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August
2005 |
August
1st Here we are into the last month of our Walkabout and trying to gauge how long it will take us to get to Melbourne, everyone around the campfire last night were of the opinion that we would miss the Ferry. Ray accompanied me on my walk this morning and he informed me that they don't intend to return to Tassie until November next year, they will be visiting their children in the various states and then coming south for the summer months. We have decided that we will put a few Kilometres under our belt since finding out that it is a public holiday in Port and South Headland today, we packed and said our final farewells to both Bill & Margaret and Ray and Leslie vowing to meet them again when we come over again in two years, they have been wonderful couples to catch up with now and again. It was a pleasant morning when we started off with a tail breeze which will make up for the horrible fuel consumption during part of last week, the countryside is flat with plenty of greenery and water in the various holes and parts of the creeks, we can only assume that they had plenty of rain recently. |
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Countryside
prior to Port Headland |
Mountain
of Salt at Port Headland |
Salt settling
ponds |
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We
were thirty Kilometres out of Port Headland and we could see the mountain
of Salt as clear as a bell, this was due to the flatness of the plains
as far as you could see, When we arrived we parked up in the salt operations
car park and went up on the overpass to take photo's of the mountain of
Salt after refining before it is shipped on a conveyor belt to the Port
for shipment overseas, also we viewed the salt evaporation bays. We decided to unhook Digger and go the last 10 Kilometres into Port Headland for we are going to buy our groceries and fuel in South Headland later in the day. When we went into the town the shops were closed for the public holiday with only supermarkets and hotels open, we went down to the Port proper and what a pleasant surprise to see what they have done to the area since were here six years ago. There is now a lot of public space and facilities that have cleaned the area up immensely though they still have that pink tinge over everything due to the iron ore facility close by. We were to see lots of silver trevally being caught and I just couldn't be bothered going back to the Motorhome to get our fishing gear. We were to witness four tugs placing a huge overseas ore carrier alongside the wharf plus a fuel tanker leaving the Port, there were five ore carriers anchored outside the harbour awaiting their turn to berth. We had done the loading facility tour on the last occasion so we thought that we would move on down the highway for there was nothing open to keep us in the town. It didnt matter where we drove there was this pink tinge over everything and even the salt stockpiled for shipment at the port had its out layer coated in iron ore dust.(we recall that B.H.P. reimburse the salt company for their loss's due to the dust) We drew some cash from the ATM and headed of to South Headland, whilst we were hooking up Digger we were to witness the 3 Kilometre train and ore carriages coming into the port area, we thought that it was never going to end with two engines in the front and two in the middle all operated by computer from the front engine, there is only one driver on board and no guards; this was something we learnt on our last trip here. We stocked up with groceries and grog then naughty us went over to have a big Mac and chips and coke followed by a soft serve ice cream, it was lovely junk tucker though it was to weigh heavy on our journey later, we then fuelled up at $1.23.9 cents a litre (we took on 89.89 litres) and we were on our way, we passed the huge iron ore factory that makes (we have since learnt that it is closed and in caretaker mode) the ore ingots and the many industries that support the iron ore industry in general. Back on the road and what can we say the scenery is just world class with grassy plains and the Pilbara Mountain Range in the background extremely pretty and we were to come across a section that had boulders strewn all over not unlike the Devils Marbles in Northern Territory, it was hard to imagine when we turned off to head towards Newman that the scenery just improved which took the boredom out of the trip, again the green of the paper barks and ghost gums and ochre coloured plains and mountains were something to remind you that you were looking at something special though hard to describe in full detail. It was five o'clock before we pulled into a rest area and given what we had for lunch we opted for a couple of cold chicken and lettuce rolls washed down with beer and wine. We are both a bit weary so it will be an early night reading and then off to sleep for we want to be in Newman tomorrow around lunch time. Kilometres travelled 316 |
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Ore
stained Salt at Port |
Section
of loading facilities at Port |
Ship docking
to load Ore |
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August 2nd Another fine morning with clear skies though the morning temperature had dropped to 14 degrees, I kept my walk this morning short for we wanted to be on the road pretty early. surprisingly I had to use the glow plugs to start the truck this morning. The sun rising washed the nearby hills near our camp with shadows they looked really good . On the road and we were climbing; which we would do for the next two hours as we wound our way through the beautiful Munjina Gorge, it is difficult to describe the splendour of the mountain ranges, gullies and gorges for they change colours according to where the sun is at that time of day. We both agree that this is truly magnificent country and well worth the trip, we were soon out of the gorge and going through plains with mountain ranges in the distance. We came across the turn off to the Karajini Gorges which are supposed to be the major tourist destination in the National Park though unfortunately we decided to press on for the township of Newman |
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Our
Bush Camp |
Across
from our camp |
Road through
Munjina Gorge |
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The countryside was an never ending kaleidoscope
of colour and scenery that went for as far as the eye could see, we were
to pass many indigenous villages set back from the highway and they listed
many different tribes in the area. We finally arrived at Newman a township
created to service the large Iron Ore mines in the area, the population
is 12,600 which includes the large indigenous population. The township is well laid out with mining quarters, housing and the town centre for shopping and a light industrial area that services the mine. We went into Woolworth's and bought a few items and then we had lunch in the Chicken place which is not unlike Kentucky chicken, goodness gracious two junk lunches two days in a row! We then explored the shopping centre, whilst there a flock of Corella's flew in and I couldn't stop laughing for instead of being white like other areas they had that pinkish tinge of the iron ore on their feathers. We then drove up to the tourist centre unhooked Digger and went driving around the residential area and then up to the Look out and took photo's of different parts of the town and the mine workings at Mt Newman. The colours of the ranges and rocks are magnificent as far as the eye can see, we elected not to stay in the town and do the mine tour, just top up with fuel and on our way, shock horror the price of Diesel was $1.40.9 so I only took on $60 dollars worth to get us to Meekatharra. Back on the road and we were surprised to see their airport is some 20 Kilometres from the town centre maybe because this is the only flat ground in the area available to them. It was noticeable the amount of road trains, there seemed to be a never ending line of them coming up and also down, when you think of it this is the quickest way to Perth rather than the coastal highway. There appears to be plenty of water in the dams and areas of the floodways and the cattle look in good condition with many just grazing alongside the highway oblivious to traffic. We had one road train follow us and we finally went off the highway to let him past, no sooner had he passed than one of the ramps on the third trailer dropped down on the highway, we called him on the UHF and alerted him to this. He pulled over and we stopped to help him raise the ramp, unfortunately he did not have the necessary hydraulic connection to bring it back up so it was use chain and three twitches to raise it an inch at a time, after one hour we were back on the road with the bloke thanking us for our assistance while he continued on to finish the tie down. As we drove along we came across the cairn which signified that we had just crossed the Tropic of Capricorn so now we are officially out of the tropics we can look forward to the cold weather as we move south, could this mean the end of shorts and singlet? The people of Newman were getting around were getting around in jeans, jumpers or flannelette shirts they think that 28 degrees is cold! We drove until 5 pm when the road train passed us again and we said our farewells and we started looking for a bush camp for the night which we found, so it was a late happy hour tonight and then we had tea and retired to the Motorhome not bothering to have a fire tonight for we are pretty tuckered out. It will be off to bed to read about 8 o' clock or thereabouts and then put a few more Kilometres under our belt tomorrow. Kilometres travelled 372 |
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Township
of Newman |
Mt Newman
Mine |
Ore truck
at Tourist Centre |
