The final stretch (Port Augusta to Adelaide to Robe to Port Fairy)

Hooray, she's walking!  Sure, a total dork
but she is walking!

Alas, after 140 days and 54 stops the great venture is drawing to an end.  We are in Victoria at the final stop of our journey.  Its nearly over and, while some members feel that the time we have spent camping has been enough, others want the journey go on forever and everyone agrees that its sad for this big adventure to be drawing to a close.  But its not quite over yet.

We stayed a (hot) night in Port Augusta.  Not much to report as we did not leave the caravan park.  It had a pool and we were only in Port Augusta.  (As I sit here in Port Fairy on a very cold evening, that seems a long time ago now).

After 4 1/2 months in the great outdoors,
Isaac shows off the perfect Hoyne
tan - and the equally perfect Hoyne
physique.

We then went on to Adelaide.  Somewhat bizarrely, it is harder to find things to do in the big cities than in the little towns.  Perhaps because you go little towns for a particular reason (a national park, a beach etc) whereas you go the big towns because they are big towns.  Or maybe its because Adelaide is so phenominally boring. Either way, after we went to Glenleg, did the city market, caught a tram and wondered up Rundle Street mall, there was little else we could think to do.  Having said that, the (absolutely enormous) caravan park that we stayed at in Adelaide - just north of Glenelg) was on a beautiful beach and we did spend some time there.  And we saw a very large stingray and then a pod of dolphins about 10 metres from the shore.  It may seem surprinsing to see such wildlife in Adelaide but the wildlife of Australia has become accustomed to the screams our children make and to the screaming of mum and dad and are actually attracted to it now.

Booking ahead was not really
necessary in Robe (or anywhere else
since Queensland..._

Anyway, from Adelaide we may our way to Robe.  We picked out a caravan park here that had in indoor heated pool so the kids could get some more swimming in and, given the 18 degree temperatures, that was not going to happen outside.  Pity they were so poorly behaved that we then banned them from going to it.  They were limited to the giant jumping pillow and the playground.  We are certainly tough parents.

Site of a where a Prado had been
bogged.  Serve the moron right for
driving on the soft part of the beach.

While in Robe we went to Little Dip Conservation Park which is just on the outskirts of Robe.  Dad had not quite appreciated what a serious four wheel drive expedition Little Dip would be.  Anyway, we made it on to the beach and discovered that the sand was VERY soft.  Our car tyres were alsready reduced from 38psi to 18psi and we became hopelessly bogged until about three quarters of the way up all the wheels.  That would have been had enough but, in addition, we were about 5 metres from the water and knew only that the tide was coming in - alas, we did not know how far the tide would come in.  Of course, Dad kept his cool and the tingling sensation he had all down his left arm were not anxiety related at all.  However, to demonstrate that we have learned something on this holiday Mum just pointed out that we should remove the sand from around the tyres and let more air out of the tyres (down to 10 psi).  We got out (wihtout even using the winch) and Dad had full feeling return to his arm within 12 hours.

Getting water from the caravan park at Port Augusta was
a bit harder than we were used to....

After Robe, we made our way to Port Fairy, home of the well known folk festival. Now, we have been to the folk festival many times and Anouk likes to hear that she saw and danced to her favourite singer (Kasey Chambers) here about 3 1/2 years ago. However, despite the fact that we have been here before we did not realise two things about the place.  First, that there were things here other than a folk festival (such as a big island in the mouth of the Moyne River which houses a colony of rare mutton birds - did ANYONE else know about this) and the town of Port Fairy is home to the largest colony of old women in the country.  They are everywhere.

Would you believe that this is the child who has the
 least attitude of the three?

The kids continue to develop - none more so that Yvette in the past week.  In the last week or so she has started to actually walk rather than stuble like a drunk. Might have something to do with the fact that we stopped giving her bundy to make her go to sleep but  then Mum was a bit late in regards to walking too - so Nana tells us - so its not all her fault.  Isaac really has returned to being a nice little fellow (saying, "I love Mum/Dad, You are the best Mum/Dad in the world" about ten times a day demonstrating a flair for sucking up also.  Anouk - well, perhaps, this is not the best moment to be discussing Anouk.  Here In Port Fairy, we again chose a caravan park wtih an indoor pool and again we have banned Anouk using it.

There will be a couple more posts after we return just adding some conclusions to the trip.  We will see you all soon. 

Eyre Peninsula (Ceduna to Streaky Bay to Coffin Bay)

Actually, no, we are not moving to Ceduna to buy Geoff Bett's menswear store.  Rather we may move to Streaky Bay to set up a microbrewery.  It needs one.  Its got most of the other trappings of a good tourist town.  Good caravan park with pelicans out your door, a great pub, good bakery and cafe but it needs a microbrewery.  Now, I just have to learn how to make beer.  It can't be that hard, can it?

Colton Bakery.  Although there is no-one
to serve you (and payment is based on
an honesty system) the service is still better
than the service at the Baker's Delight in
Hampton.

As you may have noticed, our thoughts are starting to turn towards home - or, rather, how to avoid going back there.  Alas, reality beckons and we will be back in Melbourne town on 15 December as Dad has to do a little bit of work before Christmas because the judge in one of his cases made a mistake and found for the other side.  Again.  Yes, judges do make lots of mistakes.

They do look like haystacks from futher
away...

Anyway, in Streaky Bay (named by Matty Flinders because there are streaks in the bay - I like his logic) we went to Point Labat to look at a large colony of sea lions - which you needed a pair of binoculars to actually see.  We also went to the "Whistling rocks" which don't so much whistle and gush and the blowholes - which are holes but they don't really blow.  At least not while we were there.  We also went to see more rocks - this time called Murphy's haystacks because they look like haystacks.

