Stunning SW WA to roasting in the North

Wow told you it was catch up time-- feel free to skim afterall who has time for 2 blogs in a week. We will use this as our diary of the trip once home hence I am been ott not to skip stuff- but skip away if you like.

After Kalgoorlie we headed for Perth and had about 2 wks there getting odd jobs done, resting and awaiting my parents arrival.

Mum and Dad came across and travelled for 10days with us from Perth down thru the wheatbelt east of Perth to Esperance on the coast and round the bottom to back to Perth.

We did the tourist things in Perth:

-We saw Kings Park with it's stunning views of the city and array of beautiful and unusual plants that would interest even the not so botanically minded


- Viewed the Bell Tower. Mum and Dad had a tour and bell ringing opportunity and Neil looking all buff :) got asked by the ladies to help wind up the clock tower- a heavy task (truth be known I couldnt even move the winder (not that that says much))


- Went to the fire museum, factory outlets, malls, free bus tours etc.

From Perth we went across the wheatbelt- interestingly the wheat stubble was much sparser that we saw up Nth NSW. The country was pretty rocky and we saw some iconic rocks- namely Wave Rock, Hippo Rock and some aboriginal rock art.

Esperance was next. The weather was wet and overcast but we found the beautiful coast in the National Park out of town. This poser kept getting in my scenic photo's- but you get the idea:
.
The coast the whole way along the coast was stunning and remarkably we had good weather. A few years ago when I visited I lived in a trackpants, froze to death and nearly got blown away by the Southerlies- weather that is normal for this area. I asked one guy whether their were any BBQ's nearby to which he responded that on any other day 'my sausages would be blown off before they'd be cooked so they didnt bother installing any'. Guess we struck it lucky this time :).
(One of the few pictures of Neil and I together- the joy of having my parents as travel companions).
They have the most amazing Karri and Red Tingle forrest along the coast- the trees are huge and gnarly and rather old. Dad and Neil did a tree top skywalk about the forrest- well they were 40 metres up but the trees were 70 metres plus tall so it was more of a mid forrest walk.
(Bring back the old blogger where I knew how to rotate photo's- apols).
We checked out the gourmet options in Margaret River- starting with the old English lolly shop.

Feeding rays in the wild was a real highlight- a local let us know that the rays came into the bay daily and were quite people friendly (aka bribed by the daily offal feeds they got from the local fisherman. The rays came right up to us, brushed against our legs and even got a pat (they are slimy). Neil got to feed them. I had no idea how big they got- they ones here totally dwarfed the rays we are used to over east. Probably the big boys were 1-1.5 metres in diameter and then had tails about 75-100cm long. The barb actually sticks out the side on the tail about 1/4 of the way back from the tip of the tail.

My (Naomi) wonderful Nan (Mum's Mum) passed away shortly after Mum and Dad left Perth. She was quite a character and I have very fond memories. This pick definately depicts her character for all who knew her- always having or causing a laugh.

From Perth we headed North to Geraldton, the Pinnacles, Kallbarri and then Carnarvon. In Geraldton we picked up some extra weight- in the form of a Red and Yellow Beacon- as if our roof wasnt loaded enough already. We could have picked up assylm seekers from Sri Lanka too. Though whilst they knocked on many windows of houses in Geraldton whilst we were their they apparently weren't interested in our home- the lovely caravan- maybe it seemed a little cosy after the boat trip- whatever the case we got no knocks and only knew about the drama unfolding under our noses due to the radio reports.

The Pinnacles
Kalbarri

We are currently in Carnarvon. It is so so hot and the weather up north isnt looking like improving anytime soon! We have enjoyed some good fishing. I caught a yummy parrot fish (a pretty fish too)- the good ol handline came through again and in my fast (impatient) style of fishing Neil and I brought in more Bream than we could count and barely went a minute without a bite. Neil was going for the unusual- catching a coral trout and about 3 other fish we had never seen before- if in doubt chuck it back.

