Day 1 – Home
My blog, The Snail Trail, is so called because I really do ‘travel with my home on my back’! As many of you know my home is Brutus the Beast, my trusty little campervan, so my home goes with me as I travel around Australia.
Here’s a place I really enjoyed calling ‘home’ last Christmas – Stockton Lake, Western Australia.
Looking across the lake from my ‘verandah’
I wrapped up 2015 by blogging some of my favourite camps during that year and now I have the opportunity to create a whole new list for 2016. But in the meantime I thought I’d share with you where I’ve been over Christmas and New Year.
I didn’t travel very far as you will see!
The yellow star shows the approximate location of Stockton Lake, the blue star shows where Lake Brockman (Logue Brook Dam) is situated and the green star is roughly where I camped on the Hamilton River.
The Western Willie Wagtails met at Stockton Lake early December and it was great to spend some time with them and share their club Christmas Party, complete with Santa.
I chose to stay on at Stockton Lake for a few days, then had a break at Logue Brook Dam which was less than 100kms away.
Camped at Logue Brook Dam (Lake Brockman)
The Port Lincoln Ring-neck Parrots were very friendly here and I ended up with scratches up my arms where they walked all over me to steal biscuits out of my hand.
The whole area around Logue Brook was burnt out after Christmas by a raging bushfire which destroyed something like 70,000 hectares and completely wiped out the historic little town of Yarloop. I’ve duplicated the map above and put another of the fire area next to it so you can get some idea of the size of this massive fire. The fire front was about 100kms long and raged through National Parks, townships and across to the coastline. It stretched from Waroona to Harvey.
After a few days at Logue Brook Dam I headed back to Stockton Lake to spend Christmas and see in the New Year. I got the pick of the camp sites, right on the water with lovely shade most of the day. Needless to say, my camp became the ‘go to’ place for the breeze, the shade and the views.
Christmas was a very happy time, shared with fellow travellers and a wonderful family that camped next to me with 6 children. I put my present under their Christmas Tree and on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning shared with them as they opened all their presents. They were going to wake me up early so I didn’t miss out but I was up long before the kids and thought I’d have to wake them up instead. Dad Nathan and Mum Siobhan (Pronounced shiv + awn) should be very proud of their wonderful family.
Christmas dinner was shared with Solo Kev Thornton, Terry and Gay who I had met before at Oakabella Homestead and Mick, a solo traveller also. This happy crew expanded by a few more by the time New Year’s Eve came around but the wind was chilly that night so we all finished early and woke up the next day to 2016.
I enjoyed a few more days at Stockton Lake then took off to do some bush camping along the Hamilton River with Mick. It was around this time that the bushfires flared up around Harvey so got some stunning shots of the smoky sky.
Mick was great company and also a fantastic Mr Fix-It, doing a few odd jobs to my van that were long over due. We went for a drive one day to find the Black Diamond Swimming Hole, too. What a popular place that turned out to be for day trippers.
All good things must come to an end I suppose, so it was time to pack up and get myself organised for the next Willie Wagtails outing in Boddington – a great opportunity for me to say farewell to this fantastic group of people who have helped make my stay in Western Australia so special.
I went on a bit of a road trip in 2015 – about 11,500 kilometres without counting the side trips to tourist attractions and bush camps. I started at Collie in Western Australia with my new best friend, the blue parrot that landed on my shoulder and adopted me for a couple of weeks. And I’ll see out 2015 back in the Collie area at Stockton Lake. This is what my road trip looks like –
I thought it would be interesting to highlight my Top 20 places I visited this year, so here’s the first 10 (ten), in chronological order.
Stockton Lake is about 7kms east of Collie. It is only $5.50 a night (concession) and the only facilities are toilets – no drinking water or power – so you need to be fairly self-contained. To be able to camp on the edge of the lake makes it all worthwhile!
There are 3 great campsites along the Blackwood River: Alexander Bridge, Chapman Pool and Sue’s Bridge. Chapman Pool was my favourite, not least because I caught a couple of good sized black bream there! And what about the possum that invited itself to dinner! This was the best swimming hole, too. $6.60 a night (concession), long drop toilets, barbeques. No power or drinking water.
3. Denmark Rivermouth Caravan Park
I shouted myself a bit of luxury and stayed here for 5 nights – showers, toilets, laundry, power and water! The bonus was the boat cruise run by the manager of the caravan park. I don’t know what the going rate is but I was lucky enough to negotiate a good price at the time I was there (Feb 2015) It was while staying here that I was prompted to write my poem called The Parking Roundabout.
I can’t leave Denmark without including some photos of the spectacular Elephant Rocks and beach which is a short drive west of Denmark on the Williams Bay Road.
Lucky Bay is in the National Park at Cape Le Grand in the South East corner of Western Australia. It was my first beach stopover when I arrived in 2014 and nearly 12 months later I was back in one of my favourite campsites. It prompted me to write my poem Lucky Bay. This year I caught up with Richard again, having first met at Lucky Bay last year, and his friend Jay took us driving over the dunes at nearby Dunn’s and Rossiter Bay – spectacular!
Lucky Bay is $6.60 per night, solar showers, flush toilets, limited drinking water – and a coffee van visits the beach a few days a week. What more could a girl ask for?
