What can we say!??...
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Western Victoria
27 August - Dartmoor, Victoria
Bet you’ve never heard of Tantanoola? We hadn’t. Now we’ll never forget it.
Tantanoola is outstanding for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the enormous wind farm that lines the hills just outside the town (approx. 100 wind turbines). This is the biggest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the biggest single farms we have seen anywhere - and we have seen a few. We are big fans of wind farms. Not only do they make great environmental sense, but they can also be quite spectacular, particularly on the scale of Tantanoola.
Perhaps the least memorable fact about this small South Australian town, situated 40kms North West of Mt Gambier, is the famous (?) stuffed tiger in the town’s pub. We have to admit that the stuffed tiger warranted only a drive-by. It was far too early in the day for a beer.
Most memorable of Tantanoola’s attractions however, is the Kimberley-Clark factory, actually located at nearby Snuggery. (And, no, we didn’t make the name up). For those unfamiliar with the product line of Kimberley-Clark, they make household tissue products. Yep. That’s toilet paper and tissues. In fact the bulk of Australia’s ’tissue products’ roll out of the Tantanoola factory. We will never use a ‘tissue product’ again without remembering good old Tantanoola.
It was a memorable day all round! Earlier on, we were astounded by Larry the Lobster at Kingston SE (not sure what the SE means?). Move aside Big Prawn and Big Mullet, this is the king of big sea creatures.
Our free camping site tonight is courtesy of the good folks of the tiny Victorian village of Dartmoor, just a few kms from the South Australian Border. We pulled up under an avenue of aged Atlantic Cedar trees. We only know this because we took a wander up to the main street for a look about and were enthralled by the timber sculptures that were everywhere we looked in this very small settlement. Turns out that the Atlantic Cedars were planted as a memorial to the men and women from the district who served in the First World War. By the early 1990s, many of the trees, planted in 1918, were in poor condition. The decision was made to lop those that were most endangered and have a chainsaw artist carve memorial sculptures from the trunks. The result is an interesting avenue of sculptures depicting various military themes. We aren’t sure if the artist’s commission included the additional plethora of carvings that adorn various parts of the village or whether he just couldn’t turn his saw off, but there are carved nursery rhyme themes and native animals everywhere you look.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Port Adelaide
25 August - Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is probably best known for its AFL Football Team, but we found today that there is a lot more to ‘Port’, than just footy.
Port Adelaide probably hit its peak in the early decades of the 20th century. Block after block of solid stone buildings remain from these heady days. Many are in poor condition and are in need of restoration and renovation. This work has started and a couple of street scapes have been well restored. The city has much of the charm of Fremantle, just a little faded.
‘Port’ has a few great museums, galleries and renovated pubs. We visited two museums, The National Railway Museum and the South Australian Maritime Museum. The Railway Museum was one of the best we have seen anywhere. And certainly the best in Australia. On a glum and windy day, we had the place to ourselves. The Maritime Museum was small and interesting, but far from the best around.
Our journey back through the suburbs took us through some of the upper circle of Adelaide’s suburbs. Simple beautiful and enormous homes!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Adelaide Environs
24 August - Adelaide
Bad weather has settled in over the last couple of days since we have been in Adelaide. This followed a couple of very pleasant days in the Barossa. It was the weekend of the Barossa Gourmet Festival and there were people everywhere. We restricted ourselves to visits to only a couple of wineries and resisted the temptation to purchase any of the overpriced offerings. Our gourmet experience was restricted to an authentic Wurst roll with all the trimmings at the German Wurst Deli in Tanunda. Like most of the rest of the country, the Barossa is at its peak, dressed in rich winter green.
Adelaide is the smallest of the mainland capital cities and the only one that was planned from the outset. Broad streets, fantastic parklands and well-preserved 19th century public buildings make Adelaide easily the most attractive of the capitals. With the cool, glum, steely grey weather and bare, deciduous trees, the city has a European feel. The Central Market adds significantly to this ‘vibe’. A lively mix of fruit and vegetable stalls and incredible, European-style deli goods mix with Asian markets and several food courts and all without a chain food outlet in sight!
The last remaining tramline in the city, the Glenelg Line, has recently been upgraded with extended track and new, ultra-modern rolling stock. The city stations at the beginning of the line are free and very well-patronised. We took a ride down to Glenelg Beach, only to be greeted by driving rain and an Arctic wind. A quick cup of coffee was all we managed before jumping back on a heated tram for the trip back to the city.
Adelaide has a strong national reputation as a cultural centre and it is well-deserved. The Art Gallery and Museum punch well above their weight and leave Brisbane’s in the shade.
Bad weather has settled in over the last couple of days since we have been in Adelaide. This followed a couple of very pleasant days in the Barossa. It was the weekend of the Barossa Gourmet Festival and there were people everywhere. We restricted ourselves to visits to only a couple of wineries and resisted the temptation to purchase any of the overpriced offerings. Our gourmet experience was restricted to an authentic Wurst roll with all the trimmings at the German Wurst Deli in Tanunda. Like most of the rest of the country, the Barossa is at its peak, dressed in rich winter green.
Adelaide is the smallest of the mainland capital cities and the only one that was planned from the outset. Broad streets, fantastic parklands and well-preserved 19th century public buildings make Adelaide easily the most attractive of the capitals. With the cool, glum, steely grey weather and bare, deciduous trees, the city has a European feel. The Central Market adds significantly to this ‘vibe’. A lively mix of fruit and vegetable stalls and incredible, European-style deli goods mix with Asian markets and several food courts and all without a chain food outlet in sight!
The last remaining tramline in the city, the Glenelg Line, has recently been upgraded with extended track and new, ultra-modern rolling stock. The city stations at the beginning of the line are free and very well-patronised. We took a ride down to Glenelg Beach, only to be greeted by driving rain and an Arctic wind. A quick cup of coffee was all we managed before jumping back on a heated tram for the trip back to the city.
