A Round Up...

Ok, I think that it is time for a round up for those who like some detail. 

We have arrived at our 30th destination (Canarvon) on our 77th day of our trip.  I would love a gadget that would map us the whole way and all I had to do was to put in the place, however, you will have to work out the rest and get your map out.    I will also try to blog more oft so that I won't have to do the round up again.  Minor things like power and Internet coverage do hinder us a little...we are trying to work it out (however we do quite like the "disconnected" way of life as well!!).

Here are the geographical and date details for those who would like to see them:

6/3/10 Colac

7/3/10 - 11/3/10 Mt Clay Sawpit Camping Ground

11/3/10 Beachport, SA

12/3/10 - 16/3/10 Coorong National Park - Tea Tree Crossing Camping Ground

16/3/10 Coorong National Park - Mulnip Yerrock Point

17/3/10 Newland Heads Nature Reserve (very hard surface, and very dangerous beach)

18/3/10 - 19/3/10 Victor Harbour

20/3/10 - 24/3/10 Adelaide

25/3/10 - 28/3/10  Mt Remarkable National Park (Southern Flinders Ranges)

29/3/10 - 31/3/10 Pildappa Rock (near Minnapa)

31/3/10 - 2/4/10 Cactus Bay

2/4/10 - Hit the Nullabor and stopped at the road up to Koonalda Station near the Sinkhole where there was a rusty truck stuck up a tree.

Crossed over to WA

3/4/10 - Roadstop (still on the Nullabor) near Balledonia after surviving a huge lightening and thunderstorm - then had another during the night.

3/4/10 - 8/3/10   Norseman with a day trip to Kalgoolie and a trip to Dundas

8/3/10 - 11/3/10 Cape Arid - spectacular

12/3/10 - 13/3/10 Esperance

13/3/10 - 19/3/10 Stirling Ranges - an incredible mountain range

19/3/10 - 22/3/10 Shelley Beach, a lovely secluded spot where we watched people fish for Salmon

22/3/10 - 23/3/10 Shannon National Park - in the middle of the tall trees

23/3/10 - 26/3/10 Manjimup - the coldest spot in the SW of WA

26/3/10 - 28/3/10 Blackwood River National Park, Sue's Bridge Camping Ground - wonderful stay with friends

28/3/10 Rockingham...really just a suburb of Perth

29/3/10 - 4/5/10 Perth - time to get broken teeth dealt with, osteo, zoo, Kings Park, Dinner with friends...

4/5/10 Cliff Head North via the Pinnacles (WOW! - it's like a moonscape)

5/5/10 Galena Bridge via Geraldton

6/5/10 - 11/5/10 Kalbarri National Park - Incredible red dirt, gorges...

11/5/10 Denham

12/5/10 - 20/5/10 Francois Peron National Park via Monkey Mia (our earliest morning - 5.15am....yikes!)

20/5/10 Hamelin Pool (where the stromatelites are)

21/5/10 - now Canarvon - the great fruit bowl, an oasis.

Other details...health:

we have had no illnesses, one tooth chipped, now capped (John) in Perth, due to boys being boys; my back is in desperate need of a travelling osteo (know of one anyone?); migraines - not ready to chuck the meds, but getting better at reading the early signs of them; asthma - not ready to chuck the meds yet.

Food - wow it is expensive over here.  We are having to eat creatively with minimal vegies and fruit and dehydrated vegies, mash and dried herbs.  Soups, pots roasts, rice dishes, bean dishes, fresh fish, scones on the free barbies... Eating healthily still.

Things that we have found along the way:

One red hoodie in Manjimup

Entire cutlery set in Rockingham

Bowls at Mt Remarkable

Occy strap in Francois Peron NP

Fishing cutting board in Francois Peron NP

Bag (made as use as a fishing rod bag) in Kalbarri

T-shirt for Matt near Balledonia

Thong (to replace a broken one) in Kalbarri

Zip strap in Francois Peron National Park.

I am sure there are other things that we have found and made use of, but now they are just part of our lives!  We always keep our eyes open for stuff.

Having a ball & fully stocked for the next leg of the trip....

If you want to see the photos, I have loaded some (far from all) just let me know.  Cheers, Meg

Coming in from the Wild and Woolly wilderness

Skipjack Point - where you can see the dolphins feeding on the mullet

Well, we have just come out of a week in the most westerly National Park in Australia, Francois Peron National Park and feel like we have come in from the wilderness. We are the great unwashed. We are dusty, dirty, windblown, in desperate need of food and water, and have had a great time.  Access is restricted to high clearance 4WD only as the road is both thick with sand and claypans, but it is a fun 40 km drive that took us 2 hours took get in - with me getting bogged on the way in - but (and this is a big but) it was well worth the trip.  Amazing bird life, fishing.  We have seen dolphins dancing, mantra rays, green turtles, loggerhead turtles, dugongs, and the rare thick billed grasswren, amongst other things.  We tried our hand at fishing, and caught a lot of bait (I caught the beautiful Blue Spangled Emperor), however, we became lazy fisherpeople as a real fisherman fed us Black Snapper and Wobbigong shark nearly every night from his catch.  It has been a very special week, remarkable and relaxing in this World Heritage Area (only one of 20 in the world!).  We felt very priveledged to be there.  The iron ore sand dunes with the white sand.....