Off to Kalgoorlie

Written by Michael Zangerle on 09 April 2012. Posted in Australia

We continued north and practiced already a bit with the dirt road. Our campground we have picked out for the night was off-road and nicely situated in the bush. The stars are just mind-blowing so we practiced a bit with star trails. Well the moon ruined it or we have to plan a bit better next time. You need new moon to take a picture with a 30 minutes aperture.

But watching the stars, having a glass of port wine was really nice.

To drive the Great Central Road we had to get the permit in Kalgoorlie since the 1200km dirt road goes through Aborigine land. In the city we met some strange people – well those gold miners are special. Off we went to Leonora but Nadine forgot to turn off the light so the battery was dead. Luckily we have a jump starter. Why can’t there be this reminding beeping sound when you forgot to turn off the light?

Since we have a small tank - only 48 ltr. – we decided to buy a second 20 ltr. Spare tank to manage the distances between the roadhouses on the Great Central Road. You can get only opal unleaded on this track because the Aborigines sniff unleaded and opal you can’t sniff it.

It is really sad how most Aborigines live here. There are similarities to the Native Americans. Put away in Communities they have bad drinking problems, no work and most of them don’t use the possibilities of school and studying. Till 1960s the white Australians totally ignored the Aborigines – so they didn’t exist for the society.

We are looking forward to see their land – the center of Australia, untouched, no industry, just pure nature. How Australia had been…

Lucky Bay and Skippy on the beach– Esperance

Written by Michael Zangerle on 08 April 2012. Posted in Australia

We broke down between Albany and Esperance – no petrol. Just 32 km before the next petrol station. The wind and the high dips used quite some petrol. Well we have to get to know our car a bit better.

Fortunately a couple just came by and Nadine hopped on board with our spare tank. At the petrol station she could organize a drive back. So all easy.

What do we learn out of this? The big bag has to get off the roof – too much windbreak - always fill your spare tank and use every petrol station you can get. Sometimes they are over 300 km away from each other.

In Esperance we drove the Great Ocean Drive and stopped and nice beaches as Nine Mile Beach, Twilight Beach und Blue Haven. The Pink Lake wasn’t pink anymore due to heavy rain. Normally the combination of an algae and a bacterial makes it appear pink.

At the 200m Tanker Jetty we said hello to Sammy the sea lion. He waited for some leftovers from the fishers.

For lunch we drove to Lucky Bay and watched Skippy the kangaroo. Nadine went for a swim – the water was quite chilly. Where is the nice water temperature of 30 degree from Perhentian Island? We are just sissies.

Walpole and its big trees

Written by Michael Zangerle on 06 April 2012. Posted in Australia

The next day we headed south with Pete – towards Walpole. Anke was stuck with her studying so we had to say goodbye. On the way down we met with Cynthia and visited the farm she is picking grapes right now.

Since we started a bit too late – so we need to optimize our planning – we had to camp somewhere in the bush next to a pond. On our first night with the camper we made some funny experiences.

First the cooker wouldn’t work so Micha had to repair it for about 1 hour. Nadine and Pete cutted the mushrooms and onions while drinking a nice red wine but the 3 legged table flipped and all the food ended on the ground. Well mixed with some wine and wood leaves the food was still tasty.

Lucky we had those great sleeping backs from Nepal since the night was really cold. The next morning we found a sunny place for a nice breakfast – fried eggs with baked beans.

High in the tingle trees was the canopy-walkway. The highest point was 40m and Pete was concentrating since he is not so good with heights. The swinging didn’t make it easier. It was really impressive to walk between those giant trees above the ground. Some of the tingle trees had a diameter of 16m. It was just gigantic.

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Pete afterwards since he was heading for a wedding. For us it was just time to hit the road...

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