The End of The Long Road

Travels throughout Western Australia War Memorial, Onslow Salt lake, Carnarvon Karijini National Park Karijini National Park Lone gum on side of gorge, Karijini Karijini National Park Karijini National Park Sunset over the Pilbara Honeycomb Gorge, Gasgoyne Junction Honeycombed rock on gorge face 40m Karri Forest from Tree Top Walk, Walpole Shelley Beach, Albany

After spending our last day on Ningaloo Reef we headed north to visit a family we had helped previously when they were stranded on the side of the road with a dead battery. We loaned them our spare and said we would be around Onslow in a week or so. They promised to take Doug crabbing, but unfortunately we were limited with our time and started our trek east to the mining towns of the Pilbara.

Our first stop was Tom Price, which is both a mining town and a tourist town for the Karijini National Park, which has several amazing gorges. We spent a few days looking around both areas, but the temperatures and flies were starting to get us a bit hot and bothered. So we headed down to Paraburdoo and then took some outback tracks to Mt Augustus (apparently a larger monolith than Uluru). We then took some roads that are on the Kingsford Smith mail run, and stopped at an old gold mining inn, where we stupidly paid $5 for a cold can of soft drink. After 2 days of dusty tracks, 46 degree heat and a side trip to the spectacular Honeycomb Gorge we headed back to the coast via Gasgoyne Junction and Carnarvon (our third visit this year).

We had a fast trip down the coast again, but stopped to visit an old high school friend of Doug’s who lives at Dongara. We travelled back to Perth to check in with the senior McEwan’s, but we were soon on our way south to the Karri Forests and cooler weather. We visited a few more of Doug’s friends, including his old high school teacher and principle who run a beautiful B&B. We passed through Rockingham, Australind, Bunbury and King Tree where not only were there friends, but a field of Gnomes (hundreds and hundreds).

Our travels in the South West have been filled with vistas of 400 year old Karri forests, rugged coastal beaches, sand dune plains covered in banksias and the odd mountain popping up out of nowhere and as we headed further west, the yellow wheat fields and silos of this large wheat belt. We have travelled through Pemberton, Walpole (where some of Doug’s family history was explored), Albany and finally we have stopped at Esperance to start the trek across the Nullabor and our way home after an amazing year.