Last few days in WA

After a very quick trip through Esperance which is the first place I've ever encountered with "No caravan or motorhome parking" signs (I was so shocked forgot to take a photo). It wasn't only that you couldn't camp there — they were actually forbidding PARKING!!

In the end I did actually park in that carpark as it was the only large open parking area that had room for a big vehicle AND it was completely empty, apart from a food van. I had to pick up a parcel at the Post Office, otherwise wouldn't have stopped. Needless to say I was all prepared to have a long discussion with the local council if by any chance someone had actually booked me … unfortunately, in a way, on my return there weren't any pink slips on the windscreen.

Friends had told me about a gravel pit parking spot about 10kms north of Esperance which I ended up spending the night at. There was a lovely local man (in his 80's) spending a few nights there to see how he went motorhoming on his own after his wife's death 3 weeks before — he was a typical retired farmer, although he and his wife had obviously been extremely close he was pragmatically getting on with his life and love of the great outdoors.

Travelling further north the next day we camped (on the farmer's recommendation) at Bromus Dam, just south of Norseman. Because of the recent rain the dam had overflowed and so we had a lovely water view from our camp.

This is an enormous camping area, part of the Great Western Woodlands, well treed and with quite a few wildflowers.

Levi found a special treasure at Bromus Dam and of course had to bury it = brown nose

Hopetoun

Travelling south to the coast I saw a town called Hopetoun and just had to go there because when we arrived in Australia back in the 1950's our first home was in the town of Hopetoun … not this one but in Victoria's north east. Interestingly both Hopetouns are in Mallee country.

On the way down I called into the Yongergnow Malleefowl Centre which had some interesting information on the birds and district and there are two large fenced areas one with a male and female and the second with a lone female (her partner died a couple of weeks ago). Malleefowl are a bit like bush turkeys in that they build a mound nest from dirt and leaf litter. They keep the nest at a steady 32-34ºC by adding and removing sand and using their tongue to monitor the temperature. When the chicks hatch after 60-90 days they are completely independent — no parenting required!

Hopetoun was such a friendly town, on the the beautifully clear Southern Ocean, that I decided to stay there for a few days. Another incentive to stay was the Shipwrecked Gourmet Bakery. Levi and I enjoyed a 20 minute walk into town each morning and our reward of an excellent, buttery, ham and cheese croissant with a large cafe latte, the latter served with a tiny, tiny Éclair. These were enjoyed in the morning sunshine on the sidewalk where we met quite a few locals also enjoying these pastries. One man had actually managed Cobungra Station which is just to the north of where I used to live in the Victorian High Country.

Hopetoun main street in the morning rush hour!  I imagine it gets pretty busy here in summer though. There are actually 3 cafes in town as well as the hotel which has a restaurant, a couple of gift type shops as well as real estate agents (2), an IGA supermarket, hairdresser and police station. Most of the town's electricity is generated by wind turbines, they certainly get plenty of wind down on this wild south coast.

Nickel mining is carried on here as well originally by BHP who sold to FQM Australia Minerals in 2008, but I wasn't really aware of it. It probably accounts for the general feeling of contentment in the town as around 450 people are employed by them in the area.

The other "tourist attraction" in town is Mickey the magpie who was hand reared by some locals and spends his day at various spots around town, one popular spot is on the door to the IGA or outside the bakery where he was happy to sit about 6 inches above Levi's head.

Yesterday I saw 3 boys of about 12 years of age gathered around a bird lying on its side with one of them apparently putting his foot on the bird's leg! I rushed over to save the bird but it turned out to be Mickey playing with his shoelaces! It was lovely seeing how fond of the bird these boys were.

Stirling Ranges to Fitzgerald River National Park

Well nearly …  Levi I didn't actually enter either of them but the views were sensational and there were lots of things of interest in the neighbouring countrysides.

The first night's camping spot was near the base of Bluff Knoll, a 1,099 metres high peak in the Stirling Ranges which had snow on it the previous week.

There were many areas with beautiful wildflowers and even a Dutch Windmill and down near Ravensthorpe some camels, something for everyone.

Eastward Ho!

Almost a year ago I was travelling west on the Nullarbor with my beautiful Skye … and now here I am travelling east, this time with a new loyal companion, Levi — it's difficult to imagine two such different animals, both in looks and personality — two wonderful and special dogs.

After finishing the last WA petsit we headed down to the coast and camped for 4 days at Cosy Corner near Albany.

We actually camped in the same spot as in 2008 when Danni Skye and myself stayed here for a very enjoyable week — we had Italian very keen fishing neighbours who shared many meals with us.  No such luck this time … we did have good neighbours but no fisherfolk.

Camped down the far end one night were a group from Albany Secondary College — they were on the final night of a one week cycling/camping tour. Initially I was a bit apprehensive (having encountered noisy all-nighters in school groups before), HOWEVER this group were all asleep by 7.30pm — nothing like a bit of exercise to calm teenagers down.

The flying rabbit Levi enjoying one of many runs and sniffs on the beach

Before leaving the area we had a farewell morning tea at Gilbert Wines with the dog walking folks from Kendenup. Joining the group were Neil and Laurie from California, they are housesitting their way around the world — Kendenup will cerrtainly be an "experience" for them!

I did succumb and purchase a bottle of Gilberts' Two Lads Cab Sav.  It's supposed to be cellared for a year or two don't know how much it will appreciate being bounced around under the sofa!

