THE FINAL RESEARCH TRIP IS OVER - BUT THERE IS STILL LOTS'N'LOTS OF THE OUTBACK TO SEE......

Australian wildflowers - the Wreath Flower

Sadly my final research trip has finished. It's all over. But there is still just so much of the outback to see. I have been home for all of two days now and have already started checking out coach tours for the Gibb River Road, the NT., Cape York and - well, lots'n'lots more. Yes, I have covered a heck of a lot of our mighty outback of SA., NSW., Qld., NT and now WA but I feel I have only had a 'taste' of all that can be seen and experienced. Once the book is 'safely out' I am looking forward to seeing all the above over the coming couple of years.

Speaking of coach tours, I do thank the wonderful Casey Australia Tours, particularly our own crew, Barry, our driver and jack-of-all-trades and Jaye, our guide and jill-of-all-trades for, well, everything. I cannot single anything out as it was all just so good. So much fun. I am hoping to travel with them again for all or most of the above-mentioned trips. Beware. Be very ware!

But, for now and for the book, the research trips are all over. This final trip, up to Mt Augustus, lasted just five days. But they were some of the best five days I can remember - apart from all the other research trips spanning the nation. I have now travelled by air, by coach (but this was the first actual coach tour that I have done), by train and then hired a car to drive myself and I have also driven my own car. And for my very last trip I decided that a full coach tour would be the way to go. And it was. Just so good. So many amazing memories and my travelling companions were a lot of fun - lots of laughs and a good time seemed to be had by all (or most) on board. Our agenda was absolutely jam packed - so much so that my actual reason for travelling at all - to meet and chat with/interview the owners of the station - didn't happen. No-one was at fault. As does happen with stations, the owner was helping to muster on another station at the time of my visit and as always at such times, he was working very long hours. The other 'problem' was that, as mentioned, we had a lot crammed in and I didn't want to miss any of it!

Mt Augustus, provided they are still interested in being included in the book, will now be covered by email, so they won't miss out.

Our tour included visiting (or driving through) New Norcia (where we had our first morning tea from our mobile kitchen - see image), Dalwallinu, Wubin, Payne's Find, Mt Magnet and Cue - our first night was spent in the pub in this last town. All these places were new to me so yet more fantastic sights to see. We had lunch at Meekatharra on the first day - and we also pre-ordered our lunch there for the Wednesday, when we were due to return. We were also advised to stock up on anything we might need while out at Mt Augustus as this was our last 'town stop' before turning west onto gravel roads, heading to the station.

Off we went again, through to Mt Gould Police Station and lockup, where we had afternoon tea, provided by Casey's and which came from our mobile kitchen - which was housed in the trailer we were pulling behind us. I had never seen such a set up; this kitchen had everything. Food, drinks, more food, cooking equipment, food, cleaning equipment, food, tables and chairs, food, eating implements - oh and did I mention food and drinks? In other words, they were prepared for anything and everything. 

After lunch we were on our way again. A quick break at the Murchison River before stopping for afternoon tea at the Landor Station Race Track, famous for its outback race meetings organised by the East Gascoyne Race Club. An amazing place. Another outback race venue that, to me, really does give the Melbourne Cup, a run for its money.

Off to Mt Augustus. Our accommodation was in the form of dongas here! I've read about these and did see some on another station in WA, but sleeping in them was yet another first for me! We had two nights here. I even shared mine with a lizard - it was on the wall when I entered, then hid and stayed that way for the duration. We also shared our bathroom with small frogs - all part of the fun.

Next day, it was time to see some of the sights on the station, at the rock itself and in the national park. What a place! First we visited Edney Spring, followed by Flinstone Rock. And then a quick dip (for a few) in Cattle Pool or a walk along the bank of the Lyons River. We saw and heard hundreds of wild budgies here - really lovely. After lunch we were given a bit of 'free' time so this was when I tried to do what I was supposed to be doing - meeting the owners - but not to be. Later in the afternoon we visited Emu Hill Lookout which offers a superb view of Mt Augustus, the rock itself, particularly beautiful at sunset. However, it was very overcast for our visit but what colours we did see were really lovely.

Another early start next morning and we were on our way home. However, it seemed there was more to see, including the magnificent Walga Rock - and there we were extremely lucky in that the wildflowers had put on the most spectacular display - just for us. So beautiful, particularly backed by the rock. 