Sami the sea lion in the turquoise waters
of Memory Cove.

We left Nana and Pa behind in Streaky Bay and went on to Coffin Bay - named by Matty Flinders again after one of his mates - Sir Isaac Coffin.  Issac is pretty happy that there is a Point Isaac here.  We were less enthused by the three hour 4WD trip it took to get there so let that one go.  We did go to Point Lincoln and Lincoln National Park and Coffin Bay National Park.  Lincoln National Park was very good.  Even before we got into the park we saw emus (well spotted, Isaac!) and kangaroos and lizards.  Then we got to the park and saw very little save for one exception.  We went to a place called Memory Cove and guess what?  It had white and and turquiose waters.  So those beaches are not all in WA. However, given what we have seen in the last few months it would not have blown us away until a little sea lion turned up and had a swim up and down in the bay.  Nice touch.

Yvette showing Dad how
the washing machine works.

On one evening we treated ourselves to a night out at the Coffin Bay Sailing Club.  Fridays and Sundays they have their full menu - comprising 5 dishes (calamari, whiting, T-Bone, Rump and chicken schnitzel).  Dad, rather foolishly asked at the counter if the whiting came with chips.  The entirely dead pan response from the 60 year old volunteer (yes, they were volunteers) at the counter was, "Mate, everything comes with chips." 

Toilet training on the road can
be challenging. Here we are
going with the "Aim for the I"
method.

Although the sailing club was undoubtedly gourmet, Coffin Bay is well known for its oysters so we figured we had better try them out.  We even have an oyster knife. Alas, we had left behind the only members of the team who can actually open an oyster (Nana and Pa) and so Mum and Dad were left to their own devices to try to work it out.  Dad favoured the hammer method, Mum was more into gentle coaxing.  However, when the gentle coaxing method did not work, it became more of a stabbing approach.  Anyway, we eventually opened all oysters very successfully.  Has to be said, though, that Coffin Bay oysters are a lot more gritty than normal oysters.

Coffin Bay was also the site where we met the only family crazier than us - John and Katie who are going around Australia in a camper trailer wtih 4 young kids - Ethan (9), James (6), Max (4) and Alicia (10 months).  Lovely family but totally nuts.  As I say, compared to us, they have an extra child, are in a camper trailer (which John built himself) and have no definite plans to return.  Good luck.

Dad attempted to go to church in Coffin Bay.  The priest comes down the first Sunday of each month from Port Lincoln.  Or, rather he is supposed to. This week, it seems he forgot.  Or decided to go the sailing club instead.  We never did find out.

We are now off to Adelaide via Port Augusta.  None of the remaining members of the team have been to Adelaide before. I mean, why would you?

Crossing the Nullabor (Esperance to Balledonia to Eucla to Ceduna)

The reason you do not let the
three year old take the photo...

We had a few more days in Esperance and - sorry to sound repetitive - it had fantastic beaches with blisteringly white sands. It is quite extraordinary that so many fantastic beaches would be in one state. If any of the these beaches were on the east coast you would have more tourists on them than flys (about which more is said - see below) but out here they are often deserted.

The flys were REALLY bad.

The flys.  They were the one great drawback.  Again, after a bit of rain and the sun comes out and then so do the flys.  In enormous numbers. We had no problems sitting on the beach in our cosies wearing out fly nets on out heads.  Honestly, its not a great look but its the only way to avoid going insane.  The only thing that keeps them away is the wind.  But sometimes its really windy and they still hang around.  They are bad days.


The great beaches are to the east - at Cape Le Grand National Park - and to the west. There is a well known beach at Cape Le Grand called Lucky Bay.  It is said to have the whitest sand of any beach in Australia and kangaroos come down and sit on the beach.  Well, that would be fine it it was not for all the seaweed.  We did not think it was the best beach at Cape Le Grand (Hellfire was our pick) let alone Australia.

I am thinking that it probably will not
make it into any Tourism Australia
advertisements.  I was not even brave
enough to take a photo of the ablutions
block,

Two good things about the
Nullabor.  Nice cliffs, cute kids.
That's it.

We then packed up and headed off for the 1400 kms trip across the Nullabor.  Its called the Nullabor because is null and a bore (and, yes, latin buffs because there is a short section with no trees).  And there is a very limited choice of caravan parks.  None have water to your vans and their ablution blocks (as we know call them) vary between disgusting and really disgusting.  If the water actually works in the toilets (which it did not at one of them) then the toilets will block up (which it did at both).  Some of them are never cleaned and there is not a blade of grass on any of them.  Add to that the fact that a major storm followed us across the Nullabor and it was not the high point of the trip.  But it was never going to be.  Unless you are Isaac in which case the chance to spend three solid days watching the "Dora the Explorer - Big Sister" DVD is his idea of heaven.

Apparently, the idea of not spitting at all
is not one that would appeal to good
burghers of Ceduna...

We are now in Ceduna which the more honest travel books describe as a "blow through" town.  Its on the north west edge of the Eyre Peninsula.  There is not much to keep you here other than the need to recover from the past few days.  Oh, and the fact that the Geoff Betts Menswear store is for sale.  Dad has aways had a thing for the smell of those shops of old men's clothes.  So we may come and live here.

South West Western Australia (aka Cervantes to Perth (Woods Point) to Margaret River (Gracetown) to Albany to Hopetoun to Esperance

Not all them look circumsized.

Yes, its been a while since the last post and I think I had better set out our voyages in summary point form for fear of boring the reading audience to death.

