ACROSS THE NULLARBOR AND INTO SA

Our trip across the Nullarbor wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I had an image of driving through desert, but there was quite a lot of life - both plant and animal. We saw two huge wedge-tailed eagles feasting on dead kangaroos right by the side of the road. They hardly flinched as we drove by. We were also lucky to miss an echidna which walked across the road in front of us. After a big day in the car which included the longest stretch of straight road in Australia, we pulled into a rest stop for the night. It had the worst drop toilet I've been into along the trip (and there have been some bad ones). It's times like that I'm thankful we've got our own toilet on board.

The next day was another long one as we drove into South Australia. Just over the border we stopped at this scenic lookout with a view of the Great Australian Bight. It was windy and a bit cool. From there I drove the last 100km for the day - the first time I've driven with the caravan. I think everyone was a bit nervous!


Our next camp for the night was Rest Area no 669 in the Camps 5 book. It was another scenic lookout, with views of the high cliffs dropping into the Great Australian Bight. Unfortunately the weather hadn't improved and the view wasn't as clear as it could have been. There were signs warning of the unstable cliff edges, and although the parking area was far enough away, Casey couldn't go to sleep worrying that the van was going to go over the edge.

The next day we stopped for lunch and ate as much salad and fruit as we could before stopping at the quarantine checkpoint at Ceduna. At one end they took all our fruit and veg as we entered WA and then they took all our fruit and veg as we left WA and drove into SA. We stopped for the night at Perlubie Beach, just north of Streaky Bay. In the Camps book it said it cost money, but no one came to collect. It was a strange little beach with lots of shelters on the sand.

The sunset that night was beautiful.

The next day we stopped to have a look at Murphy's Haystacks, a group of boulders and pillars of rock sitting on top of a hill.

Our next stop was Coodlie Park, a farm stay property down the western side of the Eyre Peninsula. It looked quite nice on the website, but when we got there we were only people staying there. They had a bush camping area about 1km from the main farmhouse along a bumpy dirt track.
This was the camp kitchen area. I was feeling like I'd made a mistake picking the place, but then the kids had a great time running around and kicking the football. They loved having the entire place to themselves.

After setting up camp we left the van and drove a very short distance down the road to Talia Caves. There was a boardwalk down to the first cave.

The water from the ocean washed into the cave and we could only stand near the opening of it.

The next cave was called The Tub because the roof had caved in and left a large open hole in the ground.

Just on from the caves was a parking area near the beach. There was a huge, deserted expanse of sand.

Back at Coodlie Park campground, Darren decided to brave the cold outdoor shower provided and found it "Quite liberating"! The kids and I decided to have a quick shower in the van. We knew our water must have been running low. The photo above is of the toilet at the campsite. It was actually a lot nicer than it looks. (I think I"ve been on the road too long!) It was a real flushing toilet! You had to turn a handle to fill the cistern with water and the buttons for flushing were labelled 'pee' and 'poo'. Tara thought it was a "really cool toilet"!

ALBANY AND ESPERANCE

We stayed at Albany for two nights, mainly so I could get some Christmas shopping done. I realised I was running out of time and may have a limited number of shopping centres on the road ahead of us.

We went for a short drive while we were there to have a look around. The coastline was quite spectacular.


This spot is called The Gap, due to the very deep gap between the rocks. The ocean made a thunderous sound and it was quite windy, so it was a bit scary looking down over the railing.

Right near The Gap is Natural Bridge, another amazing rock formation.

The beaches around this area are beautiful. The sand is so white, and the water in the shallows is a brilliant blue.

This secluded beach is a popular and safe spot for salmon.

On our last morning in Albany, I found two brand new kites, unopened, that someone had left in the laundry room with 'FREE - TAKE ME' written on them. Well, how could I resist?!

We stayed a night in Ravensthorpe before heading on to Esperance.

We made it in time to grab one of the last campsites at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park, about 55km out of Esperance. It is known as having the whitest beach in Australia.

The sand is very fine and seems to stay wet. The kids were surprised to find that it was a bit sticky to walk on - a bit like clay.

It was very windy, which was great for testing out the new kites. The kids have never flown kites before and thought it was great fun.

The wind was so strong at times that Tara was almost lifted off the ground.

On Saturday afternoon we went to go for a drive and the car wouldn't start. When the engine finally kicked over, the woman in the caravan next to us said, "You wouldn't want to get stuck here." I thought, there are worse places we could get stuck...much worse! It was like a gentle reminder to get the car serviced before we drive across the Nullarbor Plain. We paid for two nights at a caravan park in Esperance and had the car serviced today.

