Brisbane Trip Day 12: Gold Coast

We woke after a good sleep and started to get ready to go to SeaWorld. I was looking at the information we got when we checked in and discovered we were eligible for a Guest Only dolphin presentation, for which we needed to be at the Gift Shop by 8.45. We quickly finished breakfast and got ready and headed down to the foyer. The group was walked through into SeaWorld to the Affinity Dolphin Pool and we got to see a training session with the dolphins which was really interesting. We then walked back to the resort and lined up go into the theme park when it opened. I raced back to the car to get close-toed shoes for Liam and Amelie because there was one attraction that required shoes. I got back to the line in time for us to go in. We'd planned to catch the monorail from the resort but it wasn't running at the moment so we walked in.

We went first to the stingray pools, where we discovered that we could pat the rays if they swam near the edge of the pool. Amelie found it hard to reach them sometimes, and we promised her we could come back later to pat them after we'd done a few more things. The priority for everyone was seeing Mishka the polar bear cub, so we went there next. We saw 2 adult polar bears, then moved to the pen where Mishka was with her mum. She was incredibly cute and lots of fun to watch, playing with a large plastic container that was floating in the water. Her mum had ripped a little hole in the plastic so that Mishka could grab it with her mouth and she was trying to pull it out of the water. Both the cub and the mum also spent time eating fish frozen into blocks of ice.

As we walked to the Nikelodeon kids area, we saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come out for a photo opportunity which was pretty cool. Caitlin and Amelie went on a TMNT ride, then the 4 of us went on it (I sat with Liam). If we peddled our little planes they went higher, so it was fun and not at all scary. We then went on a bus ride which was like a mini pirate ship that rocked back and forwards, and also span on a fairly large, slow axis. We went from the kids rides through to the jet ski ride which Caitlin and Liam went on and said was fun. I wanted to try it so Caitlin took Amelie back to the kids rides and Liam and I went on - it was SO incredibly fast and I was quite scared. I screamed a lot. It didn't go high, just very fast around a turning track that also twisted a bit so at times we were sideways. It was fun but very intense (and I was happy with one ride, the speed was a bit much for me).

The ray pool was on the way to the dolphin show so we stopped in there again and patted some more rays. Amelie again had limited success - they had to come quite close to the surface for her to reach them and it didn't happen often. She was disappointed but then cheered by the idea of seeing the dolphin show.

We got a seat a fair way up in the stands. I was wondering if we'd find it a bit boring seeing as we'd seen 2 shows in Coffs and the training session this morning - but the show was great. The music helped to make it exciting, and the behaviours the dolphins displayed were impressive. Having a big crowd also made it more exciting. It was well presented (although a little sappy at times) and very very enjoyable. We all like the trainers being propelled forwards by the dolphins, we hadn't seen that before.

After the show we went to the battle boats - the kids lined up to go on a boat and I stayed on shore and shot the boats with water cannons. The kids were a little disappointed that they were on the far side of their boat so they couldn't shoot me or anyone else, although there were some targets to aim at that made cool water effects happen - but they were very hard to hit. I had fun squirting people and getting squirted by the boats. The kids still got wet, which Amelie wasn't thrilled about. There was quite a crowd there because so many people had just come out of the dolphin show, so we figured we'd try again later when there was less of a queue and the kids could be on the side where they could shoot the crowd.

The kids all had a big climb on the Sky Fortress - a large climbing play gym structure with lots of ladders, slides, bridges, net bridges etc. I joined them in there and had a go at walked across the high net bridges - it was very very very scary and I was very slow (the kids just ran across) - it was a great feeling to achieve it though. There was a harnessed climbing area too, but the kids needed to be completely dry to do that and we were still wet from the battle boats. We had some lunch to see if we would dry off enough in that time but were still damp so decided to come back later. While we were eating a pair of Asian kids asked me something which I couldn't understand. They were pointing to their backpack and I didn't know what they wanted. The older girl used the translator on her phone and the English version was 'Can you take a look at our backpack?' I still couldn't figure out what they wanted me to do, then they pointed at the Sky Fortress and I realised they wanted me to watch their stuff while they had a climb, which I was happy to do.

The big kids went for another ride on the JetSkis to try to dry off and met Amelie and I at Shark Bay. We had a pat of the sea cucumbers and sea stars and looked at some rays in the big pool. The Stunt Jetboat Show was about to start so we went up to the front of the park to watch that. I really love watching stunt driving and this was a good show. On the way there and back we saw more dolphins in different pools.

Caitlin and Liam had been keen all day to go on the Storm Coaster - the big roller coaster we'd seen on our way in. We headed there now and Amelie and I watched while they went on it. I had also been keen to go, but watching from the observation windows in a tunnel going over the ride scared me quite a bit - the initial drop looked fun but this later drop looked a bit steep for me. They went on it twice and loved it, and Amelie wanted to move on so I decided not to try it for now.

