Winging it and finding gems

The stretch of coastline from Carnarvon to Geraldton is part of the Western Australia coastline that is much less renowned than its' neighbouring areas of Ningaloo and Exmouth on the north; and Perth and surrounds in the south. Prior to reaching the west coast we hadn't really heard much about the likes of Carnarvon, Hamelin pools, Kalbarri or even really Geraldton itself. Shark Bay and Monkey Mia were probably the most well known quantities of this area, with some rumours about the spectacular wild flowers this time of year in Geraldton. Granted, this was mostly because we hadn't got this far in our research (prior to leaving i think i got as far as researching up until Broome and not beyond)! The other reason was that we had learned that the best form of research is chatting to our neighbours at campsites, shop owners, random people we meet at tourist attractions and well basically anyone, something i find really challenging to do (!) Travelling down the west coast, the common starter for a conversation is "which direction are you heading"? Many (the smart ones) are travelling north, following the sun, and the advice they give about places to stay, campsite locations and their cleanliness, tourist attractions and national parks is invaluable. Add to that the insider information we get from travellers that we have met along the way, that are now a few weeks ahead of us, and we can sit back, relax and make snap,spontaneous decisions about where our next stay will be. Our only two deadlines at this stage are the Margaret River region (where dad will meet us again) and the looming deadline that shall not be spoken of!

So with no set route, we find ourselves in Carnarvon to restock, wash, power up and most of all explore the area. Originally, i had been met with some resistance from the family to adding Carnarvon into the itinerary for two nights, however after mentioning Carnarvon's food trail the four other Phimsipasoms were eager. During our stay in Coral Bay we started our "research" into the area. The blowholes and point Quobba (for whale spotting), Railway Museum, One Mile Jetty, the HMAS Sydney 2 museum and information centre, Space and Technology Museum, food trail and The Fascine were all mentioned. As with many places, seeing everything is impossible, so we decided to cross off the one that would take us the longest, the 140km round trip to the blowholes and Quobba (we will see them on our next trip around Oz)! After setting up and hanging out several loads of washing, we set off to find the jetty. On the way we discovered out first gem, "Asiana Delight", a little vietnamese restaurant and shop in the middle of Carnarvon. After a late lunch of fried rice,stir fry and pork buns,  a purchase of pork floss, tamarind sweets and rice crackers and a promise of coming back for pork rolls, we were finally ready to start sight-seeing. As we pulled into the parking bay of the jetty and heritage precinct, we heard three excited kids in the back "there's the Franke's car", they chimed in unison.  After a brief catch-up with the Franke's and another meet up planned, we walked (or skipped in the case of the girls) down the old jetty, hearing a few creaks as we go. After standing on a loose plank, we started to imagine and act out all the scenarios that could go wrong, with Jai doing fantastic impersonations of Frank Spencer (Some Mothers do have 'em)!  Luckily we make it there and back without any "Frank" moments, but we were more than happy to pay the small fee that charged to walk the jetty and go towards the much needed repair and upkeep.

The Rickety One Mile Jetty

Selfie on the Jetty

A morning of finishing off school work, was followed by an excursion to the Space and Technology Museum. The museum is linked to an Apollo transmitting dish (Overseas Telecommunications Commission Satellite Earth Station) and proved to be a hands on learning experience for us all. We even got to dress up in some fashionable space suits, climb into an Apollo simulator and experience a re-creation of the countdown, take off and separation of the craft from the fuel tanks.

The afternoon was spent driving along the northern and southern river roads in search of the best produce Carnarvon could offer. Although, not at peak season, we managed to sample and purchase some mango jam, ice-creams, paw paw, tangelo, tomatoes, grapefruit and black sapote.  At one farm, a school boy maybe a year or two older than Jai and Grace served us, while his younger sister (wearing a gymnastics T-shirt), climbed a rope that led to a tree-house and used the back of the ute to practice flips and do stretches, with a dozen or so chooks following her. Farm life ! Next stop, "Asiana Delight" again, for some take away dinner and a picnic with the Franke's at the lovely Fascine waterfront and recreation area, which has been redeveloped as part of the WA's royalties for regions grants.

The Gascoyne food trail in Carnarvon

Chocolate covered frozen mango 

Our last day in Carnarvon. After reluctantly packing up, we drove back to the heritage precinct to see the Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage Museum and the Railway Museum. At the museum we watched a fascinating documentary about the HMAS Sydney II, its' battle with the German ship Kormoran, the theories around this devastating loss, and finally the discovery of both ships in 2008. Another learning experience for us all! After another quick stop at Asiana Delight for some spring rolls and pork rolls, we were on the road again; destination Shark Bay.

