Augusta to Perth

Day 2 in Augusta was a treat! We walked along the beach bordering the salt water river out to the mouth and the Southern Ocean. As we walked we could not believe our eyes. About 3 feet from us and in around 2 feet of water was a large stingray fluttering up the river. About 5 minutes later we saw more activity right at the edge of the water and found that two baby and two adult dolphins were herding fish into shore for feeding. They weren't any further than 3 feet out. We were told that because the river is fed by the ocean, it is loaded with fish. Fishermen from our camp also clean their fish in the river right by the camp and this provides easy feeding for these wonderful creatures. Of course the 100's of pelican's that stick around aren't complaining either.

Aug 24: We drove down to Cape Leeuwin to see where the Southern Ocean and Indian Oceans meet then up Hwy 250 around 250 km to Margaret River. Margaret River is the hub of wine and horse country. There are also loads of galleries.
Our campground was unique in that it housed many migrant workers; young travellers who help with their budget by working in vineyards and olive groves. We had not seen this many young people at any camp so far. Lots and lots of money in these hills. Very lush and beautiful.

Jan 25: Leaving Margaret River with a destination of Busselton we visited a lavender farm that also makes lavender wine (my word!!!) and beer. Of course we bought a few bottles...gotta try it all we figure!!

Arriving in Busselton we checked in to the Kookaburra Caravan Park....JUST for you Jenn!!! So that the rest of you readers are up to speed on this, our daughter Jenn was in Australia last year and so loved the Kookaburra bird (it IS sweet!) she made it her email address.

Busselton is a great destination for surfers and is absolutely gorgeous. The water is pale green and clear as a bell (so you can see the fin from km's away). Here they have nets to protect you from the stingies (jelly fish). It was over 40C and later in the day.....which didn't make a darn bit of difference to the temperature.....we walked the jetty....all 2 km's of it! So in total, we walked 4 km on one of the hottest days so far and that was just the jetty. It was lovely out there and many people were swimming or fishing along the way. We returned to the shore and sat under a huge gum tree watching people and the 100's of cockee's that landed in the tree.

It cooled down to around 20C for sleeping and we decided to stay another day.

Jan 26: Happy Australia Day! We walked downtown attended "Art in the Park" and saw some beautiful work by local artists.
We were back at camp to sit in the shade by mid afternoon and watched as a new couple arrived to set up their tent behind us. It was as if the energy in the park immediately changed. A fantastic couple, Chris (originally from London UK) and Sarah (from Melbourne but just returned from 2 yrs working in London UK) exuded friendliness. Bob called out to them as they floundered with the tent and Chris asked us what part of Canada we were from. We were stunned that he knew and that's where it all started. They came over and we shared a few beer before they even got the tent up. Later they joined us for wine and appetizers and before we knew it it was late. They just moved to Perth 2 weeks ago and were celebrating Sarah's return from Britain. Chris has been here 12 years and is now an Ausse citizen. They gave us their number and asked us to connect when we get to Perth. Chris works with young offenders so there was much in common with our Peter and lots to talk about.

As we were about to crawl into bed, Sarah came to the door and asked us to come with her up to the camp kitchen. There on the walls surrounding the building were possum. We had heard them on our roof the night before but couldn't see them. They are the cutest things and allowed us to pet them.

News flash! Remember the story about the "monkey birds" being galah's? Well the woman who told me that way back in Albany didn't know what she was talking about. Sarah said that what we heard was the Kookaburra bird. We were thrilled to learn this because we had only seen them in captivity and had tried to see what was making the noise in the trees.

Jan 27: Great driving from Busselton to Fremantle on divided highways all the way. As we passed through Mandurah we were shocked to see all the housing developments taking place. This is a town where three tributaries meet so there are great marina's and great beauty. We checked it out in our Lonely Planet Guide and determined that this is the fastest growing city in all of Australia. This is also where we saw a sign advertising fresh corn on the cob for $1.75 for 2 cobs!!!
We had seen it being sold for 50 cents per cob and thought that was rich but this was unbelievable.

Approaching Fremantle (which is actually a suburb of Perth) we saw the largest industrial area we've ever seen. It went on for around 20 km and is right on the Indian Ocean. Huge ships were at sea and in port.

Jan 28: Happy 88th Birthday Mom!!! Well OUR 28th.....not yours since we are a day ahead of you.

Attended the lovely Fremantle Market where we picked up a lot of organic fruit and veg. As a matter of fact we filled the van! Then on to Perth and our Big 4 Camp; the only 5 star campground in Western Australia. It is fabulous! Huge trees, green lawns, a beautiful pool that would rival any Caribbean Hotel. We didn't have much choice of sites so got one that had a lot of afternoon sun. It was incredibly hot; the hottest we've experienced and even our van air conditioner couldn't keep up. We bought a rotating fan and tried to cool down. We did manage to walk to a local pub where we had a very late lunch/early dinner, had a pint and couldn't believe our eyes at what was on their large screen tv. Skiing competition at Lake Louise!!! That cooled us down somewhat. It was awesome!!!

