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.

Walking in the Trees

August 23^rd

We stated the morning with a birthday call to dad – who of course wasn’t home so we left a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday” on his answering machine. Then it was time to pack up and leave our nice little cabin with a bathroom and solid walls – I think our stop here has made us all long for home a bit.

Considering we didn’t have to pack up the camper trailer it took us a surprisingly long time to pack up – just goes to show it isn’t the camper that takes the time it is all the other crap. Finally we were on the road and heading towards Albany via the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk – a lovely country drive along winding, tree lined roads and then we got the inevitable “I feel sick, I think I’m going to vomit” from Luke and Claire. I should add at this point that when we did our Victoria trip a few years ago we were on a lovely winding country road to get to the Otway Fly (another tree top walk) and when we got there Luke said ‘I think I’m going to vomit’ and promptly did. So when he said it this time we did take it seriously and stopped the car so they could get out for some fresh air and a walk around.

Back on the road and it was a huge 5km before we stopped again at Maninjup for morning tea. Apparently the earlier stop did the trick because both kids managed to scoff down a donut that didn’t even threaten to make a reappearance.

We arrived at the Tree Top Walk – it was a tiny bit windy and overcast but thankfully no rain. I have to say it was pretty but nowhere near as good as the one in Victoria and the signs that said no more than 20 people at a time on each span were a bit disconcerting. As I got to the second last walkway (span) the wind really picked up and that thing moved! It was a bit like walking on a metal trampoline – I really couldn’t get off it fast enough.

Back on terra firma and we did the other part of the walk which in my opinion was heaps better (aside from being on solid ground I just found it far more interesting). We had a chance to see Karri and Jarrah trees and walk through the middle of some of them and the kids got to do all manner of ridiculous things – and as Claire was our chief photographer for today she happily took photos of the boys doing ridiculous things.

Back in the car and off to Albany – I will confess to not knowing there were as many vineyards this way but I think my chances of getting the kids to another one would be about nil. As we were driving along we came to a turn off for Swiss Annie’s Licenced Chocolate Lounge (I wanted to go just so I could ask where the unlicenced ones were because I like to walk on the wild side) but I was crushed to find they were closed until September. We got so used to it being the height of the tourist season up north that we are still coming to grips with everything in the south being closed for winter.

We got to our campsite and set up and I headed into town for some groceries (and an hour of peace) and came back and cooked a delicious Thai Green Curry for dinner that was met with a very lukewarm response and I think everyone was snuggled under doonas by 7.30pm as it is so cold.

I Got Nothin'

22nd August

At the kids request it was a day of nothing - well for them it meant veging out in front of the TV in their PJ'S which they did spectacularly well.

Paul and I did a bit of a getting home plan and it looks like we will be home in about 10-12 days.

Highlight of the day was video skyping mum. She was very excited to see the kids. We leave our luxurious little cabin tomorrow and head for Albany.

Up's and Down's

August 21^st

We awoke to a tragedy this morning – ants had gotten into Thomas and Sam’s chocolate from yesterdays visit to the Chocolate Factory so they proceeded to spend the day trying to convince us they needed some kind of restitution Tom even went as low as playing the allergy card for the two of them. My attitude was next time it will teach them to put their chocolate away properly.

It was a good thing we left early this morning – the day started out beautifully and slowly deteriorated until around lunch time when the rain settled in for the afternoon.

We drove south today to Cape Leeuwin – the most southerly lighthouse on mainland Australia – a mere 4500km to Antarctica and it was also where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. We were actually able to see where the currents met which was pretty cool. We climbed to the top of Cape Leeuwin lighthouse which was gave us great views to Augusta and out to sea – sadly we didn’t spot any whales. The lighthouse is 38m tall and has 176 steps and the lighthouse keepers used to have to climb them carrying two 16kg containers of kerosene – talk about needing to be fit.

I was very proud of Claire who climbed it despite her fears of heights and enclosed spaces but she made it up and even walked around the outside up the top which was incredibly windy.

Back down the bottom we then went to take a look at the old waterwheel which was built in the late 1800’s to supply water when they were building the lighthouse and later supplied the water for the four lighthouse keepers and their families.