We went back to the Sky Climb via the ray pool, this time Amelie was able to pat some rays and she felt much happier. We were all splashed a bit so hoped we'd dry off enough to be able to climb. Amelie wanted to climb as well so I needed to do it too - she was in the height range that needed an adult to accompany them. The kids put their shoes on and I borrowed shoes from the desk , and we went and harnessed up. I was feeling pretty good about it and keen to give it a go. We walked up to the first level and Caitlin and Liam went off on their own way. Amelie walked across a ladder bridge and I followed her fairly easily. Then she walked across a plank and it took me quite some time to be brave enough to try that myself (I let 3 people go in front of me). There were ropes I could hang on to which helped - Amelie did it without the support ropes (because she couldn't reach them). Then we did some stepping stones which I also found a bit tricky. Amelie started to go up to the next level then reached a height where she was too scared so she came back down. She did one more crossing then it was time to come down. I made myself take a step or two out onto another ladder that I was really scared to do, then I came back and headed down myself. Caitlin and Liam climbed around on the 2nd level and had a great time. I gave the borrowed shoes back - and was allowed to keep the borrowed socks.

The queue on the Battle Boats was now non-existent so Caitlin and Liam had another go, while Amelie and I ran from cannon to cannon on the shore line and shot them as much as possible. We all got quite wet and it was a lot of fun.

The kids wanted to see a 3D movie, so we went to watch the Sponge Bob movie in the theatre - it was a lot of fun.

We headed back to Shark Bay, patted the rock pool creatures again, and went down to the underwater viewing area. The first window showed us lots of sharks and a turtle, a few rays and fish, and was pretty cool. The second window had many more fish, lots and lots of rays, including the Spotted Eagle Ray which is Amelie's favourite. There was a huge Queensland Grouper hiding under a rock (in plain sight) and lots of beautiful tropical fish, some sharks, so many rays. It was fascinating and we spent quite a bit of time watching.

I wanted to give the Storm Coaster a go so we went back over there. Amelie was in two minds and decided to just watch us. I was exceptionally scared and the closer I got to getting on the more sick and upset I felt. I sat with Caitlin and Liam sat with another boy. I had tears in my eyes and seriously considered asking them to stop even once I had the restraint down on my legs. Then the ride started and I felt quite a bit better straight away (things were out of my hands - I'm usually less anxious when there's nothing I can do!) Luckily the pull up to the top (the bit that often scares me the most because of the anticipation) was quite fast, and then there was a little dip and curve which I loved, then a long dip and curve which was fantastic, then the steep bit which was really scary because for a second we felt like we were free falling - I had my eyes shut tight for that bit - then a few more very fast ups and downs through water spray, and then it was over. I really loved it. I had screamed a lot and I was quite shaky when we got off, but really happy. When we got back to Amelie she said she wanted to have a go - she was within the height range as long as she sat with an adult. She sat with me and they put the restraints down - hers didn't quite touch her legs and her back wasn't against the seat back. We were both a bit concerned and it took me a while to catch the attendants attention to ask if she'd be OK. They said she was within safety standards and it would be fine. I asked if she'd move around too much and they assured us it would be fine. She decided she was OK so off we went. She seemed to like the first bit but got a bit scared and teary at the steep bit. I actually kept my eyes open this time. Amelie didn't really like the fast ups and downs towards the end, but was happy when she got off and said she enjoyed it. I was so impressed with her first big roller coaster effort!

Amelie had wanted to buy a SeaWorld towel that she'd been seeing all day, so we did that and then wandered back to see Mishka again - still cute and this time swimming around a bit. Her fur was so smooth when she came out of the water. She had completely deflated the plastic container she'd been playing with this morning.

We hadn't seen the Creatures of the Deep exhibit so walked up there - it was just large statues of deep sea creatures, not particularly exciting but cool to see. The big kids wanted to go on the Storm Coaster again, and Amelie was happy to not go back - they went ahead and she and I went to the ring toss game. She bought a large hat full of small rings - I reckon there were a couple of hundred in there and she and I tried to toss them over the neck of large glass bottles (which had small necks). It was really really hard, we had very many near misses but didn't get any rings on. She did get to keep the hat though, and it was a lot of fun, so money well spent. The big kids enjoyed their last ride (and the last run of the day) on the Storm Coaster, and got to see a one of the staff operate her last ever ride at SeaWorld and be part of the goodbyes for her.

We walked out via the rays again, and then up to the monorail station to catch it back to the resort - Amelie in particular was very keen to finally get on it. When it came in the driver got out and was on her radio, then came along and said that she wasn't allowed to take any more passengers because she'd already done extra trips that afternoon (it was a bit after 5 by now). Amelie was devastated - tired and hungry and so disappointed, so it was a long slow walk back to the Resort. In our room we collapsed on the beds and the kids put the TV on - more disappointment as Pokemon wasn't on as Amelie had expected. We ate some snacks and the kids played on iPods and had a good rest. I had a cold bath which was amazingly relaxing. For dinner we had cup-a-soup and cup-a-noodles. Easy and filling and tasty. We watched Friends and The Middle and ended off the day feeling tired but relaxed. Liam set up his camping mattress using the arm chair and two stools to make a little bed, which he thought might be more comfortable than the floor.

Brisbane Trip Day 10: Byron Bay

We awoke to sunshine for the first time since leaving Newcastle. I hung up all our wet towels and clothes and opened up all the windows in the tent to try to dry everything out. It was a warm morning and with so much moisture around it was extremely humid. We had a relaxed morning around the tent and at around 11 we headed in to Bryon Bay. We stopped at Woolworths to get ice for the eskies, and some grapes and morning tea.

