Explore Australia

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.

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

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.

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

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.

 

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

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

Postcards from Hannah and Xavier

Posted on March 6, 2015 by John Sear
Nullarbor Links golf
Hannah at Lucky Bay
Seadragon find at Thistle Cove
Xavier at Wave Rock
Fun at Thomas River
Whale bone at Thistle Cove
Nullarbor links golf

Postcard from Xavier

Recently we arrived at Four Mile beach. We set up camp and walked to the beach. We all thought it was the best beach because at the start they saw a snake and when they got on the beach Dad and Mum found dried seadragons. The cool bit was that it was Valentine’s Day. Then the next day my Dad came to the beach with me and found his favourite animal dried. It’s a leafy seadragon, but its head fell off.

I wish I could go back soon.

Postcard from Hannah

Recently I have been across the Nullarbor. The first stop was Cactus beach. It was really nice and it was really good because we met some kids from Perlubie Beach and they were coming to Cactus beach. We were very lucky to get some friends to play with that we already knew. After Cactus we went to see Fowler Bay. We didn’t stay there, though we stayed somewhere nearby that was called Fowler Bay National Park. It was full with rubbish but we made sand dune houses out of sand. We had a factory, a toy world, and a caravan park. We mainly spent all of our time up in the dunes.

In Eucla we met a girl called Amber. She owned a park. She let us feed the chickens, the sheep, the geese and the horses. She even let me ride the horse, let me look at the  sheep, geese, and the chickens and horses. Amber has two horses and they are called Dolly and Matilda. We rode Dolly because she was a 20 year old pony and Matilda is a lot wilder than Dolly. My favourite horse was Dolly because we got to ride Dolly and feed Dolly.

Amber does school of the air. I would think it would be awesome to do school of the air.

We fed Matilda an apple and some horse biscuits. We only fed Dolly horse biscuits when Dolly was good and did what we said.

Categories: australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, South Australia, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

Esperance and surroundings

Posted on March 4, 2015 by John Sear

We finally had to leave Quagi to re-stock supplies and get some water in the tanks again. A couple camping next to us kindly donated an inflatable boat for the kids that they no longer needed.

Beach at Thomas river
Mt Arid western panorama
Hannah and friend at Lucky Bay
New Holland Honeyeater
Wreck on Quagi beach
Mt Arid peak
Wild brumbies
Emus in dunes at Dunn Rock
View east from Mt Arid
Brumby in front of Frenchmans Peak
Boating in Thomas river
Dolphin bay
Quagi beach rocks
Dunn Rocks camp
Salmon at Dunn rocks
Lucky Bay
Sand storm at Dunn Rocks
Chilling on the beach boulders
Wharton Beach break
Hellfire bay
Stonehenge, Esperance
Mt Arid peak
Dugite at Cape Le Grand
Wharton beach
Lucky Bay

Next stop was Cape Arid National Park and a campsite called Thomas River, ideal for the inflatable boat. We drove the length of the beach, over 24km, then along some 4WD tracks to beaches beyond. Ranger Jo, who was brilliant with the kids told us how to get to the Mt Arid walking track, and even lent us some boogy boards. The next day we conquered the mountain which offers amazing views over the picturesque beaches and park. The mountain itself is very barren with little vegetation and lots of bare rock but well worth the 3 hour return walk. Back at camp I even managed to catch some super-sized herring that were delicious. From Cape Arid it was tempting to head further east to Seal Creek, but we chose to turn back West, passing through to see Duke of Orleans bay and Wharton beach which must rate as one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia, with its pure white sands stretching into the distance. Our next destination was Cape Le Grand National Park and Dunn Rocks, where we could camp on the beach. We arrived as the worst winds we have encountered so far whipped up from the south, giving us a true desert sandstorm experience that piled several tonnes of sand in a pile behind the trailer annex. There were thousands of mouse footprints on the sand in the annex the next morning and it began to look like we still had a stowaway! The weather improved though and before long we were swimming and fishing and the salmon finally arrived for us to start catching dinner! The kids loved playing on the rocks by the camp and Hannah even found a python in a crevice. She also found the mouse again and after it bit her a short chase across the sand saw it dispatched with my leather sandal. No more footprints since! From Dunn Rocks we had planned to head back west beyond Esperance again after checking out Lucky Bay and Le Grand beach campsites, both of which tend to be quite hard to get in at. Arriving at Le Grand first we fell in love with the place and grabbed the last camp spot, a sheltered little spot between the trees, 50m from the beach and with a kids hideout amongst the scrub. Lots of snakes here, a couple of coastal pythons and plenty of Dugites, apparently number 13 on the list of world’s most venomous snakes. Late one evening I stumbled out of the tent to hear the pitter patter of footprints scuttling into the undergrowth, and fearing another mouse infestation I grabbed a torch in time to see a crab disappear into a hole in the undergrowth. Phew! With the crabs and snakes I think we’ll be mouse free for a while. Rob and Kris, who we met crossing the Nullarbor, were at the same campsite, told us that there were wild brumbies that visit the beach daily. Hannah was thrilled and makes it her daily ritual to get as close as possible. It’s just a matter of time before the carrot supply gets raided. The kids have finally been introduced to Geo-caching too and with a few nearby we should be teaching them how to navigate expertly very soon.

