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Noy's 4th Walkabout
Bunbury gave us a wonderful sunset again on Saturday night and the dolphins came to see us (we counted four)...but not to shore as had been hoped. In fact we had a double treat because calling in to the Jolly Frog at Mandurah for Sunday lunch we were treated to the sight of them cruising up and down "The Cut" looking for fish to eat! There is a resident family of seven there (unknown to us) and they often cruise the waterway from the Indian Ocean which is literally only a few metres away. We went into Perth in time to watch another sunset over this smart city centre, then on to a camp with vines growing in the field behind us. With no time to stop and stare we started the 5,000 kilometre drive to Darwin on Monday morning, taking a slightly circuitous route thanks to the advice of Fritz and Anne in Sydney. We called in to the strange town of New Norcia...strange because it was created by Benedictine Monks as a mission to the Aboriginal people. The buildings stand there as testament to these faithful men who had arrived in Perth in 1846 and WALKED the 150 kilometres to set up their mission among the aborigines who lived by the river there. We hope the photos convey something of the un-Australian feel of the place yet the peace that existed there, except when trucks came rolling through, for this was also on one of the shortest routes to Darwin from Perth! It was not on our route to Darwin, however; that was on the "Brand Highway" (Route One) and further towards the coast which we now crossed over to and to the town of Cervantes (named after a ship that sank off shore there) and the world-famous Pinnacles. We went on purpose for sunset and although the sight of all these limestone "monuments" was truly surprising (how many, all the different shapes, how they had appeared through erosion of the sand that had covered them) the sunset did not make them any more impressive, though just being there was a landmark for us, one of the reasons for this trek. As such it is quite ironic that the self-taken photo of us at the Pinnacles turns out to be a complete farce because Richard did not check the image properly after it was taken - a quick glance showed to people in front of stones...the fact that one of them was facing the wrong way is beside the point!!
We had a new "wake up call" on Tuesday morning! We're used to the odd caravan starting up and leaving the site early but not to 15 cray-fishing boats firing up their engines at 05.30! our site was close to the bay they were moored in and we had not accounted for the fact that fishermen start work early! Richard uses his phone for alarm calls and when it went off this morning we received the welcome news (by text message) from Hollie (FG) that she'd got her Maths exam results and gone up another level in her year. (There you are, Hol, now the whole world knows how proud your grandparents are of you!!).
The Cervantes site wasn't brilliant so we moved on through endless green bush (it's not all browns and reds yet!) up the coast to Geraldton, know for its crayfish and the sinking of HMAS Sydney (with the loss of 642 lives) while engaging a German destroyer in the last war; neither ship was ever found but the memorial to that loss stands overlooking the Indian Ocean where she sank. We'll look at it on Wednesday but probably after we've sent this postcard! As far as we know this was a record day, Richard only took three photos ALL day and in the evening he celebrated by having a nice fresh crayfish...which he'd have taken a photo of...had he had his camera with him! Look on the map, we're slowly inching our way towards Darwin and should be in Broome by the next time we contact you all. Meanwhile God bless and keep each one of you as indeed he is doing for us! Lots of love, Richard & Jill xx
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