Broome (Catching up with Grandma and Grandad)

Sunday 26 May 2013 - Sunday 2nd June 2013

When we arrived in Broome Grandma and Grandad were already there.  The kids hung out in their van for a little while and then we went across the road to Divers Tavern to watch the North Melbourne game.  Unfortunately North lost by one point so we didn’t really have a very happy Craig.

Steve, who we had met at Tom Price, organised a table at the Mangrove Hotel to watch Staircase  to the Moon.  As we had pre arranged this reunion in advance with many of the families we had met on the road we ended up having a table for ten adults and lots of kids.  We arrived around 4.00pm, just in time for happy hour where we were able to buy Corona and lime served in buckets of ice for $5 per  Corona.  We had a brilliant night catching up with all our new found friends that we had met at various points in our travels. 

 

 

 

Staircase to the moon                                                                               

 Mif, Michelle, Tash, Belinda and I had a girls day which involved an hour long massage followed by a trip to Matso's Brewery for lunch.   We were all very impressed with our massages - and were all super relaxed by the time we hit the brewery.  The food at the brewery was fantastic and we sampled a number of their speciality beers including their famous chilli beer. 

The boys got their turn and went on a fishing charter the next day where they travelled 40 miles out to sea.  The highlight for Craig was catching a Spanish Mackeral.  It was hard work though as the boys had to get their fish in quick to avoid them being eaten by sharks.  The Spaniard made for some tasty meals in the days to come.

 

We spent two nights catching up with friends over drinks and nibbles while we watched the sun set over Cable beach.  Adam, Kai and Grandma also took an afternoon camel ride along cable beach.

 

 

 

 Sunset at Cable Beach

 

 

 

 

 

Craig, Dad and I spent a day at the races where I was able to buy a bargain dress for $50 reduced from $180.  We spent the day with Nathan and Steph and Mif, Darren and the kids.  Afterwards Craig and I headed out on the town and got a late night pizza.

 

 

 

 

Eighty Mile Beach and Port Smith

Thursday 23 May 2013 - Sunday 26 May 2013

As we drove along the Shay Creek road we did not see another car for roughly 130km’s.  When we turned onto the Great Northern Highway we realised quite quickly it was important to have our CB radio on the truckie channel to stay safe, as there were so many road trains and wide loads that frequented this highway. 

We arrived at Eighty Mile Beach and set up at one of the many campsites in this huge van park. 

Eighty Mile van park

 

We took a walk onto the beach and the kids were amazed at all the huge sand dollars and shells that covered  almost all areas of the sand.  We watched the sunset and chatted to our new friend Mif who was from Ulladulla.

 

Sunset on Eighty Mile Beach

 

 

 

Early morning moon setting on Eighty Mile Beach

Fishing at Eighty Mile Beack involves waiting for the last 2 hours of the run in tide - something that most of the people staying there do.  Armed with a tide chart the boys set up their rods in preparation for fishing the next day.

Craig and Adam drove down the beach with high hopes of catching a fish seeing as this was a very popular fishing spot.  The younger boys and I walked down the beach for a couple of km’s to find them.  The wind was so strong I had sand blowing in my face the whole way. Unfortunately the wind was no good for fishing and there were no fish caught despite about 80-odd people peppering the water with juicy baits. 
 

That afternoon we went to Mif and Darren’s van to watch the AFL and Craig announced that he was going to go for a fish that night.  A few people told him not to bother but he did it anyway.  Although Craig did not catch anything that night the only other guy "silly enough" to fish at night managed to hook a 20 pound Jew fish.  He ended up giving Adam a few fillets as Adam had talked to him the day before asking him how his fishing was going.  It was such a generous gesture from a stranger and we enjoyed a beautiful feed that night.

 

We went around to say goodbye to Mif, Darren and their kids Archie and Rosie.  As they had packed up and were leaving the same time we decided to travel to Port Smith together.  After we set up at the van park we took a drive to the lagoon.  To get to the water we had to wade through lots of mud and the kids played “dodge the mud crubs”.

The next morning Mif made us all some scrumptious pancakes and afterwards we packed up to head to Broome.

 

 

Port Smith

Marble Bar

Wednesday 22nd May - Thursday 23rd May 2013

After being told by many a traveller that the Marble Bar pub was well worth a visit we decided we should put this place on our itinerary.  Marble Bar is also well known for it's extremely hot weather and set a world record of most consecutive days of  37.8 °C or above for 160 days from 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924. Due to Craig's interest in weather we also thought that this was  a good reason to visit.  We took a very scenic dirt track to Marble bar with many abandoned mines along the way and spectacular scenery of red mountain ranges and mounds of rock.  We stopped a few times to take in the scenery and snap a few shots.  We did not pass a single vehicle for the whole 150kms!
 

