And the journey continues.
Wednesday 8th March we left Albany and drove the massive distance of 60km haha to Denmark. On the way into town, we stopped at the information centre and checked out what to do in the area.
After getting to the caravan Park and setting up, we spent the rest of the day doing a bit more planning of where we were heading.
Thursday we did a day trip to William bay NP to see greens pool and elephant rocks. This has to be one of the most beautiful beach locations I’ve ever seen. Greens pool is a lovely sandy beach that is completely sheltered from the waves by a whole line of granite rocks just off the coast creating the perfect swimming and snorkeling location and the perfect place for little ones to splash.
Snorkeling around the rocks I saw lots of fish of different types, crabs, urchins and different seaweeds and grasses. The water is crystal clear making it so easy to see right to the bottom even in the deepest parts.
We spent a good few hours here snorkeling and swimming and playing in the sand before walking the short distance around the headland to elephant rocks.
Another stunning place in a narrow cove with the name coming from the large granite boulders on the beach and in the water within the cove I guess looking like a herd of elephants. It is also great for snorkeling and swimming here but there is much more of a pull in and out from the swell. Most of the cove is fairly shallow and I could stand up but around the boulders it was much deeper and you could easily climb up and jump off the rocks into the water. Because of the swell moving in and out more here, the water had more sand and seaweed floating around reducing the visibility a bit.
Once we had finally had enough of these gorgeous places, we headed back towards Denmark stopping at the chocolate lounge on the way.
For a chocolate place, the chocolate lounge didn’t have very much chocolate at all. Half a dozen different flavours of individual chocolates and some tasting trays of chocolate buttons and the rest of the lounge was dedicated to selling ports and liqueurs. And $14 for a small packet of chocolate buttons is a bit much I think.
I did a tasting of 3 of the spirits and they were ok but personally didn’t find them nice enough to purchase a bottle.
Friday was a bit quieter. We spent most of the morning around camp then made our way into town for lunch and to look around. We of course had to sample the options at the 2 chocolate shops in town which was very nice.
Saturday we left Denmark and on the way to our next camp siter, we stopped 1st at the Valley of the Giants. Here there is a treetop walk and information area. It was great to be up high near the top of the trees looking down at the floor of the forest and out over the valley as well. The walkways do wobble a bit but are still very strong.
from there we drove to the tingle tree which is a huge tree that you can walk through. The walk to the tingle tree is a nice short walk with a few other really big trees in the area as well.
After the walk we drove on to shannon NP to camp for 2 nights. The camp grounds are huge and sit on the old town and mill site. There is also plenty of information on the history of the area.
Sunday morning we decided we would move on a day early as the march flies were horrendous so we packed up the van but before hooking up. we headed back down the road a bit to check out fernhook falls and rowells pool in Mt Frankland NP. The pool was nice but unfortunately there was no water flowing over the falls.
We then drove back to pick up the van and headed to Fonty’s pool caravan park near Manjimup. What a beautiful park with nice grass sites and Fonty’s pool itself which is a man made lake on a small creek surrounded by beautiful lawns. Sunset with just s few clouds in the sky was pretty spectacular too.
Monday 13th March we did a day trip to the Dave Evans Bicentennial tree. This is a fire tower build on one of the huge Karri tree. The 1st platform which I climbed up to is 20m above the ground and the main lookout is 65m above the ground which is the highest tree based fire tower in the world. To get to the top you have to climb up the pegs that have been hammered into the trunk, spiralling all the way up to the top platform.
after a few pics and a video, we did the compulsory stop at another nearby chocolate factory which was very nice and had some lunch. From there it was a quick stop at Beedelup falls then back to the caravan for the rest of the afternoon.
Tuesday We had to head off early and get the batteries tested in Bunbury as they were playing up and after getting them checked, found out they had hadit. So after checking in to the caravan park I drove into Perth to get a new Lithium battery.
While I headed to Perth, Belinda and the kids went to the Dolphin Discovery centre where they saw the aquarium with all sorts of sea creatures.
While at the Battery place in Perth I also took the opportunity to get an inverter for the van so we can run some of the other things when not at a caravan park like the washing machine, modem and stuff like that. When I got back I spent the rest of the afternoon installing the new battery and setting up the chargers to charge the Lithium type properly.
Wednesday Morning we headed down to the beach early to see the dolphins in the ocean out the front of the Dolphin Discovery centre and were lucky enough to see 1 dolphin there named Eclipse. We stood in the water and she swam back and forth Infront of us for a while before she headed out into deeper water. The kids especially thought this was so cool.
