Starting Home

Hi All,

We left Dougs at 0700 on Tues. and took the MH to a Diesel Service Centre to have a 10,000 km service. As this would take about 3 hours, the manager offered us the lend of there small truck to go sight seeing in. We accepted, and drove into Freemantle for breakfast and did some more exploring around.

Picked the MH up at 1100 and started on our return home. We travelled east of Perth towards Hayden, about 320 km. First stop was Corrigin, a small town, 230 km from Perth. Corrigin is famous for holding the record for the most utes with dogs in the back at one time. In 2004 there were 1500 utes, with dogs in the back, stretching 7 km, from the dog cemetery, yes the dog cemetery, 7 km out of town to the town of Corrigin. This record still stands, although Vic. is trying to beat it.

The weather was bloody HOT again, in the 40s, with strong northerly winds. By the end of the day Mum and I werenot to well due to the heat. So we found a free camp site at George's Rock
Pool, about 50 km before Hayden. It was a large area with shady trees and very clean. It was not until about 2130 before it cooled down, we then had a good nights sleep. Got an early start on Wed, and arrived Hayden about 0900. Hayden is a small town in the wheat belt area, and they cater to the tourist trade to Wave Rock. An interesting attraction at Hayden is the welded figurines in the parkin the town. 4 km on from Hayden, and one of the reasons for us coming this way, is Wave Rock. You have probably seen photos of Wave Rock. It is a large rock formation in the shape of a large ocean wave. We explored the base of it and when I said I was going to climb it, there are steppes to the top and walkways around it, I was surprised when Mum said she would go too.

We got to the top and walked a couple of hundred metres around, but the going was very difficult due to the curvature of the walkway. So we returned the way we came. I was knocked up after it, so imagine how Mum was feeling.

We had lunch in the restaurant at Wave Rock then returned to Hayden to fuel up. A lot of the places around here are called something Rock, such as Bruce Rock and other Rock's I can't remember.

The second reason we travelled this way was because we did not know if the road via Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie was open yet. it has been closed due to the bushfires. We heard it was open before we left Hayden but decided not to chance it.

So we travelled via Lake King and Ravensthorpe to Esperance. We had intended to stay in the overflow area at Esperance, as we did on the way out, but we found it was no longer available. The place is still full with holiday makers, as we could not find anywhere to stay we continued on towards Norsman. Found a free camping spot about 100 km out. Ok here for the night.

Dad / Den