Cervantes

Talking of boring to death, Cervantes.  There is nothing that special about the place - especially when the weather was not great - other than being the entrance to the Pinnacles - which are a form of rocks that look like giant - sorry, I mean about normal sized - penises.  (Miss Sam, good luck explaining this to the Anouk's friends in the Butterfly room).  First we walked around them and then we drove around them.  We have become pretty fond of the tourist attractions that you do not have to get out of your car to look at.

We also looked at some more Stomalocites (I am not spelling that right and I don't care) - the living rocks.  Even more amazing than them is the fact that we drove to see a second batch of them.

Perth

Its a lie to say we stayed in Perth - Woods Point was actually the location which is about 25km south of Perth,  We did check out the town and took the kids to a Rio Tinto advertisement (Naturescape) in Kings Park that was aimed at explaining the bush - and all the good things Rio Tinto had done to the bush) to city kids.  Good that we had spent 4 months travelling through the bush and then got to the city to teach them about the bush.  Anyway, we were congratulating ourselves on finding it given that it had only been open for three weeks and was not in any guide books.  (Hint to parents - follow the prams).

Two hot babes on the ferris wheel at
Fremantle.  This photo was taken before
dad told mum how much it the ride cost.

We also checked out Freo and had dinner at the Little Creatures Brewery - about dad's favourite experience given that it also had a sandpit so that our little angels could entertain themselves while dad drank himself into a stupor. Just about the perfect day save that as we were going in we say a giant ferris wheel that, thankfully, was not working. Anouk was upset and we told her that, gosh darn it, if only it was open we could have gone on it.  Of course, when we left the brewery, it was open and we had to go on it.  So about $90 lighter (about the same price as a a carton  and a half of Little Creatures pale ale) we made our way back to Woods Point.   (Hint to parents - check out the price of rides before exclaiming a disappointment that you cannot ride it).

We also made our way to Rottnest Island and got around on the bus.  Saw some amazing whales really close in who were having a great time blowing water and breaching out of the water.  It was also here that we racked up playground number 100 that the kids have been on during the trip.  Glad to spend $194 getting to the Island so that we could find another playground.  A few lunches were nearly lost on the trip back but we managed to keep them in check fortunately.

We lost Nana and Pa here for few days as them went to Coffs Harbour for a wedding.

Margaret River (actually, Gracetown)

Choosing caravan parks is a difficult task.  In Margaret River we opted for Gracetown.  That was a mistake.  It was crap.  Margaret River more generally, on the other hand, was cold but otherwise fantastic;

• We passed through Busselton and stayed for lunch.  Next time, we will stay for a week;
• We went from "Cape to Cape" - Cape Leeuwin in the most south westerly corner of Australia to Cape Naturaliste which was more north and dad and Anouk went up two lighthouses in two days.  The others only went up the one at Cape Naturaliste (because you have to be 4 to go up the lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin)
• We visited a number of wineries (Saracen, Leeuwin estate) and breweries (Bootleg) and managed to spend a small fortune on dad's 40th birthday present at Leeuwin
• We went to one of the caves in the area - Mammoth cave;
• Dad realised after the event that he had been to a number of the wineries and Mammoth Cave the last time he was here 14 years ago;



Just another ho hum beach by WA
standards - this one at Eagle Bay

• We checked out Eagle Bay amd Meeling and voted them in our top 5 beaches we have seen in this trip - which puts them in the top 5 beaches we have seen in our lives.  We are planning to establish a caravan park there and now just have to convince the government to sell us a bit of the national park and let us cut down a few trees.  Should not be a problem.

Albany
 

The gaps in the Tingle trees are sometimes
so large you can park a car in them. Which
people use to do until the killed the tree.
Now, you just get a photo taken of a photo of
the car. And if you are one, you press your face
against the windscreen....

Albany was, to some extent, a disappointment.  The coastline is very rugged and has some amazing scenery but, when they built things, they just buggered things up. The town is a bit of a mess.  The caravan park - at Middleton Beach - however, was amongst the best we have been to. Heated pool and spa, two rooms for kids to play, indoor theatre, playground, best family bathroom ever - we loved it.  And it was lucky it had these things because, for the most park, all it did in Albany was rain.  There was buckets of the stuff.  (We are making up for the 14 weeks when we did not see a drop). 

On the way to Albany, we stopped off at Walpole and walked through the tree top walk in the "Valley of the Giants" (the "giants" are the Tingle trees).   This was really worth doing but it does sway a lot so it gave mum's vertigo a pretty good workout.

Ah yes, that family...

They conducted whaling from Albany until 1978 and they have a "Whale world" on the site of the whaling station - which is actually quite a good representation of what went on there.  Its certainly not pro-whaling (actually, its shows the barbaric practices in the their full glory) but it does not bag the working people who were just making a living either. 

Isaac teaching Pa to dry the dishes. 

A really old bloke had his 40th in Albany.  That did not depress him.  However, turning 40 and one day was pretty bad because that meant he was then closer to 50 than to 30.  However, it was well celebrated at the Tanglehead brewery in Albany.  There could be a lot worse places to spend one's 40th except that, of course, one of the little angels (yes, you Yvette) decided to be a total pain.  Now, a word of clarification is required here.  As noted previously, Isaac was being a total pain for a while but either he has improved a lot or Yvette and Anouk's behaviour has deteriorated to such an extent that he seems to be behaving well.  Anyway, if Yvette is not screaching at the top of her lungs at 5am (for who knows what reason) then Anouk is crying because she has (a) hurt herself (b) cannot find a doll/hair brush/hat/jumper/shoes/piece of paper/speck of dust  or (c) we have belted her for crying - see (a) and (b).  Whose idea was it to bring them along anyway?

