Mon, 6th to Tues, 7th June - Exmouth

On Monday morning we said our goodbyes and drove the rough road back to the highway to head to Exmouth.  It took us 1/2 and hour to drive the short 10 kilometres and it felt so good when we hit the smooth, black stuff.  The closer we got to Exmouth the darker the skies became.  It had obviously been raining heavily in the town before our arrival as many of the streets had water over them, and a lot of the floodways were exactly that ... floodways. We checked into the Lighthouse Caravan Park (about 17kms out of town) just as the rain started.  We were advised that we wouldn't be able to drink the water connected to the sites as it was from the nearby sand dunes and very salty ... only OK to shower and wash up in.  By dinner time the rain had eased enough for us to walk to the park cafe for dinner, and there we heard that during the afternoon we had received 123mm or nearly 5 inches of rain!  We had power here but no mobile phone or internet.  Once again, we had to drive up a hill to the lighthouse behind the park to make calls and get our emails.

Tuesday was sunny after all the rain, so we managed to hang out two loads of washing and get them dry.  In the afternoon we drove into Exmouth and had a look around at the Marina area where there is a huge housing development going ahead.  Exmouth is very much a Naval/Air Force town and there were Australian Federal Police doing the rounds everywhere.  We also drove north of Exmouth to have a look at the wreck of the cattleship SS Mildura which ran aground in 1907.

Catching some of the precious 5 inches of rain in Steve and Rick's invention

Flooding directly behind our site

SS Mildura Shipwreck

The view down to our caravan park from the Lighthouse Lookout

Mon, 30th May to Sun, 5th June - Warroora Station

At around 3am the rain started ... and it poured down.  I had to get up and close up the four seasons hatch and wipe down the table and seating area as it was drenched.  We had several heavy falls through the night and woke to a very overcast morning.  We hadn't done much the previous day in the way of setting up, so it was easy to pack up and head out.  We called in to the Blowholes on the way out ... only a couple of kilometres away. It is a dangerous spot and there is a memorial there for those who have drowned there.  There is already one name listed with a blank line left for the next poor soul.

We then headed to Warroora Station which is a working sheep station (14 Mile Beach) about 25kms south of Coral Bay, and adjacent to the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park.  Here it cost $15 per night or $75 per week for a site with no facilities and you must have your own toilet or they won't let you camp.  We had rain all the way there and at times there was a lot of water over the road. We were starting to think we might have to continue into a van park in Coral Bay as we knew that it would be a dirt track into Warroora, which would be boggy.  But the further north we went, the more obvious it was that the rain had been much lighter, so were were going to give the track a go.  We had been told there were two turnoffs into Warroora and that we should take the northern turn as that track wouldn't be as sandy.  We took that turnoff and ended up on one of the roughest and rocky dirt roads we have been on all trip and it seemed to go on forever.  At least it was dry though, and we eventually made it into the beach area where we found ourselves a reasonable spot overlooking the ocean.  On the way in we passed hundreds of termite mounds.

When it came to pay for our site we decided to pay for a week ... you actually pay $75 for five nights and get two free.  It was windy (again!) so we had to turn the van away from the water to get some shelter.

Even with our external aerial, the only place to get internet and mobile phone is on top of a nearby hill (Telstra Hill).  We drove up there to get our emails and as we looked down we could see Steve and Linda (from Bush Beach) heading in to camp.  When we caught up with them a bit later they told us it was lucky we had left Bush Beach when we did as the following morning, where we were camped, we would have been in six inches of sea water.  They also said that when they left they were in low range four wheel drive with the diff locked to enable them to drive out over the muddy road and they were still sliding all over the place.  So, by the time they had done that and then come over the really rough road into Warroora, Linda had just about had enough!

