Australian Outback

Hutt River Province

Posted on April 18, 2015 by John Sear

On April 25th this year a big celebration will commence for the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Hutt River Province. Following a dispute with the government over wheat quotas Leonard George Casley created an independent sovereign state in Hutt River on April 21st 1970, to avoid imminent legislation. Hutt River Province is approximately the size of Hong Kong and has its own stamps, money and has representatives across many countries worldwide. We were greeted by a spritely 89 year old Leonard himself who ushered us into the chapel where one of his “Prince” sons gave us a tour of the artwork, prince and princess thrones before handing us back to His Royal Highness Leonard to talk a little about his collection of artefacts and the influence the province has had worldwide. Due to the David and Goliath nature of the Province it has attracted much interest worldwide over the years and many countries have donated gifts, or sought interactions in one way or another that has resulted in a very interesting collection. HRH Leonard relishes in spinning a yarn and wasn’t afraid to drop a name or two in the process. There were references to Prince Charles (he has one of his artworks), King Juan Carlos of Spain, and many more.

HRH Leonard has a keen interest in Art and Science. The chapel has religious themed paintings, the characters being modelled on actual people, all of which is explained on the tour. He has also written some very mathematically based papers on life forces and natural constants, with one area devoted to highlight this.

Full details can be found on their site http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/

 

Princely pose attempt
With HRH Leonard
Welcome to Hutt River Province
Princess Amanda?

We had a fabulous time here. It is impossible to do it justice with a short blog so Fifty Toes just recommends you visit!

 

 

Categories: Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Inspiration, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: | Leave a comment

The Pinnacles, Nambung National Park

Posted on April 15, 2015 by John Sear

We left Perth late as there were a few last minute errands that had to be run, but the Pinnacles were still targeted for a visit. We arrived in Nambung National Park late in the afternoon and it was horribly overcast so the light was not optimal for photography, but the park is stunning. The rock pinnacles appear to be growing from the desert floor, and are the product of an unusual geological process that started with submersion of forests in sand, conversion into limestone over the millennia, and subsequent erosion of surrounding sand over more millennia has left the petrified sentinels littered across the landscape as it is today. The park has walking trail and drive, but you are free to explore on foot so long as you don’t climb the rocks. We walked and drove around twice and reluctantly left as darkness arrived. The flies were revolting, even immune to our special cedar and rosemary cream (that worked fine until now), taking delight in sticking to our faces, shirts, shorts, basically everywhere.

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We still had 50km drive to the campsite at Sandy Cape, just north of Jurien Bay. Camp went up and the flies descended on us. Apparently they had only arrived the day before. We put our light on and then super-sized flying “bulldog” ants descended, so we beat a hasty retreat to the trailer for the night.

Next morning, more rain and flies, so the full awning was put up. We revisited the Pinnacles once more, headed into Cervantes, then Jurien Bay for fish and chips.

Stockyard Gully Caves are one of the few free entry caves in the area accessed by 4WD track and the next morning we left early armed with torches and raincoats. From the carpark a pleasant 300m walk down the dry (despite the rain) river bed brought us to the first cave. A powerful torch is required as it is pitch black and approximately 100m long. It emerges at a rockpile which we climbed down and walked on to the next two caves. The last one has no exit and is home to a colony of bats so access is discouraged. All of the entrances to the caves are adorned with large beehives, and the hum of bees as you approach is very discernible, making the kids a bit uneasy. We pressed on uneventfully and had a very enjoyable morning’s exploration there. No flies in the caves either!

On our way home some Geocaching took us to some marvellous beaches and lookouts in and around Green Head. The water was perfectly calm and our camp host informed us on our return that there was a storm coming with potential windspeeds of 100km/h. Whilst a lot of rain and wind followed the worst of it blew south of us and we prepared to venture further north.

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Inspiration, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Perth- a very brief visit

Posted on April 14, 2015 by John Sear

As well as servicing the car and trailer we spent some time exploring a few spots in Perth. Amanda’s school friend Justine and other half Steve kindly offered to put Fifty Toes up in their house so for us this was a luxurious treat.

First stop was a visit to Point Walter on the Swan river where we were lucky enough to see a small pod of dolphins cruising slowly back towards the ocean. The kids swam and then fished off the jetty with tackle they had found and extracted from amongst the pylons and wooden boards. A few toadfish was all they could catch but their squeals of delight were a pleasant change from the fighting squeals we often get in the car.

