We emptied out the contents of the van to store it over the winter months, no food left in to encourage mice and no bedding or clothes to encourage moths and bugs.
We knew that the van needed new front shock absorbers (a particular road in South Australia had given us a very bad jolt, banging down with great force and the ride has been 'bouncy' ever since.). When we were in Queanbeyan having new tyres fitted (2012) we asked about new shock absorbers but gas ones were 'unavailable in Australia'. In Europe last year we had tried to source gas shock absorbers but to no avail so now we asked our local service agent to try and source some, even importing from Europe..... Success.
Within a day he had found some and they were on their way. We sent off a cheque deposit to confirm that we wanted them and within two weeks they arrived. We took the van down at lunchtime Wednesday and picked it up around 2.30 the next day. All 4 shock absorbers replaced - a much different ride now.
We had a look at the old ones - one of the front shockies was really 'floppy', no pressure behind it at all.
So although it cost quite a bit we should be riding smoothly for the rest of our van trips.
June proved to be a little drier than May and we started the painting of the gutters. Ugh! It needs more than one coat, what a chore. Then the rain came back so we had to stop, then it was clear for a few days so we started again, then the rain came back......... so slowly we are getting the job done.
Our good friends Ralph and Hanny decided to head north in their van, up to Darwin to stay with friends.
We just couldn't help ourselves and invited ourselves along to travel a little way of their trip with them. We can only go away for a few days as we have to get back for a medical appointment, but a week up north will do us good and travelling with our friends is always great. So back into the van goes the bedding, the clothes, the food etc. It gets quicker each time.
Ralph and Hanny arrived mid afternoon on Monday, parking up to spend the night in our driveway.
There was no early start the next morning, it's winter and it's quite cold before 9.00am. In fact we didn't leave until after 11.30am as Ralph had a small leak from the gas bottle in his van and took a while to track it and (hopefully) fix it.
Then we were off - we turned right out of the estate and took the Indian Ocean Drive north. About 70 kms from home we stopped for lunch at a lovely rest area with great views over the heath land to the ocean.
Then we drove on northwards, filling with fuel at 'the cheapest fuel stop on the Indian Ocean Drive', in Leeman. It was late afternoon as we turned off the main road to set up camp for the night just east of Dongara, on the Mingenew road. The temperature was dropping fast and so after afternoon tea in one van we sealed ourselves into our vans for the night. It was agreed that 9.00 am was about the right time to start the day. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we could receive the full range of tv stations, even though I'd set the recorder I didn't want to wait to see the final episode of Orphan Black, series 2.
The passing traffic lessened after dark and we had a cool, but quiet night. The duvet, blanket and quilt made sure that we were really snug.
Next morning, we discovered that we had been joined by two other motor homes in the night, quiet as mice.
We drove into the seaside town of Dongara, calling at the bakery for a cake to take along to friends' for morning tea. We also bought a couple of Steak and Kidney pies to have later for lunch. Ralph and Hanny squeezed onto John and Nan's driveway and we parked in the side street. The coffee and cake were lovely and we had to drag ourselves away. We made a quick stop at the Op shop and made the 'caravan parking' spot in the middle of town our lunch stop before heading north, on the Brand Highway again.
Sorry to report that those pies were just average - the steak was minced and although there was a taste of kidney there was no evidence of any actual kidney!
Just north of Dongara we turned west to check out Seven Mile Beach. The road was a good sealed road, the car park large and clean and the views were great. It looked like a lovely overnight stop but it was too early in the day to park up for the night so we returned to the highway and continued north.
Between Dongara and Geraldton is the hamlet of Greenough, (famous for its windswept, lying down trees) and here we turned off the highway eastwards
following Ralph across country to the little town of Walkaway.
Here we paid a visit to the lovely little Station museum. The railway station was completed in 1887 and was an important stop on the line but it closed in 1996. The museum has a good collection of local history and local explorations. One exhibit was the route map of John Forrest's last exploration from Geraldton following the Murchison rive across country to meet the Telegraph Line. Some of his notations were of 'nothing to the north and south but spinifex, very inhospitable country'. Looking at the location, nothing has changed, those places are still out 'in the middle of nowhere'.
