

From Murwillumbah to another inland location, Mullumbimby, to camp at the Rugby Leagues Ground, from there, we were able to do a bit more sightseeing along the coast and into the ranges. We revisited Nimbin, (The “Grass” Capital of Australia) again after driving through beautiful forest ranges to see Rocky Creek Dam and to Minyon Falls. This time at Nimbin no one came up to us to ask if we wanted to buy any “grass”. We didn’t but were disappointed to find things “not quite the same”. Some say that if you haven’t been to Nimbin, you haven’t been anywhere!
Brunswick Heads, was very busy, being a favourite family destination in the holidays, quite a tent city on the shores of the estuary with dozens of family groups enjoying the break. We saw enough though to mark this up as a great place to visit again, the fresh fish and chips at the Marina were good enough to go back for.

Byron Bay, a very popular holiday destination for thousands of overseas and Aussie youth, is the place where one can visit the lighthouse at Cape Byron, the most Easterly point of mainland Australia, . Not that we think that the youth come to see that, it is the popular beach, the weather and the surf that attracts. On our visit, it again was very busy and not a town for “grey nomads” to R&R.
As we walked up the hill to the lighthouse, we were rewarded by a distant view of a pod of three-four whales. They were moving steadily on their way south but still put on a bit of a show for visitors to the Cape.
After Byron, a bit further south, we did find a spot that would be worth adding to our itinerary at a later date. Near Lennox Head, we found a caravan park at Lake Ainsworth that would be ideal for a stop-over, having the lake one side of the road, the lovely beach on the other.

CASINO
Moved on to Casino, a larger town that is the centre of cattle country along the Richmond River Valley; beautiful country with great drives around the many State and National Parks and forests, scenic surprises around every bend. One day saw us driving along the Richmond River to Evans Head, the mouth of the river. There is a magnificent look-out above the river estuary, facing north and viewing miles of pristine (and empty) beaches. Again, we earmarked the caravan park for possible future visits.
Along the valley, we came across the small town of Coraki, another caravan park on the river bank that would be worth a stay, fishing should be good, and the people we met were friendly and welcomed travellers.
Another day, a drive out to Kyogle, still on the Richmond River; Kyogle is surrounded by the ranges and forests, great cattle country and a busy service centre. The town was due to have its annual Bull Riding Event and Show Weekend. On to Toonumbar Dam for our picnic lunch, followed by a lovely forest drive through the Richmond Range National Park. The roads are unmade, winding their way through the forests, alive with small marsupials that we think were paddymelons, we also saw a lone Echidna, spotted the lovely Regent Bower Bird, a rare sighting. The road along the ridge-tops follows the Cambridge Plateau Forest Drive, 35km of narrow track. We only saw a couple of other vehicles along the way and had a pleasant afternoon drive. We were quite surprised at the southern end of the trek to exit onto the Casino-Tabulam highway at a familiar spot. We remembered that on our very first visit to northern NSW, we had earmarked a free camp that when we got to the turn-off with the caravan in tow, saw the sign about “4-wheel drive, impassable when wet”. We then changed our mind about trying to find the camp at the park. After coming right through the park, it was self evident that trying to find the camp with van in tow would have been disastrous.

School holidays in NSW are over so we now can head back down to the coast. We decided to stay at the North Beach Holiday Park at Mylestom. The small town, a “locality”, is south of Coffs Harbour, set between the ocean and the estuary of the Bellingen River. A very quiet spot, Mylestom has lovely walks along the river, or along the beach if inclined. Eight Mile Beach is deserted, early morning fishing, alone with the pod of dolphins just off-shore, it looks a good surfing beach to me.
We took a drive along the Bellingen River Valley to the township of Bellingen, still cattle country and up to the mountain town of Dorrigo. Dorrigo boasts “...where the mountains meet the sky”. The surrounding country is the highest parts of NSW outside of the Australian Alps. At Dorrigo, we visited the Rainforest Centre, walked down through the rainforest to the lovely Crystal Showers waterfalls and later visited the Dangar Falls. Both falls are easy to get to; it’s just that the walk back up-hill is exhausting.
Dorrigo is also home to what is said to be the largest collection of railway steam locomotives and rolling stock, “.....possibly the largest collection in the world”. The yards are not open to visitors but you can drive along the side road to view the steam locos, we counted ten along the track nearest the road with many wagons and rolling stock across a wide area.

There are many NSW State and National Parks around this area and many waterfalls, the highway from the coast across the mountains to Armidale is named the Waterfall Way, and one could spend weeks up here exploring the many walks and sights of the Great Dividing Range.

On Friday we took a day visit to Coffs Harbour, a drier day after they had had 56mm the previous day. We had lunch at the marina and a bit of distant whale watching from the causeway to Muttonbird Nature Island Reserve; a walk around the retail centre and some shopping to top up the pantry. A nice day out!

