My last blog post on our amazing five month escape to Western Australia

We arrived home from our amazing adventure on Thursday 16^th August. We did visit Peter, Rossina and the children and had a thoroughly wonderful three days with them. We thank you for your warm and inviting hospitality.
We travelled onto Cowra and spent time wandering the beautiful Japanese Gardens. This blog I am just going to post scenes from the gardens for everyone to enjoy........remember it is winter so the gardens would be really something special come spring/summer.
As we were close to Orange, we just had to visit long time friends Bruce and Carmel........it was great to catch up and once again we thank you for your warm and inviting hospitality. We just left Orange in time, as two days after we left it snowed.
We had a fabulous trip and now, besides the smaller trips away, we are planning early next year (February/March) to take the motorhome across on the 'Spirit of Tasmania' and spend two months exploring the beauty of the apple isle.
We are looking forward to seeing our wonderful children, grandchildren, siblings and dear friends.
I have enjoyed blogging and know you have enjoyed our travels with us.
Cheers
Marea


 

My last blog post on our amazing five month escape to Western Australia

Enjoy the Beautiful Japanese Gardens in Cowra, NSW

 

HOME..........

next morning looking from our balcony across

beautiful Newcastle Harbour towards Stockton

..................dolphins were at play..................

WHAT A LOVELY WELCOME HOME! 

Port Piere SA, over the border into VIC for a hundred plus klms and then back into NSW

We only stayed overnight in Port Augusta having looked around the town on our way across to WA.
The purpose of this trip was to holiday in Western Australia and see what we didn't explore last year. We have seen WA and truly have had a fantastic holiday. There is so much diversity from beautiful coast lines, lush forests, magnificent reefs, stunning western sunsets, magnificent gorges, stunning riverbank campsites, inland ghost towns and lots and lots of red dust and dirt (at times not so beautiful, it's amazing how the bull dust just creeps into everything!).
Yes, we are on our way home after nearly five months. We are beating a hastily retreat home as the south inland in winter is cold, and on another trip in the late summer to early spring we will concentrate on South Australia, Victoria and southern NSW.
We left Port Augustus and travelled onto Port Piere, down through the Clare Valley and onto Morgan, a historical port precinct on the mighty Murray River. The Murray River is currently flowing rapidly due to the heavy rains over the last few months. We then crisscrossed the Murray River by vehicular ferry from Morgan and then back from Cadell and continued on to Berri and camped along the Murray River for the night. We visited Renmark in SA and had lunch by the river at Lock 5. The Murray River has around 11 locks built in the 1920's..........they are quite an engineering feat. Just after Renmark we crossed the SA border into Victoria and travelled through countryside, laden with dormant grape vines and citrus trees, to Mildura, a city of 60,000 people on the Victorian side of the VIC / NSW border. We camped the night again on the Murray River, just south of Mildura and next morning crossed the Murray River and the border into NSW and visited Wentworth..........a small town at the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers. We had breakfast at Lock 10. Travelled back to Mildura and met up with two of Chris's ex work friends, Marquis and Kristy (who have been travelling Australia on their Honeymoon)..........it's always nice to catch up with friends along the way.
We left Mildura late and only travelled to Balranald where we found a cosy camp spot for the night. Over the following week we will travel through Hay and onto Galore, near Wagga Wagga, and stay a couple of days with my nephew Peter, his wife Rossina and their three children and continue onto Newcastle where the motorhome will get a much needed wash and dusting ready for our next venture.............who knows where and when, but soon we both hope!
Once home I will do a final blog as we intend to visit Cowra and I'm sure the Japanese gardens will be worth a post.
     

Port Piere, Morgan, Berri, Wentworth

PORT PIERE in SA.........



Former Port Piere Railway Station........

now a museum

 Family Hotel C1904

I was taken in by the grandeur of these statues on top of this lovely old building

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MORGAN in SA............... 

Looking along the Murray River from the old wharf precinct in Morgan

 One of three vehicular ferries that cross the Murray River in and around this region

Looking from the Morgan lookout over the old wharf precinct and riverside area

 Waiting for the vehicular ferry

Whilst on the ferry.....view looking upstream 

 Crossing the Murray River on the vehicular ferry.........a free 24 hour service

BERRI in SA.............

