The Final Word

Isabel :-

Wow, three months! It only seemed three weeks. It's hard to believe that we did all those things in three months. The first thing I did when we got back was I ran in the house ('cos I couldn't run in the caravan) . Then we went to school. Everyone was so excited.

Louisa :-

It is nice being home so I can catch up with my friends and family. I also love the space. It is absolutely fantastic being home! I loved traveling with my family! I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!

The Final word.

After 2 days of unpacking, restoring the house, cleaning the caravan and the car – it was a strange experience to have everyone hop back in and take the rig back to Kalorama. There is an old adage which says something like “the hardest part of the journey is to take the first step”. There needs to be a new one “the most difficult part of an eighteen million meter journey is the last 10”.
This was proven by ripping the van awning on the edge of the carport roof as we came down the driveway…….

A quick trip cost summary :-
Total KM’s ----------------– 18,075
Fuel ----------------------- $4226.85
Camping ------------------- $3446.10
Car (tyres, servicing etc) --- $2,000 (approx)
Days on road --------------- 86

Benefit to family------------ Priceless (The girls even learnt to wash dishes without being asked).

This is it – the end of the blog. For the actors it has been a wonderful experience, for the chief writer it has been a tiring one at times - but mostly fun. The whole blog experience was made worthwhile by all you Dear Bloggers out there. Knowing you were watching was inspiration to keep composing for all of us. A big THANK YOU to everyone who made the effort to comment – we had a lot of fun every day seeing what comments we would get, so whilst we didn’t always answer your questions (this isn’t the medium for that) it was always great to know people were watching.
Comments or not, we hope you enjoyed following our journey and gleaned a taste of what we experienced – it will certainly live with us forever.

All successful journeys come to an end….

And so Dear Blogger – does this one.
It was a mild warm day to glide down the hills from Ballarat into sunny Melbourne, where in three months the only things that have changed are some advertising billboards, the days are warmer and the garden flowers are starting to bloom. Life on the roads seems more frantic - but that’s probably a perspective thing.
Arriving to a pristine house and garden was a wonderful welcome as were the pre cooked dinners supplied by the Inlaws.
The girls headed off to experience the last hour of the school term (and why wouldn’t they – it is the best) and Mum and Dad started the long task of unpacking and cleaning. Whilst Mum is glad to have unrestricted access rights to the laundry (elbows now only for Dad if he gets in the way) the amount to get through is daunting.
Stay tuned all you Bloggers out there – we still have some unfinished business to attend to….

Into Sunny Victoria

A warm sunny morning greeted us as we packed up and left South Australia and headed into our homeland – where the speed limit drops, the roads are bumpy, oncoming drivers don’t acknowledge you and those behind you are really impatient (even though they have to drive slower!). At least there is the smell of spring in the air and the sun is shining.
Stopping along the way to scratch a big Koala, we arrived at a luxurious Caravan park in Ballarat, where the kids rediscovered jumping pillows, decent playgrounds and home delivery Pizza for dinner. A very pleasant and relaxing last afternoon.

To the Border

Another long day on the road saw us leave the dry desert landscape of the top of the Spencer Gulf and into the fertile areas around Adelaide. Helped along significantly by a strong NW tail wind we ended up at a remote caravan park in Coonalpyn. This seemed a bit too remote and eerie so we pushed onto Bordertown.
Possibly not the best choice as we now have the constant roar of passing trucks as they whiz over the overpass the park is set against. There must be a least 100 an hour – makes one wonder what sort of money, fuel and resources society could save if they put them all on a couple of trains.

Question of the day:- What do you do when the park doesn’t have a playground to entertain the kids ?
Answer:- Let them total the sandpit ! – (especially if they put a tap right next to it!)

Closing of the loop.

6 hours on the road saw us back to the starting point of the circuit around the Northwest of Aus.
Port Augusta is at the cross roads of every destination in the continent and so we finally leave roads that have not been previously traveled by ourselves and start the journey towards our homeland.
It’s nice and warm up here at the top of Spencer Gulf and we have had a quiet couple of hours relishing the warmth before we head back down south again. The Girls had fun on the playground and a fabulous stir fry cooked up by Mum finished off the day superbly.

Quote of the Day:- (at the lunch roadside stop) Dad can we stay here ? – it’s much more comfortable than the car !

An extra day in Coffin Bay

A family vote and a very thorough “Decision based on fact analysis” was performed to see where we should spend our last free day of the trip. Based on the weather forecast we decided that Coffin Bay on a warm day was the winner.
Subsequently we slept in late and with sun streaming in through the red dust stained curtains we moved slowly out of bed and headed off to the local national park to enjoy the day.
Needless to say we had a delightful trip into a wonderful part of the world. Lunch on the dunes overlooking a completely isolated expansive beach with entirely surfable waves and warm winds washed away the cold of the last week or so.
Dad and the girls went exploring for sand dunes (photo’s for Dad – rolling down the slopes for the kids – was a very successful expedition).
Back to the warmth of the Caravan Park to start packing up and a movie for the kids to watch was a great way to wind up the day.

Crabbing in Coffin Bay

Well the sun must’ve taken the hint and came out in fine fashion. To celebrate Dad and the kids went fishing off the Town Pier. With the tide low there were not too many fish swimming around. We spotted some large Spider Crabs combing the floor of the jetty waters and promptly started to try and catch them. After some time Dad and Louisa gave up and stated trying for fish instead, both catching small Tommy Rough which we threw back as we had our sights set on bigger targets.
In the meantime Isabel persisted and actually manged to hook 2 crabs. The first one escaped but the second – Dad scaled down the jetty and scooped it up in the bucket.
After much deliberation and photos’s we let it go (not that good eating apparently).
In the afternoon, the Girls played mini golf and Dad went for a photo shoot into the Park – spectacular stuff.
A late afternoon walk to the golf course to spot Emu’s was successful yet uneventful.

2 more flats to contend with.

