On the Road Again Perth Odessey 2010

Day 32

6/9/2010

Today has been a little different, after leaving the Happy Days Caravan Pk, although this is not a Big 4 park we would highly recommend a stay here if passing through, very friendly and very clean, we had need of the assistance from a refrigeration technician and the caravan park recommended one in Albany.  We were required to unhitch and leave the van for a couple of hours; we took this opportunity to give the car a good bath at the local car wash, now it looks good.  As we arrived in Albany on Saturday night I noticed the 12 volt shop that regularly advertises in the 4x4 magazine and thought if we have the time I wouldn’t mind having a look, very similar to the Home of 12 volt at Mt Barker.

On returning to the van we were told that the fridge is OK, however, the indicator that tells you that the gas is on and working has died and should be replaced when we get home.  They have offered to get one in and send it home to us so I can replace it at my convenience.

Tonight we are camped at the Januc Rest Area (33’49’855s  119’15’222e) 79kl west of Ravensthorpe, this is a nice spot with 6 campers here tonight each keeping to themselves, a nice quiet evening with no phone coverage. The drive through today was lovely, there has been plenty of trees and bushes left between the road and the cereal crops, the vast crops of beautiful yellow canola breaks the endless green of wheat.

 Weather report:     Delightful sunny day temp about 21 degrees with a little wind in one section of the road for about 50 kl.

Thomas front; no news today, they leave for Christmas Island on Thursday, Mary’s mother Judy has flown home to Queanbeyan yesterday and returning on Thursday to travel with them and help Mary for about 10 days, that should help Mary, our thanks to Judy.

Catch you tomorrow

John & Sheryle

On the Road Again Perth Odessey 2010

Day 31

5/9/2010

Oh boy what a day in down town Albany, we went to a market in the boat shed on the harbour this morning, as we were leaving after buying some of the most incredible goat, sheep and cow cheeses, yogurt and milk we were told by a local that there were a number of whales in the bay playing, well this we had to see.   Stopping off at a lookout above the bay there they were, five in total that we could see, earlier there were twelve close to shore, within 100 metres of the beach.  For most of the time we were and that was about 2 ½ hrs there they were split up into three groups, two pair and one single.

A small boat stopped about 200 metres from one pair, no sooner had he turned off his motor over they came, swimming around the boat then from side and rubbing along side of the boat, how must have those on board have felt.  At one stage one of the men on the boat lent over the bow (that’s the sharp end of the boat, “how nautical am I”) and attempted to touch one as it came so close, all this is within 100 to 200 metres from the shore.

As the story goes; one large old whale came into the bay several days ago to die, it appears there is a ritual that when one whale is dying a group of others follow into a sheltered bay and form a security screen to keep the sharks away until it has died.  The local marine/whale experts agreed there was nothing to be done to help except to expediate the process and euthanize the animal.  As the whale was too big for injection which is apparently normal in these cases (I think that may be the size needle my dentist uses) they used an explosive to the head with instant success, the rest of the whales are happily playing in the bay to everyone’s delight.

The scenery here is beautiful, from white squeaky sandy beaches to smooth granite hill running into the sea, a calm balmy bay on one side and the Great Southern Ocean on the other, small bushes, shrubs and trees the tallest being no more than 2 metres covering the ground from the granite rocks to the sea, the sun shining onto white sandy outcrops on the other side of the bay this was being lit up just for us, now how good does it get.

Out back of our van are two goats, these are used as lawn mowers to keep the grass down between the park and the river, one sits on a tree stump at night, I think this must be his bed.

Weather report; Brocken cloud for most of the day with long sessions of bright sun, no wind about 18 degrees.

Thomas report, please keep praying, little change.

Catch you tomorrow

John & Sheryle

On the Road Again Perth Odessey 2010

Day 31

5/9/2010

Oh boy what a day in down town Albany, we went to a market in the boat shed on the harbour this morning, as we were leaving after buying some of the most incredible goat, sheep and cow cheeses, yogurt and milk we were told by a local that there were a number of whales in the bay playing, well this we had to see.   Stopping off at a lookout above the bay there they were, five in total that we could see, earlier there were twelve close to shore, within 100 metres of the beach.  For most of the time we were and that was about 2 ½ hrs there they were split up into three groups, two pair and one single.

A small boat stopped about 200 metres from one pair, no sooner had he turned off his motor over they came, swimming around the boat then from side and rubbing along side of the boat, how must have those on board have felt.  At one stage one of the men on the boat lent over the bow (that’s the sharp end of the boat, “how nautical am I”) and attempted to touch one as it came so close, all this is within 100 to 200 metres from the shore.

As the story goes; one large old whale came into the bay several days ago to die, it appears there is a ritual that when one whale is dying a group of others follow into a sheltered bay and form a security screen to keep the sharks away until it has died.  The local marine/whale experts agreed there was nothing to be done to help except to expediate the process and euthanize the animal.  As the whale was too big for injection which is apparently normal in these cases (I think that may be the size needle my dentist uses) they used an explosive to the head with instant success, the rest of the whales are happily playing in the bay to everyone’s delight.

The scenery here is beautiful, from white squeaky sandy beaches to smooth granite hill running into the sea, a calm balmy bay on one side and the Great Southern Ocean on the other, small bushes, shrubs and trees the tallest being no more than 2 metres covering the ground from the granite rocks to the sea, the sun shining onto white sandy outcrops on the other side of the bay this was being lit up just for us, now how good does it get.

