Transforming the Maffia Staff Car

Work has begun on the Mafia Staff Car conversion to an o/night camper conversion, it is now a 3 seater people mover instead of an 8 seater, it probably weighs a LOT less at the moment too as the row of 3 seats came in at an estimated (by Bruce and myself) 1/2 a ton and the 2 seats not far behind that, suffice to say they were bloody heavy



There is now a cavernous space on the left hand side for a bed and a 40 litre portable fridge,
this leaves access to the rear between the two sets up front and one set behind the driver, I would have liked to have left the 2 seat unit in but it would have cut of that access so we decided against it.
Along the other side there will be room for all the other STUFF that our modern world demands we take with us... clothes, computer, cooking gear, chair, solar panel, if I decide to go that way, and of course there will be storage under the bed as well.
All in all its shaping up pretty much as I hoped it would.

This is my willing helper, youngest son Bruce, I posed him on the rear steps to highlight the painting efforts of my oldest son Alan, I'm certainly getting a dividend return from them this year and the same can be said for Vicki and Marcus too I don't know what the outcome of the last 7 months would have been without them... huge THANKS TO YOU ALL, including all the other friends and relatives who have been so supportive

The "Indian Pacific"

Hot off the press here is the latest report from your roving reporter, leaving no stone unturned your intrepid reporter brings you the very latest news from "Broken Hill" NSW, this is the home town for the giant resources company Broken Hill Propitiatory (BHP Billiton).... not that that has anything to do with this story but it is the reason the town exists.
As we did a tour of the town we saw at the railway station the famed "Indian Pacific" this famous train travels between Sydney in the East and Perth in the West twice a week a distance of 4352 km each way, this train was huge, over a mile long with 2 giant diesel /electric locomotives to haul it.
The "blogger" in me immediately knew that I must capture some images of this monster for you.. my readers....

Here she sits with power pulsating from the 2 giant engines while a mile of luxurious carriages coil around 3 bends in the line behind them.

I knew that in my effort to record this amazing event I would need to find a suitable site.

As luck would have it we came across this seemingly ideal spot

From this elevated position I would record the passing of the famous train.

As a whistle sounded in the distance I gazed into the setting sun and with camera at the ready prepared to take the shots of a lifetime.


What happened next was to put it mildly a bit of an anti-climax... around the bend crept the largest freight train I have ever seen.... sure it had the same "Indian Pacific" logo emblazoned on its two engines and it was at least a mile long but it just wasn't THE Indian Pacific I had waited for.... to add insult to injury by this time it was getting quite dark up on my perilous perch so I had to admit defeat and settle for some railway image for the blog.

Seen while traveling.

From here and there while traveling.

Wazza "On the rocks"

Peter "On the rocks"

Wildflowers... lots more to come.

It was a gift from Vicki so I had to wear it... please enbiggen!!!

Costal wildflowers.

Canal Rocks , near Margaret River in WA

Wildflowers


Kangaroo paw, the king of the smaller wildflowers

Wattle.. there are hundreds of varieties and countless bushes, trees and shrubs.



More coastal wildflowers.. still heaps to come.

The famous Busselton Jetty WA

Wazza surfing on Wave Rock WA, this rock "wave" is about 50 feet high and very spectacular.

Home at last

Using my very best “Arnie” impression;

“I’M BAAACK”

The house is still standing, the lawn has been recently mown, all's well with the world.

My ultra reliable i30 was content to hide in the carport, I've made 17 trips up & down stairs and all the contents are now in the house... I did NOT say unpacked or put away!!!!!!!

The Home Run

We got away from Esperance at 7am, pretty much as planned with
the time zone difference this was 8.30am in SA time so we were
behind the 8 ball from the get-go



About 2 hours later we pulled into Norseman which is the western end of the
Nullarbor crossing, the town has created a wonderful memorial to the Afghan
cameleers who came through here in the 1800's and early 1900's to supply
the needs of the rapidly growing goldfields around Kalgoorlie (the richest
goldfield in the world).
The camels shown here are 3 dimentional and clad with corrugated iron.


Leaving Norseman and heading due East the "TomTom" showed that the next
turn we would take was 1176 kms away, it also estimated, among other things,
that our arrival at Wudinna would be at 2.46am new years day.

With this cheerful news absorbed we hit the long and amazinly straight track, it
contains the worlds longest straight stretch of 90 miles (140 klm) without a bend

Among the other things to be wary of, as well as other motorists, there are feral
camels, the almost indestructable wombat, and kangaroo's somtimes encountered
by the thousands but on this trip a grand total of 0, in places our other national
emblem the emu can also be a hazard.

About 380kms out the road drops about 500 feet onto a flat plateau at Caiguna,
you travel about 250kms on this level before climbing back up at Eucla.

There is a low range alongside the road for most of this distance.

I have mentioned before that the mind plays funny tricks when it is bemused by
long distance travels, here a bottle tree has been created at the roads edge.

