No 13 - Heading west again

The road west is flat and grain growing through Renmark to Morgan and then it becomes grazing country in need of a drink through Burra and Clare. Our overnight stop is Blyth where we have a great chat to builder building a new ablutions block at Football Field. He recommends the local hotel for a meal and when we try it the next night we have an amazing meal. A young couple have recently taken over the pub and are in process of renovating it but they have the right idea. He greeted us when we walked through door and took us into restaurant and bought drinks to table. She is the cook and came up with the tastiest bush spiced calamari that just melted in mouth. J had a blue steak which was cooked (?) to perfection for him. Afterwards we sat in bar chatting to a local who has friends at Greenmount. All this was after we had gone over to Clare and checked out Spring Gully Conservation Park with some lovely red gums and honeyeaters. 

They must have found a bee hive in tree hollow and were eating honey when a magpie came along and chased them away. The trees were lovely with their different colours and winding branches. 

Winding our way along dirt roads to Leasingham we stop at O’Leary Walker Wines (Mr Walker is the Phantom) to do some tasting and J finds the best wine he has EVER tasted. It is 2012 Clare Valley/McLaren Vale Shiraz  - mind you I liked their Riesling and an oaked Sav Blanc and we came away with a 6 pack of Shiraz and a mixed 6 pack with some interesting bottles to savour at a later date. We had lunch on the verandah overlooking the grape fields and an olive grove and it was very relaxing sharing a platter with bread, ham, cheese, chutneys, aniseed spiced onions and a salad washed down with a bottle of Wyebo Fully Worked Sav Blanc. They also had a Clare Reserve Shiraz that would be good with a friend who also likes a blue steak so he will have to find someone else to share it with. We phoned Barb to see if she would like to fly down for the weekend but she wont. We could have had a great time exploring but she never seems to want to spend time with me. Stopping off at Medika Gallery in Blyth was also interesting with some lovely pictures of birds and landscapes that I could have taken home but didn’t. Blyth has depicted their heritage in the silhouettes and a mosaic picture at their park and they were quite effective.

It rained from Blyth to the Stuart Highway and was cloudy through to Ardrossan which is our next stop. After setting up we take a quick trip around town to find out where to go tomorrow. They have a great park along the cliff top overlooking the ocean where they hold the dawn service so it should be very moving. The march is held later on at the War Memorial in centre of town.

 It is quite cold as you would expect and too many clouds to actually see the sun rise but they blow away late morning. Towards the end of Memorial service a scud blows across which gets lots of young people scurrying but the oldies stay put. Several people speak to us after this service and they are friendly like the business folk we had spoken to yesterday but when we ventured to RSL for lunch we were treated like lepers so after consuming ½ sandwich, mini pie and a patty cake we left and went home and watched the dawn services from Gallipoli and Villiers. Both services were very moving and I hope one day I can attend the one in France at least. I will have to find out where Edward Fryer is buried – guess you can log onto a Commonwealth War Graves website. We finish off our Apostle Whey blue cheese and a bottle of wine each while texting Barb & Shannon who are into wanting to know about our War Veterans.

As there is no church service in Ardrossan today we head down to Edithburg which is a very pleasant drive along the coast. E is a small town with the caravan park right on beach at breakwater and we have the second site along so have breathtaking views across the water. Unfortunately by 4.30pm it is too cold for me to sit outside so I position my chair to look out bedroom window and don’t get much reading done.  Turning on the television we learn about a disastrous earthquake in Nepal that has killed nearly 2,000 people and wonder how we can help.

Monday dawns sunny so I do some washing and as I am hanging the last on line the rain comes down. Deciding to have soup for lunch I go to cupboard and find no soup – oops big slip up there – we head into town to do a grocery shop and find that the IGA has closed so end up heading to Yorketown. They have a bakery in a clothing store (?) which sold some lovely food. My chunky mushroom pie was lovely as was my mini honey log (sort of donut with honey cream inside) After checking out the butchers where we bought some 500gms duck & walnut pate for $6.50 and 2 dozen huge oysters for $11.50 doz on top of what we went in for, and the grocers we head south and stop at Foul Bay (didn’t smell off) but had lots of seaweed on the beach and boat ramp.

 Then we retraced our path back to Sturt Bay (more seaweed) and no houses to Port Moorowie with a wonderful walking path along the beach and lots of holiday houses but no shops at all. A small beach house will set you back $250,000. 

Then it was Kemp Bay and Troubridge Hill where the cliffs are treacherous as Clan Ranald found out when she ran onto the rocks and all on board were lost. There is a lighthouse here now, built in 1980 and standing 30 meters tall and 62 meters above sea level her light goes 22 klm out to sea.

 There is a point here named suicide point – don’t know whether it was named that because it is suicide to get close in a boat or if people were jumping off the cliffs – both would be fatal.

 Then it was past the Wattle Point Wind Farm with 55 or so wind turbines gently turning in the breeze. They look so graceful to me and the only noise you hear is a soft swish as the blades come towards ground level. I don’t know why people at Highfields don’t want them – they are much more preferable to coal mines around Singleton, and I love watching them. Then it was home to have my cup of tea outside looking at the ocean before opening our oysters for entrée – yummmmm.

29th Today we head north from Edithburg to Coobowie a pleasant little town with a walking track along coast to E. At Port Giles is a huge Vitera depot with long jetty out into Wool Bay where they load grain carriers. All those miserable looking fields must produce a lot of grain to be able to fill these silos.

The town of Wool Bay has a Lime Kiln mostly in tack. It is an interesting device as it goes down the cliff to water and has two big cavities underneath, but there is nothing to tell you how it worked unfortunately.

Stansbury is about the same size as E but does have a Butcher, Chemist and IGA supermarket. They shifted the cemetery some years back and just left 2 graves beside the road as a marker. Heading north we came across the strangest shed sitting on top of a high pole in the middle of a paddock - haven't been able to find anyone who could tell us it's story.

Walking along beach in Port Vincent we find a café on beach and go in for their coffee doughnut special and have a long sit on verandah watching a group of school kids on sports day. 15 were learning canoeing, 10 were on windsurfing and dozen were in 4 small yachts – sports day in Pittsworth was never like this.

Driving around town we find a new subdivision with great views over their new marina. We didn't check the house prices here because they are sure to be sky high.

You only get a few glimpses of water on way home as the farms seem to go to waters’ edge. We stop at a fish depot and buy some oysters and smoked salmon for dinner. J will have to start taking his gout pills with all this lovely seafood.

30^th   We had an early start and then got lost and went around in circles but eventually arrived at Point Margaret with it’s view of Ella Rock and a big mob of surfers down in Formby Bay. Most seemed to be sitting but some surfed on waves that had white caps.

Then it was up to Daly Head with views of lots of rocks poking their heads out of waves. At Gleesons Landing we find a spot with lovely views and stop for lunch near the beach. 

Swicer Rocks has more rocky coastline as does Point Annie and then we can follow the coast to Corny Point L/H. It has more rocks with spots of sand to change the monotony of rocks and a sea eagles' nest with panoramic views of world. We have been so lucky today as it is sunny and the sky and water are so blue. 

Around the corner we are back on sheltered side as we have beaches again – Collins, The Pines, Couch, Leven and Burners. We stop for a walk along Leven beach in Galway Bay with its many shells and seaweed. J came home with more shells to add to his collection. Then it was through Point Soutar and Point Turton to Warooka and home.

1^st  May and another early start to go to Marion Bay and to avoid some of dirt road we travel via Lake Fowler which I would assume is a salt lake that is nearly dry as it has a wide white belt around the edge. Marion Bay was as we remembered it only today is sunny so the water is blue. First stop is check in point at entrance to Innes NP and of course the computer doesn’t work. It is ok to do away with staff and putting money into an envelope and depositing in a box but when the computer isn’t working they have missed out on 5 lots of fees for the 30 minutes we were stuck there. There is a magnificent view from on top of hill looking down to Jolly’s Beach. At Cape Spencer we go for a walk around the Light House but it has no placard telling when it was built or any details.

Off to the south are the Althorpe Islands with a monument to people who lost their lives when the Par was wrecked there in 19. Cable Bay to the east looked lovely with its little sandy beaches. There is another Light House at West Cape where we stop for lunch overlooking Pondalowie, Grouper and West Bays. It was a lovely sight if a little blowy.

There are a lot of fishermens huts along the road here and the caravan park spaces would fit our van if we decide to stay here which J won’t do as  he says it is too expensive for very little – works out about $27 night for a piece of dirt and bush toilet. All around the plants show signs of blustery salty winds and are quite short. The road was closed north of here so we turn back and this time stop at Inneston an old township from late 1800’s when they mined gypsum and made chalk. There is the remains of Bellco chalk shed with some tiny flakes of natural chalk under glass. There are a few other ruined buildings and 4 or 5 old houses that are now guest lodges – would imagine if they are operated by Nat Parks that they would be horrendously expensive. One thing we found interesting was that there is no seaweed on beaches here – why?

We head up Corny Point road to Gym Beach which is the top of Innes NP but it is a basic camping ground with only a few spots that have views of water. At Ella Rock turnoff we turn east and go across more farming ground to the Yorke Highway and then head up to Warooka where we planned to stop for coffee, but there weren’t any cafes so we had to go home for one with a piece of Lions Christmas Cake. We have the rest of our scallops in a spinach and Garlic cream sauce and they are lovely. Not so the weather in Brisbane where parts of Caboolture had 13 inches rain today and most of it in 4 hours so roads are flooded everywhere and the ANZAC test has been postponed until Sunday afternoon. South Australia has power poles that have a cement core with 2 steel beams up the sides - called stobie poles. Some towns get arty and paint them which is a great idea. Here are some of the ones in Coobowie.

Saturday has us at home waiting for football to start, with a short excursion to Stansbury to the Butchers and a stop at our fishing warehouse where we spend 30 minutes chatting to the owner about food and travel and come away with the Fisherman’s basket – 12 prawns, 12 scallops, 12 calamari and 3 pieces butterfish for $24, as well as more oysters. He is 70 and has never even been to Victoria – reckons he is a homebody!! The Geelong match is on tv but is a delayed start so it clashes with Lions v Suns who start at 4.30pm – don’t know why they can’t be live broadcasts as the advertise.  Cats end up winning by 9 points but Lions go down by over 60.

Church is morning prayer as it is synod in SA this weekend and it is very moving with Barbara taking the service. Nearly everyone seems to come over for morning tea and we spend an hour chatting to the locals before heading home for some cheese and basil pesto scrowls while waiting for test to start – don’t know why we bothered Kangaroos played dreadfully and Kiwis won by 30 points. We have the shellfish part of our fisherman’s basket and it is melt in the mouth.

4^th May 2015 Hardwicke Bay is our first port of call today and there are lots of old beach shacks and very new houses but no shops and the same in Port Minlacowie, Parsons Beach, Bluff Beach, Barker Rocks. At Bluff Beach we find some davit wrecks where they used to lift fishing boats out of water during stormy seas. 

