As far as the East is from the West

Esperance is the kind of place that would be amazing when the sun is shining. We spent a week huddled into the tent, sheltered against the battering wind and rain, and putting fallen tent poles back up at regular intervals. Daniel was working each day, so Karen and the kids managed as best they could, watching movies, reading books, and getting on each others nerves in the enclosed space. They did manage a few walks along the waterfront to see the resident Sealion that displayed himself every day, and performed if anyone looked like they might be fishing. Finally, Saturday rolled around and we enjoyed meeting up with Daniel’s cousin Catherine, Greg, their son Kyle, and friends Matthew and Nathan for breakfast. We had already packed up our tent in anticipation of travelling for the day. And then the sun came out!

As anticipated, Esperance is beautiful. We took a few photos and left to head for the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The drive is 4,300km and we want to get there in time to spend Christmas with the family. It’s already the 11th of December, so time is running out. Daniel has lined up work on three properties across the Nullabor, so we set off for the first on the list.

We passed through Norseman and camped the first night at a free site along the 90 mile stretch. 90 Mile is the longest expanse of straight road in the country, so it was nice to break the drive up with an overnight stop. The next morning we introduced ourselves to Peter and Marg from Arubiddy Station, near Cocklebiddy. Whilst on the station Karen and kids mostly relaxed, reading books and playing around the buildings. We managed to get “Tour Guide Karen” to show us through the shearing shed, with all its fascinating machinery. Daniel completed the electrical job was in one and a half days, and we were on the way again. The next two jobs didn’t pan out. One property wasn’t ready for another week, and a roadhouse told us they didn’t need us when we walked in the door. So now it looks like we are going to make it with time to spare.

Sunset over Arubiddy Station	Moon rise over the shearing shed

We stopped overnight at another roadhouse, and then headed for Arno Bay. Daniel wanted to get some assistance from The Travelling Mechanic in servicing the Troopy. Arno Bay was another place that would be fantastic when the sun is shining (which it did as we were leaving). It was great to meet Robbie and Sharon and we would have liked to stay longer, but we are on a mission! A few days later, many of the caravans and vehicles were severely damaged when a freak hailstorm hit the area.

	< Cormornts queueing to get off the jetty as I approach. Along the GAB. ^ Nullabor means No Trees. Arno Bay Jetty. > Waves crashing on the jetty

On the way to Arno Bay, we blew another tyre, the new one that was just replaced in Perth. Aaaarrrggghhh! Fortunately Bridgestone agreed to replace the tyre AND tube under warranty, so after a quick lunch break (with Beth and Jason) in Port Augusta, we headed for Melrose. Here we spent the night camped in the showgrounds beside Mike and Sarah, and their seven children and four performing dogs. It was an excellent evening, and we forgot to take any photos, but the next morning the rush home continued.

Next stop was with Jodie in Merbein, near Mildura. We had met Jodie and her husband Andrew earlier in the year. Sadly, Andrew passed away from bowel cancer in October, and we thought it was time to visit again.  We all had a really enjoyable evening INDSIDE THE HOUSE! No camper set up and pack up. Meals cooked on a HUGE BBQ. Excellent company with Summer, storm and Beau (the kids). Most enjoyable, thanks Jodie.

The longest travelling day we’ve had on this trip was 740km from Nhulunbuy to Mataranka in the Northern Territory, so the next days agenda looked impossible. Dubbo is over 800km from our departure point, but Karen wants to visit the zoo for her birthday. We changed tactics for this part of the trip. Normally Daniel does most of the driving, but this time we alternated approximately two hours each, and made it safely, but tired, into Dubbo at 7:00pm. When Daniel went in to check into the Dubbo City Caravan Park, he contemplated setting up the tent and then getting dinner under way, and booked a six berth room instead. The kids (and Karen) were surprised, and delighted at this turn of events. The trailer was plugged into a power point to keep the fridge cold, and we enjoyed wandering around the Western Plains Zoo for the whole next day. Our last visit to the zoo was in 2006, and some things have changed since then, but others haven’t. We also enjoyed an award winning pie from the Village Dubbo Bakery for lunch that day.

On Guard, Meerkats		“Kiss me quick”
Hiding Cheetah	Click on this photo to blow it up, it looks great!	Siamang Apes
Clean your teeth time!	“Happy” really is!	“Catch me if you can”
When being chased by a Tiger, DO NOT climb a tree		New born baby
Otters are SO cute!	Bison	Mum and bub (awake for a change)

To vindicate Daniels cabin accommodation decision, it rained heavily that night, and we were tucked away warm and dry. And so was our tent! It was a week for breaking records, so we left at 6:30am the next morning with Maleny as our destination. At 940km away, there was much distance to travel!

