kathndes: Happy Christmas

#Our time at the Dryandra woodlands was very enjoyable. There are some ruins of old milling times and we were able to watch for the wildlife on dusk at one of the remaining dams. The story of Vincent Serventy, one of the original and “true” greenies, was heart-wrenching. He loved the Australian bush and did lots of studies and work to help preserve it and the animals. We have included a copy of his dream in the photos. The bush here is really suffering and has had no rain during the winter. Summer will bring all sorts of problems. After leaving Dryandra we headed towards the coast. Stopped in a small town called Dwellingup. Lots of interesting things to see and do, so we camped 4kl out of town. A bush fire in 1961 levelled the town (with the exception of 6 buildings) and surrounding villages. We camped where one of the villages once stood. There is the remains of an old POW camp here. We found it very interesting and haunting. They held prisoners from Italy and Germany here. The Italians were transported out to help with the farming and the Germans were held because they were seen as a risk and they cut firewood. There’s several of this type of camp in the SW corner apparently. This area is very heavily timbered and with no winter rains, all the parks have been on full bushfire alert since Dec 1^st. This usually starts on Dec 15^th each year. We stayed here a week while waiting to go to Des’s son near Perth. We did a trip to the coastal town of Mandurah one day. It is just another Surfers Paradise really. Very nice, but very commercial. Our first real touch with heavy civilization since we started out. We are in the ranges just east of Mandurah but the days are getting quite hot. Evenings are very cool however. We did a walk to the local falls, but there’s absolutely NO water running there. The bush is starting to struggle. We also took a “forest drive” and saw the local area Dam. It is incredibly low and unless a cyclonic influence comes through during summer, it will be bad news by the beginning of winter next year. It’s strange to us to realise all the rains come in winter. How horrible must that be. Along part of the drive, we came across two very large pipes (we couldn’t quite work out if it was a covered conveyor belt or a pipe) running for miles through the bush, transporting bauxite to the treatment works. There is some areas around here mining the bauxite deposits under the jarrah forests. We even saw one wheat farmer who has apparently sold his land to be mined. We hope to do the Alcoa mines tour when I come back in January. Yesterday we did a 6.5km walk to see the ruins of another town devastated by the 1961 fires. The walk goes to the local cemetery where you can still see the effects of that dreadful January day. Many headstones blackened by the intense heat. Very heart wrenching. They are still trying to catalogue who is buried there as all records were destroyed. Des has enquired about doing some volunteer work with Dept of Conservation in Dwellingup when he comes back here about Jan 4^th. He would like to help tidy up the POW campsite we went through. We have found a local orchard selling at the gate, new season stone fruit etc. We think we are in heaven. The prices are ridiculous compared with what the supermarkets charge in Qld for stone fruit. Peaches, nectarines and plums at $4 per kilo. We will take lots to Perth with us. Lots of vans in this spot now. 6 campers in total. We had the place to ourselves for 3 days. Headed off to Aaron’s on 14^th. A nice trip about 1 1/2hrs towards Perth. It has been a wonderful few days here. We went to dinner a couple of nights ago and saw a fabulous sunset. (Photo included). I couldn’t believe the colour. Well, friends, as this will probably be our last posting before Christmas, may we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Take care and we’ll be in contact in the new year.