We took a bit of a drive around Flinders Bay which was beautiful even when it was raining I can only imagine how lovely it must be in summer – a good excuse to come back in summer to check it out. While we have had a great time in southern WA you can certainly see it would be a huge tourist destination over summer.

After our little scenic drive it was off to Jewel Cave. There are several caves in the area but sadly when there is six of you they are not cheap to go down so we had to narrow it down to one and Jewel Cave was the winner (I suspect it was because of the name because my vote went to Lake Cave which has an underground lake). We have been to a few caves now Kelly (on Kangaroo Island), Wellington Caves and of course Jenolan Caves but Jewel Cave I think might be the best. 250 steps throughout the tour but there were several viewing platforms along the way and massive caverns so you got a really good view of the stalactites and stalagmites. Claire didn’t think she could handle being in a cave and at first I was really disappointed she didn’t come because it was so open but the further we moved into the caverns the space did become smaller and she would have freaked out when the guide turned the lights out – it was pitch black you literally couldn’t see your hand in front of your face (yes I tried).

Back up the 250 steps and we were back on the surface after having been 42m underground at the lowest point and back to Claire who apparently had a very enjoyable hour by herself playing her iPod.

We arrived back at the cabin in the pouring rain so the kids planted themselves in front of the TV (getting all their viewing in while they can) and I enjoyed a spa bath with a locked bathroom door!

Winery Day

August 20^th

I am a genius even if I do say so myself. Today was winery day and I knew the kids would have a limited tolerance so I had a plan.....the first stop was The Berry Farm which not only sold wines but also all manner of berry products and had a kids playground. I came away from there with a delicious coffee liqueur.

The next stop I planned was A Maze’n. Yes this one was to keep the kids entertained – Paul and the kids lost themselves in the huge hedge maze while I sat and watched while having coffee and scones. All was going well until it started to rain – we played a few inside games for a while hoping it would stop but it didn’t so we headed of to the next stop on my itinerary The Fudge Factory – a short stop because Thomas couldn’t have anything. We then went to a little cafe for lunch and on to the Candy Cow.

The Candy Cow is where my genius kicked in – I let all the kids choose a bag of lollies and every time we stopped somewhere they weren’t interested in they would get 5 of their lollies if they had behaved – worked brilliantly! Nothing like a bit of bribery to get what I want.

We then stopped off at the Paradini winery – they got their lollies easily here because there were tv set up with Playstations. Paul and I did a bit of tasting and made a few purchases. The next stop was one supposedly for the kids but Paul and I quite liked too – The Chocolate Factory mmmmmmmmm. Chocolate everywhere I turned and massive tasting bowls which the kids loved. Another couple of purchases and we headed to another couple of wineries – The Woody Nook and Swings and Roundabouts and yes a couple more purchases

They were the last of the wineries for the day but we were right near my jewellery designer from yesterday and dragged Paul in with me this time. We found a really lovely ring that is handcrafted and really lovely and reminds me of this incredible adventure we have had (much better than a T-shirt).

Back to our cabin to get all the washing I put on the line last night into the dryer – all the rain we had today and is forecast for tomorrow the dryer it has to be!

Busselton

August 19^th

Well after the last two less than exciting days we have had a wonderful day today. We left Bunbury this morning and drove all the way to Busselton – took us a mammoth hour and three quarters and that was only because we took the tourist drive through the Tuart Forrest which was really pretty. It was a forrest that wasn’t overly thick with trees and the floor was covered with grass and on the other side of the road arum lilies – which are apparently a weed over here but look lovely.

We took a chance and went straight to the place we are staying to see if we could drop off the camper trailer – we were in luck – not only could we drop off the camper but we could also get into the cabin so we could drop off all our stuff.

You would think the kids had never been in a cabin before, the excitement level was so high. I have to admit I have been looking forward to here as well – not that the camper trailer hasn’t been brilliant but separate bedroom from the kids and some solid walls are a bit of a treat after all this time.

Anyway back to today’s adventure. Our first stop was Busselton Jetty (those of you who watched Materchef know what it looks like). It is approximately 2km long and has an underwater observatory at the end of it. It was very disappointing to get there and find the observatory has been closed for nearly three weeks because of poor visability. We decided to go out to the end of the jetty anyway but because of how cold it was an our lack of any kind of long sleeves we went on the tram. Poor Sam ended wrapped in my jacket (the only one we had between the six of us)and falling asleep on the train.

