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December 2013
07 December 2013
The harvest is still going albeit rather slow (around 1,000 tonnes per day) and mainly because of the weather. The weather has been going from cold single digit mornings to days of rain or strong winds and even the odd hot 30 degree day - a real mish mash and blamed by the locals on the fact that the State of Victoria is just next door (5 km away).
We have been working for all but two days, one our normal weekly RDO and the other because of the weather. A by product of the weather however has been the chance to practice some lightning photography.
Lightning strikes as the sun sets and paints the clouds in pink
So as the harvest crawls on we have decided to finish here in Pinnaroo after work tomorrow and will be heading West to Perth for Christmas with our kids and grandkids. We've had a good time, made some more travel money and importantly have been told that we are welcome to come back any time as there will always be a position for us if there is work available, so now we have five sites that we are welcome back at and that opens more travel opportunities for the future. So those of you who are following us will now get 3,000 kilometers of travel across the country including one of our favourite places, the Nullarbor.
08 December 2013
Our final day working at Pinnaroo soon came to an end and rather than go back to the caravan park we hit the road. Passing through Loxton and later the home of one of our favourite wines (Banrock Station) we arrived in Waikerie where we found a spot right on the riverbank at the Old Bend Reserve.
The view outside of our door
The clouds were blocking the sun and our ability to get some sunset shots of the cliffs that run along this part of the river, but we enjoyed the spot and the river anyway as were the five other campers that are here.
9 December 2013
Pitter patter, pitter patter was all I heard at 2am this morning and based on previous camps where the rain fell we decided to leave our campsite and its dirt road in for some bitumen. We drove just up the hill to near the bakery and service station, pulled into the carpark near some trucks where the sign says it is a rest area for fatigued drivers and went back to bed.
Waking undisturbed we decided to drive a little way before breakfast and so after a couple of hours having enjoyed the countryside and a ferry ride across the river near where we have camped before, we eventually arrived at and stopped in the town of Burra where we enjoyed breakfast and a cuppa as the rain fell and the wind blew. Burra is a lovely town with plenty of old charm with its stone buildings and old facades which even the rain could not dampen the look of.
South Australia is known for its stone buildings and we found a beauty, the old Burra Homestead. It looked a treat sitting on the side of the road in a harvested wheat paddock and grey skies overhead and that meant that we just had to stop and get some photos.
The Burra Homestead from the road
A close up after the sky cleared for a few seconds
This is the same homestead that Ken Duncan made famous by his photograph of it.
Leaving the homestead we eventually arrived in Jamestown for morning tea. The town turns out to be the birthplace of the famous R.M Williams whose name appears on clothing, boots and other cattle and horse associated equipment.
Leaving Jamestown we were passing through some pretty countryside despite the wind, rain and low clouds effort to spoil the view. The clouds we so low that the wind farms along the way were almost invisible and appeared to be just large poles holding the sky up. Passing through places called Stone Hut, Wirrabara, Murray Town, Melrose and Willmington we eventually came to the top of Horrocks Pass where we descended down out of the golden coloured paddocks of harvested crops, long dead grass and trees onto the flat salt bush plains that sit by the side of the Spencer Gulf. Instead of the highway we decided to take the old Willmington Road for something different and it wasn't far before we realised that is was going to be just a decrepit bitumen goat track barely wide enough for us to remain on as it followed the contours of the land, but what the heck were there so persisted with it albeit slightly carefully. Arriving in Port Augusta we managed to take the scenic route to the shops, seeing more of the place than we had actually planned, or want to again.
Shopping over we decided that rather than experience the free camp in town we would head out towards Iron Knob and so turned at the giant water tanks and the sign that indicated Western Australia was in that direction rather than continuing on down the Eyre Peninsular. The salt bush country that is out here is looking slightly better than we remember it almost three years ago, and despite the little bit of sun that was out providing the salt bushes with a silver top it is still very bleak and non descript. The squared off mountain of overburden from the Iron Knob mine eventually came into view and it appears that there is some life back at the mine so perhaps the town will rise from the dust to some sort of prosperity yet again.
The weather had eased somewhat by now, though the wind was still painful to everyone's fuel economy, and it was still more suited to driving than sitting around waiting for tomorrow to arrive. We decided that we might as well keep moving and around 5pm we eventually pulled into the donation requested camp at the Kimba Rec Reserve where we found a nice gravel base to park on near the toilets and the $1 for 3 minutes unisex shower and declared the days travel over.
