West Australia

Exemplary Customer Service in Perth

Posted on April 5, 2015 by John Sear

We had to head to Perth to get the Pajero and Camprite trailer serviced before we commence the journey north and possibly the most eagerly awaited part of our trip. Both have performed excellently to date but I had a list of items to follow up with for both.

I wanted to ask further questions about the problems with had with fuel consumption in South Australia and had been tipped off about possible carbonisation of an inlet manifold. We had also recently become aware of a recall notice on the model. I finally wanted to resolve the issue with our towbar being too low, and Mitsubishi Melville instantly gave me confidence with their understanding of each issue and ability to address them. We also needed to perform a tyre rotation having just clocked another 10,000km.

The Camprite trailer went in first and it was great to meet the team in person, as we had only had spoken by phone from the east coast. Matt patiently listened to my list, had a quick look at the trailer and spotted a couple of things we had missed, again assuring that they were all fixable. We left it in his capable hands and I took the boys to SciTech in the city.

Looking like new again
New steps

The next day was the Pajero’s turn. They kindly agreed  to complete the service by 2pm (so I had time to pickup the trailer on the other side of the city) and went through my list of items. They couldn’t put in a second battery, but I was less concerned about that. Phillip from Mitsubishi drove me back to the house, where we were staying and also picked me up promptly at 2pm. Everything was fixed up and the spare tyre lift meant we were set to fix our towbar issues.

Being the afternoon before Easter holidays, traffic crossing town was heavy and Matt at Camprite was patiently awaiting our arrival to pick up the trailer. It looked like new! Our damaged rear steps had been replaced with the new design and all the other items on the list had been addressed, leaving us a little time to fix the towbar. Matt optimistically thought it would be a quick reversal of the towbar, but that proved more difficult requiring some heavy duty hardware and hammering for quite a while to remove. Reversing it didn’t solve the issue as the tongue was not long enough so Matt quickly drove up to get one. He returned empty-handed and we jumped into the car at 4.40pm to try a different place. Success!

The tongue then needed machining the edges of the tongue to allow it to be inserted easily – more time passed.

Finally by 5pm the job was complete, Matt was still smiling, but we were so grateful that he had stayed back to help prepare us for the next stage of our journey.

Thank you very much Camprite – your attention to detail was probably the best we have ever encountered and thanks also to Melville Mitsubishi for your prompt, friendly and efficient service.

Categories: 4WD, australia, Big Lap, Camper Trailer, Car, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Mitsubishi, West Australia | Tags: , , , , | 5 Comments

Back to Margaret River

Posted on April 3, 2015 by John Sear

Our friends from Margaret River, Mike and Rhonda, invited us to visit them in Margaret River and given how close it was, and how much we had enjoyed the region we did a little back track. Mike is a surfing legend, with many titles to his name, including a number of appearances representing Australia. They now both dedicate their time to surf coaching and helping with the organisation of events such as the upcoming Drug Aware Surf Margaret River Pro 2015 at nearby Prevelly Beach.

A flare prompted a sea rescue
The Box
Main Break action
Main Break action
Coffee at Rivermouth

The morning we visited the beach the surf was pumping, the most impressive I have ever seen, with plenty of breaks everywhere for everyone from Beginners to Legends (a plaque above the beach tells you where to surf, assuming you know where you stand in the scale, Beginner, Rookie, Master, and Legend). Main Break and The Box were producing some nice waves and a constant stream of locals were arriving to make the most of it. There were boards that has lost their owners and broken boards floating past, some great barrel action and then a flare went up in the sky behind the Box. A rescue operation followed and we watched a jet ski retrieve a local fisherman from his sinking dinghy. It all happens at Prevelly Beach!

A few hundred metres away we found a cool coffee van at the Rivermouth break. At this time of year the river fails to meet the ocean, stopping just behind the beach. A little further north Gracetown offered a smaller but clean wave for a number of surfers.