Adelaide has a strong national reputation as a cultural centre and it is well-deserved. The Art Gallery and Museum punch well above their weight and leave Brisbane’s in the shade.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
SA National Parks
15 August - September Beach, Lincoln National Park
Taking full advantage of our two month SA National Parks Holiday Pass (with camping option!), we are spending our third night in a row in SA’s fantastic National Parks. Our two nights in Coffin Bay NP were pleasant enough, except for the wind. September Beach in the National Park just outside Port Lincoln, is just glorious. The wind has dropped and the sun has been out most of the day.
The camp sites here are enormous and ours has its own direct beach access. The National Park camping areas have only basic facilities. That means a few picnic tables and ‘drop toilets’. No power, no rubbish bins and no lighting. Sometimes there is water, but we usually only trust it for washing. You need to be fairly self- contained. They are, however, usually in the most fantastic locations.
We did a little fishing this afternoon - without success, but it was great to get out in the sun. We now understand why so many South Australians and Victorians head north for the winter. It’s not all that cold this late in the winter, 8-16 or 17 Celsius. While the often overcast skies are a bit of a downer, the wind is the real killer. With the wind chill factor, it must be in the very low teens during the day over most of southern Australia for most of the winter months. The up side for us is that, firstly, we are fairly used to travelling in cold climates and secondly, there are very few people about. This afternoon, we had the whole beach to ourselves and there were not even footprints in the sand!
!7 August - Bush Camp near Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges
Stone buildings are far more prominent in South Australia than in most other states. Older towns like Port Augusta and Port Lincoln are blessed with well preserved and restored public buildings, many dating from the 1880s. In rural areas, ruined stone farm houses and homesteads are a common sight along the highway. Many small towns are real gems. Quorn, 50 kms north of Port Augusta, is a case in point. Quorn was a major railway junction on the old Ghan Railway. During the war years, more than 40 troop trains a day passed through the town, heading north with US and Australian troops. Those days are long gone. Today, tourists ride the Pichi Richi Steam Railway from Port Augusta to Quorn, through the green foothills of the Flinders Ranges. The town boasts four old stone pubs and numerous 19th century shop fronts.
Further north, heading towards the Flinders Rangers, we hoped to camp at the ruins of the once-grand Kanyaka Station. Sadly, camping is no longer allowed at the site, but the diversion to the ruins was rewarding. Unrestored ruins like these are our favourites. With nobody about we were able to wander freely about and imagine what the homestead would have been like in its heyday.
Tonight, we are camped in the carpark for the Arkapena Rock walk. Our Camps 4 book tells us this is a Rest Area suitable for overnight camping. However, the (faded) sign at the entrance asks us not to camp. Whoops! Tonight, three baby-boomer couples missed the no-camping sign and spent a pleasant hour or so chatting about our travels before retiring to our respective “homes“ for the night.
18 August - Trezona Campground - Flinders Ranges National Park
A sunny morning greeted us after a night of constant rain. We knocked over the 2 hr walk to the Aboriginal Art site at Arkaroo Rock in well under an hour. The walk took us through a series of jaw-dropping view points of the ranges. Later in the morning, we realised that this was just the taster! The rugged mountains that ring Wilpena Pound, the major feature of this National Park, had our cameras clicking all day.
We left the van at the camping grounds and took to the back roads for a fantastic drive through some of the best scenery we have seen to date on our trip. The rain last night had made the roads a little difficult for us, we had to turn back a couple of times, but eventually we found a track through rolling hills, backed by sawtooth ranges and the sheer cliffs of the Flinders Ranges and the external walls of Wilpena Pound.
19 August - Mt Remarkable National Park
We are getting excellent value from our SA National Park Holiday Pass. This is our fifth night of camping and our fourth entry into a fee charging National Park and we’ll probably have at least another three nights and a couple more National Parks before we hit Victoria. And all for $46 (Senior Concession!) Fantastic value!
Our last morning at Wilpena Pound was spent completing an 8 km hike to a lookout on the edge of the crater. The view inside the Pound was amazing and the walk took us through some wonderful stands of river red gums. The external views of the mountains that ring the Pound, however, are far more spectacular.
Just before the last, incredibly steep, climb to the lookout, lie the ruins of the old Hall Homestead. Settled in the 1880s, the station once ran 200,000 sheep in the natural compound of the Wilpena crater. As you might imagine, overgrazing soon had its effect on the land and several bad seasons saw the end of grazing in the late 1920’s. Feral goats took their opportunity once grazing stopped and by the mid 1970s there were more than 100,000 goats in what is now the Flinders Ranges National Park. Significant culling of goats has allowed native animals to move back into the area and they certainly are plentiful! Emus, kangaroos and numerous birds can be seen all over the park. In this good season, they all look the picture of health.
Facilities in these parks are basic - bins, tank water and drop toilets - but it is all clean and well-maintained. Of special note are the toilets. (We always seem to get down to toilets at some point in our travel blogs.) For those who have never seen one, a ‘drop toilet’ is just a big hole with a toilet seat on top, enclosed in a fairly airy cubicle. The airiness of the cubicle is one of the most valued features of such a loo. They never seem to smell and, with regular maintenance, they are always clean. Another feature is that they always have plenty of paper. This is something of which, as a nation, we should be justifiably proud. In our many travels, it is only here at home that one can wander off to a loo in the centre of a city, country town or in a park hundreds of kilometres from nowhere and find FREE toilets with toilet paper. Even the much lauded Scandinavian countries can not make this bold claim.
20 August - Mt Remarkable National Park
Spent most of the day bushwalking today, involving some fairly serious climbs. In all, we tramped about 15 kms, most of it up hill, so we are a little stiff tonight. Sadly, the views were far from remarkable, but the journey is often more important than the destination. Our walk to Sugargum Lookout this morning ended in disappointment when we found that trees had totally blocked the view. You can never get your hands on a chain-saw when you need one! All was not lost though. Much of the walk was along Mambrey Creek, lined with towering Red River Gums. We were fascinated by the way the old burnt out trunks of older trees were over-grown by new gums. Young trees weld themselves to the dead trunks for support, eventually totally entombing the old trunk. Some of the natural sculptures created by this process are just incredible.
