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Published: November 24th 2009
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After a week in WA, Bella commented that it was just like England only colder - ha ha!! Heading North it did look very much like England’s rolling hills, only on a much larger scale, but I’ll get to that later...
We arrived in Perth on Wed 16th Sept, and headed straight down to Fremantle for a few days rest (yes, we really did need it after 5 weeks tearing about)!! We were staying in one of the old prison wardens’ cottages next to Freo’ gaol which were built in the late 19th century; it was a stone built building and had masses of character. We did a prison tour where the kids were horrified to learn there was a juvenile block (you mean naughty children can go to jail?!) There were some amazing paintings on the walls from prisoners who obviously had to find something to do to fill the time, and an interesting reconstruction of cells through the ages showing how they grew (doubled!) and added luxuries like TVs. There was also the gallows - I couldn’t even bring myself to take photos, Joe however had no such qualms... We also did lots of shopping, mainly for camping
gear (the kids were remarkably patient) and went to Kings Park, the main park in Perth where we did a wildflower tour and my obsession with Australia’s beautiful wildflowers began!
After it became obvious that we weren’t going to be getting the pick-up cleared through customs any time soon (the usual bureaucracy hold ups) we tried to get hold of a campervan to see some of the South West. It being the high season for people to escape the “cold” of Perth, the only one we could find at such short notice came from Cheapy Car Rentals and the name really did say it all!!! But we did manage 10 days and 3,000kms in it...
First we decided to head north to the wildflower country to see what was still out. As I said, I became a bit obsessed with the wildflowers and drove Joe and the kids mad stopping the car round every bend to photograph a new one I hadn’t got yet (never been that interested in them in England!) It was on this journey that Bella made the comment about it being like home as some of the photos may show (green hills, cows grazing
etc). Although we were a bit disappointed to find the Everlastings didn't quite live up to their name and had mostly disappeared, we still saw some amazing displays.
We headed south again to get to Wave Rock, an amazing rock formation formed by wind and water erosion. Although we nearly didn’t get there as we discovered our Cheapy campervan had a very limited fuel range. Fortunately we found some friendly Irish builders who kindly helped us push the last 100 yards!
The furthest east we got was Esperance, a lovely town near the South Australia border with an archipelago of islands in a clear blue sea. We drove out to Cape Le Grand where Lucky Bay, recently voted the best beach in Australia for two years running, called to us. And it didn’t disappoint - squeaky clean sand and sparkling turquoise waters although it was too cold to swim. We saw our first wild kangaroos too (albeit very tame ones). But after an hour’s walk, a scramble over the rocks and a paddle in the Indian Ocean we had to dash back to town due to an ever decreasing fuel gauge again!
Albany was one of the
first towns in WA settled by the Europeans and it had a very “English” air about it. Unfortunately it was too cold and wet again to really enjoy it, as were Green Pool and Elephant Rocks, although Joe braved the weather long enough to take a few photos. But, the rain held out long enough for us to really enjoy the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk the next day. This 40m high walk takes you right up into the canopies of the giant karri and other trees that grow there (had the birds been flying about and not sheltering from the weather, we would have been walking above them!) The boardwalk below was also good, you can stand right in the hollow of the giant tingle trees.
Cape Leuwin Lighthouse is where the South and Indian Oceans meet and was a good lunch spot. That afternoon we went to Mammoth Cave which lived up to its name as it was huge and had massive stalactite and stalagmite formations. We were the last ones to leave and had to be ushered out so the caretaker could lock up!!
We rather reluctantly parted from our campervan, as we’d
got quite attached to it by then, and had got used to the fact that one good gust of wind made it feel like it would topple over! But as there was still no sign of the pick-up, lovely Chris and Rae Carder from Perth, lent us their car for the next week, so that we could drive back down to Busselton (about 3 hours south) to go to another Bible School down there (and I repaid them by getting a speeding ticket!) We had a great week, meeting loads of people, hearing really good talks, and taking part in fun activities like a sand-castle building competition, variety night (yes, we did do a spot!) and visiting Canal Rocks, the Duckstein Brewery, Simmos Icecream (almost as good as Italian gelati...) and Ellensbrook House where one of the first pioneer families settled in 1857.
And finally, we were able to get the pick up!! It was really exciting unpacking all the stuff we’d crammed into it back in England, but not quite so exciting trying to work out how we were going to add all that we’d carried with us and bought since!! But after a few days of packing
and repacking, having a roof rack fitted and the electrics sorted, were ready to head off up north and see the rest of Australia!!!
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