Homeward Bound

25/08/2016

We have spent the past 3 nights here at Hamelin Pool caravan park. Hamelin pool is about 140 km from Monkey Mia and about 100 km from Denham which is the gateway into monkey mia. We were going to base ourselves in Denham for our monkey mia visit, but when we got to Hamelin Pool decided to base here instead. Hamelin pool is built around the old telegraph repeater station and had everything we needed as in amenities and also meant we could leave the caravan here. Hamelin pool also sells a wickedly good hamburger. Hamelin Pool has one of the remaining active areas of Stromatolites. Stromatolites are according to some scientists the building origins of earths living creatures. Google them. So we did the tourist thing and walked the boardwalk as to get pictures of the stromatolites. Its been very windy here the past week or so and the temperatures are down so our trip into monkey mia was a little dampened by the cold. As they only allow a select few to feed the dolphins we decided just to watch from the jetty, and keep warm. I think they are doing the right thing by the dolphins and not making them reliant on humans for food. We were lucky to see 8 dolphins at one time and extremely lucky to see them at all, as they dont feed all day. We went to the cafe to get some food and only decided on buffet toast with various jams, spreads and tea. The girl and the menu didnt say dont take any bacon, so we swiped some bacon and baked beans and made sangers. Mmm free bacon, they were only gunna chuck it out. I think if monkey mia had no dolphins the the place would close. Because there are no guarantees on seeing dolphins a lot of people could go a long way and not see them, but thats life. We did some sight seeing back to Hamelin Pool, Eagle Bluff was spectacular, we didnt see any sharks and there are many more spots to stop along the way. We also managed to launch the kayaks in Little Lagoon for a paddle and a little fishing, again no luck here. On the way back to the caravan park I spotted a thorny devil lizard, so we stopped and took a few pictures. This was the first time ive held a real one, very prehistoric type of creature. Overall Hamelin Pool caravan park was just a great place to hole up for a while. We had been filling up our days with activities and felt that a rest stop was warranted.

29/08/2016

Tonight we are free camping at Billy Goat Bay, about 12 km south of Leeman. We had been staying at Lucie and Ken's place in Geraldton for the weekend, while I had the prado serviced at Geraldton toyota. We have done about 8000 km to date and this marks the half way stage of the trip based on distance. Lucie and Ken had taken us to a newish restaurant north of Geraldton called the Burnt Barrel. Yum yum wall to wall bbq food and heaps of people there to eat it, so the food must be good. And it certainly was, we made pigs of ourselves on bbq ribs, pulled pork sliders, charred rib ends, chicken wings, pork belly, coleslaw, bbq beans and some chips. Only problem was we shared the mega icecream doughnut sandwich desert between the four of us. Now I have a new desert to add to my recipes. We did the tourist bits like visit Greenough historic village, and Geraldton port and ate like kings for a few days. Really great to be able to shower in proper water. Bore water is not great for washing, the soaps dont work properly and its not good for washing hair. So we are now going to work our way into the south west but not before putting the kayaks in here. There are some tiny islands here, not far offshore and providing the wind stays down we should be able to do a beach launch and have another open water paddle to this trip. We have internet service here so I should be able to do another update tomorrow. See you then, Max

30/08/2016

We have spent a wonderful day here at Billy Goat Bay. After a cooked breakfast of chicken and egg toastie thingos, we launched the kayaks and paddled everywhere we could. The day started out with medium overcast but no wind. By about 8 am the sky started to clear and the temperature rose accordingly. I will have to check if what we paddled around were islands or just rocks but the water was perfect for kayaking. After we landed back at the launch point, i took a fishing rod back out for a while but the water is too cold for fish at the moment. So we tried to kayak down to Louise Point, but the underwater reefs were too dangerous with it being low tide. All in all a great holiday day spent doing holiday things, kayaking and eating. Tomorrow we move on, but not sure where. I will tell you all tomorrow.

