We had a fabulous week in Bali, being our first time we played the tourist...we had a day tour of 11 hours for $60AUD. Saw a traditional Borang Dance, Silver and Gold Jewellers (bought myself a little birthday pressie), wood carvers, terraced rice fields, had lunch in front of a volcano, bought fruit of a lady on the side of the road, a coffee plantation (Steve tasted Luwak coffee) and the monkey forest in Ubud.
Our stay in a private villa with our own private pool made our stay very special.
We shopped, went to a private beach for hotel guests, shopped, won a seven day stay in Bali, shopped, swam in our pool lots, had several massages and something we haven't done for ages...watched TV. We got a taxi to the Uluwatu Temple and there was a four day ceremony and we were fortunate enough to witness this. We also had a seafood meal on the Beach at Jimbayan
and watched the sunset...very romantic. Like any holiday it was very hard to give up the luxury and come back to the home land.
Back at Steve's sister's farm at 5.20am and we opened up the Tvan and crawled into bed for three hours of shut eye. We stayed the night had dinner with Frank. Ida and Jenny
and were back on the road the next day.
Since then we have travelled along the coast of WA...Mandurah for lunch,
camped at Leschenault Cons. Park for the night and headed onto Bunbury but being Sunday there is not much going on except everyone in the cafes'. We got a town map and walked up to a tower and had a view of the town surrounded by water on three sides, walked back via the beach and bike track
and that night stayed in a free camp in Tuart Forest NP
where we had a chat to a fellow travelling on his own, he was from the Netherlands. Couple more cars turned up for the night and we had a good nights sleep among the trees.
It was a short drive to Busselton and we visited the 1.841km jetty
Steve and I walked back along the jetty instead of waiting for the train to came back and had a bite to eat and we were off in the car again.
Next stop on to Cape Naturaliste, paid $4 ea to walk up to the lighthouse...took a pic and walk back (ripped off).
Drove around the Cape down side roads to lookouts and then on to Yallingup and stayed for a couple of nights. Tuesday 19 November we went for a day of driving as far as Prevally, stopped along the way at Gracetown, Canal Rocks, Sugarloaf Rock
and down to the mouth of the Margaret River,
made some lunch and then to Prevally.
Drove through Margaret River...nice town, lovely area full of wineries, olive groves, chocolate factories, and cafes. That filled our day and we were back to camp via Busselton.
On to Augusta on Wednesday via the coast road, we stopped into Hamelin Bay and took a 4WD track through Boranup Forest, just to make things a little interesting. A track with some rock sections...very slow and steady and it got a little narrow (few more scratches). We had to take our time but it was a lot more fun than the bitumen.
The drive through the Karri Forests are beautiful...I just love the trees! Augusta is a little town with a drive to Cape Leeuwin and another lighthouse.
We just took pictures of this one - didn't go through the gate. We keep following the coast from Augusta, north to Karridale and east along the Brockman Hwy and we found a campsite called Sleepy Tree Hollow. It was small and more for tents but we squeezed ourselves in.
Thursday we keep on driving and stop where we want. Along the Vasse Hwy to Pemberton it is NP after NP and we stop to look at Beedelup Falls
then Greater Hawke NP on a beautiful tree lined drive through Karri, Marri and Jarrah forests.
We stopped at the Marianne North Tree (she is an artist who travelled the world over and she stopped and painted this particular tree and it is in a gallery in Kew).
The Dave Evans Bicentenial Tree
is one of the fire lookout trees...60m up onto a platform that we could of climbed but we gave it a miss...on to Pemberton - Steve needed a coffee. From town we drove out to the Glouchester Tree another fire lookout...didn't climb this one either.
An 80km drive to Windy Harbour to camp by the beach, stopped at Northcliffe to buy fuel and bait, we thought some fishing would be on the agenda. We were expecting bush camping by the beach but no, a caravan park and no access to the beach so we left. We drove up to the point at D'Entrecasteaux NP and took in the view off the cliffs and did not enjoy the flies. We headed back to the M1 and instead of being on the beach we ended up in the bush...Shannon National Park.
We had to put up with the flies but it was a nice camp area but these flies have the biggest proboscis we have ever seen and felt...ouch!!!