That night there was an enormous dry storm with thunder and lightening all around us. The heat did not relent as it had every other evening and it was difficult sleeping. I awakened in the night to the smell of smoke and found out the next day that lightening had caused a bush fire around 5 km from our camp. The rain started sometime in the night and it aided the firefighters greatly. The heat wave had broken and the temps were now in the mid 20's.

Jan 29: Called Mom for her REAL birthday and got to speak with my brother as well. It was a lovely chat and great to catch up. Mom had been treated to dinner by Jan, Elliot, Wayne and Ev.

We called one of the lovely couples we'd met in New Zealand and who live in Perth and they invited us over for "tea". Turns out they live in the Perth Hills which are part of the Darling Ranges (don't get excited; they are only 1000 feet above sea level). What a beautiful location!! We had a fabulous time with them and they provided us with tons of great info re the next phase of our trip up the west coast. They are avid campers and really "go bush"....meaning they go where our camper would never take us.

Jan 30: Took the bus from the camp to downtown Perth where we explored a bit and took the sightseeing trolley for a hop on hop off experience. What a beautiful city!!! It is green and gorgeous with views of the Swan River. Wonderful restaurants and shops as well. Bob called Chris (the young couple from Busselton) but couldn't connect live so left a message re our plans and our date of departure.

Jan 31: Got up late which is unusual for us. Just about to get brekkie when the lovely Sarah showed up at our door. She and Chris were inviting us to join them and two friends (one who is Canadian) for dinner at Cottesloe; an area on the beach in south Perth. That is where I am typing at this moment. We will be meeting them in an hour or so. It is another beautiful place with white sand beaches, boardwalks and sun and surf.

I will leave you here and will do my best to update and upload the photo's that should have accompanied this blog as soon as possible.

We leave tomorrow for northern territories and it seems we have lots of driving to do! It may be that we will be unable to email or blog for some time, depending on availability.... so know that we think of you always and will be in touch as soon as we can.

Love to all!
Sharon

Esperance to.....

The most common sight in Australia; a ute with a dog!

Jan 18: Our first evening in Esperance we walked down to the docks to see huge tankers loading up with grain. This part of the country is a major producer of grain for export.

A man and his son met us as we walked to the water and he told us to have a look for a large sea lion that was grazing along the shore. We found him and watched him play with his dinner; a huge fish that looked like a salmon. Bob was attempting to get some shots of him and he played coy until he finally surfaced and gave us a big grin. Then off he went, continuing to toss his dinner in the air.







The next day we drove the Twilight Beach scenic road out of Esperance, past multi-million $$ homes nestled in sand dunes. The beaches are pure white sand and the ocean a colour that is beyond fabulous. We stopped by Pink Lake which has a pale pink cast to it due to an algae in the salt water. It produces carotin which gives it the colour. The carotin is harvested for Vitamin A supplements.








Photo's: Pink Lake; southern shore of West Australia on Twilight Beach

We had a huge laugh before we left Esperance to drive to Hyden (almost due north). We grocery shopped at a large Woolworth's in town to replenish the stock we'd eaten or lost at the border. It was a beautiful store with everything we wanted or needed. As I entered the store, I held the door for a beautifully groomed elderly couple. We smiled and greeted and off we went to the veggie section. Bob joined me a few minutes later and was picking up some items from another bin when the woman approached me, put her hand on my arm and asked "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Olivia Newton-John?" I smiled and said "No, actually...I never have..." She said "Well you do! We only saw her this morning on a talk show and that is why the resemblance struck us!" I thought I'd better be a bit cautious and asked "So! How is Olivia looking these days???" She replied: "Oh! She's a beautiful as ever!!!" THEN I felt flattered and Bob and I had our morning smile. I didn't detect a white cane anywhere however I'll bet it was there somewhere !!!

Darla and Peter, we are certain you are going to eat your hearts out when you see the following pics. We drove 500 km round trip to ride the big wave. Never having surfed before this, we were excited and wanted to try out some "hang 10" routines we'd seen on tele. As it happened, we were able to accomplish surfing fully dressed and without boards! We even managed to stay dry and undamaged. Our style sucked a bit but you must admit, with waves like these, you have to be a bit envious that the old "wrinklies" did so well.








Photo's: Surfin' fools!


This wonderful sculpture is a natural rock formation called "Wave Rock". It is 15 metres high and 110 metres long and is granite. People will drive 800 km round trip in a day to "hang 10" on her. We stayed in the shadow of the rock at a campsite and returned to the southern shores. It was quite a trek, even in two days but was worth the drive.

Jan 19: We awakened as the sky was only beginning to lighten, to what sounded like monkey's in the trees around our van. It was the galah's (cockee's) and this is the noise they make only at very early light and just after dusk. So strange and a sound they do not make throughout the day.

We left early to drive to Albany and had been told by the camp manager to have lunch at a restaurant called "The Lily". After hours of driving we arrived and knew why it was so highly recommended.