Rottnest Island Lighthouse
Boabtree, Kings Park
Little Parakeet Bay
Fishing at Point Walker
Rottnest Island Quokka
Mr Spin!
Black Swan, Swan river !
Oscar watching a quokka
Hannah and quokka
Kings Park flora
King Skink, Rottnest Island
Xavier befriending a quokka
Justine,Steve and boys

I took the boys to SciTech where three hours just evaporated as we immersed ourselves into a really hands-on scientific experience. The boys favourite was the slime show, but we watched the planetarium show as well, and spent most of the time playing with things like gyroscopes, plasma balls, speed radars (for the record I threw a tennis ball at 100km/h), and much much more. it was so engrossing I forgot to even take any photos. Great value and well worth a visit for all ages up to teens and beyond.

We spent some time in Fremantle too. One of Xavier’s best friend’s family flew in from Sydney and we explored the markets that have everything from fresh tropical fruit and vegetables to indian headdresses! Fish and chips is a local institution so we sat on a boat in the harbour and listened to the live music as we ate our lunch.

Then we had to visit Rottnest Island. An early start saw us boarding the ferry at 7.30am and queueing to hire bikes by 8.10 on the island. First stop, Little Parakeet bay for some snorkelling, then off on our bikes again. Quokkas are the endemic marsupials of the island and we found heaps of the tame little creatures everywhere. Their cute faces and endearing nature could not be missed resulting in many stops along the way.

Oscar, though, was the only one with the willpower to make it all around the island on his tiny single gear bike, once again showing us his enthusiasm on two wheels. Whilst the others turned around half way the two of us got to the western end of the island where we saw the seal colony, king skinks, and even another dugite that I nearly trod on.

That night, we enjoyed dinner with Justine and Steve in Fremantle and saw some of the street theatre festival that was on for Easter. Mr Spin span out his show for too long but his final stunt was good, juggling with a glass of water balanced on his forehead whilst riding a 7 foot high unicycle!

Time was fast running out but we had time to visit Kings Park, commanding glorious views over the city CBD and the Swan river, amazing botanical gardens, and catch up with two new sets of friends from Cape Le Grand.

Dale and Mel had invited us over for a barbeque which was a lovely opportunity to catch up while all the kids paired off again and went wild in their swimming pool.

Ian and Jackie had pretty much been feeding everyone at the Cape Le Grand campsite and after having us over for dinner one night, insisted we stayed with them before leaving Perth so after farewelling Justine and Steve we visited them again just as the weather started to deteriorate again. We’re hoping they join us on the Gibb River road in a month or so!

 

Categories: Adventure, Animal Action, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Natural World, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Margaret River

Posted on March 28, 2015 by John Sear

Using Conto campsite as our base we ventured into Margaret River to see what was on offer, and there was definitely something for everyone.

We started the morning with an educational trip to Australia’s first commercial Silk Farm, called Silk Road. The operation has been going for two years and is very much still in expansion mode. The lifecycle was explained to us, with displays that show the eggs, caterpillars at different stages, cocoons (in various different colours), and plenty of completed products for sale. Because they are not yet at full production they give all their cocoons to Asian countries, and they receive products back that include their silk. In addition to woven silk products, they have an array of mulberry products, chutneys, jams and teas, all of which can be tasted. To make the operation viable all year round the mulberry trees are grown in hothouses in the grounds.

Interesting fact : Did you know silkworms are fully domesticated by man, the moths cannot fly and do not live in the wild?

Voyager Estate
Easter “Minion” Bunny
At the Chocolate factory
The Chocolate Factory
The Chocolate fondue
The free chocolate tasting samples

Next stop was the chocolate factory just a few hundred metres down the road. It was like opening the door to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, with wall to wall displays of Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, nut clusters and more… Huge bowls of free tasting samples were a big drawcard for the kids, but we had to stay and sample the chocolate fondue. Having dipped crunchies, apricots, lolly snakes, marshmallows and glace cherries, Oscar paused when sampling the nougat, face suddenly changed and went green. Luckily quick thinking from Amanda got him out to the garden before he regurgitated the lot on the grass. What a waste, but the rapid change on his face from rapture to revulsion was hilarious to watch!!! A few more samples on the way out and we were on our way.

