Lancelin to Monkey Mia..

Just north of Perth we stopped in at Lancelin to try our hands at sandboarding.  After warning the kids to expect to get sand in every part of their body and clothes ….. eyes, ears, hair, nose, pockets, shoes…we hit the slopes..... and sand DID get EVERYWHERE...some were even surprise to find their undies full of sand!!!

Despite all that is was rated as COOL!!

After Andrew did a quick recovery of a tourists vehichile, that he’d driven over a small sand hill and into a ditch (hopefully that’s the only time we use the snatch straps), we were on our way again.

We stayed in Jurien Bay and from there visited the Pinnacles.  I wasn’t sure what to expect – when you’ve seen something in pictures so often and have an idea in your head – you never know whether it's going to be true or not to the real thing.  We were all amazed, by many aspects – the land size, the quantity, the remoteness and seemingly unique only to that area (although who knows what lies beneath the expansive sand dunes all around).  It’s quite a sight.  If you can imagine land strectching for miles with low native scrub covering it and then almost out of nowhere are valleys of sand with huge mounds sticking out of them – quite a sight.  Little research has been done so there is no explanation for their formation – but that doesn’t take away from the extraordinary sight.  One that has to be seen really – the photos don’t do them justice.

The following day was Alice’s birthday – 9!!  Pancakes and special treats all day.  She had a fun day – thanks to all her special friends for their cards and the gifts that had been delivered via various means.  She certainly didn’t miss out!!

We headed north from Jurien Bay to Kalbarri.  The town of Kalbarri is just on the border of Kalabrri National Park, yet another amazing national park in WA.  We only spent one day in the park but that was enough to witness is beauty.  Yet again the pictures don’t seem to do it justice.  The Western Australian landscape, although harsh in many aspects, is quite soft and beautiful.  The native bush here is so different to that seen on the East coast.  It’s doesn’t grow very tall, which allows you to see as far as your eye can see.  We’ve said so many times how beautiful it would be to return in wildflower season.  We can see snippets of colour here and there – delicate bright colours – one can only imagine would it would look like in the height of the season.

 After a day of walking in the national park it was time for a quiet fish as the sun went down....

Our next stop was Hamelin Station -  our fist station stay and to be honest we stopped here as they had a huge indoor kitchen and eating area – the only way to get away from the flies.  There has been a plague around this area since the cyclone earlier in the year.  Although they are getting better it's impossible to cook and eat outside.  From here we made the 1 hour journey further north along the peninsula to Monkey Mia.  What a morning we had.  In recent times the feeding at Monkey Mia has been heavily regulated and they only feed 5 of the returning dolphins now – and only adult females.  They found that if they feed new mothers then their young never learn to find food themselves and the young were dying in huge numbers.  On top of that they only feed them three times between 8 and 12 noon.  We missed the first feed so we were banking on the right dolphins coming in again.  They did not disappoint!!  On the next feed there were 3 dolphins to feed – but probably a total of 8 – 10 dolphins swimming around.  Out of the 40 or so people there Alice was chosen to feed Nicky. 

Then on the last feed of the day at about 10:30 Olivia was chosen to feed Piccolo.  An amazing morning in a beautiful place. 

Margaret River and Perth

Our four days in the Margaret River chalet with Andrew’s parents seemed very removed from the previous 3 weeks on the road in the tent.  Isla was most excited about having stairs in the house!  We were just excited about the house part!

Our first full day together was Olivia’s 11^th birthday.  We enjoyed a pancake breakfast and then headed north to Busseltown.  Busselltown’s claim to fame is its 2km long pier – rich in history, which was interesting to read about in the information centre.  We took the little train out along the pier and back.

After a tour of the old Goal and a birthday coffee we headed west to Canal Rocks.  We have been amazed at the beauty of the WA coastlines.  Both in the ruggedness and in their pure white sandy coves.  Canal rocks were a perfect example of rugged coastline.

While ‘the boys’ went out fishing ‘the girls’ took a trip to Donnybrook ‘to pick apples straight from the trees and eat them!’  The girls could hardly believe their luck – fruit for the picking….and eating!  They were in heaven.

A couple of winieres were enjoyed and some local produce sampled – our kind of heaven.

We moved onto Perth for 4 days – the most important day being Andrew’s 40^th.  The day before we spent on Rottnest Island – what a gorgeous island, with spectacular scenery and rich in history too.  The girls (except for Isla) loved the Quokkas. 

We spent Andrew’s birthday in Perth……

…and then joined his Mum and Dad for dinner out in Fremantle.  In hindsight we would’ve been better off staying somewhere down near Freemantle as we seemed to spend our time heading back down there – what a gorgeous place Freo is.  In parts it felt a bit little New Orleans.  We had a lovely meal and the girls played in the sand pit at Little Creatures – a perfect end to a lovely day.

We bid Andrew’s parents farewell the next day and headed for the Aquarium of WA, which claimed to have the longest underwater tunnel in an Australian Aquarium.  We were really impressed with it – the girls loved it and we did too – winner all round.

And thus ended our time with Andrew parents and our time in the ‘big smoke’.  Time to head back out into the land of long straight roads and roadhouses!!

Till next time.

A.

Esperance to Augusta.....

The past week has been amazing.  Although the weather hasn’t been the kindest it couldn’t damper our enjoyment of the stunning beaches in and around Esperance.  We sat in the car (while it poured with rain) for ages amazed by the colour of the water.  The white sand and the aqua water are like nothing any of us have ever seen before.

