margaret river, Denmark & the aussie bight

Well it has been sometime since we have been able to get online. Google decided it didn't want to play.

We have had an interesting time since leaving Perth and headed South-East to Margaret River region.

As we were trying to get as much sight seeing in as possible in a short time we stay in one location and travel out each day even if we need to back track. Due to the caravan being so big it's hard to find parking in the towns without walking long distances to do shopping or visit beaches. Anyway I digress, we stayed in Margaret River and quickly turned around headed back up to Bussellton along the coast road. The scenery is beautiful with a winery every turn of your head, I do mean every turn of your head. This has to be the wine capitol of Australia. As we already had our van loaded with our stock of New Zealand and Aussie wine we only stopped at a brewery named the cheaky monkey. Graham unfortunately they didn't have any bottled as they have just started brewing, I actually went in to see if I could get you some. Anyhow we continued up to Bussellton and checked out the Bussellton jetty. The jetty is 2kms long and yep we walked it, even though it was cold and there was a hint of a shower. Great view back into town from the end.

On our way back down the coast we visited pretty much every beach and lookout you could find as the scenery is unbelievable. Some of the towns are also very nice. We stopped at a town called Dunsborough which was a busy with, yep, tourists. As we continued down we headed out to the Cape Naturalist lighthouse and ran into a couple of friends we met on the road. Don and Lynn are from that great country of New Zealand. Yes that would be the country that has won more GOLD medals than Australia. Anyhow we have ended up travelling around the coast with them for the last couple of weeks and had some fun. I'm off the subject again, the photos above and below are of the Canal rocks just outside of a town called Yallingup. These rocks are big and the sea pounds them constantly so I had to get down close to get some photos. I thought I was far enough back but didn't expect one of those unexpected big waves to hit the shoreline. Anyhow I moved back pretty quick as the last thing I needed was to leave Gabriella stranded with the car and no keys. I don't think she would have been able to save me.

We moved on to a place called Smiths beach. The colour of the water is beautiful. The sand is white and the aqua blue water is unbelievable. We do not have beaches that are this clean or spectacular.I have travelled to a lot of aussie beaches and WA takes the prize by a long shot. I guess they also have the most coast line so it does give them an unfair advantage.

Just before we headed back to the camp site for the night we stopped off at a town called Cowaramup. Yep try and pronounce that one, anyway they obviously like cows and every street corner and shop has a cow adorning their footpath or like the one below their doorstep. Oh I didn't mean that Gabriella was a cow, shes just resting a little. I guess the udder ones didn't give a mooo.  Smile Gabriella.

Now this is where the mad cow kicks in, I have to remember where the story and the photos meet. I know that we decided to head down to the caves and as a cave is a cave we only stopped at the Lakes cave as I thought that it may have been the best of the three. Well it was spectacular and it only had about 300 steps to go down. Oh the only problem was that you had to climb back up. It didn't take long for pretty much all of us to stop and take a breather. The cave itself was beautiful and the photos below again don't do it justice, you just have to be there to see it for yourself. 

Now for all you budding photographers don't try and do this by hand holding your camera as I did, take a tripod and do it properly you just have to hope they let you take it in the cave as they are very narrow entrances. I wish I had  takena one in with me as the photos would have been great. One for the pool room.

Now the above photo and the one below are of Cape Leeuwin, one being the obvious lighthouse and the above one of the meeting of the Southern ocean and the Indian ocean. We were here on a very windy day but the ocean was fairly calm. There was a sign saying look to see if you can tell where the oceans met. Well I think it was here. The only problem was no one was around to tell you.

Now as a lighthouse, I guess it's big white and very conspicuous. I had to put the people next to it to show the  actual size. From the left Gabriella, Don & Lynn .

That was it for the day and we headed back to Margaret River to pack up and move in the morning down to Denmark. 

