carolandrodsgetaway2018

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

Tv

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

9th November 2018

I will try to bring my blog up to date. After we left Coonabarabran and said goodbye to Wendy and Paul, Rod and I headed to the coast via the  New England Tableland. Our first stop was Tamworth. We stayed in a nice little caravan park just north of town. Rod wasn’t keen on free camping while we are on our own. We arrived early and after setting up we decided to explore what Tamworth had on offer. We first visited the big Golden Guitar which is at the tourist centre just coming into town. This place is amazing. It has a wall of guitars signed by famous singers who obviously attend the music festival each year. Very impressive. There is also a cafe and a big gift shop and when you go out the back door there is also a pub. We had lunch there even though we had the dog with us. We sat outside in the beer garden. I ordered two steak sandwiches, didn’t realise how big they were going to be one was enough for us both. I’ll know next time. Next stop was the country music hall of fame. The building is in the shape of a guitar. They have done a good job on this exhibit. Very easy to walk around and they tell the story in decades in different areas with inter active shows you can sit and watch. Some very old footage of the start of country music in Australia and the people who made it happen. I was impressed by what they had done,makes me want to go to the festival even more. Have to make an effort to get there. After leaving Tamworth, our next stop is Armidale, another town much bigger than I expected. We stayed in the showground here. Cost us $25 for the night and had all the facilities we needed. Quite a lot of vans and motor homes there as well, obviously very popular. We have climbed a lot in the last couple of days, I think Armidale was about 1390 metres above sea level. The area is lovely, very green and lush, nice rolling hills with plenty of fat cattle. Again this is a place I would like to explore more in the future. Rod was driving very slowly up the mountains, the roads were fairly steep and winding. He had to pull over a couple of times to let built up traffic pass, that’s ok though, seems like it’s the done thing and people understand. We left early next morning because we had a long drive ahead of us. The fog was pretty thick and visibility wasn’t great so we took it slow. The only trouble was Rod forgot to go over 60 KPH when he was able to. I had to call him a ”Turtle” to get him to increase his speed. I said 90KPH was an acceptable speed otherwise we’ll never get to our destination before dark. You can imagine how that went down. Anyway he did pick it up a bit after that. We decided that the fog was actually low cloud because we were so high. As we descended the cloud got lighter and then disappeared altogether. We drove through Belligen which is a lovely picturesque little town, very busy but we couldn’t find anywhere to park so we couldn’t stop and have a look around. That’s on my list for next time. Once we got onto the Pacific Highway it was a boring drive to South West Rocks.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

8th November 2018

I know I haven’t written anything for a while, I have just been a bit lazy. I can’t believe I forgot to mention our stay in Griffith in my last post. We parked at a free camp just as you get into town. It’s in a nice green park beside a canal and it has BBQ’s and toilets. We were the first van’s there and we weren’t sure it was right place or not but it didn’t take long for others to arrive. I had some concerns about all the cars driving in and people using the toilet block but Rod said don’t be silly it was ok. Anyway Wendy and I drove into town to check out the op shops and the club so we could play the pokies. They had an orange festival happening in town, there was a lot of artistic sculptures made out of citrus fruit which were fairly impressive. Unfortunately, some of them had been vandalised. I don’t understand why someone would do that it’s so disrespectful. While we were gone the police did a drive through at our camp and they stopped to talk to Rod and Paul. It seems the toilet block is a well known hang out for the local homosexuals and a place for drug deals to be done. Rod said there was a couple of young girls smoking dope at a picnic table just near our van while we were in town. Great stop hey. So anyway we had happy hour and then retired for dinner and bed. I woke up when i heard the door to the caravan open. It was Rod coming inside so I asked him what he was doing. He said “can’t you hear all that noise outside”? I couldn’t at first then it got louder. A lot of yelling and swearing by both men and women. Rod had gone to investigate. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but you could hear the agro in the tone. Rod was getting worried so I told him to call the police if he was that concerned. I went to turn the TV on and Rod yelled at me not to as he didn’t want to attract attention. He obviously didn’t think having the I Pad on lighting up the van was a problem. I just went back to sleep, Rod stayed up peeping out the windows. Next time I woke up Rod was on the phone to the police under the blankets so he couldn’t be seen or heard from outside. I told him the police would take ages to get there so don’t hold your breath waiting. Bugger me if they weren’t there within 5 minutes .Again I went back to sleep because it was around 2am. by this time. So the outcome according to Rod was that they arrested a young woman and a couple of other trouble makers. He found a drivers licence, credit cards, bankcards and pension cards as well as some boots and a jacket in the park when it got light and called the police back to come and collect them. It seems the group is well known to the police and it’s not an unusual happening on a Saturday night in town. Anyway when we talked to Wendy and Paul the next morning, she stayed up all night watching through the windows and Paul like myself slept through it. He told Wendy someone would call the police so don’t worry. I guess he didn’t think it would be Rod. Oh well another story to laugh over later.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

25th October 2018

Left Berri to go to a free camp called Lake Benanee. I forgot to mention when we were at Clare as we were hitching up Paul almost ran Rod over in his car. He was trying to back up to his van with Rod directing him. There was a kerb to get up and Paul planted his foot, unfortunately, he gave it too much juice and almost pinned Rod between the car and van. Wendy yelled out because he actually hit the tow bar while she was inside. The second incident happened at the nursery when they were buying roses. Paul put the car into drive instead of reverse and almost ran an old man down. This was related by Wendy much to Paul’s disgust and denials. So I have to question the validity of Paul holding a drivers license. ( ha ha ) Anyway, back to our travels. The camp by the lake was very pleasant. At happy hour we were joined by another couple of travelers. They were heading to a caravan rally at the Barossa Valley. They were very well traveled, telling us about the two months they spent in Alaska watching brown bears and Polar bears. And they also recently walked the Kokoda Track. You often meet interesting people when you’re on the road. Twinkle, Marc and Brian decided to leave us after this camp and make a run for home. We said our goodbyes and headed for Hay which was our next camp. Another great free stop on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. The council have done a great job here. There is a sandy beach with toilets and gas BBQs. Rod and Paul visited the historic jail and the shearer’s hall of fame. Said they were both fantastic. Next stop was Condobolin, what a great little town. On the way in they have a area which has a row of old cars all painted with different themes. Some were very funny. There was a vegemite car and an outside dunny car, one was painted like a stockman another like a bottle of Bundaberg rum. All the cars stood on end. Terrific Auto Art. The camp was on a lake just outside of town. Another great job by the local council. Lots of vans here, but there was plenty of room. We went into town to the RSL for lunch. When we came back Rod started the generator to give it a run. Nice happy hour in the shade of some big trees. Next stop is Coonabarabran caravan park. This is our last night with Wendy and Paul. They head home from here and Rod and I are making our way to the coast.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

