Exmouth Ahoy!

Hey there,

Hello from sunny Exmouth - and I do mean sunny. While you guys in Perth have battled grey skies and rain it's rather warmish here. I am sitting inside the caravan with the air-conditioning on. It's 2pm and phaw - I made the mistake of getting Chris to drop me into town around lunch, where I did some errands buying a new wash basket and other exciting things like that before toddling back here to the caravan park. Mistake! The sun was blazing and I was hot and bothered lugging the stuff back by the time I was done lol. Note to self: do not do stupid things like this in the future!

We had a mammoth drive up here last Sunday. We left the Carnarvon Caravan park by 9.30am and decided to wing it and head for Coral Bay. I had heard mixed reviews about the place - anything from it's over-commercialised to it's beautiful to it's horribly crowded to the beaches are lovely. Well, it's all of those things. We had tried a few days ago to book a night there but it was a no-go. Fully booked out. Oh, unless we didn't mind paying four hundred dollars a night for a three bedroom unit at the back of one of the caravan parks.. eek! Even though we weren't able to stay, we still had a quick stop over at Coral Bay since it's on the way to Exmouth. We got out and stretched our legs, I took some pictures (um.. not very good ones, my cameras being a bum) and fed the kids lunch. It was SO busy there. Unbelievably busy - kind of resort like but mostly just over-crowded with ages of all kinds walking the footpaths (and laying on the beach). I had an ick moment that the boys were glad they missed. I was straggling behind the guys as usual  (shorter legs than theirs are the bane of my life) where I spied an old guy, maybe 60, nut brown, laying on his towel in budgie smugglers .....with a diamond naval ring glinting in the light.. sheesh! I took one look and fled especially when he suddenly sat up and gave me a leering smile. Seriously? lol. After having our fill of Coral Bay (all one and half hours of it) we loaded back into the 4wd and pushed on towards Exmouth, finally getting there about 4pm.

Exmouth - at least to me - at first seemed like every other little seaside town we had stayed at so far. But the longer we stay (so far on our third day) the more we like it. It's small and the shops are nothing much to speak of - but I guess that's the joy of it. People don't come here to shop, they come to relax, get away from it all and to mostly fish. Which, as usual, my lot have been hard at. We've done our fair share of sight seeing and again, there's nothing really different about anything here. The beaches are pretty (but then so are Kalbarri and Shark Bay etc) and the people are nice as usual. We have struck up a friendship with the couple staying next to us  at the caravan park - that would be Colin and Angie - and Colin is full of advice on where to catch the best fish. Last night we went beach fishing - in the pitch dark - and I even had a go. Caught myself an undersized fish (is there any other size?) which Jake unhooked and threw back for me. Poor kid didn't have much luck himself. He caught a couple himself but managed to snag his line somewhere in the deep dark sea, had to rejig his line, then got snagged again within minutes. Luckily he managed to pull that one free. The days are fairly lazy - we just hang out (Riley loves kicking my butt at foolsball at the rec room) and do some sight seeing if and when we feel like it, so all in all it's a pretty hard life right now.

So here's a question for you. What's the quickest way of getting a man to take action when all he does is hear blah blah blah in his ear without really having a clue what you are talking about. With mine, it's getting him involved. Deeply involved. Intrigued? Well, it goes like this. Riles and I have been struggling a bit with the school work he has to complete. He gets a set of three thick books in two week lots and it's fairly intensive and time consuming. Not much fun when they say you need to get the child into a routine yet it's virtually impossible when you are holidaying the way we are (and I imagine it's the same for other families, too.) So I had a grizzle (hence the blah blah in the ear.. or make that several blah blah's) tellilng Chris that there's just too much to do with so little time and we weren't keeping up with what needed doing. So I put him on the job (like I should have in the first place, but he kept wangling his way out of it) of handling the math side of things with Riley, and I would do the English. That's pretty much what we've always done with the kids and their homework. Anyway, within a week he was the one grizzling. What the heck? What is the point of cutting out these stupid bloody shapes only to stick them back down to make a shape he already knows. And why does he have to tie a bag to a tree to find out how much water it collects overnight and then record it? Is this really going to help him in the long run? Hmmm. Within 24 hours he had sent an email off to Riley's tutor back in Perth. Too time intensive, too hard blah blah. She rang this morning lol whereas I hand-balled the call to him. We didn't get much joy because all in all he has to follow a curriculum BUT we can substitute what needs doing with something else if it's something like heavy research (hard to do when there's no net) or getting him to write a story which is good for his English instead of finding out what postage was in 1865 and how long it took a horse to carry the letter to a certain person back in the day. As long and his math and English are kept up to date all is good. So there you go girls. Get them in the thick of it to see what it's actually like and voila... you get action!

