WHALE BONE COVE 10-6-2011

FREE CAMP
10-6-2011
WHALE BONE COVE......SOUNDS GREAT.....WAS.
We stayed with other people in our wonderful free camp beside to ocean with the sun setting with us standing on the shore.  The next morning we started our trip to Denham . Just up around the corner we found and marked on our map for future this hidden free camp beside the river.

This was a great experience travelling along the highway which the road is straight and the scenery along the road is shrubbery and more shrubbery no trees anywhere.

We all agree that the Nullarbor is great. So much to see and scenery changes. Yes this is the worst part of the drive.

Our first stop is Billabong Roadhouse where we had morning tea. It also is the beginning of the red soil so rich in colour. I have been told that this is just the start and that the red soil will be so much deeper.

Some people have no brains. Yes the road was empty and you could see forever both ways but john felt tired so he laid down in the middle of the road.


Off we go again and the next stop will be Overlander Roadhouse.

Much the same on the road boring and long with no change in site. When we arrived at the roadhouse we knew that we would be turning right for now and head for Shark Bay, Denham and then Monkey Mia.

We arrived early afternoon which was good. The trip to here being the worst part to drive so far.

Excited that we were heading for a new area and looking forward to seeing Monkey Mia as well.

We turned down a roadway as we were going to free camp again tonight. The areas are just so beautiful flat and the ocean lies out in front of us. The first one we had to move from as there were enough people doing the same. The next one was fine so we set up camp again.This gives us to best opportunity to arrive in town in the morning and secure a spot at the caravan park. Lucky we did as we didn't book we were very lucky to have found a park to accept us.

We also found out that school holidays are upon us again in a few weeks so we should have a plan as to where we will be travelling next and book in.

 This is the wonderful camp we have found. The evenings are perfect and we have been lucky with the weather.

We are having a problem with mosquitoes and sand flies and it is quite infectious over here causing health problems.

Come night we stay inside best to be safe than sorry later.





We arrived in Denham Saturday 11-6-2011.

Set up and have a drive around the area. Small area with half a dozen shops. Touristy things, nothing to talk about. The beach and the water is just beautiful. Aqua in colour and you can walk out forever in the clear waters. The area is by name Shark Bay so we won't be going out in the bay.

 The photo's don't do the area justice, it is the most beautiful water. Along the foreshore there are stainless steel fish cleaning stands and they are used all of the time. The fish here are huge and easy to catch.

 This is a photo of the fish swimming around the jetty in large groups. Just so clear.

This is a photo of the main street. As you can see there is very little.
Friendly area.




While out today driving around we decided to book a flight again if we can.

Lucky day yes we are to go on a flight in the morning with a lady pilot.
Up early and looking forward to the day ahead. We arrived at the airport and the pilot was there delivering people from one of the islands.
I heard a young man thank Helen the pilot for a great trip over. Good if he felt safe in this small plane then we should be fine.

Helen is in her 60's and has been flying for many years and it is her business.
There were two other ladies on this flight as well a mother and her daughter and the daughter gets air sick. Great!.

John sat in the front with Helen and l sat behind with the two other ladies behind me. This was good for me as l had two seats and could protect my leg's from being hurt.

Four seater

A view of the area to the left

To the right this is a round lake from the ocean. It winds through the area from the sea and is a great safe place for all water sports.

This is where we landed on the Loop where the salt ponds are.

 photo on right is the ponds of salt water that evaporate down to the salt then are scraped out then loaded onto a ship

 The cliff walls that are so colourful

This is a view of the most western point of Australia. It is from here that the HMAS SYDNEY lays as a war grave.

This is Margaret with her co pilot John.

Thank you Margaret for a safe flight and two soft landings.

MONDAY 13-6-2011

Today we are going to Monkey Mia to see if the Dolphins come in to say hello.

We had a pod of about 10 with one little baby

Here they are having a look around. They only feed 5 and they don't feed the males or babies as they have to be careful that they still can look after themselves. They don't feed any new ones that come to have a look.