Explanation about the Berri Water Tower

 Vista looking south over the town of Berri

Scenic lookout from the water tower in Berri 

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WENTWORTH...........just over the Victorian border and into NSW

A viewing tower at the junction of the Muray and Darling Rivers in Wentworth

The Murray River on the right meets the Darling River on the left



Along the Murray River..............Lock and Weir No. 10 Wentworth NSW

An interesting location map of the locks along the Murray River



Norseman to Ceduna, The Gawler Ranges and onto Port Augusta.....SA

After leaving Norseman we took four days to travel back across the Nullarbor ......... this time across I gave Chris a break from the driving and I did the driving. The first night we camped at a camp spot called Newman's Rock,...........here there is a small oasis where a water hole invites wild animals to venture down an enjoy a drink. We had the wonderful experience of and adult emu with five tiny chicks. Unfortunately by the time I grabbed the camera they had scampered...........the next morning we were hoping they would return but we weren't lucky enough to see them again. We spent another two nights in our favourite place along the Nullarbor 'The Bunda Cliffs' and once again the camp spot didn't disappoint. This area is one of the most beautiful places in this wonderful country of ours. Our last night along the Nullarbor we found a quite spot near Penong, so next morning we travelled 55klms to Ceduna and looked out over the ocean while we enjoyed our breakfast. We played golf at Ceduna, did a quick grocery shop, refuelled, filled our water tanks with water and travelled on to a camp spot for the evening...........33klms east of Ceduna. We enjoyed an evening with another couple sitting around the camp fire and chatting for a few hours.
Next couple of days we explored the granite trail around the towns of Minnipa, Wudinna, Kimba and the Gawler Ranges........visiting Pildappa Rock, Tcharkauldu Rock (where we camped), Turtle Rock, Mt Wudinna............ Australia's second largest exposed monolith and Polda Rock. From the summit of these rocks you get a fantastic view of the ever so green countryside. This is rich agriculture land and the paddocks have the seasons crops planted and the scenery is picture postcard beautiful. Having come from the west where the red dust, had been with us for some time, the ever green landscape is a joy to see! Along the Eyre Highway at Wudinna is the wonderful Granite Sculpture known as 'the Australian Farmer'.........this sculpture has amazing detail and was sculptured by artist Marijan Bekic and his son David.
The evening of Saturday 4^th August we camped along with other travellers at the Kimba 'Lions Park' in the township of Kimba. Kimba, is a small town along the Eyre Highway, where a sign declares the town as being 'Halfway across Australia' – equidistant (about 1500 km), from the west and east coasts.
Next day found us back in Port Augusta after visiting the almost ghost town of Iron Knob. Iron Knob was the birthplace of the Australian steel industry.......over almost a century, around 150 million tonnes of ore were excavated, reducing the two 350-m peaks of Iron Knob and Iron Monarch to gaping holes rimmed by rubble. The mine closed in 1998.

Norseman to Ceduna, The Gawler Ranges and back to Port Augusta

Beautiful Bunda Cliffs........along the Eyre H'way (Nullarbor)........near the SA /WA border

The Gawler Ranges and the magnificent granite rock formations formed by volcanic activity hundreds of millions of years ago.............these rocky outcrops were the key to the small settlements of Minnipa, Wudinna and Kimba as the settlers constructed elaborate gutters, dams and tanks around them to catch and store water...many of these systerms are still used today.  





 Pildappa Rock.......

weathering has eroded the stone on one side in the form of a wave

Tcharkuldu Rock.......

the beautiful africultural land surrounding the area

 On the top of Tcharkuldu Rock

The bush dunny near where we camped at Tcharkuldu Rock

 Our overnight camp spot at Tcharkuldu Rock.........

the Tcharkuldu Hut - has been fully restored  - was originally built around 1915 as a surveyors - workmen hut, when building dams, tanks and drains for the town's water supply

Turtle Rock......so named because of its shape

 Mount Wudinna.........

Australia's second largest exposed monolith

 T

This magnificent wedge tailed eagle flies and glides over and around us

as we climbed Mount Wudinna 

Canola crops make a colourful scene 

 Polda Rock and dam.......

the stone wall man made to collect the water and channel it to the dam and underground tanks

This magnificent granite sculpture located on the Eyre Highway at Wudinna was sculptured by renown artist Marijan Bekic and his son David in 2007 and 2008 

 An eye-catching 8-m-high fibreglass galah welcomes you to the small agricultural service centre

 of Kimba (a town located halfway across Australia) between the east and west, as the crow flies.

The remains of the 350-m Iron Knob peak.