Vegas, Baby, VEGAS!!

Nope, we didn't renew our vows, but we did look out from the bus window as we scooted past the Valley of the Falls in front of the Mandalay Bay and reflect on our wedding day. Ahhhhh!

Really the main reason in Vegas this time around was getting to UFC 146 at the MGM Grand. Funny how our international flight was just in time to be able to squeeze in this event... This is my second time attending a fight. I have to say, it is certainly an experience to go. The one thing that is great about going as a female... the line (queue) for the restrooms (toilets) is massive for the gents, but non-existent for the ladies! Woohoo!

Stefan Struve vs Lavar Johnson - A really really tall man Stefan...



And the tall man wins!

After the fight, we headed off to see some sights of the strip - and figure out how the public transport system works... Here is a hint if you are heading to Vegas soon... Don't take the Deuce unless you really want to have long waits, buses that refuse to stop and pick up waiting passengers at assigned stops and a really, really slow tour of the lights on Las Vegas Blvd! Other than the Deuce, the buses were pretty easy and cheap!

Since we had the truck and camper we stayed at the Oasis RV Resort. This place is MASSIVE. Hundreds of spaces, two good sized pools, several toilet blocks and laundry areas and even with temperatures threatening to be hot, mostly full both nights.
On our second night, after deciding we didn't feel like heading down to the old part of Vegas, we headed instead to a casino called South Point which the Oasis RV park had kindly given us a few books of coupons for. All you can eat buffet dinner for $15.00 each and $20.00 free credit on our club/points card and we walked away ahead by $60.00 (after paying for dinner mind you!) Note: if you are heading to Vegas soon and want a relaxed casino experience, I highly recommend this place. Much better prices (rooms included) on food, services and entertainment than all the big names on the strip. Cut the little guy a break and see how much better you like the easy going South Point!

Our biggest mistake about Vegas? Leaving on Monday morning of a US holiday weekend (Memorial Day) at check-out time and stupidly heading west on I-15 towards southern California... where THOUSANDS of other cars were trying to get to LA in time for work on Tuesday. DoH!

Oh... and letting Matt get addicted to "Kitty Glitter" the slot machine... I will regret that game for the rest of my life, well, at least the rest of this trip I am sure!

Ohhh.. the good 'ole U.S. of A!

How I missed your ranch dressing, Cheetos, Frito's, REAL Mexican food and other delicious and incredibly bad for you food combinations!

What I didn't miss??? Those loud, obnoxious tourists who think that just because their partner/spouse/buddy's etc are deaf that the rest of the people in the park are deaf too and can't hear them yelling at each other!!

But ohhh how good it is to be 'home'. Home, by the way for 3 weeks is this Truck/Camper and hopefully level parking spaces!

Completely self-contained accommodation at its finest! Queen size bed in the loft above the cab, three burner stove top plus mini-oven and a fridge and freezer that is smart enough to run on propane (LPG) when travelling along or sitting parked somewhere or electricity if plugged in at an RV park (Caravan Park).

We even have a table for four... but I can't imagine sitting four adults together for dinner! (We will soon find out though when we my parents later on in Oregon)

We picked up the 'rig' from my parents and sister in New River, Arizona where my parents are dabbling in becoming 'snow birds' each year by fleeing to the south when the white stuff starts to fly back at 'home'.

Landing here in late May is a little bit late in the year as it was a nice 96 degrees F (36 C) even late in the evening. But it made for a convenient rendezvous with my parents, letting us check out 'my half of the inheritence', pick up the truck and camper and make the jaunt up to Vegas for UFC 146 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. We even snuck in a visit with Uncle Paul and played on his putting green in his back yard. I seriously need to work on my short game!

The Nullarbor Links and iconic Aussie roadhouses

I think the golf deserves a post of it's own... well in tandem with some blurbs about the roadhouses... They kinda go hand-in-hand! We learned that 'the course' has been open just 2 years and they have sold over 7,000 score cards (currently at $70.00 per card) and have issued as many certificates for completing the course. The course itself has been touted to have reduced the accident rate for those travellers crossing the Nullarbor drastically and been well worth the effort and the maintenance. And, as I found out, my score is far from the worst! My score - 174... worst score... 451! It would have taken them HOURS to finish a hole!!

