Cervantes to Perth (Saturday 22nd May 2010)

Travel Day. Cervantes to Perth 254km

On the road 10.30am

Huge storm overnight in Cervantes. Bucket loads of rain. So much so that standing on the inside of the tent near the door way it felt like a water bed under foot!! We stepped outside to find table, chairs, shoes, all sopping wet. The fridge had gone off at some stage because the power board was under water too. Lucky for the safety switch. After thinking shit, shit, shit we got to work emptying water out of chair magazine pockets and getting the fridge powered up again. We moved everything to a space between two cabins behind us hoping to dry some of the things out before we got the next down pour of rain. That didn't happen. The rain fell relentlessly and we packed up in the pouring rain. Oh, the joys!!

Leaving Cervantes it got to a point were we couldn't see the road. It was slow going for a long while. It did improve as we got closer to Perth but it didn't stop. So, guess what? We set up in the rain! Thank goodness for the great facilities at park it helped us get over the wet weather.

Cervantes (Friday 21st May 2010)

Started the morning with a walk along the beach but sadly for the girls no seashells here at Cervantes. Sob, Sob. After breakfast headed off to see the Pinnacles Desert which was just down the road in the Nambung National Park. They were the most incredible sight. We also got to drive in amongst them on a track through the park.

In the afternoon the girls did some homework. Later that afternoon Pete decided it was time to join the locals and do a spot of fishing off the pier. So off he went to the shops and came back with some hand reels and 'occy' (octopus) bait. We all headed for the pier in the freezing cold wind and hopped to catch a fish for dinner. The girls didn't catch any fish but neither did the locals so we didn't feel so bad. We had a ball trying though. Until next time!.

Busselton (Saturday 29th - Monday 31st 2010)

Had the worst night last night. The 'Doggies' lost the footy, Elizabeth threw up her dinner in bed and it rained all day! Had a total of 3hrs broken sleep.

Pete, Elizabeth and Emilia had a sleep in this morning. I got up early and had the task of scraping the dinner off the bedding and start the washing.

We were determined to have an early start today but instead we spent the entire day at the caravan park washing, drying and reorganizing ourselves. "Se la vie". Pete went to the shops to buy stuff for dinner and rocked up with beanies and gloves for all of us. Yes, we (including Pete who's been in denial), have accepted the fact that the cold weather is here to stay and we just have to get used to it!

We are just opposite the beach and heard the waves crashing all night last night and today but we're yet to see them. Elizabeth's on the improve so we're hoping for a better day tomorrow.

We're off to find some cows. That is, the 3D life size cows, that have been painted by local artists, that are then sold at a charity auction. They are spread out all over the Margaret River region. Everybody we've come across around here has told us to "look out for the cows". We've got a map to follow that shows there location, and that's exactly what we plan on doing. To be continued........

Sunday 20th

All's good. Finally had a look at the beach across the road before setting off on our 'cow spotting' adventure. Drove to the Busselton Jetty which went on forever. Longest wooden jetty

in the Southern Hemisphere

.

Called into Flametree Vineyard, another 'cow' location.

We resisted any wine tastings this early in the morning, but we'll be back. We ventured up to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse with spectacular views of Geographe Bay. We called into Bunkers Bay and then Eagle Bay where we found another 'cow' at Wise Winery. This vineyard was in a spectacular location, rolling green country side that meets the ocean and over looks the coast line. More beautiful coast line at Yallingup with surfers out in the water amongst the huge waves. MAD.

Heading back to Dunsborough we made a rash decision and decided to go horse riding at Mirravale Horse Riding farm. We rode through the Leeuwin National Park and returned at 5pm. The girls had grins from ear to ear. Pete rode Wookie, I rode Ted, Emilia was on Summer and Elizabeth rode Flee. That's how the day ended.

Monday 31st May

We were meant to pack up and leave Busselton this morning, but Elizabeth woke up feeling sick again (probably did too much yesterday), so we're staying another day. Pete and Emilia have gone to taste test the ice creams at 'Simmo's Ice Creamery'. There are 44 flavours to choose from. YUMMMM

Perth to Busselton (Friday 28th May 2010)

Travel Day.

Perth to Busselton 233km.

For the first time it actually felt like we were driving on a proper highway. By that I mean just like the ones we have in Melbourne. Most 'highway's' are like country roads around here! From the picture below you can see there's always something to look at, even on a straight stretch of road.

We called into the town of Bunbury which was another nice coastal town and had some lunch then hit the road again.

Arrived in Busselton 3.20pm. This is were we got our 'Cow Trail Map' and saw our first cow.