After the jetty we were all getting a bit peckish and ended up at the Dunsborough Tavern for lunch which was great because it had a huge indoor play area for the kids. After a delicious lunch we headed out to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse which had spectacular views of Geographe Bay.

We then called into a jeweller who I had seen and advertisement for in one of the south west WA brochures we have. He makes individual pieces with Australian designs – I’m still deciding if I can afford one. Claire came in with me while the boys sensibly waited in the car which meant we didn’t have too long to look because we knew their patience would be limited.

After the jeweller we headed off to Canal Rocks. Claire opted to stay in the car while the rest of us walked along the boardwalk and scrambled over the rocks – the swell was fairly big so we got some amazing photos. Thomas and Luke tried some rock modelling and Sam found a little cave to hide in.

Back to our cosy little cabin and the kids went straight to the jumping pillow and the water park which then boys returned from soaking wet. While they were doing that Paul went into town and bought some food for dinner and breakfast while I got to go and do more washing.

It has been very nice hiding out in my very own bedroom planning which vineyards we are going to visit tomorrow and lying back in bed watching TV and I am looking forward to all the kids going to bed and soaking in a lovely hot bath.

World's tackiest toursit attractions

August 18^th

What to do? What to do? I decided we should go to Wellington National Park and do a walk to Honeymoon Pool which looked really pretty and then we would play it by ear but the kids were keen to go to Gnomesville (yes it is what you think it is) and Apple Fun Park.

Someone really should have known better than to give me the map. Not sure how it happened but we managed to drive through the national park, which was really pretty but somehow ended up in Collie. Collie is a mining town with very little to offer a tourist. There were simulated mine tours but they only ran at 2pm if there was a guide available (it was currently 10.30). The lady in the visitors centre suggested we go to the rail museum which was open – yeah she should probably check that because we went there and not so much with the open.

Not surprisingly we left Collie and bowed to the majority pressure and went to Gnomesville – I’ll add here that it actually came up as a Point of Interest on the GPS. Gnomesville is basically a corner of a country road where people have left literally thousands of gnomes of all different shapes and sizes doing all manner of ridiculous things – the kids LOVED it.

After going to possibly the tackiest tourist attraction Australia has to offer – where else was there to head but Apple Fun Park. The brouchures advertise it as Western Australia’s largest free fun park. Apparently it was donated to the town of Donnybrook by an anonymous benefactor (also from the brochure). It is a big playground which of course the kids thought was fantastic. We bought some pies at the local bakery and sat in the park and had lunch while the kids played for ages – at least they should sleep well tonight.

When Gnomesville and Apple Fun Park are the best this area can come up with in terms of tourist attractions I would probably skip this area of WA. Looking forward to Busselton tomorrow – we have lots planned to do from there!

Bunbury

August 17^th

Farewell Burgesses – it has been wonderful travelling with you. It was a bit of a sad pack up this morning as another phase of our holiday has come to an end. We are heading south to Bunbury while the Bugesses are heading to Kalgoorlie and then home.

Bunbury was quite a surprise – far bigger than I had expected and some of the houses around the marina we amazingly massive. We were able to check in early which was good as it was just under a two hour drive from Perth. Of course the minute we started to unhitch it started to rain so we left the camper trailer and went for a drive around town and figured we would set up when it fined up a bit (thankfully it did).

One of the main reasons we wanted to stop in Bunbury was the dolphin discovery centre but when I went in to see how much it was going to cost the lady at the front desk pretty much talked me out of it – she said they had seen a few dolphins in the distance on Saturday but there really wasn’t anything happening at the moment.

I ended up spending the afternoon looking at brochures trying to work out what to do tomorrow and having a nana nap. I have to say it is very nice having our own bathroom here though – even if the kids left me with no hot water!

Rottnest?

August 16^th

Will we? Won’t we? Will we? Won’t we? Eventually we decided a bit of rain wasn’t going to spoil the one thing we all wanted to do while we were in Perth – so off to Rotto we go! We booked online and the only ferry over was leaving at 12.30pm which was good because we were able to have lunch before we left and took snacks with us.

