After Lunch

After a lazy lunch on the Murray at Murray Bridge, unfortunately we had to get back onto a freeway to head across the border into Victoria. I have to admit to having a short nap! Tonight we are in a little place called Kaniva. Tomorrow we hope to head into the Little Desert for a couple of days.

Another example

Architecture

Similar to Tasmania all of the villages, without exception, had many building using this sandstone style of construction. 

Another pleasant morning.

This morning we drove down through the Clare Valley into the Barossa Valley. It was off the main road so the traffic was not heavy. The run was studded with beautiful little and very old villages. We had morning tea at a lookout over one called Eden.

Exchange the gums for oak or elm and you could be in England.

There were two of these

We only had to sit behind them for a few Ks as they completely filled the road. This is where they turned off to the mine and we could continue on our merry way.

Some more oversize loads

This was a police escort  - GET OFF THE ROAD ENTIRELY.
They travel at about 75/80 Km/hr

A Bloke Blog!!!

Going uphill, both lanes full, a bend ahead and a solid line, but the pilot truck has moved (he/she usually sits in the oncoming traffic lane so you can't even consider overtaking) over so that means I can overtake( they wave you ahead very vigorously if you don't move straight away). Foot to the floor and off we go.
There is a system, I discovered that there is a second pilot truck a couple of kilometres ahead and he tells this pilot just ahead of me that it is safe to overtake - no-one is coming- so you go like hell!
We passed this pair of low loaders five times in three days because we travel faster than they do but not for the same length of time each day. We were so late starting one morning that we never did catch them again.
From the editor, the Bloggist extraordinaire is having a shower.

The new Greenarbor!



Can you see why this has become our new Nullarbor?



Readjusting.

Clouds shrouding Mt Remarkable.

After we broke camp we headed straight through Port Augusta as it was our fourth visit and headed out through Mount Remarkable towards the Clare Valley. It lived up to its name as the photo shows. The drive was a very pleasant surprise as it was the original old Main Road North so was dotted with very old villages, many still having beautiful old sandstone buildings. No toads!

Back to reality.

As we drove back across the causeway we realised we were really heading back to reality. Because the wheat belt has had good rain, as we drove further into SA we were drowning in lime green wheat crops from horizon to horizon. To avoid too much culture shock after we leave Port Augusta we will sneak over to the Clare Valley and across to the Little Desert via Bordertown. That means we have to go home via Yarrawonga!!

That hot shower.

There were showers as you can see but the water was cold so out came the trusty bucket bath once more!

The Loo

The loo had a normal flushing toilet with handbasin. The water was drawn from the sand-dunes. Once you sat down no-one could see you.

Please note the tiny solar panel on the left side of the roof which activated a light as you walked towards the loo at night. There were only two other guys there who had been surfing and they had a loo of their own so there was not a rush on facilities!

More pics

The Blog is being a pain tonight and I am having to do one photo at a time. That's the snailhouse.

Sandhills and secret places.

After ten or so more miles of "rather rough roads"  we espied a sign that said campground. Turning in was like entering another world. It was a private place that had been heritage recognised as a significent place to the surfing fraternity. A young dad had been taken in 2000 whilst surfing and that was the incentive for the onner of this amazing cape to protect it but allow peope to come there and camp and surf.
To really hear all about it you will have to come for lunch after we get home but the photos will help give you an idea.
John has put it at the top of best places. I think because it reminded him of the wild places he, Mervyn and Collin surfed back in the 60's while he was at Uni - that is last century!!

An amazing suprise!

After we dragged ourselves away from the whales we decided we would head for a camp ground that had hot showers and flushing toilets after three wild nights and bucket baths.
However as we were approaching the turn off to Cactus beach I noticed it had a little tent in the map book. As soon as the snail heard me suggest to John it might be nice to have one more wild night at Point Sinclair she hung a right and darted down that dirt road like a champion. Twenty kms or so down we headed off across a tiny causway between salt ponds wondering where the hell she was taking us.

Favourite mum amd bub.

This calf was much smaller than all the others and did not seem to know what it was all about quite yet. He kept rolling onto his mothers back. So cute.

Cows and Calves.

We stood for over an hour mesmerised by the the parade of these magnificent creatures. Most of them were a cow and calf but at one stage we saw one pair stop and wait for another cow and her calf right in front of us. In this milling mass the two cows nuzzled each other as they met and the calves just rolled around as all children do in a crowd.

An hour with the whales.

