Noone Family Adventure

Photos: Great Ocean Road

noone6 — Fri, 3 Dec 2010 12:05:00 GMT

Victoria

noone6 — Fri, 3 Dec 2010 12:01:00 GMT

Day 100 – 104

Well this is it, the last entry in the blog. We are currently heading back to Melbourne.

Since last I wrote we have been to Victor Harbour, a pretty little town. We stayed in a nice caravan park, played in some parks along the beach, saw the historic tram that runs from the foreshore out to Granite Rock (couldn’t catch it because we were there after closing) and marvelled at the number of Bowling Clubs a small town can sustain.

From Victor Harbour we headed to Port Fairy. We had hoped to go to Robe but we ran out of time so it has been relegated to the “next time” list. We didn’t get into Port Fairy until 6.45pm Victorian time so again we didn’t see much. A quick drive around after check out the next morning was the best we could do but it seemed a pretty town and the Anglican Church was very impressive.

On the way to Torquay we drove along the Great Ocean Road. This is a magnificent drive. We stopped off at London Bridge and the twelve Apostles which were great to see. We decided we had to see them after all the international travellers we met over the course of the trip told us their favourite place was the Great Ocean Road and as Victorians we had to confess to not having seen the whole thing. This situation has now been rectified.

The drive over the Otway’s was a bit slow and we were wondering whether we should just take any road heading north and floor it as the fog became thicker, the rain fell and the temperature gauge dropped to 15! When we pulled into Apollo Bay you could hardly see the water because of the inclement weather. We all had to fossick through the van looking for jumpers and we looked a little out of place in our shorts as well.

Lorne was very busy with schoolies and Torquay have there share but no where near that number. The ones in our park behaved reasonably well – a few fireworks, bit loud at night as they stumbled home but pretty good really.

When we woke Thursday morning the sun was trying to shine and as it was the last opportunity Andy decided we should hit the beach. We had to pull the wetsuits out for the first time and the kids and Andy went boogie boarding. Bubba’s toe hit the water and he yelled out “its freezing!”

All these country towns we have driven through seemed to have at least one golf club. Each one teased Andy as we went past. Finally in Torquay his long awaited Golf game arrived. Thursday afternoon he played with a couple of mates from Melbourne while the kids and I went to Barwon Heads to visit Chris’ grade 1 teacher and her little girl. Thursday night we had dinner at the Torquay pub with the golfing partners and my cousin Geoff and his son Jack. This was a very funny night, lots of fun and laughter. I had to call an end to it when the bouncing ball dodge ball game between the kids and the golfing partners got out of hand – that and the fact the bistro was closed and no one else was left!

Today we checked out a couple of the surf stores in Torquay. When Andy agreed to that he didn’t know what he was letting himself in for so the expedition was quickly curtailed when he saw the vast shopping extravaganza that presented itself to us. Madi made it into the change rooms of one store before he put the kybosh on the trip and while she hid out in there we ended up with 2 fedora hats for the boys and a man bag for Daddy (he says that will complete his transition to retiree). Madi got another pair of bathers – hopefully they will fit her next year the way the weather looks here!

We are on the Geelong – Melbourne freeway now and all that is left is for us to get the van in the driveway (and no there will be no blog about that or pictures) and unpack. Thanks for travelling with us we hope you had a laugh and maybe got inspired to head off yourselves.

Photos: Port Lincoln/Burra

noone6 — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:12:00 GMT

Port Lincoln and Burra

noone6 — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:07:00 GMT

Day 95 to 99

Port Lincoln

We stayed in Port Lincoln for 1 day and 2 nights. It poured with rain for the first night and during the day. Madi got her wish to go shopping and finally bought the shoes she had wanted – good news is they were on sale so I made her shout me lunch with her savings! We had a drive around in the rain and had a look around. The kids were keen to jump off the pier into the shark net enclosed swimming area but the rain didn’t let up and it was a bit cold so we had to say no. To make up for that we went to see Harry Potter 7 that night. Nick and Chris were very excited as they have read all the books. The cinema was very old with upstairs and downstairs areas and the old moldings, etc.

We drove from Port Lincoln to Burra on the Thursday. It took us about 8 hours but was not a bad drive as for a lot of the way you can see the water. There are also interesting quarries and mines to be seen from the road.

Burra

We arrived at Baldina Station on Thursday night. The kids were very excited to play with the Goudie girls and to see the new baby. They were also very excited to sleep in a house with real beds for the first time in 3 months. As we were saying goodnight to them Nick said “It beats the caravan Dad”.

Next morning he kids fed the chickens and collected the eggs for our breakfast and dave cooked up a storm with bacon and tomatoes.. Then Dave and Andy appeased the boys desire to shoot guns by teaching them to shoot the slug gun at a target. They went for rides on the motorbikes and swimming in the pool – where they still were when the storm arrived and pelted them all with hail. The mass exodus from the pool was very entertaining to watch as was the guts test when they all decided they could go back in; no one was prepared to be left out!

