lizard – WrAnTz

Road Trip – The Full Story – Pt 3 Saturday 29th August

And so, Saturday morning was upon us. We were up bright and early as we had planned to visit a rural fair at Mullewa. So having had a breakfast of coffee and toast, we headed to my grandsons house where we prepared the convoy. With the loading of buggy, kids, kid related paraphernalia, snacks, and adults completed, we set off on the hour long journey.

It wasn’t long before we had to stop. With two girls fighting and a baby that refuses to sleep, Mum needed to get in the back. So, Talullah and seat were transferred to our car and the journey continued. Oh, the joys of parent/grand-parenthood.

Pretty soon we arrived at the Mullewa Showground, disembarked and started in to watch the displays.

Entry was free, and making our way inside the show grounds, the first sight, and sound, that we were confronted with was a wood chopping competition.

Not so much chopping, as chain sawing. Needless to say, the Monty Python lumberjack song entered my brain and stayed for quite a while.

As you can see in the pictures it was a fine day and the girls were keen to get amongst the sights and sounds of the fair. Unfortunately, due to their young age, and small size the girls weren’t able to sample all the rides.

However, mum and dad were able to take them on the Tea-Cup ride and, with no queue, they had the ride all to themselves.

And then on to the pony rides. Here it was a different story. There was a queue, but the girls were very patient and it wasn’t too long before they were in the saddle and doing circuits of the arena.

While the girls were waiting for the pony ride I took the opportunity get some food. Which meant that, while I was in the queue for some Moroccan food, I missed getting close to the stunt bike show.

But, I did get some distant shots of the bikes grabbing some air. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

For the girls, Old Macdonalds Farm was the next destination. Here the girls were able to get up close and personal with rabbits, chickens, sheep and goats. And last, but not least, a huge turkey that was just crying out for cranberry sauce and stuffing.

Of course for the kiddies getting amongst the livestock was the priority. However, my focus was on the farm mechanicals. And I wasn’t disappointed. There may not have been many units on display but what was there was truly impressive. The thing with the caterpillar tracks would have had Jeremy Clarkson green with envy.

There was also a small automotive display. Although not on a par with the Goodwood Breakfast Clubs back in the UK, those vehicles on show were pretty unique, interesting and impressive.

What with the drive and the warm weather the girls were getting tired. To be honest, so were a few of us in the upper age bracket. So we ambled slowly back to the site entrance and our cars.

En-route the girls dropped in for a spot of face painting.

They certainly looked happy enough with the final results.

And so it was back to Geraldton for dinner and sleeps all round.

Road Trip – The Full Story – Pt 2 Friday 29th August

Following on from my previous post, Friday morning arrived and we headed back to the chaos that is my grandsons house where it was agreed that he and I would go out and do that touristy thing while the girls stayed to look after the smaller girls.

During a previous visit to WA Gerry and I took a trip up to Exmouth and on the return leg it was planned that we would make a stop, just south of Kalbarrie, to visit the Pink Lake, aka the Hutt Lagoon at Port Gregory. Back then our plans were thwarted by bush fires and we were diverted away from the area.

So the plan was for us to take a trip up to the lake and have a spot of lunch. It was also a great opportunity to spend some one on one time with Ryan. After a pleasant drive, we arrived at Hutt Lagoon with the water being a beautiful pink.

Guess Who? – Yours Truly

However, no sooner had I reached for my camera than a breeze blew up, ruffling the waters surface, and the pink colour disappeared. Ryan had warned me about this but we had hoped to avoid it happening. It was still very pretty, judge for yourselves.

Hutt Lagoon – Port Gregory

Thankfully the wind reduced and normal service was resumed.

Hutt Lagoon – Port Gregory

While climbing up to the view point there was plenty of flora and fauna to view including this perky little fella, a Western Bearded Dragon.

