Good Morning Beautiful
Cosy Corner!
Wow!
Now that was a top little find!!
Now that was a top little find!!
Except for one thing, we were camping in the day spot not the over night spot!
I took myself on a walk up the
beach this morning & found this other little camping area,
not as nice as ours!
Anyway after having a mag to this couple
they informed me, we are camping in the day only spot!!
Hahaha!
No wonder we had the place to ourselves!
Very strange that though because,
I know when I put the coordinates in the
I know when I put the coordinates in the
nav man they were correct
?!?!?!
Oh well!
How lucky for us
&
even luckier
Oh well!
How lucky for us
&
even luckier
Ranger Smith didn't come by & move us on!!
:) :) :) :) :) :) :)
:) :) :) :) :) :) :)
From Cosy we are heading into
Esperance
Esperance
for a short stay over the weekend & then going out to
Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park!
Cant wait to get there!!!
Such a beautiful drive & country side
from Ravensthorpe to Esperance
as we wind our way down the coast, nothing but
Fields & Fields
of
Golden Brown Land
of
Golden Brown Land
As far as our eyes can see nothing but
Wheat
Wheat
Wow !
There is so much here in
Sth East WA...Its like sugar cane in Qld
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Esperance!
Pop 14,000
721 Kms from Perth
Home of Australia's Best Beaches!
What a beautiful place!
Next stop on our little tour of the town is
Tanker Jetty
Home of
Sammy The Seal
As we approached the jetty
there he was lazily
basking in the suns warm rays
Soo cute is he!!!!
All I wanted to do
(as I suppose every one does)
was to run up and give him a big fat cuddle!!
Signs on the jetty read
do not approach him as he is
do not approach him as he is
unpredictable
&
could cause injury!
The lady in the info centre was telling Mark.....
If Sammy is not around, just go along the jetty to the fish feeding table,
run the hose & Sammy will come a running!
I was down there calling his name and trying to get his attention,
the most he did was open his eye lid look up at me and then go back to sleep!
Well you are no fun!!
Next minute i looked down the jetty to see mark running the
hose & tapping it on the table!
hose & tapping it on the table!
Oh boy !!
That got him up, he flew into the water and swam like mad down to Mark!
Now that was a bit mean
considering we had no fish to feed you!
Oh well...At least you had your daily exercise
&
Sammy, I feel you needed it!!!
&
Sammy, I feel you needed it!!!
Back up on shore it was time for a
Preen!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next morn we set off for
Lucky Bay
Where the Kangaroos laze on the beach!
Lucky Bay is in
Cape Le Grande National Park
about 60 kms
East of Esperance
The camp ground is on a first in first served basis
They have toilets, hot showers & BBQ's
The resident hosts come around every arvo to collect the $12 a night fee
& love to have a mag!!!
& love to have a mag!!!
We have never seen on all our travels nicer
National park toilets!
National park toilets!
Seriously they are immaculate and so well maintained, a credit to them!
We arrived about 1pm we were running a bit late as mark had to go into town & get
a new spare tyre for the truck.
a new spare tyre for the truck.
We set up camp & decided to do the
walk around & say hi to our neighbours,
far out, nearly everyone here is from NSW!
We then headed down to the beach for a walk!
walk around & say hi to our neighbours,
far out, nearly everyone here is from NSW!
We then headed down to the beach for a walk!
Apparently there are only
2 beaches in Australia with sand like silk
2 beaches in Australia with sand like silk
White Haven Qld
&
Lucky Bay WA
To me the sand resembles cornflour, and funny when it is wet it is
like a cornflour paste you would make to thicken stews!!!
We also took a drive around to some of the other bays in this
National Park
One of the most beautiful to us was
Hellfire Bay
So pristine, unspoilt & very inviting
Back home for happy hour, followed by dinner!
Just keep away from that wine
Skip!!
Skip!!
Wow!
We sure are going to miss these social gatherings at the end of our fun filled days!!!
How funny but, at home you would never in your life
think of picking up your outdoor chair and carting it and a few Bev's
around the neighbour hood, then plop yourself down in someone else's backyard!!!
That is one of the magical things about this caravaning lifestyle!!