 

 We arrived at Marble Bar and had lunch at the pub where we met a couple of locals who were very inviting and happy to welcome visitors. The vibe was good so we set up at the local van park and walked back to the pub, which was only around the corner.  Kai enjoyed playing music on the juke box, Lachlan practiced his handstands inside the pub and Adam had a go at darts.  We chatted to a few locals (including the photo bomber below) and the local doctor.  Another told us the quickest way to get to Eighty Mile Beach. It was a lot more scenic than the 'blue road' through Port Headland and would cut off about 200km's of driving.   Interestingly the pub's chef was from Thailand and we were told that the Thai dishes were a specialty around these parts and we had to try them.  Craig had the Thai green chicken curry for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Price and Karijini National Park

Wednesday 15 May 2013 - Wednesday 22 May 2013

After Exmouth we were going to meet the Rippons at Cape Range.  After waking to a very rainy day and checking out the camping websites of Cape Range, to find that all the camping areas were full, we decided to head inland to enjoy some different scenery and definitely some less windy weather.

We drove to Tom Price, which is WA's highest town located 747 m above sea level. We met Bill, Sal and Bridget for lunch in the local shopping square and that night the boys met some new friends in the van park, Kai and his brother Finn. The next morning we met Kai and Finns parents, Steve and Lotcha and they invited us over for a cappucino.  Both families took a drive up the four wheel drive track of  Mount Nameless and enjoyed the view of the town and mines below.

At the top of Mt Nameless 

 
When we arrived at Karijini we visited the camp hosts who allocated us a spot in Kangaroo loop, they also gave the kids ranger activity books to complete so they could earn their junior ranger badge. When we got to our spot we recognised our neighbours van which belonged to Nathan and Steph, who we had met at a rest stop on the way to Tom Price.  That afternoon we took a walk to Circular Pool.  The walk was rated as a class 5 walk, which meant that some parts were very steep and rugged, and the boys coped extremely well. On the way we encountered many lizards which were basking in the afternoon sun. When we arrived at Circular pool we all enjoyed a very refreshing swim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Circular Pool

 

The next day Adam’s mate Ryan and his family arrived in Kangaroo loop and set up camp across from us.  We also caught up with Sal, Bill and Bridget again who were camped not too far from us.  We took a walk with Bridget to Fortescue Falls where  the kids had great fun sliding down the slippery slopes into the water.  That night we had a BBQ with Ryan and his family.

 

The kids checking out their walk from the top of the gorge

 



 

Sliding down the slopes of Fortescue

 



The next day the Rippons arrived and we took a walk along the bottom of the Gorge starting at Circular Pool through to  Fortescue falls  and ending up at Fern Pool.  The track along the gorge was a lovely shaded walk and we had a swim at all the stops along the way. 

 

The pool at the bottom of Fortescue falls

 

We took a drive out to Joffre Falls before attempting a very challenging walk to Handrail Pool.  Part of the walk required us all to swim a water crossing that was too deep to walk.  My kids were amazing and swam across with dad, whereas I attempted to scale the rock wall without falling in.  It would have been alot easier to swim but I am not a big fan of swimming in water where I cannot see what is below me.  We then had to scale a steep hand rail down the side of the waterfall to get to the pool.  Adam, Kai and Craig even went a little further and swam in the dark cave at the end of the walk.

As a few other families including Richard and Rachel and Steve and Lotcha were also camping at Karijini we all had a big group BBQ. We all brought along our meat and communal salads and had a wonderful time sharing our travelling stories.  When we left Karijini the kids become honorary Karijini junior rangers.

 

 

 

The kids table

 

 

 

 

 



Exmouth - Swimming with the Whale Sharks

Thurs 9 May to Wednesday 15 May

After two weeks of constant coastal winds and the one night of extreme stormy weather I decided that it was time to check into a van park to get out of the wind, do some washing and re-stock supplies.  The Rippons decided to stay at Warroora station and we moved on to the Big 4 at Exmouth.

When we arrived we saw a familiar tent camped next to us - our fellow Cub campers who we had met at Perlubie Beach - Bill, Sal and Bridget.  The boys had fun hanging out with Bridget and other friends they had made in the park.

As we spent mothers day in Exmouth the boys cooked me up a scumptious breakfast of eggs, hash browns and mushrooms.  Lachie and I also enjoyed a walk into town where we sampled a fresh mango slushie from the local health food shop.  The boys spent many a night in the camp kitchen watching the AFL with the other fans from around the country.

The boys cooking up a Mother's day breakfast

Our 'one night' van park stay turned into 6 as Craig and Adam decided that a trip to Exmouth wouldn't be complete without a swim with the whale sharks, and picked a day that the weather looked to be at its best. A couple that we met at the van park, Shane and Sarah, also came for the adventure.  According to the boys it was one of the most fantastic experiences of the trip so far.  The thrill of jumping into the water and watching the massive beasts gliding gracefully but quickly through the water was incredible.  Even though the sharks looked to be swimming effortlessly Craig and Adam had to snorkel furiously just to keep up.