Well we are still having a great time. and we think that Wendy and Bill will be meeting up with us in a couple of days. And we will all be travelling together again for the next part of our journey.

Love to all of our friends and Family that we all miss so much.

I hope my Grandchildren remember me when l come home.

Love you all sooooo much. xxxxxxxxxxx

GERALDTON

6th, JUNE 2011

GERALDTON

Left Geraldton today and the first stop is Northhampton for a walk around the country one street town. Old and quiet with little history. They are having a purple bra day on Saturday to raise money for the Breast Cancer. This is the town that also has the airing of the Quilts which is very popular and brings many tourists to town.

While wandering around town and taking photo's we heard a bang with Sandra's camera thinking she had dropped it we all turned around to find after the semi went by that the local police car had stopped to help as Sandra had fallen down an open drain along the side of the road. Picture taken.

This is about 15 inches deep on the foot path side. Lucky she didn't break her leg or more. The policeman was very nice and when he realised she was with people he went knowing that she would be OK.

This is a pain face in disguise trying to be brave.
Hi Carol still at it.

Left ankle and right knee where she had landed and the camera is still working. Wrapped up and rest is the cure.

On with the walk or hobble around then we head off for the next stop.  This is the old church as you can see and inside 1936.

Northhampton is one of the oldest settlements outside of Perth. In 1839 Lt. George Grey reported favourably on the area with lead and copper mining commencing in 1848 and 1855 respectively.

We passed through Port Gregory and visited the pink lake before leaving.
The colour of the lagoon is due to Bacteria [Dunaliella salina ] trapped in the salt granules; this provides a rich source of Beta Carotene, which is harvested from small ponds. As the sun sinks, the lagoon changes colour from mauve or pink to a slightly darker purple.

Onward we go to our free camp for the night. where we stop is in the hands of the Gods.

KALBARRI

7-6-2011

Relaxing port side village where recuperation is needed. Mostly for hobbles.

Relaxing day and Sandra to the local Dr's. He didn't seem to think anything was broken but give it a week and see. Blood pressure high has to watch it. 150/100

 Wednesday
8-6-2011

We are out for a drive around the area. What a pretty town and view when you come into the area. It is not a town but a village and there are plenty of new homes being built on one acre and the architect designing some is very talented.

We went for a drive out to Pot Alley, Eagle George, Grandstand, Castle Cove and Natural Bridge. On our last stop we ran into the Mactaggerts who had been dodging the local insects.
                                                                 The coastal gorges

The coastal gorges south of the town are both colourful and dramatic. The vividly banded cliffs, which rise hundreds of metres out of the turquoise seas, have been shaped into intricate patterns by wind and weather. This area is  a photographer's delight.

KALBARRI NATIONAL PARK.

Thursday 9-6-2011

John and Sandra tried to book a flight over the Gorge as it is supposed to be a wonderful flight with fascinating cliff faces and rivers.

Unfortunately their were only them that wanted to go, as business is slow they had to get a refund.

Legs were made for walking even if hobbles tag's along.

Our first walk was to the gorges and this was spectacular standing high above we could see forever. There was enough water for a kayak to paddle down the rapids.

Next our venture as to walk along the rock edge to the spot named Nature's Window. It was quite a hike but we all enjoyed our adventure.

It is so worth the effort to the beautiful slate overhanging rock formation representing a picture perfect moment.  What photography !.

We are all having a great time and getting some exercise which we all need.

Miss all of our Family and Friends. Love from all. xxxxxx

Saturday 28th ROTTNEST ISLAND

28-5-2011
Rottnest Island .... 20 km out to see from [Freemantle]
Quite adventure to-day we are going to Rottnest Island for the day. We arrived at the jetty with our backpacks fully laden with swimmers, snorkel, goggles and food for the day.