That night we went out for dinner at the Commercial Hotel. With a population of 2,000 Burra has 5 pubs and about that many churches as well. At its peak Burra was the biggest country town in SA. It is actually the amalgamation of 7 Burroughs and is very spread out so it is hard to get an idea of just how big it is

The next day Priscilla’s brother Dave came up with his son 2 ½ year old, Elfie. Dave B became known as the smoking Dave and then Dave G could just be Dave. The kids thought the smoking Dave was very cool cos he could mono the motorbike for ages and he went really fast. They all wanted to ride on the back or front of his bike. Bubba got on and was heard to yell as the bike took off “you can do anything, go real fast, but not that 1 wheel thing!” That day we helped with a bit of farm work – for the kids this meant supplying drinks to the men which ultimately meant the work took longer. There was more motor bike riding and then we had drinks out on the property overlooking the hills. Nick and Chris got to drive the car home (1/2 way each) which they loved – Mum loved a lot less and although they both did quite well Chris could be a little more friendly with the brake pedal and a little less with the accelerator!

Next day smoking Dave and Alfie went home and we went into Burra for lunch (another pub – the Burra) and for a look at some of the historical buildings. We saw the dugouts in the creek where miners lived due to the housing shortage at the time. They were basically burrows in the side of the creek which were probably ok in summer but not so great in winter when a flash flood comes through and best washes them out at worse kills them. We went to the old Gaol where I found 3 Bennetts had been interred (2 sent to Adelaide Gaol!). The Gaol was also a Girls Reformatory and later on it was using for the filming of Breaker Morant (as was the land around Baldina Station). We went to the old mine site, checked out some churches and some other old buildings. That night we went out to dinner (without kids – 1^st time in 14 weeks) at another pub – the Royal.

Today we are back in the car and heading for Victor Harbour. It is hard to believe that in 4 more sleeps we will be home and back in our own beds.

Nullarbor

noone6 — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:16:00 GMT

Day 92 – 94

Crossing the Nullarbor (ing).

Esperance to Madura was day 1 – 9 hours in the car. A few stops along the way; petrol, food and Matthew’s unbelievable ability to pee. Drove the longest stretch of straight road in Australia; very boring should have let one of the kids do it – nothing to do but hold the wheel straight. Lots of flat, flat land. It’s the end of spring so still lots of grasses and some green bushes but nothing to write home about. Our deserts are nothing like the ones in the movies – no Sahara here – it’s dry but we still have plants holding the land together. The arrival into Madura was really the highlight. After hours of flat landscape the sign announces Madura Pass and you wonder what that could be and suddenly you are driving down a big hill, surrounded by hills and trees and overlooking another vast plain that stretches seemingly to infinity. Alas, the pass far exceeded the actual roadhouse/motel/caravan park. Lots of flat, dusty ground, no Telstra coverage (don’t even mention Vodafone) and tokens for the showers (timers!!!). Luckily we were there to sleep and leave ASAP and that is what we did.

Day 2 was Madura to Ceduna. We passed along the Great Australian Bight where we managed to lose no children over the edge – quite an achievement. Petrol at Nullabor – very expensive - and not a whole lot more. We lost 2 ½ hours with the time change from WA to SA and so arrived into Ceduna, handing in our fruit and veg at the checkpoint, at around 6.30pm. The caravan park there is on the water with a lovely sunset although the 6ft chain link fence that surrounds it is more reminiscent of low security prisons than holiday destinations. Again it was just a stop over, feed, shower, sleep and gone in the morning.

Day 3 we went from Ceduna to Port Lincoln. Another boring drive and long day in the car. Port Lincoln itself seems like a big country town. There was a huge ship loading at the port when we arrived and lots of activity around town. We have a view over Boston Bay from the van and look forward to a rest day tomorrow and a look around town.

Photos: Esperance

noone6 — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:39:00 GMT

Esperance

noone6 — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:35:00 GMT

Day 89 – 91

We drove from Albany to Esperance which took roughly 6 ½ hours including a petrol stop and a lunch stop; a fairly boring drive and a very ordinary lunch - maybe preparing us for the Nullarbor?

We arrived at the prearranged caravan park via FFR2 instructions. It was very dodgy looking and had no redeeming qualities to write home about. FFR2 are travelling with their dog and it has become apparent to us that generally the only places that accept dogs are the ones that can’t attract people any other way! We checked out the ablutions block and decided that as it was clean we could probably cope for 2 nights as long as we kept the kids out and about during the day.

Chris was furious about the park and as that dark petulant cloud descended over his head we took off for the supermarket and a little drive around the town. By the time we got back FFR2 had arrived and that made Bubba and Madi happy and then it was dinner and Chris was allowed to stay in the van and watch TV via the internet so that kept the storm to a minimum.