Onto our 'last supper' - a BBQ in front of the ruins of the old pub in the ghost town of Big Bell, before heading back to Cue and our hotel. At the end of the next day we were due to arrive home, but it seemed Jaye and Barry had other ideas with yet more things to show us - I loved all of it. First of these stops was at the Joker's Tunnel - there was a bit of a walk/stumble to reach it but then most of us went through, in single file and in the pitch black. Making a heck of a lot of noise, laughing a lot and scaring the wits out of a bat which I understand took off out of the tunnel in a heck of a hurry. Goodness knows what else there was - but no snakes as far as I know and in this case, I think ignorance might have been bliss! Our very last couple of stops were one for photos when we passed through more superb wildflowers and this is also where we saw the superb Wreath Flower. The second and last stop was for lunch in Morawa. 

From there we made our way back to Perth via some true back roads - I loved every bit of it. We saw the very distinct line separating the stations from the farming land.

Jaye and Barry are to be congratulated for their efforts (is that a word??). They are both wonderful people who proved themselves to be extremely capable. Thanks guys. I do look forward to seeing you on future trips. Again - beware. Be very ware.

I remain hopeful that Mt Augusta will still participate in the book but if not, there is a lot more detail to most of the above that should be included and will be. But that's in the book.

I'VE BEEN TO THE KIMBERLEY - AT LAST!!!

The spectacular Windjana Gorge

Well, OK - into the western edge of it, but enough to get just a glimpse of how spectacular it is. I continue to travel throughout our great outback and the further I go, the more I love it. There is just so much to see and learn out there - at this stage, I have completely lost interest in travelling overseas and all I want to see is the outback. I am sure I will regain that overseas interest one day but for the moment, there is just so much more of my own backyard that I want to see and experience.

Yes, the end is in sight but I have postponed publication to the first half of next year (2016) and I am starting to feel the heeby-jeebies (otherwise known as withdrawals). It's been the most amazing 'project' - when the seed was planted three or four years ago, I honestly did not think I would actually act on it. But here I am. And I am jolly proud of my efforts to date. I admit that I am getting close to turning the big 6 - 0 but do not feel that I am slowing down at all. At least, not overall. I also continue to make some of the most amazing friends as I travel on this road. 

I have actually been on two more wonderful trips since my last post. The first was up to Exmouth - after the success of the little Hyundai that I hired to take me out to Wonganoo Station, north east of Leonora, I decided my own little car should be able to take me on the next trip - up to Exmouth, back to Carnarvon, turning east to visit two stations between Carnarvon and Mullewa, before heading back to Geraldton, via Northampton - and finally home. This was the idea anyway. Unfortunately, while in Exmouth I managed to pick up some sort of virus which took hold in Carnarvon. The planned two nights there stretched into four - and not to be outdone, my car picked up its own virus and I had to cancel the stations visits - which kind of partly defeated the purpose of the trip. But I still did manage to visit two couples which was really lovely. One was in Northampton, the second in Geraldton.

I was incredibly disappointed about not being able to visit these stations but just did not feel I could trust my little car out there after all and I was also not sure whether I was contagious or not. Between these two stations I was also planning to spend a couple of nights at the Murchison Settlement, which would have given me a different perspective again - but not to be. Anyway, while one of those two stations does appear to have pulled out, the second has come onboard by email and they were very quick and efficient to do so, including images. And another station in WA has also come onboard since, also by email. My thanks to you both.

Coast near Exmouth

After this trip I was back in Perth for less than a week before I boarded a coach to head north again. This next trip took two nights and a day and was a great way to see the countryside between Carnarvon and Broome, which I had only flown over previously. Travelling overnight meant that I did miss some of the sights but I'll never forget the approach to Port Hedland, both from the north and the south. I had been told it is big - but those lights seemed to stretch forever. The only other time I can remember seeing lights like that was when I flew into Singapore on my 24th birthday - there seemed to be an enormous number of lights! Maybe because there were. Anyway, we had to drop off and collect passengers in Port Hedland - that seemed to happen in a couple of different spots so I did see quite a lot of the city. And it really is big. I really would love to visit it during the day time. Just another addition for my bucket list for our outback.

Our arrival in Broome was a tad later than scheduled. Rob was there to meet me which was lovely. We went straight to breaky then back to her place briefly so she could pack and prepare the car (she was coming with me - or maybe I was going with her) and also so I could say hello to Guaco, my grand-parrot. Really lovely to see them both. We were soon on our way again, heading north toward Derby but turning east onto the Gibb River Road shortly before we actually entered Derby. But Rob had a lovely surprise for me - she had told me about this but nothing really prepared me for the art at the amazing Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre. As the name suggests, it is completely devoted to just that - Aboriginal art and culture. And I guess this has helped cement my deep and total respect and admiration for the art that our Indigenous people can produce. The colours are spectacular - every piece has a story behind it. I really could not get enough of it. 

