Shark Bay

On July 19 we turned West off the North Coast H'way and toward the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. Our lunchtime stop was the amazing Hamelin Pool where we checked out the ancient Stomatolites that grow there. Stromatolites are colonies of micro-organisms that resemble the oldest and simplest forms of life found on earth around 3 billion years ago. They grow here because of the ultra salty water and lots of calcium bicarbonate from the massive amount of shells here. It was very interesting. Continuing on we found a great free camp at Eagle Bluff right on the beach with cliffs of sand overlooking turquoise waters full of sharks, whales and dugongs (we didn't see any). In the morning we drove to Monkey Mia and spent the next 2 days camped in this beautiful resort where we fed dolphins, swam, played on the beach and relaxed. It was great! Our final overnight stop in Shark Bay was at the Nanga Bay Resort which had well and truly passed its use by date and desperately needed a lot of maintenance and basic attention. But it was only $25 per night and was right next to another beautiful Shark Bay beach. We also visited Shell Beach whick is covered in cockle shells that are metres deep. The water was absolutely freezing but Ashleigh managed to have a dip.

Kalbarri

On the 16th July we said farewell to "Coro" and drove north for about 70km to Port Gregory for lunch and an unsuccessful round of fishing. A highlight along the way wasn't another one of Ashleigh's teeth falling out this time but her thumb nail, that had turned black after a collision with a rock a few months ago, finally fell off! Port Gregory is a tiny seaside hamlet bordered by a pink lake that is pink because of the beta carotene produced there. Another short drive further and we arrived at the coastal town of Kalbarri and checked into the Anchorage Caravan Park where we scored a sceni spot overlooking the Murchison River. During the following days we hung out in this sleepy town, played some Petanque and ventured into the spectacular Kalbarri National Park where we explored river gorges and admired dramatic sandstone cliff faces. Anthony had a break from the Bateson clan that day and toured in Supersexy (Sean and Steph's VW) to some spectacular sections of the winding river gorge. That evening we camped in a free (and very basic) rest area at Galena Bridge and enjoyed steaks on the camp BBQ and hot bananas with chocolate and marshmallows for dessert!

Finally heading north!

On Monday 12th July we finally departed Perth at about 3pm and made it as far as Waddi Farm, 30km past Cataby. We arrived at this very run-down (but only $25) caravan park just after dark and were out of there first thing in the morning. We stopped briefly at Geraldton for some fuel and arrived at spectacular Coronation Beach, about 20km further north, at about 4pm. For the first time in a few weeks we had beautiful sunny weather and a great campsite right by the beach - perfect (and only $10)! Sean, Steph and Jonah arrived about 5.30pm which was a huge shock as they only left Perth that morning. Over the next 2 days we swam, snorkelled, fished and surfed (well, some of us did) at this beautiful beach. Hannah showed off her bike riding skills by doing several laps of the campground and Sean did a bit of windsurfing. The highlight of our stay was a boat race where you had to construct your boat out of any materials found locally and the winner was the boat that made it to the breakers first. The race winner was Jonah Noe 1, closely followed by Sam's Pirate Ship and Steph's Super Red. Anthony's Sudafed catamaran capsized in the surf along with Ashleigh's Speedy and Simon's Blue Bottle Express. Sean's Yellow Gypsy Love also capsized and took a right hand turn up the coast and away to Ningaloo Reef. Hannah decided not to launch her boat and it remained in dry dock for the remainer of our stay.

Back to Perth

On Wednesday 23rd June it was pouring with rain as we made the trek from Dongara back to Perth. We were planning to stay at Lancelin but the weather was terrible so, after a coffee stop at Ledge Point, we continued on to our favourite caravan park at Fremantle. The following days we caught the train into town and visited the WA Museum and Art Gallery and took a tour through the Perth Mint where we watched liquid gold being poured into a bar. We also checked out the Maritime Museum and Shipwrecks Gallery that contained the remains of several dutch ships including the Batavia, Australia's second oldest known shipwreck, that was wrecked off the coast of WA in 1629. Hannah was fascinated with a skeleton in the museum whom she claimed she knew from Hope Street (hope everyone back there is OK). We spent a week camped in the Swan Valley and enjoyed bike riding and visiting Lilac Estate Winery, Ironbark brewery and Yahava Koffeeworks for tastings. But the best part of the last two weeks has been the people we have caught up with. We had a great time staying with Kate, Stu and Fin, and on July 6th we picked Anthony up from the airport.....the girls were soooo excited! We camped out with the Whites again at Wanneroo and were lucky enough to catch up with Peta, Reece and Bailey (Tassie travellers) just down the road. The following day we finally saw Sean and Steph and met the gorgeous baby Jonah. He is so incredibly cute and Hannah and Ashleigh are loving playing with their new cousin. There were also a couple of repairs to be done on Daisy including replacing a sway bar underneath there somewhere, and putting in some new interior light globes. The weather has turned incredibly cold now (coldest winter on record!) and the rains have come so we are looking forward to heading north again very soon.