More on Kimba.

I don't know who is the biggest galah!!!

This shop was great. You know when you venture into those shops filled with lots of treasures e.g cane ware, teddies, prints, homewares etc and they always smell so divine, this is one of those shops.

This is the halfway across Australia sign geographically Kimba is halfway between Perth West Aust and Sydney New South Wales.

Woke up this morning and it was very misty outside but by about lunchtime the day had become rather warm. We stayed overnight at a Grain Storage Yard, they were very nice people, very welcoming. The sons are in to drag racing so we had lots to talk about as our boys are into speedway. Took some photos of motors that they could only dream of having. Bill set off to the day and caught some yabbies for our tea on their dam.

This is a view from Whites Knob Lookout of the town.

Kimba is the gateway to the Gawler Ranges in the South Aust outback. Pastoral leases were first granted here in 1872 and the 1st crops grown were in 1908 leading to the district's reputation as one of SA's major Grain Belts.

This is the sign for the Microwave Repeater Stations (below)One of the 62 sites between Port Pirie South Aust & Northam West Aust.

The Shed Bottle Shop and Front Bar isn't it quaint?

Not sure if you can read this may have to type it out later. It is quite interesting. You may need to click on it to enlarge the writing.


We will be leaving Kimba tomorrow and heading towards Iron Knob. Thank you for all your lovely comments, I will try and answer you all and check out your blog pages when we stop for a bit longer.

Talk again soon

Kimba-Chocolate & Patchwork Shop

Map showing Kimba

We left Ceduna about 9.30am after fueling up and we hit the Eyre Highway on the way to our next destination which is Kimba. Halfway across Australia. We lunched on fresh oysters at Minnipa and arrived in Kimba mid afternoon. While we were checking out the area we met a fellow traveller. His name was Dennis and he hailed from the same town as us in West Aust and a very good neighbour of our dear friends Merv and Irene. They were supposed to come on this trip to Whyalla also but had to pull out at the last minute. I rang Irene to let her know that it was a small world and that we had met their friend. Bill had to mend a tyre on the trailer so I wandered through town. It is a lovely small town with some quirky features which we will photograph tomorrow. But guess what!!!!!I found a patchwork shop!!!!!

One of the sayings perhaps I should hang it on the bus.

I had to access it through the hardware Shop (as you would). It was a minefield inside wall to ceiling fabric and knick knacks. I found this panel of Chocoholic sayings, probably could get it in WA but hey!! It was so me!!Cause everyone knows I love Chocolate.

Speaking of chocolate I'm not very impressed it is at least $1.50 dearer over here, I may have to ration my supplies.

Too true!!

LOL I also found in the local IGA a giant powderpuff, I actually got a little nostalgic thinking of the girls at their sewing day at Prue's House today. I felt a little overwhelmed and we have only been away a week and 1 day.

Talk again soon

Streaky Bay SA

One of the Main Streets of Streaky Bay

Monday 23rd March

The Streaky Bay Community Hotel

Today saw us driving in the Jimny over to Streaky Bay about 11kms from Ceduna, again on the coast. It was a typical lovely country town in a farming district known throughout Australia for their Oysters. They are available for $7.50 a dozen a steal at half the price. They have Oyster Farm Tours available most days of the week. Some of their other valuable catches in the area are their famous King George Whiting, Southern Rock Lobster (or crayfish) abalone and shark. Many other species abound in Streaky Bay waters, including salmon, snapper, garfish, snook, tommy ruffs, flounder, trevally, squid, blue swimmer and sand crabs (we call blue swimmer crabs in WA Blue Manna crabs different states have different names for the same species.) razor fish and scallops

The Jetty at Streaky Bay

. On the way back from Streaky Bay we called into Smoky Bay, again a lovely coastal town a little smaller than Streaky Bay. We actually had some of the King George Whiting for lunch and purchased some oysters to have some other time. Tomorrow we are leaving Ceduna and will probably head to Kimba on our way to the CMCA ( Campervan and Motor Home Club of Australia) National Rally in Whyalla.

The Beachfront in Smoky Bay towards Jetty

Smoky Bay Beachfront away from Jetty

Talk again soon

Ceduna

The Jetty at Murat Bay in Ceduna

The Ceduna Foreshore Hotel

Sunday 22nd March 2009

Not a lot happening today seems as if we need a lay day. Did our washing, it was quite windy here so it was dry in no time. We ventured into town to take some photos. Ceduna is the business hub of the far west coast, it boasts rich aboriginal cultural ties and a proud history in the agricultural, salt and gypsum mining and seafood. It has lots of oysters for sale and they have an oyster Fest every October. They have an unofficial tinny fest here at the moment so all the other caravan parks are full. Apparently a lot of fishermen bring their boats (tinnies) from all over Australia and participate in lots of fishing.

A memorial with a plaque showing all the fishermen that have lost their lives at sea.