There were hot showers here but Steve did have to stoke up the fire to heat the hot water system and we had lots and lots of hot water.
Friday we woke early to the pitter patter of rain drops and we ended up staying in bed till about 11am (haven't done that for about 30 years). We cooked up a hot brunch but the rain didn't give up so we grabbed some snacks and hoped into bed for the day and read books.
Saturday the sun was out and we woke not to the sound of rain but...oh no...flies. We decided to quickly pack up, very quickly and head off to Walpole. Hung around town Steve had a visit to the local bakery and found a good coffee and some sausage rolls. Then we went to Fernhook Falls campsite. Took the bush walk to the falls and up to where the bridge crosses the falls.
We went for a walk to do something while we waited for the flies to go home for the night.
Sunday we had a sunny morning but by the time we finished our brekky the rain started so it was a quick pack up (finished our cuppa in the car) and off to the bushwalk at Mt Frankland. The rain kept falling and we walked along the path with our umbrellas in hand and by the time we got to the first lookout we could only make out the lines of the landscape.
I wanted to walk to the summit, we got to the base of the granite summit and thought better than to climb the wet metal step ladders and not be able to see anything so back down the path we went. Mt Frankland was also used as a fire lookout in the forest.
On the road back to Walpole was a stop called 'Swarbrick Art Trail' but it seemed a place of political history saving the forest, not much here.
Another place we stopped at was Circular Pool...a short walk through a lovely area, more pics added to our album and on our way back to Walpole. A drive around the Walpole/Nornalup Inlets and onto the Giant Tingle Tree - what a site of a beautiful forest and a walk to the Giant.
We had a short drive to the Valley of the Giants where there is a tree top walk for a price. We arrived late in the arvo and decided not to do the walk as we did one in Tassie and have walked through plenty of the same forest already. We spent the night in a caravan park close by.
Its a beautiful area along the southern ocean with plenty of National Parks, one after the other; it is so lovely to drive through big tree lined roads with lots of campgrounds in the bush and little towns in between. So much wildlife; we have spotted the Carnaby Black Cockatoos which are a rare breed and it is good to see them in some numbers and we are still seeing whales at a distance off the coast.
Monday 25 November, we continue to drive all day and take in the views: Conspicuous Cliffs, a beautiful beach and good place to fish.
A back road to Peaceful Bay and back to the highway; Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks in William Bay National Park and a beautiful beach for swimming, snorkelling, walking and taking lots of pics.
There are so many places to stop along the coast and we continue to the town of Denmark. Back in civilization we made a few phone calls to the family, had lunch, restocked the fridge and found out about Shelley Beach and decided to go for a few days of camping by the beach.
The campground at Shelley Beach is small and down a gravel road, it is mostly for tents but one spot for a camper van just for us. We stayed here for 4 nights and it was great and the ranger never turned up so we had free camping. The first morning we got to sit on the beach and watch para gliders jump off the lookout and glide over the top of us and land on the beach.
A walk along the beach and 10foot dumping surf made it difficult for fishing but I had a go but the tackle was all wrong. Changed to heavier machinery but still no good, a man from Albany went down and started catching fish...6 herring, so I went and tried again but no good. Steve changed the tackle for the third time to big star sinkers and I had a bit of trouble casting something that big, fishing is a lot different over here compared to my fishing experience on the east coast but Steve did finally catch one herring and that was the catch of the day and it went into the freezer for bait.
It has got very cold here on the beach and we have broken out the winter woollies once again; can't believe it 26 November and back in jumpers and beanies!!!
Wednesday morning our mate from the Netherlands turned up with his travelling partner, Jeroem and YuJin (from South Korea). We had a cuppa together and decided to go 4WDing through the hills behind us and find the southern most point of WA, Torbay Head. On our way we found Dunsky Beach,
and ended on a big granite rock on the edge of the water
so back on another track and we found Torbay Head (very windy),
we drove onto West Cape Howe (big drop off cliffs).
The four of us had a great day and it was great to have Jeroem and YuJin to share the fun of 4WDing. Jeroem and YuJin set themselves up in their tents and spent the night next to us and we had a night of laughs and good company.
