Saturday 25th April to Wednesday 6th May

SATURDAY 25TH APRIL 2009 – FLINDER'S BAY, AUGUSTA W.A. - DAY 47

Today is Anzac Day and the weather is far from favoUrable for those who want to take part in any outdoor Anzac Day Ceremonies.

If Nick and I were at home we would usually go and find a pub in the city and join the diggers in playing the traditional two up. With this place being so quiet and out of the way I am not sure anything will be happening.

As its so awful outside I decide to stay in for the morning and Nick, more out of boredom decides to go and find an Anzac Ceremony “somewhere”.

He returns about 20 minutes later to say the all is very very quiet so he joins me and spend the time reading.

We speak to Jan and Alan on the phone and they tell us it is lovely weather where they are in Fremantle and they are catching the ferry and riding their bikes over to Rottnest Island. We arrange to catch up in Geraldton in about a weeks time.

The rest of the day is spent hanging out, reading, me sewing and watching videos!!!

SUNDAY 26TH APRIL 2009 – FLINDER'S BAY, AUGUSTA W.A. - DAY 48

I wake up and listen to the radio and there is a journalist who is helping to promote the Olive Industry here in Margaret River. She suggests a very good Olive Farm at Cowaramup about 40kms from where we are so we decide to drive up there today and check it out. We are becoming very familiar with this highway through the vineyards so just past Margaret River we find our destination.

It is called Ollio Bello Olive Farm so we drive in and park the car. The fields are abundant with lovely olive trees so we are keen to taste whatever they have to offer.

When we got inside the lovely tasting room there were benches and shelves filled with not only every type of infused olive oil but tapenades, jams, chutneys, soaps, exfoliant rubs and moisturisers. I had no idea there were so many uses for this fruit.

After a few tastings and some lovely purchases we decided to have lunch. Nick a lovely homemade soup and I had some lovely morsels of crusty bread and a tasting plate. It was delicious and as we brought some of the lovely Margaret River Wine with us we were able to enjoy these two local delicacies together.

On our way home we had a drive around Augusta and were impressed with a fantastic recreational park with tennis courts, bowling green, skate board track, bike track and 9 hole par 3 golf course.

We spent the evening having local fish and chips while watching more DVD's.


MONDAY 27TH APRIL 2009 – FLINDER'S BAY, AUGUSTA W.A. - DAY 49

The weather here now is really turning cold and windy and there is rain around. There is not much more we can do here so we spend 'another' day around camp and getting ready for our departure hopefully, tomorrow once our mail comes in. I am finding I have a problem with my computer – whilst it will turn on the screen does not light up. I am keen to get it fixed but not keen to hang around another day for it to happen so will ask a local computer expert in town what the problem might be.

TUESDAY 28TH APRIL 2009 – FLINDER'S BAY TO MAIDA VALE (PERTH) - DAY 50

We wake up early in anticipation of our departure today. Hopefully the mail will have arrived and we can head north. Nick and I do everything to pack up except 'hook up'. At 9am we drive into town to the post office and hooray, our mail is in. Don't know why we are so excited as there are only bills. I take my computer to the local computer man and he says that he really is not keen to play around with it as it will interfere with my warranty so suggests it best to wait until Perth.

It only takes about 20 minutes to hook up and before long we are on our way heading towards Perth.

We are keen to catch up with our friends Liz and Buz in Rockingham so after about 4 hours we arrive there but the caravan park is very crowded so we decide to drive into Perth. There is a caravan park about 14kms south of Perth at Maida Vale so we set the GPS and head there.

There are quite a few 'permanents' here but as we are keen to only use this as a base we are not fussed. We find a spot and set up camp.

I ring our friend Ben Brown (from the Gold Coast) and he is keen to have dinner with us. We ask the Manager of the Caravan Park where is a nice pub to eat at and he suggests Kalamunda at the foot of the Perth Hills. We arrange for Ben to meet us and he can follow us there.

Kalamunda is a really lovely little village (a little like Leura or Bowral in NSW.) with many small cafes and specialty shops. We find the pub and order steak and salads.