Western Bearded Dragon – Pogona minor

Once we had satisfied our curiosity at the lake, we headed off to the small town of Northampton for lunch. But lunch was delayed whilst we took a small detour

….. to visit the Lynton Convict Depot or alternatively known as the Port Gregory Convict Hiring Station. Convicts were brought here to provide workers for the Geraldine Lead Mine and for local settlers.

Lynton Convict Hiring Depot according to Wikipedia ……

The Lynton Convict Hiring Depot (1853–1857) was the first convict depot north of Fremantle, Western Australia. It was established on 22 May 1853

Magistrates Quarters

Site Plan

The Depot Summary

The Lock Up

Depot – Interpretation Centre

The depot was operational between 1853 and 1856, and was designed to hold up to 80 convicts although it is believed that actual numbers varied between five and forty. However, most would have slept under canvas as the depot wasn’t completed unti 1855.

When the convicts eventually moved into the building their accomodation would have looked something like this. Sorry about the image quality.

Convict sleeping arrangements

I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be in close proximity to up to forty bodies with dubious hygene habits. Especially during WA’s summer heat.

An interesting site with an interesting history. Should you visit, wear tough footwear as the ground is somewhat uneven.

Linga Longa at Lynton

Having had our fill of WA history it was time to attend to our bellies, and so we continued our journey to Northampton. Rachel had done some research and suggested a coffee shop, on the main street, named The Shearing Shed.

Parking up, we ambled across across the street to a small but busy cafe with a huge menu. Ryan had a burger while I had a “Boss Cocky” which is basically a filled, two egg omelette served with fries and salad. Very tasty. These we consumed, sat outside at a picnic bench style table.

Rush Hour – Main street Northampton WA

According to Wikipedia ……

Northampton is one of the oldest towns in Western Australia, having been declared a townsite in 1864.

Opposite The Shearing Shed – Northampton WA

Replete, we clambered back into Ryan’s car and headed back to join the girls. It had been a really nice day out.

Back at Ryan’s it was time to join the fray and engage with the girls. Or should I say whirling dervishes. They really are a pair of pocket tornadoes, and both with the boundless energy of a Duracell Bunny, they soon had me exhausted.

And so, after the evening meal, and with the girls in bed, we headed back to our chalet for a little R & R.

Road Trip – The Full Story – Pt 1 Thursday 28th August

First and foremost, the trip was for us to visit family. My grandson Ryan, his wife Rachel, and their three daughters, live in Sunset Beach, just outside of Geraldton. And this was the first opportunity for Gerry and I to meet the girls. The eldest, Talullah, was born in 2022, the middle girl, Loxley, was born in 2023, and the youngest, Sunday, was born just over a month ago.

Mid morning, car packed and my daughter, Denise, took the first stint of driving, primarily to get us clear of Perth city and suburbs, but also because she knows the route like the back of her hand. Driving through the city, the traffic was quite heavy but thinned out noticeably as we headed north on the Tonkin Highway. Near Muchea, we jumped onto the Brand Highway and then with a few kilometers behind us, we made a pit stop at Cataby.

From Cataby, I took over the driving for the run-up to Eneabba. At times the road ahead, and behind us was, pretty much, empty of any traffic. Although, occasionally, we would encounter road trains thundering down the road towards us. And, of course, the ubiquitous “grey nomads” with their off-road vehicles and caravans.

One feature of our journey was the vast fields of Rape, or Canola as my daughter calls it. For clarification the term “canola” denotes a group of rapeseed cultivars that were bred to have very low levels of erucic acid which is mildly toxic.

Rapeseed Crops – Canola

The glorious yellow of the flowers spread across the land on either side of the road. Prior to this trip, I had only ever seen sights such as these in the UK.

Rapeseed Crops – Canola

At Eneabba, we stopped for a loo break and also to grab a bite for lunch. Lunch consisted of chili sausages for me, some sort of pie for Gerry, and a burger for Denise. All of us thought the fare was of mediocre standard, but it filled the void, and we had the promise of a roast dinner to look forward to.

From Eneabba its about another hour and forty five minutes drive to Geraldton and Sunset Beach. Denise resumed the driving and it seemed that in no time we had arrived in Sunset Beach.

