Australia here we come!

5/8/12

Another easy morning. Karen and Mary-Anne cleaned their caravans and I started packing up. Karen also cooked a date loaf which was to die for. At about 1.30pm I drove the gilrs to the Phoenix Shopping Centre not far from the caravan park. They wanted to do a last bit of retail therapy before we left Fremantle. To my great pleasure we were the only car in the car park when we arrived. Perth and Fremantle don't have 7 day trading yet in all their large shopping centres. The girls were devastated and I had a smile from ear to ear. My pleasure was short lived as they made me drive to the local Woolworths which was open. We restocked groceries, beer and wine and went back to the caravan park.

6/8/12

It was up early to finish packing and putting things away. We hit the road about 9.00am and set the GPS to guide us to a small town called Pinjarra which is south east of Fremantle. We arrived in Pinjarra and found the Tourist Information Centre which was closed. We took a tour through the Fred May museum which is full of old engines that have been restored to full working order. It was fascinating to step back in time. We asked one of the men at the Museum for directions to Herron Point and he drew us a mud map.

It was cold and very overcast at Pinjarra and we managed to finish eating lunch in a park before the heavens opened. It rained all the way to Herron Point and Karen almost had kittens when she saw the dirt road leading into the camp ground. 'TURN AROUND' she yelled. There was no way that could be done as the road was very narrow and we would have to reverse about 8 kilometres. 'NO' I calmly said and continued onto the muddy dirt.

It was a short drive to the Caretaker's van. We were greeted by a friendly lady who explained the rules and showed us where to camp. There is a $7.00 fee per vehicle and there is a toilet. We had to be self sufficient with everything else. That was no problem.

We set up just before the heavens opened again. The generators were set up and we ran them until about 7.30pm. It rained on and off all afternoon and night. The wind started about 7.00pm and blew with fury from the west all night.

About 5.30pm we started to see bandicoots emerging from their nests and scurrying out of the bush from across the road. They are funny little things and they even ate bread held out to them. We had to be careful they didn't chomp on our fingers while biting at the bread. The bandicoots kept us amused for an hour or so until we had tea. We were surprised to find them running through the annex area of both caravans up until we went to bed.

7/8/12

We were pleasently surprised to see a bit of snshine this morning and the solar panels were deployed. The sun came and went as did the showers and during one downpour there was even small hail. The only thing that didn't come and go was the wind. It stayed the whole day. The weather eventually got worse and the generators were switched on. Karen and Mary-Anne occupied their time by knitting and I updated our trip diary. Later in the day between showers we put the annexes down and packed away the generators and solar panels.

8/8/12

To our surprise it was not raining when we woke this morning. There was cloud and a little sun as we packed up, but no rain.

We left Herron Point and drove 65kms to Australind which is a suburb of Bunbury. Karen rang a couple of caravan parks and we decided on the Australind Tourist Park. We paid and setup on our sites quickly.

I wanted to visit the Dardanup Heritage Park and it is only open to the public on Sundays and Wednesdays. The girls didn't want to look at tractors and machinery so I went by myself. The girls went shopping as usual. The GPS guided me through uncharted territory and I arrived at the Heritage Park at 12.00md. I paid the admission fee of $15.00 and spent the next 4 hours totally engrossed in viewing the huge range of restored tractors, steam engines, trucks, carts, very large stationary engines and a military museum. They even had an operational restored steam driven saw mill on site.

The highlight of the afternoon was meeting Ron Smith who, with his late brother Fred, restored two large petrol powered Tangey stationary engines. Ron was very obliging and did not hesitate to start both engines for me. Being such large and heavy machines you would expect a lot of vibrations when they were running. But that was not the case. Ron took delight in showing me a couple of twenty cent pieces he had placed on their edges on a flat surface near the the large pistons and conrods and there was no movement of the coins. But all good things must come to an end and I returned to the caravan park about 5pm.

The girls had visited a shopping centre and on a drive around had seen black swans and kangaroos. They also found the Featured Wood Gallery and Museum. There was plenty of fine crafted wood items for sale including a Colt 1860 Army revolver that had been carved from local timbers. The fascinating thing about the revolver was that all the moving parts worked. The hammer clicked back two notches and flew forward when the trigger was pulled. The cylinder revolved and indexed itself on the next chamber perfectly when the hammer was cocked. The barrel and cylinder were removed in the same way real ones are. The internal leaf spring for the hammer was also made out of wood but the type of wood is a secret for some reason. The revolver comes in a beautiful wooden display box and with working accessories including a powder flask, bullet mould and a number of .45 calibre round balls the cost is the princely sum of $5000.00.

