Monday, September 14 It's very cloudy this morning--we haven't seen this at all since we've been in Australia. It will make driving a lot easier--no glare; no heat beating down. We left Alice Springs and headed for Cooper Pedy in South Australia, crossing the border just south of Kulgera. We have just about 700km of driving today, 420km of it in SA. The terrain becomes more and more desolate and, as we approach Coober Pedy (pronounced Peedee), there is almost no vegetation. Coober Pedy is the opal mining center of Australia. There are mines and open opal pits on both sides of the road. It looks like the "cone" capital of the world, as the digging goes down only so far and the diggings are piled up cone-like all over the landscape. F&T were here last about 7 years ago and we check into the Stuart Range Caravan Park where they stayed before. Other than the cone-scape, the first thing you notice about Cooper Pedy is that there is NO grass--NONE!! You wouldn't want to start a landscaping business here. There is very little water either. In fact, we have to pay 20 cents for a 3-minute shower!! No kidding! (You get 3 minutes for each 20 cent coin.) Interesting experience! We set up our site and just before we head into town to look around, Trevor finally notices the sign on the back window of the 4WD. We feign innocence, but it doesn't work.... We all get a good laugh. On the way in from town, we book a tour of the area for tomorrow (all 4 of us are going this time), and order pizzas (which turn out to be quite good)>

Tuesday, September 15 Today dawns as clear as yesterday was cloudy. We spent the morning driving around the town of Coober Pedy and doing some shopping in the opal shops. We had lunch at a small restaurant attached to the Caltex petrol station. Can't anyone in this country make a sandwich without butter on it?? They claim the bread comes pre-buttered... (Yeah, sure!)

We met our tour at the Caravan Park office. It's scheduled to last from 1:30pm until 6pm. We began with a tour of the town, and, discovered there are actually two places that have grass: the footy oval and the public school. First stop is the Umoona Mine and Museum, where we'll learn how opal was formed and ultimately mined. There's also an example of an underground home. The temperatures in summer can reach 65C (approx. 150F) or go below 0C outside, but underground, it's a constant 23-25C (73-77F) all year round (no heating; no air-conditioning). These homes are quite elaborate and, other than the fact \that they are underground, peculiar only in that they typically have no windows. Next stop: the Serbian Church, also underground. (We weren't too impressed by this.) Then we drove out into the desert to see the opal fields; the Breakaways (the mesas and mounds that remain after thousands of years of wind and rain have eroded the ranges); the moon plains (that make you feel like you might actually be standing on the moon); and the Dingo Fence (the longest fence in the world at over 5000km, erected to keep the wild dingo dogs out of South Australia). Several movies have been made in Cooper Pedy and the surrounding desert including Mad Max--Beyond Thunderdome. At A$50 per person, this tour was really quite good.

We went back into town at 6pm to revisit a shop (Opalios) we'd been in last night. No one was particularly hungry tonight so we settled for Rory's toasted cheese sandwiches. Not much left here to see, so we'll be heading south again in the morning.

Wednesday, September 16 - Saturday September 19 It's cloudy again in Coober Pedy. We're hoping to reach Port Augusta, about 600km. We continue on the Stuart Highway south. There is opal mining for about 50km, then things get barren. The terrain is flat and you can see miles in every direction. The weather deteriorates and we encounter some light rain followed by a dust storm (without the wind) which lasts all the way to Port Augusta. There's a storm coming in from the west, so even though it's relatively early we stop at a Big4 caravan park hoping for cabin so that T&F aren't sleeping out in the weather. There are none to be had, so we continue on to Kimba, putting in just before it starts raining. The terrain has turned from "moonlike" to lush green pasture land. The contrasts in this country are amazing! T&F have a cabin for the night--we all eat dinner in the caravan and turn in early, hoping to get an early start on what could be 800km of driving. It rains heavily through the night, but by morning (Thursday) it's just cloudy and cold.

