Streaky Bay 2009

November 17th, Arrived at Streaky Bay and booked into the Foreshore Tourist Park, right on the water. We were so taken by the view over the water, that we decided to stay 5 nights instead of 3. After setting up we drove into Town to do the usual, Info Centre, shopping and checked out the local Pub. All good.

November 18th, We had a new experience to-day. Talking to our neighbours we found out that this Bay is full of Razorfish, and although I thought I had heard of such a fish, I didn’t really know what it was. To our surprise it is a shellfish, that grows in the sandy bottom of the Bay and is buried vertically, such that the edge of the shell is just out of the sand by 2 or 3cms. To collect them you grasp the exposed shell and rock it back & forth until you can pull it free of its roots. Opening them takes a little bit of practice and the edible piece of white meat is a small round disc much like a scallop. Val tried a cooked sample supplied by our Neighbours and loved it. So, at low tide we take off to the next sandy beach at the end of the Park, armed with bucket, knives, drinking water, insect repellent and “hope”. For our first try we didn’t do too bad, we collected 40 between us (50 is the allowable limit for 2 people), some were too small but it’s a learning curve. After shelling and cleaning them up, which took hours and a cut finger (on my knife not the shells) Val had enough to cover 1/3 of the bottom of a small takeaway container. No wonder they are expensive in the Restaurants.

November 19th, Val went to the hairdressers today for the usual spruce up, then a bit of shopping and back to the Van. We set ourselves up a little better to have our next experience at Razorfish collecting. Val made herself a waist bag out of one of our many green shopping bags, to hold the catch. I opened the shells as we went, out in the water, and Val then scooped out the inners and separated the white flesh and popped it into the green bag. The tide ran out a bit further to-night, which meant we came across large beds of razorfish, so close together that it was difficult to find a spot to put your foot down. They were much larger than the ones we picked up yesterday. It was a fun experience and meant that we had a very late dinner.

November 20th, I went to the Streaky Bay Museum which had a very exstensive Historical Display, then on to The Powerhouse which is a Restored Engines Museum. They had a collection of over 400 restored & working engines of all types and sizes, donated from the local area. The weather wasn’t good to-day, overcast, late afternoon thunderstorms around and it was very windy, so we decided to give the Razorfish collecting a miss.

November 21st, It was overcast all day, cold wind blowing and showers off and on. The extreme opposite from the heat wave conditions of last week. Packed, up in-between, showers ready to leave in the morning for Port Lincoln.

Ceduna 2009

November 13th, Moved on to Nundroo Roadhouse and stopped for a coffee break. Its still very hot travelling, so drove all the way doing 80 to 85 kph, to try to keep the engine cooler. I don’t think it made a lot of difference but we didn’t overheat to-day. We carried on to Ceduna and booked into the Big4 Ceduna Caravan Park. Went to the local Chemist to arrange for Val’s script to be faxed through from Salamander Bay, she is now down to her last 2 tablets.

November 14th, called into the Chemists to find script had not arrived, so rang Salamander Surgery to find it was closed!! The Chemist sold us 7 tablets to get Val out of trouble and now we will stay till Tuesday, to follow up and sort out the hold-up. Went to the Visitors Centre then took a drive along the foreshore of Murat Bay. Very pretty spot with great views over the water. At Pinky Point there was a very colourful lighthouse marker and we called into Baldy’s Sea Food and Val bought herself some fresh fish. Back in Town, we went to the local Pub on the waterfront and had a very nice lunch while watching the kids jumping into the water at the end of the long Jetty. Val had her long awaited flutter on the pokies, without any luck. We picked up our supplies from Foodland and drove out to take a photo of the “Big Oyster”. We couldn’t believe that we had not seen it as we drove into Town but it was obvious when we found it, as it was a “Small Oyster” and at ground level. Not like the other “Big Icons”, eg, Prawn, Merino, Pineapple etc.

November 15th, Quiet day to-day, just trying to keep cool. Temp outside is 46 deg. at 12 noon.

November 16th, I went to the Ceduna Museum to-day. It is housed on the Old School Grounds and the main Schoolhouse was opened in 1914 and closed in 1927. The Trust has added other buildings from the surrounding area since taking over and with support and local donations, has on display an extensive range of artefacts and historical equipment. Took a few photos around Town, one I liked was their long Jetty. Its pack up time again, to-morrow we move on to Streaky Bay.

