May 4 - 10

Day 33 – May 4 – Busselton -> Fremantle

We spent a pleasant two hours on Bunbury beach at the Dolphin Discovery Centre waiting to see some dolphins. They’re supposed to come close to shore not unlike the Monkey Mia experience, but things sounded ominous when the lady who took our money ‘prayed’ for dolphins today. We did see two dolphins from a distance but none came to the beach to be fed as we had hoped. Oh well – we enjoyed looking at the interesting discovery centre and talking to the very enthusiastic volunteers.

After Bunbury we detoured to Donnybrook which has the biggest free playground in Australia. Amazing! Spent two hours and had a BBQ lunch there. Lovely drive up the coast, and enjoyed an outdoor art exhibition at Rockingham. Stayed at our favourite caravan park – Fremantle Village. (We let the kids stay up to watch Survivor – their favourite show!)

Day 34 – May 5 – Rottnest Island

One of our best days yet! A big bike riding day on Rottnest Island. We cycled from the caravan park (8am) to the ferry terminal and caught a ferry to the island (30 minutes). What a great, relaxing place! No cars, just people cycling and strolling around. The island is about 11km by 4km, so a good size for cycling. No dramatic hills. On arrival we spotted two dolphins, then a quokka. The kids had a try at fishing (thanks to a friendly tourist), and Erin caught a herring!

Later we saw some huge stingrays, a peacock and lots more quokkas (Erin & Luke counted 32 in total). We braved the cool water to go snorkelling at the Basin and saw heaps of fish. After the ferry ride home we had fish and chips in Fremantle, then cycled back to the motorhome just on dark (6:30). Fantastic day!

PS. Check out Bruce's beard!

Day 35 – May 6 – Fremantle -> Cervantes

Long drive out of Perth, to arrive in Cervantes just after lunch. We checked into the local caravan park (not much accommodation choice in Cervantes), and after a rest we spent a couple of hours at Nambung National Park wandering amongst the Pinnacles. We were disappointed to hear that the Winnebago was too wide to drive through the Pinnacles, but we took the walk and got up nice and close anyway. Very eerie, thousands of limestone rocks jutting out of the sand. The kids amused themselves playing ‘poo tip’ – where Ben pretends to pick up dried animal poo and the other kids try to avoid him – lots of fun.

Day 36 – May 7 – Cervantes -> Coronation Beach

From Cervantes we drove along the coast road through Dongara and then on to Geraldton. We saw the amazing leaning trees, that have been blown over by the constant wind (yes, more windmills in Geraldton!). In Geraldton we had lunch next to a water playground, and we let Ben and Luke get themselves soaked.

At the great Geraldton Museum we learnt about all the shipwrecks in the local area, in particular the Batavia which was wrecked in 1627. An amazing story, the survivors of the shipwreck experienced a subsequent mutiny, where over 100 of the survivors were massacred. They showed a movie which dramatised the events, in all their gory detail. Good thing we were warned not to let the kids see it!

We stopped in briefly at the brand new memorial to the HMAS Sydney II – which was sunk in a naval battle with the German ship Kormoran in 1941.

At Coronation Beach camping site we at fresh prawns and Mullaway fish (which we had bought at the docks in Geraldton) while watching a beautiful sunset.

Day 37 – May 8 – Coronation Beach –> Kalbarri

Beautiful drive along the coastal road through Kalbarri National Park, lots of scenic lookouts on the cliffs. At the Natural Bridge lookout we saw a large pod of dolphins from the cliff top, and we nearly got blown away at the Red Bluff lookout.

At Kalbarri we relaxed at the pool in the caravan park, and in the evening we went to an outdoor cinema where we saw ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. Great experience, they provided very relaxing chairs and we ate pizza and ice cream. The kids watched the movie from their sleeping bags – a fun night!

Day 38 – May 9 – Kalbarri -> Nerren Nerren

Mothers Day! First stop was by Murchison river in Kalbarri where we saw two pelicans being fed. Very entertaining. We then rode pedal boats on the river for a while and set off to see Kalbarri National Park. We had received advice from the Visitor’s Centre not to attempt the dirt road to the main gorges, so we satisfied ourselves by stopping at Hawks Head lookout and also walked down to the river for a look. Very hot (even in May!) and so many flies! We’ll have to try out our fly gauze hat covers at the next stop…

We stopped at Nerren Nerren camp site (just off the highway) – still lots of flies, but we had a great camp fire and sausage BBQ when they died down. We were treated to an impromptu fireworks show by one of our neighbours, but they weren’t nearly as colourful as the language of one of the other campers who said that the crackers were scaring his dogs…. Luke made damper in the fire coals for dessert – excellent!

Day 39 – May 10 – Nerren Nerren – Denham

More driving – but the country looks and feels like the Nullarbor again. Long stretches of red dirt and shrubs with a roadhouse every now and then. No grass, very few trees.

At Hamelin Pool we saw the stromatolites – the oldest living organisms on the planet. Stromatolites were the king of living things for 2 billion years, and helped produce enough oxygen in the atmosphere to promote more advanced life forms. They didn’t look like much, but amazing to think that that was how life started…

Stopped at Shell Beach which consists of millions and millions of tiny shells. Still heaps of flies, so not particularly pleasant to stay for long. We also stopped at Eagle Bluff which shows an excellent view over the water in Shark Bay, and saw the vast fields of Sea Grass which feeds 10% of the world’s population of Dugongs (didn’t see any of these however).

In Denham we’re staying at Seaside Caravan Park, nearby to the school where Luke will do the NAPLAN test (which Michelle has arranged).