While in Carnarvon we started our research into the Shark Bay region. Ophet had read that squid fishing off the Denham jetty was popular and that fellow fishing buddies had spoken off the successes they had in the area. So with three nights allocated to the area, we had decided that we would at least spend two nights close enough to Denham to allow for the crazy early hours and late nights that squidding requires. Having done my own research, i had stumbled upon a station stay near the entrance to the Shark Bay region. This would not be ideal for the fishing enthusiasts, but we all agreed would be a good one nighter and also give us access to Hamelin Pools. Coincidentally, the Franke's had also been thinking about this station stay, so we all agreed to try it for the first night.

With our late start from Carnarvon, we arrived in to Hamelin Station mid afternoon after a drive that was made much more interesting by the sudden blossoming of wild flowers in the fields. Hamelin Station is a 19th century sheep station, that is now owned and run by Bush Heritage Australia.  It is within 5km of the Hamelin Pools, one of two areas in the world where the rock formations of stromatolites are found (living fossils).  Several threatened or vulnerable animals are also found within this region (i will however, let our resident animal expert tell you more about them).

Within minutes of arriving it was evident to all of us that this station was another "gem". The sites were large and spaced well apart, amenities cleaned to the highest standards, the kitchen area was large and fully equipped and included a large oven, there was a communal indoor eating area with a fireplace and an outdoor eating area with bbq facilities. We were also made to feel extremely welcome by the station staff David, Denise and Manager (Jackie) who all, over the period of our stay, were a wealth of knowledge and happy to have a chat and listen to the kid's long stories! A discussion with David and Denise later that day, resulted in a complete change of plans. We decided that our our one night stay would be extended to three with a day trip to the Denham area. This would mean that less squidding could be done at the jetty, but we all decided that our stay at Hamelin would be worthwhile.

With an hour or so before dinner, we decided to do a quick bike ride to the properties' lake. Having already been armed with the knowledge that a few rare birds might be spotted, Jai had binoculars on and would have happily spent hours watching the lake and chatting with other bird enthusiasts. Apart from the obvious, there are few things in life where Grace and Jai are complete opposites. Jai's passion for feathered creatures has rapidly increased over the past 5 months, while Grace is still petrified of anything larger than a finch and is insistent that all birds are out to hurt her! The bird watching was therefore short lived for Grace and Ophet, while Emma, Jai and I stayed for a little longer.

Black Swans in the lake

Camp kitchen

The following day was unfortunately eerily dark and storms threatened for most of the morning. We therefore decided to take the opportunity to finish school work while it passed. After a few short downpours, we set off for the Hamelin Pools. The seas were rough , spraying water over us as we walked along the boardwalk and making it challenging to clearly see the stromatolites. The bonus however, was the contrasting colours and the fun we had racing back to the car to beat the rain and avoid the spray from the waves!

A warm shower and home made fish and chip dinner were exactly what we needed! Ophet had purchased a bag of potatoes in the hope that we would find a camp kitchen with an oven. Hamelin station came through again. Jai was offered the honour of lighting the fire in the communal dining room (yes we are now unfortunately experiencing weather cold enough for a fire)  and we listened to the hired musician who was playing in the outdoor area, as Ophet prepared the gourmet feast. Toasted marshmallows (thanks again David and Denise) completed a fabulous evening.

A day trip up to the Denham was next on the schedule. Given the plan was to do night squidding, we left mid morning, knowing that we would be having a late return to the station. The shark bay area, is a relatively narrow peninsular, so we found ourselves zigzagging from coast to coast on the journey to Denham to see the sights, including, Shell beach, Nanga Bay and Eagle Bluff.  Arriving in Denham i quickly posted off school work and collected the last batch that was sent to this post office as we didn't know where we would be staying. Meanwhile, Ophet and the kids went to check out the squidding potential and came back underwhelmed. The jetty, which was meant to deliver the goods, was in the middle of a construction zone, thus mudding the water. The whole Denham area was a bit of a mess preparing for the 400 years celebration of the landing of Dirk Hartog at the end of October. Add to that the a full moon (which supposedly means the squid spread themselves out rather than being concentrated on areas that provide light), Ophet's hopes of providing us with salt and pepper calamari were shattered. With the afternoon to spare, we made a decision to visit the Francois Peron Homestead and National Park, rather than visiting the more commercial Monkey Mia. To get the Monkey Mia "experience" , we were told that we needed to be out there very early, and since we had decided to stay at Hamelin rather than Denham or Monkey Mia itself, early was not an option (another thing to put on the list for our next trip)!

