Triple C

After leaving Katanning to head to Lake Grace Caravan Park we passed through Pingrup. Pingrup is the home of a 25 metre high artwork painted by artist Evoca1 in September 2018, on giant grain storage Silos.

This artwork is a tribute to Western Australia's tenacious, resourceful farming communities.

It's figurative depictions of the towns iconic Pingrup Races, it's Merino sheep, it's people, cattle dogs & even a tractor based precisely on one found on the main street of town, all tell a story about the character of it's community.

230 Litres of paint were used.
Surface painted is 1500M2.
Days spent painting totalled 15.

Although it is not a Silo town, Katanning is a town of murals.
In 2017 the Silo trail people/artists stopped in Katanning to transform Western Power electrical boxes & walls with murals.


They even have artwork inside the shops...the icecreamery.

In addition we couldn’t help but visit the old flour mill that has been transformed into a spectacular.ar Dome cafe, boutique hotel & intimate bar.

We stayed a t the Katanning Caravan Park (Kui). We took a look at Lake Ewlyamartup, 17 km east of Katanning it has water most of the year & allows 24hr self contained camping. There are supposedly 95 species of birds of which we saw 2. It has a boat ramp & water skiing is allowed or you could kayak or swim in the lake. Toilets & bbqs are free to use.

We visited the Ravensthorpe Silos on our Hopetoun trip. A Fremantle based artist Amok Island, painted the 6 stages of a banksia baxteri, a 25 metre high mural on the CBH group silo in August 2016 & here it is.

First nights stop was at the Muir's Bridge Rest Area- free camping. There was plenty of water in the river & great for wildflower spotting.




Set-up at the Porongorups.

Whilst staying in the Porongurups we took a day trip out with Mark & Lauren to view the Silo Art in Albany.
The dynamic artist duo the Yok & Sheryl painted this CBH grain Silo in March 2018. It was one very happy looking marine creature ( and local resident), the ruby seadragon.

It was recommended we view (self drive) some wooden sculptures.
Low & behold Darrel Radcliffe carves these by chainsaw. This hidden gem in Albany & is amazing.

Thursday found us looking for a small religious building. St. Werburgh's chapel is a small family chapel about 10 KMs out if Mt Barker. Surprisingly the building is unlocked, allowing visitors easy access. The building was completed around 1872-74 by George Edward Egerton-Warburton. The same family seems to be involved in the upkeep and running of the chapel. Also of interest was the link the family, and the building, has with Ian's home county of Cheshire and county town cathedral in Chester.

Afterwards we took the scenic route up to the ABC tower which has great views across the landscape around the Mt. Barker region. At 184 metres tall it's pretty impressive.

We had a pleasant morning tea at the bakery before heading off for lunch at Ironwood winery.

This was followed by some further wine tastings at Castle Rock

And then Duke's winery. Meet Duke.

Clothes & food packed. Ready set go. First stop was the Nannup bakery for lunch. Then a quick at the Nannup Furniture Shop & off off we wander.

We arrived at the Manjimup Central Caravan Park.
Just curious, do any of you read the welcome pack rules before you park up and disconnect from the van? Well, we don't untill we are set up & usually sat down for a cuppa in our lovely van.

The rule we are referring to at Manjimup is, "All of our sites are on a slope due to council regulations. Wheel chocks are advised."
Imagine this, sitting inside the van in our dining room, Ian was looking out the window and noticed a van backing in. They unhitched as one would normally do. As the car was driven slowly away from the van it appeared the van had a magnetic attraction to the car and started to roll down the hill. Ian jumped up & ran outside to assist. Fortunately the van jockey wheel was going sideways, so rolled onto the soft grass beside and came to a halt. Quickly the owner threw a slab of wood underneath to keep it from deciding to roll any further as they hooked up the car to the van again to reverse the van back into its rightful place. Well chocked, they then safely parted.
Such excitement.