We drove up to the lighthouse and on the way saw an inviting looking beach, and then magnificent views down the coast to the south. Once again there was a lot of traffic, and we noticed cars parking a long way from the beach - I was worried it might be difficult to find a place to park. The road at the top of the headland near the lighthouse was jammed with traffic and it seemed unlikely that we would find anywhere to park there, so we headed back down. We were planning to go for a swim first then walk back to the lighthouse, although it would have been a long walk, then I saw a parking space in the 2nd carpark down from the headland. We parked and paid for 2 hours, and walked back up to the lighthouse.

It was probably a 10 or 15 minute walk and the view was spectacular. Blue ocean crashing onto a long beach far below us to the right, with the water being more aqua as it came close to shore. The headland is quite high and so we could see a long way, to headlands far to the south. It was a hot walk as there was no shade - snacking on the grapes helped to keep us a bit cooler. At the lighthouse we could also see to the north and the west - interesting shaped mountains, a rock island in the middle of the bay, beaches around the edge of the bay and more blue blue ocean. I ushered the kids down the path that goes out to the tip of the headland. There were cool views from the path down the rocks to the water far below. We reached the most easterly point of mainland Australia (which is why I wanted to come to Byron) and the kids were mildly impressed that everyone else on the mainland was to the west of them. We were about to head back when we saw dolphins in the water - a pod for 4 or 5 heading north, then a single dolphin, then another small pod. Amelie saw them and was thrilled - last time we saw dolphins from a lookout, she'd already headed back to the car and she missed them. We watched them swim and leap and once they'd passed we started to walk back.

The kids walked faster than me as I was taking photos of the rocks, and I noticed a dark shape swimming at the base of the cliff. I stopped to watch it for a while, and eventually a green turtle came up for air and I was able to see it really clearly. The dolphin pods also headed back south passed the headland, and another, much larger pod came up from south to meet them. This time there were several mothers with calves. I signalled to the kids (already back at the lighthouse) to come back - the turtle had moved out of sight by now, but we stayed at one of the lookouts for ages watching the large dolphin pod - between 40 and 60 dolphins. They divided into a couple of groups and were doing some tail slapping and other behaviours that suggested they'd found fish and were feeding. It was amazing to see so many dolphins together and watch them play and fish.

Back at the lighthouse we admired the view for a brief time, and I'd promised the kids a cold drink at the cafe after our hot walk (and before the walk back to the car). We went to the toilet first - they were down the hill a bit in a beautiful cool rainforesty setting, but the toilets themselves stank and the kids felt they were worse than drop toilets. Everything at the cafe was (not surprisingly) expensive, so we decided on a gourmet milkshake to share - we chose choc mint and it was delicious. While we sat on the steps of the cafe and drank it, we were accompanied by a large water dragon who seemed to really like the kids, he kept moving away then coming back and sitting right near us.

The walk back down the hill was beautiful although hot. At the car we used some of the ice we'd bought this morning to cool down a bit, then drove down towards the beach. We found a parking spot on the side of the road near Clarke's Beach, and walked down to the beach. We swam near some rocks to our left, and the water was a beautiful temperature. The water level became too deep for Amelie to stand in, although the waves were not big, so I carried her further out and we all stood on a large sand bar (not far from shore) and played in the waves and watched the kite surfers. Caitlin and I were both startled by a large black shape moving through the water - it was the shadow of one of the kites! It was a little rougher out here - not dangerous at all but a bit beyond Amelie's confidence level - she's not really swum in the surf before. We went back closer to shore, off the sand bar, and she found a place where she could stand some of the time and we swam for ages in gentle and enjoyable waves.

We had a picnic lunch on the beach and then went back in for more swimming. Amelie was much more confident by now and we all had a great time. Liam and I (and then Caitlin) played the game where we tried to see who could stand for the longest without the waves moving our feet - it was much harder doing it out in the surf than on the shoreline. There was a bit of a current so we kept moving back up away from the rocks - a good way for the kids to see how ocean currents can impact on a swim. This one wasn't strong and all the kids could work against it, but it was noticeable.

After a while we headed through the water to the east, then walked on the sand for a while because the current got hard to fight against for that distance. We went to Captain Cook lookout and climbed up the stairs - it gave us a good view of the bay and some of the cliffs leading out to the headland - and of the rain that was coming in from the north. There was also another water dragon up there - this one was more wary and stood really still, hoping we wouldn't notice him. Back down the stairs we explored the rocks for a while, and Liam found an old damaged plastic crate that he brought back off the rocks and we walked up and put it in the bin. The water was quite shallow here so we sat and played in the shallow waves, then swam all the way back to where we had started. The afternoon had become quite cloudy, but the rain headed out to sea and we didn't get any more.

We had a bit more of a play in the waves then got out and packed up, rinsed off at the shower at the top of the stairs, and Caitlin got some stretching tips from a guy using the exercise circuit there. On the way back to camp we stopped at Aldi to top up on a few things, and Woolworths to get a hot chicken and items that we couldn't get at Aldi. We had chicken sandwiches for dinner and a very quiet evening after a long, fun day. I was a bit sunburnt - I'd worn a dress with straps instead of sleeves, which is very rare for me if I'm going to be in the sun, and even though I'd put sunscreen on I was burnt on my walk up to the lighthouse and back. There'd been a bit of wind throughout the day so  most of our stuff was dry although some of it was on the ground. I tidied up a bit and we went to bed as soon as we could.

