Road Trip to Perth - Days 3 and 4

Overnight was very windy and stormy and I woke to grey skies and drizzle more reminiscent of England than Western Australia.

Cocklebiddy is at the Eastern end of the 90 mile straight, the longest stretch of straight road in Australia.  

The weather was not good, so no photos of the journey as I didn't stop anywhere. My target for today was to reach Esperance, a port town on the South-eastern coast.  I arrived when the local sailing club were racing in the bay.

As t was still early, I drove part of the Great Ocean Drive.   The scenery here is beautiful.  Lovely sandy beaches and stunning cliffscapes.   

Of course I couldn't not take a few bird photos, with Pacific Gull and Sooty Oystercatcher both happy to be snapped.

I checked in to my motel having driven another 683 Km (2262 Km so far).  

Next morning I headed into Cape le Grand National Park.  First stop was Lucky Bay a beautiful white sand bay.  The waves were rolling in and crashing on the beach. Next stop was Thistle Bay and Whistling Rock.  The rock has been eroded by the wind and if you stand in the correct place it amplifies the sound of the waves below. I passed Frenchman Peak and was surprised to see that some people had climbed it.   

Tonight's stop was to be in Albany.  Once I arrived, I headed up to the lookout and then found the aptly named Big Dog Rock.   

Today's drive was 621 Km (2883 Km so far)

Road Trip to Perth Days 1 and 2

I am currently on a road trip to Perth, for  a holiday and visiting family there.  I had intended to write this blog day by day, but there was a road block on the first night when I realised  that I had forgotten my laptop charger.   So now I'm playing catch-up.

Leaving Adelaide I headed North through Port Wakefield, on to Port Augusta where I topped up with fuel before heading West.   Lunch was at Kimba where there is some silo art and The Big Galah.   The silos are 25 metres high by around 60 metres wide and show a young girl in wheat fields.  The big galah stands 8 metres tall and was fully refurbished in 2021.

Continuing west, I stopped in Wudinna, where there was an impressive granite sculpture dedicated to Australian farmers. 

After 775 Km for the day, I stopped at Ceduna for the night.   As I entered the town, I had to wait for a huge train carrying mineral sand to Thevenard, Ceduna's port.   When I got to the port, the bulk carrier, Jervis Bay, was just leaving port with the assistance of two tugs.

Next morning I continued West towards the border.  First stop was the pink lake at Point Sinclair.  Sadly it wasn't pink, but the salt crystals were interesting and there were a few birds there including Banded Stilts, Red-capped Plovers and Curlew Sandpipers

I was soon headed across the Nullarbor Plain.  Parts of the road are specially prepared and marked as emergency landing strips for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.   The plain runs along the coast of the Great Australian Bight, where in the right season many whales can be seen. The plain is also home to the world's longest golf course which stretches for 1,375 Km along the Eyre Highway. I stopped at the Nullarbor Roadhouse where the original roadhouse is still standing.

Next stop was the border with Western Australia, with a quick check by the quarantine officer I was on my way and completely missed the WA sign! I had also forgotten about the time difference so carried on driving past my intended stop.  After 804 Km for the day and 1,579Km so far, I stopped for the night at Cocklebiddy. 

Finally, another fail.   I meant to take this as a panoramic photo, but somehow took a video.  This is the treeless plain.

Brighton Sculpture Trail and Surf Life Saving carnival

It's been a while since my last blog post, but a lot has happened in that time.  Late last year I lost my Mum, and also my lovely dog Kobe.  I then sold my house and moved into a smaller unit in a retirement lifestyle village.  Now I'm back and hope to post a little more regularly.

We're in for a few hot days, and as today was only going to be 33C (92F) I decided to head a few Km down the coast and look at the Brighton Sculpture Trail.   This is an annual event that raises money for the local surf lifesaving club.  There are some large sculptures placed along the esplanade overlooking the beach.  I was surprised that I had to park a fair distance from the trail, but what I didn't know, was that there was also a surf lifesaving carnival being held there today.   

As I headed along the esplanade towards the first sculpture, there were few boats sailing in the gulf.

The sculptures take many forms, some realistic, others quite abstract.  Here are some of my favourites.

This sphere was particularly interesting, showing an inverted image of the beach, sea and jetty.

As I progressed along the trail, it became obvious that there was an event happening, and once I passed the jetty i could see the carnival.  There were races for all ages, swimming, on surfboards and on surfskis, racing around buoys and then running up the beach.

I was exhausted just watching them, and needed an ice cream to recover!