Blogs from Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 3

Thursday 28 h March, Wooramel RiverWooramel River RetreatCost $40 per nightRated by us 5/10Mileage 15732 travelled 208kmStill tired from yesterday and with only a few hundred ks to do today we took out time getting ready to go. It was hot and I was suffering by the time we had finished maybe we need ton get up earlier when we have been somewhere for a few days and pack up, in the cooler weather.The road reflects the holidays have started with lines of caravans on the road , heading for Denham, Coral Bay and Exmouth for Easter, hopefully heading as we head further north we will out drive them.We pulled off at Wooramel River Retreat to experience the hot artesian springs.There are three tubs in the shade of ... read more

Friday 22 nd March, Coronation Beach Coronation Beach CampgroundsCost $20 per night. Per carRated by us 6/10Mileage 15141 travelled 197kmFinally settling in to the slow routine of camp life. Pack up was really good no spits and we did it all slowly and leisurely really good, despite the wind having rejoined us.Called into Aldi in Geraldton for a few missed bits short drive today, only 200kms to Coronation Beach.The Brand Highway looks to have suffered during the summer season and we had several roadworks with traffic lights but gave me chance to take some photos.The ground is very dry and as we are travelling along the coast the trees are bent along the ground growing almost horizontal to the ground as they seek to shelter from the winds.The Peppermint Trees... read more

This morning, we started at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall where the Visitor Centre is located. We were just in time to book onto the 9.30am Ruby Tourist Tram which is actually more of a bus. This tourist service nearly folded last year until the council stepped in to save it. After running it for eight months, replacing the tram/bus and hiring a driver they have handed it over to the Visitor Centre to manage and run. Our driver, Greg, then drove us around to a number of places of interest around Kalgoorlie and Boulder … with a drone in tow. As part of his introduction, he warned us that some filming was happening today for promotional purposes. Sure enough, as we set of down Hannan Street, we could see the drone buzzing along with us. Our ... read more

We had the vehicles re-packed and ready to go by about 8.10am this morning. We drove back out to the caravan park to hand our keys in, parked the vehicles and then took the short Wave Rock Walk to view the iconic rock feature that certainly does look like a wave about to break. Damn, we should have aimed for even earlier because there were other tourists there even just after 8.00am in the morning. At least we were ahead of the coach tours visiting from Perth! With a bit of patience and some judicious cropping – and no doubt some photoshopping later on? – we managed to take some good photos of Wave Rock. We had to laugh at the Chinese girls taking posed photos. Lots of different poses! The photographer was instructing her subject ... read more

This morning, we drove back up to Busselton to visit the iconic Busselton Jetty. Stretching 1.841 kilometres into Geographe Bay it is the longest timber piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. Built in 1865 and extended several times the jetty played an important role in the early years of European settlement allowing ships to make port in Busselton to transport the grain, livestock and timber grown, raised and felled in the surrounding districts. Geographe Bay also became recognized as a bountiful source of whales and American whalers called regularly at the port. The jetty was used commercially for more than a century and serviced 5,000 vessels over that time. When the port officially closed in 1973 all shipping ceased, and government maintenance was withdrawn. In 1978 Cyclone Alby wreaked havoc on the jetty and it was ... read more