Brisbane Trip Day 34: Melbourne -> Bimbi Park

We all slept pretty well and were up in the morning to play with the kids and chat to my sister before getting ready to move on. I thought about unhitching and going to Aldi, then decided we'd just shop on the way. We left around 10.30 and headed through Melbourne, aiming for Colac. I noticed petrol was quite cheap but the service stations I saw were small and were going to be tricky to navigate with the trailer, so I decided to get top up after getting out of Melbourne.

We listened to Percy Jackson again and had a good run through Melbourne and out past Geelong. On the road to Colac we encountered roadworks and it became a very long trip along what is usually an easy, straight road. Eventually we arrived in Colac and stocked up on the groceries we would need for homeschool camp. While I was in the carpark I received a few phone calls and messages about Luna - she had been wandering overnight and had ended up with our neighbour, and another friend was looking for her to take her back to her place for a couple of days. I sorted that out as best I could, then went to get petrol, which was not cheap at all.

Heading out of Colac I was feeling a bit flustered as it was much later than I had hoped at this stage, and I followed a sign to The Great Ocean Road rather than following my GPS. I had planned to drive through Lavers Hill as this was the least windy road. We had been driving for a while, along a road that was pretty good, when I realised I had cut back across to the Skeynes Creek Road, which is the one I most wanted to avoid because of several hairpin bends and a steep descent to the ocean. By this stage it was too late to go back the other way so I decided to keep going and just take it easy. The wind was also quite strong and there were lots of small branches on the roads, which made driving a little more taxing.

The descent took a while (I took it slow) but it was manageable, and the tight turns were ok. I felt pretty good once I'd got to the bottom. There were great ocean views from time to time as we came down, and then we drove alongside the ocean for a while as we approached and left Apollo Bay. I was pretty tired by now and found the last little bit of the drive up to Cape Otway quite difficult. I drove fairly slow which was occasionally stressful when there were people behind me. As we drove down the Cape Otway road we came to more roadworks. While we were stopped, the lady with the Stop sign came along and pointed out some koalas to everybody, so most people got out of their cars to have a look. Back in the car we finally made it to Bimbi Park around 4pm.

I went to check in, and helped a friend negotiate the correct rate for her site (it defaulted to the base rate being for 2 adults, then added both children on to that price, rather than including the first child in the base rate). Caitlin wandered straight down to find her friends, and as I drove past the camp kitchen, Liam and Amelie jumped out to see friends as well. I drove down the back and found where I was camping with another friend, and he helped me get set up. Other friends were around as well and it was great to finally be there and get ready to relax for several days.

Once set up we wandered back to the kitchen for a quick meeting about the camp (mainly just asking us to be respectful of a visiting school group when they were praying), and saw a few more friends, then back to camp to finish getting organised - cook some dinner, have a cup of tea, chat with people as they wandered by. The kids were back and forth, playing with their friends and coming back to check in or eat every now and then. It was still very very windy which made things slightly less peaceful. I decided not to put my annex up until the wind died down, I did not want to spend all night worrying about it flying away. I chatted to my campsite friend until Amelie was ready for bed and then we went inside the tent, I read for a little while and then we tried to sleep and not get blown away.

Brisbane Trip Day 32: Bathurst -> Wodonga

Caitlin brought Amelie in to me in the middle of the night, Amelie had been a bit bothered by the dark I think. Sleeping with her in a single bed was a little bit uncomfortable.

I was up around 7 and saw the beautiful sunrise over the hills and trees, looking through the gorgeous big window they have in their dining area. I had a bit more of a chat to my friend as she got ready for work, then got the kids up and gave them breakfast, said goodbye to her kids, put our stuff in the car and hitched up the trailer. My friend had given Caitlin some horse blankets that she no longer needed, so I also reorganised the trailer a little to fit them in.

