8 - BACK TO THE INDIAN OCEAN

First stop back on the coast was Cape Range National Park/Ningaloo Reef for a few day, then down to Coral Bay.  We hired snorkels etc at both places and went swimming amongst the coloured fish and coral.  It's easy to get to - only a few metres off the beach, not a boat trip like the Great Barrier Reef, however it's not as colourful at GBR. On one of the beaches near Cape Range we were fortunate to see a lot of huge turtles both on the beach and in the shallow water just off the beach.  Some were still mating, but many had come ashore to rest before laying their eggs.  The ones up on the beach looked like they were dead and half buried in the sand but after standing around quietly for a while we'd notice an eye blink, or another one take a few steps and settle down again, so they were obviously just having a good rest after coming ashore from a long sea voyage. 


A bit further down the coast was Quabba Homestead with a large area of rock above the cliffs, and a further rock shelf below just above the water, with a lot of blowholes in it.  Some were only little, but others were shooting water way up into the air well above the top of the cliff.  From there we called into Carnarvon for a day to catch up on grocery shopping, then down to Hamelin Pool to see the stromatolites.  Another interesting natural phenomenon and one of only a couple left in the world (stromatolites are what made our oil deposits that we all depend on these days)

There are two caravan parks there, one at the Old Telegraph Station site and the other one at the nearby homestead.  We opted for the homestead and had a wonderful time.  The facilities were 5 star.  A beautifully clean, tiled amenities block that looked brand spanking new (but about 3 years old actually), another building housing a big commercial style kitchen for campers to use, an adjoining dining room and big verandah with gas barbeques.  (They also have rooms to let and do fully catered accommodation for groups of geologists coming to study the stromatolite pool.)

The couple hosting the campground were very friendly and joined in with the campers for happy hour etc.  On the morning after the first night we set out to go into Denham, but only a few kilometres up the road we saw the sky ahead was very black and then a severe storm warning came over the radio - expected to cross the coast at Denham with severe lightning, large hail, high winds, a lot of rain and possible flash flooding.  People were advised to stay indoors, get their cars etc under cover - and we were driving straight towards it.  So we decided to make a U turn and go back to the homestead where we would have some shelter.  When we arrived back Jock, the camp host checked out the weather web site and saw that it could possibly come over there too, so everyone "battened down the hatches", parked vehicles close up to the buildings etc, and people who were about to leave decided to stay.  Consequently it turned into an all-day happy hour on the verandah and everyone had a good time.  Fortunately the wind changed slightly and it crossed the coast further down, so we only had some heavy rain for a little while where we were. That was two nights there instead of one.

Next morning we set off again to Denham, and Francois Peron National Park and spent two nights camped there.  There had been a lot of rain out at Peron Point and the camping areas the day before so it was a good decision to turn back the day before.  It was an interesting place, both at the end of the park - Peron Point and Skipjack Point, as well as a few lookouts along the coast before Denham where we could see humpback whales out to sea plus sharks, rays, and one dugong swimming in the shallow water and at the edges of the huge areas of sea grass.

We decided not to go the the highly publicised Monkey Mia to "swim with the dolphins".  They charge a fee just to get into the area and apparently once there it's all very "commercial" and you can't actually swim.  You can stand in the water up to about knee deep, and someone comes down with food for the dolphins, which will swim in close and around you if you are lucky.  This is done about 7:30am and a couple of times later in the morning if there are enough dolphins about.  We were advised that as most of them had babies, they were not coming in to shore much, and they were only doing the one feeding at 7:30.

After the National Park we went back again to Hamelin Pool Homestead - third night... because we also wanted to go to Steep Point, the most westerly point on the mainland, just to say we'd been there I guess.  We were lucky enough to get a camp site after being told the day before that it was booked out for the next 2 or 3 weeks.  They had a cancellation and we were there in time to get it.  It's a 'fun' drive in through the sand hills but it wasn't much fun camping that night.  Late in the afternoon the wind got up and by dinner time it was blowing a gale - one of the times we were glad of the extra feature our camper has of being able to slide the kitchen inside the tent, as well as the normal outside position.  We just heated up tinned Irish Stew and went to bed, but couldn't read in bed because I thought I'd be seasick we were being rocked around so much by the wind. After thorougly exploring the area, seeing the Zuytdorp Cliffs, False Entrance and another area of blowholes (which weren't blowing because the swell wasn't right) we headed back again to Hamelin Pool, planning to leave the next morning.  But ..... next day was Melbourne Cup and the property owners had organised a lunch, inviting some of their nearest neighbours (up to 60 kilometres away) and any of the campers who wanted to stay.  So we decided to stay, have a few drinks and a good time and stay for another night, making it five nights in all.  So hard to drag yourself away from some places!


When we finally got away we went to Kalbarri where we stayed three nights, seeing all the sights of the National Park and enjoying what was left of the famous wildflowers.  Although it is getting late in the season there were still quite a few very nice patches of colour.  And from there on there has been quite a bit of coloured flowering plants of all types along the roadside and out into the bush, where is is not under crops or being grazed.

Kalbarri is definitely the best of all the National Parks and also the most accessible.  There are a few very easy walks to some river gorges and even the climb to "The Window on the World" is not difficult.

After exploring everything there, we had a couple of days just relaxing at Coronation Bay where we caught up with people who had been at Ningaloo with us.  Then it was off to Geraldton for a 20,000k truck service and the usual grocery shopping etc.

