Press play for some Coral Bay Fishing
Carnarvon
Yep…
Shark Bay
Around 100ks North of Geraldton was a holding cell for convicts, (maybe the Lankans in Geraldton would live here) we stopped for a quick look but didn’t want to be locked up so we took our pictures from afar and continued until we came across the Pink Lake, it was pink and lead us away from the road to Kalbarri to Port Gregory and a great surprise. The G on this day was calm and a picture of untouched seaside beauty, a coral reef 100 meters off shore protected the fishermen launching their boats from the sand to the clear mid north WA waters.
We had to backtrack before we headed north again to stop just short of Kalbarri and check out the bluffs/cliffs that looked similar to the Great Australian Bight, they were ok but you seen one, you seen them all. We headed over the only hill for a thousand kilometers (other than the cliffs) and the Murchison River presented as a sparkling apron for the town of Kalbarri.
We chose the Murchison Caravan Park and they chose us for position 1A, the best site in the house right on the river (only the rarely traveled road between us) with a view up the Murchison and across to the ocean that kept us more than happy after we set up and wandered over for a dip to keep things cool. Shell whipped up dinner of local butcher snags under a great sunset that we enjoyed with a cold few beers.
Our early morning ride around town and the river was great before we headed into the Kalbarri National Park to check out the Gorge’s, the first one we walked down into they are very deep but carried more flies than water, Shell found what she calls a skeleton (see picture) but I’m not so sure.
Natures Window was a rough 30k trip down a red dirt track before we came into the car park and enjoyed some PB&J sangas with the flies and backpackers on a bus tour. We had to walk around a kilometer out onto the red rock cliff face to see the window, the rock like strategically placed thin blocks to create levels like Kramer was once planning for his apartment.
It was a little dangerous and extremely hot walking out but it wasn’t either of these that worried us, it was the FLIES! I don’t recall seeing this many flies ever and for some reason they liked yellow more than anything else.
We had to have been more than 100 meters up form the dry gorge floor when we walked out onto a narrow ledge to see the star attraction Natures Window, a shame it had no flowing water like the photoshopped image to promote the place but it was well worth the trip to see this place. A car parked near ours back in the car park had a thermometer on its window, it was no surprise to us to see it at 58c.
A few cold beers were a must after a day in the wild before we ripped out the TV and watched The Nugget to remind us of what could have been back on the Kalgoorlie Gold Fields.
Shark Bay World Heritage Area
Half way between Kalbarri and our destination we stopped at the Billabong Roadhouse for Australia’s most expensive coffee, a bit further up the road we passed the 26th Paralell and after 380ks drove into Denham.
Denhams population is only around 1800 but the place had a lot going for it, clear water a couple of pubs and caravan parks, plenty of backpackers Francois National Park to the north and Monkey Mia 20ks to the East. We stocked up on some supplies, Shell made lunch whilst I did some work and we headed into the wild for a few days.
Herald Bight in Francois National Park was our home, on the beach only 10 meters from the water. A swim in the crystal clear waters after setting up was great with the crabs, bream and whiting so we grab the rods to catch dinner, they were good eating too.
We woke for sunrise that reflected perfectly on the glassy water that was only broken by the fin of a shark cruising by. When the tide moved in after lunch Shell grabbed the gopro and snorkel to check out the marine life while I kept watch for sharks!
It wasn’t long before some dolphins appeared with one of them venturing in to the beach and only a meter from the edge chasing a whiting, it was only around 8 meters from Shelly before it noticed her and went around her before heading back out to sea.
Press Play Above
The best came as we were having our lunch only 10 meters from the water, a Dugong popped his head up out of the water only around 8 meters from the sand. Dugongs are funny looking things like a dolphin and a seal cross this one fully grown at 3 meters. This funny looking fellow frolicked gracefully in front of us for the next 3 hours only breaking the silence every few minutes when it came up for air.
Next up in our private marine show was the predator of the sea, it may have only been 2 meters but the shark was built for speed and it used it to round up bait fish in the shallow waters only a couple of meter from my toes. Not being a fan off fish at the dinner table other than shark I decided we could do with a feed. I baited up with a big pilchard and cast my bait into the center of the bait fish on the run from the predator that immediately turned toward my offering, my line went off! My heart went off! I got him…. SHARK!!! Now what!
