south australia: perlubie beach

Pandurra Station to Streaky Bay is a decent drive with the kids so we made sure we stopped for a play in the park at Minnipa! And there was Tully and his folks again! Now we don't know who was following who but it was nice to see familiar faces!!

If we'd had the time we would've visited Pildappa Rock. Apparently it's a delightful place to stay. Our list of places to visit on our next trip is getting longer! 

We stopped in at Streaky Bay which was our last stop at a supermarket before hitting the bitumen across the Nullabor. I made sure we stocked up on fresh veggies (including carrots, sweet potato and corn which can be taken across the border) and frozen veggies because I knew we'd miss them in the few days from the WA border to the next supermarket. 

Oh and another tip. Fill up with diesel at Poochera. Streaky Bay was an extra 20c litre which adds up!

If you can free camp then Perlubie Beach is a place you'll want to stay. If you have the right gear you can even camp right on the beach. We arrived at Perlubie late in the afternoon and found ourselves a spot in the carpark just behind the beach. J remarked "I reckon we could get the van on to the beach. Might be an adventure." As we were planning to leave as early as possible the following morning it wasn't really an adventure I was comfortable with. We settled with a compromise and ate dinner on the beach after the boys explored the caves on the western end. What a spot!

western australia: south west

Poor little A had a nasty reaction to some bites after commandoing around at the picnic ground in Walpole. 

Within an hour his face, ears and neck had swelled but we were in Nornalop by then. He'd not had a reaction like this before. A wasn't really distressed, just itchy around his eyes and ears. It's good to take photos in these cases to see how much/little the swelling improves and the rash spreads. J raced back to the pharmacy for antihistamines but it was a worriesome night. Although rare, children can have a delayed anaphylactic reaction. The closest hospital was 45 minutes away in Albany and, fortunately, J had adrenalin on hand in the event that A deteriorated. 

western australia: perth

This was the dinner we all threw together one night. 

It was Cuban black beans with pulled beef, rice, fiesta salsa and nachos. What we didn't take photos of was the sangria which was delicious!

Remember to throw pomegranate seeds in to the salsa. 

http://m.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/recipe-search/feature-recipe/2014/6/cuban-black-beans-and-rice-with-pulled-beef/

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/32001/fiesta+salsa

western australia: perth

We raced up to Perth from Walpole, stopped in Bridgeton for lunch. Sadly we didn't have the time to stop at Donnybrook Apple Park but if you've got kids in the car you'd either better make sure you do have time to stop or they are asleep. One word. Epic!

We were in Singleton overnight in a cousin's front yard a stones throw from the beach. It was so good to catch up. P and I enjoyed our morning walk. 

And what a week in Perth. 

Initially, when we were discussing the West Coast, we'd considered bypassing Perth though we had a few mates we wanted to catch up with. 

It was great to see our friends, have dinner with them and have the kids play together. Our friends also put us up in their place in Subiaco so we spread out for the week with a house to ourselves. Funnily enough, though, we all slept within 21 foot of each other!

If you've been reading the blog you'll know that Cyril, my great great uncle, was being recognised in a sunset ceremony on the eve of ANZAC Day. It's hard to put in to words exactly what this meant for me. As I delivered a wreath to the memorial, with my cousins, I thought of Cyril's father and mother (and so many more like them) who lost sons, of his sister, my grandmothers mum, who wouldn't have remembered her older brother. I thought of Cyril's brother, Norman, who was later exempt from the war due to the loss of his brother. And I thought of my grandmother. Cyril's family would have been proud of him but they were heartbroken. 

Before the service my cousin who is dedicated to our genealogy mentioned that there is one line of the family that she's not yet been able to track down. Well out from the crowd came a couple, the descendants of Cyril's sister, whom my cousin had spoken of. And what a wonderful surprise!

We were able to meet with them later in the week AND his aunt, who, at 90, spent time with and knew many relatives. This meeting only emphasised the far reaching impact of Cyril's life and death. 