7 - THE PILBARA REGION

This all seems so long ago I hope I can remember what we did now!

Millstream National Park - spent two nights here, camped at Crossing Pool. Lovely!  Just a basic campsite - bush toilet, a patch of dirt big enough to fit in about a dozen caravans, plus a grass area with picnic tables etc.  Lovely couple as camp hosts, other very friendly campers and a beautiful waterhole with a ladder down into the water right next to our camp, so no need for a shower!  Had a drive around to the lookouts, old homestead and interesting bushwalk nearby.

After leaving there we came across a station-stay at Mt Florance and called in, just for the night but ended up staying four nights.  Another great group of  happy campers - three other couples, two young men building fences on the property and the Shire Council grader driver who was working on the road nearby.  All joined in a communal BBQ and chat around the camp fire each night.  The couple acting as camp hosts organised 2 day trips, the first one to Nunyerry, an adjoining property which was the first place run by Lang Hancock before he became rich and famous.  He started it as a cattle station, but it proved un-viable however he discovered white asbestos, which led him into mining, and "the rest is history".  The ruins of the homestead and air field are still there but it's a 3 hour drive to do 30 kilometres as the road is not maintained.  The next day we did a trip to Millers Gorge and around the bores on Mt Florence, and met Elsie, a very friendly young cow who was one of last year's hand reared ones (due to drought conditions), who still comes up for a cuddle and fussing when people come around near the mob.

When we finally left there, we stayed at Karijini National Park for a couple of days.  It has some spectacular gorges, but the walks were very steep and dangerous and we didn't venture down any of them, just contenting ourselves to look down into them from the lookouts at the top.  We talked to others there and all agreed it was the most dangerous National Park we'd ever seen.  When we returned 3 days later, we saw that one of the walks was closed off  with 'police tape' and heard that the next day after we'd left a young man died on one of those climbs. His 7 year old son had fallen going down the very steep, rocky steps, he tried to grab him and they both fell a long distance.  The child was seriously injured.  Haven't heard any more about it since then.

We then went to Newman & Tom Price, doing the mine tours at both places.  The Tom Price one is by far the best tour if you ever go there and don't want to do both.  From Tom Price we spent a night at Parabadoo - free camping at the local sports ground, then over the very rough Dooley Downs road to Mt Augustus.  Spent 2 nights there, doing some of the walks on the mountain, which is the biggest rock in the world, but it just looks like a regular mountain with trees and grass on it, not bare rock like Ayers Rock.  There was a quite easy walk to a wonderful lookout, which makes a difference - usually I can't manage to get up to the top of a lot of the lookouts.

Then we spent a couple of days just travelling, staying at Cobra and a roadside stop at Mangaroon Creek on the way to the Kennedy Ranges National Park. We stayed a couple of days there and had a bit of a look around, then went back towards the coast.

6 - DOWN THE COAST A BIT

After all the dirt roads and gorges of the Gibb River Road, we found a beautiful free campsite called Quandong Point, a bit north of Broome.  There are loads of places all along the headland overlooking the ocean.  We were lucky enough to get into a site with very easy access to the beach and spent 3 days swimming, beachcombing and lazing around enjoying the view.  We were also lucky enough to be given fish for dinner by boat fishermen who had caught more than they needed.

We didn't stay in Broome any longer than it took to fill up with fuel and groceries (to commercial and yuppy), then moved down the coast to the very popular "grey nomads retreat" of Barn Hill for two nights, then 80 Mile Beach,both with lovely beaches to walk along, but behind the sandhills, so not the view we had a Quandong Point.

Next we found another great free camp at De Grey River, not far from Port Headland, with a very friendly crowd camped there.  From there we headed inland to Marble Bar - very interesting rock formation across the river, actually jasper, but mistaken for marble by the first settlers, hence the name.

On the way back to the coast we came across Indee Station, another cattle station offering camping where the owners host happy hour in the homestead, providing the chips, nuts, dips etc for all their visitors.  Real bush hospitality - and an interesting drive through the property to their own big red rock.

We had a quick look at Port Headland, did some shoping and watched the ships leaving port on the high tide, saw the salt processing area and our first glimpse of one of the huge iron ore carrying trains - over 3 kilometres long.  After that we spent a few days in the Roebourne, Karratha, Dampier area, did a very interesting tour of the loading facility, where iron ore from the inland mines is processed and loaded onto ships.  More big flat areas extracting salt from the sea water, more very long trains carrying iron ore.   We also discovered the Red Dog monument at Dampier - they are hoping it will become as famous as the Dog on the Tuckerbox, a movie about Red Dog has just come out using his real life story with a bit of poetic licence.

5 - THE GIBB RIVER ROAD

After leaving Wyndham we made our next stop at Diggers Rest - not very far, but a lovely place to spend a day and night.  It is a farm and accommodation complex offering campsites adjacent to the homestead, or several riverside camps on their property.  We elected to have one of the riverside sites, and each site is allocated to you exclusively, so no crowding in, just your own private camp with a long-drop toilet in a beautiful setting.  It was very tempting to jump into the river except for the threat of estuarine crocodiles so it's just look and enjoy the view.  While there we experienced a very strong willy-willy. It sounded like a freight train coming and as it crossed the river, lifted water up to about a metre or more.  Luckily it was not right in the path of our camp, but at the time Ken was walking down the riverbank and had to run behind a tree to get out of it's path.

