Wrighthome

The Wrights - Holiday Albums

2010-05-21T00:58:00.000+10:00

This is the link to our Picasa page with all the photos (or most) from our trip.
Picasa Web Albums - GRAHAM

SA - GRAHAM - Picasa Web Albums

2010-05-14T00:48:00.000+10:00

SA - GRAHAM - Picasa Web Albums

Here is the link to some of our SA photos

Western Australia - GRAHAM - Picasa Web Albums

2010-05-13T23:41:00.000+10:00

Western Australia - GRAHAM - Picasa Web Albums

Everyone keeps asking for photos, so here is a link to our WA photos so far, i'll add links to our other aventures shortly.
We hope you enjoy sharing some of our experiences as much as we did.

Go West

2010-05-13T22:18:00.009+10:00

Thursday 25th March
Great Ocean Road today, we leave home just before 11, geez that Monash sucks, when will they ever fix that road, and now they’ve gone and stuffed up the entry to the Westgate, at least I didn’t miss the turn as I have in the past. We slowly traverse the Great Ocean Road stopping along the way to admire the ever changing beauty of this area. Camps sites are few and far between along the road in fact there are none before Apollo Bay so Johanna Beach it is; 35klm past Apollo Bay.
We had intended to meet up with Roy and Jan in Lorne but we are a bit early for them, maybe we can stop in on the way home.
Driving through Apollo Bay we notice a music festival is planned for the weekend, we might try and get back for a session or two. Off to the camp now and we find a great spot, right on the off camber side of a bend with deep gully’s either side so the least likely place for another van to pull up, worst case a tent or two.
As the place fills up 4 Swedish backpackers in a falcon plonk beside us, we don’t really see them until morning and they leave the next day, heaps of other vans come and go, it seems most are using it for a stop over.
The beach is signed “unsafe for swimming” and no wonder, Ive never seena rougher stretch of water and with so many rips.running, Em Zac and I go for a walk along the beach, the sand is so deep it is a real effort to walk. We do a walk that could on be a kilometre or so and I am stuffed let alone the kids. The beach was littered with hundreds of cuttlefish like I have never seen before, you could fill garbage bags with them and not make a dent.

Friday 26th March
We nick into Apollo Bay to get a bit of detail on the local attractions and the music festival, the weather is cooling off, we find fresh water at the boat ramp where the fish co op is and take a local tour around the town, on our way back we stop at Mates Park for a wander through a local rainforest. We have to go past Cape Otway lighthouse on the way home so we intend to stop here, a guy we met from the camp site tells us there are Koalas in the trees everywhere just look up and keep an eye out for the trees. Sure enough ¾ of the way to the lighthouse and we see a fur ball in the trees, on further inspection there is seven of the fat little buggers above us, we take photos and get chatting to an older couple who have stopped, they had been to the lighthouse and refused to go in as they were charging $16 a head to get in, stuff that I say but we go and check it out anyway, sure enough its all fenced off and nothing to see, we use the loo and hit the road, fancy charging to see a lighthouse, they could at least tell you in the info before you drive 17klm to the car park.
We mosy on back to camp, Em does her schooling, Zac watches a movie while I go for a fish on the beach, nothing to report on the fishing front but it sure was an interesting challenge avoiding some of the larger waves, it starts to rain not long after I get back and is pretty steady most of the night.

Saturday 27th March
I wake up pretty early and fell a bit guilty, I haven’t done any real exercise for ages so I decide to go for a run, the knee is feeling a million bucks at the moment. I jog to the lookout at the other end of Johanna and run into a bloke from Vic who has the biggest mother lovin’ 5th wheeler you have ever seen, we chat for 20 minutes and he invites us over for 5pm drinks with him and his neighbours. He tells me he went for a walk to the point which was about 3klm down the beach and said it was quite nice, about half way there was a little rivulet, so I thought I would check it out suffice to say I was pretty knackered when I got back I was enjoying it so much and I got in the zone I ended up running all the way their and back which whilst not that fair it was a pretty fair effort in sand that felt like it was 3 ft deep, in fact it was easier to jog on it than walk, I’ll have to ponder that a little and try and come up with a theory as to why.
I get back to camp, have a shower and we head off to the Otway Fly, an amazing tree top walk through some local rainforest. It was a big hit with the kids and whilst it was $50 for the family it was money well spent, as part of the attraction they had a Dinosaur walk which had large life like model of the mot popular species in a bush environment, Zac thought it was awesome.
The tree top walk itself was very picturesque, you find yourself about 30m in the air right amongst the tree canopies and then at one point there is a tower you can climb which is another 50m higher, amazing views. When you get down you walk out on to a cantilever section of the platform and this is quite disconcerting at first , the sway make you a bit nervous but it gives a great sensation.
We leave the walk and we are all a bit knackered, we stop off at Lavers Hill and I knock of some water from the Memorial Hall and then home for a quiet one, the rain sets in and that’s it for the day.

Sunday 28th March
This morning I wake before the kids and set off on a walk along a section of the Great Ocean track, this traverses the hills the rise from the beach as sheer rock faces but on the other side are beautiful green undulating hills, the climb is a constant steady incline that when you rech the top of each hill you get another fantastic view of this rugged coast. On the way up the first hill I run into a bloke that looks like a council worker in a flouro vest, how weird I thought, when I got up a bit further there was a little bush camp tucked 200m of the main track right on top of the Sandhill overlooking the ocean, and it had its own dunny. Further along I came across a big ass grey roo with a few girlies hanging around, if fact I scared them as much as they scared me, neither of us saw each other until we were a metre or so away. I get to the top of the third hill which was also the highest point for a long way, the view was beautiful with rugged ocean on one side and the other a combination of untouched rainforest contrasted by green dairy pastures, my only regret, I forgot the camera, oh well.
Back to the van, have a was and we are of to Apollo Bay for the music festival, the weather was looking a bit ominous and when we got to town it was busy, but not mayhem as we expected, I think the weather put a few off.
Two big marquess on the foreshore had bands pumping, the street was filled with buskers and street stalls, food vans offered a variety of delicacies from a pie to mung bean curry. We cruised the street for a while got $4 of chips (or so they reckon) and sat down with a hot chicken and some rolls in a rotunda and had a picnic, after lunch the kids had a play on the playground while we kicked back and listened to a band, the sky was looking a bit ominous after a while so I went and got the car because it was a fair walk away, while the kids played, just as they got in the car is started to rain steadily for the afternoon. We were leaving tomorrow so in the break in the rain I packed up most of the stuff and got the van onto the car so we could get a good start in the morning.

Monday 29th March
Coonawarra here we come but it will take us one more stop before we get there, Fitzroy River is the destination but before we get there we have to stop at the twelve apostles to which Emily was suitably impressed, back into the car, a stop at London Bridge and a couple of other less noteworthy attractions saw us at Port Campbell, a quant little town but the petrol station was powerfully expensive and was a pretty tight fight to get the whole 13 metres in and out of the driveway. We arrive at Fitzroy River and whilst I am sure it has its appeal it is patronised by what seem to be a lot of permanents with a lot of dogs and from our experience thus far this proves to be the least welcoming of environments, and as it turned out Fitzroy River was no different. Em and I go to the loo and then ride out to the beach which you can also drive too around the edges of the lagoon, its not far, probably 1klm or so, the beach is typical of the area, a bit less rugged than Johanna but a true ocean beach. We head back to camp and meet Lina, a woman in her early 40’s Id guess travelling around with her dog, writing a book (Travelling Lina) and testing out her van for the big trip, she was always up for a chat. April and I decide we are going to move on in the morning, neither of us are inamite with this place and the fishing doesn’t look that great anyway, early to bed and early start.

Tuesday 30th March
The intent too be in Mt Gambier around lunchtime, and as luck would have it we pull up at 12pm, as we enter town we pull up at a large sink hole which in its former life had been turned into a garden oasis by a local gentleman in the 1800’s providing the people of Mt Gambier with a beautiful picnic area. It was sold several times over the years and left to go to pot however in recent years it has been restored to its formerly glory with support from community groups and local government, a very unique place to seen. I wouldn’t say beautiful, but certainly worth stopping. We decide to head to Blue Lake for lunch; we pull up in a roadside lookout and make sandwiches to eat by the lake. Its basically a big dam but is is the colour of the lake that makes it unique, the depth of the blue is difficult to describe it was almost iridescent, and apart from being the local water supply the area is surrounded by some lovely parks and picnic areas, righto lunch is done lets hit the road.
You know when you hit Coonawarra, winery after winery a veritable feast of some of the most renowned winemakers and certainly most of my favourites. Despite temptation we keep going and get to our destination around 3, the place is a privately owned property called Black Cockatoo Bush Camp, the brainchild of a retired farming couple who, after travelling Australia in a van decided to come home and set up what they felt was the ideal bush camp, it has showers toilets, a dam, trees for shade, some nice grassed areas and all of the outbuilding we made from, or covered in recycled corrugated iron.
Before we settle on a site we do what is now the routine inspection to check out the best location when we run into a woman painting a mural on one of the shed, she tells us she cam there seven weeks ago for a night, the owners saw her painting and asked if she would like to paint some images on the outbuildings and she had every last one of them including the water tanks, whilst no Picasso it added a really great feel to the place.
We picked a great little site in front of the dam, on a grass patch; the dam was stock with silver perch and yabbies, $10 a fish, $10 a kg for yabbies, clever. We set up and have a bit of a walk around checking out the showers and loo.
Liz and Ken are the owners and Liz show up to collect the fee’s, we were a bit surprised at $23 a night but hey they have to run the joint I suppose, Liz tells me that they have a bush walk on the 300 acres they own next door which is a nice 2.5 hour walk if we are interested, we might check it out.
Roast chicken for dinner compliments of the dream pot and an industrious wife, open fire, bottle of 2003 Redman, hey what better way to celebrate our arrival at Mecca.

Wednesday 31st March
Breakfast done and a bit of fiddling we decide that Zac and I will do the bush walk while Em does her journal and then it’s off to the wineries, we didn’t get round the bush walk but we toddled along for about an hour, not much to see but any bush with gum trees as the dominant species is pretty good. By the time we stuff around we decide to have an early lunch before heading off, our first stop is Bool Lagoon, this was the alternate campsite I had chose which purported to be a wildlife reserve, well bugger me if it wasn’t an old dried up swamp with stuff all of interest, phew another lucky choice. We decide to take the scenic route and go on the loop road back to Coonawarra, we could see in the distance some huge plumes of smoke, these turned out to be hay / straw farmers burning of the stubble, we actually got quite close and should have some pretty cool pictures. A bit further down the road the grap vines appear again and they grow right up to the road, fortunately we are right in the midlle of harvest time and there are grapes everywhere. Someone had told us that you cant eat red wine grapes that they are bitter, so I had to try, well bugger me they were beautiful and sweet, Em was appalled that I had stolen them and was worried I would go to jail aaawwww, we decided the story must have been made up by the wine growers themselves.
We started at Parker Brothers which was not great, we then went to Katnook and enjoyed there prodigy shiraz and odyssey cab sav but at $95 a bottle they would want to be good. The lady here was lovely and offered us the opportunity to park in the car park if we decided to come back for the stomp and end of harvest celebrations, from there to Hollick and more lovely wines, Liz recommended we get to Di Georgio which urned out to be sound advice, a small family concern we ended up buying a couple of there 2002 cleanskins and then to our favourite Redman Estate they are tasting ’04, ’05 & ’06 shiraz and cab sav, all were great, we ended up buying 04 cab sav and 05 shiraz and then home to Tawa chicken and that 02 cab sav, shame we didn’t buy a box, it was a limestone bay varietal and at $12 a bottle great value, I hope the chardy is as good.

Thursday 1st April
Aprils a fool day, that’s every day in our house….hope she doesn’t read this!
We have a choice to make, we either stay for Easter or move on now to ensure we beat the crowds and secure a site before Good Friday, time to move we reckon, seems like this place will get pretty chockers over Easter and they had a few 4wd clubs booked in, redneck city me thinks.
Wright’s Bay, sounds like a bit of an omen to me, it’s on the Limestone Coast between Robe and Kingston SE home of rock lobster and some beautiful wineries. Our first mission is to secure a site and then get into town and find a Laundromat, Zac with his new found passion for self gratification managed to dislodge his nappy during the evening soaking everything from head to toe.
We are happy to find that there is plenty of space, we pull up in a nice sheltered location, the site is on the ocean and is very exposed to the elements, the instructions say payments are to be made at the house on the other side of the road, April makes lunch wile I head up to pay.
Knock knock, wait, wait, wait is that a noise and imaging my surprise when I see Grandpa toddle out, no shit this bloke looked like Grandpa and when he spoke you’d swear it was him you were talking too, turns out his name was Tom and he was 94, a very spritely 94 I might add. He informed me that the site we’d parked in was booked but he follows me down and shows us what was available. We chose a site next to a bloke called Bruce (Kiwi) in a Winnebago, he was a semi permanent from the look but came out and greeted us warmly and gave the heads up on the area and the best place to park to avoid the wind etc…we stopped dropped and headed into town for fuel and a washing machine, Bruce told us that fuel in Kingston was 10c a litre cheaper than Robe so we needed no better incentive. We get back from town and get set up properly, it’s an all out camp as we are here for at least 4 days, awning out generator, bikes, sun shelter, shower tent fishing rods, kayak down and on and on it goes. At 5pm in the arvo it seem to be unwritten rule that it’s drinkies, so Baz and Ginger from the Typsy Gypsy came over to Bruce armed with a wine each. After watching me for 10 minutes asked me to join them as they were getting worn out just watching and being the neighbourly type it would have been rude to decline.
Oh look, a couple of kids, I wonder how long that will take. Turned out not long at all, Karen and Ken had two boys, Liam 7 and Conner 5, Ken was a dead spit for Sir Richard Branson just a slighter version. they were waiting on friends to join them Simon and Sam who had two girls Ashleigh 7 and Hannah 3, we have ourselves a party going on.

Friday 2nd April
Good Friday, better go fishing, oh well always tins. The weather is typical ocean front stuff; a stiff offshore breeze would blow up about 11am and keep going until night when it would taper off to almost nothing. We spend the day lazing around; we head up the beach 200 metres as we have been told there is the skull of a sperm whale washed up on the beach and sure enough it’s there it is Fhuge and still a bit smelly despite all the skin and muscle having rotted away. What remained was only the lower jaw and skeleton, apparently some vandals had been down and cut the upper jaw in half with an angle grinder and nicked it, Tom the guy who owned the camp site had collected the other half and had it in his lounge, we reckon the whale overall would have been at least 16 metres long, legend has it that it was most likely hit by a large ship and the rest of the carcass ravaged by sharks, another great photo opportunity. Back at camp the kids are getting to know their new friends and us the Mums and Dads. Turns out Ken (school teacher) had two kayaks which meant Simon (Sales), Ken and I
(Unemployed bum) spent a bit of time paddling over the next couple of days.
The ocean was like nothing I’d even seen, the limestone reef covered the entire coastline and whist the depth varied up to about 4m the majority of it was very shallow, you could be 800m off shore and lean over the side and touch the reef, it was really bizarre. Apparently it’s Rock Lobster capital and I see a few pots in the area, might try for a few later on, once I get an idea of where to find them and then how to catch them.
All in all it was a really nice relaxing day and nice to have some company for all.

Saturday 3rd April
I’m up early and go for a ride to long beach, it’s a spot about 7klm down the road where you can access the beach with your 4wd and you can drive the 20klm trip to Robe all the way along the beach. It was a tough ride, the roads and limestone and pretty rugged, suffice to say I got a pretty sore ass. I stopped on my way back at a winery which whilst surrounded by a large cyclone fence there was a great gaping hole and vines as far as the eye could see, I thought no harm looking so I peeked through and found that all the grapes had been harvested, bugger, hang on what’s that, yep on the end of a couple of rows were some very ripe shiraz grapes..yum. I get back to camp about 8.00 and everyone is up, we pig out on the grapes and then the kids hook up and have a bit of a play. Simon and Ken want to go for a paddle early before the sea breeze gets too strong so we set off for a paddle about 10.30 with the boys, we cover a bit of ground before the wind gets up, check out the outer reef and then head back to camp for a bite to eat and a paddle with the kids.
Simon and Ken are keen divers and adamant they want to go diving for Rock Lobsters, I aint getting in the water, this is white pointer central, no worries they say, we’ll get the lobsters and put them in your kayak….deal tomorrow it is.
We head out later in the arvo for a paddle, Sam and Karen decide to paddle down to the channel where they launch the tinnies, its blowing a gale in the afternoon so while April and I are walking down the beach we run into the girls walking back, they decided it was too hard to paddle back and left the kayaks there, just then Ken arrives and we decide to go and collect them, I was ragging the girls a bit but it took quite an effort to paddle back and we got drowned in the process, I also realised that whilst my kayak is heavy it’s a hell of a lot more stable than those little buggers.
We meet up in the afternoon and decide we have to get out early to beat the wind and get better visibility in the water, I say fuck that I wouldn’t want to see the shark coming but they reckon its got something to do with seeing the lobsters…yeah right.

Sunday 4th April
Happy Easter, as usual the Easter Bunny has been and showered us with a selection on GF, DF, CF range of fine confectionery for Zac and an egg with smarties for Em. The kids take off for a romp around the park and the usual procession of bike and scooter races commences.
It’s a glorious day and Ken and I head to the beach with the kayaks, we paddle out to the outer reef looking for drop offs and some sand patches, Id been out earlier and found a nice patch of sand and noted some landmarks as references so we could get back there, Simon isn’t with us, they have headed off to Church for Easter, what a good boy.
We find the sand and Ken dives in and after 5 minutes finds nothing, we paddle to the outer reef and again Ken jumps in and whilst the reef is great in his words, “it is completely devoid of life” to cover some ground we tie Kens kayak on to the back of mine and while he hangs on to it I’ll tow him along, in fact it works great and we cover about 1klm and reach the breakers where we find some magnificent reef and we reckon we are in with a chance as the area we are in is inaccessible by any boat…wrong Ken dived for at least 20 minutes and got nothing, in fact saw nothing, bizarre really, Ken is getting cold so we paddle around a bit more and head back to camp.
Whilst we are away the girls have conspired and decided that the afternoon is there opportunity to nick off and leave us with the kids, they are heading for Robe.
I make the kids lunch and we spend the afternoon playing soccer and stuffing around, everyone is coming to our place for a BBQ tonight so I clean up a bit, I have got fishing gear everywhere you look.
The girls are home by 4.30 and preparation for the evening begins, kids are fed, wine is open, eye fillet is on the bench getting up to room temp, aaahhhh life is pretty good. Simon Sam Ashleigh and Hannah arrive first followed shortly by Ken, Karen, Liam and Conner, we bung on a movie for the kids and sit back for an enjoyable meal and some diverse after dinner conversations, suffice to say Karen is about as left as you get and we are just a little bit right of right but it was all in good fun and a really nice night.

Monday 5th April
OMG, this would have to be one of the most glorious days on record, slight breeze, calm water, that’s it see you girls we are off, I get brave and put my snorkel and goggle in and meet up with the boys, they are planning to o straight off the beach and come back for the kayaks, oh well when in Rome. Em, and Ash decide to tag along, the water is freezing and both Simon and I cant come to terms with the concept of going past our nuts, that was bad enough, Ken is in, he has a wetsuit by the way and is flailing his way over the shallow reef.
I decide to head back and get my kayak this flipper thing is a pain in the ass, I pick up the girls and ferry them over to the beach where by this time Sam Karen and April had arrived with the little ones for a paddle in the water, by the time I turn around both the boys are in kayaks and we are off.
We head off shore about 100m and Ken and Simon jump in hhhmmmm I’ll wait and see how they go, looks like fun but geez its cold and im still not convincd about the shark think, wait a minute what if I stick on my snorkel and goggles and drift along with my head over the side….BINGO I’m onto something here this is amazing and I stay warm, that is until I get a bit excited and fall in, it cools me down a bit but no harm done, sure enough Simon reckons I’m onto something and gives it a shot, he’s pretty impressed too. Still no joy by beautiful scenery, we head into shore and pick up Em, Ash, and Liam and take them out with their gear, Em hangs over the side and is spellbound by this new experience, Liam wants to head back so Simon and I take the girls all the way out to the outer reef, the conditions are amazing and the visibility in the water was so good you didn’t need goggles to see the reef and what was around.
We get back for lunch time, we leave the kayaks on the beach for the arvo session, after lunch I take Zaccie out for a paddle, he sticks on Em’s goggles and snorkel and has a look in the water, he last a minute of two but the first rock of the kayak freaks him out and then we decide to just head off for a paddle, we go to the second point and pull u on the beach for a poo, as you do, back along the coast to the whale head, we have to check it out again and by this time he is hungry again so home we go.
We leave tomorrow and I have got shit everywhere so the rest of the arvo is spent packing up, Tom tells us the weather is closing in and we are expecting some late rain, surely not look at this weather, oh well better to be prepared, and I cop shit from all and sundry about the amount of crap we have, a few drinks and off to bed that is until 2am when the mother off all winds starts blowing, our awning is down, just the chairs, shower tent and a few bit and pieces are outside. I go outside to find them blowing all over the joint and it starting to shower, I fold them up and stick them under the van, Ken and Karen are getting buffeted, they are about 8ft off the ground on stilts in their rig, I was waiting for it to crab walk across the camp. Next minute Bruce is out, his awning was flapping like made so I helped him tighten it up brfore heading back to bed, shit it’s blowing now.

Tuesday 6th April
What a crap night and still cant sleep while everyone is asleep I go for a walk along the beach North to where they fish for the Mulloway, its about a 15klm round trip and at the half way point I realise he weather is closing in so I pick up the pace heading back. I’ve been gone about an hour and a half, this it seems was enough time for th family to wake their pretty little heads so we have brekkie and bid farewell to Simon, Sam and the girls they are on the ball and head off early, Tom comes by for a goodbye chat, if I can scrape together $700k I might be seeing him again, it starts to spit rain so I bid him a fond farewell and start to pack the finals bits and put the van on the car and down she comes in buckets, torrential doesn’t describe the rain, all I needed was another 20 minutes and we would have left.
We sit it out for about half an hour and then when it eases we do the last few bits and hit the road, we leave Ken and Karen packing up in the pouring rain and bid a fond farewell to Wright’s Bay, after a somewhat less than enthusiastic view of the place when we arrived it turned out to be a place of true beauty and a place that provided us all with some fond memories and fun times.
We have to get to Kingston, fuel and we have to empty to porta potti, I stop in town and post a few letters, we run into Daisy at the dump station, sad really, we used to meet people in night clubs, the drive continues with Coorong National Park as the destination, as we hit the Coorong April seems less than excited so we look at a few alternatives, perhaps we head inland, the weather is crap and the camp site at Coorong is right on the coast, we head for Tailem Bend, nothing here, we find the showgrounds at Murray Bridge and the gates are open so we do a u turn and sneak in to fill up the water and have a wee.
Murray Bridge has nothing to offer so we decide to head straight to Rapid Bay on the Fleuriau Peninsula, instead of turning off at the tourist road and going through lanhorne creek we decide its getting late and its been a tought day on the road so we’ll head to Mt Barker and take the most direct route to Rapid Bay….suffice to say despite my protestations our navigator had us traverse the peninsula and had us crossing back to the side from which we came with no alternate route I crack it and head straight for Victor Harbour.
What a beautiful place, despite the fact I’ve got the shits and we are having our first real blew since being on the road you cannot be in awe of the beauty and be caught up in the feeling of the place, it is hard to describe as it was a busy as a blue ass fly but the town had a real presence.
I take the kids for a walk to cool off, me not them, and stop at the local fish and chip shop for some take away. We are parked next to a large park and we flop on the grass and eat our dinner, the mulloway was fantastic and the chips were to. It’s too late to drive to Rapid Bay and I’m stuffed so we find a spot in a rotary park in encounter bay to camp, illegally but no one really cares I don’t think, no cuddles tonight.

Wednesday 7th April
Em and I are up early and decide to go for a walk around encounter bay, it is even more beautiful today, the esplanade has some amazing old houses and encounter bay itself is a beautiful piece of water, we end up walking 8klm and get back to camp for toasted egg and bacon sandwich on the barbie. After brekkie we hit the playground and then head into Victor Harbour. We park in the main drag and walk across to Granite Rock, a large monolith just a few hundred metres off the coast in Encounter Bay with access via a large bridge which you can walk across or get a ride on the horse drawn tram. We chose to walk along with about 350 others, man was it busy for mid week, we ended up circumnavigating the entire island which was really only about 2klm but after the morning walk was just about enough. By the time we got back it was just about lunch, we went for a little walk around town, picked up some books for Em in the op shop, she is ripping through the books while we travel and at 50 cents a pop in the op shop we reckon it’s a bargain.
We pull up at the park and have some lunch and a bit of a run before heading off to Rapid Bay, the drive across is via the Inman Valley, this was the most beautiful undulating dairy country, a really picturesque drive. We hit a little town called Yankalilla and turn left, another pretty country town we are only 20klm from our destination now. The drive into Rapid Bay was pretty steep in places and windy, we arrive at Rapid Bay to find the most picturesque site right on the lea side of the peninsula boasting magnificent ocean front and surrounded by a vast mountain range behind. We have almost one half of the park to ourselves and its huge, toilets are nice and clean, no showers but we’ll manage. Shortly after a fifth wheeler pulls up next to us, it’s a nice older couple Sue and Jeremy with their dog Jordie, we have a chat and the kids have a ball with the dog.
After we set up we go for a walk over to the cave that dominates the face of one of the mountains, Em Zac and I go and check it out, it is a huge natural cave that actually goes quite a way into the cliff face, I could only get so far without a torch.
The cave was right at the point where the mountain meets the ocean and the only way round the point was to climb the rock face, I had to see what was round the point so off I go and Em thinks its great ‘cause she’s got the camera and is giggling her head off as she is “taking photos of my butt”.
I get around the point and find a nice little beach, its too rugged to climb and a bit risky leaving the kids alone so I head back via a different route, turns out it was somewhat higher than the way I had come in and tested the old knee out a bit.
Back home for a feed and bed.

Thursday 8th April
We awake to a magnificent day, not a breath of wind so here is my chance, the kayak is down and we are off for a fish and a bit of exploration. Suffice to say after 2 hours and 1 decent squid I decide to pack in the fishing and go for a paddle down past the cave and around that point to I saw yesterday, it’s a bloody long way but worth the effort its not often you can pull up on a beach and honestly say to yourself that you are one of only a few people ever to set foot on that piece of earth, quite humbling really.
I take the opportunity to perch myself on a rock in the sun and just soak up the atmosphere, no noise other than the waves splashing on the beach and the back of the kayak…beautiful. However one is allowed only so much tranquillity and I feel obliged to head back to reality, can’t complain I’d had a beautiful day, the rest of which was spent just kicking back while the kids played.
Some time during the day a huge bunch of ferals turned up and set up tent city across the way, they’ve got music pumping and kids screaming, fair dinkum they let these buggers breed, it’s a sad state of affairs, after a while April goes over and gives them the drill and asks them to turn the music down, and in fairness they did, although I am lead to believe it was somewhat reluctantly.
Later in the day the weather turns a bit crap, we get up in the middle of the night and pull down the awning and pack up the chairs, she is starting to blow.

Friday 9th April
The weather in not brilliant so we decide to drive down to where the ferry leaves for Kangaroo Island, its only 20klm from where we are staying, if its not too expensive we might head across for a day, we had heard it was $500 to take a van across which on our budget was too rich. Turns out of was nearly $400 for the day, jam that up your jumper, we head back toward Victor Harbour via the Fleurieu Way which is the alternate route to the Inman Valley again an abundance of undulating hills and dairy farms, we bypass Victor Harbour and head straight to Goolwa the mecca of snapper fishing.
Goolwa is a pretty town and we decide to lash out and buy lunch, the pub is the Corio Hotel and had $9.90 lunch so we ceased the moment, my fish and chips were Fhuge and really nice, April had the roast and it was ok, we were pretty late and copped the end of the service I think.
We leave the pub and have a wander around April bought some wool, something to stave of the boredom of travel, we get back into the car and head to the mouth of the Murray via Hindmarsh Island, I would have loved to have spent some more time here but it’s not much chop for the rest of the family, perhaps Pete and I will get back here one day as we have promised ourselves so often.
On the drive home we fuel up at the BP in Victor, we noticed it was cheap on the way through and fortunately it was still $1.22, as we are filling up a bloke pulls up with an old SS Torana on a trailer followed shortly by his mate with an old RX-7, we get to chatting and they tell us they are on the way to Inman for a hill climb over the next two days Johno the bloke driving the RX-7 tells us he has had his car for 20 years and its just a bit of a hobbie, I ask if he is running a 13b rotary and he says nah I changed to a 12A a while ago and then progresses to ask me which of the fuels is the higher octane, looking at the car which was stuck together with a bit of tape and with his query about the fuel I’m thinking “have a look at this hick, that thing will be lucky to make it up the hill” despite this they were lovely guys, Allan the bloke in the Torrie tells me he dynode the car this morning and it was putting out 485hp at the back wheels, Johno pipes in with “yah we took it for a spin, its flying” great blokes, they tell us to check it out if we have time, given we drive past it on the way home we might just do it.
We stop at Inman and drive up the track which is an actual road and past the camp grounds and scrutineering area that is set up there, this is one steep bit of road and a few tight turns chucked in for good measure, we all agree tomorrow we’ll check it out.
Driving home and April say ‘s hey look a dead cow, so as you do we pull a u turn and go back and here in the paddock is this massively bloated dead cow legs up in the air, funny as, have to get a picture so I jump out of the car and start climbing the fence to get a close up, just then the wind changes and gaaaggg OMG what a stench, I’m not going any closer, tell you what I’ll get the big lens and get a shot, it still cracks me up.