Time for some wine tasting. The “golden triangle” refers to the wine region that Margaret River sits in the middle of. Blessed with perfect climate assisted by ocean on two sides, some of the countries best Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon blends. Two of the best known vineyards were our first stops, Voyager and Leeuwin Estates. The former employ 7 gardeners and the result is an immaculate grounds, well worth a wander before you taste the wines. With a restaurant and private tasting room available there are plenty of options. Leeuwin Estate also has a restaurant, concerts in the grounds and an impressive art collection in the cellar, as well as the Art Series wines that incorporate the  artwork in the labels.

Final stop for the day was a quick cheese tasting and the family vote went with the smoked cheddar.

On another day we visited Woodlands and Cullen vineyards, the former being partially organically farmed, the latter taking a biodynamic approach. The quality wines resulting from both these vineyards is testament to the passion and commitment of both operations.

Categories: australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Travel, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Heading to Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park

Posted on March 25, 2015 by John Sear

Still in the forests a damp night was spent at Big Brook Arboretum campsite. Venturing into the Arboretum the following morning unveiled luxuriant colours in the bark patterns, vibrant orange bracket fungi, water droplets hanging patiently from the underside of the fungus, and abundant birdlife all around. Unfortunately for us the birds could be heard, but not seen, as most of them appeared to be high in the tree canopies.

Big Brook Arboretum
Big Brook Arboretum
Bracket fungus
Big Brook Arboretum

Still in Warren National Park a trip to Beedelup Falls was required, but the relative lack of waterfall in the area meant it didn’t offer much to photograph. The kids had fun on the suspension bridge, then Xavier slipped into the river and we decided to press on again.

Turning west towards the coast again we had the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park in our sights, and Conto campground. One of the features of this region is the abundance of Grass Trees, with their fire-blackened stems and almost spherical arrays of leaves sprouting from the top.

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Conto was such a peaceful spot, one or two nights ended up being a five-night stopover. Despite the presence of many caves in the area, with nearby Lake, Mammoth, and Jewel caves being the tourist showpieces, we felt we had seen enough caves recently and saved this for next time. Instead we used Conto as a base to explore nearby Margaret River (next blog), do some more geocaching, and a bit of fishing. With our Camprite trailer next to a water tap we could sit and watch all the wildlife come for a drink, from swarms of bees, to western rosellas, splendid fairy wrens, and silver eyes. Golden Whistlers and scarlet robins danced around the branches overhead.

More importantly it was time to get some schoolwork done so the distance education packs were brought out to get ahead of the curriculum before Easter break.

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Further adventures in the SW forests of WA

Posted on March 25, 2015 by John Sear

The next day we witnessed the devastation of recent fires in the region, particularly in the D’Entrecasteaux National Park. At first our road leaving camp was green on one side whilst the other side was charred and devastated. Amazingly, it was not barren though, and typical of much of the bush here, fire plays a huge part in the natural cycles. Though the fires had torn through huge areas of forests in recent weeks, and we even witnessed many trunks still smouldering and smoking, with the rains of recent days the grass trees were all flowering, and new growth was already appearing from the trunks of many eucalypt trees.

Regrowth begins
Flowers follow the fires
Trees still smouldering
Fire damage
Fire stopped at the road
Flowers emerging

We took time to visit two local icons, the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree and the Gloucester Tree, two of three giants in the forests that you can climb in the Warren National Park. Not for the faint hearted, the Bicentennial Tree was “pegged” in 1988 and has 165 steel spikes hammered into the trunk in a spiral up the tree to a height of 75 metres. With no safety harness, climbing is not recommended in wet or windy conditions, or for those who fear heights. With combination of all three how could I refuse? Firstly though, we had to beckon the kids down, who were already fearlessly climbing up towards the first platform. Despite the rain the views above the canopy were fabulous, with the exception of the vertical one down. Descent was interesting as with each step backwards you get a good view to the ground between each spike! Happy to have survived the challenge I then watched as a man calmly ascended in bare feet. The Gloucester Tree was very similar, not quite as tall, but a single climb to the viewing platform, and an easier climb due to less of a spiral making it more ladder-like.

