Western Australia

daedong · Apr 14, 2010

I'm on holidays in WA. Flew into Perth yesterday and picked up a hire car. We are here in the west for a fortnight. At present we are in a little town by the name of Dongara about 400 Km north of Perth. We are heading as far as Carnarvon where my daughter lives.

Today when and looked at the Pinnacles here is some info on them. http://www.discoverwest.com.au/western_australia/pinnacles_desert.html

pirate_girl · Apr 14, 2010

Awesome Vin.
The Pinnacles.. never heard of it before.
Thanks for sharing.

Doc · Apr 14, 2010

Kewl stuff Vin. Thanks for sharing.

I dug up a map to help see where bouts you are. Not the best but it gave me the general idea.

daedong · Apr 14, 2010

Doc I have marked the map to help.

Doc · Apr 14, 2010

Thanks Vin. Hmm, I thought up there was where you lived and were coming from. If you get a chance how about marking where your home base is and your vacation home where you do your boating. Since you flew into Perth they must not be that close.

CityGirl · Apr 14, 2010

Vin lives Northeast of Adelaide about 1 hour and 45 mins (State of South Australia) in Waikerie. Maitland is in the heart of the York Peninsula about 3 hours 45 mins from Vin's home. I think it was in Maitland that we met the town mayor....he was a US ex pat and come to think of it, I think he was from Oklahoma! I'll have to check with CB but I think that is correct and we were stunned to be so far from home and meet someone from our part of the US. Vin and Mary, I'm craving a good ole Aussie meat pie!

South Australia

Zoom in York Peninsula

Doc · Apr 14, 2010

Thanks CG. That nails it.

I know a couple folks who used to live in Ohio that are residents of Sydney now (at least the last I heard (10+ yrs ago) that's where they were).

NorthernRedneck · Apr 14, 2010

Cool. You're near Geraldton!!!

(only two Geraldton's in the world...I'm in one, you're near the other)

daedong · Apr 23, 2010

Met up with my daughter in Carnarvon. We stayed with her for a night then we all headed north camping for a few days. We went snorkelling on the Nigaloo reef at Coral Bay, then headed further north to Exmouth and the Cape Range National Park. At Exmouth there is a joint US / Australian naval communications base (yes - we do actually work together!!)

This part of Australia is a vast empty desert, you can travel 300 miles between towns, and you won't see a single power line, house or building. Yet towns like Geraldton and Exmouth thrive on tourism. The coast is beautiful and there is great, safe swimming as the beaches are protected by coral reefs not far off the beach.

I haven't taken many photos, but here are a few. Oh, by the way the area is rich in minerals, there is lots of mining and it is often hauled by road to ports on the coast for export to China.

If you look closely in the first picture you can see some antennas in the distance that are part of the low frequency communication system.

Doc · Apr 23, 2010

Good pics Vin. Beautiful.

Didn't you visit any topless beaches? :poke:

Dargo · Apr 23, 2010

Thanks for sharing Vin. On my map of the world, Australia and New Zealand are two of the places I'd like to visit that I've yet to see. Due to current world conditions, some places have been marked off of my "gotta go there" map. I realize New Zealand is considerably smaller than Australia so I figure there would be fewer places on the "gotta see" list there. I have no clue as to what I "gotta see" in Australia. I enjoy seeing pictures and comments on the area to help choose where I want to go. Be safe and enjoy! :flowers:

daedong · Apr 24, 2010

A few more pics, bit boring I know! Does anyone know what tree this is?

daedong · Apr 25, 2010

Alright then the tree/shrub is a Banksia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia

daedong · Apr 25, 2010

Try this one what is it?

daedong · Apr 25, 2010

I don't know how far it is from Milwaukee to perth but I guess you can't get much further.

daedong · Apr 25, 2010

Ditto

thcri · Apr 25, 2010

daedong said:
Alright then the tree/shrub is a Banksia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia

Looks like they rally get kewl looking at times according to the pick on wiki

Doc · Apr 25, 2010

I've never seen a grader anything like that. Looks like it would work though.
Good pics Vin. Thanks for sharing.

Cityboy · Apr 25, 2010

daedong said:
Try this one what is it?

Yakka

daedong · Apr 25, 2010

Got it in one, spot on sport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthorrhoea

daedong · Apr 25, 2010

I'm back in better country now, high rainfall. In the last 2 days we have driven through some of the earliest settled areas in Western Australia with some really interesting colonial architecture.

AndyM · Apr 25, 2010

daedong said:
In the last 2 days we have driven through some of the earliest settled areas in Western Australia with some really interesting colonial architecture.

When would you estimate that area was settled? How many people would you guess are in the towns you pictured above?

(Sorry for the silly questions, but as someone who doesn't get to travel very far, I'm really interested in your photos)

pirate_girl · Apr 25, 2010

Wow Vin, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought those last 4 photos were someplace here in America!
Nice

daedong · Apr 25, 2010

Andy, the area was first settled in the late 1820s. those pictures above were taken in towns with populations of less than 6000.

daedong · Apr 25, 2010

pirate_girl said:
Wow Vin, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought those last 4 photos were someplace here in America!
Nice

Not likely, the flora here is very different to that of what you have.

pirate_girl · Apr 25, 2010

daedong said:
Not likely, the flora here is very different to that of what you have.

The last 2 pics in particular sorta reminded me of parts I've traveled in the USA, out west especially.

Cityboy · Apr 25, 2010

pirate_girl said:
Wow Vin, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought those last 4 photos were someplace here in America!
Nice

Only the pics PG. It's quite different and beautiful. Vin is quite the Botanist and tour guide!

pirate_girl · Apr 25, 2010

Cityboy said:
Only the pics PG. It's quite different and beautiful. Vin is quite the Botanist and tour guide!

Oh I'd imagine it is, and I can see by the previous photos that he knows his country very well.

thcri · Apr 25, 2010

daedong said:
Ditto

Here you go Vin

Power Grader

Complete with Advertising Ad

My grandfather had one or a grader that looked just like that with no motor that was horse drawn. Had the big round wheels for changing the level of each side. When kid I use to run the grader while my uncle pulled it with a John Deere A tractor. He had to tell me which wheel to run up and down. Ok he had to yell at me cause he never told me right the first time. :whistling:

daedong · Apr 26, 2010

Today's pics.

Sorry about the lack of order.

We went to the Fremantle Gaol. It is now closed, it was built by the convicts back in the 1850's. Western Australia was originally a free settled colony, but they brought in convicts as they ran into financial trouble.

They have a church in the gaol, the commandments were painted by a convict, apparently they changed VI from thou shalt not "kill" to "murder", as it was legal to kill in war and to execute someone.

The first person executed in WA was a 14 year old, who was actually innocent. The last person executed in Australia was in the 1967, he too was later found to be innocent.

I liked the car in the middle of the photos, I saw it parked at the beach. It is a Cobra.

The last photo is of the marina at Mandurah, south of Perth. I don't think the photo does it justice, there were some pretty amazing houses and boats.

Western Australia

New member

legendary ⚓

Bottoms Up

Attachments

New member

Attachments

Bottoms Up

Silver Member

Bottoms Up

Well-known member

New member

Attachments

Bottoms Up

Like a bad penny...

New member

Attachments

New member

New member

Attachments

New member

New member

Attachments

Gone But Not Forgotten

Bottoms Up

Banned

New member

New member

Attachments

Charter Member

legendary ⚓

New member

New member

legendary ⚓

Banned

legendary ⚓

Gone But Not Forgotten

New member

Attachments