DIARY OF AN AUSSIE WOMBAT: April 2014

HELLO PORT LINCOLN SOUTH AUSTRALIA! and TAYLORS LANDING

(SOUNDS LIKE A SOAP OPERA TITLE)

We arrived at Port Lincoln which reminded us of the Central Coast in a lot of ways, especially the Esplanade at Terrigal Beach. The GPS told us which way to go as we needed to put the van in for a basic service of brakes and bearings before heading out west and further on to the outback. We were met by John Martin who spoke and looked exactly like John Malcovitz the actor (at least that's what mum said).. Boy! Does he know his stuff! he pointed out things we had never seen before. Mum was fairly irate and composed another very 'pointed yet polite' email to the caravan dealership where she bought the van. We then went back to the town centre where we walked down to the end of the Jetty saw a statue of MAKYBE DIVA, and also saw Dean Lukin's name on a plaque. I didn't know who he was but dad said it was 'before my time' and that he was a tuna fisherman from Port Lincoln and had won a gold medal for Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane... Wow~ that was before my time! A subway lunch for us all then to get water for the van top up then a message saying the van was ready to be collected. Back we went, hitched up, paid for the service, then off we went back to our next site at Port Lincoln National Park.

Arrived Taylor's Landing in Port Lincoln National Park after dad bought a Parks and Conservation Area Park pass we found the small camp site, with room mainly for camp trailers roof top tents and tents. But Dad being dad reversed in and still scraped the Troll on the side as the borders of the camp sites were separated by large upright logs and chains. Mum said it was a good thing she wasn't driving or she'd never hear the end of it! (but nuff of that stuff)...

Van up, awning out we went to explore the new area, there was a board walk and a stair way and a swimming part out in the ocean. Dad said "let's go swimming"! I decided to stay where I was on the beach and let them have a dip, it was hot and they had been working hard with guy ropes (still haven't met him), and unpacking food from the car fridge to the van fridge, looking over other sites, what walks there were to be trekked etc.

Mum went in first and shrieked and gave dad a death stare. "It's freezing!! Who's idea was it to go swimming?" dad demanded "YOURS!" mum yelled back they both laughed and took the plunge! The colour of the water was a glorious turquoise bluey green with clear sites for any nasty looking fins that might pop up out of the water at any time. You have to remind yourself that where they were swimming is White Pointer territory so they were extra careful. They didn't go out too far from the shallows but far enough to enjoy the swim and freshen up. Both mum and dad haven't been in salt water for years and enjoyed the dip. We walked back down the boardwalk and mum was looking at the van when all of a sudden dad yelled "Jill! Snake!" mum looked to her right and saw a black snake about three foot long and realized she had almost stepped on it. Luckily, this snake high tailed it back into the scrub. Dad looked it up and as his usual 'happy self' *sarcasm* told mum "the snake is highly venomous but is shy" Thanks for that... the flies here are pretty full on and the March flies are back with vengeance! Mum swats them and although she had been bitten on the arm by one, her reaction is practical nil compared to poor dad!

Things were pretty much the same for the next few days when once again disaster struck! We were winding the van up after we put silicone the hinges etc when all of a sudden the front left lifter that raises the van roof came right out! our neighbour who had the same kind of van as us came running over and held the lifter in place while dad gently wound the roof up and then after positioning it properly, dropped it down and mum basically had a massive melt down. poor mum! First she breaks her arm, and now this? She wrote another email and dad called them and blasted them... mum was polite but dad said enough was enough! Talks with the manager and Head Office in Melbourne resulted in us taking the van back to John Martin's who saw the lifter fall out again when they were winding it up requiring dad and the repairer (Malcolm) scrambling to grab it, and saw mum burst into tears... John came over to her and said "don't you worry! I will get all this sorted for you... " Mum looked at him and said "Really? I don't think I can take much more of this". John smiled at her and said "I promise you, I'll get it sorted!" Mum felt much better after this, so we left the van with John and spent the day in "Lincoln" and took a packed lunch and enjoyed our time there. We drove back in the afternoon and sorted all the paperwork out with Malcolm and John showing us exactly what they had done and a recommendation for mum to write another email stating what was fixed and what needs more 'attention'. Mum signed the paperwork and we set off continuing on our journey. Next stop Fisherman's Point!

Until next time, enjoy the pics!

Tahune xx

Mum points to where we are.. right at the bottom!

Mum loved to walk along the cliffs and tracks it was hard

to keep up with her at times.

The view from the swimming place from 'up high'

Mum and dad swim in the Southern Ocean... silly billys!

My map is much better, don't you think?

HELLO FISHERMAN'S POINT

PORT LINCOLN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Passing the turn off at Taylor's Landing we continued passing many small camping areas, arriving at Fisherman's point! We drove across really bumpy and rocky roads found a good camp site and set up. Again dad pulled up the van almost on top of the amenities there! Camp set, van up again this time with no worries about anything splitting, falling off or falling down, and, after lunch and a cuppa we all set off for the touristy photo shoot. Mum took lots of photos but the ones I like the best are the ones of the sunset. They are really pretty so much so dad told mum to post it on FB!

We walked down a rocky path being careful not to trip to the sheltered bay which looked great for swimming but it was a tad chilly and this activity was shelved. Instead, we took our time going for walks on the beach and collected shells with little holes in them to make a special bracelet for Georgia to send home. Mum walked ahead with me and dad lagged behind carrying a container and it was his job to put all the shells into the container. Dad wouldn't admit it, but I reckon he was as bored as bored can be. Mum didn't care and kept on handing him the shells. I didn't care either there was so much to see.