For those Bloggers out there wondering why we have had no more flats – well you can rest easy – today we had two…
We’ll O.K. they were batteries this time but the impact is the same (not moving). So after a jump start we headed off to Port Lincoln to resolve the issue and do some other shopping.
Upon returning to Coffin Bay we sat around in the caravan doing more school work (yes on a Saturday – weekends don’t mean much on the road). Dad took the kids for a late afternoon drive to look around and ended up in the National Park, dodging families of emus and lazy Kangaroo’s on the road. We ended up at the top of a cliff throwing rocks at the setting sun (that’ll teach it to hide behind clouds all day!)

From one bay to another

From Streaky Bay to Coffin Bay down the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula was a pleasant and easy drive (after what we’ve been through). The skies are still grey and the wind cold but the scenery is wonderful.
As we headed southwards the grass got greener, the trees taller and mountains started to appear. Canola fields began to glow in the greyness and as we approached the southern reaches we saw yellow fields running into sand dunes.
We hope to be here for a few days and the forecast is for the days ahead is to get warmer so hopefully we will get to enjoy this fantastic place in which we have arrived in a pleasant atmosphere.
We went to dinner the local yacht club which was really cheap and yummy and the girls got to watch Home an Away (although apparently they don’t know what happened as they couldn’t hear it – what a shame!).

Fishing in Streaky Bay

This place is a fisherman’s paradise ie. Our intrepid neighbor launches his boat from his annex. There is an under cover fish cleaning table (with running water and a high pressure hose to shoo away pelicans and seagulls) between our annex and the water line.
The girls had fun enticing the pelicans in even when they didn’t have fish scraps to give away.
Everyone fishes – even the fish fish (think about it….).
Louisa has caught the fishing the bug and had us up early to hit the jetty before breakfast. Unfortunately a non-starting car put those plans on hold for a while. After some time Mum took the kids fishing and Dad took over once he’d had an ineffective time with the car.
After lunch, we went for drive to check out the beaches on the coast (very rugged and spectacular) and then Dad and the Kids went fishing off the pier again.
Isabel caught the biggest eater and we all had fun (especially once we started using Uncle Garry’s techniques)!.
Dinner was (yes you guessed it…) fish.
We also had the biggest dish wash episode of the trip so far (mostly due to the fishing and subsequent cooking).

A day in Streaky Bay (words by Ro)

I guess it is time for me to pen a few lines on our blog!
What can I say??
Life on the road, in a small caravan has been an incredible experience for all of us. It certainly makes one reassess what is important. Apart from the daily challenges, and a number of unexpected ones from bossy territorial grey nomads in laundries of various caravan parks!! It has been a wonderful time together.
Exploring…..learning an enormous amount about this “beautiful country” and people along the way. The girls are amazingly adaptive, they have gained so much and become very independent. Neil and I could do this for another three months however, we have to work!! The girls will be ready to see family and friends.
I will now handover to one of the three experts I am traveling with to add a few words about Streaky Bay other than it is COLD AND WINDY!!! The gorgeous shade of brown that was acquired up North has GONE!!!!

(Wessa’s words)
We went fishing with hand lines off the pier this afternoon. We caught nine things in total;
Five Trevalleys (one we did not keep ‘cos it was too small) (caught by dad)
One poisonous fish (we think) (caught by dad)
One Collingwood fish (well the Collingwood colours) (caught by me but we did not keep it)
One old fishing net.
Our fishing rag which was blown in by the wind.
We had a good day fishing!

More time on the road to Streaky Bay

Waking to what sounded like rain drop drops on the roof, we looked out at our wonderful view to sight grey skies and approaching storm fronts. Luckily we were getting up early anyway in preparation for a long day on the road (combined with loosing 1.5 hours at the State border).
South Australians are so thoughtful they provide roadside pictures of the scenery with the sun shinning, so if it’s not – you still know what it looks like – just in case that when you do see it it’s really cold and windy.
With dark skies to south and bright skies to the north – it was as if we were driving between the warm and the cold climates which separate the country.
After viewing the steep cliffs at the top of the Bight we found true Nullarbor country (Null meaning “no” Arbor meaning “trees” – see, we did learn something whilst we were here) .Then we headed south into trees and the gloomy weather.
We ended up with a beachfront site which means if this wind keeps up and there is a high tide, we may wake up in Tasmania.
Now that will be a view worth contemplating….

And so to Eucla

The many hours spent on the road today was broken by 2 events :-
1. We left the Nullarbor to drive down an escarpment to another plain (with slightly more vegetation – hard to tell though).
2. When we go to Eucla we had to drive back up the escarpment to get to the town.

This may sound boring – but the very sparseness of this country is it’s beauty – at least Dad did not get tired from having to steer around bends all day!

We were first into the Caravan Park and as such managed to get our first site on the whole trip with a view – which we protected with our wit and cunning. And now we get to wake up in the morning to look out of bed at the Southern Ocean in the distance (tough life ain’t it?).

Speaking of wit and cunning - Rosemary can now write a book on how to gain and then protect ones territory in Caravan Park Laundries. We’re open to suggestions but we think the title should be “An elbow is far more effective than a sharp tongue”

On sunset Dad and the Girls went down to the old Telegraph station which is now being taken over by sand dunes (had to get a photo for the Blog….)

Blogging in the Desert

As this is written I am sitting next to the crackling fire which warms my back - I contemplate the surroundings in which we find ourselves.
Here we are in the middle of the Nullarbor Plain – set up in a roadside 24 hour rest area which could cater for 50 vehicles but only has 5. The sky is cloudless and the air is just starting to get chilly. The half moon lights the area up effectively enough to see by and the stars are faded somewhat by it’s brilliance.
It is totally quiet (except for the giggles of happy kids coming from within the caravan).
Occasionally the noise of a passing road train dominates the evening and then fades away into the distance.
Totally quiet – no noise at all.
Ultimately serene.

We spent all day on the road to get here (stopping at Norseman for Lunch – where the kids found a horse to annoy) doing school work whilst we traveled (Isabel is now looking at the changing environments as we pass through them). We got held up by miles and miles of road works and started along the longest straight stretch of road in the country (146km!!) and will spend the 2 days or so crossing the “Paddock”.

