This morning, after a quick check, Mr Roo noticed some significant wear on the outside of the front left tyre which was unusual for a caravan, and decided to play it safe and change it over to the spare. Despite the hiccup, we were soon on the road, this time south east and towards the town of Ravensthorpe. At Ravensthorpe we rejoined the South Coast Highway to our destination, the popular Western Australian coastal town of Esperance. After setting up, we took a quick drive through town and up to the Rotary Lookout which looks out across the CBD of Esperance as well as out to the remote islands of the Recherche Archipelago. |
Despite the lateness of the day and that we were not that far of sunset, we decided to still go further along the Great Ocean Drive which is a 40km loop that travels along the Esperance Coast where we stopped at the popular Twilight Beach and also Observatory Point and Lookout which provided us with amazing views out to see across to the coastline of the Cape Le Grand National Park before heading back to camp for the night.
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This morning Roo and Mr Roo went on the Wave Rock Circuit Walk which is a 3.6km easy and interesting walk around the changing landscape of Wave Rock and the nearby salt lake habitats. Of particular interest was Magic Lake which is just 1km from Wave Rock. It is a naturally occuring lake with a gypsum base and the water is very clear. Beautiful wildflowers also dotted the country side adding charm to what many might consider a harsh barren landscape.
After the walk, Jess and I popped over to the Wave Rock Pioneer Museum which is right next to the Caravan Park. It was small but packed with all things old including an impressive bottle collection. Roo was a little worried when she saw quite a few things that were familiar from her childhood days, appearing in a museum. *blinks* After lunch we took a drive to nearby Mulka's Cave about 18 km from Wave Rock. The cave is part of The Humps area which is a lesser known attraction, but no less grand than Wave Rock itself. A climb to the top rewarded us with an expansive and 360 degree view across the landscape. Certainly worth the drive and the climb! We also checked out Hippo's Yawn, which is just a short walk from Wave Rock. It remarkably resembles a hippo yawning! The entire local area is well worth the trip and we are glad we chose to stay two nights as it is not only just Wave Rock but also other formations in the area which includes several walks of various grades as well as the town of Hyden itself with it's quirky sculptures in the main street. Certainly a great day!
circular arrangement, All the Caravan sites were arranged around a circular playground / BBQ / and abultions block. This was the first time in all of our camping that we have seen this arrangement and it works well!
We quickly set up and took a walk over to see the amazing Wave Rock formation. This world famous rock is a granite cliff standing 15 metres high, 110 metres long and is remarkably shaped like a wave. It is a very spectacular sight to see! What we were not aware prior to visiting (another lack of reasearch) is that Wave Rock is actually a catchment for the town of Hyden's water supply with a foot high concrete / stone wall directing water to a reservoir on the west side of the Rock. There was a staircase leading up past the reservoir and up onto the rock itself with lots of signs and information about the Rock and explaining the process of the water catchment. At the top we were greeted with a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside of she oaks, mallee forests, swamp lands, dried lakes, and rolling grain fields with mountains in the distance. Quite surprising! What was also surprising was finding lots of depressions in the Rock on top with some containing enough soil for shrubs and even small trees to grow. Quite a number contained pools of water, micro habitats teeming with life, including tadpoles! Another amazing day in this great country of ours!
an 'ANZAC' to follow from his or her enlistment through their entire war experience by placing a random 'name card' (that you were given upon entry) onto an electronic reader at various points in the Centre to get the service person's full war experience in The Great War to coming home, if they were lucky enough to. It was a unique way to become more immersed and personal with those who served.
In between showers we went up to the Mt Melville Lookout Tower which provided panoramic views over Albany CBD as well as the surrounding landscape. It was somewhat breezy up there but well worth the visit! The remainder of the day was checking out the shops and doing some 'drive bys' of some of the local attractions, just to see where they were. Not the greatest day weather wise but still glad to have got to see a few things! Day 81 - From Augusta to Albany via an Earthquake at Walpole & The Valley of the Giants...16/9/2018
Around 20 years ago in 1996, Mr Roo and Roo had travelled to Perth, Western Australia from Mildura, Victoria for a Harley Davidson Motorcycle Rally with 17 other bike riders including Mr Roo on his Harley and Roo in her Subaru with the trailer, as the car back up for the group.