We set off sometime after 9 and drove through Bathurst and on towards Cowra. The countryside on our drive today was beautiful - very dry and dusty, lots of hills, some rocks, trees scattered around. It was all interesting. We stopped at a rest stop between Cowra and Young so that I could get a cup of tea, we all used the toilet and had an early lunch, and I adjusted some straps on the trailer (the bikes were wiggling loose a bit). A friend from home rang while we were stopped so it was a good chance to have a chat to her.

As we drove we listened to Percy Jackson and Greek Gods - which was a entertaining and amusing telling of Greek mythology - we all learnt lots and it's sparked many discussions already. Driving through Young I remembered stopping there once for a coffee with Tony - lots of memories on this road as well. We stopped in Junee (at a park that I remember stopping at before, but it was in a different place than I recalled - I thought it was near the railway station, but it was before we crossed the railway line) because a friend wanted to talk to me about homeschool camp - he was concerned about the bush fires around Camperdown and wanted to work out a plan for whether we would still go or not. We decided we'd keep an eye on weather and fire conditions and if the fire danger was low then we would go to camp as planned. The kids played in the playground while I talked and it was a lovely relaxing stop. There were a few freight trains going past which also added some interest.

We continued on to Wodonga and stopped at the Showground. I rang the number on the sign and the guy said to set up and he'd come and collect payment in the morning. They only allow 8 campers per night and I think we were the 8th. The spot that was left had a bus parked very close to the side where I would need to put my trailer, and I didn't want to encroach on the leisure space of the motorhome on the other side. So I reversed in very close to the bus, I don't think I could have been that accurate at the start of the trip. I also went a bit further back than the bus was, so we could both still walk around our vehicles.

I set up the tent, Caitlin helped with the tricky bits then went to sit on the grass to talk to her friends on the phone. The others played on their iPods for a while. Once we were all set up, Liam, Amelie and I went to Bunnings to get some lanolin spray to use on the tent zip (I wanted it before we got to camp in case it was cold and wet, because the zip sticks even more then, and I wouldn't be able to go shopping once I was at camp) and some other things (contact spray, WD40, and oil for the bike chains). We found these all in the one place which made it easy. There was a KFC in the Bunnings carpark, and I was very tired after a 6 hour drive and not much sleep the night before, so I bought a family pack for dinner, and Amelie bought all the kids frozen drinks.

Back at the tent we sat on the picnic rug (on the slope because I hadn't left us much flat space behind the tent - I figured for a quick stop without the stove we could manage) and ate our KFC which was delicious and just about the right amount of food for us. Afterwards Caitlin sat in the car for a little while and talked to friends again, the rest of us went to bed - I was ready for sleep by 9,30, the first time I'd been in bed before 11.30 in almost a week!

Brisbane Trip Day 2: Yerrinbool -> Newcastle

It rained a bit overnight so everything was a bit damp when I woke up. It was a beautiful morning and I enjoyed a bit of time to myself outside. I started packing up then as the kids woke up we had fresh eggs for breakfast (and discovered most of the bread I’d bought with us was old so I’ll need to go shopping earlier than I’d expected). We packed up and played in the back yard a bit, then popped inside to have a cuppa and hot cross buns with our hosts.

We left just after 11 and drove through to Thornleigh to see a very good friend of mine. The traffic was a bit heavy, being Saturday morning in Sydney, but it wasn’t too stressful. We had a wonderful half an hour with my friend – always so wonderful to see her, even if it’s brief.

The next part of the drive was very enjoyable – driving from Sydney to Newcastle is so familiar and I love seeing all the things I know and remembering other trips. The kids were excited to see the Hawkesbury River and the bridges and remember our houseboat trip. We listened to the rest of ‘Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians’ which was a lot of fun.

We arrived at Tony’s brother’s house just after 3. I had a cup of tea and the kids played with their cousins – we had 6 pretty excited children in the house. Although being the only boy, Liam soon wandered out and sat and chatted with the adults. Tone’s brother helped me back the trailer in – down the driveway and through the garage, it was a bit tricky but with a bit of forward and back and trying again I got it into the backyard – I’d been nervous about it ever since we decided to stay here and felt great once I’d achieved it.