Last year we visited the Head of the Bight Whale Watching Observatory and saw one whale in the way far out deep.
Decided to give it another whirl and!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am convinced in the last twelve months they have trained the cows to bring their calves in to show off for the tourists.
Not only could we see dozens of whales coming into the cove and leaving, they came up to just below the viewing platforms.

Nullarbor on sunset.

One evening I enthusiastically suggested we dive up a rough gravel road to find a snail home for the night. Mmmmm. Things were getting very quiet when suddenly the parking fairy was with me and there it was - the perfect pull off with an already perfectly constructed rock fire pit left by the last snailhouse type campers. Phew!! Let the smoking ceremony begin!!

Just as Pa had the fire burning and the sun was setting we noticed the rain squalls over the Bight.

Magnificent pink rain on the right.

Not to be outdone by a purple rain some distance to the east. Just for you Millicent in your favourite colours. xx

Naughty Nickers!

We wandered into Kalgoorlie smiling about how amazing our country is especially the outback where people will make the most of nothing. Once again a lady owned this cafe. I would love to be able to put some words together about my admiration for the new role of women in the bush and is it so different from the pioneer women. Maybe some day. Remember the Cocky's Wife Cafe in Nyngan. I also met a cocky's wife at Karinjini from the wheat belt who had picked and shelled sandalwood nuts to sell in the hard times. They are apparently on the market now so keep an eye out for them. She said they taste like a Brazil nut.

Lets get to the naughty nickers.
The last time I decided to take Pa out for lunch was in Dampier. I forgot we were in a mining town!! Silly me.
When we wandered into the bar to order lunch there she was fully equipped with a body that would make El green and more on the outside than in. It was naughty nickers Thursday.
Pa was valiant as always and was able to order lunch with great great dignity.

So when I decided to take him out to lunch at one of the amazing old pubs in Kalgoorlie I was on the job. When he was about to open the door to the Wild West Bar I headed him off to the Paddies bar at the side of the pub. Good fielding even if I say so.

The hotel was heritage listed and they were restoring it. I went for a wander to check out the progress and had a quick check of the Wild West Bar. OMG. I think even Pa's dignity would have struggled. Of couse I was busting to wander in and chat to the girls about their Award but a young woman appeared from nowhere and asked if there was anything she could help me with "love". I explained I was a heritage lover and was admiring the restoration!!  I think she struggled with that.

The meal was excellent and I saved Pa!!

The pub.

Up pops Miss Snailhouse again!

I have had to learn as we have grundled around this amazing country we live in that there are times when I have to grit my teeth, hold my nose and just get on the bitumen. The run down to Newman was one of those.
Newman Tres Forgettable! So also the run to Meekatharra except a great bush camp on the way at Mt Leake way back from a truck pull off. I have discovered there are often little treasures of tracks made by previous snailhouse type campers behind these!! You just have to be able to cope with the snorting and farting of air brakes at all hours!!
By Meek the Snail and I had had enough and she dived off down the dirt to Sandstone. If you ever feel inclined the pub there is worth a visit. Pa was happy because the graders had just been along the road. Red Highway Heaven! Saw two mine blow flies only. Bliss.

I haven't told a story yet this year so here it is! Non readers make a coffee.

On the way through Leonora John said we would not stop here (been there before and knew he was making a good decision) as he would buy me a double shot skinny latte at the gorgeous cafe in Menzies as it would have elfresco tables and chairs and a selection of yummy cakes.
Gutsy play as Menzies doesn't even really get a dot on the map. The closer we got the more he played this theme up.

Well Menzies has about ten buildings and I have to admit they have beautiful architectural features similar to other old gold towns. My smirk was growing but suddenly the snail was in free fall doing an amazing U turn and there it was - the "Achieveable Outback Cafe" with outdoor tables and chairs. I was speechless as they even had a selection of amazing cakes. As my old dad Nugget used to say "Bugger me"!

It actually started to mizzle rain BUT Sir Walter John even wipd the outdoor setting dry for me to  have my double shot.
Mind you he has flogged these brownie points to death since then!! But he is allowed to.

Karijini - a gem in the middle of nowhere.

We decided to take the 4x4 track into the park. Huge mistake. It was getting up there with the Tanimi and the country had suddenly become flat and rather boring. Rough country is not so bad if it is stunning.
Fortunately we got the last site in Cockatoo loop ( the honorary Ranger Lady who signed us in was highly amused by her joke that we were the last Cockatoo in) and to be told no-one uses the track we took!