Tuesday we rose late to a sunny but still windy day.  'The Wrecker' decided to give some of the drainpipes a good clean with a bottlebrush attached to the end of his broken fishing rod.  All went well until he decided they weren't quite clean enough and he wanted to give it another go.  You can probably guess ... the rod came out of the pipe and the brush stayed behind.  This is not the type of place where you can get a plumber to make a house-call!  Not to be too concerned, he went for a drive around the paddocks and found some old fencing wire that he made into a hook and used to retrieve the offending piece of plastic!  The day before we had been invited by Steve and Linda to join them for morning coffee so we had an enjoyable morning with them at their van.

We returned and had some lunch and then Rick set up the awning, flooring, etc. while I cleaned inside.  Once the chores were done we headed down to the beach for Rick to have a swim.  A short distance from Rick, I spotted a large turtle just drifting in and out with the waves and later Rick spotted a large Ray gliding on the surface.

On Wednesday we decided to drive the 25kms into Coral Bay to do some washing and have a look around.  Steve and Linda's sausage dog had been bitten by something - probably midges and had come up in a rash and kept them awake all night.  They had organised to meet a vet from Exmouth out on the highway sometime during the day so they asked us to get their gas bottle filled in Coral Bay for them.

There wasn't much in Coral Bay ... two caravan parks, a couple of shops, backpackers accommodation and a resort.  We were able to do our washing in one of the van parks for $5 per load in de-salinated water or we could have used bore water at $3 per load ... that's if the bore water machines weren't all being used - no such luck!  We also bought water there for 10 cents per litre.  We were going to stock up on some food at the supermarket but it was far too expensive ... we'll wait until we get to Exmouth which has a population of approximately 2400. We paid $1.78 per litre for diesel.  We went into the resort to have some fish and chips for lunch.  Just as we were about to walk outside to sit down with our food, 'The Wrecker' dropped the glass salt shaker and smashed it on the cafe floor ... he probably should have thrown some over his shoulder.

Thursday was sunny again after showers of rain and strong winds during the night.  Steve had shown us his set up for catching clean rainwater off the awning of his van and Rick asked for his help in setting one up for ourselves.  Each National Park camping area has hosts who camp on site to collect fees and make sure people are behaving themselves.  We heard during the day that our host's (Tracy) husband who works on Warroora Station itself, had been flown to Port Hedland as he had been bitten by a brown snake.  We checked later and found that he was quite OK and would be home in a couple of days.

Rain was expected again on Friday night so Steve and Rick rigged up a water catcher for us.  Steve and Linda invited two other couples besides ourselves, to take food and join them in a BBQ in the evening.  One of the other couples cooked some calamari that they had caught off the rocks here - very nice.

The rainwater catching system didn't work quite as planned on last night, but with a couple of minor modifications on Saturday, would work a treat ... we just needed some more rain.   We took a drive further down the coast to another spot that our host had originally suggested we might like to camp.  No way ... the van wouldn't have coped with the even rougher tracks and a lot of it was four-wheel drive only.  Later in the day we went on-line to try to book into a couple of other National Parks near to Exmouth for next week.  Of the 7 or so areas, only four can accept bookings on line and those four were booked out until the end of June.  The others are also so popular we had been warned we would need to line up very early in the morning to see if we could get into them (or even camp overnight at the entrances).  We ended up booking into a park for two nights in Exmouth first and we would make some day trips to see what the National Park sites are like.

In the afternoon storms started brewing all around us.  It became really windy, so at around 8pm Rick put away the awning as it sounded as if it would be torn off.  At least with it folded away, the noise doesn't keep you awake all night.  The wind eventually settled at around 10pm.

On Sunday we just had a quiet day tidying up a bit and starting to pack things away. In the morning a stranger driving past stopped and offered us a small reef shark, but Rick declined.  The fellow said that the best thing to do with them is to fillet them and put them in the freezer for a couple of weeks before eating.  With its head removed it was probably about 80cm long. In the afternoon Rick went down to Steve and Linda's to watch the football ... they have a satellite dish for TV reception.  We haven't had TV for ages and I find I really miss seeing the news at night.

