The Smell of Home!

Cape Le Grande

Cape Le Grande was mind blowing.  Especially in the afternoon when the wind really kicked (45km most days)!  We had a great 4 days camped out at Lucky Bay(Amelie reckoned it was named so because we were Lucky to have that view) where the water clarity and wildflowers dazzled us with colors normally only seen on a Taubman's wall chart. We explored the empty beaches where kangaroos drank from the fresh water aquifers that bubbled out of the dunes, we walked some great trails and were impressed with both our girls for hiking to the top of Frenchman's Peak. 

On top of Frenchman's out of the wind

View from Frenchman's

After a quick bakery visit back in Esperance we braced ourselves for two and a half solid days of driving across the Nullabour. The head wind was vicious(dropped about 100km per tank) and the mouse plague near Eucla was like a horror movie scene(we picked up a couple in the van for a few days) the road was a polka dotted splattering of dead rodents for 50km. The buggers were running the guantlet in broad daylight. 

Nullabour isn't all bad!

Finally we made it to Cactus and had to retrain the Hilux on how to turn corners!!!! We had a fun 6 days of waves, dunes, fires and sunsets.  The girls were stoked to be somewhere familiar and it was great to have a good mate Mark Karran from Adelaide drive over and meet us. Ron(owner/manager) made us laugh each night around the  campfire with his retell of old stories and how the scientist had it all wrong with global warming " It's been global f...ing freezing down here this year and it's still not warming up" he reckoned.

cactus line up

Pink Lake near Cactus

We left  after a surf on a perfect 4ft day with only one other guy and b-lined for Mambray Creek.  As we set up amongst the giant eucalypts in the drizzle, the local Kookaburras had a chuckle and Amelie reckoned things were starting to smell like home (can't fool them).

Mambray Creek 'hide and seek'

We are now in Adelaide where Bananas are more than $10/kg cheaper than when we left, our Christmas shopping is almost complete and most importantly our family is glad to have us home. The kids have spent the last few days catching up with grandparents and our gear has had a good scrub.  Can't wait to get home this weekend and pat the dog!

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The South Coast



No more trainers.

We left Yallingup to the joys of Anais freewheeling on her pushy with no training wheels, straight backed and smiling so proud at herself and her newfound skill. We stopped off in the land of the giant Karri and Tingle forests near Pemberton and Walpole where we all did the tree top walk and Adam challenged himself by climbing 62m to the top of the Gloucester Tree. Slightly sweaty palmed he enjoyed the view from the top as the tree gently swayed in the wind taking in the views from the old fire lookout post.  We had a quick stay in the National Park nearby and enjoyed stoking the fire under the old copper for a warm shower.



The old bloke owner was pretty trusting



Amelie in the tree tops

Green Pools Denmark 

On finally reaching the south coast we spent an easy 4 days in Denmark at Ocean Beach (features in The Endless Summer movie) and were immediately charmed by this smalltown, it's people and the stunning coastline and surrounding National Parks.  The kids loved swimming in Green Pool, riding their bikes around the spaceous kangaroo filled campground and sharing sparklers after dark with fellow camping kids. Adam again by sheer luck met up with his cousin Michael and also a surf mate from Perth who happened to be at the same campground.  We all enjoyed a local gastronomic tour that ended at with a great meal at the local tavern (still not as good as Snitter night at the Middleton though).  Yesterday we did a big haul across to Esperance and on first appearances we were wondering why had stopped here as the wind blew hard from the south, for the first time in 5 months we were warned to 'lock up your valubles and everything else' and it was bitterly cold. However sunrise often brings pleasant suprises and after a family bike ride along the foreshore we discovered the true beauty of the place is not on display as you enter town and look for camp.  Adam surfed in the clearest water ever today at west beach and we are all looking forward to moving 50km out of town to Cape leGrande tomorrow.







Typical Esperance Beach

Lapping up Yallingup!

The campsite on the hill at Yallingup is quiet special.  The view from the BBQ area is so awesome that it's tempting to bust out your tongs and flipper three times a day. Luckily there is also tables and grass so you can eat your porridge and salad sandwiches with the same BBQ vantage.  In the mornings the vista includes the crystal waters of the reef and rockpools (first light 4:45am), the many surfers jostling for position to catch the big one (6- 12 foot for the last week) in the lineup and the Green rugged back drop of Cape Leeuwin stands tall in the distance. By mid afternoon the kite boarders are out in force as The Doctor has blown in and the dolphins and whales dance there way through the breakers at sun down.

The Margaret River region has also spoiled us with her produce offerings of wines, chocolate, cheese, beer and a couple of great bakeries. We lucked into a great school fete and the National Harley Davidson 'Hog Fest' convention which was a sight to behold and brought the sound of thunder to the roads with over 1 thousand loud piped motorbikes taking to the streets around Margaret River.  We all loved it!