Then we moved onto Birdwood Downs Company Station, which is an ecological demonstration project, American owned and founded in 1978. It is run primarily on voluntary basis and most of the staff we met are WWOOFERS (Willing Workers On Organic Farms). Mostly young people from other nations, all really lovely and a lot of fun. Hans Leenaarts, the Director and Business Manager, our wonderful host, took us on one of their Ecological Tours which was absolutely fascinating. It took in both a homestead and a station tour - all so interesting. Yet another station that I could not get enough of. It is also a station stay property with the accommodation being mainly in the form of Savannah Bungalows - two rows of them. Lots of fun.There is also a dormitory to cater for excess guests and/or staff as well as a camping ground. They've got everything! Even their own man-made rainforest, right outside the homestead front door. It has three paths leading through it - the pic shows one of these. They are just so cool and lovely to walk through. Except they do have spiders (yes, my fear coming to the fore yet again) up there and I was just a little concerned when walking along these paths at night that I might walk right through a web. It didn't happen but that fear was ever present - not that it actually stopped me from going through - too lovely not to. I was very very careful and jumped every time there was the slightest movement! We did have an unwanted visitor in the shower though - in the form of a rather large Huntsman. It was sitting/standing on the wall next to the taps and I could have sworn it waved one of its spindly legs at me - but now I feel very proud that I did manage to have a shower with it watching me (I'm sure it was - I was certainly watching IT) but did find it a tad difficult trying to wash my hair while keeping one eye on it. I fully expected it to jump on me. It didn't and next time I went into the ablutions block it had disappeared.

Rob and I were also invited to join Hans and the staff on a marsh camp/party on our first night there. While I was very dubious at first at the thought of camping, Hans had assured us that if we did not want to stay the night, he would bring us back to the station. That was a

terribly generous gesture but I am proud and very thankful to say we both stayed and had the best time. Watching those magnificent clear night skies up there - you could almost touch the stars. How can you beat that? Absolutely superb.

And on the second afternoon, some visitors arrived. From Radio Goolarri 99.7 FM they were there to interview Hans. But someone mentioned that we were also there to conduct interviews and I found myself being questioned about this. Never one to lose the chance to expose the book, I agreed to be interviewed. That was exciting and completely unexpected. 

We left Birdwood very early on our third morning there and Rob had another surprise for me. Although she had told me but nothing actually prepared me for the experiences themselves. We drove further east along the Gibb River Road, slightly further into the Kimberley and then turned off to visit the mighty Windjana Gorge - and I FINALLY saw freshies in reality for the first time ('freshies' being croc-speak for freshwater crocodiles - the 'safe' ones). I loved it. That was just so exciting and Windjana Gorge really needs to be seen to be believed. It is spectacular. After that we visited Tunnel Creek, a few kilometres further south. This was also excellent. But did present rather more of a challenge to get through - it is a 'tunnel' after all and does pass through a large range. We had to climb, stumble, half-swim, stumble, sortof walk and did I mention stumble - through the pitch black for this one. Rob had brought two of those thingies with lights (pointing forward for

preference) on them that you wear around your head - similar to a miner's helmet I suppose, but without the actual helmet. There were lots'n'lots'n'lots of rocks, big and small. And even one freshy. Not that I really saw it - but apparently if you looked directly at it you could see two eyes watching you - a tad eerie but I was busy keeping a very close eye on a Huntsman which was perched on a rock in the middle of the water! We eventually reached the end of the tunnel, had a look around - absolutely fascinating to say nothing of beautiful and then turned and retraced our steps back to the start. I hadn't been sure what to wear for this and was trying to figure out what would be most suitable for doing the above. I finished up not doing anything - not even bothering to roll my jeans up. My sandshoes stayed on but I did take my sox off. And so I got drenched and squished everywhere! All part of the fun.

Once back at the car, we had a light picnic lunch which Rob had very thoughtfully and sensibly provided (thank goodness - I hadn't even thought about it). After this we drove on to see the ruins of the old police station a bit further south. Again fascinating. Then we saw an old mine site before turning right into the Great Northern Highway and heading west toward Broome. Kimberley is also the only area (that I know of) in Australia that has Boab trees (don't quote me on that one), which are really interesting. Amazing shapes. There are descriptions and stories about many of the things mentioned in these blogs in the book itself.