In 1980, Pleun and Hennie arrived with their three daughters from Holland. Pleun was a musician in Holland and had two dreams; one was to create music in Australia. His other dream was to build a replica 16th century Dutch windmill. Within 8 years the windmill was built and opened as a restaurant. In 1994 they bought a heritage train station and moved it to the property and after refurbishing it piece by piece (entirely on their own), opened the windmill as an old fashioned working flour mill. The flour is used at the restaurant and sold around south-western Australia. As we were late arriving, all other customers had left when we'd finished our delicious lunch and Hennie told us their story of hopes and dreams accomplished. There is one tragic sidebar. Their youngest daughter Debby was killed in a car accident a few years ago. The tears welled in her eyes as she quietly told us this and our hearts broke for them. This place in the foothills of the mountains was so comfortable we could have stayed on. They have created an oasis for travellers that is incredibly unique.


The Lily

Pleun wanted to find other musicians to record a cd and failing at that, he used a synthesizer for backup while he played his sax and recorded his dream cd in his own studio. It is a beautiful cd and we favour it above any others as we drive along.

Reluctantly we drove away and were suddenly assailed with giant bugs, smacking against the windshield and leaving streaks of liquid all over the glass. We were "ewww"ing and "yuckkkk"ing for what seemed like hundreds of km's and once we stopped we saw that they were like giant shadflies. Sudden death at 110 km/hr!!

Jan 20: Albany is a pretty village on the ocean. We found our camp and went downtown to the farmer's market, a craft market and a mixed media art show. We also watched a protest against the Iraq situation in the central square while we sipped moccachino and ate sticky pudding (DON'T EVEN THINK OF ASKING!!!) at a cafe nearby.

Jan 21 We drove to Northcliffe via the Torndirrup National Park on the peninsula south of Albany. Here we saw a natural granite bridge and a huge cliff called The Gap...a place where the smooth rock face drops 150 metres to the sea. Amazingly, rock formations on the Australian southern coast can be matched up with formations on Antarctica's northern coast before they broke away millions of years ago when the land mass separated. Believe it or not, Australia is moving at a rate of 5 cm per year!

Photo's: The Natural Bridge; The Gap


Heading toward Northcliffe we stopped at the Valley of the Giants where we climbed to a walkway in the tops of Tingle trees (eucalyptus) that are 400 years old.



Photo's: Canopy walk; trunk of a tingle tree that has been burned out or eaten by insects yet continues to live

We had read in the Lonely Planet Guide of a farm near Northcliffe where the owners take in campers, backpackers and B&B'ers. They adopt baby orphaned roo's and also raise alpaca's and horses in the Karri forest. This place is definitely rustic however the charm is in the animals that roam around the camp sites. We met "Vicky" (see photo) and "Gloria" and other lovely creatures. No need to set an alarm clock; the rooster was crowing away before dawn and the galah's were doing their routine to ensure we were awake by 5:30 a.m.


Photo's: "Vicky" the orphan roo; Galah's (we refer to as "monkey-birds")


Today (22nd) we drove to Augusta on the southern coast and on the way stopped at Pemberton to climb the Gloucester Tree in the forest. This is 60 metres and 153 rungs high and was originally used as a lookout to watch for forest fires back in the 1960's. The fire duty person would climb up every morning, stay all day and climb back down before dusk. It was quite the climb and a beautiful view at the top. Once back on the ground we fed the beautiful parrots that live in the park.


Photo's: View from the bottom; view part way up; view from the top; wild yet friendly parrots on the ground

Our camp ground in Augusta is on the Blackwood River which opens to the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean at the point where they meet. It is very beautiful and the landscape is green and lush with most income derived from vineyards. Such a contrast to the places we visited in eastern and central Australia.

Jan 23: We were startled last evening when we read the newspaper and saw that north Sydney (where Merryne and Dave live) was threatened with fire. Bob emailed them to determine if they were affected and Merryne replied that they were away for the weekend and their car broke down so they weren't home when the excitement happened. The fire reached the boundary of their neighbours property and when Dave and Merryne arrived home they found fire trucks filling the streets. Their neighbour graciously hosed down their house but their home smells of smoke....very unsettling. We are grateful they are ok.

We also read that the gorge we drove through in the Flinders Ranges and the town we stayed in was completely flooded with intense rain storms. The dam in the village of Hawker (where we camped) burst and flooded the entire area. Aren't we the fortunate ones? Shocking when we saw the photo's and read the articles in the paper.


Love to all.
Sharon
P.S. We have driven approximately 15,000 km since we began our journey in New Zealand. It's been a treat....well perhaps with the exception of the Nullarbor!!!
xoxo

Adelaide, Flinders Ranges and Surviving the Nullarbor Crossing

Jan 8 - 11th

Sign just outside our campground in Adelaide


We spent our next few days seeing more of Adelaide, the lovely city that is laid out in a grid that is so simple even I would be hard pressed to get lost.

Rundle Street is a pedestrian mall where everyone shops until they literally drop. We chose to explore the used book stores and found several Australian authors and more of Tim Winton's books. I was introduced to his work last year by a young woman who works at Wellspring (thank you Antonia) and who spent some time living in Australia. She knew we were planning this trip and loaned me her copy of "Dirt Music". I was hooked, then Bob was hooked and now we are proud parents of 5 of his novels. We find him quite impressive and are spending evenings at the campsites soaking up his wonderful stories.

