Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[roverdriver]

If you have come across this story and wish to start from the beginning, Part 1 is here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15972

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the Saturday morning in Perth, I left Noreen at the caravan park, and at 6.00 a.m., alone, ventured forth through this strange city, through the darkness to fin Kings Park and the start of the rally to which we had been invited. I will tell that tale, along with photos of some of the participants in a separate episode.

(the Rally tale is now to be seen here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16052 )

Having got to Perth and seen that part of the Western coast of Oz, we had covered 3,865 k's (2,401 miles) since we left home. We now had to make our way back. Bright and early on the Sunday morning we left our cabin and wended our way to Vicki and John's place once more, in order to say farewell.
We spent some time there, then finally departed with the plan of getting to Albany that day. First of course, we had to find the best way through the suburbs and onto the Albany Highway. We managed this fairly well. At the suburb of Armadale, where the highway was to be met, a light truck pulled up alongside. "Great car, Mate," the driver called out. "Did'ya drive it all the way here?" when I replied that I had, and that we were now making our way back to Victoria, he congratulated us on the miles covered and the general appearance of the S.E. Then the lights changed and we made the turn onto the highway.

It is only 414k's (257 miles) to Albany, so once on the highway, we settled down for a leisurely drive. We made a short stop near Bannister, on the roadside and had lunch and photographed some of the interesting plants in the roadside bush.



It was a long weekend, Monday being a holiday for 'Western Australia Day', and there was a steady stream of rally cars passing by. The engine sounds died away as the cars were lost to sight, then could be heard again roaring off on either a minor road or bush tracks.
On we pressed through a number of towns, then made a long stop at Kojonup. Among the features here is a maze created with rose bushes, and scattered through the maze are plaques, which together give the story of three different women through the century. One is and Englishwoman, one from Italy and the third a native Aborigine. It was very well done.



Nearby was a memorial to those who fought at Kakoda during WW2, and, as well covered all those involved in conflicts. I was surprised to find out about Brigadier Potts, who spent most of his later years here.




We continued on to Mount Barker township, but the Tourist Information was closed as it was now 4.00 p.m., and as the sky was threatening,



we had a quick drink from supplies and continued to Albany, arriving at the outskirts at 4.30, but another half hour was spent finding our way to a known park. Unfortunately, because of the long weekend, the park was full, but the operator made no less than 5 telephone calls and finally got us accommodation at a nearby motel- the last room that they had.

Albany has, as far as Australian towns go, a fairly long history. It has a fine harbour, and as such was where troop ships from Australian states and New Zealand assembled during WW1 before heading off to the war in the Northern Hemisphere. The war history is commemorated in several locations.

Our first excursion next morning was towards the peninsula that encloses Princess Royal Harbour. On the way we stopped to see this-





The seaward side of the coast has some fascinating granite rock features, including 'The Gap'



...and the Natural Bridge.



While these are wonderful to see, and the many and various rock formations fascinating, the whole peninsular had a variety of points of interest.

Returning to the town we visited the old gaol museum.



The museum was not just prison detail, but a range of interesting artifacts including some WW1 items. There was a video player set up with still photographs pertaining to the war- the desert war, Gallipoli and France. The last picture of the series was this-



Unfortunately, the major Anzac memorial was closed for preparations for the centenary of the Gallipoli landings (April next year), so we were unable to see that, but we really enjoyed our day in this interesting place. We even caught up with an old friend, here from our Model A trip in 1975-



And taken this trip-



We stayed that night in a cabin at the caravan park- all the weekend visitors had gone. Next day we set off heading mainly to the East. We encountered many road trains along this section. When we got to the town of Jerramungup, we stopped to investigate, and met a lady, about our own age, who told us some of the history of the place. It was set up as Soldier Settlement in the early 1950's, but being marginal land, the settlers had a hard time on their smaller acreages. The successful farms of today manage because of their size and ability to use large machinery instead of small tractors and man power.

At Ravensthorpe, we stopped for lunch at the site of their railway station, the line closed in 1937, but on the site was some old machinery, including this truck.



Further along the way, we stopped for Noreen to photograph several 'blackboys' (mentioned in a previous part) in flower.



At Mungunup, we stopped at the toilets, and at the same time a road train pulled up, so I was able to chat with the driver. He was carting wheat to the port. His rig, when loaded was, in his words, "about 100 tons all up."



His was just one of many that we saw throughout the day.

We made our way into the town of Esperance and booked into a cabin then went on a short tour. The coastline here is as impressive as Albany, with lots of rocky islands.



Today we had travelled 557 k's, and a few miles back along the road we had clocked up 5,000 ks since the start of our trip. Many more miles to go!!

Part 7 can be found here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16049
_________________
Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.