Another day – another new ocean

We all got to experience a brand new ocean today. The Southern Ocean looks cold and forbidding in the distance. Closer in it interacts with the continent in ways which delight the senses. They reckon they have the best beaches in the world here. It’s hard to argue with when you look at the photo’s. We couldn’t swim (too cold) and it’s always windy (apparently) so beauty is obviously in the eye of the beholder in this case.
After a spell of shopping in the morning we did a short tour of the local coastal route and were very impressed with the whole place.
Vowing to return when the weather is warmer we went back to our caravan and prepared for the journey across the “paddock” ( a co-travelers colloquialism for the Nullarbor plain).
We hope to experience a few outback adventures (not the Russell Quoit type) and as such may miss a day or two of blog updates due to the blogless land we are about to enter…….

A Birthday on the road

We started today by celebrating Isabel’s Birthday with Apple Pie for breakfast and a surf down Wave Rock. It seemed appropriate that we got wet whilst doing this.
Pack up and then 4 hours to Esperance where it is cold but the rain is slowing somewhat. It’s early spring here, the roads are lined with golden wattle, blooming white heath and the occasional other wildflower to brighten our day. Endless miles of bright green young wheat and brilliant yellow canola fields reminded us of driving through country Victoria - as do the grey clouds and spots of water on the windscreen.
Upon our arrival we set up camp (getting pretty good at this by now) and Mum did the inevitable load of washing (which seems to always entail some sort of territorial conflict with other users of the facilities) and then we headed out to a local Chinese restaurant to celebrate the Birthday Girls 9th successful circuit of the sun. The restaurant we chose was so popular locals don’t bother going there because they know they’ll never get a seat.
We figured this could be the only possible explanation for us being the only people in the place.
We will stay here for a whole day before heading further east – If you (Dear Blogger) whish to call us on the phone – now is your chance, as we may not have phone reception for quite a few days once we get into the heart of the Nullarbor.

Welcome rain to the west

We had a sleepless night as the WA folk finally got a decent downpour. The caravan stood up to the test and who are we to comment on the locals needs?
So, we packed up in the rain – drove in the rain – stopped to have lunch at a Corrigan café’ in the rain – set up at Wave Rock in the rain – and watched videos all afternoon because we could not go outside - due to the rain.
Dad went and had a look at the rock but had to cut his walk short due to the rain.
It’s still raining as we update this blog.
We have decided that we’ll leave the dishes outside (in the rain) and they can wash themselves (in the rain)
This is what happens when you get south of the Tropics in winter (it’s still 31 degrees in Broome we noticed).
Tomorrow we will look around, go surfing (in the rain if we have to) and head off the Esperance where we will celebrate Isabels birthday.

A trip to Rottnest Island

Up early and a drive through the south of Perth to Fremantle (“Docker” territory) where by intuition we found the ferry terminal just in time to catch the next boat to the island. It was a rollercoaster ride of a trip (kids & Dad loved the belly-wackers, Mum not so impressed). Upon arrival we booked the bus tour, grabbed a coffee and jumped on. It was a really interesting tour and we all gleaned a very interesting insight into what the “Peoples Island” is all about. It was a tad cold in the wind (compared to what we are used to!) and a lot quieter than it would be in the height of summer.
The trip back was on a fantastically designed wave cutter boat (spectacular). A drive back through the city and then a visit for a quick hello to Uncle Don (who seems to be doing very well).

And so to Perth

A very hectic day started out by shopping in Geraldton followed by a long drive though the green hills of the Western Australian Coastal region. We zipped by so quickly we really got the impression we were passing by (and thus missing) some amazing places – however we do have a schedule to move to - so onwards we pressed.
We did take one detour however (which cost us about 2 hours) to the Pinnacles –only there for about 20 minutes but it did seem worthwhile as it is such a contrast to the surrounding landscape.
Playing “The Real Thing “ to get us in the mood we continued for another long stint in the car.
We lobbed into a fabulous 5 star caravan park – had a fabulous marinara (thanks Mum) and look forward to sampling the delights of Fremantle tomorrow.

Out of the desert

We started the day by bidding Monkey Mia a sad farewell although we still had unfinished business to attend to in the area. Heading south we stopped at Shell Beach which is aptly named as it is all shells, shells and more shells. All the same small size and the same colour and mostly compacted together. Some of the loose ones became airborne (a curious phenomenon that apparently only happens when kids walk on the beach).
We then stopped to see the Stromatolites at Hemelin Pool – which look like rocks but are actually samples of the first living creatures on earth and paved the way for the rest by producing oxygen. They also make interesting photo’s.
It was then another 4 hours on the road to Geraldton where we have a fabulous site with it’s own on-suite (whoo hoo !) On the way the countryside turned from desert like dryness into fresh green pastures of arable land. An amazing contrast in one day.

A day of quiet recuperation

Today we caught up on the lost day yesterday… (if it was really lost). We had to move to a non powered site as the place is fully booked. This has the annoyance factor of (say) 1 out of 10. It also has the bonus of being mostly packed for leaving the next day and we had a wonderful day extending our time at Monkey Mia.
In the morning we headed off to Denham – stopping at an estuary fed lagoon along the way and then a long, fascinating time at the local Interperative centre, where we all learnt a lot more about the local area.-from geology to history with everything else in between. Back to MM for lunch and then Mum and Dad went for walks in different directions. Mum had a highlight when she met a Manta ray in the shallows.
Drinks in the afternoon at the Monkey bar with Dave, Lisa and Kids led into dinner on the same table – watching the sunset whilst the kids chased Dolphins in the shadows and then gathered and opened oysters – looking for pearls – but only finding lots of Mother of Pearl shells (you get that).
Pressure to stay on is being applied but we have to face the inevitable at some stage.
Yes – Perth does loom over the southern horizon and forwards on we must trek….

A wasted day?

