It was good to be on the road again. In true Towns style, by the time we’d popped back into Denmark, picked up a few things and began on our way, it was dark by the time we pulled up to camp! After being in the house for 2 months, it felt good to be back in the van. The most noticeable point being that our lounge was now the outside, as was Lexi & Reo’s play area and we realised now, how cold it was at night! Reo was up early the next day, eager to get outside and explore. Instead of the request for electronic entertainment (or even trying to get them out of bed), by 8.30am they’d had brekkie, and were exploring what games were on offer and pulling each other around in the log cart.
Our first stop was Augusta, and we made our way to Cape Leeuwin lighthouse at the most south western point of Australia, where the Southern meets the Indian Ocean. Clearly, we must have been something right on this home-schooling front as when I asked Lexi what the 2 oceans were, she knew the answer immediately, although really, I guess I should just give credit to a good student 😜.
There were a few ‘Covid specials’ for attractions around the area, in a bid to re-start the tourism after lockdown, so we bought tickets for a tour of the lighthouse and a local cave nearby and began our whistle-stop tour of the south west. Our kind of schooling had begun again! With a couple of busy days ahead of us, we decided mental maths, on the run schooling and journal writing was the focus (we managed 2 out of 3 – once again the journals were forgotten).
We scaled the dizzy heights of the 40m lighthouse, after the reminder to socially distance ourselves from the other couple on the tour and grabbed on to the rails at the top (I really don’t like heights that much) to breath in the fresh, sea air while we watched the swell of the oceans rise and fall.
There are a few caves in the area, but we’d been told Jewel Cave was the best one. We descended into the subterranean wonderland and it did not disappoint. On entering the reverberant chamber, we were surrounded with glistening, sculptured rocks, each one given a name to best describe its shape. We were led on our treasure trail, ducking low at points to get us through to the next section of the crystalline maze, admiring the 10,000-year-old delicate structures as we did. The recommendation was spot on.
We returned to camp via Hamelin Bay, reputed for the rays swimming in the shallows. Alas, they didn’t get the memo of our arrival, so we had a walk on the beach before returning to cook our homemade pizzas in the camp pizza oven.
The following day took us in to Margaret River, world-renown for its wines, but what we hadn’t considered, or should I say researched, was that cellar doors were still closed due to Covid and not opening until the following day (boo). That just sped up our whistle-stop tour, as we had a weekend date with the Roaming Reesons, aka Mal, Jen, Emily & Mitchell, our saviours in lockdown.
We did, however, take in the delights of the chocolate factory, to which Reo in particular, managed to return to the counter for tasting refills enough times to eat twice his body weight in chocolate! We continued north to Busselton jetty and take a walk down the 4km length. It was nice to stretch the legs and we were rewarded with this most amazing sunset.
Before we knew it, it was time to enter the metropolis of Perth and get to thank our friends personally for their generosity of letting us stay in their farmhouse. In reality, we’d spent 2 nights with these guys previously, more than a year ago, yet it was like old friends reunited. We were warmly welcomed, enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine with a delicious meal and while the kids were playing, our catch up was relaxed and effortless.
We’d booked to go to Rottnest Island, or ‘Quokka Island’ as the kids like to call it on Monday, so had Sunday to hang out with the Reesons. We spent the day bike riding, to the coast, then along the shoreline towards Fremantle, dodging rainstorms, listening to an opera singer belt out a tune at a local café and enjoying the fresh air and company.
It was a dawn rise for the Quokka’s as we biked our way to the train station. We met the Goldring’s (who we’d befriended in Peaceful Bay) at the port ready for our bike touring day. Again, we were travelling on a ‘Covid special’ – after just opening from being WAs quarantine island, I guess they needed to build up the public’s confidence to return and what a better way to do that than slash prices!
It was a quick ride out to the island and we only had to cycle 100m before we were greeted by the locals. Quokka’s are cute, furry little things, a mix between a wallaby and rabbit, and the fun fact for the day is that they have SQUARE POO! Clearly used to tourists, they hung around for the photo shoot before we began our tour of the island. We’d been told it was hilly, but I wasn’t expecting every twist and turn to be undulating. There wasn’t a flat section in sight. Reo wasn’t really using his gears before now, but after a quick refresher tutorial he did amazingly well.
We had a minor glitch with him early on when the “hangries” raised their ugly head, as we’d only had a small breakfast due to the early start, resulting in Reo demanding to get on the island bus that had just passed us as he was going to cycle no further. Once we managed to get some fruit inside him, all was well with the world and we continued our journey. It’s a great way to see the island and take in the scenery allowing you to stop and start whenever you fancy.
