WEEKS 18 -20 16 Sept - 3 October

A short drive down the road bought us to one of our very favourite places, Coral Bay. The usual domestic chores needed to be done, sweeping, washing etc. The bore water here leaves a lot to be desired so hair washing was definitely out. It is far better to look like a scrag (think Phyllis Diller at her most outrageous) than put that crappy water in your hair. We would have liked to go out in a boat to snorkel on the outer reef, but all boats were booked fully for the two days we were there. Eventually we made our way to the beach where Stephen slept the rest of the day away (trust me, its not an unusual occurrence when beach meets Stephen). I went for a short snorkel out to look at the coral but its a bit spooky doing it on your own. Saw some lovely fishies but the coral is mainly brown or purple, not a great array of colour. Before dinner we went and had a quick drink at the pub where we had a hard time getting a seat just to have a drink. Nice meals and great atmosphere makes for lots of people and a good income for the owners. It was very windy the next day so we had a sleep in (just what S needed!!) then we went out to the point for a walk to check out the big waves crashing into the Ningaloo Reef. We went for a snorkel in the afternoon then out to one of the 3 places to eat in Coral Bay. We had a 7pm booking and we were the last to be served, again confirming that people go to bed very early over here.

Saturday 18th we arrived in Carnarvon after a long day in the car. We had the pleasure of listening to Sabrina Hahn on the Sat morning ABC gardening show while travelling. She’s a very funny bird and Stephen has taken a fancy to her. Her laugh sounds like that of the wicked witch of the west but she knows her plants. We did the rounds of the fruit and veggie plantations in Carnarvan and picked up some lovely produce. The campground we were staying at came complete with a drunk creepy cyclist who was camping in a small tent. Don’t know how he was going to ride without a massive hangover the next day but he was up and on his way around the same time we left. The things you see!!

Sunday we were off to Mullewa and our first day on the Wildflower Way. The WA wildflowers have been reported to being spectacular this year as they have had a significant amount of rain. It was a long drive listening to that wanker Macca yet again but we were gifted with loads of wildflowers along the roadsides. We could only get one night in Mullewa which was a shame as it is a lovely council run park with great facilities. After setting up we drove to Pindar to see the ‘famous’ wreath flowers. As the sun was going down we headed back to Mullewa for dinner. The caravan park had entertainment that night, a singer and a poet. We sat outside our caravan and listened to the very talented singer and we were far enough away that we couldn’t hear the dreadful poet. We sat back for the rest of the evening and watched Ollie Wines take out the Brownlow.

We moved onto Mingenew after a short drive and stopped to fill up with petrol. Stephen asked if there was a barber in town, no, but there was a young lady who advertises and will come to your van, so I promptly rang and made an appointment for Stephen tomorrow as he was feeling very fluffy, we won’t mention Phyllis. The next morning at 9.30am Grace and 6 month old Annie arrived to cut Stephen’s hair. I got to have cuddles while Stephen got trimmed up. Grace also ‘fixed’ my Broome haircut that I had been less than happy with. She wanted $20 for payment to which I laughed and told her she didn’t make a very good business woman. We spent the rest of the day at Coldseam, Canna and Depot Hill exploring the beautiful wildflowers. Some great photo opportunities along the way which you probably won’t see as you know who still hasn’t got his act together to post any.

Another change in the planning as we again headed to the coast, too many days without our feet in the water. We found a little town called Green Head on the coast with a CP right on the beachfront. A dip in the ocean for Stephen and a lie on the sand for me. There were a group of over 50 cyclists at the CP who had ridden from Mandurah up through the wildflower towns to Green Head. It was their final day on the bike. The following day we went for a drive to Milligan’s, no not Gilligan’s, Island and drove onto the beach. We sat on our chairs on the beach for all of 5 minutes before deciding it was too windy and got back in the car. We walked up the sand dunes and I had a sudden urge to sit on a piece of plastic and race down to the bottom but fortunately we didn’t have any plastic. Later that afternoon I had a rare occasion when I had internet access so as one does, I checked on facebook to see what was happening. I noticed my wandering cousin Lorraine and her husband Brent were at Sandy Cape, a mere 15 minutes away from us. We jumped in the car and had a lovely afternoon tea with them. We also discovered Sandy Cape was a lot nicer than where we were. Next time we’ll know better. Back to our van then off for dinner of Dhufish and chips in Leeman. Yummy!!

