24 November: Managed to pack up between showers of rain and headed off to the Valley of the Giants. Choose not to do the tree top walk but wandered around the Ancient Empire, a grove of massive 400 year old tingle trees. 

Then on to Shannon NP, campground was on the site of the old milling township (only in existence for twenty years in the fifties and sixties). Weather not so good, cold and wet. Managed a walk to the Shannon Dam and old logging tracks around the camp between showers. Can understand why the surrounding countryside is so green.

20 November: A drive through the green rolling hills, with lots of  farms dotted around, to our destination of Denmark. Stayed out of town a bit, at Ocean Beach. Huge campground with hardly anyone there which was good. Dozens of kangaroos, many with joeys, so had to watch where we put our feet! Once again very mixed weather, cool and damp with the odd patch of sunshine. 

Explored the area, Green Pool in the Williams NP was very nice but to cold to try out snorkelling which was meant to be good there. Lots of white tail black cockatoos at Lights Beach. Wine tasting at Harewood Estate with lovely views out over the vines and the countryside then walked through the Harewood Forest. Another walk, this time alongside Wilson’s Inlet (runs between Denmark and Ocean Beach). Danger braved the weather and had a surf then later in the day, between showers of rain, we went fishing and once again Danger caught a fish, possibly a bream, but a bit small to keep.

15 November: A lovely warm sunny morning when we left Masons Bay. Stopped off at the car and caravan wash in Hopetoun and Danger spruced up the vehicles. Decided to head straight to to Albany today. Weather cooling off the closer we got. Camped out at Emu Point, a short drive into town. Unfortunately weather was not kind to us in Albany, no swimming at the lovely beaches, too cold and windy for fishing and no surfing. 

Visited the National Anzac Centre, wandered around the exhibits, followed the personal stories of our allocated characters and looked out over the harbour (King George Sound) where 41,000 departed Australia for the Great War. One evening visited the “Field of Lights”, Avenue of Honour, an immersive art installation by artist Bruce Munro which features 16,000 illuminated glass spheres. It commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War and the Anzac troops.

Another day went to the Farmers Market and got some nice fresh produce then explored the replica of the “Brig Amity” which brought the first European settlers from Sydney to Albany. After that wandered around the Museum of the Great Southern and an exhibit of Nurses at War. Also went to the Two Peoples Bay NP and looked at Little Beach, cold and windy but very pretty.

Another market visit and bought nice fresh garfish for lunch then braved the cold, damp weather for a walk around Emu Point. Next day visited Australia’s last whaling station, another boat to explore, and working equipment, movies and exhibits about the history of whaling and what it was like to work on the boats and factory. After that quick look at Natural Bridge and onto the viewing platform at The Gap in the Torndirrup NP before thawing out for lunch at a little French cafe, Gourmandise.

13 November: Headed out of the National Park to Hopetoun, filled our tanks with water and then to Masons Bay. Set up camp and then went for a long walk along the white sandy beach to a rocky headland. Saw lots of crabs in the rock pools. Next day decided to go fishing. Managed to catch lots of herrings but nothing bigger, whiled away five hours! Did have fish for a late lunch.

11 November: Left for Hamersley Inlet which is situated in the eastern side of the Fitzgerald River National Park (Park is one of the largest and most botanically significant national parks in Australia). Stopped off in Ravensthorpe for some supplies (a quaint little place and appeared to have a limited gene pool!). All around this area was isolated for some time last February due to huge floods and some roads were still closed. Road in to our campsite was very good and sealed all the way.  

Site and facilities looked new.

Walked down to the Inlet and through the bush and dunes down to coast, some good viewpoints on the way. Camp nice and quiet and in the morning for a while it was just us and a goanna! Tried our hand at fishing in the Inlet, nice and peaceful but no bites 🙁  In the afternoon we walked back down to the coast and explored some rock pools along the beach, water was very clear and could see some little fish.

7 November: Similar landscape on our journey to Bremer Bay, another white sandy bay surrounded by many more beautiful beaches and bays. Our campground was beside the Wellstead Estuary which had a lot of bird life. Went exploring around the beaches including Blossoms Beach, Native Dog Beach (some huge waves) and Little Boat Harbour where we disturbed a couple of nude swimmers, they went dashing for clothes when we appeared over the hill! 

In lieu of fishing we bought some fish and locally farmed Greenlip abalone in preparation for Dangers birthday. Walked along the Estuary walkway to the beach and then into the small village of Bremer Bay (local lady said population swells to 10000 plus over the Christmas period). Had a leisurely day on Dangers birthday and indulged in nice food and wine.

