[TAS] Bridport,Binalong Bay,Scamander, Bicheno,Coles Bay

Our Bridport campsite

Wednesday 17 November we decided Bridport would be our next destination. On our way there, we stopped at Hollybank Treetops Adventure to have a look at the flying fox rides, but the day was extremely windy so we gave that a miss - maybe we could try again on our way back to the north coast in January. We arrived in Bridport and very glad to find it was sunny, although very windy. We set up camp in the caravan park which goes for 2km along the beach front, where we had waterfront views for $25 per night, not bad! After our walk in the afternoon, the weather turned very cool with gale force winds. The next day we enjoyed lots of warm sunshine on the little beach in front of our campsite - having the beach all to ourselves. Paulie even tried a spot of fishing, but no nibbles unfortunately. We had drinks on the beach later in the arvo and then walked to the pub for dinner, watching the locals play in a pool competition which was becoming a bit rowdy by the time we left! The next day was mostly sunny but with a cold wind again.

Legerwood tree carving

On Saturday we headed for the east coast via Scottsdale, then Legerwood where we stopped to see the memorial trees - nine trees were planted back in 1918 to honour soldiers killed in World War 1. In 2001 the condition of the trees proved unsafe and the community were devastated they would lose their memorials, so in 2004 it was suggested the stumps be carved into a likeness of each soldier.

Binalong Bay

We then drove on to St Helens and then up to Binalong Bay (free camping at Cosy Corner North). Wow, this is a truly beautiful beach and thankfully we saw it on a lovely sunny (but of course windy) day. I took lots of photos of the stunning views as we walked along the beach and up over the rocks. The sand is so white and the water so blue, but way too cold for swimming - it was arctic. The next day it was cold and raining so we moved on - plus I was not handling the extremely smelly pit toilets situation! Scamander was our next stop for one night - not much to report on there though.

Bicheno from Whalers Lookout

Monday 22 November we arrived in Bicheno, settled into our campsite and then did a bike ride around town. Next day was a beautiful hot day of an unbelievable 35 degrees. We did a morning walk to Whalers Lookout over Waubs Bay and after breakfast did a one hour foreshore walk to the Blow Hole. We slept in til late next morning and then did more walks before the afternoon rains came, forcing us to commence happy hour early - what a shame!

Wineglass Bay lookout

We drove to Coles Bay on Thursday, staying near Muirs Beach. It was an overcast day with light drizzle but we did the walk to the Wineglass Bay lookout. Back at camp that afternoon we had a couple of drinks in the nearby Tavern while watching the Ashes cricket on TV and also had a nice little win on the Keno there. Next morning it was drizzly again but we strolled along the nearby beautiful Muirs Beach with views of The Hazards mountain range. We then walked around the waterfront in the afternoon, more drinks over cricket at the Tavern and another Keno win woohoo! More walks next day including Tourville Bay lookout.

[TAS] Devonport,Gunns Plains,Penguin, Stanley,Strahan,Lake St Clair,Arthurs Lake, Hadspen

Arrived in my old home town of Devonport about 6am and after going through the quarrantine checks etc we drove away about 6.30am in search for breakfast and found a great hot buffet breakfast. We then checked into our lovely apartment on Victoria Parade overlooking the Mersey River. Later we walked into town for a look around and then needed a nanna nap in the arvo before meeting up with some of my old school friends for dinner at our old drinking hole - the Elimatta Hotel. We then went on to a party and didn't get home til 2am! The evening of Saturday 30 October was my high school reunion (Devonport High School 1975), which was heaps of fun. It was a challenge trying to remember everyone as I hadn't seen most of these people since I left Tassie in 1980. Paulie attended later in the evening and everyone chatted and danced the night away, with the function finishing at 1am. A group of us then moved on to a party and finally left around 4.30am! (Photos from the reunion will be available later.)

Ghost Rock Winery

The next five days were full of socialising with old school friends which was just fantastic fun and so great to share the time with them all. We were welcomed into their homes and shared their favourite restaurants with them, and even though it was the first time Paulie had met them, he got on famously with everyone and had a great time. We also fitted in bits of sightseeing around the area, doing some great bike rides along the waterfront in Devonport around to Coles Beach and beyond, drives out to beautiful Port Sorell and Hawley Beach, did a wine tasting and lunch at the picturesque Ghost Rock Winery, visited Sheffield's amazing murals (see mural pic further below), did tastings at the cheese factory, honey farm, cherry farm, raspberry farm etc etc. You really can eat and drink your way around Tassie!

