HOPE

This is the last of the "Lap 1" paintings called "HOPE". It was inspired by a walk at Port Smith on the 80 Mile beach WA. Sections of the river were cracked and had not received water for many months yet this one little seedling had germinated. Hope you like it.

She's Named

Well Melbourne is living up to it's reputation, 35 yesterday 18 today and rain LOL. But, the weather has not stopped the highlight of this seasons celebrations - the official naming of Miss Guided 2. With much fanfare, champagne and excitement of the local ducks and rabbits, Miss G 2 was officially unveiled and is now ready to rock and roll down the highway.

AAAAAgh the ol' Paddle steamer on the Murray pic

Today has been a real beauty, cool morning but by lunch time it was 25 and a clear blue sky. Our van site is right alongside the river and all of a sudden there was toot and along came this ol' paddle steamer so I just had to get the pic.

Sorry Hans but the Paddle steamer "Gem" is but a pale copy of its former glory. The Restaurant is gone and the interior is gutted, a very sad sight. Off to Maryborough tomorrow.

Drought Busters strike again

Now you might think we are getting paranoid, but truly it has rained everywhere we have been from Geraldton onwards - Perth, Bussellton, ALBANY, Esperance, Fraser range Sheep Station, Ceduna, Port Lincoln, Port Augusta, Clare, Melbourne, Warrnambool, Mt Eccles nat. Park, Nelson, Narracoote, Lake Mournpoul and today here at Swan Hill, so maybe we will hang out a shingle and advertise our services.

As you can see from the above pic's, the last 24 hours has been entertaining, top left, Last nights deluge at the Lake, absolutely bucketed down and the lake was 20 meters bigger half an hour later. Top Right "Henry" our neighbour at the lake. He came stomping through the site on day one and let everyone know that this was his patch. Bottom Left "A Mary Poppins Moment" at the Kangaroo fence and last but not least today at Swan Hill. We had just finished setting up and down it came LOL.

YES

I am still alive. Sorry about the delay in updates and pics but we are at Mournpall Lake in Hattah National Park and the reception is very iffy, not to mention that there is no power, water etc etc. The weather so far has been great until this morning when right on song in came the rain. That now means that every place we have been to since Geraldton WA now 2 months ago has rained on us. Does that mean we might be "Drought Breakers" ??? interesting thought LOL.

Off to Swan Hill tomorrow (yes Hans we might even go down to the paddle steamer for dinner, just for ol' time sake) for a couple of days then slowly making our way back to Melbourne for Xmas and New Year. Pics tomorrow.

Now I have put my life on the line by publishing this one, if i am not heard from within 24 hours called the police LOL

It's an Evolutionary thing

Today it was off to the Narracoote caves and fossil centre and at the entrance is this big sculpture which someone just couldn't go past - I think it's called catching up with ol' friends LOL.

As you can see we are back to going, looking and having fun, standby for the fossil and friend tomorrow.

Princess Margaret Cave

Yesterday it was off to the caves for a quick tour of the formations and it is quite spectacular. The cave is only a young cave in the area and is still very active. We then headed off for the 2.5 klm walk along the Glenelg river but didn't realise that it was 2.5 each way LOL drrrrr you'd think we would know by now LOL. The tally was: one Brown snake that Ron tried to stand on, one stumpy tailed lizard, lots of black wallabies and the biggest green ant you have ever seen. Raining today so off to Mt Gambier to see if I can change over the Xmas lights at Bunnings.

It's the crater lake at Mt Eccles

This morning we left Mt Eccles but not without same difficulty. We needed to turn MG2 around and hadn't taken that into account when we parked. So after half an hour of very very careful reversing we managed to get out of the park - JUST LOL.