In the park we found Neil & Mel parked up.
We notice rally cars rolling in. They were here for a round of the Karri Rally championship. This year no spectators were allowed. It was lovely to see the cars.

We picked up Mel & Neil in our courtesy shuttle. We headed to visit Jocelyn & Dan for a look around Koomal Creek, the Farm & Vineyard. Jocelyn led us in a convoy around the property by providing a thorough commentary of the farms history via walkie talkie. Followed by a chat about the Vineyard winemaking & some barrel sampling by Ian, Daniels Dad. Thanks Ian.

The evening was quite cool. A bbq was underway in the shed. Richard, Jocelyn's brother was the cook on the night.
We met Daniels Mum ( Louise) & Dad (Ian), his Sister (Crystal), her husband (Dave) & daughter (Sky). The neighbouring farmer (Rod). Some of the Christophersen family got to meet the family & celebrate Joc & Dan's Engagement.

Saturday we went for a walk & visited the Farmers markets. We found beautiful fresh picked fruit & vegies that were picked the same morning for sale. We came home with grapefruit, brussel sprouts, blueberries & two seedlings destined for our garden.

After a cuppa out we popped for an enjoyable walk down the main Street just around the corner from the park.
We stumbled across the Tall Timbers Brewing Company. It is based in a large area next to the Manjimup Hotel brewing beer onsite. The Official opening is planned for this Halloween 2020. A must to visit on our next trip to the Cherry Festival in December.

Just down the road we came across some farm art.

We found a shop in town of interest. Keep your eye out for this shop as the owner is in the process of establishing a shop in Busselton. It will be more affordable than a similar one currently at the shed but priced more affordable.

Everyone conveened at the Deanmill Workers Club to officially celebrate Joc & Dan's engagement.

A fabulous time was had by all.

Sunday we visited the Tallest slide in WA. It is 18metres tall. It is built for both the big & little kids. The play equipment is varied and has a variety of swings & flying foxes & offers great variety. If you have taken the kids to the Apple Park in Donnybrook, we would say put this on your list of places to visit & play. Us older ones can enjoy a bbq or picnic & watch the youngens have so much fun.

The gardens around the Timber & Heritage Park are glorious. Just have a look at these beauties that are in flower right now. They certainly made our heart sing.

To round out the weekend Melanie channeled her inner firebug Sunday night and got the campfire going for us all. What better way to end a weekend than enjoying pizza, wine & whiskey by the fire with Mel, ( Sister In Law) +Neil ( Ian's Brother), Christopher ( our nephew) & Mandy (Chris's life partner).

We are now home safe & sound. What a brilliant weekend away with family.
Love you guys!
From Aunty Deborah & Uncle Ian

After leaving Borden travelling along the Northern side of the Stirling ranges we came across a few more free range emus, at least these ones ran in front of us but away into the bush unlike others we have seen that run at you. The views as we travelled through the Stirling Ranges was spectacular.

On our way home from Borden we caught up with the Busselton Naturalist group for a 2 night stay at the Perup Natures Guesthouse.

The majority of the group stayed in onsite accommodation, we on the other hand stayed on our mobile accommodation. We mingled with the group during the day. The first night, Friday we went on a spotlighting walk & managed to see Kangaroos, Brushtail Possums, one with a baby on its back, a Woylie & the Tawny Frogmoth. Whilst sitting in our caravan enjoying a cuppa a couple of Tammar Wallabies.

Saturday took us on a morning walk through the Native Reserve, unfortunately it rained & our walk was cut a little shorter.

In the afternoon we all went for a short drive to the Tone River Bridge Rest Area which is also a free camping spot. We found some amazing orchids.

Saturday we had a communal shared nibbles, dinner & a happy hour that went for a few hours. Needless to say wine, port & whiskey were shared also.

Sunday, we all headed home. Ian & I drove through Donnybrook & stopped for a late morning tea at the Donnybrook Transit Park. We drove home through the Tuart Drive in the Tuart Forrest, such a relaxing comfortable drive.