10 December 2013
Our biggest day yet! 671 kilometers and camped in the middle of absolutely nowhere just short of the Bunda Cliffs.
Our camp at Kimba was so blissfully quiet, so quiet that it was noisy. We awoke early and headed off before breakfast to get fuel but on arrival in town found that the service station didn't open until 7am. Also waiting in line for fuel were two men from Channel 9 who were taking the outside broadcast vehicle from Adelaide to Perth for the 3rd Cricket Test. Australia had just beaten England in Adelaide and now the rush was on to get the equipment across the paddock in time for the start of the next test. We spent 15 minutes chatting while cleaning windscreens and checking tyres etc before the service station man leaned our the door and yelled "you're right to go!" and we each filled up.
Fueled up and on our way we passed through towns such as Kyancutta, Wuddina, Minnipa, Poochera and Wirrulla before we arrived in Ceduna where we fueled up and enjoyed an early lunch overlooking the beach and town jetty. Leaving Ceduna we passed through the windmill town of Penong (where we were sure there were more windmills the last time we went through) and onto Nundroo where we topped our fuel up and enquired about the prices across the Nullarbor. "You really don't want to know" said the bloke at the till when I asked, "expect over $2 a litre almost everywhere" he said and somehow the $1.69 a litre I had just paid seemed very cheap. We did consider filling the two jerry cans we have onboard but figured that the savings would be nullified by the extra weight so decided to just pay the price when we needed to.
We made our way along passing through some wonderful Mallee type bush where the trees and bush seemed to be in good condition and were showing no sign of stress through drooping of leaves and branches before we arrived at the Yalata Aboriginal Community and the still disused roadhouse. Some kilometers on the trees eventually thinned and before long we approached the sign telling us we were at the Eastern end of the Treeless Plain - The Nullarbor.
The endless isolation
Nullus arbor
Before long we could see the Telstra tower at the Nullarbor roadhouse (which sits at the Western end of the Treeless Plain) sticking up through the haze on the horizon, which is not hard when there is nothing higher than the grass to take ones eye. We pulled into the roadhouse for a sticky beak to see if anything had changed since we were there last and it appears that only two things have - the date on the calendar and the price of fuel, now $2.03c per litre for diesel.
Leaving the roadhouse we drove on until we came to the small rest area amongst the scrubby bushes and trees that come back into being around 20 kilometers from the roadhouse. This rest area was where the water tank and its contents had saved our lives on Friday 08 December 2006 (read our log here)when we experienced 51 degrees C while cycling from Perth to Melbourne and when all of our drinking water was hot enough to make a cup of tea in and our personal radiators were about to blow.
We found the tank still in place with its precious contents and the rest area totally empty so we picked out the best spot and set up camp for the rest of the day.
11 December 2013
Another peaceful night in the bush on the Nullarbor. We awoke early and decided to get to one or more of the lookouts on the Bunda Cliffs to try for some morning sun photography. 10km on we came to the track to the lookout where in 2006 we sat out the heat of the day before riding on to the water tank at last nights camp, but on arrival we found the track churned up for re-vegetation and not accessible. There used to be ten lookouts along the cliffs but a number of these have been closed and there are now only three official lookouts.
Moving on we eventually came to lookout number 3 where we found a smallish turn around and fences near the lookout where five vehicles and two tents were camped. Finding a parking spot we took the now official walkway to the viewing area. Unfortunately the weather was not what we wanted but we made the most of what we had to get these shots of the Southern edge of Australia.
Sunrays over the ocean
The weather improved somewhat and we were able to get this shot of the Southern Edge of Australia
Leaving the cliffs we very soon arrived at Border Village where we successfully passed the Quarantine Inspection and entered Western Australia. After an absence of nearly 14 months we were back in the State we started from.
Dropping down onto the plain at Eucla we made our way along spotting old campsites and taking in the generally healthy looking bush and for the first time spotted road kill and a Wedgetail Eagle. Stopping at Mundrabilla we filled our fuel tank and two spare jerry cans with diesel ($1.94c per litre) meaning we would not have to stop for fuel again until Norseman or there after.