Preston Waterfall

From Devonport we moved on to Gunns Plains for some bush camping at the beautiful and quiet Wing's Wildlife Park. We arrived there on Saturday 6 November which was a nice sunny day but grew cold in the late afternoon. Luckily we were able to have a camp fire there which was our first since leaving home - so many places won't allow camp fires now. That night we slept for 12 hours as we were exhausted from our non-stop partying since arriving in Tassie! Next day it was freezing cold and poured raining all day, so we had a quiet day in the van catching up on correspondence, watched a couple of movies and of course had happy hour! Next morning we drove to Leven Canyon - walked to Cruikshanks Lookout, then descended the 697 Forest Stairs, did the Fern Walk, the Canyon Floor Walk, the 25m Preston Waterfall and Gunns Plains Cave - all amazing attractions. We then drove on to Penguin for one night in the caravan park overlooking the beach.

A couple of nuts at "The Nut" at Stanley

Tuesday 9 November we drove to Burnie to stock up on some groceries and then continued on to Stanley and checked into our waterfront van site. Caught up on the some washing and then after lunch we climbed the Nut (it's sort of like Tassie's own little Uluru)! Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day, not windy like the last time we climbed the Nut when I nearly got blown off. It's quite a steep climb and our legs reminded us of this fact the next day.

Tarkine Forest slide

It was very cold, rainy and windy the next day as we drove out to the west coast to Arthur River, stopping at Green Point to watch some young students having surfing lessons (in wetsuits of course). On our drive back to Stanley we stopped at the Tarkine Forest Adventures site at Dismal Swamp where we braved the exhilerating rush of the 110m slide through the tree canopy down to the forest floor in less than 15 seconds. You get to wear a lovely hair net (obviously not to keep hair out of your eyes, as they gave Paulie one) and a helmet, then you lay down in a bag with handles inside then you shoot down the metal tunnel like a bullet - it's super fast. I went first while Paulie watched me disappear into the tunnel - he was waiting to hear me scream all the way down, but I was so scared I couldn't make a sound. It was a pretty bumpy ride and whilst it was heaps of fun, we both had headaches afterwards. Paulie did the ride twice - once was enough for me!

Gordon River

Thursday morning Paulie got up very early to climb the Nut again for some sunrise shots, but it was a really foggy morning. He said it was sort of spooky climbing in the fog too. We then drove to Hellyer Gorge, Waratah and Rosebery and stopped at Strahan for the night. Next day we did an amazing World Heritage Gordon River cruise on a very comfortable boat cruising from Macquarie Harbour out through Hells Gates to the Roaring Forties and Cape Sorell, stopped off at Sarah Island (one of Australia's oldest convict settlements) for a guided history tour, and also stopped at Heritage Landing where we strolled through trees thousands of years old. The day was overcast with showers, so our photos aren't great. On our cruise back to Strahan, we past a large number of salmon and trout farms. Once back on shore, we decided to have a couple of drinks at the local pub and later walked back to the van park in the drizzly rain - a fantastic day.

Lake St Clair

On Saturday we departed Strahan and drove via Queenstown to Lake St Clair, stopping to do the walks to Nelson Falls, Donaghy's Hill and the Franklin River Nature Trail. We stopped overnight at the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park right on the lake and it was absolutely freezing cold outside, drizzly rain and the lake was all misty.

Mural of "The Wall in the Wilderness"

Next day we drove to Derwent Bridge to see the extraordinary work in the making by artist Greg Duncan - The Wall in the Wilderness. These 3m high carved Huon Pine panels tell the history of the harsh Central Highlands region of Tasmania. When completed, the wall will be 100m long. The building which houses these panels is also beautiful inside and shows other free-standing sculptures and lovely silk paintings. This display is an absolute MUST if you are ever in Tassie (unfortunately no photos are allowed to be taken inside, but we did take a photo of the mural done of The Wall and artist when we were in Sheffield). We then drove on to Arthurs Lake, stopping to view some bronze sculptures at Steppes on the way. We camped the night at the Pumphouse Bay Campground on Arthurs Lake, which became a total fog whiteout by late afternoon. It was a very cold and drizzly night but we were snug in our van thankfully.