We drive for a while, and the sun comes out. We pass through Ceduna, a decent sized town with a nice jetty out into the Great Southern Ocean. But we push on, crossing the Great Nullarbor Plain, a practically treeless stretch of about 250km that parallels the ocean. Before crossing the border into WA, we stop along the ocean to take in the view and to get rid of a few fruits and veggies that we will not be able to take across the border. The checkpoint is at Border Village (what else would you call it?) and we have only a slight delay while the border patrolman does a cursory search of the 4WD and the caravan. It's about 5:30pm, but we will pick up 45 minutes (time zone change-- whoever thought that one up?) and have about 75km to go to reach the Mundrabilla Roadhouse, which happens to be owned by friends of T&F. It's gotten quite windy and cold and there are no vacant cabins, but Joanne and Bruce make room in their house for T&F to sleep. Joanne and Bruce have two adorable little girls, Jorja (7) and Hannah (5) who are very happy to have guests. While Trevor fuels up, the rest of us spend some time with the girls. Afterwards, we have a couple of beers and dinner with Joanne and Bruce. We turn in around 10pm, and bundle up for what promises to be a cold night.

Friday morning dawns windy and cold, but sunny. We actually have breakfast in the roadhouse instead of the caravan. Jorja and Hannah have school beginning at 8:15. There is a teacher/governess who is resident at the Roadhouse and the children are lucky to have Miss Meg as their own teacher in addition to their interaction with the School of the Air. We visit the classroom, and listen in while all the children from around the area check in with the school's principal. We are very impressed with what we've seen. There are cuddles (hugs) all around and then we're on the road again. But we don't get far.....Apparently the diesel tanks were near the bottom when Trevor filled up and our fuel has clogged up the fuel filter. Luckily we're stuck only about 20km from Mundrabilla. A passing caravan stops and asks if we need help. Rick bums a ride with them (Geof and Merle from Brisbane) back to Mundrabilla, where Rick finds Bruce. They head back to the stalled vehicle, realize there's nothing we can do there. Trevor goes back with Bruce to contact Nissan for help. Fay, Rick and Rory remain with the vehicle. Trevor and Bruce return and we detach the caravan from Trevor's 4WD and hook it up to Bruce's. Trevor, Fay and Rory are then able to "limp" back, while Rick and Bruce pull the caravan back. Looks like we'll be here at least until tomorrow morning. Trevor and Bruce will try to drain the bad fuel out, while we wait for a new fuel filter to be delivered from Ceduna (probably sometime this evening). While we're setting up the caravan again, Rick notices four people walk by with golf clubs. They are playing the longest golf course in the world, which stretches between Ceduna and Kalgoorlie, a distance of over 1000km. The 10th hole, is a 330m par 4 that runs right behind the Roadhouse. If it weren't for a patch of artificial grass and a tee marker, you'd never know it was a golf hole!

School ends for the girls at 3:15 and since they're all caught up in their studies, the last couple of hours are free for them to do what they'd like in their classroom. Rick stops by to take pictures. We're going to look for wombats on the escarpment behind the station later on. Since there will be a cabin for T&F tonight, they won't be using their tent cots. The girls are excited to have use them for one night. Around 5:30, we're off into the hills to search for wombats: Fay, Joanne, Jorja, Hannah, Rick and Rory are aboard. At the top of the escarpment we get out and examine several elaborate wombat holes. The holes are big enough that Joanne and Rory can climb down into them, but there are no wombats to be found. We were probably too noisy! We have dinner with Joanne and the girls (Bruce has gone off to Eucla on an errand) and play one game of Uno Attack, which little Hannah wins.

Saturday morning dawns sunny and with very little wind. The fuel filter arrived early this morning and the Nissan 4WD drive is ready to go by 9am. We pack up, say our good byes and head off for Norseman, another 600+km away. The only noteworthy events today are our stop in Cocklebiddy (who names these places?) for a quick lunch and the spotting of an emu with 6 chicks who looked to be no older than 3-4 months. We can't get into the caravan park in Norseman (that T&F used to own)--it's full. We settle for motel rooms--a nice change. We're in time to get the second preliminary footy final. Geelong will smash Collingwood by over 70 points and meet St.Kilda (who beat the Western Bulldogs last night) in the Grand Footy Final next weekend.

