HEADING UP THE CORAL COAST

15th May, 2012

Our house sit has come to an end and there was a lot of tail wagging from Jake and Puddles when their owners (Martin and Kay) arrived home.  We were soon on our way – travelling north to New Norcia where we stopped for a walk around the monastic settlement.

New Norcia monastery

The monastery was founded in 1846 by Spanish Benedictine monks as an aboriginal mission.  

Courtyard inside monastery

The early years were tough ones in this unforgiving country but the founding monks persevered and today the mission is still in operation, holding prayers and retreats

Abbey church

and an on site bakery produces boutique breads and gourmet treats.  It was strange walking around the beautiful old buildings where you would expect it to be lovely and tranquil but as the Great Northern Highway runs ‘smack bang’ through the middle of the settlement the sound of road trains rumbling through sort of spoils the serenity.  We turn west towards the coast and stop for the night beside a quiet country road before continuing on to Cervantes in the morning.  At Cervantes we pay a visit to a colony of Stromatolites at Lake Thetis.

Wok checks out the Stromatolites at Lake Thetis

Stromatolites are the oldest known organisms on earth dating back 3.6 billion years.  The stromatolites here are only youngsters – 3,500 years old.  They aren’t very energetic but we guess at that age they have earned the right to just sit around and blow bubbles.  We head north along the

Indian Ocean Drive

and stop for lunch beside the beautiful aqua waters of Jurien Bay.  After lunch we walk out onto the curved jetty

Jetty at Jurien Bay

to see if the fishermen are catching anything but they don’t seem to be having much luck.  We continue north following the coastline and driving in and out of the small seaside villages.  With the opening of the new road these seaside communities are now within reach of Perth and new subdivisions and beachside homes are springing up.  Some of these sleepy seaside villages will soon be devoured by city folk looking for a seachange.  Ahhh!  The price of progress ….

We take the opportunity to free camp for a couple of nights and then continue north on the No 1 Highway

Brand Highway

passing the pioneer settlement of Greenough with its bizarre leaning trees.

Leaning tree at Greenough

The prevailing southerly winds have forced the trees to grow horizontally and have become something of an icon in the region.  We arrive in the coastal town of Geraldton at midday and check into a caravan park at Point Moore where the red and white striped lighthouse is quite an ‘easy to spot’ landmark.

Lighthouse at Point Moore

With its beam being able to be seen 26 kilometres out to sea it is also ‘easy to spot’ from that angle as well.  We have a walk along the foreshore and take in the old buildings in the city centre.  The information bureau is located in a lovely two story building that was part of the district hospital built in the late 1800’s and the old prison is located nearby.  Sitting high atop a hill behind the town and overlooking the ocean is the HMAS Sydney II Memorial.

HMAS Sydney II Memorial

The HMAS Sydney II and her 645 men disappeared after a battle with the German Raider HSK Kormoran in 1941.  The German ship was also lost but many of her crew survived the ordeal.  The silver dome is made up of 645 seagulls each representing one of the lost HMAS Sydney II crew.  When the architects and engineers were surveying the site for the memorial they were constantly harassed by seagulls and this sparked the idea of creating the memorial with the seagulls becoming a feature of the dome.  Beside the dome the bronze statue of a woman gazes out to sea as she awaits news of the ill-fated Sydney.  The mystery of where the two ships lay was solved in 2008 when the Kormoran was located 207 kms off the west coast at Steep Point and 4 days later the Sydney II was discovered not far away.  A remembrance pool was then added to the memorial with a lone seagull dipping its wing into the water at a point marked on the bottom of the pool with the longitude and latitude of the wreck.  A wall shows photographs of the ships and the names of the HMAS Sydney II crew.  It is a marvellous memorial and a thought provoking one as well.  So many men lost on both ships – the futility of war.

Next to the marina is the Geraldton Western Australian Museum.  The museum is housed in a new building and we were very impressed with the displays ranging from the lives of the local aboriginal people to the influence of European settlement.  Of course the many shipwrecks in this area are covered – the most famous being the Batavia which happened on the Abrolhos Islands 60 kms west of Geraldton.  On Monday morning we visited Fishermen’s Wharf and took a crayfish tour.  Live lobsters are processed at the Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-operative and we followed the lobster’s journey from the moment they arrived at the co-operative

Lobsters arrive at the co-operative

through the sorting process

Sorting the lobsters

into the holding tanks

My - What big beady eyes you have!

and onto the packaging in preparation for export to the overseas markets – mainly Asian buyers who pay a veritable fortune for these leggy crustacians.  It was an interesting tour and we got up close and personal with lots of very expensive future dinners.