Saturday 10th April
We get up and it is pissing down, has been all night, I hope those ferals get washed away I thought we may as well hit the road but April is adamant she wants to go to the hill climb, fine by me, pack some lunch and snacks, get the wet weather gear and off we go.
The Alma Mile Hill Climb is the official name of the event, its part of the tarmac rally events that are run around the country by a group called extreme events, the rally starts at eleven and we get there right on time, the crowd is small but there is 150 cars from the oldest Renaults, Datsuns and VW’s to the latest Lotus Elise, Porsche GT3 and a schmick Mustang Saleen.
We walk up the first hill in the adjoining paddock and perch under a tree, its pissing down and blowing a gale and the view is not great, the first cars go and it’s all a bit of good fun, I decide to head further up the hill and go and the out side of the first corner, a better spot but right out in the weather, we watch the first 100 cars go and although the weather is clearing we decide to head to the start line which is next to the hay shed and we can get some cover and a coffee.
Saturday is practise day and times don’t really count but like all things motorsport there are always those who go hard every chance they get, this was no exception. The event was dominated by Evo’s and WRX’s but there was also a great variety of classics interspersed among the jap crap,even a neat GTHO.
We see Alan’s torrie and it goes, as the cars are queued to compete we coud here this almighty noise coming, blap, blap blap but twice as loud as any other competing car and ther were some beasts, next minute Johno pull up in this RX-7, the meanest sounding thing and go, it went like shit of a shovel, the noise was fantastic….just lucky he put in the right fuel hey, these hicks know how to build a car, I’m going home to put some gaffa tape on rex….we stick out the day and leave about 3.30, we wave at our friend the dead cow as we wind up our windows and as we arrive home guess who is parked next to us, it’s Daisy, Em is just about bursting, Sam and Simon said they stopped for a wee and Ash saw the van and wouldn’t let them leave, how cute so the kids played for the arvo while we had a catch up. Seems like little Hannah was reacting to a few foods and Sam wanted to catch up with April and compare notes, Simon and I decided it was an opportune time to get down the jetty and give the squid a go after dinner. By this time the ferals were pumping, pissed and celebrating a birthday we had no hope, we all had a feed, put he kids to bed and then we went fishing, a complete waste of time but nice to get some bloke time. When we get back April is packed and ready to go, apparently the ferals were blueing with another bunch of ferals across the way and it was getting a bit heated, Sam concurred but common sense prevailed and we decided to wait for morning. The ranger was down about 4 times during the night but they didn’t give a hoot they just kept going, they settled about 2am and despite have grand visions of revenge and have conjured up some very imaginative pay backs I decided to hold the higher moral ground and just leave, so we did.

Sunday 11th April
Time to leave Fleurieu, up through Mclaren Vale, gee its hard not to stop, we part ways with daisy here, they are off to Hahndorf, we decide its Adelaide for a quick stop and if we can find somewhere to stop we might spend a day or two. We hit Adelaide about lunch and I see the sign to Glenelg, I know from experience that Glenelg is a nice spot and decide to head down there for lunch, we find a nice park and adjoining the park is the Chrysler car club set up with a display of all Chrysler, Dodges and De Sotos from over the years, they even had an schmick Hudson Hornet, Zac was impressed. We mosied around in awe at some of the old classics, I know Valiants are daggy but somehow I still find a soft spot for them, I would kill for an RT charger, they just epitomise that muscle car era for me…..Zac gets a photo with Doc Hudson, a quick play in the playground next to the marina before we hit the road again, destination Mallala Sports ground, we cruise for a couple of hours and hit Mallala, a bit of a hole so we decide not to stick around, there is another free camp the other side of Clare at Yacka, it’s a fair hike but looks like a reasonable joint.
I didn’t realise that we had to traverse part of the flinders Range to get to Clare, that’s another thing I’ve learnt in travelling, you need to consider the topography as well as distance and that information is not readily available and certainly not in the sat nav. Clare is a lovely little town and I regret we don’t really have time, well that’s not true, we just haven’t made the time to spend there, we drive up and down the main drag and check out the local retail offer before heading toward Yacka, we still have another 50klm to go and not sure how long it will take as the last 50klm was a pretty steep climb, turns out it was flat as and we had a pretty good run, but we still only got there right on dark.only to find a sign on the gate that says “key available from house across the road, or the pub or call his number” no-one home next door, we drive up the street, no pub to be seen and no mobile phone service, so we scrape up 50c and use the public phone. I finally get a bloke on the phone who offers to meet me there and open up, we are the only one there so I crank up the Gennie so we can use the microwave and get the kids a quick feed.
After dinner I get out the Camps 5 again and have a look at where we are going, you know what, we are pretty close to the Flinders Ranges National Park and Wilpeena Pound, what the hey, lets check it out.

Monday 12th April
This morning I announce our plans to the family, it’s a bit o a drive but will really be our only real foray into Central Australia, or close to and I have always wanted to see what this part of the world has to offer and why so many return time after time.
It’s a good drive, we pass through some quant little towns stopping at Quorn for lunch, we find a Rotary Park next to the railway station that serviced the original Ghan railway, you can feel the change in the heat, whilst it is only 25 or so it is a really dry heat and quite nice actually. We finish lunch and go for a walk around town, I’m impressed 10 shops in the main street 4 of them were pubs, now that’s a town. Into the IGA, we need to get bread for Zac and often we can find it frozen in the IGA’s and as luck would have it they had 3 loaves, we decide to grab two as its been hard to get and where we are going more likely to be harder but at nearly $7 a loaf we don’t want to waste it. I go through the check out and the girl charges us $2 a loaf for frozen bread, yeha, we go back and get the last one, I’m not sure her boss will be real happy but there is a sign on the fridge that says frozen bread $2, so in all actuality she was correct. Chuffed with our recent win we go across the road to the tourist info where a lovely old lady informs us that the Rawnsley Station was a better location than the camp site at Wilpeena and a little closer so we st course for Rawnsley Station.
From Quorn we do the 58klm to #### in no time but the last 85klm to Rawnsley Station dragged a little, in all honesty by the time we go there I was stuffed, it was about 3pm so we check in, it’s $35 a night with power and given we haven’t been in a van park for a month we thought it might be time to lash out and have a shower….wooohooo. We stop and drop and head to Wilpeena, some old pommie tart would hardly give us the time of day in the info centre but did advise us that we could only get into the pound by bus and the last bus left at 5.05pm but we would have to walk back if we took it….thanks for your help….bitch..the guy behind walks up to the desk and in a braod accent request some information, oh she says, are you from Sussex? Why yes, how could you tell!!!and off she goes providing this gentlemen with the full bottle on all things Wilpeena.

April wouldn’t let me queue up behind this guy and bung on a really bad accent just to stick it up her arse so I walked out in disgust no wiser about what was on offer and a little more pissed off that when I got there. On our way in I was handed a brochure by a little old German bloke representing Friends of the Flinders so I thought I could work it out on my own.
On reading each of the opportunities on offer I was aghast, I could not believe what they were charging for stuff, I ‘spose they’ve got you by the short and curlies, you drive all that way on a limited time frame what are you going to do. The best one was the 2hr guided walk to Rawnsley Bluff, $185 per adult and $110 per child, yes folks $590 for the family for a two hour walk and the bloke couldn’t work it out when I asked how much it was if I used my own legs….April heads back into the info centre and speaks to Denise, the other assistant, she apparently was much nicer and gave us some good info.
We head out of the park and stop at the Wilpeena homestead on the way out, we are meant to pay to walk the grounds but it was after 5 and nearly dark so I said stuff ‘em. We had a look and got good value for money, we paid nothing and it was worth every cent, I would however have felt completely shafted had we paid any more. That done we head back to camp, we stop intermittently on the way to take some photos of the environment, it is truly unique and beautiful, I don’t know what the weather is normally like but the day was glorious and the natural light show was something to behold, back at camp we feed the kids, after dinner I jump on the bike with the camera and shoot a few of the sites before going o bed.

Tuesday 13th April
Wilpeena Pound is first on the agenda, we get some sunrise photos before we head off, on arrival at the pound we book our bus trip, go to the loo, fill the backpacks and before we know it the bus is there to collect us. Doug the bus driver is a very congenial bloke and we get to chatting, he’s only been there 9 weeks but is on contract for 12 months, not sure I wouldnt want to spend a year here but hey, you’ll get to see all the seasons, the trip is about 1klm and we travel at walking pace, he drops us off at the what he describes as the entry to the pound and a bit of local commentary, the pound is 800m that way, the original homestead is 1klm up the track, I’ll be back in two hours and I’ll wait around for 10 minutes but you should all be pretty well back by then…is he kidding, we only have to walk a couple of klm, what are we going to for the other hour and a half, oh well off we go, past sliding rock and we are in the pound, not that we can tell, the surroundings don’t change, beautiful as it is. What is obvious is the ferocity at which the water must enter these areas during flood events, there are water courses gouged out of the landscape interspersed with great mountains of timber washed up against rocks and each other often to such a degree that the river has changed course around them.
The homestead is inaccessible but the grounds and outbuilding provide a unique perspective on how harsh an environment they lived in, story boards located around the property reinforced this observation utilising the memoirs of on of the original settlers, a 12 year old girl who grew up in the pound and surrounding areas.
At the rear of the property there was a walk to the Wilpeena lookout, now we are getting somewhere, the path is pretty uneven and fairly steep right from the start, I don’t know yet how far it was but I wish I had turned on my gps cause when we got to the top we were all puffing, and so was everyone who followed, even the hot Swedish backpackers with the cleavage (I had to put that in, I didn’t notice them but April kept pointing it out and suggesting I should look at them).
Well, here we are; never have I seen a prettier site, the undulations and curves were like some thing I had never seen and obviously unique to this area, adorned with shades of gold the colour could only be described as pure Alabaster, oh sorry you want to know about Wilppena pound, it was a hill with trees on it.
Actually it was an interesting site, I expect however that it may have even been more interesting in times past, my recollection is one of a barren area surrounded by mountain peaks with a sparse covering of shrubs and saltbush, a view reinforced by the phots on all the postcards, what we saw was a plethora of flora, covering both the bottom of the pound and the surrounding hills, global warming my ass, you cant even see the ground in the desert, left wing greenie wankers, get in your kombis and come out here. Anyway off the soap box the pound did possess a certain beauty, it’s not one thing, it’s all the elements combined that make it beautiful, as I described to Em, when we talk about people, true beauty is on the inside well Wilpeena pound is that ugly fat chick who when you spend a bit of time with her you realise there is more to it and you actually had quite a good time, you still don’t want to live here but you’ll stick around for a donut.
We head back for the bus, the going down hill is markedly easier and we take the time for a few photo opportunities, that is one thing we have done this trip is give the camera a good work out, I hope when we get sorted that the images will add some perspective to my words, I know that is a big expectation but we live in hope. Well as I am here, we found ourselves stuffing around and late for the bus, Em and put the foot down so we can at least hold the bus, fortunately we get to the car park and Doug isn’t there yet, April and Zac role up and we still have time for a few photos and a chat before Doug arrives.

On returning to the car park e decide to go for a drive to Arkoona Gorge, apparently the view of the pound are pretty good and it’s good 4wd track that comes out 16klm south of Leigh Creek, you can go left to Marree but the recent floods have left the road closed and not safe for travel. We hit the intersection and turn off the main road, its 19klm to the gorge and already the scenery is changing, more trees, and different flora, quite beautiful really. Its getting close to lunch so we agree, first chance to stop we’ll have a feed, about 13klm in we see a lookout and photo opportunity, we stop and as I get out of the car I realise the cack tyre is almost flat, great a puncture. We check out the lookout, and it does offer another perspective of the pound, one we had yet to see, back to the car park and yep she is flat alright, fortunately the park also had a picnic table and some shade so while April made lunch I changed the tyre. Two salad sandwiches and about 3000 little black flies later and we were ready to it the road again. We decided to do the last 5klm to the gorge and then head back the way we came, sure the likelihood of another puncture was slim but the next section was twice as long as the first and we were on our own, at least this way we knew our way back and the type of terrain we would have to cover should the need present.
Fortunately the rest of the trip was uneventful in that regard and we did see some beautiful scenery at the gorge, the kids were stuffed from the morning and the walk was about two hours so we decided against it, but it would be something I would do should the opportunity present in the future, in fact my knee is getting a bit shabby to, better take it easy.
Back to camp, Em and I go for a ride,

I’d notice on an earlier adventure that the track to Rawnsley Station was a shared track, both bikes and hikers, so whilst I knew it was going to be out of out league we head off and have a look, whilst we didn’t get to the end, in fact we only got half way we traversed some pretty rugged territory and with Em on her little bik I was astounded, she had had a big day already and this to top it off an she would give up, it was only after we stood at the bottom of this huge hill looking at what was in front of us that her refusal to turn around lead me to enquire further as to why, I cracked up when she told me that she was hungry and that there must be a restaurant at Rawnsley Station, I didn’t have the hear to tell her it had been abandoned in the early 1900’s so I told her I forgot my wallet, it was only then she agreed to turn around and go home, what a trooper.
We had notice on our return home that we had a couple of new neighbours, imagine our surprise when one turned out to be a local copper who lived in Sth Frankston, Oliver’s Hill to be precise.

Wednesday 14th April
We have to leave Flinders Ranges today, our sit is booked to someone else and with no spare tyre it’s time to go, we are heading for Port Augusta and we get there for a late lunch, we pull up in a nice little rotary park with a playground and grab a bit of lunch with the brothers.
After lunch we checked out a bit of the town, I popped into the local Beaurepaires to check out how much my tyre would be and to my amazement it was only $300, cheaper than the ones I had bought in Melbourne. Give hime 30 minutes to finish the truck he was working on and he would fit it then and there…deal.
We head to the local info centre which is at the other end of town and get a run down on what is on offer, it would seem that Port Augusta is the gateway to the outback and everything was focused on travelling north. Down the road get the tyre fixed and 20 minutes later we are on the road again, I feel better about having 4 new and near new tyres on the car, a quick stop for fuel and to refill the gas bottle and we are on our way to Whyalla, our preferred site is a location called Fitzgerald Bay.
An hour and a half later we pull into Fitzgerald Bay, the joint is chocker all but for one spot right on the beach side of the camp, we sneek in there and get set up, it is a really nice place and we intend on spending a few days here just chilling, the last week or so has been mad and lots of travel, aside from the cost associated with tavelling it is bloody tiring.
We get chatting to a few of the local campers, right next to us is a camp trailer but noone has been there all day. We go for a walk down the beach, it is shallow for about 1klm off shore, the water is turquoise blue at the point where it hits the reef and another 200m off shore are a heap of aquaculture sites which I later found were kingfish breeding ponds.
The water is beautiful and warm and we are looking forward to having a paddle, at least the kids are.

Thursday 15th April
We wake up to find everyone packing up, and I mean everyone by 10.30 only us and our neighbours in the camp trailer are still around and that’s only because it is taking them so long to pack up because we keep chatting to them, turns out Craig, Louise and there 7y.o son Sam are doing the round Aus trip but they are doing quite a bit of bush bashing in their beast.
Sam and Emily hit it off big time, such a shame they were moving really, would have been nice to spend a few days with them, Craig and Louise were a really lovely couple, so easy to chat too and really adventurous, well at least Craig was, I think Lou was just hanging on for the ride. They are heading west and I really hope we meet up with them again; perhaps Esperance or Albany might be half a chance.
We delay them until mid afternoon at which point Craig decides they really have to get to Port Augusta, it is there last stop over before heading to Alice.
We spend the rest of the afternoon just chilling and doing a bit of schooling for the lucky ones, shortly after a couple of woman turn up with 7 kids, yep 7 kids and they we right little assholes, adults included.
Apparently one of the little girls said they were only staying one night, so we agreed it was worth sticking it out because it was such a nice place and we had everything out and set up for a long stay….boy were we wrong.
I spent the rest of the day biting my lip, the old girl was a great fat heifer who waddled back and forth to the toilet in between she spent the time with her fat ass wedged into a camp chair as she shovelled food and soft drink down her ginormous throat only occasionally taking a moment to breath or screech at one of the little bastards that was either her kid or one of her grandkids. Adult number two was her 30 something daughter, mother of three off the little bastards and sister to the demonic little 11yo who took great pleasure in brutalising little Conner his nephew of 8 years and abusing his mother (fat cow) and his sister (30 something mole).
Fair dinkum, this lot were a real treat, only thing I have even seen similar was on A Current Affair.

Friday 16th April
We are awoken by the screeches of seven feral kids running amok at 6.30, that’s it we are out of here, we are sitting on the mat outside having coffee and eating breakfast getting ready to go into Whyalla when fat cow waddles and informs us that three of the kids are going home tonight and things should settle down quite a bit, April reckons it was her way of apologising, I don’t give a fat rats, its bad enough people live like that but the bastards breed and in numbers and the kids are even worse that they are so in my most congenial way I let her know that it would have to get better ‘cause it couldn’t get any worse. Shortly after they went out and we decided to go for a drive on a 4wd track that Craig told me about, it went right around the point along the beach, it was a really nice drive, despite its remoteness it’s a pretty area, well at least the water is. I haven’t got a chance to fish, it’s a bit of an effort to get the kayak down to the water, maybe tomorrow.
We stop in back at camp for a bite to eat before we head to Whyalla, our trip to town only reinforces what we thought, Whyalla is a bit of a hole and full of ferals, we drove to the ramp and saw a bloke cleaning a huge snapper and a heap of squid, first decent fish we have seen in a while. The town has a great butcher so we stock up on a bit of dead cow apart from that Whyalla has nothing really to offer so we head back to camp via Temby Point, the other camp site option. This site provides much better access to the water but its chockers and they are squeezed in like sardines, not thanks.
We head home and the ferals are still there in full numbers, in fact hey have added two adults, turned out it was the other daughter and beau come to collect their tribe from the Nanna. They left about 9, gee thanks for the peace you fat cow!!!

Saturday 17th April
The kids and I head for the beach, its nice down there and we dig for cockles and try pumping for worms, Zac and I hit a few golf balls around the beach while Em does her schooling. When we get back April agrees its time to move, they are staying and we’re not, suits me so we pack up and head off to Port Gibbon, a couple we met from WA reckon it is a nice spot.
We hit Port Gibbon about 4 and while it’s a nice enough spot its not somewhere we want to stop for a few days so we leave the van hooked up, cook a bit of dinner (Chorizo’s from Whayalla butchery…fantastic) and go to bed.

Sunday 18th April
We are on the road by 8am, fead and ready to find our next destination, we are heading to Port Lincoln as a rule but if something grabs our fancy we will stop, we pass a nice little town called Port Nelson, we don’t turn off as it is a few mile of the main road, in fact everything is off the highway. The landscape is pretty boring just low desert scrub everywhere you look interspersed with either a wheat field or an open cut mine. We pass the turn of the Tumby Bay, I did hear someone say it was quite a nice town, oh well, a bit further down the road was another feeder road into Tumby Bay, what the heck lets check it out.
Wow what a beautiful place, a quant little town tucked into a protected harbour, we do a lap of the place and find a little unlisted caravan park with a total of 4 spaces and the huge tourist park at the other end of town.
We decide to check out the bush camp which is 1klm out of town, it turns out to be pretty good and despite the sign saying no caravans the only thing in the place was two caravans so we stop, next door is a gymkhana so Em is in her element, next door to that is the golf course and if it all gets too much the cemetery was opposite as was the airport so we could get out either way.
We stop, drop and head into town, I still want to check out that little van park. We pull up out the front and the sign says “CWA caravan park and holiday units call …” we onlt see one van and get chatting, apparently its run by the CWA, its $15 a night, ot showers, toilets and power, what a bargain, I race back and get the van while April tries to contact the woman who ran the park.
Who says size doesn’t matter, try fitting a 7m van into 7m site and the width of a driveway, we did it, albeit with some manoeuvring. What an amazing location, we are absolute waterfront in the prettiest little town facing a bay to die for. We unhitch and jump on the bikes for a look around town, we are riding our bikes but Zac wont have a bar of it, it’s scooter or nothing so he is ripping along on his scooter when “crunch” he hits a concrete plinth, face first, fat lip, blood, getting a bit monotonous really. I nick across the road to the takeaway and get a couple of Ice Poles and we head for the park in the middle of town, 3 minutes later he’s off and the world is great again. I decide to go for a spin up the jetty to see what the fish are doing, I get chatting to a local and his is pulling in a good mix of fish so when the family show up I declare its time to go fishing. We head back to camp, Em does her schooling while I rig a few rods and then Zac and I head up to the jetty. We get a few bites but nothing dramatic, the other block was using a mussel squid cocktail and I only had squid, he was still there and braining the red mullet so we stick it out for a while but when Zac is getting sick of it we head back and grab a coffee and throw a line in across the road.
Em is finished school so the girls join us and Zac and Em go for a paddle in the water and play on the weed mounds, this is a bit of a phenomena, they had storms a few weeks ago and it washed up a heap of dead sea grass on to the beach, up to 4ft high in places but it is so thick you can climb on it, the kids recon they are just like islands, I actually thought they were rocks covered in weed but apparently not, they are just weed and will likely dissipate within a week or so.
While we play April is cooking a roast chook, yum, we love a roast. I give the kds and I a quick shower, oh for the simple pleasures and then we have dinner, the kids are in bed, Em is reading a book..again..and April is catching up on the news with the Sunday paper, we love Tumby Bay, I think we might spend a few days and chill, maybe even do some fishing or golf perhaps.

Monday 19th April
Our first full day in Tumby Bay, the weather is magnificent, the scenery is amazing and I think I’m in love, this town has all the elements you would want for a sea change. We cruise around in the morning not doing much; we wander on up the street to check out the retail offer and see what’s in town 2 pubs, a take away, post office / womens fashion, gift store, coffee shop, newsagent / mixed business, Mitre 10, IGA and the obligatory bakery and as you often find in country towns the bakery looks fantastic, what the heck, its nearly lunch lets get a cake and coffee.
Em has a sponge kiss, I get a pastie and coffee, they look too good to pass up, April decides savoury it is and gets a pie and a chai, hey that rhymes.
The food was great, particularly the pastie, we finish our lunch and stop in at the local IGA for a few supplies, we get back to the van and the kids ride around the camp, I rig up a few rods and April does what April does, I cant recal but it was either cook or clean.
Later in the arvo I get the “can you help me with something” I know what this means April has the shits thinks I’m having too much fun and will require my assistance to perform the most menial of tasks that on any given day she would perform without assistance, however on this occasion I was wrong. Can you help me colour my hair, yes you heard it she trusts me to colour her hair, I think the rational has something to do with having a sister who is a hairdresser then it must run in the family, shit you reckon after 21 years she would have learnt, even when I said “yeah, let me at it” didn’t scare her off.
I hose her off in the laundry and the apprentice seats her at my work station, I mix up a solution of L’oreal 645 and apply it with the prowess of a well seasoned treatment specialist.
I don’t know what the big deal is, we reapply after 15 minutes and then hose her off after another 15 and voila, a perfect colour, this stuff is easy. Now I do recall her saying she needs a trim, “hey babe I’ll just go and get the scissors” I’m not sure at which point but apparently sometime during the colour process she lost that faith in me that she had displayed prior. In all seriousness the coulour came up really well and April was wrapped.
Having done my duty the kids and I went for a paddle in the water out the front, then Em did a bit of school while Zac and I went for a fish on the jetty, we only got a trevally and a salmon, the bloke next to us had a few whiting, red mullet and a heap of tommie rough, apparently they are good eating, particularly smoked, but you need tiny little hooks and we weren’t prepared, when he was leaving he offered us a red mullet to try, it wasn’t the greatest fish I’ve eaten but they are selling it for $40 a kilo so someone must eat it.
We head home and I go for a drive to find some mobile phone service, this 3g is crap, apparently we need nextG, its crap for years we have been told its all about the G, we think we’ve got it and the bastards change it, I can see the similarities now that you mention it.
In my travels I find a ripper little camp site, it’s of white river road just past tumby, located at Red Cliffs, its and Anglican Camp and has great amities and powered sites right on the water, and not a soul to be seen, just 1klm up the road is the Lutheran Camp, no public access though and another 3klm is Second Creek. This is a beautiful waterway that opens directly to the ocean, and looks like a great fishing spot.
I finally find mobile service and get a message from Sam and Simon, they are still on the
Yorke Peninsula and having a ball.

Tuesday 20th April
We are going to head into Pt Lincoln today but first I take the family to Second Creek and Red Cliffs to check it out, we head into Lincoln as the locals call it and on its surface it looks like a nice town, we stop at the boat shop, I need to replace the anchor I lost at Wrights Bay, $17.95 later and we are on our way to the caravan joint to pick up some chemical for the toilet.
It’s lunch time and we decide to lash and go out for lunch, April finds a little Indian joint with a Thalli Plate to $12, so we give it a shot, suffice to say the food was ok, there was plenty of it and it passed for average Indian fare, Em liked the butter chicken so that was a winner, the vindaloo was hot, real hot so I paid for it later.
After lunch, we go for a wander to the jetty, a few blokes are fishing around this weed bed, the water is thick with Garfish, squillions of them but noone is bringing any in, Zac and I cruise up next to this old bloke and watch him, he is flicking out whole prawns and I though no wonder they aren’t catching any when I see them, a school of about 20 whiting just cruising around this weed bed, shit, he’s on to something. We watch for a while and he waits for a gap in the gars and then casts his bait to drop behind the whiting and then slowly retrieves right through them and bang he either on or a gar bits the head off the prawn or he is in and has another whiting in the bag, speaking to him later it turns out he has been doing this a bloody long time and seems to have perfected the art. On the way back to the car we pass the statue of Tony Santics Makybe Diva and we think we should get a photo for Macca, but we don’t have the camera. We head toward Lincoln National Park, on the way we pass a heap of aqua culture and fish processing plants, this is huge business here, everything is based on the humble fish anyway on to the National Park, we decide its worth the trip as they have some camp sites there and rather than tow the van all the way to find they are average we like to check them out earlier if we can and glad we did, we drove into Park for about 10klm and the scenery didn’t change, it was metre high scrubby bush as far as the eye could see, we both agreed time to turn around, with Tumby such a beautiful spot and having spent the day Lincoln it was not so appealing, I actually thought the joint was ok but April didn’t like it much at all.
We decide on the way home that we will cut straight across from Tumby the other side of the coast; we save about 200klm travel with the van and also get the see the middle of the Eyre Peninsula, something we are yet to experience..