An interesting thing we'd noticed about Byron Bay is that almost everyone seemed to be either kids under 8, people in their twenties, or people over 60. There weren't many people around outside of those demographics, so at times we felt a bit out of place. It also seemed that men in their 20s were not allowed to wear shirts, and it was fine to wear swimmers (and nothing else) pretty much anywhere in town. The roads were in terrible condition and there was a lot of pedestrian and vehicle traffic, I really didn't enjoy driving there at all.

Brisbane Trip Day 7: Coffs Harbour

Amelie came up into my bed in the middle of the night and I was awake then for a couple of hours. Initially I was worrying about things then I looked up some auto electricians online and started to plan the next leg of our trip and felt much better. When I woke up in the morning I felt ok although my cold seemed worse. I went for a quick walk down to the beach then came back to ring an auto electrician who started work at 7am. He wasn’t able to help me but gave me the number of someone who would probably be able to. I played with Amelie for a while then rang the 2^nd guy, he agreed to come out and have a look at the window the following morning.

We’d planned to have a quiet day today then go to Dolphin Marine Magic (formerly the Pet Porpoise Pool) tomorrow – but not knowing how long it would take the window to be fixed I didn’t want to risk having to sit around all morning waiting to be able to go. So we decided to go today and quickly got everyone else out of bed, had breakfast, packed some food, untaped the window and were at the Dolphin place by 9.30. I’d bought our tickets at the caravan park and saved about 15% which was a nice bonus. When we arrived I taped the window back up in case it rained and for security.

We had arrived at the dolphin place in time for dolphin kisses so we headed out to the dolphin pool – there were 2 dolphins swimming in the pool when we arrived so we excitedly watched them for a while. The kids then lined up to get a kiss from a dolphin which they all loved. They said the dolphin’s nose felt rubbery. We headed down to then get a hug from a seal – the kids all had one individually and then I joined them all for a group hug. We were able to put our arms around the seal – it felt smooth and furry and slippery.

We went back to the dolphin pool to get ready to watch the show – we were early enough to get the front row of seats, right at the middle of the pool. The show was enjoyable and funny – and Amelie was picked to go and help the dolphins dance – she got to stand by the side of the pool and conduct the dolphins by pointing her fingers and swinging her hands side to side. The smile on her face was as big as I have ever seen. The seals performed directly in front of us, we had a great view. Caitlin was picked to throw rings to a seal, who caught them over her head. She was also pretty thrilled. Once the show had finished we were all able to stand at the side of the pool and the dolphins swam past on their backs and we were allowed to pat their bellies. They felt cool and smooth and it was a lot of fun.

After the show we went to watch the shark and ray feeding. We looked at the fish, small sharks and rays in a large tank – we could look in through the top, or through windows in the side. There were also smaller tanks containing colourful fish from the region. Fish and squid were handed out on little metal plates and we were able to feed the animals using tongs. Some of the big snapper really splashed as they came up to grab the food, it was pretty funny. A banjo shark came right up the side of the tank and kept popping up to try and get food – it was beautiful and also amusing.

Next we watched the green turtles being fed – one of them was huge and the others a good size. We listened to the guy talk about how and where they’d been rescued and some other turtles that had been rehabilitated. On our way from there to the penguin feeding I noticed a plaque with this trainer’s name on it – he has been working there since 1970, so would have been there even when I visited as a 2 year old!

The Little Penguins were very cute (as expected). We got some photos then were able to help feed them fish – the guy handed out a couple of little fish or a piece of squid to each person as they got to the front of the line – we held out the fish and the penguins pulled them out of our hands (and then fought over the fish until one of them managed to swallow it). We were able to back to the end of the line and keep feeding them until all the fish were gone – the kids had several turns. Most people were feeding the penguins right up at the barrier, we reached a bit further back to feed some of the other penguins. Some of them didn’t like squid (and many people didn’t want to hold the squid) – Liam spent quite a while trying to find a penguin to eat his last piece of squid.

We then helped feed the small turtles (throwing pellets in to their pond), looked at the photos of the dolphin kiss and seal hug, then went back up to look at the dolphins again. One of the trainers was about to do a training session with a seal so we were able to sit (in our front row seats again) and watch that, it was cool to see how the trainer was working on tricks with the seal. We chatted to another trainer who had started working there part time in Year 11 and had recently moved to a full time job once she finished school, she loved working there and was really appreciative of the opportunity she’d had. One of the dolphins brought a ball over to the edge and Amelie played catch with it for a little while which was pretty fun. Walking back down from the pool we saw a trainer with a little New Zealand Fur Seal and talked to her and one of the vets.

We went and had some lunch (surrounded by a school group) and the kids wandered around and looked at the animals some more. Soon it was time for the afternoon session of dolphin kisses so we went back for more – I had a kiss this time as well, it was pretty cool (and yes, it did feel rubbery). Then off for hugs with the seal, the kids had another individual hug, I had one as well, and Caitlin and Liam hugged her together.