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August 3rd Clouds, southerly wind equals trackies plus jumper, no shorts or singlet this morning on my walk, it was a bit of a shock to wake up to the colder weather; so quick to occur on way south. Having adjusted to the cold by rugging up, Packing up and then on the road by 8 am heading down the highway towards Meekatharra in the Gascoyne ranges and of course gold country, they boast wild flowers this time of the year so we look forward to seeing them. After 50 Kilometres we came across the Kumarina Road House where diesel was $1.52.5 cents a litre which we gave a miss, the Road House is the most basic and run down that we have seen to date and it was obvious that they generate their own power. Having said that, the showers were not flash though there was an abundance of hot bore water for which we paid $2 each and they were beautiful. Being able to stand under them longer than you do in your Motorhome, due to self imposed water restrictions, was really great. Whilst there a woman said to Liz " why is it that you travel so slow, is it because you are towing a car" Liz replied " didn't we get fuel at the same service station in Port Headland and leave to come south at the same time? No response, after all we are leaving this roadhouse at the same time as them also, what a strange question to ask given that we recall them leaving Newman a half hour before us yesterday. As Liz stated "over three hundred Kilometres you may faster though we are only about a half hour behind you and we have seen everything around the countryside not just a white line". I never said a word, well done Liz! The countryside again had flattened out to plains as far as the eye can see, the red dirt and gravel is still with us and the ghost gums look splendid mixed in with the other spinifex and spear grass. There is a lot of cattle grazing on the side of the road and you only have to watch out for the poddy calves who do silly things. These are only cattle that the road trains have hit, and there are heaps of them, road trains I mean, a never ending procession of them certainly more than on the Northern Territory roads. At last we were to drive out of the cloudy skies and it only left the wind that had gone around to the south east and therefore on the side of the van, We could see mountain ranges in the distance and it wasn't all that long before we were skirting these ochre and green coloured mountains, beautiful. We have decided to park up early today so we have opted for another bush camp rather than a rest area which are becoming quite packed mostly with caravans. We have driven off the back of a truck parking bay and into the bush for about a Kilometre, no way you can see us from the road and tonight we will have a camp fire it doesn't matter how cold it gets, just chuck another log on the fire mate! In the meantime Liz is catching up with a bit of washing and I have had a bit of joke with liz about non ironing of my shorts or t-shirts, for awhile I think she thought I was serious, was I? Well, I am off outside in the sun, though the temperature is only 19 degrees and read a little and do nothing other than gather wood for the rest of the day. PS just had to have another photo of the road through the Munjina Gorge in the diary. Kilometres travelled 191 |
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Highway
through Munjina Gorge |
Bush Camp
on the 3rd |
Liz washing,
note trackies & jumper |
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August 4th 7 degrees at 7am it was cold mate! We will now have to acclimatise quickly as we move further down south, the usual walk this morning and then on the road. The countryside was changing to flat open county with the type of bush the cattle eat; for there is no grass and of course that never ending red soil and gravel as far as you can see. It might have been cold this morning for we were in our long trackies and jumpers and though sunny with no clouds the wind was at our tail again, which is great for our fuel economy not for those travelling up to the warmer climes. We were only a hundred plus Kilometres out of Meekatharra and we were passing what the locals now call their homesteads which again were huge cattle stations, we also came upon a sign that indicated that we were crossing the "126th Parallel". We arrived in Meekatharra at about 11am and parked up at the information bay and disconnected Digger and drove back into the town centre. |
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Our
Bush Camp fire last night |
Wildflower
snapped on walk this morning |
Countryside
changing along highway |
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The main street was very
clean and tidy with the buildings looking as they have been freshly painted,
we were to discover that the Gold Mining in all the open cuts in the surrounding
had ceased and only limited exploration was now being carried out. This
of course has meant that the life blood of the town has been effected
immensely and thus the closure of many shops including one supermarket
which has now left Woolworth's with a monopoly in the town. There are
three Hotels and a Woollies liquor outlet for such a small town population,
the loss of miners must surely have had an affect. By all accounts the Shire council is attempting to turn the economy more to tourism to rejuvenate the town, a local told us that a native of the town had won 15 million dollars earlier in the year and has given many hundreds of thousands to the town and the Shire to help the turnaround. It is easy to see the work that has been carried out that in turn makes the town so clean and tidy, they have instigated tourism trails around gold mining areas and the early pioneer days, which includes the towns contribution to both World Wars. |
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Meekatharra
from lookout |
Meekatharra
open air Movies |
Peace Gorge |
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We went up to their newly
built lookout containing interpretation boards and took a photo of the
town and the open cut mine that is located on both sides of the highway
within the town limits, closed now of course. Then we went and had a look
at the various landmarks in the town and especially the outdoor picture
theatre that certainly gets plenty of patronage during the dry part of
the year. The population is 1200 in the town and 1600 in the surrounding district; the town is mainly aboriginal with the exception of the outlying areas that are made up of miners and farm hands. We bought a paper, a loaf of bread at Woollies and then went out and had a look at the Peace Gorge, which the locals use as a picnic area and the signage informs you that in both world wars those men going away would take their loved ones out to the area for a final picnic before going off to war. It wouldn't be us if we didnt take a look in the local second hand shop, would it, as it has just opened there was not much only second hand clothes which we gave a miss. |
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Defunct
open cut gold mine |
Another
open cut closed |
And another
closed |
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Given the main street
being so clean we drove around the back streets and they were neat with
the exception of a few and there were a lot of new houses built recently
for the aboriginal people along with service buildings. We departed the town not disappointed for it had more life than you thought at first glance, we were to stop on several occasions along the highway to look at the huge open cut gold mines now closed, they are all starting to fill with water which ranges from blue to green dependant on the earth colour. |
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White
wild flowers as far as you can see |
Yellow
wild Flowers |
White&Mauve
wild flowers |
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For the next forty Kilometres
we were to see mining taking place and the huge hills of Mullock from
the open cuts, then surprise the wild flowers were starting to blossom,
there were white, yellow, mauve, purple and pink. The white and yellow
flowers were predominant laying out like a carpet beside the highway and
back into the bush. By all accounts they get even better as we move down, which will be great for they break the boredom of the highway travel. Again today the number of road trains has been staggering especially carrying mining equipment, how far they travel we do not know though we have seen regularly Broome Transport trailers going north and south. We have pulled up beside a lake about 20 Kilometres out of Cue for the night, though no television and wood is a bit hard to get if we have a fire then we need to burn our supply for the fire pot. Kilometres travelled 244 |
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Township
of Cue |
Post Office
Cue |
1898 Masonic
Lodge |
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August 5th We have decided to stay another day by beautiful Lake Nallan; complete with all its birdlife, cold again? of course only 6 degrees though it rose to a nice cool 26 degrees later in the day. Yes, I went for my walk again, though my food intake has increased along with my weight I suspect we will have to see what it is when we reach Kalgoorlie. As we are staying here another night repairs were the order of the morning, though minor they are just an annoyance, fixed Liz's chair and one door catch then washed Digger again with water from the Lake. The Motorhome has not been washed since we left home though it hasn't faired as bad as Digger, After washing we unhooked Digger and decided to drive into Cue which is only 20 Kilometres down the highway, it will save us stopping tomorrow. What a pleasant surprise. When we arrived given the population is only around 500 mostly aborigine, the old building are enormous with there reddish and white stone and the locals and the shire have gone to great lengths to restore them to their original condition and detail. We went up to the lookout and it gave us a good outlook over the town and the surrounding district, of course the township was founded on Gold, we could see one of the last remaining Gold Mines working in the distance; on this occasion it appeared to be an underground operation. Then down into the town proper and had a look at all the old buildings, we went into a general store and it is still equipped with the cable wire to send the money from a sale at the counter to the cashier sitting in her office, the last time I saw one of these was nearly forty five years ago in Palfremens in Launceston. The rest of the shop gave you the impression that you had just stepped back into the 18 century though their prices were very modern, thank you very much. It is always difficult to select the photo's in a given day that are taken, for there are so