Week 52/52 - Great Central Road - and onwards to the border - Western Australia

Well hello everyone and welcome to Week 52 of 52 - of my Tour Downunder Western Australia. Yes it is the last week! I can hardly believe that I have taken you for 52 weeks around my magnificent state where I live - Western Australia. I have enjoyed bringing you photos from my travels around my state and I hope you have enjoyed seeing my corner of the world.

For all of those who have come along for the ride, and taken the time to look and comment, I thank you very sincerely. I have enjoyed immensely having you along and reading your comments. You gave me the enthusiasm to continue the 52 weeks of posts, so I thank you.

This week we continue eastward over country new to us. We are travelling on part of The Great Central Road - which is also known as The Outback Way - and - Australia's Greatest Shortcut - a series of roads which connect to travel 2750 kilometres right through the centre of Australia from Laverton in the middle of Western Australia, across the Northern Territory to Winton in the middle of Queensland, taking you through spectacular country . It is very interesting to see the changes in landscape and the 10 different bio-regions featuring their unique flora, fauna, geological and landscapes - sand ridges, deserts, mountain ranges, sand plains. The road is well maintained, and information panels along the way are interesting to read. A map is essential so you know where you are, and there is a touring atlas of the road which as well as containing maps, distances etc, has a wealth of information to assist in your enjoyment of your trip!

For this part of the journey we will be continuing east from our last camp at Niagra Dam to Laverton, and we will be camping out in the bush for three nights before we reach the Northern Territory border (as it will take us 3 days to get to the border!)

As you will see from the photos this section of the road is gravel, which we found to be in very good condition. This is remote country, although you will meet other travellers doing the same crossing and there are a few small towns, aboriginal communities, road houses and pastoral stations along the route, so you need to be well prepared for remote travel. Look out for road trains (be careful of the huge dust cloud they throw up reducing visibility to zero! - I'll show you a pic later), as well as wild camels, dingos and kangaroos. - keep your eyes open to see them!

This is a photo of my son's vehicle coming towards us. They travelled with us for this part of the trip.

From Western Australia

Late afternoon at my son's camp site at what we called Desert Oakes camp. The Desert Oakes are actually not an oak at all but a type of Casuarina.

From Western Australia

The wide dry sandy bed of Giles Creek, lined by river gums, near Desert Oakes camp. I like the painted look of this photo.

From Western Australia

Early morning low rain cloud over the Petermann Ranges near the Western Australia/Northern Territory border.

From Western Australia

Spinifex heads in the late afternoon light..........spinifex is a common plant in the desert regions of Australia.

From Wildflowers

another road shot taken through the front windscreen as we drove along - the dust in front is from my son's vehicle...... (can't always stop to take a photo LOL)

From Western Australia

You actually see a lot of these along the road side - old cars that have broken down, been stripped of their tyres and engines and whatever else can come off, and left to rust on the road side.

From Western Australia

When we are travelling for several days, and camp out in the bush there are no facilities like showers and toilets.....you find a bush to squat behind. But we do carry our shower tent, and a solar shower (a bag you put water in basically) so that we can have a shower every couple of days. Amazing how refreshed and clean you can feel from 1 or 2 litres of water....

From Western Australia

A road train......the only thing you can do when you meet one of these is to move over to the side of the road and wait for the dust to settle....visibility is zero!

From Western Australia

A wild camel on the edge of the road - unfortunately I was looking straight into the sun when I took this photo, but I wasn't going to get out of the car to try and get a better angle!

From Western Australia

This is sunrise at Yarla camp - I climbed to the top of the breakaway up from our camp to take this photo. Scenes like these and the peace you get when you are camping "out bush" are what I love about travelling around Western Australia.

From Western Australia

Thanks again everyone for looking, and for your support throughout the last 52 weeks. I hope you have enjoyed the tour. I look forward to hearing from you.

Week 27/52 - Cue, Queen of the Murchison

Hi everyone, and welcome to week 27 of our 52 week Tour Downunder Western Australia.

This week we drive east of Yalgoo to the Great Northern Highway and then north to Cue - Queen of the Murchison.

Gold was first found in Cue on New Years Day 1892 by Mick Fitzgerald. The alluvial patch became the scene of a huge gold rush, coinciding with the gold mining boom of the 1890's and early 1900's throughout Western Australia.

Cue is now a living example of the past and present, and is well worth the time to visit.
Cue's heritage trail retraces the early development of the district and its role in the gold-mining era, including many buildings constructed at the turn of the century - Cue's rich history has been preserved in these magnificent buildings.

This is the Cue government buildings, with the town clock and post office, located in the centre of Cue on the Great Northern Highway. Built in 1896, these buildings were made of locally quarried limestone slabs and were designed to house the offices of a number of government departments such as the Wardens Court, Post Office and Police Station.

