In a few weeks [fingers crossed] we will be doing a loop of the South West to places we haven't been before.
I will try and keep a log of each stop and it's facilities etc for posting when we get home  :)

This is the main loop - there will be many 'side tracks' along its length as well
Main areas are Bunbury -> Wagin -> Lake Grace -> Lake King -> Hyden -> Forrestania Plots -> The Breakaways -> Norseman -> Salmon Gums/Peak Charles -> Esperance -> Cape Arid -> along the coast to Albany -> then north back to Bunno    ;D

http://img.acianetmedia.com/i/4PU9B.jpg

Sounds like a fantastic plan Sharon.  Looking forward to reading the reports and seeing photos.

It should be a great rip - enjoy. How long have you got to do the trip in?

Jeff

Chally wrote on Sep 18^th, 2013 at 1:36pm:

How long have you got to do the trip in?

We can stay or move on as we please, but aiming for 2 or 3 weeks to do the full 2,000kms  ;D

The only thing that may cause us issues is Chief's stuffed back - if it becomes too aggravated we may need to stay put until it settles down again.  However, it isn't going to be a problem... the same way he keeps telling me 'it isn't going to rain' !
(in the middle of Spring, ahuh)   ;)

Sounds great LG. Jude & I just got back from a month away and it sure was good to get away. Staying put in one place for a few days gives you a good opportunity to use the camp ovens and enjoy a good fire. :)

Jeff

Getting a bit excited now! 

Finally had a nice day after a shocking week of storm front after storm front after storm front, and Chief managed to do the full service on the car.  Don't know when the previous owners last changed the spark plugs, but the neighbours learnt a few new cuss words!

The roof rack is packed with light stuff, and the cargo bay is full of heavy stuff, food and clothes.  All I need now is to hear 'Lets Go' from the man and its 3 times round the house and off up the track like a startled rabbit    ;D

The delays mean we are heading out about the same time as school holidays start, which could cause issues when we head for the coastal national parks but we'll deal with that when we get there!  If necessary I'll buy another 30  litre water drum and stay out at Cape Arid a few extra days   ;D

All the best. Stay safe and enjoy your time away.

Jeff

We're off.... FINALLY

Delays have turned my September holiday into an October one, but at least we are on our way today

First stop... Wagin in the wheatbelt where I am told the wildflowers are particularly nice this year    :)

Going into sporadic mobile phone / interweb connection areas but will post when I can

Enjoy LG. I would love to one day see your WA wildflowers. Please take some photos to post up. :)

Jeff

Wild flowers ??? whacky doo daa day  :D :D :D

Must be plenty of other stuff to keep your peepers entertained  ;D ;D ;D

Enjoy your travels LG ........Lucky Basket  :) :)

We are home at last   :(

Unpacking is completed and Jock has all his bits back (seats etc).
Tent dried, cleaned thoroughly and packed away again until next camp.
Photos are being sorted and labelled - some are already up on facebook if you want to take a peek.

In the end we covered 3,000kms.  Chief says about 600 of those were him going backwards each time I spotted something at the side of the track I wanted a photo of   ::)

Saw a lot of things which will stay in our memories forever, had a darn good time despite a few 'wrinkles' along the way and have come home refreshed and ready to take on the world   ;D

Confession time: I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!  I only got  ONE  photo of a camp oven in use! 
Normally by the time we returned to camp my memory cards were full and/or the camera battery was flat. While dinner was cooking I was either charging the camera back up or transferring photos from memory cards to laptop ready for use again the next day.

We had some bloomin ripper feeds though - thanks to many of the recipes from COCIA I took with me   ;D

Catch up again in a day or so when 'real life' settles back into a routine

Love yas!

Glad to hear you had a great time LG. I look forward to seeing your photos.

In relation to your photos; since you deleted them from your cards each day I hope you backed them up onto a portable hard drive as well as the laptop.

Jeff

Welcome home and welcome back to COCIA.

Facebook is being a pain tonight so not getting to see the pics too well

Chally wrote on Oct 21^st, 2013 at 10:08pm:

I hope you backed them up onto a portable hard drive as well as the laptop

Yep Chally... got them on Chief's laptop, my desktop and a 2TB back up drive now.
They won't be getting lost for a while I reckon   ;D

Had one heck of a scare when I couldn't find certain photos on the laptop to transfer them to the desktop/2TB when we got home - one of the memory cards had slipped down the bottom of the pouch and I hadn't actually put those images on the laptop at all.

