Norseman WA

Left Esperance this morning in the rain, for Norseman, approx 200 kms. It was mostly gum trees and shrubby country with some huge wheat farms and storage facilities - we should never go short of wheat, we have seen mountains of it since coming south, and that's only the wheat that is stored outside with plastic covers - how much is in silos we couldn't tell, but there were many silos also.

About halfway here there was a sign that said we were entering the Great Western Woodlands, so we assumed these were the gum trees we could see along the road and apparently we were right because this area is the largest area of this type of trees in the world. Ruth and I have now travelled over quite a bit of Australia and there is just a huge amount of trees everywhere we go(almost, with some exceptions). That set us to wondering that probably all of these trees cancel out all of Australia's 'carbon footprint' with a lot more to spare, so why the big fuss over our carbon emissions - politics is the only answer we could come up with (our politicians in power wanted to be voted into the UN Security Council and a carbon tax made us politically correct in the current world's obsession with the climate crisis - so called).

We arrived in Norseman for lunch and went straight to the Information Centre and the guy there turned out to be originally from Toronto and his sister was a missionary in PNG - he was very affable and gave us some good information about travelling across the Nullabour and told us of a Heritage Trail we could do in a couple of hours - which we did this afternoon. Norseman was founded on gold mining and it is still doing it today, together with other minerals like silver, copper and lead. The story goes that, in 1894, a guy called Laurie Sinclair whilst tethering his horse, named Norseman, for the night, found the next morning a chunk of a Gold Reef which his horse had pawed up and exposed in the night. So he set up his claim and called the place after his horse, which then became the name of the town as others came to stake their claims.

Norseman - Camels made of corrugated iron

Explanation of Camels in Norseman

Ruth with Town's namesake - Norseman

This wasn't very far from the town called Dundas, also a gold mining town, but not doing very well so most of the town dwellers moved to Norseman and Dundas became a ghost town and eventually disappeared. All that remains are the streets (modern street signs placed there by the Dundas council) and a sign to tell us what it would have looked like back in its heyday - the main street was called Hicks St. (named after the Mining Warden - Arthur Hicks), there is also a Hicks St in Norseman and Esperance. The photo of the Tailings Dump which is just a Km from Norseman is 40 mtrs high covers 4 hectares and holds 4 million tons of tailing, which all came from underground, so this town must be undermined, so I wouldn't like to be here if an earthquake happened!

Hicks Street, Dundas

Dundas, looking down Hicks Street.

Explanation of what happened to Dundas.

Tailings Dump from underground Gold Mine

We leave tomorrow for the Eyre Highway and starting across the Nullarbor Plain (correct spelling) with a small place called Caiguna as our destination, if we make it that far in one day.

Esperance WA

Sunday morning off to church - local Baptist - finally a church that sang songs that I know (except I was so snuffed up with a cold I couldn't sing). This church is similar to what the Tanilba Bay Baptist Church was in the 1980's - quite traditional with hymns, scripture in song, piano and organ (with the pastor playing guitar - not TBBC). Reminded me of our church because the Secretary was trying to get people to nominate for positions in the church for their AGM next week - he had 12 positions to fill and only one nomination. The sermon was very good by a guest preacher who preached on the word FIRST - Finances, Interests, Relationships, Schedule & Trouble - and that if we can manage to put God first in all of these areas we will be doing God's will in our lives.

Whistling Rock, Cape Le Grand NP

Hughes Step, Dempster Head, Esperance

Fourth Beach, Esperance - Charley & Cull Islands

Another view of Whistling Rock - See the Dog

Twighlight Beach, Esperance

Unusual Ancient Formation, Twighlight Beach

Rain Storm over Charley & Cull Islands

Esperance Stonehenge in Sunshine

Sunset on Pink Lake, Esperance

Esperance Stonehenge in the rain

Inside Esperance Stonehenge

Frenchman Peak, Cape Le Grand NP

We bought fish 'n chips for lunch and went to the closest beach to Esperance to sit in the car, eat get a feel for this part of WA, who boast that they have the best beaches in WA and is the best place to live in the world. Well, they could be right (about the beaches anyway) and the coastal scenery is quite beautiful. 

There were sea squalls just off the coast amongst the Recherché Archipelago (105 islands) and with the sun coming from the right direction we got some rather spectacular photos. We were also watching for whales, but saw none, as we drove the Great Ocean Drive that passes all of the beaches and coves along the way. We stopped at Twilight Cove/Beach, which was voted the best beach in WA, but a lot of sand must have been washed from these beaches as when the tide is in, there just isn't any (or very little) beach at all. We found these rock formations that looked like they were some ancient sea anemone's homes - very large round tubular type constructions that I was able to stick my arm down to above my elbow as I removed the sand in one. Still haven't found out what they really are. The drive then heads inland towards Pink Lake which is pinkish in colour due to the algae in the water but it was getting late when we arrived so only got a sunset shot. 