The next day mum said she was going for a walk, I thought about going with her but when she said she was taking the rocky corrugated road for about an hour up the hill, I decided relaxing in the van with dad was a better option (I have short stubby legs and my four paces equals only one of mums' or dads.. ) Mum was gone for a long time but she told us on return about two and half hours later she met a man fishing on the beach on her return and she stopped and chatted with him for about twenty minutes or so about camping, the National park's beauty and other matters that I didn't know about. She told us that man came from Western Australia and had a large caravan that would not have fit in any of the camp sites at Fisherman's' point, instead setting up his camp at the caravan park in Port Lincoln. He asked about whether park passes were worth it, mum told him that it definitely was! (considering he was paying $27 a day and we were averaging out a cost of $2 per day).

We explored the rocks, the rock pools, the beaches and really old reddish algae on the rocks that dad said was a 'living fossil' millions of years old. We went futher on our walks and came across the old ploughing machines that were once used to farm this area before the National Parks took over. We met a group of year 9 school girls from St. Josephs' High School who were doing the "Investigator Track" we were told they were not doing the entire 98 kms but a lot of it. We spoke with them a while and they said they had two minute noodles for dinner... mum told them we were have spaghetti Bolognese and I heard a collective 'awwww... yum!' I laughed.

We stayed about five days at Fisherman's point and decided to get back on the road and head towards Ceduna for some stores to last about four days before heading off again... We all forgot that in country towns not all businesses open on the weekends, and that was the way it was at Ceduna too. We pulled up at a caravan stop and used the 'talking toilet' which was very amusing... while dad went to the Foodworks (which he later said was massive) and did some 'emergency' supply shopping (yep... he ran out of diet coke again!)

Getting really excited as where are getting closer to the Western Australian border! We have to make sure that everything is clean, and we have no fruit or veggies or even honey in the van, and no insects as the WA border Quarantine are VERY strict about what you can and cannot take across the border... and boy! when I saw strict, I MEAN strict... we have heard that there is one lady there that even checks your radiator for bugs! I love my crunchy apples but dad told me we can't take them across either.. unless you cook them. I said "but dad! if mum cooks the apples.. THEY WON'T BE CRUNCHY!" ... so I will have to eat all my apples and no more apples until we cross the border. Next stop? Mikkari Station and it's supposed to be full of my nearest relations... the Koala! Very excited...

Enjoy the pics

Tahune xx

Fisherman's point.. the water is so clear

Sunset overlooking Port Lincoln

The trees are like Bonsai's here, the wind twisting and turning them

The very pretty Port Lincoln Parrot

Sunset Colours

MIKKIRA STATION

(South West of Port Lincoln)

Once again we headed part the turn off to Port Lincoln National Park and drove out fairly late arriving at the Station right at sunset. The lady at the information centre told us we would meet "Bett" a lady in her 70's and the current owner of Mikkira Station, it was a huge property and used to run sheep and cattle until the late 80's when the profit margins were no longer as profitable as they once were, so she opened the Station to the public where she turned the Station into a tourist attraction and one of significant archeological and historical importance. She had a dog, a border collie named Sally and she loved everyone!

We parked next to the shelter which was very nice and dad rigged up a clothes line so mum could finish drying the clothes that weren't quite as dry as she would have liked from the laundromat back at Port Lincoln. We met Bett who told us that camping by the Shelter would give us good protection and a great place to go Koala spotting... I could hardly contain myself! Mum told me to settle down and to eat dinner 'slowly' (I hate it when she says that!) and after we would go searching. But before that, we walked up to the amenities and the Station had flushing toilets and a shower! (Luxury!) It was a low pressure shower that had to have the shower arm lower than 90 degrees to get the 'most' pressure from it, Mum said it was perfect and it was nice and hot... we were basically the only campers there so we didn't have to rush. on the other hand, dad being so tall said he would have to sit under the shower so he could wash his hair. I'm really glad i am so short at times, and this was one of those times.

After it got dark I heard a horrible growling noise, I got scared, but mum said that was the koalas calling to each other when they woke up. I wondered how something so fluffy and cute looking (like me) can have such a horrible scream, screech and howl? We walked further along the Manna Gum tree lines and there, in the tree, was a koala! Mum took some photos but she didn't have the camera on the right setting so they were a bit blurry. She tried it on 'auto' and the koalas came out with evil eyes! Mum got frustrated and shone her torch on the koala as did dad and she videoed the koala that had woken up... and do you know what? I think the koala was actually enjoying it! It didn't move, or make any sound but just looked at mum while she videoed! Mum finally found the setting on the camera for night time shots and while she had to stay very still as the shutter on the camera took longer to 'click' the results were much better. We were all happy with the photos. Mum said that now she knew where the koalas were, we could go for another walk to the old homestead that was settled in the 1800's by a man named Adam ........ and Bett's father bought the station in the 1920's and it has been in their family since then. There is another property, not as big as Mikkira by the name of "Whalers Way" and that land is owned by her brother, and her father's brother bought that land when they bought Mikkira. Bett told me that the land back then on the lower Eyre peninsula was in great demand as it was considered to be well watered, Lots of wells everywhere and good rainfall. I looked around.. everything was so dry, Bett told us that she had lived all her life on the Station and she has seen the change in climate, which was one of the reasons the cattle and sheep had to stop, the rainfall was not like it used to be and the dry goes on for longer now and without water like in regular rainfall, it wasn't profitable. She was thankful for the koala population as it attracts the tourists. There were many Manna Gums on the station which was one of the preferred eucalypts that the koala eats. The leaves are plump, moist and soft which makes it easy to chew, the koala has to eat a lot of them so this is preferred by the koala. The sad thing is that the Manna Gums are slowly dying and if they all die, what happens to the koalas that depend on them? I shudder to think of the final outcome.

