Menzies

Not far beyond Kalgoorlie is the hamlet of Menzies. Here, there is a roadhouse covered in auto license plates. Not a building you see every day.

Kalgoorlie

If it seems like you are getting a full dose on cemeteries...you are. We are on the road, making tracks east and we only stop for fuel (ours and the ute's) and things that catch our attention. So far, that's mostly been cemeteries.

Coolgardie

On the way into in Coolgardie, we passed a sign for a camel farm. there are places in the outback where people grow/farm/husband(?) camels for sale. We're told that more camels are grown in Australia than in the middle east. It seems the ones grown here are very good for the middle eastern camel races.

Karalee Rocks and Dam Campground

Our first night on the road is at Karalee Rocks and Dam Campground. It is a clearing in the forest where people park their caravans and pitch tents. Here you see ours. You can all see that E has her fly net on since the flies are pretty bothersome here.

The Rabbit Proof Fence

Next we came to the remnants of the rabbit proof fence. This is a bold undertaking to deal with a previous bold undertaking that was really stupid: the introduction of rabbits. No natural predators. Animals that reproduce like...rabbits. Who could have figured out that this might be a teeny problem?

Tammin Cemetery

Of course, our drive east started with another cemetery. Along the Great Eastern Highway we came across the hamlet of Walgoolan and the Tammin Cemetery. This was the most unusual cemetery in Australia we've visited (so far).

Tasmania!

We have arrived in Tasmania! Our road trip of nearly 10,000 km has reached a successful conclusion. All Is well. Blog entries about our trip will begin appearing soon.

All Saints Church Cemetery

After we left Pearsall, we headed to Guildford on the Swan river not far away to prepare for the long trip. Not far from Guildford is one of the early churches in this part of the country. According to Wikipedia,

The All Saints Church in Henley Brook is the oldest^[1] church in Western Australia. It was built by Richard Edwards between 1838 and 1840 with the first service taking place on 10 January 1841. The site is on a small hill overlooking the Swan River and near the conjunction of the Swan and Ellen Brook. This site was where Captain James Stirling camped during his 1827 exploration of the area.

B&W Retrospective

As I do from time to time, I bring you a look back on our recent travels to explore a few locations in monochrome. The road above is just south of Norseman. While this is not part of the longest straight road, it is long and straight.

Farewell to the Indian Ocean

Due west of us is the suburb of Mullaloo on the Indian Ocean. We drove over to have a last walk on the beach and a last chance to dip our toes in the ocean on the western shore.

Perry Lake

Another lake not far from the city center is Perry Lake. We found this place to be very restful. Lots of trees and a reedy wetland around the edge of the lake. Wandering among the reeds was a family of Pacific Black Ducks. At this time of the year, we see lots of ducklings.

Fremantle Market

The Fremantle market is open Friday-Sunday. We decided to try a visit on a Friday to avoid the mash of people we encountered on our previous Saturday visit.

Monger Lake

We found a few places near Perth where we can see a few birds without having to drive for hours. One of these is Monger Lake in the Wembley suburb. Here we found the Australian Shelduck.

Herdsman Lake

Not far from us, near the Ikea, is Herdsman Lake. We stopped by to have a look at the local bird life. Of course, we found the Pacific Black Duck straight away.

Lesmurdie Falls

We drove to a nearby park to see Lesmurdie Falls. The walk from the car park first led us by Lesmurdie brook. It was nice and cool under the trees on the hot day under a clear blue sky.

Cemetery in Gingin

In the small town of Gingin, there is another cemetery, beside a small chapel in town that is quite different from the one you saw here yesterday. This one is filled with stories I can read.

Cemetery North of Gingin

Cemeteries are typically places filled with gravestones that tell stories. These stories are told by the engraving on the stone. A kind of stone age tweet of a life. This cemetery just north of Gingin, about an hour away, is filled with graves that really break the mold.

Styles of Living

I found an interesting way to compare living styles - Google Map. Consider the section of Staunton, VA. This is a suburb that those of you in Virginia may well recognize.

Perth

While we were on the hill in Kings Park overlooking the city, I thought it time to take a few photos of the city.

War Memorial

King's Park in Perth is locating on a hill with a commanding view of the confluence of the Swan and Canning Rivers. Located on the bluff overlooking the Swan is the memorial to those lost in war.

The eternal flame burning above this reflection pool was lit in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth.

The Tawny Frogmouth

While in the King's Park, a fellow was all excited, he'd found a Tawny Frogmouth. Now, this is something to get excited about. This is a nocturnal bird related to the nightjar. In fact, he'd found three of them!

Above you see the backside of one of them sitting in the crotch of a tree. But it gets better.

Kings Park and Botanic Gardens

As our long-time readers know, pretty much every town in Australia seems to have a botanical garden. We visited one of the more amazing ones here in Perth.

Fremantle Prison

The prison at Fremantle was built originally to house convicts transported from Britain at the request of the Australians. They needed people to work, so they asked the motherland for help. Unlike the other sites for housing those transported, they were able to have a say in who they accepted.

The WA Maritime Museum

When we learned that there is a maritime museum in Perth we were excited. When we arrived we learned that there is a visiting exhibition about Pompeii and the evacuation by sea after the eruption of Vesuvius. This was going to be great.

Burns Beach

After leaving the aquarium, we drove along the shore to Burns Beach to enjoy the shore a little.

Aquarium of Western Australia

Out of Victoria Quay in the Hillarys suburb of Perth is the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA). We decided to visit to see what we could learn about the western sea life.

On the way in we saw this young fellow on the quay trying to catch a fish. He's not quite a excerpt from Norman Rockwell, but he does seem to capture the essence of being young in Australia.

New Norcia Cemtery

As is often the case, the high point of our visit to New Norcia is the cemetery.

New Norcia

In 1846, the Benedictine monks arrived at a spot about 132 km north of Perth on a mission to convert the local aboriginals. And, thus, New Norcia was founded. It remains a town largely inhabited by the monks. We spoke to the young woman in the hotel bar that served us our cider and learned that she commutes an hour each way to work.

Thrombolites

A ride in the country toward Waroona took us past some fields that were beginning to show signs of lots of wild flowers. Unfortunately, I could not capture the scene in any sensible way with my pixel grabbing machine.

On the way home, however, I did find a fascinating place that I could capture: Lake Clifton.

Araluen Botanical Garden

The Araluen Botanical Garden is located about an hour north of Mandurah. We decided to visit to see the flowers we've been hearing about. While it was surprisingly low on birds, it was a rich environment of flowers.