31/08/2016

Cold wet night and we woke not long after dawn. We packed quickly and left Billy Goat Bay, hopefully not for the last time. It would be nice to revisit this part of australia. We drove down to Jurien Bay for breakfast, and stock up on a few supplies, mainly a water spray bottle for washing the kayaks down. Arriving at the Pinnacles and bugger, we could not stay because of the dogs. We turned around and took what pictures we could, but I suppose we were lucky as another five to ten minutes and a rain squall hit hard. We were gunna do the walk at the pinnacles and if we had we would have got drenched. So be it, we stopped at various lookouts and points of interest and using wikicamps found a van park in perth, where we can indulge in our pastimes. We should be able to get the kayaks in somewhere. We will stay here for three nights, give us time to meet up with aunt Barbara, one of dads sisters that he never knew about for 80 odd years. Its nice to be back in civilisation again, the nullabor should be a snap to cross now. We still have plenty of adventures and places to see so the trip is far from over. I probably wont do an update till we get down to Bunbury or Bussellton in a few days time. Stay tuned.

1/09/2016

We have kayaked on the Swan river, Perth WA. We had taken our kayaks on this trip as it gives us an independence to go and do things out of the ordinary. We launched the boats at Zephers cafe intending to paddle around till we found somewhere for food. So with the incoming tide we paddled towards perth. We hadn't been paddling long before we spotted dolphins swimming in the river. The smooth surface of the water allowed us to spot them reasonably easily but it is very elusive to get a good picture of them, as you have to balance the boat, paddle, dog, currents, and hopefully have the camera zoomed, focused and ready to go at the exact time the dolphin breaks the surface. We got some pics but it was better just to enjoy the moment. There were quite a lot of other kayakers on the water, but ours are the best looking kayaks. After a while of not finding a waterside cafe, we asked some fishing bods as to where we could find a cafe. Eventually we landed at Mosmans restaurant. Cathy did the bartering and a waiter brought us bread, chips and coffee to us as we sat on the riverbank. Mosmans is a pretty exclusive restaurant and we were extremely appreciative of the excellent service to two kayakers from central west NSW. As we paddled the river past the fancy mansions of the wealthy, it seems that the boats moored in the river rarely get used. Some of them are barely rust buckets and in very poor condition let alone sea worthy. We ate and were happy then had to paddle back. The wind had picked up a little and made for hard work, not quite the fremantle doctor but something along those lines. The boats handle well in wind and we only made one stop for a breather on the way back. With the boats back on the prado we ventured into Zephers for a snack, well more like lunch, Mosmans is fairly pricey and no egg and bacon rolls on the menu there. A really great day out on the Swan river, we paddled about 10 km and we hadnt done a paddle of that length for ages. We will sleep well tonight. More adventures tomorrow.

3/09/2016

Yesterday the 2/09/16 we visited dads sister in perth. Not sure now if he has two brothers or not. I think there will be some more family history researching. In the afternoon we went to Areluen Botanical Park. I know what your thinking, old fuddy duddies do things like that. But we had visited the more touristy bits of perth and fremantle before and this park is world class. The gardens/displays of flowers, plants and walkways were a relaxing way to spend the afternoon and apart from the areas around the cbd swan river precinct what else is there to take pictures of?Today we packed up and headed off towards Bunbury. Wikicamps didnt give us a dog friendly van park close to the water, so we just stopped there for lunch. The harbor foreshore is a great spot to stop, must be a hive of activity during peak season. After toasted lamb sangers for lunch we then headed off to Busselton for at least two nights. After talking to the van park lady we headed off to get some bait for fishing. Ha ha you are thinking, these two yobos couldnt catch a cold. We I have news for you, we both caught a legal eating size fish in about half hour. Cathy got a yellow fin bream and I got a king george whiting. Mmm pan fried and all eaten now, tomorrow we will catch more, I am confident, I will get more sinkers and hooks. We are going to put the kayaks in here if the wind stays down. Looks like a nice place for a paddle. Tomorrow we will go to the underwater observatory at the end of the Busselton jetty, should get some good pictures. If we find enough interests here we could stay another day. Busselton seems to be a popular place to be.