Out back of our van are two goats, these are used as lawn mowers to keep the grass down between the park and the river, one sits on a tree stump at night, I think this must be his bed.

Weather report; Brocken cloud for most of the day with long sessions of bright sun, no wind about 18 degrees.

Thomas report, please keep praying, little change.

Catch you tomorrow

John & Sheryle

On the Road Again Perth Odessey 2010

Day 30

4/9/2010

A BIG day today, the tree top walk at Walpole and BIG TREES.  There are so many superlatives one could throw at what we have seen today and to pick one or two certainly would not do justice to this majestic sight.

One of our long time dreams has been to walk the canopy of some of the largest trees in the world and today we did it, walking 40 metres above the ground on a moving footbridge was exciting to say the least.  Branches from trees over 1 metre in diameter have been cut off 40 metres above the ground, can you imagine the size of that tree. There were Red Tingles, White Tingles, Karri and scores of others I simply do not know their names, however, they were great, We took our time and savoured the experience (by now you should have an idea we thought it was ok).  Once the tree top walk was completed we walked the Emperors Walk around the base of these beauties, burnt out sections so large up to 30 people can stand in them, the base of some of these trees would be plus 20 metres, yes, you did read correctly.  

After pulling ourselves away from these proud majestic tall trees it was off to Denmark to see the world’s largest working barometer on show at the Denmark Tourist Information Centre.  Standing about 12 metres high, at the top one can read the barometric pressure, it was fantastic, (Google worlds biggest barometer to get the full info).

We were going to camp out tonight but left our run too late and had to settle for Happy Days Caravan Park on the King River on the outskirts of Albany (34’56’158s   117’54’095e), as it was dark when we arrived I’ll let you know tomorrow how it is.

 Weather report: only rained while we were driving and setting up our camp tonight, apart from that it has been a very pleasant day with the sun shining about 18 degrees.

Baby front:  Please pray for our little family as they are doing it very hard, with only a few days before they are due to head back to Christmas Island, Thomas is still not settling at night and with little sleep they are almost at their wits end.  This is very hard for us as we can do nothing to help.

Catch you tomorrow

John & Sheryle

On the Road Again Perth Odessey 2010

Day 29

3/9/2010  

Gee, last night was cold, brrrr, it was hard to get up this morning and take on the shower, but felt good after.

 Leaving Roundtu It after breakfast and into Pemberton for the Pemberton Tram trip, this was excellent to gain some history not only of the region but also on the flora and of course the big Karri trees.  These are not the biggest trees in the world; however, they are the biggest hardwood tree in the world, if in the area we would highly recommend this trip.  After a huge lunch of fish, chips and salad it was off on the 80kl Karri Forest Explorer Drive, it was a great experience, driving through these fantastic trees some up to 65 metres high with a circumference of 15 metres truly superb, yes, that’s the tree hugger coming out in me.

Weather report:  started off raining, by the time we arrived in Pemberton it had stopped and was cool but dry for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow off to Walpole to see bigger trees.

Catch you tomorrow

John & Sheryle

On the Road Again Perth Odessey 2010

Day 28

2/9/2010  

Today I conquered the world::

As most know my medical history, today I climbed to the top of the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, inside the building is a 179 step circular staircase, I have not been able to do this for over 3 years, today I closed my eyes taking each step slowly and holding the hand rail and resting on each of the 4 landings I made it to the top where the view was breathtaking.  The return journey was taken backwards, Sheryle was very worried that I would have a bad turn; thankfully all was well, although I did require a coffee at the café to recuperate.

We were talking today that this time last year we were dipping our toes into the water at the most northern tip of  Australia Cape York, today we were at the diagonal  opposite, the south western tip of Australia Cape Leeuwin WA and it was awe-inspiring, following this we saw our very first Karri Trees, treemendous.

For the next couple of days we are base camping at the Roundtu It Eco Park in Northcliff (34’38’535s  116’08’425e), cannot really say it’s Big 4 but it is in the bush with kangaroos, all sorts of birds and they breed alpacas.  Tomorrow off sightseeing.

Thomas front, slept for 4 hours last night, YEY.

Weather:     Good sunshine when not raining, most of the rain was when we were driving.

Catch you tomorrow

John & Sheryle

On the Road Again Perth Odessey 2010

Day 27

1/9/2010  

A beautiful day in downtown Margaret River; casually up this morning and off to investigate this well known and talked about region of Western Australia.   Our eldest son does not believe we should be here as neither of us drink wine, however, we do enjoy the niceties of life like the pampering oneself with delightful olive oil body lotions along with the edible olive oil products, beautiful scenery even if the jetty at Bussleton was closed until November, delightful early spring wildflowers the colours magnificent, scrumulicious chocolate that says eeeeeat me, the most magnificent garden at the Voyager Winery a sight to be seen, working lighthouses, tremendous art from paintings to sculpture from natural to well not our cup of tea.  We were disappointed at the Colonial Brewery, we thought as nice gesture we would take home a bottle of beer for our eldest son just to brag where we had been and he has not, unfortunately they only sell 2 litre bottles, now that was not the problem, these bottles must be opened within 5 days of filling then consumed in one sitting, bad luck, another 2 weeks before we are home, sorry son.

Weather report:   nice sunny day, broken clouds with a couple of light showers that required the wipers twice, about 18 degrees.

Catch you tomorrow

John & Sheryle