We are now home safe & sound from another feel good relaxing holiday & hope you are all enjoying a lovely weekend.

A quick morning tea stop in Ravensthorpe. The other intrepid couple Margôt & Andrew caught up & said a final good bye as they headed North. We took the opportunity to take a couple of photos of the Seat Art Project.

Our overnight stop tonight is Borden. This is a one shop town although it also has a Tavern which is our dinner destination. The friendly general store Lady directed us towards an area near the sports oval where there had been some sightings of Wildflowers & Orchids. Borden is never mentioned as a place to view Wild Flowers but boy did we see some flowers. If you like flowers put it on your list of places to visit.

Was thinking of picking up some fuel, but Pump said no...and they're very safety conscious in Borden.

Borden street Artwork

The primary school had this lovely Lady.

Hopetoun here we come. We drove past the famous Lilly, Dutch windmill, near Borden.

Morning tea stop at Jerramungup saw Ian finding a new friend.

We see more rolling fields of green wheat & vibrant yellow canola. They do fill my heart with joy.

We passed the Ravensthorpe silos.
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We visited Yummy Licious, Candy Shack the tallest freestanding Lollipop in the world.
https://ourgems.com.au/attraction/1654)

We found a shop called Crazy Grannies. A fabulous shop where three crazy friends who all happened to be granny's got together & opened this gorgeous little shop. Well worth a stop. If you love patchwork quilts you will find this shop irresistible. https://ourgems.com.au/attraction/1954
Ravensthorpe is an old country town, but we didn't believe that the old thunder boxes (outdoor loos) were still being emptied. Although we did find this double thunder box. Just reminded us of emptying the caravan cassette.

The amazingly creative Farm Gate Art Trail, Art.

The Ravensthorpe Wild Flower Show had almost 700 species on display and was spectacular with a $5 entry fee.

Also on display were rocks from the area which included Tourmaline & Mica of which we have recently been viewing & collecting from the Pilbara. There are gold & lithium mines in the area.

Wednesday and it was Danish, what Danish? There it was, sitting in the display cabinet taunting us. Is that lonely Danish available?, Ian asked the local bakery shop assistant. Ian had been sent into town on a mission with Andrew to get morning tea, for Deborah specifically a Danish. The response from the bakery assistant to Ian's question was that the lone Danish was unavailable. So he bought a citrus tart which went down a treat with Deborah & Ian had a strawberry custard tart.

The four intrepid travellers headed out with the picnic basket & flask. A nice drive through the Fitzgerald River National Park, in particular Hamersley Inlet, for lunch. Ian met another new friend, Margòt named Russel.

On our way back we stopped to look for Wildflowers & Whales. The Whales were shy but the Wildflowers were happy to see us.

By chance Andrew mentioned that there was a 48 hr rest area for self contained vehicles in Hopetoun, which is located along the Esplanade. There is a box for travellers to add receipts of purchases in town during your stay. It could be nice for a summer stopover as it's right next to the beach & a very short walk into town.

Rather than cook we decided to walk to the pub tonight which is at the caravan park for the final meal together on this trip. It's been fun.

Three nights stay.

The planned departure from the farm was delayed slightly after Farmer Andrew went out on his tractor to feed his cows some hay. He noticed a calf hoof exiting a cow. We took the Polaris out on a recognoita Farmer Andrew, Farmer Margòt & Deborah to find the cow & see it was okay as it was calving. About an hour & a half later, no sign of the cow, it seems she had found a hidden birthing area on the 100 acre farm.

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After a quick stop at the Mt Barker Bakery we arrived at the Porongurups Tourist Park. Needless to say we made a fire on our first night.

We took a walk to the local shop & tearooms & came back with firewood from along the road side for another fire.
We took a drive for lunch at the scenic Ironwood Winery. The views were spectacular from our socially distanced lunch spot. The blue wrens & the red firetail finches. As we looked along the fence line we saw a huge bunny on steroids hopping along.