5/09/2016

Been a big two days. We decided to stay because when we woke the wind had dropped and the sea was like glass, so we booked ourselves on a tour of the jetty and the underwater observatory. This was a great tour and we got to see the various marine life through the glass windows that call the jetty home. Because the sea was calm we then decided to launch the kayaks. We paddled around the end of the jetty and then tried to catch a fish on the way back. No luck with the fish, but we then beached the kayaks and fronted up to the bar of the Goose restaurant and ordered a drink. Nice to sit here and reflect on a great paddle. Finishing up here I then went fishing about 5:30 and ended up with two Herring and a smallish Tailor but the locals said they were of legal size. On dark I started to hook bream, but none of legal size.

6/09/2016

Today we went on a whale watching tour. The tour was very good and we got to see some whales up close for a change. These are amazing creatures and seem to know when the boat was there, same as the dolphins, almost came running like dogs when they heard the noise of the boat engines. We have some good pictures and some not so good, but a lot of great memories. I had posted the notes for these two days earlier but they have been deleted some how, so this is a rewrite and I think I will need to fix it later, after I reread my trip notes.

6/09/2016

Where to start for today, well we went to Margaret River area for a Horse ride at Jesters Flat Equestrian centre. Before we arrived at the centre we visited the berry farm where a very nutritious breakfast of pancakes with mixed berries, cream and icecream, scones with jam and cream made for a healthy start to a great day out. Then to the ride, I had not ridden a orse at the trot before so under Emily " the instructor" and Cathy's expert guidance I learnt a little about trotting a orse before we set out for our hour trail ride. I must have been given a good orse as I didnt have to use threats of being a candidate for the glue factory to get it to go where I wanted and more importantly stop when I wanted. George, the orse and I got along well enough for this to be a really enjoyable ride and arriving back at the station found tea and bread with dipping stuff waiting for us. Really good value at $55 each for an hour ride. Then onto the Temper chocolate factory, we bought some! chocolate and they do have an enormous range of goodies to chose from. After leaving here we then drove on to Ellenbrook house where we walked to the waterfall, which is part of the cape to cape walk. By this time of the day the wind had risen appreciably and when we arrived back at the car decided to go back to Busselton so we could go out for dinner. A good idea as we chose going to the Ship Inn and we dined on steak, lobster and some rabbit tucker was mixed in as well. The "perfect" end to a great day, not yet. About 7ish the wind had picked up to 80kmh and we were taking a battering in the van. The wind rose even more and we decided to roll in the awning and pack any remaining stuff into the back of the car. I went back to sleep for a while and later that night Cathy and myself decided to walk to the jetty to witness the storm. Wow, watching the waves bashing the hell out of the shoreline was amazing, especially after we had glass smooth conditions from the same beach for our kayak paddle. We stayed for about 30mins then only had to lift our feet and the wind blew us back to the caravan. I dont know what time the storm let up, but by morning we decided to pack up and head south to Augusta.

7/09/2016

The wind was still blowing but enough to allow a quick pack up and departure from Busselton. A shame really as you could easily spent months here exploring and relaxing, a really great city. But as intrepid explorers/adventurers we pushed on to Augusta via Caves Road, and we stopped to explore Calgardup cave. This is controlled by parks and wildlife and we were equipped with helmets and torches for the 50min adventure and this is unguided. Really great to be able to explore by yourself and we had a great time here. We had also stopped at a winery and bought some wine, nice to have a momento. Onto Augusta and Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, the time by then was about 1 in the arvo, near the time the weather man said the second storm front would arrive and did it ever arrive with force. We got out of the car took the obligatory happy snaps then skedaddled back to Augusta and had a quick lunch. The heavens opened up and we hit the track with now Pemberton being the destination, hoping to escape the wind. So here we are in Pemberton cooking a nice winter style stew and we have tomorrow all planned, providing the rain stays away. If you ever get to western australia, drive the caves road from Busselton to Augusta and the detour on to Pemberton. The forrests of this area are truly impressive and irreplaceable, I can understand why the tree huggers get so passionate. We had stopped at Boranup gallery and they had some expensive furniture but when you see it you will understand. $33900 for a dining table, a single slab of timber, finished to perfection. Apparently they take 50 cuts of wood, air dried for three years then kiln dried for a single slab table top, only one makes it through without splitting. We have seen so many sights, I think I have missed mentioning so many. Bye for now.