Another bucket list item ticked, and it was time to move inland towards Tom Price.

Worroora Station

Wednesday 24 April 2013 - Thursday 9 May 2013

After a very hectic day of getting organised we finally left Canarvon and arrived at our next destination “Worroora Station”.  As we arrived late we did not know if we should visit the care takers before setting up camp but we decided that we should.  The residence caretakers Lesley and Ross  were fantastic and drove us to a camp spot behind the dunes.  We asked about camping on 14 mile beach and they told us that in a couple of days two spots would be available. 

The first day we had a swim down at the beach and we watched a fisherman catch a decent size Golden Travelly off the beach.  After swimming for a while the grey nomads told everyone to get out due to the resident Tiger Shark coming in for a shore visit.  The tiger shark also visited later on in the week while the kids were swimming and I very calmly got them out of the water.

The next day we got our camp spots on the beach where we were to spend the next two weeks.  We quickly met all our neighbours and we all got along extremely well.  The first night 3 of us girls sat on the beach and had a few drinks and eventually the boys and the rest of the neighbours joined us.  This was the start of unofficial sunset drinks and nibbles which continued every night for the next 2 weeks.  The kids also met many friends and had lots of fun playing secret kids clubs, doing artwork and running around the sand dunes.  Lachlan spent many hours practicing his handstands.

 

 

 

 

On a visit to Telstra Hill a message came through from Tammy to say that they missed us and would like to come camping with us at Warroora.  We arranged a beach camp site for them and gave them a great welcoming party when they arrived.  The next day was Russells birthday and had a camp oven cake and evening birthday drinks with the neighbourhood.

 

We took a day trip into Coral bay and luckily for us it must have been the pick of the days with pristine waters and no wind.  We all enjoyed a snorkel and the Spangled Emporer were swimming at our feet.  We also enjoyed lunch and refreshing ale at the local pub.  We watched the local fisherman fillet some huge red emporer that they had caught that day.

 

One day we went for a short drive to Turtle Rock - so named for obvious reasons.  The kids enjoyed seeing the turtles bobbing up from time to time.  We also snorkelled with the 3 huge turtles and some reef sharks at the lagoon.

 

 

Coral Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One night Ross and Lesley came to tell us all to batten down the hatches due to a big storm coming through the station that night.  We prepared ourselves as well as we could, although we really didn’t know what was to come.  Around 1.30 in the morning we woke to very destructive winds and rain battering in the windows.  The camper got fairly wet and we all ended up getting a very bad night sleep in mum and dad's bed.  It was actually quite scary but we had to be brave for the kids.  The next morning we watched a group of campers trying to winch in their boat which was being battered by the huge swells.  The boys also dug a trench to ensure the wave did not reach the camper trailers and wash everything away.

 

 

 

The torrentional Storm ...

 

 

Quobba station "The blowholes"

Thursday 18 April 2013 - Monday 22 April 2013

After a scrumptious lunch of fish and chips from the local Carnarvon takeaway the Elphicks headed to the Tammy and Russell's favourite camping spot "The Blowholes". This great little camp spot is located on Quobba Station at the southern end of the Ningaloo reef - about 70kms from Carnarvon. While we waited for the others to arrive we stopped to look at the blowholes although on this day the swell was down and they were quite tame.

Tammy and Russell arrived with their quad bike and fishing boat and we set up camp at the end of the beach shacks.  They were great little shacks - and for $500 a year you can have one of your own.  After we set up camp Craig, Brett and Russell headed out on the boat but due to wind and rough seas Craig spent most of the time with his head over the side. All that was caught was one spangled emperor, still a sought after table fish.

That night we sat around camp and took Russell's quad bike for a few joy rides.

We viewed the wreckage of the prawn trawler that foundered on the reef about 3 years ago.  The prawn trawler was worth over a million dollars and rumor has it that the crew were not very coherent when they came to grief.  Quobba is also home to the wreckage of the Kormoran and the HMAS Sydney from the battle that occurred in 1941.  We also saw some amazing fossils which had embedded themselves into the rocks.

 

 

One day we all went for a cruise south for some sand boarding and quad bike riding around the remote dunes.Tammy and I raced over the dunes on the quad bike while the others took the 4 wheel drives.  The boys had a go at sand boarding down the steep hills.  All three boys showed incredible balance and were able to stand up on the board all the way to the bottom of the hill.

 

 

Adam showing us his balancing skills

 

I had one of my first snorkels at the lagoon and what an amazing place to learn.  The water was very shallow but the fish and coral where everywhere and the colours of the fish were amazing.  If you looked carefully you could see some big groper under the rocks and the Rippons saw a reef shark.

 

We took a drive up to the lighthouse to look at the views below and on our way back we stopped at the blowholes which this time were raging.