Not sure if we will be in contact in the next few days because we are taking a detour. Instead of heading around the top of Oz through Karratha and Dampier etc we are cutting through and going straight through to Tom Price. We really want to visit the Karijini National Park. And that way we miss a lot of boring long stretches of road with not much going on. I think we might have to have two stops on the way overnight though as it's a fairly long haul. We will stick to Tom Price and surrounds for a few days then head north again up to (and passing straight through) Port Hedland and onward and upward towards Eighty Mile Beach and Broome. Really looking forward to Broome.

 Before I sign off I want to say HAPPY FATHERS DAY to my lovely father. Love you and I hope you have a day where you are looked after (read spoilt!) by all the women in your life. Will be missing you xxx

Guess that's all I have to write for now. 
Adios for now - hope you're all keeping well and you are in our thoughts.
Carolyn x

I'm going to add some pictures that I missed last time from when we were in Canarvon. They are first up then come the Exmouth ones. 

 One of the many pubs in Carnarvon. This is the main street.

The Saturday morning markets in Carnarvon central.

 More markets ...

 Yum - sausage sizzle for breakfast. Riley and Jake chowing down.

 The beautiful Gascoyne river. 

 Mason found a witchedy grub at the Caravan park in Carnarvon. He put it on the ground and that sucker buried into and under the hard ground in about thirty seconds. Here one minute, gone the next.

 These strange humps are termite nests. We saw thousands on the way between Carnarvon and Exmouth. A weird landscape on otherwise a really flat plain.

 These two are Coral Bay beach.

 Just added this because I liked the picture. My wonderful son Mason.

 Ningaloo Caravan Park in Exmouth where we are staying. This is a 'four star' park and they don't go any higher yet I would debate the fact on how they gained the top star slot. It's expensive - that I know - but there are some questions.The bathroom and toilets (with which you need an annoying key to get into) are dismal - the surrounds - while okay are very dusty and they keep plonking people in the smaller lots where there's not much shade. I wonder who they are keeping the shady lots for? Plus there's the fish bin. Blech - catch the wind going the right way and you get a whiff of it. Nasty. You pay FIVE dollars a load to use their horrible old wash machines that are on their last legs. The rec room hasn't been opened on time yet and you get a grumpy old soul that just grunts at you instead of talking. I think he resents being called to open the rec room door every morning. That said: the pool area is lovely and there's a lovely Italian restaurant just off the pool. Maybe this is what lifts the star rating. Who knows?

 The pool area with the restaurant just to the left behind the palm trees.

Riley having fun in the pool.

Chris on the job sorting Riley's school work.

 Exmouth - one of the streets parallel to the main street.

 The tiny mall of Exmouth. Sweet and shady.

Caravan City

Hey all,

Well, we are in Carnarvon now. The weather is magical. Can be a little windy at times but its a gentler type of breeze tinged with warmth. We wear a jumper for about an hour in the morning then it's off with it for the rest of the day. So nice to finally be wearing lighter clothes and short sleeves. Chris is finally on the mend. He's not one hundred percent but definitely better than he was. The antibiotics and mega vitamins are doing their work. Mason still continues to battle a sore throat though. He's not a complainer and I only just found out this morning that he still has it. So maybe this week when things are open (nothing's open today being Sunday) we will find a doctor and get it checked out. 

Yesterday, being Saturday, Carnarvon have their weekly market day. So leaving Chris and Mason behind (who weren't interested in coming) Riley, Jake and I headed into town to check it out. They're not terribly big but there was a good range of things - the usual fresh fruit and veggies sold at reasonable prices (I loaded up on strawberries - they were so sweet and delicious) and picked up various other fresh fruit. There was the usual jewelery and chutneys and preserves all in fancy jars as well. The kids had a sausage sizzle (for breakfast - lol) so with them taken care of (because don't you know, all a boy thinks about is his stomach) we perused the stalls. We then headed into woollies for a food stock up. It was great to finally see prices more like Perth prices - not 7 dollars for a deodorant or in one case 11 dollars for a small box of weet-bix. Talk about nearly keeling over backward at the ridiculous prices in some places. I'm still learning that I can't shop like I used to. I bought a bit much then had trouble cramming things in the small cupboards that are now my pantry and the fridge is overflowing. The afternoon was just spent lazily hanging around the caravan park where I spent time doing some washing (such excitement!!) It's great to have the amenities at the parks to be able to have showers and visit the loos, but the only thing is that it's usually 4 dollars a pop to do a load of washing and I often have to spend 12 dollars just to get it done... (can you tell I'm a little money obsessed at the moment - keeping the books is a full time job! lol) Some places only charge three dollars but most are four. I end up shoving in as much as I can and I'm sure that's the reason the clothes aren't washing as well as they should be. Especially when I try and cram two queen size sheets, pillowcases and a doona in and then wonder why the doona is still dry on top at the end of the wash... sigh.. I can be blond sometimes. That said, the washing machines are too small and it makes it a bit tough when washing for five (yeah, I know. Whinge whinge whinge lol!!)

