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Xmas Lunch
Good looking couple of blokes hereGeo: -31.8626, 115.791
Hello from Perth
Here we are at Karrinyup Waters Resort in the suburbs of Perth well ahead of the 19th March deadline we set so long ago.
The last blog was from Kalgoorlie when we had just arrived a few days before Xmas.
We enjoyed a very relaxing and informal Xmas day with Brian at our van.
Our van looked small parked next to our neighbours 44ft 5th wheeler.
As most of you would know Kalgoorlie is famous for its
Gold deposits found in the late 1800s and still being mined today, the town
that Gold built. Gold was first found just down the road at Coolgardie but the
golden mile at Kalgoorlie is the largest single deposit of gold found in the
world. The Super Pit (Open Cut Mine) is currently 3.5 Km long x 1.5 Km wide and
600 metres deep, it was once many small underground mines along the golden mile
and many of these can still be seen in the side of the Super Pit during the
tour. The haul trucks look small when peering down into the pit but loom large
when up close, they carry 225 Tonnes of rock in each load which yields about a
golf ball size amount of gold!
Paddy Hannan was the
first to find Gold at Kalgoorlie in
June 1893.
The town of Kalgoorlie adjoins the town of Boulder and is
currently known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder but it was not always a happy marriage.
Boulder was where the workers lived and Kalgoorlie was where the well to do and
officials lived. The difference can be seen in the buildings in each town where
clearly more money was spent in Kalgoorlie. Fortunately the majority of the
historic buildings are still standing today. The self-guided audio walking tour
is well worth doing to learn about the origin and history of these towns, the
two Town Hall tours are a must do.
The Palace Hotel is one of the historic buildings still
in use and also houses a mirror donated by Herbert Hoover who managed a mine at
Gwalia and who went on to become the 31st President of the USA. The
large ornate mirror came with a poem he wrote dedicated to a beautiful barmaid
he fancied.
Hay St is famous for its Brothels with a few still in
business today, the tour of the Questa Casa built over 100 years ago gives
great insight how they evolved and how they still run today. The Madam who
currently runs it tells many humorous stories.
We ventured out to the Bush Two Up one
Sunday to witness
the locals playing this uniquely Australian Game, there were about 20 players
and the minimum bet is $50, it was not unusual to see $1500 to $2000 riding on
a spin. It is held in a sheltered area made from old timber and used corrugated
iron.
From the Bush Two Up we drove out to the Broad Arrow
Hotel for a drink and to check out the walls which are covered with the names
of people who have visited this small pub in the middle of nowhere.
It was in the high 30's while we were there but we still
managed a few bike rides including one to the Racecourse Museum which has many
photos and memorabilia from the early 1900's. Of course no blog would be
complete if there was no mention of the Townie and yes it broke down again on
one of these rides, the rear mudguard had rattled itself loose. What is the
point of having mudguards if you are never going to ride in the rain!
We also drove out to Coolgardie known as the Mother of
the Goldfields and visited the museum and checked out the historic buildings
and the Lindsay Open Cut Mine (tiny compared to the Super Pit)
We visited the Hannon St Museum and
Hannans North Tourist
Mine both of which we had seen when we were last in Kalgoorlie about 18 years
ago.
What wasn't here 18 years ago was the new Kalgoorlie Golf
Course which is ranked in the top 10 Desert Courses in the world, sadly many of
the locals are not happy as they closed down 3 courses to build this one and
have not fulfilled all the promises that were made, they are still waiting for
the new Club House to be built. The course is Council run and is in immaculate
condition and is truly spectacular with soft receptive greens and lush green
fairways framed by the red sand of the desert.
It's not cheap to play here but it is well worth it, don't
waste your money playing the Nullarbor Links save it and play the whole 18
holes at Kalgoorlie. A buggy is a must as its hot, long and there is a long way
between holes in places.
We really enjoyed Kalgoorlie and the times we spent with Brian and his friends.