Wednesday 21st April
Second Creek is the destination and by 9.30 we are in the car park and unloading the kayak and all the beach gear. There is a bit of an odour from the rotting sea grass that is covering all the beaches; we are close to the bottom of the tide and not a lot of breeze so I decide to launch the kayak and go for a paddle to the mouth to see if there is a better place to set up camp for the day. As I hit the entrance the water is like it is boiling, there are baitfish everywhere and from the activity something chasing them, plop, plop, what the, fish everywhere and I didn’t put in a rod, they are going off, quick into shore and run back to the car, it’ll be quicker than paddling.
Em comes back with me, puffing but armed I launch the kayak, I have seen fish averaging 600mm jumping all around me, I assume they are salmon, I flick out a bait, drift and bang a nice little yellowfin whiting, oh yeah baby, this is going to be good, well for the next hour I flick out baits, hard lures, metal lures, soft plastics and nothing, sure there are fish going berserk all around me, in fact I am out of the kayak now and there seem to be more fish than when we arrived, the water is shallow enough to walk in and I have fish swimming between my legs believe it or not but I cant for the life of me hook one, I realise they are what the locals call jumping mullet, they are horses and would be fun if you did hook one but they don’t like what I am putting out.
I paddle back to the family and we have a bit of lunch on the beach, stras and beetroot sandwiches are a favourite of mine and easy to do on the fly, after we have a feed I take Zac out for a paddle, we go out the entrance and drift back in with the rods out, we hook a little salmon and he brings it in, he is wrapped.
I pick up Em and chuck in the fins, goggles and snorkels, I reckon I’ll head further into the creek and try in there; the current is getting up a bit as is the wind. I paddle across to the main channel and get a good salmon on the drift, we are flying in the current and wind so I tell Em to chuck on her snorkel and goggles and hang over the side, she loves doing this and it gives me a pair of eyes under the water, “if you see a fish let me know” so we are drifting along and she tells me she sees a big shell, and another one, what colour are they babe? White, are they really big? FHUGE daddy, hey Abalone, so I paddle to the sandbank which is really the start of the opposite side of the bank, pull the kayak up on to the sand, ditch the rods and Em, stick on my goggles and snorkel and commence a drift across the creek with my head hanging over the side.
At last a razor fish, I’ve seen the shells but never seen one alive, so they are on the bottom buried in the sand with the fan side facing up, right that’s it, cant be hard to get up, if all I do today is get a few razor fish to try it will be a worthwhile exercise.
Quick paddle back to shore, flippers on and in I go, first I want to check out how storng he current is and how deep I is to dive, I swim against the current and while it is strong I can make a bit of head way, I see a razor fish and down I go and pluck, one in the hand, a a bit further and another one, aha now I know why they call them razor fish, sliced my finger right open, as I drift back down to where Em is waiting I pick up a couple more, a little more wary now of how I pull them out, note to self, get gloves next time. I decide its safe enough and she gears up and off we go, the current is really boring now and with Em hanging on to my arm it makes for hard going but the excitement in her face is worth every effort, this is really the first time we have snorkelled together and really for me the first time I have snorkelled properly in 30 years. I see a razor fish and dive for it, oops Em is still hanging on, we hit the surface, catch in hand and apart from the slightest look of alarm Em is fine, in fact she is beaming from ear to ear “that was great, do it again” so we did, until we had about 8 razor fish, by this time I am getting a bit tired and so is Em, I get the impression that Mum isn’t having the time of her life either so we head back to April and Zac.
I’m right April is a bit miserable but the kids are having a ball, and admittedly so am I so I strike a deal, I just want to have a little snorkel up around the rocks near the mouth of the creek and then we can go, deal.
Em chases me, se wants to come to, we walk to the mouth and jump in, its pretty shallow and not much to see, Em gets the heebe jeebees and wants to get out, so she walks back to April and I decide rather than walk back, I’ll swim across the weed beds and drift down the channel where I had seen a bit of reef, drifting along I see this huge blue swimmer crab and he is fired up, claws going everywhere, I have to give it a shot, I dive down and try to grab it, but he is too quick and nearly gets my arm, two more shots and he buries himself in the weed.
I’m excited, the adrenalin is pumping and the thought of crab for tea had me excited, I drift a bit further and there is another one, even bigger then I see this huge bit of reef and swimming out of it is what I assume was a groper, nearly a metre long, as soon as I spotted him he spotted me and took off, I tried to follow but he was too quick. OMG I am in heaven, I swim back to the reef, more crabs, little reef fish, another smaller groper swims in and out of the reef oblivious to what I am doing, the things you see when you don’t have a spear, note to self, get a hand spear.
The Indians are getting restless so I head back across the weed bed, oh great a huge whiting cruised under me, I turn to follow, he hasn’t seen me if I can just reach down and ……gone, slimy little buggers, I must get that spear.
Back to shore and I regale the family with my experience, Aprils is pretty impressed about the crabs and wants to know why I didn’t grab them, I thought about pittung my rashie on one but in all honesty I am glad in hindsight I didn’t ‘cause these buggers would have chomped right through.
We pack the car and start for home, I didn’t realise it was nearly 4pm we had been there 6.5 hours, no wonder April was getting grumpy, on the way home we are chatting, I was telling Em while we were out there that she was fortunate as some people have never snorkelled in there lives and she should appreciate what she has done and always embrace new opportunities to try things and until today neither of us realised how much fun snorkelling was, then April pipes up, she has never snorkelled either, there you go, case in point, we will have to remedy that.

Thursday 22nd April
It’s 9am and its hot already, a bit of a Nor Easterly breeze and the sun is beating down, no better time to try snorkelling. Bundle April and the kids in the car for the 2 minute drive to the jetty, we could dive out the front just as easily but apparently the jetty is renowned for its colony of leafy sea dragons.
Aprils gears up with a bit of assistance and after a quick tuition by yours truly she is off, and like a duck to water, shortly after Em joins her for a bit of a paddle together. My mask is a bit big and leaks a little which makes it uncomfortable so we swap Em’s mask and while a little small alleviates the leaking issue. We have a little dive together but we have to keep an eye on the kids so its short, April had a ball but had had enough for her first attempt, I swam around the pylons a little longer looking for a leafy sea dragon but I had to settle for the land based version, we are heading back to the car and stop at the tap to wash ourselves, Zac has been playing on the beach collecting his precious stuff, a couple of bikers and a biker mole are pulled up checking out the view when Zac comes running up and at the top of his voice in the most innocent fashion says “Dad, why do they call it a cuddlefish, is it because they cuddle you” well the bikers nearly pee’d themselves in fact I reckon one bloke had a tear in is eye, I know I did, gawd he is cute, home we went for lunch.
In the afternoon we went for a little ride around town, the golf course is closed so they can re-sow the fairwarys, which is the only blight on this beautiful town, we end up at the bakery about 3pm and the sign goes out just as we arrive, all pies, pasties and buns $1, yeah, we grab half a doze n pasties, 4 pies, a couple of sausage rolls and some scrolls for later and we each have a little something with coffee, admittedly the coffee wasn’t as good today and the scrolls were a bit dry, but hey for a buck, we can bung them in the microwave, the pies and pasties will go in the freezer and come in real handy.
We head home, drop the pies off and go for a ride around the North side of town, Zac on his scooter and us on our bikes, the town is home to more senior citizens than any place I’ve been it the past, we check out the RSL just in case we decide to hang around for the dawn service Sunday, something I have never done.
We cruise past the surf shop and check out some snorkelling gear for April and into the post office to see if my mail has arrived from Deb, not yet, likely to be in tomorrow after 9am.
Home for tea, cant decide what we feel like, its hot and we are all a bit hungry, bugger it lets have a pastie into the griller, they are actually still warm from earlier so it’s not long we have ourselves a feed, kids are in bed so I sneak to the bottle’o and grab a bottle of giesen sav blanc, and after some alcohol infused philosophical discussion we are off to bed.

Friday 23rd April
Friday was chill day, I was going to head back to Second Creek and do a bit of snorkelling but the weather was a bit dull and I couldn’t get inspired so I went across the road to the beach and threw the Frisbee with the kids, after a while Em decides tp do her schooling, while she was doing that April went into town and go a hair cut, looks pretty good too, she went the hack as it is easier to go shorter when you are travelling and now has a bob, Em reckons she looks like Leisa Mac!!
We have lunch on her return and then head of on the bikes to check out the island, they have built a very modern Marina and residential development with a network of canals and some magnificent waterfront properties, houses that would not be out of place in the most salubrious Melbourne suburb.
We check out the Caravan Park on the way, its For Sale and rather tempting if only I had kept that other $2.3 million, oh well maybe next month if the share market reaches 35000 points we could have the deposit together…
The island is not but I cant help but think many are over capitalised, it’s a great town but some of these properties are Fhuge and unless you plan to keep them forever I cant see to many getting a return on their investment.
We do the round trip, its only a few klm but Zac is getting a bit knackered as the wind is howling into our faces which makes the journey twice as hard. We head home and tidy up a few loose ends, I think we will head off tomorrow, not that I really want to go but I feel like we should start heading west otherwise we wont get there at all.

Saturday 24th April
It pores rain overnight and we awake to a gloomy start of the day however shortly after April goes outside and it has started to clear a bit, maybe we could stay one more night, no better go, so we start to pack up the last bits of the van and hook it up ready to go, we make the most of the shower and have a nice long one before we leave, fill up the water van tanks from the rain water tank and off we go, we are headings to Cummins which is in the centre of the Peninsula, the wind is blowing a gale and straight into us, it’s a bit of a slog and its blowing the van around quite a bit.
Cummins is not much of a town and we drive straight through we hit the B1 and we are on the stint to Streaky Bay, a bit of a tail wind and a cross wind so whilst a bit bumpy it is a little more comfortable, we catch up to a nice looking Kedron and it starts to billow smoke from the rear right tyres, I flash him down but he doesn’t stop, fortunately it stop and just up the road was a scenic lookout and they pulled over so we follow them in and get chatting, Bill and Kaye are retired Sheep farmers from Hamilton Vic and a really nice couple, we chat for a while but we keep going, I’m heading for Bairds Bay which was still another 150klm away.
We stop at Ellisdon for lunch which is 50klm further down the road, a nice little town, we stop at the bakery to get some fresh bread for sandwiches, we are welcomed by a couple of hot young girls pedalling their wears, April wants rolls and hottie number 1 advises that the rolls on the counter are frozen as hottie number two contributes to advise that they were baked fresh yesterday, I cant believe I am in a bakery and all they have to offer is frozen bread so I say just give me a loaf of the wholemeal bread.
No1 struggles to give change for a $50, not that she didn’t have the notes it was the $3 from the $50 that was presenting the challenge, April looks at me and giggles, obviously she cant appreciate an individual for their talent or as was the case in this instance talents.
WE get back to the van and she looks at me again and says “you are unbelievable” oh thanks babe sometimes you say the nicest things, “no you dickhead, I cant believe you just paid $3 for a loaf of frozen wholemeal bread after I just finished telling you I had one in the freezer, you lost all sense of normality as soon as the hottie with the push up bra said Hi”….well she’s got me, what can I say, its not like ive got a defence, I didn’t really buy it ‘cause she was a hottie I just got a bit distracted, I do however recall the frozen bread discussion, now. Really its not my fault I reckon it is a male thing and one cant be held responsible for the entire male genome, anyway the bread was bloody nice when it thawed.
Straight back on the road and we pass Bill and Kay on the main road, another 50klm and we see the turn off for Talia Caves, Dave and Corrine told us they were worth the stop even though it is 10klm of the main drag and dirt road, they were right two massive caves carved out of the sandstone cliff, the result of years of erosion with the younger sandstone softer than the older stuff in which it was encased, thus when the waves slowly wash it away it just leaves the outer shell.
In the cave there are bats and a Fhuge bee hive hanging from the roof, the water is smashing against the rocks spraying us slightly when the big ones hit, we head back to the car and to the next cave which is only 50m down the road, this was the same sort of formation but the roof had collapsed exposing a 70ft drop into the cavernous interior of the cave. I can see that the cave open to the beach so I get the family and we go to climb down the rocks onto the beach, a small squall comes through and the big pussies sook and want to go back to the car so that leaves Em and I so off we go, we cant get into the cave because the tide is up and the entrance is at the waterline so we get some nice pics and try and catch a wave breaking behind Em while she is sitting on a rock, easier said then done but I reckon I might have got a good one.
Off again, we are not far now from the Bairds Bay turn off, we pass Venus Bay, a pretty spot too and get to the turn off only to realise that it is 41klm of dirt road into the camp and with Streaky Bay 50klm up the road we decide on the fly to keep going, Streaky is really where we want to get to so we head for Paloubie Beach whish is 21klm past Streaky but has a tick in the camps book. We drive though Streaky and decide not to go into town; we’ll get to camp, get set up and go in tomorrow. The camp is a bit difficult to find but wh pull up and she is chockers, we find a spot, or more to the point make a spot with some help from some of the locals, or more to the point current inhabitants, turns out they are from Pakenham.
Its just on dusk so we set up quickly, wander down the beach and apart from the shit weather it looks like a pretty good spot, a really nice shallow bay, flushing toilets and all importantly a wee wall. Dinner is corned beef and veges which April cooked in the dream pot, its great a bit of preparation in the morning and you drive all day and arrive at camp and in 5 minutes you are seated to a steaming hot meal.
Its 8 o’clock and the kids are asleep, decision time to I have a drink and some choccie or go to sleep, we are thinking about taking the kids to the dawn service at Streaky in the morning, I’ll let you know tomorrow what I decide.

Sunday 25th April
Lest we forget, ironically I am reading a book called Brother Fish (Bryce Courtney) at the moment and whilst I know it is fiction the stories are so vivid that they can only be drawn from experience.
What it does highlight is that for those of us fortunate enough to never experience the horror, degradation or face the reality of war it makes you really appreciate more what the diggers from all conflicts gave up to protect our sovereignty. A sombre start to the day but ANZAC day must remain one of the most important events on our calendar and I fear over time that the wounds do heal and that the overwhelming want to avoid war at all costs may be replaced by a complacency borne from a lack of exposure to the atrocities of war and that decision made without such insight may lead future generation into what I see now as a senseless waste of human lives, no war is justifiable and those that die are the innocents on each side, usually fighting to protect a country with a fervour to do so initiated by some clever politician or more likely a marketing dept targeting patriotic youth.

Sunday 25th April
Dawn Service starts at 6.45 no 7am now we know, we arrived just in time to see the finish and the piper play to signify the end of the ceremony, damn.
It is a beautiful morning despite the weather being less than inclement overnight, there is not a ripple in the bay so we decide to walk out on the jetty where we meet Wally the bloke on the bagpipes who turns out to be the local copper, apart form the fact that he plays bagpipes he epitomises the stereotypical cop, boof head, big moustache, close cropped hair, big gut hanging over an immaculately presented uniform, we stop for a chat, he’s a nice bloke, while we are chatting a pod of dolphins breach from the water behind him and slowly make their way toward the jetty.
Em is excited and wants a picture, they are following a school of baitfish and fortunately keep making their way toward where we are standing, there is only about 4-6 dolphins in the pod but one of them has a little calf swimming beside her, awww so cute.
Half way along the jetty is a large area enclosed in Rio, I can only assume it is their for the fisho’s to store their catch but turns out that it is the swimming area, a local guy informs us that the bay is frequented by a significant amount of White Pointers, yeah sure!!!
We head across the pub for brekkie, the local publican puts on a huge spread for the locals and asks for a $10 donation for adults, kids were free. I reckon there must have been nearly 200 people for brekkie and they would have raised a total of $20, yeah that’s right the only two people I saw pay were us, oh well it was worth every cent food was good and they were most obliging with Zac’s requirements.
In the queue April got chatting to a couple and as it turned out the bloke was the president of the local RSL, he took great pleasure in regaling us with stories of Shark visits to the bay, he pointed us to the front bar of the pub which had images of the two world record Sharks that were both caught of Streaky Bay, both were White Pointers and both were over 1100kg each, a replica of the larger one is on display at the local Shell roadhouse in town.
We found out later that the first record attempt was unsuccessful as the trace was 0.5 cm to long under IGFA standards, further conflicts surrounded the second catch, the rules require that there are 2 independent witnesses to validate a record catch excluding the angler and the skipper which means a minimum of 4 people on the boat, legend goes that they only had three on the boat and used the local VHF frequency to arrange for a friend to meet them on the way in to make up the fourth, but this wasn’t the main point of conjecture, on arrival at the Streaky Bay jetty they commence to winch the beast on to the jetty with the entire town in attendance when all of a sudden, deep from within the jowls of the beast out pops a large seal, not unusual on is own but apparently they normally have trouble swimming with a rope around there necks and a large hook protruding from their body.
Such a kerfuffle followed that the legal cases went all the way to the Privy Council on appeal, amazing really when you think that if the angler accepted the decision it would have cost him $1.5k, ultimately he lost the case with costs rumoured to exceed $300k, hope it was worth it.
After brekkie we went for a walk around town while we were waiting for the March to commence at 10.45. Several diggers from WWII marched, some did the run in a mini bus, others motored up the street in a scooter with the odd one still able to make their own way, a few Vietnam vets marched and the ravages of time are becoming even more apparent among this group of blokes, but at the end of the march all who attended the service made there way into the RSL memorial hall for those who fought this provided the opportunity to reminisce and share some of there experience with those not familiar with war, and for the rest of us we were able to share their day and it became apparent that just being there represented more than words could have expressed, I hope that when we get home to normality this is one commitment that we can maintain, to show up each year and remember those who fought for what is it we have today.
We left the service and headed for the local phone box, we cant get any mobile service and it looks like that without a nextG phone we wont get anything for a while, we ring the folks and fortunately the Wilsons are visiting, bingo, we get to say hello to everyone, nothing much is happening at home except the lawns are growing, gee I love my sis, she looks after us well.
We head back to Perlubie Beach, I wanted to go for a paddle and a fish but the wind has picked up but we give it a try anyway, the kids have a splash in the water I paddle out, its pretty bumpy, safe enough but not very comfortable so I cruise back in on a few waves and then splash around with the kids before the afternoon is over and its time for dinner. We watch the crappiest movie I have ever seen, something Aprils
Mum leant us with Keanu reeves in it, what a crock of shit, now that daylight savings is over its getting dark about 6.30 so we need to find something to occupy our time.

Monday 26th April
Happy Birthday Aunty Deb
Today we are going to stop in on Don and Sandy whom we met in Tasmania, they live in Haslam and invited us to stop in on our way past, so we did. They have a great spot, right on the waterfront at Haslam and although they are struggling to recover from a recent mice plague the place they have is really nice.
Don tells me he bought the block in 1980 and paid $10k with a shack on it, he has since built a nice home and a few sheds and reckons it might be worth a bit more now, I think he may be right.
We stayed for lunch, Sandy made toasted corn beef sangers which were lovely, we chatted for a while and then went for a walk down the beach to the boat ramp and jetty. Don offered to loan us his tinny to go fishing, apparently its pretty hot on the whiting in the area, a kind gesture but I don’t like to borrow things like boat from people I don’t really know that well, we thank them for their kind hospitality and head into Streaky, we have to ring Deb for her birthday, it’s a 40klm trip back to town and Zac falls asleep, we cant believe it’s 3.30 where did the day go, I get fuel at the Shell faarrrrkk $1.49 a litre, I thought I would be smart and top up before we got to Ceduna and got stung, the plan was ok, it was the implementation that let me down. April picked up a few things from the IGA and then we decided to nick to the pub where they had wireless broadband, we had a coffee, checked our emails and banks accounts aaaaggghhh. One of the staff was updating the menu boards and April pointed out they had a $12.50 Scotch Fillet night, we had nothing organised and were feeling a bit slack so we decided to check it out, we passed the salad bar and it looked great, really fresh so we stayed and glad we did. 3 massive great Scotch Fillets cooked exactly how we ordered the arrived with a small amount of chips so you could give the salads a real go, not only that but they had a large Bain Marie with a great selection of roast potatoes and veggie alternatives.
We left well and truly satisfied, $37.50 later and we had all eaten to our hearts content, home to watch the end of Changling, we watched this previously but only got to see half the show, what a sad movie mind you Angelina Jolie looks hot even when she is pretending to be traumatised, it must be that fashion of the 20’s and 30’s so elegant, they should bring it back.

Tuesday 27th April
I’d planned to go fishing today but the weather had other ideas, early this morning I grabbed the family and went to the beach, it was low, low tide and you could walk almost all the way to the weed beds. When we got out there I found this Fhuge razor fish so I hitched up the trackies, took off the jumper and delved in after it, after a few grunts and a very wet t-shirt I had it in my hand, it was a ripper, Don told me yesterday that Razor was great bait so thought what better time to give it a try. We had a bit of brekkie and I race outside ready to go fishing, the bloke across the road is out in his tinnie and is bouncing around like a cork, its blowin’ its tit’s orf, dejected I go inside and get out the computer. Em is doing schooling and Zac is watching Roary, a little while later April is going to the loo and announces that the wind had died off a bit, so it had, love you all bye….
I get out to the edge of the weed beds, anchor up drop a line, bang, a bite and another, shit we are on here I thought, new baits try again, I’m getting nailed here but cant hook up, must be small fish move, paddle a bit further try again same, then hook up we are on, I fight this beast for what seemed like seconds and if Streaky Bay holds the record for the largest fish caught on a reo and reel it now has the record for the smallest whiting caught on a rod and reel, fair dinkum I don’t know how he swallowed the hook.
The wind is really blowing again, I can see the boats moving to the lea side of the island, I think it might be fun to paddle to the point, there are some huge sand dunes there and I want to check them out, if I get close to shore I might get out of the wind a bit…wrong, I slug it out against a 30 knot wind and finally make it to the dunes, it was only about 2 klm’s but it was hard work. I climb the dunes, they are Fhuge and pristine white sand, I decide this is too good for the kids too miss so head for home.
The trip back was a lot easier, with the wind pelting me along my main effort was to keep tacking so I didn’t end up at Haslam, while I drifted I had a line out and managed to pick up a whiting just over size, when I made it to shore and had caught nothing else I let it go.
Fortunately the bloke who was camping on the beach where I left my kayak trolley was kind enough to move it up the beach, the tide had come up at least 3 metres from the high water mark from yesterday, we stopped and had a chat for a while before I headed home to get the kids.
When I got there I was dutifully reminded how long I had been by my princess, I told them what I had found and it was decided that we would have lunch first, I made sandwiches for April and I while the kids had noodles, once finished we headed off, like I said earlier it was only about 2klm but the sand was really soft and the wind howling it was a real effort just to get there once there however the kid and I had a ball, we climbed the sand hills, rolled down them and back up again, let me tell you after the first few I was knackered, each dune must have been at least 25-30 metres high and the sand so soft if you jumped you went up to your shins, Zac on the other hand, being light as a feather just flew over the top of the sand as effortlessly as you like.
We climbed and jumped and investigated and at the highest point of the tallest dune we found what was left of the hull of a small fibreglass fishing boat, imagine my surprise we are 500m from the water 30m in the air and buried 2ft under the hill is this piece of hull so we dig it out, I was originally thinking it would make a great toboggan as the boogie boards we bought weren’t working, when we finally go it out it was a bit sharp on the edges and heavy, if it got out of control and this was distinctly possible it might do some damage so I thought better of it and just pushed it down the hill, it went really well too. We head back to April who was sitting on the beach, she won’t cuddle me ‘cause she reckons I smell like rotten bait, can’t see the problem myself. We wander back to camp taking it easy because we are all a bit knackered, I wash the kids and myself while April cooks dinner then start to pack up a few bits, we are getting low on water and its time to move on, had the weather been looking a bit kinder we may have even stayed another day.

Wednesday 28th April
We are off to Ceduna to pick up my new MasterCard, when we arrive finally at the post office the card hasn’t made the long journey in time which means we have to stay in town for a night, much to our chagrin we are going to have to stay in the van park as no camp are in reasonable proximity, we go for a walk around town and the change in demographic is blatantly obvious, our indigenous brudders outnumber us 10 to 1 and they seem to congregate on three corners in town, doing what I am not sure. We wander back to the van stopping at the IGA where Zac got crushed by the electric doors, I pop into the Mitre 10 and pick up some ¾ yank sprinkler fitting for the town water connection Zac broke when we were at Tumby Bay and when we finally make it back to the van it’slunch time so before we hit the van park we make a sandwich. As we are preparing lunch a yooohoo at the door turns out to be Bill and Kay, they’ve caught us but aren’t stopping they are planning to do another couple hundred klm’s across the Nullabor as we had originally intended. We have our sandwich and check in at the Big 4, its difficult but we swallow the $35 a night, we get a site that is drive through so we don’t unhitch, I unload the bikes and while April does a few loads of washing I head into town, its time to buy a wireless broadband modem, with daylight saving over and the phone service so sporadic it seems like the best solution. WHAT ABOUT THE COPS GROWLING AT YOU FOR NOT WEARING UR HELMET???
When I get back we all go for a ride around town, there is nothing much to see but we are trying to fill in our day and sitting around the van park in Ceduna is no hoot that is for sure. April, Em and I are on our bikes but Zac refuses to get off his scooter, he is really flying now and we do a couple of klm’s and he is right there with us in fact in front half the time, we do a lap of the town and no surprises, she is not much of a joint so its back to the van for a hot shower, dinner and an early night. Everything is ready to go so it will be up in the morning and we can leave whenever we like.

Thursday 29th April
The post arrives and we collect it about 9.30, not sure how it happened but we didn’t get off to an early start, might have something to do with the hot showers before we left again, just in case we didn’t get one for a while. We hit the Nullabor and the road condition was pretty bad for the first 80 klm to Panoona, I was thinking to myself, shit I don’t know how I will go driving on this for another 1000 klms, turns out soon after the road improved significantly and for the most part was very good for the rest of the trip. We drive most of the day and end up at Stop 81, which by virtue is 81klm from Border Village and positioned toward the middle of the “Great Australia Bight”, the view are spectacular even though the site is pretty rudimentary, a family from Tassie pull in behind us and the kids have a play, I get a few sunset shots and we are in bed early, tomorrow is a big day.

Friday 30th April
Driving Day, I decide that while it is picturesque another few days of this may get pretty monotonous for the kids, we hit the road about 8.30 and are at the border before 10, we’ve got a bit of a head wind today which is making it tough and chewing a bit more juice, fuel is anywhere from $1.61 to $1.90 so it’s a bit of pot luck on the fuel stops, we got some good advice from someone at Perlubie who had just come across and as it turned out he was spot on with the best stops.
We slug it out all day only stopping for fuel, lunch and wee stops and by the time we stop we have done just over 600klm for the day, Im pretty knackered and the kids have had enough, we find a nice camp site off the road with a few trees, as soon as we pull up the kids and I collect some fire wood while Mum prepares dinner, next minute Kay and Bill rock up, we had passed them in the last town where Kay was having a shower, we decide it’s a nice night for a BBQ and some wine, Bill brings the BBQ over to the fire, I cook our Salmon patties over the coals while April whips up some veg inside, a bottle of red and we are cruising, Kay is smootching with the kids and they are lapping it up, Bill is a tough old sheep cocky but the kids have him conned particularly Zac who gives him big smooches every time he sees him.
After dinner Kay gets out her fruit cake which as it turns out is her piece de’resistance, an old family recipe and it was fantastic, even better with the port Bill brought out, we did however have another big day ahead of us so it was goodnight and off to bed for all.

Saturday May 1st
We awake and outside a slight fog provides for a really eerie backdrop to the bush surrounding us, it was very beautifully Australian.

Its 200klm to Norseman and the trip computer says I have 260klm left in the tank, sounds like a safe bet, we head off and its 10am Adelaide time or 8.30 Perth time, the weather is better today, no real wind of any consequence. I get a bit cocky and decide to anti up on the trip a bit, most of the Nullabor has been done somewhere between 80 and 90k’s but with the weather the way it is I’ll cruise along at 100 for a while, not for long, we were guzzling the fuel and at such a rate that we had 150klm to go and 160 in the tank so it was time to conserve fuel, I slowed to about 2000 rpm and cruised just on 80klm, the fuel scenario changed dramatically and we started to get back in front, we were never in trouble as we had some fuel in the jerry can on the back but Didn’t want to get to that point.
We hit Norseman with about 30klm left in the tank, I filled up at $1.41 and then we decided to stop for a break, I hadn’t slept very well, last night while traipsing through the Spinifex I got covered in needle like spikes and every time I moved in the bed something spiked me. I played in the park with the kids while April went to the IGA a short time later a startled and agitated wife arrive back only to advise that she had been bitten on the leg by a dog, fair dinkum, what is it in these country towns. True it was, she had a rather sizeable bite mark on her leg, she went on to explain it was a Byzanche on a lead and when the woman walked past it latched on, it even tore her pants.
Just as she was relaying her story Bill and Kay turned up, time for a cuddle before heading off to buy lunch, we had ours and then hit the road, another 200klms to Esperance.
I stopped every hour for a rest and a coffee, it was getting hard going driving, we hit Esperance and the whole landscape changed, the town itself is quite large and has everything retail wise you want in a town, with a population of nearly 15,000 it’s a fair town, we stop at the info booth but is closes at 2pm, we are there at 8 minutes past, bugger, we fill up with water at a servo and head to Lucky Bay camp site in the Le Grand National Park.
We arrive late but it looks like a beautiful spot if a little expensive, geez they know how to charge in the National Parks these days, oh well if its as nice as it looks it will be worth it and I need the break from driving for a couple of days, we cook snags in the camp kitchen which is really clean and well appointed, we are all stuffed, update the blog and then off to bed.

Sunday May 2nd
Good morning all its 4.15am and the kids aren’t adjusted o WA time as yet, we stick on a movie and manage a bit more shut eye before we get mobbed and get out of bed. Em starts her journal and Zac and I go for a walk, there is a little walk to Thistle Cove which is the next cove across from Lucky Bay, we set off and it’s a fair old walk, my little mate is having a ball, we find a secret hideout and I’m not allowed to tell the girls, he has affectionately named it the “rock caravan”. He wants to know if we can sleep here so the girls wont find us, I explain it might be a bit cold without blankets, we keep trekking and the scenery is magnificent, they call this area the bay of Isles and its easy to see why, there are an inordinate amount of rocky outcrops erupting from the ocean varying in size from just big anough to make the waves break to island large enough to habitate. I didn’t realise we had anything like this on the south coast, it is rugged and beautiful. The walk takes us just over 2 hours and was a pretty mean feat, when we got back the girls had finished school and were preparing for lunch, we ate and then we all went for a walk down along the beach. The sand here is amazing, it is as white as driven snow and so fine that the beach compact so much you can ride a bike along the waterline and it is like riding on a road. I toss a few lures but no joy, too much weed to be effective, Zac gets swamped by a wave and it’s all over red rover, back to camp to dry off.
Early dinner, we are still having trouble adjusting, we watch La Vie En Rose or something like that, it was the story of Edith Piaf, what a tragic life, I didn’t realise she was such a Diva and the most incorrigible person you could ever meet, talk about ladette to ladette.