MARGARET RIVER REGION

Our next camp spot after leaving Perth was Belvidere Campsite in Leschenault Peninsula Conservation Park, just north of Bunbury. It drizzled with rain all day and there were mozzies everywhere so we decided to light a campfire.

When it stopped raining we went for a walk to have a look around. There were heaps of kangaroos around the camping area. Some of them were huge. It was meant to be $18 a night for camping but no one came to collect fees so we scored a freebie.

The next day we drove on to Margaret River and stayed at Big Valley, a working sheep farm 10 minutes out of town. This area has everything - all kinds of produce, a winery on every corner, beautiful old forests and surf beaches. We paid for four nights so we could stay there for Tara's birthday.

We went to have a look at Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse near Augusta. It's the largest lighthouse on the Australian mainland.

It was a cold, windy day - appropriate for our first sighting of the Southern Ocean. It is actually the point where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean and if you look carefully you can see where they meet by the movement of the water.

There are some spectacular caves in the area, so we decided it was worth paying the $50 fee to see one of them. We went to Mammoth Cave. They give you each an MP3 player and you go on a self-guided tour through the cave, pressing the relevant buttons at each point and hearing an explanation of what you are seeing.

The photos, unfortunately don't do justice to the experience. It was only dimly lit, so I wasn't sure any of the photos would turn out at all. I'm so glad we went there. It was incredible.

After coming up out of the cave, we had a bit of a walk through the bush to get back to the carpark.

The kids spotted this huge tree lying down near the pathway.

On our way back from the lighthouse and the cave, we stopped at the main surf beach near Margaret River. This is the place where they hold all the big comps.

The only spot on the farm where we could get mobile phone coverage was at the top of one of the sheep paddocks. We drove Tara up there to make some phone calls on her birthday and the boys had great fun trying to keep up with us on their bikes.

Because it was Tara's birthday we got to feed the pet sheep and the chooks, then the kids helped collect the eggs.

That night we went out for dinner at the Margaret River Hotel.

The next day we headed off and turned the corner of Australia - heading east! The forests around the southwest corner of WA are amazing. We found a spot called Parry Beach in the Camps book but didn't know anything about it until we got there. I couldn't believe it was only $7 a night - showers and toilets (and not those nasty drop ones either!)

The campsite was right on a beautiful bay. The kids loved climbing over all the rocks.

PERTH

We've had a great week in Perth. The city area itself is beautiful and we had a good view of it from the war memorial in Kings Park. Driving through the city is an interesting mix of very old and very new architecture. Just after taking this photo we listened to the WA Premier holding a press conference in the park nearby. The boys were intrigued by all the cameras and security guys.

We went for a walk through the botanic gardens - one part of Kings Park. Federation Walkway takes you throught the treetops.

My favourite part of the gardens was the wildflower section. We've heard a lot about the wildflowers in this part of the country and they really are spectacular.

The kids' favourite part of Kings Park was one of the playgrounds. It included statues of dinosaurs like this phytosaur - directly related to today's crocodiles.

The next day we discovered the annual Fremantle Festival was on - a week of different activities and events, many of them FREE!! On Saturday we went to the Kite Spectacular in the park next to the beach. It's a great spot for kites - very windy.

The day also included lots of entertainers. We were enthralled by a group called Erth from Sydney and their dinosaur puppets. It was informative and very funny. All the dinosaurs lived in Australia or New Zealand at some stage.

On Sunday we went to the festival's Kids Day. Again, there were many different entertainers and activities, but our kids spent most of the day at the circus skills workshop. Tara went straight for the hula hoops and didn't want to try anything else. I finally talked her into trying the spinning plates. She eventually mastered two at once and was quite pleased with herself.

Brodie, never one to rush in to a new situation, stood outside the ropes and just watched everyone else for about 45 minutes. When he finally decided to give it a go he had so much fun.

Casey tried everything, but was determined to master juggling. He's been practising ever since.

Tara has been counting down the sleeps until her birthday on the 14th. The boys both got to choose something they'd like to do or somewhere they'd like to go for their birthdays. We thought we'd better find somewhere to go for Tara while we were still in Perth because there were lots of options. She decided on Adventure World - a bit like Dreamworld but smaller (and considerably cheaper!) We thought it would be fairly quiet on a Monday outside school holidays, but it was almost deserted compared to the theme parks on the Gold Coast. No queues at all! Tara decided we should all go on the kids roller coaster first. She'd never been on a roller coaster before and I don't think she'll go on one again! It was faster and bumpier than I expected and she clung onto my arm the whole way. When it stopped she said, "Finally! I think I'm going to throw up." She was happy to have her photo taken afterwards in front of the ride.

Everyone's favourite part of the day was driving the go carts around the racetrack.