The Gloucester Tree
Bicentennial Tree
Barefoot up the Bicentennial Tree
Stick Insect
View over the canopy

Halfway up the first tree, much to Xavier’s delight I found a stick insect that obligingly took the fall to the ground where Xavier pounced on it for close examination. Another great day in these majestic rainforests of the south western region of West Australia.

Categories: Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

West and back into forest

Posted on March 22, 2015 by John Sear

Just west from Cosy Corner lie the towns of Denmark and Walpole, surrounded by some large National Parks that protect the huge forests of Karri and Tingle trees. We stopped in Denmark to do a few geocaches, and marvelled at the ingenuity of some of the hides.

Circular Pool
Circular Pool
Greens Pool
Grandma Tingle
Elephant Cove
40 Toes getting wet!
Elephant Cove
Tingle Tingle tree
Valley of the Giants

Very close to Denmark were the appealingly named Elephant Cove and Greens Pool, both lying a short walk from one another in William Bay National Park. The former, with a little imagination, looks like a herd of elephants wallowing in a waterhole, but with only rare glimpses of sunlight and lots of wind I failed to do it justice with my photos. Even the inviting Greens Pool couldn’t tempt the kids for long on a miserable day! We resorted to the natural setting of the Denmark maze with our friends Alex and Karin and their two kids to kill a bit more time.

The Walpole-Nornalup National Park has many attractions but perhaps the most popular is the Valley of the Giants, and with resident stars called “Grandma Tingle” how could we miss this. The red eucalypts, or Tingles are huge, soaring over 60m into the canopy, have girths up to 20m at the base, and can live for over 500 years, surviving repeated bushfires over that time. The walk through the forest took us around and even through a number of giant Tingle trees and the rain drizzled down through the tree canopy above us.

A little further up the road a short walk took us down to Circular Pool where all but ten of the fifty toes went for a swim in the refreshing and surprisingly warm waters. We had one more stop for the day at Tingle Tingle tree, where we had seen photos of VW combi vans parked inside the hollow, and people on horseback passing through. Time for one more geocache and onto Fernhill Falls to camp for a night.

 

Categories: Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, Walks, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Albany and surrounds

Posted on March 20, 2015 by John Sear

After Skippy Rock we arrived late at Normans Beach in Two Peoples Bay (the other person being Betty) to grab the last spot in the campsite. Amanda came face to face with the biggest Dugite we have encountered yet. At almost 2m long we witnessed it hot in pursuit of a big black skink, chasing it up a tree. When the skink could go no further it leapt out from about 3-4m, belly-flopped onto the ground and scampered off. The snake exited the tree equally ungracefully and chased after it, as we all took a big step back to watch the action unfold before us.

Shelley Beach, West Cape Howe
4WD track in West Cape Howe
Whaling Station at Frenchmans Bay
Albany Brig
West Cape Howe National Park
Salmon Rocks, Torndirrup NP
Beach fun in Whalers Bay
Big Dugite!
Piranha Letterbox
Two People Bay NP
Bandicoot

With little camping close to Albany we drove to a cute little place, appropriately named Cosy Corner and ensconced ourselves for a few days to explore the area. We enjoyed Albany, visiting a few times, for library work with kids, shopping and a bit of geocaching and exploring. A nice sized town, big enough to have all we needed but not too big to get lost in. Xavier became the expert in finding nano-sized geocaches though we were beaten by one near the Opera house.

Fishing was pretty quiet along the beach despite the fact the salmon run is due any day. We checked out nearby West Cape Howe national park to see if the fishing was better there but despite the numbers of fishermen it was still a bit quiet at Shelley Beach. I noticed a 4WD track into the park that proved quite  challenging, but we were rewarded with magnificent vertical black granite cliffs at West Cape Howe. Being late in the day the family didn’t want to risk going further in the sand – they still don’t have faith in the trusty Pajero, even after 4 months.