We saw another great beach at Green's Pool which is near Denmark (no, not that Denmark) about 50 kms west of Albany.  Actually, next time we visit, we will probably stay in Denmark and not Albany.  We figure that the importance of a playground in the caravan park will have diminished by the time we are next back here.

Hopetoun

Its too far from Albany to Esperance (over 500kms) so we stayed in Hopetoun along the way.  Don't stay there.  How a town on such a piece of coast line can be so crap is a mystery.  But it is. And the caravan park is about the worst we have stayed in.  Lost hot water during the kids baths and no toilet paper in the bathrooms are just two of the problems we had.  Do not go to this place.  You have been warned. In fact, just ditch the kids and go from Albany to Esperance.

Esperance

Got here today and have checked out the town but, given the views we have of the bay and the islands, we may not leave the caravan park. 

View from our site are reasonable in Esperance.  Of course,
the kids are more impressed by what the see in the foreground.

Hopefully, the next post will not be so long.  But I make no promises.

Kalbarri to Dongara to Cervantes

We can tell that we are getting closer to the big smoke.  Anouk only asks about three times a day, "Are we in the middle of nowhere?" and the road signs that tell you how far it is to the next few towns do not pretend that a petrol station is an entire town.  Oh, and also, there are some people about.

They take their bird control pretty
seriously in Dongara.

Mum stayed in Geraldton about 15 years ago. Its fair to say that she did not enjoy it.  The fact that she was there for about 3 weeks with a group of surfing/windsurfing friends who surfed and windsurfed the whole time - and she did not - may have had something to do with it.  So we drove on through Geraldton - save to stop for some shopping and a very good playground - and went to Dongara/Port Denison (its really just one town with a river that goes through the middle of it and ends up wtih two names).  The tourist brochures would describe it as a "sleepy sea-side town".  Comatose may be more apt although to give it some credit, the bakery there did produce a chicken satay pie that Dad described as the best pie he has eaten.  High praise indeed because he has eaten a few pies in his time.

We did precious little in Dongara.  Sure, Nana and Pa caught and flight out to the Abrolhos Islands where they snorkled in the coral and saw the part of the reef where the Batavia ran aground in the 1600;s.  (They are pretty fond of the Batavia - and shipwrecks generally around these parts.  Seems that the boats that could actually get through the reef were pretty well forgotten while those that were wrecked are celebrated.) So they had the greatest day of their lives again - which was only partly due to the fact tha they got to spend time without three screaming children (and two screaming adults).  But it does not really count because the rest of us were not there.

When dad told Isaac to "Go fly
a kite" he did not expect this....

One evening in Dongara Dad made an early entry to win Father of Year 2012.  Consisistent wtih his desire to exhibit "challenging" behaviour Isaac decided to see how far he could push the boundaries.  He was saying some "naughty words" for about the tenth time in the day.  The comes a time when you can only threaten to wash out his mouth with soap so many times before you actually have to do it.  Dad reached that stage.  What followed next was Isaac's fault for (a) being a turd and (b)  not opening his mouth properly.  The mouth washing was to be done with liquid soap.  Its easier to get in than the traditional stuff.  Dad swears he only put in a tiny amount but however much he put in Isaac swallowed yet.  This was Isaac's third mistake.  Anouk always just spat it out.  Anyway. once he swallowed it, we were in real strife and the inevitable occurred - in the van and on the mat outside.  It was a bit of a mess. 

Imagine what he would have been like
if we actually did things in Dongara.

On the positive side of parenting, Yvette did take her first few staggering steps in Dongara.  Which excited Anouk and Isaac no end.  Which is nice.

We did make a trip into Geraldton and while there are some nice new sections on the foreshore area, a little back from the foreshore is a city that really struggles.  You can walk through street after street, and arcade after arcade where all the shops are closed or are closing.  It may not just have been the windsurfing that gave Mum a bad impression of Geraldton all those years ago.  Although the museum is pretty good - as noted, they do like a good shipwreck around here.

Its difficult to know what is
more remarkable - the amount
of weed on the beach at Cervantes
or the fact that a photo was being
taken and Anouk chose not to be in
it.

Anyway, we then moved on Cervantes - about 200 kms north of Perth - and gateway to the "Pinnacles" (yeah, I don't really know what they are either).  There has been record wet conditions in south west WA this year.  We thought we would turn that around.  We did not and all we have seen in Cervantes is rain and a beach that is absolutely covered in seaweed. It had to happen eventually (the rain more so that then seaweed...)  Dad is starting to remember why he hates camping.

Carnavon to Shark Bay (Denham) to Kalbarri

So after the delights of Carnavon we headed off to the world hertiage area of Shark Bay.  Given what we have seen in the past 13 weeks, we are now getting pretty fussy in terms of what impresses us.  Turquiose water is not enough.

Mum taking a photo of some rocks that
breathe.  They reminded dad of some
clients he has had ....

One thing that did not impress us great was a bunch of rocks that we all apparently descended from about 10 billion years ago - stomatalites. They look like rocks but are apparently alive and they are said to have been the source of all life.  Mum said, somewhat unnecessarily, that she recogised the family resemblance between some of them and Dad.

There was some strange wet stuff coming out of the sky that we had not seen since southern Queensland but even it quickly dried up once we got to the caravan park. 

Two best friends - at least until Isaac
next punches her ...

The next day we headed off to Francois Perron National Park.  Again, not even the families of emus walking along the road in front of us could impress us.  We did get impressed at Eagle Bluff where you stood on a walkway looking over 150m cliffs and looking down at sharks and dolphins swimming the water.

