The long drive home

On the drive home I was mainly following the same route, except for the first day when I headed east through Kalgoorlie before re-crossing the Nullarbor Plain so I'll cover it in a single post.

Heading east from Perth I was driving through the wheat belt and came across some more silo art. The first was at Northam.  This was the first set of silos to be painted in Australia.  the two sets were painted simultaneously by two artists and are vert different in style.

The next one was at Merredin.  This was only the third set to be painted.

My main stop on the first day was in Kalgoorlie where I wanted to see the  famous "Super Pit".  It didn't disappoint. This open cast gold mine is about 3.5Km long  by 1.5 Km wide and over 600m deep.  It is huge! as are the machines that work in it.  The shovel bucket holds around 70 tonnes of ore and fills one of the mine haul trucks with 4 loads.   (Watch the video to see the comparison in size with a Ute!)

As I set off from the Nullarbor Roadhouse, there was a beautiful sunrise.

Last stop before Adelaide was Whyalla, a town on the Eyre Peninsula.  The jetty was recently rebuilt in a striking circular form.

I finished up travelling for 5 weeks and covered 8,476 Km in my little Toyota Corolla at an average of around 4.2 L/100Km or just over 67 miles per gallon.  

Last few days in Perth

I had a couple of hours to spare so took a trip to Kings Park and the Western Australian Botanical Garden.

I stopped at one area that had number of striking memorials.   They were the Korean War Memorial, the Prisoners of War memorial, the Tobruk Memorial, the 2/28th Battalion and 24th Anti-tank Company Memorial and the newly commissioned Battle of Crete Memorial.   These are all set in a beautifully quiet glade in the park

Kings Park sits on a hill overlooking the city, and is also home to the Western Australian Botanical Garden.   There is a wonderful old Boab tree here.  

It's always good to catch up with old mates when you are away, and I was very happy to catch up with Bono and Ryder the Golden Retrievers.

Rottnest Island

One of my favourite places around Perth is Rottnest Island.  I was last there in 2005 and was keen to get back. You can visit by a choice of ferries or by air.  I travelled on the fast ferry from Hillary's Boat Harbour which took 45 minutes.  

You cannot take your car, so the options are a hired bike or the hop on hop off bus.  I chose the hired bike and cycled just over 35Km 

The scenery is stunning.  Lots of rocky coves and sandy beaches.

As I pulled up to one lookout, I spotted this beautiful Osprey

There are some salt lakes as well.  This one had some Banded Stilts, and Red-necked Stints, but the stints were flushed by a family cycling past before I managed to photograph them.

Rottnest's most famous resident is the Quokka.  They are very tame, and can be found almost anywhere on the island.  This one tried to steal what was left of my lunch!

Nambung National Park and Two Rocks

One place I have wanted to visit is The Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park.   It is about 90 minutes drive north from  Perth.    Sadly, the driving track was closed to 2WD vehicles as it was very sandy, but we could still walk the short track.   This unusual landscape is surrounded by thick scrub.  There are multiple theories as to how these limestone stacks were formed.   

Also in Nambung National Park are some large sand dunes seemingly randomly appearing nout of the scrub.

We also saw many grass trees (Xanthorrhoea sp.).

Closer to Perth is the coastal suburb of Two Rocks.   it has a nice sheltered beach behind the marina sea wall, and, of course, the two rocks it took its mane from.

Road Trip to Perth - Days 5 to 8

First stops were to check out the replica Brig Amity, a ship that made several voyages of exploration and settlement in the mid 1800s.  and the local silo art depicting the Ruby Seadragon.

I then headed into Torndirrup National Park to see the Natural bridge, an arch formed by erosion.  A little further along the coast i stopped at Elephant Rocks.

I then moved inland to the great southern forests.   I climbed the tree top walk in the Valley of the Giants.  These giant eucalypts, (Tickle, Jarrah and Karri), are awe inspiring.  Many can reach up to 50 metres high.   

Then it was back to the coast at Walpole for the night having travelled 275 Km for the day (3,158 KM so far)

Continuing along the coast i had a lovely breakfast of hot chocolate and a fresh "pain au chocolat" at Windy Harbour.

Then it was off to Cape Leewin, where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet.  Oh, and there's a pretty speccy lighthouse there as well.

I had seen a few bushfires on my travels and this one started while I was at Cape Lewin

i stopped at the Margaret River Mouth before heading into town where I saw some of the locals before popping into my favourite winery, Voyager Estate, 

I stayed the night in Margaret River after driving 420 KM today (3,578 Km so far)

Next day I headed up to Cape Naturaliste National Park, and stopped at a couple of surf beaches before heading to the lighthouse.

Then it was along the coast through Dunsborough to Bussleton.  Bussleton is home to the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemispher at over 1.8 Km.

My last night of the trip was spent here after another 180 Km (3,758 Km so far)

On the last day I called in to Busselton, Bunbury and Jandakot Airports before finishing my trip on a grand total of 4,039 Km or 2,510 miles.