Fraser Range Station

We made it to Norseman by about 11.15 a.m. First we fed the Winnie her daily diesel. Then we went shopping at the IGA. Then we drove out to the first parking spot beyond Norseman for our lunch and rest.

Then we drove here to the Fraser Range Station. In 2015 when we were passing through it happened twice that staying here just did not fit in with our schedule. So, this time we are making up for it by booking in for two nights. We are feeling like we need a rest day. There are some walks that we can take and we are really feeling in need of exercise and having a chance to enjoy the Great Western Woodlands landscape. Except that we are on a working station, and the area has been cleared. There is the promise of woodlands when we take a walk.

The station has been here for a long time, as some of the building show. We have power and fresh water, and at $30 per night that feels pretty good. Of course, they have to compete with a couple of excellent 24hr stopping places within 25 kms. One has a view of the salt lakes. They offer cooked two course meals for $30 each, plus tours in a vehicle which cost $40 per person. Our plan is to eat in the van and take free walks!

The highlight of today is reaching the Great Western Woodlands. According to Wikipedia the Great Western Woodlands ‘is the largest and healthiest temperate (Mediterranean climate) woodland remaining on Earth. It covers 16,000,00 hecatares, a region larger in size than England.’ Travelling on Great Eastern Highway we saw some smallish regions of the typical salmon coloured gums, but turning south towards Norseman the trees and shrubs became much more abundant and lush.

I took some video, but also made sure I took lots of photos today. As video takes a while to process I’ll just include the photos for now.

Great Western Woodlands

Great Western Woodlands

Great Western Woodlands

Great Western Woodlands

Great Western Woodlands

Great Western Woodlands

On Great Eastern Highway we noticed that they have added lots and lots of passing lanes, with some having passing lanes on both sides, so that you are actually on a four lane highway for 2 – 3 kms. Of course, when vehicles needed to pass us, it usually wasn’t where there were passing lanes, but the road is straight enough in sections for passing on the other lane to be quite safe.

We had a cold night, I estimate 5 -8 degrees, but forgot to check inside the van before putting the heater on this morning. The good thing was being able to use our winter doona. Either the cold or tiredness meant that I slept through the night, the first time since we started the process of getting Mum into Regis Greenmount. I was in a pattern of waking up at 3.30 a.m. and not getting back to sleep and that becomes difficult to break.

Our plan was to stay at or near Coolgardie tonight, then travel to Norseman tomorrow. But we felt quite energetic, and Coolgardie is not that wonderful – a bit neglected looking – so we had lunch at a roadhouse and continued on our way. We were looking for the perfect rest stop to have some fruit and and a rest, and ended up finding such a spot, not an official rest stop, but off the road and within a very pretty part of the Woodlands.

From there, we felt we could make it to Widgeimooltha by about 4.00 p.m. And, that is where we are staying the night. The reason to stay overnight at Norseman was to do some shopping, washing and fill up with water. But, the roadhouse here at W. has water and it is only about 200 kms to Fraser Range Station from here, so the revised plan is to fill up with water here, do some shopping in Norseman (not a lot since we brought so much food from home), and go on to Fraser Range Station where we could possibly stay two nights and get some washing done. Fraser Range Station was a place we wanted to stay last time, but it didn’t fit our schedule.

We woke up at around 6.30 a.m. even though I had the alarm off. We did quite a lot of preparation yesterday, but still had many, many things to do this morning. We have quite a lot of stuff on the floor of the van, in the interests of keeping the weight low. When we are camped we not only have the extra space of the slide out, but also tend to put lots of stuff in the cab, so it won’t be a problem.

I’ve downgraded our home internet plan, which they do at no cost to us, as we don’t need to keep paying for really high speed whilst we are away. I’ve parked the Winnie nose in because that means when I am backing I have our neighbour’s guttering in my right hand mirror next to me. Damaging their house is my main worry.

6.15 p.m.

