Denham / Monkey Mia 10th June 2014

Location 129kms west of Overlander

Max Temperation 21-40

Min Temperation 12-22

Annual rainfall 226mm

Population 800

On the 25th October 1616, Dirk Hartog, Captain of a Dutch trading ship, landed at Cape Inscription on what us now know as Dirk Hartog Island and was first recorded white man to set foot on Australia soil.Captain Dirk Hortog commemorated his visit by nailing a pewter plate on to a post.Cape Inscription is the single most important European site in Australia with the landing here 150 years before Captain Cook.

Denham derives it's name from Captain H.H.Demham. Who charted the whole of Shark Bay in 1858.

In the early 1860's the first pastoralists came to the area and by the 1870's pearling  attracted Malays,Chinese, and Europeans. Pearling, once c the most important income earner, declined during the depression but has now been re-established at Monkey Mia!

Today, the main industries are tourism and fishing.

We turned off the main north south highway and drive the 120k into Denham to have a look around. We went into the information centre and paid our $10 and decided to camp one night at Goulet Bluff, right on the water edge, the most amazing beach we have seen, no sand, only tiny wee shells,half the size of ones small finger nail, all pure white. $10 camp fee and only allowed  to stay 1 night, you could drive the 50k back into Denham and pay another 10 dollars for 1 night then go out to another camp site, as there where four to pick from. Shark Bay is well known for the Dugongs, about 10,000 dugongs forage in the shallows marine environment of Shark  Bay. The clear waters give visitors the chance to view dugongs,manta rays,marine turtles and humpback wales, and dolphins.

Monkey Mia

Arrived at Monkry Mia, to catch the dolphins being hand fed. Before entering monkey Mia we had to pay $12 to enter the reserve. By the time we got there we had missed feeding time, so as there was nothing else to do I was standing on the beach near the water and a dolphin came up to the edge, so I stood there taking photos, the next thing a girl ranger came out of her office and asked me to move, I asked her why, she told me the dolphin think you are going to feed her. Told her I was not happy been told to move on, and said I never would be back. So we left and headed back to the highway and headed further north.

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Carnarvon 19th June 2014

We Location 199kms north of Overlander, 234kms south of Coral Bay

Population 9,046

Climate

Max temperature 22-40

Min temperature 11-23

Annual rainfall 229mm

Carnarvon is almost as famous for the climate as it is for Bananas. The winters are glorious, although Feburary and March can be very hot. The town is one of the coolest in the North West. Carnarvon is the commercial centre for the rich Gascoyne district. A feature of the town is the luxurious plantation of bananas and other tropical fruits all grown with the aid of water pumped out of the sand of the Gascoyne River. The plantation extends for 16kms along the banks Gascoyne River. Besides Bananas they grow mangoes, beans,tomatoes, melons, grapes, citrus and tropical fruits.  Other industries important to the district are wool production, prawns and scallops processing and solar salt extraction. It is interesting to know that,Sir Charles Kingford Smith the illustrious pioneer aviator once conducted a garage and carrier business in the town.

The Carnarvon space and Technology Museum celebrates the little known history of the role Carnarvon playes in the manned space program and in the  Australia communication industry. The museum focuses on two parts.The tracking station and the OTC  Satellite Earth Station,each station played separate roles in the early space industry. The tracking station was build to support NASA's Gemini,Apollo and Skylab program's and was commissioned ironed in 1964 and was operated for 11 years. At the height of the space program there were 220 people employed here.

We stayed at Capricorn camping ground, wow we are on grass, after so much red dust,and having the grass under one feet, oh what a feeling.. Happy hour at Capricorn was in a tin shed, no not man shed ended up meeting some great people. Will that's all focks till next time

Exmouth 20th - 27th June 2014

Location 150ms of Coral Bay

Climate 

Max 25-40

Min12-24

Average rainfall 235mm

Population 2,400

Despite being hard hit by Tropical Cyclone advance on 22 the March 1999,Exmouth was soon back in business and better than ever. The town is also now in the record books. A record wind gust speed for the Australia mainland, of 267km per hour,was recorded at the Learmonth Meteorological office. Exmouth has year round perfect weather with no wet season

We stayed at Cape Range National park (Mesa Camp). Ningaloo Marine Park stretches along 260kms of coastline from Coral Bay to Exmouth. The reef system and surrounding water are home to 220 recorded species of coral and 500 species of temperate and tropical fish. There are the mighty whale sharks seem between April and June.other large fish are  the Dugong,Manta Rays,potato cod,sharks,reef sharks, dolphins,humpback wales,turtles

We walked the Mandu Mandu Gorge,quite rugged at places. Next day went and had a look at the Mildura Wreck,1907 cattle ship was grounded, at full tide good fishing spot. Mind you we had a good fishing spot in Mesa camp, catching amazing colour fish, some not sure about eating so let them go.We had our wedding anniversary 43 years, and decided to shout ourself out for lunch, the pot shot pub and ordered sizzling BBQ steak with seafood  wow what a meal

Meet some lovely campers, while staying at Exmouth waiting for mail.ended up staying Three weeks. Marie and Tony our camp host got used to us saying no mail yet, will have to pay for a few more nights. Our last night there we meet Andy and Shelley from Nelson NZ.