Most of the18 holes have astro-turf/synthetic grass greens and tee's and these (reportedly and unverified) cost $38,000.00 AU each and requires sand transported from Sydney to be re-packed into them every 6-8 weeks to keep the surface in good nick. The holes in Kalgoorlie are part of the town course which is a beautiful 18 hole course that is irrigated with bore water and in amazing condition. Ceduna too, is part of a full course, however the greens on this course are a sandy/gravel mixture that are incredible slow. Norseman also has two holes and has a lovely diesel treated sand for their 'green's'.

Each hole has a sign at the tee block with a bit of information about the local history or a key figure in the area. We took a picture of each of them, but I'll just put a few of my favourites on.

I've said before that holes are spread out over 1365km/848mi with a hole or two here and there, mostly one at a time behind or alongside roadhouses. Going over to the west, we learned that some of these roadhouses are set up to rip off the travellers and some appear on the surface to be there to make for a pleasant trip.. A little bit on roadhouses. These service stations with hotel/motel and caravan parks dotting along the highway are often staffed  by migrant workers from all over the world that are 'paying the tax' to migrate here by living and working in remote Australia which is a common way to get a permanent visa to stay in this country. Otherwise, they are staffed by what I am calling "old school Aussie's". These are through and through, rough and tumble Australians that if you closed your eyes and just listened, you could imagine them settling the land 100 years ago...

The buildings themselves come in a wide range of everything from a completely modern shop with air-con, nice fittings and a small market, to dingy, scummy dilapidated buildings with barely a working light with 2 year old dust layered odds and ends in the 'shops'. Every single one, however, was a welcome respite when crossing over the long a tiresome distances throughout the trip - especially the Nullarbor.

I finally get to drive~

... and we then encountered 3 dingos crossing or travelling along the road! Of the 12,000+km/7,500mi we have traveled I drove yesterday for a whopping 200 or so kilometers and we managed to have 3 seperate dingo incidences, of which we captured ZERO on the camera!

Kalgoorlie/Boulder and the final turn to the east

We've nearly closed in on the final turn east. About 2 hours south of Kalgoorlie will be Norseman the mining town where we turned south and headed to Esperance not so very long ago... From that point on we will be duplicating our view and returning to the Nullarbor. I do wonder, this 5 weeks apart if the landscape will have noticeably changed. Perhaps in colour, perhaps in animal life, perhaps not at all. We will find out in a few days when we pack the tent up for the final (planned) time of this journey and head back home.

Now about Kalgoorlie itself. This town established around the turn of the century... not the last one but the one before that ~1900, is known for its very rich gold deposit known as the 'Golden Mile.' The hard part? Getting enough water to not only quench the thirst of the hard-working miners, but to use in extracting the gold from the surrounding ore. Along the highway is Mount Charlotte, one of the oldest underground mines left in the area and directly opposite the town water supply holding tank. The water that fills this tank is transported through a pipeline from the foothills surrounding Perth. This same pipe has been expanded several times and also accommodates irrigation the of thousands and thousands of hectares of wheat farms between Kalgoorlie and Perth.

A few photos of the historic buildings still around today.


York Hotel - Kalgoorlie, W.A.



Exchange Hotel - Kalgoorlie, W.A.



Palace Hotel - Kalgoorlie, W.A.



Clock Tower - Kalgoorlie, W.A.

In the distance surrounding the eastern edge of town, for as far as you can see, there are piles and piles of waste rock, extracted mostly from the Super Pit. 

Super Pit Stockpiles, Kalgoorlie, W.A.