Rose garden at Woolmers Estate

Monday 15 November we drove down from the chilly Central Highlands through more fog, passing through Poatina and Cressy, stopping at Longford to visit the 1817 world heritage nominated site of Woolmers Estate situated on the banks of the Macquarie River. The estate provides a combination of the collections, artefacts, antiques, machinery, outbuildings, main houses and magnificent rose gardens. We then headed to Hadspen for two nights (just outside of Launceston) and restocked the van with supplies before starting to head towards the east coast and hopefully some good weather.

[VIC] Bendigo,Coburg,Surrey Hills,Braybrook (Melbourne)

Sacred Heart Cathedral

We drove away from chilly Avoca and headed for Bendigo on Sunday 17 October, where we were surprised by the size of the city and knew we could easily spend a few days there, in fact we stayed for four nights. We finally enjoyed some fine sunny weather and filled in our days by taking the bus into the city centre and doing the tourist things - riding the vintage talking tram tour which tells stories of Bendigo's past, climbing the Poppet Head lookout tower for the view over the city, walks to grand heritage buildings such as the Sacred Heart Cathedral and the iconic Shamrock Hotel built in 1854.

Loong dragon

Another day we visited the Golden Dragon Museum and Chinese gardens. The museum is home to Loong:  the oldest imperial Chinese dragon in the world, alongside culturally significant collections of regalia, furniture, artefacts and geneology.

Awesome burger moment

Lots of walking around the city worked up an appetite one day and we stopped in at the Grill'd hamburger cafe for the most delicious and healthy burgers - where they even do gluten free options which Paulie really enjoyed - he's never been able to get a gluten free burger anywhere. One day as we were walking around town, a newspaper reporter asked our thoughts on the Bendigo airport upgrade. Well, we hadn't even seen the Bendigo airport but Paulie responded by saying that Bendigo was a nice and happening place and that an upgrade would only add to the infrastructure. The photographer took his photo and so next day his photo and comment were in the Bendigo Advertiser! 

Melbourne busker

Thursday 21 October we moved on to Coburg, a couple of hours closer to Melbourne city, just spending one night before stopping over in Surrey Hills for two nights visiting our friend Norm there. Melbourne traffic was insane and so fast, Paulie said it was a bit stressful driving but thank goodness for our Tom Tom - what a lifesaver. We then stayed at Braybrook for three nights - this is the closest caravan park to Port Melbourne where the boat leaves for Tassie. So over these three days we took the bus into Melbourne city for shopping, visiting the Victoria Markets and more shopping. One day, Paulie just sat in the mall reading his newspaper and waiting while I went in and out of various clothing shops. When I returned to him, he said he had been asked for money twice as well as being asked to do a couple of surveys - he was a real target just sitting there. We saw this popular old busker in the mall with his piano belting out his tunes! We also had a great evening catching up with our friend Chris (Carrot) one night as he was staying in Melbourne for work.

Our "Spirit of Tas" cabin

On Thursday 28 October we filled in time at beautiful St Kilda beach and strolled around the shops at Albert Park until we had to drive onto the Spirit of Tasmania for our night cruise to Devonport in Tasmania. The process to get onto the boat with our van was quite lengthy but we finally got through and up to our cabin (which was spotless and very comfy, with our own shower and toilet). Due to my previous sea sickness experiences, I popped a Quells tablet prior to the boat's 7.30pm departure. However these do cause drowsiness and so by the time we were sitting down to eat our delicious dinner, my eyelids were getting droopy, but I managed to stop my head falling into my meal. Needless to say, we didn't party all night on the boat. The trip through the night was quite smooth until about midnight when it turned a bit rough and we were awoken and then struggled to get back to sleep.

[VIC] Portland,Warrnambool,Apollo Bay, Colac,Ballarat,Avoca

Portland's tiled shell

Tuesday 5 October we crossed the border into Victoria and stopped at Portland, a pretty harbour-side city where the European settlement history for the colony of Victoria began in 1834. Finding a caravan park right in the heart of town, we took a walk around noting the beautiful old Mac's Hotel which we had stayed in back in the 90s (we can't quite remember which year) - anyway it still looked exactly the same. The city has over 200 historical buildings from the 1800s. We strolled down by the water where there was a large shell and chair made out of tiles. We had mixed weather conditions over our two days in Portland and spent one afternoon hiding inside our van as a severe storm warning was broadcast on the radio, including hail. Luckily the caravan park was not full and so we moved our van to a back corner sheltered against a brick wall and out of the wind. Happy hour started early that day!