Sunday September 20 We arrive in Kalgoorlie, the "gold capital of Australia" by late morning. Trevor is looking for the "Super Pit", the largest gold mining site in the country. Over 50 million ounces of gold have been taken out of this site since it opened. This is even more impressive when you realize that they currently get about 1 ounce of gold for every ton (2000 lbs) that they scoop out and process. We'll be staying at the Prospector Caravan Park which is managed by Diane and Roger, who are old friends of T&F from when they lived in Norseman. It looks like this will be our last stop before parting ways. We had always planned to take a week at the end our travels with T&F and before we left for Tasmania on Oct 2nd. We spend a good deal of time this afternoon looking at our options (air, train, rental car). We probably won't decide until tomorrow. Tonight the six of us have dinner at the Hogs Breath Cafe. Rick's beef is some of the best he's had in Australia.

Monday September 21 After a while on the internet and several phone calls (our mobile is operational again in WA), we book a flight to Perth on Wednesday morning and a car rental at the airport. We'll have about 8 days to do whatever--perhaps we'll get to Esperance or maybe just to Denmark. We'd also like to visit our friends John and Anne in Bunbury. We've got the 4WD and go into town for lunch and to take some photos of the classic turn of the (20th) century buildings (most of which are hotels). Unfortunately, it's very windy, rainy, and cold. (We're sure glad we got our laundry done yesterday!) We stop at the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) and get a map, accomodation information, and a booking in Perth for the night before we leave for Tasie. Next we have some lunch and just make it to the Royal Flying Doctor Service tour at 2pm. We spend some time chatting up the RFDS staff and show them our website. They are quite entertained by the Australia 2006 pages. Rick buys a RFDS fleece (didn't think it'd be this cold so he didn't bring one from home), and is instantly glad he did. We run a few errands and return to the caravan park to get organized and packed for Wednesday, then enjoy a nice dinner in.

Tuesday September 22 It got down to 4C last night (about 40F)--cold, but at least it's not raining or windy this morning. For our last day in Kalgoorlie, we're going to visit the Miners' Hall of Fame and take the underground tour (A$20 per person). While waiting for the tour to start, we wander around the museum. There many exhibits relating to prospecting, development, corporate mining, etc. The mine tour, takes us 120 feet below ground via elevator. Our guide is Colin, who explains how these mines were dug in the early days of gold mining and then how it's done today. We wander through a maze of narrow tunnels. They were dug to accomodate a single miner pusing a wheelbarrow full from the dig site to a central point at which the contents of the wheelbarrow is hoisted to the surface for processing. After the tour, we revisit the museum, spending some time in the gem gallery containing scores of examples of the gems and minerals. Before leaving, we call Anne and John in Bunbury to let them know our travel plans. We'll plan to be there between 3 and 4pm tomorrow.

After lunch, we take the free Town Hall Tour which leaves from the "i" (colocated in the same building). Our guide is Robin and she is joined by Peter, who is an authority on maritime history. He is along so that he can learn to lead the tours as well. We are the only ones there for the tour. Robin and Peter team up to give us quite a history, not only of the building itself, but also of the town of Kalgoorlie. The highlights of the tour were the auditorium/theater (we went backstage and up in the rafters), and the Council Chambers. We were interested to note that Herbert Hoover (31st president of the US) is recognized with a photo in the Council Chambers as well as having been an inductee into the Miner's Hall of Fame.

Tonight we'll have pizzas with Trevor, Fay, Roger and Diane. It'll be our last night in the caravan.