The next several hours were in the Adelaide market; an indoor market (like Grenville in Vancouver and St. Lawrence in Toronto) however this one takes up an entire city block. The kiosks of lunch options ranged from Thai to Aussie (kangaroo burgers...NO, thank you very much!!) to Russian (we opted for the Russian) and the choice of fresh food was huge. Fair trade chocolate, coffee and organic fruit, veg and cheese made in the Adelaide area....every kind of olive imaginable, seafood, meat, meat pies..........it was too much and we bought so much!!!

The following two days were incredibly hot so we walked the km to the largest mall in Australia; Bob got a buzz cut once again then we joined the senior's movie club. What a hoot it was to actually JOIN a senior's club. This theatre in the mall is like a Cineplex chain and their theatres can be found all over Australia. It was $15 pp for a ticket and the membership was $28 for the 2 of us and $7 per ticket once you'd joined. The young people signing us up thought we were a riot (Bob tried to convince them we were native Aussies) and we had a lot of fun with them. That first day we saw "Happy Feet"....an Aussie movie that is cute and has a very strong environmental message. The next day we walked back to the mall, did some grocery shopping and then spent the afternoon in the theatre watching "Casino Royale"....YES!!! It was awesome and my personal feeling is that this new Bond is perfect for the times. I felt 30 years younger just ogling him.

Walking back to the campground at 6 pm felt (as Bob describes it) like what he imagined being in a convection oven would be like. Your skin literally feels as if it's cooking! Such heat at that time of day was unbelievable. The neat thing is that the temperature drops suddenly once the sun goes down and we don't have to sleep with air conditioning.

January 12th we headed north to the Flinders Ranges; a most unusual advenure through terrain unlike anything we'd seen so far. We saw salt lakes .....no water, just salt and bushes growing beside them called salt bushes ....funny that! These lakes have been there for centuries, ever since the tides filled the basins a very long time ago.

We spent the night at Hawker, a tiny village where it seems time has almost stood still. The campsites were empty because it is simply too hot for Aussies to travel here at this time of year. There was one other van in this huge campground. High season for this camp is April to September however they stay open for silly people like us who don't quite get it.....and to be honest, it was a heck of a lot cooler than Adelaide those last couple of days.

Jan 13th we left early to drive to Wilpena Pound (isn't that the coolest name?) in the ranges. The "Pound" is actually a crater with one entrance where farmers of old brought their sheep. The walls of the crater provided a natural yard. We spotted wild emu and roos. Outside the Pound, the hills were desolate and dry. We had been told that Walut II would make it through the unsealed roads through the ranges and so we set off. The drive was great for around 100 km although some bits were "corrugated" or what we would call washboard. We looked at each other, laughed (because Maui rentals would NOT be pleased) and cranked up the bargain tunes we'd purchased....Phil Collins, Bob Marley....lit a doobie (will you ever believe another word???) and rode it out.

There are geological signs along the path and we saw silt, limestone and quartz gorges that are more than 500 million years old!! Too much to comprehend I'm afraid. The road became narrower and narrower and suddenly in front of us was a river....that we had to cross with our beloved van. No room to turn around....we just had to proceed. We held our breath and we did it. What was amazing that in spite of the incredibly dry land, there was actually a river that appeared out of nowhere. In our 5 hours of travel through this dusty range, we only saw 2 vehicles. They tell you that if you break down, never, ever leave your vehicle and make certain you have lots of food and water. We had both and fortunately didn't have to test mother nature by breaking down. God knows how long it would have taken for anyone to find us.

Photo's: Wild emu's; Flinders Ranges; Not confirmed but we believe may be the deadly Whitetail spider seen on our walk near Wilpena Pound


Having seen enough, we drove another 100 km to Port Augusta and a great campground. We sat outside until quite late in the quiet and looking at the stars that seemed close enough to touch.

Jan 14 - Left Port August early and travelled to Ceduna. It involved km after km of absolutely straight highway. By the sides of the highway were scrub brush and no signs of houses, laneways or anything else reflecting human beings.

A Milestone - reaching the 1/2 way point across Oz!!


Our camp in Ceduna was on Shelly Beach and our site was behind a sand dune over which was the Southern Ocean. It was beautiful and Bob ventured into the water. He had to walk out quite far and the rule here is that someone can swim while the other watches for shark fins. No joke! Bob took his time walking to deeper water and stopped short of the dark colour of the deeper water. He was so far out there that all I could think was "How on earth could I help him if he was in trouble?" After a refreshing dip, he returned and we walked up the beach.

Jan 15 - Surviving the Nullarbor!!!