The ferry over was really rough – poor Thomas didn’t handle it well and was looking very green about halfway over – which was probably made worse by the fact that Claire Luke and I all wanted to sit upstairs at the front which is where there would have been the most movement. Paul and Thomas ended up downstairs at the back while the rest of us went ‘whoa’ every time a wave splashed high enough to reach the window.

Eventually Tom’s time in hell came to an end and we arrive at Rottnest. Of course the minute we stepped off the ferry it started raining – but have no fear we all packed our rain jackets. We set out for the visitor centre and bought our bus tickets. Our original plan had been to hop on the bus and jump off somewhere but the buses only came every hour and the weather was a bit too unpredictable to spend an hour anywhere so we stayed on the bus and went for a tour right around the island (about 45mins) and our bus driver was great – just like our own personal tour guide.

The bays looked just divine and the big kids and I were very disappointed that it wasn’t warmer so we could go snorkelling – the general consensus was that we would have to come back over here when it was warmer which won’t be any hardship because we have all fallen in love with WA.

The most important thing though was that we got to see some Quokkas. We got to see a mother and her baby and then once we started walking around the settlement there were heaps. What surprised me most about them was how tame they seemed to be - not at all phased by touristed like me getting up in their face with a camera.

Once back at the settlement we went to the museums and learnt about the history of the island and how it was used as an aboriginal prison and a boys reformatory and how it used to provide a massive amount of Western Australia’s salt.

We headed back on the 4.30pm ferry which to Thomas’s relief was a great deal calmer and drove back to camp – picking up pizza for dinner. After dinner we went down to Deb and Mikes camp with the plan to have a last drink with them seeing it was our last night together but in the end it was just too cold to sit outside and snuggling under a warm doona won out.

Another Wet Perth Day

August 15^th

What a wet miserable and horrible day. So far Perth’s weather hasn’t really inspired us to leave the camper trailer!

It is car servicing day – so Paul and Michael left at 7:45 this morning to drive the cars into the city – we thought it was about 15 minutes away – yeah more like 45mins and then they had to work out how to get back to the campground. They eventually arrived back a bit after 10:30.

With no car and miserable weather we lolled around in bed until just before 9am. Sam and I went for a shower – well I went for a shower and Sam came along as my audience. As Paul was doing the car thing I thought the least I could do was put on a couple of loads of washing and do some housework – possibly the best thing about living in a camper is that the housework takes less than five minutes – even I can handle that much.

It was a great opportunity for the kids to do some schoolwork – well I thought it was a great opportunity - them not so much. I won that little battle and they have all done some maths and Claire and Thomas have caught up on their journals. Seeing as the homework was done they have spent the rest of the day between the park (in the brief moments of windy sunshine), the television room and our camper playing with their iPods.

I on the other hand have been very industrious getting the washing and drying done, getting up to date on my blog, cooking dinner for tomorrow night and even having Debbie over for coffee and homemade cake – who says you have to lower your standards when you are travelling!

Paul and Michael were funny – after lunch they had to plan their route back to pick up the cars – which they did while Deb and I had coffee. It had a certain Amazing Race feel to it – ‘you are in Perth and you have to get from point A to point B’. Apparently they made it because after leaving at 2.30 they made it back by 4:45pm.

Once the cars were back (can I just say Toyota in Perth was great they washed and vacuumed the inside of the car) we decided to go out to dinner. My Sizzler-loving family thought they should see if Sizzler in WA is any different to Sizzler in NSW (it isn’t you still have to get up and get your own food which in my opinion defeats the purpose of going out to dinner). The Burgesses decided to join us as the thought of sitting in the tent in the freezing rainy weather was not appealing. So we did the right thing and Googled the addresses and worked out which one was closest and drove there – yeah closed for renovations. Now any other normal family would have said let’s just find somewhere else but noooooooo not mine we had to find another Sizzler. So after driving a further 20 minutes in the pouring rain we got there only top have to queue to get in (yet another reason I hate Sizzler).

In the end we had a nice meal and the kids loved it. We headed home with some very overfull bellies in the car (I won’t mention names but let’s just say Sam was the only one who didn’t eat himself silly). Back at the camper trailer and it was straight to bed – too damn cold to do anything else.