Usually I delete from the camera at time of transfer by 'format card' so I know I have a completely empty card to begin with.   Luckily when I put it in the camera I got the 'memory full' message so I knew it had images on it. (phew!)


Derek... A few people have mentioned Facebook has been playing up - I had no trouble uploading though so it must have started after I did that.   For those who want to take a look at some of the locations we visited this link will let you do so even if you don't have a facebook account   :)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152008070623128&type=1&l=a0351e5d07

I am busily going through reference books trying to identify some of the flora seen along the way
(yep Rufz, wildflowers LOL)

There is one flower I took photos of near Lake Grace that nobody at the visitors centre could identify even though we went through their many local flower books.  At present they are thinking maybe plant A got norti with plant B and a new hybrid has emerged    :o  (Or we weren't looking in the right books and it really is as common as a white chook in the backyard  [smiley=biggrinjester.gif] )

One of the people they know is a qualified botanist so the photo will be sent to her for identification purposes   :)

Not sure what to do with the videos.  They are way too big (file size) for posting anywhere.  Got some shots of whales at Point Ann in Fitzgerald River NP. 

Quality is very ordinary taken at a distance using my $50 happy snaps camera but the memories of such a great time make them worth keeping - and isn't that what it is all about after all     :)

LG wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2013 at 5:24pm:

Usually I delete from the camera at time of transfer by 'format card' so I know I have a completely empty card to begin with.   Luckily when I put it in the camera I got the 'memory full' message so I knew it had images on it. (phew!)

I NEVER delete any images unless I have a minimum of two copies. I carry a portable hard drive and transfer from cards to laptop and portable hard drive before reformatting my cards.

I will have a look at that link to view the photos. Thanks.

Jeff

Sounds and looks like you had a ripper of a trip LG.

With your videos, you can edit them easily with moviemaker, which is probably on your computer.

And the question on everyone's lips ..........

Did you wear poor Chief out  :D :D ;D ;D

Rufz... a picture speaks a thousand words   [smiley=biggrinjester.gif]

He did pretty well considering I had him traipsing all over the countryside chasing wildflowers. 
Derek's hiking sticks helped out heaps, especially on some of the steeper tracks.

Each time we went into the 'self sufficient' areas I made sure I had enough tucker and water to last a week even if we only planned to stay a couple of days - just in case.  We only had to spend 1 day extra at one place... and that was to settle minor twinges not 'oh shite' mode   :)

---

LG wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2013 at 2:04pm:

Derek's hiking sticks helped out heaps, especially on some of the steeper tracks.

Was wondering how you went with them.  Great they helped

Rufzgutz wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2013 at 9:22pm:

With your videos, you can edit them easily with moviemaker

Thanks Rufz!
I didn't have it on the computer, but it is now - and I have been having a ball turning photos into slide shows with music, stitching little clips together, trimming boring bits from larger clips.  You have created a monster! :)


Derek wrote on Oct 26^th, 2013 at 4:00pm:

Great they helped

They sure did Derek - quite a few times I would have been struggling with the normal walking stick on slippery surfaces, and they made it possible for Chief to tag along in a lot of places he would not have attempted otherwise.  I'd hug you if I could  :)
 

Got to admit Chief did look buggered in a few of the pics.

When is the next big trip????

umm... not sure about the next big one but I am already planning my next quickie - just don't tell Chief!
  :D  :D  :D  LOL

LG wrote on Oct 28^th, 2013 at 11:01pm:

but I am already planning my next quickie - just don't tell Chief!

You have Quickies without Chief  ::) :D ;D ;D

Rufzgutz wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 10:41pm:

You have Quickies without Chief

hmm.. almost, but not quite.  The trouble is ... it is a few inches too long   :D   ;D   :D

I was able to set up the Oztent RV4 all by meself [while Chief unloaded chairs, table, lights etc] but I still needed help getting it down off the roof rack to start with.

The same applied to putting it back up there.  I'm just not tall enough - even with the step ladder!   

If it was a few inches shorter I could stick it inside the car instead  :-?