Wednesday September 23 We loaded up the 4WD and Fay drove us to the Kalgoorlie airport. Our flight to Perth left 2 minutes early and arrived on schedule at 11:10am. Our three checked bags were among the first 6 that came off the plane. A quick stop at the Avis counter netted us a brand new (only 525km on the odometer) Hyundai i30 5 door sedan. With Rick at the wheel and Rory as navigator, we headed south for Bunbury. A new 75km stretch of highway had just opened and this shortened our drive to Bunbury by about 30 minutes. We stopped in town centre for a good street map and directions to John and Anne's, picked up a couple of bottles of wine and some treats for Finnegan, and drove along the ocean road. We phoned J&A to let them know we were 10 minutes away and they (and Finney) were waiting outside for us as we drove up. It was really good to see them again, comfortably and happily resettled in Bunbury from Gingin. We spenty the rest of the afternoon catching up on events since we last saw them three years ago.

Johin's son, Bill and Anne's brother Steve and his wife Jane came over for the best dinner we've had so far. We ate, drank, and entertained each other with funny stories about traveling, childhood experiences, and the like. We especially enjoyed meeting Steve and Jane who love to travel, and of course, invited all four of them to come visit us in SC.

Thursday September 24 We slept quite well and awoke to a cloudy, windy day. We had a leisurely breakfast. Rick helped Anne get set up on Skype. Steve and Jane stopped by on their way to Perth to drop off their two dogs. Finnegan (a huge Irish wolfhound) barely tolerates the two little ones, finding places to sleep as far away from them as possible. We suggested going out for lunch, and by chance, wound up at the same place we had eaten at three years ago when we drove through Bunbury on our way to Busselton (where we met J&A for the first time). After lunch, we walked to "Bill's Toilet", a public toilet that John's son Bill had re-designed on the outside, then drove to see the sculpture that Bill had repaired. We drove along the beach. At the entrance to Westwood Rd we were astounded to see two huge statues of naked women on either side like sentinels guarding the gate. What were they thinking????

Since we have another week before leaving for Tasmania, we spent some time planning what we might do with the time. We mapped out an itinerary to drive to Denmark (the one in SW Australia....) and spend two nights there, then move on to Margaret River and spend two nights there. Then we'll come back to Bunbury and stay with Anne for two nights. (John, Bill, Bill's daughter Lucy will be gone on a two week camping trip by the time we get back there.) Anne was delighted to have us come back. We had a bit of trouble booking accomodations because of the long weekend and school holidays coming up, but Rick called the "i"s in each town and found acceptable places to stay: a farmhouse in Denmark and a self-contained unit in Margaret River. Rory and Anne put together another great dinner and we got things organized for our departure tomorrow.

Friday September 25 Rick was up early as usual, had some tea (he's been nursing a cold for the last couple of days), and started loading the car. Rory joined us for breakfast and by 10am we were ready to go. We said goodbye to John (he'll be gone when we get back next Tuesday), hugged Anne, and set off for Denmark, about 4 hours southwest of Bunbury. Shortly after 2pm, we arrived at the "i", to pay for our accomodation, and got recomendations on things to do and places to eat. At McSweeney's Cafe, we had a light lunch, got some breakfast groceries at the IGA across the street and headed for the Denmark Farm House. We took the Denmark scenic drive and found the farnhouse at 1714 Scotsdale Drive, a three bedroom house with beautiful views, very well equipped and quite comfortable. We were greeted by Coco, the year old dog--very friendly and perfectly happy to have Rick rub his head and play with him.

We had passed through Denmark three years ago and thought it might be a nice place to stay for a couple of days. After getting settled in the farmhouse, we set off for "Monkey Rock". After a couple of false starts, we realized that Monkey Rock could only be reached by hiking trail. We found the path and hiked about a kilometer up a the hill. At the base of a big hollowed out tree the path forked, but we could see rocks to our right, so we chose that path. At the summit, we were rewarded with a fantastic view of the southern coast: William Bay to the right and Anvil Bay to the left. We congratulated each other on our perserverance, took a few photos, and hiked back down to the car.

