Perth to Tom Price

So the last leg of our adventure began. Tim and Lotte (and Nully) got the bus unbogged at Falcon with the help of Philip and Baigal while Archie had his tooth surgery in Perth. Luckily all went well with both and the preparations were successful with the bus coming out first go. Wednesday arrived and Philip and Baigal were dropped at the airport by Fidge and Archie, Archie feeling well after surgey with no pain, just a bit tired. Meeting at a servo out the back off Perth as a family again after 2 nights away (a uncommon accurance over the last year) it was exciting to see how Nully was going to travel.

Deciding that Badinggarra was only a bit over a 100km away we would keep the ute off and drove seperatly, a good choice as Archie slept the whole way alongside Nully. We found a free bush park and headed to Cervanties. First dropping Nully off at the complementary shire dog kennels as the Pinnacles are a NP. Then to see the Pinnicals, a well known area with hundreds of limestone pillar rocks jutting out of a yellow sandy desert. Something quite spectacular to see with the feeling of being either out of space or something prehistoric. These rock formations stood anywhere from ankle height to a giant human size. Amazingly we were able to walk around as well as drive through these freaky formations.

Leaving in time to get Nully at the kennels we then had some takeaway fish on the foreshore looking over around 16 fishing boats wondering if they were owned by the same people as they all were painted black on the bow. A good quiet sleep with Nully only waking at 6.30 for a walk.

With the ute on the back we arrived at Geraldton for lunch and in time to do a couple of jobs. An hour or so at the bank sorting out internet banking, a quick supermarket shop and we were heading to Kalbarri.

Arriving at dark we made for a new subdervision where we thought we would not be in anyone's way and hopefully not noticed by the Ranger. Dinner at Finlay's Fish Shack an alternative type restaurant with quirky decorations. Tim and Melrose had been here a couple of times before and wanted the kids to see it. With vines growing through the toilet window which made Archie think there were ghosts, the soap tied up with a Fred Flinstone Rope, a black vinyl handbag that was used for a pot plant, L and A having chair races it made for an interesting dinner finished off by toasting marshmallows on the fire. We returned to the bus to find a warning fine from the ranger $50 if we did not move to a designated park. We knew the CVPs were closed but rang the only one that took big rigs. No answers and just in time as the ranger arrived. He was firm but fair and helped us find place to park for the night. As Tim had had a couple of bundies we needed to wait until 10.30pm to move (no alcohol in system to drive the bus) and agreed we would be gone by his selected location by 8am. Right at 8am the following morning the ranger arrived, satisfied we had moved the night before he allowed us to park there while we had a look at Kalbarri. Taking Nully for a walk on the beach he had a ball leaping and bounding and helping collect shells. He sure is settling into our family well.

Next stop Denham- Shark Bay. After our experience at Kalbarri we thought it best to stay longer at Denham than try and dodge the Ranger at Coral Bay for the 2 nights as planned latter in the week. So booked in for 4 nights also in the hope to get the boat off for one last run and maybe catch a fish!! Watching the Eagles win at the pub was a highlight for the day. Saturday was started with picklets for breakfast followed by a run along the foreshore. Nully pulling to start but getting the hang of it after a few km into the 6km run. After lunch we headed out to Perogon NP and had a soak at the hot artesian bore pool. Around 40 deg hot some could cope with the heat longer than others. The 500m bore was dug for the station several years before. Day 2 was a fishing day, we were in the water by 8.30 traveling across the bay to Cape Heirisson with some friends from the CVP. Feeling in luck we all hoped for a good catch. After 6 hours we had caught many fish but unfortunately non of size. Spangled Emperor, Whiting, Silver Taodfish, Rainbow Runner and a couple others we did not identify. Nully survived the trip well, no wineing and slept most of the time. Back in the afternoon we were all pretty tired but were able to manage a quick squid after dinner at the local jetty, very windy and no luck although the there were plenty in the water.

Day 3 was an early start to see the dophins at Monkey Mia, bit of an overkill with so many tourists. There was not much room to see the dophins up close. A walk along the beach finding some good shells and then for a coffee and some "free food for the kids under 6". Lotte was 6 this day!! We sat and chatted to our new friends Amy, Brendon with Jack and Kaisha and Casey and Shane with Harpper in til lunch when we headed off to explore Cape Peron. A sandy track and at the entrance an air compressor is supplied to let our tyres down to 18 psi. Heading north on the rack much to all our delight Fidge missed a Thormy Devil, these amazing little creatures are considered part of the lizard family bit in fact eat ants and are part of the anteater family. We all had a hold as we carefully relocated it off the road. The "thorns" all over the body including it feet were slightly pricey, but certainly not in nature, it was slow moving an did not seem to frightened of us. We loved its pretend thorny eyes but when looking closely its real eyes we small blck ones not far from its nose. Fidge so excited it set the day trip off to a great start. Arriving at Cape Peron the colours did not disappoint, reminding us a little of Cape Leveque. A walk a long the beach and some amazing shells found. This beach know by the aboriginals as "cormorant beach" we could see why with it lined with thousands of full bellies black and white cormorants. Next to Skipjack Point Lookout that also did not disappoint watching schools of Eagle Rays, Manta Rays, fish and a sharks (no dugongs today). Stopping off at Cattle Well beach to discover some more shells and have a nudie swim. Back to camp for rabbit food, burnt chops and a Bundy.

Denham itself was ok but the surrounding area has a lot to offer, good to know that it should stay relatively natural being a World Heritage Area. On the way out we stopped at Shelly Beach, a pure white beach created naturally by millions of tiny Fragum Cockle shells. The water twice as salty as any sea water, the Fragum shells adapted to survive this. It was sad to say goodbye knowing we only had 2 sleeps before returning to TP.

Next stop Carnarvon to stay at the Western Sun CVP, we quickly unloaded the ute and headed towards Target to get some last minute things, unfortualty it was no longer in Carnarvon so Woolworths was our only stop no thongs and the staf all seemed unhappy (well we wouldn't want to live here either). With not much of what we needed we still racked up a food bill of $157 but when Archie and Fidge hit to the check out we had maxed out our credit card. Leaving a line up of about 5 people we run out to he car to get more $. Another first for the travels it's all happening in this last week!!

Flies are apparently bad in TP so off to the hardware before we leave for some fly nets. If we left by 9am there was a chance we could meet the Harris family at Nanutarra. A quick coffee stop where yes the flies were BAD so the fly nets were put straight to use. A random text confirmed the Harrows were at Nanny and they would wait around so we kept going for a late lunch. So great to see them and what a blow out to all be there. Much to our delight Jaz and Ben joined us for our last night of our travels. Parking up at Beasley River we had BBQ and camp fire, a game of spot light then settled down for the night. Waking to the sound of birds and some European tourists we were up by 6.30am. A swim and paddle at the river which was still flowing form the rains over the last month or stile hat a beautiful part of Australia. Nully looks like he might be a water dog, snorkelling, running and obviously enjoying himself. With butterflies in our stomach we packed up for the last time (shut windows and cupboards) and headed to Tom Price.

OMG we have arrived back safely to Tom Price. With many happy memories, fantastic times, many kilometers covered, places explored, thing learnt, fun times, happy times, sad times, scary times and too many experinces to list. We are so thankful to have made it safely all the way left with the most fantastic memories for a lifetime, sad to think it has come to and end but so lucky to have had this amazingly wonderful experinece.