Rocks, rocks and more rocks!!

So we climbed up and over the Wave Rock at Hyden and Bun reckoned he was 'underwhelmed' LOL  He said he expected from looking at the brochures that it was about a kilometre long and it was about 40-50 metres!

We were more impressed with some of the other rocks that we had already seen but he had a surf on it anyway.

This ski club lake is really out in the wheatbelt country!  Only 6 boats are allowed out at any one time and that would be a squeeze too.  I loved the toilet signs, inboard and outboard LOL

More rock climbing.....

The bike has been off the truck a few times too, it's lovely to be able to zip around easily sometimes and leave the truck hooked up.

The beach above was just east of Hopetoun, there are rocks along a section so it makes a real noise as the waves break.

While we were at Hopetoun, we found that the slide-out pantry had come loose from it's moorings so Bun did a repair job.  I think it had not been put in properly anyway as it seems to be working better than before.

As we left Hopetoun, we drove through Fitzgerald National Park on the way to Bremer Bay.

I'm going for the windswept look I think!  It's now nearly 3 months since a haircut and if I wasn't going to be home VERY soon, I swear I would have let Bun loose with the clippers before now!!

Just on dusk at Bremer Bay this kookaburra sat just near us.

We went for a drive to the local shops and discovered on arrival that we'd left the towel rack hanging off the back of the truck LOL   Gave us a good laugh anyway, Bun said he was giving it a blow dry!

After Bremer Bay, we took the scenic route to Albany.   On the way we called in to Millers Point and Cheynes Beach, a couple of places we could have stayed longer at.  Sometimes it's a pain having to meet a schedule :(

Albany is a very pretty spot with plenty of water views.  Having rung Liz and John (the couple that we met at Westonia) for a few clues on what things we should see, they invited us to camp out at their place.  They live on 100 acres a few kms out of town.   We had 3 great days there, doing the full-on tourist thing during the day and then spending the late afternoon into evening with them.  It's been wonderful when traveling to meet new people and find that you just click and have so much in common, John and Bun have very similar senses of humour!

We did the boardwalk around Mt Adelaide and were lucky enough to see this ship escorted through  the heads into port.  It was a Chinese supply ship coming in to stock up on fuel and supplies for the ships still out searching for the black box.

We also visited the old whaling station to see the history of the industry.

Urgh!! See what I mean about the hair??

Bun went on the Cheyne IV for a look around and for once, I got a photo of the front of him.  So often, I am trying to take and photo and he just walks away, the bugger!

Bun with Liz and John, I told them they had to make an appearance on the blog :)

After Albany, we had to go to through Denmark and onto Walpole as Bun had plans to do the Tree Top Walk.  Again, Bun's expectation of the walk was set a little too high?  He just said that maybe he expects all experiences to measure up to the Transformers Ride at Universal Studios??

We spent the night at Peaceful Bay, just east of Walpole.  

I think that Bigfoot was staying there too!

After a night at Pemberton where I had tea that consisted of 2 marron (cost $31!!) that are just like large yabbies, we went via the very winding scenic route to Greenbushes.  There was a free camp behind the sports ovals so that was a good spot.  We haven't done a lot of free camping so far this trip, first because of the heat, but more so now because there are towns and people everywhere.  We are hoping to do a lot more as we go north.

How's this for a great idea for a chandalier??  Plus you would always be able to find a glass for a drink!

Bun found a new girlfriend in Walpole :))   Zoom in on the photo because she is seriously scary LOL

In Pemberton, we went for a ride to look at the Gloucester Tree.  We couldn't believe that these days you would be able to climb this tree without real cages to 'keep you safe'!

We have been staying off the highways as much as possible so we can see more of the countryside. It makes the trip so much more interesting.  We are now at Binningup Beach and will drive up to Rockingham in the morning.  As it's now school holidays as well as the lead up to Easter and Anzac, we've stayed away from the coast the last couple of days and will be glad to be settled somewhere for that period.

In the last couple of days, I've been in contact with a lady from Murchison and we have somewhere to head when we return from SA.  She and her husband run a roadhouse/caravan park there.  We will be staying for a few weeks and helping out with whatever needs doing there.  It's nice to have something sorted as Bun has just started to get a bit 'toey' about not having something to do :)

Only 10 days now until we fly back into Adelaide so we're looking forward to see all the kids again!!!