In the afternoon we thought we would do a short easy walk to another lookout. Now you would think that after all the walking we have done over the years we would have figured out that lookouts are high places. Yet it never occurred to us that this 4km round trip walk was straight up a 1500 ft (480 m) mountain! Sadly, after clambering over the last rocks to reach the summit, we discovered that most of the view was again obscured by trees. Seriously, sometimes this passion National Parks has for preservation gets a bit out of hand. Clearing a few new growth pines would not accelerate global warming. All was not lost, however, for just as we began cursing the start of a rain shower, we saw the full arch of a sharply defined rainbow form in the valley. We could almost have reached out and touched it.
On our way back to camp, we seemed to be providing entertainment for the Yellow Foot Wallabies. They are so at ease with people that they just give you a quizzical look and get about their business.
Taking full advantage of our two month SA National Parks Holiday Pass (with camping option!), we are spending our third night in a row in SA’s fantastic National Parks. Our two nights in Coffin Bay NP were pleasant enough, except for the wind. September Beach in the National Park just outside Port Lincoln, is just glorious. The wind has dropped and the sun has been out most of the day.
The camp sites here are enormous and ours has its own direct beach access. The National Park camping areas have only basic facilities. That means a few picnic tables and ‘drop toilets’. No power, no rubbish bins and no lighting. Sometimes there is water, but we usually only trust it for washing. You need to be fairly self- contained. They are, however, usually in the most fantastic locations.
We did a little fishing this afternoon - without success, but it was great to get out in the sun. We now understand why so many South Australians and Victorians head north for the winter. It’s not all that cold this late in the winter, 8-16 or 17 Celsius. While the often overcast skies are a bit of a downer, the wind is the real killer. With the wind chill factor, it must be in the very low teens during the day over most of southern Australia for most of the winter months. The up side for us is that, firstly, we are fairly used to travelling in cold climates and secondly, there are very few people about. This afternoon, we had the whole beach to ourselves and there were not even footprints in the sand!
!7 August - Bush Camp near Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges
Stone buildings are far more prominent in South Australia than in most other states. Older towns like Port Augusta and Port Lincoln are blessed with well preserved and restored public buildings, many dating from the 1880s. In rural areas, ruined stone farm houses and homesteads are a common sight along the highway. Many small towns are real gems. Quorn, 50 kms north of Port Augusta, is a case in point. Quorn was a major railway junction on the old Ghan Railway. During the war years, more than 40 troop trains a day passed through the town, heading north with US and Australian troops. Those days are long gone. Today, tourists ride the Pichi Richi Steam Railway from Port Augusta to Quorn, through the green foothills of the Flinders Ranges. The town boasts four old stone pubs and numerous 19th century shop fronts.
Further north, heading towards the Flinders Rangers, we hoped to camp at the ruins of the once-grand Kanyaka Station. Sadly, camping is no longer allowed at the site, but the diversion to the ruins was rewarding. Unrestored ruins like these are our favourites. With nobody about we were able to wander freely about and imagine what the homestead would have been like in its heyday.
Tonight, we are camped in the carpark for the Arkapena Rock walk. Our Camps 4 book tells us this is a Rest Area suitable for overnight camping. However, the (faded) sign at the entrance asks us not to camp. Whoops! Tonight, three baby-boomer couples missed the no-camping sign and spent a pleasant hour or so chatting about our travels before retiring to our respective “homes“ for the night.
18 August - Trezona Campground - Flinders Ranges National Park
A sunny morning greeted us after a night of constant rain. We knocked over the 2 hr walk to the Aboriginal Art site at Arkaroo Rock in well under an hour. The walk took us through a series of jaw-dropping view points of the ranges. Later in the morning, we realised that this was just the taster! The rugged mountains that ring Wilpena Pound, the major feature of this National Park, had our cameras clicking all day.
We left the van at the camping grounds and took to the back roads for a fantastic drive through some of the best scenery we have seen to date on our trip. The rain last night had made the roads a little difficult for us, we had to turn back a couple of times, but eventually we found a track through rolling hills, backed by sawtooth ranges and the sheer cliffs of the Flinders Ranges and the external walls of Wilpena Pound.
19 August - Mt Remarkable National Park
We are getting excellent value from our SA National Park Holiday Pass. This is our fifth night of camping and our fourth entry into a fee charging National Park and we’ll probably have at least another three nights and a couple more National Parks before we hit Victoria. And all for $46 (Senior Concession!) Fantastic value!
Our last morning at Wilpena Pound was spent completing an 8 km hike to a lookout on the edge of the crater. The view inside the Pound was amazing and the walk took us through some wonderful stands of river red gums. The external views of the mountains that ring the Pound, however, are far more spectacular.
Just before the last, incredibly steep, climb to the lookout, lie the ruins of the old Hall Homestead. Settled in the 1880s, the station once ran 200,000 sheep in the natural compound of the Wilpena crater. As you might imagine, overgrazing soon had its effect on the land and several bad seasons saw the end of grazing in the late 1920’s. Feral goats took their opportunity once grazing stopped and by the mid 1970s there were more than 100,000 goats in what is now the Flinders Ranges National Park. Significant culling of goats has allowed native animals to move back into the area and they certainly are plentiful! Emus, kangaroos and numerous birds can be seen all over the park. In this good season, they all look the picture of health.
Facilities in these parks are basic - bins, tank water and drop toilets - but it is all clean and well-maintained. Of special note are the toilets. (We always seem to get down to toilets at some point in our travel blogs.) For those who have never seen one, a ‘drop toilet’ is just a big hole with a toilet seat on top, enclosed in a fairly airy cubicle. The airiness of the cubicle is one of the most valued features of such a loo. They never seem to smell and, with regular maintenance, they are always clean. Another feature is that they always have plenty of paper. This is something of which, as a nation, we should be justifiably proud. In our many travels, it is only here at home that one can wander off to a loo in the centre of a city, country town or in a park hundreds of kilometres from nowhere and find FREE toilets with toilet paper. Even the much lauded Scandinavian countries can not make this bold claim.