Next day we drove out to Point Ann in the Fitzgerald River National Park. Yet more beautiful beaches and turquoise sea. We were too late in the year to whale watch, Southern Right whales come to the area to calf from July to October. Walked one of the tracks and saw remnants of one of the early rabbit proof fences.

Still some wild flowers around including the emblem of the park, the huge Royal Hakea. Started the West Mount Barren walk but stopped just before the top as the weather was changing and we saw some lightning. What we did of the walk was interesting with views back towards Point Ann and plenty of wild flowers to admire.

Treated ourselves to wood fired pizzas for tea (oven was originally in the first bakery in Albany and was installed in 1912).  

6 November: Destination Cape Riche via Albany so we could fill up our water tanks with good water. Trundled through farmlands, forests and bush lands, massive grain fields looking like close to harvest time. Weather patchy and showery when we arrived at our campsite. Nice outlook over a white sandy bay and place looked like a popular fishing spot with the number of boats around. We managed a couple of short walks before moving on.

1 November: Back on small country roads to start off with, very quiet with hardly a vehicle to be seen. More crops and fields, some big patches of “saline” affected soil. After a while the Stirling Ranges came into view and dominated the landscape with all their different shapes and sizes. Drove through the NP and on to the Porongurups. Nice outlook from our campsite looking out to the one billion year old granite rocks.

Spent a few days in the area, did some of the local walks, up past the balancing rock to the granite skywalk which involved using hand holds to scramble over some big rocks and then up a ladder to walk around the platform. Good views all around so worth the effort.

Also went up the Devils Slide walk for more views. Lower level of the walk was through Karri forest. Had a tame walk through the Twin Creeks conservation area and saw remnants of wild flowers and some black cockatoos. Visited some of the local vineyards and sampled their offerings, came away with a few bottles.

One day we explored the Stirling Ranges, looked out at Bluff Knoll (a popular walk) but decided not to join the crowds. Admired the views and then drove to Mount Hassell. Only one other person there so decided to do the walk. Well worth the climb, rewarded with extensive views and wild flowers and flowering bushes. Continued along the scenic drive through the NP and out through Mount Barker. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best during our stay with plenty of rain and cold, made the most of the sun when it was out.

31 October: on our way again. Meandered along small country roads through crop and sheep country. An interesting fuel fill up in Narrogin where Danger slightly miscalculated the swing of the caravan upsetting some local bogans, minor damage that bogan mum got bogan son to accept, phew! At one stage Danger thought he might have to dust off his Muay Thai boxing skills. Looked at some of the Public Silo Art in Katanning before heading to Lake Ewlyamartup for a nights free camping. A nice little spot with only one other caravan, looked out over lake one way and wheat fields the other. Lake was very small but is sometimes used for waterskiing when the water level is high enough.

30 October: Two nice new tyres on the car and puncture repaired! Uneventful trip to our destination of Wandering. Travelled via the Armadale Region of the Perth Hills through rolling hills and fields and forests. Wandering a tidy little town and very quiet. We had the nice new campground all to ourselves. Took the opportunity to use the lovely big oven and did some baking then did the heritage walk around the camp

27 October: Yet another short drive to our campground in Perth (Karrinyup Waters to the north of the CBD). Once we set up went for a drive along the coast and were amazed by the number of kite surfers that were out. Met up with Leland and Carmen and their two energetic little boys for dinner down at Cottesloe. Good to see them and catch up with what that have been doing (both are working for Rio Tinto). On Sunday we met up again at the Surf Life Saving Club after Little Nippers. Leland took Danger out paddle boarding which he enjoyed especially when the water was calm. Leland then showed us around their suburb with some excellent views back over the city and then demonstrated his coffee making skills. Danger a little jealous of the big machine but it would not fit in the caravan!

Next day looked at options for caravan storage and sorted out out tyres ( two new ones and a puncture repair required!). Able to get the tyres fitted the next day on our way south which was handy. A quick trip into the city area and stocked up with muesli making supplies.

25 October: Another short drive today, Yanchep National Park. Only able to book in for a couple of nights as booked out for the weekend. Campground all very new with great facilities and a nice bush outlook (visited by kangaroos in the morning). A very manicured park with some nice walks and still a few wildflowers out. Walked around a small enclosure and saw some koalas (found out that koalas are not native to WA). Didn’t go into any of the caves, one of them is a function centre that started out in the 1930’s and still operates today.