Heading north J finds a sand track along the waters’ edge which he takes only to find that there are huge sand dunes between us and water so all you see is sand and stunted salt tolerant plants and shrubs to scratch the car but he is happy - you have to concentrate on driving through the sand ruts.  Port Ricaby is supposed to have a takeaway and it was our plan to have fish and chips on beach here but when asked the café owner said she had sweets. So it was off to Minlaton where we stopped at the bakery for a very nice chicken satay pie and apricot slice – pity about the service it was very off putting and had there been something else closer I would have walked out. For something different we went cross country to Curramulka and Port Vincent, then along the coast to Port Julia and Black Point. 

Both of these towns had lots of new homes but no shops so guess they are all holiday homes for people from Adelaide or Roxby Downs. Driving around Black Point we find a brand new 4 bed, 2 bath, 2 car brick home with gate to dunes and beach going for $469,000 and a dreadful fibro 1+1+0 shack on 300sqm right on beach for $650,000. You were just paying for block of dirt as you would have to pull shack down and rebuild.

 5^th is raining and still blowing a gale so we spend the day indoors cleaning, packing and exercising the grey matter. All too soon it is time to head into Troubridge Hotel for dinner. J has the fisherman’s basket and I take the chicken schnitzel special which is enormous and has lots of sweet chilli sauce but the asparagus was tinned not fresh so it lots a few points but J voted his meal very fresh. We tried a Peter Lehmann Riesling and it went down with it all very well.

6th sees us heading north with a strong westerly wind blowing us across the road but it is only 2 hours drive to Mark & Helen’s where we are greeted by Rusty (red & white long haired collie) Roxy a short haired collie who is a Jo clone, and Gypsy an old blue heeler. Roxy is going to spend the holidays with Helen’s parents who adore her and we will have the other two to walk 500 meters to beach every morning. We have chooks and fish to feed daily, vegie garden to water, and 2 horses, 2 goats, 16 lambing ewes and a ram to check on. Every 2 – 3 weeks we will have to lamb mark the newest dorpers so I don’t know how I am going to stand up to catching meat sheep but let’s hope there are no accidents or twisted knees. While John & Mark went to Kadina to collect some pork they had cured Helen and I visited her parents who are lovely and have invited us in for coffee. H & M are a lovely couple who make us very welcome so hopefully they can go away at ease.

7^th Mark’s parents Tony and Ann come out for morning tea to meet us and invite John fishing. Then it is off to muster the sheep and yard them so we can catch 3 lambs and doctor them without any fuss. Helen shifts the horses to a fresh paddock so we shouldn’t have to worry about them. Jenny calls in for happy hour and we get to meet another local. Last week Mark put diesel in their 2 cars and it was ‘ad Blue’ whatever that is but it is not good in diesel vehicles. Fortunately they were able to get the Prado into repair shop in short notice and it was finished this afternoon so Mark had a quick trip to Adelaide to collect it. They have drained the fuel tank from Peugeot and put in an additive so Tony will be taking it for a few drives to see if we can get it going ok otherwise it will have to have an insurance claim also. Helen has collected up the goods to go with them and they will pack it into car tomorrow morning so we have a very pleasant evening sitting around the wood stove chatting and share chicken pasta for dinner.

Friday dawns cloudy with showers but Mark & Helen get packed and head off and we get to walk the dogs and start our chores. As it is dismal all day we stay home to watch Cats beat Magpies in a thrilling match. Heading into town on Saturday morning to do some shopping we get lost so next time we will have to turn Katrina on!! Stopping at church to find out the time of tomorrows service J gets to chat to warden who is watering the garden and then we head down to Moonta Bay and find a few familiar spots. This did not really happen in Port Hughes – it has grown immensely. There were new houses everywhere – all we recognised was our caravan park (there are now 2) and the tavern down at jetty. Coming back we turned into Wallaroo and recognised it as it hasn’t changed much.

The ferry no longer runs across to Lucky Bay but as we had been told it was very expensive I guess it isn’t surprising. The dogs were very excited when we arrived home so we took them off for a walk.

Sunday’s church service was Morning prayer as they have 1 priest to serve Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta so they have to share. We have a trip to the beach with the dogs before watching another close football match where the LIONS win over Carlton. Monday dawns sunny so after doing the chores we take the dogs for a walk to back gate and check out some lovely eucalypt trees. There are ones with lemon flowers, red flowers, and some very unusual ones with big seed pods and short stamens in red or yellow colours. There are also wattles with soft yellow pompom flowers in a circle around the stem. After lunch we head out for a drive in Peugeot and end up in Kadina where there are a lot of empty shops in main street. They do have a big Woolies shopping centre so hope the businesses moved in there as the other part of town was depressing. We have a tea and coffee at the bakery and then walk up and down the street where I find a jeweller so drop off my watch to get a new battery. The car doesn’t seem so noisy on way home so let’s hope that the fresh fuel has cleaned out the fuel system.

Tuesday is another dismal showery day so the dogs and I have a quick trip down to road with rubbish bin before another shower comes over. Then it is a slack day reading inside as it is so cold. J manages to finish changing the table tops and then goes into town to get a slab of beer and takes an hour to do so. Guess I will find out what else has been bought one day. David rings before dinner to tell us that Narelle is pregnant again and not impressed. We ring June to tell her the news and are told that Bree is also pregnant and not happy at all. She had 3 great grandies last year, and 3 are expected this year, so now there is 1 due in 2016. Today the 12^th May marks 60 years since the Calders arrived in Australia and June, Muz & Cassie, Sandie & John are all going out to dinner to reminisce – don’t know what Sandie will remember she was only 6 months old!! They are all very excited about our news. Guess David & Relle will have to put the extension on to house a bit quicker.

Tony comes for a visit and invites John fishing and they manage to catch 6 whiting and a crab so we will get to have a fresh fish meal. Apart from that it is a drzzley cold week where I stay indoors as much as possible. At church on Sunday we meet David McDougall the priest and he seems very nice and it is refreshing to have a young person in charge though the hymns are very old fashion and dreary. We get to chat to him over morning tea and meet a few more locals. 

The Copper Coast (Moonta, Kadina & Wallaroo) have a Cornish themed festival every two years called  Kernewek Lowender and it is on this week. We skipped the Cornish Cuisine Dinner as it is $79 head and with Wyreema still being empty it is out of our budget, but on Monday headed into Moonta to Town Hall to check out their “Your heritage in quilting” display and there were some marvellous creations. One large quilt was given to Barbara Marks when she left Dongarra WA and each of the quilters there stitched a flower square and signed it before it was made up. You wouldn’t believe it but Loris Campbell embroidered the red flowering gum and signed it – talk about a small world. We will have to call in on her and Bill on our trip north. I especially liked a white lace one with lots of panels. The one of a seahorse had its photo taken so I can have a little help designing my own. I am thinking of doing one with a lighthouse on top of cliff and shells on beach and seahorses in ocean and maybe an owl perched on railing of L/H. Then it was into Art Gallery to view some paintings etc with a WW1 theme. It was also very well thought out.

Tuesday had John going fishing again and I went out to Greens Plains for their “Dressing of the Graves” service. Rev June led the service where they go around telling the story about some of the pioneers who are buried in the cemetery. After a short service to unveil a plaque to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of Gallipoli landing they visited the graves of 10 men and the memorial plaques to 2 whose graves are unknown where Rev June read a short account of their lives and 2 members of Wallaroo Mines school choir presented their descendents with a posy of flowers and a copy of the speech. The choir were singing while people walked from 1 grave to next. It is a tiny cemetery in middle of paddocks but it was packed. You had to keep to the paths as this is very sandy country and you could fall into a hole if not careful and it was crowded. Thomas Reid died in 1877 and they went up to Nov 1915. This was the first time Greens Plains had a ceremony and there are ones to be held in Moonta, Kadina and Wallaroo during the week. It is a good way to learn about some of the pioneers of the district.

Wednesday 20^th dawned dull and showery but we wandered into the church where I sat inside in relative warmth and listened to a speaker talk about propagating plants and another one on Bonsai, while J was outside in rain cooking a barbeque. The rain stopped towards the end of talks and when I ventured to the BBQ to get some lunch they were rather busy so I stepped behind counter and served while J dished up and Ron and Darryl did the cooking. Eventually the rush ended and I got some lunch before checking out the bridal dresses on display in the church. It was interesting but not a patch on the display in St Matthew’s for Blooms, Brides & Belles.

Thursday saw us over in Kadina to see the Floral display with theme “A few of my favourite things” which was excellent. Everyone who entered had a small space with their own colour and style but it all blended in very well. One of the best pieces was assorted blue and white china stacked on top of each other with a hole drilled through the middle for an electrical cord to pass through and a white lampshade on top. J had to take a photo so that he can make one for me when we stop travelling. 

Some had old musical instruments and pieces of sheet music, others had sewing but most had flowers in various arrangements. Then it was off to Lutheran church where they had “Wonders of heaven” a display of landscape photographs and a piece of a meteorite that landed in a nearby field in early 1950’s. Some of the photos were amazing and once again I wished I could take something similar. The lump of rock was different from anything else I’ve seen and is very heavy. Some people saw it enter the earths’ atmosphere and come flying through the sky but it wasn’t for many years until a farmer picked it up in his paddock and investigated further. The Chemist sponsored the Art Competition and there were a few very good paintings. Luckily as in most country towns there aren’t many abstract pictures so I could understand and appreciate what you were looking at. We checked out a few more streets before meeting up with Tony & Ann at Anglican church. David has been busy here getting a community garden going with a café next door. The garden was lovely and if it hadn’t been so cold and looking as if it was going to pour rain at any minute we would have sat there, instead we went inside where it was much warmer. They had made 400 cornish pastys to sell over the 3 days they are open so we had one and they were lovely. An aboriginal painter Henry usually sits in a corner painting on a Friday but being a special week he was in café talking to people and had a few paintings for sale. Henry has won the Art Competition we saw earlier. After the threatened downpour let up we left and met us again out at the Woodworkers shed at the showgrounds. They also had some lovely pieces on display one had marbles that you poured in the top and they worked their way down to the bottom where they spilled onto the top of a can and bounced into a bowl waiting for you to feed them through again. How they managed to get it all so perfectly lined up is mind blowing. Another piece had a handle that you turned and the marbles dropped onto the blades and rocked back and forth as it went around – it was continuous. In the shop you could buy numerous pieces but I spied a guy working a lathe and making bits and pieces. When he turned out a Lighthouse I was rapt so J got him to make another one for me and it is now sitting on top of window pelmet with my owls. It is amazing to think that by cutting deeper or wider in places you can turn a 2” x 2” x 6” piece of radiate pine into a miniature L/H within a few minutes. By this time my legs were giving out so we skipped going to the Open Garden and headed home for a cuppa and the heater.

Friday was parade day and as J was cooking sausages for the church again we were in town at 9.30am. I ventured down to main street corner at 10am but could have waited another 45 minutes. When the parade came along it was well done with lots of Cornish themed floats and characters. Once upon a time there were lots of goats roaming around the mines so they had a goat cart to lead the procession (after SA Police Band) with about 100 other ‘floats’ following. 