There is not much to report about this part of the journey, we alternated drivers again, and made it into Maleny at 6:00pm that evening. Karen started to get excited when we drove through Toowoomba, and the kids were amazing: Not one call of “Are we there yet?” was heard. They enjoyed some Nintendo DS time (limited to a half hour each), read some books and played happily (mostly).

In 9 days we had crossed five time zones (our bodies are still adjusting to what time it is), and five states. It was an amazing journey, but one that we are not planning to repeat any time soon. 

The Pinnacles

You know, when we set out on this journey (nearly two years ago) we had a vague idea of the places we wanted to go to….a bucket list of sorts. It seems the more we travel this wide, often brown, land…the more we add to the list for “next time!” It seems that phrase has been used with an ever increasing frequency lately as we simply are running out of time. Watch this space…we will be posting soon on where we’re heading to settle in the very near future! However in the meantime we are getting out to see as much as we possibly can now We have loved travelling through and experiencing Western Australia! The BIG State! There are so many cool places to explore and so many that you just have to see. The Pinnacles are one of those must see spots!

We had an idea of what we thought it would look like, but it was, well different to what we expected! For a start I had expected it to be a long way inland, not a hop skip and a jump away from the Coastline. It seemed so….random. Whilst it is in a desert of sorts, in many places you can see the sea! The other thing I had expected was a 4WD track, but that too was not the case. You are not permitted to tow your camper trailer or caravan through the Park, I suspect because of some of the tight turns. However the road is firm, and all manner of vehicles could easily take the drive. We drove through several times, pulling into lay-aways and jumping out to get up close and personal with The Pinnacles!

The children had talked for days about playing hide and seek in amongst the great limestone stacks, so they wasted no time getting amongst them.

We quickly discovered where Billy Connelly did his “nudie run.” If we had…say….a where’s wally type spandex suit or a Travelling Beanie I am sure Daniel would have done this! Perhaps it is a Blessing for all that he didn’t! However, I am putting it out there for travelling friends “Beth and Jason”….when you get to The Pinnacles we will be watching closely to see just what you do!!!

We were amazed at the huge sand dunes seemingly poised ready to engulf the unsuspecting Pinnacles standing below. It really is an unusual place. On one end there were desert sand dunes, in other parts there were small Pinnacles, in yet other parts there were towering Pinnacles that made the Troopy look small.

What a great day! We thoroughly enjoyed romping through the Pinnacles!

World Heritage Listed Shark Bay

Travelling south along the coastline of Western Australia has been simply amazing! There are so many places you just have to go see. World Heritage Listed Shark Bay is definitely one of those places! It’s pretty much a long way from anywhere, but is well worth the visit! We decided to set up camp at Hamelin Station Stay on the way in. This was an incredible campsite. Their facilities were absolutely wonderful! In fact it was so lovely there that we decided to leave our trailer set up and drive into Monkey Mia and Denham for the day rather than relocate. This worked for us. Although there are numerous campsites along the way in and out….we were just happy to be there. We do crazy things like that.

One of the places that has been on everybody’s “wish List” since we began this a-dventure was Monkey Mia! We just wanted to get up close to wild Dolphins and experience them! Well Monkey Mia is the place for that! There were quite a few Dolphins there. Even a little calf! Sooooo cute! The baby was doing laps around it’s Mum. Awwww. Our family had already fed wild Dolphins in our home state (QLD) at the beautiful Tin Can Bay, so we were curious to see whether Tin Can Bay was as good as Monkey Mia. Well, let me put it this way….whilst there are numerous Dolphins swimming very close to shore they only feed 5 of the females 3 fish each. Which means you have to be pretty lucky to get picked out of the crowd to feed a Dolphin. We were present at each of the 3 Feeds, and thankfully Rosa and Leisl were chosen to feed a Dolphin together in the last possible session. These 2 girls had been looking forward to Monkey Mia for pretty much our whole trip so this was special for them. At least in Tin Can Bay earlier this year we all got feed a Dolphin! But I was relieved that they were chosen. It was a special experience nonetheless. Have you ever looked into the eye of a Dolphin???

After the obligatory Dolphin feeding we decided to explore Denham, Australia’s Western most town! It’s a nice little place. The kids were terrified they were going to get gobbled up by sharks having watched several films at the Information Centre. So we decided to cut our losses and eat lunch overlooking the water and letting them run off steam along the Beach front and playground. It’s a very picturesque place. The other thing you can do here is get right up close to a Wind Generator! Very cool!

