Albany

Next stop Albany. Unfortunately the weather turned really bad - gale force winds, rain and thunder  storms.  We decided to stay put for a couple of days because the  weather was even worse to the west where we are headed.

 

 

 

This picture says it all – winds to 100kph. This is Middleton Beach overlooking the Bay.

 

 

 

It did fine-up today so we went sight-seeing. From Mount Melville you get 360 degree views over Albany and Princess Royal Harbour.

 

 

Next was Torndirrup National Park. This sign says it all.

 

 

 

Next stop Antarctica and yes it was cold!!

 

 

 

 

This is the Gap where the sea rushes in and eventually erodes the rock.

 

 

 

And 50 metres away is the Natural Bridge which has been eaten away over the centuries.

 

 

 

Down 800 meters and 78 steps you reach the blowholes. They only “blow” when there is bad weather- so yes they were blowing today.

 

 

This is an old whaling ship at the Whaleworld museum south of Frenchman Bay.

 

 

 

The sun was almost shining when we left Whaleworld to return to Albany City. This is looking back towards Emu Beach where we are staying.

Hopetoun to Wave Rock

Sunset over Fitzgerald River N.P.  near Hopetoun. We spent the day in the N.P. photographing wild flowers and small sandy beaches along the coast.

 

This is Royal Hakea one of the many wildflowers growing  in the N.P. There was rain a couple  of weeks ago and many of the wildflowers are out in bloom.

 

Then we spotted these dolphins playing in the surf at Quoin Head. They were only about 25 meters from the beach.

 

 

The coastline was rugged but very picturesque. Further along the bay was an eagles nest on a rocky outcrop.

 

 

Then we travelled inland to Hyden and Wave Rock. Quite an  impressive sight! On top there are several large granite rocks hollowed out by wind and rain over the last 60 million years.

It does look like a Hippo’s Mouth. Chris wouldn’t make a mouthful in this hungry country.

 

 

Then we climbed Wave Rock to take pictures of sunset – just no enough cloud to make a really good shot.

On to Esperance

We left Kalgoorlie and headed towards the coast again. We went through Coolgardie which seems to be the “poor cousin” of Kalgoorlie.

Next town on the highway south was Norseman- named after a horse which kicked the dirt and uncovered gold.

 

 

And finally to Esperance which is a very old town. The Norfolk Pines planted along the Esplanade dated from the 1850’s.

 

 

This is a view of Esperance from the end of Taylor Jetty -  jutting  some distance into the Southern  Sea. This is the local fishing spot.

 

 

There are fantastic views from the lookout and the Great Ocean Drive overlooking the Recherche Archipelago.

 

 

 

The next day we decided to explore Cape Le Grand National Park. This is a very impressive letterbox on the side of the road.

 

 

This is the beginning of the assault on Frenchman’s Peak. From the top, there are fantastic views of the islands in the Southern Ocean.

 

Lucky Bay is one of the prettiest spots we have seen on our trip so far. The beach sand is like talc powder – so fine and so white.

 

 

And today we went on a cruise on Seabreeze IV around the islands of the Archipelago. We stopped at Woody Island and climbed to the lookout – absolutely breathtaking views.

 

And these seals we more than happy to pose for photos -  they have plenty of food and not a care in the world basking in the sun.  The Sea Eagles and dolphins provided escorts for the boat at Woody Island.

Ceduna to Kalgoorlie

We thought Col has “gone troppo” when we saw him rolling around until we realised this was the first green grass we had seen in a “l o n g “ time. This is on the foreshore at Ceduna.

 

Sunrise over Fowler’s Bay, another area steeped in history but now a small fishing village.

 

 

The long straight road at the beginning of the Nullabor Plain.

 

 

 

This is a “wild” dingo at the Nullabor roadhouse. She came looking for food then went to sleep at the caravan door in the shade.

 

 

The Nullabor Roadhouse on the eastern edge of the “backyard”.

 

 

 

The Murrawijinie Caves are north of Nullabor Roadhouse. There are three caves in this area. They look like big sink-holes that go back for several hundred meters. The vehicles on top look like matchbox toys.

These cliffs are part of the Great Australian Bight Marine Park. The colours and ruggedness of the area is unbelievable.

 

 

It has taken 6 weeks, but the mechanic’s hands are now white and there is not a trace of grease under his fingernails either.

 

 

We made it – only to be faced with the fruit quarantine station – out go all the foodstuff that could harbour disease!

 

 

This is the original Overland Telegraph Station at Eucla. It was built on the sand dunes and over time the dunes have moved reclaiming the buildings.

 

These are the locals you have to look out for. And the highway is straight all 146.6 k of it – the longest straight road in Australia.

We also visited the Eyre Bird Observatory which was the old Telegraph station at Eyre. It has been restored but is on the wrong end of a very bumpy road.

 

This is the roadhouse at Widgimooltha - Widge for short. An enormous nugget of gold was discovered here but this is all that remains today – and it’s for sale for $995,000.00 plus stock if anyone is interested.

We finally leave Port Augusta

 

From Port Augusta we headed west past Iron Knob .

 

This is Kimba’s claim to fame.

 

 

 

We camped out that night and this is the beautiful sunset at Chandada. From here we went to Streaky Bay which is a popular fishing spot.

 

This is the coastline at Streaky Bay showing all the local attractions

 

 

 

 

 

Streaky Bay has a good shopping centre to cater for travellers.

 

 

 

The coastline has started to become rugged as we approach the Great Australian Bight.

 

 

 

This is the only permanent mainland Sea Lion colony at Point Labatt. Dozens of them lie there in the sun posing  for the photographers.

 

 

Murphy’s Haystacks are huge windswept  boulders in  the middle of a paddock. They are quite a  spectacular sight.

 

 

This is me inside one of Murphy’s haystacks. They are supposed to be 1500 million years old.

 

 

 

 

 

And this gives you an idea of their size. Col is the dark “spot” on the left.

Kalgoorlie

We made it to the gold city of Kalgoorlie/Boulder. This is from the lookout at Mt. Charlotte reservoir. All the water for the 30,000 people is piped 600 k from Perth.

 

One thing you really notice in the city is the beautiful buildings from the last century. There sure was a lot of money in gold. This is the Exchange Hotel and there are similar hotels on almost every corner.

We went to the Mining Museum and stayed about five hours. They have a very modern enormous building showing the history of mining.

 

 

 

 

This was the gold pouring display. The gold nuggets are melted and poured into ingots.

 

 

 

What is a museum without at least one  IH vehicle. This on got the once-over from the men.

 

 

 

Col became home-sick when he saw these tents.

 

 

 

 

This is the Super Pit. It is  approx. 4km long, 2km wide and 300m deep. They expect to keep digging here until 2017. The tiny dots on the road  are dump trucks carrying the ore-bearing rock to the surface.

How’s this for a scoop – four of these scoops fills a dump truck.

 

 

 

This is the beautiful rotunda at Hammond Park.

 

 

 

And the other feature of Kalgoolie – besides gold – is the bordellos –licensed and operating, including tours, in Hay Street.

 

 

We are leaving Kalgoorlie tomorrow (Sunday) to head for Esperance via Norseman. We’re leaving this very dry area to head for the coast again. More blog to follow!