I took the kids down to the beach while P cooked dinner, then he met us down there. The surf was much bigger than what we’d been swimming in so far this summer – more like the ocean that I am used to, while the kids have mainly swum at Victorian beaches. Caitlin and Liam coped fine though, they were happy out in the deep, big waves with their cousins. I stayed close to the shore with Amelie and the little cousin, we jumped waves and ran away from them. P came down and he and the girls built a pool for the girls to sit in, I went out for a proper swim in the waves, it was great. Liam came in after a while and he and I competed to see who could stand still in the knee deep water for longest – it was fun and he was much better than I was.

We came home and the kids played some more while I set up the tent, then we ate a delicious chicken curry. Liam watched some Dr Who, the big girls did each other’s hair and then jumped on the trampoline, the younger girls played with their stuffed animals. I was extremely tired and headed to bed to read about 9pm – it was great to lie down and rest and not have to think about anything much at all.

Brisbane Trip Day 1: Home -> Yerrinbool

I was up at 5 and the kids around 5.30, to finish putting the last things in the car and try to get an early start. I was already hitched up which made things easier and quicker. Tony got home from night shift around 6am, which was fantastic as we all got to say a proper good bye, and we were on our way by 6.40. Everyone was very excited to finally be on our road trip that we’d been talking about and altering the plan for months.

Just past Tony’s work (so about 8 minutes into the trip) we were stopped at a road closure – there’d been a bad (fatal) accident further along the Melba Hwy so we had to detour. We went the back way to Healesville (we didn’t want to drive back past our house!) and then up Chum Creek Rd – which is windy and tricky to drive at the best of times, so I was quite nervous attempting it in the trailer. I drove slowly and carefully and it was fine. We got to the top of the slide an hour after we left home – usually it would take us 15 minutes. Everyone was in a good mood and it had felt like an adventure – I was a bit worried that adding an extra hour driving to my already huge driving load for the day would mean we couldn’t get as far as we wanted to – but I figured I’d just stop whenever we needed to and I’d see how we went.

Caitlin controlled the music play list and all the kids had a nap in the first couple of hours. It was a fairly easy drive up to the Hume Fwy. At some point I realised I hadn’t brought along our Camps Australia Wide book, which I was looking forward to using to map out our trip and help find cheap campsites – I’ll just need to use my regular map book and wiki camps, it will be fine (though not as fun or easy).

I was getting tired as we got to the Hume so we stopped at Mokoan rest stop and had some breakfast (yoghurt, granola and hot cross buns). We explored the area (there’s a (very) little walking trail) and looked at the maps and I did a bit of yoga. I made myself a cup of tea and after about an hour and a quarter we hit the road again.

We started listening to ‘Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians’ and discovered that it is hilarious and very entertaining, so that made the time pass much more quickly. We drove through to Gundagai and stopped at the Dog on the Tuckerbox. The kids got a frozen coke when I got petrol, and I got a cornetto from the gift store at the Dog – I always forget that the toilets down there are not public toilets, you need to be using the store to use them. We had a picnic lunch on the lawn near the Dog, and the kids were keen to get back into the car and keep driving (thank you audio books) but I was too tired so I had a lie down for 10 minutes or so – it was beautiful lying under gum trees and listening to galahs. It was really hot thought, hot and dry.

Eventually I felt awake enough to drive. I enjoy driving the Hume past Yass, lots of memories of all the times we drove it from Griffith, and when I used to go to Canberra a lot. After about 90 minutes I stopped again at a rest stop and made another cup of tea. From there it was an easy drive to Yerrinbool and we arrived almost exactly 12 hours after we’d left home.

It was 8 ½ hours of driving altogether (with the detour) – I don’t think I’ve ever driven that far in a day when I was the only driver. So I was feeling pretty exhausted and also very proud that I had managed it.

