I guess we all like a challenge, and part of our return journey included a physical challenge - climbing to the top of Castle Rock in the Porongurup National Park. We had seen photos, and even a video which showed just how quick and easy the climb is. Marg had some doubts that I could do the climb after my back injury. I had some doubt that Marg could do it as well with shoulder damage etc. We left Wagin quite early in the morning to get to Porongurup early before the day heated up too much - about a 2 hour drive. We stopped at the Porongurup Caravan Park to book a site for the night and found that the National Park was opened today for the first time in a week after forestry staff ... read more

We love a day out in Perth City Centre. This is such a busy colourful city where tourists and locals enjoy the great summer living and buzz of so much activity. We can catch a bus close to Michael's place to Butler Railway Station, and then direct into the city centre by train. Total journey time is about 1:15 which is quite convenient. One thing we have noticed is that in Perth they love their bronze statues. Be they historical figures, or representations of wild life, there are many to view. One of my favourites is the clown doing a hand stand in the Hay Street Mall. The set of kangaroos down by the Supreme Court Museum is worthy of note too. We find the map confusing to tell you where this is - it could ... read more

December in Perth - well this includes part of November as well. Initially we stayed at the Club Capricorn Caravan Park while we helped our son get the parking area at the front of their home prepared. It was weird really, because when we pulled up in front of the home for the first time, we looked at the area and our hearts sank - it looked too small. Anyway, we got out of the motorhome and when we paced out the area it was going to be more than adequate. So we backed the motor home onto the site to check levels, and quickly worked out that there was a bit of work to be done before we could stay on site for an extended time. You would think that Perth would be pretty warm ... read more

If you have been following our blog, you will see that we have adjusted our travel a little from the map we published earlier. As temperatures at Karijini were getting too high for rock climbing etc, we headed from the Gold Fields firstly to Geraldton, and then to Kalbarri. Our first stop just a little north of Geraldton was to Batavia Coast Caravan Land who have a good reputation for running repairs. In fact, we used them on our last trip for a toilet repair. It was the vacuum toilet again that had been giving us grief by not being able to hold vacuum. We had purchased the required seal and expected the service person in Ceduna to also install the seal. As we reported, he backed off and just sold us the part. The senior ... read more

It's not easy to say quite where the Gold Fields story should start. East of Southern Cross, maybe at Norseman, Coolgardie, or Kalgoorlie Boulder? Geographically, the southern end of the gold fields is around Norseman, and extends across to Coolgardie and almost Southern Cross. Historically and financially, the find by Jack Hannan at Boulder would have to have had the biggest and most enduring impact. The earlier explorers here found alluvial gold, and then tracked the rock sources and started burrowing. In the Kalgoorlie Boulder area there were many mines, each productive but as time progressed, inefficient to operate. Most Aussies know of Alan Bond, and it was he who overtime bought each of the mine leases until he had the whole strip on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie. He had a vision for a deep open ... read more