We walked for hours through the station, looking at where we were, and then back at the map, seeing the remains of where the shearer's cottage would have been, the only thing remaining was a huge chimney. Dad took a photo of mum in it and she just walked in and stood there! We walked through the original homestead and out the back was a grave site of a one day old baby Lily May Tarrant, with the small gum tree now fully grown and the bough had bent over as if protecting the infant for all time. She died over 100 years ago but it still make mum tear up a bit... mum has told me over and over that no parent should ever bury a child. I guess because it was so tough back then with medical stuff like that, there were many babies that didn't survive their first year. I gave mum a hug.

We stayed for three nights and two days at Mikkira Station but now that the van was fixed and we had seen a lot of Port Lincoln we decided to pack up and set off for our next destination. So, down went the van again, dad packed up the outside, mum packed the inside we hooked up and set off for Haslam Council Camping area for a night and then onto Gilgerbarrie Hut on the Eyre Highway near the Great Australian Bight. I'm expecting something special there! I have included some photos of the Koalas for you all to see.

Happy Travels

Tahune xx

Mum outside the original homestead built in the 1800's

the main bedroom

All that is left of the shearer's quarters. huge fireplace.

"Hello...shouldn't you be asleep"?

Poor Little Lilly May

the Lillies grow while the tree protects

Our Camp site near the shelter.. you could land a plane on this!

Very protected from the wind

OVERNIGHT STAY AT HASLAM

ALL I CAN SAY IS 'WOW' WHAT A BUZZ!

We stopped at Haslam council caravan stay at $5 a night... but that was fine, as there was much to see and we needed to get going the next morning... While the van was packed up the next morning... we all walked out to the end of the Haslam Wharf... its really REALLY long! and what we saw made us all so happy we had smiles on our faces for the rest of the day! Enjoy the pis!

Tahune xx

Bottle nosed dolphins swam right up under to where we were!

GILGERABBIE HUT
SOUTH AUSTRALIA

(NULLABOR NATIONAL PARK)

Dad and mum shared the driving on our way here, and Australia is a very big place with long, long roads... and they are straight! I got bored and told dad this, mum gave me one of her 'looks' and said 'the more you look, the more you will see'... so I looked, and I looked and i looked.... NUTHIN'! I kind of drifted off to sleep for a while but when i woke up.. guess what? More long straight roads. Mum showed me the different kind of vegetation as we whizzed past, the Mallee, the salt bush, the spinifex.. not many trees though. Mum got her photo taken by dad when she was driving and dad got a really huge truck or road train or V double.. or something like that as it drove through. Dad was pleased, mum just wanted to get back on the road as we had to do some serious driving. We past a place with a funny name "Pundaroo" and mum pointed telling dad there was cheap petrol there... but dad said 'no'... it can't be much more expensive at the Nullabor Roadhouse (FAIL! ten yard penalty dad!) as at Pundaroo diesel was $1.64 cents a litre, at the Nullabor Roadhouse it was $2.08 cents a litre... no more about this was talked about lest we copped the cranky pants dad. Although we didn't need too, you couldn't get any water there unless you bought it, and that was $10 for 15 litres... I guess that's where the term Highway Robbery came from?

Another 11 kms down past the road house and dad suddenly took a right turn onto a tiny track... bounce! bump! groan! thump! ouch! the road was a real 4WD track and led way down another 5 kms to another little left turn and there was Gilgerabbi Hut. I had numb paws so I was the first out of the troll to explore. You could just make out the highway and the trucks looked like tiny ants driving their goods and supplies for supermarkets and farmers back and forth across the Nullabor. I thought it would be great to sleep in the hut and I looked through the window. There was a bed, but no mattress, a bathroom and a huge fireplace with a fuel stove to cook with. But as we already had that in the Penguin (apart from the fireplace) we didn't need it, and as mum found out, the SA Parks, Wildlife and conservation people stopped renting it out because people are smelly poop heads and they broke all the old crockery and bottles that you can't get anymore, burned the seats that were made from old railway sleepers. Mum got angry and couldn't figure out how some people are allowed out in society as they don't care about anything except themselves! Dad got even angrier when he found nails in the ground that could do serious damage to tyres and empty shotgun cartridges. The really good thing about this place was that it had a really big tank full of rain water, but mum said we couldn't take much at all as this was the only water the people had and as it only rains 8 inches in the year on the Nullabor, that's really not much at all.

There was a big wind blowing, so we set up on the Northern side of the hut... will tell you why in a minute... I walked down the track near the van and hut and saw a green colourbond shed (to my fans overseas, that's like a tin shed it just doesn't rust and is powered coated to a different colour.. this one was eucalypt green, my favourite). I called out to dad and he came to have a look. "Well done Tahune, you found the toilet". (big whoop)... Dad told mum and there was even a shower curtain hanging from a rail, we decided this must be for the staff when they have to come out here for a while, mum said this was the perfect time to try out the sprayer shower... Dad and I had our doubts this would work but we didn't want 'told you so'... so we just waited. Mum thought the best way to have a water saving shower was to use a new but empty pump sprayer with a long hose and spray nozzle (like the ones gardeners use to fertilize their garden or kills weeds). I volunteered to go first, I stood in the bucket mum pumped the warm water up for pressure in the bottle and sprayed me all over... it didn't take long to get wet enough to have a really good soap up as I was feeling a tad crusty, and then pumped up the bottle again and then sprayed off and had a nice hot rinse. I looked in the basin where I was standing and there was only about half an inch of water in the basin!... I had been there for 10 minutes and only used about 250 mls of water and was clean as a whistle! Next time mum says she has a great idea... I'm gonna listen!