Next day we hit the Gibb River Road, bypassing El Questro as we'd been there before, so made our first stop at Home Valley, then Miners Pool (part of Drysdale Station) on our way to Kalumburu.

What a rip off!  Kalumburu Community charges $50 for a permit to be there, then $30 to camp at a very ordinary camping ground at Honeymoon Bay very shabby toilet, no working shower. Admittedly it was a pretty beach but no better than hundreds of others and the roads are all in very bad condition.  To add to that the information sheet was very vague about places and signposts were almost non-existent so we didn't find most of the "attractions" we were supposed to see.  They're so desperate for tourist attractions they suggest going to the sewage treatment ponds for birdwatching, and their scenic tour around the town includes a trip into the rubbish dump!  Probably only worth going there if you're mad keen on fishing, but nothing else.

We didn't bother going to Mitchell Plateau as we figured I wouldn't be able to do the walk, and we're not about to pay $100 for a six minute one-way helicopter ride up or back.  Ken has seen it from the air and the road in was reported to be in shocking condition - and by then we were nursing a tyre with 4 plugs in it, which was still leaking slowly.  We returned to Drysdale River Station that night and went on to Imintji and bought another new tyre.  Now we have two good "light truck" tyres on the back and consequently have had no more trouble - so much stronger than the cheap crap tyres you get on a new vehicle.

From there we went back to Mt Elizabeth Station, another disappointing choice.  Their station tracks were very rough and their map poorly drawn.  We ended up with heat exhaustion doing a walk that was a lot further and more difficult that we'd been led to believe. To make matters worse their amenities block was full of mosquitoes - day and night, and the hot water system was playing up so hardly anyone got a warm shower - for $30 a night.

Charnley River Station however was a welcome relief - lovely friendly hostess, good amenities, beautiful grassy, shaded camping area beside a waterhole teeming with wildlife - wallabies, many different sized lizards and dozens of different birds and the same price, $30 a night. Their station tracks were also in good condition.  We ended up staying three nights.


Mornington Wilderness Camp was good, but a bit over-rated.  Their tracks were in good condition, and a lovely swimming spot in the Fitzroy River as well as a few good gorges and waterholes to look at.  But they charge a $25 "entry fee" on top of their $35 a night camping fee and for all the hype, we didn't see any wildlife there.  If I was doing it again I'd just stay at Charnley and give the others a miss.

After that we did a quick in-and-out of some other gorges close to the road, then camped at Silent Grove to do the walk to Bells Gorge, then on to Fitzroy Crossing, bypassing Windjana and Tunnel Creek as we'd been to them before.  The highlight of  Fitzroy Crossing is the boat tour of Geikie Gorge, quite reasonable price and very well presented.  It's a fascinating place - huge white cliffs which were once a coral reef about 350,000 million years ago..

4 - KATHERINE TO WYNDHAM

After leaving Katherine we next made camp at Flora National Park - followed the road right to the far end of the park where it comes to a dead end on the banks of a very wide, deep river - a nice place for lunch before going back to the camp ground and exploring a walk down the valley to see a couple of small waterfalls, nice to look at, but it was very hot and stuffy in amongst the palms with no breeze.

Next day we travelled on to Gregory NP, had a look around the old Bullita homestead and made camp ready to travl the Bullita stock route track the next day.  Two other families were also doing the stock route so we travelled in convoy as a safety measure in case anyone got stuck and needed winching out of somewhere.  We all got through without any problems, but it is a fairly heavy-going 4WD track in places, with no real purpose as the scenery is much the same as (and no better than) everywhere else around that area.  After covering the more difficult patches, the other two vehicles continued on but we decided to take a detour to Drovers Rest campsite for lunch and stayed the night.  Again a nice enough spot, but nothing special. All told, it was a bit disappointing as we'd been told how great it was and a "must not miss".

The next day we took a slow trip around Victoria River & Timber Creek having a good look at lookouts, the old river crossing etc, which we'd wanted to do for a long time as every other time we'd had to rush straight past on our way to somewhere else.

The very last place in NT (only a couple of kilometres from the WA border) is Keep River NP.  We spent two nights here, having a look around and doing a walk into some spectacular country - high rocky walls with lovely green "gardens" in the shadowed areas where they fold around.  Ken also went up to the lookout but I decided that was a bit much for me.

First stop in WA was Lake Argyle where we had a 2-day rest from the dust and heat in the lovely grassy caravan park, and found an entertainer performing there who we'd met in Queensland a couple of years ago.  Her name is Fina, and she does quite a good show, all kinds of music that we like.

After an overnight in Kununurra to get some groceries etc, we set off for Wyndham via the Parry's Lagoon Road.  A couple of nice waterholes and places off on side tracks, and finally the lagoon, with a great bird hide and lots of interesing birds to watch - from little ones that walk around on the lilly pads, and seem to almost walk on the water up to brolgas, and big black and white geese (who's name I can't remember tonight).  At Wyndham we watched the sunset from the spectacular "5 Rivers Lookout" where you can see five rivers flowing into the ocean.

3 - FROM ALICE SPRINGS TO KATHERINE

Since leaving Alice Springs we’ve spent a lot of time visiting National Parks in the East & West Macdonald Ranges. We weren’t going to do that this trip, but once you get into the area the beauty of it all keeps you there longer than you intended.

Most places we did short walks together, Ken did some longer ones on his own and we just enjoyed being in the spectacular scenery that is all around.