Blowholes

One of the many huge termite mounds in the area

Our campsite at Warroora Station (14 Mile Beach)

Looking down to our campsite from Telstra Hill

The beach in front of our campsite

Sunset from our site

Overlooking the beach at Coral Bay

Sat, 28th to Sun, 29th May - Quobba Point

Rick drove into Carnarvon in the morning and organised a modification to the lead for the external aerial, while I caught up with some cleaning and writing the blog.  On his return and with assistance from fellow campers, Steve and Kerry, the aerial was mounted on the car and a bracket mounted on the side of the van.  The aerial boosts the signal for mobile phone and internet, some of the time ... it is still a bit intermittent.

Steve and Linda came over for drinks ... Steve told us there was some bad weather on the way, possibly arriving on Monday.  We made the decision to head off in the morning (Sunday) as we were well aware that even with the smallest amount of rain the road into Bush Beach would be impassable.  We didn't want to be stuck there for another week!

On Sunday morning we packed up the van and said our goodbyes to the people we came to know around us.  We suggested to Jeff and Sue who were parked not far from us, that they might be wise to move also.  They have a smaller van than us but were towing with a falcon wagon so they would have big problems getting out if it rained.  They agreed and started packing up also.

We drove into Carnarvon and stocked up with fuel, water and groceries.  We then drove around 55kms to Quobba Point and the Blowholes.  Quobba is a large beach area with limited facilities that cost $5.50 per night per site.  We were amazed to see the assortment of shacks and lean-tos that were set up in among the sand dunes.

We found ourselves a reasonable spot to settle for the night and walked down to the beach so Rick could have a swim.  The water was lovely though a bit rough with a steep drop-off into deeper water.  From the beach I suddenly spotted some small fish skimming across the top of the waves as if something was chasing them.  I then spotted something bigger surfacing not too much further out than where Rick was so I signalled him to come back in to shore.  We were baffled for a short time to know what we were seeing until we realised it was a Dugong.  Dugong only eat seagrasses, so Rick would have been quite safe.

We walked further down the beach till we came across a fellow fishing.  It turned out he regularly stays at Quobba for about six months at a time and he was fishing for shark ... as were several other people further up the beach.  He advised us it wasn't a real good idea to swim where Rick was, as the area was known for Reef Shark and he had seen a six footer cruise past a short time earlier.  We have since heard that Reef Shark are not a problem to humans, but we've decided that any shark is a worry (who do you believe)?

Part of the road back out to the main highway

Some of the shacks and lean-tos at Quobba

Tues, 24th to Fri, 27th May - Bush Beach

We drove out of Denham, having purchased a few food supplies first.  We called into Shell Beach which is located on the road back towards the highway.  This is an amazing white beach made purely of tiny sea shells (Fragum cockles).  The shells extend 120km along the coastline and are thought to be up to 4,000 years old.  Compacted shell was once quarried for building blocks.

Leaving Shell Beach we then called into the Hamelin Pool and the Shell block Quarry. Hamelin Pool is one of only two places in the world with living examples of stromatolites.  The dome-shaped structures are formed by tiny, single-celled organisms called cyanobacteria that can tolerate the highly saline waters of Hamelin Pool. Some of the structures are about 2,000 years old and if damaged or disturbed can take many hundreds of years to recover, if they recover at all.

We were finally back onto the highway and a new stretch of road to us.  We stopped at a free campsite that was situated on top of a plateau in the middle of nowhere and had our lunch.  Much further down the highway and after about 9kms of dirt, we called into two free camps, one called New Beach and the other Bush Beach.  We decided that Bush Beach was the better spot and set up camp. We had to be very careful where we set up as it would be easy to wake up and find ourselves in sea water with the king tides that arrive here.  We were advised by other long-term and local campers that there weren't any king tides expected during the next short period.  The water is very shallow for a long distance but sand whiting frequent the area and I managed to catch three during the afternoon. The sunsets here can be spectacular. A fellow camper was taking photos of the sunset in the afternoon.  He makes and sells calendars and had just finished a photography camp with a well-known photographer (Ken Duncan I think he said) and was on his way home.  He took a photo of me fishing with the sunset in the background and was kind enough to email it to me.