We woke up Friday morning to Bubba beaming and announcing for all to hear “It’s my happy birthday”. He was very excited to be turning 7. As per his prearranged menu choices breakfast was pancakes with maple syrup and ice-cream a-la Lazy Moes (I know none of that is really breakfast food but you make allowances when they are so far away from home). He ate the biggest breakfast I have ever seen him consume and then got on to opening his presents. Luckily he was very happy with the offerings (thank God for the shopping centre in Perth and last minute pick ups in Albany). In comparison Madi ate virtually nothing and declared she was sick. Calling her bluff we sent her to bed where she promptly fell fast asleep and won the argument.

Dad and the boys ended up going out together to explore and I stayed home with Madi. She slept until 2.30pm so at the least she was exhausted although she woke up hungry so
I am a bit dubious on the actual illness.

The boys had a great day. They started out at the jetty where Bubba was told as a 7 year old he was a big boy now and thus expected to jump in. He went a little white and took a step backwards so Andy turned his attention to Chris and when he looked back Bubba was in the air heading to the water! They watched a sea lion get fed. Then they went to a little pier that has a pontoon off it with a slide on it. They jumped off the pier (Bubba led the charge) and swam to the pontoon where they played around on the slide for a while. After that they went to Twilight Beach – winner of best WA beach 5 years in a row. It is in a large cove and has a huge rock in the middle of it. The sand is very fine and white, the waves are good for surfing at one end, boogie boarding all along and there is a little calm area at the other end where you can snorkel or paddle. They had a lot of fun there and when the wind came up later in the afternoon they came home with ice creams for all.

That night FFR2 came for dinner and birthday cake. We had party poppers, sparklers and balloons so Bubba was very happy with his birthday celebrations. He even had seconds of the main meal; maybe as a 7 year old he will eat?!

Next day we had to do everything again because Madi and I had missed out the day before. We started at Twilight Beach early in the morning. The tide was out so all the kids swam out to the huge rock and jumped into the water. This was fun and they enjoyed it but they couldn’t find their way into the cave on the side of the rock so they came back frustrated. A little later FFR2 Dad took Nick and Chris back to try again. The tide had come in a bit and they started from the wrong part of the beach so it was quite a swim. Eventually they got there and climbed to a different part of the rock but it was still inaccessible. Eventually FFR2 Dad came down around the side of the rock face looking like a crab on his back – lucky for him he didn’t let the boys follow his lead. They went back, jumped into the water and swam to the part of rock where the cave was it became apparent that the plan was for FFR2 Dad to pull them into the cave. Chris managed to grab his foot, pull himself up about 10cm and then with his next attempt to pull himself up further pulled FFR2 Dad into the water so they had to ditch that idea. The watched some older boys jump from the top of the rock for a while and then they decided to have a go at doing it themselves. Watching from the beach I thought there was no chance they would do it but I had to eat my words. Nick jumped first with no hesitation. Chris was a bit nervous but one of the older boys jumped with him the first time and after that there was no turning back. Eventually they made it back to the beach; we dug Bubba out of his sand grave and headed off for lunch.

After lunch we went to the slide in the water again. Bubba started showing off with cannon balls off the pier (I think we may have created a dare devil there) and they all did the slide a few times. The wind came up and was very strong and made things a little cool so after that we went to Adventureland Park – not very aptly named as there was no adventure to be had. The kids lasted about 30mins and then we headed home for an early dinner and pack up ready for the long drive today.

Today we farewelled FFR2 – tears on their part. Their eldest daughter was inconsolable – Bubba charm strikes again! We are heading for the Nullarbor. We are not sure how far we will get but we will drive until dusk and see where that gets us to.

Photos: Albany

noone6 — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:26:00 GMT

Albany

noone6 — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:24:00 GMT

Days 87 – 88

Today we went with FFR2 to see Whale World. This is a museum situated on the site of the old Cheyne Whale Station. This area now is pristine. Beautiful clear blue waters, sandy white beaches and all based in a picturesque bay with views to small islands.

We had a look around the whaling boat on display and it all looked very nice. The crew seemed to have decent sized rooms (especially compared to the bunks on the naval ship I saw in San Diego), good views from the deck and comfy chairs in the mess. So comfy we sat down around the table to watch a video. This was a documentary on the whale industry and also explained why the whale station was shut down. The kids lasted about 5 minutes – once that first harpoon went flying into the whale and they cut off its fin they left with cries of “Yuck”, “that’s gross”, from Chris “that’s just barbaric!” and Bubba (dredging up memories of the beheading of his Great Great Grandfather in WW2 ) “I hate those Japanese!” It was fairly gory.