 The kids spent the afternoon mucking around in the playground - yes, even the bigger ones, then went in hunt to the front office to find some videos to watch that night. I find Jake (who is the only one to really comment on this) is missing the company of other kids. He's a bit miffed that we seem to be surrounded by grey nomads with not many kids around - actually make that none that we have seen. There are a few younger people around but they are mostly 20 somethings and too old. Last night - for the first time - a couple with teens moved in just behind us. Jake brightened up - only to find out they were only here for overnight and pushed off at 9am this morning for Exmouth. He never even got a chance to talk to the kids. I keep telling him (and I hope I'm right) that once the school hols hit there will be loads of kids around. Fingers crossed.

We are meeting some really nice people on the road. Back in Horrock we met Michelle and his lovely wife Marie. Michelle is French and so animated. He just has us in stitches. Anyway we knew they were headed north and while we were in Shark Bay a few nights ago dragging the boat in to the beach from a fish, who should turn up. Michelle and Marie. It was so great to catch them again - exchanging hugs and handshakes. We have also met another really nice couple Pam and Steve who are originally from East. They are also heading north and we met them at the Shark Bay Caravan Park. Pam is one of those really sweet, softly spoken women who you immediately like and we hit it off straight away. When at the markets yesterday buying the strawberries I felt a tap on my shoulder. And there she was standing behind me lol. We had a catchup and then exchanged phone numbers. They are heading north too and hope to be in Broome in about a week - as do we - and if we land at the same time we plan on catching up with a drink or two. She said she knows a really nice spot on the beach. Bring it on!
Today we headed out to the blowholes. It's about a 70km drive north along a winding bitumen road. They were amazing - but the coastline even more so. The waves were HUGE, crashing on the rocks and the blowholes made the most amazing noises. Scared me half to death. Riley got drenched while standing too close lol and ended up sitting in the car soaked through. We then had an explore of some tracks, one leading us to Quobba Station. Nothing too much there except people do stay in the small huts that I suspect were once shearing quarters by the look of them. At the back of the small kiosk there was an old shearing shed, so that makes sense. We then did some more exploring, taking us up a very steep bumpy road (thank goodness for the 4wd!) where we ended up at a lighthouse. I think it's a working lighthouse though as it was all closed off. We narrowly avoided a bunch of hornets buzzing around eek! and hot footed it back to the car where we went back to the caravan park and dropped Jake off to stay with Mason. A quick coffee later we then set off to the plantations to have a look around and to take Riley to this amazing kids playground he had spotted yesterday. Going around on our travels we found a deep mangrove at the end of the small boat harbor where Chris decided this would be their next fishing spot. So there they are now. They plan on getting up at 5.30 (hmm, lets see if it actually happens) where they want to head back out to Quobba where apparently the fishing is amazing (if the fish stories and pictures on the wall of the kiosk  were anything to go by - complete with a picture of someone who had a massive hook through his hand - gory but true.) 

 The coastline from the blowholes - the waves were enormous!

 The blowholes doing their thing - with a huge bang.

 Caught a rainbow with this one.

 Riley calling on the spray Gods - it worked.

 He got drenched seconds later lol. That white haze is sea spray

 The kiosk at Quobba.

Riley playing on the yet unfinished playground. Doesn't stop the kids going through the fence though and playing on it.

We had only planned to stay in Carnarvon two days but it's so nice here with so much to do that we have booked in for another night. So that means we head from here Tuesday morning now. That's what I like about this traveling. So far, if we like somewhere we just stay longer and we have been lucky with the caravan parks always being able to fit us in another night if we wish. This park - Wintersun - is really nice. Great amenities, very clean, very shady and as of now, very full. The one thing we have noticed - well, actually Chris pointed out, is on our travels especially coming from Shark Bay to here in Carnarvon about 99 percent of the cars on the road are towing a caravan. It was a bizarre sight at first but we are used to it now. Even if you go out for an explore you will find cars towing caravans everywhere. 

