Wineries, chocolates, breweries, food and produce
trails, squidding and fishing, art, shopping, birds of prey, dolphins, whales,
surfing, national parks, lighthouses, caves, museums, history, science and
technology centre, running/walking/cycling paths, giant karri trees, wildflowers
and spectacular coastline. Although the south west corner of WA only occupies a small percentage of the total WA area , it manages to pack so much into this little pocket. If it weren’t for the weather (WA=windy always and un-seasonally cold and
rainy) and our time limitations, we all agreed that we could easily spend a month or two exploring this area. As it was, we only had just over two weeks to cover the
area from and including Perth to Esperance,
before heading north to Norseman and starting the long journey further
east across the Nullarbor and into South Australia. Let’s call it, our first
taste of this area, as I know we will be back.
The next day
was forecasted to be wet, so we decided to head over to the Swan Valley for some
indoor activities. We left Fremantle just before lunch and by the time we
reached Mandoon Estate for some wine tasting and lunch, the rain had
cleared! Having been provided with a map
and detailed information from the visitor centre, we easily navigated our
way around the area visiting; the
Margaret river chocolate factory, a meadery, nougat shop and Moorish nuts, all
within an hour. Stomach’s full and on
sugar highs, our next stop in Perth was Bunnings! No, we didn't have repairs to
do or any DIY jobs in the van. That morning I had contacted the WA Bird’s of
Prey Centre via Facebook, requesting if we could visit. I got an immediate
reply inviting us to the exhibit at Bunnings that evening! With one very
excited Jai racing ahead of us, we enter Bunnings to discover we are part of a
fathers’ day celebration, which includes the BOP exhibit, craft activities,
jumping castle, a sausage sandwich and free ice-cream. Score!
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| Just a little bit of chocolate |
The next few
days were spent exploring Fremantle. After visiting some of the historic sights
(Gaol, Maritime Museum, shipwreck), wandering around the jetty and esplanade
area and visiting the Friday markets; I was confused. What is Fremantle? It
seemed to be rather an unusual mix of old and new, alternative and traditional,
beach culture and at the same time had a touristy feel .Two days later, over
lunch with dad and his work colleague (a WA local), I had to ask “what is
Fremantle”? His response, “Freo is just Freo”. Fair call and we really enjoyed
it for its’ individual and eclectic style! Our last Perth day, was spent exploring the beautiful Kings Park, which was alive with colour and filled with tourists and locals exploring its' wildflower exhibits.
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| Freo esplanade area |
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| Kings Park |
As mentioned above, Dad came to visit us again, and join in the fun of phimsioztrip! So, for the last few days of Freemantle the countdown was on. This time it was Emma who was the most vocal about looking forward to seeing Grandpa again! We met him for lunch in Freo,
then followed him down the coast to Busselton, where he had hired a house for
five days. To say the house was spacious was for us; an understatement. With 4 bedrooms, 3 living areas (including a
home theatre room downstairs and a play area equipped with playstation
upstairs), open plan kitchen/dining/family room, two large outdoor areas, three
bathrooms and a double garage; we were very grateful for dad’s generosity and
taste in holiday house. The location too was perfect, in a quiet street 800m
from the Busselton jetty (the 2nd largest jetty in the world). Our
reasons for choosing Busselton as a base to explore this area, were realised. The
jetty proved for very successful squidding, a nice little afternoon outing to
the underwater observatory and, being only 30 minutes from the Dunsborough and
Margaret River regions, Busselton allowed for easy access to the best of these areas.
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| Chilling in the home theatre |
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| Upstairs living area/games room |
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| Grandpa with kids on Busselton Jetty |
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| An underwater view of the jetty pylons |
Our first full day in Busselton, coincided with fathers' day, so we chose a winery in the Dunsborough
region to relax and enjoy probably the fanciest lunch we have had on the trip
(I think I even insisted that kids wash their hair for this one)! We then spent
the afternoon exploring Cape Natureliste, before heading back to our piece of
luxury and enjoying some of our purchases. The next day, we had a Margaret River day out, which included a
visit to a Coffee House, chocolate shop and Vasse Virgin, before heading
further south and experiencing a guided tour through Lakes Cave. We then took
the coastal route back via the Margaret River Beaches and mouth of the river.
Very windy, with some amazing waves . It was easy to see why this area attracts the
most adrenalin seeking surfer, and was also easy to see why these beaches have
claimed many lives. Our day finished with a visit to Margaret River town,
before heading back home to again sample our purchases! Our final day with
dad/Grandpa was spent having some delicious pizza at Cheeky Monkey, followed by
a visit to the Margaret River Chocolate Company and finally a quick visit to a little town known
for its’ many Friesian Cow replica’s “wandering the streets”.
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| Fathers' day |
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| Exploring Cape Naturliste |
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| Crawling through the kids' replica cave (and yes i had a go too)! |
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| From the cave entrance |
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| Stalagmites and Stalagtites |
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| Just a little windy |
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| RIP |
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Margaret rivers meets the Indian Ocean
Cowranup
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As sad as we
were to bid farewell to our piece of luxury and of course dad/grandpa, we knew
we had to keep moving to get home by the time we were due back at school and
work (seriously must real life get in the way of our trip again)! Before he left however, Grace, dad and i achieved what we didn't on his last visit; finishing a puzzle!