Kids in Cowaramup
Mike’s cool 50’s board
Welcome to Cowaramup
Meelup Beach
Mike and Rhonda
Eagle Bay

Travelling back down to Margaret River we had a quick diversion up to Cape Naturaliste National Park to see some of the beaches we hadn’t seen yet. Eagle Bay offered us a few Geocache opportunities and a collection of small picturesque beaches with glorious white sand and azure water lapping on to the shore. Meelup Beach was hosting an end of Nippers season event with massive inflatable floating toys. The kids made us stop, and following the fastest change witnessed to date, were in amongst the fun before we gather our towels. Many thanks to Smiths Beach Surf Lifesaving Club for allowing us to join in the fun.

We also had to visit Cowaramup, where locals have installed at least 25 (our count on one drive past) fibreglass cows throughout the town. Not pronounced as it looks, it means “Place of the purple crowned lorikeets”. Many of the places in this region end in “up”- an aboriginal word meaning “place of”.

With so much to do in this area time flew and it was time to finally say farewell to our friends and Margaret River. Time to hit the big smoke again up north.

 

Categories: Adventure, australia, Beach, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, National Park, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Unreported shark attacks along the south coast!

Posted on April 1, 2015 by John Sear

On our travels along the southern coastal bits of the country we have noticed an alarming number of shark attacks that go unreported. The evidence of these attacks can easily be found as the poor victims body parts are strewn across many of the beaches we have visited.

I have even personally witnessed one such attack in the water in Sydney and can report that luckily the victims are already deceased. The sharks are actually just doing their duty of cleaning up the dead carcasses of cuttlefish. Cuttlefish have a relatively short lifecycle usually only living 2-3 years. They breed and die shortly afterwards, providing a vital food source to any hungry scavengers. All that is left after the clean-up process is the brittle internal cuttlefish bone that can be found washed up on the beach. We have frequently found these cuttlefish bones bitten in half, or covered with shark teeth indentation marks (see photo).

Basically it is the case of nature taking its course and nothing sinister as the heading might have implied.

Victims of shark attacks

Victims of shark attacks

 

Categories: Animal Action, australia, Beach, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Natural World, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, West Australia | Tags: | 2 Comments

Diving Busselton Jetty

Posted on March 29, 2015 by John Sear

Busselton Jetty is 1.8km long and has it’s own train service to deliver tourists to the end where they can visit the underwater observatory. I wanted to scuba dive the famous jetty and with the nearby Dive Shed having trolley and gear hire I was keen as mustard to get in the water.

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Unfortunately my camera strobe malfunctioned during set-up so I had to improvise by using a torch instead. This meant increasing my ISO settings and opening up the aperture, not what I like doing for underwater shots, but I was stuck with what I had. I put the trusty Canon 100mm macro lens on and started the long walk from the dive shop.

The Dive Shed rent out trolleys to transport your gear to the dive site, and whilst I don’t mind a bit of a walk with my gear I was glad I rented one. The entry pontoon lies 200m from the end of the Jetty, with two well designed ladders for exiting with fins on.

The underwater life lived up to expectation. Whilst many old jetty pylons lie on the floor providing cover for many different critters, corals, and sponges adorn a large proportion of the upright ones. Many of the fish were new to me, being Indian Ocean based but there were a few familiar ones and I was happy to find a number of very colourful nudibranchs(sea slugs). The water was shallow at 8m, allowing along dive but after 2 hours in 19 degree water I was ready to get back in the sunlight to warm up. Visibility was pretty good (over 10m), the only thing you need to be aware of is to keep over 10m away from the underwater observatory (for obvious reasons).

A big thumbs up to the Busselton Jetty dive and thanks to The Dive Shed for being so helpful with the gear and briefing of the dive site.

Categories: Adventure, australia, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Natural World, Photography, Photos, Travel, Travel Adventure, West Australia | Tags: , , , , | 4 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?

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

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
Bracket fungus
Big Brook Arboretum
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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

 

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

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

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