Back to see the show again, and had our front row seats again. This time I was picked to hold fish out for the dolphins to jump up and grab (very excited), Liam got to help the dolphins dance, Caitlin got to do a tooth and heart check on one of the dolphins, and Amelie got to throw a ball to one of the seals. (There were very few people in the audience this time, only 2 other kids and they also were selected to interact with the animals). We patted the dolphins again then went for another shark feeding and turtle feeding. We played with the dolphins in the pool again, throwing the ball to them, and then went back to see the penguins and fed them again. We went and watched the seals in their pool for a while, and then went to purchase the group photo of us with the seal. The kids browsed the gift shop and Caitlin and Amelie bought some jewellery.

It was very hot and humid by now so we decided to go to the Big Banana to get a frozen banana. I drove around via the beaches so we could have a look – the beach just to the north of the marina looked very inviting, not rough, wild surf like everywhere else we’d been. I drove all the way to the end of Ocean Parade and the last little bit felt very familiar – just like a memory I have of walking with my Dad when we were in Coffs Harbour in 1974. (I checked with Mum later and we stayed just near that road on that trip, so I think it was the place from my memory). On the way out of town we passed a shopping centre so called in to get some milk and something for dinner. We also went to Target and bought some clothes that were needed.

At the Big Banana we bought 2 choc (and sprinkle) covered frozen bananas to share, as well as an Ultimate Banana smoothie (with cinnamon and maple syrup) and a Choc Banana smoothie. They were all delicious and very very enjoyable. We wandered through the banana and then went to play in the video arcade for a short time. The kids all got lots of tickets and we exchanged them for a few little toys – including those rubber popping domes that I remember loving as a kid. We went back to the banana and took some photos of the kids in front of it, and I figured out the self-timer on my camera and we got a group shot.  There’s now a fun park at the Big Banana as well but we were there too late in the day to do any of the activities.

Back at the caravan park we went for a swim in the pool which was lovely and refreshing. Amelie played for a while with some other kids in the playground. I figured out that this caravan park was the same place I’d stayed with my family in 1986 – but it looked different because they seem to have recently sold the top half of the park and it’s now a housing estate. So I was feeling quite nostalgic for previous Coffs visits.

We cooked sausages on the bbq in the camp kitchen and then headed back to camp for a quiet night. There was more rain coming so I spent a bit of time setting up the awning so that none of the rain pooled in the roof, and felt like I did a pretty good job (it worked overnight). 

Half-lap Day 101: Esperance

There was a fair amount of rain overnight, although the wind wasn’t too bad. It was cold and a bit hard to get out of bed, then everything was wet once we got outside. I spent a bit of time over in the kitchen, having a cup of tea and blogging and sorting out photos. Millie and Tony came over after a while so I could take Millie to the toilet. The three of us had our breakfast, and the other two had a bit of a sleep in. I had a lovely hot shower. Once everyone was up and had eaten we got ready to go out for the day. It was sunny by now and not quite as cold as it had been earlier in the morning. I handed our Census form in and then we set off to look around the area.

We drove through the town centre and along the foreshore, it has been done up nicely and we all wanted to come back later and have a better look at it. It looks like there are lots of islands offshore (it reminded us a bit of Albany) and there were large ships anchored in the harbour. We got petrol and then drove out of town towards Cape Le Grand National Park. The girl at the caravan park suggested we go and stay out there for a few days – we’d love to, if we had a bit more time (and the weather wasn’t quite so cold and windy).

We went straight to Lucky Bay, which she’d told me has the whitest sand in Australia. On the way we passed a very cool looking mountain, and a cove that looked wild and fascinating. The bay contained a big curved beach, with rocky headlands at both ends – on the far end the rocks extended a long way out across the mouth of the bay, so the water can only come into to the bay through the right hand side and on a bit of an angle. The surf looked pretty high, and the water was a deep blue out in the bay and a turquoise blue close to the shore. The sand was indeed very very white. It was a beautiful scene, even from the carpark. 

We walked down onto the beach and were surprised at the feel of the sand under our feet – like nothing we’d walked on so far. It felt most like we were walking on a hard crust of snow, and that underneath would be a deep pile of softness if we broke through the crust. At times it felt rubbery, or like we were walking on springy floorboards. The kids discovered that if they ran along it without lifting their feet it made a cool (and soon rather annoying) squeaking sand. I think there were a lot of air pockets in the sand, and the grains were extremely fine and rather wet, and that all contributed to the weird feel. When we picked it up in our hands it felt rubbery and quite a lot like kinetic sand that we play with at home. It was also like oobleck (which we make using cornflour and water).

We bounced around on the sand for a while and watched the waves, then started walking along the beach. As we walked further from the carpark the waves got bigger and rougher. Watching them crash in towards the beach, with the red rocks behind them, was pretty cool. The sound was exhilarating too. There were also waves crashing against the rocks in all directions around the edges of the bay. The kids wanted to get to the sand dunes further along the beach so they could slide down them. There were warning signs that the sand could collapse, so they were careful to pick only clear, sloped areas of sand once they started exploring in there. Tony walked part of the way along the beach with us and then sat to watch the waves.

