Gypsies no more! For a short while!

The time has come, after living in our caravan for 2 years and traveling all over a most beautiful continent, to return to Perth. We need to sort out where we are going to live in the future, see precious Eva, Eloise and Ali and help grandmere again, and of course see our own precious big kids!

We have very slowly been making our way back through the south west forests.

We stopped at Cheynes Beach, a remote, secluded spot which we had all to ourselves. We spent about 5 days in our beloved Denmark right on the inlet. We then made our way to Manjimup and stayed at a special place called Fonty's pool. Our very last night we stayed amongst the karris in Pemberton. We were going to stay in Margaret River but because of devastating bush fires we decided not to except for passing through and stopping to say hello to our friends, Peta Jane and Brian.

All I can say is that we had the most amazing time of our lives. The forests, the oceans, the beaches, the mountains, the dawns, the sunsets, the storms, the mists, the birds, the lizards, the frogs, the trees and the flowers were everywhere in all their glory including the remoteness and ruggedness of the environment. We hardly had to visit a gallery....we were in one day after day.

Traveling in such a comfortable van was a pleasure - thanks to Chris and all he set up to make us a home from home. We had computers, a printer, a scanner, music, the brilliant Radio National, movies, heaters, an airconditioner, our own washing machine and full ensuite bathroom - just everything we would ever need. In fact, we don't need to go home at all.....maybe we'll just turn around and head back east!! Might happen sooner than we think!

What a BRILLIANT, MAGIC, WICKED time we had.

Thanks to those who read my blog and shared some of our travels. It meant a lot.

Back to the rugged West Australian coast

We decided that we would return to Perth via Esperance and the South West.

After being on the South and South East coast for the past few months we had forgotten the sheer beauty and ruggedness of the West Australian coast. There couldn't be many places in the world that match this beauty. We have never seen oceans as blue and beaches as clean and white. We were even able to drive our car onto the beaches in the national park.

All my photos were taken along the coast just out of Esperance town, and in the Cape Le Grande National Park about 50 kms out of Esperance. (Salmon Beach, Twilight Beach, Blue Haven, Le Grande Beach, Hellfire Bay and Lucky Bay). I added in the camper van which had visited all the places we had - except for Wittenoom!

Crossing the Nullabor

It's close to 2000 km to get from east to west and takes a few days - and about $700 in fuel!

We have crossed the Nullabor about 4 times and each time it is different - the winds, the temperatures and the vegetation. The only thing that remains unchanged are the road trains.

This time we drove at a time of extreme high wind and temperatures reaching 42 deg. Every time a road train passed us Chris had to hold on to the steering wheel for dear life. It was quite a journey! The winds must have been very challenging for flocks of beautiful green budgies as it was obvious they had been forced into the path of road trains, cars and caravans. They were lying dead all over the road.

When we crossed the Nullabor in October 2010 we were able to free stop along the way. It was a magical experience. NOT A SOUL anywhere. Just miles and miles of expansive vastness! We watched a 180deg sunset and sunrise. Too amazing for words! We put on our music and danced in that vastness. We even watched a storm cloud and mist roll over the Nullabor plain the following morning.

This time because of the heat and the wind it was impossible to stop anywhere other than designated caravan stops. All we had to do was cross the Nullabor safely and arrive in one piece. We couldn't even get to see the Bight with its magnificent, sheer cliffs and turqoise ocean which we had managed to see the time before.

It's also unbelievable how every now and again we pass a cyclist!

Smoky Bay in South Australia

We spent a night at Smoky Bay - a quiet, remote, dry, coastal village between Port Augusta (where we met Pete and Liz on their way to Tas), and Ceduna- before heading onto the Nullarbor and the long road west. It is a tiny place right on the edge of the ocean. It has a very long jetty, beautiful resident pelicans, miles of white, sandy beaches and can have magnificent sunsets at the right time of the year. I waited for one and it was pretty good.

I believe it's a good place for fishing. We spoke to a young fisherman on the jetty who comes fishing nearly every day. We all had to rush home once the sun went down as an icy wind came up...but it was a good place to stop.

The last of the Murray

We followed the brown river from Echuca along the Murray Valley Highway to Mildura and Renmark. There was the profusion of red gums and acres and acres of wheat fields, vineyards, oranges and mandarins.

It was obvious that there is a glut of oranges as they are dirt cheap, often lying on the ground or left on trees. We bought the most delicious bag of Mildura oranges and sadly had to dispose of some of them at the SA border. The farmer explained that because of the high dollar it is very difficult to export the oranges. As for the vineyards.... we have NEVER seen such an expanse of vines - not even in Margaret River. No wonder I keep hearing about the glut of wine on the market - must be for a looming Chinese market?

I can't get over the way the tourist brochures and advertising billboards depict the Murray as being a lovely blueish green colour....not.

We stayed in Mildura - where we had visited Nat when she lived there - in a gorgeous park close to a magnificent red gum. I just love them. They are beautiful even though there are are warnings everywhere reminding people that branches are liable to fall at any time.

It has been a wonderful experience traveling through this part of the country. It has given us a much better understanding of the issues often debated regarding the precious Murray River. The whole area is "so Australian" and gives meaning to all the paintings of the river and the gums! We even crossed the river on our way to Clare in SA on one of the ferries that are free and operate 24/7. When I first saw the ferry I didn't think the car and the caravan would fit ...but it did!

I've added some of the rigs people use to travel around Aus. They were all stopped at Mildura.

The statue was in the garden of the caravan park....and because of the heat that day the ducks took shelter under our van.