Next stop another winery for a tasting & a cuppa. Zarephath Winery. The Monks established the winery & brand until the new owners took over 14 years ago. We enjoyed their wines and even bought some Pinot Noir which was comparable to the Devil's Corner Resolution we once tasted in Tasmania. Normally a wine we don't appreciate.

On our last full day the three intrepid adventures set off to climb the 600 metre high Castle Rock. The ultimate destination was the Granite Skywalk. To get there. it was a steep 2.2km uphill trek. Just in over an hour after leaving the carpark we reached the lower viewing platform. Wow the views were spectacular. See Farmer Andrew who was the first to walk the Granite Skywalk.

Andrew ready to jump with his backpack parachute on.

To reach the Skywalk was a scramble up & over huge granite rocks, with steel handles bolted into them. See Ian's shoe in the bottom of the first photo.

Again some spectacular views. Farmer Andrew was the first to make it up the 6 metre steel ladder up to the Skywalk. Deborah was convinced she had come so far she needed to pluck up the courage & climb the ladder to view the amazing scenery. You can see here, the fear on her face as she prepared to fight the fear + just do it.

Deborah was so afraid she didn't even take the camera, sorry folks can't share the highest sorted with you this time. I challenge you to take the walk yourself if your up to it.

Here Deborah is at the top of the ladder on the Granite Skywalk. It was a great achievement & feeling. This photo was courteously of Farmer Andrew & his iPhone.

The walk back down was the same track, but took almost as long. All up, about a 3 hour jaunt.

We took an afternoon scenic drive finishing with a wine tasting at Dukes Winery underneath the rainbow. We enjoyed the taste & all managed to purchase some fine quality wines.

Tomorrow we are off to the next destination for 3 nights.

We left Pemberton in convoy. Morning tea was had at the Shannon National Park. Lunch at Walpole. The major change we found at Walpole was the availability of 4 bays for stopover of 24 hours for self contained vehicles.

Parked up at the farm in Denmark for a couple of nights on Andrew & Margot's Farm.

We saw a few large Karri trees in Pemberton but there are quite a few at the farm. So beautiful to look at, smooth to touch. Deborah and Andrew decided to climb a tree. This one was easy to climb as it had recently fallen over. On its way down it took out a power line on the farm, which also supplied several of the neighbouring properties. It's similar to many others on the property, which are still standing.

It gave us a chance to have a look around Denmark. We enjoyed lunch at The Boston Brewery, it had good sized meals & a relaxed atmosphere & it just happened to have a large fire.

A visit to the Swiss Annies Denmark chocolate lounge. What a beautiful location & the gardens were beautiful & full of vibrant flowers.

The farm & views & our rainbow after a showery day with parts of fine weather in between.

Hitting the road tomorrow to our next destination.

Why not try Hopetoun in spring? Well we had been dared to go by Andrew and Margot, so we thought why not. We'd tried the weather further north recently and it had been relatively fine and warmish, not cold.
We had a nice pleasant drive through some Karri tree country before arriving at Pemberton which was our first 2 nights meet up with Andrew and Margot.

Pemberton, a place we had driven through numerous times but never actually stayed there. We booked the caravan park for 2 nights, and definitely had the Pemberton Tramway on our 'to do' list.
Parked up in the caravan park, which was a little squishy due to heavy rains the week before.

We even had a few locals welcome us to the park.

A quick look around town saw us finding some local wildlife.

And a new addition to the social drinking scene...

Pemberton does have a local swimming pool, much like Manjimup does, a natural water catchment along the river. Deborah contemplating a swim but decided it might be too cool at the moment.

The Pemberton Tramway was a highlight, and took us over several bridges towards the Cascades, before returning us to the station.
The station had a few interesting relics.

The trip, scenery and Cascades were great.

We even got to stop the traffic a couple of times....

We left Kirkalocka Station & headed South down the Great Northern Highway. Although we didnt seem to see as many caravans as we had seen on the Coastal Highway we certainly saw some interesting trucks and their loads.