The Quilters covered a car with a selection of their patchwork panels, and the oldies from Nursing home got into the spirit of it too.

J was starting to get busy with his sausages so I wandered off to check out the stalls and found a S/H book shop and managed to find 2 books that will hopefully be interesting. There were all the usual craft, clothing, jewelery, plant and food stalls with rides and face painting for all the youngsters. My Cornish pasty was divine but it was a pity that it had to be eaten standing up as there were no seats whatsoever. Further browsing found a wool scarf in Gordon tartan so it came home with me also. Then it was time for the Maypole dancing with all the schools having a maypole and girls (mainly) dressed in their pastel floral dresses with white aprons and black boots dancing around it weaving long ribbons in and out. The ones I watched didn’t miss a beat and it all turned out very neatly done. 

They were back shortly afterwards to do a Flury dance another lovely spectacle. Then it was time for the Govenor of SA (a Vietnamese boat person) to officially open the proceedings. He seems an interesting bloke and all the locals seem to like him. I received a phone call from a survey company wanting to ask questions about the Public Trustee so I let her have it and didn’t hold back on the points that I thought were disgraceful. Ringing Barb to tell her about it she informed me that Tyler wanted us to be at Grandparents Day at school next Tuesday so we will have to ring him in the morning and have a chat. Hopefully next year we will be able to attend but don’t know whether it will be at the same time as he will be in grade 1 then. Liam won’t have it until 2017, so goodness knows where we will be. We spent an hour chatting about her troubles until it was time to go down and pick up J and all his stuff and head home for a cuppa.

Saturday morning saw Bob arrive with some whiting he had caught, then Jenny & Denise arrived for a chat so we have been well looked after. The girls have promised to take me for a ‘Girls morning tea’ at a Gelateria on way to Maitland which should be fun.  Then it was time to head back to Kadina to view the Wallaroo Mines Institute that is now the home of NYP Quilters group and they had lots more quilts on display along with some exchange ones from Cornwall in UK. Lots had a mining theme and some used panels with Cornish language embroidered on which were very interesting.
Evidently Cornwall has been recognised as a separate nation (like Scotland, Wales & Ireland) so it will be interesting to see what events come forth. After fish and chips at the Jetty café in Wallaroo we head to Davies Square where there is to be a gathering of the Bards. We have no idea what to expect but have guessed it may be to do with poetry or writings given that Shakespeare was known as a Bard. At 2.30 all these people in blue gowns and veils march into the circle and the ceremony begins.

It is all spoken in Cornish language and according to program they are welcomed and introduced to gathering. More local schoolgirls do a flower dance and then the KL ambassador is brought in to meet with the Grand Bard and addresses her.

The only bloke who spoke English was a fellow from Cornwall who is emigrating here. There were lots of people from around SA, Bendigo, Ballarat, and WA with Cornish ancestors who came over for the ceremony and they paraded their banners to. The service only took 30 minutes but don’t know quite what it was for apart from welcoming Bards to the festival on second last day.

We took the dirt road home as my map showed a L/H on Warburto Point. We found it and had a lovely view across the Bay and have decided to come back here one evening to eat Fish & Chips at sunset. The dogs greeted us like long lost cousins on our arrival back home. I guess we haven’t been here most of the week so they are a bit lonely.

We had to leave church early on Sunday as J was to help Tony marshalling for the cavalcade of cars. About 400 vehicles left Wallaroo for Moonta Bay, Port Hughes, Moonta and Kadina and there were people on side of road all way out from Moonta to the Bay where we were stationed. I sat in car reading until the first car came along and then I got out to take photos and nearly froze, but it was worth it. They had a variety of vintage, classics and everything in between. It took over an hour for them all to pass so people had joined up and there were barbeques going and wine corks popping - they really made a morning of it.

 Afterwards we joined Tony & Ann and went down to Bayside café for a seafood platter ($36 for the 4 of us) and had a lovely meal. A prawn, mussel, oyster, scallop, calamari ring and piece of fish each and plenty of chips and salad to share – we will be back here. Then we finished off the festival week with a concert in Moonta Mines Methodist Chapel. A church built in 1862 that holds 1200 people and has a magnificent pipe organ and choir stalls that were full with the members of Metropolitan Mens’ Choir from Adelaide. Rev June led the community singing and told stories for an hour before the ecumenical service started. We were lucky enough to arrive in time to get a seat upstairs on balcony so you could see everything downstairs. The balcony was in horseshoe shape around the organ and choir and would have held 200 people on very uncomfortable wooden seats. Miners must have been very short as there was no room for my legs let alone J’s.

It was great to hear the choir in full voice and another 1100 people joining in. The head of Church of Christ in SA delivered the sermon and David delivered the prayers for the people. A very fitting way to end the weeks’ activities, but we will have to come back again as there was so much we didn’t get to see – Harpist playing at Wallaroo Anglican church, Feast or famine (Cornish dinner) followed by a sacred concert, Cornish language lessons and Pasty making, ‘An evening of words and wine’ with dinner, “Kernow King Comedy night”, A Play “The Leyshon Joneses, Cornish Seminar, Poetry and Prose, Band Concert, “Troyl” Dinner Dance, Meet the Cornish Dinner, Seafarers Bounty and Blessing of the Waters, more concerts, meals, museums, markets, Model Yacht races and Spiritual Retreats to name a few. There would have to be something for everyone or else you are hard to please.

Believe it or not Monday was spent at home doing chores and walking the dogs. Gypsy has decided she is John’s shadow and follows him everywhere, Rusty just like bailing up the chooks and looking at the horses. Tuesday morning had us up very early to chat to Tyler and then Shannon who was feeling a little poorly after their camping trip to Fiesta for the weekend. They had a great time which is all that matters and the boys were excited about putting dry leaves on their campfire! Bob came over for a cuppa and chat then we spent a very pleasant afternoon chatting to Vik and Flo (Helen’s parents) and patting Roxy. They seem a lovely couple who are interested in a lot of different things so the conversation moved from one topic to another. All too soon it was dark and we had to get to grocery store as our bread and milk supply was non existent.

Wed 27^th - Had Tony back to drop off the trailer and another friend was collecting rocks after our walk to the beach where Gypsy decided it was all too much and just decided to stay with J and let Rusty race around madly. After a quiet afternoon it was State of Origin night and why it always so stressful – makes match much more interesting I guess and we had lots of SMS going back and forth to Cambooya and we WON!!!  but will need to pull our socks up before next match.

 Sun 31^st After a combined church service held in Moonta and followed by lunch we went for a drive to Point Riley, Myponie Point where there is a great fisherman’s hut and on to Tickera via the beach road. In other words it was a sandy track along the tops of cliffs with the water right beside me only 30 feet below. In the olden days they watered the cattle being driven to Wallaroo and Moonta here. I couldn’t work out why you would take them across the penninsular and then down instead of a direct route but maybe there wasn’t any fresh water available. We have come across several historic wells in our travels. They are generally lined with rocks and the water was just below surface. It was very close to ocean so it is surprising that the water was fresh. 

We had lunch in Port Broughton and then wandered through farmland to our favourite Cream Puff Corner, where the toilets are still guarding the road but the dolls have gone and only 1 teddie remains.

Bute is in decline but still looked a nice town. On arrival at home we had a long chat to Cassie to wish her a happy birthday. She had a great day with dinner out and spent today with Michael and Emily.

Bob called in on Monday morning to light up the pile of rubbish in front paddock and help us muster the sheep and lambmark 3 young lambs. Of course we didn’t tie Gypsy up so we had her help as well as Rusty’s and everything went haywire and we walked several miles further than we should have but eventually all was done and the sheep let back out into paddock. John isn't too keen on what happens to male lambs! but has another string to his bow.

Thursday 4^th saw us visiting Moonta Lions for their dinner meeting and we were made very welcome. Granville invited us to his home at 5pm every afternoon for drinks and a group go to Moonta Hotel for dinner every Friday night. His wife Dawn is into crafts so I have been invited to Quilters and embroidery afternoons. John gave the speech and they don’t have bannerettes so we don’t have one to add to our collection. The meal was very nice with a choice of 3 mains – honey mustard chicken which I had, Beef schnitzel which J had and a seafood wrap which was huge and looked wonderful.

Friday had John and Tony fishing and they came home with more whiting. Saturday the boys went fishing again and this time took Fred a Ugandan Pentecostal Pastor who is in the country drumming up donations for 3 schools and a church in his area. He had a ball and couldn’t get over the boat and catching fish as he has never been fishing before. Mind you he thought the waste when filleting would have fed his village. He mentioned to J that there was an African choir singing tomorrow night in Balaclava. We decided that we would go there after our trip to Clare.

Sunday 7^th and our 6^th Wedding Anniversary saw us worship in Christ Church Kadina before heading over to Clare Valley. Peter Lawry one of parishioners we met during Kernow week chatted to us over morning tea and has invited us to Kadina Lions on Tuesday night for their dinner meeting with a Police Officer as guest speaker.  I had not clicked that being a long weekend every man and his yuppie girl would be there so we visited Paulette and Pikes Wineries before going on to Reilly’s at Mintaro where they had a very nice sparkling Reisling. We even managed to buy a bottle at the Magpie and Stump Hotel to enjoy with our Salt Bush Hogget Pie. Not being a big sheep eater I thoroughly enjoyed it. Meat really melted in your mouth and it had a lovely gravy and puff pastry lid with garlic mash and broccolini on the side. Mintaro is a small village with some lovely old houses and a church and as it was starting to cool off we headed towards Balaclava until we passed Taylors’ winery and their big wine sale so had to turn in and see what they had. John liked their Cabernet Savignon so a dozen came home with us and I bought a 6 pack of semilon sav blanc and another Riesling carton.

On our way to Balaclava Tony rang to see if we wanted to go with him and Anne so we ended up coming home and going back a few minutes later, but it was nice to see the countryside and chat to them along the way. The concert was wonderful with about 20 girls and women and 3 men. The conductor also sang and did a lot of harmonising as the Africans do so well. Some of the members came from Liberia, Congo, Kenya and Tanzania and spoke and sang very good English. During the second half they held a healing service where J made me go up to have my ankles prayed for while he asked for help with his knees. There was a tingling sensation in my ankles for 15 minutes afterwards and I did walk better the next day so who knows.

Monday saw us walk the dogs to beach without too much pain which was great for all of us. Gypsy had a great time and wasn’t in any pain. Of course Rusty ran around everywhere smelling every leaf and stone in reach. He must do 5 klms for our 1klm.

Tuesday had me at the hairdresser early so I left J to do the shopping and then he needed to go over to Kadina to Telstra again. While he waited there I wandered down to Community Café for a cup of tea and met up with Peter again so we chatted to him for a while and then decided to go for a drive. Paskerville is a small town holding its decline but Kulpara is just a very small village that has seen better days. Port Wakefield was trying to improve the town with interesting murals painted over blank walls.

