Thursday April 24

Here we are at the most northerly destination of our trip – Exmouth, all ready to pick Kate and Derek up from nearby Learmonth airport tomorrow. The weather is very hot, with lovely warm evenings so Murray is thriving and I vacillate between dripping and just hot. Happily the beaches are beautiful and the water is a gloriously pleasant temperature.

Tough times!

We followed the expected path here – two nights in Geraldton where the car was duly serviced and we took the opportunity to visit the ANZANG Nature Photographer of the Year exhibition at the WA Museum.  It was absolutely stunning – every photo was superb and we couldn’t believe our luck at visiting whilst this was on. The Photograph of the Year, called ‘Near Miss’ by David Rennie is unbelievable and in fact there was some controversy about whether he had somehow ‘staged’ the shot when he was named the winner. This exhibition, which is owned by the SA Museum, is travelling next to Kalgoorlie and then to Tasmania, but I can’t find a date or place. The 2012 venue was Launceston. If you ever get a chance to see it make sure you don’t miss out. In the meantime you could check out the winning photo and the People’s Choice winner on the SA Museum website: http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/explore/exhibitions/the-australian-geographic-anzang-nature-photographer-of-the-year-2013

Unfortunately they don’t have the 2013 photos up, but I have discovered some or all (not sure) of the 2012 and earlier photos, so if you are into photography they are wonderful. This is the address:

http://www.anzang.samuseum.sa.gov.au/index.php?blog/show/2013-Overall-Winner.html

Next stop was Kalbarri, a very attractive spot where the Murchison River meets the sea. As it was school holidays and Easter, the town was very busy and the caravan park was chock-a-block with families and busy kids.

The Murchison meets the ocean wrapping around two headlands with a
wonderful crash of waves

South to the coastal part of Kalbarri National Park

Whilst we didn’t feel the need to rush around and re-visit all the attractions of the magnificent Kalbarri National Park (the beach was much too appealing), we did go out to Ross Graham Lookout on the eastern side of the park which we did not visit in 2012. From here it is a relatively short walk down to the Murchison River, which winds its way through the gorges of the park. It is a beautiful spot, so I am able to regale you with some photos of the waterholes of the river and the amazing Tumblagooda Sandstone cliffs, incised by the river over many millions of years. The colours in the sandstone/siltstone are incredible and once again entranced us.

Down into the Murchison Gorge from Ross Graham Lookout

Yours truly en route to the river

Getting closer!

At the river, looking up at the cliffs

The river was not flowing, but these waterholes were
very appealing

The colours in the banded siltstone are amazing and who
knows the origins of the holes!

Looking along the cliffs

The Murchison heading west from Hawks Head lookout

East from the same spot

The drive to Carnarvon was the longest we have undertaken since we arrived in Esperance – some 430 kilometres, but we managed very well!  We used our time in Carnarvon to visit some of the plantations along the Gascoigne River (the water of which is now well secreted away under the sand but still available for irrigation) and stock up on some of the lovely produce grown in the area – bananas, pawpaw, avocados, melons, custard apples tomatoes and frozen mango. The van looks a bit like a hawkers van now, but it smells delightful!

One more bird to add to the collection Squires – some beautiful little Peaceful Doves were wandering around the van one morning.

We arrived here in Exmouth on Monday, as always enjoying the changing landscapes as we travelled along. Since then we have lolled on the beach, found a local fisherman at the marina and bought some lovely fresh Crimson Snapper and caught up on the reading. The trip out to the marina brought some unexpected excitement – a pair of Osprey perched on adjacent light poles.

Unfortunately I could only fit one in the photo!

I am now going to expand the scope of the blog and recommend some books we have read over the last few weeks and thoroughly enjoyed!

·         ‘Flight Behaviour’ and ‘Prodigal Summer’ by Barbara Kingsolver. Her writing is just magical and evocative. We read ‘The Poisonwood Bible’ last trip and it is also brilliant. Helps that, as a biologist and scientist, her novels are intertwined with important environmental themes and messages.

·         ‘The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry’ by Rachel Joyce. A moving and charming book and as the author is also a playwright, she manages to create characters and places so vividly you feel as if you are there.

·         ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey, an Australian author. Another moving and touching book, with writing that is so clever and full of lovely comic moments created through clever use of language. A good one for you Py!

