Cervantes and Geraldton

We left Perth, excited to be on the way to Kalbarri to visit our awesome friends, Bec and John.

Cervantes was the first stop and we stayed at a seaside caravan park in what seemed like a bit of a ghost town.  The caravan park was huge but had only half a dozen vans in it and the streets were largely deserted.  A quick drive around town revealed that nearly everyone owns a tractor and a huge, empty boat trailer.  Assuming that at least 85% of the aforementioned huge, empty boat trailers usually held huge boats, we concluded that most people were fisher folk and that everyone was out fishing - obviously the local industry :)

Jenny was keen to see The Pinnacles at sunset so we drove out there mid afternoon and spent a lovely few hours walking through the desert, looking at the amazing towers.  It was fun trying to explain to Ben that even though all the other people there were ignoring the 'Keep off the Dunes' and 'Don't Touch the Pinnacles' signs, he had to obey them.

Jenny and Ben being Pinnacles.

The sunset was nice but nothing spectacular.  We'd hoped for one of those blazing red skies but it was cloudy so it was a bit tame.  The moon came out early and was bright in the sky, peeking out from behind clouds on the opposite horizon so we still had some great views as darkness fell. 

First use of our driving lights!

On the way home we decided we couldn't be arsed cooking so we stopped at the local bistro for some fresh seafood.  I don't usually eat crustaceans but the locally caught lobster was a house special and Jenny harangued me with 'Green Eggs and Ham' until I agreed to try it.  She even took a photo of the occasion and sent it to my Mum.  For the record it was yummy :)

The next day we took a drive to Jurien Bay and were again impressed by the clean, modern foreshore and awesome playground.  Ben had a great ride (except for when some asshole tried to run him over - Ben was fine, we were very close to dragging the old bastard under the jetty and leaving him tied to the pylons for the crabs to nibble on).

The old Jurien jetty is a protected zone that is excellent for snorkeling.  Jenny and Ben went in but I woosed out because it was cold and windy.  The wind proved to be a problem and visibility was really poor.  Jenny spent most of the time trying to stop Ben washing into the pylons and in the process, washed into one herself.  The barnacles sliced into her upper arm a bit and now it has healed (this is a few weeks ago now) she has four little slice scars - it looks like she was attacked by a teeny weeny Wolverine.

Lake Thetis is one of only a few places in the world with living marine stromatolites, or 'Living fossils'. The microbes that build stromatolites are a species of cyanobacteria and are similar to those which are the earliest record of life on Earth. The lake's stromatolites that look like rocky lumps have been dated to about 3370 years old. (Text stolen from http://www.visitpinnaclescountry.com.au/pages/lake-thetis-and-stromatolites)

Riding / jogging around Lake Thetis.

The lake has a walking track around it so Ben rode his bike and we decided to jog around it with him.  He got very inspired by the sand and rocky track and thought he was like his idol Chris Akrigg.  he made me run next to him with music pumping from my phone like he was in an action video.

I wasn't really looking forward to Geraldton - it was a stop over to break up the drive and to get Jenny a neck X-ray (recommended by a physio as her neck keeps going into spasm).  As it was just before Easter we got chocolate eggs when we checked into the caravan park and they also gave Ben an activity pack.  We went out to do some shopping only to be reminded that everything shuts at 5pm in WA.  Silly, silly city slickers.  We checked Trip Advisor for a good restaurant and ended up at the foreshore in an Italian place.  I don't want to bang on yet again about the outstanding WA foreshores but this one was the best yet.  Opposite the restaurant, next to a paved trail along the beach were three modern, interesting, enclosed playgrounds and a splash park play area.  They were clean and tidy - the best we have seen.  Melbourne could learn a LOT.  Ben insisted upon having a play and we had to promise a return trip the following day as it was after 6pm and the splash park wasn't splashy.  We organised late checkout the following day so that we could come back.

One of the three play areas on the Geraldton foreshore.  Awesome!

The restaurant had the best pizza we have had in years and the best chocolate milkshake 'in the world' (according to Ben.  We agreed, it was awesome.)