 You couldn’t see the water as it is completely covered with mangroves at the top of Gulf. The pastry on our pasty for lunch was a bit tough and unfortunately I didn’t eat all my apricot baked cheesecake slice and kept half of it for later – silly move. After visiting Port Clinton and Price – both small fishing villages on western side of Yorke Penninsular with good sea views, we headed inland to visit Arthurton on our way home.

 About half way we came across an intersection we thought had 5 dirt roads meeting. Unfortunately there were 7 roads and the one at 30* angle had a speeding car on it which tipped us over. When I heard the bang I thought we must have had a tyre blowout and there was no jolt, we just rolled over and landed on drivers’ side with me hanging in seatbelt on top of console. It took a while to get feet under J’s legs, seatbelt undone and my seat tilted back so I could climb out but managed it with some help from young lad who was driving other car, and climbed on top of our cab and opened the rear door on passenger side so we could clamber out. Fortunately no one was hurt but both cars were written off. Poor Darby was a mess and all  the things we had in pockets and console and on back seat was spilt everywhere. I picked my camera and kindle up in a pool of mud under J’s door. Quite a few cars stopped which was so good of them and we managed to get Darby pulled back onto his wheels before the police arrived. Then we discovered that we hadn’t taken the wine out of back and there was red wine flowing out the tailgate. It is the law here that if you are in a rollover you have to go to hospital so the ambulance took us off to Maitland for a checkup. They put J in a neck brace to transport as he had a sore neck and I had all the heart monitors on as I had an irregular heart beat as well as my high blood pressure.  3 hours later we left hospital with Tony who had very kindly come down to collect us and took us home where Anne had a quiche and salad for dinner waiting. Then it was home to ring Barb, David and Michelle and let them know we were shaken not stirred.

 We didn’t make it to Lions meeting so Jan rang up to ask us to have dinner with them on Thursday night so as long as we have transport we will see them then. Wednesday started with a phone call to Insurance company and then a visit to Darby to collect all our belongings and bring them home to be sorted out and repacked. After that we had a quiet restful afternoon with lots of visitors. Of course Tony was our driver so was having a cuppa when Vik & Flo arrived to make sure we were ok, then Denise and Trevor came over, then a fishing companion Charlie arrived to pray for us. He is a Pentecostal pastor here and I met him and his wife Jean at the concert on Sunday night.

Thursday had us joining Vik and Flo at the Cornish Kitchen for coffee. This is their favourite café and they seem to have a few visits every week. We had a lovely time chatting to them before coming home with some Pastys for lunch. After Tony’s visit we head off to Mitsubishi dealer in Kadina to see about a new ute, and ARB about all the extras he wants. We had rung around and could only get GLXR (automatic carpeted models) for $30,000. One had done 185,000 klm and the other 75,000 so we opted to get a new vehicle. Mitsubishi have a special on our preferred model at $29,990 so with $10,000 of extras we will start again, if we get a payout from Allianz. Of course J is going to be charged with Driving without due care and attention which will cost a few points and $1-$2,000 fine. It will go to court in August so he won’t be there as we should be in Brookton. Peter & Janet who we met at Church Café had invited us to dinner so we had a very pleasant evening with them and a friend Jo. The 2 ladies work in the café and are very involved in lots of groups around town. I think Peter must have his morning coffee in the café but at $2.50 it is good value. It was a long cold drive home in Mark’s ute afterwards but it was lovely of them to offer us a vehicle to get around.

Friday had us back at Darby to take the last of our belongings and bid him farewell – doesn’t seem right to see him all squashed in as he has not missed a beat in last 2 1/3 years. I think the only panel not dented was the tailgate and the two rear door windows were the only ones not broken.  Arriving home we saw the sheep all up near house so we went down to put them through the gate into top paddock where there is more grass. Rusty helped massively? And with the rain predicted over the weekend the grass in old paddock should freshen up.  After lunch we went back to Mitsubishi to order a basic ute as we can scrape up the money for that and will put on the extras when we know what Allianz will pay. Then it was into Cheap as Chips to buy some plastic boxes to put our bits and pieces in. We had dinner at Moonta Hotel with a couple we met at Lions meeting and 3 of their friends, which was very chatty and pleasant. My salt and pepper calamari was absolutely wonderful – melted in your mouth and the spice mix was lip licking good. All washed down with a Peter Lehman Reisling. As we got into car to go home Kaye rang so we had a long chat to her before watching the second half of Cats versus Port match which fortunately Geelong won or it would have been too devastating for someone who isn’t handling the stress too well.

Saturday dawns overcast but not too cold but as soon as the rain arrives the temperature dropped markedly so I stay indoors sewing a dinosaur onto panel and watch the Suns go down to Freo in a very tight match. Then Sydney has a hard start against Roos. The last time Tony & J went fishing they came home with 3 squid so we stuffed them for dinner. Stuffing was very tasty with anchovies and chilli in it but the squid was rather tough. The recipe said it had to cook for 50-60 minutes but after we chatted to Bluey for half an hour they had still not cooked through so were really in oven for  1½ hours. Bluey and Joy are loving their time farmsitting for Janice & Mark and looking forward to going to Tassie for the winter – think they are mad – they will freeze.

Sunday sees us made welcome at St Mary’s Wallaroo, a lovely small church with some new stained glass windows. The hall next door seems much larger and is used as Mission to Seafarers Centre. As it was drizzling heavily we opted to go home and have a rest day and chatted to Barb who was on her back verandah in shorts & tshirt!!!!!

Monday and Tuesday were stay at home jobs doing paperwork to get some money out of Wyreema mortgage and posting off all forms, with the sitting broken up with walking the dogs to beach and taking bins down to road and return. Ron from Moonta church rang on Monday night to say that Peter whom we had dinner with on Thursday night died on Sunday afternoon and it was rather a shock. Evidentally he had not been in good health but had seemed quite well to us.

Then after my visit to chiropractor on Wednesday the Insurance Assessor rang to say he had approved $25,500 for the payout so that is a big relief. Now all we have to do is get the plates and post them back to Qld (with more paperwork) and wait for the moneys to arrive into our bank account. By Thursday J couldn’t sit still any longer so he went off to Kadina to chat to Mitsubishi and ARB and I stayed home sewing. Tony was going fishing but put it off to Friday and as it turned out it was a worse day – cold, windy and drizzling so hope the fish like it I certainly wouldn’t. We walked the paddock the sheep are in to find their water source and it was all okay, and the dogs had a lovely time exploring something new (well they haven’t been in here for over a month and the way the noses were sniffing every blade of grass you would think they had never been near here).

23^rd Tony had been wanting to take us to his fishing cabin at Wauraltee Beach so today we head off not knowing what to expect but I am assured that I won’t be cold. It was about 1 ½ hours south not far from Port Victoria and an interesting drive through farmland with a stop at the Bakery in Maitland to pick up a fruit loaf. Then we arrived and I should have known the house is huge and spotted gum and fits right into the landscape between two sand dunes.

 After smoking the place out lighting the fire and lunch the boys take ‘The Junk’ and go fishing and I take the dogs and walk across the dunes to beach which is no mean feat. I had only just arrived back when the boys turned up as it was too rough and wet to go out, so we made coffee and chatted until dinner. Tony is a very interesting man and lovely to talk to, it’s a pity I haven’t been able to spend more time with Anne.

 The boys head out again next morning only to return fairly soon because it is still too rough, so we piled into the car and Tony took us touring. The first stop is an old windmill and stone tank that you can see from the house. Then we drove down onto the beach to see a house that is for sale – right on beach with lovely views – pity I don’t have a million dollars to spend. 

We get to stop at the Wauraltee Hall and info centre and read the history of area and find a very sad old church across the road. It is still windy and overcast after lunch so we packed up and headed home.

   Travelling a different way we end up in Minlaton and see the teddy made of hay bales we passed on our way to Moonta Bay. This time one of his arms had fallen off and was strategically placed to make him a boy which caused some amusement.

 We had an enjoyable time even if no fish were caught. I would love a place like it only you would have to get into the car to go anywhere and it would be over 30 minutes to shops, but oh the sounds and smell of ocean all day long.

25^th Peter’s funeral was a very big affair with the Uniting church across road from Anglican full and the sound system relaying the service to all those gathered there. In what I thought was a lovely touch, Jan and her daughter Jill delivered the sacrements to all those in Uniting Church. She was very brave. Then John was sarcastic to Hayden at Mitsubishi so I spat the dummy and walked out. It is humiliating the way he speaks to people sometimes.

26^th We picked up Darby 3 and brought him back to farm to be loaded and have the GPS and reversing cameras fitted. Of course now that we have $2500 drawers fitted we can’t fit in all the gear so will have to leave some here and collect it on our way back!!

28^th Sunday afternoon I leave J to his stuffing around with the car and have gelati and Icecream with Denise & Jenny. Their white chocolate and Berry Icecream is divine and the Mandarin gelati tickled all the tastebuds. We get a call from Ted who is in Mildura and coming our way tomorrow so we invite him to spend a few days.

29^th Ted arrived as we were putting the finishing screws into Darby 3 so we spent the next few hours chatting to him. After I went to bed he was able to chat to John about Dianne’s death so hopefully it helped. Seems unreal to think we will never see her again.

30^th J & Ted went fishing with Tony and came home with a snapper, 2 red mullet and 3 whiting and I spent the day sewing and then walked the dogs to beach.

1^st As we have to try to get some klms up on car we decide to take Ted for a drive around Yorke Peninsular. Our first stop is Wurula where Darby 2 met his end. It is a big intersection with give way signs on all roads except the second one we encountered.

After taking photos we head to east coast to Ardrossan, then Black Point to show Ted the million dollar house, Pt Vincent, Stansbury, Edithburg, Yorketown, Weroona, Maitland & home. The lovely old house in Port Vincent must have been worth billions.

Coming through Minlaton we find that the farmer has put new arms on our Teddy.

2nd July We went to Port Pirie to farewell Ted and had a long chat over coffee. He had a fair way to go to get to Woomera but wasn’t in any hurry to leave. It is a long way to go to Darwin, Cairns and back to Melbourne with only yourself in the car. At least he has Peter and his sister and daughter to chat to when they make camp each night. We head east to Crystalbrook for lunch and check out their town goanna. I can’t imagine why the council would make a goanna the town symbol! However it is a pleasant little town but bitterly cold.

Stopping in Snowtown we find a windvane and some murals on buildings but it is too cold to do much exploring.

We eventually make it to Arthurton where we were heading when we had the accident and it is another little country town that has seen better days. They had a very good sports ground but we couldn’t find a school.

 4^th Mark & Helen arrived back home after a wonderful holiday and the dogs were in seventh heaven.

5^th At the end of church service David and Ron give us a card with photos of church that everyone had signed which was so nice of them and then we all adjourned to Bayside Café for lunch and long chats before bidding sad goodbyes.

As it was Flo, Darcy & Josh’s birthdays this week they had a family dinner with T & A, V & F, Peter & Alli and daughter Darcy, M & H & Josh. They are a very friendly family and we had lots of laughs chatting about anything and everything. Unfortunately when we got back to caravan there was a message from Janine letting us know that Clare died on Friday. How devastated Lyndsay must be – it is too awful to think about. She is only 50 and with Elizabeth still at school it must be so hard to accept. We can only be thankful that she doesn’t have to suffer anymore.

