Exmouth WA (Aug - 7 days)

Our three day stop in Exmouth quickly turned into a week as we just couldn’t get enough of the natural wonders of this place. We stayed at the northern tip of the cape near the lighthouse. This minimised our drive each day into the Cape Range National Park, home to the stunning Turquoise Bay. We had read about this in the children’s book ‘Are We There Yet?’ and we were always keen to visit to see if it had been embellished. It hadn’t….the water was amazingly clear and lapped on to the pristine white shores. The coral reef was a mere 10-15 metres off the beach. So accessible for the Smeads! We delighted in snorkeling, with all except Georgie having turns. The coral was colourful and attracted many beautiful tropical fish. We certainly aren’t dive/snorkel experts, but apparently this reef rates amongst the best dive spots in the world, and some say better than the Great Barrier Reef. Thankfully we didn’t see any reef sharks which we heard others had. However the stingrays and manta rays were enough to make us somewhat wary. One of the highlights for Harrison, Hannah and Kate was swimming behind a large green sea turtle. We also spotted these delightful creatures off the beach where we were staying, bobbing their little heads up out of the sea and riding waves.

The only very small down point for the children was that the entire Ningaloo Marine Park (extending from Exmouth south some 300 kms) is a protected zone (actually in the running for World Heritage Listing). This meant that nothing could be removed from the natural landscape. This was very testing at times for our three shell enthusiasts! (But quite timely as we couldn’t really fit any more collections into our small space anyway).

We all had a bit of fun running, rolling and jumping off some impressive sand dunes. Georgie pushed herself down backwards on her tummy grinning with the momentum she gained on the steeper sections.

The children all continue to grow up before our eyes (as kids do), but probably most of all Georgia. Now happily toddling around, she has become little Miss Inquisitive. She seems to have this amazing sense about which way to run to meet the road. She adores the water and at the beach fearlessly goes beyond her depth, blowing bubbles and now even holds her breath. We just cannot take our eyes off her as the challenge of not having a secure space or yard to keep her safe, faces us each day. We actually put the full annex up for the first time in Exmouth (in this new van), just to zip her in and keep her safe from the cars all around the van park. She would make a beeline for the door whenever she heard the zip, poor baby. We had to take turns following her around on her little walks here and there. She continues to delight us though, as do the three big kids. They are so very good as occupying themselves now, either with each others company, the neighbouring children or just the older couple next door!

Karijini National Park and Tom Price WA (Aug - 3 days)

The last 50 kms of our journey from Port Hedland to Karijini were quite picturesque as were climbed up through the rolling ranges dotted with colourful wildflowers. We spent a night in Karijini and two days exploring where we could access. Walks here are graded from 2-6 in level of difficulty. A six requires abseiling qualifications and we did spot hikers on these routes! We braved two level three walks which were somewhat hair raising, trying to keep our little brood safely on the steep, narrow cliff-edged track. The first day we visited the spectacular Dales Gorge with Fortesque Falls and Fern pool. Day two was spent peering over the rails of some incredibly vast and deep gorges and pools below. We also walked along a very narrow peninsula type track which led us to an awesome intersection of four massive gorges. Our camp here was truly in the outback…..very red powdery dirt, dingoes, a freezing night …the full bit! (Thank goodness for our porta potti!). Georgia was completely covered in red dirt, tripping over the uneven ground quite frequently. The children completed several educational activities within the park over the two days and achieved their ‘junior ranger’ badges as we left. (An initiative of the National Park). They were thrilled and discussed sewing their fabric badges onto their school uniforms when they return home! All in all Karajini was well worth the drive in and were very pleased that we diverted from our coastal route to see this treasure of W.A.

We then headed for Tom Price where we spent two days. The mining town of Tom Price is nestled in a very scenic part of northwest W.A. and is the state’s highest township. Here we dusted ourselves off and rested after some big travel legs. The highlight of our time here was our tour of the Rio Tinto iron ore mine (via coach tour). All donned in our hard hats and safety glasses (even Georgie) we were the last to pile onto the bus full of quiet ‘older’ travellers. We made a bee line for the unoccupied back row and tried to be as inconspicuous as we could. But oh no, that was not number four’s plan!! Georgie was very grizzly for the first half of the two hour trip and was certainly not going to sit quietly in her ‘mandatory’ seatbelt. Tim and I did look at each other half way and say “What were we thinking?!” Finally she did fall asleep and we got to enjoy some of the fascinating commentary about the mine’s history, production etc. Tim was in his element! The big kids did seem to enjoy it and learnt quite a bit.