·         ‘The Rosie Project’ by Graeme Simsion. If you haven’t read this one yet you should – it is fantastic. Funny but also a real ‘feel good’ book. We both loved it.

·         ‘Dog Days’ by Ross Garnaut. In the face of our current political situation it was a little comforting to read a guide to our future by an economist who sees more than just the dollars and cents of economic and social policy.

So, there you are – more than just a travelogue! 

Murray enjoying Jasper Jones. I have taken a small liberty above saying that
we both really like it, but he is thus far and I know he will continue to do so!

Here endeth another post. Hopefully we will be able to share some wonderful photos of Whale Sharks and Manta Rays by the end of next week.  We bring Kate and Derek back here to Exmouth on Friday May 2, so the next update will be after that sometime.

Sunday April 13

Remarkably another week has whisked by and we have, by recent standards, come quite a distance as I am now reporting in from Jurien Bay, some 260km north of Perth.

Last Monday saw us in Bunbury to catch up with Tom Bell and those of you who are Balnarring-ites will know that he is the older son of Maureen & Mick Bell and was at school with Kate. Was terrific to find out what Tom has been up to – namely working for the past couple of years for Hot FM, a Bunbury-based radio station which broadcasts around the whole of the south-west. Lucky we arrived this week though, as he is off back to Victoria tomorrow to embark on the next stage of his life.

Monday and Tuesday nights saw us camped at Yalgorup National Park. This park was established in the 1970s to protect the ten coastal lakes, swamps and Tuart woodland between Mandurah and Myalup Beach. More beautiful Peppermints and grass trees, along with some of the few Tuarts (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) remaining after the exploitative zeal of the early colonists. There is now only 2,000 hectares of tall Tuart left in WA.

Martins Tank Lake, which we were camped next to. Currently three times
more saline than the sea.

A family of endangered Hooded Plovers, which was feeding on the edge of the lake.
One of the species which frequently nests on beaches and is vulnerable to 4x4
vehicles and dogs

Next destination was Dwellingup, a little east of Mandurah, where we were keen to visit the Forest Heritage Centre and see some Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest. The Heritage Centre was very interesting and we did see a lot of Jarrah, although most of it appeared to be regrowth and Lane Poole Conservation Reserve, on the Murray River, was a somewhat disappointing camp site. Still – it has to happen occasionally and until you visit these places you can do nothing else but believe the brochures and what others tell you.

Amazing eroded rocks in the Murray River. There is an absolute profusion of
 these round holes. Imagine how long it has taken for the water to do this!

Jarrahs behind some wonderful Bull Banksias

Jarrah flowers. The botanical name 'marginata' is because of the
light-coloured borders around the edges of the leaves

Thursday morning brought quite a shock as we arrived in Rockingham with its freeway and traffic lights. We hadn’t originally intended to stay here, but Murray had done some astute purchasing of fishing gear on Gumtree because his final fishing expedition with Andy had seen the locking nut on his reel fly off into the wide blue yonder and he needed something to go on with. This gear had to picked up after work, hence the trip to Rockingham.

As it turned out, this was an appropriate ‘finish’ to our time in the south-west and we were surprised how pleasant the foreshore area of the city was, despite its reputation. As always though, one night in a city is enough and on Friday we were on our way up the freeway to Ocean Drive and the beautiful Turquoise Coast.

We have spent the last two nights reacquainting ourselves with the delights of Jurien Bay and as the weather is considerably warmer, the beautiful beach has been much enjoyed.

Jurien Bay beach

I have also been reminded of the superb banksias which abound in the kwongan (shrublands) and species-rich heathlands of this Northern Sandplains area and have also been reminded of what Allan Tinker of Western Flora Caravan Park told us when we were here in 2012. Even though Spring is ‘the’ wildflower season, there will always be plants flowering, particularly some of the larger species and the photos below are a testament to this. We cannot believe that some people living in this area will clear so many of these superb species from their blocks and plant stupid things like poplars – what is going on????

Hookers Banksia (Banksia hookeriana)

Hookers Banksia

Hookers Banksia - the cone is more 'open'

Hookers Banksia

Ashby's banksia (Banksia ashbyi)
This flower was jam-packed with bees and all sorts of bugs!