"Pip" the sheep dog at Port Fairy

Our next stopover was at Warrnambool, via Yambuk's "The Crags" with fantastic views of Lady Julia Percy Island and then Port Fairy where we noticed a sign advertising some Australian & New Zealand Sheep Dog Trials at the local oval. We stopped at the oval and had our lunch while enjoying the sheep dog trials - very entertaining. There was then an announcement made that the lunch prepared by the local country ladies was ready in the hall  - Paulie and I both looked at each other and knew that would be an awesome lunch, all that yummy homemade country food - shame we'd just had our lunch! We had a couple of nights in Warrnambool, seeing some local touristy stuff but also doing some administrative duties like spending over an hour in the Telstra Shop trying to sort out an incorrect bill - that was fun.

London Bridge, Great Ocean Road

Two of the 12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road

Next day we had a big day driving the Great Ocean Road (which involved lots of stopping to check out 11 spectacular viewing points - Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs, The Grotto, London Bridge, The Arch, Razor back, Thunder Cave, Loch Ard Gorge and Cemetery, Mutton Bird Island and of course the 12 Apostles). There were heaps of tourists at each of these stops but the most popular by far was the 12 Apostles. We got caught in the rain a few times as the weather kept changing. The big chunk missing from the London Bridge collapsed into the water in 1990 while people were standing out on the end - they had to be rescued three hours later ... how scary! We then drove on to Apollo Bay for the night where we had a fairly water-logged muddy site from previous heavy rains there. We decided to shout ourselves out to dinner that night, so we rugged up against the cold wind and walked to the local pub for a delicious and hearty meal.

Otway Ranges

Leaving Apollo Bay next morning we took the Otway Ranges road to Colac - a very steep, narrow and somewhat scary road with the most awesome scenery of green rolling hills and valleys - reminded us of Maleny in some parts. When we arrived in Colac, we heard there was a festival on about 20kms away at Birregurra, so we headed for there. This was quite a big annual festival which runs for the weekend with lots of stalls, live music, wood chopping, pig racing, line dancing, snake shows and terrier races! Luckily it was a sunny day so we strolled around the festival enjoying the sunshine with all the locals.

Beeac's restored windmills

Monday 11 October we did our morning walk through the beautiful Colac Botanic Gardens before driving to our next destination - Ballarat. On our way to Ballarat, we stopped at the tiny town of Beeac to see the display of seven old windmills which had originally been built by Beeac windmill makers back in the 1850s and which had been restored to life again by the locals. The windmill park was being completed as part of the town's 150th first settlement celebration in late October. We then drove on to Ballarat and checked into the caravan park and took a walk into the city which was surprisingly big. Next day was an overcast and stormy day with a forecast of hail, which thankfully didn't happen. In between showers the next day we walked to Sovereign Hill and the Gold Museum.

Back home after Avoca Cup race day

Our next stop was to the country town of Avoca where we stayed for a few nights. Avoca is only a small town so it didn't take long to do the town tour - the one thing that did stand out was how many pie shops there were! Recent heavy rainfalls in the area made the caravan park a bit squelchy/muddy underfoot and we had more rain while we were there too. Friday 15 October we walked into town in the rain to get the newspapers and then it continued to rain all day and was freezing cold and very windy, so we basically spent the whole day in the van reading the newspapers, watching movies and cooking our meals inside (which was a first), thankfully we had everything on hand. We hoped the weather would lift in time for the Avoca Cup on Saturday - well it sort of improved - we caught the local booze bus to the races where we experienced the four seasons in one day which Victoria is famous for, but we were dressed in multiple layers in readiness. It was a great day though with a huge turnout of people from all over the state. We had a few small wins, plus I backed the winner of the Caulfield Cup and Paulie backed the second place BUT it was the only bet all day where we forgot to put on a Quinella (which paid $145) DOH! After the races, we joined the crowd of race-goers back to one of the local pubs for a few more drinks and dinner to top off the day.

[SA] Nullabor Roadhouse,Ceduna,Streaky Bay,Coffin Bay,Port Augusta,Clare,Kapunda, Nuriootpa,Tailem Bend,Mt Gambier

Whilst the trip across the Nullarbor(ing) was pretty boring in parts, there were lots of beautiful wild flowers about, many more trees and shrubbery than we expected, collections of clothing, shoes, socks, hats, and stubbies hanging in trees, and heaps of very long road trains which nearly blew us off the road. There were also areas of the road which were marked as landing strips for the Royal Flying Doctors Service - it would have been awesome to see one land on the road!