On the return journey from Perth back to Mildura, we had travelled along this same highway and, at this stage of the journey our line of bikes had stretched out somewhat along the highway as the Harleys rumbled through the forest. Roo was typically at the rear of the line of bikes and in this instance it was the same, with Mr Roo just in front, as the last bike. When all of the sudden in the middle of the forest area (see first pic below) a young boy crashed out of the forest tumbling down the soft embankment and out on to the road just ahead of Mr Roo. It was so unexpected and Mr Roo stopped and went back to the young boy who was in obvious distress with streaks of dirt down his face and Roo pulled over just ahead. He chatted with this boy and discovered that he was lost and had been lost for a fair period of time that afternoon. He had heard the rumble of the bikes on the highway and headed for it, hence tumbling out of the bushes down onto the road. It was just on dark and Mr Roo was keen to get into Pemberton itself as it was a precarious road with wildlife most likely to become a serious issue and said to the young boy to hop into the car and Roo will take you home. So this young boy bravely got into Roo's car and after questioning and in between sobs, the young boy was able to describe where he had come from and Roo remembered seeing the Cabin Park around 4 to 5 km back and drove him back whilst Mr Roo continued on. He eventually calmed down and got excited as we drove into the area where he was staying with his family. We managed to find the right cabin, after a bit of a drive through and the place did seemed eerily deserted. I knocked on the door where the boy said "That's the one!" and an elderly lady answered and the look of relief on her face when she saw the young boy was priceless! He had been lost most of the afternoon and virtually the entire park was out looking for him! Satisfied that he was back in his rightful place, Roo left them be and continue on to Pemberton where she joined up with Mr Roo and other campers for the night. It was such an impactful event all those years ago and and the memory of it is still as vivid as ever we found that we were rellving those moments again as we travelled through the amazing forests. Pemberton itself is a sleepy hollow of farmland surrounded by the tall karri forests which are simply amazing! Just a lovely place! We did however, decide not to stay on but to continue and even aim for Albany another 232km further on given that it was still early in the day. We called in at Walpole to refuel and got directions to the famous Valley of the Giants as we wanted to do the Tree Top Walk which was being built last time where were here. As we arrived a gentleman was sitting in the caravan next to us and said, excitedly, "Did you feel the earthquake"? We said "what earthquake"? He explained that about an hour and a half ago there was an earthquake that registered 5.7 on the richter scale with the epicentre near at Walpole which was the time we had just come through there. As we were in the car, we did not feel a thing! We went to the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk was amazing! Soaring straight tingle trees towered above us even when we were 40 metres up on the walkway! Such a beautiful place of amazing grandeur! We also went on the Ancient Empire boardwalk which had trees that were estimated to be 400 years old! Certainly worth a visit! We arrived at Albany just before sunset and managed to set up for the night in between the showery conditions. Given the lateness of the hour, we did not have a look around town - saving that for tomorrow!
We then took a drive up to the popular town of Margaret River, about 40km north of Augusta. We had actually planned to stay in Margaret River but had found it to be booked out, so we chose to stay in Augusta as we had planned to see the southern tip area regardless.