We walked in the afternoon, going further and further and found the old well with a lot of 'star signs' painted on the inside. Dad said there were people who may have painted the signs in line with the astrology thingies.. whatever dad.... Mum said it was more likely that campers had climbed down and painted their star signs there, I recognized some of them, Aries, Aquarius, Taurus and Sagittarius. I wondered how they climbed back out? no one knows. We went further down one of the many tracks and found the old bore pump that would have watered the cattle and sheep on the property as it was then before the parks took it over, and down at the bottom I saw a skull! Was it a sheep or a kangaroo? not with incisors like that... perhaps a dingo? whatever it was... the poor thing must have fallen in and broken a leg or something and starved to death... *sniffle* but I took a photo which I have posted, see what you think?

The next day mum got me up and we had breakfast then got in the car and headed back out to the track where we had come in, but this time we turned left and bumped along a winding track to the bottom of Australia! I am a lucky wombat! i saw the Great Australian Bight! It was phenomenal! (Big word for a little wombat). There was no fences where we went so I had to be really careful about getting too close to the edge as the rock faces and granite had chipped and eroded away after millions of years. We took a video for Georgia... I shot it and mum and dad sent a message to her. We spent a few hours walking through sand hills and through the scrub to get good vantage points for photos. My camera went click, click, click until the battery went flat, so mum took the rest of the photos for the day. We were pretty well wind blown but awed about the incredible scenery and the colour of the ocean... Then, dad told me I couldn't see any land down South, but if I could I would be looking at Antarctica! Mind blowing stuff! Piling back into the car not much was said as we were still amazed at the beauty of this place, how one side there is a great expanse of ocean and the other side, dry, flat plains of the Nullarbor. When we did get home, we reviewed all our photos, and just talked about the day pretty well until late in the night!

We later found out much to our chagrin SA Parks and Wildlife had shut down the camping as well, so we packed up the next day and headed off to Koonalda Homestead! So, for now... see you there!

Cheers!

Tahune xx

The "official" lookout... one of four.

Where we stood a way before the official lookout.

Dad doing the touristy thing

You see that big blue wet thing? That's the Southern Ocean,

The next land mass south is Antarctica!

Mum! You're too close to the cliff!

Mum slimmer and darker also doing the touristy thing

(I should get an extra helping of dessert for that compliment!) ;)

Wow! Can't believe we are here!

BUMP! BOUNCE! PING! CLUNK!

At the turnoff 11 kms from the Nullarbor Roadhouse

blink at you'll miss it!

See me waving hello?! There i am, at the door to the Gilgerabbie Hut..

It was locked, so we looked through the windows instead.

Me and dad securing everything.

The major water well (now dry) where all the "Hippies" as dad calls them

painted astrological symbols on the interior wall.

The bottom of one of the wells, where many animals perished.

Dad standing behind the corrugated iron roof of the closed off well

careful dad! Don't fall in...

The old bore pump

Dad, and the amenities block... he he.

Poor little gecko was dried out, so I sprayed him with some of

my shower, he lifted his head and loved his shower too!

Mr. Troll, Mr. Penguin and Mr. Dad on the sheltered side of the hut

Early morning sunrise

We were facing East, so we saw the sunrise every day we were there.

And... the moonrise too.

Pretties!

KOONALDA HOMESTEAD

NULLARBOR PLAIN- SOUTH AUSTRALIA

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! Back on the Eyre Highway heading west passing road trains and other people doing the same thing as we are doing all waving hello, or just acknowledging that they are ok and don't need any assistance. Mum had the map out telling dad to watch out for the sign post, dad saw it and turned right and stopped the car putting it into 4WD.. I didn't think the road looked to bad until the next bend, and for the next 14 kilometres I was bounced and bumped down to the old Eyre Highway to the Koonalda homestead which was a massive sheep station started in 1887 stayed in the same family for a hundred years until 1987, it was also the last roadhouse for fuel and cars back then mum told me were nothing like they are today and not built to take the rugged bumps and rocks and dangerous tracks.. many of the cars breaking down beyond repair and many of them are just parked out the back and side of the homestead, it has become a car graveyard... any person with deep pockets and especially a love for the Holden's of the 60's, a couple of Zephyrs' and trucks (a couple from the 20's and 30's) and dad was sure he saw an old model T Ute! Perhaps they can come and donate or build a proper museum for them? Mum thought it was very sad! Finally, SA Parks and Wildlife took it over in 1988 when the new Eyre highway was completed, there is a cabin, shearing sheds, the main homestead which is incredibly spooky at night! Many people went in... but not many stayed in the homestead overnight. Although there was nothing wrong with it really... as people lived in it only twenty or so years prior. It would have fallen into decay and no one would have known it was there, but Yalata land care group (a little village behind the Nullarbor roadhouse) got together and cleaned up a lot of the homestead, did a history of it, put new roofs on the shearer's cabin/quarters and homestead and make sure nothing is too dangerous or needs fixing etc. Mum said it reminded her of an old house that used to be across the road from her when she was a little girl. Four bedrooms, a huge old country kitchen that still had the wood fire stove a lounge room a bathroom with a big bath tub and shower (no water or taps). There were people camped near the old fuel pump roadhouse store and near the shearer's cabin, so we camped up past them and near the shearing sheds. Dad had a horrible time trying to bang in the pegs as it was solid rock underneath... oh dear! Hello cranky pants... so mum and I just stayed in the van and pretended not to hear dad's naughty words! Then.. to make it worse, a 'willy willy' blew up and the entire awning blew up into the air with the annex poles flying! Mum dropped everything and ran outside and held the awning while dad fixed up the poles and the ropes, finally finding some solid but not to hard ground to bang the pegs into. After all that kafuffle, dad had a snooze and mum and I went for a walk exploring the shearing sheds. Mum said it reminded her a lot of the family's property at Forbes "Avondale" which had been in Nanna Peg's family for over 100 years as well!

