Meekatharra,
Cue, Mt Magnet,
Sandstone, Leinster,
Menzies, Gwalia, Kalgoorlie,
Coolgardie,
Holland Track,
Perth,
Fremantle, Margaret River, and the South West.
Meekatharra. The
Royal Hotel has a section of glass in the floor of the bar where you can see down in to the cellar. Below it there seems to be a drunk asleep against the wall with many empty bottles lying around him. Pub serves an awesome plate of food
Mt Magnet Nothing spectacular at Mt Magnet. Had a look at
The Granites outcrop just before the town.
Sandstone London Bridge and
the Brewery are very interesting
sandstone formations. We stopped at a
lookout on the way to Leinster. There we discovered that the wind blowing up and over the small escarpment whistled through the retaining fence making a haunting sound. Not sure if anyone knows about it.
Leinster is a Nickel mining town. We ate in the
Mine Mess for $11 head as much as you can. Piggy!!
Cue had some cute old tin buildings.
Leonora was another small outback town with the Ghost Town of Gwalia just to the south. Here people were invited to invest in the old historic buildings and at auction they were sold to locals with the idea of restoring them. This they have done and it is a fascinating place. Sons of Gwalia
Mine is close by.
Menzies was another town steeped in mining history
Kalgoorlie is big and busy and the Super Pit is awesome to say the least. Here we enjoyed the hospitality of Member Coops who also organised a Sunday run with the Eastern Goldfields 4x4 Club. A couple of very rough tracks were handled by some including a bloke with a 6.2 diesel 80 series that idled out most of the rough spots making it look so easy.
Also met Member Ben Spoon who was game to take on any track in front of him.
Coolgardie. Another relic from the past with a rich history. It has an excellent
information centre.
The
Holland Track. From
Coolgardie we tackled this
well-known track. It had recently rained and all the holes along the track were full of water. There are various
rock features along the route, which twists in and out of the trees and scrub. Unfortunately a huge fire burnt out a great section of the vegetation in February this year. We picked up numerous scratches along the body panels of the Nissans and ploughed through endless mud holes. We had a good
overnight camp in the forest and a shower of rain chased us in to the tents. Fortunately a wind sprang up later and dried the tents out. The following day we met up with members of the
Perth Toyota Club who were restoring signs and other things on the track. By the time we got to the
Southern Cross Road we had had enough of this track and made for
Wave Rock and Hippos Yawn, two fascinating
rock formations.
Close to
Wave Rock the GQ’s oil light came on. We inspected everything but found nothing wrong. It would not go out even after we got to
Perth so I disconnected it. From
Hyden we made it to Kondinin where the rain came down again and so we opted for another night in a motel. We ate at the local pub whose service and food left a lot to be desired. One has to strike a bad one somewhere along the line or so the law of averages go?
We passed by the towns of
Corrigin,
Quairading,
York,
Northam and
Toodyay (pronounced
Toodyay) where we visited old friends.
In
Perth and
Fremantle we did a family thing and also visited Art Galleries, Museums and ate good seafood at the Kailis Seafood Restaurant at
the wharf in Freo. We stayed at the Cherokee Holiday Village where we rented two chalets for a week. Just before we were due to leave the manager approached me and asked where we were going next and when I replied Margaret River he suggested that we could rent their holiday house for the week. The price was right and so we agreed that it would be a good thing.
On the way to Margaret River we visited the
stromatolites at
Lake Clifton after getting lost and doing an extra 75km. Another interesting thing happened along the way. A motorcycle cop came up behind us on the freeway, then pulled alongside at the front of my vehicle and had a good hard look at the bull bar (In WA they are defecting vehicles with 5 pillar bull bars according to news reports)
We were discussing this house on the radio, which we had rented, sight unseen, and wondered just how bad it may be. When we drove up the road to the address we couldn’t believe our eyes. There was an, as new, Half a Million dollar house set on 3 acres. All glass, selectively furnished, with
views and everything you could wish for. All we had to supply was tucker and drinkies. Kookaburras and Fairy Wrens kept us amused in the garden while the neighbours red dog came over every morning for a pat and a cuddle. We had a good time at Margaret River. Wineries, cheese factories, art and craft shops, a lavender
farm and more. I had to give the visit to
Lake Cave away as there were 650 steps to negotiate but the photos are a good reminder of a fabulous place that Judith, Maureen and George visited. We also visited Motherhen of EO fame at
Bridgetown. A good time was had by all and we were sad to leave the Margaret River area. Before we left however the GQ developed a water leak. It was dripping from the gearbox. Much crawling around under the truck with a torch revealed that the water pump had come to the end of its life. On the Saturday morning we drove to Auto One aftermarket
shop in Margaret River and unexpectedly found a 4.2lt diesel water pump for $140, which we thought, was a good deal. The Nissan is so easy to work on and after removing the fan shroud, the radiator came out by undoing the hoses and removing two bolts at the top. We had the truck up and running again within a couple of hours.