On Wednesday we rose late and after brekky we re-rigged our rods properly for whiting fishing.  Rick had yesterdays catch of whiting for breakfast.  After brekky I caught two fish and Rick caught one.  Later a cool breeze came in so we went for a long walk on the beach.  We were closing up things for the night when 'The Wrecker' shut the tailgate of the vehicle and snapped his nicely re-rigged rod in half.  Fortunately, we have two rods each.

The next morning we slept in again and then drove in to have a look at Carnarvon.  There was not a whole lot to look at but we decided to walk the one-mile jetty ($4.50 for the privilege).  A good part of the jetty is over land first and then it heads out over very shallow water for a long way.  It is in very poor condition, with holes in it almost big enough for a child to fall through.  Some of the planks were only fixed on one end and were almost rotted through.  We discovered that you can't walk right to the end as it has had a fire on it and so it was closed off.  Just in front of the closed off area was a local guy fishing ... dropping his line down between the planks.  He had three nice sized fish and he assured us he could pull them up through the gaps.  He liked to fish like this as the fish tend to hide below the jetty in the shadows, and next to the pilons.  He said that once he caught a huge Mulloway and just had to cut the line as it was way too big to get through the gap.  He referred to Mulloway as 'rubbish' fish as there are so many of them.  We left him and his little dog to his fishing and walked back.  On the walk back, yours truly managed to trip on one of the many rough planks and fall face down.  Luckily I only received some bad bruising on my knee and several nasty splinters.

Friday was a lovely day and after a short time of unsuccessful fishing we headed in Carnarvon again, clicking over 12,000kms in the process.  We went in to purchase a huge external aerial, brackets, leads, etc. which will allow us to receive a stronger mobile and internet connection.  We haven't had either since arriving at Bush Beach and have had the same problem at a lot of other places.  We were able to purchase most of the components with the exception of a cable for Rick's Samsung phone.  We tested all the connections when we got home and it has boosted our signals, so hopefully I'll get some updates done on the blog.  The 'midgies' were around today ... they cause sores like sandflies but we've been told they are different to sandflies.  The flies here are horrendous too, so while we were in town we bought ourselves nets to fit onto our hats  ... not very attractive, but effective!

On Saturday morning, after looking at the external aerial to see how best to install it, Rick decided that it would need a slight modification, so he headed back into Carnarvon.

Close up of the millions of shells on shell beach

Rick trying to count the shells

How the shells were quarried

Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool

Fishing in the late afternoon

Our campsite at Bush Beach

The fellow fishing in between the planks of the jetty

A couple of sunsets seen from our campsite

Sun, 22nd to Mon, 23rd May - Denham

When we woke it was a cool 8 degrees in the van ... not exactly the warmer temperatures we were expecting up here. Still, it was a sunny day and we were still heading north, so we were hoping it would get better.

We were heading in the general direction of Denham which is in Shark Bay.  There are several bush camps listed on the way, but on inspection we discovered they were no good for us.  They were small and really just very exposed dirt car parks next to shallow, weedy ocean.  Apparently you need to telephone the visitors' centre in Denham to obtain a permit to camp at the sites ... not sure just how you were meant to do that as there was no phone reception.   The whole area is quite under-whelming ... not the beautiful beaches and coastline we expected.  Away from the coast there is nothing ... and I mean 'nothing'!  Red dirt and small bushes as far as the eye can see.

We decided to check into a waterfront caravan park in Denham.  The park was extremely busy and the wind was blowing ... how unusual!  We read all the signs saying that water is precious and that you are not to fill your water tanks in the park.  Another sign was a letter from Council advising the park that their de-salinated and bore water usage bill for the previous year was $41,000 which equates to around $391 per day.  As you leave Geraldton you are advised along the highway to take water with you as there are limited amounts available further north.

