Day 39 - 6 July 2025 – Margaret River to Pinjarra - 280 km
Mother Nature threw everything at us today. Maybe the kitchen sink, but thankfully it missed. The heavy rain overnight returned the caravan park puddles to their deep state of our first night in the park.
We did not have a big day so we left (for us) extremely late at 9:45 am.
As we bypassed Busselton gale force head/cross winds made driving very hard. We soldiered on (I can't spell persevered).
Our reward was our arrival at Gnomesville - out in the middle of nowhere. Their web site says that there are over 10,000 gnomes. All sizes, colour and focus. We were amused at the kids who were looking for 'rude' gnomes. One is included below.
The visit was achieved with the help of umbrellas and raincoats.
Wellington Dam was our next destination but Google Maps decided that we should visit Collie first - so we did - and were OK with that detour. We had lunch and checked out some of the local street art.
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Collie Street Art |
Wellington Dam now beckoned and this was a 'bucket list' item - a dam wall that has a mural across its width, depicting local history.
Mother Nature stepped in with gale winds and heavy rain so bad that I slowed to 40 kph and put on my hazard lights - until I could get off the road maybe five minutes later. That five minutes was clearly my worst ever episode of driving in rain while towing a caravan.
The visit was also achieved with the help of umbrellas and raincoats - but with less success - the umbrella got wrecked and we got damp - and Shirley spilled her coffee down the front of her aqua top.
Despite the weather and the conditions we were happy to see a marvellous mural by Guido Van Helten. Click here for more fascinating history.
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| The magnificent mural across the bank of Wellington Dam. |
Rain was a constant, heavy rain was also in the race. It was time to find a resting spot. We decided on Pinjarra (pop. 7500) as it was close to Mandurah and our plans for tomorrow. After maybe four hours of constant rain we stopped in Pinjarra. Shirley made the coffee and turned on the heater/dryer while I did the manly (get wet) stuff outside. All was Ok - we are OK. We have had a good day.
Two lessons:
1. Do NOT trust Google Maps in the south western corner of WA. We have 5 or 6 instances where we could have gone astray, one was today.
2. WA drivers do not seem to recognise the significance of 'double lines' on a road. So be careful.
Day 40 - 7 July 2025 – Mandurah
Mother Nature again got out of bed the wrong side. The day started with rain that gradually got heavier. Gale force winds made for an interesting sightseeing day.
Luckily Mother Nature was so fierce she kept getting tired and needed a rest. Those rests from rain (sometimes with sun) allowed us to achieve our aim for the day - which was to see (at least) three of the six Mandurah Giants.
The Giants were created by Thomas Dambo from Denmark. Thomas promotes recycling and all Giants were made from recycled materials. He has many Giants in many countries.
Seba's Song Giant was first, a 1.2 km walk.
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| Above - Three close-up views of the giant Below - The giant from across 200 metres of water |
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| Is bird real estate scarce or expensive? |
Santi Ikto Giant was next, a 1.3 km walk. Luckily it did not rain as the wind would have destroyed the umbrellas.
The adjacent beach barely got a look as the weather was so intimidating.
Yaburgurt Cirkelstone Giant was our last for the day, a short stroll into a gale force wind.
The weather prevented us from trying for a fourth Giant, as it was a 3.5 km walk - not prudent with the constant wind and rain.
To rekindle great memories of 30+ years ago we had fish n chips for lunch at Mandurah Cicerello's - a Kelly family favourite from days gone by. I was amused at a sign on the balcony.
On the way back to camp Mother Nature cheered us up with a rainbow, one of many that we have seen on this trip.
Day 41 - 8 July 2025 – Pinjarra to Moora - 304 km
Mother Nature was in a good mood as the sun was shining while we packed up and started our 3.4 km walk to see our fourth Giant, Little Lui Giant.
As we somehow misread the instructions the walk became 5 km and gave Mother Nature time to get the rain happening. But there was no wind and the rain was light - and the walk was well worth the effort.
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| Left - Our fourth Giant - Little Lui Giant Above right - Shirley giving an idea of the size of the Giant Below right - the back of the Giant - the roots of a fallen tree |
The fifth Giant is in the Perth suburb of Subiaco which the navigator consigned to the 'too hard' basket.
We hit the road north and our next stop was 40 km north of Perth. It rained the entire time, getting heavier while we had lunch. Perth was a complete 'miss' as visibility was poor as we travelled south to north on Motorways.
The rain eased as we pulled into New Norcia, but not enough for us to do a walk of the historic monastic town. We took some photos and headed on to Moora, again raining for most of the drive.
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| New Norcia - St Lidephonsus' College |
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| New Norcia - St Gertrude's College |
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| New Norcia Hostel |
The heavy rain restarted as we set up camp.
Dinner consisted of veggies and some excellent 'Green Curry Coconut Venison Sausages' that we bought in Margaret River.
Day 42 - 9 July 2025 – Moora to the Wheatbelt Region - 268 km
Mother Nature was kind to us today. The sun was shining when we rose and did not leave us until it dipped below the horizon late afternoon. No rain and not much wind.
Today was 'wildflower searching' day, although we knew that it was very early in the wildflower season.
We travelled through towns such as Watheroo, Coorow, Carnamah, Three Springs, Perenjori and ended up at Morawa.
Our first stop was Jingemia Cave, a natural phenomenon. The cave is one of a series of caves that are connected by an underground system of fractures and voids.
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| Jingemia Cave |
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| Speed was not a factor |
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| Chamberlain 40K Tractor with Shirley |
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| Three Springs Talc Mine |
The mine is in the middle of a flat plain as far as the eye can see in all directions. Its working has created a small mountain from which the above photo was taken, and from which we had a great 360 degree view.
We had slim pickings from the wildflower search. The following shows some that we saw.
All of the towns in this region have made an effort to attract the tourist. More on that tomorrow.
Day 43 - 10 July 2025 – More of the Wheatbelt Region - 271 km
We spent most of the day touring the rich wheatbelt and wildflower region. Morawa started (for us) around 5 degrees and improved all day - hour by hour - to a maximum of around 20 degrees. No cloud, minimum wind, just sun.
Our first stop was 'War Rock' - a natural pool in granite that catches rain water. There are multiple stories about why 'war rock', on being that two indigenous tribes fought over water rights.
Another story involves differences in how the rock should be treated - this time between indigenous and european folk
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| All of the towns and historical highlights in this region have metal statues that depict a certain act or period in history. |
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| Some of the water held by War Rock |
Suddenly we dropped from flat rich land to a vista that is common in the Pilbara and the Kimberley. We were about to arrive at Bilya Rock - a location reputedly established by the early explorer Sir John Forrest.
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| A change in scenery from wheat land |
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| Shirley building a memorial to Sir John Forrest |
We detoured to Coalseam Conservation park, and area where coal was discovered. However the quality seams where too thin or the poorer wide seams were too poor to be worth mining.
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| Creek in Coalseam Conservation Park |
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| We found a creek crossing to help remove some caravan mud - no luck |
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| Artistic flair at Mullewa |
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| Our Lady of Mt Carmel in Mullewa |
We moved on to Geraldton. I dropped Shirley off at Coles while I visited a car-wash to remove some of the red sand/dirt from yesterday. Both of us were successful.
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| Our nearby beach at Geraldton [Beach 38, Walks 37] |
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| Some of the wildflowers that we saw today |
I include the following photo for those of you who have not tried to pass a road train - with a caravan behind you.
These 60 metre monsters have four trailers that love to fishtail when empty. However they struggle on hills when loaded. Just east of Geraldton we passed two of these guys on the one hill, a sign that it was a fairly long hill.
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