After that we decided to take the free tour so we could see everything in the right order. This was a great idea as the guide turned on audio in different areas and you could hear what the station would have been like when it was working. Photos at the flensing deck and above the cookers were very graphic and the children are now all prepared to man a Greenpeace ship and stop whaling forever. I am not game to take them to an abattoir or they will surely all become vegetarians and I like meat too much to start cooking legumes now! It was also here that we learnt that the beautiful white sandy beach we were looking at was actually called Misery Beach because when the whaling station was operational the water there ran red and was infested with sharks looking for an easy meal – yuck!

There was also a bone museum where they had a “pygmy blue whale” (it was the size of the entire shed so the actual blue whale is just enormous, “sperm whales”, dolphins and various others. After that we watched 3 films in 3 different theatres that have been set up in the old oil silos. These were great and the kids watched them all with no complaint!

After this we drove to the blow holes. Only problem was it was about an 800m walk down to them and when we got there the tide was wrong and they weren’t blowing! We had to walk back up hill and it was a little reminiscent of that horrible steep hill in San Francisco – sore calves for all. To preserve our sanity we sent the children on ahead so we didn’t have to listen to Madi whinge.

On the way back to the park we drove around the beach to get a better idea of the town and to see where we stayed 15 years ago – they’ve knocked it down and now it is an empty block waiting for redevelopment; how rude!

Later that afternoon I took Madi to the shops. Whenever we get somewhere that has something resembling a shopping centre she is so excited. She took her wallet and bought herself 2 dresses and a skirt. We also got Bubba a birthday present as he turns 7 this Friday.

Next day we spent on the beach, riding scooters and bikes and playing mini-golf at the park (although Madi went shopping again with FFR2). On the beach the boys found a baby seal lying on a rock. They watched it for ages to establish it was breathing and then they were worried it was stuck so they went to ask the Park owners if they should call someone but found out it was probably just getting warm. Apparently in the Seal world it is ok to leave your kids alone for hours on a beach might take a leaf out of their book!

Today we are off to Esperance so we can be all organised and set up ready for Matt’s birthday!

Photos: Walpole

noone6 — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:27:00 GMT

Walpole

noone6 — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:25:00 GMT

Day 84 – Day 86

We drove from Pemberton to Walpole. This is only about a 2 hour drive with the van on so we were there by lunch time. FFR2 have a dog so we stayed at the only park in town that allowed dogs – Rest Point Caravan Park. When we first pulled in we (that would be Kate) were a little dubious. First appearances showed what appeared to be a dilapidated office/house, some old cabins and a big lake type thing. We booked in anyway (though only for 1 night just in case) and as we drove to our site we passed a man sitting on the deck of one of the cabins playing the banjo – the tune was similar to the song in “Deliverance” – and wondered just what we had got ourselves into. It turned out to be a lovely place. Probably in it’s hey day (think early 1900’s) it would have been spectacular. There were hand painted murals on the old cabins of the various fish you could catch in the area and an old gazebo on the lake were the tour boat used to leave from (unfortunately during their centenary celebrations the gazebo was hit by the old boat and is now undergoing repairs!). Now the place is clean, they hire out boats, kayaks and canoes and the family who run the place are very nice (Mum went to primary school in Glen Waverley).

The day we arrived it was still cool so we went for a drive after we set up camp and had some lunch. We drove around the inlet (Walpole sits on two inlets) and then up into the park to see the Giant Tingle Tree and Circular Pond. Tingle trees only grow in this region of WA and come in three varieties – Red, Yellow and Rates. The Red ones grow the largest and they end up with very wide lower trunks that generally hollow out due to their susceptibility to disease. The kids had a good time running in and out of the trunk. Circular pool is a natural pool at the bottom of a set of rapids in the Frankland River. The kids ran around on the rocks. Naturally Bubba fell over and alas this spelt the death of the shorts he was wearing (they were pretty holey before the fall but not redeemable afterwards) so he had to get around in his jocks for the rest of the trip (only half an hour). Nick and Chris decided they would swim in the pool area which involved sliding down the rocks, swimming a bit, crawling over some more rocks and then swimming again. They thought it was great I thought they would freeze but there were no complaints then or later when I suggested a hot shower!

Next day we hung around the campground. Kids rode bikes, played with the owners kids and we hired a canoe for an hour.

Monday we packed up and headed to the boat ramp for the “Inlet Tour”. This was the first available tour since we arrived and the reason we had stayed the extra day. Chris (naturally) was not longing forward to it and determined to have a terrible time but that was before he met Gary who takes the tour. Gary’s family have been in the area since it was settled, he is passionate about the area and loves to tell a story. He had the whole boat in fits of laughter and managed to be educational while he was at it. When we moored the boat and went for a walk over the hill to another beach Chris was one step behind him the whole way. The kids loved it and I am glad we stayed the extra day to do the trip.