Now the eye opener of visiting the Tom Price mine just earlier this week did little to prepare me for the massive scar created by the joining of several smaller pits, along with the openings of older underground mines that used to grid the area. This really is huge. Seen from space (easily, I might add) this pit is still several years from being finished. The mine plan is for the pit to be about 500 meters deep at the end of it's tenure.



A full truck headed down into the pit, Super-Pit, Kalgoorlie, W.A.

 We watched a massive dump-truck (only slightly smaller than the Rio Tinto truck shown previously) wind its way down the mine carrying a load of road-base to the bottom where several charged explosives were set to go off later in the afternoon. Across the way and about half the depth of the pit, we could see where last August a major slip/slide had occurred blocking a main road in and out of the pit. 

Slip/slide from August 2011. Excavator working on removing rubble - Super Pit, Kalgoorlie, W.A.

The slide itself continued on past the road and made its way all the way to the bottom of the pit.They were casually (as they had been for months I am sure) working on removing the rubble with an excavator precariously propped on the top of the pile. Some of the boulders that were in the slip pile were several times larger than that of the dump-trucks we have noted as being tremendously sized.

Matt's Old Stompin' Grounds - Part II

So we visited the mining town of Leinster (pop. ~ 1400) where Matt was a Fly-In Fly-Out (from Perth) for almost 2 years and then a resident for 3.5 years.

This was Maizes' (the cat) second home where she joyously learned to climb a Jacaranda Tree onto the roof and generally did some cattin' around.

Front of the old house - Austin Place - Leinster, W.A.

The town is very well organised and has a 'town centre' with a well stocked grocery store, a post office, hair dresser a cafe and housewares shop. All this just a half a block away from the sporting arenas, footy oval and 25m swimming pool. Oh, and right next door to all that is the Bistro/Tavern/Bottle shop (liquor store). What more could you ask for?

The streets were silent during our glide along memory lane. Middle of the week, any local kids are in school, the miners either sleeping in preparation for the night shift or on duty 25 minutes away at the mine site. Very few folks out and about but the town itself was pleasant and quite tidy.

So weird to think about the town Wiluna that we had spent last night in as a town that was at one point probably quite similar but is now in such disarray and it is only 1 hour 45 from Leinster. It is quite heart breaking to think that when the mine shuts down at some point in the future, this town too, will probably fade away to a virtual ghost town.

Before we got to the Leinster turn-off we stopped off at the 'red sand dune' that was one of Matt's favourite places to take visitors. Unfortunately, when he tried to take his Mum Ann and sister Kate, it wasn't to be found. Luckily, from the north you can see the dune off to the left out in a high spot surrounded by dry Lake Miranda. Here's a few pics.



Red Sand Dune - Lake Miranda in the background, W.A.



Spine - in sand - Red Dune, Lake Miranda, W.A.

Further south, we passed through Leonora and just five minutes away is the ghost town of Gwalia. This town is actually a ghost town. Besides the museum, there is nothing but sheds, dilapidated houses and interpretive signs where the miners, mine bosses and support crews lived.

Wiluna - In Photos

Just a quick update with a few photos from Wiluna. I know I wrote of this a few days ago, but hopefully the photos give you some visual representation of how the town looks in daylight.

Wiluna Caravan Park - W.A.

Wiluna Hotel - Only the bar is still open, the rest is borded off.

Ablution Block - Wiluna Caravan Park - W.A.

On the home Stretch

So the Aussie component of the trip is coming to a close. We are 4000+ kms away from 'home' in Melbourne and still have a 4 week journey in the US, but we have a lot of driving in front of us, not much else on the agenda to stop and see, but just quick over night stays to get us off the road before dusk to avoid the dangers of animals on the road.