This monster lobster will fetch $300 in the Asian market

On the road again and only 32 kms north of Geraldton we pulled off the highway for a look at Oakabella Homestead.  The farming lease was taken up in 1851 and the pioneering stone homestead “Oakabella’ is classified by the National Trust.

Oakabella Homestead

The home is filled with furniture and nik naks from the pioneering days and the barn with its unique buttresses that were added later to make the barn more stable was full of farming implements dating from the 1850’s.

Buttressed barn at Oakabella

We find it hard to imagine how anyone could farm on this rocky stark ground.  Even now we find it hard to believe that anyone could eke a living out of these arid lands.  What the sheep and cattle find to eat is beyond us.  We turn off the highway and take the scenic route closer to the Indian Ocean.  Along the way we stop at the ruins of what once was Lynton Hiring Station tucked away at the foot of rolling hills.  Built in 1853 the station’s stone buildings once housed convicts who worked on the Geraldine mine and local pastoral stations.

Lynton Hiring Station

Of course when you have convicts you also have to have a prison where you can put the ‘bad’ convicts.

Ruins of prison cells

Heaven knows where these convicts were going to escape to as there would have been nothing within hundreds of kilometres north, south and east.  And to the west, nothing but endless ocean – really it's like building a prison within a natural prison.

During our travels we have been intrigued by the continual sightings of these small round melons.  

Wok is bemused by all the melons

Not only do they grow along the sides of the roads, but also in newly ploughed fields, in grassed paddocks and now here on the rocky ground of the hiring station.  We have been told that they are called Pig Melons or Pie Melons and just grow wild.  Rumour has it that some of the early settler women used them as filling for pies with other fruits such as apples.  The melons have no real taste of their own and take on the taste of the fruit they are cooked with.  Other than that they don’t seem to have any other use whatsoever.  Maybe we will find out more about them as we travel on.  We take a side trip into Port Gregory where a couple of lobster boats were anchored.  

Lobster boats moored at Port Gregory

Port Gregory was to be the main port on this part of the coast but the encircling five kilometres of exposed coral reef proved too dangerous and the port was abandoned for a more suitable site.  Today it is a small fishing village that will probably stay just as it is, sleepy and isolated.  Just outside the town is Pink Lake.

Pink Lake is definitely pink ...

Its colour is created by the naturally occurring beta carotene and a factory processes this for import and export.  It is getting late in the day so we head north to Kalbarri and check into a caravan park for a couple of nights.  Surrounding the town of Kalbarri is national park and tomorrow we will leave the van and head out on some dirt roads to check out some of nature’s wonders, but that will be in the next blog ……

FUN with HERB and GWASSHOPPA

5^th May, 2012

Our nephew Gwasshoppa (aka Wayne) arrived safely at Perth and we whisked him back to York for a good night’s sleep before bundling him into Mitzi on Sunday morning and heading for the town of Toodyay where the Moondyne Joe Festival was in full swing.  Parking was at a premium in town but we managed to find a spot about a kilometre away from where the main street had been blocked off for the festivities.  There were lots of people wandering about checking out the classic and vintage cars

Wayne and Wok check out the classic cars

and Gwasshoppa and Wok were reliving their youth and drooling over any vehicle that was pre 1980’s.

Wok and Wayne picking out their favourite MG

In front of the main hotel a mock trial was underway

The trial of Moondyne Joe

with the non repentant Moondyne Joe explaining the reason why he was in the possession of the Magistrate’s horse.  Moondyne Joe was a larger than life character in the history of Western Australia and earned his fame by escaping numerous times from custody.  The town of Toodyay holds the festival once a year and mingling with the crowds are many folk dressed in period costume.

These three guys in colonial costumes were having a good time

We had a delightful morning wandering past the many stalls set up in the main street and looking at the old colonial buildings like Connors Mill.