We had some lunch in the van and then headed towards Albany. On the way we stopped at the “Valley of the Giants” to do the treetop walk and see the Red Tingles. This was fun, although the kids made the treetop platforms sway the entire way so it felt good to be back on firm land at the end.

We should make it to Albany around 4.30pm. It looks like better weather later in the week so we might stay there a few days.

Photos: Pemberton

noone6 — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:02:00 GMT

Day 82 - 83

noone6 — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 14:54:00 GMT

Day 82 – 83

We drove from Busselton to Pemberton via Nannup where we were lucky to leave the verandah of the Real Estate Agency intact after stopping for coffee. The lovely locals gave directions and prevented cars from parking behind us until we extricated ourselves and drove on out with a backward wave.

We arrived in Pemberton and booked ourselves in to the only caravan park in town. FFR2 were meant to be staying here as well but a strict no dogs policy caused a bit of a hiccup there and they had to free camp out on the road which is fine further up North but no heater down here makes things a little chilly. I think the kids are now ok with us not bringing Daisy!

The rain continued on and off Thursday and started to ease Friday but it didn’t stop us from getting out and about. Pemberton is a lovely timber town. Lots of very tall Karri trees everywhere, very green and historical timber mill houses everywhere.

We started Thursday by driving out to the Bicentennial Tree. This is a fire lookout and is 74m high. Nick climbed to the half way point and the other kids probably made it ¼ of the way. FFR2 husband and youngest daughter made it all the way to the top while wife had heart palpitations on the ground watching them. It was only as we were leaving that we saw the signage that recommended no children climb for safety reasons.

Next we headed for Beedleup Falls where there is a suspension bridge – not quite like Indiana Jones but still good fun. Only 5 at a time are allowed on and the boys took great joy in making it bounce when they were not on the actual bridge. We then walked into the bush to see a “walk thru tree”. Madi ended up quite cranky believing we had misled her as it was quite a hilly walk and further than she thought. The kids reaction when we finally reached the tree was quite anticlimactic – “Is that is? What a rip off? I wouldn’t have walked here if I had known!” Anyway we did it and then Andy and Chris went the long way back with a few of the FFR2 and FFR2 Mum and I got to cajole the rest of them all the way back to the car (which wasn’t that bad – more downhill in that direction).

We had dinner in the pub that night as we got back quite late from the National Park. The pub is a big old pub with lots of pictures from the days when the trees were cut by hand. Food was good and the service was quick which was good. Two Irish girls from County Cork were behind the bar and this prompted Andy to buy a Kilkenny – only one though as they charged $11 for 1 can!

Next day we caught the Tram which takes you behind the mill and into the forest. This is a good trip even though the train driver uses the fact that he has a captive audience for 1 ¾ hours to reiterate every fact he has ever learnt that is connected however distantly to trees. We did learn that Victoria has the 3 tallest trees in Australia and that Healesville has the tallest tree in the world, Mt Baw Baw has the 2^nd tallest and Thorpdale has the 6^th tallest tree in the world (3^rd in Australia) – just a bit of trivia for you. Chris was slightly concerned in the beginning when we stopped every 20 metres or crawled along that we were going to be on the train all day but we picked up a bit of speed occasionally which calmed him down.

Next we drove out to the Yeararup Sand dunes. These are the largest inland sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere. Andy and I tobogganed on them 15 years ago and we wanted to show them to the kids because they are enormous and they just appear in the middle of the National Park. They are surrounded on all sides by National Park and every year they move about 4 more metres inland. We took the boogie boards and the kids had a few turns on the dunes and then we headed back to town.

We checked out the swimming pool which is roughly 200m by 50m. They dammed the river many years ago and have set it up as a swimming pool with decking and stairs, etc. It would be fantastic on a hot summer’s day but freezing just at the moment. After that we did the skate park/cricket nets. There were 2 kids on the skate park riding BMX type bikes and doing a few impressive tricks. Bubba watched them for a while and then decided he would chat with them. He opened with “How old are you?” He was a bit perplexed when they came back with 20 and 17 but he forged on with “Have you seen Grown Ups?” At which they just looked at him blankly so Chris filled the gap with “If you’re that old what are you doing here?” It was about then that we decided to head home.

That night the local birds and ducks came in for a feed. They are obviously used to being fed because they were not shy at all. Madi found it very uncomfortable but the boys thought it was great.

One conversation we had here was about favourite characters from a popular show they watch called Chuck. Chris picked a character called Morgan because he is funny and a little quirky. Nick then asked Mum her favourite and she replied “Casey”. He is a military operations man who happens to be very strong and physically capable but who she likes because he is quick witted and amusing but before she could explain why she liked him Nick followed up with “do you like Casey because he is buffed and Dad isn’t?” Poor Daddy!

Today we are off to Walpole and it isn’t raining! It isn’t hot either but at least it’s not raining.