8/09/2016

We decided to stay at Pemberton for another day. The drizzle had eased and we found heaps to do here. We decided first to walk to the Gloucester Tree about 3km out of town, so we set off with all we needed and the dogs. The Gloucester tree is one of three climbable trees in the area and is over 100 years old. We got to the tree ok had a quick look, decided not to climb it as it looked a bit dicey, then hot footed it back after we heard that no dogs were allowed. We had not seen a sign that said no dogs, just some reports from other visitors that the ranger said no dogs. We spoke to a local as we were leaving and she was walking her dog to the tree and said she does it all the time with no problems with the ranger. So we are not sure here on this issue, but there is definitely  no anti dog sign on the walking trail. Next we went on the local tramway ride from Pemberton to Warren Bridge. Takes just less than 2 hrs and the talk from the driver was most amusing, well to us it was, most of the other passengers wernt listening, nor able to understand. When we got back to the campground the local Ring Neck parrots or number 28 as they call them here had quickly worked out that people will feed you if you land on them. So we had to feed them some apples. pemberton is a great town and has heaps more attractions, bushwalking and the timber industry, but we only have three weeks left to complete the journey.

9/09/2016

Today we had an easy, but slightly wet pack up and headed off on the next part of the trip. The midpoint for today was the Valley of the Giants tree top walk near Nornalup. These trees are not the same variety as the Karri tree forests that we had been traveling through, and they only exist in this part of WA. The drizzle was still persisting but we managed to get our tree top walk and the partnering ground walk done without getting wet. Only a short trip today as we tried to time the best of the weather into Albany, so we stopped at a place called Peaceful Bay. What a great van park, 17 acres, park anywhere for power and light a camp fire in the supplied fire braziers. The parks down here are nearly empty, because its the low part of the season here. We couldn't put the kayaks in here, the coast is just too rough. So we lit our campfire got the best local fish of the entire trip and relaxed for the rest of the day. I think if there had been a small IGA market here we would have stayed another day. The fishing would have been great, judging by the fish in the cafe. During the night the drizzle increased and doused the fire, but by morning had ceased long enough for us to pack up and head off to Albany, not before Cathy purchased half a kilo of Kingfish fillets for dinner in Albany.

10/09/2016

Albany, I dont think Ive been here in fine weather. 3 times ive been here and its been drizzle each time. Lucky us we have the best site in this van park. We have the roll out awning facing the water and no one near for about 40 metres. The drive here was just on 100 km and we only stopped once to see a timber products gallery/shop. They had some nice stuff but a bit over priced, specially being laser cut as opposed to hand made. We were going to launch the kayaks here and paddle out to the wreck of the Cheynes2, an old whaling boat beached here during a storm many years ago. But its a bit cold and windy here and there is no protection over the open water paddle to the wreck. No dramas we will just visit the Natural Arch and the Gap on the south coast. Gee a 1.5 metre swell makes for some rough surf here. We got lots of pictures of the waves crashing over the rocky coast here. Hats off to the old sea farers who sailed here in days gone by, no lighting, poor maps and sail power. Getting smashed to bits on rocks and making it to shore, just to find no help anyway, brave men. We will stay here at least two days, there is plenty to do and see, then we will make a decision on when we are going to Hyden or wave rock.

11/09/2016

Woke up bout 3 in the morning to the faint sounds of magpies warbling. Not sure what they were doing at that time in the morning, maybe just got home from the magpie pub, off their guts and then like the local caravan park resident houso, decided to turn the stereo on and howl to the heavens. Anyway it was getting cold and the sound of drizzle on the roof of the van signalled the beginnings of a lousy day. And thats the way the day proceeded, some drizzle then a little sunshine, but the wind didnt let up all day. So no paddle the the Cheynes 2, or fishing. We did some touristy things, like gather some shells, visit the replica sail boat Amity, the boat shed market, and I say market cause there weren't many stalls there and we needed to do some grocery shopping for the move on to Hyden and wave rock. One small issue in WA is that not all supermarkets trade on sundays, like coles and woolies. The IGA does and thats were we replenished our food larder. If you ever go to Augusta IGA keep an eye out for roast pork roll. They sell it cooked for $18.99 a kg, but you have to put your name down to be assured of getting any. Its in with the cooked chicken warmer. So after looking at the weather forecast, we decided to head off the Hyden. At least when the wind is blowing we can bush walk.

