Steep Point and Tamala Station

The main aim of our 3 month trip was to get to the Westernmost point of mainland Australia.  Over the last couple of years Jen and I have take the kids to the Southern, Eastern and Northernmost locations.  So it seemed like an obvious spot to go for a look....13 000km's later, we had arrived.

The drive out to Steep Point is jaw dropping.  Between the wildflowers along the track, white sandy beaches, the hyper coloured turquoise waters of Shark Bay, I kept putting my foot on the brake pedal to pull up for another pic.

We made it!!

After we had taken another family pic at one of our bucket list locations, Jen signed us into the visitors book.

Rock cairns have been a regular thing on the trip, but this one is special.  When we took this pic, the Kyle cairn is the westernmost organised stack of rocks in Australia!

Wildflowers line the track to Steep Point.

I didn't realise there are campsites in the National park at Steep Point until we drove past them.  I won't make the same mistake next time I come back to this part of the world.

Not a bad spot to have lunch!    

After lunch and a dip we jumped back in the Prado and headed across the dunes towards Thunder Bay.  We have been lucky with the weather on this trip, but even on a calm day you still got to see the power of the open ocean.  

Blowholes have been proved very illusive on our travels.  Until now, every time we got near one it was too calm for them to put on a show.  The Thunder Bay blowholes didn't disappoint and rounded out one great day.  

The memory of such a perfect day is going to bring a smile to my face for a very long time.

This is the little bay we camped on at Tamala Station.  Another fantastic spot made better by the fact that we had it to ourselves.

The kids loved practising snorkelling in the shallow sandy waters.

It was colder out of the water for some.

Some of the locals wandering around the station.

More to come.....

Cervantes and Kalbarri

The Pinnacles in Nambung NP near Cervantes was another one of WA's harshly beautiful natural wonders.  This place is huge...with thousands of limestone pillars of every shape and size.       

The kids had a ball playing hide and seek.

I'm starting to get the impression that the kids are getting sick of posing for pics.  

They can thank me later ;-)

I'm still trying to resist the urge to point my camera at the sun every time it sinks over the Indian Ocean...it never gets old.

And another...

The coastline around Kalbarri.

The Kalbarri National park was another great spot for a walk.  This was the first time this trip that we are starting to feel the heat - it got into the high twenties ;-)  Jen did a quick count and figured out we have had 65 nights of single digit overnight temps...almost enough time for us North Queenslandsers to acclimatise!

The kids have been amazed at the variety of wildflowers that are in bloom in Western Australia at the moment.  One of the tourist brochures said there are over 800 different species.

They come in all shapes and sizes.

Posing for another family photo at "Natures Window" in Kalbarri NP.

More to come.....

Busselton and Perth

Busselton was the next stop on our trip to catch up with Jen's family.  It was a great spot to base ourselves for a few days to explore the Margret River region.  This part of the blog is light on for pics due to the fact we were far to busy visiting wineries, cheese factories, coffee roasters and chocolatiers.

The "Busso" jetty is the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere.

There are over 100 caves in the South West of WA.  

Lake cave is one of the several caves we visited.

On our way up to Perth we swung into Lake Clifton to see the Thrombolites.  These prehistoric living rocks are believed to be more than 3500 million years old.  

We got to see our first Indian Ocean sunset at Cottesloe Beach, while having fish and chips with the Peet's.

Jen and Aunty Merryl

Great spot for dinner.

The Perth cityscape lit up at night.

We caught up with the rellies at Kings Park for lunch on a Sunday afternoon which happened to coincide with the end of Ramadan.  It must be a great place for a picnic because the park was packed.  The kids enjoyed having so many other children to play with on the playground.

Jen with Aunty Merryl and Uncle Reg.

The kids loved spending time with their great Aunt and Uncle.

More to come.....

Valley of the Giants and Cape Leeuwin

Detours seem to be our thing on this trip.  The plan was to head towards Margaret River via the coast but the Prado had other ideas.  As we pulled out of Denmark the fuel filter warning light lit up.  A quick trip into a Toyota dealer at Manjimup and we were sorted.  

On the way we pulled up to check out the Valley of the Giants treetop walk near Walpole.  The walk gets as high as 40 metres while you stroll amongst the Red Tingle tree's canopy, some of which are over 400 years old.

Its a great point of view.

One of the 60 metre spans.

The kids posing on the way.

When you look up at these massive bits of timber it almost feels like you have to bend backwards to see the top.

Another mini team photo in one of the hollow trunks.

A little further along the track, Pemberton is home to the Gloucester tree.  This is another massive Karri tree, standing 72 metres tall,  that was used as a fire lookout tower.  There are over 150 spikes spiralling their way to lookout platform, which you can climb if you're keen.

We pulled into the Molloy caravan park at Kudardup and set up in the dark.  We were pleasantly surprised with the view that greeted us when we got up the next morning.

The Cape Leeuwin lighthouse stands on the SouthWestern most point of Australia where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean.   The story about the construction is amazing.  The stone was quarried locally and used to build the light tower and three houses in 10 short months.  Bloody impressive considering where this place is, the weather they would've copped and the fact that EVERYTHING was done by hand in the 1890's.

The view from the top isn't too bad.

This is the spot where the two Oceans meet.

Family shot at the top of the lighthouse.

More to come.....

Albany

After we had a look around Wave Rock and Kalgarin, we pointed the van south towards Albany.  The southern coastline of Australia is amazing, everywhere you look there's beautiful beaches broken up by rugged cliffs.  

The natural bridge.

The Gap.

We have had great weather the whole way through and even on a calm day like this, the kids were in awe of the power of the ocean.  I'd love to stand on these cliffs in big conditions.

Whales have given us some great memories so far on the trip, so in the interest of giving the kids a "well rounded" experience, we decide to take them to Whale World in Albany.  This was the last working whaling station in Australia, and we were all shocked to find out that it only ceased operation in 1978.  

The kids were dwarfed by the skeleton of a pygmy Blue whale.

Until we visited the station, none of us realised how extensive whaling was in Australia.  The kids weren't the only one that learnt something.

Like all little boys, Seth was intrigued by the big harpoons on the vessel, but quickly changed his mind when we told him what they were used for.

It's always the same one that photo bombs me!

More to come.....