Muppetsontour

Day 62 – Thursday 30th August - Minnipa to Barossa Valley Once again we have been lucky with the weather and it stayed dry last night. The temperature was 8 degrees this morning but without the sun it felt much cooler than it had done at Karijini. We sent Luke for a quick walk up the Tcharkuldu Rock on behalf of the rest of us as we packed up the tent, eager to get on our way and eat into the kilometres on our journey home. We have been amused by the road safety posters in South Australia, aimed at a definitely male target group – “Don’t drive like a red button”; “Don’t drive like a rooster”; “Don’t drive like an anchor” (with a w in front of it). See if you can work ... read more

Day 60 – Tuesday 28th August – Lucky Bay to Moodini Bluff rest area (26km E of Madura) Last night’s rain luckily didn’t amount to much and the tent wasn’t very wet when we woke up this morning. Mark and I went for a walk along the beach while the kids had a lie-in. Luke has a cough and has been feeling under the weather so a bit of extra sleep will do him good. The sand on the beach was indeed white, but without the light of the sun and wet from rain and high tide it had a dull, almost dirty appearance. And because it was a cold morning we couldn’t feel the sand squeaking between our bare toes through our hiking shoes and uggs. Next time we will come here when ... read more

Day 58 – Sunday 26th August – Perth to Boondi Rock in Goldfields National Park (40km W of Calgardie) It had been another cool night and the tent was damp with dew outside and condensation inside, so we left the tent to dry out while we went to pick up Luke and watch Rory play in his under 10 footy match. We left the oval at around 10.30 after having said our farewells to the Dawsons. We needed to get fuel and some shopping before we left so drove to the local shopping centre. Coincidentally today is the first day of legal Sunday trading in WA so there was nothing standing in our way to get what we needed - apart from the supermarket not opening until 11am. Back at the caravan park the ... read more

Day 56 – Friday 24th August – Cliff Head to Yanchep National Park (50kms north of Perth) Nearing Perth, Luke is getting more excited by the hour about seeing his buddy Rory again. It’s very cute but slightly annoying as he is counting down the minutes until tomorrow afternoon! First stop today is Jurien Bay, a sleepy seaside town on the Indian Ocean Drive. We couldn’t find a coffee shop here so we drove on Cervantes, planning on calling in to see Kit from Ningaloo Station beach in his hardware store. Cervantes isn’t much bigger than Jurien Bay, having a general store, surf shack and take away store as its three main shops in the town, plus a coffee shop next to the caravan park and a crayfish business that offers tours of its ... read more

Day 54 – Wednesday 22nd August – Francois Peron National Park to Kalbarri It was blowy and trying hard to rain when we woke up this morning at 6.30. But as soon as we ventured out of the tent we could see that it would brighten up and indeed the dew/rain on the tent had dried out by the time we packed up at 8am. Driving back along the sandy track one of the warning lights came on in the car (traction control). It’s one of the lights that mean you have to get your car checked by a Toyota dealer ASAP. Hmmm. We didn’t feel it would be dangerous to drive another few hundred kms to the nearest dealer in Geraldton, so we booked an appointment with the service department for tomorrow afternoon. ... read more