Perth - Friends and Family fun!

After a quick ride around the caravan park with his new friend Dusty, and another lengthy skate park session for Ben, we left Busselton for Perth.  Our buddies Buzz, Jo and Lana were also visiting Perth from Melbourne that week so we picked a caravan park near where they were staying.

It was a great park even though it was surrounded by roadworks which kept confusing our GPS.  Twice the car navigation took us out the gate, left, down the road 1km, all the way around a roundabout and back 1km past the caravan park and down the road in the direction we actually should have taken in the first place.  After that we never trusted it without corroboration from Google Maps.  It was nice to finally find something with a worse sense of direction than me (Lou).

Being in a big city was nice and we were able to stock up on essentials and just hang out for a while without having to go anywhere in a hurry.  The caravan park had a great pool, playgrounds and lots of speedbumps, ramps and stairs for Ben to ride over.  One morning he yelled "look Mummy!" and I popped my head out the door to see him riding his bike past me whilst standing on the seat!

Stunt riding

We were lucky that our Perth visit coincided with so many great things.  Firstly, we went to Cottesloe Beach to see the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition and marvelled at how enormous our car looked parked in suburban Perth with all the sedans and hatchbacks.  It was not hard to spot in the carpark!  The sculptures were weird and great, and it was a hot day so Ben had a swim in his undies and then had to sprint/dance across the scorching sand to some shade before he could put his shoes and clothes back on.

Can't expect those two to pass a giant nose and not pick it..

We also hit town at the same time as the Camping and Caravan show, which was super handy because we needed to buy some new towing mirrors to replace the ones we had bought on the recommendation of the caravan dealer.  The original mirrors drove us mad with wind noise and rattling and we were also sick of taking them on and off all the time.  Jenny went to the show while Ben and I stayed with the van which was getting it's first service.  She got new mirrors fitted (enormous ones that replace the existing side mirrors) and a bunch of other little things we needed, saving money because of the show specials. She also did her bit for inclusion and basic civility.  When she arrived at the show, she parked behind a ute that had a big "F&%k off we're full" sticker on the bumper bar so she looked around and while no-one was watching, peeled it off.  Too bad she didn't have a 'Magic Happens' sticker handy to replace it with.

After driving across the country, we can assure you that we are definitely NOT full.

Our third awesome timing thing was catching up with our Melbourne friends Buzz, Jo and Lana who were over in Perth for a girls' weekend.  Lana and Jo have family there and we met them at the beach for a glass of wine and beautiful sunset before heading back to Lana's sister's place for a yummy dinner.  Ben played with Lana's nephew and they both ended up crashing on the couch around 9pm, watching Bambi.  It was so great seeing our friends and it was weird because it didn't at all feel like we had been away for 6 weeks.

Lou and Lana!

Sunday, March 20th was dirt go kart race day at Wellard and a chance to catch up with my Perth based Aunt and cousins.  What an awesome day!  They are a motor sport family and my cousins have built and raced go karts since they were children.  My cousin Luke's brilliant nieces (11 and 9) have taken up the sport and they are totally amazing young women.  Ben had never met his (2nd? 3rd?) cousins Hayley and Elissa but they connected right away and the girls took him under their wings immediately.  We had to sign release forms and wear wrist tags to be allowed in the pit area where all the karts are readied for racing.  It was noisy and hot and super interesting.  My Aunt and other cousins came along too as this was the only day we could all meet up.  My cousin Luke and both girls raced in multiple events and the heat, noise and flying mud as they sped around the track was a really new and exciting experience.  I can't stress enough how amazing the girls are.  Seeing them fully kitted out in racing suits, neck supports and helmets, maneuvering around the track (and all the other go karts) and avoiding collisions was just so impressive.  I wish I'd been that cool when I was their age.  Ben idolised them and wanted to know when he could start racing go karts too.  There is a 5yo category so he saw kids his age racing and wanted to have a go.  Hopefully he will get over that desire by the time we get back home :)

Ben with his cool racing cousins.

