Week 16/17, Monday 17 May – Wednesday 26 May 2010

We had a very cold night on Sunday, waking up in the morning to discover our thermometer showing it had been down to 1.4 degrees overnight! We set off up the coast with Linda and Brendan stopping at Jurien Bay before camping at Sandy Cape, in a lovely spot close to beach.

(courtesy of Linda and Brendan Photography Studios)

As we sat relaxing over some lunch, a couple of coach load of backpackers rolled up. We had a minor panic worrying that they may be staying, but they were only there to go sand-surfing before carrying on up the coast. Linda and I (I'm not sure I would have asked on my own!) went to ask the driver if he had any spare boards once he'd sent the backpackers on their way to the dunes. He was a very friendly chap, and happily lent us a couple of slightly damaged boards together with some wax to speed them up! It was a lot of fun, but sand EVERYWHERE afterwards!







We then went in the water for a snorkel, but the visibility was poor so we couldn't see much beyond the seagrass.

On Tuesday Linda and Brendan headed off to do the Stockyard Gully 4wd track, while we raced on to Geraldton, stopping at Green Head, Leeman, Port Denison-Dongara and Greenough on route. We camped at Sunset Beach, and missed an amazing sunset while cooking dinner (deep pinks and purples). We had dinner in the camp kitchen and got chatting to a lovely retired couple who were travelling around Australia on a trike!

On Wednesday we did a food shop in Geraldton, then went up to the HMAS Sydney II Memorial, which pays tribute to 645 crew lost in Shark Bay in 1941 after coming into contact with the German ship Kormoran, which was disguised as a Dutch merchant ship. The silver dome is made up of 645 seagulls, representing the lost sailors.



Then we headed to the WA Museum, only to find it's closed on Wednesdays. So we drove on up to Coronation Beach, only 30kms north of Geraldton, and stopped there the night. It was a nice site, close to the beach, but full of caravans and their accompanying generators, one of which had been carefully stationed next to our site and away from the caravan owner's site to ensure we got the full force of its beautiful song up to 10.30pm. We weren't impressed, having gone to bed about 9pm!

On Thursday we drove up to Kalbarri, stopping at the fishing village of Horrocks, before heading onto a dirt track for an 80km detour to the Hutt River Province, which was utterly bizarre! HRH Prince Leonard served notice of secession on the Western Australian Premier in 1970, following a dramatic reduction in the wheat quotas allocated to the Hutt River farm. HRH Prince Leonard did his international law homework and appears to have successfully seceded from the Commonwealth of Australia, and also claims to have established the Hutt River Province as a sovereign state (having declared war on Australia 1997, and emerged victorious a few days later declaring a ceasefire while those that do in Canberra watched on in bafflement).

Back on the road to Kalbarri, we stopped at the lookouts for Natural Bridge and Shellhouse Grandstand, before heading into Kalbarri itself. We watched dolphins in the bay for a while, before finding a camp ground in the middle of the town. Having set up camp, we watched the sunset on beach opposite before having dinner and heading to bed.



On Friday we went back down the coastal stretch to see Eagle Gorge, Red Bluff and Jake's Point (a famous surf beach, not that there was any surf when we were there).

Red Bluff


On the way back into town for provisions, we stopped to see the hundreds of galahs gathered on a bare patch of land between new houses. A little bit of me running around and Jen shooting (only with the camera!) we had some nice action shots.



Then we drove out to the main part of the Kalbarri National Park, doing some short walks to see the key sights at Natures Window and the Z Bend Lookout.





Then we headed back out and camped night at Galena Bridge – a very odd rest stop (a car park full of grey nomads and caravans)! We met up with Linda and Brendan here so we could head north to “World Heritage” listed Shark Bay together the next day. Shark Bay was given World Heritage status in 1991 and is famed for its unique ecological system, with the stomatolites, sea grasses and marine life. The biggest tourist draw is the wild dolphins who visit Monkey Mia resort daily to be fed by the rangers.

