Geraldton to Carnarvon

The roads were relatively quiet and we made good time today. We are now in the country of huge road trains with two or three trailers. They are difficult to overtake, but on long flat roads through desert-like landscape they go at a fair pace. There were a few grey nomads in caravans, but not as many as I’d seen in the past.

We stopped for morning tea at Galena Bridge. This is a popular shady spot, where overnight free camping is allowed. The only facilities are long drop toilets. It’s a lovely quiet place by the river, with a couple of white herons poking about and some common “28” parrots in the tree above us:

The modern road bridge is the highest one and replaced the old one, which was designed to be submersible when the river flooded. This bridge was designed by JL’s university  friend Gilbert Marsh.

There were some tiny pink flowers struggling in the dry stony ground:

On arrival in Carnarvon at about 4.00 pm we found our chosen accommodation (Hospitality Inn) was fully booked, so we were advised to go to another motel, the Fascine Lodge. Carnarvon is known for its Fascine, which is a wooden reinforcement of the river bank to prevent erosion by floods. At sunset we parked alongside the Fascine and I went for a walk along the old rail track which goes out to the One Mile Jetty.

The tramway was used to transport goods, such as bales of wool, to the jetty for loading onto boats heading overseas. It is no longer in use due to silting up of the Gascogne River.

Dinner was yummy seafood chowder; I’ve never tasted better!

Perth to Geraldton

We came via the Indian Ocean Drive, possibly the wrong choice since there were multiple roadworks which slowed us down. There have been fatal accidents on this stretch of road and attempts are being made to upgrade it. Speed limits of 60 or 80 km per hour were in force and numerous signs warning drivers to Keep Left in German, French and Chinese. On a quiet road it’s so easy to forget where you are and set off on the wrong side. I did it myself years ago in Majorca!

We stopped for lunch at Jurien Bay and JL carried our chairs down to the beach. It was a lovely sunny and still day and we had the place to ourselves. In Geraldton we checked into the Ocean Centre Hotel. We got a nice room on the 4th floor with a sea view, but there was only an hour of daylight left for a walk along the prom. After that we claimed our free drinks at the bar, which (surprisingly) was packed. The car park was also full, so there are plenty of people on the move this week.

Sushi for dinner from across the road. It’s a warm night . We can listen to the waves rolling in and watch the twinkling lights which mark the passage into the harbour.

Early morning view:

Roadtripping W.A.

We are busy planning our escape from lockdown.

Destination: Broome!

Camels on Cable Beach

Perth to Geraldton. Tues

419 km. 4 hrs 34 min

Geraldton to Carnarvon.  Wed

474 km.  4 hrs 57 min

Carnarvon to Coral Bay. Thurs

238 km.  2 hrs 26 min

Coral Bay to Exmouth. Fri

152 km.  1 hr 38 min

Walking in the sun

Another visit to King’s Park was called for after the wash-out on Sunday. Yesterday the weather was much improved and a beautiful sunny day ensued. I also had to get out of the house, because a nearby apartment was undergoing noisy renovations which began with drilling up the old tiles. Now that the building is about 10 years old, everybody wants to renovate. It drives you mad, as noise reverberates everywhere.

King’s Park is always full of interest and the Botanic Garden section has representative species from all over the state: 

I specially like the Kimberley area. I found a better example of the Birdflower, which shows how the name originated:

I also retraced my steps to the Wickham’s Grevillea, where I found both red and yellow varieties:

All these can be looked up on W.A.’s website FloraBase, a mine of information about plants and their distribution:

This is a pandanus tree, showing its roots and big fruits:

Finally, I went across the “treetop walkway” and then walked back below it:

Walking in the rain

The first bushwalk of the season attracted a big group yesterday: 22 people (i.e. 2 over the limit for gatherings). We spread out well over the tracks in Kings Park: a very easy walk for those of us whose joints had stiffened up a bit during the lockdown. The weather forecast was wrong and we got absolutely soaked in one shower after another!

After a short shelter in this gazebo, we pressed on. It was a good test of our wet weather gear.

Only a few wildflowers were out so early in the season, but the heavy rain will surely encourage a lot more. This a “Cockies Tongue” or Templetonia Retusa:

In the Botanic Garden there is a section devoted to plants from the Kimberley. I was happy to see one of my favourites, a Birdflower:

This is a Wickham’s Grevillea:

We even managed to find another gazebo to eat our picnic lunch and finished off with a piece of the most delicious “impossible cake” provided by Carla, full of lemon and coconut. She wouldn’t give us the recipe, saying she made it up every time.

We walked 7.6 kms.

Dentist

When you are pain you need to see a dentist asap! Over the weekend I was suffering from a fragile tooth that had been extensively filled last August. I worried that it might be hard to get an appointment. I suddenly had a brainwave to look for an online booking and discovered one vacancy at 9.00 am on Monday morning. At the surgery I found out they had been virtually closed for 3 weeks when they were under government orders to treat only specific emergencies. My dentist, Helen, had taken the opportunity to repaint the walls. Well, my problem proved to be an infection in and around the tooth, which was cleared up miraculously within 24 hours with antibiotics. I was lucky it could be dealt with so quickly, but I imagine that tooth will have to go sooner or later and the next step will be an implant. If this had happened a few weeks ago, I would have been desperate!

Another problem ship has docked in Fremantle. This time it's a vessel from Kuwait, part of the live sheep trade for the Middle East. Six crew have tested positive for the virus and have been put into hotel quarantine at the Novotel in Perth, while the other 42 crew remain aboard the ship. The fate of almost 60,000 sheep being held in a Baldivis feedlot is now in limbo. This situation might make people consider whether its time to ban this live sheep trade altogether.

Going places

Killed a couple of birds with one stone yesterday. First on the agenda for going places was a flu injection. A “clinic” for seniors had been set up in one of Crown’s unused underground car parks. I thought there might have been a queue, but I only saw about 3 cars and at least 10 staff. It was also freezing after a bitterly cold night. I felt sorry for them. I don’t know why more people weren’t taking advantage of this: it was a really convenient way of avoiding a GP’s busy waiting room with all the potential germs. The government is keen to avoid having hospital beds taken up with flu patients.

Next, I made a long awaited visit to the hairdressers. My hair had got so long and awful during the lockdown that I’d only gone out wearing a hat. The salon was fairly busy, but on entry there was hand sanitizer plus a temperature check. Between clients, chairs and benches were sprayed and cleaned. They were doing all they could. If there was a Covid outbreak in one hair salon, they knew that they would be closed down and the whole industry might suffer.

So, I came home with a beautiful hair style and a stiff arm: in time to meet my Woolworths delivery man! But W.A. has only 3 active cases now, touch wood.