Great Australian Bight

After leaving Cocklebiddy on Monday 20 September, we drove 470kms to Nullarbor Roadhouse, stopping along the way at various lookout points of the spectacular Great Australian Bight cliff faces. The day was overcast and showery with a cold wind of course but the scenery was breathtaking. The border check from WA to SA is not right at the border, so that night we had to cook up all our vegies before the border check next day at Ceduna.

Whale at Bunda Cliffs

On our way to Ceduna the next morning, we stopped at the Head of the Bight whale viewing platforms and saw a few whales lolling about below the 70m Bunda Cliffs. There were no big tail splashes or anything, they were just taking it easy. We drove on to Ceduna and stayed for one night, enjoying a dinner out at a very nice tavern near the caravan park, and we were joined by a lovely couple whom we'd chatted with at Cocklebiddy.

Next day we drove to Smokey Bay for a quick look on our way to Streaky Bay, a very nice little town with a caravan park along the foreshore. We walked around town for a look and out to the jetty and then had a delicious and cheap $10 soup lunch at a waterfront cafe. The weather was still quite cold, especially at night.

Coffin Bay

Our next stop was at Coffin Bay for a couple of nights, where we braved 91kms of scenic dirt road to see Sceales Bay, Cape Labatt (for the sea lions) and Murphys Haystacks which are actually bolders not hay. We then drove on to Elliston and did 6kms more of dirt road to view the cliff top sculptures which were interesting but not interesting enough for me to get out of the car to take a photo in the arctic cold wind! We headed back into Coffin Bay to settle into the caravan park overlooking the beautiful bay. Coffin Bay is renowned for its oysters, so next morning we did the oyster trail walk around the bay and watched some of the boats come in with their oyster collections. They are big boats and are towed to the ramp by tractors, so it was funny to see all these tractors parked in the carpark. I don't eat oysters, but Paulie loves them, so we tracked down a dozen which he devoured for afternoon nibblies with a chardy. We also bought some beautiful fresh King George whiting fillets for dinner (from the local butcher of all places) - delicious!

Saturday 25 September we drove to Port Augusta (via Arno Bay, Cowell and Whyalla) and stayed at the Big4 caravan park there. We didn't feel like exploring the town much, so just chilled out for the afternoon listening to the AFL grand final (the first one, that is) on the radio.

Sevenhill Cellars

Our next stop was the lovely town of Clare in the Clare Valley wine region which is considered Australia's home of riesling. We drove there via the Main North Road instead of the highway, as it was much more picturesque through the lush green countryside and the gorgeous historic buildings. We checked into the caravan park for two nights and then drove around town and to the lookout. The weather was overcast and very cold and we planned on doing the Riesling Trail on our bikes the next day but it was raining and bitterly cold. Next morning we stopped at the Sevenhill Cellars which is the oldest winery and vineyard in Clare Valley and also unusual as the winery has been owned and operated by Jesuit Priests since 1851. The beautiful Aloysius Church is at the heart of the winery.



Kapunda's historic copper mine site

Kapunda (northern edge of the Barossa) was our next stopover and we visted the information centre in town, where they had a great interactive mining display downstairs telling the story of the town's copper ore mine history - the highest grade ore found anywhere in the world, which began in 1838 but then closed down in 1878 after the rich ore had been worked out. For those "McLeod's Daughters" fans, this was the town known as Fisher in the series. That afternoon we did the walk around the historic mine site past open cut tunnels, the mine chimney and lookouts. Even on an overcast day, the colours in the rocks were amazing. Unfortunately it rained as we were nearing the finish and we had to sprint back to the car in the rain! The town was also once home to Australia's cattle king - Sir Sidney Kidman and is renowned as some of the best farming land in Australia. His horse sales were recognised as the largest in the world, supplying horses to the Light Horse Brigade. Kidman donated his family home "Eringa" to the Education Department which is now the Kapunda High School. A very interesting and beautiful town.



Wolf Blass Winery

 Wednesday 29 September we drove on to Tanunda and then on to Nuriootpa (Aboriginal word meaning "meeting place") where we secured a site at the caravan park. A surprisingly large town with some of the best-known cellar doors. We did the tourist drive to the Mengler's Hill lookout for a picnic lunch, even though it was quite cold and windy. Next we visited the Maggie Beer's Farm Shop filled with lots of her yummy chutneys, pates, sauces and other goodies - Paulie bought some delicious pheasant pate with quince jelly. Next stop was the beautiful Wolf Blass winery and cellar door (one of my favourites) where we read all about it's history, did the wine tasting of course and walked out with a couple of bottles!