Anyway, we booked and settled in for two nights, and Rick spent some time watching the end of the car races.  Later in the day we explored Denham a bit more and drove to a couple of scenic spots, one called Eagle Bluff.  The waters in Shark Bay are very shallow and we were hoping to see some sharks or rays from on top of the hill, but the wind was blowing too hard and causing too many ripples on the water.  The waters in this area are known for large numbers of the 'Nervous Shark', hence the name Shark Bay.

We were feeling a bit lazy and it was too windy to cook outside that evening, so we spent a bit of time driving around looking for takeaway.  The pizza place was closed due to staff illness so we went into a bistro that was doing takeaway only that night ... not much else in Denham.  I wish we'd had toast and vegemite ... it was the worst fish and chips I have had for years.

The next morning we were up early again to get some washing in the machines before they were all taken.  Once that was on the line (in the wind) we drove the 28kms north to Monkey Mia.  Here you are able to stand knee-deep in the water just metres from the dolphins who come in close to shore the mornings.  They generally arrive 3 times a day for food somewhere between 7:30am and 12noon.  We had arrived at around 11am and there were quite a few people just waiting around.  We decided to have an early lunch at the resort restaurant and sure enough ... just as the food was about to arrive, so did the dolphins.  We raced down to take a couple of photos and then had our lunch.  The dolphins stayed around for about an hour so we were able to go back down to the water after lunch and have a closer look at them being fed a few fish.  They are only given one third of their daily requirement of fish and are never fed after noon.

We left Monkey Mia (again a bit under-whelmed) and drove a few kilometres south of Denham to Ocean Park Aquarium.  We were a bit skeptical about going in as it didn't look like much from the outside, but for once we were pleasantly surprised.  We were in a small tour group led by a very knowledgeable and pleasant young guy.  Indoors there were a number of smallish tanks about a metre high that you looked down into and they contained all manner of different ocean creatures, such as squid, eels, rays, turtles and a variety of fish.  There was another very shallow (about 2ft deep) but much bigger tank that contained lots of different fish, rays and Lemon and Nervous Sharks.  Outside there were two much bigger ponds (about the size of small dams), one of which contained huge Mulloway, Snapper and various other largish fish and the other contained the huge cod and sharks.  We were able to go out on a walkway over the shark tank and watch as the tour guide fed the sharks and fish.  We had a really nice coffee at the restaurant overlooking the ocean before heading back into Denham, where we found the wind had finally died down a bit.

Red dirt and bushes as far as the eye can see

Eagle Bluff walkway

Feeding the dolphins at Monkey Mia

Small Lemon Shark and Rays

Feeding the larger sharks and cod

Sat, 21st May - Galena Bridge

The only area we hadn't visited in Kalbarri was the national park, and due to all the rain we decided against it, as the dirt roads can be slippery and the red mud sticks to everything.  We drove about 70kms instead, to a free camp called Galena Bridge which is on the Murchison River, but back far enough from the main highway to be fairly quiet.  Another pretty spot, but it was cold and the wind was bitter, even though it was sunny.

There was a lot of room for campers but by the end of the day it had filled rapidly.  It was quite boggy on the river's edge and there were signs everywhere that this area had been under water not long ago.  There was even an abandoned sign on the ground near the toilets saying they were closed due to flood damage.

The Galena Bridge over the Murchison River

Our campsite beside the Murchison River

Fri, 20th May - Kalbarri

Wet and windy again!  We drove north of Geraldton to Coronation Beach.  This is another campsite out of the Camps 5 book, meaning it should be free or relatively inexpensive.  The layout of the sites is impressive, but it is very wet and boggy and now costs $15 per night for an unpowered site.  The wind was also howling and the beach was covered with smelly seaweed.  We decided to give this place a miss and drive on to Port Gregory.

