Cars along the Road

A sight we'd been told of were the abandoned cars along the Great Central Road. I've collected a few to show you the general character of what is out there.

Getting Serious about Driving

We spent the night in Laverton, a small town on the edge of what we softies would call civilization. Beyond here be dragons, arrrgh!

The thing that was scary and uncertain about planning this trip was estimating the time between stops. The first two stops on the sign you see above are, in fact, the next two possible stops. Google Maps gives travel times between these stops as 7 or 8 hours but when I make an estimate based on a sensibly slow driving speed, I get 3-5 hours. How knows how long all this will take. What is the road like? Will there be mud or robbers? We don't know. It's a mystery. It's an adventure.

Gwalia

Not far from Laverton, the end of the sealed road, is a mine at Gwalia. This is a mature gold mine that is still in operation. It is one seriously deep hole in the ground. that truck you see toward the right side is a really big one.

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.