Grant Burge Winery

Next morning we did a walk before leaving Nuriootpa and then headed out of town to the Lyndoch Lavender Farm - such peaceful and beautiful countryside. We walked amongst the lavender bushes in some lovely sunshine and then checked out the lavender shop, buying a few goodies there. When leaving the lavender farm we came across Grant Burge winery and cellar door - wow, a magnificent looking winery with the most beautiful gardens - and the wines aren't too bad either! Again walking out with a couple of bottles under our arms after the wine tasting ... oh well, this is the Barossa. We then drove on to Gawler for the night but couldn't get into a caravan park as all booked up - school holidays plus an orienteering weekend had filled the town. So we drove on to the town of Tailem Bend on the Murray River and went straight to the Information Centre where we chose a caravan park from the the two in town. Well, I'm just going to say it ... dodgeyville with some very strange folk ... think movie "Deliverance" and you might get the picture! The caravan park amenities rating was about -1 star, we couldn't even bring ourselves to have a shower there even with our thongs on! Once again we had been fooled by the glossy brochure. One of the permanent tenants came over to chat to us (a little scary but harmless enough), anyway we locked ourselves in the van after dinner and slept through the night with one eye open!

Dust flew up as we hightailed it out of Tailem Bend early next morning without breakfast and drove to Meningie on the Murray for breakfast (an omelette we prepared the evening before in preparation of our early escape from Tailem Bend). Our destination was Mount Gambier, some 400kms away. We drove through Woods Well, Tintinara and Keith and stopped at Padthaway for a very informative winetasting at Padthaway Estate cellar door and magnificent old homestead - tasting their champagnes, whites and reds and again walking out with a few bottles. The wine cellar in the van is well stocked now but then we are drinking some as we go ... as they say, life is short - drink the best!


Mt Gambier's Blue Lake



Cave Gardens


We drove on through the Coonawarra region to Naracoorte and Penola and then settled into the Blue Lake Holiday Park at Mount Gambier. After so much town-hopping lately, we wanted to stay put for a few days and catch up on some washing, shopping, relaxing etc, so we stayed at Mount Gambier for four nights. The park we stayed in was nice and grassy, quiet and lots of space around us, so we chilled out for a few days just doing local sightseeing to the beautiful Blue Lake and Valley Lake within walking distance. Blue Lake is one of three craters of an extinct volcano and each year around November changes colour to a spectacular turquoise blue colour. We also visited the amazing Cave Gardens which is right in the middle of town. At last we had some slightly warmer sunny days to enjoy. 

This was also our last stop in SA before crossing the border into Victoria.

[WA] Bunbury,Margaret River,Augusta, Bridgetown,Pemberton,Denmark,Albany, Ravensthorpe,Esperance,Norseman,Fraser Range Station,Cocklebiddy

It’s been a while since our last blog post, so this is a long one! Monday 30 August we left Fremantle and hit the road for Bunbury (via Rockingham and Mandurah). We checked into Koombana Bay Holiday Park and then wanted to stretch our legs so did a 5km walk on the nearby boardwalk through parks and mangroves. Spent the next day looking around Bunbury town, had a picnic lunch by the water, looked through the art gallery, then climbed 92 steps up the lookout tower for 360 degree views. Over the two days, the weather was cold, windy and showery with a few sunny breaks.

Our next drive was to the long-awaited Margaret River, where we settled ourselves into the very comfortable Quarterdeck Apartment at Gnarabup on the coast about 9km from Margaret River town centre. It was so nice to have a bit (ok, a lot) of room to spread ourselves out and soak up the beautiful ocean views. Over the next five days we did our morning walks around the hilly streets and down to the beach. We visited Grace Town to the site of the recent surfer shark attack. One day we did a wine tour where we visited the home of famous cartoonist Paul Rigby, then onto Leeuwin Estate winery, Watershed winery, Cowaramup Brewery for lunch, a cheese factory, chocolate factory, then Evans & Tate winery, Lenton Brae winery, Olio Bello olive oils and the Venison Farm to finish off the day. On the Saturday we did the Lake Cave tour where we descended 350 steps into a giant doline which was so interesting and beautiful. We then visited the cellar doors of Vasse Felix and Voyagers wineries. Next day we had a lazy Sunday morning reading the newspaper and then went to Voyagers for a magnificent lunch - with wine of course! Whilst we didn’t have the best of weather at Margaret River, it was still a real highlight – the area has so much to offer – beautiful beaches, over 130 wineries, top quality restaurants, caves, beautiful countryside, and so many accommodation options.