Perth, here we come. After fighting our way through suburbs once again, lights at intersections, freeways, pedestrians etc we made it to our friends Kathy and John’s in the lovely suburb of Doubleview overlooking the city of Perth. Our first night was filled with catching up, drinking, eating, drinking then more catching up and drinking. We went to bed at midnight about 4 hours after our normal bed time. Saturday morning we drove with them to Kings Park where we spent a couple of hours walking around through the flowers and plants. We were also treated to a 21 gun salute from the army as it was the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in Perth. Home for a quick bite then on the bus to the AFL grandfinal between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs. The atmosphere before the game was great with everyone decked out in blue and red or red, white and blue. There is no parking at Optus Stadium so everyone uses the free public train or bus services. Worked beautifully, I think a few of the bigger stadiums could learn from this arrangement. We walked past the people queueing for merchandise which was incredibly long. ‘Fan for a day’ seemed to be the way people were going. The demon supporters far outnumbered the doggies supporters. We met up with Bob and Robyn for a drink before the game. We had met them in Broome and they had flown from Adelaide for the game. Bob is an avid Bulldogs supporter. Our seats were on the 5th level but weren’t so high that we didn’t have a great view. We were sitting in a Bulldogs area except for the two idiots behind us who were decked out in full Eagles attire. Boooo!! The pregame entertainment went off with a bang, literally, and the stadium was filled with smoke meaning we were unable to see the entertainers. Everyone knows what happened so I won’t go into that but we had a good day even if we were barracking for the Dogs. Our opinion on the atmosphere for the day, it lacked passion. When the final siren sounded everyone got on their train or bus and went home. There was no singing as the crowd moved along, an eerie silence prevailed. Weird!! Don’t get me wrong, it was an enjoyable day and the stadium was great but there was just …. blah. Home to Kathy and John for more chat and drinking. Another late night. Sunday Stephen went to Bunnings, Mitre 10, Aldi or any place else he could find to browse away from me. Kathy and I dragged my Thermomix up from the van and made cumquat marmalade. We went to the Karrinyup Golf Club for a very nice lunch. There was no pause in the conversation for the weekend but we did go to bed early on the last night. I could say it was because we had an earlyish start on Monday, but it was really that it was a long time since we had drunk that much and we were knackered.

Monday we once again braved the suburbs of Perth before finally making it to the countryside and a lovely drive to Westonia, midway between Perth and Kalgoolie. It was the first time it really felt like we were heading home. Westonia is a quaint little town with a recreated main street from the early 1900s. We had a lovely meal at the pub which was obviously owned by a Fremantle supporter as there was Docker memorabilia everywhere. I was shocked that Fremantle would actually have memorabilia!!! We spent our time here exploring Baladjie Rock and Lake reserve where we climbed the rock to the top for a wonderful view over the lake and surrounds, visiting Sandford Rock birdhide, where we struggled to see a single bird then back to the council run CP where we were having a very pleasant stay. We did happen to find a tiny native orchid (we think) after I trampled about a dozen of them.

The next 3 nights were spent at 10 Mile Rock rest area, Jilah Rockhole rest area and Penong CP on the Nullabor. Driving, driving, driving, driving. You get the picture. At Penong which is about 70kms short of Ceduna we drove out to Cactus Beach where we saw loads of surfers catching some impressive waves. At the border into SA there was no checking of passes which we very surprised at in these Covid times.

We are currently holed up at Smoky Bay, a little seaside harbour on the Eyre Peninsula seeking respite from the car. The wind is blowing a gale so we have spent most of our time in the van reading and writing. The sun is warm but the wind is cold. I would imagine it will only get colder and colder from now on. We are not too keen to move quickly to the Vic border as the covid numbers are not very inviting. Have no idea where we are heading to tomorrow but that is the beauty of the way we are travelling.


Hope all are well

So, its goodbye from me and goodbye from him.

(Spell checked and Edited by Stephen No 1.)