Monday...14 May 2012

Happy Birthday for grandson who had a birthday yesterday.
Today we moved from Pt Lincoln to Whyalla.
Met a local who told us its called Windyalla.  He got that right. Its blowing a gale and freezing cold.
However we are snug and warm inside our little house on wheels and I have a roast dinner nearly ready to serve and that is sure to make us feel warm and fuzzy for a while. Got ourselves another million dollar view. This caravan park is on the shore of the Spencer Gulf.
More on Whyalla tomorrow.

Saturday...12 May 2012

Yesterday we wandered down the street in sleepy little Streaky Bay.
We found a powerhouse museum stacked full of all sorts of old generators and other equipment from the surrounding farms and businesses. Brilliant display and by the smell of fuel I am guessing a lot still actually work.
The volunteers are all old retired men and certainly know their machinery.

Leaving the museum we walked over the road to the local Shell Service Station to view an exact replica of the biggest white pointer shark caught. It was caught locally by a young lad on a lightweight hand held line and took him five hours to be able to get a rope on it and tow it to shore. Enormous. Scary stuff.

Today we packed up and moved down the road to Pt Lincoln, home of the tuna fishermen.
Tomorrow we will go out and look at the local scenery and check out the locals.
The caravan park is another beach front property. Great views from the van.

 

Friday...11 May 2012

Happy 60th Birthday Keith.

The phone has been ringing all day.  Friends and family all wishing him a happy birthday.
My Facebook is busy but it is all birthday wishes for Keith!
We were going to move to Port Lincoln today but it was raining rather heavily so have decided to stay here another day as they promise that the sun will be shining tomorrow.
Guess it is my turn to cook tea tonight!

Wednesday...9 May 2012

Ended up having a second day in Ceduna, did a grocery grab to replenish the fresh stuff after coming through a fruit fly inspection place just before Ceduna. This little fox is one step in front of them. I made a stew bursting with goodness from the 13 different vegetables I had on board the night before we hit Ceduna. And what I could not possibly cook I gave away to others coming the other way. They were very grateful as they had no fresh vegetables after being caught out.
Today we have moved down the road to a place called Streaky Bay. They grow a lot of crops here, we passed miles and miles of broad acre crop paddocks. Also saw lots of new born lambs. Been a while since I saw paddocks full of sheep with new born lambs at foot.
But what Streaky Bay is more widely known for is its aquaculture. They farm oysters here, lots and lots of them. They get southern rock lobsters , abalone (fresh and farmed) and King George whiting.
Himself has already been out to the oyster farm and is having fresh oysters for tea. Perfect!

This caravan park backs onto the sea. Himself went for a walk around after we arrived and spotted some pelicans.

Monday...7 May 2012

Have just completed our first caravan trip on the Nullabor crossing.
It was entirely different to our numerous crossings way back when we crossed regularly to visit Himself's mum for Xmas every two years. That was usually done at the speed of sound trying to get it over and done with as quickly as possible before war broke out between our many children in the back seats of the car.
I always wanted to do that trip one more time at a more sedate pace so that we could see the scenery and finally it has happened.
Believe it or not, but we took nearly four days to cross, stopping at free camps out there in the middle of nowhere. Last night I sat watching the moon rise in the total silence of the Australian Outback. Complete silence can be a bit unnerving but so special.
On day one we crossed the longest straight stretch of road in the world, measuring 145km without a bend! Slightly dangerous as one can become bored and fixated but so so special. One of the sights along the way was the skeletons of broken or burnt vehicles that stand testament to the harshness of the conditions or the stupidity of the drivers.We also passed some goose riding a push bike across the Nullabor.
On day two we stopped to look at the Great Australian Bight, sadly it is too early to have seen any whales migrating north.

The Great Australian Bight

Mind you we did see two juvenile snakes taking a stroll across the designated walkway. Was actually walking along the path back to the car thinking to myself that the path looked a lot like that one back in Augusta where we saw the other snake and bingo there they were! Must have known I was about to step on them or maybe my thinking caused them to be there???
During the day we also saw an emu and a magnificent eagle lifting off from a dead kangaroo carcass on the side of the road. His wing span was awesome.
We also saw another bike rider out there. Just them and their push bike. All alone, no support vehicle.
On day three we had yet another push bike rider and we also passed half a dozen Chamberlain tractors putting down the road on the way to Perth. Each one was towing a small pop top caravan. Himself says Chamberlains used to be made in Perth so maybe they were heading over for a reunion of some sort.
Eventually we crossed the actual Nullabor and arrived in Ceduna which is the end of the crossing.
Couple of days here catching up with showers and washing and we will be on our way again.
We think we will do the Eyre Peninsula next.

The Nullabor

Friday...4 May 2012

Was told last night that today is moving day. If that happens then we begin the trip over the Nullabor and reception will be hit and miss. Mostly miss. Will post where and when I can. 

Have had a fun time here in Esperance. Will miss the good company. Our thanks to our hosts for the hospitality and entertainment.

Tuesday...1 May 2012

Missed a couple of days and cannot even blame poor old Telstra!
The computer had heart failure and sent itself and me into meltdown.
We are in Esperance again and our friends from Kalbarri are also here visiting their daughter so we were able to get help from them to totally wipe our hard drive and reload the entire system from scratch and that has got us back up and happening. Heaps of thanks to Pedro for the help. Continuing without the computer for entertainment and blog entries was not part of the plan.
We will spend a couple of days here then head off in the direction of the Nullabor. No rush. No schedule.