4WD CLUB

Nullabor Ramble

September 2011

 

 

Dates

6th September – 29 September 2011

 

Event Organiser

Vince & Sue Bosua

 

Attendances

 

 

 

Visitors *

 

Vince & Sue Bosua – Prado & Off Road van

Neil & Sharon West – Landcuiser & Camper trailer

Mike, Cath & Lauren Hurley – Nissan Wagon & Camper trailer

Kate McCracken & Roy Anderson – Nissan Patrol & tent

Evan & Marg Thomas – Prado & Camper trailer

Paul & Maxine Burke – Landcruiser & Camper trailer

Wylie McGuinnes – Hilux & tent

 

*David & Lorraine Adams – Landcruiser & Camper trailer

 

 

In total, 8 vehicles participated in this great tour. Tuesday 6th September saw 6 vehicles assembled at Ceduna to start the ramble. Bosua’s & West’s came via Melrose and Eyre Peninsula, Thomas’s & Adams came across centre of Eyre Peninsula dining on oysters and red wine, while  Ando & Kate also checked out parts of the Eyre Peninsula on their way to Ceduna.  Mike & Cath came via a family visit in Adelaide. Paul, Max & Wylie caught up with the group at Balladonia 7 days later.

 

Day 1 Ceduna to Fowler Bay via back roads and McKenzie Ruins, an old pioneering homestead in the Denial Bay area. After a check out of the ruins it was on to Rocky Point for smoko, but on arrival the wind blew us off the beach and on to seek refuge behind the Charra Public Hall. This wind was to set the trend for most of this trip. After a sheltered coffee stop on to sand dunes around Cactus Beach for lunch (again suffering the ravages of a strong sea breeze!

 

    

 

Mid afternoon saw us set up at the Fowler Bay Eco Caravan Park, with Dave & Neil off for a spot of fishing off the jetty. (4 Tom Roughs being the catch for the session). Dinner saw Neil cook up the roughies, only to find they lived up to their names and ended up in the bin.

Whales had been sighted in the bay earlier but we were too late to catch a glimpse. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Day 2 Fowler Bay to Nullabor – Raining this morning when we headed off. Heading to The Head of the Bight Reserve to see whales. Wind blew again and rain fell most of the day. Arrived at Head of the Bight around 11:15 with wind blowing a gale and rain falling steadily, not a good way to go whale watching.

 

      

 

Everyone went their own way, with instruction to meet up again at 14:00. Soon after we arrived the rain stopped and sun came out. Sun stayed out until 14:00 when we all re-assembled and headed for Nullabor Roadhouse for fuel up for tomorrows trip to Cook.

 

As we reached the main road again a strange sight greeted us from out of the rain, 2 NQR locomotives moving quickly westward along the main road on the back of very large semi trailer vehicles. (seems strange a rail company moving trains by road!!). We caught up with these at Nullabor Roadhouse for a quick good look before they disappeared down the road again.

 

    

 

News from the Roadhouse about the road to Cook not good. It seems the road to Cook is very crook! Will have to change our plans tomorrow. Headed out after refueling to a roadside camp 47ks west of Nullabor. Roadside stop has some low trees to give some shelter from the persistent wind. It’s still cold at nights, just ask Sue!

 

 

 

 

Day 3 – Nullabor to Eucla -

As the road to Cook is not recommended (lots of mud, no longer maintained and reports of those attempting it suffering lots of tyre damage) we head straight for Eucla. At Border Village we are subjected to the Quarantine Inspection, some more rigorous than others. As Evan moves off from his inspection, David hears a strange noise coming from Evans camper and on inspection Evan finds all the wheel nuts on one wheel loose and a stud broken. A quick re-tighten of the remaining nuts and all ok to travel on to Eucla and a visit with Rod the local Mr fix-it.

We’re camped at Eucla Caravan Park for next 2 nights and settled in for a couple of easy days. Ando & Kate headed off to the restaurant to have a quiet celebration, Thomas’s & Adams decide that’s a good idea and head up to the restaurant also, while the rest settle down to preparing camp meals.

 

Day 4- - Eucla Telegraph Station and a run across the Roe Plains to Mundrabilla.  Did 100+kms today around the Eucla area visiting the telegraph station, walk to the beach at Eucla and then across the Roe Plains to Red Rocks Point.

 

    

 

Roe Plains is flat and has very low vegetation, Red Rocks Point a small fishing settlement with some strange place names on property gates. You need to go there to see what we mean.