We visited nearby Lucky Bay, famous for photos of kangaroos on the beach, but found a cramped and crowded campsite, a beach covered in knee-deep weed, very swampy and compared with other beaches we have seen, only worth the visit for the “kangaroo on a beach” photo. At least some of the roos were obliging on that front

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

Back to the Coast again

Posted on March 3, 2015 by John Sear

Heading south again we decided to have a brief stop at Four Mile Beach in Fitzgerald River National Park. The ocean was angry so swimming was not on the agenda, but a spell of beachcombing definitely was. Walking down to the beach we encountered a small but very beautiful green snake with a brown head and black collar. Anyone who knows what it is please let us know.

To our surprise on the beach we then found two dead weedy sea dragons amongst the weed, and then the following morning we found a leafy sea dragon, most likely washed up in the recent rough seas.

What snake is this?
View of Four Mile beach
Banksia flower
Seadragons washed up on the beach

Packing up the next day we headed back East to Quagi beach, a campsite nestled in thick Banksia scrub, with a few Eucalypts. The bird life here was incredible and we stayed for several days. We found more bee hives along the rocky shore, and I managed to get stung on the head by a particularly angry bee. A few days were spent here doing homework and slowing the pace down.

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Categories: australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , | 6 Comments

Wave Rock, Hyden and other rock formations

Posted on February 19, 2015 by John Sear

West of Eucla, we stopped briefly at Cocklebiddy and headed down to the Eyre Bird Observatory. The road to the escarpment was pretty rough but we had to unhitch the trailer to get the last 12km to the observatory. The road was very soft and sandy, making it a fun ride in.

The Breakaways
Granite-Woodlands road
Hippos Yawn
Caiguna blowhole
The Original Telegraph Station at the Eyre Bird Observatory
Amanda at Eyre Bird Observatory
Australian Bustard
Wave Rock
The Breakaways
Sand track into the observatory
Kids catching Wave Rock
McDermid Rock

Whilst very little remains of the original telegraph station (1877-1897), the later built telegraph station now acts as a tranquil rest for bird watchers and bushwalkers. The caretakers showed the kids the weather station and took measurements, a task performed 3 times a day. The building also houses an interesting museum that the kids loved due to the amount of bones and preserved animals there. We had a quick bird-watching bushwalk and headed down to the beach, over one of the most challenging dunes we have encountered yet. The beach was tough driving so we made a hasty exit and departed.

The explorer, Edward John Eyre, passed nearby in 1841, on his epic 1500km journey from Fowlers Bay to Albany.

Back to Cocklebiddy for an overnight stop, then saw an Australian Bustard (a bird, not a person!) in the morning before commencing a long drive to Norseman. This stretch saw us diverting to find Caiguna blowhole, driving for 20 minutes in the worst dust roads, only to find it back by the main road on our return. Tidal airflows blast through many such blowholes on the Nullarbor, some over 70km/h. Jumping into them offers instant air conditioning on hot summer days. The next stretch of road is the longest straight road in Australia – 146km of boring driving.

