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January 2020
04 January 2020
Another new year and, a new decade. We slept the new year in while camped in Waroona with good friends Bob and Julie. We then spent the next few days with other good friends Kim and Carolyn and working on our camper trailer to prepare it for a shakedown trip in a couple of weeks before final preparations for our intended desert trip around March/April.
So having left Kim and Carolyn's today, we are back on the road for a week or so before returning to take that shakedown trip. In the meantime it is now time to get the camera out again and to be putting some vlogs up on our youtube channel.
10 January 2020
So having been back traipsing around for a week now we haven't gone far, but we have been having small daily trips of between 40 and 70 kilometres. Stopping in some small places such as Pinjarra, Hamel, Buckingham, Dardenup and Capel to support their small town free camps, and to shop locally in appreciation.
Our track for 5th Jan 2020 can be found here.
Our track for 6th Jan 2020 can be found here.
Our track for 8th Jan 2020 can be found here.
Our track for 9th Jan 2020 can be found here.
Standing out from the crowd, the elder and the whippersnappers next to the Collie River.
Sunset clouds over the old Collie River Bridge Pylons
And so after a huge drive from Capel today, we have stopped at Thompson Brook Winery where you can camp for free on their rather large, rather green lawn, and partake in some wine tasting and purchases, which is a win-win situation, not to mention practicing the drink and No Drive policy.
Our track can be found here.
11 January 2020
It was a quiet night despite the two other campers in with us at the winery camp, and with the gates locked until the place opens at 10am it was a late start for all of us. We packed up and used the time waiting to read some more of the Len Beadell book series.
We could have stayed at the winery for up to three days, but decided to move on. We made our way to the town of Donneybrook via a stop to view the frog collection in Frog Hollow opposite the Preston Store, a take of of Gnomesville but with frogs. Arriving in a busy Donneybrook there was a walk around the streets and plenty of phone calls to work on getting some better and cheaper insurance for the 5er which is due this month. Then it was a very pleasant drive to Boyup Brook for a look and to use the dump point in the caravan park.
From Boyup Brook we made our way to a familiar campsite at Eulin Crossing on the Blackwood River. Pulling into the site we found some people there with their with ski boats on the river, but no other campers! We had a chat with a lady from Katanning and then with the pick of the sites, moved straight into one that we have camped in before, and one that is about the best one for proximity to the water and views of the river.
Our track can be found here.
We then spent the afternoon lying back in our chairs watching people ski and generally have a good time as the smell of the muddy river and boat exhaust filled the air with each turn at our end of the waterway.
The skiers left around 4pm and before we knew it we had the place totally to ourselves. The blue wrens began to flit around and the harsh sun began to lose it's potency, and so it was time to get the drone up in the air (dodging Kamikaze ducks was interesting), and of course to get the camera out for some shots.
Light filters through the paperbarks at the rear of our campsite as the sun begins it's afternoon descent.
The small island opposite our campsite as the harsh sun abates and the shadows lengthen.
12 January 2020
Today being Sunday meant eggs, bacon and mushrooms for breakfast, but not before a climb up onto the roof to clean the solar panels off, something that has needed doing for a while now. Breakfast over Joanne got some washing done and then we sat back to relax and watch the four wheel drive shows on tv.
15 January 2020
The past few days have been a wonderful break from travel, and one that has allowed us to really get to know Eulin Crossing, but today was the day that we were to leave. We awoke to light cloud in the sky and not much of a sunrise.
Not much of a sunrise shot, but the river looked nice.
So after breakfast we packed up and got ready to leave. On our arrival here we had dug a hole to drop a set of the 5er's wheels into to level up, and we had also put a yellow wheel ramp in on the other side. Now this arrangement meant that to leave our camp we had to reverse off the yellow wheel ramp, and then when it was out of the way drive forward to get out of the hole with the wheels in.
After reversing off the wheel ramp and removing it I noticed one of the wheels from the hole was off the ground and I casually decided to spin it to see if it was indeed suspended in the air. In spinning the wheel I noticed that it had a fair bit of lateral movement, and that meant that the bearings were not where they should be, or worse!
While the wheel was off the ground we removed it to get to investigate the issue further. Well, after removing the wheel and knocking the dust cap off, the dark black grease told me straight away that something was not right, and after removing the outer bearing washer, bearing and then the hub itself, it became apparent that the rear bearing was not as healthy as it should be.
A call to Winjana (the maker of our rig) for bearing information (and putting the whole thing back together again to keep the dust and sand out), a call was made to the closest mechanical assistance, which turned out to be in Bridgetown some 69 km's away. The information provided by Winjana was not enough, and so it was a case of taking the whole thing apart again to get and take photos of the bearing numbers, which, despite cleaning them within an inch of their life, were very hard to read.
