Cararvon to Bullara Homestead ( near Exmouth)

Hi everyone

I left Monkey Mia and went to Carnarvon. The caravan park had a sign out the front saying  "Pay 2 nights get the third free" well I don't need to think about it and I drove straight in. It was a lovely park and I was made to feel very welcome by Keith and Sandy in the caravan next to me. They have been at Carnarvon since April and plan to stay till October! They had a little shitzu-maltese called Molly and on the tyre cover on the back of their caravan, was a photo of Molly and it said "talk to the paw" now you thought I was mad!! Anyway Keith and Sandy are lovely people and they also offered to keep an eye on my 2 when I went out on my scooter.

Carnarvon is quite a nice town. 1st day there we (dogs and I ) walked into town (only 700 metres) as I was wanting to get some milk. There are a few aborigines around but all seemed friendly. I came across 2 ladies having a ciggy outside there office which was the local newspaper. We got chatting, as you do, and I asked if it was safe to tie the dogs up whilst I went into Woollies, They said yes but offered to look after them for me, I am so trusting!! Off I went to get some milk and of course a couple of extra things. I walked back to where I left the dogs with the girls and they weren't there -panic panic.!! No need as the girls had taken them into the office, given them fresh water and the dogs were in 7th heaven.

Saw a bit of the town in the days that followed and I did decide to stay an extra couple of days. I found a camera which I handed into the police station.

I then drove 80kms to some Blow Holes. I decided to camp there as well, as I wanted to try out the motor home without power and to make sure I was completely self sufficient. Yes I know I should've done this before I left but you know me. Anyway everything worked. The fridge had to be put onto gas as did the hot water and I used my outside camp stove so that I wouln't waste the gas. The only problem was I had no phone, computer and TV reception so felt a litlle isolated. The relieving ranger gave me some fresh mackeral steaks which I cooked that night and they were delicious. The ocean was again clear and quite pleasant but there were lots of jellyfish which was very rare. The ranger had never seen them before but they were harmless or dead!!

Back out on the road and I got some missed calls. One was from the police wanting me to ring them. I tried but the officer was at lunch. I was wondering what they would want because I said I didn't want the camera if it was unclaimed after 2 months. Anyway on I travelled.

Called into Coral Bay but it was so busy, cars, caravans motorhomes and campers everywhere, I just drove out again. I didn't think there was much there except for a beach and obviously lots of water activities.

I drove to Bullara Homstead which offers camping areas. It cost $12 but they had showers and toilets, so I didn't have to waste my water. The water was heated by a "donkey" which is an enclosed fire which is lit twice a day 0700 and 1630. I assume the pipes run through the block where the fire is. I hope you know what I mean. Bullara station is 250,000 acres and they 'run' cattle and sheep, plus a few goats and horse. The horses are given free range of the camping area so you are advised not to leave anything outside that they might like

Once again there was no phone service so when I eventually got in range I had another missed call from the police. I must admit my mind was working in overdrive and thinking all sorts of things and I half expected the police to turn up any minute which was stupid as they didn't know where I was. I decided to ring them when I got to the Caravan Park. Little did I know that there is no service at this park except the lady told me if I "turned right onto the main road and stop at the second termite hill on the left " I should get service. Off I go and there was no service!! I went back to the caravan park because they had public phones so rang the police. All it was was that they had found the owner and she was wanting my mobile so that she could ring and thank me. I think the police had already given it to her as I said that I don't have any service and they said that she had already tried. Anyway I'm so pleased that the owner has got it.

Well that's it nothing much else to say. I've "bought" some internet so at least I have some sort of communication. Will write again soon I hope

 1 mile Jetty at Carnarvon  cost $5 by train $4 to walk !!          Sunset   

                                                                                                       Carnarvon Bay                  

 Point Quobba nears Blow Holes

Outdoor shower at Bullara Homestead

Hope this finds everyone well

Lots of Love

Jo, Kaiser, Chardy and Shiraz
xx   woof        woof          woof

Denham and Monkey Mia

Hi

I can't believe another week has gone, time flies when you are having fun! which I am.

I stayed  in Kalbarri till Tuesday and it rained for the rest of my stay. I drove to Denham which another beautiful spot on the coast. The water is crystal clear and the water wasn't cold, not that I went swimming, the dogs did. The caravan park was on levels and people with dogs are put in the not so good areas ( this happens in all Caravan Parks ). Others got a lovely view of the ocean but I only had to walk a short distance to enjoy the view. The ground was crushed shells so not so comfortable under foot and stuck to your thongs ( and dog paws ) so I managed to bring some with me when I left.