We arrived in Denmark at a reasonable time and decided to have a look around at the beaches and scenery before darkness set in. As for a town there wasn't much to do but the caravan park we stayed in was probably the biggest and cleanest we have been in for the whole trip. The park can hold up to 3500 people over the summer period but when we arrived there was only four vans in the park. They have almost three hundred sites and numerous cabins to rent. It was a strange place as the town was not very big. Five stars for the  Big4 park in Denmark go there if your are in town.

When we arrived back at the park after our tour the New Zealanders had set up camp next door. They had decided to head down and not stop at Albany.

As they were in town we all decided to go back out the next day and see the big Karri trees in the Walpole National Park. They had a tree top walk which was about 40mtrs above the forest floor and a walkway that wobbled a bit if someone was a bit heavy footed. Anyway the photos below are of the Karri & giant tingle trees.

The circumference of this tree is 24mtrs, it's huge. You wonder how it stands with the centre completely gone. 

                          Don                                                 &                                         Lynn

After visiting the trees we hit the beaches again to check out the scenery, we came across the vehicle below that the driver had obviously left the handbrake off and not in gear. The car didn't have any damage but the trailer was a bit trashed. We could see a boat just of the rocks and assumed they were out getting a bit of abalone. Hope the fisheries guy wasn't around as I think they are out of season. 

After leaving Denmark we decided to free camp just short of Esperance as we would have arrived late and payed for a night's accommodation for nothing. We stopped at a roadhouse in  Munglinup and as I woke early the next morning I could see this fantastic sunrise, I couldn't resist getting up and freezing my N***s off just to take this photo. This country has a surprise around every corner.

Now get a load of the colour of the water and sand, only in WA. People fly overseas to get this but we have it in our own back yard. Where the bloody hell are you? Well this was Hellfire beach just out of Esperance and if the temperature was warmer you wouldn't leave. Oh, and no one was there.

Well our time was coming to an end and we had come to the drive that no one really wants to do, the Nullabor plains. I guess that the reason you don't want to drive it is because it's getting closer to the end of the trip. Well it was a great drive, blown all the way by that lovely westerly. We free camped it across the Nullabor without any issues and landed in Ceduna a few days later. The photo below was taken on the Great Australian Bight. Impressive, you bet your bottom dollar, this isn't something you see everyday. If I haven't said it once I'll say it again, you must see this and add it to the bucket list.

We arrived in Ceduna and stayed a couple of days hoping to throw the line in one more time before the trip ended. Not to be all the fish were on holiday so I hit the fish shop down the wharf and brought one and a half kilos of king George whiting. The town itself was nice but nothing really happening, we had dinner at the local pub which was very nice. We toured the area and looked around but when there is nothing in town and the fish aren't biting we decided to have an early night and get ready to head over towards Port Augusta. As the weather was cool and the traffic was slow we drove on through to Crystal Brook and are currently camping just next to the showgrounds. Tomorrow we hit Mildura and then back to Bendigo on Wednesday. Friday we should be back in Melbourne and getting cleaned up for work next week. Yipeeeeee.

So this is our final blog for our trip, it has been a great drive and we have really enjoyed every second of the journey. Would I do it again, you bet I would, this is the greatest country on earth so get out and see it as soon as you can because some idiot will only dig or cut something down then put up a town house. We have met a number of people along the way from the retired grey nomads, families with children,  to young packpackers travelling and working their way around the country. When asked  their views about Australia, every young traveller without question has described this country as 'awesome'. We have open spaces, room to move, and generally, good clean air. Take the time to appreciate and marvel at this great country of ours. We have been lucky to make some new friends with whom we plan to keep in touch so Alan and Ann, Ros and Les and Don and Lynn continue to enjoy your travels.

Hope you have enjoyed reading about our journey and have had a few laughs along the way. The journey has come to an adjournment , hopefully, there will  be more journeys to follow.


Bye from Rodney and Gabriella.