The next day Ben nagged us to find a local skate park and we found a good one not far from where we were staying.  Being a school day, he had the place to himself and channeling his brave cousins, rode down a steep ramp that he would previously have avoided.  We've made a point now of finding out where the nearest medical facilities are when we arrive in a new town - just in case ;)

He REALLY wanted this.

Busselton - 1.8km long jetty and best skate park in the world

We headed to Busselton, looking forward to seeing the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere at 1.8km long.  There is a miniature train that runs along it, taking visitors to the underwater observatory at the far end.


Our caravan park backed onto a bike trail that led to the beach and along to the foreshore esplanade to the  jetty.  We rode towards the jetty, impressed from afar at the sight of it stretching so far out into the water.  One thing we have noticed since we arrived in WA is that they do excellent esplanades here.  Esperance had a brilliant long stretch of clean green grass with modern playgrounds and great beach access, Albany's was shorter but also had lots of playgrounds, beach access and a great restaurant.  Busselton blew us away.  It's so great (awesome weather helps I suppose) and we rode along the bike path remarking at how Melbourne could learn a thing or two.  Then we spotted the skate park.

Oh.My.God.  It is the best skate park we have ever seen (including those on YouTube, and we have seen a LOT of those thanks to Ben's bike trick obsession).  Ben saw it, yelled "Skate Park!" and rode off at high speed.  It was pretty busy as it was late afternoon but he had a ride around, dodging kids on skateboards and scooters.  There were only a few kids on bikes but one guy in particular was outstanding, doing amazing tricks in the deep, round bowl.  We convinced Ben to leave only by promising to return the following morning when all the kids were at school.

The next day we started off with skate park time and with hardly anyone else there, Ben became very confident very quickly.  He freaked us out at times but we had to trust him and he was amazing.  As his confidence grew we moved from concerned to really proud (except when he fell off the side of a bridge and face planted from 6 feet.  Then we slipped back to concerned momentarily until he got up, dusted himself off and kept riding.)

Part of the skate park.  It's too big to fit in one shot.

Up ramps...

Down stairs

Up and over.

He fell off the side of this bridge when someone scooted in his path.  Got back on though..

We had a break from riding and took the miniature train along the 1.8km jetty to the underwater observatory at the end.  They take you down through 4 levels of the ocean and at each level there is an abundance of sea life visible through the large windows.  The old jetty burned down and they rebuilt it with concrete pylons.  The remnants of the old jetty are still visible on the sea bed and they are home to many sea creatures.  Hundreds of fish of dozens of species swim past - all different shapes, sizes and colours.  It made me want to go fishing...

About to board the miniature train.

On our way to the aquarium.

In the underwater observatory.

The very end of the jetty.

<Warning - toilet story ahead.  Maybe don't continue if you have a weak stomach.>

Bussleton will always be remembered as the location where I earned a lifetime of 'you owe me big time' points.

Caravan toilets have a canister that holds all the deposits until you take it out and empty it into a 'Dump Point'.  A dump point is usually a concrete sink (some large, some small) with a deep, wide drain pipe and a hose to rinse the deposits down the drain and clean out the canister. The majority of caravan parks have dump points but some do not and in those cases, you take the canister to a municipal tip which usually has one.  We have a strict rule that only number 1s go into the caravan toilet.  Number 2s mean a walk to the toilet block or a trip outside with a shovel.  This incident is a very good illustration of why the rule is a good one.

One afternoon, Jenny came back to the caravan after emptying the canister and said "The dump point drain is blocked, it's all just sitting there".  I went to have a look and when I returned to the van I relayed the bad news. "I don't think that is a dump point. There is no signage.  I'll go and ask."

As it turned out, it was not a dump point.  It was a new drain that had not been connected yet - essentially making it a concrete bowl with a drain hole that led to yet to be dug out dirt.  It was a concrete bowl that now contained the contents of a toilet canister.  Yes, that is gross.  The woman at the front desk looked horrified and I promised that we would clean it out.

