South Australian Coast

Along the South Australian coast we stopped over night at Streaky Bay then Port Lincoln. Port Lincoln is a fishing town with many large fishing trawlers and a pretty waterfront.

 

Adelaide was our final stop on The Brown Family Tour, we were lucky enough to visit my cousins Craig and Bronwen and their partners Lauren and Dave. It had been a long time and we enjoyed the catch up.

 

While on the trip we enjoyed many awesome adventures and amazing scenery, cannot wait for our next adventure, until next time, bye for now...

The Nullabor

The big trip across the Nullabor was very exciting and eccentric at the same time, we knew then we are on our last legs of this magnificent holiday. As for the eccentric part, the Nullabor is a mammoth road to travel with only Roadhouses along the way, wind and arid land. We drove the famous straight stretch of road which runs for 145.6kms dead straight. Along the path was many poor kangaroos who had been hit, we had to weave around eight of them on one stretch. If you ever do drive the famous Nullabor be sure to stop and check the sign, you might find our names on the middle pole.

Throughout the trek we stopped at various lookout points that allowed you to take in the huge cliffs running along the coastline.

That night we stayed just over the South Australian Boarder at one of the lookout stops of the Great Australian Bight. It was the most beautiful setting, just us and four other campers, being out in the middle of nowhere the night got cold and very dark. We were treated to a lightening show in the distance that made the ambience even more eerie.

 

 

Kalgoorlie

After travelling over four hours from Esperence to Kalgoorlie we found a caravan park, had a quick bite to eat changed into long sleeves, pants and covered shoes (tour requirements) and made it to our tour to the BHP Super Pit, all this on a 34 degree day. Once all on the tour bus we're right to go, oh no we weren’t, the clutch went, the tour had to be cancelled, many disgruntled travelers. We are only here for the night for there is not a whole lot to see or do, there are no tours Sunday and the next one is Monday if the bus is fixed. We are leaving tomorrow so will miss out. However, we did get to see the Super Pit from the lookout, and yes it is a Super Pit, huge… with many tip trucks crawling up and down the pit continuously.

Esperence

Wow, what a wonderful town to visit, their local beaches alone are spectacular. They also have a local resident at the jetty, Sammy the seal. They day we walked the jetty Sammy the seal was there to greet us under the jetty basking in the sun, we were able to get up close and take lots of photos. Sammy noticed a couple of fishermen cleaning their catch on the jetty and so decided to wander into the water for a feed. It’s a rule to feed Sammy the left overs once you’ve cleaned your fish. That afternoon we spent at a local beach, reading and relaxing in the sun.

Off to Cape Le Grand National Park to enjoy even more spectacular beaches, these have to be seen to be believed, they are magical. I’ve always dreamed of seeing clear turquoise water and crisp white sand. As we have driven down the west coast we have been quite spoilt with the beaches and for it to continue so far around the coast of Australia is impressive. Cape Le Grand has actually been my favourite so far it is a very special place to experience.

While there we walked over rocks, around rocks and up rocks to find more beaches and impressive views. The kids chased lizards and found ladybirds, walked through the squeaky sand, got close with the kangaroos, swam and they also enjoyed fishing from the beach. With the weather on our side Esperence has a special place in my heart, I know it’s corny but it was magnificent.

Hyden (Wave Rock)

Today we ventured inland to Hyden which is known as the wheat belt area of Western Australia and Wave Rock. On the way we stopped at Kulin where they have the Tin Horse Highway, along the 15km stretch the farmers from east to west compete against each other with the biggest and most original sculptured horse. This is all done for the local horse meet held the first weekend in October each year.

Further along the road to Hyden they also have sculptures in their town, which are very clever as well. They tell a story about Hyden’s history. About 5km out of town you’ll find Wave Rock, It is a great sight to see, a massive rock like a wave, the colours through it and the striped pattern are fantastic. Walk further along and you come across Hippo’s Yawn, as like Wave Rock all you see is a hippo’s mouth yawning, it actually looks quite surreal. On to Raventhorp to camp for the night.

Albany

Well the Middleton Beach Holiday Park in Albany was filled with many kids, a theatre room, games room and heated pool. Although the weather was not quite swimming weather, the kids still enjoyed the pool and games of table tennis and pool. During our stay we visited the Stirling Ranges and climbed Mount Hassel, it was great to accomplish and the view superb.

West Cape Howe National Park was very impressive with Shelly Beach, the sand very white and squeaked between your feet as you walked. It looked gorgeous, unfortunately not for swimming, very dumpy, the swell was big, and it had a strong under tow. The water was a very pretty turquoise and bright white when the waves crashed.

Further along West Cape Howe we 4WD around the coastline and found more treacherous water, with huge swell.

Wolpole

On our travels to Albany we stopped over night at Walpole where we were able to climb a 65m Gloucester Tree in the Gloucester National Park. Without thinking Marc started to race up the tree quickly followed by Evie, Jack and Ned. I stayed to take photos, was going to climb but chickened out, once I seen Marc stop to rethink his decision whether to continue or not. He had no choice because the boys were determined to get to the top, Marc questioned the boys, are you sure you’re alright, they assured him they were fine. Halfway Evie decided to climb down. After all it was not the safest of activities to do, there were rio bars sticking out the side to form a ladder. (Can’t believe you’re still allowed to climb such a tree with all the OHS issues.) In the 1930’s and 40’s the tree was used as a fire lookout.