Cheers

Anne

Back at the beach!

We spent another 10 days by the beach and thoroughly enjoyed our time at Dongara.  It's a really lovely little place.  We were able to walk nearly everywhere and also took the bike out a bit too.  Every morning we'd go for a long walk alongside the beach and then follow up with a surfing/boogie boarding session :)  I don't know if I mentioned that we got a boogie board for me to use and Bun said the kids would have been amazed to see me in the surf lol.

We did have a couple of days with drizzly weather but overall it was lovely and warm, if a bit humid sometimes.

There was one day that I didn't venture into the water as there were blue-bottle stingers floating around.  They were washed up on the beach over a few days so I was cautious.  As Bun said if anyone was going to get stung and have a bad reaction, it would be me!!

I tried taking some shots of the marina at night but I think I need a lot more practice.  It would probably help to use the timer on the camera so that I don't move it when pressing the button down!

We left Dongara on Monday morning and went through Mingenew and stayed at Morowa overnight. The photos below were in Coalseam Conservation Park.  We stopped for a walk around but decided that we would move on rather than stay with the flies overnight.

As we got out of the truck here, I spotted a HUGE monitar lizard going up the cliff at an amazing speed, considering the steepness of it!!!  I'm sure if Bun hadn't seen it too, he would have said I was dreaming.  He reckoned it was probably a couple of metres long!!

We drove alongside the rabbit proof fence for quite a while.

Bun told me to get on top of the truck for a better view...............

Not so sure about the better view??

We stayed overnight in Beacon, a very friendly little town.  The caravan park was lovely and so quiet...we were the only ones there :)

It was very cheap too, $20 for a site and they give you a $10 voucher to spend anywhere in the shire!!

Kara sent this photo, she's encouraging Kasiah to crawl :)

More of the DELICIOUS cinnamon donut bliss balls!! They really are amazing and actually good for you, got to love that :))

I worked out that we have been away for about 9 weeks now and in that time I have used a pan ONCE!!  Obviously we've used the BBQ but other than that, the Thermomix RULES!!

Sylvana, that one's for you hahahaha

I can't resist this one either!

For those people who've been reading this blog for a while....Jenny Schober found this little TROLL and sent me a picture hahahahaha

Apologies to any vegetarians but this made us laugh!

We climbed rocks a lot this week.  We've been at Beringbooding Rock and Elachbutting Rock amongst others.We had an overnight stay in Westonia and met a couple from Albany.  We'll probably try and catch up with them when we get down there as local knowledge is so good!

We went through Merredin and did some stocking up at the supermarket.  Bun said that it was a Walmart moment.....in fact it was probably a Walmart hour!!  There are some funny people in town :)

Although we met this beautiful boy!! He was so well behaved and just lay outside the shop until his  human came back, then he figured it was okay to come over and talk to us :)  He's a Bull Mastiff so I'm not sure if that's what Bronson (Megan's dog) is but he is enormous!

We stayed near Roe Dam last night and we are now at Wave Rock near Hyden.  We're doing a catchup on the mountain of washing this morning and as soon as it's all hung out, we'll head off and do some of the walks here.  Apparently it's spectacular at sunset and sunrise so that's what I'm aiming for.

We have been able to organise where we'll be over Easter, we will be at a park in Rockingham, just below Perth, from 16th-22nd.  Hopefully we will be catching up with David and Nat who are going to be in Perth leading up to Easter.  Also seeing Peter and Bev, cousins to Fi, as well as seeing Megan and getting to meet Bronson! Megan's not sure if her boyfriend, Shane, will be around, he works away.  We have to get contact numbers for Pip and Fletch and Max to see if they will be around while we're in town.

We have also booked in to a park close to the airport and are able to store vehicles there for $3 a night while we fly back to SA!!  That was a bargain find as most of the caravan parks charge about $40 a night for a site which would have made it costly. 

Once we get back from Winkie, we hope to start heading north as it will be getting quite cool by then and we all know Bun doesn't do cold very well.

I think the 3rd load of washing is ready to go on now so I'll disappear and do the chores....such a shame that there are always chores LOL

Cheers
Anne