On the outer Barcoo, where churches are few
And men of religion are scanty
On a track never crossed, ‘cept by folks that are lost,
One Michael McGee had a shanty.
                                                  Banjo Patterson

Why does this keep happening to me? I started out on a fairly simple assignment to find my way to the Big Valley Farm, which includes a van park. Mind you, I was alone, which meant that I did not have John’s navigational skills, or Jenny’s aversion to risk, which is why I found myself on an ever-narrowing track, skirting large puddles, pulling away fallen trees from the narrow and winding bush track. At one point I found myself at a dead end and had to unhitch the car to find the navigable route and find a place to be able to turn the motorhome around. But this was the route given to me by the GPS Navigator, so what else was I supposed to do! I was relieved to finally emerge on a more significant road, less than a kilometre from the destination. But I am getting a bit ahead of myself.

After leaving Pemberton and tall karri forests, we were bound for Margaret River, but via Augusta and Cape Leeuwin, the further-most south west point of Australia, where the Indian and Southern Oceans supposedly meet. I don’t think it is quite so clear cut a boundary, and I did not see a line across the ocean marking the boundary. Jenny, John and Anne made the climb up the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, but the promise of 6,823 steps was hardly an enticement with my dodgy knees, so I sat it out and explored the cliffside with the waves crashing into the rocks having their hypnotic pull on me. It is almost as if two oceans meet, with some strange eddies of water and white surf foaming way out to sea.
My companions also decided to do some cave exploration, which would take an hour or so, so it was decided I would press on and find the way to the Big Valley. This site had been recommended to us for being a beautiful spot in the countryside, and being part of a working farm. Never has my companions’ trust been so recklessly assigned.
The Big Valley is indeed beautiful, with rolling green hills and sheep grazing happily. Vineyards, dairy farms and virgin forest abound. The van park is pretty basic, but with chickens, geese and guinea pigs wandering around the sites, it made for an interesting place to stay for a few days. John’s GPS was kinder than mine and took them on a more civilised route.

We spend a happy couple of days at Margaret River, exploring the local wineries, distillery and breweries, coffee shops and restaurants. Our friends, Bob and Pip who were part of the 2014 Medical Health Check Team at the School of St Jude in Arusha, Tanzania, live close by at Dunsborough, about 30 kilometres up the coast. We have not seen them since March 2014 when we all went our different ways, so it was wonderful to catch up. Pip put on a wonderful salad lunch at the beautiful straw-brick home that they designed and helped to build.

Bob and Pip are also keen bushwalkers and actively involved in the management of the Meelup Regional Park which in addition to some beautiful beaches and granite outcrops, is home to some very special natural bushland and some bush plants unique to the area. Bob and Pip were able to show us some wispy native orchids such as the Spider Orchid that were so slight they seemed almost invisible. To most people they would be. It was quite special to walk through this delightful park with such expert guidance.
It is no secret that Margaret River is famous for its wines We did a wine tasting at Xanadu, on Bob’s recommendation as his and Pip’s son in law had been the chief winemaker there for a while.

Unfortunately we did not get to have lunch there as a bus-load of tourists had the whole place booked out. Tourists! Instead we found a great little café (The White Elephant) at Gnarabup, overlooking a beautiful white sandy beach with a strong surf. Some stand-up paddle boarders were acrobatically riding the surf from a great distance out to sea.. The fish and chips were pretty good and we rated them a 9 – still not quite matching the fare at Cowell in South Australia.
We spent some time at a small winery not far from where we were staying. It was Firetail, and its product is only available from the winery. They had a very pleasant Rosé, so we got some for our girls who are not averse to the odd drop. We also took away some nice Chardonnay from Xanadu.

Our next steps are not so adventurous – first to Busselton, a drive of only about 60 kilometres, and then to Bunbury, an even shorter drive.

Busselton is famous for its imposing jetty, which at about 1800 metres is the longest in Australia. There is a wee tram that takes us out to the end of the jetty and to visit the underwater aquarium. This was a quite stunning experience. As you go down the various levels, you see different marine life and the most beautiful corals attached to the piers. We strolled back along the jetty, as we really need to walk off some of the calories we have been consuming. At the aquarium, we were surprised and delighted to see one of our friends from Tuggeranong Uniting, Bev Elias, who is on a tour in WA.
The drive up the WA coast is truly an epicurean challenge. We have also fallen into a trap of having morning tea most days. We have put some money in a kitty, with Anne as treasurer, and use this treasure to feast on the wonders from the bakeries and coffee houses along the way.

Bunbury is a much larger city, and I was surprised at how big it was – over 75,000 people. We really just needed a couple of days to wind down, catch up on chores and supplies. For me, it was the first opportunity to visit a JB HiFi store since leaving Canberra.
Why is this important, I hear you ask. Well, my phone plan, apart from its pathetic coverage in remote areas (and even some less-remote areas) has a very meagre data allowance. At one point I was into day three of my monthly data period, when iiNet warned me I had used 100% of my allowance. Anyway, JB HiFi has a Telstra phone package that is very generous, and not available at Telstra outlets. Jenny has plenty of data that she guards protectively, so you can see I was pretty keen to get to a shop!

Now, here begins a tale which could be quite long in the telling. The phone deal was transacted very smoothly, but one of the side benefits is a $100 JB HiFi gift card. Up to this point Jenny had seemed pretty tired and bored, not at all energised by a trip to an electronics store, as I usually am. However she perked up a bit at the thought of a “free” $100. She had eyes on a small hand-held vacuum cleaner, as our current one has as much suction as has a goldfish. And here was one at the store – last model, reduced price, with a whole bunch of goodies thrown in, and only $120 after using the gift card. We felt quite chuffed as we drove away with our prize. Until we discovered that the charging cord was the wrong one and did not fit. Back we drove, and Suzanne, the shop assistant who has been very helpful, replaced it. We check, and it fitted. But back home we discovered it was not charging – the battery was totally flat. Luckily it was late-night shopping so we made now the third trip to get this fixed. The choice was to upgrade, but lose all the extra goodies, or arrange to get a replacement at another store. Suzanne did a ring around and found one at Booragoon, a suburb of Perth. As you can see there was an awful lot of rigmarole just to get a vacuum – but at least it is a Dyson, and now we have a very clean van.

To complete our journey northwards up the coast, we have now found our way to Fremantle. We had a couple of days here, visiting Rottnest Island. I had imagined Rottnest was just a lump of rock with a few quokkas running around. I was nicely surprised to discover that there is much to see and do on Rottnest – some nice walks, pristine clear waters off the beaches, whales, birdlife, and off course the cute quokkas.

Friday night was a very sad night, with Geelong bowing out to John’s Tigers for a place in the Grand Final. John has not stopped smirking since Friday, and has decided to fly back to Melbourne so he can go to the match.

We loved exploring the Fremantle streets with their beautiful old buildings. It was a Sunday, so we went to church at the Wesley Uniting. They were having an anniversary service for the installation of their magnificent pipe organ and all the hymns were Methodist and Wesleyan hymns of the mid-1800’s. So it was a very long and rather boring service with many, many hymns, only some of which we knew. Anyway, we did not stay for their hospitality, but continued our experience of the city’s rich history. Jenny had a wonderful time at the Markets!

We will be back in Perth for the Grand Final and for a few days after that. In the meantime we will have been at New Norcia and Geraldton. More on that later.