Here's the kicker.  Jenny has a really weak stomach and if she had gone anywhere near it she would have barfed (plus she wishes to highlight that she was cooking our dinner at the time).  So, lucky me got the job!  Thanks to the toilet chemicals it wasn't actually as hideous as I was expecting.  What wasn't helpful was the commentary from a nearby caravan park resident who came out with his beer, stood there watching and helpfully said "That isn't a dump point you know".

"Yes, I realise that." I replied.
"It's a drain, not hooked up.  That's gonna stink."
"Yes, that's why I am cleaning it up.  It's mostly water. No big deal."
"It's not a dump point."
"Yes, thanks.  I know it's not a dump point."

Then another guy came over and stood with him.

"That's not a dump point you know."

I nearly threw a handful of gunk at him....

The rest of our time in Busselton involved more trips to the skate park and me taking full advantage of the brownie points I had earned.

As a small aside, I saw this at a dump point in another caravan park.  I don't even want to think about the events that led to this sign being necessary...

Caves!

There are some amazing caves in the Margaret River region so we picked 2 which were along our route.  The first we visited was Lake Cave which has a huge staircase down to the cave entrance and then some more steep, narrow stairs into the cave itself.  You can only visit Lake Cave with a guide and we were with about 20 other people.  The stalactites and stalagmites are amazing and there is an upside down rock 'table' suspended from the roof, hovering just above the surface of the water.

Halfway down the stairs to the cave entrance.

The suspended table stalactite.

Ben wasn't that thrilled when the guide turned off all the lights to demonstrate total darkness.  Whispered comparisons with the Bat Cave got us through but he was still pretty keen to get back out into the daylight.  He had a great time climbing through a replica tunnel back in the visitor centre though so he obviously wasn't too concerned.

We camped at a nearby National Park campsite called Conto Campground which was brilliant.  There was no water or power, but we are self sufficient so that wasn't a problem.  The toilets were immaculate and the camp kitchen looked brand new.  There was hardly anyone there so Ben was able to ride around all the paths and through the other sites, up and down hill.  We saw some really bright stars and looked at the moon through Ben's telescope.  It was bright, hot and sunny the next morning and a massive goanna strolled through the site as we were packing up.  He seemed quite unconcerned about the three of us squatting nearby peering at him curiously and taking photos.

Mammoth Cave was our first stop that day although Ben was a bit reluctant to go to another cave.  This one was self guided and we ended up seeing only a couple of other people in there.  We were given headsets with little audio players and as you walked through, you enter the number of whichever part of the cave you are viewing and it plays you a recording of the relevant information.  Mammoth Cave contained a huge number and variety fossils.  I thought that perhaps there was also a mammoth fossil but it is named for its size :)

Jenny and Ben in Mammoth Cave.

Albany and Denmark (and a whinge about Ford)

The highlight of Albany was the fish and chips at the Three Anchors Tavern.  Jenny had it the first night we were there and despite trying to be budget conscious, she insisted that we go back the next night too so we could all experience this culinary delight.  We did and she was right, it was awesome fish and chips and I suspect their batter has some magical ingredients that we will never be able to identify.  The only downside of this is that we usually try to be health conscious and get grilled fish for Ben but after this meal he said “I never want that other fish ever again.  I want this fish with the yummy ‘skin’ on it”  Doh!

Dog Rock was also pretty cool.  It just sits in the middle of town, looking like a dog.  Here it is with Blake's undies.

Ben with Blake's undies at Dog Rock.

We were going to stay four nights in Albany and do some day trips but we met a couple in the caravan park who strongly recommended a park in Denmark, so we decided to spend two nights in each town.  Denmark is indeed a lovely place, however we arrived right after some rain so our riverside campsite came with a free manky river odour.  This was compounded by the stinky river mud that Jenny and Ben brought back on their shoes and shorts after going exploring.  We got used to it after a while and had a lovely stay.  We had interesting chats with people in the camp kitchen and Ben made friends with some German boys he met in the playground.  I asked him what their names were and he said "I don't know.  I can't understand anything they say and they can't understand anything I say."  It didn't seem to matter, pointing, smiling and laughing seemed to do the trick!