Yalgoo to Geraldton 12/5/14-14/5/14

Heading west again on the way to our mate Dave Sharps place in Dongarra.

Stopped for lunch in Sandstone and went to have a look at "London Bridge" which are sandstone archways that have formed over or weathered over thousands of years. Around a hundred years ago they used to be able to take a horse and buggy over the archway but now it is not safe to walk over. 

Next stop Yalgoo which is another ghost town with old relects laying around. 

Geraldton is a large town right on the ocean and they have a very special memorial to HMAS Sydney that was sunk by the German battleship Kormoran on the 19th November 1941 Second with the loss of her 645 crew. The huge dome made so stainless steel has 645 seagulls representing the 645 lives that were lost.

Dongarra. We arrived a Dave Sharps place on the 15th of May and set up camp around the back of his house. What a magnificent place Dave and Julie have built here over looking the ocean. Set on 100 acres the house is made of rammed earth and it is huge. Dave has also built a slaughter house ( remember he once was a butcher) and a blacksmith shop filled with usable tools and equipment from yesteryear and it even has a working forge with bellows. Dave had several projects he needed a hand with so the first one was to get the old 1924 Dodge running that had been sitting in his shed for a number of years. That one was ticked off the list now time to go and check the crap pots and maybe catch a fish. Bloody hell Min caught a 32 lb Dhufish it was a bloody monster and one of the biggest caught in Dongarra for a long time so she definitely has bragging rights with that one for quite some time. We spent an enjoyable 16 days with our old mate and had many an enjoyable night yarning over a drink or two. I managed to complete the majority of projects assigned to me so Dave was going to start a project list for our next trip. We headed off with our freezer filled with crayfish and Dhufish so we were very happy also Dave chucked in so lamb roasts and chops from his butchery.

Northern Goldfields 10th May

Kalgoorlie to Lleninster

After leaving Kalgoorlie we traveled north on the Goldfield Highway to Niagara Dam, great camp just off the highway. Niagara Dam was constructed by the railways in 1897-98 to provide water for the steam locomotive. For the last 100 years this little oasis has been a great camping and swimming.now only

used by the grey nomads to chill out.

Next stop 

KOOKYNIE 

Location 

70kms NE of Menzies and 67kms S of Leonora

Gold was First discovered here by propectors in 1895. In 1907 it could boast; A population of 3,500,11 hotels and the first public swimming pool on the Goldfields due to the mine having to be pumped out in 1902 at the rate of 500,000 gallons a day, remembering they were down 1900 feet. A brewery and 2 cordial and soft drink factories as well as many other business houses, churches and 7 brass bands graced this booming mining town. Alas because of the increasing dewatering problem the mine closed down which is a rare occurrence having too much water in the outback. 

Kookynie, is a living ghost town. There are only a few remaining buildings left and the pub off course!

Niagara dam

Kookynie pub,still in business only opens @ 12.00 pm

Kalgoorlie

Ss

Kalgoorlie 

Population 32,000

Max temperature 25

Min temperature 11

Kalgoorlie is pure gold

We arrived at Kalgoorlie 7th May. First stop a good flat white coffee. Kalgoorlie is a great RV friendly town. Behind Coles there is a great parking area for motorhomes and Caravans with a toilet dump and fresh drinking water easily accessible another block up the road. We stocked up on fruit and veggies then headed off for the free camp on the outskirts off town.nwe found a nice level spot and set uo camp. During the night it poured with rain and when we opened our door in the morning we were surrounded with water but it sooned drained away once the rain stopped.

The next day we headed back into town. First stop information centre to find out about the towns history. The ultimate melting pot of history, culture,architecture,fun and adventure as the city traces it origins to one of the most significant gold discoveries in Australia made by Paddy Hannan. What followed was classic 'gold Fever' with thousand of hopefuls steaming to the goldfields in search of their fortune. A  leisurely stroll down Hannan Main Street serves as a rich reminder of this golden era with many of thr original building still standing  and totally functional  after more than 100 years.

Attraction such as the Museum of the goldfields and the world renowned Super Pit and Hannans North Mine carry vivid reminders of early goldfield life. The super pit provides a breathtaking larger than life experience of one of today's biggest working open cast mines in the Southern Hemisphere.

Gold was discovered in Southern cross in 1887. Five years later, news of a rush at Mt Youle resulted in three Irish prospectors ,Paddy Hannan,Thomas Flanagan and Daniel Shea, setting off from Coolgardie in June 1893 to explore the area to the east. Discovery of gold deposits located some 5kms to the south led to the discovery of the word famous 'Golden Mile' the richest square mile of gold anywhere in the world. A chronic Water shortage was finally relieved in 1903  through the genius of the States Chief Engineer C.Y. O'Conner. An engineering marvel in the form of a water pipe line dug and laid by hand totally 563 kilometres from Mundaring Weir in Perth into the goldfields in Kalgoorlie. Sorry folks that's all from us till next stop. Cheers Wassa & Min

Part of Kalgoorlie town