I scootered ( 24kms) to Monkey Mia on Thursday morning. Had to be there at 0745hrs as feeding starts at 0800. You are not allowed to touch the dolphins even if they swim up to you. They are fed only 1.5kgs fish per feeding as they don't want the dolphins to lose their hunting instincts. Apparently, years ago, the public could feed them anything and this happened all day so the dolphins never left the shallows. Baby (pups) dolphins can only suckle in deep water so when their mums were being fed by the public the pups never got fed and they died. There are only 3 feedings a day and they are before 12md. and only the adult females are fed and it's amazing to watch the others, including the pups, stay out in the deeper water.

After the dolphins I went on a Catamaran for a 2 1/2 hr tour to have a look at a Black Pearl Farm and also some other marine life. We were hoping to see
some Dugongs as this area has the type of water grass they eat, and is the largest area in the world. Anyway we didn't see any but did see more dolphins, sea snakes, green, loggerhead and leather back turtles. The latter being camera shy.

The Blue Lagoon Black Pearl Farm is the one owned by Jamie ( well his family ), the guy on The Farmer Wants a Wife. He was there and gave us a talk about farming pearls. I didn't ask him the obvious question but the skipper on the boat said no he was still single. He was very friendly and does have lovely blue eyes. Pearl farming is quite interesting but very tedious. The shells have to be cleaned regulary and a Nucleii has to be implanted often as this is the start of the pearl. The size of the nucleii has to be increased x 4 times during the life of the "shell". This means that the shell is brought to the surface opened slightly, the 'old' nucleii removed and the slightly larger one reinserted. Calcium forms around the nucleii which 2 years down the track, will become a black pearl. The colour of the pearl depends on the inside 'lip' colour of the shell. Hope that didn't bore you too much.

I'm now in Carnarvon and it's another lovely spot. I may decide to stay here a week as there are lots of nice walks and again, there is another river. The mouth of the Gascoyne River is here and I will investigate tomorrow when I go out on my scooter. The people next door are happy to look after the dogs as they have been here since April and are staying till October so have done all the touristy things.

Well that's it. Now for photos

 Jamie

 Green Turtle

View of Monkey Mia from boat

Hope everyone is well

Lots of Love

Jo, Kaiser, Chardy and Shiraz
xx     woof     woof         woof

Leeman, Geraldton and Kalbarri

Hi everyone

Sorry for the delay with this but I was unable to sign onto my blog.

I stayed in Leeman 3 nights and then headed to Geraldton. I detoured 30 km, inland,  to go to a place called Evandale Pool which one of the campers said was worth a visit. It certainly was. It was like an oasis in the middle if the countryside and you could camp there for a small fee of $5. I didn't but spent about a hour there admiring the surrounds.

I got to Geraldton and stayed at a caravan park which is close to the mouth of  the Greenough River and the Indian Ocean. It's also a popular area for 4WD, motor bikes and Quad bikes so was pretty noisy when I went for a walk. The Park was large and full of Permanents but I did get a discount for being a "senior". Had a look at the city on my scooter and did some shopping.

I then came here and had decided to stay a week. Unfortunately, once again, dogs are not to be left unattended but lots of people do. It's a great place for walks and swims, not that I have done the latter. This place is also situated at the mouth of a river (Murchison) and surrounded by National Parks. After a couple of days I put the dogs into 'doggy day care'. It was actually a kennel but not one that you would leave the dogs in  for more than a day. There were no other dogs there and it is owned by a young guy who obviously doesn't rely on the kennel for his income! Anyway the dogs survived and I had a good day sightseeing.

I'm staying here till Tuesday and then head to Denham which is 25kms from Monkey Mia. I know Monkey Mia has a caravan park but not sure of the cost. I'll only stay 2 or 3 nights as other campers say that is enough.

No other news except it is raining and on the cool side.

 Evandale Pool near Geraldton

 The mouth of the Greenough River and Indian Ocean - near Caravan Park Geraldton

 Natural Bridge - part of coastline near Kalbarri

Murchison River,  well part there of

Until next time

Lots of Love

Jo, Kaiser, Chardy and Shiraz
xx     woof     woof         woof

Perth to Leeman

Hi everyone

I'm now in Leeman which is about 300kms from Perth. It's on the coast just 1/2hr north of Jurien Bay which is a well known holiday spot, bur niot quite as up market. The park is clean and pretty basic but the owners are very nice and friendly. I 've met a lady who is following the V8 Supercars around Australia and is living out of a station wagon!. She's lived in Coober Pedy and has already seen a fair bit of Oz. Her only drawback is that she likes Holdens and is a Collingwood supporter. She is making her way to Darwin for the races there in 6 weeks, quite a gutsy lady.