The friends we are going to see in Brisbane used to live in a great place in Yerrinbool (near Mittagong) with lots of room in the backyard for camping. Friends of theirs now live there and said we could camp for the night on our way through. The kids played on the trampoline and helped set up, surrounded by chickens and a couple of ducks. We did a very basic set up – I didn’t unhitch and I didn’t set up the bunk beds, Caitlin slept with me. When our hosts arrived home the kids helped them put all the chickens away and they gave us 6 eggs – so I cooked carbonara for dinner. It was great to eat something substantial after snacking all day. Our hosts helped the kids set up a campfire and we sat there for a while before heading to bed – everyone was exhausted.

Half-lap Day 105: The Nullarbor -> Kimba

I woke around sunrise and went out of the tent to find everything covered in ice. The chairs were still out and had white seats. The clean dishes on the table were covered in a layer of ice, and the spoons that were sitting the right way up were filled with frozen water. I got the fire going again and made myself a cup of tea, and sat and drank it and read Harry Potter while I warmed up a bit. LiAM came out of the tent shortly afterward, very excited that he’d slept all night and he felt great after a good sleep.

The others came out and had breakfast and we started packing up. We were really efficient this morning and were ready by 8.45 Western Australian time, ( which we’re still pretty well operating on, apart from the weird sunrise and sunset times…) our earliest pack up yet (if we don’t count the day we had to leave overflow at Coral Bay by 8am - we left on time that day but without breakfast). However this meant it was 10.25 South Australian time which didn’t feel quite so early.

By now we were out of the Nullarbor Plain and into farmland, more undulating and a much more lush green, with windmills and farmhouses. We drove to Ceduna and stopped at the quarantine checkpoint to get rif of our apple cores and have our fridge checked by the quarantine guy. There’s been a nasty smell in there for a few days (liquid in the bottom that I haven’t managed to clean out during our quick stops) – I hope the guy wasn’t too grossed out by it when he rummaged around in there. We drove down to the foreshore and found toilets – some of those self-clean ones, and only one was operating so we all lined up. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and not really very cold now, and the view across the bay was gorgeous. There was a long jetty leading out from the foreshore, which we went out on once we’d all been to the toilet.

We could see fish and sea grasses from the jetyy and it felt lovely to be out in the sun and looking at the blue water. Tony left to go to the supermarket and the kids and I walked out to the end of the jetty. We could see a large ship coming in and couldn’t figure out where the wharf was – it was around the headland  a bit near the large silos we could see. We were able to head back in to shore when we saw what looked like a large fish break the surface of the water – it was a seal! We watched it swim through the water until it disappeared, very excited at spotting yet another animal that we’d really wanted to see. It popped up again one more time then we headed back to the car.

We drove through a lot of farmland from here, seeing many windmills (even the town of 100 windmills – we didn’t see 100 but probably 30 or so!) and lots of silos. We were following the railway line and every town had silos between the road and rail. We listened to the 2^nd book fof the Spirit Animal Series – we’d done book 1 way back when we were heading to the Flinders Ranges near the start of our trip. We slowly remembered the story line and found it quite exciting to be continuing this story.

Today and the last few days, we’ve seen a huge number of trucks carrying other vehicles and equipment – tractors, caravans, mining vehicles and scoops, diggers, graders, huge tyres… I guess all the stuff that’s being taken across to Western Australia. I drove for a while from Poochera to Wudinna and was behind a large truck with digger on it, for ages. I wanted to go past him but he was wider than the lane and the shoulder on the other side of the road was narrow – I had to go a long way out onto the other side to see if it was clear to overtake, and then I wasn’t confident about keeping the trailer steady as I passed him if I had to go over onto the shoulder at all. So I sat behind him and enjoyed the countryside we were passing through.