I've just realised I have my pictures of Carnarvon on the camera. The rechargeable batteries keep running down quickly so the pictures above were taken from my IPhone. I will post the Carnarvon Pictures next post. 

Guess that's it for now. See you again soon. 
Carolyn xxx

What the???

Well, Shark Bay has left a rather bad taste in our mouth. We got stung by the Fisheries Department - an honest mistake but a costly one in the end. Pfft. Let me tell you first you how we got here.

We stayed a few days in Kalbarri. Loved it. I mean who doesn't love Kalbarri? We found our way around the cute little town and just mosied around for the first twenty four hours checking out the shops and water and taking in some of the sights. The next day the guys took the boat out for a few hours THEN went jetty fishing that night as well. A real fishing feast with not much to show for it - a couple of gardi and some whiting and that was about it. I think Mason was at the point where he was saying, "Where are all these big fish people keep talking about?" But still, he hasn't given up as yet. The next day we decided to venture out to the National Park. Paid 11 dollars for a carload to get in (can anyone explain to me why we have to pay to go into a national park when it's every- bodies land? I just don't get it?) Anyway, due to the guys mucking around so much before we left, we didn't get there until the heat of the day. Not smart. We made it to Natures Window and then hot and bothered decided to forgo the Z Bend etc as they were a couple of k's walk there and back. I was disappointed but just wanted to get back to base along with the rest of them. An hour later I was raring to go again, so Riley, Chris and I went to the Rainbow Jungle where we wandered around looking all the different species of birds. I actually met someone called Jo who is from Rockingham originally. I met her through a friend called Dawn. It was great to see her there. She was at the front desk of the Jungle and I found out she is now living with her son in Kalbarri - and loving it.
Chris, Mason, Jake and Riley did have more luck that night fishing from the jetty though. Mason used his gidgy and caught his first 'big' fish. He was stoked. Later that night three of the four guys, started to get sick. Riley and I were the only ones doing ok. Jake had a persistent cough and it was really bothering him at night and Chris and Mason were showing signs of a bad sore throat. 

A view from the pathway leading to Natures Window

The other side view from the pathway on the way to Natures Window

 Chris and Riley taking a rest

Natures window at the National Park - Kalbarri

 Isn't he gorgeous - a red macaw

 Chris and Riley about to enter the free bird centre where they fly around, well free.. under cover of course..

 Thats Jo in the background - she was feeding the birds and let Riley tag along to feed some too.

Two of our cute friends again - shame they are behind bars.

We left Kalbarri to head for Shark Bay on Tuesday, opting to stay overnight at Nerren Nerren to break up the long trip. It was hot there with not a whiff of wind, with red dirt and scrub as far as the eye could see. Riley became obsessed with keeping some of the red dirt as a souvenir even though we told him a few times it was only the first of red dirt he would see. We unpacked the chairs and table and put up the awning, then settled down for some lunch and by 1pm looked around us. What were we going to do in the middle of nowhere until night came? We had a collective decision to push onto Shark Bay and avoid the blazing midday sun. The drive from Kalbarri to Shark Bay is pretty uninspiring to be honest, just scrubby land with some wildflowers showing their pretty heads, a picture of yellow and pink with some white thrown in. About an hour out of Kalbarri  the scenery turned to farms and pastures which was a little nicer. And we saw more canola fields. Hey Bec, if you read this, I meant to mention. I was in the chemist at Kalbarri (stocking up on chest and throat medication wouldn't you know it,) when I saw this gorgeous little book shop tucked away in a corner that I hadn't noticed before. Guess what it was called? The Book Nook. They stole our idea lol. 

One of the patches of wildflowers coming out.

 Hey Del, recognise this? Remember we had one of these out the back of the school in Gascoyne Junction (though I'm sure it was better looking than this one lol.) They run a hose through and use it as evaporative airconditioning. We found this at Hamelin Camp grounds and the boys took a shot of it. Unbelievable!

 Goulat Camping grounds. Right on the beach.....

 The boys raced down to the beach and were fishing within minutes.

 The tail end of a beautiful sunset from Goulat Bluff.

 Sillouette of Mason fishing as the sun went down.
Though it was only 7pm at night, it was dark. EEK... and spooky out there.