I was pleased to leave Perth as the lady at the Caravan Park who was next to me became quite abussive, mind you I didn't keep my mouth shut for long. She was complaining about my dogs barking which scared her dog and he wouldn't go out for a pee! poor little thing! Then she told me I shouldn't be parked there and as I said to her I was told to park there. Anyway a lot more went on and then she said that the park had been condemned and I said I wasn't surprised.

From Perth  I went and had a look at Freemantle and then drove to Moora, which was North East for about 2 1/2hrs.

I did have trouble with the lights and the water pump whilst in Perth and on my way to Moora realised that the batteries for the motor home may be flat. I was right and $434.00 later I had new batteries, plus lights and water pump.

Moora is a lovely little town and the Caravan park is council owned. Not only was it clean and well maintained, the washing machines and dryers were free. I stayed 2 nights and washed everything in sight, well nearly. That night, at 4am,  Chardy vomited all over the clean doona cover, the little s--t, I was not impressed. It got another wash and I sponged cleaned the doona. Luckily there was no pressure for me to leave the park by 10am so everthing dried.

I've been out on the scooter this morning and it took about 15mins to see the town. There are a couple of beaches (but dogs are not allowed), Petrol Station x 2, a Club (no hotel) and a couple of stores, with the Post Office being in one. I did buy a Tattslotto ticket for the 14th so when you read that someone from Leeman won 1st division that will be me!!!

Tomorrow I'm heading for Geraldton and will stay for a couple of nights. Load up on food and buy the last of the cheaper fuel.

Time for photos

 Perth Caravan Park

 Perth, from Kings Park

 Leeman

The Bay at Leeman

Hope you are all well. Until next time

Lots of love

Jo, Kaiser, Chardy and Shiraz
xx     woof     woof           woof

Bunbury to Perth to Bussleton, Margaret River and back to Perth!!

Near Annette and John's

Hi

I'm now in Perth for the second time. Since my last Post I have seen a bit more of Bunbury and surrounding area, thanks to Annette. We went to the Dolphin Discovery Centre but didn't see any Dolphins. This centre does a lot of Research and Conservation . They research into better managing the interaction with, and the welfare of, the wild dolphins in their natural enviroment. It's run mainly by volunteers and was extremely interesting and educational. You often see Dolphins swimming in the bay but not this day, when we were there anyway.

I managed to wash and vacumn the motorhome but of course it rained the next day. Annette managed to arrange a Service for the 'home'. Can you believe I've done 9,000kms already!! I'd love to have the money that I've spent on Diesel. Whilst it was being serviced I had a haircut (well overdue) and then Annette and I did a bit more shopping, mainly food.

On Thursday 28th I drove to Perth. After dropping Annette off at their place in Brisbane, I headed for the Caravan Park ( which was pretty average) which was about 22km north/east of Perth but close to where Lachlan was staying. I met up with him at 7.30pm and as he had already eaten I had a coffee. We only spent 1 1/2 hrs together but it was great to see him.

Next day I headed back south to Busselton which is past Bunbury. The caravan park is opposite the beach so the dogs had a great run and swim. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to leave the dogs unattended so the scooter stayed on the back. Saturday I drove to Margaret River and had a bit of a look. It is a very picturesque area and I did go to a couple of wineries. Unfortunately I had to limit my tasting because I was driving. The dogs were bored ++

I left there this morning and drove back to Perth. I had booked into a Caravan Park, which is only 11km from Perth. It's worse than the one I stayed in when I saw Lachlan, but cheaper. There are a lot of Permanents and I've squeezed in between one and a fence, which backs onto a main road!! Anyway it's only for 2 nights and I do want to have a look at Perth which I'll do tomorrow, on the scooter.

A couple of the horses on Tin Horse Hwy

Sunset at Wickepin Caravan Park, where I was the only person.

There were so many kangaroos quite close to the street

Vasse Felix Winery

Hope everyone is well

Lots of Love

Jo, Kaiser, Chardy and Shiraz
xx    woof     woof          woof