Step 62 Dongara - Coronation Beach 125km's

Sunday 15th May


Well it's grey again this morning but the sun is trying to break through.

Amazingly we were up early enough and got organised quickly enough to get away before10:00am.

Only 125kilometres to do today but we stopped for morning tea anyway – at a place called Flat Rocks. Lovely little surf beach and in an amazing coincidence the point of the bay was

flat rocks. Those early explorers were not very imaginative in their naming.

Drove into the car park of the Greenough Historical Village but we didn't end up going in becaue it looked a bit old. ;-)

Herbert! Come away from the edge.

The leaning tree of Greenough. Sometimes I know how it feels, but in the tree's case it's just the wind that flattened it.

Another picture in the series "where are the brakes on this thing"

Do not argue with these things!

Next stop Geraldton, which we had marked down as a possible overnight stop. The caravan park looked alright in itself but it was in a kind of nothing part of town so we decided to have a quick look around town and push on to Coronation Beach.

Unfortunately we have fallen into the old “I'm sorry it's Sunday we are closed” trap again. At least we are stocked up on food and drink this time.

So after a quick visit to the HMAS Sydney II Memorial (only the second national memorial) it was back on the road again.

I'm sorry we"re closed. Could you come back tomorrow?

After the cruising around in Geraldton we were a little later getting into Coronation Beach than we had planned but fortunately there were still a few sites available. In fact we even managed to bag a site with a sea view. To top it off this is one of the Hertaeg's “off-road” recommendations and so we can stay the night for the princely some of $15. “Thank you very much – I'll take two nights then.” Mind you if we had got here a couple of months ago we would have got the site for $10 a night as Vicki & Herb did. For that price you don't get electricity and the toilets are pretty basic and there are no showers, unless you bring your own water. But the view is sensational. Given it's not Saturday there is no problem not having a shower though. (That is a gratuitous dig at my English heritage. Just trying to make up for all the Geeelong jibes).

All in all the facilities are pretty good for the money. Apart from quite a few toilet blocks there are gazebos on the beach front and a massive observation deck perched on the side of the hill. The observation deck was apparently built by the local prison population which gave me images of a chain gang struggling up the hill with the wood and Paul Newman being told “What we have here boy, is a failure to communicate”

Editors note: Cool Hand Luke. Warner Bros. 1967. George Kennedy received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

 Wine 'clock, lying back in MM watching the sun set over the ocean fondly remembering the alternative - working in an office in Melbourne.

 We didn't actually see a chain gang but we did see an older couple carrying a generator up the, very steep, steps. Apparently they were a) having problems with Internet reception and b) had a laptop with a dodgy battery. Definitely a gold star for perserverence. Their longer term fix to their problems was that they had got their son a job at NBN. Hopefully the next time they come through here they won't have to rely on Telstra for internet reception.

Monday 16^th May

Woke to half blue, half grey sky, but magnificent view over the ocean out the back window of MM. Sea Gulls dive bombing the water for breakfast which is much more energetic than me. I just lay on the bed and wait for Di to pass me mine.

Chatted to a guy this morning, in his late 60's, who is travelling with his wife for four months in a Toyota Prado. That's not: a Prado towing a caravan; a Prado towing a camping trailer; a Prado with a tent in the back. That's just a Prado. Now I am all for the minimalist approach but I think that's taking it a bit far. Don't think that actually qualifies them as Grey Nomads, I think that's more like a shopping trolley short of  homeless people.

A slight shower after breakfast (rain obviously, I already told you there are no showers)  and then it cleared up a bit so off we set for a walk. Lesson for today “if it's already rained and storm clouds are brewing over the ocean, do not go for a walk.” Oh well, don't need to worry about there being no shower here today after all. On the other hand the rain (and bear in mind it was very heavy rain) did lead to an amazing discovery. Di can jog. Quite fast. Who knew?

The rest of the day was like being back in Melbourne:

“Oh look it's raining. That looks like it's set in for the day”

“Oh look the sun's out again”

“Oh look it's raining. That looks like it's set in for the day”

Repeat several times.

Editors note: I know you are all keenly following the toilet situation on this trip so it is with great delight that I can inform you of the marvellous breakthroughs in drop toilet technology. The facilities at this park are absolutely amazing. You wouldn't know that they were not plumbed in. Well apart from the no flushing bit. I'll keep you posted as we head North.

Another breakthrough tonight when we managed to connect to the inverter ($80 from Dick Smith's at the Glen) directly to the house battery. Fantastic news Steve, but what does that mean in real terms? I hear you ask. Well, that means power for the big laptop and that means two episodes of NCIS. To be fair, it gets dark at 6 o'clock and its cloudy and raining so no stars out so...

Editors note: This stage of the trip follows V & H trip last year – Travels with the Taj. So it has been good to check back on their blog and get reminders of what to see and where to go. Not to mention the notes that we made when we caught up with them at the beginning of the trip. We also have the benefit of the combined experiences of mates we caught up with in Perth of course. All in all it's making it a lot easier to work out where to stay.