Wednesday 11^th April, 2012

Our morning started wet. Dominik was taking a shower and I was in the kitchen of the camping site as the turf irrigation started. Cool, our camper was fully in the firing line of the water and the inside got a bit wet. So we preferred to pack and leave. We had our breakfast in the park of Northam. Then we went to the tourist information and asked where the allegedly longest suspension bridge of Australia is. We saw it already when arriving. On the suspension bridge we started our walk along the Avon River. Here is a colony of white swans. This is normal for Europeans, but not for Australians as here the swans are usually black. The white swans were brought by European settlers and are now an attraction here. After lunch Dominik drove me back to the airport of Perth. Dominik will continue travelling the west while I am flying to Sydney to see again Konrad. Five weeks of separation is definitively too long.

Tuesday 10^th April, 2012

Slowly we started into the day and looked for the signed petrol station. We did not find any in Yealering, so we went to Wickepin. Here we found one and with a full tank we went to the shopping mall to buy food. Fruits and vegetables were already nearly sold out at 12pm. OK, it was the first day after a long weekend and there are also school holidays. We asked the tourist information what we could visit here. The kind lady gave us a few brochures of the hiking paths in the area. We wanted to do one, but the gravel road leading to it got worse and worse so we had to turn. We then drove along the scenic road as marked in my map. In the last days we passed many wheat fields. I this area they produce about 40% of the Australian wheat. We saw from far a smoke cloud and I wondered what it could be. Dominik told me that the farmers burn down the harvested wheat fields. That was correct as we saw the smoke raising from some fields. Outside of York we made a stop and went to a lookout tower. Here we could see down to the Avon River. The Avon River is renamed to Swan river 70 km before flowing into the sea. York was founded 1831 and is the oldest European mainland settlement in Western Australia. I went to see the few old houses here. The catholic St Patrick church was constructed in 1886 in neogothic style and has glass windows from Italy. After my short sightseeing we drove to Northam to find a place for the night. The first attempt was already successful.

Easter Monday 9^th April, 2012

This morning our way led to the 300 souls village Hyden. I made a short visit at the Peoples Scape Sculptures which are metal sculptures showing people by some kind of activity. Then we drove to the Wave Rock, a 110 m long and 14 m high rock wave. The weather eroded the wave out of the rock. Nice to watch it, but not spectacular. Then we walked the Hyden Rock Walk to see other rock formations. On the hike we saw from time to time Rock Dwelling Dragons (a kind of small lizards) rush away. Then I saw sandalwood which is cultivated here in the region. We got to Hippo's Yawn as I read the plan wrongly. The rock really looked like a hippopotamus with open mouth. After this short hike we drove to the Humps, a nearby rock hill. Here we visited Mulka's Cave, a cave with rock paintings and hand prints from Aboriginals. Then we made two short hikes. The Kalari Trail went at the top of he Humps and beside some more rocks we had a amazing look over the wide Australian country. Again and again I am fascinated by the width of Australia. Back at the bottom we decided to walk also the Gnamma Trail. It lead through the bush and then back to the carpark. It was not as beautiful as the first hike. Then we drove to Hyden and then to Kulin. A bit out of Kulin we saw a few horses made by scrap metal. Here it is a kind of contest between the farmers who creates the most original horse. After a short break in Kulin where we saw an Oldtimer museum from the outside we continued to Wickepin. A bit outside we saw a sign to the camping of Yealering. We decided to go there and, as yesterday, had to pay in the hotel.

Easter Sunday 8^th April, 2012

In the morning Domink allowed me 30 minutes for sightseeing in Kalgoorlie. This was enough as all shops were closed due to Easter Sunday. Back in the camper I got migraine. Good luck I had the headache soon under control. First we wanted to do a bit sightseeing in Coolgardie, but because of my headache we let it be. We made a short toilet stop and saw how children were searching Easter bunnies in the park. We continued and drove until Merredin. Here also everything was closed, but still we made our lunch break here. After we decided to drive until Narembeen and to stay thee overnight. Our road passed huge grainfields. From time to time there where grain collecting points beside the railway track. In Narembeen we watched a seeder which was about 25 m wide. The camping in Narembeen was an open space and we would have to pay at the municipality hall. Only it was closed due to Easter and so we continued. In Kondinin it was the same, only the site was nicer and we could pay in the motel. So we went to the motel and returned with the key for the kitchen to the site. The rest of the day we read or worked on the computer. In the evening I walked over the sports place and watched to sunset.

Easter Saturday 7^th April, 2012

First we went to shop food, then we drove along the sea. The road had several lookouts. At some place we could go down to the beach. As the sun was shining, the sea shimmered turquoise. We stopped at following places: Blue Haven, Salmon Beach, Twilight Beach (was elected in 2006 to the most beautiful beach of Australia) and Picnic Beach. Everywhere we observed beautiful rocks and beaches. Then we left the sea and went to Pink Lake. The lake was not as pink as I had imagined, but the opposite shore got nicely mirrored. On the shore a sign explained that the lake may get pink due to algaes. A bit outside of Esperance we stopped to see some tractors and other farming machinery. Then our drive northwards lead along the railway tracks. On the way we saw a grain filling station. We drove along grainfields where seeders were operating. There were also a few Billabongs (water holes) and salt lakes at the side of the road. Kalgoorlie was our destination and we reached it a bit after 4:30pm. The first camping was already booked out. The kind lady explained that all the other camping sites are also booked out. We tried nonetheless and were lucky: the next had a free place. We were glad that we did not have to drive 50 km back to try there. As we had some remaining time we drove to a lookout where you could look down to the biggest gold mine of the region. The opencast mine is huge and the machines used cost a few millions. No wonder gold is so expensive. Then we went to the Mount Charlotte lookout to look from above over the region. You can see a few mines and the town.