Jake was sick on the drive to Shark Bay. We thought it was the fact he had swapped places with Riley and was now sitting at the far back of the car, and two "Dad, pull over quick" laters, he was hurling his tummy up. He was sick that night too, oddly no temp or anything but he was not feeling crash hot. Doesn't seem to have spread though as that was a few days ago and no one else is sick - unless you count Mason still with a sore throat and now Chris with a bad dose of Tonsillitis. There's no doctor here in Shark Bay. They only fly in on a Monday and Thursday. So we decided to wait it out until Thursday (after ringing and inquiring as to what days he was here) then found out when we went to the Silver Chain Nursing post (a lovely set up, like a mini hospital) that there is a three week waiting list to see the doctor. Grrr. When Chris went in to see the nurse, she stepped back in horror on seeing his tonsils. Majorly swollen. She was very thorough, a really nice lady. She checked everything she could check, ears, nose throat, heart, breath etc etc, took a swab of his throat and rang the doc to get a special script for Chris which we then took to the Chemist. He only had a few days worth of antibiotics sitting there, so we took those and pick the rest up tomorrow. Its a weird system.

Talk about weird systems. The first night we hit Shark Bay we opted for a free camping spot. We found out through asking that you need a permit to stay in one. I rang the tourist center who told me the only place with space was Goulet Bluff. No problem, we would take what we could get. Then the lovely Brenda on the phone gave me a permit number which we kept to give to the ranger who would no doubt show up later that night. I asked if we could go to another free camp the next night because the book showed this was only a 24 hour stay. Actually, all four of the free camp spots on the way yet not too far out of Shark Bay are the same, only 24 hour stopovers. Sorry, she said. No consecutive nights. Huh? You will have to book into a caravan park if you want to stay more than one night. Like I said, weird.

We found Goulet Bluff easily enough where we settled in to stay the night and I have to add, why were we told the place was full when there were only two other cars there? It was a magic spot, right on the beach, even closer than the last time we stayed at the beach near Horrock. We arrived late afternoon, whereas the boys abandoned all thought of helping set up for the night, grabbed their rods and tackle boxes and ran in a hurry to the shore to throw a line in. It was a really nice night, watching a gorgeous sunset then bunking down when it got too cold. Oh, and did I mentioned it poured with rain that night and everything outside the caravan got soaked? lol Its a war of will out here with the weather.

So here we are now at the Shark Bay Caravan Park. A two and half star deal. It's by far the most sparse caravan park I have seen, just one step up from the Wagoe camping spot. Very simple set up and strangely one of the first we have come across that's not on the beach. It doesn't really matter though because we only use it to sleep and as a base and its only a few streets to the main center of town to the beach and jetty. And so far it's been the cheapest for the night. $48 dollars for the five of us per night. The toilets and showers, while old and in need an update, are huge and clean and the showers are actually not too bad. 

But back to the 'What the??," the title of this post. Yesterday, Wednesday, was not one of our better days and as I mentioned, we got pinged by the Fisheries and Wildlife department. This came about from the boys fishing off the jetty. Chris and I hung around with the kids while they set up the rods and tackle and watched for about an hour as they caught fish after fish, mostly coming up with a blue shaded fish we weren't able to identify. Just before we were about to leave them to it to get Chris to the Nursing station to check his throat, Riley caught the biggest one yet. Since we weren't able to identify the breed, Mason put it in a bucket to keep it alive until they could figure out what it was. He kept changing the water over to keep it healthy and meanwhile they still fished up a storm. And kept getting more of the same fish. About 8 in total, which were all thrown back in as they looked on the smallish side. Meanwhile, people were popping by and checking out their catch, which they tend to do, and some were offering an opinion as to what the fish might be. Chris though it was some sort of groper - maybe a Baldchin Groper, but others weren't sure (it did look spot on for a groper though, similar markings.) Finally, some old fisherman who said he had been fishing in these waters for over 20 years pegged it as a Wrasse. Ok, so what size are we allowed to have with this kind of fish? Mason asked him. He looks big enough, he replied. Minutes later Mason caught an even bigger  'wrasse.'  The old guy helped them study the fishing chart and they measured it. It was an allowed size. Chris and I happily left them to it, and met with the kids again a few hours later as they were at the fish cleaning bay preparing the fish to take home. 

Two minutes after we pulled up a van from the Fisheries Department arrived and two guys in their 20's got out. They inquired as to what sort of fish we had - two wrasse we told them - and they turned around and said no they weren't. They were juvenile tusk fish. And you aren't allowed to catch and keep these ones. We had zero idea, even Chris, who has been fishing since he was old enough to hold a rod. These young guys were apologetic but it didn't stop them from grilling Mason about everything to do with catching the fish, even reading him his rights in case the case should end up in court and writing down in a notebook word for word as he answered their questions. What the???? They didn't expect it would ever go that far, but by now Mason was getting upset and asked them if was so important to them why they didn't put up big signs on the jetty as to what you're able to catch and not catch and put the allowed sizing's up there at the same time. A good point I thought. The main guy we were dealing with countered with, well, why didn't you pop over the road to the fisheries Department and ask. We never even knew the fisheries department was there!! It would have saved a lot of trouble had we known. 

