Charlie's WorldHolidays, part 6 – off road to Cape Peron
Posted on October 11, 2010
The next day the weather wasn’t so good, so we decided to go to the Peron Homestead, an old sheep station in the Francis Peron national park and then take the car off road and go up to the top of the peninsula to Cape Peron.
The homestead was very cool – the people that used to do this stuff (and still do I guess) in these remote, hot and dusty places really did it tough. We saw a bloody great big goanna lizard thing just sitting there in the sun – it was probably 3 feet long – eyeing us up for food 🙂
We pulled over to let the tyres down to 20psi for the sandy off road track to Cape Peron – 40km of sandy rutted 4×4 only track right up to the Cape.
The lady in the tourist place said it was ‘fine except for some sandy patches’, but I for city folk like us, it looked pretty gnarly with long stretches of deep sand. We got stuck behind someone who got bogged towing a boat – right in the deepest sand, so it was really hard to get going again. He eventually got underway, but we had to reverse so he could get moving, which meant we had to scrabble around to get going without bogging ourselves and managed to scratch the car on some bushes as we bounced about. Gah!
We carried on ploughing along, but got fooled by some deep sand that hid some pretty big dips so we bounced hard a few times, causing everything in the car, children included, to crash about. It was good fun though. We got to the end and discovered that the bounces had smashed off the power coupling from the towbar and caused the right rear wheel to crack the underside of the wheel arch – oops
Luckily we met up with a couple and their young daughter who had some zip ties, so we managed to secure the bits that were hanging off. They were in a new Landcruiser that was totally covered in red dirt – they had come all the way from Brisbane to Western Australia off-road, so had every spare part imaginable. Awesome adventure – I suddenly have visions of wanting to do that kind of thing!!
Other than that, the Kia did very well off road – much better than its SUV classification would have you believe – its actually pretty competent.
Cape Peron is famous for the red cliffs that come almost all the way to ocean, a thin strip of white sand and turquoise blue ocean, but sadly it was high tide and overcast when we went, so we didn’t get the full effect, but on the plus side, we didn’t get our brains roasted in the heat either! It was very barren, very striking and there were lots of goannas about in the red dirt. I walked up to the top of the cliffs and looking down at the ocean below, I could see pretty big shark swimming lazily along in the blue water. Awesome.
We had lunch, but there really wasn’t much else to see, and Jay’s back was starting to hurt, so we packed up the car and drove back again. We did loads better off road on the way back, never even once looking like we might get stuck. I was also much better at spotting the potential bouncers in the sand and we had a really good drive back. That’s my manly status assured then 😉
Back at the homestead carpark, I got the compressor out and re inflated the tyres whilst the girls went off to check out the thermal spring hot tub in the homestead grounds. It was way too hot apparently.
The car done good 🙂
Next up – more dolphins, black pearls and dugongs
Holidays, part 5 – shell beach and dolphins
Posted on October 10, 2010
The next day, we had a poke around Denham, stocked up on food and beer ($50 for a carton of Corona – thats really cheap!) and decided that we’d do a little exploring.
There aren’t a great many things to do in Shark Bay that don’t involve some kind of water/fishing/swimming type activity, so we loaded up the car and drove to Shell Beach, which is 1/2 hour from Denham back down the road we came in on.
Shell Beach is, as the name implies, a beach made of shells. Just shells. No sand or pebbles or anything else, just trillions of teeny white shells. There are so many and the beach is so thick with them that they are mined and bricks carved from the deeper harder almost rock like layers. Amazing.
The girls packed their snorkelling gear as the water looked amazingly clear, but we discovered that the water looks that clear for a good reason. It’s only kneed deep for 2 or 3 hundred metres or more out out to sea.
Still, thats enough for small children, but even though its a breathtakingly beautiful place, its not very interesting for adults. Plus the sea floor being made up of, yes, you guessed it, shells, is not exactly comfortable on the feet. That said, we had a good time, but there isn’t really that much else to do there, so we sat down, had a drink from the cooler and once the girls dried off, we went home again.
The next day, we stocked up with supplies and drove the 1/2 hour to Monkey Mia, where there is a self contained holiday resort (which we didn’t want to stay at, as there is only one restaurant and nothing else to do). The interesting thing about Monkey Mia is that for 30 years or more, dolphins have been coming in to the beach to be fed. This got a bit out of hand in the 80’s so the Environment Department guys created a managed feeding program. 3 times a day, in the mornings only, dolphins swim in and get fed a small ration of fish. The DoE guys pick members of the public to come and feed them – its very cool.