It's off to Nelson down on the Glenelg River which promises to be an interesting couple of days. Firstly it's where the Princess Margaret Caves are which if the weather picks up and the temp goes above 30 we can put the kayak in the river and paddle/peddle to the caves which would be great. Also we are only 40klms from Mt Gambier so might head up the highway to do the flash trash shops etc. We will also be travelling through, passed or around Swan lake, Emu Flat, Dead horse Swamp, Black Swamp, Nobles Rock, One Tree Hill and Jones Ridge - who the hell thought up these names LOL

It's Sad

Well we have finally given up any sense of dignity and hung the xmas lights around the awning, very GRISWELL of us LOL. last night as you can see Noddy and Paul dropped in for the first dinner party at MG2 which also doubled as the first Christmas party so out came the table cloth, fine glassware and best plastic plates (the Lyns will know exactly what I am talking about LOL) and for the festive occasion up went the "Solar Powered" Christmas lights (how green of us). Right on time down came the rain, in blew the wind so we spent the rest of the night inside. BUT, before the weather we had the game of Bouche (Tks Lyn D) and the dynamic duo of Paul and Moi came up winners.

She's out and DIRTY in the bush

At last we are back on the road for the shakedown trip to see what falls apart and what we want to change. So far so good but we have renamed Warnambool to Albambool (as in a cross between Albany WA and Warnambool Vic because they are both cold, wet and windy). Today we cruised up the road to Mt Eccles National Park and Daniel and Paul live just down the road so its easy to drop in for a drink and something to eat. So far we have two Koalas living above us and from the signs around the site, there are lots and lots of kangaroos and other wild life. Miss G has been great so far, but this little stay will be the test as we are totally free parking - No power and No water, only hillbillies among the trees.

Good Morning from Melbourne

We haven't fallen off the end of the world, it's just that nothing of interest has happened. Melbourne is all about getting Miss G 2 ready to roll which with luck will happen on Monday. No pictures as my Canon G9 decided to do a total failure so it's off at the doctors. Ron has come down with a cold so we are just getting the important things done and will try to catch up with friends etc on the return around xmas.

It's a BIG 2 ton girl

Surgeon Bruce aided by Ron delivered the new bouncing baby without tooo many complications. She is 24 feet from tow ball to bumper full of luxury just waiting to hit the road and get dirty. Each end drops down to reveal a queen size bed at the front (Rons) and a double at the rear (moi) with toilet, shower, full size fridge, microwave, wardrobes and lots and lots of space. On introduction to RT they both got on well but when fully packed (how did we ever get soooooooo much into Miss Guided 1) RT was not impressed with dragging 2.5 ton around town but he will get over it as soon as we all hit the road again. If all goes well we are planning a quick trip down the road to visit Noddy and Paul and may even drop across the border to Narracoote for a drink with Malcolm - the trip continues.

What a strange state this is ..........

As you can see we are back inland and after the last week on the coast we are happy to be leaving the waves behind for a while. After a very windy Port Lincoln (only saved by the lovely Lyns) and a warm and barren Cowell (no beach or Restaurant) we headed up the coast to Port Augusta to see Gail and Graham. Day one at Augusta was 40 and the pool was compulsory LOL, day two was 35 followed by the most amazing electrical storm. We had a wonderful dinner at Gail and Grahams but had to end the evening a little short as the storm was increasing in intensity and we couldn't remember if we had locked down Miss G or not (dementia is starting). On arrival back at the park we quickly discovered that the storm had blown all the power to the park so we at least got to switch over the fridge to gas (those that went to bed early would have woken to a mess in their fridges). Today is 20 degrees and we have headed down the road to Clare on route to Mildura on Sunday. This is Miss Guided's last trip for us as "Miss Guided 2" will be ready and waiting in Geelong on Thursday.

Thankyou Hans for the opera's they arrived safe and sound. How was the holiday ???

My new pet?????

There is nothing as graceful as an eagle in full flight. We have spent the last 3 days in Port Lincoln being wined and dined by the two lovely Lyns, so a very very BIG thankyou for a great time. It must also be noted that Lyn D and moi were the winners of the inaugural Bowl-off (even if there was some cheating involved)Rules are subject to change and open to interruption at any time and that includes the score, although we await the results of the drug tests with much nervousness.