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We left Denham and headed for Kalbarri, this is what we came across. Beautiful coast line with massive drops to the white sand below. They say the fishing along the coast here is one of the best. The colours of the cliffs at both ends of the day are great. I got up early one day and hit the beach so I could check out some spots to go fishing and come across some locals surfing off the rocks. These guys live on the edge as they wait for the white wash to cover the rocks and then they take that leap of faith into the ocean. You watch as the water rushes back out and the guys paddle like crazy to get out as far as they can before the next wave hits the rocks. Oh yeah, it's only 7deg on this morning and the water temp only about 15deg. I know what I would be doing in that wetsuit to keep warm.

I headed back to the van and kicked Gabriella out of bed and had breakfast. We planned to go down to the pink lake just before Port Gregory. Well when you  hear that a lake can change colour you think yep your an idiot. I was expecting to get there and the lake would be green/blue. Well as you drive along the coast you can see the colour as you get closer and closer. To our amazement it was pink. The colour is caused by a build up of beta carotene in the water. We drove around the lake and into Port Gregory and from every direction you looked the colour got stronger and then you would see nothing. The light was making the difference but still a fascinating sight.

As our time is running out and we are heading back home we only have a limited time to stay at some places. We stopped in at Jurien Bay for a couple of nights. This was a quaint little town and a nice jetty just outside the caravan park which, and yes, I did catch a fish, a Tailor. I didn't take a camera so the evidence is still at sea as I let it go as the sharks had a bit of a go at the poor fish and it was marked up a bit on it's tail. Gabriella turned up about 15 min later and she didn't believe I caught one, the only saving grace was that some other people doing some crabbing on the jetty saw the fish. I have finally come to terms  that I need a boat. So that is the next thing on my agenda.

We drove down to Cervantes to see the pinnacles which are amazing. This is a place that they could shot a movie of a moon landing.

The next day it was off to Perth. We arrived at Coogee beach tourist park and and hit the cafe to have some lunch. I jumped on the phone and within an hour I finally headed around to see my brother who I haven't seen for about ten years. It was like going back in time, nothing seemed to change with him and he had certainly got a bit older. Well so have I  but I'm still good looking. Ahhhhhhhhhh

 Sunday morning we drove into the Freo market and strolled along the area. This is like the Lygon street of Fremantle. Not bad but nothing on Carlton. It has a strange feeling as there are a lot of old buildings but the mix and match of old and new just doesn't seem to work.  Down to the waterfront sheds and it's a bit like the Victorian markets but on a very small scale and they sell pretty much the same crap.

A quick look at the old Fremantle goal and the south Fremantle  football oval and then off to the park for a BBQ with the family and relatives that I haven't seen for 24 years back in NZ. Good day had by all.

On to Perth CBD for the sight seeing and the walk around. We visited the Bell tower which was interesting and headed out on the Swan river on a cruise. Two and half hours later we had seen where Gina Rhinehart lives and the home of the Australia II yacht  house. The river is great and we came across a couple of dolphins playing around just near the Fremantle yacht club. The boat house below has an interesting story, two guys built this boat shed and they were told by council to pull it down as they didn't have a permit. The two guys got a lawyer and they finally won a the case as they were told that if they registered the shed as a yacht club they could leave it there. This is the smallest yacht club with only 2 members. Yep the two guys that built it.Lucky bastards.

The two man Yacht club.

The Old brewery in West Perth

Perth skyline from the Swan River.

Yesterday we headed to Monkey Mia to see the dolphins in their natural environment. Oh, and the chance to feed them.  The girl (Hannah) was one of the volunteers who assist in the feeding of the dolphins. When the dolphins arrive they come in close to the shore and the  volunteers then select people to feed them. I was lucky enough to be chosen from the hoards of wannabee dolphin feeders to step up and feed one of them. The dolphin's name was Surprise and was about 33 years old. There were about eight dolphins playing in the area during the first feeding with one of the young ones putting on a show for the tourists.