We then went back and packed up the van and drove to Olive hill campground just outside Margaret River. This camp it a great little spot with huge sites and lots of space between the sites as we were camped in the olive grove so there where a couple of rows of olive trees each side of the camp spots. After setting up I discovered we were still having power issues but thankfully it turned out to be the solar regulator that didn’t like the lithium battery so I disconnected that from the system and everything started working properly (except no solar input). I also got the van booked into a caravan place after we leave Margaret river to get the solar panels connected to the Dc charger near the battery.
Thursday we just had a quiet day around camp as Belinda wasnt feeling well. The kids had a lot of fun as there were heaps of other families staying here as well which was great.
Friday we went down to Lake cave in the morning and did the tour which was awesome. The water in the cave gives it such a magical look with the stalactites and stalagmites reflecting off the water in the low light.
after climbing the 325 stairs back out of the cave, we headed to Jewel cave and had some lunch before our tour started. Jewel cave is another very pretty cave with lots of flow stone and some very unusual formations on the roof in some areas. Further into the cave (no access areas) there is also Tassie tiger fossils.
After our tour, we headed back to camp stopping in Margaret river for an icecream on the way.
Saturday 18th March we went to the Margaret River farmers markets to get a couple of things and saw our neighbours at the campground there too so we all decided to go for lunch at the pub in town. The meals were big and very nice so we didn’t really need dinner and the boys were occupied playing with our neighbours daughter.
After lunch we all headed back to camp and the kids all played while I had a snooze and Belinda sewed some of the patches we are collecting onto the quilt.
Sunday we headed to Busselton for the day to see the big jetty. when we got there there where some markets near the jetty, so we wen to have a look around. While there we ran into some other friends and their kids we had made and some previous campgrounds and we all went down to the jetty together.
We walked the jetty all the way to the end and back instead of catching the train as it was fairly expensive and the kids didn’t even notice the 1.8km each way as they were too busy having fun with their friends. When we got back to the start of the jetty, the kids all had a play on the pirate ship playground before we said goodbye to our friends as they had other things to do and we were heading off to see more too.
We then headed west from Busselton to Near Dunsborough to see Castle rock. We spent some time there down the beach and found a small area protected by the rocks for the kids to splash in safely. After a good play we headed back to camp for the night.
Monday we went to explore Indijup natural spa and canal rocks. The natural spa is such a cool spot which has a sheltered rock pool area but the waves hit the rocks behind the pools and water flows over the rock from the waves down into the pools and when you sit where the water flows down you get a spa like effect. Despite it being a monday though, it was very busy and we just had to take turns where the water flows over.
From there we walked just around the rocks a little bit to another smaller pool which was better for the kids to splash in and in that pool we actually saw an octopus swimming between the rocks.
After that we drove round the bay to Canal rocks for a bit of a look before starting back. On the way we stopped at Gralyn wines for a tasting and I got a couple of very nice muscat’s. We then stopped at the chocolate factory and of course just had to get a few things.
By then it was time to head to the brewery near camp to meet 2 other families we met at the campground. We had a great afternoon there and eventually headed back to camp for toasties and a kids movie night at one of the other families camps. (sing 1 & 2)
Tuesday and our last day in Margaret river, we headed south to Hamlin bay in hopes of seeing some of the stingrays that come right up to the shore near the boat ramp there.
We initially took a wrong turn and ended up at cosy corner which had some really nice views of the coastline. So we took a few photos and then backtracked and got on the right road to Hamlin bay.
As a lot of these places are, it was fairly busy with people wanting to see the rays just like we did. It was quiet to start with none around so after waiting for 15 min or so, we decided to go for a walk down the beach towards some interesting looking cliffs. A good thing we did as a few hundred metres down the beach we did see one of the rays very close in and were able to wade in as it swam past us.
We explored the area where the cliffs meet the water for a bit and on our way back we saw the same ray and followed it along the beach and were lucky enough to see a 2nd one heading in the opposite direction too. at one point one of the rays rubbed its side on my leg as it swam past, it felt a bit like leather.
when both the rays swam off, we walked back to the car and drove back to Margaret River to get a few things from the shops and then out to Millers ice cream. MMMMMMM so good!!!!! this has to be the best flavoured ice cream i’ve ever tried. The apple crumble flavour really tastes like apple crumble and the strawberry cheesecake one really tastes like cheesecake soooo good.
We went back to camp after that to get packed up as we had to leave very early the next morning. After getting the van and car all organised we went over to one of the other families sites for a bbq dinner with the same 2 families that we went to the pub with. We had another great evening before saying our goodbyes and heading to bed.
