Perth/ Fremantle

We had amazing weather for the first 51 days of our trip. Hot, sunny weather and we went weeks without seeing a single cloud. Then we hit Perth....and he heavens opened. The South West region of WA has had miserable wet & extremely windy weather for the last 7 days. When the weather guys are putting out warnings saying damaging and destructive winds are on their way and to move farm animals into barns, that means no staying in a camper trailer for us! So we got a cabin in a tourist park near Fremantle to wait out the storm and enjoy what Perth has to offer.

The luxury of a cabin to wait out the storm

Chris was working one day in the office and our car was also in being serviced which meant the girls & I had a day to explore Perth by public transport. We caught a bus to Fremantle and then a train to Perth City.

We then visited Scitech, a science and technology museum/centre for kids. It was FANTASTIC! The girls enjoyed it more than Questacon in Canberra and they really love that place too. I thought we would be there for an hour or two at most as it is not all that big, but it is very interactive and we stayed there all day. So much for a day to explore Perth, we only explored the inside of a kids museum! But the girls learnt a lot- they love science and they had something for all ages. The highlight was a who-dunnit mystery that you had to solve by being a spy and cracking codes. Definitely recommend it if your kids like discovering how things work. On our way home, we met Chris in Fremantle who had now finished work and picked up the car along with 4 new fancy 4WD tyres (that cost the same as the GDP of a small nation!) Fremantle is also fabulous. Lots of cool shops, cafes and restaurants and the town is absolutely buzzing with Fremantle in the AFL grand final. We were there over the weekend that 'Freo' played the Sydney Swans for a spot in the final. Everything was purple. Every shop had balloons and posters in the window.

Everywhere we looked- Go Freo signs. If I only I had bought the girls Swans gear with me!

 Every shop mannequin was dressed in team gear. The ponds in the parks were dyed purple. Even the beer in some of the pubs was purple (it sold out quickly apparently). So we knew we were in enemy territory as Sydney-siders and while I threatened the girls that I would yell out 'Go Sydney' in the main pedestrian area, the horrified look on Sophia's face was enough to let me know that was NOT a good idea ;) But Freo won and the city celebrated and it was fun to witness.

The other great thing Perth has is Kings Park. It's a huge parkland area right next to the city, similar to Sydney's Botanic Gardens but much bigger. It has lots of great areas for the kids. We visited the Naturespace playground which isn't a playground as such, but a natural area set out with log bridges, treehouses, streams and things for kids to jump over and under. 

They provide the basic structure and materials and then it was up to the kids to build the cubby- cool idea.

Fun on the 'rope tangle'

Then it was over to Synergy Park where we had a nice cafe lunch and a play in the park as the rain held off for a few hours. So glad we had the cabin as the wind was howling at night time.

All in all, a good time in Perth and somewhere I'd like to revisit with some more time. We always knew the last part of our trip would be rushed with not enough time for the South West corner,but its a good taster and we will be back to explore more in the future.

Shark Bay/ Monkey Mia

After leaving Cape Range, we stopped off in Exmouth to restock our food supplies and as it was my birthday, we had a lovely brunch at an organic cafe that was DELICIOUS. Good smoothies and great eggs benedict with smoked salmon on the side- my favourite brunch. The kids had a great play in the public water park too. The next couple of days were full of lots of driving. We knew we had limited time for this area as we want to spend more time in the Margaret River/ South West corner of WA so we drove and drove with a night in Carnarvon to break it up.

We were unsure about whether to make the trip to Shark Bay/ Monkey Mia. We had read mixed reviews about whether it was worth the 300km side trip. We have never been disappointed about making a detour in this trip so we went for it. Lots of people don't like the commercialisation of the dolphin interactions and say you can get the same thing down the road not in a resort, but we really enjoyed it and the girls learnt a lot about the dolphins and their environment and for us it was totally worth the 300km extra kilometres. We hadn't booked Monkey Mia resort and we called on the day to find it was booked out but Denham is only 27kms away so we stayed there and got up early to drive to Monkey Mia for the 7.45am briefing. They can feed the dolphins up to 3 times between 8am and 12pm. They only feed the female adults and they only feed them a tiny portion of their daily food requirements so they don't loose the ability to hunt for themselves. They don't feed the males as it can cause them to become aggressive and they don't feed the young so they learn to catch fish in the wild. For the last 12 years you are not allowed to touch the dolphins and as they are totally wild animals it can vary each day how many come in to feed. We had lots of dolphins in the bay diving and playing but 5 of the females come right in for a feed. Enjoy the pics!

 

 

 

baby dolphin (10 months old) trying to get milk from Mum but Mum not interested

 

Baby had enough!

 

A visitor on the beach

 

Pelicans, emus and dolphins!