We wandered back and heard one of the lady's that was camped near the shearing quarters call out.. "Hello! Happy hour at 5 o'clock.. come on over, we'll have the fire going". Mum said that sounded wonderful and went back to tell dad, but he said he wouldn't go as he had a headache... (probably from the tantrum that afternoon)... so mum said she would go anyway. We went over and we met Barb and Glenda two lovely ladies travelling on the road they had a nice big caravan a Kokoda... and we also met Thomas and Michelle, they had a roof top tent on their 4WD and they had everything that opened and shut with what was essential for free camping. I watched the fire then fell asleep. Dad came with us the next night and met Barb and Glenda, everyone else had gone and they told us they were leaving the next day and we could move our penguin next to the shearer's cabin... we thought that was lovely, so in the morning after a great night of 'refreshments' for mum and dad, and looking over maps of where to go and where not to go.. sharing hints and tips that we had learned along the way and the girls sharing their tips as well made for a great time of laughter and stories of both good and bad things that occur when making this kind of trip.

There was supposed to be a blood moon that night, or a lunar eclipse that night, so mum stayed up in the cold wayyyy until morning around 2 am just to get a photo, but while the moon rise in the early evening looked as if it was a crescent even though it was supposed to be a full moon... that must have been the end of the eclipse, as mum mentioned to dad it didn't look like a full moon. That wasn't the weirdest part though... mum set her camera up on the tripod and set the scene for night shot. So, no flash, no fancy light enhancers but just a slower shutter speed. She took one photo, that was okay, the second one was good, the third one was even better, but what was that beside the moon? mum thought it might have been a glitch, but when dad and I saw the different sizes and the different shadows on this 'thing' we got a tad freaked out! I thought it looked like a huge mirror ball and dad said mum had found the ghost planet "Nibiru" that was supposed to crash into the earth Christmas 2013.... ok, officially scared now! Mum said there must be a logical explanation for this anomalie somewhere... l am sure she's right, except no one of us knows where to find it! We showed Glenda who was out taking photos of the moon as well, she took one look and said "space ship"... STILL FREAKED OUT! Once again I have put the photos up on this blog for your opionion, you'll know it when you see them, they have the title "WTF" which stands for "Well, That's Fascinating!"

In the morning, we packed up and pulled up behind the girls caravan, and helped them as well. We hugged and made our goodbyes, but Barb and Glenda said "We have to get a photo of us with the Wombat!" (yep.. I'm famous!) and photos were taken and more hugs and cuddles for me from the girls and we waved them out of sight. Dad then fixed up the van with guy and support ropes while mum gave the inside of the shearer's cabin a real 'homey' touch'. There were also two brand new tanks full or pure rain water, it tasted so clean and pure... wonderful. The toilet was just an old pit toilet but was clean, the funniest thing I saw was someone had put on an old side of a ute there with the two handles, and near each someone had writted the words "emergency ejection handle!" on one, and on the other it had "emergency exit only", I laughed!

The great thing about this place is it had loads of wombat holes! and we looked into them, took photos of the holes during the day and late in the night we drove out just on sunset and mum set up her tripod and video camera while i waited on the top of the entrance to see if any of the rellies were going to make an appearance through that door... wombats have a lot of intricate tunnels and doors... we didn't see any, guess we just chose the wrong door. As the sun set mum took some lovely photos of the sunset on the Nullarbor and I thought the view was spectacular... and then I heard long high howls as the moon came up over the horizon in the east. "That's a yowie coming to get you!" Mum scolded him, and told him not to tease me. Dad told me "they're dingos howling and coming out to hunt". Mum said the 'pickings' would be slim now the sheep station had gone. Dad agreed, the howling continued with mum adding 'sunset, dingoes are out hunting, we are standing here like meals waiting.... aren't we morons?!" Dad agreed again, so we packed up the camers gear and walked back together to the car where we headed back from the meadows to the cabin.

The more we looked the more we discovered about the old homestead, I found an old bore pump that was used to pump water to the troughs for the stock and to the house from the cave, and a blow hole! That was fun..... cool and strong air that blew straight up from underground. Dad said it was made by years and years of water dripping away at the limestone making the hole that linked up with the cave where the water was collected from. Dad put his hat over the hole and it blew up and away... then mum bent over the blow hole and her hair went straight up in the air! I took a photo... it was funny, a natural hair dryer!

We saw a lot of birds, including Peregrin Falcons and we could hear the dingos howl in the evening and in the morning, with dad seeing a mother dingo and her pup come right into the camp. I stayed in the van... don't want to get between a mother and her baby when the "pickings are slim" as mum said. We had five nights there and it was time to move on... There are still a lot of miles to cover and we have another really long drive ahead of us tomorrow... we are going to be in Western Australia!

