055 - Kalbarri National Park (21/5/17)

So as morning came, the rain was nowhere to be seen (for now) and we decided to go separate ways. B and Evie wanted to go feed the pelicans down on the foreshore, and James sided with them. Sam pretty much pleaded and begged me to go back to the jetty to fish. I think the day before’s success had stoked the fire immensely.

It was a reasonably successful stint on the jetty, although there were no keepers this time around. I think the official count was Sam with 12 and me half of that. Not that Sam was counting…

The others walked back to join us regaling tales of Evie’s poor throwing of the food for the birds that landed in front of a small child. As you can imagine, the pelican charged at the food, and in turn frightened the living shite out of the kid… Gold stuff…

Another case of "raising awareness of our native wildlife" by feeding them. Still, no money was exchanged so I can at least say there wasn't a financial agenda.

Didn't realise at first, but this action shot actually has the fish in it! Nice work James.

As we headed back, the kids found more “best friends forever” to play with, this time a young gentlemen named Monty who was James’ age, and his older sister Zara who was 9. Obviously James and Monty hit it off, whilst Evie and Zara buddied up to do their thing. It was funny watching Sam of all people flit between the boys (playing with Monty’s transformers) and the girls (who were playing with either Lego or older kid games).

The rain once again came and we desperately tried to cancel our booked bus tour of the National Park, thinking it was be washed out and really just a waste of time.

Once again, however, it all worked out well. We couldn’t cancel and as bus (a coaster) turned up to pick us up, the rain stopped. Still overcast, I went from pessimistic to cautiously optimistic.

Obviously my banter wasn't on top form given Ol' Mate sitting next to me.

I should point out that public access into the big draw cards of the Kalbarri National Park is currently closed for the remainder of the year as they upgrade roads, facilities and construct an awesome skywalk. I smelt a rat as the tour company could still run two tours a day into the area, which of course, you had to fork out a pretty penny for. But once I saw the work being undertaken, I was pretty glad actually that they were doing it that way as it was a pretty large undertaking and not having public cars in there I think made it a lot easier. Still, the rain had muddied up the road and I was wondering if we’d have to push the bus out at one stage!

Dave offered a slab to anyone who wanted to wash his bus. I quickly though about offering the kids ice cream if they'd help me, but Evie, trying to be Miss Goody-Two-Shoes, offered free of charge! Thankfully he declined the offer.

But the tour itself was awesome. A fantastic byproduct of the restricted access was a National Park all to ourselves. Not a single other tourist or vehicle (as the workers had also got ‘rained off’) was operating in the park. And whilst our bus was full, it meant there was only 20 of us seeing the sites.

Kalbarri National Park is pretty impressive if I do say so. One minute you are driving across some planes with wildflowers ready to spring and the next, you are parking up and heading down into an amazing gorge along the Murchison River.

Dave the tour operator was excellent, a fantastic balance between knowledgable guide and part time comedian.

First stop was Z-Bend Lookout… Now, it doesn’t really come across in photos, but the name comes from where the river bends in two locations to create… yep… the letter Z. It was a nice little walk down and a very pretty lookout over quite the gorge. Reminded me a lot of the Macs around Alice in colour and formation.

Believe it or not, this is the bottom bend of the 'Z'. The top one is just where the river runs out of shot on the left hand side. I'm sure it looks cool from the air...

Second stop however was the one we’d all been waiting for and had seen on the touristy brochures and TV shows, Nature’s Window.

What I wasn’t expecting however was how impressive the area itself was, not just the ‘window’. At this location the Murchison River snakes around on an 8km loop and ends up within 200m of itself. At this point where the sides are eroding, the rock has formed Nature’s Window. The colours, the shapes, the outlooks were simply amazing. And with parts bathed in sunshine whilst others shadowed in cloud, there was a lot going on from a scenery perspective.

We walked down and took the obligatory photo and discussed what we were seeing. The kids, with Sam in particular, were disappointed we couldn’t do the 8km Loop Walk, as was I, but it simply wasn’t allowed. Hopefully when we get back here with all the infrastructure in place, we’ll be able to knock that one off. But for now I’ll let the pics do the talking…

The view from the carpark lookout

Here the Murchison snakes around toward the Eastern Side of the window

Whilst this might look dangerous, and cliff like, it was actually not that bad... Who am I kidding... Yes, kids on close supervision... But a great shot of the two boys!

Here's the best example I took of the Murchison and how it comes in from the right of shot and snakes away on a very long loop, before coming back on the left hand side. And in the middle...

...is Nature's Window! I must admit, it was pretty cool to find this formation at the top of the hill and think of the wind and water erosion (and time) it took to create it.

A nice family shot... 

