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
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| Some weird scarab beetle looking thing we found at Blue Rocks |
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| Red Bluff |
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| A sea of yellow canola fields on the way to Horrock. So so pretty. |
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Video taken at Blue Rocks just out of Kalbarri
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| 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. |
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| Riley found a friend - there were hermit crabs everywhere at Blue Rock |
Amazing colours in the pink lake and yellow canola field. I'd heard about the pink lakes in physiology class, they're caused by high concentration of a red chemical called beta carotene released by a special algae and brine shrimp. I've wanted to see them since >.<" jealous. The scarab looking thing is called a Chiton, a type of mollusc, they've been on earth for 400 million years at least! Also, to avoid losing your writing, type it up in notepad or word first then copy and paste, that way you don't risk losing it when the net drops out.
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