many and they all warrant a place, like the old jail which now forms part of the caravan park, the 1898 Masonic Lodge, which in not used for that purpose now is protected by the Heritage Commission who in conjunction with the owners are in the early stages of restoring the building. Many of the old windows glass has been smashed with rocks, which is a pity. This building boasts that it is the oldest remaining pressed steel (small corrugates of iron sheeting) building in Australia, it is quite impressive to look at, we would like to see it when it restored. We had a good look around the town bought the paper and met a woman who stated that she used to live in Ulverstone as a child before moving to Melbourne and then Cue, then it was back to the lake and what a pleasant surprise more wildflowers had appeared and they dotted each side of the highway and well back into the bush. It is difficult to show all the photo's of these beautiful flowers and there are still many more to blossom out, it would appear that they are coming early this year so we look forward to seeing more as move down the highway over the next couple of days. There is no doubt that Western Australia is famous for its Wildflowers (click on this for a sample of what we have seen) and are something to behold especially as you drive along, they are each side of the highway, very relaxing and soothing indeed. During the afternoon we just relaxed and walked around the lake and prepared for our shower, had tea and then settled in to watch the footie of Television. It may not sound like it though it has been a full on day plus talking to the fellow campers around the Lake. |
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Lake Nallan Camp |
Birdlife Lake Nallan |
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August 6th I am going to have to change the time I walk each day from here on in, for this morning the temperature at 7am was 5 degrees and there was a frost on poor old Digger when I went outside, it was that cold that when a road train went past me it created such a breeze that that my ears suffered the rush of cold air to the extent I dare not touch them in case they snapped off. As is the case after a frost the day was sunny and not a cloud in the sky again, so we were away from a pleasant camp at Lake Nallan which is now producing wildflowers at a great rate. As we went along we not disappointed at the show of flowers that stretched into the bush as far as you could see with more pinkish and mauve flowers appearing. We were to come on to a section that was obviously flood plain which was full of salt bush and you could see the saltation appearing, then in the distance we could see hills and it was clear to see that they were man made, this later was to prove true. Before we knew it, we were in Mount Magnet which boasts a population of 1200, there is still gold mining taking place both underground and by the open cut method. The tourist centre is closed so we used books that we had obtained back up the road to discover what the town had to offer. We unhooked Digger and checked out the price of fuel first and found we could get 4cents a litre discount from BP if we gave them the coupon out the Cooks Tours "Amazing North" ( they are free and everyone should obtain one as soon as possible for they relate to most all towns and cities in top end of West Australia) which bought the cost down to $1.34.9 cents a litre, diesel of course, we also refilled the generator container. We then took a trip out past the Gold Fields and on up to the Lookout which is about 5 Kilometres from the town centre and here we were able to view the Mount Magnet township in the distance and the open cut mining as well as the five Mine Winders used in the underground mining. They say they use the open cut method to gain the less productive gold and underground chasing the rich veins. There are massive hills of overburden and mullock as far as you can see. At times you have to share the road with 80 tonne ore carriers, most of the mining appears to be carried out by Harmony mining and there are conveyer belts traversing the fields as well. We then went out to the Granites to see the formations and the amphitheatre, it is all very pristine and there was free camping in this area until they put a caravan park in the middle of town, needless to say there are No Camping signs everywhere, which is sad for it was a top camping into the second hand store as well, then we had lunch, felt there was nothing else to hold over to see and re-fuelled and then headed off the main highway and headed towards Sandstone, which will eventually bring us out at Kalgoorlie. It was still a sunny day with little wind and the wildflowers were now only appearing spasmodically, the countryside is flat and we were to see our first Emu's and wild goats, which we could smell even though they were 200 metres from us. Sheep were also appearing though heaven knows what they are eating for there is not a blade of grass to be seen anywhere just bush with no gums plus a few wattles that are starting to flower. We came across a rest area 100 kilometres out of Mount Magnet took one look and thought it may get a little crowded so we travelled another 20 Kilometres on and set up a bush camp off the road back in the bush and there is plenty of dry wood laying on the ground so a fire will be the order tonight. Liz as usual decided to wash the cloths and then we will relax for the rest of the afternoon. A bit of bad news is that the book that Liz keeps a record of all the mileage, fuel for the generator, Digger and the Motorhome as well as the rest areas and bush camps we have stayed at has some how been lost in Mount Magnet, to make it worse it also contains the same details of our trip in 2001. The last we recall of it is that Liz was showing me the fuel docket which is kept in the book, maybe it fell out of the Motorhome when we re-hitched Digger and we did not notice it. Oh! well it's not the end of the world. Kilometres travelled 178 |
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Mining
with Mount Magnet in the distance |
Open Cut
& Underground Mine |
The Granites
and Caves |
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August 7th We sat out by the fire last night enjoying the peace and tranquility that a bush camp delivers, above us, in all their splendour were the brilliant stars and milky way, of course we had a longer than usual happy hour. This morning it was 4 degrees though the sun coming up over the trees in a cloudless sky was a bonus and it didnt take all that long to warm up.We were on our way later this morning for we hung to the bed longer than normal, given that Liz has taken the summer Doona off the bed and replaced it with the winter Doona, very snug indeed. Yes I took my usual walk this morning. On the road into a head breeze that didn't seem to hold us back , we were to pass the brilliant wildflowers again and it is to much to try and photograph all you see, though we believe we have captured a great deal of them. We arrived at Sandstone and noted that the town was really spruced up and it didn't take long to understand that they are attempting to attract the tourist Dollar, the population is only about 500 and the area has survived all years on the back of Gold mining. When we parked up we noted about a hundred or so people gathered around a tourist bus and we watched four planes come into land. These people were here to celebrate (open? get free food and booze? pat each other on the back? tell enormous fibs? etc.) the opening of a new gold mine in the area. We unhooked Digger and went around the town and was impressed with the newness and how tidy and welcoming the locals were. The town is full of old buildings which have been carefully restored to their original standard. One of the most impressive is the Post-Telegraph Office and General Store with fuel pumps in the next block, they have only one pub which dates from 1907 which is in excellent condition. We went out looking for the Heritage Trail and ended up at the tip, we are sure this did not form part of the Heritage Trail, though I did score a couple of useful items, back to town and discovered we turned off 100 metres to early. Back on the Heritage Trail and we were to visit the old brewery ruins that an Irishman set up in 1907 to supply the miners liquor, the concrete bases are still on the top of the hill with a shaft that went down into the cellars, that are hewn out of the granite cliffs, impressive and quite cool when you ventured inside. Then onto an old mine site that still had intact single pulley winch over the shaft, which by the way is not covered in, ( we were to find a lot of old shafts that still exist that are not sealed off) I dropped a pebble down and it took at least 20 seconds before you heard it hit the bottom. There were several old gas fridges laying about plus old hessian bag meat safe's. On to the State Stamp Mill and unfortunately there has been a fair bit of vandalism that has wrecked the old stamp machinery and associated workings, across the road the old miners huts have suffered a similar state. |
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Post
Office and General Store at Sandstone |
1907 Cellar
to Brewery on Heritage Trail at Sandstone |
1900's
State Stamp Mill on Heritage trail at Sandstone |
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We then went to the "London
Bridge" as it is called in the tourist brochures, it was been formed
over two hundred years ago from the breakaways very impressive and of
course you could see the tracks where people have been walking over it,
all these areas had tables and chairs plus a wood barbecue for you to
enjoy. The round trip from town and back was about ten kilometres well
worth the trip if for nothing more than to see and experience the breakaways
and countryside in the distance. absolutely superb. |
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Old
Miners Camp Sandstone Heritage Trail |
London
Bridge at the Breakaways on the Heritage Trail |
1900 single
winch pulley to underground mining |
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Arriving back in town we decided to
have lunch in the excellent park they have provided, so we spent a pleasant
hour and half having lunch under the shady gums and just watching the
locals go about their business around the Post Office and General Store.