We had booked a chalet, at the Sunset Beach Holiday Park, for the weekend. And, arriving at reception, we checked in, and were soon esconsed in our accomodation. From the outside it looks a bit like a shipping container but inside was very fresh and modern looking, with all amenities. More than we needed as we were only going to sleep, shower and brew coffee here.

2 Bed Chalet – Sunset Beach

And so, with car unpacked, we headed up to Ryans house where we were made to feel really welcome, greeted as we were by two very excited young girls and a small dog. The adult welcome was a little more restrained.

The next few hours were spent with the adults chinwagging, getting to know the two girls and the glamourous grandmothers taking it in turns to hold the baby. As promised, we were fed to the point of plumptiousness with a fabulous roast cooked by Ryan after which we bade our hosts a temporary farewell and headed back to our accomodation for a good nights sleep.

View From The Conservatory

The slow worm (Anguis fragilis) is a reptile native to western Eurasia.

These legless lizards are also sometimes called common slowworms.

I disturbed this one whilst mowing my lawn.

Mundaring Weir Hotel

We have, over the years, visited Mundaring Weir on many occasions. We have not, however, eaten at the Mundaring Weir Hotel which is just a few minutes away from the weir. So we decided to give them a try for lunch.

Apparently, there has been an establishment on this site since the turn of the century and was originally built to service the workers and visitors to the weir. In 1898 a single storey building called the Reservoir Hotel was built. Then in 1906, a two-storey building was added and the hotel was renamed Goldfields Weir Hotel. Not sure when it was renamed again but whatever name it is sporting the building still retains much of the decor and character of the original.

Food is only served during the day and it is what they term “counter food”. Back home in the UK I guess we would just refer to bar meals.

I had the Steak Sandwich which is described as “Graziers porterhouse steak with onion jam, cheddar cheese, beetroot & rocket with BBQ and ranch dressings. Served with chips”.

Gerry and Denise both had the Snapper Burger “with lemon & dill aoili, lettuce, chopped salad and beer battered chips”

All agreed that the food was very good although we would have preferred the food to have been served on plates rather than the wooden board which allowed the food to slide of onto the table. The star of these meals was the beer battered chips which were crisp on the outside and full and fluffy on the inside.

The girls each had a “midi” of refreshing Orchard Crush apple cider while I had a midi of an amber ale called Nine Tales . Both brews are from the James Squire Brewery. One thing I can vouch for is that Australian craft beers are seriously good and a long way removed from the horrendous lagers, such as Fosters, which they insist on exporting to us.

Mundaring is about an hours drive out from Perth and the road out to the hotel takes you though picturesque woodlands interspersed with open farmlands.

5J7A1999 — Farmland near Piesse Brook, Kalamunda

On a previous trip out to this area we had encountered kangaroos crossing the road. On this occasion we spotted a much more diminutive creature, a Bobtail Lizard.

Apparently these fellows are quite often kept as pets but come with a government health warning “CAUTION: These lizards can deliver a painful and bloody bite”. See this video.

Around the hotel grounds I came across these guys ….

After a BBQ lunch what do you need, why a nice cold beer of course….

5J7A1984 — I Just Dropped In For A Swifty

These guys are obviously quite used to humans around the hotel grounds. They let me get quite close before taking off to the nearby trees.

All in all a pleasant afternoon.

Well pleasant except for the flies which were very much in evidence whenever we stepped out of our car.

The Gold Coast, WA

We are visiting Australia and whilst most of our time will be spent in W.A. we have just returned from a week based on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

After taking the Jetstar “red-eye” flight from Perth we arrived in Brisbane early Sunday morning. We picked up our hire car and drove down to Mermaid Beach where we had breakfast at the Mermaid Beach Surf Life Saving Club. After breakfast we checked into our motel, The Mermaid Beach Motor Inn.

This motel provides basic accommodation and is looking a little tired but the bedding was clean and the rooms had aircon. After a much needed nap and freshen up we strolled along to Broad Beach where we had dinner at Max Seafood Restaurant. The food here was superb and they served an amazing New Zealand Sole, it was huge.