Yay I am off the hook- we are finally up to date- better late than never :)

Adelaide to Kalgoorlie instalment

Well where to begin? Or where did I last leave off? Lets first say we are in the middle of no-where with no phone, no internet and to Neil’s disgust no TV so I wouldn’t have a clue what I last wrote or when- only that it was a long time ago- probably before we hit WA so lets start west of Adelaide.....
Windy night on the Eyre at Port Neil.

Leaving Adelaide and friends we headed down the Eyre Peninsular- the tourist guides and maps list many towns in bold type-that means big- but it is all relative on the Eyre big is 200-300 and small is 20 and even makes the map after all in the summer months 20 can swell to 2000 if the fishing is good. Speaking of fishing, every town is the ‘King George Whiting’ capital- only no towns other than Port Lincoln sold fish fresh- go figure. The coast was pretty and rugged and windy and wet. One lovely free camp was disrupted and packed up at 4am due to horrendous wind- I was a none responsive participant in this pack-up so was left in the van while Neil drove off- a brief moment that last and then I was on the phone demanding he let me in the car PJ’s and all- do you have any idea how much the insides of a caravan rattle, creak and sway on a dirt road- tis any wonder anything stays where we put it or that the van doesn’t just self-destruct.

From the Eyre we hit the Nullabor. Ceduna, SA, was the first town- once again one might expect a bit of size but alas a small IGA supplied us with the vitals. For one who expected large expanses of red desert the Nullabor was full of surprises. Nobody told me it meandered along the Great Australian Bite and hence had stunning limestone cliffs and Southern Ocean winds plus plus. Though thank God we had a tail-wind most of the way. The poor people coming the other way were reporting 3.3km/L fuel-ouch!!! The temperatures were no surprise- well into the 30’s mean’t we often stopped in the middle of the day under some shade (yeah right- no trees- only the occasional shed road side). This let our struggling fridge recover- it’s worse than travelling with a 2yo and dictates of every move.

The ‘towns’ on the Nullabor turned out to be merely roadhouses with dirt parking spaces called caravan parks which charged upwards of $30 a night- granted they ran everything off generators and no doubt had lots of expense getting supplies out there. We free camp any way.We stopped at Mundrabilla roadhouse/ An aboriginal funeral was to be held to next day in the nearby dry community so we saw a number of the locals at the servo/general store. They must live traditionally because there is nothing out there by way of food supplies. Mind you the land looks fairly unforgiving too. We saw the stereotypical animal warning signs- roo, wombat and camel and like all good tourists stopped for a photo. The only animal we saw alive was a dingo or two. A pile of dead camels roadside led me to suspect a recent aerial cull had taken place. Neil shivered at roo bones everywhere- but took comfort that hopefully the graveyard was 20 years in the making :). The flying doctor service run-ways broke the repetitive black straight road and the odd storm rolled in creating massive barrel like clouds. Yes we had rain on the Nullabor- several times in fact.
Norseman marked the end of the Nullabor- another tiny town which welcomed us with bucketing rain till we were cool and drenched through- and all that red dirt washed off . Nothing remarkable there we free camped.




Telegraph station
The treeless plain

In total the most we payed for fuel was $1.92 though we saw $2.10. We had been given prior warning about when and where to buy the cheapest fuel on the trip across and with our large tank, sub-tank and a jerry we only needed fuel twice. I thought given fuel in civilisation was about $1.56- $1.60 at the time that $1.92 wasn’t too bad.

Well will end todays post at Kalgoorlie where we caught up with an old friend Becky Lee Young and checked out the large mines- watching a blasting. Well I was looking for a big blast and lots of noise so I didn’t even notice the event had occurred- but by chance or good management I happened to have the video camera on just the right part of the pit to capture the moment which Neil played back to me just so I could have the experience which my deaf ears found unremarkable.

Well the next instalment should bring you up to date- Kalgoorlie to Carnarvon where we are currently sweltering :) (or perhaps further North depending how long it takes me to get onto it).
Going fishing.........and the boss is waiting- actually should make him wait more often- he has done the laundry to kill time...mmm what more could I get done ;p.