Monday May 3rd
While Em does her school Zac and I go for a walk along the rocks and around the point, there are a heap of caves and while the walk is a little treacherous its got some great scenery. April has got an ulcer in her mouth and wants to get it checked out so we decide that after lunch we will head into Esperance and get to a quack and top up on some supplies, while we are getting ready Peter our friendly park ranger drops off a book about Kirigilli National Park, he reckons it is magnificent and the pics in the book are absolutely amazing, maybe something to consider, will mean we will have to get work, or sell one of the kids..hmmmm I really don’t feel like working!!!
We head into Esperance on the advice from Peter to go straight to the Hospital, I drop April off anf the kids and I go and check out the town, it’s a nice little town, not really a thriving metropolis but very serviceable. We grab some lunch and Aprils texts to say she is finished and will walk to where we are, that good ‘cause I just started eating my first Laksa in about 3 months, average although it is it has been sorely missed.
The drive home is pretty long after another 4am morning, April is feeling pretty crap and wants a rest, when we get back Em and I go for a walk on the rocks and Zac watches a movie, dinner is left over’s for each of us, I spend the night updating Em’s blog entries, I am miles behind but just about up to speed today.

Tuesday May 4th
The wind was howling last night but being a westerly we were pretty protected, it died a little this morning, enough for Zac and I to go fishing while Em did her schooling, we got nothing but a few wrasse, oh well. We head home as we had planned to take the girls on the walk to Thistle Cove and Zac couldn’t help himself, he had to tell them about the “Rock Caravan”, its about 10.45 when we set off and by the time we get to Thistle the kids are starving and Zac is pretty tired, he has been doing a bit lately so it’s no wonder really. We stop for a muesli bar and a drink, after a look around the cove we decide to walk back along the road, its probably a bit further but far easier terrain. We start up the road and it’s a bit of a slog, then we see the Kedron driving on the main road, its Bill and Kay, next minute both kids are bouncing up and down and keen to get home, hey use the momentum I say so we toddle off and sure enough when we get to camp we have new neighbours, we stop for a bit of a chat still mindful that we have to feed the beasts.
After lunch Kay and Bill pop in they are going to do the walk to thistle and Bill will catch us up on the rocks later for a fish.
Em ditches us so Zac and I go for a fish, we get a tommie and a few wrasse, ill turns up later having left Kay on the rocks half way round, she wasn’t game to take on the steeper sections. We fished the arvo out without much joy; Bill had a good run but got busted off, I reckon it was a big salmon, a bloke got an 8 kilo one in the same spot on Sunday.
We pack it in and head home, the girls are in the camp kitchen cooking when we arrive, we head down and give them a hand, we are just getting ready to head back to the van when “crunch”
Zac in his most inimitable fashion has climber up the corrugated surround on the camp kitchen and gone over head first into the concrete and landed on his scooter that was on the ground, both Kay and April saw it happen but it was too quick to stop him. A bit of blood and a few tears and he seems ok, he is in our bed now, he could have quite easily been concussed, what a little shit, don’t know where he gets it from.
He settled down after dinner that is he got all chatty and was showing me all the fish he had caught in the SA fisheries book, gawd he is so cute. April has just gone to fill Bill and Kay in on his progress and to let them know he is ok.
The weather is meant to clear up for the rest of the week, do we stay another day?

Wednesday May 5th
We wake up to a slightly overcast windy day, it looks like my wish wont come to fruition, I had hoped that the weather would clear enough so I could kayak around a few of the islands but the ocean is pretty sloppy when the breeze is up, hey maybe next time whenever that may be.
Decision time, stuff it lets go I inform the troops, stations everybody and we start the packing up routine, which I might add is pretty much down pat. Bill and Kay drop in to check on Zaccie, he greets them with that little “cheeky bugger” grin of his so they are convinced he is fully recovered, they are off too, Bill thinks Ravensthorpe is his limit today, we haven’t checked out camps yet but I reckon we wont be far behind, Im still not fully recovered from the trek across the nullaboring (Em and I named it, it was a choice between that and “nullabored out of yer brains”).
A cold shower just before we leave brighten me up a bit, I reckon this solar thing is a croc, we had three days over 20deg and the showers were freezing 2 of the days and with no electricity to boost it they were mostly ineffective, anyway we hit the road about 10.15, a quick stop in Esperance and we are off, the terrain was mostly wheat and sheep territory I suppose that is what the Mallee is renowned for.
I am undertaking a bit of an exercise today, the project is too see what is the premium speed and or revs to achieve the most effective fuel economy we can get, I wont bore you with the detail but effectively we were averaging about 82kph at around 2rpm, this returned a fuel economy of 19.4l per 100km, this is good to know when you are getting low on fuel, particularly when you consider that you can run at 30l per 100 at 110kmh, hey give me a break I was bored, so we get to Ravensthorpe which was about 180klm from Esperance and it was one level below nothing as a town goes, in the interim we have consulted our trust camps 5 and found Cape Riche with Prue and Andy had raved about on their blog, its still 180km down the road and given nothing we have passed resembled a half decent camp site we keep moving, a splash and dash sees us top up the fuel $50 will see us to Albany, hopefully its better than $1.42 when we hit town.
It’s getting late and the sun is almost down, we still have 50km to Riche of which 18 is dirt road, we pass a bush camp at Pallinup River and it looks ok, I decide to do a uturn and pull up for the night.
We reckon if you want to get the best sites you turn up around 10am, by this time all the oldies are stirring and you get them as they leave and before the others arrive ‘cause they’re still doing 40kmh down the highway and have stopped for a pee and a “free” roadside cup of tea 30 times. If you arrive late in the arvo you get what is left and if it’s a good location and you want to stay a few days you either make the effort to move or stay in a b grade location.
The kids and I light a fire while April prepares dinner, with the fire lit we wander down to the river in fact the area reminds me a lot of north east victoria, given the rivers run a bit slower but the vegetation and surroundings had that same feel, dinner is served, we are having the last of the sausages from the butcher at Whyalla, they are magnificent, its been a long day off to bed.

Thursday May 6th
Faarrrk it’s cold, trakkies, beanies, gloves we have it all out this morning, I cook porridge for brekkie, we were just going to have cereal and hit the road but it’s too bloody cold, as an aside,when I cooked the porridge this morning I did it in the traditional style, i.e on the stove and rather than milk I stirred in some soy milk at the end and it added a really good flavour to the porridge, sure the cream and golden syrup we good to but the nutty flavour from the soy was really nice, I have to try it again.
We get going and in no time we are at Cape Riche, the weather is glorious and I have found Nirvana, we are met at the gate by Frank, Frank (a different one) the caretaker is not here so just go and find a site and he’ll be ‘round later, I’m thinking hello I’m Darryl, this is my brother Darryl and my other brother; Darryl but not to be Alan was the next bloke I met, he and his wife had the best location in the entire camp site, a massive site right on the water, camp fire private rack to the beach, views of the island and bugger me if he wasn’t leaving, theory proven.
We stop have a chat get the local secrets about water wood and woman, I wine I did say wine didn’t I and within 10 minutes we are setting up, in fact it was more like 20, we had to do a bit of manoeuvring to get the van level, the chocks were sinking in the sand so we had to resort to another option.
April always knows when I like a location, she should after 21 years but I reckon there are a few tell tale signs. For me I thinks she gets it when I pull out the awning and set it up as a patio style, out comes the big floor mat and she is pegged to the ground, hennie gennnie is out and padlocked to a tree, the kayak is off and the back of the car with all the bogie boards and snorkelling gear is empty and arranged next to the 8 different fishing rods, each one to accommodate a specific style of fishing, and this is in the first hour.
However, I have digressed, Cape Riche is located in a large bay (I think it is Bremer Bay) but it is completely open to the ocean. Our camp site is right on the water, we walk out of our site to a pristine white beach where the water laps up on to the shore and provides an ideal swimming post for the kids, 10 metres into the water and you have pristine reef filled with the most magnificent variety of reef dwelling species, a further 10metres and you have weed and sandy bottom with Trevally & Whiting everywhere, look one kilometre off shore and there is a large island, home to Australian fur Seals and a large Fairy Penguin colony and I expect some pretty cool fishing.
With camp setup and everyone happy we head to the beach, I grab a snorkel, fins and a pair of goggles and as mum and the kids commence earth works I dive into the coolish (sic fucking cold) water. The reef is deceiving, you can be walking in 10cm of water and it can drop 20ft and then straight back up again, an ideal environment for reef fish and it was, I saw banded morwong, sweep, leatherjackets, groper, wrasse and an abundance of little reef fish of all shapes and sizes, being faced with such a natural beauty I felt I had no choice….I had to race back and get the hand spear, all things being fair, this was the first time I had ever used it so the odds were on the fishes side, I didn’t think that at the time though when I got out of the water I’m saying to April, crank up the barbie baby, its fish for dinner tonight which in hindsight was a little optimistic, as it turns out fish can swim better than me, who would have thought and given the option of either hiding under a rock ledge or sitting in the open waiting to be impaled by 5 barbed metal prongs they tended to choose the former, that’s what’s wrong with this world, too many choices. It wouldn’t be fair to say I failed, I did spear two fish, unfortunately they tended to be quite large and displayed a great deal of tenacity and strength enough to dislodge themselves and swim off giving me “the fin”, note to self, when you do actually spear a fish hold it down and don’t pull the spear backwards, this tends to pull the spear out and let the fish get away. After facing the ridicule of my family, yeah even Zac got in on the act it was time for a sandwich before setting off to redeem myself, I told my family they were having fish for dinner and fish they shall have, I have no option but to go fishing, don’t despair honey thou shalt not starve to which she replied.
“Just piss off and go fishing you idiot”
I decide to go for a fish, Karl the bloke next door was telling me about an experience they had the day before, apparently a school of pilchards swam into the cape followed feverishly by a large school of salmon hence what followed was a feeding frenzy that lasted several hours, those that witnessed it described the water boiling, Karl was telling me he had picked up some 3kg salmon of the beach still alive such was the fervour with which they pursued the pilllies, it always happens yesterday for me, oh well give it a shot anyway..
I paddle out to a sand patch and give the Whiting a shot for 10 minutes, nothing, I paddle to some reef over at the point, anchor up and bang, I’m on what a great fight, a 2kg banded sweep on whiting gear, and another and another, then a sea sweep, big parrot fish, king wrasse, trevally, it was great, with about 10 fish on board I decide to pull anchor and head back, you guessed it, that bloody anchor was stuck in the reef again, I can get it off and its getting dark and the wind is picking up, I know if I keep trying I’ll tip the kayak and possibly lose some of my gear so I tie my red aluminium anaconda drink bottle to the anchor rope, give it a bit extra length and then cut it off, I’ll come back tomorrow with the snorkelling gear and try and recover it.
Back at camp we clean the fish, Zac is wrapped, April is lost for words, she of little faith, I crank up the fire and put on the barbie plate I bought from home, we have big feed of fish and some coleslaw April made and after all that hunting it was time for a book and bed, tomorrow looks like another nice day too.

Friday May 7th
Days like this don’t come along too often; it’s a perfect day, breakfast and a few odd jobs around the joint and them off to get the anchor. I’m going to kayak back to the point where I left the buoy, at least I can tie off to the existing rope and it means I wont have as far to get to shore, at the last minute I decide it would be irresponsible not to take a fishing rod and that given I’ll be diving down to recover the anchor I should take the spear, just for “protection”.
I’m pleased to see my drink bottle still bobbing away where I left it, the weather is far more conducive to recover so I don my goggles and snorkel and stick my head over the side, and sure as eggs there is my anchor, well the shackle at least, she is well and truly buried, I give it a pull and it doesn’t budge, I go bit harder and nearly tip the kayak over, hmmm looks like I’m getting wet, just before I do I have an idea, a get a spare shackle, plait it onto the anchor rope, hook it onto the handle at the back of the kayak and paddle like a mad man. The first couple of times it did nothing but after changing directions a few time I felt it release and sure enough I had pulled it free, wooohooo now I can go fishing.
I tried around the reef mindful not to snag the anchor again, also watching the time as April wanted to go into Albany.
I get a decent king wrasse here and decide to try for some whiting, I pull up on this nice looking patch of sand, before I throw the anchor over I have a look through the goggles, OMG a school of whiting, a pinkie, trevally everywhere, I lower the anchor in great anticipation, nothing for 20 minutes, they just wouldn’t take a bait, I try a few more spots and the same, plenty of fish no real takers, a few small trevally.
Next minute Zac and April are on the beach, Zac wants to go fishing, we paddle around for hour, fishing here and there without much joy, we are both hungry, time for lunch so we head in.
After lunch I’m up chatting with Frank the caretaker and a bloke turns up with a ute full of mallee roots, turns out he is one of the local Salmon fisherman and we stop for a chat, he’s starts telling us that they got about 500kg of salmon yesterday of the beach and they were getting a bit of a giggle ‘cause there was an 8ft bronze whaler heading straight for some bloke fishing in a kayak, he got even more of a giggle when he found out it was me…shame I only had my whiting rod with me. Before I head off Frank offers to take me out fishing with him in his tinnie tomorrow if the weather is ok, yehaa a bit of local knowledge.
Back home and we are plodding around, I think I’ll give Albany a miss today, then about 2pm April and I realise its Friday, I want to go fishing with Frank tomorrow and I have to have something in the post for Monday, shit!! so we make the mad dash to Albany which is 100klm away.
We get fuel, groceries, a Mothers Day present and some fresh water from a lovely bloke named Luke, who saw us collecting water from the tap at the servo and told us to follow him down the road to his parents place, they had fresh tank water which was heaps better than town water, what a nice gesture, you always know when you are in the country.
We grab a Pizza and Fish and Chips for the kids and make a few calls home, everything is pretty cruisey all ‘round, leaving Albany about 8pm it was a pretty long trip home as the fog had settled in most of the way, but we made it.

Saturday 8th May
A morning of anticipation waiting for the time to go fishing, I took Zaccie and Em up to see Frank feed the Kangaroos which he does every day at 7am, a bit of brekkie, ooooh I’m getting excited Frank drop in, just a few more jobs to do and we are off. I check my rigs, tie a few new hooks on, I’ve got my beautiful little Heartland rod in prime whiting condition.
April reminds me I have to do the dishes, shit Frank said 5 minutes, oh hell, I better do it, splash and dash, I reckon she probably rewashed them but my conscience was clear, down to the ramp and Frank is there read to go, it’s a beach launch so takes a bit of experience, good for me to as I have never beach launched before. We drop the boat and I swing the front around into the waves, not much of a swell and a beautiful warm day.
Frank get in and fires up the 15hp Yamaha and we are off 200m offshore and splutter splutter stop, nothing fuel is not pressurising, out with the tool kit and fortunately
Frank has a second hand tank connector, we change it and she fires, right lets go.
The old Yammie was chugging a bit but we cruised to the weed grounds, we drop and we are into the Sand Whiting, Frank reckons these are the best eating, better than King George, hmmm not sure about that, 10 minutes in and Frank boats a KG, must have been at least 40cm, I’m just about gagging and he’s like ho hum and then I realise why, I’m into them double hook ups 50cm KG’s like bloody Boa Constrictors, Flathead at 60cm are apparently the rule rather than the exception, we only get two but I’m assured there are plenty about, about 50 Tommie Rough and a few Trevally see’s the fish go quiet, we’ve got a great feed and Frank is dirty ‘cause I spanked him, of the 6 KG’ I got 5, he’s in love with my little Heartland Rod, before we head for home frank chucks all the whiting in a wheat bag and throws it over the side, tied on of course, apparently this scales them and removes the slime so all you need to do is fillet them when you get back.
Much to my surprise he is spot on, Whiting as clean as a whistle, we spend the next hour of two cleaning, I grab a whiting and some Tommies for lunch, Frank invites us back for dinner, he’ll cook, we’ll bring a salad, well Ladies and Gentleman, you can not beat fresh whiting in a light beer batter deep fried in a cast iron camp over served with coleslaw, potato salad, green salad and some mean as hell chilli pickled onions, what a feed and as a host Frank was an absolute ripper bloke, wonder what tomorrow will bring, don’t forget it’s Mothers Day.

Sunday 9th May
Happy Mothers Day Mums
Scrambled Eggs and Bacon, sounds trivial except when you are trying to do it with some assistance and compound that with the limitations and space constraints of a caravan hmmm, what to do, I know, hey kids, Mum isn’t really sleeping maybe she wants a cuddle from her two beautiful children, right that is them out of the way, Brekkie was beautiful even if I say so myself, April loves the top she picked out for herself and somehow she managed to get Emily to believe she did it all on her own, amazing how gullible children can be, if only life was so simple.
After brekkie we are all just kicking back, reading books, playing really mindless stuff, next minute Frank turns up, he has a mate Ray who has just turned up with his boat and wants to go fishing, Frank cant go and Ray has had recent back surgery and cant go on his own and was wondering if I would like to join him, well what is a ut to do, I felt I had a moral obligation to this poor old elderly chap who had driven all this way to go fishing, in fairness to my lovely wife, she was all for it, so I head off to meet Ray, he’s a 75 yo wheat farmer, you’re real true blue Aussie cocky. I grab a couple of road and a tackle box and stick them in his boat, a 4.3m shark cat.
Ray is pretty immobile, several years ago he caught a bloke that was falling off a shed roof which broke his leg, in more recent times his back was playing up and after a fall in the boat, turns out he needs back surgery, this was done in Feb and its taken this long for him to get back in the water.
Ray and I hop in the boat and Frank launches us off the trailer with the extended draw bar, which requires him to go flat out into the water and hit the skids projecting us backwards into the water hoping like hell there is not a big wave coming to swamp the back of the boat, we make it, Ray starts to motors Twin 40 Honda 4 strokes and “shit, no steering” hmm I’ve been here before we agree its best to chuck in reverse and get a little further away from shore to avoid any breaking waves, I jump over the back and try to dislodge the steering but she is stuck firm, we can steer with the motors, one of the benefits of duel motors, I whistle Frank and he brings the trailer back down, we beach the boat and pull her out of the waves, after a bit of deliberation we pull the steering arm off and I manage to free it up enough to move it and lubricate it, just as I had done with my boat last year and in no time we are back in the water flying along.
Ray tells me he is keen to see what this little rod has in it as Frank was pretty impressed yesterday and he thought I might give Ray a touch up also, “not bloody likely” he says, I have been fishing this water for thirty years and noone has taken more fish out of this bay than Ray, I believe it too, he has all the spots in his GPS, whiting, snook, snapper the lot and just listening to him and watching him navigate the water, he knows this place like the back of his hand, it feels and sounds good.
We travel a bit further North than Frank and I did the day before, we pull up and I drop the biggest mother loving anchor overboard, Hey Pete, don’t bitch about my anchor this thing would secure the Queen Mary, I’m first down and bang a beautiful size Sandy, and another and another, Ray is sweating, he hasn’t boated on yet, then a big KG I’ve got six in the boat before Rays boats one, he is using a running sinker rig and an old boat rod with a big reel, I am fishing really light with a paternoster rig and I am smashing them, one after the other, they go a bit quiet and we move to another spot and it starts again, Ray is spewing so I offer him my other rod, a nice light Gary Marsh and with some amusement he accepts, he reckons it’s like pulling in a shark every time but his rate improves and we have a giggle, we pull anchor and Ray says “want to catch a snook (pike)” what the, yeah sure so he chucks me a rod and a lure and says, stick this out the back about 3 chains, luckily I knew what a chain was and didn’t have to ask, we are cruising along and he says “you should be getting one now” and bang right on queue a lovely 70cm Snook in the boat, we have a great bag of fish, maybe 35 sand whiting, 20 King George, 2 good flatties a couple of Trevally and the Snook, by the time we get home and clean them it’ll be dinner time.
We get back and Ray announces to Frank that he was comprehensively spanked and reckoned it was because of the little beads I had on my leader, sure if it makes you feel better old man, rematch tomorrow he says, are you kidding for sure Im in, the cance to better one of the best days fishing I’ve ever had, no worries.
We clean the fish and have a port and a chat at Franks on out return, April joins us and soon enough its time to feed the beasts, we fillet a few whiting and that is dinner, April makes a batter and its fresh whiting and salad again, not that I am complaining, by the way honey, what did you have planned tomorrow!!!!

Monday 10th May
Today was almost a carbon copy of the previous day except the wind was blowing a bit and the swell was a bit bigger and Ray caught more KG’s than I did, I shouldn’t have given him those beads after all, but another great day’s fishing and another great bags of fish, Ray even caught a cuttlefish which I had never seen one alive before, phew are they big, some monster flatties too, note to self, remember Ray breaks the necks of the KG’s before putting them in the fish bin, this preserves the eating quality apparently.
We were going to hit the snapper grounds but she is a bit too rough, we stick it out most of the day and then head back to clean the catch, we call up Frank on the VHF o pick us up, these blokes are real salt of the earth and think nothing of helping each other out.
Ray joins us for dinner, we cooked up some snook and some goat fish just for something different and it was great. Ray is an interesting character, typical cocky, no money but sporting a fair dinkum Oyster Rolex, no pretence though and gives us a run down of his life and views on the world, he is really excited about a machine he has invented which flattens the stubble left after a grain crop and converts what was once a waste material often burnt into an organic fertiliser, he has spent $50k building a prototype and just got a govt grant to evolve it even further, tomorrow he is going to bring us some pictures on a CD.
Tuesday May 11th
Franks family arrive today from Perth, Ray is committed to taking them fishing so I am free to spend the day with the family, the weather is a bit average too, it was raining when we woke. We take the opportunity to have a look at some of the local landscape, there is a 4wd track beside the camp that leads to house beach, ironically or not this is where the Moir family house is located as opposed to where we are which is shed beach, and you guessed it this is where the shed is located, the shed however is steeped in history, it was built to accommodate the whalers and seal hunters in the early 1800’s and it still standing today, used annually as accommodation for the contract salmon fisherman.
The track to house beach was nice and you could drive right on to the beach, it was to cold for a swim and again they are struggling with the amount of weed on the beaches here, back at camp we spend the day around the camp fire, we are burning mallee roots and they provide amazing fuel, they burn for hours and the heat is great, it’s a relaxing day and everyone enjoyed the rest, this fishing is hard work….
Ray pops over in the afternoon after returning with the boys, he wants to go out deep and try for some reefies, I’m not sure but I think it was an invite, April was standing next to me and she wasn’t sure wither, I guess we will find out tomorrow. I love these old cockies, they give nothing away emotionally and being men of few words they can sometimes leave you wondering, in fact reminds me of a few people I’ve known over the years.

Wednesday May 12th
We get up in the morning and the wind is blowing pretty hard, Ray is meant to be out with the boys from Perth and sure enough the boat is gone, they are slopping it out across the bay, I try and get them on the two way but not on channel, they come in shortly before lunch, soon after Ray shows, Yep, it was an invite, we are going fishing – offshore, get ready and we will go after lunch. I quickly pack a few things including a life jacket as the old Markham Dominator has a slight leak in one of the hulls, we reckon it might be a dodgy bung but having seen Rays life jackets and given that I brought mine with me I have far greater confidence in one that was not previously used to assist large Bovines off the ark.
We head off around the point, filleting Tommies all the way, fresh from the morning catch, its after 2 and we only have a short while to fish, the trip takes us a good 45 minutes, we hit the first mark on the gps, its 184ft deep, Ray looks at me and says, Ok son, drop the anchor….piss off we are in 184ft of water and you’ve got a bung back, I know who’s pulling it in…..ok so he thinks im a sook, I can live with that, his anchor weighs a ton, so we settle on a drift with the sea anchors out. The gear we are using is huge, 250lb leader, 9/0 hooks and lead the size of house bricks and Ray is using a hand line.
The water was a bit sloppy, but not too bad, we boat a breaksea cod first, amazing eating fish, then next drift a 15lb snapper and a “fhuge” leather jacket, next drift saw us land a great big nannygai, I’m stoked, imagine my surprise when Ray says, righto son, lets go…what no way!!! he says its getting dark and we need to make it back in daylight, beach retrieve and all, by the way, no lights on the boat…but surely we’ve got time for 1 more drift, pack it in son, we are leaving. Hey a bloke cant complain, I have had an amazing couple of days fishing but it was such an great spot and fish to boot, fortunately being a stubborn old bastard paid off as we rounded the point and pulled up at the beach it was close enough to sunset to call dark, rule number 1 don’t mess with an old cocky, at least when it comes to stuff they have been doing for 30 years+.
Ray leaves us to get home with a feed of fish; I clean our catch on the beach with Zac paying close attention, its fresh nannygai and breaksea cod for dinner, stoke up the fire, bung on the fry pan and its fish again….sorry EM.

Thursday May 13th
Much to my distress its time to leave Cape Riche, it’s a miserable day, the rain is coming. We pack and bid farewell to Frank our wonderful host, we leave one of the most beautiful places in Australia heading for Albany. Its 11.30 before we leave so by the time we hit Albany we are all starving, and we need a rest. Ray has put us onto some friends that have a large block and welcome travellers, but given the time and our obvious lack of showering facilities at Cape Riche we head for the Big4 in town, it’s clean with hot and close enough to town to allow us to run all the errands we need to, it was cheap enough to, for a couple with no kids!!!
Its shittty and cold and we amuse ourselves watching the people in tents relocating and April run back and forth with the washing begging for $1 coins, and, although I have never been, I am sure it would be reminiscent of scenes common in the streets of Calcutta, well maybe not, but we got a giggle all the same.
The phone rings, it’s Ray, he had checked with Woodsy and we hadn’t arrived, what’s going on, where were we, what do you mean you are at a caravan park!! Ok ok we’ll go there tomorrow

Friday May 14th
I jump in the car after brekkie, its bloody cold and I want to check out where this Woodsy lives before I hook up the van, I find it easy enough and it is really close to town. I head back and we hook up the van, we arrive and find Wendy in the vegie garden, she reminds me of the cat lady from The Simpsons and Aunty Lois combined, oh boy what have we done.
My initial concerns were totally unfounded, what a lovely woman, she makes sure we have a nice level location, we get a bit of the local history, in fact the entire life history and an overview of the best local points of interest. I won’t say shortly, but some time later we are unhitched and we head into town, we check out the local maritime museum and the kids have a ball, aside from your typical museum stuff they have interactive displays and turtle painting which the kids loved.
We lunched at a little café and it was soup of the day for oth of us, it was a pretty average attempt but warm and comforting which with the weather today was what we needed.
We hit the main st and stopped in at Rivers, we both needed a decent jumper, ended up we got Zac a pair of gum boots, funny how that works. A little further along we found a hairdresser, Zac looks like a feral so we get him a trim followed by a bit of grocery shopping. Albany has all the majors and some, a magnificent town with a very historic, traditional and thriving main st shopping precinct, which in today’s society is an absolute rarity.
We head back to camp and spend the afternoon walking around the 10 acre block. Next to the house is about ½ acre of daffodils and jon quills, on the hill is the orchard which has about 100 fruit trees ranging from cherries, lemons, peaches, pears to every conceivable apple variant you could ever want, plums and so on, a bit further down is a patch of watermelon, pumpkin and garlic which has been recently harvested, across the creek is the house block with all the sheds, two beehives and a chook shed. The next block is where we camp and its quite a large area, a smaller vegie patch known as the summer garden adjoins the paddock which runs to the south boundary fence, the rest of which is open paddock are divided by a creek and interspersed with a small dam here and there. It is far from pristine in its appearance, in fact there is shit everywhere, but it is orderly and homely and both Austin (Woodsy) and Wendy are passionate about it.

In fact they are in a bit of a bind at the moment, the council in there infinite wisdom have developed an estate in an adjoining property and rather than use the existing road built a new road that ends at the northern fence of woodsys property, there intent is to compulsorily acquire woods land and the creek area to finish the road and make apark along the waterway, however noone consulted with woodsy and they have taken there case to the CCC, it is apparent that there were some untoward activity undertaken by the former CEO and town planner, both of whom have left in recent weeks hhmmmm smells like dirty politics to me, when you hear the whole story its hard to comprehend this can happen in today’s society, all I hope is that justice is done and they leave Austin and Wendy well alone, at least long enough to live out their lives in the tranquillity of there own little paradise.