 

 
 

 

On they way to and from Monkey Mia we stopped off at the Stromatolites (rock like structures grown from single cell bacteria). These ones are 'only' around 3000 years old but until about 500 million years ago, stromatolites were the only evidence of life on the planet.

 

We also stopped off at Shell Beach which is, you guessed it, made entirely of shells. It was a fun little detour to Shark Bay and Monkey Mia. Now it's time to make a move to Perth.

 

Coral Bay & Cape Range National Park, WA

Coral Bay is an unspoilt remote small tourist town on the Coral Coast of Western Australia. It reminds me of how some coastal towns on the NSW north coast were about 30 years ago- just a couple of shops and 2 caravan parks right on the beach. It’s really lovely and the best thing about it is that Ningaloo Reef is right off the beach so within 5-10 metres of the beach you are swimming amongst coral and beautiful colourful fish. We stayed at Bayview Coral Bay caravan park and after 4 nights of remote camping it was great to have hot water, flushing toilets, a swimming pool, playground and jumping pillow for the kids. Luxury! And we really needed to get some laundry done.

Wildflowers on the side of the road between Karijini and Coral Bay

The beautiful Coral Bay Beach

Sam paddling in the crystal clear water

After our mammoth 700km drive, we treated ourselves to pizza and chips for dinner after watching the sun go down on another day. We were only planning on a 2 night stay but we really loved it here so extended it to 3 nights. The bay is so sheltered and the water is an amazing colour. But nowhere is perfect and at night we discovered the only problem with Coral Bay- wind. Lots of wind. For the first time in over 6 weeks we had to dig the fleeces and warm clothes out because it does get cool at night. It’s been a while since we’ve felt cool. The camper trailer was blowing about, so also for the first time we had to put pegs and ropes to keep us from blowing away.

We went an a 2 hour glass bottom boat/ snorkelling trip that was a lot of fun. The boat doesn’t take you very far as you can see the edge of the reef from shore, a strong swimmer could probably swim to where to boat moored. However with the kids, it was the best option for us and they really enjoyed the glass bottom boat and seeing all the bright fish and coral. The coral isn’t colourful but it still is interesting and the fish make up for the lack of colour in the coral. Our skipper explained why the coral has little colour- the further away from the equator a coral reef is, the harder the algae on the coral has to work to photosynthesise . As Ningaloo is near the Tropic of Capricorn it is a temperate coral reef and the algae has to use all the colours on the spectrum to photosynthesise. When you mix all the colours together you get brown. So there you go- I learn something new every day!! Therefore the closer to the equator you go, the brighter the coral is likely to be.


The boat we went snorkelling from

 

From the glass bottom boat on our snorkelling trip

ignore the reflection of the people above!

 At 3pm every day they do fish feeding in the shallows at Coral Bay. They started doing it officially with proper fish food pellets as people were feeding them anyway with food that wasn't suitable so they turned it into a free attraction and use it to educate people about not feeding the fish other than at this set time. These fish are not shy!

They don't mind getting close to you at all

After a great 3 days at Coral Bay, we headed north to Cape Range National Park via Exmouth. It would have made sense to come here before Coral Bay but our desire  for showers and a laundry meant we had to back track a little bit. Cape Range is really popular for camping. There are lots of different camping spots in Cape Range. Some sites are first in first served but some sites you can book 48 hours in advance. We took this option and booked into Tulki campsite. Again it was really windy but it was also amazingly beautiful and remote. The best thing about this camp area is the other people who are staying there. As there is only 11 sites, it is like a small community. Some people come for up to a month at a time to fish, snorkel and relax. At 5pm everyday, all the ‘residents’ gather at a communal table  for happy hour to talk about their day and discuss where the fish were biting and where they recommend you stay at your next destination. All the best information can be gathered from your fellow travellers. We were the only ‘young ones’ there, the rest were retirees or close to retirees. They loved the girls and we had a great stay. However I was very jealous of their very fancy caravans when the wind started to blow at night!

The highlight of Cape Range for me was Turquoise Bay, where the water is (you guessed it) a brilliant turquoise colour and the coral is right off the beach. They have a bay area that is safe and flat and also a drift snorkel area where the current takes you along over the coral. Within a couple of metres of the shore are the most amazing fish and coral. I have been fortunate enough to do a bit of snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef and overseas. Those areas were better for colourful coral however it wasn’t easily accessible and you had to do a tour to reach the good spots. Ningaloo is still great snorkelling and the best thing is it is right off the beach and easy to reach for everyone.

Turquoise Bay

Bit crowded!

You can see the waves breaking on the reef in the background.