As a cyclone bore down on the north west coast of WA we started getting a bit of rain. We drove around Torndirrup National Park near Albany, and some brief intermissions of sun allowed the kids to enjoy the azure waters of the beaches in Whaler Bay. Salmon Rocks, rather appropriately, had yielded two monster salmon for one fisherman, and we watched another battle a large eagle ray to the beach where it snapped his line. The old whaling station nestles into the end of the peninsula with a large whaling ship on display for exploration. In Frenchmans Bay, we drove to a bird hide to try and add a few new birds to my list (buff banded rail was the only one) and catch a geocache. Luckily for a guy down there we showed up and got his car started for him in a very quiet street. Another attraction there were the blowholes that, despite a small swell, roared periodically, giving everyone a bit of a scare the first time they went off. Throw big swell and water into the mix and they would be quite an impressive spectacle. The natural arch was closed unfortunately.

At night we got frequent visits from an oversize bandicoot and Cosy Corner was a popular venue for the kids with hideouts abounding in the bush.

Categories: Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Beach, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Farewell to Le Grand

Posted on March 18, 2015 by John Sear

After ten relaxing days at Le Grand campsite we felt the need to keep moving. We haven’t been in WA for long and there is so much to see. We had a big dinner in the camp kitchen on our last night with our new friend Jackie cooking up a delicious Thai green curry. It was a lovely evening with great company. We’d seen so many great people and the kids had had loads of playmates.

 

Little Hellfire Beach
Cape Le Grand Kids
Mundawarnup watches Le Grand
John and Roy Gill at Skippy Rock
Another snake!
View from Frenchmans Peak cave
Big Dugite
Le Grand Beach
Sunset on Young River

We had also found five species of snakes, most of them passing through our site, tiger snakes, dugite, python, ringed brown snakes, and another short plump brown snake that our neighbour Rob nearly trod on.

Having had ten days of poor fishing we had to go to Stokes Inlet where we had been told you can catch your bag limit of black bream in 15 minutes. Stokes National Park was a short drive west and we set up camp before heading to the infamous Young River. Hannah had caught 3 fish before I could even get a line in the water, though nowhere near the fabled 40cm length that inhabit the waters. Everyone managed to catch several before Oscar hooked a big one that snapped his rod that he bought with his own money only the previous week. He was so distraught but still managed to land his 28cm fish for dinner. Oscar’s challenge complete again, catching and eating a fish.

With Amanda keen to get to Albany to pick up the kids schoolwork we were up early to head for Albany. Unfortunately for Amanda my curiosity took us down a 4WD track to a place called Skippy Rock. The campsite, perched above the beach was deserted except for a very friendly camphost, and we decided to stay. Roy, the camphost, took us fishing, and I caught two lovely fish for the BBQ later, a 44cm flathead and a 39cm silver trevally. No photos but they tasted delicious.

Roy was full of stories and despite being a mad keen fisherman, he was a gold prospector from Kalgoorlie who had even starred in a recent movie, Goldtown. He even had some small pieces of gold to show the kids. Everyone wanted to stay longer but schoolwork was beckoning and we were two days into the new fortnight.

Categories: Adventure, Animal Action, australia, Australian Outback, Beach, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Natural World, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Elliston and Streaky Bay (flashback)

Posted on March 14, 2015 by John Sear

From Coffin Bay we drove north up the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula towards Streaky Bay. The kids really wanted to see the famous Great White Shark caught in 1990 that weighed 1500kg and was caught by rod and reel on 28kg line.

 

Cliff Drive Sculpture
Cliff Drive Sculpture
Cool Weather Vane
Cliff Drive Sculpture
Cliff Drive Sculpture
Cliff Drive Sculpture
Cliff Drive Sculpture
Surfer Sculpture

First stop was Elliston where the Tourist Information doubled as shop for local jams – raspberry was the pick of the day, and Op Shop with some cool shorts for the boys. Heading out of town we drove the scenic cliff drive lined with sculptures, giant thongs, surfer on a bike, Rapanui-style heads and a few other impressive ones too.

Just beyond Elliston we paid a quick visit to Talia caves, worthy of the 6km detour. The combination of limestone on top of sandstone has been eroded by the sea over the millennia resulting in long caves under the cliff. In the case of the Tub the thin roof has collapsed, leaving a tunnel to the sea.

Further north again beyond Sceale Bay a dirt road takes you out to Point Labatt where a sea lion colony can be observed from the cliff top.  Sea lions and Fur Seals were both present and the former were in quite a playful mood in the shallows of the protected reef.

 

 

Categories: Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Natural World, Photography, South Australia, Travel, Travel Adventure | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

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