Jemma at the "i" had recommended a new Italian restaurant for dinner--Que Sera Sera. We drove around trying to find it, ultimately succeeded, and made a booking for 7pm, which gave us a little over an hour to kill. We drove back to the farmhouse, noting landmarks that would help us find it in the dark when we returned after dinner. The restaurant turned out to be quite good, Rory had lamb, Rick had pasta. Returning to the farmnhouse, Rory figured out how the TV worked, and made some popcorn, while Rick went to read and fall asleep.

Saturday September 26 We awoke to an absolutely gorgeous day--bright sun, temperature in the high 50s, no clouds, no wind. The south of WA is so different than the rest of it--forests of tall trees; green, rolling hills; coastal beauty along the Great Southern Ocean. We started by visiting the Ducketts Winery and Denmark Cheese Factory, just 1km down the road, tasting several kinds of cheese, fudge and wine. We didn't care much for the wine; the cheese was good (but would be hard to keep), but the fudge was great. We bought a wedge of dark chocolate and a wedge of rasberry chocolate swirl. From there we visited the Karriview Winery, tasting several and buying a bottle of the Classic White to bring to Anne when we return to Bunbury. Jackie, who served up the wine, suggested we visit her friend's bead store that was opening this afternoon at 4pm. We said we might just do that. Our plan was to have lunch at one of the wineries, then visit some sights, then watch the Grand Final Footy match at a local pub (assuming the match would be played at night).

Part one of our plan was terrific. We went to the Lake House winery, tasted some wines (none of which excited us) and had a gourmet vegetarian lunch for two while we sat overlooking the lake. We were entertained by small lizards crawling around on the ceiling beams and a bunch of ducks taking a bath in the lake. Shortly before leaving, we struck up a conversation with a woman (Jill) at the next table and her mother and father. Jill and her husband were caravaning around Australia, but had interrupted their trip to fly back to Perth for her parents' 60th anniversary and her father-in-law's 75 birthday. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers and Rick asked if she was on Facebook (she is!).

In our conversation, she happened to mention that she was going to drop off her parents and watch the 2nd half of the footy match!! So part three of our plan become part two. We got to the Denmark Hotel Pub just in time for the 4th (and last) term (period). The St. Kilda Saints had a slim 7 point lead on the Geelong Cats. Since neither of the WA teams made it to the Grand Final, there weren't as many avid fans as there might have been. The patrons of the pub were about equally divided, with the Saints being the sentimental favorite because they hadn't won a Grand Final in 60+ years. But the Cats came back and won 80-68.

Part two of our plan became part three: we visited a local antique and book store then drove out to William Bay and the Elephant Rocks. We'd been there three years ago, but it's such a beautiful place: pristine beaches, huge rock formations (one of which looks like a herd of elephants heading out to sea), crashing surf, and hiking trails. We returned to town, stopped in at the bead shop (Beads and Bling), bought some food for a light dinner and drove back to the farmhouse. Rick's cold, though under control, and made him pretty tired, so a light dinner and an early night looked pretty good to both of us. Tomorrow, we'll be up early for our drive to Margaret River.

Sunday September 27 Rick still not feeling well, so Rory drove the entire 350km to Margaret River. We'd driven through the town three years ago, but didn't stop. We booked a 2BR cabin in the Riverview Caravan Park, got settled in and set out to wander the town. Rory had some lunch at Settlers Tavern (Rick wasn't yet up to eating). After lunch, Rory wanted to visit the Metricup Bird Park, so we drove north of town and wandered among the birds. In the gift shop we found 2 major mitchells, 2 black cockatoos, several lorikeets, and miscellaneous others not caged and available to hold and feed. The park itself is comprised of numerous cages with tropical birds. There is also a walk through aviary, where Rick attracted several lorikeets to land on his hand for feeding. Before leaving, we spent more time in the gift shop playing with the birds. This makes Rory very happy!!!