Repairing the windscreen chip from Esperance wasn’t going well and we were starting to think that a Jeep or second hand Landcruiser might have been a better choice.  The chip was on the driver’s side of the windscreen about a quarter of the way up and towards the middle.  It was the size of a 10c piece with star cracks radiating out from the centre and everyone we spoke to said it would mean a new windscreen. 

 This wasn’t too much of a worry at the time as we have cover and when we called the insurance company they advised that we can just get it fixed anywhere and pay the $100 excess.    It wasn’t until we started ringing around and then contacted Ford that we discovered the model of Ranger we have is so new that THERE ARE NO WINDSCREENS IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!  That’s some really great forward planning, Ford.  It’s a 4WD favoured by off road travellers and tradesmen.  Did no-one in the spare parts division consider that those demographics are highly prone to windscreen damage and that they should probably stock a few spares somewhere??! Morons. 

There is apparently a shipment of windscreens due into Melbourne at the end of April (by which time we will be somewhere around Broome) and we were helpfully informed that if they freighted it to Broome it would take several extra weeks and “would probably get smashed in the truck on the way”.  Thankfully, we ended up speaking with a super helpful guy at National Windscreens who recommended a company in Albany who could repair the chip (invisible filler – it’s awesome).  It was their only option really since there was no way to replace it and we weren't going to wait around in Albany for a month or more.  So, it is patched up now (and safe) and we are now hoping like hell that we don’t have any major windscreen issues until we are back on the Eastern side of the country or we might end up stranded in the middle of nowhere.

“Hello my darling!”

We highly recommend Denmark’s ‘Dinosaur World’, which also has a reptile house and many awesome birds.  We went for the Dinosaurs and were very pleasantly surprised to find that the owner, his reptiles and his entertaining parrots are the highlights of the establishment. As you approach the entrance from the carpark, you can see a number of high trees over the fence and a parrot sitting high in the branches greets you with a loud “Hello my darling!”  Ben answered of course, “Hello my darling!” and a love affair began.  I wish I had a dollar for every “Hello my darling” I heard that afternoon (and most days since!).

At the front desk we were greeted by the owner, who is an older Englishman.  If I hadn’t been looking at him, I would have sworn that we’d been greeted by the actor, Michael Caine and every time I heard him speak for the rest of the afternoon I found it slightly disconcerting.  The dinosaurs are great – replicas of the real fossils from some of the most famous museums around the world.  But, the highlight was definitely when the owner brought out a carpet python and three lizards for us to hold.  Ben was awesome and stood happily as the python was draped around his neck and then again later when the owner plonked a huge lizard on his head. 

Ben with 'Monty' the python.

We also went outside where there are many aviaries and free flying birds on perches.  The red tailed black cockatoo in particular was happy to sit on our shoulders and the smaller birds chattered, sat on us and were very friendly.  

After digging a worm out of the ground, this guy tried to eat Ben's shoe.

We also went to see the enormous trees in the Valley of the Giants.  The treetop walk is the highly advertised draw card for the area but for the $19 each (Ben free) we found it a little underwhelming (perhaps as we have done similar treetop walk in Tasmania so it didn’t have the ‘up high’ wow factor).  The trees are definitely magnificent but we found the free walk at ground level through the Ancient Empire much more interesting as you can see and walk right into the burnt out bases of the trees and everything is much closer. 

We passed a roadside veggie stall on the way home and it was great to pick up some super fresh local produce and explain to Ben that carrots looked deformed because they are real farm grown carrots, straight out of the ground and not bred and inspected to pass a supermarket’s attractiveness test. We bought some Indian corn to try (it does say you can eat it) but it obviously needs to be cooked some way other than how we did because it was like concrete and was totally inedible.  Decoration is probably the better use for it!

Note:  Cannot be eaten!  Can be used to bash in tent pegs.

Cape le Grand and Wave Rock

Unfortunately the weather turned over night so we just hung out the following morning and then went back to the National Park in the afternoon.  It was still overcast and drizzly but we really wanted to see Frenchman’s Peak and Hellfire Bay. On the way there we got our first windscreen stone chip of the trip (I’m sure it won’t be the last).