The Walpole Caravan Park was an ideal place to stay, set amongst the trees in the bush. To top it off it was pancake Sunday, which the kids obviously enjoyed immensely.

 

We were also able to do the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk just outside Denmark. It was facinating to see such large trees, both tall and wide, many being hundreds of years old.

 

Margaret River

Sightseeing  around Margaret River is very scenic, with rugged cliffs and clear blue water, a nice deep blue. One last cave for us to explore was the Lake Cave, it is one of a few quite active caves in Australia. It was stumbled upon during the late 1800’s by a girl and her horse looking for lost cattle. The horse stopped suddenly and she couldn’t work out why until she hopped off and looked. There was a great big hole in the ground, she couldn’t believe what she had seen and raced back to tell her parents, unfortunately they did not find the hole again. It was not discovered again until 30 years later, this time two men explored the cave. They knew they had seen something special and in the early 1900’s they opened it up for tours. They promoted the cave as a fantastic honeymoon spot for newlyweds from Perth. It took us an hour to complete the tour today, when it first opened for tourism it took them 10 hours.

One thing to mark off the list at Margaret River is to sample some local brew at one of the many wineries. As you drive towards Margaret River along the coast there are so many wineries, every spare piece of land has grape vines on it. Unfortunately the Cheeky Monkey Brewery Bar was quite average in flavor, but most beautiful in scenery and the playground for kids.

 

Busselton

Another quaint seaside town with an attraction, a 1.8km timber jetty the longest in the Southern Hemisphere. You could either walk the length of the pier or catch the train and look at the underwater observatory at the end of the jetty. We were too late for the train and decided to walk.

From Busselton we headed for Margaret River, we stopped off at Augusta to climb the lighthouse and explore the Ngilie Cave. The cave was very interesting and looked fantastic under coloured lights. As we head further south the pretty wildflowers come alive this time of year.

 

Bunbury

There was a lovely black and white checkered lighthouse and a viewing platform with 360 degrees views. On the waterfront Taffy’s, American owned is a toffee shop where they make their own toffee/chocolates on the premises. The kids’ eyes lit up the whole time we were there. Donsborough has the largest outdoor playground in the Southern Hemisphere, how’s that for a fact. After a coffee and a run around the park we went for a drive through the countryside, it was very picturesque and had a wonderful country feel.

Perth

On our arrival to Perth we were greeted with more cold, wet weather, however, the wind had dropped. Before Perth we stopped at a town called Gin Gin and went to the Gravity and Science Centre, we all enjoyed playing with the experiments. During our first day at Perth we walked and saw the city sights, a highlight was Kings Park, the Kokoda Track and the view of the city.

The following day we caught a ferry to Fremantle, which is a very pretty town and lots to do. Once docked we walked to the Little Creatures Brewery where we had a delicious lunch and beer. From here off to the pub to watch the rest of the Grandfinal where it was a buzz. Just outside there were street performers that kept us entertained also.

The weather is on our side, woo hoo, a sunny 34 degrees, we went to Cottesloe Beach for a few hours then back to Rockingham Foreshore where we spent the afternoon. Both places were quite relaxing.

Mandurah is where we walked along the harbor and ate lunch, afterwards we wandered through the local market.

On our way to Bunbury we visited Abingdon Miniature Village, where they have miniature villages from England and a hedge maze. At one point Jack couldn’t find his way out so I stood on the viewing platform and guided him out eventually.

 

 

Yay, I finally found my way out!

 

Cervantes (The Pinnacles)

As we headed further south, we drove through a couple of coastal towns and decided to stay at Cervantes near the Pinnacles. It was a lovely Caravan Park with a fantastic reception and coffee shop, here they displayed and sold many different types of shells. Again we woke up to another overcast day, ten minutes down the road we called into the Pinnacles National Park. You can either walk a two kilometre track or drive a four kilometre track. With the weather that day we wisely chose the car. Driving into the National Park, the road is lined with dense bush shrubs as far as you can see, as you get closer the Pinnacles pop out through the bright yellow sand. It was not too exciting, but it was worth seeing the natural landscape.

Geraldton

Well not much to report here, wet, cold and windy. We did however looked at the HMAS Sydney Memorial which sank at sea during a battle during World War 2, there were about 645 who died. It was a lovely memorial with birds symbolizing each soldier and a statue of a woman looking out to sea with a pained expression on her face, hoping the war ship would return.

I must say, as we have headed further down the coast the playgrounds have been very popular with our kids, lots of different equipment. The kids love to turn them into obstacle courses and see you can get through the course the quickest.

 

Cervantes (The Pinnacles)

From Geraldton we travelled along the coast and looked at most of the coastal towns, deciding to stay at Cervantes where the Pinnacles are. We travelled to the Pinnicales the following morning which were quite stunning in the natural light and very yellow sand. You can either walk through or drive a 4km track, we chose to drive due to the wind and rain.