Monday 6 September we left Margaret River and drove to Augusta (via a quick look at Hamelin Bay), and went to see the historic Cape Leeuwin water wheel built in 1895 which supplied fresh water to the lighthouse builders and dwellers, then on to see the tallest lighthouse in Australia - 172 winding steps to the top of the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. We had a personalised tour guide as we were the only ones climbing at that time, and our guide took a photo of us at the top and commented that we were “oceans apart” ha, ha! It was absolutely freezing cold and blowing a gale that day.

Next day we drove to Nannup to see a small tulip farm which was at the end of its season unfortunately. Then on to Bridgetown in heavy rain, stopping at the pub in town for lunch. Checked into a caravan park and then drove out to The Cidery for some cider tastings and came out with a tasty six-pack variety! Had a very cold and wet night at Bridgetown, so no dinner that night – luckily we’d had a hot lunch.

Drove through Manjimup and arrived in Pemberton on Wednesday 8 September, then drove out to Beedelup National Park where we walked in the drizzly rain to see the cascades, the tall Karri trees, the swing bridge and the hole in the tree. We also stopped off at Gloucester National Park to see the Gloucester Tree Lookout – a 60m climb to the top, which is used as a bush fire lookout. Another very cold and wet night. Next day we did the Pemberton Tramway ride out past the timber mill, over several bridges, cascades, through Karri forests and saw a tree which had been hit by lightning and its lower trunk was burnt out but the tree is still alive.

On Friday 10 September we drove to Walpole via Northcliffe, did the amazing Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk and the Ancient Empire Walk between Walpole and Denmark. Also stopped to look at beautiful Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks. We then drove into Denmark and secured a site at the Denmark Ocean Beach Holiday Park – very nice, modern park with fantastic facilities, including a huge fully enclosed campers kitchen with a big flat screen TV and a heater – yahoo! We had the next day in Denmark as well, just having a look at local surf beaches and around the town shops and catching up on washing, a bit of cooking and relaxation!

22m Pygmy Blue Whale skeleton

On Sunday we drove to Albany and secured our site at Middleton Beach caravan park, a lovely beach location. We then visited Whale World – Albany’s historic whaling station, the last in Australia, which came to an end in 1978. Our visit included a guided tour and over 20 exhibits to explore, including a look over the Cheynes IV Whalechaser boat - all very interesting, even on yet again another freezing cold windy day. The next morning we saw some whales about 100m from the shore as we walked along the beach at the front of the caravan park!

Tuesday 14 September we drove 295kms to the very small town of Ravensthorpe, did the five second tour around town and checked out the local wild flowers display. We have been seeing some beautiful wild flowers all along the roadside as we drive between towns, gorgeous vibrant colours everywhere. We stayed that night in a fairly average caravan park, and it was so cold I asked Paulie to fill up the hot water bottle for me as my feet were like blocks of ice! Following the coastline, our next stop was for a couple of days at Esperance – a lovely beachside town with a very famous seal called Sammy, who hangs around the local jetty. The day we saw him he was laying low in the dry bed of seaweed to keep warm – that will tell you how cold the wind was – it was arctic! By this stage I felt it was time to purchase a pair of long-johns and some wool socks which I have been sleeping in ever since!

We then headed north 203kms to Norseman to start making our way towards the Nullarbor. Not a lot to do in Norseman but we took a drive up to the lookout which gives you a 360 degree view over the town and the local gold mining area – Australia’s longest continuously running gold mining operation. The town of Norseman was named after a prospector’s horse “Hardy Norseman” who pawed up a piece of gold whilst tied to a tree in 1894. Another bitterly cold night, but I was lovin’ the new long-johns! Saturday 18 September our next stop was a cattle and sheep property called Fraser Range Station, and also has one of the golf holes in the 18-hole Nullarbor Golf Challenge. We took a walk over the property up the hill to the water tanks and to the Par 3 golf hole. This property has some beautiful old original stone buildings – homestead and shearers quarters etc - a great country stopover for the night. Oh, and did I mention … it was really cold?!!