Karijini National Park- Pilbura, WA

From Broome, we hit the road south in what will be a long journey down the WA coast. We had a night at one of the rest stops (De Grey River) before heading inland to Karijini National Park. This was one place Chris had been looking forward to as parts of the park are 2-3 billion years old. It is an ancient place and the rock formations and gorges are great. It’s a big park so even on our ‘rest days’ we were driving a couple of hundred kilometres. Lucky the girls are coping well with the car travel. We stayed at Dales Campground, run by National Parks. It’s very quiet at the moment but I’ve heard it is absolultely packed in June/July. We visited Hammersly Gorge and had a nice swim. Finally we are out of croc country! The water was cool and refreshing and safe. It was so nice to not have to worry about crocs and tell the kids they could jump on in.


2.5 billion year old rocks

The beautiful Hammersly Gorge

Croc Free Swimming!

Caitlin excited to be here

Sami getting very good at her rock hopping

The walks in Karijini can be challenging- most are grade 4 or 5’s which usually means clambering over rocks, wading through water and sometimes going for a short swim to get to the other side. The dry bag came out for Chris’s camera a few times here! The following  day Chris, Sophia & Sam walked into Weano Gorge while Caitlin & I walked a short way in before finding a nice spot by the waterhole to wait for our walkers. Chris said the girls were great hikers and climbers, scrambling over 2.5 billion year old rocks that were twisted and sculpted over the many years before they arrived at Handrail Pool.

 

Sophia & Sam taking on the gorge

 

Next walk was Hancock Gorge. Chris and Samantha checked out that one. They were rewarded with a lovely swim at the end at Kermits Pool. The rangers we saw on the way out were impressed that Sam could manage the walk. They went as far as they could go before it became a grade 6 walk which involves ropes, a licensed guide etc. The photos are beautfiful. We really enjoyed our 3 day stay here. It’s never quite enough time to see everything so we will be back to this part of the world again to take another look. After leaving Karijini we stopped off at Tom Price, a mining town on the west side of the park. We knew this was our best chance of stocking up on supplies and filling up the water tank before heading to the coast again. After our longest day driving yet (700kms) we made it from Karijini to Coral Bay. More on that in the next post.

Sisters helping each other

Caitlin & I waiting patiently for our walkers

Sam having a swim during the Hancock Gorge walk

 

Broome

Beautiful Broome! We had briefly stopped into Broome before heading to Cape Leveque so we had an idea of the lay of the land. It is a lovely town. Basically in 2 halves about 10 minutes drive apart- the Town Centre and Cable Beach. We decided to stay at Cable Beach Caravan Park only a  few minutes walk from the beach and next door to the popular Cable Beach Resort & Spa. It was a great caravan park and lovely to be back in civilisation after a week or so of being out in the sticks. The caravan park was not busy at all but still absolutely FULL of children. The pool was lovely and huge and the people were friendly. The kids had fun chilling out and doing not much at all, hanging around the pool and small play area. A lot of around Australia travellers seem to live here during the busy winter season, presumably because there is work and the weather is great, so a lot of families had been at the park for months and it was interesting to see all the kids in the local school uniform head off to school in the morning.

Cable Beach Sunset



We ran into some friends we met at Cape Leveque on the beach. Thanks Dean & Kay for taking our photo!

 

I just love these three cherubs

sister love

My big girls

We didn’t really have a touristy time in Broome. Chris worked one day so I took the kids to Town Beach which has a water park/playground, we shopped and stocked up on groceries, I had a lovely hour or so mooching around the shops in the Town Centre by myself (lots of pearl shops and beachwear). We visited Cable Beach a few times, both during the day for a swim and in the evening  for the spectacular West Coast sunset. We ate a lovely brunch at a restaurant on the beach and during sunset, we watched the Camels parade past everyone as the sun went down. We also visited the Courthouse markets on the weekend which were fun.  I would have liked to have gone to the Sun Cinemas which are the oldest operating outdoor cinema (in the World or Australia? Can’t remember) but they didn’t have anything showing that was suitable for the kids. The only downer was a trip to the hospital emergency department at 2am with Caitlin’s asthma but she perked up as soon as we got there- back under control now we hope.  It was a great few days and somewhere I’d love to come back too. Chris and I were talking about how Broome feels similar to Park City, Utah where we met all those years ago. Meaning  it’s a small town that is easy to get around but because it is set up for tourists it has more than you would expect of a town that size, ie cinemas, shops, restaurants etc. That is where the similarity ends though as there is certainly no snow in Broome and no beach in Park City! I think Broome would be a great place to fly back too and stay somewhere fancy and have a really laid back relaxing time. One day…..