Tomorrow we will farewell
Beautiful Stunning Lucky Bay WA
&
head up to to Norseman, then it is due
East for home
Across
The Nullarbor!!
I am so excited to be going home for Christmas!
By the time we get home, we will have been on the road for just under
2 years.......Actually 20 months to be exact!
What a fantastic journey, when we think about all the places we have
been & sights we have seen!
Although we did miss seeing a lot of this
fantastic broad country of ours!
It would take a lifetime to see the whole of Australia!!
We have to laugh at some people who tell us
they have been around
Australia
Oh how long did that take you?
6 months...Their reply!
It would take a lifetime to see the whole of Australia!!
We have to laugh at some people who tell us
they have been around
Australia
Oh how long did that take you?
6 months...Their reply!
Some of the places we missed, we will see in the future,
on little trips here and there!!
Up bright and early as usual
&
The Nullarbor Plains here we come!!
Yeeeha!....Another new exciting adventure awaits us!!!
We stopped off at Norseman the beginning of the Nullarbor.
Norseman is named after a horse called
Hardy Norseman
Apparently he pawed at the ground & his owner then scratched around that area
and uncovered a huge big nugget of gold back in the 1890's!
Ha Ha...How lucky!
What a Clever Horse!!!
What a Clever Horse!!!
Straight away after turning east and leaving Norseman, the landscape
changed...Lots and lots of nothing but skinny dead trees & a brilliant road to drive on!
Here's hoping it stays that way!
It is so funny, I always pictured the Nullarbor
as a sandy dirt track across the bottom of
Australia??
Haha.... My much smarter than I Husband
just informed me, it has been bitumen for quite a number of years now!
Anyway
Back on track......Or I should say
ROAD!
I had my eyes peeled for the famous
Nullarbor Links!
The Worlds Longest Golf Course
For those of you that don't know about this.....
You can stop off at various spots along the Nullarbor and play yourself a hole of golf, something to relieve the bore dome!!!
Through Balladonia & we then hit
The Longest Straight Stretch
Of Road in
Australia!
This piece of straight, stretches for about a 146kms, with not as much as a curve in sight!
Shazzies turn to drive!
Now if I don't have to over take any trucks
I will be happy!!!
Yep that was pretty simple all went well!
Thank heavens for that!!!
We decided to pull up at a free camp at the end of this straight @ Caiguna
Wow!
Today we travelled just over 600 kms!
Today we travelled just over 600 kms!
that was a big day for us!
It is blowing an absolute Gail!!!
It is cold down the bottom half of Australia, even though it is nearly the end of November!
Those bloody annoying lazy winds
The ones that go straight through you & not around you!!!
Time to relax and reflect!!!
Ahh, another end to a fantastic day!!
Next Morn, we are up with the sun & birds!
We looked at our watch and the time is 3.30am
No wonder
WA does not want daylight savings!!
Time to relax and reflect!!!
Ahh, another end to a fantastic day!!
Next Morn, we are up with the sun & birds!
We looked at our watch and the time is 3.30am
No wonder
WA does not want daylight savings!!
We set off just before 6am
Now that is an all time record!!!
It was easy though considering we were awake so early!!
It is a good thing we are on the road now,
as we are about to loose a couple of hours very soon!!!
We stopped off at Caigun, which is pronounced
(Kygoona) for fuel!
Here is where you put your clocks forward 45 Min's,
if travelling east that is!
This we do not understand as it is miles from the
South Australian Border??
Anyway, then when you do cross the border
you put your clocks forward a further 45 minutes???
Plus add an hour for daylight savings!
Gee whizz
This daylight saving & time difference stuff
gets very confusing for our
poor little brains to decipher!!
We decided to just set ours for forward 3 hours for home time!
it was easier & that way we only need to deduct half an hour whilst in SA
Back on the road & next minute,
flying past & crossing the road
flying past & crossing the road
in front of us are these millions of tiny green & yellow birds
OMG!!!
They are mad, kamikaze birds!!
They are everywhere!!!
Flying into our windscreen, strewn dead on the road
&
swarming around madly!!
I am so glad i put my head down & didn't see them banging into the windscreen!
Silly little Dills!!!
I reckon they are dehydrated & that's making them go crazy!!
There is no water anywhere out here
It is so dry!!