Ok, so for the past few weeks, Aussies have been asking us if we are going to cross the Nullarbor (pronounced "Nullabor") and when we say "yes" they roll their eyes, grin and say "yes, you have to do it once!" In all our reading we had not seen anything negative about this area so we did more research and saw that it is a plain....an ENORMOUS plain. Nullarbor is Latin for "devoid of trees" and trust me when I say it is aptly named. The Eyre highway cuts through 1200 km of nothing but sea grasses, blue bush and dead things. The highway seems to go on forever and we noticed that everyone we met coming the other way waved at us. We decided that this was done to relieve the boredom since it seemed it was 25 to 50 km between vehicles. No doubt they were waving to keep awake! We broke the trip up into 500 km segments and stopped at the most unusual campgrounds you have ever seen. Right out of the 60's! Diesel rose from $1.25/litre in Adelaide to $1.68 at Madura. These places however are a welcome sight and like an oasis in the desert.





Photo's: The Nullarbor; When the Eyre Hwy frequently becomes a landing strip for the Flying Doctors; animals to watch out for as you cross the plain; Head of Bight

Once we reached Bordervillage we were at the West Australia border and once again we were stopped by quarantine officials. We had eaten all our fruit and veg and had been told to get rid of cheese as well. Little did we know however that we would have all our honey confiscated! Our wonderful delicious honey (1 litre bucket) we had just purchased on Kangaroo Island. We were gutted!! The story we were given was that a disease that the eastern Australia bees carry is in the honey and it is feared it will get into the hives in West Australia. Our feeling however is that unless every vehicle is fumigated, a bee or fruit fly could hitchhike across the country. Perhaps someone will be able to explain it to us.

We stopped at a lookout called "Head of Bight" where cliffs rise out of the ocean dramatically. The ocean is an amazing blue and the wind was refreshing.

Jan and Elliot, the photo (we'll get a better one when the opportunity presents itself) here is for you! This is a "short" road train. For those of you who have never heard of them, they are trucks that pull up to three trailers and are up to 60 metres long. To see one bearing down on you at 120 km/hr is like something out of a Mad Max movie. On narrow roads it is recommended that you pull over to let them pass. If they have to put their wheels off the road to pass you the resulting shower of stones is likely to smash your windshield.


We saw wild long-horned sheep by the side of the road today and artistic creations...bottle bushes, a boot bush and a squashed vehicle standing on end around 15 metres off the road. No doubt created by bored travellers.

We completed the crossing on Jan 16th and arrived at Norseman Crossing, a mining town where you pick up your certificate declaring you crossed the Nullarbor.

Tin camels in the town square in Norseman



Bob picked up a newspaper at the pathetic IGA in Norseman (hardly a fresh veg in the place and I won't talk about our honey options) and saw that a well known aborigine artist and bushman had died out on a road on the Nullarbor. He and his nephew got caught out with 2 flat tires and they died a few metres from their vehicle.....far from help. They were experienced bushmen and they died! I was driving when we passed the little road and he noticed the name Donkey Trail. Authorities figure they ran out of water and died somewhere around the end of December. The rains came Jan 4 and the irony was that there were puddles around them on the road.

Today we drove from Norseman to Esperance on the south coast. We drove through more scrubland and then subtly the landscape changed to lovely farms and beautiful red trees.

Cute names! Who comes up with them???


As we approached Esperance we saw the devastation caused by the storm from a couple of weeks ago. Trees are uprooted everywhere. Amazing that they got the much needed rain however they lost so many old trees. A few days later, birds began dropping out of the sky....dying on the spot. Thousands of birds are gone from this area and no one knows why. Needless to say we won't be staying here long! It is a beautiful place on the ocean. We will be moving on toward Perth....only 700 km however lots to see in between.

Blessings to you all!!
Sharon

Adelaide to Kangaroo Island and back to Adelaide

Jan 4 - We drove south through the beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula on our way to Cape Jervis to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island. We passed through rolling hills covered with vineyards and olive groves and had glimpses of Gulf St. Vincent. Drove through Historic Glenelg however found it too crazy with tourists and commercialism. Tall hotels blocked all view of the Gulf so we drove further south to Brighton and found what we were looking for......sand and surf. We parked by the beach and had lunch, people-watched then moved on to our destination, Normanville.

Normanville camp was recommended by one of the Big 4 Camp managers who said that the location by the Gulf and with a long jetty made it a favourite for campers. He was so right! What a beautiful place and a short walk to the safe for swimming beach. Guess I didn't tell you that one of our first curiosities when we arrived in Sydney was the sight of fences attached to very tall poles in the ocean. We saw people swimming inside these fences. Then we saw them everywhere and discovered that they protect swimmers from shark attacks. Wow! Isn't that something? I think that could become my favourite place to swim!!

The next day Jan 5, we arrived at Cape Jervis in time for the 1 pm ferry. It was only 45 minutes to Kangaroo Island and we met the nicest young couple and their two children prior to boarding. They were on their way to Kingscote for a family reunion that no one knew they would be attending. They had driven from Perth towing a caravan behind their 4 x 4. They did some off-roading and hit a bump so large that it propelled a leaf spring up through the floor of the caravan. There was no way they could get it all the way to the island so they left it 750 km west of Adelaide and stayed at hotels instead. He is a firefighter with lots of stories to tell and she is a real estate agent. What a hoot they were! We were sad when we landed and said "goodbye". They gave us great information re travelling to Perth and up to the Outback.