20 August - Mt Remarkable National Park
Spent most of the day bushwalking today, involving some fairly serious climbs. In all, we tramped about 15 kms, most of it up hill, so we are a little stiff tonight. Sadly, the views were far from remarkable, but the journey is often more important than the destination. Our walk to Sugargum Lookout this morning ended in disappointment when we found that trees had totally blocked the view. You can never get your hands on a chain-saw when you need one! All was not lost though. Much of the walk was along Mambrey Creek, lined with towering Red River Gums. We were fascinated by the way the old burnt out trunks of older trees were over-grown by new gums. Young trees weld themselves to the dead trunks for support, eventually totally entombing the old trunk. Some of the natural sculptures created by this process are just incredible.
In the afternoon we thought we would do a short easy walk to another lookout. Now you would think that after all the walking we have done over the years we would have figured out that lookouts are high places. Yet it never occurred to us that this 4km round trip walk was straight up a 1500 ft (480 m) mountain! Sadly, after clambering over the last rocks to reach the summit, we discovered that most of the view was again obscured by trees. Seriously, sometimes this passion National Parks has for preservation gets a bit out of hand. Clearing a few new growth pines would not accelerate global warming. All was not lost, however, for just as we began cursing the start of a rain shower, we saw the full arch of a sharply defined rainbow form in the valley. We could almost have reached out and touched it.
On our way back to camp, we seemed to be providing entertainment for the Yellow Foot Wallabies. They are so at ease with people that they just give you a quizzical look and get about their business.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Eyre Peninsula
12 August - Streaky Bay
Wheat from horizon to horizon, sheep on rich, green, improved pasture, green bushland and even tinges of green are visible on the harshest parts of the Nullarbor. The country is in the best condition for decades and all this at a time when wheat prices are at historical highs and sheep and lamb importers in the Middle East are prepared to pay almost anything for Australian sheep products.
It’s hard to understand why so many Australians are so negative about this country’s future. We have seen enormous mining concerns in Queensland (coal) and WA (Iron Ore). There are gas projects worth tens of billions of dollars underway and hundreds of smaller mining operations. Banks and Telcos continue to announce multi-billion dollar profits. Unemployment is less than 6%. The national debt is so small in comparison to other developed countries it’s laughable!
Getting out and about as we are doing really opens one’s eyes to just how blessed this country is.
Our crossing of the Nullarbor has been very different to what we expected. Much of the eastern part of what is normally considered as ‘the Nullarbor’, is reasonable grazing land and marginal wheat country. The actual treeless plain itself is very small in comparison to the total distance from Norseman to Ceduna - the popular start and end points of the plain.
The coastline is simply spectacular! We took a short detour to the ‘Head of Bight”, a bay at the most northerly part of the Bight. This is aboriginal land and the local community has established a thriving tourist attraction where whales and some of the most dramatic of the costal landscapes can be viewed. The day we visited there were dozens of whales in the bay, many with young calves in tow.
The small settlement of Streaky Bay, where we are camped tonight, is in the midst of a significant fishing and aqua-culture area. Near by, Smoky Bay is a major suppler of oysters to Australia and the world. We are camped right beside the bay and although the day has been mostly steely grey, the sun broke through late in the afternoon and the temperature climbed to the mid teens, but we do have some Smoky Bay oysters to cheer us.
14 August - Coffin Bay National Park
Some of the most interesting things we come across while travelling happen purely by chance. Yesterday, on our way down the Eyre Peninsula, we spotted a small old country cemetery perched on top of a lonely hill just off the highway. Cemeteries are always interesting, often providing glimpses into local history. Our first surprise was that the avenue of young olive trees leading up to the cemetery was planted as a memorial to Georgios Tramountanas, one of the first Greeks to settle in South Australia. A fine new memorial tomb stone marked George’s grave. Georgios changed his name to George North when he settled in the small settlement of Colton, the once-thriving local rural community.
Equally interesting were the large number of graves of the Kenny clan. At least four generations were represented, accounting for the vast majority of the graves in the cemetery, Later in the day we had web access and spent some time researching the history of Colton and the Kennys and Norths (Tramountanas).
The Colton area was surveyed, subdivided and proclaimed on 22 June 1876. It was named after Sir John Colton, MP who was born in 1823 in England and came to South Australia with his parents in 1839. Soon after the District was opened for agriculture, Michael Kenny, born 1808, at Six Mile Bridge, County Clare. Ireland, arrived in the colony in 1842. He later took up a large parcel of land at Colton with his sons, in September 1876.
Michael's second son, born in 1852 at Morphett Vale, built Colton’s first wine shop and, later, the Colton Hotel, which was opened in 1885. On seeing this, we recalled a relatively large area of ruins a kilometre or so west of the cemetery at a road junction. The old Colton Pub?
Nothing remains of Colton today, except a nice stone Anglican Church.
We couldn’t help but wonder how it must have been for Georgios, living in a community so dominated by an ‘Irish Clan’. Perhaps it was easier for Costa, our Greek Cypriot brother in-law??
Coffin Bay was to be a fishing expedition. No such luck! A major cold front with gale force winds and pelting rain settled in for our visit. We amused ourselves with a drive around the National Park, rather than our usual long treks. The wind was so strong it almost ripped the doors off the car when we alighted for quick lookout visits. As the wind howled around us at Avoid Point, we couldn’t help wondering whether Mathew Flinders had happened upon this area on a similar day and simply made a note on his chart as a warning to fellow navigators… “Avoid Point!” and the name stuck? While on the subject of place names, Coffin Bay has no sinister origin. It was named after Sir Isaac Coffin, who oversaw the fitting out of Flinders’ ship, the Navigator. Whether or not there were sinister overtones associated with good Isaac’s name we are unsure?