Here’s a list of places we visited:

• N’Dhalia Gorge via Bins Track
• Trephina Gorge, (where we met a couple we hadn’t seen for about 25-30 years, were in a babysitting club together when our children were little)
• Ormiston Gorge
• Redbank Gorge

Then we went up to Tilmouth Well on the Tanamai Road via back roads, up some more back roads and out onto the highway again staying at Ti Tree.

Another trip took us down 75 kilometres of  dirt road hoping to get to Old Police Station Waterhole, only to find the rest of the road closed, so back to the highway to try the northern approach, but the road was very rough and by the time we got to Whistleduck Creek it was time to make camp.  Quite a nice waterhole and only one other family camped there. We gave up on the idea of getting to Old Police Station Waterhole as it was another 100 k’s of rough rocky road and no guarantee that the road wasn’t going to be closed before we got there.

Coming out of there wrecked our first tyre – must have hit a sharp rock and developed a slow leak because a little while after getting back on the bitumen highway, we had a blow-out and completely wrecked the tyre.  So next stop was Tennant Creek and $285 for a new one.  After having lunch just outside Tennant Creek we carried on to Banka Banka Station to stay the night.  It was a lovely camp ground, and the manager was very friendly.  They light a big communal camp fire at about 6pm, which is a great idea instead of everyone having their own little fires.  I would recommend it to anyone going past that way.

The following day took us to Daly Waters Pub – and who can drive straight past there?  So it was “Beef & Barra” for dinner with the new entertainer “Chillie” proving quite good fun, although not as funny as Frank “The Chook Man”.

After that we started on the “Hot Springs Country” with our first swim being at Bittar Springs, Mataranka, and camping the night at Elsey National Park, then up to Douglas Hot Springs for two nights, one night at Umbrawarra Gorge before stopping off in Kathrerine to get the truck serviced, catch up on washing, shopping etc, and finally get the computer out as we are at a powered site again (but spending the hot afternoon sitting down in the river in the shade).

2 - OODNADATTA TO ALICE SPRINGS

After leaving Oodnadatta we took a leisurely trip up to Dalhousie Springs where we found  a very busy but not full camping area.  After setting up camp, we headed down to the hot springs pool for a “swim”.  It was a beautiful setting with lots of green everywhere – an oasis in the desert.

Unfortunately because we went down for a swim I didn’t take the camera and forgot to go back for a photo – but it’s one of those places that feature on the travel literature, so I’m sure there are lots of good professional photos out there somewhere.

It was nice enough, but the water was quite hot and I couldn’t stay in long, spent more time sitting on the steps that actually in the water.  There are loads of tiny fish that keep nibbling at you which gets a bit annoying after a while. We had planned to stay there a couple of night but that night decided we’d rather move on, and so next morning we packed up and moved on to Chambers Pillar.

By contrast the camping area was lovely and peaceful, even though there were plenty of people there, so we stayed two nights there instead.  Spent the day doing the walk around the pillar at a leisurely pace, then went back to the observation area for sunset.  We had different “neighbours” both nights, but had enjoyable social evenings around the camp fire both nights.  On the second morning we made the effort to be up to watch the sunrise on the rock, and the changing colours – similar but different to the sunset the previous evening.

On Monday we meandered our way out via a stock route to the highway and turned down to Hanbury Meteorite Craters, where we’d planned to camp for the night.  After doing the walk and seeing all there was to see (very interesting) we decided it was still early and the camping area was fairly uninteresting and bleak looking, so we decided to have a look at  Rainbow Valley instead.

This proved to be a good move – much nicer camping ground, and arrived in plenty of time to do the walk, then found that the effect of the setting sun on the mutli-coloured cliff face was absolutely spectacular – much better than Chambers Pillar and other similar places we’d been to.

We had a quiet night on our own.  Two other vehicles were there but chose to camp some distance away.  From the sound of the voices in the distance they were probably European “backpackers”.

By now it was time to stop off in “civilisation” again, get cleaned up, wash some clothes and stock up the groceries etc, so we booked into a caravan park in Alice Springs for the next two nights.  Having been here quite a number of times we didn’t bother with any of the tourist attractions in town, just got on with business and ready to head out into the bush again.

1 -TO OODNADATTA

After a lot of delays we finally got away late in June, and spent the first two weeks in Melbourne catching up with our newest grand daughter who has learned to crawl and is now trying to find her feet and learn to walk.  We also took the opportunity to visit a few friends down there before moving off in a generally north-westerly direction.

Our first night out was wet and miserable so we made camp at a roadhouse and bought dinner in the dining room rather than trying to cook out in the open.

Next day the weather started to clear up and we ended up at the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park.  It was very pleasant – a mixture of mallee scrub and  stands of white Cyprus pine.  Made us resolve to come back and spend time exploring western Victoria’s National Parks more thoroughly.

From there we meandered across back roads through farming areas and arrived at Lake Cullulleraine in time for lunch beside the lake, then decided to check into the caravan park and have an easy afternoon, get some washing done and just relax.

Next morning we spend a very enjoyable time exploring a pioneer memorial village – very well set up with old buildings brought in from around the district, and a wonderful collection of history including loads of folders of records of early settlers which would be a great resource for anyone wanting to research their family history in that area.

At Renmark we stopped in town at the river and met up with Frank “The Chook Man” and his rather remarkable house (and garden) boat.  We had seen him perform at Daley Waters Pub in he past and heard that he was moored in Remark for a few days.  Had a lovely chat just sitting on the retaining wall at the riverside and bought a copy of his new DVD which he has just released.