We visited Kingscote on the west coast and had lunch by the water then drove across the island to the east side and our camp, situation right beside the Flinders Chase National Park. We could not believe our eyes as we drove in among gum trees and saw everyone staring up into the trees. There above us were wild koala's. What a location this was! Very rustic and natural with a lagoon and a koala walk. A huge kangaroo greeted us at our campsite and we saw hundreds of wallabies while there. Parrots (Rosella's) screeched over our heads....white with pink heads as well as black with yellow crests.

Early the next morning we left the camp and drove into the park through thousands and thousands of hectares of forest. Everywhere you looked were unusual grasses in various colours, tall ferns and beautiful trees.

The highlight of our day was in seeing the Remarkable Rocks which looked as though a giant had hurled enormous boulders down with them shattering into the most unusual shapes. It was a beautiful day however the winds up on the rocks were intense. It was all we could do to keep our feet on the ground.










A few km away was Admirals Arch where there is a colony of Australian and New Zealand fur seals. The boardwalk and stairs brought us really close. The sea was wild and it was fun to watch the seals surfing on the waves.



Under Admiral's Arch





Back to the camp where we had dinner then walked through the forest to observe the koala's (like watching paint dry they appear to be hardly breathing) once more.

Jan 7 - Back to the port where we caught the ferry back to the mainland. Much rougher ride as the winds were still high as were the waves. The captain had to use ropes thrown from the ship to the pier to pivot the boat and reverse into position at Cape Jervis. We had dolphins accompanying us on our crossing. Lovely!

Arriving at Cape Jervis we drove down the east coast of the peninsula to have lunch at Victor Harbour. ....a beautiful port. A lovely restaurant was recommended to us right by the water. We watched lawn bowlers nearby and the boats on the water.

Our return to Adelaide was once again through vineyards and olive groves. Idyllic!

We will be spending a couple of days here then will be on the long trek to Perth.

Love to all!

APB! Does anyone recognize this man seen scoping us out from the ferry docks??? Mrs B.?????? If it is our friend Mr. B. he's headed the wrong way and two days behind us.

Happy New Year!!!

Odd architecture in Federation Square, Melbourne









Melbourne Train Station


For those of you who are still with us on our travels, we say "thanks" and wish to let you know that internet cafe's are few and far between...simply because distances are so great and destinations are not always towns but parks and small villages. We believe the updates will be every week or so and if we have an opportunity to update more frequently, we will be certain to take advantage of any opportunity.

We left you back in Melbourne and had a fabulous second day there, exploring all the beautiful sites and narrow streets (very Europe) that are now used for pedestrians only. Beautiful cafe's where anyone who wishes to see or be seen can sit outside and sip their latte's while the rest of the world rolls by.

My friend Marny's husband Marc send a lovely email with suggestions on what to see while in Melbourne. One of his suggestions was to partake of the excellent pastries available there. We tried (albeit not very hard) to ignore that particular suggestion however in the end we gave in and stopped at a little chocolate shop (not exactly what you suggested Marc) to ask where the BEST pastry shop in town was to be found. As it happened, we were right around the corner from what is considered the best. It is called "Laurent Boulangerie Patisserie" and if that and the beautiful building it is housed in wasn't enough to convince us we were in deep arterial trouble, the sight of ambulances idling by the curb and cardiac paddles slung on hooks on the walls inside were enough to give fair warning. It was Christmas after all so why shouldn't we take the plunge and be really stupid with our diet? We each selected two of the most decadent pastries and off we went with our heart-stopping prizes in the most beautiful box seen this side of Pusateri's.

Lunch was at a terrific sushi restaurant and we strolled the main drag past windows with animated Christmas stories. Remember the Eaton's windows? Well most of us know that The Bay does that now however we had seen nothing like this! The theme was "Wombat Christmas" and all the characters were critters of Australia. It was a hoot and the lineup to view numbered in the thousands. Very cute!

Back to the camp where we prepared for departure to the ferry dock and Christmas Eve on the Tasmanian Ferry. What a beautiful location! It is set among trendy restaurants and looks much like Miami. Tall palms and beautiful boulevards.



Unlike Canada where everything stops early on Christmas Eve, stores and restaurants are open here quite late. Our boat sailed at 9 pm and many well dresses people were arriving at restaurants at the dock just before we sailed.

Just as we were about to be boarded, a huge black cloud appeared and it had a funnel appearance. This cloud was accompanied by 90 km winds (so they say). I actually asked one of the security people if this was a tornado and if the ship would sail. He expected it to be momentary...he said....and so on we went.

You may not be aware that in Australia you are not allowed to transport fruit and veg between states because of fruit flies. Kind of ironic to a Canadian who experiences them every summer and also considering there are so many other creatures here that I wouldn't wish to see transported state to state. There is a quarantine so it means you must dispose of all of it. It makes it interesting when organizing one's cupboards and it also meant that we wouldn't have mashed potatoes or fresh veg with our chicken for Christmas Day dinner. The quarantine officials on both sides (Melbourne and Devonport) inspect inside the vehicle. I had garlic buds in oil and even that was confiscated.