Saturday May 15th
Saturday in Albany is farmer’s market day and this is meant to be the best farmers market in WA so we have to check it out. The food was fantastic a great variety and although not all that cheap it is straight from the grower and mostly organic.
We stock up on a few fruit and veg and head back to camp dropped of the shopping and then went for a drive around the local tourist spots around the coastline, Goodes Beach, Salmon Holes, Whale World are all on a Peninsula that encompasses King George Sound, we decide Whale World is another trip as it was getting too late to see it all, we stopped at Salmon Hole and watched a couple of Malaysian guys bring in half a dozen 5kg salmon and carry them the 147 steps up from the beach…nice fish to catch but not worth that effort, I’d rather let them go than carry them up there although some people obviously hold salmon in a somewhat higher regard, on the previous Saturday one gent lost his life while fishing on the rocks at Salmon Holes, his friend had been washed in on the Friday and was fortunate that a wave picked him up a placed him back on to the rocks from which he came with no more than a minor scratch, on Saturday his mate was not so fortunate and the sea not so forgiving, imagine our surprise to find from our Malay friends that the guy in the flouro vest fishing on the rocks today was the guy who got washed in last Friday and who’s mate was killed on Saturday, fuck those Salmon must taste really good!!!
The coastline is beautiful, yeah I know its getting a bit repetitive but I am constantly amazed at the beauty of different places, we really like this place, Albany gets a tick in all the boxes, it has history, architecture, water, population all the hallmarks of a great place to live.
When we get home the kids and I go for a walk around the property, pick a few apples, and have a sword fight with some branches, nights are getting cooler now we aren’t having a fire here so its early to bed, we do have internet which is proving to be a nice link back home and society in general.

Sunday May 16th
Well we were intent on going to Whale World today, that was until Ray turned up and advised us that we were coming to dinner and that he and I were going to the bowls club in the afternoon and that I should “be up home no later than 1pm, fortunately we weren’t hell bent on the plans for the day and it wouldn’t hurt to spend a bit of time with the old bugger so we agreed, also fortunate that before he hopped in the car I sought to clarify what time he wanted us for dinner, no later than 1pm I told you, oh you mean lunch….anyway we decide to skip on the roast lunch, maybe another time April and the kids do Whale World while I go to bowls with Ray, and while I wont say I set the world on fire, I held my own albeit against a 70yo woman and a 75yo man…who kicked my ass by the way.
We ended up having a light dinner at Rays while the kids played with the toys, April had picked up some chips on the way and they were happy having a house to trash.

Monday 17th May
Today was chillax day, some might say every day is but it is often quite hectic looking around a new place every few days. late in the morning Woodsy rocked up and asked if I wanted to go fishing down at the Salmon Holes, sure, oh is that ok honey hehehehe… time for a bit of lunch and he’ll pick me up and Wendy will take April and the kids around to some of the local sites…done and as planned shortly after lunch Austin arrives, I chuck in the rods, kiss the kids goodbye and we are off and yes the one notable omission was not coincidence, not that she wouldn’t but I keep getting chastised for kissing the kids goodbye and forgetting April, apparently she is just as important, who would have guessed..
Salmon holes was a tough place to fish, obviously we were off the beach and not the rocks but the current on this day was pretty strong and it was hard to hold bottom, of the 6 blokes fishing only one caught a nice fish of about 5kg, we were the last to leave and we saw nothing else get landed, oh well a nice day all the same if only just to experience the scenery. We get home on dark and the family have had a great day with Wendy, April is notably impressed by her knowledge but also her vigilance in the face of the adversity she has experienced in her lifetime, too detailed and sensitive to go into here but suffice to say she is one tough cookie.

Tuesday 18th May
We were going to leave today but we have a bit of running around to do, need to get fuel, groceries and a thank you for our hosts and Ray and Judy. I also promised to help Ray with some detail on patent law and what he needs to do to get the Bauminator protected so I head over to his place after lunch and get him started, its quite a convoluted process and he will be well advised to seek advice. We bid the Baum’s farewell and catch up with Austin and Wendy for a chat, the kids have a last play in the yard and we pack up everything before it gets too wet.

Wednesday 19th May
We are just about ready to go early, then Wendy shows and April and kids are off to the orchard to collect apples and lemons, feed the chooks and have one last play, two hours later and we are off, we stop in town and empty to porta loo fill up with water and head to Denmark. There is a message on the phone from Kay and Bill, where are we what are we doing, rather than text we give them a call, OMG they are nearly in Geraldton, chasing the hot weather, irony is we were having good weather and they were driving in to rain, I think they really miss the kids, we will see them again I am pretty sure, even if just for a weekend trip.
The landscape changes as soon as you leave Albany to what would be considered as more of your traditional dairy country, lush green fields but with one distinct difference; each field is bordered by huge sand hills.
We arrive in Denmark and stop at the park for a bit of lunch, it is right on the river and borders the town which seems like quite a nice little spot, the kids play in the playground while lunch is prepared and then it is a contest to see if you can eat your sandwich before the seagull nicks it, fair dinkum the buggers were trying to take it out of zaccies hand while he was eating, if only they new it was that horrible GF bread they probably wouldn’t have bothered
A bit of lunch and a play and we traverse the last 25klm to Parry Beach, on arrival I wander into the caretakers office and introduce myself to Roy telling him that Frank from Cape Riche sent me down, he cracks up and yells “hey Frank” out wanders old Frank Garbellini, he had come down for the day to visit, talk about irony, Franks excited to see the kids and commences to tell us all about the joint, they escort us into the camp site and direct us to the best spot in the place, Frank and Roy had built the first beach shacks here in 1950 and had kept them until council made them remove them in 1993, Frank put us on the site where his shack used to be and then told us to come and get him once we go settled and he would take us to the back beach for a look.
We set up and I took the kids for a ride, Zac was keen to get his bike out which was most unusual, so we went for a a ride to the beach, we dropped the bikes and climbed on the rocks, the bay is beautiful and the landscape was the farming land from the other side, most beautiful. We see some blokes fishing on the rocks around the point so we head that way, turns out it is Frank and Roy, Frank has just caught a nice KG we chat for a bit and head back to see mum, Zac and I go for a shower, bloody solar, not worth a knob of goat shit, it’s a sunny day 2.30pm no one around and the shower is clod, tell me how that works, it is however warm enough to have a good wash, aaaaggghh it feels really good even though its cold, the amenities here look really good.
The girls are disappointed, oh well wait til tomorrow, I head to the caretakers hut to pay the bill, its $7 a night, what an outrage, seriously though it reinforces the question of why would you stay in a caravan park, Frank is there and tells me to go get the troops and he’ll take us to the beach, we arrive back and pile into the little KIA, he tells us that it’s the wifes car and she is a bit pissed ‘cause she just washed it, Roy also told him that the track was washed out along the way and not to try and go through to just walk the last coupla hundred metres. In Franks own words “it doesn’t look too bad, we should get through” turns out KIA’s don’t have much of a clearance, but fortunately they are light enough to push out of a bog, I think Frank shit when we got bogged, I reckon the missus rules the roost in that household and he was not looking forward to having to go back and tell her the car was stuck so we made a pact, we wont tell her if u don’t although I cant vouch for the 3yo.
We park and walk to the beach and it is astounding, just one amazing place after another we will come back here on our own and with the 4wd. We make it back incident free, I bid Frank a fond farewell, perhaps we will meet again, perhaps in Albany. It is late enough for dinner, so we partake, Em is excited, today I saw a van with a girl’s bike, and perhaps she might have a friend to play with.

Thursday 20th May
It is nice to wake up getting a cuddle I am sure you would all agree, the problem I have is the little bugger cuddling me spent half the night with his knees in my back pinching all the blanket and sticking his elbow in my face. Not satisfied I have suffered enough the princess decides that it is her divine right to assault the other side of my body however she is far more considerate as she goes to the effort of desensitising it first with her freezing cold hands and feet….stuff it Im getting up.
The restaurant is open, master Zac orders French toast, madame wants pancakes, not sure what I feel like. Now there are times in your life I call light bulb moments, this I fear was one of them, there its moments like these when you wonder “are our kids spoilt?” One might think so with all they have experienced in these travels but alas the balance is quickly restored with an insightful comment from their loving mother “its cereal or nothing, suck it up” aaahhh such dulcet tones and expressed only the way a mother can.

We all have cereal, no surprise there really and go for a ride on our bikes and as planned we meet up with Al, Trish and Holly, Holly being the elusive 7yo from the day before, we get chatting while the kids are riding around, Al and Trish are going into Denmark and then down to Green Pool and Elephant Rock in the arvo and would we like to come along, whilst I had my heart set on fishing Al and Trish we planning on leaving tomorrow to meet friends in Margaret River and the princess would be devastated if she didn’t spend some time with Holly and they seemed like a nice couple so we agreed, now I just have to tell April, oh look here she comes, on her way to the loo.
Hi honey, this is Al and Trish we are going out with them for the afternoon, by the way Roy just drove past the showers are closed, apparently the floor is lifting and theywont be accessible for the next four weeks, now for those of you with a memory, the girls didn’t shower yesterday ‘cause it was cold and today they are closed, phewf they are getting ripe, so we fire up the hot water and set up the shower tent, no big deal and you know what at least the water will be hot…

I DO THE WASHING, just so you all know and April makes us a packed lunch, Al and Trish have been past to pick us up but we are still stuffing around, we finally get going and drive first to the mouth of the river at Denmark, its almost lunch so we have a quick stop at the surf beach and then we head to the park by the river where we had lunch the day prior. After lunch April and Trish go for a walk up the main drag while Al and I sit with the kids, it is a beautiful sunny day, returning empty handed leaves o need for an explanation so we load up the kids and head for Green Pools, about 15klm out of town this place is awesome, a plethora of individual granite monoliths about 50m off shore proved a sheltered beach exposed directly to the Southern Ocean, waves crash onto the rocks while you and the kids can swim in complete safety only metres away, shame it was a bit cool. Didn’t stop us having a paddle and a play on the rocks, the girls hid behind a boulder out of the wind, fair dinkum, no sense of adventure these sheila’s.
Around the corner is elephant rocks, and you guessed it the rocks were shaped like elephants, a bit ho hum but the girls and the kids were impressed, what did it for me was the beach, a little out of the way stairwell weaved its way down the the bottom of the rocks and if you were game you could wait for a wave to recede and scamper through which I did onto a most amazing secluded little beach, giving you the ability to swim amongst the rocks in complete safety, might have to come back if it heats up a bit.
Its late afternoon, we head home for a feed of whiting, not sick of it yet…we all have a nice hot shower, whiting and vegies for dinner another day in Paradise, and it looks like Al and Trish don’t have to leave tomorrow so Em might have a friend for a day or two yet. After the kids go to bed we sneak out by the fire with some cheese and biccies, an hour or two passes and we decide its time for bed, I cove the fire and we head inside to find who else but our little angel Zac is sitting up in bed watching a movie on his DVD player “excuse me mister what are you doing?” to which he replies “watching NEMO” fair enough then, what more could I say, goodnight mate, you cheeky little brat!!!

Friday 21st May
First chance to get the kayak out this morning, I hit the beach about 10am and find a nice patch of weed near an offshore reef, as soon as I hit the bottom the sand whiting are everywhere, no where near as big as the ones from Cape Riche but now with my new found butterflying technique we are in for a good feed. I move a few time trying to get on to the King George but I cant keep a bait down long enough to give them a chance, as I go to move an my anchor is stuck fast on a bit of reef, no amount of pulling and paddling would see it come loose, and having recent experience in such matters decided to tie a buoy onto it keep fishing for a while and come back when the seas were a little more forgiving and try again. I head in before the wind gets up too much with about 25 whiting and a few flathead. By the time I clean the fish it’s after lunch, I grab a quick shower and we head of to the local meadery and honey farm, what a crock, although I must admit the honey was nice, we left their and went to a local Alpaca farm which was really a mini zoo, but it closed at 4pm and it was 3.45, so we had a little look around and left to go to Ducketts Mill a local cheese and wine producer of some repute, however it too was closing at 4pm as we drove in the drive, shame, it looked pretty impressive, not all was lost, we got to see some of the beautiful properties that abound Denmark and surrounds and picked up some fresh produce in one of the roadside shops that are prolific in the area.
Back at camp I light a fire and get the place warmed up a bit, its starting to get cooler of an evening now. What s wrong with you people, how can you be sick of fish, really what is wrong with you, I don’t know, so we ended up having some slop, thrown on a plate (gawd, I hope she doesn’t read this one!!!).
After dinner I nicked off for a bit of a fish, I had seen some good Salmon come of the rocks earlier in the week and thought I would have a crack, after about an hour of nothing I was getting cold and it was about time to head home, just as I got a bit of a nibble, nothing much so I let it go for a minute or two, the line went slack so I loaded up on it and whoosh of she went peeling line of like no tomorrow, you beauty a big Salmon so I’m into him, taking my time also its dark, I have no torch, I’m in thongs and although the rocks are relatively safe they do drop off sharply in some points. I caress my fish up onto a rock platform, got you, you big bastard, I catch a glimpse if him in the moonlight as I dive my hand down to grab him, hang on a minute it’s a toothy, so I grab his tail and flick him up on the rocks just as he bites through the nylon trace, now I have to grab him and hang on, I reach for the knife and hack off his head. There you have it ladies and gentlemen, flake for dinner a nice little bronze whaler, just over a metre……the hunter returns to camp buoyant in his victory, proudly brandishing in the spoils of his hunting expedition, the woman folk flock, most of whom have never seen a shark, each secretly questioning their choice of bloodstock and his ability to provide, the men join in on the celebration but deep down they fight to hide the bitter pangs of shame and inadequacy whilst I the hunter, bask in the adulation of those from within the tribe.

At least I think it went something like that…

Saturday 22nd May
We are all pretty pleased to have some age appropriate company; I take the opportunity early to sneak out for a bit of a fish and to recover my anchor which is still in the middle of the bay.
Zac wants to come out with me so I load him into the kayak and off we go, although calmer than yesterday there was a bit more of a swell, we get to the anchor and hook up, Zac looks at me horrified, “Dad, the waves are too big, I want to go in” and in fairness to the kid, when you are sitting at water level in a kayak even the smallest of swells looks pretty big so rather than scar him for life any further I took him straight back to shore thinking not about the greater freedom and piece that would be forthcoming thereafter; no, it was the selfless act of a father caring for the wellbeing of his child…and if you believe that bullshit you don’t know me at all!
So free again I head back to the anchor, the fishing was a bit slower too although I probably bought in about 20 whiting and a couple of nice flatties, after an hour or so I am sitting there watching the world go by when a whale breaches about 150m from where I am fishing, silly me rather than go and have a look I decided to race back to camp and tell the kids to come have a look, so I paddle my guts out, run around the camp and round everyone up and head for the beach which by the time we got there the whales had moved quite a bit and whilst we could see them it was not as close as I had hoped. While we were there Roy, the caretaker bought in a nice Salmon off the beach and gave it to us, I went and got Al and we went to the beach to clean the whiting and this Salmon, while we were there Roy brought in another one, about 5kg, this got us inspired so after we cleaned the fish we all got our surf rods to try for the Salmon, Al, Tim, Brent and I perched ourselves on the rocks and whilst we had a few hits and lost a couple we never actually beached one, I gave up after about two hours and two stingrays later and went back out in the kayak. It was really quiet this arvo, only another seven or so sandies and that was it, the good news was that I recovered the anchor without a hitch.
Back at camp it was decided that we would all get together for a fireside evening, we fed the kids and got them organised for bed, started a communal fire in proximity to each of the vans and as soon as we sat down it started to rain, we moved the fire and all the gear to our place and sat under the awning regaling each other with our exploits from the day, the girls were suitably impressed and had a renewed appreciation for the hunters they had married…I was pretty impressed with Zac too, he found himself in bed with two older blondes, sure one was his sister and they were all enjoying a Hannah Montana movie before he fell asleep hmmm maybe not!!!

Sunday 23rd May
Al, Trish and Holly left early, the wind blew a gale last night and its raining this morning and not looking like clearing for the day so we decide to hit the road also, if not a bit later than they were, Tim and Kaz decide to stay another day, they want to do the Walpole tree top walk. We are packed and on the road about 11.30, an easy cruise for most of the day, the weather was pretty appalling so we took it easy on the roads, we stopped for a bit to eat on the way ultimately ending up at Pemberton in the afternoon in a free camp called Brockmans Sawpit. It was located in the middle of a Karri forest next to an original sawpit, hence the name. It was dark when we arrived and I fired up hennie the genie and that was it for the night; we snuggled up and kept warm.

Monday May 24th
Up early and porridge for brekkie, we are heading for Conto, where we think Al and
Trish went; it looks nice and is a close hope to Margaret River. On our way were passing Alexandra Bridge which had a nice little campground by the Blackwood River so we turn off to check it out, first impressions were a bit ho hum, the book said it had a river, it must be further down so off we go, and there it is, the most beautiful, healthy, wide, flowing river I have seen in years and right on the banks are any number of camp sites.
I pull up in the one next to the boat ramp, it also has a little platform of its own into the water, great for the kayak, on the other side of the boat ramp is a playground and picnic area, out camp site has a wood fired BBQ and is massive, yeehaa we are staying.
The kids are off to the playground, I unhitch and get set up, its just after 10am so we’ve got all day, bugger that I am going fishing, out comes the kayak and I take the kids for a paddle along the river, its even better from this side, the river would be 150m across at its narrowest point and just a haven for wildlife. Beef cattle seems to be the crop of choice in this area and the river is bordered on both side by some beautiful grazing properties which had you not heard the cows mooing you would never know they were there, the banks of the river are thick with karri and gum trees interspersed by the occasional willow, just an amazing spectacle. I ditch the kids and have a fish, I’ve got no bait really so I tow lures up and down the river, as I was launching a couple of young locals were going out in there tinnie, they reckon there a monster black bream in here but you have to have prawn baits, oh well no harm in trying.
No joy on the fishing front but the environment is just great and we are less than 30klm from Augusta and Margaret River, we got a txt from Al and Trish, they ditched Conto and were staying at Hamelin Bay Caravan Park which was apparently very nice also.
It was such a nice day, we spent the arvo kicking back, fishing, playing, it was so nice to relax, get a fire going and add to those green house gas emissions, burn baby burn!!!
Tuesday 25th May
The weather is meant to turn a little this arvo so we decide to check out Margaret River, we take the coast road through the Karri forests and past an abundance of limestone caves for the 35klm trip to Margaret River, we intended to stop and have a look at the caves but when we pulled up at the first cave and it had a huge visitors centre attached the alarm bells rang so April went out check out the price ‘cause it looked pretty celubrious for a dinky old cave, sure as eggs she comes back to the car, its going to cost us $60 for one cave and $160 if we want to do all three. I’m sure its not a feasible consideration and logistically not possible but I really wanted to tell them to stick there caves up there proverbial, man am I getting tight or is that just ridiculous, in essence you really only do it for the kids, I couldn’t give a rats if I never saw another cave in my life but you feel compelled to expose them to as much as possible in your travels and the area is renowned for its proliferation of caves, I have an idea, here guys, here is the glossy brochure you can now say you’ve been to the cave and seen what’s inside, which , in essence, is true.
We cruise on down the road and drop in to Prevelly beach which is the local surf beach. We check out the entrance to the river, the wee wall and stop to watch a few blokes catch a wave or two, its getting toward lunch and we are all getting peckish. The road in to Margaret river has one main obstacle, Cape Mentelle, one of my favourite drops, we’ve been astoundingly good and controlled in recent months, we have passed a million wineries and cheeseries and not stopped but on tis occasion I think we will make an exception, we start with the Semillon sauvignon blanc and then a straight sav blanc, both of which were lovely, we then tried the viognier which as a varietal is only available at the cellar door from Cape Mentelle and it was fantastic, much nicer then the Zilzie I had been drinking, after that was the pinnacle Cape Mentelle Chardonnay, has and always will be an amazing wine. Last on the list of whites was a Botrytis Viognier, not being a huge fan of desert wines I was going to skip this, our host suggested we should most definitely try it but only after we cover the range of reds, again not a fan of WA reds at all I was selective about what I tired, the Sangiovese was ok but as for the rest of the range it was good for WA reds but not a patch on SA or North East Victorian product and at $84 for a bottle of Cab Sauv I’ll pass. Now, back to the Botrytis Viognier, normally desert wines are pretty syrupy and sickly, but this although sweet had and amazing combination of flavours and finishes I had never experienced in a wine before, so we bought a bottle and a viognier and a sav blanc, a bit decadent but a small treat for month of abstaining.
We walked Margaret River looking for a place to eat, tere were plenty but nothing that grabbed us, so we decided on Fish and Chips unfortunately it was closed, that’s it, roast chicken and rolls from the IGA, always a good fall back. We fuel up but the $40 to fill a gas bottle was a bit rich so we give it a miss, we drive back toward camp along the alternate route took us through Karridale a beautiful farming community. We decide to head down to Augusta for a look and glad we did it was such a pretty little town, it is the point where the Blackwood river meets the ocean a fishing village in a prior life now provides a holiday or retirement haven for many an ex Perth resident. We head further round the coast to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse and then for a cruise through the National Park, it’s quite a unique location, you can stand on the point and on your left is the Southern Ocean, on you’re right the Indian Ocean and as April pointed out whilst educating our children the are is abundant with “roppy outcocks” for those of you who are uneducated these are also known in some quarters as a rocky outcrops.. We skip the lighthouse tour, it’s right on closing, cold, windy and we are all a bit tired so we head for home, dinner, heater on warm the place up and update the blog for a while before going to bed.

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Wednesday 26th May
It pissed rain all night but we wake to an overcast day, I bought some prawns when we were in Margaret River yesterday so today is a fishing day, April looks at me and laughs, you can go fishing in this weather, don’t worry babe it was just a sun shower, see the young blokes that were here the other day are back again with the tinnie, there locals they know what the weather is going to do…off I go, I paddle upstream for a few k’s, pass the young blokes, hey what a god idea a beach umbrella over the tinnie, I pull up on a snag, bang, first black bream in the boat, this is like shooting fish in a barrel, its size but only just, so I chuck it back, is that a raindrop, I’ll move under the tree a bit, phew its getting heavier lucky I moved, shit its pissing down, OMG I’ve never seen a monsoon before but this must be close, now there is only so much protection leaves can provide, perhaps with the wind direction it might be a little more protected on the other side of the river…”you dickhead” is all I can say, there was no wind and paddling 250m across a river in torrential rain is likely to offset and any perceived benefit, at least it is not cold, or at least not until I was soaking wet and sitting in the pouring rain for 2 hours, with only one more small fish to boot…. So, defeated, cold and 2klms from home I bite the bullet, stick on a lure and start to head back, I get snagged on a tree, then another, and another and another, now you would reckon a person of supreme intellect would realise that the fish weren’t biting in the rain and perhaps the logical solution was to reel in the lures and just paddle back, in fact I am sure that would be the case, me on the other hand I just kept paddling along in the rain getting hooked up on dead trees until finally I am just around the corner from camp, wet as a shag and freezing and you guessed it, yes, it stopped raining. So instead of following my brain which tells me to get out of the river instead I fish for a bit longer; I get nothing and the weather is looking ominous again after a while so I give up. I arrive home to looks of disdain and complete disappointment, rather than a sense of pride in my display of intestinal fortitude my children express a view somewhat less glowing than I had anticipated. I can only put it down to the influence of a Mother who has no sense of adventure and who rather than bask In my display of primeval guts and determination could only display her respect with a “sun shower ‘eh, you idiot”.
The boys in the tinnie arrive back some time later in the afternoon, wet cold but with a boat full of nice fish they have had a great day, only one problem, the boat is so full of water that they cant winch it on to the trailer, there must have been a foot of water in the bottom of the hull from all the rain, rather than see them struggle I went back to camp and got a big bucket and helped them bail out the boat, really nice guys they were and they were so appreciative they gave us a nice Bream for helping them out, it was a ripper too.
The rain didn’t stop either it poured all night, in fact it was one of the wettest nights on record with the town closest reporting 80mm of rain overnight, good job we were sleeping right beside a river…

Thursday 27th May
Time to leave Alexandra Bridge, it is a beautiful spot but the weather is set to stick around and it doesn’t have much else to offer other that the river and outside entertainment so we pack up and head north toward Perth. Busselton is a nice town and really the centre of the Margaret River wine district, I would stay there over Margaret River and time should we ever travel back for the wine region, Margaret River is to pretentious for us and a rip off to boot, we don’t stop for long but keep going toward Bunbury where we stop for lunch and a look around town. It is a feral joint, in fact Ive worked it out for sure, if you ever intend on buying a house in a particular location, don’t listen to the bullshit from the estate agent, go and sit in the local shopping centre for half a day you’ll soon work out what the local demographic is like. With lunch done and dusted we hit the road again, there is nothing to keep us in the area so we make our way closer to Perth. As we are passing through Rockingham we pass Holly and her parents going the other way, they txt us to say they are off to a friends place for a few days and might catch up with us Tuesday. We find camp at Bonneys Water Ski Park in the back of Baldivis, it is actually quite a good facility and with powered sites at $20 a night we reckon it is worth it to get a hot shower and some washing done, also we are only 35klm from Perth, which is close enough to visit Helen and Jan without spending $50 a night on van parks in Perth. We call the Von Schouwenbergs and let them know we are in town, Helen tells April that a neighbour is in a nursing home and will contact her son and see if he minds if we park in her driveway while we visit, a lovely thought and it would be great as the girls are sooo excited about visiting Helen and Jan. Rather than load up and arrive I decide its better to go up tomorrow and check it out, just to make sure it is accessible and that it will be ok for all concerned. We spend the afternoon doing washing and just pottering around, the neighbours are not really very social and apart from kick the footy and check out the ski boats there is not much else on offer

Friday 28th May
We arrive at the MVS household around 11, it is lovely to see Helen and Jan again, Emily has been bouncing out of her skin for weeks and April always relishes the opportunity to visit her favourite Aunty, not sure you are meant to write that are you, oh well, my words not hers, anyway we are welcomed with all the hospitality you could ever wish for, lunch turns into dinner, dinner turns into an expectation that we will park the van next door and stay in the house with them for the duration of our stay, the beds are made the kids have a room, Damien and Di are coming for dinner on the weekend all is planned and in all honesty, it will be nice to be out of the van for a week or so as much as we are enjoying it, I’m also cognisant of wearing out our welcome, but not to be deterred Helen and Jan insist, in fact Jan has organised for a neighbour to give us power while we are parked next door, he is the consummate host. We head back to the van after a late night, tomorrow we move to Waterford.

Saturday 29th May
After packing up the van a driving into town it is around 11 when we arrive, it is a glorious day in Perth and after parking the van next door and unpacking a few thing to live with we settle in for a quiet day at home with the Van Schouwenbergs, April does a bit of washing and the kids go to the park with Jan while I put the finishing touches on the van, we meet the neighbours and just enjoy a bit of a catch up for the rest of the day, its nice to stop for a bit and get a breather and enjoy the company of some familiar faces.

Sunday 30th May
Talk about turn on the weather, it’s the end of May and while the mornings are brisk at 10deg the days are just magnificent reaching low 20’s every day, and hardly a breath of wind. Wongford formerly known as Waterford is about 8klm from the CBD and located right next to the Chisolm University hence the recent name change, resulting from a large contingent of Asian families purchasing houses so there kids can go to uni and with the average house price exceeding 1.5 million it is fair to say the Asian economy is ticking along quite nicely….in fact the house prices in WA are exorbitant, I can see why it has such appeal to people, it is pretty town that has just enough hustle and bustle to make it liveable but whilst the wages are significantly higher than the east they need to be, the cost of living in WA is at least 30% higher than at home and as for the houses, you could easily say 50%..

Tassie Adventure

2010-04-26T17:35:00.005+10:00

TASMANIA
We leave for Tas Friday the 12th of February after a couple of weeks at home, it was great to catch up with all our friends and family and whilst at home everyone got together to celebrate Zac and Em’s birthday’s.
We were booked on an overnight sailing, although our departure was two hours later than stated so off the D’lish fish for a feed while we wait, we weren’t meant to get access to the jetty for an hour prior to departure but they opened early so we jumped in line and managed to get a place second in the queue, which meant we were second off at the other end. The trip itself as very smooth and the kids slept all the way, the boat itself was pretty good too, although as you would expect everything on board was pretty expensive and they don’t let you on board with a bottle of red under your arm; “bastards”. We arrive two hours late at the other end, 9am and get through quarantine without a hitch, straight into Devonport for a bit of brekkie, McDonalds looked like the go, so for the first time in her life Em got to try Hotcakes, mistake number 1, mistake number two was to order coffee from this joint, fair dinkum how they can call that coffee has got me f..flummoxed.

