Given our experience of the Nullabor first time around we were much more prepared and had more sunlight to play with. As the tent now took no more than 20min to put up/down we planned to do some big km's and warned the boys that they were going to be stuck in the car for a couple of days straight. They were really good about it but we suspect it was because they knew that for every hour in the car they got an hour to play games on their Kindles (The only time we let them on electronics during the trip). On day one we travelled from Strathalbyn, through Adelaide and all the way past Penong, a place we stopped at on the way across. A total of 986km and 11hrs in the car. On the way we only really stopped at Murphy's Haystacks, which was pretty, before deciding to move on and drive into the night. The campsite was at an old disused school yard and all we did was stop, tent up, then bed. To be honest it was probably a good place to be as the temperature was 42c outside and a cool air conditioned car was just the solution. The next day was epic as we travelled all the way across the Nullabor, called in at the old telegraph station at Eucla, the head of bight to see what the fuss is about and then just kept going until the sun went down. Early on during the trip we discovered that Australian bird life is rather slower and less agile in the mornings as we managed to clean up an Osprey, (which stuck on the bonnet of the car for 5 km before he had to stop and scrape it off) and a crow, all within about 10 minutes of each other. The boys thought it was exciting but the Osprey was a bit sad as he was such a pretty bird that I felt a little bad peeling what was left of him off the bumper bar and flinging him onto the side of the road. We had covered 1,105km and made it as far as Norseman and I was up for continuing to Esperance, only another 2 hours away, but as we'd been in the car for 14 hours that day Fiona put her foot down, and rightly so. We were all going mental. The boys started talking another language, Fiona was almost in tears and I was so high on caffeine that I was starting to grind my teeth like a raver at an all night dance concert. We stopped at a place just passed Norseman and got out the 2 minute noodles and crashed into bed. I couldn't get to sleep for all the caffeine so spent most of the night reading but this was ok as we had an extra 2.5 hours to sleep-in since we'd crossed the border during the day. Upon awaking we packed up then headed down the road to Esperance where it turned out we had camped only 200 metres from where the Esperance fires had been. It was shocking the devastation that was all around us as we drove the 200kms into town. Huge areas of bush and farms were literally ashes, burnt trees blackened stumps or parched earth. It was a stark reminder about the dangers of bush fires and we all had a long conversation in the car about the dangers of campfires and how we should and shouldn't use fire in the bush or at home for that matter. The boys got the message then went back to their Kindles and we headed into Esperance. Stopping at the information bay we were standing behind a couple of young German backpackers and overheard the tourist lady explain to them that the campsite they wanted to stay at, which we did also, was almost full and it was first in first served if they wanted to get a spot. We heard this and bolted back to the car and hit the accelerator determined to beat the whizzbangers (a term given to backpackers who drive vans with pull doors….). Our quick thinking paid off as we got the last spot and set up the tent before heading back into town along the beach for some shopping and a coffee. Esperance, to be honest, wasn't all that but where we were staying was probably the nicest place we've stayed so far. The water was crystal clear with white squeaky sand and hardly any people. We'd been told to camp at a place called Lucky Bay but this was being renovated and was closed so we were at Cape Le Grande instead. The bays or coves that were within driving distance were spectacular so we spent the days either on the beach 10 metres from our tent or at one of the bays no more than 10 minutes away. Hellfire Bay was the pick of the bunch with crystal clear water and white sand so the boys and I spent most of the time body surfing whilst Fi chilled with a book soaking up the last few days of holiday sun. On the second day we climbed up a huge rock formation called Frenchman's Peak, which was steep as anything we'd done before but wasn't a challenge for the boys as they were now pretty fit from all the hiking and climbing we'd been doing. Fi and I got back into the running along the beach which wasn't a chore at all as we were the only ones around that early in the morning and views of the surf and sand really made it feel like we were coming home. One highlight was that the boys got super excited when they saw a 6 foot tiger snake crossing a path at the campsite. The excitement was that the snake came from the direction of their den/cubby house they'd been playing in for 2 days and back into the bush!!! Close call!! Leaving Esperance behind we took a long circular route along the coast towards Denmark and ended up where we bloody started as we forgot to look at the map and just followed the signs!!! As it took us an hour to do the round trip we were now an hour behind on a 6 hour drive so felt a bit jaded but got on with it and headed towards our final stay, dropping into the Albany IGA and moaning about the cost of groceries in WA as they were about 20% dearer than anywhere else on the trip.

Denmark was beautiful and where we pitched up, Parry's Beach, had all of the best things we've done on the tour so far, but wrapped into one. Beach Driving, 4WD'ing, surf fishing, snorkelling at Green Pool, wineries, open fires, great weather. Given this was close to home, my buddy Mike Linfoot drove down and joined us for the final 3 days. We spent the evenings chilling by the fire with the boys making damper sticks, which we had with butter and honey and were absolutely scrummy, with Fi, Mike and I downing G&T's and beers well into the night!! Denmark was in our top 3 places on the tour and to have it so close to the doorstep was wonderful.

The final morning was left to tidying up, shouting at the boys one last time about not helping put down the tent and then getting into Meg and heading to Perth. The car was pretty quiet for that last 5 hours. We were all reflecting on our journey, the best places, the hard parts as well as the fun parts but I think most of us were just excited to be going home and sleeping in our own bed for the first time…..