Coastal route to Adelaide

Did I mention Neil got gaol time for his drug offences? :). This old gaol at bordertown SA was the gaol for gold robbers but today has been converted into the toilets- innovation :)Note the ladies toilets arnt in the gaol block- maybe only men need reinforced toilet structures :p.

Well we are now in Adelaide. We traveled some beautiful coastline to the East of Adelaide.

Port McDonnell


Showing just how far we have to go. Note Neil is doing a penguin impersonation as the fairy penguins were supposed to be there BUT as always they were out fishing (one day I may see one- more than the dead one Neil proudly photographed for me last yr :)).(Sorry for the orientation issue- blogger has issues :().


Robe SA.

We drove along the Coorong NP. I remember as a kid 'Storm Boy' set on the Coorong was a favourite movie of mine. Those of you who know 'Storm Boy' will know it is about pelicans BUT we saw only a couple of pelicans even when we were at the pelican breeding grounds where one typically see thousands- we sure have an effect on the wildlife- one of mass exodus.

We crossed the Murray via ferry (in fact our car and caravan combo took up half of the little ferry) and headed to the quaint village of Strathalbyn know for it's heritage buildings. Here we not only see a beautiful old church and many nice building but we discover that SA doesn't do plastic bags (NONE!!) not even for those who forget their 'Green' bags) so we loaded our pockets and arms up looking rather like thieves and awaited a break in the seemingly never ending traffic in this tiny village- a funny sight.

From there we stayed in the wine country at a great free camp with about 25 plus other caravning buddies- it was more like a caravan park.

Next stop Victor Harbor where we went across to Granite Island via a long bridge which we shared with the horse drawn carriage. I saw penguins- for which the island is know- bronze statues of them cause once again the penguins were out to sea.


Adelaide was the next stop. We timed it perfectly to see a friend of mine from my time with Mercy Ships and stay with her family. They headed off on holidays and we got to house and puppy sit for 6 days. In fact the puppies are so so spoilt by Neil that I think I will need therapy for husband neglect.

Our young charges.

We have caught up with old friends from Armidale and Mercy Ships, enjoyed 'The German experience' of sausages and pretzels in Handorf (a little German village in the Adelaide Hills, and been to the beach where the water is freezing despite the 38 degree weather here.

Till next time........

Police raids, volcanos and more

Well for those of you wondering how we have been funding our adventures.......... Yep our crop been hauled in the police raid at Taylors Arm that resulted in our questioning.



Never a dull moment camping. The truth is we arrived at Taylors Arm (remote place only known for the 'Pub with no Beer') and what do you know but police dogs and a chopper arrived at the free camp and set up a base to do raids on the Marijuana crops in the hill country. The police were very friendly and we scored a tour of the chopper and a run down on what the crop looks like, how it grows and it's street value- this raid turned in $400,000 worth of crop and was a overt operation meaning we could know about it. They were just focussed on ripping out the crops before they came to harvest and made it to the street. The covert team runs the on famr under cover survielance to catch the crooks at other times. The whole affair made for a very entertaining day as the chopper came in and out with the haul and men were lowered into crops to rip them out.
Oh and did I mention we were actually quitely camping with Neil's folks despite it feeling like we were witnessing a Hollywood film set. So we enjoyed a drink at the 'Pub with no Beer' a name that suits a pub for Neil and I, two no drinkers to party at :).

A couple of days earlier we all got our birthday presents which was a days kyacking on the Bellinger river. Fun times and when things got tough a good gentlemany tow was a bonus :)



We had a few days with family kicking up our heels at the Tamworth country music festival. We saw Becky Cole (for free) and Kasey Chambers also for free- we are true cheap scapes :)Oh and the chook man who is still alive (I remember him been old 10yrs ago at the festival but he kicks on).


From Tamworth we headed in land to Orange and Bathurst (where we did a lap of Mount Panorama with our caravan in tow quite a sight).
Crossing the Hay Plains we saw numerous bush fires and then headed into a massive wall or smoke- thankfully the wind got going and before too long we realised we were in fact in a huge dust storm not a smoke cloud- dust storms are a regular out there. We camped along the Murray in the vineyards of Renmark and were offered grape picking/packing jobs which we declined.

