Albany to Port Lincoln

Fitzgerald NP was as deserted as it was beautiful. It has stunning peaks, wild headlands and masses of wildflowers. The beaches are, of course, picture perfect white sand and turquoise water. We spotted a huge pod of 50+ dolphins showing off with back flips in the waves.






 

Continuing east through Hopetoun and on to Starvation Bay; an ominous name for a fisherman. With the wind coming from the south west the beach is sheltered but it is blowing straight at the headland. Pity, it looks fishy. Deep water and some safe rocks to perch on. With the girls collecting shells and a mind for adventure, I took the first born to the most likely spot and we cast out. 

From the first minute to the last the salmon kept on biting. Some days you just can’t lose and soon we were throwing them back having reached our bag limit. 15 fish landed made for plenty of filleting and few days of fish pasta, fish burgers and fish curry. Happy campers.

Moving on to the popular little town of Esperance, the sky starts to grey and the kids fall asleep reading to the sound of thunder. Kael and Omi have begun to read in bed with a torch while Eva nods off between them. It is hard to see the picturesque coastline of bald rock headlands and round islands through the drizzle; a day more suited to Op shops and card games. 

When the sun does appear, the wind remains. Weather like this can slow things down or leave you with the feeling that you have unfinished business when you leave. Thankfully, clear skies on our final morning allow us to appreciate some of WAs favourite beaches.

Just a few kilometres east of Esperance is Cape le Grand NP. It is a special place to camp with magical fine white sandy bays and that incredible clear water. The wet sand is like coconut cream; a most unusual sensation to hold in your hands.  Rounded domes of rock rise from the coastal heath and the islands of Archipeligo de Recherche litter the ocean. If the French were a little more practical they could have won the race to settle this lump of dirt and we could be part of Eurovision. Just imagine.

Our campsite has a great mix of kids playing together with some familiar faces. Plenty of playmates and a camp kitchen make all the difference when the weather turns sour. More thunderstorms and heavy rain through the night test out the canvas but we emerge unscathed. One night I threw a naan-a-thon for a few families with people rolling out their own breads.

Eva and I decided to invite a Mum and her 5yo son to join us for dinner. Francis must have enjoyed our company but not as much as Naomi enjoyed playing with Levi. He reminded her of her little cousin Atti and she wanted to spend every spare moment with him. She would race down after breakfast to knock on the window of their station wagon ready to climb trees and play games.

Driving out of Windy Always (WA) means negotiating the Great Aussie Bight, and what a bite it is. Instead of following the arcing coastline, the road is due north from Esperance then hangs a right at Norseman then it is due East. In one section the road continues dead straight for 90 miles. 

Faced with another night without showers and power our lunchtime stop turned into manna, with a shower and powerpoint right next to the playground.  Showered and powered we were ready to finish our 700km day with a free camp. A storm rumbled in the distance as we ate dinner.

The Nullabor is anything but plain. The landscape changes regularly as the kilometres tick away. 

There are glimpses of the stretches of sheer cliffs that make up the Bight.

Our next stop is Eucla, a town disguised as a caravan park on the ridge overlooking the Southern Ocean. As we cooked dinner on the BBQ, a storm cell moved in from the NW and hit us with fierce winds and rain. As I clung to the awning it became clear I was fighting out of my weight division and I scrambled to drop the tent and peg everything down. After 20 minutes of fury the storm moved on. Unlike most of the dome tents in WA schoolies week, we survived.

More serene surrounds greeted us at the sleepy fishing village of Fowlers Bay. Our introduction to the Ayre Peninsula told us every we needed to know about the area; sheep, wheat, fish. Sounds like my kind of restaurant. Fowlers sits behind the sand dunes with a jetty stretching out into the bay. It’s too hot, too dry and too far from anywhere to warrant more than 20 houses.

Kael and I watched huge Kingfish swim by the end of the jetty. In our attempt to catch the appropriate bait we had a squid snatched from our clutches. Kael lured the squid in close as I got the squid jig out when a mystery fisherman waltzed down and hooked it before our eyes. The swine. It was the last squid seen for 3 days.