It is fantastic to catch up with Ben and hear what his plans are. He has been travelling for 9 years, throughout Australia and overseas whilst working at the same time. At 26 he feels now he is ready to settle down. Unfortunately, his girlfriend, also from the Gold Coast is wanting to head back there to settled down but Ben is keen to stay here in the west so I think there will be some serious decisions to be made. We will see what happens!!!!

The food at this pub is delicious and steaks are cooked perfectly. We have a lovely night.


WEDNESDAY 29TH APRIL 2009, MAIDA VALE PERTH W.A. - DAY 51

It is Nick and Jan's birthdays today so we phone Jan early to wish her a happy birthday. They have had a surprise where their 3 daughters, Angela, Sarah and Lisa have given them 2 nights at the Joondalup Resort in Perth with golf thrown in. They are over the moon and Jan is a bit worried as to how is she ever going to come down to earth and go back to their camper.

I offer to take Nick out for the day so we drive to Coogee Beach where we stop at a lovely cafe for lunch. From there we go to Fremantle and while there decide we will do a trip to Rottnest Island. We are given direction to the Tourist Information Centre at Guildford, not far from where we are staying so we drive the 40 minutes there, park the car and go inside to speak to the delightful ladies behind the counter.

We are given advice and make our decision that we will do a daytrip from Perth tomorrow but we say to the ladies we are not keen to leave Lucy in the caravan for the whole day and could they suggest 'Doggie Daycare'. One of the ladies, Kathy says it is her day off tomorrow and that she would be happy to look after Lucy for the day.

They are introduced and there is an instant attachment. It is agreed that we will drop Lucy off at her place at 7am.

We have made arrangements to drive down to Rockingham tonight to catch up with our friend Liz. Unfortunately her partner Buz, who is an Engineer in the Mines, is working tonight so we will miss him. With such a short visit we are not sure we will see him this time but we arrange to meet Liz at a local pub at 6pm when she finishes work.

It takes about 40 minutes to drive back down the Coast but we are delighted to see Liz as she tells us we are going to the Swinging Pig (Rockingham)!!!! for dinner.

Steak is on the menu again so, as we don't eat a lot of red meat normally we are really getting our fair share of iron over the last few days. We had a lovely night catching up and hearing all about their plans for their wedding in September on Treasure Island, Fiji (where we met and were included in their engagement celebrations 2 years ago).

THURSDAY 30TH APRIL 2009 -MAIDA VALE (ROTTNEST ISLAND) W.A. - DAY 52

Up early as I pack Lucy's backpack for her day out and we drive th short distance to Guildford. Kathy and her husband Eric are waiting for us at the home they are housesitting. It is the most beautiful home, built in the early 1800's with magnificent gardens. The house is owned by friends of Kathy, 2 doctors who are overseas at the moment. Lucy is going to love this place with an enormous area to run around in.

We hand her over together with her backpack and everything that she will need for the day. She takes no notice of our escape as she heads straight to the huge backyard with poor Kathy being dragged along behind her!!!

It is fairly easy to make our way by train the 20 minutes into Perth. We walk the short distance down to the wharf and board the ferry that will take us down the Swan River to Fremantle. There is a commentary along the way, a bit like on Sydney Harbour, where all the mansions and landmarks are pointed out along the way.

It takes about 1 hour and we then board another boat and the journey is 40 minutes by rivercat to t Island. It is quite crowded with many many bikes and riders.

There is a small swell but nothing to worry about and we arrive on the Island very promptly. There are many many daytripprers and as there are no public vehicles allowed on the island the form of transport is bicycle or small coach.
We walk into the historical Mall and are immediately met by a small animal resembling a 'rat' which is a quokka – native to this island. We decide to do some discovering on foot as there is so much history here before heading to the lodge for a delicious fish lunch.

We are booked on a 2 hour tour of the island so after lunch we make our way to the 'pick up' area and board the small coach and driver – Derek who will be our tour guide.

The scenery is breathtaking and so much nicer on the other side of the island where there are many deserted beaches, wild birds and animals and rugged coastline. Our tour guide is so knowledgeable and interesting and makes our tour that much more interesting.

Our boat back to Perth is booked for 4pm so we make our way to the boarding area and this time there is more of a swell on our return.

It is peak hour in Perth now so the journey back to Guildford is longer and as we are so tired we are very anxious to get back to our camp.

