Walpole WA (Oct - 2 days)

From Fremantle we headed southeast to Walpole. This area is marked by lush greener than green farming land and tall forests. We stayed on the Nornalup Inlet in a great camp-style park with outdoor fire etc. We visited the impressive Giant Tingle Tree where Hannah asked “Is this the big fruit tingle tree?” (a favoured Smead travelling treat!). The Valley of the Giants tree top walkway was a thrilling experience. This suspended steel walkway spans some 600 metres and reaches a peak of 40 meters above the forest floor. Harrison, Kate and Hannah walked it first. The kids merrily bounced along, undeterred by the swaying of the walkway. Kate had to keep her eye on the walkway or the canopy line as the view down was a little too much. Tim completed the walk separately as Annabelle and Georgie were not so keen. We drove to some gorgeous coastal bays and rugged headlands as well as inland pools and falls. Our fond memories of Walpole will be those of lushness and wetness. We received a fair amount of rain during our two day stay here. (Life is so much harder in the van when wet, especially when we don’t have the annex up. We just can’t spread outside which we really need to be able to do with six!)

Fremantle WA (Oct - 2 days)

After a night in the caravan park near the airport we decided to spend two days in Fremantle as we hadn’t seen much of this end of Perth during our first stint here. We explored some of the historical parts of Fremantle and lunched by the sea. Our second evening we met up with some travelling friends who we met in Kings Canyon and travelled on and off with mostly in the North West of WA. They have just settled in Perth following their trip. It was wonderful to be reunited and the kids had a blast together! Hannah announced “see you in the morning!”, after many nights spent camping alongside one another previously. It was heartbreaking telling her that our next catch up with them would be a bit longer than one night’s sleep away.

Canberra ACT (Oct - 5 days)

Huh? Canberra….what’s this entry doing here in the midst of our WA story??? We actually had the privilege of flying from Perth back to Canberra to join Tim’s extended family in celebrating his mum’s 60th and cousin’s 30th birthdays. This was a surprise for the family who were convinced (due to our careful deterring) that we had already begun our journey eastward home. We drove back up the coast to Perth, left our van in a caravan park near the airport and then with the generous help of Tim’s grandfather flew to Canberra. The most economical way to achieve this for the six of us was to take the ‘redeye’ flight from Perth to Melbourne, departing at 12.10am! This was no easy feat getting four bleary eyed children onto the plane at this hour. We then had a two hour wait at Melbourne airport where we dozed on the airport chairs, before the second (much shorter flight) to Canberra. We arrived, picked up our hire car, checked in to our apartment and all had a sleep for an hour or so to cope with the sleep deprivation. This was all so very worth it when we got to see all the family later that day and were able to enjoy the surprise factor! The kids were so thrilled and excited to see their grandparents and cousins. We had a fabulous weekend spending time with various family members and celebrating two very special birthdays. To top off this memorable time gorgeous friends (the Reeves) from Sydney, visited Canberra for a night. It was extremely lovely catching up with them and their two kiddies. The only down point of our Canberra trip was an insidious tummy bug that spread through half of the 32 family members present! All but Hannah went down in our family. It was horrendous for about 48 hours. Consequently we saw less of Canberra this time than we have done previously, but Questacon, the Art Gallery and the new Glassworks did feature. It was a shame that our sickness limited our activities with family and friends somewhat. We actually tried to change our return flights, but were unable to do so without a hefty penalty. As a result a few of us flew back ‘home’ to Perth a little queasy. The return flight was considerably more pleasant, through the evening and had us tucked up in bed before midnight. Our five days in Canberra were all over too quickly, but it was certainly one of the highlights of the trip

After a spacious apartment it was mentally a bit challenging facing life in the confines of our van again, but this last leg of the trip has come around very quickly and each day will be precious as we begin our journey home.

Augusta WA (Oct - 1 day)

We enjoyed a day trip from Busselton down to Augusta, in the very corner of the country. We soaked up the calm protected side of Augusta eating our picnic lunch and playing by the sea. The water was pristine and the kids would have had a dip if it was a few degrees warmer. We then drove around to the wilder exposed side of the coast and had a look at the lighthouse and an old water wheel, before being driven back to the car by the freezing wind and oncoming rain.