Next week, we will be moving onto a second beachside venue, yet to be decided, as we wind our way down the East Coast of New South Wales. Please enjoy a look at the photographic updates in the attached albums:

Click on the link below to view the album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/TinCanBayToMylestom?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLjLltGrxajroAE&feat=directlink

Tin Can Bay

September 18th
After settling in at Tin Can Bay, we took in a bit of local exploring, there are several kilometres of a good walking trail, below the street from the park. One can choose the path along the Environment Walkway to Toolara, along the coast amid trees and mangrove shoreline. With the tide out, there are miles of mudflats, anchored boats lying on their side. A prettier picture when the tide is in, a myriad of birdlife; parrots, lorikeets, White Ibis and a variety of honey eaters, minor birds and the harassed ravens. At one point we had a raptor of some kind swoop down and flew away with a fish carcass. Appropriately, this walk is known as the Bird-walk. The other direction and the path is to follow the wooded shoreline of Snapper Creek to the marina and fishing wharfs. Not far from the marina is the Public Boat Ramp. Next to the ramp is the cafe that is famous for Dolphin Feeding.

Dolphins:
For many years, successive generations of Estuarine Dolphins’ have been coming up to the little beach to interact and get a feed of small fish. At around 7-7:30am, 2 or three dolphins swim up to the beach awaiting their 8am feeding time. We were lucky enough to get there when two of the regulars turned up. For $5 children were able to walk into the water and have a dolphin carefully and gently take fish from their hand. These are wild animals, from the same pod; it was wonderful to see them in their own environment. As soon as the last bucket had been emptied, they turned away and set off with the tide out to the Sandy Straits proper. (See photo in our albums).

Another feature of the estuarine waters is that the tidal flats are home to a variety of marine life. Most spectacular is seeing the hoards of Soldier Crabs. These little crabs, 1-2 centimetres in size, move along the mud in unison. They look like something along the lines of the Orks in Lord of the Rings. With blue shell-backs, an area of around a square metre moving en-mass, one can imagine a Stephen Spielberg Epic filmed in miniature.

The Mary River flows into the sea, through Maryborough, birthplace of P L Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, the famous nanny, . At Maryborough, we were in time to see a school spectacular, the annual Technology Events, head-lined by a 24 hour Pedal-Prix, over 100 school teams with a variety of human powered vehicles, (HPV), they were all very serious about it and some of them were really moving in their machines around the street circuit. Behind the scenes, in “Pit-Lane Tents”, teams rested, machines repaired and even massages for the young rider/drivers. So good to see teenagers from many kilometres away, doing something so physical. A special mention must be made about the hundreds of hours that teachers, parents and community members had to have put in to organise and run the event.

The Mary River Valley drive provides a scenic route to several small towns and is also the route of the Mary Valley Rattler, a wonderfully restored and maintained steam engine. The train runs from Gympie, through Kandanga to Imbil. We caught up with the train at Imbil and Vicki was chuffed to be allowed up onto the foot-plate to see the controls and feel the heat of the boiler.

Hervey Bay Whale Cruise
On Friday 16th, we travelled to Hervey Bay to take an afternoon Whale Watch Cruise. We booked on the twin-hull Tasman Venture, the same operator that we used back in 2006. The weather was good, clear and only light winds, we had a great time. Being Friday PM cruise, we were fortunate that there were only 12 adults on a boat designed to carry 90. This made it much more comfortable to be able to run around the deck to view the whales. We got to see several small pods of whales and it was, as if scripted, the last pod of four that put on a good show for us. We saw rolls, mugging, pectoral flips and tail waves. Best of all, we got to see “breaching” where the animal leaps clear out of the water. Just awesome! Visualise up to 40 tonne of marine animal putting on a spectacular show. The day was rounded off by a magnificent sunset over the bay as we returned along the north shore of Fraser Island, The cruise is a highly recommended experience.

Tin Can Bay is a very pleasant and relaxed little town, growing like so many but it should remain quieter than the busier Rainbow Beach or Hervey Bay. We would come here again. Not sure yet as to when we will be heading back south, it is school holidays time in NSW and QLD so many towns along the coast are very busy. Decisions-decisions!!!!!

Meanwhile, take a look at some of the magnificent pictures that Vicki took, (hundreds taken, few were selected!), yes, all her own work and no Photoshop editing: https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/WhaleWatchingHerveyBayQLD?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIvh9oKJ5a2crQE&feat=directlinkauthkey=Gv1sRgCIvh9oKJ5a2crQE&feat=directlink

Click on the link below to view some photos in the album.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/GowintaFarmToTinCanBay?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOCv56vUxZGOXA&feat=directlink

Durack Gardens, Brisbane to Tin Can Bay

August 2011
Brisbane is a busy city, not sure if by world standards but it has to be up there. The four weeks at Durack Gardens went quickly, weather swung from glorious early spring like back to winter rains on a daily basis. We picked a nice day to revisit the Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha, took a picnic lunch and spent a couple of hours wandering through the displays and around the numerous walk-ways. The park map was just about useless to directionally challenged folk like us and the meandering paths didn’t seem to match up at all. A good day however, the Botanic Gardens are a lovely spot.
Tamborine Mountain is a popular Gold Coast Hinterland destination, right in the mountains, B&B’s, touristy quaint shops and cafe’s make for a lovely day’s outing. There we visited the Tree-Top Walk, Cheese Factory and found an “Olde English Lolly” shop. We liked the cheeses on offer and bought a few samples but didn’t try the local ale from the brewery next door. Quite a popular spot this as you can try their products before you buy. The route back via Logan gives magnificent views of the Gold Coast.

