Walpole
Walpole is a lovely forested region on the southern section of the south-western coast. It has lots of tall karri and tingle trees and access to dramatic beaches. It’s very beautiful but it’s an area very much reliant on people enjoying its natural environment. This would be a whole lot easier if it...
The last days
The last days are full of driving, driving, driving to get home. It’s hot, humid and if we’re all brutally honest, we just want to go home, sleep in our own beds, and get the hell away from each other. During the long slog home, we reflected on what we enjoyed about this trip, what we missed about h...
Nullarbor Links
Augie's quest on this trip is to complete the Nullarbor Links Golf Course. Established in 2009, the Nullarbor Links is the World’s Longest Golf Course. Its 18 holes stretch 1,365 km from Kalgoorlie to Ceduna. According to a booklet a kindly roadhouse owner gave us along the way, a group of dedicated...
Kalgoorlie
After a hot and humid night where we run the air-conditioner for the first time, it cools off to a tolerable level of steaminess. For once, the highly unseasonable cool weather works in our favour because everything there is to see in Kalgoorlie is outside. It is a fortuitous twist of climate change...
Coolgardie
Sarah has insisted on stopping in Coolgardie despite the 42 degree heat because it is where her great-grandfather was born. We stop in at Southern Cross and for once, Griff and Augie have a legitimate complaint that it’s too hot. The dirt starts to get progressively redder and the vegetation more sp...
Fremantle (Perth)
Having finally managed to turn our gross sheets into clean ones in Serpentine, we head to Fremantle to work through the last enormous loads of washing before beginning the long drive back to Melbourne. We stay down in Woodman’s Point near Fremantle. It’s a scrappy little wilderness area with an obsc...
Serpentine
We have two important appointments. The first is a visit to the Perth Aqua Park; a Christmas gift from far away cousins. It’s a giant inflatable obstacle course set on a large body of water. Sarah forgets that Augie is not 10 and not old enough to go by himself; so she talks Toby into going with him...
Tony's Bend
Tony’s Bend is towards the end of the road winding through the Lane Poole Reserve, outside of Dwellingup. It’s a picturesque spot, although when the breeze blows, we are reminded of its proximity to the drop toilet. A small path leads down to the water. With some deft foot navigation on the riverban...
Nannup and Donnelly River Village
As we drive towards Manjimup, the major town of the south-west region of Western Australia, the clouds begin to break up. Before long, they’re few and far between. By the time we park for lunch, there is not a cloud in sight, the sun shines brightly and we feel its heat start to warm our skins. Only...
Hamersley Inlet
The Hamersley Inlet Campground in Fitzgerald River National Park is situated at the centre point of the Hakea hiking trail at the intersection of the river and the Southern Ocean. Buffeted by strong winds, the trail connects the main beaches and lookouts of the National Park. The Park rises quickly...
Lucky Bay
Lucky Bay is situated near the magnificent Lucky Bay beach in Cape Le Grand National Park. A spot here is so sought after you have to book it six months in advance. There is pristine white sand, turquoise blue water, rocky peninsulas mixed with a surprising array of flowering bushes for this time of...
Across the Nullarbor
It’s heavily overcast with a breeze that could almost be described as chilly. On the long drive along the Eyre Highway from Ceduna out onto the Nullarbor Plain to Norseman, here is what we learned: 1) There’s not a lot of trees but there’s lots of vegetation 2) There’s plenty of fuel 3) Roadhouses...
Smoky Bay
With the shower blocked and the campervan smelling a rank smell of rotting water, we make our way back to Port Lincoln to purchase unblocking supplies from Bunnings. What follows is a palaver of multiple plungers, chemicals, frustrating phone calls to Britz and the assistance of not one but two kind...
Port Lincoln National Park
On the way to Port Lincoln, we stop in at Cowell. It has lots of limestone buildings and old people but in an effort to seem young and hip, Cowell has also built a waterpark, this time with two slides and a water play area. The kids must try this one out so Toby and Sarah leave them to it and head o...
Port Pirie and Baroota
In the morning at Port Hughes it is raining yet again. Today we are heading off the Yorke Peninsula to Mt Remarkable where it hopefully is not raining all the bloody time. (Spoiler alert - it is not!) On the way, we call in at Port Pirie for fuel. We're not sure what to do there but somehow Toby end...
Moonta and Port Hughes
After a rainy start at Pondalowie, we enjoy the spectacular view of Kangaroo Island from at Galawulgawi Ngunda Nhagu on our way to Moonta. Our sole reason for heading to Moonta is the water-based play area. Sometimes you just have to throw the kids a bone or two. They are underwhelmed but decide it...
Port Willunga to Pondalowie (Yorke Peninsula)
SA turned fully apocalyptic by throwing howling wind and unrelenting rain at us for three days. Unfortunately, this obscured the charms of our first stops at Goolwa and Port Willunga. But we were pleased to catch up with old friends of Sarah's, Melanie and Martin and their daughters Milla and Astrid...
Melbourne to Port Elliot, SA
We left Melbourne on a typical day: rainy, hot, humid, windy, followed by a "cool change" that halved the temperature. The long drive to Heywood via Geelong gave Toby a good workout in navigating the campervan. It drives just like a car until you need to do a U-turn. After a stop at Nirranda Cemeter...
Trip planning and preparation
This trip began as a casual conversation in 2021 about what to do for Toby’s long service leave. Unusually for his workplace, it would later transpire, he wanted to take the leave rather than pay it out. But back then, Covid lockdowns were still occurring frequently. Victorians were a pariah to the...