 

    

 

Back to Eucla just at the rain starts again for our second night and some very noisy, inconsiderate roosters. Hope they don’t crow during the night like last night!!

 

Day 5 – Eucla to Eyre Bird Observatory near Cocklebiddy. Easy run to Eyre Bird Observatory access road. Set up camp just outside the Conservation Park 30 kms south of the main road. What a great location. No traffic noise, no wind noise and good camp sites. Early day in camp and getting ready to visit the bird observatory tomorrow.

 

    

 

Day 6 – Eyre Bird Observatory. It’s a 10km sand track to the observatory, which is the old Telegraph Station Building that has been restored. We caught up with the resident caretakers (they do 3 months on a voluntary basis) and were welcomed with tea & cake and a guided tour of the facility. As there was limited parking at the station we split into 2 groups and while one was at the station, the other group went down to the beach. A great day had by all. The narrow sandy track in and out was a treat to drive.

 

 

    

 

 

Day 7 – Cocklebiddy to Caiguna. To build on the Eyre experience we decided to visit the John Baxter memorial south of Caiguna. Baxter was a partner with Eyre when they explored the route for the telegraph line. They had started the survey at Fowlers Bay just as we did with our trip. They established the Eucla & Cocklebiddy telegraph station sites just as we had visited, so it was only fitting we check out Baxter’s monument at the site where he was murdered after leaving Eyre’s survey.

We travelled to Caiguna Roadhouse to find the track to Baxter’s Memorial. Ando & Kate spoke with the people at the roadhouse and soon we were being guided by a couple of the locals through the caravan park and past the airfield along a myriad of tracks to a point where we could find the main track to the memorial. They said it was a 5 hr round trip, but how could this be it was only 25kms to the monument? After travelling only 6 kms from the roadhouse it was proving difficult to travel with the off road van due to trees overhanging the track. We found a good campsite, dropped off the trailers and van, set up camp, had a quick lunch and headed to the Monument leaving around 14:00hrs. Cath & Mike stayed at camp to give Lauren a rest.

      

 

Should be well back by 16:00, only 20kms there! 16:00hrs saw us just arriving at the monument after negotiating a very rocky, windy and tiresome route in. Marg was worried about the new Prado, Dave had never travelled these types of tracks before and Ando was loving the whole thing. A quick coffee and photo op, both due to time of day and the terrible plague of bush flies at the monument, saw us back on the track and arriving back at camp right on dusk, (that was cutting it fine!).

 

    

 

Day 8 - Caiguna to Balladonia.  After exiting our Caiguna campsite and thanking the roadhouse crew for their assistance yesterday we headed off to see the Caiguna Blow Hole, just west of the Roadhouse. Neil was in the lead and directed us all onto the track to the blowhole. Heading into the parking area we found a track heading south and proceeded to find the blowhole. Some point (about 1km) down the track we still couldn’t find the object of our endeavors, only to be told over the radio that it was back at the car park and only 5 metres from the highway. (We found it on our return). Pics taken, belief that we could feel the breeze coming from the hole, it was time to head on the Balladonia Telegraph station to continue our “In the Steps of Explorer Eyre expedition” before hitting the camp ground at Balladonia Roadhouse and catching up with Paul, Max & Wylie. The telegraph station is on private property so our photography was restricted to behind the property fence line, but still worth the stop.

 

     

 

Day 9 – Balladonia to Israelite Bay. Today we start the next phase of our adventure. All 8 vehicles now in attendance. We head south along the dirt road out of Balladonia, headed for Israelite Bay. This road saw the convoy stretched out due to dust and rough sections until we hit the newer formed gravel road 63 kms after leaving the bitumen.

 

    

 

 

A further 12 kms on and we missed the turn off to Israelite via the direct route. Ando was the only one who realised where the track was but by then the remainder were well past it. In the end we travelled through to Condingup, stopping to check out the restored homestead along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

 

Nearing the main road (Fisheries Road) Ando reported a strange sound coming from the front of his vehicle. This soon cleared and we pressed on to Condingup. At Condingup we stopped for a coffee and resupply at the local Tavern / General Store. It was here that Ando noticed oil around his front wheel. On inspection it was decided that Ando had done a front oil seal and he should head into Esperance, some 70kms west to see about getting it repaired. Cath & Mike also headed in to Esperance to give Lauren a break from travelling.