12/09/2016

The magpies were at it again, but about 1 am, drunken birds. After another rough night we packed up and headed off the 350km to Hyden. I had not been to wave rock in my previous visits and was looking forward to seeing it. Driving along north through the wheat belt of south west WA I suppose theres not a great deal of sight seeing to do, but the drive is not boring and didnt seem like a laborious drive at all. The Stirling ranges are impressive but we couldnt get in with our van on. We arrived at wave rock van park, set up and then did a small walk to the top of wave rock and the wave walk as well. Hard to believe that in all the flat country side this rock has been left by the erosion of thousands of years. Its a really great view from the top and its not that dangerous a walk, even for oldies. Tomorrow we have some more walks planned and hopefully the wind will drop and the sun come back out to make for a great day out.

13/09/2016

About 16km north of wave rock is another rock called the "Humps", and while not as well known as wave rock it is well worth the visit. There is also aboriginal hand prints on the walls of "Mulkas cave". We ventured into mulkas cave and wondered how the prints had lasted all these years, some were fading badly probably due to the sun more than anything. Then we trekked to the summit of the Humps. Both walk or points of interest originate from the car park. As we walked the moderate incline to the summit we came across an echidna. He or she spooked real easy and hid in a depression in the rock. We waited some distance away, to se if the echidna would move on but it must have known we were still there, so we kept going. The 360 degree views from the top were spectacular and wave rock could be made out in the distance. The humps is a much different type of rock to wave rock and there were many other rock projections in the area, but the main two are wave rock and the humps. The trip back to the van park was short but we came across a stumpy tailed lizard, who looked like he had been in a fight, going by his nose. We carefully moved him off the road and took the usual pictures. The museum/cafe at the van park has a huge collection of toy soldiers 8000+ and other assorted military memorabilia. We could have stayed an extra day here but decided mainly due to the cold to move on to Esperance.

14/09/2016

No wind for the trip south, so a good day for driving. We were on the road early and thanks for a 4c a litre discount for staying at the van park, and we made good time. There is a lot of farm land here and we were in the midst of huge fields of canola and wheat. We are also in the middle of wild flower season and the country side is full of color due to the wildflowers. We stopped for lunch at Ravensthorpe and had a quick look at the wildflower show. Too many scientific names to remember, so we just call the flowers by the color, theres a red one and so forth. Not far down the road from Ravensthorpe, we stopped at the Rabbit Proof fence that stretched from near broome to west of esperance, about 3500km. Nice to see a relic from this era, but it could be promoted better. The only hold up for the day occurred 40km from Esperance when a road train rolled a trailer of wheat and the road crews where still cleaning up the mess. In nsw the road would have been closed for at least 12 hours, accident investigators photograph every grain of wheat, just to decide if to book the driver for neg driving. We were only stopped to 15mins, road crews most efficient. So here we are in esperance and hoping the weather stays good, enough for us to get the kayaks in the water.