We feel that it has been a successful day. We arrived at Greenmount close to lunchtime, and went down Scott Street to a cafe to wait until Mum had had her lunch. We arrived just in time as she was wanting to go out for a cigarette. She showed Stephen her room, then we went up to the smoking area. It was a pleasant visit. She is quite alert, though still doesn’t know why she is there. I gather she is still being rude to the staff as we heard her complaining about having to wait to be taken to the smoking area when we were arriving. Her eyes were red and her hair looks a bit wild, time for the hairdresser I would say. We enjoyed our visit anyway. Mum does like the huge tree outside her window.

Then, it was on our way to Meckering. We had one stop on the way just past Northam, and arrived at about 4.15 p.m. A cup of tea and walk around the immediate environment was enjoyable. There is a cafe, with cooked breakfasts, toilets, drinking water and a designated area for parking. We have streetlights nearby, which will help us to feel safe overnight. There is also the roadhouse on the other side of the highway.

We arrived here on Friday morning at about 9.20 a.m. and joined the queue. We had left home at 7.30 a.m., Stephen’s suggestion, and we made it! We had set up the Winnie in the preceding days, including getting the fridge cold using gas. I had some cereal while we were waiting. I didn’t notice the coffee van until it was too late to go and buy one. We finally started moving forward at about 10.20 a.m.

When we chose our spot the Rivergrounds Camping was fairly free. We wanted sun for the solar, so chose a good spot and set up. We put out the awning and Stephen put down the big mat. That was mainly in case it rained. We took our time setting up and stayed in the van until music sessions started.

Our first afternoon and evening were spent getting into the spirit of the festival, essentially a process that takes about a day.

This year we joined the ‘mass choir’ set up for the 25th anniversary. We enjoyed Kristina Olsen, but haven’t actually found other acts that we rush to see. Having choir rehearsals, culminating in a little concert at 5.00 last night, has kept us feeling involved. Also, we have many friends here, current and past Working Voices choir folk, to enjoy as well.

The Winnie gets a bit warm during the day and the the first couple of days were very humid, with possible storms forecast. But, we have had no rain and yesterday (Sunday) was more pleasant.

This year is unusual, the first year when it is a three day festival. There are fewer acts to see, but we are hoping there will still be lots of food options, etc. to make the extra day worthwhile.

We have the fridge playing up, with the flame being blown out by gusts of wind on that side of the van. But, it is has basically worked to keep our food at the correct level (1-5 degrees) to be safe. We put the awning in Saturday afternoon as the wind can be particularly strong and gusty in the early evening. We only had it out a short distance, with no ropes, so it didn’t give enough shade to make it worthwhile. Anyway, we haven’t spent very much time inside during the day.

We notice quite a few changes here, more people, no meals in the dining room, but more food kiosks, different setups with tents.

Amazingly we are able to go to sleep despite the noise. I have a two fold theory, that we are less stressed because of retirement/semi retirement and we live in quite a noisy area in Victoria Park where it is probably never completely quiet, so we are used to tuning things out. Plus getting very tired from all of the fresh air and walking we do from campsite to the main area.

In the afternoon on Monday, rather than sit around waiting for the day to cool off, we caught a bus to Joondalup Shopping Centre. We found an attractive Cuban Style (maybe or maybe not) cafe on the edge of the shopping centre where we shared a roll and had sweet, interesting drinks.

We went to the Aldi store as Stephen hadn’t been to one before. I suggested that he consider it to be a museum or art gallery – something to see, rather than a place to actually shop. We then spent some time in Dymocks.

When we got back it was somewhat cooler. After tea, Stephen suggested we bring in the awning. There was more wind than on previous days, plus there was the risk of it being wet in the morning with dew.  Afterwards we listed to a podcast on the importance of glass, quite interesting, but we didn’t listen to the end as it became a bit repetitive.

The way we had the awning we had not had a good view of the ocean from inside the Winnie and we had been looking forward to the view when we woke up on Tuesday morning. But, as is the nature of things, there was actually a heavy mist, and we couldn’t see the sea. I tried taking photos, but they don’t really show how heavy it was. Of course, it meant that everything was very moist, so it was a good thing to have the awning rolled up.

