Kalgoorlie

York was booked out so we stayed in Northam for a week and it was a great spot. We were able to visit towns in the outlying area including York.

Looking out over York

A couple of handsome boys

On one of our drives we came across a lovely old church in a district called Katrine. It was interesting walking around the old graves reading about the family that lived there.

The church and plaques at Katrine

Overlooking Northam

We then moved on to Kalgoorlie. The visit to the Super Pit was amazing. What a deep hole in the ground that is. The photo's don't do it justice. It was strange to see a mine so close to a fairly large town. There are many lovely old buildings, some well looked after and some a bit sad but still majestic.

Inside a very large bucket

THE Super Pit

Kalgoorlie from one of the lookouts



Kalgoorlie and a mine from one of the lookouts

An unusual water fountain

 


One of the many buildings

Heading back the Nullabour was interesting. It rained most of the way. Everywhere was lovely and green. At one time we had to stop on the side of the road for a very wide load. It's suprising what you see traveling toward you on the Nullabour.

The rain on the Nullabour

Very Over Size. They take up the whole road.

We are now back at Fowlers Bay for the next few months for Mark to help out on the whale watching boat. There are a couple of whales in the Bay and the work has started on the floating pontoon off the jetty.

Busselton

It was wet, wet, wet when we stayed at Busselton. We have not seen so much rain for a long time. A drive around the district was the best way to get about between showers. Busselton is a nice town on the coast in Geographe Bay. The pathway along the beach goes forever and is a great way to walk Beemer. It is a very busy walkway with people walking, running and cycling in all weathers and times. The wharf is very long but because it is not dog friendly we didn't do the walk.

The park and Wharf at Busselton

A trip through Dunsborough to Yallingup to see Cape Naturaliste was really good. The coastline is very pretty with rocky coastline and sandy beaches.

Augusta is not far so a day out was great. It is a quiet little town with a nice walk around the inlet. It was strange to see the back yards of the houses open onto the walkway.

We were not very impressed with Bunbury as it is a busy city. We prefer smaller towns that go a bit slower. There is a Rotary Lookout which gives you a 360° view of the city and coastline.

Bunbury from the Rotary Lookout

 

 

Esperance

The view from The Rotary Lookout 

Esperance from the lookout

More from the lookout

 We spent about a week at Esperance and tried to see as much a possible. There was a great lookout almost in the town on Wireless Hill called Rotary Lookout. The views were fabulous . The footpath/bike path around to Twilight Beach was great. We only walked a small part of it but the views of the rocks in the sea and beaches from the path were really spectacular. On Twilight beach we found some plaques on rocks which were interesting. The beach was lovely with huge Rocks and islands off the beach.  

Plaques we found on rocks at Twilight Beach

Twilight Beach

Peaceful Bay

After at least 6 weeks staying at Peaceful Bay we have managed to have a bit of a look around. Not far from here is The Valley of the Giants. There is a tree top walk, about 600 metres long and up to 40 metres above the ground, amongst the top of the tingle trees, which are really tall. There is also a board walk around the “Ancient Empire” where you can walk around the trees and right through one which is completely hollow at the bottom. There is a picture of one with an old car in it, it is so big. The tingle trees grow up to 70 metres tall and a circumference of 20 metres.

Beemer and I enjoyed our walks around the town on a very good footpath. It was about two and a half kilometres long. we often felt like we were being watched by the kangaroos that were in the bush and around the town. The kangaroos would hop down the streets in the evenings. It was strange to here them.

Beemer on our walk around the village

We were being watched on our walk



The view looking towards the inlet where Mark went fishing

Mark fishing on the beach

His first fish. He didn't keep it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great plate of herring Mark caught and smoked

 

 As you drive from Peaceful Bay to Walpole there are signs where hikers cross the road on the Bibbulmun Track. The track is 1000 kilometres long and starts in Perth. It follows the coast all the way to Albany. You often see back packers walking through on the track which goes through Peaceful Bay from Conspicuous Cliffs towards Denmark. There are canoes left at the inlet for the hikers to get across on the track. It is said the track was travelled by the local aboriginals many years ago.

 

Part of the Bibbulmun Walk

 

A beautiful flowering gum

Peaceful Bay