With much deliberation we decided to head directly north rather than add on a scenic loop which would take in the sands of Esperance and the gold mining area of Kalgoorie-Boulder -now well known for the eerie iron sculptures dotting a salt pan nearby (well - 150kms nearby). This extra detour would have added another 1500 kms to the already long journey. We figured that amount of extra car time was pushing a 4 years old patience!

So, foot on pedal going north. First day took us through really beautiful countryscapes, running horses, the lot. J bit miffed as he sat in the back to amuse a very bored Owen so saw very little. This, coupled with the fact that the 3 front seats seem safer than the back has had Owen sitting up front with us a lot. Overnight in an undistinguished, empty campsite behind a 'roadie' in the middle of nowhere! It's only striking feature was the rust red earth it sat upon. Our only neighbours were a group of country and western fans en route to a gig - they dressed and spoke the part! Telling us they were from 'just up the road' was in fact a days drive- will we ever get used to the size of this place!

Day 2 of drive north along interminable, straight lengths of road surrounded by thousands of hectares which couldn't decide whether it was a small forest or big scrub. Everytime we breasted a crest in the road, a further searing vista of tarmac lay ahead, always ending in the heat-induced lake mirage. This is a big country! Carcasses of goats, cows and kangaroos in various stages of decay litter the roadsides - sights ahead of birds circling in the sky alert as to whether a fresh 'roo' is ahead or not.

O, who is fascinated by gravity had a treat as we stumbled across a 'gravity centre'in the middle of nowhere. Telescopes, magnets - all good boys stuff!! 272 steps up a leaning structure to drop balloons full of water and prove ………. they burst at the bottom!!

Overnight at Cervantes (very Portugese!), the base for visiting the Pinnacles Desert. It still stuns us townies how isolated parts of Oz are - Cervantes is 100km off the main road, which itself has little on it apart from the essential 1950s style roadhouses in the middle of nowhere to stock up on water and petrol. (Even Hayley, having grown up in Pembs finds this level of 'rurality' mindblowing)

The Pinnacles turned out to be a large desert full of rocks. It resembled nothing more than a giant pushing fingers up through the earth. Nobody knows how they originated, although there are a couple of different theories to do with ancient forests, petrified tree trunks.

Next major target was kalbarri, gateway to its namesake National Park. To get there however involved two pretty full days driving up boring highway with an overnight at a nothing place called Port Denison (only notable thing was the pink lake surrounding it full of that stuff that turns Flamingos pink.

Western Oz is one National Park after another - their dedication in protecting their natural heritage is impressive! This was however the first place we felt the pinch of not having a 4WD as much of the park was inaccessible to us. What we could see was ok - but to be honest we have to admit to being a little underwhelmed having been to the Northern Territory gorges, these gorges were crap - sorry Kalbarri!! We've had this sense of the Aussies having to highlight places that honestly don't merit it - as It's such a big country we've guessed that if there were no 'fillers' to see between the major attractions, no one would bother with the WA journey. The flies that seemed determined to get in your glasses and up your nose in the park didn't help - we needed those Aussie cork hats!

Having set up camp where the sea and kalbarri river met, we hired a small motor boat and headed up river. Directions given, we dutifully followed the red buoys, but proved our combined lack of sea-faring skills by managing to cut a buoy loose with our motor (thereby sending subsequent trippers way off course!) and beaching ourselves, H having to get out and push us off! We think O was the best driver!!

Various trips to stunning cliffs and shores nearby and we had 'done' Kalbarri. Warnings everywhere that you could be swept away to sea at any time by king waves ensured a few afternoons at the sheltered lagoon! One good meal out after H had a frothy about cooking in a tiny kitchen and washing up in campers kitchens (J note at this point I don't think H had actually visited a campers kitchen. I know my place) and we headed off to the next destination -Monkey Mia.

Driving 100km off the main road, through ever changing brown to ochre earthscapes, set against white bays that really did stretch as far as the eye could see, joined by swirling blues where deep sea meets coral. Breathtaking!