It didn’t take long to realise I didn’t hook the shark, just a flathead about 1.6 meters shorter than my target.
The next morning we packed up and explored the other parts of the national park before heading back to Denham to get ready for the Bombers game. We sampled both pubs and checked out the locals wandering the streets (see video below).
Monkey Mia
The resort at Monkey Mia was fully booked so we had to make it a day trip to see the dolphins feeding, plenty of people lined the beach early in the morning, the water not as clear as it would normally be but it was good experience and well worth the trip.
It was time to depart Shark Bay and head north to Carnarvon, this meant we had to drive south past Shell Beach a beach that over thousands of year has little conch shell build up (10 meters deep) on the shore. I got some good pictures of Shell on shell beach.
A bit further south was something pretty special, Stromatolites (living rock) these funny looking things are linked to life on earth and 3.5 billion years old. Stomatolites – are layered limestone rock built up by single-celled cyanobacteris (blue-green bacteria) which trap and bind sediments. Some build craggy towers, other build flat spongy mats.
Press Play Above
for our gopro on a stick video
A couple of hundred ks through the desert to Carnarvon and our destination and home for Saturday night.
Dugong
Port Gregory
Natures Window
Boat People Home
Monkey Mia
Stromatolites
Red Beach
Monkey Mia
Denham Hotel
Birdemic
Kalbarri Gorge
Kalbarri Gorge
The Nuggett
FLIES!
Monkey Mia
Monkey Mia
Shell
Sunrise
Kalbarri Gorge
Port Gregory
Kalbarri Gorge
Shell Beach
Kramers Levels
Monkey Mia
SHARK!
Shell Beach
Shells Find
Toasty
Penthouse on the Beach
Kalbarri Gorge
Kalbarri
Shell Beach
Shell
Sausage Roll with legs
Natures Window
Geraldton
We drove into Geraldton and I was really surprised by the size of the town and how nice it was after driving for 4 hours through dry arid countryside it was a pleasant surprise to see this nice town laid out before us. After driving around looking for the shadiest caravan park (as in trees shade) we decided on the Belair caravan park down on the point near the lighthouse, we quickly set up camp and headed out to start fishing, sorry to say we had no luck.
The next day we got on our bikes to tour the town, we road along marine parade past the port where some rather sizey ships were getting loaded, along the foreshore its set up with BBQs a water park and pontoons just off the beach for everyone to jump off, we checked out the museum where we learnt all about the Batavia shipwreck.
Then we headed off to 24 George st where Dad went to boarding school in the early sixties, it was call Forrest lodge and is now a community center. We were allowed to have a look around, and it was a little emotional thinking of Dad sitting in front of the fire place eating his dinner so far from home.
On the Sunday it just happened to be the Geraldton Cup and we couldn’t resist a quick visit to the local races, there was fashion on the field for all the lovely ladies, not so different to back east just a lot hotter and not as many falling over fillies later in the afternoon. We only had one win for the day and it was No 7 in the very first race, we got very close in the other races but close enough is not good enough in racing just like fishing.
We left town headed for Kalbarri and Monkey Mia just as sixty odd Sri Lankans were about to entre Geraldton harbor where our Caravan park is located.
“ARE YOU KIDDING”
Geraldton Cup
Geraldton
Forrest Lodge
Geraldton
Big Day Out
Geraldton Port
#7’s a Winner
Geraldton Cup
Geraldton Cup “G”
Geraldton
Forrest Lodge
What a joke!
Want a beer Shell?
Forrest Lodge
Forrest Lodge
Goldfields to Geraldton
We spent Easter in Kambalda with the Bovalinos and some fine hospitality at there friends home on the Saturday night and then with Tom, Maddy and Eky from Noosa Footy Club on Sunday before Adam and Chris took off on a (less than sober) ride to the local hotel who had Matt Gresham playing (they tell me he was on X Factor or one of them care factor shows. He’s a local Kambalda boy.
After a largish Sunday, Monday was spent as a rest day watching the Hawks loose it again and seeing one of the best sunsets we have seen over the last 12 months in WA.
