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 two hours north from Walpole and it is an entirely different - and better - day.

After a stop at Manjimup and ‘supervising’ the kids playing on a giant enclosed silver slide/tube that must be like sliding through a cylindrical oven, we head to our camping spot for the evening.

Lewana Cottages is a series of old wooden cottages with large, established, exotic trees that speak of a past life as the kind of place well-to-do Australians went when they wanted a holiday resort that looked kind of like England but with kangaroos jumping around. 

The next morning, Sarah marvels at how all our wet swimming gear and towels have miraculously dried overnight. It wasn’t even that warm! The dry air did its magic.

The day is again shaping up clear and blue. This is the first time in five weeks we’ve had two blue sky days in a row. This is how the whole trip was supposed to be, not the exception.

At Nannup, we all trail after Toby, who likes a bit of sculpture, along the walking tour of local sculptures. The kids start complaining it’s too hot. It’s 27 degrees.

After Nannup, we head to Donnolly River Village to look at the old forestry mill there. This is the starting place of the massive hardware conglomerate, Bunnings. Founded by the Bunning brothers, the mill at its peak processed 25,000 tonnes of magnificent old growth forest. To accommodate the immigrant workers, the Brothers built very cheap and ramshackle housing that must have been freezing in winter and boiling in summer.

Today, the Donnolly River General Store is the home of a selection of tame kangaroos and emus. A few of the kangaroos let us pat them but the emus stare at us contemptuously like they’ve never met a pack of losers as pathetic as us.

After the walk around the old Village, we head down to the dam for a swim. 

That night, we find a bat in the campervan. This prompts much panicked screaming and swearing from Sarah as we try and get it out. The kids blissfully sleep through all the commotion.