Off to Cowell (WHERE) today, hopefully for some oysters and crab. Miss Guided 2 is in the beauty salon getting a perm and will hopefully have the facial and nail job by the 26th and be ready to hit the road running.

OOOOOPS Forgot

The bet on when we would pass the scotsman:

Joe - by the third roundabout

Yvonne - 10 klms mark

Ron - 30 klms mark

Moi 50 klms mark

and the winner is RON we passed them at the 29klm mark.

It's off to see the Lyn's

We finally got on the way from Esperance and headed off to Norseman. On the way we stopped off at Salmon Gums where we dropped into the pub (the only open building in town) for a toasted sanger and coffee and had an interesting chat with the publican, just like ol' times LOL. His advise was that Norseman was a BIG NO NO and that we should continue on to Fraser range sheep ranch and stay overnight there which we did. Just outside town we stopped and dialed up the Lyn's on Tom Tom and above is what we were presented with. You can see the distance is 1620 klms which will take 18.44 hours and we did this in Kuhlmann street, but the killer was we had to be on the lookout for the left hand turn which was in 1197 klms - Tom is good at pre warning us for dangerous and unexpected situations LOL.

It's Sammy

Now I am not saying we are just up the road from Antarctica but you have to wonder when you walk along the pier and up pops "Sammy" who is only at home in cooler climates LOL. Esperance is a lovely place and reminds me of Old Coolangatta, when it was still a quiet seaside place without all the highrise etc. Yesterday we went to the fish tanner and what an amazing place that is. When we are next in your neighbourhood ask me about my "Barra" belt and "Stingray" wallet, they are just amazing.

Albany, windy one day, freezing the next

Well good morning and the good news is that we are NO longer at Albany. We were due to leave on Thursday but we were so wet that it was just not possible to pack, so we extended for another day in the hope that the weather would improve enough for us to be able to pack up dry. Friday was a little better but we still had to pack in the drizzle but as we headed out of town the sun broke through a very small gap in the gloom so we new we were heading the right way. The trip here was adventurous with RT fording streams that had decided that the road was a much easier path than the countryside. We arrived at Esperance and what a change 500klms makes LOL. The temp was up to 17 and the sun was sort of shining. Today is the trip around the coast and in search of the fish skin tanner.

Love a tree

We left Pemberton yesterday and headed onto Walpole to the "Valley of the Giants" and the tree top walk. Amazing country with huge Karri, Jarra's and Tingles. As you can see from the pic Ron found one he wanted to take home, I think it would have made a great Bonsai LOL.

We arrived here in Albany about 4pm yesterday, set up on our ensuite site which is right next to the beach. Swimming, sailing and all sorts of fun things lay ahead for the next three days. WRONG. At 4.05 a gale blew in and has been at it ever since. The forecast is for it to last until Saturday. Last night has been the scariest night we have spent in Miss G so far, with the walls blowing in and out, the roof moving in the opposite direction to everything else and the ends (beds) going up and down, I imagine it's a bit like being in a storm at sea. The rain is not hitting us because to it blowing straight over us, only the really BIG drops make it down to our level. We even considered packing up and taking off inland but it's too dangerous to try and get the awning and flys down in this wind. Ron still has the flu so things are a bit grim at the moment. Never fear Saturday will come and we'll be off again.

Just to prove that he hasn't bumped me off yet

This was the welcoming committee at the big tree, much friendlier than the magpies LOL

I think this is one for Bruce

Today was karri forest day and we have done the big tree, the bigger tree and the biggest tree, the cascades, the dam, the waterfalls and have driven through a Mc Cubbin painting all day. Along the way we came across even more new flowers and then this one which I think is a native orchid, if I'm wrong I'm sure Bruce will correct me in the comments box.

and of course the fabulous "White Boys" are standout favourites of ours.