After brekkie and a bit of a play we head off…destination Gunns Plains, a nice scenic drive over hill and dale see’s us arrive at a quant little “caravan park” (a paddock with a gate) next to the Leven River, we position ourselves next to a coupe of large willows, with a vista overlooking the river, magnificent. The kids are straight in the water, unbeknown to them the van park was an adjunct to a wildlife park; it looked pretty crappy and was an absolute rip off so we didn’t give it a shot, the van park was $20 a night, unpowered and no water, we reckon that was pretty good at the time, watch this story evolve.
With rain settling in we decide its time to check some of the local sites, we set off in the direction of some local falls known as the Preston Falls, on the way we stop at the General Store, grab a couple of pies and a hot dog for the girl, OMG the worst pie in the world and April gets it, so what does she do, she gives it to me, whats worse is the fact that I eat it….it is ok to throw food away, I’ll work it out one day. A nice little walk into some mediocre falls, and then we drive to Leven Canyon 21klm down the road, by now it’s pissing down and dude is asleep in the car, Em and I decide we’ll brave the conditions and go to the scenic lookout which is a 20 minute moderate to hard walk in the books, amazing scenery but the gorge itself I cannot describe, imagine a sheer drop in below you of about 300 metres and directly opposite this is a peak immediately in front rising about 500 metres but only 200 metres away, hard to comprehend but rest assured “breath taking” doesn’t do it justice. We turn to head back and the chick spot a track and information board and with our new found reding expertise it’s is now obligatory to stop and read every bloody sign in the world, anyway this point out the the next leg of the walk if you choose no to return the way you came is a 45 minute descent to the bottom of the gorge, which includes 695 steps, yes 695 steps, Em decides we are doing it, it’s pissing rain and I am standing there trying to get her to comprehend that to traverse 695 steps is no mean feat on its own, but she also needs to consider that to get ack to the car we must either get back up those same steps or find an alternate route either way it’s uphill all the way, not perturbed in the slightest she says “Daddy, it’s so beautiful I have to see it…” Oh, OK Princess……hey there is only so much a Dad can control, so off we go, or should I say down we go, and to her credit, in the pouring rain she kept up all the way, at each point in the track there was the occasional rest stop with a bench seat and engraved in the seat was the number of step to the bottom and to the top, we get 265 steps into the trip and she wistfully looks at me and says “we must be almost there” hehehehe not quite darling, we get to the bottom with consummate ease and I’m impressed with my little Drama Queen, not a whimper and whilst it was a nice walk the scenery hard to absorb when you spent the entire time looking at where you are stepping, fortunately the sign at the bottom shows and alternate route back to the car park and we set off, it is a steep rainforest track with Fhuge tree ferns enveloping each side of the track and covered in mud, by the time we get to the top we are both knackered and very very wet, we strip off and get into the car and head back to the van, we make a not to ourselves that if ever the opportunity presents to return the free camp here is fantastic.

Sunday 14th February
Day two and the rain continues, we head for the Gunns Plains Caves, we’ve done these before and we thought the kids would enjoy it, really nice little caves with some fantastic ‘mites ‘tites and ribbons and the odd glow worm. The expedition takes about an hour and a half, the hosts are a mum and dad couple who have lived in the area all their lives and know the history of the caves and the area intrinsically.
We leave the caves and head back to camp, I decide that it’s all too tempting to hve the river their and not have a fish, and what’s a bit of rain between friends, Em agrees and ‘dons here wetsuit for a paddle in the river, farrrrk it’s cold but she doesn’t seem fussed, dude joins her minus the wettie and gets saturated and freezing, absolving myself of responsibility I make my way further down the river to a large over hanging willow that has a deep hole under it, Mum looks up to see two freezing saturated kids, shakes her head and calls them back to the cover of the van, looks at me and shakes her head, not that she knows I’m watching I just pretend to keep casting away but I can feel the contempt, she doesn’t hide it very well and quite frankly I’m starting to get a bit cold and wet too, I wonder if she’ll make me a coffee!!!
I’m dry now the coffee has been ordered and I’m sitting under the awning revelling in the beuty of the area when the sound of a tractor breaks the serenity, I look up to the road behind us and recognise the tractor as one from the wildlife park, it’s a big yellow bugger with a bucket on the front, it pulls up 100m up the road at the next van along the river, the driver jumps out, calls to the bloke next door and walks round to the front and from the bucket produces a 15lb trout about 1 metre long, he goes on to explain to the neighbour that he’d just caught it floating a worm down under the willow near the corner of the river, YOU BASTARD is all I can think off.
It’s a beautiful place and we’d like to stay but the rain looks like its settled in and we’ll move tomorrow.

Monday 15th February
Off to Montagu but on the way we stop at the cheese factory in Burnie, ho hum, pretty commercial and average cheese, the only purchase is 6 wedges of short dated camembert which were three for $2. Outside we find Asians revelling around our van in amazement, they cannot believe it…..”you’re house , it’s on wheels” I’m guessing from that there are not many caravans in Japan, then the kids spot a bloke with a pet Galah, we go and have a chat, nice guy, the Galah takes a shining to me and climbs up an my shoulder and is quite happy there for 10 minutes while we chat about the 57 hectares he bought for $250k a few years ago, then the little blighter tries to pull of me sunnies, I move my head and he lets go, then he tries again (the bloke tells us this is one of his little party tricks) and we are all giggling like school children then the little fucker not happy about me removing my shades grabs hold my ear in his beak and hangs on for dear lie, of course I play it cool, nah it’s not hurting, come on mate let go, cmon let go, let go you little fucker or youre head and your body will part company, both he and the owner were obliging at this point and a piece of Australian fauna was saved, as for my ear that was a different story. From Burnie to Penguin, we had really fonf memories of Penguin and wanted to go back, it’s a quant little place on the North West but nothing much to offer, a wander and the obligatory Penguin photo and we are off the Montagu, we pass Stanley on the way and decide not to stop, if time permits we’ll go back, through Smithton which is the regional hub in the West and out west another 17klm to Montagu Free camp, whilst not quite free the $10 a night is pretty reasonable it has toilets and what the caretaker tells us is the cleanest water in the world, nice to think that you get to flush with the cleanest water in the world really. The camp is OK, its 50m to the beach or ocean really which has no sand just flat shaley rock and a boat ramp which services the Island just off the coast that is a privately owned farming facility, the channel between the island and the mainland was quite shallow and the tide just powered through at a phenomenal speed, we tried to fish it to no avail, just snags on the rocks, rest of the day we just bummed around and rode our bikes.
Tuesday 16th February.
We paid for 2 nights at Montagu and despite its proximity to water and a tick in the camps book its not the greatest place, something didn’t feel right, there are a heap of permanents and with a fee of $400 for 6 months you can understand the appeal to some. Whilst we didn’t experience anything to validate the thought we felt like it was full of ferals and didn’t fell comfortale.
We decide to head out for the day, we need Gas and Fuel so we stop at Smithton Caltex, picture this, we pull up at the bowser and a woman offers to fill the car, she sends a bloke out to fill the gas bottle so with all the free time I decide to head into the store to see what is on offer…chips, drinks, chocolate, takeaway, camp gear, ooohh a bit of tackle, hang on what the ……a night scope, bowie knives, shangai, cross bows ammo and two huge racks of any style of gun you care wish for, Mary mother of Joseph….fortunately it was completely secured with start of the art system as sold by Bunnings a piece of cable not thicker than the spaghetti we had for dinner last night. I must admit, I hadn’t seen a Shangai for some years and the memories of pinging rocks at unsuspecting passers by gave me a warm glow…a feeling that I could not deny my children, so I bought one, April is going to kill me, oh well had to happen sooner or later. I hide it in the car when I load the gas bottle and off we go to Stanley, WOW what a beautiful town, we pull up on the way in at the information board which turns out o be a hand painted panorama of the town done by a local artist with a plethora of information about what is on offer, we decide to do the scenic route around town that incorporates a lookout and the historic Highfield Homestead which housed the family of the original settlers. It was recently restores and gave an insight into the hardships experienced but also to the disparity of living standards between the classes, you have to feel for the women who travelled here under the auspices of a luxurious lifestyle only to find the harshest of environments.
On leaving the homestead we head into the main town, Stanley is built on a narrow isthmus and is surrounded by water but its most distinguishing feature is “the nut” a large mountain that sprouts from the end of the land mass and towers 400 metres above the town with nothing but vertical walls of granite visible, you have two options, you can take a chairlift to the top or for the more adventurous, there is a path that traverses back and for up the side of the nut, being of adventurous spirit and tight as a fishes we choose the walk, which seemed at the time to be a reasonable decision, it was a beautiful day, and it’s 400 metres to the top, how hard can it be.
Zac was flying along running, jumping, dancing for about the first 25 metres and then in my infinite wisdom and feeling somewhat guilty for taking the less expensive option decide to carry him on my shoulders, poor little bloke, well bugger me if it wasn’t the steepest bloody 400 metres I’ve ever walked, and then you get to the top and start to question the validity of the trip ‘cause there is nothing there, apparently you have to walk around the perimeter to get the best experience, another 1 hour walk and pretty steep in places, magnificent views and reinforced the harshness of the condition the early settlers faced, so we took our pics, chased an emaciated pademelon for a picture and time for the descent, well it was Mum who antied up this time and carried the little blighter down, which again was no mean feat. A well deserved lunch at the local Café and a walk around town, down to the fish co op where the crays were demanding $65 a kilo, surely we’ll find some cheaper elsewhere. Head home to pack up ready for Arthur River in the morning.

Wednesday February 17th
Montagu to Arthur River was a pretty uneventful trip, when we get to Arthur River we decide to stop at the van park and top up on power and water, get a decent shower for a night or two. When the van park owner asks one or two nights we default to one night, my intent was always to free camp at Nelson Bay a site 15klm out of town at the mouth of the Nelson River but the Camps book says its a bit rough but a beautiful location, ultimately if we decide to stay a bit longer we’ll head to the camp site and at least we’ll be fully stocked.
We head into town and cross the single lane bridge over the Arthur River which is a really wide waterway flowing directly into the rugged west coast ocean, the riverbank on the left of the bridge is dense Tasmanian Forest as far as the eye can see, to the right of the bridge the banks are a sandy beach accessible by car and littered with giant grey monoliths that were once tree’s that had been wrenched from the soil by the savage weather in this area and have washed ashore for hundreds of years.
We head around to the point and the next camp site on the list, this is known as the end of the world, aptly named, the entrance is flanked by a large rock formation on the LHS which provides no protection for boats or fishermen alike, a few blokes are flicking lures hoping to snag a Salmon or two on what would be one of the rare occasions you could get down onto the rocks as the ocean today was so calm. The trees washed up at the entrance were twice in size and number of those in the entrance to the river, driving back to the main road it’s obvious that the town ekes out an existence based around fishing and the majority of the towns population are fisho’s or there to service the tourist trade, frankly the joint has got bugger all to offer the average tourist, we notice a heap of enduro and off rie bikes in the area and when we stop off at the parks office down the road we run into a group of blokes who tell us that you can access the tire coastline by either bike or serious of roader, it’s 130klm of beach and most allow 3-5day to do the journey.
We are checking out the options to get to Waratah, we know there is a B road along the coast but we’ve had various reports about it’s suitability to tow a van, we checked with the girl at the desk and she advised us to go back to Burnie and down from there, whilst it was quite a bit longer in distance, travel time are similar and much less windy, the girls vote wins, maybe next time Zac and I’ll do it on quad bikes.
Back to the van and we decide to ship out in the morning, nothing much in town for us or the kids and nothing much else to do in the area, we have a feed and get the kids to bed, I’m a bit disappointed about not getting to Nelsons Bay so I think bugger it I’ll get in the car and go for a spin, to pre empt the next discussion its important to understand, in Tas there are road signs the demonstrate a wallaby get very intimate with a motor car and a big 65 at the to these are meant to represent the 65klm speed recommendation when travelling between dusk and dawn in a effort to preserve wildlife, great idea, except the hitting a pademelon at 65 does very little good for our hoppy little friend.
Suffice to say I head off just before dusk and cruise along seeing the occasional hopper here and there, and then the sun goes down and bugger me they are everywhere, stoopid little buggers, you reckon all these years of evolution they’d learn headlights are not a indication to jump into the middle of the road, I mange to get to Nelsons Bay unscathed and while the area is lovely the camp site was really over rated and no access to the mouth of the river, phew I feel better now. Cruising along the beach road I notice a cray boat moored in a natural harbour encased by large rocks, it looked very cool, then 50m down the road another one, and another one, then some Fhuge tractors with these massive drawbars hanging off the front, overall there must have been a dozen of these little harbours with cray boats in them and directly behind each one was a lovely house on a couple of acres with the most magnificent views, hey if you are going to be a cray fishermen this is the way to do it.
The trip back was even worse, not only was there a squillion wallabies but it was black as a dogs guts, I’m starting to feel really good about that ARB bulbar I bought just before we left when this stooping little fucker I mentioned earlier jumped straight in front of me, on the skids, phew missed him, for a big beast old bertha stops pretty well, at least on that occasion unfortunately 15klm is a long way and by the time I got home it was Bullbar 2 – Wallabies none and no I didn’t tell Emily.

Thursday 18th February
Back to Burnie on the way to Waratah, we get an early start and make it to Burnie for 10.45, nick into the local Safeway for a top up on supplies and back to the van for a bit of lunch, we are getting the hang of this stuff and lunches are a streamline and efficient process now, with our stomachs full we set off. Waratah was the planned stop as it is close to Cradle Mountain without being in the National Park, we get to town find the camp site and it is on the side of a quant little lake and there are vans everywhere, I spot a vacant site and park. The site’s were council operated and cost $12 per night, you had to go the the council offie to pay for the site, so I sent April up to claim the space we were in, good job too because when she went to pay the woman couldn’t believe we’d scored a site. The joint was even better because it had power and water for most sites, hot showers and a free washing machine and dryer for everyone to use and let me tell you when travelling that is a huge bonus just to get access to a washing machine let alone free. This did mean some need for creative sleeping patterns to get your turn, good job some people need to wee at 5am is all I can say.
We spend the first afternoon checking out the local history, funded by a huge tin boom Waratah was a massive town yeas ago, now it has a population of a cupla hundered, most of whom are recent additions as a result of the tin mine being reopened in recent years by an Indian investment company..hmmmm
It’s a great little place and some really nice neighbours, Pete and Berta were next door and had some great advise to share, I met a bloke named Pete who lived in a little town right next to Streaky Bay in SA, he was telling me a bit about the fishing that was on offer 50m offshore, apparently there a deep holes full of whiting and flatties, even the odd snapper.
Wm and I go for a ride on the bikes before an early night in preparation for Cradle Mountain tomorrow.

Friday 19th February
Off to Cradle Mountain, it’s a 70klm trip but the roads are really good and relatively straight which, we are finding, is a rarity in Tassie so we are there by 9.30. The joint is pumping and we line up with the masses in the parks office for the bus that takes you to Dove Lake. The weather is magnificent and we are stocked with food and water for a week, in front of us is five little chicks with back packs bigger than they are, they tell us they are doing the trek from Dove Lake to Cradle Mountain, the big dikey one with the hiking boots and all “the gear” will be fine but I have grave concerns for the other 4, I wonder whether they need a chaperone? In you’re dreams April says, how selfish here am I concerned about the welfare of 5 young Australians and she is questioning my intention!!!
We get to Dove Lake in 30 mins and wander down to the boat house with the kids for a pic, we decide not to walk around the lake, we’ve done it before and it was a fair old walk and gets a bit monotonous, also there were meant to be works on the track and if they were still underway you would have to turn around and go back.
We decide to go to Lilli Lake and do the trek back to Rosny Park, it’s about 4klm and should be push the little bloke without being too much. We stop at Lilli Lake for a picnic, we find a beautiful flat rock right on the edge of the lake and have a wonderful time, we take some amazing pictures and are reminded of the environment we are in when a fair size tiger snake swims across the lake in front of us.
The walk is fantastic, the landscapes change dramatically over the 4klm, we see a snide field and spend time looking for a pair of pale green pants, by the end of the wlk Dude is getting a little ragged, in fact we all are so that shows how well he did, we get to the end and on a bus to take us back to the info centre where we do a little rainforest walk which includes a beautiful little waterfall our last stop at the Mountain is at the Café near the car park, I but a bottle of Ginger Beer and this results of one of those treasured memories that you never intended, Em decided she wanted to try it, and after the obligatory “you wont like it discussion” the nagging provided the impetus for what was a great set of pictures.

Home again. Saturday was a rest day, we were all I bit buggered and decided to just spend the day kicking back, I had a bit of a fish in the lake to no avail, the rest of the day we just rode the bikes and shot the shangai at some ducks on the lake.

Sunday 21st February
From Waratah we were heading to Strachan with the intent to stop and Roseberry and Zeehan and if the urge developed stay at either one, the trek from Waratah to Rosederry was up this huge mountain and then down the other side, on the way down we caught up to another couple towing a van and I realised how steep it really was when I had to brake a couple of times, when they politely moved over and let us through we cruised a little further before running up behind an old motor home doing 30klm an hour and even slower in the corners, after a few turns I find the brakes getting softer and looking in the rear vision mirror I see smoke billowing out the brakes. SHIT no brakes, fortunately we were only a couple of turns out of Roseberry and when we hit town I find just enough brakes to pull up in front of the café, turns out that Zac had been playing in the car in the morning and turned off the trailer brakes..aaagggghhh suffice to say we’ve added this on to our checklist. An hour on the side of the road, a cup of the worst coffee in the world and $155 of fuel and we head off the Zeehan, a far less eventful trip and an even less interesting town, we stopped for lunch at the rotary park and the kids and I went for a walk apart froma very nice guy in the lapidary store giving the kids some peacock rocks and a fantastic Vanilla Slice and coffee from the café we decide the town hols little else and we head of to Strachan, there is a campsite at Macquarie heads and someone told April about an option at the golf club for $5 a night, when we hit town it looked really busy and getting late in the arvo so when we find the golf club parking and it looks ok we stop, and its quite a good spot.

Monday 22nd February
We had decided to go on either the APT wilderness railway or the Gordon River Cruise, after some consideration we chose he railway as we had done the cruise and the kids like a train so off I go too book the journey, $350 bucks later I have tickets and I’m spewing geeeez it’ll wanna be good, we are on the afternoon trip so we get fish and chips from Molly’s and off to the beach and a nice little park for lunch. We get to the railway and spend the next 5 hours listening to the dulcet (monotonous) tones of Amanda who regaled us with the stories of the early pioneers. It was an amazing feat and the contempt the mine companies treated the environment was appalling, it is a very sad sight to see the rivers in such an appalling state even after 100 years of no interference from man. We depart Queenstown in a bus to get back to Strahan and the only thing I can say was it was bad enough to get me car sick so the girls really struggled, overall an experience I wouldn’t recommend to young families and whilst interesting I would say really over rated.
Tomorrow we are off to Lake St Clair.

Monday 23rd February
I really wanted to go to Lake St Clair, last time we were in Tassie on our honeymoon we didn’t get a great deal of time here and my memories of it were pretty fond, I also had the kayak with me this time and the thought of kayaking in the deepest fresh water lake in Australia was pretty enticing.
To get there we had to navigate the road from Queenstown which is renowned as one of the windiest roads you could ever traverse, made even more fun with the sheer drop on the right hand side, it wasn’t as much fun this time, the last time we were coming from Hobart and I was practicing my rally skills in true Peter Brock tradition, unfortunately my navigator wasn’t as enthusiastic about the line I was taking and squealed like a girl, may have had something to do with the cliff being on her side of the car, anyway we made it both times without any event of significance which has to be a good thing.
We get to Lake St Clair which is really in a town called Derwent Bridge and it’s p15sing down, we arrive at the tourist info centre which was a building of some significance and must have been the result of some pretty big investment, anyway into the café to check into the campsite and after a 30 minute wait some trumped up little Swedish backpacker prick tells me that its $35 a night, no power, no water faaaark, oh well it is one of the most significant sites in Tassie, so I paid for two nights, he tells me to park anywhere we like……HA after driving ‘round the joint three time we settle on a location that is not in the prettiest spot but the only site that will fit our van, my navigator assist me to back into the site which although big enough was only just, imagine my surprise when, while looking at her in the mirror my navigator goes ass up over a log backwards in the pouring rain with only her legs visible, it took me 15 minutes to compose myself, actually turns out we were lucky as I ended up directing quite a number of people in bigger vans than our to safety, turns out the new operators at Cradle Mountain have only been there 4 months and it’s a joke, as it turns out it was a joke at many levels.
After we set up Em did her schooling so Zac and I nicked off to check out some of the local sites, we went to Lake King William which is twice the size of Lake St Clair and ten minutes down the road, we knew of a free camp there and thought we’d check it out if we wanted to stay any longer, turned out Lake King William was pretty much empty, a vessel for dead trees and a source for local gravel, I checked this out with the locals and it turns out that St Clair is the feeder for King William and to keep St Clair looking good they don’t release the water as its only the tourist that are interested in St Clair and if it wasn’t for them there would be nothing, bloody hypocrites, they talk about conservation and keeping nature protected but when it suits the green pockets they ignore the surroundings, anyway it was a good photo opportunity and provided a very interesting landscape.
After we finished here we checked out the abandoned Hydro Scheme that used to run on lake St Clair, it’s a 4wd track for about 8klm and takes you to some beautiful secluded spots around the lake, even the abandoned hydro facility was a nice example of some Georgian Style architecture, on the way home we lost one of the caravan mirrors, must have been one of the big splashes we made in the puddles, by the way need to wash the car now.

Tuesday 24th February
Awake to a brisk morning and it’s off to undertake one of the works that are on offer around the lake, we take the platypus track which meets up with a track that takes you on a journey around a traditional indigenous area, it’s about a 3.5 hour hike and presented many beautiful photo opportunities, I’m really proud of the kids too, they are proving to be real troopers, Zac has a bit of a whinge here and there but gets over it and soldiers on, most of the time it just takes a bit of a distraction.
After our work we take the girls out to Lake King William and the Hydro Scheme and around Derwent Bridge, in our travels we pass the local pub and thinking it might be a nice treat I nick in and check out the dinner menu, $36 for a porterhouse and $29 for flattie tails I quickly decide we are eating in tonight, cant work out why there was no one in the pub hmmmm.
We get back to camp and the realisation that we are meant to move on tomorrow, whilst Im muddling around the site I get barrelled by a little 7 y.o girl who proceeds to tell me her life story and that of her family, turns out her Dad is on of the skippers on the cruise boat that services Lake St Clair, I keep chatting to her ‘cause I know it’s killing Emily who is inside doing her schooling and can hear every work (it is a parents right to torment their children, isn’t it?) anyway she goes on to tell me that they are still living in a camper trailer and that the accommodation for all the staff is yet to be fixed and Helen is useless and hrer Dad had been on the phone to her last night telling her what a joke it was….kids gotta luv em.
I still haven’t kayaked the lake and the weather is on the improve, bugger it we’ll stay another night, it’s not like they will know we are here and in all honesty we felt a bit ripped off, the showers were crap and you had to pay for them, the toilets were not clean so it was a consensus we were going to steal a night.

Wednesday 25th February
OMG it was -2.6 degrees last night, and we froze our butts off but it was all worthwhile ‘cause the day turned out to be a ripper, not a cloud in the sky about 28 degrees…kayaking weather if I’ve ever seen it, so while Em does her schooling I saddle up and head for the lake, Aprils going to make lunch and meet us on the beach with a picnic and then I can take the kids for a paddle, sounds like a plan. I launch and flick out a couple of lures to follow me while I paddle, after 10 minutes I’m cruising out the front of where we were to meet, hah I’ve got heaps of time I might paddle out to the island there and check it out…off we go, about half way I get a hit…shit I missed it, don’t worry plenty more where that came from, keep paddling, geeez its further than I thought, look back over my shoulder, cant see them on the beach should be right….and here we are, made it, crikey its even to steep to get off and have a wee, I paddle around a bit and decide I’ll be in the shit if I don’t get back.
So then the wind decides to change direction and blow into my face and blow about 10 knots harder than what it was, don’t get me wrong it wasn’t rough, it just made it that bit bloody harder, oh well I got this thing for a bit of fitness too, so toughen up wrighty and give it a shot, well I powered back and was absolutely spent…about half way, I still couldn’t see anyone, maybe I hadn’t been gone too long after all, not long after I spot Em standing on a big rock waving her little heart out, I paddle nonchalantly across and pick her up, then I spot Mum ohoh she doesn’t look happy, oh well give it a shot “Hi babe, whats for lunch….#@$%&&@@$$#$#& hours and you %$&())&#@# and we thought you were dead you @##@$ ungrateful, selfish @#$%)*^^. Well you would have thought after 20 years she would have already worked that out, some people are just slow learners, and my soup was cold too boot, good job the toasted sandwiches were in foil or I’d have been really pissed.
Turns out I still owed the kids a paddle and after what turned out to be 2.5 hours of paddling I was pretty knackered, but in the true spirit of fatherhood I took them for a quick spin and lied to them about the fact that it was getting a bit rough and too dangerous for them, fortunately for me they take after there mother and on that score I’ve still got another 13 years before the oldest on catches on. Better get back and pack up April want to go to some dinky little town called Hamilton.

Thursday 26th February
We arrive at Hamilton before lunch, turns out the place has got a hot shower, toilets, fresh water and a dump station for the porta potti and all for $5 a night wooohooo, we pull up in the carpark and I cant get the door open on the van, we thought it must have been the angle we were on, no matter it was only to empty the loo, I can come back later, so we fill the water and drive down to a pretty little site on a creek next to a couple of other vans. We back in, take the van off and guess what, the door wont open, so out come the tools and then all of a sudden I had a couple of blokes helping, out come the sprays and screwdrivers, turned out the upper and lower locks have packed up and I needed to pop them and remove locators on the door frame to ensure it didn’t happen again, oh well something to get fixed when we get back.
Turns out the guys who helped and the couple beside us were some of the nicest people you could meet Prue and Andy had two kids Benson and Casey and they were doing the ‘round Aus trip, in a bigger way than we were and they were a really lovely couple so too were there kids who were beautifully behaved and great mates for our kids even thought they were markedly older, we are really looking forward to catching up with them again, most likely in WA me thinks.
Then there was Roy and Jan, a semi retired couple from Werribee who were just absolute salt of the earth people, Roy a mad dogs supporter was an absolute crack up and soon developed a bit of an affinity for “little zaccie” Nanny Jannie was smitten with both the kids and me thinks our two filled a bit of the void Jannie felt in not seeing her grandkids while she was away. Gwen and Neil made up the balance of the crew with their dog a white Maltese terrier that never left Neils side.
Well here we were we only planned to stop overnight and we have found the nicest spot with the nicest people….what to do!!!! Pressure is on, we are booked to be in Hobart Friday night as April wants to go to Salamanca market Saturday Morning and everyone wants us to stay, stuff it we’ll stay.

Friday 27th February.
We spend Friday with Prue Andy and the kids, we go to the bakery for pies and the caramel and macadamia tart, it’s to die for, then we mosie on up the street and find a B&B / Tea House / Garden run by the weirdest couple, anyway the garden was really nice, some of the fruit tress were 140+ years old and we had fun truing to make the miserable old bugger smile, which was really unfair because as we were leaving he came up to the boys and said “here” and handed them two really cool paper planes he had made them, we still don’t recall if his facial expression changed but it was a really nice gesture.
On the way back to camp we decide to go to the local pub for dinner with the neighbours, it was right at the top of the hill next to the camp in what was one of the first buildings in Hamilton.
Turns out the publican Kim, a Malaysian woman and her partner (who was AWOL at the time) ran the place and none of the locals would frequent to joint because she wouldn’t sell slabs of beer as take aways and banned foul language at the bar. So apart from a local itinerant worker there was only about 10 people in the whole joint, we go to the bar and Phil (the itinerant worker) is instructed by the publican to get us what we want, turns out it was news to him too that he was employed there as he had only been there three weeks after an altercation with the publican from up the road, turns out she was desperate and with her partner in Sydney fell back to the next longest serving customer, seems fair I suppose.

So we order our meal and head back to the table where the girls are sorting out the kids, Prue point to a sign on the wall that says:
“Please be patient, I am on my own and I am doing the best I can to serve you quality meals in the earliest time possible, thanks KIM”
Funny, in any other environment I’d scoff and say deal with it or get some staff, but somehow in Hamilton, I don’t think its that easy.
So Andy and I decide it’s time to splash the boots, it wasn’t a consulted decision as happens with woman, it was like, I need a piss, yeah, me too, so off we went anyway standing there in respectful silence as you do in these places we here coming from the bar this high pitch raucous cackling, I smirk to myself a bit then it gets louder and louder, like a kookaburra on ice, well simultaneously we have both cracked up, out we go into the bar expecting to see some pissed old fat tart and there standing at the bar is this biker 5’ 10” covered in tatts from head to toe, about 30 piercings in each ear and at least one in every orifice on his head it was Angry Andersons big brother, well that was it for me, I’d had a few and took the punt that anyone who laughed like that had to have a sense of humour so I got stuck into him, Hey Princess that’s a great laugh you’ve got there, and as I turn to revel in the joy my humour has brought to the table but the only thing I see is the scared and horrified faces of my wife and her mate, fortunately I picked it ok on this occasion and my faith in the better nature of this bloke paid off, in fact he was a big pussy and had a ball teasing the kids with his piercings and the most annoying laugh on this earth, ultimately when the food came out it was most enjoyable, all in all a great night.