Anyway, long story short, it put a big damper on the day, with them following us back to base camp to check Mason's credentials and leaving us with, "We will talk to our supervisor and see what we can do. You will either get a warning, or an infringement."  Great! Turns out it was the latter. They turned up at 10am this morning just before we left to go out, apologised (again) and said we had copped a $200 dollar fine. It's ludicrous, seriously. Two kids fishing off a jetty, with two fish where one was two cm undersize and the other three cm under (but the right size if it was the fish we were told it was) has made us dollars poorer. And it put the wind up the kids who were too worried about catching the wrong fish in future and wrecked everything for them. I mean I understand why they have these rules but seriously I think they took it too far? Anyway, it wasn't a great day

This morning after our visit from the guys to hand us the infringement, we left Chris behind to rest and I took the kids out to the Ocean Park in Sharks Bay. It's a great little spot. They give a guided tour of all sorts of sea creatures and we got to watch some small sharks get fed. Riley in particular really enjoyed it. Then we stopped off at the bakery in town for a late lunch and back to the caravan. Where I found Chris had put his 'rest time' to good use. At least I think it was. He had rearranged the whole kitchen part of the caravan. Then took me through what he thought was genius (and it was for the most part - things ARE more organised - now I dont have to move three things aside to get to the pots and pans etc. It's all laid out in a logical way - men and their logic. Hmm...) 
The beach at Shark Bay

 One view of the town - look theres our car in the background! Not like you can miss it.

 View from the Jetty

 Another view of the shore and Shark Bay

 The fish that got us in trouble

 A snippet of the shark feeding at Ocean Park

 Bob the turtle - recuperating and being looked after at Ocean Park. So named because he's missing part of his right flipper and was 'bobbing' on the ocean.

 Guess that's all I have for now. Tomorrow we leave for Canarvon. I'm really looking forward to getting further up north, especially when we cross the border to the east where I don't know and haven't seen much of. We might take it in two stages as its about a four hour drive. Two hours drive, stop for lunch then finish off hopefully finding somewhere to stay for the night. I will also be on the hunt for a great big supermarket where food doesn't cost the earth. Prices are crazy here up north. Easily double what we pay in Perth. And trying to keep these three growing boys stomach's full is no easy matter. It's making it tough to stick to a budget when everything you want to do costs. It kind of sucks.


Oh, and don't forget I'd love to hear from you too. Leave me a comment at the bottom of this post, if you want to say hi. Then I can read about all your fun and games.

Chow for now
Carolyn xx

Hi all,

I want to start this entry by saying hi to Chipottle Mars. It seems she (I hope I got that right being a lady - if not correct me - please) is a wealth of information and when she left me a comment she also gave me a few tidbits of great information which I wanted to share. One I knew about (but was too slack to go out to the car to get the pamphlet to find out the details) and the other I had no clue about. The first is the pink lake I mentioned in my previous entry. The pink lake near Port Gregory it seems is caused by a high concentration of a chemical called beta- caratone released by a special algae and brine shrimp. This one I had read about in a brochure (hence slack) the other was news. The weird scarab beetle like creature we photographed is called a Chiton. It's a type of mollusc. I love learning about new things and I was glad for the information. Thanks for the heads up :)

As you all know by now I have been battling a dodgy internet connection - but not now - here in Kalbarri it seems great! Anyway, I lost so much information late last night that I couldn't be bothered typing it again so hence this new entry. I am now going to first type on notepad (thanks again to Chipotle for the idea... see a wealth of information... lol...don't know why I didn't think of it myself) and then transfer it straight to my blog. Taaa daa, no more lost work.

Okay, so where were we?

Yesterday, we left Horrock. It's a tiny town but quaint. Lovely beaches and nice people. Then came the decision where to go next on our travels north. I really, really wanted to see Kalbarri, as it's on the way and somewhere that I had earmarked as a 'must do.' It's been forever since I had been here and apart from being a gorgeous part of the state, I wanted to see how much it had changed. It has, but not too much thankfully. It's more updated and modern and yet still holds the feel of a seaside town with great shops and boutiques and a few supermarkets etc. Long story short, we tried to book into the Murchison Caravan park here in Kalbarri (I'm sure it was trying to get through to the office when there was no telephone signal on the trip up that made us miss out on the last spot lol) but that was a no-go, it was fully booked out. Then we remembered a friend told us about the Wagoe Caravan and Camping spot. It's about 20 minutes south of Kalbarri and this sounded ideal. Our friend said it was a great place. 