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| Finished (with one missing piece)! |
Unfortunately, the cold, windy, raining
whether continued as we left Busselton. Living in a house, we did not feel the full brunt of the
weather, but getting back on the road, it was evident that acclimatising to van
living in this weather was going to be hard, especially for me. I don’t do well
in cold weather at all (unless skiing is involved), and with the weather
meaning more time indoors in our little box, I was anxious. We made a unanimous
decision, that from this point on, we would be guided by the weather. If the weather was good, we would stay and explore. If not, we would move on, hoping to
find a little piece of sunshine elsewhere, with a promise that we would come
back to explore the regions we bypassed.
Our first
stop was Pemberton, a region known for its’ wines and tall trees (and probably
lots more, but I think they are the main two attractions)! Ophet was very keen
to try his hand at climbing a few trees but we knew that we could only attempt
the climbs if weather permitted. Luck went our way and as we approached the
area, we saw sunshine and noticed that the ground was dry!
The first challenge was Gloucester Tree. 61m to the platform, with pegs evenly
spaced approximately 30-40cm apart.
Emma and Grace eagerly started the accent, with Ophet close behind them while
Jai and I anxiously waiting at the bottom. Until reaching the tree, we were
unsure who would attempt it, but as soon as we got there, I realised that there was no doubt that all three kids
were going to give it a go. I happily cheered the three Phimsipasoms on, as
they climbed higher and higher, peg by peg. As I took a photo I realised that
the girls were probably already 20 metres off the ground, with no safety nets.
That was my limit, “time to come down girls” I called out. Reluctantly, the
girls started their decent down, boasting about how high they would have
climbed if allowed! Ophet continued the climb and before long was safely on the
platform. Next up, Jai and I. With Jai ahead of me, racing up the pegs, I
concentrated on following his steps and keeping up. I then look down; “time to
come down Jai”! Am i the only nervous phimsi, or has age made me more sensible? I am almost certain that before kids i would have also raced up those pegs with little care or awareness! The Phimsipasom's attempt at the second tree , the Dave Evans Bicentennial tree was almost identical to the first. The exception being i attempted the tree for a second time on my own (with kids safely waiting on the ground) and possible reached 30m! Ophet again reached the top, with the top this time being a platform that was 75m above the ground.
We left the Pemberton region to find an overnight stay somewhere near Denmark. One of my goals on this trip was to stay at a working station of some kind where the kids could help feed animals and learn more about farm life. Unfortunately we had, until this point, not found a stay in the area that we wanted to be in (some were too far inland, others were too close or far from our previous stay). During the drive from Pemberton, i noticed that there was a stay 30km from Denmark, and although it wasn't advertised as a farm stay, the comments indicated that kids could help feed animals! Perfect! We turned up late and discovered that we are one of the few caravanning guests. After settling in, the station manager told the kids that they could help feed the camels the next morning, just what we had hoped for.
A visit to the toffee factory the next morning(which was really a mix of toffee, ice-cream, ciders, chutneys and sauces) resulted in "the best ice-cream of the trip" and a chance to feed a rather large pig called Wilbur. We then moved onto to Albany, to try to attempt to see everything it had to offer in one afternoon! Realistically, that was going to be impossible, so we bypassed the majority of Albany's attractions and instead went straight to the Gap and Natural Bridge. Getting out of the nice warm car took some persuasion, however, once the kids saw a glimpse of the powerful ocean crashing into the rocks, the were captivated. A quick stop at the blowholes (which were not blowing)! and a visit to the discovery centre to see some of Albany's whaling history, before we had to hit the road, continuing in an easterly direction. Albany, sorry, we didn't give you nearly the time you deserve.
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| The "best ice-cream" of the trip and a few ciders |
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| Watching the water "explode" at the gap |
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| The natural Bridge |
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| Jai racing me after visiting the blowholes |
After the sight seeing in Albany we decided to push on towards Esperance. Our Wiki Camp investigations indicated that there were several highly rated free camps on this stretch of road. When we therefore pass the first one (which looked good), we decided to continue on, knowing we had options further down the road. Unfortunately, on this occasion, Wiki let us down, with the next free camp being non-existent (or no longer in existence, we will never know). Regardless, it meant that we had to keep driving, through sunset and in the dark, something which we try to avoid. After we pulled into a roadhouse 30 minutes down the road and made dinner (the advantage of having a kitchen on wheels), we drove another 40 minutes to the next "real" free camp. We then quickly set up, and went straight to sleep, waking early the next morning to drive the rest of the way to Esperance.
Our plan in this region, was to spend three nights staying in Cape Le Grand National Park. We had been told by many that the beaches of Esperance were "not to be missed", and, as we neared the entrance to the Lucky Bay campground, there was silence (even Em), stunning.....
Although rather cold, we made the most of this beautiful area. We spent the next few days walking/running along and exploring the beaches of the national park, fishing, watching our cheeky furry friends that came right up to the van, and, on one sunny afternoon, hiked up to the top of Frenchman's Peak. A fantastic way to end our WA stay!
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| Ophet rock fishing |
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| Grace preparing in case Ophet got into trouble |
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| Resting half way up the steep incline to Frenchman's Peak |
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| View from the top |
I am currently writing this as we are drive east along the long straight Eyre
Highway, towards our next border crossing (WA/SA). Obviously this means the inevitable, that Phimsioztrip (number 1), is
coming to an end. I am not sad that we are heading home. I am not even sad that
this adventure is ending. It was an amazing adventure that has opened our eyes,
pushed us all well beyond our comfort zones and changed and continued to shape
us all individually and as a family. I am ready though, ready to go back to the
life we built that enabled us to do this adventure. Ready to go back to the
wonderful friends and family that we have back home. Ready to start planning
another adventure….