Fremantle Markets and Miserable Weather

August 14^th

Well we certainly put the camper trailers ability to withstand wind and rain to the test last night. What a miserable night – and I can say that from experience because I was awake for most of it. Woke up this morning and it wasn’t looking much better so we decided to go to Fremantle Markets seeing as it was undercover.

When we left the sun was looking like it was going to make an appearance so we left in light weight clothes – by the time we got to Fremantle it was freezing. We did a spot of shopping and then decided to take a drive around. As we were heading to Cottesloe we saw a heap of kite surfers which the kids (especially Thomas) thought was fantastic. We then went for a drive through Perth which reminded me of a lowline Sydney.

It was then back to the campground just in time for it to get overcast and threaten to rain again. After lunch the big kids and I had another game of cards until they decided they should check out the TV room – haven’t seen Claire and Thomas since!

The kids seemed to divide their afternoon between the playground and the TV room – in the interests of good parenting Paul and I thought we should probably keep an eye on the kids in the playground and as luck would have it Deb and Mikes campsite is right next to it. So we poured ourselves a wine and looking like two drunks carried them over to Deb and Mikes and settled in with some cheese and biscuits to ‘supervise’ the kids.

Once it got really dark the kids once again decided they were hungry and didn’t want to play any more so back to the camper trailer to fix yet another meal (a bag of pasta and a tub of sauce). After dinner we settled in for the night as it was so cold.

Perth here we come

August 13^th

Yet another pack up day but it is only a couple of hours to Perth so we took our time. I think I managed to sleep nearly the whole way from Jurien Bay to the outskirts of Perth – I am such an exciting travelling companion. We arrived at the campground at about 1pm and set up. We are here for four nights so we did a full set up with bed flys and awning so it took a bit longer. We then went in search of a supermarket and some lunch which we found not too far away.

When we got back the kids headed straight for the playground while I unpacked the groceries. After I finished unpacking I sat down with the Perth brochures and I have to say there was nothing here that I thought “I have to do” other than go to Rottnest Island which we are planning to do on Tuesday.

It started raining at about 5pm and it doesn’t look like it is going to stop any time soon. At around 7pm we had a visit from Deb who was returning from a day at Rottnest which she said had been wonderful.

The big kids and I spent the rainy evening playing cards while Paul and Sam watched a movie. Sounds like it would be an early night but I don’t think anyone (except Luke) went to sleep until after 10pm.

A Day of Very Little in Jurien Bay

August 12^th

Didn’t even hear Deb and Mike leave this morning but when we got up their campsite was empty. We had elected to stay an extra night in Jurien Bay while they headed to Perth. We had a lovely day. We went for a walk out on the jetty while the kids played in the playground and then we came back and the kids did some school work (under sufferance – I have to say I have been pretty slack with the schoolwork – never mind I will have two weeks of school holidays to help them catch up).

We unpacked the bag on top of the car and sadly had to pack away some of the summer clothes and dig out some winter ones. We also packed away a lot of stuff we knew we wouldn’t be needing from now on which is going to make set up and pack up a bit quicker and easier.

We also sat down and did a rough plan of where we wanted to go after Perth and rang and made a few bookings. None of us can wait for Bussleton – they had a stay 2 and get 2 free deal on cabins so it worked out that it was only $70 more to stay in a cabin than it was to camp for four nights – we opted to pay the extra and have four nights of luxury.

At about 5pm we drove down to the Pinnacles so we could see them at sunset. I will confess to having fairly low expectations because all the photos I have seen they look like rocks in sand. Well I guess they were but they were impressive rocks in sand and there were thousands of them in varying shapes and sizes. They are limestone deposits in the earth and after walking out to the lookout we realised that the driving track you could do was literally a 4km drive right through them. We raced back to the car and started on the track not wanting the light to fade before we could finish it and I have to say it was excellent. Yes it was rocks in sand but like no other rocks in sand you will ever see.

We cooked a delicious dinner of homemade hamburgers and all ended up in the camper trailer nice and early because it was so cold. The boys watched a movie while Claire played on her ipod and I updated my journal (which I then promptly deleted!).

