Hello everyone
We're moving along slowly (and thats the best way) and now in Kalbarri. We decided to stay 5 nights as the camp offers one free also free wifi so been great to skype grandkids, emails etc.
Since leaving Carnavon we spent two nights at Quobba point which has a settlement of Humpys (bach or crib to us) made from corrugated iron and often old caravans, these are pretty run down but some are still used. Abit of an eye sore but interesting inthat it shows the interest in fishing that went on there before it became a sanctuary. Amaizing though is the Blow holes just up the road, water spout 30 to 40 metres in the air. We then moved on and spent a couple nights at Gladstone. An old port for out loading wool etc now abbandoned. Boy, was it windy overnight and got our first rain nearly closed the road. We now now what W.A. stands for, who thought Western Australia , WRONG "Windy Always" We then moved to Hamelin Station, still a working station 500,000 acres mainly sheep, beautifull camp with alot of new buildings. Went up to Denham and over to Monkey Mia and saw the Dolphins. Really gone commercial since we were there in 1999. As I said we're in Kalbarri, a seaside town next to a

Dolphin Feeding at Monkey Mia

Hamelin Station Camp, camp kitchen and BBQ area

Natures window Kalbarri NP

Pelican feeding Kalbarri beach front
 

Natures bridge Kalbarri coastal highway

'Z" bend Kalbarri NP

      

Quobba Blowholes

National Park. Great town, touristy but not to badly populated since school holidays over. The wind drops in the morning so we race out to see the attactions at the National Park and down the coastal road and then laze about in the afternoon maybe by a pool and then have happy hour with people we have met on the way, Great life for some 'aye'
Start off towards Perth in a couple of days, catch up with some friends, one expat irish/kiwi and others we met last trip, also going to the Perth 4x4 show, well I am. Now you now whos written the blog this time.
Send another Blog soon
Cheers Marian and Clive, 'kokoda kiwis'

5th October
Greetings again - from Carnarvon about 1000kms from Perth.  We have enjoyed taking plenty of time out at a couple of great spots.  From Karratha we ended up spending a week at Cape Range National Park and being wowed by the Ningaloo Reef.  We thought we had already experienced and been impressed by aqua waters and white sand- but the spot we were in and all along this coast absolutely excelled.  Fabulous clear aqua water with lovely snorkelling and swimming.  This part of the coast is world renowned for being such an accessible reef right on the beach which enables you to just swim out a little or a long way and be protected by the coral reef boundary.  Clive went fishing with our neighbour and they did quite well - we got three meals of fish for the freezer !

We then moved to another great spot and spent a week there - Warroora station which has one of its boundaries on the same reef but further south.  pretty windy there but spectacular spot overlooking the sea.

We plan to get to Perth first week of November where we will catch up with some friends and have a bit of a look around Perth.  It is about 15 years ago that we had a holiday in Perth and surrounds so it will be interesting to see what we remember and what we have forgotten.

We are now past our 6month stage of our trip.  Some things that have shown to be really useful through the time on the road:

Crocs - the shoes not the animal !
microfibre towels ( thanks Linda)
Wide brimmed hat and sunnies
portable gas ring - even though we have all the facilities inside the van
fold up chairs
Smart phone and an app called wikicamps- this has given us great information on the range of camping areas available in the surrounding area we are heading to.  People provide feedback and prices which are all totally up to date.

We plan to get to Melbourne later in January so we can be around when Finn starts school on 27th Jan.  We will then head off for about another month and do some of the Victoria area. 

So in the meantime we still have many thousands of kms to cover which no doubt will continue to impress us with the vastness and variance of scenery.

pic 1 - view of Ningaloo reef from caravan kitchen window !.  The photo doesnt do justice to the aqua water and white sand contrast.

Pic 2 catch of the day at Cape Range National Park

pic 3 1 mile jetty at carnarvon

love and best wishes to you all