Another thing that impressed us was the WA tourism commission's job that they have done wtih Monkey Mia.  "Come and feed the dolphins!" they tell you. Good luck.  Only 5 dolphins get fed and only 2 or 3 of them actually turn up and they only get fed 4 fish each.  On the day we were there, in two of three feeds, only one dolphin got fed - some only 4 people - out of hundreds - actually got to feed them.  In the third feed, Anouk was one of them, which changed our impression of the place somewhat but if you want to feed dolphins go to Tin Can Bay.

Don't worry, we did not hit them ...

Later that morning we headed out to sea in a catamaran and saw dugongs. That was actually pretty cool.  Mum again commented on the family resemblance that they had with dad.

While in Shark Bay Isaac celebrated his third birthday.  Not many of his his friends turned up to help him celebrate.  Hopefully birthday number 4 will be a bigger one for him.  He does keep on saying, "I can't believe I'm 3".  The reason he cannot believe it is because we kept on telling him and everyone else that he is two so that we can get him into the caravan parks wtihout paying for him.

After Shark Bay we made it to Kalbarri, a small seaside town about 600 kms north of Perth.  It is home to the largest number of flies ever seen on the planet at any point in time.  They crawl in your eyes, your ears and up your nose.  The are disgusting.  We may have enjoyed Kalbarri without the flies.  With them, we did not even though we did see pods of about thirty dolphins swimming just off-shore.

Yes, you know a family of complete dorks.  Surely the photo
of the gits in Mt Isa let you know that already.

Dad had the idea one mornng to go out for breakfast.   This was after Yvette woke up at 5am and dad had to walk her around town so that some people in the caravan park could get some sleep. Sounded like a plan doesn't it especially when there is a cafe next to the caravan park?  Alas, once we got there, it was not open on Mondays.  We travelled on to another cafe only to find there were too many flies and a menu that only allowed for kids to eat scones - not for breakfast.  So we ended up at the bakery.  While there, two rather large females were buying their breakfast - pies, cream buns etc - the usual breakfast fare that one expects.  Mum said, in a very loud voice, "You are not having that for breakfast!"  Now, Mum's story is that she was talking to the kids who were saying that they wanted chocolate eclairs. However, the two women did not see it that way and retorted, "We are on holidays!"  Glad to see mum taking on the fitness message in such a direct fashion. We then thought we lost out keys on the way back to the van and the kids did not like the applies slices we bought for them.  We had Rice Bubbles about 9am.  Not the best morning especially when the flies were even thicker than the day before.

Tomorrow travelling further south.  Apparently, they are having record wet conditions down the south of the state. However, the great weather loves us and we are sure the rain is going to stop for us.

Exmouth to Coral Bay to Carnavon

The most boring travel stories are those that say, "The weather is great, the water is perfect and we are having a great time." Much more interesting are those stories that set out the disasters that people have encountered - a good cyclone or flood is excellent story fodder.  Alas, Exmouth continued to be fantastic - we visited the turtles 4 times and Turquoise Bay 3 times.  One visit to the turtles by Mum and Dad was at night - when we learned that they do exactly the same things at night as during the day (basically, getting jiggy) - and we also saw 50 kangaroos during the 30 minute car drive.  One kangaroo was just standing in the middle of the road, looking at us, wondering when we was going to become road kill (pretty soon I reckon). 

We told the kids not to worry about
that bin as the emu probably got the
good stuff out of that one

On the last night in Exmouth, we went to a very nice restaurant (Whalers). Anouk wanted to know why there was no number on the table.  Gives you an idea of the type of high class "restaurant" we have been going to.

Anouk made another comment as she saw (speedo clad) Pa walk down the beach - she could see where he was becuause he was the one "wearing his undies".  Unlike the bloke at Cable Beach I guess.

After Exmouth we headed to Coral Bay which is basically made up of two caravan parks and not much else.  After thinking that Turquoise Bay was the best beach in the world, we found that Coral Bay may have been even better!  (sorry, this is one of those boring travel stories).  Again, reefs to swim at, turquoise water, even whiter sand but no waves and some great shallow parts for the kids to play in - even Yvette crawling out in the water.  Pretty close to perfect - although it was a little bit cloudy on one of the five days that we were there.

We went out on a boat to look at the Ningaloo Reef and to do some snorkelling - and Anouk learned to snorkel.

It was during this period that we learned that the kids were having morning meetings to work out whose turn it was to be a complete pain.  Typically Isaac volunteered for the role but certainly not his sole domain.  For example, Mum and Dad had their seventh wedding anniversary in Coral Bay and it was Isaac's turn in the afternoon and Yvette's turn at night.  But we could not really complain about an anniversary in such a glorious location (even if our anniversary dinner was at a pizza place with three kids and two grandparents).

Talking of Yvette, she has now lost the fear she previously had of the water, sand and dirt (not that dirt ever really worried her). She now loves nothing better than crawling over dirt and sand and sitting in the middle of the road or into the water at the beach.  Keeps life interesting.

Isaac, as discussed, is being a complete pain in the arse.  Typically, a conversation with him goes along the following lines:

Dad (as Isaac hits either or both of Anouk and/or Yvette) - Stop hitting your sister
Isaac - I don't want to stop hitting her
- If you don't stop hitting her then I will smack your bottom
- I don't want you to smack my bottom
- Fine, then don't hit her sister
- But I want to (very whiny voice)
etc etc. Then often finishes with dad hitting Isaac as a means of teaching him not to hit people.  It works as well as anything else (which is to say it does not work).