Saturday 27th February
We are booked in at the Big 4 tourist park in Cambridge, we are on a mission this morning as we want to get to Salamanca Markets, we check in, drop off the van and into town, we find a park with relative ease despite the million who had the same idea, we hit the market and find that it is a bit more commercial these days, a lot of commercial stuff, the fruit and veg part is all run by one Asian family and although there was still a small cottage / Rastafarian element it did seem to have lost some of its soul. The kids enjoyed it, Zac particularly likes the uy who was a one man Blues band, fair dinkum this bloke looked like he had just crawled out of humpy after picking fruit for 40 years but could he rip out a tune, in fact he sounded a lot like Robbie Johnson, Zac was spellbound and Ive never seem him rock out in public like that before, it was soooo cute.
Finished with the market and we set out to find something special for Em, it’s her birthday Sunday and we thought their might be a kids play place or something she might enjoy but we couldn’t find anything so we settled for a baby cino and a cup cake with a heart on it instead. Home for dinner and pressies for Em it was an early night however as I’ve got a fishing charter tomorrow if this bloody wind dies down.

Sunday 28th February
Happy Birthday Princess – WOW 7 years old….we love you!
Up at 5.30 and ready to go, kids in the car in their pj’s and off the Eaglehawk Neck, it’s Tuna fishing day. I called Steve the bloke that runs the charter and he said that it was a bit blowie but we were going, arrive at the jetty for a 7am departure to find that the boat was ready to go however wo of the blokes pulled out which meant there was only four of us on the boat..wooohooo and off we go, it’s when we start heading out to the ocean that the conversation of the impending tsunami came up, what tsunami, we have been living in a self imposed black hole for a month and know nothing about whats going on. Seems there was a big tsunami hit fiji and it was expected to cause some impact in NZ and possibly AUS, oh well no better place to be than on the water…right?
Trolling on the way out we pick up a few small stripeys to start and then they start getting bigger when we boat an albacore, hey now that’s what we are looking for, more stripey’s and we are getting a bit excited, just as the wind starts to get up, we troll a little further and around the hipolite rocks a few time, this is apparently where the fishing goes orf, interesting when we are heading out around the point I see a heap of cray pots 100m offshore and as far as you could see, according to the skipper this is as far as they need to travel to get crays around these parts.
Scott reckons she is about to get a bit rough and decides it’s the safer option to head closer to the shoreline and do a bit of bottom bouncing, as soon a we pull up we get into a few fish, some coral perch, morwong, gurnard (and they taste ok to) and some big parrot fish, shortly after it starts to rain and blows a bit harder, the rest of the guys bug out and head for the cabin, I took my wet weather gear and decided to stick it out, by the time we pulled anchor it must have been blowing 50 knots and pissing rain..the things you do to catch a fish.
When we get back to shore the family is waiting, we check out the blowhole and then stop at the Dunnally pub on the way home for a birthday dinner for Emily, a great feed in really nice surroundings, they even offer a free camp and showers for people travelling through.

Monday 1st March
Saddle up again we are off, not sure where, I want to go to Freycinet, but April wants to check out Richmond again so we go up the middle stopping at Richmond, we do the obligatory visit to the old catholic church, the architecture was amazing and the stained glass was even more impressive, down to the historic bridge, a few pics, a meander around town and on the road again, we end up in a pretty little town called Oatlands in this great little free camp opposite the lake which is in the middle of town, the waterfront sites were chockers but the overflow site was right next to a kids playground and BBQ facility which was ideal. We get settled, leaving the car on the van as we only intend to stop overnight, the BBQ’s are part of a local tourist attraction “The Flour Mill” which wasa Dutch windmill style flour mll currently under restoration back to its former glory, in the grounds we find some plum and apple trees brimming with fruit so we gorge ourselves and collect a few for later, soon after we wander into town and check out all of the old historic buildings and some of the local boutique businesses. We stop into the local IGA for a few supplies as Mums going through the checkout we step out the front and theres a cute little Kelpie sitting on the footpath, Em wanted to give it a pat and after some persistence I decided to go and give it a pat and it’s lapping it up, next minute Zac is at my side and the dog flies at him and bites him on the face, I kick the dog and grab Zac at the same time, he’s bleeding and scared so after giving the bloke a bit of a spray because it wasn’t on a lead and attacked unprovoked we head for the local hospital, he’s fine the doctor cant believe how lucky he is and makes me promise that I will tell the local cop and ensure the dog get put down, I catch up with the local cop and he’s pretty cool, he tells me it’s council animal control and he will ensure it’s sorted.
We stay the night in Oatlands and spend the next day doing the trip to Boswell and up to the Great Lake and back via Campbelltown, a big trip. We stopped at the oldest golf course in the Southern Hemisphere and the adjoining museum which was interesting if not a bit tacky and I found the “Bant” whiskey distillery and had to check it out, the whisky was nice but it was a blend of product from the local distilleries as they had only been operating for three years and were yet to have fully fermented product we the went and had a picnic on the banks of the Great Lake, I don’t think the family were too impressed and I’m sorta glad we didn’t take the van there to camp as I had planned.

Wednesday March 3rd
We book into Coles Bay Camp Ground at Freycinet National Park, fortunately get the only site that we could fit into comfortably, well almost fit, apparently you are only allowed to have vans 17ft or smaller, anyway we manage to fit and spend the rest of the afternoon flopping around Honeymoon Bay and taking in the beautiful sites the area has to offer, this is the most beautiful location but unfortunately we can only stay until Friday night as it’s the long weekend and the place is fully booked, the nights are cold and the sounds of Tassie Devils fighting can be heard all night, it’s a really cool lying in bed listening to them fight and growl, makes it feel more like home.

Thursday March 3rd
Today is the day we do the Wineglass Bay walk, little Zaccie does an amazing job he manages up and back with no assistance and hardly a grumble, Em is really starting to enjoy the walks and is getting a better appreciation of the enjoyment and different perspective these walks provide. We have a picnic on to of the mountain, along the trail students from the school of design and Architecture College have been given the charter to design and install some funky bench style chairs which are strategically placed to take advantage of the amenity of the area. Everyone is a bit knackered so we head back to camp; I get out the kayak and go for a bit of a fish while Em does her schooling and Zac does his craft.

Friday 4th March
Today we check out the other scenic treasures in the area, a little walk to the lighthouse provides a beautiful view of wineglass bay and probably a better opportunity for photos, we then head down the road to sleepy bay a pretty little beach/bay with the deppest softest sand I can recall. We climb up into a big rock that had been washed out over the recent millennia leaving a great big cave, a wander around the point and then the trek back to the car which was a pretty reasonable kike, particularly for the kids.

Saturday March 5th
Lagoon Beach is where we find ourselves today, it’s only an hour up the road from Coles Bay but being a long weekend we thought we better find ourselves a spot pretty early. No need really, the place is Fhuge, we do however score ourselves a beut little site protected from the wind and a great area with a camp fire and a play area for the kids. Lagoon beach id as its name suggests a beach which is a beautiful surf beach that has this quant little lagoon behind it with water that was about 21degress and no deeper than 2ft in any one place, so while I fish the kids paddle in the water. Later in the afternoon we go for a walk further up the beach and find what the kids ultimately call shell heaven, for years shells have been washing up on to the rocks with the sand, the sand washes away leaving piles of shells as deep as you can dig and as clean as they could possibly be, we wnded up going back a burying the kids up to their necks.
This effectively sums up the next few day apart from a trip to Bicheno to do some washing and a stop at Combend winery we did very little else for the next five days, had we not run out of water, power and toilet we may well still be their, its at this point we decided the generator is a necessary investment. While we are here we also get a call from Spirit of Tas to say they can extend our tip to the 19th from the 11th, fantastic.

Wednesday March 10th
We needed to power up so its of to the Big 4 at St Helens, what a rip, sure the showers are nice and clean but $55 a night is a bit rich, showers all round and a play on the jumping pillow a trip to the supermarket for supplies see’s the day culminate in a quiet feed and an early night, remember you’re 41 tomorrow, you need the rest.

Thursday March 11th
Happy Birthday to me…Mum has gone all out and it’s bacon and eggs in the camp kitchen before heading of the Cosy North at the Bay of Fires, well what a magnificent place, we get to camp and jag what would have to be the best spot in the joint, tucked away in our own little piece of paradise and its time to check out the local amenity.
The dwop toilets were pretty clean and directly opposite our site, the beach was right behind that and what a beach, massive great rock outcrops provided a protected little beach tucked around the corner on the left and this opened up into a beautiful surf beach. I’m banned from entering the van as the family were organising a surprise so I had to sit outside and read a book while Emily brought me cold beers on demand…I love Birthdays.
When I was finally allowed in the van ….i forget ‘cause I was pissed from all the beers I had but I think it was goood...not really, I got showered with balloons and kisses from the kids, which was enough really, but a GF choccie cake and the 41 candles provided a new level of entertainment, hey at least we know the smoke alarm works. I also got Tiger Woods golf for my wii, we really need to get that generator now!!!

Friday 12th March
Day two at Cosy and I take the kids for a walk along the beach in the morning, when we get back to camp they find a few new friends camping just across the way. I ditch the kids and go rock climbing around the point it must have only been a couple of klms but all the climbing up and down sure took a bit of effort. This has to be the best spot yet.

Saturday March 13th
Beach Day, I set up the shade tent on the sand, load up the boogy boards sand castle building equipment and we lob on the beach, April brings a ploughman’s lunch, marinated figs, cheese, ham, salami, asparagus, dolmades, stewed plums and apples fresh from the trees at Oatlands and peaches from the lady in Hamilton, we eat and play in the sand, life was meant to be like this….I want to be a hippie.

Sunday March 14th
Down to Jims lagoon on my own for a fish in what was touted as the best local fishery, I paddle around for several hours and see millions of bait fish and mullet chasing them all over the palce and whilst one considerate mullet committed suicide the fishing was pretty bad, did I mention also that the surf fishing was just as bad, I’ve been out every day with a few other blokes and we’ve got nuffin’ oh well the view is great.

Monday March 15th
The weather today is amazing, the ocean is flat as a tack and I am going to paddle out to these big rocks that I have been eyeing off since I got here, they look like they are the perfect fishing spot, the closest one is about 1.5klm off shore and although its flat the swell still adds an element of interest, so off I go paddling my guts out and all I can say is thank Christ the view is magnificent and the day was one of the best we’ve had ‘cause the fishing was absolute crap. I get to the rocks and no doubt the fishing would be great if only you could get through the kelp, fair dinkum bull kelp is everywhere and the stuff is stronger than rope. Its interesting really when you search around the millions of rock pools in the area each of which is protected by a 50m barrier of kelp the obvious lack of marine life is surprising particularly given the pristine nature of the area, only the obligatory molluscs, the fastest crabs in the worl and that rotten star of the sea are apparent in any numbers.
It was great to catch up with Roy and Jan again too; we so look forward to 5 o’clock drinks when they are around.

Tuesday March 16th
Regrettably we have to leave Cosy and head towards Devonport to the boat, we travel across the hill to a little place called Scottsdale, a little community that have seen the opportunity campers provide and have dedicated an area known as Northeast Park to accommodate campers as well as the local community. We hadn’t intended to stop but once we got there the place had a couple of nice little ponds, a boardwalk through a rainforest area, BBQs, good toilets, clean showers and ducks, can we stay Dad pleeeaaasse, and that was just April, so being the tough uncompromising prick I am…we stayed, oh and not only were Lyn and Greg there Roy and Jan turned up too which was a most pleasant surprise.

Wednesday March 17th
From Scottsdale to Georgetown 50klm North of Launceston, we get there early as the intent was always to take Emily to Cataract Gorge. We stay under Batman Bridge, a camp site renowned for providing fresh water and a nice view, once we unhitch the van April make some sangers to take on the trip and the kids and I go down and check out the Tamar River. It’s a run out tide and the rocks are exposed but you can only see parts of the rocks because they were covered in millions of massive oysters..yyeeeehhhhaaaa so we fill our pockets and shuck a few while we are there, Emily decides in her recent commitment to expand her taste horizons that oysters should form a part of the experience so I pick a nice juicy one, crack it open, rinse it in the water from which it was spawned, clean of the mussel that adhere it to the shell, Em tips her head back and opens her mouth, suffice to say she chewed a couple of times, then looked at me, held it in her mouth, dry reached, held it, looked at me with almost pleading eyes, I couldn’t hold it in anymore I cracked up, she then spat it out as fast as she could and then apologised emphatically for wasting my oyster, gotta love it. When we get back to camp Zac wanted to try one and its safe to say I could write the same thing again and it would be pretty close to the mark.
Cataract Gorge was nice we walked across the suspension bridge, went to the lookout, had lunch on the lawn in front of the rotunda, a peacock kept trying to nick the kids lunch so April thought she would try and shoo it away by throing a small bit of her sandwich in the opposite direction….need I say more, in fact yes I do, then the little bastard wouldn’t leave us alone, and cheeky as, he’d sneed right up and try and pinch it from your hands, anyway I fixed him I worked out that they don’t like being squirted with the water bottle so all the more fun, only took a couple of shots and he stopped bothering us, much to the chagrin of some of the Japanese tourist in the are though I must say, hey at least I didn’t eat it.
On the way back we caught the chairlift, Zac and April went in one and Emily and I behind them, Zac thought it was pretty cool, although I think April shit herself ‘cause Zac is so tiny the bar that goes over your waste hardly got to his hea, but he made it. Whe Em and I were travelling across there were some teenage school kids kicking a footy in the park about 30m below us, I thought I’d stir them up a bit C’mon boys have a shot, thinking they would be stretched to get close, when the first kick went sailing over the top of the gondola and the second even closer I thought hmmmm perhaps not such a good idea ho to fix it, I know “C’mon you bloke you’re weak as piss, no wonder Tassie cant get an AFL side with sheilas like you coming through” it worked they were trying to kick it so hard that it was going everywhere, all in a days fun.
We stop of at the other end and head to the play ground near the pool, the kids are having a ball and April is perving on the stud in the budgie smugglers, picture this, hair like hulk Hogan an Adonis like figure that is like a donis kebab he must have been 200kg great big guts squeezed into a black pair of budgies that Zac would have had trouble getting into, oh yeah and he was hanging around all the young girls perving eeeyyyyeewww April got a photo cause she was so turned on and didn’t want to have to wait for the next season of Australia’s most wanted.
When we were leaving a couple of member of the A model ford club were in the car park and when the kids went over to have a look one really nice bloke told them to go and dit on the bumper of the car and get a photo which was generous considering how nice the car looked, I’m sure he would have let them do it if it was his car also…..

Thursday 18th March
Our last day and we really missed most of the North East, oh well next time, I did want to check out Port Sorrell and that area before heading for Devonport so we head off in the direction of Beaconsfield, when we get to town I say to April, just check where we go from here, rule number one look at the map before you leave home….we can go back to
Exeter and round which adds and additional 75klm on main road or go about 20klm on dirt road, no brainer, dirt road it is…are you sure says April, hey we’ll check it out and it its too rough looking we’ll go the other way ok, done.
How clever am I we are 3 klm in doing 80kmh and smoother than some of the made roads we have traversed, everyone’s happy, better slow down a bit, she’s getting a tad bumpy, oh look a log truck sign OMG is that a hill, really they can get log trucks up a hill that steep, ok well we can just take it easy, hey we’ve got no choice, oh great and now it’s windy too, at this point I put two hands on the steering wheel and glance knowingly at my beautiful co driver who with her legs outstretched is hanging on to the scream bar with both hands, white knuckles and smiling through her teeth is not taking her eyes off the road, phew we get to the top and a junction..hmm no junction on the map oh well eennie meeny miney moe we’ll go that way aaallllll the way down the windy bumpy hill we go, in fact I reckon the downhill was rougher, here I am vision of stuff strewn all through the van, the knives all fallen of the magneticknife block floating around sticking into everything but I dare not say anything or else April will flip out then and there. We get to the bottom and the road clears up, laughing and joking was perhaps a little premature but what the hey we made it, it’s only then I mention my concern. 25 minutes later we pull up in Port Sorrell hoping for lunch, we get out of the car and tentatively open the door…nothing, not a thing out of place, see April told you it wasn’t that rough.
Luck ended up being sangers on the beach, god this is getting monotonous, oh well. After lunch we make our way to Devonport and decide to stay at the Caravan Park 800 metres from the boat, it’s cheap and pretty close, a shithole but convenient. Rather than cook we indulge and go A-la Carte $6,95 Thursday night special at the local pub, suffice to say the meal was average and I didn’t know that you were actually allowed to catcha fish as small as the piece we got but the salads were good and heaps of them so we didn’t go hungry, the kids were rapt, there was a good playroom and chips, and this has been an obvious void in their lives for some months now.

Friday March 19th
We are at the boat at 6.30am, its raining and mild, we are third in line with the premise that first on means first off and at 8pm I think this will be a blessing, turns out the boat is an hour and half late leaving so we don’t board until 9. The trip was uneventful, although the wind got up in the latter half and blew a good 30 knots which whilst the seas were quite rough the boat hardly moved apart from a bit of too and fro.
Em, Zac and I went to the movie which was “Where the wild things are” one of Zacs favourite books, after about 10 minutes he was scared out of his wits so I took hime back to the cabin, where Mum was resting emphasis was and then I went back to look after Em. Well what a crap movie but when you are that long on a boat with nothing to do anything to relieve the boredom helps.
We got of the boat and true to form we were off early in the piece, straight home to our bed, aaaggghhh goodnight 4 days at home, took the kids 10 minutes to trash the place..

Monday 25th January

2010-01-28T09:08:00.003+11:00

Today we play the back 9 at Mallacoota, the golf was a bit better but not a lot, Zac excels himself again and walks the first 5 holes, we finish the round and he wants to hit the practice chipping and putting range, I drag him out an hour later and he is spewing. Just before we go I put my name down for the Australia Day 4 BBB mixed comp, the golf club has organised a family day and BBQ so this will be a great way to finish the day.

Have a feed and a ride with the kids and then the promised kayak with
Zac, we chuck in a few rods and off we go, we paddle around towing a lure without much success so I flick out a prawn and bang we are on….Zac winds in a ripper flattie a bit more of a drift and I hook a nice black bream, he’s soooo excited, we fish for another 45 minutes and he wants to get home to show Mum and the boys next door his “Monster” he falls asleep on the way in sooo cute in his lifejacket sitting in the front of the kayak dead to the world.

I drop him off and keep fishing, another flattie but not much else for my efforts, cover a heap of ground and just love this fishing from a kayak, it’s after 6 and April comes to help me carry the rods back to the van, fresh fish for tea and try and get the kids to bed, Zac is a bugger and April ends up going for a drive to wind him down, he has been struggling the last couple of days, we reckon his salycicilate levels must have built up with a few of the compromises we’ve made in recent weeks…..gawd you pay dearly for compromise.

Sunday January 24th

2010-01-28T08:13:00.005+11:00

Kids slept all through the night yayyyy!!!
We get up around 7.30, I slap up a brekkie and Bacon, Eggs, Mushies and tomatoes on the BBQ, by the time we finish it’s 9am so while Em does her journal Zac and I decide it’s time…..Golf Course here we come.
Well Mallacoota Country Club is no Long Island but we had a great time, this was Zac's first time on a real course with me and his first full 9 holes, he did really well, walking the first 4 holes and then riding on my buggy for the rest of the time.
I played liked a pig, it may have had something to do with the fact that I am used to playing off grass, and in my infinite wisdom I decided to take my 20 year old golf clubs but I was assured of one thing nothing Zac could dish up would damage the golf course.
On the way home we see a sign a the local bowls club promoting barefoot bowls from 1pm each day, home for a feed and it’s consensus, barefoot bowls it is.
We have a great afternoon; the local oldies at the bowls club adored the kids helped us with the fundamentals of lawn bowls, (which by the way is a lot of fun, and I kicked Aprils ass…big time). We spent at least 3 hours playing and chatting with some lovely locals.
It's blowing a bit too hard when we get home so I cant take zac out for the kayak I promised him, lets hope its ok tomorrow.

Saturday 23rd January

2010-01-28T07:29:00.003+11:00

Blowing it's tits orf today!!!

Zac fell out of his bunk last night, a fair old thump..... apparently. Em got up and did her schooling without much fuss, we might have the right mix happening.

It's too windy for much so we drive to Betki Beach, it's an inlet that is closed to the ocean and is now like a big saltwater pool, renowned locally as an ideal kids beach backing on to a surf beach 10 metres away. 5 minutes up the road is Quarry beach, our neighbours say this is their favourite, it's a beautiful ocean beach with easy access despite a few rocks, 5 minues further down the road and 54 steps later you have Secret Beach framed by two magnificent rock moniliths this place is truly beautiful. We keep going down the track to Pebble beach, its a bit of a climb down and it's just another beach so we give it a miss, we hwad back to the van to get he spare car key, mine is stuffed, it got broken some time ago and is getting worse. (I know no-one really gives a shit but i need to emind myself to get a new one when we get back)
Mallacoota Market is on Saturday's so we traverse the plethora of CRAP, but see a market and you have to go, or so I am told....home for a sanga and a play with Keisha, later Em and I go for a kayak while Mum and the Dude have a bit of a snooze, it's still windy but manageable.
When everyone is awake we go for a drive and end up in Gipsy Point, a quant little place at the top of the lake about 11klm up the road, a really nice spot for couples, a few waterfront units and not much else....
When we got back it was time for dinner, I cooked the Bream i caught with Garlic, Ginger and a bit of Chilli sauce, wrapped in foil and bung it on the barbie, it was magnificent!!!!some left over Tarra Warra Pinot and my world is complete.

Friday January 22nd

2010-01-28T06:46:00.005+11:00

Em and I are up early so we go for a ride to check out the van park and guess what, we find a golf course...fancy that, the van park is huse it's got nearly 700 van site and 100 moorings which can cater for boats of all sizes.
We pull up at the entrance, the inlet has been closed since May and ocean access is only via Bastion point, an ocean access ramp which can be pretty hairy on any given day, however there is a real furore i town as the government has approved the installation of a breakwall to provide a safe launch facility, seems like there is a real split amongst the community about the impacts this will have and what the solution should be. I know one thing if the launch facilities were better the joint will be inundated with fisho's.
On our way back we stop at Lucys cafe for a coffee, Lucy turns out to be a chinese national with a passion for traditional noodle dishes, so much so that she grinds her own rice every morning and makes fresh rice noodles, the dishes consist of chicken, beef, pork squid or local abalone with a stir fry using the herbs and veges she grows in the garden out the back.
When we get back to the van Em and I have the schooling discussion again, its driving me nuts so she decides that school should be from 8 - 10am every day. While she completes her journal Zac and I go to Bastion point and check out the rock pools and then of to the golf course just to check it out, when iwe get back to the van i run into Paul, he is the dad of Keisha, the little girl next door Em has befriended, he tells me about a new bike track that goes round the lake so i go for a ride to see where it starts, an hour later I get home it was only a 12klm round trip but I had to check out the fishing spots on the way, the place just keeps looking better.
I'm in the shit when i get back, we were supposed to go to Lucy's for lunch, the food was great, Lucy cooked a special meal for Zac, he loved it especially the noodles, so much so that we ordered a take away to keep in the fridge.
It's getting hot now must be about 2pm, decide it's time to rig a few rods in the shade while the kids play around the camp site, there is a huge play area right next to us. The bloke near us pulls up with his boat and a nice bag of gummie's and flathead which he caught off Gabo Island hmmm next time we have to bring the boat, just have to work out how to tow both...Pete and Heather will have to sleep in a tent, how can i break it gently to Heath???
We like the joint so uch we go to the office and book another three days, no interent service so the blog will have to b updated when i get home.
Dinner and the into the kayak for a bit of fishing between the islands, only one in the boat (Black Bream) but i was getting smashed for the first 20 minutes before dark, just couldnt stay hooked up, then it went dead, this kayak thing is great fun and the inlet is ideal for this type of fishing, home and into bed to watch Blade - Trinity.

Thursday 21st January

2010-01-27T23:05:00.004+11:00

We leave Batemans Bay after a great two weeks, an expensive van park, but more like a resort for families, we head for Mallacoota, we reckon its a 3 hour trip, just a cruise down the road, righto everyone off to the toilet...rights lets go....10 mintues into the trip and you guessed it, yep Zac needs a we....NOW, this need has created a whole new vernacular in our household, roadside stops have "Dwop Toiwets", every location requires the obligatory trip the the "wee wall", Em has to go to the "toodleloo", fair dinkum its a crack up every time.

We stop for a bite of lunch at Bega, we have sandwich stuff in the van so we pul up in the local rotary park, and yes it had a big wee wall.

On the way through Eden we pull up at Eden RV and speak to the bloke who was the expert on the level riders, he gave us a bit of advice and suggested we drop the tow ball a little lower and take the bikes off the van and put them on the back of the car, (I did this when we got to Mallacoota and it made a huge difference on the way home today).

We take the turn off too Mallacoota, its 21klm of pretty shitty winding narow road but we are pleasantly surprised when we get there, in fact astounded, its a beautiful spot. 30 years spent travelling the South Coast and I've never been to Mallacoota, we've been missing something pretty special here.

We pull up at the van park, they didnt get out email to book, no matter, the joint has over 630 sites, shit it's huuuuge, Tracey looks at the van and says, "you'll need site 36 for that one", doesnt sound real flash, get in the car with my map of the park and off we go, well we couldnt have asked for a better spot, great views, massive site, a bit dusty from the Christmas traffic but and ideal spot, we spend the rest of the arvo setting up and checking ut the local amenity, pretty primitive, but a shower and a toodleloo, everything you need.

Wednesday January 20th

2010-01-27T22:47:00.003+11:00

Our last full day in Batemans Bay so we get up and go for a ride early with Zac, we get back and decide to go for a cruise to Nellegan, a beautiful place right on the Clyde River, 10 minutes down the road but completely different to Batemans Bay, very quiet little town none of the hussle of the Bay.
Ice Cream on the banks of the river and then reality hit's we better get back and start packing up, we have learnt a bit from the first time, that is that i shouldnt get pissed and pass out leaving it to April, turns out to be a memorable experience, well at least she wont forget it, with my direction and management skills we are ready to go and have the rest of the day to enjoy.
Weve promised the kids since we've been here that they can go to the carnival next door, given it's out last night we thought we better uphold our promise, the kids had a ball, the joint was pumping, a rip off but show me one that isnt,, the kids have a few rides, some fairy floss and by the time we get home it's 9.30, theyre stuffed, I'm stuffed time for bed.

Tuesday January 19th

2010-01-19T19:51:00.003+11:00

Greg, Carmen and the kids leave today, shame, they were a beautiful family, we'll see them again Im sure, I have to check out Gregs Man Cave, and we've never been to Young before so what better reason.
A beautiful day, only topping 24 deg but very warm out of the wind, we check out a couple of beaches, grab some fish and chips and settle on a beach accross the other side of the river, some small waves were ideal for the boogie boards and a bit of fun on the kayak. I wiped out about 6 times, split my ear, filled the hull with water, broke my oar tether...it was fantastic.
Em was a fiend on the boogie board today, amazing what a bit of confidence can do, and the right conditions, Dude played in the sand most of the day, Mum lounged around in the shade reading the paper. Did a bit of fishing, to no avail, got some good exercise paddling against both the wind and the current, hoe for chicken and corn soup and toasted sanwiches and a bit of Zilzie 04 viognier, i think we only have one bottle left after this one, oh well it was meant to be enjoyed after all.
It's after 8, Em is still trying to finish her journal from the war memorial, it made a big impression with her, so she decided to write it over three days so she didnt miss anything. Zac is being a bugger and wont go to sleep...mum is getting grumpy, sorry grumpier than normal..

Monday 18th January

2010-01-19T19:28:00.007+11:00

Had to get the car to the auto elec by 8am, can you believe it the first day the kids sleep in until after 7 has to be today, no drama the auto elec was pretty relaxed, didn't fix the car ultimately but didnt charge me either, so it was ok.
I rode into town while the car was being looked at grabbed a coffee, had the bike serviced in about 45 minutes in the mean time this mother of a storm hit, I thought i was stuffed 'cause it was 3klms back to the auto elec and it wasnt looking good. Fortunately it cleared shortly after and i went to pick up the car. When I got back home em was doing her journal so Zac and I went for a ride for a while, when we got back the weather had cleared and we decided Mogo Zoo was a good idea to fill the afternoon, it was still as good as it was when we were here three years ago, we went to the feeding of the white lions, you can still get really close to a lot of the exhibits and the barriers are minimal or non existent in some cases.

We decided it was time to go home and the girls went to the loo, they came running back saying there was a guy with a python doing an exhibit down the hill, what the hey lets check it out i said, well you'll see the pics shortly but imagine Aprils face when a 4 metre reticulated python tried to slither down her top, it was a pisser, fortunately we were all in the photo and one of the park staff were taking the photos.
Home for Em's last night with Bree, the kids decided to put on a show for the parents, sorry dinner and a show, the girls set up a restaurant under the trees, made tickets (invite only) and when were were accompanied to our seats we were served chicken fettucine and serenaded by the dulcit tones of Miss Emily Therese Lydia Wright, whith Bree providing back up dancing and vocals, not quite on a par with Cirque de soleil, did however remind me a bit of her cousin, love you Heidi.....