From Life Images by Jill

This is the former "Gentleman's Club" (restored in 1986) - now the Cue Shire Offices and Visitor Information Centre.

From Life Images by Jill

This is the Great Fingall Mine Offices at Day Dawn mine, built by Italian stonemasons in 1902. There is an open cut mine behind this building, although the mine closed in 1918, after being the premier gold mine in WA at the time.

From Life Images by Jill

And the old hospital ruins. The first doctor in Cue, Dr Monteath, was appointed in 1892. Assisted by his wife, he worked under a canvas and bough shed until the hospital was built in 1895 from local stone. The hospital closed in 1942 and now only a few ruins remain.

From Life Images by Jill

here are a few more photos from around Cue - where we are going to camp tonight - next to Lake Nannine just north of Cue where you can free camp overnight.

From Life Images by Jill

You have seen a field of pink everylastings, a field of yellow everlastings, now here is a field of white everlastings -

From Life Images by Jill

And a closer view -

From Wildflowers

And an emu we spotted by the roadside -

From Life Images by Jill

Here is another photo from Cue - I have fiddled with this one a bit in Photoshop Elements to give it a different look - not something I do a lot of (as you can probably tell!)

This is the Masonic Lodge built in 1899 of timer and corrugated galvanised iron, with a pressed iron interior. Corrugated iron was used extensively in the goldfields during this time as it was easily transported by camels. Very few buildings of this type remain in Australia.

From Life Images by Jill

Week 21/52-Part 2 - Camp with a view - Peak Charles

Welcome everyone to Part 2 of Week 21 of my 52 week tour Down Under Western Australia. Tonight we leave Cave Hill (our last destination) and travel via dirt tracks south to Peak Charles.

From Cave Hill you can travel north via the old woodlines tracks to Burra Rock and then to Coolgardie and the goldfields (you will see the goldfields later in the tour), but we headed east along the 50km 4WDrive only track and then south to Peak Charles National Park.

Not far from Cave Hill, the track degraded into a boggy quagmire and we came upon an abandoned 2WDrive ute stuck in the mud – highlighting the need for 4WDrive, travelling in convoy and being prepared when out in this uninhabited region hundreds of kilometres from help. There was an alternative route pushed through the bush around the 300 metre boggy stretch so we took this route instead. There were several more sections like this along the track with alternate routes through the bush. The message is if you don’t have to go through the bog, then don’t.

From Life Images by Jill

Back on the road again.......following our sons dust - I think I did quite well with this considering it was taken through the front windscreen as we were driving.........

From Life Images by Jill

100km south west of Norseman is Peak Charles - part of the Fitzgerald Peaks and can be seen from over 50 kilometres away.

Surveyor and explorer John Septimus Roe explored this region in 1849 naming Fitzgerald Peaks, Peak Charles (651 metres high) and Eleanora Peak (501 metres). Roe described this country of dense scrub, dry watercourses and salt pans as “fearful and impractical”. Today the Park protects this wild uninhabited region and provides opportunities for bush camping. During spring the bushland comes alive with wildflowers.

We were lucky to have the camping area to ourselves and enjoyed the quiet and an overdue “bush shower”. We cooked marshmallows over the fire, and in the morning rose early to climb a short way up the walking track for a magnificent view of the sunrise and the sweeping view over the surrounding mallee covered sand plains, eucalypt woodlands and vast salt lakes of the 40,000 hectare park.

Here is my sons camp with Peak Charles in the background.  We're camping tonight - so hope you have brought the marshmallows to roast over the fire!

From Life Images by Jill

The climb to the summit is only recommended for experienced bushwalkers and involves exposed rock scrambling – allow three hours return to the summit. The steep slopes provide opportunities for experienced rock climbers. The walk track is moderately difficult and with a three year old in tow and my son carrying his 18 month old in a back pack we only managed to reach the lookout point from where you can see Eleanora Peak to the south. It was essential to find things along the track to interest the three year old and take his mind off walking!

Here is the sunrise....I am not sure if I overdid the saturation on this one or not. That's my husband in silhouette on the RHS of the pic.

From Life Images by Jill

Peak Charles - glowing orange in the early morning light -

From Life Images by Jill

Here is the view from Peak Charles - our campsite is right at the base of the rock. That is my son and my 18month old grandson. He kept throwing his hat off.

From Life Images by Jill

Driving away from Peak Charles

From Life Images by Jill

And for something different - the burnt nuts of a native bush - fire allows the nuts to break open and disperse the seed - so the fire is part of the circle of life in the Australian bush. This colour is straight from camera - I was really pleased with the burnt textures.

From Life Images by Jill

Thank you for looking everyone - I hope you are enjoying the tour

Next stop Esperance and it's beautiful beaches.

Week 5/52 - Collie & Ferguson Valley - where hiking and wine tasting mix

Hire we are in Week 5 of our 52 week tour of Western Australia. Thanks for coming along, I hope you are enjoying the tour so far.