Left Kalgoorlie on 7th Jan and had planned to
stop at Merriden for the night but it was 39deg when we arrived late in the
afternoon so we decided to continue on another 130Km to Meckering. Along the
way
we passed a van laying on its side about 20 metres off the road with the
Land Cruiser still attached and upright. Meckering had a free camp area next to
a park with a rose garden. Filled up with Diesel at the Shell across the road
as it was the cheapest we had seen at $1.18 per litre, ironically this leg was
also the best economy we had achieved when towing at 18.7 litres per 100Km, a
light tail wind was welcome as normally we always seem to be pushing into a
head wind.
From Meckering we travelled a mammoth 68Km to the town of
York where there is a free camp in the middle of town complete with free power.
It is a bitumen service road alongside a park with a rotunda, playground,
toilets and electric bbq alongside the Avon River complete with 4 power points
for campers, max stay is 24 hours but there was no one else here so we stayed 2
nights, its 100m walk and you are in the middle of the main street of the town.
York was the first inland town established in WA in the
mid 1800s and was the last stop for miners to stock up with supplies on their
way to the goldfields and is
surrounded by Wheat and Sheep farms. Beautiful old
buildings line the main street including the Town Hall built in 1911 and a few
streets away the Convict Wardens Residence, Hospital and the Mill built in 1892.
Visited the York Olive Oil Co and sampled their award
winning Ice Cream, Olive Oil and purchased a loaf of Sour Dough Bread made the
old way where the yeast breaks down the gluten in the flour for 3 days before
it is baked, awesome bread. The old Sandalwood Yards are also in the main street.
I visited the Motor Museum while Caroline checked out the Sock Factory and Lolly Shop.
For those who believe the Holden FX was the first
Australian built car this museum has on display a Australian Six Tourer which
is the first Australian Car to be built in volume about 900 were made from 1919 to 1930.
From York we travelled to Mandurah which is about 70Km
south of Perth and stayed at the Mandurah Caravan and Tourist Park, it was a
tight fit but Reg guided us in perfectly. The park was full when we arrived as
there were many evacuees and firefighters here, we were about 70Km from the
fires and the only indication was the occasional slight smell of smoke when
Paddy Hannon Statue
This is the original Paddy Hannon Statue inside the Town Hall
A replica is outside the Town Hall as someone always feels the need to paint him especially on News Years Eve the
wind came from the south. We went on a twilight dolphin and canal cruise to
raise funds for the fire appeal.
Mandurah started out as a fishing port near the Peel
Inlet which was only accessible by sea, it has now grown into a population in
excess of 80 thousand. We stayed here 12 days and squeezed in a guided walking
tour of the town and museum, a bike ride along the north coastline, a hike
through Len Howard Conservation Park, and a drive up to Rockingham then back
via the coastline.
We played in the Sunday comp at Meadow Springs Country
Club which is a beautiful course in excellent condition and were invited back
by one of the members to play in a comp on Thursday at a discounted rate thanks
to the use of their vouchers. We also played a round at Mandurah Country Club
teeing off at 3pm for $20 each, it is also a very nice course.
While we were in Kalgoorlie we started polishing the van
which is not a 5 minute job, we managed to finish the job while we were at Mandurah.
On 22nd Jan we moved to Advent Park which is
just east of the airport, the plan was to check it out as they will store a
van
or vehicle for $3 a day each and we planned to leave them here when we flew to
Brisbane over Easter. The park is owned and run by the Seventh Day Adventist
Church and they fill it with 3000 people over Easter for their convention so we
could not store it here. The park is on 13 acres with many trees and grass
areas for the vans, it is very basic but would be good for a night or 2 if you
are travelling through Perth. The Hillview Public Golf Course is across the
road and is a good layout in great condition, we played on a Monday then joined
in the comp on Thursday which is run by the Westaviat Golf Club which was
originally formed by airport workers and they had their own 9 hole course which
was sold for housing hence they moved to Hillview. The members were very
welcoming and we have continued to return each Thursday to play in their comp.
We caught the train into the city to meet up with Karen
and Lin to visit the information centre and they drove us to Kings Park and out
to visit her parents.