We stopped for a night in Wiluna. This is a town that had a mining boom where the town grew to over 7000 and since, the ore dried up. The town is now only populated by about 800 people.We are in the only accommodation which is a caravan park that offered powered tent sites at the astonishingly low rate of $16.00 per night. We have been listening, since just before sunset, to the local aboriginal people sing one of four songs along to a boom box as they call out loudly to each other under a street light 100 meters from our camp site. Their song of choice seems to be "We Are the World" the Micheal Jackson song sung by a dozen or more artists in 1985 to raise funds for Africa. Dogs are barking throughout the town as young children wander the streets whacking cans with sticks while the adults chatter back and forth among wandering groups. As I've been working on several entries to the blog tonight, they have moved from the street lamp to the west to the desolate street to the east. Even my ear plugs are doing little to block the sounds so that I may concentrate on the drafts. I wonder how much good they will do me when I lay down to try and sleep?

We are off to Kalgoorlie tomorrow, but first a visit to Matt's old mining stomping grounds in Leinster. Then further south where we will stay a few nights in Kalgoorlie/Boulder visiting the "Golden Mile" where the worlds richest known gold deposit is located.

Newman... I can't help but think of Seinfeld!

After a last dip in the fresh water pools of Karajini NP (green pool in particular)

we arrived in the town of Newman. This town is currently a bustling mining town which is 100% booked out of accommodation. We literally rang 4 different places (the only hotels in town mind you, plus one about 10 minutes outside of town at a roadhouse) as we sat in the car in the town centre and tried to find a place to put our heads down for the night. We finally went to the caravan park in a last ditch effort to pitch our tent. Luckily they were able to accommodate us and we quickly set up before the light faded completely.

We had a quick dinner from Subway, did a load of laundry (my clothes all still have red dust permanently ingrained in them) and then listened to the labourers who were on shift change that night... bbq'ing away a gourmet meal for 20 (there was about 6 of them) listening to music and drinking copious amounts of beer, laughing and joking their way through the event.

I was long asleep before they stopped for the night, but Matt said they obeyed the 10pm quiet time (about 10 past 10) and he too was able to get a good nights sleep.

The town is expanding at a ridiculous rate and we found out how they could do so as we drove out of town the next morning. Driving south down the highway we met truck after truck of "Donga's". Portable, simple, bare-minimum housing that are in two parts, whacked together and then moved into the next day.

Tom Price Mining - Pilbara to Rio Tinto

On Tuesday, we took a mine tour of the now Rio Tinto

run Tom Price Iron Ore mining operations just southwest of town. Bob, a very knowledgeable man who lived locally in the area took us and about 20 people from an AAT tour group (they all knew each other and had name tags on) on an hour and a half drive into the mine and to the pit look out. He had incredible knowledge about the equipment and operations of the mine as well as a very entertaining sense of humour. We watched massive Komatusu 830E 240 ton dump trucks wind their way up the pit road full of rubble from a recent blast.

I get that my home, the car we are driving around this vast land in, the building in which I sit 39 stories up above the city streets and the trains I commute daily in require Iron in some form or another to exist in their current state and certainly the settling of our westernised ways would not be nearly as it is today without the mining and use of Iron in massive quantities. But to see the raw earth in that state is hard. To know that no matter what level of rehabilitation the mining companies are required to do when the mining has finished, that literally mountains will have been removed from the horizon is quite hard to swallow. The raping of the land has never been so focused for me until we stood upon the tiny pit viewing platform hundreds of meters above the drill rigs and trucks breaking up and picking up tons of earth (waste earth at that because they were merely moving earth to get the precious vein of Iron below).

Hearing the amount of diesel that a single truck used on average (up to 20 litres per km/5.2 gal/..62 mi) in the mine and then to see the vast numbers of the machines around the place just demonstrated the sheer amount of energy consumed just to extract the ore. This ore then still has to be blended with other ore to attain export quality, be moved several hundred kilometers to the port at Dampier on the far northwest coast of Australia, sail thousands of miles across the oceans to be smelted at factories in China, then distributed world wide to be made into anything and everything that has a bit of iron in it.

Karajini National Park

We spent a few days going into Karajini NP about 50km/31 miles from Tom Price (pop. 3200??) where we parked ourselves in our trusty tent for 4, count 'em, 4 nights! The caravan park was nestled at the bottom of Mount Nameless (elev 1128m/3700 ft) a few minutes outside of town.

