All Good Things Must Come To an End

August 30^th

A long and exhausting drive but we are home! The kids were brilliant in the car for so long – we had lots of stops along the way but it was still a 14 hour trip. Claire and Thomas were really keen to get home but Luke and Sam wanted to keep camping forever.

Paul was happy to keep driving so we stopped in Bathurst for dinner and left, excited to know that we would be sleeping in our own beds but also a little sad to know that the trip of a lifetime was coming to an end. I know we can go and see all these places again, and some of them I hope I do but never again will we be able to travel for 10 weeks with all four kids having the adventure of a lifetime so to have had the chance to do it has been wonderful and we are all looking forward to whatever adventures the future holds for us.

Home state here we come

August 29^th

We packed up and left Ceduna nice and early headed for Broken Hill and NSW! Not a lot along the way and we got into Broken Hill about 5.30pm. The one thing I really wanted to do in Broken Hill was take the kids to the School of the Air. When I sat down to read the info about Broken Hill it turns out you have to book a day in advance and the tours have to be booked through the visitors centre and start at 8.15am – that rules out tomorrow. In the end we decided that we would do it when we came back through when we eventually go to Alice Springs.

So the plan is to hit the road nice and early tomorrow and see how far we get.

A Whale of a Time

August 28^th

We left Eucla to finish our trip along the Nullabor. Today was far more interesting than yesterday as the road cuts right along the coastline of the Great Australian Bight. There were lots of photo opportunities which Paul obligingly stopped for. And then we came to Head of Bight – it advertised itself as the best spot for whale watching in Australia – it didn’t disappoint. As we were walking down the ramps we could see mothers playing with their calves and when we got to the bottom we counted around 20 whales (mothers and babies) some as close as 50m from shore. It was brilliant, I could have spent all day watching them play but after a bit over an hour we thought we should probably get moving again.

Back on the road and it was back to boring driving and refereeing squabbles because apparently the kids used up all their good behaviour yesterday. Trying to find a roadhouse to get some lunch proved to be quite a challenge and in the end – good mother that I am – gave the kids a highly nutritious lunch of a packet of chips and a can of drink – no wonder they were squabbling.

Coming into Ceduna there was a quarantine stop so I had gotten the apples out of the back of the car at lunch and asked the kids if they wanted one before we had to throw them out. Luke and Sam had one, Sam had finished his and gave me the core but I didn’t realise Luke was still eating his. There Paul and I are assuring the inspector that there was nothing else in the camper or the car that needed to be declared while Luke is munching away in the back seat. If you hear of a fruit fly outbreak in South Australia you can probably blame the Garments for it.

You can tell it’s time for us to come home; the back door of the car won’t open anymore, the seat that flips to get into the back row no longer flips, the fridge that goes in the car won’t run on 12v anymore (we can thank Luke for that one) we keep blowing fuses in the car and most importantly I think everyone is craving a bit of space away from each other.

We set up camp in Ceduna and are probably the youngest people staying here by at least 40 years so we gave all the grey nomads back their peace and quiet by taking the feral four to get fish and chips for dinner and yet more petrol for the big drive tomorrow – hoping to get as close to Broken Hill as we can tomorrow. Home state here we come!

Farewell WA!

August 27^th

A huge driving day Esperance to Eucla – 918km. Not a lot to report except that it was really boring and the kids were fantastic. I think about half way along Australia’s longest straight stretch of road (it was surprisingly similar to all the other straight roads) I fell asleep.

A special mention to the Caiguna Roadhouse – If you are ever travelling along the Nullabor stop in for one of their burgers with the lot – best I have ever eaten.

Eucla was a great little camping spot overlooking the Great Australian Bight – I imagine everybody who stops there is taking a break from driving – because you certainly wouldn’t stop for more than one night – but you can’t go past $20 a night for a powered site and one dollar for a lovely hot shower.

Cape Le Grand NP

August 26^th

It was up bright and early today because we had a dig day planned. First stop the visitor’s centre to get a map of how to get there. Cape Le Grand National Park was the destination and we set off safe in the knowledge that we had our WA National Parks pass to get us in and as we drove in I hung it over the rear view mirror and noticed it had expired five days ago. The plan then became to plead ignorance to the Ranger, if there was one, and hope that we could scrape together $11 if we needed to get a day pass. The Gods were obviously smiling on us today because as we drove through there was no ranger on duty.

First stop was Lucky Bay – voted Austalia’s whitest beach – I imagine in summer it would be but there was a bit of weed on it today but we had a wonderful time walking along it admiring the incredible colour of the water. Paul found a starfish which the kids thought was great and they really enjoyed watching their feet sink into the sand. All the advertisements for Lucky Bay talk about how the kangaroos come right down onto the beach – we saw none – although in their defence the kids were running around like mad things – enough to scare anything off.