It is marvelous what you see and hear in these circumstances. We took
on a refill of water, bore water of course, then back on the road and
thirty Kilometres on we came upon a rest area and lookout. The views were spectacular of the granite breakaways and the mountains and beautiful shades of green as far as you could see, all under a clear blue sky with a slight breeze, the temperature was about 22 degrees. We were to come across eight Wedge Tailed Eagles feeding on a road kill Kangaroo, though I could not get close enough to photograph of them all, just one defiant one, later we were to see a family of Emu's and more eagles. We decided to have another bush camp away from rest areas and gathered wood, started the fire and boiled water for our shower to save on gas and minimise water use. We will cook our meal on the fire and sit out under the stars again for surely we must run into clouds and wet weather shortly as we move towards Kalgoorlie and beyond. Kilometres travelled 182 |
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Wedge Tailed Eagle & Road Kill |
Sunrise on the 8th of August |
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August 8th Another good night under the canopy of stars by the fire last night, the milky way was very prominent and we tried to identify the signs of the Zodiac, we spotted a few though not all, then off to bed after a cuppa at 10 pm. There was a beautiful sunrise this morning at 6:30 am, just before I went for my walk, we were on the road at 9 am and there was plenty of dead Kangaroos on the road with the Crows and Wedge Tailed Eagles having a feast, the wild flowers have now finished and the landscape is now open plains and plenty of scrub and a few scattered Gum Trees. We were to see flocks of sheep and no cattle as drove along, it didn't take long to reach Leinster which is four Kilometres off the main Highway. Leinster was first established as a town in 1976 to service the new gold mine of that era , today it is the major centre for Nickel Mining in Western Australia, needless to say the town is pretty modern with an oasis look about it with all the large Gum Trees and the high Palm's they have planted to provide cool shelter in the summer months. We had a cappuccino, which cost $4 a cup, a bit high we thought, then we went into the supermarket which is for electrical, toys and other goods as well as the supermarket lines, it was a bit a shock to see you could purchase television and ancillary products. The price of food was extremely expensive compared to other outback supermarkets, no doubt the miners must earn top dollar to be able to live here, this should have sent a warning to me when I walked into the Telecentre to use the computers, however at other government sponsored Telecentre's in other outback towns the highest charge had been $2 and for this I was able to check my e-mail and upload the latest entry's of the Diary. Firstly the service was operating at 10mbps on broadband and I waited for five minutes for the home page to load and then the next 20 minutes was total frustration with the service when I explained to the woman in charge she stated that this was normal. A local came in and experienced what I was going through and immediately remonstrated with the woman who rang the service provider and five minutes later it speeded up slightly. Three quarters of an hour had gone by and I was totally frustrated and decided to give it a miss, went to the desk to pay; expecting a charge of $2. Shock, Horror, the woman said "since you had trouble with the slowness of the service I will only charge you $5.00" I was that flabbergasted I paid up without a quibble and left the town post haste bound for more friendly and less expensive places! Could it be there is one charge for tourists and another for the locals? It was a warm pleasant day with no clouds and slight head wind and we were to pass several gold mines now that we were on the the Goldfields Highway heading towards Kalgoorlie, we decided to again set up a bush camp and leave about 40 Kilometres to go into Leonora in the morning hoping that it will surpass our last stop. We were to come across several domes and two telescopes with a lot of other buildings built on a high hill, there were no visible roads in or signage stating what it is, so we can only surmise that this is one of those American installations they have on Western Australian soil. Wood was gathered after we pulled up for the fire tonight again under the milky way and we will see if we can spot the rest of the Zodiac signs. I think I am pissed off with the day so far and it can only get better, oh! well the happy hour should fix this. Kilometres travelled 152 |
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Ghost
Town of Gwalia |
Main Store
Gwalia |
Gwalia
Guest House |
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August 9th Another wonderful night by the fire, under the stars and we didn't find all the signs of the Zodiac, after my walk this morning we were on the road at 8:30 to travel the forty Kilometres into Leonora. It is a nice old town with three hotels all dating from the early 1900's and all retaining their original facade, a lot of the houses are clad with the old narrow corrugate and only the roof has the standard corrugation iron, again a town attracting tourists based on the past. The town of course was another booming gold mining centre until closure and today it is mainly a base for the exploration crews who fly in and fly out on a roster system. Along the highway we were to see hills in the distance and again they are only overburden and mullock from open cut gold mines, we were also to see very old mine shafts that run alongside the road and looking at the age of the wood they were mined a very long time ago. We decided to go off the highway a couple of Kilometres and have a look at the Ghost Town of Gwalia according to the tourism brochures. Well, we were absolutely gobsmacked we thought we had dropped back into the late 1800's for the original township and their houses etc were still intact. When the mine closed in 1965 the houses and land was just abandoned and were left in a very derelict condition apparently. In 1995 they were auctioned off to volunteers who as a part of the sale were to undertake restoration back to their original condition, though they were not to be lived in. |
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Guest House Accommodation |
Typical
Miners House |
Over Width
Load Menzies |
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I have taken a heap of photo's for
you can spend the full day just exploring the area, even the open cut
is the biggest we have seen to date and the museum houses all the old
equipment and lighting generators and old steam trains as well as the
original mine shaft winder for the gold field was a open cut as well as
underground project. You are able to walk in out of the houses at will with no one to guide you and it is amazing that everything they had in the houses from the original pots and pans plus baths, wood stoves, cutlery, beds, old bottles and all the other 1800-1900's paraphernalia is there. We hope that people do not start pilfering the goods, for the display along with the houses are irreplaceable. Again, the houses are of galvanised iron both small rib and large and the walls are made of wooden frames and hessian which is limed, there would be absolutely no privacy at all. I could go on about the Guest House and its accommodation units (?) and the General Store, it is something that everyone should include on their travel itinerary if going up the Goldfields Highway, and something I don't often do and that is pay a special thanks to those volunteers that purchased the houses in 1995 and taking the responsibility to ensure they are preserved for all time. A Ghost Town, not likely, it has to much character and seems to be alive even if there are no people occupying the old miners houses and shacks. There are a couple of houses just up from the old village that are occupied though you do not see any caretakers, should you ever visit this town of Gwalia please leave the artefacts and everything as you find them do not desecrate the place. It was with some reluctance we moved on and stopped at Menzies for lunch and again it is an old gold mining town that is struggling to exist though you sense the pride with which they welcome you and the way they have kept the town neat and tidy, they have many parks with tables and chairs and barbecues for the travelling public and tourists to use. Whilst there we were to Photo the wide load of the Ore dump trucks that take up the full road, they were escorted by the normal wide load vehicles plus the Police. On the road again and I discovered that the Motorhome is a hundred Kilometres overdue for an oil change so we looked for a bush camp at 120 kilometres further down the road where we could shower, gather wood have a fire and do the oil change, yes I do dispose of the old oil responsibly. Again tonight under the stars by the fire, what a life and no neighbours. Kilometres travelled 206 |
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City of Kalgoorlie/Boulder |
Old Mine
near city centre |
A section
of the "Super Pit" |
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August 10th |
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Courthouse Hotel Boulder |
Old building
Kalgoorlie |
Hannan
Street Kalgoorlie |
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August 11th |
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Gum lined Highway to Norseman |
Bronze
coloured Gimlet Gum |
Group of
Gimlet Gum's |
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August 12th This morning I walked 6 Kilometres, though not on the highway after yesterday's experience, this morning I walked on the gravel track that runs alongside the highway. On the road again heading for Norseman and the wind was strong on our rear so we can expect a good economical run, it doesn't matter where you look there are Gold Mines both open cut and underground and there are plenty of 53.5 metre road trains carting the ore to be treated in both Kalgoorlie/Boulder and Kambalda. The countryside was changing, though still with man made hills of Mullock and overburden; the highway became undulating and scrub and gum trees were appearing, one on the Gum's, the Gimlet Gums were a pretty bronze or coppery colour. We went off the highway into Kambalda and bought a newspaper and rang Bob & Mona to see what part of the country they were in at the moment, we could not raise them so we left a message on their phone. Back on the road and we did not bother going into West Kambalda, the two sections of Kambalda are some three Kilometres apart; I can only assume that the two sections were built by two different mining companies. There was a lot of traffic and road trains plus trains and the day was sunny again even though they predicted rain today, the sky is still without a cloud and the temperature is expected to go to 24 degrees, there are a lot of caravans heading north or taking the long way into Perth. We have decided to stop about 15 Kilometres out from Norseman and take it easy for the rest of the day, we are the only ones at the Rest Area and that could be for the reason the railway is just over the road and there have been two Trains pulling ore wagons go by that are noisy. We can only get two television channels and wouldn't you know it, not the channel that has tonight's Derby between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers so we will listen to the game on the radio and knock back a couple of cans. Kilometres travelled 183 |
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Corrugated Camel's Norseman |
Norseman
plus Gold Mine |
Entrance
to underground Mine |