The lady looking after the museum was rather pleased to have 4 visitors as the caretaker ladies are having a little competition to see who sells the most tickets on one day. With the 4 of us she was now in the lead.
It was still a little early to set up for the night so we pressed on into Geraldton city. We found a caravan supply shop and Ralph bought new hoses for his gas bottles. The leak seems to have stopped but there won't be many other places between here and Darwin to buy anything if it starts to leak again, so better safe than sorry.
We made a little detour to the Geraldton Cemetery to see the Cemetery Chapel of the Holy Spirit, designed and built by Father Hawes, in 1935. His works in the area are really beautiful. We have 'done' The Father Hawes Heritage Trail, but Ralph and Hanny, although aware of some of his works, which include Geraldton Cathedral and the church in Mullewa, were not aware of this little chapel.
Cyril John Hawes (1876 - 1956), born in England, became an architect and then a priest. Has designed buildings in Sussex, UK, Australia and the Bahamas. A very interesting man and all of his churches here in WA are quite different and stunning. We are both big fans.
We drove out to the outskirts of the Chapman Valley to spend the night at FigTree Crossing. A large designated overnight camp spot. $6 each per night. We filled out the self registration form, put the money in the envelope and put it in the box. There was a 'comments and suggestions' box on the form, so I pointed out that there were no marked bays, let alone numbered bays but the form asked you to state which number 'bay' you were parked in. Pedantic maybe.
There was 1 other motor home and 2 caravans, in the whole place and as it's a large area we all had lots of space. We sat outside and enjoyed the last few minutes of the warm afternoon with 'happy hour' before heading inside and once again having a quiet, cold night (warmer than last night though, it's getting warmer as we travel north).
The sun was shining and the grass around was green, with the hill rising behind us and sheep grazing it felt more like summer in Ireland than winter in Australia.
Next morning we heading north through the Chapman Valley. We stopped at the Chapman Valley Heritage Museum in Nanson. The museum is open Wednesdays and Sundays only, and unfortunately today is Thursday. Once again, we had been here and loved it but Ralph and Hanny had not been around the museum, we pulled up outside to show them some of the outside exhibits and noticed that there was someone working in the museum...... Michael and Ralph had a chat with him and he very, very kindly offered to let us look around the museum. He turned on the lights and we enjoyed a look around this lovely place, (entry by donation) The exhibits really give an insight into the life and times of the area. Ralph and Hanny said that they would definitely return and that it was one of the best, most comprehensive country museums they'd been to.
As it wasn't an official open day we couldn't get coffee and cakes but when we had been before we enjoyed some lovely fresh sandwiches and baking provided by the local ladies.
We thanked our host and promising to return we headed on turning westward in the tiny town of Nabawa to head to Northampton. We parked in the main street, outside another of Father Hawes' works, the St Mary in Ara Coeli church (1936) and convent. All of his churches are different, this one is more Gothic in design than any of the others. The stonework is amazing and the proportions just perfect.
We then had coffee in the town's cafe, where we spotted local royalty - The Principality of Hutt River is just down the road and Prince Leonard parked his car right next to the cafe! Maybe he's in town to post a letter, or maybe conduct international business. (The Hutt River Province came about in 1970 when farmer, Len Casley took on the Australian Government over wheat quotas. He declared independence, the Government didn't take him seriously and it became legal. A unique place that we often visit, but not this time.)
As we turned down a side street to loop around town and head on, we spotted a sign to the Historical Railway Precinct - it was at the end of the street so we went down and parked to wander around the old station site. In 1879 the first WA Government railway ran from Geraldton to Northampton, none of us knew that, it was interesting to see the route it took and to see that important station names are now either Geraldton suburbs or else just localities in the bush. Along with rolling stock and memorabilia the first railway carriage built in WA is on display. Worth the detour.
After this very pleasant diversion we left town heading westward and north towards Port Gregory.
We stopped at the Lynton Hiring Depot Ruins.This was built in 1853 to house the convicts until they were hired out to local pastoralists. It closed in 1856. Some of the buildings have been lovingly restored and there are lots of interpretive signs around showing how large the enterprise was. We had lunch here, and chatted to some other travellers.