The wild flowers continue

We thought that the season for the flowers might have finished but down here in the south it really is just hitting its straps. I have tried to pick some of the more interesting examples for the blog. I have more than 70 great wildflower pics if you want to see more just let me know and I will post some new ones each week.

On the road again ------

Yesterday was packing day and we were off to Pemberton in the Karri forest area. We stopped over at Nannup for lunch and parked in front of this magnificent tree in full flower, thought you might like it.

A BIG ray of sunshine

On our last day at Busselton we went for a walk along the pier and spotted these two cruising under the pier. We were approx 30 ft above the water so I guess they were about 5 - 6 foot across. Big boys.

Knee Deep - The last stop on the winery tour

Well we survived the tour and as you can see there were causalities. 5 wineries (average 7 wines per place, the cheese factory, the chocolate factory and the Bootleg Brewery - all in one day.

We are staying at a great park just next to the beach, the park has won every tourism award in the last 5 years and is now ineligible to enter. Large lawn areas, great ensuites,lots of trees that block out the satellite, good management, just a great place. Off down the track tomorrow, we are heading down Caves road which runs through the hills all the way down to the very bottom of the state and then on to Pemberton and the karri forests.

Welcome aboard to Frans and Eveline from Holland who are also trekking around in a pop top (more casualities of the wine trip) we hope to catch up with them along the road.

Aaaaah another gourmet meal in the making

Good afternoon from down town Busselton WA. We left Perth this morning and cruised our way south to Busselton some 250klms away. The weather is great 31 and sweaty, just the way we like it, clearish sky and a vague threat of rain overnight. First thing was to organise the Margaret river wine tour which starts at 10.15 tomorrow morning and they pour us back into the park at 5,30ish, sounds very dangerous LOL. We are 100 meters from the beach so Wednesday will probably be a "not very active" day, maybe looking for more shells for Bailey.

Have a great holiday Hans

News Flash - We've been SHOPPING

As much as I would like to say this little ol' boat at fremantle was ours, unfortunately it didn't come in the right colours, so we declined the offer - BUT "Miss Guided 2" is born. Today we paid the deposit on the new generation MG and will pick her up in Geelong when we get there. She comes with all the bells and whistles, almost a proper kitchen, full size fridge, normal size counters, WARDROBES, storage for heeps and heeps of stuff, a toilet and shower etc etc etc. She will be ready in two weeks but we probably wont be home until early December as the farewell trip for "Miss Guided" will include some more drinks and good times.

I have also changed the parameters for comments on the blog and everyone can now leave a message. I didn't realise that I had left all the blocks in place, now they are gone.

RT is well and loves his new windscreen and I absolutely adore being able to see again with my new glasses. Off to the Margaret River on Monday.

Good Morning from Port Denison,

Well we have been quiet for the last couple of days waiting out the remainder of the school holidays by walking, painting and watching the Bathurst telecast. Off to Perth tomorrow to get a new windscreen for RT and me - can't wait LOL. We are staying a small park about 5 klms from the center of town so hopefully it will be ok. It is bounded by the racetrack on one side (which will suit Ron) and the airport on the other which will suit me as I just found a $600 airfare and 4 night accommodation package to Brunei (very tempting) LOL, and the swan river is on another side so if the weather heats up a bit we may get D'luded into the water. We went in here but the weather has been a bit too windy since then and an ocean going sailing ship she ain't. Off to the Sunday night Roast tonight.

Go Holden

Nero fiddled while Rome Burned,

but we decided that we would go to lunch while the market crashed, but you will notice that we are drinking tea and NOT wine. The reason for this is that it is almost impossible to get a decent bottle of wine in this state. All the bottle shops look like extensions of Liqourland. While we are not in the Margaret River area just yet, we thought that by now we would be getting cellars selling local wines - Nope, I asked someone the other day about a cellar and was informed that there was a basement in one of the old post office buildings !!!!!!!!!! not what i meant was it LOL. Yesterday we spent 3 hours sailing around Port Denison and for a change I manage to shift that large lump in the front end and get in some good fast sailing. Dinner last night was yet ANOTHER meal of that dam fish Ron caught, and there are still several meals to go.