Oh! and incidentally, it's totally official now.... a car load of people came up to us and said hello, and that we were at another campsite but they only realized it was us because of ME!!!! hahahaha....

Where ever you are and where ever you go... take care!

Until next time

Tahune xx

　

something scare you mum? ha ha.

Mum at the cave entrance. The Homestead pumped all the water

from the bottom of the cave to water the stock.

Dad and mum both climbed over but not down into the cave.

The cave opening, dark and dank, with bats too!

Poor old HC Panel Van... worth a mint if in shmick condition

This one reminded mum of the one her dad used to own

Visiting my relatives on the meadows full of wombat holes.

hahahaha!

Glad I didn't have an emergency while I was going Wombat Potty

WTF

Mum used her tripod and night shot setting to get these

three stars underneath the Southern Cross cluster.

Luxury! We were lucky!

Barb, Me and Glenda.

Wow! How did they know I was coming?

WE MADE IT TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA!

BORDER VILLAGE STOP OVER
at BALLADONIA

Dad pulled up at Border Village a hop step and jump away from the South Australian/West Australian border... and the quarantine station. We had a break and bought something to eat and drink, mum bought a sticker that said 'we crossed the Nullarbor' which was cool, and bought a couple of post cards for family and friends to complete and sent off in the post the next time we get to a major town. The people at the roadhouse at Border Village were very nice and the food was yummy! I even saw two of my smaller brothers on a shelf waiting for their special family to see them and take them home too. I hope someone does soon! Dad filled up with diesel until it was drip filled and not another drop could be squeezed in the main and reserve tank so we were right for another couple of days, of course, it all depended on how far we drove and what the terrain was like. Dad even met a trucker that was taking frozen goods over to Perth, he had a co driver as they had a deadline to meet so they didn't really stop for a rest, one driver would drive the big double road train for five hours and then swap so the first driver could have a sleep... he said it was hard going and rarely did you actually sleep. Dad and he talked for a while and then said goodbye, the truck was the first one to go to the quarantine station... then it was our turn.

A man came over and was quite direct and firm but not rude at all. We did what we were asked to do, got out of the car and cranked up the penguin so he could check out fridge, under the bed, and the pantry. Dad told me it was very important not to take any fruit or vegetables across the border, no seeds or pot plants or soil or fresh mud from another state as this may contain weeds that Western Australia were trying to keep out, and the fruit fly can cause total chaos to the fruit crops. They are just as strict if you are leaving WA back over to SA too, as SA rely heavily on their fruit and wine crops. The last thing you want is for the entire fruit and vege and our world famous wine areas to be devastated because of your ignorance. The man asked us four times if we had any honey. Mum just said 'no' every time, because we didn't. All the fruit and veges we had were eaten before we got to the border, mum even cleaned out the fridge, and the panty of any dirt and dad cleaned most of the mud which had now dried off from under the car. I got the giggles, as the man pointed to the cupboard and said 'what's in there' after he had checked everything he needed too, and mum replied "my clothers, want to see my frillies?" The man went a funny red colour and said 'no I don't want to see your frillies, but thanks for the offer". Mum is so bad at times!

We knew that further up the road at a place called Eucla the police are very visible, and we have been told about them by other travellers crossing the Nullarbor from SA to WA, 'don't be surprised if you get pulled over'.... we did. There was a lovely lady police officer who greeted us smiling and talked funny. Mum said to her "you're not from around these parts are you?" The lady police officer laughed and said "no, I'm from the north of England"... she said she came over here 8 years ago and very glad that she did, while dad got breath tested (I wonder if those breathalyzers have minus numbers coz dad was clean as a whistle!). Mum said she travelled to England in 2007 and was amazed that she had basically crossed the country in a bus from London to Tiverton in Devon Shire in five hours (that's how long it takes to drive from our home on the Cental Coast to JIMBILL at Cootamundra)... Mum and the lady spoke about how many England's could fit on the Nullarbor... She told mum that the area that the Eucla police were responsible for could fit three Englands in with room to spare and the population of Great Britain is about four times the population of Australia.... I thought England must be a very 'squishy' place indeed and glad I had the open spaces to explore. With everything good and double checked, we said good bye and were on our way again.

The wind was very strong so dad did the driving which was fine by mum. Then mum called out to dad "There! Look.. there's the sign!" We pulled over again and had photos taken under the sign, it was about a road.... the longest straight road in Australia and the Souther Hemisphere! it went for 90 miles, dead flat and dead straight! Dad thought it was boring... mum and I thought it was wonderful! It took us a couple of hours driving 'straight' until we came to the end and decided to pull into Cocklebiddy for a rest overnight, but when we saw where the caravans were to park, there was no shelter, no protection from the wind and the van would have been blown sideways if we had stayed. Mum spoke to the lady behind the counter who was most helpful and suggested we continue onto Balladonia which was another couple of hours further down the highway but was on the Northern side of the road and had a lot of sheltered places. Mum thanked her and went to tell dad and he was speaking to another couple with two little kids we had met at Koonaldra homestead! They said they were going to Caiguna (kay-goona) as they promised to take the kids (Angus and Tess) to the beach. I kept on forgetting we had arid plains on the right and coast to the left. We chatted then continued on our way for another two or so hours so it was just on sunset upon reaching Balladonia. Mum and dad walked in and saw where bits of skylab had fallen to the ground and were now in the museum there.