When we had stopped for petrol at Poochera there was a large sculpture of an ant – a local ant that they call the dinosaur ant because it was probably similar to the ants that were around with the dinosaurs. It was an unexpected bit of natural history to learn as we drove through South Australia. This is actually a part of the country that I have not really thought about before, across the top of the Eyre Peninsula. I didn’t know anything about the region and even though we won’t have time to stop and see much of it, I’m glad we’ve had the chance to have a look at least as we drive through

We reached Kimba a little after 4pm (on South Australian time now). We went to the Kimba Recreation Reserve, where we can camp for a small donation, and there are coin operated showers. Even if we end up paying $5 each for a shower, it’s still cheaper than a caravan park. The main camping area was all bitumen so at first we thought we wouldn’t be able to stay – then found a dirt area across from the entrance that looked like it had been used for tents before, so we set up there. The kids went and played in the playground and explored the sports ground. I chatted for a while to a Western Australian couple who were heading home, they were fun to talk to.

I read more Harry Potter aloud while Tony cooked spaghetti Bolognese. It was a cold night, although our tent was set up so that our living area was protected from the wind which made it a little more pleasant. We can’t have fires here so we rugged up and ate our hot dinner then got ready for bed as quickly as we cold. It was nice having a sink to clean our teeth in rather than just doing it in the bush. Into bed (Millie with us again as she still doesn’t feel well) and made sure everyone was very well rugged up, then read a bit more of Inheritance – hoping we’ll finish it before we get home.

Half-lap Day 104: The Nullarbor

Once again it was a very cold morning, and LiAM and Millie had both woken during the night and come up to our bed. Caitlin had moved on to Millie’s bed because it’s a bit further from the floor and a bit warmer than hers. Her sleeping bag is so cosy though that she’s usually not as cold as the others – sometimes her hot water bottle is still slightly warm in the morning when she gets up.

We had enough wood left over from the night before for me to start the fire again, and I had a cup of tea and read Harry Potter for a short while, before we started to get breakfast ready and to pack up. We’d slept till after sunrise, because sunrise is much earlier than we are used to, and so the morning seemed to be progessing faster than we expected it to.

We had a fairly efficient pack up, and all braved the toilet one more time, then were on the road by about 9.30am. This morning it was wedge-tailed eagles that we saw not long after we left – standing on the road eating roadkill, and then flying into the air as we approached – Tony slowed down and beeped his horn at them so they had plenty of time to get away, and it was amazing watching them take off and fly over our car.

As we got closer to the border, we could see the escarpment up ahead of us (it ws still running along to our left) coming to a sharp corner. As we got closer we realised that the road turned and went up the face of the escarpment, and what we could see was the escarpment meeting the coast, and then turning to the east and becoming the Bunda cliffs which run along the edge of the Great Australian Bight. We could see a bit of the ocean to our right as we drove up, and then stopped at a lookout soon after getting to the top. Looking back we could see the plains in the distance and then the cliff face beginning. Down below, with a plateau of green land between the cliff and the shore, we could see and hear waves breaking on the beach. To the left the cliffs became more sheer and headed off as far as we could see to the east. It was pretty cool – the kids at first didn’t want to get out of the car, then we told them it was worth checking out so they came and had a look and quite liked the view.

We kept on driving, listening to Harry Potter Book 7 (which was extremely exciting as we approached the end of the book), and looking at the Nullarbor – it was varied enough and fascinating enough to never be boring. Occasionally we’d get glimpses of the ocean beyond the cliffs to our right. For a lot of the drive today, there were no trees at all, just low grass and bushes. IT ws all much greener than we’d expected too – a muted, dull green, but definitely green and not brown.

We’d heard from a few sources that stopping at Head of Bight to see the whales was a highlight, so we pulled in there early in the afternoon. We paid our money at the Visitors Centre then started down the boardwalk towards the lookout. LiAM bought his binoculars with him in case we saw any, but he wasn’t confident that we’d get a whale sighting. As we walked I could see dark shapes in the bay to our left, which occasionally puffed water out – obviously whales and LiAM started to get excited. A family walking back up the path told us that there were LOTS. The kids ran ahead of me and as the path started to zigzag down the hill to the lookout I could see a large whale in the water beyond the kids – I called out and pointed it out to them, and all of us were astounded. These were Southern Right Whales and they were SO BIG! Bigger than my brain could comprehend. By the time I reached the kids they had counted 12 whales, and we kept seeing more, then realised that most of them had calves with them as well.