Past Norseman we continued on towards Hyden via the Granite-Woodlands track, stopping overnight at McDermid rock. A brief stop at Disappointment rock was far from it! We watched a small bush fire working its way towards us, until it got within a kilometre, when we had to press on to camp before sunset. McDermid Rock is actually a mini-Wave Rock formation and an impressive sight, but to avoid disappointment see it before the Wave Rock. The road took us past the Breakaways, another obligatory stop offering more rock formations and beautiful colouration in the rock.

Wave rock was impressive but quite busy. Having seen pictures of it as a kid growing up it was great to see it in reality. Well worth a visit.

 

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Natural World, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Eucla

Posted on February 14, 2015 by John Sear

Arriving in Eucla we headed straight for the Telegraph Station that has been engulfed by sand. Movement of sand dunes along the beach slowly overtook the station following a rabbit plague in the 1890s that ate all the vegetation that stabilised the dunes.

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We then set off looking for a beach camp and once again found a maze of 4WD tracks leading everywhere except where we wanted. Anyone watching from the escarpment would have been amused to follow the trail of dust billowing up behind us as we negotiated the multitude of paths. Finally we gave up and headed back into Eucla for the night and enjoyed a dip in their pool, refreshing after several days of inhaling dust from remote tracks. I got some local knowledge and found that one of the sandy paths we had tried actually lead to the jetty and beach and I was keen to go so I dashed down before the sunset. With just the car and no trailer in tow it was a lot easier to get through the sand but I wasn’t expecting to pop onto the beach so quickly. A great photo opportunity indeed and the time of day offered great lighting.

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Beach, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, National Park, Offroad, Photography, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , | 5 Comments

Into the Nullarbor

Posted on February 12, 2015 by John Sear

As we drove towards the Nullarbor Plain we couldn’t resist to stop for the road signs, look out for Camels, Kangaroos and Wombats. Pulling over at lunchtime the kids soon were running back to car clutching beautiful feathers, asking what they were from. A quick scan of nearby trees revealed a group of Major Mitchells, or Pink Cockatoos, beautiful birds and one to add to the list of sightings.

 

Climbing out of the caves
Monochrome Bight
Exploring Murrawijinie caves
Camp on Bight cliffs
On the Nullarbor
Major Mitchell
Zebra crossing in the Nullarbor!
Murrawijinie Cave
Hot day on the Nullarbor
Sunrise at the camp on Bight
Ochre hand prints
Watch out for …
View from camp at sunrise
Not for sleepwalkers

At Nullarbor we turned north off the road, to look for Murrawijinie Caves, lying approximately 10km along a dirt track. The temperature gauge snuck up to 46 degrees and was testing everyone. Why were we looking around in this heat in the bush for caves didn’t need to be said but the moment they set foot in the cool shaded environment below all was forgiven. I have never seen Amanda move so fast down a 3m log to get out of the heat. We found a wall with aboriginal red ochre hand paintings which proved quite exciting for the kids. In one cave we climbed down some tight passages until we found a large pile of bones, those of animals who had entered and perished after failing to find their way out. Many raptors roost and nest in the cool caves and so we found many rodent bones scattered in piles too, particularly beneath one owl nest.

After killing some time out of the heat we finally had to re-emerge from the caves and find a camp. We camped at the head of the Great Australian Bight, literally on the clifftops, not a place to go if you are at all susceptible to sleepwalking.

Up early and off again before the wind could blow us over the cliffs! We found a zebra crossing in the middle of the Nullarbor Plain (only a few hundred cars cross the 1600km plain daily) so we had to use it. After a couple more lookouts we decided to explore and drove off along an unsigned little track.

After 15km a myriad of diminishing tracks brought us to a homestead and a vintage car graveyard. We were looking for more caves but gave up eventually fearing our ability to retrace our route back along the tracks. But first we had to take photos and a GPS position to check where we had been later.

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Finally we worked our way back to the main road and headed West again. Next stop West Australia!

 

Categories: 4WD, Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Photography, South Australia, Travel, Travel Adventure | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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