How today went depends on ones perspective. The 1st challenge of the day was to stand on the western most point of the continent the 2nd was to survive the 1st with the family unit intact.
Well the 1st was not easy and the 2nd was more difficult as a consequence – however both were achieved and we all feel a particular sense of accomplishment in surviving the day. It was meant to take 3 hours to get there – but instead it took 4.5 which meant 9 hours in the car without anything exciting happening. The coastline and scenery were fantastic and the car held up beautifully. As a consequence of the long day were are going to stay an extra night at Monkey Mia to recover before we start to head further south.
B.T.W. – we are wearing jumpers tonight – it is starting to get colder.

From Dolphins to Pearls to Stars

It would be hard to fit much more into a day! Up early to watch the dolphin feeding (which is very tightly regulated due to historical overfeeding wiping out the prime tourist attraction). The girls went to the second one as well and actually got to feed one! To keep the event clear of pestering Pelicans they feed them at the same time on the beach behind.
Then we went on a tour aboard a large catamaran to spot some Dugong feasting on the grass sea floors of the bay, which also included a stop at the local pearl farm which was very enlightening for all of us. Louisa scored a natural pearl for being so attentive. On the homeward leg the girls jumped into the net on the back of the cat for drag through the cold (21c) sea.
Pool and hot tub was the order for the afternoon followed by a late night stroll on the beach under a perfect starry sky (no Moon, no unnatural light, no clouds, no pollution and an uninterrupted 360 degrees horizon). We could easily see by the star light and there were stars around our feat as we splashed through the calm shallows (suspect some sort of phosphorous glow worms).
Magical !

From one paradise to another

Many hours on the road saw us leave the Tropics (“sniff”) and head down south. Crossing back over the tropic of Capricorn was expected however we were disheartened when we later passed the sign saying “26th parallel - you are now leaving the North West” but it was jubilation again when we passed a similar sign heading back up the Peron Peninsula greeting us to the North West.
The landscape changed from red soil to whiteish and now back to red sand dunes covered with stumpy tea tree and pampas grass.
We arrived in Monkey Mia just before sunset and will stay for 3 nights – our last rest before the long trek home.
This is a very special place – updates to follow.
Very scratchy internet connection – not sure when you will be seeing this Dear Blogger.

A great last day.

Well for Coral Bay at least….
After an intensive project based school work morning, we (well - Mum actually) packed our lunches, snorkeling gear and beach items and of we went 4wd-ing though sandy tracks in order to find …. well something, well … actually anything would be good…
And find them we did! We ended up on a virtually isolated beach which the swell meant we couldn’t really get a good snorkeling session in. However the beaches and the scenery and the whether were all just superb. The driving was fun too!
Upon return to civilization (population 130 residents!) saw the girls hit the beach and Dad hit the tire pump (hopefully they’ll stay up).
Dad then went for a significant snorkel by himself out towards the reef edge (only got halfway there) and had the time of his life – it was fantastic. He returned to find the girls had spent their time on the beach creating a series of games with balls and sand challenges.
After dinner out and pack up we head off to Monkey Mia tomorrow and thus south of the tropics.May need to pull out the extra blankets (hopefully not the jumpers yet).

Another day at Coral Bay, yay! (Wessa’s words)

Today we spent the morning mucking around with numerous things. Dad read his book and stuff. Mum did the washing and read and slept. Isabel and I mucked around with the lap top and the settings. After lunch we felt like we wanted to do something different, so we went and booked the tennis courts for an hour. We got really hot! So when the hour was up we went for a swim at the beach. Mum left after a while and went back to the caravan. Eventually the people in the beach shelter next to us left so we got it before any one else did. Isabel played superwoman, with her beach towel for a cape. We made the most of the beach shelter, by relaxing back and enjoying every second of what we have left of the trip (24 days!). We decided to ask Dave, Lisa, Billy and Bronty to come and have happy hour drink with us.
It was another fun day at Coral Bay!

A day in the “divine” waters

Every time Mum sees the turquoise waters she says “oh that’s divine”
Glass bottom canoes were a fabulous adventure as was our trip 4wd-ing through the soft sand to our own private beach where the snorkeling in the shallow waters was fantastic watching the schools of fish feeding on the coral. Dad went for a walk and took a heap of photo’s (again!)
Back to the main beach for a horse around in the water followed by throw of the Frisbee. Drinks and dips then a wonderful Tuna casserole for dinner.

WOW, what a day!! (Wessa’s words)

Today, where do I start?! Ummm… oh yeah we woke up! We did school work (maths) until we were allowed to go swimming (in the caravan parks heated pool!). We got bored of that pretty quickly! So we moved on to the days next activity (we looked behind us just in case we had forgotten something like Dad is always telling us to, and found we had left nothing!). The shops awaited next. In the supermarket there are these shoes I want to get (Crocks) but mum says that $47.50 is too expensive. So I will just get some in Perth (cheaply we hope)! When we got back we found that Dad had gone for a long walk. We started lunch without him. After lunch Mum and I read our books. Isabel played a very unsuccessful time on Neopets (the games were to slow to play). Dad finally returned back and then mum enthusiastically got us up and ready for the beach. Mum and Isabel left before us (so we could get a shady spot on the beach). Dad and I followed on 5 minutes later. Dad, Isabel and I went for a snorkel whilst Mum read her book. We saw lots of fish and coral and a dead giant clam (it was not that big). After a sun bake and a swim we left the beach. Isabel and I went for another swim. Eventually we were joined by Mum. For a while we got the pool to ourselves.
WOW, what a day!!

And so to Coral Bay

Which is located down the south end of Ningaloo Reef. It was an easy 2 hr drive to get here. Rosemary has freedom at last as she can walk to everywhere (no driving dependencies on Dad) - the shops are right across the road from us. We intend to stay here for 4 full days and so do some more serious relaxing (after all, isn’t that what holidays are all about ?).
Dad and the girls went snorkeling in the afternoon – it was good, but not quite as clear as up north, but we’ll continue to look at different locations and thus for new experiences.
Afterwards they amused themselves by rolling down the sand dunes in different fashions, followed by a swim in the pool.
The Caravan park pipes hot artesian water to every site – can’t drink it and it’s too hot to wash down skin and it’s no good for cooking. Not too sure why they do it – maybe after 4 days we’ll find out!!
The sea water seems a little warmer and the days just a little cooler (it only got to 27 in the van today) the nights have turned a bit strange being foggy and down to 14. This makes everything a bit damp but it dries off very quickly.
Everyone is happy and we are having a ball.