One last point about the spot was the dunnies. Naturally, I have more than a basic interest in the world of sanitation, but as I frequented the facilities before jumping back on the bus, I was met with this outlook from the gents…

I hate to say it, I doubt this will be the last dunny shot I take on this trip...

...but I scarcely doubt many will have a better view than this.

Well done designers, well done…

Kalbarri National Park…It’s impressive.

054 - Kalbarri (20/5/17)

We awoke to a reasonable morning but a pretty crappy outlook and forecast for the day.

Whilst the sun was metaphorically “shining”, the boys and I decided we’d hurry down to the small fuel jetty near the marina which we had briefly inspected yesterday. I was a little pessimistic given the small fuel slick I’d observed, but was happy to see it was probably just a minor spill and the waters looks pretty smicko now.

We threw a bunch of lines in, rods and handlines, and boom! We were on…

The boys and I aren't sick of jetties yet... and are unlikely to be for quite some time. If at all.

And not a single blowie in site. Based on the gentlemen at the end of the jetty also fishing we pulled in a couple of small tailor, sea mullet and the easily identifiable black bream. It was nice to finally get some variety and dare I say it, a chance of an edible fish.

In the hour or so we were there we pulled in 12 fish in total, 4 each, with Sam snaffling the only keeper, a small sea mullet that will become bait somewhere along the road.

What a monster... Just short of minimum length by... umm... around 50%!

Sam, after quite a long dry spell, blowies notwithstanding, happy to get on the board, no matter how small the catch.

James and the Not So Giant Fish.

But as the drizzle set in, so did the cold and I pulled the pin on the boys, much to their dismay.

And wasn’t that the right piece of father intuition. No sooner had we reached camp but the heavens opened with an absolute BANG.

I've made some right calls in my life, but leaving the jetty before this rain came in was one of the best. We'd have been able to swim home...

Was watching the little retaining wall at the back of our spot. Was wondering what the plan of attack would be if it overtopped... Thankfully, the rain eased and the sand acted like, well, sand... We were safe and the villagers could once again rest easy.

Rained flat out for around 20 to 30min and I stood under the awning of the caravan watching the water flow around us, under us and based on the wall next to the van, soon to be over us! Was quite the rain show…

But it subsided eventually and we all packed the rain coats and decided to walk in to town. B and Sam went a step further and kicked on to the lookout whilst Evie, James and I kept an eye on the playground facilities.

On returning, Sam, inspired by the mornings activities basically pleaded to return to the jetty. Who am I to knock a keen angler back???

So off he and I went, back down to our “usual spot”… And weren’t we glad we did. In the short 40min we were there, Sam and I pulled in another 20 fish between us, including 4 keepers, all pretty decent sized sea mullet (3 for me, 1 for Sam). After daylight called it quits on us, we returned to camp like kings, walking tall and thinking we were “all that”. We had afterall, provided B with her request of “catch me something for dinner”.

OK, so it's not exactly breaking records, but it's big by our standards most definitely edible.

See!

The rest of the evening was not as rosy however as we watched the Hawks completely capitulate to the Pies. I was not a happy camper and had to go do a few laps of the park on foot to chill out for fear of torching the van…

Still… we caught fish. You can’t complain.

053 - Sandy Cape to Kalbarri (19/5/17)

A bit of a non-descript day, as if Sandy Bay was sulking that we were leaving, and the skies decided that they’d open just as I had to pack up. Thankfully I’m a getting a little used to this packing up stuff, and most of the big ticket items (awning, chairs, tables, etc.) were done the night before.

The Rock Truck and BGL posing with some ominous clouds (and a bin) on our way out of Sandy Cape. Van coped pretty well with the light corrugations.

The rain chased us most of the way to Kalbarri, our next stop as we dodged showers and intermittent bits of roadwork.

You could tell that the we were heading to a bit of a windy part of the world as the trees at one point looked as if they were growing sideways instead of upwards.

A quick impromptu lunch at Geraldton and it’s pretty impressive foreshore playground (which we meanly told the kids they couldn’t play on due to the impending shower and need to keep moving) and we kicked on.

A Death Slide that wasn't frequented...

A multi purpose court cage match kind of arena...

What a picturesque place for a sanga

The storms and wind played havoc with the fuel consumption and once again we nudged some fairly astronomical numbers.

When we got to Kalbarri the place B had lined up to stay informed us that they in fact did have power and water. Just not on the same site, or at the same time… I cracked the shits and said “Nup, move on” and we went down into town to a park a little closer to ‘town’ and the waterfront.

In the end it proved to be a good decision as the park (Anchorage Caravan Park) was excellent and the facilities as expected.