Poor little birdies they are so cute!
But sadly without brains!!
After all that excitement we stopped of for a look at
Bunda Cliffs
along
The Great Australian Byte
Too Special!!!
Further down the road we pulled into a road house
&
low and behold, here are our little birds
Tiny wild budgies!!
A sign on the toilet doors @ this truck stop stated,
Ceduna is the check point for east bound travellers to declare their fruit & veges?
I thought it was only west bound who needed to declare them?
Well, how silly is that, as Ceduna is way past the border!?!?
It is like the check points from
NT to WA
All the carry on if you enter WA via the top end
But
There is no check point if you enter WA via Ayers Rock way!!!
Now that does not make sense!!!!
Oh well, lucky we polished off our produce just in case!
Mmmmm....Except for our yummy Denmark honey we just bought.
I can not bring myself to chuck it!
I will cry if they take it!
This would have to be the best honey in the world!!
Plus we only bought it a week ago in disease free
Western Australia
so why would it be a problem?
We will just have to wait and see what unfolds??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next morn we crossed the border & arrived
@
Ceduna Checkpoint!
I decided to stay in the car as I feel a tad bit guilty!
I sent Mark out to do the business instead!!
Oooh Yeah!!!
They just came out & the honey didn't
You Beauty
!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!
From Ceduna we headed south along this
beautiful stretch of coast line called
The Eyre Peninsula!
So Stunning & So Spectacular!!!!
In our opinion this is a must see!!
We drove our way through pretty seaside towns
of
Smokey Bay, Streaky Bay & Elliston!
Smoky Bay
Streaky Bay
Funny Sights @ Elliston
We decided to spend the weekend in Coffin bay
Famous for their Pacific Oysters!
This is another pretty seaside town, with very friendly locals!
Once we set up camp we headed down to the shops.
The local butchers
corner sign grabbed our attention!
corner sign grabbed our attention!
Oysters, Prawns & King George Whiting
Yummo in we
Go!!!
We decided on unshucked Oysters, Whiting & a kilo of their local prawns
which the butcher said were, A Grade Prawns!
Yeah Yeah....We have heard all that before! :)
Our mouths have been craving for decent seafood for so long!
The best so far in all our travels, was the beautiful fresh
Spanish Mackerel, Marks brother caught off
Darwin & of course the one and only yummiest seafood from
Mt Isa Bizarre but True!!!
Back home & its Beer & Prawns!
OMG..He was not lying,
these Prawns are definitely the nicest we have ever eaten
these Prawns are definitely the nicest we have ever eaten
+++A Grade I say!!!
Yummmo!
Now for the Oysters
and
after a bit of shucking around
and
after a bit of shucking around
they are ready!
Sorry Coffin Bay but,
Sydney's Rock
run rings around yours!
run rings around yours!
Pacific Oysters
are far too salty and just don't have the same moreish flavour of ours!
are far too salty and just don't have the same moreish flavour of ours!
Time to Kilpatrick them!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday we took ourselves on a drive up to
Koppio Museum!
I remember getting this for miss behaving!!
YUCK!!!
I didn't realise Rockmans was that old??
Good old Meccano!
Get into class naughty boy!!!
Haha....
I remember my Fathers truck having this arm!
Pre blinker days!!!
As if ironing isn't bad enough!
Imagine doing it lifting this ten ton weight!
Wow..What a great day!
This place is unreal!!
So enjoyable & such fun to step back in time!!!
Next morning we left Coffin Bay
We stopped at Port Lincoln & stocked back up on our fruit & veges!
From there we enjoyed another Beautiful drive with
speckled views of the
Spencer Gulf to the right & paddocks of Golden Wheat to the left!
Wow!....What a Grand lot'a Land
we have!
We turned off for a look at Arno & Cowell Bays
along the way
along the way
Here are another couple of beautiful unspoilt tiny
South Australian Seaside Towns!
South Australian Seaside Towns!
Pie time!
Now for the
Turners Oysters Tour
This family started the BST system
inventing plastic baskets used for farming the oysters, in rougher waters
Taste Testing Time!
Well with lunch over we set off again, not sure where
we are going to end up though!??
I looked through the camps book and found a spot
I thought sounded good!