Curtin University have enlarged and enhanced the photograph taken of the 11th Battalion (after they emerged from a church service) in Cheops, Egypt and it takes up a huge wall of the gallery. It's impossible restive and worth making a trip to. The exhibition is on until late 2015 and the soldiers are almost life sized. 

Our Cyril is #587. 

Many of my West Australian relatives are buried at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth so we took the time to pay our respects. 

This is the grave of Cyril's sister (my grandmothers mum) and their parents. 

Our time in Perth, being with family, was especially significant. It was important for me to touch base with them and listen to their stories. 

western australia: albany to walpole

I'm so pleased we saw the SW of WA but the brief visit has only whetted our appetites so it's going on the ever-growing list of places to get back to. There was so much we didn't have time to see! 

We drove from our free camp on the Pallinup River to just outside of Walpole.

Albany, the largest town we'd seen in a while turned out to be a good spot to refill the water tanks (thank you servo!) and we really enjoyed our visit to the National ANZAC Centre. 

The National ANZAC Centre has been built on a site with views to where the ships left in 1914 on their way to Egypt. The premise of the centre is to bring alive the personal stories of war. Our daughter followed the life of Olive, a nurse in the war, and she read about how Olive treated soldiers and moved around during the war. It's a fabulous place to visit if you can. 

From Albany we drove to a brewery where we met with friends from Tassie! We had brekky with this American family, Mum, Dad and twin boys, in the Bay of Fires and we've kept in contact. These guys are on the road semi-indefinitely. (Does that make sense?) 

We thought we might get further west than we did that day but we stopped for quite a while in Albany and it was good to slow down somewhat after the run across the Nullabor. 

Just east of Walpole you'll find Ayr Salean - a farm stay set on hectares. It's absolutely beautiful and well equipped with laundry, toilets, showers and camp kitchen. A few permanents live and work onsite and it was one of our most enjoyable stays down in the bush overlooking the dams surrounded by grass trees.

The Valley of the Giants is a must-see when down that way. It's a 15 minute drive from Ayr Salean and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists a year.  

Do you remember seeing the image of the car driving through the huge Tingle tree years ago? 

Sadly that Tingle tree has died. The root system of these trees is close to the surface and the numbers of visitors killed the tree. 

An incredible air walk has been constructed 40m up in the canopy so now visitors to the area can see these majestic trees knowing they aren't causing damage to the roots. 

We happened to arrive when Hans, the guide, had set up to take a school group abseiling and he offered for our kids to have a turn. Without hesitation the kids threw on the harnesses and helmets and abseiled off the air walk. It was impressive. 

40m up. My legs were a little shaky!

Another giant Tingle tree. 

A few weeks ago this part of the country was alight so parks were conducting controlled burns across the south west. I love this awkward family photo with the fires in Nornalup. 

western australia: pallinup river

Just as we hit the Nullabor that we received an email to say that my great, great uncle, Cyril, was being recognised in a sunset ceremony in Kings Park in Perth on the eve of ANZAC Day. 

Having the deadline meant we'd have to either miss the south west of Western Australia or do the whirlwind tour. We opted for the latter and after Northam we headed south to Esperance. 

There's a great free camp ($5/n) at an olive grove a few minutes out of Esperance. We stayed the night before making our way to one of the most beautiful free camps we've come across in the four months we've been on the road. The riverside free camp at Pallinup, where we nestled the van in a site on the southern side of the road was a magic place in the afternoon and a magic spot to wake up. 

western australia : baxter rest stop to fraser range station

A quick game of cricket before hitting the road at Baxter rest stop (has a toilet and a dump point). 

It won't surprise you that the longest straight stretch of road in Australia - 146km - is on the Nullabor. At night you can see the lights of a road train approaching from kilometres away! There's plenty to look out for during the day - camels, cattle, kangaroos and huge wedge-tailed eagles. We were hopeful but didn't see a camel!