WE ARE FINALLY HEADING NORTH

BUREKUP near Bunbury 12^th April – 16^th April

We were all excited for this was our first day of actually ofically heading North!

The morning we packed up from Flinders Bay Tom wasn’t feeling that well and he had started being sick, Gastro had found us! We headed up to Bunbury not sure where to stay, Kenny from Flinders Bay had offered us a camp site on his 15 acre, bush property which was just north of Bunbury and with Tom being sick we thought it easier to be away from the public toilets, so we gave Kenny a call.

Kenny was all good with that and met us later in the day at his property. While we were waiting to meet him we had a look around Bunbury at a few of the popular sites.

One of those is the old grain silos that have been turned into apartments. Kenny was telling us that apparently there was a ban on any new buildings being built over a certain height. So this builder decided to turn these old silos that stood on prime real estate into apartments.



The old silo's restored, the view is from the lookout.



Near the foreshore there is a lookout that gives you a 360 degree view of the town, it is quite a large area following the coast line and going inland. From here you can also see into the back yards of the large mansions built around the marina, they have no backyard!



From the lookout the lighthouse looks qhite big, when you drive past it would
only be about 15 meters tall!!




The lookout, we gave Tom a "piggy back" ride up and down.



 Having done some food shopping and had a quick look in one of the many shopping plaza’s we felt we really didn’t need to go back into Bunbury so we were grateful for the offer to be out of town and in the peace and quiet of a bush block.

We met Kenny at his block and he let us set up where we wanted. There was a small cottage house, that Kenny had only just moved into about three weeks ago, a large shed which we called the “man cave” because this is where Kenny used to live, two dams and three enormous pigs in a pen .The man cave had a bathroom and kitchen down one side, then in the main area along with the car, boat, bbq and tools, was the lounge, T.V., cabinets full of memorabilia, table and posters of Kenny’s favourite bands and his football team, Carlton. The boys thought this heaven, our first couch and T.V since we left home!

As you can see we set up next to the man cave and thoroughly enjoyed our time here.



Our set up next to the shed.



Inside the "Man Cave"



The Big Pigs..............



Blacky, a female.



Big Boy is the black and white, Miss Piggy the other.



You can see how big they are compared to Charlie. Charlie is holding his
breath because there was a rather strong odour around!!
The boys learnt the meanings behind many of the sayings like "you're room is like a pig sty!"



From Kenny’s we did a day drive around to Wellington Dam which is in the Wellington N.P. a very nice place. The dam itself was a credit to those who started building it back in 1931, taking 2 years to build about an 18 meter wall. All the stone needed for the wall was mined from nearby which became the quarry and the hardest thing for them was getting a machine that could crush the rock small enough and didn’t break down. When the dam was completed it was soon noted the demand for water was higher than the supply so in 1940 another meter was added and again this still was not high enough.1960 the wall was extended by 15 meters and now stands at 34 meters tall and 366 meters across. It fills in winter and flows down the Collie River.



The first view of  the Wellington Dam wall.




Looking across the wall, you can see how low the water is now
and this fills in winter and flows over, that is alot of rain!




This is the Quarry where they got all
the stone to build the wall, they now use it for doing absailing on.



After the dam we went in search of Gnomesville! What a weird, yet funny place to see. It isn’t a town, you just come across a whole heap (1000's) of gnomes sitting along the side of the road and they are spilling into the bush everywhere. Many people have heard of it so they bring along a gnome, write their name on it and just place it where they like. Others are groups and families who have gone to a lot of effort and made a collection and or stories or even a house for their gnomes. It really has to be seen to be believed.

 Gnomesville goes on..... for ever and ever it seems.



One of the better ones.



We had a B.B.Q. one night with Troy and Kayle coming up and camping the night.

Kenny’s mum and dad, Sandra and Michael, came up too, such a welcoming family and lovely people. We had such a great time staying at Kenny’s and we thank you all for making us feel so welcomed. Thanks Kenny for allowing Pete to get his tools out and do a few odd jobs for you, he enjoyed it! 

The other thing that happened was I turned 40 but we didn’t make a big thing of it. I will always remember the great meal of B.B.Q. garlic prawns, marron ( small freshwater crayfish) and those awesome chips cooked by Kenny in his “outback” fryer, they were delicious. Kenny also makes a fantastic pork sausage, like a chorizo, yummy!!!! ( We have nearly eaten all that you gave us). Lisa, Kenny, Sandra and Michael surprised me with birthday cards and Tatts scratches, the next morning which overwhelmed me so thank you;unfortunately we didn’t hit the jack pot but it was fun trying.