It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky and low 20’s, perfect for cycling. We stopped halfway for a very fancy picnic at a beautiful bay, where we cooled ourselves in the sheltered waters. Cheeses, deli meats, olives and crackers, all washed down with a Margaret River rose, we could have stayed and relaxed all afternoon, but we had a date with a return boat to Perth at 4pm and needed to make sure we made it. We rode about 20km in total and the kids’ efforts were rewarded with an ice-cream when we returned to town. It was a great day out, made so much better sharing the experience with friends. We all slept well that night.
At dinner that night, Jen announced that the weather was looking pretty dodgy towards the latter end of the week, and we should really think about staying the rest of the week – softened campers that we now were. I’m not sure this had been discussed beforehand with Mal and of course saying things like this in front of kids means it’s already a done deal. A quick, “….of course, it’s up to your mum and dad” trailed it, but the kids were already in a hullabaloo about the sleepovers and fun they were going to have as we extended our stay.
The following day we all hung out as Mal took a day of work and the kids were unfortunately ill, so needed to stay off school. 😉 We’d arranged to see another friend of Alex’s mid-week so left the Reeson’s for a night of rest and headed over to meet Anthony, his wife Liz and their children Will (14), Daniel (12) and Charlotte (9). We enjoyed a lovely afternoon getting to know them (well me, Alex was already acquainted!) which extended into drinks and a delicious dinner. It really felt like all was well with the world and I guess in the west we were, compared to the rest of the world.
We bid farewell the following day and ventured to Kings Park to take in the lovely views over the city, walk up the DNA tower, drive down WWI & WWII Memory Lane and visit the dinosaurs at the play park. Weirdly, the weather was glorious and not at all how Jen had predicted!?! 🤔Thankfully Emily and Mitchell had recovered from their illness quickly and returned to school, but there was plenty of time in the afternoons for the 4 of them to play and dress up (Lexi & Emily were now roaming the house in heels – high enough to rival ones I used to wear in my previous life – giving us an insight into a few years’ time!!). And just like that, another weekend was upon us and we really needed to begin our trek north. While the weather had been kind to us over the last couple of months, it wasn’t going to stay like it. The kids on the other hand had different ideas and hid, happy for us to go it alone! We’d had a fabulous week and sad as it was to say goodbye, we hoped it wouldn’t be too long before we’d catching up again.
On the way out of Perth we popped in for lunch at an old school friend of mine, Andrew, changed a couple of car tyres in preparation for returning to the Gibb at a garage nearby and finally started on our travels north. Of course, we arrived at camp in the dark! We spent the next couple of days getting some kilometres under our belt, with a return stop in Geraldton for a haircut and to visit the red and white lighthouse again, hoping if a ranger was going to find us, it would be our mate Trevor from last year.
The next area for us to explore was around Kalbarri, at nearly 600km north of Perth, the days were warm, but the nights were still so cold. We visited here last year, but explored the inland sites, so decided to focus more on the coast this time. One place we were definitely returning to was Hutt River with its Pink Lake. From the road, you see a shimmer of pink if that, yet once the drone is up, you’re transported to another world. The flamingo pink was a stark contrast against the sapphire blue of the sea the other side of the land and the views were extraordinary.
We explored the Mushroom Rock walk, although we thought it looked more like a whale’s tail and walked the coastline taking in the scenery. We did pop back into the National Park to do Natures Window, hang off a cliff and do Z-Bend walk which we didn’t manage last time. After the initial groans from Lexi and Reo which I think must be an automated response in them now, we had a fun trek down into the valley, a big boulder descent to a cool river to dip our feet. Each day we returned to our beach side camp, nestled behind the dunes to huddle around the fire to stay warm once the sun’s rays had disappeared over the horizon.
Before we headed on, we’d been tipped off by another family about a Cray boat tour, again with a current ‘Covid special’, so it was up-sticks early on our final morning to try bag us some crays. There was a huge swell and the skipper was clearly well practised in getting over the rocky break into the deep. We hugged the coastline, dodging the surfers catching their waves and then stopped suddenly as dolphins frolicked in the surf, it was mesmerising to watch. They looked like they were having so much fun!
As the skipper began pulling up the first cray pot, we became very excited, as did the Bronze Whalers swimming around the boat in the hope of a free feed. Alas, we were all disappointed as the pot was empty 😲 It didn’t last long though, the next few pots brought up the goods, and by the last crate, the tub was full and we were munching on lobster rolls with a side of lobster & chilli jam and lobster & garlic tasters. After a quick tutorial from the skipper on how to cook the little blighters, he gave us one each and off we went – very, very happy.
We had about 700km to drive over the next couple of days as we had an important date to attend in Coral Bay. However, we couldn’t do it all in one hit, so first night we pulled into Wooramel Station, a favourite on the travelling circuit which we’d missed last leg. Arriving just before sunset, we had to decide, set up camp or go for a dip in the warm spa… Spa won outright! I had envisioned lounging in the warm water under the twinkling stars, yet each tub was jam packed with everyone else who had the same idea, so while it was nice to chat with a bloke from Perth, it wasn’t my anticipated version of events.