And the winner is...... the Green Grocer

Well the sunshine parade has been and gone and in true style it started in the RAIN. It was a strange parade, no amplified music AT ALL, no speaker system on the street so you didn't know who or what the float was about, two bands the local brass and a pipe band and they were good, but without some razzamatzz it sort of didn't quite get there LOL. That said all the kids loved it and lots of lollies were thrown around so I guess it did what it was meant to do.

We arrived at Port Denison this afternoon and have found an almost perfect park. It sort of feels like a retirement village - NO WISE CRACKS - everything is manicured, the gardens are great, we are parked under cover for the first time ever, we have an ensuite which has a separate toilet and shower, a storage room for the freezer and junk and most importantly a WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER that didn't come from the Tardis. It does have a big tree at the back which scraps along the metal roof, so lets pray the wind stays quiet. We're not sure what is around here so we have only booked in for 3 nights. If the weather stays calm and warm we may stick around longer (if we can extend). Last night we thought we were going to be blown back to Victoria, the winds blew all day and all night and we were very glad to put Geraldton behind us.

"Oooooooh what's this big black thing in here"

Aaah yes Ron has finally discovered the engine, and how to pump up the tyres as well, it was a good day at car school LOL. As you can see yet again we had to lower the tyre pressures and then sit on the side of the road while mighty muscle pumped them up again. We are getting very good at this little routine. We have arrived in Geraldton and so far everything is going on schedule. I saw the optometrist yesterday so the new glasses are on the way, RT (truck) has been to the doctor to get the rear door sensor cleaned so it doesn't keep telling us that the back door is open (apparently full of dust and dirt, can't imagine how that happened) and today is the 50th anniversary of the Sunshine Festival so off to the street parade at 3pm followed by the dog competition and then a Tea Dance - this sounds very much like Midsumma Festival.

It's a blooming good time over here

It's looking like a really nice day the temp is 21 and it's only 8.30am so with luck we might get into the high 20's. We are still treading water here waiting for the school hols to wind down a bit. The park still resembles a kindergarten with bikes, cricket, football and every other sport being played everywhere. There such LOVELY little things. Yesterday we were lucky enough to see whales out at sea breaching. We might just going looking for them again today.

It's Wild Flower Time

and they are out all over the place. Over the next couple of days I will post some more photos of the flowers and they really are very impressive. This morning was a casual walk around the cliffs at kalbarri for a couple of hours before returning home to catch the motogp on tele.

The park is still packed to the rafters with rugrats and while most of the kids behave some of the parents leave a lot to be desired. We will be very happy when school hols are over and the parks and roads return to normal. We head off to Geralton on Wednesday and with luck I can get my new glasses organised.

A Great Victory for Hawthorn

Congratulation to the hawthorn football club for the stunning victory over Geelong.

Ron and I feel that we are going through a religious experience, around us has sprung up a tent city, there is loud wailing at all hours, stone throwing and speaking in foreign tongues. Could this be Mecca ???? Ramadan ? NO, it's school holidays WA style.

Miss Guided is Ready

Let the party start, we may be out of town but we are there in spirit.

GO HAWKS

It's off to hike another Gorgeous Gorge

Yesterday was the 4 hour peddle up the Murchison river and today is the 8klm hike around the Kalbarri Gorge. The hike was great, the wild flowers are out everywhere and I will post some pics tomorrow. Both of us were totally done in by the time we had finished playing mountain goat, but the wonderful scenery was worth it. Off for Chilli crab and duck tonight - YUM

Good morning everyone,

Just a quick update about the blog. I have created a new blog for the art and it's called "White Man Dreaming" and can be accessed from the bottom of this page, hope you like it.

