TravellingPete

Hi All, Firstly an apology for not updating this blog for a while, however things happen and some days there is no internet connection, even if the creative juices are flowing. Crossing the Nullarbor is a bit of an Australian tradition I would think, similar in some respects to crossing the equator, as it requires (particually many years ago) time and an arduous bit of adventure. Today the road is excellent, there are sufficient overnight stopping and refueling facilities, and the traffic is a higher volume, but you can still drive for an hour or more at times without seeing another vehicle. The Nullarbor itself is about 250.000 square kilometres in area, treeless, and is basically a limestone slab, initially part of the ancient seabed. There are a lot of sinkholes, caverns and caves and a ... read more

Hi All, While I was at Esperance I made the decision to end my time in Western Australia, and to head east towards home, planning to be back at Broadbeach around end of November. Before starting the trip east, I had one last place to visit, Kalgoorlie, which is 390 kms due north from Esperance and to reach it you pass through Norseman, which is the last big town in West Australia before heading east to South Australia. (For the pedantic among you it is also the first big town encountered in WA when travelling west from South Australia). Fortunately I was able to resist doing a right hand turn at Norseman and travelled directly north for another 187 kms to Kalgoorlie where I had a brief but interesting stay. Today Kalgoorlie is really an amalgamation ... read more

Hi All, As I closed off my last update I was about to leave Albany for Esperance. Early on the morning of departure, I put the motor home into the local Toyota dealer for a quick engine oil change & service, which took almost 5 hours and meant I couldn't do the trip to Esperance in the one day. I decided to stop off at a promising sounding place called Bremer Bay, about 60 kms off the highway and set off to a whistlestop called Boxwood, where I was to leave the highway. About 20 kms before this I was stoped by road control who explained the highway was closed for at least for a few hours do to a bushfire burning across the highway. Fortunately I was able to head 22 kms inland on a ... read more

Hi All, It's Friday 15th October and I am leaving Busselton to travel through some of the timber country to the southern and south west coastal area of West Australia. The first short stop was at Pemberton, a small township near the south coast, which is surrounded by some 4,000 hectares of National Parks mainly containing the remaining natural areas of the giant Karri Trees. The road touches on the edge of some of the Karri forrests and these small pockets of forrest were spectacular. On the road there was little oportunity to stop, but the overall impresion was still there as you drove through. Where the forrests have been extensively "havested" over the years, the countryside appears diverse, with farms (dairy) and even grape growing areas, as well as some crop farming and "new" regrowth ... read more

With the end of the school holidays, it was time to move on from Fremantle, down to the south west area of West Australia, much of which is centred on the Magaret River area. My initial destination was the town of Bunburry about 169 kms south, but I actually drove through without stopping as I was on a bit of a driving "high" being on the road again. I will have to make a return trip here some time in the future. I managed to pull up at Busselton about 40 kms further on, and after a quick look around decided to make it the "base" for the south west area tour. Busselton was 1st settled in 1834, and is on the shores of Geographe Bay and the mouth of the Vasse River. Busselton hosts the ... read more

Hi to you all, I am back on the road again after a very refreshing break at Coogee Beach Caravan Park, on the south side of Fremantle. My stay there co-incided with the local school holidays, as it appears Perth and Fremantle empty out into the surrounding areas for the start of summer and clog up all the caravan parks and roads. The weather during this time remained fine although the nights could still be quite cool at aound 10C to 14C, with days generally up to 22C, however just about every day the "Fremantle Doctor" blew in, sometimes with sunrise, and continuous winds of up to 30 to 40 kms per hour could blow all day. This wind, always from the west, makes it easy to spot "native westralians" as they never stand upright but ... read more

Hi All, After Kalbarri and it's magnificent scenery, I had a sense that I was now entering another stage in the adventure as I started to move into the heavily populated south west corner of Australia. The raw beauty of and the "essence of the outback" from western Queensland through to the Northern Territory, across the vast north west of the Kimbely's and the Pilbara, down the Coral Coast from Broome to Kalbarri, was the Australia of legend and history and an experience never to be forgotten. However there was still one more surprise in store, but you will need to be patient for a while. The next stage was a short journey of 169 kms to Geraldton, but one of the worst driving legs to date. This part of the WA coast is extremely windy ... read more

Moving on again, I left Carnarvon for Denham, which is the main town for the Shark Bay World Heritage area. The trip was another of the long haul, not much to see, driving through high wind areas, and only a couple of roadhouse stops along the way. This leg was about 329 kms, and in fact was a "J" type trip, in that Denham is located on a peninsula, Cape Peron, which effectively divides Shark Bay into two halves. Shark Bay Marine Park is over 700,000 hectares in area and encompasses about 1500 kms of coastline, and is home to many species of marine life, the major ones being the habitat for the largest number of dugongs in the world (over 10,000 at last count), along with the usual dolphins, rays, turtles, fish, prawns, crabs and ... read more

Kicked off early (9am), from Exmouth on the road to Coral Bay, not sure if I would be able to find accommodation, as the 2 CP's there had said they were full when I tried to phone book ahead, BUT fortunately as we all know, I never take notice of negative people anyway. Just a short run of about 154 kms, and a bit over 2 hours. Rocked up to the preferred CP and asked about a site for at least a night. Much clicking of the PC mouse and sighs and head shaking, so I said what about 2 or even 3 nights if that was possible ?. Instant success, suddenly a site IS available for 3 nights as long as I inspect it first myself to make sure I fit (Good customer service on ... read more

It's Time!, to report on the latest stage of my travells. Tuesday 31st August, saw me reluctantly leave Broome on the way south towards Perth. The next town was Port Hedland, a distance of about 615 kms, with ONLY 2 Roadhouse/Fuel stops on the way. No other towns, villiages, or odd houses or any other habitation to be seen until Port Headland. I hope this gives some idea of how vast the north west of Australia is, and how little populated even today. Apart from indiginous communities and catle stations along the way (all OFF the road) nothing is to be seen except flat plains, odd cattle, termite mounds, scruffy scrub and stunted trees and heaps of red soil. Absolutely boring, but with a beauty of it's own never the less. Tough driving conditions as well ... read more