Salmon Gums Community Caravan Park
You’re probably wondering why I would include a dry and dusty caravan park in my favourites…. well, I’ve stayed there on 3 different occasions now and each time I have met some wonderful people. It is only $5 a night for an unpowered site, there are spotlessly clean showers and toilets, a laundry and I’ve always had great company. My poem about Max, the Mad Rooter was written here after watching Max try to assert his dominance over Jock, the caretaker, Janet’s, little dog.
Easter 2015 was shared with my sister, Marion, at Martin’s Bend on the Murray River in South Australia. It was the time of the blood moon and I love the photo I snapped of the full moon through the trees over the river. We had a relaxing few days there at a very minimal cost. There were toilets and drinking water available. No fish jumped on my hook though 🙂
Lake Hart is on the highway about 250kms north of Port Augusta on the way to Coober Pedy and only about 25kms as the crow flies west of Roxby Downs. It is a free roadside stop and is one of my favourites because of the vastness of this old abandoned salt lake mine and the spectacular photo opportunities it provided. There were no facilities there but a picnic table! Oh, and The Ghan passed by on its way north – that was pretty special!
My visit to Uluru, and the campground at Yulara, was extra special as I had my birthday there and celebrated by going to the Sounds of Silence Dinner. It became even more special when I met Roswitha, who was also celebrating her birthday on the same day. We shared a table at dinner and have maintained contact ever since, with Roswitha and her husband Klaus also joining us at our camp at Alice Springs for a few days.
And it’s impossible to leave here without including Kata Juta (The Olgas) as part of this special experience in the ‘heart’ of Australia.
Yulara offered a 3 night camping package for $84 with all facilities provided, plus it was only a walk to the Resort with its shops, restaurants and bars. The Sounds of Silence Dinner was $190 or thereabouts.
We stayed in Alice Springs for about 2 weeks as it was the jumping off point to visit so many nearby attractions. The Gap View Hotel offered camping out the back for $11 a night and there were showers, toilets, barbeques and a laundry. You could also connect to power for a couple of extra dollars (it was a bit dodgy, with leads running everywhere, but it worked!)
Happy Hour at the Gap View Hotel
Old Telegraph Station and Alice Springs Desert Park
Hermannsburg and Palm Valley
West MacDonnell Ranges and Standley Chasm
Alice Springs – a ‘must go back to ‘ place – I haven’t even ventured to the East MacDonnell Ranges yet!
Ooops! Can’t leave Alice Springs without my side trip to Amburla on the way north…..
Amburla Station
10. Longreach Waterhole, Northern Territory
The Longreach Waterhole is a few kms north of Elliot, in the Northern Territory. My travelling companions, Margaret and Nev, decided not to venture on to the gravel road but I am certainly glad I did. The waterbirds were a constant entertainment, there were plenty of places to camp right at the edge of the waterhole, there was a long drop toilet, a picnic shelter and best of all, it was free! I enjoyed a few days there before leaving to catch up to the others further north.
My next ten of my top twenty will be in my next post – probably a week before I connect to power again – so from my latest camp at Lake Brockman my friends and I will shut down the computer and see you in the great outdoors.
Where to begin! For most of January I have been in remote areas without phone or internet reception and I am certainly feeling internet deprived! It also means I am waaaay behind with my blogging….again! I’m now going to make a BIG effort to catch up and share with you some of the wonderful camp sites I’ve been staying in.
I saw the end of 2014 and said hello to 2015 in a caravan park at Collie, about 200kms east of Perth.
Ladybird (Pam Kelman) and I put on our flashing Christmas earrings and had a takeaway chicken for Christmas Dinner to celebrate, and New Years Eve was shared with a motorhome group called the Southwest Wanderers who were in the park for a few days. It was certainly different to most other Christmases I’ve had, but the company was good, the champagne was cold and – I’m living the dream!
2 weeks in a caravan park is unheard of for me, but a rather special thing happened that kept me there! This beautiful blue parrot flew in and landed on my shoulder on Christmas Eve, immediately adopted me as his new mother, and despite all efforts I didn’t find his owner until January 6th.
I must say I really enjoyed his antics and his company but was so glad when his rightful owners turned up and he went home where he belonged.
I didn’t move very far – about 10kms down the road to Stockton Lake. There was a group of Willie Wagtails (Solo Travellers Chapter) there and also Paul and Tania that I had camped with at Cliff Head and Willbinga, so there were many Happy Hours enjoyed with great company. Before most of the group left we had a shared meal and celebrated two January birthdays – Barry and Helen.
Stockton Lake is a popular waterskiing and jet skiing spot so there was always a lot of activity on the water, and the lake itself was great to cool off in as temperatures hovered around 35deg Celcius each day. I was telling Marion, my sister, about the high acidity of the lake and the recommendation you don’t spend too long in the water and her reply was “Go for it! A free glycolic peel!”
In the two weeks I was at Stockton Lake a fellow camper, Helen, made some mosquito nets for my side and rear doors and then excelled herself and made mosquito net walls that I peg to my annexe to give me amazing relief from mozzies and flies! So Brutus the Beast left there with a few accoutrements, and I left there without any mozzie bites! I also left with Barry, a fellow Solo, as we had decided to travel together for a while.
The Snail Trail 