We decided that since we were in Shark Bay we should really see some sharks so we trotted off to Ocean Park to do just that. It’s an interesting little place. The guide does a continuous loop throughout the displays providing good quality information about each of the Marine animals they have. We found it all really interesting! Especially watching the way the sharks interact! I have to say though, my Husband was very distracting for the duration of the tour he was pointing out with great delight the various delicious tasting fish they had there. From Dhufish, 75cm Barramundi, Red Emperor, Golden Trevally, Various Cods, Spanish Mackerel, Mangrove Jack, Tusk fish, Pink Snapper, Painted Crayfish and Western Australian Rock Lobster. At one point the guide pointed out the place is monitored securely overnight so that he wouldn’t get any ideas of sneaking in for an easy catch!!! There is a great coffee shop and you can relax sipping good quality coffee, whilst your kids slurp on their icy poles on the Deck with terrific ocean views of the western Gulf!

The other thing you must do here is sink your toes into Shell Beach, literally! This place consists of thousands of tiny shells! I know it looks like sand but those are shells! Very cool! This is an unusual renewable resource. Shell Beach is unique because the super saline water only allows the shells to grow for about 18 months, before they are washed ashore, dead. 10's of millions of these shells make the beach, rather than sand. The shells are harvested as lime for the concrete industry, they are also used in blocks as construction. A lot of the houses and old telegraph station were made of these large shell blocks! We did a little brainstorming of what would be the best way to photograph these shells for you, our BLOG followers, and the children decided to do Shell Angels… What fun!

The water in these parts is very salty. Not a lot can grow or tolerate this kind of Habitat. Although we discovered that Stromatolites in Hamelin Pool were not only in residence but in abundance! These are interesting phenomena. Stromatolites are arguably the oldest life form on earth. Although read this interesting link to Creation Science....http://creation.com/controversial-claim-for-earliest-life-on-earth. Hmmm.

We decided on Day 2 to once again leave the camper at Hamelin Station Stay and drive out to the western most point of Mainland Australia; Steep Point! It was about 160kms of dirt road from the station, the first 100kms were a bit like a Highway, smooth as. We figured that was because of the salt mine out this way at Useless Loop! Once we got to the locked gate, we had to lock in our 4WD hubs and lower our tyre pressure to about 25psi. There was sand ahead! Understatement of the year! The rest of the drive was pretty straight forward I guess, although extremely windy. We lost the horizon a few times and saw lots of sky as we negotiated sand hill after sand hill after sand hill! The Rangers were the loveliest people, living in an absolutely incredible spot with back yard views of Dirk Hartog Island! Unbelievable location for a home. After checking in with them we made our way all the way out to Steep Point for the obligatory snap, and amazingly we had enough phone signal to broadcast our location to a few of those near and dear to us. The Rangers had encouraged us to pull in to one of the campsites dotted along Shelter Bay to have some lunch before heading out again. We were so surprised to find these amazing campsites right on the Beach! What a spot! We found ourselves wishing we had brought the trailer! Never mind, we didn’t know about the camping spots then, but we do now! It was a beautiful day for a picnic on such a glorious untouched part of the world!

We ducked out to check out the Blowholes at Thunder Bay before leaving. Now that was quite a drive! Only 6km off the track but the last part was over pure sand dune….a soft track over a steep dune and subsequent slide down the other side, think desert sand dune…. Ay yi yi! I’m sorry we don’t have photos or footage to share of that….but I was freaked! The blowholes just added to my state of mind….unfortunately. Gaping crevasses that fell away at least 100m to the gurgling angry ocean below. We were walking around the cliffs looking for them before we stumbled upon them! Oh my goodness they were so very deep and so very freaky and so very dangerous! I herded Leisl and Rosa back to the car, and watched with my heart in my throat as Daniel, Josie and Connor nonchalantly picked their way from Blowhole to Blowhole. The Blowholes here were unique, it was as if the very earth was breathing. The sound, the expulsion of air…..you can listen to this by clicking here! The trip out was worse than the trip in, by that stage I was a mess!

We finished up our Day trip with a quick peek at the surf Beach called False Entrance! A beautiful beach nestled between some serious cliffs! Amazing shells, surf, sun and sand. It was a great way to end the day, before making our way back to camp.

Sometimes this journey is surprising. You never know exactly what lies around the corner, how you’re going to react or where exactly you will be from one day to the next. But days like today make you realise….life is precious, your family are so important and there is so much to see and do together as you explore this beautiful creation. I encourage you to grab those near and dear and get out there…you won’t be disappointed!