Connors Mill in Toodyay

On Tuesday the three of us left early and headed into Perth Airport where we met our son Herb (aka Trent).  Then it was off into Perth for a bit of sightseeing.  We had been warned that parking in Perth was difficult and after checking out one car parking area and going around in circles for a while we were starting to believe the rumours.  We headed for some car parking areas near the WACA stadium and luckily ‘hawkeye’ Herb spotted a vacant space and we swooped on it like a seagull on a hot potato chip.  Perth (like Fremantle) also runs a free bus service around the central business district and there was a CAT bus stop right beside the parking area so we didn’t have long to wait.  A few stops later we hopped off the bus and walked across the road to the Perth Mint where we were in time to join the next tour through the facility.

Wayne, Trent and Wok have fun with two prospectors at the Perth Mint

After gold was discovered in the late 1800’s West Australia applied to the British Government to open a Royal Mint.  The mint is now run by the West Australian Government and is the oldest operational mint in Australia.  We watched as molten gold was poured into an ingot and couldn’t believe how quickly it took to cool down and be taken out of the mould.  Out in the courtyard Wok and Herb had fun playing with a replica of the largest nugget of gold ever found in the world – the ‘Welcome Nugget’.  The nugget was cut up into small pieces for melting but fortunately photos were taken of it before it was destroyed and with modern techniques the nugget was recreated from those photos.  Imagine finding a nugget that size!  It would be pretty hard to wipe the smile off your face for a long time we reckon  …

Wok and Trent have some fun with a replica of the Welcome Nugget



And Wayne tries to show them up by doing it all himself

Touring the mint was pretty thirsty work so a spot of lunch at the Grosvenor Hotel across the road seemed like a capital idea.

Trent, Wok and Wayne tuck into a huge steak sandwich with chips

Suitably replenished we continued on our merry way on the CAT bus and hopped off at the ferry terminal where we headed for the Swan Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower in Perth

At the top of the tower we got a lovely view of the city

Wok checks out the Perth cityscape

and the Swan River.

View of the Swan River from the Bell Tower

Then it was time to get into the swing of things and the guys did a great job of ringing the bells

Wayne, Trent and Wok - the slap happy bell ringers

albeit a wee bit out of time.  The bells were made in England over 100 years ago and volunteer bell ringers still belt out a decent tune.

The Swan Bells are some very serious looking bells - heavy too

A quick stop at the ice cream shop on the jetty was next on the ‘to do’ list and then it was back on the CAT bus for a tour around the city of Perth.  We finally arrived back at the WACA car park late in the afternoon and headed home to York.  The drive out of the city took a bit longer than expected as we got tangled up with all the workers going home for the day but once on the outskirts we motored along quite nicely.  A visit to Wave Rock was on the next day’s agenda – it was approx. 500 kms there and back but this time no problems with traffic.  Just open road and lots of empty wheat fields waiting to be sown.  When we got there the guys had a play on the Rock

Trent does some rock surfing while Wayne surfs the top of the wave

and then walked along the base to Hippo’s Yawn where Herb decided to check out the view from the top.

Trent gets a different perspective at the Hippo's Yawn

We had a rest day on Thursday and on Friday drove to Fremantle.  We dropped Herb and Gwasshoppa off at the Fremantle Prison to do a tour while we took Mitzi to a free car park and caught the CAT bus back into town.  As we had already been on two tours through the prison we didn’t feel the need to go again so we met up with them at the prison when their tour finished.

Fremantle Prison

While we waited for them we checked out some of the buildings attached to the prison walls which housed the Prison Superintendant, Chaplain and Doctor.

Fremantle Prison residences

Herb and Gwasshoppa enjoyed their prison tour and we walked down past the Fremantle AFL (Australian Rules Football) grounds where a bronze statue of two players graces the middle of a roundabout in front of the stadium entrance.

Bronze Statue outside Fremantle AFL Stadium

We wandered through the markets and down the streets to the marina where Cicerello’s Restaurant caught our eye.

Cicerello's Restaurant on the waterfront in Fremantle

This had to be the place to try a feed of ‘fish and chips’ and we ordered four ‘Senior Specials’ even though Herb is far from being a Senior yet.

Trent, Wayne and Wok enjoying their fish and chips

For $12 each we got a meal of fish and chips, mug of cappuccino or tea and a gelato in a cone (our choice of flavour).  As the gelato alone usually costs about $3.50 as did the cappuccino we thought it was good value.  We were more than pleased when it all tasted pretty good as well.  After lunch we wandered around the marina and ran across some more bronze figures going about their daily chores.  Robyn was intrigued to see what this fisherman had in his basket

Hmmmm  .....  what do you have in there?

and Wok was going to give him a helping hand.

G'day mate - let me give you a hand with that basket.

