Dede the Magnificent...
... has made it to Perth. We've travelled approx 10,000k (need to do the final tally) and zig zagged our way through 3 states and one territory. Three more states and one more territory and we'll have covered the lot. It's become a challenge now!
After thoroughly exploring and falling in love with Broome (Matso's Brewery is just brilliant) we found out that this past weekend is the WA Queen's B'day holiday and the start of the school holidays to boot. Three places we camped at mentioned that they would be booked out from last Friday for 2 weeks and that if we hadn't reserved anywhere then we might be out of luck heading down the WA coast. So we decided to leg it from Port Hedland down to Perth quick smart and hide out at Dad's a little earlier than expected until the kiddywinks were back in their rightful places of learning and we could reclaim the coast.
It was an unexpectedly great decision as the inland route (Great Northern Highway) was extremely picturesque. Sculpted gorges, boab trees and then... the wildflower explosion that blew my mind. Carpets of everlasting daises disappearing into the distance. Purples, blues, white so white it looked like it had snowed overnight. It's not over yet and King's Park (Perth's botanical gardens) is looking beautiful. Naturally my camera's memory card decided to reach full capacity during this escapade. Not just that one but all 3. Dammit!
Stayed in some odd places along the way but made it to Dad's just in time for a couple of days of sunshine before their rain started up again. They've been having record numbers of days in a row. After the duststorm in Sydney, earthquake in Melbourne, heat waves in Qld, it just seems parr for the course really. It's been lovely to just sit around inside the house here (near Fremantle) and sort through the crap from the van, give it a clean (red dust & bug juice oozing from every corner), and help Dad enter one his compositions into MuseScore. An Adagio for Strings called 'In Memorium'. It's being played at a memorial funeral for one of his oldest mates who recently passed away in Tassie. Jan Sedivka. My old violin teacher/examiner and the man who replaced dad at their conservatorium when we moved up to Sydney. My music theory skills have been sharpened significantly by the experience but it's been difficult using a Mac which I'm just not used to. It's also been lovely to catch up with one of my sisters Dale.
So, back to the journey, we're planning on heading back up the coast when it's a little quieter, and picking up where we left off, just down from Port Hedland at, or near Karratha. This is known as the Pilbara and the towns of Dampier, Exmouth, Carnarvon, Shark Bay (Monkey Mia of dolphin fame), Geraldton will be visited on the way back to Perth. We'll probably mind Dad's house whilst he's in Tassie and then head down south directly to the Capes Naturaliste and Leeuin taking in Margaret River, some caves, some bloody big tingle trees (and you thought Karri and Jarrah were big!) then on to Esperance to visit my other sister Marina (Dale's twin).
Kalgoorlie and the goldfields will be next. This is where N will attempt to make us rich and justify the need to lug a metal detector around the country :-). Then we'll shoot across the Nullabor Plain, along the Great Ocean Road and jump ship across the Bass Strait to Tasmania. After that it's anyone's guess as we wind our way back up the east coast. So far our favourite city has been Broome. Wonder if they need a pearl grader?
Hope everyone is well back in Sydney Town and you've been getting the postcards... Oh and I forgot - I passed my Training & Assessment cert and they sent it to me in the Northern Territory. The phone call I received, asking where to send it was priceless. They thought I'd be giving a Sydney address so when I said Katherine, Northern Territory, he did a doubletake. "Where did you say?"
Love to all...
After thoroughly exploring and falling in love with Broome (Matso's Brewery is just brilliant) we found out that this past weekend is the WA Queen's B'day holiday and the start of the school holidays to boot. Three places we camped at mentioned that they would be booked out from last Friday for 2 weeks and that if we hadn't reserved anywhere then we might be out of luck heading down the WA coast. So we decided to leg it from Port Hedland down to Perth quick smart and hide out at Dad's a little earlier than expected until the kiddywinks were back in their rightful places of learning and we could reclaim the coast.
It was an unexpectedly great decision as the inland route (Great Northern Highway) was extremely picturesque. Sculpted gorges, boab trees and then... the wildflower explosion that blew my mind. Carpets of everlasting daises disappearing into the distance. Purples, blues, white so white it looked like it had snowed overnight. It's not over yet and King's Park (Perth's botanical gardens) is looking beautiful. Naturally my camera's memory card decided to reach full capacity during this escapade. Not just that one but all 3. Dammit!
Stayed in some odd places along the way but made it to Dad's just in time for a couple of days of sunshine before their rain started up again. They've been having record numbers of days in a row. After the duststorm in Sydney, earthquake in Melbourne, heat waves in Qld, it just seems parr for the course really. It's been lovely to just sit around inside the house here (near Fremantle) and sort through the crap from the van, give it a clean (red dust & bug juice oozing from every corner), and help Dad enter one his compositions into MuseScore. An Adagio for Strings called 'In Memorium'. It's being played at a memorial funeral for one of his oldest mates who recently passed away in Tassie. Jan Sedivka. My old violin teacher/examiner and the man who replaced dad at their conservatorium when we moved up to Sydney. My music theory skills have been sharpened significantly by the experience but it's been difficult using a Mac which I'm just not used to. It's also been lovely to catch up with one of my sisters Dale.
So, back to the journey, we're planning on heading back up the coast when it's a little quieter, and picking up where we left off, just down from Port Hedland at, or near Karratha. This is known as the Pilbara and the towns of Dampier, Exmouth, Carnarvon, Shark Bay (Monkey Mia of dolphin fame), Geraldton will be visited on the way back to Perth. We'll probably mind Dad's house whilst he's in Tassie and then head down south directly to the Capes Naturaliste and Leeuin taking in Margaret River, some caves, some bloody big tingle trees (and you thought Karri and Jarrah were big!) then on to Esperance to visit my other sister Marina (Dale's twin).
Kalgoorlie and the goldfields will be next. This is where N will attempt to make us rich and justify the need to lug a metal detector around the country :-). Then we'll shoot across the Nullabor Plain, along the Great Ocean Road and jump ship across the Bass Strait to Tasmania. After that it's anyone's guess as we wind our way back up the east coast. So far our favourite city has been Broome. Wonder if they need a pearl grader?
Hope everyone is well back in Sydney Town and you've been getting the postcards... Oh and I forgot - I passed my Training & Assessment cert and they sent it to me in the Northern Territory. The phone call I received, asking where to send it was priceless. They thought I'd be giving a Sydney address so when I said Katherine, Northern Territory, he did a doubletake. "Where did you say?"
Love to all...