A pretty cool day (words by Isabel)

Today we went the national park. We climbed a big sand dune. It was like a mini Uluru. Louisa and I took a great big jump of the dune. After a big jump we went to the visitors centre. I found out what sea snakes look like. After we went to the beach. We went snorkeling. We saw a reef SHARK. It was 2 meters long. Then we saw 1 little sting ray and then we saw a huge one. We went out for dinner. It was scrumdiddleyumptious. Today was pretty cool.

A day on Ningaloo Reef

Today we went to the top of the North West Cape and had a look out from near the Lighthouse. The girls were a bit concerned about it falling over in the strong wind and so tried to stop it from happening.
The coral reef is the largest fringe reef in the world. For those wondering what a “fringe reef” is I suggest you go to www.whattheheckisafringereef.com as we don’t really care that much. What we do care about is that it stops the huge waves from the Indian Ocean hitting us in the back of the head whilst we look at the plethora of fish swimming amongst the vast array of different coral formations.
We went into Cape Range National Park and found a beach where you can just float in the water and (by snorkeling) drift in the mild current over the subterranean world watching the scenes unfolding below you. Absolutely fabulous (without the “daarlings”).
The fish were all shapes, all sizes and all colours. And they were hanging around in all different sizes of schools. The girls decided that the particularly big fish which Dad dived down and swam though were in a High School.
Even Mum went for a snorkel and almost forgot to look out for sharks it was so interesting.
We spent the whole afternoon there and will head back tomorrow – possibly to explore more of the park as well.

From Karratha to Exmouth

Is a long way ! especially if you have head winds – which we did all morning. Poor old Dad was getting all worried about something being wrong with the car as it was running too hot when traveling at the speeds we are used to (90 kmh’ish). We stopped for lunch at Nanutarra Roadhouse at found the most expensive fuel so far on our journey ($1.849 per litre – a clear winner by 12 cents!). It was also windy and dusty – so it had real character.
100 km’s further down the road we turned right and got the wind behind us all came good with rig. We were heading across a landscape which resembled a beach (us being ants on it) with long flat valleys 2kms across broken by the ripples of red sand dunes. It was all covered by grass and bushes with the occasional splash of wildflower colour. Everytime we topped a crest Dad said “I wonder what’s over this one”, followed by the inevitable “more of the same”.
We then headed up the North West Cape to Exmouth. There are 3 noteworthy items here 1. The reef (more on that in later blogs)
2. Lots of Defence installations (makes one fell pretty safe being here)
3. A brand new marina complex.

So if anyone out there has $500,000 dollars to spare – you can buy a waterfront property with all the “Mod Cons” in a beautiful part of the world. The only drawback (apart from the cost, and the fact you then need to build the house) is that it takes a good 2 weeks solid drive to get there!

Our Caravan park has a 5 star pool, great facilities and is right next to the town power plant. For all those Southerners who have never had to worry where their power comes from (Ya Lawn…) Up here every town has a diesel powered electricity plant. Seems like a good idea except when they put them right in the middle of the people….. The one here is really, really noisy (and smelly now that I realize we are down wind).

Quote of the day:- This one is a typo from the local tourist info bulletin about driving on the roads :- If stock are on the road brake don’t swerve. Better to hit a cow then roll a car……

It’s amazing what the difference an “e” will make instead of an “a”

Lunch out and a swim

After more school work in the morning we headed off to view the sights around Point Samson. On the way we watched an Iron Ore train go past – 333 carriages!. This is a very new town and seems to have been built as an exclusive seaside area with new houses, new roads and a brand new caravan park (which will be fabulous in a couple of years when the trees grow up).
After Lunch at Moby’s (supposedly the best Fish and Chips on the west coast – but we’ve had better at S.P.) we spent the afternoon on a local beach – hoping to do some serious snorkeling - we were hampered by the cloudy water. Instead we wallowed around in the shallows of the beach – diving to collect the myriad of multicoloured rocks which lined the watery bottom of the cove.
The rocks here are an incredible maze of colours – thin lines of different types of layers all squashed together and then twisted by incredible forces sometime in the distance past.
A trip home via the ghost town of Cossak – which has been restored by funding from the North West Shelf venture create an eerie feeling with really old buildings being perfectly functional but not being used for anything. After we headed out to the local lookout for a view of the area - quite spectacular!

So we had great day – feeling relaxed (maybe a touch of sunstroke as we fell asleep on the beach) and ready for our long journey to Exmouth tomorrow.

A tour of Dampier and surrounds

After a sleep in, school work and shopping for supplies and lunch we headed off to explore the area west of Karratha. This encompassed a drive through the extensive salt mine operations of Dampier Salt Limited, which is quite clever as they use the sea water, pump it though extensive artificial lakes and utilising the local sun and wind conditions evaporate the water to extract the salt.
Dampier itself is a little haven set on the edge of an extensive array of islands – the standard pristine water etc etc means most locals here have a boat. We drove around appreciating the enormous amount of high density accommodation (obviously set up to house the myriad of workers who come through the place) combined with palm tree laced waterways.
Always on the horizon are the steal infrastructures associated with the Iron Ore port (another huge operation – with long trains and large boats with interconnecting conveyor belts) and the North West Shelf Gas operations. Everything around here is big, extensive and obviously expensive. Lots of company cars (mostly 4WD and utes) driving around but all the operations seem curiously devoid of people – which could just be because they dwarfed by the plants around them.
In search of a swimming beach we ended up at a fabulous spot which looked terrific (a beach made of shells surrounded by red rubble rock hills) but the water was clouded (a curious phenomenon in this part of the world) which Dad attributed to the ammonia plant nearby and thus even though it was deemed to be safe for swimming we did not go in.
We then had a wonderful adventure looking for aboriginal rock carvings. We discovered a hidden valley amongst the rubble hills which had a freshwater stream trickling through it. This place contains old Middens and the rocks have had the outer layer scrapped off to portray images in the traditional native paintings fashion. We gained an appreciation of why this place had been used for thousands of years for shelter and refreshment. Feeling very honored to have experienced there we left to return to the Park for drinks with Dave, Lisa and family.