Setting up camp we're soon joined by resident Emus which O is transfixed by, but by day two ignores and by day 3, new friend in tow is chasing like kids chase seagulls on a beach!! It was cruelly amusing to watch every night how many newcomers would loose their dinner to these scavangers!!

MM is famed for its wild dolphins that come to the beach each morning to be fed. Despite the contradiction between wild and fed, we still decided to head here as the location was reported to be stunning - and it was - it didn't take us long to decide to stay a week.

Eve of arrival we headed to beach, had a swim and were privileged to have 4 dolphins swim right past us. With a no touching, feeding or following rule, we watched happily as these two mums and their calves cruised alongside the beach at sunset. This happened twice during our week ….making the wild dolphin more believable as they obviously came to say hello!

Next morning we dutifully arrived at the beach at 0730. Owen soon tired of the Dolphin educational. J fed a dolphin and Owen, being shy, missed his chance. 3000 dolphins live in shark bay, along with the biggest herd of Dugongs in the world, the latter feeding off a vast sea grass field. The rest of the week saw us taking 2 catamaran trips - one wildlife spotting, the other with Owens campsite friend, Ashley. Our delight that a 4 year old boy with no siblings in tow parked next to us can be imagined. Having plucked up courage to ask Ashley to play the 'Aussie and Pommie' had 3 fab play days.With O starved of kiddie play he was in heaven; the other campers may not have enjoyed two Emu chasing boys tearing around but we were happy campers!!

Ashley was on hols with his grandparents, lovely couple who lived on a cattle station 4 hours drive from their nearest shop! Ashley was a little more rough around the edges than O, purely in the sense that he was a true country boy who rode horses and dreamt of doing rodeos! O, the townie is now obsessed with hooking a fish! Over to you Granpas when we return home!!

Temperatures got above 40c in MM and saw us stuck under shade for three hours a day. The limitations of a non AC campervan hit home here! With this in mind and aware that it would just get hotter and more humid further north,(we were still only half way up the west coast) we decided to go to the next planned stop, 800km north, Coral bay and then turn back towards Perth.

We visited several more sights, including the 120km shell beach (truly the sand is in fact pure white cockle shells) and Hamelin Pool where Stromolatites 'live'. Explaining to O that these rock looking organisms were not rocks, and in fact were alive, resulted in lots of "you're joking right? The temptations to say yes to this and avoid questions we really couldn't answer was very high!!

With a bush fire raging south of us, closing the road to Perth, all little whirlwinds we saw from then on were less fascinating and more scary - could it be a bush fire? Sounds paranoid, but being trapped on the roads here in a fire must be terrifying!

Coral Bay -thankful that this is a windier location than MM, we set up camp and head to the aqua blue water. Glass of wine under amazing stars -not bad!! A quick trip on a glass bottom boat displayed stunning hard coral - all the coral we have seen abroad has had some signs of el ninio damage, but the Ningalaoo reef protects an inner reef from damage. This location is so remote with only 2 hotels and campsites that the human impact to the coral is minimal. The inner reef is less than 25m from the beach so snorkeling is a synch!

A shark nursery sits on the other side of the bay- a good walk away -rock pool crazy Owen was happily entertained on the way! We timed it wrong and got there as the tide was turning but we did witness something truly mind-blowing. Two of the worlds most stupid Aussies thigh deep in shark infested waters (all local info says stay out - if anything just to respect the babysharks space and ensure Mummy shark doesn't get vexed and munch you!!), throwing breadcrumbs!!!!! Speechless!!!!

We did have a more successful visit another day and saw a 'herd' (Is that right?) of baby sharks and their Mummys standing guard nearby - much like Wairose play park!!

Few hours later sees the Gerrys quad-biking along the sandunes. Exhilirating. J and O finally see live kangaroos in the dunes as the only roos seen have been roadkill!! With O requesting daddy to go faster and up steeper slopes, he confirmed his gung-ho status! O really loved it as did J!!