24 October: Storms predicted today but not too bad when when left. Further south again stopping off at Jurien Bay for supplies. Lots of sand dunes and pretty coastline. Went into the Nambung National Park to walk around the pinnacles. An amazing area with thousands of ancient limestone pillars of various shapes and sizes appearing out of the yellow sand, well worth a visit. Sky was very dark and ominous while we were walking around and we got a few spots of rain. Started raining once we were on our way. Stayed overnight at Ledge Point. Drove to Lancelin for a look around, once again huge white sand dunes and white beaches (spoilt by lots of seaweed). Danger out of luck as weather no good for surfing.

21 October: Headed a little further down the coast today to The Milligan Island Camping area just out of Green Head. Lots of big white sand dunes around. White sandy beaches, clear water and not too much seaweed. Campsite looked quite new and was spacious and best of all not many others there so nice and peaceful. Weather a bit patchy but managed a few walks and explored along the beach. Tried our hand at fishing but only managed to get snags.  

18 October: Headed a bit further down the coast to Dongara/Port Denison. Bit of a murky day so good for travel. Countryside rolling hills and wheat fields with the odd sand dune towards the coast. Very nice campground behind the dunes at South Beach. Sand nice and white but covered with copious amounts of sea grass. Weather improved and went for a couple of walks, one along the beach and around the Fishing Boat Harbour area and another along the Irwin River, both with good lookouts.

Another day headed to the Illegal Tender Rum Distillery. Had a guided tour and found out how to make rum! The Still was an impressive looking machine that had been designed in Germany and made in China. All the process is done by hand and until recently it was only the owner and his wife. Enjoyed a tasting at the end and purchased a couple of bottles for later.

13 October: A short drive south today to Oakabella Station (sheep and grain and rolling hills). Had a look around the old station Homestead, kitchen/cookhouse, barn, shearing shed, smithy and stables (from the 1850’s). The homestead is meant to be haunted but we didn’t see any ghosts. However we did have a very windy night mixed in with rain. Some campers left very early!

14 October: Back to Geraldton today via the  scenic Chapman Valley. Took the caravan and car through a car wash to try and get rid of some of the red dirt, it’s very tenacious stuff. 

Took the car in for a service and spent time looking around the town and foreshore. Spent time in the museum and saw another short 3D film about the HMAS Sydney and then looked around the shipwreck section (plenty of ships have been wrecked in the vicinity). A guide talked about some of the wrecks including the Batavia in 1629 (mutiny and murder included) and the Zuytdorp in 1712. Went to the Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre and looked around the St Francis Xavier Cathedral which he designed and helped build. Had a late lunch a nice little cafe (Quiet Life) before picking up the car. Checked out a possible surfing beach for Danger to dust off his board.

Surf beach checked out so headed there a couple of mornings where Danger enjoyed honing his skills (pleased to have his wetsuit as the water a bit chilly).

8 October: Travelled the good dirt road back to Yalgoo, put more air in the tyres and headed off to Geraldton on the coast. Scenic drive through the grain fields with a few wild flowers. Settled into a campground slightly out of town and then headed into town to pick up mail and to stock up on groceries. A bit of development happening around the beach areas of town.

9 October: Heading north again, off to Kalbarri now that the school holidays are over and there is room in the campgrounds. Stopped off to look at the Hutt Lagoon, otherwise known as the Pink Lake (pink colour comes from a carotenoid producing algae). Colour not so bright as it was cloudy but all the same it was quite pink in places. Had a bit of a wander around the very small town of Kalbarri and looked out over the sea and Murchison River mouth (the Murchison being the second longest river in WA) in the afternoon. 

Next day we headed into the Coastal Cliffs part of the Kalbarri National Park after checking out a surf spot. Walked around the Rainbow Valley Nature Trail and saw different rock formations from worm tubes to multicolour layers of Sandstone. Also saw lots of whales playing quite close to the shore. Then did another walk along the cliffs and looked at “Natural Bridge” and “Island Rock” and had great views of the coastline and cliffs.

The following day we headed to the River Gorges area of the National Park. Good views back over Kalbarri from a lookout and then continued on to the West Loop to do the “Natures Window” walk (Murchison River framed by a rock formation). After that the opposite way to the Z Bend and another lookout and a walk/scramble and a couple of ladders down to the river. Nice and peaceful down by the river as lots of the tourists did not go down there!

Weather was not particularly good so no surfing or fishing.