We stayed one night with mum telling dad she would have to come back in the morning and get some photos of the skylab stuff for Bev (who is wonderful)... dad paid and booked for the site and ordered two big hamburgers for mum and him and I had a lettuce salad for dinner. We were all tired and dirty and had our cranky pants on. They both had a long hot shower and felt the better for it. In the morning, we packed up and while dad was doing the outside, mum took me to get some photos for my blog, I HAD MY PHOTO TAKEN WITH A TRUCKER NAMED STEVE! He picked me up and held me in the cabin behind the wheel, I was thrilled and dad was jealous when mum showed him the photos. I had my photo infront of an old boiler from the old roadhouse, under the Balladonia sign, under the history of how the new roadhouse came to be built and a rest stop that was important for those travelling across our country to Perth to watch 'the Empire Games' as it was known back then, now called the "Commonwealth Games", and a nice cuddle and photo of the lady serving at the counter of the Balladonia Roadhouse. BUT! Shock horror!! We forgot to go to the museum for the Skylab stuff! Mum is going to get into trouble forgetting that! I didn't say anything because by the time she remembered, we were too far away to turn around and go back. Mum was upset and angry at herself forgetting like that.

We left by 9 a.m and three hours or so later, pulled over at a 24 hour rest stop (they have a lot of these in WA), as dad needed a break... we walked around, had a potty stop, looked at the facilities there, nice clean toilet, enough room to hand a shower if you needed one, and tables with camp fire pits. Dad looked up and said "someone is coming out after spending the night"... and a silvery/grey car with a roof tent came out of the bush, Mum said "you're kidding!" I thought "huh?" then dad said "It can't be cane it?" Mum said "It is! that's their car and van!" and began to wave madly... dad waved too. I said, "who, what, where!" The car came to a halt and who do you think got out? It was Glenda and Barb! hugs again for all and more chatting etc. We found out we were both headed to Norseman to stock up on supplies, we were told food would be expensive but the petrol and diesel are very reasonable, so it would even out eventually cost wise. They were going to Esperance while we were heading North, so it was agreed to meet up at Norseman til we headed our separate ways, doubting we would meet up again this trip. Mum and dad did the shopping and even though they concentrated on food that was long lasting and on special it still cost mum a fortnight's food budget that she would have spent at home! 60 items and cost almost $290! OUCH! Dad went over the road after everything was packed away in the car fridge and the van to the drive through bottle shop.... hope they don't go silly again next camp.. oh well.. We are heading off to a place called Cave Hill which is free and we intend to stay there about a week or so about 58 kilometres from Norseman just past the Goldfields and gold mines. Mum is excited about seeing the Cave and the granite hill where it is located as it has special significance to the Aboriginal people of Australia. I am excited to see it too.

Happy Travels

Tahune xx

Waiting for our turn to be 'checked out'

This post reminds me of the one in M*A*S*H

Ready for the 90 miles of straight road?

The longest stretch of straight road in Australia

Mum at the Western Australian Border

Don't care if it's only a one night stop over.. hide and seek is compulsory!

Me, in the cabin with my trucker mate "Steve"

Once again, everyone wants a photo with the 'wombat'

(Understandable really)...

Me... under the Balladonia sign

CAVE HILL WESTERN AUSTRALIA

A TOTALLY AWESOME AND SPIRITUAL PLACE

At the Esperance Kalgoorlie highway we turned right and waved to the girls and dad tooted the horn as they turned left. We drove for some time and turned left at "Higginsville", right onto a 4WD track only! dad pulled over immediately after crossing the rail lines and let the air out of the Mickey Thomsons on the car and the 4WD tyres on the van. We had only stopped for a little while when a mine truck came up behind us with a man named "John" just to check that we were okay. We assured him we were, we had enough food and water and while there was no internet or phone access he pointed out that if in trouble use these channels .. he gave us three, and said there was always someone manning those stations if we did get into trouble. This was good to know with mum writing down the channels John told us about. john also told us if something happened there was a pumping station not far away up near the bush track intersection where we could get fresh drinking water (ALWAYS a good thing to know... as you never know when a split could occur in your pipes or a rock could fly up and make a hole in it. We noted down the coordinates and continued on our way.

Dad wasn't really impressed with the 4WD track and kept on asking mum if she was okay. Mum got tired of this constant questionning and told dad "I am NOT someone princess in a bloody ivory tower, I AM FINE! However, if YOU ARE NOT OKAY... TURN AROUND!" Dad kind of shut up after that. Of course, dad did come out with those naughty words once in a while when we came across a tree that had fallen across the road, but they weren't too huge with mum and dad able to move them off the track without too much bother.

It was getting late and we needed to set up camp by 5 pm at the latest as sunset now was at 5:30pm Dad crossed at intersection with signs, mum told him to slow down so she could read the sign but dad said that the sign back a bit said straight ahead... mum just sat back and waited. Dad went across a dry water course and saw a caravan and a bus and kept on going and found a nice little camp site... or so he thought, with a nice new clean eco toilet with no stinky smell that you sometimes get from a bush pit toilet after busy tourist times like Easter. It was even big enough to have a shower in... as long as you brought your own shower. Dad set up, and mum said it was lovely, but she wasn't sure that it was a 'designated camp site'. Dad asked why, mum told him the sign up near the track said nothing about camping... and they heard that WA can be very strict about camping in a car bay. But, as it was too dark and too late to move, we just wound up the penguin, put up the guy ropes, had dinner and went to bed and we would move the next morning. I heard another sound... it was close and loud and scary! "What the heck is that?!" I cried out, mum said not to worry as it was just the wild donkeys braying to each other... then we heard more loud braying and snorting and hoofs clashing and some screeching, it was a bit to close for comfort. I heard mum tell dad, young stallion must have challenged the old fella in charge of the herd for control"... we listened to the battle that ensued with the 'old fella' braying and snorting a victory like call and a very dejected young stallion expelled from the herd. Dad said it was ironic that NSW parks and wildlife want to cull the will brumbies via aerial shooting (disgusting!) because they say they kill all the flora around, when the donkey's here haven't affected the grasses and trees at all, if anything they have helped keep the ground fuel in check so it lessens the damage that a bush fire could do if there was one... Go figure!

