- Visiting the West Coast of Scotland
- This is it!!!
- On the road again
- Back Country – NZ
- NZ update – east coast
- Back Country – very different this time!
- Lake Taupo
- The Coromandel
- Mini-break
- More little adventures – NZ
- Getting out and about again!
- More holidays!!
- A new year of adventures
- The mountain cottage
- Ginny’s visit
- Another visit – Marni and Jodi
- More changes!
- First stop in Canada – Niagara Falls
- Quick visit – Toulouse and Venet les Bains
- Ffald-y-Brenen
- The Cotswolds
- Back in France again!!
- Barcelona
- A much more interesting path – crossing the Irish Sea!
- London to Loxton
- Enniscorthy – a quick visit
- County Donegal
- South Gippsland, Victoria
- Next port of call
- Victorian High Country
- Snowy River Country
- Reindeer Lodge – Tanjil Bren
- Hiccup to Blessing
- Have tent will travel!!
- Family and friends – hugs and kisses
- Road Trip to the West
- Very snail like!
We’ve just returned from a trip to Perth, Western Australia. Along for the ride were our two fur grandbabies Jed and Winston. Their first experience on the road. Their first experience camping in a tent. Happy to report they were safely delivered to owners Marni and Matt and have settled into their new life in Perth. We managed to find some very isolated bush camping spots – Jed and Winston are more comfortable in their own space! We also researched town ovals on the way – good to stop and let the dogs have a run. Winston in particular needs to let off some steam! Once we had left civilization and town ovals behind we stopped in large dirt parking bays that looped back into the bush. Handy for trucks and caravans to pull in for the night. The dogs love a good wander and sniff – I will spare you the details of what was sniffed and rolled in on the journey! For those who don’t know there is a huge desert area called the Nullarbor that stretches across the Western Australia and South Australia border – down south near the coastal area known as the Great Australian Bight. There are roadhouses every 100kms or so. Nothing in between! Just long straight stretches of road – the longest being 145 kilometers – not one corner or deviation! This is handy for the Royal Flying Doctors Service – they use the straight stretches as runways to land for emergencies. Once we had crossed the Nullarbor we drove through the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia and headed to Perth. We arrived after 3nights/4 days of travel. Nearly 3000 kilometers.
It was lovely to catch up with Marni and Matt and see their new home. Also had some time with niece Cortney, her husband Alex, and their young family. Drove out to the Swan Valley to check out Faber Vineyard and Winery – owned by one of Reg’s winemaking buddies John. Watched the bottling line in progress and shared a meal with John’s family that evening. Didn’t do a lot of touristy stuff in Perth but did visit Kings Park with its bush tracks and botanical gardens in the middle of Perth. Lovely views over the city.
We took the long route home – closer to 3500 kilometers. South of Perth to Margaret River, along the coast to Albany then Esperance – lovely camp sites on the way. Beautiful coastline near Esperance. Then back onto the Nullarbor again – retracing our steps to South Australia and the Riverland. 5 nights travel overall – three in the tent, two in accommodation. Nothing like a hot shower and a warm room – especially after cold winter desert nights in the tent. We slept in tracky dacks, hoodies and even coats at times! My ugg boots rarely left my feet! Still it was all worth it. Jed and Winston safely delivered – they we so excited to see Marni and Matt. Catching up with extended family and old friends. Another look at the vastness and isolation of the Nullarbor. We are definitely back in Oz!
PS Forgot to mention we did all this in our little Toyota Corolla. Took the back seats out. Dog bed at the back. Camping gear in between. Always interesting!
This entry was posted in Australia
great trip .hope to see you in Loxton will phone ahead incase you are both galavanting around somewhere in the world, love you xxx
Love you more xx
Hi Dianne,
Jeffrey Wilkinson here.
A wonderful Blog. Well done to you and Reg and thank you.
I too worked in the wine industry for 30 years. I did meet Reg many years ago.
Best wishes and safe travels.
Glad you enjoyed the blog! Where did you work?
Hi Dianne
I worked for Yellowglen in Ballarat, making champagne. 1983-1993
Yellowglen was acquired by Mildara wines at Mildura. That became Mildara- Wolf Blass
I worked at Mildara 1993-1997.
Must have met Reg at wine industry technical conference in Adelaide in the 1980s.