Mount Nameless - Tom Price, W.A.

We had a nice grassy spot, set up cam in what seemed like a quiet location and then headed into town for a pub meal and to watch the footy (Collingwood vs. Western Bulldogs).

When we got back from town, about 8.30 or so, we discovered a tour bus full of foreign exchange students (I counted at least 30) had set up in the three sites immediately surrounding our site. They had tarps laid out, and their gear and sleeping kits piled up. Next to the bus was a kitchen assembly line, cafeteria style. Luckily, they had a group meeting and we could hear that the were headed into Hammersley Gorge the next morning, but unfortunately would be returning to our caravan park for a second night. We actively decided to avoid that are of the park and so decided to check out Mt Bruce



Mount Bruce - Karijini NP, W.A.

 near the western edge and then into the heart of the park to the main attraction. Gorges that appear out of nowhere with most retaining some water year around. Seriously, if you were trotting along on a horse and did not know where you were, it would be incredibly easy to picture someone dropping off into the gorge, they come up that suddenly!

Cutting deeply through iron rich rock, the drastic nature of the gorges is stunning at a glance and fascinating with study. Being rich in iron, the rocks are the deepest shade of red.



Entrance to Weano Gorge - Karajini NP, W.A.


Climbing down into the Weano, walking along the gurgling stream, weaving back and forth across the bottom of the gorge,


Weano Gorge - Karajini NP, W.A.


criss-crossing the stream until we suddenly stumbled upon a deep green pool of chilly water.



Cooling my feet in a pool of Weano Gorge - Karajini NP, W.A.

 We started by putting our feet in and watching tadpoles swim around and dragon flies buzzing close to the water surface. Then we went back to the car, changed into our swimming gear and headed down to Hancock Gorge. This gorge is even narrower and the water moves quickly with stunning tiny waterfalls and dramatic 'swimming lanes'.



Swimming lane - Hancock Gorge, Karajini NP, W.A.




A slippery path - Hancock Gorge, Karajini NP, W.A.

 Making it all the way to Kermit's Pool, we finally both got into the icy water. It was tremendous. With the ridge temperatures hovering just above 30 degrees C/86 degrees F, the chill of the water was very refreshing.

Having nearly exhausted our daylight hours we trudged back to camp and made dinner at the camp kitchen where we met the current manager of the park who was here with his wife from NSW (New South Wales) for 'as long as they'll have us' taking care of the park for the owner who is based down in Perth. He told us a bit of his daily/weekly routine and how he came to be in the job.

The next day we headed back into the park, stopping at the visitors center and the heading to Joffre Falls and Knox Gorge where we once again hiked down and swam in the fresh pools deep in the canyon.



Matt sitting in Joffre Falls - Karajini NP, W.A.



Signs of Flash Floods - Karajini NP, W.A.




Note the rubbish in the half way up the tree - Karajini NP, W.A.



Our third day, we went to go to town and see about organising a mine tour but as we went to leave we discovered a very flat tire. Out came the spare and off to town to find a repair shop we went. Luckily, they could fix us up in a few hours so we hung around town, washed the car, made a round of phone calls to check in with people back in Melbourne and then went back to pick up the tire. Late in the afternoon we climbed to the top of Mount Nameless (Jarndrunmunhna is the aboriginal name) from camp. It was a long, steep climb, but as the sun began sinking to the west at our backs we watched the mountain turn to a shimmering red and gold before our eyes. We had a few minutes at the top to view the town, the mine and the untouched land to the north and west of the mountain.

Moving inland

After being beach bums for so long we are now making the turn towards home. Mind you, home is still 4200+ km/2600+ mi away... By the most direct route... But still, inland we turn and face entering the fantastic, terrible, amazing and boring Pilbara. An arid desert filled with pockets of fantastic scenery,

terrible washes called floodways that can isolate an already isolated station,

town or traveller at any moment (during the wet season!), amazing blocks of rich mineral deposits, providing the aussie dollar its international boost, and stretches of boring, flat red dust plains.