We wound our way through the Flinders Rangers & after a about
7 kms of dirt & hills we arrived at our spot!
Oh Boy Sharon!!
You have done it again!!!
Can I pick em or can I pick em!!!!
Hancocks Lookout
Over looking the Flinders Rangers @ the tail end of
The Spencer Gulf!
With sweeping views of
Port Augusta & Whyalla to the right
&
Port Pirie to the left!!
Breathtaking is the only word for it!!!
Woah...What a view
!!!!!!
Well with lunch over we set off again, not sure where
we are going to end up though!??
I looked through the camps book and found a spot
I thought sounded good!
We wound our way through the Flinders Rangers & after a about
7 kms of dirt & hills we arrived at our spot!
Oh Boy Sharon!!
You have done it again!!!
Can I pick em or can I pick em!!!!
Hancocks Lookout
Over looking the Flinders Rangers @ the tail end of
The Spencer Gulf!
With sweeping views of
Port Augusta & Whyalla to the right
&
Port Pirie to the left!!
Breathtaking is the only word for it!!!
Woah...What a view
!!!!!!
Now there is a room with a view!!!
The best things in life are free!!!!!!!
Next morn we enjoyed our coffee & drank up these
magnificent views once again!
The time has come once again to
farewell
farewell
Beautiful Stunning South Australia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today should see us cross the border & land back home in
NSW
NSW
Yeeha!!
Home here we Come!!!
Our next port of call will be
Broken Hill
for a couple of days!
for a couple of days!
Sight seeing time & its off to
The Dessert Sculptures
then we are going to step back in time and enjoy
A milk shake @ Bells Milk Bar
take a look at Pro harts gallery, a trip into Silverton & then the finale
The Big Picture!
The living sculptures are a celebration of the connection between
Art and Environment!
The 12 sculptures stand out against
Broken Hills rich landscape &
were created by artists from home and around the world!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bells Milk bar!!!
Step back in time to the 50s & 60s!!!
All that was missing was
Richie & The Fonze!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pro Hart was next on our agenda!
We are not really into the art gallery scene,
But
Pro Harts Gallery is so well done & well
worth our visit
Love some of his art works
I think it is the colours, I liked most!!!
Next day we drove out to
Silverton
Population today less than 60
Back in the late 1800's Silverton was was alive after the discovery of silver!
At the end of 1885 her population peaked at 3000
Once Broken hill established more larger mines poor old Silverton
fast became deserted!
The village today still remains & is not really like a ghost town,
although to us it was!!!
We set off about 8 am, thinking we would have brecky at a cafe out there.
Starving for them to turn that sign!
When we arrived the only shop open was a souvenir shop.
We asked the guy what time does the Jail Museum opens?
About 9.30 his reply
We decided to tour around for a while.
We headed back to the jail around 9.30, waited for about
15 minutes and nope, there is no sign of life in there
?????????????
Waiting! Waiting! Waiting!!!
Well this is a strange way to run a business!!
Off we take ourselves
back to the souvenir bloke!
He gets on the blower and rings the jail man.......
Yes send them down, I was just out the back gardening!
Wow!!!
This is one strange town!!!
Anyway finally, back at the Museum
&
his doors are now open for business!!!
Mark said to him
Gee mate, running a bit late today?
His reply, only a couple of minutes!
We both looked at each other bemused
???
Its 10 O'clock
No its not, its only 9.30 he informed us.
We run on
South Australian time here!
Why would you do that I asked
???
Back when the towns were formed
Broken Hill & Silverton did most of their business dealings with
South Australia, so it made sense!
Well there you go who would'a known??
Not us that's for sure!!
Famous pub, starred in
A Town Like Alice & Mad Max 2
So funny we had to get up close to these two
to see if they were real?
Yep they were!!!
I bet they were watching us thinking.....
Look at these two dumb Ass's
driving around in circles!!!
Back in Broken Hill & it was time to look at
The Big Picture
@
The Silver City Mint & Art centre
No cameras allowed once inside!
This is a definite must visit if you are ever in
Broken Hill!
JUST AMAZING
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Goodbye Broken Hill!
Today we are off to a free camp for the night Mark picked..
Mendooren by the river.
