Thursday 14th May to Monday 18th May

THURSDAY 14TH MAY – DENHAM WA – DAY 66

We spent the day packing up to get ready for our departure in the morning. Our plans are that we will drive to Carnarvon but as Jan and Alan are further ahead of us they have told us that we should have an overnight stay at 'Gladstone' which is a very pretty location which we will. Then we will head to Carnarvon (where we will pick up our mail) then up to Red Bluff and Quobba Station for a couple of nights.

From here we will head back to Carnarvon for a night then up towards Coral Bay. Our first priority is to get a new brake cable and have our tyres checked which we will do first thing tomorrow.

However, best laid plans can come unstuck (which you will read further on)!!!!!!

FRIDAY 15TH MAY – DENHAM WA – DAY 67

We pack up early and surprised how easy it is. We are now so organised at this I think the secret is that we have our own 'job descrptions' and it takes me the same amount of time to do my jobs as it does Nick so we 'check out' of this lovely park and head to the Industrial area where we will get our brake cable repaired.

This is done without any problem and we then decide to go across the road to get our tyres checked before heading north to Carnarvon.

After some discussion we are told we have major problems!!!!! Our caravan axle has cracked which puts stress on the wheels and this is the reason we have had to change tyres so regularly. The tyre man calls in the local steel fabrication man to give a second opinion and he agrees it will be very dangerous for us to continue our journey with this problem

After many phone calls we will need to wait until a new custom made axle comes from Perth, then it will need to be fitted. This whole process could take up to a week. The cost is $1200-00.

We decide this is the best and safest option so we go back to the Denham Seaside Caravan Park and camp there until the job can be complete.

There is nothing more for us to see here but we have no other choice. We head back to the caravan park and check in, getting almost the same site as we had before. At least the view is lovely and we could think of worse places to be stuck.

Lee, the steel fabrication man we had been dealing with must have felt sorry for us in our predicament so, him being and avid fisherman, he gave us a freshly caught piece of Shark Bay Coral Trout which he had caught the day before.

We spend the day around camp, walking Lucy and swimming in the bay near by.

The sunsets here are spectacular with the whole sky turning different shade of red. It is certainly a contrast from the sunrises over the ocean we see in the east.

Tonight is the last night of the Fishing Fiesta which has been held here over the past week. They are celebrating with a fireworks display at 9pm so our camp is in the best spot for a spectacular front row view. We wonder if they will be as good as we got so used to when we lived in our city apartment where fireworks were a common practice. We will see!!

I cook the fresh fish for dinner and by 9pm the fireworks begin. 15 minutes of a very spectacular display and yes, we would say they were as good as what we became used to and the applause at the end was testament to how they were enjoyed by many of the spectator on the shore.

SATURDAY 16TH MAY – DENHAM WA – 68

Compensation of being 'stuck' here is that the location is picture postcard and the weather is absolutely glorious. We are treating this part of our journey as a very relaxing holiday (not that the rest of it has been that hard to take).

The main thing on everyone's lips at the moment here in the west Daylight Saving. We were under the assumption that every state in Australia except Queensland had daylight saving but Western Australians don't have it and still take part in the debate. Today is voting day and it is interesting to hear the 'fors' and the 'againsts' from many of the locals.

Dinner this evening is at the 'Old Pearler Restaurant' which is the only finer dining restaurant in the area.

It is the only restaurant in the world to be built predominantly of sea shells. The shells are essentially of the small molusc family being bonded together by pressure, and calcium (as found in shells). Shell stocks come from the Hamelin Pool area and blocks were cut by saw from the ground. The restaurant was built by an Englishman who in 1974 took some three to four years cutting and laying the shell block.

The Old Pearler Restaruant is undisputedly the most photographed building in Shark Bay and it is also the most Westerly restaurant in Australia.

We enjoyed our night immensely and met many 'locals' and as the Swans had just beaten the West Coast Eagles (not that we follow the AFL) we felt very proud to be from the East.

SUNDAY 17TH MAY – DENHAM WA – 69

Well the news is in!!! It is 'No' to Daylight Saving. The no vote won by quite a majority so we say, this referendum has been put to rest, for the time being however, I can't help feeling this, like the Queensland debate will never go away! We will wait and see.

Not much to do today so we spend today around camp and as the weather is gorgeous we walk and swim in the bay close by.

MONDAY 18TH MAY – DENHAM WA – 70

We rise to another 'stunning day' and it will be perfect weather for Nick's day of fishing. I tell him I won't organise anything for dinner except the hot pan ready for the lovely fresh fish he will bring home.

I spend the morning on my computer, answering emails and I hear from Jan and Alan who are on skype – this is where I can talk and see Jan via the computer. Will have to make sure I have my make up on and wearing my pearls!!!!

I also get phone calls from Mitch and Chelsea who need some 'motherly advice'. It is great to talk to them as I feel so far away and I miss them terribly.