We still hadn't seen the No.1 attraction of this area - Cape Le Grand National Park - and an unusual attraction for Australia - Stonehenge! Well an exact replica as how it would have looked in its original state around 1950 BC, except it is made of granite whereas the original is made of 20 different types of stone, the main one being bluestone (dolerite) - all not as hard as granite. So we decided to stay another day here and left this morning in sunshine and arrived at the Esperance Stonehenge and took some good photos in the sunlight. It really is massive and was undertaken by a couple who decided that they would like to do it and it has became a major attraction hereabouts, and a business, as a charge of $8 seniors is required to see it. We took our photos and then took off as fast as the speed limit would allow us to Cape Le Grand NP as we could see the weather coming in behind us - alas we didn't quite make it - our first stop was Whistling Rock (but not for us) and as I stepped out of the car the first heavy drops of rain came down and basically that was the end of our sight seeing at Cape Le Grand. We got a few shots in between showers, but we finally left disappointed as we could see that there would have been some lovely sights if the weather had behaved. 

On our way back, we stopped at Stonehenge, and whilst I asked permission to take some photos (for free) in the rain, Ruth nipped around the back of the barricade and took some shots and to my surprise they came out quite well - gave it some character, I thought. Later in the evening, the sun came back out around sunset time, so we quickly drove to Dempster Head and got a few more photos there. Tomorrow we will be heading for Norseman and then we do the Nullabour!

Albany - Esperance WA

This is probably going to be the shortest update of the trip. We left Albany and drove to Esperance, and that's about it. 

The drive was unspectacular - rather straight sections of road, but hilly with scrubby countryside, wheat farms (either just harvested or with the Winter crop just sown) and some sheep scattered here and there. We stopped in Ravensthorpe for lunch at the local park, we had been driving for three hours and desperately in need of the toilet break, when the local policeman pulled up beside us and ask where we were from? - Newcastle - where in Newcastle? - Port Stephens - where in Port Stephens? - Tanilba Bay - big smile, I'm originally from Raymond Terrace. Then he wanted to talk about good places to go, how he's not going to waste his retirement money on a big Winnebago and has bought a Renault truck that he is going to turn into a motor home, etc - whilst we stood there trying to be interested when all we wanted to do was go to the toilet and get lunch. I guess it was better than getting a ticket, but he must have been at a loose end and wanted a chat. 

Didn't take any photos today, so that's it for now - tomorrow we go to church (Baptist this time), do some sight seeing (hopefully a whale or two) - Ruth's already done two loads of washing - and basically have a rest day, then on Monday we pick up our mail (hopefully) at the PO and head off to Norseman.

Bunbury and Albany WA

We left Cervantes on 12th and drove south until we came to Bunbury - it was quite unexceptional except, always an except, we drove straight through Perth at 80-90 KPH on a freeway - no traffic lights, no roundabouts just non-stop driving. The road system over here is quite remarkable when compared to NSW or Qld. and it's such a huge state in size but only the 4th most populous state with 2.3 million compared to NSW 7.3 mil., Vic. 7.6 mil., Qld 4.5 mil., must be all of its mining wealth, but then again maybe they have politicians over here who think of their state before they think about themselves! 

Both Ruth and I have developed colds since the vast change in weather for us - from tropics to cold winds in just a few days. We don't head for the Caravan Park swimming pool anymore and we now complain if the hot water in the showers isn't hot enough for us - in the tropics we never used the hot water tap - and instead of using the vans air conditioner on cooling, we now have it on heating, doona has replaced light blanket (which we usually slept on top of anyway), so we are well and truly into Winter mode. 

 Left Bunbury on 13th and drove down National Highway 1 to Walpole on the south coast of WA. We followed Mr.GPS to Walpole and thought that Hwy1 would be a good straight road - it turned out (for most of the way) to be a narrow, twisty, hilly sealed road through wooded countryside where the trees grew right up to the side of the road - so Mr.Cruise Control had to be put to bed and I had to do the driving instead. To top it off a sign told us that we had to watch out for logging trucks - fortunately we didn't come across any on the really narrow parts. 

Something that amused us was that as we went through a lot of the small country town most of their names ended with 'up' - such as Kirup, Mullalyup, Ballinup, Yornup, Palgarup, Manjimup and Quinninup, with may other 'ups' off of the side roads. Oh yes, and we also drove through Donnybrook named after a place in Ireland where there where frequent brawls at their annual fair, thus a 'donnybrook' is now a colloquialism for a fight. In actual fact Donnybrook means the Church of Saint Broc. When we went to the visitors centre in Walpole we asked what the meaning of the 'ups' on he end of the town's names represented and we were told it is an aboriginal word for 'the place of' - so that answered that nicely. 

After we settled into the local caravan park we unhitched and went off-road (good dirt roads) to see some of the local sights - the first being the Frankland River where it pools in a large pool before continuing onto the sea several kilometres away.

