Stonehenge - Esperance

March 2015. A quick trip South to visit family. Who knew this complete, life-sized replica of England's Stonehenge was tucked away only a few km out of town? Not me. It was totally amazing and had a real atmosphere. The huge granite blocks created a calm quiet space.

Outside looking in. Note the dry, brown paddock.

Inside the structure it was cool and green and serene.
Standing on one side of the circle looking back at my husband and brother-in-law.
Gives you an idea of scale.
If you live in WA or are just visiting, it's well worth the journey.
Esperance Stonehenge.

The Last Holiday Post

Our young friend had a birthday the day before we got home.

The young man in the middle turned 8.

We knew we were getting closer to home when we got to Widgiemooltha.

They had great coffee (very important with all that driving).

Not far to go now. The grass was greener as we neared 'civilisation'.

In total we travelled 6,657 kms.

We had a great adventure and would love to do it all again sometime -

but next time with warmer nights!

Back to WA

Ceduna, South Australia.

The South Australia/Western Australia border.

The "Big Galah" was at Kimba SA.

Apparently this is the point that is half-way across Australia.

Eucla, Western Australia.

The Southern Ocean is home to many whales and it's a big part of the tourism industry.

Note that sections of the road are designated emergency airstrips for the

Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Sadly, they do get used from time to time.

Woomera

After Coober Pedy we managed a quick stop at Woomera.

Originally a defense weapons research and testing facility, Woomera is now a sleepy village for tourists, although some of the facility is still used for defense and private purposes.

We covered a lot of road.

In the distance is the Flinders Range, South Australia.

Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is an amazing place. It's dry, dusty and feels like how I imagine an American Old West town would feel. It felt 'frontier' and on the edge of civilisation. And while there were structures and homes above ground - anywhere you could see a ventilation pipe sticking out of the ground you knew someone lived underneath.

The underground church. Acoustics were great and a nice temperature.

I especially like the lectern.

This is a private residence opened for us to see. It costs $5 per person and was well worth it. It was built by a woman and her two girlfriends in the 1960's. Faye certainly sounds like a very interesting woman.

I have only a few more photos to sort through and will post them when I'm organised.

In the meantime I hope to generate something quilty!

Alice Springs Assorted

The trans-continental passenger train, The Ghan, was in the Alice Springs station. A kind employee got permission to give us a quick tour. Shaun definitely wanted to travel in style.

We visited the School of the Air. Children living in remote locations attend school via computer and satellite internet. They used to be taught by pedal-powered radio.

Some years ago the kids made a quilt.

And one of metal.

A few random photos. Mr Fixit is sitting in the cockpit of a display plane at the Royal Flying Doctor Service visitors' centre. Shaun is sitting on the quarantine bin for South Australia. I tired to get a picture of a road train. Needed a panorama camera I think. Massive things. Green tree frog just hanging around. And Mr Fixit assessing possible damage.

Footprints & Signs

Emu and goanna? Me?

Do they get points for trying?

Uluru (Ayer's Rock)

Shaun had his little climb while I enjoyed the amazing scenery of the Mala Walk at the base of Uluru.

Mr Fixit elected to climb the rock - a childhood dream fulfilled.

Sunset viewing of Uluru.

More of this...

Lasseter's Cave

Lasseter was an explorer who perished when his camels bolted and left him without food or water. He claimed to have found a fabulous reef of gold years before then perished when he returned to look for it. But that's not all of the story. Some claim he was a conman who convinced people to fund his expedition to re-find this gold, then faked his death and took off with the money. In any event, it's part of the Australian folklore and we definitely had to have a look since we were right there anyway! Shaun certainly had fun...

You can see the cave was quite small and shallow.

Dry river beds have a certain beauty.

If it had rained we would have been totally stuck in the mud.

A Little Look...

This is a little look at the Superpit and Kalgoorlie.

They turned the statue of Paddy Hannan in to a drinking fountain.

This is our campsite in the bush outside Laverton and then the roadhouse at Tjukayirla.

This is the Giles Weather Station. Very very cool.

It was great to see the weather balloon and how it was all done.

And of course we saw lots and lots of this.

More to come.

This post is dedicated to Helen (no blog).

She is encouraging me to get back online.

Lasseter's Cave

 

The Little Holiday and Blog Break

My DH and I are taking a little holiday in July so have decided to settle down the blog for a break. We are doing a winter tour of Australia's great Outback.

We will leave Perth and head east to Kalgoorlie. Then north through Leonora and Laverton and then east across the Great Central Road to Yulara and Uluru. Then northeast through the McDonnell Ranges to Alice Springs. Then south to Coober Pedy and then south and west through the Lake Everard district to Ceduna. Then west across the Nullarbor to Norseman and Coolgardie then home to Perth.

Three delightful weeks of amazing landscapes and starscapes. Yes, it will be cold. But the days will be beautiful and we have warm clothing and bedding. We will have a few nights at caravan parks and also a few nights bush camping.

To give my US friends an idea of the distances, here is Australia's land mass compared to the US.

DD #2 will house sit while we have this most excellent adventure. She's promised to keep the parties to a minimum.

Hope is your next little while is good. I hope to have a few reasonable photos and will share upon my return.

Another Bag

Don't get too excited. I've made a bag for the tarps.

Velcro flap and boxed corners. And made out of a tarp, of course.

You may wonder why I'm making camping bags in the winter.

We have a Big Trip planned for July and will post more on that soon.

Now off to find some pretty fabrics - I need some mug bags, and pot bags, and cutlery bags...

Gnomesville

On our short holiday we went to Gnomesville, which is this amazing place where people from all over Australia and the world leave a gnome. It's located near a roundabout in the middle of the Ferguson Valley just over a half hour drive inland from Bunbury.

The story goes that the roundabout was constructed after a mock council meeting held by the students at the local high school. Evidently the council decided they made a good argument and actually built the roundabout.

There's a little question as to which local woman left the first gnome in the roundabout. One quickly became two and before you knew it there was a gnome footy game. As the spot became more popular it was decided that having the gnomes in the roundabout was too dangerous and they were moved to the road verge. From there they spread out hundreds of metres along the verge and a little way in to the private property adjoining the verge.

This is the Welsh flag. These gnomes came a very long way!

This is the gnome we placed for our family.

We hope he likes his home among the gumtrees.