Looking out over the ocean from our camping spot

Looking down towards the car park

After having a shower I went down to the beach to paddle. Stephen usually takes longer than me, so he had not long been back when I returned.

We had a leisurely breakfast, having negotiated a late checkout of 12.00 noon. After packing up, we went to the cafe for coffee/chai latte. It was a bit noisy inside and no shady tables available outside, so not as wonderful as it could have been, but gave us a break before the long journey home. Not that there was a long journey, just about 45 minutes!

When we woke up at home this morning, we missed the open spaces and fresh air.

I cooked a Thai chicken curry in the electric pressure cooker for our evening meal, using the keep warm setting so we could eat later, and we went for a walk along the beach path at about 6.30. The evening was cool and humid.

Next day we tried for a swim before breakfast. The interesting thing happening was the abolone hour, with lots of people in black suits (but apparently not wet suits) with little bags out on the rocks. A nice young policewoman was on duty, plus there was a helicopter, I guess keeping an eye on the time. People generally stopped on time and departed in cars with their catch.

We didn’t find the water actually appealing, there was a lot of seaweed, so we decided that getting down to the beach and seeing the abolone hunt was our morning outing.

Marie and Geoff arrived at about 11.00 a.m. We had a cup of tea together and the sea breeze arrived at about 12.30 p.m. We lazed about during the afternoon, then went to the cafe for spiders and a smoothie for Stephen. We sat in the shade of the Winnie until it was time to go for our evening walk. Afterwards we each had our own meals, but sat together.

They left when it was still cool this morning, at about 10.00 a.m.

It is the March long weekend, and after a relatively cool and wet summer we are making a start on autumn with a heatwave. We discussed going to the Nannup Music Festival, but our memories of this weekend are that there is usually a heatwave, and it can be very uncomfortable. I still wanted to go away, and tried for Coogee Beach, Fremantle and Woodman Point Caravan Parks, but they were all full. So, Burns Beach it is.

It is very nice here, but very few sites have shade. We have premier views, but having put out our awning, with some help from our neighbour with his mallet and expertise on tying reef knots, we only get a view if we sit outside. Up until an hour ago, that was fine as we still had shade outside. Now, although our windows are in shade, we have the option of inside or sitting in the sun. So, we are inside.

One view

Another view

I bought the pressure cooker with me, and have done a Thai chicken curry, very easy even if the cooker itself is rather bulky. The smell of the cooking is absolutely delicious to us and may be making our neighbours hungry as well. I started at about 4.00 as we will probably go for a walk close to sunset and I wanted to have the main cooking out of the way. We can have salad or vegetables as part of the meal. We could do some rice, but would have to cook it on the stove or in the microwave and we may not want to do that.

Although we have had a cool breeze all afternoon it has been humid and about 28 degrees, so not exactly the best conditions. Still, we did need time to relax after what feels like a busy week. On Friday we went to the second session for us of ukelele class and Tai Chi at the Trinity School for Seniors. We missed last week as Stephen wasn’t well. It was a pretty hot day, so I took the time off as well. The ukelele lesson is held in the church. Joe, our instructor, focussed on learning ‘You are my Sunshine’ for the whole hour. I found that useful as we started with the chords and learning to play in time together, then sang the words at the end.

Tai Chi seemed a little easier this time, although I was worried about my left knee, so trying to be careful. Still, I really love this class and our instructor is quite special. I want to continue. Today my knee isn’t even stiff, so I can’t be doing it any harm.

In the evening we went to an event at our local library run by two musicians called ‘History of the Blues’. They mentioned ‘You are my Sunshine’ as an old blues number, which has made me more interested in learning it – oddly enough. The session was enjoyable and the library staff served wine and other drinks and some food. The Carneys were there as well.

We have next door neighbours who are leaving early in the morning, so they are doing some of their packing up now. Good news as their spot is where Marie and Geoff will be tomorrow.