September 2018

24 September 2018

September thus far been a very busy month, and I must apologise to those of you who follow us for the delay in getting this up on the web. The reason for the delay was that we have been trying not to announce our whereabouts because of a planned surprise visit.

Having left Lascelles we made our way to Donald where we stopped in at the Kooka's Country Cookies and then to a very wet Avoca. From there and, despite the rain and poor weather, we enjoyed a nice scenic drive through the Pyrenees Range where the rain and cool weather made the bark and markings really stand out on the gum trees.

After paying our $10 at the Collectable's store we back tracked about a kilometre or so to the sports oval, parked up, plugged in and settled in as the sky alternated between blue sky and rain showers.

Then it was time to get out to capture some of the great looking trees around the place.

Moonambel Tree 1

Moonambel Tree 2

Moonambel Tree 3

Leaving Moonambel the next morning we made our way to Ballan where we visited Joanne's sister Janine and her partner Tony. Waking the next day to a frost that took 20 minutes to defrost the car from.

Passing through Melbourne was easy thanks to the toll road freeway, and the fact that it was Sunday. Dropping in at Mum and Dad's for a visit and of course it was also a chance to visit Joanne's brother Paul and partner up at Carrajung, where the birdsong and views are spectacular, the hum drum of roads and people is almost non existent and the view from the verandah goes all the way out to Bass Straight and Wilson s Promontory. It was also the perfect opportunity to get the drone out for some different camera action.

Stand Out from the Crowd

Standing out from the crowd.

Pine Roller Coaster

The Pine Roller Coaster.

Leaving Carrajung it was time to make our way back down to the flat land and to visit with Mum and Dad again, and more of Joanne's family. There was also a trip up to Toorongo Falls behind Noojee for some more photographic practice.

Toorongo Creek

Toorongo Falls was flowing nicely as the sun began to light the landscape up.

Toorongo Creek

One of the views of the Toorongo Creek as it comes down from the falls.

Then, it was time to fly to the Sunshine Coast to deliver ourselves as a surprise at an 80th Birthday which went off very well.

After enjoying time with family, and the Qld warmth and sunshine, over a very busy weekend, we flew back to Melbourne for one more night with family. Tomorrow we will be hitting the road for a quick trip West to prepare for, and start the 2018 Grain Harvest.

27 September 2018

Three days and 1,300 km's later we find ourselves in Iron Knob, SA. Having left family behind in Gippsland we made our way through Melbourne and out the other side, preferring for a change to go via Bendigo rather than over the West Gate Bridge and along the Western Highway. It wasn't long before we were parked up in the Dollar Wise part of the Charlton Caravan Park. It's a good deal at $10 and close enough to town to walk in for supplies.

Waking to the sound of magpies chortling we packed up and headed off before most others, passing though the Mallee and onto the Murray River, where after 500km's of travel, we eventually pulled up at a spot high up on the cliffs at the Big Bend Lookout not far from Nildottie. We had spied this spot when we came through this area not long ago and it served us nicely. We enjoyed the river views, and the Murray Princess even passed by not long after we arrived.

Murray Princess

The Murray Princess makes its way past the towering cliffs of the Murray River at Big Bend.

Being lookout a few other vehicles came in and then left,leaving us to enjoy the views and to get the drone out to stretch its wings. Then, with the sunset looking promising it was time to get a shot or two of the river and the sunset.

Big Bend Camp View

Big Bend Campsite view as the sun dips toward the horizon.

Waking to Magpies, Kookaburra's and lots of other birdsong we were awake early after having had a good sleep as the Murray flowed silently on it's way. Low cloud gave the place a cold feeling and blocked the sunrise for a while though we did manage to leave in sunshine.

Crossing the River at Morgan we made our way on to Burra where once again the wind was draining the fuel tank, and the cloud covering made it quite cold, and even the windscreen wipers got some action for a bit. Topping up with fuel to get us to Crystal Brook we left town and headed over the hills again, the wind turbines only visible by the bottom of their towers, the blades way up in the low cloud.

We stopped in Crystal Brook for morning tea and then made our way onto the highway to Port Augusta, passing Port Germein and Port Pirie on the way. Lots of traffic going both ways meant concentrating more than normal. About 35km's South of Port Augusta we came across the scene of a very recent accident, where a 4wd was off in the bush and looking like it rolled, a trailer was upside down on the side of the road and another car not far from it was damaged. We didn't stop as there were plenty of other people there to handle it. Ambulance, Police and Fire crews went screaming the other way as we made our way onto Port Augusta.