On Saturday we made the 300km drive up to Monkey Mia. On route, Linda booked us into a camp site at Steep Point, most westerly point in Australia, the following week. Stopped on route to see Jen's favourite rocks, the stomatolites, at Hamelin Pool. The wind was up, so the normally calm seas were a bit rough. We stopped again at Shell Beach (a beach made of shells)...





Then we pushed on to Denham to call home. We decided to spend the night at the Monkey Mia Resort to see the dolphin feeding the next morning. On Sunday we awoke early for the predictably touristy dolphin visits at Monkey Mia. Despite the crowd on the foreshore, it's still lovely to see the dolphins come in so close.






After a morning of dolphin watching we headed up to the Francois Peron National Park on the peninsula north of Denham and Monkey Mia. The park is largely accessible only by 4wd, and Priscilla was happy to be having a bit more play time in the red sand.



We stopped at the Peron Homestead where you can bathe in a hot tub filled with hot artesian waters, before heading north on the 4wd track to Big Lagoon. Then we headed north to Skipjack Point and Cape Peron, stopping to check out the campgrounds at Gregories and Bottle Bay (where we made a little detour along the beach to see these magnificent red cliffs) on the way.



The view at Skipjack Point was stunning, and we saw a dolphin chasing a large school of fish, a couple of turtles and a small ray (we think it was an Eagle Ray).



We also managed to get a mobile signal at Skipjack Point to call home before camping the night at Bottle Bay.

On Monday we packed up early to drive back up to Skipjack Point to call home again. We walked from Skipjack Point across the dunes to Cape Peron and back, before heading out of the park again, visiting Herald Bight on the way. We stayed the night at Denham and went out for fish and chip dinner!

On Tuesday we set off with Linda and Brendan again to Steep Point. Tarmac for 80kms south of Denham, then 100kms on dirt road, the last 20kms of which held the worst corrugations we've encountered. We detoured out on the sand to False Entrance, where we stopped at a lovely surf beach for lunch.





Then we visited the blow holes and had to restrain ourselves from driving Priscilla off the Thelma & Louise style cliffs we found there.



While letting the tyres down to 20psi (under threat of a fine if we didn't!)



Jen discovered a screw had welded itself deep into the rubber of the rear left tyre. We decided to deal with the issue when we reached the camp ground, and pushed on over the sandy track (a great relief after the corrugations) to the camp site we'd reserved, which was idyllic. Our site was the last along a stretch of beach camp-sites, right next to the calm waters of the bay. We decided to drive out to see the most Westerly Point of Australia that afternoon before setting up camp, which was lovely.





We managed to get a signal from the top of a sand dune on the way back, and called home to receive the terrible news about Jen's dad. Being so far off-road, with the sun dropping, we had no choice but to camp the night and set off in the morning for Perth. It also became clear the rear tyre was suffering from a slow puncture, so (with critical assistance from Brendan) we removed and fixed the tyre, putting the spare on overnight so we could sleep in the tent,and re-fitting the old one in the morning when we were sure the temporary fix had worked.

And this is where the trip ended, at least for a short while.

Love to all,
Claire, of Jen and Claire fame

Week 15, Monday 10 May – 16 May 2010

On Monday we pushed on up the coast to Freemantle. We stopped at Mandurah on route, which is a bizarre town centred on a new (in fact not quite finished) marina village, which seemingly has no permanent residents - if you build it, they will come. We found our camp ground at Coogee just south of Freemantle, set up camp and watched the sunset on the beach with a small beer and some crisps, and a lone dolphin which appeared to say hello.



We spent the full week in Freemantle, doing some tourist trips around Freemantle and Perth, and carrying out minor repairs and cleaning dear Priscilla.

On Tuesday we did the tourist tour of Freemantle, walking around town and visiting the Maritime Museum (turned out to be free Tuesday, which was good, as I would have been a bit disappointed if we'd paid!). We went for a drink in the Norfolk Hotel, which has a lovely beer garden, and then caught up with Lee and Jennie, who we'd met back in Esperance, for a nice dinner out.

On Wednesday we had a day at camp ground having a full clean out of Priscilla. In the late afternoon I had a swim and got stung by a jelly-fish! Watched sunset again with more beer and crisps. We spent Thursday in Perth, but didn't have a great day as the rain was upon us and Australia just doesn't look good in the rain wherever you are.