We meandered across the SA border and down south to Mt Gambier's volcanic country. We stayed with Kate Rhook an old friend who made a great host and tour guide. The Blue Lake is stunning as are the caves, sinkholes and volcano's.


Feeding possums with Kate at the Umpherston sinkhole.

Well thats not where were up to but thats way too much reading for you for one sitting so next time we'll up date you on Mt Gambier to Adelaide where we currently are.

Christmas break adventures

Well my once a month blog post has had a gliche of a few months but here we go again this time for 2013 and guess what God willing were going to be on the road again- this time hoping to cover some more ground. South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland are in our sights in that order.

So where did we leave off- Harvest. We moved North from our Moree harvest job to Mungindi continuing the harvest on the land of the largest individual land owner in the southern hemispere. 250 thousand acres or more in total. We joined a team who made up the 17 headers and many more chaser bins and trucks to bring in 40 thousands acres of wheat.

We lived with 4 other harvest teams in the helicopter shed of the boss and were actually on the team of the wealthy bosses daughter who also drives headers and feed the team with 3 meals a day. A lovely girl who you wouldnt know had immense wealth.

With Christmas on the way we decided to stay in Northern NSW and do some rounds visiting friends and family. Fishing with Neil's Aunt and Uncle was fun- particularly as I caught the bigger yellow belly :)

We saw my grandparents in my old home town of Bingara and then spent a lovely 10 days in Armidale catching up with old friends.

Urunga was next stop with Neil's fam- time for the massive cull. We took everything out of the caravan and car and sorted it ruthlessly placing back only the vitals. After Africa and Europe I had hoped I learn't to be a minimalist when it came to packing BUT alas a few items got in the road and frustrated us in the vechiles- music items to find the bed, floor or table was wearing thin. Neil was fantastic organising all the caravan and car servicing etc and then he built a great set of draws for the back of our car.

We spent an early Christmas with Naomi's family in Casino and had fun hanging out with our Neice and Nephew. Some fishing success was had again-this time it was bass. A motorbike ride with my midlife crisis newly become bikie dad - argh I ticked the box on dads wish list, risked my like and survived- Neil refused to humor my dad (who did I mention doesnt have very good eyesight hence Neil's reluctance).

We had Christmas with Neil's family in Urunga. Poor Neil was sick in bed all day except for present opening time which he enjoyed in his PJ's (yep he even missed all the good tucker :().

I signed up as a volunteer for Beach Mission at Urunga. Beach Mission is a Christian event which runs for 10days or so in caravan parks and on beaches around the country. We run activities everyday for free for the campers and locals. The list included- bible based skits and teaching, fun days with soccer stadiums, waterslides, face painting, circus tricks, beach sports, bushdances, movie nights, afternoon age specific activities with the gospel of Jesus been shared (a bit like a Sunday school lesson). I helped with the primary school age group which had about 25-30 kids. Parents and the park owners loved the Urunga event so much that they want the teams to extend the number of days they run the event every year.Exhausting but rewarding to lead on.

I have taken up bread making--mmm so yummy that it doesn't last long in the Woods house. The weight loss resolutions may be hampered though.
The first loaf- a perfect loaf :)

My brother Matt came down with his family one weekend and we showed them the sights of Urunga and Bellingen which was fun.

We can't believe it but we just ticked over 2 yrs since we got married. It seems like yesterday that we enjoyed such a great day. Neil surprise me with a 2 night getaway at a resort in Coffs Harbour. We enjoyed dinner out our favourite thai place. If your ever in Coffs- 'The Crying Tiger' is the place to go!! We are so thankful to God for bringing our lives together and have had a fantastic first two years of marriage!!

Well now your up to date :) Later this week we head off on the road again starting with a few days free camping at the 'Pub with No Beer' at Taylors Arm with Neil's folks before we wind through NSW (again) this time via Orange and Bathurst on route to South Australia. We are seriosuly hoping the 50 degrees plus experienced in SA and the bushfires get under control before our arrival.