The kids played in the dunes and on the sand (LiAM found a toy Hawks car buried in the sand in his digging ) and we saw various seagulls and other sea birds (some with a long red beak, who were poking their beaks into the sand to catch their dinner), and seaweed and lots of interesting plants and flowers on the dunes. We walked to the area that the kids had wanted to see, and they had a bit of a play there, before heading back, trying to beat the rain that was threatening from big black clouds that had rolled over. The wind had picked up a bit too and was blowing spray off the top of the breaking waves which looked very impressive. The clouds passed over us and out to sea and it was sunny by the time we got back to Tony and all walked the rest of the beach together. A sea eagle was soaring around above the bay. We dug in the sand a bit more and after much talk of swimming and temperature and so on, Caitlin decided to have a quick dip in the ocean. Everyone except me had waded in the waves, Tony thought it was the coldest water we’d come across yet, Caitlin said it was warmer than the pools in Karajini. She was pretty refreshed by her dip, and it was exciting for her to go in the ocean, even just the shallow water.

We headed back up to the car and she got dry, Millie and I walked over to the toilets and checked out the campground – there was a camp kitchen, and hot showers so we partially wished we had stayed here instead. It could have been very blowy if the wind was high, but it would have been much cheaper than staying in town… It doesn’t matter though, we made our decision based on what we knew and needed at the time, and we are happy with that.

We drove around to the wild looking cove we’d seen on the way in (Thistle Cove). There was large rock behind the picnic table, which overlooked the entrance to the cove, called Whistling Rock. We could hear the wind rushing through it, sometimes making a whooshing sound and sometimes more like a whistling. We sat in the shelter of this and another rock, and had our lunch overlooking the ocean. Down below us were smooth, large rocks with rounded sides (kind of like the side of large, flattish eggs). The water was breaking over these and then running off in streams, then mixing with the water that was coming in for the next wave, I could have watched it all day, it created the most amazing patterns and variations in the water. There were big waves breaking over the headland as well, and there was a large rectangular rock sticking out of the water below us which created huge splashes when the waves hit it.

It was wind and occasionally some of our stuff tried to blow away so we had everything held down by heavier stuff. We watched some little birds and some crows hopping around on the rocks, interacting with each other and the wind and with us. The crow was very interested in our food. We went for a bit of a walk further down the rocks, and admired the hill on the far side of the cove – the rocks here are fairly smooth, with lots of vertical lines on them, possibly creases worn away by water running down. The bases of the rocks tend to be black where the ocean is beating up against them. The hill opposite us was mainly rock, with a little bit of plant coverage, and had a big cave about 2/3 of the way up. While we were looking around, LiAM said he’d found a fireplace – in under one of the rocks near us he’d noticed a gap, and looking under he’d seen a circle of rocks laid out, with sticks set up ready for a fire. We climbed over a small rock and past a bush to the other side of the large rock, and there was a larger opening that side – the kids went through the opening and there was a cave large enough for them to all sit in. There were even rocks placed around the fire pit to use as seats. It felt pretty exciting to be in there.

We packed up our lunch and then explored a little bit the other way form the carpark– I wanted to see the beach (the rocky bit we were sitting on cut off our view to the beach). From the top of the beach trail we could see back over to the mountain we’d driven past on our way in. The sun was shining on it and reflecting off the water running down its side – it looked like it was covered in snow, as the reflections were so white. We walked down the beach access path, through lots of bushes and wildflowers (including some we hadn’t seen before, yellow banksias I think). There was a rock overlooking the beach so I ran down to stand on that and then was ready to head back – the others kept walking down to the bottom of the rock to the edge of the beach itself.

There was a channel of water running out of the brush and down to the ocean. The water in it was clear but quite yellow, I’m assuming that was stains from the plants that surrounded it. The kids were playing along the edge of the channel, then Tony jumped across the channel and onto the main beach. The kids all soon followed, with various success at not landing in the water (none of them had shoes on so they weren’t worried about getting their feet wet anyway). The only way on to the beach was through or over the channel – I wasn’t sure if I could make the distance in a single jump and I really didn’t want to take my shoes off. I waited until the others were walking onto the beach and then I jumped – I made the distance easily although I did twist my ankle a little.

The sand here was white again and had a similar rubbery feeling to Lucky Bay. The waves were quite rough here as well, and once again it was cool watching them run along the side of the rocks and crash onto the shore. We walked along h beach a little way and compared footprints in the sand and investigated the plant life. Heading back I made the jump over the channel quite easily, then we climbed back up the rock (I’m doing a lot of walking on sloping rocks on this trip, not normally my thing, and I’m getting more confident), and headed back to the car.

On the way back to town we called in to see Le Grand Beach – it was much longer than the little bays we’d looked at and possibly more protected. The hills and rocks leading in to it were beautiful and impressive to look at – more of the smooth rock hillside, with vertical (squiggly) lines running down them. There was a good view of the mountain from here too, it had kind of a hooked rock at the top, it looked a bit like an eagle’s beak.

Back in town we drove past the foreshore again and the kids wanted to play on the playground. We decided to go and see Pink Lake first then come back. The lake was huge and quite pretty – unfortunately it wasn’t looking pink today. The pink and orange colours are caused by salt and bacteria, and I guess they need the right light and heat conditions to be seen. Back to the foreshore – Caitlin and LiAM went straight to the playground, Tony went to find some hot chips, and Millie and I checked out the fountain in the middle of the roundabout – it was made like a rock, with metal seals and birds sitting on it.