Wednesday 22nd March, we left at 6am as we had to drop the van off in Bunbury at 730am to get the solar panels re wired to the DC charger. After dropping the van off we spent the day in Bunbury, visiting the dolphin centre again, parks, beaches and a couple of shops before picking up the van at 430pm and driving about 40 min to our camp at Potters gorge.
Thursday and Friday at potter’s gorge were quiet days spent relaxing in the bush and doing some planning for the next month or so. Thursday afternoon we headed into Collie to meet up with another family we met at a camp who live there so the kids could have a play together. It was nice to have a couple of days of not doing much.
Saturday we left potter’s gorge and headed to Coogee beach near Fremantle to stay for the week. After setting up we gave the car a very overdue clean inside and out.
Sunday, we checked out the maritime museum and the shipwreck museum. The maritime museum is a great place to visit, with heaps of interesting history and lots of different boats on display. Australia II is even in there which is the yacht that won the Americas cup in 1983. There is also a preserved megamouth shark in a tank in there and you can look right into its mouth and eye through the window. It is a very big shark but like the whale shark it eats very small things like plankton.
The shipwreck museum was really good as well. They have the rear quarter of a Dutch ship on display that sank in 1629 off the coast near Geraldton they also have a lot of the things off the ship like cannons, brick which it was carrying, coins, and other items. There is also heaps of other things recovered from some of the other Dutch ships that sunk off the coast in the 1700s.
Monday we did a day trip to penguin island to see the little (fairy) penguins. The feeding was really good with lots of information about the penguins and their life on the island as well as stories about the penguins in the visitors centre.
There are 7 penguins in the centre that were rescued around the area. 2 as abandoned babies, another one that doesn’t like to swim so can’t hunt his own food, and the others who can in with various injuries.
One penguin, Gerry is a very old girl who lost sight in one eye in fishing nets, she is 25 years old which is a great effort since little penguins live on average 7-10 years in the wild. Penguins generally mate for life and Gerry had a husband in the centre called piggy, but he died at the ripe old age of 26. Before the staff had had a chance to Bury piggy or even stop crying, Gerry has already moved on to a younger by called skip and they have been pretty much inseparable since. Although Gerry is now too old to produce eggs, apparently that doesn’t stop her having fun at breeding time.
Tuesday 28th March and the morning was spent running around doing bits and pieces. Just before lunch we headed into Perth to do a tour of the mint. The mint is a really interesting place to visit and on the tour you get to see some really cool things like the world’s biggest gold coin which weighs 1tonne and is currently valued at about 96 million dollars. We also got to see a gold poor where they made a gold bar and got to pick up a 1 million dollar gold bar ( was in a case so you can’t run off with it). There is also a set of scales that tell you your weights value in gold instead of kgs I’m worth 8.1 million.
After the tour, we had a look around the shop area and bought a gold bar ( gold rapper around chocolate) and a special set of coins. These coins are all 2023 dated coins but they have the queen’s head on them making them extra special. These had already been produced before the queen’s death and were released anyway.
We left the mint and went to have a quick look at king’s park before driving out to Mullaloo beach to catch up with some friends we met at Margaret River and to see an Arial acrobatic show in the park by the beach. We had a great night catching up and the show was amazing. The kids loved the giant fairies walking around on stilts as well. We finally left at about 9pm and headed home to sleep.
Wednesday we went down to Mandurah and hired a couple of kayaks and paddled around the harbour area looking for dolphins. Didn’t see any but we had a fun time anyway. We even got shot at by a pirate ship!!! ( Water canons) After that we had some lunch and walked around the harbour until we found the pirate ship and joined the next pirate cruise along the waterways. With lots of arrrrr’s and shooting the water canons we played pirate and saw the canal areas. The boys had a ball.
After our pirate adventure, we went to find some giants. These are wooden giant people in several different places around the area. Each one involves a walk from the carpark of between 500m and 1.8 km each, so was a good way to get a bit of exercise as well. The giants are pretty cool.
Thursday was a day of doing pits and pieces on the van and around camp so pretty boring stuff really.
Friday we went back to Mandurah and had a nice walk through the bush to find another one of the giants. After that it was a bit of shopping and back to the caravan to cook a yummy roast pork for dinner.
Saturday 1st April. We moved on from Coogee beach and drove the huge distance of about 80km to Henry white oval campground in Yanchep np. It’s a great little campground with clean toilets and showers and a big camp kitchen and quite cheap being national parks fees. In the afternoon we had a walk around the park and saw the koalas in their sanctuary and looked around the picnic areas while the boys rode their bikes along the paths.
In the late afternoon, the kangaroos come out and there are heaps munching away on the oval right next to our camp which was cool.
Sunday we had a quiet day around camp and I watched the Melbourne F1 race.