A visit to Port Gregory had been recommended to us earlier and it probably would have been OK if the weather had been a bit better.  It didn't impress us however, so we drove on through heavy rain to another spot called Wagoe Chalets.  A couple of times the rain was so heavy that we pulled over to the side of the road till it passed.  The drive into the chalets was rough and muddy and we found out that it would cost $22 per night for a powered site on top of a cliff in the mud and wind.  The facilities were very basic (even by the owner's admission).  Once again, we decided to head further on to Kalbarri and book into a caravan park at least for one night.  We had a lovely grassy site that overlooked the Murchison River where it runs into the sea.  Once settled, we drove around the spectacular cliffs that Kalbarri is famous for.  Several of the lookout spots were connected by a modwood walkway right along the cliff edge. The rain held off but the wind blew and blew!

When we returned to the park we recognised the young woman we had spoken to at Ellendale Pool (who was travelling alone), as she set up camp on a site nearby.  Apparently, she had also driven into Coronation Beach and Wagoe Chalets, and decided to continue to Kalbarri.

Spectacular Cliffs

Modwood walkway connecting the different lookout points

A view of Geraldton in the distance

Tues, 17th to Thurs, 19th May - Geraldton

The rain bucketed down for most of the night.  Some of the downpours were so heavy I wondered at the time if the young woman had decided to sleep in her car instead of the tent, but she said she stayed dry.  As has happened so often previously, the next morning turned out lovely and sunny.  We realised that one of the vans near us had moved to higher ground during the night ... where they were parked originally was now a deep puddle.  When we saw them later, they said they shifted at around 11pm.

We left Ellendale Pool and headed into Geraldton, back on the coast and booked into a van park for two nights. We caught up with some washing and shopping again, and Rick had a much-needed haircut as he was starting to look a bit wild and woolly.  It was nice to have decent telly reception, mobile phone and internet once again.

On Wednesday, we drove around the marina and wharf area and visited the old Geraldton Gaol.  The gaol was really disappointing as each cell had been rented to someone selling some type of handicraft, although none of these shops were even open during the time we were there. We didn't stay there long, but then went to the HMAS Sydney memorial which we both agreed was one of the nicest memorials we have been to.  The memorial honours 645 Australian sailors who were lost during a World War II battle in 1941 with the ship Kormoran, 207kms off the western-most coast of WA.  The canopy over the memorial consists of 645 stainless steel sea birds representing the sailors who perished. 


We had a nice lunch on the waterfront watching the tugs manouvreing ships in and out of the busy port area.  After lunch we went into the Geraldton Museum and were very impressed with the displays.  Later in the afternoon Rick had to take our Navara in to have the wheels aligned again, so he dropped me at the shops for a couple of hours.

Rick woke early on Thursday and headed into town to a car wash and then on to pick up some items at Bunnings.  On his return we drove to a lookout at Separation Point which gave us a general overview of Geraldton. 

Later in the day we travelled about 24kms south to Greenough Historical Village.  This is a small village that has been restored to the way it would have been in the 1800s.  Just as we were about to walk the village, a busload of 5 year olds arrived for a school excursion.  We decided against walking through the village and drove back a couple of kilometres to the Greenough museum.  We can't take a trick ... there was another busload of little tackers there as well!  Fortunately, they were just leaving so we had a pleasant wander through the very interesting museum.

Greenough is noted for its 'leaning trees'.  These are River Gums that are subjected to constant southerly winds, causing them to grow almost horizontal to the ground. They can be seen in the paddocks along both sides of the road in the area.  'The Wrecker' told me the car was booked into the tyre place at 2pm again today.  Apparently, while in the Bunnings car park earlier in the morning he didn't see the low concrete ring that should have been surrounding a tree (no tree in it), and he drove into it.  He was worried it may have bent the steering slightly and should be looked at.  It turned out that it wasn't too bad, and was easily fixed.

One of the leaning River Gums

A representation of the bow of the HMAS Sydney

A canopy of 645 stainless steel sea birds over the memorial

Another 'leaning' River Gum

Mon, 16th May - Ellendale Pool

We leave Sany Cape and headed to Dongara/Port Denison.  Another pretty spot where we bought ourselves a seafood pie and parked near the water to have lunch, and to connect to the internet to get our mail.