Sending the information and photos by text to West Side Mechanical Repairs in Bridgetown done, we put the whole shebang back together and set up camp again. We had moved a whole metre, but backwards and then forward to our original spot! Does that constitute leaving a camp site and returning? So it looks like we are having our 5th night here at Eulin Crossing before heading to Bridgetown to get bearings and seals, for all four wheels!
16 January 2020
So after waiting out another day at our riverside camp, and watching the families that came down to ski, ski, we packed up this morning and made our way to Bridgetown to pick up our bearings, and to make our way to somewhere where we could change the problem out. That somewhere ended up being a nice flat spot out of the way at the Bridgetown showgrounds.
Getting some grease monkey time.
Getting the wheel off, removing the dust camp, split pin and lock nut carefully sliding the hub and front bearing off the axle, the reason for the problem became apparent quite quickly. The dust seal behind the rear bearing had either not been put on when it was replaced last, or had disintegrated to nothing for some reason, allowing not only free play in the bearing, but dust and dirt to get in and wreak havoc with the bearing itself.
Cleaning out the old bearing hub and axle, then filling the new bearing rollers with nice new sticky blue grease and getting it all back together again was a fairly easy task, helped by Joanne acting as TA. Then with the wheel back on it was time to check the rear wheel, and yes, there was some play in there as well.
Pulling the wheel and hub off it appeared that the lock nut needed a little tightening, but, as we had bought enough bearings to do all four wheels, we removed and replaced the rear wheel bearing as well. By then the sun had come around to that side of the van and it was lunchtime, so the other side wheels will have to wait for another day in the near future. Yes we could have just replaced the worn out bearing and tightened the rear one, but it we figured it is better to replace the lot and that way there is no guessing when they were done last, and the wear is even.
So, after our mechanical interlude, we went back into town, did some food shopping and filled up with fuel and made our way to Greenbushes for tonight's camp. On arrival we had to wait for the shire to finish grading out the potholes before finding and settling into the last spot available.
Our track can be found here.
20 January 2020
Our camp at Greenbushes was pretty full but quiet overnight, our alarm clock being the backpacker vans leaving early so as not to get caught by the ranger.
We packed up and moved on, taking some beautifully tree lined roads, eventually arriving in Northcliffe and making our way to Sid's Campground just out of town. The campsite sits near Sid's house and it's caretaker Mick met us as we pulled in. After paying the pig (pig shaped money collection point) Mick showed us to a site and after a little bush bashing, and then doing some fancy reversing, we set up camp.
Our track can be found here.
With most of the sites in amongst bush and on grey sand, we wondered how we would go for sun on our panels, and if we would get satellite signal for the tv, especially as the sky was grey and wet stuff was falling from it. Not much,but just enough to make life, and your feet, wet and sandy. As it turned out we managed to get enough solar in, and, we even managed to snag the satellite tv. The campground amenities are shall we say - quirky, with old ute canopies being used for the roof on a toilet, the showers being bore water (hot water from the adjacent solar hot water service) and in tin sheds, that when you get inside, are quite good, ours even had a proper tiled wall and floor with a glass household shower cubicle!
Set up and settled in we unhooked and went off exploring the bush following instructions and recommendations from the lady in the tourist information centre. Most of the trip was great, stopping to view the multi million dollar Bannister Downs Dairy was a surprise along the way.
The strangest looking dairy we have ever seen.
The main entrance to the dairy.
24/7 self serve rotary milking.
From the rotary to here.
From there through here.
And ends up in these plastic pouches.
Leaving the cows to their self serve milking facility we were just enjoying the drive and then as we came around a corner both of us said "wow, look at that!" at the same time as we noticed the light on the trees in the scene in front of us, so naturally, it was time to stop and get some photo's.
WOW! was expression when we came around the corner and saw this, even on a cloudy, wet day!
Hitting the dirt, we eventually ended up in 4 wheel drive, enjoying a water crossing at the Gardner River Ford in the Boorara-Gardner National Park, and giving our fillings, kidneys and shock absorbers a work out along the Lower Gardner Road as we made our way back to town.
Our track for this part of the day can be found here (it's easier than trying to explain it).
The next day was another day of exploration through some stunningly beautiful forests full of Karri, Marri and Jarrah tree's, and yes, you guessed it, photography.
Such magnificent tree's in this part of the world.
More beautiful drives through the forest.
Just loved the kangaroo paw and the bark.
Our track for the day can be found here.