Not to be outdone others have ceated a boot/shoe/sneaker tree nearby.

Climbing onto the upper level at Eucla which is located in WA near the border of SA.

The much photographed signpost at Eucla shows distances to most other
parts of Australia



Starting at Norseman and showing the stopovers as far as Eucla, these stopovers
consist of a service station, roadhouse/cafe, and in most cases a few fairly basic
motel units, Baledonia, caiguna, and Eucla all have a bit more extensive facilities.
There is still another 500 kms to complete the crossing then another 250kms to Wudinna.

I have been using a new hair product that has produced an amazing change in a
short time, I am receiving compliments like... "nice head of hair you have there
mate" quite regularly, its nice when people notice isn't it.

I think I may have already mentioned that the road goes on forever?

We at last are nearly at that turnoff which was 1176 kms away at Norseman,
The reading here is 800 metres not klms, our ETA has been adjusted back
to 1.44am, we actually arrived at wudinna at 1.14am having wished one
another a Happy New Year in the car while traveling.
Hope you enjoyed the trip with us... it was nice to have you along.

Happy New Year.

Back to Wudinna.

Here is the latest on our Christmas saga, we will spend New Years Eve crossing
the Nullarbor Plain which stretches between WA and SA, this is about 1600 kms,
we are hoping that this won't be too uncomfortable for Vicki, she has made a
comfortable little nest across the back seat of the Land Cruiser... fingers crossed.

The beachfront at Esperance WA this is a very nice tourist/farming town.

We spent last night at the farm of friends of Vicki and Rex near Esperance WA
they were neighbors and close friends at Wudinna before moving to WA.
While rex and Ken caught up on the farming practices that vary between the 2
states, Vicki and Judy had a good chance to catch up on all the news.
Today we came to Esperance for some retail therapy for the girls, we will leave
from here at daylight tomorrow for the trip to Wudinna.
Wish us luck!!!!!

Canberra

This post is out of sequence as Canberra was our last step of the trip but I wanted to get the photos up before Rememberance Day (Veterans Day) was too distant a memory.

As usual please click on photos to enbiggen.

This suitably sombre looking building is the National War Memorial it shares pride of place with Parlament House in Canberra as well as in the hearts of all Australians

From the steps of the War Memorial looking down the Avenue of Honour, across Lake Burley Griffen to the old and new Parlament houses.

Same view taken with telephoto lens.

A closer view of old Parlament House

A closer view of new Parlament House with Prime Minister Holt in the foreground, (we had a Prime Minister Harold Holt during the 1960's, I used to claim him as an uncle back then.)
Australia's 17th Prime Minister, Harold Holt was in office from 26 January 1966 to
19 December 1967, when he was officially pronounced dead after drowning at sea.

Back to the War Memorial... The wings on either side of this photo contains plaques bearing the names of all the Australian Service Men and Women who lost their lives in the conflicts we have been involved in




Alongside each name there is a small hole where a poppy (the symbol chosen to remember our fallen with)
can be placed by their loved ones















These flowers had been put up just a few days earlier on Remembrance Day 11/11/2008

As can be seen by the number of poppies a lot of people made the visit to honour their fallen.











One of my favourite displays is this haunting painting titled Midnight at Menin Gate, I apologise for the photo, I had to take it on this angle to avoid glare from the flash.
The story below may be of interest as it tells how the painting came to be done.


One Australian greatly affected by the dead of the Menin Gate was war artist Captain Will Longstaff. Longstaff, living in England at the time, attended the unveiling of the memorial and that night he claimed he was unable to sleep. Going down to the memorial, and walking there in the dark, he had a vision of the soldiers who had marched through the Menin Gate during the war on their way to the front line. This vision he transferred to a great canvas showing ghostly soldiers rising out of the ground in front of the Menin Gate and moving off towards the Menin Road, Hooge, Zonnebeke, Broodseinde and Passaschendaele. Reputedly he painted the scene in one session when still under the psychic influence of his vision. Another story is that he was influenced by an English lady who had lost sons in the war and who told him when they walked together in the evening that she could feel ‘her dead boys all around her’.



Menin Gate at Midnight, Will Longstaff, 1927. [oil on canvas, AWM ART09807]
The painting was an instant success and even scored a private viewing at Buckingham Palace by King George V and his family. Thereafter, following showings in major British cities, it was bought by English aristocrat, Lord Woolvington, and given to the Australian government and people. Shipped to Australia it was quickly added to the growing art collection of the proposed Australian War Memorial. In Australia, too, the ghostly figures of the Menin Gate struck a chord with more than one million Australians who came to share Longstaff’s vision in capital cities when the painting went on tour in 1928–29. Accompanying the painting was a large–scale model of the Menin Gate which had been presented to Australia by the memorial’s architect, Sir Reginald Bloomfield. The Australian High Commission in London had negotiated with the Imperial War Graves Commission for the model arguing that Australians were largely unable to visit the memorial itself:


Another of my favourite stories is about this man