I forgot to mention in my last digest (for the benefit of the overseas readers) Our last stint of travel is known as the Nullarbor Plains which boasts the longest straightest road in Australia, of which is 146.6 kms dead straight of road. (See why I crocheted) Nullabor means Treeless so the countryside is very flat. The Nullarbor Plains are stretched 1800kms from one side to the other. Bordertown is of course the town on the border of Western Australia and South Australia. I believe that when we reach the town of Kimba we will be geographically halfway across Australia between Perth and Sydney as the crow flies. But that’s a story for another day.

The Gypsum,Salt and Grain Silos on Thevenard near Ceduna

Talk again soon

Esperance to Ceduna

Thursday 19th March 2009 We left Esperance this morning at about 10 and drove to Norseman through Gibson and Salmon Gums. We lunched in Norseman and drove onto Balladonia, Caiguna and stopped for the night at the Jillbunya Rockhole which was 44km West of Cocklebiddy and 21km East of Caiguna. There were several others also camped at this spot. A total of 595kms travelled today.
Friday 20th March 2009 After a lovely night’s sleep we left about 8am, the weather was very overcast and quite warm we drove through Cocklebiddy, Madura, Eucla and reached Bordertown at midday. There was mobile phone reception at the main towns only. Our next stop was Mundrabilla where we refuelled. Quite a pleasant day, I played the IPod through the stereo and crocheted most of the way with the stew cooking away in the Crockpot. I found that I can load on over 500 tunes on my IPod and don’t have to change discs every couple of kms. The downside is I have songs which I have borrowed of the boys and you get a little tired of listening to AC/DC, The Angels and Cold chisel with a little bit of Pink thrown in and also Living End. So far we have played 194 songs of 544. We stayed overnight in the Nundroo East Rest Area which is 69km west of Penong and 10km East of Nundroo. We sat outside and devoured our stew and enjoyed the bush. We lit a small campfire and sat beside this until quite late. It was very stormy during the night, thunder and lightning but not much rain and it was very hot. 784kms travelled today. We also had to put our clocks forward 1 ½ hours to South Australian time.
Saturday 21st March 2009 We headed into Ceduna which was about 141kms away. We are planning to stay here a couple of days. Fellow members of CMCA (Campervan and Motor Home Club of Australia) joined us for lunch at the local Hotel and showed us the sites. Marlene and Jack have spent their youth in Ceduna so it was very interesting getting a firsthand tour of the town. Jack affectionly called Marlene channel Seven. I hope to have photos tomorrow as we explore some more of the town. The Airport Caravan Park is very nice we were able to drive straight into the site without disconnecting the trailer (and I didn’t have to guide his lordship into the spot) a rare thing when you have a BigRig. They also discount for CMCA Members so another plus for us. $20 a night which is very cheap. Also the meals are quite inexpensive here as like all Eastern State towns they have the Poker Machines to subsidise the meals. Another bonus for those that don’t gamble. Talk again soon

Esperance

The view from our Park site
Wednesday 18th March 2009
Firstly Happy Birthday Lurline. I hope you had a very happy day.
We left the campsite at 9am and arrived in Esperance at 10 past 11 a short total of 187kms of travel yesterday. We checked into the Esperance Seafront Caravan Park and our site is in the front opposite the beach front. Now we had a little bit of trouble backing in. This was my first time at directing the bus & trailer into its parking spot. I looked the part, Radio in my hand watching that DH didn’t hit the tree on one side and the white posts on the other. I stood in the place I was told to. Everything looked fine on my side. However on the other side was a different story the trailer was wrapping itself around the bus. We didn’t realise until we were parked up. DH couldn’t hear anything and the left hand side is in his blind spot. I looked from the back and all was OK. I didn’t realise I had to run from one side to the other and up towards the middle and be in about 5 places at once. So we dented the new paintwork on the trailer.

OOPS!!!

I was not very popular though I must say DH was quite restrained and didn’t yell much. It was probably because our friend Lorraine pulled in just as we parked up that I was excused from a verbal bashing. Anyway all is now well. We visited our friend’s Florist Shop and it is amazing watching her and her staff create these masterpieces in a matter of minutes. We had dinner with Ray and Lorraine last night and caught up on old times. Lorraine is an excellent cook and didn’t disappoint DH by whipping up a Lemon Meringue Pie. She is well known for her gourmet Tortes etc. And at one time was cooking for a bakery. She is a very talented lady. Today we awoke to showers of rain so we drove around taking photos and doing the touristy things. We visited Mermaid Leather. It was a lovely factory where they tan fish skins for leather and fashion them into handbags, shoes, pens, jewellery and even furniture. There was a gorgeous bag made from Stingray leather that had my name on it. However it didn’t come home with me. The beaches here are very stunning, but it is a bit cool and windy for swimming.