Driving back to town, we turned left on Osmington Road for the Colonial Brewery. We didn't sample any of the brews, but we did enjoy a duo from Esperance (The White Orcas), who played guitar and sang several songs we recognized and a couple of their own composition. They were quite good and we would have purchased a CD if they'd offered one. By dinner time, Rick was hungry enough to eat a big burger at Settlers, while Rory settled for a Mediteranean salad. The food at this tavern is quie good! Rick was tired and happy to turn in early.

Monday September 28 Rick was feeling better this morning, so we set out for The Lake Cave and the 10:00 tour. We got there just before 10 only to find that the next tour was at 10:30. This gave us the opportunity to visit the cave exhibits. At 10:30 our tour was called. We descended over 150 steps down into what had once been a hidden chamber before the roof caved in. We met our guide and continued into the cave, another 200 steps down. The Lake Cave was one of the most impressive we've seen, even though it's quite small--only one chamber. This is a living cave--stalagmites and stalactites are still forming. There are several formations, the most fascinating being the "inverted table" which hangs from the ceiling of the cave and "hovers" about a foot above the surface of the water. Rick discovered a formation that looked like a rack of womens underwear that the guide had never noticed. He also told her how to easily remember which are stalagmites and which are stalactites: stalaGmites have a G to suggest they grow from the Ground up; stalaCtites have a C to suggest they grow from the Ceiling down.

From Lake Cave, we visited the Xanadu Winery (disappointing, considering there are 92 wineries in the region), went back into Margaret River for lunch, then drove out to Prevelly, to see where the Margaret River flowed into the Indian Ocean. It was extremely windy and cold, but we walked along the beach for a while. We had our usual issues finding a place to eat dinner, ultimately winding up at the Settlers again. Returning to the cabin, Rick realized that he was tired of traveling and didn't really want to spend 2 1/2 more months driving around NZ. We decided to make arrangements to return home after our planned two weeks in Tasmania. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet and Skype, we were able to make the necessary flight reservation changes, cancel car and apartment bookings in NZ, and email friends and family of our intended change in plans. We realized that five months of traveling from place to place, sleeping in a different place almost every night and searching for places to eat dinner is just too much. In the future we think we will take shorter trips and plan to stay in only one or two places. On the plus side, we won't miss any USC women's basketball games and Rick can get back to acting and involvement with the Moore School of Intenational Business and Rory can go back to the zoo!

Tuesday September 29 It poured last night and rained all the way from Margared River back to Bunbury where we'll stay with Anne White for a couple of days (while John is away on his camping trip). We really love being with Anne. She reminds Rick of the British actress Joan Plowright. We spent all afternoon talking, doing laundry, and preparing dinner. We called Jen and Wayne in Blackheath to let them know we wouldn't be there for Xmas week as originally planned. We hope they will come to the States now that their kids have grown.

Wednesday September 30 We spent a wonderful afternoon with Anne, her brother Steve and his wife Jane. Jane is a former model and we enjoyed looking through her old scrap books. She is also a terrific cook--lunch was superb, especially the lemon merangue pie with passion fruit. We extracted a promise from Steve and Jane to visit us in SC. We are packed and ready to return to Perth tomorrow. Flight to Tasmania leaves on Friday at 5:45AM (UGH!!!!!).

Thursday October 1 We said a reluctant goodbye to Anne and Finnegan. The drive back to Perth was without incident and we found the Maracoonda Motel with minimal difficulty. After checking in, we returned the car to the airport. The motel will transport us to the airport in the morning. We had lunch at the airport and checked in at the "i" to see about a booking for Sydney when we return from Tasmania the night before we leave for home. CJ at the "i" was more than helpful and got us an upgraded room at the Novotel in Belmont. We called the motel for a ride back. Rick spent the afternoon mapping out plans for our two weeks in Tasie. We went to the motel restaurant and (surprise!) had one of the best dinners of the trip. To bed by 9pm.