 After setting up and pouring a drink things seemed better. That was when we noticed this hill behind us.

At that point we could not quite work out where the gorge could be.
Next morning we set off by foot with a map to discover this incredible hole in the ground between us and the above hill.

                The path down was in keeping with the usual mountain goat category but these two old goats managed to make it.

Once down on the floor of the gorge it was another world.

On the road again!

Our destination for the day was Karijini NP via Tom Price. The latter is in my top ten forgettable towns. Older mining towns tend to all look the same, dominated by a massive slag heap overshadowing everything and thick dust covering tired looking buildings and homes. But now they all have a Woollies which must make life easier for the families living there as  well as great for wanderers like us to stock up. Woollies are like Mackers - the same everywhere.

We were back in iron ore heaven and there are two forms of transport that are always in your face.  The first is the trains that you cannot take in in one glance.

That black line in the middle of this shot, again taken on the move (John has still resisted cleaning the windscreen), is a train. Not all of it is in the photo.

   The second sort of transport is the thousands of white Toyota blowflies with a red flag streaming behind them, swarming all over every red road in the mining country.

Miss Snailhouse got fed up with these blow flies blowing dust in her face and decided to do something about it !!

No idea what she has been up to but she sure looks cute!!

Camping on a Station

Many stations now offer camping to those wandering through the outback. They vary greatly in facilities and setting but we love them.

Mt Florance Homestead and outbuildings were normal except that the surroundings were green from the large dump of rain a month before. Normally you would camp on red earth.

You have to expect that every piece of equipment, left over metal and general "good stuff " as John sees it, is simply left lying where it stopped or fell off the truck.

I loved the curved rooves on the old sheds.

The homestead is tucked in these trees.

The camp ground could cope with about ten vans. They were quite excited that last week they had 27 people including children. Two sites were used by people who had been coming to the station for twelve years to help with cattle work and look after the park. We have discovered there are many of these people who live for very little in these places for the dry.

The toilet, showers and communal fireplace.

Naturally there is no garbage collection so the solution is a hole on the other side of the fence that you throw bags in and when it is full it is filled in and a new hole dug.

Imagine the silence of the night and the stars!

After leaving the Station we visited Hamersley Gorge.

It was stunning and with very few people there it was very peaceful.



The walk down and up was worth it.

We then got to drive through Rio Tinto Gorge. I guess when you seal the road through a very narrow, one way gorge you can call it after yourself!

Red dirt again.

We turned right with the goal of camping for the night at Mt Florance Station. After Millstream I settled back thinking that was the highlight for the day. Silly me. Check out this 5 star lunch restaurant.

The country was magnificent.

Favourite water crossing so far!

We very reluctantly left the homestead and drove the long way out to the road. This water crossing was beautiful and my photo does not do it justice. Many of these shots are taken on the move through a very grubby windscreen. This is a classic example.





Because it comes from the permanent spring the vegetation on either side is magnificent.

How beautiful is that!

Back to the Red Dirt



 By now the Snailhouse was over bitumen so we headed south east to Millstream NP. On the way, because of the earlier rain, there were many waterholes full of crystal clear water and birds. John insisted on pulling up for me to check them out!!!!!!!

This was what Mary could see, blow it up and you might see the swans

We called into Millstream Station which is now part of the NP. I could have moved in and stayed forever.

To the right of the house there were the remains of a gracious old garden. The centre of it was a permanent spring and as you walked around the story of those who lived there and their lifestyle was told on boards through the eyes of an eleven year old male member of the family. The grandad built a bath house over the running creek, a chinese gardner kept the house supplied with vegetables and the station hands built an ant hill tennis court. These of course have long gone but the palms that were planted were magnificent.

It was the lagoon and stream that caught my imagination. The lillies planted by grandma were magnificent and the little boy talks about having to spend time ripping them out when gran wasn't looking to reclaim their swimmimg hole. What a magical task!

This photo will show hopefully how clear the water is. I took it from above the surface. It shows the underwater lilly garden and check out the little fish in the middle of the garden.

Carvings

Because of the jumbled and odd shaped piles of rocks you had to be on the job to see the carvings. There was no information or markings in the area. Age has naturally weathered them and if they were in the shade you could miss them. Once we found one we were right. Supposedly there have been some 10,000 identified and dated throught the length of the gorge.

The old bloke isn't the carver! (But smart enough to not climb up on the rocks)

Some required an effort!

The thing that struck us was the variety of styles in the carving.

This one looks like a relation of ET!