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August 13th Awoke during the night to the steady patter of rain on the roof on the Motorhome, this is the first rain we have experienced since leaving Alice Springs, after breakfast I donned my St Kilda honcho and went for a walk along the Highway for 3 kilometres; I have to say the traffic was more considerate this morning and two Cars pulled up enquiring if I wanted a lift. We were on the road at 7:45 am bound for Norseman to refuel and then tackle the Nullarbor Plains, There have been many changes to Norseman since we were here 6 years ago, they have become more tourist orientated with many new facilities built to assist travellers. We first filled all water tanks in the Motorhome and then the water drums for there is no water available for the next thousand Kilometres plus, then refueled with diesel, only requiring a top up, and fuel for the generator. Then we unhooked Digger and went up to the mountain Lookout where you get a good view of the town and the Gold Mine along with its huge slag heap. The story they tell is that an early prospector's horse name "Hardy Norseman" pawed the ground and dislodged a rather large nugget of gold, this started the gold rush and they took the horses name for the title of the town. That's what Norseman is a gold mining town that still has its original mine in operation and other ore is bought in from outlying districts to be processed, we stopped and had a look at the addit entrance to the underground mine that is currently 3 Kilometres under the ground, the sign stated that they process 100,000 ounces of gold per year. The underground mine is called the Bullen decline, it was named after a fitter & turner who started at the mine in 1933 and retired in 1986, I suppose that is better than a gold watch. We then went down to the tourist centre and used their free shower and then on the road. |
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Road from Norseman to Nullarbor |
Australia's
longest straight Road |
Flat plains
of Nullarbor |
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It was still drizzling
and though the road was straight to a degree and trees lined each side,
it was a boring trip relieved only by watching out for the 35.5 metre
road trains that blasted past very close for the road is so narrow. There was just enough drizzle to be a menace for wipers to be on intermittent there was not have enough dampness to warrant leaving them on, and how strange to not see cloudless blue sky's as we have for the past two months, oh well back to reality. We stopped for lunch for three quarters of an hour then pressed on and at last we came to the sign that stated " 90 Mile Straight, Australia's longest Straight Road, 146.6 Kilometres" then we were out on the open plains, flat as can be with sheep stations running both sides of the Highway. We were taken back to see a large Camel dead on the side of the road, no doubt a victim of the road trains. There must be water about for their was considerable road kill of Kangaroo and we were to see live Kangaroos and Emu's. We pulled into the Baxter Rest Area for the night, there area a few caravans and at this stage we are the only Motorhome. Now it is time for a happy hour or two! Kilometres travelled 344 |
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Karsts Blowhole Madura |
Top of
Madura Pass |
Nullarbor
Plains below Pass |
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August 14th We were woken at 3am by an almighty gust of wind and then squally rain, the motorhome really rocked, I had to go outside to put the generator away. It was good to get back into the nice warm bed. We were to hear on the radio later in the morning that Perth had been hit with another mini tornado that had caused considerable damage, so what we had was just the edges of this storm. On my walk this morning I did not venture far for I was being buffeted by at least a force 6 gale which was pushing me along, on my return I struggled against the wind and was worn out when I returned to camp. Last evening we had our happy hours with two groups of Tasmanians who were in Western Australia to especially see the wild flowers in bloom, as they were going up the middle through Newman we were able to tell where the cheapest fuel was available and where we had set up our bush camps; in turn they were able to tell us the cheaper diesel stops ahead of us. They hit the road at 6:30 am and we departed at 7:45 am determined to put more Kilometres away as we travel the Nullarbor, the wind was to remain gusty all day and you could hear the truck drivers heading to Perth complaining about the wind and their fuel consumption of course those going in the opposite direction, like us, were most happy for we were hardly using any accelerator at all and small hills we just breezed up over and we expect a good return on fuel. We were experiencing salt bush with stunted gum trees both sides of the road and it was good to finally get off the remainder of the straight piece of highway to assist taking away the boredom, the clouds were scudding across sky and the wind did not let up, we were pass another four trucks with large overwidth loads. The amount of Road Trains on the road is phenomenal it is just one long procession, of course they are only two trailers long or one B-Double and extra trailer; they must not exceed 35.5 metres in length where elsewhere in the state and Northern Territory or in South Australia bound for the Territory they must not exceed 53.5 metres in length. We stopped before Madura and had a look at the Karsts Blow Hole, the signage tells us that the vast underground caves that stretch from the sea inland exhaust out of these holes at about 73.5 Kilometres per hour, though it was hard to tell today that this was the case due to the land gale. Our next stop was at the top of the Madura Pass for lunch and we had a good view of the flat plains and the plateau that then runs beside the highway, it is strange looking to your right and seeing flat salt bush country as far as you can see and on the left the high plateau that you are driving alongside. It all looks very beautiful even with the scudding clouds and wind and intermittent sunshine. Due to the conditions we have decided to call it a day early and besides Liz wants to do a little washing an hang it out to dry before it builds up to much, hope she can keep in on the line in this strong wind. We have pulled into a rest area just 10 Kilometres short of Mundrabilla where we expect to re-fuel in the morning before pressing on, tonight we will start the generator and watch a video, we certainly won't be venturing outside. Kilometres Travelled 353 |
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South Australian Border |
Beach &
Headland |
Beach breaking
waves |
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August 15th What a difference twelve hours makes, we awoke this morning to blue sky's and sunshine with little wind, certainly a change from yesterday. Yesterday it was recommended that we re-adjust our clocks by 45 minutes prior to getting to the South Australian Border, we didn't bother so we awoke at the usual hour this morning; bearing in mind that it took weeks to re-adjust coming into the Western Australian time zone previously. It was pleasant out walking this morning with little traffic on the road and such a fine morning though a little cold, we were underway at 7:45 and we drove the 10 Kilometres into Mundrabilla Roadhouse were filled both tanks at $1.35.9. per litre which is better than some other roadhouses are charging, one is charging $1.62.9 cents per litre. Mundrabilla station gets its fuel from South Australia and has always been at least 10 cents a litre cheaper than nearby Roadhouses. We were still on the Nullarbor Plains with the plateau on one side and the salt bush plains on the other, in the distance we could see sand dunes and it wasn't long before were climbing up the pass to Eucla and then a further 12 Kilometres on we were at the border entering South Australia and entering the Great Australian Bight National Park that winds its way along the coastline. Weren't we pleased to see the sea again after so long and the fine day meant that there was a real sheen on the water, we stopped to take photo's and were taken back by the beauty of the headlands and beach with its white sands, we were to stop again on two other occasions along the highway for photo's and as yet we have not seen a whale. We had our lunch and continued on, about another 40 Kilometres on I spotted a Motorhome following us and I said to Liz that it seemed reluctant to pass, I noted the name of it and said to Liz we have seen this one before, though I couldn't remember where. |
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Headland |
Looking
down to surf |
Another
Headland |
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It then passed us and I saw
the passenger pointing to the radio and when I looked down I noted that
I hadn't turned ours on. On doing so, blow me down it was Noel and Jenny
that we hadn't seen since Alice Springs some months ago, we pulled up at
the next rest area and caught up with all the gossip and where other people
were that we had met. We chewed the fat for at least and hour and then went
to the headland for more photo's; bid them farewell and a safe journey for
they are pressing on going back to Queensland for Jenny's brothers 70th
birthday. Noel informed me that by reducing there speed by 10 Kilometres per hour had improved his fuel consumption immensely and he thanked us for the advice given some time ago. We then drove another fifty Kilometres to a rest area and out came the fire pot and boiled water for our shower and then Liz put on the silverside that we are having for tea and of course we have started out happy hour a little earlier than usual due to the time zone change. The problem is that we have now do an adjustment of 1.5 hours to our clocks and though it is currently 5:30 pm in South Australia our bodies are still adjusted to Western Australian time which is 4pm. You can bet your sweet life that we will wake up to the old time not the new, how long will take us to re-adjust, quicker than last time we hope. Kilometres travelled 264 |
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Tree less West Nullarbor Plain |
Gums now
both sides of Highway |
Wheat Fields |
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August 16th It has happened, our body metabolism is still on Western Australian time, for instance we awoke at the usual 6:30 am time though it was now actually South Australian time of 8 am. Needless to say we were late hitting the highway this morning. I curtailed my walk to only 15 minutes due to the time factor, I had noticed that the wind had swung around into the North-East which means it will be right on our nose as a head wind. We passed the Roadhouses of Nullarbor, Yalta and Nundroo as well as not electing to go into the Head of the Bight to look at the whales that are apparently frolicking off the headland, due to it being declared Aboriginal land and you need to pay a fee to stand on the headland to view them. The western part of the Nullarbor is entirely treeless as far as the eye can see and then as you come out of the Nullarbor Plains the countryside changes dramatically to heavy thickness of gum trees and very hilly country. We then entered the commencement of the wheat belt and as far as you could see was wheat and sheep grazing not to mention the hundreds of wind mills all working pumping water up from the Great Artesian Basin. We stopped at a rest area for lunch at midday and noted the wind was picking up, Whilst having lunch we spoke of the lack of trucks on the road compared to Saturday and Sunday, we noted that we had passed Bunker transport trucks sporting number 36 and then the last highest number we saw was 116 and we must have passed at least 80 of them heading into some destination in Western Australia. Back on the highway and we noticed that the wind has increased to gale force, so we decided it just wasn't worth pushing such a wind and wasting diesel for the amount of strain on the Motorhome to gain just a hundred Kilometres of so. We pulled into a rest area just 19 Kilometres short of Penong where the diesel is supposed to be cheaper than Ceduna, the Roadhouse we passed at Nundroo had diesel advertised at $1.20.9 per litre so hopefully it is cheaper than that. It is only 2 pm and here are parked up for the night with the Motorhome gently rocking in the wind and Liz has decided to do a bit of washing to stay on top of it and I am just going to have a read and no doubt a geriatric nap. Kilometres travelled 252 |