02/04/2013
We packed up and departed Kambalda once again to hit the goldfeilds and the Golden Quest Discovery Trail a 900 km drive through the goldfields that takes you through many of the historical sites from the early 1900s. First up was Broad Arrow, not much about at Broad Arrow other than the pub with the writing all over that we had been to a week earlier. We then headed west on the red dirt road to Ora Banda, this town not only had a pub it had a real gold mine still active. I think without the miners who fly in and out for work the population would be around 10 people far less than the 2000 when a dude know as Cashman found gold back in 1893.
Being 50ks West of the main highway we continued North on the red dirt to another ghost town this one was once known as Siberia now its just a sign a few graves in a small cemetery and a few tumbleweeds. They seemed to have placed a lot in the number of hotels a town had because its listed on each sign how many pubs it had in its heyday, for the record Siberia had 2 just a small town.
More red dirt on our trek North through loads of nothing before we joined the highway and drove through Goongarrie another town thats now just a sign on the side of the road, this place was once home to 1000 people, a railway and yep… 2 pubs. We decided we would sleep out in the bush at Lake Ballard where the Inside Australia cultural display lives. To reach the salt lake we passed through Menzies a town that has a nice looking town hall, a pub and a servo with many, many vehicle licence plates covering its tin walls.
Menzies unlike most on this trail is still actually a town with 2 people wandering the streets (towards the pub) 50ks on the red dirt from Menzies and we came to a large salt lake known as Lake Ballard that had camp sites with a fireplace to keep us warm and fed for the night. Once we had set up camp only 5 meters from the lake we headed out to meet the locals… 51 steel statues I only had one question WHY?
Lake Ballard is 50ks x 20ks and the 51 statues are spread as far as the eye can see, the guy who did this is Anthony Gormley and they are actually scans of the locals… again I have to ask why? The place made for some ok pictures one in particular reminded us of Alfie Bovalino.
03/04/2013
The journey continued with a drive on the red dirt back to Menzies and then north to Niagara another place thats now nothing other than a sign and a dam with a comping area. Talking of pubs this place is up there with the best of them, it had 7 drinking holes in its day with a population of 2000. We spent an hour wandering around where the town once stood, its flat now with many things to remind us that it was a place that people lived, mostly old bottles including the ones in the pictures below, thick glass with the name Kalgoorlie across the bottom.
Next town was Kookynie a place that calls itself the “living ghost town” a place that is dead but people still live there unlike the others we had seen on the trail. The Grand Hotel still serves the locals and when we pulled up out the front an ute load of them pulled in beside us, we decided to bypass the Grand and see if the National Hotel would serve us (the picture below answers that question). Still the best part of being out on the goldfields is the history and the sites that are now nothing but have plenty of info detailing what it once was.
We were still undecided on our direction, hang in this area and head back to Kambalda for round 1 in the footy or head to Cue in search of gold, Cue being the place that many of our fellow grey nomads saying was the place for gold so we head North to Leonora on the red dirt. Leonora was a place we wanted to be as its close to Gwalia and the former residence of 31st USA President Herbert Hover who once ran the mining operation at Gwalia but more importantly it was the site of the famous house on the edge of a largish hole in the ground. Leonora is still a real town 3 pubs still serving the locals a supermarket, 2 servos and a swimming pool. We pulled up out front of the supermarket for some supplies and on our return we noticed we had a flat courteously of the last 200ks on the red dirt.
He may have looked 98 years of age but this local veteran was full of help, he noticed our predicament and pulled out his tiny compressor and had the tyre inflated in not time. He told us he never leaves home without it, he spends most of his days prospecting (not fosicking) and has many flat tyres that he can’t change so the compressor allows him to drive home and have one of the two locals repair. He told us where to find the two local tyre repairers so we headed in search of them before it went down. First stop nothing, second stop nothing this town is looking like the others that once had 7 pubs but is now nothing.
Shelly went into one of the local servos and publicly announced to the 10 locals inside “anyone know where I can get a tyre repaired” A girls dressed in mining type clothing responded with “my father inlaw is a tyre repairer but he’s out prospecting today” then another guy said “and the other one is out fishing” We get the prospecting, but fishing out here… all the lakes are salt lakes.