15/09/2016

To day we completed our ninth paddle of the trip, Esperance bay. The wind and drizzle had been forecasted for the day, but the wind was to come out of the north, but only to about 20kmh. I had walked to the beach earlier in the morning and had been watching some dolphins feeding in the shallow waters. Noticing that the wind was slight and if we stuck close to shore we could get a paddle done. So we hurried and launched the kayaks through the surf and paddled off towards the harbour, where we hoped to encounter the dolphins. Keeping just behind the breakers allowed for a safe paddle down past the tanker jetty. The jetty is closed for repairs at the moment and looks like its coped some damage from recent storms. The seals that used to live under the jetty are no longer there. They have placed a new rock breakwater at the jetty start and this does not allow the seals to loiter under the jetty. We hadn't paddled far past the jetty when the scent of freshly brewed coffee caught our attention, over about 30 metres from shore. Like burly to fish, we were caught so we beached the kayaks and fronted up to the local coffee cat trailer for a mid paddle snack. Its great being able to do this, and the kayaks make so easy. Safely underway again, we didn't see the dolphins again so we changed direction and paddled back to an old jetty that has nearly been all washed away. Tough going with the wind out of the north and by the end my left arm was cramping having to paddle twice as hard to compensate for wind drift. It was interesting to watch the bulk carrier African Hornbill swing of the bow anchor due to changes in wind direction. All up about 6km and an absolute pleasure to kayak the clear blue waters of Esperance bay. After putting the kayaks back on the car top, we did a quick visit to the local car wash to rinse off the sand and salt, we have been using a 4litre pump up water sprayer to do the kayak and car roof clean, but the car wash is quicker. After a lunch of burgers, baked potatoes from the food trailers parked near the coffee vendor we went sight seeing to the "rotary" lookout, where I bumped into Scott who I met when I went to motogp. Seems he is one of two motorcycle police officers who were on traffic watch at the racetrack and I spoke to them when I entered the track on race day. He and his family are here on holiday. We were walking back to the car and Cathy disturbed a small snake on the pathway, not sure what brand but sneaky little thing was around. Have to keep a wary eye open from now on. We did a drive along the beach front to finish our short stay here in Esperance and with great reluctance tomorrow its time to move on. Its now time to start on the trip across the nullabor and we are going to do hopefully two free camps along the way. I am not sure on internet service but hopefully I will be able to post the updates. Bye for now, bigmacs.

16/09/2016

With reluctance we had to leave Esperance. We had been fortunate to get a good day for a kayak but during the night the wind turned back to the south and with the wind came drizzle. So we packed up and headed off, first to Esperance's life size replica of Stonehenge. Seem some people had the opportunity to buy some granite blocks and then decided to have them cut and placed to make a replica of englands Stonehenge. It was only $10 per person to have an unlimited walk around and take as many pictures as you want. As nobody know who, why or how the original was done any theory as to what is for exactly could be correct. The cruise ships are now starting to dock in Esperance so its becoming a tourist attraction that will be here for thousands of years. Next it was on to Norseman. We had befriended a lone traveller when we were at Billy Goat bay and we arranged to meet at Norseman for a cuppa. She was there with her mother heading for Adelaide and after the usual chin wag we had to head off again for our campsite at Fraser Range Station van park. Fraser range is off the Eyre hwy by about 2km, but it a really great place to stay. There are 4 walks to do, a cooked meal every night "friday night was fish night plus desert". Nestled back in a sort of valley made for a pleasant, friendly place to stay but we only had one night there, shame really as there was heaps more to do, even if just vegging out.

17/09/2016

It got cold during the night and we had the heater going trying to keep warm, even the two dogs were wanting a place in the bed. This made for an early get up and we were packed up and heading east towards Balladonia. We refuelled at Balladonia and then decided to get to Eucla near the WA SA border as we heard there were still lots of whales at Head of the Bight. Getting to Eucla meant that we would only have to go 200 km to get there tomorrow, then free camp somewhere closer to Ceduna the next day. So tonight we are here in Eucla, having just finished our evening meal and waiting to see if the weather holds so we can get most of tomorrow in looking for whales. Tomorrow is a bit saddening as tonight is our last night in WA. But this wont be our last trip to WA, but the next trip will be more specific as to where we go and how long we stay there. The recent rains have made for a great drive as everywhere is so green, and no I havnt been smoking anything, just the country side looks great. Hopefully we will have some great pictures for tomorrows update, but I am not sure on service for updates.