We briefly explored the various displays, the old artesian bore (which is now a hot tub area for visitors) and the shearing quarters of the Homestead before letting the tyres down again to make the journey as far into the National Park as time allowed.  The narrow 4WD only track, with deep soft sand, meant slow travelling, especially as we had to pull off the track several times to let others pass and stop for random animals crossing or popping up out of their burrows (not a smart choice Mr rabbit). We eventually made it to the spot along the coast that appeared most "fishy", Bottle Bay, just a few km's short of the cape; Cape Peron. Ophet immediately found his spot and casted, while the kids entertained themselves exploring the rocks and making up stories with the shells and i took the opportunity to take a few pics and read my book. Before long however, (and unfortunately with no fish hooked), the sun was setting and we had to make our way back to Denham for a take away pizza dinner. We knew that we would have to be super careful on the journey home, so we had all ten eyes on the lookout for our hopping friends, who were out in abundance and appeared to be playing a game to wait until the very last moment to attempt a road crossing right in front of us.  With a few very close calls, one very tired Emma (who mid journey home requested to stop looking as she couldn't keep her eyes open), we made it back to Hamelin Station for our last night in the Shark Bay area.

The amazing view from Eagle Bluff

Shell Beach

#Phimsioztrip on Shell Beach

The dirt track up to Cape Peron National Park

Our next destination was Kalbarri, and, after a very scenic drive through the blooming wildflowers, we arrived and immediately saw why Kalbarri has been a highlight for many travellers that we have spoken to (definitely another "gem").  The centre of Kalbarri (which is where we chose to stop to have our lunch while ringing the various caravan parks) is where the Murchison River and the Indian Ocean meet and is a very pretty setting. Sitting in the warm sunshine in the park, Grace suggested a three day plan, which involved fishing for Ophet, playing in the park, collecting shells and bike riding for the kids and reading nearby for me! Kalbarri is, without doubt, the kind of place which lends itself to this kind of relaxed lifestyle. We certainly did a bit of what Grace suggested over our three day stay, however we also threw in some sightseeing for good measure. This included dolphin spotting at Red Bluff and a walk through the lovely Kalbarri National Park (yes another gorge) and taking a few pics at Nature's Window. I would have loved to stay for a few more days in this area, however we had to keep moving south towards Perth.

Hanging with the gorgeous Jenna and Eli

Nature's window

The next big town on our trip was Geraldton, only a few hours south of Kalbarri, with some more fabulous coastline joining the two towns. We decided to stay at a campground beachside, ten minutes outside Geraldton. Unfortunately for the two days we were there, the weather wasn't ideal beach weather, so we spent most of our time in Geraldton itself, and in the end were very glad that we had this extra time. Geraldton another historic port town, has the charm of quaint streets lined with victorian style buildings contrasted with a practical foreshore area and esplanade area that has recently been tastefully renovated.

 Our campground at Coronation Beach 

The main streets of Geraldton

An afternoon was spent exploring the maritime museum and the HMAS II Sydney memorial, a unique and touching tribute to all of the 645 HMAS II Sydney crew who lost their lives. Each individuals 'name and position was engraved in a circular wall, above which was a metal dome made of 645 doves.  Several statues surrounded the memorial, representing the families' of those who didn't return. Although we have no specific family link to this event, its' symbolism was powerful and emotive.

Moving on from history, we decided to check out the foreshore area, and discovered that the carpark beside this area had recently been allocated as a 24hour free camp ! The kids are delighted with this, as it is literally next to the biggest and most comprehensive free play area that we have seen (another "gem"). We make a unanimous decision to extend our Geraldton stay to include a night at this free camp. Arriving reasonably early the next day, we wasted no time in making the most of the climbing equipment, netball/basketball courts, obstacle courses, electronic games, free power points and water! We also discovered a fabulous bakery nearby, that made fresh vietnamese pork rolls. After chatting to the owners, Ophet discovered that they have similar bakeries at various other locations along the WA coast, including our next stop Jurien Bay.  Pretty sure we will manage to visit them all !!