 

Meanwhile the rest of us headed east towards Israelite Bay. Given the late departure from Condingup and the extra 135kms to be travelled it was going to be close to dark when we arrived. However the track, although a great track to travel, was slower going due to sand, ruts, chicken runs around bog holes & long corrugated sections. This saw us make camp at an intersection 16kms short of our destination due to running out of daylight. Not a bad camp though.

 

    

 

 

 

Day 10 – Into Israelite Bay.  This morning saw us all up early to break camp and head for pancakes at Israelite Bay. Having come 47kms along the Park track the previous day through banksia landscapes, this morning’s run of 16kms saw us drop down to the edge of the lagoon leading up to Israelite Bay and running the last 8 kms on supper flat sand.

Once at the bay, stopped off to see the last of the old telegraph stations on this trip.

 

    

 

Into camp and set up, then doing pancakes and starting to enjoy our surroundings. Fishing spots were explored, sea weed covered beaches traversed and after lunch a fishing expedition mounted. This had us all on the narrow beach watching fisher men & women fight with the seaweed. Eventually Dave & Neil were successful in catching a fish each (Dave a tiddler, Neil a small puffer fish) but no dinner. Back to camp for an easy dinner and campfire.

 

    

 

Day 11 – Israelite Bay to Cape Le Grand.  As it’s Friday and we have to travel 63kms on a narrow sandy track we decide to get out of the park early in case we meet weekend fishermen coming in to Israelite Bay for the weekend. We depart at 07:15 which saw us out of the park at 09:30 and pumping our tyres back to road pressures.

 

    

 

Headed back to Condingup for coffee, before travelling on to Cape Le Grand near Esperance. As we approached Condingup, Vince & Sue are blinded by a swarm of bees (not good at 80kmh). The bees have a big hole punched in their swarm and regroup, just in time for Wylie to punch a second hole back through the swarm, leaving bees scattered all over the place. Honey, bee’s innards and all sorts of sticky stuff over the fronts of the 2 cars. Once we get to Cape Le Grand we head for Lucy Bay to find some camp sites. The camp area is filling fast and we get the last few sites in the caravan section. Kate & Ando have had success with their vehicle, having had it repaired yesterday and soon they & Mike, Cath & Lauren join us at the camp site. They return to their camp at Esperance and we decide to stay another day at Lucy Bay as the Esperance site is small & noisy.

 

   

 

Day 12 – Cape Le Grand. We each go our separate ways today and check out the various Bays in the park as well as duck into Esperance for some quick shopping & fuel.

 

Day 13 – Cape Le Grand to Fitzgerald River National Park.  Into Esperance this morning to top up our water tanks at the information Centre and wish Kate & Ando a safe trip back to Melbourne. It was always their plan to return early due to work requirements, but Ando had so wanted to see Israelite Bay. (Maybe next time). We all (now 7 vehicles) depart for Jerramungup into a strong head wind which does nothing for our fuel consumption. Quick top up for those that didn’t fuel up at Ravensthorpe sees us heading to Quaalup Homestead Wilderness Lodge inside the Fitzgerald River National Park. The park is closed to the public due to a Die Back Management Project, but as we are staying at Quaalup, we have permission to enter. The gates at the park entrance are locked but we have the access code. On arrival at Quaalup, we are greeted by Edna, the resident emu. While we set up camp, Edna inspects all our vans, trailers & tent and helps clean them by pecking the sand from the rubber flaps, mats and thongs.

 

    

 

 

Day 14 – Fitzgerald River National Park. Today is a look around day. After breakfast the group minus Marg who went on a mini bus tour of the park, headed off to Gordon Inlet to look for whales. The drive through the outer edges of the park revealed an array of native flowers as we headed towards the beach. The last 4 kms were through coastal dune with thick stands of Tea Tree, making for a winding narrow run to the beach. Parked in a clearing in the dunes we walked the last kilometer along the Gordon River flats to the coast. The inlet entrance is currently blocked by a huge expanse of sand. Once on the beach, whales and calves could be seen cruising up the beach some 100 metres off shore. Returning to Quaalup we checked out some banksia at close quarters then headed back to camp. The afternoon had us walking the nature trail looking at more strange local wildflowers. It was a great afternoon. Marg returned from her tour of the park having seen areas we did not get into. Dinner time and we made another campfire after talking with the owners of the retreat. A good night sharing a late birthday cake for Mike and stories.