Gabriella booked a sailing tour on one of the catamarans that leave from the jetty and I stayed ashore and tried my luck at fishing again and then laid around in the sun. We headed back to Denham and arrived just in time for the Denham speedway car display doing the block showing off their cars to the people lining the street.

We planned to do the trip up to Cape Peron in the Francois Peron National park the next day. We slept in and left a bit late but it was an interesting day. The road was 4x4 but pretty much sand with a bit of corrugation. The beaches were beautiful and we could understand why people dragged their camper trailers up the sandy road.  This photo was take at Skip jack Point with the cloud starting to form.

On the way back we dropped into the Peron Homestead. They have a small natural artisan fed hot tub that people visit and have a dip. It was pretty busy when we arrived and as it was only small and a lot of people waiting to get in we had a look around the old shearing shed and took some photos. The photo to the left was and old wool bail marking stencil.

I had said to Gabriella I must get some shots of the sunset as the cloud formation looked really good and should make for a great sunset. Well I waited a bit long and raced to a lookout just up the road hoping to get some shots. Well it was the best sunset I have seen since being on the road. The colours were brilliant and clouds only enhanced the reds and oranges put out as the sun went down. This photo hasn't been edited only minimised in size so I could upload it.

We have one day left in Denham then off to Kalbarri.  I was hoping to do some fishing in Kalbarri but I think it will be too cold for fishing. As we are heading closer to Perth the weather is getting cooler and hopefully we will miss the rain. Bye for now.

We're currently in Denham and we did the tour of the the beaches today. The photo below was taken as we headed around to Shell Beach. The view of the beaches from the roads are beautiful. The water is so clear you can just sit and look at it all day.

This is Shell beach, it is all small shells that have washed up on the beach for years. They harvest the shells for yep, shell grit, keep all those chooks and their eggs in good shape.

We visited Hamelin Pool and Shell block Quarry which was a two hundred klm trip up and back. They also had the Stromatolite that grow just behind the caravan park in the shallow waters. It's a very interesting place to visit and the area is full of those Stromatolites. They still use some of the compacted shell grit that are cut into blocks and are only used to repair the buildings in town when needed.

Tomorrow we head off to Monkey Mia and feed the dolphins. Well you have tobe picked out of the crowd of people that turn up everyday. Anyway that's what you have to do if you want to see the cute little things. I will be going fishing while Gabriella does a cruise around the coast. The next day we do some four wheel driving up to Francois Peron National park to check out the scenery.

Well I went fishing the other day and yes I caught 4 fish but still not happy with the catch. I was hoping for some red emperor but ended up with a big sea perch, Robinson seabream and Goldband Snapper. Now they were all a reasonable size and we did have fish for dinner but I will still continue to catch the big one. Gabriella went out to do some coral viewing and enjoyed the day around Coral bay.

The above coastal photo was taken whilst we visited Exmouth. The white sand and the clear water was beautiful.  We didn't stay in Exmouth as we didn't have time due to bookings in Coral Bay, Carnarvon and Monkey Mia. Anyway we enjoyed our stay in Coral Bay and with some time spent on the beach I couldn't be happier.

We headed down to Carnarvon and crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn and yes the weather changed the next day with some very heavy rain. Before the rain set in we went back  to Point Quobba. The photo below is of the blowhole area of the coast. There is a big warning sign that advises you to be very wary of fishing from the rock cliffs due to rogue waves that come in from the ocean.

They say the fish you catch from here are massive and a lot of fishermen have lost their lives doing just that, chasing the big fish and doing it from the cliff edge.

The blowholes can produce small or very large sprays of water through them but I chose not to get too close just in case that freak wave came in. It was amazing how it's calm one minute and the next thing you see is the spray covering the cliff rock.