Kalbarri to Cervantes (Thursday 20th May 2010)

Travel Day. Kalbarri to Cervantes 397km.

"TODAY IS YOUR DAY. ENJOY IT."

This was on the blackboard at the Black Rock Cafe where we got our coffee's on our way out of Kalbarri. It was a good omen. We had a great day.

Girls started the morning off by feeding some hungry pelicans their daily fish for breakfast on the foreshore at 8.45am.

Heading South we had no idea where we were going to stop. We stopped at Port Gregory to look at the Pink Lake, which was not very pink today! Further down the road we stopped at Lynton Station to look at convict ruins. Wow, is all I can say. The history behind this place was amazing. I could have stayed and walked around for ages. I made Pete stop on the way out so I could look at the three lonely graves under a huge ancient tree. He reckons I'm such a ghoul.

We reached Geraldton at 1.15pm and stopped for lunch. It was here we decided to drive on to the Cervantes and so we rang ahead and booked a site. The 'Batavia Coast' was scattered with historical ruins everywhere in grazing land along the road. It was pretty country side. We turned off the Brand Hwy and took the coastal scenic route towards Leeman. We discovered the coastal scenic route was not so scenic. The road was a fair way inland so we really couldn't see a lot of the coast and 'back burning' had been done so we were driving through black charred bushland for a fair bit of the way. Too funny. Not quite what we had in mind.

Juiren Bay 4pm. Arrived at Cervantes 4.20pm.

Kalbarri (Wednesday 19th May 2010)

Spent the day checking out the sights of Kalbarri. We were told the Blue Holes was a nice spot to visit along the beach. The ocean waves came crashing in and the noise was deafening. The funniest thing was looking out to sea and seeing fish jumping out all over the place. It seems to be a common thing around here with the fish. We all did the 'seashell collecting ritual' and scoured the beach. Elizabeth and Emilia are holding a crab in their hands that the birds have eaten the insides out of but left the rest intact. There are loads of crabs on the beach like this.

The walk to Nature's Window was beautiful. Back to walking in amongst the bush. The view through the natural rock arch to the river below was incredible. The next walk to the Z Bend was along pretty impressive gorges that fell 150 metres to the river below us.

Denham to Kalbarri (Tuesday 18th May 2010)

Travel Day.

Denham to Kalbarri 371 km.

On the way out of Denham we stopped at Shell Beach. A beautiful pristine beach covered in millions of tiny white cockle shells. The girls were pretty happy. Shells, Shells, Shells.

At 9.30am we stopped and learnt all about the world of Stromatolites, the oldest living organisms on the planet, at Hamelin Pool. Stromatolites are made up of bacteria and algae and live in water that is twice as salty as sea water. They are very slow growing, 0.3mm a year.

Around 2pm we arrived into Kalbarri.

At Chinaman's Beach Lookout we watched a pod of dolphins swimming by in the ocean. They flipped out of the water here and there like they were putting on a show for us. Yes, The Bassett's are in town!!

Denham - Monkey Mia (Monday 17th May 2010)

Got up super early to drive up to Monkey Mia (20min from Denham) to watch the dolphin feeding. We stood in ankle deep water waiting in anticipation for the dolphins to swim in for their regular feed. Sure enough at 7.30am in they came. They came right into the shallow water and happily swam just centimeters from us. There were 3 feed sessions all up and we waited until the dolphins came back for their second and third feed. They were just amazing to watch and I think the girls were gobsmacked. After that we wandered around the visitor centre and learnt more about dolphins and other fishy friends! A pretty good way to start the day. We had breakfast when we got back to camp and then set off again to see Little Lagoon and Francois Peron National Park.

Our last adventure for the day was the Shark Bay Ocean Park Aquarium.

We had a guide give us a tour around the park to explain about all the weird looking fish they kept here. We did recognize one, the shark which the guide tried to feed but he wasn't very hungry. There scare you even when you are looking down on them from a platform.

Carnarvon to Denham (Shark Bay) (Sunday 16th May 2010)

Travel Day.

Carnarvon to Denham 323km.

On the road 10am.

At 12.20pm took the turn off to Shark Bay. Loads of sites to see along the way but we didn't stop because we planned on going to these over the next few days. As soon as we arrived into Denham I knew we were going to like it here. Seaside towns have that appeal about them you just can't resist. To top it off our 'upper level' camp site with magnificent views over looking the Indian Ocean confirmed it. This was great.

We strolled through town and met the resident emu wandering down the main street. After a coffee and walk along the jetty we watched the fishing boats come in with their haul at end of the day.

At beer o'clock, as Pete calls it, we had drinks in hand enjoying the view, later followed by a magnificent sunset.