Okay, so to be honest, at first glance I wasn't impressed (but I wasn't the only one just in case you were starting to think I was a total princess.) It was virtually treeless with these small caravan plots crammed next to each other and the loos and showers? You don't want to know. What was worse was there were loads of bees that suddenly decided to converge on our car window screen totally freaking those of us out who don't like bees. I will say it... I HATE BEES... Jake hates bees, though he has a logical reason for it. He's allergic - severely. My poor long suffering husband made us a deal. Stay here the night as we had already paid and tomorrow we would book somewhere in Kalbarri and stay in town. Deal. We hurriedly unpacked the van, dragging out the table and chairs and whatever was needed for the overnight then zipped off into Kalbarri. We ended up having one of the nicest days ever. 

We went to Blue Rock and Red Bluff and visited a few other places which the kids loved - actually we all did. They discovered the crazy crabs that I posted in the pics yesterday and a host of other strange weird and wonderful sea creatures. We did a heap of rock climbing and exploring and we all got back to the camp happy and relaxed. By the time we got back to Wagoe which was late afternoon, the flies had virtually disappeared (did I mention when we booked in to Wagoe it's beef country with paddocks of green and lots of cows. Where there's cows, there's poo, where there's poo there's TONS of flies. And it was hot without a whiff of fresh air... you get the idea.) It was really late afternoon and there were other people booked in which made it a little nicer. Actually, the whole experience was a lot nicer as a whole. Chris paid 10 dollars to get a key (refundable) to get through a gated section of private property to go down to the beach. Then he, Mason and Riley set off to the beach where they let out the tyres and went 4wdriving. They did some rock climbing and then made a discovery.  Fresh oysters on the rocks. What amazed me was our 12 year old tried some raw and even liked it. But like my father says, don't get them hooked on the expensive stuff lol. Crayfish, crabs and oysters are much too good for the little ones .. I'm sure he was joking? He never had any worries with me anyway, I'm allergic to seafood. It's great he had a new experience. Mason is our clown and often has us in fits of laughter as we travel in the car from one destination to another. As usual he was graphic in his description how he felt he got a dodgy oyster, one that seemed to be all oyster poo and slime and well, you really don't want to imagine the rest but probably can.

The park area cooled down to a magic level by the night. The kids played with the three work dogs there and gathered wood for a campfire which they arced up when nightfall came. They then cooked hard boiled eggs in the billy, made spaghetti and cooked up a slap-dash meal which was one of the nicest we have had. We sat around the fire after and just chilled (warmed lol). We were in bed by ten and that was that.

Today we are parked at the Anchorage Caravan Park here in Kalbarri. One thing I've noticed is how we are getting a good system going with the unpacking and packing of the van. It took us a while to figure out what to bring out, what to leave, what to put where yet slowly but surely we are getting the hang of this caper. Everyone seems to have picked jobs for themselves and we are efficient in the way we can be unpacked and sitting down with a coffee in just a half hour. That's the full set up. Awning up, chairs and table out, boat motor outside and locked up etc, and I potter about inside pulling all the bits and pieces out we need to get to for the next few days. The TV is still a problem though. We purchased a special 'caravan' TV which means it was more expensive (isn't everything involving travel lol) but is able to be sat outside due to a special silicon coating making it supposedly impervious to the outside air. We just need to figure just what to do with the TV inside. It moves from one spot to another usually ending up on our bed so it doesn't take up room where we usually perch it on the closed gas burners top. Not that its big in particular but it's just in the way. I had an idea of getting some sort of mechanism going to attach it to the roof whereby it can lay flat against the roof when not in use but can be swung down to watch whenever we might need it. Chris is pondering on that one -  he likes the idea but he's not sure if it will work. Plus he needs to get to a store big enough to sell the kind of metal arms we need for the job and well, that's not happening here in these small towns. So the TV comes to rest on my bed and I'm constantly worried someone will sit on it lol. Most likely me.

I guess that's it for now. We have the next two days here in Kalbarri, where we leave Monday morning. I just spoke to Chris - who had wandered up from the beach leaving the boys with the boat while he picked them all up jumpers from the van - it seems its a bit cool out on the water - and he thinks we should head for Sharks Bay next. Bring it on!

Chow for now
Carolyn x

I just had to include another shot of the pink lake as I wanted to post it yesterday but didn't. It's so breathtakingly weird. You don't expect to see pink water.