Fish and chips for dinner that night and Rob was able to be with me on the Monday - she had the day off. We met her friend for lunch and then visited the wonderful Short Street Gallery, featuring Indigenous art as well as some lovely skin care products (Rohr Remedy) before going to see the warehouse where the art work for the above gallery is stored. It is absolutely jam packed with the most superb works - we purchased a beautiful piece for Rob's 30th birthday. We also did some shopping, visited the Indigenous Magabala Bookshop where we both bought probably a lot more than we should have. 

Unfortunately Rob had to return to work the next day so I spent  my last few days walking, 'working' (on the book), bonding with my grand-parrot and just enjoying life. As I had use of Rob's car, I spent my last day there trying to find my way around Broome. A few wrong turns - quite a few wrong turns - I even found myself out at the port. Not quite sure how but the colour of that water - just superb. I had a great time getting completely lost in Broome - I had a great time in Broome full stop.

Some very exciting news - something that I was beginning to think just wasn't going to happen. Thanks largely to the ICPA (Isolated Children's and Parents' Association) as well as the School of the Air (or Distance Education) I am now receiving quite a lot of entries for both the cover design and title. Really pleased about that. There is also now a deadline: August 15th.

I have to admit that upon returning to Perth after the Broome and Kimberley trip, once I had seen my family, home, pets and car - all I could think of was why on earth do I live in Perth and not in Broome or somewhere in the outback? It was all I could do not to catch the next flight, bus, train or whatever north or east.

But in a few weeks I am off on the very final research trip for the book - to Mt Augustus. Really looking forward to it as I have every other area of our outback.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA - YOU'RE NEXT

Believe it or not - the book on stations, or the stations book, or Red Dust Dreams - is finally looking like heading toward publication.  I have slotted that in for the end of 2015!  All images for the participating stations to date have been issued, except WA - and some have already been edited by those station owners and returned to me.  Thank you so much.  Also for the suggestions/thoughts/comments which continue to come through - all very welcome.  And the texts are gradually being completed and also sent out - still working on those.  A couple have already been edited by their respective stations and returned.  Cheryl has also begun the major editing.  

Also slowly but surely finalising interviews with the wonderful group of retired pastoralists whom are participating - and a lot of others.  The list continues - but my editors are putting the brakes on for me - badly needed.  We have our stations people, retired pastoralists, Indigenous people, backpackers, bikies, some who live in the cities but regularly work in the outback, shearers, truckies - and more.

Unfortunately at this stage, it does seem that the cover design and title for the book will be decided between my family and friends - and not by the families and students of the School of the Air after all.  I have tried to issue details of the competition to all bases nationwide, but to date, I have not had a lot of response.  I have also now had to issue a deadline.  I have not given up but am looking at Plans B and C just in case.  I also remain in hope that the ICPA might be able to help with this.  If necessary, I will turn to the participating stations themselves for help with this - and then, in a final fit of hope, turn to family and friends, as mentioned.  

But now and at last - it's WA's turn and the first of four trips here has already been undertaken.  My sincere thanks to Kathy and Malcolm Boladeras of Wonganoo Station, some hours north east of Kalgoorlie, for showing me some more of this amazing country hospitality recently.  This was the first time I had driven myself (hired my trusty little Hyundai in Kalgoorlie) and loved every bit of it.  Saw much of the station, thanks to Kathy's tour - even three camels in the distance and countless goannas - and a snake put in a special appearance by slithering across the road in front of us.  I see and learn something new with each and every station visit - this time it was the camels and goannas.  The Boladeras' even have a donga which I have read about in the past, but never seen.  And a great undercover entertainment area called a Spinifex Shed (or coolhouse) which is based on the Coolgarie Safe concept of water running down over the spinifex.

Four more stations here to cover and I start these with two which are between Exmouth and Geraldton.  Driving myself again, in my own little Yaris.  Then I am back in town for a week before catching a coach up to Broome and out to a station stay property in the Kimberley.  Very excited as my daughter will be joining me on this one and I will be spending a few days with her in Broome before heading south again.  After that, back again for about a month before my very final trip - a coach tour to Mt Augustus.  Two new stations coming in by email from WA, joining several others also coming on board by email, in other states.

And that's it.  Finito.  I do have a mammoth amount of writing to do in between all these trips still - but continue to love every bit of it.