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Side Street Ceduna |
Wheat Silo's
Wirrulla |
Wheat between
Granite Mountains |
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August 17th Awoke in the dark with gusty winds rocking the Motorhome and a few spots of rain, as we were parked on soft sand I felt it prudent to move to the gravel surface before the downpour that is expected, after shifting, with Liz still in bed, it was only 6am. There were gale force winds, the sky was very black threatening a downpour so I decided not to go for my morning walk, instead we had breakfast and were on the road by 7:45am. Our first stop was at Penong to top up one tank with diesel at $1.21.9 per litre it had increased in price by 2 cents a litre since yesterday, whilst there we took the opportunity to use their showers and they were great. Back on the road and the wind had not abated and luckily the road had taken a dog leg and the wind was side on to the Motorhome which did not slow us at all, later it was to go to our rear and push us, as we approached Ceduna we had to go through Quarantine for a fruit and vegetables check. The inspector was quite good and checked the fridge and our vegetable container and sent us on our way in about one minute flat, the quickest inspection yet. Of course our first stop was the supermarket where we stocked up with vegetables and fruit and as Devondale Skim milk was on special at 97 cents a litre carton we bought 12 plus bread and rolls for lunch. We just took a few photo's of Ceduna for the aborigine's were everywhere blocking the footpaths and there were at least sixty standing outside the pub waiting for it to open and they were all very noisy talking and yelling in there own dialect. Even when I went to the waterfront to take photo's they were abusive to me and tried to engage me in there arguments amongst themselves which I wouldn't have a bar of, so we bought the paper and drove on, which is a pity for I am sure that Ceduna has a lot to offer. Either side of the road from Ceduna to Willulla which was 94 kilometres were fields of wheat just in the early stages of growing and it was as far back as the eye could see, we were to see a smattering of sheep and our first look at Hereford cattle for quite awhile. Willulla is a small town that services the wheat belt like so may others along this highway, there are large wheat silo's and the re-appearance of rail lines to those silo's, we stopped here for lunch and noted that the caravan park was just a 50x50 Metre concrete slab with a power pole in the centre with four outlets. There is a sign asking for a donation towards power in other words you can stop there for free, there are showers and toilets that go with it, we elected to move on an go to the next town called Minnipa, which again is set back off the Highway. |
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Wheat Fields opposite side |
Pildappa
Rock |
Note, Wave
in Granite face |
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Again the usual wheat
silo's and caravan park which is attached to the hotel, whilst there we
noticed that they were advertising Pildappa Rock which they state "is
an isolated granite inselberg located 15 Kilometres north of the town",
there are also camping facilities and toilets available. We decided to have a look for they were stating that the "Spectacular wave like formations are thought to rival that of "Wave Rock" in Western Australia" this was enough to get us interested, so we had to backtrack on another road of which 13 Kilometres was gravel, though in very good condition. When we arrived there were already two others set up for the night and it appeared they had been here for a few days, the granite rock is impressive and when climbed you can see the wheat fields far into the distance and on one side they extend to the next range of Granite Mountains. We have decided to stay for the night and push on tomorrow, there has been another Tassie just drive in so no doubt we will their acquaintance at happy hour, which is not to far away. Kilometres travelled 298 |
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Polda Monolithic Rock |
Granite
Pools containing Tadpoles |
Water run
off to dam |
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August 18th It was blustery and we received a little rain during the night, It is strange getting out of bed when it is still dark and the time is 7am, of course the daylight hours are now at the end of the day. Off for my walk and considering that it didn't walk yesterday I upped the pace and covered an extra 2 kilometres as well and arrived back at the camp under the big rock rather hot. On the road and back to to Minnipa and then back onto the highway, of course we were passing more wheat fields and Silo's and finally we arrived at Wudinna and had a look around the town whose prime purpose is to service the wheat industry. After buying bread and a few other things we decided to unhook Digger and go and have a look at the Granite Monoliths, our first stop was Polda Rock Recreational Reserve, the rock appears to just jump up out of the ground and is surrounded by wheat fields of course. We walked to the top and admired the beautiful views and noted the small pools in the eroded granite that dot the top, they had tadpoles so we can only assume that they make their way to the dam at the bottom when emerging as frogs. There is a man made dam at the bottom of the rock, they placed a granite wall around the whole base of the Monolith in the early 1900's and they pipe the water back to the town to water the recreational grounds and other council parks and gardens. (I recall earlier in this diary warning that water in parks and gardens may be recycled and on this occasion water is gained from run off and not purified, check with the council.) |
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Mount Wudinna |
Climbing
face to top |
A-Tent
at summit |
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We then moved onto Mount Wudinna which they
state on the tourist blurb as 80 metres above surrounding farm land, wheat
of course, and is regarded as being the second biggest Monolith only behind
Ayres Rock in the Northern Territory. Like Polda it has a granite wall
surrounding it that gathers water and sends it back to Wudinna for parks
etc. We walked to the top and it was pretty tough going, though it was worth it for the interpretive signs explained everything and guided you on to the next sign until you reached the top where they have a Land Department Survey peg. On the way we came across what they describe as an A-Tent where the granite surface breaks and arches up like a tent. We really enjoyed the views, for as far as you could see it was all farmland; again wheat and a smattering of sheep. Every two years they have a black tie dinner dance extravaganza at the base of the Monolith which they say "provides a spectacular night of entertainment and dining" the last one was held in March this year. The barbecue area and toilets are a bit flash compared to others so now we understand why, it is well worth the trip out for the loop is 20 Kilometres which takes in the Turtle Rocks and Pygery Rocks also, we visited all of them, when we arrived back in the town we hooked Digger up and then on our way very satisfied with the tour that we carried out. |
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View from top of Mount Wudinna |
Gus welcoming
you to Wudinna |
Big Galah
at half way Point |
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We pulled up at Kyancutta
and had our lunch, again just a small service town for the wheat industry,
then we were on our way, we noticed the wind had picked up and moved around
coming from the North West; unfortunately it gathered strength until it
was gale force, yes! we had it now on the nose and at times I was back
into fourth gear with the accelerator flat doing 60kph it was terrible.
Now and again the Highway would swing and put the gale on our side and then it was a fight to hold the Motorhome on the road, it was heavy work and heavy going and it was obvious that fuel consumption was heavy. We pulled into Kimba and had a look around just to break the trip and hopefully find somewhere out of the gale force winds, alas this wasn't the case, we stopped and took a photo of the Big Galah at the gem shop who state that it is the half way mark as you cross Australia. We decided to continue on to Iron Knob and stop there for the night, along the way we discussed the many different road colours from the normal black to white, pink, grey, multi coloured and for the last 100 Kilometres or so it has been a dull shade of red. Understanding now that our trip to the Monoliths revealed that they have been crushing the red granite to use on the bitumen roads so again we assume this had been the case with all the other cases. The wind was getting stronger all the time as we went along and when we pulled into Iron Knob I was really weary fighting this wind, so we received permission from the Roadhouse to stay there for the night. We set up and the Motorhome having no protection from the wind just rocked and rocked so we moved on towards Port Augusta with the view to park up at Bird Lake again, however about 36 Kilometres out we came across a large road metal dump and we have pulled up here for the night and have settled in for a late happy hour and an even later tea. Kilometres travelled 302 (hard ones mate!) |
August 19 |
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Boardwalk Port Augusta |
Reclaimed
beach Port Augusta |
Our Happy
Hour Beer Garden |
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August 20th |
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Semaphore |
Boardwalk
Semaphore |
King Neptune
or Mermaid with a beard ? |