After finding our next proposed campsite closed due to recent flooding, we pushed on and ended up on a free roadside camp near Berri, SA where we shared a campfire with some other travellers.

Friday found us in Port Augusta to do some shopping and other boring things, as well as checking on road conditions with the tourist information.  We found that our planned trip around Lake Torrens was not possible as the road was still closed, so next morning we headed off up through Quorn, Hawker and Lyndhurst towards the start of the Oodnadatta Track.

On good advice from others, we spent that night at Farina, a very nice bush camping ground with loads of old stone ruins from the farm and village which was established there in the 1870’s with the coming of the railway, and hopes of growing wheat, which proved to be a futile attempt as the weather patterns the early explorers had experienced were some the very rare wet years in a normally arid, semi-desert area.

Next morning we moved on, through Marree and on to Coward Springs, stopping along the way to look at places of historic interest – old railway sidings, abandoned stone farm houses and other interesting features of the area.  The pool at the springs was a very welcome relaxation at the end of the day.  Although not really hot, and the pool very small, it was warm and pleasant.  We also met up with a couple we’d met the night before.  They are travelling around with a couple of telescopes trying to introduce people to the wonders of the night sky, so this gave us a mutual interest to discuss.  We had a very enjoyable evening by the campfire with a glass or 2 of wine as it was cloudy so no good for telescopes.

Next morning they headed for the highway, hoping to find clearer skies further north, while we continued along the Track enjoying the sights, finally arriving at Algebuckina Bridge, about 50 kilometres short of Oodnadatta and found a delightful camping spot beside the river.  It was so pleasant we decided to stay the next night as well, and spent the day watching the wildlife, in particular a beautiful pair of white faced herons (also called blue herons) who must have had nest nearby as they spent the whole time around the area of the river where we were camped.

After our rest day, we set off again, arriving at the Painted Desert in nice time to do the walk through the coloured hills and valleys just before sunset when the colours were highlighted by the low angle of the sun.  Had a very enjoyable night around the campfire with 2 other couples and a man travelling on his own.  We all had such a good evening we exchanged email addresses and promised to keep in touch.  One couple lives at Stanhope Gardens – very near to where we live!

Next day we stayed at Oodnadatta, bought some supplies, did some washing and sent a couple of postcards before setting off on the next stage of the trip.

I’ve taken loads of photos, but haven’t downloaded them yet – bit crowded to do it here in the camper tonight so I’ll do that another day.

Not a lot going on in the sewing room over the last couple of weeks, just a few things for CWA - made a few emergency pack bags and closed up some breast cushions which had been filled at the last craft day.

The last thing I completed was the International Doll for CWA.  This year's country of study is Iceland, so this is my interpretation of the Icelandic costume known as the Peysuföt,  It was worn by many women as their normal everyday wear during the 18th and 19th century.  Even in the early part of the 20th century it was still being worn by some older women.

At night I've been working on knitting a teddy bear using the small round loom.  I've completed one, and almost done another one, but not completely happy with my pattern so far - all trial and error.  Maybe while I'm away I'll do some more and get one fit for photographing.

I've been preoccupied with getting ready to head off on our "big trip".  Keep watching in a few weeks for details of where we've been and what we've seen.

Next week we leave for Melbourne, have a few days with our daughter and her family - see The Boo again - then head off up through the centre, taking in the Oodnadatta Track and Old Ghan Track to Alice Springs, then north-west towards Broome and down through WA.

HOW DO YOU MAKE PJ's FOR A RHINO??

Because Emmylou got to do sewing, the Dinoboy wanted to sew as well and Bruff needed pyjamas.  But his idea of sewing is telling Grandma what he wants, choosing fabric, buttons etc, watching for a few minutes, then running off to do something else while I finish the job.

A week or so ago he announced "Bruff needs pyjamas".  So that was this weekend's job.  He decided on a blue and white theme.  I settled on making a "doggy coat" style of garment, however he wanted arm holes in it and buttons on the front, so I made two over-sized button hole type openings for the front legs to go through.

It's a very quick construct - one strip of fabric, overlocked (serged in American) all around the edge with two buttons on the front.  All very rough but he's happy with the end result.

SEWING LESSONS

This weekend the grandchildren are having a sleep-over and of course this means sewing for Emmylou (aged 9).  She said she wanted to make a cushion with one side plain and the other side patchwork stripes, so we went up and raided my scraps and this is what we came up with:

First off she drew a grid picture of what she wanted, then I worked out the measurements (10" x 10" finished) and explained how to measure the fabric with seam allowances etc.  She enjoyed this as she loves maths and quickly understood how I arrived at the measurements we needed to cut.

She learned how to use a rotary cutter to cut the strips (with a very nervous Grandma watching little fingers), then joined them up with a 1/4" seam.  After pressing the seams we put some iron-on Pelon on the back to make it easier for her to handle and discussed quilting options.  She decided to go with a decorative stitch down the centre of each stripe using an embroidery cam in the machine.  We trialled several cams to decide which one she liked best and came up with a curly wave pattern.  I started her off on the centre one, then she did all the rest herself, changing colours for the top thread to coordinate with the fabrics.

When the top was finished we cut a square and attached to the back, turned it and filled it with stuffing.  Then she learned slip hemming to close the opening so it all looked lovely and neat.