6^th After the car service we left for Port Pirie to buy a new satellite tv box and then had a long drive to Kimba where we spent the night in Lions Caravan Park a lovely spot amongst the trees with picnic shelters, bbq’s and playground.

7^th Spent the day driving to Ceduna after hooking up a dummy lead to car freezer as it wasn’t working. We stopped in Wuddina for lunch and found a wonderful garden full of ornaments and a chain sawed man along with the oldest caterpillar tractor ever seen.

I hope the butcher gets his stock from a different source that what was displayed outside his shop!

Wuddina has a large cement statue to the Aussie farmer with wheat stems and fat lambs to show what this area is noted for, and a gorgeous patch of Sturt's desert pea.

The local servo is obviously a Crows supporter.  All the barley crops have sprouted so the paddocks were very green with a few paddocks of sheep closer to Ceduna.

8^th I spent the morning cooking up a few meals to use all the vegetables so we don’t lose them at the quarantine station. J fixed the problem with freezer – no fuse !! and then we replaced the blown light bulb outside and posted off the mail before going out to Denial Bay to pick up some oysters from the farm. The owner was leaving so we followed them down to waters’ edge to see them take wheels off boat and leave tractor out in water while they sped off to their oyster beds.

I had a long talk to Barb today and hope her problems with Shannon soon resolve themselves. She has also been talking to Leiba and Aunty Miriam is now in a nursing home at Wellington Point so we should be able to visit her more often.

9^th Our refuelling stop was at Nullabor where their southern right whale has had a coat of paint but still looks out of place. We are really close to sea even if you can't see it. Our overnight stop was at Bunda Cliffs where we were 82m above sea level (according to altimeter) and about 50 meters from the edge. Since we were here last time they have put in a lookout and fenced off paths so you couldn’t get too close to the edge and it was all very civilised, but still a lovely spot except for the grot who couldn’t walk into bush to do poo just squatted in car park 6 feet from pathway to lookout. You just can’t believe some people. However it was a popular spot until dark when we had the place to ourselves and were rocked to sleep with the wind.

10^th As we were only 75 klm from Border quarantine station we only had an hour before we could stretch the legs there and then 15 klm down road at Eucla where we refuelled. After that it is a very boring drive through flat grey grassland for most of day, with some lovely views over the water when we neared the coast, before arriving at Caiguna where we stopped the night to watch Wimbledon men’s semi-finals which were fantastic. Joker won fairly convincingly if a hard fought match and then Roger beat Andy in another hard game.

11^th From here to Norseman the country changes to woodland with lots of different species of trees and shrubs to break the monotony. With the 1.5 hours time difference we were refuelled and ready to leave Norseman by 2.30pm so decided to head for Coolgardie along another road lined with trees and a mining road every 5 klm or so.

There hasn’t been much traffic today but what we had were B double and triples heading in opposite direction.  The guy at caravan park check in wanted to know where we were from and then wanted us to sell him a house there. It was too late in day to think straight so will have to ponder that question at a later date. It was another late night watching the cricketers collapse in Wales and Serena win in tennis in London, but fortunately having Qld tv we can see it all 2 hours earlier than local tv. Why they have to have a delayed telecast is beyond me.

12^th and Sunday morning and we leave with the hope of reaching ‘Lakeside’ this afternoon and nearly don’t make it at all. About an hour east of Coolgardie J wandered onto wrong side of road just as a semi was overtaking and the resultant swerve had us weaving all over the road trying to get caravan under control. I really thought we were going to turn over again, and breathed a big sigh when we were back travelling in right direction. 

After refuelling in Southern Cross we opened the caravan door to see a dreadful mess and spend the next hour beside a rubbish bin dumping all the broken crockery and glassware into it. Despite the huge mess we have lost all but 3 coffee cups and have the one chipped bread and butter plate and 3 glasses left so we will need a trip to Op Shop to restack the shelves. Fortunately the canisters of flour, rice etc did not empty their contents onto the floor and everything else could go back into it’s place. We turned off Great Eastern highway at Kellerberran to wind our way to Quairading and onto Alldersyde where we arrived at 4.20pm much to the dogs excitement. Bruce came to meet us and he seems a nice bloke and as he had his 3 daughters home from Perth for the weekend we had a short chat but will catch up in length later. Nipper & Spike the dogs are still here as is Forest Gump the emu and Alice & Buck the two kangaroos along with the silkies. Lots of poultry have disappeared and the 2 ducks have been replaced.

Monday is spent getting the caravan set up and then a quick trip to town to fill up on fruit and vegies. I couldn’t find the chiropractors number on CWA door so don’t know if he is still operating which will be unfortunate. As the pub wasn’t open we decide to go to Beverley to pick up some beer and then wind our way home and actually get to back gate without getting lost. Bruce drops in for a beer or two and stays chatting till dark. Ros rings tonight as she had been in Brisbane childminding and only heard my message today and she is also very sad for Lyndsay and family. We heard about her moving to Highfields and hope to visit the new house in November. It will be nice to have her a little closer so we can catch up more often.

We are still doing crosswords when Bruce and Jane arrive and we spend the rest of morning talking to them. After lunch Bruce takes J out to check on the sheep – the rams keep getting caught in fences they are trying to jump over to get to ewes on other side – typical males can’t stay with the women they have – always want something new!!!

Wednesday sees us greeting Wally and Glennis and catching up on some of their news and Julianne arrives with her two little boys in the afternoon. Hartley has grown into a 4 year old little boy and is quite different from the baby who celebrated his first birthday when we were here last. Maximillan is now 6 and very inquisitive and industrious. Friday has me in town at the chiropractor very early so hopefully I will be able to walk properly now.

The weekend is spent watching sport on television. Saturday starts with the Davis Cup then Suns lost to Giants, Cats beat Bulldogs, and we did very well in the cricket after the Wallabies had a last ditch win over springboks. Sunday has us back cheering the Davis cup team on as Sam Groth and Lleyton both had brilliant wins, while Lions lost to Demons. Then Broncos played well for 60 minutes against Tigers but managed to win. The Ashes match at Lords ended a day early with Aussies doing very well and winning by 500+ runs. We won’t know what to do for the rest of week.

22^nd   As we are out of bread we decide to go to Pingelly for lunch and shopping and find a very nice café to have a chilli chicken hamburger which was very tasty. The cook comes out for a quick chat which was friendly as there was no one else eating in. We have to go home via Brookton to collect a box of wine which is also very nice. It has very passionfruit after taste, so will have to remember 'Coopers Barrel' from Marlborough. Cooper is the dog who sits on his barrel kennel all day waiting for his boss to come home. J found it on line in a Grays wine auction for $5 bottle + freight. He has also bought a carton from Blue Pyrenees that was on special for $80 + which is also very reasonable. Arriving home I have to do my nurses thing and check out his foot as he says it is very sore but I can’t find anything wrong except that they are so cracked and dry it is a wonder they haven’t broken bits off.

23^rd  John isn’t in bed when I wake up and I eventually go into cottage at 8.30am to find out what is up – he can’t walk or put any weight on left foot, so we borrow Glenys’ crutches and he makes it to car and I drive to Narrogin (95klm away). 5 hours later the doctors’ diagnose gout and prescribe 3 lots pills which we manage to collect from chemist before heading home which we reached at 5.50pm. I spent 4 hours in freezing waiting room (now you know why they don’t encourage people to seek emergency treatment) and last hour in with John and it wasn’t much warmer there, so it is a miracle I don’t have pneumonia. At least he is beginning to walk properly and it isn’t aching.

25^th  After a quiet day yesterday and another one today, we head up to Bruce and Jane’s for dinner and have a lovely evening with them.  Jane has cooked up bream, whiting and king prawns so I am in seventh heaven.  The prawns were so different to what we have in Qld – had a much stronger flavour.

28^th and we have to shop so take a trip to Beverley for lunch and come away from supermarket $250 poorer. It is amazing how things add up - $57 beer, $50 for fish and chicken and $60 on meat makes $90 for groceries, fruit & veg acceptable I guess. At the bakery we join another gentleman to eat so we don’t have to sit outside in cold and wet. He is travelling around the country but not on road – in a gyroplane. Guess you would see the world from a different perspective just not in much detail. I have a pastie and bee sting and it was divine – would love to know what the ingredients in honey custard are – and I know honey and custard but what else??.  Instead on coming back home we head east for miles through farming country that has had a good drink and it is still raining to the Corrigin road and turn south and pass some lovely wildflower patches on side of road. We will have to come back here later in August to see how the blooms are. Checking out Corrigin we see the lovely dog cemetery is still going and the town is pretty and tidy and doesn’t seem to be in decline which is good news.  We also collected another box of wine 'Leydens Vale' from Blue Pyrenees which wasn’t as good as the ones we tried at the cellar door, but very drinkable.

29^th and the cricket in England resumes disastrously for us but here in ‘Lakeside’ it starts to rain and we get 1.5 inches which will do a lot of good and even more so if rain predicted this weekend arrives. Whilst moving the hen and 4 newborn chickens into orchard we find a silkie hen who is flyblown and the grey rooster has bled all over the new roost so some medical attention is required. The rooster just gets a dosing of colloidal silver but the poor little hen has a massive hole in her behind where we keep pouring soapy in and digging out all the maggots. She must have been in misery. As she ends up soaking wet she spends the night next to fire and then has more maggots removed next morning before going into clucky hen cage in garage. By some miracle we manage to keep the test match going for 2.5 days before being comprehensively beaten, so we can just lie in bed and listen to rain on roof and end up measuring 3 inches overnight Friday. Our little silkie hen is still alive – she is a real fighter for such a placid bird. Saturday afternoon is spent watching Cats beat Lions so at least one of us is happy. After nearly a week of overcast or rainy weather Sunday afternoon is nice and sunny which is nice seeing Barb told me that she is in shorts because it is so HOT in Brissy. Jamie got a real going over when he came back through airport on Friday which is rather unfair but inevitable I guess – it would put me off flying overseas. Shannon is still being a real pain which is not making Barb’s life at all pleasant. Sometimes I wish I was a lot closer but guess that might make matters worse.

4th   As we need some more groceries we head to Beverley again and spend $50 at the Country Kitchen on a hamburger, quiche & salad and 2 drinks so we won’t be back there. The local paper was free so we browsed through it and found 2 little country churches that are just asking to be explored. St Paul’s at Edwards Crossing has a service on 5^th Sunday month so we can visit them on 30^th August and St John in the Wilderness at The Dale has a service on first Sunday of month. The Dale also has a hall next to church and both were built out of mud bricks (I assume) as they had a very interesting pattern.

 Edward’s Crossing is just north of Beverley and from there you wind your way through farming country to Westdale where you join onto the Brookton Highway to head back into town. Our little silkie hen died which was rather sad and another grey hen who had an enormous lump on her belly has also died. These grey are a very interesting colour and lay blue eggs. I will have to get some when we retire back home.