Millie went back to the playground and I watched the kids and the fading light over the harbour (the sun was getting close to setting). There was a port over to the right, and a few ships anchored out in front of us. We’d looked at the map and there were lots of islands outside of the harbour, they all looked very cool in the late afternoon light. There was a water slide on a pontoon not far from the foreshore – would be very cool to swim out to and play on when the weather is warmer. A passing family pointed out some dolphins to us – 2 dolphins swimming up and down the shore line, only a few metres from the edge. It was quite unexpected and very exciting to watch.

Tony returned with a hot chicken and chips from Red Rooster, and we sat at a picnic table and ate as the sun set. Caitlin and I went for a walk to find an exercise equipment park she’d seen further down the foreshore, we had a bit of a play there which was highly amusing. We joined the others back in the playground and all had a play – 5 of us on a large seasaw thing which was fun until I started to feel sick. We walked out towards the breakwall, having a bit of a play on a large and beautiful sculpture of a whale’s tail. We all wandered out to the end of the breakwall and sat and watched the lights on the harbour and listened to the water lapping against the rocks. The kids put on a bit of a stunt/ gymnastics show for us, then we walked back down to the exercise park and everyone had a go on the equipment.

Eventually we headed back to the car and then to the caravan park. I’d dressed quite warmly for the day, with multiple layers, and at times had been too hot. I was comfortable at the foreshore – when we got back to the tent though the temperature was much much colder and I didn’t seem to have enough clothes on. It also didn’t seem to make much sense that it was colder here than at the beach. The girls and Tony all went to have showers, and LiAM and I got the hot water bottles ready, did the dishes and watched some TV. We all watched the Olympics for a short while and then headed off to bed, possibly the coldest it has been inside the tent yet so we all wore beanies and socks and lots of clothes to bed, and listened to a chapter of Inheritance.

Half-lap Day 95: Kalbarri -> Cliff Head North

It wasn’t too cold this morning and although it was quite cloudy it wasn’t raining. We’d all slept a little later than usual due to our late night, so got up and started getting ready to leave as soon as we could. We are getting so much more efficient at packing up, so it’s not stressful at all. When the kids got up they went to see the goats, and our neighbours were up by now as well so took all of the kids into the pen to pat them. There was a little bit of rain on and off as we packed up, nothing heavy, it just meant we did things in a slightly different order so that the important things stayed dry.

While we were packing a couple with a young child drove past on their way out with their camper trailer. They hit a bump near our tent and one of the wheels fell off their trailer. I was impressed at how well they coped – they just got out and figured out what they needed to do to fix it, with the help of the guy across from us, and then went into town to get the parts they needed. Our neighbours and we were very thankful that nothing like that had happened to us, and that this had happened at low speed in the campground and not when they were somewhere more dangerous.

We were packed up by 9.30, then Tony went up to the kitchen to make a coffee and get breakfast for the younger 2 kids. We chatted more to our new friends and the kids played a bit more totem tennis and barrel walking, we said goodbye to all the animals, and our friends, and finally reluctantly left the station. Caitlin had briefly seen one of the station kids in the morning and been able to say goodbye to them as well. If we didn’t have a deadline to be home in a couple of weeks we definitely would have stayed longer here, we all really loved it. It was so peaceful down near the river, our campsite was flat and not too rocky or sandy, having the animals around was exciting and always interesting, the camp kitchen and lounge area was the best we have seen on our trip, and the location was great, we would have loved to have spent more time in the National Park as well.

We drove in to Kalbarri and got fuel, and could see the river winding past the town and then meeting the sea. The water was calm and flat in the river, then at the mouth there were waves going in every direction, it looked crazily tumultuous. There were big, thick grey clouds in the sky now and it was a lot windier near the coast. We drove up to Red Bluff, which was the main place I had wanted to see in this area (before I knew about Nature’s Window). It was a little walk from the carpark to the top of the cliff, there were a few lookouts along the way before reaching the bluff. It was obviously pouring rain out to sea, and the ocean was a deep, dark grey. The waves were pounding on the bottom of the cliff, splashing over the rock and churning into white water, with a turquoise blue colour just behind the break and as the water rushed back out. I love the sound and the feel of waves breaking onto rocks, and Millie was surprised when I said ‘I love cliffs’, then asked everyone to be careful where they were sitting at the top of the cliff. There was a great spot to sit and watch, where the bluff sloped down for a while so it wasn’t sheer, so I didn’t have any vertigo, but I still wanted to make sure everyone watched their step. I explained that I love how cliffs look and feel and my fear of heights doesn’t get in the way of that, I just need people to be careful. We walked out to the end of the bluff and looked at more waves crashing onto different rocks. It was quite magnificent. We could also look back and see the green ampitheatre type area we’d admired from the road into Murchison House Station. On the walk back to the car we admire lots of wildflowers either side of the path.

