South West WA.

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From Perth we headed for Margaret River overnighting at Pinjarra, a small town about an hour south east of Perth. Stayed at a nice freecamp till 1.30am when the irrigation sprayers pelted the van with pressure lasting one hour!!!! Think we should have moved down to where the other vans were parked.!!!! Arrived at Big Valley farmstay about ten minutes from Margaret River, nice rustic setting with a few farm animals to interest the kids. We used Big Valley as a base to visit Busselton, great beach, very safe for littlies, did a train ride the 1.8 klms to the end of the jetty. There's an underwater observatory there. Next day went south to Augusta and on to Cape Leeuwin where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. The lighthouse has magnificent views which we did'nt get to see, too many people, pitfall of school holidays. Stayed in Margaret River for 10 days hoping our mail would come but gave up and left for Albany. The whaling station tour is first class, it used to be called Whaleworld but now its the Discovery Centre, either way its a great tour, there are also botanical gardens but it was a cool drizzly day so we passed, we were told they are very good. From Albany we headed to Kalgoorlie via Wave Rock, a spectacular rock formation in the the wheatfields area of central south western Oz. Was around 36C so we stayed at Wave Rock caravan park so we could have air conditioning on but it got quite cool in the evening. Lots of flies at Wave Rock but well worth the trip. On our way to Kalgoorlie we passed a section of the Rabbit Proof fence that stretches from Esperance to Port Hedland although it's in 3 sections. The longest section runs for 1, 833klms and on its completion in 1907 was the longest unbroken fence in the world. It crosses the state from north to south and is meant to keep the rabbits and other pests out of the WA pastoralist areas. There is another fence in Qld. There is a movie called Rabbit Proof fence, a true story of 3 aboriginal girls who followed the fence back to their home after being taken from their parents as part of the "stolen generation" in 1930's. On to Kalgoorlie where we visited the superpit, a massive open cut mine which can be seen from space, it's approx 3.5 kilometers long, 1.5 kilometers wide and 570 metres deep. The mine produces 28 tonnes of gold each year. Kalgoorlie used to be known for its brothels though only one, The Red Door, is still operating. Their is a tour of the historic Questa Casa brothel which only recently ceased operations, this brothel had been operating since the gold rush in 1890. Unfortunately it is closed during the school holiday season. Headed off towards the South Australian border via Norseman where we fuelled up. Free camped at Balladonia near the border and crossed into S.A next day.

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Comments

[Scouse Cobber Coll 1st]

Liverpool calling!
Great photos - but no comparison with the wet, windy, stormy freezing weather here!! Congratulations on your anniversary! Keep sending the Blogs - and postcards!!! Take care and best wishes.