Patrick Taylor Cottage Museum and Church of St John the Evangelist

 Friday 18 September – 181827

The physio this morning has said I can start doing some more walking – some inclines and up to an hour or so. We have booked in to stay here for another 11 nights, while I continue my physio. The remainder of the morning was spent pottering around the campsite.

After lunch we explored Patrick Taylor Cottage Museum – this is the oldest surviving dwelling in Western Australia.  There was an internal section of wall that had been opened to show the construction of the wattle and daub. There were also some beautiful period displays of all sorts of items – we have certainly gone for less decorative and intricate pieces over time.  Patrick Taylor Cottage Museum

We explored the Church of St John the Evangelist in Albany – the first church consecrated in Western Australia. Like many older churches the stained glass is beautiful. We explored the older part of Albany town centre.  Church of St John the Evangelist

Middleton Beach was pretty this afternoon with a rare blue sky and warmth in Albany.  Middleton Beach

Albany Convict Gaol Museum

 Thursday 17 September – 181814

We started the day with a sleep in, then Drew went for a run before a leisurely breakfast. I spent the morning sorting through photographs from both the Cape to Cape Track and the part of the Bibbulmun Track that we have already done; all while resting my calf.

In the afternoon we visited the Albany Convict Gaol Museum, which is located in the Convict Labour Hiring Depot from the 1850’s to 1870’s.  Albany Convict Gaol Museum

The remainder of the day was spent doing some of the boring stuff – swapping the gas cylinder, minor repairs and maintenance, paying bills and buying fuel. Western Australia has a government website where service stations are required to post both their fuel prices for today and tomorrow – this is very useful, as we could see that tomorrow fuel would be 8c per litre more expensive, and with a big tank this quickly adds up.  WA Fuel Watch

We are over Halfway to Perth!

 Thursday 30 July 2026 - 178016

The days are starting later as the sun gets up later here. We were up around 7am and had the best showers either of us have had in years – hot water, plenty of pressure and nice feeling water. We were packed up and on the road at 8:30am.

The Flinders Ranges are extremely green; it almost looks artificial; apparently, they have had the most rain this year in around 50 years. 

We crossed over the Heysen Trail at Horrocks Pass on our way to Port Augusta.  Heysen Trail

When we popped out the other side of the Flinders Ranges there was a large wind farm and we could see the ocean. 

We stopped in Port Augusta for groceries and fuel, as well as slippers for me. It was 2 degrees overnight and my feet froze yesterday evening and this morning.

Iron Knob is very obvious from the road.

We had lunch in Kimba.  Drew was so miserably cold that he swapped to his heavy-duty jumper.

In Poochera we looked at the external displays of the Poochera Museum, including a kerosene tin hut; and the information and model of the dinosaur ant. The dinosaur ant is believed to be the earliest, currently living, form of ant after they evolved from wasps.

We stopped briefly in Ceduna to top up our fuel. We have camped for the night at Cohen Old School Site Rest Area.  

Today brings us past the halfway point in the drive from the Sunshine Coast to Cape Naturaliste.

Darwin WW2 Land and Sea Tour - Jatbula Trip

 Post Day 1 – Friday 23 August

Darwin – WW2 Land and Sea Tour

This morning we were up at 6am and drove to Doctors Gully for a tour of Darwin – WW2 by Land and Sea with tour guide Betty. Doctors Gully was the Catalina Flying Boat Base during WW2 and the area where the ramp was is now used for fish feeding. This began during WW2 when soldiers through their scraps into the water.

https://seadarwin.com/darwin-tours/australias-frontline-wwii/

https://www.enjoy-darwin.com/doctors-gully.html

Other interesting things I learnt:

• ·      A submarine attack was planned prior to the bombing of Darwin
• ·      More bombs were dropped on Darwin than Pearl Harbour
• ·      Bombers flew in from the southeast, ie over the land rather than from over the sea
• ·      Darwin is only 12 degrees south of the equator and 450km from the nearest Indonesian island
• ·      Large numbers of Dutch military evacuated from the Dutch East Indies were based in Darwin during WW2 as well as the Australians and Americans
• ·      Japanese pearl divers had frequented the northern coastline of Australia for many years and were able to provide a lot of intelligence to Japan during WW2
• ·      The indigenous inhabitants had a large number of fresh water wells
• ·      The seats along the esplanade in Darwin are designed to look like antiaircraft guns as the esplanade had many during WW2
• ·      The pillars on Parliament House are designed to look like the fins of bombs falling toward Darwin
• ·      Fujita scrap metal removed the top of four ships from the shipping channel as an act of reconciliation and donated crosses made from these to the Uniting Church (they are on the end of each pew)

During this tour we visited Survivors Lookout, the ammunition store bunker at Charles Darwin National Park and (East Point) Darwin Military Museum, finishing with a boat ride through the harbour viewing Darwin from the water.

The Government house is beside Survivor’s Lookout and looks serene from the outside.  It has survived the WW2 bombing of Darwin as well as multiple cyclones, including Cyclone Tracy. At Charles Darwin National Park an ammunition storage shelter has been fitted out with a great deal of information on WW2 specifically as well as munitions and their storage and movement more generally.  Overall, this was a good informative tour, even though we have been to some of these places before we learnt new things and gained a new perspective.

https://placesofpride.awm.gov.au/memorials/267512

https://northernterritory.com/darwin-and-surrounds/see-and-do/government-house-darwin

https://northernterritory.com/darwin-and-surrounds/see-and-do/wwii-raaf-explosive-storage-area-darwin

https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/200065/charles-darwin-national-park.pdf

https://northernterritory.com/darwin-and-surrounds/see-and-do/darwin-military-museum

Charles Darwin NP Ammunition Store

Darwin Military Museum

Harbour Cruise

Float from Anti-Submarine Boom Net

We then headed back to the caravan park for lunch and to wash our hiking gear and sort out some of our things.  As we didn’t have any pegs, we have draped washing all around the inside of our tent and vehicle.

The afternoon was spent exploring Darwin and visiting some of the places from this morning to spend a little more time. We took a walk through the rainforest and along the shoreline at Doctor’s Gully. 

St Mary’s Star of the Sea Cathedral was our nextspot – to admire the stained glass.  This was both traditional religious themed as well as acknowledging all the individual military corps of both Australia and United States of America.  

https://stmaryscathedral.com.au/

We visited the Darwin Memorial Uniting Church and looked in the windows at the crosses made of salvaged metal from ships sunk in Darwin harbour.

https://dmuc.unitingchurch.org.au/

I admired some of the old stone buildings and saw where the original overland telegraph made land in Darwin to begin its long journey south, just across from Survivor’s Lookout.  We returned to the car via the ever-beautiful Esplanade.

For dinner we headed to Palmerston Markets. These had a lot of the same vendors as at the Mindil Beach markets and the decision was almost as difficult as last night.  In the end we opted for Vegetable Noodles with Honey Chicken, Chicken and Cashew and Salt and Pepper Squid.

https://www.palmerstonmarkets.org.au/

Last up, a swim to cool off before bed.