18th October 2018

Next stop is Port Pirie. Nothing much to say about this place. The caravan park is in a good location but is a bit shabby and run down. We stocked up on supplies and had a drive around town. Very unremarkable place. They have a lead smelter in the middle of town and have to check the kids every year for lead poisoning. It is however the 5th biggest town in S.A. Wasn’t sorry to move on. Clare was our next stop. This place is lovely. We came here on our last big trip. Great caravan park to stay in, really enjoyed it here. Fantastic BBQ area with a big stone fireplace which they lit for us every evening. They had pizza ovens which we used as well as the BBQ’s. Paul actually threw a glass of red wine all over Wendy’s white pants here. ( well really he accidentally spilt it on her ). We visited a couple of wineries and also went out to a small town nearby called Mintaro. Last time we were there we had lunch at the old pub called the Magpie on the Stump and the publican was really rude. We were told it had new owners so we thought we would have lunch there again. No luck, it was closed Mondays. The publican saw us looking in the windows and came out and invited us in to look around. He was very nice and apologised for not being able to give us lunch as it was the cook’s day off. Oh well, maybe next time. The highlight of our stay was going to Bungaree sheep station and doing a tour. This historic station has been owned by the same family for 176 years with the sixth generation of the Hawker family still calling it home. It is the oldest sheep station still operating in SA. In the mid 1800’s it had up to 100,000 sheep and employed over 50 staff members. At one time it covered 267 square miles. It had its own store, blacksmith, shearing sheds, beautiful church, managers house and staff cottages and a fantastic sandstone home which the family live in today. Our next stop is Berri. Amazing grape vines and fruit trees everywhere. I love the order of it all. Neat rows of vines and fruit trees as far as the eye can see. The Murray River supplies the water and everything seems to grow well. The caravan park is fantastic. The river is over the road and it’s very picturesque. House boats are lined up waiting to be hired out across the other side. We went to Berri Estates winery and stocked up on wine and stopped at a roadside stall for fruit and vegetables home grown. We visited Bamera the next town which is on the shores of lake Bonney. Sir Donald Campbell tried to break the water speed record on this lake but unfortunately failed. I tried to do some shopping here but my shopping is dictated by Rod’s bladder and bowl movements. Every time I go to the shops he has to go to the toilet. He either blows the horn or stands at the door with the dog calling for me to hurry up. Heading to a free camp and then onto Hay next, getting closer to home.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

10th October 2018.

So Geraldton free park was a surprise. The council allows you to stay for 24 hours at a special car park near the boat ramp at the harbour nearly in the middle of town. We got there early which was just as well as there is limited spots available. When we arrived there was only 4 spots left which was just enough. You drive through and leave your car hooked up if you want to. We had to get supplies so we un-hitched to go into  Woolworths and BWS. So try to imagine this overnight stop, it’s a bit like boat trailer parks. Bugger all room between you and the next van but all marked out with parking lanes. Anyway we parked the vans and went about our business in town. I went to the Chemist, Woolworths, BWS and the IGA. For once the sun was shining and it was fairly hot and Rod and the dog waited in the car for me. While I was in the IGA the older woman on the checkout was busy talking to the woman ahead of me and taking her sweet time about it. I was getting a little impatient when my phone rang. It was Rod, he said and I quote, “tell that f-----ing old bitch to stop talking and do her job” I though he must be reading my mind to know what was going on in the store, then I looked up and he and Thor were looking in the front window which was quite funny. ( he however, was not amused ). Paul had phoned Rod and told him, while we were gone the van next to us left and a new one had arrived. This van was parked very close to ours. When we got back we couldn’t open the door to our van. This put Rod on the warpath, he yelled out for the bloke to come and move his van. (Delivery again) The other guy said why didn’t we move ours. Rod said no, I was here first. I thought it was going to be on, so I told them both to calm down. The other guy then said he was just joking and he moved his van to allow us access. Of course there was a lot of hand shaking and back slapping after that and they are now besties. That wasn’t all Geraldton had to offer us. A camper trailer pulled up a few parks further down with a younger couple and about three kids. Now these parks the council provides are for fully self contained rigs, which means you need to have toilets and water and power to stay there. You also need to collect any grey water into an enclosed tank or container and dispose of it responsibly. Well this woman decided to do the washing for the family and the grey water went all over the ground and flooded the area around Wendy and Paul’s van so that when they stepped out they stood in this water. Wendy approached the woman and said her grey water going everywhere. She explained that if we didn’t all obey the rules they would stop the priveledge of the free camps and everyone would lose out. The woman didn’t like Wendy telling her this and was very sarcastic. Paul was telling Rod what was going on and the woman overheard this and started to abuse Paul. Then her husband come down and got into it as well. I was in the van when I heard the raised voices. People calling people f--ing wankers and dickheads, I couldn’t work out what was going on at first then I heard Rod say “what did you say mate, come back here” When I went out in my nightie, which was ugly in itself, everyone was yelling. Again I was trying to be the voice of reason, then the woman said I had a very bad wheeze. Rod pipes up with “she used to be a smoker” how random is that in the middle of a dispute. You had to be there to see the silliness of it. Anyway after a bit more slanging off at each other we all went to bed. Geraldton will always be memorable for the wrong reasons, but good for a laugh anyway. Next stop is Yalgoo, a small town in the W.A outback famous for mining, great park run by the local council. There was a cave or tunnel out of town dug by some miners a long time ago while prospecting. The others all went out to have a look but I stayed back because I was told it was full of bats and spiders. Not my favorite things. Didn’t miss much from the sound of things anyway. We moved on to our next stop at Mt. Magnet. Again in the WA. goldfields, really in outback territory now. Next night is in a free camp overlooking a large crater which was a nice view. Good sunrises and sunsets here.( Of course I wasn’t up at sunrise to see it.) We then moved on to a place called Gwalia. This is a really interesting town just outside of Leonora. They mined gold here until the sixties when it became unprofitable. We camped on the edge of the big open cut pit. They have a museum here which is fantastic. All the history of the town has been captured here for people to see and it’s completely free. When the mine closed everyone just walked away on the same day and caught a train to Kalgoorlie. The town was just abandoned, everything left as it was. All the houses and all the things in them. There is a group called Friends of Gwalia that is working to conserve whats left of the town for the future generations to see. Next stop is Kalgoorlie, a real frontier town. Again gold mining is the industry that keeps the town going. The town has some of the most beautiful buildings you will see in a country town. The riches of the gold really shows here. Even the town clock has the steeple covered in gold leaf. The people who work in the super pit mine all live in town so the money stays here, unlike some of the other mining towns which have the fly in fly out workers taking their money away with them. We did a tour of the super pit which is amazing. It’s a huge hole in the ground with machinery taking the gold ore out for processing. The trucks and other equipment are enormous. They had a slide on one wall of the pit a few weeks ago which slowed operations for a while. They expect to mine here for some time yet and are making plans for the towns future when the gold runs out. We also did a tour of one of the towns oldest brothels which was a bit of fun. There’s not as many of them as there used to be but they still get a good workout according to the women who runs the show. We visited an old railway station and museum as well. Plenty to do in this town. Moving on we had a couple of free camps on the way to wave rock. One at Booradin to watch the AFL grand final and one at Merridan for the NRL grand final. I wasn’t impressed because we couldn’t have a fire. There is a total fire ban on in WA at the moment, the thing I like best about the free camps is the fire at night. Next we arrive at Wave Rock. This is an amazing place, the rock is very accessible, easy to walk too and easy to climb. The rock is 15 metres high and 110 metres long. It has been caused by weathering and water erosion which has undercut the base and left a rounded overhang. The water running down the rock dissolves the minerals and causes the coloring on the wave. A very spectacular area to visit with many other rock formations to look at as well. It was a great caravan park too. We now head off towards the Nullarbor Plains on our Journey back to the east coast. First free camp is at Munglinup, across the road from BP servo, very wet and very cold. Next we move on to a place called Salmon Gums community caravan park. This is a great little park looked after by a caretaker who was very hospitable and welcoming.The town created the place to encourage grey nomads to stay and spend money in their town and it has worked. We had a big fire at happy hour and talked to all the other travelers. Really enjoyed our time here. Fraser Range was our next stop. This is a working station and very well presented. We saw emus and kangaroos and a bloody big snake while we were there. Again a big fire pit was available for happy hour and we spent the evening talking to lot’s of interesting people. Plenty of walking tracks if that’s what you like to do and a hole from the Nullarbor golf range to hit off from if that’s you thing. We are back on the Nullarbor plains now and our first free camp is at Cocklebiddy. Lot’s of other vans in here too. Weather is still crap and we have to deal with the flies as well. Next night is at Eucla, nothing to say about this place, just somewhere to park and sleep. Still bloody cold, and we also passed Bunda Cliffs, the place Rod got drunk on scotch and face planted the ground.( Ah the memories ) Final stop is at Yalarta, this is pretty good as a free camp goes. Plenty of room and we had a fire as well. (Yay ) Next stop Ceduna, civilisation again thank goodness. Caravan is on the beach and it’s lovely so we increased our stay from 2 nights to 3. Bought freshly shucked oysters from the fish factory which were delicious and very big. The first night we had dinner at the pub and we cooked pizza in the camp kitchen the second night, both good dinners.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