The plain eventually came to an end and we climbed up the Madura Pass and stopped at the lookout for a spot of lunch before heading on again. With the time change and gaining 2 and 1/2 hours at the border (which was handy considering the time we spent at the cliffs this morning) we were able to cram a decent drive in as well as the sightseeing. We passed Cocklebiddy and then Caiguna but stopped at the start of the 90 mile straight to see if the Caiguna blowhole was working seeing that there was a Southerly wind blowing and the pressure that comes out of it is determined by the wind at the ocean, but alas it was not. We progressed along Australia's longest straight road passing the turn off to the Eyre Bird Observatory and not far from here the scenery changed from low shrubs and trees to open grasslands where we felt the full force of the Southerly that was blowing.
We stopped for a look at the Domblegabby Rest Area with its distinct concrete tank and large rainwater collection roof where we have camped previously when cycling and in the motorhome before continuing on to the Baxter Rest Area roughly 120km East of Ballodonia where we found a spot and declared 570 km for today enough.
12 December 2013
We awoke at our normal body clock time this morning but there was something wrong! The clock being on WA time said it was 3.45am and the sun was already lightning the sky. So, rather than roll over and try and get more rest we decided to hit the road. Traffic was very light and within 20km we were coming out of the grasslands and back into the trees and bush.
Approaching Ballodonia we took the first corner in the road for the last 144km. The roadhouse was very quiet at that time and with plenty of fuel onboard we just drove past and headed for a place we have wanted to visit for some time now. Taking the turn off we easily negotiated the dirt road and the small water run off gullies and arrived at Newman Rocks where we enjoyed breakfast, some exploring and photography.
We were parked at the top of a very large granite rock where we could see a pool of water at the bottom complete with a small stone wall to help keep the water in the dam when it gets fuller. We are not sure what Newman Rocks was other than maybe a water collection point for a nearby station, but it is now a very nice campsite and one that we wish to visit again to send a few days at.
You can just see our motorhome parked at the top
Looking back to where I took the previous shot from
Breakfast, exploring and photography over we were headed for Norseman and arrived to find a town where not much had changed. We bought a few bits of fruit at the supermarket, topped up with fuel and headed North towards Coolgardie.
The bush between Norseman and Coolgardie was looking a treat, probably thanks to the rain that WA has had in the past month or so. The trees were all looking shiny and new with their new growth and it was hard to keep an eye on the road because of the nice view. Arriving in Coolgardie we enjoyed lunch at the Lions Lookout and then headed off towards Perth, eventually settling for a campsite at Karalee Rocks where we have camped before back in April 2012.
13 December 2013
The kids from Willeton High School that came in last night were quiet during the night and we awoke early after a peaceful sleep. Hitting the highway we were glad of the cool because today in Perth is expected to be a hot one and the next two or three are going to be the same. We were passing through the West Australian wheat towns and it was interesting to check out the various grain receival sites we saw and the type of trains that they use.
Before long we were coming down the hill into Perth and there was our first view of Perth in 20 months. A scan of the skyline and it seemed that there were more high rise buildings than we remember. The freeways were clogged even at midday and it was a good reminder of what we do not miss.
Before long we were pulling into the driveway of our eldest daughters to a warm greeting from her and the family.
21 December 2013
No work and no travel has been a good chance to catch up on a few projects and adding an external Sat TV connection point was first on the list. Jason (son in law) and I spent a few hours working it all out and then getting the bits and pieces before installing the point.
Now we can just remove the cap and connect the cable to this point which saves having the cable going through the window and letting all the bugs in at night.
Another job I have wanted to do for some time now is to replace the fluro lights over the kitchen sink, dinette and down the back where we sit to read. Replacement was for two reasons, better light and more importantly to reduce our power consumption by replacing the six 8 watt fluro tubes that provide the light in those areas.
Having bought a 5 metre roll of LED's on the Internet I began following the instructions here, spending a few hours soldering wire onto the smallest of copper connectors after removing the waterproof gel that covers them and then connecting them all up correctly.
That is my pinky finger which gives you an idea of how small the connectors are.
The end result was not pretty but it was functional and that is all that mattered to me. From here it was a case of connect the wires together and hold them with some solder before testing and installing them.
The LED's now provide a nice white light across the dinning table and help to light the place quite nicely.
Other projects included a thorough de-clutter inside which resulted in our removing things that we have not used or worn (put into our storage unit) and a good clean up outside including a coat of polish.
There are a few other projects on the boil but as none of them are mission critical we will see if we have time for them in between visits with family and friends and of course Christmas and New Years.
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