We have about 5 of those conversations each day.  He is toilet training too.  That is great fun as any parent will tell you.

And why wouldn't Alex have fallen in love
with her?

Anouk fell in love in Coral Bay with a boy from Traralgon named Alex - which is same name of one of hest (female) friends in Melbourne.  Dad was a bit concerned that they were "playing" honeymoons.  He had to ask her to stop kissing him - initially seemed to have no problem but we suspect that Alex's 9 year old brother might have thought it far too good ammunition to let it go by.

As discussed, Anouk is otherwise doing very well.  She is making lots of friends wherever we go and has learned to snorkel.  She is not perfect by any means and still has the occasional melt down.  She has also developed a very serious case of the "go slows".  If you did not see it, it would be hard to beelived that it could take 10 minutes to get out of a car or an hour to eat some Rice Bubbles.

Mum and Nana have also loved the fact that this part of the world has allowed them to catch up on the important events of the world. The quality of crap magazines that get left behind at the laundries around here is much higher than on the east coast.  Even Dad know that Angelina is too skinny and Jen's new boyfriend is not happy wtih what Brad had to say about Jen.   We only deal wtih the important stuff when we travel.

Dad knows some bigger blow hards
than here.

But back to the travels.  We are now in Carnavon which is a bit of a stop off point.  Today, we travelled to the "blow holes" where the waves come in and shoot up water.  The sign at the entrance says - very unsubtly - "KING WAVES KILL".  It wsa quite impressive as was the beach we went to.  Guess what?    Reefs for snorkelling at, white sands etc etc . Its not actually Ningaloo Reef but the snorkelling was probably better than anything else we have seen.

Tomorrow we are on to Shark Bay and Monkey Mia. May get to see some dolphin feeding on Isaac's birthday on 27 October.  We are banking on Isaac's "terrible two's" ending on his third birthday.  Maybe we will suffer some massive problem that will make the blog more interesting.

Port Hedland to Point Samson to Onslow to Exmouth

We have determined that, while caravanning around Australia, one sees the best of Australia and the worst of it.  Both in terms of the geography and the demographics.  The last week or so has demonstrated this proposition well. 

However, first we have to mention to a special little aspect of our WA adventure that we have not mentioned to date.  The wind.  It was present a little in Broome but once we left there it has been blowing a gale.  In 80 Mile Beach and everywhere since.  So as I tell the stories below of having some of the greatest experiences of our lives (you can skip to the bit on Exmouth if you want to just read about that), remember that it was quite windy.  So feel sorry for us please.  But while I am mentioning weather, I should mention that we have had one rainy day - Coolum - and have not seen a drop of rain for 10 weeks.  They do not call it the dry season for nothing.

For a boy who want to drive diggers
when he grows up, Wickham was
the surprising choice of his best place
so far.

Anyway,Mum did well to find to even find Point Samson.  It a bit of a gem near a whole lot of dud places -  Karratha, Dampier - which are great places if you want to dig stuff up and ship it off to another country but not, shall we say, "tourist focused" .  At Point Samson there was a lovely little beach  near our immaculate caravan park but when you call yourself Honeymoon Cove you are ensuring that no-one will come there for their honeymoon.  Which is a good thing (who wants to see all those PDA's?) so perhaps the good burghers of Point Samson knew that they were on to.

While on Honeymoon Cove, Dad and Anouk shared a special moment.  They were walking along the beach and looking at the some of the pink (and other coloured - but pink was out favourite) rocks.
Dad: "Anouk, isn't this amazing to be here and seeing these things."
Anouk : "Mmm.  Yes Dad."
Dad: "I mean, its just so fantastic"
Anouk; "Dad?"
Dad: "Yes Nouky" (Its fair to say that Dad was expecting something quite profound - or at least affectionate - at that point).
Anouk "Dad, I need to do a poo.  And I am busting."

And that, in a nutshell, is what its like travelling wtih kids.  (We got there, just in time, in case you are wondering).

The team - minus the ugly bloke - at
Honeymoon Cove at Point Samson.

While in Point Samson we went to Church at the big smoke - Wickham.  I was sitting there thinking how depressing it would to be the member of a parish where my family made up about a fifth of the congregation.  However, at the end of mass, they all went in for coffee and to catch up.  I made up excuses on the basis that the kids had been very well behaved for an hour but I could not really expect more from them.  As I was buckling them into their car seats, one of the ladies came up laden with cake to give to us!  Its clearly not the size of a parish that gives it life - its the people in it.

Contast that with the conversation Mum and Dad overheard on our last night in Point Samson.  A couple of grey nomads were on the site behind us and were talking very loudly.  The conversation started, as all such conversations do, along the following lines:

Doreen:  I live in Melbourne and its very multicultural and I do not consider myself racist  (editors' note - using this reasoning, you cannot be from Melbourne and be a racist.  Doreen, let me tell you you - you can and you are) but what is it with the Aborigines around here?

Well, that was the floodgates wasn't it?  Out they spewed wtih their ignorant, small minded crap.   One of them was even mouting a passionate defence of Andrew Bolt who, apparently, was "convicted" ( she used the word about 10 times) of racism.  Actually, no he wasn't and the problem was not the he had a racist point of view - his problem was that his racist point of view was based on a number of factual inaccuraries that even he admits he made.   Dad wound down the window in the caravan and let fly wtih, "Shut your stupid racist pie-holes because we are trying to sleep and you are making me angry." Well, actually, he did not.  Mum would not let him unless he came up wtih something more witty and amusing but he was so angry he could not.

The least used pin board in WA. 

