USA and Australia November 2012

Photos: How do you pass this on the Great Northern Highway of Western Australian outback (heaps of wide loads to service the growing mining industry..and I thought that the long road trains would be my only problem)?....and a car that did not do well.....!


Departed 9 November for Perth Australia, arriving 11 November 2012....returning to San Francisco on
30 January 2013. Then West Africa mid March til mid May 2013.

Plans to drive the Great Northern Highway route 95 to Karijini National Park near the town of Tom Price then return via the coast road via Carnarvon and Sharks Bay/Monkey Mia...probably depart 16 November and be on the road for about two weeks.

30 November 2012 Friday (Cervantes to Perth/Harrisdale WA)
South to Perth with stop at Pinnacles....and many stops along the Indian Ocean drive!

29 November 2012 Thursday (Dongarra to Cervantes WA)
A bit better weather today although still high winds....stopped to overnite in Cervantes.....the excitement of town is that a barge has broken away from tug and is now sitting on a reef offshore. Quite interesting to talk to the crabbers because these barges are known to go too close to shore and drag away thousands of dollars of crabpots with them!

28 November 2012 Wednesday (Kalbarri to Cervantes WA)
On the road south toward Perth....and it is raining!.....most likely stop in Cervantes to visit the Pinnacles.A new road along the Indian Ocean was just completed in 2010.
But never made further south than Dongara because weather is really bad and Perth got slammed....over 100kms winds and rain so good thing that I stopped cos power has been out everywhere south of Dongara.

27 November 2012 Tuesday (Kalbarri WA)
The supermarkets here in the northwest no longer supply plastic bags for your groceries (not even for sale)....they recycle their boxes for people to use and also sell the colorful grocery bags.


Morning walk to the Murchison riverfront park for the daily feeding of the pelicans...quite fun for the kids!
Walked the many trails of the Kalbarri Coastal Sandstone Cliffs...beautiful rock formations! A great day for walking because it was overcast but no rain....and fewer flies than I have encountered during the past week!


26 November 2012 Monday (Carnarvon to Kalbarri WA)
Another hot and sunny day but the predictions for remainder of week are rain!
Continued south on the North West Coastal Highway (route 1 although no one uses route numbers) with stops at the roadhouses that are few and far between...heaps of dead roos and heaps of live goats crossing the road. Turned off and headed west to the coast to Kalbarri with visit to the Kalbarri National Park and beautiful views of gorges of Murchison River. Kalbarri is located where the Murchison River meets the sea with beautiful white sandy beaches...plan to stay two nights to explore the park a bit more.

Such colorful birds....galah, corella, budgies, cockatoo.......and gorgeous banksia flowers in the Kalbarri National Park!


25 November 2012 Sunday (Exmouth to Carnarvon WA over 400 kms)
Early start for drive south with short visit to Coral Bay....explored the town of Carnarvon, although it is Sunday and everything is shut! Carnarvon is a coastal town at the mouth of the Gascoyne River (which is now very dry and runs mostly underground) on the Indian Ocean and is known for its produce(especially bananas). The pickers are now in town to pick melons and grapes.  There is a mile long jetty (longest in WA) where the rail carried wool to the ships in years past.

24 November 2012 Saturday (Exmouth Western Australia)
Short drive to town today for internet at the library ($3 for 30 minutes) then to get groceries and return to the lighthouse for a lie in by the pool before starting off again tomorrow.

23 November 2012 Friday (Exmouth W Australia)
No driving today.....nice walk again to the lighthouse with beautiful views of the sea  and the Cape Range and watched the guys kite surfing along the Ningaloo Reef.

22 November 2012 Thursday (Onslow to Exmouth W Australia)
Beautiful sunrise and drive through heaps of red dirt, termite mounds, ghost gums.....and now in Exmouth with the emus and kangaroos! Decided to stop driving for awhile and stay at the lighthouse about 17 kms from town of Exmouth.
And while I was up at the lighthouse, I met Patrick again (from Perth) who I have been running into since the start of my journey....such a "small country"!

21 November 2012 Wednesday (Tom Price to Onslow Western Australia - 481kms)
Departed Tom Price to enjoy another beautiful sunrise on the road....and this one even better because of the colorful clouds......gorgeous drive through mountains and red rock formations. Had considered going directly to Exmouth on the west coast but decided to suss out Onslow just a bit further north on the water....but a big mistake because again all accommodation (all three hotels and one caravan park) are full of workers! The huge Wheatstone project by Chevron for offshore gas is growing the town from 750 to 5000 so quite a change for this village in just the past two years.
There was one cancellation at a hotel so now have a very expensive bungalow right on the water....just too far to drive more today to Exmouth....a very frustrating experience in the Pilbarra!