The other reason for heading up that way again was to try and sell a few dog collars to help finance the long trip. Mt Barker Anglican Church holds a monthly market, so I booked a stall for the enormous price of $7.  They gave me a great location at the door to the church hall and it was such a lovely sunny morning that I went prepared with sunscreen and a hat.  All went well until 10.30 when the heaven's opened — most outside folks packed up and left but as I'd just been given 3 orders I moved into the store-room with Levi (in his warm coat).  In the end 5 collars were sold which is a help towards the diesel.

Kendenup

Kendenup is a very small township just north of Mt Barker in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. There are many wineries here and also magnificent spring wildflower displays.

Suka, the MAGNIFICENT white Siberian Husky was the reason that Levi and myself were here for nearly 6 weeks when his owner visited family in Hawaii.

Because Suka is not very reliable off-lead (to say the least!) he has a set regime of daily walks. The one where I needed to be strictly on time was the 8am one as we met up with 3 others for our very enjoyable 1-1 1/2 hour walk around the laneways of Kendenup.

When we aren't out walking Suka likes nothing more than just lazing around (in the most unlikely places) and contemplating a nice cup of tea — what's with these dog's and their tea habits?

Ocean Reef

Next stop, Ocean Reef just a bit further south and closer to Perth, but still on the coast. Here we shared our life with Molly the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Missy the Beagle two really delightful individuals.

Molly, Missy and Levi just love lounging about on the sofa in between walks to their favourite off-lead dog park which is close by — Levi is the black blob on the left of the photo! Usually Molly claims the back of the sofa but Missy must have beaten her to it in this instance. They both like lying near me when we're sitting together, so cosy especially on a winter's evening.

At the park there are many friends to meet including this Border Collie puppy a special friend to Molly and Levi.

Missy, being a Beagle spends most of her time sniffing around with tail in the air and nose to the ground.

More Yanchep …

It was only a short hop across Yanchep, , to the next petsit again for folks who were returning to the UK, this time for a family wedding.

From the relative calm of Sid & Hector's home it was all go with the trio of Bella and Milo, the pugs and Squirt the jug (pug/jack russell).

This photo is a typical evening with us all snuggled up on the two-seater settee — (top—bottom) Squirt, Bella, Levi, Milo and myself.

Milo enjoyed just hanging out on the sofa when he wasn't joining us on the patio.

Bella and myself enjoyed a nice cup of tea or a nap whilst the boys and Squirt keep a sharp lookout for any crumbs or cats from next door that dared enter their territory.

It was lovely to have a short visit from Barry & Diana with Tilley taking the dog population to 5! Tilley also is a very sociable dog and she really loved playing with Levi and Squirt the younger members of the group.

We enjoyed a walk on the foreshore at Two Rocks and then dinner at the Yanchep Inn which was built in 1936 and is situated in Yanchep National Park.

Levi just loved the little guys here and they were quite happy to share their bed with him (afterall he shared his (and my) bed with them!)

Medium Density Living

This post has been in the pipeline for a couple of years now.  It began with a month long sojourn in a canal-side housing development on the Queensland Sunshine coast and continued with a stay recently in a new building development in Western Australia.

Once you've reached the outskirts of Perth City it's just new building developments for at least 50kms and they are all curiously alike because of the strict design guidelines that each developer has. Must admit that this type of medium-density building doesn't really appeal to me, it seems like the land size gets smaller and smaller as the houses get bigger and bigger.

This type of living now common in new developments hasn't come from buyer demand. Surely noone says "I want to live with my neighbours within 1 metre of my home, no back garden, cars parked everywhere especially in the narrow back lanes and very little in the way of infrastructure". It's come from developer and council greed. More blocks = more households = more rates.

All presented in nice marketing speak …

XX will be a healthy city built around using transit, cycling and walking as the dominant transport forms, where health, education and recreation are key social elements, and where urban structure is balanced with natural landscape and heritage values. 

XXLocal Structure Plan

The new estate where I stayed in Yanchep certainly had pathways and lovely landscaping but only on a couple of occasions during a 6 week stay did I actually see anyone walking or cycling on the pathways. People rely on motor vehicle transport as the nearest train station is at Clarkson (20 km) and one busline operating from Two Rocks to Clarkson via Yanchep. Shopping facilities are limited with a new small complex comprising a Woolworths and 15 other shops most of which were unlet with signs saying "coming soon" in October 2012 and still the same signs in May 2013. There is also only one medical clinic and one dentist in the area.

Yanchep was originally a sheep station purchased by Alan Bond in the 1970's and some houses were built then. A Japanese company purchased the land when Bond was in financial difficulties in the late 70's and major development recommenced around 2006. At the moment approximately one quarter of the population in Yanchep are British or Irish — both my housesits were for folks who had come to Australia in the last 5-10 years from the UK.

Yanchep NP

The Yanchep/Two Rocks area is however rich in natural beauty bordered on one side by the Indian Ocean with beautiful beaches and on the other by the Yanchep National Park which is utilised heavily by the many young families in the area.

Yanchep

Following on, in the new housing development at Yanchep, was petsitting Sid the 16 year old blue heeler and Hector the cat.

First thing on the agenda was a trip to Perth Airport to drop off Sid and Hector's young family who were heading back to the UK for a few weeks.

Sid at 16 and pretty well deaf and blind still manages to jump around like a young pup when food appears.

Mr Hector on the other hand is pretty laid back — he appears at his leisure, to demand feeding and then retires to the warmest spot.

Yanchep itself is a bit lacking in cafes but I managed to find one at Two Rocks, which is about 10kms to the north.  Neptune's cafe overlooks the marina and is the perfect spot to spend an hour or two in the sunshine over lunch