Day Three at Sid's Campground was a lazy breakfast, doing the washing and working on photo's and video's followed by watching our 4 wheel drive shows from midday to 3pm, then it was time to take a trip to Windy Harbour to see if there was anything to be photographed there at the beach.
The cliffs and spray on a windy day at Windy Harbour.
The trip to Windy Harbour was a pleasant one through more forest before it opened up to the coast, the National Park, and THE WIND! We visited all of the points of interest in the park before dropping down into town for a drive amongst the beach shacks and then back out to the main road and home again.
Back at camp we settled in for the evening and spent another peaceful night at Sid's Camp.
Our track can be found here.
This morning we awoke to another nice day, and after a leisurely breakfast packed and hooked up to head out again. With no real idea of where we wanted to go we took some back tracks through the bush, eventually ending up at Jayes Bridge where there is a nice camp along the side of the Blackwood River.
Our campsite at Jayes Bridge, the old bridge pylons can just be seen next to the new one.
The last time we were here was in our motorhome and the grass was very high and not very inviting, but no such issues today. What grass? The place is a little bit of a dust bowl, but the tree's and the river are nice. Two other campers (in tents) had taken up spots, once right down on the river, and we selected a spot where it was nice and level, and where we could still see the river just 30m away.
The view out of our back window was a pleasant farming scene.
Our track can be found here.
21 January 2020
Jayes Bridge was a great camp spot and by the time we were ready to leave, we were the only ones there. The gum tree's flowering throughout the area added to the pleasant scenery as we made our way.
Flowering Gum Trees were everywhere, and putting on quite a show.
Arriving in Boyup Brook we stopped to re-supply some food and fuel before heading on, drizzle beginning to fall as we went, and with a water laden air and a large flowering gum in a paddock, it meant just one thing. A stop for a photograph.
With rain passing through and a pronounced depth of field, a stop for this shot was a must.
Turning off the main road we made our way back to Eulin Crossing where we drove in for another look and then out again on the new track. Back on the main road we crossed the concrete causeway and before long turned into another camp spot by the name of Zulu's Patch. We have been here before but never camped, and so with nobody else in residence, this was our chance, right alongside the river.
Our campsite at Zulu's Patch on the Blackwood River.
A slightly higher perspective of our campsite surroundings.
Our track can be found here.
22 January 2020
With nobody else in camp we spent a very pleasant and quiet night at Zulu's Patch, waking to a yet another cloudy day. We packed up and were back on the road passing through more pleasant countryside with flowering gum tree's everywhere, the flower debris often all over the road.
Some 58 kilometres later we had pulled up in the caravan park in the small town of Darkan, just because we could.
Our track can be found here.
23 January 2020
After a pleasant night in Darkan we made our way to friends Kim and Carolyn in Mandurah where we gave the rig a good clean and spent a few days preparing to swap from the 5er to our camper trailer and to drop the 5er off into storage in preparation for a trip along the MundAl track.
The MundAl track is a 4wd track that runs from Mundaring near Perth, all the way to Albany (900 odd km's) using back roads, dirt roads, tracks and whatever can be utilised and with minimal highway travel.
26 January 2020
Leaving Mandurah with Kim and Carolyn, both with campertrailers in tow, we made our way out to Dwellingup. Rather than going up to Mundaring to start we decided to join the track in Dwellingup.
Hoffman Mill Scene at lunchtime.
Plenty of nice off road and backroad travel took us to Glen Mervyn Dam, but with the Australia Day Long Weekend on, there were people everywhere and a campsite was almost impossible to get. We could of course squeezed in somewhere but decided to leave the hoards to their lakeside fun and made our way to the old Buckingham Hall on the Collie River where we camped not so long ago.
Finding only three other campers our wheels finally stopped. Setting up camp and settling in for the night on what was the old tennis courts.
Our track can be found here.
27 January 2020
After a peaceful night at Buckingham there was time for some photography in the early morning light before we packed up and headed off once more.
This guy was just hanging around on a grass tree spear and just needed to be photographed with the 70-200mm lens.
More back roads and very pleasant farming scenery following the MundAl track on the HEMA before we found ourselves at Eulin Crossing (again, another recent camp. We settled in after finding the place empty and because the temperature was near 40 degrees C. The rest of the day was spent sitting in the shade and swimming in the river on four or five occasions.
Our track can be found here.
28 January 2020
With the heat of the day gone we managed a very pleasant night in one of our favourite camps, and even with the weather forecast of another hot day it was hard to leave the river. Back on the track again we passed through the nice little town of Boyup Brook where we stopped to utilise the dump point, visit the hardware and the supermarket before heading on to Jayes Bridge (where we also camped recently) for morning tea.