Another long day on the road

Leaving the flat plains of the desert (and yet another market – this one in the caravan park) behind us we moved into the Pilbra region which is more interesting as the hills are a variety of colours (red, brown, black and even gold - if the sun strikes on the correct angles).
It took us 8 hours to get to Karratha, with an hours stop at Port Headland for lunch. Originally we had planned to stop there for the night but we were unable to get a site. As it turns out this was a blessing, as all there is in this dry dusty place is a lot of industry associated with a port loading huge iron ore carriers. We saw one of these giants being guided to it’s berth by a flotilla of tug boats whilst we were chomping on our yummy rolls.
The entire town seems to be covered in a red dust which makes the asbestos houses look even older and more worn down than they probably are. The newer houses are constructed of Colourbond – the most popular being red (so as to hide the dust we guessed). The downside of this is that it makes the place look very drab indeed.
Karratha seems like an oasis is comparison. We arrived late and all we have seen so far is the Caravan Park, but we have power, shade, a great site (no. 69) and 2 days in which to explore the region.

A stroll in the Dark

Thinking that it’s a bit selfish of Broome to have copyright on the Stairway to the Moon effect, Dad took the opportunity to see what happens at 80 mile beach when it rises on a low tide. Thinking “as the moon causes the tides it’s a pretty good bet it’ll be low when it rises” he headed off once the rest were in bed – armed with camera, mini tripod and torch to see what the evening would bring.
The torch turned out to be useful in identifying the moving animals (which sounded like they were in striking distance) as kangaroos – it was not necessary on the beach as the moon had already launched itself above the horizon.
Heading straight out towards the distant sounds of the waves he tramped for a long time before he gained a long enough reflection to represent was left of the stairway effect.
Once captured he then headed off to the edge of the water to see what the Indian Ocean looked like on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert.
After trekking a good distance further he noticed the sound of water trickling, looking down he could see in the moonlight a small wave of water moving steadily across the sand.
This was the incoming tide – because the beach is so flat and extends such a long way when the tide is out – when it comes in - it is clearly visible as a line of water running parallel to the beach, moving towards the dunes.
So he turned around and walked back towards the dunes with the water line at his toes – to give our Bloggers an idea of how far the water goes out – he walked slowly for 15 minutes (not stopping) with the encroaching water line as his companion. He then picked up his pace, leaving the trickling, gravity inspired phenomenon to continue it’s slow journey.
Many minutes later he reached the dunes.
This is an amazing place.

A final farewell to Broome

And this time we mean it! So after missing the Power family at the markets (we were like ships in the night in our trips around the country) we packed up and headed off down southwards. The road runs between the desert and the sea and all we saw was scrub and grassy plains.
A quick stop at the Sandfire Roadhouse - where we passed on Sarah’s regards to her boss from 1988(ish) - yes he’s still there and yes- he does remember her !
We are now ensconced on an unpowered site at the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan park and as a consequence of being nowhere near a civilized phone service– dear Blogger - you will get this update a day late.
The beach is fabulous – more turquoise coloured waters and a plethora of shells for the kids to collect.
The tide goes out a really, really long way and when the sun sets over it we get a Stairway To The Sun effect. Almost as good as Stairway To The Moon at Broome. Must be something about low tides at sunset that does this to this part of the world.
Accommodation in caravan parks is very scarce at the moment and thus causing a bit of stress about our itinerary over the next few weeks !

Hello to an old friend

The day started with Dad heading off into town to get a front end alignment and blancing (and of course - the mandatory flat fixed) and a late’ whilst he was waiting. In the meantime the Kids did school work and Mum did the washing.
Upon return from town we did the easiest pack up and move ever - as we relocated to our powered site – which is much more pleasant as we have shade as well.
A take away lunch of Chicken Treat in the local park followed by a big food shop in preparation for the travels ahead preceded a visit to our old mate Cable Beach, who greeted us with wide open spaces, calm warm waters and wonderful ambience (every time you take a photo of the water those Pearl Luggers get in the way !).
The evening was a rushed trip to the Town Beach to do some last minute shopping at the Markets, and a catch up with the staff at the Café, and another attempt at shooting the stairway by camera.

Tomorrow we head off down south – not quite sure where will be stopping but reasonably certain it will be out of blog range. Heading between the desert and the sea – should be interesting…..

Quote of the day – Mum “Why do we have all these %$**^g !! stuffed toys in the way ?”
Dad “Apparently they’re your Grandchildren…”

Heading southwards

With a feeling of regret we packed up our minimalist possessions and left-over supplies and started the long trek back towards Broome.
Cape Leveque and the Kooljaman area will live with us forever and we all vowed to return someday.
The road back was long and rattley, but uneventful – more red soil trailing off into the distance against the bright blue sky.
We came back to our old Caravan Park which is bursting at the seams (as is the whole town) – because tonight a “Stairway to Moon” night. This is where the full moon rises over the low tide exposed flats of the bay and reflects its image in all the pools to the thousands of folks congregated on the shoreline to watch the event.
They even set up markets to milk the most of the tourist dollar available at the time.
The photo here shows how well the event can be captured with no time exposures (must get a good camera on the next journey to the outback!) – note the people climbing the staircase!
And so we are in a non-powered site living as we would in the outback – apart from the ablution block (which is a good thing as I am sending this from the laundry as the laptop is out of battery). So tonight we Blog from the laundry – I hope the cleaners don’t mind….