Candle Banksia (Banksia attenuata) 

Candle Banksia

When we were here last we tried to find Drovers Cave National Park which is close to town, but gave up. This time I was really inspired as I wanted to find the Firewood Banksias (Banksia menziesii) which are flowering at the moment and after more than one trip up and down Jurien Road we managed to locate it. As the track in was seriously sandy, we choose to walk up and it was worth every grain of sand in the shoes – these banksias are superb, tucked in amongst the beautiful Hookers Banksias with their profusion of astounding flowers. It was a stunning visual assault – these incredible colours set against the brilliant blue sky.

Firewood Banksia
I don't think this common name suits this banksia at all. It is because of the colours -
red, yellow and white, but I think it is way too 'harsh' for such a beautiful flower

Another smaller cone

What a incredible nut the Firewood Banksia has!

I have no idea what species this is - am awaiting advice from my oracle Scott
The flower 'buds' are really spiky

No wonder May Gibbs created those Banksia Men!
I think this is a Hooker's Banksia - was so busy getting excited about its
'face' I forgot to check

On the way back to town we spied some clumps of Illyarrie (Eucalyptus erythrocorys), which grow best on the limestone hills of these areas. These small white-barked trees are almost unbelievable with their scarlet bud-caps and bright yellow flowers. I am trying to work out how I can have a go at trying to grow some of these plants at home and Murray is becoming very nervous!

Illyarrie

Even the gum nuts are impressive!

We have also discovered that Jurien Bay is the northern-most place in which Tuarts grow and there is a fine stand of these trees out at the cemetery. When we were here last I didn’t know about Tuarts, so this is a ‘new’ discovery for us. although I suspect that it is not quite as exciting for Murray as catching a big salmon! 

Tomorrow we are off to Geraldton for a couple of days as the car is booked in for a service! It is quite a strange feeling embarking on this part of our journey – almost as if we are on the ‘homeward’ stretch. Less than two weeks now until we meet Kate and Derek in Exmouth, so we are pretty excited about that. We will be in Exmouth next Monday as Murray is keen to do some more diving on the Navy Pier.

Until next time………

Sunday April 6

Certainly well and truly time for an update! Whilst we have not travelled very far since we left Augusta (98km in fact!), it has been a fascinating week and a half.

We did not in the end stay at Hamelin Bay. Visited and had a look and whilst it seemed very pleasant, we decided to take the advice of the camp hosts at Pemberton and go 20km further to Contos, the only parks’ campground in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park.

And what great advice it turned out to be as Contos is just beautiful – wonderful campsites amongst the most superb old Peppermints (Agonis flexuosa for the botanists and once again, it is amazing to see these plants we have been using in our gardens for years growing in their indigenous environment – huge and graceful, with the branches of strongly peppermint scented leaves drooping to the ground). The Grass Trees (Balga) are huge, many with two and three branched trunks.

Our camp site

Magnificent Grass Trees

Close to the campground is the beautiful Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste coastline, with its limestone cliffs and granite headlands. We had a bit of rain and cloud whilst we were there, but we still managed to amuse ourselves for the three days we spent there – visiting a gallery with breath-taking Jarrah, Marri and some Karri furniture (oh to be really rich!), taking a drive through the nearby Boranup Karri forest (as a ‘youngish’ forest there is little understorey, so the light filtering through the forest is quite different) walking through the park, fishing, visiting Margaret River township and yet more fishing.

Boranup Forest

The salmon schools are travelling past this part of the coast now and Contos Spring Beach is apparently a great spot. Murray managed to catch three fish one night (let one go) and two the next, so he was thrilled to bits and we have eaten like royalty since.

Not entirely surprisingly, the campground area is home to a wide variety of birds and despite my inability to properly see or identify so many of them, I did manage to add to my photo collection! The Spotted Scrubwrens were hilarious – constantly on the lookout for crumbs or stray bits of food. I put some water in the basin and was entertained for hours watching the passing parade of small birds drinking and washing.

Jacky Winter

Silvereye

Spotted Scrubwren

Australian Ringneck (male). Called a 'Twenty-eight Parrot' over here because
of its call, although I cannot hear it - must be because I am an east-coaster!

Seeing as the weather was still a bit wet and cloudy, we moved 20km to Margaret River township last Sunday and visited the beautiful Leeuwin Estate vineyard and wandered around the town some more.