Friday and Saturday were days of great achievement for Priscilla, at no little cost to us. Some $800 later, Priscilla had been serviced, had her windscreen fixed and had a new deep cycle battery. Ouch! We spent Friday at a shopping centre waiting for her service to be completed (spending more money...!), then had a night out in Freemantle watching Freemantle lose to Collingwood in the AFL. On Saturday we drove up to Lancelin via the Perth northern coastal beaches (stopping at Cottesloe, Scarborough, Trig and Sorrento).



At Lancelin we met up with Linda and Brendan, ready for a little 4wd excursion up the coastal track to Cervantes via Wedge Island the next day. The track was pretty hard to follow in places, and we lost it altogether a few times! Climbing up the sand dunes at one point we radioed Linda and Brendan to say we'd and spotted another vehicle and were going to ask them directions. When we got to the top we discovered the (not that old) vehicle had been rolled and dumped – perhaps someone else at their wits end with the track. Luckily, as we made our way down, a ute appeared from nowhere out of the inland track we needed to take. It was scratchy and tight, but at least we didn't have to turn back.

Dropping the tire pressures


Priscilla likes being back on the sand


Which way is our track?


Still can't see our track...


We finished up on a new road (erhem, for “new” perhaps read “under construction”), and followed our noses out on it, only to discover we really shouldn't have been on it at all!



That evening we stopped at Hangover Bay before heading to the Pinnacles for sunset, which was quite something. The Pinnacles are limestone formations in the shape of, you guessed it, pinnacles, which create a very odd lunar landscape. The basis of their formation is debated, but we liked the theory that they were once tree stumps in an ancient forest which have calcified.







Pumping the tires back up


That night we had a very cold night camping at a free camp in the Tuart Forest. More of which in the next instalment....

Love to all,
Claire, of Jen and Claire Fame

Week 14, Monday 3 May - 9 May 2010

On Monday we headed into the D'Entrecasteaux National Park for a little off-road trip with Linda and Brendan. You'll notice a lot of French names in this area – nos amis francais were quite intrigued with Western Australia, and spent more time charting its waters and investigating its species than the English in the late 18th century. Britain, recognising the risk of a French colony being established, settled Western Australia in the 1830s. We called into the Pemberton DEC for some very helpful advice on track conditions (once again, quite a few closed due to the wet weather), then set off for Windy Harbour, a (surprisingly) windy harbour, full of holiday beach shacks and homes for local fishermen. After touring around the headland to Point D'Entrecasteaux and Salmon Beach, we headed back to the main road, to cut into the park again further north at Black Point Road. On reaching the coastline, we set off onto sandy tracks down to Jasper Beach. It was deep in parts, but Priscilla handled it all with ease as usual. The surf was up, and looking fairly messy, so there was no chance of us going in the water. After watching the waves for a while at Jasper Beach, we back tracked to Black Point for lunch.

Linda and Brendan


From Black Point we followed the 4wd track north-west behind the sand dunes. It was a little disappointing, not as challenging as sandy track that morning, but nice enough. We left Linda and Brendan at Karridale feeling a bit guilty about leaving our new friends to camp while we headed up to Margaret River to our little cottage. A holiday from our holiday! The cottage was lovely, and we stayed for 4 nights. Really wonderful spot, just outside the town, we'd highly recommend it – link: http://www.stayz.com.au/18691. We made day trips out to see the surfers at the main break at Margaret River and other breaks which line this coast, pottered around Margaret River itself (nice little town, bit posh for us on our current budget though!), and drove down to Cape Leuwin to see the lighthouse and the views. We cleaned and preened Priscilla inside and out, cooked nice food indoors, watched tv and generally had a very relaxing little break!

Margaret River Main Break (Bit big for me!)


Surfing Cow (Margaret River had a Cow Parade from March – June)


Red Gate Beach


Rainy Day at Cape Leeuwin with the Moorine Marauder


Accidental 4wd trip in the Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park


Margaret River Cottage


Stowaway cat!