21st September 2018

We arrived at Denham caravan park and snagged the best sites we have had so far. They are right on the beach with a perfect view over the water. We don’t even have to go outside, just look out the caravan window. Just as well really, it’s blowing a bloody gale again. We are about 25 klms from Monkey Mia and we were supposed to go on a sunset cruise there tonight but it’s been cancelled because of the wind. We tried to increase the number of nights here from 2 to 3 as the place is really lovely and it would give us a chance to sit out the weather for the cruise. No such luck, only if we were prepared to move sites, which we didn’t want to do. So our options are to go on the marine animals cruise in the morning and try again for the sunset cruise tomorrow evening. Our plans were to go and feed the dolphins in the morning at 8.45 and the do the cruise at 10.30. Because we were all ready early, we decided to leave, Marc and Twinkle went ahead. The rest of us followed about 15 minutes later. We actually had trouble getting out of the park, some guy with his van had tried to get around a car that was hitching up and went too close to the reception building. He hit the 2 signs and couldn’t go backwards or forward without damaging his van. After sitting there for a few minutes watching everyone tell this guy what to do, which only made it worse, Rod got out and unscrewed one of the signs. He got a chair to climb up and unscrew the other one but  the woman in reception wouldn’t let him do it in case he fell. We had to wait for a staff member to come and do it, by this time there was a huge lineup behind us waiting to get out. It was the only exit from the park. Poor guy had gouged the side of his van by getting stuck. When we finally moved on we found out you had to pay $12 each to see the dolphins with no guarantee we would be able to feed them. So we vetoed that idea but we couldn’t go into the park until 10am. The wind was getting up again and as we had to park at the boat ramp and wait Rod had time to talk to some of the locals. They said it was a waste of time doing the cruise today because the water was too rough to see any of the animals anyway. It was costing us $85 each and he wasn’t going to waste a $170 for both of us to see nothing.Wendy and Paul agreed and Brian decided not to go as well. This just left Marc and Twinkle. She had booked the cruise because someone she knew knew the owner of the boat and we got a discount when she called him. When we told her we were not going she had the shits and told us all to get F---d and it was the last time she would book anything for us. It was not as if it cost her anything and she didn’t know to boat owner anyway, so I don’t see why she was upset. Anyway in the end Wendy and I decided to go along with Marc and Twinkle and leave the guy’s to go back to the caravan park and come and get us later. It was bloody freezing even though the sun was shining, the wind cut right through you. The boat was a bit tatty and the only crew were 2 girls who had to do everything. Sail the boat, spot the wildlife and serve the goods at the little bar. We didn’t even get a cup of coffee, you had to buy anything you wanted. So on the way out to the sea grass beds we saw 1 turtle and a couple of dolphins and some unidentified large fish. Not a great start, Marc did lend me his spray jacket to wear, don’t know how I would have coped without it because of the wind. Poor Marc must have been freezing all morning but he didn’t complain. Then a couple more dolphins showed up and swam around the boat for a while. The best bit was we eventually saw a Dugong, which made it worthwhile even though we weren’t that close to it. To tell the truth I couldn’t wait to get back to shore. The sunset cruise was again cancelled because of the windy weather. Next day we moved on to a free camp at the Galeena River bridge. It was beautiful, when we arrived we parked right on the river bank and 2 black swans with 5 baby swans (cygnets) glided past. The river was full of bird life, swans, cormorants, pelicans and there were wildflowers everywhere. Can’t believe you can stay somewhere like that free of charge. It had toilets and a dump site as well. Lucky we arrived early, we got the best sites. We had a fire going  and happy hour was great, except for the flies. Yes, They’re back. Had to get the fly nets out again. Next stop Geraldton.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