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August 21st A cold showery night with an overcast day as I went on my daily walk, this morning as we are travelling into Adelaide I only walked over the causeway and back about two Kilometres in total. We went over and said farewell to the other CMCA Motorhomers and then bid Port Augusta farewell and we were on our way. We had a strong side wind that drifted us about a bit at times and then we were to run into drizzly rain, what a pain as we had washed both vehicles yesterday, the rear vision camera was to show that poor old digger was copping spray up from the road from the Motorhome and no doubt will be a mess when we pull up. We were to pass alongside the beautiful Flinders Ranges and then the countryside changed to low flat land, undulating at times, guess what! we could see a lot of wheat silo's in the distance and sure enough nothing other than wheat sown for as far as you could see, it was in better condition than what we had seen previously for they must have had plenty of rain since we where here last in May. The traffic was pretty heavy and there were plenty of Road Trains on the road, though only two trailers in length, I have to say up until now the truck drivers have been excellent, not impatient and prepared to wait until they could get a run to go around you or at times when I could, let them past by pulling off the road not wanting to impede their momentum. This morning I saw a Road Train coming up on me and there was no where to get off to let him past, what was to happen both surprised and annoyed me, this cowboy sat only a foot off Digger and out two feet out so I could see him in my rear vision mirror, this was attempted intimidation at its best. So I just ignored him and when I could have moved over I didn't bother, When he came around me he was only six inches off the side of the Motorhome and when our cabins were aligned he blew and kept blowing his horn so I returned the favour with our insignificant inferior horn. I said to Liz this bloke will cut in with his last trailer so when the rear wheels of the last trailer drew level I braked and sure enough he swung his trailer in the Mongrel! On the uhf radio I stated "Wonderful bit of driving skill mate would you like to have another go" he did not reply as I was very angry Liz in her wisdom said let it go don't worry about it. I couldn't believe after the hundreds of Road Trains that we have encountered I had to strike this cowboy who thought that intimidation would do the trick, bullshit! We drove into Port Wakefield and pulled up in the rest area for lunch and had a quick look around the area, like many towns in this neck of the woods the houses, that is the older ones, are built of sandstone blocks and they look very nice and like many small villages like this one they have done heaps to attract tourists. Back on the road and our next stop was Dublin where we were to check out the second hand shop and then buy fruit and vegetables to last for the next week, given that we are unable to bring fruit or vegetables back into Tasmania. Luke was to meet us at Boliva and escorted us through Port Adelaide and then onto the new highway that cuts off the back streets that we used to take, the most noticeable thing along this stretch of new road is the amount of re-cycling that is carried out from the old concrete off building sites and bitumen that is re - crushed and re-used as road fill and there were tree cuttings and heaps of other things, Luke indicated that there is very little landfill required. They even compact crushed steel, cans, crushed bottles and other materials into large bails and store it all catalogued for use later as required. I have to say you do not see the amount of cans or bottles on the sides of the road in South Australia as in other states no doubt due to the 5cent surcharge and refund that operates. Both Luke and Barbara made us very welcome and insisted that we stay for the evening meal after we set up at the ????????? Club, Luke cooked a roast of beef on his webber it was beautiful, around 9pm we bid them farewell with many thanks and went back to the Motorhome and in to bed for we didn't need any rocking to get off to sleep. Kilometres travelled 329 |
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S.A. State Library |
Adelaide
War Memorial |
Adelaide
Arcade & Fountain |
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August 22nd
It was dark when I jumped out of bed at 6am this morning to go for my walk, I was surprised to see so many walking or jogging and or walking their dog/s. The walk along the promenade is truly great with all the old buildings on one side and the walkways and beach on the other. Needless to say with beach front these houses would have to be worth a mint, the sun was trying to beat through the scudding clouds and that would be the case for most of the day. Luke came and picked Liz and I up and drove us to The Good Guys electrical discount shop where after much to and fro-ing we bought a 17 inch wide screen LCD multifunctional monitor and digital set top box to go with it and both are either 240 volt or 12 volt operation. Then Luke dropped us both in town at the Rundle Mall so we could have a good look around the central district of Adelaide, there was a promotion in progress for deafness awareness week and even though the band were deaf they conducted their musical instruments with excellent precision. Of course it wouldn't be us if we didnt visit the el cheapo shops and made purchases and then into Harris Scarfe and bought two pairs of Jeans size 95 not the usual size 107, we even went into Woolworth's and though we didnt buy anything we did a price comparison and there is no doubt those that live in the outback get slugged for their goods and even then they are cheaper than Launceston. Liz wanted to go into the ABC Shop to have a browse and was not disappointed then onto the trick shop and then Myer and then lunch. Well mate! I had a Mac Donald's double burger with double cheese and chips and coke and Liz had Pizza and chips and a drink, talk about junk tucker. I took a few photo's that I was not happy with and then we decided at 3pm to catch the train back to Largs North and Luke and Barbara's place. Well! we hopped off the train a station to early at Largs and then had a long walk to get to our destination, that will teach us to pig out on Junk Tucker. Luke ran us back to the ????????? Club where again we had to re-pack the Motorhome to accommodate the latest purchases and then we went up to Luke and Barbara's where they allowed Liz to use the washing machine and for both of us to use the shower. Their hospitality had been tremendous over and above by a long way the norm, and they are putting on a barbecue for us tonight for tea, what can we say they will not take no for an answer. We will watch Television for a while tonight and then off to bed, we are not doing much reading lately for we are worn out when we go to bed. |
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Adelaide Shore's Marina |
Mother
& Baby Dolphin in Marina |
H.M.S.Buffalo
Replica |
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August 23rd Dark and cold when I went for my walk this morning at 6 am, as I have been pigging out over the past few days I decided to increase the tempo and the length of the morning walk, it had nothing to do with the nice firm bodies of those young woman out walking or jogging that increased my walk by two Kilometres; it was that I wanted to read all the interpretive boards along the way, what was that? what was on the boards, I can't remember. This morning whilst Liz walked up to see Barbara while I filled the water tanks in the Motorhome and then when Luke arrived we went off to fill the tanks with diesel and then back to the ????????? Club. Luke and Barbara gave us a cook's tour of the waterfront down to Glenelg, we were to see Marina's and the many townhouses and multi story buildings that have that Gold Coast feeling about them. We did a fair bit of walking admiring the many old buildings some dating back to the late 1800's and viewed many that are now demolished to make way for concrete boxes that seem to have no character. We were to see where developers had taken over the foreshore and then built high rise townhouses blocking access to that section of the beach. We were to see a mother and child Dolphin frolicking in the Marina and they attracted a great deal of interest and camera action, though they were hard to photograph constantly diving. We then walked down the main street of Glenelg and had a good look at the many shops and we were surprised at the amount of old fashioned Butchers Shops in such a small area, we then decided to have fish and chips for lunch. They were very nice as we sat out in the sun and devoured them, then we went down further for coffee and cappuccino and then walked back to the car; already it was mid afternoon. Luke then took us to a shopping village over near Port Adelaide where Coles and Woolworth's are virtually side by side which must auger well for fair dinkum competition, We bought many groceries for they are at least 30 cents an item cheaper that at home; then into Go-Lo and bought a few more items and then home to the Motorhome to find space to put them away for our future travels. We are again having tea with Luke and Barbara and we have really been overwhelmed with their hospitality it has been excellent the way in which they have welcomed us into their home. Of course I will watch Dr Who tonight and then we will bid our hosts farewell and head back to bed and an early start tomorrow morning winding our way out of Adelaide in peak traffic, it should be fun I hope my Naggavator gets it right. |
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Highway tunnel under Adelaide Hills |
Road &
Rail Bridge's at Murray Bridge |
Old Railway
Station museum at Tailem Bend |
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August 24th |
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Main Street of Keith |
Soldiers
Memorial Fountain Keith |
Memorial
Park Bordertown |
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August 25th Awoke and went outside this morning to a pea soup fog, you could hear the trucks going slow as they drove through the fog; due to this I postponed my morning walk. It was so cold we both put our woollen gloves on along with more clothes, we waited until about 10am before we moved off this morning to allow the fog to lift a little. By the time we arrived at Keith the fog had lifted, though it was still cold and we received some strange looks from the locals when they spotted how rugged up we were. We walked the town centre and went into the supermarket bought the paper and a packet of crumpets and then walked along their Soldiers Memorial drive and park, the fountain was a stainless steel pipe which gushes water and it was quite effective and actually looked very nice. They have also placed the names of soldiers from Keith lost in the world wars in front of trees, we noticed the Parson's family lost five of their clan. We also noted that spring had not come early to this area for the trees did not even have a bud on them at this stage, all in all we enjoyed our stroll around the town which again services the farming community. It is easy to see if the farms do not produce in any one year then the effect on these small towns must be horrific. |
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Memorial Park Bordertown |
Helping
me read the paper |
Welcome
sign to Victoria |
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We moved on and made our way to Bordertown
which is much larger than Keith and again we parked up the Motorhome and
strolled around the Town Centre and also had a look at their Soldiers
Memorial Park, not as good as the one at Keith. As we approached the Library
we noted the bust of Bob Hawke which indicated that he was born in Bordertown
and they also have a display dedicated to Hawke given that he went on