Nullarbor Crossing, WA 2009

November 9th, Left Esperance and travelled to Norseman with a stop at Salmon Gums Roadhouse for a coffee break. Booked into the Gateway Caravan Park for the night, then drove into Town to the Information Centre to buy postcards and a sticker for Val’s scrapbook. Yes, Val has decided to start collecting stickers from all the places we visit. There is no Chemist in Norseman and Val has run low on one of her tablets. Luckily the Norseman District Hospital had some of the needed tablets in stock, so went to pick them up. That problem solved, we drove up to Beacon Lookout and took in the great view over the Gold Mining Town.

November 10th, Travelling on from Norseman we stopped at Balladonia Roadhouse for morning tea break. This place is famous for being showered with space debris from the breakup of Skylab over Australia in 1979. We had a look through their Museum before moving on to Caiguna Roadhouse. This section of the Eyre Highway is Famous for having the longest stretch of straight road in the World, 90 miles long (146 klms). We had expected to see some Camels, kangaroos or Emus along this road, Alas we only saw 2 black crows all day. 346 klms and ONLY two Crows, unbelievable. We noticed that at Caiguna Roadhouse, they had a Golf Tee, so picked up a brochure on the “Nullarbor Links”, which is the Worlds Longest Golf Course. The 18 holes are spread between Border Village in SA, across the Nullarbor & up to Kalgoorlie in WA. Great idea for Golfers and only costs $50 to play. They have a web site at WWW.nullarborlinks.com for anyone wanting more information.

November 11th, moved on to Eucla Caravan Park, for an overnight stop. Vert HOT again today. Eucla is on top of a mountain range and the Views of the Ocean were fantastic.

November 12th, Travelled on to the Nullarbor Roadhouse, through very strong hot winds and temperature around 45deg.C, thanking whoever invented air conditioning. We crossed the border into SA and stopped for a coastline photo opportunity of the Great Australian Bight, and the flies swarmed all over us, making it an unpleasant and very short stop. Here we found another Golf Green, close to the Park and a young guy was putting out. Another photo opp. then the sun went down giving us another spectacular photo opp.

Ravensthorpe, Esperance 2009

November 5th, Left Albany for Ravensthorpe and booked into Ravensthorpe Caravan Park for the night. The sign at the front of the Park promised clean amenities, and they delivered. We were met at the Office by a very friendly woman and certainly a character. She was covered with tattoos and had 2 thongs that didn’t match, they were different colours. We set up and walked around the Park and were amazed at the number of old junk that was re-used as decoration around the gardens and buildings, as you can see in the photos. Our Host proudly admitted to being the Queen of Recycling. She didn’t throw anything away if she could find a use for it.

November 6th, Travelled on to Esperance and booked into Esperance Bay Holiday Park, for 3 nights. After setting up we drove around Town, to check out the shops and call into the Information Centre. We were impressed with the beach, so scenic, white sand and clear clean water.

November 7th, I walked into Town to visit The Heritage Village and took a few photos. All the building are being used as shops. I went to look through the Museum only to find that it didn’t open until 1.30pm so left that for to-morrow. After lunch we did the Scenic Coastal Drive, starting with the Rotary Lookout. What a terrific 360 deg. view over the whole Coastline and Township. The drive took in the following beaches, West, Blue Haven, Salmon, Forth, Twilight and Thirteenth. We passed a Hang Glider floating around above the cliffs who caught our attention, then headed inland to Pink Lake. We were disappointed to find that the Lake wasn’t pink at all and found out later that it hasn’t been pink for the last 18 months, due to the influx of fresh water. We stopped off at “The Yabbie Farm” and bought some live yabbies then “Tenticles” to buy fresh live mussels, on our way back to Town. It was a really nice enjoyable tourist drive. Val enjoyed her evening meal of fresh yabbies with vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper and reckons that they are better than prawns.

November 8th, Val was busy sewing to-day so I went to look at the Museum that I missed yesterday, alas, it still wasn’t open. I then walked the Tanker Jetty, 842 metres long and was built in 1935. It was missing a short section that had to be cut out due to rotting pylons. A Seal entertained me, swimming around the jetty in the shallows and the fishermen were catching squid off the Jetty. To-morrow we move on to Norseman for an overnight stop before starting our first crossing of The Nullarbor Plains.

Albany 2009

October 30th, Arrived in Albany and booked into the Middleton Beach Holiday Park (Big4). Drove around Town and went to the Visitors Centre. This Park is more like a Resort, with a great swimming pool, spa, theatre and rock fountain at the entrance. The Beach looks great, very long and white sand.