Dropping the tyre pressure we attempted the dune climb and spent the afternoon driving on the beach. Naomi again became besotted with one of our neighbours, this time a local dog called Brutus. The kids are still getting the hang of dogs but Brutus was an instant playmate.

Skipping plenty, we stopped at Streaky Bay and Sheringa Beach for a night each with our eyes fixed on Coffin Bay and Port Lincoln for Naomi’s birthday. This is where the fishing industry starts to fire up with commercial fleets harvesting snapper, kingfish, tuna, lobster, abalone and pilchards. Bluefin tuna are penned in the harbour at Port Lincoln. Mussels and oysters complete the wedding feast.

The estuary of Coffin Bay is a huge fish nursery with picturesque mountains rolling down to the waterways. The town guards the entrance to the National park with sheltered beaches in the bay and sandy surf beaches of the Southern Ocean.

I took Kael and a friend of his for a morning fishing trip down at the jetty. As we arrived a Sardine trawler pulled up with the evening catch of 4000kg. Kael had introduced himself to the crew the day before (surprise, surprise) and he returned from watching them unload with a big bag of Pilchards. For the next 2 hour we had the kind of fishing that you see on fishing shows. Cast after cast we pulled in juvenile salmon and herring. 

Naomi even managed to snare 2 of the prized King George Whiting. To add to the thrill, you had to race to land your fish before a cormorant wrestled it from your line. Now that’s what I call fishing.

Port Lincoln proved to be a great little stop for us. Caravan park on the water and plenty of options for Omi’s birthday. There had been a lot of anticipation building for the big day. We kicked off with special breakfast and some presents.

A visit to a local animal park was a real hit. No surprise that holding the baby guinea pigs trumped the farm animals, bird aviary, even patting the koala. 


Afternoon birthday cake was a creation of the birthday girl herself.

The birth day was complete with dinner at a local seafood restaurant. Quite a day and worthy celebration of our little 7yo.  

With a jetty a mere 100 steps from our camper we set out each night to catch some squid. All 3 kids discovered a new favourite bbq food with a few of the little inkers making it onto our dinner menu.

A day trip into Lincoln NP concluded our time in PL. The Eyre Penninsula has turned out to be a beautiful destination worthy of a trip in itself. Adelaide is waiting for us just a days drive up through Port Augusta then down the other side of the gulf. Time to check out the capital.

Pemberton to Albany

Last minute booking saw us searching for our next holiday home in Quinninup. As it turned out, the little timber mill cottage was straight out of Lissa’s dream home catalogue. Timber cladding, woodfire, cute bedrooms and a bread-machine to start the day in style, Splendid Wrens to greet you in the backyard. Wow, what a winner.

With clear skies we set out towards Manjimup. First stop was the Diamond tree; one of 3 fire towers now open for tourists. Climbing up the metal spikes  became a boys activity with 3 generations of Harris men reaching the top platform

Above the surrounding trees at a height of 60m we had quite a view but the thrill was in the climb. The girls managed to reach the halfway platform, a feat in itself.

Manjimup remains in the thick of the timber industry and seems to be flourishing. Hardwood plantations abound along with trucks laden with freshly cut logs. A walk around the Timber Museum grounds gives a view into the early years when big tree were brought down, transported and processed with the most rudimentary equipment. Hard work for hard men. It’s hard to imagine a modern Australian lasting very long in such a harsh world even if they snuck an ipod into the time machine.

Heading south on Day 2 to the sleepy holiday shacks of Windy harbour we got a glimpse of the Great southern coastline. The heavy wooded forests vanish, becoming low swampy marshland and then sand dunes.

Northcliffe offers a sculpture walk through the bushland with accompanying audio recordings of the artist’s reflections.  

Our final day with Nanny and Big Pop was a wet one. All aboard the Pemberton Tram for a trip through the Karri forest. 

Our guide informed us that Pemberton is home to the largest hard wood timber mill in the southern hemisphere. This may be the only fact that he managed to complete. In his anxiety to share all his knowledge, he skipped through information like a scratched CD. He was a classic case of a nerd with ADD; what grownups call a “character”.