We also kept ourselves amused, or were amused by, a pair of Blue Wrens that adopted us, popping into our van for a look about in between sorties to attack their reflections in the car’s windscreen. The cock bird was particularly frantic, starting at the top of the glass and sliding all the way down, still pecking furiously at his ‘rival’. So tame were they that we had to be careful where we walked as they were constantly under foot.
Wheat from horizon to horizon, sheep on rich, green, improved pasture, green bushland and even tinges of green are visible on the harshest parts of the Nullarbor. The country is in the best condition for decades and all this at a time when wheat prices are at historical highs and sheep and lamb importers in the Middle East are prepared to pay almost anything for Australian sheep products.
It’s hard to understand why so many Australians are so negative about this country’s future. We have seen enormous mining concerns in Queensland (coal) and WA (Iron Ore). There are gas projects worth tens of billions of dollars underway and hundreds of smaller mining operations. Banks and Telcos continue to announce multi-billion dollar profits. Unemployment is less than 6%. The national debt is so small in comparison to other developed countries it’s laughable!
Getting out and about as we are doing really opens one’s eyes to just how blessed this country is.
Our crossing of the Nullarbor has been very different to what we expected. Much of the eastern part of what is normally considered as ‘the Nullarbor’, is reasonable grazing land and marginal wheat country. The actual treeless plain itself is very small in comparison to the total distance from Norseman to Ceduna - the popular start and end points of the plain.
The coastline is simply spectacular! We took a short detour to the ‘Head of Bight”, a bay at the most northerly part of the Bight. This is aboriginal land and the local community has established a thriving tourist attraction where whales and some of the most dramatic of the costal landscapes can be viewed. The day we visited there were dozens of whales in the bay, many with young calves in tow.
The small settlement of Streaky Bay, where we are camped tonight, is in the midst of a significant fishing and aqua-culture area. Near by, Smoky Bay is a major suppler of oysters to Australia and the world. We are camped right beside the bay and although the day has been mostly steely grey, the sun broke through late in the afternoon and the temperature climbed to the mid teens, but we do have some Smoky Bay oysters to cheer us.
14 August - Coffin Bay National Park
Some of the most interesting things we come across while travelling happen purely by chance. Yesterday, on our way down the Eyre Peninsula, we spotted a small old country cemetery perched on top of a lonely hill just off the highway. Cemeteries are always interesting, often providing glimpses into local history. Our first surprise was that the avenue of young olive trees leading up to the cemetery was planted as a memorial to Georgios Tramountanas, one of the first Greeks to settle in South Australia. A fine new memorial tomb stone marked George’s grave. Georgios changed his name to George North when he settled in the small settlement of Colton, the once-thriving local rural community.
Equally interesting were the large number of graves of the Kenny clan. At least four generations were represented, accounting for the vast majority of the graves in the cemetery, Later in the day we had web access and spent some time researching the history of Colton and the Kennys and Norths (Tramountanas).
The Colton area was surveyed, subdivided and proclaimed on 22 June 1876. It was named after Sir John Colton, MP who was born in 1823 in England and came to South Australia with his parents in 1839. Soon after the District was opened for agriculture, Michael Kenny, born 1808, at Six Mile Bridge, County Clare. Ireland, arrived in the colony in 1842. He later took up a large parcel of land at Colton with his sons, in September 1876.
Michael's second son, born in 1852 at Morphett Vale, built Colton’s first wine shop and, later, the Colton Hotel, which was opened in 1885. On seeing this, we recalled a relatively large area of ruins a kilometre or so west of the cemetery at a road junction. The old Colton Pub?
Nothing remains of Colton today, except a nice stone Anglican Church.
We couldn’t help but wonder how it must have been for Georgios, living in a community so dominated by an ‘Irish Clan’. Perhaps it was easier for Costa, our Greek Cypriot brother in-law??
Coffin Bay was to be a fishing expedition. No such luck! A major cold front with gale force winds and pelting rain settled in for our visit. We amused ourselves with a drive around the National Park, rather than our usual long treks. The wind was so strong it almost ripped the doors off the car when we alighted for quick lookout visits. As the wind howled around us at Avoid Point, we couldn’t help wondering whether Mathew Flinders had happened upon this area on a similar day and simply made a note on his chart as a warning to fellow navigators… “Avoid Point!” and the name stuck? While on the subject of place names, Coffin Bay has no sinister origin. It was named after Sir Isaac Coffin, who oversaw the fitting out of Flinders’ ship, the Navigator. Whether or not there were sinister overtones associated with good Isaac’s name we are unsure?
We also kept ourselves amused, or were amused by, a pair of Blue Wrens that adopted us, popping into our van for a look about in between sorties to attack their reflections in the car’s windscreen. The cock bird was particularly frantic, starting at the top of the glass and sliding all the way down, still pecking furiously at his ‘rival’. So tame were they that we had to be careful where we walked as they were constantly under foot.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Nullarbor
9 August - Near Madura
The western part of what is popularly known as the ‘Nullarbor’ is neither treeless nor flat. True, there are areas that are treeless and areas that are flat, but undulating and scrubby are probably better descriptors. The true Nullarbor doesn’t start until just under 1000 kms from Norseman, 500 kms further East from our camp spot.
What the Nullarbor certainly is, is isolated. Three Roadhouses in 500 kms and still 1000 kms to civilization on the eastern side and yet another 500 kms to Adelaide. Our big excitement for the day was driving the “Longest straight stretch of road in Australia”. At 146.6 kms, we’d agree it was LONG.
Where the Roadhouses are today, there were once small settlements, some with interesting histories. Caiguna, 200 kms East of Norseman, had its first European contact in 1841, when Edward John Eyre and his expedition passed within 20 kilometres of the present Roadhouse, on 29 April 1841. It was a tragic encounter. One of Eyre’s companions, John Baxter, was brutally murdered by 2 fellow members of the expedition. At the time, Eyre felt Baxter's untimely death was all the more ignominious given that he couldn't even be given the dignity of a proper Christian burial. According to Eyre's journal, the whole area around present day Caiguna, was overlain with solid sheets of limestone bedrock and ,apparently, under the circumstances the best that could be done was to wrap his friend's body in a shroud, leaving it exposed to the elements.