Mary's Pool to Cape Leveque

After leaving the Bungles, we knew we had some driving days ahead. There is a lot to see between the Bungles and the West Coast, but nowhere we wanted to stay more than one day so we've had a lot of one night stops which means lots of driving and lots of set up/ pack up time. But the kids are great on the driving days- they probably prefer sitting in the cool air-conditioned car all day than trekking around the countryside walking in 36 degree heat.

We have stayed at a couple of free roadside camps set up by WA Main Roads Department in the last week and they have been excellent. Nothing fancy, just a drop toilet and a nice safe place to stay to prevent people driving when they are fatigued. A lot of people, especially the grey nomads, prefer staying at these road stops rather than commercial caravan parks because it saves a fortune when you are travelling indefinitely. They are also very social places with everyone saying hello to everyone. I couldn't do it very often as I enjoy a good shower & swim, but every so often they are fine and very well maintained. We stayed at Mary's Pool Rest Area, past Halls Creek and also Nillibubbica Rest Area about 100km east of Broome. Every night a little community develops but I always look forward to checking back in to a campground with showers and preferably a pool, cafe and bar! I really don't ask for much. I can rough it with the best of them if necessary but also like a few creature comforts.

Talking of places to stay, I think the best value places are places with a wide range of accommodation options- not just camp sites. We stay in unpowered campsites, the cheapest of all options, but when we stay at places that also have cabins, villas, safari tents etc you tend to also get the resort style pools, the tennis courts (at Fitzroy Creek Lodge), the bar & restaurant- and still you are only paying $35-40/ night for 5 people. Good value in my book!

So for the last few days we have visited some awesome places, some expectedly! After leaving Fitzroy Crossing we were heading to Broome, around 4 hours drive away. We had heard good things about Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge but decided to skip them and head to the coast. Tunnel Creek sounded awesome, but we were a bit freaked out by some of the reports we had read online- a dark tunnel underground, with bats & fresh water crocs and water crossings up to waist deep. Didn't sound promising with 3 young kids. As we passed the turn off we decided we would turn back and drive to it, assess what it was like and decide whether to go in. We need not have worried- it was one of the highlights so far. There were plenty of families doing the short walk and even extended family groups coming into the tunnel for a picnic with their bags of food and esky's as it's so cool underground.  I'm sure after wet season the water gets deeper but it was only ever up to our knees and in 95% of the tunnel you could walk on the sand or rocks. It was only 750 metres long so easy for the kids. Great morning- saw 3 small freshwater crocs but they stayed out of the way of everyone ;) There is also an interesting story about Jandamarra, an Aboriginal man who hid in the tunnel for 3 years while fighting a guerrilla war against the Europeans in the 1890's.

Tunnel Creek National Park, NT

It's a very cool place (literally cool given it's underground!)

Then it was further along to Windjana Gorge, just off the Gibb River Road. We didn't walk the whole way in as it was late in the day and very hot, but we did get far enough to see that the gorge river was obviously not as full & flowing as in wet season and so all the crocs (freshies) were condensed into much smaller area. At one point, Sam counted over 100 of them- they were everywhere! We had a safe vantage point and enjoyed watching them rest in the river and on the river banks.

Crocs everywhere

Due to the detour, we didn't make it to Broome that day, but the next morning we popped into Broome and picked up supplies as well as visiting the Courthouse Markets before heading north to Cape Leveque on the tip of the Dampier Peninsula. It's a three hour drive from Broome on a corrugated dirt road- no caravans allowed. It is remote and beautiful, a brilliant example of the Western Australian coastline where the red rock meets the white sand and azure blue water.  We stayed at Kooljaman Camp for three lovely nights. Our camp site was overlooking Western Beach. Cape Leveque has two sides as it's at the top of the peninsula. The western beach has rough water and awesome sunsets and whale watching. The eastern side is protected by a bay and is good for swimming and driving on the beach and fishing. It is only a few minutes walk between both sides with all the camp sites in the middle.



Cape Leveque is very special place- and not too many people around as you can see!

Our first Aussie West Coast sunset. Never get sick of seeing this every day!

We spent the days swimming, fishing, chatting to our fellow campers and relaxing at their cafe (tip for visitors- no alcohol sold anywhere on the peninsula so BYO beer & wine) On the last day Chris, Sophia & Sam went on a fishing charter for a few hours. They had a great morning out on the water while Caitlin & I stayed around camp. They were very fortunate to not only catch some great fish but also do a bit of up close & personal whale watching as well. What an opportunity! The first thing they said to me on their return was they got covered in whale snot- meaning they got sprayed by the whale's blowhole. They were close to three adults and a baby calf who swam next to and even under their boat. Chris got some spectacular photos. I will leave you with a few of them. Next post- Broome! 

Sophia's catch. Delicious eating fish

Sami's massive catch- fresh as you can get. Yummy dinner.

good day out

Proud Sami with her fish