As we set up, the rain came again and we got the impression this would prove to be a tough couple of days to catch up on the washing.

The pool at the caravan park. B and the kids checking if it was heated. It was not. And as such, not frequented as the weather had not been kind.

Not sure about this shot, I suspect it was from our afternoon tour around Kalbarri as Evie looks as if she's had a shower. Still, smiles all round...

052 - Sandy Cape (Jurien Bay) (18/5/17)

Our site at Sandy Cape as modelled by The Rock Truck and Evie Moo

So after trying our new coffee maker for the first time (not bad… needs refinement) we jumped in the truck and headed back towards Jurien Bay. Like we said, 25km is nothing more than a school run these days, and happy to do that to check something out.

We figured we could head into Jurien, spend the morning there before heading back to our beautiful little patch of the world for the afternoon.

So I took off down the jetty at Jurien Bay whilst B and the kids played checkers (or draughts depending on your origin). I was lucky enough to hit the jetty as the local high school was finishing up some kind of fishing lesson (note a subject available at Centralian College) and was lucky enough to be thrown the left over bait that they didn’t want. Score!

I've no idea who was winning or who won, but I couldn't hear them arguing so I was happy.

Either way, it was pretty blowy on the day so I set about removing the bay of “blowies” one by one, or sometime by two depending on the rig on the line.

Soon enough I was joined by the boys (Evie stayed in the playground) and another random travelling family who I leant our fishing gear to. B in the meantime decided to try out the “snorkel trail” around the old jetty. Didn’t even realise there was such a thing until I read about it on Rottnest…

What's this? Not a cartwheel? Still, a variation on an Upside Down Moo I suppose.

James and I talking about how many different types of fish there are off the jetty.

"One James. Just one."

Part of our haul...

Not only a great shot, but a functional location too...

Final tally was 21 blowies that no longer pester the waters around Jurien Bay. Which, is kind of like saying that there is 500 less flies in the world. Whilst a lot, really makes sweet buggar all difference.

So we left the jetty and the snorkel trail happy but uninspired and decided to drive across to Cervantes. B and I had hoped to score a Lobster Roll for lunch from the famous Lobster Shack, but alas, they didn’t have any. I was alittle confused on this matter, and wanted to question the girl behind the counter about it, but I could see that she was simply the messenger from “back of house” and thought better of it.

So a quick pitstop via the supermarket for some hotdog rolls and we cooked up some hot dogs for lunch. Double score!

Following lunch, B took the older kids down to the beach whilst I took a somewhat distracted and agitated James for a walk. Not sure what his story was, but I think his petrol tickets were a little low which causes him to go a little ‘silly’. Still, we went on a great walk and had a brilliant chat about all manner of things. Another beaut little Dad and Bob time…

Whilst on our walk we found a rotunda atop a lookout over Sandy Cape. It had the following two memorials on them. Not sure who Carol, Cherie and Howard are, but hey, you're memory is now living on through this blog.

Before retiring for the evening, I tried my hand at fishing off the rocks at the end of the bay. Again fruitless (as were the guys before me) but it was a very nice 45min of quiet just watching the water and taking a moment to digest this trip.

I’ve found it’s important to take moments here and there, to remove the noise and distractions and remind yourself where you are, what you are doing and why you are doing it. Life is quite constant and everchanging for us, as you can imagine, and it’s very easy to lose focus. Find yourself distracted, frustrated or perhaps even worse, taking it all for granted. So I do like to grab a moment when I can and take stock. Most of the time it’s in the evening when the others have retired for the day, but at this point, I could do it spinning a lure at imaginary fish in the water below me.

Surely, out there somewhere, is a fish who wants to eat my lure...

The view back around to our campground. Was a little windier than it looks in a still digital photo.

Back to camp, and after sourcing some wood from the camp hosts, I lit a fire “old school” style for the kids, kindling and all. A few bull ants had the kids worried, but in the end, the strength of toasted marshmellows won them over.

As it should.

Evie doing some homework before dinner. It's not a bad classroom is it?

Sam, ever the conservative practical man (like myself) decided he didn't want to run the risk of a bull ant crawling over him whilst eating dinner around the fire. I told him he was more than welcome to sit somewhere else. So he did. I love his stoic independence and stubbornness at times.

And yet... back he came. Like the Pied Pipe with marshmellows B and I could be...

051 - Wilbinga Grove to Sandy Cape (17/5/17)

One thing about rest stop camping, and perhaps having canvas bed ends, is that they come with inbuilt alarms absolutely free of charge. Trucks and quite a few…

Rehashed from yesterday, here's our parking spot for the evening...