More track work (and some self imposed detours) and we made it to the Muirs Bridge Rest Area on the Franklin River where we joined two other campers in the relatively small rest area, thankfully joined by only one other for the night.
With such a nice spot the camera got a little exercise with some long exposures on the old bridge pylons, and some potential sunrise shots were scouted out.
The old bridge pylons made for a great long exposure subject.
Our track can be found here.
29 January 2020
Waking at 4.45am to the raucous alarm clock call of the local Kookaburra's there was time to get up and going and set up before sunrise. With some cloud in the sky there was potential for some dramatic cloud shots over the river, but by the time the sun was getting up, the cloud had decided to thwart my photo's and was almost gone.
The sunlight hits the bend as its source climbs higher in the sky.
So with the thinning cloud and another composition in mind, it wa time to head over to that spot and set up, and this time the visualisation and planning paid off, and the shot was obtained. Then, with the sunlight not to strong, it was back to the first spot under the bridge to capture the first of the sun on the river. With all of this too-ing and fro-ing, it was a good job the spots were only a few hundred metres apart.
Being the first to leave our camp we hit the highway, travelling back some 30 kilometres to rejoin the track, and to embark on a fun day along dirt roads, taking detours because of road closures, passing along some single track, over log bridges, a water course, past some magnificent tree's, a stop at Mont Franklin for morning tea and a look at the sights, some sandy low range hill climbing and then, with the realisation that we would be on this part of the track until after dark, a detour to the beautiful oceanside camp at Parry's Beach Campground where we ended our partial traverse of the Mundaring to ALbany 4wd track, known as the MundAl.
Clearing the track.
A rainy day at Parrys Beach
Our track can be found here.
30 January 2020
With Kim and Carolyn off early to get an electrical issue looked at we started to pack up our wetcamper. Rain had fallen overnight and we were now finding out how packing a wet campertrailer up can be a bit of a challenge. But packed up and we were off too, the ocean swell pounding in under a rainy sky which obscured most of the surrounding landmass.
We made our way into the popular holiday town of Denmark to find the auto sparky working on Kim and Carolyns rig. After checking the local hardware for some items we needed we left for Albany to find ourseles a new deep cycle battery for the camper, to get to a large hardware, do some shopping and then get out of town.
Albany used to be a bit of a sleepy little tourist town, but the traffic when we got there was horrendous! We can only imagine how bad it must be at the height of the school holidays or over the Christmas/New Year Season.
With our camper battery replaced and other items sorted we left town, heading for the small town of Borden which sits North of the Stirling Ranges, where we hoped we would get out of the rain, similar to what we did when we cycled through here on our round Australia trip.
It wasn't long before we were driving on dry roads, and then arriving into the devestation left by the recent bush fires. Steam was coming our of the ground under the blackened and fire ravaged bush here in the National Park. Passing a large parking bay e turned around and went back for some photo's of the clouds over the ranges, and the fire ground. Kim and Carolyn turned up as we were getting our photographs and we then made our way together to Borden.
The fire ravaged countryside in the Stirling Ranges
Mt Hassell on the right.
Cloud looking like smoke over the range as a small shaft of sunlight illuminates the ground in front of it.
Settled into the free camp there was time to head up to our alternative camp at Louis Lookout and to get some shots of the Stirling Ranges and the cloud over them, all the while hoping the setting sun would light up the sky - but it didn't.
Sunset over the Stirling Ranges from Louis Lookout.
Our track can be found here.
31 January 2020
A pleasant night in Borden saw us leave and head off to rejoin the ALbany to Kalgoorlie 4wd track Rejoining the track between Ongerup and Jeramungup, we were on the Holland Track, and followed it on and off for quite some time. The track starting off wide and good and then narrowing to almost less than a vehicle width as we progressed.
Stopping for lunch and to launch the drone at Emu Rock we then negotiated some more marrow bush track before coming out into the open where the scrub was not much higher than the window, but the track was just as narrow, if not narrower. With Joanne in the drivers seat it was the perfect chance to launch and fly the drone to capture some of our driving.
Opening and passing through the gate on the State Barrier Fence, we popped out onto the Hyden to Norseman Road and took the short trip to the Forestania Plots camp, home to farmers back in the 1920's, but now failed and abandoned. The only thing left is the olf hut and fireplace, with the words Forestonia Pub emblazoned on the side wall.
Settled in for the night and with the local magpies wandering around our camp bold as brass we eventually settled in for the evening under a deep orange sunset in a clear sky.
Our track can be found here. Note - it is a littlehard to see because the track colour is Orange.
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.
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