With our guests and their credit card heading home, we hitched up our trailer ready for the home stretch. Only 5000km from home, looks like we will beat Santa.

The weather is fine and it’s hard not to enjoy coastline like this. Walpole is the first sign of civilisation as you swing down around the SW corner. It is the wet end of the state, with thick forests drinking deeply or lush pasture where trees once stood. It is a picturesque place which would be carved up by developers,  if only they could it move towards the rest of the world.

Walpole sits on the edge of the tea coloured waters of Nornalup inlet. Up the road is the Valley of the Giants tree top walk. Those who didn’t fancy clinging to the metal spikes and scaling a 60m tree in Pemberton get their chance to clear the canopy on a suspended walkway. I found the walk to be much more enjoyable than I expected. 

The drive continues through the old growth forests with stops at the Tingle Trees. These giants flare out at the base of the trunk to be up to 20m in diameter.

The tourist trail continues along the southern coast with more wineries, gourmet foods and galleries around Denmark. Scenic hilltop farmland with views to the ocean. Beautiful, but no place for the budget conscious. Our destination, Parry Beach is certainly basic but who can resist a beachside campspot. 

The water nearby was shallow and calm but we managed to find a spot to fish and we set about catching herring for our next fishing expedition. Eva and I had our own little session. Fishing is a mandatory pastime in our family. 

It’s what separates us from the beasts.

Elephant Rocks and Green Pool lie at the other end of the beach from Parrys. Beautiful scenery.

The harbour at Albany must have just cried out to the early explorers to be settled. The coastline is magnificient, bays, islands and peninsula at every turn. To me, I see fishing spots for all conditions.

The southern peninsula displays the deep water power of the Southern Ocean and the sheltered bays inside the Harbour. Crystal clear water and white sand allow you to see straight to the bottom.

Up until 1978, the local economy grew from the whaling station inside the bay. The site is now a museum detailing the history of whaling in the area. It is a gruesome business combining the roughest tasks of sailing and abattoir work. 

All this danger and carnage produced oil for such luxuries as lipstick, margarine, leather tanning, watch gear oil and automatic transmission oil. The whale skeletons themselves are mind boggling. The Blue Whale has a tongue the size of an African Bull Elephant. Cop that!

 It’s a hypocritical world. After sitting through a video presentation detailing the danger of shark overfishing, we noticed that the onsite café listed “Bronze Whaler” as its fish of the day. How Australian.

I was expecting a few more people in such a beautiful part of Australia as Albany. It is testament to the remoteness of the state that even in the temperate climate of the South, there are no real cities.

North of Albany is Mt Barker and The Porongurup Range. The ancient mountain island is covered in Karri forest and the view from the granite skywalk on top of Castle Rock shows farmland and plantation timber all the way to the coast.

We could easily spend a month in Albany, but in the name of progress and economy we push east stopping at Cape Riche for some beach side camping. These $10 a night beach camps suit us to a tee. 

Perth to Augusta

Perth has its own “central coast” in the towns of Rockingham and Mandurah. No, I don’t mean a land of salt water bogans, although I’m sure there are plenty of them. (Sorry Sare. I love Gosford and all the shanty towns up your way). Packed with a cashed up mix of retirees and commuters the suburbs are bursting at the seams. Just like Perth, everyone gets a sea breeze. You get the feeling that one big wave could moisten the carpets of millions.

A fellow chiro and friend from Uni days has settled in Mandurah. Brett and Kim kindly offered put us up on our visit. That’s right, a real house with a roof and all. Kael bunked down with 9 year old Kylan and the girls enjoyed handling the pet rats.

With the imminent arrival of Nanny and Big Pop we set up a rendezvous in Rockingham. It was a buzz for the kids to see their grandparents after 5 months away. With the kids buzzing with excitement we took our lunch on the short ferry trip across to Penguin Island. Although home to a colony of Little or Fairy Penguins, the island is dominated by nesting Silver Gulls and the impressive King Skink. Both penguin parents spend their day hunting, only returning after sunset to feed the waiting chicks.

