From Kalgoorlie to Ceduna

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30th JUNE - OCTOBER 2007

We left Perth International Tourist Park on Saturday 30th June 2007 after a three-week stay and did the 602km drive to Kalgoorlie, stopping overnight at Merredin.

We booked in at the Prospector Caravan Park as semi permanent and got a good discount on the weekly rate, paying $143.00 per week all inclusive. We were allowed to stay 90 days and then had to move on. Max and Sharon from Woolongong, who had been with us in Perth arrived on Sunday and were parked next to us. As semi permanents we got nice big bays with a concrete standing for our chairs under the awning. Later on in our stay we had 90% UV rated shade cloth sides made for the awning to protect us from the wind and afford more shade. We had decided against a full annex as not very sociable and too hot in summer.

Monday morning we had to go to KCGM (Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines) for an induction fir 4 hours ready for 2 x night shifts later in the week. We got work on and off both here and at Cawse Nickel, a Russian owned nickel mine 60kms out of Kalgoorlie They send the nickel to Finland to a Russian owned stainless steel factory.

We came to Kal for a six-week shut at Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter (KNS) but it got put back so we were able to get other work. For the first two weeks of the shut Howard was still at Cawse but Linda worked at KNS as a rigger. Work is somewhat of a misnomer, as nothing really seemed to get done during the 12-hour days. The first day we did not leave the crib room (lunch room). The team of six of us spent a lot of time waiting around, which tended to get very boring but we were being paid really silly money plus both Howard and Linda got $450 tax free EACH a week living away from home allowance (we were signed up for the work in Perth, not Kalgoorlie!!!!!).

The days were long but we had managed to cook meals and freeze them so had enough to last the thirteen days straight we “worked” and then one day off. Howard was working as a Supervisor so just walked round supervising people waiting!!!!! How the job ever got completed is amazing. We later heard that the company is now afraid that the furnace cannot last too much longer before it fails!!!!!

Linda was working on the Matte Granulator (matte is their name for the product). There were two new tilters being installed after the originals were demolished. Never been touched since 1973 when it was built so no one knew quite what to expect. Plus, the people (Lycopodium) installing the two robots were not sure if they could cope as it was the first time this application had been tried anywhere in the world and BHP (the owners) would not pay for a trial model. This part of the shut alone was costing $27 million.

It was not all work and we did manage to get out and about doing some 4x4 exploring of places we had not visited when living in Leonora plus we tried our hand at land sailing on the 564 square kilometer salt Lake Lefroy. This was great fun and a good day out. Another highlight was going to the pub at 06:30 in the morning after work to have a beer. The Skimpies (girls with very little clothing) were behind the bar, plus for every round ordered you called the dice, odds or evens and if you won then the beer was free!!!!

Whilst in Kalgoorlie the Race Round was on for a week in September. It was interesting to see people dressed to the nines for Ladies Day on the Wednesday and Kalgoorlie Cup Day on the Saturday. On Saturday night people were queuing to get into the pubs, of which there are thirty seven open for business in the town.

We left Lucille, the van, in the Caravan Park and drove down to Perth - in one day on Tuesday 18th September. Stopping at our good friends Dave and Viv’s in Toodyay overnight. We had a lovely time catching up and seeing the progress made to the house since we were last there. We then went on to stay in a cabin at Woodman Point. This is where we had the van for three months earlier in the year. We got new tyres for Geraldine and a dual battery Shop for Linda to stock up on Marmite, Lincolnshire sausages and a box of PG Tips for Mum. Mum came to stay with us in the two-bedroom cabin for a few days, which was such a treat for us all. Howard had to have bilateral upper blepharoplasties (eyelid lift), not cosmetic surgery but to correct his vision and get rid of excess skin!!!! This was only a day procedure but he did not look too great for a week or more. Fortunately he got the stitches out at Kalgoorlie hospital so we did not need to hang around in Perth. This was the reason we made the trip as the appointment had been cancelled three times already. Back in Kalgoorlie on Monday, the day after Linda’s birthday when we caught up with Di and Richard and Mum for lunch.

The time came when we had/needed to move on and we packed up and left on Sunday 30th September. Not before time (89 days), but Kal had served its purpose and cashed us up very nicely.

The first two nights we spent at Fraser Range Station 100kms east of Norseman

FRASER RANGE STATION

The first station settled on the Nullabor in 1872 by the Dempster Brothers. They had a large property near Esperance on the south coast and never lived here, using it as an outstation. The present owners purchased the property in 2001.

