Perth W.A.

Perth

We arrived in Perth to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of our arrival in Freemantle in 1963 on the Oriana.

We later met up with our friends Doug & Shirley who arrived here a few months before us in 1963 and we have kept in touch since. We celebrated our time here by dining out and enjoyed our time with them.

The changes here are quite something, Freeways with the Trains travelling down the middle of them and under the City area, also a Large Tunnel which is a couple of klms long running underneath North Perth, known as the Farmer Freeway, on a whole the freeways and road network system is quite impressive.

Kings Park is in the centre of Perth on the Swan River and from the advantage spot there we could see how much Perth has changed and grown. 

Freemantle was the next stop and again it has also grown so much since our last visit! 

 (Quite easy to get lost for Some!)

 We visited the Maritime Museum at Freemantle wharf, where migrants arrived from many countries by Ship to settle in Australia.

The records of thousands of immigrants’ details have been recorded here, however they have now closed the books to any more applications as they have run out of space to display them.

Brenda & David in the Gold Fields in W.A.

Brenda standing on "London Bridge",  just out of Sandstone Rock, which is on the fringe of the Gold Fields of Western Australia.  It is part of a larger formation about 800 mtrs long, varying in height from 3 to 10 metres. It is formed of weathered Basalt and Rock Formation and is believed to be about 350 million years old.

How did they get Brenda up there?

 The main street of Cue, another town on the edge of the Gold Fields. Gold was discovered in the 1890's and the town grew quickly to more than 10,000 people. Today the population is less than 100. Many of the old buildings have disapeared. There is a constant stream of novice prospectors coming and going, hoping their detectors will help make their fortune. The man adjacent to us in the park showed us his find for the day, which he said was worth about $60.

Main Street in Cue W.A.

 
These buildings made of locally quarried Limestone Slabs still stand today and are used for the Police Station, Post Office and Op Shop.

They don't make them like this anymore.

Brenda & David at Karigini

Karigini National Park is in the Hamersley Ranges, Just north of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Gorgeous Gorges at Karigni Western Australia:

It is approximately 1,000 to 1,400 Kilometeres from Perth, depending on wich route you take.

Wonderful Water Holes and Scenery:

 We will catch up with Brenda & David on wednesday at Kalgoorlie after 2 weeks, they have done the inland route to Kalgoorlie and we have done the coastal route down to Perth then will cross to Kalgoorlie.

Geralton,Cevattes & Gingin.

Geraldton:

 

Drove to Geraldton via Northampton and all the way there the scenery changed drastically from red earth to lush green. We travelled through farming land growing Canola, Wheat, Barley and Lupin for Fodder; we found this information from the lady at the coffee shop we stopped at.

Geraldton is a busy Port for the transportation of  Iron Ore to other countries also grains from around the area.

 While we are here the car is booked in for a service and one of the men kindly gave us a lift back to the caravan park, later we walked the 3 klms into town and had a wander before picking up the car.

War Memorial for the sailers who died on S.S. SYDNEY.

 There is a big memorial here for the 650 sailors who died when the ship SS Sydney was sunk off the shores here during WW11 by a German Warship. The large Globe shape is made up of one Seagull for each sailor who died as a tribute to them.

A Seagull for every sailor who died:

Cervantes:

 

We have been spoilt with lovely weather until today!! It has turned wet and cold here in Cervantes which is a small fishing and tourist town. A popular spot called the Pinnacles is not far from here which makes Cervantes a popular place to stay. 
 

One of the many Pinicles in the Living Desert:

The Pinnacles were formed thousands of years ago from sand and limestone and range in size up to 5 metres tall and 2 metres thick at the base and are still growing. 

Sandstone Pinicles near Cervantes:

Gingin:

We had rain overnight at Cervantes and it hasn’t stopped all the way here. In the afternoon we had a look around this small town which I’m sure would look very nice on a sunny day. We were told that a place called New Norcia was worth a visit and isn’t very far from here so decided to find out.  It is a Benedictine Monastery which has been here since 1847 and is still being run by Monks to this day.

Old Monestory at New Norcia:

It consists of a Museum which displays and tells the history since 1847, of the Church school, flour mill, Hotel etc, that the monks ran and made their own wine and ale.

One of the many displays in the Museum, even made their own splints:

The local aborigines were involved with the monks and they shared their different cultures, both learning from each other. Also a Convent so the Nuns also taught the aboriginal and local children.

A homemade Bush Roller used for clearing the Scrub:


Gingin Discovery Centre:

This is an interesting place to visit especially if you are interested in Science and the Solar System. There is a world class public Observatory with the largest Telescope in Australia which is open to the public in the Evenings for Star Gazing etc.

You can experience the adventure of real science, learn about Australia's own gravitational interferometer and for gravity waves, you can climb the amazing Leaning Tower of Gingin, it is probably the leaniest Tower in the World with an angleof 15 degrees (Pisa leans only at 4.5 degrees) and at 45 metres tall you get an amazing view from the top.
 

Brenda & David report from Tom Price

On 04/08/2013 4:05 PM Brenda Tincknell wrote:

From Tom Price:

Hi Ina & Jim,

I have attached a photo taken from the summit of Mt Nameless in the
Hamersley ranges overlooking the Tom Price iron ore mine. Mt Nameless is
4k's from town and is the highest accessible mountain by vehicle (4WD only)
in W.A. The views from the summit are spectacular. You can also look down
over the township as well as the mine.

At 747m above sea level, Tom Price is the highest town in Western Australia.
It is an industrial town, famous for its iron ore production. A new conveyor
belt is being built, 20 kilometres long, at a cost of 1.2billion dollars!!

  Brenda & David

Denham - Monkey Mia - Kalbarri

Denham/Monkey Mia:

The caravan park we are in overlooks the sea so is only a few yards from the beach. Denham is a popular place for fishing…lots of boats here and the township itself isn’t very big but is stretched along the shore-line which is lovely especially with the weather we are having!

Shell Beach on way to Monkey Mia

Shell Beach was named as it consists of only shells which are about 45 metres deep and as you can see as far as the eye can see. ( Very bright on the eye's.)

Shells by the bucket load

Monkey Mia:

The highlight of any stay at Monkey Mia is the daily dolphin visits, interaction and feeding. The dolphins have been visiting the area for more than forty years and Monkey Mia is one of the few places in Australia where you can experience this up close and personal. They are native to the area and visit up to three times a day where they are hand fed by the Rangers of the National Park.

Feeding the Dolphns at Monkey Mia.

Who will Win?

Kalbarri:

We left Denham 7.30am and drove 420klms to Kalbarri stopping at Billabong Roadhouse for the usual break and fuel 12.30pm…a long stretch today! We are here for 2 nights.

Ina looking for the whales.

The coastline along here is beautiful just like all the other places we have stopped at on our way towards Perth again it is popular with the fishing folk. And we were fortunate to see 3 whales today while we were out exploring the areas along the cliffs. We got talking to someone at Red Bluff who happened to work for the National Parks and he pointed out to us where he could see some whales and then we saw more of them closer to where we were standing, he said there are lots and lots out there in the ocean heading north to breed.  

Kalbari Beaches and Cliffs.