Thurs, 17th Oct, 2019 Bob & Margaret’s place, Florida Beach, near Mandurah, WA

Slept well and woke about 6am so read for a while.

Had breakfast with Bob and Margaret then we headed south to Bunbury to visit Linda and Kevin.

We had a great time catching up and checking out their house. They are having a huge garage sale over the weekend as they have emptied their container they have had things stored in for a long time when they were at Bundaberg.

We had lunch at a huge Farmer’s Market then wandered around checking out all the different produce and products.

We drove back through Australind beside the estuary then back onto the highway and then the old Coast Road to the Peel Estuary near where Bob and Margaret live.

Home again for a cuppa then I caught up on my blog.

Steve rang – feeling a bit better. He went for a short detect but didn’t find anything.

Cool evening again.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Wed, 16th Oct, 2019 Bob & Margaret’s place, Florida Beach, near Mandurah, WA (5 years 2 months on road)

I had a great night’s sleep. A bit nippy this morning – no thermometer but I think it was only 12 degrees or something!! Top of 20 degrees!!

I rang Mickey to tell her about my bus trip down as she was worried about the other ‘travellers’ but it was fine and the Vicks worked well!

Margaret and I went into Mandurah. She had to see the Optometrist. I tried ringing Mum but no answer so I rang Uncle John instead. We had a lovely chat and he and Jocelyn are still doing ok.

We went for a wander around the new big shopping centre and had a cuppa while we caught up on news. Our friends Linda and Kevin have bought a house in Bunbury and their grandson was just diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes which was very upsetting and he was gravely ill which was scary.

Back home for lunch with Bob. I rang Linda and we arranged to visit tomorrow as they are good friends with Bob and Margaret too.

My phone rang while we were having drinks and it was Steve. He said the phone reception just appeared so I gave me a call. He had called in at the pastoralists (Mickey’s friends told us to drop on them) and he was all good to be able to detect on the pending area on their station. Unfortunately when he got out of the truck when he was setting up camp he twisted his back and was in a lot of pain. My poor man. He was a good boy and took pain-killers and rested. Today he felt a bit better and went for a short walk with his detector but the pain came back so more rest is needed. I hope it goes away quickly for him – his end to detecting in WA isn’t turning out too good.

Dinner with Bob and Margaret while we watched TV. Cooling off a lot so hot shower and into bed at 9pm as I was quite tired.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Tues, 15th Oct, 2019 Bush camp at The Granites, near Mt Magnet to Bob & Margaret’s place, Florida Beach, near Mandurah, WA (Steve to bush camp, north-west of Cue)

7.30am 20 degrees, clear sky and cold wind. Last breakfast with Stephen for a month. Hope he has some luck finding gold while I am away.

The film crew etc have all disappeared – even the signs are gone.

Back to the roadhouse for a cuppa before the bus arrives to take me to Perth. As we approached a wide load pilot vehicle came towards us but didn’t say what was coming. Luckily we heard her tell the truck behind us that it was 8.5m wide so Steve got off the road, unfortunately on an angle where if they had said it early we could have pulled off on flat land. The police car then arrived just in front of the wide load and he at least gave us a wave to say thanks for pulling off.

The bus arrived at 9.20 as we were having our cuppa so we took our cups and my bags over to wait as the bus wasn’t supposed to leave till 9.50. Chatted to the driver about where to sit – he said I was fine to sit at the front. He noticed my nugget earrings and asked if I bought them or found them. We then got chatting about detecting and he showed us his nice 1 oz nugget hanging around his neck. He detects around Cue and Mt Magnet so told Steve some spots etc. Said my farewell to Steve and got settled in. Nice comfortable seats and there weren’t too many on board.

The bus driver and I chatted all the way to Mullewa. This bus continued on to Geraldton so I had to get off and get another bus to Perth which turned up 5 minutes later. I rang Steve. He had continued up to Cue and had just fuelled up and had lunch. He will head to the pending area north-west of Cue. Not sure if he will have phone reception there so we arranged that he would drive out and ring me Friday if he doesn’t have reception where he camps.

Again there weren’t too many on board so I was able to sit by myself. There is a TV screen but I didn’t have earphones to listen to it and it was mainly kid movies. Read my book for a while and enjoyed the view as we passed through wheat and sheep country. There was no stop for lunch and I had forgotten my apples but I had some cookies and museli bars. At 3.30pm we stopped at Wongan Hills for a 25 minute break so I was able to buy a sandwich and coffee at the roadhouse which filled me up.

The sun was setting as we reached Northam and then we headed down towards East Perth. On time we arrived at the bus station at 7.50pm – long day but it was a good trip. I crossed over the footbridge to the railway line. I am glad I had jeans and jumper on as it is quite chilly. Two minutes later I caught the train into Perth City.