Near Dunedoo
The trip from Broken hill a tad bit boring & uneventful!
As we pulled up at Mendooren, the town looked familar to us,
we soon realised
we came through here on our first little maiden voyage back in 2009
Well Mark Gregory.... This camp site you picked for our last night
looks pretty good!
Not as good as the ones i pick though!
But
Pretty good none the less!
:) :) :) :) :)
Me painting
what will become our
Unique
Bush Christmas Tree!
Sticky Beak!
Richie & The Fonze!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pro Hart was next on our agenda!
We are not really into the art gallery scene,
But
Pro Harts Gallery is so well done & well
worth our visit
I think it is the colours, I liked most!!!
Next day we drove out to
Silverton
Population today less than 60
Back in the late 1800's Silverton was was alive after the discovery of silver!
At the end of 1885 her population peaked at 3000
Once Broken hill established more larger mines poor old Silverton
fast became deserted!
The village today still remains & is not really like a ghost town,
although to us it was!!!
We set off about 8 am, thinking we would have brecky at a cafe out there.
Starving for them to turn that sign!
When we arrived the only shop open was a souvenir shop.
We asked the guy what time does the Jail Museum opens?
About 9.30 his reply
We decided to tour around for a while.
We headed back to the jail around 9.30, waited for about
15 minutes and nope, there is no sign of life in there
?????????????
Waiting! Waiting! Waiting!!!
Well this is a strange way to run a business!!
Off we take ourselves
back to the souvenir bloke!
He gets on the blower and rings the jail man.......
Yes send them down, I was just out the back gardening!
Wow!!!
This is one strange town!!!
Anyway finally, back at the Museum
&
his doors are now open for business!!!
Mark said to him
Gee mate, running a bit late today?
His reply, only a couple of minutes!
We both looked at each other bemused
???
Its 10 O'clock
No its not, its only 9.30 he informed us.
We run on
South Australian time here!
Why would you do that I asked
???
Back when the towns were formed
Broken Hill & Silverton did most of their business dealings with
South Australia, so it made sense!
Well there you go who would'a known??
Not us that's for sure!!
Famous pub, starred in
A Town Like Alice & Mad Max 2
to see if they were real?
Yep they were!!!
I bet they were watching us thinking.....
Look at these two dumb Ass's
driving around in circles!!!
Back in Broken Hill & it was time to look at
The Big Picture
@
The Silver City Mint & Art centre
No cameras allowed once inside!
This is a definite must visit if you are ever in
Broken Hill!
JUST AMAZING
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Goodbye Broken Hill!
Today we are off to a free camp for the night Mark picked..
Mendooren by the river.
Near Dunedoo
The trip from Broken hill a tad bit boring & uneventful!
As we pulled up at Mendooren, the town looked familar to us,
we soon realised
we came through here on our first little maiden voyage back in 2009
Well Mark Gregory.... This camp site you picked for our last night
looks pretty good!
Not as good as the ones i pick though!
But
Pretty good none the less!
:) :) :) :) :)
what will become our
Unique
Bush Christmas Tree!
a good
Bush Fire!!!!!
Far Out!
Tomorrow will see us back home!!
We are excited!!!
It will be so nice to see our
Families again
&
spend Christmas
back home with them!!
It is hard to believe
our lifestyle we have become so familiar with
is fast nearing it's end
!!!
Wow, This is the last night of
Our
Around Australia Adventures
&
What an adventure it has been
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reflecting back........
My pick of all our
States in Australia, would have to be......
The Northern territory!
There is always something strange & fun happening up there!
It is certainly a state
full of
Character & Characters!!!
Mark said, he can't just pick one!
Sight Seeing Highlights
Mine.....Croc's @ East Alligator River Kakadu
&
Snorkeling Ningaloo
Marks...Canoeing up Lawn Hill Gorge,
Ningaloo & The Croc's of Kakadu!
Also, all the
Fantastic, Fun, Wonderful,
Lovely People
we had the pleasure of meeting!
Definitely a major highlight for us both
&
made our trip!!!
Thank you for sharing
with us
on
Our Adventures Around Australia!
Wow Wee!!
We had Fun!!!
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday's
ENJOY!!!
The Travelling Gregory's
