For Thai trip diary go to WEB page indicated on the right.
For first part of Aussie trip go to Aussie trip North.
5 Jan Back on the road we headed for Albury / Wodonga where we met up with a couple of guys from ISI, Peter Bosland and Robert Ellis. We had a very pleasant evening in the Irish pub in town.
6 Jan After a tour of the ISI office in Wodonga we drove along the Murray River Valley stopping at Echuca to look at the restored paddle steamers and the old 3 tiered wharf, built that way to accommodate the different levels of the river.
7 Jan Continued through the Murray River Valley past all the areas of irrigated farmland growing oranges, olives and acres of vines. Amongst the many vineyards we recognized the names of Oxford Landing and Bigrock. We stopped at a little old copper mining town called Burra and overnighted in a restored stone miners cottage for the princely sum of $65 (26 GBP).
8 Jan to 11 Jan We decided to drive down the Eyre peninsula west of Adelaide and stopped at the southernmost tip at Port Lincoln. It was Saturday and the height of the holiday season so we had anticipated that we may not have a large choice of accommodation but it was our lucky day as the visitor center offered us a 3 bedroomed house to stay in on the edge of a National Park and right on the waters edge. It was absolutely lovely with stunning views right across the bay.
Went over to Sleaford Bay which is exposed to the Southern Ocean and walked across the cliffs to the beaches in the National Park, these are only accessible by 4x4 or foot. As we took in the view of the white sands and deep blue seas I noticed a pod of dolphins in the surf, there were about 15 in total and as they moved across they bay they occasionally surfed in on one of the rollers. That evening while we were sitting outside the house I notice a fin about 30 yards out, at first I thought it might be a shark as the fin remained exposed but this was due to the shallow waters and it turned out to be another dolphin. We also saw a couple of large rays flapping about in the bay.
11th Jan Drove North up the Eyre Peninsula with a view to getting to the largest town before crossing the Nullarbor and into West Australia. The temperature was really starting to rise now getting up to 40c. As we watched the evening news we found out that there had been a very big bush fire just north of Port Lincoln where we had just left, tragically 9 people were killed.
12th Jan Drove from Ceduna to Norsman a total of 1200kms (800miles), we thought we were going through 2 time zone changes of 45mins each but it turned out that WA don�t have daylight savings so we gained 2.5hrs, arriving at 5:00pm local.
13th Jan Headed for the south coast making for the town of Esperance, arrived at midday in the cloud and rain, temperature now down to 18c, feeling very cold! By the afternoon the clouds had cleared so we went for a walk around the highest lookout and along the coastal path. That evening we had a wonderful meal at a very nice restaurant, like most restaurants in Australia you pay at the counter as you leave so it wasn�t until we got back to our room that we realised that we hadn�t paid for the wine so we couldn�t go back there again!
16th Jan Left Esperance at 8am and headed west towards Albany, we drove through acres & acres of farmed wheat fiedls which had already been harvested so the countryside looked very parched and flat. Drove across the Stirling Range which rises to 3600ft and on to Porongurup National Park. Checked into a chalet at Karribank (see www.karribank.com.au).
17th Jan Climbed Hayward, Nancy & Morgan�s Peak doing a 5.5km circuit climbing to 625m. After lunch we went to a Banksia farm and had a 20 minute talk on them and then did a guided tour round the estate where there were 77 species. We bought 3 different types of seeds to try to grow at home.
18th Jan Went to Albany and had a look round the town, we even did a little shopping, Suzanne bought a long sleeved top for the cooler days and I bought some new sandals.
Drove up Mt Clarence for a look at the harbour which is quite impressive. It was very windy and partially cloudy. Carried on to the Valley of the Giants where there is a tree top walk, it�s a suspended walkway about 100 ft up. The bridges swayed as you walked and the platforms at the end of each span too, Suzanne really didn�t like this. As we left we stopped for a guy whose car had broken down, he was a Columbian student. We took him to Walpole, the nearest town where there was an RAC garage. Arrived in Pendleton and checked in to the Comfort Inn.
19th Jan.Went into the Karri Forrest to the Gloucester Tree, a fire lookout tree which had metal spikes for steps to allow you to climb 200ft to the lookout, I climbed about 50ft!
Went on the Pemberton Tram for a one and a half hour return trip through the forest, the commentator was excellent, saw some Emu in the fields. Pemberton is a where the timber industry was founded, they produced railway sleepers for Australia, South Africa and wood blocks for the streets of London.
20th Jan Left Pemberton for the coast, arrived at Augusta where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. Drove north to the town of Margaret River, had intended to stay but it was very busy & commercial, it being the centre of the wine growing district. Carried on to Dunsborough, the visitor centre fixed us up with a B&B called Glass Lodge (A$125 per night), it was great.
21/24th Jan Spent 3 days walking and lazing on the beaches, we both went swimming in the sea which was quite cool.
24th Jan Drove north to Perth. Arrive about 2pm, checked into a hotel and walked around the city centre.
25th Jan Did a trolley bus tour of the city for 1.5hrs and then caught the ferry to Freemantle. Walked around the town, which still retain a lot of the shop fronts and hotels (pubs) from the 1900s.
26th Jan Australia Day.A day for the family, lots of people coming into the city to picnic in the parks and listen to music. At 8pm there is a fantastic firework display off of 3 barges in the Swan River (Harbour), 400,000 people in attendance.
27th Jan Drive North to the Pinnacles National Park, lots of limestone rocks standing up to 12 feet high, then drove south and inland on our return route to the East of Australia.
28th Jan. Arrive at Kalgoorlie the biggest goldfields in Australia, visited �The Super Pit� which is 3.8km long, 1.4km wide and 500 m deep, very impressive.
29th Jan. Did a tour of a Gold Mining exhibit, panned for gold, went underground and then watched the molten gold being poured into ingots (silver & bronze really). Then hit the road again to cross the Nullarbor, decided to go as far as we could in the light. As the light faded the Kangaroos started to appear, one ran across the road in front of the car, I was worried it was getting dangerous. Saw foxes and a couple of emus, ended up driving 600kms.
30th Jan. Started early, got on the road at 6:45am and drove all day covering 1000kms, arrived in Kimba, SA at 7pm (having lost 2.5hrs to Time Zones.)
