Heading home

Sadly, our trip is nearly complete. 

We made our way across the borders into South Australia and New South Wales again. 

We went to a fascinating steamtrain museum during the day at Peterborough and returned at night to watch a light and sound show about the history of the town and rail. 

Our last nights are to be spent in Broken Hill, Cobar and Dubbo. 

I will have been through 4 states and many different environments but somehow home just seems the best! 

A land of diversity

From the mountains to the plains, from the dry to the wet weather, Australia has such diverse environments. We have been through harsh, isolated, dry country with sparse populations to bustling cities near the bluest of ocean waters beneath gigantic cliffs, to mining towns in the country, then  to shipping ports and smelters on the coast. 

This was the first ship built by BHP at Whyalla so it was called Whyalla. It served in World War 2 and then was decommissioned for other duties. Now it has become a proud museum. 

This is the port of Whyalla. It is still active, loading ore onto ships out of the port as the harbour is too shallow for them to come closer.

I loved the creativity and ingenuity that produced these horses pulling a plough that represents the wheat belts of South Australia. They are made of sheets of corrugated iron like paper tolle. Their heads are on a spring so they nod in the wind.

This was only one quarter of a model railway representing the transporting of ore from the mining areas on one side and the towns and ports on this side. 

I am sure there are many interesting things to see in each town but I will have to return to see them another day. I just can't fit it all in this trip.

Blue skies

Blue skies, ocean and our caravans at Elliston in South Australia. We have since driven on to Port Lincoln which has a large shipping port for exporting wheat and it is also a busy fishing port. 

This fellow is one of the sculptures on the scenic drive at Elliston. He reminds me of Humpty Dumpty so he had better be careful not to ride too close to the cliff edge and fall off! 

Goodbye WA

......and this is only part of the Nullarbour trip! 

I set the GPS for our next goal - Port Lincoln. As you can see, we are a long way from our destination and will not be turning off the straight road across the Nullarbor for a long time, 1,182kms in fact! 

Tonight we are camping by the side of the road along with 6 other caravaners. The sky is clear and I enjoyed dinner outside and watched the beautiful starry sky and full moon for a while. We like to hold a competition to see who will spot the first shooting star or satellite but nobody was able to see any tonight. I think the moon was too bright. Maybe we will see some tomorrow evening. 

Remember this?

For those of us who grew up in the 1940s and 1950s this will bring both fond and fearful memories: the smell, the flies, the cold weather walk at night time, the frogs and spiders, the possibility of a snake and the newspaper on a nail for toilet paper....oh, and let's not forget the fear of falling in! 

The funny thing is that sometimes on a trip to the outback, one of these would be a welcome sight for me today. 

Fun songs and bush yarns were written about toilets like "There was a red back on the toilet seat". 

Australian slang renamed them "dunnies" and other equally unpleasant names.

Lots of character and lots of memories. 

This one was at the museum at Kalgoorlie along with a Coolgardie safe. 

The Coolgardie safe was made for the gold prospectors to keep their food fresh for longer. It was made from a metal frame with hessian on the sides which was kept damp by pouring water, twice a day, into a container on top. There were strips of felt hanging from within the water container so that they were in contact with the hessian. Water was absorbed by the felt and transferred to the hessian and as the breeze blew past it would evaporate the water and would keep it cooled. I think I will keep my electric fridge! 

Kalgoorlie

We have spent the last few days in Kalgoorlie which is a very old large regional town based on gold mining. This is the huge super pit. Look how tiny the huge big mining trucks appear to be, within this massively wide and deep hole! The work is very dangerous as can be seen by the rockfalls. They are drilling underground.  The trucks are filled with rock containing gold and make their way out of the underground and proceed very slowly to climb out to the top where they tip their load and go back for more. It takes about an hour to do the trip. 

Most of our visit to Kalgoorlie has been spent researching the colourful history of the development of mining from small individual claims up to this massive pit. 

Although the town is isolated, it provides almost everything people need for a good life. Unfortunately the gold will run out in 2021 so the people are wondering what will happen to their jobs and the town when the pit is shut down. Will Kalgoorlie become a ghost town like other mining towns in the past after the gold rush was over? What will happen to this gaping hole in the environment? What alternative use could a hole this big have in the future? How could the natural vegetation possibly be re-established? What will happen to house prices? What work will the people do if there isn't any mining? It will not only affect the miners, but also the mechanics, the engineers, the nurses, teachers, butchers etc. 

Trains

We had to give way to a wheat train today that had 116 grain trucks on it!

Most of the towns in the outback have a small shop or roadhouse and sometimes a hotel. That's it! 

Mapping our route

My job, as we drive along these many, many kilometers, is to direct the driver and give a commentary on what is around us (tourist attractions, historical points of interest etc). I live my life on the road with a map on my lap, my eyes peeled for signs and my trusty iPhone or iPad at hand when I can get reception. 

Sometimes my spelling might need a check as I often type as we drive along and I am not editing my work thoroughly. :( sorry. 

Off to Kalgoorlie now. Following the golden pipeline that took water to the mining towns from the west coast to the central or  eastern isolated towns. 

We have passed the rabbit proof fence where it crossed the Great Eastern Highway. This is wheat country but more sparsely spread than down south. 

Meekering , that we passed through this morning, was the site of an earthquake in 1968. It caused a lot of damage and it registered 9 on the Richter scale. It brought town buildings down and buckled the railway track.

 

There has also been a lot of salt water rising on the plains, ruining waterholes and land. 

Perth is 260km behind us now and Kalgoorlie is 320km ahead. Australia is certainly a wide diverse country.

Windy and wet

We have been in Perth for a few days. It has been very windy and raining everyday. 