The water was a bit cloudy with sand when we went, but it was still amazing to see the dolphins up close, to watch them swim on their side with one eye out of the water, sizing us all up.
It was a very cool experience and the girls had a lot of fun, even though they didn’t get picked for the feeding. They swam in the sea for a few hours, playing with some American kids (who were perhaps the most loud bossy children I have ever seen) before we’d kinda had enough sun, so we packed up and went home.
As the ocean in Shark Bay is really calm in good weather, we made a plan to come back and go out on one of the catamarans that sail around the bay looking for dugongs, dolphins, sharks and turtles.
Holidays, part 4 – Kalbarri Gorge to Denham via Hamelin Pool
Posted on October 7, 2010
It was a long drive between the gorge and Hamelin Pool, long, hot and boring with most of looking like the road below. For hours and hours.
We stopped at the Billabong Roadhouse for lunch – this place is really in the middle of nowhere and offers an oasis of fuel, food and erm, a place for a much needed ‘comfort break’ They did a good range of gluten free food too, which meant Anja could at least eat well, rather than having to live on just chips (not that she would really have cared too much, she’s a starch machine)
We turned off the highway and onto the road to Denham – there’s still an hour or so of solid driving to go from that point, but we were making good time so we stopped off at Hamelin Pool, a tiny homestead and former telegraph station at the bottom of Shark Bay. It’s famous for its Stromatolites, which are rock like structures, formed from the actions of tiny cyanobacteria that grow in the hyper-saline waters, slowly trapping sand and mud which forms new layers, growing only few mm a year.
These creatures are some of the earliest life forms on the planet and and form a major constituent of the fossil record for about the first 3.5 billion years of life on earth. Using sunlight, they synthesise carbon dioxide to produce oxygen. In fact, it is thought that during those billions of years, they were pretty much solely responsible for creating the oxygen rich atmosphere we enjoy today.
It is also totally unspoiled here, being a protected world heritage zone – the place is gorgeous!
We drove the hour or so down the only road to Denham, undulating its way though the scrub like bush, before the first signs of human habitation appear and we pulled into town. Denham is a lovely little place, a few restaurants, caravan parks, a hotel or two, some supermarkets and petrol stations. Its really the only town in Shark Bay, so it has everything you could want.
Our self catering apartment was nice – basic but clean and with lots of space and only 30 seconds walk from the beach and gorgeous sunsets every night.
Next up, Shell Beach, Monkey Mia, Dolphins and adventures off road.
Holidays, part 3 – Kalbarri Gorges
Posted on October 5, 2010
Day 3, we set off from Kalbarri early as we had a long drive (again) to Denham in Shark Bay.
Stopping briefly for petrol and a quick walk along the beach (we arrived in the dark the night before so we thought we’d at least have a 5 minute poke around), we quickly decided that Kalbarri is a place we’d come back to. Clean, pretty, lots of variety of food (for vegetarians, vegans and gluten and dairy free) and enough to keep children occupied for a week.
We drove up the Ajana Kalbarri road towards the Kalbarri National Park so we could have a gawp at the amazing Murchison River Gorge. This was a little way off road – 20km or so along well made dirt tracks – through the vast open bush.
It was a pleasure to see to no evidence of mankind (the road excepted) as far as the eye could see in all directions. We even saw emus wandering through a thin patch of bush just off the road.
We parked up at a little car park and walked out into the heat – it was really warm compared to Perth – and took a walk down a little rocky track to a lookout over the Murchison River.
Wow – it was an awesome view. Not very many folks about either, just a few brave souls and a teenage kid who was curious about my Hasselblad camera. This was also the first time we really got to see the red rocks that make this part of the world so famous.
It’s spring in Australia at the moment, so there were a fair few desert flowers about – very pretty.
We still had a long drive and Anja was in a foul teenage mood, so we didn’t get to see the fabled ‘Nature’s Window’, which I was ok with – it was hot and there were lots of flies about, and besides, its such a stupid twee name for a gorgeous rock arch.
We drove back down the track and continued north along the highway into ever more barren countryside and ever increasing temperatures.
Next up – Hamelin Bay and Shark Bay
Holidays, part 2 – Lancelin to Kalbarri
Posted on October 4, 2010
We left Lancelin early, as frankly the hotel accommodation left everything to be desired and we couldn’t stand being there any more. That and we had a huge drive to Kalbarri to do before the end of the day.
Before last week, there was no road north from Lancelin, you had to go east inland 30km or so and hop on the main highway, which didn’t really come back to the coast again until Geraldton, 3 hours or so up the coast. But the highways agency in Western Australia have been busy and have pushed a new road straight through the bush, joining up with the small coast road at Cervantes 100km or so away.
