Geraldton to Nannup
The drive from Carnarvon to Nannup via Perth was relatively free of any disasters. However the Centre Gearbox Lock light kept coming, so we booked it into a Toyota Dealer in Perth to get this replaced under warranty. We were informed that the part was in stock in Perth when we booked it in.
To say it's windy over these parts is an understatement, these are the trees in the main street in Carnarvon!
Just a slight lean
No wonder it's called WA = Windy Always!
Carnarvon is WA's fruit and vegetable bowl. This place made the most amazing Mango Smoothie! They also had home grown Ghost Chillies, which we're saving for when we get home with Lisa, Russ, Chuck and Sue.
Gonna blow their pants off!
Most caravan parks won't let you wash your van onsite. So we load up with an extra tank of water and do this task at a nice tarred roadside stop.
We get some strange looks washing the van in the middle of nowhere, but isn't it nice and shiny?
We camped at Oakabella Tea Rooms, which is on a working farm. It's nice to support our Aussie Farmers. Besides they made a really top notch morning tea.
Camping in the Oakabella paddock
Mornos with a nice Israeli couple we met
The first item on our agenda this trip was to cross the Gary Junction Road from Alice Springs to Marble Bar. The second item was time spent on Ningaloo Station, and our third and final requirement for this trip was to see the wildflowers in WA. We have many pictures of flowers. The wreath flowers are beauties.
The fantastic "Wreath Flower", because it's like an actual wreath
Besides many Wreath Flowers, there are heaps of Grey Nomads here
And more Grey Nomads, they grow faster than the flowers
I don't know who plants them just here. They are only found right along side of the road :)
Breast Cancer windmill - part of the Mullewa Art Tour around the wildflower area
Our free camp for the night at Enanty Barn at Mingenew
We had some issues with our diesel heater and it's been about 4ᵒC in the mornings so we really needed it. The heater has had a real workout since we've left home. We never expected it to be so cold over here.
Here I am trying to clear the fault. I wasn't successful so we got it serviced in Fremantle by a guy who just happened to be doing a different van repair in the caravan park. A cool $400 later it was fixed. It was full of red dust, so now we have to plug both the exhaust and inlet pipes before we hit dirt. Once we do this we've been assured that it won't happen again.
Yarra Yarra Salt Lake for lunch
Farm Stay at Hi Vallee Farm. What a great view and a book available showcasing all the wildflowers on their sheep property
New Norcia - Australia's only Monastic Town
We decided to check out Australia's only Monastic Town, New Norcia. Our friends Jen and Merv meet us there for a weekend of spiritual uplifting. The liquid type. I don't think the other type worked on us!
The Monks are Benedictine Catholic Monks, and the New Norcia Monastery was founded in 1847. They'd also tried to "save" the Aboriginals at Kalumburu as well. Imagine travelling to Kalumburu back then? We haven't even been there as the road is terrible. The mission isn't there anymore, so I don't think they were too successful.
We met Merv and Jen last year –
firstly north of Broome at Goombaragin, Kooljaman and then Darwin, so we were
keen to meet up again.
New Norcia is 132 kms north of Perth so Merv and Jen drove up from
Perth, while we were already heading south towards Perth.
We’re arrived on Friday arvo and set
up camp in the town paddock.
We settled in for a catch up and drinks, and Jen had
already pre-cooked a delicious chicken cacciatore for dinner.
The town was full of beautiful old
buildings – cottages, chapels, colleges, guest houses and the New Norcia Hotel.
On Saturday we spent some time
checking out their amazing museum full of priceless artwork and antiques, then
joined a guided town tour which got us into the various locked buildings.
We listened to a piano recital by Dom Roberts in the
chapel, and once he finished playing the piano, he treated us to some music from
the magnificent pipe organ.
This organ was brought over from Germany in 1920. It sounded just great.
We went to New Norcia on the weekend,
so we could “Meet a Monk” – only available on Saturday afternoons.
