And now for something completely different ....

Just for a change - it's raining AGAIN.

We got back from Western Australia and it has rained most days. Walking out the door is not the way to lift the spirits.

On the other hand, we got back to a garden that looks like the start of spring rather than the end of autumn.

Pat's Basketball

Having been away for a time we had the opportunity to see Patrick in action with his new Basketball team yesterday. While they did not win, they were not disgraced on the court. In fact it was tied about 10 min before the end of the match when the opposition pulled away.

Finished

It has only been 6 months but we finally have the repairs completed!!

Repairs at Last

Well, it has taken a time but the ceiling in the family room is nearing completion. It was damaged in a rainstorm before Christmas and the insurers were very slow off the mark. Then a halt was called because we were away. The plaster was done on Wednesday and the painter is working today. Yipee!

 

The New Camera

While traveling, I have been using a good quality, light camera that I have used for a couple of years. Before the trip I had decided that the time had come for a change but the replacement had not yet arrived in Australia. I went to the store yesterday to see when they might be available and, to my surprise, there was one on the shelf. I purchased it immediately. Apparently it had been on the shelf 15 min and they were not sure when more stock would arrive. In the paper today and on line, people are complaining that they can't get their hands on one, so I was in the right place at the right time.

It is a beautiful little unit capable of amazing quality images at low light and able to take 9 frames a second for sports pics. I took the following on my walk this morning using the available street lighting.

I think I am in love!

Back to the Mundane

We have had a day of sorting problems and re-entering normal life after our long break. We are just about into it but the accounts will take a while to bring back under control!

Back to Base

Our final day of travel saw us back home by about 1.00pm. We started early and as a result spent an hour or so driving through fog. It eventually lifted as we passed the Grampians and entered the familiar Victorian countryside.

We got home and started the tedious process of unloading the car and van and starting the washing process. Today we continued the process and cleaned the car and van. It took some time to remove all the red dust we had brought home from the Pilbara. Now it is a matter of sorting the mail and making sure all the accounts are up to date.

Back to Victoria

It was another long day of driving today (about 770km) driving to Port Augusta then down through Adelaide. On the way, we tracked "The Ghan" which was a nice reference to our Round Australia epic in 1979.

Having driven through Adelaide, we continued on down into Victoria and have set up for the night in Kaniva. We hope to make it home with a slightly shorter drive tomorrow.

Back Across the Nullarbor

The time had come for the long haul across to the east. It is never as interesting the second time around but we still enjoyed the drive.

We left Norseman and made it just over the border to South Australia by evening where we camped overlooking the Great Australian Bight. There has been some rain about and the clouds made a dramatic sunrise.

Today we continued across South Australia on the Eyre Highway as far as Kimba where we have set up camp for the night. The flat wheat and sheep country is far less interesting so we are looking forward to driving down into Victoria tomorrow.

 

Norseman

We had a wonderful night in Mt Magnet. Someone had decided that it was a good idea to keep a rooster next to the caravan park and he started crowing at 2.30am so we were a little sleep deprived. Still it is wonderful what swapping drivers and coffee can do.

We have now moved to the centre of WA into the goldfields area. It is more bleak and featureless than the beautiful Pilbara area. We thought it interesting that even the sealed roads featured the signature red colouration of the earth around here.

The further south we traveled, the landscape became more pock marked with mines and mullock heaps. In fact large areas look like industrial refuse areas. It is not a pretty sight.

As we approached Kalgoorlie and then Norseman, the vegetation began to change and the beautiful Salmon Gums with their shiny red/brown bark began to appear again.

It was another long day today, 850km, so we treated ourselves to a restaurant meal and an early night.

Heading South

The day started with a brilliant sunrise but it was a sad morning as we left Lisa, Justin and the boys to start our journey back home. Our journey of 825 km was marked by fuel stops (for man and machine)

and by periods of diving for the side of the road as some massive machine headed north to the mines. They took the whole road.

As we headed south, we were reminded that it is approaching winter as the thunderstorms gathered around. It is already cooler as we set up camp in Mount Magnet.

Karajini National Park

We left Tom Price and drove through more fantastic scenery to the camping area of the Karajini National Park and set up for the day.

The only facilities are (very clean) pit toilets, you bring your own everything else - including water. Being Mothers' Day, the boys committed to look after Lisa and Claire for the day.

We set off to explore the park and, yet again, we were gobsmacked by the scenery.

In an otherwise flat dry plain there was a massive gorge with a permanent waterfall and flowing river at its base!

We could see people swimming in the pool at the bottom so down we went. The boys (and Lisa) were soon in the pool.

In case I have not mentioned it previously, this place is stunning!

Exmouth to Tom Price

Wow - what a day!

What we had expected to be a mundane day of driving 650 km to Tom Price turned out to be one of the most spectacular driving experiences we have ever had. It was a day of fantastic scenery and colours as we drove across the arid Pilbara area of northern WA. No photos can really do justice to the colours and the ever changing vistas you encounter as you drive across this area but here are a few.

It started with the sun rising on the cliffs behind the caravan park at Exmouth. We left early as it was going to be a long day but it seemed that every hour or so you were in a completely new environment. It was stunning.

On arrival at Tom Price, we took a fairly serious four wheel drive road to the top of Mt Nameless which overlooked the huge open cut mine. Another amazing view.

Ningaloo Reef

Today was our day for seeing the reef. While Justin left early to go to the outer reef to swim with whale sharks, we took Jack and Cooper for a tour in a glass bottomed boat to see the reef. Granny had offered to entertain Lachlan while the other boys were on the boat.

It was a great trip. The boat had a huge viewing area and we were the only people on the boat so we saw all sorts of coral and a wide variety of fish including a reef shark and a large shovel nosed ray.

Justin returned from his trip ecstatic that he had swum with 2 whale sharks and a manta ray and been stalked by a couple of bronze whaler sharks.

Exmouth & Cape Range National Park

We drove up through Exmouth to the tip of the North West Cape and the most westerly part of Australia. As we drove through the dry and desolate landscape, every now and then there would be flood markers to show depth of water over the road. It really is a land of extremes. We were very impressed by the number of huge termite mounds spread over the land.

We set up in a caravan park at the tip of the North West Cape just below the lighthouse.

Then it was time to explore the surroundings in the Cape Range National Park. The colours, the ancient rocks, the vegetation and the soil all show this is a whole different world to the one we are used to in the south of Australia.

The whole place is awe inspiring.

To Coral Bay

North again today on our way to see the North West Cape and Exmouth. We left Carnarvon and drove to Coral Bay. On the way there was not a lot to see. We took a photo of one of the most significant features of the landscape. I hope you can see it (the slight dip in the road).

Coral Bay is a little tourist town in the middle of the Ningaloo Reef.  We took up residence in a caravan park just across from the beach.

Needless to say, the boys spent a very happy afternoon on the beach. They should have no trouble sleeping tonight.

Carnarvon

We are really heading for Ningaloo Reef but on the way we have stopped off at Carnarvon. We have mentioned in previous posts about the go ahead nature of WA, well in Carnarvon they are redeveloping the whole centre of the town ready for the tourist season starting in June. Big money is being spent here too.

The park has a pool so the boys were happy to have a little R&R.

Yesterday at Denham, Justin caught his first fish so with all due ceremony, it was cooked and consumed tonight.

The boys are learning a lot on this journey. Lachlan has decided that he likes a little wine after his meals rather than before.