Photos: Busselton

noone6 — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:52:00 GMT

Day 79 to 81

noone6 — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:45:00 GMT

Day 79 – 81

We arrived in Busselton around lunchtime, set up camp and had a little look around. The park was nice and clean, kid friendly and practically empty which was just as well as the kids immediately got out their scooters and started racing each other around the park roads. The park also had a water playground and heated pool which the kids enjoyed. It started to cool down late afternoon and then around 8pm something we hadn’t seen for roughly 10 weeks fell from the sky – rain – and it kept coming.

It basically rained for the next 48 hours which was a bit of a downer for the Noones. We had to dig out long forgotten jumpers and enclosed shoes and when you are camping rain is not your friend. Everything feels damp. I am tipping that when they installed heat lamps in the ensuite bathroom the park owners weren’t contemplating the bathroom being used as a drying room but that’s what we did. Everything was so wet. Every time the kids went out they got drenched so we definitely got our money’s worth out of the ensuite site this time.

As a result of the rain the body surfing championship had to be put on hold. We did a lot more driving around. We went to the Lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste, explored the Ngigli (Yallingup) Caves, lunched at Margaret River, checked out Driftwood Winery (only because I remember it as being one of my best desserts ever 15 years ago), drove through Cape Lodge (another place we stayed 15 years ago) and to Caves House (a lovely old hotel 15 years ago now surrounded by new developments and somewhat lacking in the charm it used to have – damn developers and progress).

The cave was a great experience. We descended 11 stories via stairs, sometimes crouching, sometimes backwards, all the while checking out the various stalactites and stalagmites. The humidity was 100% and the air quality not so flash so just talking could leave you a little breathless. What goes down a hole has to come back out so we also had to climb back up the 11 stories. Madi declared that she loved it but would never do it again as it hurt her legs! The kids all enjoyed it so it was worthwhile.

Unfortunately due to the rain and also a refurbishment we didn’t get to walk (although Madi insisted we would have caught the train) along the 2km wharf or check out the underwater observatory. The kids were also disappointed that the water park beside the wharf was closed but we told them they could bring their own families back here when they were older and they decide to torture their kids on a trip like this. The seed sowing must be working because they all think they would like to do that!

FFR2 were in town for one night while we were there so we had dinner at their caravan park. This was a pleasant evening. The kids swam in the indoor pool while we cooked the BBQ. After that, Madi had made dessert which was a fruit platter with toblerone dipping sauce. We had to stand back when that came out. The kids seemed to morph into a pride of hungry lions and all semblance of manners disappeared. Once sated (or rather once we ran out of fruit and sauce) they disappeared out to the playground where we found them soaked to the skin when it was time to go home – thank God for the drying room!

Today we are heading to Pemberton. The skies looked clear as we packed up but it has just started to rain so we could be getting wet again. Hopefully it clears so we can have a good look around.

Photos: Perth

noone6 — Mon, 8 Nov 2010 15:41:00 GMT

Photos: Pinnacles

noone6 — Mon, 8 Nov 2010 15:40:00 GMT

Day 67 - 78

noone6 — Mon, 8 Nov 2010 15:33:00 GMT

Day 67 – 78

On the drive from Kalbarri we had a look at the Pink Lake – it is pink because of the high level of Beta Carotene in it. Interesting? Not according to the kids just a lake with pink water. We stopped at Geraldton for lunch and so that Andy could purchase a bigger electric grill plate. Apparently since he has taken over the cooking (did I mention that he announced in Coral Bay that he was going to cook from now on) he has decided that we don’t have enough equipment and that the grill in the van is really not big enough to cook for 6 – duh! I am sure that I said that before we left Melbourne but anyway … I think it also had something to do with a communal meal we ate in Coral Bay where the other two families each turned up with wiz bang grill plates and he felt a little inadequate!

We ended up at Cervantes at about 5pm so we set up camp there for the night. There was an Art Festival starting the next day and to advertise it they had set up these life size models of kids in different outfits and stances all over town. The kids and I went for a drive to check them out (that was our excuse but we were really looking for ice-cream!) Andy bought fresh seafood and cooked us a yummy dinner. The kids disappeared to the park for a while and when it was well and truly dark I decided I had better go and find Chris and Matthew (of all the ones to still be missing but of course the other two had come home as per instructions). I found them scootering home and Matthew was very excited because he had met an “archer and he let me have a go”. I eventually worked out that another kid at the park had a bow and arrow set and Matthew and Chris had been down at the park shooting arrows around. I am hoping that they were the suction cup ones and not the pointy ones but so far we have heard nothing on the news about anyone being impaled by arrows at Cervantes so I think we dodged a bullet there. Parental supervision might need to increase – what were that kid’s parents doing letting him take that there…

Next day we headed to Perth via the Pinnacles. Everyone talks about the Pinnacles and how you have to see them so I made sure we did. My children will never tell people they have to see them they thought they were ridiculous and very boring. The fact you are not allowed to climb all over them didn’t help. The actual centre is very well set up, another admission fee of course, and you can drive or walk around them. We walked to them, had a look and then left. We didn’t get to walk around them because no one was interested as they all just wanted to get to Perth. I dragged it out by making them go into the Discovery Centre and read about how the Pinnacles formed and the history of the area – you would think I was removing a kidney from each of them without anaesthetic! Eventually we were back on the road and heading to Perth.