On Friday we left the cottage and headed up the coast, stopping to see the various surf breaks on route (Lefthanders was the busiest surf break I've ever seen!) before staying the night at Yallingup. First night back in the tent for a while, and we promptly fell out about the how level our site was and what the optimum position for Priscilla might be! Once we settled in, we watched the surfers at the nice left-hand break, but I didn't have the nerve to get in. I'm a bit scared of reef breaks, not quite up to that standard yet!

On Saturday we drove up the coast to Cape Naturaliste lighthouse. We took another little random 4wd track down to beach before following the coastal route through Dunsborough (stopping for a while to watch the salmon fishermen at Rocky Point) to Busselton.

Rocky Point


We stopped the night at Busselton, visiting its “famous” pier (the longest in the Southern Hemisphere according to the blurb) only to discover it was closed for refurbishment. Nice pier nonetheless. We went out that evening to watch the premiership, only to find it wasn't on until the next day (doh!) We watched an AFL game instead with a couple of grey nomads who originated (40 odd years ago) from the UK.

On Sunday we attempted to follow the coast road marked out of town, but discovered the road did not exist. We wound up, having gotten ourselves a bit lost, stopping at a new marina which is being built just outside Busselton. We stopped to check out how the other half live (a little house with its own jetty would do me fine...), and found two dolphins feeding in the marina. Its our closest encounter to date with dolphins (other than my swim with them), as they were chasing fish up and down the walls of the marina just where we were standing. After a long while watching them, we set off again on up the coast, hoping to camp in the Yalgorup National Park at Martins Tank Lake. This involved a 3km trip along a fairly corrugated road. Not long after we'd set off down this bumpy track, I noticed Priscilla making some new noises... After some investigation, it became clear her windscreen had become detached, and was simply wobbling around in its rubber casing! We got to the campground a bit shaken up by the whole experience, and decided it was a bit too isolated and eerie - no oone else there. So we chickened out and headed back down the corrugated track and out to Preston Beach (where of course there was no camping), so set carried on up the main road in the dark to the next commercial campground at Lake Clifton. It was one of the worst campgrounds we've been to – lots of people seemed to actually live there. I kept expecting to see Britney Spears tumbling out of one of the trailers...

We survived the night though, and continued into week 15 unscathed...

More soon,
Claire, of Jen and Claire Fame

Week 13, Monday 26 April – 2 May 2010

Here we go again, still playing catch-up...

Monday we left Cheyne beach (I should note that I saw a bandicoot at the camp-site there the night before – at least I think it was a bandicoot. Jen can't tell you, because she didn't see it...!) and did a little tour of the local coastline. Two Peoples Bay National Park was very pretty, in particular Little Beach.



We stopped off at Nanarup and watched the surf near the inlet for a little bit before heading up to the Porongurup National Park for lunch. We did a little circular walk through the karri trees (huge eucalypts) and saw the Tree-in-the-Rock, then continued further north to the Stirling Range National Park to camp at Moingup Springs Campground. This area is lauded for its wildflowers in springtime – we were 5 months too early! Linda and Brendan in the Bushcamper turned up here this evening as well. It seems we can't escape each other! With that in mind, we exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up to do a little off-roading together through the D'Entrecasteaux National Park.

On Tuesday, spurred on by the talk from our Welsh host at the campground, as well as the grey nomad determination to climb whatever is put in front of them, we made a fairly weak attempt at climbing Bluff Knoll. It was pretty steep, and we got some lovely views even part way up, but the fact is, we're lazy and just not fit enough to climb a real hill! Great spot though. (Kathryn and Katie, you'd have loved this section, and been terribly disappointed in us!) We later met a very capable pair of grey nomads, who I'd guess were in their mid to late 60s, who told us they had completed the Bluff Knoll return climb – they noted that the books said it took 2-3 hours and boasted it took them 7.5 hours! Fantastic effort!



We continued on around the Stirling National Park by our preferred mode of transport (who needs to walk when you have a Priscilla?!) getting some nice views on route. Then we headed south again through Mount Barker to Albany. We camped the night at Albany after stocking up on food in the local shopping centre.