Monday saw us on the move again and we managed to safely traverse the monumental  distance of 51km to Dunsborough on beautiful Geographe Bay. This is the largest town we have been in for a while and nearby Meelup Regional Park, Eagle Bay and Cape Naturaliste are beautiful spots.

The van park is a funny place, but we snared a great spot away from the main area by a small lake and we were blessed with all sorts of birds (more wonderful bird watching and photo opportunities!!!) wandering and flying by. The resident flock of geese (the only non-natives) took great umbrage to Murray when he was on the bike, which added more than a little humour for me and a major challenge to his cycling!

Murray with a goose in hot pursuit

Australian Wood Duck (male)

Australian Wood Duck (female)
The ducks are for you Squires! It is too easy to take these beautiful birds which
we see so often for granted

Pacific Black Duck

Eurasian Coot.
Look at these amazing flattened, lobed toes - no ordinary old webbed
feet for these birds!

Saved my favourite for last.
Not sure if these Splendid Fairy Wrens are young ones or not, but
they certainly look especially gorgeous snuggled up together!

On Tuesday our good friend Andy Morris arrived – he is on leave so decided that a few days over here was the go. We have had a great time visiting just a few of the many wineries in the area, plus just some of the breweries.

Enjoying the offerings at Eagle Bay Brewery

Andy and Murray did the 14km Yallingup to Cape Naturaliste section of the Cape to Cape Walk on Wednesday.

Limestone cliffs and superb beaches - the never-ending story of the SW coast

Three Bears surf beach (thanks to Andy for these photos)

On Thursday we travelled back down to Contos as it had been designated as a good starting point for the Margaret River region winery and brewery tour because it also provided a not-unwelcome also opportunity to introduce Andy to the joys of salmon fishing! It was a lovely day, so I was more than happy to catch up on some reading on the beach whilst Murray and Andy kept watch for schools of salmon from the rocks, ready to fling fishing lines into the water as any swam by. A local young ‘gun’ fisher Murray had befriended during his trips to this spot, estimated that one of the passing schools would have been 50 tonnes worth of fish. Murray caught one fish and both he and Andy got one on their lines, but were not able to get them up over the edge of the rocks – as you have seen, they are pretty big fish and the rocks are rough and extremely slippery.

Contos Spring Beach

The now much-visited fishing spot

Whilst we were enjoying an extremely nice lunch at Cullen Vineyard, Andy (a keen surfer) noticed that Kelly Slater, surfing’s current World Champion, was a fellow guest. Working on the ‘never miss an opportunity’ theory, he managed to snare a photo. This region is a surfing ‘Mecca’ and the annual Margaret River Pro is on at the moment. As the event is on the World Championship Tour this year, the area is awash with surfing celebrities!

On Friday morning Murray and Andy, unable to resist the lure of catching just one more salmon, headed back to Contos. Andy caught two lovely salmon and the injuries sustained from sliding down the rocks to retrieve fish number two were of little consequence! Consequently, entrée that night was the freshest imaginable Salmon Sashimi, teamed with some of the beautiful Rieslings we had gathered over the last day or two. Bliss!

In the afternoon we once again visited Meelup Regional Park and walked to Castle Rock – what a superb spot and it was rather hilarious as almost every large rock had a fisherman perched on it – salmon mania is everywhere!

Castle Rock and Little Meelup Beach

Saturday saw us relocate to Busselton, a mere 18.4km – don’t know how we are going to re-adjust to the long distance travel  once we get north of Perth! Murray and Andy snorkelled under the famous 148 year old Busselton Jetty, which reaches an astounding 1.8km into Geographe Bay.

Andy left for the airport early this morning - what a terrific and busy five days we’ve had with him. Continuing with the never-ending pressure of being of proper tourists, we went out to the end of the jetty on the ‘Jetty Train’  and spent a fascinating hour or so in the Underwater Observatory. Visitors descend 12 metres to the sea floor to see some of the 300 species of fish, coral, sponges and invertebrates which live on and around the jetty pylons. Great for we non-divers!

The orange things on the left are sponges and the brown and
white ones on the right are coral. 

A Wrasse of some sort

Who knows!

Off to Bunbury tomorrow and from there up to Yalgorup National Park. Next post from who knows where - somewhere before we start our trip up the coast north of Perth.