The last leg

Back over the Nullarbor... driving.... driving .... driving; a few days in Adelaide, then home. 

What a fantastic trip in just under 10 weeks!  16,320 km.  Tent up and down 14 times; other accommodation in 18 places (ranging from great to not so great).

Lunch stop on the road between Norseman and Eucla somewhere.  Some interesting things hanging in that tree.

We ended up staying at Mundrabilla again, in the 1.5 star motel.  Definitely not so classy, but it was clean.

Early morning mist



Good view of the Bunda Cliffs again

A bit spooky with all that mist

Nullarbor - no trees.  On the road near Head of Bight

Great architecture, North Terrace, Adelaide

Part of University of Adelaide, North Terrace

Clive in front of our hotel, Adelaide.
Got a good Wotif deal.

Thurs 20 to Fri 21 June – Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie weather is very cold at night and been a bit foggy in the mornings, but beautiful sunshine during the day. 

Visited the Super Pit gold mine, checked out the architecture in Kalgoorlie and Boulder main streets, and did an interesting tour of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  Also enjoyed catching up with Kate and her new baby Ally.  (My daughter’s sister in law.)

 

Paddy Hannan statue / water fountain, Hannan St, Kalgoorlie.  This is a replica of the original statue which in the foyer of the town hall.  It was cold and a bit foggy when this photo was taken.



This old doorway found within the old Miners Institute building.  Not so sure about hair singeing or electrical massage!

We had tea on the balcony of this pub. 

Boulder Town Hall

Clive inside the Boulder Town Hall theatre with the stage curtain hand painted by Philip Goatcher in 1908.

Helen standing inside a digger bucket at the Super Pit viewing area.  Huge!

The Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mine (KCGM) Super Pit is ENORMOUS.

Clive checking out the Super Pit

Clive checking out the top deck of a tipper truck



Ally, Helen and Kate

Five and a half weeks old and very cute

Our personalised tour - there was just the two of us.

 

 

Tues 18 June to Wed 19 June – travelling South

We’re still a long way North, so Tues/Wed we did a lot of driving.  Saw some interesting sights along the way.

Sandstone terraces and cave, near Leonora

London Bridge, near Sandstone

Niagara Dam, near Menzies.  Built in 1897 to provide water to allow expansion of the steam train during the goldrush era.  The cement was brought in by camel from Coolgardie.  It was never put to use.  Just after it was finished, underground water was discovered at nearby Kooknie, and there was an ongoing lack of rainfall.

Kookynie Hotel.  It was closed.

Lake Ballard. There are 51 steel sculptures scattered over the 10 sq km salt lake.  The 'Inside Australia' exhibition was created in 2003 by sculptor Antony Gormley.

Obviously female

We walked around about 9 or 10 of them.  All different.

This one's a boy I think!

Fri 14 to Mon 17 June – Tom Price, Newman and nearly to Meekatharra

Weather a bit overcast on Friday, and low 20’s.  Some rain predicted so we decided not to tent it at Tom Price.  After checking out and dismissing the rather crumby looking Tom Price Hotel/Motel rates ($247/night for budget and $270/night for ‘deluxe’ [not really...]) we ended up with the last cabin in the camp ground at $205 a night.  The most expensive accommodation we’ve had all trip, and certainly not the nicest!  2.5 star, just.

Weather improving, we did a mine tour on Saturday at Tom Price, though understandably tight OH&S rules meant we were only allowed out of the bus once!  Despite that, we were made to wear hard hats and safety goggles.

 

Moving on through Newman on Sunday, the similarities between the two ore mining operations are evident.  Tom Price:  Rio Tinto; company owned and run rail line to the port at Dampier.  Newman:  BHP; company owned and run rail line to the port at Port Hedland.  Seems a wasteful duplication in practical terms.  (Actually it’s tripled, with Fortescue Mining operating yet another company owned and run rail line to Herb Elliott Port near Hedland.)

