In the 90's a series of droughts had left the wheat-belt towns struggling and a local one had collapsed into a ghost-town. A town meeting decided Kulin wasn't going to go that way, and would listen to any ideas to keep the town alive. The Kulin Bush Races was one of them and has been able to contribute over $1M to all sorts of local groups in the last 25 years. A farming couple who had always been active in the local sports clubs left their $1M estate to the ...

Wed 9 Oct To Pingrup. $20/night has been our cheapest so far. 80% to the Shire Council who built and maintain the area and 20% to the community. Community volunteers do the reception and some of the cleaning. It looked like Shire guys cleaning the BBQ, waterblasting, and raking leaves. Behind us is a horizontal bin (with half-silo sides) that has stadium seating and a fireplace inside for the local shearing competitions. It's also used for other community events,...

Sat 5 Oct to Mt Trio Bush Caravan Park Set up on a private farm. The guy does wild orchid tours and bush-tucker tours in an area of bush beside the camp. He has a big reservoir at the camp The Stirling Ranges are the northern section of basalt/gneiss that was upthrust when Aussie and Antartica pushed each other - Perongurup, where we left this morning was the southern. We got set up at the caravan park and did a lap of the mountains, about an 80km circuit. The...

Mon 30 Sept. Out to the whaling station. The flies decided that it was officially summer. Even in wind they were sticky. Because it's close to a whale highway for Humpback, Right, sperm, and even the occasional Blue whales, it survived way longer than any of the other Australian whaling stations. The Humpback and Right whales come up from Antarctica and along the continental shelf of Straya about 50kms off Albany heading towards the West Coast of this wide brown ...

Friday 27 Sept Middleton Beach is in front of us and there is another Top Caravan Park at the other end. I start my days along the beach. Very few in the water yet. National Anzac Centre, built in 2014, large cantilevered building. Excellent displays. Australian and N.Z soldiers left from Albany in 2 large convoys. The enormous safe harbour gave plenty of room for them. Getting large numbers ashore wasn't easy in those days, so the soldiers spent most of their ...