We caught the train in again on Australia Day and sat in Langley Park to view
the fireworks display.
Karrinyup Waters Resort had initially told us that the
van was too big but during a visit to Karen and Lin who live 500 metres away we
walked through the park and found a number of sites we would fit onto.
On 29th Jan we moved to Karrinyup Waters
Resort which is about 14Km north of the city and about 4Km from the beach, it
is a large park with good amenities and an excellent pool area. Lake Karrinyup
Country Club is across the road and is where he ISPS Handa Perth International was
just played and won by Loui Oosthuizen. We had enquired about playing here but
at $195 each decided against it. On Wednesday we walked over for the pro-am and
watched a number of players come up the 9th hole before following
Peter Senior from the 10th to 18th holes. During this
time we got talking to one of the volunteers who was a member of Lake
Karrinyup, he has invited us to play a round with him and his wife at the
member's guest rate of $65 each, hopefully we play well enough on the day to do
justice to such a great course. We plan to stay here until we fly to Brisbane
over Easter, one of the
Westaviat members has kindly offered to store our van
and car on his 7 acre property while we are away.
We have been on a number of bike rides from Hillarys Boat
Harbour north and south, around Lake Gwelup and through Kings Park. Been on a
guided walking tour of the city.
During the hot days we have driven to Trigg Beach and
walked to Scarborough and back followed by a dip and surf a few waves on the
body boards we have purchased.
We drove down to Fremantle and spent the day walking through
the town checking out the historic buildings, markets and the Art precinct.
Booked a ferry ride over to Rottnest Island and rode our
bikes around stopping to take in the views of the beaches, had a snorkel at the
Basin and finished the day with a drink at the pub. No we didn't play soccer
with the Quokkas.
On Sunday we went on a winery tour in the Swan Valley
visiting 3 wineries, the Chocolate Factory and the Ironbark Brewery, had a
great time with a young couple originally from Northern Ireland and have been
invited to their place for a meal.
We have been playing golf twice a week, Thursday comp
with the Westaviat Club at Hillview and every second Tuesday
the Westaviat
Wanders travel to another course, we have played at Gosnells and Wembley which
is a public course run by the council and is a beautiful course in excellent
condition. This Tuesday we have booked into Araluen in the hills south of Perth
which comes highly recommended for its views and layout, the following Tuesday
we will be playing Secret Harbour with the Westaviat Wanderers. In between we
have been playing at Hamersley but will also try out Marangaroo.
On Sunday we drove into the city and rode our bikes along
the banks of the Swan River from Claisebrook Cove around to Matilda Bay and
back.
It does feel a little strange to be sitting in one place
for such a long time in the middle of suburbia, so we are looking forward to
hitching up and heading out into the country again.
After successfully meeting our first deadline we have set
another target, we have registered to play in the Masters Games in Alice
Springs from 8th to 15th October. After arriving back in
Perth on 2nd April we will have 6 months to travel up the west coast
and across to Katherine and then high tail it down to Alice. Our usual mode of
operation is to book in somewhere for a few
days and if we like it we keep
extending until we feel it is time to move on and then decide where to stay
next. Many people are telling us you need to book in advance up the west coast
as it is full of grey nomads during the dry season and they stay in one place
for months at a time especially in the popular places. It is proving hard to
plan that far ahead as it would prevent us from staying longer in a place we
really like so we have booked until the end of the April school holidays at
Jurien Bay, Dongara and Geraldton and will make our way north from there.
Garry and Kaylee will be joining us in Alice for the
Masters along with a number of the Westaviat members, we are booked into the
Big 4 West Macdonnell Range Holiday Park which has van and tent sites along
with cabins, feel free to join in for a fun week.
On 19th March we fly to Brisbane for 2 weeks
over Easter and are looking forward to catching up with family and friends
along with our annual golf trip to Tenterfield.
We hope this finds everyone fit and well and enjoying
life.
Kym and Caroline
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trmapowell@gmail.com
non-member comment
aagh!!!! my worst nightmare