In the water below the lookout there were 3 whales with their calves. They were swimming along near the surface of the water, sometimes ducking under a little, sometimes changing direction, occasionally the calves would lift their flippers and flap them on the water. It was so incredible to watch. Once or twice we had one swim straight towards the shore, directly in front of where we were standing. We couldn’t get enough of looking at them, then were so magnificent and beautiful and awe inspiring. Some started to dive a little so we got a good view of their tails, and they always came back up again quickly and we could watch them some more. A little further out a pair were rolling over and flapping their flippers and looked like they were having a lot of fun. Every now and then we’d hear one of them make a big breathing sound – it sounded like a massive wave rushing through a blowhole, a deep, moaning, whoomping sound.

There were two people watching the whales near us and the guy had a massive zoom lens on his camera, on a tripod. As they walked away Tony pointed out their jackets, which said ‘Sea Shepherd Crew’. So these guys were hard core whale lovers, willing to risk a lot to help protect whales.

We walked around to the other lookout, reading the signs about whales on the way. There were more whales visible from here (not quite so close, but still close enough.) From here we could also see west along the Bunda Cliffs for quite a long way – sheer, very tall cliffs falling from a very flat plain, straight to the ocean. Very much of a case of ‘Australia ends here’ – it looked like the edge of the world. Breathtaking.

The guy with the camera was here as well, along with several more Sea Shepherd Crew members. I started talking to him about his camera, and then being on the Sea Shepherd, and he introduced me to the Captain. He and I talked for a while, about what they do when they come across a whaling ship, and what it looked like in Antarctica, and what they are doing at the moment (trying to document lots about the Bight, so that they can raise awareness and hopefully help stop BP from drilling for oil here). He was so interesting to talk to, he was very self-assured and calmly spoken and his passion came through powerfully but not in an overwhelming way.

While we were talking one of the whale calves started to breach, it jumped out 5 or 6 times and everyone was excited to watch it. It was cool to see even the Sea Shepherd guys get so excited, when they have obviously seen this happen so often. We also saw one whale spy-hopping (just popping it’s head up above the water) and then we reluctantly left the whales and headed back to the car.

We had a bit to eat and then kept driving east. We stopped for petrol at the Nundroo roadhouse, and asked if we could camp there but the girl said they were all booked out. We drove a bit further on to a free camp – without toilets, but there were no camps with toilets all through the South Australian section of the Nullarbor. We made sure everybody went while we were at the roadhouse, and figured we could go bush for one night. We sat in the car and listened to the end of the 7^th Harry Potter book – very exciting and a little sad to be finished, we’ve been with Harry now since Alice Springs I think.

We arrived around 4 (West Australian time, which was now 5.30 South Australian time) and set up as the sun was setting again. We gathered wood, there was plenty available if we looked a bit beyond the main part of the camp. I made everyone a hot chocolate and we sat around the fire and felt cosy. We had left over potatoes and tuna and corn and mayo for dinner, very tasty. LiAM read a bit more Harry Potter and I read the first couple of scenes out loud to everyone. Tony and I also spent time looking at the map trying to figure out a bit of a plan for getting home over the next 6 nights. We had hoped to go down to Streaky Bay or somewhere (we’d wanted to be at least to Ceduna by tonight, but travelling east and not starting early enough in the day each day made that tricky) but decided it was going to leave too much distance to travel in the last couple of days, so we’d just go straight towards Port Augusta tomorrow and hopefully get as far as Kimba.

We decided to start Millie off in our bed, she had a bit of a sore throat and a sniffly nose, and it was easier than having her climb in half way through the night. This meant Caitlin could start the night on Millie’s bed too. We also offered LiAM the opportunity to start in our bed, and possibly one of us sleep in his bed, but he decided to just rug up earlier and go to bed with socks and jacket on, and stay warm that way. I also reorganized the blankets a bit so that he would be warmer. We got the hot water bottles ready and went to bed to read more of Inheritance.