Blogs from Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

Well I’m terribly sorry to say that I have not been in a “blogging mood” for the last 2 weeks. We have been cursed with lots of rain and if it’s not raining it is cloudy, windy or cold and usually a combination of all three. I can count on one hand the number of decent days we’ve had since being in the motorhome these last 3 weeks. We are getting super fat sitting around in the van waiting for the weather to improve so we can go outside and DO something. In fact I think this is THE worst holiday we’ve done in the 32 years I’ve been dragging Noel around the globe. We did have really bad weather in April 1989 when 2 cyclones wiped out far north Queensland, while we road tripped up ... read more

We left Jurien Bay and were straight back on the Indian Ocean Drive. It was a lovely road with very little traffic apart from some three trailer road train lorries. The road had plenty of overtaking lanes, regularly signed (next overtaking lane in 5 kms) to stop you taking silly risks, but they weren't really needed as even the big lorries could maintain 110kms/h and everyone drove to the speed limit. We drove through Geraldton, a place I would call a proper town, with a population of 40K and things like carpet and furniture shops, DIY stores, hospitals and dentists - all the services you need to get by. During the course of our travels it became clear that people travelled significant distances from 'up North' and the Outback to shop in Geraldton and I could ... read more

Geo: -27.6568, 114.395Shell & I were up early as she'd got a horse riding session which I pre booked last year, I did email them before we left Hong Kong to confirm the start time as dependent on the weather it would be 08:00 if it was fine or 09:00 if there was a problem and they promised to email me in advance to confirm the start time. Unfortunately despite another email from me nothing further was heard, not looking good we thought, anyway off we went arriving at the ranch at 07:30 to allow for briefing etc. As we pulled in the place was deserted, there were plenty of horses around but no cars or people; we wander around the stables and accommodation bloc, nothing so back to the car we went with heavy hearts, ... read more

A great child hood memory for me is Kalbarri. A lazy 10 hour drive from Perth it is a town on the mouth of the Murchinson River and is home to the amazing Murchinson Gorges.Some close friends decided to drive up too and we all had a wonderful stay for around ten days. The weather was warmer than Perth bordering around 25 degrees everyday so not quite warm enough for swimming but you could wear shorts. We stayed in a two bedroom apartment at the Best Western and it was huge! The rooms were massive with a full kitchen and lounge room and a balcony overlooking the pool. Best of all it was a quick walk to the shops, river and local pub for dinner. Once we had our bearings we headed out to the Gorges ... read more

Wednesday 26th August A driving day and a long one. We set off at 8.30 and soon pass Paraburdoo, the last place we see for 270K.. At 1pm we stop for lunch at the Nantutarra Roadhouse. It's famous for being the most expensive roadhouse in Western Australia. Fortunately we don't need anything. The scenery has been like driving across Dartmoor for 4 hours solid. Only bush to see and straight roads for miles. It's pretty boring. Only another two and a half hours driving and we turn off for our campsite for the night at Bullara Station. A working cattle station with a good write up in our book. I've driven about 300 miles, a record. After booking in we find it very rustic to say the least. Not quite what we were expecting and no ... read more