I know you have been enjoying the coast, but this week for something different, we are going to move away from the coast, inland from Bunbury and up the Collie hill to Harris River Dam, where we are going to do an overnight hike on the Bibbulmun Track.

The Bibbulmun Track is Western Australia’s longest walking track, stretching from Kalamunda in the Darling Ranges near Perth, to Albany on the south coast, traversing some of the South West’s most beautiful forests and wilderness, over varying terrain through shady valleys to mountains with 360 degree views and spectacular coastal scenery. It has become a Western Australian icon since it was opened in 1979 after Geoff Schafer presented the idea for the Track to the WA Minister for Forests in 1972. Further upgrades and extensions followed in 1988 and 1993-98.

Even though the Track is almost entirely through wilderness areas, it can be walked in relative safety. It is easy to follow the directional markers which are placed approximately 200 metres apart on trees or posts. The triangular reflective yellow markers feature a black stylised “Waugal” (rainbow serpent).

The Track is maintained to a high standard by track volunteers, and passes through nine towns. Vehicle assess points, make it suitable for a short stroll, day walk, or overnight hike, so more people can experience our natural environment, not just those wanting an adventurous trek. Three sided timber overnight huts are conveniently placed about 15 to 20 kilometres apart, a comfortable day’s walk.

First timers on the track should try day walks with a day pack first, then an overnight hike, before attempting longer walks. Some people walk the Track "End to End" and wear the title "End to Ender" very proudly. I walked a couple of days with one such person a couple of years ago.

For this tour, we will just be walking overnight. So get ready, get your hiking boots on, pack your back pack, make sure you have water, a hat and your hiking poles, and lets go! As the weeks go by I will bring you some more photos from other parts of the Track.

Friends are going to drop us off at Harris River Dam, we are going to hike about 4km to the hut, stay overnight and then hike about 16km the next day to the Coalfields Highway, where we will be picked up and taken back to Bunbury.

Here is our accommodation for the night - The Harris Dam hut - hope you have your sleeping mat, sleeping bag and warm clothes - it is going to be cold tonight!

From Life Images by Jill

Morning! - here is the view from my sleeping platform. It was below 4C last night - cold - glad I had my thick jacket and beenie!

From Life Images by Jill

Here we are ready to set off - this is me and my husband Rod. I have posted this photo so you can see the inside of the hut. There are double layer sleeping platforms on each side and table in the middle. There is a water tank, but it is recommended you bring your own water, and a long drop bush toilet.

From Life Images by Jill

On the track - and the wildflowers are blooming - this is wattle we are walking through - that's Rod in front - he often ends up in my photos as the token person!

From Life Images by Jill

On Tuesday/Wednesday I am going to bring you some more wilderness pics from Wellington Dam near Collie, and then through the Ferguson Valley, our newest wine region, as we return home to Bunbury.

Thanks for joining me on the Bibbulmun Track everyone. Here are a few wildflower photos from our walk on the Track.  Spring (when these photos were taken) is a wonderful time to be out in the bush, and the Bibblumun Track is a great way explore some of it - so wonderful to just be walking and looking and thinking of nothing else.
The guy who I know who walked the whole length said it was wonderful watching the plants, trees, undergrowth change as he went along.

From Life Images by Jill

From Life Images by Jill

From Life Images by Jill

From Life Images by Jill

Here are another couple of photos for you before we head off to Wellington Dam, and Ferguson Valley.

This is late afternoon with the sun coming through the jarrah trees (the skinny tall ones - don't look much but they have beautiful rich dark red timber). Those are Grass Trees in the foreground (the spiky ones you can see with the sun on them - they have a very long tall flower spike).

From Life Images by Jill

Another photo from along the track where it meanders over a little bridge....

From Life Images by Jill

On our way back from the Bibbulmun Track we are going to stop by at Wellington Dam - to see it overflowing, and then travel back through the Ferguson Valley - our newest wine region, only half an hour from Bunbury. We'll stop off at some wineries for some wine tasting - you might like to buy some bottles to take home, or to enjoy tonight when you put your feet up after trecking on the Bibbulmun Track. Cheers!

Here we are at Wellington Dam - it's overflowing (which is a good thing because it means its full!) and lots of people go up to see it. I love the patterns the water makes on the wall.

From Life Images by Jill

I thought we might stop off along the Collie River for a stroll..... there are walk trails and camping spots.

From Life Images by Jill

And now we are driving through the Ferguson Valley - our newest wine region and also a haven for artisans - the rolling hills are beautiful, and from the higher areas you can see the sea - as you can see the vines are green and growing the grapes for this season's pick.

From Life Images by Jill

Late afternoon, and the mist rolls in, time to go home.....hot shower, nice meal, a bottle of wine, and put up our feet.

From Life Images by Jill

Thanks for coming along everyone! Hope you are enjoying the tour so far.
See you down the track!