Off to Kalgoorlie

Carnavon was our next stop and I loved it, vegetarian HEAVEN. Driving through the outskirts reminded me a lot of Queensland, plantations on either side of the road, especially banana and as we approached the town we drove over what appeared to be a dry river bed, it was only later that we found out that the water was actually flowing beneath it…wow, it's just never too late to learn something new.

Shannon and Paula stopped by to say goodbye as they were moving south, we on the other hand had just arrived and we booked into a caravan park that gave us a discount and kids stayed for free. The caravan site was great, opposite a playground and the kids wasted no time in making friends. We really enjoyed Carnavon, firstly we had the freshest food we have had in a long time, omelettes made from fresh organic free range eggs (we nearly ran over the chickens) mixed with cherry tomatoes and served with rocket and watercress, lots of frozen fruit ices covered in chocolate and the yummiest jams and chutneys that ever existed, including a banana jam. Fun fact about Carnavon is that it supplies up to 70% of fresh produce to WA.

If things could not get better, Colleen from Exmouth had to come down to Carnavon for some appointments so we got to see her again, she insisted in looking after our dogs so we were then able to go to the Quobba blowholes without having to worry about them. The blow holes were quite spectacular, the force of nature especially water never fails to surprise me and the term king waves became apparent, in fact, at the blow holes there is a plaque, in memory of someone who was taken by a wave and died. Following a good look at the blow holes we went to a nearby beach where we could do snorkelling and had a lovely picnic.

Carnavon also has a special place in aerospace history, from 1964 to 1965, 12 sounding rockets were launched from Carnarvon and during the 1960s, NASA set up a tracking station nearby to support the Gemini and Apollo space programs. The tracking station was closed in the mid-1970s. Only the foundations of the historical site remain, now the museum. The museum was very interactive, there are costumes and a sort of replica of a rocket that you can jump in and sort of experience what is like to be in a launch to space.

We had so much fun in this museum and the kids definitely learnt a lot, once again, homeschooling, ticked!

Unfortunately our time in Carnavon came to an end and once again we packed and headed south, we were dragging our feet sort of to speak because all of sudden as soon as we crossed the tropic of Capricorn the weather seemed to change, it started getting colder and honestly we have not worn pants in months. On the way down we set up camp just off the beach at a place called Gladstone, cheap and beautiful. The shower though, was really something, outdoor and heated by the sun, as we soon found out and that is when we started having showers at midday. But what I want to mention about this shower is that it was bloody hot! and for those that know me, my two so called "vices" are salt and hot water, so much so that after I have a shower I have to put a sign with a warning for the next person so when they turn on the water they don't get incinerated! I was in heaven.

Anyway we stayed there as it was cheap and we did a day trip to Monkey Mia, well known for the dolphins and they were beautiful, kids got to feed them and see them really up close. Although Monkey Mia is a resort it was definitely not as expensive as it would be to see dolphins in QLD.

On the way out we stopped by a very special beach called Shell Beach, you would not believe this but there is no sand, instead tiny shells, fully covering the beach. Australia is truly incredible and this beach did blow me away.

As we headed south we stopped at a beautiful quaint little town called Northampton, known for the best vanilla slice, of course, we were up for the tasting challenge and decided on giving it a pretty good score as the filling was perfectly balanced and the pastry was home made. We were due to stay at a free camp in town, actually it was the golf club and overall although rough it was not too bad, but just as we parked another family was leaving and they told us about a place they heard lots about called Oakabella, not far from town. We made an executive decision and decided to follow them, it was a homestead also known for scones, I have to say it has been a difficult part of this journey to judge the best scones, best vanilla slice, best pies, it is a hard job being on the road.

Anyway, the site was really in a paddock, sheep were roaming around (not good for Lola our dog), amenities were ok, scones were fantastic but it was the flies that killed us. The deal at this place was stay 3 nights pay for 2 and so we did, the kids had an amazing time with the other kids from the other family which happened to be from PAKENHAM, so very small world indeed and we do hope to see them again, maybe at Dandy market.

