October 2021

We packed up & headed for Collie. Stopped at Wickepin & noticed a new children's playground being built & the location of the house that Albert Facey grew up in. Albert Facey wrote, ' A Fortunate Life.'

We stopped in Narrogin but our favourite baker shop, Fortune French Hot Bread Shop was closed. We hit the road & stopped at the Williams Wool Shed for a pie & coffee. It was school holidays & everyone stopped too. It was very busy. Our next stop was Collie for a 2 night stop. Just before we reached Collie we saw the aftermarth of an unfortunate incident. It appeared no one was hurt. But please don't try this at home.

After setting up at the caravan park & doing a load of washing we took a stroll in the bushland next to the Collie River Caravan Park & saw these lovely flowers.

Monday was an overcast day but we took the opportunity to venture out & see the Wellington Dam Mural. The mural is the biggest of it's kind in the world & spans a massive 8000 square metre surface of the dam wall. It was painted by Australian painter, Guido Van Helten. The title of the painting is 'reflections.'

Wildflowers can be found in the Wellington National Park.

• Please remember dogs are not allowed in National Parks.

After checking in with the visitor centre we went in search of some local wildflowers & orchids at Minninup Pool. We were chuffed to find such a nice selection.

Back into Collie townsite for a late lunch & a look at some of the murals on the shop walls as part of the Collie Mural Trail. The Murals tell local stories about the Collie River Valleys living Heritage.

'Creatures Of The Night.' Painted by Ketones6000 (Jeremy Davenport)

'The Girl In The Shop Window.' Painted by Marina Lommerse & Michael Phillips.

'Pit Pony.' Painted by Shakey (Jacob Butler.)

'Jones Family's Painted by Donald Cook.

'Dorsett Motors.' Painted by Jarrad Martyn.

'Golden Crust Bakery.' Painted by Jarrad Martyn.

Coal Miners in Collie.

Tuesday
We drove home past Glen Mervyn Dam, Mumbelup Tavern, Donnybrook (morning tea), Boyanup, Capel & Busselton. It was a peaceful uneventful drive.
We are home now, safe & sound.

A drizzly start to the day for our travels. We headed off early & were on the road before 7.15am. We passed a few salt lakes that were quite full for this time of year.


Although we left early we arrived at the entry gates just prior to 9am when the gates were due to open. However, we then waited in a queue for over an hour.

We were all waiting for the plane to fly over the Race Course to spray for mosquitoes. Unfortunately they decided that as the plane had no brakes & it was not allowed to take off. We were allowed into the racetrack to park up & were told at 5.30 pm we best lock ourselves in the caravan while the fogging took place by a fogger on the back of a ute. It eventually turned up around 6pm & looked like a jet engine spewing smoke out of it's rear end & smelt terrible. We did lock ourselves inside.

We found a lovely parking spot close to the race track and went for a walk around to explore the facilities before the crowds arrived. We parked our vehicle on the neighbouring spot as the Clark's came later that day. We set up a tent the following day on a vacant block as Di & Graham were coming that day & space was becoming a premium. Di & Graham drove in as the sun was setting. Just enough time to setup before the sun sank in the West.

Wednesday & Thursday night we had a communal fire at our patch. Ian got out our new Fireside portable popup fire pit bought from BCF weighing just 3.6 kilos.

It was a hit amongst all who sat by her. Clarke has a new one also, yet to be used, perhaps next time. A bargain at the moment for $99.99. It does have extras & ian thinks he will add to it when he has more pocket money in time.

Thursday we caught up with Farmer Andrew in Kulin for a coffee. He was on his way from Mundaring where he picked up a motorised log splitter which he was taking back to the farm.

We caught up with Linda & Harry on many occasions throughout the weekend.

Friday was also another day that we ventured to Kulin, this time to see the Quilt Fair & then tea & scones at the CWA. Due to the popularity of the scones we were told to take a walk & come back in 20 minutes whilst they baked more scones. That we did. We saw some new sculptures along the highway.

A highlight of Friday night was the auctioning & racing of the tin can horses. Money raised from this event goes to the Royal Flying Doctors.

Saturday was race day. As there was a record breaking crowd of 4,096 we decided to take the chairs trackside as the TAB was opening at 10am. Being an avid punter (he's never been inside a TAB in his life), luckily Ian got into the TAB queue early & was able to place our $2 for each race bets. We each had different horses in each race. Not long after, as the queues got longer, they reverted to the old system whereby you could only place a bet on the next race running. On raceday there were 7 races run & in one of the races, race 6, there was a horse named Bill. He had been scratched from race 1 because he needed new shoes. He was allowed to run in race 6. So we decided to do an extra bet. $2 each on Bill. Bill romped home so our $4 investment became $16. Overall we came out ahead with our betting.
There's always a good parade before the races, and the pipe band always is good value.

We didn't bet on the sheep race but that was exciting & we are sure some of those runners will be chops later.

One of the exciting moments for us is the Fireworks & after a lovely woodfired pizza we stood by a raging fire & watched the explosions in the sky before we strolled home for an early evening & pack up Sunday morning.

Coincidentally the tickets sold out with a day for the 2021 Bush Races. Deborah secured ours online just after midnight as they became available for sale. Hot tip here is to go onto the website & register. You will be sent an email informing you when the tickets become available for sale. Sit up & secure them early. Wishing all Good luck. Perhaps we might see you in 2022 @ Kulin. Plan to arrive Wednesday early to secure a great spot.