We continued our trip south from Coral Bay to
Carnarvon. Just an
overnighter here to stock up for our stay at 3 Mile Camp. Spent the afternoon at the Carnarvon Space Centre, a
really interesting display on Carnarvon and Australia's role in the
space race and Apollo moon landing.
Next day we headed for
Gnaraloo Station and the famed surf
break at
3 mile camp, out past Quooba Blowholes and 3 hours of dust. T had read and heard plenty about this remote
place over the years and had always wanted to check it out. With such
high expectations M was somewhat concerned but thankfully the surf was
"cranking", for the very short period in the early morning before it
started to blow a gale anyway and T was left out, the only surfer surrounded by the Kite and Wind Surfers. He didn't leave his run so late the next day. Explored the scenic nearby Gnaraloo Bay
and Red Bluff during our stay. Our stay at Gnaraloo enforced the fact that WA stands for Windy Always or Wait Awhile/ Windy Again.
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| Tombstones, An Indo Style wave in Australia, coral and sea urchins included. |
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| Not a time went by that if you looked out sea you didn't see at least one whale. |
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| Red Bluff |
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| A few board games to escape that horrid wind |
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| No jumping pillows, pools or games room here. |
Our trip continued south with an overnight stop at
Wooramel Riverside
Retreat. Camped by the upside down river (water flows under the
ground). Boys thought this place was pretty neat except for the flys!!!!
Def needed our face nets here. A really unique station stay with
thermal baths and a self guided tour of their dump site (over a hundred years of farm implements, cars etc).
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| Seen so many Thorny devils while driving finally stopped to check one out. |
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| Artesian Thermal Bath |
Monkey Mia on the shores of Shark Bay was our next stop via the scientifically significant but not very exciting Stromatalites of Hamelin Bay. Monkey Mia, a long way in
off the highway but worth it for the boys who were lucky enough to be
picked to feed the wild dolphins that visit the beach every morning.
They also enjoyed the comfort of a resort style pool however they didn't
enjoy the vomiting session that endured that night (Dolphin Flu).
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| Very Lucky boys to be picked from the 200 people there that day. |
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| Shell Beach and Little Lagoon (below) both beautiful places. |
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| Hired a couple of SUPs at Monkey Mia and guess what, then the wind came up - WA. |
Exhausted from sleep deprivation T and M shared the driving on the next
leg down to
Kalbarri. Lucky to find a site here on the long weekend and
start of the WA school hols. Planned for 2 nights here and then
another couple of nights at the less popular Wagoe Beach further south
and out of town. A quick look at the riverside along a short 4wd track
resulted in a busted rear shock. Oh bugger, it's the Saturday morning
of a long weekend and we were meant to be leaving the next day. After
many phone calls and some very nice locals, we were sorted with an
emergency site that we could stay on for as long as it took to get the
replacement part. Our 2 night stay turned into 5 (with a new shock absorber being flown over from Sydney) however Kalbarri a
beautiful town with a lot to do. The Wagoe Beach Quad Bike tour a
highlight. Boys weren't super keen as they were unable to drive
themselves but once we got going they quickly realised why - they held on
tight and absolutely loved it.
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| Another failed Powell fishing trip, not only no fish but our outboard died and a replacement had to be boated down to us. |
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| Kids playing chicken with the waves, guess who lost. Wet trip home. |
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Kalbarri is also home to Jakes Point, a very heavy left hand point, with
a very dicey jump off to get out. Dad copped a couple of hammerings he
will remember for a while.
Next stop,
Geraldton, the largest township in the mid west. The
foreshore here was quite beautiful and clearly really well managed by
the local council. We were excited to spot some sea lions from the
jetty, not realising that within a week we would be swimming among
these amazing creatures.
Onto
Jurien Bay, only 3 hours north of Perth now. We are missing the
constant clear warm weather of the North but have heard from many that
it has been the worst Winter in years and unheard of to still be so cold
in the middle of spring. On our way out to Stockyard Gully to explore
the caves, the car's gearbox seized up (stuck in 5th) again on a Sat -
BOO!!!! RAC towed the car back to a workshop and us to the caravan park
to await the diagnosis on the Monday. Despite the car trouble, we had a
really enjoyable stay at Jurien Bay. The Cronulla GF win keeping us
buzzing, and overwhelmed by the generosity of the local tow truck driver who
lent us his car so we could still do the site seeing and tours we had
planned.