17th September 2018

We have now traveled nearly 9500 klm’s and been to some fantastic places. We have had a lot of wonderful experiences and some very ordinary ones as well. Most of these are weather related, however, these will probably be the ones we remember the most and laugh about often. Our stay in Cervantes was incredible. It’s a small fishing/holiday town named after a Spanish shipwreck off the coast here. All the streets have Spanish names like Barcelona Drive or Matador Road, a little bit quirky I think, The caravan park was on the beach,but not for us. We were stuck way down the back away from the pool and new amenities and camp kitchen which was very nice. We did have a lovely BBQ at the beach to watch the sunset, but the clouds buggered it up and we couldn’t really see anything at all. It just got dark. We did eat out at the Country Club which was nice. Rod and I shared a seafood platter which included lobster which they are famous for here. It had huge oysters which were delicious, as was all the other items on the platter. The only thing I didn’t really enjoy was the lobster, I thought it was a bit dry.  Anyway, from here we went to see the Pinnacles. They are amazing, rock formations pushing up through the desert floor in all shapes and sizes. They date back about 6000 years and very little research has been done on how they formed. They believe they were covered in sand and every few thousand years the wind blows the sand away and exposes the limestone formations. It’s remarkable to drive through them and see the difference in size and shape. There are thousands of them. The signs all over the place say don’t climb on the as they might fall over, or could be damaged but there were tourists ( mostly Asian ) climbing up to get their photo’s taken on top of them. Of course Rod took exception to this and as with his usual aplomb, yelled out the car window for them to get down and couldn’t they bloody well read. I pointed out that as they were foreigners, the chances were they couldn’t read English but the tour leader should be able to. So unfortunately, there was a small bus parked ahead with an old man standing next to it. Rod leaned out the window and asked the man if he was responsible for the idiots climbing all over the stones. I think he was a bit deaf because he couldn’t hear what Rod was saying. Of course Rod yelled even louder which I think frightened the man. I felt sorry for him as he obviously hadn’t encountered any one with that sort of delivery before. Anyway, he said yes, it was his bus but only him and his wife were traveling in it. The funny thing was we kept seeing them everywhere, but they didn’t stay in the same parks as us. It was almost as if once they spotted our car, ( hard to miss with the bloody big air foil on the roof ) they drove off. Just saying, draw your own conclusions. Next stop was Dongara / Port Denison a one night free camp at the coast. I know I keep saying how beautiful the coastline is here,but the water is amazing. Its so blue and clear and the sand is very white. We also found a distillery that makes rum. Rod and I had a tasting and bought a bottle of white rum that we can both drink. From here we moved on to Kalbarri. We drove out to the river gorges and walked up to the rock formation called natures window. The walk in was ok, but coming back was mostly uphill with a large staircase at the end to climb and believe it or not it was quite hot. I thought at one time they would have to medivac me out with a helicopter. It was definately worth it though the scenery was fantastic.The gorges were spectacular, the colors of the red rocks against the blue sky and the green of the valley were unmissable. We also went to all the lookouts which showed off the coastline as well. We tried again for a sunset dinner but still no luck, clouds were in the way but the fish and chips were great. Next stop Shark Bay.