One couple from Queensland that we talked to and told about Hutt River would have liked to have visited there but as they were towing a caravan they were adamant that they were absolutely not travelling on gravel roads. Not again. They explained that they had been off the bitumen but when they opened the caravan door - mayhem.
The cupboard doors were twisted and the microwave door had fallen off completely. I've often wondered what is happening inside the vans as they speed past with the occupants of the 4WD happily cruising along, travelling fast over corrugations. We know how the contents jump and shake, being in a motor home we can hear every squeak and clang. Now I know that things are not hunky dory in those caravans. This couple were very damning about the manufacturer but I'm sure it's not an isolated case. They assured us that they had not been travelling fast, but even 20kph can rattle the shelves.
The place was quite busy, there are a lot of people on the road, caravans and motor homes.
There are further buildings and the superintendent of convicts' house, Sanford House, around the side of the hill, so we drove down to see.
The house is near the current farm's outbuildings. We parked and got chatting to the lady 'caretaker' . She was from Melbourne and was 'farm sitting'! Ralph and Hanny made the trek up the hill to the old homestead, enjoying the great views from the balconies. The lady asked us where we were heading and we said that we'd probably be staying in Kalbarri that night, she asked why we didn't stay there on the farm for only $10 each. (with power supplied, it was almost half what we would be paying at a caravan park in Kalbarri). We considered her question..
It was early in the day , but was warm and the sun was shining so we decided that we would stay but would drive down to the little coastal town of Port Gregory for a look around first.
On the outskirts of Port Gregory is Hutt Lagoon which is full of Beta Carotine bacteria which makes the lake pink. As we drove alongside the lagoon noticing how the water colour looked pale sandy pink through to brilliant magenta hues.
In Port Gregory we drove to the ocean's edge, parking and watching the waves crash on the reef. It took a while to spot the 'safe entry' between the breakers.
Above and behind us, in the dunes we spotted the nest and nesting pair of Eastern Osprey. I had binoculars in the van and we took it in turns to check out this pair. Then one of the birds flew off, soared above us and then swooped down onto the beach - it wasn't after a fish, it was after nesting material. It grabbed a length of discarded rope and flew back to the nest, depositing it next to the sitting bird.
On a previous visit to the area, to the little hamlet of Horrocks, just south of Port Gregory we also saw Ospreys nesting. The local community has erected poles and platforms in the dunes and they also put old crayfish pots on the platforms for the birds to nest in, it's obviously working as this pair seemed very content.
Then we drove back to Lynton Farm Stay and after a short delay whilst we located the electricity points we settled down for the night.
Before the night got too cold we all had the same thought - a hot shower. (The showers were clean and the water hot). Although we had electricity we didn't use a heater, it really is getting warmer as we head just a little way north. As it was our last night together for a few months we indulged in a board game - girls v boys and I'm pleased to say that we girls won 2 out of 3 games!
The next morning we carried on northwards, along the coast to Kalbarri. The very popular holiday town. This coastal road was gravel for many years but is now a great sealed road, with fantastic views. The suburbs of Kalbarri are stretching out along this road.
We parked in town and enjoyed coffee and a snack at the bakery. Not disappointed this time, the coffee was good and Michael said that the feta and olive quiche was yummy.
After catching up with an old friend who lives in Kalbarri we left this lovely holiday town and headed out of town on the old road. This road was once the only road in and out of town. It's a long 66 kilometre drive to the highway. We stopped for a quick cuppa with Ralph and Hanny before we split company, they headed north and on to Darwin while we turned southward again.
We called in to see friends in Geraldton, staying the night with them. We all went down to a local bowling club for fish and chips for dinner. No luck with the various raffles but a good night out.
The next morning we set off homeward, stopping in Dongara for lunch. Nothing from the bakery this time, sandwiches in our van in the marina car park.
Then we carried on south again, enjoying the drive on the Indian Ocean Drive.
We arrived home in the late afternoon, time to relax for another day and then time to tackle the garden.
In a couple of weeks time we are heading back to Geraldton to house sit for friends.
We'll have 3 weeks to enjoy the tourist sites of Geraldton, and enjoy the warmer weather, but those garden chores will be waiting for us.
