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.
See you in Melbourne
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