Sunday 18th January

2010-01-17T21:24:00.002+11:00

We did absolutely stuff all today, bummed around, went to the local park with the kids, April went to the market, which was next door ahahahahah I bought the spring roll and curry puff before she got there, that'll teach her for taking a high moral ground..and that was about it for the day...must say, our friends Greg and Carmen with the 6 kids are a fantastic couple, as Greg says real country bumpkins, but not really, all 6 of the kids are beautiful, even Cooper, the little shit that he is, I know Emily will miss Bree when they leave on Tuesday, she's such a sweet kid..Bree that is, not Em.

Saturday 16th January

2010-01-17T21:09:00.004+11:00

Moruya Markets are on every Saturday so we (not) decide we have to go....not a bad market (code for good food) but much of what was at Candelo, the highlight is the bloke with the mail order bride selling shanhai pork spring rolls and curry puff for $1, April refuses to buy it because he is an arrogant pig and treats his wife like shit.....doesnt stop her eating it though when I buy it.
Leave the market and off to Narooma for a walk around and a bite to eat, our destination is Central Tilba for some cheeses....and cheeses we have, some nice smoked applebox, a classic cheddar and some local creamed honey later and all is well, the town is..well...a hippy shithole, but it seems people like to visit these joints, I reckon I know what it is too, you leave there and you feel better about what you've got, you appreciate hair removal technology a bit more and it reinforces in you the knowledge that that alternative stuff is just for those losers who couldnt find a place in normal society and rather than be ostracised they opened a cafe in tilba and then complained about all the tourists who shop there.
Did i mention the cheese was good, particulalry with the Trentham Viogner tonight..on the way home Dide was asleep when we got to Narooma, but I had to check out the bar as it was blowin' it's tits orf so we parked at the lookout up top and walked down, no boats but we saw some seals on the rocks and got a few pics up close, Em was wrapped.
Stoped at Broulee Beach on the way home, a great spot just near your timeshare Ingram "The Moorings" we have to get back here on day, you'll love it...
Home Made Pizza, Two Brothers Shiraz, BED... a big couple of dayz

Friday January 15th

2010-01-17T20:58:00.003+11:00

Cant sleep, get on the bike and go for a ride to Malua Bay, on the way find a National Park with some bike tracks to a secluded bay, sooo in I go get to the bottom the the hill, ride around chech out the beach, climb a hill and yep you guessed it...a flat F#$%^ing tyre....again. Fortunatley it was only a small puncture and I was able to fix it and keep going.
Get home and the kds are feral, Zac wants to go for a ride so Em, Zac and I get on the bike and leave Mum to her devices, we start of on a little ride and end up riding into Batmans Bay (as Zac likes to call it) stopping for a coffee on the river, 2 hours later and about 9klm round trip we are back home, the little bloke did a great job, just to get home.

Lunch and a bit of a play and then Zac and I go fishing while Em does her journal ( I better get them on her blog, I'm getting a bit behind), the local fishing comp has a weigh in so we stick around for that, nothing caught, just like us so we head home for dinner....

Thursday January 14th

2010-01-17T19:43:00.014+11:00

Up early, the weather is looking a bit overcast so we decide todays the day to go to Canberra, in the car just before 8 and off we go, the road between Batemans Bay and Canberrra is really windy about 15 klm in and goes for about 40 klm thereafter so she's not the fastest trip, in fact the road is pretty treacherous so much so that the day before it was closed both ways for 4 hrs after a fatal.

Fortunately we arrive at the War Memorial exactly 2 hours later just before 10. From the moment we arrive greeted by Simpson and his donkey and a 16 tonne anti aircraft gun the kids are mesmerised, words do not do the place justice; envisage every emotion from the depths of despair to complete adulation in the span of 5 hours and we experienced them all but nothing overtook the sense of prise you felt for those that have come before us, but also those serving currently.
You come away from a place like that and you have a different perspective on life, but I think as importanlty so did our kids, well at least Em did, I was proud of her, she displayed a sense of right and wrong so sadly lacking in the world today, butmore pointed were the question she posed about the validity of war, not quite as articulate but stuff like "why would people do that to each other" & "why would you go to war" & "Dad, whay did they hate each other so much..."

Anyone got the answers please let me know, in fact without ever wanting to diminish what has gone before but fair dinkum why would you ever support a war...OMG that is the first left wing comment I have ever made, I reckon Andrew Bolt just deregistered me off his blog, but truly it's hard to justify.

Add to that was the kids "discovery" centre, this was great the kids got dreesed up in period costumes and got to experience a variety of themes, drive a sub, live in a trench, rebuild atown as part of a peace keeping mission and jump out of a blackhawk it was great we had a ball, you should have seen me I was........oh yeah it was a kids thing and I think they had fun too..I'd put up the pic's but Aprild forgot the cable for the camera so it'll have to wait'til we get home, but it will be on our Picasa page at some time...for those of you who forgot it's http://www.picasaweb.google.com.grahamwright37/
So anyway the kids are ragged and we decide its time to go home, but I have to go past parliament house and get the obligatory photo and on the off chance i get to run into KRudd or even Julia and share a bit of wisdom, no luck there but in the 20 minutes it took to get there the kids were somehat revitalised and decided they wanted to get out of the car and check out the park, 2 hours later and we've seen the house of reps, been on the roof run into a delegate of Fijian nationals from the area around Sigatoka, fair dinkum it was like being back in Fiji, one of the blokes picked up Zac, gave him a big kiss and took off with him to show him the sites.
We are in the foyer about to leave and we are wishing our Fijian friends "Mo thay" when one grabs us and pleads with us to stay, they want to sing the kids a song....picture this, 20 Fijians in the foyer of Parliament house singing traditional folk songs at the top of their voice, it was another falshback to our Fiji trip from last year.
We leave Parliament house with some more great memories, stop in Quenbeyan for a feed, and had the best Chicken Ayam and a pretty good Beef Rendang, the chef was great, she cooked a special meal for the Dude and made Emily a Berry Sandwich, which consisted of two huge scoops if Ice Cream, encases over three levels with won ton pastry surrounded by a berry coulis..very nice, or sho she tells me.
2 Hours home and I'm stuffed

Wednesday Jan 14th

2010-01-17T19:28:00.004+11:00

Well, getting little miss Emily to do a journal every day is turning out to be a bit of fun, so this morning whilst she caught up on the last couple of days Zac and I went for a ride, when we got home we decided to go to Mogo and have a bitof lunch, the fish and chip shop there does a mean burger and the chips are fantastic, it took me back to 2am out the front of Vic's after a big night at 21st....ironically April had the same thoughts...
After lunch i got convinced to do the obligatory trip to the local historical village and gold mine to pan for gold, in fact it was a bit like the old days, i got fleeced on the way in with promise of a better life and and enriched future...turns out it was a crock of shit and I came home with the same family..well not quite true, when we were there we ran into one of the single mums staying at the van park with her friend (no, not that type of friend, and if it was i still wouldnt want to know) anyway when they got there the other Mum had slammed the car door on her finger and fainted so I ended up driving her car home with a couple of the ferals they spawned.

In fact the joint was OK pretty interesting and a little interactive for the kids, no sovereign hill but not bad, we panned for gold, Zac drank his in the car on the way home, hey our shit may not stink and now it is classed a a trading commodity...ps, for those of you who are interested we are listing him shortly on the ASX the prospectus will be out shortly for those interested, search for the code POO.

Home, beach bed, just another day in paradise.

Tuesday January 12th

2010-01-13T17:41:00.007+11:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Andrew - 51 today.

Shit it was hot today, Zac and I went for a little ride to the shops while Em did her journal, when we got back we decided the day would be best spent sitting around the pool, which we did 'til about 1.30, then it was back to the van for lunch and a dvd, fortunately we'd left the aircon going so it was really nice in the van.

The cool change came through at about 8pm and it was well received by all, the kids went to bed at about 8 and as i had had a nana nap in the arvo I decided to go for a ride and check out the other side of the Clyde River, there are beautiful beaches along the entire length of the river, it's a beautiful part of the world and it's proximity to canberra ensurs there are some pretty whizz bang holiday homes around the joint.

Monday January 11th

2010-01-13T17:03:00.009+11:00

Well today it is 21 years to the day since April and I first got romantically involved....OMG if you had have asked me at 19 i am not sure this would have been the answer and i dont mean April or else it would have been who (she's standing behind me and i just got hit)

After the oligatory ride around the park we head off to Mogo, a little historical town (code for hippie) about 10 klms out of Batemas Bay. We meander through a selection of trinket stores, alternative art galleries offering life crystals and spiritual healing, before spending $30 on the worst meat pies I've had in a while, all this culminating in a trip to the town only toilet, strategically placed next to the local fire station, and after having visited them i truly understand why, 'cause they are so friggin disgusting that they have to hose them off with a fire hose.

On the plus side we find a little cafe that bakes GF rolls which is great for the dude, we get him some chips 'cause the cook in rice bran oil yeehaa and i pick up a bottle of latitude 41 an nice sav blanc from malborough .

We decide no to go to Mogo zoo today, its gettting hot in the arvo so we head home to the pool, we'll go on a cooler day. We do a deal with the kids and they go to bed early and go to sleep, I head off to the local thai restaurant for a bit of local take away, on my return we crack a nice bottle veuve adroit, a nice drop if you like the bubbly stuff, by the time we knock that off we really dont need the latitude 41, but i opened it anyway.

Well all i can say is the way the trip is going so far its looking likely we'll make it to 22 years and we will most likely come home with both kids although that can change ona ny given day...no correction, minute.

Sunday January 10th

2010-01-10T21:19:00.003+11:00

A quiet one today, we all went for a ride along the Clyde river today, it was a 4klm round trip and Zac rode the whole way and wanted to keep going when we got back , and he was flying, I dont think those trainers wheels will last too long and they certainly arent slowing him down. April reckons he is like his Petie, though cant go past water or a boat without running off the road....
Free pacakes in the camp kitchen when we get back, I take em accross while April makes the coffee and something for the Dude, we are still in the queue by the time they get there, it was a long wait but the pancakes were prety good, and you know, what else did we have to rush off and do. Em decided she wanted to do kids club straight after, it was circus day so she decided she would practice to join cirque de soleil, after watching her for a bit the singing career is a better chance, and for those of you who know her know exactly what i mean, anyway we ditched one we still had the cheeky monster, we decided to go back to the van tidy up a bit and then you guessed it down to the beach, but only after we rode 'round the van park another two times.

Zac had great pleasure sticking it to emily when we picked her up, she was spewing. The rest of the afternoon was spent bumming around off to the beach again for a while and then I had the pleasure of taking two chicks to the disco for 2 hours....i only made one mistake...I only took one drink with me, and let me tell you their was a distinct lack of yummy mummies and those video clips have a lot to answer for..the best bit was when the DJ, who was great by the way played the edited version of pinks Fun House with the offending verse removed and then imagine 30 kids from 2 to 10 all singing at the top of their voice "burn this fucker down" it was a moment to behold.....I just about pisssed myself. The only one out of sink was the princess who looked horrifed 'cause she says joint.

That was my day fulfilled, we delivered our neighbours kid back home and had a feed before sending the kids off to bed, whilst I was packing to go fishing in the morning Dad rang, he had a chat to Em and then we spoke for a few minutes, Mum got on the phone and we chatted for a little while, apparently Laddie has an ear infection, Lo lo took him to the vet and all is ok , it seems we were very fortunate Lois is taking such good care of him and we are very grateful, anyway I say goodbye to mum and she trys to hang up and as usual stuffs it up, then you hear Day going of his nut in the background, geez Kath dont you realise its a mobile , christ you were chatting about nothing that would have cost us $20 you know blah blah, for the second time today i pissed myself laughing, I might ring them next and after about 30 seconds tell Dad I've gotta go 'cause its costing me a fortune, It'll eat him up for weeks.....

Goodnight, hope you dont melt tomorrow, as for us I expect to catch some fish in the morning early before it gets to that max of 29, but the sea breeze always makes it feel that little bit cooler.

Saturday January 9th 2010

2010-01-09T21:31:00.008+11:00

April gets up and decides to go for a ride on the bike to get some bread and milk from the Batehaven IGA, upon her return i jump on the bike and get the message that the IGA didn't open 'til 8 and we still needed bread and milk, so off I go, up the hill past casey beach and on my way to surf beach, this place just keeps getting better, cant be too long 'cause we want to take the kids swimming at the beach before it gets too hot today, shit what was that on the road i just hit, oh well keep on going, oh look a real estate lets check out property prices....mmm pretty reasonable considering....whats that noise.....oh shit a flat quick better get back to the van, or 20 metres down the road, which do you reckon it was, anyway this is where the story could get really long and amusing (after the fact) suffice to say i had ridden over a screw and after 3 patches and removing the tube 5 times i gave up and walked back to the van.
I got back and April says why didnt you ring me, my response was why didnt you answer the phone....and i still managed to get the bread and milk.

Pack up the kids and the car and off to Casey beach, a beutiful little open ocean beach, really shallow with little waves and lots of rock pools right on the entrance, we couldnt resist and got the kayak out and paddled out to snapper rocks which was my first sojourn into the ocean with the kayak, very cool and I will be getting out there for some fishing. It started getting hot about 11 so we headed home, a quick bite and into Batemans Bay for Aprils Aldi fix, she's been hanging out for this opportunity it was on our must do list. I went to Kmart with Em to get a tube for the tyre and came out with a Hanna Montana top, shit it's hot now, about 2.30, home to the aircon and a movie, about 5.30 we head to the pool for a cool down and about an hour later a cool sea breeze comes through, its beautiful now and forecast is for a bit cooler the rest of the week with Tuesday the hottest around 36.
I made a garden salad and potato salad for dinner complimented by some some greek lamb chops marinated in garlic, lemon and olive oil mmmmmmm a favourite of mine, Zac is a bugger and wont go to bed and goes down screaming, its such a nice night i head off for a little ride into Batemans Bay and over the bridge that crosses the Clyde River, a thunder storm in the area provides and amazing light show.

Quote for the Day comes from Emily today, I washing up after lunch as my princess is lying in the top bunk, as she looks whistfully over the top of her bed and with these big doe eyes she looks at me and says "You know what dad" , whats that babe i say, "well it's amazing really, this holiday well" ....yes....."well I've never seen you wash and dry any dishes ever and well you have been doing it every day". No response was forthcoming, thank god her mother wasnt around!!!!

Friday January 8th

2010-01-08T20:14:00.005+11:00

Our first morning in Batemans Bay and we awake to a glorious sun filled day and a cacophony of corella's sqwaking their guts out. We go for a stroll along the beach and collect the obligatory shells, i pick up a bunch of fresh mussels for live bait, we then take a little ride around the park and down the road to the sk8 park. Whilst Zac's enthusiasn is honourable perhaps we should wait a few yeas before he hooks into those vert ramps, much to his disappointment. On our return Em latched on to one of the girls from next door so Zac and i headed off to toddler time on the jumping pillow, after a solid 20 minute workout for both of us we head to the pool for a splash while April heads to the shop to get some bread for lunch.

Wind picked up in the arvo and it got pretty hot so we just kicked back around the van, kids watched a video until dinner. Tropical chicken salad with grilled nectarines and fresh mango finished off with a corona mmmm what a life. After diiner the wind abates a little so off to the beach with the boogie boards, to cold for Dad so the kids have a splash before home to bed.

The summer nats are on in Canberra over the weekend, we we really looking forward to checking it out until we go the weather forecast - 42-45, no way we are going out in that, a shame really always wanted to go to a summer nats, oh well. We are plannning to go to canberra later in the week and do the war memorial and we may even stay overnight if we decide to to the mint or parliament house.

We finally have a reasonable internet connect and had our first skype conversation with the Rosses, and you wouldnt believe it but the Ingrams tried to call us at the same time , sorry Heather we tried to call back, i know one thing for sure, it wasnt Pete...

Good night all, dont melt, have a great weekend and we'll catch up tomorrow.

Thursday January 7th

2010-01-07T21:48:00.002+11:00

Up early to pack and head off to batemans bay, remarkably good considering the exploits from the night before, must have been the early night that helped....
Shit we've got some stuff with us, amy have to lighten the load when we get home. After we pack the van we set up the new levelling kit and towbar, amazing the difference it makes to the way the van tows, much better than it was and made the trip a breeze.

Stop at Bega for fuel and some butter from the cheese factory, lunch at a little roadside stop and then through Narooma, hasnt that joint kicked on and it was chocka's, i wanted to stop but you couldnt get a park, we'll go back without the van. We get to BB by about 1.30, the van park is really cool and we have an ensuite here so Em's happy.

We all go for a ride to check it out, the beach is 20 metres from the door so the kids are rapt... the obligatory jumping pillow, pool, tennis court and a couple of playrounds, this joint is really a 5 star resort, we came here three years ago and it's even better now.

BBQ dineer and a chat with the neighours, a nice couple from Young with 6 kids...omg 6 kids and they were quiter than our two...which i spose isnt much of a measure really, but they were quiet.
Kids in beds, and im off to the beach for a bit of a fish, go nothing but the water looks fishy, I have to take the kayak out to the heads, they has to be Morwong and flatties for sure, sorry Pete but this place is grouse, I'll send some pices, hopefully with a better internet connection we can post a few photos.

Off to bed, gotta get up early to go fishing!!!!

Wednesday January 6th

2010-01-07T21:26:00.003+11:00

Today our little boy is 3 years old, god it must be great to be three, he wakes up to a bed covered in balloons, off to our bed for the present opening ceremony, a Ben 10 omni trex, cranky the crane (and yes i thought about saying it too) a mega sketcher and some of the Thomas the tank enging cast, fair dinkum we've got more trains than connex. April did and amazing job of whipping together a GF train cake complete with marshmallow wheels and Fads to connect the carriages, no roughing it for our kids.....

We head off to Merimbula for mini golf and some arcade games, into the town centre to Zac's favourite Malay restaurant and you guessed it "steamed rice" we manged and beef rendang and some sweet basil and chilli chicken for us, back to Kalaru for a couple of hours before we go to dinner with Sam and Maria.

As always the consumate entertainers, pasta, happy birthday again for Zac and more wine than should be consumed in one day which only became apparent when Mummy advised that I had had enuff and it was time to go home, I felt fine and thought perhaps that she may have been mistaken, it turned out she was probably right and given we were heading off to Batemans Bay in the morning fortunate that i listened, as i always do !!!!

We get back to the van and Aprils heads off to the showers leaving me in charge of getting the kids to bed, which apparently doesnt constitute telling them to get into bed and passing out on my bed, who was to know, surely if they really were bouncing on the bed when she got back it would have woken me up, i reckon she made it up.

Oops forgot to pack before we left for dinner, maybe an early start is required.

Tuesday January 5th

2010-01-05T19:31:00.001+11:00

Guess What today we went to Nelson beach ...again, but today we got there early and stayed most of the day, which was just fantastic, we snorkelled, kayaked, swam, fished, made sand castles and didnt even stand on one sea urchin. It was a great day for all, the only reason we left was the fact we saw what looked like an ominous storm coming accross the mountain, turned out to be a fizzer with a few drops of rain, oh well, always tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, our little boy is three tomorrow, hard to believe, and cute as, yesterday we were playing eye spy and he got the shits 'cause he wasnt getting a turn. So when he had a shot it "eye spy with my little eye something begining with cow, so we did the brown cow, cow pat, cow eyes nooo on and on finally we give in.... and he say "River" we cracked up.

Dinner tonight was left over lamb roast turned into Burritos, topped off with a bottle of beauuuutiful TarraWarra pinot from the Yarra Valley. Kids are in bed and doing everything they can not to go to sleep, April and Em wrapped Zacs present this afternoon whilst we played frisbee, now all we have work our is what do we have to do tomorrow the spoil a 3 yo that is getting "bigger and bigger" as he likes to describe it.

Monday January 4th

2010-01-04T19:48:00.003+11:00

Pat, Deb and Georgia left today so Em and April stayed home for the morning so Em could spend as much time with G as possible, in the meantime Dad and zac nicked off to Eden to bu some load levellers for the car, $800 bucks later we went to the wharf at Eden and checked out the fishing trawlers, Zac asked everone on or near a boat where the Pirates were and then we went to the Killer Whale museum....Zac kept asking when the whales were going to kill us...sooo cute.

I picked up a prepaid card for the mobile and stopped off at a Malay restaurant for a curry and some rice for the dudester, back to camp and explain to the girls why it took us 4 hours to get to Eden and back, and they still dont know what we did.

Wind is blowing a gale, still warm, the possum spotlighting was called off due to OH&S concerns....i can see a pattern forming here, postponed to wednesday night, oh well Zac might be able to go for his birthday.
good night G&A and Em and Zac

Sunday January 3rd

2010-01-03T19:16:00.004+11:00

Up early and take the opportunity to go for a walk in the bush and surrounding area on my own, abck to camp empty the porta potti before breakfast (god my kids shit a lot, where do they get it...), pack the car and off to Candelo market, it's ben 15 years since we were last there and we have fond memories of the place, April reminded me of a purchase i made last time, I bought Andrew a hand turned wooden replica of VB stubbie, it was really cool.

Well the market didn't disappoint in fact whilst it was a little more commercial it was still a great mix of hippyville, trash, great fresh food and stuff for the kids. We spent 3 short hours crusing arond culminating with a lunch cooked by the members of the local commune (kibbbutz).
Thai vege curry, hummus and hand made bread, beautiful apple pie and cream with a plum and raspberry smoothie..mmmmmm hippies are good for something.

Back to the van and dad sneeks in a little nana nap before taking dude to Bega river for a bit of a fish, nothing caught but some fun was had...gawwd he's cute.

Chicken curry for dinner and a bit of a shit time trying to clean Zacs "spikey sore" as he calls it, one of the points is getting infected so we, that is me, had to give it a bit of a skweeeze, what do you say to a two year old when he says "dad, why did you hurt me?"

Off to Eden tomorrow for the day, might mean a trip to the quack for Zac if his sore looks any worse.

PS bit of useless trivia, a sea urchin spike is primarily calcium and will be absorbed by the body over time and thus does not need to be removed, you can expedite the process by increasing your intake of vitamin D..got to love wikipedia!!!

Saturday January 2nd

2010-01-03T19:02:00.005+11:00

Taking it easy today, I took the kids plus 1 (Georgia) to the local mini golf at Kiraninni, spent the rest of the day around the camp riding the bikes and stuff. Late afternoon I nicked off to the Tathra Pier for a bit of a fish, got a bream and a few flatties but nothing of real size. The bloke snorkelling told me there were big Morwong over near the rocks, so I'll try that later in the week when the kids are not around. The plaque on the jetty was a stark reminder of the tragedy that befell the young father and son in recent times, the installation of a few ladders around the jetty are a feeble attempt to avert such a disaster occuring again, but I spose anything is better than nothing.

After a chat with a few locals I head off home to my roast lamb and a bottle of Ingoldby Shiraz, this was our first roast in the oven, in fact the first time we used the oven and not a bad effort either. I managed to pick up a dozen oyster from Tathra, farmed at nelson beach, our favourite little swim spot, they were magnificent, shame we forgot the worstechire cause April wont eat Natural so i had to east most of them, oh well.

Em went to kids club and made a decoraed mug, very nice....Zac rode his bike on his own for the very first time, and he is flying, cant believe how quick he has picked it up.

Early night off to Candelo market tomorrow.

Friday January 1st 2010

2010-01-01T20:31:00.005+11:00

6am starts on new years day can only be a good thing when your 40 and got little kids....so we made a point of pissing off the kids who were in a very sorry state next door, they took it all in their stride and are making up for it now that they have got home for the races....have to send the artillery in shortly.

A quiet day today, a trip into Merimbula, a bit of shopping, lunch and the hunt for a GF icepole..we found one finally on the fishpen in a milk bar, we've got a deal if we cant get one for the dude, no-one gets one.

On the trip back we stop at tura beach and Bournda National Park, another absolute gem of a spot, off the beaten track like nelson beach with both a lagoon and a great surf beach, we must go back to this one too....

Dude falls asleep on the way home so we decide to head straight home, a ride on the bikes, a jump on the pillow and the day is complete, home to our first meal cooked in our Dreampot (beef casserole)....not bad either, i reckon it'll get some good use in coming weeks.

Hehehehe the kids next door have got the hint they are moving the party off to another site for the rest of a night....and it's about to piss rain good luck guys, we decided to take a photo of the move in progress, and we've just had a chat with the girls and they can recite the 99 buzz lightyear quotes verbatim hehehe it worked.

Thursday December 31st

2010-01-01T20:15:00.002+11:00

A quiet start to the day, a little ride with the kids (you should see zac on his new bike...ssooooo cute) and then dad went for a little ride on his own, back to camp a bit of lunch a chat with the neighbours and we fill them on on our gem of a find at nelsons beach, a bit of a bounce on the jumping pillow a play on the swings and a swim in the pool and it is decided, we are all of to nelsons beach.

Pat, Deb and Georgia follow us the 10klms to the beach, wind is blowing a gale, we find a protected cove and commence checking out the water conditions. It looks like the tide is ripping through the lagoon but it was the wind and tise combination made it look worse that it was and the water was only a metre at the deepest point. We trach accross to the spit in the middle of the laggon and there are soldier crabs everywhere, the kids loved it. We spot an oyster lease a bit further along on the rocks and make a bee line, oyster everywhere. I climb up get a few and see a sea urchin in the water below, I try and get it up to no avail, so i call the kids over, show them and explain not to touch it as its really sharp.....so zac steps on it....scream and i end up pulling 5 long spikies out of his heel...off to the local pharmacy, a call to the bega hospital, a bucket of warm water and some panadol and all is well...thanks to our friends too for looking after em while we dealt with mr accident prone.

Back to camp, fish & chips a bottle of french bubbly with the neighbours and off to bed for 11pm ....Happy New Year...PS the kids next door got bach about 2am and kicked on April give 'em a sprat in the middle of the night and that fixed them.

Day 3 Wednesday December 30th

2009-12-31T12:36:00.006+11:00

Up early and thanks to the youthful exuberance of our young neighbours next door we had a some what broken sleep, thats ok, revenge took the form of a chatty 7 yo girl and a 3 yo armed with a buzz lightyear doll and a talking iggle piggle doll (thanks again aunty lisa) strategically placed at the back of the tents at 6.30 in the morning. In to Bega for a bit of shopping & top up the reserves with the obligatory stop at the Bega Cheese factory for a bit of local nostalgia. We wanted to get a pic of Em and Zac with the cow like we did with Em when we were here 4 years ago, and believe it or not it was gone, relocated upstairs into a building due to OH&S issues, fair dinkum what is is wotld coming to....into town for a bit of lunch at the local chinese, a few groceries and a stop on the way home, apparently turning of the main road and finding a golf course is not seen as a reasonable coincidence...back to the van for a bit of R&R and an early night, tomorrow is New Years Eve and we reckon the neighbours may get a bit fired up, boy have we got plans for them new Years Day!!!!

Day 2 Orbost to Tathra

2009-12-29T21:25:00.005+11:00

We packed up from our night on the Snowy, redistributed some of the weight in the van and headed of for Tathra.
First stop Cann River, coffee and a wee, got some groceries and off again, non stop express for 10 minutes Zac needs a wee, off again lunch at Merimbula and on to Tathra.
Nice little van park in Kalaru, grass site with a few trees for shade, set up camp and you guessed a couple with a young girl named Georgia moved in ....bye em see you soon.
Early dinner and a drive to check out the local area, huge flatties being caught in Bega River (note to self go back without kids) keep driving and she who must be obeyed says turn here (shit dirt road) up, down , round to what was the most beautiful beach and lagoon (note to self must go back, ok take the kids and wife).
Dude is asleep time to go home....c u tmora

Snow River Day 1

2009-12-28T20:57:00.004+11:00

Sunday 27th December

We leave home for our first night, the drive to Orbost was let's just say adventurous and needless to say we learnt a bit about how to pack a van, and we may need to invest in some improved suspension, the old van is a bit of a pig to tow.

On our way through Bairnsdale there we police everywhere apparently a crash on the other side of Lakes closed the road to all traffic fortunately we had already decided to go via Bruthen to Orbost to a free camp on the side of the Snowy River....wow what a beautiful spot, we met a couple who had two little girls so Em was wrapped. I took EM and Zac for a Kayak up the snowy and we had a splash around in the shallows, amazing how warm it was for 6 oclock at night.

We only arrived a 5.30 so we didnt have agreat deal of time but we will go back for a few days of free camping later.

Join us as we Wrighthome

2009-12-14T21:23:00.000+11:00

Hi all and welcome to our new blog.
We are calling it Wrighthome and we have developed it with the express intent to maintain an evolving record of our caravanning trip and to take our friends and family with us on the journey to some of the most beautiful parts of Australia .

It all starts tomorrow when we pick up our new 18ft creative grant tourer, we've put a bullbar on the Prado and just about own our own Ananconda store. (I'm a bit worried about April, she really likes the bullbar and is talking about getting a CB, RW Williams Mud Flaps and a confederate sticker for the back window), the kids are jumping out of their skin and cant wait to get going.

Our first sojourn is the south coast of NSW, we spend a couple of days finding our way to Tathra and end up spending 2 weeks in Batemans Bay

We'll get some photos posted of the van soon and update the page as often as we can.