Monday morning we left Yanchep and headed about 2 hours north to sandy cape recreational park although it took us most of the day as we made a few stops along the way.
1st stop was at the pinnacles in Nambung NP. These pinnacles of stone sticking up out of the sand around them is so unique and interesting. They have been these for possibly millions of years and scientists still don’t know how they were formed. They do believe that they were there before the sand and have been covered and then uncovered again over the centuries.
After doing the 4km drive around the pinnacles, our next stop was at Cervantes to see the thrombolites. These are made by cyanobacteria and are up to 3500 years old and still growing.
From there we drove the last 20min or so to camp and were lucky enough to find one of the last spots backing up to the dune just behind the beach. By the time we had the van setup, the kids had already made friends with several other kids staying in the campgrounds and were happily playing.
Tuesday we stopped in at Jurien bay and got some info from the information centre on what to do in the area. On advice from the staff there, we then took a drive out to Leseur NP. Here there is a 15km 1 way circuit drive through the park with several places to stop and do hikes of different lengths. We didn’t do any hikes this day but just enjoyed the drive and the scenery. After that we headed back to camp via the very slow but fun 4wd track entering from the north end of the camping area and then chilled out for the rest of the afternoon.
Wednesday we did another day trip. This time we drove to stockyard gully reserve to do the short walk there along the gully and through the cave there. What a cool cave. Formed by the water flowing through the gully after heavy rains it is a very large tunnel that we could walk all the way through and out the other end. Because it is a river cave there are no pretty formations like stalactites but it’s still an awesome place to see. There is also another cave just past the stairs leading out of the gully but there is a fence across it so we didn’t go through that one. All up it’s only a 1.3km walk so pretty easy.
After some lunch at the car, we made our way back to the coast and checked out a few beaches in the area. 1st we stopped at Milligan island and then drove just down the coast a bit to Point Louise. Both are beautiful spots for a fish or a swim. On the way, we came across a couple of guys that tried unsuccessfully to get their commodore down to the beach. After making a bit of fun at them, we towed them out which they were very grateful for. They even gave the kids $20 to share for helping.
After the beaches we went into Green Head for an ice cream by the beach before heading back to camp.
Thursday we packed up in the morning to head to Geraldton to stay at a place called The Cottage Garden. Before we had packed up there was already someone there waiting for the spot at 9 am. It was about a 2 hour drive to Geraldton and after arriving and getting set up, we headed into town to do some shopping and go to the information centre.
When we got back to camp we met the lovely couple that own the property which is really just a 2 acre block with a house and a large yard out the back. The have power and water set up for a couple of vans and only ever have 1 or 2 at a time which makes it nice and quiet. There is also 3 chickens running around that lay their eggs in the fork of a tree and the kids love collecting them.
Friday 7th April, we drove into town mid morning to have a look around and our 1st stop was the HMAS Sydney memorial. The memorial is incredibly special and very well done. The dome is made of 645 metal doves to simbolize the 645 live lost when the sydney sank. There has now also been added a water pool with a map of the coast and ocean with a gull with a wing in the water where the HMAS Sydney II lies.
On the evening of November 19 1941 the Sydney came across the Kormoran on its way back from escorting a transport shop to the sunda straights.
After the Kormoran was unable to report the safe word to the Sydney, it opened fire on the Australian ship.
The battle would ultimately lead to the sinking of both ships with all 645 crew on the Sydney lost. No trace of the Sydney was found except for one life raft until it was finally located on 16th March 2008 off steep point in 2500m of water.
After spending some time at the memorial, we went off to find the lighthouse and from there, a park for some lunch and a play. Once the kids had been worn out, we headed back to camp for the rest of the afternoon.
Saturday we had a quiet day around camp and catching up one chores.
Easter Sunday the kids woke up early as expected very excited to see the easter bunny had found them on our holiday. They had an easter egg hunt and way too much chocolate so spent most of the day hyped up and full of energy. we had a bit of a movie day which was nice.
Monday to Thursday were quiet days doing bits and pieces and waiting for a couple of packages to arrive. Had the car serviced Tuesday, did a bit of van maintenance, had a few plays at the park.
We did go to the museum for a few hours on the Wednesday and really enjoyed it. We did the guided tour of the shipwrecks area which gave us some really interesting info on the batavia and other wrecks off this region over the centuries. One of the items in the batavia’s cargo was all the pieces for a big sandstone arch which they have in the museum all set up. (The actual sandstone recovered from the wreck not replicas). There was also heaps of stories about other wrecks from the 17th and 18th century which we found fascinating.
I think that’s enough for now. Next part we will be going further up the west coast to Kalbarri, steep point and Exmouth.
A Love of Adventures 