G'Day from Oz!
We've arrived in a place called Kalgoorlie, in the heart of the Australian goldfields. We arrived in the middle of a thunderstorm and it's still raining and cool now so we've taken the time to update our blog. We aren't complaining about the weather though, let me tell you why.
After enjoying the blue skies and sun of tropical Exmouth we headed inland to a place called Karajini National Park. We had been told to go there to see the waterfalls and gorges which we were assured were worth the trip (it was thousands of km inland). So, as the day dawned hot and sunny, we set off.
The journey took us through hundreds of kms of ... not much really, dusty scrub land with a few dry trees. As the day wore on it got hotter, the sun got stronger and we began to get warm. Ringo got warm too, I noticed the temperature gauge get higher than it had been, steady a bit and then get higher again. As it got into the red I got a bit concerned that our van was going to explode so, to give him a chance, I turned off the air conditioning. Then we began to feel like we would explode. Fortunately we reached a roadhouse (outback petrol station) and gave all three of us a rest from the heat. The thermometer there showed it was a balmy 44 degrees IN THE SHADE and about 50 in the sun. The wind was like a hair dryer in your face and we began to think British winter wasn't so bad after all. We spoke to other travellers at the roadhouse and they reassured us that our van wasn't broken, the heat in Oz could get so high that it was common to have to give your wheels a rest during the day. So, we've got limited time to explore a vast country the size of Europe; you can't drive at night because you'll hit a Kangeroo and you can't drive in the afternoon because it's too hot. Which leaves you a couple of hours in the morning and afternoon to get about; not good considering how far we planned to go.
We left the roadhouse and headed inland once it had cooled a bit, but more heat related fun was still to come. As it came time to stop for the night it still felt warm. We parked up, got into bed and began to sweat. Lots. It was ten at night and it was still about 35 degrees in our van. I've been in saunas that were colder and less humid. We couldn't open the wimdows as we'd get attacked by bugs so we just had to sweat it out (literally). Occasionally we treated ourselves to a cool by sitting in the front and turning the air con on. We sat naked in the front and let the sweet, cold air flow over us. It was a good job we were well off the road, God knows what we would have looked like to passing truck drivers. Since that day we've been lucky enough to avoid another day and night so hot but we've amended our travel plans to avoid the red hot centre of Oz and hug the coast with it's sweet evening breezes. This means giving Uluru (Ayers Rock) a miss but, if you'd spent the night with us in our sweatbox, you'd understand.
Karajini was nice but a bush fire and thunderstorm had closed most of it. We did enjoy a bit of gorge walking and had a swim in a rockpool. Our gorge walk was amusing. After our last experience we took loads of water, sunscreen, hats and everything to keep us safe in the blistering heat. So what happened? It clouded over, we got a two minute dip in a pool before a thunderstorm hit and HAIL fell amongst the rain. We had factor 30 but no coats so we got wet and cold instead of burnt. We're going to give up going walking, nature keeps laughing at us. Fortunately the weather was better the next day and we got to have a proper swim in one of the pools.
From there we've headed south. We stayed at a working farm run by a lovely couple where we got the original sheep shearer's building to cook in. We arrived after a long day (700 plus kms at 90 kms an hour, you get the idea) and they kindly gave us cold beer and wine to quench our thirst. We slept well that night. The next day we played with their baby goats and saw rare wild black red-tailed Cockatoos in their creek.
Our next stop was the highlight of our time in Oz so far, swimming with the sea-lions in Greenhead. We called back there and the weather was o.k. for a trip so off we went to sea-lion island. As we approached the sea-lions saw our boat and ran into the water for playtime. Apparently they enjoy interacting with the humans as much as we enjoy playing with them so we dived in and interacted. They were fantastic. They would lie on the bottom and watch you. Close up their faces look like labrador puppies, all big eyes and whiskers. If they like you they will swim up to you and play, copying your movements and coming up to your face. The more you move the more interested they get so we spent hours doing somersaults and rolling around in the sea. It was superb and we'll do it again if we get the chance.
After Greenhead we returned to Perth where we picked up some mail. Elaine now has a shiny new credit card for us to melt as mine has expired and we have several new c.d.'s to listen to as we drive, courtesy of her Dad (thanks Chris). There don't appear to be any radio stations in Oz so we need new tunes to pass the hours. We also went to a Koala park in Perth where Elaine got to hold one of the furry marsupials. They were very cute and she wants one to take home (not sure Eucalyptus will grow well in our garden though).
So now we're off to enjoy the sights and sounds of Kalgoorlie. We're going to check out the goldfields (hopefully we'll find some, God knows we need to if we're ever going to pay for this trip!) and then hit the southern coast. We plan to spend Christmas there, hopefully on a beach somewhere. We have our Christmas Day food, Elaine even has Bachelor's mushy peas that we found in a shop in Perth. Yummy!
We'll try to put another blog on before Christmas Day but if we can't have a Merry Christmas. Hello to Neil's Mum, we know you're reading this, and to Elaine's Gran Eunice. I'm sure you'll be disgusted by your grandaughter wanting mushy peas for Christmas dinner but it's what she wanted. I'd have made her Yorkshire pudding but I can't make it on a camping stove.
Hope you're all well and we'll see you soon
Richard and Elaine
Kalgoorlie Hotels
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