Eureka

"Eureka"

After the first unsuccessful attempt to get it out of the water (due to sharks) these two came through unscathed and ready for the pot. The tally for the day was 1 huge pink snapper, 3 black snapper, 1 sweet lips and a little cod. Not only did he catch the most fish for the day, the rest of the people on the trip were threatening to throw him overboard if he caught anymore.

Congratulations Ron

PS. Does anyone want some fish ??? we have stacks, the freezer's full

Oops

Now this is the first fish, and Ron continues the tradition of feeding the fish only in this case he is feeding the very BIG fish.

Shark 1, Ron 0.

This place IS called "Shark Bay"

Hunting and gathering

He's off to fishing school at Shark bay, this could be the most expensive fish ever caught LOL. That is, if the fish is caught.

Having a Shell of a time

Good morning from Shark Bay, WA. We arrived here yesterday to be greeted by rain and storms overnight, oh well it had to happen LOL. This is a World Heritage area so today we are heading off to see the stromalites, dugongs, sharks, rays, cliffs and all assorted heritage things . On the way in we visited Shell Beach and you can see from the pic someone got all carried away.

Just a little to the left, woe, no the right, oops up a little etc

now if any of you have been around when we set up the sat TV you will know that sometimes it is not as easy as it looks, especially when the bracket at the back is ---p and will not give you enough of an angle to locate that pesky little b----- upstairs. Well I decided to solve the problem and bought him a bigger one. Now he doesn't like the colour - MEN

AAAAAGH Carnavon

This pic really sums up the town, it promises so much but just never delivers . This is the pic of the mile long pier which they charge you $2 to walk on, except no-one tells you that there is the slight obstruction two thirds of the way along LOL. We went to the hairdresser this afternoon to get a clipper job sorry we only cut hair in the "Mornings" ??????? then off to the Optometrist to see if I could get a clip-on for my ol' glasses - sorry he left about 10am, don't know when he will be back so the shop is closed ???????? Ah the trusty Book Exchange - wrong, someone sprayed graffiti on the wall so they closed it ?????? The Art Gallery and art supplies ! moved to Geraldton, well so might we.

Here we are in Carnarvon !!!!! Where ??????

Well it's about 1000kms north of Perth and we have just crossed the Tropic of Capricorn so we are heading back into cooler weather (Dam). It's 25 here today and quite pleasant but we both want our 30's back. Carnarvon is a pretty little town, very neat and tidy (the first such town in a long long time). There is a big fishing, scallop, crab industry here so tomorrow we will try to get some for dinner. Most places just freeze it, send it to Syd or Melbourne and then import it back via coles and woolies. (how dumb is that?).

The Hunter Gatherer is still trying to get the first BIG catch and I promise as soon as it happens it will be on the blog and a bottle of champers will be devoured around the BBQ.

OK, I promise NO more beach pics

But you have to admit this is one hell of a good beach. Centre of pic and half way between the beach and horizon is where D'luded dumped us, but that has not deterred us, we were back out again yesterday and will go back out this afternoon. This is such a great place that we have extended for another night to fully enjoy everything, but also to give the cracked rib and coral cuts a chance to recover a bit ( You should see Ron's feet, looks like he has been through a meat grinder). Next stop is Carnavon where they have a park just for us seniors and those that like the good quiet life - Rave Bowling might be the highlight of week at this park. Unfortunately we will not be able to give you first hand accounts of the park as we have chosen to stay elsewhere, wheelchair access not a requirement just yet.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH ain't that nice

This was our farewell committee at Exmouth although I must admit the father was getting a touch cranky with me getting close for the pic LOL.

DUMPED

Well after an uneventful trip down the highway we arrived at Coral bay and it is just stunning. We managed to score a site really close to the beach so all we had to do was get D'Luded off the top of RT and wheel her down to the beach. That said, the only down side of the site is we don't have power, but we have 5 bars of internet signal, lets hope the battery lasts LOL.