The station covers 437,000 acres and the distance between the northern and southern boundaries is 160kms (95 miles). Currently 150,000 acres has been developed and the stocking rate, determined by the Pastoral Lands Board, is one sheep per 27 acres. The stock numbers are carefully monitors by the PLB to ensure an adequate balance is maintained to minimize erosion and overgrazing.

All bores on the property are approximately 30 meters deep, some good and some salty water.

The station horses played a vital role when required for mustering. At the start of the muster the horses were all herded into the yard and a horse would be chosen by its’ would-be rider. An hour would be spent breaking the animal in and horse and rider would be inseparable until the end of the muster. It would then be released back out with the mob to run free until required again. Motorbikes are used for all stock work today.

Average rainfall is approximately 300mm per annum. There are no fewer than 36 species of birds in the area.

The property runs the “meat only”Damara sheep

Pure Bred Damaras The Damara is a large, proportional meat sheep with long legs and a long fairly deep body. The distinctive, wedge-shaped fat tail narrows to below the hock. Most of the Damara's body fat is stored in the tail, resulting in a leaner body and tasty lean meat. The animal has short hair and appears in various colour combinations of black, white and brown. The ram displays a strong, masculine head with well developed spiral horns. The ewe has a finer body type and is often horned. The nose tends to be slightly Roman in females and more prominent in males with a dewlap under the chin.Damaras have adapted to extreme climates and harsh environments over many centuries of migration through Africa. The Damara originated in Egypt as long ago as 3000 BC, later migrating to Northern Africa. The animal today is extremely hardy and is able to adapt and thrive even in adverse environmental circumstances. Damara sheep tolerate heat better than other breeds and are able to survive better on limited water supplies. This makes them ideally suited to many Australian environmental conditions. They have a high resistance to most sheep diseases and also good tolerance against internal parasites. Because of this and their strong firm teeth, their life expectancy is generally high. Rams are vigorous. Some Damara rams of 13 years of age are still at stud. They have longer life span than most other breeds. Their valuable hides appear in a wide variety of patterns in various colour combinations of black, brown and white Damaras have been performing well in extremes. They excel against all breeds in harsh dry sparse grazing. Damaras are performing well against other breeds in -20 degrees in snow in Canada. Damaras have adapted to varied climate areas such as New Guinea with high rainfall, New Zealand with 1000mm rainfall, most states of Mexico, all states of Australia where they certainly excel in the harsh pastoral environments with 350mm rainfall to wheatbelt areas with 600mm rainfall and South Africa.

We enjoyed the stay here and were especially impressed with the open fire, which was lit each evening. Luckily we booked as the first night it was a full house and people were being turned away.

That weekend they had a wedding at the station with 110 guests plus 24 children. The guests paid for their own accommodation and a bush cook came from Coolgardie to do the outside catering. This was the first wedding the owners had catered for and apparently it went off very well.
We had two free camps going across the Nullabor and thoroughly enjoyed our campfires. We had collected some timber around Kalgoorlie and the station gave us some more as they had heaps. We met up with an older couple, in a bus and trailer with car and boat, whom we had seen at Fraser Range. They came across to share our fire and then noticed one of the four trailer wheels was on the skew. It turned out that the outer wheel bearing had collapsed and they had no spare. This meant unloading the little car and back tracking 100kms to Eucla to see if the Roadhouse could help. We left the following morning so do not know the outcome.

Thursday afternoon saw us back in Ceduna and the same caravan park we had stayed in on our trip in February. We decided to stay two nights to catch up with washing and fill our water tanks plus we had not really explored the little town previously. Not a great deal here but the Ceduna oysters are just wonderful and this was the first time we had been able to try them as we had never been here during the season. We bought some big King George whiting to cook for tea that was straight off the boat plus some smoked Trevally to try. The southerly wind in the afternoon prevented us from wetting a line but we will try our luck during the next stage of our adventure when we explore the Eyre Peninsular……………..

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Photos

Landsailing
Howard on the salt Lake Lefroy near Kambalda south of Kalgoorlie

Hannan's Hotel, Kalgoorlie
With friends Max and Sharon Jones at 6:30 in the morning!!!!

Fraser Range Sheep Station
The entrance to the Manager's House

Damara Sheep
Two of the 2000+ flock

The Old Shearer's Quarters
Now used for accommodation at $95 per night!

View from the Hill
The caravan park as seen from the top of the hill we climbed

Geraldine & Lucille
The car and van are at the forefront of the picture

Not Going Far!
An old 1927 car ar Fraser Range Station

81km Peg Rest Area
This is Ray and Mary's bus, car and boat

Moonera Tank, Cocklebiddy
Our first camp site on the Nullabor