October 31st, Started my sightseeing with a visit to The Old Farm called “Strawberry Hill”, claimed to be the first Farm in WA. The gardens were nice but unfortunately the Farmhouse was closed for repairs. Went to look at the Dog Rock and get a photo, then headed out to Fishermans Bay to see The Gap, The Natural Bridge and The Blowhole. The Bridge was good but with all the cracks in the rock you must wonder how long will it hold up. It was long walk down to The Blowhole, with a strong wind blowing, and unfortunately the Blowhole wasn’t working to-day. The weather condition have to be “just right” to get it working.

November 1st, Its Sunday, so not many shops open (would you believe that the only large Supermarket to open on a Sunday in WA is IGA. Even Spotlight was closed.) We went to the Albany Boatshed Markets, although very small we thought they were very good. They had fresh seafood, fresh vegies, fresh eggs, fresh bread, hot food and hot coffee, and a live band playing. Next to the markets they we building an interesting shaped structure, which was to be their Entertainment Centre. We took a short drive along the waterfront a stopped for a quick look at The Brig Amity, an old Sailing Boat. I will go back another day to look through the Ship see what its historical story is. Back up Town we found a Warehouse open called “Inkyfinks” so had a look through before driving out to Emu Point, where we had lunch at the Café. It was a nice lunch and the view over the water was great. We drove around to the Marina and found a statue of Sam the Seal, a local Legend and checked out the Squid Shack. They only sold cooked food and Val was hoping to buy fresh seafood. On the way home we bought the paper to start selecting our Melbourne Cup picks.

November 2nd, Started sightseeing to-day with a visit to the Patrick Taylor Cottage Museum. It didn’t open till 11am, so will have to come back later. Next it was the Old Goal, built by the Convicts in 1850. I enjoyed this tour and found a great display of Miniature Doll Houses set up in one of the rooms. I then went back to the Brig Amity that I’d seen yesterday, to do the tour through the Ship. My first surprise was that this was a full size replica of the original ship, as I had expected to be told it was a half size model. It looked too small to be sailing the high seas from England. The Ship tour was very well set up as it was self guided using a hand held recorded message that corresponded with numbers displayed around the Ship. Very informative and easy to use. Nearby was a bush tucker garden, created by the local Aboriginal (Noongar) Community, Mouchemore’s Cottage, built in the 1850’s, The old seawall built along the original shoreline, a One Teacher School and The Residency. Originally built to house the Magistrate, it is now a Museum for Indigenous, Local and Natural History. After lunch, we went into Town to Spotlight (Val’s favourite Shop) and next door we found The Albany Drive In Mart, a second hand dealer. Great shop, full of antiques, furniture and books. They had heaps of the westerns that I like to read and Val found some miniature furniture for Joan. We finished off the day by placing our Melbourne Cup Bets on at the TAB, ready for the Big Event to-morrow.

November 3rd, Melbourne Cup Day, at 11am we head up to the recreation and theatre rooms, at the Caravan Park, to watch the race. We went into the $2 & $5 sweeps and settled down with a cuppa to wait for the race, it was a bit early for a wine. Our race start time here in WA was 12.10pm. What an exciting race, on the big screen, and particularly when my horse hit the front coming down the straight. I had a $10 e/w on Shocking which returned $135. I also drew 3rd place in the $5 sweep. The CP put on a great bbq sausages and salad lunch. I went in to Town to collect our TAB winnings and then on to the Patrick Taylor Cottage Museum that I missed looking through yesterday. I was impressed with what I saw. The house was fully furnished and full of displayed items, including clothes, of that era. An antique collector’s delight. The doorways were obviously built for short people. The gardens colourful and well kept. Next stop was the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial, worth the climb as the view over Princess Royal Harbour and King George III Sound was fantastic. Last stop for the day was the Princess Royal Fortress, on Mount Adelaide. The Fort was opened in 1893 and was the first Federal Defence of Australia (ie, All States agreed to its need& contributed). It was closed down in 1956 and the buildings used for many local purposes until being turned into a number of Museum Displays. Well worth a visit as I found out that this was the assembly point for the Anzac Forces to gather before its movement to Gallipoli. What a sight that would have been, to see all those Warships line up in King George Sound. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of the Fort as the camera battery went flat on me. I must buy a back-up battery for my camera.

November 4th, Last day in Albany and very windy, overcast. To-morrow we move on to Ravensthorpe, for an overnight stop then on to Esperence for a few days.