PORT LINCOLN via CLARE VALLEY TO ADELAIDE

We wandered our way towards Adelaide through the Clare valley to Gawler then back up the coast road where we camped overnight before heading to our Adelaide booking.

ADELAIDE 14^th December

We are staying at Brownhill creek Tourist Park, lots of birds and trees, the weather has turned wet and windy though. Adelaide has lots of old stone houses which are very attractive. We went into the city on the free bus (for oldies) and spent a very pleasant day wandering around. The number of shops would satisfy the most hardened shopaholic, it would also have to be one of the best malls we have been in.

Although we had intended to spend two weeks in Adelaide and a further week on the Fleurieu Peninsula our plans were changed due to our car needing re-registering. It required a pink slip and we couldn’t get that done in Adelaide until it was well out of rego so we will have to cut short our stay here and pack up and move on towards Vic where we can obtain a RWC which can then be faxed back to NSW. Even that has not proved to be easy as most towns were booked out but we finally managed to arrange for the inspection in Hamilton not far from Portland.

Our last day here we visited the quaint village of Hahndorf 20km out of Adelaide. Hans Heysen’s home “The Cedars” is also on display. There is a walk through the bushland where at various points a photo of one of Heysen’s paintings is displayed at the very site he actually painted his picture. We did endeavour to do the walk but driving rain prevented us from going too far, even so it was quite an experience to stand and view the landscape which inspired so many of his famous paintings. The poor quality photos are due to the mist and the after effects of my camera being immersed in the river at Karijini NP.

Inside photos of the house were not permitted but we did take a couple of the outside and one of his old car and caravan, which was built in 1931 and which Heyson used to tour and paint through the Flinders ranges.

Heysen’s studio is open at all times to the public and there are tours at set time for the house, both were a fascinating insight to the lives of the Heysen family at that time.

Hahndorf itself has a very long main street with lots of interesting shops and very old stone buildings, they had a German band playing when we arrived but by the time we had parked and arrived at the place they had packed up.

The rest of the Adelaide region will have to wait until some future time and we will now spend the Christmas New year in Portland.

MOUNT GAMBIER -19^TH December

We managed to get new tyres fitted on the Jeep ready for the inspection but for the same reason have had to keep moving. Fortunately we have visited Mt Gambier in years gone by so don’t feel too cheated.

CEDUNA TO PORT LINCOLN

Firstly we had to put our clocks forward THREE hours, which in one way was good because it isn’t broad daylight at 4.30 in the morning LOL but it does take a little adjusting too, having dinner at what feels like 3 in the afternoon.

There are lots of pretty seaside villages along this road offering sand and sea.

EYRE’S WATERHOLE

Just outside of Streaky Bay there can be seen the waterhole that the explorer Edward John Eyre watered his stock at in 1840. It was quite an experience to stand in the exact spot and find the waterhole still producing water as it had for Edward Eyre 170 years ago.

He reported in his journal 3^rd November 1840 “This curious little waterhole contained water from five to seven inches in depth, the level of which was maintained as rapidly as a person could bale it out; this was the sole supply for ourselves and our horses, but it was a never failing one”

The town of Streaky Bay used it for its water supply until 1936 and it is still there with just those few inches of water ever present and constant.

Further out again we viewed the Murphy’s Haystacks .

NORSEMAN TO CEDUNA. THE NULLARBOR!!

Well what can you say except “ We did the Nullarbor”. The 146kms of straight road is straight and the treeless plain is treeless. The wind howled and we had the worst fuel economy for the trip so far – bad time! The road trains hurtled by and every time we saw one Ian had to put down the window and hold out the mirror because the force of the drag whacked the mirrors back into the side of the car.

The Bunya Cliffs and the Great Australian Bight are spectacular, we called into a couple of stops on the way to check them out and take photos and also paid the fee to be able to see the head of the Bight. Unfortunately it was too late for the whales but you can’t be everywhere at the same time.

Many of the viewing points are being closed down and we (along with several others) actually drove over a dirt barrier to get into one of the listed scenic lookouts just so we could get a ‘freebie’ look.

Not much wildlife about we saw one live kangaroo and a few flocks of budgies and lots of dead budgies on the road. They were sat in the roadway and too small to see until you were on top of them and then they tried to fly away but only ended up hitting the front of the car – very sad.

Oh and we did see one eagle plus a hawk which was hovering totally stationery out from the cliffs at the head of the Bight.

ESPERENCE TO KALGOORLIE & BACK TO NORSEMAN

Instead of heading straight over the Nullarbor from Norseman we had to do a detour into Kalgoorlie for a repair, we went via Coolgardie just to say we’d been there. There is a large park just going into Kalgoorlie from the Coolgardie side where caravans etc can stay overnight for 24 hours, this is not listed in the Camps 6 book. We couldn’t get the repair done anyhow but whilst there we checked out the new Golden dome (real gold that is).

ESPERANCE

Talk about beach and turquoise coloured sea overload. If you want beaches this is the place to be, fine white sand and gorgeous sea, apparently the colour is due to the lack of nutrients in the water.

Cape Le Grande continues with the high standard of glorious views. We did a boat tour out to Woody Island which is one of many islands in the Recherche Archipelago, and saw sealions, sea eagles, dolphins, cape barren goose etc etc.

 

There is a resident sea lion near the Tanker pier called Sammy who is happy to pose for photos.

There is also a pink lake but this time of year it isn’t pink.

ALBANY – 19TH NOVEMBER

Once again the drive in Albany was one of the loveliest on our trip, very chocolate box views. There is a lot to look at in Albany with its scenic walks and drives, monuments and lookouts. Albany was the first area to be settled in WA.

Whale World is about 18km out of Albany and was an old whaling station now turned into a museum complete with one of the whaling ships to roam over. It took us nearly three hours to go through the place and it would have to be one of the best museums we have every seen. Very well done with several of the whale oil holding tanks turned into theatres, whale skeletons , machinery a very informative tour, the list goes on.

One of the whaling ships from this area was wrecked just off shore in Albany, one lost at sea and the other on display.

There is a ‘to size’ replica of the brig Amity on the foreshore, which brought soldiers and convicts to the area in 1826.

Nearby is the local goal where you are permitted to wander freely, in the goal there is also an exhibit of miniature houses complete with figurines etc.

WALPOLE TO DENMARK

Nornalup Valley of the Giants Air Walk was well worth looking at the platform rose to 40metres in the treetops of the Tingle trees which grow to great heights but with very shallow roots, one of the characteristics of these trees is that the trunks eventually hollow out at the base to quite large caverns. One of the trees was over 400 years old.

There is also a nature walk through the forest which is very well done, it proved to be an extremely enjoyable stop.