Monday 4thAugust - Geraldton

Geraldton Car Kilometres: 168,892

Distance Travelled: 286km

Total Distance Travelled: 641km

Despite going to bed at 7pm, we hardly sleep as it's so cold.I'm not sure whether we've mentioned this before, but Dave and I have had ongoing discussions during the purchasing of the camping gear as to whether we need a duvet (doona), or not.We eventually decided not, and that the sheet and blanket that we had would suffice, since we would soon be up in the hot, hot north.Although since leaving Perth the weather has been lovely in the daytime, it's still only about 10 degrees at night - cold when you're in a tent, even if you are wearing all of the clothes you own.We gave up trying to sleep at 5am, and by 7am are packed up and drinking a cup of lady grey (me), and coffee (Dave,) on the beach.

We're on the road again by 9ish, heading for Geraldton as our next stop, and after pausing at a roadhouse for a sustaining lunchtime sausage roll each, I'm ready to drive our tank of a car for the first time.We'd always agreed to share the drive, but since I didn't really need to drive much in Perth and Fremantle as I used the trains, and hadn't driven an automatic before, we decided that I wouldn't hit the road until we were out of town.However, since the roads are straight, and the traffic is minimal, (although still busy by Australian standards... passing about 5 cars an hour!) it's my turn to drive.I cast my mind back to the days when I drove that big blue transit van, take a deep breath, get the Eagles cranked up on the stereo and we're off.

I'm enjoying driving, and it all comes back pretty naturally, even after 11 months without really doing much of it at all.I especially love the cruise control buttons once I work out how to use them, and we tootle down the highway, belting out the best of Fleetwood Mac, the Beatles and Don Maclean (from Dave's specially made driving songs CD) - heading for a duvet shop first, and Geraldton second.

We pick up a duvet at Target (like Asda Home), and since we have no choice we buy a fancy two-layer-three-season-zip-together-does-magic-tricks quilt that's reduced from $189 to $112... pricey considering we could have bought a regular one for $25 in Perth, but that's all there is.It turns out that it's been further reduced, so we end up getting the duvet and a duvet cover for $75 all in - the cheapest cover was a children's one with lorries (sorry, trucks), on -if anyone looks into the tent it'll look like a pair of children have run away from home... probably not too far wrong.

Armed with our shiny new duvet, we drive around looking for a campsite, and find one just a few minute's walk from a lovely candy striped lighthouse, with our own shaded picnic bench and plenty of room to spread out.We set up camp, cook up some garlic spaghetti with sausages (thanks Jeremy), and head to bed with our cosy new duvet.We're still a bit cold, but it doesn't stop us sleeping, and we're up early for a busy day of being tourists again.

Our first stop is a visit to the HMAS Sydney Memorial, a large dome on the top of a hill overlooking the sea.The canopy of the dome is made up of metal seagull shapes, one for each man who drowned on the ship - it's the one that was all over the news while we were in Sydney in February, as they have finally found the wreck of the boat after many years searching for it.There's a guided tour, which we're too late to join but earwig on to learn about the history, before Dave zooms off to take some photos while I admire the view over Geraldton and the sea.

Our next stop is the town's museum, a very modern building with several engaging exhibitions - about Aboriginal language, Gallipoli, the search for the HMAS Sydney and one about the shipwrecked Batavia.That done, we walk around the harbour for a bit looking for fish in the water, and then get back in the car to look for the huge golf ball shapes of the communication station, as recommended by the campsite staff.However, this proves to be too far away - we drive for half an hour and it look like being another few hundred kilometres in the wrong direction - too far for a day trip, although it's just a nip down the road for the keen Aussies.We turn back, picking up some groceries for lunch, and take a long walk along the beach to look at the lighthouse, sitting in the sand dunes with our maps and Lonely Planet to plan the next few stops on our route.

We retire for the evening, planning on watching a bit of tv in the games room - although a drunken hobo keeps changing the channel and telling us that we can't live on Venus... so we give up and go to bed.