Not having to stop in Port Augusta for fuel or food this time was a god thing, and we sailed through. With the wind up we opted to take the El-Alamein Army Camp road rather than the open highway out of town and rejoined the main highway not far from the turn off to Perth.

Saltbush everywhere and not much else to see we arrived at Iron Knob and with only two others in, pulled into our usual spot and set up camp.

28 September 2018

Iron Knob was once again a stellar camp that we shared with about eight other campers. We were up early again and so headed off hoping the wind was not going to be a pain today.

There was not much to report on as we made our way along the highway, road kill was quite noticeable as were the number of caravans and motorhome's going in the opposite direction. The cloud cover and rain at times meant that the road was a bit mucky in places but good otherwise.

We stopped at Kyancutta for a top up at the cheapest fuel ($1.499) around for many a mile and even took advantage of the price to fill a jerry can. A few kilometres later we stopped at Minnipa for morning tea and finished just as the rain came back in again.

Before long Ceduna came into view and we stopped just long enough to top up the food supplies, use the dump point and to top up the water tank for the trip across the paddock. Heading out of town we checked out a bush camp not far from town but decided to move on, eventually stopping at a rest area not far off the road at Koonibba. It wasn't much of a rest area but we managed to get out the back next to the fence with a small strip of trees between us and the highway.

29 September 2018

Two other campers and ourselves spent the night in the rest area, and despite the occasional truck or car we enjoyed a quiet night, waking to a cool morning and the wind. Heading off we made good time and fuel economy with the wind mostly from behind.

Passing along through Penong, home of the windmills, then Yalata, home of the Aboriginal Community and now abandoned roadhouse, then after some time we came out of the bush into the flat, open plain that is the Nullarbor. Passing the Eastern End of the Treeless Plain sign and the toad down to the Head of the Bight Whale Watching Area (10+ whales in according to the sign) we arrived at the Nullarbor Roadhouse itself.

Stopping for morning tea at Nullarbor we lamented that we were not going down the old dirt highway before heading off along the bitumen to see if we could get some drone footage of the edge of Australia, but it was not to be. The wind was blowing its head off and there was absolutely no way the drone was going to launch let alone fly safely, and come home again!

So after enjoying the views of the Bunda Cliffs (it was that windy not even the camera came out), we arrived at the turn off to Koonalda Station. Turning off we slowly made our way long the 4.5km's of hard limestone rocky road until we came to the sandy, softer bit where we could speed up.

Arriving at and crossing the intersection of the Old Eyre Highway we parked up near the shearing shed. The wind was being slightly kinder 20km's inland and so the drone was launched for some video footage and some still's.

Koonalda Hstd

The Koonalda Homestead and old Roadhouse.

Koonalda Car Yard

Looking South towards the intersection of the Old Eyre Highway (end of the double lane) and onto the existing Highway.

Koonalda North

Looking North from the shearing shed to the clay pan and then further on the horizon, the Koonalda Cave.

Koonalda North 2

Looking North, the homestead, old roadhouse, shearer's quarters, cars and the track to the Shearing Shed and Cave.

Despite the wind increasing we managed to get some good video and still's taken, then after deciding not to camp at the homestead, we made our way back towards the highway, inspecting the Clay Dam Cave on our way and eventually parking up behind a very large pile of roadbase not far from the highway.

30 September 2018

The weather overnight wasn't that flash, and we awoke to a cloudy morning, the sun briefly setting the sky on fire before the cloud put the fire out.We made our way out to the highway and began looking for a cliff to fly the drone off of, but with the wind the way it was, there was no way we were getting off the ground this morning yet again.

Arriving at the Western Australian Border we were thoroughly inspected for quarantine items and having passed muster, silently slipped back into WA, past Eucla and down onto the plain.

Stopping at Mundrabilla Roadhouse for fuel (1.90 per litre) we were informed by the young lady prowling around the pumps that the phone lines were down and so it was cash or prepaid only. The phone lines might be down but the mobile phone now works at Mundrabilla, something it never did before.

Fuelled up we made our way to Madura where we stopped in at the lookout, flew the drone around for a look and met Alan and Chris, neighbours of our friends George and Liz Carter from Casino. It was tempting to stop there for the night but with the time difference and gaining hours at the border we decided to continue on, eventually stopping in our usual gravel pit spot just short of Cocklebiddy as the wind and rain set back in again.

Mark Twain once said "...years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do that by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - and so we will.