One of the highlights of our trip and definitely one to put on your bucket list…swimming with whale sharks at Exmouth (Ningaloo Reef).  We also saw octopus, manta rays, sea horses and dugongs.  Turquoise Bay was also amazing.

Giant, gentle creatures that were just as interested in us, as we were of them.

After this we were off to Tom Price where we did a Rio Tinto iron ore mining tour.  It's on such a massive scale that four trains at 2.5 kilometres long were constantly transporting from TP to the port of Karatha. 

and we got our first (shredded) flat tyre

Next was Francois Peron national park -- Shelly beach for obvious reasons

Unfortunately we missed feeding time at Monkey Mia but we have seen many dolphins since then along our journey.

We made our way north to Warroora Station -- awesome place, very isolated.
After that was probably our favourite spot in all of Australia to camp but you couldn't live there--Ningaloo Reef.  Amazing. 
Funny enough,  it's the place we have the least photos of.  I guess that's because we were too busy enjoying it.

The water was turquoise blue, clear as and so warm and the fish were jumping onto our hooks…good times

So,  here we are in February, our trip almost done, and I am going back to June to catch up…don't get me started.
So when I last left you at Perth casino, we then headed north to Kalbarri.  Had a blast here camping on the river.
What do you mean there's no surf in Kalbarri….wrong!!!!

We stayed here a week with great mates we met along the way and did some hiking and visited 'natures window' -- pictures don't do it justice.

Oh and by the way,  they're not very smart here in WA ;)

Perth

BTW I found my pano of Busselton.

We spent about 1 week in Perth sightseeing and getting the car and caravan serviced. Perth is a nice city undergoing major harbour renovations.  Their train system poops all over ours in every way.  We spent a day in Freemantle which is a lovely 'oldish' harbour town and visited the original gaol.

And no I wasn't kidding about going to the casino. We went for 2 days and  Paul was happy playing blackjack and the kids were happy on the water slides….. 

…and I was happy because I barely saw the lot of them for 2 days.

North to Perth

Heading north to Perth we stopped off at Valley of the Giants and did the tree top walk.  It was all good until we started to ascend and I realised that the walkway was suspended - it moved, I didn't.  I managed to get through it by looking straight ahead and not letting go of the rails for a second. I was white as a ghost I am sure and my kids laughed at me the whole way. I don't remember ever being scared of heights before this.  Just another added bonus of getting older.

 After we finished our walk amongst the trees, we got up close to some of them on the ground…more my pace 

We stopped at Margaret River for a few days and loved it there but there's really not much to take photos of. It's sort of like Byron Bay - lots of (surf) shops and organic cafes. The beaches were great but it was overcast and we weren't on a winery budget….more like a cask wine budget so we gave them a miss.  Sorry Hollie, I know I let you down!

We did get a cool surf shot of this dude even though we don't know who the hell he is. We'll pretend it's one of Paul's mates.

We carried on after a few days to Busselton which is a really cute town. It boasts the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere. I took a great panoramic shot of the jetty but I couldn't download to my blog so you'll just have to take my word for it.  Paul and a few of his mates went to the local pubs on Anzac Day to play some 2up -  NOT.  Apparently 2up and pokey machines are not allowed in pubs in WA. If you want to gamble you have to go to Packer's Crown Casino…..coincidence???? 

Next stop Perth….

Crown casino

Albany-ish

 So after we left Esperance, we headed towards Albany. We spent the first few nights at Peaceful Bay Caravan Park and then headed backwards a little bit to join our mates at Cosy Corner free camp.  We were warned from travellers heading south to stay put during the school holidays as everything north was fully booked….so we did. 

For any of those who have done a bit of travelling, especially in free camps, you will have no doubt come across some dodgy characters. We had one at this camp and we called him 'the phile'.  He wouldn't talk to men or look any men in the eyes as he walked by but he went out of his way to make conversation with any young girls.  Anytime he would leave his camp, we would take turns moving or hiding his gear - he would become irate and we would all have a chuckle.


So other than infuriating creepy dude, what do you do when your stuck in the same place for 10 days…..fish of course!!

Woohoo - Paul caught 3 wild salmon!!

From Cosy Corner we went sight seeing around the Albany area.

We spent the day at Green's pool.  It is a beautiful spot with clear blue water and the local kids actually do their swimming lessons here during the summer.

We visited the Natural Bridge

                                                                                  ^

and the Gap.  If you look really close at the above photo, you can see tiny dots on top of the left hand cliff under the arrow

- that's Paul and the kids

We also visited the whaling station and were in awe of the display of whale skeletons - this one below is about 55metres.  They can get up to 70metres!!

So now we head north towards Margaret River 

Esperance onward

Our first stop after crossing the Nullarbor was Esperance. 

We spent the day at Cape Le Grand National Park but we could have spent weeks there. You literally need to line up at 8am each morning at the camp site hoping someone would leave.  If not, the ranger sent you packing back 40km to the town of Esperance to try your luck there again the next day - but man it was worth it if you got in!

The rock formations along the Cape Le Grand coast were so unusual and beautiful.  We visited whistling rock at Hellfire Bay and Frenchman's Peak.  The aboriginals have a story about this place where 2 children stole eagle eggs from the nest.  The mother eagle felt they had stolen her future and in return she carried the kids out to sea.  The early morning dew and waves that hit the rocks are the tears of the children's family and ancestors, and the whistling sound heard through the rock formations are their cries as they wait in vain for the children to return. The story is told to teach children to always obey there parents and elders.

On a lighter note, a moment of brotherly-sisterly love….it passes quickly so I get photos when I can

My favourite spot so far because of it's absolute beauty, is in Cape Le Grand NP and it is called Lucky Bay.  Lucky for anyone who witnesses her soft, squeaky, white sand and clear blue waters.  I didn't want to leave.

We saw seals playing in the waves and the locals were very cute and friendly

but all good things must come to an end so onward and upward (north) we go