Sunday’s 346km drive was to Cocklebiddy Roadhouse, which consisted of the longest straight stretch of road in Australia – 146kms of it. We arrived around lunchtime (gaining 45 mins due to time change), and being the first campers there, we had the pick of the sites. Looking around at the barren landscape, we figured it didn’t really matter where we camped because they are all close to the generator which runs 24/7! Paulie then went over to the roadhouse looking for a Sunday newspaper, only to be informed that it would probably get here in three days time – by which time we will be in another State (SA)! There was another Nullarbor Golf Challenge hole here (a Par 4) so we went for a bit of a walk and checked that out – no, we are not partaking in this golf challenge! Still cold and windy.

[WA] Corrigin,Lake Grace,Hyden, Quairading,York,Perth,Fremantle

With our freshly serviced van, we headed off on Wednesday 18 August into the wheatbelt region of country WA for a few days to avoid the rainy weather about to hit Perth. We drove 240km to a town called Corrigin (via Brookton), stopping to see the famous Dog Cemetery on the way in. Established in 1974, the Dog Cemetery is a tribute to "Man's Best Friend" with over 80 dogs now buried there. We read many of the headstones - some were sad and others were quite comical. The headstones are all made and maintained by a local resident. Corrigin also holds the world record for "The Dog in a Ute Queue" - a convoy of 1,527 utes each with a dog in the back. We stayed the night in the caravan park in town, it was freezing cold but it was nice and quiet with only a few vans around us. Travelling through the wheatbelt we loved seeing all the green paddocks and especially the green and gold of the canola crops along the roadside.

Next day we drove onto Kondinin, then on to the small farming town of Kulin which is famous for their annual bush races event. They have decorated about 20kms of the highway between Kulin and the race course with lots of tin horses - called the Tin Horse Highway! Coxy's favourite was the one of "Rocky"!

My favourite was "Fillypoosis". That night we stayed in the township of Lake Grace at a lovely caravan park, our site had a nice grassy area with a peculiar miniature Hills Hoist clothesline! Again another very cold night.

Coxy bodysurfing Wave Rock

Our next stop was Hyden (via Newdegate, Lake King, Varley, Holt Rock). Hyden is home to the famous Wave Rock which is a granite cliff 15 metres high and 110 metres long. Its rounded shape has been caused by weathering and water erosion which has undercut the base and left a rounded overhang. Crystals from the rock are dated as being 2700 million years old. We did the walk up and over the Wave Rock and also did the walk to Hippos Yawn - a granite rock resembling a yawning hippo - Paulie got inside and tried to tickle the hippo's tonsils.

Hippos Yawn

Saturday 21 August we drove about 16kms north of Hyden and did a morning walk over another giant granite outcrop called The Humps as well as Mulka's Cave. The cave holds one of the most significant Aboriginal rock art sites in WA with over 450 separate hand prints and images. We then drove on through Narembeen and Bruce Rock (getting a little lost somehow) and then arrived in the town of Quairading, a very small quiet town and stayed one night there.

Our next stop was a short drive to the town of York on the Avon River - WOW, much more than we expected. As we drove into the main street Sunday morning it was quite the bustling little town, people milling about everywhere, lots of shops open and sidewalk dining in full swing, plus quite a few motorbike riders gathered outside the Triumph Cafe. The town is filled with beautifully restored heritage Victorian and Federation buildings including the Post Office and the Court House. We checked into the caravan park and then had a very nice lunch at a trendy spot in town.

After a freezing cold night, we slept in a bit because we didn't want to leave our warm doona! We eventually dragged ourselves outside, drove into town for a good look around, visiting the various heritage sites and beautiful old homes, Mt Brown lookout, strolled along the Avon River, across Swing Bridge, and the York Mill Gallery. Next morning was a bit frosty but we did a run/walk twice around the beautiful grassy York Turf Club race course (Australia's oldest provincial race course established in 1843) which backed onto the caravan park. We left York and drove back towards Perth, staying again in Ascot - as it is close to Perth city. We drove into town just to have a look at beautiful Kings Park and then next morning we caught the bus into the city for a look around the shops (similar to Brisbane but nowhere near as busy) and other sites. We strolled down to the Swan River and had lunch at Lucky Shags restaurant whilst enjoying the lovely winter sun by the water ... aaaaaaah!

One of many beautiful beaches on Rottnest Island

Next port of call was Fremantle, staying at Fremantle Village Caravan Park - great setup and lovely new amenities. We had four nights in Fremantle all up, spending the days exploring on our bikes and doing the touristy stuff in town, great markets, beautiful heritage buildings everywhere, awesome day trip over to Rottnest Island on the Rottnest Express boat, and we hired bikes over there and rode around (lots of hills), soaking up the beautiful scenery and sunshine.