We then continued on to an inexpensive ($5 per night) camp spot called Ellendale Pool and it poured with rain the whole way.  Ellendale Pool is inland from Geraldton and is a pretty spot on the Greenough River, with free gas BBQs, toilets, TV reception, water and rubbish bins.  There were beautiful cliffs on the far side of the river and you could see where flood waters had been through not too long before. 

The rain stopped for a short time allowing us to get set up but poured again a couple of times during the afternoon.  By about 4pm the sun came out for a while so we went for a short walk.  Our thongs were coated with about 3" of red mud!  There was a young woman camped near to us who was travelling all by herself with a canoe and a small tent ... very brave!  When the sun came out she went for a paddle on the river for a short time.  We didn't realise it then, but we would catch up with her again in Kalbarri.

Wind farm on the road to Ellendale Pool

Late afternoon light on the cliffs at Ellendale Pool

Our campsite opposite the cliffs of Ellendale Pool

Wed, 11th to Sun, 15th May - Sandy Cape

Another lovely day and we arrived at Sandy Cape at 10am.  We paid our fee of $30.00 for two nights to the camp caretaker, who advised she would be leaving for Perth later in the day.  After setting up, we walked around the magnificent sand dunes to a lookout where we could see for miles.  The area was laid out well, with some privacy between the individual sites.  There were dump toilets and some water, though not fit for drinking.

The next morning we headed back into Jurien Bay to do some shopping and then went back out onto the jetty to do some more fishing.  We took the opportunity to connect to the internet while in town, as where we were camped we could only make phone calls and connect to the internet if we walked to the top of the small sand dunes.  Rick caught 4 fish large enough to keep ... two Tommy Roughs (or Herring as they call them in WA), one Trevally (or Skippy) and one Butterfish. The rest weren't worth mentioning except to say they were a lot of fun!  Later in the day we invited a fellow camper, Allan to join us for drinks.

Friday was not quite so warm and we end up being inundated with a goup of four vans parked right next to us.  Rick laid down the law and told them they were welcome provided they didn't have generators running all night and have noisy parties. There were a couple of other vans in the area that ran generators all day and most of the night ... not very considerate of others.

We walked a long way down to the end of the beach and found it was more sheltered and warmer there, so Rick ventured into the water for a swim.  When we returned, Allan invited us to join him for a roast pork dinner that he was cooking in a 'Cobb' (small, metal, domed oven with a fire brick in the base) that evening.  The dinner was lovely but after having quite a few drinks Allan started to preach to us, so we said goodnight.  We had invited him to join us for coffee the next morning, but he left very early.

Saturday was cool again and threatening to rain so we drove north about 20kms to a place called Green Head to have a look around. On the way we saw 2 feral cats and some emus on the side of the highway.  We then drove to the Lesuer National Park.  We had to pay $5 to enter the National Park ... you pay via an honesty system.  You take an envelope, fill in your details and enclose your money and then drop it into a box.  I grabbed an envelope and got the shock of my life when I turned it over, as there was a small lizard hanging on the other side.  Needless to say, the envelope went in one direction and the lizard in another!  Rick then had the good idea of getting rid of some of our small change.  I filled in the envelope and we put the coins in only to find that the slot for depositing the envelopes is only big enough to take notes ... good idea Rick!  Anyway, we enjoyed the drive through the park as there were a lot of lovely banksias, grevilleas and a white kangaroo paw, but there had obviously been a fire through there not long before.  On the way out of the park we came across a dead wallaby carcass in the middle of the road that was being eaten by two huge eagles.

On Sunday we had a late brekky of omelette and toast.  We did a bit of cleaning and tidying and our neighbours who were leaving, gave us their water (40 litres).  True to their word, they hadn't run generators and were considerate with their noise.  I decided to cook 1/2 a packet of scones with cheese for lunch.  They weren't bad even though I had used the quantity of milk that was required to make up the full packet.  A bit of extra plain flour got the dough back to something resembling scones!  It had been spitting with rain and windy in the morning and ended up being overcast in the afternoon.  The wind blew all night and was annoying enough for Rick to get up at 3:30am to put the awning away.  Once the flapping noise stopped, we were able to get some sleep.

