Day 13: Sun 31 Mar 24 - Salmon Gums

Sun 31 Mar 24 - Salmon Gums

17 Deg and cloudy at 06:00 with a light southerly breeze, eventually clearing and reaching 24 Deg with strong gusting SSW winds throughout the day, becoming cloudy and cool in the late afternoon. There is a rail line running directly behind the caravan park, with trains transporting iron ore to Esperance several times daily. With up to 3.5km in length they can be a little loud, otherwise it's a very peaceful park. I heard one train pass during the night, but Noel said there were actually three, so they obviously didn't bother me too much.

After a slower than usual start to the day and a caffeine fix, I stepped out for another walk through the Salmon Gums before returning to cook bacon and eggs for breakfast - a yummy change to what we normally have. The cloudy, windy and cooler day made for ideal conditions to just hang around the van drinking brews, chatting to other travellers and catching up on some chores. While Noel did some cleaning and washing, I tidied the back of the ute, put on a slow cooked butterflied lamb leg in the weber for dinner, and caught up on some personal admin. It was a very slow-paced day, and a lovely change. In the afternoon, I continued working on my computer while listening to the Tigers win their first game of the season - a shame it wasn't on free to air TV, but happy with the result nevertheless. I then went for another walk before tucking into the slow cooked lamb and vegetable dinner washed down with a glass of red. Tomorrow, we will make our way 108kms to Esperance for a four-night stay, hoping the wind subsides and the weather warms up again. 

The Easter Bunny found us...

Morning walk through the Salmon Gums Trail (pretty happy with this photo)

Morning walk through the Salmon Gums Trail 

Morning walk through the Salmon Gums Trail 


Easter Sunday Breaky - Chocolate for garnish only... 😜

A bit of afternoon admin listening to the Tiges notch their first win for the season

An afternoon walk past a dry dam - rain is needed badly around here

An afternoon walk through the bush - loving the colours of these amazing trees

An afternoon walk through the bush

Roughing it with slow cooked lamb and vegetable medley for dinner - yum.
Chocolate Easter eggs for desert.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 109: Fri 05 Jul 24 - Merghiny Gravel Pit (Ceduna) to Port Augusta

Image
Merghiny Gravel Pit (Ceduna) to Port Augusta (450km)  It was 8 Deg and feeling much less, raining on and off from 4:00am for the first 100km, then cloudy and very windy for the rest of the day. At Port Augusta it reached 18 Deg with strong winds gusting in excess of 60km/h. The past few days have been tiring driving in the wind and rain with lots of heavy transport travelling in both directions, so it was nice to have a quiet start to our 450km drive today. This post is a little light on photographic material, as we have now covered the stretch between Ceduna and Port Augusta three times in the past 18 months, so we kept driving with minimal stops.  Coffee was had at the Minnipa rest area, then lunch at the Kimba roadhouse, before arriving at 3:00pm at the Discovery Parks Caravan Park in Port Augusta for an overnight stay.  We have a drive through site for the night for a quick get away tomorrow. From here we have settled on a couple of nights at Clare for a bit of a brea...
Read more

Day 111: Sun 07 Jul 24 - Clare

Image
Sun 07 Jul 24 - Clare  The overnight temperature dropped to 6 Deg with 54km/h winds which eventually eased by the time we climbed out of bed. No surprise though when we woke, it was raining again, and it continued raining until mid afternoon, so it was a day of forced rest which we both enjoyed. The day comprised coffee in town this morning, then a visit to Hill River Wines to buy a few local wines. I chose this winery out of all others because t hey are a young cellar door and they are family owned. The wines also tasted nice. Back at the van, we had a quiet afternoon resting and watching a documentary series about one of Australia's biggest and strangest art heists on SBS.  It's about an investigation into the art heist from the New Norcia monastery where we recently visited - it's very interesting. Check it out.  The clouds cleared late afternoon, so I mustered the motivation to go out into the cold (6 Deg) for a late walk, before we drove back into town for an Indian ...
Read more

Day 11: Fri 29 Mar 24 (Good Friday) - Madura Pass to Norseman

Image
Fri 29 Mar 24 (Good Friday) Madura Pass to Norseman (530km) It was 14 Deg with a very slight SE breeze and a light dew, reaching 32, clear and sunny with no wind at Norseman. It was a lovely morning, and a nice change waking to early daylight, so we took the opportunity to get on the road earlier than usual. Today was a long haul, 530km along very good road, but with not a lot to see. We were amazed at how green the countryside was, and particularly so around Madura. This is clearly a reflection of all the recent heavy rain had in the region. One other observation from our trek across the Nullarbor, is despite the various Camel, Kangaroo, Wombat, Cattle and Emu warning signs, we did not see any roadkill. Disappointingly, Noeleene went another day without spotting a camel (dead or alive). The traffic today was well spread out, and the majority was Heavy Transport Trucks and caravans - all well behaved, and surprisingly a lot of three-wheeled motorbikes.  We also spotted a couple mor...
Read more