Still, it wasn’t really that bad, and most mornings no matter how or why I wake up, I still lie there and think, yep, life’s pretty good. Even in a random roadstop in WA…

So on we pushed. We didn’t have too many thoughts on where we might end up that night other than it would be around the Jurien Bay area. Glenn and Christy (remember the other travelling Marshians) had recommended that this area was awesome and well worth a stop in. So off we choofed to see what it was all about.

First stop however was the Pinnacles National Park.

Now, I need to mention something here, and acknowledge my inner and early developing grey nomad. I absolutely love places that accommodate caravan parking in there visitor parks. It makes life soooo much easier. So huge tick straight away to the Pinnacles NP.

Space... glorious space... (although Prado next door could do with reviewing their rear suspension set up I think)

Now the Pinnacles themselves are the youngens would say, is WAY COOL! Thousands of rocky outcrops sticking up through the sand like fingers trying to crawl out. We later learnt that this was in fact in line with the local aboriginal understanding of the area, so perhaps we’re channelling our inner dreamtime.

Terrible day for a walk around the Pinnacles...

James and I pondering "I wonder why Mum leans to the right when taking photos?"

I love the contrast of the two colours of sands in this shot. 

It’s quite the surreal place. Almost lunar-esque in points, barren without life, but then interspersed with trees and shrubs in other parts. And whilst my knee was particularly sore, we did the walking tour around them rather than disconnect and do the larger driving tour. It also makes for an excellent place to muck around with Panoramic shots.

Yep. Impressive place.

Just cropped Sam out of this shot on the right, but it was fun setting it up

But not as fun watching everyone during this shot... 

The track for the drive tour. Probably really cool, but we were happy with the walking tour

An incredibly unique place we don’t regret for a second stopping in here. I’m always a little sceptical about the bigger, more “cliched” touristy spots, but this one didn’t disappoint. Teamed with a very informative and modern information centre (and usual giftshop) it’s not one to missed when coming through the area.

Onwards we went, pulling into Jurien Bay shortly after. Parking the van down near the waterfront, we got out the trusty picnic basket and headed to the beachfront to work out exactly what we would do about accommodation that night.

"Suns out, guns out"

B took a shine to this "Community Tree" which offered free game sets and toys for kids to play with

As B and the kids explored the waters edge and playground, I hobbled around the adjacent caravan park checking out the “only spot that is left, and you better be quick” scenario. I’ve heard that before, and given the amount of free camping and National Park alternatives out there, I care little for their idle threats of urgency.

(I should note, speaking to a family the next day, they were in fact, down to the last site and when they enquired were told “full house”. However, we both had a truck load of kids, and quite a few nomads were there… hmmmm….)

I found the park to be not worth the asking price so we chanced our arm and pushed on a little further to Sandy Cape campground, a local council run area about 25km up the road. It’s amazing how your ideas of distance change on a trip like this. 25km is now literally “around the corner”. No problem commuting back to Jurien Bay from there if we liked.

Another thing I love is when the planets align and your “chancing arm” turns out to be a brilliant campground that has almost become my favourite spot so far. At the end of a reasonably corrugated road we found a little slice of paradise.

Definitely free camping but with drop toilets and some tank water to wash dishes in and hose off sand, Sandy Cape was simply brilliant. We chose the southern end, more sheltered and I would probably suspect, part of the original campground. Sites were plenty and B and I went through our usual faffing about as we circled trying to work out which site we preferred. Sometimes it’d be so much easier if the Caretake just said “Head over to #14 will you”.

Still we found a spot, set up and went exploring. And what we found over the dune no more than 50m from our van was this place…..

Sigh... I'm starting to realise just how immensely beautiful this state is

Our exploring took us up dunes and through beautiful waters, although we did encounter quite a few purple “jellies” washing up on the beach. No nasty blue bottles, but enough to postpone the snorkelling for the afternoon.

The dune that literally runs straight into the water...

Another day, another cartwheel...

The boys and I got the rods out whilst Evie played with her new “Best Friend Forever”, Abi (although she was renamed E-Y to go with our ‘E-V’) And whilst, once again, we didn’t catch anything to watch the boys play happily with each other and watch the ocean lap at my feet as the sun set in the distance was pretty awesome.

Whilst the fishing wasn't great, the setting was nigh on perfect...

...And these fellas were happy so I was too.

Sunsets over water... I get it now...

Oh, and did I mention we could have fires? Oh yeah… Another brilliant pasta surprise around a fire and we were pigs in mud. Metaphorically speaking...

Our last "Bunnings Candle"... Until we find another Bunnings.

Should be noted that we finished the Midnight Gang reading here too, so another book needs to be found…

But this place? Yeah… I think we’ll be staying here a night or two longer than expected...