20 November 2012 Tuesday (Auski Roadhouse to Tom Price Western Australia - 225 kms)
Hot, buggy, windy, and heaps of red dust in the outback....so not camping (but did enjoy short walks viewing the gorges of Karijini National Park this morning).... accommodation is VERY expensive as is petrol.....now at the highest city in W Aus......heaps of mining everywhere and these guys take all the rooms.....no rooms in Newman and took the last one in Tom Price....and no internet.....now paying for internet at the library......dialup at the hotel!

19 November 2012 Monday (Meekathara to Auski Roadhouse - 643 kms)
A very long day of driving....over 600 kms....and I leave at 5am to avoid the heat but no rooms at Newman due to miners....ended up at a roadhouse out in the middle of nowhere in a "container"....very similar to northern Alaska accommodation....

18 November 2012 Sunday (Paynes Find to Meekatharra Australia - 357 kms)
Very hot driving so early start at 5am then stop by noon.

17 November 2012 Saturday (Perth to Paynes Find W. Australia - 455kms)
On the road north in my very small hire car Hyundai i20 to Karijini National Park....should take a few days to get there on the Great Northern Highway via the towns of New Norcia, Paynes Find, Mt Magnet, Cue, Meekatharra, Kumarina Roadhouse, Newman, Tom Price....... overnite at Paynes Find.


16 November 2012 Friday (Perth Australia)
Another gorgeous day to visit with Gretchen and get ready for my journey north. I am borrowing camping gear from Nathan which will hopefully reduce the cost of accommodation enroute, although it is starting to get very warm! I want to do the north first before it gets too hot and before the cyclone season begins.
We went to visit the building site for the animal hospital that should be completed by the end of the year....Nathan is opening his own business starting in February!


15 November 2012 Thursday (Perth Australia)
Initially, I was going to fetch Gretchen from the airport but then everyone (her son Nathan, wife Kristin, son Noah) all decided to go because Gretchen's mum is ill in Minnesota.....and it was a long wait at the airport because the plane was late in landing and heaps of other flights had arrived so heaps of folks trying to get through passport control.....but a wonderful reunion was had by all!

14 November 2012 Wednesday (Perth Australia)
Road trip to coastal towns Rockingham and Mandurah with very beautiful beaches! Great walk along the limestone cliffs of Peron Point.

13 November 2012 Tuesday (Perth Australia)
Morning walk to the shopping center (about two kms) for coffee and visit to Salvos (Salvation Army)....afternoon planning for trip north.
When I lived in Brisbane in 1995-1996, prices were reasonable to cheap.....now the price of everything is very high....I cannot see how folks can afford to live here! And the mining boom in Western Australia does not help.I should have gotten my hair cut for $6.99 in Palo Alto before I left....it is $38.50 here! Petrol is about $1.30 per litre.

12 November 2012 Monday (Perth Australia)
Early to bed last evening for hopefully a catch up sleep! Drove via Fremantle to Cottlesloe Beach for lunch and a walk in the sand....gorgeous day!

11 November 2012 Sunday (Perth Australia)
Early morning arrival (6am).....A bit of adjustment to drive my hire car on the "other" side of the road!  Am staying a few days with Nathan and Kristin and their son Noah in the Harrisdale suburb. Nathan is son of my friend Gretchen from Juneau....Gretchen will arrive on Thursday for arrival of second grandchild in December.
After a coffee with Kristin, we went to the Remembrance Service (veterans day here also) at St Paul's Anglican church in Fremantle where Nathan played "the Last Post", the bugle call that signifies the end of the day's activities. Then lunch by the sea at the Pickled Fig!


9 November 2012 Friday (SFO CA to Perth Australia via HKG)
Midday departure on Cathay Pacific from San Francisco with arrival in Hong Kong on Saturday evening (about 15 hour flight) and four hour layover before flight to Perth (about 7 hour flight).....thank goodness for using miles for business class....comfy airline seats with heaps of movies and lounges to enjoy while waiting.

8 November 2012 Thursday (South San Francisco CA)
It was great that my friend Annette drove me from the van storage place to the hotel near the airport because it rained quite a bit.


7  November 2012 Wednesday (Palo Alto CA)
Big change in the weather.....cooler with heavy fog and rain predicted. Visiting friends in Palo Alto before my flight on Friday.

4-6 November 2012 (San Jose CA)
Three days camping at Joseph Grant county park (Santa Clara) again.....on the Mt Hamilton road to Lick Observatory....beautiful sunny warm days for some nice hiking up in the hills to scenic viewpoint at 2500'.....no wild pigs or cats this time but heaps of deer and turkey.

2 November 2012 Friday
Happy Days! My passport arrived with a Ghana visa inside! Because of Hurricane Sandy, I had big worries about getting it back in time for my flight to Oz....the Ghana Embassy was closed for three days!


1 November 2012 Thursday (Hidden Valley CA)
Heaps of rain last eve and hopes for clearing today.....which it did with a bit of fog first!