Explorers - Treasure Ships

We're just about to start a new topic on explorers. Today we went to the Art Gallery of Western Australia to see the Treasure Ships exhibition. There were plenty of treasure boxes on display:

This treasure box is made from a whole coco de mer nut.

There were some amazing old maps, scrolls and books. Of course we weren't allowed to photograph the best exhibits so we did some drawings instead.

A treasure ship with cannon hatches by L

A sailing treasure ship by R

Dagger and scabbard

Shadow puppet

Dragon boat necklace

Treasure cabinet

Games table

Leopard print

Adventure West - Sweltering in the Stirling Ranges

Today we were going to climb Bluff Knoll (above) but the forecast is for 38C and thunderstorms. Too hot and too much chance of bushfires. Instead we opted for the scenic drive and short walks to the lookouts.

Today we hit 5,000km since we left Sydney.

Adventure West - Stirling Range National Park

We're now visiting Stirling Range National Park, our last stop before Perth. Typically the wind stopped blowing and the temperature soared as we moved away from the coast. It didn't stop us from hiking up Mount Trio! The walk is classified as hard and it was very steep with lots of steps for the first part. The views of the mountains from the top were great though!

Not sure where the nudists were as we passed this sign on the way

Adventure West - Fitzgerald River National Park

We stayed for a couple of nights in the bush camp at Hamersley Inlet in Fitzgerald River National Park. We spent time paddling and soaking in the inlet lake, getting windblown at the beaches and climbing up East Mount Barren. The bush camp was great, no artificial light at all, so very dark and great for looking at the stars.

There are many unusual plants in the park including many that only exist here and nowhere else in the World. We liked these unusual cabbage like plants that were growing up to about 2m tall.

Adventure West - Esperance Museum

To get away from the wind and rain we visited Esperance Museum. Its stuffed full of all sorts of old junk including a full size boat and train.

Collection of frogs

Natural history including a collection of bull ants

They had a display of large pieces of debris from the re-entry of Sky Lab, see previous post.

Model of Sky Lab

Pieces of Sky Lab that plummeted to Earth