Dongara Races

We had the Pajero serviced in Perth. On this occasion I specifically requested a tyre rotation due to the uneven wear caused from towing the camper. The store manager swore blind it’d been done, citing the service log as proof. Unfortunately for him, the biro I scrawled on the tyres earlier suggested otherwise, and to cut a long story short, lets just say they’ll be picking up the cost of the next service gratis.

Over Easter we organised to catch up with some old friends from London, road tripping up coast from Perth to one friends family home in the seaside town of Port Denison. We stopped at some sites on the way including the amazing Pinnacles.

Handleys and the Pinnacles

Sharp

Great catching up with these two nut jobs!

It was a special weekend for locals as it marked their annual country race meet.. giddy up! So we donned our favourite thongs and least holey T’s and headed for the track. Similar to city race meets, we backed exactly zero winners but walked away having sampled over priced tinnies and rubbed shoulders with the wannabe rich and famous. To ensure a family catered event, they’d installed a jumping castle and face-painting for anyone happy to stand in line with 247 other children. It was a cracker Easter and once again awesome to reacquaint with old friends.

Watching 'our' horse come in second last

And yes, we did stand in line with 247 other kids (Unicorn and LEGO man)

Next we drove to Kalbari, home of exceptional natural beauty including the Blue Holes, Natures Window, the Pink Lake and about 6 billion flies. Shocking you might say, but it was strangely positive allowing us to ensure our fly swallowing gag reflex was functioning. We stayed on a river just out of town on a 350,000 Acre working goat Station, nice but probably not the best choice in lieu of the fly thing. We caught our old travelling mates the Parsons for a play-date. Kids played on the beach and the men went surfing. Kalbarri is home to a pretty formidable left hander called Jakes Point that was an unexpected surprise.

Swinging fun at our station stay in Kalbarri

Are we there yet?

Nice view

Natures window

40c++ - but still smiling :-)

Pink Lake

Wow! My favourite color!!

Many shades of pink

We travelled north again to Denham, Shark Bay and Monkey Mia. Famous for the local Dolphin population who are fed at the waters edge in front of hundreds of fascinated onlookers. It’s a little tacky, but the area is worth a visit for the pristine beaches of Francois Peron National Park accessed by 4wd via long sandy tracks. Denham had an awesome playground for the kids, Emu’s wandering the main street and trade winds upwards of 20 knots. I should mention at this point that Western Australia (if I’m to believe the locals), is the 3^rd windiest place on Earth. Its fairly annoying when sleeping in a camper (flappy mcflap-flap).

Emus are casually strolling through the town center in Denham

Refreshing fun on a catamaran cruise in Shark Bay

One of many friendly dolphins at Monkey Mia

A long and bumpy 4WD led us to the pristine coastline in Francois Peron NP

The color combination of the turquoise waters and the red cliffs were just amazing

We didn't struggle finding a park

Capa Peron in Francois Peron NP

The "Little Lagoon" in Denham from 500m

Off for a swim at "Shell Beach"

Odd one out!

No sand - Just shells!

We stopped in Carnarvon next, fruit and veg growing capital of WA. We needed some bits and pieces to ensure a smooth journey through the remote areas of northern WA on route to Darwin. It’s sub-tropical and we hung out by the pool in the warm weather, pottered the shops and generally relaxed. The kids had fun at the old NASA tracking station that famously supported early Apollo missions to the moon. It was unplanned and we took a hit not making the trip to Red Bluff or Gnarloo, both famous surfing locations. 

Shoes off please

Space awaits @ Carnarvon