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11th September 2018 After Margaret River we headed for Bunbury. The caravan park was average and the location was ok. We did lot’s of sightseeing here. There were plenty of places to explore. First we went  to Gnome town. Very strange, someone started to put garden gnomes at the end of this road and then everyone added to it. You can’t help but smile when you first see it. There are thousands of them all over the place. They are different sizes and colours, some in footy colours, others in bowls club groups or other clubs. There are family tribes and holiday or cruise groups. Everything you can think of is covered off here in gnomes. It’s a great place to visit, wish we had taken our own Gnomes to leave there. We ran into Wendy and Paul there and Paul started with the dad jokes again. eg. I think these people are gnome to us ( ha ha). I almost dropped my phone into the creek that ran through the middle of the field of gnomes that was close and would have spoiled my day. Gnome town, as I call it is in the Ferguson Valley. This is a beautiful drive, wineries,breweries and farms are located in this picturesque landscape. Very green and lush and a pleasure to drive through. We went to see a very old very big Jarrah tree called the King Jarrah, very boring, lucky we didn’t have to drive too far. Next we went to a brewery called the Wild Bull and had coffee and cake, ( I had coffee and cake Rod had a beer tasting platter.) The next day we went to the best farmers market I have ever seen. The food was gorgeous, everything was set out so you had to walk past all the fresh produce, meat , deli, bakery, ready prepared meals, others where you only had to add your meat. There were chocolates and lollies and nut selections. It was fantastic, I loved it. I wish we had something like it at home. It was all in one building and so professionally done. I spent too much money but the food was hard to resist. When we got back to the caravan park, Brian was having a hissy fit about the firewood in the back of his ute. He said he didn’t want it in there anymore. It was wood we had collected in our travels so we could have a fire, Brian was the only one with room in his car to carry it. He said it was in the way for him to get other things out of the back of his ute. Rod and Paul calmed him down and re-packed his car so it wasn’t in to way. Cranky old bugger. The next day we discovered this wood museum, the craftmanship was amazing. The guy who ran it made all the works of art on show. After admiring his work he took us through a door to his private museum. It was remarkable, he had exhibits on all the things he was passionate about. Ned Kelly, the American Indians, The American civil war, All the World Wars, The American West, it just went on and on. He had fabulous stories to tell about each exhibit and where he got the memorabilia from. The models and military examples were amazing. He showed us a genuine Nazi Flag captured as a war prize by a British tank commander ( had a great story with it ). It was the best private collection I have ever seen. It was a privlege to see it. Next stop was Bussleton.. We arrived with a flat tyre on the caravan. It was a pain but it didn't take long for Marc and Rod to put the spare on. The caravan park is one of the nicest we have stayed at. They have 3 pools one of which is a heated indoor pool. The whole area around there is lovely, besides the great pools they have a recreation room and a kids play area inside, a boon for parents on a wet day. The grounds a like a botanical garden and the beach is right across the road. Must be crazy here at peak time. Did I mention it's one of the cheapest we have stayed in so far. After we dropped the tyre off to get it repaired we went down to the foreshore which is very pretty. The jetty is supposed to be the longest in Australia at 1.8 klm long. I know because Rod convinced me to walk out and back. You can catch a train if you want to. It wasn't too bad because we just poked along and there is plenty to look at on the way. Mostly stats about the jetty history, and a lot of memorial plaques. People have their ashes spread on the water from here. Couldn't read all the plaques, Rod hurried me along. We decided to have a BBQ dinner and watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean. Twinkle and Marc found a nice park on a hill so we packed up the stuff we needed and settled in for the spectacle. It was really beautiful, the colours were glorious, it was a great night. The next day we Drove down to Cape Naturalist national park. There is a little town called Dunsborough on the way where we bought fish and chips and found a little beach to eat lunch. We had the place to ourselves and the rain held off until we finished. We then went to the lighthouse which was very accessible this time. There was a viewing platform over the cliff edge to watch for whales and dolphins and the lighthouse was an easy walk. Marc actually lost his sunnies over the edge the next day when they visited the place. To far down to retrieve them unfortunately. But we all got some great photos. Moving on to Mandurah now, weather is lousy again with cold showers on and off, just can't seem to get much sunshine. We are finding it difficult to find somewhere for happy hour that is out of the wind and rain, but if that's the biggest problem I have I guess I can live with it. They don't have a dump point at this park so they said we can empty the toilet cassettes straight into the toilet. Paul had a unfortunate incident doing this. As he tipped the cassette in the toilet it all splashed back at him, went all over the cubicle as well. He was frantically trying to clean it all up before someone walked in and saw what happened. To say he panicked was an understatement. Of course we all thought it was hilarious but Paul couldn't see the humor at all. We were camped next to the camp kitchen so we used the BBQ and had a group dinner one night and the guy's got to watch the footy on the big screen TV. There was a big fifth wheeler for sale when we were there. He was towing it with a Isuzu flat bed truck and was trying to sell both. It was enormous with 2 slide outs and a sun room on the back. Not much good for travelling with though as it was just too big. Rod went over to see how much he wanted for it and we all had guesses on the price. it was much less than we all expected. He only wanted $120,000 for both van and truck, I thought this was pretty cheap for what you got but as I said it was something you lived in permanently. We moved on to Freemantle next hoping to leave the crap weather behind us. Raquel and Blake are visiting and staying at the same park in a cabin. Twinkle is very excited to see them. Raquel has combined a business trip with a personal weekend to allow this which is great for Twinkle. The park is about 8 klms from Freemantle so it's a good location. Supposed to be on the beach but you need a 6 pack and a sandwich to get there. It's a long walk and even the dog was stuffed when we got back. Only went there once. But Freemantle is fantastic we loved the place. It's full of historic buildings which are gorgeous, and plenty of things to do. First up we did the maritime museum, fantastic, they have a Collins class submarine on display. Rod did the tour but I didn't go as I am a little claustrophobic. He said it was great. There was plenty to see in the museum to keep me busy anyway. Next we went to the W.A. shipwreck museum. Another terrific exhibit showing how treacherous the coast is over here with lots of the early explorers losing their ships on the reefs. Next day we did the Freemantle jail which was still in service up until the 1990's. We did 2 tours of the jail, one focused on the early convict years and the other on the more recent history. Both were very interesting. We all did a Rottnest Island trip on Sunday.The weather was fantastic for a change, everyone else thought the same thing because there was a million people on the ferry with us.( ok maybe not that many but the ferry was full). Between fathers day and a fun run that was happening it was pretty crowded. We opted for the hop on hop off bus trip. It covered to entire island and you could get on and off whenever you wanted. Rod and I did the entire loop and then got off and went to the pub. It is a beautiful place with lovely sandy beaches and incredibly clear clean blue water. The quokkas are very cute and show no fear at all. I'm not surprised considering the amount of visitors they see every year. It was a really nice day. Marc took Blake fishing on Monday, you guessed it no fish. At least he's trying. Rod and I went back into town to do the markets and another visit to the shipwreck museum, didn't get to see it all last time. Thought we could get all day parking for $10 down near the docks. We didn't drive far enough down and had to pay $8 for 4 hours which was a pain because we had to keep going back to top it up. It ended up costing us $14 for 6 hours which is a lot cheaper than Brisbane. The markets were a waste of time anyway and we had to walk miles to get to them. You can imagine Rod complaining the whole way back. We did have a nice lunch down at the wharf though. Next day a lot of people were leaving the caravan park and Rod, in his role of park mayor was watching closely. One group had a big dog that had taken a dump near a tree so he watched to make sure they cleaned it up. They didn't, as they we about to drive off Rod called them on it. He asked the guy if he was picking his dogs shit up before he left. The guy acted dumb but Rod said he knew it was there. I just wish he could improve his delivery of these issues. Next stop is Perth, another great town. The park was a little out of town and the security left a lot to be desired. The day we arrived the guy behind us had an electric bike stolen from the back of his van. It was worth $4000. Up the street someone had cash and jewelry taken from their van so we were a bit nervous and made sure nothing of value was left out. I had just gotten up the next morning as Rod walked up to the toilets about 6.30 am. As I was opening the blinds on the caravan I saw this guy acting suspiciously and scoping the place out. While I watched him he went to the back of our car and tried to open the tailgate. I opened the door and yelled at him to get away from the car and what did he think he was doing. He didn't say a word and calmly walked away up the street, I went out after him, still in my PJ's and he looked back to see if anyone was following him. I called him a thief and told him he better get moving. I was hoping Rod would come out of the toilets and see him but the timing was out. Maybe just as well. That night we were sitting eating our dinner in the van ( we were having soup) just as I put the spoon to my mouth something shook the van and the soup went all over me. I asked Rod what happened and then it happened again. I then heard the beeping of a reversing vehicle. Rod and I ran outside to see this elderly German tourist in a camper trying to reverse into his site with his wife behind him waving a torch back and forth. Rod immediately went on the attack, yelling at the guy that he had hit our van. There was a language barrier to start with and the old guy was so shaken up he didn't know what to do. His wife was useless, all she did was wave her torch around. Once we realized there was no damage to our van I felt sorry for them. The camper was too big to get into the site the way he was going. I calmed Rod down and the two of us helped them get onto the site. They were very appreciative and in broken English told us they were going to drive the camper around Australia for 3 months. Good luck with that. Rod felt bad about yelling at him so he went and apologized the next morning. So after this introduction to Perth, Rod and I went up to Kings Park to see the view and take the dog for a walk. We drove up there and tried to park the car but they were really small car parks. After trying a couple and finding them too small Rod found one he was happy with even though I had to get out first. The car next to us was parked right on the line and unfortunately the women who owned it just happened to come out at the wrong time. So, Rod chipped her about her parking skills and she basically told him to get f----ed. She only had to be inside the lines and she was. ( which is correct ) He said common sense tells you to park so you don't impede other parkers. She said, not my problem old man why don't you get a smaller car. By this time I had walked away with the dog as they were still screaming at each other. I was quite funny really, she was this big Jamican woman and she was giving it back as good as he was dealing it out. He wouldn't leave the car then in case she did something to it so he had to find another place to park.So far Perth has been great. Next day we went for a drive to the Swan Valley, beautiful place. Visited some wineries and the Chocolate shop and stopped at a roadside stall to get some fruit and veges fresh from the grower. The next day we visited the Perth mint with Marc and Twinkle. We had a great tour which included a Devonshire Tea. Then we were meeting Wendy and Paul at the casino for lunch. Trying to work out the best way to get there on public transport was a challenge but we finally made it. (not in time for lunch though) Made my donation to the casino and then caught the train back into Perth and a bus back to the park. Our next outing was all public transport. They have a great system here with free busses doing loops around the city area all day. So with Wendy and Paul we decided to explore Perth this way. We felt very satisfied that we managed to master the transport system. We caught a bus just outside the caravan park into the city which cost us $1.30 each ( fantastic woman bus driver, couldn't be more helpful) Then changed over to the city cat busses for the free loops. First loop this aboriginal woman got on with no shoes and reeking of BO. There wasn't many people on the bus so we all had separate seats. Rod was sitting behind me. She wasn't very old but had attitude. She sat down looked at Paul and asked him if he had a spare twenty. Paul just said no and looked out the window. (He said in his head he told her no and she should sit down and behave herself) Wendy smiled at her and then also looked out the window. Rod got up and moved to a seat across the aisle. I thought here we go but she didn't say anything. She smelt so bad we were all holding our breath. Thankfully she got off at the next stop. A woman up the back said she told her husband she had to get off because the smell was making her sick. No excuse for that, there is always somewhere you can have a shower. (salvo's, Vinnies etc) Then we changed to the next bus, and a whole aboriginal family got on. There was about 3 kids and maybe 6 adults. The kids started fighting in the back of the bus. One kid was swinging off a pole and kicking another kid in the head, The women were trying to stop them to no avail. The were calling each other f-----ing c----ts at the top of their lungs and spitting at each other. No one in the bus looked at them except Rod. Everyone else looked out the windows. Shocking behavior, one of the women yelled out this is what happens when he doesn't get his medication. I'm talking about kids who were no older than 10. Anyway they got off at the next stop and the father gave one of the kids a slap over the back of the head as he got off which started him screaming his lungs out again. We changed busses again, while we waited to get on, I thought everyone was off and started to climb on the bus when this guy came barging through and pushed me with his bag. I'm sure it was deliberate, I should have waited but I don't think I deserved to be shoved like that. Oh well, lesson learned, make sure everyone is off the bus before you try to get on.We thought this bus trip was going to be uneventful, But near the end this guy tried to get on and was bashing on the door for the driver to open up for him. He did and the guy got on. He was obviously on something looked homeless and lied down on the seat and went to sleep. We got off a couple of stops later so I don't know how long he slept for. We went to the information kiosk to find somewhere to have lunch. She sent us to this new hotel that was on the mall and they had a rooftop bar where you could eat. Wendy and I ordered cocktails and the guy's had a schooner of beer. It cost me $34 for 2 drinks. I nearly fell down with the shock. My cocktail cost $22, I have never paid that much for a drink before in my life. Needless to say we didn't eat there. The fact that the concierge had to key us up in the lift should have warned us it was going to cost us. Next stop is Cervantes, I'll update the blog when we get there.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