 

    

 

Day 15 – Quaalup to Kalgan River (Albany).  Another short travel day. Headed to Kalgan River Caravan Park some 21kms east of Albany. Plan was to do a 1 night stay to enable re-supply, but Albany has so much to offer we changed our plans and stayed an extra 2 nights, bypassing Manjimup. (We will do this another time). A great camping ground right on the river, kangaroos galore and an easy run into Albany and surrounds. After setting camp, catching up with the laundry etc, we each set off in search of all things around Albany. Some ended up at Emu Point for a look and coffee, some went up to the lookout above Albany, others went off to the Whaling Museum.

 

 

 

    

 

 

Day 16 – Looking around the Albany district.  Today Cath & Mike left us and headed off towards Perth to catch up with friends. The remainders split up into small groups and headed out in different directions. Vince & Sue, Sharon & Neil, Wylie, Paul & Maxine headed west towards Walpole to do the Tree Top Walk in the Tingle Tree forest. After this they made their way back via the Toffee Factory at William Bay, the Meadery just across the road and the Sandalwood Factory at Mt Romance north of Albany. Marg & Evan, David & Lorraine headed north to check out the wildflowers in the Stirling Ranges. Wylie did a 60km detour to the Puzzle Factory, but it was closed!

 

  

 

Day 17 – Still looking around Albany.  Last day to see what Albany had to offer. Neil, Sharon & Wylie headed off to the Whaling Museum, Sue & Vince checked out the cliff top sights under the wind farm. All the coves, bays & inlets of the Torndirrup National Park peninsula were explored by all at some time. Late afternoon had us all drifting back to camp for a well earned rest.

 

Day 18 – Farwell Albany, hello Karlgarin.  Time to depart Albany. Evan, Marg, Dave & Lorraine are staying another night and then might move on to Manjimup, (still deciding). Neil, Sharon, Sue, Vince, Paul, Maxine & Wylie head north through Porongurup National Park (Karrie Trees) and then on to Stirling Ranges. Lunch stop in Stirling Ranges has us looking for orchids. We found a few!

 

      

 

After lunch travelled through wheat country around Lake Grace, Pingarling and on to our overnight stop at Karlgarin. We camped at Tessie’s Museum & Caravan Park and were surprised at the great facilities and museum in this remote location. Karlgarin is 17kms west of Hyden and a great stop over location. The boys took up the offer of a museum guided tour by the owners who have been avid collectors for over 40 years. A great well presented collection of local history and artifacts. 

 

    

 

 

Day 19 – Hyden to Fraser Range Station Caravan park. Left Kalgarin this morning and headed to Wave Rock at Hyden. Had a good look and walk around the park including a walk into the mouth at Hippo Yawn. It was here that Wylie left us to return home to Perth.

 

    

 

    

 

The remaining 3 vehicles, Bosua, West, and Burke headed out along the Woodlands & Granite Drive towards Norseman. A few stops along the way and we were at the breakaways for lunch. Again the flies drove us back into our vehicles after a quick bite. Explored the Breakaways from within the sanctuary of our vehicles before heading of to complete the trip to Norseman. A great all weather gravel road. Fueled up again at Norseman and moved on to Fraser Range Station, a farm stay facility with caravan & camping ground 120kms east of Norseman were we able to enjoy a real sunset.

 

    

 

 

Day 20 – Fraser Range to Eucla.  A long run today and it rained most of the day. Back to the camp ground at Eucla and those bloody roosters, (forgot about them until we arrived). Rain stopped just before we got to Eucla so had a dry camp but a great storm show around us.

 

 Day 21 – Eucla to Nundroo (Fowler Bay & Poochera). Last day of the group travel. We headed off to Nundroo were we did a fuel stop and went separate ways. Neil & Sharon, Paul & Maxine headed down to Fowler Bay and a whale watch boat trip, while Vince & Sue headed back home to catch up with family coming in from overseas in a few days time. The whale watching was a success with them spending time with the last of the mothers & calves before they joined the rest of the whales heading back down south. Vince & Sue camped at the back of the Poochera Hotel in a nice quiet older caravan park. Only 1 other van in for the night.

 

    

 

 

Day 22 – 23 making our ways back home. Over the remaining days of this last week all the travelers returned home, Bosua & West on Thursday, Burkes, Adams & Thomas by Saturday.

 

There were many photos taken, particularly of flowers and ocean views, too many for this report. Check the web for more.

 

 

 

All in all a great trip, if a little cool, windy and occasionally wet. WA has much to offer and all made comment on returning to the South West for a longer stay & look around.

 

Thanks to all that came and made this an enjoyable, flexible trip. See you on the next one.

 

 

 

 

Report by  Vince Bosua