CWA PROJECT

As Handicraft Officer for my CWA branch, I have selected this as our group project for next year's competition.  The specification is for a quilted wall hanging no bigger than 12" x 16" and must be worked on by at least 4 members of the branch.  I found a pattern of suitable size (12" x 14") called "Oopsie Daisies" in a magazine.

My input has been to source the fabrics, cut them to size, trace out the embroidery pattern and iron on the applique elements.  Now it's ready to pass on to someone else who will do the embroidery. A third person will join up the fabrics to make the top, then pass it on to someone else to do the quilting, put on the back and finishing off.

The outermost border is the yellow print (white daisies & blue butterflies), then a blue border around and between the 2 embroidered panels with brown hanging tabs and back.

I've included blue and yellow butterfly buttons for the hanging tabs because I can't decide which will look best.  Blue matches the butterflies on the yellow daisy fabric, but the yellow looks nice against the brown fabric they will be stitched to.  I think I'll leave that decision to the person doing the finishing off.

MORE RECENT CRAFT

Emmylou's winter skirt.  She chose the pattern and fabric (from left-overs stash).  It's amazing how many things you can make from left overs!

This toilet roll holder was a birthday present for Daughter-in-Law.  I chose the flower seed packets panels as they are very bright and cheerful, and she loves her garden, so it brings a little of that inside the house and brightens up a neutral coloured room.

These 2 carry bags were made using round looms.  I made the darker one first, and when Emmylou saw it she said she'd like one too, so I made the smaller one in colours I knew she'd like.  She was very happy with it.

These are my favourite gloves that I've had for ever.  They had a strip of black fur around the cuff, but it was getting very sad looking, so I removed it and knitted two strips in fluffy wool to replace them.  Certainly brightened them up a lot!

PRETTY THINGS FOR THE BOO

 Recently I made this little summer outfit from some fabric her mother gave me. I haven't put the elastic in the pants because she needs to grow into it next summer, so the elastic can be measured to the right size when she's ready to wear it.

 I don't do regular knitting - never could get the tension right, but I've had more success with loom knitting.  This is a beanie and scarf that I'm sure she'll look very cute in when she's about 2 or 3.  The beanie was made on a round loom, and the scarf on a long loom.

And another outfit for next summer - made out of the left over fabric from Emmylou's "prize winning" dress.  The hat is the reverse alternating colours inside and can be worn either way.  Again I've left the elastic out of the pants until she's ready to wear them.

NOVEMBER 2009 - A 2-IN-ONE TRIP + AN EXTRA WEEKEND

 We left Sydney on Saturday 7th November 2009 with the 4WD Club, spending one night in Coolah Tops National Park and two nights at the Warrumbungle National Park, where we went on a few walks and generally enjoyed the company of friends and the native animals.

We then travelled to Bald Rock National Park, west of Tenterfield and from there also visited Boonoo Boonoo National Park and other interesting features of the area including Thunderbolt's Cave (one of several in the New England District) Boonoo Boonoo Falls and several very pretty water holes and bush walking areas.  More photos.

Gold Panning at Nundle

On Friday morning we said farewell to our 4WD Club friends and left for Nundle where we joined other members of Northern Districts Lapidary Club.  We spent three days gold panning, fossicking for crystals and visited a lovely private garden up in the mountains.  We also called in to a trout farm to buy fresh trout which was then barbequed for dinner that night.

From here we moved up to Inverell to fossick for sapphires.  We visited two commercial fossicking areas and had some moderate success finding several small sapphires.  Some of the group were going on to another area near Tenterfield, but as we had been there with the other group the week before, we returned home, having been away for two weeks.    More photos


The following weekend we re-packed the camper and truck and went down to Coolendel Nature Reserve, 30k west Nowra to join other members of the Camper Trailers Group.  For this weekend we took The Dinoboy who had a wonderful weekend swimming in the river and observing all the native wildlife.  Before he went home he made a list of the animals he saw and these included kangaroos and joeys, wallabies, wombats, several species of native birds, fish and two large goannas.  Two of the wombats which inhabit the camping area were particularly tame and all the children followed them around during the evenings watching and patting them.  More photos.

NEW PYJAMAS

This year I decided to make new pyjamas for Emmylou and The Dinoboy as Easter presents instead of buying chocolate and adding to their dental accounts.  They are a bit big, but that was deliberate as I wasn't sure if they needed any more new ones for this year, so they're ready for next year when they grow out of what they've already got.

A PRIZE WINNER!

I made this dress for Emmylou as my first ever entry into the CWA craft competition.

 To my surprise it was selected to go on to State Conference 2010 for judging at State level and I won 2nd prize.

I've always loved sewing, and take pride in doing things properly, but I didn't think I was that good.

GREEN DRESSES

3 dresses made from one piece of fabric, over a 30 year period.

I originally purchased the piece of fabric to make a dress for my daughter when she was about 3 years old. I have included a photo taken of her wearing the original dress below.

Some years later we used some of the left-over fabric to make a dress for her Cabbage Patch Kid.

Recently I found the last half metre still in my stash and made a little shift dress for my daughter's baby "The Boo" to grow into.

And that's the end of it.

CANNING STOCK ROUTE

(and through the middle of every mainland state)

After many delays and changes of plan we finally got away on Sunday, 13th July 2008 and had a pleasant drive up through the Hunter Valley, stopped for lunch at Broke, and made camp at a free roadside stop called "Casillis Park".  Some time in the night we had quite a bit of rain so woke up in the morning to a very wet, muddy camp, but fortunately the rain had stopped.  Next afternoon we made camp at Mulga Creek Caravan Park, Byrock which is a very pleasant camping area behind the hotel. No grass of course, but very clean, spacious and nice shade.  Had a drink at the hotel after dinner, and the publican came over to have a chat and to tell us about the local attractions - very welcoming. Next morning we had a walk around the rock and pools which give the village it's name.  Quite a pretty spot.