We moved on from Point Samson and went to Onslow, not really knowing what to expect.  Its about 80 kms off the main highway but its a long way to go from Point Samson all the way to Exmouth.  We had to stop somewhere and this looked like it might be okay.  It was not.  It was about the most dire place we have been to.  The caravan park was a mine site.  It was disgusting and dirty - and VERY windy.  We got out of there earlier than we have got out of anywhere.   Let us not speak of it again.

Turquoise Bay - the water really is that colour and so is the sand.

Anyway, its always darkest before the dawn and after we went to - that place about which we will not speak - we arrived in Exmouth.  Its hard to explain how good Exmouth has been.   First, we went over to Cape Range National Park where we went to Turquoise Bay.  Now, you are setting yourself up for a fall when a beach calls itself "Turquiose" but this bay delivers.  Not only its the sand so white you cannot look at it, the water is tourquoise and there is a reef just off the beach which makes for amazming snorkelling.  Mum originally put it in her top 5 beaches she had ever been to.  Dad challenged here to name ANY beach that was better.  She could not.  Not even the Maldives.  Perhaps, the closest is Whitehaven Beach in the Whisundays but you need a boat to get to that.  Even Nana and Pa would not think of a better beach they had been to than Turquoise Bay.  It was spectacular. 

But I should say that Isaac was being a total t*rd the whole time.  So, again, that is what its like travelling with kids.

On the way back we stopped at the lighthouse lookout and saw whales making their way along the coast.  Isaac refused to get out of the car.  He truly is a t*rd at times.

The best day.

However, just when we thought we had had the best day of holiday so far, a fellow camper (there are some good ones and Marty was a great bloke) told us about a beach wtih hundreds of turtles on it.  We were a little sceptical - all of the tourist brochures claim that turtles nest in their area.  Even at 80 Mile Beach we saw turtle flipper marks but we never saw a turtle.  However, as we made our way down this unmarked track and then walked over the sand dunes (following Marty's directions) we came to the beach and saw literally hundreds of turtles bobbing up and down in the shallows, no more than 20 metres from shore and some on the shore.  You could practically have walked across the water it was that thick wtih them.  It was truly amazing.  We went back later in the day to see if there was more on-shore at low tide  - and there was. 

As we were leaving we then saw an emu taking her eight chicks for a walk. And one of the just had to walk on the road the whole time. Mum and Dad felt a lot of empathy for that mother emu.

It ranked amongst the most amazing experiences any of us had had.  The adults because of the turtles, and the kids because they were allowed to eat a whole packet of chips.

I am not kidding - the water is thick wtih (very randy) turtles. 
The black dots in the water are turtles..

Broome to 80 Mile Beach to Port Hedland

Not a dinosaur footprint to be seen...

How people without a 4WD
perve at the nudists on Cable
Beach.

We returned to Broome and carried on sitting on the beach.  We also saw the grand final (well, Dad and Pa did - the rest of the team committed the ultimate sacrilege by going to the beach) at the Cable Beach pub and went to see some dinosaur footprints. It was pretty amusing - about 100 people walking over rocks asking each other, "Which of these  holes is supposedly a dinosaur footprint?"  I can tell you that a the holes all look them same.  Mind you, while looking for dinosaur footprints we discovered two things.  First, if Pa whacks his shin and bleeds, his whole foot swells up.  Second, if a parent - lets say Dad - is carrying their child - lets say Isaac - over slippery rocks and slips then the said parent does not herocially fall to the ground and prevent injury to said child. Rather, he drops the child on the rocks.  For the benefit of the DHS, I am not saying it happened but we learned that is what would happen.

No breaking the eighth commandment
fella's.

On then to 80 Mile Beach that is half way between Broome and Port Hedland.  The only thing there is a caravan park and Coastwatch - ie boat people spotters.  The caravan park is nice enough but it really is mega bogan heaven - every person who has ever owned a quad bike seems to camp here and they all own Australian flags.  Its also the only caravan park wtih a shrine to fallen soldiers that we have seen.  Not that there is anything wrong wtih that but when you put it together wtih quad bikes and Coastwatch you get the idea of the people there.  I should mention however, that in an area of the world where eveything is expensive, they do sell ice creams for $2 each.  They are the best bargain in WA.

Issac and Yvette washing the sand off from 80 mile beach.
What Isaac does not know is that Yvette has been without a
nappy for about 4 hours now.  He is about to find out in
the worst possible way....

Again, this was a beach holiday - I mean, its not like there was a lot else to do there.  The beach is nice but not safe for swimming - if the rips do not get you, then the brown jelly fish (of which there are heaps here and at Broome) will sting you. 

We then dragged ourselves down to Port Hedland - which, as the guide books will tell you - is the busiest port in Australia by tonnage.  It all about the mines - BHP in particular seems to own the town although Rio Tinto is also very much present.  The whole place is covered in red dust that makes everything red and dirty.  If you lived here it would drive you mad.

We had Pa's birthday here - happy birthday Pa - and watched some massive ships come into port.  Again, not sure its the reason you would move here. Anyway, onward to more beach sitting at Port Samson tomorrow.

Cape Leveque

Good news is that the
tyre is not flat.  Bad news
is that the clutch is about to
get fried...

Deciding to take another holiday from our holiday, we headed over to Cape Leveque which is at the top of the Dampier Peninsula - Broome is at the bottom of it.  Its about 220 kms from Broome to Cape Leveque and about 100 kms of that is unsealed.  One would assume that it would be the last 100 kms but one would be wrong.  You travel over a very unsealed road for about 100 kms and then come on to a sealed road to travel the final 120kms.  Have to say that I was glad to see that bitumen but still cannot work out fot the life of me why they have a full bitumen highway that can only be reached by 4WD after driving 100 kms on an unsealed road unless it is to link the aboriginal communities that are up there.