August 22nd
Packed up and moved from Durack Gardens, via the motorways, travelled northwards to the Glass House Mountains region and Beerwah. We had read about a seasonal caravan park at a real working farm, Gowinta Farms. The farm produces strawberries, April to October, Pineapples and Lychees. The farm is in a lovely area, apparently the volcanic soils of the region being ideal for this type of farming. Two of the Glass House Mountains, first named by Captain Cook, in the background add to the scenery.
The majority of the people in the park were the seasonal workforce picking and packing the fruit. Many of the pickers were young folk from Europe on work visas, back-packing and living in tents and from the back of their vehicles. They seemed a happy bunch, even when up to their armpits in mud from the several rainy days. Mind you, some European mothers would have a fit if they saw how their off-springs were living. Have a look at the photos of Gowinta Farm in our albums.

There are several tourist drives around the district from Beerwah; small towns such as Maleny and Montville are prettily nestled in the valleys up in the mountains of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, . These are very popular with the locals and tourists alike. Several lakes, waterfalls and scenic lookouts are features of these drives, wineries, a couple of dairies and our favourite, the Maleny Cheese Factory.

From Beerwah, the Sunshine Coast is not far away, we had two day trips to Caloundra, Maroochydore and to Mooloolaba. The latter is well known for the Underwater World, a most impressive aquarium complex on the harbour. It was a lovely day for the drive there, the visit to the aquarium and a walk along the breakwater, a bit of sea-air.
In the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, there are several tropical fruit and nut farms; a visit here without calling into the Buderim Ginger Factory would be a waste. The factory is at Yandina, a tourist complex with shops, a tour of the factory to see ginger being processed and a shop to buy their products. We had orders for family so spent quite a bit in there. Across the road, very handy is the NutWorks Factory, where Macadamia Nuts are processed, our favourite, (and most expensive!).

Down to Maroochydore and a visit to the huge Sunshine Plaza shopping complex. We had to replace a couple of lens filters for Vicki’s camera and a specialist camera supplier was needed. The complex centre is built around the river estuary and boardwalks, bridges and two levels makes for an interesting shopping experience. It would take a month of Sundays to get to know your way around there.

At Gowinta, we were fortunate to have the company of Bill and Joy, our caravanning friends who were travelling back from Townsville. They are good company and we were happy to catch up with their latest news. This year they are travelling with Molly the dog, Vicki loved having the dog to walk and fuss about. We love to pet other people’s dogs!
At the farm, we were allowed to select fresh pineapples from the “seconds” bins, fresh juice couldn’t be better, however, it wasn’t until just before we left that we found out about “seconds” of strawberries. Never mind, next time!

September 7th
Pack up day and time to move on, again to the north, via Gympie to Tin Can Bay, a small holiday town on the estuaries of the waters between the mainland and Fraser Island, the largest sand-island in the world they say, famous for being right on the migration trail of the great Southern Right Whales. People come from all over the world to visit Fraser and to go on whale watch cruises.
Tin Can Bay is a quieter spot around the region, the park that we are in is lovely and clean, well paved and organised. I think of it as being likened to a retirement village.

Rainbow Beach, around the estuary is famous for the spectacular sand cliffs. Rainbow Beach is named after the multi-coloured sands in the cliffs, last time we were here we collected 14 different coloured samples of the sands. Most of the coast between Noosa and Fraser Island is composed of State and National Parks of some significance.
From Inskip Point, near Rainbow Beach, is a vehicle ferry that takes campers in their four wheel drive vehicles, campervans and tents to enjoy the driving and scenery of the long flat western shores of the island. Just to get on the ferry requires 4x4 to cross the deep soft sand of the beach.

Less experienced travellers go from Hervey Bay to hire their 4x4 on the Island; they come from all over the world to experience this most exceptional place. They hope to see some of the last of the pure-bred Australian Dingo, isolated from mainland strains; again, quite unique. They bite!
Locals often shake their heads to see people from the big cities of Asia and Europe, land at Fraser, pick up their rental Landcruiser and then take to the soft sandy tracks around the island. Looks good on the adverts but one can get into all sorts of trouble. At Rainbow Beach, there is a rogues Gallery of photos of the disasters that befall even the best of drivers.
Enjoy the photos in the albums, until next month, keep safe and well

Click on the link below to view the latest photos.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/DurackGardensToTinCanBay?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOHU7uj8soTjYg&feat=directlink