6^th has me revisiting Jenny & Danielle at the Hairdressers where the only excitement in town is a new house that has just been finished. There were over 100 white tailed black cockatoos at the mailbox gate which was a wonderful sight. They do make an awful mess of banksia bushes but are so lovely to see flying free you have to forgive them. Guess it will be a different matter when they start decimating wheat crops. It is amazing how many galahs and corellas here get into the chooks feed tins to eat their wheat. We have to cover the kangaroos wheat every morning and open it in evening when the birds are roosting.

 9^th and there is a Holy Communion service in town so we join them again, but nobody recognises us. Father Patrick died about 2 years ago and the rector retired when she reached 80, 1 year ago so they have been having a Rev Graeme Varvell come from St Brendan’s by the Sea (south Perth) once every 2 months and Prayer, Praise and Proclamation for the other 7 Sunday mornings. You really have to wonder how Christianity will survive.  A couple who are nearly ready to take up caravanning came over with him and they were quite friendly and chatty. I recognised David & Jackie (Wally’s cousin is married to her brother) from last time and we spoke to them after morning tea. There is a Catholic church in Beverley and one in Brookton with lots of home church groups and AOG offshoots and a Quakers meeting is also held in Beverley.

11^th and I venture into see Adam the chiropractor to have a tune up to hopefully keep my back in place until 4^th Sept and then we so we go for a drive up to the lookout to see over all canola and wheat crops, and do find a new house that was not the ordinary brick veneer but a corrugated iron one with lots different angles and roof lines.

 Our new hard drive has arrived so it gets installed and actually works so now we can tape programs to watch during the ever increasing lulls when there is only reality drivel being telecast. Have we become so out of touch that everyone else seems to be enjoying these shows and I can’t stand them?

Wally and Glenys leave on Thursday to fly to Sydney for a wedding and Thursday sees J helping Bruce with some fencing and then we go off mushroom picking. DUMB – after walking over the paddock for an hour and bending over to pick ½ bucket of mushies I can’t walk by the time we reach home, so spend the rest of day in agony. Friday and Saturday are beautiful sunny days so we get to warm up and I even get into cargo pants and t shirt during the day but it is still a bit nippy when sun goes down.

15^th Getting out of bed has me standing in water – what drama has befallen us now? After removing all gear from under the bed and throwing out all wet stuff J has to crawl under and repair a compression fitting on hot water pipe that is leaking. We leave everything out so it can all dry off and go for a drive to Lake Grace. First you go to Kulin where we renew our enjoyment along the Tin Horse Highway. There are several new horses in the collection and most of old ones though some are a bit worse for wear.

They are trying to make it a big tourist attraction to get people into the region but have forgotten to get owners to maintain their statues which is a pity. It is all farming country – guess that is why it is called wheat belt and most paddocks are looking good. Lake Grace is quite a big lake but very shallow and there wasn’t much water in it despite the rain – guess it would be good to swim or ski on (if you can) when full.

Nothing much changed on the 230klm trip home just more green wheat and canola paddocks interspersed with a few sheep. There were some good patches of wildflowers along the roadside however there were only a few pale pink bottlebrushes starting to bloom.

After the Wallabies beat All Blacks last Saturday we didn’t have too higher hopes of them repeating the performance in Auckland and they didn’t . It was a very disappointing match to be followed by Cats losing to Hawthorn but the LIONS won over Carlton and scored over 100 points for the first time in a long time. Now all we need is for Weagles to beat Freo tomorrow.

16^th After coffee with Bruce and Jane we settled in to watch the Netball World Cup final and at least we beat the kiwis there. It was a very good game except for first quarter when Silver Ferns were just not with it – if they had been it would have been a different score I’m sure. Wally will be very happy as his eagles won convincingly in a good game – and all the radio commentators who were predicting Freo will have to eat humble pie!
This week is rainy and cold and blows a gale most days but we venture into Corrigin for lunch and some shopping before sightseeing. It takes an hour for the bloke in café to serve up 2 pies and 2 iced coffees and the pastry was soggy so he must have microwaved them which is a pity as they were home made and deep and had plenty of mushrooms so should have been tasty.  There is a variety of shops in town and it looks like it is prospering slowly but not going backwards. We check out the Turkish machine gun brought back from WW1 and can’t figure out how it works but there is a lovely view over the town and surrounding farms. 

Corrigin Rock is huge but not particularly high so you don’t get the view. On our way home we detour through a wildflower route but there is still not too many in bloom. The pink bottlebrush we have seen around the area is also starting to bloom here as are the wattles and a small yellow cottonball flower and a small white flowering bush. The one that took my attention I have called the toothbrush grevillea. It is small about 1 inch long with white on bottom and red on top so it looks like a white toothbrush with red toothpaste on top. What do you think?

This is one of the few red flowering bushes we have seen -

We have another wet floor and spend Wednesday morning emptying under the bed and fixing a broken hose this time. Of course everything is outside drying when another rain squall comes over and drowns us again.

Then it is time for another birthday and I get to talk to lots of people and catch up the family gossip from over the country and England. Jane calls in for morning tea and then Glenys brings a little box of chocolates which is lovely but I really don’t need them. So I don’t have to eat sandwiches for lunch (getting a little tired of them) we drive through the rain to York about 100klm away. York is a bigger country town and the oldest inland town in Australia. It is a year older than Melbourne and 2 years older than Brisbane and has a lot of old buildings in good repair. Unfortunately it rains too much to explore on foot but we walk up and down the main street and get a feel for the place. Lunch is at Castle Hotel which has a lovely roast pumpkin quiche which I enjoyed with a glass of Silkwood Silky White wine which would be good to taste at their winery. After getting groceries we haven’t been able to buy anywhere else I have a wander through the patchwork shop and find a train design to use for Tyler’s library bag and some buttons for bags and Barbi dresses so can now finish off all the bits and pieces that have been accumulating. I still haven’t got anything for Michelle or Lilly for their birthdays so hope we find some interesting shops soon. Tyler rings after school and we have a lovely chat and he is so looking forward to seeing us at Christmas and Easter he informed us so we will be around next year (bit different to those in Sydney) . It is so green around this area it is hard to believe we are in same country as the devastation of drought in western Qld and NSW and the weather bureau is predicting another El Nino. How we will ever get some rain to these areas is very worrying. Over Afternoon tea with a Bee Sting from Beverley Bakery I get to chat to Jamie, Bruce and Murray and do manage to lock up animals before Doug rings. Then it is pasta marinara for dinner while watching the cricketers actually hit some runs.

Saturday starts out with some weeding of veggie garden to get some greens for kangaroos before rain comes over again and we settle down to watch Suns win, Cats draw and Lions lose and then Broncos also lose so they will be in doubt for minor premiership if they don’t pull their socks up soon. The cricketers even manage to make England follow on!! Shannon rings and we have a long chat but she is a worry with the priorities she has in life.

During the week I hear a woman on radio wanting people to knit berets and scarves for soldiers in Afghanistan so I am using up bits of khaki and grey wool knitting berets with stripey borders.

4^th sees us heading along a road, that had lots of wildflowers which weren’t blooming too well; towards Quairading where we stopped at café for a very nice lunch, and then headed to Cunderdin. This bakery knew how to make a pie with crispy pastry and the apple muffin had an abundance of apple and cinnamon. It is all farming country with lots of green or gold paddocks and a few sheep in spots.

From here we took the highway to Meckering which was wiped out in an earthquake in October 1968. The attached photo shows what happened to one farmhouse. The sign shows where the baby’s cot was and fortunately the wall fell outwards and left baby alone.

In the information centre they have a section of Kalgoolie water pipe which buckled during the tremor. Evidently the road rose up 5 feet before splitting in two, but luckily it was 11am on public holiday so no one was killed. The railway line was also out of action for a few weeks.Then we weaved our way back to York and home where the chooks and dogs were waiting not very patiently!

Saturday saw the Cats win so Stevie J and mates were farewelled happily, then the Lions beat Bulldogs to finish season without the wooden spoon. Unfortunately the Broncos went down to Storm so we missed the minor premiership. Then the cricketers beat the poms in a one day match.

Father’s Day had us going to church only to find out that there was no service, so we headed to Williams where we found the Woolshed - a complex which had lots of boutique outlets but no actual wool skein sales. We checked out a great photo of 4 owls on log and then J bought it for me as a birthday present – now we have to get it home!  After a ham and cheese muffin and cuppa we journey on through Kojanup a very nice, tidy go ahead town to Katanning – another larger town which seemed well kept too. Leaving Katanning Michelle rang her father and they had a long chat until we lost reception. Dumbleyung didn’t seem to have much except a few houses so we continued on with Katrina taking us all over the countryside until we came to Wickepin where we stopped at café/store for a drink. Wandering around Albert Facey’s house they seemed to have removed the interesting plants we saw last time. They had a celebration here 2 weeks ago for the anniversary of his birthday so don’t know what flowers they had blooming.  John rang David when we arrived home and had a chat to him but didn’t talk to kids – guess Poppy’s don’t rate with that lot. Unfortunately Tyler didn’t ring either so I might not have to worry about birthdays etc for any of these kids, but guess it is really their parents’ bad manners.  Wally & Glenys arrived home at 7.00pm and seemed to have had fun getting in and out of Adelaide. J also spoke to his mother and then Cassie rang to say they were going to come over on 27^th for a week’s holiday so we have to get our fingers walking and find somewhere to stay and things to do.

11^th After an early start to see Adam Chiropractor it was home for morning tea with Glenys & Wally & Wendy & Howard the new sitters. They should enjoy themselves as they seem a nice couple who are easy to get on with.

 We played musical caravans for a while and then we went out to help Bruce & Jane shift sheep and check on others.

Wally left a good loader down the road in case he needs it again!!!

 Then it was time for happy hour in the cottage and that lasted until half time in football when Weagles were leading by 32 points and Wally would have been very happy with the way then played. It was another long night watching AFL on 1 chanel, rugby league on another, and the cricket from England on another. It is hard to say goodbye to Alice as she has become very friendly and waits patiently by the gate; whenever she hears my voice or it is 5.30pm, for her apple.

Saturday after a lovely morning tea with B & J, W & H we headed off in the rain to Bruce Rock and then Merredin and Nungarin. Fortunately it had stopped raining by the time we had to set up but the wind was blowing from Antarctica. The recreation centre here is massive and a very new building with very clean amenities, but no one used it the whole time we were here. They have 3 tennis courts, netball court, soccer field, bowling green and AFL field. You wonder how they came by such a building as the shire has only 260 people so can’t have a huge budget – maybe it was some federal government initiative. It was trauma all round on Saturday night when the Broncos played the Cowboys for a place in preliminary final. It was good we won but I was so sorry for JT – at least they will get another chance next weekend.

Nungarin has a small welcoming committee but not much else.

Sunday afternoon we ventured out and found some wonderful wildflowers growing alongside the road to Trayning – the purples were so vivid and 2 shades along with 2 shades of mauve, several pink bottlebrushes, a deep red one and numerous wattles. The Everlastings are starting to fill up as ground cover too. There were more along the road to Bencubbin which is another nice clean tidy little town with flower beds along the main street.