Nearly forty years later, a search party was organised to discover Baxter's remains. Under the leadership of John Healy the search party did, in fact, discover Baxter's remains - minus the skull however. Near the site were also found a number of other relics, including the lock mechanism of a gun.
By all accounts, Baxter's bones were then packed into a calico bag and despatched to the Colonial Secretary's Office in Perth. In a peculiar twist of fate, the final resting place of Baxter's bones still remains something of a mystery. Apparently all records relating to the disposal of Baxter's remains have been lost.
10 August - 81km East of WA/SA Border
As the highway wound closer to the Bight today, there was a lot more to see than yesterday. Just before the South Australian border, is the small settlement of Eucla, once home to one of the telegraph stations that were strung out along the Nullarbor.
Eucla was established in 1877 as a manual repeater station for the Overland Telegraph. The ruins of the old stone station lie partly buried in the shifting dunes of brilliant white sand. In its day, the station was supported from the sea using a jetty and 1km of tram line. Not many people seem to bother to make the 1-2 km trek through the to what is left of the jetty. We almost didn’t bother, but our curiosity got the better of us and so we trudged off through the dunes. It was well worth the walk! Along the way, bits and pieces of the tramway and other ’relics’ were exposed in the ever-shifting dunes. The jetty itself is now home to hundreds of sea birds that take advantage of the safety it provides as it is no longer connected to the shore.
Further east along the coast, it is possible to walk right to the edge of the sheer limestone cliffs of the Great Australian Bight. Here the now dead flat plains of the Nullarbor come to an abrupt and spectacular end, dropping 90 metres to the ocean.. These magnificent cliffs stretch for more than two hundred kilometres along what must be one of the most isolated coastlines in the world.
The western part of what is popularly known as the ‘Nullarbor’ is neither treeless nor flat. True, there are areas that are treeless and areas that are flat, but undulating and scrubby are probably better descriptors. The true Nullarbor doesn’t start until just under 1000 kms from Norseman, 500 kms further East from our camp spot.
What the Nullarbor certainly is, is isolated. Three Roadhouses in 500 kms and still 1000 kms to civilization on the eastern side and yet another 500 kms to Adelaide. Our big excitement for the day was driving the “Longest straight stretch of road in Australia”. At 146.6 kms, we’d agree it was LONG.
Where the Roadhouses are today, there were once small settlements, some with interesting histories. Caiguna, 200 kms East of Norseman, had its first European contact in 1841, when Edward John Eyre and his expedition passed within 20 kilometres of the present Roadhouse, on 29 April 1841. It was a tragic encounter. One of Eyre’s companions, John Baxter, was brutally murdered by 2 fellow members of the expedition. At the time, Eyre felt Baxter's untimely death was all the more ignominious given that he couldn't even be given the dignity of a proper Christian burial. According to Eyre's journal, the whole area around present day Caiguna, was overlain with solid sheets of limestone bedrock and ,apparently, under the circumstances the best that could be done was to wrap his friend's body in a shroud, leaving it exposed to the elements.
Nearly forty years later, a search party was organised to discover Baxter's remains. Under the leadership of John Healy the search party did, in fact, discover Baxter's remains - minus the skull however. Near the site were also found a number of other relics, including the lock mechanism of a gun.
By all accounts, Baxter's bones were then packed into a calico bag and despatched to the Colonial Secretary's Office in Perth. In a peculiar twist of fate, the final resting place of Baxter's bones still remains something of a mystery. Apparently all records relating to the disposal of Baxter's remains have been lost.
10 August - 81km East of WA/SA Border
As the highway wound closer to the Bight today, there was a lot more to see than yesterday. Just before the South Australian border, is the small settlement of Eucla, once home to one of the telegraph stations that were strung out along the Nullarbor.
Eucla was established in 1877 as a manual repeater station for the Overland Telegraph. The ruins of the old stone station lie partly buried in the shifting dunes of brilliant white sand. In its day, the station was supported from the sea using a jetty and 1km of tram line. Not many people seem to bother to make the 1-2 km trek through the to what is left of the jetty. We almost didn’t bother, but our curiosity got the better of us and so we trudged off through the dunes. It was well worth the walk! Along the way, bits and pieces of the tramway and other ’relics’ were exposed in the ever-shifting dunes. The jetty itself is now home to hundreds of sea birds that take advantage of the safety it provides as it is no longer connected to the shore.
Further east along the coast, it is possible to walk right to the edge of the sheer limestone cliffs of the Great Australian Bight. Here the now dead flat plains of the Nullarbor come to an abrupt and spectacular end, dropping 90 metres to the ocean.. These magnificent cliffs stretch for more than two hundred kilometres along what must be one of the most isolated coastlines in the world.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
One Horse Town
8 August - Norseman
Gold was discovered here in the 1890s, by a horse! Yep. That’s the story. Seems a nugget got caught in Norseman’s hoof.. From there it was all full steam ahead. By the early 20th century, the second largest gold mine in WA brought riches and thousands of people to this small oasis on the western edge of the Nullarbor.
The mines are still here, as is an enormous grey mountain of mine tailings that looms over the town. With modern mining technology, large numbers of workers are no longer required, so it’s a bit of a puzzle how the couple of thousand people who live in Norseman today make a living? There’s one pub, a small supermarket, a newsagent and a couple of service stations and that’s it. The big attraction for the tourists, other than getting off the Nullarbor, is the line of corrugated iron camels that parade around the town’s only roundabout.
Oh yes there is also a statue of Norseman.
How do we know all this, one might ask? Well, we needed to do some washing before sailing off on the Nullarbor, so we actually spent the best part of two days in Norseman. The immortal words of John Denver rang in our ears…
“Saturday Night in Toledo Ohio is like being no place at all"…..