The next task was to try and remember the instructions on how to cut up and cook the lobster. YouTube to the rescue. Lexi & Reo weren’t that fussed about having any more, so they had the ‘special’ on Mum’s menu, pasta, while Alex and I cooked up a lobster feast. Everyone was happy. We sat under the night sky, a dark blanket wrapped around us, lit only by the glow of the fire that warmed us and the stars that shone bright above. It had been a while since we’d chilled under the stars and it was magic. Originally, I’d intended a sunset and sunrise dip, but as we parked so far away from the spa, my laziness kicked in and I settled for an after-brekkie dip, perfect, as we had the tubs all to ourselves.
We popped into Carnarvon the following day for some bits and to tour the fruit loop again, then headed out of town to camp. It must have been the most extravagant dinner we’d had at one of the most uninspiring camps, the last of the lobster tail at a roadside parking lot!
The following day we found camp north of Coral Bay and bumped into another Towns family ‘Towns Travel Oz’, who’d we’d been following on insta, were also in lockdown in Denmark, yet we’d actually never met until now! They introduced us to their friends, families ‘Where’s I going today?’ and ’12 Feet Around Oz’, (everyone is only known by their travelling names) and we had a lovely chilled afternoon getting to know them all.
The next day was the focal point of returning to Coral Bay, another day of swimming with the Manta Rays. Last year we’d been lucky enough to do it, but the sea had been like pea soup and it had been very difficult to see them, so as we were passing again….We had a great team on board, Jake, Elle, Bern and skipper Frazer. Frazer asked the kids what they’d like to see on the trip, to which the obvious answer came back, “mantas”, then turtles, dolphins, dugongs and Tiger sharks all rapidly followed. Within a minute he’d spotted a dugong! Pressure on Frazer. We’d chosen this outfit as they allow you to snorkel with the Tiger sharks if they find one that looks placid enough and we were very keen to see one.
There was an initial snorkel before the main event and we stopped at a cleaning station for Grey reef sharks, which we’d visited last year. We counted 9 sharks all hanging around for their dental appointment to get their gnashers sparkling clean. It was evident how much our two had progressed in their snorkelling abilities and more confident too, Lexi especially as she tried to dive down to the sharks to get a closer look!
We found the mantas before the spotter plane, Jake jumped in and identified three, two males chasing a female, but they had no interest in hanging around for us, their eyes on a far more important matter! Another two were then seen and hung around to feed. Viz was good and we were soon ready for action, waiting for the nod to go in. The mantas had begun to barrel feed, swimming up towards the surface, gliding gracefully upside down in a loop de loop before speeding off again to repeat the process. Elle took our group, group number two, but group one continued to hang around for the action and before long, the two groups had merged into one mass of arms and fins splashing in a frenzy to look at the barrelling mantas.
They put on an amazing show and once we were back on the boat, the hunt began for the elusive Tiger shark. As we coasted the sea, we saw turtles, rays, sharks and more dugongs, the water was crystal clear, it was so tempting to just dive off the boat. We came across one Tiger shark, but after Jake jumped in to see if it was going to play, it swam off pretty quickly. We then hit jackpot. The conditions were good to jump in. Not everyone was keen, Reo wasn’t 100% convinced but his questions were slightly muffled as we shoved a snorkel in his gob and told him he’d be fine as we jumped into the water. Wowee, they are such beautiful creatures. So distinctive in their markings, cruising the ocean beds. It didn’t seem keen to hang around like the manta’s, but we got our fix and it was so worth it. Once back on dry land, we drove to Five Fingers to meet up with the other Towns’, 12 Feet Around Oz and Where’s I going Today?, for a sundowner and snags on the BBQ. It was the perfect way to end the day.
We had 1 more day at this camp, so drove over the dunes to Oyster Stacks, well-known for its good snorkelling. It had been a while since we’d put our Body Glove wetties on, unfortunately they were more like compression stockings now after our lockdown binging! The tide was a bit low so there was quite a swell behind the reef as waves crashed over the top, but a fair amount to see as we swam around. It was a nice chilled day and good to have some movement as I was feeling a little sore after yesterday’s activities. After an amazingly quick pack up the next morning, we left for our next camp. Our destination was as close to paradise as I’d imagined when we were there nearly 14 years ago. We were keen to see how much it had changed since being in the hands of Ningaloo Station and subsequently the Dept. of Parks and Wildlife. Winderabandi, here we come.
[Credit to Jake Wilton for the underwater photos]
Great pics guys, would be jealous but just spent the weekend at the fab Alresford Hall with W&S and fam and gang ;0)
Brilliantly done as always Maz. Really enjoyed this one having bicycled around Rottnest as well. Not sure about chasing Tiger Sharks. Anyway, well done. Happy Travels.