Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Since Broome we have travelled (mostly) southwards for 4,499 kilometres. We have now added a total of 16,186 kilometres to the truck’s odometer, since we set out on the 12th of April on our epic road trip. We have quite a few Ks still to go before we reach home, so we had an easy day in Perth today before we set out on the final, eastbound leg of our journey.
We didn’t set an alarm this morning and didn’t wake up until after 8.00am. After a leisurely breakfast, the four of us drove up into the Perth hills on a lovely sunny day. Why couldn’t the weather have been as nice when we were at Port Denison?? We drove up to Zig Zag Lookout for a sweeping view across Perth. What was originally mistaken (by me) to be the Swan River resolved into Perth Airport with a bit more squinting, ha, ha. We watched the planes arriving and departing for a while before heading off on the Zig Zag Scenic Drive.
A sign at the beginning of this narrow, winding road said that it was re-opening to motor vehicles from 1 July 2021 for a 12 month trial, as a one way shared path drive (alongside pedestrians and cyclists) from top to bottom between 11.00am and 8.30pm daily. It warned that the city would be monitoring vehicle activity and behaviour across the 12 month trial. It can only be assumed that motorists have been behaving as the gates were open.
The road was indeed steep, narrow and winding with some very tight hairpin bends. On our way down we stopped again to enjoy the serenity and watch the planes a bit more. Ross had said that Perth Airport is not very busy but the air traffic seemed very active as we watched.
From the Zig Zag Scenic Drive, we drove to Kalamunda, where we enjoyed lunch at the sprawling, Federation-era Kalamunda Hotel which is a charming example of the time, with its tiled exterior walls and pressed tin ceilings. The weather was pleasant enough to enjoy an al fresco lunch on the terrace at the front of the building. The northern terminus of the Bibbulmun Track was nearby and we watched a couple of very hot and sweaty trekkers arrive at the end of their journey. No way of knowing how much of the 1,000 kilometre trail they had completed? They may have walked all the way from Albany, they may have completed one of the shorter sections?
Our next stop was at Lesmurdie Falls. The falls are on the Darling Scarp at the edge of the Darling Plateau. The rock here is some of the oldest in the world having formed deep within the earth around 2.6 billion years ago. They are the tilted upper edge of the Yilgarn Craton that is the geological foundation of Western Australia and the Australian Tectonic Plate. Lots more geological information on the interpretative board but, long story short, the gully where the brook and waterfall flow is a short section of the 1,000 kilometre fault that demarcates the separation 135 million years ago of Western Australia and India from when they were once fused together as part of the supercontinent of Gondwana.
After walking to the viewpoints that provide views of the falls we returned to Sharon’s MU-X to drive back to Kinross. It was mid-afternoon so we did get a bit caught up in the afternoon traffic. I think, I was actually asleep for most of the homeward journey. No surprises there, ha, ha.
Almost as soon as we arrived home, we headed out in the truck to refuel and buy a few food items, ready to start our homeward journey tomorrow.
The evening was concluded with a red Thai curry for dinner and some card playing with Ross, Sharon and Kiara tonight. A couple of rounds of Blobs, with Ross and Sharon the winners, followed by two games of Chase the Ace, with Kiara and I victorious. It really wasn’t Bernie’s night at cards tonight.
Steps: 5,240 (3.32kms)