From there we headed up through Bourke to Hungerford where we made camp for the night.  That's when the first problem struck - hardly started on the dirt road, and the new roof bars started to come away from the roof, so had to re-distribute the load in the back of the truck to fit the spare tyre case in behind the seats and secured the roof rack with tie-down straps.

Next day, and next dirt road we started getting fuel starvation problems.  We'd had the problem before and been charged a lot for replacement parts.  Phoned ahead to the Holden dealer on Longreach who said they would see us as soon as we arrived in town the following day.  Spent the night at a caravan park at Blackall.  They were actually full but managed to find a bare patch of ground for us adjacent to their residence (unpowered) and we got into Longreach next day.  Fortunately the dealer was very accommodating and got on with our job as soon as we arrived.  They also had a part in stock that is a modification to overcome this problem, which is caused by dust (a design flaw) so they are very familiar with this problem being in an area with plenty of dirt roads!  (City Holden dealers/mechanics don't know anything about diesel Rodeos and country conditions.)

We had planned to have a slow trip to Alice Springs, via the Plenty Highway, but decided with the roof rack the way it was, we'd stick to the bitumen, and get in to Alice as soon as possible to see if we could get it fixed before heading off to the CSR.  As a result we just kept straight up the black-top through Mt Isa, Barkly Highway etc.  Camped at The Blue Heeler (Kynuna) and a free camp at Wynorah Bore.

Next night we stayed at Barrow Creek.  Probably the worst pub camping site in Australia, but we had a great night in spite of it.  Two other couples from SA and Vic also camped there joined us for happy hour and dinner in the hotel (we all decided the smell in the camping area made it totally unsuitable for cooking and outdoor eating).  Again, the hotel staff made us very welcome and had an interesting display of aboriginal artifacts and local history.

Sunday we made it into Alice Springs and set up camp at Wintersun Caravan park.  Not a bad caravan park, but a bit basic, and the neighbours are very noisy - barking dogs, crowing roosters, to say nothing of the humans on the other side of the steel fence.

Spent the next couple of days getting the roof rack repaired, oil change, washing, shopping etc in preparation for the Guides to Adventure tag-along of the Canning Stock Route.  Thursday morning we attended the pre-departure briefing and met most of the other people joining the trip, before leaving Alice Springs in convoy at 8:30 Friday morning.

First stop was to see Dinky the Singing Dingo at Stuarts Creek, then on to the Ayres Rock Resort caravan park at Yalara for our first night with the group, after stopping to take the mandatory photos of Mt Connor and surrounds.  As everyone on the trip had been to the area before, we didn't spend time around Ayres Rock/Olgas, except for stopping at a couple of vantage points for photo opportunities, and carried on to Warrakurna to camp the night, stopping to have a look at Lassiter's cave on the way.

Next morning we took in a guided tour of Giles Weather Station before moving on to Warburton were we met up with another couple from Perth who were joining our tour.  From there we turned up onto the Heather Highway, and Gunbarrel Highway.  If you want corrugations - this is the place for it.  It is doubtful that these roads have seen a grader since Len Beadell made them.  In some of the worst places there are detours, and detours around the detours, around the detours etc, etc.  Camp that night was at "Camp Beadell".

The following day we continued on the Gunbarrel Highway, making camp about 100k short of Carnegie Station.  Lots of Len Beadell "memorabilia", marked trees etc to stop and look at, take photos of etc.  At the border of Wiluna Shire the Gunbarrel suddenly turns into a very good, well maintained road.  That afternoon we made camp at Wiluna Caravan Park which was rather crowded as there was another tag-along there, ready to leave the following morning.  We stayed until after lunch fuelling up, buying last minute necessities, and having a look at Well 1 and North Pool.  The convoy left Wiluna after lunch and began the actual CSR.

Most of the trip from here on consisted of driving from one well to the next, stopping for a few photos, morning tea or lunch, and taking on water where there was good water.  We stopped to see the majority of the wells, but didn't visit every well as some are no longer accessible, or there is nothing there to see as they have silted up, all the timber collapsed and been burnt either by campers or bush fires.  Even so, several that we did see were little more than a shallow depression in the ground and bits of metal and timber lying around.  Others have been completely restored and supply good drinking water.

First night was spent at Well 3.  Had a little bit of rain that afternoon and during the night, but nothing serious and only settled the dust.  Next night we camped at Well 6, had some more light rain after setting up camp, but woke up to a frost.  That night we camped between Wells 12 and 13, having met the first of the 997 sand hills after Well 11.

After the more energetic people climbed up to "Canning's Cairn", our next stop was the very pretty camp site at Durba Springs - a lovely green grassy valley in between the Durba Hills, with a permanent waterhole.  We spent two nights here, having a rest day and a chance to walk around the hills, examine rock paintings and other interesting natural features.

The following day, after crossing the very salty Savoury Creek, we made camp at Lake Disappointment with time for a walk down to have a good look at the salt lake.  This was another pleasant looking camp site in amongst the desert oaks, however it was windy and very cold.

