Monday 11th December Heading home quick pack up as we had not hooked up water or put the legs out or un coupled the van, on the road by 9am The Highway was the most terribble road to drive, it is the Southern Highway but drives like a C road not an A road, ruts and holes all over the place poor G driving again with the van all over the place. Stopped for a break at Wagin to have a look at the Big Ram, he is big, worth seeing but not alot else happening in town again doing it tough with sheep farming dying, so too is the town shame so sad to see. Up home into familiar territory now the landscape has changed to the brown dry dust we are used to in ... read more

Saturday 9th December We had seen what we thought was kangaroo poo on the grass near our van and we were delighted this morning to have breakfast visitors, a mother and joey came right up to the van, fortunately Tippy was inside, they seemed used to people and not at all scared when we walked pretty close to take some photos, nice to see. In keeping with our lazy week we heading into Walpole town, such as it is, to pick up a few bits of groceries. The Information Centre was nice and the people really friendly, I couldn't resist buying another cap for my collection. All sorts of walks and hikes are the thing down here but not for these cookies. We headed back to the van which is parked in such a lovely spot ... read more

Thursday 7th December I spoke with the Margaret River Tourist Board yesterday and was told that even though the caves are in a National Park we can take the dog provided he does not leave the car. Tippy is used to travelling and sleeping in his crate in the back of the UTE and as the weather today is a cool 22, we decided to visit the caves which are very close to our camp site, we reckon as this is one of the smaller caves we will only be leaving Tippy for an hour and we normally travel longer than that so he will be fine. We headed off to be at Ngilgo Cave by 9am as we had been warned that a large school party was due at 10.30am so we wanted to be ... read more

Tuesday 5th December We decided that stopping and taking stock was a good idea today. Even though we are retired we always seem to be doing something when we are at home, so we stopped and did nothing all day what a treat. We sat in the sun , walked to the coffee shop for morning tea and drinking water, walked the dog around the lovely grass areas of the park. I did some puzzles and G played on his computer, we had lunch and tea and sat some more, really good to stop and relax completely. G suggested a drive at about 2pm and I said no tomorrow will be soon enough so we stayed put, helped by the lovely mild weather and the green of the park it was great. I decided to try ... read more

We have decided to slow down the pace of things with our trips so planned a short drive to get us on the road, only as far as Preston Beach. Far enough to be clear of Perth but not too far to need us to get moving early or to hurry along. Finally left Bakers around 10ish all loaded and ready to go. We were very surprised at the traffic which was heavy until well after Mandurah turn off, road works on the north bound carriageway had the other direction a car park, must remember not to come back this way. Stopped off at the services to water the dog and the adults, still very busy I suppose it is Sunday. Uneventful trip down the highway to Preston Beach. We missed the turn off into the ... read more