Beaches around Esperance - the girls first swim.

We spent a few nights in Esperance stretching our legs before heading out to Cape Le Grand.  We were lucky to grab 1 of the 15 spots in the national park – many people are often turned away as it is a first come first serve basis.  But the weather had probably put a few people off.  We arrived in the rain but day 2 at Le Grand was stunning – we drove the 22 km beach track (Andrew can tick that off his bucket list now) back into Esperance, played beach cricket on the best beach wicket we’re ever likely to see, saw wild horses on the beach and had kangaroos hop through the camp ground.  To top it off the girls made instant best friends with two other families – going on night walks, playing on the beach and generally having a lovely time.

Our campground and the 2 (of only 7 in the park) wild horses we saw.

From there we drove to Fitzgerald River National Park – we arrived late in the afternoon and were treated to a stunning sunset.  Only to wake the next morning to weather that reminded me off England.  Misty soaking wet rain.  We sat and played Monopoly, instead of hiking down to the coast, and in a tiny break in the weather we packed up the tent and reluctantly move on.  Assuring ourselves that there will be many more hikes and beautiful beaches along the way.

We drove on to Albany.  We loved Albany and it’s rich settlement and ANZAC history.  The girls loved the Old Gaol and the funny lady on the desk who pretended we were prisoners and locked us in the blackhole.  We boarded the Amity replica and learned about the first people to settle in Albany.  Albany was also the last Australian port visited by the Australian and New Zealand convoy, the last time many of them saw Australia – our timing and the 100^th anniversary this weekend made it even more moving.

We left Albany and again headed west to the Valley of the Giants.  The pictures say it all!

We made the decision to drive on to Augusta from the Valley of the Giants – chasing the good weather to be had on the west coast.  It was a long day and we finished the set up in the dark.  But we were rewarded with beautiful weather and a full day the next day to enjoy it.

We visited the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse – the most south westerly point in WA, then on to Hamelin Bay.  We were disappointed that the beach didn’t look like it did in the pictures.  But the disappointment didn’t last long when a pod of about 6 dolphins came along – swimming as close as 10 metres off the beach.  They jumped and played in the shallows.  Followed by two big stingrays. 

On the way back to the campground we found a lovely spot for beach cricket and an afternoon swim to top off a wonderful day.

Our last day in Augusta was spent at Lake Cave – a stunning cave.  The girls were speechless – they’ve never even imagined something like that would exist underground – seeing it through their eyes made the experience even greater.

Lake Cave - it's hard to see in the picture but the image on the right is of a 'suspended table' - one of only 2 in the world

Our first campfire - with marshmallows to roast too!

We asked Isla to smile and Ivy thought she'd help!

Tomorrow we've off to Margaret River to meet up with Andrew's parents.  If anyone has any suggestions of must see/try wineries in the region please let us know.

Till next time,

Anna.

On the road...

The day finally arrived.  Although as when pulled out of the driveway at 6:49am I didn’t have a monumentous feeling of a new beginning, more of an extension of the time, effort, planning and preparation of the past 18 months – and more intensely during the past 8 weeks.  6:49am came and went quickly and the adventure transformed from planning to reality.  I had imagined rolling out of town under a blanket of darkness, but with the end of daylights savings a few days ago the world was well and truly (to my surprise) awake and in full light.

The highlight (or low light) of day 1 was the vomit two hours from Adelaide – everything had been going like clockwork.  Maybe that will be the only one for the trip – good to get it out of the way!

We had a lovely two days in Adelaide with our cousins – lots of squealing with excitement, late nights and treats.  Olivia’s dream to see a live panda came true at the Adelaide Zoo – Happy Birthday Liv!

Olivia meeting the Panda and the girls with their cousins.

Back on the road (day 4) heading west, well north first towards Port Augusta with a short stop at Port Pirie along the way.  Port Augusta was where I felt like our adventure began.  Just out of PA there was a junction – the road to the left ‘Perth Western Australia’ and the road to the right ‘ Alice Springs Northern Territory’.  We looked at the road to Alice Springs and remarked that it would be the road we would come back on in 4 months – which would signify the end of the journey.  But for now….

THE JOURNEY HAS BEGUN!!!

… seeing where it ends makes you wonder even more what will be in between?

After a lunch break in Kimba, next to the Big Gallah, we toured on heading south west towards Streaky Bay.  Our first night camping was at Perlubie Beach just north of Streaky.  We set up camp on the Rayner property (thanks Allison) in time to watch the spectacular sunset over the amazing property.

We packed up nice and early and hit the road heading west.  Today we hit the Nullarbor.  The roads were so good and driving fast and easy.  110 km/hour most of the way.  The only other vechiles on the road were fellow travellers or road trains.  It was uncommon to see a single vechile.  After a few hours we felt like we'd joined a club - every other traveller coming the other way waved - it was a nice distraction from the boredom of hundreds of kilometres of driving.

We managed to wave goodbye to SA and hello WA.  We made camp for the night at Mundrabilla.  Day 6 dawned early - 5:30 - and we were all up and going, excited at the prospect of arriving at our destination.  Or perhaps just getting off the long road west.  An uneventful day of mostly fast, easy driving, waving and some rain.

Finally we pulled into Esperance at just on 5pm and made camp.  Here we will stay for a few nights, just enjoying being out of the car!!

The girls have travelled like true professionals - thank goodness for the DVD player!!

A.