The weather was not getting any better, and so we decided to stop in Geraldton for supplies and drive inland towards Kalgoorlie, we were hoping that inland would be hotter than by the sea. We were excited about this idea as we also felt we were “beached out”, hiking inland and back to the bush was definitely appealing. Our first stop was in very very small town in the middle of nowhere called Yalgoo, although there wasn’t much there the caravan park was actually quite nice, apparently, big mines maintain them for the miners, we didn’t mind of course and enjoyed the luxury.

We ended up staying there two nights, one night we decided to go on a date, just Carlos and I and went to the local pub which I swear it is haunted. The walls were green and the set up looked like it had been used in the filming of a horror movie, needless to say they had nothing vegetarian, not sure whether they knew what a vegetarian was.

The following morning we went exploring and ended up at a shaft called Joker’s tunnel, one of the main attractions in town, we walked through and as you do the tunnel becomes smaller and narrower to the point that you have to bend forward a little to get through, anyway, close to the end on the other side I happen to notice a small (5ct coin size) spider crawling on the side of the tunnel, I shone the torch to the ceiling just to find that the top of the tunnel was crawling with spiders, 100s! I kept cool and in a calm voice I said to the boys “make sure you bend forwards so you don’t touch the top of the tunnel and don’t look up” of course they did, the squealing and pushing to get out of that tunnel was like nothing we have experienced and did I say squealing, yes boys squeal as well. To this day, if we go through a cave or a tunnel, Raffy always asks me it if it is like the Joker’s Tunnel and if there are any spiders.

Another town I must mention is Sandstone, cute little town but the highlight was the London Bridge, we made sure the kids remembered that we have taken them to the London Bridge, this one in particular is very frail as it starting to collapse and may not be there for too long, lucky for us we got to see it.

Our last stop before Kalgoorlie was a free camp by Lake Ballard, this is a salt water lake that although it appears to be dry, there is water underneath. What drove us to this site was the fact that although it is a free camp, it had water, toilets, fire pits, it seemed to be a perfect place. Little did we know that it is a very popular place because of sculptures/statues. As we parked the van we noticed figures in the distance, looked like they were walking through the dry lake, didn’t put much attention until…. When we went exploring we realised that they were figures made out of metal, they were skinny and randomly positioned around the lake. Some were women, some man, both freaky and as the sun moves they create different shadows which you can see clearly specially from the little hill located in the lake.

That night, as I was making dinner outside, I could swear they looked like they were moving. We survived to tell the tale, beautiful free camp, not sure about the “art” and did I forget to mention that we found a freshly decapitated snake near our van…niiice.

Kalgoorlie

Finally! Remember Shannon and Paula, well due to car troubles they had to stop in Kalgoorlie and we managed to find a site close to theirs at a caravan park. We stayed for close to a week and had an absolute blast. Touristy things in the morning, some homeschooling in the afternoon and playing cards at night. We really enjoy their company and have completely fallen for their son Heith, who is simply beautiful. Kalgoorlie is not a small town, has woolies, Coles and even a McDonalds but its main attraction is a super hole called the Super Pit, which apparently can be seen from space! We managed to attend a tour and even now, just thinking about it, is very hard to assimilate the size of this mine, it definitely creates lots of jobs and has made Kalgoorlie the town it is now, the mine funds many of the projects of the town which keeps it going.

We visited the gold museum and that was interesting, especially because it had a huge gold nugget and from the top of the museum you had a good look at the town.

We really enjoyed our time in Kalgoorlie, lots to see and lots to do but I think the company made it more special. On our last night in Kalgoorlie we free camped with our friends opposite a playground, of course we played cards at night, laughed and even danced.

We said goodbye to Shannon, Paula and Heath, really missing them, but to our consolation they do live in Victoria up near the Murray and after you travel for so long and drive for long distances a 7 hour drive is neither here nor there, we cannot wait to see them again.

On our way to Perth we stopped at a place called wave rock, I will let you figure out why…