Kalbarri to Jurien Bay

August 11^th

Another pack up day and we are heading south to Jurien Bay – not because there is anything special there but it is only 20 mins from the Pinnacles and a good halfway point to Perth. On the way out of Kalbarri we stopped to have a look at the Pink Lake. As we were driving we had no idea why it was pink and were coming up with all sorts of sinister reasons – turns out it is a mixture of a special type of algae and a high concentrate of salt – quite frankly not nearly as interesting as what we were coming up with.

It was a really pretty drive to Jurien Bay – very different to what we had been used to – lots of green and the most beautiful wildflowers. We arrived in Jurien Bay mid afternoon and by the time we were set up it was time to cook dinner and shower. Sad to say but we were very antisocial tonight because I was being eaten alive by sandflies. I don’t think Deb and Michael minded because they are planning to be up and gone early in the morning so they can see the sunrise over the Pinnacles.

Kalbarri

August 10^th

Everyone got up nice and early to go to the pelican feeding – clearly I was the only one who listened to the ranger at Monkey Mia who had told us the Pelicans from Kalbarri were all at Lake Eyre at the moment. So I wisely grunted and rolled over in bed and told them to go without me – not surprisingly they were all back within about 15 minutes – but oh I enjoyed my 15 minutes of solitude.

Once we were all up and going we headed to the national park to do the walk to Natures Window – a window in the rock that frames the Murchison River below. Thomas wasn’t feeling well so he stayed in the car while the rest of us went for a walk. Although Sam is still refusing to walk and insists o riding on Paul’s shoulders.

The rock formation was lovely and the views down to the river were beautiful. When we got back to the car Tom was feeling worse so instead of doing the other walk we had planned we headed back to the camp so he could have a sleep. After he woke up (and I will confess that I had a nanna nap too) he was feeling heaps better so we went across the road and hired some paddle boats and kayaks. Claire and I opted for single person kayaks and Luke and Thomas shared one paddle boat and Paul and Sam the other. I am kicking myself because I forgot to take the camera with me because as Tom was getting into the paddleboat he misstepped and fell straight in the water and the guy who was holding it said ‘guess I should have been holding that tighter’.

Eventually we were all out on the water having a great time until a big launch started heading our way. I knew the boys would be okay but I had visions of Claire being tipped out of her kayak from the boats wake – after telling her to ride out the waves she yelled out “that was awesome can we do it again”.

Paul and the boys headed in after 30 mins and went to the park, Claire and I spent another half hour paddling around and raced back to shore after we rode the wake of another boat.

We walked further up the beach to see how the fishing was going – poor Deb, it seemed like everyone was catching something except her. After a while we decided to go back to the campground and ended up taking all the Burgess kids with us – we passed one lady and I heard her say to her husband ‘eight kids!’

Paul went out and picked up pizza for dinner – never known a pizza to have so much topping – two pieces and we were full! Sat up chatting for a while but we have discovered that the further south we head the colder the nights are getting.

Shark Bay to Kalbarri

August 9^th

Pack up day again – Matt and Maree left really early (we had a sad farewell) so they could spend as much time as they could with Maree’s sister. We left at a more leisurly pace and stopped in a Hamelin Pool on the way to Kalbarri. Hamelin Pool is the home to ancient stomatelites which I am sure are really interesting to a marine biologist but are essentially rocks in the water – impressive rocks – but still just rocks in water.

We arrived in Kalbarri at about 2pm. Kalbarri is a really pretty little resort town where everything closes at 2pm even on a weekday. So getting the kids some hot chips for the hot chip sandwiches I promised them for lunch proved almost impossible. Eventually I found a little cafe who were still closing up who said they could make some for me. Clearly having read the desperation in my face they promptly charged me a small fortune for them.

Our campsites were right near the kids playground and I pretty much lost my kids for the rest of the afternoon so Deb and I cracked out the dip and bickies and a box of wine and settled in for the night.

Maree's Birthday in shark Bay

August 8^th

Happy birthday Maree!!! Our last official day of all travelling together and it is Maree’s birthday. We eventually got away after she had taken all her birthday calls and drove back into Cape Peron National Park only this time we were heading right up to the top which meant letting the tyre pressures down – yay sand driving! The roads were actually pretty good just a few bits here and there and nothing that required low range.