View from Red Bluff

As we drove further through the National Park (the park follows the coastline here for a while) it started to rain, really heavily for a while. We’d wanted to look at more of the coastal sights but didn’t know how that would go in this downpour – then we came out the other side and it was still overcast but no longer raining. We could even see some lighter patches of sky moving northwards towards us. We drove out to the carpark for Island Rock. Millie wasn’t keen to get out of the car to see anything else, so she stayed and the rest of us wandered down to the lookout. There was a rock coming up out of the water that would once have been part of the cliff, but the adjoining rock had been eroded away. It felt and looked a lot like areas of the Great Ocean Road. While we were at the lookout our friends from last night arrived. We looked at the view with them, then the mums and kids all walked to the next lookout, and the dads drove the cars and trailers to the next carpark to meet us there.

Island Rock

LiAM walked with the 5 year old and chatted to him more about Star Wars and other stories, and they looked at the views and birds. Caitlin walked with the mum and the 3 year old, helping to keep him from running along these paths (a boardwalk) that came close to the cliff edges at times, without any fences. Caitlin was impressed that I was able to walk along there without any trouble – I was fine as long as I stayed on the path and didn’t go right to the edge. As we walked we had a changing view of Island Rock, then the next attraction was the Natural Bridge – an arch in the rock, reaching out into the sea. It was very cool as well, especially when the big waves hit it and we could see the spray splashing back through the arch.

Natural Bridge

While we were admiring the view and talking about how it would have formed, we saw dolphin fins. They disappeared and reappeared a few times, then we saw that it was a pod of about 14. One of them leaped out of the water and they swam around for a while, surfacing and ducking under, obviously fishing. Once they had moved out of sight we headed back along the path, stopping at one more lookout over Island Rock, where Tony and Millie joined us. (Tony had popped down to the Bridge lookout then gone back to the car to be with Millie). Millie was sad to have missed the dolphins – I saw them briefly again but she missed them. We watched the waves for a while, then went back to the Bridge lookout and watched there – with no luck. I’m glad she saw the view, though it was disappointing that she missed her favourite animal.

dolphins

Island Rock from the other side

Back at the car we had some sandwiches, then continued driving south. The countryside was quite green and pretty, all farmland here, dotted with windmills. The next town we reached was Geraldton, which seemed very full of traffic after so long only seeing smaller, remote towns. It felt a lot like Newcastle, with a large industrial looking port to the south of the main town (I hadn’t realised that was there), and lots of very old buildings, with a new, modern precinct along the foreshore. I had heard about a fantastic playground near the foreshore, with games as well as play equipment, so we headed there for the kids to play while I went to the shops. There were some deep parking spots nearby, so we unhitched the trailer to make it easier for me to navigate a shopping centre carpark, and Tony took the kids to the playground. They said it was awesome, lots of things to do and a great place to hang out. I tried to find a new carseat for Millie, with no luck, but did get her some new thongs. I stocked up on food for the next couple of days, then headed back to get the trailer and the rest of the family.

We hitched up again and stopped at KFC on our way out and bought a small $1 chips each, a nice way to tide us over until dinner. We continued south for another hour or so, trying to get as far south as we could while keeping in mind that the sun was getting lower in the sky and we didn’t want to set up after dark. A little way south of Dongara we pulled into a 72 hour rest area at Cliff Head North. I’d been worried that we wouldn’t be able to find the turnoff or that the road in would be hard to navigate – the sign was obvious on the highway, and we turned into the rest area and were greeting with the ocean only a couple of hundred metres along a straight, wide access road. The water looked silky and was starting to turn orange and blue as the sun approached the horizon. It was so beautiful, and had been rather easy to find! There were several caravans set up there on either side of the road, and we were thinking of setting up at the last space towards the water – our tent would have come a fair way out on to the road though and I was concerned that if the caravans behind us wanted to leave first in the morning, they might not have room to turn around. There were a lot of puddles on the ground and there didn’t seem to be anywhere else suitable. We wandered down a track leading off the cleared area, talked briefly to a couple who had their caravan in a campsite down there, and found a large campsite, close to the shore, with enough dry, flat area for us to put our tent. Tony drove down and we spent a bit of time figuring out the best orientation for the tent (I wanted a bit of shelter if it got windy, we needed to avoid a couple of rocks, and the slight slope works better if the tent is sloping up not down. We eventually got it figured out and set up as the sun slipped over the horizon.

There was an oil rig out on the horizon which in the daylight looked like a large bird perched on the water, then was just a huge orange light glowing out to sea once it got dark. Our site was separated from the ocean only by a beach of seaweed. We could hear and see low waves breaking against the seaweed, it felt very cool to be so close to the ocean. We had our dinner (rissoles and eggs and bread rolls) and got ready for bed. I walked back down to the toilets and they were pretty gross – they had the buckets with disinfectant and brushes for washing out the bowl before and after use (most Western Australian national parks and rest stops have these, and they’ve meant clean and non-smelly drop toilets so far) – but in this case the water in the buckets was dirty and disgusting, so the brush couldn’t clean the toilet bowl so they were gross as well. We decided to do bush wees for the remainder of our stay here – easy enough because we were in such a secluded spot, we could see the top of the caravan nearest us and otherwise were completely alone.

The night became quite cool, so we rugged up a bit and sat looking at the stars and listening to the ocean, before heading in to bed to read for a while. Thee was light in the sky from Geraldton, quite bright to the north, so the stars weren’t as showy as further north, but we still had a great view of the milky way.