Looking back to our caravan from the top of the sand dunes

Looking down the beach from the lookout

Eagles feeding on a small wallaby

One of the beautiful banksias that line the roads

Mon, 9th to Tues, 10th May - Jurien Bay

We left New Norcia at around 8:30am and headed back toward the coast, stopping at a free camp at Moore River.  It was very crowded there so we continued on to The Pinnacles which are located 16kms south of Cervantes (250kms north of Perth), arriving at lunchtime.

The Pinnacles are thousands of limestone pillars, up to four metres tall, rising out of the landscape of yellow sand.  Some are jagged, sharp edged columns, rising to a point, others look like tombstones.  They may have originally been trees that over the years have been covered with sand and then uncovered, etc.  We walked the 1.4km track through the pillars ... it certainly was an eerie landscape. We were also extremely surprised to learn that you are able to drive through the Pinnacles, providing you unhook your vans or trailers and leave them in the car park.  It became obvious while walking that some of the turns between the pillars would be too sharp to enable you to tow your van through.

We then drove into Cervantes, but decided to head further on to Jurien Bay.  At Jurien we booked into a caravan park that was a short walk from the jetty. It was blowing a gale ... again!  'The Wrecker' accidentally cleared the trip meter today, but luckily it was at the 10,000km point, so we can still easily keep track of how far we have travelled.  Because it was so windy we ended up having dinner at the pub across the road.

Jurien Bay is 267kms north of Perth and has a population of approximately 1800.  It is a pretty place with a really nice marina area and lovely beaches.  We have noticed how steeply the waves wash the sand away from the beaches here, making the water deep in a very short distance.  Later, we discover the same thing at many beaches.

On Tuesday the weather was lovely again, so we caught up with the washing and then went fishing on the jetty.  We had heard that if you can't catch a fish at Jurien, then there is something wrong!  We caught heaps ... all very small and so many different varieties, most of which we didn't recognise.  I brought in the smallest leatherjacket I have ever seen at around 3cm long.

Later in the day we drove about 12kms north to another cheaper campsite called Sandy Cape.  It looked really nice, so we decided to head out there early the next morning.  After dinner we walked the jetty as we had noticed some fresh squid ink earlier in the day, however it was very quiet with only one fisherman out there who hadn't caught anything.

Rick walking through the Pinnacles

The Pinnacles with the coast in the background

Fishing on the Jurien Bay Jetty

Sat, 7th to Sun, 8th May - New Norcia

It's time to leave Heron Point.  We've enjoyed out stay but its time to move on to New Norcia - a monastic town located approximately 130kms north and inland of Perth.  The town was founded in 1846 by Dom Rosendo Salvado and today is the home of a small community of Bendictine monks.

We were able to camp on the outer edges of the town's oval and next to the monastery, for a small nightly fee. There was no power, water or any other facilities. It was also very hot and dusty.  The main drawback though, was that we were only a short distance from the main road to the Northern Territory, so there was a lot of traffic and most of it was huge trucks hauling mining equipment.

We went into the visitors' centre and booked a tour of the town to take place at 11am the next day (Sunday) as we had just missed the last tour of the day.  We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the outsides of the historic buildings before having a beer on the deck of the New Norcia Hotel.  The hotel was built in 1927 to provide accommodation for family members visiting the monks, and is still owned by them.  Fresh bread and cakes are still baked daily by the monks in the wood-fired ovens and wines, spirits and olive oil products are still manufactured.

Sunday is another warm and sunny day and after a sleep-in and pancakes for brekky, we spend two hours on the guided tour of the buildings which is extremely interesting.  It was also Mothers' Day and Rick gave me a small, individual chocolate mud cake which I thoroughly enjoyed later in the day!

Our dusty campsite next to the monastery

The Monastery Hotel (note the dirt carpark)

Some of the beautiful architecture

Inside the girls' chapel

Mothers' Day cake