4 October: Continued on our way, back through Sandstone and Mount Magnet and then to another little town, Yalgoo, to spend the night and top up with water. Had a few showers of rain during the afternoon. 

5 October: Lucky for us the rain was not enough to affect the roads as we were heading off up the dirt to Melangata Station. Had a quick look at the Monsignor Hawes Dominican Chapel of St Hyacinth ruins of the convent before driving to the station. The Homestead is the only private residence built by Monsignor Hawes and is slowly being restored by its current owners.

Plenty of space available, we were the only campers for the three nights we were there! Ken, the station owner, (partner Jo was away doing camp oven demonstrations) was very friendly and helpful. Suggested things to do and see. Did a tour of the Homestead and found out more about its history and owners and saw how it was being restored. As it was designed and built by Monsignor Hawes it came complete with its own chapel. Did some self drive tours around the property (mud map instructions sketched out in the dirt and we didn’t get lost!) and visited caves in the breakaways with aboriginal art. A peregrine falcon tried hard to scare us away by keeping up a regular dive bomb, apparently it had a nest in one of the higher caves. Checked out a couple of windmills, saw some remains of the wild flowers and crossed some rocky dry creeks. Ken then took is for a drive around (sat right next to his rifle!), to another area to show us more caves and views and a stick rat nest (rats are thought to be extinct). In the afternoon we tried to find an area of the local creek with water in it but were unsuccessful. Then in the evening Ken took us to another lookout spot for sunset drinks and nibbles.

Next day with new mud map instructions we found the water (and there was plenty of it!) and saw lots of bottle brush trees and heard lots of birds. On our way to see a bower bird bower we were attacked by the farm geese, even got bruises. The bower was an amazing structure and decorated with lots of shiny objects like broken glass, bones and bright green berries. Then it was a drive around a fence line and a walk to another cave in a dry creek bed, it was a good one with more artwork and came complete with windows. Then further down the creek we saw a huge eagle (wedge tail) nest complete with a large chick.

Quiet afternoon watching the wildlife then evening drinks with Ken and Jo. Picked up a few hints about camp oven cooking and purchased a copy of Jo’s cookbook.

1 October: No rain waking us today but overcast and cool. Luckily the wind has abated so an uneventful drive to Leinster, a BHP nickel mining town with the campground open to the public. The town has a bit of a run down look as though it could be closing.

2 October: Off down the Goldfields Highway. Passed several mine sites, both current and abandoned. Some pretty big holes have been excavated! Stopped off at Gwalia (just out of Leonora) and looked around the Sons of Gwalia Goldmine Museum ( mine was a large underground mine which closed in 1963 and the town “died”). Museum was well done with lots of exhibits and information about the mine and what it was like to living and working in Gwalia. The first mine engineer was Herbert Hoover (before he was the US President). His house has been restored and is now a B&B. The has reopened as an opencast mine but the mine workers now live in Leonora.

Turned off at Menzies and headed to Lake Ballard. Picked a good sheltered campsite and set up then went off to explore the “Inside Australia” art exhibition on the lake (salt lake). The exhibition was created in 2002 for the 50th anniversary of the Perth International Arts Festival in 2003. It features 51 sculptures by Antony Gormley, derived from laser scans of inhabitants of Menzies and then cast in alloy. The weather wasn’t the best with big black clouds and a shower of rain. The edge of the lake was reasonably dry but further out it started to get quite soft so we skidded and plodded around some of the sculptures (they cover an area of 10square km so weren’t going to see all of them!). It was certainly worth while visiting.

3 October: A windy night and a cloudy morning with storms being forecast so we didn’t stay another day as part of the road in to the lake was dirt. Headed back out to Menzies and had a look around the very tidy little town before retracing our route back up the Goldfields Highway. This time we free camped at the Peter Denny Lookout. Good outlook over a breakaway, spacious and only a couple of other vans so quite ok.

30 September: Woke to the sound of rain again. Hastily made tracks as we had to travel from the station on a dirt track. Made it to the highway without drama and stopped a bit further up the way to have breakfast. Passed through Mount Magnet and then onto Sandstone. Landscape not quite flat, rocky formations know as breakaways scattered around. Sandstone was briefly a goldmine a gold mining town in the early 1900’s. Not much left in the town now but campground very good – even had some nice green grass and nice gardens. Drove the Sandstone Heritage Trail, looked at an old brewery with its cellars tunnelled into rocks (not quite Speights!), took a photo at “London Bridge” which is a rock formation which is over 350 million years old and an old state battery. Went into the Pub/general store and treated Danger to an ice cream. The very dark sky’s managed to produce a little bit of rain in the evening – the rain is following us!