My 40th in the "Man Cave"




Kenny and Lisa 



Flinders Bay

Flinders Bay 5^th – 11^th April



Looking back at Flinders Bay. Where you can see the white sand
the C.P. is behind that.



Flinders Bay is a small suburb of Augusta and the place we had booked into to stay for the busy time of W.A’s Easter holidays.  Flinders Bay itself is only a C.P. and a few houses on a lovely small bay.  Augusta is the last town on the Blackwood River and is also where the river meets the ocean. The C.P. is right on the beach and it is a lovely spot to swim, fish, and snorkel and relax.



Looking back towards the pier from the C.P.



This is called Granny's Pool, it is only a short walk from the C.P.
We had a swim, snorkel and fish in here. 



There is a lovely bike ride from Finders Bay back along the Blackwood River into Augusta; we did this a few times. It’s a very scenic ride watching all the bird life, people fishing or canoeing and checking out the houses of those fortunate enough to own a property right on the water’s edge. The only catch with this mainly flat ride is the small sharp hill right at the end to get into town!

We were very lucky to get great neighbours, Troy, Jodie, Kenny, Lisa, 3 teenage girls and Kayle who was Tom’s age. Troy and Jodie are from Donnybrook and Kenny and Lisa from Collie and Burekup. Both families were a wealth of local knowledge about their own and surrounding towns. They were keen fishermen and very giving with their time and information about how to fish and what to use and they showed Pete how to fillet his fish. Late one afternoon Pete, Tom, Kenny, Troy and Kayle all went fishing just off the beach near the C.P., they fished for 2 hours and although they didn’t catch a lot it did Tom good to see how long it can take to get a fish sometimes!!

We all got to pat a sting ray because they hang around near the fish cleaning table at the beach.  We stood in water knee deep and really still and the rays come around your feet and you can touch them, someone told us they were Eagle Rays.

One morning we woke up and saw the day was looking good so we decided that we would go over to Hamelin Bay and check it out one last time, now we understand why people rave about it. It was calm and inviting and we got to see the huge sting rays that stay around the old pier. We didn’t really swim with them because they just do laps up and down the shore line checking things out. We stayed the whole day and we were surprised at the lack of people that seemed to be around even though the C.P. was full there as well.

Hamelin Bay on a good day, the colour of the water is now blue!

The not so busy beach, we had a great day here relaxing.

Easter Bunny found Tom and Charlie and even did a small treasure hunt around the camper.
 Troy next door  invited Tom and Charlie to do a treasure hunt with them as well, that was very kind of him.  We went for a drive to a camp ground called Alexandra Bridge which would be an absolute beautiful spot if it wasn’t full of campers. It is bushy and right on the Blackwood River with a boat ramp and swimming all at your front door. We then went around to East Augusta which is a small area of houses, a fire station, tennis courts and a pier. To live here you would need to own a boat and this would be your main source of transport because it is right across the river from Augusta and the shops.



This is from East Augusta on the Blackwood River, looking across to the jetty at Augusta.




From the same spot as before just  looking up the Blackwood River



At East Augusta we found a small track which led us to a lovely spot nearer the mouth of the river. From here you get a good view of Turners Point in Augusta, which is where we rode our bikes. A very pretty and busy spot. ( Sara they even have a Turners C.P.!)



The mouth of the river is down to the left.




This is looking to the right and back at Turner's Point.



We had to stay at Flinders Bay a bit longer than planned because we were waiting for our parcel; air bags for the rear suspension. So we had two days of not doing too much; Pete washed the car and I got the washing up to date. The bags arrived on a Wednesday, thanks Jay.  Pete had them in that day and we left the next.



Pete fitting the airbags, I actually think
he really like having something to do!




They are in!



It was a very nice spot to be stuck for Easter and the weather was very good to us. The small peaceful town would be a fisherman’s retirement dream.

Margaret River Region Part 2

HAMELIN BAY

We had 4 nights here and did not get close to going in the water. We had heard that Hamelin Bay was the place of a spectacular calm, blue bay where you swim amongst the sting rays and lay on the beach soaking up the sun!! Yeh right! We got sand blasted every time we went to look at the chopped up water where no sting ray wanted to be, it drizzled and was grey for the 4 days. We weren’t really worried because we knew we had all of Easter to come back and see it in the right condition and we did just that J(pictures next post).  With the weather being the way it was we did our cave and light house tours from here so we still had a great time.



Hamelin Bay's most pictured spot!!
This was taken on the last day we had at Hamelin and
this was the best day we had while camped here.



