May 13, 2013 - Beyond Broome to the Bungles

5 May, after a day trip on 4 May with Mel to Beagle Bay and One Arm Point, we travelled on to Derby where we marvelled at the range of shapes and sizes of the boab trees along the way, there is so much variety and each tree seems to have its own personality! With the luxury of a flexible schedule and added local knowledge, we did a detour to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek, the area where the Aboriginal activist Jandamarra successfully evaded capture by white settlers and police for two years in 1894‒95 hiding in the gorges and caves. The...

May 7, 2013 - More gorges!

Decided to alter the route a little after local knowledge informed us that the roads to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek had been graded recently so we braved the first section of the Gibb River Road and were rewarded with more stunning views, limestone cliffs and caves - pics to come next update.

May 3, 2013 - Highlights from Broome

For Sue: A hovercraft trip around Roebuck Bay with Mel in the late afternoon Seeing two different types of fossils of dinosaur footprints Walking along Cable Beach at sunset, followed by dinner with local delicacy ‘threadfin salmon’ Seeing the ‘staircase to the moon’ with the moonlight reflected on the water For Col: Spending time in the air-conditioned Boulevard Shopping Centre Spending time in the air-conditioned Boulevard Shopping Centre Spending time in the air-conditioned Boulevard Shopping Centre For both of us: Staying in one place...

Apr 30, 2013 - Made it safe to Boyup Brook

Well today we traveled from our overnight stop towards esperance, then turned right and headed to Boyup Brook, we arrived here at 5pm all safe and sound. Have started setting up the caravan in the park, spoken to the caretaker about a reduced cost if we are going to be here for a while. At the moment our plans are to stay here until Bob has his first chemo treatment tomorrow and we will see how he copes with it. We will probably then come up to Perth on Thursday or Friday to pick up Steph's car, she will then come back down early next week...

Apr 29, 2013 - Still going

3rd day and still going. We traveled from the overnight free camp to a free road side camp 16kms south of Norseman. Traveled 1128 kms and after fueling up pulled in at 8.30pm. The hand held radios were helpful today/night with the road trains, I think they appreciated it when we were calling them through. We seemed to be passing, and getting passed by the same road trains all day, we did have one of the V8 Supercar Transporters that was around us most of the day, we actually first saw him in Port Augusta the day before. For those that know...

Apr 29, 2013 - Lessons from life on the road ...

Great to see Mel and be in the same place for one week, even managed to arrive at the right time to see the Stairway to the Moon! Temps during day still around 35 but nights are cooler here around 22-25 so that makes for better sleeping! The XTrail is getting a much-needed service today and we are mainly planning to relax, as well as take in some of the local sights. Lessons from life on the road ... so far: 1. Always put the towball cover in place immediately after separating the vehicle from the van—greasy stains on many pairs of shorts...

Apr 25, 2013 - Snorkelling/Karijini NP

Snorkelling / spectacular gorges in Karajini My snorkelling trip was terrific with two hours along the Coral Bay fringing reef in a glass-bottomed boat including approx. 45 mins of snorkelling (I was pleased I had remembered my skills from about 8 years ago!). The coral there, being in a temperate zone, is not as colourful as tropical regions further north but the variety of fish—black and yellow stripes, blue spotted patterns and tiny red ones darting about to describe a few, plus large spangled emperors swimming up close—was wonderful....

Apr 19, 2013 - Quick update from Coral Bay

From Denham to Coral Bay, Ningaloo Marine Park via Carnarvon We shall be heading into inland national park areas in the next few days as we have made a few changes to our original itinerary, now bypassing Onslow (apologies to the locals for getting this incorrect!) and Karratha. Probably won't have internet access once we are there so have added a few pics to keep you going folks! Coral Bay is a lovely spot, joining in with a snorkelling trip tomorrow so hope to see some western reef marine life to compare to the Great Barrier Reef.

Apr 17, 2013 - Tour Perth to Broome

20.04 Our first stop today is the amazing Lancelin sand dunes to experience the unique sport of sand boarding, a great way to start the day! Then it’s back on the bus for a drive up the coast to the impressive Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park. We enjoy a fully guided tour through these amazing limestone formations and drop in at the Discovery Centre, before we have lunch by the sea. After a sightseeing stop in the town of Geraldton it’s on to Big River Ranch in Kalbarri National Park for some true blue Aussie hospitality and our...

Apr 16, 2013 - Our extensive coastline, with so much more to go!

My conference finished last Friday, with many new challenges and ideas to follow up—a number of speakers raised the issue of where the English language is heading with ‘Globalese’ adding so many new words and meanings — plus it was good to catch up with old friends from Canberra and meet new people. If you ever want to retire somewhere beautiful where all you need to worry about is what time you choose to drop your fishing line into the clear blue water today, then the south-central west coast of WA offers many options: Cervantes, Jurien...

Apr 12, 2013 - Conference worthwhile, now heading north

Had a really good time at the conference, new ideas, connections and challenges. Col dealt with the challenge of sorting out our gas fridge yet again (third time lucky!) so hopefully we shall be able to camp away from powered sites and still keep our goodies cool! Great having an ensuite site at the caravan park while I was trying to look a little more corporate rather than being in travelling gear mode.

Apr 9, 2013 - History in the goldfields around Kalgoorlie

Have had a remarkable few days tracking down some family history from my great-grandfather Ambrose George Chaffer, on my mother’s father’s side of the family, who was in the Coolgardie‒Kalgoorlie district in the early 1890s. The relevant pages from his memoirs show that he worked on the production of the very first edition of the Coolgardie Miner newspaper (which he thought when he was writing his recollections in the late 1940s was around 1892) and, with some sleuthing and involvement of the local Eastern Goldfields Historical Society and...