219.99 kms of the dirt road was successfully managed.  We did come a cropper un the last120 metres when we got bogged outside out "luxury safari tent".  Lets just say that the clutch got a serious workout and we can still smell if if we use the air conditioner in the car. 

Proof for Fr Martin that we did go
to church while on this holiday...

Cape Leveque is a lovely place - basically it was a beach holiday with lots of frogs.  Apparently, given the last wet season was so wet, the frogs like it.  Mum is still not a fan of the frogs.  Especially the pesky one that croaked very loudly but we could not find him for the whole time we were there (2 nights). 

We were there during very serious tides so at high tide you had to get off the beach and at low tide you could not swim because the rocks in the water made it impossible.  Otherwise, it was a lovely part of the world.  Some of the team claimed to see whales - others believed them to be reefer whales.

An interesting part of it is that you cannot go into a number of the aboriginal communities without a permit.  Somehow (personally, I blame Pa, who is getting much more adventurous as the holiday wears on), we still ended up at One Arm Point where we saw the local indigenous fisherfolk had hunted (if that be the right word - I doubt they are all that hard to catch) a large turtle. But it has to be said that these communities seem to have it much more together than some others so hats off to them.

Finally, a photo of the whole team.  Sunsets are important
in this part of the world.

Kununara to Halls Creek to Fitzroy Crossing to Derby to Broome

Now, it may seem like I have been very slack with the posts but the fact is that most of these stops were one night stands.  Some people will tell me that we zoomed through the Kimberley which is the best part of Australia.  Good for you.  We found a whole lot of nothing here except red dirt.

Before moving on to the new sites. it would be remiss if we did not mention another little aspect of Zebedee Springs at El Questro.  As we drove out, Dad got the itches and assumed it was a mosquito or some such animal.  The itching drove him made and the next day he had come up in a shocking and very unattractive rash.  It was a reaction to some grasses, apparently, and Dad's view of El Questro is that it is a commercial enterprise that is over-priced and hopeless and he would never go there.  Catching leprosy does tend to sway a person's view of a place.

Least there was any doubt
from the episode the day before
we learned that tyres should not
have that flat bit on them.

Anyway, we left Kunanara (including some very liberal does of "Stop Itch) and got to Halls Creek.  Pa has a new found dare devil attitiude that saw take us up more unsealed roads.  And we got another flat tyre.  Two in two days.  Great.  Anyway, it did mean that dad and Pa went to the local tyre repair guy/Toyota agent and it was a experience - in a good way.  It seems that the service that you get in the country is either hopeless of fantastic.  This fell into the fantastic (he repaired the tyre) but he also gave us an interesting insight into Halls Creek.  A few years ago they banned the sale of all take away alcohol that was not low alcohol.  So, in essence, you can only buy take away low alcohol beer - not even a bottle of wine to take away.  (You can buy it to drink in the premises).  He said that it was the best thing the town had every done and that the place was now much better than its bad reputation.  He said it was no easy task to get the rules made but that the local aboriginal women needed a lot of credit.  His view about the place was that there were some trouble makers in town but it was otherwise a good place,  As a former cop there also, he had seen some bad things.  Anyway, whatever his name was restored my faith in white, country males.

The other thing that has to be noted about Halls Creek is that it hosts the two worst caravan parks in the country.  But the one we stayed in does have the best tourist attraction in the whole town (which, as you might imagine is not a contest that is too hotly contested) - the most amazing caravan park shop one could expect to find.  Amongst the various things this shop sold were childrens' bikes (a selection of at least 10), perfumes, after shave, kids dress-ups, all the gardening paraphenalia you could imagine, microwave ovens, fully stocked pharamacy etc etc etc.  It was truly extraordinary.  No idea who would buy the stuff but there you go.

Mum does love a good boab tree.

We travelled on to Fitzroy Crossing and checked out the local sights there - the local supermarket and BP.  Its a small place.  It is near Geike Gorge but we have a case of gorge-itis and the prospect of a two hour walk in 39 degree heat - without a swim (well, you can swim, but you will be eaten by a crocodile or a bull shark - take your pick - either way, it tends to take the fun out of the walk) - was all just a bit too much for us to contemplate. 

Derby is not a bad place but again a bit short on tourist sites.  It has big tides apparently - it you get there at the right time - which we did not. 

Isaac got into the swing of things
on Cable Beach.  The rest of us did
not.

We then made it to Broome which, if you have not been here, is Byron Bay on the west coast.  We are staying at Cable Beach and if you come on to the beach you can turn left or right.  If you turn left then you go to the normal section with the flags etc.  But you cannot take you car.  If you turn right then you can take your car and park it on the beach.  The stories about fantastic white sands and beautiful blue waters are true.  However, there is a slight down-side to turning right - the beach is a nudist beach.  Yes, another stop on our trip of exposing (pardon the pun) our children to the best nudist beaches in Australia.  The thing that is particularly concerning is that people who choose to be nudists are the people who should not be nudists - old, fat people.  We don't want to see.  Put them away.  As Anouk said, very loudly, about one bloke - "He is not wearing anything, not even any underpants".  Isaac corrected her, "He was wearing a hat, though".  Mum had not even noticed.

Anyway, we will be here for a while.  Basically, we will be sitting on the beach.  Not much to blog about for a while.  I hope.

You get some nice moments as a grandparent (note that they are clothed). 
Of course, you have to be a parent first ...

but then, being a parent is not all bad either ..