Well, nearly a year has passed since I returned from my last long journey to North Eastern Victoria and surrounds. Quite a year, with major bushfires up and down the East Coast of Australia, followed by the Covid-19 world wide pandemic, which still rages through most of the rest of the world.
If things had gone as previously planned, Jean & I would have been in the midst of our planned major trip to Austria, Italy and Switzerland, but it was not to be. Second time we have had to cancel that trip (first time due to Axel getting sick). Maybe third time lucky if there is eventually a Covid-19 vaccination available.
After a very strict shutdown of various regions in Western Australia, the areas have now started to open up to local travelers, whilst interstate and international borders remain closed. Time for PJ to have a short escape from Folly Farm and give the Bushtracker an outing from the new shed, which was another long saga we won't talk about here.....
On Sunday I transferred stuff to the caravan and on Monday morning set off with a slight diversion to Mundaring to stock up the fridge and pantry. Very pleasant drive South with a stop in Binningup to visit Jean's Niece Nicole, who I hadn't seen for some time. Was great to catch up and share a piece of raspberry teacake from Mundaring Artisan Bakers - should have taken a picture.....
Not far on to Bunbury and a check-in at Koombana Bay Tourist Park. Still very Covid conscious with remote check in and ablutions still closed as part of self isolation policies. They opened up just as I was moving on.
Tuesday 19 May 2020
After a cold clear night, a stunning sunny morning. Took a walk across the road and had a coffee from the beach kiosk. The beach looked beautiful and was virtually deserted.
Quite a change from the dry and dusty conditions at Folly Farm.
I had hoped to catch up with Valerie & Michael, but they had escaped to Karri Valley and Albany and the plan was to try and also catch up with Wendy and Phillis when they returned and before I went home. Spent a quiet day reacquainting myself with Bunbury and a bit of walking around.
Wednesday 20 May 2020
Made a short move today to my old favourite "Vasse Lawn Farm" camping spot, not far from Busselton and Dunsborough. Wayne & Wendy's farm is a nice flat, green, grassy place to stay, cheap (no power or water supplied) and really well located.
Had an outing to Yallingup, where I added a couple of more photos to the collection.
Magnificent coastline.
A very windswept, but beautifully manicured carpark area with views of the popular surfing location.
Thursday 21 May 2020
Drove into Busselton, did some shopping and had another look around the jetty area. Another place to have had quite a lot of upgrade work done over the last year or two.
Still pretty quiet, but a few people enjoying the sunny late Autumn day.
A number of the jetty tourist features had still not opened back up, but were not far away.
The Dome Cafe had reopened, with social distancing rules in force, but doing a roaring trade with rapid turnover of limited tables and unlimited take away.
A few of the local restaurants are just starting up in a limited way again, so I booked a lunch for next Sunday at Voyager Estate just outside of Margaret River for (yet another) special treat. Meantime, the weather forecast is showing a cold front and storm heading our way for the weekend.
Friday 22 May 2020
Today I have made the pleasant drive to Nannup to catch up with (Cousin) Kerry and Mercer Laidley again, just on the outskirts of town, across the Blackwood River.
The house and grounds are beautiful. Mercer & Kerry run a bed and breakfast, so if you are ever traveling to Nannup and want a real treat then have a look at https://www.riverwoodretreat.com.au/
It was a beautiful afternoon (as you can see from the picture looking at the wallnut orchard next door) so we went for a walk through the property down to the Blackwood River which separates them from the Town recreation area.
Nice photo of Kerry & Mercer in their domain.
A beautiful "pin-cushion hakea" in the grounds and plenty of black cockatoos enjoying the water source in the late afternoon.
A perfect spot to camp overnight again in the Bushtracker, despite Kerry really wanting me to stay inside....
It had been another perfect late Autumn day, but the weather forecast had been updated a couple of times indicating first that we could expect a 5 year storm and then further upgraded to a 10 year storm with particularly back outlook along the Yallingup - Margaret River coastline. For Saturday and Sunday nights I was booked into Gracetown Caravan Park near Coweramup Bay. It is a beautiful bush camping park, but set amongst many trees, so I became more wary about weathering a storm there. In the end, to err on the safe side, I decided to cut my journey short and head home the next morning.
Quite a few cancellations required including Gracetown, Voyager Estate, Koombana Bay return and a get together with the "old" Woodside girls, who all live in Bunbury these days. Hopefully we can repeat in the next month or two.
Saturday 23 May 2020
After a good sleep and a full "formal" B&B Kerry breakfast, I said my goodbyes and headed home. Another beautiful day and a steady safe drive back to Perth, with quite a lot of traffic on the road including many caravans. Hopefully heading for a safe "port" before the storm.
Sunday 24 May 2020.
Nice to be home as the weather deteriorated as the cold front approached. Good to have the fire going and be inside, with the Bushtracker safely parked in the new shed. Not long before quite a loud bang and we looked out to see half of the nearest horse shelter roof standing up next to a nearby tree, then crash as it hit the ground.
We were quite concerned about the wind picking it up again and damaging the nearby stables water tank, so we went out and attempted to secure it. I had a very lucky escape (after not assessing the risk well at all). Whilst trying to drag a portion of the roof another gust lifted half of it, knocking me over and trapping me under a section of roofing iron and timber. Very fortunately I was not hurt, so we hooked up the heavy water trailer to the Toyota and parked it on top of the roof to make sure it didn't do any further damage.
The storm also brought down two fair sized trees and a large gum tree branch, damaging 4 fences and blocking 2 of our roads.
One dead jarrah tree that will make plenty of good firewood.
A large branch across two fences and the road to the feed shed. It was the first priority with the chainsaw to clear access to the feed shed and Jean's arena.
Just as well I came home early in the end.
So ends the first excursion in the Bushtracker for 2020. As usual, my enthusiasm for writing it up has waned, so it finally has happened at the end of June, during my next trip North, whilst camped at Yardie Homestead Caravan Park just outside Cape Range National Park about 35km from Exmouth. Stay tuned as I will try to write it up before I head home to escape the looming school holidays in early July.