Whilst changing the flat a local law officer who had been in the servo when Shell asked told us that 130ks to the north was a town called Leinster and they had a tyre place we headed further north rather than head to Gwalia our intended destination, we didn’t want to drive on the red dirt without a spare tyre. Leinster as it turns out had nothing to offer our flat tyre so made the decision our best option was Geraldton, it may be 650ks to the west but it was on a sealed road and less chance of another flat.
Heading west we were soon in Sandstone a tiny town not to far north of our camp site at Lake Ballard last night and in need of fuel, the only servo in town was closed but had a number to call for 24hr fuel, Lynn arrived soon after our call and only charged us $1:80 per litre and commented that she and her husband set off on a trip like ours before buying the Sandstone servo not far into the trip. We stuck to our rule of no driving at night and pulled over 100ks past Sandstone on the side of the road and built a fire for our entertainment for the night.
Up early the next morning and we only had 400ks to our destination Geraldton and it wasnt long before we passed another part of the Rabbit Proof Fence the same part we think that was part of the movie that led the 3 girls home many years ago. Around 120ks from the coast the landscape changed dramatically and became more like that of the south west WA wheatbelt and even had a couple of hills before we came down the hill to Geraldton, its great to be back at the beach.
Kambalda Sunset
Siberia
Red Dirt Road
Lake Ballard
Shell & Alfie
Living Australia Lake Ballard
Lake Ballard
Menzies Servo
National Hotel
Yalgoo
Yalgoo Bird
Rabbit Proof Fence
Fishing Geraldton
Fishing Geraldton
Geraldton Sunset
Easter with the Bovas
Kambalda Life
Easter with the Bovas
Skinner, Shell & Teeth
Kambalda Hotel Matt Gresham
Lake Ballard
Alfie Bovalino
Gary Lyon
Leonora Flat
Ant Hill Mount Magnet
Niagara Bottles from late 1800s
Kanowna Gold
Press play above for video
First stop after packing up was Finders Keepers which is a shop in Kalgoorlie where you can hire metal detectors for the day, they give you a half hour lesson on how to use the detector then off you go into the wild.
After studying our mining maps to find the perfect spot to start our prospecting (with the help of a GPS) we headed 20ks East to the old town of Kanowna, which is no longer there, just an old cemetery. After wandering around the old cemetery for a bit we got out our equipment and headed out. I was up first with Chris following behind to dig for all the gold I was about to find, unfortunately for me Chris was wearing steel cap boots so every time he got to close my detector would start going crazy and I would jump around in excitement thinking I had struck it rich this only happened about 100 times before it clicked what was going on. (Blonde moment number 1055)
We didn’t have any luck our first day out other than some used bullets that may have been used to populate the cemetery, so we went driving though the bush to our next spot that we thought looked promising, we found a beautiful peaceful bit of ground and set up camp for the night, it was a beautiful still night with a gorgeous sunset, we didn’t see any animals or even many birds which was a bit of a surprise.
The next morning after rising before the sun and with Chris strapped into the detector and we were off, we wandered around for a while only finding little bits of old metal we saw lots of holes where other people had been but not much else, its easy to see how people get lost out in the bush everything looks the same.
At lunch time we went back to the car and decided to try somewhere else, with the map and Chris’s longitude and latitude deductions we made it out alive. At 1.06pm we were sitting down eating lunch when we felt the whole ground shake we thought it was an earthquake, it turns out it was blasting at the super pit (20ks away) we couldn’t believe how strong it was.
We did a little bit more prospecting after lunch with not much luck, the closest we got to gold was Ari Gold so we packed up to have the equipment back by 4pm, by this time we were so stuffed we just needed to find a shower and a beer.
We have decided that maybe we need to buy a detector, even though we didn’t strike gold and aren’t going to be ordering our second Mongolian hot pot anytime soon, we had a ball wandering around the great Aussie bush and camping under the stars we will be doing this again soon.
Kanowna – beginning in 1894 on the discovery of gold the population grew to 12,500 by 1899 and even had a train station and a race track, the town is now just a sign on the side of the road and the odd tumble weed.