In the museum there are displays of the American Civil War, The Gallipoli Campaign, Ned Kelly, The American Indian wars and the owner's family history.

9/8/12

After breakfast we drove into Bunbury and visited the Information Centre. Then we drove to the Tuart forest walk for a short 1.2km stroll through tall trees. At the end of the pathway, which came out onto a suburban street, the girls decided to follow a road back to the car. ( Well, actually, they were just following me - I didn't hear Karen's suggestion that we turn around and return on the track we had just walked through the forest back to the car!) All we found was a large housing estate so it was decided that we should re-enter the forest and follow sandy tracks cross country back to the concrete walkway. Using my bush skills I tried to lead the girls westward towards the walkway and the ocean, however the tracks kept heading north and south.

After about 20 kilometres of bush walking Mary-Anne developed a blister and was finding the going very difficult. I found a track that was heading more west than north but the girls had had enough and decided we should walk towards the sounds of vehicles on a road. We did that and came out of the forest near a shopping centre. We stopped at a chemist and got directions to where we had parked the Prado. It was a relief to eventually see the Prado in the distance. Our 30 minute walk had taken us about 3 hours! Mary-Anne and I told Karen that, from now on, if we can't drive to a scenic location and view it from the comfort of the car we're not going.

We were all thirsty and hungry so we found a great spot overlooking the ocean and had lunch. Then we took a drive around Bunbury and found the black and white lighthouse and the Boulter's Heights lookout. Much to our dismay Karen made Mary-Anne and I walk up 89 flights of stairs to the top of the lookout. We had to admit the view from the top was great. There were panoramic views of the waterways, port facilities, Bunbury township and inland to the Darling Ranges.

On the way home we found the alleged 200 metre Mangrove boardwalk which winds its way through white mangroves estimated to be 20,000 years old. There were information plaques on the walkway about the mangroves and numerous shipwrecks in the harbour. Mary-Anne counted her steps and when she reached 200 she said in her scary matriarchal voice: “That's far enough! Now, back to the car.” Karen and I followed like little lambs back to the car and we drove home in silence.

10/8/12

We planned a country sightseeing trip today and headed east firstly to Brunswick Junction then to Harvey, Yarloop, Waroona then Dardanup on the way home. From Brunswick Junction we drove through rolling hills and lush green pastures filled with contented black and white cows full of yummy full cream milk.

We stopped at the Harvey Cheese factory and sampled many different types of cheese. Mary-Anne and I bought some cheese as well as a chocolate ice cream each.

From the cheese factory we drove into Harvey and found the Visitor Information Centre. This would have to be the best Information Centre we have been to. The gardens and manicured lawns are out of this world. There is a replica of the cottage that May Gibbs lived in. Everyone knows who May Gibbs is. That's right she wrote about Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Mary-Anne and I must have had a very deprived childhood as we have never read any of the books. I must admit if there are no guns or murderous behaviour in the books I can understand why I never read any, but what happened to Mary-Anne?

Close by the Information Centre were the remains of a World War 2 detention centre for Germans and Italians. There was also a roadside shrine built by two Italian detainees while they were in the camp.

From Harvey we travelled to Yarloop and went to the Yarloop Steam Workshop Museum. The workshop was part of the Millar Brothers sawmilling enterprise and was opened in 1901 to maintain their steam engines and steam trains. They had their own railway line to transport timber from the forest to the port for export. For some reason the workshop closed down in 1978 and what remains is exactly how it was when the last shift knocked off work.

There are steam trains and steam engines in the sheds. All the boilermakers' tools and equipment are still there. The pattern shed is still full of wooden cogs and wooden wheels and other wooden things made by carpenters and wood workers on site, that were used to make moulds so the casters could make new cast iron cogs, wheels and anything else capable of wearing out or breaking on a steam engine. The supply shed is full of spare parts. The whole place is a time capsule.

The last shed contains the steam engines that ran the whole place. These engines have been lovingly maintained by a group of volunteers who have also put on display a number of other steam engines. Unfortunately, the engines are only fired up at certain times and our visit didn't coincide with one of them.

From Yarloop we drove to Waroona but there wasn't much to see so we turned round and drove back the way we came and headed for Dardanup. We got to Dardanup at 4pm to find the Information Centre shut. We had a quick look around town and drove back to the caravan park.