Today we travelled by bus to Fremantle from the caravan park and then by train to Perth. We caught a free bus to Kings Park where I was hoping to see a wildflower exhibition. Unfortunately the bus driver did not tell us how far it was to walk from the bus stop. It was a very long way in the driving rain. By the time we arrived at the first shelter, we were soaked to our bones. We trudged on to the Information Centre and had a warm coffee.

 Because we were already wet through, we decided to continue on the self guided tour of the Botanic Gardens. However, the wind was so strong we couldn't even look up to see any plants but had to hold the hoods on our rain jackets and keep our faces downward to avoid the piercing wind chill. Half way to the wildflowers we decided to turn back along another path and give up our quest for to see them. 

Our next plan was to make it to the bus stop again to get back into the city and then to the quay to catch a ferry back to Fremantle. The rain had eased so we began our cold trek,  made worse by the fact that our bodies were freezing in wet clothes. 

When we arrived at the quay we agreed that we had covered 5km in the heavy rain and biting wind. None of us were impressed by Perth at that stage! 

Fortunately, the trip down the Swan River was pleasant and a free cup of hot coffee was a welcome surprise.

Arriving back at the caravan park by bus, we all made a bee-line for warm dry clothing. I snuggled into a blanket and haven't moved since. 

What a challenging day! 

I was cold and wet all day! 

The ferry ride was a dry relief from the weather outside. 

The Silk Farm

Today we saw a very unusual farm - a silk farm. The farmer raises silk worms in very carefully controlled conditions and harvests their silk to send overseas to Cambodia. He has an arrangement with some villages there so that the people will wash and then spin the silk into threads. They add some of their silk too as he can not produce enough yet. They weave the threads into scarves and material and sell it back to him for his shop at the farm. The people are poor and are happy to have the work to get money for their families.

Farming silk worms is very complicated. This farm at Margaret River in Western Australia is the first and only  silk farm in Australia.

 The silk worm eggs are frozen so that they are tricked into thinking they had a winter season then warmed again so that they hatch, much faster than they would under natural conditions. Special mulberry trees are grown under a hothouse for year round food for the silk worms.Iit was very interesting and quite unusual. 

The silk worms are put into round tray holes so the cocoon is rounded in shape. It is easier to harvest and spin the silk from a rounded cocoon.

The worms (caterpillars) are raised in little dishes that are cleaned out regularly so they have only fresh leaves  to eat and a clean environment. Every egg is tracked through its stages including age, quality of cocoon, colour and size. 

The parent moths  can not fly. The eggs turn dark in colour after a few days. The female is the biggest moth. 

Valley of the Giants

Giant trees grow in the southern forests of WA. They are called Tingle trees. They have huge hollows left  in their trunks due to fires and attack by fungi. The hollow then grows as the tree grows. The hollow is big enough for a car to drive through in some of the tingles. We walked above the tree canopy on a suspended sky walk. It was quite scary as it swung from side to side as we walked, 40 feet above ground level. Quokkas live in the undergrowth and make "runnels" not tunnels. They forage on the forest floor at night so we couldn't spot any on our walk in the daytime. Sometimes disease or insects make burls grow on the tree. One tree in the forest at the skywalk is called "the  Grandma Tingle" tree because the burls have made it look like an old woman. 

This suspension bridge swayed as we walked across it. I did not feel comfortable! It was a loooong way down to the ground. 

 I don't know how this massive , tall tree can still support itself with such a big hollow in its trunk.

 

This is the Grandma tree.

Quokkas are nocturnal animals. 

Seals

I haven't seen any seals yet but they live along the rocky shores of this area. The southern ocean can be wild! I don't want to be a seal in this rough sea! 

Wildflowers

We went on a wildflower hunt today to find this teeny tiny orchid in the bush. 

O and X

What a great fun idea for an easy and cheap playground game. Old lino was used for the noughts and crosses. Strips of rubber were used for the lines. 

Life in a caravan

This is what my caravan is like and this is how we manage in a house on wheels.

Our BEDS.

 When it is windy we are  rocked to and fro like on a boat. It can also be a bit noisy but it is usually dry, warm and comfortable. 

COOKING

I can cook using electricity (in a microwave oven) or gas (on the stove). I don't have as many pots and pans as I do at home but I have all I need. I sometimes have to use some ingenuity to make one-pot meals. There is only a very small fridge in the van so we have another one in the back of our vehicle. 

Sometimes the fridge uses a special battery that is kept under the seats in the van. I have to think carefully about how much food to buy as I can't fit much in the small fridge and small cupboards. There isn't any room for icecream! 

EATING

We are pleased to be able to sit inside at the little table when it is raining or cold, but mostly we eat outside on stable tables on our laps. 

STORAGE

My caravan has a pop top roof so the roof folds down about 60cm when we are going to tow it to the next location. Along the walls and under the beds there is plenty of space to put clothes and food. Everything has a place and everything has to be put back in that place otherwise things would fall off the tables and beds as we drive along. We use a lot of plastic boxes, bags and containers as they withstand the bumping around and stop our items getting broken.

My pantry.....

 TOILETS and SHOWERING

Unfortunately our caravan is too small to have a shower and toilet in it. Some caravans do and some caravans even have washing machines in them. 

I have to find public toilets on the trip and occasionally have to miss having a shower for a day or two. I use a washbasin of course for a quick clean. That's the fun of camping - doing things differently. 

When we stop at a caravan park we can use the special amenities block that they provide. We have to pay to use them. I have to pack my towel, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, hair brush and clothes in a bag and walk over to the facilities. It can be quite chilly in the early morning sometimes.

It is a long way over to some amenities blocks. 

I love camping and travelling in the caravan. I meet lots of new people and see fascinating new things. I never know what will be around the next corner.

Let the pictures do the talking