The catamaran arrived and the trip across takes 20 Min's. We have chosen a perfect day the waters crystal clear and the sun is beaming. The temperature for today is 24 degrees and they say that the water is warm.

Rottnest Island [11 kms by 5kms] is situated 20 kms west of Fremantle and is now primarily a holiday island with no private landlords. The coastline, made up of private bays, and beautiful beaches provides endless picturesque scenery. In excess of 100 type of bird life have been found on the island and quokkas, the local protected species, can be sighted in abundance. Frequent ferries sail daily from Perth and Freemantle.

When we embarked from the boat we had to collect our pushbikes that we had hired for the day. We have been told that it is an easy 11 km ride and roads are flat.
Why do we believe people. Not everyone is the same.

Off we went up hill and down dale only sighting the beaches we wanted to see and missing the one we wanted to go and have a swim at. How did we do that we still don't know. Salmon Bay and it looked beautiful in the brochure. Getting lost is easy for us and now we can add bad management with the map as well. We did get lost looking for this spot. We stopped at one sign post and it said we has 0.8 of a km to go to Salmon Bay the next sign we found said that we had 2km to Salmon Bay. I just looked at John and asked how the hell did we end up further away and still can't find this not so popular bay by now.

Not to worry there were plenty more bays and beautiful water spots to see and have a swim at.

We stopped for lunch at a perfect spot named Green Island and by this time l was exhausted and really didn't want to ride any further at all. Well we dropped our cloths and went into the crystal clear water for a cool off before lunch. Well it was freezing and far to cold to enjoy. We sat on the jetty that was here and had our lunch.

Feeling better after lunch and a rest we went back to the bikes to continue as we still had plenty of hills and about three hours peddling to go. What a surprise the bike John was riding had a flat tyre and we had to find a contact and wait for someone to bring another tyre or bike. I told John to keep on going and l will wait for someone to come and rescue me with the bike. He did as there was still plenty of peddling to do. I waited about half an hour and then my saviour came to rescue me. I went back in the car with the bike. I said a prayer and thanked god for giving the bike a flat tyre.

John arrived back at the jetty in about two and a half hours and was exhausted.

What sounded like a great adventure riding around the island, was a mistake as if we had the time over again we would have gone on the hop on and hop off bus and we would have had a much better day.
So if ever anyone goes over to the island go on the bus and you will get to see all the beaches and learn about the island in the process.


The Island is a great location to enjoy yourself and it was packed with people. They have a hotel as well and it was full and jumping with the music and everyone talking. The children play in the water and on the beach. It is boaters haven over here, everywhere you look.
All in all we had a great time just a little exhausting. Feeling older than ever.
We all found Freemantle and Perth exciting and a bustling area. The port of Freemantle is functioning to its fullest with ship's coming and going with their cargo of containers and live stock heading for Asia.
It was comfortable touring both areas with transport connections excellent and they are both very effective areas.

LANCELIN
29-5-2011Sunday

Sunday and we are heading off today to Lancelin. Only a short drive again today. then onto Cervantes.

We first stopped at City Beach was not far out of Freemantle for morning tea. Beautiful beach and area with the sand so white and the water aqua and clear.

Next would be Hillary's and Joodalup WoW homes so huge and architecturally beautifully designed.

We are totally doing the tourist drive.
Next would be Guilderton: Small beach town river then onto Lancalin.

30-5-2011 Monday

To Cervantes
The country side is so different here it is flat land with black boy's everywhere, in the distance you can see the sand dunes to the left, black cockatoos, an emu or two and this area is totally burnt out.

There is a new highway from Lancelin to Cervantes and it makes the trip enjoyable, it was opened 6 months ago. There is so much land throughout this country of ours and an abundance of sand stone. You see walls and designing displayed with sandstone over here like no where else.  It is a very dangerous coast for ships and boats with reefs right along the coast.

Raining today so after we settled into the park we went for a drive to see where you could buy crayfish.

