Exmouth to perth


Since we have been in Barn Hill Susan has been crocheting. She joined a craft group there who showed her how to go about it and got some materials from the people there. It is finally finished and the idea was to give it to the motorhome club who distributes it to old people homes. But she could not part with it and now has a permanent spot in the bus.

Sunday 7 September. After some snorkelling at Turquoise Bay and taking on water, fuel and empty the cassettes on the way to Corel Bay. We only stayed one day here. Coral Bay consists mainly of three big caravan parks and some apartments. Everything was chocke block and they told me that the snorkelling was not as good as in Exmouth. We just parked the car besides the beach for the day and left for Carnarvon later in the afternoon. Just before Carnarvon there was a turn off to Quobba. We had heard from several people to go there. Even that the weather is fairly sedate the blowholes are still impressive. The rocky coastline must make a vertical drop in the ocean and the waves look spectacular when they hit it. We are staying in the council caravan park, which is nothing more than little spaces in the dunes to park the car. No facilities. We are parked on top of a dune overlooking the ocean.

Quobba blowhole.
9 September. We spend the day in Carnarvon, shopping, internet and sightseeing. The fuel is slowly getting cheaper $1.83 and we get the feeling that we slowly arrive in a more civilised part of the world. I can buy my wine again in 4 litre casks and the sherry in a flagon. We spend the night at the beach. 22 KM north of town with 15 KM dirt road. Everything is covered with a layer of red dust again. Next day we went to the one mile jetty and took the train ride. Some vandals burned the jetty half way and now it has 20M of span missing. Nearby is a prawn processing plant and Susan bought a kilo of tiger prawns which were consumed that night. We also had a look at the satellite dish which is now decommissioned but was used in the Apollo satellite program.

Carnarvon disused space tracking dish.
13 September. Monkey Mia. On the way to Monkey Mia are several nice beaches which we had a look at. Because it is the tourist season it is very busy at the only caravan park in Monkey Mia but luckily a few unpowered sites remain. The solar panels are doing very well so far. But if we get a lot of clouds for a few days I will have to put on the generator which has only been used twice so far. Once for the microwave and once to do the washing. Feeding of the dolphins is now done three times a day in the morning. You have to be early otherwise you be at the back of the line. It is still very organised but even more so now because one of the dolphins had a baby a month ago and everything is done to keep the mother happy. There were plenty of dolphins swimming at the designated feed area but also where people are swimming.

Monkey Mia. Dolphin feeding.
16 September. On the way direction Kalbarri National Park. Stayed in Merrin Merrin rest area and drove to the first section of the Kalbarri national Park. beautiful sealed road and the gorge was the most spectacular one I have ever seen. The sides are real rugged and the gorge is wide and deep. A must see for anyone who visits the region. After lunch we went to the second section of the park but it was advised that the road was a bit rough. The round trip is about 60 KM. We decided to hide in the park somewhere for the night and go early the next day. We have a year pass for the national parks and this is one of the parks you have to pay to go in. The road was badly corrugated but fortunately I could drive between 70 and 80 KH and that reduced the shaking considerably. Here the gorges were as spectacular as the previous ones.

Kalbarri National Park. Top: Hawk's head lookout. Ross Graham lookout Bottom: Natures Window. Pot Alley.
18 September. When we were in the park we ran in to a Swiss couple who we have seen already for the last month. The have a Dutch guest with them. They mentioned a fish restaurant where they would be that night and we decided to go there. It happened to be BYO but we have plenty of alcohol in the bus. We had a pleasant night with them. We left the bus where it was and spend the night in front of the restaurant. In case I would have to blow in the bag I would have lost my licence. There are two national parks in Kalbarri. The other one is a coastal strip. I always liked the Great Ocean road but the coastline here is more spectacular. In the morning Susan did the laundry in a laundromat. It rained so the weather was not suitable for sightseeing. After morning coffee we went from one coastal view to the next. The roads are excellent. The weather also cleared up. It is getting a bit colder and from now on we can expect more rain. Luckily it blows over quickly as well.
20 September. Arrived in Northhampton. They have a very nice and old church and Susan wanted to go to church the next day so we booked in the caravan park. There was another Dutch couple we had happy hour with. Sunday was cold and rainy and we decided to stay another day. It is no fun to look at wildflowers when the weather is like that. We had happy hour in our bus with the Dutch couple because it was to cold to sit outside. That night we nearly froze to death. The temperature dropped to 4° Celsius. Next night we made sure that we would not be cold. Monday 22. We are heading for Geraldton but the nicest flowers are a bit inland. We headed for Mullawa, 120KM inland. There we heard that special flowers which are only found there were another 40 KM. They are called Wreath flower. It does grow in a circle of flowers. All along the way we see plenty of colour. Mainly yellow and purple but when you get out of the car and look around there are far more to find.
Flowers near Mullawa.
23 September. Geraldton. This is the largest city north of Perth. First shopping and to the museum. A large part of the museum is dedicated to a Dutch ship from the VOC. The Batavia. That night we found a nice camping spot in the fishermans wharf. They also have a large cathedral and we did the official tour. Drove around Geraldton to visit all the sights and walked around the city. They are doing a lot of work on the foreshore and it is looking good. Another night at fishermans wharf and next heading south. Greenough is a world heritage listed town which is turned in to a museum. All buildings from around 1850/60. Pity it was raining. But we better get used to the colder weather and rain. On the way to Cervantes we camped beside a windmill farm. Wildflowers are everywhere. In Cervantes we walked through the pinnacles. The bus was to big to drive through. The pinnacles is a large sandy area with a lot of sharp pointed mounds sticking out of it. 27 September. Via Moora to New Norcia. This is the only Benedictine monastery in Australia. They have build a whole village with magnificent churches and school buildings. A lot of buildings have been removed and the schools have been closed in 1975. There are still 9 monks living here. We camped on the oval for two days.

Wildflowers near a windfarm. New Norcia boys school. Every large building has it's own church.
29 September. Of to Perth via Bindoon, Yanchep and Wannaroo. We made a brief stop in the Yanchep National Park. It is close to Perth and we will be back there. We arrived at the Goedegebuur household in Wannaroo in the afternoon. We had not seen Bram and Nel for a couple of years. We stayed with them for four days while we organised parts for the bus and a technical inspection. To find the parts for the fridge proved to be difficult. Because Bram and Nel live a fair bit from Perth we camped a few nights beside the Swan river. We also visited Fremantle and visited the Maritime museum and had a tour through a submarine. Also the Fremantle markets. The next four nights back to the Goedegebuurs. The bus got a good clean and made a few sightseeing tours. 8 October. Back to Perth and our free camping spot beside the Swan River.

Bram and Nel Goedegebuur. Technical inspection Perth.
9 October. Had a long walk on Wireless Hill. This facility was used during the war as a communications centre but is now a park with an abundance of wildflowers. Here we did see the kangaroo paw for the first time. It is the emblem for West Australia. Did some shopping and drove through Perth. We ended up all afternoon at Kings Park. Beautiful park with a birdseye view of the city. We found another beaut spot beside the Swan River opposite the city. 10 October and parked at Kings park and took the bus in to the city. Perth has a free bus which drives in a loop to all important spots near the centre. Spend another night beside the Swan River.
Kangaroo paws. View from bus. Perth.


Beat that view from your window.