Our second day of Bliss

Was spent by sleeping in. We were going to get up for the sun rise but upon looking out the window (no glass of course – this is primitive living) and thinking “yep that’s a sunrise – best go back to sleep” – we didn’t actually manage to achieve that goal.
After Dad put the tire back together (first time, so it was slow process), we had a swim and a snorkel on the beach in the morning – the tide was in, so it was deep and crystal clear. Lots of fish (big ones too!).
After lunch Mum had a siesta and the other three went off on a short 4WD through some really soft sand that Dad had discovered on his late night walk the night before. This was a real learning experience for the driver – after a slight moment of panic of not moving - the front hubs were locked in and away we went….
The bay we found is in the background of the photo (can’t find the right words – so have a look yourselves).
We then all headed off to our local beach again (it’s a 45 second walk) where the 3 snorkellers took off again for some low tide reef exploring – the highlight for the girls was 2 stingrays.
Dad then went on a photo shoot of the sunset at the end of the Cape (lowtide) and was very impressed by the rising full moon just below the terminator.
Dinner was a BBQ based around the last of the Mackerel steaks from the Johnson’s (whoo hoo!)
My only regret being here is that our camera cannot take time exposures and thus show all you Bloggers what the place looks like under the full moon.
You’ll just have to come here yourselves to fully appreciate it….

A day in Paradise

It’s very hard to find the words which do this place justice. So Dear Blogger, please let your mind expand past my description here and you may get a feeling of what the place is really like.
It’s a Cape – so we have 2 sides – the camping ground and thus the majority of people are on the west side (as is Internet access so I have to climb over the boardwalk to send this). On our East side we have the swimming beach and our cabin. We moved cabins today so Rosemary could have a better view of the ocean (which has Humpback whales wallowing in front of us in the mornings) – it’s quiet, peaceful and all we can hear at night is the sound of the waves.
The beaches are pristine white (course coral based sand), the higher sand dunes are red, the sky is a cloudless blue, the water is warm, the tides are enormous (6 meters so it’s an “ever changing” beach) and there are limited people allowed here. The scenery with the weather worn rock creates landscapes which would seem more appropriate on another planet – and we are here under a full moon.
Needless to say the beach is unbelievable at night. Memories of which will hopefully last forever.
Today we did a tour with a local indigenous fellow called Dwes, who grew up here, is well educated and will go places. He showed us what plants they can eat the fruit of, ones which can be used for medicine and some of his family history – we used this as an excursion exercise focusing on the environment and how the locals survive in it.
We then had a siesta (against the sounds of the waves) and then a sojourn to the beach where Louisa and Dad went snorkeling and Isabel and Mum played houses in the myriad of rocks which align the beach.
Then it was off to the west side of the Cape (a 2 minute drive) to watch the sunset over drinks – a heap of photo’s and then back to do diaries prior to dinner at the restaurant (a 30 second walk from our cabin). Dinner was absolutely fabulous – yes - we are in Heaven.

We hit the road again !

It was a wonderful break in Broome and we look forward to that time in the future when we will return, however, as we all must move forward in life – it seems especially so when on a traveling holiday. So with heavy hearts we bade farewell to Alan at the airport (who now heads off to Darwin and the trip home in the lap of luxury on the Ghan) whilst we drop all of our comforts and hit the bumpy 200km road to Cape Leveque.Well, the road was no where near as bad as we saw on the way to Tunnel Creek as it was mostly sand and corrugations (no rocks). In the middle of nowhere we came across a well made gravel road and then (like a gift from the heavens) a sealed road ! – Rejoicing, we went to Beagle Bay to pay homage at the local church which is completely adorned with Mother of Pearl Shells.The girls were so inspired they both gave us a short sermon before we headed back on the road to the Cape (needless to say it got rough again).Upon arriving we realized that we have reached paradise (details in the next few Blogs). Settling in and a significant snorkeling expedition by Dad and the Girls was the order of the day.Followed of course by (the now Mandatory) tire change. Dad’s first try at pulling apart a split rim was quite successful – this flat was due to rusty rims and low tire pressure – so it continues.
Quote of the day (from Alan) – Don’t hang around to wave goodbye – I’ll just wave at a window and using the reflection I’ll create an Optical Conclusion…….

Farewell to Cable Beach

Today was our last day in Broome and we celebrated by (yep you guessed it !) by going to the beach!.
Well actually the day started out with a trip to the markets by the girls whilst the guys packed up the annex. Then we all met at the shops in order to stock up on supplies for the next few days and then Dad dropped everyone at the beach whilst he played “stay behind” and checked the bearings on the caravan wheels.
Riveting stuff….
Then we all headed off to dinner at the same Town Beach Café where we had a wonderful repeat of the dinner we had with Aunty Gabby and a fabulous tate-a-tate with the Swedish waitress.

Tomorrow we all say goodbye to Broome. Pa leaves us and we head off Cape Leveque – without the Caravan and the prospect of 400Km of corrugated roads. (In order to reduce the stress Dad has already booked time with the local tire repair place for when we return in 4 days time!).

By the way – we think we have blog access at the Cape, but as we learnt in the NT – “you’ll never, never know unless you go” – if not - all you bloggers out there will have to wait until late Thursday night for the next installation….

A most exciting event

Today – we saw a cloud! , after all we’d been though - we were under the impression the next cloud would be somewhere south of the Tropic of Capricorn , but no – to our complete surprise some appeared whilst we were at the Markets.
To celebrate – we decided to go to the beach for the afternoon.
Pondering the conundrum from the previous days blog - we fell asleep – still don’t know the answer but we feel much more refreshed from our efforts.

To those who have posted questions – here are some answers:-
Total Kilometers traveled so far:- 8388
Total cost of Fuel so far:- $2126
Most expensive Diesel so far =$1.72 per litre at Kulgera
(the average cost seems to around $1.54 – people in Melbourne should ask why is it cheaper in Darwin !).
No - the beard does not itch!
And well done Uncle G for recognizing a Midnight Oil track.

Number of tire repairs:- 5 on the car (plus balances etc), 2 on the bike, one on the van.

And the temp climbs higher !