Parked up in Esperance

Talk again soon

On the road again

Stopped for lunch at Kojonup

Monday 16th March 2009
We farewelled the kids over the weekend. A silent tear or two was shed by me. I can’t wait to see photos of my beautiful granddaughter in her ballgown on the night of her final year ball on the 4th April. Hint! Hint! I miss them already. Congratulations to Shane on making it into the State Championships in Swimming in the Surf Club Carnival. You go Boy!! Win those potato Chips!!! (That's another story)

The back view of the Trailer
We picked up the bus and trailer from Frontline Signs in Bunbury and were all connected and loaded by 10am and we were finally on the road again. We drove from Bunbury through Dardanup and Boyanup and on to Donnybrook. From Donnybrook we turned left to Boyup Brook and on to Kojonup. We lunched at a lovely shady spot just before Kojonup and we stopped briefly in Kojonup to visit with friends. We then went on to Broomehill to Gnowangerup and stopped for afternoon tea just past Jerramungup. We met up with some caravanners travelling to Esperance and Streaky Bay. As usual they came from near our home town. We continued on to Jerramungup and pulled up for the night about 4klms from Ravensthorpe in a truck bay. Arriving at 5.30pm we travelled a total of 508klms today.

Sorry this looked better on the large screen.

I tried to download this blog last night but the signal wasn't very good. Had a rotten night sleep it was so hot! 33degrees in the bus and lots & lots of bugs. We have now arrived in Esperance where we will stay for a few days catching up with some dear friends of ours. I caused a slight accident when I was directing Dh into our parking spot but I will tell you all about that next time. I am not very popular at the moment and our nice new paintwork on the trailer doesn't look so good either. I thought things were going too well.

Talk again soon

Still waiting

I thought I'd better clarify a few things. When I refer to Dh i actually mean dear husband not d***head as a few of you are summising. I might think it sometimes but I would never say it out loud or put it in print. LOL. If I refer to SWMBO I mean she who must be obeyed. We are still playing the waiting game. The trailer is being signwritten at the moment and as soon as it is ready we will be on our way. I had a lovely couple of days, Tuesday was spent sewing with some of my lovely sewing friends at Julia's and yesterday I had my flu needle. Spent yesterday afternoon with another couple of friends at their farm. The mail has been diverted, the bus is loaded, the farewell drinks have been and gone, my car has gone, now we just need to say goodbye to the kids and we are ready to go. Talk again soon

Another little Drama

Hi everyone,

Woke up today to a lovely sunny day then all hell broke loose. We loaded the bus all day yesterday and exhausted we retired to bed. This morning DH went out to take the bus down south for the Trailer paint Job No Keys!!!!! Two weekends ago he lost his wallet, another drama, luckily some honest person handed it in. Anyway we searched high & low all through the house and garage and the bus. No keys!!!! Dh rings the RAC and organises them to come and try to get started or something. Now that everything is in a hell of a mess he remembers hearing something drop out of his pocket when he was in the toilet. Yes you guessed it they were there. Any way to cut a long story short he left admittedly a hour or so late but he was finally on his way and I could get on with my day. Honestly he'd lose his head if it wasn't screwed on its very lucky that I soooo love him. Anyway you may have guessed how stressed we are at the moment. Things are certainly a tad tense. Can't wait to finally get on our way and relax. I have decided to take my 1930's fabric with me for a project to do while I am away. I may go for a simple design such as a dresden plate on a white background. I have packed my Electric Quilt program so I may have some fun doing quilts on there with out actually making a quilt. Sort of a claytons quilt. Anyway we are still very much on track for leaving Wednesday. I feel a little better today not so sore and sorry for myself. Now I better clean this mess up.

Talk again soon

Up up and away

What a difference a day makes! I had a lovely day Friday catching up with two of my most dearest friends and a little bit of retail therapy. Just looking but gee it was nice. Dare I say it. The bus is out of the workshop and is actually home!!!!! We picked her up yesterday and drove her here. She went like a dream. We are busily trying to load her ready for the next big trip. Tomorrow she is going down South so that the trailer will be transformed to match the bus and hopefully if all is done we can head off into the sunset Wednesday. Maybe just maybe I will get another outing with the girls at Julia's on Tuesday. Fingers crossed!! There may be a few tears shed then as I have to part with my car. I have come attached to her over the years and it will be like losing a best friend. On a good note it is going to a new home and I know she will be well looked after. Talking about trips. I went off at top speed yesterday for a walk down town to check out my lovely granddaughters ball gown, tripped on a bit of paving went flying in the air and landed smack face down on the paving, sunnies, phone and handbag went flying. I landed on my hand first which is bruised and sore then my boob took most of the impact and then cracked my head. Not too badly damaged but I seemed to have jarred a few things and have some quite sore spots. My son said suck it up princess and I didn't get much sympathy from DH either. He was sorry he wasn't with me some that he could video it. Some lovely people helped me up and yes the dress was worth it she will look absolutely stunning. They have promised to send me photos. Well must go as I am supposed to be loading the bus. Talk again soon