Eyre Peninsula.

We must have been tired from a long days travelling. We all slept in much longer than expected at Penong. I think the time change had something to do with it as well.

 Anyway, after some breaky & packing up we were back on the road. We first drove to Ceduna. We had a bit of a drive around the town but decided to keep moving on. We did stop for fuel & a wee at the servo before we left. We then made the decision to take the Flinders Hwy instead of continuing on the Eyre Hwy. We wanted to check out Streaky Bay, so thats the way we headed. We arrived in Streaky Bay just before lunch time so we had a look around. Its a lovely little seaside town, a place we would recommend. It was beautiful & sunny so we decided to get some fresh bread & we drove to the beach that was near the playground & we had sandwiches for lunch near the beach. The kids had a play at the park & then it was time for a toilet stop & we moved on. Here are a few pics we took at Streaky Bay.

Felicity called this big gull the 'White Angry Bird'.

Our next stop was just before Elliston. We took a senic tourist drive around the cliffs, this is what we saw.

From the cliffs we went into the town & had a pit stop, a run around on the lovely green grass & got a snack for the kids to have in the car. 

Back on the road & we headed into Coffin Bay! Famous for its Oysters of course, we had to check it out. Again, like all the little towns you go into along the Eyre Peninsula, it was very pretty & a place we would say go & visit. We were planning on getting a little further down the road but as it was just after 4pm by the time we got there, we decided to check into a site at the caravan park. The kids had a huge play at the park while I did some washing. Then we had showers & went to the local hotel for dinner. After that it was back to the van for some much needed sleep!

Today the kids seemed to sleep longer than usual too, the long travelling days & change in time is likely the cause! We were still up & on our way by around 9am.  We headed to Port Lincoln. After driving around town for a bit we found a place we could un hook & leave the van. It was much easier to have a good drive & look around without it on behind the car. We first went to the Marina & saw all the Big Tuna fishing boats, there were heaps of them! We drove past the wharf where all the grain is exported & then into the town centre & town jetty. We also saw the Makybe Diva statue that is on the foreshore. This was made by a local artist & paid for by the Tuna fishermen as a tribute to the owner of the horse who comes from Port Lincoln. 

And these next few pics are just what we took from the foreshore.

After fuelling up yet again, we were off. Kids had a lollie pop each & some drawing to keep them busy. The first hour was pretty good going & then we struck the massive winds that had been presicted. They were head winds for us so it was slow going for the rest of the day. We made it to Cowell just after 1pm so we stopped for lunch. When we gor out of the car we were almost blown away, so quickly into the van to get out of the wind & have a bite to eat. By the time we had finished eating the wind had eases slightly so we let the kids have a quick play at the park, then back into the car. 

 We drove into Whyalla but didn't stop. We then kept going until we hit a very familiar roundabout as we drove into Port Augusta. Its the roundabout that is the crossroads, you can go north, east, west or south from here. About 11 weeks ago, we took the turn North & you all know what has happened since!

 We checked into the Big 4 caravan park this time, just to mix it up. The winds were getting stronger & we couldn't be bothered with the headwind we were getting to go on any further. We have pretty much been relaxing once we un hooked. We cooked some dinner, cleaned up, had showers in the ensuite (yes we booked an ensuite site this time) & now everyone is snoring their heads off! Not long before I do either. Oh, we did turn all the lights out earlier & listened to the thunder & watched the lightening. Its now raining on the roof of the van, a nice noise but it signals to me that the holiday is over! I just hope that when we do get home in a few days or so that the sun starts to shine & we don't have to get out too many of our winter woolies!

See you soon everyone! 

Crossing the Nullarbor

So I think the last place I left off was us arriving at Caiguna Roadhouse after a long day driving from Kalgoorlie. 

 We woke reasonably early & were on the road by 7.30am. Most people say the Nullarbor is a boring drive, but Trent & I found it pretty good! There was plenty to look at & the scenery seemed to be changing all the time. Our first stop was at another roadhouse along the way about 2 & a half hours after we left. Toilets & some fruit cut up to eat as we were driving along. Finally about another 2 & a half hours later we had made it to the WA/SA border. The time had now changed, we had to add another 1 & a half hours to our clock time! So, lunch time it was! We made some lunch & ate in the van after getting some fuel at the border. Another wee & back into the car but not before taking a pic of these!

So it was then another few hours of driving, we stopped at a few lookouts before we hit Nullarbor Roadhouse. 

We had yet another pit stop & the kids & Trent had an ice cream. Back 'On the road again' & it wasn't long before we took a short detour to the head of the bite. It was only about 12kms off the highway & we had read that you could see whales plus an amazing view off the boardwalk. So we pulled up & went into the cafe & it was there that we found out that they actually charge you $35 for a family to go & have a walk on the boardwalk! The man also said that we needed to be back by 4.55pm as they shut at 5pm & we got there at 4.30pm! So, we made the decision to keep moving as there was no guarantee we would see any whales & we really didn't like the idea of paying the money in the first place! It was an aboriginal community that owned the land so I guess they do what they have to. The man at the cafe said we could free camp outside the gate & wait until the next morning at 8am when they open again so we would have more time (& apparently the whales are there more in the morning too) but we needed to keep moving. Our motto, travel more today, less tomorrow!

So, back in the car it was for about another 2 hours where we made it to yet another roadhouse. We thought when looking at the map that we would stay here the night but after getting out & seeing what was around we bribed the kids with lollies & kept going. It was around 6pm by this time. So with the kids happy-ish we kept on moving. It got dark pretty quickly, glad that we had the driving lights fitted before we left! We got into the town of Penong just on 7-7.30pm, found the caravan park & checked in. Made dinner, washed & showered, the kids watched what was left of the Cars2 movie & then we were all in bed! 