An early start for Dad as he had to traipse into town to get one slow leak and another potential sorted out (yes the tire issues continue – for those wondering what’s going on it’s all due to sharp rocks and/or rusty wheel rims) , whilst the kids did some school work before it all got too hot and they had to hit the pool.
The temp really climbed today – it got to 39 in the annex and 36 in the van. So we headed to (yep you guessed it!) the beach. It was really hot there too, but there was some relief with the coolish water and a slight sea breeze (just enough to rustle Ro’s pages as she read her book).
The waves were back – after a week- which kept Dad happy and the sights on the sand were up to their usual standard.
Hung around for Sunset (coloured by smoke in the distant horizon – everytime I take a photo those annoying Pearl Luggers get in the way !) and Drinks on the beach before going back to the van for a lovely Chili Con Carne (whipped up by Ro in the middle of the day).
Every one exhausted.

Quote of the day from Alan – “why am I so tired when all I’ve done is sit around on the beach all day?”

None of us have an answer – but we all agree – may have to go to the beach tomorrow to see if we can resolve it…..

A calm day at Broome

Was started by shopping in Chinatown where we discovered some (previously) hidden arcades with a wonderful shady atmosphere and interesting shops, lunch at the caravan and then … yep - back to the beach. Now that the car is fixed we can take the corrugated road shortcut so it’s much closer. Today was much hotter with a very blustery south easterly blowing off the Great Sandy Desert. It got up to 37 today and we all feel a bit sun burnt from lying on the beach and wallowing around in the warm turquoise blue ocean water waiting for the next wave to surf in on…...
(we hear it’s a tad cold at home, so gloat we do….)
Isabel bought a new sarong and used her flippers for the first time.
Louisa decided to earn some money last night by serenading the campground with her piano practice – she promptly spent it on hiring a beach chair for an hour. Isabel spent $2 on beach toy set for an hour and so to make the most of it we created, entered, judged and won the daily sand castle building competition.
We then wandered down to the local Nudist beach where Ro got her gear off and frolicked around with all the other like minded souls (this is a family Blog so the pictures are cropped to suit - Thanks for the idea though Darryl).
We then went back home for a couple of hours of Dad making some MAB blocks for Isabels maths studies and Isabel catching up with Oma on the phone.
And now after staying up late updating the day’s events for all you bloggers out there - I have to face a rousing chorus of bird life waking me up when the sun decides to rise in the morning – followed by yet another day of blue skies and warm temperatures.
Life is tough……………

Farewell to our First Guest

And so the party ends for one of our guests.
Aunty Gabby left midday today after a run around the campground in the moke with the girls and a farewell drink of smoothies at the Port Bistro.
A quick cuddle at the airport and then the “staybehinds” waved goodbye from the end of the runway.
Then it was off to the beach for the compulsory swim where the girls learnt some new tricks with the newly purchased surf mat (we’ve decided to bring them back into vogue). Whilst the adults all had naps lying on the sand (still recovering from the previous days hectic schedule).

Pre BBQ dinner drinks under the ½ moon and stars was accompanied by Louisa’s dulcet tones emanating from the keyboard.

The car seems to be running much better now – although we still have tire issues to resolve before our trek up North.

Quote of the day (on the way back from the airport) “gosh - it seems much quieter now”

Rosemary's chaotic Birthday

What a fabulous yet incredibly full day.
An wonerfully rich celebration for Rosemary’s birthday.
Everyone up early – Ro to face a birthday party table set up.
Everyone piles into the 4WD…
Dropped Alan and the girls off to hire the moke.
Dropped Ro and Gay at the beach to sort out the camel rides.
Collected Alan, Girls and moke.
Dropped off car for repairs.
Went back to beach to join up with camel rides.
After that went and collected the scooters.
Everyone then met back at the Caravan for breakfast of Bacon and Eggs and Birthday celebrations.
Then we all traipsed 20 km on open highway to the Mango Vinery for smoothies and tastings (ahh the open road – with the wind in your hair and roar of the engines under you – it really brought back those fond memories of those Easy Rider days….)
Back to the Caravan Park to dress for the beach.
Then off to Bank for the Mokers and petrol for the Scooters and the swimming at the beach for all.
Ro and Neil then went for a scoot to check on the car repairs.
Moke and scooters then went off to drop off scootors and collect car.
Drinks on the beach (lawns) looking at the sunset.
All headed back to Caravan for showers and pre dinner drinks.
We all then headed off in the 4WD to Town Beach Café for dinner (which was primarily related around seafood). Here Rosemary got to show off her new Opals (purchased at Coober Pedy some 4 weeks earlier)
Then we all went back to the caravan for post dinner coffee and lime tart deserts.
Immediately after everyone all went to bed totally exhausted…..(go figure!)

A sweep of Broome

Up earliest (not too easy for 6 people) and then off to the local Historical Museum where we gleaned an appreciation of the history of the town (which is very unique compared to any other place in Australia). We also gained an appreciation of all the junk thrown out over the years would now be valuable museum pieces….
We then had lunch overlooking the Bay, a wander down the Jetty and back (which is a marvel of modern engineering), yet more food and drink shopping and then of to ?… Yep the beach again.
Even Alan went in today.
Due to Dad worrying about the leaking differential – the car is now booked in for it’s service tomorrow, and it’s Rosemary’s birthday, and we are going for camel rides, in the morning, hiring alternative transport, going to the Mango farm, going to the beach, going out for dinner, picking up cars, dropping off transport……
The blog update may be a bit late due to the huge day looming.

Our Second Guest Arrives

Allan (known as FIL to those acronym minded blog viewers) arrived at midday today. This meant that Mum and Dad had to leave their luxurious surroundings and face the real world of Broome, the kids, the airport, the leaking rear diff’s etc etc.
The stress of this was easily overcome with the happy banter and yet another afternoon on the beach. Dad was partictulary happy about carving up the waves with and without the boggie board (having flippers helped enormously) – he was even getting expressions of admiration from other (admittedly non flippered) participants.
Mum was particularly happy that she spent some time surfing with an “in form” Gary Sweet (yes - the actor). She almost needed to be “rescued” by Police Rescue she was that excited.
After a quick wash we all headed back to Cable Beach to watch the sunset (over drinks at the bar) and then home to enjoy a fabulous BBQ – centered around the Mackerel fillets that Michelle and Andrew gave us in Darwin – does it get any better than this ?