Thanks to the loan car, we were able to check out the fascinating
Pinnacles and swim with the sea lions. The sea lions were just
incredible, so playful and inquisitive. An absolute highlight for all
of us.
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| Not sure who was more excited to swim with the other, the sea lions or the boys. Both had a ball. |
After finding out that the car needed a transmission expert in order to
diagnose, the car and van were towed straight to
Perth (luckily we had NRMA Premium Care) only 2 days
earlier than originally planned we pulled into
Coogee Caravan Park.
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| Not how we planned on getting into Perth |
NRMA supplied us with a hire car for our stay in Perth while the Prado was out of action.
Was so great to spend time with our friends Allison, Milton, Amelie and
Abby who had moved to Perth earlier in the year. We joined them on a
walk to work family fun day, a 6km walk from Rockingham across to the
Navy base at Garden Island. The boys eyes lit up when we rounded the
last corner and they saw all the rides that awaited them - they thought
it was just a walk 😂😂😂
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| Joel not happy after finding out the walk is 6km! |
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| This bridge is normally restricted to Navy Personnel only. |
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| Found Cody's calling, he was the king of the mechanical bull. |
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| Joel lost to Cody on the Bulls and smashed by Amelie in the boxing. At least the ice creams were free. |
The news that the car needed a new gearbox was a hit to the budget but
so grateful it happened where it did and not in the middle of nowhere. Explored Perth & surrounds even with some dodgy weather.
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| Elizabeth Quay |
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| Cottesloe, No one swimming due to a shark siting. |
Whilst the car was in the workshop, we left the van behind in Perth and
caught the Ferry across to
Rottnest Island. We had really been looking
forward to this part of the trip after following Rottnest on Instagram
and seeing all the amazing pics of the Scenic Bays and the cute little
Quokkas. So with high expectations we hopped on our bikes and rode to
Geordie Bay were we were to stay for the next few nights. Our
expectations of Rottnest were exceeded - we just loved it. Possibly may
have been something to do with the luxury of having a bathroom just a
few steps away and some space at last but whatever the reason it was a
fun stay.
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| Little Parakeet Bay |
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| The view from our deck. |
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| Geordie Bay |
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Cody says, "the Quokka's were so cute and I like the way they smiled for selfies". 😆
Joel says, "I really enjoyed Rottnest and the Quokkas but you must feed
them leaves so they smile. The bike riding was easier than walking."
Unfortunately T didn't get any surf on Rotto after riding 12km each morn
over hilly terrain with surfboard in hand to check out the supposed
most consistent break in WA but at least he got some exercise 😅
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| Explored Rotto by bike and foot and when it got a bit too much Island Explorer Bus. |
From Rottnest, we had one more night in Perth before the car was ready
for us to continue our journey south. Much to the boys delight we
decided to spend a few nights at a top rated park near
Busselton. It
had the works, indoor heated pool, waterslide and the biggest jumping
pillow we have ever seen. Def the best park we have stayed in this trip
by far.
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| Busselton Jetty. Another walk |
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Next stop was less than an hour down the road to
Yallingup, a
picturesque town in the Margaret River region. With surf on our
doorstep and closeby to wineries, it was a hit with Mum and Dad more so
than the boys. Although Joel's eyes did light up at the Margaret River
Chocolate factory and they did enjoy a morning exploring the local
Ngilgi Cave.
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| Canal Rocks |
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| View from Yallingup Van Park |
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| Ngilgi Caves |
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| North Point 8-10ft, Managed to get a few waves, but more of a spectator with Taj Burrow and other local rippers out there. |
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| Injidup, scored this one to myself for about half an hour the day after this. |
Incredibly, the other rear shock snapped whilst we were exploring the
nearby national park so again we awaited a new one to be expedited from
Sydney. After speaking to the manufacturer, we will be receiving more suitable shocks when we return home. Would have been nice to have been given the correct advice before leaving home though.
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| Dodgy track down and surf at Three Bears. |