The first lookout we stopped at was really pretty and Paul, Deb, Maree and various kids decided to walk to the next lookout. Matt , Mike and I along with any leftover kids drove around. Obviously we arrived first and just below the lookout were several fishing boats who were hauling in the fish but more impressively I got to see four stingrays and a shark . The walkers eventually arrived, apparently having surprisred Maree with several birthday performances along the way and we jumped in the cars and found a beach to have lunch. The Burgess’s and Wooldridges got out their fishing gear and we decided to explore the park a bit further.

After having been to Little Lagoon yesterday we thought it only fair to check out Big Lagoon – yeah looked just like Little Lagoon only bigger.

After the 25km drive off the beaten track to Big Lagoon we decided to head out of the national park and drive down to Shell Beach. As we arrived at Shell Beach we saw the most pristine white beach but when we got closer we realised it wasn’t sand but ground up shell. As we got closer to the waters edge the shells became whole – the kids (and I include Paul in this) had a great time grabbing handfuls of shells and throwing them in the air to pretend it was snowing.

We got back to the campground about the same time as the others and had just enough time to have a quick shower before going out to dinner to the local seafood bistro to celebrate Maree’s birthday. It was a bittersweet dinner knowing that our travelling time together was over but we still managed to have a brilliant time.

After dinner we headed back to camp to sing and give Maree the birthday cake Claire and I had made her but we were all too full from dinner to eat it so she is going to share it with her sister and her family tomorrow.

A Busy Day In Shark Bay

August 7th

Well we arrived at the Monkey Mia dolphin feeding on time – unfortunately somebody forgot to tell the dolphins. We could see them playing in the distance but apparently they weren’t all that hungry. While we were waiting though we got a chance to talk to the ranger who told us they are only allowed to feed 5 grown female dolphins and they can only feed them three times before midday. Apparently when there were no restrictions a lot of dolphins died because the mothers were relying on being fed and weren’t teaching their young how to find food.

Eventually the dolphins came in and a very excited Claire was selected from the crowd to feed one called Puck. She very kindly took her brothers into the water with her but they were disappointed they didn’t actually get to feed it a fish (they are very strict about how much the dolphins can be fed it is only a small portion of their daily needs).

After the dolphin feeding finished we headed to the gift shop (we had to get a magnet for our collection) and managed to buy quite a bit more. While Paul was paying I ducked off to catch up with an old school friend who lives at the resort which was great – she hasn’t changed a bit!

After we left Monkey Mia we went to the old sheep station located in the National Park. The kids enjoyed sitting in the artesian hot tub which lived up to its name because the water was really hot. As the kids were getting out my nature spotting husband spotted and emu having a bath in the pond. When we first saw him he was up to his neck in water by the time we got close enough to take a photo he was standing in the pond and we got to see him hop out and start preening himself.

As we were leaving the sheep station and heading toward Little Lagoon to meet the others for lunch we had to come to a complete stop while a pair of emus had a play in the middle of the road – naturally I had to get out and take heaps of photos.

Little Lagoon was lovely and calm and Claire couldn’t wait to go for a swim – thankfully Josh had read the sigh that said there were poisonous stonefish in the water and you couldn’t swim – yet another shining example of my mothering skills!

The kids had a great time playing on the beach before we left for Eagle Bluff. Eagle Bluff was a great lookout where you could apparently spot stingrays and sharks – blind me spotted nothing but then other than a few small fish neither did anyone else.

After Eagle Bluff the Wooldridges headed off to try their luck at fishing while the Garments and Burgesses went to Ocean Park – a natural aquarium built on the waters edge. The young guy who took us on our tour was really interesting and actually went to the same high school as Paul (small world). We got to see stingrays and mantarays as well as a couple of different types of sharks (including one called the nervous shark – called this because he is scared to be around anything that is bigger than him). We also saw all types of fish that can be found locally and a cute little turtle called Bob.

Back to the campsite and before we had turned the engine off I was getting the usual cry of “what’s for dinner?” to which I gave my usual response of “food” which apparently wasn’t a good enough answer – so I had a glass of wine (or two or three) and pondered the question by which stage I was beyond it and Paul cooked.