to be the Prime Minister of Australia in their Library and Council Chambers. Needless to say we did not bother to go and have a look we moved on checked out the supermarket and bought some rump steak for tea tonight since we have not had any since we left Tassie, then it wouldn't be us if we didn't visit the op shop where I bought 5 shot glasses for the price of $1.50 the lot. Then we went to the bakery to buy some multi grain rolls for lunch, would you believe they like the supermarket had only white rolls so we didn't bother, we then decided to have lunch at the border Rest Area. The rest area is very nice complete with toilets and plenty of table and chairs, while I was having my lunch and reading the paper this cheeky bird stepped on the edge of the paper and it had this terrible fierce orange/yellow eye that seemed to say "feed me or else" so I gave it some broken biscuits feeling suitably intimidated. I then and had my walk crossing the border and going into Victoria and about 3 Kilometres along the highway where I found a better camp spot for the night or so I thought, when we arrived there we had no television or telephone so we moved up the road toward Horsham about 10 Kilometres. We spotted wheat silo's off the highway at Lillimur and went in for a look and found we had full phone and five television stations, we are away from the highway so the traffic will not be heard tonight only the trains, two last night, so we should have a good night. We have had our shower for it was to cold this morning and of course Liz had done a bit of washing and it is out drying, it is 5pm and the temperature in the Motorhome is currently 21 degrees, though when the sun goes down we will again have the gas fire on to warm us. I have now adjusted all the clocks back to eastern standard time. By adjusting clocks and watches means we are getting closer to the end of our Walkabout, though we recognise that "every ending is a new beginning". Kilometres travelled 141 |
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Down on the farm at Minimay |
Cropping
near Desert National Park |
Mitre Monolith |
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August 26th |
August 27th Last night we watched the Collingwood vs Western Bulldogs which of course Liz and Eddie are strong supporters, so when Collingwood lost there weren't to many smiles. This morning Eddie came for a walk with me and we covered about four Kilometres, then we were off to Horsham to change Ed's television which gave out last night, Liz elected to stay with the Motorhome, on the way in we were to see Monoliths jumping out of the flat cropping grounds; really strange given they have so many beautiful colours in there rock face. We went through Goroke a small farming town and then into Horsham which again is a large rural community with all the usual city retailers and service industry's, Auto Cheap have just opened their doors in the town so we went in bought a few items, then into a couple of el cheapo's and then bought spare parts for Ed's old falcon and then we were off back home. All the countryside is cropping along with sheep and cattle with two milking farms, the soil is very sandy and there are windmills drawing bore water from the Artesian Basin, though it is not used for irrigation only for water for the livestock troughs. There are many irrigators standing dormant in the paddocks awaiting use in the hotter months, their water is drawn from dams and the underground water, they have even grown paddocks of Lucerne trees which the cattle feed on in the event of grass not being available in the summer months. The house that Ed lives in is large and he only pays minimal rent, as he spends seven months of the year in this area shearing he rents the property for the full twelve months, at the moment we are watching the football Sydney vs Hawthorn. For the rest of the afternoon we will just relax doing next to nothing and then of course have our usual happy hour. |
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Turtle in farm dam |
Back into
South Australia |
Back into
Victoria |
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August 28th After my walk this morning I cleaned out the back of Digger, it is unbelievable the amount of junk we have accumulated no wonder the back of the car is down on the springs. Ed put the yabby traps in the dam this morning which is about 500 metres from the house to get some yabby's for tea tonight, However when Liz & I checked them after lunch there was only two small fish in them. We were to see a turtle in the dam which Ed reckons will ensure that you wont catch yabby's for they eat them, we watched the footie show and then the Geelong vs Richmond game on the television. Ed was working on his old falcon ute which has now done 466,000 Kilometres without the engine being touched, he was renewing the timing chain and sprockets the first repairs he has done on the motor and judging by the way it travelled into Horsham yesterday he will get a lot more Kilometres out of it yet. We put a couple of cushions in the back of Digger and Ed hopped in with his stubbies and we went for a drive, we went into the township of Minimay which has a population of 12 and bought the sunday paper and decided then to go back into South Australia to the township of Francis. Francis is a small town that supports the farming industry and no matter where you looked it was cropping or sheep and fat lambs, the township was pretty modern and had that country welcome about it, so we drove around the various streets admiring the colourful gardens and the old houses from previous centuries that have been well maintained. The town like so many others has it's wheat silo's that seem to dominate the skyline as well as the storage paddocks with huge mounds tarped under which is wheat. We then drove back into Victoria and then toured around and we counted 82 Pivot irrigators and as far as you could see were crops of all descriptions, Ed informed us that they were considering planting canola and other oil crops that they do not crop at the moment; there is no doubt that the area is very fertile and we were told there are more millionaire farmers in this area than the rest of Australia combined. The farm equipment is huge and typical farmers they tend to keep their old tractors and were to see even old steel wheeled tractors and many old rubber tyred tractors parked under trees or in sheds. |
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Landlocked Jetty Lake Charlegrarke |
Lake Charlegrarke |
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We then drove into Lake Charlegrarke
which Ed stated in the past was a big holiday area with water ski-ing
and plenty of fish and yabby's, now the lake has been low in water for
years due to the lack of rain and the jetty is some hundred metres from
the edge of the water and it is obvious that water sports are now limited. There was a country and western show and country bush festival in progress which we stopped to watch and listen, there were plenty of kids and young adults having a go which is good to see, it was really a family day for locals only. We then headed for home of course through very green pastures and crops, we have enjoyed the drive and when arriving home we re-packed Digger ready for our journey tomorrow, then into to watch the last of the football. We will settle in to watch television tonight and have another long happy hour, when I jumped on the scales after my shower they showed I now weighed 81.4 Kilo's so all this good living has whacked a couple of Kilo's back on my body; oh! well more walking!. |
![]() We awoke to a very windy overcast day and as Ed wasn't going to work today we have decided to stop over another day, on my walk this morning the outward stretch was easy with the wind at my back though on the return I was really leaning into the wind working up a sweat. Though the sky was overcast it did not give you an opinion that it was going to rain with the northerly wind it was warm and would stay like that for the rest of the day. The yabby traps were checked with no results it is either to cold or the turtles in the dam have them under control, a few small red fin fish is all that was caught. Most of the morning was spent playing with the digital set top box, the clarity of the picture is amazing compared to the normal television, then I washed Digger again for it was dirty from being towed when it was raining last week. Liz had made a large of pot of soup that will last until Wednesday and it used up most of our surplus tomatoes, leaks, onions etc, then out came the knitting again. After lunch I helped Eddie renew down pipe and we had no sooner finished that it started to rain and was to do so intermittently for the rest of the day though it did not put out the fire that was lit due to its heat intensity. All in all it has been a lazy day just getting ready to depart tomorrow and clearing the decks and re-arranging outside storage, we will leave all our wood here for we will not be using the firepot again this trip, thus more outside storage. Well, its happy hour and tonight we are going to watch the ABC in digital signal which seems to give a clearness approaching 3D and just take it easy for we have had our showers etc as well as weighed ourselves again. |
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Rainy Day Horsham |
Horsham
Plaza |
Waterless
Bird Lake |
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August 30th |
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Grampians in the distance |
Our final Rest Area 10Klm's before
Stawell |
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We were to drive in the
shadow of the Grampians which look great even in this type of weather
and we have promised ourselves that we will come back to explore and camp
in the Grampians. The weather was further deteriorating so we decided that we would park up at a rest area 10 Kilometres before Stawell, we were to have a visit from a bloke that enquired about the building of an A-frame for the towing of a vehicle. He copied out what we use and then thanked us and bid us well in our travels. At the moment the rain is bucketing down and we are watching television and the hurricane that caused so much damage in America, and that's about all we do tonight watch television especially digital on our new digital set top box which gives an exceptional flicker & ghost free picture. Kilometres travelled 172 |
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Town Hall Ballarat |
Melbourne
Skyline from Bridge |
Unloading
ramp on Ship |
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August 31st |
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Approaching West Gate Bridge |
On Westgate
Bridge |
Exiting
West Gate Bridge with our Ship "Spirit of Tasmania 1" in the
background |
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Back on the highway and we were to come onto the dual
lanes which meant we no longer held up trucks or other vehicles, the
wind did not decrease in its intensity and the rain was now intermittent
with the clouds breaking letting the sun filter through now and again.
The weather forecast for later tonight augured well with the Weather
Bureau predicting that the stormy weather would pass by Melbourne by
late afternoon. |
Kilometres travelled: 11949 | Diesel consumed: 1437.68 Litre's | Cost of Diesel: $1,808.19 |
Once again we were able
to dodge the Roadhouses and their excessive prices due to our fuel capacity,
the dearest fuel we saw was $1.62.9 per litre. Our
overall cost of Diesel for the Walkabout 2005 averaged out
at $1.25.5 per litre
and in 1993 the
average was 93 cents per litre. Below is the average fuel consumption of the Motorhome for the entire trip, the cheapest fuel we purchased was at Port Augusta, South Australia $1.09.5 per litre in June ($1.19.9 on our return in August) The dearest we purchased was at Newman, Western Australia in August $1.40.9 per litre. The fuel consumption is as follows. |
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8.31 Kilometres per Litre | or 12 Litres per Hundred | or 23.52 Miles per Gallon |
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Finally, if we look at our 2003
Journey of Discovery the following applied |
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Kilometres travelled:
11355 |
Diesel consumed: 1422.66 |
Cost of Diesel: $1320.64 |
7.98 Kilometres per Litre |
or 0.13 Litres per Hundred |
or 22.59 Miles per Gallon |
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Looking at the comparison between 2003 and 2005 you
will note that the latter achieved a more economical return on fuel
consumed, the reason being that we had more tail winds and speed was
reduced. |
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