Kanonwa
Kanonwa Hotel
Treasures Found
MOX Gold Division
Tree
Hunting
Camp Dinner
Sunset
Sunset
Dale Kerrigan
Lost
Sunrise
Trees
Sunrise
Red Dirt
Sunset
Set up
Ari Gold
Kambalda – Kalgoorlie
21/03/2013
We moved into Silver Gimlet Street Kambalda with the Bovalinos for a few days, Kambalda wasn’t what we expected it had loads of trees to keep things nice and cool and it had lots of red dirt, that part we expected. Adam works for Mincor and drills for Nickel in an underground mine just south of Kambalda. We slept on a mattress on the lounge room floor, this resulted in an early wake up.
We spent some time in Kalgoorlie getting things we needed to improve our setup then made some shelves before Chris and Adam went to footy training (still watched much of the Bombers game). With only 10 people at training and a match 300 ks away back near Esperance the following day low numbers allowed a 45 year old to debut for the Kambalda Eagles. We may have had a big game the next day but it didn’t stop us from enjoying pizza and beer Bovalino style watching the end of the Mighty Bombers roll the Crows. As the boys drove for 7 hours to play 80 minutes of football the girls took the kids to the pool before heading home for some Kanga Bangers and Cider.
24/03/2013 The Broad Arrow Tavern
On the Sunday we drove 100ks north of Kambalda (because 600ks wasn’t enough yesterday) to the Broad Arrow Tavern, its an old gold mine area with a very old pub thats become a bit of a legend around here, not unlike the Silverton Hotel near Broken Hill.
This pub allows and looks to encourage everyone to write on the walls, it actually looks ok and you can spend/waste a lot of time trying to find names you know. About the only things without graffiti all over it was the bar staff and pool table.
On the way to Broad Arrow we stopped for fuel, I (Chris) was washing the windsreen and a guy pulled up beside me and yelled out ” hey brother, which way to Melbourne” I was supprised by the question and had to ask back “where” to make sure I heard him correct, he repeated “which way to Melbourne” I responded… “down that way 20ks and turn left” he headed of happy with my directions. Not sure if he knew it was over 2000ks once he turned left?
25/03/2013 Kalgoorlie
We packed up and relocated to the Prospectors Caravan Park in Kalgoorlie on Monday morning to plan our attack on the local gold resources, it was a super hot day with wind gusting over 50ks at times. It made for an uncomfortable day in the heat and dust that blasted us. Today (26/03) was much cooler so we rode our bikes to the WA Mines Department to get our miners licence and some maps on where to go gold hunting around Kalgoorlie.
We had to sit out some rain in the mines office for a bit before making the dash home in a break in the weather, I made it home but Chris had to walk the last 2.5 ks because he got a flat and wasn’t carrying a spare!
We spent a couple of hours wondering the streets of Kalgoorlie this afternoon and are rugged up under our awning now getting ready for a cold windy night. We will be heading out into the gold fields tomorrow or the next day to hunt for it and will report back then from the best restaurant in town and order a second Mongolian Hot Pot…
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- Exchange Hotel
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- Super Pit
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- Miners Right
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- Set up in Kalgoorlie
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- Which way to Melbounre?
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- Broad Arrow
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- Broad Arrow
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- Broad Arrow
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- Broad Arrow
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- Broad Arrow
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- Kambalda’s Krakouer Brothers
Esperance – Cape Le Grand National Park
We woke up Tuesday morning to dead calm and absolutely beautiful weather the only problem was there was no wind for sailing (no sailing for Don Dutch!) but perfect for riding, so after my darling husband fixed my popped tyre we jumped on our bikes and went for a ride to twilight bay. Not 2 kms down the road and my brand new tyre pops, so off I get and walked my bike to the Coffee Cat (coffee cart), best coffee in WA so far, darling husband to the rescue again (I really must learn to change a tyre )
It’s a beautiful way to see the coast line (hills aren’t great though on a bike) the bays have the most beautiful clear water and white sand.
After some lunch and a nanna nap we jumped back on our bikes to check out the local pubs, as you do on holidays, some of the cheapest beers we’ve had since $2 pots in Bundy they even had my favorite size glass the 7 oz, you’ll be happy to know we only had a couple so we we’re still capable of riding home.
Cape Le Grand National Park
We grab some bait off Tom from Caboolture (owner of Taitys Bait shop) and headed south for some fishing and camping in the national park, we set up camp at Lucky Bay looking for some unlucky fish but after some lunch the weather turned crap and we spend a couple hours in the penthouse waiting for some clear skies. Did some exploring once it cleared and checked out the beach and Mathew Flinders monument.
