Geraldton to Dandaragan

This is the penultimate lap into Perth, we have planned to be back on 25 September and with only 163 kilometres to go on the direct route to Perth it's an achievable target.
However like always we will not be travelling direct, there are still some surprises left maybe!!

This is Katherine just south of Geraldton waiting for the sun to go down, as it looks it was a little chilly for us, this has been normal now for the last week or so. We should have stayed north longer, since the temperature up there is still quite warm.

Thoughts of the next trip to the heat are fermenting in our minds!!





Notice even on the beach we are rugged up.





The beach flora we have found interesting, especially when Katherine adds the human touch.

The shape was all nature.





The amongst the flotsam we witnessed the following natural beach waste from the sea.

Then we have some special Fauna.

This Gullah was on a rock in "The Pinnacles", this is south of Cervantes and a world famous icon of Western Australia. However we found this Gullah the sight to behold.

There were hundreds of visitors at the site who maybe thought otherwise.

As we drove south the Flora continued to amaze.

The Flowers on the Bush are worth studying

We could not resist a series of sea sunsets before we headed inland for the last time on this trip.

Before leaving Geraldton we revisited the "Sydney Memorial"

The sea gulls that form the shell of the sculpture, each represent a sailor who was lost at sea after a wartime battle off the Geraldton coast. A striking and formidable sight. Especially as it is located on a hill overlooking the ocean.

Having reviewed this episode of the blog, we find that the grey skies and rain plus the impending end of the trip have permeated the content. No doubt, the sunshine, return to Perth and coming event will reinvigorate the traveller's.

Distance travelled from Perth = 23827 kms

Distance from Perth = 153 kms

Number of days on the road = 317

Down to Northampton or Down Wildflower Alley

There are two secondary reasons why we are travelling south at this time, to avoid the wet season in the top end of Australia and to sample the famous wild flower regions of Western Australia.

Well this episode of the Blog concentrates on the flora and landscape of the Gascoyne and Mid West coastal strip.

Unfortunately our photography does not seem to capture the depth and colour contrast evident when you are on the spot. So in addition to enlarging the images you will have to use your imagination.

Firstly though we must give praise to the West Australian roads authorities for providing so excellent free parking areas with none better than Galena Bridge on the North West Coastal Highway.

This is the sign that highlights the service.

The site had toilets, provision for BBQ's and the RV's delight a toilet dump point.

Congratulations to all the authorities listed on the sign.

Then we have another delight at this site - the wild flowers a field of white on the banks of the Gascoyne river.

But not all white!!

A different white, again the camera does not do the scale or visual impact justice.

Whites, reds and then Mauve's

This is a different site but the colour impact is still stunning.

Then we have fields of colour.

From the sky you can see it was not the best of days but the colours still stands out.

While back amongst the flowers is another gem.

Then we encountered the Kalbari gorges, it may seem a little repetitive but that is Australia - stunning one minute and unbelievable the next.

Trees can grow anywhere we have come to understand, from the side of rocks, bottom of rocky canyons and empty river beds. We have seen them all.

This image explains the reason, the stains reveals that this rock ( millions of years ago was soil, compressed by land movement which left minute gaps for water and tree roots to penetrate) provides the life support systems for flora.

Whereas the torrents of water that carved the gorge provides caves for the Fauna to inhabit.

Early in the morning we sighted Wallabies here.

Whilst on the sea shore more spectacular scenes, this one off Kalbarri.

As usual we can't leave an episode of the Blog without a sunset- there is no doubt this is a hard life on the road.

Distance travelled from Perth = 23117 kms

Distance from Perth = 476 kms

Number of days on the road = 301