Gold was discovered here in the 1890s, by a horse! Yep. That’s the story. Seems a nugget got caught in Norseman’s hoof.. From there it was all full steam ahead. By the early 20th century, the second largest gold mine in WA brought riches and thousands of people to this small oasis on the western edge of the Nullarbor.
The mines are still here, as is an enormous grey mountain of mine tailings that looms over the town. With modern mining technology, large numbers of workers are no longer required, so it’s a bit of a puzzle how the couple of thousand people who live in Norseman today make a living? There’s one pub, a small supermarket, a newsagent and a couple of service stations and that’s it. The big attraction for the tourists, other than getting off the Nullarbor, is the line of corrugated iron camels that parade around the town’s only roundabout.
Oh yes there is also a statue of Norseman.
How do we know all this, one might ask? Well, we needed to do some washing before sailing off on the Nullarbor, so we actually spent the best part of two days in Norseman. The immortal words of John Denver rang in our ears…
“Saturday Night in Toledo Ohio is like being no place at all"…..
South Lands
5 August - Cape Le Grand National Park - Lucky Bay
After a pleasant night in the bush, half way between Albany and Esperance, we sought more serenity on the beach in Cape Le Grand NP. And we found it big time! Lucky Bay was named by Matthew Flinders when he sheltered in this tiny bay in January 1802. We wonder why he ever left? Words like “idyllic” spring to mind as we gaze across the calm waters of the bay, past the whale playing just off the beach, to the whitest sand we have ever seen.
Much of the coast around Esperance is like this. There are over 100 islands off this strip of Southern Ocean coastline. Enormous granite outcrops provide the back drop to a perfect, warm, late winter day.
Sounds fantastic. And it was…. Until the clown camped across from us turned his generator on! Most National Parks ban generators, but here they are permitted from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm. It went on at 5:00 precisely. It had better go off at 9:00 precisely, or we’ll see how well Mr Honda’s generator runs with sand in the air intake!! By the way, they are Victorians!
We just don’t get it. The noisy little beasts cost up to $3000. Our solar panels and internal van battery cost much less than half that and have no running costs. All modern vans can charge their batteries from the car while you are driving. Our record to date for camping off mains power is 5 days and, in that time, using our inverter, we were able to watch videos for several hours every night and have our CD player on for 4 - 5 hrs.
Ban the generator! If they had a T-shirt we’d buy it! (To match the Grumpy Old Man one.)
After a pleasant night in the bush, half way between Albany and Esperance, we sought more serenity on the beach in Cape Le Grand NP. And we found it big time! Lucky Bay was named by Matthew Flinders when he sheltered in this tiny bay in January 1802. We wonder why he ever left? Words like “idyllic” spring to mind as we gaze across the calm waters of the bay, past the whale playing just off the beach, to the whitest sand we have ever seen.
Much of the coast around Esperance is like this. There are over 100 islands off this strip of Southern Ocean coastline. Enormous granite outcrops provide the back drop to a perfect, warm, late winter day.
Sounds fantastic. And it was…. Until the clown camped across from us turned his generator on! Most National Parks ban generators, but here they are permitted from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm. It went on at 5:00 precisely. It had better go off at 9:00 precisely, or we’ll see how well Mr Honda’s generator runs with sand in the air intake!! By the way, they are Victorians!
We just don’t get it. The noisy little beasts cost up to $3000. Our solar panels and internal van battery cost much less than half that and have no running costs. All modern vans can charge their batteries from the car while you are driving. Our record to date for camping off mains power is 5 days and, in that time, using our inverter, we were able to watch videos for several hours every night and have our CD player on for 4 - 5 hrs.
Ban the generator! If they had a T-shirt we’d buy it! (To match the Grumpy Old Man one.)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Great South West
1 August - Margaret River
South West Australia experiences a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. On our last visit to Margaret River some years back, it was miserable - wet, windy and cold. Even then, we marvelled at the richness of the south-west corner of the continent. This visit we have been blessed by fantastic winter weather. Clear blue skies, no wind and warm, at least once the sun gets up!
The small towns of the Avon Valley between Perth and Margaret River (via the inland route) are some of the oldest in the state. Northam and York are the stand-outs. This is the wheat belt, a continuation of a farming zone stretching from the Darling Downs in Queensland through central New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. The towns here show the effects of the ups and downs of an agricultural existence. Their grandest buildings were constructed in the early part of the 20th century or earlier. Most of the more important of these have been restored, but other parts of the towns have all the signs of decay that the whims of the agricultural markets have delivered.
Around Margaret River, it is wheat-wool (as well as wine), territory. This time of the year, the wheat has broken through, painting the hills bright green. Sheep graze on equally green pasture. We could easily be travelling through the South Island of New Zealand or even Ireland. Tuart forests form closed arches over country roads and the early blooming shrubs and low heath near the coast mix yellows, purple and white with the many shades of green and silver foliage. The variety of flora in the South West is astounding!
Even on this mid-winter weekend, the surf beaches of Geographe Bay were crowded. The water was surprisingly warm, but we weren’t crazy enough to go in! Instead we had a foodie day, collecting chocolate, fudge, cheese, venison and wine for a caravan cooking fest.
Since we hit Perth, we have been back in ‘civilization’ for the first time in many weeks. It hits you slowly, but the realization that much of the north of Australia is still a little frontier-like is inescapable. Towns here are 60-80 kms apart. Not 600 kms apart! We have to remind ourselves that we don’t have to fill up at every petrol station we see, or buy vegetables now, because there is a supermarket in this town. There are radio stations, mobile phone coverage and even television reception. Civilization will peter out soon enough though as we head east onto the Nullarbor in a few days.
Another big change in the past week or so has been the sudden fall off in the number of caravans on the road. We seem to be the only ones heading south and east? Perhaps we are a bit early for the southern migration? No matter, dealing with a bit of cold is no challenge for us and it’s nice not to have to rush to get to favoured camping spots by 2:00pm to beat the crowds.
2 August - Windy Harbour
Giant Jarrah, Karri, and Marri trees lined the highway for much of our trip south from Margaret River. Emerald green fields heavily stocked with cattle and sheep broke out from the forest from time to time. Again the south-west amazes. The weather sure helps as well. Clear blue skies again today.