21/03/2013
We hit the beach at 6am to catch some Salmon that Caboolture Tom said we would find, it was over cast but the wind had dropped over night a bit chillie but for some reason the water was warm, Queensland warm 21c the average water temp for the area is more like 14-16c not the balmy 21 we experienced. This they tell us, is why we didn’t get luck in Lucky Bay!
After breakfast we packed up and drove on the beach back to Esperance and searching for the Salmon along the way, other than one enquiry (so she said) we didn’t get a bight… can fish! We had to grab another one of WA’s finest coffee from the Coffee Cat before heading north to Kambalda and the home of the Bovalinos where we will be spending a week or two with the Bovas and in and around Kalgoorlie searching (hunting) for GOLD!!!
The Cape
Big Rock
Go Roos
Lucky Bay
Lucky Bay
Lucky Bay from Camp
No Salmon
Breakfast mmm…
Lucky Bay
Whistle Rock
Men in Black Rock
Gun Fisherman
Can Cast (can’t fish)
Hard at Work
Windy
Twilight Bay
Hyden to Esperance
17/03/2013 – They may not have beat Shelly to the showers but the Grey Nomads beat us out of the Park when they all left as one around 9am to leave us the sole occupants other than a couple who live semi permanent at the Wave Rock Caravan Park.
The road to Esperance had plenty of Nulabour like straight as landing strip stretches and not much else a few towns with only a hotel or a wheat silo and some farmers who drive like Shelly and Ace (no good). We did take a picture of all the bad driving farmer just this truck but we must have passed six cars like this truck.
Ravensthorp had some of the worst coffee you will ever want to sample and Doctor Karl provided the entertainment once Macca finished at 10am. It was a pretty uneventful drive except for the farm machinery that spread the full width of the road (Shelly writing) “it was pretty scary”
Esperance is a beach town not unlike Apollo Bay but with very clear water and white sandy beaches, the esplanade lined with Norfolk Pines, a town of surprisingly 15,000 people. After a quick look around we chose the Seafront Caravan Park and set up camp in time to enjoy what we hear is a Grey Nomad daily occurrence the 4pm beer.
18/03/2013 – As our car is our Penthouse (once setup) we cant just take off to do stuff so our bikes got us into to town for a look around and some early morning exercise before breakfast and Chris went to work.
We are meant to be going fishing tonight of the long pier but its closed for repairs, this has upset the gun fisherman (you know who the best fisherman is) so we are going 50k south on Wednesday to camp on the beach and have an all night fishing competition.
On Esperance it self Aboriginal people have been in these parts or over 20,000 years but not the Bovalino family as I expected. The Aboriginal name for Esperance is Kepa Kurl “the place where the water lay down like a boomerang”
We got talking to the veterans camping near us and I (Shelly) could be heading out sailing in the morning weather pending. The guys name is Don he’s from Holland and live in Kalgoorlie (not much sailing in Kal.)
Clear Water
Esperance
Outside our park
Inside our park
Beach in front of our park
Front of our park
Ship loader
Dinner
Perth to Wave Rock – Hyden WA
Not much doing on the first drive to Hyden, up the hill from Perth and on through Brookton where Dennis Cometti may have got the phrase “NOTHING DOING” (see image) but Shelly says the cleanest public toilets ever (even George Costansa would use them).
Nearing Corrigin we came across the historical Rabbit Proof Fence or where it used to be anyway, from there we drove through rain to Hyden and setup camp for the night in the sand along side the Grey Army and Wave Rock. 
A thunderstorm only 3 meters above our tent made for a great nights sleep before a rooster woke Shelly @ 4.30am so she could beat the veterans to the showers.
Wave Rock is 15 meters high 110 meters long and formed as a results of water weathering Hyden rock, water runs of the slope over the rock and dries faster at the top staying wetter at the bottom and wearing faster at the bottom creating the wave shape (so the sign said).
The Wave
Nothing Doing
Wave Rock Camp Site
The Rock
Another Rock
Wave Rock
Shell Surfing Wave Rock
CameronCorner 