80 Mile Beach and Port Hedland WA (Aug - 3 days)

On route to 80 mile beach we all shared a craving for some hot scones. With the ingredients on board (coincidently), around half an hour later at a rugged roadside stop we were standing over our Weber waiting for our scones to cook. These scrumptious morsels never tasted so good!

We braved 10kms of corrugated dirt road (in our on-road van) to make a stop at beautiful 80 Mile Beach. The children had been told by some older campers at Broome that this is ‘The’ place for serious shell collectors. And thus we had no choice but to stop off and investigate for ourselves! It really was a haven for lovely shells. The kids staggered up the beach with heavy buckets after an hour and a half combing the beach the afternoon of our arrival. This collecting spawned great shell shops and shell polishing services on the annex mat. Annabelle, Harrison, Hannah (and Kate!) took great pride in rinsing and arranging their shells in groups of finds. There was much discussion about which shells were or were not cone shells and whether they could be touched (some species are deadly to humans). Of course it was the cone shells that were usually the most striking and tempting! We hadn’t realised until we were set up that the office staff had kindly given us the campsite nearest the noisy generators, which whirred and powered the camp day and night!

After two days relaxing at remote 80 Mile Beach we spent a night at Port Headland. The highlight was probably driving by the massive salt pans and piles. The beach and township were fairly unremarkable and it was really just an overnight stop to break up the journey.

Broome WA (Aug - 10 days)

Broome, Broome, Broome….how we all love beautiful Broome!! We relished in another catch up with family. This time Tim’s grandfather from Melbourne and lovely friend Janice. He very generously put us up where he was staying for six nights (a fabulous three month old complex of stunning resort residences with gorgeous pool, restaurant etc.) We enjoyed our air con, king bed and very mod bathroom while our van was parked next door. We enjoyed a camel ride which was fun for all. Kate was the only one to squeal as we rocked and tipped as the camel rose and sat!

We have adored pristine Cable Beach with its fine white sand and sparkling clear water. Kate and Harrison have become quite good at riding in waves together on boogie boards. The kids have all adopted two new collector crazes…pearls and shells (the latter are lovely in these parts and free!!). The last four nights we have soaked up brilliant WA sunsets on Cable Beach where we drive down on the sand and wine and dine as the sun melts into the Indian Ocean. We are here another few nights before beginning our southward journey towards Perth. We could all stay on much longer in this beautiful part of the country.

Bungle Bungles, Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing (Geike Gorge) WA (Aug - 4 days)

After much deliberation about whether to take the family on the long bumpy track out to the Bungle Bungles we decided against doing it by car. We were unable to take the van on that route and it was not possible to really do in a day. We made a last minute call for Kate and Annabelle to enjoy a scenic flight over the area on the day we left Kununurra. The two hour scenic flight was fabulous taking us over the picturesque Kimberly’s, massive Lake Argyle, impressive open cut Argyle Diamond Mine and the incredibly unique Bungle Bungles. We enjoyed every minute on our 8 seater light aircraft (only minimally distracted by two vomiting tourists in the front!).

Our later departure that day meant that we arrived in Halls Creek as night fell. We were keen to avoid this town as an overnight stop, but we had little choice. (Night driving is just too risky with excited wildlife in these remote parts). We pulled in to the ‘pick’ of the caravan parks in town and were kindly told by another traveller not to park around the perimeter of the park as the local Aboriginals throw their rubbish and bottles over the park fence and had been known to smash caravan windows etc. We kept everything locked up in the van that night and headed off on our earliest start for the trip the next morning, at 7.30am. We all cheered as we were the third van to pull out of the park. Much better than third last…. our more common trend!

The following two nights were spent at a refreshingly nice grassy caravan park at Fitzroy Crossing. We felt much more secure in this lovely park and we spent some great time with some new travelling friends from Melbourne (on their way to relocate to Perth). The highlight of Fitzroy was a cruise we took down nearby Geike Gorge. This limestone formation was very different to other gorges we have seen with its striking white rock formations, caves and a very good number of freshwater crocs (some sunning themselves on the rocky ledges).