Margaret River is a bustling town known for its wineries, boutique style shops, surrounding natural beauty and nearby surf beaches. We called into the Margaret River Visitor Centre as Jess was after a particular souvenir pin that she was hoping to get back at the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse but a lady in front unexpectedly grabbed the whole wad of them and bought them all! Consequently they had none left in stock so they suggested we try at the Margaret River Visitor Centre so that was our first port of call. Whilst they did not have any pins, we did find a pamphlet for the Margaret River Eagles Heritage Wildlife Centre which we had not known about, and that they happened to be running a Flight Demonstration, starting in 20 minutes! So the boys stayed in town for lunch and Jess and Roo raced off to the Eagle Centre and made it in time for the Flight Show. Over the years we have been lucky enough to see a few of these shows and admittedly, this was one of the most down to earth informative presentations we have ever seen! The Eagles Heritage Centre is essentially a rescue and rehabilitation service for Australian birds of prey. It started in 1987 out of a need to provide homes for birds that due to the nature of their injuries and cannot be sufficiently rehabilitated to be returned to the wild. It also has several acres away from the public dedicated to wildlife rehabilitation including specialised facilities designed to have birds wherever possible, returned to the wild. The public section, which we saw today helps fund the not for profit service and relies on volunteers. The first bird to be brought out was a barn owl - Jess's all time favourite bird! During the presentation, to our surprise, he offered anyone who was interested to have a chance to hold "Ivy" to come forward. For Jess, this was a dream come true! She was absolutely stoked to have this out of the blue experience! An hour previous, we had not even known that this facility existed (we should do more advanced research!) and here she was having the dream of a lifetime fulfilled, just like that! The show also included a free flight show of black kites who were free to fly and show their prey catching skills both in the sky and on the ground. It was really interesting and well worth seeing! After this experience we headed back to town and joined the boys for more of a look around the Village of Margaret River and then we decided to the beach region to see surf areas as it is where they host the internationally known surfing event, the Margaret River Pro that also makes Margaret River a popular town. We then headed back to Augusta via the magical and scenic Caves Road which blew us away. It was such a pretty drive with towering trees over the road, as if you were entering (with a bit of imagination) a cave of trees. Yes there were several cave locations off this road but it was late in the day and we were just as happy to enjoy the scenic drive back to Augusta to cap off a pretty good day! After 99 days 'on the road' travelling through some amazing country scenery, we finally arrived back home in Mildura, Victoria. Over our entire journey we covered a massive distance of just over 19,100km!
We are ever thankful to have had this opportunity to be able to travel as a family through this amazing country of Australia and know that many dream to do what we have just done, and more. There is so much to see and experience and we are truly grateful for the adventures we had. So if the opportunity ever presents to you to do a similar journey, we certainly can recommend it! It is said that "there is no place like home" however, each of us can attest, 'we'd do it all again tomorrow'! On behalf of the "Roo" clan, thank you for taking an interest in our travel blog ... Roo
They did say that the interaction activities will continue to be staffed by volunteers during the closure, but during our two days here, we did not see any and perhaps that was due to the cold and showery conditions.
So our first port of call as we headed south, about 52 km from Bunbury on the Bussell Highway was the pretty town of Bussellton. Boy it was cold! We managed to have a look at the famous Busselton Jetty which is reportedly the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere at length of 1.841km long. We then continued further along the coast to Dunsborough which was a small but bustling and vibrant surfer type of village with beautiful beaches. 13km further on we went to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and checked out the view which overlooks the Indian Ocean, Cape Naturaliste and the Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park. We reached our destination, at the Turner Caravan Park in Augusta, the south western most town in Western Australia in the late afternoon and after setting up went for a walk despite the chilly conditions before the sun set along the shores of the Blackwood River to the Blackwood River mouth where it meets the Southern Ocean.
After lunch we continued on through the quirky town of Waroona and into the Logue Brook Dam and Lake Brockman area and took a drive across the dam wall. This area was very pretty with a heavy prevalence of wildflowers growing under the canopies of the trees with oranges, lemons, yellows and purples.
We also passed through the Harvey region - including Yarloop, an old historic town that suffered immensley in the wild bush fires of 2016. A unique feature of this town and others in the Harvey region is that they have unique and artistic town welcome mosaic murals at their entry to town. They were very special!
Donnybrook was another town of interest on our road trip and took us through some amazing hillside landscapes and greenery. Given the recent (and current) rain, every where you looked was thick green grassed hills. We stopped at Donnybrook and took a look at the Donnybrook War Memorial and adjacent amphitheatre style park. We were pretty chuffed to see the red capped parrot too today in our travels. Despite the cold and rainy weather we managed to have a great day out!
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July 2023
About UsIn June /July and August of 2013 Roo and family embarked on a travel experience of a lifetime in the Australian Outback and initially created this website for those family and friends to follow us on our Journey. |