Franklin River going into the pool

Franklin River pool

 It was quite pretty - then off to Conspicuous Cliff which was supposed to have a really nice lookout, and it probably did, but we weren't up to the walk, so we just took a photo of the cliff from an vantage point.

Conspicuous Cliff near Nornalup

Whilst we were there we saw a beach fisherman catch a large sea salmon, he had a good fight to get it in. We had also wanted to see the big Tingle Trees, but it was dark by the time we got back, so we got up early on the 14th and went into the woods and had them all to ourselves, but it was really cold and our hands were like ice-blocks, but the car heater soon took care of that.

Old Twisted Tingle Tree

Older burnt Tingle Tree

Huge Intact Tingle Tree

Tingle Tree Explanation

 Then back to the caravan park, hitched up and drove to the Valley of the Giants Tree Tops Walk. It was not quite what we expected as the metal walkway was suspended or large metal poles and the walkways actually swayed as you walked on them and there were signs that no more than twenty people should be on a span of walkway at a time - there was only us and another couple ahead of us who moved away quite quickly. 

We expected that the walkway would actually be attached to the trees, but the whole structure was self supported. Ruth was a bit hesitant at going when she felt the walkway swaying, but she couraged-up and walked to the first round platform that separated the spans where there was a sign saying that one of the workmen who build the walkway tragically fell and was killed here. Already committed she then had to finish the walk as you weren't allowed to walk back as it could set up vibrations that would upset the dynamics of the structure. It was quite beautiful up there in the tree tops getting a birds eye view of the countryside and looking down was an unusual view of a tree.

Giant Tree Walk

40 Mtrs in the treetops and still they went higher

Tree Top Walk Platform

 After we left there we drove to Albany and went sight seeing for the rest of the day. Mainly we went to Frenchman's Bay where there are granite rocks that are the same as the granite rocks of the coast of Antarctica - meaning that Australia was once attached to Antarctica but then with the Continental Drift we are now separated (just as well or we would have froze) and still moving north at 5 cm each year, so I calculated that in 2,000 years time Australia will be one kilometre further away from Antarctica than it was today. 

We saw the Natural Bridge and the Gap and walked down a long hill to see a Blowhole, but it wasn't blowing as the sea wasn't rough enough, but we could hear the noise as the waves crashed into the underground cavern and it was like some great monster growling, so it would have been spectacular to see. The sun was just right to get a nice shot of Frenchman's Bay with Bald Head in the distance. And yes! finally we have found two places where there is a proper surf and you can see them in the photos of Conspicuous Cliff and Frenchman's Bay.

Natural Bridge in Frenchman's Bay

Ruth beamed up at Frenchman's Bay

Frenchman's Bay with Bald Head Promontory

 We then drove into the main CBD of Albany to take a photo of the one thing that everyone who visits Albany must see - Dog Head - can you see it? I saw it straight away but Ruth had to look at it for a while until the penny dropped and she saw it. All around it is a commercial shopping area and nearly all of the shops, including Woolies, is named "Dog Head ???" whatever type of shop it is.

Dog Head in Albany city

The Pinnacles - Nambung National Park WA

The Nambung National Park is what all national parks should be like - sealed road all the way in - nominal fee to get in ($5 for Seniors) - a nice interpretive centre - toilets - marked walkways and best of all, you can actually drive around the features. You can take either or both, 1.2 Km walk or 4 Km drive, we opted for the drive and got out and walked around were we pleased. 

 This park is a must see for all that come this way - there are literally thousands of these formations called the Pinnacles that just stick out of the sand in all sorts of shapes and sizes and when viewed from different angles appear to change their shape - shape shifters. It is most unusual as there can be a large expanse of smooth sand and then stretched out as far as the eye can see all of these things emerging out of the sand like tombstones in places and jagged shapes in other places. It's not easy to explain, so that's why I've included more photos than I would in an update - they just have to be seen to be believed. 

 They are not right on the beach as we thought - they are in the sand hills near the beach, but we had to drive 6 Kms inland from the coast to reach the entry gate into the NP - the sand hills here stretch for miles inland, but the majority are covered by scrubby vegetation, but occasionally there is an open outcrop of just sand piled up and moving in the wind. Also they are not made of hard sand as we thought, but are hard limestone formed, according to the experts, by eroded remains of sand dunes layers rich with plant roots that over time became calcified by water rich in minerals seeping through OR they are the calcified trunks of an ancient forest buried by sand in a violent and intense storm and the calcium rich sand petrified the trunks and in both cases the sand was then blown away exposing what remained - now called the Pinnacles. 

Whatever caused them - God has a sense of humour, I'm sure - they are beautiful and intriguing to behold and just go to show us that His creation is marvelous and wonderful, just like HIM.

Driving through The Pinnacles

There are thousands of them!

Some are bulky.

Some are tall and slender.

Some are good to rest on.

Some are pointy.

Some are like Stonehenge.

Some are good to ride on.

Some are like tombstones.

Some go on forever.

Some are like decayed teeth.

Some are almost vulgar.

This is not what you are thinking!