5th July 2018

 Had a few hiccups this week before we left. I broke a front tooth and had to have it repaired. Very stressful, I didn’t know if I would be able to have it fixed in time. Rod said it didn’t matter, as if I was going to go away with my front tooth missing. I looked like a combination between a Collingwood supporter and a cast member from Deliverance. Anyway, thanks to great work from my dentist     ( brother Alan) and his staff, I now have a new front tooth. Next disaster was Rod flooding the caravan. We had just put carpet on the floor to alleviate the cold the day before and I thought it looked great, Rod then decided to fill the water tanks in preparation for our trip but instead of the water going into the tanks it went straight into the caravan and flooded the floor. Now if he had been paying attention to what was going on instead of chatting up the woman walking past, it might not have been quite so bad. She actually pointed out the water pouring out of the caravan to him, and as is Rods form he dropped his bundle and said we wouldn’t be going anywhere, Once I calmed him down and we discovered what had happened,( a clamp had come off a hose inside the van) we pulled all the carpet squares up and put them out to dry, squeegeed out the van and fixed the hose, and the trip was back on. This morning he has been holding court in the street with all the neighbours and the people walking past and letting everyone know we were leaving on our trip to W.A. today. Good luck to all the burglars who now know we will be away for 4 or 5 months. Just as well we have house sitters in to look after the place. So here we go, don’t have to leave to early as our first stop is just over the border into N.S.W. We met up with the rest of the squad just outside of Warwick at the Caltex roadhouse. After fueling up the cars and ourselves, we were about to leave when Paul and Rod noticed something wrong with the ESC on Paul’s car and van. Believe it or not, the guy in the caravan pulled up next to him said exactly the same thing happened to his. He pulled out his tool box and fixed it for him. He was an electrical engineer as luck would have it, so we were on the road in no time. The first night we were stopping at Wallengarra, at the Jennings rest area. Great place, huge field just behind the pub. Wasn’t too cold, kangaroos jumping around everywhere and we had the place to ourselves. Had a few drinks at sundown happy hour and then dinner and a fairly early night. Oh, I forget to mention, the bloody Waeco fridge stopped working in the back of the car. It’s chocka block full of frozen food prepared for the trip by family for me and Rod, so I was not happy at all. So as they do all the guy’s got together to solve the problem, this is always the only way to fix these issues.Everyone had suggestions on how to solve the problem. Turned out Rod had knocked the plug out getting something out of the back of the car. Tried to blame me for it too, fortunately I hadn’t been in the back of the car so that couldn’t stick. Anyway, tomorrow we are off to Guyra.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