Waking up earlier than usual the next morning we marvelled at the beauty of Cave Hill which we could see from where we were set up. After brekkie, we packed up and moved to another camp site. Dad said the three dam campsite was chokkas and full of cranky campers eyeing everyone that passes by. Mum said to go back to where she had seen the sign but not able to read it, and when we got there, it said 'main dam camping 400 meters'. Dad turned down the track and there was a nice small camping area with a clear view of Cave Hill, it had a toilet but not as nice as the one at the day area, still a dunny is a dunny when you're camping.

Mum chose a nice high spot as she saw there were parts of the camp area that were smack dab in the middle of a water course. We had a good fire pit, close to the toilet (but not too close), picnic table and chairs where we could sit outside by the fire at night. The van was wound up with the awning and the annex put up as we are going to stay here for about a week. We arrived just in time because just as we were finishing another two campers arrived and set up camp. Cheree and Dave had a little boy a real chubby lad with green eyes and black curls and cheeks that you just wanted to squeeze... his name was Dalton. Dave was a miner and lived mostly in Norseman near the work place, with Cheree telling me their other house was in Kalgoorlie and both she and Dalton drove down to be with Dave on the weekend in Norseman. They stayed for two nights then had to drive back for work and Dalton to go back to school after the Easter break.

We decided to drive back around to where we had camped the first night and followed the track to the main dam and wave rock. We walked and found the cave, it felt very 'spiritual' as mum said, with dad taking photos of one aspect and mum taking photos of other areas that seemed to 'call her'. We walked over the granite and quartz climbing up and up. Dad got a bit of vertigo and had to sit down while mum got her 'second wind' with dad yelling 'where are you going?' mum yelled back "up!" and off she went, leaving me and dad trying to keep up with her. Around the corner we found wave rock with the water over time slowly etching a path down the side of the hill. Again mum was off like a shot climbing up faster and faster while dad and I puffed and tried to keep up and not succeeding!

Mum was the first one to the top after a couple of hours climbing and she called out "hahaha! You have got to be kidding! do you see what I see down there?" We looked and there way down at the bottom of the South side of Cave Hill was our campsite. We took the long way around and up instead of just going up. Mum said if we had done that, we would not have seen the main Cave, or wave rock so all was good. The wind was strong up there but the view was spectacular and mum saying what an honour it was to be here on this day seeing this marvellous creation that held so much Aboriginal significance... dad being dad added, 'you know if we get a storm we're standing on a huge lightning rod?" I swear.. .the look on mum's face, I thought she was going to push him over the edge! I turned to mum and said "look what dad is doing now!" Mum turned around, and dad looking at her produced his ipad and said.. "whoohoo straight into facebook!" Mum rolled her eyes and said under her breath... 'This is why I have grey hair!"

After many photos were taken and a video from the top we added a few stones to the pile of rocks that visitors had made without disturbing the rock too much and we headed back down. Arriving back at the campsite we continued to look at the rock with awe and sat around the campfire with our cuppas and just looked up at the brilliant night sky with horizon to horizon stars, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and our beautiful Southern Cross clealy visible. Mum said thank you to God, Biami, the higher powers, her mum and dad and said "Cheers Fred! We are living the dream for you", dad brought out some beer and mum and dad toasted their adventures. I climbed onto the cool firepit and mum yelled 'oh goody! Wombat Stew!" I got off quick, I think she was joking....

It was very windy that night and dad got up to tie extra guy ropes for security on the van, just to be on the safe side. Mum never worried about this too much as she knew we were very sheltered. Dad came back to bed and said... 'it'll rain tomorrow'.. mum told him to shut up as he was a jinx. We woke in the morning to find that it had rained and the water was winding its way down the rock to the dam, had overflowed into the water course and had cut off a campsite, unless you had a four wheel drive. The donkeys had gone by now but were replaced by the wonderful noises and calls of teh birds and frogs. Dad picked me up, with mum and him putting on their gum boots after dinner and told me we were all going frog spotting. It was great! I had fun, there was even a little frog getting a piggy back on a bigger frog... I told mum that "perhaps the little one couldn't swim as well as the big one"? Mum just smiled and said "I'll explain it all to you when you're a bigger wombat". It rained the next night and a light shower the next morning with the dam now full and mum even thinking about a swim but deciding against it due to the jagged granite rocks below and broken glass bottles that had been thrown in there by careless campers.

We leave here Wednesday 30th April for Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie-Boulder for more stores, water and other essentials then head for Willuna, the start of the Canning Stock Route. (We are not going up that track with the van or me, we need to be more responsible and travel with others as it is famous but very trecherous and too dangerous for a little wombat). We will travel for a while then then head west on our way to Port Hedland where we will hopefully meet up with Uncle Luke!