LAKES CAVE

This was our first cave and what a great introduction. This is an hour guided tour, our guide Jill was very informative and good with the kids. This cave is at the bottom of a 15 meter huge sink hole, which would have been the original roof of the cave millions of years ago. I like the story as to how this cave was found; in 1867 a 16 year old Francis Bussel, daughter of the Pioneer Alfred Bussel (which a lot of the towns and roads are named after) was out riding on her horse, she came across this huge sink hole, she made her way back home all excited and told her family about it. The next day she brought them out to have a look at it but couldn’t find it. 30 years later a group of men including Francis’s brother were out specifically looking for caves and they found it. Tim Connely was one of the men on this ride and he entered the cave by abseiling down the sink hole then using a lantern entered the cave through the same entrance we use today. 1901 the cave was opened to the public.

This cave is the deepest cave in the South West; it is 62 meters deep the chamber is 82 meters long and it constantly has water in it which is fed from an underground stream. With the cave being a “wet” cave the stalactites (hanging from the ceiling hanging on tight) and the stalagmites (on the ground growing up cause they might reach the ceiling) were glistening in the light giving the cave a very pretty look. The main feature of this cave is the ‘suspended table’ which is two large columns coming down from the ceiling which  are joined at the bottom by what they call a flow stone, the unique thing is that this is all suspended above water. With the lighting in the cave the reflection off the water gives such an amazing appearance flipping everything around and making the water look very deep when in fact it is only up to your knees.  We really enjoyed this cave and even the 400plus stairs you have to climb in and out of.



This is the way down to Lakes Cave entrance.




The suspended table. You can see the reflection
in the water and you do have to look hard to see that it
is actually  floating in the air.



MAMMOTH CAVE

This cave is a self guided tour which means you get a set of head phones and an MP3 player and as you go along you press the corresponding number on your player to hear about the area you are standing in; the boys liked this idea. This cave is a seasonal cave meaning it has a river through it that only runs in winter and the rest of the time it is very dry. The opening is large and easily accessible which meant many animals lived in it so they have found many fossils and bones dating back many years. There is a good example of one still in the wall to show you. At first you don’t think the cave is very big, but as you start walking in it just keeps on going and going and you go up quite high as well. The decorations are not as graceful as the Lake Cave but it does have a huge Shaw (like a red see through rippled flag hanging from the ceiling) hidden away down the back. We couldn’t get over the size of this cave.



All kitted up to go into Mammoth cave




Some of the "decorations" in the cave.




This gives you a good idea of how high you go up.




Can you see the crocodile!




The way out of the cave, lots more steps!



JEWEL CAVE

Another amazing and huge cave which you see by going on a tour which takes you about and hour and you climb 500 steps in total. This cave would be the most photographed and they are still doing a big upgrade with the lighting and entrance to the cave. This cave holds the second longest “straw” (a hollow 10mm round stalactite which has water dripping through it) in the world; this one is 5.4 meters long, and you have to see it to believe it, wow. There are many other amazing features in this cave and you can easily see why people come to see it. We were delighted having done the three caves it really gives you a great overall experience of the different types of “decorations” caves can have.



This is a column which has a Karri tree root winding down it, the root is 42 meters long.




This photo shows the "Bridal Veil" on the right with a huge amount of Flow stone beside it. It was called this because back in the day when there were no rules where to go, a lady actually got married here. When you look up in the middle of the photo it shows what they call the " Karri Tree Forest". Beside the Karri Tree forest you make out the platform where we come down from.




These are what they call the Organ Pipes.



CAPE LEEUWIN LIGHTHOUSE

This Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse on Australia mainland, it stands at 56 meters tall and was built in 1896. All the metal parts in the lighthouse; stairs, pipes, light workings etc were made in England and bought over and they are still the exact same items in use today. The same company that made the steel work bought the men over from England to build the lighthouse. They cut each stone by hand from a nearby bay now called Quarry Bay. Each stone is a different size and numbered in order. The walls at the bottom are about 5 stones thick and it tapers up to 2 stones thick at the top. We had a great day to visit the lighthouse; it was blowing 30 nautical knots and drizzling so when we went out to walk around the balcony we had to hold on tight.Our tour guide said that we are seeing the reason why the lighthouse was built when you look out at the choppy sea you cannot see where the reefs are and that is why there are many ship wrecks out at this point. It was only around 1996 that the lighthouse turned to using electricity for the light and only a few years before that when there was no longer a family living on site.  



Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse





The view from off the balcony looking back on the cottages and to the mainland.







Out on the balcony protected from the wind.









Inside going up the 300 steps!



  



View from another bay.

THE WATER WHEEL

There is a photo below explaining the "life" of this lovely old piece of history. It is situated on a beach just before you reach the lighthouse. 