ABCDEFG

David the owner is a friend of ours now and he gave us discount as well. By the way we did order another for tomorrow so that we can take it with us. yummy!.

NAMBUNG NATIONAL PARK. Road A1 Scenery A1. with the Indian Ocean in the foreground and sand hills left and right. what a beautiful country and how lucky we are to be able to see it.
We went for a drive out to the PINNACLES  what are the pinnacles you ask well they are made of varying coloured sand and there are thousands of limestone pinnacles ,which range in size up to 5 metres tall and 2 metres thick at the base.
They were formed thousands of years ago when ancient plant roots formed a weak cementation of calcite within the dunes and have been exposed by wind and shifting sands.
  Lots of photo's were taken but you really have to be here and see them for yourself, they are spectacular and oh so many.

Another wonderful day had by all.

Judy, Warren, Sandra and John wish you were all here to share in this wonderful treat, after all we are in the Crayfish Capitol so what else would we be eating, and just our luck to run into Dave and have him look after us so well.



LEEMAN

31-5-2011 Tuesday

Leaving today for Jurien Bay then Green Head then onto Leeman
We had to call in to collect our Lobster before we left. It weighed 1.7kg and it cost only $40 well Dave did look after us. We thanked him and the girls and he gave us his card to stop at the farm when we get to Cairns. They own so much property and the crayfish business and boats and and and it never ends.

Now on with the tour,


Jurien Bay ....Now l would love to live here this is on my lotto list or oz lotto.
John and I went for a walk to have a look at the Bay as we only stopped for morning tea. Warren has to have his morning tea this is why we are over weight we have all these stops.

Back to the Jurien Bay. We walked out along the jetty and was talking to a lady and we saw a pod of dolphins just near us and they were swimming in a circle and blowing bubbles. They do this to bring the fish up in a circle so that they can feed. It was special just watching them in this aqua water with it's white sand.

OOPS I PUSHED THE WRONG BUTTON AND THIS WAS POSTED TO THE BLOG NOW I HAVE TO FINISH IT. SORRY.

After hitting the road again we ended up staying at a free camp for the night along the coast. When we pulled in we found about twenty vans, tents and cars with people all doing the same free camping.

 Good night had by all,  now we are on our way again to Geraldton.

GERALDTON
1-6-2011 Wednesday.

Arrived at Geraldton and we are blessed as we didn't have a booking and they could only give us two nights as it is a long week-end and we didn't realise it. Se up camp and went for a drive around the area which has a one special location and it is the memorial for the HMAS SYDNEY which has now been discovered. Special to Sandra as her Uncle was on it with 644 of his mates. IN all 645 Sailors drowned.

Thursday,

Judy and Sandra found a craft shop and have had to have a look. Great shop. Warren picked us up and then off to Telstra to get my new device for the Internet with Telstra as my Optus isn't always receiving.
This arvo the guys tried to set up the dish for t.v....didn't work bugger these new fingle dangle things we all have to learn.

Friday

Today we visited the memorial site for the HMAS SYDNEY and were very impressed and sad it is beautiful with all names and positions on the ship and a statue of a mother looking out to see to find her missing son's.
Lost with all 645 hands in November 1941, just off the coast of Shark Bay whilst engaging the Koroman. The Memorial looks over where the HMAS SYDNEY fought it's last battle. Just a few short steps away stands a bronze figure of a woman looking out to sea, grieving for her loved one lost at sea.

William Sidney Fibbens................special to my family Mum's Brother

Geraldton is the key port for the region, it is only 4 hours from Perth. Settlement is of aboriginals in the area of 40,000 years ago. It is an area of great history





It is wonderful taking all the history of these areas we are crossing through.

In the arvo it is back to the drawing board to see why we can't get the TV dish working.

After quite a time we put the shonkey card in and went out for Chinese and when we came home the dam thing was working. It is like a kettle if you watch it it wont boil, go away and the card was accepted with the sate light.


love to all of our Family and Friends. We are all missing you Love from All xxxxxxx