On Wednesday we did the tourist drive around Torndirrup National Park (just south of Albany). Note the number of National Parks in WA – each one has an entry fee of $11 – unless you buy a 12 month pass for $80 as we have!) Torrndirrup is very pretty. We stopped at a great snorkeling location near Mistaken Island, then carried on round to Jimmy Newhills Harbour, where the steep cliffs drop into a small natural harbour (named after a fisherman or convict who saved himself there, depending on which story you believe).



We used the bbqs at Frenchman's Bay for snag lunch (finally found a good sausage – WA seems to do English and Irish style pork sausages, first time we've found a decent sausage in Australia!!) finishing up with the beautiful Gap Bridge. The Blowholes here were also impressive.



We ventured on around the coast hoping to free camp at Cosy Corner, but discovered it was full. So we were forced to carry on into West Cape Howe National Park, where we found a fantastic camp at Shelley Beach – my favourite yet. And free. Our neighbours were largely locals fishing for salmon (they caught a few too). We were as close as you can get to the most Southerly point in Western Australia. Great spot.



Oh, and we also had para-gliders landing on the beach just in front of us!



The next morning we decided (well, I decided!) that Priscilla was missing a little 4wd action. She's particularly fond of sand, and West Cape Howe's track to Dunsky Beach has plenty of that, so we dropped the tire pressures and set off. The track is lined with conveyor belt in places to make it easier across soft sand patches, but a lot of this has been torn up by other drivers, so it was frequently more of an obstacle! Priscilla (of course) performed perfectly – we were a little concerned when,not long after we'd set off, we came across a guy in an old Toyota Hilux who took three attempts to get up a bit of a sandy climb. We needn't have worried, for Priscilla it was a breeze (you can pretty much hear her sighing, “Really. Is that the best you can throw at me?”)


After our little off-road excursion, we carried on round to William Bay National Park and Greens Pool, which people rave about, but the weather wasn't really putting it in its best light when we were there. We camped that night at Parry Beach, $7 a night so pretty cheap, and we had our first fire in ages ($5 for a barrow load from the caretaker of the site).

I should note that Jennie lost our small wooden brush (known affectionately as Brushy Brush) in West Cape Howe. While I was using the compressor to inflate the tires after our trip to Dunsky Beach, she decided to brush out the sand from Priscilla's crooks and crevices. It seems she then left Brushy Brush on one of the side steps. Brushy Brush of course did not make it as far as Parry Beach. Jen was worryingly distressed by this, but I suppose she's given to odd attachments to brushes.

We decided to stay on for a second night at Parry Beach, mainly because it was so cheap, but also because we could have another fire. And, I had a little surf – started very badly, but once I'd found a nice little left break, I was finally catching my first unbroken waves. Lots of fun. Linda and Brendan in the bushcamper arrived that evening as well, and joined us for dinner around the fire. It was less than successful for us though, as the rain started just when we put our food on the grill, so we had to finish it off on the stove under umbrellas! In the morning though, we were much more successful, and had a full mashings breakfast, cooked partly on the grill over the fire. Lovely.



On Saturday we drove around the Walpole wilderness area seeing lots of very tall karri trees (all very pretty). We then met up with Linda and Brendan at Shannon camp ground, from where we planned to set off for a little off-road trip together.



On Sunday we wound around the Shannon tourist drive around the forests with Linda and Brendan, then headed down to Windy Harbour and Salmon Beach. On route we tried rather unsuccessfully to find out more about the 4wd tracks in the D'Entrecasteaux National Park, which runs along the south-west corner of the south-west of WA. We visited the famous Pemberton trees, which have prongs hammered into them as a form of ladder, and used to be used as fire look-outs to spot bush-fires. I attempted to climb the Bicentennial tree, but found a sense of mortality has finally caught up with me, and only made it halfway!



We free-camped at Big Brook Arboretum that night with Linda and Brendan, planning on a little off-road trip to the D'Entrecasteaux National Park the next day.

Love to all, especially Big Al, get well soon Mr T.
Claire, of Jen and Claire Fame