29th August 2018

Lot’s has happened since my last post, I probably won’t remember everything. It all becomes a bit of a blur after a while. Anyway here goes. We left Albany and drove through these fantastic forests where the trees almost met above the road. It was raining and a bit foggy and I tried to get a photo of the other vans in front driving under the canopy of trees because it looked really good. Unfortunately, the wipers were going so I couldn’t get a clear shot. Next we went to the Valley of the Giants. This is where the huge trees grow in a national park. They have a sky-walk where you can actually walk above the canopy of the trees and look down to the forest floor. I was a bit scared to start with, It’s fairly high and the gantry moved when you walked on it. The sign said to stay 3 metres apart and only 10 people at a time allowed on each section. Then I wondered if that meant 10 fat people or skinny people. ( I was hoping they allowed for the extra mass Rod and I made.) Anyway, it didn’t fall down just bounced up and down a bit. Rod was bitten on the finger by a bull-ant, by the way he carried on you would have thought a brown snake had gotten him. The woman at the entrance to the park had to get the first aid kit out and put some ointment on it for him, very embarrassing. It was a fabulous place, the trees were majestic, obviously very old by the size of them and we were privileged to see them. From there we went to a farm stay for the night, only a few klm’s away. It is a working sheep farm with lot’s of baby lambs running around at the moment. Very picturesque, lovely views over the fields and the water. We had a nice stay there. We moved on the next morning, we had planned to stay at Augusta for our next stop but decided to push on to Margaret River as it wasn’t much further on. We drove through a little town called Denmark to see what it was like and it was very pretty, surrounded by forests and the ocean. The weather was still drizzling on and off and when we arrived in Margaret River it looked like we might have to set up in the rain. Wendy had emailed ahead all the details of our group, van sizes etc ( we have the biggest van ) but when we got there they had put Rod and me on the smallest site. This created problems because our van was too long for the site. So as expected, Rod spat the dummy. There were no other sites for us to go on and for a while it looked like we would go to a different park from the others. The other option was for Brian to swap sites with us as his is the smallest van and he was on the biggest site. He didn’t want to do this because he was already set up. Things were getting tense and it was about to rain at any minute. Anyway, they convinced Brian to move, Rod and Paul did all the work to get him shifted and set up on the other site. Marc didn’t help at all, it was like he was oblivious to the whole situation. Didn’t matter anyway because it all worked out in the end. We loved Margaret River. It’s a great little town with very beautiful surroundings. Rod said it was like driving in between golf courses all the time, very green and lush. We did a day visiting the local wineries, chocolate makers, cheese factories and breweries. Rod volunteered to be the driver, ( saved us about $100 each ) instead of a bus tour. We spent that on wine and cheese and chocolate as well as nuts and lunch at the brewery. We actually spent more than that but we saved the price of the bus. The last winery was ridiculous, they didn’t have any wine less that $35 a bottle, we didn’t buy anything there and the women all slipped out and left the men to tell then we weren’t buying. We took bets in the car park that Marc and Paul would weaken and buy something. Everyone was very impressed when they came out empty handed.I was glad because the guy running the place was a wine snob. I was a great day out just the same. Next day we drove back to Augusta. There is a lighthouse there we wanted to see at Cape Le Grand. It’s where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean, Very rugged and windy and cold as usual. The beach was covered in seaweed and it stank to high heaven because it was decomposing. The had a great little marina we visited which looked to be fairly new and we saw an abalone boat about to go in the water. It had a shark cage to protect the diver as he collects the shells, not a job for the faint hearted. Next day we visited a little village called Cowarampa. The town was full of artificial cows. They were everywhere, big ones and small ones and at first glance they looked real. They were all black and white with the exception of a big gold one in the rotary park on top of a pole with it’s front legs stretching up to the sky. Marc called it “Cow the redeemer” after the statue In Rio. The area is known for dairy farms and some woman had the idea to use the artificial cows to attract tourists, it certainly worked.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

15th August 2018

Continuing on from prior post, some glitch in the system so I had to start again. Albany has a wonderful Anzac Memorial center which is up on one of the many lookouts in the town. The fleets carrying soldiers to the fronts in WW1 left from here and the history is remarkable. There are gun sites and armouries set into the hillside to protect the town and port from enemy attack. The view from the top is spectacular and there is many old buildings you can walk through to get a glimpse of how it was here in the early days. Some of the fortifications were built in the late 1890's for the defense of soldiers going off in ships to the Crimean War. The other lookout up there has a statue of a soldier on horseback representing the Australian Light Horsemen. Makes you think about sacrifices made and the cost of young men's lives back then. It's a very well done memorial. So back to the caravan park. Paul has spotted a couple of fold up chairs left by some previous campers. On closer inspection only one is worth the effort so he leaves the other there. He decides he will add it to his  collection and takes it back to his caravan. He nervously puts them away to come out at a later date. In the meantime Twinkle decides to set him up by saying she was in reception when someone rang to see if their chairs were still there. The lady said she would send someone down to see if they could locate the chairs. Of course when Paul heard this he didn't know what to do about it. Should he act dumb or return the chair to reception. His conscience gets the better of him so he starts to head up to the reception to give the chair back. Twinkle sees him just in time to stop him confessing to being a thief. Very funny for all of us except Paul. Wendy thinks he's spending too much time with Rod and learning bad habits. Off to Augusta tomorrow.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

  15th August 2018

We have now travelled over 6500klms, most of it in freezing weather and strong winds. It has been worth enduring the adverse conditions though, even if it means I had to listen to Rod harp on about the amount of fuel we have been using. We have seen some wonderful places, Albany being one of them. It's a charming town with lovely historic buildings and a very pretty coastline. We stayed at the Albany Gardens caravan park which is located fairly close to town, this enabled us to get to where we wanted to go fairly quickly. First place we visited was Discovery Park which is where the historic Whaling Station is located. Its a fascinating place that recounts the history of Whaling in W.A. It didn't actually close down until 1978 which surprised me. I thought we had stopped it much earlier than that. They have preserved one of the ships from the fleet that chased the whales and you can go aboard and get a feel for what it was like to be part of the crew. There were a lot of interactive exhibits and a 3D movie to watch which was pretty good. You could actually go into the processing area where they boiled up the blubber to extract the whale oil. Some of the photos were pretty confronting though. I'm glad we don't kill those beautiful creatures any more for profit. Next we went to the old jail, not much left of it but it was a sorry place to be for the original residents. They certainly did it tough in the old days. No frills for the warders either. The facilities at the park are  pretty good and we cooked Pizza in the camp kitchen. They have a gas pizza oven in there so we took advantage of it one night and used the BBQ's another night. Very civilized camp kitchen, big screen TV for Rod to watch the football and heaters on the  wall for us to eat our dinner in comfort.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