The ship was top drawer and we had business seats which meant reclining chairs with leg support so we were able to get a few good hours sleep.

The trip was extremely rough with high winds and 5 m waves....and apparently there were several passengers who didn't fare that well (enough said!). We arrived in Devonport at 7 a.m. Christmas morning and following another quarantine check, we rolled off to find the closest phone booth so we could call our families.

We know that Canada and especially Ontario has been very warm and let me tell you that the world was definitely upside down on Christmas Day. The temperature was only 5C and with the high winds, it was pretty nippy in that phone booth!

We drove across the top of Tasmania to the north-west tip of the island. We wanted to visit the spot where there is nothing between Tassie and Argentina. Such huge surf and rough coastline. It is beautiful there and the vegetation is much greener than the mainland. The fires Tasmania had been battling were now out and were in the north-east corner of the island where it is much drier than the west. They lost 85,000 hectares, approximately 10% of what the mainland has lost so far.

Pressing on down through the middle of the island, we stayed the night at Cradle Mountain Park and were thrilled to find a momma wallabie and joey in our campsite. Each site was nestled among trees and very private from the next. The cookhouses had log fires and it was all very sweet. Our site was not powered so we went to bed "rugged up" as they say here with heavy wool socks, sweaters and jammy's and good hugging.

The weather in Australia has definitely not been what we expected and we understand it is very unusual. Since our arrival early December we have only had 5 days with temps above 24C. The Tasmanian temps ranged from 5C to 21C so we haven't suffered, it's just been strange. We heard that there was some snow however we didn't see any of it.

So there I was, getting out of the van in bare feet at our camp site and just as I was about to step down I saw .......












So, did you believe me? Just messing with your minds because it's what you've been waiting for right? This is one of Australia's deadly snakes and thank the lord, it was in captivity. God will no doubt punish me for this rotten trick. I believe if I do see one in the wild I'll be on the next plane home!!!

The next day we visited a privately funded reserve and educational centre where they breed and study Tasmanian Devils. The devils on the east side of the mountain range have a facial cancer that is spread when they scrap with each other for food. The tumours adhere to the scratches on the faces of their opponents and gradually as the tumours grow, the devils starve to death. This centre is new and working with the government to determine how they get the tumour in the first place and also to prevent the spread to the animals on the west side of the mountain.

Our guide Gail brought us a juvenile female and she let us pat it. So very cute and not the horror that they are reputed to be. They are scavengers not predators so will eat only dead animals. Their enemies are man and the cancer that is killing them. They find their food on highways and of course are killed by vehicles. The devils used to be on the mainland however are now extinct there.









We moved on to Tarraleah for the night, a lovely camp although a bit strange in that it looked like a ghost town. It used to be a busy little town for those who were building the local power plants and once the plants were built and all technology moved to the city, the town was abandoned. A Tassie family purchased the entire town, apparently for a song we were told, and have turned everything into rental properties. The school is now backpacker residences, the cinema is now the tavern and the houses are longer term rentals. It is top drawer and a good stop for people moving from the top of the island to the bottom as it is just about 1/2 way to Hobart.









Photos: Water pipes to drive the power plants at Tarraleah. Bob and the lupens

There is a huge battle between conservationists and loggers in Tassie. Our Lonely Planet Guide stated clearly to avoid any discussions re logging. Here's some perspective for you. According to a senator here, 150,000 logging trucks left the island last year, loaded with ancient eucalyptus and other trees....off to the chippers for chopping and shipping to Japan. Following the logging, the land is firebombed, killing any living thing left behind. We did see signs of some reforesting however not as much as we would have expected. What we found very shocking about these facts is that the island is only about 350 km wide and 500 km in length.

December 27 - Snug Harbour, a beautiful camp on the water just south of Hobart. We spent the day in Hobart walking through trendy Salamanca District, visiting and eating fish and chips at the harbour and watching the preparations for the Sydney to Hobart Boxing Day sailing celebrations. They expected the boats to arrive approximately 72 hours after the departure. You may know that due to heavy seas and high winds, there were some disasters however no lives lost.









Dec 28 - Left Snug and started up the east coast to Bicheno. Great highway sign and not certain what it meant "Speedo Check Ahead" however it got our imaginations going and we had a huge belly-laugh. Thank God Bob didn't pack his Speedo for this trip!

We stopped along the way at Eaglehawkneck on the Forestier Peninsula; saw Devils Kitchen where the sea throws itself through holes in the limestone outcroppings and Tessellated Concrete which is rock etched by the sea and sea salt to create a result that looks like etched concrete.

At Dunnelly we stopped to pick up fresh fish on the wharf. The owner, his wife and two children run the shop and they have made it extra interesting with old-fashioned bathtubs filled with exotic fish for viewing. We bough flathead which is a fish we'd not seen until then. He declared it the best fish you could eat and said most people in Australia would not agree. We DO agree! It was wonderful!! We also bought oysters, smoked salmon and tuna.

Dec 29 - Bicheno is a great place. Our camp was on a cliff overlooking the sea. We watched for the sailboats participating in the Sydney to Hobard race however didn't see any. Wallabies bounded around the property and one startled Bob as he came back to the van in the early evening. We love watching them!