From here we wound through more wheat fields to Marshall Rock but didn’t find any orchids so onto Pergandes sheep yards. In 1910 Pergandes took up land here and to make sheep yards he chipped slabs of granite off the rock nearby. Evidently you have to heat the rock and then cool it quickly and slabs break off. Some of these slabs were 10 feet wide and 3’6” out of ground and goodness knows how far into the ground they were set. As they are still standing 105 years later they sure beat wooden ones that the white ants eat out regularly.

He also built his house nearby from rocks but not the big slabs, and it has become derelict. They were a very enterprising couple and dug out a swimming pool at the base of rock for locals to swim in and held mass in their home until a RC church was built in Bencubbin.

Mukinbudin affectionately known as the Muk by locals is another nice tidy town with flowers growing down the main street, an old grain silo, and some wonderful scarecrows outside the high school. The ladies in red and purple have decorated a bus shelter very appropriately too.  

J had to go out for dinner so we checked out the local pub.  It is an old building with 14foot pressed metal ceilings and a lovely wooden fireplace mantel in dining room. We had to wait an hour for our meal to arrive which was not nice as we were the first into dining room, and then my vegies were not even hot let alone cooked – but their home-grown lamb chops were melt in mouth. It was another long night watching the cricket but at least we won which meant we won the series.

Monday morning we found the shire offices to pay our fees and discovered “Sprocket” an Army acquaintance from  Watsonia who was also posted to Cabarlah so J is catching up on news from old mates. Then it was out to Mangowine Homestead to check out the National Trust buildings. The Adams moved here in 1884 to set up a Inn to service men travelling to Kalgoolie goldfields. It only had 3 small rooms so guess miners didn’t worry about sleeping indoors. They also build their home nearby out of rocks from the property and thatched the roofs. The National Trust removed the thatch and replaced it with tin but the rest of buildings and furnishings look authentic.

It was so peaceful and lovely we decided to come back on Wednesday and stay for a few days. The first CWA rest rooms in WA were shifted onto the property a few years ago and meetings are still held in it.

Coming back into town we wander around the Military museum which is housed in a WW2 tank workshop building before finding Bill working on a huge antiaircraft searchlight with an 8 mile range. He has restored it and just has to get it perfect!! They had a lot of old military vehicles but not many were in reasonable order. I think they have a big job ahead to restore even a tenth of them.

                                  Have no idea what this thing is -

Tuesday sees us off to Wyalkatchem – where do they get the names from? Where we buy some groceries and then check out some lovely pieces in Antique shop and buy 2 coffee cups. The very first bulk grain was delivered to Korrelocking on 9 November 1931 so they have a museum in old wheat silos in “Wylie”. There weren’t many wildflowers around here and even less on road to Koorda where we buy a toasted sanger for lunch from a café in IGA with newsagency as well. At least they have one. The wheat crops from Koorda to Bencubbin were a little healthier than those around Nungarin but nothing compared to Brookton/Pingely ones. We retraced our steps to Trayning and then took the back road (dirt) to Doodlakine – a few sheep in this area – and highway to Hines Hill and back road to Nungarin. By then my knee was saying it is time for a stretch and a cup of tea. While we were sitting by roadside chatting to Barb this morning 4 caravans turned down the road so it was a surprise when we arrived back to find they hadn’t pulled in. Barb was most upset at Jamies’ treatment by exbitch Ashleigh who has taken out a DVO against him when it is her who is doing all screaming, ranting and breaking property. He has been arrested and bashed by police so is not in a good state at all. We have to hope and pray that truth and justice prevail in the end but it is all more distress for us all. Isn’t it a pity you aren’t innocent until proven guilty.

16^th has us moving to Mangowine Homestead for a few days. Bob the caretaker seems a very nice man and joins us for coffee and happy hour every day. It is very peaceful and the sunsets and dawns are lovely across the valleys.

Jamie has his court case dismissed but still can’t get his phone back so goodness knows what will happen tomorrow when he has to front up at Police station to collect it. Isn’t it amazing how the police can victimise anyone they choose. Fortunately his phone is returned but with the film of him being bashed removed, so at least he has all his work details. I have advised him to email any other incriminating videos he has to someone to keep them safe. Of course he will be continually stopped by thugs in blue for anything and everything trying to get him to hit them so they can give him another bashing. Hope he gets a new car and changes houses soon – but guess they will keep finding him.

After spending a few quiet days around camp Saturday has us heading north to Goodchild’s gate – built by Mr Goodchild in memory of his son killed in WW1 and then on to Wattoning where there are some old graves – 3 young sisters, a 22 month old boy and 2 elderly gents.

Along the roadside we found a horse and jockey (in freo colours) galloping away with the wind. The horses legs were attached to pipe from windmill and as wind turned sails the legs moved back and forwards - the ingenuity of some people!

Nearby is the homestead ruins and some gnamma holes. Holes have been eroded in rocks and filled with fresh water that the aborigines and early pioneers used. The stattis grows prolific around here.

Bonnie Rock was a town early in 1900’s but has placards on each allotment telling you who lived or worked there, nowadays. Beringbooding Rock was our destination and is huge and has a cement wall around the perimeter of top to catch rain and syphon it into an even bigger tank. It is so far from anywhere you wonder what they used the water for. If local farmers were carting it away there must have been plenty left over. But maybe Bonnie Rock was a mining town and used there. It is a pity that it has been let deteriorate as the roofing iron was lifting off and falling in in other places.

The rock itself has lots of interesting features including a big hole carved in one boulder, kangaroo water hole under wave rock, a big pile of rocks in cairn and some aboriginal paintings, and views to die for.

A big noisy mob arrived as we were descending so we left and had lunch beside the road where there were some more lovely wildflowers. We travelled part of Rabbit Proof Fence Road along the way to Elachbutting Rock. This was the fence the girls used to guide them home in the movie. It wasn’t particularly hospitable country in 2015 so must have been frightening back then.

Whilst the ‘field of Everlastings’ wasn’t blooming we did see lots of small clusters among the trees and they looked especially good with the rock in background.  There is another well nearby and it’s water wasn’t very refreshing looking either.

The everlastings at Yanneymooning reserve were wonderful as was the wattles and various purple flowers. We decided that there were no red ones as the ground is very red so they wouldn’t have been too visible for insects to see to pollinate.

 From there we made our way home via Lake Brown (not very – more white) and Eaglestone Rock to find 2 other caravans had pulled in, so there were 7 of us for Happy Hour.

 Another couple arrived on Sunday so our numbers are growing. Bob has to go west for his sister’s funeral on Wednesday so he asked us if we would stay until he comes back and look after any campers so we have agreed to. J has a long chat to Sandy for her birthday and finds out that Helena and Josh are expecting another baby in March so there will be a deluge of Calders arriving in next 6 months.

Monday has us meandering over to Westonia where there is a wonderful museum, complete with ‘working mine’ ; which puts the shivers up your spine every time they let off ‘an explosive’. 

The jarra display cases were from Perth Mint and are amazing in themselves, but the models are so lifelike they are brilliant. Whoever made them did an excellent job – the barman and woman brushing her hair are exceptional. 

They had lots of interesting bits and pieces including some 1880 pistols. The girls at front desk were very friendly and made the whole day. 

The store is a co-op of locals and also houses a newsagency and café which sold great hamburgers that we ate up at Edna May Mine Lookout. Edna May is a gold mine and while there is a big hole in ground it is tiny compared to Kalgoolie. 

The town has small (old toilet style) buildings around town with the names and trades of various old time businesses on which made some interesting sights. It is lovely when a small country town makes an effort to attract visitors.

St Luke’s church has a service once a month and in between is a free camp for caravaners. 

Going in to Boodallin soak we are amazed by the everlastings, but the well was dry. When they were surveying a road to goldfields Mr Hunt had been sent out to find water for the prospective miners – so he dug 500 wells between Perth and Kalgoolie to water men and beasts. Can you imagine digging these and lining them all by hand.

Somewhere on the road home we came across this lump of marble look-a-like rock with a plaque commemorating Arthur Corunnba an aboriginal man who pioneered farming in the area and was one of first to own a farm in WA. He farmed these paddocks from 1920-1941.

It was a big night after Happy Hour which went for about 3 hours after Neville brought out his guitar and started singing. I believe the party ended about midnight but I was snoring by 10pm and woke with a very sore throat.

Bob came to tell us that the old Lady from next door who usually helps him out, had died last night so he left for the funeral very down. We had 3 new vans in and one left so the place is humming along. Leanne has given J some sourdough bread starter and instructions so goodness knows what will happen – apart from him making a mess and us eating lots of carbohydrates, which I don’t want. After getting on the scales to see how much I am worth in gold ($4,666,000) at Westonia museum I really have to do something to lose weight. His first attempt at breadmaking was very good so I can see this becoming a permanent thing when we get to buy a hotwater bottle (to keep dough warm while it is proving). He will have to be more organised though we can’t spare 3-4 hours for lunch when on road! One couple from Cairns left and another arrived so we are maintaining numbers this week after being on our own last week.

24^th After farewells we head over through to Beacon, Kalannie and Dalwalinu where we stopped for night to get groceries and tent pegs. It is a reasonable sized town with a few industries with the caravan park on main highway in Industrial Estate???

25^th  It is a 2 hour drive through some lovely country with lots banksias growing along the roads to Nambung station where we encounter the Dragon in charge of camping area and I feel like leaving and finding somewhere else to stay. Talk about not knowing how to run a business least of all one in hospitality. However it is quiet and pleasant enough surroundings.

27^th and we leave at lunch for Perth Airport with a break in Gingin for a muffin and tea. The airport is easy enough to find and I don’t know whether it is Sunday pm but there wasn’t much traffic, but it is still a long 3 hour drive broken by a stop at Cataby Hotel for dinner only they had run out of food so it was off to roadhouse for a burger. Despite all my nagging about slowing down especially at dusk and night we hit a roo on way into caravan.

28^th After a good nights sleep it is off on station tour with Brian in his Alligata and us doing a tag along. He had 6000 acres with 3000 sheep and 150 cows and calves. There were some very cute murray grey calves.

Then we climbed a sandy Mt Everest to see his pinnacles which were rather special – but oh the walk around the sand dunes meant my knee has carked it.

Arriving back at the caravan we found a bee swarm had decided to move into caravan boot and there were millions buzzing around. We ended up getting Brian to spray them to get rid of them as we couldn’t sit outside.

So then it was off to Cervantes for lunch at Lobster shack which was very nice but oh so busy. Our quick sums seemed to add up to 500 lobsters cooked for lunch at $33 per head – not bad money. After a drive around town we headed north along coast to Jurien Bay where we stopped for a walk on beach and found a reef bell. They have made about 30 different ones and placed them alongside the old jetty to create an artificial reef. Once the corals have covered them it should be good to snorkel around.