Thursday Yujin and Jeroem headed on their way by mid morning and maybe we will catch up again crossing the Nullabor.
We have been lucky with the weather so far but it is supposed to change so we take down the awning and we are off to Albany tomorrow to see our friends, Kaye and Brian, that we met at Curtain Springs. We drove up to the lookout and took some photos of our campsite below.
Lots of people come and go here, some camp, some fish, some come to just take a photo but it is a beautiful place to stop for a few days. We watched birds, gannets diving for the fish we could not catch, we saw a small snake near the campsite, we could not recognise it but we guessed it was deadly so we chased it into the bush, a little 'Peter Cottontail' hopping around, Carnaby Black Cockatoos flying across the sky in big numbers...could have stayed for longer but we have so much more to see.
Friday morning we drove into Albany (only about 50km away) and on our way to the visitor's centre we missed the turn off (as we often do) and we had a car beeping behind us and we pulled over and it was our friend Brian who spotted our rig on the road, what a surprise!
After having a chat we went and got the info from the visitor's centre and had a bite to eat and in the marina there were a number of yachts arriving from the race around the world arriving from South Africa and resting till Tuesday.
We have had a great time in Albany with Brian and Kaye's company and hospitality. Steve and Brian have been doing man stuff fixing things on the car and Tvan, while I did a few domestic things.
Sunday Steve and I drove around Albany: Boat Shed Markets, in the markets we watched some very big boys racing their yachts (radio controlled...serious business), Dog Rock, Emu Point Middleton Beach and up to Mt Melville the 'spark plug' to see the view of the huge Princess Royal harbour and back to the house for another delicious dinner and sweets Kaye cooked for us.
Monday was another busy day over to Frenchman's Bay to Whale World, this is the last whaling station closed in Australia in 1978 and by 1980 it was opened to the public as a great display of history with 'Cheynes IV' in all its glory, we spent 4 hours walking around looking at all the displays and exhibits including a full skeleton of a pygmy blue whale and a sperm whale, a guided tour and 3 short movies, Whaling, sharks and the Giants of the Sea; absolutely magnificent.
On our drive back we stopped to have a look at the Blowholes, we could hear the water whooshing but no water coming out through the rocks but a beautiful coastline. Then we stopped at the Natural Bridge and The Gap...2 natural rock formations gouged out but the ruthless sea, The Gap is a 25mt sheer drop to the sea and it is all in the Torndirrup NP.
Wednesday is an earlier start than usual, we were off to The Stirling NP (about an hour north of Albany) for a walk up to Bluff Knoll (1 095 mt)...it had some of the best views we have seen.
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| made it to the top |
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| that's the carpark |
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| The heart was pounding all the way up...and the knees were buckling all the way down |
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| that's where we were |
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| views were fabulous on all sides of the knoll |
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| hundreds of wildflowers |
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| a bunch of everlasting daisies on the edge of the knoll looking out at the Stirling Ranges |
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| Still smiling at the top...but we have to go down again |
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| some steps were knee high |
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| down we go |
This is a b!@#h of a climb...1/2 hour rest at the top and we were back to the car four hours later. That will definitely be a one time only climb but well worth the effort.
It has got to be the hardest walk we have done so far!!!
1/2 hour back toward Albany we went to Poronganup NP and another walk but only 2.2 km up to the Granite Skywalk (but it was the longest 2.2km I have ever walked...shouldn't have done 'those' 2 walks in one day) but once again well worth the effort to see the balancing rocks and the Karri Forest and the view.
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| Up hill all the way |
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| A little further to go |
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| Handles to get you over the rock to... |
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| this! and onto ... |
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| this!! |
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| to see the view of the Karri Forest |
I made it back down the hill with some discomfort, my muscles were already unforgiving for the workout I'd put them through. I'm sure we will be feeling it over the next couple of days.
Thursday, Brian and Steve went fishing to catch our dinner and I prepared for our departure tomorrow. We have all had a busy day today and I'm afraid Steve had to buy the fish that Brian cooked up for dinner. We are having a bit of a late night on our last night in Albany and what a wonderful time we have had with our friends Kaye and Brian. Thank you so much!!!
Friday...ohhhhhhh my legs!!!!!!!