We then went to all the little bays Cape Le Grand had to offer, including Whistling Rock which we though looked more like a wave rock when the boys stood under it. We stopped at Hellfire Bay for lunch which was gorgeous and probably our favourite spot in the National Park. Our last stop was Le Grand Beach which you can drive along to get back to Esperance in the summer months but the lady in the visitor centre didn’t recommend doing at this time of year which was a real shame.

Back in the car we drove further east to Wharton Beach. Paul, our nature spotter managed to stop and turn around so we could see two blue tongue lizards and a snake along the way. When we got there it turned out to be two beaches Little Wharton and Wharton. We headed to the little one first – divine. Probably my favourite spot of the whole day. We then drove down to Wharton Beach which was very nice too but the sand was a bit soft to drive right on to it so we stopped at the bottom of the ramp and that’s when the kids spotted them. Sand dunes. What is a kid to do when they spot a pristine sand dune – run up it and jump down obviously and that’s what they all did and obviously were having a great time judging by the ‘just a bit longer’ that we got when they had to get back in the car.

The next planned adventure was to drive up the rock just outside of Esperance – I had been really looking forward to doing this – I love a good 4WD challenge but somehow we missed the turn off. I would say deliberately but there were virtually no signposts and I was doing the navigating – a bad combination really. So I missed my drive up the rock which I am still disappointed about.

We ended up driving along the Ocean Drive again to get back to the campground and it was even more beautiful today with the sun shining and the best part – Paul finally got to see a whale down south. We have been in whale watching territory for over a week but the weather has been so bad that there is no way we could have spotted one in the rough sea but today it finally happened. We had just stopped to get a photo and as I was getting back in the car we saw this spurt of water and there she was – she spent ages just floating in the waves. I think Paul can leave the south west a happy man.

Watch Out Esperance - here we come!

August 25^th

Turns out it wasn’t a wet pack up after all – you could even say the sun was trying to shine. We hit the road early to head to Esperance. On the way we took a family vote, and we stupidly had so many kids they could outvote us – the decision was not to go to Kalgoorlie and to start heading for home after Esperance. I think Claire particularly is homesick, Sam on the other hand would continue camping for the rest of his life.

Anyway onto Esperance – we arrived at The Pink Lake Caravan Park, after being bitterly disappointed that the Pink Lake was actually very blue. After the kids deserted us for the playground and left Paul and I to do the set up (surprisingly didn’t take any longer hmmmm) we decided to make the most of our time here and head into town and do the Ocean Drive – WOW! The beaches here are just magnificent – we have seen some spectacular beaches on our trip and these ones could possibly be the best – the most crystal clear aquamarine water I have ever seen – somehow I don’t think photos are going to do it justice.

Coming back through town we decided to have dinner out which was a treat for the kids because although we have had a lot of takeaway the only time we went out to dinner was for Maree’s birthday.

Back to the camper trailer and it was time for showers and bed.

Big Surf, Rain and Hail in Albany

August 24^th

We were awoken this morning to the sound of rain (it had been going all night) which promptly turned into the sound of hail and all our hopes of exploring today seemed to go down the drain. But after the hail finished it cleared up a bit and the sun was even making a cameo appearance so we took our chance and took off.

First stop was the visitor centre to get a map. The lady there was wonderful and told us all the best places to go. What neither Paul or I realised was the close ties Albany had with the ANZACs. Apparently it was the sight of the first dawn service in Australia and the majority of soldiers left from here so it was their last sight of home.

We headed out to the Gap and Natural Bridge. Of course the minute we pulled into the car park it started to rain so we sat for a while until it became hard to distinguish between the rain and the sea spray (should give you an idea of how rough the water was). The Gap was fantastic – probably the height of a small office block and the water was just pounding into it and creating fantastic spray. The Natural Bridge was great too and if it had been a clam, still day we probably would have walked over it – not that the pounding surf or the wind stopped Luke from asking.

Back in the car and we headed for the blowholes – in hindsight the sign at the start that said there was no guarantee of them actually blowing probably should have popped a red flag but no – I had seen the Kiama Blowhole blowing and it was great and the surf was really strong so we optimistically headed of on the 1.6km walk that involved stairs and yes, that’s right, rocks. Yeah the blow holes blowed big time. It was like a fissure in the rock where a small amount of sea spray came through.

We then took a drive to Frenchmans Bay and couldn’t believe the aquamarine colour of the water even on a day like today – once again we agreed we will have to come back in summer.

And then the rain came – we waited for it to stop but it didn’t so we headed back to the camper trailer for a late lunch and I took a couple of Panadol for the headache I had woken up with that had grown to epic proportions and promptly slept for a couple of hours. I missed nothing because it rained the whole time and is supposed to do the same tomorrow. That means we will have a first for this entire trip – a wet pack up – not bad for over nine weeks on the road.