22-24/3/16 Moving , checkups & Bridge hopping

22/3/16 Moving Day 

 We packed and headed off toward Manjimup , we passed many orchards & vineyards on the way . They grow an awful lot of avocados and grapes around here . 

 Arriving at Manjimup , we found the supermarket to do some shopping & also found some fuel at $1.05.9 / litre , so filled up before shopping . 

 Off to our next stop - Maranup Ford Caravan Park - about 15 klms west of the town of Greenbushes - we turned off the highway at Bridgetown and followed the Blackwood River - the same Blackwood River that flows out to sea at Augusta . The road wound its way beside the river , and up & down some pretty steep hills , through a lot of cattle grazing properties in desperate need of some rain - where the river had previously flooded , it was lush & green , but all the hills were grey and dead . 

 We arrived and had the place to ourselves untill later , when another 2 vans and a young couple with a tent arrived . That was it for the day . Todays map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kAuamTUKSOP8&usp=sharing

23/3/16 Back to Bunbury

  Time for another Xray and checkup on Lyn’s arm , so we head off at 8:15 am . There was something weird happening last night and again this morning - it rained !!!! We had 12mm overnight , and now it was drizzling again , with the odd heavier shower . It rained nearly all the way down to Bunbury , and there was roadworks happening at Donnybrook - wasn’t that a nice mess - potholed gravel road , watery red mud !! 

 Arriving at the hospital at 9:45 , we got the Xray done and went to Outpatients and sat and waited for the doctor to see Lyn . We finally got in to see him and he changed the cast , and gave a good report - got to be happy about that !!! Eventually we got out of the hospital at 12:15 and went to have lunch and do some other shopping . We hunted around for some things we need , then hit the road again .                                                                                                                        

  Eventually we got back home at 5:15 , the roadworks at Donnybrook held us up for 20 mins .

24/3/16 Bridge hopping 

 This morning we did some work on the RV , a gasket had started to leak , and needed a new one installed , so I pulled it apart and replaced the gasket , job completed & back together .

 That done , we headed down to the river and checked out the old bridge and surrounds , before wandering around the gardens .

  There was some orange fungus growing on some old logs , it looked like it was oozing out of the logs bark . Some other looked a bit like a flower !!

 The garden is extensive , and has been growing for quite some time . There are grevillea’s and banksia’s , and also a protea , that are or have been flowering . 

The birds love the garden , with little Fairy Wrens bouncing around everywhere . Another bird caught my eye - it had an orange chest , black head with a white spot just behind the beak , a white stripe along the black wings . There was also many butterflies .

 A cooked lunch was the order of the day , before we headed into town .   

Bridgetown is another old town with ties to timber logging , the Blackwood River flowing through town as well .

 It was rather busy there today , with lots of traffic coming and going prior to Easter .  I waited for a gap in traffic for the photo .

We headed up the road a bit further , turning off the highway into Greenbushes . Another older town , this one has more of a mining heritage , with tin being mined here for quite a while , now there is Lithium and a few others being mined here . There is a lookout that overlooks the old pit .

There are 2 hotels in town , there was 8 at one stage , this is one of them .

We drove down to Greenbushes Pool - a hole that was enlarged by mining and is has a natural spring keeping water in it . We walked around the pool , taking some photos of some grevillea’s and gum trees in blossom .

 Heading off again , we went towards a dam down the road about 3klms , didn’t find it , but found another a kilometre or so down the road on Southampton Rd . We kept driving down this road - it was gravel and slippery , but we took it easy . We found an old farm shed , not sure what was holding it up though .

This road took us through the locality of Southampton , yesterday we drove through Middlesex - and we haven’t left the country , we are still in WA not England . The road followed the Blackwood River valley all the way back to Maranup Ford , and was a pleasant drive - we saw 2 emu and 3 kangaroos , and a lot of plantation radiata pine , and gumtrees .

 We arrived back to find a full camp ground , so sat and had a few beers with Richard and Holly ( in the tent ) . 

That’s it for today , here’s a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kl_foL7OaPVk&usp=sharing