The new road is awesome and goes through utterly deserted bushland. Deserted as its is part of a military firing range! There are hardly any cars and nothing but huge wide expanses of virgin bush as far as the eye can see – perfect!
We stopped off at the Pinnacles, a national park with strange limestone rock formations that just stick straight out of the bright yellow sandy desert. The Aboriginals who once lived in the area avoided the place and in stories said that the rocks were the fingernails of those who ventured there and got sucked into the sinking sands.
There were spectacular views across the bush to the Indian Ocean, 10km or so away.
The Pinnacles has to be one of the most accessible national parks areas in Australia, as they have actually laid out a track right through the desert that you can drive on, right through the rocks and emu. No need (if you are spectactularly lazy) to even get out of the car. I’d recommend having a look in the discovery centre and actually walking about though – it’s an amazing place.
The girls got told off for this – apparently you’re not supposed to climb on the ancient and unique monuments… 😉
After an hour of exploring and driving round the little stone edged desert track, we headed off to get some lunch and petrol in Jurien Bay, a little town an hour or so up the road. Refreshed and loaded up, we headed on up to Kalbarri – which was still 6 hours, or 400km or so away.
The old Indian Ocean Drive snaked its way through deserted and sometimes scorched bushland, the road half the width of the new sections earlier on and only affording small glimpses of the turquoise ocean as it headed towards the Brand Highway at Dongara.
We popped in for coffee in Geraldton and realised we still had a lot of driving to go, so we cracked on, heading for the pink lake at Port Gregory – its a huge lake, right on the edge of the ocean, that is totally pink. Sadly, we just didn’t get there before the sun went down, and without the right light, the colours just weren’t there. The scenery on the way was gorgeous though, fields and farms and rolling hills, lit with soft and dreamy light. Light that shone right into my eyes for nearly an hour of driving, meaning my view was a light washed bug splattered windscreen with occasional views of the road!
Another couple of hours of driving along deserted roads in the dark, and we arrived in Kalbarri and to the Tudor Holiday Park, where we had a little cabin for the night. What a difference from Lancelin – this place was very cool – clean, quiet with lots of restaurants only a short walk away.
We got a really good night’s sleep before heading off early for the next leg..
Next post, “off roading” to Kalbarri Murcheson River gorge and the drive to Shark Bay..
Holidays, part 1 – Perth to Lancelin
Posted on October 4, 2010
The drive to Shark Bay is, in theory, too far to do in a day, plus there are lots of interesting things to see along the way. Ok, so not lots, there are vaaaaaaast stretches of nothing much at all, but there are some worthwhile places to see, so we planned to break it down into 3 stops.
The first being Lancelin.
We packed the trusty Kia up early and headed off to Lancelin, our first port of call on the Shark Bay trip.
Lancelin is a little way for us southerners to get to – a little over 2 hours drive north from where we live and way beyond the limits of the northern reaches of suburban Perth. Its quite a pretty drive once you get out of the city – national parks, pine plantations, natural bushland (lots of that) and fruit farms. In no time at all, we were there and pulling up for lunch. I did wonder if we’d gone the wrong way, as there was pretty much nothing there, a few shops and a couple of takeaway places and that was kind of it, but no, that’s really all there is to Lancelin town.
What we came here for were the sand dunes. Lancelin is famous for having enormous dunes just behind the town and people come here with dirt bikes, quad bikes, modified 4×4’s etc to bash up and and down the huge lunar like sand hills.
The dunes really are amazing, almost pure white sand (that gets everywhere) – combined with clear blue skies (and a polarising filter) – the resultant look could really be from another planet.
On of the other things you can do is to hire boards and go sandboarding.
Oh yes 🙂
I had to have a go too!!
Ok, I fell off within a few seconds of this shot – I should have hired the ones with the foot straps if I wanted to stand up!
We had a great time but it was so hard to climb back up the dunes that we could only manage an hour before we had to take our burning thighs and return the boards and go find ice creams.
The hotel was, erm, how can I put this.. crap. The little unit we stayed in was small, old, smelly and I was really glad we were only overnighting. The restaurant was very good though, if a little expensive.
We set off the next day for part 2 of our journey up – The Pinnacles and Kalbarri.
Back from the North
Posted on October 3, 2010
Sorry for the hiatus, we’ve been on holiday, far beyond the reach of internets and mobile phones and such modern conveniences. No, seriously, there’s no phone signal anywhere near where we went.