We were informed that our best chance to spot a resident penguin was at the feeding demonstration, but eagle eyed Lissa managed to spot 2 babies sitting patiently in their nests. Naomi also spied a large Sea lion lazing under a rock ledge.

Our first 3 nights were spent in Bunbury where we had booked a cabin along side our tent site. With overcast skies and a bit of rain the extra kitchen space and beds came in handy. Bunbury is similar in size and appearance to Port Macquarie. Nice enough, probably very liveable, but a little low on the wow factor. A day trip to Donnybrook is popular with families to tackle the giant free playground.

Moving further south to Busselton we made a strategic move into a holiday house on the Abbey Beach. It turned out to be a great move with space to spread out and all the mod cons we have done without. Ping pong and toys in the back room were a real bonus. The kids devoured the lego and Kael flexed his competitive muscles playing cards and kicking the footy with Big Pop. 

Busselton seemed like a nice place with a huge jetty reaching into the Bay.

From Abbey Beach we made day trips down into the Margaret River region to gorge ourselves at the chocolate factory, watch the sheep being milked for the cheese maker, sample some locally made icecream, buy bread from the woodfired bakery. None of these activities were approved by weight watchers.

The maze and puzzle centre turned out to be a great place for inclement weather. The weather seemed to change every 10 minutes with rain clouds blown up from the southwest.

Dunsborough was our chance to chase a whale aboard one of the whale watching cruises. Our Skipper managed to track down a Humpback mother and her baby, as well as 2 brief Blue Whale sightings. There may be as few as 5000 Blue whales left, so it was quite a sight to see the gigantic creatures (for some of us anyway).

The coastline around Margaret river is wild and rugged. We made many scenic detours to examine the beaches and headlands. No signs of the famous swell as the ocean was blown out and messy. The lighthouse at Augusta marks the meeting point of the Southern and Indian Oceans. 

From this SW corner, everything now will be to the east. 

Kids Journal Entries

Kael

Kael

Naomi

Naomi

Perth minus Mum

First impressions of our mum-less home were not favourable. No pool, no playground, no kids; rather Spartan. Not so much a campground as a retirement village. But as they say: Never judge a retirement village by its toy room. They also say: If the dentures fit, wear them. With most of our neighbours we had a monopoly on the toilet block and camp kitchen. 

Each afternoon at dusk the resident Bandicoots would emerge from the sand dunes on the hunt for food scraps. There are dozens of species of little marsupials which have eluded us on our travels, so it was a buzz to have the little critters sniffing around the tent.

When Dads are in charge, stuff happens. We do stuff. Not so much house work, just stuff. Get out early, get out often. It’s a philosophy that may end in bankruptcy and residential squalor if it was allowed to continue for more than a few weeks. But, let’s face it, who would be crazy enough to leave their children with their husband for that long? Exercising my autonomy early we set the controls for the heart of Perth city with a trip Scitech: A place where kids rub shoulders with nerds in the name of Science. Where science nerd Dads go, even without their kids. If only my University physics classes were held here, it may not have taken me 6 years to graduate.

Sunday in Perth saw us team up with friends from Uni days at their church and then lunch by the river.

Big city playgrounds are always worth a look. A bit of free entertainment at the expense of the local tax payers never fails. Perth has Kings Park with it’s views of the skyline. Sadly, the much hyped park with the volcano proved to be closed; something about a lava refill.

The mint is worth a look if just for the gold pouring demonstration. Heating a gold bar in the furnace and pouring the glowing red liquid from the crucible to the mould, then watching return to solid gold. I got me a little case of gold fever just watching. According to the scales in the museum, the combined current value of the kids is just under $3 million. I think I’ll wait a year or 2 before I cash them in.

After possibly one of my favourite Dad weeks ever we excitedly drove to the airport to collect our little jet setting Mummy. With Mum safely back in the nest we sampled the delights of Cottesloe Beach, Fremantle and the city centre before exiting the big smoke.