29^th Leusueur NP was our destination and it proved a good one as the flowers were in abundance in every size , shape and colour. Murray & Cassie did the 4klm walk while we opted to go to lookout and sit and take in the views. There were a lot of people checking out the roadside but we managed a table at Cockleberry Picnic area to eat our sourdough bread – not too bad either. J must have left his leather hat on seat here because it disappeared. 

We enjoyed the rest of park and had a stop over on our way to Green Head. A sign here said “ LOOK WAY OUT FROM THIS HIGH PLACE AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN“ which was very true. It is a pity that not enough people stop to take in their surroundings and value them.

30^th New Norcia was today's destination and it would have been better if we could have left earlier but I guess the buildings we didn’t see will still be there next time. Our tour guide was great and very knowledgeable and told us more than we heard last time. I don’t think Murray liked the 10 minute service with the Monks but I found it refreshing to stop in middle of day for a few quiet moments. The Ploughman’s lunch was a single serve with lots of cheese and 3 slices of bread per person which I thought was plenty but we had to have another whole loaf which got taken home for breakfast! The buildings were still as spectacular and work was being carried out on the front of St Gertrude’s so we went in the back door. These monks who painted the walls and ceilings were exceptional - I couldn't imagine lying upside down for years to do this. After buying a wooden compact mirror for Michelle and posting it we left for home – another long day.

1^st As J had had enough driving we opted for lunch at Moora hotel which was another lovely meal with starched white table cloths and a little expensive but worth it. My prawn cesaer salad and lemon tart were worth it. We opted to visit the Wildflower farm just north of town and found Rhonda very busy, but with time to show us around and make cups of tea for everyone. I found some wrapping paper with wildflowers on and a small posy to decorate the van. Then it was home via Badgingarra with lots of E Macrocarpa but not many flowers blooming.

2^nd Geraldton is still as busy as ever but we managed to find the HMAS Sydney memorial and it’s addition to commemorate the finding of the ship in 2008. It is still a very poignant spot especially now they have added a seagull pointing out to the spot at sea where the wreck is at rest.

After lunch at the Dome where I had another Chai chiller – yummm we found St Vinnies Op shop and bought some wine glasses and bread and butter plates. On Leaving Cassie found Hungry Jacks and wanted an icecream. As we were leaving J discovered the steering had become very stiff. A bit further down the road he had difficulty driving so we made it to Mitsubishi where they discovered a leak in power steering pipe. How lucky can you be – last time the power steering went we were 600klm north of Cooktown, and we could have been 600klm north of Geraldton!! The Red Cross Op Shop next door provided a book for future reading.  It was another long trip home broken with a stop at honey stall and one in Jurien Bay for supplies. If we had left earlier we could have checked out the historic buildings at Greenough, but some people stuff about wasting time.

3^rd Saturday morning was Dongarra markets day and they had an array of items for sale. We bought some honey pickled onions and chili stuffed olives and 2 airplanes made from soft drink cans. We will give one to Jake and the other one can go to one of boys. Lunch at Little Starfish café was also very nice and it was good to learn that Mackie was still going well but not allowed on beach so she has to stay at home most days. The sound of waves crashing onto beach was so soothing and the smell of ocean very invigorating. Unfortunately Cassie got a bee in her bonnet about buying a Mercedes Sprinter and decking it out herself – which would be a total waste of money. It didn’t seem to matter what Murray wants so that irked me well and truly. We listened to AFL Grand Final on radio only to be disappointed when Eagles lost. Oh well there is always next year.

4^th Sunday was rest day spent at home chatting until it was time to watch NRL Grand Final on tv. As expected it was a trauma to have both my teams playing each other. It must have been so electric in Qld but nobody here seemed to care much. When Cowboys scored right on full time it was very nerve racking as JT had the chance to win outright with his conversion, but it hit the crossbar and bounced back into the field so we had a Golden Point Grand Final finish. From kick off Ben Hunt knocked on and Cowboys got ball back and after a few passes it went to JT who kicked a field goal to win it. Wanting the Broncos unbeaten record to continue but still thinking JT deserved a Grand Final it was a bitter sweet win. At least no NSW team made it to GF so they can stick that where it hurts most.

5^th Pinacles and Lancelin were on todays’ agenda and we spent a few hours driving and walking around looking at all the different shapes and colours.

 It was interesting that NP’s charged us $6 for car load whereas we paid $80 to do Nambung Tour. Nambung also charged $20 per night whereas Mangowine was $10 with power and water. So they might want to rethink their charges. It was a long drive to Lancelin for a pie for lunch. Unfortunately J went off for 10 minutes to get cash and then Cassie went to toilet so we had cold pies to eat on the beach while watching some hang gliders flying in strong wind off coast.

 With daylight saving Hobart is 3 hours ahead of us so we were able to wish Michelle a Happy Birthday after her dinner and our lunch. Coming back we stopped at another nature reserve for a walk through the flowers and then to take a photo of sun coming through clouds above horizon. As it was late we stopped at Cervantes Tavern for dinner and enjoyed another very nice meal even if the tomato sauce in my Spaghetti marinara was too rich and overpowered the seafood.

6^th After packing up we eventually leave for the airport, and do manage to stop at Cottage Café for a savoury scone for lunch. After bidding Muzzz and Cassie a safe flight home we get out of airport tangle but take the wrong turn and don’t get to stop at cheese and chocolate shop we had seen on way down. However a little further up the road we find the Cheese Barrell but as they didn’t do tastings we bought an ashed goat chevre and left. Then a sign for olives and cheese tastings had us turning in and having a lovely chat to lady about her products and Qld and Innisfail (she has a brother in law there). We bought 3 cheeses and a flagon of port which was very smooth. We arrived home in daylight so were able to do some more packing up so there wouldn’t be so much in the heat tomorrow. As it was we left about 11am and made it to Badgingarra for lunch and a long trip over through Coorow and Latham to Perenjorie. There were quite a few patches of wildflowers blooming along the roadside all the way which made life more interesting. It was so hot that I was able to do 2 loads of washing and get them dry before dark.

Thursday was spent doing another 4 loads of washing and generally cleaning up before lunch. Checking out the Information Centre we have a lovely chat to woman on duty and then drove around town and headed north to BowGada Reserve where there weren’t many flowers but a few dotted the dirt road we took to return home. It is hot enough for salads for dinner – guess after so much cold it will take a little getting used to the heat. Even last week I had jumpers and socks on to keep warm.

Friday 9^th October and we start heading north at last. From Perenjori we head east along Wanara road renown for its wildflowers especially the wreath flower which we find although they were at the end of season. But it was good to see the flowers had faded to white before dying off. It was really quite incongruous to see all these lovely delicate flowers along a mining road.

We had passed 13 road trains bringing iron ore into railway station, each one had 4 wagons with 25 tonne in each we think and the train that held us up at a crossing had 90 wagons with 94 tonne painted on one.  For a 8,460 tonne train load you would need 84.5 truck loads so they would need a 7 hour day to fill one train.

Perenjori hasn't changed much but the pub has a new advertising sign.

Once we were on Great Northern highway the wild flowers did not stop just changed a little with mauve nulla nullas in profusion all the way to Meekatharra. I did manage to stay relatively calm even after the wind gusted around lunch time and sent us jerking over the road for a few hours. Meeka hasn’t changed much with 2 mines that I didn’t remember popping up close to town. We stayed in caravan park so we could have water and power as it was over 38* and I needed a shower and some air con.

Saturday was much the same as Friday with red Pilbarra soil, mauve nulla nullas, another small white flower and one dead cow beside road. Once again there wasn’t a lot of traffic on road in either direction so I wasn’t too stressed, but it was welcome when we reached Newman and once again opted for power and water. J went off to have a swim and joined a group of workers in pool. They had been on a day off and had gone to Karijini and had plenty of booze left over so he had 2 cans whiskey before we left for dinner out. Seasons restaurant was very pleasant with attentive staff – (2 lovely guys) and some very nice food. As J had 3 more bottles of beer I stayed on water to drive home. On arriving back at caravan he found his mates in BBQ area next door so left me and went off to drink more. At some stage he came home and got our glasses and bottle port and proceeded to right himself off. Of course then came back as Wallabies match was about to start and nearly knocked me out with the fumes. Hope he has gout tomorrow it will serve him right- but doubt he will learn. The Wallabies – Welsh match was a dire struggle from go to whoa. The scores were all penalty goals with the ossies tackling for their lives when 2 players were in sin bin – but we prevailed.

Sunday 11^th became a rest day because someone had a hangover so we had a lazy day watching Qld/SA cricket and Bathurst during the ad breaks. Unfortunately Qld snatched defeat from jaws of victory but Holden crossed the line first at Mt Panorama. After a quick trip to supermarket for some fresh food we found our way up Radio Hill to lookout over BHP Biliton’s Mt Whaleback Mine. Started in 1968 it is 5klm long and 1.5klm wide and one of largest open cut iron ore mines in world. Newman itself was begun in 1972 and is a pleasant town with lots of pride in their town and houses, but there are so many flats and bed units for the fly in/ fly outs. We were curious about the houses being offset on the block – maybe it is to protect you from western sun. You really have to wonder how many workers there really are here. The info centre says there are 6000 residents but there must be another 3,000  donga inhabitants.  BHP set the record in 2001, for a trainload when they sent a 7.353 klm train with 99,732.1 tonne load along a 275klm track. Glad we weren’t held up at a level crossing! It is 426Klm from Newman to Port Headland and we had seen the trains heading in when we were here before.

Monday 12^th We hit the road early and climb through the range to Auski Roadhouse. The ranges are red, rugged, and sparsely vegetated with white gums, stunted shrubs and spinifex for mile after mile. There are some interesting rock formations with one resembling china’s great wall. From auski on the road flattens out but the vegetation remains much the same.

Our evening stopover is at Indee station, a red dirt cattle property with lots of dongas and extra activities – namely sand quarry and rail camp for Gina’s new rail line. We also shared the camp with 4 people doing surveys of quolls. They go out every afternoon and set traps and then go back early next morning to see what they have caught. The Spotted Quoll is doing well in this area not so Colin & Betty’s cattle. BHP have not paid a cent in compensation for all the cattle they have killed over last 40 years, but FMG send a cheque every month or 3 depending on how many animals are hit. Colin has 3 rail lines going through his property – BHP, FMG, and Gina’s new Roy Hill mine – all bringing iron ore from out east (Newman) to Port Headland. Everyone was welcomed to Happy Hour where we learn’t that today they had blockaded the road so BHP workers had to go 120klm extra to go home so hopefully the managers will get the message to HO. The snake in tree outside van looks a bit angry/hungry or is he just yawning?

It was extremely hot with no power for air con or fan so we didn’t have a good sleep but still made it unscathed to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park. Port Headland seems to have more industry than when we were here 3 years ago and there is a new mine next to an unusual rock on road near Marble Bar turn off. It is a long slow trip into beach as the road badly needs grading but guess it won’t happen until after the wet is over. Naturally enough the beach is 80 miles long and looks lovely. It was relatively empty of humans when we were there but can imagine you would be packed in like sardines during winter.

Once again we had a wonderful sunset watched by a huge sponge.