We have discovered the mileage that we can get with cheese spread, crackers and pack of sultanas for Georgia making these cruises and kilometers pass more easily.

Kakadu, Katherine NT & Kununurra WA (July - 7 days)

We left Darwin and made our way to Kakadu National Park where we spent two nights. We explored the plant and animal life at two beautiful wetlands, did some croc spotting, walked through some amazing Aboriginal shelters and art sites at Nourlangie Rock and looked through the Warradjan Cultural Centre. The Bushmans repellent got a good workout and we may have been tempted to stay on another night, but for the mosquitos.
On route to Katherine we had a very brief and chilly dip at Edith Falls. We enjoyed more thermal springs in town and spent an afternoon at one of Katherine Gorge’s thirteen gorges.

Out trip from Katherine to Kununurra was spectacular as we wound our way through the rugged Gregory National Park and along the scenic Victoria River. Upon crossing the border into WA we lost all the fruit, veggies and honey that we were unable to squeeze into our tummies at morning tea. We were so relieved that we did not do a big food shop that morning (we very nearly did!). The remarkably unique Boab tree made it’s first appearance in NT but grew in numbers as we approached the WA border, by which time we were all in chorus with “look at that one!!”

We are now in Kununurra for two nights on our way across to Broome. It has been our hottest stop on the trip (and probably will be), peaking at a baking 35 degrees on both days. What a contrast to chilly NSW! Kununurra has a strangely appealing landscape with its Boab trees and the rocky wonders of the Hidden Valley.

We are gob smacked at our impeccable timing on our trip…we have managed to coincide with big crowd events in a many of the towns we have visited, making accommodation and sightseeing very frustrating at times! We were followed by the Crusty Demons and Stardust Circus up the east coast (or did we follow them?....). Then there was the annual show at Mount Isa, the show and Camel Cup in Alice, the Darwin show, the Kununurra Rodeo and now we cannot get accommodation in Broome thanks to Ladies Day and The Broome Cup!! We are talking about arriving in these towns the very day/s that these events are on. We’re not sure that we could have even arranged this if we wanted to!

Please note, long blog-free periods can be attributed to patchy 3G network coverage across the more remote parts of the country.

Darwin NT (July - 5 days)

Fearing sandflies up around the northern coastline we actually based ourselves just out of Darwin (approx. 50km south) at Berry Springs. It turned out to be a very small town with just one little food/petrol shop, but it did boast some amazing thermal springs. We are just loving swimming in the natural springs we are encountering across the top of Australia. These ones were largish and you could float down a series of waterways in to a broader river section. The clarity of the water wasn’t as good due mostly to the water depth and there were salt and freshwater croc warning signs. However many people were in swimming, so we all enjoyed it for quite some time. The big kids have really enjoyed using their snorkelling gear to observe the life underwater in these various swimming spots. They are getting quite good at diving to look at things then clearing their snorkels on surfacing.

We spent two days having a look around Darwin city. The three big kids and Kate had fun feeding and patting fish at the Aquascene attraction in Darwin harbour. Harrison was sure he received a bite from one of these fish as he hand fed it some bread. (He did have a little mark on his finger!). The Smead kids managed to create a fish frenzy at times, throwing in biggish pieces of bread simultaneously! Harrison relished in a good spot of fishing with Tim on a half day fishing charter in the harbour. He caught five fish (the most out of the 12 people on board). Two were keepers. One we all shared back at the van, and one we just threw out yesterday as a nasty smell was brewing! I will never forget his little face full of anticipation and excitement as the boat ferried away from the jetty and the four Smead girls waved the boys off enthusiastically! We all got a good buzz out of our night at the Mindil Beach markets. We attended on the eve of the Darwin show so we worked out that we had probably visited the markets on one of their busiest nights in the year. It was packed! (We have been so without crowds for the most part, so it was quite an experience to be walking shoulder to shoulder with a sea of other tourists. As the sun got lower everyone took their food stall dinner purchases to the beach to watch the sun set over the water. It was a magical sight….(only rivalled by seeing the sunset like this in seclusion!)….one of those ‘firsts’ for us that we won’t forget!

We were actually all geared up for really hot weather in Darwin, but to our surprise we had very pleasant day time temperatures and even some quite nippy nights! The mossies were still around in the evenings though…as you would expect in the Top End.