Frenchman’s Peak is a much harder climb than we anticipated and we loved it.  Ben scampered up over the steep rocks like a little monkey, insisting on taking the lead and finding the trail markers.  It was pretty hard going and there were parts where one slip would have led to a big slide off the edge so we strategically placed ourselves between Ben and the edge all the way up.  As we reached the top, the winds picked up again and it started blowing pretty hard, with some rain droplets starting to fall so we took in the views and headed back down again, keen to avoid the added slipperiness that we would face when the rocks got wet.

The intrepid climbers half way up Frenchman's Peak

As with the other Cape le Grand beaches, Hellfire Bay is beautiful and has its own unique characteristics that help differentiate it from all the other gorgeous beaches in the area.   It is much smaller and has a huge rock on one side as you enter the beach.  The cove is smaller than the other beaches but the sand and water is just as divine.  The blustery, cool weather meant that the beach was deserted and it was too cold for us to swim so took in the sights and headed home.

Wave Rock

We carried on to Ravensthorpe and set up in a rustic bushy caravan park before making the 2 hour drive North to Wave Rock.  It’s an amazing rock formation and Ben ran up and down the ‘wave’ pretending he was on his bike at a skate park.  We saw people above us on top of the rock so we climbed up to the top, found a fence and realised we probably shouldn’t have climbed up to the top. Apparently there is a walking trail… Luckily the fence was low enough for us to casually climb over while no-one was looking so there was no harm done.  

The visitor centre at Wave Rock is pretty cool and also has a vintage car, dinosaur display, giant cuddly kangaroo and animal farm.  The staff seemed harried – with our barista being lovely to us and then biting the head off another customer who dared interrupt her.  We felt lucky to get her good side.

Ben loved Wave Rock but was truly ecstatic when we went to Hippo’s Yawn, which is a nearby cave.  He climbed through and up until we couldn’t fit in the passage after him and had to call him back.  He only came out when we told him we were going to another cave nearby that had ancient Aboriginal hand paintings in it.  That cave was called Mulka’s Cave and it is covered with hundreds of red handprints.  None of it is cordoned off and we were very happy and surprised to see that it hadn’t been graffitied or damaged in any way.  Ben took a brief look at the paint and headed straight for a passage leading up and out the back of the cave into the forest.  We followed and ended up on top of the cave with a great view of the surrounding land.  Previous visitors had built rock cairns up there and Ben added one of his own there too. 

 

Esperance – so much fun!

Esperance has a really great esplanade and foreshore area.  The day after the Yabby Classic was insanely hot again and we had heard about a water slide into the ocean next to the James Street pier so we went to investigate.  What we found was not really a water slide, but a slide into the water.  They have built a square floating platform and put a playground slide out there.  Kids swim out to the platform, climb the ladder and slide down, splash!  It’s awesome!  There were a few too many people around to leave our stuff unattended so Ben and Jenny swam out there and had a great time.  There was a group of older aboriginal kids, probably early teens and they were amazing and frightening at the same time.  Their acrobatics were astounding, backflips, somersaults, really high leaps – all from the slippery top of the slide (and off the higher jetty nearby).  However, while I was thinking how spectacular they were, I was also worried they were going to slip off, whack their heads on the edge of the platform or land on each other. They obviously inspired Ben though because he happily leapt off the very high jetty shortly after that and enjoyed it immensely.

(I somehow managed not to take any photos that day so can’t show you what I mean)

Cape Arid National Park

We took a day trip out to Cape Arid National Park and by fortunate chance, stopped in at the Condingup Tavern on the way.  The waitress there recommended that we take a side trip to Wharton Beach which was a short drive down a side road.  This is one of those great tips that lead to a brilliant experience.  The beach is beautiful, with pristine white sand and amazingly clear water.  We obviously came at the right time of year because this amazing beach was empty except for three fishermen further up the beach to our right, and a couple of nudists on the distant rocks to our left.

