The Pinnacles & Kalbarri National Park

After a brunch at Trigg Beach with Sue's friend Waf, the kids were able to try the hand a tight rope walking. Some of the locals had put up a cord between two trees and were doing all sorts of things on it.

We then went back to Woodvale, fixed the bike rack and then hit the road towards Nambung National Park. We travelled through a light rain most of the way, and when we got to Numbung NP it had eased enough for us to see The Pinnacles. These are a strange looking rock which come out of the ground... we had seen photos of the rock, however were in awe at the actual location and how many there were. This is another tour highlight!

We then made our way to a Jurien Bay rest stop and had to set up camp for the night in the rain. It was the coldest, wettest, muddiest camp site we have had to stay in, however it was free!

Next morning we made our way to Geraldton, and then onto Kalbarri National Park.

On the way we passed through Greenough Leaning Trees, and stopped for lunch at Dongara.

Leaning trees in Greenough caused by the wind and salt air

We stopped at the museum in Geraldton, and this had some great displays for the HMAS Sydney search and discovery, the Batavia shipwreck from 1,700's and a recent Anzac photo exhibition.

We made our way to Murchison House Station in Kalbarri NP, and this is a privately owned working station on 352,000 acres of land. They are farming wild goats.

Sightseeing in the Kalbarri NP was a great day, and we got to see plenty of things...

• Nature's Window
• Z Bend
• Blue Holes
• Red Bluff
• Mushroom Rock
• Eagle Gorge
• Shellhouse Grandstand
• Island Rock
• Natural Bridge

Nature's Window, Kalbarri NP

Will and Georgie have had enough of sight seeing for one day

We saw a little dragon lizard (?) on the road, and we also saved an Echidna from being run over. We cannot save them all, however we saved this one!

Dragon Lizard - no idea what it was!

Saving the Echidna from being run over

The following day we saw Hawk's Head and Ross Graham Lookout, and then made our way to Monkey Mia. This is something we have all been looking forward to, and with a bit of luck we will see our first dolphin of the holiday.

Perth

24th April saw us travel from Bunbury into Perth. On the way we stopped at Freemantle for some lunch at Little Creatures Brewery with Chris & Lauchlan.

Lunch at Little Creatures Brewery, Freemantle

We then headed to Sorento (just north of Perth) to catch up with Sonia, Simon and the kids, Harry, Louie, Lucy and Sophie. We had an awesome home cooked dinner and the kids caught up on some much missed TV.

Anzac Day and we were able to spend the day doing some sight seeing around Perth. First stop was Kings park where they held the Dawn Service for Anzac day. We missed the service, however the was memorial was great, and the views over Perth were stunning.

Looking towards Perth CBD from Kings Park

We had lunch on the water at South Perth, and then headed up to Joondalup Golf Resort.

2nd green looking back at the tee

Looking at par 3 3rd hole from behind the 5th green

We then headed back to Sorento, said our goodbyes, and packed up for the big trip to Woodvale (all of about 10 minutes!).

We caught up with some very old family friends of GI, Di and Rich. The kids were very happy to have a play with their dogs Boston and Ruby. We camped in the driveway and played 500 until late - 9pm is late when you are on the road!!!

Margaret River - Bunbury

Beautiful drive through the Karri tree's.

Went down to Cape Leeuwin and saw the lighthouse... too cold and wet to get out and climb!

Stopped at Colourpatch Cafe (last food before the Antartic) in Augusta for some lumch.

Set up camp at Leeuwin Naturaliste NP (Conto's Campsite)

Camp site at Conto's

BMX Bandits

Sunset at Conto

The next day was off to do some wine tasting, and we saw plenty...

• Voyager Estate
• Leeuwin Estate
• Cullen Wines
• Killerby Wines
• Cheeky Monkey Brewing & Cidery - GI's favourite!

Cullen Wines 

Cheeky Monkey

We also stopped in at Prevelly Beach for lunch.

Elephant Cafe, Prevelly Beach

Our last day in the Margaret River and there were a few more things to do.

Lake Cave

Viewing platform at Lake Cave - is was a long way down!

Lake Cave

A'mazen Maze - we made it to the middle, however not without a little bit of cheating.

We made it to the middle of the maze

One more winery before we leave the Margaret River region... Laurence Wines

Entrance to Laurence Wines

We called into Yallingup and had a play on the beach, and then onto Dunsborough, Busselton and Bunbury.

A park on the beach at Yallingup

We were lost... until we were found - Pemberton, WA

After leaving Albany, our plan was to take the scenic route up to the Margaret River. Being the wine connoisseur, Sue has been salivating at the thought of all the Cellar Doors in this region, so it is bound to be a busy time.

On the way we had a look at West Cape Howe, and stopped in at Denmark for morning tea and supplies, a great little stopover, a little like the hinterland on the Sunshine Coast (Qld).

We stopped at a Dinosaur and Reptile Park, just out of Walpole and played with the Kangaroo's, talked to the parrots and conquered our fear of snakes.

We then headed towards William Bay and had a look at Greens Pool and Elephant Rock. It was a king tide and all the locals were taking a look. There was one man who had lived there all his life and had never seen it so high.

Greens Pool with a king tide

Picture of Greens Pool on a normal day!

From there we went to the "Valley of Giants" in Walpole. This is an incredible walk through the trees. With a fear of heights Sue chose to have a cuppa!

This is where the fun starts... it was getting late and we needed to find a camp site to stay for the night. Our number one choice was full, so after a couple of wrong turns we were completely lost and ended up driving down a dirt road in Pemberton. At the end of the road (which by the way was lined with the most incredible Karri trees) we came to a point of no return...

I tried to back the caravan back to an area where we could turn around and head back to the main road, however it was not easy. After several attempts, a local farmer comes down to help us out. After realising we were simple city folk (not to mention lost) they offered us a paddock for us to set up camp for the night.

We took up the offer and had a great Easter with Aaron, Tash, Harry, Riley and Sterling. Our overnight stay turned into 2 days of fun and adventure on their farm. The kids hit it off immediately and we felt like we were with family, it made for an awesome Easter! We were able to do some activities we had never done before..

• Catching Marron (similar to lobster)
• Shooting targets and clay pigeons
• Pizza's from the home made pizza oven - I want one!
• Camping out on the paddock

Georgie, Gus, Riley, Harry, Stirling & Will head out in the back of the ute to collect some Marron for dinner

Graeme & Harry attacked by a local cow - not happy with us fishing in the dam!

Marron - yummo

The farm house and shed... look at the pizza oven!

Six kids set up camp for the night next to the bon fire

Thanks to Aaron and Tash for letting us share their Easter... we just hope we can help them out when they get lost in Sydney one day.