This area really is geared to holidaying, partying and generally having a good time. We certainly managed to cram a lot in and, at times, it seemed that we were constantly on the move. In the few days we were there we managed to visit Sea World, Movie World, Draculas, The Australian Outback Spectacular and “Crikey” we also made it to Australia Zoo.

The following are just a few snaps taken over the next five days. Firstly, some snaps taken at Sea World….

Rays - Sea World. They are in a touch pool and moved so gracefully with a ripple of their wings. — Rays – Sea World. They are in a touch pool and moved so gracefully with a ripple of their wings.

Alota Baloney, from the "Fish Detective" show at Sea World — Alota Baloney, from the “Fish Detective” show at Sea World

The Fish Detectives from the “Fish Detectives” show, Sea World

Wave — Is there any other way to travel ?

The following are from Warner Brothers Movie World. Unfortunately, my camera decided it didn’t like the heat on this day and stopped functioning so I don’t have any pictures from the spectacular stunt drivers show. So these are just a taster of some of the other attractions ……

WBMW — Going Down – The Green Lantern coaster, Gold Coast

WBMW3 — ….. so let’s bring on the dancing girls to liven things up.

WBMW5 — A tribute to Marilyn. She actually had a good voice.

WBMW6 — It shoulda been me – Notice the empty seat. My belly stopped the safety bar from locking so I was thrown off the ride. Wild West Falls – Gold Coast

Australia Zoo is two hours away from Mermaid Beach but was well the drive. There’s lot’s to do, we were there until closing time and didn’t manage to see everything. Once again here is a taster……

AZ3 — Fang – Female Crocodile – Australia Zoo

AZ6 — Lizard – Australia Zoo. These little fellows were all over the place, on the paths, in the restaurants. I had to check my rucksack to be sure I didn’t take one away.

AZ5 — Koala – Australia Zoo
Hard to find one of these little fellows awake.

AZ8 — Snake & handler – Australia Zoo. They brought these up to the audience on all sides of the arena. Never heard so much foot shuffling till that moment.

AZ9 — Big Bird – Australia Zoo
Making a spectacular entrance to the arena. They did say what it was but, due to memory overload, I have forgotten.

AZ10 — Another Big Bird – Australia Zoo
Again, due to memory overload, I have forgotten what this was.

AZ11 — Lesser Spotted 5 Dollar Bill Bird – Australia Zoo
This cheeky chap has been trained to relieve members of the audience of their 5 dollar bills. If you look closely you can see he has it in his beak.

AZ12 — Crocodile – Australia Zoo
This part of the show was all about demonstrating how these crocs move and how to avoid becoming a menu item. Needless to say the handlers do not take chances.

AZ13 — Crocodile – Australia Zoo
Looking for his next snack. The handlers never turn their backs on this big boy.

AZ14 — Crocodile – Australia Zoo
From a standing start a crocodile can launch nearly his full body length out of the water.

AZ15 — Crocodile – Australia Zoo
Snack time

AZ16 — Wombat – Australia Zoo
He wasn’t very happy, having his picture taken whilst taking a dump.

AZ19 — Tawney Frogmouth Owls – Australia Zoo

AZ20 — Australian King Parrot – Australia Zoo

AZ21 — Koala – Australia Zoo
Think this one likes jazz as he appears to be playing his “air double bass”

AZ22 — Lizard – Australia Zoo
I was able to place my camera on the floor just a few inches away from this chap. He later came and sat with his foot on my sandal before running across my toes…it tickled.

On the last day we killed some time back at Sea World, before heading back to Brisbane Airport, to see some of the entertainment that we missed on our previous visit. Here are a few photos of some lunatics on seadoos….

This visit concluded a very hectic week on the Gold Coast.

Although we have photo’s which were taken at Draculas and The Great Australian Outback Show they are commercial ones. If I’m really brave i might post them at a later date.

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