From there I had to walk to another platform underground to catch the train to Mandurah. Again I only had to wait 9 minutes for it which was great. I rang Margaret and arranged for her to pick me up at the rail station at Mandurah.

There was only a few people on the train and as we stopped at each station a few more got off till there was only 3 of us left to get off at Mandurah. I chatted with the guard about how to get back to Perth and to the airport when I leave on Sunday.

Margaret and Bob were waiting – so good to see them again. Back to their Florida Beach home and a nice plate of yummy stew and a coffee while we chatted. Margaret had left the flannelette sheets on for me as she knew I would feel the cold. Nice hot shower and into bed. Hope Steve is safe.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Mon, 14th Oct, 2019 Mickey & Chris’ place, Sandstone to Bush camp at The Granites, near Mt Magnet, WA

7am 18 degrees, gusty cool breeze and clear sky.

Slowly packed up. Diesel knows something is up as he is hanging around us all the time. He just loves Steve. He is so funny with his fettish with the fresh lemons. He picks them up from the very laden tree and brings them back for us to throw them like a ball then when he has had enough he chews it. At least he has a fresh breath and his ‘farts’ are lemony but still terrible!!

Said our farewells again to Mickey. We will be back in a month.

Headed west to Mt Magnet. Got some vegies and meat for Steve while he goes detecting for the month I am away.

We saw a notice asking for movie extras for October and November – wonder what the movie is about. Mickey has 20 or so coming in December to make a movie at Sandstone – crazy time of the year as it will be so hot then.

Drove out to The Granites – an escarpment area we have camped at before. As we drove in we saw a heap of trucks and vehicles on the other side then some signs, UB and Set. This must be the movie set.

We continued up the track to the top of the escarpment and parked up. Nice breeze up here as the van has warmed up to 30 degrees.

Good view down over the movie camp area.

Steve found another ‘movie’ site further over. A little goanna came to have a look too.

It looks like it was a movie set as there were camels and when I zoomed in I could see black screens and big microphones. There was a huge fire for the set - a fire truck had followed us in so obviously he had to be there as it is ‘no fires’ time of the year now.

Will be interesting to hear what Mickey finds out when the movie crew go to Sandstone in December.

Back to the van for a drink and a few games of Skipbo.

Dinner and movies – lots of lights down at the movie set.

Sun, 13th Oct, 2019 Mickey & Chris’ place, Sandstone, WA

7am 18 degrees, clear sky and cool breeze. Took our breakfast inside to watch the Supercars broadcast.

It was a great race with no rain. A safety car in the first lap then no more for the next 100 laps or so. Then there were 7 more before Scotty took the flag to win his first Bathurst. It was the first year for the new Mustang too and for Roger Penske who now owns the team with Dick Johnston. Unfortunately it was tainted as Scotty’s team mate, Fabian, had a problem with his car and was told to slow down behind the safety car and that held up everyone else. Will be a lot of big meetings about that, though Triple 8 did it a couple of years back.

Sat outside to have our drinks as it is quite pleasant and we have been inside watching TV for a few days now. It was great to see it all on Foxtel though, thanks Mickey.

Leftovers for dinner while we watched a great true story movie with Mickey.

Cool evening again so closed up the van.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Sat, 12th Oct, 2019 Mickey & Chris’ place, Sandstone, WA

6.30am 23 degrees, dark clouds and cool gusty south-westerly wind. We had a couple of light showers of rain in the early morning.

Watched the Supercars practice sessions at Mt Panorama with Mickey then took the dogs for a walk. Dark clouds are hanging around but the sun is coming out as the cool wind picks up.

Another light shower of rain fell on my washing but it was gone by the time we got out to take it off the line!

Started packing my bag for my trip home.

After lunch we watched the Top 10 Shootout – great speeds. Scotty got pole for Ford.

Watched more of the broadcast from Bathurst.

Drinks then dinner watching a movie about the band ‘Queen’ – very good.

The wind has blown all the clouds away as we headed into the van for our cuppa. 9pm 23 degrees and the wind is really blowing hard outside. It is quite chilly so closed up the van. Hot one day and cold the next – really!!

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Fri, 11th Oct, 2019 Mickey and Chris’ place, Sandstone, WA

8am 24 degrees, blue sky with puffy clouds and a light cool breeze.

More practice sessions at Mt Panorama then the rain came down for Qualifying. They had posted such fast times in the dry yesterday but it was much slower with the wet road. Luckily there were no bad crashes.

Cooler day, only 36 degrees.

Dinner and movie with Mickey then into the van for a cuppa with the nice evening breeze cooling down the van.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.