My very first big drive was going to be a trip from our home in Middle Swan, to my grand parents in Toronto New South Wales. This was our first photo taken by my father as Mum sat in the drivers seat, this was going to be a long trip.
That's me!
This photo was taken next to the golden pipeline which takes water from the Mundaring Weir, the the outback township of Kalgoorlie.
Our next pitstop was at a sma
ll bush town called Cunderdin, which is the Perth home of the ETTAMOGAH PUB. We got their pretty early in the morning, just as the sun was raising so we could get an early start to our first days drive. The Pub itself was closed by it was still good fun having a walk around it.
The next stop was at a town called Merredin, this was me and Jack standing in frount of an old water tower which use to fill up the old steam trains.
We then had a huge drive to our next stop at a place called Coolgardie, where we h
ad some tucker and a walk around the Ben Prior's Open Air Museum which was real cool. In this place was heaps of old farming machinery, and mining equipment from the old days when my Pop was a little nipper.
This is what a picnic stop looks like in the outback! Pretty dusty hay mate
Our next stop was at a place called Norseman, which is a tiny outback town and is the start of the legendary Nullabor Highway. It is also known for its mining and is well known for having Australia's richest Quartz reef, here I am with my brother Jack next to a huge corrugated Camel, cool hay. Also just up the road we jumped on an old horse called 'Norseman', which the town was named after.
Then it was back in the commodore and back on the track, here we are having a quick feed before heading for my first time on the Nullabore Highway. As you can see the border town of Eucla is only 710 kilometers away, so we should go past that sometime tomorrow..... cool!
On of the roadtrains that we drove past on our first day out.
Our first reststop for the trip was at a roadhouse called Balladonia on the Nullabore, it was just becoming sundown so we were in time for a beaut shower before we had dinner. That n
ight we were going to sleep in the back of the commodore, so on our way back to the car we pasted a broken down roadtrain..... poor bugger.
On the Nullabore
The next morning we left for a ripper drive to dad and mum's old home Caiguna Roadhouse, just out of the roadhouse we came across the World reknown Caiguna Blowhole.
Caiguna Roadhouse
Before you get to the roadhouse you have to drive along Australia's longest straight road, known as the Nullabore Straight. Dad was telling
me that when he and mum worked at the roadhouse it didn't have a roof over the pumps, so it would of been a very hot days work back then hay. Now that Caiguna has a roof you can get some shade as you can see me in the shade hay.
Our next stop was at Cockabiddy Roadhouse, which is just up the road where mum worked aswell. Here I am on a swing which my mum would of swung on heaps ago, back when she was young like me!
Also this is where my mum lived when she worked out here in the bush, this is what they call first class out here. Mum loved her time out here it sounds like she had a party veery night, on ya mum!
On the road again we stopped just short of Eucla at some relics of the old Overland Telegraph Station, which is covered in sand for most of the year.
Here I am standing in frount of a road sign at Eucla roadhouse, it's still a long way to go but atleast it
's only 11 kilometers to the Border. So we are getting their.... Here i'm sliding down the slide at Eucla, the swings were all old but were really big and beaut. Not like the little ones we get in the parks these days, but I would'nt mind a bit of grass instead of the hard dirt.
The famous ROOEY II at Border Village Roadhouse.
Me on the Nullabore Highway!
Our first bit of rain but that's okay because dad say's this is the dryest state in Australia, and so there's no chance of it raining torromow.
We stopped for our second night's rest at a place called Cenduna, and yes it was still raining hay dad!
In South Australia we came apon a large Galah in a little bush town called Kimba, which is famous for being the halfway mark for crossing Australia.
Here is Sarah and Jacko at the border town of Cockburn, where we left South Australia and drove into New South Wales.
As we drove into NSW we were picked up by our
cousin Mick who works for a mining company in Broken Hill, where we were staying for the night at his place with his wife Leanne. He took us for a drive in his fore wheel drive, then started the lights flasing..... cool!
This is me and Jack up on top of the HILL in Broken Hill! in the background you can see the township, which is really quiet big for a bush town.
From there we drove until we reached our nana and pop's house in Toronto, so we didn't take many photos but we did on our way back. Here is me and Jacko and our new mates Sophie and Nicko all ready for a good night's sleep, as you can see Sophie's not a night owl hay!
So that was our drive over and didn't we have a real beaut time, and in my next post i'll tell you all about my time in Toronto and our trip back home. But for now it's bye bye...