18/09/2016

After a great night at Eucla, we left early to get to head of the bight for some whale watching. I had been there on the motorbike some years ago, and only saw one whale about 2km away. This time there were heaps of whales, including a white calf. Apparently they get the rest of their coloring as they get older. As there was very little wind and at time bright sunshine we spent a few hours here and took heaps of pictures. We left there late as we also picked up 1 and a bit hours because we crossed back into SA. We had planned a camp oven dinner and needed to get to a free camp site where we could light a fire. We found a good sight about 75 km west of Yalata. There were already 4 to 5 vans parked here. We got a great spot under some trees and then proceeded to build a big campfire and cook our lamb shank dinner. Two other travellers from victoria Sandra and Peter wandered over to our camp and we spent a few hours talking to them, mainly about life on the road. They eventually went back to their van and the Cathy and myself sat up to past midnight, playing with the fire and just relaxing in one of the best nights of the trip. Only the stars, moon and campfire for light. Fonzie also decided that if he got on his dog bed next to the fire he would sit up past his bed time as well. Brave Cheeky Dogs. Not sure what time the fire went out but next morning the fire needed a relight.

19/09/2016

The wind had returned, blowing out of the north for a change. Some of the trees here that have a natural lean to the north from the constant southerlies were even starting to straighten up. It was only a short day today about 300km into Streaky bay. I remember from the bike trip, Blue Marsland telling me about the oysters here, and Cathy loves crumbed oysters. Arriving at the fruit fly checkpoint at Ceduna we discovered that Smokey Bay is the best for oysters, so that became our destination. The van parks are mostly empty this time of the year and we have found that prebooking is not essential. We se up the van on our site and then went and got some oysters. Horrid things but Cath likes em. We got a dozen and a shucking knife for $15. I went fishing on the jetty and Cath shucked her oysters ready for crumbing and cooking. As usual I didnt catch a fish, but had a sand crab tangle itself in my line so I ended up with one small crab. It was too small so I threw it back. Caths oysters were a success, I had pork and corn cobs and not long ago just after 8 tonight we watched the International Space Station as it passed over head. We have finished the most worrisome parts of the trip now and we should have an easy run home, but checking the weather maps it seems there are quite a few road closures and warnings due to flooding. Tomorrow we head of again, maybe Port Lincoln, I havnt been there so it should be an interesting day.

20/09/2016

Not much of an update for today. The wind picked up to about 40 to 50 kmh last night, lucky for us we were protected behind the camp kitchen and missed most of the blow. I was not sure what time it eased up, but it had almost stopped by sun up. By the time we got out on the road to Port Lincoln the wind had risen again and drizzle fell randomly all the way. We stopped at a few of the scenic points and took the usual pictures, but theres not much to talk about for todays drive. I went fishing on the jetty here at the van park, big mistake, it only took about twenty minutes out in the elements to freeze. Big wind chill factor and the temp was only about 10 degrees. They do catch a lot of squid down here and another bloke fishing off the jetty had caught one, but he didnt stay long fishing either, too cold he said, I agree.

21/09/2016

Ah, life on the road. Well we arnt living on the road, just driving along it. We are at a smallish place called Crystal Brook. The trucks use it as a short cut from Renmark to Port Augusta and the van park here is really good. Along side the river and under some truly magnificent red gums. We walked into the town centre and found a bakery and a butcher who sell their own brand of bacon. Fonz was beside himself on hearing this and I will have to share it with him and Jossie or he will rip my arms off. Todays journey was much the same as yesterday's, but a bit more scenic as the road from Port Lincoln follows close to the western shores of Spencer Gulf. Most of the towns along the way have a heavy association with grain growing. Silo's and freight terminals to feed into ship loading facilities at nearly each locality. We made good time to Port Augusta, our original destination but then decided to continue on and in hind sight this was a good choice. By 5:30 the park was full, I think because of its popularity. I am not sure when I will be back here, but I would stay here again. We are going into Adelaide tomorrow, to catch up with some friends and then visit a few museums. The trip has about a week to go and for now we will come back through victoria but that will depend on road conditions. Hard to believe not long ago we were in the pilbara and looking at the map thinking we have so far to go. Now we are nearly home and it would be so easy to turn around and go around again. We are learning heaps about caravanning around australia and will post the lessons on this site when this trip is over. One thing we did hear is that a lot of grey nomads call it the "sad trip", the one trip to do before you die. I think it would be a sad trip if you only did it once. I have been lucky and done it more than once, And with luck and good health many more trips are coming up. Hopefully Tasmania. More updates tomorrow.

22/09/2016

24/09/2016

25/09/2016

27/09/2016