Now this was the reward you get when you go somewhere to look at the coast and probably go fishing. As we were standing around at Point Quobba looking at the area to see if I could do some fishing I noticed some large white waves out in the ocean. I ran back to the car got the tripod and  a 200mm lens and spotted the whales moving up the coast. We didn't expect to see whales but they did say in one of the information brouchers that they pass through very close to the shore line and can be visible at this time of the year. We paid good money to go out on a boat to see whales but this was free and we got a better show from the many whales that came through. We could see heaps of whales further out as well. The shots below are of some of the whales we saw today.

Now that was our day out at Point Quobba  and we also watched the owners round up their sheep to be loaded up for sale. The owner flew around in this small gyro copter and had about 20 guys and their kids rounding up the sheep. The young kids picked up the baby lambs and put them in the utes that followed. This was a place that was worth the trip. Les & Roz if you get down here and the whales are still around get down and have a look. Allan & Ann I think you may get here a bit earlier so don't hesitate if your in town and need something to do. I was hoping to see some guys balloon fishing but the wind was on shore. We're in town for another day and then  off to Monkey Mia. Yep flipper territory. Hope to get to feed these fascinating creatures. I probably won't go swimming in Geraldton due to those sharks.  Bye for now.

During our stay in Karratha, we visited Dampier which is just a short drive out of town. I must say I'm quite impressed with the infrastructure they are doing up there. They are duplicating everything from train lines to roads going to Port Dampier. This is a city that will probably double in size over the next year. I was told that the Hilton hotel chain is going to build a new building starting this year. We ran into a couple that are contemplating moving permanently into Karratha due to the long rotations. They work 28 days on 7 days off. 12 hour days and for a labourer they earn a whopping $165.000 pa. Yep a labourer.

Anyway I'm still travelling as Gabriella wouldn't use a shovel. Both Dampier and Karratha are strange towns with not very much to do. The people who do live here permanently do a lot of fishing and every second house has a boat in the front yard or parked outside because they can't fit up the driveway. The picture above is of a plant called the Sturt desert pea. Timbo we finally found them in Dampier. They were planted right where the Red dog statue was placed. We haven't seen the movie yet but now that we have seen the statue we might get a copy to watch. Neither of these towns did much for us and we were glad to move on to Coral Bay.
After a 560klm drive we arrived early afternoon to a very pretty place. We dropped the van and cruised on down to the beach. It was feeding time for the local fish. This area is a sanctuary for the breeding of species that inhabit the local waters. Well we went down and stood in the shallows of the water and waited for the fish to come. They came and they were spangled emperors. Now these were your everyday small fish, they were between 30-40cm in length and right at our finger tips. Well toes to be precise. This was very annoying as you couldn't fish in these waters and the buggers know were the line is and not to cross. No fish for Rodney. We took some photos but they're stuck on a phone somewhere.

It was a day of nothing as we needed a rest. Cooked some dinner and hit the sack early. Next day we walked around the sand dunes and checked out some fishing spots. I have actually booked another fishing charter for Sunday. This is one that we have seen come back with a lot of fish. The main fish they catch  on these charters are Spangled emperor, red emperor and the odd snapper with other varieties I have never heard of before. SO if I can't catch anything from this trip I'II gladly dump all the fishing gear and take up lawn bowls.

As we had nothing to do today we decided to go whale watching. The boat above which they use to do these trips was great, it was fast and very agile moving through the waves and reef area. We spotted about 12 humpback whales heading north with some of the juveniles from last year. We spotted one which was playing a bit but missed out on getting photos because the boat was on the wrong angle.

This pod of whales were just cruising by with about 5 of them in the group. The size of these beasts (mammals) is incredible. You don't appreciate the size of them until they are close. We came across two that were literally only metres from the boat. They had to stop and kill the engines just in case they got spooked and turned on us.

We raced from one pod to another and in two hours spotted enough whales to keep me going for a while.

No here's one for all the readers. What is Rodney doing in the picture below. Leave your answers by clicking on the comments section below.

Can't wait to see who gets it right.