9th August 2018

Continuing, on. Prior to getting to Norseman we had to cross the quarantine station. Wendy had checked what we could or couldn’t take across with us. We were told if we topped and tailed the onions they were ok and if the potatoes were washed they were also ok and if we made a salad with the tomatoes we could keep them too. So I did all that and they took the lot off me anyway , and my honey as well. I was not happy. But we had a laugh about it later. As we got closer to Norseman the terrain started to look more like I expected. Red dessert sand and dry landscape. Surprisingly, not much roadkill either. I guess in places it’s just too harsh for wildlife to survive. Norseman is an old gold mining town. We parked in a sport recreation area that was quite nice. Again the wind was relentless and very cold so we decided to go to the pub for happy hour. It was Friday afternoon and I think there was 3 other people there beside us. The mine had closed down so there is practically no jobs and it shows in the town. The caravaners help keep the town going, a few other vans were staying at the same place as us. Esperance is our next stop. This place is beautiful, the coastline is amazing. The have a coastal drive that takes you too all their beaches. It’s about an hour to do it and it’s worth stopping at all of them. Each one is different. I thought all the great beaches were in Qld but I have to rethink that after seeing these. The next day we drove out to Cape Le Grand. This is the most beautiful place I think I have seen. The sand is pure white like sugar crystals and the water is the most amazing shade of blue. I am so glad I had the good fortune to see it. There is a campsite at Lucky Bay, however, because it’s a national park, you can’t take dogs in so we couldn’t stay there this time. Esperance is a fantastic town but the wind blows about 9 months of the year. I really enjoyed our stay there despite the weather. Next stop is Hopetoun, another free camp right on the beach. Marc tried his hand at fishing again. You guessed it, still no luck. It one night here and then onto Albany.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

9th August 2018

This is what has happened since my last post. We have now crossed the Nullarbor and not without incident. After leaving Streaky Bay we had an overnight free camp at a place called Yalarta. It’s just a pull in on the side of the highway. We lit a fire and had happy hour and then had an early dinner and went to bed. Next day we went to the head of the bight to see the whales. The place was amazing, they can have up to a 100 whales in the bay sometimes. There was about a dozen when we were there. Mothers and calves mostly. They come in to rest and protect the calves from predators like large sharks and killer whales. They swim close to the cliffs as the water is warmer there. It was a fantastic experience to see them so close. There was a boardwalk along the cliff top so you could get a fabulous view. We had to pay an admission but it was worth every penny. After leaving we headed for our next stop which was at the Bunda Cliffs. This was spectacular, exactly what I expected it to look like. When we pulled up a mother whale and calf swam by, amazing. Rugged cliffs with the Southern Ocean hammering huge waves against the rocks below. The wind was howling and it was freezing cold as usual. We parked the caravans about 50 metres from the cliff tops, and they were rocking and shaking because of the strong winds. I wasn’t game to go too close to the edge for fear of getting blown away. The hatch in the bathroom almost blew away, the guys had to fix it with cable ties and duct tape until we can get it repaired. Anyway, we found a spot behind the vans and Paul built a fire pit and lit the camp fire. Twinkle and Marc won a bottle of black label in Whyalla so they bought it out to celebrate crossing the Nullarbor. Of course the boys got stuck into it. Drinking it neat on ice, it didn’t take long for them to get very happy. Thankfully, the women didn’t have any. (Someone had to be responsible) I decided to go and get dinner ready as it was getting ridiculous. When I called Rod to come and eat I heard a disturbance. Twinkle came and told me Rod had fallen over. The place is quite rough and rocky and as Rod stood up he got the wobbly boot on and face planted the ground. Twinkle said he almost fell in the fire, she saved him by pushing him sideways. I looked out and saw the three men stumbling towards our van with Marc and Paul on either side of Rod saying it’s ok, you’ll be fine mate. None of them could walk a straight line. So I bought him in and cleaned up his head wound. He sat down and ate his dinner and then I got him into bed. Five minutes later he decided he had to put the solar panels away. I was ready to push him off the cliffs by this time. Paul decided to help him, what a debacle. They had the bag inside out and the panels upside down. In the end I had to go and do it for them. I won’t even mention them trying to put them in the back of the car. Anyway, the wind was blowing gale force all night. I was scared it was going to roll off the cliff edge, thankfully it was still hitched to the car. I hardly slept at all, for once Rod didn’t snore so I had to keep checking he was still alive and hadn’t succumbed to alcohol poisoning. The next morning they moved the vans further back away from the cliffs. I can’t believe they didn’t do it in the first place. So we survived and I didn’t have to call the flying doctor service for Rod. I should be grateful for small mercies. At least he didn’t complain of a hangover. I don’t think he was game. I wasn’t sorry to see the back of the Bunda Cliffs. We continued our journey across the Nullarbor. It was much greener than I expected. The vastness of the place is indescribable. All the way to the horizon anyway you looked was the same. Just stunted scrub, no trees and kilometres of straight road. We had another stop at Caiughuna Blow Hole. This was not on the cliffs but there are lots of cave underground and the blowhole is a breathing hole for the caves. Very interesting. The weather was still terrible, so we decided to push on and do a long drive to Norseman.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

31st July 2018

We have spent the last two nights at Streaky Bay in the Island Caravan Park. What a park this is, it’s only been open for about 18 months. It’s right on the beach and the sites are huge. Twice as big as the sites in other parks and very well maintained. The amenities are amazing. Each shower cubicle is like an ensuite with a vanity and toilet included, best I have seen. Lovely camp kitchen, very well equipped and a fantastic recreation room with a big screen TV and a large pool table. Too bad it’s so bloody windy here. It’s cold too. We did some sightseeing and went out to Cape Bauer. There is a blow hole and what they call whistling rock, although I thought it was more a roar than a whistle. Absolutely spectacular. The Southern Ocean hammers the cliffs and it’s so turbulent, you would never survive if you fell in there. The wind was howling when we were there. I didn’t want to get too close to the cliff edge in case the wind blew me off. No wonder S.A. Is going to wind turbine power there’s no shortage of it here. The town is very clean and neat and a reasonable size as well. Groceries are a bit expensive. I’m glad I did a shop in Port Lincoln. The alcohol was about the same as we pay at home so that was a surprise. We are about to hit the Nullarbor now so I’m looking forward to that adventure. No more caravan parks now for about 6 days. Hope we get a tail wind or it might take us longer to get there probably won’t have any wi fi either or phone service for that matter. Water will be the biggest problem, the Nazi will be on watch making sure I don’t waste any.

[carolandrodsgetaway2018]

29th July 2018

We just spent the windiest night so far at a place called Walkers Rock. It’s just outside Elliston. I hardly slept at all worrying about the caravan being blown away. Ok, bit of an exaggeration, but the wind blew all night along with squally showers and the hatch in the shower kept blowing open. I wasn’t sorry to leave this morning and head for Streaky Bay. Paul , Wendy and Brian opted to do the scenic route along the seaside. Marc, Twinkle Rod and I opted for the highway. We thought it would be too windy the other way. Anyway we poked along and had a leisurely drive, went into Venus Bay for a look and then caught the rest of the crew back on the highway. We then went to look at Murphy’s Haystacks a rock formation nearby. Very strange looking boulders sticking up out of the ground in weird shapes. Started raining so we cut that short and headed for our next stop at Streaky Bay. Looks like the good weather has deserted us for a while it’s getting cold again. It’s a really spectacular coastline very rugged. The further we go across the bight I expect it will be even better.