We stopped for a morning cuppa at Wubin where found a couple from the New Age Tribe who had left the Dalwallinu Tribe Wildflower event. They were on their way to Kalbarri. It was the second event Dianne & Hubby had attended thus far.

The further South we got the more we moved into the wheatbelt & canola country. The canola fields with the sunshine on it is so bright & yellow & leaves you feeling cheerful.

We arrived at our destination for Monday at the Wannamal Rest Area which is the site of an old school of 1904. This land in Wannanmal was first leased in 1853. It appears the school started in 1904 & the recreation reserve nearby was created in 1905. The railway had reached Wannamal in 1891. First thing we had a cuppa then went on the Wannamal Herritage walk trail. We passed the sites where the first Post Office was located, the railway Gangers house & Railway Fettlers house, the first store & the old Wannamal Hall. The last section of the walk is a wildflower & orchid walk. Wildflowers could be found even as close to our front porch at the Rest Area. This area is free to park but there is a donation box that you can pop some funds in if you choose. It has a flushing very clean toilet. You do need to be self contained.

The Wildflowers are a plenty.

Heading to Perth Central caravan park later today in preparation for our van service & repairs fixed Wednesday. We arrived home safely Thursday afternoon after Ian gave blood plasma to the Red Cross.
We had the most amazing trip away.
Now to plan our next trip away

We left Mullewa parting company from Jill & Bernie & their friends Brett & Rozie as they all headed South to Mingenew.

We drove through Yalgoo which looked to have an influx of Government funds as it had a huge undercover play area. But there was not much else in town. Nothing looked open for a Saturday afternoon.

We refueled at Mt Magnet $1.41 per Litre. Stopped for a break and had a bite for lunch.

Arrived at Kirkalocka Station mid afternoon.

The swing arm at the side of the shearing shed, used to move the wool bales into the carts/trucks.

The new 'kid' on the block.

The old shearing shed, not used since the property was de-stocked of sheep over a decade ago.

The old 'donkey' water heater they used to use to heat up the water for the guest showers. Only recently updated to a more modern wood heater.

The inside of the shearing shed.

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The homestead which is now for holiday accommodation.

The old Shearer's quarters & kitchen. The kitchen is available for all campers. is also now set up for accomodation.

We spent our nights by a lovely fire.
The first night we met fellow campers Peter, Sally & Peters Sister Judy & shared Sally's fire.

The last night we had the Shearer's quarters, kitchen & campfire all to ourselves. Other guests were staying in the homestead so I cooked Ian a roast for dinner.

We went for a walk an explored a quartz quarry & found some wildflowers.
This property also has an operational gold mine.

Ian had a play on the old fashioned swings. Remember these.

It was a short drive from Fig Tree Crossing to Mullewa through the fields of green wheat & golden canola.

Not to long after leaving camp we spied some strange domes & dishes across on of the fields. A few kms down the road we discovered a sign.

As we were travelling to Lovers Lane (The caravan park) when Deborah snapped this lovely cloud.

Out of now where came a train, an iron ore train at that. We stopped and watched the huge beast pass by.

We were welcomed into Mullewa by some striking roadside artwork.

We set up camp & as we drove to our site Ian thought he noticed a familiar shape of a person. Upon further investigation Deborah confirmed the shapes identity to be Bernie with his lovely wife Jill from Mandurah, needless to say happy hour was set for 4ish.

Went for a walk into town to the info centre as you do & found the staff very informative & welcoming. Picked up our drum stick in the local store & headed off towards the Mullewa scenic lookout via the Rail Heritage Loop. Part of the scenic lookout walk included a section of the Mullewa Bushland trail where we saw some lovely wildflowers & orchards.

Our walk back from the Lookout to the caravan park took us along a section of the Mullewa wildflower walk where we saw a few more wildflowers.

Friday was discover wreath flower day. First however we went looking for the Butteraby graves. Al9ng the way we also saw the Devils Creek Hall. Built in 1957 the hall is looking a little worse for wear but still a part of the districts history.