At 4:30 pm a few of us gathered around the table and
were treated to a hyperactive monk who had been there for 3 years.
He filled us in on life as a monk in New Norcia and
answered all our questions.
Quite an incredible experience!
This is their weekly routine. It never changes, so they know in 10 years time on any given day, this is what they will be doing! Prayers in all possible ways.
Jayne with this Saturday's Monk
The 10 residing monks adhere to this
timetable day in and day out.
Then there’s breakfast, lunch and dinner in between.
They don’t have to cook their own meals and they’ve sold off
the farm which they used to work.
You can buy absolutely delicious bread there, but
the monks don’t bake it anymore, but they do
pick olives in season with the help of other workers.
They share 1 mobile phone for emergencies, and watch
a pre-recorded ABC news each night after their 6:30pm prayer session.
We had dinner at the hotel then
wandered back to the caravans. Soon after we got an SMS from Merv and Jen asking
if we’d paid for dinner.
We discovered we’d done a runner on our dinner bill,
but walked back the next morning to pay up.
It was a fun weekend catching up with friends, and
once we’d had morning tea we headed south to Fremantle, and Merv and Jen spent a
few more days exploring the surrounding area.
We came away thinking that life for these 10 monks was pretty
good, although for the younger monks, we wondered if it was more of an escape
from a previous life.
The artwork is as good as in Europe
This was part of the Aboriginal Boarding Home. Now used as a retreat for schools
Part of the European Space Agency is here as well
Perth - Fremantle
The car was booked into Toyota from Tuesday, so we took it there Monday afternoon. It was due to take only 2 days, so we would have the car back on Wednesday arvo. HA! Famous last words. When we dropped the car off they informed us the part wasn't in stock in WA and it has to come from Melbourne, a two or three day delivery. I had words to say on that.
Tuesday morning they agreed to airfreight the part so it would be there Wednesday morning. HA!
There was a problem with the freight. "Plane broken down"! They were telling me there's only one flight a day from Melbourne to Perth. HA!
Anyhow, they finally get the part Thursday arvo. So we were promised our car Friday morning which turned into Friday 1pm, but we got it at least.
Our NRMA Premium Plus provided us with a hire car for this time and covered our accommodation expenses.
Our hire car at Fremantle Village - the only dog friendly caravan park in and around Perth/Freo
The car was repaired under the Extended Warranty. As they had to take the gearbox out of the car to change the part, there was 6 hours of labour and a $2000 part. Total bill, over $3k. The extra warranty just paid for itself.
We took our bent caravan rim to a place that assured us they could straighten it. HA! Turns out it was too bent, but to me it didn't look that bad. I did tell them on the phone that it had been running flat. I don't know what they expected it to look like?
We tried to buy a new wheel rim for the caravan to replace the bent one. There's not one in WA that is the right size, not even second hand. Over $250 of freight to get one over from Brisbane for a $100 wheel, so I didn't think this was good value. Especially considering we are going to change the rim size when we get back home. We still have one spare for the van and one for the car. Without going on dirt roads this is sufficient for the run home. Famous last words?
This just makes you realise how isolated they are over here. To get the one from Brisbane to Sydney costs $10 overnight. Its like another world over here.
We meet with our friend Roy for lunch in Fremantle. It was really great to catch up with him again. Marg was in Brazil with their new granddaughter, so we sadly missed her this trip.
We can't believe how cold it is over here, and we've struck wet weather as well. I didn't think it rained much in Perth. Even Bailey the Pansy Dog was feeling the cold.
What a wuss
Bailey caught his nail on the van steps and partially ripped it off 3 weeks ago. It wasn't getting better so a trip to the Vets was in order and they removed the broken claw.
A very fashionable cone
We did some bike riding in Fremantle and ended up at the Fremantle Sailing Club. What a great location.
What an amazing sunset
Nannup
We're now south of Perth in the Forest Area. Doing some walks through the trees.
Down by the river near where we're camped
Nannup Caravan Park
Taking Bailey for a walk