Amelie has lost her first tooth and is working on the second and Anais has given away her training wheels off her bike to a fellow camper.

At night we sleep with the roar of the ocean and the smell of salt in the air. It feels like home.

Swaning around in Fremantle

It turns out that you don't need a long neck to swan around in Fremantle.

 After five cool, wet and windy days exploring the historic towns of Toodyay, York and Northam in the wheatbelt district East of Perth we then sampled some of the Swan Valleys finest produce.  As the weather settled itself we meandered into Fremantle for our second city stay of the trip. The town was a 'Buzz' with life, yet maintained its historical charms.

 Between scrutinising the many coffee shops, riding buses and trains, visiting historic buildings, the maritime and ship wreck museums and the markets we were found ourselves busy doing other stuff. The poor form from the caravan park was made up by the fact we weren't there much. I had a surf with a mate at Scarborough and blew myself away in Didge heaven. Em went late night shopping with no kids and loved the atmosphere in Little Creatures Brewery and the kids enjoyed  the novelty of going inside a house when we caught up with my cousins and Aunty for the first time in twenty years.

                                          (Cousins Caroline, Aunty Lorraine, Michael, me and David)

Four days flew by in Freo, but we were glad to slow the pace down a little and get our toes back in the sand yesterday when we pulled up in Yallingup(near Margaret River) for the next little while.

 (With travelling buddies Bek and Paul)

Blow the milk out of your cuppa!

The landscape changed from low lying salt bush and grasses to an endless vista of scrub and stunning wildflowers as we drove closer to Kalbarri National Park.  It was the stuff that inspires native gardners Australia over and as the desert winds blew hard across the pollens it brought tears the eyes of the every hayfever sufferer in the district and provided a perfect breeding ground for millions of flies. 

We spent 4 days at Kalbarri in hope that the famous surf break 'Jakes' might provide a surfable wave but the ony win we had was the great caravan park and a collect on a $5 eachway bet on the Melbourne Cup. The views from the Natures window were well worth the effort.

Looking for an overnight free camp spot near Jurien Bay we happened to stumble across Sandy Cape Recreation Park.  One night turned into three as the swimming and scenery was amazing.  The whiting were biting from the beach and after a chat with the ranger about a secret nearby drive ("yeah mate you'll be right you won't even need 4WD") we found ourselves on a half day mission crawling over limestone rocks and through sandy dunes in low range.  The journey was amazing though, as we snorkelled and picnicked in private coves and searched through old WW11 lookout bunkers on North Head.








Yesterday we headed south via the eerie Pinnacles National Park.  The landscape again changed from yellow sand with spiked rocks to fields of grass trees and finally to tall woodland as we pulled up at TOODYAY in our first rain shower since we left home in July.

Denim in Denham

Emm was looking flash and was accused of dressing up for a 'town day' when we left Canarvon early and headed south for Shark Bay.  It turned out that she just wanted to be in Denim before we got to Denham.  We still had to make the drive though!  Shark Bay World Heritage Park was beautiful. The kids enjoyed the close up action with the Dolphins at Monkey Mia and we all loved the new baby Dolphin that was only a week old.




We buried ourselves in shells at Shell Beach and the kids were amazed that in some places the shells were over 5m deep. 

At the Ocean Park we wacthed the sharks, snapper, turtles, rays and morey eels being fed and learnt about the short but fascinating (and tasty) lives of squid.  Today we meandered down to Kalbarri via Hamelin Pool where we did a loop walk to view the simplest (and posiibly the first) form of life, single cell Stromatolites that thrive in the super salty waters of the bay. Quite fascinating and the scones in the old Post office tea house at the end were well worth the effort.







W'e didn't bump into the Queen as hoped.  It turns out she doesn't do denim, only saussage sizzles by the beach.

Congratulations Lawry family on the birth of Asher.

Up the Bluff

We have just rinsed the salt off after a great week at Red Bluff on Quobba Station. Daily successful fishing sessions, shell collecting, swims and the odd surf here and there led to an ideal lifestyle that was topped off with great company around the evening fire.  Emm  mastered the art of camp oven cookery and treated all comers to an awesome roast with all the trimmings.  Saturday night we had a pizza night and celebrated a local lads birthday(we met him that day) as the kids chased soldier crabs through the dunes by torchlight. Monday night we had tea with another great bunch of people that had been camping at the Bluff for 3 months.  It was a seafood delight as the Spanish Mackeral haul that day had proved to be enough to feed the whole camp. As the sun set behind the bluff each night we were treated to a show of whale time, play time.  The girls made a mermaid on the beach and I made friends with these two horses on the way in(they kind of freaked me out actually)!

Just before he stuck his head though the open window and I weaseled across to Emm's side.