On our way out of Coral Bay, we did grab a few snaps of some terminte mounds - these huge crusty mounds were scattered all over the plains and in some areas numbering in the hundreds.



Terminte Mounds, Between Coral Bay & Exmouth, W.A.

As we crept eastwards towards Tom Price, a Rio Tinto mining town with a population of 3200, we travelled over and around a handful of old mountains that had deep red exposed cliff faces heavy with iron ore and silica (didn't I tell you travelling with a geologist is fun and informative?)

The scenery had subtle changes around every corner (and there actually was some corners!) and over every hill.

Seriously... Mobile Internet can be a pain!

Sorry folks, I've got 7 posts drafted, but I am having difficulties getting photos to load and trust me, the photos are worth the wait! I'll get more posted just as soon as I can!

Sorry!!!

Coral Bay

Ahhh... beautiful white sand beaches, amazing coral reefs just a few short swimming strokes in bath-water warm water - Can it it any better than this?



Coral Bay - W.A.


Well... it could if our snorkel gear was up to snuff. We've had some technical difficulties with our gear that has made snorkeling a little bit of a nightmare. We still persisted, however and saw plenty of giant clams, an angel fish, butterfly fish, sea cucumbers, lagoon rays and countless other types of fish we haven't been able to identify.

Certainly should be on any kind of Australian travel plans if you want a comprehensive look at what this massive country has to offer. And from my experiences, this was far better then the Great Barrier, purely because it was accessible from the beach, there wasn't any nasty jellies to worry about and the town is not all hoity-toity touristic... yet...

The Ranges to Reef experience

Heading North from Monkey Mia (south first to get to the highway) we had a one night stop over in Carnarvon - the place of production for 80% of W.A.'s bananas... and not a whole lot else... oh, except fishing. They do a lot of seafood exports from here. Luckily, one night was more than enough and we continued north to Exmouth (pop. ~ 1500). This little town was mostly just a place that supported the Naval Communication Station.

It has now become a destination hot spot where tourist can experience Cape Range National Park and the Ningaloo Reef. We camped 40 minutes past town on the western side of the peninsula at Yardie Homestead Caravan Park. This used to be a sheep station and has since been converted into a caravan park for 'the serious fisherman'. With easy access to the boat launch just 5 minutes down the road, and 4wd tracks in the National Park we were the only ones in camp without either a 4wd vehicle and/or a boat. We were also the only ones who didn't make use of the fish cleaning station which was right next to the tent camping area. It was by far the smelliest place we've stayed!

Surrounded by arid grassland, were close to the Ranges and close to the ocean. Other than the baking heat during the day, and the tiny sunburn I got whilst snorkeling the reef, it really was a lovely place to stay. Another month from now and the weather would cool down just slightly and make it perfect! We saw plenty of kangaroos, a few resident emus, a couple of lizards on the land... and then I persuaded Matt to buy some snorkel gear from the visitors center and we headed out to the water. Matt learned how to snorkel and I darted around chasing all sorts of fish until I scared the crap out of myself when I encountered a reef shark! the dangerous kind! Matt loved seeing the underworld and we wore ourselves out in the heat of the day.



Kori Beach - Cape Range NP, Exmouth, W.A.





Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray - Cape Range NP, Exmouth, W.A.

The next day we hiked up Yardie Creek Gorge to see some incredible red rock gorge.



Yardie Creek Gorge - Cape Range NP, Exmouth, W.A.

 I was in need of avoiding the sun after copping just a little too much the day before, but Matt headed out to test his snorkeling skills. As the sun started sinking towards the sea and the intensity was knocked out of it's heat, I ventured down to the water, but that is when Matt pointed out a VERY large sting-ray... So, I just waded around near the shore and then we headed back to camp.

We did make a quick stop at this little beach where we found some of natures work in mosaic.

Natures Mosaic - Cape Range NP, Exmouth, W.A.