Pretty self explanatory!



Margaret River Part 1

THE “MARGARET RIVER” REGION “PART 1”

28^TH MARCH -4^TH APRIL

When you think of W.A. one of the towns that you know the name of is Margaret River. This town is known for the wineries and tall trees but now the name has become a brand name and many small towns and beaches within about 30 km’s of the Margaret River town itself have taken on the label to try and get tourists to visit them. This entire region is part of the Cape to Cape area I have spoken about before on the west coast. The other huge attraction over in this region is the caves, of which there are many to explore if you want to keep putting your hand in your pocket. There are two main roads that run north / south, one called caves road and the other the Bussel HWY. Caves road is a must do drive and this may seem silly to say but to drive it going north and then south you will be amazed at the scenery. The amount of glamorous looking wineries, tourist attractions, caves and one very lovely forest to drive through really makes this road enjoyable and you don’t even go through Margaret River!

YALLINGUP  

We started up North and Yallingup was the first town in the region that we stayed at for two nights, it is a pretty little surfer’s village. Actually we set a record for ourselves staying here, it was only 26km from our last camp!!!  Here the weather was just starting to turn for us, the wind had picked up and become a westerly and the days were cloudy and cooler. We still managed to get a swim in each day while here; we just didn’t stay in the water to long. There is a lovely lagoon like area to swim in with the waves for the surfer’s just out over the reef. Kite surfing seemed to be the major sport here.



Sunset from our Camp at Yallingup




Looking down at the lagoon where we  swam at Yallingup.



PLACES WE CALLED IN AND HAD A LOOK AT

 Canal Rocks

We sat for ages at this place just watching the rough sea break over the rocks. They say on really calm days when there is no wind you can snorkel amongst the canal, it would be a beautiful place to see then as well.



The bridge to walk over the Canal.




Looking down the Canal out to sea where we watched
the waves crash over the rocks.





You can see how much water comes up over the rock compared
to the photo above. 



Prevelly

Prevelly is another small surfer’s village and is also the place where the Margaret River meets the ocean. The Margaret River fires that happened in December last year started near here and Prevelly was very lucky that they only lost a few homes.




The end of the Margaret River before it hits the sea with the
burnt dunes in the back ground.


Contos Spring

Conto itself is a really nice area where you can bush camp in dedicated bays. We did a little drive around and found this nice beach area called Conto Spring. We couldn’t find the actual spring itself, apparently it comes out of the cliff and runs into the sea, but it was fun rock hoping around.




The rocks we had fun climbing over at Conto's.



Ellensbrook Homestead

This is one of the first settlers homes built in the region in the 1800’s. The area was used to graze cattle on because it had its own natural spring. It was also one of the first places to start schooling aboriginal kids. When the father Allen died the daughters took over the home and maintained it for many more years to come, one of the daughters name was Ellen hence the name today. This building is now heritage listed and to go inside costs $10 a family or you could just wonder around the grounds. We got chatting to the young German man who lives on site with his wife and three young children. His job is to maintain the property and take your money.  They have only just started their one year contract and really love the area and people they meet, whenever he hears stories from locals he goes and researches about them to find out more. He told us that it was here that DEC ( department of conservation & environment) was doing the back burning that got out of control back in December. The one good thing to come out of it was that the fire has burnt a lot of the paperbark trees which are not native to the area so they are going to rip them out and replant with natives apparently. 



The old homestead







Parts of the garden with the old water wheel.





MARGARET RIVER TOWN

We thought it appropriate we stay in Margaret River itself.  I think there is only 2 C.P. in town but there is a stack of cabins, apartments and the like to stay in. Only in one of those  C.P.  could we set up our camper, and at that we had to straddle a brick pad. We went for a stroll down the town strip; I think you are safe if you keep your hands in your pockets. It is a nice town strip with plenty of variety in the shops including smaller versions of many of the well known stores.

We did a great 20km bike ride to Ten Mile Dam which follows along the Margaret River, through the bush, up and down some hills and over a small bridge. The Dam itself is part of Margaret Rivers’s town water supply and as the photo shows is quite low, they haven’t had a good rain fall here for quite some time.



On the bike ride to Ten Mile Dam




The Dam



We went into the tourist info centre and bought a family pass to do three cave tours and the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse all for $160 which is quite a saving compared to doing the caves individually and you have 7 days to use it.




One of the lovely forest drives through the Karri Trees.




Driving along the Cave's Road you come to this wonderful spot where
all you can see is Karri Trees, you look through the trunks and see only
more trunks, the photo does not capture the real beauty of this.