Heading South East we were getting in to the Big Fella tree country. We stayed two nights in Pemberton and did a Tram ride through the forests learning new things about Karri, Marri, Jarrah, and Tingle trees from the tour guide and tram driver who seemed to talk without taking a breath. Had a look at the
Gloucester Tree, which used to be a Fire
Lookout. My mate George went up about a quarter of the way before chickening out. Me? I stayed on Terra Firma.
The next day we made for
Warren Beach in D’Entrecasteaux National Park along a forest trail. There were some detours as recent rains had flooded the creeks and washed river crossings away. We were only able to access
the beach south of the Warren River. At a point along the track a
sign advised us to drop tyre pressures and as usual I advocated 15psi. We made our way through a very nice coastal wooded area with moss laden trees to come out high up on a pure white
sand dune to see the Pacific Ocean and the white
ocean beach in the distance. About 2km of inter dune driving along very sandy tracks saw us parked on this beautiful beach. But where was George?
“Uhmmmmm ..Just having a look at something, mate” came the reply over the radio.
Five minutes later with the GU screaming top revs George burst on to
the beach.
“You were bogged, eh?” I questioned.
“Uhmmm….yes” came the reply.
“What pressures are you running?”
“Uhmmm…. 20”
I said nothing (unlike me…but what is the point?) but shook my head and walked to the sea. George dropped his tyre pressures. After that episode he was very good in adhering to air pressure policy as decided on the run.
The way off
Warren Beach looked quite daunting, as the dunes are large and steep. I chose a straight up approach on a sidetrack and only just made it to the top in 1st gear High Range at 3500revs. George had two goes and also made it to the highest point. We got off the dune area safely and headed along forest tracks back to Pemberton getting lost a number of times and having to backtrack on more than one occasion.
Our next adventure was driving through
Shannon National Park amongst some of the giant Karri trees. Then it was south via Deeside Road and Chesapeake Road to Signal Point at Broke Inlet. The
camping sites did not look too inviting there so we made for the blacktop and Walpole. Accommodation was booked out there and we pushed on for a short distance when I spied a small
sign of the side of the road stating Riverside Retreats. Here we were accommodated in a new cottage overlooking the river and
Nornalup Inlet. Our hosts were very friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. We stayed two nights. Tame Kangaroos and wild ducks were fed bread every evening. It was an idyllic spot.
The following day we made for the
Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk in the Walpole Nornalup National Park. The walkway reaches a height of 40metres and is 600metres in length. I managed to borrow a wheelchair from reception and George delighted (and puffed) pushing me along the narrow ramp. It is truly an amazing sight to be able to be in the tree top canopy. We went early in the morning and avoided the rush, which arrived just as we had finished our walk. Then there is the Empire Walk around the base of the Tingle Trees and just as spectacular. The rest of the day we toured down to
Peaceful bay and some other tracks in the national park, seeing the Frankland River in flood creating huge amounts of foam on the turbulent waters as a result of tree sap leaching in to the river.
On the way to
Denmark we stopped off at the Bartholomew Meadery and ate mead ice-cream…yummm! Needless to saw the girls had a ball buying this and that and some mead wine which we still have to sample. Had a look around
Denmark and drove out to Ocean
Beach lookout. In
Albany we chose the wrong Caravan Park to stay in a cabin. I complained slightly the next morning because the mattress had a hole in it but Judith went to the office and gave them a piece of her mind and we got upgraded to a luxury cabin. That put us all in a better mood. We did all the tourist drives around
Albany and must see sights and even saw two Humpback Whales frolicking in the harbour.
From
Albany we made our way to Fitzgerald National Park while George and Maureen went to visit a friend in Mount Barker. We were very impressed with the diversity of flora in Fitzgerald NP and the
camping facilities were very good with gas BBQ’s and secluded tent sites. We managed a short walk to
the beach and saw more whales in the bay. I had parked the GQ at an angle to get better access from the
campsite to the rear of the truck. This is when I noticed oil dripping out of the bell housing. Yes, it looked like the rear engine oil seal was leaking again! The oil had accumulated in the bell housing. It must have oiled up the clutch plate and the thrust bearing. But everything seemed to be working OK. I was a bit worried about getting
home and bought some extra oil in
Esperance but I still haven’t opened the container yet. A splash of oil always seems to be so severe when it is only a drop. The oil seems to leak more freely when motoring at blacktop speeds but when doing 4x4
treks in the rough the leaking seems to stop.
We took the back roads through the national park through
Hopetoun and eventually
Esperance. The scenery is breathtaking with high mountains cropping out of nowhere along the coast.