Signs that we were returning to civilisation started to emerge – we passed a few outer suburbs, lots more road signs, freeway and the fact that Andrew’s Vodafone mobile actually received a signal for the first time in about a month let us know we were close to something big. Madi started to salivate when she sighted a shopping centre and then hyperventilated when we drove straight past. When we actually managed to get an FM station on the radio we knew we were back in civilisation.

We stayed at the Karrinyup Resort Caravan Park. This was pretty good – well located, jumping pillow, playground, nice pool and spa area, lake and lots of ducks and ducklings which the kids loved. That afternoon we went to the Karrinyup shopping centre but there is no late night Thursday shopping in Perth (Madi wants to talk with the local government about meeting the needs of the consumer) so we only managed to get some books (Nick had announced there is only so many times you can re-read the same series and we had struggled to find anything new since Broome) and some bread. Friday Andy and I read our books in a coffee shop while the kids saw Despicable Me at the movies and then we all went shopping again but at a different shopping centre. We got a couple more books (which Andy left in the food court and I collected on the Monday after a few phone calls – some honest people in Perth), stocked up on new DVD’s (and Ghostbusters has been the roaring success that I predicted) and not much else much to Madi’s disgust. We found a Dick Smith and Andy got himself an IPad and then we headed back to the van.

Andy's Ipad purchase has allowed him to reconfirm his absolute love, appreciation and dedication to Bruce Springsteen. At night with his headphones on he sings along and mutters "the mans a genius!". In the car he plays his ipod through the radio and espouses the brilliance of the man's voice and song writing capabilities. Papa please pray that nobody gives him a Bruce Springsteen DVD for Christmas or we could have a repeat of the Elton John DVD experience (where did you hide that DVD?).

Saturday morning I woke up to find Madi standing above me and whispering (which with Madi means only those people within a 10m radius can hear) can we go shopping today, just you and me. She continued to harp (remind you of anyone else at her age Papa – seriously the longer this holiday goes the more her similarities to Andrew become apparent) until I finally gave in. We went shopping and it became clear in the first 5 minutes that I was there as a chaperone only – there would be no shopping or browsing for me – she had her money and she meant to spend it. She had set herself a budget and she wanted two new outfits. It was quite funny to watch and then of course when she really liked something but it didn’t fit within her budget she would look at me and give me the “I need this so you should buy it for me” where her purchases were only wants. In the end I bought her lunch and then wrapped it up. She went home with a couple of tops, shorts and a headband so I think she was happy. That afternoon we went for a drive through the beach suburbs down to Fremantle and back through the city.

Sunday we went to the beach early – Swanbourne, near Cottesloe – and then met Gibbo (a Mazenod alumni and friend of Andy’s) and two of his kids at Kings Park. We met at Synergy Park which is a kid’s area within Kings Park. The kids played on the equipment and then we played some cricket. We also took in the view across the Swan which is very picturesque.

Monday the kids staged an attempted coup and refused to go to the beach. This resulted in Dad going to the beach by himself with the car and the 5 of us being stuck at the van. We went to the pool and mucked around and they played at the park and on the jumping pillow so it wasn’t too bad. Monday night Andy was meeting Gibbo and Greg (over from Melbourne for work) at Cottesloe so the kids and I dropped him off there and then had a movie night at home.

Tuesday the youngest three still refused to go to the beach, they wanted to go shopping so Nick and Andy dropped us off at Karrinyup and they went to Trigg Beach. I got to spend 3 hours with 3 kids in a shopping centre – oh joy. Within the first 5 minutes we established that the PSP stand that the two boys had been looking forward to playing on was gone and it was pretty much downhill from there. We did manage to purchase a couple of presents for Matthew’s birthday using various distraction techniques which Chris is very skilled at. By the time we met Nick and Andy at Woolworths 3 hours later we were all over the shopping (even Madi she “prefers it without the boys”).

Madi moment – Tuesday night Andy suggested to Madi that she give him a cuddle “you don’t cuddle me very often” and she came back with “that’s because you’re a stranger to me”. To which Andy replied “what do you mean by that?” and she said “I don’t know your eye colour or your favourite food. I don’t know what makes you tick”. We couldn’t stop laughing. I think it was her way of saying I haven’t worked out how to wrap you around my finger yet so I’m playing hard to get!