That pretty much sums up our journey across the Nullarbor Plain. I will fill you in on what we have been doing today in our next post. 

Kalgoorlie

So after a pretty long days drive from Perth we arrived in Kalgoorlie around 5pm. We got the very last site in the caravan park we had chosen to go to, so we were lucky! And, they didn't charge us for the kids!

 We un hooked & then took a drive around town as the sun was going down. We decided that we wanted to look a little more in the morning as there wasn't enough daylight to do it all. Back at the van & we cooked up some spag, gave to kids a wash & it was time for bed!

We were up early today. Breaky & then off to explore. We went to the Superpit Mine lookout. It was really cool. We could see right down into the the open cut gold mine. We saw a sign that said they did tours so we then went into town to find out more. The info centre first & then the tour booking office. They were booked out until 3pm Sat so we decided to move on. A shame because it would have been good to do but we didn't have the time to wait around. Here are a few pics that we took at the lookout.

This one is the trucks heading back up out of the mine.

The next couple of pics are view of Kalgoorlie that we could get. We had to take them through the fence.

We actually like the town, it has every service you would need. We like that there isn't a 'shopping mall' so to speak & that all the stores you would find in a big shopping centre are all along the main streets. It was a beautiful sunny morning & we could have stayed but we decided to make a move.

We drove for a couple of hours which got us to Norseman. There was a nice park that we pulled up next to. First we went into the visitor centre & asked for a map & info on driving the Nullarbor. The lady there was great! Full of info & gave us a great map. I made some lunch in the van while the kids had a play at the park. We ate, wraps & then some cake! Had a last minute play & then back into the car. Stopped at the servo for fuel & the toilet. Lollie pops & ipods ready & we were off!          

 We then drove for another 4 hours & have made it to the Caiguna Roadhouse on the Nullarbor. We got fuel & then headed around the back & found a site. We cooked up some steak & vegies for dinner & as a treat I went over to the roadhouse & got some hot chips! I did the clean up & Trent showered the kids. I then had my shower & we got everyone into bed. Just watching a little TV while doing this now & thinking that it is starting to get quite cold at night now. Coming back from the shower the sky was really clear & you could see all the beautiful stars. Hoping that it is a nice day for travelling again tomorrow! 

Wishing everyone a happy & fun Grandfinal day tomorrow. We will hopfully get some kind of radio service so we can keep an ear on the score. Not sure yet who we are backing but at least we will be somewhere in the middle of both teams by tomorrow night & it won't matter. May the best team win! 

Perth

Hi everyone!

So we have just spent 3 nights in Perth. The weather wasn't all that flash but we made the most of it & enjoyed ourselves. We arrived mid afternoon & checked into our site. The rest of the arvo was spent checking out the resort. Our site was in a pretty good spot, close-ish to the bathrooms, the kids playground & the jumping pillow. There were also a couple of little lakes, plenty of ducks & even a couple of rabbits to keep the kids entertained. Got some info from reception, maps, places of interest etc...

Tuesday was a mostly wet day but we managed to see a few things. We first went to Hillarys Boat Harbour & had a look at all the boats that are there. There are also plenty of shops to have a look at too. The WA aquarium is also there but we decided not to go there as we had seen plenty of fish along our trip & with the info that we had about it, we would have seen alot of what we have already seen. 

 We then decided to drive out to Fremantle to see what was going on there with all the Grand Final hype. To be honest, they seem to be a little delayed with the hype. We had some lunch at the Kailis seafood restaurant, this was Trents plate when it came.

It was a massive feed, he only got through about half of it, but he made sure  that he ate all the best bits! The kids & I had the traditional fish n chips, it was yum!

 After lunch we took a walk along the wharf. And then we took a drive around all the streets while it was raining! Most of the shops had either some Freo balloons or streamers in them & in the main street of town they were paintinf the middle strip purple. People were also wondering around with Freo jumpers or scarves on. We drove past the training ground where they held their open training session, but there didn't seem to be much going on there either. Here are a couple of pics that we took.

We got back to the van by mid afternoon. The kids had a play at the park & on the jumping pillow. Then we decided to go & do the grocery shopping. We navigated our was to a westfield shopping centre & had a look around & did the groceries. Unpacking is always the not fun job, but after that we had a a great dinner.

Wednesday came & the day was much better so we took the bus & train into Perth city. Kids thought it was great fun going into town that way. Once in town we found one of the stops for the Double decker bus tour. We caught the bus & had a great tour. It took us all through town, past the mint, the WACA, the casino & to Kings Park. The view of the city from Kings park was amazing. We even got off at Kings Park & the kids had a play at the park & we got some lunch from the cafe & ate it in the park. Maurice almost got taken out by a Kookaburra that was trying to take his food! The bus loop goes every hour, so after lunch we got back on the bus & then got off once we were in the city.

  We had a look around town, went to the candy making store & watched the man make candy! We brought some too! We also watched a few street performers, Maurice got a shock when Elvis shook his hand to thank him for giving some money & he wouldn't let his hand go! 

Back on the train & bus, & back to the caravan. The late afternoon sun was warm enough to let the kids have a swim in the pool so Trent supervised while I got all our washing done & then I joined them at the pool. 

After the pool it was time for showers, then some dinner & an early night.

Today we left Perth about 8.15am. We have had a huge day driving with about 3 stops for snacks, toilet & lunch. We got into Kalgoorlie around 5pm, got the last site in the park & then un hooked. We took a drive around town & then came back & cooked somw dinner. Showers & then bed for the little travellers! 

 We will be having a bit more of a look around tomorrow & who knows where we will end tomorrow night.

Hope everyone is well.