Next day all our vehicle problems started - a result of the constant corrugations, rocks and bouncing over the sandhill.  At morning tea I was walking back towards the truck when I noticed that one of the rear springs had broken off at the "strap" around one end of it.  The same morning the engine started running rough, and starving of fuel.  While we were worrying about this, just before lunch, I was driving and felt a "bump" in the right hand front end.  When we stopped for lunch I went and looked around the vicinity of front wheel and felt something didn't look right, so I went around and had a look at the other side to see what it was supposed to look like.  Sure enough the front shock absorber definitely wasn't where it should be - the top mounting bracket had broken off the chassis!  By the end of the day there was a rattle in the back end, which turned out to be a bolt missing from tray of the truck.  When we made camp near Well 25 the bolt was replaced, the shock absorber removed and everyone gave their own opinion on how the springs would or wouldn't hold up.  To cap it off, Ken was so stressed out, when setting up the camper, he managed to take a large chunk of skin off one of his fingers.  NOT A GOOD DAY.

Next day we continued to have fuel problems.  We found that when we got up to about 2500 revs, the engine started to starve, which meant that half way up a sand hill the engine would die and we'd have to reverse back down.  The only cure was to bleed the injectors.  After that when other people were adjusting tyre pressures for the next sandhill, we were bleeding the injectors!  But thankfully nothing else broke and we made it to Well 29, with a trip out to have a look at Thring Rock and the large gravel-strewn area around it.  Very interesting geology.  The following day we stopped at Well 33 and Kunawarritji Aboriginal Community where there is a small store, hot showers and fuel supplies ($3.20 for diesel).  We spent the next morning doing some repairs and discovered that the water trap in the fuel line was dented and sucking air (probably hit on a rock as it hangs low below the cabin).  Fortunately we had a spare fuel filter which fitted as a replacement and cured the problem.  As we hadn't had any water in the fuel up to that point, and weren't doing any water crossings, we were hopeful we wouldn't need to worry about water in the fuel until we could get back to Alice Springs and get it replaced.

In the following days we gradually broke the other three bits off the ends of the springs the same as the first one, camped near Wells 37, 46 and 49.  The only interesting features along this part of the track were Well 38, which is a deep rocky gorge; the snake which has taken up residence in Well 46; Breaden Pool and Godfrey's Tank which are in the same gorge (but both were dry when were where there).

Near Well 51 the other shock absorber mount snapped off.  This time we knew what it was as soon as it happened, and those following caught up and the enthusiastic mechanics amongst them immediately removed it.  So we limped in to Halls Creek with both springs in a very weakened condition and minus 2 front shock absorbers.

By the time the convoy reached Billiluna, where the Canning Stock Route ends at it's intersection with the Tanami Road, several vehicles were getting very low on fuel and we were watching the time as the "store" is only open limited hours.  We made it at a suitable time, but the place was deserted and no fuel could be bought.  It appears the guy who runs the place opens in the advertised times if he feels like it!  There was much sharing out of what fuel we had between us, and everyone made it into Halls Creek - where only one service station had any diesel.  Maybe the guy at Billiluna didn't have any either and that's why he wasn't there.

The next day we were scheduled to have rest day in Halls Creek before a visit to Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater and return via the Tanami Road.  As the Tanami is very corrugated it was decided that in view of our suspension problems it would be better if we stayed on the bitumen, so we said farewell to the rest of the party and headed off - very carefully - up through Kununurra, Katherine and back to Alice Springs and made it back in one piece - half an hour behind the rest of the group.  We had been across the Tanami and to Wolfe Creek last year, so weren't worried about missing this part of the trip.  We made up for it by having a 'night out' at Daly Waters Pub on our way back.

Back in Alice Springs we booked into the Macdonnell Ranges (Big 4) Caravan Park, which is a really lovely caravan park, with activities and entertainment on most night and a free pancake breakfast on Sunday morning.  Several of the other members of our tag-along were also staying there, so we caught up with them again had had a night out to dinner together.  We got the front suspension replaced and temporary repairs made to the springs, which we were assured would survive on bitumen roads to get us home.  Next day, as we fuelled up ready to leave, the main leaf of the left hand spring broke!  We ended up having to wait another week for a new set of springs to arrive and be fitted.

We eventually got away and made a quick dash down through Port Augusta and across the Western Highway to Bacchus Marsh where we left the camper with Utility Campers for the weekend.  As ours was the first of their new C190 composite material campers, they were anxious to have a good look over it to see how it coped with the trip and make any necessary modifications that they thought necessary.  They fixed the couple of minor things that did break, but generally it stood up to all that was dished up.  As their slogan is "Down any track it's on the back" they want to be sure that they can say that with confidence, even for the Canning.

After spending a few days with our daughter and son-in-law in Melbourne, we picked up the camper again and spent a night in Wagga to visit my Dad on the way home.

So in just under eight weeks we covered 12,926 kilometres, spent $3,071.42 on fuel, and drove through the centre of every mainland state.

Regarding the suspension: about 18 months ago we had the springs and shock absorbers replaced at one of the major 4x4 places out this way to get a 2" lift and be prepared for the extra weight of the camper.  The mechanic in Alice Springs found that the front shock absorbers were too short, the back ones too long and the springs were not the heavy duty ones ordered, but simply standard springs bent to give the extra lift.  A friend's son who works for the same company says that in recent months most of the staff at that particular store have been dismissed so probably no point in trying to make an official complaint now as that will be their fob off story.

 Link to photos