Saturday 14 June 2014

Our 2005 Trip to Perth Part 1

With four weekends left before we depart I thought I would post Kathleen's account of out trip to Perth back in 2005

Yip, we are on the road again and this time the trip is to Perth.



Some information on and as to why this trip. Dennis did seminars along the way, towing a trailer with some of the instruments he shows to customers etc. The first leg of the trip was to get to Adelaide to pick up a trailer at one of his distributors and some instruments from there.


We left Melbourne at 6am on the main highway to Adelaide stopping for our usual breakfast of bacon and eggs at a restaurant outside Ballarat which is 90k’s from our home. Bellies full, off to the next stop Horsham for a cuppa which we carry in the car. The car needing fuel at Bordertown, this is where the white kangaroo’s live. Photo’s below. Beautiful creatures they are so graceful.



Once again these bodies of ours need refuelling with food and this we did about 90k’s outside Adelaide called Tailem Bend by the Murry River. Sit in the restaurant and look out over the river, most peaceful, lunch was hamburgers and ginger beer and orange juice... We arrived at Hotel Meriden in Adelaide at 3h30pm there is a time change of a half hour. Dennis left me at the Hotel, he went to Jeff to fetch instruments and trailer for the seminar in the hotel tomorrow.

30/8

Down to breakfast and Dennis got ready for the seminar with Mark helping etc. I went to a shop called the Warehouse to get the necessaries for the trip. We also had dinner (tea) in room. The weather here in Adelaide tonight the wind travelling at a 100k’s a hour, TV announcement to stay in doors due to wind, rain and lightening.

When all this started was rather a sight to see with a black cloud coming over and the tree’s bent to almost ground, a bit frightening to watch. It was bed early to as we needed a early start on the road for the next seminar which is held in Port Augusta

31/8

Awake at 5h30, its Jane’s birthday today (our grand-daughter) turning a beautiful 10 years. She is having a birthday party which she is sharing with her best friend whose birthday is a day or so earlier.

On the road about 7am, this is the first leg of the trip to Perth. Dennis’ next seminar is here in Port Augusta which is about a 31/2 hour trip. Driving along the high way of Adelaide we pasted a Salt mine amazing to see.
Arrived at Port Augusta at 10h30 had morning tea at a shell garage.

The Seminar was held at the Arid Botanical Gardens. Mark arrived just as we did to help off load the instruments and set up for their do.

GOSH! What a mission doing this the moths and the flies, it was shocking. I have always heard of the Australian salute, I learnt how to do it very quickly, quite funny actually but not when you try to talk. This part of the world was plagued by moths as well. Being South African the signs on the roads etc is for the big 5 or cattle etc but down below is this sign, so people if you travelling here watch out!

When walking in this part of the world one needs the protective clothing and shoes, there are signs everywhere to be careful and also the correct treatment for snake bites etc. It’s not only snakes it’s also spiders which are very poisonous. This is the start of the arid country side going up to Perth it has a beauty all of its own.

Dennis then took me to the hotel where I rested up and of cause did a bit of sight seeing while Dennis went back to the gardens to do the seminar which was until 7pm. The Hotel is on the river port beautiful lookout from hotel.
We went out for dinner which was yummy. Came back to hotel and bed it was. It’s amazing how tired one gets doing this, but I must say it’s most enjoyable. Tomorrow we leave for Whyalla.

1/9  (3½ months to Christmas everyone.)

We left pretty early for Whyalla. It’s not far from Port Augusta. Arrived at Westlands Motel where the seminar is to be held. Whyalla is a mining village. Iron ore. The Beauty of this place is one of a kind where the steelworks and mining operations (now owned by One Steel). This is where the blast furnace is (to produce pig-iron for the foundry market)   the chimneys push out red smoke, hence all the areas surrounding this place is covered with this redness. The roof tops the walls the streets.  
These photo’s are taken from Hummock Hill. In 1986 Queen Elizabeth visited this area. Apparently she has visited this place 3 times. Hummock Hill, as it was originally known, developed from 1901 as a departure port for iron which was discovered at the nearby inland town of Iron Knob.

Oh dear, we have a puncture. So it’s off to Beaurepaires to have it fixed, found a 2 inch nail in tyre. Thank goodness this did not happen on the Nullarbor stretch.

It’s Dinner time and early to bed.

Friday 2/9

It’s back on the road again and this time leaving at 8h45 after a yummy breakfast. We travelled on the Lincoln highway which is the coastal road. The reason for this is we have 3 days in which to get to our next destination Kalgoorlie. So we decided to go this way and see some of this beautiful country.

On leaving Wyalla we passed a sign said “leave headlights on” So on they were , it was only later that we realized the reason for this. As this part of the world is arid and one cannot see the on coming cars and this was easy for us to identify what was ahead. 

We passed a town called Cowell town of fresh Oysters. This part of the world is the home of sea farming the oysters.


We stopped and had a cuppa at Elliston which I had made for travelling. The walls here are covered in murals which you can see from the photos below. It was good to get out the car and stretch the dear old young bones; I think you know what I mean here.
We stopped at a place called Coffin Bay (named after some pioneers whose surname was coffin). The lunch was a tortilla with smoked chicken Swiss cheese and cranberry sauce most delicious

We arrived at Streaky Bay at 4h40 a quaint seaside village, hotel very homely. It’s been a very long trip and very tired. It was dinner and early lights out. It’s village of Oyster farming 


Saturday 3/9

Up early and down to a continental breakfast and very friendly people who work in the hotel, having had a wonderful time in the lounge with everyone chatting to each other. Packed the car and decided to sight see here and have a wee squiz at the Oyster farms which are in the sea. We also went to the Bauer look out walked around there.
We left Streaky bay and today were rather an exciting day. We are going to see the whales in their natural habitat. But first it was to travel to Yalata Community. This part of the world is the aboriginal country. We had lunch here and at the same time a tourist bus was here. Everybody joking with one another and it was just such a blessing to see everybody happy and enjoying themselves. There is a wee museum here which we had a quick look at.
The best Photo that was taken here is the road sign of the “Beware of the Camel, Kangaroo and Wombat” took photos of this. Dennis just loved this sign and was so excited about this as he was going to see camel in the wild. Heeeeee!


We are now entering the Nullarbor plains. This by most Auzzies seems to be a dreaded thing to do. Somehow we were expecting a desert with sand dunes etc but to our amazement it was arid yes but the flora was amazing. We stopped off at the border between South Australia and Western Australia. This is a quarantine check One is not allowed to carry fresh produce nuts untreated wool honey soil plants seeds etc. It’s a huge fine if it’s found on you. So rather declare what you have or dump it.

We slept here at the Border Village. We took some photos and went into the traveller’s chapel and wrote in the visitor’s book. Dennis put petrol in car $1.58 shocking I would say. We had dinner and it was bed early for us, it’s very tiring travelling like this so it’s lights out and sleep.

Until next time........................Think big thoughts

1 comment:

  1. :) Haha Dad Dingo's dashboard looks so different !

    ReplyDelete

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