Lucy has had a lovely day, lots of walks, running around the the huge back yard and a lovely bath. When we picked her up she was so fluffy and white, visibly excited to see us as usual but quite relaxed in Kathy and Erics company. I handed over $20-00 which Kathy reluctantly took, collected the backpack and drove the short distance back to our camp. We were exhausted.

FRIDAY MAY 1ST 2009 – MAIDA VALE, PERTH TO JURIEN BAY W.A. - DAY 53

Today we are leaving Perth and heading north. We have been told there is caravan park at a place called Cervantes, a small fishing village right on the ocean so we head for there. I notice I have lost all my keys so after a search with no luck I decide, I'm sure I will find them within the car or van and don't want to waste time so off we go.

Cervantes is about 200kms from Perth so we arrive there in the early afternoon, and as the caravan park is quite crowded decide to drive onto Jurien Bay. Cervantes close to the National Park where the Pinnacles are so if we stay at Jurien Bay we can always drive the short distance back.

Jurien Bay is a little bigger than Cervantes and the caravan park is also on the beach. We check in and are given a spot – although a big park the sites are huge so very comfortable.

We set up camp and meet our neighbours, Sue and Barry from the South Coast of NSW. They are also driving around Australia, have done it before in a caravan, like us, but this time have a 'pop out' camper and are planning to go to the places they didn't see last time. They are a lovely couple and we hope see more of them.

SATURDAY MAY 2ND 2009 – JURIEN BAY, W.A.- DAY 54

We wake up to a brilliant day with a temperature forecast for the high 20's. There is a lovely bike track by the ocean so we pack our swimmers and towels on our bikes and we head off. There is a gorgeous, deserted beach on our way so we park our bikes and head in for a swim. The water is, as Nick says, 'delicious'! Once I am wet I don't want to get out. There is a small wave and not one other person on the beach. It is just how I like it.

After about an hour we ride back to camp and are met by Barry and Sue who have told us about a fresh lobster outlet not far from here. We have showers and follow their directions.

We purchase 2 beautiful fresh cooked lobsters for $13-00 each (in Sydney I would pay $49-00 each) and I can't resist a dozen oysters and 500grams of fresh tiger prawns. It is close to 1pm so we just make it in time.

Back at camp I make a salad and we share one of the lobsters. There is so much meat on it and it is so sweet. A lovely cold glass of WA Sauvignon Blanc accompanies it. “Perfect”!!!

This afternoon we want to go to see the National Park out of Cervantes where the Pinnacles are. These or rock formations just 'sticking out' of the the sand. This is the only known place in the world these unusual natural 'statues' are and really worth seeing.

We meet a couple of 'middle aged' guys, Ron and Derek – actually brothers in law, travelling on their motor bikes. They left NSW and are taking 11 weeks to drive round Australia. I noticed the sign on the back of the bike “Adventure B4 Dementure”! They had left their wives at home and were planning to seek out the best places to being 'the girls' back to. They were trying to convince us that their wives were back home pining for them and missing them so much – yeah right!!!!!

When we got back to the van we noticed copious amounts of water dripping out of the door of the van. Nick had by mistake left the tap running with the plug in and the sink had overflowed – there was floods of water everywhere. Just as well we have lots of towels as It took about 4 of them to mop up all the water.

I cooked a thermidor sauce for our lobster that night which we ate out under a perfect starry night. This place is so gorgeous we are considering staying an extra night!

SUNDAY MAY 3RD 2009 – JURIEN BAY TO GERALDTON W.A. - DAY 55

A decision is made that we leave here today and head to Geraldton. Our car is booked in for a service there on Monday so will need to be there and settled tonight.

We ring Nick's son Stuart as he is celebrating his 39th Birthday today so we make the phone call as we are driving north.

There is a caravan park at Greenough a small historical town just south of Geraldton and they will take dogs so we will call in their. We stayed at Sunset Beach last time which was lovely but they don't take dogs so we must find an alternative.

Greenough has so much history in their buildings and museum but we make the decision to go further to see what we can find closer to Geraldton.

There is a caravan park which takes dogs just north of Geraldton at Drummond Cove so we drive through Geraldton and the 9kms north. Drummond Cove is lovely with panoramic views out across the Indian Ocean. It's gorgeous and there are large shady sights. We book for 3 nights, find a perfect spot and set up camp.