29 September: A very windy drive today, wind from the north east which is not so common, and that was the direction we were going on our way to the Northern Goldfields. Landscape changed from grain fields to more arid outback cattle country. A couple of times had to pull right off the road to allow oversized loads to pass (trucks transporting huge mining scrapers). Camped at Kirkalocka Station for the night. Walked to a permanent waterhole and had a look around their old shearing shed. 

28 September: Off again, this time to Dalwallinu, which is another wheat producing Shire. A relaxing afternoon and a bit of a wander round the small town. Went in and had a look around the Discovery Centre with various displays including information on the grain industry, local wildflowers and rocks (bit about gypsum, from crystals to uses). Starting to get quite windy at times and woken by rain during the night and thunder and lightning in the morning.

27 September: A short drive today through wildflower and grain country. Massive paddocks of grain with lots looking like it’s nearly due for harvest. Stopped off at Depot Hill (an old rifle range from WW2 days),and went for a walk amongst the flowers. Then on through Mingenew and Three Springs to Carnamah. Set up, had lunch and then went for a drive around the area, saw more wreath flowers, looked around a restored stone homestead (Macpherson Homestead) which was built in the 1860’s and then to the Yarra Yarra Lakes (with lots of water!) Lookout.

23 September: Left Hamelin on a beautiful still morning and zig zagged our way to Mullawa. Amazing to see how quickly the countryside changed from arid to farmland with lots of crops. Treated to lots of vivid wildflowers as we meandered along, especially once we were off the main highway. Camp nice and quiet when we arrived but filled up towards evening. A bit scary seeing all the slow moving, zombie like oldies heading off to the showers in night attire in the brilliant sunshine! Luckily after the first night the age range diversified and no more zombies.

Spent a couple of days slowly driving around the “Southern Circuit” which combined local history via interpretive sites, including steel plate sculptures, and wildflowers. The flowers were not at their peak but still quite impressive. Fought off flies and had a quick picnic lunch in the Coalseam National Park. Flies were even thicker when we were looking at the impressive array of wreath flowers, getting more use out of our fly nets!

Walked around the town and looked at some of the historic buildings (quite a bit of the town in disrepair), including The Church of Our Lady of Mt Carmel which was designed and built by priest architect Monsignor Hawes.

19 September: A windy drive south to Hamelin Outback Station. Landscape very flat and arid initially then a few mesas and more vegetation and wildflowers. Set up camp at Hamelin Outback Station Stay (Station now owned by Bush Heritage Australia so a conservation area). Our site was elevated and could see down to the sea and was great for sunset viewing. Went and explored the stromatolites in Hamelin Pools hypersaline waters. Stromatolites are structures formed from single cell organisms called cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). These bacteria and microbes grow in colonies forming microbial mats and microbialites, including stromatolites, which are known as living fossils. They take their energy from the sun, photosynthesising, and releasing oxygen into the water, like underwater trees. Millions of years of photosynthesising by stromatolite-building microbes aided in the creation of the present-day oxygen-rich atmosphere, and in doing so helped the evolution of higher life forms!

Went on a couple of day trips exploring the Shark Bay World Heritage area. Stopped off at Shell Bay which surprise surprise is made up of trillions of tiny cockle shells piled up to 10 metres deep.     Years ago the hard packed shells were cut into blocks and used to construct buildings. Walked around an old quarry and saw where blocks had been cut from. Went to Eagle Bluff to spot sharks, rays, turtles and fish in the brilliant clear water but only saw a couple of small sharks. Walked around Denham, which started off as a pearlers camp, visited the Discovery Centre with lots of information and displays and a 3D movie about the HMAS Sydney II. Drove a short way into the François Peron National Park and wandered around the Peron Heritage Precinct for more history lessons.

Spent one day relaxing on the station and walked around the old shearing shed and holding pens and read about the history of the station and surrounding areas. In the good old days the wool bales were taken by camel wagons to the coast then loaded onto lighters out to the bigger vessels to be shipped to the larger centres. Also quite a bit of bird life around a small lake on the property. Found out the name of a bird we keep on hearing (chiming wedgebill) and also managed to see one (can be hard to spot). In the afternoon we made use of the very well equipped kitchen and did some baking. Changed our proposed itinerary as it is the start of the school holidays and Kalbarri campgrounds were fully booked (coastal areas very popular). Instead are heading inland to wildflower country