on the road again out of Perth

Finally we left Perth after three weeks, to head out to explore the south west of WA.

We decided to drive down the quieter South Western H’way towards Bunbury instead of taking the freeway.  Not much in the way of wildflowers now, however we did find some when we stopped for the night at the Coalfields Road Rest Area (on the road to Collie).  By taking a bit of a detour to here we can head into Bunbury the next morning for a look around and then find a freebie for the next night as well.  Our campsite is in the bush off the road and we were surprised at the amount of traffic travelling to and from Collie.  There is a huge open cut coal mine the other side of Collie and watching the buses etc that went past it seemed that the workforce may all travel in by vehicle each shift.  Walking around our bush setting I again find some ‘different’ wildflowers (purple flags I find they are called).  Next morning we head back to the highway and into Bunbury.  The Information Centre provided us with a local map and we decided to travel Ocean Drive.  There are 3 huge ships that can be seen anchored offshore waiting to enter port for loading or unloading.  The foreshore has been developed and provides roomy parking so that we can enjoy our morning cuppa whilst we check out the basalt cliffs and the site of the old quarry.  Bunbury has certainly built up since we last visited in 1996 and it is now WA’s second biggest city.  Having again bought some groceries it is time to head out of town and a circuit drive out to Boyanup, Donnybrook and then back towards Capel.

Along the road the fields have been harvested for winter feed and there are rolls everywhere.  Some have been stacked up side by side, others are still awaiting collection from the field whilst some are huge round rolls, others are the usual bale size, whilst others are bales at least 4 times that size.

We settled for the night at Ironstone Gully Falls rest area heading towards Capel.  Thought we would probably be the only ones there however before too long we are joined by two other caravans, a small motorhome and a ‘wizz bang’.  Lawrie was kept entertained by the antics of the small A van driver who decided to turn around in the middle of the bush, not on a track but actually in the midst of the scrub.  He almost jack-knifed the van and came close to hitting the other van that was parked behind us, so much entertainment.

Lawrie decided to take advantage of our campsite to check out the brakes and wheel bearings on the van.  Seemed a seal had failed on the driver side so we decide to head back to Bunbury the next morning to have them checked out properly.  We have arranged for this to happen tomorrow (Friday) morning so we are now set up in a van park for the day (raining quite nicely) so not a sight-seeing day anyway.