Off we headed into the most beautiful clear water with one of the worlds great reefs underneath, oh this is going to be fun. We sailed out about half way into the bay where the reef is quite shallow and we could lean over the side with goggles on and watch as we cruised by - bliss. SPLASH - hit by a rogue wave side-on, capsized, all hands in the water, shoes floating away, specs gone, fins drifting into the wide blue yonder and his "Blue" crocs gone, not even time for an SOS let alone a quartet playing "Nearer my God to Thee". How embarrassing, and the glass bottom boat had just gone past so they would have had a good laugh. With what was left of our dignity we managed to recover the fins and goggles but sandals, glasses, crocs are forever in the possession of Neptune. LOL It's still a great place, back out again tomorrow.

and

"Smokin' Sun"

Whiteman Dreaming continues

"Stairway to the Moon"

This one's for the two Lyn's and Di

Welcome to Turquoise Bay at Exmouth, yes the water is really like this and the snorkeling is spectacular. Today was whales, turtles and my record continues - a shark under us while snorkeling. This is the greatest place, temp 30, clear blue skies and water that is unbelievable.

I Forgot the Camera

As explained in the previous blog it was off to the Tom Price Mines "Single mens Quarters" for dinner last night. After much buffing and polishing we headed off in our best shorts, T-shirts and sandels ready for a big Saturday night at the Bistro. We entered with great anticipation at the fun for the night ahead. The Bistro was WELL lite with flouros (not a good sign) everything gleamed with cleanliness and even the staff had gloves and hats on (this really isn't Vue de Monde is it) Straight to the bar we headed - we needed a drink.

Do you have a wine list? Ron asked, "WHAT!!! errrr we have those bottles over there on the counter", was the reply from the over clothed young LADY . Oh dear this is not starting out as planned. After much hesitation we selected the bottle with the blue label and proceeded to check out the food. Amazing, Asian, Roasts, Steaks, fresh fish, lots of salads, roast vegies, 6 or so deserts including puddings, custards and everything in between. Hmmmmm we could put weight on in here.

The the much anticipated arrivals of the single men. You know in a country that is pretty well balanced in gender (us excluded) there has to be a reason for soooooo many single men in one place - NO ONE WANTS THEM (mothers excluded). So we ate and ate and ate some more.

To get ourselves ready for last nights gourmet feast we climbed (yes, climbed from the bottom) WA's tallest mountain, which is named Mt. Nameless (as its next to the Rio Tinto Iron Ore mine and is next in line). This is a pic from the top.

Mission Impossible Tom Price

Our mission should we accept it, is to infiltrate the mines "Single Mens Quarters" Bistro for dinner tonight. This puts a whole new slant on smorgesboard.

WE ACCEPT

"Going where no man has gone before"

Scaling walls, crossing fast flowing streams, Indiana Watkins finds the fabled entrance into the "Circle Pool" at Weano Gorge, yes another gorgeous gorge.

It's Spring

We are back in the real world. We stayed at karijini nat. Park for three nights and walked and walked and walked up and down all those gorgeous gorges. We stayed at the "Eco Retreat" which we now know is code for solar showers (that only work between 1pm - 3pm), no power, no water, no rubbish bins, actually you dont get much for your money apart from acres and acres of red dust which becomes MUD in the wet. YES it rained for the first time in 5 months. Poor Miss Guided, red from one end to the other. The National Park is fantastic and the Gorges really are spectacular and if you want I will load some pics on here. We are in Tom Price for a couple of nights to clean up. stock up and wash everything down. As you can see from the above pic Spring has Sprung and the wildflowers are in full bloom.

Our one day at Port Hedland

With only one day to see the place we headed off with great anticipation of the adventure to come. First port of call was the Art Gallery - Closed on weekends, well the museum will be open - closed on weekends, well how about one of the seafood restaurants - closed, ok lets go whale watching, you can only book with the tourist bureau, you must have at least 12 people and give them days of notice - closed, turtle watching off the coast - water tooo dirty - going home to start a new painting - sigh. But all was not lost as you can see from the pic above, last night we had the most spectacular sunset and it was free (I think).