 

Continued South and we’re realising that our chance of continuing reasonable weather is fast disappearing.  As the forecast is reasonable/sunny for the next few days, we’ve taken the opportunity to camp just North of Meekatharra at Bilyuin Pool for a couple of nights, off the Murchison River (which we saw the mouth of way back in Kalbarri).  

 

Stayed at Bilyuin Pool for 2 nights and enjoyed doing nothing.  Weather was not cold, but rather cloudy on the second day.  We enjoyed what will possibly be our last campfires for this trip.



Looking over Tom Price from top of Mt Nameless

 

Coming back down Mt Nameless, near Tom Price

 

Helen in hard hat and safety goggles, ready for the Tom Price mine tour, next to the monument to Tom Price.

 

Clive overlooking the Tom Price open cut

 

Working truckload, Tom Price mine

 

Clive getting a close up look at the Wabco tipper at Newman

 

Same, same, but different.  BHP at Newman use Wabco tippers; Rio Tinto at Tom Price use Komatsu.  (Tom Price are also currently trialling a couple of trucks from a cheaper Chinese manufacturer.)

 

 

On our way South we passed umpteen of these ENORMOUS new tipper trays, and trucks on the back of semi trailers.  They take up the entire width of the road - you just have to pull over. 

 

Here's another one, this time the bottom half

 

Our camp spot at Bilyuin Pool near Meekatharra.  Very pleasant.

Tues 11 to Thurs 13 June – Karijini NP

We loved Karijini!  Over three very full, energetic and adventurous days we:

• Walked to Fortescue Falls and then the Fern Pool for a swim in the pool and waterfalls
• Went to the three ways lookout
• Walked across the top of Dales Gorge, then back along the gorge to Fortescue Falls for a swim
• Walked down to and along Dales Gorge, swimming and wading to get to Circular Pool.
• Walked down and along Hancock Gorge to Kermit Pool, twice.  First time we almost got there and were caught out because due to the recent rains, we had to swim to get to Kermit Pool.  Back along and up the gorge, grabbed bathers, back down and along, swimming and wading through chest deep water past the Ampitheatre and through Spider Walk, to get to Kermits Pool. Magnificent!  (There's something crazy about having to swim to get to the swimming pool.....)
• Walked along the top of and along the bottom of Weano Gorge.
• Walked down and along Weano Gorge and swam/waded to Handrail Pool,
• Checked out the lookouts at Joffre Falls and Knox Gorge …… PHEW!      
• We gave Kalamina Gorge a miss.

We certainly had our share of exercise and fun here. 

 

All these photos are out of order.... blog was giving me trouble.



All the walks here are graded class 3, 4 or 5. (5 being indistinct trails, rough terrain, high level of fitness required.  The trails to Kermits Pool and Handrail Pool were Class 5.)

Trying to stay dry

Gave up and started wading

Rest stop

Clive in wet bathers, with his shoes and socks still on (left his crocs at the campsite), negotiating a narrow section before Handrail Pool.  There were too many sharp small rocks to go barefoot.

Wading through to Handrail Pool

The top of the handrail.  It was about a 7 metre drop to the pool, negotiating the handrail and steps stuck to the sheer rock.

Helen at the base of the handrail

Clive on the edge of Handrail Pool

 

Clive walking to Dales Gorge

Steps down Hancock Gorge

Gorge rock formations

Helen under the waterfall, Fern Pool

Precarious rock formations, Dales Gorge

Amazing patterns

Three ways lookout

Dales Gorge

The sign said it all.... 

Circular Pool from above

On the way to Kermits Pool, the first time

Massive chunks of slate, on the way to Circular Pool

More slate

Massive blocks of slate and boulders

Clive on way to Circular Pool

Circular Pool

Trying not to get our feet wet... this was before we realised we'd be wading/swimming to our destination!

This little rock formation was holding up a massive cliff!  We carefully checked it out.

We were almost rock climbing in some sections