From Cervantes and across to Gin Gin where we went to a Gravity and Science centre. We've ended our day at Rockingham south of Perth. This will be the base for our travels to Perth and Fremantle.

Kalbarri

Kalbarri is a quaint seaside town with many holiday units, holiday homes and three Caravan Parks, considering it’s a small town. You have Kalbarri National Park which we visited and had spectacular views from all lookouts. One walk we completed was called Natures Window, have you guessed yet? It’s a window within the rock formations, through the window you see the Murchison River and lovely red rock with shrubs. Another walk took us down to the river itself, while at the park it was quite warm, but as we returned to Kalbarri, windy once again.

Every morning on the Esplanade the resident pelicans are fed. We were able to walk over from our Caravan Park which was situated along the foreshore. At the beginning there was one lone pelican for breakfast, another one ventured over who was a female but the mean lone male pelican quickly shooed her away. He did not want any others sharing his brekky. During the feeding and the informative talk about the birds, four flew over the water, it was a lovely site because they are such large birds.

Ever since we left Coral Bay for Denham all we have had is wind, it hasn’t been too cold, but always windy. From Kalbarri we travelled south to Geraldton, rain, wind, rain, wind. That is all we have known as we moved down the west coast. From Geraldton to Cervantes, this is the base for the Pinnacles. Today we arrived at Rockingham south of Perth to 12 degrees and more of the same, rain and wind. The weather is looking up though Sunday 27 degrees and wait for it, Monday 34 degrees. We will be able to turn the heater off and put the air con on for a change. Very much looking forward to the warmer weather, crossing fingers for more heat and no wind or rain.

 

Denham and Monkey Mia

Monkey Mia is where we went to feed the dolphins, we waited about half an hour for them to come into the shallows. They apparently took their time because they may have been playing or catching a feed with a school of fish.

It was a perfect morning, no wind and the sun was shining. Unfortunately, the tide was out which makes the water a little murky and dolphins don’t always agree with that. Once they had arrived, buckets of fish were brought out for their feed. If you are one of the lucky ones to be chosen you were able to feed one of the five dolphins they feed. Three came in this morning, our dolphin wasn’t interested so we missed out on feeding her. They do bring their calves in but they are not fed, they need to be fed from their mothers and learn to hunt for themselves.

Later that morning we went on a cruise on a catamaran, to the black pearl farm and dugong spotting. We saw many dolphins, a few turtles and a couple of dugongs. Dugongs seem to eat and sleep most of the time, apart from when they come up for a breath. They are big fat brown lumps under the surface of the water. In the distance whales were spotted, so we went in chase of them, to see a mother and her calf gliding in and out throughout the water it was amazing.

That afternoon we drove back to windy Denham, boy does it blow here. Jumpers are coming out from under the bed, that is not a good sign. Now for the sights of Denham, we visited numerous lookouts, again the sand and water is stunning. Shell beach was great to see, it is covered in tiny little shells, and many people had written their names with them. We also went to the Aquarium where we were well informed about many different types of fish. They main event would have to of been the shark feeding, being able to see them up close and feeding.

Back to Denham where Jack is going to make his creation out of shells he collected from Eighty Mile Beach.

 

 

 

Coral Bay

What an exceptional place, just what I like, relaxing… Here we snorkeled, swam, read and relaxed. We went on a snorkel tour, here we were able to snorkel in two locations. The first was amazing, Marc and Ned spotted a turtle and a reef shark and swam along with them. We spotted quite a few turtles, they are quite cute when they pop out of the water for a breath.

One outstanding thing to do at Coral Bay is to ride the quad bikes. We rode through the sand dunes and along the beach, to watch a special sunset. Jack and I were together and we became bogged at the base of a hill. It was a slow ride to the top, but we made it with a lot of jumping and rocking the bike back and forth. It was quite funny if you had been there.

Overall, a place I would love to visit again, we secured a first row beach front site which made it extra special. Thanks to Vince and Donna the bottle of wine went down well while watching another exceptional sunset.

Exmouth

Now, this is a must see, the water is clear and displays beautiful shades of blues and greens. One side is the bay where many go fishing, the other side is the beach with amazing snorkeling and again crisp white sand and clear water. You could easily spend a week here, next time we will be more equipped for off road camping. We will definitely camp in Cape Range National Park, there are many beach sections along here.

Emu’s are common here, you need to be very careful when driving through Cape Range National Park. The park itself is the start of the Ningaloo marine area, our favorite spot was Turquoise Bay. We met many of our travelling friends here and had a wonderful time. Apart from snorkeling, one of the fun parts was hopping in the water at one end then drifting down a couple of hundred metres to the other.

The boys went on a half day fishing adventure and came home with zilch, nothing, zero. Could not believe it, sharks kept eating their snags.

One of the other highlights was a massive sand dune, you could see it from quite a distance away. The backdrop of the blue sky made it look picturesque. The kids had a great time climbing it and surfing down the other side.