Jenny and Ben in the beautiful water.

Separated at birth

Ben had such a great time swimming and jumping the waves at Wharton Beach that he fell asleep on the way to Cape Arid so we had to sit in the carpark until he woke up.  Then we found another awesome beach in the National Park called Dolphin Cove.  We had to follow a track through bush and over rocks to get to it and Ben discovered a love of following trail markers (which is ongoing).  He was very keen to lead the way.  When we made it to the top of the rocks overlooking the cove we found a beautiful sparkling cove with more of this area’s bright white sand.  To make it even more special, the beach was deserted except for 2 kangaroos which leapt off into the bush when they saw us.  It was a magical beach to swim at and the water was not too cold.

Dolphin Cove

Timer photos - always tricky.

Beach Driving!

We did a 4WD course in December and have been keen to try out some beach driving.  We rang to book on a beach drive tour where you take your own 4WD along but unfortunately they weren’t running the week we were there.  The tour operator suggested we just go ourselves and recommended an easy 22km route along the beach from Wylie Beach to Cape le Grand.  We thought it over and decided to do it.  We have a deflator to let the tires down (20-25psi on this sand) and a compressor to pump them up again when we get back to the bitumen.  We have a shovel and recovery gear.  There have also been loads of 4WDs on the beaches we have been to, so we figured if worst came to worst, someone would help us out.      

We packed the tent and camping gear in case we could find a spot to set up without the van for the night and set off.  We rolled onto the sand at Wylie Bay, let the tyres down and had one of the most spectacular drives we have ever had.  Sand driving is so much fun!  The steering is sloppy because of the spongy surface and low tyre pressure, you can’t turn sharply and you need to be careful braking.  You also have to find the right balance point with your speed.  It’s like a speedboat – the slower you go, the lower in the water (or sand in this case) you sit so you need to maintain enough speed to keep the car on top of the sand but not so much speed that you lose control.   The beach we were on is pretty flat and compact so it wasn’t very difficult.  Dips, soft sand and dunes are a whole other story and we will work our way up to them.

Jenny deflating our tyres to 25 psi

 

I don’t want to go on and on too much about the amazing beaches here, but this beach was amazing!  There is nothing like driving along a perfect white beach with perfect blue water next to you, feeling chuffed that you’ve successfully done something you had been worried about trying.

22km of this awesome view

 

As soon as we arrived at the Cape le Grand National Park end of the beach, I went to see if we could get a campsite.  There are 15 ranger managed sites and unfortunately they were all booked out.  The other camp ground in the park is at Lucky Bay and it was burned out in the recent fires so the demand at the Cape le Grand beach is high.  We wanted to look through the park anyway so had some lunch and drove around to Lucky Bay.

Lucky Bay is filled with happy backpackers.  This is because Lucky Bay is filled with very friendly kangaroos who are more than happy to pose while happy backpackers take selfies with them.  Ben loves animals and was very excited to have a pat and also pose with the friendly kangaroos.  They immediately became his friends.

There is a mobile café at Lucky Bay, run by a lovely lady called Robyne.  The sand is so compact there that you can drive onto the beach so she parks her van on the sand and does a roaring trade in coffee and ice-creams.  Her specialty is a 'Kangaccino' which is a cappuccino with 5 malteasers dropped in to represent kangaroo droppings.  We had a great chat, bought said coffee and ice-creams, drove down the beach a couple of hundred metres away from anyone else, parked on the sand, hopped out and went for a swim.  It’s very handy having your car right there on the sand next you, especially if you haven’t yet changed into your bathers and don’t want to bare your bum to the kangaroos.

Robyne's coffee van on the beach.

Park on the beach and hop straight into the water!

The waves were a perfect size and Ben did some awesome boogie boarding.  He is a great swimmer but we bought him a floatation vest to help him in currents and rips (great suggestion Kathryn!) and we realised that as an added bonus, it doubles as a handle so we can lift him up over waves.  He had one particularly long ride into shore, stood up with a huge smile on his face and declared “This is the best day EVER!”.  We both agreed!

"Best day EVER!"