Australia – its a big place and it doesn’t take much travelling to leave civilisation far behind.
So, 2300km (1430 miles for the imperially minded) later, we’re back and I can tell you all about it 🙂
We went to Shark Bay – a World Heritage Area (as they are fond of reminding you at every turn) due to its unspoiled, diverse and unique flora and fauna, both land and marine. It’s also quite a long way from where we live (but not really that far, given the enormous trans-continental distances that Australia has to offer if you really are determined to ‘go walkabout’)
We drove to Lancelin first, then on to Kalbarri and then finally to Denham in Shark Bay. I’ll have some stories and pictures for you this week 🙂
Three go on an adventure
Posted on September 17, 2010
A little tale from the motherland..
Towards the end of the time in England with the kids, they were nagging that it was sunny out and dinner wasn’t for an hour or so and can they have an adventure.
So, we hopped into the car and I took them to Knole Park – a Medieval deer park that survives pretty much intact – to see if we could see some deer.
There are usually hundreds of them about – even though its a pretty big place (1000 acres, 4 sq km) you can pretty much rock up at one of the entrances and there’ll be loads of them right there. They might be wild, but they’re not stupid – people bring food.
Here’s some photos I’ve taken before
Anyway, we arrived, parked up and walked a short way to where I have always known the deer to hang out.
No deer to be seen.
Now, thats fine if you’re me – its a beautiful park – if we don’t have deer, its no big deal.
Not so if you’re 3.
When you’re a 3 year old small boy, its the end of the world. Henry had decided that as there were no deer, he had a headache in his legs, he was hungry, it was cold and he had a sore throat. All at once.
Ella, however, being 8, although disapointed, is more flexible and wanted an adventure anyway.
So, she set off down an impossibly steep hill through the head-height (for me) bracken in order to find her some deer. Henry was busy laying face down bawling at this point, so I scooped him up on to my shoulders (with no regard for my now popping spine) and followed her.
Ella had no trouble following what turned out not to be a path as such, but was really a deer track into the ever thickening forest of bracken, trouble is, she had no idea where it was going nor was thinking about me, carring a bag, camera and a Henry down a 45 degree slope.
Anyway, we got to the bottom unscathed and had fun along the way, even though we didn’t see any deer. Henry recovered his dignity and decided that life was maybe worth living after all and was running about happily after his big sister.
On the way home, there are a couple of other spots where wild deer and such hang out, so I took them back via the scenic route and had a couple of pit-stops and into some fields to see if we could see any where I know they sometimes hang out.
Again, a pic from a few years ago from this spot (see, children, you do believe me, don’t you?)
This time. however, no deer.
The buggers have all gone on holiday!
Ah well, the kids started to find it funny that Daddy was totally hopeless at locating deer and also learned that wild animals can’t be relied upon for fun.
Good times.
Piccies from a foreign land
Posted on September 17, 2010
I got my films from my trip to the UK back yesterday and they are awesome!
I love my Hasselblad, it produces amazing images – so clear and full of glorious colour and definition in a way that digital images somehow aren’t. The trouble is, scanning these amazing prints and showing them on here doesn’t show them how they are at all 😦
I tried scanning them at 600dpi, but the resulting images lack clarity, so I really need to do them at the full 1200 or higher – which means a scan time of more than 9 minutes per image – crappy scanner.
So, I need to buy a dedicated medium format negative scanner.
They cost AU$750
Add it to the list of stuff I ‘need’ 😦
Expensive hobby, this film lark. Looks like I might be getting familiar with home developing sooner rather than later!
Aaaaaanyhoo… I do have some initial scans to share – they’re pretty much all of my kids and family, but hey, its my blog, I can share if I like! I’ll probably redo these over the weekend – hopefully they will come out with a bit more ‘pop’
Oh, and I’ve done this on my work laptop which has a very bright screen, I don’t know if the colour/contrast on these pics is actually correct or not 😦
Red Wine Wednesday
Posted on September 15, 2010
Yes, vino-lovers, after a small hiatus caused by, well, laziness, it’s that time again..
Today’s lovely wine is..
A gorgeous Western Australian Shiraz. As I mentioned before, Shirazes (and Syrrah’s in Europe) have a peppery, blackcurranty earthy taste, not totally unlike a Rioja, except they lack that deep red earth full body of a typical Rioja.
This wasn’t a massively expensive wine but it was a good one – easily quaffable and a definite ‘buy again’. I bought it was an every day drinker, but it would pass muster as a nice Saturday afternoon, sun going down unwinding on the paito underneath dappled shade drinker too.
Charlie's World 