I phone Jan and Alan and they are staying at Sunset Cove and are booked until Thursday. We arrange to meet them in town in the morning.

We also have friends who live here, Joe and Sharon Knight-Smith who we visited last time round so we also phone them and arrange to see them sometime also.


MONDAY MAY 4TH 2009 – GERALDTON W.A. - DAY 56

Joe phones Nick early and we arrange to meet in town at a local coffee shop. As we are driving into town to drop our car off at the local Mitsubishi Dealer in time for the service, along the beach front we come across Jan and Alan who are riding their bikes. We make arrangements to also meet them at a coffee shop. Once in town we drop off the car and walk the short distance into town. We get a phone call from Jan and Alan that they are having brunch at 'Skeetas' a cafe across the road from the beach so we meet Joe and walk to the cafe.

After coffee and catch up I leave Nick and Joe to 'do their own thing' while I go and find some shops. I am in desperate need to have a hair colour, cut and style, nails done, feet done and eyebrows waxed so I am on a mission.

Before we leave the cafe it is arranged that we will all go and have a BBQ at Jan and Alan's tonight. I will make a salad to take.

I find a lovely hair salon where there is a delightful South African girl ready to transform my tired image. After travelling for the last 2 months I am desperate.

4 hours later I emerge with a new hairstyle, colour, nails, and eyebrows I feel fantastic. Co-incidentally I meet Jan in the nail shop – she has the same idea!!!

We get a phone call from Kathy and Eric back in Guildford (the couple who looked after Lucy for the day). They tell us they have found a set of keys and did we happen to lose some. With relief we thankfully asked that they forward them onto Carnarvon Post Office which is where we plan to be in the next week or two. They don't want any payment for postage. These people are the salt of the earth and can only hope we see them again sometime.

We arrive at Sunset Beach where Jan and Alan are just in time for sunset. It is magnificent here in the west at this time. Joe and Sharon arrive and we settle in for a lovely night of catching up, and it was amazing at how many people Joe knew that Jan and Alan knew.

Sharon and Joe invited us all over for dinner the following night.

TUESDAY MAY 5TH 2009 – GERALDTON W.A. - DAY 57

Our car still needed new tyres which were coming up from Perth and we needed a new key cut (as I still couldn't find my lost set) so I offered to take the car back to the car service place while Nick and Jan, Alan and Joe went to the local Maritime Museum. I was going to meet them there when our car was ready.

4 hours later, I was able to pick up the car (there was a problem with the key apparently) not impressed we paid the $1100-00 bill and left there. I was too late for the Museum so I ended up meeting Nick and we went back to camp to hang out before heading out at 5:30 to pick up Jan and Alan for dinner.

Sharon and Joe's 4 children have all left home however, at the moment they have a young lady, Ruth Highman staying with them from Perth for 6 months while she is working as a GP in Rural Medicine here. Her story is fascinating and we were intrigued listening to her.

On March 22nd this year, Ruth together with her friend Jane Humphreys, won a Gold Medal in the Doubles Surf Ski Event at the Australian National Surf Lifesaving Championship (Aussie Titles) at Scarborough Beach. This event brings competitors from all over Australia and the competition is fierce. She took us through the event minute by minute and we were as fascinated hearing it as she was proud to be telling it.

Sharon cooked a delicious meal and our night ended a little later than we were used to but it was a lovely night nevertheless.

WEDNESDAY MAY 6TH 2009 – GERALDTON W.A. - DAY 58

I was really keen to have a day to myself and Jan was invited to play golf in a charity tournament at the local golf club so Alan kindly took Nick off my hands for the day! Joe met them and they had a swim and lunch while I took Lucy for a long walk on the beach and then took off on my own to a lovely local shopping centre.

After a couple of small purchases I came home to find Nick here. Where had that time gone!!

After doing some washing, we decided to start packing up a few things slowly, ready for our departure in the morning.

By 5:30pm it was close to sunset so we got our beers, chairs and Lucy settled ready and at this time of the day we notice all our neighbours coming out also to watch this magnificent sight, one that we are not used to living over in the east.

I cook a small piece of roast pork and veges for dinner before having an early night.