Had a lovely family Christmas around Perth then back down to Waroona to house sit for another 6 weeks.
Left late Feb to see friends at Seabird then on up to Sandstone. Stopped at Kirkalocka free camp which is about 4 km south of the station. Lovely big area well off the road, toilet and 2 dump points. Also stayed at the Miling caravan park - very small but it is quite adequate. there was heavy rain a couple of nights at Sandstone and at the station. Lots of water lying round and fresh green grass!!!!
I drove though water over 2 floodways just out of Mt Magnet - that was exciting! Booked into the cp at Sandstone then decided to leave the van there for a week so I could go 50 north to Barrambie Station to stay with friends. Was not sure about gravel roads after rain. Had a lovely week at the station - recycles curtains for the bathroom and kitchen. I knew carting my sewing machine all round Aus was not a waste of space LOL. Did lots of experiments with baking bread. Decided that the dough hook and baking normally seemed better than the bread maker with it's smaller loaf.
Went for a drive up to the vermin fence, checked out the airstrip, and up to the hills where there are many old mine shafts - and areas of new test bores. Apparently these hills are riddled with old shafts that have not been fenced or marked!
We went to Jundoo Dam one afternoon hoping to get some yabbies. No luck but would be a lovely camp.
I picked the van up again and went to the dam but decided not to stay as it was very windy and clouds were building up. Was worried about heavy rain washing the road out and branches blocking the access also. Ended up at Mt Magnet instead. On down to Jibbering Reserve north of Wubin. Huge area with scattered trees. Far enough off the road to be quiet. Stopped at Dalwallinu for groceries and fuel and on via Kalannie to Beacon CP. Passed a huge cattle feed lot. Good sealed road all the way. Beacon has a great cp - very clean and tidy.Royalties for Regions has done a great job of upgrading these small country places.
On to Mangowine Homestead for a few days. Only $12.50 a night for power, scheme water and a shower - a lean-to in a shed but does the job just fine! It is very hot at the moment - 37 so have the AC running. Caught up with my Kiwi friends - they are heading home this year after 5 years of spending 6 months a year travelling around. Good timing as I decided to update my passport and needed a Kiwi who was not family to verify my identity! Was perfect being able to do it all online, including uploading the photo.
Next stop was the Westonia Caravan Park where I was only intending to stay for a couple of days but such a lovely tidy place, very good nightly and weekly price and some lovely people that I stayed for 9 days instead!
There is an amazing place there out in the bush on the edge of town. A hermit built a shack and lived there many years. The places is surrounded with brown glass beer bottles. He had started to stack them but..... Also had built a long drop loo at some stage. Amazed me that no-one seems to have touched the place since he died - but I gather he was well respected in the town. He put the bottle tops back on many of the bottles.
Westonia is a delightful very tidy small town. They encourage retirees - I think the Council retirement houses are $80 pw! Free use of the pool and gym etc. A community run grocery shop, coffee shop and a tavern. Although the mining camp is right behind the caravan park it is very quiet. The Edna May mine is on the edge of town, and there are some lovely drives in the area to view the huge rocks.
April - flew to Mackay for my granddaughter's 12th birthday. Love flying over this country. Had to Google one area that was quite stunning - it was Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges.
Back to New Norcia to do some more scanning in the Archives. Thoroughly enjoying that work. So much history in the letters written in the 1850-60's. I did manage to back the caravan into an overhanging branch there which broke a piece off the AC cover, and put a small split in a dent on the top. Thank goodness for insurance - $7,500 later!!! They replace the complete skin on the back just to get to the split. Also replaced the decals. One advantage of house-sitting is that I don't need the caravan to live in.
June - November saw more house sitting around Waroona, and 3 more weeks at New Norcia. I spent a week around Perenjori and Moora looking at the stunning wild flowers and checking out future camping spots.
I also decided to upgrade my vehicle. The old Navara was starting to cost too much to keep running so now have a 2012 Colorado.
I was Googling crochet patterns for a friend and found Tunisian Crochet so started making beanies. I have not done hand crafts for years and am loving it.
A great 3 week trip back to NZ. spent most of the trip catching up with family, and friends I have not seen for many years. Shame it was rather damp much of the time.
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