April 2012 - - 2wander-yonder

April 2012

Goodbyes to family and friends are never easy; they weren't the other two times we have left home for an adventure and they were not this time either, especially with 9 grandchildren to say farewell to. But everything that had to be done was done and there was only the open road and a new life in front of us.

And so on Thursday 26 April 2012 we pulled the windows closed; unhooked the power; pulled the step in; closed the door; turned the key and pulled out of the driveway straight into a new life; a new adventure and leaving the old all behind.

We had decided earlier that the first stop would be the riverside camp at Pumphrey's Bridge an hour or so from our old home ,and so after a relaxing drive we arrived, set up camp and sat back as the realisation that we were actually doing it set in.

With no real route planned Day 2 saw us head off towards Hyden and Mulaka's Cave before finally deciding and arriving at Yoranning Dam which we had all to ourselves.

Day 3 saw us head off and eventually arrive at Karalee Rock, a wonderful camp a reasonable distance off the main Perth to Kalgoorlie Highway.

With a full moon that night it was perfect for some experimentation with the new camera, and here is the result.

Moonlight Camp

The settings for this picture are:

Manual Setting

ISO 100

F5.6

180 second exposure.

The hardest part of getting the picture was the rather cool temperature experienced while experimenting with various settings and learning to use the camera, but I think the effort was worth it.

As the campsites name suggests there is a rock at Karalee Rock, a rather large one in fact. Large enough for the area to be used to catch rain water which was then funneled by a rock wall around the rock itself down a long shute on legs and down to a dam. The water used for the steam trains as they ran between Perth and Kalgoorlie.

Karalee Rock was just so nice we stayed for a few nights to enjoy the place, as did a few others.