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.

Busselton WA (Sept - 7 days)

We were really looking forward to exploring the south west of W.A. and it did not disappoint. We really enjoyed our time in Busselton which was our base for exploring this south west corner. Our camp was at a terrific family friendly park. We relished our lush grassy surroundings with plenty of in-house entertainment for the kids.

We were thrilled to catch up with Tim’s aunty Sheryl and her Tim who were holidaying in the region also. We shared some great times in the Margaret river area and playing down at the beach.

Some of the many highlights of our stay here included visiting a working sheep station where the children got to hand feed sheep and lambs with milk. They were also put to work during the shearing demonstration with Harrison holding up a hefty sheep while the girls had to sweep and pack some wool!

We visited Nilgi Caves – an underground network of fabulously impressive limestone caves. We had to duck and weave our way through these amazing underground caverns. At one point we opted for the ‘adventure route’ rather then the stairs and crawled our way along a dark narrow tunnel which was incredibly thrilling for the children (less so for Tim and Kate who found the space a little too tight!)

The dairy land and wine regions meeting the sea in the Margaret River were just beautiful. We tasted local delights of wine, cheese and chocolate, and with purchased supplies enjoyed a gorgeous picnic by the sea. We played on the shores, climbed rocky coastlines and enjoyed many a scenic lookout.

Despite the windy and average weather we managed a walk along the Busselton jetty. At 1800m it is the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere.

Our journey south continues onto Augusta and Albany.

Mandurah WA (Sept - 6 days)

Thinking we were heading out of the city into the countryside, we were surprised to find that Mandurah was really a satellite city of Perth (somewhat like Sydney’s Central Coast). With a population well exceeding that of Port Macquarie we were still surrounded by all the shops, conveniences etc. We stayed on the edge of town near the river, which sounds lovely but unfortunately for us they had just the day prior sprayed the river banks for mossies, stirring them up terribly! We did however find ourselves in one of the better park arrangements that we have encountered on the trip. We could spread out on a huge caravan site that was literally adjacent to the playground and jumping pillow. The kids were thrilled to have these at their doorstep. Georgie became impressively skilled at climbing the ladder to the top of the slide and whizzing down. Kate watched nervously at first as Georgie teetered at the top of the slide platform, but the big kids were never too far away, watching over their little sister. We visited the fascinating Abingdon Minature Village, marvelling at the perfect gardens housing old English model buildings. The kids excitedly whizzed through the garden mazes and we escaped the rain to the tea house for a scrumptious morning tea.

We took a day trip to Rockingham to visit Penguin and Seal Islands. It was a very short 5 minute ferry ride across to Penguin Island where we saw fairy penguins being hand fed. Ten are housed in a purpose built conservation hut on the island. They were adorable waddling from their little huts to the feeder for their lunch. There are some 1,200 that inhabit the island but are usually off in search of the fish in the day. We did spot two in little burrows as we walked across the island. We then took an additional ferry ride across a channel in the reef to Seal Island. On this particular drizzly day the wind and the waves were up. As we headed across the channel we faced a 4 metre swell which seemed much worse as the ferry had to negotiate the rolling waves side on. Kate was terrified but tried not to let on for the kids sake (as she mentally planned how two adults would save four kiddies, should we capsize!). The sea lions were stinky (said Harrison) and rolled belly up on the sea weedy shore. It was thrilling to see these creatures (as well as hundreds of pelicans, nesting seagulls and five skinks) on our adventures. We all loved the day!

Another outing we drove through the historic towns of Pinjarra and Dwellingup. The countryside was just stunning with green rolling hills, stony outcrops, streams, orchards, sheep etc. This was our coldest day on the trip so far. A chilly 11 degrees and very windy. We searched for a coffee venue and found ourselves at a little boutique winery serving coffee around a lovely fire. The kids sipped their hot chocolates happily and we even managed a five minute wine tasting! Such a different part of the trip compared to the dusty dry remote outback (which we did love!). Not until Perth did we seem to emerge from the dry landscape.

We really feel on the homeward stretch now which raises a mixture of emotions. One young man does tend to tear up at the thought of the trip coming to an end….

Perth WA (Sept - 7 days)

We had a fabulous time catching up with family while in Perth, this time Kate’s parents who had flown over from the Central Coast for a visit. They stayed in a cabin behind our van. The kids came and went from ‘our place’ to ‘Granny and Grandad’s’ with great delight. Georgie just toddled around and tapped on their door whenever she wished…very sweet!

We experienced our first real rain in Perth since the east coast. Initially a novelty this soon become a bit of a drag as we had wet bits everywhere and battled to dry our washing. We headed out whenever it wasn’t too wet. We loved strolling through picturesque Kings Park overlooking Perth and the Swan River. The kids really enjoyed visiting Scitech (a hands-on science exhibition) and discovering several of Perth’s many fantastic playgrounds. We sipped coffees and strolled through famous markets in Fremantle. The kids enjoyed a trip into the city with Granny and Grandad and Tim and Kate relished in a gorgeous dinner out at a winery in the Swan Valley one evening.

We had fun catching up with some old friends from Sydney days now living in Perth. We attended their church where Nigel is one of the pastors. All in all the time with family was just so wonderful, but we were feeling the itch to flee the ‘big smoke’ again. The traffic, noise, crowds and city pace was a little confronting after many months in small towns and often quite remote places.