Dec 30 - We had to return to Devonport to catch the ferry back to Melbourne and on the way we stopped at Natureworld to see some of the wildlife we thought we might not see in the wild. To date we had not seen a wombat so that was first on our list. It was feeding time and we got to pat the wombat and see koala's for the first time. There was a cockatoo that called to us as we passed "Hello cockee!" So adorable and smart.













We stopped for lunch at Elephant Pass Pancake House. They make European style pancakes which are simply delicious! Yum Yum!!!

Arriving in Devonport around 2 pm gave us time to wander around, buy some cd's and have dinner before we were boarded at 7 pm for the 9 pm sailing.

Great crossing with calm seas and no wind.

Dec 30 Off the ship at 7 am and on to the Great Ocean Road. Stopped at Geelong for breakfast. Passed through Torquay, Anglesea, Lorne and Apollo Bay. It is now peak season and these well known places were packed with tourists and Aussies on holiday. We breezed through and on to see the 12 Apostles, limestone formations in the ocean that are beginning to crumble but are still spectacular in their turquoise sea setting.










Our camp for the night was at Port Campbell and was an accidental find. We had stopped to call ahead to some camps at Warrnambool however found that non were available. We had been warned by many Aussie's that we should have booked far in advance because of holidays however were told by some of the camp managers that they hold several sites for people like us who fly by the seat of their pants. It seems that Aussie's aren't privy to this information....which makes it nice for tourists. Since we couldn't find anything down the road we decided to visit Port Campbell's tourist centre. As we left the van and were about to enter the kiosk I noticed a National Park sign to our left with a sign stating they had sites available. We booked in and had a wonderful evening. Down at the wharf at sunset we met two terrific local couples who frequently camp there. One of the couples lives in Cobden which is sister town to Cobden, Ontario, Cobden, Illinois and Cobden, New Zealand. Around 40 couples from each country get together every couple of years. They have been to Ontario and western Canada and loved it.
We had a good laugh with them.

Dec 31 - We travelled to Mt. Gambier to a camp set among craters...all dormant so we were told however after our experience in the Galapagos we wondered. One of the craters is sapphire blue and is the source of water for the city of Mt. Gambier. Another crater also has water and is a recreational area with a beach and boating. The third crater is filled with trees. A beautiful setting. Our site was under enormous trees and a great place to celebrate New Years.

We managed to stay awake until midnight and expected that since there were lots of families in the park, we'd have lots of noise as the clock struck. We sat outside in our comfy chairs and at midnight there was NOTHING!!! .....except for two guys who almost whispered "Happy New Year!" We couldn't believe it! We popped our Tassie champagne (yes, we got great wine and champers in Tassie!!!), had a kiss then went to bed. It was kind of surreal to be sitting outside at New Year's. We needed a sweater but it was still comfy.

Jan 1/07 - We liked it so much at Gambier that we decided to stay another night. Someone has turned the heat on and the temps are now in the 30's. Avoiding the mid-day heat we had two hikes; one early a.m. and another later in the day. Sleeping at night has been wonderful as the temperature drops into the teens. This city is definitely a "rich" city. The homes are fabulous and although it's dry here as well, irrigation is happening as evidenced by the lawns we passed.

Jan 2 - We left Mt. Gambier early and were rolling down the road toward Adelaide....a 470km drive. We passed through (keeping our eyes averted) lush wine country and vineyards bordered with amazing rose bushes. Towns here are much more upscale than we've seen as not as "strip mall" in their architecture. Enormous lavender farms bordered Hwy A66 and trenches filled with water bordered the fields. It seems this is the way they irrigate although we didn't see how they get the water from the ditches to the fields.

Our campground is beautiful and we are well shaded under huge trees. It is only 5 km to city centre and the temperature is now 35C. We used our air con for the 2nd time since we arrived and had a great sleep.

Jan 3 - Another beautiful day and an adventure in downtown Adelaide. This truly is a gorgeous city and it is obvious that it too is doing very well. Beautiful architecture, clean and nicely paced. The homes we rode past on the bus are spectacular. Lots and lots of money honey!!!

We are sitting in an internet cafe at the moment with groovy music belting in the background.

Tomorrow the temp is to rise to 40C and we will be off to Kangaroo Island so we can bask in the sea breezes. We'll be there for two days then back to Adelaide for a night....then on toward Perth. Many, many km's ahead of us....about 2900 from here to there however I'M NOW DRIVING!!! Don't fall off your chairs....I did it!

I have been asked why I've been nervous to drive. The one inhibitor you find here that you don't find at home is the roundabout......the most efficient of traffic filters however the most intimidating to me. At first it seems simply insane and then you begin to see how awesome they are. Reduced need for traffic lights and people have to slow down and respect others coming 'round. I must say that years ago in England I just couldn't fathom them and I felt slightly nauseous in N.Z. as we closed our eyes and bolted through the first 5000 Bob navigated. I'm up and running and will let you know how it goes.

All the best to everyone for 2007!

Blessings!!!