Brolga Healing Journeys

FIRST STOP – CAPE KERAUDREN

Our last blog finished with us at the DeGrey River campsite, north of Port Hedland.  We had a week to burn before we were to return to Port Hedland for some work on the car.  Where to go?  I know Nirbeeja would have returned to Carawine Gorge in the blink of an eye, but it was quite a distance from Port Hedland, so we opted to travel instead up the coast.  After a couple of false starts we arrived at the Cape Keraudren Coastal Recreation Reserve (try saying that after a couple of wines).  Cape Keraudren is at the southerly edge of the well-known Eighty Mile Beach, so we thought it might give us a taste for the area.

We planned to stay for two nights, but stayed for five.  We loved it.  The area was full of wildlife, the beach was beautiful, we had our first sighting of Brolgas on this trip and we saw many magnificent kangaroos.  We were camped beside Cootenbrand Creek, a lovely sheltered spot that kept us entertained with its massive tidal variations and pale aqua waters.  The only drawback was that the campsite was on a limestone shelf, making it impossible to use pegs to secure the camper trailer.  So we improvised, tying the ropes to large rocks and using boxes to support inside the walls of the bedroom. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

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Contrary to what you may all be thinking, we are still alive, we are still travelling, we are still together and yes – we are still enjoying our adventure, loving it in fact.  It’s just that life, work and travel have all interfered with our capacity to write this blog.

Where did the time go?  Well, since our previous blog way back in October 2008 we’ve been pretty busy.  (more…)

We learned of Karijini National Park while we were still in Canberra.  A Tai Chi student of Peter’s showed us photos of his many travels around Australia, and we remember being struck by the ones of ‘that place with the magnificent gorges’.

Next, we heard about the park while staying in Ceduna, just before we crossed the Nullarbor.  A very friendly, enthusiastic lady from Mandurah, south of Perth, was going around the caravan park telling all of us easterners that we must visit Karijini.  This became a standing joke between us – “Young lady/man, you really must visit Karijini”. 

So we did. (more…)

Hello everyone.  Our previous entry was written in Kalbarri.  We spent several more days in the region, camped at the Murchison House Station on the banks of the Murchison River.  We had a lovely time there, enjoying campfires morning and night and heading off each day to explore somewhere else in the region.  And did we mention the wildflowers?  Yes, of course we have, over and over, but it’s difficult to get over such a display.  They were beautiful.

Apart from looking at the flowers, we did manage a few other things, including the 8km Loop Walk around the gorges along the Murchison River.  It was beautiful, with dramatic cliffs and rocks forming a backdrop along the walk.  Everywhere we looked wildflowers were in bloom (oops, mentioned them again). (more…)

Hello again!  We are writing this blog in Kalbarri, a delightful coastal town north of Geraldton, having arrived yesterday. Over the past five weeks we’ve been at our second housesit, on this occasion for Alick and Willemina in the countryside about 20 kilometres north of Geraldton.  They made us very welcome at their home and we were able to spend some quality time with them at the end of our housesit after they returned from a tag-along 4WD tour they led into the Pilbara.  Alick was also generous in providing us with lots of great information for our forthcoming adventures into the Pilbara.  (more…)

Well, despite what you may think, we haven’t disappeared, nor have we been abducted by aliens.  We are, in fact, writing to you from Geraldton on the mid west coast of Western Australia.  We are nearing the end of our first housesit, looking after the home and pets of a couple named Gloria and Rob while they enjoy a holiday in Bali.  We have plenty of company here in their home – 6 dogs, comprising a beautiful Rottweiller named Chloe, 5 pugs – Shortie, Mack, Fifi, Burtae and Misty – who are full of mischief and personality, a talking female Corella named Bob, two more birds and a couple of fish.  So, after many months without any pets, we have gone into saturation mode.  We’ve had an enjoyable and entertaining time looking after them all.

Before we go any further, we should fill you in and what we’ve been up to for the past few months.  After many months of touring and camping in national parks, we’ve had a few changes to our routine.  Since our last blog we’ve mainly stayed in towns, entertained guests from home, worked for a living, Peter had a whirlwind trip home to Canberra, and, as we mentioned above, we’ve been doing our first housesit.  The months have simply flown by. (more…)