The little hamlet of Windy Harbour is nestled on the southern edge of D’Entrecasteaux National Park. This is about as far south as we’ll go. Cape Leeuwin is actually the southernmost point of WA, but we’ve been there before. There is no electricity in this little township that started off as a beach squatters camp. The rather flash beach huts are on leased land. Solar panels and wind generators provide the power, there are no made roads, but the village is so neat it could easily win a tidy towns competition. One of the locals took pity on us when he saw us going off fishing and pulled up and gave us a fist full of garfish just off the trawler. We didn’t have the heart to tell him that we use them for bait at home. We will eat them though, not out of desperation, but because we know they are good eating, having eaten them as kids.
We did a 6km walk through the heath and dunes to Point D’Entrecasteaux this afternoon. Luckily, the wind that by repute blows 24/7 here was having an off day. The views were spectacular. We had the whole beach, coast line and the walks to ourselves. Not a soul in sight.
3 August - Near Denmark
Trees, trees and more trees. Fantastic as they are, we are ready for something different.
Chancing the gravel tracks through the Shannon National Park, we dragged our van around the 22 km Great Forest Trees Drive. The road wasn’t too bad and we saw some incredible stands of Jarrah and Karri. Again we had the whole place to ourselves. Even on the 5 km walk to Lane-Poole Falls in D’Entrecasteaux NP, we only ran into one other couple. There were a lot of trees though!
Just to be sure we’d covered all the local species, we went on the tree top walk through the Tingle Forest of The Valley of the Giants. The Tingle is an interesting tree. Older trees hollow out at the base as a result of fire and fungal attack, creating some interesting shapes.
Gluttons for punishment that we are, we are camped in a forest rest area for the night.
South West Australia experiences a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. On our last visit to Margaret River some years back, it was miserable - wet, windy and cold. Even then, we marvelled at the richness of the south-west corner of the continent. This visit we have been blessed by fantastic winter weather. Clear blue skies, no wind and warm, at least once the sun gets up!
The small towns of the Avon Valley between Perth and Margaret River (via the inland route) are some of the oldest in the state. Northam and York are the stand-outs. This is the wheat belt, a continuation of a farming zone stretching from the Darling Downs in Queensland through central New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. The towns here show the effects of the ups and downs of an agricultural existence. Their grandest buildings were constructed in the early part of the 20th century or earlier. Most of the more important of these have been restored, but other parts of the towns have all the signs of decay that the whims of the agricultural markets have delivered.
Around Margaret River, it is wheat-wool (as well as wine), territory. This time of the year, the wheat has broken through, painting the hills bright green. Sheep graze on equally green pasture. We could easily be travelling through the South Island of New Zealand or even Ireland. Tuart forests form closed arches over country roads and the early blooming shrubs and low heath near the coast mix yellows, purple and white with the many shades of green and silver foliage. The variety of flora in the South West is astounding!
Even on this mid-winter weekend, the surf beaches of Geographe Bay were crowded. The water was surprisingly warm, but we weren’t crazy enough to go in! Instead we had a foodie day, collecting chocolate, fudge, cheese, venison and wine for a caravan cooking fest.
Since we hit Perth, we have been back in ‘civilization’ for the first time in many weeks. It hits you slowly, but the realization that much of the north of Australia is still a little frontier-like is inescapable. Towns here are 60-80 kms apart. Not 600 kms apart! We have to remind ourselves that we don’t have to fill up at every petrol station we see, or buy vegetables now, because there is a supermarket in this town. There are radio stations, mobile phone coverage and even television reception. Civilization will peter out soon enough though as we head east onto the Nullarbor in a few days.
Another big change in the past week or so has been the sudden fall off in the number of caravans on the road. We seem to be the only ones heading south and east? Perhaps we are a bit early for the southern migration? No matter, dealing with a bit of cold is no challenge for us and it’s nice not to have to rush to get to favoured camping spots by 2:00pm to beat the crowds.
2 August - Windy Harbour
Giant Jarrah, Karri, and Marri trees lined the highway for much of our trip south from Margaret River. Emerald green fields heavily stocked with cattle and sheep broke out from the forest from time to time. Again the south-west amazes. The weather sure helps as well. Clear blue skies again today.
The little hamlet of Windy Harbour is nestled on the southern edge of D’Entrecasteaux National Park. This is about as far south as we’ll go. Cape Leeuwin is actually the southernmost point of WA, but we’ve been there before. There is no electricity in this little township that started off as a beach squatters camp. The rather flash beach huts are on leased land. Solar panels and wind generators provide the power, there are no made roads, but the village is so neat it could easily win a tidy towns competition. One of the locals took pity on us when he saw us going off fishing and pulled up and gave us a fist full of garfish just off the trawler. We didn’t have the heart to tell him that we use them for bait at home. We will eat them though, not out of desperation, but because we know they are good eating, having eaten them as kids.
We did a 6km walk through the heath and dunes to Point D’Entrecasteaux this afternoon. Luckily, the wind that by repute blows 24/7 here was having an off day. The views were spectacular. We had the whole beach, coast line and the walks to ourselves. Not a soul in sight.
3 August - Near Denmark
Trees, trees and more trees. Fantastic as they are, we are ready for something different.
Chancing the gravel tracks through the Shannon National Park, we dragged our van around the 22 km Great Forest Trees Drive. The road wasn’t too bad and we saw some incredible stands of Jarrah and Karri. Again we had the whole place to ourselves. Even on the 5 km walk to Lane-Poole Falls in D’Entrecasteaux NP, we only ran into one other couple. There were a lot of trees though!
Just to be sure we’d covered all the local species, we went on the tree top walk through the Tingle Forest of The Valley of the Giants. The Tingle is an interesting tree. Older trees hollow out at the base as a result of fire and fungal attack, creating some interesting shapes.
Gluttons for punishment that we are, we are camped in a forest rest area for the night.
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