Wednesday Bubba had learnt his lesson and he went to the beach with Andy and Nick but the other two still refused to go. This time I decided that more extreme measures had to be taken so for four hours I made them stay in the van – they could do school work or play on their computers but nothing else.

On Thursday we all went to the beach.

This became the routine for the next few days. Beach in the morning, shopping centre for lunch around 2 (Boost did some major business over those days), pick up any food we needed for dinner, back to the van, school work, pool, dinner, play in the park, very easy and enjoyable, so much so that we ended up extending our stay until Monday. Every morning we would wake up (sometimes after check out time – the kids have finally learnt how to sleep in and I am not sure how we will ever get to school on time again) and decide to stay another day. Today we finally managed to drag ourselves and the van out of Perth. Bruce is playing on the radio and we are heading for Busselton (its only 3 hours so we will make it by lunch). How long we stay depends on how much we like it but we only have about 3 ½ weeks to go so at some stage we are going to have to start heading east.

Groubie – Clive Griswald moment was Andy driving car with Ipod playing in his ears, window down, looking around, singing quite loudly whilst doing 8kmh in the caravan park and for anyone watching appearing to serenade the poor older gentleman sitting at his site minding his own business as we turned the corner. The gentleman got quite a fright and wasn’t so friendly with his morning greeting afterwards.

Updates on 2 things I forgot are included in the comments below.

Photos: Kalbarri

noone6 — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:56:00 GMT

Day 61 - 66

noone6 — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:52:00 GMT

Day 61 – 66

We left Monkey Mia to head for Kalbarri. On the way out we stopped to see the Stromatalites. These look like small rock formations but are actually living organisms that are billions of years old. They were the first living organisms on Earth and they released oxygen into the atmosphere which enabled other life forms to begin. I thought it was very interesting to see and read about but the kids hated it. We had to walk a whole 500m which almost killed Madi. We walked passed an old shell quarry where they used to cut shell blocks to build buildings. This was interesting because the shells have been accumulating there for thousands of years and they naturally release a fluid that binds them together. So to make the blocks they used to just get a saw out and cut the size they wanted. Nowadays the quarry is only used to repair historical buildings and for tourism purposes. Chris did the walk but refused to actually walk on the jetty to see the Stromatalites. Bubba kept mumbling something about “why do we have to stop and see all these stupid things” and Nick, best boy ever, kept muttering back to him “Just do it for Mum, shut up Bubba”. Someone somewhere on this trip told me that it doesn’t matter if they don’t enjoy it at the time as long as we sow the seeds for the future. Hopefully that is what we are doing and not just turning them off forever!

The drive to Kalbarri was pleasant enough. The landscape changed from scrub land to pastures and crops and there was also some wildflowers thrown in although not too many as it is the end of the season for them this far up. Kalbarri seemed pretty enough when we arrived so we set up camp, familiarised ourselves with the township and planned out the coming days.

I guess it had to happen sometime on this trip but Kalbarri didn’t turn out to be what we expected. The wind came up overnight and it basically blew a gale for the next 5 days. Everything we had planned to do was either impossible or very uncomfortable. The waves were dumping on the beach so there was no swimming or snorkelling, to go to the beach you had to put up with being sand blasted so no joy there, canoeing was impossible due to the headwind and current, bike riding ditto. We managed a ride on a jet boat which took us out through the mouth of the river into the ocean and along the coast. It was very rough but that just adds to the fun when the idea is to crash through waves and get wet. We all came back soaked and Bubba was freezing – that what happens when you have no body fat!

To fill in our days we did some drives in the National Park. We saw (rather I saw the rest sat in the car!) Natural Bridge and Island Rock which are just rock formations caused by the erosion of the waves against the cliffs. We also went to Natures Window which would normally be stunning to look at but not with four whinging children! Madi hated the walk, everyone hated the flies and it was the only place where there was no wind so it was just hot!

Our caravan park was opposite the footy oval so everyday Andy and the boys went down to the cricket nets to practise Cricket. There was also a great playground there and a skate park so they played there on their scooters as well which they enjoyed.

Andy decided that Kalbarri must be Aboriginal for “Windy Shithole” and we were looking forward to getting out of there but then on the day we planned to leave the wind died down so we decided to stay a bit longer. In the morning we went snorkelling which was fun and played at the beach. At lunch we swam in the pool and then in the afternoon Madi and Matthew decided to go out with FFR2 (they had arrived the day before) to see – wait for it – Natures Window! Traitors! They went very happily with no whinging, crying or stamping of feet. I felt very betrayed.

We thought we might stay another day if the wind held off but this morning when we woke up it was cool, overcast and windy so we broke camp and are now heading towards Perth. We will probably stay one night somewhere on the way there but we are not sure where yet.