The view of the Murchison River from our caravan spot at the Anchorage - ahhh, it's a tough life.

This is a shot across the sea from Blue Rocks. A gorgeous bay area.

My husband in summer mode - look, his hair is short!

Port Gregory jetty view. A tiny, tiny blip on the map but charming.

Where we've been, what we've done - finally an update

Finally.........

What a drama. While I knew getting internet on the road traveling north was going to be patchy, it's been near on impossible to get a signal anywhere. So if I don't blog, well, you know why lol. I'm just glad I finally managed to get on as I have heaps to update you all on.

When I left you last, we were at Cervantes. Lovely place, not so lovely caravan park. Basic, would about cover it. For those interested in caravan parks traveling north (and much further beyond as we ARE going the coastal route around Oz) I will give you our family's opinion as a whole (but no doubt slanted somewhat my way since I'm a creature of comfort). Guildterton was a fantastic park. Loads of shade, the park sat right near the beach/river and a boat ramp down by the river meant we were able to test drive the new boat. Amenities were fantastic - clean toilets (as I mentioned before in a previous entry - I think there were 20 w omens toilets alone in the one amenity... so definitely no cueing.) The showers were spacious and clean and there were a ton of hooks to keep your clothes out of the wet. A lovely cafe is set up outside the perimeter, though you don't really want to buy much from the small supermarket/deli. It was expensive. All in all a good experience, I guess what you expect for a four star caravan park.

Cervantes as I said was basic. The parking for the van was okay but everything felt like it was done on the cheap. Small basic bbq's set up in a pergola area, and well, while not a horrible experience it was pretty forgettable.

After Cervantes we set off for a place we heard about from a lovely French man we met called Michelle. Michelle mentioned that there was an amazing free camping place on the way to Dongara, about 40 km's from Dongara itself. We would see a yellow shack of sorts and a turn off left. I can't believe we actually found it but we did. This place was right on the beach (and I do mean RIGHT on the beach...) just a hop down onto the low dunes and we were there. The picture below shows how close we were to the beach. We just hung that night. The guys tried their hand at fishing ...again not much caught ... and the next morning, while we were wondering if it was worth staying another night, a young guy who was with a group of friends wandered over and said that they were keeping an eye out for the friend. Just as we were wondering in what context this was: was he lost? Were they waiting to meet with him, he said to be wary about being near the beach as his friend had been lost as sea a few days ago and might wash up somewhere on the shoreline. We realised he was one of the young men lost as sea - a 23 year old that was still missing after he and two others capsized their boat. One guy was rescued (he was on the front page of the West last Saturday) another had been found, and a third hadn't yet been found. I was horrified. I have a son almost the same age and the thought of anything like that happening to him,, or to any of my four sons is.. well, unimaginable. So to this young mans mum, dad and family, I hope you find closure. I surely do.My heart goes out to you.

We left that morning for a place called Horrock. We traveled through Geraldton, which seems quite lovely. A sprawling suburbia fronted by a beautiful coastline. We didn't stay long, just had a bit of a break at a beach car park to stretch the legs then we were off again to Horrock. Horrock caravan park is okay. Again, nothing too special but serviceable. The toilets and showers are a bit of a horror but the grounds are nice - again right next to a beach - which we often went to. The guys tried more fishing (hey, they have to catch a big one sometime!) and I, being the only girl in the family pretty much amused myself by reading and relaxing ...oh and doing four huge loads of washing lol. One thing we all loved were the birds. Every morning a flock of doves (is four doves big enough to be classified as a flock?) would land at our feet for their morning breakfast of rolled up fresh breadcrumbs the kids would throw to them. 

We are now in Kalbarri. Actually at a place called Wagoe Camping and Caravan. We bombed out on getting a spot in Kalbarri tonight (but managed to score two nights as of tomorrow) so we ended up here. I have heaps more to tell but I will leave that for tomorrows entry as I have lost a whole whack of writing I just did when the net dropped out. So if you see pics from today I will explain them tomorrow lol.
Till then
Carolyn 

Some weird scarab beetle looking thing we found at Blue Rocks

Red Bluff

A sea of yellow canola fields on the way to Horrock. So so pretty.

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 A sea of yellow canola fields on the way to Horrock. It was amazing.

 Chilling at the free camp by the beach

 Cheeky bird not at all shy

Video taken at Blue Rocks just out of Kalbarri

Look! A pink lake - taken on the way to Port Gregory (which was on the way to Kalbarri.) This is created by a garnet mine leach - and yes it's really that colour. We were amazed.

Riley found a friend - there were hermit crabs everywhere at Blue Rock