Another bronze figure at the end of the jetty was checking out his crab pots.

Trent, Robyn and Wok with the crab fisherman

Across from the restaurant was the Shipwrecks Gallery Museum and we spent quite some time looking through the exhibits once again while Herb and Gwasshoppa saw it for the first time.

Trent, Wok and Wayne outside the Shipwreck Galleries Museum

Then we wandered along the foreshore to the Whalers Tunnel which was cut through the limestone to make it easier to drag the whales to the processing plant

The Three Amigos outside the Whalers Tunnel

and then we climbed up to the Roundhouse (the oldest building in West Australia) built by the first settlers to house prisoners.

Wayne, Trent and Wok at the Round House

We walked up the Victorian building lined street to the centre of Fremantle

Victorian Buildings in Fremantle

where the guys decided to try some of the ’43 Beers on Tap’ at the hotel near the markets.

Are you sure you're drinking beer Gwasshoppa?

Then it was time to hop on the CAT bus and head back to Mitzi.  We took Herb and Gwasshoppa to C.Y. O’Connor Beach before heading back to York.

Wayne, Wok and Trent on C.Y. O'Connor Beach

They had not heard the story of Charles Yelverton O’Connor so while they dipped their toes in the Indian Ocean, Wok did a quick rundown for them

Wok tells Wayne and Trent the story of C.Y. O'Connor

while the bronze figure of horse and rider splashed in the waves.

Horse and Rider brave the waves

On the Saturday we went for a long drive again.  This time we headed North West to the coast and drove north.  We stopped at Lancelin and had a nice ‘pub lunch’ overlooking the bay and then continued on up the coast.  We had seen many wildlife signs before but this one caught our eye.

Road sign near Lancelin

Kangaroos and Emus are usually easy to spot but we were pretty sure that an Echidna would be next to impossible unless it was going to sit in the middle of the road and wait for us.  We did see some live wild emus along the road and some kangaroo roadkill but no echidnas came out to watch us pass by.  Finally we arrived at our destination – Nambung National Park.  Inside the park are The Pinnacles – limestone structures that have been buried in the shifting sand.  We drive along the winding sandy track between the structures.

Driving through the Pinnacles

It’s a weird landscape and we stop frequently to have a look.

Mitzi parked in the Pinnacles Desert

Herb finds a pinnacle to have a bit of fun with

Now you see me .....



And now you don't  ...

and then decides to walk the rest of the way through the pinnacle desert while we do the circuitous route in Mitzi.

Trent finishes his walk through the desert

We rendezvous with him near the exit of the sandy desert and then stop at the Interpretation Centre to get a better idea of why the pinnacles have formed and what flora and fauna is in the area.  It’s a fascinating place and once again mother nature has outdone herself.  It was a long drive back to York and we were all tired by the time we got back.  The next day was Sunday – Mother’s Day and Herb had booked a table for us all at ‘C Restaurant’ in Perth that night.  Both Herb and Gwasshoppa were booked on late night flights back to Sydney and Brisbane later that night so in the afternoon they packed their bags and we hopped in Mitzi and headed into Perth for dinner.  Parking was easy to get as apart from a few restaurants that were open the city seemed to be deserted.  We took a walk up an interesting alleyway that was made to look like an olde English shopping lane.

The three amigos meander down the lane

In the mall area we ran across this bronze figure doing a hand stand

Couldn't get any of the guys to do a handstand .....

and in front of the building that housed our restaurant a row of bronze figures portrayed the evolution of the modern day businessman.

Trent and Wayne join the walk to an imaginery workplace

We had a bit of trouble trying to get to the 33^rd floor as the elevators wouldn’t go up and after three attempts the restaurant staff finally managed to get the lifts unlocked to allow us to get to their floor.  And what a floor!  The restaurant was a ‘revolving restaurant’ and from the 33^rd floor we had a fantastic view of Perth and beyond.

Robyn, Wayne, Trent and Wok enjoying the view from the revolving restaurant in Perth

It took one and a half hours for the restaurant to do a full 360 degree circle and when we weren’t drinking and eating we were staring out the window at the view.  It was a lovely way to finish Herb and Gwasshoppa’s visit with us and after dinner we dropped them off at Perth airport where they had a few hours wait for their ‘redeye’ flights home.  It was kind of sad to see them go as we had enjoyed spending the last week with them.  Perhaps we may do it all again another time ….