The Butterabby graves is the location where several aboriginal gentlemen were hung for the crime of spearing a white man who subsequently died.

Next stop, back in Mullewa to see the Monsignor Hawes priest house museum & the church. Father Hawes trained as an Anglican priest & an architect but during his missionary time in Jamaica he converted to Catholicism. Whilst he then came to Western Australia based in Geraldton & Mullewa he designed & had built Cathedrals, Churches & other notable buildings.

We took a short drive to Pindar to view the wreath flowers. To our delight we found these beauties. We are told in about 2 weeks the flowers will be fully open when they have had a little more sunshine.

Our drive from Nerren Nerren took us past golden canola & green wheat fields. We even passed through a light shower & saw a beautiful rainbow.

We arrived today Monday at Coronation Beach where there are 22 bays for campers, pergolas, lookout, gas bbq, & clean drop toilets & dump point. The sup ( stand up paddle boarders) use the beach in the morning as it has Easterlies. The kite surfers use the beach when the strong Southerlies blow. We enjoyed a walk along the beach but found lots of coloured seagrass & blue bottles.

We had a quick trip into Geraldton today. It was a little different than our stopover from a cruise we did with Andrew and Margot. That stop was on a long weekend and no shops, especially pearl shops, were open. This time they were all open, but no pearls were purchased. We had a great coffee at Taste & Co. & a look around town.

The Tuesday night sunset at Coronation Beach.

Wednesday morning.

Wednesday we are on the road today to our next destination Fig Tree Crossing, inland.

We are camped by a paddock of sheep. A quiet country stop for the night.
We passed fields of canola, wheat & a purple coloured field, not sure what this is. We walked along the roadside & came across a pet cemetry.

A tyre, a tyre my kingdom for a tyre.

We had our night at the free overnight rest area at Barradale & continued our journey into Carnarvon to source the illusive 20 inch tyre. We arrived on a lovely sunny Wednesday & parked up on our spot. (The car wash bay @ Coral Coast Tourist Park.) We had an array of entertainment from 5pm while we were there.

On the second night we had a few bush poets with Bill Gordon & other poets from Boyup Brook who read out poems & told funny stories. The third night we had Sax & the single girl play to us. We managed a few happy hours with Mel & Neil at the park.

Due to the bull dust we picked up we thought we would take Rocky through the local car wash. Needless to say although he looked clean, he still had plenty of red dust stuck in his crevices.

We took a 6km walk out to the one mile jetty. It is a bit sad that it's in such disrepair that people aren't allowed to walk it's length.

We did this by following the old tramway lines across Babbage Island. A lot of the tramway line still exists although it hasn't been used for a few decades, which is a bit sad when you see all the old equipment at the 1 Mile Jetty museum area.

During our walk we came across a lot of the Native burrowing bees which we learnt at the Cultural Centre the grubs the bees layed were dug up carefully & eaten. The cocoon of honey they lay in, made them a sweet delicacy.

We visited the Gwoonwardu Mia which is the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage & Cultural Centre.
Displays celebrating the history of the indigenous people of the region. We saw some movie scenes of the season changes & how the nights sky & star patterns change to help them determine when to collect emu eggs.

Friday was tyre day. After initially being told they could not find the tyre from the shipment in the yard Ian recieved a phone call later that day to say they had stuck gold & found the single tyre at the bottom of the pile. Along he went to get it sorted.

We met Rosie at the Canarvan markets on Saturday. She was literally half the height and size of our Brodie. Such a delight. She eats bananas, watermelon and what the owners ate.

We had planned to go to the speedway on Saturday night at $5 per person it was not to be missed. We had all agreed Mel, Neil, Ian & I at our seniors pub lunch that if it rained we would revert to have have happy hour back at the camp. The latter occurred.

Off we travelled today Sunday and decided to rest the night at Nerren Nerren free camping area. There were lots of caravans on the road today. Covid has helped people to look around in our state & see the wonders in our back yard.